A trailer for the new SEPULTURA documentary "Under My Skin" can be seen below. The six-part mini-series, which was produced by Her Name Is Murder Productions, was filmed over four days during SEPULTURA's 30th-anniversary tour.

"Under My Skin" is not to be confused with SEPULTURA's long-awaited official documentary, which is being helmed by InterFace Filmes, with Otavio Juliano directing.

Juliano has been following SEPULTURA for the last few years, a time of tension and triumph for the band, as they toured and recorded their albums "Kairos" and "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart". Nothing has been off limits. This amazing story will go through SEPULTURA's history, myths, conflicts, personnel changes and struggles with the Internet economy in the early 2000s and will include interviews and rare footage.

SEPULTURA recently commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart", tentatively due before the end of the year via Nuclear Blast.

SEPULTURA released a limited-edition seven-inch single to mark its 30th anniversary. "Under My Skin" features artwork of fan tattoos on its cover, with a live version of "Kairos" on the b-side. The single was issued on black, yellow and green vinyl, with only 200 copies of each version pressed.

"The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart" came out on October 29, 2013 via Nuclear Blast.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, a rumor that started earlier this week, suggesting that GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose will perform as a guest vocalist with AC/DC, has gained traction after Atlanta Rock 100.5 host Jason Bailey claimed that a "very, very good source" confirmed to him that the collaboration was happening.

The rumor began after AC/DC postponed the last 10 shows of its recent North American tour because singer Brian Johnson was in danger of suffering "total hearing loss." The band promised to make up the gigs, possibly with "guest vocalists." Rose has been spotted and photographed in Atlanta, where AC/DC is reportedly meeting with potential singers.

Bailey reported: "This is what I'm being told: Axl was meeting with the AC/DC group, because it's all but a done deal that Axl will front AC/DC for the 10 remaining shows."

Bailey added that Johnson was "supposed to retire after the last tour," adding, "They're in town, they were auditioning people for the job, and then they flew Axl in. Again, this is from my source."

A press representative for AC/DC responded to the reports that Rose is set to fill in for Johnson as the band's frontman for the rest of the hard rock outfit's tour, telling NME: "Nothing official to announce. Will update you if that changes."

Rose was apparently not in Atlanta on any GUNS N' ROSES business. That band will make its comeback with original members Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan at six shows next month in California, Las Vegas and Mexico.

There is no word on whether AC/DC intends to permanently replace Johnson, who has been the band's frontman for 36 years.

The debut album from Shiraz Lane, entitled For Crying Out Loud, will be released on April 15th. The band are streaming the album track “House Of Cards”. Listen below:

Formed in 2011, Shiraz Lane is a young, energetic, ambitious, authentic hard rock group from Vantaa, Finland. Although wearing inspiration from big masters like Aerosmith, Skid Row and Guns N' Roses on their sleeves, the band has a sound and style all their own. Members of some of the biggest bands in Scandinavia - The 69 Eyes, Amorphis, Children Of Bodom, Lordi and Sonic Syndicate among others - have all described Shiraz Lane as being one of the most entertaining bands they have ever seen in the underground music scene, bringing something new to the table in terms of both music and live performance! Notwithstanding their young age (the band members are all in their 20s), the guys are already veterans of the underground circuit in their homeland and have developed a reputation for being uncompromising, loud and genuine.

"We started working on our debut album in mid-August 2015 after receiving confirmation about details and deadlines from Frontiers Music Srl”, says Miki Kalske. "We were actually extremely busy at the time since we did an extensive Finnish tour in September, so the Shiraz factory was working pretty much around the clock. In retrospect it was good to have a tight agenda, since the songs came out very naturally and with a steady pace. After we felt confident enough with the songs, we joined forces with our producer Ben Varon and analyzed them meticulously, re-arranged parts, rehearsed, re-rehearsed etc. Before hitting the studio to lay down the final tracks."

On the final result, For Crying Out Loud, the band shows they have learned all the tricks in the book and they're now ready to take on the world.

"The album is not conceptual, but it is definitely a tight knitted package so that every song has its own natural place in the running order”, continues Kalske. "All in all the record turned out to be an ass-kicking hard rock gem with a large scope of different emotions and feelings included. Variety would be a good key word to describe the album throughout, although bowing down to our own sound and style. An important notion would be to listen to the lyrics and message we are trying to send to the listeners out there  - we don't wan't to preach, but if our music can act as an eye-opener on some level and send positive vibrations out to the world during these darker times, I would say we have done something right!"

Shiraz Lane debuted with a two song single release, "Out There Somewhere" and "Money Talks" in October 2014. The band expanded upon those two tracks to release a five track EP, Be The Slave Or Be The Change in the spring of 2015. It was extremely well received by both the public and the press in Scandinavia and the single ''Mental Slavery'' could even be described as an underground hit. Following the EP release, the band has put out four music videos, played the biggest Finnish summer festivals and also performed in places like Toronto, Canada, Finland Fest in Tokyo Japan and Wacken Open Air in Germany. In the autumn of 2015, Shiraz Lane did an extensive national tour supporting fellow countrymen Santa Cruz. Although music is not a matter of competition, it should be mentioned the band won the Hard Rock Rising 2014 and Wacken Metal Battle 2015. The hype culminated with an international record deal with Frontiers Music Srl, which was signed and sealed in September.

"We have grown to fill the boots of the endangered Dinosaurus of Rock and continue the legacy of authentic, rocking and meaningful music" concludes Miki Kalske. "We are thrilled to let you guys experience a full-length insight in our musical minds and assure that this is going to be the best possible news for the fans out there after a heartsick and grieving turn of the year. Heads up and play this record loud and proud - we certainly will!"

For Crying Out Loud tracklisting:

“Wake Up”
“Momma's Boy”
“House Of Cards”
“Begging For Mercy”
“Same Ol' Blues”
“Mental Slavery”
“Behind The 8-Ball”
“For Crying Out Loud”
“Bleeding”
“M.L.N.W. - Kill Me (With Your Love)” (Bonus track digital version)

“Same Ol’ Blues”:

“Wake Up” video:

"Mental Slavery” video:

EPK (Electronic Press Kit):

Shiraz Lane is:

Hannes Kett - vocals
Jani Laine - solo guitar
Miki Kalske - rhythm guitar
Joel Alex - bass
Ana Willman - drums



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Bulgarian occult metal act Ghost Warfare has unveiled the cover artwork of their new album which will be entitled Dusk Reloaded. The album is set for release in Spain on May 16th and May 30th for the rest of the world by Art Gates Records.

The front cover was hand drawn with pens on paper by the artist Nikolay "Chipi" Saraminev, digitally photographed and edited by Vasil Delchev and Dimitar Naydev and with its setting, yet still flaming sun, surrounded by decaying borders, it represents the raging last remains of sense, bitterly striving for long lost knowledge and spiritual ascendance, while helplessly sliding into the cold embrace of utter degradation that has embodied society today, which is the main theme of the album.

The album was recorded at Ghost Warfare's studio in Haskovo, Bulgaria produced and mixed by Georgi Latev, and mastered by Lenko Draganov.

Tracklisting:

“We Are Not…”
“New Kingdom”
“Anything Illusion”
“Et L’amour Dans Tout Ca…”
“BRS”
“Following Their Last Trip”
“Dusk”
“Radioactivity”
“Knot”
“Bells In The Wilderness”
“Solar Insignia”
“Fields In The Nowhere”
“Oh, Happy Days”
“Something Wicked”
“Fall”
“…Slaves”



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To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Avulsed, the band decided to commit a very ambitious project which is no other than recording a double album including 18 of their best songs from all their albums, EP's and demos. Instead of just doing a dull compilation with original songs, the band wants to do a "no fillers, just killers" release showing the evolution that the songs have suffered during all these years where the band's sound has been getting heavier and songs have got slight mutations through the times.

This double album (80 min.) will be released in a deluxe double CD digipack with slipcase and a thick 40 pages booklet containing the original versions on disc #2 (just for the freaks who hate rerecordings), double gatefold 12"LP and double cassette with slipcase. But to make this release even more interesting, Avulsed will have very special guests from other bands singing in most of the songs. They are: Peter (Vader), Barney (Napalm Death), Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates), Sven (Aborted), Antti Boman (Demilich), Chris Reifert (Autopsy), Per Böder (God Macabre), Anton Reisenegger (Pentagram Chile), Kam Lee (ex-Massacre), Rogga Johansson (Paganizer), Mike Van Mastrigt (ex-Sinister), Ville Koskela (Purtenance), Will Rahmer (Mortician), Ludo (Supuration), Johan Jansson (Interment) and Paul Zavaleta (Deteriorot). 

Title for this album will be Deathgeneration, since 25 years means a whole generation devoted to death metal, and cover artwork will be made, once again, by the awesome Juanjo Castellano who worked on the two latest Avulsed cover arts. Release date is autumn, right before the two very special 25th anniversary shows that Avulsed will offer in Madrid (November 19th) and Barcelona (November 26th). Support bands for the show in Madrid will be another Spanish death metal legend Aposento and newcomers Bizarre who will also open on the Barcelona show accompanied by another band which is confirmed, but we can't announce yet. An official live CD+DVD will be recorded & filmed in Madrid.

Deathgeneration" will come on a very limited black boxset with silver foiled logo, of which only 100 copies will be made containing the 2CD, 2LP and 2MC. This special cassette release can only be obtained on this boxset that will come with t-shirt, poster, signed photo card, sticker, patch, badge, guitar pick and other goodies. The 2CD, 2LP and t-shirt can be obtained separately or in bundles too. For this ambitious (and expensive) project, Avulsed will need the inestimable collaboration of its fans for which the band will release a Crowfunding campaign during the next months.

Recording sessions for Deathgeneration will start tomorrow (March 24th) with drums being recorded at Cadillac Blood Studios with Andy C. (Lord Of Black, Saratoga, Kaothic) on production and rest of stuff being recorded at La Casa del Ruido Studios with Daniel Blanco engineering for a later mixing at Overhead Studios by Raul Fournier "Furni" and final mastering again at Unisound Studios by Swedish mastermind Dan Swanö. 

Regarding shows, except for only two shows scheduled in Spain in April 8th (Burgos) and 9th (Oviedo), Avulsed will restart in June with a tour in China, followed by a series of great festivals during summer in Germany (Protzen Open Air), Czech Republic (Obscene Extreme & Czech Deathfest) and two of Spain's biggest festivals (Leyendas & Resurrection) as well as a tour in South America during September.



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Chicago extreme metal band Lord Mantis will release a new EP titled, NTW, on April 29th via New Density. Recorded at Bricktop Recording with engineer Andy Nelson (Weekend Nachos, Like Rats) and mastered by Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room (Windhand, YOB, Voivod), the release features searing new songs that build on the music of the group's 2014 LP, Death Mask (Profound Lore). Check out the new track, “SIG Safer”, streaming below.

NTW marks the recording debut of the new Lord Mantis lineup, which now features vocalist Dylan O'Toole and bassist Will Lindsay - each formerly of Indian - and guitarist Scott Shellhamer (also of American Heritage) joining the core of guitarist Andrew Markuszewski and drummer Bill Bumgardner. The EP delivers incendiary music that strikes with savage force and hammers the listener with razor-sharp intensity, wielding sustained tension like a scythe. Ominous imagery from artist Manuel Tinnemans (Comaworx) perfectly complements the dark aura of the record.

"The music delves to and draws from the same place Lord Mantis has always drawn from; taking the most vicious aspects of the beast and shoving that in everyone's face," comments Markuszewski. "The songs can move anywhere. You have moments on this recording that go from fervent aggression to areas more nauseous and grimey. Every time we write new music we're more confident than before with what we're doing. The sound and technique of Lord Mantis is second nature to us, but we're also never afraid to explore new territory with it."

 

 

Tracklisting:

"SIG Safer"
"NTW"
"Semblances"
"Final Division"

"SIG Safer”:

Lord Mantis will hold a hometown album release party, performing at Chicago's Empty Bottle on April 28th. Stay tuned to the band's website and Facebook page for updated news and information.



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The sophomore album from First Signal, entitled One Step Over The Line, will be released on June 3rd.

In 2010, a marriage made in melodic rock heaven between Canadian singer Harry Hess and producer Dennis Ward launched the First Signal project. The concept developed when Frontiers' President Serafino Perugino presented Hess some melodic rock songs that harkened back to the magic of the early Harem Scarem sound, who at the time were on an artistic hiatus. The project was met with excellent reviews and interest from the melodic rock crowd and even when Harem Scarem re-launched with their album Thirteen (one of their strongest to date), Harry was still wanting to go back and sing some excellent melodic rock songs that he had from various songwriters under a different moniker.

So, the idea of another First Signal album started to float around and with the help of Swedish producer Daniel Flores (Find Me, The Murder of My Sweet, etc.), the new record started to take shape. Once again, the inspiration behind the songs are the first two Harem Scarem albums, two absolute classic melodic rock releases. But once again, we have some new twists and interpretations, with songs covering everything from AOR to arena hard rock.

Harry says, “I am very excited to be a part of the new First Signal release. I was pleasantly surprised with the positive reaction surrounding the first CD, so it was an easy decision to be a part of the new recording. Between Serafino, Daniel and myself we gathered some great songs that I'm sure the AOR fans will love. Daniel Flores did a fabulous job and put in a ton of effort to make this happen. We met many years ago on a writing trip to Sweden where I immediately noticed his work ethic and dedication to making music. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's reaction to the new album on June 3rd!”

Musicians on the album include the outstanding new talent Michael Palace on guitars and bass, Daniel Flores on drums and keyboards, and background vocals from Hess' Harem Scarem bandmate (and Red Dragon Cartel singer) Darren Smith, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Nigel Bailey, Daniel Flores, Rolf Pilotti and Angelica Rylin.

One Step Over The Line tracklisting:

“Love Run Free”
“Love Gets Through”
“Still Pretending”
“Broken”
“Kharma”
“Minute Of Your Time”
“She Is Getting Away”
“December Rain”
“Weigh Me In”
“Pedestal”
“One Step Over The Line”



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Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH played their second show with the band's new touring drummer, Jocke Wallgren (OCTOBER TIDE, VALKYRJA), last night (Wednesday, March 23) at Divan du Monde in Paris, France. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

Wallgren made his live debut with AMON AMARTH on Tuesday, March 22 at the Underworld in London, England.

AMON AMARTH guitarist Olavi Mikkonen recently told Brazil's Wikimetal podcast about the March 2015 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 the band's new album, "Jomsviking": "I don't really wanna go into details regarding Fredrik, but, basically, we just separated. It's kind of like a marriage that doesn't work, and you get divorced. And that's kind of what happened to our band. Right after that, we started to work [on] the new album, and we didn't wanna work with anybody we did not know, so that's why we took in Tobias. And Tobias is an old friend to the band; we've known him for many, many years. He was with us through the whole working process towards when the recording was finished. And, obviously, he cannot do the upcoming dates, so we have another guy that we are preparing for the upcoming touring. But, you know, we're gonna take it quite easy. I mean, we've been together for so many years, and it's really difficult to find this new guy to come in and [be part of the band]. But, you know, whoever it's gonna be, it's gonna be good. So I have no worries."

"Jomsviking" will be 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.

Following "Jomsviking"'s release, AMON AMARTH will tour North America with fellow Swedes ENTOMBED A.D. and young USA metal upstarts EXMORTUS.

Moravia, NY death metallers NilExistence are streaming debut album Existence In Revelation in its entirety. Stream via the Bandcamp player below:

 Existence In Revelation by NilExistence

NilExistence will release Existence In Revelation on March 25th. The album includes a 12-page booklet with artwork by Seth Siro Anton (Septicflesh), and was mixed / mastered at Hertz Studio (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader)  by the Wiesławski brothers in Poland. 

Drummer / vocalist Kyle Kratzer (ex-Disfigured Dead) had this to say about the album title and lyrical content:

"Existence In Revelation is based on the life experiences that have affected Dave Gruver (guitar / vocals) and myself during the writing period.  The idea behind the title comes from how I personally felt when in the midst of a darker period.  When one finds himself in a 'revelation' type state, they have a few choices in which to handle the new information or realization they discovered;  they may take the newly acquired knowledge and expand upon their problem/life, take nothing from the experience and brush it off, or stay stuck in the revelation itself (which is the route explored on the album.)  As if in a bubble, one neither acts nor fails to act upon the new knowlegde, but instead remains within the revelation (bubble).  The lyrics are based upon what I saw and learned within this revelation."

Tracklisting:

“The Quietus”
“This Throne's Carved From Greed”
“Primordial Transgression”
“If Snakes Could Talk, My Words Would Slither”
“Pitch Black Perception”
“To Give Is To Serve”
“Tyranny Is Blind, And The Tyrant”
“Screams Form Silence”

"Pitch Black Perception":

"Primordial Transgression" lyric video:



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Curses has unleashed their brand new single, “Fortune Collapse” (lyric video streaming below). The single was produced by Taylor Larson and Spencer Sotelo, with the latter having a guest vocal spot on the single. “Fortune Collapse” is the lead single off the band’s forthcoming album Chapter I: Introspect, that will be released later this year.

"This album is an accurate snapshot of who we were and how we felt when it was written. The premise involved looking inside ourselves in an attempt to learn something about what drives us all. The idea of ‘home’ is a common theme throughout the record and we came out of it knowing what home means to each of us. We hope the album gives its listeners the same glimpse inside that it gave us, because that reflection set us free." - Davey Nicewander (Guitar)



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Italian rock noir band Belladonna have just released their most visionary album to date: The Orchestral Album, a selection of ten songs cherry-picked from their catalogue, completely rearranged and recorded with a symphonic orchestra which features many of Ennio Morricone's regular orchestral players,

The Orchestral Album delivers 40 minutes of epic grandeur, spine-tingling beauty and gutsy raw power, a stunning, timeless and very unique album that will doubtlessly conquer the hearts of many music lovers all over the world.

Crowdfunded by the band's large and faithful fan base, this album seamlessly combines Belladonna's dark and passionate tones with Kazakh arranger/conductor Angelina Yershova's luscious and heart-blowing orchestrations to create a deeply emotional journey. 

The Roman quintet is not new to orchestral escapades: they have written and recorded a song with legendary British composer Michael Nyman, the strings part of their most recent single "The God Below" is on the Clio Award-winning international TV spot for the blockbuster movie Minions, and an orchestral arrangement composed by their guitarist Dani Macchi is in the soundtrack of Michael Moore's new movie Where To Invade Next.

The Orchestral Album is available on all digital platforms.

Album preview:



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Professionally filmed video footage of CANDLEBOX's March 19 performance at Lollapalooza Chile can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows: 01. Arrow02. Best Friend 03. Simple Lessons 04. Sweet Summertime 05. Change 06. Vexatious 07. Cover Me 08. You 09. Alive (PEARL JAM cover) 10. Far Behind

CANDLEBOX will release its sixth album, "Disappearing In Airports", on April 22 via Pavement Entertainment. The CD showcases the group's introspective and poetically candid songwriting with their signature musical immediacy. "Disappearing In Airports" will be available on all digital platforms (iTunes, Amazon, YouTubeRed, Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music) and is distributed by MRI/Sony RED. Formed in Seattle in 1991, CANDLEBOX went quadruple platinum with their 1993 self-titled debut and released two more acclaimed and top-selling albums (1995's "Lucy" and 1998's "Happy Pills") before going on a hiatus in 2000. CANDLEBOX regrouped with a 2006 tour, then put out "Into The Sun" in 2008, followed by 2012's "Love Stories & Other Musings".

For "Disappearing In Airports", the band worked with producers Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland (AUGUST BURNS RED, EVERCLEAR, RIVERS OF NIHIL), cutting the record at Think Loud Studios in York, Pennsylvania. With Martin, Dave Krusen on drums, Adam Kury on bass and the addition of guitarists Mike Leslie and Brian Quinn, the recommitment to creating music that is "pissed and urgent" as well as bringing a new energy to the live show is at this record's core. CANDLEBOX's world tour will include performances at festivals such as Welcome To Rockville and Carolina Rebellion.

Norwegian symphonic extreme metal act Cretura will release their new album Fall Of The Seventh Golden Star on CD and digital April 8th via Wormholedeath / Aural Music Group. A video for “Funeral Roses” is streaming below.

Tracklisting:

“Past, Present, & Future”
“Reign Of Terror”
“Grand Warfare Through Dark Ages”
“Voices Of Hunger”
“Funeral Roses”
“Northern Winds”
“Pray For A Brighter Tomorrow”
“Når Lyset Dør”
“At The 11th Hour”
“The Pale Horseman & The Hunter Of The Sky”
“The Last Song Of The Earth”

“Funeral Roses” video:



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On Friday May 20th, New Jersey metallers Attacker will be hitting Nuthouse Recording in Hoboken, NJ with producer engineer Tom Beaujour to begin the next chapter in Attacker music. 

Drummer Mike Sabatini comments: "To say we are all excited is an understatement since it's been just over three years since Giants Of Canaan was released. We had already worked with Tom at Nuthouse when we laid down the tracks for the Riot song 'Fire Down Under' that was featured on the Harder Than Steel CD, paying tribute to the bands that have graced the Keep It True Festival stage and the Thunder And Steel Down Under Riot Tribute album, both released on Skol Records. It's about time we get the fire lit, get the album out and get back to the live stage with some new material for the fans of the band."

The new album will be the first to feature new bassist Brian Smith. 

Watch the official Attacker Facebook page here for updates.



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The award-winning, new music documentary on the Japanese rock group X Japan from Passion Pictures - entitled We Are X - has won the SXSW Film Festival Audience Award for Excellence In Title Design (details here).

Yoshiki-songwriter, drummer, classically-trained pianist and the creative force of X Japan - performed a special set for the captivated SXSW crowd of movie-goers following the final screening of 'We Are X at the Paramount Theatre in Austin on Friday, March 18th. Yoshiki's classical versions of X Japan's songs with a string quartet live on stage garnered a standing ovation following his performance. Directly after the Paramount screening and performance, Yoshiki ran to the Japan Nite event at the Elysium inAustin and offered another striking live performance for the standing room only crowd (event photo link above and below). Three of the scheduled bands for Japan Nite were unable to make it to Austin due to visa issues and Yoshiki stepped in to support the long-running SXSW event.

We Are X explores the evolution, groundbreaking history and hopeful future of the land of the rising sun's most legendary rock group. From X Japan's massive success (over 30 million albums, singles and videos sold) and sold-out tours worldwide, We Are X chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of this legendary quintet who will never give up and continue to tour the world performing sold-out shows to massive arenas in 16 countries throughout the US and Europe.

Following the world premiere screening Sundance, Yoshiki - songwriter, drummer, classically-trained pianist and the creative leader of X Japan - stated, "The dark doors I had closed from my past became an entrance to the future. If there wasn't music and the band members would not have been there, it's clear I would not be here today."

During Sundance week, Yoshiki thrilled audiences performing at live venues including the official Sundance Festival Base Camp and the ASCAP Cafe playing classical versions of X Japan's songs with a string quartet.Following the We Are X film premiere, Chef Dance hosted a dinner honoring the film prepared by Los Angeles-based chef Louis Tikaram (of EP & LP). The Chef Dance dinner and party featured guests including actors Octavia Spencer, Donovan Leitch and Julliette Lewis along with singers Josh Groban and Keb' Mo alongside industry luminaries.DJ/Producer Balthazar Getty and EDM pioneer DJ Paul Oakenfold entertained guests for the official after party.

Japan's most iconic rock band, X Japan initially split up in 1997 after playing their fifth New Year's Eve show at the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome;theyhave now sold out the Tokyo Dome a record 18 times. The group reformed in 2007 and have released three singles: "I.V." in 2008, "Jade" in 2011 and "Born To Be Free" in late 2015. They've been touring worldwide ever since and in October 2014, the group performed their debut Madison Square Garden show in New York before announcing the new album and We Are X film releases slated for 2016.

X Japan are currently laying down tracks in a Los Angeles studio for their as-yet-untitled album, which is due for a worldwide release in late 2016. A brief clip from We Are X can be seen below.



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Former Sodom guitarist and current Double Crush Syndrome frontman Andy Brings has checked in with the following update:

"Yes! I've just finished the mix of our new album! It's done!! Mastering is next! Fun fact: the last song I mixed was the first song I ever wrote for Double Crush Syndrome three years ago. 'Yeah! Pain!' started it all, so it's come full circle. Love it. Eleven new songs plus five re-recorded bonus tracks from our sold out first album. Couldn't be happier....."

Double Crush Syndrome recently released an official video for their song "Gimme Everything", a live favourite that's due to appear on their forthcoming album, Still No Future. Check it out below.

"No stupid storyline, no wannabe actors, no fancy video art! Just a band that dies for Rock n´Roll! Enjoy!"

The band has also announced live dates for Germany, as follows:

July
20 - Klubsen - Hamburg, Germany
21 - Essigfabrik - Köln, Germany
26 - Garage Deluxe - Munich, Germany

In late 2015, Double Crush syndrome released their single "On Top Of Mount Whateverest". Check it out below:

 

Ulterium Records has announced the reissue of Deliverance Of Soul, from the Greek melodic metal band Black Fate. The reissue will be released on April 29th in Europe and North America.

Deliverance Of Soul was originally released in 2009, and it was the first Black Fate album to feature Vasilis Georgiou on vocals. The reissue is remastered by Erik Tordsson (End Of September) and features new artwork by Jan Yrlund (Apocalyptica, Korpiklaani, Leah).

Tracklisting:

“Children Of Aniramas”
“Dying Freedom”
“Blood Red Sky”
“Angry Silent Scream”
“The Conscience Of The Brave”
“Rain Of Paradise”
“If The Silence Was Gray”
“Wicked”
“Thorn In My Hand”
“Inner Warning Of My Soul”
“Fallen”



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Sweden's lauded melodic death/doom metallers and Agonia Records recent signess, In Mourning, will release their new album, Afterglow, on May 20th. A new lyric video for the track “Below Rise To The Above” can be found below.

The new album’s cover artwork has been prepared by Kristian Wåhlin (Bathory, Tiamat, Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity).

In Mourning commented: "The new album is called Afterglow and its story takes off from where The Weight Of Oceans ends. It’s a bit more complex than our previous albums and it has got a bit of a different sound than the older ones, a bit more alive like a band and maybe not always as studio corrected as our earlier material. However, the foundation of the music is still what we’ve always done and the key elements are pretty much the same but with some new additions and a few new twists and turns of course.”

This will be the first album featuring new drummer, Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia).

Hailed by many as the heir to Opeth's melodeath throne, In Mourning was formed in the Swedish woods in the year 2000. Since then the band has evolved over the years striving to refine its sound to what it is today. April 2012 marked the release of the bands third and latest album The Weight Of Oceans, a mythology inspired conceptual story that journeys to the sea. Musically, the group blends a broad spectrum of influences into a foundation of melodic death metal. Thrusting from doomy metal-riffs, blasting drumbeats and deep growling vocals to calm breezes of clean flowing melodies and harmonies.

Afterglow was recorded between November 2015 and March 2016 in Nordin Music Studios (drums) and Libra Studios (guitar, bass and vocals). Mixing and mastering duties have been handled by Jonas Martinsson in Necrosavant Studio.

Afterglow will be available in the following formats:
-Digipack CD (with 12 page booklet)
-Jewelcase CD (with 12 page booklet)
-Regular Double Black LP
-Double Orange Crush Transparent LP (hand-numbered to 135 copies)
-Black t-shirt in two different versions
-Digital formats

Find pre-orders at Agonia Records.

Tracklisting:

“Fire And Ocean”
“The Grinning Mist”
“Ashen Crown”
“Below Rise To The Above”
“The Lighthouse Keeper”
“The Call To Orion”
“Afterglow”

“Below Rise To The Above” lyric video:

Lineup:

Tobias Netzell - guitars and vocals
Pierre Stam - bass
Björn Pettersson - guitars
Tim Nedergård - guitars
Daniel Liljekvist - drums



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Brooklyn’s Family has been wowing audiences since 2011 with its unique and earnest blend of classic rock meets modern heaviness, alongside a healthy dose of behind-the-beat New Orleans groove and progressive rhythmic patterns. The band has embraced an amorphous collective approach, enduring lineup shifts that have continuously evolved its sound. Throughout the process, previous members have maintained involvement, contributing to live performances and forming offshoot bands together.

Prosthetic Records will release Family’s sophomore album, Future History this summer. A teaser video can be seen below, with more details coming soon.

The band will play at Webster Hall in NYC on March 29th with new labelmates Scale The Summit and North, along with headliner Intronaut, and is also confirmed for the 2016 Psycho Vegas festival in late August.

(Photo - Jon Gordon)



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Danish hard rock band Statement and their record label Mighty Music have rush released a new music video to sympathize with the victims from yesterday’s attacks in Brussels.

“Heaven Will Burn” was originally meant to be released next month, but the band and their record label felt the urge to release it right away, as this song is all about what should not have happened yesterday.

Says Niels Larsen: “When do we learn from the mistakes of humanity? Yesterday’s tragedy is a horrible example of the ignorance of religion. Imagine we could all live in peace, under the same sun, moon and stars. Imagine people would use their common sense. No one wants to see the world go up in flames.”

Michael H. Andersen, CEO Mighty Music states: “Hard rock and heavy metal is an international language and often misunderstood to be violent. We do not believe in violence and in innocent people getting killed – we believe in peace and we believe the Western World is a World for people that choose to live our way of life. As equals. Men and women, black and white”.

"Heaven Will Burn" is the title track of the band’s upcoming album, to be released via Mighty Music/Target Group on June 17th. More details to follow.



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Inner Wound Recordings will release US symphonic metal band Midnight Eternal’s self-titled debut album on April 29th in Europe and North America. A new lyric video for the track “First Time Thrill” can be found below.

What characterizes the sound of Midnight Eternal is the sense of melody - a synthesis of melody and power, crushing guitars, double bass and beautiful multi-layered vocals. Led by the beautiful and emotional vocals of Raine Hilai, the future of Midnight Eternal looks very bright.

The album was engineered by Eric Rachel (Skid Row, Symphony X) and the mixing and mastering was handled by Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Pretty Maids, Jorn). The impressive artwork was created by Jan Yrlund (Apocalyptica, Korpiklaani, Delain).

Midnight Eternal tracklisting:

“’Till the Bitter End”
“Repentance”
“Signs Of Fire”
“Shadow Falls”
“The Lantern”
“Believe In Forever”
“Midnight Eternal”
“When Love And Faith Collide”
“Like An Eternity”
“Silence”
“Pilgrim And The Last Voyage”
“First Time Thrill”

“First Time Thrill” lyric video:



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Soto, featuring vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, will release their second studio album, Divak, on April 1st via earMUSIC. A snippet of the new song, “Paranoia”, is streaming below:

Divak (pronounced "dee-vock") comes shortly after the band's debut release, Inside The Vertigo. It's a mere 15 months later, partly due to singer Jeff Scott Soto's insistence on continuing to create and build a true brand for his new venture.

Once again, the album is produced by Jeff Scott Soto and drummer Edu Cominato. It was mixed by long time JSS engineer/associate John Ellis, as well. The band features Soto on vocals, Cominato on drums, lead guitarist Jorge Salan, bassist David Z, and keyboardist/guitarist BJ. They are heavily featured on Divak, with their writing contributions together.
 
The first single "FreakShow" was co-produced/written by Tony Dickinson, who also co-wrote "The Fall”, which was the first single from Inside The Vertigo. The track is an extension of the Soto sound created especially for this new band.
 
Soto will debut live this month with a string of East Coast US dates, leading into the annual Monsters of Rock Cruise (East), alongside Steve Vai, Extreme, Queensryche, and countless headliners.
 
Soto, formed in 2014, are the dream band created when Jeff Scott Soto realized how much he missed the "heavier side" of his career after fronting artists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Talisman, and Journey, and even his own solo albums. The band hopes to continue its role as a driving force in today's current hard rock and metal scene.

Tracklisting:
 
“Divak” (Intro)
“Weight Of The World”
“FreakShow”
“Paranoia”
“Unblame ”
“Cyber Masquerade”
“In My Darkest Hour”
“Forgotten”
“SuckerPunch”
“Time”
“Misfired”
“The Fall From Grace”
“Awakened”
 
Bonus Tracks (All Digital Retailers):
“Final Say” (live)
“The Fall” (live)
“Break” (live)
“When I'm Older” (live)
“Stand Up” (live)

Additional Bonus Tracks (iTunes/Apple Music):
“My Life”
“Cracking the Stone”

“Weight Of The World” video:

“FreakShow” lyric video:

(Photo - Natalia Britt)



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MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine was interviewed last week on the Fox Business program "Kennedy", hosted by former MTV VJ Kennedy. You can now watch the segment below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On Bernie Sanders's vision of a Nordic-like socialist utopia for America:

Mustaine: "I don't really follow Bernie Sanders that much, but I do think you're right about that — [that he is] trying to portray things are gonna be utopian if you you over to his direction. But I think that right now it's so hard to look at all the different candidates and try and figure out, what are they really about? I mean, if you peel away the veneer, who are they? It was funny, when [Marco] Rubio had that meltdown and he started to get into the name-calling stuff and you see who he really is capable of being. Or not. Is he really the other guy that was stayed all the time. So… I don't know."

On this being the hardest election season ever:

Mustaine: "Yeah, I think so. I think that… Well, for me… I mean, we've been friends for a long time, so you know a lot about me. And when we first actually met, we were doing the 'Rock The Vote' thing in '92 for the Democratic National Convention, so I've had a lot of experience covering politics, learning about it in order to do that. And I think that the way that the whole process is right now, it's, like, who do you vote for? This is the lesser of two evils, you know. And you hear all these celebrities that are saying, 'Well, if [Donald] Trump gets elected, I'm moving to…' 'If Hillary [Clinton] gets elected, I'm moving to…' and it's, like, if you don't like the way the political process is going, then do something about it. Get involved. Change it."

On whether he still speaks to the guys in METALLICA:

Mustaine: "Sometimes."

On which member of METALLICA he is closest with:

Mustaine: "None of 'em. 'Close,' if you mean 'close close.' But, you know, it's weird. You have a friendship and then it's broken up and you try and tell yourself…. justify why it happened. And a lot of times, you wanna make the other person look like the bad guy, 'cause you don't wanna really show that you still have emotion about it. And if you didn't care about somebody, they have no capability of hurting your feelings. So I think a lot of that whole feud was buried decades ago — literally. And it's just people keep asking — 'cause they don't know. And I used to get bent out of shape, because when people would ask me the same question… I think the funniest thing is when people try and talk to me and they'll say something like, 'So, what's it like in MET… eh… MEGADETH?'"


Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alexi Laiho has weighed in on the incident two months ago when ex-PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo made a "white power" gesture onstage at a concert.

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

During an interview with Horns Up Rocks, Laiho commented on the incident, saying (see video below): "I heard about it, yeah, and I actually haven't seen the footage. But I don't… I'm not sure what to say about that.

"Obviously, racism in general, you know, it's bullshit, and it's definitely not a part of metal or rock and roll; there's nothing rock and roll about it, and that's a fact. But what he did or what he said… Who knows? But on some level, though, I kind of believe that he didn't mean it that way, but, of course, it sounds kind of bad. [He said] 'white power' or something like that? Yeah. Let's just put it this way: I wouldn't say that."

He continued: "Obviously, especially nowadays, everything is filmed with a thousand different cell phones, so, of course, it's gonna become a huge matter. You can't get away with pretty much anything nowadays, so you've gotta be careful what you say.

"It's not a cool thing to do, but still… It seems like nowadays, especially, when bad stuff happens, or even good things happen, people forget so quickly, 'cause there's just so much information on the Internet, and people get it automatically. I'm pretty sure that… Give it a year or two [and he'll be okay]. Hopefully, yeah. I don't know… But I hope so anyway."

Asked if he has ever been a similar situation where he said or did something controversial while under the influence of alcohol, Laiho said: "Nothing like that ever. No matter how drunk I've been or whatever the hell, it's never entered my mind to say stuff like that. I might have, in the past, when I was in my 20s or whatever, when you're young and arrogant or whatever, and at fifteen beers deep, I might have talked some shit about some fellow musicians that didn't deserve it. Just because I'm not a fan of their music doesn't mean that I shouldn't respect what they do, and that's something that's not very cool. So that sort of thing, it's stupid. But, to my knowledge, I've never said anything politically incorrect."

Several notable musicians have come out and criticized Anselmo for his actions, including MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn, who uploaded an eleven-minute video response to the incident in which he called Anselmo a "big bully" and described Philip's behavior as "fucking wrong."

One musician who stuck up for Anselmo was Adam Crosier of the Arkansas band HYMNS, which is signed to Anselmo's Housecore label.

"This slanderous attack against Phil Anselmo in the metal media right now is reaching a despicable level of ugly, inept judgment," he wrote on his Facebook page. "There are no words that can accurately describe how false the racism claims truly are … I know, without a doubt, that Phil Anselmo is NOT racist. This accusation could not be further from the truth."

Crosier told BLABBERMOUTH.NET: "I think he has just made some mistakes in the past and obviously at the Dimebash — which, added together, may paint an ugly picture of his personality. It's very unfortunate, because he truly is a very compassionate and loving person."

While speaking with Rolling Stone about the 40th anniversary of KISS’ Destroyer earlier this month, Gene Simmons digressed to reflect on the anniversary of some other recordings he made in 1976: his demos with Van Halen.

The bassist had caught the group when they were still in their infancy, playing the Sunset Strip club circuit, and he offered to put them to tape and consider them for a label deal.

"I discovered the band," he says. "I saw them and signed them and flew them to New York and put them in Electric Lady Studios. They were signed to my company, Man of 1,000 Faces. I produced their 24-track demo — 15 songs — which I still own, and, oh, it has everything from the first record and also faster versions of 'House of Pain' and stuff. It's a lot of cool stuff, but the band just doesn't want it to come out — you know, the back and forth with [David Lee] Roth complicated matters."

Read more at RollingStone.com.



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Ephemeral is the impending new long player from Ventura, California-based technical death metal unit, Inherit Disease. The follow-up to 2010's seminal Visceral Transcendence was tracked at Seahorse Sound Studios by Samur Khouja (Condemned, Arkaik, Flesh Consumed) and mixed and mastered by Sasha Borovykh (Epicardiectomy, Cerebral Effusion) at Tsun Tsun Productions. Once again adorned with the stunningly disturbing cover creation of Yang Guang, Ephemeral explores the realms of our dark future. A new track “Divergence”, is streaming below.

"Religion is the great plague of man," adds Inherit Disease collectively of the theme behind "Divergence." "Science is the cure through utilization of technology. This is a song [guitarist] Derek [DeRoos] wrote most of. He kept rewriting and throwing out parts on this song because they weren't hard enough to play. It took forever to finish. It's all over the place and hard as hell to play!"

Ephemeral tracklisting:
 
"Spiritual Paralysis"
"Mutant 2.0"
"Divergence"
"Synaptic Reanimation"
"Ephemeral Morality"
"Binary Alchemy"
"Neotroglodyte"
"Pixelated Hallucinations"
"Digested By Invertebrates"
"Lord Cyborg"
"Drone"

“Divergence”:

“Spiritual Paralysis”:

Forged in 2002, Inherit Disease have spent the last 13 years perfecting their style of straight forward, yet original, innovative brutal death metal. Various lineup changes over the years have attributed to the band's artistic growth, though the band solidified their cast adding second guitarist Tom Wilson in 2012 to promote more diverse song writing structures and to enhance the intensity of their live shows.



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Italian symphonic metal band Constraint has inked a deal with Atomic Stuff Promotion to promote its debut album 'Enlightened By Darkness', released on February 12th.

Constraint is an Italian symphonic metal band born in 2011. They started playing Nightwish, Epica and Evanescence covers (at the age of 15-16), then they began writing their own music and developing their own style. Their first demo, called Illusion Of A Dream, was published in 2012.

Enlightened By Darkness is a great team effort. That's how it could be summarized in a few words. Authors of a fine symphonic metal, with lyrics about philosophical and psychological themes highlighted by the opera-style vocals of singer Beatrice Bini, with their first studio work Constraint show great care and attention to details, excellent arrangements and fantastic melodies, sharpened by guitars and keyboards that create a heavy but at the same time in-your-face sound.

Tracklisting:

“Behind The Scenes”
“Talking Dumbs”
“The Ending Of Time”
“Illusion Of A Dream”
“The Birth”
“Breathing Infinity”
“Enlightened By Darkness”
“Autumn Hymn”
“Oniria”

“Enlightened By Darkness” video:

Lineup:
Beatrice Bini - vocals
Alessio Molinari - guitars
Simone Ferraresi - keyboards
Federico Paglia - bass
Alessandro Lodesani - drums



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3rd Machine is a modern metal band from The Netherlands with more than 10 years’ experience as a band and even more as musicians. The band has signed an exclusive deal with Into The LimeLight Records for their new album Quantified Self. 

After a long process of writing and playing numerous shows the result is a fantastic dynamic album. The release date has been set to April 9th. The CD contains nine songs, most of which lyrically address the perils of our modern digital age.

Special guests are:

Mark Jansen (Epica/MaYaN) on “Ultimate Intelligence”, Pieter Bas Borger (Black Knight) and Rebecca Duin are performing on “Quantified Self”.

Tracklisting:

“Curveball”
“Reboot Initiate”
“Quantified Self”
“Ultimate Intelligence”
“Firewall”
“Magnet”
“1953”
“System Idle”
“Petrified”

“Quantified Self” lyric video:



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"Moshpit" show, which airs on the SYN 90.7 radio station in Melbourne, Australia, recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mark Jansen of Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA. You can now listen to the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the progress of the recording sessions for EPICA's follow-up to 2014's "The Quantum Enigma" album:

Mark: "At the moment, we're recording the strings, and right after, the choirs we'll get to record and the brass. So we are getting into the final stage of the recordings. And the drums, bass, guitars, pianos, everything has been recorded already. And after the [Australian] tour, we will record the lead vocals of Simone [Simons] and my grunts. And then it's already basically time to start the mixing process pretty soon."

On how the new EPICA album will be different from "The Quantum Enigma":

Mark: "The biggest difference, I think, is, on 'The Quantum Enigma', we already used real strings but still samples for the brass. And now, with the new album, we do everything we possibly can live, so also the brass section… we hired a brass section to play all the brass parts. And I think the album will also really benefit from that. Even though samples are, live, nowadays so good, but still, if there's real people playing the music, it makes still a big difference. So I think that will be the biggest difference."

On the evolution of EPICA's songwriting:

Mark: "I think we learned lot. We always made music we really felt like making, so we never listened to what was popular at the time, or what other bands were doing. But we developed, I noticed, in a different way than most bands around us. When this female-fronted scene was pretty big back in the day, around 2000, many of these bands became more commercial later on, and we always developed in a more… we [went] more in a metal direction. And many people, at that time, said, 'You are crazy. You are ruining your own career.' But now when I look back, I think that was… Even though we did just what we felt like doing, but it was smart, actually, because that made us stand out, and that's why we're also still around and still growing. So, I think, at that point, people thought it was a stupid move, but it appeared to be a good one."

On whether it's a challenge to balance Simone's operatic vocals with his "grunts" while writing new music:

Mark: "It's always a challenge, that's for sure, but, for some reason, all the elements, they fall automatically [in the] right [place]. It's hard to explain, but after all these years, you find a way to make it naturally work. So back in the day, it was more like a puzzle, a search, and now it naturally happens. So still sometimes we discuss, 'It might be better to have a choir here instead of Simone singing,' or, 'Maybe we should not use grunts here.' So these little discussions still happen, but usually it's quite obvious where we're gonna put what. But sometimes it's even good to still experiment a bit, because it's always also good to go off the path and try and explore new things. And with every record we also try that, and we sometimes try ideas that at first seem ridiculous but then still work out. So that's also [something] we learned — that we try out everything, ever ridiculous ideas, that seem ridiculous, and later on appear to be a great idea. Because that's the way it works. You should never say that something doesn't work before trying it."

EPICA's next album is tentatively due in September.

Hammerheart Records has announced an absolute killer re-issue on deluxe CD and LP for the Chilean band Necrosis.

The reissue will include the classic The Search album from 1988 and the absolute legendary Kingdom Of Hate demo from 1987. 

Hammerheart dare say that Necrosis was at the same level of Pentagram (Chile) and Sepultura's Schizophrenia era at the second half of the ‘80s, but one also hears Exodus, Slayer, Excel and old Corrosion Of Conformity.

Absolute essential for fans of top thrash metal and South American cult alike. 

The deluxe 2CD edition will include more bonus material, the LP reissue will be the album and the demo. Top notch packaging and audio of course. Release is expected towards the end of the year.



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