German epic melodic metal band Human Fortress delivers another strong album, titled Thieves Of The Night, on March 18. Two years after the group had returned to the style of their successful first releases from the early 2000’s with Raided Land – and also introduced new vocalist Gus Monsanto (ex-Timo Tolkki’s Revolution Renaissance, ex-Adagio) - Human Fortress continue right where they left off. 

Songs such as the catchy title track, power metal hymns (“Rise Or Fall”, “Vicious Circle”) or the slightly modern - but not less epic- “Thrice Blessed” will amaze every fan of the Hannover-based band. But Thieves Of The Night additionally could appeal very well to worshippers of Virgin Steele’s ‘80s/’90s classic releases, Kamelot and Avantasia.

Tracklisting:

“Amberstow”
“Last Prayer To The Lord”
“Rise Or Fall”
“Thieves Of The Night”
“Thrice Blessed”
“Hellrider”
“Just A Graze”
“Vicious Circle”
“Smite On The Anvil”
“Dungeons Of Doom”
“Gift Of Prophecy”
“Alone”



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Finnish melodic power metal masters Thunderstone, who were rejoined by original vocalist Pasi Rantanen in 2013, have signed a worldwide deal (excluding Finland and Japan) with AFM Records.

The band's upcoming new album Apocalypse Again will be released on April 1. Apocalypse Again will be Thunderstone’s first album in 7 years. Their last release was Dirt Metal, released in 2009 via Sony Music. 



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Infamous extreme metal unit, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, have shared "Deathbed," the second track from the band's forthcoming new EP Arc.

Simply titled Arc, the over 25 minute long sludge-fueled feast finds Agoraphobic Nosebleed sounding heavier, doomier and more destructive than ever before. Believe it. Each EP in the series will represent the musical influences and tastes of each member. Details on the others will be revealed at a later date. Arc will be officially unveiled on January 22nd. 

Arc tracklisting:

“Not A Daughter”
“Deathbed”
“Gnaw”

"Deathbed":

“Not A Daughter”:

Trailer:

In related news and in conjunction with the release of Arc, both Agoraphobic Nosebleed's Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope and Altered States Of America full-lengths will be available on vinyl for the first time in over a decade.
 
Sample the trailer below:

An overwhelming, concentrated outpouring of perceptual stimuli, Agoraphobic Nosebleed's second full-length, the 2002-issued Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope, referenced the glory days of early '00s grindcore while disregarding the genre's current ideals, becoming one of the most talked-about grindcore records in recent history. The album and band were featured in numerous high-profile media outlets. Perhaps Frozen Corpse's best description came from vocalist J. Randall who surmised, "Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope is like ripping through back catalog Earache blastbeat shit armed with a submachine gun at 400 rounds per minute."
 
While the fires left burning in Frozen Corpse's wake were still smoldering, Agoraphobic set to work on a concept so bizarre, no one would believe it. With a focused mindset, and a plethora of mind-confounding ideas, the band wrote and recorded Altered States Of America, a 100-track three-CD set. Initially released on April Fools Day, 2003, Altered States Of America delivered the most ambitious Agoraphobic Nosebleed yet: completely inhuman music with a consummate disregard for its listener. Round after round, clip after clip, Agoraphobic Nosebleed unloaded an arsenal of stupefying guitar work, experimental noise and drum machine-gun blast beats while swarming vocalists hatefully taunted the listener into the crossfire. Initially released as a 10", Altered States Of America will receive the 12" treatment for the first time ever.
 
Arc, along with the vinyl editions of Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope and Altered States Of America, will be available on January 22nd. Physical preorders are available now here. Desirers of the digitals, head here.

(Photo by: Josh Sisk)

 



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Canadian grindcore legends Fuck The Facts have released the video for “Everywhere Yet Nowhere” in support of their latest album Desire Will Rot released August 2015 via their indie label Noise Salvation. The video was created by David Hall of Uneasy Sleeper and Handshake Inc. whom is also known for films such as Maryland Deathfest: The Movie (parts 1, 2 and 3), Today Is The Day, Axis of Eden: The Film, Disgorge Mexico: The Movie (Fuck The Facts), There's Bound to Be: Phil Anselmo and The Illegals, Live at The Opera House, When the Screams Come: Pentagram Live at Maryland Deathfest and Decibel's 100th Issue Show: The Movie.

Desire Will Rot was recorded and mixed by FTF guitarist Topon Das at his Apartment 2 studio in Ottawa, ON and features eleven aggressive tracks of the band's metal mastery to follow their recent split EP with Fistfuck along with 2014's Abandoned and 2013's Amer EPs plus it being their first full length since 2011's Die Miserable.

Upcoming show dates:

January
15 – Toronto, ON – Coalition
16 – Peterborough, ON – The Spill

February
5 – North Bay, ON – The Fraser Tavern
6 – Rouyn Noranda, QC – La Scène Évolu-Son

(Photo by: Dave Levitt)



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Myrath return with a new album of their special brand of Oriental metal. After many shows in many countries and over 4 long years since their last album, they're back with a new collection of great tracks simply titled Legacy being released on Nightmare / Sony/ RED to North America on February 12.

Myrath is a Franco-Tunisian metal band, yet in just a few years they’ve become a very enjoyed and respected band by the international prog-power community. Their new album Legacy promises to rocket the band higher yet, with both European and North American tour plans and their most exciting album to date.

Tracklisting:

“Jasmin”
“Believer”
“Get Your Freedom Back”
“Nobody’s Lives”
“The Needle”
“Through Your Eyes”
“The Unburnt”
“I Want To Die”
“Duat”
“Endure The Silence”
“Storm Of Lies”
“Other Side” (North American bonus track)



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BraveWords has teamed with Kelowna, BC’s leading death metal architects Gomorrah for the full album stream of The Haruspex, due out January 15 via Test Your Metal Records to follow-up their 2013 debut Perception, available for preorder here.

"Jeff Bryan and I recorded the album at my home here in the Okanagan Valley, and we did the absolute majority of the writing in the pre-production and production stages. So much of the material had existed from several years ago, but was completely overhauled and reworked several times to end up in these tracks. We weren't afraid to try things out and work over several revisions, or to take our hands off of a few of the songs that we felt very comfortable with after only the first revision. Jeff wrote the lyrics for the tracks in less than two months, and a lot of them were written and finalized in the vocal tracking stage, in front of the microphone. We weren't afraid to enable our music with production techniques. Many reviews have figured that we used samples or synthesizers in the songs, however the reality is that all of these droning noises, stutters, and otherwise 'industrial' sounds are actually either electric guitar or bass guitar, and abusing these instruments in front of their amplifiers with only two guitar effect pedals. The rest of these noises you hear are the interaction with the instrument and their environment.

“We then delivered all of the tracks to Stuart McKillop of Rain City Recorders for mixing, and he blew us away. It didn't take him long at all to catch onto what we were going for, and his consistency from one track to the next brought the tracks to the highest musical apex they could reach. Brad Boatright of Audiosiege handled the mastering, and he made certain that the product was of the outstanding final production quality for us. Brad has really yielded an outstanding quality for so many other abrasive sub-genres of metal and hardcore and he delivered that exact pinnacle of quality for us on this record as well." - Bowen Matheson

The Haruspex tracklisting:

“Imperial”
“Nine Kings Of Sulphur”
“Carcosa”
“Dismantling The Throne”
“Sitra Achra”
“Crowns Of Flesh”
“Cerulean”
“Venom And Rapture”
“Architects”
“The Mark Of Veritas”

 

 

 

 



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Mortiis has released a new video for “The Shining Lamp Of God”. "The Shining Lamp Of God" continues the story that "Doppelganger", released late last year, started. "We made two videos, although they were shot as one," Mortiis said. ""The Shining Lamp of God' is another chapter - same place, same hellhole, just escalated, I suppose. It never really ends…"

Directed by Robyn Van Swank and Nick Plotquin, “The Shining Lamp Of God” is equally rife with graphic images, bringing to life the internal struggles and demons that the song’s lyrics tackle. Whereas “Doppleganger” was conflicted and self-loathing, “The Shining Lamp Of God” metaphorically uses religious symbolism to convey an inner anger toward others’ selfishness so deep that one fails to see their own ego centrist behaviors.
 
Chilling images of physical torture perfectly encapsulate the mental anguish of Mortiis’ music – an incredible fete based on the depth of mental and emotional agony of the lyrics on Mortiis’ album, The Great Deceiver.
 
The disturbing clip leaves lasting impression – which was Mortiis’ goal after years of feeling controlled and confined by the restrictions of a record label. “The old label is history, the shackles are off, and I decided to just sell my record collection in order to finance some videos that we, and nobody else, actually have any control over,” he said. “We pretty much used to be hogtied down in terms of what we were allowed to do and not to do in our videos. I always thought that was ridiculous, like we were some sort of pop band. Ever since that time, I swore I would one day control how my music was used, and if I wanted to show someone getting injected with sewer water, I would.”
 
The new Mortiis album The Great Deceiver will be out March 4 worldwide.

“Doppelganger” video:



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Swedish classic/doom rock masters, Witchcraft, will release their new album, Nucleus, on January 15th release worldwide via Nuclear Blast. The album will be available as CD, lavish digipak (also as a t-shirt bundle), vinyl (black, clear, splatter, gold) and digital download. The band is streaming audio snippets of every album track, which can be checked out below.

Nucleus:

“Malstroem”
“Theory Of Consequence”
“The Outcast”
“Nucleus”
“An Exorcism Of Doubts”
“The Obsessed”
“To Transcend Bitterness”
“Helpless”
“Breakdown”

Limited digipak CD & 2LP vinyl bonus track:
“Chasing Rainbows”

Audio snippets:

"Theory Of Consequence":

“The Outcast”:

Nucleus, the successor of 2012's Legend, is said to be mixing the rawer side of Witchcraft’s early roots with a slightly more melancholic modern sound.

With an all new lineup (Rage Widerberg on drums and Tobias Anger on bass) the band sounds more hungry and powerful than ever before. In combination with the thrilling, yet very down-to-earth production by Pelander himself, Philip Gabriel Saxin and Anton Sundell it just throws you in dreamy sonic landscapes that will mesmerize and haunt you alike.



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A new year, and a new tour for UK death metallers Aghast! But not only that, the London outfit have also announced the release of a new EP and follow up to last year’s debut album All The Rage.

Drummer Nick Plews comments, "It’s been a little over a year since we released All The Rage and we wanted to follow it up with something that shows what we’re about now. Feeding straight off the energy we got putting that release out, we have written some new songs that show a turning point in our sound. The Something Else; Something Rotten EP is a definite step up in terms of song writing and we can’t wait to share it with everyone. People can get their first chance to hear live on the 'Something Rotten Tour' this February, so be prepared!"

Details about the Something Else; Something Rotten EP, including a release date are as of yet to be announced.

UK tour dates:

February
13 – Southampton, UK – Firehouse
14 – Bristol, UK – Gryphon
17 – Birmingham, UK – Scruffy Murphys
18 – Swansea, UK – Lemon Factory
19 – Kettering, UK – Prince Of Wales
20 – Luton, UK – Castle Tavern
21 – Camden, UK – Black Heart 



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On Friday, January 8, John Doan of MusicFrenzy.net conducted an interview with ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante. You can now listen to the chat at this location .

Speaking about the way social media has affected the way bands gauge the fan response to their music, Benante said: "What I find nowadays, because of a little thing on the Internet called comments that people feel that they could comment on anything, and they've become critics, with no experience whatsoever, and all of a sudden it's out there."

He continued: "I was just seeing something about… TOOL were playing last night in San Francisco, and I just saw some thing for a little newsblurb, and then I made the mistake of just scrolling down and seeing comments, and [it was] just fucking negativity like you wouldn't believe. 'Fuck these guys! How could they play the same…?' It's, like, 'Jesus Christ, man!'

"These are the people who will never do anything, musically in their life, or whatever. And they just feel the need that… 'I need to voice my opinion about this, how much I fucking hate this.' And it's just like… I just wish… Like I said one time, I wish we could reverse it, and some of us can go to their place, where they work, and let's just get a group of people and just comment on their fucking day."

Benante went on to say: "It just bothers me, because no one knows the work or time, effort and just everything that goes into making something. It's, like, I don't take this lightly whatsoever, and it really bothers me when I have to hear or I have to see… That's why I don't read comments, really — 'cause I don't dig it. I don't care if it's a great comment, I don't care if it's a bad comment. I try to avoid all of them, because… You know, at the end of the day, we do our best at what we do, and when you read something that says, 'Ehh, I'm not feeling it.' It's, like, 'Okay. What else could we have done to make you 'feel' it?' You know?"

ANTHRAX's long-awaited new album, "For All Kings", which will be released on February 26, 2016 via Nuclear Blast in Europe and Megaforce in the U.S.

Original DEEP PURPLE bassist has told U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine that it's "strange" he isn't being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame alongside his former bandmates.

DEEP PURPLE — which has been eligible for induction into the Rock Hall for two decades now — will finally enter the Rock Hall as part of the class of 2016. Most of the members of the band's first three lineups are being inducted, including drummer Ian Paice, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, late keyboardist Jon Lord, and various singers and bassists — Rod Evans; Ian Gillan and Roger Glover; and David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.

Simper said: "The first I knew about the Hall Of Fame induction was when I read about it and fans were complaining that I wasn't being inducted.

"Maybe I am being naive, but I always thought that if a band gets into the Hall Of Fame, then all members, past and present, are part of it. Obviously not.

"Yes, it is a little strange that I am only only one from Marks I, II and III being left out, but I shan't lose any sleep over this. It's not as if I need to be given this award to know what we did in DEEP PURPLE made an impact. And I'm sure it wasn't a decision that came from the band.'

Simper added that there is no bad blood between him and the other members of the original DEEP PURPLE. He said: "I was in regular contact with Jon Lord before he died, and Ian Paice is always sending his best wishes through mutual friends like Bernie Marsden. And I have also toured with Don Airey, with whom I get on well."

DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan recently slammed as "very silly" the Rock Hall's decision to exclude guitarist Steve Morse and keyboardist Don Airey from the band's upcoming induction.

Morse has been part of PURPLE since 1994, while Airey replaced Jon Lord in 2001.

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) will release his eighth solo album, "Infinite Entanglement", on March 1, 2016. The first trailer for the CD has just been released and can be seen below.

Speaking to Rock-Radio UK in November, Bayley stated about the upcoming effort: "It's a concept album. My first solo album was influenced by science fiction and a lot of my favorite books and also things that are happening in science fiction and artificial intelligence — with 'Silicon Messiah'; that was my first one. And then I did a full concept album with my second solo album called 'Tenth Dimension'. This follows on, really, from both of those albums, some of the ideas that I had back then, as well as some of the things that are happening in quantum physics; I've become more interested in that. So, using that, really, it's a story about someone who doesn't know if they're human. And I'm writing a book, and the album is based on the things that happen in the book."

He added: "All the fans that I've spoke to and told them about the concept and the idea, they all seem really into it. So I'm very excited."

Regarding the musical direction of his upcoming disc, Blaze said: "I'm not really limiting myself on this album. So there are elements of music that are the same as my first two solo albums, and also of my last album, and of my acoustic album."

He continued: "We've got most of the album finished. I've still got some lyrics that I've left open, but most of it's finished. And now it's listening through to these demos from rehearsals and going through those lyrics and checking them and making sure that they're not embarrassing, and all of that, and then we start recording on the 1st of December."

Bayley also talked about how he is getting his hardcore fans involved in the making of his new album. He said: "I had an idea for a song. Because it's a concept, there's a certain part of the story where my central character is in a dream, and he doesn't quite know what he's hearing. And it's messages from his past, and it's people saying, 'Where are you?' And so, I thought, well, what I wanted was, not just in English, but in different languages, I wanted this phrase: 'Where are you?' And I thought it might be something that I could involve my fans in, 'cause I need about a hundred people saying 'Where are you?' at different times to create this kind of dream, almost nightmare, and it's an intro to one of the songs on the album. So what I've asked people to do is say the phrase, and I've put a demo of the phrase and a couple of different people saying it, so they know the kind of cadence to use. And they say it in their own language, and then they send me the sample. And the best ones then I'll use in the song on the album. Someone would have to do it, so I thought, 'Well, why not get my fans who actually support me to do it?'"

The 52-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left in 1994 to join MAIDEN, with whom he recorded two studio albums — 1995's "The X Factor" 1998's and "Virtual XI" — before Bruce Dickinson returned to the group.

Bayley released a career-spanning double-disc collection, "Soundtracks Of My Life", on October 31, 2013.

The singer's latest studio album, "The King Of Metal", was issued in March 2012.

Finnish gothic metallers THE 69 EYES will release their eleventh album, "Universal Monsters", on April 22 via Nuclear Blast. The CD was recorded with producer Johnny Lee Michaels at his Helsinki-based Bat Cave Studios.

The first single from "Universal Monsters", a song called "Jet Fighter Plane", will be released on January 15. The accompanying music video was directed by Ville Juurikkala, who has previously worked with NIGHTWISH, AMORPHIS and MICHAEL MONROE. Juurikkala also created the "Universal Monsters" cover artwork, which portrays THE 69 EYES members in movie monster lighting, showing them as classic and timeless creatures.

Says THE 69 EYES vocalist Jyrki: "The covers are planned and designed as an old-school CD covers. Remember when the booklets used to be as exciting as the album itself?! It will actually have five different covers being such a folder — each member of the band can be used as a cover creature of their own.

"Ville has really succeeded in capturing the classic movie vibe for the shots without any special make-up or photo shopping.

"THE 69 EYES are the universal rock 'n' roll monsters — not so many of us left anymore. So from real fans, I wish they would get the actual CD in their hands to get the full album treatment as we have planned it to be experienced!"

"Universal Monsters" track listing:

01. Dolce Vita02. Jet Fighter Plane03. Blackbird Pie04. Lady Darkness05. Stiv & Johnny06. Never07. Miss Pastis08. Jerusalem09. Shallow Graves10. Rock 'N' Roll Junkie11. Blue

The first making-of "Universal Monsters" teaser trailer takes fans into the beginning of the album's recording sessions with producer Johnny Lee Michaels and drummer Jussi 69 in nighttime Helsinki.

Regarding "Jet Fighter Plane", Jyrki said: "The song has a dark early '80s kind of vibe. I wrote the lyrics those Cold War-era times in my mind. Strangely, the world has totally returned into those dark days again after recording the song."

He added: "It's been some 15 years since we recorded 'Blessed Be' and 'Paris Kills' albums with producer Johnny Lee Michaels here in Helsinki. You can consider 'Universal Monsters' as a follow-up to those records. Nobody makes this kind of music anymore."

Video footage of new EVANESCENCE guitarist Jen Majura (EQUIBLIBRIUM, KNORKATOR) playing the band's song "Call Me When You're Sober" can be seen below.

Majura recently told EMP Rock Invasion about how she landed the EVANESCENCE gig: "I have no idea. [Laughs] No, seriously… My name was somehow recommended by a sweet friend of mine, Alex Skolnick of TESTAMENT, and Dave Eggar — he's also known as a very good cellist, and he's a musician working in New York. And all of a sudden, there was this e-mail popping up: 'Are you interested in joining…?' And I was, like, 'What the fuck?' So I stopped breathing until my face turned kind of blue. And then afterwards, I was, like, 'Okay, I've gotta read it again.' Three days later, I found myself suddenly on an airplane, flying over to New York to meet Amy Lee. And we had some very, very cool talks. She's an awesome person. She's a very, very great musician. And so I found myself suddenly inside of his empire called EVANESCENCE."

Regarding the fact that she didn't even have to "audition" for EVANESCENCE, Jen said: "Yeah. To be honest, I was kind of concerned. I told [Amy], 'Do you want me to bring my guitar?' And, 'Would you like me to audition?' And she was totally, like: 'Nah, I know you can play. I've seen plenty of videos of you. And I know your live experience and you're touring the world, so… No, just come over and let's have some food and talk.' Yeah, and that's it. So, actually, what I was surprised by very, very much was that she actually had another guitar player on her list, and that was the guitar player of Alice Cooper [Nita Strauss]. And she's now with Alice Cooper and I'm now with EVANESCENCE. This is, like… I still can't believe it."

On the topic of how her life has changed since it was announced that she was joining EVANESCENCE, Jen said: "Well, I have to say, it became official the 7th of August. I have to say, in that moment when it went online, I was in Sweden for a guitar camp. It was in the middle of nowhere; there was nothing but a lake and thirty guitar players. And suddenly, all of a sudden, my phone kept [lighting up with message notifications]. I was, like, 'Okay, maybe it's official now.' What happened is that I received tons of e-mails every day; it was insane. It became okay in the meantime, but in the very first days, it was, like, between 1,200 and 1,500 e-mails every day. And, of course, a lot of people [congratulated me], and this is very sweet. I would like to say now, thank you to all of my colleagues and friends and partners in business and everybody who just [congratulated] me on that. It was like having a birthday or something."

EVANESCENCE re-emerged after a three-year hiatus with select, intimate shows in November in Nashville, Dallas and Los Angeles. The influential, Grammy-winning band also played at Ozzfest Japan, the first major international music festival to ever travel to Japan.

"Hair I Go Again", a documentary about the determination and failures of a former hair band chasing its dreams, will be released worldwide on March 10.

The three-minute opening sequence from the film can be seen below.

The year was 1985. Thousands of miles away from the sonic debauchery of the Sunset Strip, two teenage friends shared aspirations of glam rock grandeur. Freshly permed and taking a page straight out of Hit Parader, a hungry, determined band was born. Fame and fortune, however, remained out of reach and the group unceremoniously imploded... probably over some chick.

Fast forward thirty years. Facing a mid-life crossroads, Kyle Kruger and Steve McClure set out on an improbable journey in order to fulfill their dreams of achieving rock and roll stardom. With credit cards maxed out and the 401k cashed in, the pair risk everything in hopes of reclaiming the magic they had as a band over a quarter century ago.

It's a story about a lifelong friendship, insurmountable odds and dealing with the always present thought of "what if." It's a tale of rediscovery, determination, triumphs and failures.

Because first and last chances happen only once.

Featuring candid interviews with some of the most influential musicians and industry professionals in the business, including Eddie Trunk ("That Metal Show"), Jeff Keith and Frank Hannon (TESLA), Ron Keel (KEEL), Steve Blaze (LILLIAN AXE), Frank Bello and Joey Belladonna (ANTHRAX), Les Warner (THE CULT), as well as members of KIX, STRYPER, QUEENSRŸCHE, QUIET RIOT, WARRANT, MOTÖRHEAD, L.A. GUNS and more.

The carillon in Oslo, Norway's City Hall bell tower is paying tribute to iconic MOTÖRHEAD frontman Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister by playing the band's song "Electricity" every day at 6:00 p.m. from January 7 until June 1. Other tunes that can be heard during the day include the "Super Mario" theme, "Hurt" by Trent Reznor, and "Imagine" by John Lennon.

Video footage of Oslo City Hall's Lemmy tribute can be seen below (courtesy of Aftenposten).

Oslo's 49-bell carillon has long been a traditional part of daily life in the Norwegian capital, chiming on the quarter-hour and also playing an occasional concert. It is situated in Pipervika in central downtown Oslo.

When Norway's Alexander Rybak won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009, the carillon played his winning song "Fairytale".

According to Carillon.org, the Oslo City Hall's first carillon was installed in 1952, consisting of 38 bells. The four largest bells were cast by Olsen Nauen; the 34 other bells came from the Causard foundry. As the Millennium was approaching, and with the City of Oslo celebrating its 1000th anniversary and the City Hall its 50th, it was decided to install a new, enlarged carillon. The order was subsequently given to Olsen Nauen bellfoundry. With its 49 bells and a total (bronze) weight of 19,671kg, this instrument is now the largest carillon in the Nordic countries.

Lemmy, who just celebrated his 70th birthday on Christmas Eve (December 24), learned two days later that he was afflicted with an aggressive form of cancer. He died on December 28 in Los Angeles.

MOTÖRHEAD was revered by both metal and punk fans, and Lemmy was considered an icon for his musical talent and his embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle.

Lemmy had been dealing with serious health issues for the past two years, including getting a pacemaker in 2013 and suffering from a hematoma in 2014. But despite 40 years of hard living and drinking, he continued to tour and record at a feverish pace.

The band was forced to cancel or postpone a number of shows last year due to Lemmy's poor health, which also forced him to cut back on his drinking and give up smoking.

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and the band's former singer, Tony Martin, are among the musicians who attended the unveiling ceremony for a plaque honoring legendary drummer Cozy Powell (RAINBOW, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, BLACK SABBATH, WHITESNAKE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) on January 7 in Cirencester, England.

Martin took to his Facebook page after the event to write: "Well, what a great day. I attended the unveiling of Cozy Powell's memorial plaque in his hometown of Cirencester, along with Brian May, Neil Murray and Tony Iommi... And, to my surprise, [I] was greeted by Tony Iommi VERY warmly. It's the first conversation of any length I have had with him in 15 years! And it turns out we may well be working together soon!"

In a 2012 interviw with Über Röck, Martin talked about how it felt when he got that call asking him if he wanted to be a part of BLACK SABBATH: He said: "It was weird, because my manager at the time was already friends with them. I mean, they used to go to school together, and he was their tour manager during the '70s. Basically, he gave me a call one day and said, "Oi, kid, I want you meet me somewhere, we're gonna take and drive," and I said, "Oh, alright, where we going?" and he said just to meet him. So, I met him and we drove for a while, and ended up at this big house. He got out and rang the doorbell and Iommi answered the door... I was like, "Bloody hell, you could have warned me!" But in I went, nervous as hell, played him a few things and next thing I had audition in London, and that was it — I was in!" Regarding Iommi's criticisms levelled at Martin in Iommi's "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath" book (referring to the Martin period, especially the touring phase following the release of "Cross Purposes" in 1994, the guitarist lambasted his former singer as "unprofessional" and having "no stage presence"), Martin said: "It surprises me. I mean, they never said anything to me. Surely, if you've got a problem, the first person you should say something to is the person that's in the band with you... You don't wait ten years. It sounds like a really stupid thing to say, as they didn't say anything to my face — and, if that's the case, then more fool them for not saying anything, because, you know, we could have fixed it. I said to them, endlessly, that if there was anything they wanted changed, done differently, just to say and we could fix it, but clearly they didn't, they hadn't got the guts to, obviously, and to write about it in a book afterwards seems a bit daft to me. I'm not bitter about it, but it is surprising...it seems a bit stupid to say that after the event." On the topic of BLACK SABBATH's seemingly deliberate attempts to expunge the Tony Martin period of the band's history, Martin said: "It seems a bit of a waste of ten years of the band's history. To cut that out, they're not just cutting me out, they're cutting themselves out. It seems like cutting your own nose off to spite your face. Why would you want to delete ten years of your history? It seems to me that they've got their minds elsewhere, and whatever brings them the most money seems to be what they go for. I mean, the Ozzy reunion. How many times do you want to go and pay to see them do the same stuff? Okay, people argue that those old songs are people's favorites. Well; it's probably that way because you keep ramming it down people's throats and don't give them a chance to buy anything else. It seems disjointed and disconnected to me, and I don't understand why they would want to even cut themselves out of that history."

BLACK SABBATH released six albums with Tony Martin on vocals: "The Eternal Idol" (1987), "Headless Cross" (1989), "Tyr" (1990), "Cross Purposes" (1994), "Cross Purposes Live" (1995) and "Forbidden" (1995).

Martin's last solo album, "Scream", was released in November 2005 via MTM Music. The CD featured legendary drummer Cozy Powell (BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW, WHITESNAKE) on the track "Raising Hell" as well as songwriting contributions by another SABBATH member, Geoff Nicholls.

Sunday World has posted a new interview with Black Star Riders vocalist Ricky Warwick and he talks about the death Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

“He was brilliant and loyal and intelligent, much more than people realize. He was very good to me and very helpful to me. He inspired me and I learned so much from him. He taught me don’t take any crap and don’t let people change you. The last time I spoke to him was only three months ago, but I think his lifestyle finally caught up with him. To me Lemmy and Phil Lynott were the icons or rock. The heart of rock ’n’ roll died with Lemmy.”

Time is reporting that scientists recently discovered four new elements, and all will be added to the periodic table. The official names of each element have yet to be decided, but one man has opted for a new heavy metal to be named “Lemmium.”

Change.org is the home of a petition started by Jon Wright from York, UK hoping the International Union Of Pure And Applied Chemistry will name the new element after Lemmy Kilmister.

The organization has rules about naming elements, saying that it must be named after “a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property or a scientist", but Wright contends Kilmister meets the criteria since a star was named after him.

Lemmy Kilmister vowed to come back as a ghost in his last ever interview, reports Mirror.co.uk. The Motörhead frontman, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer just two days before his death on December 28th, spoke about how he felt lucky to have lived as long as he had.

Asked if he was going to continue performing, he told German TV: "What, after death? No! I'll have to stop then - I think. But you never know, I could haunt somewhere."

Read more at Mirror.co.uk.

Check out the BraveWords scribes tributes to Lemmy at this location.

Lemmy’s Motörhead bandmates, drummer Mikkey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell have posted messages about their fallen comrade.

From Dee:  “Lemmy! My bandmate. My friend. My brother. There are no words to describe the emotions running through my mind at this point but I could write thousands and thousands of words of all we created and experienced together.

“It has been a true honor and a privilege to play with you and share all this time brother. I celebrate every moment we shared…you bastard. I know I’ll see you sometime in the future and maybe I’ll join your band again…but this time, let’s go a bit slower buddy.

“There is a big black hole here now that no one can ever fill. No one... Later Lem, Mikkey

“P.S I am deeply moved by all the care and love that has come in from fans, friends and fellow band mates from all over the world. I appreciate each and every one of you. Now, let’s make Lemmy proud and carry on his legacy.”

From Campbell: “Unfortunately by now everyone reading this post will have found out that Motörhead is no longer. I'm still trying to come to terms with everything but I've been totally overwhelmed with the well wishes and stories about how Lemmy & Motörhead affected people's lives.

“I genuinely would like to thank everyone who's supported Motörhead over the last 40 years. Please turn it up to 11 and celebrate Lemmy's life to the full."

Motörhead manager Todd Singerman revealed to Sky News that Lemmy went to the hospital two days after his birthday bash at LA’s Whisky A Go Go on December 13th because he wasn’t feeling well. Tests were done, and doctors discovered he had terminal cancer which had spread to his brain.

Singerman told Sky News, "Nobody had any idea, we just learned Saturday, two days ago, that he even had cancer and the doctor told him he had between two to six months to live. He goes today as I was making calls to Phil and Mikkey telling them to come on out so they could have a last goodbye while he was still upbeat and everything. He was feeling mighty low... He wasn't expected to die like that.

"He gets home (from tour), we have a big birthday party for him at the Whisky A Go Go. His friends came down and played. Two days later I could tell he wasn't feeling good so we took him to the hospital, they release him, then after the brain scan they found the cancer in his brain and his neck... The doctor comes with the result a couple of days later and says... it's terminal."

Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee told Sweden’s Expressen: ”Motörhead is over, of course. Lemmy was Motörhead. But the band will live on in the memories of many. We won’t be doing any more tours or anything. And there won’t be any more records. But the brand survives, and Lemmy lives on in the hearts of everyone.”

Read more at Expressen.

Motörhead’s 22nd and final studio album, Bad Magic, was released on August 28th, 2015. The album is featured on BraveWords’ BravePicks 2015, ranking at #18.

Bad Magic tracklisting:

"Victory or Die"
"Thunder & Lightning"
"Fire Storm Hotel"
"Shoot Out All Of Your Lights"
"The Devil"
"Electricity"
"Evil Eye"
"Teach Them How To Bleed"
"Till The End"
"Tell Me Who To Kill"
"Choking On Your Screams"
"When The Sky Comes Looking For You"
"Sympathy For The Devil" (Rolling Stones cover)

 



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Texas heavy rockers DROWNING POOL will release their new album, "Hellelujuah", on February 5 via eOne Music. The follow-up to 2013's "Resilience" was recorded with renowned producer Jason Suecof (AUGUST BURNS RED, DEICIDE, DEATH ANGEL).

"Hellelujuah" track listing:

01. Push02. By The Blood03. Drop04. Hell To Pay05. We Are The Devil06. Snake Charmer07. My Own Way08. Goddamn Vultures09. Another Name10. Sympathy Depleted11. Stomping Ground12. Meet The Bullet13. All Saints Day

The song called "Hell To Pay" can be streamed below. "It's about the futility of regret," says DROWNING POOL vocalist Jasen Moreno. "It's about the danger in second guessing yourself. It's about battling depression. It's about closure."

"We're excited as hell to announce the release of our new record titled 'Hellelujah'," says the band. "This is the most metal record from DROWNING POOL to date. Can we get a Hellelujah? Amen!"

DROWNING POOL last year embarked on the second leg of its "Sinner Unlucky 13th Anniversary Tour", on which the band played its 2001 debut album, "Sinner", from start to finish.

The "Sinner" album arrived in June 2001 and featured the monster single "Bodies", plus follow-up rock radio hits "Sinner" and "Tear Away".

Original DROWNING POOL frontman Dave Williams, who sang on "Sinner", passed away from heart disease on the band's tour bus in August 2002, while the group was out promoting the record.

In January 2004, the band announced the addition of singer Jason "Gong" Jones. Their sophomore effort, "Desensitized", followed several months later. In 2006, Ryan McCombs assumed the vocal duties, and a year later they released "Full Circle", followed by a self-titled album in 2010. McCombs, the only singer to ever record more than one album with the group, departed the following year, and was replaced by SUICIDE HOOK vocalist Jasen Moreno, who made his official debut on "Resilience".

Professionally filmed video footage of FEAR FACTORY performing the song "Replica" on July 18, 2015 at the Resurrection Fest in Viveiro, Spain can be seen below.

FEAR FACTORY's latest album, "Genexus", was released on August 7, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The follow-up to 2012's "The Industrialist" was co-produced by longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber, along with guitarist Dino Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell and mixed by Andy Sneap (ARCH ENEMY, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD). Artwork was once again handled by Anthony Clarkson. Drums on "Genexus" were performed by Mike Heller (MALIGNANCY).

The "Dielectric" video was filmed with director Ramon Boutviseth, who has previously worked with TRIVIUM, NONPOINT, DARKEST HOUR, INCUBUS and ALL THAT REMAINS, among others.

FEAR FACTORY last year parted ways with bassist Matt DeVries (previously of CHIMAIRA, where he played guitar, and SIX FEET UNDER) and replaced him with Tony Campos (ex-SOULFLY, STATIC-X, PRONG, MINISTRY).

"Relentless", the new video from Whittier, California's EXMORTUS, can be seen below. The James Pesature-produced clip was filmed at the Gramercy Theater in New York City while the band was on tour with former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman.

"Relentless" is taken from EXMORTUS's latest album, "Ride Forth", which is being released today (Friday, January 8) via Prosthetic. The follow-up to 2014's "Slave To The Sword" was recorded by Zack Ohren (IMMOLATION, SUFFOCATION) and features cover artwork by Philip Lawvere (KREATOR, CELTIC FROST).

"Ride Forth" was recorded during a break in the band's vigorous touring itinerary last year at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California. Featuring nine tracks filled with dominating riffs and gut-wrenching vocals, the effort contains the group's heaviest and most virtuosic material to date.

"Ride Forth" track listing:

01. Speed Of The Strike02. Relentless03. For The Horde04. Let Us Roam05. Black Sails06. Hymn Of Hate07. Appassionata08. Death To Tyrants09. Fire And Ice

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

According to The Pulse Of Radio, TOOL kicked off its 2016 North American tour on Wednesday night (January 6) at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, performing the same set list that they delivered at their single 2015 show last Halloween in Arizona and opening with a cover of LED ZEPPELIN's "No Quarter". Also like they did at the fall gig, the band played a new instrumental called "Descending".

The stage show featured an almost overpowering array of lasers, along with singer Maynard James Keenan — in his usual shadowy corner near the back of the stage — dressed in a costume that Rolling Stone described as either "an armored, 'Dark Knight'-era Batman or a riot cop." The band also rolled out its now customary barrage of video images behind them as they played.

Guitarist Adam Jones told The Pulse Of Radio a while back how visuals have always played a major role in the band's music. "I've just always thought in vision, I mean, just, like, putting on headphones when I was a kid and trying to dream stuff while I was listening to music," he said. "I guess I still do that today when I play. But it's a lot more emotional than visual and I know that sounds pretentious, but it really is, what the four of us do. The visuals just kind of, like, bring themselves in it."

TOOL hasn't performed more than 20 shows in a single year since 2007.

Jones recently spoke to Rolling Stone about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2006's "10,000 Days" album. He said: "I'll tell you, it's wonderful. Things are really flowing and going really well, and I'm just blown away at the stuff that's coming together. I'm excited and can't wait for it to be done. It's something I've been missing for a long time [laughs], that beautiful collaboration that we have because we're all so different and have different tastes. But again, when you are all meeting in the middle and that thing you do that meets in the middle is just beautiful, it's very rewarding. So yes, I'm very happy."

He continued: "We probably have 20 potential song ideas now. Of course, 20 won't be on the record. We're just jamming. But I'll tell you, there's nothing better than having too many good songs then not enough. It's great. You pick your faves."

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister is featured in a new commercial from Finnish dairy company Valio. The 40-second spot was filmed just weeks before the iconic MOTÖRHEAD frontman's death at the end of last year.

The new commercial, which has just been released, is a remake of a 1990s milk ad that is well known in Finland. It shows Lemmy exiting a gas station, turning to the camera and saying, "I don't drink milk, and I never will… you asshole."

According to the Associated Press, the spot was filmed in Helsinki on December 6, shortly before MOTÖRHEAD's concert at the Hartwall Areena.

Behind-the-scenes photos from the making of the commercial can be found on the Talouselämä web site.

Valio released a statement saying that the commercial "is offered in celebration of the life of a lovely, exceptional man — a man who celebrated life so vibrantly himself."

The company added: "We were first shooting a remake of an iconic Finnish milk ad. The tone of this ad that was shot a month ago was changed to make it a heartfelt tribute, however modest. A take that came late in the shoot was selected — one of Lemmy's brilliant improv moments that was never in the script. This was our magical encounter with a great man — and we’re honoured to share it with the world. Thank you, Lemmy."

Lemmy, who just celebrated his 70th birthday on Christmas Eve (December 24), learned two days later that he was afflicted with an aggressive form of cancer. He died on December 28 in Los Angeles.

MOTÖRHEAD was revered by both metal and punk fans, and Lemmy was considered an icon for his musical talent and his embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle.

Lemmy had been dealing with serious health issues for the past two years, including getting a pacemaker in 2013 and suffering from a hematoma in 2014. But despite 40 years of hard living and drinking, he continued to tour and record at a feverish pace.

The band was forced to cancel or postpone a number of shows last year due to Lemmy's poor health, which also forced him to cut back on his drinking and give up smoking.

Swedish doom metal masters, Avatarium, released their new album, The Girl With The Raven Mask, back in October via Nuclear Blast/Metalville Records. Today the band reveals the music video for the song “Pearls And Coffins”.

The video was filmed in Södra Teatern and Stora Vika, directed by Johan Bååth and produced by Robert Lundmark and Magnus Johansson from Bobin Film. Lundmark was also responsible for the editing.

Says Director Johan Bååth: ”When I first heard “Pearls & Coffins”, the vulnerable beauty and violent darkness of the song really struck me. "Machine guns and soulless fashion" I pictured a cold war-like dystopian concrete dreamworld from another time in the past. There when everything is lost, you let your deepest inner emotional feelings out, no matter how dark they appear.

“The fascination for and showing violence is always tricky and it will and should always affect you and make you think twice. I feel that the video and the lyrics are about our deeper, darker corners inside our human mind and in our hearts of momentarily darkness where violence might set seed and may grow. Showing the shoot-out was meant as a personal metaphor for just that and of course not to encourage violence in any way, shape or form.

“Before making this video I was in close contact with my friend and filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund and his wife and stylist Bea Åkerlund and we agreed to make Jennie Ann really stand out as a flawless Post War-Lipstick killer and a Femme Fatale. Bea recommended an upcoming Swedish fashion stylist: Christopher Insulander (LINK) who is really cool and innovative in a way that would make a huge difference in the appearance of especially Jennie's look and outfit. I truly think his work and creation is a piece of art that really makes the video look amazing and really stand out as something different for time to come…”

The Girl With The Raven Mask tracklisting:

Digi CD
“Girl With The Raven Mask”
“The January Sea”
“Pearls And Coffins”
“Hypnotized”
“Ghostlight”
“Run Killer Run”
“Iron Mule”
“The Master Thief”

Bonus DVD (live @ Hammer Of Doom 2014):
“Moonhorse”
“Bird Of Prey”
“All I Want”
“Tides Of Telepathy”
“Deep Well”
“Pandora’s Egg”
“Avatarium”

CD
“Girl With The Raven Mask”
“The January Sea”
“Pearls And Coffins”
“Hypnotized”
“Ghostlight”
“Run Killer Run”
“Iron Mule”
“The Master Thief”

2LP

Side A:
“Girl With The Raven Mask”
“The January Sea”

Side B:
“Pearls And Coffins”
“Hypnotized”

Side C:
“Ghostlight”
“Run Killer Run”

Side D:
“Iron Mule”
“The Master Thief”

“Hypnotized” lyric video:

“Girl With The Raven Mask” lyric video:
 



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LAMB OF GOD and MEGADETH drummer Chris Adler has praised METALLICA's "...And Justice For All" for revolutionizing metal drumming and singled out MEGADETH's "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" as his "Bible of all heavy metal."

Chris told U.K.'s Rhythm magazine: "['Justice'] changed a lot of things for a lot of people. The drum production was unlike anything that had been heard up until that point and the clarity was unrivaled. There were people certainly playing faster and more intricately, but most of the time, you couldn't actually hear what the heck they were doing. This was the first time where everything was crystal clear. In fact, I don't think there has really been that much of a revolutionary change in drum sounds since '...And Justice for All'."

He continued: "I don't think musically it was on par with what MEGADETH was doing at the same time with 'Rust In Peace', but production-wise and drum-wise it was a game changer for everybody in the whole metal scene.

"I know after touring with Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] for years, he was very hands-on [during the making of 'Justice'], he had a lot to do with that process. Hopefully maybe someday I'll look back and see one of my albums as a game changer as well but I loved his playing on that record. I wanted to mimic that, I would tune my drum heads down as low as they would go, I started taping quarters and fifty cent coins onto bass drums and using plastic beaters to try to get that sound. His playing on that album was fantastic. I still listen to it to this day, impressed."

Speaking about "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", Adler said: "MEGADETH has always been about the guitars and that's why I love the band but Gar [Samuelson] did have that jazzy feel, especially on the first record, 'Killing Is My Business', where everything felt like it was just a hair away from running off the tracks. It was just chaos and he had that jazzy style and sped those things way, way up."

He continued: "'Peace Sells' changed the whole game as far as hard rock and metal music goes. To this day, I would still consider it to be Bible of all heavy metal. Gar was the guy that really made me think a little bit outside of the box because he was not a typical metal player at the time.

"There was obviously Lars and Louie [Clemente] from TESTAMENT, great double bass chops, Dave Lombardo, really fast double-bass stuff, but Gar was the guy shifting it up a little bit.

"I just really liked the idea that even though he was taking a backseat to the guitar players, you couldn't replace him. He had a very unique sound within the band and so that's what I've always tried to go for myself."

Former DOWN guitarist and current CROWBAR frontman Kirk Windstein has suggested that President Obama faked his tears during his speech on gun control, calling it "the worst fucking attempt i have ever seen at caring."

On Tuesday (January 7), Obama announced a series of new measures to strengthen gun controls, including requiring all gun sellers to conduct background checks before selling a firearm.

In a public post on his personal Facebook page, Windstein addressed Obama's emotional announcement by accusing the President of putting on a show for political purposes.

He wrote: "OBAMA'S FAKE TEARS ARE THE WORST FUCKING ATTEMPT I HAVE EVER SEEN AT CARING...HE HAS DESTROYED THIS COUNTRY, AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO, UNTIL THE DAY HE LEAVES OFFICE. I AM NOT A GUN OWNER, NOR AM I A REPUBLICAN. JUST A DRUG FREE, TAX PAYING CITIZEN."

During Tuesday's passionate announcement, Obama wiped tears away from his eye while discussing the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 kids and six staffers dead.

"First-graders in Newtown. First-graders," Obama said, as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day."

It is estimated that there are 32,000 gun-related deaths in the United States annually.

Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen has checked in with the following update:

"First show in Australia and of 2016 was a blast! Feels great to be back on stage and to be back here, we were welcomed so warmly!!! Thank you Brisbane! Off to Sydney now, who shall we see tomorrow?"

Fan-filmed video from the Brisbane show, which took place at the Tivoli, can be viewed below.

It was reported back in November that Nightwish had sold out their biggest UK show to date, headlining the 12,000 capacity sold-out Wembley Arena on December 19th. The band made history as the first Finnish band to ever headline the venue. Metal Hammer has posted behind-the-scenes footage from the show below. Expect more footage to surface in the coming days.

The setlist on the night was as follows:

"Shudder Before the Beautiful"
"Yours Is an Empty Hope"
"Ever Dream"
"Storytime"
"My Walden"
"While Your Lips Are Still Red"
"Élan"
"Weak Fantasy"
"7 Days to the Wolves"
"Alpenglow"
"The Poet and the Pendulum"
"Nemo"
"I Want My Tears Back"
"Stargazers"
"Ghost Love Score"
"Last Ride of the Day"
"The Greatest Show On Earth" (with guest appearance by professor Richard Dawkins)

Behind-the-scenes footage:

 

 
Fan-filmed video:

 



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Tornado frontman Superstar Joey Severance has checked in with the following update:

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Tornado are very proud to present to you our cover of the Loudness classic 'Dark Desire' This song was recorded during the sessions for our latest album, Black President, but because I was not satisfied with my vocal performance, we didn’t put it on the album. 

Musically speaking, the guys did a great job with the song. Minoru Niihara is a fantastic singer and there was no way I was going to tarnish his good name by being a scrub (not to mention, Akira Takasaki is my favorite guitarist of all time!) so I thought to myself, 'Who is the best singer I know in Finland? Why, Amoral’s Ari Koivunen of course!' I got in touch with Ari to ask if he would be willing to do a 'duet' with me on this and without hesitation he agreed! 

I then took the trip to Helsinki and went Amoral guitarist Ben Varon’s Imperial Cassette Recording Facilities where he produced and recorded the vocals for us. (For those who might not know, or remember, Ben played leads on the Tornado debut album Amsterdam, Hellsinki). 

We hope you enjoy this as much as we do, and if there are anyrRadio outlets out there interested in playing this, you can contact us directly and we will send you the WAV file! On behalf of Tornado, Enjoy!"

Severance recently posted the following message regarding Tornado's new song, "David And Goliath":

"I'm not sure if folks are not making it past the first verse/chorus or what, but I've gotten a few messages asking why I am referring to people as 'faggots' and 'losers' or why am I spreading such 'hate.'

To be very clear, this is a ANTI-BULLYING song and while the words are mine, I am just the messenger, speaking for those who can't/won't speak for up for themselves.

Here are the lyrics if you find that the vocals are not enunciated enough!"

Tornado signed a worldwide deal with Wormholedeath earlier this year for the release of their sophomore album, Black President. To celebrate, the band released their official video for the track "David And Goliath”. The album has had limited release thus far and is due to hit the shelves worldwide on July 28th.

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

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

Tracklisting:

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



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Earthburner has arrived. For Broken Hope fans “in the know,” Earthburner is the grindcore entity that Broken Hope’s Jeremy Wagner first created in 2002 when BH was entering its “metal hibernation” period. Now, with the arrival of the New Year, Earthburner unveil new material for the first time.

Additionally, the release comes with the premiere of the brand new video for the track “Total War” which you can enjoy below.

Regarding Earthburner, Wagner says: “I’m happy to announce that Earthburner finally has legs and now has material for the whole world to hear and see. I originally planned to make Earthburner a full-time successor to Broken Hope years ago. In fact, I announced it to the masses in 2002, and immediately received positive responses from fans and press-plugs in almost every metal mag available at the time. However, some things in life side-tracked me (like focusing on being a novelist and getting married and moving), and that all caused Earthburner to be put on the ‘back-burner.’

That said, Earthburner was always on my mind… I was still writing and demoing riffs and extreme music that no one had yet heard, and with each passing year, some fans would ask whatever was I going to do with Earthburner (and I yearned to do something to finally answer that question). The fact that anyone was still interested delighted me and also made me anxious to get it going again.

I’m intensely passionate about pure grindcore and had always wanted to a genuine grindcore band that would be a separate monster from Broken Hope in terms of style, genre, tuning, vocals, and pure blasting ferocity. It was my love for bands like Terrorizer, Napalm Death, Nasum, Repulsion, General Surgery, and Cripple Bastards who all inspired me for decades and really drove me to do something faithful to this über-extreme genre.

Fast-forward to 2011… a dream came true when my debut novel, The Armageddon Chord, was published and became a bestseller that year. That success provided me with the opportunity to pursue more artistic desires. So, I decided to get back into music and concentrate on making Earthburner a real goddamn band. I soon hooked up with drummer, Mike Miczek (who later joined Broken Hope), and vocalist, Ryan Richards (from Chicago grind maniacs, Everything Must Die), and we began writing our asses off. We wrote a dozen songs and later decided to use three of them for an official EP (which is released today) and we even did a sick music video for one of the tracks, “Total War,” that I feel is a perfect companion to this EP that listeners will dig.

Why did it take a little longer for this EP and video to come out? Well, two things happened: 1.) I had to file the name, trademark, and all copyrights to the Earthburner name with lawyers and sit on this material. And, 2.) Broken Hope came back into my life full-time in 2012, and because of BH, I had little time for anything else - be  it writing new books or doing Earthburner.

This EP is just a sample of what to expect from an Earthburner album. Mike Miczek and I have demoed around 15 more songs at my home studio, and we are hoping a legit record label will sign us on so that Earthburner can record and release a full-length album this year. We already have tons of songs ready to go - we just need a label home to put it out. Until then, enjoy this new Earthburner EP and video, and cheers to you all!” - Jeremy Wagner

Get your copy of the Earthburner debut now at this location.

2012 EP by Earthburner

 

 



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For the last two decades, Church Of Misery have sawed off only the finest in uncompromising doom. The revered Japanese masters are lifelong practitioners of the genre, honouring and extrapolating upon the Sabbathian legacy from which all detuned life springs forth. Church Of Misery's sixth and latest album, And Then There Were None, is another blood-soaked trip through homicidal hell, with songs inspired by killers both infamous and obscure. But while the murderous inspiration for the tunes remains the same, the cast of characters is almost completely new.

And Then There Were None is set for a March 4th release via Rise Above Records.

In 2014, Church Of Misery bassist and mastermind Tatsu Mikami was forced to assemble a new lineup for the band's follow-up to 2013's Thy Kingdom Scum. His chosen few reside on American soil: Blood Farmers guitarist Dave "Depraved" Szulkin, Earthride drummer Eric Little (ex-Internal Void) and Repulsion frontman (and former Cathedral bassist) Scott Carlson on vocals.

"All the musicians involved in this album are undoubtedly the best in this scene," Tatsu enthuses. "So you will enjoy listening to all play tastefully."
 
And Then There Were None marks Tatsu's first Church Of Misery endeavor with foreign musicians. He, Szulkin and Little met in Maryland to rehearse the bassist's riff-ready material.

"It was a challenge because there was not much time to make this record-only two weeks," he explains. "One week for rehearsals and then one week to record all materials. Before I arrived in Maryland, I was a little bit nervous. But after the first rehearsal, I knew it was gonna be a good album."
 
Carlson wrote all the lyrics for And Then There Were None, which also marks the first time he's done vocals for a full-length album since Repulsion's genre-inventing classic Horrified.

"I was afraid to listen to it for a while because I haven't recorded a full album of vocals in almost 30 years," he says. "Once Tatsu had mixed everything I listened back and was able to enjoy it. The riffs are so strong on this record that even my 50 year-old vocal chords couldn't bring it down! I'm very pleased to be a part of this and I can't wait for Church Of Misery fans to hear it!"

And Then There Were None tracklisting:

“The Hell Benders”
“Make Them Die Slowly”
“Doctor Death”
“River Demon”
“Confessions Of An Embittered Soul”
“Suicide Journey”
“Murderfreak Blues”



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