Scottish death/grind powerhouse MAN MUST DIE will will release its new album, "Peace Was Never An Option", on October 28 in Europe and one day later in North America via Lifeforce Records. The CD features a guest appearance by Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, ex-SEPULTURA) on one song.

Comments the band: "This album is by far the angriest yet most diverse one we have done yet. It's the next level for MAN MUST DIE. We couldn't be happier with how it's turned out. It's brutal beyond the word and yet more melodic and memorable than ever.

"With 'Peace was Never An Option', we really focused on the songwriting, which is really important in MAN MUST DIE's sound, [and] seems to be bypassed a lot in modern music.

"All the classic metal is all about the songs; this is what influences us, this is what we do."

MAN MUST DIE are an extreme metal band hailing from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 2002 and originally born of the founding members' desire to push their music to new levels of intensity and brutality, the band's dedication to their craft has since manifested itself in a rich touring history, sharing stages with such acts as EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD and DECAPITATED.

MAN MUST DIE has released three full-length studio albums thus far: 2004's "...Start Killing" (Retribute Records), "The Human Condition" (2007, Relapse Records) and "No Tolerance For Imperfection" (2009, Relapse Records). Their music manages to incorporate the heaviest elements of extreme metal whilst retaining an attuned sense of melody, confidently shifting from epic, uplifting passages to pure sickness. Augmented by a keen compositional flair and furious, socially aware vocals, MAN MUST DIE is a highly focused musical force.

MAN MUST DIE is:

Joe McGlynn - VocalsAlan McFarland - GuitarDan Firth - BassJames Burke - Drums

Swedish metallers SOILWORK will release a lavish deluxe version of their 2001 classic breakthrough album "A Predator's Portrait" on October 18 in Europe and October 15 in the U.S. The effort will be reissued as a digipack with an all new artwork and will contain two previously unreleased live bonus tracks.

Commented drummer Dirk Verbeuren: "I view 'A Predator's Portrait' as a milestone in several ways. It's our first recording for Nuclear Blast, still our home to this day, six albums later. It marks the first time Björn 'Speed' Strid pushes his vocal talents into the melodic realm. And it concludes the early SOILWORK years, with follow-up 'Natural Born Chaos' starting something new and different altogether.

"Now that we've come full circle with our ninth album, 'The Living Infinite', the time is right to revisit 'A Predator's Portrait'. This ultimate re-release comes with re-imagined artwork by original cover artist and SOILWORK keyboardist Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg as well as two live renditions of classic 'A Predator's Portrait' tracks performed by the band's current lineup during the 2013 North American Infinity tour.

"Enjoy this piece of pure Swedish melodic mayhem!"

A picture of the digipack can be seen below.

01. Bastard Chain
02. Like The Average Stalker
03. Needlefeast
04. Neurotica Rampage

05. The Analyst
06. Grand Failure Anthem
07. Structure Divine
08. Shadowchild
09. Final Fatal Force
10. A Predator’s Portrait
11. Asylum Dance

Bonus:
12. Like The Average Stalker (live)
13. Final Fatal Force (live)

Spanish’s most legendary and pioneering thrash metal band FUCK OFF is about to unleash their long awaited comeback album. Just one year after their 1988 debut album Another Sacrifice was re-issued, the band, reformed in 2010, will see their 3rd full length Smile As You Kill released in September through Xtreem Music.

Smile As You Kill will contain seven new songs, a re-recording of 87's ‘People In War’ from their very first 7"EP and a cover of RAINBOW's ‘Long Live Rock & Roll’ which was intended for a DIO tribute album with Spanish bands that was supposed to come out in early 2011. All this stuff has been written and recorded during the last 2-3 years with different members but with original member Pep Casas (guitars) and new vocalist Albert as main basis of the album. However, one of the songs (‘Gardens Of Stone’) was entirely recorded by original vocalist Joe.

The new album follows the traditional style of the band, an old fashioned speed/ thrash/ heavy metal totally exempt from modern influences and clichés, being recorded the 80's way with analogic systems, but counting with the mastering of Swedish gurú Dan Swanö who gave all the songs the heavy and powerful feeling it needed. Cover artwork has been made by great Greek artist Gerasimos Kolokas.

Smile As You Kill tracklisting:

‘Azor’
‘Doomed From The Castle’
‘Gardens Of Stone’
‘Smile As You Kill’
‘The Priest’
‘We Are Back In Town’
‘Impera La Corrupcion’
‘People In War’ (2013 rerecord)
‘Long Live Rock & Roll’ (Rainbow cover)

The album will be released in mid-late September and it's a perfect dose for all these lovers of true 80's speed/ thrash that lost the faith with all these new school and also old classic bands that forgot their essence with these super-clean, perfectly retouched and digitally altered recordings. Fuck Off are here to show that true old-fashioned metal will never die! An advance track from Smile As You Kill, ‘Azor’ can be heard below:

"Blown Away", the new video from Canadian rockers CONEY HATCH, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's reunion album, "Four", which will be released on September 24 in North America and September 27 in Europe via Frontiers Records.

Once dubbed "the loudest band in Toronto," CONEY HATCH is back with its first record of new material in over two decades. "Four" is chock-full of the unique brand of melodic riff-rock that first brought the band to the attention of critics and rock fans all over the world.

Formed back in the early '80s in Toronto Canada, original members Andy Curran, Carl Dixon, Dave Ketchum and Steve Shelski released three records on Anthem Records in Canada and Polygram for the rest of the world. The band toured relentlessly and played support slots on tour with the likes of JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, ACCEPT, TED NUGENT and CHEAP TRICK, to name a few. After three releases and many miles of success and rocky road under their belts, the four band members went their separate ways in 1986.

The story of this reunion is an amazing journey that only fate could be responsible for. Late one night, on his way home from a recording session in Australia, a weary Carl Dixon had a near fatal head-on car collision that left him clinging to life. While Carl was still in an induced coma, his wife reached out to the other members of CONEY HATCH and asked them to offer words of encouragement over to the phone to Carl. She held the phone to his ear as he lay unconscious in his bed. "I told him to get better quick," says bassist/vocalist Andy Curran. "I said we had a lot more rockin' to do with CONEY HATCH. I really didn't think we'd play together again but it just came out of my mouth… and Carl remembered it!"

After many operations, Band-Aids, stitches, titanium rods, doctors, nurses, medicine and sheer gut-determination Carl Dixon returned to the stage with his three original bandmates in August of 2010 in Hamilton Ontario in front of 7,500 hungry HATCH fans. News of that show travelled fast and the original CONEY HATCH was soon invited to play Firefest 2011 for their first time ever in the U.K.! The rave reviews flooded in after that sweaty night in Nottingham and the band returned to their homeland to find a record deal offer waiting for an all new CONEY HATCH record.

After much discussion and soul-searching, the band decided to grab the opportunity from Frontiers to work together again. They enlisted the help of long time friend and Juno Award-winning engineer Vic Florencia (Danko Jones, Nelly Furtado, Hillary Duff, Marc Jordan, Olivia Newton-John etc) to capture the new recordings.

"All of us are thrilled to have recorded a fourth CONEY HATCH record," says Curran. "We never thought it would happen but the stars aligned and hell froze over! The new material feels like it could have been the record after 'Outa Hand' before 'Friction'... Its raw and not too overproduced, but still has that vintage HATCH sound. Sonically, we did a '2013 L.A. botox face lift' job and it sounds pretty fresh. The recording process was extremely challenging as the four of us all live separate lives in four different towns...it was honestly like herding cats, but eventually we got them all in the same bag! We're very happy with the final outcome."

"Four" track listing:

01. Blown Away02. Boys Club03. Down & Dirty04. Do It Again05. Connected06. Revive07. We Want More08. Devil U Know09. Marseille10. Keep Drivin'11. Holdin' On

CONEY HATCH is:

Carl Dixon (lead vocal, guitar)Andy Curran (vocals, bass)Steve Shelski (lead guitar)Dave Ketchum (drums)

A new nine-minute video clip featuring behind-the-scenes footage from IRON MAIDEN's "Maiden England World Tour 2013" can be seen below.

IRON MAIDEN last month landed at position No. 1 on Billboard.com's "Hot Tours" list of top-grossing tours with $19 million in ticket sales from 14 performances in 13 cities on their summer tour of Europe. The shows were attended by a total of 259,298 fans, including a sellout crowd of 55,531 at a football stadium, Friends Arena, in the Stockholm suburb of Solna, Sweden. Also included was a sold-out concert on May 29 at Lisbon, Portugal's Pavilhão Atlântico.

IRON MAIDEN's August 3 show at London, England's O2 Arena (with a capacity of up to 20,000, depending on the event) sold out in just 12 minutes, so a second show was added on Sunday, August 4. This was definitely the band's last U.K. show this year as soon after they head off for a few selected USA shows before a massive trip around Latin America, including headlining Rock In Rio and national stadiums in Mexico, Chile and Argentina.

MAIDEN's 15th studio CD, 2010's "The Final Frontier", featured 10 tracks that had an average running time of seven minutes and 40 seconds, with the shortest song, "The Alchemist", clocking in at four minutes and 29 seconds, and the longest, "When The Wild Wind Blows", lasting ten minutes and 59 seconds.

"The Final Frontier" sold 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 4.

IRON MAIDEN's previous album, 2006's "A Matter Of Life And Death", opened with 56,000 units to land at No. 9. This was a notable increase from the 40,000 first-week tally registered by its predecessor, 2003's "Dance of Death" (which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart), and that of "Brave New World", which moved 38,000 copies in June 2000 to land at No. 39 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"The Final Frontier" was IRON MAIDEN's fourth U.K. No. 1 album. The band previously topped the chart in 1982 with "The Number of the Beast", in 1988 with "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" and in 1992 with "Fear of the Dark".

"Where I Want To Be", a brand new song from Arizona's EYES SET TO KILL, can be streamed below. The track comes off the band's fifth full-length album, "Masks", which will be released on September 17 in North America via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Steve Evetts, who has previously worked with THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SUICIDE SILENCE and SEPULTURA, among others.

In the time leading up to pre-production and the recording of "Masks", EYES SET TO KILL decided instead of pandering or worrying about expectations, they would hunker down and demo two of their strongest new songs, the irresistibly "True Colors" and "Nothing Left To Say". Both merged anthemic scope and jarring metallic elegance, making for some of the group's catchiest fare and as a result, they joined forces with Century Media Records for their fifth studio album. "Those two songs served as a blueprint for the entire record," explains singer, songwriter, guitarist Alexia Rodriguez. "When we were writing, I didn't try to do what everybody else does. We didn't need to throw a ton of riffs into one song or get overly technical. I wanted to make music that was catchy." With that mindset, the group retreated to a Southern California studio with Evetts. In the process, Alexia evolved immensely as the band's songwriter, and the band's patented sound expanded. For the first time, Cisko Miranda added staggering screams and vocals, building the harmonies and everything became amplified from the heaviness to the hooks. "Masks" track listing:

01. Masks02. Killing In Your Name03. Lost And Forgotten04. Where I Want To Be05. True Colors06. Surface07. Little Liar08. Nothing Left to Say09. The New Plague10. Infected11. Secrets Between12. Haze13. Forbidden Line

Northeastern Pennsylvania based band BEYOND FALLEN has announced the release of the band’s latest CD titled Machines Of Corruption, available on CD and digital download September 7th.

The follow-up to the band’s album Mindfire, Machines Of Corruption is the band’s strongest material to date, bringing together the band’s timeless style of traditional heavy metal, while delivering a powerful and modern sounding release that is certain to create a reaction in contemporary heavy metal circles. The self-produced release was recorded at SI Studios in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, engineered by Joseph Wegleski, and mastered by Tom Borthwick. Machines Of Corruption is the band’s fourth CD.

Beyond Fallen will kick off the release with a CD release party on Saturday, September 7th, at Diane’s, 206 South Main Street, Pittston, Pennsylvania. Special guest bands also performing at this event include regional favorites THE CURSE OF SORROW, THREATPOINT, and CAUSE OF AFFLICTION.

Check out a teaser below:

Upcoming live dates:

September
7 – Pittston, PA – Diane’s
21 – Windgap, PA – American Legion 217

October
19 – Secaucus, NJ – The Blue Room Behind Aj’s
26 – Pittston, PA – Diane’s

For more info visit Facebook.

Guitarist Christopher Amott (ARMAGEDDON, ex-ARCH ENEMY) is no longer involved with GHOST SHIP OCTAVIUS, the new band featuring Matt Wicklund (guitar; GOD FORBID, ex-HIMSA, WARREL DANE) and Van Williams (drums; ASHES OF ARES, PURE SWEET HELL, ex-NEVERMORE). Amott says: "I'm focusing entirely on a new ARMAGEDDON album. We are in rehearsals at the moment. There's a lot of news to be announced, new members and so forth. We have almost completed writing the album."

GHOST SHIP OCTAVIUS' vocals are performed by 17-year-old Adon Fanion, whose style, character and lyrics are said to "extend far beyond his years."

GHOST SHIP OCTAVIUS is seeking a suitable record company to release the band's debut album, for which 13 songs have already been written, including "Released", "Alive", "Successor", "Find The Light" and "Caged Love".

Amott, who currently resides in the U.S., after marrying an American woman, previously said about the upcoming ARMAGEDDON album: "This one's gonna be 100% metal with loads of shred-guitar and intricate compositions."

Christopher Amott played a solo concert at the Loud Park festival on October 27 at Saitama Super Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Saitama City, Japan. Backing him at the gig were Wicklund and Williams.

Amott's latest solo album, "Impulses", can be purchased directly from his music store.

Amott in March 2012 issued a statement explaining that he left ARCH ENEMY to pursue his solo career. He said, "I'm gonna continue to be very active in music, working with all kinds of styles — this does not rule out metal."

ARCH ENEMY recruited American guitarist Nick Cordle (ARSIS) to replace Christopher.

Christopher Amott started his career in music in 1995 as a founding creative force and guitarist in ARCH ENEMY. In this context, he is known for his tastefully technical guitar work and memorably emotive playing style.

After garnering his early success, Christopher had the desire to express himself on a personal level in the same genre. At this time he began writing albums under the name ARMAGEDDON. Christopher wrote and recorded three albums over the next few years as ARCH ENEMY grew into an internationally recognized act, with his compositions featuring his own vocal stylings on the last album. This would be Christopher's first foray into singing and a spark of inspiration for his later musical ventures.

In 2008, Christopher began to consider his creative options as a mature musician. He began writing songs of an entirely different atmosphere, which saw his guitar playing focused less on technical ecstasy and more on a chord-based blues rock ambience as a foundation for more prominent vocal and lyrical ideas. These compositions developed into his next solo project; the album would be called "Follow Your Heart", released under his own name in 2010.

"Dead Can See", the new video from EVIL UNITED — the Austin/San Antonio, Texas-based band featuring Jason McMaster (WATCHTOWER, DANGEROUS TOYS, BROKEN TEETH) on vocals, a double guitar assault of T.C. Connally (PB/DC, CULT TO FOLLOW) and John Valenzuela (PB/DC, URIAL) as well as the brutal rhythm section of Don Van Stavern (RIOT, S.A. SLAYER) on bass and "Shakes" West (MURDERDOLLS, NEUROTICA, SEBASTIAN BACH) on drums — can be seen below. The song will appear on the band's sophomore full-length album, which is currently "in the mixdown phase." Connally says: "We can't wait for people to hear the new material."

EVIL UNITED instantly delivers what fans expect and demand from the Lone Star state: intricate, heavy, pounding rhythms, screeching guitar solos and over-the-top power-screaming vocals. The band was described by Lior "Steinmetal" Stein of Metal-Temple.com as "fresh with an old-school orientation."

EVIL UNITED's self-titled debut album was released in September 2011 via MVD Entertainment Group.

McMaster previously stated about EVIL UNITED: "I think there are a lot of bands playing this type of metal right now, but I believe that EVIL UNITED has something different about it. There is a wide range of influence, lots of peaks and valleys to explore, without losing any of the extreme.

"It's a pleasure to work with Texas metal alumni such as these guys; they shred but they are paying attention to the thrash and power as well as the melody."

LEAVES' EYES — the German/Norwegian band formed by ex-THEATRE OF TRAGEDY singer Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull and members of ATROCITY — has completed work on its new album, "Symphonies Of The Night", for a late 2013 release via Napalm Records. The CD is being produced by Liv's husband, ATROCITY singer and LEAVES' EYES co-vocalist Alexander Krull, at his Mastersound Studio in Germany.

Says LEAVES' EYES: "We couldn't be more proud of the final result.

"Expect this album to be the heaviest and most epic LEAVES' EYES experience to date: it will haunt you, even in your dreams.

"We're also proud to unveil the cover of 'Symphonies Of The Night', designed by our longtime friend Heile [Stefan Heilemann].

"Be aware of more information concerning the album, release date and upcoming tours soon!"

Liv previously stated about the upcoming LEAVES' EYES CD : "We have taken a great inspirational step since the production of 'Meredead', both sound-wise and vocal-wise.

"It has been such a pleasure evolving in my singing techniques and knowledge and I thank my band members for giving me an inspirational kick when I needed to gain momentum behind the microphone.

"'Symphonies Of The Night' is hauntingly dream-like and heavy to the core!"

LEAVES' EYES released a digital-only EP, "Melusine", on December 16, 2011 in Europe and December 20, 2011 in the U.S. via Napalm Records. The five-track EP effort included no less than four previously unreleased songs.

LEAVES' EYES' latest album, "Meredead", entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 32. Released on April 22, 2011 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland via Napalm Records, the effort was made available exclusively as limited-edition mediabook CD, including bonus track and bonus DVD "Live At The Metal Female Voices Fest", strictly limited-edition deluxe box set and regular jewel case.

Long-running Swedish rap/metal combo CLAWFINGER has released the following statement:

"Sometimes you grow together, sometimes you grow apart, sometimes you don't grow anywhere but you still keep on going anyway for lack of better options because it's all you know how to do!

"Anyway, the simple truth here and now is that CLAWFINGER are calling it a day, throwing in the towel, going fishing, quitting and moving on to pursue other goals in life!

"After 20 years, 7 albums, more than a thousand gigs and 10 million beers consumed together, it's simply time to put the band to rest and do other things! Nothing is, of course, ever carved in stone, but please don't hold your breath; that is, if anybody out there is stupid enough to even consider doing so!

"It's been one hell of a ride, no doubt about it. Bumpy, yes; long and winding, yes; full of dead ends and wrong turns; but all the same one hell of a fucking ride, an experience to remember and treasure for life!

"All our love, repsect and admiration goes out to the people who have supported us along the way, the fans, most of all, because you've always been the fuel on our fire, but hell, even the record companies deserve a little thanking at a time like this.

"There are too many people to thank, but you know who you are, and if you've been there for us, respect to you all for the love, patience and understanding you've shown us through the years. Your dedication has been priceless and maybe we'll see you out there again for the 30th anniversary if we decide to try and cash in on past achievements with the old classic reunion trick; only time will tell!

"Thank you for everything, respect and one love to you all!"

In an August 2009 interview with Bulgaria's Tangra Mega Rock, CLAWFINGER frontman Zak Tell stated about the band's status, "We're just trying to survive like all the other bands out there. The business is very different from what it was 15 years ago. You can't survive only by being in a band these days, so we're working and doing what we have to do to pay the rent and trying to find time for CLAWFINGER. The only plan we have for a release at the moment is a remake of 'Deaf Dumb Blind' for the 20th anniversary . The plan is to re-record all the songs from that album and bring in guests. We've been talking to some of the guys from RAMMSTEIN and Peter Tägtgren from PAIN and HYPOCRISY. We've made some friends through the years and hopefully we can get them to add their own flavorings and colorings to those old tracks."

CLAWFINGER's latest album, "Life Will Kill You", was released in the U.S. in July 2008 via Locomotive Records. The CD, which entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 89 upon its European release in 2007, was recorded and produced at Sweden's Fear And Loathing Studios, a facility that CLAWFINGER runs along with the members of MESHUGGAH.

'80s hard rock queen Lita Ford has recorded a new Christmas single with her former THE RUNAWAYS bandmate Cherie Currie.

Speaking to Mike of PsychoBabbleTV.com at a recent tour stop in Chicago (see video below), Lita explained how the collaboration came about. "My old drummer called me, Rodger Carter, and he says: 'Lita, let's record a Christmas song,'" she began. "He's got his own studio; it's called the Doghouse. It's in Encino, California… Reseda. And it's a really nice studio. He said, 'Come over and let's record a Christmas single.' So I thought, 'OK. What do you wanna do? 'Jingle Bells'?' And he said, 'No. Let's write something new.' And I thought, 'OK.' So I got out a pen and paper, and I thought, 'Let's rock this Christmas down.' So we started writing this song called 'Rock This Christmas Down'. And this year, I got in touch with Cherie Currie, who I haven't spoke to in quite a long, long time, who was the lead singer for THE RUNAWAYS. And so it just so happened to be that she was on the phone just shortly after we had finished talking about recording this song. I said, 'Cherie, why don't you sing it with me?' So she flew in from this area, which she just played, and came straight from the airport to the studio, cut the vocal track, and we have a Christmas single with me and Cherie singing lead vocals."

In 2010, the movie "The Runaways" was released starring Kristen Stewart of "Twilight" fame as singer Joan Jett. The band formed in 1975, with Ford on lead guitar. She was 16 at the time.

"The Runaways" was directed by Floria Sigismondi, who is best known for directing music videos by such artists as David Bowie, Marilyn Manson and Sheryl Crow.

In a 2012 interview with Metalshrine, Lita stated about the possibility of a RUNAWAYS reunion: "Cherie's all ready to do a RUNAWAYS reunion and I would love it and I think we should start writing songs and I think it would be great. I'm not sure what Joan [Jett] is doing right now. I don't know if she's in the studio or if she's touring, I'm not sure. I was in contact with her for a while and then all of a sudden she just disappeared. She's probably on tour, but I don't know and it really needs to come from Joan. I talk to Cherie all the time. I talk to Vicki [Blue; now known as Victory Tischler-Blue] all the time and I'm still good friends with Jackie [Fox], but we can't do it without Joan, you know. She's got to be a part of it and she's gotta want to be a part of it."

She added in a separate interview in December 2012: "I can't get a yes or no out of Joan, so I've kind of thrown in the towel. It's now or never. I would love it, but for some reason — I don't know why — it's Joan's camp [that's holding it up]. The ball is in her camp. It's up to them."

Lita last year filmed a video for the song "Mother" in Joshua Tree, California. Directing the clip was Ford's former THE RUNAWAYS bandmate Victory Tischler-Blue, whose film "Edgeplay" was based on her tenure in the 1970s all-girl teenage rock act.

Lita Ford will release a new live album, "The Bitch Is Back... Live", on October 28 via SPV/Steamhammer.

Hailing from Hamburg, Germany THE MOTH are a young three-piece who despite only forming at the end of 2012 have already garnered plenty of praise for their heavy, no nonsense approach to psychedelic metal.

Their debut album, They Fall, was originally released by the band earlier in the year and limited to 100 copies; one of which wound up on the desk of Muenster based label This Charming Man Records who sought to give it an official release.

A well-tempered mix of BARONESS, MASTODON and KYLESA the album is virtually void of frills and instead chooses to turn out hammer heavy drums and riff ready rock ’n’ roll, fraught with the head to head vocals of bass player Cècile Ash and guitarist Frederik Mohrdiek.

he Moth are currently heading up a new breed of trailblazing German metallers that include RODHA, SHAKHTYOR and UNION OF SLEEP.

They Fall tracklisting:

‘Won’t Return’
‘Open Forrest’
‘Wasted Time’
‘The Moth’
‘Rawhawk’
‘This Is The Lie’
‘They Fall’
‘The New Speed’

Check out the track ‘Open Forrest’ below:
Members:
Frederik Mohrdiek – guitar/vocals
Cècile Ash – bass/vocals
Tiffy – drums

Polish death metal act NORTHERN PLAGUE have started recording their first full-length album, the bands second release after their well recieved debut EP Blizzard Of The North.
The new album, entitled Manifesto, will contain nine organic, dark and matchlessly powerful sounding compositions. The recording session is taking place in the Sound Division Studio in Warsaw under the prime eye of Arkadiusz "Malta" Malczewski (BEHEMOTH, DECAPITATED, HATE). The new album will be released this December by the German label Folter Records. Manifesto will be available worldwide and on all digital distribution platforms.
"We're slowly getting our heads round all the new possibilities and ideas we get in the studio. It's genuinely brilliant - recording your songs with high-end gear, working with a experienced producer and sound engineer. We're proud that Manifesto will be released worldwide by Folter Records. It will definitely help us reach a wider audience. Check out our web page and Facebook profile. Spread the Plague!"

Northern Plague will be performing this fall on the Polish leg of the Baptizing Europe In Blood, where they will share the stage with UNEARTHLY and DEFORMITY.
Northern Plague lineup:

Fenris - guitar, vocal
Janus - lead guitar
Ghorakh - bass, additional vocals
Damyen - drums

More on Northern Plague at this location.

After a long hard year of writing new music and searching for musicians to replace the weak links, PREDATOR is now back with a vengeance. As with a lot of bands, some members had to be replaced, but it is all for the better.

New lineup:

Nestor Aguirre – vocals
Damien Lee Thorr – guitar
Victor Meneses – guitar
Mike Bugarin – bass
Jonathan Bermudez – drums

Predator will begin recording their new album, Thunder After Dark, soon.

Singer Rob Halford of British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST spoke to Billboard.com about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Nostradamus".

"The writing process is complete," he said. "Now it's the painstaking work of making sure that you get every single note, every single nuance of the vocal, every tiny aspect...right. We're still tracking (instruments). It's just a very laborious but enjoyable part of making the record."

Regarding the sound of the new PRIEST material, Halford said, "[It's] hard. It's heavy. It's something we think our PRIEST fans will be thrilled with. We know we have a reputation to maintain, and we know we have to deliver something really strong and solid. The album is going to be full of all the great things you love about JUDAS PRIEST — I don't think I can say anything more than that without being hung, drawn and quartered."

In an interview with VH1 Radio Network's Dave Basner, Halford spoke about what fans can expect from JUDAS PRIEST's next release: "We felt it was very important to follow up 'Nostradamus', the last release, and that was a concept experiment and it was a real success for us and the fans loved it, but I think our fans and ourselves as a band, we want to get back to the side of PRIEST that we haven't heard for a few years and reemphasize and remake those big, heavy metal statements again." ]

As for when fans can expect to get the new PRIEST album, Halford explained that he and his bandmates aren't going to set dates for themselves. "I think that's the best way to approach it, because it would be wrong to say, 'On this date, at this moment, the record is coming out.' But where we're at now, we're very, very confident. We're forging ahead and everything's looking good, and yeah, it's looking right. So in the not-too-distant metal future, there will be new PRIEST to listen to."

California thrashers HIRAX will release their new album, "Immortal Legacy", on October 22 (six days later in Europe) via SPV/Steamhammer. It will be made available as a CD, gatefold colored LP and a digital download. Commented HIRAX singer and mastermind Katon W. De Pena: "We recorded the new album with legendary producer Bill Metoyer (SLAYER, W.A.S.P., ARMORED SAINT, CIRITH UNGOL). This is our most epic-sounding record to date, sonically powerful and over the top. 14 new raging thrash metal songs that will make you bang your head!!!"

Philip Lawvere, the artist behind such classic album covers as KREATOR's "Pleasure To Kill" and CELTIC FROST's "Emperor's Return", has designed the "Immortal Legacy" cover. Lawvere had done stunning illustrations for numerous albums and is best known for a slew of thrash metal offerings released on Noise Records.

Added Katon: "We couldn't be happier to have Philip Lawvere illustrating the cover of our new album; after getting Bill Metoyer to produce it, this is truly the icing on the thrash metal cake!"

"Immortal Legacy" track listing:

01. Hellion Rising- The Conquests- Thunder Roar02. La Boca De La Bestia - Mouth Of The Beast03. Mass Hysteria04. Tied To The Gallows Pole05. Atlantis - Journey To Atlantis (instrumental)06. Victims Of The Dead07. Black Smoke08. Sign Of The Wolf09. Immortal Legacy10. Violence Of Action11. Deceiver12. Mephistopheles13. Earthshaker (instrumental) 14. The World Will Burn (Suffer The World)

MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars has dismissed reports that his poor health is partly to blame for the band's decision to retire from touring.

In a recent interview with the Oakland Press, CRÜE singer Vince Neil said that Mars' ongoing battle with Ankylosing spondylitis, a painful form of chronic arthritis that causes vertebrae in the spine to fuse together, as well as the band's desire to "go out on top" were the primary reasons for CRÜE's revelation that they will call it quits after 2015. "It's just time," Neil said. "Mick's health is not that good, and touring is tough on him. I'm sure in five, 10 years' time, we'll probably do something together again, but it's not gonna be like a KISS farewell to the farewell to the farewell tour. We're not gonna be like that."

He added: "We want to go out on top. We don't want to be one of those bands that people are like, 'Oh, they're playing a little club now.' We still sell out arenas and do stadium shows and stuff like that, and that’s how we want to be remembered."

However, in a posting on his Twitter account, Mars painted a different picture, claiming that his medical condition had never affected his playing. "Any rumors regarding a farewell tour due to 'my poor health' are BS," he said. "I am doing fine, my AS has never kept me from touring and never will."

MÖTLEY CRÜE will return to Las Vegas for an exclusive twelve-show engagement September 18 through October 6 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

"Valkyrja", the seventh full-length album from the Faroe Islands natives TÝR, will be released on September 17 in North America (one day earlier internationally) via Metal Blade Records.

A track from the CD, entitled "Another Fallen Brother", can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below.

Fans can now view a small glimpse of the creative process behind "Valkyrja" while the band was at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen. The video features some of George Kollias' drum tracking, as well as vocal tracking, and can be viewed below.

TÝR has announced that Amon Ellingsgaard will be drumming for the band on their European tour with FINNTROLL. Amon is currently drummer for TÝR frontman Heri Joensen's side project HELJAREYGA. Many fans may already be familiar with Amon, who is also the nephew of former drummer Kari Streymoy, as he has filled in for TÝR before on the first Paganfest in 2008.

"Valkyrja" is a concept album with a story line based loosely around an anonymous Viking age warrior who leaves his woman and goes off to impress the Valkyrie on the battlefield so that she may bring him to Valhalla, or to Fólkvangr, the home of Freyja — the goddess associated with love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, sorcery, war, and death. One can say the album is also indirectly about women and how they affect men and what men will do to impress and obtain women. Joensen goes on to explain: "The woman that the warrior leaves may represent the earthly women. Freyja, The Lady Of The Slain, may represent the perfection of Women, and the Valkyrie is the link between the two, taking men from earthly to godly women."

Swedish shooting stars BOMBUS from Gothenburg will release their second album The Poet And The Parrot next week. The band already released two videos from the new album and here you get a chance to pre-listen to another song called ‘Into The Fire’ which shows the more epic side of Bombus.

Bombus comments on ‘Into The Fire’ as follows: “’Into The Fire’ is the ‘last dance’ of our upcoming album The Poet And The Parrot. It's an epic journey that portrays the bloated leader sitting greedy on his throne ruling his people in complete ignorance. We have all seen him; we have all heard him - let's go Into The Fire”.

The band has also announced that they will go out once more as special guest for DANKO JONES who invited them to support him in Scandinavia. There is also handful of nice special shows before that and even more important: a full European headliner tour in November/December. The special guest for their headline tour will be announced soon.

The guys are psyched about joining Danko Jones on tour again: “Last fall we supported Danko Jones. Last spring we supported Danko Jones. We are happy to announce that his fall, we will go full circle, and support them again, on the third and last leg of their euro tour throughout the Nordic region. Good times ahead!”

The Poet And The Parrot will be released on August 26th in Europe and September 17th in North America. The album will be available as limited edition Digipak (with two additional bonus tracks), as standard CD and as gatefold vinyl (180gr. black or dark green version).



The Poet And The Parrot tracklisting:

'Enter The Night'
'The Poet And The Parrot'
'Liars'
'A Safe Passage'
'Apparatus'
'Let Her Die'
'Master The Reality'
'Into The Fire'
'Styx'
'Cut Deep'

Video ‘Enter The Night’:

Video 'Apparatus':

Pre-order here.



More on Bombus, including the band's live itinerary, at this location.