Canadian progressive symphonic metal band, Osyron, has announced their brand new album Momentous, out November 4th and shared a new single and music video for "Beyond The Sun".


Momentous, bound to take the metallers to a whole new level, is the fourth full-length from Osyron. Full of raging guitar riffs, grandiose vocals and mesmerizing technical skill, "Beyond The Sun" is the second single to be released from the album. Watch the video below, stream the song here, and pre-order the album now at this location. 







Osyron comments on announcing the release of the album: "We're all very excited, and proud to announce Momentous. It's been over a year of hard work on this record, and we're all overjoyed with how it's turned out. It represents where we are as artists and what we can bring to the table (and stage!). We are stoked to share the album announcement, and we can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of it." 


Mastered by Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Dream Theater, Voivod, Armored Saint), the album is nothing short of a musical masterpiece. It boasts the group's technical prowess, fantastical storytelling and outstanding vocal performances that metal fans everywhere have come to know and love from Osyron. Sure to leave listeners in awe, it deals with the many emotions, trials, personal battles, losses and victories that humanity faced during the pandemic. The biggest struggle faced by the band during this time was the struggle of looking inwards at themselves. Many had to relearn to love one another, and even turned against each other. A truly momentous moment in their career, not only for them as people, but for everyone. The album was mixed by Tyler Corbett (bassist). Drums were recorded by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL Studios in Chestermere, Alberta. All other instruments were recorded by Cody Anstey (drums) at his studio CRM Sound. 


Momentous artwork and tracklisting:





"Anunnaki"
"Dominion Day" 
"The Deafening"
"Landslide"
"Sorrow And Extinction"
"Beyond The Sun" 
"Awake"
"Momentous"
"Prairie Sailor"
"Beacons"


"Dominion Day" video:





For further details, visit Osyron on Facebook.


 

Brazilian rockers, Electric Mob, have released an official live video for "Devil You Know". The original track is featured on the band's debut album, Discharge, available via Frontiers Music Srl. The footage was filmed live at Nico's Studio in Curitiba, Brazil on May 22, 2022.





Watch an official live video for "Higher Than Your Heels", also filmed at Nico's Studio:







Order the Discharge album here.





Tracklisting:


"Awaken"
"Devil You Know"
"King’s Ale"
"Got Me Runnin’"
"Far Off"
"Your Ghost"
"Gypsy Touch"
"123 Burn"
"Upside Down"
"Higher Than Your Heels"
"Brand New Rope"
"We Are Wrong"


"Your Ghost" video:





"Higher Than Your Heels" video:





"Far Off" video:





"King’s Ale":





"Devil You Know" video:





Lineup:


Renan Zonta - Vocals
Ben Hur Auwarter - Guitar
Yuri Elero - Bass
André Leister - Drums

Jam rockers, Crazy Swedes, have released their music video for "Key Lime", which can be found below. The video was shot by Emmy-winning cinematographer Taylor Morrison, chopped by celebrated editor Hue Hughes, and directed by Swedes guitarist Will Severin, who shares, “A lot of the record is an homage to our music heroes, and 'Key Lime' is no different. A fellow guitar player I know took a few lessons from Allan Holdsworth (one of Van Halen’s idols) and told me a story about making Allan a key lime pie. I thought that was so random. So, that’s where the name came from. The track is definitely inspired by Holdsworth. He was a superhuman guitarist to be sure!"


Severin adds: "A lot of the other cuts on the Deluxe Edition are tips of the hat to our musical influences. All the guys in the band are killer players and bring a lot musically to the table. For me, it was a great change of pace to get back to just playing guitar again after a few years of lead vocal duties for Infinite Spectrum. With Crazy Swedes we all challenge each other, and it's the perfect band to stretch out and just play. There’s a lot of variety on the new release, catchy hooks, and a very healthy dose of shredding!"


Originally released on August 20, 2021, the band is back with three new tracks to add to an already outstanding first entry. In addition to the ten tracks found on the standard version, the deluxe edition includes live covers of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Stratus" by Billy Cobham, along with an original acoustic track, "Indigo Chrome".




The deluxe edition of Crazy Swedes will be released on September 23.





Tracklisting:


“Key Lime”
“Flight #4”
“Dark Matters”
“Big Trouble”
“Mr. V”
“What’s On Tap”
“Wavelength”
“Now Or Never”
“Southern Fried”
“Distant Shores”
“Shine On You Diamond (Live)” (Pink Floyd cover)
“Stratus (Live)” (Billy Cobham cover)
“Indigo Chrome”


“Key Lime” video:

Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy®-winning singer and songwriter, Ozzy Osbourne, has released his new album, Patient Number 9. Visualizer videos for each song on the album are now available. Watch below.


To celebrate his new album, Ozzy has confirmed a special in-store appearance and signing at Fingerprints in Long Beach, California on Saturday, September 10. Attendees will need to order a copy of Patient Number 9 to attend the event as Ozzy will only be signing copies of the new album. In order to sign as many copies as possible, the new album will be the only item signed. Masks will be required for all attendees and no photos with Ozzy will be permitted. Click here to reserve your copy.







Produced by Andrew Watt (who handled the same duties on 2020's Ordinary Man), Patient Number 9 marks Osbourne's 13th solo studio album. It’s heavy, it’s hard-hitting, it’s historic - it’s everything you’d want from an Ozzy Osbourne record and maybe more.


Working with producer Watt for the second time, Ozzy welcomed a dynamic A-list featured guests. The record boasts guitarists Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, and longstanding righthand man and six-string beast Zakk Wylde who plays on the majority of the tracks. For the bulk of the album, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers held down drums, while the late Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters appears on three songs. Old friend and one-time Ozzy band member Robert Trujillo of Metallica plays bass on most of the album’s tracks, with Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses and Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction supplying bass on a few songs.


Order Patient Number 9 here.





Tracklisting:


"Patient Number 9" (feat. Jeff Beck)
"Immortal" (feat. Mike McCready)
"Parasite" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"No Escape From Now" (feat. Tony Iommi)
"One Of Those Days" (feat. Eric Clapton)
"A Thousand Shades" (feat. Jeff Beck)
"Mr. Darkness" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"Nothing Feels Right" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"Evil Shuffle" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"Degradation Rules" (feat. Tony Iommi)
"Dead And Gone"
"God Only Knows"
"Darkside Blues"


"Patient Number 9" video:





"Patient Number 9" visualizer:





"Immortal" visualizer:





"Parasite" visualizer:





"No Escape From Now" visualizer:





"One Of Those Days" visualizer:





"A Thousand Shades" visualizer:





"Mr. Darkness" visualizer:





"Nothing Feels Right" visualizer:





"Evil Shuffle" visualizer:





"Degradation Rules" visualizer:





"Dead and Gone" visualizer:





"God Only Knows" visualizer:





"Darkside Blues" visualizer:

Isafjørd, meaning literally fjord of ice, is a shining new ethereal post-rock band from Iceland. Named after the town that both of their fathers came from, Ísafjörður, Aðalbjörn Addi Tryggvason (Sólstafir) and Ragnar Zolberg (Sign/ex-Pain Of Salvation) sculpt beautiful and desolate pop, as bright and dark as the sub-arctic seasons.


Isafjørd’s new album, Hjartastjak, is an infectious rush of euphoric melancholy, quiet-loud dynamism, lush instrumentation and unforgettable atmospheric landscapes of song.


Meeting on the road, night creatures of the same renowned Reykjavik music scene, Ragnar playing live session bass for Sólstafir, Addi and Ragnar’s musical paths finally intersect in Isafjørd with a sound that reaches like a stalactite from the past into a gleaming future. Holed up in the middle of winter, in an old house with a broken piano in the freezing cold, Hjartastjaki is an album of songs that were written straight from the heart, sometimes in a single day.




Their chemistry as immediate as the climate they survive in, Isafjørd is a real meeting of spirits, with Ragnar’s sleek and cherubim voice a brilliant counterpoint to Addi’s dusty and aching cries, over orchestrated build-ups of soaring piano and sliding guitars. The catchy and haunting music that Addi and Ragnar create in Isafjørd is at once familiar in that lived-in, well-worn way a great song can touch your soul. Having both lived in Norway and speaking Norwegian, Addi and Ragnar speak the same language of the heart, as their Nordic melancholy makes for deep and mountainous music. Isafjørd’s songs are sincere icebergs of tundra-anthems that bring to mind Fields Of The Nephilim and Duran Duran jamming in a frozen valley, where the creative 80s New Wave meets GodSpeed You Black Emperor. With influences that range from Cardigans, Beatles, early Judas Priest and Neil Young, Addi and Ragnar have struck a vein of gold that crystallizes their own heritage of wide-screen Metal gloom into something new.


Now coming of age, matured into a shimmering diamond of Icelandic pop at its finest, Isafjørd is on another plain from Addi’s own Sólstafir, where their cinematic metal roots have been re-traced into sweeping glacial song-craft. A country known for their honest and heart–wrenching emotional take on pop music with Björk and Sigur Rós, Isafjørd gives a new definition of “landscape music”. When an album feels like a place you want to inhabit and experience, “Hjartastjaki” is a journey that you’re going to want to take.


Pre-save Hjartastjaki here. Pre-order on CD and 2LP here.





Tracklisting:


"Falin Skemmd"
"Mín Svarta Hlið"
"Hjartastjaki"
"Heiðin"
"Kuldaró"
"Fjord Of Hope"
"Njálssaga"
"Andvök"


"Falin Skemmd":





(Photo - Ásgeir Helgi Þrastarson)

Sumerlands have returned from the astral plane with another powerful collection of timeless, hooked filled hits: Dreamkiller. In the driver’s seat is renowned producer and guitarist Arthur Rizk who polished these eight metallic gems at Philadelphia’s Redwood Studios with his brothers in Sumerlands. Coming off of recent production credits with Kreator, Soulfly, and Show Me The Body, Rizk needs no introduction. His past work and expertise behind the boards with Power Trip, Ghostemane, Code Orange’s Grammy nominated album, Forever, Sacred Reich and many others have blown minds for over a decade. But it’s Sumerlands that truly fulfills his dream of melancholic chug.


The Sabbath-inspired haze of their 2016 S/T debut has been turbocharged with bigger riffs, distinct, Jan Hammer worthy synths, and forays into Badlands gone doom. But although doom crackles at the edges of Dreamkiller, this is classic, melodic metal forged with the melodrama of the Scorpions, the emotional heft of Foreigner, with an extra dose of depression.    


The band have released a video for the track, "Force Of A Storm", which you can find below.




The band’s alchemy is on full display throughout Dreamkiller as bassist Brad Raub (Eternal Champion) smirks behind his P-Bass while drummer Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Dream Unending) stares you dead in the face, swinging. New vocalist Brendan Radigan (Pagan Altar, Magic Circle) sings strikingly of lost souls in a world gone mad. Rizk and guitarist John Powers (Eternal Champion) keep their “Strats only” policy intact while wheeling in the full Marshall stacks to douse the record in glorious solos (witness the album closing duel of “Death to Mercy”).


Make no mistake, Dreamkiller is full of traditional metal fuel. After an amicable split with original vocalist Phil Swanson, Sumerlands have dug deeper into their secret well of cathartic riffage to soundtrack a planet “Running in circles as the bells, they chime.” Sing along, dream along, Dreamkiller kills ‘em all!    


Dreamkiller sees its release on September 16 via Relapse Records. The physical pre-order is available here, and to pre-save or listen on digital platforms, go here.





Tracklisting:


"Twilight Points The Way"
"Heavens Above"
"Dreamkiller"
"Night Ride"
"Edge Of The Knife"
"Force Of A Storm"
"The Savior’s Lie"
"Death To Mercy"


"Force Of A Storm" video:





"Edge Of The Knife" visualizer:





"Dreamkiller" video:





Sumerlands is:


Brendan Radigan (Vocals)
Justin DeTore (Drums)
John Powers (Guitar)
Brad Raub (Bass)
Arthur Rizk (Guitar/Synth)


(Photo - Jaclyn Woollard)

Jari Behm is a Finnish musician who is known especially among friends of heavier music. He was the bassist for Stratovarius in early 90's. Later on for Finnish bands like Tunnelvision and STUD.


The new album, Mind Adventures, is Jari's type of music which represents a really broad selection of music. "I promise that I will not repeat myself on the album as the music genre of my music varies from metal, funk, classical, hard rock to blues, but still heavier music shows the biggest role", says Jari.


Jari managed to gather vocalists who fits perfectly to the dedicated tracks. Brazilian Gus Monsanto (ex-Adagio, ex-Revolution Renaissance), Finnish Peter James Goodman (Conquest), Turkish Berzan Önen and Italian Alessandro Granato. Toni Paananen (Malpractice) played drums on five tracks. All tracks and lyrics are written by Jari. Also he played bass, guitars and synths.




He was two decades away from music business until he started to put more effort on music again a few years ago. It was finally time to release his own music as he has been composing songs since the middle of 80's when he started his music career. There are many unreleased tracks in his drawer waiting to be released.


"Break from music gave me perspective how I would like to produce the music and I felt it is the time to finally release my own music without any musical limitations. Distinctiveness of instruments and sound quality without too much of compression are very important part of the whole picture and I put special attention into this", says Jari who has mixed, produced and mastered the music by himself.





Tracklisting:


"Fight For A Victory"
"Neon Gravity"
"Fading"
"Gratitude"
"Leave Me If You Don't Feel"
"Dusty Canyon"
"Coming Back To The Point"
"Bass Rogue"
"Tuuliajolla"
"Odotus"


"Coming Back To The Point" video:





"Fight For A Victory" video:





(Photo - Jade Behm)

Those Damn Crows have released their new single, “Wake Up (Sleepwalker)”, taken from their upcoming album, Inhale/Exhale, out February 17 via Earache Records. A heavy-hitting tempest of a track that boasts the arena-filling sound of the likes of Alter Bridge or Shinedown, “Wake Up (Sleepwalker)” urges listeners to rouse from the slumber of modern society's puppet strings.


Frontman Shane Greenhall explains, "It's meant to be upfront and personal. It’s supposed to make you sit up and think about how we are all living in today's society, where the rich are getting richer, and where tech giants are moulding us into whatever and however THEY see fit via technology and social media. Get your heads out of your phones. Look up, WAKE UP!”


The official video for “Wake Up (Sleepwalker)”, created by Shaun Hodson of Loki Films (Volbeat, Skindred, Architects) and David Provan of 12 Inch Media (Alice Cooper, Stereophonics, Alter Bridge), underlines this message.




Shane elaborates, “When coming up with ideas on how to tell the story of ‘Wake Up’, I remembered the scene in 'The Matrix' where Neo and Morpheus were in between worlds and talking in the white rooms, similar to the scene in 'Willy Wonka' where they zap the little boy into the TV. In the video we are in between the two worlds, "The Real World" and "The Tech World”. We hack the system as our message is transmitted to interrupt the algorithms that cleverly influence us while being led by the corporate and tech giants, fuelled by greed and false news, via the portals that they use on us – our smartphones, TVs, tablets, billboards - anything with a screen.”


Watch the video below.


In between their main stage slot at Download Festival 2022 and selling out headline shows at the likes of Cardiff Castle, Those Damn Crows have created a new album that elevates their signature hard-hitting rock to dizzying new heights. Inhale/Exhale whips up a storm of atmospheric hard rock that sees Shane's trademark rousing lyricism delivered with molten-smooth melodies and ever-passionate emotion, backed by drummer Ronnie Huxford's earth-quaking percussion, guitarists Ian “Shiner” Thomas and David Winchurch's twin-attack of rampaging riffs and glacial auras, and bassist Lloyd Wood's juddering bass thunder.


Inhale/Exhale was recorded at the picturesque Vada Studios (built within a 13th Century chapel amongst 20 acres of rural Warwickshire) and in the beating heart of their Welsh homeland at Giant Wafer Studios, with producer Dan Weller (Enter Shikari, Monster Truck, Bury Tomorrow) and mixer Phil Gornell (Bring Me The Horizon, 5 Seconds Of Summer, You Me At Six) capturing this next evolution of the band.


Shane shines a light on the concept from which the album grew: “The album is talking openly and honestly about how we react as individuals to our life's surroundings and experiences. Have you ever noticed when you experience an emotion that your breath changes? We all must learn how to breathe in certain scenarios.”


He continues, “How we respond is sometimes more important than how we react in those unpredictable scenarios. We can all breathe, but how we breathe and the manner in which we inhale, exhale can literally change how we feel in that moment.”


The album's artwork embodies this concept and the title's duality, presenting a ribcage with one desolate, blackened side and one side brimming with life. Shane explains the thought behind the cover: “The rib cage is the protector of our respiratory system. When we were talking about the album name it seemed the perfect visual representation, where we could portray life and death starting and finishing via the artwork.”


Inhale/Exhale is available for pre-order worldwide now at earache.com/thosedamncrows on an immense number of formats including: a collector's edition bundle (which will house a burnt orange and black splatter vinyl with alternate fire carousel cover, exclusive to this edition); limited edition coloured vinyl with an exclusive 12-page booklet (clear with black smoke, purple, yellow), plus blue and white splatter vinyl with alternate blue sky carousel cover; signed CD with exclusive 12-page booklet and alternate fire carousel cover; a cassette collection of the band's full discography; USB; and digital download. HMV carry two more exclusive formats: CD with alternate blue sky carousel cover and black vinyl with alternate fire carousel cover. A green vinyl format exclusive to indie stores is also available.





Inhale/Exhale tracklisting:


"Fill The Void"
"Takedown"
"Man On Fire"
"Wake Up (Sleepwalker)"
"This Time I'm Ready"
"I Am"
"See You Again"
"Lay It All On Me"
"Find A Way"
"Waiting For Me"


"Wake Up (Sleepwalker)" video:





Those Damn Crows will join Monster Truck on their UK tour in September/October 2022. Tickets are on sale now for all dates. A turquoise vinyl version of Inhale/Exhale will be sold exclusively on this tour via a special edition tour laminate available at Those Damn Crows' merch desk.





(Photo - Dean Chalkley)

AS I LAY DYING has just completed the U.S. and European legs of its 2022 tour. The trek marked the band's first with its new touring lineup, featuring founding vocalist Tim Lambesis and longtime guitarist Phil Sgrosso alongside drummer Nick Pierce (ex-UNEARTH),bassist vocalist Ryan Neff (MISS MAY I) and guitarist Ken Susi (UNEARTH).

In a new interview with Metalshop TV, Lambesis stated about AS I LAY DYING's recent lineup changes (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think for our fans, they think that the changes happened all in a very short period of time, but they actually happened over the last two years. The first change was on guitar we invited Ken Susi to fill in for us. And that was about two years ago that we invited him. But then, of course, the pandemic happened and so we had a lot of breaks until we had a tour again. So Ken's been rehearsing with us, or talking about rehearsing with us, for the last couple of years. And on drums we have Nick Pierce, who joined us. Nick Pierce was previously in UNEARTH; Ken is from UNEARTH as well. And Nick stopped playing with UNEARTH and coincidentally at the same time we needed a drummer, because our previous drummer hadn't been communicating with us; he went very isolated once the pandemic hit. And so there wasn't an argument or anything like that; it was just a situation where when the pandemic hit, he decided to take a new direction in life and kind of cut himself off from the rest of us. And we decided we wanted to keep going forward. Phil and I had been the ones writing the songs all these years, so when Nick Pierce left UNEARTH, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to have him perform with us. And then Ryan came from MISS MAY I. He was the last guy to come in. And he didn't come in until a couple of months ago. Our bass player, Josh, previously left, and he's with SPIRITBOX now. And when he decided to go perform with SPIRITBOX, we called up Ryan, who was with MISS MAY I. And Ryan Neff was on tour at the time. And then we asked him, 'Can you start touring with us as soon as this tour is over?' And he said, 'Well, I'm only gonna have three days off to rehearse in between tours.' He said, 'If you guys want me to do it, I'll make sure I come prepared.' And he had a lot to learn in three days, but he pulled it together. He's a very, very hard-working guy."

Lambesis also talked about AS I LAY DYING's plans for a new studio album as a follow-up to "Shaped By Fire", which came out in September 2019 via Nuclear Blast.

"Well, we have demos going back and forth between Phil and I," he said. "The two of us have been writing songs for 20 years, and so we have a very, I guess, refined method of writing where we exchange demos early on so that they have room to be pulled apart. And then once there's a full instrumental, then I start writing lyrics. And I typically don't write lyrics until after we have all the instrumentals together. So pretty shortly after this tour we'll finish the demo process and then I can start writing lyrics. And hopefully by the end of the year we'll finish recording so we can have an album next year."

This past June, longtime AS I LAY DYING drummer Jordan Mancino announced that he would sit out the band's tour due to "a number of ongoing internal issues" that "have not yet been resolved."

Mancino's announcement came less than a month after AS I LAY DYING's longtime bassist/vocalist Josh Gilbert revealed that he was leaving the band. In a statement, the remaining members of AS I LAY DYING said that Gilbert "decided to exit" the group "to pursue other musical opportunities."

Josh was the second AS I LAY DYING member to leave the band in less than a year. In August 2021, guitarist Nick Hipa confirmed his exit from AS I LAY DYING, explaining that he could no longer justify being part of "a superficial pursuit" of the "story and meaning" that the band's 2018 reunion was built upon.

Lambesis was famously convicted in 2014 for his role in a murder-for-hire plot against his estranged wife.

In May 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in jail after pleading guilty to paying a San Diego police officer posing as a hitman $1,000 to kill his wife. Approximately two and a half years later — on December 17, 2016 — he was discharged from a California detention facility and was transferred to the Division of Adult Parole Operations.

In June 2018, AS I LAY DYING played its first show with Lambesis in five years and released a new single. Lambesis also owned up to his crimes in a long apology on the band's Facebook page after his release.

The return of AS I LAY DYING raised some questions, particularly since Hipa categorically denounced the band's disgraced frontman as a "sociopathic narcissist in definite need of rehabilitation" in a social-media post back in 2014.

In September 2021, AS I LAY DYING released a new song called "Roots Below" which was originally a B-side leftover from when the sessions for "Shaped By Fire".

Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen's project SMITH/KOTZEN will release "Better Days …And Nights" on September 16 via BMG. The effort comprises five previously unreleased live tracks, plus for the first time ever on CD, the four studio tracks featured on their sold-out, limited-edition 12-inch vinyl EP, "Better Days", released in conjunction with Record Store Day in November 2021.

The live video for second singe "Got A Hold On Me" was directed by Ryan Titley and can be seen below.

The full track listing for "Better Days ...And Nights" is:

Days:

01. Better Days
02. Got A Hold On Me
03. Hate And Love
04. Rise Again

Nights:

05. Hate And Love (Live)
06. Got A Hold On Me (Live)
07. Scars (Live)
08. You Don't Know Me (Live)
09. Running (Live)

The live songs were recorded during SMITH/KOTZEN's inaugural whistle-stop tour of the U.S. and U.K. at the start of 2022, which attracted unanimously rave reviews from fans and media alike, celebrating the duo's debut on stage together with stellar back-up from Richie's wife, internationally acclaimed bass player Julia Lage, and drummer Bruno Valverde of ANGRA.

Japan's metal bible Burrn! magazine reviewing the Whisky A Go Go show in Los Angeles pronounced it, "An amazing night….this rock n' roll band is very different from any other…totally unique …and bringing you great songs!". U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine said the show was a, "masterclass in guitar playing and performance".

Smith comments: "I think everyone in the band was extremely happy with how our very first tour turned out. We were all naturally a little anxious as we'd never played live together before but once we got out there, everything fell into place really easily and we all had a tremendous amount of fun. I can't wait until we can do it again and get to play in many more places next time round."

Kotzen adds: "We spent a lot of time discussing which of the songs from the live show to include on this CD. We wanted to capture an accurate snapshot of the special vibe we all felt on the tour and I think we've achieved this in the songs we've selected, and hope our fans will agree. We're looking forward to seeing everybody again on future tours."

"Better Days….And Nights" will be released globally on CD and digital formats.

The original EP tracks were produced by Kotzen and Smith and mixed by Kevin Shirley. The live tracks were produced and mixed by Kotzen and Smith.

In a recent interview with Metal Edge magazine's "Another FN Podcast With Izzy Presley", Richie stated about how the short tour came together: "What happened was it was all just by timing. Nathalie [Dufresne-Smith, Adrian's wife] and Adrian came into town, and Adrian said, 'Hey, we're gonna be there for a couple of months. You wanna write some more songs?' And we did get together and we did about seven things that are in the works; we have some demo stuff that are in the works. And then we started thinking, 'Man, we're here. Why don't we play?' Julia was in the house and we were talking about it. And it just kind of — boom. It just made sense. 'Let's go. Call Bruno.' And we put it together. It was real easy."

Adrian added that fans can definitely expect to hear more music from SMITH/KOTZEN, which released a full-length album and an EP during 2021.

"We started writing with a view to doing another album, and then we got sidetracked on dates," Smith said. "Like Richie said, we've got six or seven things. It's just taking where we left off with the EP — just writing as we do.

"I don't wanna change the world," he added. "I just wanna make good rock music. It's n there, and you've just gotta do it. You just have to do it, really. It's one of those things."

SMITH/KOTZEN's eponymous debut album was released globally through BMG in March 2021 to media and fan acclaim, charting No. 10 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart in the U.S., Top 20 in the U.K. as well as in other major markets such as Germany, Japan and Canada.

Smith is best known as one of IRON MAIDEN's principal guitarists, having also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Kotzen is the frontman for THE WINERY DOGS as well as having been the guitarist for both MR. BIG and POISON during his long and acclaimed career, which has to date seen him release more than 20 solo albums. Both artists are also prolific songwriters.

Acclaimed rockers ALTER BRIDGE will release their seventh album, "Pawns & Kings", on October 14 via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2019's "Walk The Sky" was once again recorded at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with SEVENDUST, MAMMOTH WVH and SLASH, among others.

The lyric video for the LP's third single, the epic track "Sin After Sin", can be seen below. The clip was created by ALTER BRIDGE visual collaborator Wayne Joyner.

"Pawns & Kings" is comprised of 10 all-new epic tracks that are sure to garner ALTER BRIDGE new fans around the globe while satiating their fervent supporters that have been patiently waiting for new music from the band.

From the opening riffs of "This Is War" to the title track album closer "Pawns & Kings", ALTER BRIDGE returns with an album of intense tracks that were born after the cycle for their last album was cut short by the global pandemic. Songs like "Dead Among The Living", "Silver Tongue" and "Holiday" showcase the signature songwriting the band is known for. The album offers numerous epic adventures, with three songs clocking in over six minutes each. The opus "Fable Of The Silent Son" has a running time of 8:29 and is the longest recorded song in the band's catalog — a distinction held by "Blackbird" until now. Guitarist Mark Tremonti steps out of his backing vocal role to take the lead on "Stay", an introspective ballad that is sure to become a fan favorite live.

"Pawns & Kings" track listing:

01. This Is War
02. Dead Among The Living
03. Silver Tongue
04. Sin After Sin
05. Stay
06. Holiday
07. Fable Of The Silent Son
08. Season Of Promise
09. Last Man Standing
10. Pawns & Kings

In a recent interview with Ian Danter of Planet Rock's "My Planet Rocks", Tremonti stated about "Pawns & Kings": "We're very proud of it. Our producer is absolutely in love with the record. I think if you're a fan of ALTER BRIDGE, you'll dig this record. We're very happy with it."

Asked if there will be any "heavy" Tremonti riffs on "Pawns & Kings", Mark said: "There are some heavy riffs on there. And it's funny because some of the heaviest riffs on the record [ALTER BRIDGE frontman] Myles [Kennedy] brought to the table. Even my producer is, like, 'I can't tell who's bringing what to the table anymore. 'Cause back when the band started, you were the heavy guy and Myles was the moody guy — [he would bring in] the ballady things — and we'd mix them up. And now you never know.'

"At this point, Myles loves playing guitar solos, and I love singing. So we like to do each other's roles, because I think he doesn't feel the pressure as a guitar player because he's known as a singer; I don't feel the pressure as a singer because I'm known as a guitar player. So we liked filling the other person's role. It's fun."

Last month, ALTER BRIDGE announced the North American leg of their 2023 "Pawns & Kings" tour. The 30-city trek — split into two legs — will kick off on January 25 in Tampa, Florida and wrap on April 1 in Highland, California. MAMMOTH WVH — the band fronted by Wolfgang Van Halen — will be direct support on the entire tour. Rockers RED will also play on the first leg of the tour and newcomers PISTOLS AT DAWN will appear on the second leg.

ALTER BRIDGE released a seven-song EP, "Walk The Sky 2.0", in November 2020 via Napalm Records. The effort contained live versions of a few of the band's favorites from "Walk The Sky" — "Wouldn't You Rather", "Pay No Mind", "Native Son", "Godspeed", "In The Deep" and "Dying Light" — as well as one new studio track, "Last Rites", which was written, recorded and completed entirely during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Tremonti issued the fifth album from his solo band TREMONTI, titled "Marching In Time", in September 2021 via Napalm Records.

Kennedy released his sophomore solo album, "The Ides Of March", in May 2021 via Napalm Records.

Tremonti recently partnered with National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) to release an album of Frank Sinatra covers titled "Tremonti Sings Sinatra". The LP of selections from Frank Sinatra's catalog was made available in May as part of a new charity initiative created by Tremonti called Take A Chance For Charity. Proceeds from the album go to support NDSS and the work they do to advocate for and support individuals with Down syndrome and their families.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann

Over the course of little more than three years between 1984 and 1987, CELTIC FROST established themselves as one of the most important bands in extreme and experimental music of that era. Due on October 28 in Europe and November 25 in the U.S., "Danse Macabre"brings together the band's recordings from those years, capturing their boundary-pushing ambition and creative zeal.

On paper, the story of CELTIC FROST's early years is as unlikely as it is extraordinary: a tale of how teenagers from rural Switzerland, at once audaciously ambitious and ferociously uncompromising, took heavy metal into new, exciting and unquestionably extreme territory. That they did so in the face of adversity at almost every turn makes this story even more incredible.

From its very inception mid-way through 1984, following Tom Gabriel Warrior and Martin Eric Ain's decision to dissolve HELLHAMMER, CELTIC FROST set out to give expression — both musically and aesthetically — to a uniquely extreme artistic vision which the pair delineated in forensic detail in a document which was presented to Noise Records, with whom HELLHAMMER had released "Apocalyptic Raids", in order to demonstrate to the label that their new band was a viable project.

Convinced, Noise asked CELTIC FROST to record a mini-LP, even though that hadn't formed part of Warrior and Ain's concept document. Undeterred, and propelled by a burning urgency, CELTIC FROST set out to write and record a full-length LP in a matter of a few months. "Morbid Tales" was recorded with Horst Müller in Berlin and was unlike anything else. Intensely heavy, nuanced and experimental, the record was a radical musical statement of intent; a stunning synthesis of Warrior and Ain's disparate influences. From the furious opening riff of "Into The Crypts Of Rays" through to the avant-garde experimentation of "Danse Macabre", "Morbid Tales" heralded the arrival of CELTIC FROST as a profoundly unique and uncompromising band.

New Yorker Reed St. Mark joined CELTIC FROST as a permanent member in February 1985, replacing session drummer Stephen Priestly, and the trio recorded the "Emperor's Return" EP in April '85, at Noise's request. Featuring the first recording of the essential "Circle Of The Tyrants", the EP is a solid snapshot of the sheer fanaticism that was the lifeblood of Tom and Martin in particular.

"To Mega Therion" was CELTIC FROST's next album, recorded in September '85. Due to personal difficulties, Martin was not in the band at that point, and so bass duties for the recording were carried out by session player Dominic Steiner. Martin's absence also meant that Tom was responsible for the music and virtually all of the lyrics. But despite difficult circumstances, the resulting album, however, was a triumph. Replete with iconic cover art by HR Giger, "To Mega Therion" imposes its dark majesty from the off with the orchestral bombast of "Innocence And Wrath", before launching into the savagery of the hook-laden "The Usurper". Daring, dark and superlatively heavy, "To Mega Therion" is a sophisticated expression of CELTIC FROST's inherent drive to eschew genre limitations and, instead, define art on their own terms.

Ain was soon brought back into the fold and a few songs from "To Mega Therion" were re-recorded and remixed with Harris Johns, emerging as the excellent sounding "Tragic Serenades" EP. It, and CELTIC FROST's previous releases, increasingly received critical acclaim, which emboldened the band to take more risks, to push the boundaries of heavy music even further with their next album.

Recorded in Hanover at the start of 1987, "Into The Pandemonium" was not an easy album to make, the band's experimental ambitions often at odds with their label's concerns. But, despite these obstacles, the band defended their artistic vision and the result is an astonishing piece of avant-garde art. The album's experimentation is still striking today, challenging how we perceive heavy music and what it means to take music risks. Only CELTIC FROST could create an album which kicks off with a singular cover of a new wave song (WALL OF VOODOO's "Mexican Radio") and immediately follow it up with the mournful tragedy of "Mesmerized".

"Into The Pandemonium" was the last recording made by this era of CELTIC FROST, bringing to an end a period of incredible creative and artistic growth over what was a remarkably brief period of time. That the teenagers who recorded "The Third Of The Storm" and "Triumph Of Death" for the HELLHAMMER EP would, despite constant turmoil, be recording the jaw-dropping "Rex Irae" just three years later is astonishing.

"Danse Macabre" captures the radical ambition and evolution of CELTIC FROST from 1984 through to 1987. In addition to the albums "Morbid Tales", "To Mega Therion" and "Into The Pandemonium", the marble color vinyl box set also includes the "Emperor's Return", "Tragic Serenades" and "I Won't Dance" EPs, along with "The Collectors Celtic Frost" compilation, a 7" of "Visual Aggression" and a cassette of rehearsals recorded at the band's Grave Hill Bunker. A 12" x 12", 40-page book, brings together photography — some previously unseen — from the era and brand new interviews with Tom Gabriel Warrior and Reed St Mark. A Heptagram USB drive contains MP3 audio of all the albums, including bonus tracks. A "Danse Macabre" woven patch, a double-sided poster, and a Necromaniac Union fan club enamel badge complete the set. "Danse Macabre" is also available as a five-CD box set with a 40-page book, badge, poster and patch.

Eternal Evil have signed a multi-album deal with Listenable Records, and will release their second full length album in 2023.





Influenced by thrash metal royalty Slayer, Kreator, Destruction and Exodus‘ earlier works, Eternal Evil was formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 2019. The band has intended to carry on the legacy of early high energy early classic thrash insanity.




Their quickly sold out Rise Of Death self-released demo was reissued by Iron Fist and Redefining Darkness Records. The latter released the band’s full length debut, The Warriors Awakening... Brings The Unholy Slaughter, in November 2021. Conjuring malicious old school metal powers, Eternal Evil’s debut received roaring criticism worldwide for its sheer fury and implacable velocity.


Passionate and relentlessly uncompromising, the young outfit churn out incisive riffs and arrangements with great conviction and surgical precision. Kickstarting with great enthusiasm, Eternal Evil are destined to make that head bang forever.





Lineup:


Adrian Tobar - Vocals and Lead Guitar
Tobias Lindström - Lead Guitar
Jacob Livåg - Bass Guitar
Alphonse Bouquelon - Drums

Alice Cooper played his first show with guitarist Kane Roberts since 1988 last night (Wednesday, September 7) at the kick-off of his fall U.S. tour at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

Kane's return to Alice's touring band was first reported as a rumor by the Metal Sludge web site on July 11. He stepped in as the replacement for Nita Strauss, who announced her departure from Cooper's group two months ago after an eight-year stint. Nita has since joined the backing band of pop star Demi Lovato.

Alice announced his renewed collaboration with Kane in a social media post in July. He wrote: "I'm looking forward to welcoming back Kane Roberts for our shows in September and October. We've been friends all this time, and he's always been one of my favorite guitarists. He's bringing more muscle to the 'Detroit Muscle' tour.

"We've always had a swinging door policy where players can come and go, so it's very exciting to get back on stage with Kane. The fans are in for a real treat at these shows. It's gonna be a blast. Kane Roberts, Ryan Roxie, and Tommy Henriksen on guitars? Hell yeah!"

Kane has recorded a total of five solo albums (among them the PHOENIX DOWN project released in the late '90s),including his latest, "The New Normal", which arrived in January 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl. "The New Normal" contained the song "Beginning Of The End", featuring a guest appearance by Alice.

Kane's name and abilities first came to prominence on Cooper's "Constrictor" album, which was soon followed by his self-titled debut solo album in 1987. More albums and tours with Alice followed, making Kane a well-known face in the business especially for his guitar skills, but also for his body-builder image and his now iconic machine-gun guitar.

As a solo recording artist, he landed a few Top 40 hits, and his varied musical background includes recording, writing and touring with artists such as Rod Stewart, Alice CooperDesmond Child, KISS, Diane Warren, ALICE IN CHAINS, BERLIN, GUNS N' ROSES, Garland Jeffries and more. He's also written or recorded music for films like "Light Sleeper", Penelope Spheeris's "Decline Of Western Civilization", "Friday the 13th IV Jason Lives", John Carpenter's "Prince Of Darkness", and more. In 1991, his second solo album, "Saints And Sinners", for Geffen Records included the Top 40 Billboard hit "Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore?", originally written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

In recent interviews, Strauss has said that the door is not closed on her return to Cooper's band at some point in the foreseeable future.

"There's no shutting of a door and changing of the guard, it's just I'm taking a step back a little bit," Strauss told Louder. "Depending on what the schedule looks like next year, I may have the chance to come back; I may not. But it definitely doesn't feel as final to me and to the people in Alice's band and the inner circle as it has been portrayed out in the world."

For his part, Roberts has said that he is not opposed to continuing his current stint with Cooper past the fall 2022 tour. "Well, I do want to record and sing with him," he told Vinyl Writer Music. "Right now, it's five weeks … there's a sort of a semblance of perfection in that, right? It has a beginning and an end to it. But if it evolves past that, there will be reasons why it should, and if it doesn't, then there will be reasons why it shouldn't."

Sammy Hagar has revealed to Ultimate Classic Rock that he collaborated with Eddie Van Halen on a new song in a recent dream.

"I shouldn't be hyping it now," Hagar said. "Nobody knows this but [my CIRCLE bandmates] Michael Anthony, Jason [Bonham] and Vic [Johnson]. About two months ago, I had this dream and Eddie came. We were in a room like this, [with] a bunch of people around. It was just like he'd been gone. It was not like he was passed, but he had just been out of my life and we hadn't seen each other for a while. He's going, 'Man, let's write some music!' I said, 'Yeah, fuck it, man. Here, let's go!' [We] went over into a corner, in this room. He had a guitar and he played me this thing. It was like this lick — [just like] the last lick that Eddie Van Halen showed me, when I went back for the [2004] reunion tour and when he was a mess. I said, 'Eddie, show me your newest shit,' because every time I'd be around him I'd say, 'Show me your newest shit.' He'd say, 'Oh, check this out!'"

According to Sammy, Eddie "did this harmonic thing" in the dream "and he slid it up to a chord, like a slide guitar. We wrote a song with that lick. I remembered it. I got up in the morning and I wrote the song. It's called 'Thank You'. I used the fuckin' lick that he showed me in the song. I told Jason, 'I just really don't know what to say lyrically.' I've got goosebumps, head to toe, [talking about it]. So I wrote it [about that experience], and we'll do that song someday."

Hagar added that when "Thank You" does eventually see the light of day, Eddie Van Halen will be credited as a co-writer.

"Now, that's going to be an Eddie-influenced song, to the point that I'm going to co-write it with him," he explained. "I'm going to give him credit and then maybe we'll donate the money to charity, whatever. You see, I feel so embarrassed about it because everyone's going to say, 'Oh, look at Sammy trying to capitalize on Eddie.' No, I'm not. You don't understand. This was a real fuckin' dream, and I told you exactly what happened in it."

Hagar mended his relationship with Eddie Van Halen months prior to the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist's October 2020 passing.

Hagar replaced David Lee Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — "5150", "OU812", "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" and "Balance" — all of which topped the U.S. chart.

Sammy, Eddie, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.

In his autobiography, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", Hagar slammed Eddie, saying the guitarist was unkempt, hunched over, frighteningly skinny, drinking wine straight out of a bottle, missing part of his tongue (after a cancer scare) and several teeth. He told an interviewer in 2012: "What happened on that reunion tour in '04 was some of the most miserable, back-stabbing dark crap I've ever been involved with my whole life."

In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Eddie questioned an "embellished" portion of "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock" that painted the guitarist as a "very angry drunk" during the group's 2004 reunion tour.

Sammy Hagar photo credit: Leah Steiger

Nita Strauss, who spent eight years playing with Alice Cooper before recently joining Demi Lovato's touring band, was asked in a new interview with Metal Injection if it was a "nerve-racking" experience telling the legendary rocker that she wanted to step back from performing with him. The guitarist responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I wouldn't even say nerve-racking, because… I mean, it was a big decision, of course, but it definitely wasn't as dramatic as it has seemed online, if that makes sense. We had just started the U.K. tour when I got the offer to come and play with Demi. And I just went into Coop's room — I went to his hotel room and I talked with him and his wife. And I said, 'Look, I have this opportunity.' He asked, 'Would it conflict with anything on this tour?' I said, 'No, but it would conflict with the fall dates, so I'd have to step back from the fall tour.' And he said, 'Go and do it.' He gave his blessing. He gave me a big hug and said, 'Go and have fun. Shine your light, and let us know what next year looks like and we'll work it out.' So it was a lovely and loving conversation — no big blowup; no drama; no one got fired; no one stormed out. And I took a step back and I'm trying something different. And we'll see what happens in the future."

According to Nita, "it didn't help" that the news of her joining Demi's touring band "got leaked before anybody had a chance to really say anything. I don't really know how that news got out, 'cause it was all pretty close to the vest," she said. "But somebody found out, somebody decided to put it out before anybody really could make a proper statement about it, and I think that's how these things get twisted around into something that it's not.

"We had a — Alice literally called it a 'hiatus dinner,'" Nita added. "One of our last shows in Greece, we had a couple of days off, and we had a big 'hiatus dinner' and we all laughed and cried and hugged and they gave me a little parting gift. And if that was the last show at the end of the tour, it'll be okay. But there was no big dramatic exit that people were speculating. And now that I'm clearing it up, there is also no backtracking. [Laughs] I think people just love to speculate without really knowing the actual workings of what's going on."

Nita played her first full live show with Demi on August 13 at the Grandstand at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Illinois.

Nita made her live debut with Demi on July 14 with a performance of "Substance" on ABC's Emmy Award-winning late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

Nita's new gig was first reported as a rumor on July 11 on the Metal Sludge web site.

Nita told Louder about how she ended up playing with Lovato: "So I actually got a text from Demi's musical director when I was on the road with my solo band on the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY tour, and essentially what it said was what we all know now: Demi is a huge rock and metal fan. And Demi wants to go back to her routes and wants to put together an all-female rock band. She's really one of the biggest stars in the world and she wants to take a step into our genre and this style of music that we love so much. When you get that text, that somebody wants to bring that type of music to the forefront, how do you say no? How do you turn down this opportunity to bring this style of music to so many more people? So I was thrilled to hear about it and I jumped at the opportunity. This was all way back in May. It's been in the works for a really long time."

She continued: "I've seen a lot of stuff out there saying, 'She jumped ship really fast'. There was nothing that happened fast, I think people just found out about it all at once. First and foremost, I went to Alice and [his wife] Sheryl for their blessing which they were so happy to give. Then I went to Alice's management and started rehearsal with Demi. I did my first TV appearance with Demi, I believe it was three days after the last Alice show, so it was really out of the frying pan and into the fire. But her team has been really fun to work with, the band is incredible, the musical director, Demi herself, it's just been a really good experience overall."

On July 11, Nita announced that she would sit out Cooper's fall 2022 tour. She has also scrapped the festival dates her solo band had planned for the rest of the year. The 35-year-old said in a statement that her "touring year" was "still VERY full" and revealed that she was "on a flight straight into the next adventure," adding cryptically that she would "be on stage again much sooner than you think."

A couple of Nita's Cooper bandmates commented on her post, with guitarist Ryan Roxie writing: "No words — just notes... and lord knows we harmonized a lot of them over the years... nothing but love and respect." Drummer Glen Sobel added: "You're super pro and prepared no matter what the situation. We're gonna miss you but we're also proud to be associated with Hurricane."

Strauss had been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

Last October, Nita shared "Dead Inside", her first new solo music since the release of her debut album, 2018's "Controlled Chaos". The track was her first-ever solo collaboration with a vocalist, David Draiman, frontman of Grammy-nominated rock icons DISTURBED. Her new instrumental solo track, "Summer Storm", arrived on August 30.

Nita released "Controlled Chaos" to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it "a great debut that — as its creator intended — leaves no doubt", and Guitar World stating "'Controlled Chaos' is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss's many strengths".

As well as performing with Cooper, Nita has also played with R&B star Jermaine Jackson, early MTV darlings FEMME FATALE, video game supergroup CRITICAL HIT and popular tribute band THE IRON MAIDENS.

In April 2020, Nita launched "Rock Guitar Fundamentals" — a three-module online guitar teaching program suitable for learners of all levels. The course is available at www.iwanttoplayguitar.com.

Nita's solo live show is mostly instrumental in nature, combining originals with covers.

Melodic death metal duo, Hatchets For Hands, are back with a new single - their first offering since the release of 2020's "Cabaret Of Decay". "Mephistis" features guest drums from John Tempesta (White Zombie, Testament), and fans can check out the occult music video below.





“After several years of friendship, John joined us on a writing session above The Rainbow Bar & Grill in LA,” says Hatchets For Hands drummer/vocalist Cullen Poythress. “After a few whiskies together at the bar afterward, we knew it was on. We had to have Johnny T’s heavy-handed groove on ‘Mephistis’, and it was an honor to have him join us behind the kit on this one.”







Formed in San Francisco, California in 2009, Hatchets For Hands is the death metal duo of guitarist/bassist Brian Parks and drummer/vocalist Cullen Poythress. The band is defined by familiar elements of American thrash and traditional death metal mixed with the soaring leads and darkened melodies associated with Northern Europe's more melodic exports.

Sid Falck has released the new song, "Inhumanity", via his Falck project. "Inhumanity" is available via Distrokid on all music streaming platforms, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Facebook Music, Instagram Music. Listen below.





As with previous releases, “Inhumanity” is written and performed by Sid Falck.







Falck previously released the song "Rage", featuring special guest Dave Linsk (Overkill, Speed\Kill/Hate). A video for the song can be viewed below:

2017 saw Brussels-based rock sensation, Black Mirrors, take the world by storm with the debut of their awe-inspiring Funky Queen EP. Feverishly acclaimed live appearances and a powerful festival showcase later, the band fronted by extraordinary vocalist Marcella Di Troia quickly inked a worldwide deal with leading rock and metal empire Napalm Records, soon gaining further praise with the release of their first full-length album, Look Into The Black Mirror. Continuing to exceed expectations, the unstoppable Black Mirrors have now crafted a new masterpiece and one of rock’s leading highlights of 2022 – their upcoming release, Tomorrow Will Be Without Us, out November 4 via Napalm Records.


Are we killing our own planet? No, Black Mirrors doesn’t believe that we as humans have the power to destroy mother earth. However, as the album cover below portrays, it’s clear who will end up burning – all living creatures, us. Tomorrow Will Be Without Us is a clear statement impacting every single one of us living on our planet.


As first album single “Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You” proves, the band pushes their fuzz pedals to the max, delivering a powerful rock anthem you can’t help but move and groove to, yet perfectly showcases Black Mirrors’ unforced, versatile and organic talent.




Black Mirrors says about their first single: "‘Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You’ is one of the first songs we wrote and recorded for this album. We felt the song really helped us to shape the album as it embraces a lot of different influences like Nirvana and Hole, but also Queens Of The Stone Age, Jack White and even Radiohead.


The song is a shout out to the bitter world we’re living in, a shout out to our consumerist society! Our beautiful planet has its limits! We are on a sinking ship. We have left so many living beings to die, to disappear even. We need to change now more than ever - we have to change our ways."


Watch the new Black Mirrors music video for “Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You” below.


About the new video, the band states: "The energy of ‘Hateful Hate I’ll Kill You’ video is pretty close to what you can expect from a live show of Black Mirrors. Furthermore, we focused on what’s behind the lyrics. The colors, mainly yellow and red, were used as a symbol of the burning of our forest, our planet. One of the outfits Marcella’s wearing is a nod to the last mass extinction to warn us of the 6th mass extinction we are currently living in. At the end, she even changes into a tree to embody the return to nature."


Black Mirrors’ sophomore outing is a deep, soulful and vividly textured 90's inspired rock record with umpteen layers begging to be picked apart with each spin, and lyrically, traverses humankind’s increasing apathy towards the world around them. The grunge-infused guitar lines meld in harmony, giving way to memorable riffs, rhythmic gems, big grooves and the addictive, beautifully unchained vocals of Di Troia. The album fluxes from fierce and blustery to often gentle and calming, channeling the flavor of MTV’s glory era showcasing acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Hole, Alain Johannes, Alice In Chains and beyond.


Contrary to the album’s title and its evocative themes about today’s society and a world falling apart, tomorrow does belong to Black Mirrors – there is no doubt they will own the next decade, providing us with the finest in heavy rock and melodic grunge grandeur the world of tomorrow unconditionally needs.


"Like all of us, we had to go through a lot during these past years. Tomorrow Will Be Without Us is our answer to all the questions we had during that time, our reflection on the ecological catastrophe we're all witnessing, our thoughts on our consumerist society, …“ the band comments. "Writing these songs gave us the strength to go forward and to heal us, it was our catharsis. We deeply hope it will bring you some light in these dark times."


Together with the touch of worldwide-acclaimed producer Alain Johannes (Eagles Of Death Metal, Queens Of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, No Doubt,…), Black Mirrors have reset the bar to unexpected heights, and their new album promises to leave its mark on today’s rock scene worldwide! One can be sure, the music world of tomorrow would be a lonely place without Black Mirrors, and Tomorrow Will Be Without Us locks them at the top.





Tomorrow Will Be Without Us will be available in the following formats:


- CD Digisleeve
- LP Gatefold BLACK
- LP Gatefold Marbled BLACK/GOLD (ltd. 300)
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Snake Oil"
"Lost In Desert"
"Tomorrow Will Be Without Us"
"Hateful Hate, I'll Kill You"
"Ode To My Unborn Child"
"Through The Eyes Of A Giant"
"Collapsology (Raise Your Voice)" feat. Alain Johannes
"Anthropocene"
"Tears To Share"
"Say It Again"


"Hateful Hate, I'll Kill You" video:





Current band lineup:


Marcella Di Troia (Vocals)
Pierre Lateur (Lead Guitar)
Yannick Carpentier (Drums)
Pierre Guillaume (Guitar, Synths, Backing Vocals)


(Photo - Tim Tronckoe)

Canada’s NWOTHM outfit Iron Kingdom is releasing their fifth studio album The Blood Of Creation this fall and in advance have the melodic new single “In The Grip Of Nightmares” ready for your consumption. The album is not a concept album, but they exhibit a passion for fantasy themes and pays homage to tales woven by acclaimed authors. The single is about the sword Stormbringer from the Michael Moorcock books Elric of Melnibonè Series. Bound together by fate, Elric consumes the souls of those he slays with Stormbringer and this dramatic relationship is conveyed through progressive traditional heavy metal in the vein of Helloween and Fates Warning. Fast and driving, it is also melodic with plenty of solos and focus on the leads. 


The band explains the track further:


“We started writing this song during the On The Hunt sessions back in 2019, however, the song had a different energy than the rest of the album so we decided it would be best to come back to it at a later date. In late 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdown, we took a second look at what was to become ‘In The Grip Of Nightmares’. We rewrote the tune to be what it is today. It tells the tale of the legendary sentient sword ‘Stormbringer’ and its relationship to Elric. The sword ‘consumes’ the souls of those who it strikes down and feeds the energy into Elric, who needs it to survive. The two are bound together by fate. A fate that twists Chaos and Law, and leaves Elric in the grip of nightmares.”




Iron Kingdom set out to create music in a style of metal that seemed to have been forgotten when they were kids. Since no one else seemed to be doing it, they decided to play metal the way it used to be played in the ‘70s and ‘80s while transporting listeners into unique, fantastic worlds. Since their conception, they have toured around the world, keeping old-school vibes alive.


This upcoming album sees a lot more music content coming from lead guitarist Megan Merrick and having drummer Max Friesen (ex-Ophelia Falling) has added another layer of ideas giving this latest offering a new perspective than the previous ones, while maintaining the shredding heavy metal thunder fans have come to love. The album was self-produced by Iron Kingdom with mixing done by Andy Boldt and mastering by Greg Reely (Overkill, Fear Factory, 3 Inches of Blood).


This refreshingly classic and refined taste of traditional heavy metal is recommended for fans of Riot, Iron Maiden, and Helloween.


BraveWords is premiering the new single – step into the nightmare!





In additional news, Iron Kingdom have announced their album launch show for November 4 in Vancouver, BC, hosted by the Invisible Orange at the Wise Hall. Find more information at orangetickets.ca.


Pre-order the album here, or here.





Tracklisting:


"Tides Of Desolation"
"Sheathe The Sword"
"Queen Of The Crystal Throne"
"Hunter And Prey"
"Witching Hour"
"In The Grip Of Nightmares"
"Primordial"
"The Blood Of Creation"


Teaser:





In additional news, Iron Kingdom have announced their album launch show for November 4 in Vancouver, BC, at the Wise Hall. For more info, head here.





(Photo - Caitlin Delaplace)

MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine was the featured guest on BBC's "The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker" during the "Rock God" segment. Dave picked JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton and stated about his choice (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I had no idea how much Glenn Tipton and JUDAS PRIEST had influenced my guitar playing until I recently covered 'Delivering The Goods' with my band MEGADETH and got to go over all those guitar riffs again. It was really revealing to me how much Glenn's playing had influenced me."

He continued: "Where did I first hear about JUDAS PRIEST? I can't remember exactly — I think it was my brother-in-law's little brother. But I did get my own copy of 'Sad Wings Of Destiny'. And I remember when I was living with my mom and we moved in with my middle sister — I have three older sisters — and she was married to a police officer that was the chief of police in a city called Stanton in California in the United States. And he walked into his house and heard PRIEST blaring in the bedroom I was sharing with their son. That was the first time I ever stood up for metal. And when he stomped out, you know what I did? I put the record back on."

Mustaine originally revealed that MEGADETH recorded a JUDAS PRIEST cover for an as-yet-undisclosed Amazon project during an interview last month with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station. Regarding how he and his bandmates approached the recording of the track, the MEGADETH leader said: "We went and listened to the song and charted out the performance. And going into that kind of micromanaging of the song, that minutiae production, we started to see a lot of things in the song where it seemed like there was no guide for the song. So we did everything the way that we do our recordings. And I believe it got a little more straightforward with the riffing and everything."

A few years ago, Mustaine picked JUDAS PRIEST's "Sad Wings Of Destiny" as one of the albums that changed his life. He said: "When it comes to classic heavy metal, JUDAS PRIEST's 'Sad Wings Of Destiny' is definitely one of the all-time great opuses. Hearing Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing's unison guitar playing and hearing Rob Halford let rip … Who sings like that? Nobody. I was so entranced by that band and everything about them, that I went to a hat store and bought a Fedora because Glenn Tipton was wearing one on the back of 'Sad Wings…' I have curly hair so hats don't stay on so well. It didn't last very long. [Laughs]"

MEGADETH's new album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!", was released on September 2 via UMe.

Sole surviving EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER member Carl Palmer, in association with the estates of his bandmates Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, has announced the "Welcome Back My Friends - The Return Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer" tour. Launching on Friday November 18 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the trek will actually "reunite" ELP live on stage through modern technology.

After exploring the idea of a hologram tour in detail, Palmer — with the estates of Emerson and Lake — opted for what they felt was a more honest approach using live footage of Keith and Greg on massive video walls alongside Carl (and his band) playing live on stage. The voice and instrumentation of Lake and the unmistakable keyboard mastery of Emerson will be mixed with Palmer's onstage live drumming to magically reunite ELP once again. Paul McCartney's duet with John Lennon at the end of his recent "Got Back" tour is a good idea of what ELP fans can expect from this show.

Emerson and Lake passed away nine months apart in 2016, leaving Palmer to carry on EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER's enormous musical legacy.

"About five years ago I explored the idea of trying to reunite the band using digital holograms," said Carl. "We saw a few shows of other artists but it did not seem like an honest approach. Then we realized the film we made of ELP's sold-out run at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1992 had everything we needed. We were able to use just the camera shots of Keith and Greg, with the sterling audio tracks of their performances resulting in a combination of film and onstage performance that brings back the magic of ELP."

After establishing themselves in bands such as THE NICE, KING CRIMSON and THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN, ELP was formed in early 1970 as one of rock's first (and biggest) supergroups. With record sales of over 50 million and decades of sold-out tours through the 1970s and again in the 1990s, EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER has remained one of the best-selling classic rock bands of all time. The group's complete recorded catalog, now under the direction and distribution of BMG Music, continues to be a steady force on the international music scene.

The tour will coincide with the new BMG box set of classic ELP hit singles pressed on vinyl with reproductions of the original picture sleeves.

The trek is being launched with the full approval of the Emerson and Lake estates, as well as the various managers who have represented the members of the band.

"Welcome Back My Friends - The Return Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer" will start in the U.S. during the fall of 2022 and eventually play all over the world where ELP toured throughout its career.

Tickets will go on sale on Friday, September 9.

Confirmed tour dates so far:

Nov. 18 - 2300 Arena - Philadelphia PA
Nov. 20 - Penn's Peak - Jim Thorpe, PA
Nov. 22 - Shea Center - Wayne, NJ
Nov. 23 - Patchogue Theater - Patchogue, NY
Nov. 25 - Town Hall - New York, NY
Nov. 26 - College St. Music Hall - New Haven, CT
Nov. 27 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston MA
Dec. 01 - Arcada Theatre - St. Charles. IL
Dec. 02 - Des Plaines Theatre - Des Plaines IL
Dec. 03 - The Goodyear Theatre - Akron, OH