Ontario based progressive outfit Taking Balfour are preparing to unveil their sophomore album Dawn Of Polaris on October 21st, 2022. With a newly completed lineup, the band offers a tantalizing taste with the first single and video, "The Watcher And The Witness".





Founding member and guitarist Noah Anderson comments: "The most challenging thing about creating a record is of course, what are we going to write about? In the early stages of brainstorming, we decided to take an approach on one of the most debated topics of all time; what it means to be human. This album is a journey, and one that we all buckle up for behind the wheel."  




"Dawn Of Polaris perfectly captures a bumpy ride; the exhilarating rollercoaster each and every one of us has to strap in for. We all are guilty of holding our belief systems so close to our hearts that sometimes we forget to look at the bigger picture. What is the bigger picture? Well, take a listen, you'd be surprised at what you may find." 


Taking Balfour elevate their music by exploring beyond the typical boundaries of metal. Breaking out synthesizers and organ parts alongside the metal instrumentation, the band produce a fiery sound with unceasing impact.  





Tracklisting:


"Echoes" 
"Neptune"
"The Watcher And The Witness"
"Awakening" 
"The Jester’s Fool"
"Polaris"
"Touch And Go"
"Light Years Away"
"T.O.A.D."
"Purge Of Darkness"


Taking Balfour create a wall of sound comprised of powerful percussion, thundering bass and epic guitar riffage, all accompanied by compelling synths and piano. “Echoes” is a beautifully haunting introduction to the album, building up anticipation ahead of the heavy thrills of “Neptune”. A gothic seductive tone manifests in “Awakening”, while “Light Years Away” explores contrasting sections of a serene, soaring nature, and high intensity. Blues and funk influences run through Dawn Of Polaris with “The Jester’s Fool” and “T.O.A.D.” prominently incorporating these musical styles. Each track ventures down a different path of Taking Balfour’s sound, revealing something new at every turn. The convergence of these elements is found in the concluding “Purge Of Darkness”. From driving percussion and delicate lead melodies, to immersive atmospheres and an explosive breakdown, this finale goes out with a bang.  


For further details, visit Taking Balfour on Facebook.


 

Chuck D of PUBLIC ENEMY joined ANTHRAX on stage last night (Friday, July 29) at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California to perform "Bring The Noise", the song ANTHRAX and PUBLIC ENEMY recorded together in 1991. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

During the recording of ANTHRAX's "Persistence Of Time" album, guitarist Scott Ian suggested the band — all big PUBLIC ENEMY fans — record a cover of PUBLIC ENEMY's "Bring The Noise". He loved the idea of recording a metal version of the song, of melding his guitar sound with Chuck D's voice, plus, PUBLIC ENEMY had name-checked ANTHRAX in the lyrics. Once the demo was arranged and recorded, Scott sent a cassette of it to Chuck D with the pitch for Chuck and Flavor Flav to record a version of the track with ANTHRAX. After hearing the demo, Chuck D wholeheartedly agreed. In June, 1991, the ANTHRAX-PUBLIC ENEMY collaboration of "Bring The Noise" was released on ANTHRAX's B-sides/rarities album "Attack Of The Killer B's", and then on PUBLIC ENEMY's "Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black" album in October of that same year. The song blew up, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance." Then, on September 24, 1991, as part of ANTHRAX's "Persistence Of Time" touring cycle, the two bands went out on the road together, the "Bring The Noise Tour" — ANTHRAX and PUBLIC ENEMY, with PRIMUS and the YOUNG BLACK TEENAGERS supporting. The shows ended with ANTHRAX and PUBLIC ENEMY on stage together performing "Bring The Noise".

Asked in a 2013 interview with The National Student if he thinks the backlash in the collaboration ANTHRAX did with PUBLIC ENEMY helped to form any of the nu-metal music today, Ian said: "You know, people ask us, do we think we created certain genres of music that the press named after we did what we did with PUBLIC ENEMY. I never thought we invented it. It certainly opened a door, even just a window for people to jump out of. I truly believe that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE were the band that drove a train through that door; they took the influences in their individuals and came together to make a band out of it. Whereas with us and PUBLIC ENEMY, it's not like ANTHRAX became a rap group and it's not like PUBLIC ENEMY became a metal group, we just collaborated together and did something great. We didn't then become one unit and continue to make music like that. Whereas, RAGE AGAINST were that unit and this is the music that they were creating from their souls which blew up massively on a worldwide level. So I think if anything, whether or not they'd want the credit for it, it's definitely RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE for me that created rap metal, nu-metal, whatever you want to call it. Everything that came after them showed that a direct line had to go back to RAGE. The only thing I can personally take credit for is, there have been guys in bands that have come up to me and personally told me the influence that we bring to them specifically some of the dudes from LINKIN PARK told me years and years ago that the first concert they ever saw was ANTHRAX and PUBLIC ENEMY in Los Angeles. And they left that show saying that's the kind of band we want me to make. I know the guys in RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and I know Tom [Morello, guitar] and he was a fan of ours and PUBLIC ENEMY's and what we did. I'm not saying 'Bring The Noise' was a direct responsibility for RAGE, but I know that it's something they are certainly fans of."

In a separate interview with the Cleveland Music Examiner, Ian stated about ANTHRAX's original decision to record a cover of "Bring The Noise": "By that point, there was a new audience, and we certainly reached a lot of new people with that PUBLIC ENEMY track. People who maybe weren't into what we'd done before, or who weren't metalheads. So that track crossed over for us and took us into a new zone. But it's funny, because we haven't done anything rap or crossed over since 'Bring The Noise', yet people once again still talk about it, which shows me how special it was. People still want to hear it and people still reference it all the time, and it's almost 25 years old. And sometimes we're categorized as a 'rap metal' band, when we only ever did the two songs — other then maybe screwing around with 'Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun' with the BEASTIE BOYS as a B-side — but yeah. People still talk about it as if that's what we do."

Bassists Alberto Rigoni and Michael Manring have announced that their Grains Of Sand album, featuring Mark Zonder and many other guests including Billy Sheehan, has been mixed and mastered and will be released on September 15th. It will be available in digital, Digipack CD and limited edition tape/cassette. You can pre-order Grains Of Sand now at this location.


Furthermore, Alberto Rigoni and Michael Manring have just released a new single and video for "No Escape" featuring Adam Nitti and Mark Zonder.







Alberto Rigoni says: "After the release of Song For Souls in memory of my father I said I was going to retire (at least for a bit) but well... I could not resist to make an album with one of the best bass player in the world like Michael. Hope you will enjoy it."


Michael Manring says: "Alberto is a prolific artist with a deep love of the bass. His enthusiasm is inspiring and it's always a pleasure to work with him."


Grains Of Sand artwork and tracklisting:





"Orphaned Land" 
"Grains Of Sand" (ft. Billy Sheehan) 
"Seven" (feat. Bryan Beller) 
"Parallels" (ft. Michael LePond)
"Bass Lullaby"
"InstruMind" (ft. Lars Lehmann)
"Carpathia"
"No Escape" (ft. Adam Nitti) 
"Angels" (ft. Stu Hamm)


"Grains Of Sand" (ft. Billy Sheehan) video:





 

Britain's fiercely independent alternative metal outfit Shadow Smile announce the release of their epic new single "Dearly Departed". A deeply heartfelt and emotionally charged track exploring the grief and loss of losing a close loved one.


Encompassing a fusion of classic metal and modern electronica - the Sheffield (UK) outfit continue to strive forward, pushing musical boundaries with their original-yet-timeless sound. A fast rising and exciting new rock act whose sonic concoctions will equally resonate with fans of contemporary metal-core acts like Bring Me The Horizon and While She Sleeps, as well as stadium metal heavyweights such as Ghost and Avenged Sevenfold. 







Produced by Daniel Jeffery and mixed by Jim Pinder at UK's renowned Treehouse Studios (Bullet For My Valentine, Bring Me The Horizon) - "Dearly Departed" is one of the band's stand alone single releases for fans whilst work is underway with their as-yet-untitled and entirely crowd-funded album expected in 2023.


For further details, visit Shadow Smile on Facebook.


 

Threeman Recordings' 25th anniversary edition of Entombed's classic album, DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth, has entered the Swedish charts again as follows:


#6 - Album charts (both physical and digital)
#1 - Physical 
#1 - Vinyl 
#1 - Hard Rock 


Guitarist Alex Hellid comments: “We’re all seriously chuffed to see To Ride… top charts again!! Fantastic! Many thanks to everyone making it so. Thank you!”




Entombed was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame in 2014 with the following motivation: "Hard Rock is just as typical of growing up in medium-sized Swedish towns as football and mopeds. Hard Rock is Swedish folk music with studded wrist bands instead of tasseled garters. After two decades of Anglo-Saxon hard rock a Swedish band, Entombed, became one of the world leaders in death metal. A subculture that has spread throughout the world, mutated in various forms, and after 20 years continues to be just as vital. Entombed is part of the heavier internationalization of Swedish popular music - all categories."


The band was founded in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. With its catchy, versatile but still rock-hard music Entombed pioneered Scandinavian death metal, which was different from its American counterpart mainly by the characteristic, chainsaw-like guitar sound. The special sound they got by tuning down their guitars three full steps (to C or less), by using a maxed-out Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal, in combination with a guitar running through a Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal. The debut album Left Hand Path was released in 1990 and followed up the following year with Clandestine and Wolverine Blues in 1993.


For the 25th anniversary of DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth, the album is finally reissued and packaged as the band originally intended it.


The vinyl edition comes in a gatefold sleeve, while the CD version includes the classic poster booklet. The release was newly remastered by Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios.





Tracklisting:


"To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth"
"Like This With The Devil"
"Lights Out"
"Wound"
"They"
"Somewhat Peculiar"
"DCLXVI"
"Parasight"
"Damn Deal Done"
"Put Me Out"
"Just As Sad"
"Boats"
"Uffe's Horrorshow"
"Wreckage"


Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed from its American counterpart by its distinct guitar tone.


"Much of our catalogue has not been available for a long time as we've been searching for the best option to re-release these albums for fans worldwide...for years. With Sound Pollution we've found the ideal partner that helps us to do it our own way, so that the fans can be sure that the reissues are fully controlled by Entombed with full support and co-operation from Threeman Recordings (our own evil empire version of a record company through which we've been releasing all our stuff since the To Ride album (our fourth) in 1996 or was it 1997? Wikipedia say 1997 so I guess that's the truth. Anyway, we want to present these albums in the best possible way, so we're going to remaster all of them. We may even make an alternative and/or re-mix of some tracks or album available along the way as well as dig out some demo versions. Personally, I just can't get enough of that stuff myself when it comes to other people's music. Just love to hear things in different ways and get a glimpse of the process...absolutely love that. It's going to be fun to work on all that and give you updates on how it's all playing out. Been waiting a really long time to do this and I am very very excited to finally be here!" - Alex Hellid


Lineup:


Uffe Cederlund - Guitar
Jörgen Sandström - Bass
L-G Petrov - Vocals
Alex Hellid - Guitar
Nicke Andersson - Drums

On June 1, France's Duke TV conducted an interview with ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz and guitarist Michael Amott in Paris. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about ARCH ENEMY's decision to release more singles than usual this time around, Alissa said: "I actually like singles anyways; I like that idea. As long as there's an album coming up, I like the idea of giving almost every song the time and attention that it needs, because when we're writing the album and recording it, every song gets an equal amount of time and attention. It's not like the two singles get more than the others; we dedicate ourselves fully to every song. So I'm happy to see more songs getting that kind of dedicated attention from the audience as well."

Added Michael: "It's kind of exciting to release songs one by one with these videos and streaming on the DSPs and stuff. Actually, it's worked out very, very well. And we noticed now when we had our concert tour in North America that… we were playing three of the singles — 'Handshake With Hell', 'House Of Mirrors' and 'Deceiver, Deceiver' — and they went down super well; [they were] very recognized by the fans and people singing along and so forth. So it was really great."

ARCH ENEMY's 11th studio album, "Deceivers", which will arrive on August 12 via Century Media Records.

In May, ARCH ENEMY released a new seven-inch single, "Sunset Over The Empire", with the title track also appearing on "Deceivers". The official music video for "Sunset Over The Empire", directed by Grupa13, was made available the same day.

ARCH ENEMY played the first show of "The North American Siege 2022" tour with BEHEMOTH and NAPALM DEATH on April 16 at The Marquee in Tempe, Arizona.

Amott previously stated about "Deceivers": "Having just celebrated our 25th anniversary as a group and now releasing our 11th studio album, one could easily assume that we would be cruising along and going through the motions at this point. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to ARCH ENEMY and our new album, 'Deceivers'.

"It is, without a doubt, always a challenge to raise the bar each time in both the songwriting and production side of things, and it can feel a bit daunting before we get into it. But once we do get started and fully immerse ourselves in the creative process, it's really like there is nothing else in the world and we are very focused. And believe it or not, for the most part, we have a ton of fun making this music! Creating 'Deceivers' was no different. Once again we shut out the outside world and went deep into the artistic zone. I believe we pulled out some really interesting musical and lyrical themes this time, a few things might even raise an eyebrow or two — while retaining all the signature elements of the band. In the end, it's ARCH ENEMY at full speed and power."

ARCH ENEMY is appearing at select summer festivals before embarking on the rescheduled "European Siege 2022" trek (with BEHEMOTH, CARCASS, UNTO OTHERS) in the fall.

Cradle Of Filth drummer Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka has shared drum cam footage of "Nocturnal Supremacy" performed live in Toronto on June 4th at The Opera House. Check it out below.










Austrian rock and metal empire, Napalm Records, recently announced their exciting new partnership with Cradle Of Filth, who have just signed a worldwide contract with the label.


Positioned firmly at the top of the extreme black metal genre, Cradle Of Filth - led and revolutionized by iconic frontman Dani Filth - reign supreme as one of the most revered, formative and notorious names in the scene, and are undeniably responsible for breaking ground for many of today’s top metal artists with their trademark mixture of grim blackened heaviness, macabre theatricality and scintillating gothic style. The rule of Filth began in 1991, followed by the unleashing of 1994’s The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh - humble beginnings that expanded into cinematic classics like Cruelty And The Beast and Midian.


The band’s unyielding international touring schedule has garnered them a massive following both in the cult underground and at the top of the mainstream, defying trends while staying true to their roots. More recent offerings such as 2015’s Hammer Of The Witches and 2017’s Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay continued to bolster the unremitting legacy of Filth, until the band, along with the rest of the universe, was abruptly halted by the global pandemic in 2020.


But, as is evident by the staggering response from their devoted legion of followers, that time was put to good use, spurring the emergence of the band’s latest, breathtakingly heavy offering, 2021’s Existence Is Futile. The album debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200 with Hard Rock Genre, on the Hard Music Albums charts at #4 in the US and #5 in Canada, #9 on the German Album charts, #3 and #5 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums chart and UK Independent Albums chart respectively, #4 on the Finnish Albums chart and many more, proving that Cradle Of Filth continue to own the dark.


Now, Napalm Records is honoured to deliver the band’s haunting hallmark to the masses as their musical panorama reaches into the future.


Cradle Of Filth mastermind Dani Filth says: “It is with great expectation and excitement that we announce our move to Napalm Records, having seen and heard a great deal of complimentary things about the label, which in turn leads us to believe that this will be the perfect nesting ground for Cradle Of Filth in 2022 and beyond. We’d like to thank all our fans for their continued support and trust in us doing the right thing for the band and its music. All hail the eternal ‘Filth!”


Thomas Caser, CEO, Napalm Records adds: “We are thrilled to welcome the most influential and iconic extreme metal band to our ever-growing Napalm Records family. Being a fan of the band since their very first album, it is with great honor and excitement that we’re able to work with them from now on! We are ready to conquer the metal world with Cradle Of Filth!”


 

Find A Better Way is the brand-new album by Canadian classic rock roots and blues rock band, The Commoners. The album will be released on CD, limited edition vinyl and digital by Gypsy Soul Records on November 4th and is available to pre-order from TheCommoners.ca. The first single "Fill My Cup" was released on July 29th and is available to stream here.


Possessing a sound tapped from the oaken belly of a whiskey barrel, The Commoners are a four-piece roots / blues rock band from Toronto, Canada.







Described as “a classic rock and roll affair,” the nine songs take the listener on a sonic voyage through the lives of the band, from the dusty back roads of rural Ontario to the bright lights of the big city. Offering their own blend of rock and roll, southern blues, and roots music, the Toronto-based four-piece band are known for their high-energy riffs, soulful vocals, and rich harmonies. The result is an authentic Southern-style rock experience. 


The group was cobbled together over the course of a decade, adapting through numerous obstacles to form the unit as it exists today: Chris Medhurst (vocals/guitar), Ben Spiller (bass), Ross Hayes Citrullo (lead guitar), and Adam Cannon (drums). Often joined by their friend, organist Miles Evans-Branagh, The Commoners unite under a shared dream: to write, perform, and share music that is an authentic nod to the greats who paved the way before them.


“The new album authentically embodies the rock and roll, soul, and blues rock experience,” says the band’s lead singer, Chris Medhurst. “That’s something we really wanted to bring back. That’s the roots. That’s what we listen to.”


The first single "Fill My Cup" is the quintessential roots rock song, featuring high-energy guitar riffs, a groovy verse and an uplifting chorus rounded out with an inspiring full band chant. Showcasing a powerful vocal performance by lead singer Chris Medhurst, and the soulful harmonies of Chantal Williams, "Fill My Cup" is an impeccable introduction to The Commoners—a must listen.





“The Black Crowes are a considerable influence for us,” says Medhurst. “Derek Trucks, Marcus King, Led Zeppelin, and The Allman Brothers Band, too. These are the bands that we wear on our sleeves as we aspire to create our own music and sound.”


Find A Better Way is an album that demands attention from the first note. The opening lines “If I scream at the top of my lungs, and stamp my feet, ’til the floor comes undone,” immediately inform that a wild ride lies ahead. The album was recorded and produced at RHC Music in Toronto by the band’s guitarist Ross Hayes Citrullo. Ross collaborated with executive producer Renan Yildizdogan to strike the perfect balance of new and old recording treatments. The goal was to create something that felt new and original, yet still familiar to their target classic roots rock and blues rock audience.


“The vision from the beginning was to marry old and new southern rock together in a way that was unique to the band’s Canadian roots,” explains Citrullo. “By adding the soul and rock elements of the Black Crowes, and the southern blues rock undertones of the Allman Brothers to a production style akin to Blackberry Smoke and Rival Sons, I think we developed an authentic sound that compares sonically to some of our favourite records across all of those music genres.” 


The album’s lyrical themes drill into the essence of humanity: love, regret, ambition, and fear. Circling the forever challenge of doubt vs. desire, The Commoners place themselves into the shoes of the everyman. The result? Nine tracks that function as a comfort and companion through all of life’s trials and tribulations, with melodic solos, soaring organ, and a punchy rhythm section to drive the messages home.


Drummer Adam Cannon says, “Music, like so much in life, is about the exchange of energy,” and The Commoners make more than a fair trade. Striving to present an impactful, memorable, and downright exhilarating live experience that accurately represents their recorded works, the band carries the listener over spirited choruses and group chants, before returning them back to earth in need of a shot of something smooth. You can expect to leave fully satisfied, sweat drenched, and heart racing, a good time guaranteed—just what we all need.





The Commoners enlisted a handful of Toronto’s finest musicians to help bring their record to life. On the title track "Find A Better Way", the band brought on keyboardist Jeff Heisholt (The Trews) to lay down an iconic organ track. For the rest of the album, keyboardist Miles Evans-Branagh performed organ, piano, and Rhodes.


To accompany Ben and Adam on backup vocals, The Commoners called upon three of Canada’s top backup singers. Tash Lorayne and Shezelle Weekes (The Arkells), and Chantal Williams joined in to arrange vocal parts and enliven the mix with their vivacious voices resulting in a spine-tingling performance.


The Commoners also invited local legend Michael Eckert to lend his pedal steel talents on "I Won’t" and "Alive". Adding the final cherry on top, renowned multi-instrumentalist Ben Healey treated "Deadlines" to a guitar solo worthy of the world’s greatest stadiums. Though these songs were all written by The Commoners, the contributions of these amazing guest musicians make the album something special.


“Every time we brought an outside player into the studio, they would offer their own unique instincts and interpretations of each song. This helped the album grow into a collaborative art piece that continues to surprise us with every listen.”


A rock anthem to its core, the title track, "Find A Better Way", carries a message that encapsulates the entirety of the record. With growing uncertainties, society faces challenges previously unseen, leaving the collective in a perpetual state of questioning, with doubt directed towards governments, public leaders, and our neighbours. From the aftermath of COVID-19, the increasing mental health crisis in North America, war crimes in Ukraine, and the explosion of social movements and protests, one thought unites us all—we need to find a better way to co-exist on this planet. "Find A Better Way" takes an inward look at confronting our tumultuous past and accepting personal accountabilities to uncover the strength needed to seek a solution.


"Find A Better Way" is the only track on the record to mixed outside of Canada. The band worked with legendary producer/mixer Kevin Shirley (The Black Crowes, Joe Bonamassa, Led Zeppelin) at Caveman Studios in Sydney, Australia. Kevin’s mix helped set the perfect tone for the album, which Ross Hayes Citrullo was then able to follow for the rest of the record. Kevin’s involvement set The Commoners on the right path with this epic title track.


Mastering was also an important consideration for the band and their label. For this stage, the team sent their record all the way to Nashville, Tennessee to Pete Lyman (Tedeschi Trucks, Blackberry Smoke, Chris Stapleton, Rival Sons) at Infrasonic Sound. Pete’s specialty for mastering southern rock made the mixes come alive, making them sonically competitive to the band’s influences.


As a collective, we find ourselves emerging into a changed society, with uncertainty looming and shadowing the future. In their upcoming release, The Commoners remind us that music has a unique ability to heal, a medicine of extraordinary merit, and balm for the soul during dark times. Every major movement in history gave rise to change makers, and The Commoners are taking their stand, here to lead and inspire us all to Find A Better Way.





Tracklisting:


"Find A Better Way" 
"Fill My Cup" 
"More Than Mistakes" 
"Too Much" 
"Naturally" 
"I  Won’t" 
"Deadlines" 
"Hangin’ On Again" 
"Alive" 


For further details, visit The Commoners on Facebook.


 

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared his solo performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom Of The Opera". Check it out below.


Johansson: "Last year I appeared on this cover together with symphonic power metal band Dream Ocean. I've always wanted to do this song by myself, and finally the times has come.


Recorded in a haunted house in Italy in the summer of 2022 with a full team behind me to make this happen. Big thanks to Mandy Spice, Team Gullmarsplan and Team Brandbergen for making this possible."







Johansson recently shared his solo performance of the Queen classic, "Show Must Go On". The song is taken from Queen's 1991 album, Innuendo.

Philadelphia metal outfit Prosper Or Perish has released a video for their new song “Goliath, Come Forth.” The track is taken from their new album, Shroud Of Serpents, out now via Jobson Productions. 


Artwork by Eliran Kantor:







Prosper Or Perish guitarist Eric Benites says, "This is one of my favorite songs on the album and it has a little bit of everything on it. Fierce drumming, grooving melodies, an adventurous guitar solo, and awesome screams. The director, Joe Fedele, said he had a vision for how we could blend a music video and a lyric video together and also incorporate the album cover artwork to bring the overall theme to life. I think Joe really knocked it out the park with this one. We hope you all enjoy it!"


Formed in 2007, Prosper Or Perish is an unyielding metal quintet from Philadelphia, PA. Since their inception, the sound they produce has progressed with the evolution of their lineup. The versatile writing pulls from a wide range of influences across an ample number of subgenres while remaining true to their focused vision. With their growth they have continued to hold firm in their roots of death and thrash laced with solid grooves, harmonies, and soulful elements. Each record has proved to be harder and faster than its predecessor. With therelease of Shroud Of Serpents, Prosper Or Perish again keep true to their namesake, forging ahead and grinding their axes for their most powerful album yet.





Prosper Or Perish is:
Armen Koroghlian - Drums 
Eric Benites - Guitar 
Steve Stanley – Vocals
Austin Perez - Guitar 
Chrissy Z. Duffin – Bass


(Photo – Ted Waters & Joe Fedele)

Swedish dark symphonic metal outfit Eleine will release their Acoustic In Hell EP on October 14 through Atomic Fire Records. The EP presents eight of their classic tracks in raw acoustic form, just in time for their extensive European acoustic tour with labelmates Sonata Arctica. In advance of the EP’s release, today the band unveils their first single and captivating music video for “All Shall Burn (Acoustic).”


Vocalist Madeleine Liljestam and vocalist/guitarist Rikard Ekberg comment, "The original 'All Shall Burn' quickly became a fan-proclaimed Eleine anthem, with its meaning, depth, and heavy groove. We felt it was a given that 'All Shall Burn' should receive the acoustic treatment, to show gratitude towards our fans and also to further peer into the meaning of the song: Perseverance and unity - with that together we can achieve greatness.


"The acoustic translation of 'All Shall Burn' was pretty straightforward. We wanted to keep it raw and authentic. The challenging part was to translate the main riff from electric to acoustic guitar since you really couldn't play it the same way without making it sound empty. The end result turned out great, and we are very proud to finally present 'All Shall Burn' in its acoustic raw and authentic form."




Recorded within only a week in January 2022 in their dear friend Thomas "Plec" Johansson’s The Panic Room Studio in Skara, Sweden, Acoustic In Hell gets elevated by a stellar performance courtesy of Liljestam who recorded all her vocals in just under three hours. More than anything, this shows the determination and the sheer will power with which things are done in camp Eleine. The EP will contain eight Eleine classics in a raw new acoustic gown.


Acoustic In Hell will be released on CD, LP (Yellow-Orange-Red Marbled w/ hand-signed insert) and digitally. Find preordering options at this location.


An exclusive vinyl edition of the record (Blue-White-Black Marbled) with hand-signed insert will be sold on Eleine's acoustic tour starting October 20.


Keep up with Eleine’s upcoming live performances at the band’s official website.





Tracklisting:


“Whisper My Child”
“Enemies”
“Memoriam”
“Ava Of Death”
“All Shall Burn”
“Death Incarnate”
“Break Take Live”
“Hell Moon”


"All Shall Burn":





Eleine:
Madeleine Liljestam – vocals
Rikard Ekberg – guitar, vocals
Jesper Sunnhagen - drums

Portuguese metallers Moonspell has shared a social media posting reflecting on the 26th anniversary of their 1996 gothic metal masterpiece Irreglious.





The band states:




“The almighty worldwide web reminded us today of Irreligious' 26th anniversary and we must oblige.


“A lot of things were written and said about this one. Good and bad and so-so yet one must agree this is a quite special one as we still play a lot of those songs live and we can agree that this album had a perfect timing when it was originally released back in 1996 at the peak of gothic metal.


“Fun facts about this album:
- It was supposed to be called Fullmoon Madness and not Irreligious
- It was Ricardo's [Amorim, guitarist] first studio album with us
- It was Ares’ [bassist] last album with us
- We got to support the mighty Type O Negative for their October Rust tour in Europe
- 'Raven Claws' is not inspired by Harry Potter but by Jim Morrison The Doors poetry ‘as smooth as raven claw’"
- ‘Opium’ was a German Radio DJ's favourite and made it even into karaoke lists in pubs
- We always hated the cover artwork but got used to it throughout the years
Enjoy your weekend and listen to Moonspell!
See you all at Wacken Open Air
Under a Fullmoon madness!”





(Photo - Rui Vasco)

Ryo Okumoto, long-time keyboardist for prog rock group Spock’s Beard, has released his new solo album, The Myth Of The Mostrophus, via InsideOutMusic. The six song prog extravaganza features Okumoto’s signature style accompanied by the talents of a who’s who of progressive rock.


To celebrate the album’s release, Ryo is pleased to share the breathtaking new video for the single, “Chrysalis”, created by Christian Rios.







The album features guest appearances by a number of incredible musicians including current and former Spock’s Beard bandmates:


Nick D’Virgilio (Big Big Train, Spock’s Beard) - Drums & Vocals
Al Morse (Spock’s Beard) - Guitar
Dave Meros (Spock’s Beard) - Bass
Ted Leonard (Spock’s Beard. Transatlantic) - Vocals
Jimmy Keegan (Spock’s Beard) - Vocals
Steve Hackett (Genesis) - Guitar
Michael Sadler (Saga, ProgJect) - Vocals
Mike Keneally (Steve Vai, Frank Zappa, ProgJect) - Guitar
Jonathan Mover (Joe Satriani, ProgJect) - Drums
Marc Bonila (Keith Emerson/Kevin Gilbert) - Guitar
Doug Wimbish (Living Colour) – Bass
Randy McStine (McStine & Minnemann, Porcupine Tree) – Guitars & Vocals
Lyle Workman (Todd Rundgren) – Guitar
Michael Whiteman (I Am the Manic Whale) – Guitars & Vocals


Twenty years since Ryo Okumoto’s last solo album Coming Home (2002), work on the new album began in November 2000, when Okumoto reached out to I Am The Manic Whale vocalist/bassist Michael Whiteman, following that band’s performance on a livestream event that Okumoto had taken part in.  An exchange of demos resulted in the writing of the initial tracks for the album. Okumoto then reached out the fellow Spock’s Beard bandmates (Nick D’Virgilio, Alan Morse, Dave Meros, Ted Leonard and Jimmy Keegan) to join in and the album started to take shape before rounding out with additional guest stars through his Okumoto’s new group ProgJect including Michael Sadler, Jonathan Mover and Mike Keneally. With the additions of Steve Hackett, Marc Bonila, Doug Wimbish, Randy McStine, and Lyle Workman, the star-studded lineup was complete. The result is a prog rock tour de force from one of the most entertaining and influential artists of prog’s modern era.


Engineered and mixed by Rich Mouser, the album can be ordered here.





Tracklisting:


"Mirror Mirror"
"Turning Point"
"The Watchmaker (Time On His Side)"
"Maximum Velocity"
"Chrysalis"
"The Myth Of The Mostrophus"


“The Watchmaker” lyric video:





(Photo - Alex Solca)

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his singer wife, Toyah Willcox, are back with another episode in their "Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch" series. This time they perform a cover of the Lenny Kravitz hit "Are You Gonna Go My Way". Watch below.





A selection of Robert & Toyah's previous Sunday Lunch videos can be seen below:




























 

With festival season well under way, The Night Flight Orchestra are here to deliver the ultimate summer hit with their brand new single, "Black Stars And Diamonds". Stream the song here, and below.


Frontman Björn Strid comments on the track: “This song is the ultimate weekend tribute, where fallen angels, dreams of glitter and late summer twilight unite in an exploding cocktail.”







This release also marks a change in the lineup with the addition of a new backing vocalist. Björn excitedly comments: “We are very thrilled to officially welcome the amazing Åsa Lundman to the fold! This marks a new era for the band as her and Anna Brygård unite as the unstoppable back up duo The Aeromanticas. Make sure you follow them on social media! We are very thrilled to share this new single with you, which debuts this amazing back up duo. The future looks so damn bright you ought to use the bottom of champagne bottles as goggles! Enjoy!”





Lineup:


Björn Strid – Lead and Backing vocals
David Andersson – Guitars
Sharlee D’Angelo – Bass
Sebastian Forslund – Guitars, percussion
Jonas Källsbäck – Drums
John Manhattan Lönnmyr – Keyboards
Anna Brygård – Backing Vocals
Åsa Lundman– Backing Vocals

A four-camera video of SLIPKNOT performing its latest single, "The Dying Song (Time To Sing)", live for the first time on July 28 at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube channel Bahomar).

"The Dying Song (Time To Sing)" is taken from SLIPKNOT's seventh studio album, "The End, So Far", which will be released on September 30 via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to 2019's "We Are Not Your Kind", it will be the band's final record with Roadrunner after first signing with the rock and metal label in 1998.

The official music video for "The Dying Song (Time To Sing)" was directed by SLIPKNOT percussionist M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan.

Produced by SLIPKNOT and Joe Barresi, "The End, So Far" includes the band's 2021 surprise single "The Chapeltown Rag" and follows their widely celebrated 2019 album "We Are Not Your Kind", which marked SLIPKNOT's third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The release made a massive global impact with No. 1 debuts in the official album charts of twelve countries around the world, including the U.K., Australia, Canada and Mexico, with Top 5 debuts in an additional twelve countries including Germany, France and Sweden.

Regarding the lyrical inspiration for "The Dying Song (Time To Sing)", SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor told Kerrang! magazine: "To me, it just seems like it's all the outrage and none of the punishment. For the last few years it's been very trendy to be offended and outraged by everything, and yet nothing happens – especially in my country, which is just fucking ridiculous. It's almost like the tables have turned, and the more angry people get, the more the people who they're mad at just double-down on the shit. Instead of there being cause and effect, or crime and punishment, now it's just like, 'Fuck you, we don't care.' I can't tell if that's a reaction because of the almost nihilistic isolation of the cultures themselves, where neither side is acknowledging any of the good parts of each other – they're just really honed in on the shit that they consider inflammatory. And it's almost like people are ringing the doomsday bell. You're sitting there going, 'Well, it's been fun! Everybody, pick up your trash when you're leaving, and I'll see you in Hell!' That's kind of what that song is. It's just like, 'If we don't figure it out, I'll see you when the meteor hits, basically.'"

As for SLIPKNOT's working relationship with Barresi, Taylor said: "He's one of those dudes who's got great ideas, but he also allows you to do what is on your mind. If he has an idea, he lets you pursue yours, but then he'll go, 'You know, just for me, try this and see if these things can live together.' He's very unassuming, which is kind of rare these days. Sometimes you can get a producer who's trying to enforce their will on it, but Joe just wants what's best for the album, and what's best for the song, and what's best for the performance."

Taylor went on to call "The End, So Far" a "darker version" of SLIPKNOT's third LP, 2004's "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)".

"To me, 'Vol. 3' was really the most expansive album that we had done, up to that point," he explained. "It was the thing that kind of pushed the boundaries for everybody, you know? We were able to experiment with different styles of music, and really show people that there was so much more depth to what we do. And I kind of feel like that's what this album is doing. In a way it is [also] an extension of 'We Are Not Your Kind', but to me, the songs are better, the structuring is better. We're able to kind of take it even further, and after 23 years professionally, being able to say that there's ground that we haven't covered yet, and there's ground that we're excited to cover, is cool."

Monster Truck have released the music video for their latest single, "Get My Things And Go”, via BMG.





The music video is directed and edited by Dave Lawrence, best known as the creator and star of FUBAR, and produced by Immanuela Lawrence. It brings the track to life, featuring children acting as adults living in a world solely populated by kids.




“We loved the idea of a ‘Kid World’. So we tried to follow the narrative of the song in a world solely populated by kids acting and dressing like adults. In ‘Kid World’, no adults exist except on “MonsterTube” which is populated with fun YouTube style videos kids love to watch made by the band. They play immature adults making a ton of easy money off “MonsterTube” to contrast with the working class struggles in ‘Kid World’,” said the music video director, Dave Lawrence. I really love how it all came together.”


“Working with Dave Lawrence has long been a dream of ours. He’s so effortlessly funny and creative, it’s always been inspiring to us. Dave brings a really amazing feeling of almost innocence to his projects even though the subject matter may be shot-gunning beers and smashing shit,” said Jon Harvey, bassist and lead singer of Monster Truck. “We’d wanted to do a video starring kids, but playing adults, since our second record in 2016, and the whimsical, storybook nature of the lyrics to ‘Get My Things And Go’ were the perfect match for this bizarro world concept. The end result speaks for itself.”





(Photo - James Heaslip)

Bullet For My Valentine will release a deluxe version of their current, self-titled album on August 5 via Spinefarm/Search and Destroy. This extended release features four brand new tracks, plus "Stitches", a song previously only available as a Japanese exclusive. Get it here and pre-save it here. Following the CD and digital releases, a vinyl pressing will launch on November 11.


Today, they have released the new single, "No More Tears to Cry". Listen here, and below.


"We're super happy to announce our new single 'No More Tears To Cry' is out," the band says. "The song is a dark but colorful story about dealing with mental health struggles. Musically, the track is very different from the other tracks on the album and has a lot of surprises on there, including slide guitar..."







Bullet For My Valentine's seventh studio record sees the band at their heaviest and most visceral, and these additional tracks are no different, offering another round of signature blistering Bullet.





Bullet For My Valentine (Deluxe Edition) tracklisting:


"Parasite"
"Knives"
"My Reverie"
"No Happy Ever After"
"Can't Escape The Waves"
"Bastards"
"Rainbow Veins"
"Shatter"
"Paralysed"
"Death By a Thousand Cuts "
"Omen"
"Stitches"
"No More Tears"
"Step Out From the Inside"
"This Means War"


"Stitches" visualizer:





"Omen" lyric video:

One of Norway’s most creative black metal bands, Dimmu Borgir, released the groundbreaking Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia album in 2001. The band celebrates this seminal album by releasing a brand-new sonic experience.


"Blessings Upon The Throne Of Tyranny" has been remixed and remastered using modern methods, to create an altogether more improved listening experience with contemporary production quality. Stream the single here, and below.







Out on October 28, Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (Remixed & Remastered) will be available as a 3LP Box, CD Digipak and digital. Dust Of Cold Memories includes extensive bonus material, which includes the pre-production of Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and instrumental rehearsals.


Pre-order Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (Remixed & Remastered) here.


"Blessings Upon The Throne Of Tyranny":

Swedish metallers IN FLAMES have released a brand-new song titled "The Great Deceiver". The track is taken from IN FLAMES' upcoming fourteenth studio album, tentatively due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records.

IN FLAMES vocalist Anders Fridén states: "'The Great Deceiver' was born out of frustration, basically a reaction to false flags but since then it has grown to represent several meanings. There's a line that says 'Bend the truth to fit your opinion' and I feel that speaks a lot to the narrative happening online, between people, and nations etc. today. We are more a part now than ever before yet it’s easier to communicate than in any other time in history."

In other news, IN FLAMES will embark on a fall 2022 European tour with support from AT THE GATES, IMMINENCE and ORBIT CULTURE.

The dates are as follows:

Nov. 12 - EE Tallinn – Helitehas
Nov. 13 - LV Riga – Palladium
Nov. 15 - PL Katowice – Mck
Nov. 16 - CZ Prague – Mala Sportovni Hala
Nov. 20 - UK London – O2 Academy Brixton
Nov. 21 - LU Esch-Sur-Alzette – Rockhal
Nov. 22 - FR Strasbourg – La Laiterie
Nov. 23 - FR Paris – Bataclan
Nov. 25 - ES Bilbao – Santana 27
Nov. 26 - ES Madrid – Riviera
Nov. 27 - ES Barcelona – Razzmatazz
Nov. 28 - FR Lyon – Transbo
Nov. 30 - CH Zurich – Samsung Hall
Dec. 01 - IT Milan – Alcatraz
Dec. 02 - AT Vienna – Gasometer
Dec. 03 - DE Leipzig – Haus Auensee
Dec. 04 - DE Cologne – Palladium
Dec. 06 - NL Tilburg – 013
Dec. 07 - BE Bruessels – AB
Dec. 08 - DE Wiesbaden – Schlachthof
Dec. 09 - DE Hamburg – Edel Optics Arena
Dec. 10 - DK Copenhagen – Store Vega
Dec. 11 - NL Oslo – Spektrum
Dec. 14 - FI Helsinki – Ice Hall
Dec. 16 - SE Stockholm – Hovet
Dec. 17 - SE Gothenburg - Scandinavium

Fridén recently spoke to MoreCore.TV about IN FLAMES' upcoming album,. Asked if the LP's first single, "State Of Slow Decay", is a good representation of what fans can expect from the record, Anders said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "IN FLAMES has always been about melody and aggression. The short answer is yes, but it's not gonna be all fast. We try to explore all corners of metal with our music. Let's put it like this: if you're a fan of IN FLAMES, then you will love this album."

Elaborating on what fans can expect from the upcoming IN FLAMES album, Anders said: "This is the fourteenth album. So if you know IN FLAMES, you know sort of what you're gonna get. But I think this is a good mix of the past, the present and wherever we're going, and [it] has a little thing for everyone; it has the heavy, it has the melodic, it has the uptempo and the slow parts. I think it's amazing, and it really represents who we are at this time."

Asked if the pandemic influenced the songwriting process for the new IN FLAMES effort, Anders said: "Welll, in a certain way. Lyrically, for sure. I thought this two-year break would make us see us who we are as people and maybe come out on the other side being a little bit more nice and gentle and with more understanding, but I think it's the opposite. So it definitely inspired the lyrical side.

"Of course, a break like that, it's a pause, so when you get back into it, maybe unintentionally you have more energy across the board, [and] with the music as well," he explained.

IN FLAMES performed "State Of Slow Decay" — which was produced by Howard Benson, mixed by Joe Rickard and mastered by Ted Jensen — live for the first time on June 10 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

This past March, guitarist Björn Gelotte confirmed that IN FLAMES' upcoming album was once again recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Benson and Howard's longtime engineer Mike Plotnikoff.

In early July, Fridén told Chaoszine about the songwriting process for the new IN FLAMES album: "Me and Björn, we live on different sides of [Sweden] — he lives in Gothenburg; I live in Stockholm — and we only saw each other once or twice during the whole pandemic. But towards the end, when we kind of felt like it's gonna open up for real, we started talking and then we decided to take a trip to the U.S. and just get the machine rolling again — write some stuff; just get things out of our system. So we spent some time — like, three weeks — in L.A. And then we flew home and had Christmas and so on, and then we flew back again and started recording stuff for real. But as soon as we got together, a few weeks in the writing process, it felt like it always has."

Anders went on to say that he and Björn "had to be in the same room" in order to maximize their songwriting efforts. "We feed off each other's energies and ideas and so on, and I don't think we can write apart," he explained. "I mean, we can, but it won't be the same. So we have to get in the same room and be amongst everyone in the band… Me and Björn, we are the ones that are writing everything. The other guys are obviously partaking and bringing in their energy and their skills to the band, but when it comes to the writing, it's not much different."

Speaking in more detail about the contributions of IN FLAMES' three American members — drummer Tanner Wayne, bassist Bryce Paul and guitarist Chris Broderick — Anders said: "They are great individual musicians, so they bring in their skills and their way of playing, and it's very unique from person to person. And that's what they bring. And also the feeling — it's such a good atmosphere within the band; there's no arguments, really, and we're just having a good time being around each other. And that helps the whole creative process. And what they've done… I mean, you will hear it whenever we… We released one new song, but more to come. You can hear it, what they do. They're amazing guys and amazing musicians and really good friends."

Wayne joined IN FLAMES following the departure of Joe Rickard, who played on "I, The Mask" and 2016's "Battles".

Tanner made his live debut with IN FLAMES in July 2018 in Brno, Czech Republic.

Longtime IN FLAMES drummer Daniel Svensson announced in 2015 that he was leaving the band to focus on his family life.

Paul has been playing most of the shows with IN FLAMES since longtime bassist Peter Iwers's November 2016 exit.

As previously reported, IN FLAMES will embark on a North American tour this September. Support on the trek will come from FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, ORBIT CULTURE and VENDED.

In August 2020, IN FLAMES released a special 20th-anniversary edition of its seminal, critically acclaimed album "Clayman". "Clayman 20th Anniversary Edition" came entirely remastered by Ted Jensen (PANTERA, DEFTONES, GOJIRA) and featured all-new artwork in a 16-page booklet, a brand-new instrumental medley plus four re-recorded versions of fan favorites such as "Only For The Weak" and "Pinball Map".

Ex-IN FLAMES guitarist Jesper Strömblad sat out THE HALO EFFECT's July 27 appearance at the Metaldays festival in Tolmin, Slovenia. He was replaced at the gig by THE HAUNTED's Patrik Jensen.

Strömblad formed THE HALO EFFECT during the pandemic with fellow former IN FLAMES members Daniel Svensson (drums),Peter Iwers (bass),Niclas Engelin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals).

THE HALO EFFECT was officially launched last year, more than a decade after Strömblad quit IN FLAMES in order to continue receiving treatment for his alcohol addiction.

THE HALO EFFECT will release its debut album, "Days Of The Lost", on August 12 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Earlier this month, Jesper issued a statement saying that "has decided once and for all to deal with" his "addiction and other demons".

Asked in a recent interview with Australia's "Scars And Guitars" podcast how Jesper's health is nowadays, Niclas said: "It's an ongoing battle — it is. He has his demons to fight with. We're with him in this fight. We are supportive, and it's all about love. He is in the band, and he's a bandmember, but it's from day to day, I think — but mostly way better than it has been… It's full-on support and love. And he's in a better place now today than he has been, as I mentioned. So he will be on stage [with] us, as much as he can do it, feel strong about it. No pressure from us. It has to feel good for him."

As for how THE HALO EFFECT will handle future touring activities if Jesper is unable to go on the road, Niclas said: "Yeah, we have some ideas behind that. It's nothing I can talk about right here and now. We are solving that. But the main goal is to have Jesper on board as much as he can do and feel strong about it. And then if he can't make it somehow, we support him and we are with him all the way. And we will find solutions to that because we are… This is a collective of friends. This is just a Gothenburg scene death metal, and we are among friends here, as it was back in the '90s, early '90s. And we'll solve the things in a positive way."

Strömblad told BLABBERMOUTH.NET that the origins of THE HALO EFFECT began during the 2020 pandemic when its members had nothing to do and that he was the last one to join. Strömblad most recently was playing with CYHRA, the modern metal outfit fronted by former AMARANTHE vocalist Jake E, but was not performing live with the group.

When asked what it took for him to join a proper band again, Strömblad said: "There is a misunderstanding because I'm still in CYHRA. There was something going on, personal things that I don't have to get into. If you see promo pictures now, I am not in them. But I'm still in the band. It's always been the fact whether I can be on stage or not, but I'm always the musical motor, so to speak. When I heard about [THE HALO EFFECT's] lineup, there was no doubt."

Strömblad then talked about his musical chemistry with Engelin and how he sees himself fitting in THE HALO EFFECT's plans when touring activity ramps up. "It didn't take much thought from my side when it came to joining," he said. "Touring is always going to be, for the time being, an issue for me. We always are going to have a backup. I'm always going to be there in spirit with the band. I'm always going to be writing music and in there in the studio. But, when I heard Niclas's demos, I said, 'Yes, we have to do more of this.' They were phenomenal. It wasn't a repetition, either. There was no, 'Let's sound like we did 20 years ago.' It sounded so updated, fresh and good. I said, 'We can do this and get away from people saying we got this band together because we played in previous bands together.' This band stands on its own two feet. Maybe you can hear some of the influences, but that's not really weird because it's us playing together. That's how I write music."

THE HALO EFFECT made its live debut on June 11 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. The show marked the first time in over a decade that Strömblad played with his former IN FLAMES bandmates. When asked how he thought the show went, the guitarist said: "I loved it. I love to be onstage. I haven't been on stage in a lot of years. If I could go back, I would be a little more active onstage. I prioritized playing well, to play the songs because they were brand new for Niclas and me. Nowadays, you write the riff and record it. Then you don't rehearse it. Now, you have to not only learn the songs but refresh your memory. For me, it was there 95 percent. I was kind of stiff. I wanted to nail the songs. It was a fantastic show and I had an amazing time. Just looking back and seeing Daniel smiling behind the drums and hearing Peter's rumbling bass… only he can get that sound, then seeing Niclas running around like a grasshopper. If you think about it, it was kind of cool that the band could play a festival on the big stage and fill it, more or less, and we didn't even have the album out yet. People haven't heard the songs. They heard four songs, tops. We did a signing session where we sat for one and a half hours signing autographs. It was a huge success for us, I think. It couldn't have been a better start."

Strömblad was then asked what the future held and whether THE HALO EFFECT would be his priority. "Yeah, it is," he said. "Maybe sometimes it will be a little puzzling if it clashes, but THE HALO EFFECT is my priority. I'm laying low with everything else right now. We started working on this album so long ago. We are already planning to start recording a new album."

THE HALO EFFECT's first-ever tour will be as the support act for Swedish death metal giants AMON AMARTH and U.S. metallers MACHINE HEAD on 31 dates throughout Europe in the summer and fall of 2022.

After leaving IN FLAMES, Strömblad formed THE RESISTANCE with Marco Aro (vocals, THE HAUNTED) and Glenn Ljungström (guitar, ex-IN FLAMES). Strömblad announced his departure from that group in March 2016, with the band's bassist, Rob Hakemo, saying in an interview that Jesper "saved" THE RESISTANCE by quitting and explaining that the guitarist is "an alcoholic" and "drug addict" who "doesn't want to [get] sober." Rob added: "[Jesper] thinks that two weeks [sober] is good, and then he can drink some. And then he's gone for a month, and then he's back and he's not drinking [for a short while]. It's a sad thing, and we really tried to help him and wanted the best [for him]. So when he told us that 'I'm leaving the band,' we were relieved. We were really relieved."

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist DJ Ashba has collaborated with his wife, an Italo-Colombian influencer Nathalia Ashba who goes by the name Natyash, on his latest single, "Malosa", a dance/rock hybrid he calls GDM (Guitar Dance Music).

Ashba co-produced "Malosa" (GDM Remake) featuring Natyash with JP On Da Track, a music producer from Connecticut. Multi-award-winning mixing and mastering engineer Luca Pretolesi of StudioDMI (Steve Aoki, Diplo, David Guetta, J Balvin, Snoop Lion, Above & Beyond, and many more) provided the finishing touches.

Natyash released the original version of "Malosa" earlier this year. The song "received critical acclaim from top-tier outlets, including Billboard Argentina, Univision, Extra and more," according to a press release.

"When I first heard 'Malosa' by Natyash, I was blown away," says DJ, "I knew I had to do a GDM remake. I teamed up with JP On Da Track, taking her original vocals and created a brand new track around it. Our goal was to seamlessly combine the sounds of Latin, EDM and rock, resulting in a unique fusion of all three genres."

Says Natyash: "'Malosa' by ASHBA is a masterpiece! You're gonna wanna listen to it over and over, simply because you've never heard something similar before. It's the first Latin GDM track ever and I'm very proud to be part of it."

The official music video for the original version of "Malosa" has been viewed nearly 400,000 times on YouTube.

"Malosa" is Ashba's first single since last year's release of "Bella Ciao", a modern-day EDM-driven makeover of the Italian folk classic. "Bella Ciao" marked Ashba's first release of 2021 and followed a series of tracks that were released in late 2020 through Edgeout Records/UMG/UMe, including "Hypnotic", "Let's Dance" and "A Christmas Storm".

In December 2020, Ashba told "The Mark And HooGie Show" that he isn't concerned about getting any pushback from his rock fans over the musical direction of his new venture: "Honestly, I'm at a point in my career where I could give two fucks," he said. "I could care less. If people don't like it, kiss my ass. Go listen to SIXX:A.M. If what I'm doing right now isn't rock enough, I've got a rock band. They can go listen to that then.

"My fanbase, thank God, has been, throughout my whole career, just very, very accepting," he continued. "They know me — they know I'm always trying to really push myself as an artist outside the box.

"If I had to live within this box, I'd rather honestly not play music. Playing music is a form of art, and if I can't truly be an artist and be true to what it is inside — whatever that is that keeps me going… I have to stay inspired. You can only write so many three-chord rock songs. So, to me, this is something that I'm kind of more doing for myself, and I feel like I kind of have earned that at this point in my career. And I'm just having fun.

"Surprisingly… It was weird. I was totally expecting for all my fanbase just to hate it — not get it," Ashba added. "'Cause I really, really go deep down in EDM — I stayed very, very true to the EDM sound — and I really thought they were gonna hate it, and I was okay with that. 'Cause in my mind, I'm writing this for the EDM, the young kids that go to those festivals. This is full-on festival music. And surprisingly, I got no pushback. My rock fans really, really were freaking out on it, which kind of freaked me out. I was expecting them to really not get it or maybe push it aside. But they've been nothing but supportive. I'm very thankful that they gave it a chance."

ASHBA's "Let's Dance" single featured a guest appearance by James Michael, co-founder and lead singer of SIXX:A.M., which he and DJ formed with Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE).

Ashba told the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the musical approach of his new effort: "I would go to a lot of EDM concerts, and their shows are so over the top and, you know, all these young kids just losing their minds, right? And the one thing that I've noticed is … it lacks guitar, you know, and I saw an opportunity, like five years ago, going, 'If I could take what I do and somehow inject it into this world.' A lot of kids are not being exposed to a lot of guitar in that world."

Although Ashba initially started work on the project as a collaboration with Michael — under the band name PYROMANTIC — it has since evolved into an Ashba solo venture, with Michael announcing in 2018 that he was stepping away from the group.

During his recently launched "Detroit Muscle" U.S. tour, outspoken conservative rocker Ted Nugent has been changing the lyrics to his song "Come And Take It" to reflect his disdain for the current U.S. president.

Instead of singing the tune's title as it appears on the recorded version on his "Detroit Muscle" album, Ted has been altering the words to say "fuck Joe Biden" and "Let's go, Brandon", the latter of which is conservative code for "Fuck Joe Biden", born when a NASCAR reporter misheard a crowd, reporting that they chanted in support of racer Brandon Brown when they were actually chanting expletives toward the U.S. president.

Nugent was asked about the lyrical change during the latest edition of "The Nightly Nuge", a news-style clip in which he offers his take on the news of our world. He said: "Well, one of my new love songs is [sings and plays guitar] 'Come And Take It'. Then we go, 'Let's go, Brandon.' And you can imagine what the next line is: '[unintelligible] Joe Biden.' Yeah, they sing along without any… It's very inspiring. But it has become… Of all my killer songs, and we try to rotate probably like 15, 16 or 17 songs a night — just magic, magic songs — but I'm thinking that 'Come And Take It', that has morphed into 'Mad Joe Biden', people sing that [and] nobody's feet touch the ground.

"So love is in the air. Because I love freedom, and I hate people who would deny us freedom. And I'm afraid this punk in the White House deserves all the condemnation that we give him."

In the last couple of years, Nugent has been selling hats emblazoned with the words "Come And Take It", a slogan which originated in the Texas Revolution in 1835 and is now used as a symbol of gun-rights advocates and the NRA.

The follow-up to 2018's "The Music Made Me Do It", "Detroit Muscle" was recorded with Ted's current band, which includes bassist Greg Smith and drummer Jason Hartless.

Last December, Nugent described "Come And Take It" to Florida's 99 Rock WKSM radio station as "a love song to the punks in our government who think that they have the right to infringe on our constitutionally guaranteed, God-given individual freedoms. So I sent them a love song. In fact, I sent a copy of 'Come And Take It' to Joe Biden and [Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. representative from El Paso] Beto O'Rourke. And I said, 'If you're gonna infringe on our Second Amendment, start with me.'"

Nugent, who is the national spokesman for pro-hunting lobbying group Hunter Nation, went on to say that "people love" "Come And Take It". "I think it really represents the heartbeat, the pulse, the heartbreak, really, of thoughtful, critical-thinking Americans," he explained. "Which, by the way, if you're not a critical thinker, you should probably move to Cuba where you're not allowed to be. Critical-thinking Americans that are rock solid in the asset column love this song — they love me, they love freedom, they love defiance, they love my middle finger on fire."

Nugent, who recently resigned from the board of the National Rifle Association (NRA) after 26 years, has called Donald Trump "the greatest president in our lifetime." He also said the billionaire real estate mogul represents "the heart and soul of the best American families out there."

Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, Nugent teamed up with Donald Trump Jr. on the campaign trail.

Last year, Nugent declared Biden a "rotten" human being and railed against Democrats who support the president's "ugly policies." At the time, he told host Samuel Ayres of "The Wild Initiative" podcast: "You say that some of the liberals have good intentions. I haven't met one. And I meet an awful lot of people. Because if you are on the side of Joe Biden, you're just plain a rotten human being. You support a man with a liberal agenda that renegotiated all the contracts with the globe that Trump finally negotiated on behalf of our country. That's not my hunch; that's not a guess; that's not an opinion. Trump renegotiated global contracts for the first time in my lifetime to actually benefit America, and Joe Biden reversed them to hurt America. So if you're a liberal and a Democrat, you're the enemy of freedom. And if you don't believe in those ugly, ugly policies, then you have to quit."

He continued: "If you don't agree with forcing Americans to get vaccination passports, but people are flooding in through the borders without any vetting whatsoever, then you have no soul, and you can't be on that team. If you disagree with these toxic, dangerous, tyrannical policies, you've gotta quit that gang. That gang is the Democrats. Their agenda is extreme liberal Marxism. And if you're part of that team, you're as rotten as that man who's searching for a syllable in the White House."

Nugent has repeatedly said that the 2020 presidential election was a fraud, insisting that "hundreds of thousands of dead people" voted and claiming that machines were "rigged" to give a Donald Trump vote to Joe Biden.

Nugent, known as the "Motor City Madman," moved to Texas from Michigan nearly two decades ago.

LAST IN LINE will release a new EP, "A Day In The Life", on November 11 via earMUSIC. The effort is numbered and limited to 3,000 copies worldwide.

To kick things off, the title track, which is described in a press release as "one of the heaviest versions" of THE BEATLES classic "ever recorded," as just been made available digitally. The silver colored 12-inch vinyl also includes two live tracks and a recently recorded new track, which gives us a first hint of how LAST IN LINE's third album will sound like.

The trippy visuals in the accompanying music video are by artist Matt Mahurin — a big fan of LAST IN LINE and a four-decade filmmaker for rock and metal greats like METALLICA, U2, R.E.M. and DEF LEPPARD.

"A Day In The Life" EP track listing:

01. A Day In The Life
02. Hurricane Orlagh
03. Devil In Me (Live)
04. Give Up The Ghost (Live)

Earlier this month, LAST IN LINE drummer Vinny Appice told Robert Cavuoto of Metal Rules that the band had just completed work on its third studio album. He said: "Chris Collier, who mixes a lot of KORN stuff, he did our albums. He just finished the mix. And it sounds fantastic. And that's coming out next year on the earMUSIC label. And we have an EP coming out on earMUSIC as well. And that EP has a cover version of a BEATLES song we did. It came out great. Something different. And a new song, one of our new songs, and then two live tracks. And then we're doing dates starting the end of September into the rest of the year."

This past May, LAST IN LINE bassist Phil Soussan told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that the band's new EP is "very special. There's something very, very cool about it — and there's gonna be a great video that goes with that," he said.

earMUSIC is the recorded music label of German entertainment group Edel AG which boasts a roster of global artists including DEEP PURPLE, Alice Cooper, BABYMETAL, THUNDER, STATUS QUO and many more.

The news of LAST IN LINE's partnership with earMUSIC was shared five months ago by Appice during a appearance on "Waste Some Time With Jason Green". Vinny also revealed that LAST IN LINE completed recording six more new songs in late January at Danny "Count" Koker's Desert Moon studios in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Formed in 2012 by Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain and guitarist Vivian Campbell — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — LAST IN LINE's initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio's early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE's debut album, "Heavy Crown", was released in February 2016 via Frontiers Music Srl, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly died at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain's wish to keep the band moving, brought in Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album before beginning work on the follow-up release, 2019's "II", which was also made available through Frontiers Music Srl.

In June 2021, Soussan spoke to Metal-Net.com about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for LAST IN LINE's third album. "I've been quite motivational with the band," Phil said. "I'm trying to keep things happening. We wanted to work on a few different aspects [during the pandemic]. And we also had to go about getting a new record deal — we were changing labels — so that's something we're in the process of doing, and we're getting pretty close now. But part of that was writing a third record. So we've been hard at work trying to write a third record and even record that third record while we've been in different locations around the world. And, obviously, this band works as a unit in every sense of the word, so it's a real handicap not being able to be in the same room as everybody and trying to make it happen."

In February 2021, Appice told Metal From The Inside that former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson, who produced both "II" and "Heavy Crown", is not involved with the upcoming LAST IN LINE album. "We made a change," he said. "Actually, the guy who mixed the last record, Chris Collier — he's great; he's working with KORN — he recorded this record. And we're kind of producing it ourselves, between all of us.

"Jeff is great — Jeff's a great producer, and [he has] great ideas and stuff, but we just felt that we could probably do what we wanna do now that we're a band, we've been on the road, and we know what we wanna hear," he explained. "But it's coming out great. The stuff sounds fantastic.

"And yeah, I've been through a lot with Jeff Pilson. I've known him for years. He's a great guy. He's like my brother."

Also in February 2021, Soussan told the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast about the musical direction of the new LAST IN LINE material: "The songs are another progression from the last album — the difference between 'Heavy Crown' and 'II', and now 'II' and whatever this next album is gonna be called; we don't know yet, by the way. But it's definitely evolved even more; it's gone into even more of an evolution, but we are always trying to keep the characteristics of LAST IN LINE there. I mean, you can't shake those things — you can't shake Vinny's drumming, you can't shake Vivian's playing. And I'd like to say the same thing about myself, and, of course, [singer] Andrew [Freeman]."

Some of the early recording sessions for LAST IN LINE's third album took place in January 2020 at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California.

In continued celebration of their 50th anniversary, today, the four-time Grammy Award-winning and diamond-certified rock legends AEROSMITH (Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer),have announced the launch of "50 Years Live!: From The Aerosmith Vaults", the band's new "official bootleg" streaming concert series featuring five deep, archival, and unreleased multi-camera live shows from AEROSMITH's vast personal vaults. With the entire production of all five concert films supervised by AEROSMITH, the series kicks off with a live stream of "Live From The Summit, Houston, TX, 1977", a combination of classic live performances from a two-night stand in Houston in 1977 that captures the band in all its raw and powerful rock 'n' roll splendor.

"Live From The Summit, Houston, TX, 1977" premiered on AEROSMITH's official YouTube channel earlier today (Friday, July 29) and will be available, in its entirety as a gift for fans, for one week only. Highlight clips from "Live From The Summit, Houston, TX, 1977" will also be added to AEROSMITH's YouTube channel on July 30 and will include "Back In The Saddle", "Mama Kin" and "Sweet Emotion".

"Live From The Summit, Houston, TX, 1977" is taken directly from the original in-house 2" master analog video cartridge for the best possible quality and features footage filmed over the course of two summer nights at The Summit in Houston, Texas on June 24 and June 25, 1977. The original live feed edit, only intended for the in-house screens, was carefully cleaned, digitized, and remastered in HD, bringing the 45-year-old footage to life. This hour-long, highly charged performance shows why AEROSMITH became one of the hottest bands of the '70s and continues to this day. "Live From The Summit, Houston, TX, 1977" kicks into full gear as the band burst onto The Summit stage, delivering powerful and raw renditions of "Back In The Saddle", "Mama Kin", "Lord Of The Thighs", "Lick And A Promise" and "Sweet Emotion", featuring Tom Hamilton's signature bass line as he lays down that familiar groove as Joe Perry's iconic talk box intro eases the audience in. Other highlights include "Draw The Line", "Walk This Way", a blistering version of "Toys In The Attic" and their 1973 Top 10 power ballad "Dream On".

For "50 Years Live!: From the Aerosmith Vaults", producer Steve Berkowitz, along with longtime AEROSMITH employees Tommy Higgins and John Bionelli, combed through the band's vast Vindaloo Vaults, unearthing a treasure trove of filmed concerts recorded in the original formats of the day, covering the band's history throughout the decades. With the help of director and producer Jennifer LeBeau (Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon),this footage was carefully transferred and converted to digital to help preserve these historic recorded documents. Produced by Steve Berkowitz and Dennis Wolfe, the video and audio restoration was skillfully conducted by Vanderquest UK and Formosa Sound, giving these performances the highest possible visual and sonic quality.

For five consecutive weeks, starting on July 29 with "Live From The Summit, Houston, TX, 1977", AEROSMITH's official web site and YouTube channel will premiere a different concert every week from each decade. With each show, the band's official online store will also feature a new collection of exclusive merchandise capsules celebrating each decade.

As part of the continued celebration around their 50th anniversary, AEROSMITH will return to Las Vegas to bring their critically acclaimed residency, "Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild" to the Dolby Live at Park MGM. Kicking off September 14 — with shows running through December 11 — the residency is the first live concert experience presented in Dolby Atmos at Dolby Live. Dolby Live is one of the world's most technologically advanced performance venues for enjoying live music in Dolby Atmos.

In addition to their upcoming dates in Las Vegas, AEROSMITH is set to perform at Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor, Maine on September 4 before they head to Boston for a show at the historic Fenway Park on September 8.

Upcoming live stream premieres include:

** "Live From The Capital Centre, Landover, MD, 1989" (Premieres August 5)

Filmed in Landover, Maryland on December 17, 1989, AEROSMITH closes out the 1980s in top form with this dynamic performance at Capital Centre. "Live From The Capital Centre" features classic tracks such as "Walk This Way" and "Rats In The Cellar", as well as "Rag Doll", "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" and "Permanent Vacation".

Highlight clips from this show to be added to AEROSMITH's YouTube channel on August 6 will be "Walk This Way", "Permanent Vacation" and "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)".

** "Live From The Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre, Pittsburgh, PA, 1993" (Premieres August 12)

Throughout the 1990s, AEROSMITH continued to be an unstoppable force in rock, delivering a high energy set at Coca-Cola Star Amphitheater on July 2, 1993, with all the same swagger and attitude they had from day one. The tightly knit band belts out now classics such as "Eat The Rich", "Janie's Got A Gun", "Livin' On The Edge" and "Cryin'". Older favorites include "Last Child", "Walk This Way" and "Back In The Saddle".

Highlights from this show to be added to AEROSMITH's YouTube channel on August 13 will be "Cryin'", "Janie's Got A Gun" and "Livin' On The Edge".

** "Live From Comerica Park, Detroit, MI, 2003" (Premieres August 19)

"Mama Kin" kicks things into high gear as AEROSMITH storm through Michigan on September 7, 2003, at Comerica Park during their "Rocksimus Maximus" tour. Included are classics such as "Same Old Song And Dance" and "Walk This Way", as well as "Jaded", "Love In An Elevator" and the Grammy Award-winning single "Pink". AEROSMITH brings the incredible night to a close in a cloud of confetti and a frenetic version of "Toys In The Attic".

Highlights from this show to be added to AEROSMITH's YouTube channel on August 20 will be "Toys In The Attic", "Same Old Song And Dance" and "Love In An Elevator".

** "Live From Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, 2016" (Premieres August 26)

Captured at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City on October 27, 2016, this show was enhanced with the discovery of the original multi-tracks that were added and mixed by AEROSMITH's long-time soundboard engineer John Ship. The band wastes no time getting into their groove as Steven Tyler swaggers through classics such as "Draw The Line" and "Rats In The Cellar", as well as "Crazy" and their hit ballad "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". Teasing the crowd with a "You See Me Crying" and "Home Tonight" medley, Tyler breaks into a powerfully moving rendition of "Dream On" before bringing the show to an explosive end with "Sweet Emotion".

Highlights from this show to be added to AEROSMITH's YouTube channel on August 27 will be "Crazy", "Dream On" and "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing".

In addition, "Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear" (UMe) is now available globally on CD and vinyl LP and can now be streamed. This rare recording from 1971 was recently discovered in AEROSMITH's Vindaloo Vaults and was originally only available as a limited-edition cassette and vinyl release for Record Store Day in 2021. The heavily sought-after RSD release quickly sold out and debuted on the Billboard 200, hitting No. 2 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, No. 12 on the Top Rock Albums chart, No. 13 on the Vinyl Albums chart, and No. 19 on the Top Album Sales chart. In addition, the band's official online store now features a new 1971 collection of exclusive merchandise.

Celebrating their 50th anniversary, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees AEROSMITH have sold more than 150 million albums around the world, produced genre-defining music videos such as "Amazing", "Crazy", "Janie's Got A Gun", "Livin' On The Edge" and "Love In An Elevator", and launched extravagant record-shattering global tours, most recently with their smash hit Las Vegas residency. The band has broken numerous boundaries, including becoming the first rock band with a massive commercially successful hip-hop collaboration with RUN DMC on "Walk This Way" and the first hard rock band to appear during a Super Bowl halftime show with their 2001 performance, and in 1999, AEROSMITH became the first band to have their own themed attraction at Disney World in Florida and later Paris with the launch of the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.

Prior to METALLICA's headlining performance Thursday (July 28) at this year's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago's Grant Park, drummer Lars Ulrich spoke to local radio station Rock 95.5 about the resurgence in popularity of the band's classic song "Master Of Puppets". Earlier this month, the "Master Of Puppets" title track saw new life 36 years following its original release after its inclusion in season four of Netflix's hit series "Stranger Things". The popularity of the 1986 song brought it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time ever in the band's lengthy career.

"That whole thing is such a mindfuck," Lars said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It's so difficult to fathom. Obviously, we've been following it, and obviously 'Stanger Things' have been an incredible phenomenon for years. And the fact that it kind of came out of the blue just three months ago, six months ago. [We were asked about] 'Master Of Puppets' [being included in] the season end. [And we said] 'of course.' We were happy to participate.

"We try to be very involved in letting our music be part of these cultural things that are out there and just to connect to fans and get the music out there," Lars explained. "But the way this thing has taken off. And who would have thought that — what is it? 36 years… So this song is 36 years old, and it's now in the Top 40 in the U.K. It's an eight-minute song, and it's fucking making a statement.

"[It shows you] the power of film, the power of television, the power of just culture," Ulrich added. "And obviously any opportunity you get to turn new kids or younger kids on to music that may be a gateway into discovering whatever it is — whether it's harder rock or different things, whatever is on their radar, is super cool. But this thing is just crazy. It's kind of hard to fully comprehend, but it's awesome. So we're very psyched."

In the season four finale of "Stranger Things", the Eddie Munson character performs what he calls "the most metal concert ever" — including shredding "Master Of Puppets" on his beloved Warlock guitar — in "Stranger Things"' "Upside Down" alternate universe during an attempt to help his friends vanquish the Big Bad of the season, a demon named Vecna.

On July 5, METALLICA released a statement regarding "Stranger Things" creators Matt and Ross Duffer's decision to use the group's music in the show. The band said: "The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into 'Stranger Things' has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include 'Master Of Puppets' in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it.

"We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away... it's so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn's hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?

"It's an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie's journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show."

Around the same time, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo revealed that his 17-year-old son Tye contributed "additional guitar tracks" to the version of "Master Of Puppets" which appears in "Stranger Things".

"Master Of Puppets" was released on February 24, 1986 and was the first album METALLICA recorded after signing a major label deal with Elektra Records.

The set only reached No. 29 on the Billboard album chart but has sold over six million copies in the U.S. since.

It is the last record to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who was killed later that year in a tour bus crash.

Several songs from the album are still staples of METALLICA's live set, including "Battery", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and the title track.

Many fans consider it METALLICA's finest album, a fact that the band acknowledged by playing it in its entirety on a European tour in 2006.

"Master Of Puppets" continues to sell several thousand copies a week in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In 2016, "Master Of Puppets" was among the albums that were selected for induction into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.

Several years ago, METALLICA collaborated with an author named Matt Taylor on a book about the making of "Master Of Puppets".

Having been active since the '90s, Irish grindcore / death metal legends have only perfected their sound over the years, creating a quintessential blend of both the styles. They've come a long way from their explosive, highly caustic album, Nadir, that put them on the map and have since then imbibed more death metal influences to improve upon their expression, adding better structure and nuance to their music. 


On their latest full length, The Wretched Sermon, they've expanded upon their sound like never before, injecting myriad elements from thrash riffing to atmospheric passages and stringing them together using staggering transitions, and turning it into a fascinating beast of an album. Every song offers something different, some even climaxing into a terrific breakdown or shapeshifting into something mind-blowing. 


The Wretched Sermon is easily their most diverse and expressive album yet, meticulously written to flesh out every nuance, while keeping things brisk and intense. Abaddon Incarnate are in top form here, crafting a potent and relevant album that's bound to go down as one of the best ones in this grindcore / death metal vein in recent years.




The Wretched Sermon will be released on August 5th via Transcending Obscurity Records.





Tracklist:


"Rising Of The Lights" 
"Veritas"
"Gateways" 
"Epic Desecration" 
"Parasite" 
"Hideous Arise" 
"Killing Spree" 
"Into The Maelstrom" 
"Resurrected From A Mass Grave" 
"Shrine Of Flesh" 
"Hyperchaos"
"Isolation And Decay" 
"Silent Indifference"


"Hyperchaos"





Line up:
Steve Maher - Lead Vocals and Guitar
Bill Whelan - Guitar
Irene Siragusa - Bass
Olan Parkinson - Drums


Artwork by Ken Coleman (Morbid Angel)

Flotsam And Jetsam have released a guitar playthrough video for "The Cold", the title track of the band's 2010 album. Watch below:





Flotsam And Jetsam frontman, Eric "A.K." Knutson, was recently featured in an interview conducted at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium. In the clip below he offers an update on the band's new album, which is expected to be released next year.




Knutson: "My guitar players, for (previous album) Blood In The Water, I think they wrote 40 songs and we only put 12 on the record, so we have a lot to choose from. Most of them will be taken apart, pieces stolen out of and stuff like that, but we have enough music to keep going for a long time. We're about halfway written with a new record. We have a formula going on right now that's really working for us and we're gonna probably stick to the same formula this time. The last three records have really done some good for us."

In a new interview with Pamela Calderón of Chile's iRock, former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera reflected on the group's groundbreaking 1996 album "Roots", on which he and his bandmates collaborated with the Brazilian Xavante tribe. Asked about the criticism from some of the SEPULTURA fans that the LP was "not metal enough," Max said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't think they gave the record a real chance. To me, 'Roots' is a very heavy record. I think some of the stuff like 'Straighthate', 'Spit', 'Ambush' and 'Endangered Species' was so frickin' heavy and it's fast and it's brutal. I think it's because it got tagged… It got really popular; it got trendy. Some people connected it with 'nu metal'. I don't think 'Roots' is a 'nu metal' record. In fact, I think it's very opposite — it's really kind of more caveman. It's simpler — downtuning but simpler riffs. Very heavy percussion."

He continued: "On its own, in its essence, to me, it's a special record for sure. I won't say it's my favorite 'cause that's like choosing your kids; it's not right. I don't wanna choose between SEPULTURA records; I like all. But to me, 'Roots' feels like… It's an idea. It was born at the right time. And it was just a crazy idea that I had in my mind, to record with Brazilian indians and to bring that to metal. And I think that was very ambitious and very courageous. 'Cause not many people do that with their career; not many people gamble everything and make a record with crazy ideas like that. 'Cause so much can go wrong. A lot of bands like to play it safe: 'We just make this record for the fans, and we're good.' And we're just not that kind of band. We like to push the envelope. We like to go forward. And we always never really tried to make the same record. To me, it was an exciting record."

Cavalera added: "I was heavily very passionate about the idea of the record — going to the tribe; using all the tribal elements, the percussion. The 'Brazilianity' of the record is incredible. And the record to me sounds amazing. The mix that Andy Wallace did is really, really great. The videos were really cool. The 'Attitude' video with the Gracies; the 'Roots Bloody Roots' video in Salvador; the 'Ratamahatta' [clip] with the dolls. Yeah, it was a phase in our life. It ended up being kind of crazy because it was the end of my run with SEPULTURA. But I'm proud of this record. And it's a big record. Many famous people like this record a lot, like Dave Grohl, and so many people like that. The SLIPKNOT guys, they love 'Roots'.

"I understand some of the old-school metalheads; they just want 'Arise'. They want me to play 'Arise' for my whole life — just keep doing 'Arise', 'Arise', 'Arise' all the time," Max said. "['Arise' and 'Beneath The Remains'] are great, but there's different stuff you can do. 'Chaos A.D.' is great. 'Roots' is great. I wouldn't change it for anything. It was the record we wanted to make at that time. And I think now that I'm actually practicing to play it live [for an upcoming tour], I understand 'Roots' more now than before. And I think it's a very complex record; it's a very strange record that's very unorthodox and very cool to listen to. If you listen to the whole record, it has some very different dynamics that's really, really great."

"Roots", along with 1993's "Chaos A.D.", is considered SEPULTURA's most commercially successful release, having been certified gold in 2005 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for U.S. shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.

In a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer, KORN singer Jonathan Davis said that he felt "Roots" borrowed heavily from his own band. He said: "I thought [it] was a big compliment, but I also thought it] was fucked up. That was just a blatant KORN rip-off, and I had it out with producer Ross Robinson about that, because he just took our sound and gave it to SEPULTURA. My young brain couldn't handle it. But they were one of our biggest influences, so I guess they get a pass. And that's a classic album, so it's all good."

Later that same year, Max told the "Démentièllement Vôtre" show on Québec City's CKRL 89.1 FM radio station that he disagreed with Davis's assessment of "Roots". "I don't see it like that," he said. "I think especially the sound of KORN, in my opinion, with the bass, is horrible. We didn't have that; we had a lot of low end and things that the KORN album didn't have. So I don't see why he would be pissed off, because I don't see that much of a [similarity] between the two of them. Plus, KORN wasn't the only reason we wanted to work with Ross. He had done a FEAR FACTORY demo that I really liked and had a really raw sound. And he had done a DEFTONES song on the 'Adrenaline' album that I really liked."

He continued: "Saying that is like saying SEPULTURA should be pissed off at CANNIBAL CORPSE because they used [producer] Scott Burns. I'm not pissed off at CANNIBAL CORPSE; I think they're great. 'Cause we were one of the first that used Scott Burns, we should be mad at all the bands that use Scott Burns? That's childish. So he's just really being childish. And I really don't give a shit about KORN or anybody.

"We [were] very different from [KORN]; we have own way of playing and the songs are different. Everything is different. It's just the same guy that recorded [both albums]; that's the only similarity."

Davis was featured as a guest on the "Roots" track "Lookaway" — along with Mike Patton of FAITH NO MORE.

In 1996, Max exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band split with his wife Gloria as their manager.