EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA project has just released a new single, "The Wicked Rule The Night". The song, which features a guest appearance by PRIMAL FEAR singer Ralf Scheepers, is taken from the ninth AVANTASIA album, "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society", due in the fall via Nuclear Blast. The disc will be the follow-up to "Moonglow", which came out in 2019.

An animated lyric video for "The Wicked Rule The Night", created by Costin Chioreanu, can be seen below.

Sammet comments: "I'm so happy with the upcoming album that you could put out any song as the first single. But somehow, after the last two years, I felt the need to go full steam ahead as soon as I'm let off the leash. And honestly, it's also cool to know that many would probably have expected a less extreme track to accompany AVANTASIA's re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. But AVANTASIA is not stylistically fixed — anything goes, commercial, epic, grotesque or full on the bell, doesn't matter: all that is part of AVANTASIA's very own world. We have found our own pigeonhole and different laws apply there. The fans of the first hour know that. And so I have the feeling that 'The Wicked Rule The Night' is unpredictable, exciting, fresh and new, despite my trademarks, as you know them partly from AVANTASIA or also EDGUY. Playing it safe is a lot of hogwash."

"Moonglow" hit number one on the album charts in Germany and charted in 17 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas before AVANTASIA embarked on a ten-month tour of Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America.

Since its beginnings in 1999, AVANTASIA's past releases have featured international stars such as Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker (SCORPIONS),Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION),Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer (KISS),Eric Martin (MR. BIG),SAXON's Biff Byford, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider and many more.

In addition to Sammet and Scheepers, "The Wicked Rule The Night" features Sascha Paeth on guitar and Felix Bohnke on drums.

AVANTASIA will make a dozen or so festival appearances this summer, starting on June 24 at Spain's Rock Imperium.

In a 2019 interview with Spotlight Report, Sammet stated about his musical influences: "I'm really inspired by anything I listen to, but my main influence is in my DNA. I've been inspired by artists like DIO, RAINBOW and a lot by QUEEN. IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, MEAT LOAF, a lot of Eighties rock. I also love world music and classical music. I'm not a connoisseur or anything; I just love how it sounds."

KORN frontman Jonathan Davis recently answered a number of fan-submitted questions from the readers of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine. When one fan asked if Jonathan has ever been to church with KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch and bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, both of whom are devout Christians, Davis responded: "No. I've been to church and I respect their beliefs.

"The world would be a much better place if people would just stop fucking sticking their noses where they don't belong and respect people's beliefs.

"My only problem with Christianity is the fucking 'holier than thou, we're better than you' bullshit," he continued.

"But those two, especially Head, don't talk about that stuff. He just kicks back and accepts everyone for who they are.

"We played a livestream in a church when we released the new record and that was cool," Davis added. "I love the actual buildings. I decorate my house like a church. I just don't necessarily like what goes on in them. [Laughs]"

Less than three years ago, Jonathan touched upon his feelings about Christianity while speaking to Mistress Carrie about his appearance in the first feature-length documentary about Welch. "Loud Krazy Love" is Welch's story of faith-based redemption and Davis's skepticism about Welch's spiritual awakening helps to provide balance in the movie, which debuted in May 2018 at the Dallas International Film Festival.

In the film, Davis is particularly blunt about his feelings toward religion. While he is happy that religion has helped Brian come to terms with his issues, the singer criticizes what he views as the assimilation tactics of Christian recruiters.

"I don't buy into that bullshit, and they all fucking know it," Davis said. "Don't even try to do that to me, 'cause I'll shut your ass down in two seconds.

"If you look at it, it's pretty fucking funny how they believe and how they act," he continued. "It's ridiculous. I think [Head] agrees with a lot of what I was saying. It wasn't to be mean; it's just real and it's true.

"I respect anyone's beliefs, but when it's radical, like some of those people, I don't like that. And the whole way everything happened, I was just being real, and everybody liked that.

"I have no problem with [Head's faith]; it's just the religion in general," Davis added. "I have no problem. I'm glad that something could get him out of his dark hole and dark place. So I totally respect that. And if people need that, fine. Just don't throw your views on me. That's the only problem I have. Don't push what you believe on me. I'm not doing it to you. So get the fuck back."

Back in 2018, Welch told Billboard that he loved the fact that Jonathan spoke his mind in the film. "He just was honest, whether it offended me or the guys doing the movie," he said. "We just wanted him to share his feelings on everything. When he talked about me going back and all these things that I was saying, he's like, 'Man, that's not God telling you; that's your head telling you.' I think it's good because that's a lot of what people think, and it was good to have his opinion. And you know what? Family can have different beliefs and different things going on. And what do you do? Do you leave your family because they believe something different? No, you stick it out and you stick together and you work out life."

Welch left KORN in early 2005, at the same time announcing that he kicked his addictions to drugs and alcohol by becoming a born-again Christian. He rejoined the band in 2013.

Both Welch and Arvizu have had highly public, though separate, conversion experiences, ones that have been greeted with a certain amount of skepticism.

U.K. independent publisher Rock N' Roll Colouring has set a June 5 release date for the second official IRON MAIDEN coloring book, "The Official Iron Maiden Colouring Book Volume II: The Singles".

Following on from the successful first IRON MAIDEN book launched at the end of 2021, the new book focuses on many of the band's popular single releases. Featuring iconic artwork and instantly recognizable images all printed on high-quality paper in a square format fully endorsed and officially licensed, these amazing designs have the potential for hours of satisfying coloring in. The book encourages you to celebrate every detail of IRON MAIDEN's iconic imagery, letting your imagination run riot as you create your own personalized versions of your favorite MAIDEN designs.

The book contains painstakingly created renderings of each image with detailed outlines ready for you to unleash your artistic skills using pens, pencils or paint. It includes artwork from legendary singles such as "The Trooper", "Run To the Hills" and "Aces High", plus more recent releases such as "Empire Of The Clouds" and "The Writing's On The Wall".

Channel your inner creativity and add your own interpretations of these classic images or simply recreate them as closely as you can to the originals. Whatever you decide, the satisfaction of adding your personal touch to these classic designs is extremely rewarding.

Devised and created by two lifelong rock and heavy metal devotees and coloring book fans, Rock N' Roll Colouring was formed by fans for fans. Every effort has gone into making sure this book does justice to the legacy of IRON MAIDEN and their iconic figure Eddie, painstakingly re-creating some of the most famous heavy metal images of all time to ensure that MAIDEN fans everywhere get the best creative experience possible.

Coloring has proven significant mental health benefits including mindfulness, relaxation and increased focus and can be enjoyed by any age group. These books provide hours of creative and restful activity that combines the love of the music with the love of the art.

"The Official Iron Maiden Colouring Book Volume II: The Singles" follows on from the previous Rock N' Roll Colouring releases from ALICE COOPER, MOTÖRHEAD, JUDAS PRIEST, THIN LIZZY and MEGADETH.

The book is available for worldwide shipping, and can be exclusively pre-ordered via Eyesore Merch.

In a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, SEVENDUST guitarist John Connolly spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2020's "Blood & Stone" album. He said: "We're in demo mode right now. We're gonna hit the studio in the summer. So, yeah, we're working up as many new demos as we can. We started working with LJ [singer Lajon Witherspoon] [to] get the vocal process going. But, yeah, probably [in] July, August, [we'll] hit the studio."

Asked about the direction of the new SEVENDUST music, John said: "It's hard to say. It's sort of very all over the place, in typical SEVENDUST fashion, until we really start to hone in and figure out what's gonna make it and what's not. We're realists at this point. We know all the early stuff that we work on in the demo stage is either gonna be the first single or it's probably never gonna see the light of day. So some of these songs are just a stepping stone to get to something cooler. It's always exciting when you're at this part of the process, 'cause you just don't know. Sometimes you've gotta take a step back and go, 'Okay, maybe we should listen to some of the stuff that was a couple of months ago' before you find those special moments. But with everyone sort of diving into the Dropboxes and kind of picking their favorites and stuff like that, I would imagine probably within the next six weeks we'll have a lot more of a shape and a sound. But, yeah, the vibe is just a big question mark. It's a big, wide-open canvas right now, which is good, 'cause we've got tons of ideas to fill it with, for sure."

Last December, SEVENDUST released a digital expanded edition of "Blood & Stone". "Blood & Stone Deluxe" contained five new tracks, including three never-before-released remixes and two newly recorded songs. Jake Bowen of PERIPHERY, Richard Wicander of FIRE FROM THE GODS and Justin deBlieck, formerly of ICE NINE KILLS, provided remixes and the band finished recording "All I Really Know" and "What You Are" specifically for this release. "Blood & Stone Deluxe" was released via all digital partners via Rise Records and was produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette.

Connolly is currently promoting "Hypoxia", the third studio album from his PROJECTED project, which also features SEVENDUST bassist Vince Hornsby alongside ALTER BRIDGE/CREED drummer Scott Phillips and guitarist/vocalist Eric Friedman (a.k.a. E-Rock; TREMONTI). Due on June 24 via Rat Pak Records, the 13-track follow-up to 2017's "Ignite My Insanity" was tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with SEVENDUST, ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared his solo performance of Thin Lizzy's 1976 classic, "Emerald". Check it out below.


Johansson: "A cover of the Gary Moore version of Thin Lizzy's classic, 'Emerald'. Also a tribute to these great Charvel guitars put together by my friend Patrik Johansson."







Johansson previously shared his solo performance of Gary Moore's 1986 classic "Over The Hills And Far Away".

More than two decades deep into their existence, Psycroptic have announced their eighth studio album, Divine Council, set to be released via Prosthetic Records on August 5. Alongside the album announcement, the Australian extreme metal group have shared the lead single, "Rend Asunder", and an accompanying music video for the track - directed by Michael Rankine and filmed at Oi Studios in Tasmania, AU - which can be seen below.


Speaking on the album announcement and "Rend Asunder", the band comments: "'Rend Asunder' is a little bit of a different style of track for us - stripped back and streamlined, but it still has the Psycroptic sound. It's straight to the point - fast, catchy and hard hitting from the outset. We think people will dig it from the first listen. We can't wait to play it live, it will definitely be in the set for our upcoming tours."







Brothers Dave Haley (drums) and Joe Haley (guitar) have steered Psycroptic through different shades of death metal, from the technical to the experimental, with longtime vocalist and lyricist Jason Peppiatt and bassist Todd Stern further embellishing the sound of the band to create something that is distinctively Psycroptic.


Origin vocalist Jason Keyser has long been considered a part of Psycroptic's extended family, and on Divine Council, he contributes vocals to the album tracks. As Peppiatt wrote the lyrics and vocal patterns, the group were able to utilize an extended palette of styles to further enhance his sound, courtesy of Keyser and additional vocals from Amy Wiles, hitting upon a collective approach to complement the Haleys.


With writing and recording punctuated by a pandemic and subsequent strict lockdowns, Divine Council was recorded in various locations across Australia and North America. Drums were tracked at Anubis Studios by Chris Thelemco, bass was captured by Justin Spaeth at Cave Bound Studio, and guitars, vocals and synths were recorded by the band's own Joe Haley at his Crawlspace Studios before he mixed and mastered the album's nine tracks.


The suffocating atmosphere carries through to the lyrics that detail the myriad of ways that human beings waste, destroy or devalue what's in front of them - captured in the evocative album artwork, courtesy of the prolific Eliran Kantor. With narrative threads that throw back to tracks on both their self-titled album and As The Kingdom Drowns, Psycroptic have found yet more new ways to explore human's inherent inability to see the bigger picture - or change track before a miserable demise becomes a crushing inevitability.


Divine Council is an album that oozes confidence, maturity and a relaxed self-assurance befitting of a band with a rich legacy behind them, and an unconstrained future ahead of them. Pre-order / pre-save Divine Council now at this location.





Divine Council tracklisting:


"Rend Asunder"
"A Fool's Errand"
"This Shadowed World"
"Enslavement"
"Ashes Of Our Empire"
"The Prophet's Council"
"Awakening"
"A Fragile Existence"
"Exitus"


Psycroptic will be performing live on June 25 at Crowbar in Sydney, Australia with Denouncement Pyre, Werewolves, and Golgothan Remains.





(Photographer credit: Michael Rankine)