Pitch Black Records announces the new, third album from Norwegian old-school heavy metal outfit, Sinsid. In Victory will be released on May 20.


In Victory is a follow-up to 2020’s Enter The Gates, and is most definitely an album that will get defenders of old school heavy metal excited about it. Through the album’s nine non-stop headbanging tracks, an epic journey will unfold where fans will identify everything that made the genre great – anthemic choruses and solos, hard-hitting riffs and faith in heavy metal as a symbol of brotherhood and the fight against Evil.


Sinsid’s new album shows the Norwegian quintet at its best, inspired and never so powerful. One thing that’s more evident compared to previous works Mission From Hell (2018) and Enter the Gates (2020) is the more frequent use of the double bass drum. The band sounds as good as ever with an improved contemporary production which however still managed to maintain that “old school” feeling.




Originally formed in 2012, Sinsid's influences include anything from the blues and rock to metal and Viking or thrash but the very core of the band is, unmistakably, traditional heavy metal. The band’s debut triumphantly introduced Sinsid to the metal world and quickly gained the band a massive new following, with reviews referring to it as “good old, honest, working-class metal” and “couldn’t be more metal if it was hammered over an anvil!”


In Victory will be available on CD and Digital with a limited LP (100 numbered copies) planned for release later in the year. Pre-order information here.





Tracklisting:


"The Northern March" (Intro)
"Iron Heart"
"Metalheads"
"Secret Of The Beast"
"In Victory"
"No Fear"
"Wrath Of Destruction"
"Headless Grinder"
"Cult Of Doom (Into The Fire)"


"Headless Grinder" video:





Lineup:


Terje Singh Sidhu – Vocals
Sten Roger Knutsen – Lead guitar
Even Haavold – Rhythm guitar
Grzegorz Urbanski – Bass
Trygve A. Tvedt – Drum

Wisconsin-based death metal band, Jungle Rot, will release their new album, A Call To Arms, on May 13 via Unique Leader Records. The band have released the new single, for the album's title track. Watch the video for "A Call To Arms" below.


A Call To Arms sees the first Unique Leader offering emerge with a punishing Dan Swano mix and eerie Voodoo themed artwork - a brutal culmination of the band's past sound melding with a slick, devastating polish bringing them firmly into 2022.


Pre-order the album here.







Tracklisting:


"A Call To Arms"
"Beyond the Grave"
"Genocidal Imperium"
"Asymmetric Warfare"
"Vengeance & Bloodlust"
"Maggot Infested"
"Death Squad"
"Haunting Future"
"Total Extinction"
"Population Suicide"


"A Call To Arms" video:





"Total Extinction" visualizer:





Jungle Rot have also announced the A Call To Arms US Tour with special guests, Internal Bleeding. Dates below.





Tour dates:


June
2 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cabooze
3 - Lincoln, NE - 1867 Bar
4 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep
6 - Boise, ID - The Shredder
7 - Seattle, WA - Club Sur
8 - Portland, OR - Bossanova Ballroom
9 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
10 - Anaheim, CA - Doll Hut
11 - San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick
12 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720
13 - Mesa, AZ - Nile Underground
14 - El Paso, TX - Rockhouse Bar & Grill
15 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
16 - Denver, CO - HQ
17 - Kansas City, MO - BLVD Nights
18 - Sturtevant, WI - Route 20

Wildstreet's latest single "Won't Be Apart" (feat. Todd Long) began as a voice memo of a melodic idea, sent to Eric Jayk (Wildstreet) from Ghost of Sunset's Todd Long. After a few short weeks the song was recorded and Jon Wyman (The Pretty Reckless) had been recruited to mix. The song is out now on all digital platforms. The track's highlights include a pedal steel guitar solo, strings and lush vocal harmonies reminiscent of '90s R&B.


Check out the official lyric video below.







 


Wildtsreet will embark on their US tour and are set to appear at Rockfest later this year, with multiple shows in Mexico, Colombia, the UK and Europe coming up. And to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of their latest album, III, the band will be playing the legendary Whisky-A-Go-Go in Hollywood on June 25th.


 


 


Dates are as follows:


 


 


April 
14 - Richmond, VA - Another Round Bar and Grill
15 - Spartanburg, SC - Ground Zero
16 - Virginia Beach, VA - Scandals Live
28 - Allentown, PA - Sportsmen's Café
29 - Uniontown, PA - Revolutions Bar & Grill
30 - Waterloo, NY - Lizard's Tailgator Lounge


 


 


May
1 - Tonawanda, NY - Stamps The Bar


 


 


June
25 - Hollywood, CA - Whiskey-A-Go-Go


 

U.S. rockers Farewell To Fear have returned to the scene armed with two cracking new singles, "Brainwashed" and "Falling", their first new material in over 12 months. Farewell To Fear are set to reignite the active rock market in 2022 with plenty of live shows and festival dates locked in.


The third single at bat from Farewell To Fear is rightfully titled "Played Again", a track which takes the angst and experience of feeling used and channels it into a fist pumping anthem. Available now on all digital platforms, crank this one and feel empowered! 







Farewell To Fear was born out of the huge black hole that mainstream rock radio left during the absence of super rock stars like Metallica, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. The band revisits an era with big rock riffs, big choruses and huge anthems for a new generation of rockers.


Their first full-length album New Blood, produced by Brett Hestla (Creed, Dark New Day), generated an incredible three singles on Sirius XM’s Octane channel, a rare feat for an unknown band. As well as landing them at #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Rock Singles chart and #8 on iTunes Rock chart, their debut album also earned them direct support from Howard Stern, including the rarest of moments on Stern’s show… airing an entire song as opposed to the normal 20 second snippet he usually shares. That track, a cover of Rihanna's "Diamonds", recently eclipsed 2.5 million streams on Spotify. 


Inspired by the overwhelming success of New Blood, Farewell To Fear released the Legacy EP, allowing them to seamlessly merge their skills and styles together to create heavy rock songs that deliver a strong punch to the gut, while staying melodic and delivering impactful lyrics hitting all ranges and octaves. 


Shortly following Legacy, the band released their Voices album. Voices was produced by Damien Starkey (Burn Season, Puddle Of Mudd) and elevated the bands' sound to a new level. Expect no stone unturned with this album! The single "Underneath My Skin" sent a powerful sucker-punch with its message of love and obsession. It moves as an emotional gut-wrenching song that will inspire the devil within.


The band wasted no time spreading their new sound with the masses at various rock festivals, touring with artists such as Fozzy, Like A Storm, Palisades and Flaw throughout North America, including joining Chris Jericho/Fozzy and friends performing on the Rockin and Wrestling Rager at Sea cruise.


Staying true to form, Farewell To Fear immediately went back into the studio amidst the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to release the ever-timely single "I Won't Be Your Tragedy", which eclipsed over 100,000 streams on Spotify in three months.


Farewell To Fear is set for an explosive 2022 and has already been invited to perform at the Rebel Rock Festival in Orlando, with Five Finger Death Punch, Limp Bizkit, I Prevail, Sevendust and many more!











 

Hungarian black/pagan metal outfit, Bornholm, have released a bass playthrough video for "My Evangelium", featured on the band's fifth studio album, Apotheosis, released last November. Watch below:





Apotheosis can be ordered here.







Apotheosis tracklisting:


"I Divine"
"My Evangelium"
"Sky Serpents"
"The Key To The Shaft Of The Abyss"
"Black Shining Cloaks"
"Spiritual Warfare"
"Darkened Grove"
"To The Fallen"
"I Am War God"
"Apotheosis"
"Enthronement"


“Black Shining Cloaks" video:





“Spiritual Warfare” video:





"I Am War God" video:





Lineup:


Sahsnot – Guitar/Vocals
Charun – Bass
D – Drums


(Photo - Krisztina Máté)

Helsinki, Finland-based brutal / tech / slam / death metallers Enragement have unveiled "In Cinder" - the third and final single from the group's upcoming third full-length album, Atrocities - set for release on April 29th via Rising Nemesis Records.





With Atrocities, Enragement delivers a hybrid approach to brutal and slam death metal that draws just as much from the technical side of the genre as it does the necessary sheer brutality and absurd heaviness the style is built upon. The end result is more intricate and deadlier than many of their peers, without losing sight of the core framework brutal / slam death metal exists within when done well. From a thematic perspective, Atrocities again chooses to eschew the normal focus on fantastical horror movie-type brutal lyrics in favor of discussing the all too real horrors of human wars and conflicts in the myriad of ways they impact all of our lives.




Enragement comments: "Hideous portrayals of what lies beneath civilization, Atrocities describes monstrous true events throughout the history of mankind, from ancient to recent. Each song is a representation of acts whose cruelty extends beyond imagination – acts that seem to occur more frequently than we dare believe. This is the epitome of human suffering.


Musically, Enragement combines the intensity of brutal, technical, and slamming death metal with twists and turns from a diverse range of other extreme metal genres. Depending on the song, a perceptive listener can distinguish the cacophony of black metal, the grim atmosphere of doom metal, and the sheer fury of grindcore intricately weaved into the neck-breaking foundation of death metal.


No matter how unthinkably gruesome they may seem, each song on Atrocities is based on true events. Regardless of how deep you dive into imaginary evil, fantasy never overcomes the sickness of reality. The malevolence of man knows no boundaries."





Tracklisting:


"(In)humanity"
"Sadistic Sedition"
"Lethal Human Experimentation"
"Siberian Frost"
"Decimating Winds Of Phosphorus"
"Heavenly Inferno"
"Trade In Viscera"
"Nailed To The Cross"
"Violent Bigotry"
"In Cinder"
"Transcend In Fire"
"Cast Into Perishment"








(Photo by Petri Sara Photography)


 

Helsinki, Finland "goth 'n' roll" pioneers THE 69 EYES have released "Drive", a catchy new single and the first of several new tracks to be made available in the next months. The band is currently in the studio recording its 13th album, to be released in 2023 via Atomic Fire Records (worldwide excluding Finland).

THE 69 EYES guitarist Bazie comments: "The inspiration came from the same pool of music I have always liked, mostly from the '80s.

"I never plan anything; just grab my guitar and see what comes up. We jammed a lot more as a band this time and came up with song ideas from all the guys. 'Drive' started from one little riff, which I had for a long time. It took a while, but it was worth it. It still sounds exciting, and that was the goal."

THE 69 EYES singer Jyrki 69 adds: "Bazie delivered this music, and I was blown away by how fresh it felt again. Sounded like some rock radio stuff.

"Our songs are on daily rotation on the rock channels here in Finland, but they are the ones that we did 15 years ago. So, I thought that we could have some fresh options now, let's take the airwaves!

"'Drive' is a traditional 69 EYES-sounding fast rocker with a Sunset Strip slap on it!"

The "Drive" music video was directed by Vicente Cordero and can be seen below.

THE 69 EYES will hit the road in Europe in November and December 2022, along with America's industrial pioneers MINISTRY and horror rockers WEDNESDAY 13.

THE 69 EYES has been haunting stages all over the world for 33 years and seem to be a truly immortal part of the dark rock/metal scene. Widely known as the Helsinki Vampires, the quintet gained several platinum albums with "Blessed Be" and "Paris Kills" and not only reached #1 of the single and album charts in their home country of Finland, but also plunged the world into a sinful cosmos of love, death and melancholy, while outliving any other band emerging from the goth hype of the early 2000s.

By developing their sound further into sleaze rock on "Devils" (2004) and "Angels" (2007) and not shying away from pitch black Elvis Presley allusions in Jyrki 69's dark voice and unique onstage dance moves, the band has established a worldwide following. Over the course of over three decades, the band has toured relentlessly throughout Europe, America, Asia and Australia and released 12 full-length studio albums.

Photo credit: Marek Sabogal

In an interview with Monsters, Madness And Magic, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked to name the most difficult song in his catalog for him to perform live. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There's songs… They're all hard if you play 'em right, is the truth, because they're fast. There's a lot of muscular intensity. You can't just sort of phone it in. You've really gotta warm up. And you've kind of gotta be warmed up and have a lot of your endurance in place; you can't have just been on vacation and pick your bass up and rip through the tunes. It requires dexterity and everything. So 'Holy Wars' can be difficult to play. When we had it at the end of the set, it was easier to play 'cause you're warmed up for an hour and a half; it's a lot easier. When we used to come out and start with it, back in the '90s, like with the 'Rust In Peace' or something, I think we started with it at the time, and it was, like, 'Oh my God. This is a fucking killer to come out of the gate with this one.' You were kind of waiting for the little break where Marty [Friedman, former MEGADETH guitarist] does the flamenco thing, so you can go, 'Ah…' and shake it off. 'Cause if you tense up, you get the Popeye arm. The funny thing is something like 'My Last Words' which has that really ripping pentatonic pattern, that actually is not that hard to play 'cause it's a pattern — it's a pentatonic pattern. So sometimes things you think would be harder aren't and some of the more notey complexities would be… 'Tornado [Of Souls]', 'cause of the downpicking on 'Tornado', could be a thing. And I would change it sometimes depending on who the drummer was. When Shawn Drover played in the band, he'd play very much behind the beat like Chuck Behler. He had a really relaxed feel — very comfortable to play with, Shawn, actually. And when Nick [Menza] was in the band, he would always push everything — everything was always at the front edge of the beat, so you're hanging on for dear life. [It's, like,] 'C'mon — pull it back a little bit, dude.' So sometimes the drummer made all the difference."

Ellefson was born and raised in in the small Minnesota town of Jackson, located near the Iowa border, just under three hours southwest of St. Paul. After leaving Jackson in the early '80s to move to Los Angeles, he met former METALLICA guitarist Dave Mustaine, and the pair co-founded multi-platinum, Grammy-winning hard rock act MEGADETH, going on to become one of the "Big Four" of thrash metal. Ellefson's smalltown Jackson roots have been immortalized in MEGADETH lore as the subject of classic songs including the smash hit "Foreclosure Of A Dream" and the underground classic "Mary Jane".

Ellefson, who has lived in Scottsdale, Arizona since 1994, was dismissed from MEGADETH last May, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

David, a Christian who launched the Mega Life Ministries worship group in 2007, studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis a decade ago.

Last October, Ellefson told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that there is a perception that people of faith must set a higher standard of how they live with and treat others. "It's almost like you're this entity that's floating up toward the heavens: 'Oh, he's such a wonderful man. He's a man of faith. He's got his family. And then this happens.' It's, like, 'What the hell is this?'" he said.

"I mean, look, admittedly I've sort of trained the public to think that I'm one of the more well-behaved rock stars out there, and for the most part I have been," he continued. "But at the same time, and this isn't to claim anything other than just, oops, shit happens. That is what it is."

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

HYPOCRISY has announced the addition of "session" drummer Henrik Axelsson to the group's ranks.

Earlier today (Tuesday, April 12), HYPOCRISY released the following statement via social media: "Please welcome Henrik Axelsson! This talented Swedish musician played in IMPLODE and SOILS OF FATE. Since 2014, he is the drummer for THE CROWN. Now Henrik is going to join HYPOCRISY as a session member. Looking forward to performing together".

Longtime HYPOCRISY drummer Reidar "Horgh" Horghagen left the band earlier in the month. At the time, the band said about the split: "It's not easy for us. We've played together for 18 crazy years filled with music, tours and friendship. So many countries, so many songs, and so many gigs with Horgh on stage with us. It's the end of a long interesting chapter, and the beginning of a new one. We are grateful to Horgh, this great musician and great man, for all we have achieved together."

Horgh said in a statement: "I want to take this opportunity to thank the fans for the great support over the years, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to meet so many of you as we toured around the world. Thanks to the band and crew for the time we spent together. I wish you all the best for the future."

A member of the Norwegian black metal band IMMORTAL since 1996, Horgh joined HYPOCRISY in January 2004 as the replacement for Lars Szöke.

HYPOCRISY will embark on the "Worship" tour this spring. The 28-date trek will kick off at Warsaw in Brooklyn, New York on April 29 and will make stops in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Austin before concluding in Baltimore at the Maryland Deathfest on May 29. Support on the trek will come from CARACH ANGREN, THE AGONIST and HIDEOUS DIVINITY.

HYPOCRISY's latest album, "Worship", was released last November via Nuclear Blast Records. The 11-track effort was recorded and mixed at frontman Peter Tägtgren's Abyss Studio AB in Sweden while mastering was completed by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers Audio Mastering. Designed by artist Blake Armstrong (KATAKLYSM, IN FLAMES, CARNIFEX), "Worship"'s artwork speaks to the history of the relationship between humanity and extraterrestrials.


Please welcome Henrik Axelsson! This talented Swedish musician played in Implode and Soils Of Fate. Since 2014, he is...

Posted by Hypocrisy on Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Guitarist Thomas Zwijsen has released the new video below, in which he performs an acoustic classical guitar cover of "Lost In A Lost World", featured on Iron Maiden's latest album, Senjutsu.





Zwijsen previously released the video below, featuring an acoustic rendition of "Arc Of Space", from Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson's Accident Of Birth album, released in 1997.

The members of FOZZY were presented with a gold record plaque for their 2017 breakout hit "Judas" during their concert Monday night (April 11) at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. Fan-filmed video of the presentation is available below.

"Judas", which reached the Top 5 on the U.S. rock chart and boasts 55 million views on YouTube for the music video, was certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for accumulating 500,000 certified units.

Last month, when the news of "Judas" going gold was first announced, FOZZY singer Chris Jericho stated: "Being awarded a gold record has been a dream of mine ever since I started listening to THE BEATLES at nine years old and saw a picture of them getting an award for 'Beatles VI'. Then as I grew older and heard Ozzy [Osbourne] talk about his 'gold discs' and seeing the walls of Rudolf Schenker's house plastered with framed SCORPIONS awards, I set my goals on someday getting one of my own. And for 'Judas' to have sold 500,000 units in this day and age completely blows my mind as a fan and a musician, and also makes me realize how far FOZZY has come and how far we are going to go!! Thanks to all of you for making this dream come true for me and the guys. I can't wait to hang my award on my wall… just like Rudolf."

According to the RIAA, one equivalent song unit is equal to a single digital song sale, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams.

FOZZY's new album, "Boombox", is due on May 6. The LP, which includes the top 10 singles "Nowhere To Run" and "Sane", was once again produced by Johnny Andrews.

FOZZY's "Save The World" 2022 U.S. tour, featuring special guests GFM, KRASHKARMA and THE NOCTURNAL AFFAIR, started on March 31 in Detroit, Michigan and will wrap on May 16 in Sauget, Illinois.

In the summer of 2020, Chris revealed that FOZZY's next LP would contain 12 songs, including a cover of FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD's "Relax".

Ward and Andrews once again did "the lion's share" of the songwriting for the new LP, which was recorded primarily in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addition to producing "Judas", Andrews previously co-wrote FOZZY's "Lights Go Out" track back in 2014. He has also written songs with the likes of ALL THAT REMAINS, THREE DAYS GRACE and HALESTORM.

In November 2020, FOZZY appeared in its first global live streaming event from Madison Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

This past January, FOZZY parted ways with longtime drummer Frank Fontsere and replaced him with Grant Brooks (THROUGH FIRE).

Fontsere was a founding member of FOZZY, having formed the group in 1999 with Jericho and Ward.

When FOZZY announced Fontsere's departure, the band said that he was "stepping down to focus on his family and other projects."

FOZZY is Chris Jericho (vocals), Rich Ward (guitars, vocals), Grant Brooks (drums), Billy Grey (guitars) and P.J. Farley (bass).


























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Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has shared footage of the band performing the song "Sickness Unto You" live for the first time ever on March 11th in Tampa, Florida. Check out the footage below.


The song is taken from Trivium's 2020 album, What The Dead Men Say







Heafy recently shared more details about his long-awaited and much-anticipated Ibaraki project. The project's debut album, Rashomon, will be released on May 6 via Nuclear Blast.





The band has shared the video for "Akumu" (feat. Nergal). Watch below.


"'Akumu' translates to 'nightmare' - and with this piece, I encourage the listener to work to find their interpretations of what they feel from the lyrics, music, and the haunting visuals of the music video," says Kiichi. "I have always been fascinated by Sagazan's 'Transfiguration,' and for years, I have wanted to pay homage to his works with a performance art piece; to finally be able to immerse myself in his style was an intense experience."


He finishes, "Having Nergal guest in this Ihsahn co-written piece allowed me to combine many of my long-time influences; and when I presented with Nergal of the challenge of translating my lyrics into Polish, it brought the song to another level."


Last month, Ibaraki offered fans a taste and a tease of the music by sharing the video for "Tamashii No Houkai", featuring special guest Ihsahn of Emperor fame, who is a core contributor and partner in this project. Watch the video below.


Fans will be able to listen to "Akumu" and "Tamashii No Houkai" by pre-saving here. Pre-order the album Rashomon on CD, vinyl, cassette, and T-Shirt + CD bundle here.





Tracklisting:


"Hakanaki Hitsuzen"
"Kagutsuchi"
"Ibaraki-Dōji"
"Jigoku Dayū"
"Tamashii No Houkai"
"Akumu" (Feat. Nergal)
"Komorebi"
"Rōnin" (Feat. Gerard Way)
"Susanoo No Mikoto" (Feat. Ihsahn)
"Kaizoku"


"Akumu" video:





"Tamashii No Houkai" video:





Ibaraki - the name for a terrifying Japanese demon taken from feudal legend and the new project of Trivium's Matthew Kiichi Heafy - is more than a solo record. It's the end-result of a journey of an artist finding his voice. Its inspirations include everything from an adoration for the extremes of black metal to the exuberant storytelling of Gerard Way to the adventuresome worldliness of tragic bon viveur Anthony Bourdain. It's a reflection of Kiichi's multifaceted interests as well as a profound affirmation of his Japanese-American identity, and one that led him to confront one of his family’s most tragic moments. Like the artist behind it, there is much to the story of Ibaraki and it began with a timid email to one of black metal's most revered and influential figures.


Kiichi, a fan of black metal before he even started Trivium, reached out to label reps for Ihsahn of Emperor, and the artist personally responded. He recalls, "It was so cool to get that nod and it inspired me to start checking some of his solo stuff. He’d just released his own solo record and I'd never heard anything like it - saxophones, clean singing, jazz chords. It was incredible to me. He's this non-stop inventor. So I started writing in a totally different way."


The exposure to Ihsahn's solo work that would inspire the gradual craftsmanship that would eventually become Ibaraki. It was also the beginning of a friendship and creative collaboration that would eventually compel Ihsahn to take a leap of his own into a newfound role as producer on the project. While much of the material for Ibaraki was assembled over those months and years - as much a songwriting process as an exchange of ideas between friends - it wasn't until the pandemic that the space was created and the idea could really flourish.


"It was very loose," says Ihsahn. "We just had rough demos for a very long time because we're arguably pretty busy people, but suddenly, everything was cancelled and we had time on our hands for the first time, so it was like, 'OK, let's do this.' We never got to work in the same room; he'd track guitars and send them to me, I'd run them through my studio and send them back. It was a new way of working, but it was like he was there on the other side of the glass. Matt is a very, very positive, energetic, and passionate music fan - we have similar attitudes to music and open mindedness. We hit it off, and it's been really rewarding to me."


The creative interactions between the pair are the result of a deep trust borne of a commonality of their experience. "We both started our respective bands when we were 13," Ihsahn says. "We got signed when we were 16. That's young, and in essence we both found our path in life at an early age. We've talked a lot about that and our different experiences with that, because it's like we know nothing else."


While material was primarily written by Kiichi, Ihsahn engineered and produced and contributed some song structures, plus Trivium drummer Alex Bent, bassist Paolo Gregoletto, and guitarist Corey Beaulieu contributed to various tracks. Ihsahn's wife Heidi even sampled some natural sounds from the forest near their home and his entire family. Additional guests include the aforementioned Way and Behemoth's Nergal.


Ihsahn also encouraged Kiichi to seek out new avenues for lyrical inspiration, namely his Japanese heritage. While an array of stories have been told via the tattoos on his body, such as the specific ancient Japanese story of gods, goddesses, and monsters from the Shinto religion taught to him by his mother, he began pouring the stories into lyrics.


While the rich mythology and folklore of Japan that would give Ibaraki its unique aesthetics and influences, it also provides the artist with the catalyst to contemplate his own identity and to consider how recent tragedies stateside have highlighted the need for better representation in metal.

Disorder Recordings presents Suffer Decay Alone, the debut album from Ohio rust belt-based industrial metal outfit, Above And Below.


Hot off the release of Plaguewielder's 2021-released Covenant Death album, primary member Bryce Seditz sets off to branch out in 2022 with his solo act Above And Below. Utilizing the local noises of mines, steel mills, and the gloom of his surrounding area to create an overwhelming feeling of rejection and despair on the debut album, Suffer Decay Alone sees Seditz applying his influences from the likes of Tim Skold and 3Teeth, and taking and taking Ministry’s Al Jourgensen’s approach of handling all songwriting and most of the production. With Seditz handling vocals, guitar, synth programming, and engineering, Disorder Recordings labelmate/owner Jeff Wilson (Chrome Waves, Deeper Graves) helps polish off the album with bass, additional manipulation, mixing, and mastering, and the cover artwork was handled by Chris Smith.


Regarding the debut, Seditz states, "Above And Below was an idea I've had since the first time I listened to The Downward Spiral. I've always wanted to make industrial music but didn't have the means. During the quarantine I bought an interface and laptop and taught myself how to make this kind of music. Influences stem from Nine Inch Nails, Not My God, and black metal. The lyrics are very much about intrusive thoughts and failed relationships. There is a feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness to this album."




Suffer Decay Alone will see release on CD and digital through Disorder Recordings on June 10th. Watch for audio previews, videos, preorders, and more to post over the weeks ahead.





Tracklisting:


“Ghosts”
“Rust”
“Hope”
“Isolate”
“Dead”
“Tear”
“Covered”


Teaser:

Rockshots Records has announced their signing of Tuscan, Italy's 17 Crash for their fourth studio album Stamina to be released winter 2022.


Driven by the passion of drummer Phil Hill and singer Ros Crash, 17 Crash began their crazy journey back in 2011.


At an earlier stage of their career, 17 Crash were a true and vibrant synonym of vintage ‘80s LA glam rock style: big hair, leather pants and loud guitars. Distinctive attire and growling sounds finally merged into the debut album Reading Your Dirty Minds (2015). Right after their first release, the band toured extensively throughout the Italian peninsula while making sure the name of the band was being heard.




Evolving and exploring new sounds, it didn’t take that long until they found what they were looking for with the release of the second studio album Hit The Prey (2018). Finding the right balance between the ‘80s sound and modern AOR, the new record marked a significant turning point both in terms of musicianship and career approach.


Another two years of touring passed until a further stage of evolution with their third album Through Hell And Back (2020) reconfirming previous collaboration with long-esteemed colleagues Alessio Lucatti in production and Simone Mularoni for mixing and mastering. The third chapter written by 17 Crash featured groovy heavy riffs, polished sounds and even sharper tunes, effectively establishing the band as a true landmark not only within national borders, but in the international hard and heavy landscape as well.


2022 will witness the release of the fourth album Stamina, a much more complex and profound piece of work written entirely during the endless lockdowns from the 2020 pandemic that the world experienced. It will be ‘80s rock crossed with a particular duality between human struggle and the will to fight and resist against all the odds. It might seem that 17 Crash have come a long way, but rest assured they are just warming up for what’s to come.


For this band's new adventure, 17 Crash has announced a new member to the family: bassist Alba Nasoni, alias The Mess Mistress.

In a new interview with Ronni Hunter of Columbus, Ohio's 99.7 The Blitz radio station, SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith was asked what he looks forward to doing the most once he gets off the road after a long tour. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm an anomaly when it comes to the rest of the guys that I'm in a band with. We all have families, but I don't actually own a home. So I have lived in hotels pretty much my entire life, or at least the duration of… Like, the last 20 years I've been a gypsy by every account. But the thing is that I had a house in 2011; I owned it in California. [I had it] from about 2011 to 2016, and then I sold it to a family of four because I was never in the home. And so I've been on the road and living in and out of hotels since roughly 2016. But when I do go home, and home is where your heart is, the way that I look at things, and where my heart is is with my 14-year-old son who is in Florida. So I'm with him 90 percent of the time when I'm off the road right now — I'm in Florida with him — but there's definitely no kicking up my feet and [laughs] hanging out, because having a 14-year-old is a roller-coaster ride. He's a great kid, but when I'm home, I'm dad. And the other thing, too, is me and his mother are really, really close and she has a son with another man. And we're very much a blended family, and we spend holidays together, we ring in the new year together, we try to always be with one another when I'm in Florida.

"The reality is that as these boys are getting older, there's a responsibility that we have as we're co-parenting — the three of us, really," Brent added. "And that's something that I don't take for granted, that I'm able to, when I am off the road, that having that stability for our kids is a big deal. 'Cause I've never made it about me. And the cool thing, too, is my son just doesn't really care that his dad is in a band, because it's never been about me when I'm home, and he's very much into sports. He's an awesome basketball player; he looks like he's got some pretty significant game. A lot of basketball practice, a lot of just trying to get him locked in to his school work. School in this day and age is not like school when I was a kid; it's way different. They demand a lot more responsibility of the kids at a younger age. And [we're] just trying to keep him focused and on point, make sure that we're guiding him and his brother in the right direction."

Last October, Smith told the FM99 WNOR radio station that he never pushed his son to follow in his footsteps. "Growing up, I always wanted him to pick his path; I want him to go in the direction that he wants to go," he said. "And it's really a beautiful thing in a lot of ways, 'cause he's his own dude; he's his own guy. When I'm with him, we don't talk about me; it's all him.

"I've told him this before, and he understands it. I'm, like, 'I can be your friend later. I'm your father. I'm your dad. I'm responsible for you. And I wanna give you encouragement. I wanna set you up with understanding the value of hard work, that your word should be bond, and to be honest and to be a gentleman.' And I have to say he's exhibiting all of those great traits. Because I want him to be a real man. I want him to understand who he is. Later on in life, he may be more interested in it or what have you, but I just try to never make it about me…. The other thing, too — I'm not the tallest guy in the world; I'm five [feet] eight [inches tall]. My son is 13 and he's already almost a foot taller than me… It's, like, 'How's it going up there, son?'

"My son is really respectful. It's a very proud moment for me too. All of his teachers go out of their way to let me know that he's extremely charismatic but he's also not cliquey at all. He is friends with everyone. They're always very open with me about how… His teachers have said, 'He's one of the most empathetic kids here.' It doesn't mean he's a pushover. But people, they gravitate towards him. And that makes me feel good, man, 'cause I always want him to be respectful."

Four years ago, Brent said that his "number one priority in life" was his son. "I think how my success is determined is by how much time I can give to my son," he said at the time. "I keep it very private in the world that he lives in — like teachers at school, people around him, they don't really know what his dad does, because me and his mother, who are really really good friends even though we're not together anymore, have a respect for each other and she knows that I want him to have a childhood. I want him to have an upbringing that is healthy, not only physically and mentally but where he is not pigeonholed into one particular group because of who his dad is. That's my success: making sure he has a childhood, making sure he gets everything he needs for himself, but also making sure he understands that he has to work for it. So, my success is bringing up my son and him being a great man when it's time for him to become one. He's so amazing on so many levels, so I measure my success by him."

More than a decade ago, Smith credited his son with saving his life. "I stopped doing drugs," he said. "I was immensely addicted to cocaine and oxycontin. I was being the clichéd rock star. Cocaine and oxycontin I got hooked on real bad, but my son saved me from my vanity and selfishness. I'm lucky to be alive. I wasn't knocking on death's door; I was in the room doing shots with death."

SHINEDOWN's new album, "Planet Zero", will be released on April 22 via Atlantic Records.

"It all started as a game, something fun to do. As it should be."


And with that, Donna Cannone was born. Former Thundermother member Giorgia Cateri (guitars) and her fellow Italian ex-pat Luca D’Andria found themselves heading to a rehearsal room to play some music and, in their own words, "have some fun." Giorgia’s former Thundermother bandmate Tilda Stenqvist was brought in on drums as the trio began putting together a number of new songs. A knock at the door brought a surprise as, guitar in hand, Björn ‘Speed’ Strid (Soilwork, The Nightflight Orchestra) had heard what the band were up to and wanted in. Keen to express himself as a lead guitarist, the world-renowned singer was impressed with what he’d heard the fledgling trio coming up with and soon the quartet were recording demos. One of these demos fell into the hands of Swedish label Despotz Records and a deal was soon done.


The first fruits of this deal were a brace of well-received singles – "Cross The Line" and "Nothing To Do", both of which saw the band picking up support across the world and alerting everyone to the presence of Donna Cannone. 




May 27, 2022 will see the release of the band’s debut album via Despotz Records. It’s ten tracks of hook-laden songs, bristling with a punk attitude and a keen ear for melodic rock ‘n roll. Like every other band, Donna Cannone have been in a holding pattern with the album, waiting for the optimum time to launch their eponymous debut into the world. There will be a third single in the shape of "Is It True", (featuring a guest appearance from former Crucified Barbara singer/guitarist Mia Karlsson) before the band head out on tour with a string of live appearances booked across Europe. 


The album has been mixed by celebrated Swedish producer Chris Laney and mastered by the equally revered Dan Swano at Unisound. The cover art can be seen below.





"Cross The Line"





"Nothing To Do"





 

During an appearance on the latest episode of Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford spoke about his decision to go public with his battle with prostate cancer. Asked if it is correct to say that he is currently in remission, meaning that cancer is responding to treatment or is under control, Halford said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes, I am." He then added: "Guys and girls, you've gotta look after yourself. You've gotta keep this temple, you've gotta keep the heavy metal temple clean and ready to deal with whatever comes your way. And one of them, for me, was my prostate cancer issue.

"Let me quickly tell you: I should have listened to my doctors, because my doctors were saying, 'Hey, this PSA [prostate-specific antigen] level is a bit high.' [And I said,] 'I've gotta do a tour. I'll do it when I come back,'" he continued. "So I missed a couple of opportunities whereby if I had had the treatment earlier, the treatment wouldn't have been as difficult as it was. But, hey, we got through it. I had a wonderful team of medical people that looked after me in Phoenix [Arizona, where I live].

"It happened while we were in the full-on pandemic," Halford explained. "So I was in the valley having the prostate removed and then [laughs] two weeks of the catheter, and then [laughs], of course, a little bit of radiation, a couple of months of radiation. But I came through it [thanks to] these beautiful, incredibly talented people. And I'm in remission. But I will throw this out — guys, get your blood test done, get the checks done. We're going through colorectal cancer month right now [in March]. So please look after yourselves. It's so important. Onward and upward."

Rob also talked about his decision to mention his cancer battle in the new chapter added to the updated paperback edition of "Confess".

"I think it was important [to talk about it], because for everybody it's incredibly scary," he said. "The first thing my guy doctor told me, he goes, 'You've got cancer. I'm gonna take your prostate out. Come with me to this other room.' And my world starts really... 'Oh my god. I've got cancer...' I think that's a very natural reaction. And he goes, 'Have you got a question?' I go, 'Am I going to die?' He goes, 'No, you're not going to die. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this.' They're so positive and they're so reinforcing yourself through those early few days of understanding your condition.

"And I'll tell you something, as I said in the book, I felt so terribly selfish, because [I thought], 'Oh God, I've got cancer. I've got cancer.' And then I see these commercials for Phoenix children's hospital and these little kids — little kids — with cancer fighting for their lives. And I go, 'For God's sake, you got so far in your life and you've got this to deal with and you've got the most incredibly talented people to look after you and make you well.'

"So it was a readjustment for me," Rob said. "I was really, really ashamed of myself to have that kind of perspective. But I pushed through that, and then I just got on with the job that needed to be done. And yeah, we went into gory and amusing details in that edition of 'Confess'."

Halford went on to say that cancer treatment has improved dramatically in recent years and that fewer patients die of cancer than ever before.

"As a younger person, the 'C' word [cancer], as it used to be called, for a lot of people, the outcome was gonna be remarkably different to where we are today," he said. "It's just fantastic, the way that the improvements and the way that people are treated now. It's given everybody many, many greater chances of living long, healthy lives. And so we should all be grateful for that."

In "Confess", Halford revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer after experiencing symptoms for at least a couple of years.

In July 2020, Rob underwent prostatectomy, an operation where the entire prostate gland is removed plus some of the tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles. After more cancer was found last year, he went through radiation treatments in April and May 2021 and eventually got then all-clear in June 2021. He also had an appendectomy after a tumor was discovered on his appendix.

"It's been a draining year, I can't deny it, but I'm delighted to have come through it," Halford wrote in the book. "I feel like I've had the most thorough MOT that a Metal God can have."

Halford's cancer battle is one of a number of health scares the members of PRIEST have had to deal with in recent years. Last September, guitarist Richie Faulkner suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during the band's performance at the Louder Than Life festival. Faulkner was rushed to the UofL Health - Jewish Hospital where the cardiothoracic surgery team needed approximately 10 hours to complete a life-saving surgery.

PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease eight years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of the band's latest album, "Firepower". He was replaced by "Firepower" producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

"Confess" was released in September 2020 via Hachette Books. It was written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx.