Sensory Records welcomes progressive metal outfit Philosophobia to the label’s roster, with plans to release the band’s debut album in 2022.

In 2007, longtime friends Andreas Ballnus (Perzonal War) and Alex Landenburg (Kamelot, Cyrha, Mekong Delta) had the idea of creating a prog metal concept album. After recording a few demos, Landenburg joined Annihilator as their touring drummer while Ballnus became the guitarist for former Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Dianno. With both touring around the world for years, unfortunately they had to postpone their prog adventure due to lack of time.

In 2018, Ballnus got in touch with Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex-Pain Of Salvation, Kayak) for a book project he had written; the two soon became friends and when Kristoffer heard the demos Ballnus and Landenburg had recorded, he was blown away by the quality of the songs, and at that moment Philosophobia was born. Completed by keyboard wizard Tobias Weißgerber and vocalist Domenik Papaemmanouil (Wastefall), the recordings for the band’s debut album began in 2020 against all odds.

Philosophobia recently contacted the Lasers Edge group with their newly completed debut album, the label instantly signing the band for the release of the record through its progressive metal division Sensory Records. The album will see release in the first half of 2022, which will see Kristoffer Gildenlöw‘s return to prog metal since his departure from Pain Of Salvation on stages worldwide.

Watch for news on Philosophobia's album to be announced in the months ahead.

Following the wildly successful Still Wish You Were Here project released earlier this year, another gathering of classic, prog and art rock superstars have come together to recreate and reimagine Pink Floyd's ambitious 1977 concept album, Animals.

Fusing the white-hot guitar work of Floyd guitarist David Gilmour with the stone-cold cynicism of Roger Water’s lyrics, Animals is widely hailed by die-hard Floyd fans as one of the group’s most highly conceptual and uncompromising albums of their career, and certainly set the template for the commercial breakthrough that would come two years later with 1979’s The Wall.

Now, some of the most veteran players and singers on the planet including jazz-rock guitar legend Al Di Meola, psych-rock godfather Arthur Brown, drum master Billy Cobham, UFO's Vinnie Moore, Bauhaus's David J, Dream Theater's James LaBrie, and so many more come to give their unique spins to this magnum opus.

Each track of this groundbreaking work has been completely reimagined with modern production flourishes and tasteful musical additions while staying true to the original album's heady and subtly complex compositions. Just listen to the new version of “Dogs”, a superb 17-minute suite sung by Rainbow's Graham Bonnet with Vinnie Moore on guitar, Utopia's Kasim Sulton on bass, Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess on keyboards, and King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto.

Stream “Dogs” here, and below.

Animals Reimagined - A Tribute To Pink Floyd is set for release on November 19 on both CD and digital with a vinyl version coming in 2022. The CD version comes in a deluxe 6-panel digipak with artwork created by the most successful digital artist working today, Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann, with cover art designed by James McCarthy. Look for the NFT charity auction of the front cover image later this year.



Pre-order the CD here. Pre-order/pre-save the digital here.



Tracklisting:

"Pigs On A Wing 1" - Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew) & Martin Barre (Jethro Tull)
"Dogs" - Graham Bonnet (Rainbow), Vinnie Moore (UFO), Kasim Sulton (Utopia), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) & Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson)
"Pigs (Three Different Ones)" - James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Al Di Meola, Joe Bouchard (Blue Öyster Cult), Patrick Moraz (The Moody Blues) & Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
"Sheep" - Arthur Brown, Rick Wakeman (YES), Jan Akkerman (Focus), David J. (Bauhaus) & Carmine Appice (Cactus,Vanilla Fudge)
"Pigs On A Wing 2" - Jon Davison (lead vocalist for YES), Albert Lee & Billy Sherwood (YES)

Birthed in 2021, Fetal Blood Eagle is the culmination of a putrid vision of reprobates to create the most awesome brutally heavy death metal of un-killable destruction ever made.... at least this week anyway.

The band features Sven De Caluwé (Aborted) on vocals, Jim Gregory (Solium Fatalis) and Ryan Beevers (Unflesh, Solium Fatalis) on guitars, Lenny Patterson (Necronomichrist) on gass, and Kendall “Pariah” Divoll (Necronomichrist) on drums.



With this combination to the lament configuration they crafted, honed, chewed up and then pooped out 10 songs of ferocity and bellicosity. Indoctrinate will be sure to tickle the senses and possibly your loins, if you don’t throw up first from blasting devastation that only these fine upstanding citizens can bring.

Indoctrinate will be released in early 2022 via Listenable Records. Check out a teaser below.



Indoctrinate tracklisting:

"Necromorphic Illumination"
"Hate Fucked Face"
"Razorwire Communion"
"Caverns Of Deformulated Flesh"
"Only Meth Is Real"
"Devoid Of Corrosive Form"
"Abortion Dumpster Overload"
"Injected Larvae Of The Hive Mind"
"Decompression Disembowelment"
"Cinder Block Suicide"

A snippet of another song from HOLLYWOOD GODS N' MONSTERS, the new band featuring former STEEL PANTHER bassist Travis Haley (a.k.a. Lexxi Foxx) alongside longtime friend and television celebrity from MTV's "Pimp My Ride", Diggity Dave, is available below.

After performing for over two decades with his former band, Haley had amicably decided to move on and do something a little different in the space of music and bass playing alike.

Diggity Dave explains: "It's not like he ever thought he wasn't challenged by the copious amount of talent that resided within STEEL PANTHER; it's just that he wanted to explore different kinds of music and was intrigued by some of the music I was sending him."

Diggity Dave has been doing television since the early 2000s but came from the world of music. Diggity was signed to Warner Brothers Records in the mid-1990s with a band he fronted named SHAKE THE FAITH which featured Tommy Thayer (KISS) on guitar, Brian Jennings on guitar (who went on to play with TVT recording artists CLOSURE) and drummer Danny Parker (who went on to co-found Warner Brothers recording artist BEAUTIFUL CREATURES). After a decade of being on MTV, Diggity went on to star in countless other TV shows, including "Battleground Earth" with longtime friend Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and famed rapper Ludacris.

Travis, Diggity, Brian, Danny and their female singer 7even (Kris Aragon) have known one another for 20 years before collaborating on this magnipotent, musical, mishmash.

Travis says: "I am very proud of what I've accomplished with my other band. Nothing can take away the memories and the camaraderie that existed for all those years, but I just felt it was time for something new. When I heard this music, I knew this was the group of friends and the music I wanted to collaborate on."

Because Diggity, Brian and Danny had all played in a previous band together and had been best of friends with Haley for more than half their lives, the opportunity to form a new band was simply too compelling not to do so. Diggity confesses that the challenge was what kind of music they would construct. "Once we figured it out, we then set out to find the missing pieces that would propel the sonic and sound needed to round out this parade of hooligans," he says. "We knew we were in need of two types of talent. A rapper extraordinaire that could dismantle any genre of music and reconstruct it into his own image, and a female singer that could terrorize through the throat but tingle the testicles. We managed to find the perfect purveyors of punched out panic."

HOLLYWOOD GODS N' MONSTERS has enlisted a rapper named Hype (a.k.a. H.M.K.) who is a phenom in the world of not just rap but also as a vocalist. Hype, who just released a single titled "Money & Power", was already a bullet on the rise in the musical scene when he was brought into the fold with HGNM. Hype says: "I knew this was a great opportunity to represent legends past and present from all genres of music, while also transforming music for a new generation. It was a no-brainer to team up with these rockstars and 'Define My Hype' to the world."

Rounding it out was a female singer who goes by the name 7even (also known as Kris Aragon). Travis says 7even was vital for the overall sound of the band because the music demanded not just a female presence, but a female who could occupy a musical space that was jumping from pop, punk, rock, rap, and country.

HOLLYWOOD GODS N' MONSTERS' music is what some might call "mashup" but they get agitated when people throw them in that category. HGNM is a new hybrid of musical forms, one that has not been explored, but is sure to ignite a million copy bands once they "blow up the area" and introduce the world to "smashup" music. The band explains it as a blender of styles, sounds, artists, genres, and attitudes.

Travis says: "This generation, the one before it, and the one that's following are ripe for a band like us. It's about losing yourself in the music, about dancing, about feeling alive. That's why the DJ scene has conquered music — because people wanna go to a show and identify and recognize the songs they're ingesting. They just wanna be enveloped in the music they know, their friends know, and hell… even their parents know."

Diggity closes by saying: "We are not a cover band. This is original stuff we're creating, and it's a living, breathing history of music. We equate it to what DJs are doing, but in the form of a full band smashing together the songs every generation has grown up with. What other band is mixing the '70s band CHIC with QUEEN, AEROSMITH, SUGARHILL GANG, BLONDIE and DMX? And that's just one song by us. Also, kids wanna see rock stars again… larger-than-life entities on stage that mirror the atmosphere. Think of us as a bigass American jukebox… where all the records in it have melted together… except when you press B5…you get that plus B6, B7, B8 and the track you thought you knew is now a stitched-up Frankenstein jam that makes you shake your ass harder than ever."
























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METALLICA played its classic self-titled album, commonly known as "The Black Album," in its entirety during its headline set on September 26 at Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

METALLICA performed the LP as part of its second headline set of the weekend at Louder Than Life, which hosted tens of thousands of people at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

After opening with three non-"Black Album" songs — "Hardwired", "The Four Horsemen" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" — METALLICA performed the album's closing track, "The Struggle Within", and went through the entire LP in reverse order, finishing the main set with album opener "Enter Sandman". The band then returned for a two-song encore consisting of "Blackened" and "Creeping Death".

For its first show on September 24, METALLICA played a 16-song set that spanned its entire catalog, including "Whiplash", "Harvester Of Sorrow", "The Memory Remains", "Master Of Puppets", "Battery", "Fuel" and "Seek & Destroy".

METALLICA's setlist for Sunday, September 26 at Louder Than Life festival at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky:

01. Hardwired

02. The Four Horsemen

03. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

04. The Struggle Within

05. My Friend Of Misery

06. The God That Failed

07. Of Wolf And Man

08. Nothing Else Matters

09. Through The Never

10. Don't Tread On Me

11. Wherever I May Roam

12. The Unforgiven

13. Holier Than Thou

14. Sad But True

15. Enter Sandman

Encore:

16. Blackened

17. Creeping Death

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA's "The Struggle Within" performance from the September 26 concert can be seen below.

The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" — fueled the band's rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album's reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album's impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album received its definitive re-release on September 10 via the band's own Blackened Recordings.

"Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with producer Bob Rock, with whom the band clashed throughout the recording of the disc.

METALLICA previously performed The Black Album in its entirety at a number of European festivals in 2012.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have released another song, "High And Lonesome", from their first new album in fourteen years. Out November 19 on Rounder Records, "Raise The Roof" has been named one of the most anticipated LPs of the fall by the New York Times, New York magazine, Entertainment Weekly and more. Like its platinum-selling 2007 predecessor, "Raising Sand" — which won six Grammys, including "Album" and "Record Of The Year" — "Raise The Roof" delivers new takes on songs from legends and unsung heroes of folk, blues, country and soul music. "High And Lonesome" is the collection's lone original, written by Plant and T Bone Burnett, who reprises his "Raising Sand" role as the album's producer.

Hear Plant, Burnett and Krauss in harmony on the standout track "High And Lonesome", backed by an all-star lineup of drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Dennis Crouch, guitarist Marc Ribot and pedal steel player Russell Pahl, plus Viktor Krauss on mellotron, Jeff Taylor on bass accordion, and Burnett on electric guitar and mellotron.

"High And Lonesome" is the second preview of "Raise The Roof", following lead single "Can't Let Go", a rendition of the Randy Weeks/Lucinda Williams classic that reaffirmed Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Plant and 27-time Grammy winner Krauss as "one of the most critically adored odd couples of music" (USA Today). As NPR Music says: "This feels like a warm welcome back from two old friends you haven't seen in a long time," and across "Raise The Roof", their voices "still fit together like a pair of dusty boots nestled atop a welcome mat" (New York Times).

Recorded at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios, sessions for "Raise The Roof" began in late 2019 and wrapped just weeks before the world went into lockdown. "One of my favorite parts of this is the songs and songwriters that I had never heard of," says Krauss. "Working with Robert, and with T Bone, is always a great education in music history."

The rest of "Raise The Roof" includes deep cuts by Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, THE EVERLY BROTHERS, Anne Briggs, Geeshie Wiley, Bert Jansch, Calexico and more. "It's such a far cry from everything I've done before," says Plant. "I love the whole kaleidoscope of music that I've explored, but this is a place where you can think within the song, you can decide how to bring home an emotion. It's another blend that we've got, and long may we have more of them."

"Raise The Roof" track listing:

01. Quattro (World Drifts In)

02. The Price Of Love

03. Go Your Way

04. Trouble With My Lover

05. Searching for My Love

06. Can't Let Go

07. It Don't Bother Me

08. You Led Me To The Wrong

09. Last Kind Words Blues

10. High And Lonesome

11. Going Where the Lonely Go

12. Somebody Was Watching Over Me

"High And Lonesome" credits

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - lead and harmony vocals

Jay Bellerose - drums, percussion, claps

Dennis Crouch - bass

T Bone Burnett - electric guitar, mellotron, harmony vocals

Viktor Krauss - mellotron

Marc Ribot - guitar, hofner bass, claps

Russell Pahl - pedal steel, guitar

Jeff Taylor - bass accordion

Written by Robert Plant and T Bone Burnett

Photo by David McClister

Venice, California crossover thrash/hardcore punk legends SUICIDAL TENDENCIES have regained control of their Instagram after recently being locked out of their account due to the band's name.

Earlier today, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES shared the following message via the Facebook-owned app: "So as a lot of you already noticed, our Instagram account was down for the last 3 weeks. Long story, this had nothing to do with 'us', but everything to do with our name :)

"This isn't the first time we've been flagged but hopefully it will be the last," the band added.

In the mid-1980s, just as SUICIDAL TENDENCIES were seemingly in ascendancy into the big league their controversial name made them ripe targets for the moral majority. California's police department, fearing singer Mike Muir's crew was merely a front for a Los Angeles gang, even went so far as to ban the band performing in their hometown. The notorious moral campaigner Tipper Gore, wife of then-senator (and later vice president) Al Gore, led pressure group the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) to keep up a campaign against the band claiming that a number of teenage suicides were directly attributable to the band.

Muir previously told Australia's Beat about SUICIDAL's battle with the PMRC: "The record label didn't want to release our album because it had 'Suicidal' in the title. We said, 'If you get Tipper Gore to say to kids not to buy the record, then millions of kids are going to want to buy it. And I'll go out and appear on every talk show, because I can talk the language of middle America and I would rebut everything the PMRC was going to say.' So the label went back to the PMRC and said, 'You're going to have a war on your hands.' So Tipper Gore and the PMRC retreated and they never mentioned the band's name."

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' latest album, "STill Cyco Punk After All These Years", was released in September 2018. The LP was a re-recording and re-imagining of a Cyco Miko (Mike Muir) solo album recorded in 1995, "Lost My Brain! (Once Again)".


























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Austin, TX’s cult noise rock trio, Cherubs, return with their new EP, SLO BLO 4 FRNZ & SXY, out October 15 via Relapse Records. Play it on 45! Play it on 33! Twice the speed! Watch the new “A Pair of Pear Tarts” music video below:





Physical pre-orders for the new EP are available via Relapse.com here, and Digital Downloads / Streaming here.


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KILLSWITCH ENGAGE drummer Justin Foley has launched LYBICA, a dynamic and instrumental three-piece force from South Florida that seamlessly blends flavorful guitar melody with powerful metallic crunch. LYBICA take you on an epic musical journey of peaks and valleys where the possibilities are endless.

Today, the band has announced its signing to Metal Blade Records and has shared the virtual performance video for the song "Ferment".

"After recording, we were just hopeful to generate any kind of label interest," LYBICA says. "Having Metal Blade come forward and believe in us was unexpected and, quite honestly, thrilling. We couldn't be more excited to be a part of such an amazing roster."

LYBICA was first conceived in 2020 when it became clear to Foley that he wasn't going to be spending much time with his KILLSWITCH bandmates for a while. Quarantine days still needed to be time well spent, and he'd been working on some demos that he finally decided to share with a few local friends in South Florida.

"I'd written a bunch of stuff that didn't quite fit into traditional song structures," Foley says. "And I've always been drawn to bands where the instruments provide hooks, rather than relying on a lyric. It seemed like a good time to start something new and see where it could go."

Foley met fellow musicians Doug French (GRAVEL KINGS) and Joey Johnson (GRAVEL KINGS, BARRIERS NOW BRIDGES, DAYS SPENT) back in 2016, and they had repeatedly talked about jamming together but never actually got around to it. Foley and French — both drummers by trade — often spoke about trying something different that allowed them each to get out from behind the kit.

"I've always wanted to play a stringed instrument," French shares. "And bass felt natural, since it is the other half of the rhythm section."

Johnson grew up playing shows all over Florida, heavily influenced by early punk and then both hardcore and metal. "[People at] all the good places to get a beer kept asking me if I had met Justin, since they know I play music," he recalls. "I heard about him in our town for about a year before we actually met through mutual friends. We hit it off when we started talking [about] instrumental music."

When French and Johnson eventually received the demos from Foley, they really liked what they heard. For several months, the three of them e-mailed music back and forth while learning the parts, especially Foley and French on instruments — guitar and bass, respectively — that they weren't experienced playing. They eventually started playing together with the drum tracks from the demos blasting through the PA speakers. Before too long, they had enough music for a full record and the direction of the band was taking shape.

The trio soon discovered that they had something else in common besides music.

"The three of us are pretty big cat people," Foley points out. "So it only made sense to call the band LYBICA."

Named after a small wildcat species native to Africa that is widely considered the godfather of the modern house cat, LYBICA is the first known feline species to be tamed and domesticated by humans.

LYBICA is:

Justin Foley: Guitar, Drums

Joey Johnson: Guitar

Doug French: Bass

Photo credit: Zack Jones

Sweden's Fans Of The Dark will release their self-titled debut album on November 5 via Frontiers Music Srl. The band have released a new single and music video, “The Running Man”. Watch the clip below, and pre-order/save the album here.


Fans Of The Dark is an exciting new band formed in the summer of 2020 by Freddie Allen, drummer and main songwriter, and lead vocalist Alex Falk. The pair went to high school together in Stockholm and after a few years reconnected recently with a vision to create a band which would mix the melodies and approach of classic and melodic rock with elements of the great metal music of the '80s. The final result is one of the most exciting things you'll hear emerging from the fruitful melodic rock in Sweden, showcasing a tight, inventive musical approach with outstanding vocals.


"I had written an album basically on my own during the pandemic," continues Freddie. ”But I had Alex in mind all the time and I knew that he wanted to do this. His voice is just an absolute monster and I thought it would be interesting to hear that voice singing on top of some really great songs driven by guitars, bass, and drums. That was the start of it."


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The last two pieces of the puzzle to complete the band’s lineup were Robert Majd (Captain Black Beard, Metalite, Nighthawk) who came in on bass and Oscar Bromvall (Palace, Code Red) on guitar. Mixing and mastering was handled by Mike Palace (Palace, Kent Hilli).


"Now, all we want to do is record more albums and in the future play these songs in front of a live audience and really put on a show," says Freddie. "I have confidence in the material, and in our abilities as songwriters and performers. 2020 was the worst year in recent human history, 2021 has already been a lot more hopeful, and I know that 2022 is going to be even better. So, bring it on!”





Tracklisting:


“The Ghost Of Canterville”
“Escape From Hell”
“The Running Man”
“Dial Mom For Murder”
“Life Kills”
“Rear Window”
“The Foreigner”
“Zombies In My Class”

"We have another HD upscale of a classic video from the Motör-vaults that’s gone live today," states a message from Motörhead. "This time it’s ‘Be My Baby’ from the mighty Kiss Of Death!"





On October 29, BMG will release a new career-spanning Motörhead set, entitled Everything Louder Forever - The Very Best Of. The collection will be available on 2CD, 2LP and 4LP. The 2CD digipak and 4LP fold out sets will feature 42 tracks. The 2LP set will include 22 tracks in a gatefold package. Pre-orders and exclusive bundles available here.


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Motörhead... a life force, an energy, an attitude and the loudest, meanest, dirtiest music to smash the 20th and 21st centuries. With a bastard sound comprising an unholy synergy of rock, punk and heavy metal, Motörhead comes coated in relentless, ear-curdling power. They were life-changing for millions, carrying a spirit and approach to life and music which proudly said, “Honey, we’re hoo-oome and don’t bother cleaning because we’re here to enjoy ourselves!” The ‘off’ switch was never employed in the Motörhead lust for life, and they became legends as a result.


Leading the charge for their entire 40 year career was the cultural icon Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, who swashbuckled around stages, streets and overseas like a glorious Mad Max pirate truthsayer, roaring for the good and screaming at the wankers. With his propulsive sound and lyrical might leading the charge, Motörhead released 22 studio albums over those four decades, amassing chart topping records worldwide, a Grammy award and racking up around 20 million sales. Their hit song “Ace Of Spades” became Motörhead’s anthem, perfectly capturing their attitude for millions, and punching giant holes in stereos worldwide to this day. Nothing was harder, nothing was faster, nothing packed more raw attitude and certainly nothing was louder, making Motörhead a cultural elixer that was regularly imbibed across all genre lines. Don’t take our word for it, look around any heavy metal, punk or alternative gig, and you’ll see the indomitable warpig logo and Motörhead gothic script on a t-shirt, a jacket, even an arm or leg or back (Motörhead tattoos are everywhere), all sitting on the bodies of rockers, metalheads, punks, bikers, rebels, outcasts, freethinkers and even athletes all around the world. Yeah, that’s right, Motörhead's cultural reach remains virtually peerless to this very day (the one you’re living right now as you read this), and it continues to span fans young and old, igniting their adrenaline and giving them both entertainment and identity.


This collection is the definitive assembly of Motörhead songs which have created this cultural phenomenon, and represents the first time all eras of the band’s recorded history have been represented in one place. And we feel that if in this mad, mad world we’re living in, some aliens decide to drop by your house for tea and demand an explanation as to, “what the fuck is this ‘Motörhead’ is that we keep hearing and feeling bits of in our extra-terrestrial houses millions of miles away,” you could happily play Everything Louder Forever and know that the question will be thoroughly answered. Buy two copies though, because you know they won’t leave without taking one themselves! Or something like that anyway…





Deluxe 4LP Vinyl tracklisting:


Side A:


"Overkill"
"We Are Motörhead"
"Snaggletooth"
"Rock It"
"Orgasmatron"


Side B:


"Brotherhood Of Man"
"In The Name Of Tragedy"
"Bomber"
"Sacrifice"
"The Thousand Names Of God"


Side C:


"Love For Sale"
"Killed By Death"
"I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)"
"Smiling Like A Killer"
"Sharpshooter"


Side D:


"Queen Of The Damned"
"Keys To The Kingdom"
"Cradle To The Grave"
"Lost Johnny"
"The Game"


Side E:


"Ace Of Spades" (40th Anniversary Master)
"Burner"
"Stone Dead Forever"
"Bad Woman"
"Just Cos' You Got The Power" (Eat the Rich 12" B-Side)


Side F:


"Stay Out of Jail"
"No Class"
"I Am the Sword"
"The Chase Is Better Than the Catch" (40th Anniversary Master)


Side G:


"God Save the Queen"
"R.A.M.O.N.E.S."
"Iron Fist"
"Rock Out"
"Dirty Love"
"Shine"
"Overnight Sensatio

Rob Halford says that he he is having "a lot of fun" working on his debut blues solo album. The JUDAS PRIEST singer is collaborating with the same team that assisted him during the making of his 2019 Christmas LP "Celestial", including his brother Nigel and his nephew Alex (son of PRIEST bassist Ian Hill).

Speaking to Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, Halford said about his upcoming blues record (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The blues is just an expansive landscape of different styles and subgenres and everything else, much like metal. And so I'm really intrigued and excited about how this blues album is gonna turn out. You may have heard that we've got the basic building blocks ready. I've just gotta find the time to put my own work into the project.

"This just stemmed off from the great experience that I had with my brother Nigel on drums and Alex, my nephew, on bass — Ian Hill's son — and our respective friends [who are] musicians.

"It's just a lot of fun," he continued. "Everything should have that fun element. It's an adventure again, like everything in music. And as long as you're having good times and something of substance is coming out of it, then have a go, as we say in the U.K. And that's what we're doing.

"It's gonna be an interesting record because we're gonna try and touch a lot of different blues experiences; it won't be one specific-sounding track after track after track. We're gonna try and go everywhere and mix it up.

"So, as I always say, it'll be ready when it's ready. [Laughs]"

This past May, Halford told Kyle Meredith that he already had "enough material to make a [blues] record." He added: "The only thing that I threw at the guys was do what you feel you wanna do in terms of ideas. I did give 'em a list of some of my favorite blues styles and blues performers as a little bit of a template for the guys to bounce off of."

Rob reiterated that his upcoming blues album will be a varied effort covering a host of different styles and sounds. "You could go into one specific area and stay in that place and focus [on that and make] little subtle changes here and there, but much like the 'Celestial' album, I think this effort should just be a little texture of every taste of all these different blues flavors," he explained to Kyle Meredith.

As for how his lyrical approach will be different for his blues album compared to the songs he writes for PRIEST, Halford said: "The blues is the blues. We all feel the blues, but you can have the happy blues as well as the sad blues, and you can have all of these characters in blues. The opportunities for stories for some of them, similar to the PRIEST inventions of fantasy, like the Sentinel or the Painkiller or any of those great characters that were created. You can throw your lyrics wherever you wanna throw them if they're connecting with the music.

"Messages in music are vital, 'cause we like to hear stories that we can relate to or attach ourselves to, in reality or in fantasy," he continued. "So that's gonna be an adventure for me. I love to sit down with a pencil and a piece of paper, 'cause that's how I do it, and just think. I have an idea, and I just throw some bullet words down instantly, and that's how the seeds start to grow."

A few years ago, Rob stated about his interest in making a blues record: "When I first became a musician in my late teens, I started to hear the extraordinary roots of the blues — Bessie Smith, Little Walter, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters. They gave me the buzz… It's something I want to do because I want to explore what my voice can do in that wonderful world. That's how I learned to do a lot of that soaring, sweeping, and screeching. And also I discovered that I've got a voice that can go in different octaves, directions, and different kinds of projections. It's a combination of a sense of adventure and just being inspired by those guys, those wonderful singers. It's a mixture of everything but mainly a discovery of what the voice can do."

Back in 2015, Halford told Newsday.com that he was interested in recording a blues album and pursuing other non-heavy metal projects because he wanted to find out what his voice can do. He said: "I've always felt that [the blues is] very much a part of my background and musical roots. I don't know what kind of blues album I could do because there are so many different facets [to explore]. Maybe I'll just mix it up. As far as stuff out of the metal world, I'm a fan of people like Michael Bublé and Michael Feinstein. I've always been a fan of [Frank] Sinatra and Tony Bennett and Elvis [Presley]. I'd love to hear what my voice would sound like in that kind of musical mix, with wind instruments, trumpets and sax, piano, just that big-band sound."

Halford credited his vocal versatility and ability to take his voice in "different directions" as the main reason he was "so interested in trying these other opportunities." He said: I think if I had a voice that was different to what it is and was a little more in one focus, maybe I wouldn't be as adventurous about my ideas. But because my voice is able to do those different things, it's instinctive and natural to see what else I can do."

Halford released his autobiography, "Confess", in September 2020 via Hachette Books.

Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., who joined Ozzy Osbourne's band a decade ago, was asked in a new interview with Guitar World how he found out he was no longer in the legendary heavy metal singer's group. "Sharon [Osbourne, Ozzy's wife and manager] called me at home," he said. "I was kind of expecting it. They had announced a festival, and I was waiting to hear back what was going to happen. And then eventually, she gave me a call. I think it was in the middle of the night, because we have such a time zone difference. She called me in Greece, and said, 'I just wanted to let you know personally, so you don't find out online, we're going to do the farewell tour, and Zakk is coming back for that.' And I was, like, 'No worries at all. No problem.' And I thanked her for everything they had done for me. We're still on good terms, so, no problem at all."

Asked if he would ever consider working with Ozzy again, Gus said: "I think that's more of a question that you have to ask him. [Laughs] It's pretty obvious, I wouldn't say no if he called me up and wanted to play a show or for an album. I loved my time with him, and of course I would do it again. I think it's more of a question for him — because he gets to pick and choose who he works with. I don't think there is a guitar player on earth that would turn that down…or maybe there would be, I don't know. [Laughs]"

Back in 2018, Gus told TrueMetal.it that "it was a little bit of a relief" to find out that Ozzy was getting back together with his longtime axeman Zakk Wylde. "I was just kind of tired of waiting around for all these years, not hearing anything about potential tours or recording activities," Gus said. "Of course, [Ozzy] was very busy with BLACK SABBATH — I understand that — but then in between of all that, there would be all these one-off [solo Ozzy] shows popping up and I had to make myself available for that. But there was never any… I felt like there was no… I didn't see stuff coming up for the future, you know? So, as much as I loved being in that band and working with him, in a way, it was a little bit of a dead end for me, speaking personally. Of course, now he's gonna go on a big tour again and do his farewell thing, and that's great for him, but it was not a creative thing for me."

It was announced in April 2017 that Wylde would be rejoining Ozzy's backing group for all his upcoming solo show dates. Osbourne's touring lineup also includes Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards.

Gus, who played on Ozzy's latest studio album, 2010's "Scream", told TrueMetal.it that part of his frustration stemmed from the fact that he wasn't told far in advance when his services would be needed by Ozzy, making it difficult for the guitarist to make long-term plans with any of his other projects. "There was never any definite announcement, like, 'Hey, guys, we're gonna see you next year' or something; it was always, like, 'We'll see what happens,'" he said. "So that's a bit of an uncertainty right there, and, of course, I had my own band [and] I had stuff to do, but I could never really book stuff too far ahead into the future just in case something [with Ozzy] came up. So it was really hard to get some info at some points… Anyways, you know, that's how it is; that was the situation. So, yeah, in a way, like I said, it was a relief, because now I can totally control what I'm gonna be doing, and that's a much nicer feeling."

Wylde originally joined Osbourne's band more three decades ago and backed the legendary frontman from 1987 to 1995, then again in 1998, from 2001 to 2004 and also from 2006 to 2009.

Gus will release a new solo album, "Quantum Leap", on October 8 via AFM Records

MÖTLEY CRÜE has shared "Live Wire" from the upcoming digital remaster of the band's debut album, "Too Fast For Love".

CRÜE's 40th-anniversary celebrations will culminate with the digital remaster "Too Fast For Love", set to arrive exactly 40 years to the original release date of November 10, 1981. The remaster is now available for pre-order. The LP was recorded at Hit City West Studios and made available via the band's own label Leathür Records. Eventually reaching platinum status in the U.S. and charting on the Billboard 200, the album was ranked No. 22 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time."

The "Too Fast For Love" and "Shout At The Devil" remasters join the recently released digital remasters of "Dr. Feelgood", "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Theatre Of Pain", which kicked off CRÜE's 40th-anniversary celebrations earlier this year.

The recently launched Mötley Crüe 101 Spotify Playlist includes hits from the band's entire discography. It gives new and existing fans a comprehensive guide to the band's iconic musical legacy, taking them on a celebratory sonic journey for this special anniversary.

It was January 17, 1981 when bassist Nikki Sixx first jammed with drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon. Leon left, and Mick Mars and Vince Neil were recruited. The rest, as they say, is history…

Nikki recently said about CRÜE's 40th anniversary: "In 'Kickstart My Heart', the lyrics say, 'When we started this band / All we needed, needed was a laugh / Years gone by, I'd say we've kicked some ass.'

"It's always been about great songs and over-the-top live shows for us. The fans were always right by our side. I don't know where all of the years went. It went by in a flash. What I can't forget are the four decades of fans who have counted themselves as Crüeheads from day one, supporting us through thick and thin. To them we are in debt and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

"Happy 40th birthday to us all.”

Sixx, Mars and Lee are firmly ingrained in the fabric of rock history. MÖTLEY CRÜE has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, achieving seven USA platinum and multi-platinum albums, 22 Top 40 mainstream rock hits, six Top 20 pop singles and three Grammy nominations.

The band's biography "The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band", first published in 2001, became a New York Times best-seller and has sold over one million copies worldwide. In addition, the band members have authored three other New York Times best-sellers.

2019 saw "The Dirt" released as a feature-length biopic. The film became one of the biggest releases of that year and scored a 94% positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Richie Faulkner is now resting at home in Nashville following emergency heart surgery at Rudd Heart and Lung Center at UofL Health - Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. On September 26, the JUDAS PRIEST guitarist suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during a performance at the Louder Than Life festival, just a short distance from the hospital.

"He was only four miles away, but miles equal minutes and he did not have many to spare," said Dr. Siddharth Pahwa, cardiothoracic surgeon with UofL Health – UofL Physicians. "Mr. Faulkner is alive today because the stars aligned. He had an outstanding emergency care team, he was close to a world class heart center, and he was quick to recognize he needed help."

The UofL Health - Jewish Hospital cardiothoracic surgery team, led by Dr. Pahwa, also included Drs. Brian Ganzel and Mark Slaughter. It took more approximately 10 hours to complete the surgery, an aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement with hemiarch replacement, that saved Faulkner's life.

Aortic aneurysms are "balloon-like bulges in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Dissections happen when the "force of blood pumping can split the layers of the artery wall, allowing blood to leak in between them."

Earlier in the week, Faulkner described his medical emergency, writing in a statement: "As I watch footage from the Louder Than Life festival in Kentucky, I can see in my face the confusion and anguish I was feeling whilst playing 'Painkiller' as my aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into my chest cavity.

"From what I've been told by my surgeon, people with this don't usually make it to the hospital alive," he added. "Five parts of my chest were replaced with mechanical components. I'm literally made of metal now.

"The amazing Heart & Lung Center was 4 miles away from the gig site — if it had been further away ... We can always drive ourselves crazy with these things, but I'm still alive thankfully. Whatever the circumstances, when watching that footage, the truth is, knowing what I know now, I see a dying man," the 41-year-old said in his statement.

Faulkner also encouraged fans to learn from his experience and closely monitor their heart health.

"This came totally out of the blue for me — no history of a bad heart, no clogged arteries etc. … My point is I don't even have high cholesterol and this could've been the end for me. If you can get yourselves checked — do it for me please," he said.

Last month, JUDAS PRIEST postponed the remainder of the U.S. dates on its rescheduled 50th anniversary tour, dubbed "50 Heavy Metal Years". The trek kicked off on September 8 in Reading, Pennsylvania and was slated to run through October before concluding on November 5 in Hamilton, Ontario.

Faulkner joined PRIEST in 2011 as the replacement for original guitarist K.K. Downing.

Richie was once the guitarist in the backing group for Lauren Harris, daughter of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley says that the final concert of the band's "End Of The Road" tour will likely happen within the next year and a half.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to at least the end of 2022. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

"I believe strongly by the beginning of 2023 we will be finished," Stanley told Ultimate Classic Rock in a new interview, adding that "it seems only natural [for the final show] to be in New York. That is where the band started, and that was really the background for the band getting together and writing these songs and played loft parties and played clubs starting with an audience of probably 10 people," he said. "It seems we should go full circle."

Stanley went on to say that unlike KISS's 2000-2001 tour, which was also supposed to be its last, "End Of The Road" will truly be the last time KISS performs live. "It's a different time than we had pondered [farewell tours] in the past," Stanley explained. "The fact is that, physically, it's incredibly demanding to do what we do. Look, we played [recently] in Austin, an outdoor show, 100 percent humidity. We're running around for two-plus hours, not only with guitars, but I've got 30-plus pounds of gear on. There's a point where you go, 'You know what? This is more challenge than I want.' And I only want to do it as long as I can do it smiling.

"There's really no thought about changing our minds," he continued. "It has nothing to do with personalities in the band or tensions or a difference of opinion or musicality. It's purely practical. You can play beat the clock, but ultimately the clock wins."

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley and bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, drummer Peter Criss and lead guitarist Ace Frehley, KISS's first "farewell" tour in 2000 was the last to feature the group's original lineup.

In early 2019, Stanley told Australia's "Sunday Night" that "Rock And Roll All Nite" "has to be" the song that KISS performs as the last encore at the final concert of the "End Of The Road" tour. "That is the rock anthem that connects the world," he explained. "It was the start of other people coming up with anthems. They really didn't exist, per se. So, 'Rock And Roll All Nite And Party Every Day', that's a song that just connects with people on all different levels."

Simmons concurred, telling BUILD Series: "How do you not end with 'Rock And Roll All Nite'? We will have played that song, probably without exception, more than any other song we've ever been involved with. You might say, 'Aren't you sick and tired of hearing that?' But I will tell you the roar of the crowd, the smell of the grease paint, there ain't nothing like it. When you hear everybody getting jazzed about that and you get off the stage... [it's] like the fire in the belly. You're dog-tired; you've just done a big show; and you get up on that stage, when you see the joy in everybody's face... We've seen it all. We've been around for generations, but when you see a little 5-year-old kid in KISS makeup on his dad's shoulders who's wearing KISS makeup, next to his father... we're badass kind of guys — nothing affects us much — but that stuff will put a lump in your throat. You have to turn around for a second. It gets me. Yes, it's music, but it's generational, and it brings families together instead of separates [sic] th

Finnish cult black/epic metallers DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED, who feature in their ranks NIGHTWISH keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, have released the official lyric video for their latest single, "Murktide And Midnight Sun". The track is taken from DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED's upcoming full-length album, "Angel Of Carnage Unleashed", which will be released on November 12 via Napalm Records. The LP sets free a unique blend of brutal, fast-driven black metal and epic anthems in which eerie screams merge with heroic clean vocals, monumental choirs and majestic keyboards along with gory stories of famine, war, plague and the inescapable brutality of Finland's nature in the era of the Great Northern War (1700-1721). It features the old horde from the original 1993 lineup, now augmented by Holopainen as a full member of the band and Kai Hahto (also of NIGHTWISH) as session drummer.

"Murktide And Midnight Sun" showcases the epic, folk and Viking elements that are characteristic of the band's sound. With a blend of Pasi Kankkunen's clean warrior vocals, majestic choirs, heavy guitar riffs and Hahto's pounding drums, DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED present a hymn of true black epic metal.

DARWOODS MY BETROTHED comments on the new single: "It was very important for us when choosing the singles off the new album to demonstrate the versatility of our sound: how we can put forward a blasting black metal carnage with tortured shrieks and follow that up with an epic anthem with clean vocals — and the two songs definitely sound like the same band. Epic songs and clean vocals have always been part of our trademark sound and 'Murktide And Midnight Sun' is absolutely one of the finest and catchiest epic anthems that we have recorded."

This past August, DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED released the LP's first evil-spitting single "In Evil, Sickness And In Grief", along with a vicious lyric video.

DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED commented on the first single: "'In Evil, Sickness And In Grief' is our first new release since 1998. For the comeback after 23 years of silence, we chose a song that showcases everything that the band is about: murderous blastbeats, catchy riffs spiced with haunting melodies, vicious screams contrasted by clean vocals and choirs, majestic keyboards and eerily beautiful female vocals layers. These ingredients provide the musical canvas for a lyric that features a dialogue between a peasant soldier forcibly drafted to the Swedish army and the Slaughter's Holy Angel of War, who demands such horrific deeds from the soldier that he ends up with a shredded soul."

The new full-length contains eight songs written by the three musicians who founded the band in 1993: Pasi Kankkunen, Jouni Mikkonen and Teemu Kautonen (with substantial creative inputs from Holopainen). The lyrics are based on the human history of the Great Northern War of 1700-1721: how Finns experienced the many manifestations of the Angel of Carnage, sent by God to punish them for their sins.

Bassist Teemu Kautonen on the album: "The lyrics are based on the work of the renowned Finnish historian Teemu Keskisarja. His research inspired us both to carefully embed all lyrics in the appropriate historical context and to bring forth the human dimension by focusing on stories of individual people and how they experienced this perhaps darkest period of Finnish history."

Vocalist/guitarist Pasi Kankkunen adds: "It was very important for us to have the original lineup on the comeback album. We also agreed right at the beginning of the process to share the songwriting in equal proportions — just as we did on the 1996 classic album 'Autumn Roars Thunder'."

The album opener "Name The Dead" sets off with atmospheric organ tunes but leaves no scope for weakness, as only a few seconds later storming drums, aggressive riffs and raging growls set the stage for everything that is about to come: brutal soundscapes spliced with epic accents! The second track, "In Evil, Sickness And In Grief", pierces through the core with a poisoning vocal attack and contrasting operatic female background layers. "Murktide And Midnight Sun" marks folk and Viking reminiscence with its clean and catchy vocal presentation, grand choirs and mystic atmosphere, followed by the heavily stomping "You Bitter Source of Sorrow" and "Where We Dwell" with its haunting, all-consuming keyboard passages. "In Thrall to Ironskull's Heart" showcases the multifaceted character of DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED with an almost balladic start, which evolves into an uptempo, epic journey into the Battle of Napue (1714). The title of the penultimate track "Massacre" conveys the track's musical direction with precision: expect in-your-face blastbeats and gory lyrics. The final song, "Black Fog And Poison Wind", unleashes a sonic monster once more, combining aggression, haunting soundscapes and evil melodies, before "Angel Of Carnage Unleashed" ends with the tunes of a soundtrack-like outro.

Guitarist Jouni Mikkonen comments: "Tuomas was featured as a session keyboardist on all previous albums. This time he was fully on board from the moment we decided to make this album and hence it was natural for him to become a full band member. He also made a substantial contribution to the creative process."

"Angel Of Carnage Unleashed" track listing:

01. Name The Dead

02. In Evil, Sickness And In Grief

03. Murktide And Midnight Sun

04. You Bitter Source Of Sorrow

05. Where We Dwell

06. In Thrall To Ironskull's Heart

07. Massacre

08. Black Fog And Poison Wind

09. Outro

DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED is:

Pasi Kankkunen - vocals, guitar

Jouni Mikkonen - guitar

Teemu Kautonen - bass, backing vocals

Tuomas Holopainen - keyboards

Kai Hahto - drums (session)

Photo credit: Antti Ilvonen

METALLICA played its classic self-titled album, commonly known as "The Black Album," in its entirety during its headline set on September 26 at Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

METALLICA performed the LP as part of its second headline set of the weekend at Louder Than Life, which hosted tens of thousands of people at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

After opening with three non-"Black Album" songs — "Hardwired", "The Four Horsemen" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" — METALLICA performed the album's closing track, "The Struggle Within", and went through the entire LP in reverse order, finishing the main set with album opener "Enter Sandman". The band then returned for a two-song encore consisting of "Blackened" and "Creeping Death".

For its first show on September 24, METALLICA played a 16-song set that spanned its entire catalog, including "Whiplash", "Harvester Of Sorrow", "The Memory Remains", "Master Of Puppets", "Battery", "Fuel" and "Seek & Destroy".

METALLICA's setlist for Sunday, September 26 at Louder Than Life festival at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky:

01. Hardwired

02. The Four Horsemen

03. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

04. The Struggle Within

05. My Friend Of Misery

06. The God That Failed

07. Of Wolf And Man

08. Nothing Else Matters

09. Through The Never

10. Don't Tread On Me

11. Wherever I May Roam

12. The Unforgiven

13. Holier Than Thou

14. Sad But True

15. Enter Sandman

Encore:

16. Blackened

17. Creeping Death

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA's "My Friend Of Misery" performance from the September 26 concert can be seen below.

The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" — fueled the band's rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album's reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album's impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album received its definitive re-release on September 10 via the band's own Blackened Recordings.

"Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with producer Bob Rock, with whom the band clashed throughout the recording of the disc.

METALLICA previously performed The Black Album in its entirety at a number of European festivals in 2012.

Just recently, German quintet There's A Light inked a worldwide record deal with Napalm Records. Now, the promising discovery announces its second album f̶o̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶I ̶h̶o̶pe̶? for what must we hope? for release on December 10.


With their symbiosis of ambient post-rock, There's A Light create an atmospheric, multi-layered soundscape, setting a trance-like state of mind. Some of the eleven stirring songs are underlined by soulful, carefully placed vocals and everything earthly seems to fade away when the hauntingly beautiful sounds envelops the listener in all-consuming atmosphere.


Today, the Black Forest post-rockers offer a first glimpse of their upcoming second full-length by unveiling the passionate first single, "Elpis", alongside a breathtaking music video. “Elpis” invites the listener on a journey into a dreamy experience that comes close to an out-of-body experience. The sporadic presence of Andreas Richau's gentle voice seems to become one with the spherical cascades of sound and resembles a falling raindrop hitting the ocean, there to blur into infinity.


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There's A Light on “Elpis”: “We’re excited! Not only because this is our first single of the new album but because this is our first music video ever! This song is about Elpis, the personification and spirit of hope in ancient Greece. We put it into another context and wrote a new story. Hope can lead you to false ends, but they were probably there from the start - you just couldn’t see them. To overcome these obstacles is the message of the song, which usually only works if there is hope left."


Watch the music video for “Elpis” below.


Thematically, on f̶o̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶I ̶h̶o̶pe̶? for what must we hope? There's A Light take a deeper look at the question of the true meaning of hope as well as at the different facets of it: On the one hand, hope can be something positive - a flourishing force that always gives a new impulse to grow beyond oneself. On the other hand, it can also do harm, for example, if one holds on to something that will never become reality.


The radiant album opener "...The Storm Will Set The Sails" immediately enchants with its shimmering melody and great arrangements, while the following "Within The Tides" presents a more dramatic, progressive touch with impressive technique and rhythm. The driving "Like The Earth Orbits Sun" is one of the tracks that features bassist Andreas Richau's captivating, emotional vocals, along with the multi-faceted exclamation point "Elpis" and spherical "Be Brave, Fragile Heart". "Dark Clouds Behind, Bright Skies Ahead" and "Appearance Of Earth" open up another spectrum of sound and expand the cosmos with the passionate cello playing of guest musician Akito Goto. The grand finale "Even In The Darkest Place..." weaves powerful instrumentation with dreamy moments into a harmonious overall construct, once again underscoring a hypnotic post-rock experience in the style of bands like God Is An Astronaut, Russian Circles and Sigur Ros.


There's A Light on the new album: "So, we asked ourselves what hope stands for and what it means to us. We had a lot of conversations within the band about the good but also the bad aspects of hope and our experiences with it. And we got answers and inspiration by history and philosophy. Like Kant who has extremely positive views on this topic - hope is necessity for human existence, it’s not seen by him as a personal but collective thing. This is where the album title came from. The whole process of creating this album really took us on a journey and we found new ways to express our thoughts and feelings with our music. We took a few trips to France and wrote songs together in a cabin, but we also had to write a lot of parts simultaneously, since we are not living in one city any more. We had the chance to work together with new lovely people but we also reconnected with old partners in crime. All in all it wasn’t an easy journey, but now we made it and are happy and proud to finally release this album with Napalm Records!"





f̶o̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶I ̶h̶o̶pe̶? for what must we hope? will be available in the following formats:


- Digipack
- 2LP Gatefold Black
- 2LP Gatefold in Marbled Curacao/Black (limited to 100 copies worldwide)
- 2LP Gatefold in Ocean Blue (limited to 300 copies worldwide)
- Digital Full Length Album


Pre-order

Former DEATH members James Murphy (guitar) and Terry Butler (bass) will perform the band's classic third album, "Spiritual Healing", in its entirety at two shows in Florida.

The December 11 and December 12 concerts at the Brass Mug in Tampa — where Murphy and Butler will be joined by drummer Gus Rios (ex-MALEVOLENT CREATION, DIVINE EMPIRE) and guitarist/vocalist Matt Harvey (EXHUMED, GRUESOME) — will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the passing of DEATH mastermind Chuck Schuldiner.

Originally released in 1990, "Spiritual Healing" marked a new turn in the DEATH discography, one which ushered in cleaner production, a new level of boundary pushing musicianship and songwriting skills that were previously unimaginable from a metal band. "Spiritual Healing" sets the standard for riffs, insane time changes and, of course, Schuldiner's masterful guitar solos. Reissued in 2012 as a double CD housed in super deluxe packaging featuring brand new liner notes from Murphy and Butler, Chuck's sister Beth Schuldiner and VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen, Disc 1 featured a completely new remaster of the original album and Disc 2 contained 16 previously unreleased rehearsal, outtakes and studio instrumentals.

In addition to the two-disc edition, a limited-edition (2000 machine-numbered copies) triple-CD digipak was made available exclusively from Relapse.com. The third CD featured a never-before-released live set recorded in 1990 featuring the "Spiritual Healing" DEATH lineup. An iTunes deluxe edition was also released containing five additional previously unreleased pre-"Human" rehearsal tracks not available on either of the CD versions.

Schuldiner died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

In recent years, DEATH's storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records.

Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band's entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital download of all tracks.

STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis has released the official music video for his controversial new solo single, "Am I The Only One". The track, which takes aim at liberals and touches on American flags burning and statues that have been removed in the country, was written by Lewis with Ira Dean and Jeffrey Steele.

Lewis sings in the song's chorus: "I'm not the only one, willin' to fight / For my love of the red and white / And the blue, burnin' on the ground / Another statue comin' down in a town near you." Lewis also criticizes Bruce Springsteen at the end of the track, singing: "Am I the only one who quits singin' along every time they play a Springsteen song."

This past July, Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Label Group's founder and president-CEO, defended the company's decision to release "Am I The Only One". Borchetta's comments came in reponse to industry blogger Bob Lefsetz, who slammed Lewis's song as "heinous." Lefsetz went on to call Lewis a "middle-class, right-wing wanker" whose divisive track "should have been played at CPAC, in between speeches by nitwits like saying to refuse the 'Fauci ouchie.'"

Lefsetz reprinted Borchetta's letter in which the label head wrote in part: "Firstly, I believe in the First Amendment. My job has never been to tell my artists what to sing and write about.

"Aaron Lewis and I have political disagreements. But there are also things we agree on. I think that's the foundation for the idea of our country. It doesn't work if we're so divided that we can’t reach across the aisle, have a conversation or an argument, and ultimately, shake hands. If we can't do that, and this moment is so divisive, we may never get our country back.

"Let it be a wake up call to reps and dems alike — be loud and be heard!" Borchetta said. "It woke you up. It inspired you to make a statement. It worked. And it's working. It's inspiring conversation."

Lewis, who is widely considered to be one of the most politically conservative musicians in rock, made headlines last month when he urged his fans to chant "Fuck Joe Biden" during a STAIND concert in Pennsylvania.

Aaron told the Anchorage Press in a January 2020 interview that he considered the first Donald Trump impeachment by the House Of Representatives as the clearest representation of what's wrong with America these days.

Lewis was a staunch critic of President Barack Obama, telling a crowd at one of his solo concerts in 2016: "Barack Obama should have been impeached a long fucking time ago. Every fucking decision he makes is against the Constitution, it's against what's good for our fucking country, and he is truly the worst fucking president that we have ever had in the history of this fucking country."

That same year, Lewis told Billboard that he would support Trump in the U.S. presidential race, even though he was "disappointed" by the real estate mogul "with the bickering and the name-calling." Lewis added that he voted for Senator Ted Cruz, Trump's closest competitor in the Republican nomination race, in the Massachusetts primary.

In June, Lewis made headlines when he accused the U.S. Democratic Party of fighting against every major civil rights initiative and of having a long history of discrimination.

Conquest Music has set a November 26 release date for "Chess", the follow-up album to Bernie Marsden's "Kings" album.

"Kings" reached No. 1 in the Amazon Blues chart, No. 18 in the U.K. album sales chart and gained fantastic reviews and accolades following its release in July this year.

The forthcoming 12-track LP will be available on all digital platforms along with a special limited edition digipak CD accompanied by a 16-page booklet.

"Chess" is the second album in Marsden's "Inspiration" series, where he chooses and crafts his own interpretation of the iconic artists and songs that helped inspire and shape his own musical style and taste. Like the previous release in the series, "Chess" marks another collaboration between Conquest Music and Marsden's Little House Music.

Listen to each of the "Inspirations" series albums and you'll find more than a carefully curated homage to music that means much to Bernie. You'll hear his own, nuanced guitar virtuosity and his heartfelt vocals, along with the wonderful synergy with the top-tier musicians he's brought together for the project.

Many will know Marsden for being a founder member of WHITESNAKE, co- writing the iconic global smash "Here I Go Again".

He is undeniably one of Britain's premier blues guitarists, praised by B.B. King for both his musicianship and innate understanding of the soul and feel of the blues. Bernie has written and recorded with some of the biggest names in the industry and also composed music for film and TV. He's also a best-selling author, an in-demand writer and producer and has amassed a priceless collection of guitars.

Bernie created the "Inspirations" series — a concept sparked by a backstage conversation with ZZ TOP's Billy Gibbons about influences and heroes — to showcase the rich veins of music of those who inspired him during his formative years. In "Kings", Bernie turned the spotlight on Freddie, Albert and B.B King; in "Chess", he moves focus to tracks and artists on the fabled Chess label. The album features 10 tracks that were originally released on Chess by greats such as Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters and Elmore James. What's more, two Marsden-penned instrumentals appear as bonus tracks on the album.

"Chess" was recorded "the old way": with a band of truly gifted musicians, all in one room, over a handful of days. It's led to a subtle, tasteful and a superbly delivered reimagining of these classic songs.

Guitar, Vocals: Bernie Marsden

Bass: John Gordon

Drums: Jim Russell

Keyboards: Bob Haddrell

Harmonica: Alan Glen

Not one to hang around, Bernie has begun sessions for the next "Inspirations" album, which will be out in 2022.

Photo credit: Fabio Gianardi

“Decryptor” is the second single off the upcoming album “Metemtechnosis” from Canada’s The Design Abstract. The album is a continuation of the sojourn into the epic sci-fi world the band has created, explored by their deeply narrative songs. This single is the band's magnum opus; they state that everything that is present in this album and the last - Technotheism (2021) can be found in this track. They explain further: 


“Decryptor is quite simply the cumulation of our sound to this point: every key element of this album, as well as Technotheism, are on display here. The chorus is a massive and crushing display of rhythm, while almost every other section of the track is exploring melody and technicality in different ways. If you liked the orchestral parts of past releases, you won’t be disappointed; if you liked the industrial or electronic elements, they’re there as well. If you liked the crushing low vocals or the sparkly clean ones, it’s all in this track! Compositionally we pushed ourselves in every way we could, and I think the result speaks for itself.”


Overall, The Design Abstract can be summed up as devastating blast beats merged into breakdowns which giveaway to detailed orchestral work, and synth layering. Crushing guttural lows, contrasted with crisp clean vocals, and of course riff after riff of technical-yet-memorable guitar work. 


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The single tells the story of the saviour of Aberration Omega: the fabled Decryptor. Described as “an angel of digital reckoning” and “the archfiend of machines”, the Decryptor character is the key to the rebellion breaking through the walls of the oppressive temple, and discovering the secrets which will be uncovered in the next album.


Impeccable storytelling and songwriting are the primary focuses of The Design Abstract's music, and this upc

Death Metal force Sanguisugabogg – Ohio´s infamous upcoming masters of gore and brutality – will re-release their rare and fan-hailed debut EP Pornographic Seizures on 180-gram vinyl. Including two exclusive and previously unreleased B-sides as well as an A2 sized poster and reworked artwork this vinyl reissue makes the Death-Metal-fanheart beat faster.


“We’re very psyched to have Pornographic Seizures back out to our die hard day 1 fans. The first time we had this out on vinyl they went so quickly so we’re happy more people get a chance to own a copy now” 


The reissue will be released as a black LP incl. an A2 poster as well as on all digital platforms. The album will also be released exclusively in the U.S. in the following formats:


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-Black LP & poster
-Purple Smoke LP & poster (500 units – band exclusive)

Swedish death metal wizards In Mourning have released a new single entitled "At The Behest Of Night", which is taken off from the band's upcoming release, The Bleeding Veil, considered by the band to be their darkest album to date.





“The Bleeding Veil is our most personal album,” comments guitarist Tim Nedergård. “We have taken a de

Texas doom metal outfit Glassing have released a new single from their upcoming studio album, Twin Dream. The new track, titled "Absolute Virtue", is out now on major streaming/digital platforms.





Speaking about the new single, the band comments: "This track is about humanity's slow burn to extinction. The question of where do we find the will to persist as things just get worse? The title 'Absolute Virtue' describes this very crucial, hidden spiritedness that guides our self-preservation."


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Glassing's third full-length studio offering, Twin Dream, will see a November 5, 2021 release via Brutal Panda Records. The album is a sonic mirror of our modern era, and nothing short of immense; ranging from grim to hopeful to destructive to cathartic, and oftentimes all within a single song. Throughout Twin Dream, G

Red Reign is back with a new, powerful and emotion-evoking single, "Yesterday", dropping Friday, October 8. A lyric video for the song can be found below. The unique and compelling Richmond, VA. quartet is known for creating music that is hard-driving, but melodic and has a way of always staying with you.


Red Reign is Carlton "Bubba" McMichael (vocals/guitar), Sammy Lee (drums), Larry Moore (bass) and Stevie Shred (guitar). They all teamed up in the summer of 2013, joining forces to break out of the local music scene and jump onto the national stage.


Lee says, '"Yesterday" is  about a guy that finds out his wife has been lying about their relationship the whole time they were together and he is at end of his rope. Even though he still has feelings for her, he knows that staying in this relationship would eventually come to an end as he could never forgive her for what she has done. So, even though it breaks his heart, he ends the relationship and moves on, trying not to look back on, "Yesterday"."