Veteran Arizona metallers FLOTSAM AND JETSAM are already working on material for the follow-up to "The End Of Chaos" album, which came out this past January. Singer Eric "A.K." Knutson told The Metal Voice that guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley "wrote, like, 40-something songs for ['The End Of Chaos'], so we've got a lot of bits and pieces we can steal from for a new record. We've already got two or three songs that are good and solid that we're working on. There's no lack of music for a new record, so it should come pretty quickly, I think."

Asked about a possible musical direction for the next FLOTSAM AND JETSAM disc, Gilbert said: "'The End Of Chaos' kind of bled over into the power metal thing. I don't know how we did that, being a speed metal band [or] a thrash band, classified as that. But where we're going now, I think it's gonna get much heavier, actually. I don't know how that's gonna happen, but the new stuff that Steve and I are writing, and what [Eric is] putting on it, it's gonna be fucking heavy as shit."

As for a tentative release date for the new FLOTSAM AND JETSAM album, Eric said: [It'll] probably [be] close to [a year from now], but it all depends on how stupid I am when it comes to writing lyrics — how many times I have to rewrite a song. Like I said, we've got so much music to choose from already that it should go pretty quick."

"The End Of Chaos" was released via AFM Records. The album is available as a digipak, on clear orange, gatefold vinyl (limited to 450 units), black gatefold vinyl (limited to 450 units), limited picture vinyl (limited to 500 units), gold black splatter gatefold vinyl and limited boxset with T-shirt.

MetallicaTV has uploaded this footage of Metallica performing "The Unforgiven", recorded live at the All Within My Hands Foundation Helping Hands Concert & Auction at The Masonic in San Francisco, CA on November 3, 2018 and featuring Avi Vinocur on mandolin & background vocals, David Phillips on pedal-steel, Henry Salvia on keyboards, and Cody Rhodes on percussion.

The event raised $1.3 million which will be used to work with our partners at Feeding America and the American Association of Community Colleges as All Within My Hands continues to tackle the issues of hunger and workforce education and work to create sustainable communities.

Metallica performs next on June 8 at Slane Castle in Meath, Ireland. The band's tour schedule can be found here.




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Black metal veterans DARKTHRONE will release their new album, "Old Star", on May 31 via Peaceville. The band's first studio album since 2016's "Arctic Thunder" sees the Norwegian legends cut through six new epic tracks, taking in the best of the old school of heavy and extreme metal plus a large dose of doom-laden riffing, and channelling it through the grime of the underground.

The song "Duke Of Gloat", taken from "Old Star", can be streamed below.


Nocturno Culto states: "'Duke Of Gloat' was the first I wrote for this album. I like my metal black, with a dose of heavy. Now with 'Old Star' coming your way, let me wish you all a sore neck!"

"Old Star" was recorded at the band's Necrohell 2 Studios, with engineering and production duties carried out by vocalist/guitarist Nocturno Culto, complemented with a perfectly organic mix courtesy of Sanford Parker (VOIVOD) at Hypercube Studios and mastered once more by Jack Control at Enormous Door. The stellar cover artistry comes courtesy of Chadwick St John, titled "The Shepherd of the Deep."

Fenriz enthuses: "'Old Star' — again we are here with the riffs! A while after our previous 'Arctic Thunder', album it became apparent that we would continue in that same style, black old heavy metal with slow thrash, classic doom and slow death metal.


"As many have focused on the '70s sound over the last 20 years, the mix on our new album has ended up being more '80s than ever. The songs are more metal than ever! Ted's songs have alot of black metal in them, faster and slower but also doomier parts and reocurring parts. My songs are more linear written. It's an ancient '80s underground trick, with breaks, all slow heavy or slow thrash, classic doom or slow death."


He continues, "All in all, it is our most '80s album so far and our most metal one to date with drum sound typical for the '80s USA/German market and damned lyrics, which are all written by me. We feel that 'Old Star' is the big brother of 'Arctic Thunder'. More solid and with even better riffs."


Over the course of 30 years, DARKTHRONE has become a staple of the global black metal genre, forging a legacy as one of the most renowned and influential bands in its illustrious and often infamous history. In the formative years following its 1987 inception, DARKTHRONE started with a strong concoction of thrash and then death/doom metal experimentation, with broader musical influences spanning from the '60s to the '80s, before the debut album, "Soulside Journey", was unleashed in 1991. Never ones to follow convention or stand still even then, the band soon embraced a much darker, more primitive form of expression with the now iconic second album, "A Blaze In The Northern Sky", the rest became history.


"Old Star" track listing:

01. I Muffle Your Inner Choir [06:26]

02. The Hardship Of The Scots [07:36]

03. Old Star [04:28]

04. Alp Man [05:27]

05. Duke Of Gloat [06:49]

06. The Key Is Inside The Wall [07:24]


DARKTHRONE is:

Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell - drums, songwriting, lyrics

Ted "Nocturno Culto" Skjellum - strings and vocals, songwriting

Frontiers Music Srl will release Visionatica's sophomore album, Enigma Fire, on July 12. A lyric video for the song "Fear" can be found below.

Led by vocalist Tamara Amedov alongside guitarist Manuel Buhl, drummer Gerhard Spanner, and bass player Tim Zahn, Visionatica first entered the symphonic metal scene in 2016. With fantastic, crystal clear soprano vocals combined with powerful grooves, melodic guitars, and orchestral elements, the band announced themselves with their debut album Force Of Luna and the popular single from that album, “She Wolf”. The band’s second album, Enigma Fire, marks the beginning of their newly minted worldwide collaboration with Frontiers Music Srl. Fans of bands such as Within Temptation, Nightwish, Delain, Xandria, and the like, will find much to love here.

“We had a clear goal in mind and wanted to breathe life into the new album,” says singer Tamara Amedov. “It has more fire and the oriental Balkan influences also spice it up. All of us in the band have learned a lot since our debut and developed our musical skills considerably. The new album is epic and dark!”

On Enigma Fire, in addition to the music being more ambitious in scope, the lyrics have a different focus than they had on the debut. Album opener and first video, “The Pharaoh”, deals with the secrets of ancient astronauts in relation to old Egyptian relics, as well as the mystery about the origin of life. With “Roxana The Great”, Tamara continues with stories of strong female characters that the band has touched on before. This song in particular tells the story of the wife of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. “To The Fallen Roma” pays tribute to the Sinti and Roma, who were murdered in Auschwitz alongside many others with Tamara's Macedonian relatives provide folkloristic chants on the song. On “Rise From The Ashes”, Michael Liewald from Winterstorm, who also appeared on their debut, returns for another duet with Tamara.

“As I am half Macedonian and I am currently engaged in genealogy, I wanted to add this special Balkan sound to our songs,” concludes Tamara. “I am proud of my southern origin and want to integrate this special kind of music into future songs. This is also one of our Visionatica trademarks.”

Visionatica formed in 2013 and started to flesh out their ideas for an approach to the symphonic metal sound. They envisioned a sophisticated concept and commenced writing songs for their debut. The final result was an extremely melodic, but at the same time, powerful album full of energy in which skillfully composed orchestra sections merge perfectly with virtuoso guitars, driving drums, and the fantastic voice of their classically trained vocalist. With Force Of Luna, Visionatica produced an album that told stories about wolves, visions, lies, myths, and much more. With their first single, “She Wolf” and equally powerful songs such as “Certainty Of Benevolence”, the emotional duet “The Thorns” (with Winterstorm singer Michael Liewald), and more, the band had officially announced their arrival.

Their sophomore album, Enigma Fire, will prove that Visionatica are not simply resting on their laurels as they are fully prepared and intent on taking things to the next level. Get ready for bombastic orchestral arrangements paired with stunning fretwork and new musical influences coming from outside of the box, which will take the listener on a sonic journey they’ll want to experience over and over.

Pre-order the new album here.

Enigma Fire tracklisting:

"Amari Sudbina Kali" (Intro)
"The Pharaoh"
"Fear"
"Roxana, The Great"
"Dance Of Fire"
"To The Fallen Roma"
"Incomplete"
"Secrets Of The Ancestors"
"Rise From The Ashes"

"Fear" lyric video:

"The Pharaoh" video:

"The Pharaoh" making of:

Lineup:

Tamara Amedov - Vocals
Manuel Buhl - Guitar
Gerhard Spanner - Drums
Tim Zahn - Bass




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MANOWAR guitarist Karl Logan has been booked into jail following yesterday's hearing on child pornography charges.

Logan, 54, was arrested last August in Charlotte, North Carolina and charged with six counts of third-degree exploitation of a minor.

The guitarist appeared in court on Tuesday (May 28) and was ordered held by the magistrate. According to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Logan was booked at 6:47 p.m.

BLABBERMOUTH.NET understands that the federal magistrate judge ordered Logan detained until his next hearing, which may happen as soon as tomorrow. Karl has not formally entered a plea in the case and he may not do so for months.

Karl's new booking photo can be seen above.

Logan's alleged offenses took place between June 18, 2018 and August 2, 2018.

The arrest warrants say Karl was in possession of several videos which depicted girls between the ages of four and 12 years old engaged in a variety of sexual acts with unidentified men. Each video is described in graphic detail, including one scene where a girl age 10-12 "chokes and becomes visibly upset."

Logan's attorney, Brad Smith, told WSOC-TV his client has been "extremely cooperative with the investigation from the beginning, and he'll continue to do that."

Smith went on to say that there could be an explanation for the acts that Logan is accused of committing.

"You oftentimes do see with those that do end up pleading, there's a direct correlation to something that happened in their childhood," Smith said.

A few days after Karl's arrest was made public, MANOWAR issued a statement saying that he would no longer perform with the group. He has since been replaced by E.V. Martel, who previously played in a MANOWAR tribute band.

Karl joined MANOWAR in 1994 as the replacement for David Shankle.

Prior to hooking up with MANOWAR, Logan played several bands in northeastern Pennsylvania, including ARC ANGEL and FALLEN ANGEL.

MANOWAR is in the middle of its "The Final Battle" farewell world tour.

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford kicked a cell phone out of a fan's hand during the band's May 25 concert in Rosemont, Illinois.

The incident happened six songs into PRIEST's set at at the Rosemont Theatre where the group was playing as part of its North American tour with URIAH HEEP. According to eyewitness accounts, Halford's frustration appeared to stem from the fact that the fan had turned the "light" on his camera on while filming the show, making it harder for the singer to focus on his performance. As a result, Halford decided to take matters into his own hands and kicked the cell phone away while the band was playing the song "Judas Rising".

Fan-filmed video footage of the incident can be seen below. (Note: Halford's kick appears around the 39-second mark in the bottom clip.)

A number of musicians have come out in recent years to say that mobile technology is ruining the concert experience, including SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor. He told "Loudwire Nights" that "it's fine" if people want to take pictures of his bands' shows, but not so much if they are videotaping entire performances. "It's one thing to film it, it's another thing to just be staring at your screen while you're filming it," he said. "It's right there. Are you so terrified of real life that you can't do anything unless it's on that little four-by-four screen? Ugggh. It's very weird."

Last year, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke out against cell-phone use at concerts, saying that there's "something really magical that happens when" you are not experiencing live performances through a "little four-inch screen."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach in 2015 urged fans to keep their cell phones at the bottom of their pockets and just watch his performances. "Be in the moment," he said. "You're distracted and it's distracting to the performer as well. Like, put your fuckin' cell phone away, dammit! You're never even going to watch that footage."

Back in 2012, Bruce Dickinson chastised a fan for texting during an IRON MAIDEN concert, calling him a "wanker."

When Axl Rose reunited with his former GUNS N' ROSES bandmates, Duff McKagan and Slash, for the first time in 23 years at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in April 2016, the concert was phone-free.

"God, it was wonderful," McKagan told The New York Times. "It was the old-school feeling, where people were dancing and getting down. It was really cool."

On March 16, 2017, the Graham Bonnet Band played a very special show in Tokyo, Japan. The set included songs from the band’s repertoire alongside a number of Rainbow, MSG, Impellitteri, and Bonnet solo classics. It was a unique setlist and show, a chance for fans in attendance to experience a number of hidden classics from Graham Bonnet’s repertoire that covers his 40+ year career in the rock ‘n roll business.

Live In Tokyo 2017 can be considered an accompanying piece to last year’s Parole Denied - Tokyo 2017 release from Alcatrazz. To refresh your memory, founding Alcatrazz members, Graham Bonnet (vocals), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards) and Gary Shea (bass), reunited after 33 years for a unique series of shows in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo, Japan in March 2017, during Graham Bonnet Band's tour of Japan. Frontiers released footage from these shows last December.

Frontiers now have both performances from these two bands, both fronted by the iconic Graham Bonnet, available to fans for their listening and viewing pleasure.

Says Graham Bonnet: "In March 2017, the Graham Bonnet Band went to Japan for our first headline dates as GBB. We also did a full Alcatrazz set that same night featuring Gary Shea, which was released last year by Frontiers, titled Parole Denied and included a bonus album of some Alcatrazz rarities. For the GBB part of the show, we put together a great setlist covering the main eras of my career. It was a great night and this live album and video look fantastic... I’d say it’s the definitive Graham Bonnet Band live/video release. Great light show, visuals and sound. This was and is intended to be the companion piece to the Alcatrazz Parole Denied live release taken from the same night. As a bonus, we have included a revised studio version of the GBB song 'The Crying Chair'."

Live in Tokyo 2017 will be released on July 12. Pre-order the CD/DVD or Digipak (audio only) here. Watch "Samurai" from the upcoming release below.

Tracklisting:

"Eyes Of The World"
"California Air"
"S.O.S."
"Night Games"
"Stand In Line"
"Into The Night"
"Love's No Friend"
"Dancer"
"Samurai"
"Desert Song"
"Rider"
"Since You've Been Gone"
"Assault Attack"
"All Night Long"
"Lost In Hollywood"
"The Crying Chair" (Alternate Lyric Version)

"Samurai" video:

Lineup:

Graham Bonnet - Vocals
Conrado Pesinato - Guitar
Beth-Ami Heavenstone - Bass
Jimmy Waldo - Keyboards
Mark Benquchea - Drums




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Monstrously heavy and critically acclaimed Swedish technical death metal band Humanity's Last Breath have released the first single off of their forthcoming new album Abyssal, which will see an August 2nd release date on Unique Leader Records. The track, entitled "Bursting Bowel Of Tellus" showcases all of the ferocious, relentlessly evil, and apocalyptic songwriting that the group has become known for. 

Full of sickening grooves, terrifying atmospherics, and incomparable brutality the 12 slabs of sonic devastation on Abyssal were written, recorded, mixed, and produced by band mastermind and guitarist Buster Odeholm (Vildjharta, Born of Osiris, Oceano) who has proven himself once again to be one of the most fearless, uncompromising, and creative voices not just in the genre, but in extreme music as a whole. 

Odeholm commented on the track, "This is the first song I wrote for the album. It’s quite different from previous HLB songs, taking inspiration from bands I listened to as a kid."

Tracklisting:

“Abyssal Mouth”
“Being”
“Bone Dust”
“Bursting Bowel Of Tellus”
“Dodgud”
“For Sorg”
“Fradga”
“Like Flies”
“Pulsating Black”
“Rampant”
“Sterile”
“Vanda”




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MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has announced more details for "Sleeping Giants", a companion LP to his upcoming memoir "More Life With Deth" (out July 16 via Jawbone Press). In stores July 19 on Combat Records, "Sleeping Giants" will be a retrospective featuring several new tracks, plus a collection of demos and unreleased material from F5 and David's other projects, remastered by Richard Easterling. Featuring artwork and photos by Melody Myers (ALTITUDES AND ATTITUDE, MARC RIZZO, ESCAPE THE FATE) "Sleeping Giants" will also include a second bonus disc, featuring a compilation of EMP and Combat Records artists, including LAST CRACK, DEAD BY WEDNESDAY, DOYLE, Mark Slaughter, RON KEEL BAND, HATCHET, WRATH, Marc Rizzo, and more.

Produced by Ellefson and his partner, and "More Life With Deth" co-author, Thom Hazaert (who also provides vocals for the new tracks), with additional production from ICON guitarist John Aquilino at the Platinum Underground in Phoenix, "Sleeping Giants" will feature a multitude of guests, including legendary MC Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, who shares vocals with Hazaert on the title track, Mark Tremonti, Eric "A.K" Knutson (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), Ken Mary (ALICE COOPER, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), Steve Conley (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, F5), Ethan Brosh, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES), Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of DEAD BY WEDNESDAY, Illias Papadakis (MEMORAIN), Dave McClain (MACHINE HEAD, SACRED REICH), Andy Martongelli (ALTITUDES AND ATTITUDE) and more, plus a remix by "Game Of Thones" star Kristian Nairn (HODOR), and unreleased songwriting demos featuring vocals by John Bush (ARMORED SAINT, ex-ANTHRAX), and David Glen Eisley (HOUSE OF LORDS, GIUFFRIA).

"Hammer (Comes Down)" also features a long-awaited fan reunion of Ellefson and former MEGADETH guitarist Chris Poland, makring their first commercially released collaboration since MEGADETH's iconic "Peace Sells.. But Who's Buying?" album.

Says Ellefson: "It was great to reconnect with Chris, musically and personally, who is still, and always has been, one of the most innovative players in metal.

"When we were working on putting together the record, Thom had brought up the idea to Chris of him playing on a track, and somehow it all worked out," he continues. "Add some killer solos from Chris Poland, on to a song that already features Mark Tremonti, Dave McClain, and Eric AK from FLOTSAM, and you can only imagine how incredible it came out. It's truly an epic collaboration, and we couldn't be more excited about it."

"Sleeping Giants" track listing:

Disc 1:

Ellefson/Hazaert 2019

01. Vultures

02. Sleeping Giants (ft. DMC)

03. Hammer (Comes Down) (ft. Mark Tremonti, Chris Poland, and Eric AK)

04. Vultures (Kristian Nairn Remix)

05. If You Were God (ft. John Bush) *

F5 Demos

06. Deadman Rise

07. I Fall

08. Bleeding

09. Why Can't We Die

10. Dying On The Vine

11. Faded

12. Undeniable

13. Feel Your Pain

14. Out In The Rain (ft. David Glen Eisley) *

15. Voices (ft. David Glen Eisley) *

* Previously unreleased demo

Disc 2: EMP/Combat Artist Sampler

01. LAST CRACK - "Golden Age"

02. CO-OP (ft. Joe Perry) - "Howl"

03. GREEN DEATH (ft. David Ellefson) - "Pure Torture"

04. SEMBLANT - "Scarlet Heritage - Legacy of Blood Pt. III"

05. HATCHET - "Back Into Dust"

06. MARC RIZZO - "Downside Up"

07. MARK SLAUGHTER - "Conspiracy"

08. DOYLE (ft. Alissa White-Gluz) - "Kiss Me As We Die"

09. DEAD BY WEDNESDAY - "You & Die"

10. EVIL UNITED (ft. Jason McMaster) - "Operation Overlord"

11. SUNFLOWER DEAD - "Turn Away" (Radio Edit)

12. ARISE IN CHAOS - "The Divine"

13. DOLL SKIN - "Daughter"

14. PSYKOTRIBE (ft. David Ellefson) - "End It"

15. ARCHER NATION - "Severed"

16. RON KEEL BAND - "Fight Like A Band"

17. WRATH - "Draw Blood"

Ellefson has also announced additional dates for his summer 2019 "Basstory" tour, including stops in Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis. The tour features a book question-and-answer session with Ellefson and Hazaert, plus an intimate full-band set, including Hazaert, plus DEAD BY WEDNESDAY's Opus Lawrence (drums), and Dave Sharpe (guitar), and HATCHET guitarist Clayton Cagle. Support in various cities will be provided by EMP Label Group and Combat artists, including LAST CRACK, WRATH, GREEN DEATH, ARCHER NATION, CRAWL and VOODOO TERROR TRIBE.

Metal Injection's Frank Godla sat down with legendary vocalist, Gaahl, to discuss his new band Gaahls Wyrd, the meaning of the name, working with his bandmates, where it fits in his career, feelings towards artwork, the truth about being gay in the Norwegian black metal scene, what he's learned in his lifetime, and much more!

When asked if anybody has ever come out to Gaahl, as a result of Gaahl's coming out, Gaahl's response was, "Quite a lot actually." He continued "I've had several people, especially in eastern Europe. It's been a lot of people coming up to me and it is something as simple as that, by all means, be yourself. And if I could make it easier for people… it's frustrating that it has to be some one pushing it forth. It's so extremely limiting, in the sense of 'why would anyone care?' But it's more frustrating for me to see that people actually have to have some one tell them that it's okay. I would like it be more relaxed. But I can see how hard it is. It's a pity to see that they have to have some one like me pushing them forth."

He continued, "I don't think the metal community is that harsh on it. I think it's a general idea. In the metal community, especially in the black metal community, people wouldn't care. It's just people create fictions. The world has its own ideas. But, within metal, I think the metal community is one of the most open communities there is. I have never seen any disturbances there. Of course, they are linking things back to the early days with Dissection and Faust and Emperor. The first person to send me a message after the media caught up with me being gay, was Faust. He sent me a message of support. So people can imagine whatever they want, I don't know anyone in the Norwegian black metal scene that is against gays. It's an extremely liberal scene. So anyone that pretends or try to make it something else, it's not going to work. Because it's never been that."

Gaahls Wyrd are streaming their upcoming album, GastiR - Ghosts Invited, out via Season Of Mist on May 31. Pre-order the album here, and listen below.

"Ek Erilar"
"From The Spear"
"Ghosts Invited"
"Carving The Voices"
"Veiztu Hve"
"The Speech And The Self"
"Through And Past And Past"
"Within The Voice Of Existence"

Album stream:

"Carving The Voices" video:

"From The Spear":

"Ghosts Invited":

Gaahls Wyrd have announced the GastiR - Ghosts Invited European Tour 2019. The band will play a selected number of festivals during the Summer, before embarking on a European tour with Mayhem and synthwave act Gost.

The journey will start on October 31 in Nijmegen, Netherlands and continues through France, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Finland before the final curtain on November 30 in Stockholm, Sweden.




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"Final Light", the new video from melancholic Swedish outfit THENIGHTTIMEPROJECT, formed by current and former members of KATATONIA, OCTOBER TIDE and LETTERS FROM THE COLONY, can be seen below. The song is taken from THENIGHTTIMEPROJECT's second album, "Pale Season", which will be released on June 28 through Debemur Morti Productions.


THENIGHTTIMEPROJECT is comprised of Fredrik and Mattias Norrman, (guitars and bass, respectively), who spent fifteen years in KATATONIA, and are now also active in OCTOBER TIDE, as well as guitarist/vocalist Alexander Backlund and drummer Jonas Sköld, who both also currently hold rank in LETTERS FROM THE COLONY.


"Pale Season" was recorded at Valley Sound Studio/Nailvillage, mixed by Alexander Backlund at Nailvillage, mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios, and completed with cover art by Denis Forkas and design by Kadriel Betsen.


Backlund states about "Final Light": "'Final Light' is about the relativity of time. It can feel as if life is slowing down while time is speeding up, or vice versa. We all get caught in the clasp of stagnation sometimes, and it's important to recognize and act upon it. Time is a finite resource. I really enjoy the instrumentation as it captures elements I like from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. You got the roaring organs, the big hair-metal guitars in the middle 8 section together with a grunge-like heaviness and aggression."


Of the new video itself, video, which was directed by Dronicon Films, Backlund offers, "Dronicon Films did an amazing job on the video as well. It's a different angle, but visually it just works so well together with the overall texture and ambience of the song. At times it kind of looks like the cover art for the album 'Dirt' by ALICE IN CHAINS, but with an Argentinian viking shaman."

The album title, "Pale Season" — despite what some might think — does not refer to the eight months where the weather in Sweden is a signature grey. Instead, it refers to those less-colorful patches of memory — years that fly by without anything spectacular happening, which pale in comparison to the vividness of one's childhood or the early days of romance. This, in other words, is an album for all those moments lost in between the extremes of the emotional spectrum. Elements of PORCUPINE TREE, OPETH, ANATHEMA, KATATONIA and A PERFECT CIRCLE combine to create a record that is sublime in every way. A paean to melancholia, "Pale Season" is also not without its moments of physical and emotional heft and will launch THENIGHTTIMEPROJECT on to the international stage.


Fredrik Norrman comments: "I'm very pleased to finally be able to give some info over what we've been doing the past year. This is easily one of the best albums I've ever been part of. Very proud of what we've managed to achieve."


"Pale Season" track listing:

01. Hound

02. Rotting Eden

03. Binary

04. Final Light

05. Embers

06. Pale Season

07. Anti Meridian

08. Signals In The Sky

09. Meridian

Israel symphonic/progressive metal band, Scardust, celebrates the global release of their full-length debut, Sands Of Time by unveiling a lyric video for “Out Of Strong Came Sweetness”, a song from the album featuring guest vocals by Orphaned Land vocalist (and fellow countryman) Kobi Farhi. The Rafael Ortega-designed clip can be seen below.

Says the band, "'Out Of Strong Came Sweetness' is a key phrase in Samson and Delilah's Biblical tale. The song is written and performed as a duet between the two main characters - Samson (Kobi Farhi) and Delilah (Noa Gruman). The first verse represents Samson's character, the conflicts he has to deal with and his blind attraction to Delilah even though she is on the enemy's side. In the second verse, Delilah tells how she convinced him to tell her the secret to his powers (which is the length of his hair). The chorus is a direct quote of the key phrase of the story. It's basically a paradox, represented by metaphors, that is integrated in all different parts of the story."

Mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, BTBAM), featuring cover art by Drake Mefestta (Cradle of Filth, Michael Romeo, Devilment) and guest vocals from Kobi Farhi (Orphaned Land) and Jake E (Cyhra/ex-Amaranthe), Sands Of Time was originally self-released.

The new CD reissue will includes a bonus acoustic piano demo of the brand-new song “Mist,” while the new gatefold double-LP edition will include the group's 2015 debut EP “Shadow” in its entirety on Side D - the first time that release has been offered on vinyl as well. Order at the M-Theory store.

Tracklisting:

“Sands Of Time Act I: Overture”
“Sands Of Time Act II: Eyes Of Agony”
“Sands Of Time Act III: Dials”
“Sands Of Time Act IV: Sands Of Time”
“Arrowhead”
“Out Of Strong Came Sweetness” (feat. Kobi Farhi of Orphaned Land)
“Queen Of Insanity”
“Blades”
“Gift Divine” (feat. Cyhra’s Jake E)
“Mist” (acoustic demo bonus track)

2LP bonus tracks:

“Tantibus”
“Shards, Pt. I - Birds”
“Shards, Pt. II - Shadow”
“Shards, Pt. III - Gravity”

“Sands Of Time” lyric video:




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On June 7th, Vulture will release their sophomore album, Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves, the new single, "Murderous Militia", can be heard below.

Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:

- jewelcase-CD
- limited edition digipak-CD (EU exclusive - includes bonus track and patch)
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- red / white / black marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- lilac / white marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- white vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- blood splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- ice blue marbled vinyl (US exclusive - limited to 300 copies)

* exclusive bundles with shirts, plus digital options are also available.

"We titled our second album Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves because it's catchy, cold and metal as fuck," Vulture guitarist Stefan Genozider declares succinctly. This is not an overstatement. The follow up to 2017's cult sensation The Guillotine and their debut release for Metal Blade, the new full-length captures the German crew's dispensing scathing thrash at a standard that places them toe-to-toe with the best in their genre. It is also a dramatic step forward in terms of songwriting and execution. "With 'The Guillotine' we really restricted ourselves to reproducing our debut EP. We wanted it to sound the same, both in the actual music and sound-wise, but we knew that this wouldn't work a third time, so we sat down and talked about what was missing in what we had come up with so far. From that discussion, the overall goal for our second full-length was to get more variation in our songs, work out more melodic parts and allow ourselves to slow down a little here and there."

When it came to tracking, Vulture once again joined forces with close friend and producer Marco Brinkmann (Casket, Cross Vault) at Hellforge Studio in Detmold, Germany. "Overall, the album sounds very aggressive and cold, and our producer Marco once again managed to catch exactly what we wanted and mapped out a great mix that fits our music perfectly. There's a lot of room for all those small accents and hints, but it also sounds very direct, in-your-face-alike, if you will," says Genozider. With Brinkmanns' incredibly busy schedule, their only window for recording were ten days in August, which turned out to be during the hottest summer the region had experienced in decades. This obviously made for quite an intense process, but the band was well prepared thanks to the countless hours spent in pre-production and targeted on what they wanted to achieve they managed to finish up a day early. They also tracked a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Killer On The Loose" to cap off the collection. "Finding a fitting cover isn't easy but this track just clicks with Vulture," enthuses Axetinctor. "You have the lyrical theme, the ripping riffs and most importantly it's a great song by one of our favorite bands."

Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves tracklisting:

"Fed To Sharks"
"The Garotte"
"B.T.B. (Beyond The Blade)"
"Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves"
"Dewer's Hollow"
"Tyrantula"
"Stainless Glare"
"Murderous Militia"
"Killer On The Loose" (ltd. Digi bonus track)

"Murderous Militia":

"Stainless Glare":

"B.T.B. (Beyond the Blade)" video:

Vulture live:

June
1 - Oberndorf/Lech, Germany - Metalheadz Open Air
7 - Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Rock Hard Festival
8 - Hamburg, Germany - Bambi Galore (with Antichrist & Butcher)
9 - Berlin, Germany - Cassiopeia (with Exumer, Indian Nightmare, Butcher)
15 - Rengen, Germany @ Sportplatz Am Detzenberg - Der Detze Rockt

July
6 - Kreuztal, Germany @ Schloss Junkernhees - Into The Dungeon
13 - Fredericia, Denmark - Metal Magic Festival XII

August
31 - Dryanovo, Bulgaria - Metal Force Open Air

October
19 - Pisek, Czech Republic - Thrash Nightmare Festival 7

Vulture lineup:

L. Steeler - Vocals
S. Genozider - Guitars
M. Outlaw - Guitars
A. Axetinctor - Bass
G. Deceiver - Drums

(Photo - V. Star)




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Italy's Destrage released their fifth full-length, The Chosen One, last week via Metal Blade Records. A video for the new single, "Hey, Stranger!", written and directed by the band's own Matteo Di Gioia, can be seen below.

Destrage comments: "2019. Superstition tends to take over science, conspiracy over facts, ignorance over information and hatred over tolerance. To talk about one thing, migration is a hot theme today because hey, man is a migratory species. We have the natural tendency to move around. To those who disagree I ask why would they leave the very room where they were born, because I believe leaving a hospital, crossing the street and entering a park is just like leaving a state, crossing the border and entering another state. Everybody should be able to do that without getting a bullet in the back. In this film, five anti-heroes go on a crusade to stop the invasion, but there is redemption in the end. Hey, Stranger!"

The new album can be ordered in various formats here.

The Chosen One tracklisting:

"The Chosen One"
"About That"
"Hey, Stranger!"
"At The Cost Of Pleasure"
"Mr. Bugman"
"Rage, My Alibi"
"Headache And Crumbs"
"The Gifted One"

Album stream:

"The Chosen One" video:

Destrage lineup:

Paolo Colavolpe - vocals
Matteo Di Gioia - guitar
Federico Paulovich - drums
Ralph Guido Salati - guitar
Gabriel Pignata - bass




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PAPA ROACH has released the official music video for "Not The Only One", taken from the band's latest album, "Who Do You Trust?" The clip was shot in Aberdeen and Leeds on PAPA ROACH's recent headline tour of the U.K. by director Bryson Roatch.


Singer Jacoby Shaddix said: "I love to get out on my bike to get the blood pumping and see the sights in town before we hit the stage — so I took a camera out and rocked the song. Shot it with Bryson on a few rides on our latest U.K. tour, which obviously gave us incredible scenery. It's the perfect vibe for the song."


With over six million streams globally, "Not The Only One" is already proving to be one of their most popular live tracks.


After standing in for THE PRODIGY at Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio, where PAPA ROACH treated fans to a stonking version of "Firestarter", the California rockers return to Europe for a string of festival and headline dates before heading back home for the "Who Do You Trust?" U.S. summer headline tour, starting in Dallas on July 27 through to Las Vegas on September 1, which will feature an all-new production inspired by the album.

"Who Do You Trust?" features the band's signature heavy rhythmic guitars and catchy hooks on the title track and "Renegade Music", with "Not The Only One" supplying melody and emotionally charged lyrics. The album is produced by Nick "RAS" Furlong and Colin Cunningham except for "Top Of The World", which is produced by Jason Evigan.

THE CIRCLE, Sammy Hagar's critically acclaimed supergroup also featuring Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham and Vic Johnson, has released the official music video for the song "Affirmation". The track is taken from THE CIRCLE's first album of all-original material, "Space Between", which came out on May 10 via BMG.

Hagar told the Broward Palm Beach New Times about the lyrical themes covered on "Space Between": "It's about the misconception that money is the root of all evil, because the truth of the matter is that it isn't money at all. You can feed the poor, you can heal the sick, you can make people happy, you can stop a war with money, but it's greed that is the problem. That's what the whole record is about. It's what I discovered by being both rich and poor."

SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE kicked off its 23-city North American on April 19 in Reno, Nevada and will end it on June 7 in Chicago, Illinois.

Every ticket purchased to the North American tour includes one CD copy of "Space Between". In addition, a digital copy of "Space Between" will also be delivered to customers who redeem the CD.


Formed in 2014, the acclaimed supergroup quickly established itself as one of the most emphatic and exciting live acts on tour today, seamlessly ripping through career-spanning hits from MONTROSE, VAN HALEN, SAMMY HAGAR AND THE WABORITAS and LED ZEPPELIN.

BMG signed a worldwide label deal with SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE for "Space Between", and will also include select Hagar catalog titles.

Lyrically and musically, the collection of songs on "Space Between" build from intimate and introspective eye-openers to heart-pumping anthems. The music draws on the bands' substantial careers independently and collaboratively; presenting a veteran band still at the peak of its game.

THE CIRCLE released a concert album, "At Your Service", in May 2015. Recorded on tour in 2014, it featured live performances of hits from Sammy's four decades of rock (MONTROSE, solo, VAN HALEN, THE WABORITAS, CHICKENFOOT) as well as classic tracks from the LED ZEPPELIN catalog.

Photo credit: Leah Steiger

Texas experimental duo Pinkish Black have unveiled the hypnotic, third single, and title track off their upcoming Concept Unification album, coming June 14th on Relapse Records.

Concept Unification is the band's most adventurous record to date. Each of the six tracks on the album explore the innermost depths of forward-thinking doom rock, as psychedelic undertones collide with dark, crushing heaviness. Brooding synthesizers on Concept Unification's opening title track give way to the impending melancholy found on "Dial Tone", while progressive ebbs and flows on "Petit Mal" showcase Pinkish Black's ability to manipulate dark ambience. The album closer "Next Solution" presents a somber, contemplative piano performance front-and-center, before exploding into a dramatic whirl of choirs and rhythmic pummeling. "Concept Unification" is a beast of its own, pontificating on themes of anxiety, futility, and emptiness, positioning Pinkish Black as vital to the independent scene as ever.

Physical packages are available for preorder at Relapse.com.

Tracklisting:

“Concept Unification”
“Until”
“Dial Tone”
“Petit Mal”
“Inanimatronic”
“Next Solution”
“Away Again” (Bonus Track)
“We Wait” (Bonus Track)

"Concept Unification":

“Dial Tone” video:

“Until”:




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With the June 7th release of their debut full-length Conjure The Storm fast approaching, the Missouri-based extreme blackened death group Nevalra has unveiled a video for the album's powerful title track, which features guest vocals by Andres Vargas (Thy Antichrist). The clip – designed by Ryan Vincent M – can be seen below.

"The title track ‘Conjure The Storm’ was written as an anthem. Life is full of dilemma. Everyone can relate. Most of us can reach within ourselves and pull out some miraculous things when we need to the most,” explains singer/guitarist Scott Eames. “The title track begs listeners to not get swept away with mere existence, but to turn that internal rage into energy of determination. Perseverance."

Conjure The Storm – which was mixed and mastered by the legendary Dan Swano (Asphyx, Incantation, Marduk) – is the follow-up to Nevalra's debut 2015 EP, The Black Flame. Check out a short teaser:

The cover art for Conjure The Storm was designed by Seth Siro Anton of Septicflesh, who has previously collaborated with the likes of Decapitated, Belphegor and Nile. The artwork for the CD and digital versions of the album will differ slightly from the art for the limited-edition vinyl release. Pre-orders are available here. More information about the album will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Nevalra on tour with Carach Angren, Wolfheart, Thy Antichrist:

For further details, visit Nevalra on Facebook.

 




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MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson spoke to Metal-Rules.com about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2016's "Dystopia" album.

"We are deep into pre-production, which is a process that we haven't done on recent records," he said. "Where we write the songs, sit on them for a bit, then go into this pre-production where we put them under the microscope to fine-tune them before we go in to record them properly. With advances in digital recording, it is so easy to play into the computer and move things around later rather than doing what we are doing and moving them before. This was the way we wrote the early MEGADETH records because we didn't have the luxury of Pro Tools. We would sit in a rehearsal room and grind through the songs day after day, week after week. It's great to have the time to sit with these songs every day, and because we are all living together in a house, Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] is next door, and the gear is all set up in the living room. To wake up and play guitar in the morning or when inspiration hits at night is wonderful. That's a different absorption process of the material and feels like the vintage MEGADETH albums when we went through that process. As a musician, you could really steep in the music."

Ellefson also talked about the fact that he became a salaried employee upon his return to MEGADETH in 2010. Asked if his current financial arrangement with Mustaine was difficult to share with the world in his book, he said: "Yeah, from the beginning, I was always an equal owner. When Dave broke the group up in 2002, we left our business matters intact. When we reformed in 2004, our disagreements were very much about participation in ownership of the group. Relationships are not static people have these views of bands; I know I do as well, that when I get into a band, we will be a family, a team, and a gang. That is definitely true as a group of musicians in a community. But you find that every band is its own business with personalities and hierarchies in collaborations and contributions. It is different inside each one of them. I'm not going to lie — going from being a co-founding owner to just a sideman musician was initially why I didn't come back in 2004. I was not happy with the participations that were presented to me. In recent times, coming back I found great joy in doing music with a lot of other people in other settings that helped me fall back in love with playing music. Now I can come back into or go into musical situations and be able to be there for a purpose and level of pay. Being a sideman absolves you from being involved in all the other stuff. At this point in my life, I would rather leave that stuff on the sidelines. Like American Express says, 'membership has its privileges,' being a sideman has its benefits. In my case, it helps retain a friendship too. In order to have a friendship, I had to give up some ownership."

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play. After Mustaine reformed MEGADETH with an all-new lineup in 2004, Ellefson sued his former bandmate for $18.5 million, alleging that Mustaine still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

MEGADETH's new album is tentatively due in early 2020.

Ever since he was five or six years old, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has had an obsession with horror movies, reports Joe Smith-Engelhardt of Exclaim!. His collection of movie posters, props and collectables started small but grew into one of the world's most prominent archives of the movie genre's history as he gained fame with his band — and now, he's bringing his massive collection to Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, with an exhibit called It's Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection.

Public interest in Hammett's collection grew during Metallica's Orion Music + More Festival, at which he hosted a small exhibit and led panel discussions with legends of the genre. The vast scope of his collection was put on full display for the first time last year at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and it's now on its way to the ROM, starting on July 13, 2019.

"Toronto is horror city central," says Hammett over the phone in an Exclaim! interview. "It's the great Northeastern horror capital, and I mean that. There's a big market for horror in Toronto, and I think Toronto realizes that too. [The ROM] approached us and said they were interested in getting the collection, so it made perfect sense."

Hammett's collection spans the entire history of horror movies, from early 20th Century films like Frankenstein and Nosferatu to '70s and '80s slasher films and everything in between. Determining which pieces made it into the exhibit was no small process, but Hammett believes he's made the best selections to represent the full history of the horror genre.

"The pieces that are picked are the pieces that have the most relevance," admits Hammett. "Also I have a tendency to lean toward pieces that are more illustrative and have a certain amount of visual appeal. A movie like Nosferatu is really important because it's the very first vampire movie and there's hardly any material that has survived from the '20s."

To read the complete article, visit this location. For further details on It's Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection, click here.

 




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Founding KISS guitarist and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Ace Frehley has released the music video for "Mission To Mars". The clip is entirely animated by artist Christopher Fequiere, a first for Frehley. Chock full of KISS fandom easter eggs, this video is the second music video that we've seen from Ace's critically acclaimed "Spaceman" LP. "Mission To Mars" follows the release of "Rockin' With The Boys", which arrived last year.

Ace told the Houston Press about "Mission To Mars": "I've been a sci-fi fan since I was a kid, and when I joined KISS, we all had to come up with characters, so I invented the Spaceman. So I've had a fascination with sci-fi and astronomy and space travel from a young age, so it all makes sense to me. I believe eventually were going to colonize Mars and go further."

"Spaceman" was released on October 19 via eOne. Ace's former bandmate Gene Simmons co-wrote two tracks on the disc, "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Simmons's bass playing.

Frehley first left KISS in 1982. He rejoined in 1996 and parted ways with the band once again in 2002 after the conclusion of their first "farewell tour." Since his departure, guitarist Tommy Thayer has assumed the role of the Spaceman.

Tim "Ripper" Owens has once again defended DIO DISCIPLES' decision to go on the road with a hologram of Ronnie James Dio, saying that the tour will be a chance for fans to celebrate the legendary heavy metal vocalist's life.

Dio died in 2010 at the age of 67 from stomach cancer. His hologram was created by a company called Eyellusion — with Ronnie's widow and manager Wendy Dio as part of the team — and made its debut at the Wacken Open Air festival in August 2016 in front of more than 75,000 fans.

The "Dio Returns: The World Tour" production uses audio of Ronnie's live performances from throughout his career, with the DIO DISCIPLES band playing live, consisting of Craig Goldy on guitar, Simon Wright on drums and Scott Warren on keyboards, along with Bjorn Englen on bass. Also appearing with them are singers Owens and LYNCH MOB's Oni Logan.

Based on video footage of the first leg of the 2017 tour, Dio fans had mixed reactions to the apparition of their favorite singer, with some loving it and others thinking the performance didn't live up to the real thing or that it was just plain creepy.

After the tour's initial seven-date run was completed in December 2017, Ronnie's hologram underwent some changes before the launch of the next leg of the "Dio Returns" world tour, scheduled for May 31 at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, Florida.

In a brand new interview with St. Pete Catalyst, Owens said that he is puzzled by some of the negative reaction to the Dio hologram.

"I understand if someone doesn't like it," he said. "But what I'm sick of is the hatred that some people have. Wendy gets blamed, and really, all she's done is spend money on this to try to make the fans happy.

"A 'cash grab' is Wendy sitting on her couch, owning all of Ronnie's music. She's grabbing all the cash from that, so she doesn't have to do anything. Why would she spend the money to make fans happy?

"Listen, nothing's done not to try and make money in the long haul," Owens explained. "Anything you do. But Wendy does so much to try to make the fans happy, and it's nonstop. And I'll tell you what, that's exactly how Ronnie was. No one cared that he brought a dragon out on a tour back in the day — and it was such a big tour that he lost money. No one cared about that."

The "Dio Returns" 17-song set consists of seven tunes sung by the Dio hologram — the rest feature Owens and Logan separately or together — and encompasses material from Dio's lengthy career, including his earlier days in RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH.

Corey Taylor has explained to Kerrang! magazine why SLIPKNOT's "All Out Life" song, which was released last October, isn't included on the band's upcoming album, "We Are Not Your Kind".

He said: "['All Out Life' isn’t on the album] from a standpoint of it was kind of its own thing that really just let people know that we weren't gone, and that we were still looking forward and working on music. It was just such a catchy song that it made sense to release it. But now, in context with the story that we're telling [on 'We Are Not Your Kind'], we weren't sure if we were going to put it on there."

As for how the single's "we are not your kind" chant eventually became SLIPKNOT's new album title, Corey said: "I didn't think it would be anything more than a great chant at a concert. It was one of the things in my head that I could hear 50,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs, pumping fists. It wasn't so much that I thought it was benign or anything — it was definitely something that I thought, 'This could be something really cool' — but it took on a life of its own, and that's when I really started thinking about the phrase; about how it could be perceived."

Taylor told the Des Moines Register that he wrote "All Out Life" in part because he didn't see others using music as a force to "take a hard look at what you believe."

He explained: "People are way too pissed about the wrong things and not pissed enough about the right things. "[The song sets] the tone for getting people to stand up and go, 'We're not gonna allow this. We're not gonna allow people to run us down for religious beliefs, for the color we are, for what we stand for. For who we chose to love.' All of these things. There's nobody doing it, man. Everybody's too worried about their pockets. Everybody's too worried about their paychecks.

"That was me, basically, drawing a line in the sand and going, 'Guess what? You don't get to do this anymore,'" he added.

Due on August 9, SLIPKNOT's sixth album was once again recorded at a Los Angeles studio with producer Greg Fidelman, who engineered and mixed SLIPKNOT's 2004 album "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)" and helmed 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter".

Adam Lambert says that he isn't sure it makes sense for him to record new music with QUEEN.

Lambert, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May first shared the stage during "American Idol" in May 2009 for a performance of "We Are The Champions". They teamed up again in 2011 at the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast, Ireland for an electrifying eight-minute finale of "The Show Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" and in the summer of 2012, Lambert performed a series of shows with QUEEN across Europe as well as dates in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. They have since completed a number of tours and performed at some of the biggest festivals in the world.

Speaking to Hunger, Lambert said about QUEEN's plans to release more music: "People always ask if we want to record together, and I'm not sure it makes total sense, because it wouldn't really be QUEEN, because, to me, QUEEN is [late singer] Freddie [Mercury]. My favorite thing is collaborating and putting these concerts together and creating on stage — it's super fulfilling and exciting. To present these ideas to these two gentlemen — especially when they like the idea."

Asked how his experience with QUEEN has changed him as a musician, Lambert said: "I think the power of the songs is that their timelines — they didn't really follow any trends; they experimented with different sounds and musical styles; they were fearless. I've always enjoyed that side of things — they are proof it works. Playing to huge audiences all around the world and seeing them sing along and understanding the power of music is transformative to a person. It's uniting. Everyone sings along. It's bringing an entire arena together, which, in today's world, is pure magic."

May previously described Lambert as the only singer the band had found capable of filling the shoes of iconic frontman Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991 of complications from to AIDS. "Adam is the first person we've encountered who can do all the QUEEN catalogue without blinking," said May. "He is a gift from God." Taylor echoed the guitarist's sentiments, adding: "[Adam's] incredibly musical, and we certainly take anything he says quite seriously."

Lambert, for his part, downplayed the Mercury comparisons, saying: "There's never going to be another, and I'm not replacing him. That's not what I'm doing. I'm trying to keep the memory alive, and remind people how amazing he was, without imitating him. I'm trying to share with the audience how much he inspired me."

Manchester, UK industrial metal/punk  artists Syd.31 will release their second album, Walk Amongst Rebels, on June 24th. 

Walk Amongst Rebels is about survival and overcoming what life throws at you. After dealing with the loss of his home, job, loved ones, and relationship in a short span. Dr Magic, founder/vocalist of Syd.31 explains what went into the making of the album.

"This is my first biographical album, true stories based on horrible situations I’ve faced, every time I thought my entire world was ending. I’ve gone back to all the bands I was in love with during these times to re-live the sounds and feel of those punk and metal anthems that got me through it. It's messy, I cry during takes and made myself sick, but I love every moment. I want others to feel their trauma through this album and realise everything is gonna be ok, whatever is thrown at you."

Featuring nasty guitar riffs, stomping beats, and filthy bass lines, Walk Amongst Rebels incites anger, duress, and civil disobedience. The music video for the first single "Bulldoze Everything" can be seen below.

Syd.31 is a project formed by frontman and producer Dr Magic as a showcase for his songwriting and a desire to create an exciting sound that he would love to watch. Bored of paying big bucks to watch formulaic bands; he decided to merge his love of hardcore punk, industrial metal and sickly sweet pop music to create angry, powerful anthems designed to connect with freaks, weirdos and outsiders. Armed with a punk vitriol, a rock ‘n roll swagger and backed by feral stage crew, Syd.31 is now set to make waves in the US after smashing the UK. Expect BIG things.

Walk Amongst Rebels is available for pre-order now at this location. The cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

"Being Human"
"Walk Amongst Rebels"
"Hate Is A Goldmine"
"Unrepentant Anger"
"Angel 41"
"Fighting For Our Future"
"Scavenging Our Ruins"
"Bulldoze Everything"
"Before We Fell"
"The Leviathan"

For further details, visit Syd.31 on Facebook.




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Shadow Kingdom Records has set August 2nd as the international release date for the debut album of Finland's Excuse, Prophets From The Occultic Cosmos, on CD and vinyl LP formats. 

One of Finland's hottest newcomers, Excuse began to make a name for themselves with their EP Goddess Injustice. Released in 2016 by Shadow Kingdom, Goddess Injustice largely introduced the fierce foursome to the international metal underground - with a nuclear-powered bang! A finely honed missile of speed metal majesty, Excuse's sound on that EP in many ways recalled the classic Canadian gods Sacrifice and Razor, but there were hints of greater glories to come. And at last, they've arrived with the presciently titled Prophets From The Occultic Cosmos.

Whereas Goddess Injustice suggested some darkly melodic leanings, Excuse's first full-length expands that arsenal considerably. Here, the six songs comprising Prophets From The Occultic Cosmos stretch out to epic lengths - one even hitting double digits, the climactic 10-minute closer "Watchtower Of The Trans-Dimensional Pathway" - and take the listener on a wild, winding ride. The evil 'n' sleazy surge on which Excuse made their name still exists, but has now been finessed into a wholly more dynamic beast, able to reflect haunting moodiness and spacey horror alike. Suitably, co-guitarist Oskar Lindström's vocals have a conspicuous amount of echo placed upon them, suggesting the inter-dimensional struggles of a narrator literally lost in space. Likewise, fellow guitarist Anselmi Ahopalo's leads take center stage here and weave an almost storytelling aspect, much in the way that classic heavy metal songwriting should, evoking both triumph and tragedy but remaining equally hummable throughout. Completing the totality is album's production, which locates the perfect balance between grit and gleam.

So many young bands blow their proverbial wad during the demo/EP days and peter out by the time their debut album comes. Not so for Excuse, who have been able to transform their earlier youthful energy into enviably advanced maturity with Prophets From The Occultic Cosmos. Behold these Prophets' coming!

The first herald of that coming is the previously revealed video for "Sworn To The Crimson Oath", which can be seen below. Also hear that track at Shadow Kingdom's Bandcamp, where the album can also be pre-ordered. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

"Black Crystal Visions"
"Blade Of Antichrist"
"Prophets From The Occultic Cosmos"
"Goddess Injustice"
"Sworn To The Crimson Oath"
"Watchtower Of The Trans-Dimensional Pathway"




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In this new video, vocalist Zaher Zorgati talks about how Myrath became a band, what being in a metal band in Tunisia means, what to expect from upcoming live shows, and much more.

Myrath's new album Shehili, was released on May 3 via earMusic. Shehili is innovative, yet loyal to the band's signature sound. It establishes contrasts between uplifting melodies and thoughtful, and, at times, heartbreaking lyrics. The best example of this duality can be found in Shehili's first single "Dance," the video of which was a sequel to "Believer." The "Dance" video tallied more than a million views in the first five weeks of release.

As Zaher Zorgati says, "The purpose of our music is to induce happiness and joy, to pay tribute to those who refuse to fall or to stop hoping, even in a world filled with hatred and uncertainty."

Shehili, although produced with extreme care, keeps a very natural and organic flavor. The recordings took place in Hamburg, Germany, Tunisia, and France to make sure every single note found its way into the mix. Shehili was mixed by three different producers, including Kevin Codfert, Eike Freese, and the world-famous Jens Bogren (who already worked on Legacy), in order to give each song the best possible treatment and make it shine.

Tracklisting:

“Asl (Intro)”
“Born To Survive”
“You’ve Lost Yourself”
“Dance”
“Wicked Dice”
“Monster In My Closet”
“Lili Twil”
“No Holding Back”
“Stardust”
“Mersal”
“Darkness Arise”
“Shehili”

“No Holding Back” video:

“Dance” video:

"Born To Survive" live video:




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The official music video for "Lords Of The Flies", the debut single from ALPHAMEGA, the new band featuring former BUTCHER BABIES drummer Chris Warner alongside VALOR & VENGEANCE members Adam Ryan (vocals) and Mike Muenzer (guitar), can be seen below.

Ryan states about the track: "It's about humanity. That's what the fly represents. We exist on this planet doing our daily routines trying not to get squashed before the next day starts all over again. Some of us do enough to make it out of the shit, some of us live in it, and some of us don't make it. We're born, we consume, we reproduce, we die. Our goal as artists is to find the beauty in what we all take for granted in our everyday lives. Whether it comes from the shadows or the light, we want to give it new life and perspective."

ALPHAMEGA is continuing to work on music for its debut EP, due later this year.

The release of ALPHAMEGA's debut video comes three years after Warner exited BUTCHER BABIES. Singer Carla Harvey later told Metal Heads Forever that Chris "got engaged and he couldn't spend much time with the band, and we thought it's best for him to leave the band as family and commitments comes first and we didn't stop him from what he wanted."

Photo credit: Robert Downs

Dee Snider's video for the song "Tomorrow's No Concern" can be seen below. The track is taken from the TWISTED SISTER frontman's latest solo album, "For The Love Of Metal", which was released last July via Napalm Records. The disc, which was produced by HATEBREED vocalist Jamey Jasta, features contributions from Howard Jones (ex-KILLSWITCH ENGAGE), Mark Morton (LAMB OF GOD), Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY), Joel Grind and Nick Bellmore (TOXIC HOLOCAUST), and Charlie Bellmore (KINGDOM OF SORROW).

Snider comments: "It is almost a year to the day that the lyric video for 'Tomorrow's No Concern' was released. The song immediately connected with the metal community and since then, my album 'For The Love Of Metal', produced by Jamey Jasta on Napalm Records, has become a bonafide hit. Now my live shows are filled, not just for my 'twisted' past, but also for my very metal now. That is why I wanted to release this live concert video performance of 'Tomorrow's No Concern'. Filmed in Sao Paulo, Brazil by acclaimed director Leo Libertine, it is the perfect bookend to my year in metal and beautifully shows the growing enthusiasm for my new music from my legion of heavy metal 'Dee-sciples'! We are all fucking metal!"

Snider told Decibel magazine about the musical direction of "For The Love Of Metal": "I love contemporary metal and I think that's why it sounds so genuine. I go to shows. My kids are all metalheads, especially my daughter, she's hardcore. Over the years, because she was so young, I had to escort her to these shows, so I was exposed to all these hardcore bands. I love the passion, and I love the 'I've got nothing to lose' attitude that these bands have. That's what you lose when you're successful. You lose that fearlessness. I'd much rather listen to bands that have that heart and that passion than listen to people who have lost it. I've always been in tune with that and have loved it. Jamey, in writing, we sat and talked endlessly about what matters to me now and about what I wanted to say now and where was I at emotionally now."

In a separate interview with Distorted Sound, Snider said that he has found his place in the contemporary music scene with "For The Love Of Metal". "I'm so happy to be doing this," he said. "This record defines me as a person who wants to feel vital what I'm doing now matters and counts. I'm so happy I thought there wasn't that place in music for me. I've been doing Broadway, radio, TV, movies, I've been finding my place now with other things that I've been doing, but my first love is metal and music, and to do a record that I feel is a place now… My wife said she hasn't seen me this happy in a long time, and I'm always happy. She said I have an odd, childlike glee. It's crazy. I know, I'm [64] and not that I feel it. I'm healthy, people see me rock and their minds are blowing. I didn't think at this point in my life, this would be happening."

TWISTED SISTER called it quits in 2016 after completing a farewell 40th-anniversary tour.

German industrial metallers RAMMSTEIN officially kicked off their 2019 European tour Monday night (May 27) at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

The band's 23-song setlist included no less than nine songs off RAMMSTEIN's new, untitled (or self-titled) album, plus such fan favorites as "Sonne", "Rammstein", "Du Hast" and "Ich Will".

Setlist:

01. Was Ich Liebe

02. Links 2-3-4

03. Sex

04. Tattoo

05. Sehnsucht

06. Zeig Dich

07. Mein Herz Brennt

08. Puppe

09. Heirate Mich

10. Diamant

11. Deutschland (remix by Richard Z. Kruspe)

12. Deutschland

13. Radio

14. Mein Teil

15. Du Hast

16. Sonne

17. Ohne Dich

Encore:

18. Engel (Scala & Kolacny version)

19. Ausländer

20. Du Riechst So Gut

21. Pussy

Encore 2:

22. Rammstein

23. Ich Will

RAMMSTEIN will play another show at the same venue tonight (May 28) before moving on to Barcelona, Spain. The European tour is scheduled to conclude on August 23 in Vienna, Austria.

In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, RAMMSTEIN guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe stated about the band's live performance: "There are always going to be these old dinosaurs that have a certain kind of performance that will survive. I'm talking about the new generation rock. What happens at the moment is that kids these days don't have that feeling when they play their favorite rock tracks to annoy the parents. Guitars are not annoying anymore so what they're using, especially in Germany, they're using their voice, the lyrics, which basically mostly happens in hip-hop. They start to rebel against everything, and hip-hop is the soundtrack. It's all about hip-hop at the moment, which is hard to me because hip-hop was always kind of a music that I couldn't relate to. If I got to a festival and see a hip-hop group play, I'm so bored. That's one advantage rock still has over hip-hop. There's a visual and sonic connection between the band and the audience."

RAMMSTEIN's seventh studio album came out on May 17 via UME/Spinefarm in Europe and Caroline Records in the U.S. The band's first studio disc since 2009's "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da" was produced by Olsen Involtini with RAMMSTEIN and was mixed at a Santa Monica, California studio with Rich Costey, an American producer who has previously worked with MUSE, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and FRANZ FERDINAND, among others.