German industrial metallers RAMMSTEIN are putting the finishing touches on their first studio album since 2009's "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da". Tentatively due this spring, the effort is being 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.

Several new photos from the studio were posted earlier today (Tuesday, January 22) on RAMMSTEIN's official Twitter account and can be seen below. An accompanying caption reads: "Getting closer! Finalizing the mix for the new album in Santa Monica, CA.#Rammstein"

RAMMSTEIN guitarist Richard Kruspe told Metal Wani about the making of the band's new album: "Well, when I thought to do another RAMMSTEIN record, I was like, 'No, I'm going to do that. I'm not going through more suffering,'" he said. "That was four years ago. But what we did in the beginning is we said 'Let's get together and try to come up with three or four songs.' We didn't really put any pressure on us, which was very important at this time. While we were starting to rehearse and stuff and getting ideas, I thought, 'Wow, it's actually very good. Things have changed.' All of a sudden, there's a certain kind of respect that I always missed a little bit. We just had good chemistry, which reminded me of the first time when we started. Then I felt, like, 'What would interest me on a new RAMMSTEIN record?' I thought, 'Every time people talk RAMMSTEIN, it's about fire. It's all about the show.' Nobody talks about the music anymore for RAMMSTEIN, and it kind of bothered me. I was thinking, 'I want to do another record. It has to be musical in a way that can really stand out from other records.' That was my goal, or our goal."

As for the disc's musical direction and how it compares to the band's previous efforts, Kruspe said: "It's so hard to say it, because I'm working four years on the record, I'm so close. I think when I listen to the record — we're still in the process, but it's almost 'RAMMSTEIN 3D' is how I describe it. We have written a lot of stuff, but we recorded, I think, 16 songs right now. We're probably going to mix 11 songs because we're running out of time right now. I think it's going to be out in April, which will be the release date. Then, we'll be on our first stadium tour, which is very exciting."

RAMMSTEIN recently announced a batch of summer 2019 European tour dates. The run of stadium and arena shows will kick off on May 27 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and end of August 23 in Vienna, Austria.

In 2016 and 2017, RAMMSTEIN played a number of concerts where the band opened each show with a brand-new song, presently only known as "Ramm 4". The track contained lyrics that seemed to be a combination of various titles of previous RAMMSTEIN songs.

Getting closer!
Finalizing the mix for the new album in Santa Monica, CA.#Rammstein pic.twitter.com/A7m60BQ6f1— Rammstein (@RSprachrohr) January 22, 2019

John 5 spoke to WRIF's Meltdown about ROB ZOMBIE's forthcoming studio album, which will arrive later this year via the iconic rocker's new record label, Nuclear Blast Records.

"It's completely finished, all ready to go," he said (hear audio below). "I don't see the artwork, 'cause [Rob] does all the artwork, but the music is mixed, mastered — everything. It's all ready to go. And it is a monster.

"I was just talking to Rob's manager yesterday, and we were really, really excited for it," the guitarist continued. "And we're really excited to play new songs. That's the other thing. It's so fun to get out there and play new songs. It's fun for the band and it's fun for the crowd too."

Asked how long the ROB ZOMBIE band has been working on the new record, John 5 said: "We work on it every little once in a while and we tweak on it. But everything is scheduling. Rob's working on a new movie right now. So everything is scheduling, and he is the master of that stuff. 'Cause he gets everything done. He's not one of those people that says, 'I'm gonna do this,' but you never see it happen. If he says he's gonna do something, it will always come out. And I've learned that from him big time, that's for sure."

John 5 also talked about how the upcoming ROB ZOMBIE album compares to the shock-rocker's previous efforts. "Let's see how I can explain it," the guitarist said. "So, how we used to make records — and maybe I'm just letting the cat out of the bag — but how we used to make records [was] we would come up with music, me and Rob would just come up with this music, and then he would write lyrics to it, and melodies. And that's traditionally how most do it, I would say. So what happened this time is there was very, very, very basic music written and he would write his lyrics and melodies first. So then I came in and then wrote all the stuff. He was absolutely 100 percent perfect and happy with his vocal and melody, and they were phenomenal. Because there wasn't any other music getting in the way, so he could really do exactly what he wanted. And then when I came in and I put all the music around it, it was, like, 'Woah! It took us 15 years to figure this out.' And it is so great. And it's heavy, and it's hooky, and it's exciting."

John 5 went on to say that he hopes other people like the new ROB ZOMBIE record as much as he does. "Because coming from me, I'm a Zombie fan, I'm a WHITE ZOMBIE fan, and I listen to things like that as well, and I've heard it a bunch, and I'm, like, 'Man, this is, like, really something special,'" he said. "If WHITE ZOMBIE came out with this record, I'd be, like, 'This is incredible. This is rad.' It's heavy. It's hooky. It's all the things that we want a ROB ZOMBIE record to be. He really hit it out of the park this time."

Last year, John 5 compared ROB ZOMBIE's upcoming album to THE BEATLES' groundbreaking LP "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", saying that it is "by far the best Zombie record that he's ever done." He added: "A lot of people say, 'Oh, it's just our greatest record,' and I don't say that. Whatever I say is so honest when I'm doing interviews. So I think it's our best record."

2016's "The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser" was the second consecutive effort to feature Zombie and John 5 alongside bassist Piggy D. and drummer Ginger Fish.

Zombie told Loudwire about his upcoming album: "I think it's the best record we've made. Parts of it are the heaviest, parts are the weirdest, it's the most complex record we've ever made, but at the same time, it's always very catchy and listenable, but it's the most intricately structured record."

He added: "There are those songs that go in a direction we've never even gone near before. Personally, I like records that are very varied in sound. Not just like, 'Oh, here's 12 super heavy tracks,’ and they're all the same tempo. I like records that are all over the place. That's why I think my favorite BEATLES record was always The White Album."

According to ScreenDaily.com, a documentary on the life and career of Phil Lynott is now in the works from award-winning Irish filmmaker Emer Reynolds.

"Phil Lynott: Songs For While I'm Away" will include interviews with THIN LIZZY's Eric Bell, Scott Gorham, Darren Wharton, U2's Adam Clayton, Suzi Quatro, Huey Lewis and METALLICA's James Hetfield.

"Having been a huge THIN LIZZY fan throughout my life, it's an incredible honor to be bringing this celebratory and intimate portrait of lead singer and songwriter Philip Lynott to the big screen," said Reynolds.

No release date has been set for "Songs For While I'm Away".

Since his untimely death in 1986, Lynott has left a musical legacy that continues to influence and inspire musicians around the globe. Even the legendary Bob Dylan has been quoted singing LIZZY's praises. Over the years, Lynott's songs have been covered by an array of such diverse performers as HENRY ROLLINS, THE CORRS, SMASHING PUMPKINS, RANDY BACHMAN, HUEY LEWIS, METALLICA and THE CURE.

Last month, RTÉ, Ireland's national television and radio broadcaster, aired "Phil Lynott: Scéalta Ón Old Town", the story behind the making of the late THIN LIZZY singer's promotional video for his song "Old Town", on RTÉ One. The documentary was made exclusively for RTÉ.

In a new interview with Loudwire, Rex Brown recalled how he found out about the passing of his onetime PANTERA bandmate Vinnie Paul Abbott last June. "It was just another phone call of, 'Are you sitting down?'" he said. "And I'm, like, 'Oh my god. Who is it now?' Never in a million years would I have thought it would be Vinnie. It's just wild, and it's insane."

The 54-year-old bassist, who lost another PANTERA bandmate, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, 14 years earlier, continued: "I had to reflect on it and it's something you have to process. I learned the first time with Dime, and it took me years in therapy to get the fuck over.

"When those tragedies hit, you just pull your boots up as much as you can and you go," he said.

Brown looked back fondly on his time in the legendary metal band.

"We just had a hell of a rhythm section, and it hasn't been touched since," he said. "I don't want to sound egotistical about it, but we were pretty fucking tight, dude… even at our sloppiest [Laughs] … even at our drunkest [Laughs]."

He added: "I played along with Vinnie and to Vinnie, and Vinnie would play off of Dime. It was very integrated, and we knew exactly where each other were going to go. I think all those years we played in the clubs just made us a tighter band. That's why we had that big sound with the guitar, and everything just had its place.

"Vinnie was just an incredible drummer and I really miss the camaraderie of years past," he said.

Rex went on to say that he is proud of PANTERA's legacy.

"We get new fans daily," he said. "Somebody who hasn't heard of PANTERA may hear of it from their dad or from other kids. I may go to the mall like once a year to get something, and I'll see brand new PANTERA shirts all over the fucking mall. Kids are still wearing them. It's everywhere. It's a weird phenomenon that I've been incredibly blessed with. We did something right and we made a mark somewhere and it still stands the test of time and is something to be proud of."

Vinnie Paul's death came about a year after he slammed Rex's memoir as "a bunch of mythology."

In Brown's 2013 book, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera", the former PANTERA bassist referred to Vinnie as "a strange person" who "was always all about the 'party, party, party'" but "only got laid maybe one out of ten times."

Brown defended his comments about Vinnie Paul during an interview with the "Energize With Lonn Friend" podcast.

"I didn't go out of my way to maliciously hurt any individual," he said. "But at the same time, if you're gonna tell the truth, by God, you'd better be on the skinny… If [you're] not [being completely truthful in your memoir], I think it's all a bunch of charade… And why would you wanna do that?"

Rex's debut solo album, "Smoke On This…", was released in July 2017 via Entertainment One (eOne). The effort marked the first time in Brown's career where he served as both lead vocalist and guitarist in a band. A follow-up LP is tentatively due later this year.

After more than 25 years out of print, Cathedral's all time classic The Ethereal Mirror is finally being reissued on vinyl via Earache Records; the street date is April 5th.

The Ethereal Mirror was almost as drastic a departure from Cathedral's slow and meloncholic doom drenched debut, Forest Of Equilibrium, as was Lee Dorrian fronting Cathedral after playing in Napalm Death. Featuring fan favourites and MTV video hits "Midnight Mountain" and "Ride", this album ushered in the Cathedral we know and recognise today with their doomy Sabbath-esque riffs mixed with more groove laden rock!

Coming in three different colours of wax, as well as black vinyl for the purists, the album is also available to order as a bundle, with the choice of either the Forest Of Equilibrium t-shirt or The Ethereal Mirror t-shirt. Pre-order your copy here.

Tracklisting:

"Violet Vortex (Intro)"
"Ride"
"Enter The Worms"
"Midnight Mountain"
"Fountain Of Innocence"
"Grim Luxuria"
"Jaded Entity"
"Ashes You Leave"
"Phantasmagoria"
"Imprisoned In Flesh"

 

 

Female fronted thrash outfit Dying Gorgeous Lies will release its new album The Hunter And The Prey on March 22nd via Massacre Records.

The album was mixed and mastered by Charles Greywolf at Studio Greywolf. The killer artwork - available below along with the tracklisting - was created by Thomas Kilian / Soulcatcher Photography.

"From The Ashes / Hellfire"
"We Are The Apocalypse"
"Revolution Day"
"…And As The Bombs Fell"
"Fatal Craving"
"New World Order"
"Ancient Tales"
"Beast Mode"
"Greetings From Aleppo"
"Sweet Taste Of Lies"

The band keeps on evolving: with the addition of keyboardist / piano player Jay'Na D., the songs turned out to be more open and melodic without losing their heaviness. And Liz's voice is even more brutal and versatile.

Dying Gorgeous Lies has released two short teaser videos, both of which include snippets from new songs. Portions of "From The Ashes" and "New World Order" are featured in the first teaser, whereas an audio glimpse of "Hellfire" is featured in the second teaser.

For further details, visit Dying Gorgeous Lies on Facebook.

 

A Pale Horse Named Death released their third studio album, When The World Becomes Undone, on January 18th via Long Branch Records; an imprint of SPV. A full album stream can be found below.

The new album was mastered by Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Meat Loaf, Yes, Sepultura, Halford) at Maor Appelbaum Mastering while the artwork was once again created by Sam Shearon (Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, Cradle Of Filth).

When The World Becomes Undone can be ordered here.

Available album formats:

- Box-Set
- Limited and serially numbered (550 copies worldwide) incl. exclusive green-black marbled 2LP Version, CD Digipak, Beanie, Patch, Guitar pick, Sticker)
- Long Branch Records Shop Bundle
- EMP Bundle
- 2LP Edition incl. 180g black vinyl, printed inner sleeves and download code
- CD Digipak
- Download
- Stream

Tracklisting:

"As It Begins"
"When The World Becomes Undone"
"Love The Ones You Hate"
"Fell In My Hole"
"Succumbing To The Event Horizon"
"Vultures"
"End Of Days"
"The Woods"
"We All Break Down"
"Lay With The Wicked"
"Splinters"
"Dreams Of The End"
"Closure"

Album stream:

(Photo - Sandi Ryan Golightly Photos)

WDR Rockpalast has uploaded professionally-filmed video of Blackberry Smoke's entire performance on October 13th at Crossroads Festival 2018 in Bonn, Germany. Watch below.

Setlist:

"Nobody Gives A Damn"
"Good One Comin' On"
"Waiting For The Thunder"
"Let It Burn"
"Believe You Me"
"Medicate My Mind"
"Sleeping Dogs"
"Come Together"
"Sleeping Dog"
"Shakin' Hands With The Holy Ghost"
"The Whippoorwill"
"Run Away From It All"
"Sailin' Shoes"
"Ain't Got The Blues"
"Flesh And Bone"
"One Horse Town"
"Like An Arrow"
"Ain't Much Left Of Me"
"Rollin' And Tumblin'"
"Ain't Much Left Of Me"

Seminal Canadian melodic death/folk metal band, Blackguard, announces their first show in over four years as well as their plans to independently release their long-awaited fourth studio album, Storm, in 2019 to follow their 2011 full length Firefight on Victory Records and 2009's Profugus Mortis, released on Sumerian and Nuclear Blast.

The band made the following announcement: “It is with great pleasure that we can finally start sharing with you our plans for this year! We will be playing our first show in four years at Coalition in Toronto on March 22nd with Crimson Shadows (Napalm Records) and Borealis (AFM Records)! This will be one hell of a fun show with some of our oldest friends so come out and make this a night no one will forget.

"Details / pre-order info for our new album, Storm, will be revealed in the coming weeks and of course, some new music for everyone to sink their teeth into. It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally here so stay tuned!

"We would like to take this time to thank all of you from the bottom of our black hearts for your continuing support for this musical entity that has been such a huge part of our lives for so long. This next chapter in our history is a return to our roots, we’re going at this alone again without the shackles of business obligations that brought us to the brink in the past. This is a labor of love beyond the typical metrics of “success” or “failure” and sharing this piece of us with you is our apotheosis.

"And finally, for those who don’t know how this all began….

"Our out of print first record, So It Begins…, under our original name Profugus Mortis, is now available for download on our Bandcamp page for $5. It’s a trip to hear the band’s evolution to what we are now and we hope you will enjoy this glimpse into our history."

DEVILDRIVER's upcoming co-headlining tour with STATIC-X will see the Dez Fafara-fronted outfit performing material from COAL CHAMBER, the band that put him on the musical map and gave him his first and only gold-certified album in the shape of the group's 1997 debut.

COAL CHAMBER existed for ten years before disbanding in 2003 to pursue other musical projects. They reunited in 2011 for touring purposes but it wasn't until 2014 that the band began work on a new studio album of original material, 2015's critically acclaimed "Rivals". Several months of touring activity followed before Dez returned to DEVILDRIVER to make a new record, 2016's "Trust No One".

Earlier today, Fafara took to Twitter to confirm that DEVILDRIVER will finally start playing songs from COAL CHAMBER during its live set when the former outfit kicks off its tour with STATIC-X on June 18 in Tempe, Arizona.

He wrote (edited for clarity): "So, yes, for the first time ever DEVILDRIVER is playing a bunch of COAL CHAMBER songs, and when you hear this shit with double kick and two guitars, there's no going back — trust that! I waited years and tried to keep 'em separate, but it's time for me to embrace all that I am as a singer.

"I might also add that unlike other cats like [Rob] Zombie, etc., when I left COAL CHAMBER, I never hung my hat on playing those songs with DEVILDRIVER. In hindsight, and as I waited for things to reform, it was a mistake and apologies to all who waited almost 20 years for one short-lived COAL CHAMBER run and record, so here I go into the future embracing all that's ever been me as a vocalist. [Keep] in mind this will ONLY BE SELECT SHOWS, so I would get tickets fast as I'm seeing already tons of venues are gonna sell out!

"There's times you fucking lay in bed and go, 'When is the right time?' And that's for anything. Or what if someone passes away, etc.? then what then when. And that pertains to everything as well, so I thought it out and talked it out.

"COAL CHAMBER MUSIC is YOURS, not mine, so why wait, why hold people off, why make people wait, the older generation, the new generation that want to hear [COAL CHAMBER] songs sung by the guy who fucking recorded 'em.

"Now, think DEVILDRIVER. Now think that band doing these [COAL CHAMBER] songs. Now think, 'Holy fuck! How is the stage not gonna fucking implode?'"

Fafara painted a bleak picture of COAL CHAMBER's future during a 2016 interview with Revolver magazine. He stated at the time: "I had a lot of fun doing that record and playing shows with them again. But there were some circumstances that were not ideal and that's why that thing is not continuing as of right now. If something comes up and I have time and want to make a record and the members have their shit together, I'll do it. But as of now, there's some deep-seated shit that certain dudes in the band still need to work out. And if they work it out and want to tour or make another record, they can come back and give me a call. But right now, everyone in DEVILDRIVER is stoked. No one's fighting. And I feel lucky to be where I am."

Dez had stated in previous interviews that COAL CHAMBER's original split happened because "I did not want to be around the band's hard drug use and I realized that going onstage every night that the money was feeding their habit, so I walked to save my friends." He added that his COAL CHAMBER bandmates were "clean" as of 2012, which made him realize that "it was the right thing to walk [away from the group back in 2003]."

Portuguese heavy metal battalion, Ravensire, has entered Studio 13 in Lisbon to begin work on their third full-length album, A Stone Engraved In Red. The album will be engineered once again by Paulo 'Paulão' Vieira and is due next summer via Cruz Del Sur Music.

The follow-up to 2016's The Cycle Never Ends will be the first to feature new members Mário (guitar) and Alex (drums), both of whom took part in live activity that saw Ravensire take their brand of traditional metal into Europe.

According to founding guitarist Nuno, A Stone Engraved In Red will feature all the trademarks of Ravensire's sound, but with some new twists. "We have started exploring a bit more when it comes to developing musical themes inside a song," he says. "We have a couple of longer - even by our standards - songs, with plenty of changes in moods and tempo. The material is quite diverse and, personally, it is always a good sign when you listen to your own stuff and enjoy it!"

"The songwriting remained the same for us," he continues. "Someone will come up with a skeleton for a song more or less finished, and then we work it up as a whole band and everyone adds their part. There is one song, however, that was co-written by me and Mário. He did come up with an initial idea and then I added other parts and we created a structure. But, that was the exception to the norm!"

Nuno confirms song titles such as "Carnage At Karnag", "Gabriel Lies Sleeping" and "The Games Of Titus" and their own tribute to recently-deceased Manilla Road leader Mark Shelton, "After The Battle".

"Mark gave so much to the scene, so we felt it was right to dedicate this song to him. In addition, we have another tribute called 'Dawning In Darkness,' which is dedicated to Hartmuth 'Barbarian Wrath' Schindlerwho had a terrible misfortune in the hospital and has been in a coma for more than a year. We want to pay our deepest respect and friendship to both of them."

Like previous Ravensire efforts, the album artwork for A Stone Engraved In Red will be in black and white, although Nuno admits there may be a surprise within the cover. As such, Nuno says the title of the album has a deeper meaning for the band: "It's a statement that no matter what we do, we want it to be rock solid and stand the test of time, just like the epitaphs of old."

British rockers BRING ME THE HORIZON have released another new song called "Mother Tongue". The track, which was just featured as Zane Lowe's World Record on Apple Music's Beats 1, is taken from the band's upcoming album, "Amo", which will be released on January 25 via Columbia Records. The band spent last summer writing and recording in Los Angeles, with singer Oli Sykes and keyboardist Jordan Fish handling production.

Oli told Zane Lowe about the musical direction of "Amo": "We didn't really know what we wanted, but we just knew we wanted to be different. We wanted to still be BRING ME THE HORIZON, but make people feel the things they felt with us in different ways and try to do it sonically different. And it took a while to find that sound and stuff, 'cause I think, for me, I love the fact that I can sing now and I can write these lyrics that have important messages and they can almost stick in people's heads, so that they're easier to get across. So, for us, we still wanted those huge choruses, but I feel like we had so much experimentation in us that we've been dying to do for maybe the last five years or so."

Regarding "Mother Tongue", Oli said: "The whole album's kind of explores loving and different aspects of that. Toxic relationships and the end of relationships, really. It's also about the positive side of love and obviously when you first fall in love, it's got to be the greatest feeling. It's probably the most gushing, out-there, just straight-up love song we've ever written. This was one of the easier ones to write, because it was positive. It's about when I first met my new wife. She's from Brazil, and she didn't speak so much English. She talked a lot better than my Portuguese, but from the very start, we had a really, really strong connection, and it was just a crazy time. And this song's just talking about those experiences, which they just stick in my head. So, that was really one of the easier ones to write about."

BRING ME THE HORIZON is in Nashville preparing for tomorrow's kickoff of its Live Nation-produced North American headline tour, to be followed by shows in South America, Australia and a plethora of festivals around the world.

Ingested have announced an extensive round of dates in March and April. The Kings, Gods, Deities tour, which will see the Manchester-based band playing a number of headlining shows as well as supporting The Black Dahlia Murder, runs from March 27th to April 14th and will cover a massive portion of the UK and Ireland.

The band commented, "After a short break from touring The Level Above Human in 2018, we have been working on our most extensive UK tour in our 13 year history, 17 shows across the UK and Ireland with some select dates supporting The Black Dahlia Murder. This is only the beginning of 2019 for us. Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming weeks!"

Dates:

March
27 - Glasgow, UK - Audio
28 - Dundee, UK - Beat Generator
30 - Stoke-On-Trent, UK - Underground
31 - Leicester, UK - Soundhouse

April
1 - York, UK - Fibbers
3 - Nottingham, UK - Alberts
4 - Plymouth, UK - Junction
5 - Bristol, UK - Fleece (with The Black Dahlia Murder)
6 - Northampton, UK - The Black Prince
7 - Dublin, IE - Voodoo Lounge (with The Black Dahlia Murder)
8 - Limerick, IE - Dolan's (with The Black Dahlia Murder)
9 - Belfast, UK - Voodoo
10 - Manchester, UK - Rebellion (with The Black Dahlia Murder)
11 - London, UK - Underworld (with The Black Dahlia Murder)
12 - Southampton, UK - Joiners
13 - Worthing, UK - Bar 42
14 - Canterbury, UK - UCA Bar

Ingested have also entered the studio recently to begin recording a new EP and follow-up to their career defining 2018 album ,The Level Above Human. More details coming soon.

A performance clip of "Arrival (Live At The Fillmore)", taken from the forthcoming KING DIAMOND DVD/Blu-ray, "Songs For The Dead Live", can be viewed below. The set will be released on January 25 via Metal Blade Records.

There is only one King Diamond, and for more than thirty years the great Dane has been dropping classic albums and putting on shows fans remember for the rest of their lives. Perhaps the only downside to having such a formidable catalogue is that there are just too many great songs to fit into a single set. However, you would be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn't want to hear 1987's seminal "Abigail" in its entirety, and "Songs For The Dead Live" captures this, twice, and in very different locales. Boasting eighteen songs per set, each of the two shows — Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia's Fillmore in November 2015 — features a brace of classic KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE tracks, including "Welcome Home", "Halloween" and "Eye Of The Witch" before launching into "Abigail". The performances of the all-star lineup of musicians, comprising of guitarists Andy LaRocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and drummer Matt Thompson, are absolutely ferocious, hammering home every single moment.

"Songs For The Dead Live" can be pre-ordered in the following formats:

* 2DVD/CD 6-Panel Digipak

* Blu-ray (includes audio digital download of Philadelphia Show)

* special edition box set with 5 discs (2DVD, 2CD, 1 Blu-ray) plus poster, flier, laminate, setlist, ticket, sticker, and guitar pick (limited to 3000 copies)

* opaque blue with white splatter vinyl (U.S. retail exclusive - limited to 600 copies)

* opaque red with black splatter vinyl (U.S. webstore exclusive - limited to 200 copies)

* opaque white with black splatter vinyl (U.S. webstore exclusive - limited to 200 copies)

* 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)

* transparent amber marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 700 copies)

* clear ghost white vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)

* orange-brown/black marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)

* black/purple melt vinyl (Nuclear Blast exclusive - limited to 200 copies)

* orange/red marbled vinyl (Napalm exclusive - limited to 300 copies)

* clear lavender marbled vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 200 copies)

* clear ash grey marbled vinyl (Bengan exclusive - limited to 200 copies)

* pink blue marbled vinyl (Ebay exclusive - limited to 200 copies)

Captured on film by director Denise Korycki for Wild Wind Studios, she worked closely with King on every aspect of filming, and throughout the viewer finds themselves front and center as the shows unfold. This includes some inventive camera placement, such as riding in on the back of the wheelchair as it is wheeled out to "Out From The Asylum" at the start of the show, or looking up from the coffin at the commencement of "Abigail" opener "Funeral", which adds an extra dimension to proceedings. Naturally, the theatricality that has become synonymous with KING DIAMOND is there in full force, making for an even more immersive experience. The gothic stage set and the participation of actors playing out certain scenes tying into the songs definitely increases the drama and the sense of complete disconnect from the trappings of reality, ensuring that the shows remain riveting from start to finish.

While the setlists are virtually identical, the drastic difference in the two venues make for distinctly different atmospheres. The sweeping, epic scale of Graspop and the virtual sea of baying metalheads makes for a particularly thrilling spectacle, King holding them all in the palm of his hand. The Fillmore show is immediately more intimate, and rather than a mixed bag of metal lovers drunk on a weekend of the heavy stuff, the audience is comprised entirely of the KING DIAMOND devout, screaming back every word, their love for their hero bleeding from every frame. "Songs For The Dead Live" gives those who missed out on seeing these shows in the flesh a chance to vividly experience them, offering so much deeper an experience than your run of the mill live DVD.

Graspop Metal Meeting track listing

01. Out From The Asylum

02. Welcome Home

03. Sleepless Nights

04. Halloween

05. Eye Of The Witch

06. Melissa

07. Come To The Sabbath

08. Them

09. Funeral

10. Arrival

11. A Mansion In Darkness

12. The Family Ghost

13. The 7th Day Of July 1777

14. Omens

15. The Possession

16. Abigail

17. Black Horsemen

18. Insanity

The Fillmore track listing

01. Out From The Asylum

02. Welcome Home

03. Sleepless Nights

04. Eye Of The Witch

05. Halloween

06. Melissa

07. Come To The Sabbath

08. Them

09. Funeral

10. Arrival

11. A Mansion In Darkness

12. The Family Ghost

13. The 7th Day Of July 1777

14. Omens

15. The Possession

16. Abigail

17. Black Horsemen

18. Insanity

After turning back the clock in 2018 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of its Jamey Jasta-produced debut, "As Real As It Gets", the Queens, New York-based SWORN ENEMY resets its sights on the present day with its punishing new album, "Gamechanger". Due April 5 via M-Theory Audio, the disc — produced by Robb Flynn of MACHINE HEAD, and engineered, mixed and mastered by Zack Ohren (SUFFOCATION, FALLUJAH, WARBRINGER) — features 11 tracks that expertly fuse metal, thrash and New York hardcore.

Vocalist and founding member Sal Lococo says the new album — nearly five years in the making — will be worth the wait. "The new album is savage as fuck," he says. "Now it's time to get back out on the road and show everyone how fucking great this new shit is!"

"Gamechanger" track listing:

01. Intro

02. Prepare For Payback

03. Seeds Of Hate

04. Coming Undone

05. Justify

06. DOA

07. Fragments Of A Broken Life

08. The Fall Of Modern Man

09. Selling A Dream

10. The Consequence

11. Integrity Defines Strength

SWORN ENEMY was first signed by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, who released the group's first two EPs on his Stillborn Recordings label in 2001 and 2002. He also produced the band's full-length debut, "As Real As It Gets", memorably praised by Lambgoat as "music that inspires you to want to beat the living piss out of the next unsuspecting person who walks in the room." The album was released by Elektra Records in 2003, a year that saw the band deliver memorable performances on tour with Ozzfest.

In the 15 years since, SWORN ENEMY released four additional albums of punishing metallic hardcore and toured with a number of notable acts, including ANTHRAX, MASTODON, FEAR FACTORY, SEPULTURA, SUICIDE SILENCE, DYING FETUS, EARTH CRISIS, MADBALL, BIOHAZARD and HATEBREED.

SWORN ENEMY is:

Sal Lococo - vocals

Matt Garzilli - guitar

Mike Pucciarelli - bass

Jeff Cummings - guitar

Taykwuan Jackson - drums

Tommy Victor will reflect on more than 30 years of PRONG releases through a YouTube series called "Tommy Plays Prong, Retrospects Of Music And Life". In the series, Victor will highlight various tracks from the 12-album PRONG catalog and do guitar playthroughs. Victor will also discuss growing up in Flushing, Queens, New York, living on the Lower East Side of New York City in the violent eighties, working at CBGB as a sound engineer from 1986 to 1990, and touring with PANTERA, WHITE ZOMBIE, BAD BRAINS and SEPULTURA.

"PRONG was definitely a Lower East Side band," says Victor. "We weren't a bunch of kids in the suburbs playing in garages. We were part of that whole art scene, the same scene as street artists like Keith Haring and Basquiat. It was a completely different world back then. A lot of people were willing to live Spartan lifestyles in shitty conditions in this fantasy art world."

On doing sound at CBGB from 1986 to 1990:

"Hilly (owner CBGB) just threw me in there. I had no idea what I was doing. He trusted me because I was 'in a band' and had me give thumbs up or down on the band playing the hardcore matinees."

Having been clean from drugs and alcohol for many years, a sober Tommy reflects on the glorification of the early "druggie-chic" days.

"In those days, it was cool to be a junkie. A lot of early punk times revolved around that. That type of rebellion against society, the ultimate rebellion is trying to kill yourself with drugs. That era, where a dark hedonism was a priority in people's lives doesn't really exist anymore, which I think is good."

On longevity, and finding one's path:

"Inevitably, if you survive, you come to the realization that all that stuff was a fad, really, and there's more to life than those old statements that you thought were so important earlier on. There's important aspects of it, but there has to be balance in your life, you have to move on, you keep walking in life, you don't just stay there."

The first two trailers for the "Tommy Plays Prong" series can be seen below.

VIXEN has recruited FEMME FATALE's Lorraine Lewis as its new lead singer following the recent departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis has already performed with VIXEN, having fronted the group in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery (see video below).

VIXEN members Roxy Petrucci (drums), Share Ross (bass) and Brittany Denaro (guitar) announced Lorraine's addition to the band in a Facebook post earlier today.

"Waiting for the Big One”!?!??! Then wait no more!" they wrote.

"Show some love and support for Hurricane Lorraine Lewis!

"Back with VIXEN to take care of some unfinished business!

"Join us on our 2019 'There's no Cryin' in Rock N Roll' Roadshow.

"See you at The Show!"

Last week, Petrucci, Ross and Denaro vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, who released her debut self-titled solo album in 2017, broke the news of her exit from the group on January 16.

"After much soul searching and many sleepless nights, I have decided that it's time for me to step aside and let Roxy and Share pursue their vision for the future of VIXEN," she wrote.

"VIXEN will always have a very special place in my heart and I am incredibly grateful to have been a part of it," she continued.

"I would like to thank everyone for the amazing support over the years, and as Roxy and Share continue to keep the heart and soul of VIXEN alive and well and I continue on my path, your continued support to all would be greatly appreciated."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988), "Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest release, last year's live album "Live Fire".

A year ago, Gardner underwent surgery to remove blood clots in her brain, a condition known as a subdural hematoma. At the time, she was touring in support of her solo album, which came out in August 2017 via Pavement Entertainment. The disc was a collaboration between the singer, who works days as a part-time dental hygienist, and her husband, guitarist/producer Justin James, who has previously worked with STAIND, COLLECTIVE SOUL and TYKETTO.

Swiss folk metallers ELUVEITIE will release their new album, "Ategnatos", on April 5 via Nuclear Blast. The cover artwork for the disc was created by Travis Smith and can be seen below.

The band states: "'Ategnatos' probably became our most organic album by all accounts. It is the result of a thoroughly intuitive process, where we gave creativity full scope. And during this process quite some back-to-the-roots developments emerged in diverse aspects. Many a riff off 'Ategnatos' reminds on the guitar work on 'Slania'. Following our gut feeling, we brought the mixing duties back to Jens Bogren's Fascination Street studios, where our Nuclear Blast debut was produced. And regarding the album artwork, it soon became very clear to us that we'd love to work with the fabulous Travis Smith again, who already created the front covers of our albums 'Spirit' (14 years ago!) and 'Everything Remains As It Never Was'. And we're honestly excited with the result! The front cover shows a spectacular scenery in central Switzerland, a so-called 'vulva cave', as it was sought to mark sacred rites of fertility and celebrations of life in ancient times! The artwork mystically and beautifully expresses the 'Ategnatos''s very core and essence! Once again, it was a pleasure to work with Travis!"

Recordings for "Ategnatos" took at New Sound Studio with their engineer of choice Tommy Vetterli.

A work based on archaic archetypes and the ancient concept of renewal, "Ategnatos" unfolds an elemental force to be reckoned with. "These archetypes are still within us," leader Christian "Chrigel" Glanzmann says. "People didn't change that much during the last 3000 years — and men were always just men." No wonder the album follows a decidedly darker, monumental tone that suits them very well.

Of course, ELUVEITIE has long had its very own trademark sound, a sonic adventure often copied but never overcome. With "Ategnatos", the dedicated nine-piece not only worked with a real string quartet and granted Fabienne Erni's sublime mastery of the harp the room it deserved; they also undertook a holistic upgrade resulting in some of the catchiest, most aggressive and most epic tunes the Swiss metal nobility has ever offered.


ELUVEITIE has also announced a European tour with LACUNA COIL and INFECTED RAIN.


ELUVEITIE states: "Our last few months have been extremely intense, creating 'Ategnatos'. Now we simply cannot wait to bring our new songs to the stages and to share our passion, pure fucking metal and heartfelt Celtic mysticism with you all! And all the more we're excited to bring such great bands with us! We feel honored to team up with our fellows of the heavyweight institution called LACUNA COIL and also with the amazing wizkid that is INFECTED RAIN, whom we've shared festival stages with a few times already!"

LACUNA COIL adds: "Transformation is a process and as life happens you need tons of new music! That's why we are really excited to team up with ELUVEITIE and our buddies in INFECTED RAIN for this fantastic tour package. The bill is pretty diverse and interesting and we can't wait to bring it around Europe. We will play some of our classic songs and introduce some new tunes! We know this tour is going to be rocking, and we know the fans are going to enjoy this as much as we are!"

Lena from INFECTED RAIN comments: "2019 appears to be very promising for INFECTED RAIN! A lot of new releases, new relationships and new places to visit. We are excited about all of this and especially about the autumn tour that is going to end the year so perfectly. We are going to support two great bands and amazing people on tour for more than forty shows around Europe. We are honored to share the stage with ELUVEITIE and LACUNA COIL."

Tour dates:

Nov. 02 - I - Bari - Demodè **

Nov. 03 - I - Rome - Orion **

Nov. 05 - I - Bologna - Estragon **

Nov. 06 - I - Milan - Live Club **

Nov. 08 - D - Stuttgart - LKA Longhorn

Nov. 09 - D - Oberhausen - Turbinenhalle II

Nov. 10 - B - Antwerp - Trix

Nov. 12 - GB - Manchester - Ritz **

Nov. 13 - GB - Glasgow - Garage **

Nov. 14 - IRL - Dublin - Academy **

Nov. 15 - GB - Bristol - SWX **

Nov. 16 - GB - London - The Forum **

Nov. 17 - NL - Utrecht - Tivoli Ronda*

Nov. 19 - D - Frankfurt - Batschkapp

Nov. 20 - D - Hannover - Capitol

Nov. 21 - D - Berlin - Huxleys

Nov. 22 - D - Leipzig - Felsenkeller

Nov. 23 - D - Munich - Tonhalle

Nov. 24 - A - Dornbirn - Conrad Sohm

Nov. 26 - F - Bordeaux - Le Rocher de Palmer

Nov. 27 - E - Barcelona - Razzmatazz II

Nov. 28 - E - Madrid - Mon Live

Nov. 29 - F - Toulouse - Le Bikini

Nov. 30 - F - Rennes - L'Etage

Dec. 01 - F - Paris - Elysée-Montmartre

Dec. 03 - D - Saarbrücken - Garage

Dec. 04 - D - Nürnberg - Hirsch

Dec. 05 - SLO - Ljubljana - Kino Siska

Dec. 08 - A - Vienna - Arena

Dec. 12 - LV - Riga - Melna Piektdiena

Dec. 13 - FIN - Helsinki - Tavastia

Dec. 14 - FIN - Tampere - Pakkahuone

Dec. 15 - EST - Tallinn - Rock Cafe

Dec. 17 - S - Stockholm - Klubben Fryshuset

Dec. 18 - N - Oslo - Vulkan Arena

Dec. 19 - S - Gothenburg - Trädgarn

Dec. 21 - D - Hamburg – Docks

* without LACUNA COIL

** headliner LACUNA COIL

ELUVEITIE in May 2016 announced the departure of drummer Merlin Sutter, vocalist Anna Murphy and guitarist Ivo Henzi.

The band's new lineup made its live debut at the Eluveitie & Friends festival in January 2017 at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland.


ELUVEITIE is:

Jonas Wolf - guitars

Matteo Sisti - whistles, bagpipes, mandola, bodhran

Nicole Ansperger - fiddle

Alain Ackermann - drums

Chrigel Glanzmann - vocals, whistles, mandola, bagpipes

Fabienne Erni - vocals, celtic harp

Kay Brem - bass

Michalina Malisz - hurdy gurdy

Rafael Salzmann - guitars

Las Vegas-based hard rock band, Bravo Delta, is slated to release their first full-length album, Unbreakable, on February 1st. A video for the title track can be seen below.

“This new album and single is three years in the making and features the best material we’ve ever created. Being broken, disconnected, kicked to the ground…and still having the will to get up, fight, and learn from it is the spirit of Unbreakable. And I think you can feel that in the music, the artwork, and everything about this new album," says Brandon Davis.

Bravo Delta was formed in 2011 and is comprised of Brandon Davis (vocals/guitar), Andy Ingraham (guitar), Brian Scott (drums), and Roman (bass). The band’s previous independent releases include two EPs Shutdown Sequence (2013) and Sunset Wasteland (2012). Their music has been distributed worldwide via all major online retailers, and has been heard on Sirius Octane, Pandora, and several terrestrial radio stations in the US.

Bravo Delta has shared the stage and toured with Nothing More, The Used, P.O.D., Corey Taylor (Slipknot/Stone Sour), Adelitas Way, Saliva, and Alien Ant Farm.

Tracklisting:

"Unbreakable"
"Fire"
"Numbers"
"Dark Room"
"Sleepless Dream"
"Karma"
"Virus"
"Modus Operandi"
"Lost At Sea V.1"
"Lost As Sea V.2"
"Insignificant"
"Dreamless Sleep"
"Knights Of Desire"

"Unbreakable" video:

Louisiana-based progressive death metal project, A Novelist, are streaming the new song “His Kingdom Is Vast”, featured on the band's sophomore full-length, Folie, out on February 8th. Listen below.

 A Novelist is the creative partnership of drummer Alex Babineaux and vocalist, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist Ben Nugent. Started in 2009 between friends in Lafayette, Louisiana, they began with the simple goal of writing and playing death metal. Over time their goals as a band grew larger, driven by a bold desire to expand the idea of what death metal can be through free and uncompromised expression.

The band once again enlisted the talents of renowned sound engineer Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, Wretched, etc.) to ensure the best possible production for their new album.

Tracklisting:

“Folie Noire”
“Exteriors”
“Tombeau”
“Apparitions”
“His Kingdom Is Vast”
“Strangers In The House Of Auto-da-Fe”
“Acacia Crown”
“Caveat Lector”
“Stockholm Blues”
“Crestfallen”
“Learning Paralysis”
“Interiors”

“His Kingdom Is Vast”:

"Apparitions":

“Learning Paralysis”:

Palma, Spain's melancholic doom outfit, Helevorn, have posted a lyric video for the song "Nostrum Mare (Et deixo un pont de mar blava)", which is sung in eight different languages. The video is in support of their fourth album, Aamamata, due out this Wednesday, January 23rd via Solitude Productions / Bad Moon Music. Watch below, and pre-order the album here.

Aamamata follows their 2014 album, Compassion Forlorn, 2009's Forthcoming Displeasures and 2005 debut full length, Fragments, which have anchored Helevorn's place in the global doom scene.

The band states: “We think that fans will love the new album. We know that we are not discovering something new, we are creating 90’s goth-doom metal in present times. It should be received like a piece to reborn the scene and for the music to relate on the decadence of humankind through the drama of the refugees that are dying and trying to escape from the hell that the Western countries have put them in."

Tracklisting:

"A Sail To Sanity"
"Goodbye, Hope"
"Blackened Waves"
"Aurora"
"Forgotten Fields"
"Nostrum Mare (Et deixo un pont de mar blava)"
"Once Upon A War"
"The Path To Puya"
"La Sibil·la"

"Nostrum Mare" lyric video:

"A Sail To Sanity" lyric video:

"Blackened Waves" video:

Heavy metal frontrunners Incite - lead by frontman Richie Cavalera - are set to release their upcoming fifth full-length album, Built To Destroy, on January 25th via Minus Head Records. Produced by Steve Evetts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Suicide Silence) and mastered by Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Hatebreed), Built to Destroy is a visceral, urgent, voracious distillation of modern metal with reverence for the past, and boasts a progressed, matured sound for Incite.

Today, Incite have revealed a new video for the track "Resistance", featuring real footage from Los Angeles' Skid Row area juxtaposed with images of opulence and excessive affluence to illustrate the immense wealth gap in America. Watch the music video, directed by Tommy Jones at Video Hammer Studios, below.

Richie Cavalera says, "'Resistance' touches upon the huge problem of wealth inequality in America, as well as the rest of the world. When the 1% has more than billions of people, shit has become out of control. We shot this video at Skid Row in Los Angeles, which I think shows first-hand how absolutely fucked up the problem is. This is a heavy song, along with a video that hopefully opens some eyes."

Built To Destroy is available for pre-order now via Bandcamp, iTunes and Amazon.

Tracklisting:

"Built To Destroy"
"Ruthless Ways"
"Backbone"
"Resistance"
"Human Cancer"
"Confronting Darkness"
"Leech"
"Poisoned by Power"
"Cessation"
"Hate for Life"
"Savior Self"

"Poisoned By Power" featuring Chris Barnes:

"Built To Destroy" video:

"Ruthless Ways":

Incite's North American tour with headliners Soulfly and direct support artist Kataklysm, begins on the same day as the new album's release. The tour will visit several cities across North America, coming to an end on February 26th in Los Angeles, CA. The tour will feature additional support from Chaoseum, Alukah and Skinflint on select dates. Tickets are on sale now. See below for all confirmed tour dates.

January
25 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater*
26 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey*
27 - Austin, TX - Come & Take It Live*
28 - New Orleans, LA - Santos*

February
5 - Orlando, FL - Soundbar #
6 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade #
7 - Frederick, MD - Cafe 611 #
8 - Clifton, NJ - Dingbatz #
9 - Reading, PA - Reverb #
10 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall #
11 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre #
12 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club &
13 - Flint, MI - Buick City Events Center &
14 - Joliet, IL - The Forge &
15 - Ft Wayne, IN - Piere's &
16 - Dayton, OH - Oddbodys &
17 - Lexington, KY - Manchester Music Hall &
18 - Kansas City, MO - Riot Room &
19 - Colorado Springs, CO - Sunshine Studios Live ^
20 - Grand Junction, CO - Mesa Theater ^
22 - Spokane, WA - The Pin ^
23 - Seattle, WA - Club Sur Rocks ^
24 - Portland, OR - BossaNova ^
25 - Petaluma, CA - Phoenix Theatre ^
26 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720 Club ^
 
Support lineup key:

* with Incite supporting Soulfly
# with Kataklysm, Incite, Chaoseum supporting Soulfly
& with Kataklysm, Incite, Alukah supporting Soulfly
^ with Kataklysm, Incite, Skinflint supporting Soulfly

Incite is:

Richie Cavalera - Vocals
Lennon Lopez - Drums
Christopher "EL" - Bass
"Dru Tang" Rome - Lead Guitar

(Photo - Jeremy Saffer)

Interstellar duo, Neorhythm, have released a new digital single, a cover of Death's "Crystal Mountain". The original song appears on Death's 1995 album, Symbolic.

Stream the single below, or at neorhythm.bandcamp.com.

Crystal Mountain (Death cover) by Neorhythm

Neorhythm recently released the Meteoric Thoughts EP. The follow-up to this year's creatively aggressive debut album, Zetetic, includes three new tracks, as well as pummeling covers of Disturbed's "Stricken" and Mudvayne's "Dig".

Stream Meteoric Thoughts in its entirety, here.

Meteoric Thoughts is available on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, Google Play, Napster, Deezer, Tidal, and Amazon.

The new character "Bass Eddie" recently arrived for the Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Best game. In the new video below, Steve Harris is introduced to the new character.

Visit the Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Best game website, here.

Iron Maiden will bring the Legacy Of The Beast Tour to North America in 2019 for an extensive series of arena and amphitheater shows produced by Live Nation, including a first ever headline appearance at the Banc of California Stadium in LA. The tour will cover a total of 33 cities right across the US and Canada, including Portland, Oregon where they haven’t played since 1987 on the Somewhere In Time Tour, Hartford, Connecticut where they last played in 2005, and many other places not visited since the Maiden England 2012/13 Tour. The full list of dates is below.

Tickets for the North American tour are on sale at LiveNation.com. You can also go to ironmaiden.com for all ticketing details.

Support on the 2019 tour comes from The Raven Age. Additionally, Fozzy will be guests for the Banc of California Stadium show in Los Angeles.

The Legacy Of The Beast Tour production and set list is inspired by Maiden’s free to play mobile game of the same name which is available on iOS and Android platforms at ironmaiden.com/play.

July
18 - Sunrise, FL - BB&T Center
20 - Atlanta, GA - Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
22 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
24 - Washington DC - Jiffy Lube Live
26 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
30 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center

August
01 - Boston, MA - Xfinity Center
03 - Hartford, CT - Xfinity Theatre
05 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
07 - Quebec, QC - Videotron Centre
09 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
10 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
13 - Buffalo, NY - KeyBank Center
15 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
17 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena
19 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
22 - Chicago, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
24 - Indianapolis, IL - Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
26 - St Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
28 - Winnipeg, MB - Bell MTS Place
30 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
31 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome

September
03 - Vancouver, BC - Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
05 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
06 - Portland, OR - Moda Center
09 - Sacramento, CA - Golden 1 Center
10 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
13 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
14 - Los Angeles, CA - Banc of California Stadium
17 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Arena
19 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
21 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion
22 - Houston, TX - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
25 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center
 
No further cities will be added to this touring schedule.

For the 2019 shows, Iron Maiden will, in conjunction with the Promoters, be implementing a partial digital ticketing system in as many venues as possible. This technology, being used by the NFL amongst others, is a progression of the paperless system that Maiden have been successfully using since 2010 and has worked well in lessening ticket scalping and the drain of prime tickets into the Secondary market.

Fans in the US and Canada will once again be able to enjoy a Trooper VIP Upgrade package allowing early access to the venue, a pile of Trooper goodies, Trooper beers, food and a designated area to meet with other fans, plus the opportunity to win some great prizes. Packages will be available from ironmaiden.com priced at US $220 ($290 CAD for Canadian shows), with a 10% discount for Iron Maiden fanclub members.

PEARL JAM bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard spoke to Rolling Stone about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2013's "Lightning Bolt" album.

"It'd be fun to record or even just write a song together," Ament said. "I think when Chris [Cornell] passed, that's really been a tough one to wrap our heads around, and then there's just life stuff."

Gossard added: "We're going to make a record, and we're in the middle of it. We're just going to keep plugging away until we get one done."

"We've gone in, probably, four or five times in the last couple of years, so we have a whole ton of unfinished stuff," Ament said. "We're just sort of in a little bit of limbo. I'm sure everybody's got a bunch more riffs, and I'm sure Ed's [singer Eddie Vedder] got a handful of journal lyrics. It's just going to take us all getting into a room together for six weeks and just knocking something out."

Last March, PEARL JAM released a new song called "Can't Deny Me". The just-over-two-and-a-half-minute track was co-produced by the band and Brendan O'Brien and is set to appear on PEARL JAM's forthcoming LP. The music for the song was written by guitarist Mike McCready and lyrics by Vedder. Artwork for the single was created by Ament and videographer Kevin Shuss. The song appears to take direct aim at President Donald Trump — albeit without mentioning his name.

Photo credit: Danny Clinch

Swedish folk metal pioneers, Falconer, performed at Germany's Waken Open Air festival in summer 2015, and endured the heaviest rain since the festival's founding in 1990. The band themselves faced some technical problems, but filled the time with some anecdotes from the beginnings of the band. Watch below.

Setlist:

"Northwind"
"Age Of Runes"
"How It All Began"
"Mindtraveller"
"Clarion Call"

Texas-based "groove" metallers PISSING RAZORS have inked a deal with Art Is War Records. The band's new studio album will be released later in the year. The first single from the disc, "Crushing Grip", is out now. The song was engineered by Eddie Garcia and PISSING RAZORS and was mixed and mastered by Chris Collier.

PISSING RAZORS' current lineup includes founding members Eddy Garcia (drums), Joe Rodriguez (vocals) and Mat Lynch (guitar), who led the band to gain a loyal underground following in the mid/late '90s and early 2000s through constant touring, both stateside and abroad.

PISSING RAZORS stated about the Art Is War signing: "We look forward to a long and prosperous musical journey together. Art Is War is the perfect choice for us to work with in releasing our long-awaited new material. The world will see a return to our early heavy groove, punk-infused metal roots people know us best for."

Art Is War CEO Lucas Joyner said: "Having RAZORS join the label has been in the works since the start. Myself and Steev from SKINLAB worked hard to make sure a home for the El Paso, Texas legends was here and nowhere else than at Art is War Records! We will be ready to unleash the beast in 2019."


PISSING RAZORS was formed by the Garcia brothers (Eddy and Danny) in the early '90s under the moniker BACK DOOR CYCLOPS, but changed its name to PISSING RAZORS in time for the release of the band's debut studio album, "Psycho Punko Metal Groove", in 1996. The CD was followed by "Pissing Razors", "Cast Down The Plague", "Fields Of Disbelief" (2000), "Where We Come From" (2001), the live record "Live In The Devil's Triangle" (2002) and the group's latest release, "Evolution", in 2003.

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA performing the song "Battery" on December 7, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California can be seen below.

The second North American leg of METALLICA's "WorldWired" features in-the-round production and a few firsts, including a "Light It Up" pre-show party hosted by the band's friend, comedian Jim Breuer; and a "Wherever I May Roam Black Ticket" that gives a limited number of fans floor access to any show on the tour.

The "WorldWired" set and stage design, designed by the show's director, Dan Braun, features an immersive concert experience with a 44' x 44' square main-stage equipped with several prop lifts located in the center of the arena.

The "WorldWired" show features the touring industry's first autonomous indoor drone swarm, with 99 micro drones dancing like fireflies for the song "Moth Into Flame".

METALLICA kicked off the 2018/2019 U.S. leg of the "WorldWired" arena tour back in September in Madison, Wisconsin. The trek will resume on January 18 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

No details are available as yet, but Children Of Bodom are teaming up with Finland-based Fat Lizard Brewing Co. Check out the video teaser posted by the brewery. 

Fat Lizard Brewing Co. is a Finnish indie brewery specializing in super fresh and drinkable American-style beers. They are located in Otaniemi, in the very heart of Espoo, Finland. As the first commercial brewery ever in Espoo, the company was founded in 2014 and has been operative since February 2015. Today the brewery staff includes 10 irreplaceable characters altogether.

Check out their official Facebook page here.

Children Of Bodom will release their tenth album, Hexed, on March 8th via Nuclear Blast Records. They have announced their Hexed 2019 North American Tour.

The trek will kick off in Quebec City on March 13th and conclude in New York City on April 19th. Supporting the band are Finnish death-doom melody-makers Swallow The Sun and Finnish epic melodic death metal quartet Wolfheart, as well as Summoner's Circle (March 13-16, April 9-19), Hollow Cry (March 18-29) and Fragmentum (March 30, April 7) who are opening select shows.

COB frontman, guitarist, and mastermind Alexi Laiho comments, "Hello North America! Just wanna say and empathize the word “finally” ... fuckin' finally we’ll be back on the road - like old school style and over the pond too!! We’ll be in your town just as you're getting your hands on the new record. Even if you do not have it, don’t worry cause we’re gonna rotate the setlist to include old tracks that will blow your mind back to hell so it’s gonna be a good fuckin' party ladies and gentlemen. Hoping to see you there!!"

Pre-sale tickets are available for purchase via American Express on January 16th - 17th, starting at 10 AM, local time as well as through Goldenvoice on January 17th starting at 10 AM and ending at 10 PM, local time. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, January 18th at 10 AM, local time.

Confirmed dates are listed below.

March
13 -  Imperial - Quebec City, QC*
14 - Corona Theater - Montreal, QC*   
15 - Bronson Centre - Ottawa, ON *
16 - The Phoenix Concert Theater - Toronto, ON*   
18 - St. Andrews - Detroit, MI**  
19 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL**      
20 - Skyway Theater - Minneapolis, MN**      
22 - The Summit - Denver, CO **     
23 - Metro Music Hall - Salt Lake City, UT**      
25 - The Palace Theatre - Calgary, AB**  
26 - Union -  Edmonton, AB**  
27 - The Vogue Theater - Vancouver, BC**      
29 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA**   
30 - Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR ***  

April
1 - The Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA***    
2 - The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA ***  
3 - Club Red - Phoenix, AZ***    
5 - Alamo Music Hall - San Antonio, TX ***   
6 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX ***   
7 - Canton Hall - Dallas, TX ***   
9 - The Ritz - Tampa, FL *
11 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA *
12 - The Underground - Charlotte, NC *
13 - Baltimore Soundstage - Baltimore, MD*   
14 - Mr Smalls Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA*
16 - Westcott Theater - Syracuse, NY*
17 - The Royale - Boston, MA*
18 - Reverb - Reading, PA  *
19 - Irving Plaza - New York, NY *

* Summoner's Circle opening (March 13-16 & April 9-19)
** Hollow Cry opening (March 18-29)
*** Fragmentum opening (March 30  April 7)

Hexed will be available in the following formats:

- CD Digipak
- Pink w/ Black splatter vinyl – Limited to 300
- CD Digipak + T-Shirt + Poster

Pre-order your copy here.

Hexed tracklisting:

"The Road"
"Under Grass and Clover"
"Glass Houses"
"Hecate’s Nightmare"
"Kick in the Spleen"
"Platitudes and Barren Words"
"Hexed"
"Relapse (The Nature of My Crime)"
"Say Never Look Back"
"Soon Departed"
"Knuckleduster"

Bonus tracks:
"I Worship Chaos" (live)
"Morrigan" (live)
"Knuckleduster" (remix)

"Under Grass And Clover" video:

Trailers:

(Photo - Marek Sabogal)

HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale has defended GRETA VAN FLEET over accusations that the Michigan rockers have ripped off LED ZEPPELIN, saying that "a lot of kids should be reintroduced" to ZEPPELIN-style rock and roll.

Despite the fact that GRETA VAN FLEET has managed to sell out shows all over the world, the four-piece has been criticized for channeling a sound uncannily similar to LED ZEPPELIN, with some music fans slamming singer Josh Kiszka for allegedly copy-and-pasting Robert Plant's vocal style.

During a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hale was asked if she is a fan of GRETA VAN FLEET. "I am, because I was that age once," she said. "I started [HALESTORM] when I was a kid too. I know people dog on them about how they sound similar to ZEPPELIN, but at the same time, when we first started putting our stuff into the world, didn't we wear our influences on our sleeves? I'll take it, because LED ZEPPELIN is awesome and I think a lot of kids should be reintroduced to this. Just by being up there and playing instruments — they plug in, play and actually sing — it's a great thing for kids to see."

GRETA VAN FLEET's sound has been compared to LED ZEPPELIN numerous times, with Plant even seeing the similarities. "There's a band in Detroit called GRETA VAN FLEET: they are 'Led Zeppelin I'," he said. "Beautiful little singer, I hate him!" he said last year.

Last month, GRETA VAN FLEET scored four Grammy Award nominations, one for each major rock category — "Best Rock Album", "Best Rock Song", "Best Rock Performance" — and a "Best New Artist" nod.

The band's debut album, "Anthem Of The Peaceful Army", debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart in July despite earning a lukewarm 53/100 score on review curation site Metacritic.