Kane Roberts is back with a new solo album, "The New Normal", which will be released on January 25, 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.

The official lyric video for the album track "King Of The World", featuring Nita Strauss, is available for streaming below.

Kane has involved some really amazing friends in the making of "The New Normal", including Alice Cooper, Alissa White-Gluz of ARCH ENEMY, Nita Strauss, BABYMETAL drummer Aoyama Hideki, Kip Winger, Paul Taylor and Ken Mary. Three years in the making, "The New Normal" melds the old and new in metal for a truly outstanding album.

Kane comments on how the collaborations came to be: "I noticed artists that were busting down doors and at the same time kickstarting new ways of thinking about life and creativity. I knew I wanted to try to work with some of them. Nita Strauss is a killer guitarist. She really tore it up on the song 'King Of The World'. Her work on it woke me the fuck up and forced me to explore new guitar techniques to compliment her insane skills!

"Alice Cooper... no one individual has scorched the earth like my former boss. I started getting into recording 'Beginning Of The End' and realized I needed Alice to sing a duet with me. Not just a line, not just an intro, but sing throughout the song. I took the shot that he might be available at some point to get involved and when I called, he said, 'I'm in Hollywood. I'll be right over.' Full on stroke of luck.

"My approach to much of the album was cinematic in the hope that sounds and lyrics would create imagery and emotion beyond what I had done before. Keeping with that idea, I had Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY) fall from the sky like some pissed-off dark angel in the middle of the song with Alice and I and burn the place down. Her attitude and singing prowess is stunning and I was so jazzed when she agreed to participate.

"I was obsessed with getting drum monster Aoyama Hideki from BABYMETAL. After he heard the song, he immediately came on board and played with controlled fury like only he can.... AMAZING!

"I also was also able to work with Brent Smith (SHINEDOWN) and Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM) on songwriting and they were, of course, a blessing to the entire process.

"Upon hearing a few of the early recordings, Michael Alago (the A&R guy that discovered METALLICA and WHITE ZOMBIE, to name just a few) offered to executive produce the project for me and got a lot of things done for that otherwise would have been impossible for me to accomplish.

"Last, but certainly not least, no one plays bass like Kip Winger or sings quite the way he can. Didn’t think twice about asking him to join up and he delivered, like always.

"My music has evolved over the years, even though I was out of the spotlight. Stepping into this new project, there are new styles and sounds evident, but I haven't made some false effort to distance myself from the past. People will notice a blend of influences from classic rock and metal to the hot bands that are emerging more recently. ZEPPELIN to VOLBEAT to ARCH ENEMY… they're all bringing crushing energy to rock/metal while creating truly awesome music.

"I was lucky to have found Frontiers because they allowed me three years to make this album and sort through my truest feelings and vocal/guitar skills to create something meaningful to me. There is a real concern for preserving the creative process at Frontiers, and to my way of thinking, there's no better place for me right now."

"The New Normal" track listing:

01. King Of The World (feat. Nita Strauss)

02. Wonderful

03. Beginning Of The End (feat. Alice Cooper, Alissa White-Gluz, Aoyama Hideki, Kip Winger)

04. Who We Are (feat. Katt Franich)

05. Forever Out Of Place (feat. Kip Winger)

06. Leave This World Behind

07. The Lion's Share (feat. Kip Winger)

08. Leave Me In The Dark

09. Above And Beyond (feat. Kip Winger)

10. Wrong

Kane previously recorded a total of four solo albums (also including the PHOENIX DOWN project released on Frontiers in the late '90s).

Kane's name and abilities first came to prominence on Alice Cooper's "Constrictor" album, which was soon followed by his self-titled debut solo album in 1987. More albums and tours with Alice followed, making Kane a well-known face in the business especially for his guitar skills, but also for his body-builder image and his now iconic machine-gun guitar.

As a solo recording artist, he landed a few Top 40 hits, and his varied musical background includes recording, writing and touring with artists such as Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper Desmond Child, KISS, Diane Warren, ALICE IN CHAINS, BERLIN, GUNS N' ROSES, Garland Jeffries and more. He's also written or recorded music for films like "Light Sleeper", Penelope Spheeris's "Decline Of Western Civilization", "Friday the 13th IV Jason Lives", John Carpenter's "Prince Of Darkness", and more. In 1991, his second solo album, "Saints And Sinners", for Geffen Records included the Top 40 Billboard hit "Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore?", originally written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

Shining filled Bullhead City Circus with darkness at Germany's Wacken Open Air festival in the summer of 2015. Watch professionally-filmed footage of the full performance below:

Setlist:

"Vilseledda Barnasjälars Hemvist"
"Ytterligare Ett Steg Närmare Total Jävla Utfrysning"
"Människa O' Avskyvärda Människa"
"Ohm (Sommer med siv)"
"Vilja & Dröm"
"Låt Oss Ta Allt Från Varandra"
"For The God Below"

Legendary New Jersey thrashers, Overkill, will unleash their 19th studio album, The Wings Of War, on February 22nd via Nuclear Blast. Today, the band launches Part 2 of their multi-part documentary series, Welcome To The Garden State.

Watch as each of the band members detail their early influences and how it has helped shape the genre and their sound:

In Part 1, the band details their beginning and how each member was introduced to the band:

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes that will detail the journey to the upcoming album, The Wings Of War.

Overkill recently released the first single, "Last Man Standing". Check out the lyric video below.

Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth comments, "The time has come, for a first taste, 'Last Man Standing'. This cut got the unanimous nod to open The Wings of War, all they way back to the first demos in March, so much so, it was mock titled OPENER up until the recording. Sometimes everyone is on the same page, wtf!. So dig into some old school thrash, with a side order of Jersey made, head-banging."

The Wings Of War will be available for purchase in the following formats:

- CD Digipak
- CD Digi + T-Shirt + Poster Bundle
- Green Cassette
- Grey Vinyl (limited to 1,500)
- Green with Yellow Splatter vinyl (limited to 500)

Pre-order The Wings Of War now digitally and receive "Last Man Standing" instantly.

The Wings Of War was recorded at Gear Recording Studio in New Jersey, SKH Studio in Florida and Jrod Productions with engineering handled by DD and Dave. The album was produced by the band while Chris "Zeuss" Harris.handled the mixing and mastering. Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth, etc.) was once again enlisted to create the artwork for the album.

The Wings Of War tracklisting:

"Last Man Standing"
"Believe In The Fight"
"Head Of A Pin"
"Bat Shit Crazy"
"Distortion"
"A Mother's Prayer"
"Welcome To The Garden State"
"Where Few Dare To Walk"
"Out On The Road-Kill"
"Hole In My Soul"

Lineup:

Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth - Vocals
D.D. Verni - Bass
Dave Linsk - Lead Guitar
Derek Tailer - Rhythm Guitar
Jason Bittner - Drums

UK occult doom unit, Dead Witches, is the brainchild of Electric Wizard founding member Mark Greening. The underground group's sophomore album, The Final Exorcism, will see a February 22nd release via Heavy Psych Sounds Records.

Teeming with haunting vocals, gargantuan riffs, fuzzed bass and savage drumming, The Final Exorcism will take you to another world... a world of darkness.

Recorded at England's infamous Chuckalumba Studios, a living museum of antique analogue, valve-driven studio gear and tape machines deep in the heart of Dorset's New Forest, where the fabled sessions for Electric Wizard's classic Dopethrone and Let Us Prey LPs were laid to tape, the menacing sound of The Final Exorcism weaves a sinister web of horror doom, mega fuzz, hell-sent thunder, and the banshee wail of charismatic vocalist Soozi Chameleone. Realizing the magnitude of what they committed to tape, Dead Witches sought out noted audio engineer Doug Shearer (Venom, The New York Dolls), a wizard of mastering, to hammer the final nail into the coffin.

Providing fans a taste of what The Final Exorcism holds in store, Dead Witches has released the new song "Fear the Priest", which Greening describes as "the perfect track to let people know what to expect from the new album". Hear "Fear the Priest" below.

"'Fear The Priest' was the last song written to complete the album," Greening adds. "The idea of the track is based around demonic possession, good vs evil, and the fear the possessed person has towards the priest. It's the longest track on the album; the riffs are pure evil."

Pre-order the album here.

Tracklisting:

"There' Someone There"
"The Final Exorcism"
"Goddess Of The Night"
"When Do The Dead See The Sun"
"The Church By The Sea"
"Lay Demon"
"Fear The Priest"

"Fear The Priest":

Album teaser:

LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe, ANIMALS AS LEADERS guitarist Javier Reyes, SWORN ENEMY guitarist Lorenzo Antonucci, 33 & West booking agency co-founder JJ Cassiere and Mediaskare Records head honcho Baron Bodnar have joined forces in a new band called OVER IT ALL.

Blythe revealed the new projects's existence by sharing an Instagram photo of the five-piece in an RV, although it is not clear what OVER IT ALL was using the vehicle for.

Randy wrote: "'The Nightmare Begins' 1.10.2019 In the @overitallofficial RV with my bros- we're just ONE FREAKING DAY into this thing & already it's trashed & smells like ass. I guess that what happens when you put a bunch of freaking savages from @lambofgod, @animalsasleaders, @swornenemynyc, & #atticsforautomatics together to form a band. Christ almighty, I thought I had left the van/RV days far behind me... Thanks @sumerianrecords for paying for the RV... I guess. Give us a follow for updates: @overitallofficial. What have I gotten myself into... #overitall #lambofgod #animalsasleaders #swornenemy #atticsforautomatics #sumerianrecords #getyourshittogetherkevin"

According to OVER IT ALL's Instagram bio, the band's debut album will be released later in the year via Sumerian Records.

OVER IT ALL wrote on Instagram: "What happens when you put together members of @animalsasleaders, @lambofgod, @swornenemynyc & Attics For Automatics? PURE MADNESS. We are OVER IT ALL. Hide your children, because we are coming for them in 2019. Thanks @sumerianrecords for the support & making this happen! Stay tuned..."

August Burns Red has premiered their guitar playthrough cover of the theme song from The Legend Of Zelda. Watch and listen in the video below.

"For the cover, I wanted to do a mash-up of not only the original theme, but other pieces from the game as well, and since the dungeon theme flirts with the diminished scale, it just made sense to put it into a metal cover," explained bassist Dustin Davidson, who conceived and executed the guitar playthrough. "It was a lot of fun to write and record and I look forward to playing it on future tours!"

"Out of all of the games that I played growing up, I easily logged the most time into Zelda," he shared about his history with the iconic game. "My brother and I would come home from school, race to finish our homework, and fight over who got to play. But the thing was — we didn't just have to fight each other — our mom was also in on the battle. My mom introduced us to Zelda on the original Nintendo, but the first game that I remember playing and really enjoying was A Link To The Past on SNES. Our love for the game only grew over the years and I'll never forget the three of us watching and playing Ocarina Of Time together on N64. Fast forward 20 years from Ocarina Of Time's release date to today, and you'll find permanent ink not only on my skin, but on my brother's as well. The series played a big role in our upbringing and we both got tattoos showcasing our love for a game that the three of us bonded over."

August Burns Red will also headline The Dangerous Tour, alongside Fit For A King, Miss May I, and Crystal Lake. The Winter 2019 headline tour kicks off January 24th in Lexington, Kentucky and runs through March 2nd in Poughkeepsie, New York. The trek includes several dates in Canada. All dates are below.

January
24 — Lexington, KY — Manchester Music Hall
25 — Richmond, VA — The National ∞
26 — Asheville, NC — The Orange Peel
27 — Charleston, SC — Music Farm ∞
29 — Destin, FL — Club LA*
30 — New Orleans, LA — House of Blues
31 — San Antonio, TX — Alamo City Music Hall*

February
1 — Odessa, TX — Dos Amigos
2 — Albuquerque, NM — Sunshine Theater
4 — Tucson, AZ — The Rock
5 — Pomona, CA — The Glass House*
6 — Sacramento, CA — Ace of Spades*
8 — Spokane, WA — Knitting Factory
9 — Boise, ID — Knitting factory
10 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Depot
11 — Grand Junction, CO — Mesa Theater
12 — Fort Collins, CO — Aggie Theatre
14 — Oklahoma City, OK — Diamond Ballroom
15 — Lincoln, NE — Bourbon Theatre
16 — Minneapolis, MN — Cabooze
17 — Des Moines, IA — Wooly's
18 — Grand Rapids, MI — Intersection*
20 — Columbus, OH — Newport Music Hall*
22 — Ottawa, ON — TD Place
23 — Quebec City, QC — Imperial De Quebec
25 — Hampton Beach, NH — Wally’s ∞
26 — Portland, ME — Aura
27 — Clifton Park, NY — Upstate Concert Hall ∞
28 — Buffalo, NY — Town Ballroom

March
1 – Hartford, CT – The Webster ∞
2 – Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance Theater

* No FFAK
∞ No MMI

BORN OF OSIRIS has just released one of the most expansive offerings of its already heralded career. "The Simulation" shows the group continuing to evolve and push itself further to create something that is truly timeless.

A brand new music video for the song "Cycles Of Tragedy", taken from "The Simulation", can be seen below.

Lee McKinney (guitars) states: "This song was one of the first that Nick Rossi threw into the mix when we started to realize he was going to be with us going forward. I think it's a perfect blend of all of the emotions we have been bringing to the table with BORN OF OSIRIS throughout the years. It plays between really aggressive rhythmic patterns and what is, in my opinion, potentially the strongest chorus on the album, vocally. I'm also very proud of my guitar solo at the end. I believe I was able to find the right mix between melody and technicality."

He continues: "The video was also a blast to shoot. We got to go to YouTube HQ in California and had a really fun comfortable time shooting. We had been talking about bringing the portal and the 'being' that is on the cover of the album into a music video, and this was the one. I think director Steven Contreras (ASKING ALEXANDRIA) did a great job. Maybe you'll see more of this kind of art on stage with us on 'The Simulation' U.S. tour next month. Hope you all enjoy it!"

"The Simulation" track listing:

01. The Accursed

02. Disconnectome

03. Cycles Of Tragedy

04. Under The Gun

05. Recursion

06. Analogs In A Cell

07. Silence The Echo

08. One Without The Other

Switzerland's Rage Of Light are about to unleash a musical monster. Their mix of sharp riffs, electronic beats, melody and screaming violence breaks down to the long awaited debut album, Imploder, out on March 29th via Napalm Records.

After the success of their EP, Chasing A Reflection, time has come to take the next step for Rage Of Light around the charismatic Melissa Bonny and founder Jonathan Pellet.

The band on the new album: "Imploder opens a window on a hypothetical future where the detention of power and the technological evolution have been led by people acting without measuring the consequences. Each song reflects this unique Rage Of Light signature: our own combination of powerful riffs and harsh vocals contrasted by mesmerizing trance touches and clean vocals."

Watch an album teaser below. Pre-orders start on January 22nd.

Tracklisting:

"Light"
"Enraged"
"Fallen"
"I Can, I Will"
"Away With You"
"In The Shadow"
"Battlefront"
"Imploder"
"Mechanicals"
"Nothingness"

Teaser:

Rage Of Light are:

Melissa Bonny - Main vocals
Jonathan Pellet - Vocals, keyboards, synth & drums programming
Noé Schüpbach - Guitars, bass

(Photo - Pascal Knecht)

"Witan", the new video from SOILWORK, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's 11th studio album, "Verkligheten", which is SOILWORK's first to feature drummer Bastian Thusgaard, who replaced Dirk Verbeuren in 2016.

"Verkligheten" is being released today (Friday, January 11) via Nuclear Blast. The first-edition digipack, as well as the vinyl versions, also contain the exclusive "Underworld" EP, containing four more songs. The digipack version also features special artwork with lavish foil print.

"Verkligheten" track listing:

01. Verkligheten

02. Arrival

03. Bleeder Despoiler

04. Full Moon Shoals

05. The Nurturing Glance

06. When The Universe Spoke

07. Stålfågel

08. The Wolves Are Back In Town

09. Witan

10. The Ageless Whisper

11. Needles And Kin

12. You Aquiver


"Underworld" bonus EP track listing:

13. Summerburned And Winterblown

14. In This Master's Tale

15. The Undying Eye

16. Needles And Kin (original version)

SOILWORK vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid told Metal Wani about the "Verkligheten" album title: "I think David [Andersson, guitar] came up with the idea a couple of years ago. He said, 'We should totally name it 'Verkligheten'.' At the time, it seemed sort of weird, but it sort of marinated for a couple of years, then it picked up again, especially with this record that has so much Swedish melancholy written all over it, especially with the melodies. It seemed like the perfect title. I guess, lyrically, when I write lyrics, they're usually very socially realistic and when David writes lyrics, they're usually full of escapism and escaping reality and at the same time, I sort of want everything to be as normal as possible. The older you get, the more you have to face reality, so, I guess it's a very fitting title in the end."

Asked whether he is concerned about the four-year gap between studio albums for SOILWORK, with their most recent effort, "The Ride Majestic", coming in 2015, Björn said: "Not really. I mean, we never want to release an album as an excuse to tour. I think there's too much of that already out there. It's very sort of emotionally driven. We did so much touring for 'The Ride Majestic' and I think that's the main reason in the end why it took so long. We did three North American tours; we did two European tours; we did South America, Australia, Japan and we did all the festivals. It left us pretty drained in the end. I guess we needed some time off and then we sort of slowly approached the songwriting process carefully and you never know what's going to happen, how the songwriting is going to go, but it came to us. There was a constant flow of inspiration present. We were honestly very happy to feel that. It was pretty easy to write this record and it's hard to say why, but, we had gone through a lot in the last years, both as a band and the personal level, so I think that also sparked this album in a way."

Björn also talked about the "Verkligheten" musical direction, saying: "I mean, it's hard to sort of realize these things when you're so deep into it. To me, it all makes sense. Maybe some people will be, like, 'Oh, what is this?' And they get really surprised, but that's what we always wanted to do. We always aim to surprise ourselves and our fans and I think that's why we make so much sense today. We're not trying to recreate albums, we keep on developing, but there's always a theme running through our songwriting, especially this new one, I think it's a really good summary of our career. It might be a cliché, but it really feels like that. I think it would even be a great introduction to someone who hasn't heard SOILWORK if they got this album, then they could go back from there."

SOILWORK has just embarked on an extensive European co-headlining run with labelmates AMORPHIS. Support on the trek is coming from NAILED TO OBSCURITY and JINJER.

Photo credit: Stephansdotter Photography

The official music video for the song "Burn In Hell" from the acclaimed Canadian hard rock trio DANKO JONES can be seen below. A swaggering dose of garage-filtered boogie rock, the track serves as the second preview of the group's as-yet-untitled new album, which will be released in the spring.

Says the band: "We asked our fans to film us during our European fall tour 2018, playing our latest song 'Burn In Hell'. This is the result — a music video made by you, our fans."

As was the case with "We're Crazy", a new track unveiled by the band in September, "Burn In Hell" was recorded at Vancouver's Farm Studios with producer GGGarth Richardson (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, BIFFY CLYRO, RISE AGAINST). The song can now be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other digital platforms.

DANKO JONES — whose namesake frontman contributed guest vocals to VOLBEAT's 2017 #1 Active Rock hit "Black Rose", a song he performed live with the group at their stadium show in Denmark (a show that was released as the DVD/Blu-ray "Let's Boogie! Live From Telia Parken") — has made a name for itself over the years as a must-see live band during memorable tours with the likes of GUNS N' ROSES, MOTÖRHEAD and CLUTCH.

DANKO JONES's forthcoming album — the follow-up to 2017's "Wild Cat", the title track of which appeared prominently in the October 21 episode of the Showtime television program "Shameless" — will be released in the spring via M-Theory Audio (U.S.), Rise Above (U.K.), Indica (Canada, AU, NZ) and AFM (rest of the world). More information about the recording will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

DANKO JONES was recently announced for the MEGADETH Megacruise that sets sail October 13, 2019 from Los Angeles, California and hits ports of San Diego, California and Ensenada, Mexico before returning to Los Angeles on October 18, 2019.

Further promoting their acclaimed current album "To Drink From The Night Itself", Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES have now started a massive European tour together with BEHEMOTH and WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM.

AT THE GATES has also released both a strictly limited seven-inch EP titled "The Mirror Black" and a special digital EP titled "With The Pantheons Blind" today.

Enhancing the release of the EPs, AT THE GATES has debuted a video clip for the track "The Mirror Black" in the version featuring guest vocals by Rob Miller (AMEBIX, TAU CROSS). The clip was created by Twilight13Media's Costin Chioreanu, who also is also responsible for the artwork duties of the band's latest album, "To Drink From The Night Itself". The video can now be seen below.

AT THE GATES vocalist Tomas Lindberg checked in with the following comment: "When we decided that we wanted to release the two Rob Miller tracks on a separate seven-inch, we felt that 'The Mirror Black' was worthy of its own video. Costin was already excited about the idea, and I explained the basic outlines of the idea of the song. Working with Costin always brings in another dimension to our music and my lyrics, so he did his own interpretation of the main theme of the song. I am super happy with the result; I really think that this is one of the best videos AT THE GATES have ever done. There are a lot of hidden meanings and other symbolism in this clip, so you can watch it many times and still find new stuff. We as a band are super excited about this release!"

The new seven-inch EP features the two songs — "The Mirror Black" and "Daggers Of Black Haze" — off "To Drink From The Night Itself", in the versions that come with guest vocals by Miller.

The digital EP "With The Pantheons Blind" is also being released today, containing all six bonus tracks from "To Drink From The Night Itself" recording sessions, now available digitally for the first time: "Daggers Of Black Haze" and "The Mirrow Black", featuring guest vocals by Rob Miller; "The Chasm" featuring guest vocals by Per Boder (GOD MACABRE); "A Labyrinth Of Tombs" featuring guest vocals by Mikael Nox Pettersson (CRAFT); a demo version of "The Chasm" and a merciless re-recorded version of the early AT THE GATES classic "Raped By The Light Of Christ", originally featured on the band's sophomore album "With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness" from 1993.

The official lyric video for the song "In Vain" from Dutch metallers WITHIN TEMPTATION can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's forthcoming studio album, "Resist", which will be released on February 1. It is the band's first release through Spinefarm Records, the specialist hard rock label of Universal Music Group.

"Resist" will feature guest appearances by PAPA ROACH's Jacoby Shaddix, IN FLAMES' Anders Fridén and ARID's Jasper Steverlinck.

"Resist" track listing:

01. The Reckoning (feat. Jacoby Shaddix)

02. Endless War

03. Raise Your Banner (feat. Anders Fridén)

04. Supernova

05. Holy Ground

06. In Vain

07. Firelight (feat. Jasper Steverlinck)

08. Mad World

09. Mercy Mirror

10. Trophy Hunter

"Resist" marks a departure from the WITHIN TEMPTATION's past. The record is armed with 10 anthemic tracks, driven by grand melodies and dark hooks. It brings a futuristic take on metal to the table — both instrumentally and thematically.

"'Resist' is a true milestone for us. If it wasn't for 'Resist', WITHIN TEMPTATION wouldn't be here anymore," the band stated.


"With this record, we've taken inspiration from modern music and gave it a face — a very dark one," singer Sharon Den Adel said. "Sometimes, it feels that today's pop music lacks a rebellious edge. Our main goal was to collect pieces from sounds we did like and roughen it up as much as we could, resulting in a surprisingly new musical world that is heavier, dirtier and more futuristic than we've ever created before. 'Resist' is our take on metal in a new way: to give modern music its rebellious edge."

Regarding the nearly five-year gap between "Hydra" and "Resist", Sharon told Poland's Interia.tv: "It took me a long time because of several reasons. We had a heavy touring schedule with 'Hydra', and we toured a long time. We've been together as a band for such ages, and so when I came back, I didn't have any inspiration. There was a lot of things happening in my personal life, so all that came together and I just couldn't write music. I was very much blocked. I needed for myself to discover if I still wanted to do the touring and also writing music for WITHIN TEMPTATION, if I still wanted to be in the band, because it didn't bring me any joy at the time. I was just not in a very good place at that time. Now, I'm feeling a bit — a lot better, actually, and the strange thing is that I couldn't write because I didn't feel the music. I didn't know where to go. Not just me, but also the guys that I work with find it very difficult to write for WITHIN TEMPTATION, because we didn't have any inspiration. It was not just me, but I had a lot of other issues besides not being able to write. That's why it took a long time, and when I did start writing again, I wrote [a] different kind of music — I wrote singer-songwriter kind of songs, and that's not really WITHIN TEMPTATION material. I needed to get that out of my way, so I made a solo album, and when it did start again — when I did feel the songs coming back again to us, and the inspiration and everything — we wrote this album and recorded it in one year. Last summer until this summer, we recorded it, wrote the songs and produced everything."

Queensrÿche are streaming the new track, "Dark Reverie", featured on their forthcoming album, The Verdict, out March 1st via Century Media Records, and available for pre-order here. Listen to the new song below.

The Verdict was produced, mixed, and mastered by Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Iced Earth, Hatebreed) at Uberbeatz in Lynwood, WA, Planet-Z in Wilbraham, MA and Watershed Studio in Seattle, WA.

2CD edition tracklisting:

Disc 1
"Blood Of The Levant"
"Man The Machine"
"Light-Years"
"Inside Out "
"Propaganda Fashion"
"Dark Reverie"
"Bent"
"Inner Unrest"
"Launder The Conscience"
"Portrait"

Disc 2
"I Dream In Infrared" (Acoustic)
"Open Road" (Acoustic)
"46° North"
"Mercury Rising"
"Espiritu Muerto"
"Queen Of The Reich" (live) (Live 2012)
"En Force" (live) (Live 2012)
"Prophecy" (live) (Live 2012)
"Eyes Of A Stranger" (Live 2012)

"Dark Reverie":

"Man The Machine" lyric video:

Queensrÿche will hit the road in March for their headline tour featuring supporting slots from Fates Warning, with The Cringe joining both bands on select dates. The tour will kick off on March 2nd in Orlando, making stops in major markets such as New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and will wrap on April 3rd in Seattle.

Tour dates:

March
2 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live
3 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
5 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
7 - Baltimore - Sound Stage*
8 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun^
9 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza*
10 - Worcester, MA - Palladium*
12 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
13 - Detroit, MI - Diesel
14 - Chicago, IL - Concord
15 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
16 - Medina, MN - Medina Entertainment Center
17 - Davenport, IA - Rhythm City Casino Resort^
20 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
21 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
22 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec
23 - Albuquerque, NM - El Rey
26 - Tempe, AZ - The Marquee
27 - San Diego - Observatory
28 - Los Angeles, CA- Fonda
29 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
30 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades

April
2 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
3 - Seattle, WA - Neptune

* with support from The Cringe
^ Queensrÿche only

 

Legendary Chicago metal band Usurper have just released a lyric video for the title track of their upcoming album, Lords Of The Permafrost.  

The band commented about the upcoming album: "After a 14-year hiatus, Usurper are proud to return with our sixth full length album entitled, Lords Of the Permafrost. Back when we formed in 1993, we had the goal to create heavy, memorable songs with the anthemic quality of traditional heavy metal, combined with the heaviness of death metal, the fury of thrash metal, the atmosphere of black metal and the straight-forward, ass-kicking of '70s hard rock.... 25 years later, we feel we have stayed true to our original objective and have recorded the quintessential Usurper album." 

"Lyrically these songs explore topics such as monster folklore, the paranormal and other obscure tales, all while being delivered with a lethal dose of heavy metal bravado. Usurper never have, and never will chase trends. We have only returned to bring our next chapter of metal to the Worldwide Warriors of Iron and Rust, and kick maximum ass!"

Formed in the early 1990s, Usurper has released five full length albums and toured worldwide, headlining metal festivals in Europe and The United States, also supporting the likes of Manowar, Cradle Of Filth, Enthroned, and Enslaved. Eschewing social and political ideologies, the band writes classic heavy metal anthems that incorporate folklore, science fiction, and paranormal topics.

On the eve of releasing their sixth album Lords Of The Permafrost, which may be their strongest work yet, this Usurper delivers a heavy metal punch in the gut that's just as relevant today as when they rose through the ranks of the underground music scene 25 years ago.  

 

Select cinemas across the globe are now offering sing-along showings of Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, from January 11th.

Click here to book tickets and get more info. Watch a trailer below:

Celebrate the iconic and heart-pounding music of Queen and Freddie Mercury when Bohemian Rhapsody comes to Digital and Movies Anywhere January 22nd and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD February 12th. Fans can experience the story behind the band and the making of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the #1 streamed song of the 20th century and other favorites like “We Will Rock You”, “Somebody To Love”, “We Are The Champions” and more, for a musical adventure that will make you laugh, sing, dance, and cry.

The cast of Bohemian Rhapsody recreated the 1985 Live Aid performance with precision. Watch this side-by-side video:

Bohemian Rhapsody is an enthralling celebration of Queen, their music, and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury (Malek), who defied stereotypes and convention to become one of history’s most beloved entertainers. Following Queen’s meteoric rise, their revolutionary sound and Freddie’s solo career, the film also chronicles the band’s reunion and one of the greatest performances in rock history.

For the first time, fans can experience a true one-of-a-kind music movie event with the complete Live Aid Movie Performance featuring two never-before-seen songs (“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “We Will Rock You”) packed into a 22-minute collective experience recreating the original event. In addition, on Blu-ray & Digital, fans will get a look behind the making of the film including interviews with Queen, the cast and creative team.

Bohemian Rhapsody Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray special features:

- The Complete Live Aid Movie Performance Not Seen in Theatres (featured in 4K Ultra HD HDR on the 4K Ultra HD Disc)

- Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie

- The Look and Sound of Queen

- Recreating Live Aid

Bohemian Rhapsody DVD features:

- The Complete Live Aid Movie Performance Not Seen in Theatres

Bohemian Rhapsody was awarded with the "Best Motion Picture - Drama" award on Sunday (January 6th) at the 76th Golden Globe Awards. Rami Malek, who portrays late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the film, took home the award for "Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture".

"I think it's the biggest surprise of our career, really," said Queen guitarist Brian May in reaction to the award. "Unbelievable, completely unexpected, and completely joyous. How extraordinary."

"We're kind of lost for words," said drummer Roger Taylor. "Rami really deserved to win. This is just so much icing on the cake, and I'm not even in the movie!"

Asked how it felt accepting his award, Rami Maklek revealed, "I honesty don't remember one thing I said up there. It was a euphoric feeling. I thought that the height of this adrenaline and euphoria was on that Live Aid stage. If anything can match that, it was being up there right now, accepting this award."

He continued, "To share this with Queen, it's an out of body experience."

The official lyric video for "I, The Mask", a brand new song from Swedish melodic heavyweights IN FLAMES, can be seen below. The track is the title cut of the band's thirteenth studio album, which will be released on March 1 via Nuclear Blast (worldwide, excluding North America) and Eleven Seven Music (North America). The 12-track album reunites IN FLAMES with Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, MOTÖRHEAD) who also produced 2016's "Battles". Additionally, the album was mixed by Grammy Award winner Chris Lord-Alge (CHEAP TRICK, LINKIN PARK) and mastered by Grammy-winning mastering engeneer Ted Jensen (PANTERA, EAGLES, GUNS N' ROSES).

The album artwork is created by artist Blake Armstrong and depicts a unique interpretation of the band's mascot, The Jesterhead. The story of the cover will be revealed via the full album artwork on March 1, which coincides with each song on the album.

Says IN FLAMES singer Anders Fridén: "This album is really a special one to us. Since our last record, 'Battles', we've established our own annual festival in Sweden and have been touring non-stop worldwide, creating an even stronger bond with our fans. You could say it was a big part of our inspiration for this album. It's been such a long journey that just keeps going and growing. We feel extremely thankful for that, and for the support that makes it possible. We dedicate our 13th album, 'I, The Mask', to our fans who allow us to keep making music and playing it every night. IN JESTERHEADS WE TRUST."

IN FLAMES previously debuted two killer tracks from "I, The Mask" — the superlative anthems "I Am Above" and "(This Is Our) House". A poignant video for "I Am Above" was also revealed, which features famous Swedish actor Martin Wallström ("Mr. Robot"). The video takes place in a pitch-black room with Martin who eerily lip syncs the metal ballad with expressive facial gestures that capture the song's emotion. Meanwhile, the lyric video for track "(This Is Our) House" features unseen footage from the band's first annual Swedish festival, Borgholm Brinner (Borgholm Is Burning).

Said Wallström: "I was very intrigued by doing something I've never done before and honored getting the question from IN FLAMES. Also trying to portray a lively song in a dark room, sitting in front of a camera was challenging, but I felt strongly for the song and the lyrics, so that was a comfort."


"I, The Mask" track listing:

01. Voices

02. I, The Mask

03. Call My Name

04. I Am Above

05. Follow Me

06. (This is Our) House

07. We Will Remember

08. In This Life

09. Burn

10. Deep Inside

11. All The Pain

12. Stay With Me

IN FLAMES recruited American drummer Tanner Wayne, best known for his work with UNDERMINDED, SCARY KIDS SCARING KIDS and CHIODOS, to sit behind the kit for the band for its 2018 live appearances.

Wayne stepped into IN FLAMES following the apparent recent departure of Joe Rickard, who played on the band's 2016 studio album, "Battles".


Tanner made his live debut with IN FLAMES in July 2018 in Brno, Czech Republic.

Longtime IN FLAMES drummer Daniel Svensson announced in 2015 that he was leaving the band to focus on his family life.

IN FLAMES' current lineup features American bassist Bryce Paul, who has been playing most of the shows with the group since longtime bassist Peter Iwers's November 2016 exit.

The official lyric video for the song "Rituals Of Power" from MISERY INDEX can be seen below. The track is the title cut of the band's new album, which will be released on March 8 via Season Of Mist.

The band comments: "'Rituals Of Power' is a disavowal and warning against the consequences of our so-called 'post-truth' age. Each of the nine songs revolves loosely around this theme, yet each track also stands very much on its own. As an album, however, they are all brought to life as one 'reanimated' monster; it's roughly 35 minutes of unhinged-yet-cohesive riff-driven aural ballistics. We were pissed off and on fire during both the writing and recording, and we think it shows in spades. We set out to write the best album we could, based on what we would want to hear first as fans of this music, and we could not be happier."

"Rituals Of Power" sees the powerhouse quartet unleash a barrage of ferocious death metal as violent as it is savvy. Their vicious vocals spit venom, laying bare the ills of a dystopian society gone mad. As rampaging new tracks like "New Salem", the title track, and "I Disavow" so brashly prove, "Rituals Of Power" is world-class modern extremity and MISERY INDEX only grows more powerful with time.

"Rituals Of Power" will be released in several formats, including jewel-case CD, limited LP, limited cassette, limited deluxe digibox which includes bonus cover tracks — NAILBOMB's "Wasting Away" and M.O.D.'s "Man Of Your Dreams" — as well as a carabiner with key strap and bottle opener, a patch, and three vinyl stickers, and digitally.

The artwork for "Rituals Of Power" was created by Raphael Gabrio and can be viewed below.

"Rituals Of Power" track listing:

01. Universal Untruths (2:35)

02. Decline And Fall (4:36)

03. The Choir Invisible (4:26)

04. New Salem (3:24)

05. Hammering The Nails (3:46)

06. Rituals Of Power (5:20)

07. They Always Come Back (5:08)

08. I Disavow (4:21)

09. Naysayer (2:26)

MISERY INDEX has announced new European dates together with WORMROT and TRUTH CORRODED in the spring of 2019. The "Rituals Of Power: Phase 1" tour sees the band traveling through eight countries, with a final curtain at the Turock in Essen, Germany.

"Bent", a new song from Californian rockers BUCKCHERRY, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's upcoming studio album, "Warpaint", which will be released on March 8 via Century Media/RED Music. The 12-song disc, featuring 11 new BUCKCHERRY songs along with a cover of the NINE INCH NAILS classic "Head Like A Hole", was produced by Mike Plotnikoff, whose last collaboration with the band was the platinum-certified album "15". The album art was created by Aaron Marsh and can be seen below.

Singer Josh Todd comments: "Good things come to those who wait and we have been very patient and thorough with the song writing for 'Warpaint'. We took into consideration all the factors and what this record means to, not only us, but the great BUCKCHERRY fans around the world. This record takes the listener on an unforgettable journey and I'm very proud of it."


BUCKCHERRY plans extensive worldwide touring throughout 2019 commencing with four Southern California shows in January, followed by a month-long European tour in February. The first leg of the North American tour will begin in March.

"Warpaint" track listing:

01. Warpaint

02. The Alarm

03. Bent

04. Radio Song

05. Closer

06. Back Down

07. The Vacuum

08. No Regrets

09. The Hunger

10. The Devil's In The Details

11. Right Now

12. Head Like A Hole


BUCKCHERRY recently premiered the video for "Head Like A Hole". The clip was shot in Los Angeles and directed by Jeremy Saffer.

Todd told Billboard that the NINE INCH NAILS cover "happened really organically. We were in the studio making the record, just kind of going through some old songs while they were setting up," he said. "We jammed it out the first time and it was like, boom, automatically sounded right as if we'd written it, which is what we always want to achieve when we do a cover.

"Our producer, Mike Plotnikoff, was recording the whole time and said, 'Hey, why don't you guys come in and hear this?' He put up a little rough mix of it and we were like, 'Wow, this sounds really good. We should do it.'"

Back in September, Todd told the 105.7 The Point radio station that BUCKCHERRY wrote 30 songs for the follow-up to 2015's "Rock 'N' Roll". "We've been writing songs since November of last year, and we really molded it into something really great," he said.

Asked how they whittle down so many songs to just a 10-track album, BUCKCHERRY guitarist Stevie Dacanay (a.k.a. Stevie D.) said: "You kind of know. When you [are writing] the songs, it kind of takes a life of its own, and you can really kind of feel it if it's working or not. And if it is working, then we pursue it; if not, we kind of put it to the side right away."

BUCKCHERRY's new disc will mark the band's first release since the departures of guitarist Keith Nelson and drummer Xavier Muriel and addition of Kevin Roentgen and Sean Winchester, respectively.

To coincide with Led Zeppelin's 50th anniversary, as well as guitarist Jimmy Page’s 75th birthday (January 9th), Billboard has ranked the Led Zeppelin catalog, song by song, based on revenue generated by digital activity since the band’s music first became available at download stores like iTunes and on-demand services like Spotify. (The methodology on how this ranking was compiled is explained in the post.)

Says Billboard: "But it's important to note that while revenue serves as the basis of the ranking, Billboard only counted revenue where the consumer made a choice, either by downloading a song or playing a stream on-demand. That means that other revenue generators - where professionals make choices like which songs to play on the radio, or which song to put in a TV show or to physically release as a single - were not considered, because the consumer wasn’t involved in those choices.

"Therefore, this list is a true gauge of the popularity of the songs within the band’s catalog, because the Zeppelin fans’ actions generated the revenue upon which this ranking is based. Here now is Billboard’s ranking of the most popular Led Zeppelin songs as voted on by US consumers with their time and money, with an observation or two about each of the 94 songs - total revenue generated: $21,607,542.71 - in the band’s catalog."

1. "Stairway To Heaven"
Total Revenue: $2,903,223.42

It's no surprise that this is the top revenue generator for Led Zeppelin, as it's without a doubt the band’s most well-known song. While for years it might have received too much airplay on FM radio, nowadays its plays are way down - about 22,000 spins so far this year, versus a song like Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You,” with 739,000 spins year-to-date, according to Nielsen Music - which means that it's a pleasure when it comes on the air. Spirit claimed its song “Taurus” was infringed by "Stairway," but a court ruled in Zep’s favor in June 2016, although an appeals court partially vacated that decision due to improper jury instructions and remanded the case for a new trial. While the acoustic melody in the early passages of "Stairway" is slightly reminiscent of "Taurus," when Zep's opus goes full-blown electric and grows into other melodic stages, the resemblance is naught. If Zeppelin did borrow its acoustic part from the same place that "Taurus" gets its guitar melody - as was argued during the first trial - Zeppelin’s use of it in "Stairway" certainly seems transformative. (Also, "Taurus" is a completely forgettable song, while "Stairway" has already proved itself to be a song for the ages.)

Early on, almost a year before the song came out, there was a small story in Circus magazine that hinted at the song, talking about how the song was going to build as the melody grows and could be as long as 15 minutes. Around the same time, Page and Plant were talking about creating a song that would live forever like Beethoven’s 5th, a hint of what was coming. Certainly, "Stairway," on the band's most popular album, IV (aka ZOSO), is their best shot at that.

View the full list at Billboard.com.

In 2016, guitar virtuoso Michael Schenker put together MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST, a tour featuring former MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP vocalists Gary Barden and Graham Bonnet, plus Robin McAuley of the MCAULEY SCHENKER GROUP. Instrumental back-up was provided by former M.S.G. bass player Chris Glen and drummer Ted McKenna, plus guitarist/keyboard player Steve Mann, also of the MCAULEY SCHENKER GROUP. These shows were so rapturously received by audiences worldwide that it seemed only logical for the protagonists to make new music together. The decision to bring in Doogie White, singer of Schenker's TEMPLE OF ROCK, adds even more substance to Michael's assembly.

MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST's debut album, "Resurrection" — also featuring a guest appearance by METALLICA's Kirk Hammett — was released on March 2, 2018 through Nuclear Blast and entered charts worldwide, including No. 10 in Germany, No. 16 in Austria and Switzerland, No. 18 in Japan as well as No. 81 in the USA.

Today, Michael Schenker celebrates his 64th birthday and is happy to announce a new studio album.

"Thank you to my fans all around the world for all the birthday messages I have received today," he says. "I'd like to take this opportunity to repay your kind birthday messages by announcing that I am currently in the studio with Michael Voss recording a second MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST studio album. With great pleasure, we will once again have Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet, Robin McAuley and Doogie White on vocals with Chris Glen (bass) Ted McKenna (drums) and Steve Mann (keys / guitar).

"It's great to keep the family together for another studio album and it's already sounding great," he adds.

MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST's sophomore album is scheduled to be released in August via Nuclear Blast Records.

THE NEAL MORSE BAND — Neal Morse (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Randy George (bass), Bill Hubauer (keyboards, vocals), Eric Gillette (guitars, vocals) — will take fans on "The Great Adventure" with its latest double concept album, due out January 25 on Radiant Records via Metal Blade worldwide. It will be available in three formats: a two-CD package, two-CD/DVD special edition featuring behind-the-scenes video clips of the making of the album, and three vinyl LPs.

The official music video for the "Welcome To The World 2" song, taken from "The Great Adventure", can be seen below. The clip sees the band recording the song at Morse's studio in Nashville.

Portnoy says: "Here's another taste from the upcoming THE NEAL MORSE BAND album, 'The Great Adventure'. This one shows a bit of a heavier side and features yours truly bringing some sinister flavor to the story. Keep in mind, all of these singles/videos are like scenes from a movie... the big payoff will be when you get to actually experience the ENTIRE journey! And we plan on releasing two more songs over the next two Thursdays leading to the January 25th release."


The follow-up to 2016's critically acclaimed "The Similitude Of A Dream" will be the ninth studio album with Morse, Portnoy and George, and the third as a true collaboration with this current lineup. Together, Morse and Portnoy have launched four bands, but the one that has endured the longest and thus with the most musical output has been THE NEAL MORSE BAND.


"Let the great adventure now begin…" The closing line of "The Similitude Of A Dream" has proved to be strangely prophetic. The new album is exactly that: a perfect companion piece to "The Similitude Of A Dream"'s partial retelling of John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress". It has everything that fans would expect from an album by THE NEAL MORSE BAND, and more: rock, metal, classical and jazz elements appear throughout, as well as some killer melodies, all played faultlessly by some of the greatest rock musicians on the planet.


As Neal Morse explains: "This band continues to amaze me! I have to say it was a little daunting to follow up 'The Similitude Of A Dream' as it was such a special album and it delivered every night at our concerts, but I believe that 'The Great Adventure' will have a tremendous impact as well. This new double album is everything that I hoped it would be! I listened through last night and I was in tears at the end!"


Mike Portnoy emphatically agrees. He says: "How do you follow an epic double concept album??? Well, create another epic double concept album!! Hahaha. I always knew topping 'The Similitude Of A Dream' was going to be difficult, if not impossible, as I held it in such high regard, but alas, I am absolutely blown away with what we achieved here! We've created what is the ultimate companion to 'The Similitude Of A Dream'."


"Sometimes there are things that you just can't mess with," Randy George continues. "On 'The Similitude Of A Dream', we tapped into something special. I was sure that the follow up should be something quite different, but you have to follow your heart and follow the music where it wants to go. 'The Great Adventure' is nothing short of a miracle. It's similar to 'Similitude' in concept and form, but yet it's tougher and deeper in its tone! This is a powerful work and I look forward to playing it live!


True to the album's title, the creative process was indeed a "great adventure." Unlike many previous Morse albums, which have often been written and arranged within weeks, this time around these prolific and world-class musicians spent almost a year working on the end result, producing an abundance of top-quality material. This meant some ruthless decision-making: some already completed songs and characters had to go, and — with studio time running out–new links and ideas were being composed and recorded up to the eleventh hour. "A lot of work and re-work has gone into this," says Morse, "but I know that some of the most successful and far-reaching albums I've been involved with have been just like that. 'Sola Scriptura' and SPOCK'S BEARD's 'Snow' album come to mind."


Another key question that had to be addressed in the studio was how to pull all the ideas together into a coherent whole. In the end, what unlocked this "adventure" for Morse was the realization that 'The Great Adventure' needed a new voice and perspective. This time, it is that of the Pilgrim's abandoned son, a younger, perhaps angrier, voice than was heard on "The Similitude Of A Dream".


THE NEAL MORSE BAND will bring "The Great Adventure" to fans worldwide with a new round of headlining tour dates, which begin February 2, 2019 in Nashville at City Winery.

Photo credit: Robert Smith

TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider was recently interviewed by Toronto, Ontario, Canada's 94.9 The Rock radio station. You can now listen to the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the current state of heavy metal:

Dee: "You've got these people out there [who say], 'Rock and roll is dead' or 'let me tell you something: rock and roll is dead and I wouldn't pick up a guitar if I were you.' Gene Simmons [KISS] famously said, 'Rock and roll is dead.' And I famously argued back and said, 'Obviously, you're not in tune. Obviously, you're not headed out to the clubs, you're not going to the small theaters or the alt fetivals.' There's a passion out there, there's great music out there, but it's not receiving the attention that it used to receive. Things are very target-marketed, social-media-marketed these days. The record companies know how to reach out to the specific fan. But my kids are all metalheads. They're all grown, but they've taken me to metal shows throughout the last three decades and I've been in touch. And I see that the passion is still there. But I'm kind of feeling it in a way that I'm getting to be a voice of the community, since I am O.G. metalhead. And with [my latest solo album] 'For The Love Of Metal', I'm making some kind of statement that people of all ages are getting behind and saying, 'Yeah, thank you, Dee, for standing up and shouting it out loud and proud."

On how the music industry has changed in the last 35 years:

Dee: "I couldn't do this without [HATEBREED frontman] Jamey Jasta [who produced 'For The Love Of Metal'], because I don't get it. I've got my oldest son — he's been a struggling singer and songwriter for years — and he keeps turning to me. He goes, 'Dad…?' I'm going, 'I don't know.' It's a different animal right now. I'm a radio guy. I've been doing radio for over 25 years now. That's what my life-after-rock-and-roll place is. But at the same time, it is part of a bigger picture and there's other elements… It takes a village, but it takes a lot more than it used to back in the old days."

On how difficult it is for new bands to get the attention of record labels and concert promoters:

Dee: "It's always been a Catch 22. And it's plagued the artists all along. But it's just the way it is. They wanna see some evidence… 'We wanna see signs of life.' 'Yeah, but if you don't promote it, how am I gonna get signs of life?' So, now, it's supposed to miraculously survive on its own, and then it gets the love. A lot of people say, 'Oh, it's so much harder now.' No. It was incredibly hard back in the day. Anybody who's seen the TWISTED documentary, 'We Are Twisted F*cking Sister!', knows it took 10 years — 10! – for TWISTED SISTER to get to that 'We're Not Gonna Take It' moment. And it was brutal. And now it's brutal too. Creators have always had to fight a fight to get recognized."

Released last July, "For The Love Of Metal" featured 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).

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

MetallicaTV has uploaded this video of Metallica performing the Kill 'Em All album cut, "The Four Horsemen", at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho on November 28th, 2018:

Previously posted footage of Metallica performing "The Four Horsemen" at the first All Within My Hands Helping Hands Concert & Auction, which took place at The Masonic in San Francisco, CA on November 3rd, can be seen below. The performance features Avi Vinocur on mandolin & background vocals, David Phillips on pedal-steel, Henry Salvia on keyboards, and Cody Rhodes on percussion.

Says Metallica: "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 have launched the pre-order for Helping Hands... Live & Acoustic At The Masonic.

Pre-order this limited-edition, 140 gram coloured 2-LP with a download card in the Met Store here, at Probity Merch UK/EU Metallica Shop, or pick it up at your local record store on February 1st.

All net proceeds from the purchase of this album will be donated directly to AWMH and used to support communities in need, primarily in the areas of workforce education and the fight against hunger.

Tracklisting:

Disc One / Side A

"Disposable Heroes"
"When A Blind Man Cries"
"The Unforgiven"

Disc One / Side B

"Please Don’t Judas Me"
"Turn The Page"

Disc Two / Side C

"Bleeding Me"
"Veteran Of The Psychic Wars"
"Nothing Else Matters"

Disc Two / Side D

"All Within My Hands"
"Enter Sandman"
"The Four Horsemen"
"Hardwired"

Metallica performs next on January 16th at the I Am the Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell event at The Forum in Los Angeles, CA. The band's complete tour schedule, which stretches into August 2019, can be found at this location.

Swedish melodic metallers AMARANTHE have released the official music video for the song "Dream". The track is taken from the band's fifth album "Helix", which was released in October through Spinefarm Records. The disc was recorded at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, EPICA, DELAIN). The follow-up to 2016's "Maximalism" marks the band's first release with DYNAZTY's Nils Molin, who officially joined AMARANTHE in July 2017 as the replacement for Jake E.

The "Dream" video was created by Jens De Vos of Belgium's Panda Productions.

"Helix" proves AMARANTHE has refined its melodic sensibilities ever further while retaining a cutting-edge metal assault. The band is as massively aggressive as ever and the first single "365" is the perfect example of such — its seductively velvety mix of contemporary pop and modern metal will take up residence in your brain for days.


Guitarist Olof Mörck comments: "The 'Helix' album itself is a statement, a declaration and an assertion that we are here to stay, and that the songwriting and musicianship has been honed and maximized to the highest level yet on an AMARANTHE record. The process of composing this album with Elize [Ryd] was as inspiring as it was smooth, and from a composer's and arranger's perspective, a dream collaboration. The time is nigh, the die is cast, and all the stars are right: the 'Helix' will steamroll across the globe, and in its wake, the touring machine that is AMARANTHE will conquer all!"


Vocalist and composer Elize Ryd offered her take, saying: "'Helix' describes the concept of how the past forms us and how life makes us become. No excuses, no regrets. We express the challenges and the uplifting moments in time, and all that in between with the sounds that we love. We want to dedicate this album to all the fighters and friends out there."


Ryd told Radio Q that "Helix" was completed in under five months. "I know we're crazy, but that's what we like," she said. "We like people to be crazy. Just go there, do your shit — do things you wouldn't expect yourself to be able to do. When the [record] label asked, 'Are you guys sure you can have enough time to write a new album?' And we do not like to say 'no,' so we said, 'Of course. Yes.' And we did it."

Added Mörck: "And we figured it was also a good thing for us, to actually push ourselves a little bit. If we sit down to write music — me and Elize together have been writing this whole album — it's never happened even once that we haven't composed something. So when the label asked, I was, at first, like, 'Okay, this could really be pushing it.' So in the back of my head, I was thinking initially that, 'Okay, if this goes south somehow, then maybe we'll have to push [back] the recording — worst-, worst-case scenario.' But it just turned out the other way around. Because it was only two months, and we were constantly in the zone — day and night, every single day, composing all the time — so you never lost the focus of it. And I think it really, really helped the album, because it's a very focused album… So we just took a break from touring for two months to write it. and then another two and a half [months] to record it, and, poof, there was an album. Which is, at least in our opinion, the best album that we've ever composed."

AMARANTHE is:

Elize Ryd - Vocals

Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson - Screams

Nils Molin - Vocals

Olof Mörck - Guitar, Keys

Johan Andreassen - Bass

Morten Løve Sørensen - Drums

Jake E. Lee says that he would love to tour with Zakk Wylde.

Lee was fired from Ozzy Osbourne's band in 1987 and was replaced by Wylde, who has played with the BLACK SABBATH singer, on and off, for more than three decades.

Asked by Guitar World magazine if he is planning to do a full-scale tour behind "Patina", the sophomore album from his RED DRAGON CARTEL band, Jake said: I am. I don't think there's any firm commitments yet other than I know we're going to Japan in April, and we'll probably do an American tour before that. Other than that, nothing else is actually set. We'll probably be doing bars and clubs, although we were hoping to go out on tour with somebody. Ideally, we wanted to do something with Zakk Wylde, because I just think that would be really cool to have two Ozzy guitar players together."

Lee went on to say that he thinks the idea has already been broached with Wylde's management. "Because I don't know Zakk personally," he explained. "I only met him once and that was when he was 19 — back when he was skinny and pretty, you know? [Laughs] But it's been a long time since I've actually talked to Zakk."

According to Jake, he met Zakk right after Wylde landed the Ozzy gig. "We were at some hotel in L.A. — I can't think of the name — for a BADLANDS meeting," he said. "And Ozzy walked by. And then Zakk walked by and he introduced himself. And he was really cool. I mean, I had nothing against him… I just wished him luck. It was a very brief meeting. But he seemed like a nice guy and he's always been very kind to me in the press."

Lee recently told Ultimate Guitar that Wylde is "an incredible guitar player" who "ended up being a better fit with Ozzy than I ever was." He said: "I was hoping, a little piece of me was hoping [Ozzy's first album with Zakk, 1988's] 'No Rest For The Wicked' was gonna kind of suck. You can't help it. You want to — 'Oh, look, he's not as good without me.' But it was an incredible record. And kudos to Zakk, he did a great job."

Lee, who was tapped by Ozzy to replace the late Randy Rhoads in Osbourne's band, played on two Ozzy records: 1983's "Bark At The Moon" and 1986's "The Ultimate Sin".

Greek groove metallers Full House Brew Crew featuring a Rotting Christ member in their ranks, have released a new music video for “Cannot Be Judged”, the track is taken from their monstrous second album Me Against You.

The video was directed by Leonidas Michelopoulos.

After many years of absence, because of Vagelis’ duties as the bass player of the legendary Rotting Christ, Full House Brew Crew are coming back with a strong statement of an album.

“No Retreat” and “Black Empty Box” were the fan’s favourite songs from their debut album Bet It All and with those songs in mind, now they put out Me Against You, which maybe includes the heaviest power grooves ever written from a European artist.

Me Against You influences came from bands like Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch, Pantera, Metallica (Black Album era) and Black Label Society. This made the album more diverse on vocal perspective and more mature compositions! Full House Brew Crew keep on making headbang-worthy records, with melodies that stick to your brain!

"Another Life" lyric video:

"Hollow God" lyric video:

Full House Brew Crew is:

Vagelis Karzis - Vocals, Guitars (Rotting Christ)
Spiros Dafalias - Bass
George Tzatzakis - Guitars
Alex Keito - Drums

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based technical/progressive death metal project Equipoise recently announced the upcoming release of their debut full-length, Demiurgus. The album is set for release on March 8th through The Artisan Era. It is the follow up to the group's 2016 heavily praised EP, Birthing Homunculi, whose material makes its way onto Demiurgus in a re-worked fashion far beyond their initial form. 

Equipoise features an amalgamation of well-respected musicians within the technical death metal community from Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, Denver, and Quebec. The band's members play in established well-known acts including Beyond Creation, First Fragment, ex-The Faceless, Inferi, Wormhole, NYN, and more.

Having banded together as a multi-national collective of renowned death metal musicians, Equipoise then undertook the task of furthering their initial vision on 2016's Birthing Homunculi into the standout new heights reached throughout their upcoming full-length, Demiurgus. The end product, while exploding with endless guitar solos and incredibly complex songwriting throughout, remains the same as when the project began, to offer a death metal experience that's both fun to listen to and memorable. Bandleader Nick Padovani comments on Equipoise as "Playing a melodic brand of technical/progressive death metal, we like to make frequent use of orchestral elements and flamenco guitar, as we feel good music shouldn’t be pigeonholed by any one sound."

Tracklisting:

“Illborn Augury”
“Sovereign Sacrifices”
“Alchemic Web Of Deceit”
“A Suit Of My Flesh”
“Shrouded”
“Sigil Insidious”
“Reincarnated”
“Dualis Flamel”
“Eve Of The Promised Day”
“Waking Divinity”
“Ecliptic”
“Squall Of Souls”
“Cast Into Exile”
“Ouroboric”

“Waking Divinity” lyric video:

Equipoise - Demiurgus Lineup: 
Stevie Boiser (Inferi, Tethys, Ashen Horde, Ex-Vale of Pnath) - Vocals/Lyrics
Phil Tougas (First Fragment, Chthe'ilist, Zealotry, Serocs) - Guitar, Nylon Guitar
Nick Padovani - Guitar, Nylon Guitar
Sanjay Kumar (Wormhole, Perihelion) - Guitar
Hugo Doyon-Karout (Beyond Creation, Brought by Pain) - Fretless Bass
Jimmy Pitts (Eternity's End, NYN, The Fractured Dimension) - Piano
Chason Westmoreland (Ex-The Faceless, Ex-Hate Eternal) - Drums

The second trailer for "Hexed", the upcoming tenth album from Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM, can be seen below. In the clip, frontman Alexi Laiho discusses the lyrical themes of the disc, which will be released on March 8 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Alexi says: "The lyrics, in general, they're about different things here and there. But mostly, they just come from real life and real feelings. Usually anything that's negative that's happening inside my head that I need to get out somehow. I need to vent all the negative stuff that's going on inside my head, and that's the best and safest way for me to do it. I channel my shit feelings through the music and at least try to turn it into something positive."

"Hexed" saw the return to Finland's Danger Johnny Studios where COB was reunited with Mikko Karmila ("I Worship Chaos", "Halo Of Blood", "Hatebreeder", "Follow The Reaper" and "Hate Crew Deathroll") who recorded everything except keyboards and also produced the album with the band. Janne Wirman recorded keyboards at Beyond Abilities Studios. The album was mixed and mastered at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland.

For this album, the band enlisted Deins Forkas to create the album artwork. Henkka commented on the cover: "For some years I've wanted to try a different approach with our cover art. We are so used to digital art, so it's really hard to do something else. Doing it completely with a computer is somewhat safe and convenient. This time we all agreed to try going old school. We found this cool dude and gave him simple instructions — the cover has to be purple and the reaper has to be central. Half a year later, we got his work, and with little tweaking, we now have the cover of 'Hexed'. It is very different from what we are used to, even the Reaper looks different, but at the same time very spooky."

"Hexed" track listing:

01. The Road

02. Under Grass And Clover

03. Glass Houses

04. Hecate's Nightmare

05. Kick In The Spleen

06. Platitudes And Barren Words

07. Hexed

08. Relapse (The Nature Of My Crime)

09. Say Never Look Back

10. Soon Departed

11. Knuckleduster

12. I Worship Chaos (live)

13. Morrigan (live)

14. Knuckleduster (remix)

Laiho comments: "People have said that this album is generally catchier. So I started thinking about that; perhaps the song structures are easier to grasp on initial listen. But there's some crazy shit in there — almost progressive or at least technical. There are certain melodies across the album that could have come from jazz songs, although they're completely metal with us, of course. [Laughs]"

"For me, it has always been very hard to describe our new music," comments bassist Henkka Seppälä (a.k.a. Henkka T. Blacksmith). "In a way, it always feels familiar, but the new stuff also always surprises me. Here we have something that's very BODOM, but somehow we haven't done this kind of stuff, possibly ever. Then again, someone said that there's a somewhat similar vibe to what 'Follow The Reaper' had. I don't know. Anyway, we had a really hard time choosing the songs for the videos. I guess that's a positive problem to have."

Fast-rising fusion guitarist, Steve Dadaian, will release his new full-length concept album, Follow The Light, on February 1st. Today he reveals a brand new track from the album, entitled "Soul Connection", featuring the powerful guest lead vocals of Soilwork frontman Björn "Speed" Strid. Watch the lyric video, created by Wayne Joyner, below.

"Soul Connection", in its entirety, was originally written by Dadaian for a 2017 songwriting competition held by Serj Tankian of System of a Down - of which Dadaian was a finalist. For the competition, dubbed the 7 Notes Experiment, Tankian provided the first seven notes of a song and competitors were asked to write a full track from those notes. All proceeds from the sale of the track will go to the Creative Armenia Fund, an arts foundation created to discover, develop, produce and promote creative talent across the world.

Steve Dadaian says: "This song is the only track with vocals on the entire album, so I knew I had to do something special with it. I wanted to preserve the intensity of the preceding songs while offering something new with 'Soul Connection'. Enter vocal master Björn Strid - his talents and contribution helped make this an epic, standout track.

"'Soul Connection' was inspired by the haunting first seven notes of the song. Lyrically, the idea is that even when those we are close to pass on, an intangible part of them stays with us from generation to generation. This theme ties into the main conceptual storyline of my album as well."
 
Björn Strid adds, "I think this collaboration really came out great. The topic is brilliant and is something I can definitely relate to."

Featuring razor-sharp solos, theatrical, symphonic soundscapes and unforgettable melodies, Steve Dadaian's new album, Follow The Light, starts strong with an ominous, movie-soundtrack-ready introduction preparing the listener for the album, aptly titled "The Journey Ahead". The album wastes no time beginning its epic tale with the metal/jazz fusion track "Follow The Light", and continues to flux amid orchestral-influenced pieces such as "Forest Requiem" and larger-than-life metal opuses like "Soul Connection".

Follow The Light can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp, iTunes and Amazon now. The physical version of Follow The Light also includes a written component, allowing the listener to follow the album's epic story both on paper and in auditory form.

Check out the music video for the title track, "Follow The Light", below.

Follow The Light tracklisting:

"The Journey Ahead"
"Follow The Light"
"Forest Requiem"
"Red River"
"Beneath The Citadel"
"Soul Connection" (guest vocals by Björn Strid of Soilwork, intro notes by Serj Tankian of System Of A Down)
"Presence of Mind"
"Clash in the Corridor"
"On Silver Shores"

"Follow The Light" video:

Follow The Light credits:

Guitar & Bass - Steve Dadaian
Drums - Ryan Bertone
Tracking - Room368 Productions (Haworth, NJ)
Mixing & Mastering - Develop Device Studios

New Jersey native Steve Dadaian discovered his love for the guitar at a young age. Even while studying at the prestigious Columbia University in the city of New York, Dadaian continued to hone his craft as an artist. The then 21-year-old classically-trained guitarist spent the little spare time he had reaching top spots at national guitar competitions hosted by Slash, John Petrucci (Dream Theater) and Jon Donais (Anthrax, Shadows Fall), performing at events with the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and Nicko McBrain, and dazzling crowds at venues like the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Steve Dadaian endorses DR strings, ESP Guitars, Synergy Amps, and Lunastone pedals.

Steve Dadaian will appear at the Winter NAMM Show 2019, where he will perform tracks from his new album at the DR Strings booth (4214 Hall D) on Friday, January 25th at 11 AM. During the performance, Dadaian will utilize a variety of the company's product lines - such as Tite-fit and DDT (Drop Down Tuning) strings. Stay tuned for a special video showcasing DR Strings' DDT line, featuring Steve Dadaian, set to launch via Sweetwater.com before NAMM.