The first trailer for SOILWORK's 11th studio album, "Verkligheten", can be seen below. The disc is SOILWORK's first to feature drummer Bastian Thusgaard, who replaced Dirk Verbeuren in 2016. In the trailer, Thusgaard talks about the band's most recent single, "Full Moon Shoals".

"Verkligheten" will be released on January 11, 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The first-edition digipack, as well as the vinyl versions, will also contain the exclusive "Underworld" EP, containing four more songs. The digipack version will also feature special artwork with lavish foil print.

The album as well as accompanying merchandise is now available for pre-order in various formats (digipack + t-shirt, digipack, black/orange/purple vinyl as well as digital download/stream).

"Verkligheten" track listing:

1. Verkligheten

02. Arrival

03. Bleeder Despoiler

04. Full Moon Shoals

05. The Nurturing Glance

06. When The Universe Spoke

07. Stålfågel (feat. Alissa White-Gluz)

08. The Wolves Are Back In Town

09. Witan

10. The Ageless Whisper

11. Needles And Kin (feat. Tomi Joutsen)

12. You Aquiver (feat. Dave Sheldon)


"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 singer Björn "Speed" Strid told United Rock Nations about the disc. "I'm really, really pleased with it — it's really, really cool. [It's] possibly the most epic and darkest album we've done. And it's also very melancholic, but it's also very sort of uplifting. It's huge. I'm really happy with it."

Asked if the musical direction of the new SOILWORK material is similar to that on the last album, Strid said: "I would say a mixture between 'The Ride Majestic' and [2013's] 'The Living Infinite'."

SOILWORK will embark on an extensive European co-headlining run with labelmates AMORPHIS in January. Support on the trek will come from NAILED TO OBSCURITY and JINJER.

SOILWORK is now a quintet, following the departure of bassist Markus Wibom in late 2016 due to "other commitments." He has since been replaced by touring bassist Taylor Nordberg (THE ABSENCE).

In 2016, SOILWORK released a special collection of rarities titled "Death Resonance" via Nuclear Blast.

SOILWORK is:

Björn "Speed" Strid - Vocals

Sven Karlsson - Keyboards

David Andersson - Guitars

Sylvain Coudret - Guitars

Bastian Thusgaard - Drums

Photo credit: Stephansdotter Photography

Epic death/black metal formation Bleeding Gods performed at the 2018 edition of Slovenia's MetalDays festival, which took place July 22nd - 28th. Pro-shot video of the band's performance of the Dodekathlon album track, "Hera's Orchard", is available for streaming below.

Says the band: "Thanks for all the support and great response during and after our show. Hopefully we will see you all soon again."

Find the band's live itinerary here.

(Photo and editing by Cristel Brouwer and Dimitris Tzortzis of Immensa Artis)

THE END: MACHINE, the new band featuring three members of the classic DOKKEN lineup — George Lynch (guitar), Jeff Pilson (bass) and Mick Brown (drums) — along with former LYNCH MOB and current WARRANT singer Robert Mason, will release its debut album in the spring via Frontiers Music Srl.

Pilson said: "The recordings are nearly done and we are really happy with the way it is turning out. We think that, notwithstanding the obvious nod to our past experiences together, THE END: MACHINE sound has a unique identity. Sonically, this is not just ex-DOKKEN members with a different singer or a rebooted incarnation of LYNCH MOB. This is a new sound. Everyone has been doing great on the album and there is a lot of energy and a lot of focus."

Asked if the songs for THE END: MACHINE's upcoming debut album were written for the recent reunion of DOKKEN's classic lineup, Pilson told "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon": "I will say that the very early songwriting sessions, with George and I writing the music, we were thinking, 'Well, this could be DOKKEN. Who knows?' We just got together and started writing. But the thought in the back of our mind was, 'Well, maybe there is…' There was a lot of talk, and there was business talk about a possible DOKKEN record. So we wanted to just start writing. We wanted to write and that was kind of probably foremost on our mind. But we also realized very quickly, 'Well, this is kind of becoming its own animal.' And then when Robert got involved, it totally became its own animal. So, I would say it's kind of branched out of the writing that we did for the [recent DOKKEN CD, DVD and Blu-ray, 'Return To The East Live (2016)'], but not very much — only a slight degree."

Pilson also talked about the musical and songwriting chemistry between him, Lynch, Brown and Dokken, saying: "What's so funny about the bonus track ['It's Just Another Day'] on the DOKKEN record ['Return To The East Live (2016)'] is that was one of the least painful recordings DOKKEN has ever made. [Laughs] It was so comfortable and natural — Don's vocals happened very quickly. It's ironic, really, because the band supposedly has so much strife within it or whatever. But on a musical level, chemistry-wise, we kind of can't help but do what we do. Don has a very distinctive voice, and very distinctive melodic sense, George has such a distinctive way of playing, and I think when Mick and Don and I sing, it's very unique. I mean, that is the chemistry — but that was the beauty of DOKKEN, and we appreciate that; we all do. And the thing is, [fans] have to realize is we're still kids at heart, so when George and I get together and start writing, we wanna keep writing. So if the DOKKEN thing doesn't happen for whatever reason, we wanna keep writing. And that's kind of where [THE END: MACHINE] sort of came into being, and that's a good thing — that's music happening organically. And I love that. And that's how I feel about this whole record — it just organically became what it is. It goes from very simple, straight-ahead groove-oriented rock to some kind of musical little adventures that are very, very cool. And, like I said, I'm just really, really proud of it."

ccording to Jeff, who has been a member of FOREIGNER since 2004, the plan is to develop THE END: MACHINE into a full-fledged band, with more albums and touring activity to follow. "I look at it in a very long-term way, 'cause I love playing with these guys — I just do," he said. "And yes, for the time being, the amount of live shows we could do will be limited — there's no question. I mean, FOREIGNER has no signs of slowing down yet. But I love playing with these guys and I love making music with these guys. So, yeah, I'm looking at it in the long term; I'm not just thinking of us as a side project for one record. We're looking at it as a band — a band that has contraints because of everyone's schedules, but that doesn't mean we don't have plans and hope in the future to nurture this into something more. There's only one challenge, but it is by far the biggest, and it's very overwhelming, and that's scheduling. The amount I tour with FOREIGNER, which, as I said, will not slow down, at least for the next couple of years. That's a very daunting challenge — it's very hard to work things out."

Paul Stanley has shot down a long-standing rumor that Eddie Van Halen almost joined KISS nearly four decades ago.

Gene Simmons has claimed in several interviews that he once had to talk Eddie out of leaving VAN HALEN and teaming up with KISS. Asked in the April 2014 issue of Guitar World if it was true that Van Halen wanted to join KISS around the time of 1982's "Creatures Of The Night" album, Simmons said: "That is true. And he was very serious. He was so unhappy about how he and [David Lee] Roth were — or weren't — getting along. He couldn't stand him. And drugs were rampant. And so he took me to lunch, to a diner right across the street from the Record Plant. Vinnie Vincent, who was not yet in KISS, tagged along, too. Sneaky guy. And Eddie said, 'I want to join KISS. I don't want to fight anymore with Roth. I'm sick and tired of it.' But I told him, 'Eddie, there's not enough room. You need to be in a band where you can direct the music. You're not going to be happy in KISS.' I talked him out of it. It didn't fit."

During this year's "Kiss Kruise", Stanley was asked by a fan if there is any truth to the rumor that Eddie nearly ended up in KISS. Paul responded (see video below): "No. Eddie Van Halen did not almost join KISS. Eddie [came down to] the studio. I think there was some strife within the band [VAN HALEN] at that point, for him, and Eddie came down just to see what was going on. And I remember he was really blown away by the solo in [the song] 'Creatures [Of The Night]'. He said, 'Get that guy.' That guy who played the solo in 'Creatures' was a guy named Steve Farris, who was in a band called MISTER MISTER, who had a bunch of hits. But the guitar player was great. And at that point, Eddie was getting into keyboards. And I remember he brought some tapes of some of the songs he was working on. And it was, like, this guy is this unbelievable guitar player. [I thought], 'Eddie, what are you doing on keyboards?' But that was the start of 'Jump' and all that other stuff that came afterwards. But Eddie was never going to join KISS and was never almost in KISS."

In a 1995 interview with The Times Leader, Eddie was asked if it was true that he met with Gene and Paul in Los Angeles 13 years earlier to discuss the possibility of him joining KISS. He responded: "Not that I know of… Unless I was so fucked up [that] I don't remember. They might have asked me… They might have just asked me in passing, and I just kind of laughed it off, probably. If it happened, I'm sure I would have remembered. Maybe they did ask me and I just thought they were joking."

b>Simmons has repeatedly taken credit for "discovering" VAN HALEN and flying the band to New York to record a 15-song demo at Electric Lady Studios, with Gene at the production helm. But he ended up not working with the group after his KISS bandmates and manager, Bill Aucoin, expressed little interest in his demos. "I gave the demo back to the band, told them I had a tour to go on and afterward I would try to get them a record deal, but until then, I tore up our contract and set them free," he said. "It didn't take them long to get on Warner Bros."

Bluesy hard rockers BURNING RAIN will release their fourth studio album, "Face The Music", in March 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.

BURNING RAIN was founded by former WHITESNAKE and current THE DEAD DAISIES axeman Doug Aldrich together with singer Keith St. John (KINGDOM COME, ex-MONTROSE). The lineup for the new album is rounded out by Brad Lang (Y&T) on bass and Blas Elias (SLAUGHTER) on drums.

In a brand new interview with the "Friday NI Rocks Show", Aldrich stated about "Face The Music": "I wanted to work it so that it was not gonna interfere with THE DEAD DAISIES at all. Because last time, when we released the last record, it was just in the middle of a WHITESNAKE album process. And as with THE DEAD DAISIES, if I'm working on an album process, it's kind of hard to promote the record properly. So I wanted to time it so that I could actually do some things with BURNING RAIN to promote the album."

According to Aldrich, the follow-up to 2013's "Epic Obsession" sounds "great." He added: "Keith St John sounds amazing. The last two records we mixed it ourselves and did everything ourselves, but this time we've got Alessandro Del Vecchio, who I've worked with on REVOLUTION SAINTS, and he is mixing it and mastering it. So it's nice to be able to pass off to someone with good ears who can hit it fresh."

s for the possibility of live shows from BURNING RAIN, Aldrich said: "I would love to do that. I think probably what will happen is… I'm actually looking at doing some guitar clinics and bringing Keith with me to where I would do a little bit of a guitar, meet-and-greet, clinic situation, and then Keith would join me for an acoustic promotion for that record in the spring before THE DEAD DAISIES ramps up. THE DEAD DAISIES has a plan that starts in May, I believe, so we'll probably just do some promotion first. And then when THE DAISIES has a break, I can book some BURNING RAIN shows. But I definitely wanna bring the guys over. It's a great group of guys and the new songs are gonna be really fun to play live."

"Epic Obsession" came after a long hiatus from the release of BURNING RAIN's second album, "Pleasure To Burn", in 2000.

Frontiers also reissued the long-out-of-print first two albums from BURNING RAIN, the self-titled debut (released in 1999) and the aforementioned "Pleasure To Burn". Both LPs were repackaged and remastered and contain two bonus tracks each.

BURNING RAIN's previous efforts received great acclaim in Japan and the U.K. prior to Aldrich being tapped as guitarist for WHITESNAKE in 2002.

Interview (audio):

Industrial-metal legends MINISTRY will continue to promote their critically acclaimed album "AmeriKKKant" with a full U.S. tour later this November, supported by synth-wave sensations CARPENTER BRUT. In anticipation of the trek, the band has released a visualizer for the track "We're Tired Of It".

Released this past March, "AmeriKKKa" was produced by MINISTRY leader Al Jourgensen and was recorded at Caribou Studios in Burbank, California. The artwork was created by Mister Sam Shearon.

Jourgensen recently confirmed to Billboard that MINISTRY has already commenced work on the follow-up to "AmeriKKKant". "I have to get as many albums as I can done while Trump is still president," Al explained. "And then what am I going to do: write those crappy albums that I write while Democrats are president?

Speaking about the lyrical themes that fans can expect to see on MINISTRY's next record, Jourgensen said: "The last album was not an anti-Trump album, it was like the 'how we got here' album. It kind of touched on what I was talking about with the [self-titled SURGICAL METH MACHINE] album, how society has changed so drastically since social media because ubiquitous. And in a 'Black Mirror', Charlie Brooker kind of way, examining the ramifications and permutations of what that entails. Trump is the perfect byproduct of the society we've created…"

e continued: "Society is really changing, but I do actually see hope, in a very cautious way, the same way I saw hope back in the late '60s when I was first really becoming aware of politics and the way society works… I just hope we don't make the same mistakes that turned a social movement into the latest fashion trend. If you look back on the '60s, we made some nominal civil rights and gender rights gains, but generally what we have to show for it is LSD and bell-bottoms and Woodstock. I'm hoping we go a little bit further this time. And I do see the new album touching on topics like that."

Asked if MINISTRY's next album will follow in "a similar direction" to the three albums condemning the Bush administration — "Houses Of The Molé", "Rio Grande Blood" and "The Last Sucker" — Al said: "Three albums of bashing Bush… although the last one was almost like, I felt sorry for the guy as much as I felt sorry for us for having to deal with the guy. 'The Last Sucker' was, like, 'We're all suckers in this.' 'AmeriKKKant' wasn't completely anti-Trump. It was how we got to Trump, and I think this next album is going to be much more of a positive message of 'How do we get out of Trump and keep it that way?' So I'm thinking about this in a structural sense. As far as musically, the stuff that I've been working on lately is far more PORTISHEAD than MOTÖRHEAD. [Laughs] We're getting a lot more into electronics again and scratching, as opposed to three chords and a cloud of dust and shouting as loud as you can through blown-out speakers. That's certainly served its purpose for me for a while, but I think we're getting into more heady material."

Former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade has praised Axl Rose's performance with the band, saying that the GUNS N' ROSES singer's addition to AC/DC's touring lineup "reinvigorated" the group.

AC/DC postponed the last ten dates of its North American tour nearly three years ago after doctors told singer Brian Johnson he faced a total loss of hearing if he did not stop touring immediately. AC/DC completed the tour in the summer of 2016, with Rose as a "guest vocalist."

Slade, who played drums for AC/DC's "Rock Or Bust" world tour after Phil Rudd was arrested for drug possession and threatening to kill an employee, told Eonmusic in a new interview that Axl fronting AC/DC definitely re-energized the band. "Yes, absolutely," he said. "Angus [Young, guitar] was running around like a schoolboy, you know?! It did reinvigorate the band. Brian is great, as we all know; he's a great personality and a great guy. Axl brought his voice to it. Like, I couldn't believe the notes he hit; it was staggering. And I actually had no hope at all. When I heard that Axl was going to be in the band, I thought, 'Oh, what?!' Because I'd only ever heard that GUNS N' ROSES voice, but all great singers, they can change the timbre of their voice, and wow, he hit notes that dogs can only hear. It was unbelievable! I thought he did an amazing job. I could hear him very clearly because I use in-ear monitors, and it's the best I've ever heard the band."

Asked about the rumors that AC/DC is recording a new album with both Johnson and Rudd back in the lineup, Slade said: "If it works, good luck. It's great. And why not? There's all sorts of rumors; Axl's going to be doing a track, Brian's going to be doing a track; there's so many variables here. And I've learned with AC/DC also not to believe the rumors, because even fans fake things; things just get faked. But Angus is now over 60, I think, so he's still got a few years to go, if you go by me and Brian. That's all he does; he relaxes by painting, and he smokes fags, and that's about it, so the rest of the time, he's playing guitar."

ressed about who he thinks is playing bass during the latest AC/DC recording sessions, since Cliff Williams decided to retire at the end of the "Rock Or Bust" cycle, Slade said: "I'm not sure about that. But Stevie [Young] and Angus both play bass. Would Cliff come out of retirement? It depends on if he's bored or not, because all he will want to do these days is go fishing with his son, who is a professional fisherman. So, I don't know. It's possible, of course, but there again, it's all rumors. But Angus is very big, family-orientated, a la Stevie, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's a nephew or a cousin or something who plays bass So, that's just a thought."

Slade followed Simon Wright in AC/DC's lineup, joining in time to play on 1990's "The Razor's Edge" album. When Rudd returned in 1995, Slade was shown the door and harbored some bad feelings about that for a while. Although he's 72, he still hits the drums as hard as ever.

Slade has been busy touring with his band THE CHRIS SLADE TIMELINE, which finds him performing selections across his five-decade career.

TRIPTYKON will return to Roadburn festival in Tilburg, The Netherlands in 2019 to perform the full CELTIC FROST/TRIPTYKON three-part "Requiem", complete with orchestral accompaniment.

Having previously performed at the festival in 2010 and 2014 with TRIPTYKON, and taken on curatorship duties for the former (selecting bands such as SARKE and THORR'S HAMMER to perform), Tom Gabriel Fischer (a.k.a. Tom Gabriel Warrior) will be back at Roadburn on Friday, April 12, 2019.

The first part of the three-part "Requiem" appeared on CELTIC FROST's "Into The Pandemonium" and was titled "Rex Irae". The third part, titled "Winter", was brought to life on the CELTIC FROST album "Monotheist" in 2006, and until now, the missing second part has remained incomplete.

Tom explains: "The intention to finish the full 'Requiem' remained with me. I was going to do it one distant day with TRIPTYKON, the group I formed to continue to pursue the path I began in HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST. It was 2018, yet again 16 years after I last worked on the 'Requiem', when Walter Hoeijmakers, founder of the legendary Roadburn festival and one of my most beloved friends, contacted me to propose Roadburn as the venue to perform, at long last, the finished 'Requiem'.

Walter and his team very kindly provided for the resources necessary for such a substantial undertaking, and so, at 54 by now, I found myself commencing work on the second and thus final part of the 'Requiem' this year.

"The three parts of the 'Requiem' will therefore be performed by TRIPTYKON at Roadburn 2019, with full classical orchestration, congregated specifically for this occasion by Florian Magnus Maier, who is our esteemed classical collaborator and arranger in this project, and whose patience with me appears to be limitless. We feel very proud and deeply honoured to be joined in this endeavour by the renowned Dutch Metropole Orkest."

Click here to read more from Tom about the history of the "Requiem".

CELTIC FROST / TRIPTYKON "Requiem", as performed exclusively by TRIPTKYON and the Dutch Metropole Orkest at Roadburn 2019:

* "Rex Irae" (Requiem, Chapter One: Overture - Fourth Incarnation)

* "Grave Eternal" (Requiem, Chapter Two: Transition)

* "Winter" (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale - Ninth Incarnation)

2018 marked the first occasion when Roadburn commissioned artists to create music especially for the festival, with Waste Of Space Orchestra and Vánagandr: Sól Án Varma both delivering spellbinding performances to enraptured audiences. The commissioning of the CELTIC FROST/TRIPTYKON "Requiem" is possible due to the continued support of Brabant C and city of Tilburg.

Reactivated Norwegian progressive metallers CONCEPTION, who feature in their ranks former KAMELOT singer Roy Khan, have released their first new music in two decades, a three-song single called "Re:Conception".

A new CONCEPTION EP, "My Dark Symphony", will be made available on November 23. The EP will feature six tracks, including two from the single.

"Re:Conception" track listing:

01. Re:Conception

02. Grand Again

03. Feather Moves

b>"My Dark Symphony" track listing:

01. Re:Conception

02. Grand Again

03. Into The Wild

04. Quite Alright

05. The Moment

06. My Dark Symphony

Since releasing the album "Flow" in 1997, the CONCEPTION members — Roy Khan, Tore Østby, Ingar Amlien and Arve Heimdal — have been working on separate projects, but fans never gave up hope of seeing them together as a band again. There have been rumors and speculations for some time about a possible reunion, and earlier this year, they confirmed that they had quietly been working for some time on this new material.

After his departure from KAMELOT seven years ago, Khan (full name: Roy Sætre Khantatat), who is a devout Christian, joined a church in the coastal town of Moss, Norway. As an employee of Moss Frikirke, Khan worked with the youth, mainly with the choir and the skaters of the village. Roy stopped working at the church in September 2016, but is reportedly still living and working in Moss.

Asked by Italy's "Heavy Demons" radio show if his spirituality will have an effect on CONCEPTION's lyrics, Roy said: "CONCEPTION is never going to be a religious band by any standards and there are some lyrics that I would think now that I would think differently about, but that doesn't mean we can't play the songs or anything. I look upon myself as an artist and let's say you act in a theater play and 'Faust', for example, somebody has the play the part of Mephistopheles. It doesn't mean that person is evil or bad in any sense. I think it's important to be able to portray the tragic and darkest side of life without being suspected of being a bad person yourself. That being said, there will, of course, be some songs that will touch in on the themes. Anything else would be awkward. It's not going to be a religious album, obviously."

After releasing their 1991 "The Last Sunset" debut on its own CSF Records ("Conception Self-Financed Records"), CONCEPTION was signed by Germany's Noise Records when label head Karl-Ulrich Walterbach was given a demo tape of the band. Walterbach, who by then had largely soured on melodic and power metal, was impressed by CONCEPTION's progressive angle and thought-provoking lyrics and saw them as an alternative to the more fantasy-driven melodic metal bands on the label.

The band's 1993 "Parallel Minds" and 1995 "In Your Multitude" full-lengths were well-received by fans and critics alike, earning CONCEPTION opening slots with the likes of GAMMA RAY and SKYCLAD. CONCEPTION's last studio album, 1997's "Flow" was more experimental in nature, prompting them to fall out of favor with Noise, leading to the dissolution of the band in 1998. Shortly thereafter, Khan was contacted by KAMELOT leader Thomas Youngblood, who invited the Norwegian vocalist to join the band.

Khan announced his exit from KAMELOT in April 2011 after taking several months off to recover from a "burnout." He explained in a statement at the time: "I told the guys in the band already last fall (well after my burnout) that I was leaving the band. Naturally enough, they were shocked (as was the label and everyone else working with KAMELOT). In addition to risk of dropping ticket sales, they wanted to give me time to think things over, and so I did. My decision still stands; it is finished."

KAMELOT officially announced Tommy Karevik as its new lead singer in June 2012. The Florida-based band has recorded three albums so far with the Swedish vocalist: 2012's "Silverthorn", 2015's "Haven" and 2018's "The Shadow Theory".

ROUGH RIOT, the new band featuring former members of QUIET RIOT and ROUGH CUTT, made its live debut this past Friday (November 2) at Count's Vamp'd in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

ROUGH RIOT consists of lead vocalist Paul Shortino (ROUGH CUTT, QUIET RIOT), guitarists Chris Hager (MICKEY RATT, ROUGH CUTT, STEPHEN PEARCY) and Carlos Cavazo (QUIET RIOT, RATT), bassist Sean McNabb (QUIET RIOT, LYNCH MOB, DOKKEN, ROUGH CUTT) and drummer Dave Alford (ROUGH CUTT).

The day of the Count's Vamp'd concert, Shortino and Cavazo were interviewed on KTNV's "Las Vegas Morning Blend". Asked how ROUGH RIOT got together and came up with its name, Shortino said: "Well, it's a combination of two bands, and I actually sang in both bands. I was in a band called ROUGH CUTT, and then I joined QUIET RIOT with Carlos. And Rudy [Sarzo], actually, was in the band when we were first got together. And it's been about 30 years since we've done anything. And we decided to kind of reunite. We have part of the ROUGH CUTT guys; we have Dave Alford on drums and Chris Hager, and then Carlos Cavazo on guitar and Sean McNabb. And Sean and Carlos and I were in the QUIET RIOT lineup in 1987."

Regarding what fans can expect to hear during ROUGH RIOT's live shows, Shortino said: "Well, they're gonna hear a combination of some ROUGH CUTT and some QUIET RIOT — a lot of songs, pretty much, that we did on the record that we did together, which was 'QR'; it was the fourth QUIET RIOT record. And we're gonna do some of the hits that the band had — 'Cum On Feel The Noize', 'The Wild And The Young' and also 'Metal Health', of course. And then you're gonnahear 'Piece Of My Heart' from ROUGH CUTT, some 'Double Trouble'. And then 'Stay With Me Tonight' — some of the songs that I did with the QUIET RIOT guys. It's gonna be quite a night, because a lot of the songs that we wrote together on that album we actually never performed in the United States. We toured Japan and we toured South America, so it'll be, it will be something that fans have been waiting for for a long time to hear this stuff, because they'll never really hear this music unless we actually do it." Cavazo added: "We actually had a good catalog to choose from, so we're basically playing the best stuff of QUIET RIOT and the best stuff of ROUGH CUTT."

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Deep Purple's first promotional film has surfaced, and can be seen below. The footage features the band performing "Hush" in Bern, Switzerland 1968. This is the Deep purple Mark 1 lineup featuring Ian Paice, Rod Evans, Nick Simper, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore.

Rufus Stone Limited Editions has launched the pre-order for the ultimate Deep Purple book collection, exclusively via PledgeMusic.

Three luxury, signed books, boxed in a purple wooden cube with a double vinyl recording of the band live at The California Jam and a California Jam ticket t-shirt designed exclusively for this release.

Book 1: Supplied in a clamshell box with a 3D lenticular: Jon Lord All Those Years Ago - personally signed by the late Jon Lord. Numbered 1 to 50.

The book features, never before seen, personal family photographs, Jon’s own photographs from Deep Purple, contributions from Jon’s colleagues, friends and family, and many unpublished professional images. The books also features a history and recollection of Jon’s early life from birth to the start of Deep Purple by his brother Steve Lord and also features unique contributions from Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Lars Ulrich, Bernie Marsden and many others

These special 50 Copies include a personally signed Jon Lord postcard, mounted inside the cover, making this a unique and beautiful collectible.

Book 2: Supplied in a clamshell box with a 3D lenticular: Whitesnake The Purple Tour - personally signed by David Coverdale and the whole band.

In 2015 Whitesnake took their newest release The Purple Album around the world on The Purple Tour. Featuring epic re-workings of David Coverdale’s Deep Purple songs and a raft of Whitesnake classics, the tour was one of the bands most successful and talked about in years.

Now this new, official limited edition release from Rufus Publications documents that groundbreaking tour. At almost 300 pages long and packed with exclusive behind the scenes photos, notes from the band and a song by song breakdown of the tour’s epic setlist, this incredible tour is captured and documented with hundreds of amazing shots, taken mostly on the sold out UK leg of the tour.

Printed and bound in the UK, this LP sized, casebound photographic book is limited to 300 copies worldwide and is the first official Whitesnake book. The book comes in its own Purple clamshell box with 3D lenticular and is personally signed by all the band members. Each copy is individually numbered.

Book 3: Supplied in a clamshell box with a 3D lenticular: Deep Purple The California Jam - personally signed by drummer Ian Paice. Numbered 1 to 50.

On April 6th, 1974 Deep Purple appeared on stage at the California Jam festival at the Ontario Speedway in California.Taking top billing at the all-day event, and with great weather, Deep Purple and the other bands drew a crowd of around 165,000 people. It became the largest single-day paid attendance in U.S. rock concert history.

This astonishing concert is now the subject of a new documentary book, Deep Purple at the California Jam, released December 2012. Collecting together hundreds of black and white and colour images from a number of photographers who had all area access to the concert (and rehearsals), the large 12" by 12" format presentation allows these images to shine. Most of the photographs have never been seen before and are being fully restored and colour corrected.

Backing the images up is a detailed and lengthy essay on the concert and the build-up to the performance, from the first meetings by the promoters through to the completion of the PA towers. The text is supported by an impressive collection of rare memorabilia including internal documents, set-lists, passes, posters, tickets and even the repair bills for the TV camera.

In total this is the most comprehensive publication ever devoted to a single Deep Purple performance and is 300 pages long.

Note: This release is limited to 50 units and is exclusive to PledgeMusic. It will have no direct involvement or updates from the artist, band or label.

All orders will be shipped from UK by the first week of December.

KISS was the musical guest on last night's (October 31) episode of "The Late Late Show With James Corden".

The iconic rock band, which will hit the road for a farewell tour early next year, performed "Shout It Out Loud" on Wednesday's broadcast.

Video of the performance can be seen below.

KISS announced that it will launch its final tour ever in 2019, appropriately named "End Of The Road". The initial announcement was made a month ago on NBC's "America's Got Talent", and earlier this week, the band revealed the first set of dates and cities in North America, produced by Live Nation. International markets were announced simultaneously.

he North American leg of "End Of The Road" will launch January 31 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at Rogers Arena and will hit an additional 43 cities.

"This time out is far beyond what we have done before, not just because of technology. It is because the meaning of this tour is so, so great because we have been an indelible part of people’s lives, but guess what — people have been an indelible part of our lives," KISS frontman Paul Stanley told Billboard. "A thank you is in order, but also one last time to live up to what everybody says we have been and what we are."

"When we introduce ourselves for 45 years with you, [you] wanted the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world. The bar is very high, maybe the highest. We're in competition only with ourselves," bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons added. "We don't wish any ill will to anybody else, but we're too busy being the most fabulous band on planet earth. Look at us. Just one look and you go, 'Wow.'"

A 2014 live rehearsal, unreleased instrumental recording of MEGADETH's "Wake Up Dead" by the band's former members Nick Menza (drums), Chris Poland (guitar) and James LoMenzo (bass) can be heard below. The unnamed trio came together when Menza and LoMenzo decided to join forces in a new project, later inviting Poland to handle rhythm and lead guitar.

Menza, Poland and LoMenzo's first jam session took place on November 1, 2014 at Menza's Disintegrator Studios in Studio City, California where they cracked through some of the old MEGADETH catalog along with some of their favorite METALLICA and LED ZEPPELIN songs. The trio then rehearsed a handful of times before disbanding later that year due to other musical commitments. Soon after, Menza joined Poland's band OHM:.

Late in the evening on May 21, 2016, Nick collapsed after suffering a heart attack during an OHM: concert at the Baked Potato in Studio City, California and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner said Menza died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Poland is best known for his work on MEGADETH's first two albums, "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" (1985) and "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" (1986).

b>Menza joined MEGADETH for the 1990 album "Rust In Peace" and for the next ten years became associated with the band's "classic" and most profitable era.

Following the reissue of the entire MEGADETH catalog, Menza was invited to reunite with the band in 2004. Days after a reunion was announced, Menza was replaced with Shawn Drover.

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group's studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame". He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with returning original MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

"Megalife: The Autobiography Of Nick Menza" by J. Marshall Craig will be released on December 11 via Post Hill Press.

"Feeling inspired by the film Bohemian Rhapsody," says virtuoso musician/composer and Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess, in regards to the video below. "I hope you can join me at one of my upcoming solo piano concerts. I’ll be hitting 3 continents, 8 countries and 15 cities."

Next week, Rudess will embark on a three-continent solo piano tour, From Bach To Rock, featuring the music of Dream Theater reimagined for the piano.

Rudess’ solo piano concerts have been selling out venues throughout the US and Europe for the past year. This tour will begin on November 12th with performances in Japan, Taibei and Singapore followed by seven shows in Australia and New Zealand and five shows in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Many of the venues are offering VIP packages which will provide fans with an intimate experience with Rudess at the piano.

Jordan Rudess explains the tour, “Many of my fans only know me as a progressive rock keyboardist but piano is where it all started for me.  Sitting at the piano has always felt like the most natural way for me to express my musicality. This tour is bringing me to some of the biggest and most exciting markets for Dream Theater. I’m really excited to return to these countries and share this acoustic evening with some of the most supportive fans in the world.”

Rudess’ solo concert will travel through his fascinating musical journey - how a young Juilliard piano prodigy destined for a classical music career evolved into a keyboard rock star phenomenon.

Tticket links can be accessed here.

Dates:

November
12 - Tokyo, Japan
14 - Osaka, Japan
17 - Taibei, Taiwan - Korg Clinic
17 - Taibei, Taiwan
19 - Singapore
21 - Brisbane, Australia
22 - Adelaide, Australia
23 - Melbourne, Australia
25 - Auckland, New Zealand
27 - Sydney, Australia
28 - Canberra, Australia

December
2 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
4 - Santiago, Chile
6 - Sao Paolo, Brazil
9 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil
10 - Rio, Brazil

(Photo - Jerry Lofaro)

CoreLeoni have released a video for "All I Care For", a track from the debut album The Greatest Hits, Part 1 (out now). Watch below, and order the album here.

Tracklisting:

"Il Padrino"
"Firedance"
"Downtown"
"Higher"
"Get It While You Can"
"In The Name"
"Let It Be"
"All I Care For"
"Walk On Water"
"Here Comes The Heat"
"Tell No Lies"
"Ride On"
"Anytime Anywhere"
"El Traidor" (Bonus Track - CD edition only)

"All I Care For" video:

"Let It Be" video:

"Tell No Lies" video:

"Walk On Water" video:

Lineup:

Ronnie Romero (Lords Of Black, Rainbow) - vocals
Hena Habegger - drums
Jgor Gianola - guitar
Mila Merker - bass

Scottish all-female hard rock trio THE AMORETTES has released the official lyric video for the title track of its latest album, "Born To Break". The clip was created by Andy Pilkington at Very Metal Art.

"'Born To Break' is the title track from the current album," says guitarist/vocalist Gill Montgomery. "and it's consequently what inspired the overall theme of the entire album."

The third single from the U.K. Top 40 hit album, "Born To Break" draws on a range of personal experiences. During the writing process, Montgomery was able to bring some of her most diverse songs and creative writing to the fore.

"Everyone goes through crap in their life," she says, "and for me, this is a song about having the resilience to battle through the tough times that life throws at you, and the strength to focus on the positives in life, which should be celebrated."

b>"Born To Break" was released in April via Steamhammer/SPV. The disc was produced by Luke Morley of U.K. arena rockers THUNDER and recorded and mixed by Nick Brine (THE DARKNESS, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN).

THE AMORETTES will be on tour across the U.K. this November and December.

When the British/American metal trio RAVEN left the Skråen stage at the end of November 2017 after its acclaimed concert in Aalborg, Denmark, brothers John (bass, vocals) and Mark Gallagher (guitar) along with new member Mike Heller (drums) didn't foresee their show being recorded for posterity. "We were surprised of course, since nobody had informed us of this beforehand," John Gallagher explains. "We had a flash drive with the recording delivered to us and when we checked it, we realized that — barring some small technical problems — we had a truly magical live recording on our hands. It was a near perfect concert thanks to the great atmosphere inside the hall and our out of control attitude — since, you know, we weren't aware the show was being recorded." It's the unbridled show of a band who has been writing metal history for the last 45 years.

As to the differences between the current "Screaming Murder Death From Above: Live In Aalborg" and earlier RAVEN live recordings? "We have, of course, gotten better and better on a technical level over the years. Also, on 'Destroy All Monsters/Live in Japan' (1996), you can clearly hear that I was wrestling with voice issues due to a bout of laryngitis. And if you compare 'Screaming Murder Death From Above: Live In Aalborg' with 'Live In The Inferno' from 1984, it almost seems as if we had taken sedatives back then," Gallagher says laughingly and concludes with: "The Aalborg recording matches the energy which RAVEN is exuding 100 percent. It's the best representation of us as a live band yet."

"Screaming Murder Death From Above:Live In Aalborg" will be released through SPV/Steamhammer on January 18, 2019 as CD digipak, 2LP gatefold, download and stream.

Track listing:

1. Destroy All Monsters

02. Hell Patrol

03. All For One

04. Hung Drawn And Quartered

05. Rock Until You Drop

06. A.A.N.S.M.M.G.N.

07. Tank Treads (The Blood Runs Red)

08. Faster Than The Speed Of Light

09. On And On

10. Break The Chain

11. Crash Bang Wallop

RAVEN has just kicked off a 27-date North American tour with EXTINCTION A.D. and MOBILE DEATHCAMP. The trek runs through December 1 in Jonesboro, Georgia.

RAVEN is putting the finishing touches on its new album for a tentative early 2019 release. The follow-up to 2015's "ExtermiNation" will mark the band's first effort with Heller (FEAR FACTORY), who replaced Joe Hasselvander last year.

Speaking to Mark Taylor of Record Collector magazine before RAVEN's September 5 concert in London, John Gallagher said: "We have a new album in the can, which features this lunatic" — referring to Heller — "very heavily. We're very excited about it. It's definitely a jump forward. There's some very fast music on it, but it's very quirky and melodic at the same time, so there's a real dichotomy in that, which is always in the best RAVEN music anyway."

Added guitarist Mark Gallagher: "Actually, the record needs a little fine-tuning, some mixing, but it's pretty much done."

"ExtermiNation" was released in April 2015 via SPV/Steamhammer.

Considered part of the "New Wave Of British Heavy Metal" movement of the early '80s, RAVEN — led by Newcastle natives/brothers John Gallagher and Mark Gallagher — is perhaps best remembered for its trailblazing tours in America in the early ’80s that gave groups like METALLICA and ANTHRAX their first taste of the road.

RAVEN's albums "Rock Until You Drop", "Wiped Out" and "All For One" virtually invented both the speed metal and power metal genres, with the band consistently pushing the envelope while retaining its unique sound and attack — both in the studio and in their true element: onstage.

TRIUMPH drummer Gil Moore has revealed that Banger Films is working on a feature-length documentary about the Canadian rock legends.

Banger Films' previous documentaries include two on heavy metal, 2006's "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" and 2008's "Global Metal", 2010's "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage", 2009's "Iron Maiden: Flight 666" and 2014's "Super Duper Alice Cooper", as well as the TV documentary miniseries "Metal Evolution".

Speaking to the "Ouch, You're On My Hair" podcast, Moore said (hear audio below): "We're at the beginning stages of a documentary movie on the band… Banger Films are really the bomb when it comes to these band documentaries. They just finished ZZ TOP, and it hasn't been released yet, so I don't know if I'm just letting something out of the bag. But ZZ TOP is on the launching pad, and TRIUMPH is right behind ZZ TOP. And previously did RUSH and they did THE TRAGICALLY HIP. They did 'Super Duper Alice Cooper', which everybody's probably seen that one now. And they also did IRON MAIDEN. So we're next in that series. And it talks a lot about the US Festival, it talks about San Antonio [where the band developed a a huge regional following], it talks about the issues, later on in our career, with the record label. It talks about all that stuff."

Moore, who owns Canada's largest music recording studio — Metalworks — and since 2005 has run a veritable "school of rock" in the same 50,000 square-foot facility in Mississauga, Ontario, was also asked if there is any chance of TRIUMPH ever playing shows again.

It's really, really hard to say," he responded. "I don't bullshit; I just tell you the truth and where it's at. Times change, and I've gotten into a whole different career with Metalworks… Metalworks was originally a little recording studio with 10 people and now Metalworks has got a hundred employees, and it's a big operation, so I'm kind of tied down with that. I'm tied down in a good way. When I say 'tied down,' I'm doing what I love. My oldest daughter is the controller to the company, and I get to work with her every day. So that's my thing. It just comes down to hours in a day."

He continued: "I love TRIUMPH. I'm not gonna say that we won't play again. It kind of tears at my heartstrings, to be honest with you. I wish I could get 36 hours in a day instead of 24 and keep my drum chops up and do that kind of thing. Now, Rik [Emmett, guitar/vocals] just, in the last two or three days, he told me he's gonna play through the end of December and then he's gonna kind of wrap it up, for the most part, in terms of traveling and playing gigs.

"I know Live Nation approached us… They had lunch with Mike [Levine, bass] and I about six weeks ago. They want us to do a big show in Toronto next summer. And we [said], 'We're not rehearsed. We don't have a touring show.' [And they told us] 'We'll put something together — maybe a 'Triumph And Friends' [concert].'

"I never wanna say 'no' to it," Gil added. "I know that if we would get together, it would be for charity — that would be the motivation to do it; it would have to be charity of one sort or another. But honest to God, I can't promise anything. I'm not gonna B.S. you guys, I'm not gonna B.S. any TRIUMPH fans. Really, whatever will be will be, and I, Gil Moore, cannot predict how the ball will bounce."

Back in 2016, Moore and Levine reunited with Rik as special guests on the "RES 9" album from Emmett's band RESOLUTION9.

After 20 years apart, Emmett, Levine and Moore played at the 2008 editions of the Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma. A DVD of the historic Sweden performance was made available four years later.

Emmett has said in various interviews over the years that he would welcome the chance to play TRIUMPH songs with Moore and Levine again but that those two have been reluctant to commit. "If the carrot was big enough and golden enough, I think it would make Mike and Gil, but especially Gil, do it," Emmett told the QMI Agency back in 2012.

HEART singer Ann Wilson has released the official music video for her version of Lesley Gore's fearless 1963 hit "You Don't Own Me". The song features a guest appearance by guitarist Warren Haynes and is taken from her latest album, "Immortal", which was released in September. The disc features 10 musically diverse tracks that pay tribute to some of Ann's influences and friends who've recently passed and whose music poignantly lives on.


Ann recently discussed her reasoning for including the 1960s track on the album, telling Yahoo!: "'You Don't Own Me' first came out at a time when Lesley Gore was only a teenager… It was a really bold move for a teenage girl to stand up and face her boyfriend and say, 'Hey, I don't belong to you… That was a huge move back then, and it just grew and grew into what they now call a feminist anthem. But when I do it, I think it's more about respect. It could be about anybody. It's for anybody now. The song has really become a lot more universal than just a feminist anthem. It is one, but it goes a lot farther than that. And that's why I chose it, because in this era of people standing up for their choice of who they are, they can marry who they want. They can say, 'Me too.' They just should have respect, and they can proclaim it."


For "Immortal", which marks her debut for BMG, Ann has teamed with original HEART producer Mike Flicker. "Mike was the first producer to believe in me," Ann says. "He was my first teacher in the studio and knows how to provide that special support needed to bring out my soul in the recording process. It is exciting to work with him for the first time since 1980. I have traveled many, many miles since then but the old feeling is still there and fresh on 'Immortal'. He has fearlessly helped me bring my ideas to life once again and it's been a great collaboration."


Photo credit: Kimberly Adamis

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Finland's Corpsessed have released the video for "Graveborne", the latest single off the band's upcoming album Impetus Of Death.

Featuring animantion by Jussi Kandelin, the video for "Graveborne" can be seen below:

Finland's Corpsessed will break a four-year silence this fall with the release of Impetus Of Death. Featuring eight crushing tracks of obscure death metal, Impetus Of Death is due out November 23rd on Dark Descent Records.

Many things have changed since the 2014 release of the band's first full-length album, Abysmal Thresholds. Main composer and guitarist Matti Mäkelä finally found some time to resurrect his funeral doom project Tyranny and release one crusher of an album (also on Dark Descent) in 2015. A year later, Corpsessed found a new bassist in Tuomas Kulmala (Lie In Ruins, Perdition Winds). And over the course of four long years, Corpsessed completed their second full-length Impetus Of Death, an album that manages to top it its predecessor in terms of heaviness and brutality while taking their epic sound a step further. The cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

"Impetus Of The Dead"
"Sortilege"
"Endless Plains Of Dust"
"Graveborne"
"Paroxysmal"
"Forlorn Burial"
"Begetter Of Doom"
"Starless Event Horizon"

"We've never been that fast composers" admits Mäkelä. "But the atmosphere must be there, the riffs must be killer and everything has to be top notch. Plus, we knew we needed to raise the bar this time. So all the band members contributed and we had three separate demo sessions of almost all the songs. It was quite time consuming but invaluable while thinking of the big picture, even more, so we've once again recorded the album ourselves."

The recordings took place from November 2017 to February 2018 in their rehearsal place, with extra help from their label-mates Lie In Ruins and Desolate Shrine, Dan Lowndes from Resonance Sound Studio took care of the mastering last April.

The album's title was inspired by the impression that, indeed, it is "death itself that sets things in motion, be it the fear or lurking presence of your own demise, or the death of a loved one. It can be seen as a force that moves us and sets a timeline for our very existence. This you can view as either something very grim and nihilistic, or on the contrary, the very thing that gives your life a meaning or the power to do anything. To create you must also destroy - 'solve et coagula' right? - where death gives birth to something new.... This is life, and death is an essential part of it. And the music we play, is death metal so what's more fitting than this?"

Impetus Of Death is completed by a fitting and disturbing artwork by Mattias Frisk from Vanhelgd whom Matti met in 2015 in Copenhagen while playing the Heavy Days In Doom Town fest with Profetus.

"We told him to do what he felt would fit the music, but devoid of the usual clichés like mystic figures in robes, goat-headed priests and nude girls on altars," recalls Mäkelä. "We also wanted it to be in colors this time around as all our previous covers were in black and white."

Simply put, the second full-length from Corpsessed is brutal; although it doesn't feel the need to break the 250 BPM barrier to show how tough it is. Still rooted in the classic sound of the early 90's yet with its own doomy touch, it's really Impetus Of Death's uncanny ability to bring forth a quite unique form of creepiness, almost cinematic in places and quite claustrophobic that sets them apart. As Matti puts it best, "What can I say? We like to keep things evil and ominous."

 

On November 3rd, Swedish pop metal band Amaranthe played in Prague, Czech Republic. Fan-filmed footage of "Dream", from the band's new album Helix, can be seen below.

Currently on the road in Europe supporting Powerwolf, Amaranthe are posting an ongoing tour diary. Check out a few clips from the start of the tour below.

November
6 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
7 - Milan, Italy - Live Club
9 - Munich, Germany - Tonhalle
10 - Ludwigsburg, Germany - MHP Arena
11 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
12 - London, England - Koko
14 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks
15 - Zurich, Switzerland - Komplex 457
16 - Geiselwind, Germany - Music Hall
17 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Saarlandhalle

Amaranthe have released a lyric video for "Inferno", a track from the band's fifth album, Helix, available now through Spinefarm Records. Find the clip below.

Armed with new singer Nils Molin, Amaranthe take another leap forward in their sonic evolution. Helix proves the band has refined its melodic sensibilities ever further while retaining a cutting-edge metal assault.

Helix tracklisting:

"The Score"
"365"
"Inferno"
"Countdown"
"Helix"
"Dream"
"GG6"
"Breakthrough Stardust"
"My Haven"
"Iconic"
"Unified"
"Momentum"

"Inferno" lyric video:

"Countdown" video:

"365" video:

Amaranthe's tour dates can be found here.

Amaranthe lineup:

Elize Ryd - vocals
Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson - screams
Nils Molin - vocals
Olof Mörck - guitar, keys
Johan Andreassen - bass
Morten Løve Sørensen - drums

Arch Enemy have uploaded a recap video from their show in Mexico City, Mexico on November 2nd at Arena Ciudad.

Their next show is November 6th in Asuncion, Paraguay at Teatro Guarani.

Find the band's complete live itinerary here.

 

Monuments have released an unboxing video for their new album, Phronesis, out now via Century Media Records. Watch below:

Order Phronesis here.

“The word Phronesis was a big part of society and philosophy in ancient Greece” , explain Monuments. “Phronesis is wisdom, but a really specific type of wisdom to do with oneself. Wisdom on your practical actions, good judgement, being excellent in character, practical wisdom. Learning what to do and what not to do based on experience, being mindful of everything around you. Something that, at times, all of us can be pretty terrible at.”

After touring the world heavily in support of their album The Amanuensis (2014) the intercontinental quintet needed to take a break and catch a breath for multiple reasons. However, the band kept working on Phronesis.

“My personal relationship with the meaning of the record starts at ‘Stygian Blue’, which was the second song I wrote for this back in 2015, which came to be while I was in the darkest place I've ever been in my 32 years”, says guitarist John Browne. “We all had a bunch of issues that needed time to let heal, so in between writing we were, you know, fixing our broken souls.”

Writing about topics that would be troubling their minds acted as a catharsis though, so Phronesis works as a turning point of the progressive metal band on many levels. The self-produced album was finally recorded between March and July of 2018 in various studios throughout the world: While guitars and bass were recorded by Jim Pinder (Bullet For My Valentine, Machine Head, While She Sleeps) at Treehouse Studios, Derbyshire, UK the drums were played, recorded, tracked and engineered by Anup Sastry (ex-Skyharbor). Chris Barretto recorded his vocals with Cristian Machado (Ill Niňo, Leeway) at Soundwars Studios, NJ, USA, then everything was mixed and mastered by Joel Wanasek at JTW Music, Milwaukee, WI.

Tracklisting:

"A.W.O.L."
"Hollow King"
"Vanta"
"Mirror Image"
"Ivory"
"Stygian Blue"
"Leviathan"
"Celeste"
"Jukai"
"The Watch"

"Leviathan" lyric video:

"A.W.O.L" lyric video:

Lineup:

Chris Barretto - Vocals
John Browne - Guitar
Olly Steele - Guitar
Adam Swan - Bass
Daniel 'Lango' Lang - Drums

(Photo - Frank Wesp)

Metallica are celebrating the …And Justice for All Deluxe Box Set (available now) by posting live versions of each song from the album from over the years. In the clip below, the band perform the title track at the Heavy MTL Festival at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, QC, Canada on August 9th, 2014.

The remastered edition of ...And Justice For All is available now at wherever you buy or stream music. Order online here.

Watch more performance videos below:

"The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" at Hietaniemi in Helsinki, Finland on May 28th, 2014:

"One" live from Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, CA on December 7th, 1988:

"To Live Is To Die" at The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA on December 7th, 2011:

“Harvester Of Sorrow” at The Stone Balloon, Newark, DE on August 7th, 1989:

"Dyers Eve" at The Forum in Inglewood, CA on March 5th, 2004:

"Blackened" at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan on December 31st, 1999:

"The Shortest Straw" at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. on July 17th, 1992:

"Eye Of The Beholder" (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England - October 10th, 1988):

"Harvester Of Sorrow at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Donington, England on August 17th, 1991:

Spanish metallers, Hollow Cry, have released a lyric video for “Procrastinated”. The hard-hitting track is the second video to emerge from the band’s latest release, From Ashes To Flames, released back in September via Into Records.

“The band came up with a powerful melody, but Xavi couldn’t find the lyrics,” explains the band about “Procrastinated”. “Then his brother showed him a poem he’d written the night before, after getting home drunk. It was an instant fit. ‘Procrastinated’ reflects on life from the standpoint of a person who’s about to die and sees the world as something dull, trivial, meaningless. The music and the lyrics fed on each other; a new metal song had been created.”

Spain possesses a fertile heavy metal and hard rock scene, of which the fast-rising Hollow Cry are the sonic proof - as evidenced with the arrival of their new album, From Ashes To Flames.

Hailing from the town of Tremp and initially started as a covers band in 2007, Xavi (lead vocals) had always wanted to start a band and on meeting a friend at a Taekwondo class who suggested themselves as drummer, the early formations of Hollow Cry took form. The wheels were in motion, shortly after Xavi recruited friends Marc, on rhytmic guitar, and Aleix on lead guitar, to give the band a more solid sound. Ek-tombe had been born.

In the winter of 2010. Playing metal turned out to be more demanding than expected, so after finding a replacement for the original drummer, Xavi began to focus solely on his singing and Marc picked the guitar to help Aleix with the melodies. Bass was needed, and the new drummer's cousin Joan joined the band.

Ek-tombe had given way to Hollow Cry. The guys had their big debut the following summer, in FestiPallars 2011, the biggest music festival of their region. They established a notorious fan base and kept playing in similar scenarios with crowds of 1-2,000 thousand people, juggling college, work and music, covering bands such as Avenged Sevenfold and occasionally throwing in a few originals of their own.

In 2012 they competed in Barcelona's biggest contest for emerging bands, Emergenza. They reached the final over a pop band whose members were disguised as farm animals, but the judges took a last minute controversial decision and left them out of the contest. The guys decided to focus on their own material then, and it wasn't easy. After a year of sporadic gigs, the band went into a one-year hiatus and didn't regroup until the fall of 2014, when Xavi told them he had composed songs of his own that could do well for a debut album. The band had been re-fueled and reignited, ready to hit the road with more energy than ever.

Hollow Cry entered the studio to record their first demo EP, meanwhile choosing their shows carefully, to ensure their music hits where it is most greatly received. In recent months Hollow Cry signed to worldwide agency Metal Music Bookings and Management, and have undergone a revival; the name change to Hollow Cry (from WinterShades), a new approach, and an array of epic tracks ready to be unleashed to the public. The underground metal scene is still emerging in Spain, and the newly launched Hollow Cry feel they are at the forefront. This is the result of that journey, the final leap, this is the beginning of Hollow Cry - and From Ashes To Flames is a mighty/bold step forward.

Tracklisting:

"Shades Of Winter"
"My Way Out"
"Procrastinated"
"From Ashes To Flames"
"Heaven’s Jail"
"Beyond Defeat"
"Tears In Rain"
"Never Enough"
"Last Call"
"Years Gone By"

"Last Call" video:

Frontiers Music Srl announces the signing of the powerhouse AOR band, Decarlo.

Decarlo is the band featuring Tommy DeCarlo, best known for having performed with Boston since 2007. The band's lineup includes Tommy on lead vocals together with his son and guitarist Tommy DeCarlo Jr, drummer Dan Hitz, and bassist Brett Nelson.

"I’m extremely proud to be recognized by Frontiers and offered my very first recording contract! Getting to work with such a powerhouse label, that has signed some of the top bands from my era, is an accomplishment,” says Tommy.

"I’ve had a lot of blessings in my life (getting married to my wonderful wife of thirty years, having two beautiful children, having performed with a legendary rock and roll band, being a grandfather and last but not least having the opportunity to perform alongside my son Tommy Jr. in our band Decarlo. Through all of those blessings songwriting has also played a big part in my life. I’ve always written for myself, for my own enjoyment, it was something I did simply to pass the time never thinking anything would ever come of it… but it has! Frontiers has given me the opportunity to take my music to the next level. The world will finally get to hear the music of Tommy DeCarlo!"

Get ready for a great new album to be released in mid-2019. Updates to follow.

Guitar legend Steve Vai has checked in with the following update:

"Hey folks, Steve here. Last night the show in Alabama with the Alabama Symphony and Carlos Izcaray conducting was fantastic. Such a great experience with quite a good orchestra and most excellent conductor. I had first met Carlos when he was conducting the Youth Symphony and we did a concert at Disney Hall last year. It went so well, he invited me to perform with The Alabama Symphony where he is chief conductor. We performed:

"There’s Still Something Dead in Here" 
"Kill the Guy with the Ball"
"The God Eaters"
"The Murder" (with Prologue) 
"Lotus Feet" 
"Liberty" 
"Racing the World" 
"The Crying Machine" 
"Call it Sleep" 
"Bangkok" 
"Fire Garden Suite" 
"For the Love of God"

It sure was good to play the Fire Garden Suite in it’s entirety with the orchestra."

According to Billboard, hologram production company Eyellusion, which created the Ronnie James Dio hologram, has signed with the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), represented by agency partner Steve Martin.

The Dio hologram will return to the road in April is set to hit over 100 cities in 2019.

The legendary heavy metal singer died in 2010 at the age of 67 from stomach cancer. His hologram made its debut at the Wacken Open Air festival in August 2016 in front of more than 75,000 fans.

The Dio hologram production uses audio of Ronnie's live performances from throughout his career, with the DIO DISCIPLES band playing live, consisting of Simon Wright on drums, Craig Goldy on guitar, and Scott Warren on keyboards, along with Bjorn Englen on bass. Also appearing with them are former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens and ex-LYNCH MOB frontman Oni Logan.

fter the tour's initial seven-date run was completed last December, Ronnie's hologram is undergoing "some changes" before the launch of the next leg of the "Dio Returns" world tour.

"The big question when we first toured Dio through Europe was 'Is anyone actually going to show up?'" Eyellusion CEO Jeff Pezzuti told Billboard. "We sold out the last three shows in Europe and we did really, really well. We're such believers in what we were doing and we're all such massive fans — in my sixth-grade class picture, I'm wearing a DIO shirt, so you can imagine taking this all the way across the finish line has been a dream come true."

Ronnie's widow and longtime manager, Wendy Dio, who is a member of the Eyellusion team, previously said that the people that criticize the Ronnie James Dio hologram should at least see it in person before voicing their disapproval. "Don't criticize it if you haven't seen it," she told "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie. "It's done with love. The band love doing it. And we just wanna keep Ronnie's memory and his music alive."

She added that a digital version of Dio makes perfect sense. "I think that Ronnie was an innovator of heavy metal music, so why not be an innovator of technology?" she said. "And I think technology is coming a long way with holograms — a lot of people are doing it now. And I think the reason is because we are losing all of our innovators; everybody is getting older. And we need to keep them alive and keep their memory and their music alive. I think it's a new way. It's like when people first came out with a CD or a cassette: 'Ooh, we don't want that.' But then it was the way of technology."

"Message At The Tone", a song from KILL DEVIL HILL guitarist Mark Zavon, can be streamed below. The track is taken from MarK's self-titled debut solo album, which will be released on November 23 via EMP Label Group, the label founded by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. Described in a press release as a collection of "timeless, uptempo hard rock songs" featuring "catchy riffs and giant hooks," the 10-song offering sees Zavon handling not only on guitars, but also bass, keys, and even all the vocals.

Co-founded by Zavon in 2011, KILL DEVIL HILL released two albums, "Kill Devil Hill" (2012) and "Revolution Rise" (2013), before going on hiatus as various members pursued other projects.

With KILL DEVIL HILL inactive, Mark found himself with time on his hands and an itch for a creative outlet. "I had a bunch of tunes that needed finishing or had just never seen the light of day, so I decided to put them together and see where it took me," he says.

Zavon hired Brian Tichy (OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER) to record the drums and, with the exception of a couple of guest appearances by Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO) and Mike Duda (W.A.S.P.), handled the rest of the recording and performing duties himself at his Los Angeles studio. The effort was mixed by Josh Newell (INTRONAUT, BLACK VEIL BRIDES), and mastered by Paul Logus (STONE SOUR, THE WINERY DOGS).

ays Zavon: "I was really fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such talented people on this project; they really brought this record to life."

"Mark Zavon" track listing:


01. Message At The Tone

02. Back In The Day

03. Three Days Grace

04. Big Shot

05. South Of The Border

06. Color Of Blood

07. Whiskey Tango

08. Seven Stitches

09. Remember

10. Brick By Brick

On February 1, 2019, SOEN, the progressive heavy rock group featuring world-renowned drummer Martin Lopez (formerly of AMON AMARTH and OPETH), will release its fourth album, "Lotus", via Silver Lining Music.


Having spent the last six months digging deep into the muddy depths of their emotions, the nine songs comprising "Lotus" are intoxicating, addictive aural therapies, questioning much of today's darkness while juxtaposing them with moments of great escape and hope.


"We are all very fortunate to have this place where we can go and explore thoughts, perspectives and emotions which everyday life maybe does not have the room for," says Lopez, one of SOEN's founding members. "There are definitely things that we say, and places we go, in SOEN which would be very hard to express without us coming together and creating music."


Produced by David Castillo and Iñaki Marconi at Ghostward Studios and Studio 6 between July and October 2018, the album marks the first recorded SOEN work of new Canadian-born guitarist Cody Ford, whilst the center-point of the album remains those trademark, snap-heavy, progressive SOEN riffs. Songs such as "Rival", "Covenant" and "Martyrs" are dissertations on modern societies, fraught with poetic, finitely designed confusion and chaos, yet as the name "Lotus" suggests, there is still strength, beauty, and purity to be extracted from what at times seems like an endless cycle of human regression.


The world right now is undeniably a very strange, tense place," says Lopez. "I think the songs clearly reflect that, but they also reflect that we must now be stronger than ever in challenging, confronting, and dealing with the pandemonium life throws at us all."


The lavish "Lotus" artwork features nothing other than an enigmatic and engaging copper-reflective pyramid, offering elements of the sixth sense and greater consciousness before gate-folding open to reveal a girl touched by the copper aura.


"We each have our own personal ideas as to what it means," says Lopez, "but we'd much rather discuss what others think, what our audience thinks, what the media thinks... I think it's extremely important that we all communicate with each other and take the time to fully conceive our own meanings and interactions with life and creativity."


"Ultimately," concludes Ekelöf, "'Lotus' is about rising from whatever darkness, or dark places, you might find yourself. And its inspiration comes from a deep motivation to not just settle for the situation you might find yourself in. 'Lotus' is about changing life — both your own and your surroundings for which we must all take responsibility — and make them better rather than letting darkness pacify you and take you down."


SOEN will bring "Lotus" on the road as it tours Europe starting in March 2019.

Tour dates:


Mar. 12 - John B - Oslo, NO

Mar. 13 - TBC - Copenhagen, DK

Mar. 14 - Logo - Hamburg, DE

Mar. 15 - Roadrunner - Berlin, DE

Mar. 18 - Backsatge Werk - Munich, DE

Mar. 20 - Colos Saal - Aschaffenburg, DE

Mar. 21 - Helios - Cologne, DE

Mar. 22 - De Effenaar - Eindhoven, NL

Mar. 25 - O2 Academy Islington - London, UK

Mar. 28 - Salamandra - Barelona, ES

Mar. 29 - Caracol - Madrid, ES

Mar. 30 - Hard Club - Porto, PT

Mar. 31 - RCA - Lisbon, PT

Apr. 03 - Z7 - Pratteln, CH

Apr. 04 - Legent Club - Milano, IT

Apr. 05 - Orion Ciampino - Roma, IT

Apr. 06 - Sonic Room - Fabricia, IT


SOEN is:

Joel Ekelöf - vocals

Martin Lopez - drums

Lars Åhlund - keys, guitar

Stefan Stenberg - bass

Cody Ford - lead guitar