Rockshots Records / Extreme Metal Music is proud to announce their latest signing of symphonic black metallers Sinnrs. Formed in Denmark in 2017 by Nero (vocals/Strings/keys) and Maestus (drums), the duo will be unleashing their debut album Profound on April 26th, 2019. Just over a year later after recording the album during January 2018 at Hertz Studio in Poland (where bands like Behemoth, Vader and Decapitated have produced material out of), the duo are ready to present their 10 tracks of their self-described pure dark matter for the world to hear.

Fully conceived and performed by Nero and Maestus, “Profound” merges the furious brutality of extreme metal with the elegance of classical and opera, giving listeners a dimensional musical experience of their self-described pure dark matter. The juxtaposition of punishing guitar riffs and relentless blastbeats with symphonic arrangements and soaring vocals is fascinating in the way it highlights the inherent differences and similarities these genres have. While classical fans might balk at the savagery of Sinnrs’ sound, metal enthusiasts will enjoy getting swept up in the epicness the classical elements bring to the table. Whichever side you might fall on, “Profound” is an honest manifest that makes a wonderful spectacle out of a rather unlikely pairing.

Nero comments:

"The approach to Profound, for me, was to find a purpose for making music on a whole new scale. I wanted to explore and to create something new yet still with a massive sound for us. Since my greatest inspiration lies within the movie composing universe, I wanted to use that element in our music. That drama and suspense, "Profound" would be the first stone we would cast. And hopefully, creates rings that will reach out to the outer shores. We also wanted to let the album breathe, not over think every single riff plus we wanted to make the orchestral passages a very important part of the album. And this will also be in the future releases to come. We put a lot of hours to fit the guitar riffs for the strings and also put a lot of time into the drums, so they were not too technical and versatile all the time."

Maestus adds:

"We have played very technically in other bands. Both of us is known on the local scene. But we dragged ourselves back into the shadows and created this first of many opuses under a new name. We wanted to be free of all the other things and keep the focus on Sinnrs. We believe that with this band we have achieved musical enlightenment for ourselves. The next step is to promote and promote, play all the live shows we can. To show people that this is a serious outfit, who will never stop creating dark tunes in favor of the celestial plane. And the next opus will bear witness to that."

Tracklisting:

“Nihil”
“To Derive Eden’s Flame”
“The Storm Of I”
“Lift My Bones”
“Renowned Praetorians”
“No Promise To Mankind”
“It Calls Me”
“Et Sic Incipit”
“Watch Her Soul Burn”
“Commemorate None”




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Scandinavian blackened ambient multi-instrumentalist Sylvaine -- the musical moniker of Kathrine Shepard -- has been nominated for the Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards, for her stunning Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone full-length, released late last year via Season Of Mist. Sylvaine is the first ever female artist to be nominated for the award in the Metal category since they added the category to Spellemannprisen in 2001.

Sylvaine comments, "It's an incredible honor for me to be nominated for this year's Spellemann prize in the Metal category! I'm beyond grateful to have Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone up there alongside three other great Norwegian metal releases from last year. It's the very first time a woman has been nominated in this category, let alone a 'one woman' solo project like Sylvaine, making it an even more exciting and special thing to me."

Sylvaine released her third full-length, Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone, in November of 2018. Serving as the sole composer of both its music and lyrics, Shepard -- who holds a bachelor's degree in Musicology from the University of Oslo and has done session work with Alcest, Autumn's Dawn, and Clouds -- manifests a seamless balance between serenity and chaos; between an outside and an inner world; between our human life and the spiritual origins.

(Photo by: Andy Julia)




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The official lyric video for the song "Burn The Truth" from 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, can be seen below. The track is taken from THE END MACHINE's debut album, which will be released on March 22 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Pilson said: "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."

Mason concurred, saying: "This is decidedly not me 'stapled' on to a DOKKEN record. I wouldn't have been involved if that was the intent. Fans will hear bits of our styles in this collection of songs, and while reminiscent signatures are undeniable, THE END MACHINE was purposely built to stand apart and on its own merit."

Asked if the songs for THE END: MACHINE's 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."

According 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."

"The End Machine" track listing:

01. Leap Of Faith

02. Hold Me Down

03. No Game

04. Bulletproof

05. Ride It

06. Burn The Truth

07. Hard Road

08. Alive Today

09. Line Of Division

10. Sleeping Voices

11. Life Is Love Is Music

THE END MACHINE will play its first set of shows in April. Brown will be unable to make the dates and will be temporarily replaced by EVANESCENCE's Will Hunt.

The details are as follows:

April 04 - Whisky A Go Go - Los Angeles, CA

April 05 - Count's Vamp'd - Las Vegas, NV

April 06 - Encore - Tucson, AZ

NWOBHM pioneers DIAMOND HEAD have signed a worldwide deal with Silver Lining Music. The band's new album, "The Coffin Train", will be released on May 24.


Comments the band: "We're delighted to be bringing the DIAMOND HEAD lightning to our new family at Silver Lining Music and honored to be standing alongside a stable of established international talent, which includes such legends as SAXON, EUROPE and MOTÖRHEAD. This is the start of an exciting journey and we can't wait to share it with you all."


Adds Silver Lining Music: "We are beyond psyched to announce that we have struck legendary heavy metal gold by signing DIAMOND HEAD to the Silver Lining Music roster. The blend of Brian Tatler's legendary chops with the exciting new visions of Rasmus Bom Andersen are electric indeed, and we look forward to the world discovering that for themselves with DIAMOND HEAD's forthcoming new album, 'The Coffin Train', out on May 24th, 2019. We are proud to offer you the chance to catch a ride on this train, so be sure to buy a ticket and get on board fast!"


Formed in 1976 under the riff-rolling leadership of guitarist Brian Tatler, DIAMOND HEAD would quickly establish themselves as a vanguard of the exploding New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene. With their genre-defining debut album "Lightning To The Nations", DIAMOND HEAD has influenced and opened gates for many metal bands.

Asked about the fact that both METALLICA and MEGADETH have cited DIAMOND HEAD as a major influence, Tatler told Wrinkly Rockers Club: "It's flattering. What can I say? It's great. I'm so glad that happened. I think it's helped keep the band going. I don't think we'd be having this conversation if we hadn't been covered by METALLICA. It's brought in so many fans. A number of times, people have said, 'I got into you through METALLICA.' They read the small print. They presume 'Am I Evil' is written by METALLICA until they go, 'Woah! [It says it was written by] Tatler/Harris.' And they go, 'Okay. Let's have a look at this band,' and then think, 'Actually, I quite like that.'"


DIAMOND HEAD will be touring Europe for most of 2019 and are confirmed on the lineup of two very special U.K. shows with NWOBHM giants SAXON, which will take place on October 19 at the iconic Hammersmith in London and October 20 at the O2 Apollo in Manchester.


DIAMOND HEAD's latest, self-titled album was released in June 2016 via Dissonance Productions. The effort was the band's first to feature Andersen and its release ended an eight-year silence for the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal icons.

DIAMOND HEAD is:

Brian Tatler - lead/rhythm guitars

Rasmus Bom Andersen - vocals

Karl Wilcox - drums

Andy "Abbz" Abberley - rhythm/lead guitars

Dean Ashton - bass, backing vocals

After generating nearly half a billion streams, going gold in a climate where that achievement is becoming more and more rare, and launching a two-year whirlwind of sold-out shows, Detroit's I PREVAIL returns with its second full-length album, "Trauma".

Due on March 29 via Fearless Records, "Trauma" represents a victorious moment in the wake of a series of trials and tribulations endured by the Michigan quartet — Brian Burkheiser (clean vocals), Eric Vanlerberghe (harsh vocals), Steve Menoian (lead guitar) and Dylan Bowman (rhythm guitar). Even as they catapulted towards mainstream notoriety with 2016's breakout "Lifelines", they faced unforeseen and unbelievable hardship that might've broken any other band.


Burkheiser dealt with a debilitating and shocking vocal injury that jeopardized his future as a singer. He made it through, but dealt with the aftershocks of stress and anxiety. Mired in thoughts of potentially leaving the band, he made a choice. He got together with his band brothers in 2018 and they decided to craft the record they wanted to hear without outside input. Joined by producer Tyler Smith (FALLING IN REVERSE), they emerged from 10 months in the studio with "Trauma".


Now, the album represents a realization of I PREVAIL's full potential. The band elevates rock by making it unpredictable again, leaping from moments of metal, alternative, electronic, and hip-hop. This unpredictability powers the heavy and hard-hitting new single "Bow Down". Additionally, they unveiled an accompanying single "Breaking Down", which pairs glitchy flourishes with a hypnotic and heartfelt vocal performance and impactful refrain.

Obscurity, mysticism, death. The very topics of an entity that has morphed into a being all to its own. As dark and dreary as its proceeding releases, the newly revamped Hour Of Thirteen (USA) is now ready to unleash their potion of gloomy Deathrock and to-the-point old school metal back into the masses with the new “Feast and Flame” single on Critical Mass Recordings. 

One brand new song, and a smashing cover of the Christian Death classic “Deathwish”, Hour Of Thirteen are back to reclaim their throne.




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The Swiss symphonic metal band Deep Sun will release its new album Das Erbe der Welt on April 26th via Massacre Records.

Listeners can look forward to 12 varied songs with thrilling melodies and surprising twists and turns.

Das Erbe der Welt was mixed and mastered by Markus Teske at Bazement Studio. Stefan Heilemann is responsible for the album's artwork.

The first single from the upcoming album is expected to be released in mid-March.

Tracklisting:

“Relentless Resistance”
“Heroes”
“Insurrection Of Technology”
“Worship The Warship”
“Abandon Cyberspace”
“Das Erbe Der Welt”
“Super New World”
“Vertigo”
“Go For The Kill”
“My Darkness”
“Frozen Sea”
“The Raven”




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Canadian epic dark metal band, Blood Of Christ, has inked a deal with Extreme Management Group. BOC began their career in the early '90s, making a blackened death metal hybrid that sounded similar to a mashup of Carcass and Enslaved. Fiends whom were raised on the sheer brutality and boundary-smashing efforts of Morbid Angel, or the pioneering and challenging progressive grind-core of Liverpudlian innovators Carcass, the epic and majestic sounds of Viking artisans Enslaved or even the groove laden proto-death of Brazilian legends Sepultura will find something rousing and engulfing within Blood Of Christ.

All of these influences and components meet head-on and shatter the boundaries of conventional arrangements and ultimately take the listener away to territory similarly explored by none before.

On signing to Extreme Management Group, the band said, "The time just seems right to take Blood Of Christ to the next level, which we will do with Extreme Management Group!"

Manager Mark Kloeppel said, "BOC is a death metal classic and Canadian gem that still has a lot of growth ahead of them. I'm very excited to push this forward."

Musically, at the beginning they were closest to Cannibal Corpse, although other metal bands like Morbid Angel, Kataklysm, and Carcass played a role in their sound. A 1995 demo (that saw a shift in style to what is now their own blend of death and black metal) helped the band secure a deal with Pulverizer Records, which released their debut album, ...A Dream To Remember in 1997. A strong underground following began to build behind the group with albums like ...A Dream To Remember and 2002's As The Rain Gently Falls.

In 2018, after two years of gigging the band returned from its self-imposed exile with the CDN Records issued epic album, Unrelenting Declivity Of Anguish, a seven-track set of all new material that dabbled in everything from death metal to doom and black metal.

Blood Of Christ is the embodiment of an epic dark metal. With the addition of Extreme Management Group in the fold, expect great things to come from Blood Of Christ.




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The godfathers of American doom metal SAINT VITUS will release their new, self-titled album on May 17 via Season Of Mist.

The new track "12 Years In The Tomb" can be streamed below.

"Saint Vitus" track listing:

01. Remains (6:23)

02. A Prelude To... (3:20)

03. Bloodshed (3:04)

04. 12 Years In The Tomb (5:24)

05. Wormhole (5:22)

06. Hour Glass (5:23)

07. City Park (4:01)

08. Last Breath (6:38)

09. Useless (1:32)

Total: 41:07

Formed in 1979, SAINT VITUS were largely influenced by BLACK SABBATH, whose song "Saint Vitus Dance" obviously inspired the moniker. Since their debut album, "Saint Vitus", came out in 1984, the Americans have released seven more full-lengths and two EPs that are summarily considered to be classics of their genre.

SAINT VITUS released a live album, "Live Vol. 2", in September 2016 via Season Of Mist. The set was recorded during the tour for "Lillie: F-65" on March 19, 2013 at the Kulturfabrik in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

Last fall, it was revealed that original SAINT VITUS bassist Mark Adams is suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Adams has been absent from some of SAINT VITUS's recent tours. Playing bass for the group has been former CROWBAR and current DOWN bassist Pat Bruders.

SAINT VITUS's current lineup:

Dave Chandler: guitar

Henry Vasquez: drums

Scott Reagers: vocals

Pat Bruders: bass

Burdened in cold, Anomalism is a new technical death metal band from the frozen wasteland of Winnipeg, Canada established in 2018. In the past months, they have been busy writing a recording their debut Parasitic Spawn EP, released in January.

Harnessing this momentum and raging forward with speed and technicality, Anomalism is premiering their new lyric video for "Vicious Fiction", which can be found below.

This full-throttle technical attack focusing on childhood nightmare fuel is an excellent introduction to a band that is sure to make waves across both the Great White North and the rest of the world especially for fans of The Black Dahlia Murder, Psycroptic, and The Faceless.

"We are hoping to provide a classy, yet brutal listening experience to anyone that listens. One in which you can sip a glass of wine, play scrabble, and terrify your grandparents. In all seriousness, an experience in which people enjoy. Something that can resonate with the people that hear it. How and if we achieved that… we’ll have yet to see."

Parasitic Spawn EP tracklisting:

"Vicious Fiction"
"Cryptosphere"
"Parasitic Spawn"
"Plagues of Cognizance"
"The Waiting Room"

"Vicious Fiction" lyric video:




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KISS have posted pro-shot footage from their show last night (February 26th) at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, OK. Watch below:

KISS launched the first leg of the End Of The Road World Tour on January 31st at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. More pro-shot footage from the tour can be seen below:

A once in a lifetime concert experience like no band has offered before; the KISS ultimate VIPs are rock and roll royalty at their shows on the End Of The Road World Tour.

Ultimate VIP Package Includes:

- Private backstage Meet & Greet with KISS
- Personal Photo Opportunity with KISS
- Watch the whole show from the Pit (no fans have ever had access to the Pit)
- Backstage Tour with your personal KISS Concierge including;
- Your tour will take you to areas that only the band and limited members of the crew can visit!
- Start out by stepping foot on the holy ground that is the KISS stage
- Sit on Eric Singer’s drum stool at his drum kit
- Stand at Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Tommy Thayer’s Microphones
- Hold Paul's legendary Cracked mirror guitar. Gene's classic Axe bass and Tommy's signature Epiphone guitar
- Visit KISS wardrobe where you can see the bands outfits up close and try on the REAL KISS boots
- Along the way we'll visit all areas of the KISS production and you'll meet many members of the crew that keeps the KISS machine going strong
- Autographed "End of the Road" Limited Edition Framed Lithograph, specific to your show. -Hand numbered, 1 of 15, and shipped directly to your home
- Lifetime Membership for the Official KISS ARMY Fan Club
- Exclusive Access to the KISS Army Captain’s Hospitality Lounge including;
- VIP Bar with wine, beer and the KISS "End of the Road" Signature Cocktail
- Hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and a dessert bar
- Dedicated VIP entrance
- Commemorative KISS Meet & Greet laminate
- Access to crowd free merchandise shopping
- On Site VIP Host




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In 2018, vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens was approached by fans during the European Three Tremors tour and via Facebook about the albums he recorded with Judas Priest being very hard to impossible to find. The albums in question are as follows:

1. Jugulator - 1997
2. 98 Live Meltdown - 1998 
3. Demolition - 2001 
4. Live In London - 2003

Owens originally responded via Facebook:

"Yep. Great to see my time in JP has erased my CDs and me from their past! Well, I haven’t forgotten my past and I will be working on re-recording the studio CDs and releasing them myself! Why not?"

During an interview with BraveWords about Three Tremors - due to be published in the coming days - Owens was asked just how serious he was about going back and re-recording some of his Judas Priest catalogue.

Owens: "I understand why Judas Priest doesn't play my songs live, but I don't understand why the albums aren't available. That's the stupidest thing ever, so if you want to hear 'Bullet Train' or 'Dead Meat' or 'Cathedral Spires', come to one of my concerts. But, the fact is a solo record would come out before an album of re-recordings. I would love to do it so people can heart the songs without having to go to YouTube, but I've got a lot of other stuff to record first. You never know, it could be done."

 

 




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Scarlet Aura, known from touring with Tarja Turunen and Rhapsody Reunion, have released a video for "Hot'n'Heavy", the title track of their upcoming album, out on March 22nd. Says the band: “All we can say about the video, the song and the album is that they are hot and definitely heavy! Check it out!“

The band has also launched an IndieGoGo campaign to create Silver City Records, an exclusively rock/netal record label that will help new generation of rising rock and metal stars and on which the Hot’n’Heavy album will also be released.

Hot’N’Heavy tracklisting:

"This Future Becomes Our Past"
"Hail To You!"
"In The Name Of My Pain"
"Hot’n’Heavy"
"Fallin’ To Pieces"
"Glimpse In The Mirror"
"You Bite Me I Bite You Back"
"Hate Is Evanescent, Violence Is Forever"
"Silver City"
"Light Be My Guide"
"Let's Go Fucking Wild"
"Balkan Stars Project - To New Horizons" (Bonus track)

Lineup:

Aura Danciulescu - Lead Vocals
Mihai Danciulescu - Lead guitar, Vocals
Rene Nistor - Bass guitar, Vocals
Sorin Ristea - Drums




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After The Burial have released a video for the new single, "Behold The Crown", featured on the band's upcoming Evergreen album, out on April 19th via Sumerian Records. Pre-order the album here, and watch the Erez Bader-directed video below.

Tracklisting:

"Behold The Crown"
"Exit, Exist"
"11/26"
"In Flux"
"Respire"
"Quicksand"
"The Great Repeat"
"To Challenge Existence"
"A Pulse Exchanged"

"Behold The Crown" video:

The group kicks off a massive US tour alongside Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive on April 18th (see all dates below), with Vein in the opening slot.

Trent Hafdahl (guitars) states: "The songwriting process is almost always the same, but the influence and motivation behind the music is always different. This time around we wrote an album that is wholeheartedly ATB. If you listen back through our catalog you can hear us experimenting with different sounds, soundscapes, playing techniques etc. Some of those have stood the test of time and are still used in our music today, and some were left behind because they didn't really fit us. I feel very strongly that this album is OUR sound. Our fans could hear this anywhere, without any reference, and say 'that sounds like an After The Burial riff.' I guess you could say it's a more mature release this time around because we weren't stretching to experiment with stuff that we didn't know would work. It's heavy, it's melodic, it's slow at times and fast at others. It's intense and free-flowing all in the same instance.

"On the KSE/PWD run, just like any tour, we're striving to leave a mark on every person there that has never heard of us. I've always said we've gained more fans by people seeing us live than from them hearing us on record. There are tons of people that can probably attest to this, but my absolute favorite thing to hear from somebody after a show is 'that was my first time seeing you guys!' It's like, fuck yeah! We did it!! Haha. For the folks that already know who we are, it's going to be a party, just like every other time they've seen us. They already know that. No compromise, as we're there to crush! We pride ourselves on being one of the tightest live bands in the game, but not at the cost of being entertaining. Give us a half hour of your evening and we'll show you a good fucking time!"

Tour dates:

April
18 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
19 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
20 - Las Vegas, NV - BBB *ATB ONLY
21 - Grand Junction, CO - Mesa Theater *ATB ONLY
22 - Colorado Springs, CO - City Auditorium
23 - Wichita, KS - The Cotillion
24 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
26 - Dallas, TX - South Side Ballroom
27 - Austin, TX - Stubb's
28 - Houston, TX - So What? Festival
30 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater

May
1 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room at Old National Center
2 - Huntington, WV - V Club *ATB ONLY
3 - Greensboro, NC - Blind Tiger *ATB ONLY
4 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
5 - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium
7 - Niagara Falls, NY - The Rapids Theatre
9 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
10 - New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall
11 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall
14 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore Silver Spring
15 - Detroit, MI - Fillmore Detroit
16 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Club




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A 10-minute video of WHITESNAKE leader David Coverdale unboxing his copy of "Slide It In: The Ultimate Special Edition" can be seen below.

The 35th-anniversary edition of WHITESNAKE's 1984 album, "Slide It In", will be available on March 22.

WHITESNAKE scored its first platinum-selling album with "Slide It In", a release that has sold more than four million copies worldwide thanks to hard-rocking songs like "Love Ain't No Stranger", "Slow An' Easy" and the title track. The classic album turns 35 this year and Rhino is celebrating with several new versions, including an enormous seven-disc box set.

"Slide It In: The Ultimate Special Edition" includes newly remastered versions of both the U.K. and U.S. mixes of the album, plus unreleased live and studio recordings, music videos, concert footage, and a new interview with WHITESNAKE founder and lead singer, David Coverdale. The music comes with a 60-page hardbound book that's filled with rare photos and memorabilia from the era.

Three other versions of "Slide It In" will also be available the same day. A double-CD "Deluxe Edition" includes the newly remastered U.K. and U.S. mixes expanded with a selection of bonus tracks. The double-LP "Deluxe Edition" features the newly remastered U.K. and U.S. mixes. And finally, a single-disc version includes the newly remastered U.S. mix. The music will be available digitally as well.

After releasing "Saints & Sinners" in 1982, WHITESNAKE reconvened the following year in Germany to begin recording songs for what would become the band's sixth studio album, "Slide It In". At the time, band members included Coverdale, guitarists Micky Moody and Mel Galley, bassist Colin Hodgkinson and keyboardist Jon Lord. The album was initially released in 1984 in the U.K., where it climbed into the Top 10.

Soon after, the band's lineup changed. Lord left to rejoin DEEP PURPLE and Moody and Hodgkinson were replaced by guitarist John Sykes and Neil Murray, who was WHITESNAKE's original bassist. Prior to its U.S. release in 1985, "Slide It In" was remixed while newly recorded parts by Sykes, Murray and keyboardist Bill Cuomo were added, resulting in two distinct versions of the album, both of which are included in this set.

"Slide It In: The Ultimate Special Edition" features unreleased versions of every album track, including 35th-anniversary remixes made this year, as well as monitor mixes recorded in 1983. The set boasts more than a dozen unreleased live recordings from 1984 that feature an entire concert from Glasgow, Scotland, plus several songs from Lord's final show with WHITESNAKE in Sweden. The collection's final disc unearths 30 tracks that cover original demos and early mixes for album tracks, as well as unfinished song ideas.

Coverdale says: "'Slide It In' was always meant to be a structured, more electric modern take on the classic blues-based hard rock that WHITESNAKE were famous for — but our new hook city hooligan, mixer extraordinaire Christopher Collier, has hand-tooled this classic record for the 21st century.

"Hearing all the performances so fresh and so clear after 35 years was amazing. Mel, Cozy and Jon's playing on the record is as vital now as it was all those years ago. All the featured players shine.

"Not only did Christopher get the best out of the recording, but he gives the album a fresh coat of sonic paint bringing it right up to date. I'm personally thrilled with it."

The complete track listing can be found at Whitesnake.com.

Acclaimed Los Angeles punk rock band BAD RELIGION will release a new album titled "Age Of Unreason" on May 3 via on Epitaph Records.

Since the group's formative years they have steadfastly advocated for humanism, reason, and individualism. Now, when these values are in decline and nationalism and bigotry are on the rise, BAD RELIGION's message has never been more essential. "Age Of Unreason" delivers a powerful and inspired response — a political and deeply personal treatise on all they believe in.

"The band has always stood for enlightenment values," co-songwriter and guitarist Brett Gurewitz explains. "Today, these values of truth, freedom, equality, tolerance, and science, are in real danger. This record is our response."

The songs on "Age Of Unreason" are both furious and meticulously crafted. There are references to contemporary events; racist rallies, Trump's election, the erosion of the middle class, Colin Kaepernick's protest, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, and there are homages to the literary and philosophical works that have long inspired the band.

The track "Chaos From Within" uses the band's iconic fast, powerful and melodic sound to examine the current border wall controversy with the lyrics, "Threat is urgent, existential / with patience wearing thin / but the danger's elemental / it's chaos from within." As co-songwriter and lead singer Greg Graffin says: "Throughout history, walls have been used to keep the barbarians out, But it seems to me that the truly barbaric aspect of a civilization is the chaos that comes from within."

"Age Of Unreason" is BAD RELIGION's 17th studio album and was co-produced by Carlos de la Garza. It is a timely work of immense power and one of their very best. Society's step backwards has propelled the legendary band decidedly forward. There is an elevated craft in the way the song "Candidate" vividly evokes the current president, "I am your candidate / I am bloody lips and makeup /I'm your caliphate, opioids and mutilation / a celebrity and my name is competition." Another track, titled "The Approach", addresses the possible demise of democracy with the lyrics, "There's a moral and intellectual vacuum / and you're right to be lookin' askance / philosophically moribund, revolution hasn't a chance."

This record is both a dire warning and testament to resilience. The overall message being — seek truth about the world and oneself. As Graffin, who holds a PhD in the history of science, says: "When I saw all these headlines about how terrible our world had become, I started doing a lot of reading. I read about the French revolution, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and I started to recognize that this is a pattern of history and something we should never venture into. There are ample warnings against it. Every school child should know this but it's hard to get people to read about these things. Maybe this album can help. Because right now, with social media, we are just playing a version of kill the guy with the ball."

"Age Of Unreason" track listing:

01. Chaos From Within

02. My Sanity

03. Do The Paranoid Style

04. The Approach

05. Lose Your Head

06. End Of History

07. Age Of Unreason

08. Candidate

09. Faces Of Grief

10. Old Regime

11. Big Black Dog

12. Downfall

13. Since Now

14. What Tomorrow Brings

15. The Profane Rights Of Man (bonus)

Photo credit: Alice Baxley

Philadelphia's Devil Master stake their claim as one of the most venomous, twisted entities in the underground with their hellish debut, Satan Spits on Children of Light. Today they've shared "Her Thirsty" Whip" just before it sees its release this Friday on Relapse.

Additionally, Devil Master begin their North American tour this Friday, March 1st in Richmond, VA. The tour runs until March 17th in Philadelphia, PA for the official Satan Spits on Children of Light Record Release Party.

The album, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Mammoth Grinder) rattles the very gates of hell with a vile dose of black metal-infused punk mayhem. Commanding the steel of Venom, the fury of Bathory's earliest years, and the raw, uncompromising nature of the notorious Gism, Satan Spits On Children Of Light sees Devil Master emerge from the grave and reach new blasphemous heights. Give in to the Satanic panic and obey your Devil Master.

Satan Spits On Children Of Light will be available on CD/LP/CS/Digital. Physical pre-orders are available via Relapse.com here and Digital Downloads / Streaming Services here.

Tracklisting:

"Listen, Sweet Demons..."
"Nightmares in the Human Collapse"
"Black Flame Candle"
"Devil Is Your Master"
"Christ's Last Hiss"
"Skeleton Hand"
"Nuit"
"Gaunt Immortality"
"Desperate Shadow"
"Her Thirsty Whip"
"Dance of Fullmoon Specter"
"Webs of Sorrow"
"XIII"

"Her Thirsty Whip":

"Desperate Shadow" video:

In live news, Devil Master has announced North American tour dates spanning from March 1st in Richmond, VA to March 17th in Philadelphia, PA for the official Satan Spits On Children Of Light Record Release Party. All confirmed tour dates are available below:

March
1 - Richmond, VA - Chicken Fiesta
2 - Greensboro, NC - Fantasy
3 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
4 - Birmingham, AL - Below
6 - Houston, TX - Dan Electro’s
7 - Austin, TX - Barracuda
8 - Dallas, TX - Regal Room
9 - Oklahoma City, OK - Mothership Connection
10 - Kansas City, MO - TBA
11 - Chicago, IL - Ranchos Huevos
12 - Toronto, ON - Coalition
13 - Ottawa, ON - Pour Boy
14 - Montreal, QC - La Plante
15 - New York City, NY - Sabbat’s Lair
16 - Montclair, NJ - The Meatlocker
17 - Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA  (Record Release Party)

(Photo - Shang Whaley)




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Pelican, the instrumental quartet whose singular vision of heavy music eschews classification, is set to release their first new music in six years via a two-song 7" on Southern Lord coming as an indie exclusive on Record Store Day (April 13th, 2019 #RSD2019). The band's penchant for commanding live performances will be apparent when they head out for a run of US tour dates this June, accompanied by Midwestern masters of thunderous slowgaze Cloakroom.

Channeling the visceral intensity of their live shows, Pelican's "Midnight And Mescaline" is an unrelenting riff marathon, careening from eviscerating heaviness to metal-infused fretboard frenetics to cathartic melody in a compact five-minute sprint. Paired with B-side "Darkness On The Stairs," the new release taps into the band member's shared roots in the late '90s DIY music scene, reinvigorating the quartet with impassioned punk ferocity.

In conjunction with the 7" and tour announce, Southern Lord has just digitally released a deluxe reissue of the quartet's 2013 album Forever Becoming, featuring vastly improved mix and mastering of the original songs replete with a revised version of the previously Japan-only bonus track "Bardo." Initially recorded by Chris Common under optimal conditions at Chicago's Electrical Audio, Forever Becoming was mixed in less-than-ideal circumstances at a makeshift studio in Los Angeles, yielding mixes that varnished the incredible tones generated during tracking. When the subject of a vinyl repress came up, Common, now helming his own proper studio, asked for another crack at mixing the album. The result brings a new level of low-end depth, atmospheric clarity, and tight, punchy heaviness to the album. Vinyl preorders are coming soon and is available from all digital retailers and streaming services now.

(Photo by: Marfa Capodanno)




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The Chilean groove/thrash metal outfit Lefutray will release their album Human Delusions on May 24th via Massacre Records.

You can look forward to nine heavy and raw songs full of aggression and intensity, that aim to reflect the asphyxiating and schizophrenic reality in South America where everyone struggles with issues like inequality, violence and political corruption on a daily basis.

Human Delusion was mixed and mastered by the band's guitarist Cristian Olivares at AudioCustom Studio. The album's cover artwork - which is available below along with the track list - was created by Costin Chioreanu (twilight13media design).

Footage from the album recordings will be released on March 19th. Lefutray also plan to go on European tour in the second of 2019.

Tracklisting:

“The Wrath”
“The Wolves”
“Wires”
“The Mist”
“Wild”
“Labyrinth”
“The Waiting”
“New Blood”
“The Mirage”




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Frontiers Music Srl will release the debut album, Nowhere To Run, from UK rockers The Brink, on May 17th. A lyric video for the first single, "Break These Chains", can be found below. The band is part of the label's New Breed roster, a stable of young, up and coming bands forging the future of hard rock and metal. Pre-order the album here.

Influenced by classic bands of both the past and present, but with a modern edge added to the mix, The Brink bring new life and energy to the British hard rock scene with their vibrant 21st Century form of balls-to-the-wall rock ’n roll.

Starting out in the Cambridge area, the group have worked their way up the ladder to headline in cities such as London, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Nottingham, while support slots have included a well received UK tour with The Departed in the autumn of 2018.

Following two self-released EP’s, The Brink signed to Frontiers in 2017 and are now set to release their debut album, Nowhere To Run, which has been produced by Nick Tauber (Thin Lizzy, UFO, Marillion). Weaving delicate vocal and instrumental harmonies around driving rock riffs, the record is packed with fist-pumping anthems and solid ballads befitting early Def Leppard and Bon Jovi, although their fresh new style has already enticed fans from a variety of rock genres.

Singer Tom Quick states that the lyrics have “a theme of unity and compassion, and an understanding that no matter who you are, there is always a place for you in this world. The songs are written from the perspective of personal situations that the band members have been through and our hope is that listeners will be able to relate to what we are talking about and be inspired by it.” Musically, he continues, "it’s filled with hard hitting riffs, sing-along choruses and kick ass ballads!”

As for the new single, "Break These Chains", Tom explains that the song “was inspired by friends of band bassist Gaz Connor, who “both had very strong work ethics in well paid jobs, but they never felt it was paying off and they knew there had to be more to life. They had to break the chains that bound them. Lexi [Laine, guitarist] wrote a hard hitting riff to back up the message behind the lyrics, to really make them come to life and tell the story.”

Tracklisting:

"Little Janie"
"Break These Chains"
"Never Again"
"Save Goodbye"
"Take Me Away"
"One Night Only"
"Wish"
"Said And Done"
"Fairytale"
"Don’t Count Me Out"
"Nothing To Fear"
"No Way Back"
"Are You With Me"
"Burn"

"Break These Chains" lyric video:

Tour dates:

March
13 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Bannerman’s Bar *
14 - Carlisle, England - Brickyard *
15 - Prestatyn, England - HRH AOR
16 - Chesterfield, England - Real Time Live *
17 - London, England - Underworld *
21 - Sheffield, England - Corporation *
22 - Wolverhampton, England - Slade Rooms *
23 - Glasgow, Scotland - The Cathouse**
24 - Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms *

* with Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate
** with Bigfoot & Doomsday Outlaw

The Brink lineup:

Tom Quick - vocals
Lexi Laine - lead guitar
Izzy Trixx - rhythm guitar
Gaz Connor - bass
Davide Drake Bocci - drums




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Time To Kill Records has announced a worldwide deal with the industrial-influenced melodic metal band 5rand. 

5rand is a metal band from Italy: their sound combines Julia Elenoir's clean and growling vocals, melodic, ethereal elements and the aggressive riffing of extreme metal, evoking a dark, disturbing violent, and yet captivating, atmosphere, often conjuring comparisons to acts such as Slipknot, Fear Factory and Dark Tranquillity.

Following on the heels of the 2017 debut album Sacred/Scared, 5rand toured Italy and Europe supporting Vader and Immolation, and opened for bands such as Behemoth and Sepultura on several occasions. In 2018, the band toured Europe supporting Dark Tranquillity and Equilibrium and played many more headlining shows all over Italy.

Their upcoming second album will be released worldwide on Time To Kill Records. The release will be once again followed by intense live activity. Visit 5rand on Facebook to learn more.

 




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Tim Bowness' fifth solo album, Flowers At The Scene, is set for release on InsideOut Music / Sony on March 1st. Produced by no-man, the album is a vibrant collection of 11 strikingly diverse songs.

With a week to go until the album's release, today sees the launch of the track "It’s The World", which features the talents of Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator), Steven Wilson and Jim Matheos (Fates Warning), as well as Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree). Watch the video now:

Tim comments: “This is the outlier on Flowers At The Scene. 'I Go Deeper' and 'Borderline' are unique to themselves, but don’t feel out of character with other songs on FATS. 'It’s The World' is definitely a track apart, though.
 
It started with me writing a song using guitar and trumpet loops and ended with Brian Hulse fleshing out the chorus, Jim Matheos adding some metallic menace, and rhythm section Tom Atherton and Colin Edwin taking to the piece like twin Lemmys to whiskey.
 
I could hear a Peter Hammill shaped hole in the chorus - as you do - so I asked PH to add some backing vocals. In his Rikki Nadir guise, he also played some savage guitars on the chorus.
 
Steven Wilson beefed up what was there with his usual mixing flair and added a haunting synth towards the end of the song.
 
The lyric is an account of someone blaming everything external on what might be an internal problem. On some levels, it’s self-pity on a global scale but with the current state of the world it’s not exactly clearcut.
 
Bob Hodds’ video very nicely captures the paranoia in the lyrics.”

Tracklisting:

"I Go Deeper"
"The Train That Pulled Away"
"Rainmark"
"Not Married Anymore"
"Flowers At The Scene"
"It’s The World"
"Borderline"
"Ghostlike"
"The War On Me"
"Killing To Survive"
"What Lies Here"

"I Go Deeper":

"Borderline":

Pre-order Flowers At The Scene here. For further details, visit Tim Bowess on Facebook.

 




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Earache Records will release a limited edition vinyl reissue of Municipal Waste's The Art Of Partying album in May. An unboxing video can be found below.

Whilst their debut Waste ‘Em All and classic sophomore LP Hazardous Mutation proved Municipal Waste were no strangers to partying, this third album is where the Richmond quartet really elevated their hyperactive, booze soaked take on thrash to an art form. Featuring such immediate crowd-pleasing classics as "Headbanger Face Rip" and "Sadistic Magician", The Art Of Partying brought the band to a much wider audience, landing tours with Napalm Death, Testament, Iced Earth and Lamb Of God, working with legendary B-movie kings Troma Entertainment on a suitably gore splattered music video and even being touted as one of “The New Big 4” by The Guardian in 2010, alongside peers Evile, Toxic Holocaust and Bonded By Blood.

But beyond all the accolades, The Art Of Partying still stands up as one of the most exhilarating, raucous half-hours in thrash 12 years after its initial release. Taking the frantic riff assault of Exodus, the snotty punk attitude of DRI and an idiosyncratic sense of humor all their own, this is the moment the Municipal Waste sound really came into its own and inspired a whole new generation of kids to grow their hair out, don their patch jackets and thrash like their lives depended on it. Now available once again as a deluxe digipak, if you need to kickstart a party of your own then there’s really no better album for the job.

Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

"Pre Game"
"The Art of Partying"
"Headbanger Face Rip"
"Mental Shock"
"A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Destroyer)"
"The Inebriator"
"Lunch Hall Food Brawl"
"Beer Pressure"
"Chemically Altered"
"Sadistic Magician"
"Open Your Mind"
"Radioactive Force"
"Septic Detonation"
"Rigorous Vengeance"
"Born To Party"




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Massachusetts old-school hardcore band DEATH RAY VISION — which features in its ranks KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio — has released a music video for the song "Just Let It Die". The wildly raucous and entertaining clip sees the bandmembers getting their asses kicked by pro wrestlers inside the ring.


"The video was a blast to make," said guitarist Pete Cortese. It has an old-school BEASTIE BOYS vibe, which is in stark contrast to the 'get on with the apocalypse already' lyrical theme. It's almost as if God wanted us to get our asses beat by semi-pro wrestlers."


Stepping into the ring for "Just Let It Die", which was filmed at The XWA Event Center in Warwick, Rhode Island, are pro-wrestlers Marty The Moth, John Steele, King Leòn the 6th, Moshpit and Buff Dad.

"There's just something magical about watching your doppelganger as he's being pummeled to death," said guitarist Chris Rosati. "This shoot was honestly some of the most fun I've had in this band to date. We got to drink beer and watch live wrestling all day long. I mean, c'mon… Does it get any better than THAT?"

"Just Let It Die" is taken from DEATH RAY VISION's new album, "Negative Mental Attitude", which is available on Bullet Tooth.

"It's a playful jab at the hardcore scene, in a way," D'Antonio said about the album title. "There's a lot of people who preach a 'positive mental attitude' and they practice anything but that." The title also succinctly represents the band's current direction which deviates from their previous "go old-school or go home" approach. "We don't really have a lot of good moods on this one," Cortese continued. "It's a little more morose, melodic, and to say that it will be 'our finest work to date' would be a little too positive for the angle we're going for."


DEATH RAY VISION wrapped up 2018 with a U.S. tour with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, BORN OF OSIRIS and CROWBAR.

The group will next perform at the Providence Tattoo And Music Festival with TRAPT and SALIVA in March, and embark on a short tour with INTO ANOTHER and BEYOND later that month.

SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor is back in the studio laying down vocal tracks for the band's long-awaited new album.

On Tuesday, Taylor posted an Instagram photo of him in what appears to be a recording booth along with the caption: "Back to work…"

SLIPKNOT's sixth album is tentatively due this summer.

The new disc is once again being recorded at a Los Angeles studio with producer Greg Fidelman, who engineered and mixed SLIPKNOT's 2004 album "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)" and helmed ".5: The Gray Chapter".

Corey recently described the band's new music as "evil," Taylor, adding that the follow-up to 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter" is "going to be ridiculous. Let's put it that way."

According to Taylor, SLIPKNOT's recently released standalone single "All Out Life", which arrived last October isn't "nearly as dark and vicious as the rest of the stuff that we have that we're working on."

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

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

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

Some of SLIPKNOT's new album will also deal with Taylor's depression that led to a divorce and forced him to "figure out who I was" without relapsing into substance abuse.

"All I was doing was giving and I found myself absolutely, completely tapped," he said. "You could see it in my skin. You could see it in my eyes. That's basically the journey I'm going to take people on this album … show them what happens to depression when you have no chemicals to fall back on.

"It's a pretty dark ride."

SLIPKNOT's video for "All Out Life" was directed by the band's own M. Shawn Crahan.

".5: The Gray Chapter" was released following a six-year hiatus during which founding SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray died and drummer Joey Jordison was dismissed.

".5: The Gray Chapter" sold around 132,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores in October 2014 via Roadrunner.

Gray died in 2010 from a drug overdose, while Jordison was let go in December 2013, just before SLIPKNOT began recording the last album.

View this post on Instagram Back to work... A post shared by Corey Taylor (@coreytaylor) on Feb 25, 2019 at 3:06pm PST

Intergalactic metal gods GWAR and Beefcake The Mighty, otherwise known as Jamison Land, have parted ways. Land has posted the following news on his Facebook page:

Land recorded two albums with GWAR since joining in 2011: Battle Maximus (2013) and The Blood Of The Gods (2017)

GWAR have yet to comment on the situation.

As reported in December 2018, to make sure the digital airwaves stay polluted with the Scumdogs of the Universe, the band recently teamed up with Giphy. So now you can send GIFs via Facebook, Twitter, Outlook, Slack, Tinder, and more to your so-called friends. GWAR even has some stickers available on Instagram Stories and Snapchat, so all those millennials can keep their fingers locked to their digital devices. Check out Giphy.com/GWAR to see all the GIFs and stickers.




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Ravage, the power thrash heavy metal band from Boston MA USA which formed in the mid 90’s, has announced the departure of long-time drummer Derek Jay and the recruitment of new drummer Toni Belchior. Derek leaves to concentrate full-time on his work with the speed metal band, Seax. Toni most recently released material as the one-man black metal project, Belchior. 

Singer Al Ravage commented: “After over five years together, we sadly just played our last show with Derek behind the kit. He did a great job for us recording songs on our Return Of The Spectral Rider album and our recent The Derelict City EP and we played more shows with him than we have with any other drummer including multiple festivals in the USA and a full European Tour last year. We wish him all the success in the world as he continues on with Seax and their new album release. We had known this was coming for a while and I honestly didn’t know if we would be able to continue on as a live band after Derek’s departure, but we happened to get in contact with Toni and after a few practice sessions he has really fit in well. Toni has brought a huge level of excitement and enthusiasm back to the band. We can’t wait to get to work on our new slate of recordings.”

Ravage is currently at work on a double album of original recordings as well as an album of covers with details and release yet to be announced. The band’s next upcoming show will be as support to Canadian metal legends Anvil at their upcoming New Hampshire appearance on April 27th.
 
The Derelict City EP was released on June 29th, 2018 via the band's own SWWR Recordings record label and distributed by CD Baby. It is only available on digipak CD format and limited to a run of just 300 copies.

Tracklisting:

"Till Heaven Cries"
"Chief Of Lies"
"The Derelict City"
"New Age Survivor"
"Demons Are Forever" (bonus track, My Pet Demon cover)




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Video footage of KINGDOM COME performing at the Monsters Of Rock cruise pre-party on February 23 at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida can be seen below.

Singer Lenny Wolf is not involved in KINGDOM COME's current reunion tour, which kicked off last September in Seattle, Washington. The trek — which is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the band's self-titled debut album — features drummer James Kottak alongside guitarists Danny Stag and Rick Steier, bassist Johnny B. Frank and vocalist Keith St. John (formerly of MONTROSE and LYNCH MOB). The tour marks Kottak's first run of shows since embracing recovery after a longtime battle with alcoholism got him kicked out of the SCORPIONS.

Asked if it was difficult to assemble four of the five original KINGDOM COME members for the tour, Kottak told Eonmusic: "No, actually. I originally started talking to Lenny in 2008. I knew the SCORPIONS farewell tour was coming, and we got everything together in about 2012, 2013. We had all five here in L.A., went to rehearsals, had conversations, we had shows, offers on the table, things were good, and then I got a call from the SCORPIONS camp saying, You know what? We decided not to say farewell. We're going to do the album, another world tour, and can you not play with KINGDOM COME and your other projects?' And I was, like, 'Well, okay,' because my allegiance was always with SCORPIONS. I love those guys, I love the band, so I pulled the plug. I had to put everything on the back burner. And here we are now; I had this opportunity, and everything kind of fell into place, so it's wonderful to be where we are now."

Kottak went on to say that he had been talking to Wolf about taking part in the tour "off and on, since about [2017]." He explained: "Things move really slow sometimes. Then suddenly, in January [2018] he just called and said, 'You know what?' — because he announced his retirement [in 2017] and didn't want anything to do with KINGDOM COME — but he said, 'I just really don't want to deal with all the chaos and the manic, crazy rock and roll.' He just wants to quietly retire and live in Hamburg, and I respect him, and he can do that. However, he has given us his blessing. I wish he was here, but it is what it is."

The drummer admitted that he and his bandmates were initially concerned about whether people would accept KINGDOM COME without Wolf. "Absolutely," he said. "And when we first put the word out to promoters and buyers, at first they were going, 'Oh yeah! KINGDOM COME!' Then we had to go back a few weeks later and say, 'Sorry. Unfortunately, there will be no Lenny Wolf.' So, out of the 20 or so offers we had from different buyers, only three actually pulled out. I was surprised; I thought we'd get a little more backlash. But so many bands, especially bands with longevity, they change members; look at THIN LIZZY, how they changed, or name any band that's been around for 25, 30 years, and there's very few that have all the original members."

After its early run of success in the '80s, KINGDOM COME released several albums, with Wolf remaining the only constant member of the band. The group's most recent effort was 2013's "Outlier".

DISTURBED singer David Draiman has dismissed the notion that rock is dead, saying that bands from the genre are "a dominant force on a global level."

While rock 'n' roll has been king of the music world for decades, in the past few years, it's been unseated by the growing popularity of hip-hop. This has caused many pundits to proclaim the genre "dead" from an industry perspective, noting that it has been eclipsed in all measures by pop, hip-hop, and EDM.

Draiman, whose band launched a U.S. arena-headlining tour in January, spoke about rock's supposed diminishing status during a brand new interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation".

Addressing the whole "rock is dead" debate, Draiman said: "They're gonna keep on singing that song and dance because it's a headline that, for whatever reason, every once in a while sells. And people click on it and they wanna read about it, and they're always so quick to proclaim rock dead. Even some of the gentlemen and ladies within our own genre are very quick to proclaim rock dead, and it's absolutely the opposite. The rock acts that are doing what they're doing well are continuing to grow and are continuing to develop, and the fanbase has always been there."

He continued: "The irony is that if you look at touring exclusively within the rock world, we're a dominant force on a global level. And in many territories — in fact, in most territories — we eclipse the other genres. But it's just not one of those soundbites that seem to sell very well these days."

The "rock is dead" argument has popped up again and again throughout the years, most recently after MAROON 5 lead singer Adam Levine told Variety magazine that "rock music is nowhere, really. I don't know where it is," he said. "If it's around, no one's invited me to the party. All of the innovation and the incredible things happening in music are in hip-hop. It's better than everything else. Hip-hop is weird and avant-garde and flawed and real, and that's why people love it."

A few years ago, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons told Esquire magazine that "rock did not die of old age. It was murdered. Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed and now it won't because it's that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it."

A number of hard rock and heavy metal musicians have weighed in on the topic in a variety of interviews over the last couple of years, with some digging a little deeper into Simmons's full remarks and others just glossing over the headline.

LAST IN LINE vocalist Andrew Freeman has weighed in on the ongoing gun control debate with the new song "Year Of The Gun". Freeman says the track is neither for nor against gun control, but wishes both sides of the argument would come together to find common ground since he feels "the government tries to pit us against each other."

"Year Of The Gun" appears on LAST IN LINE's new studio album, "II", which is the second release from the band featuring original DIO members Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Vinny Appice (drums). The group is rounded out by former OZZY OSBOURNE bassist Phil Soussan, who stepped in following the passing of Jimmy Bain.

In a recent interview with Lisa from the "Soundchecked" podcast, Freeman was asked about the album's first single, "Landslide", which represents a lyrical shift from the oftentimes fantasy-based lyrics the original DIO band focused on for the "Holy Diver" and "Last In Line" albums.

"A lot of it is kind of abstract," he said (hear audio below). "I guess it has a little bit of an undercurrent of what's going on today.

"The 'Landslide' video is just about government manipulation and just about different trials of life and getting through your day when you have all these things in the media bombarding you with all the terrible things that are going on in the world, which comes across a lot of times these days in the media is manipulation and trying to sway your opinion one way or the other and you're just trying to make a living and trying to raise your kids and trying to pay your mortgage when you're being bombarded with all this stuff, and trying to make ends meet," he said. "And we are actually the decision makers, and [we] get bombarded with all these different messages. It's just kind of a way of dealing with that — reporting on how you deal with that; how the normal person deals with that."

According to Freeman, the lyrics for "Year Of The Gun" were written about the fact that America is a big outlier among developed countries when it comes to gun deaths, apparently in large part because it has so many guns, making it easy to carry out an act of violence. "It's about the gun problem in the U.S., but it's not for or against," he said. "It's just basically saying that there's a problem and we need to address it. There's no major solution that a songwriter standing on a stage shaking his ass and dancing around is gonna bring. It's just saying, 'Hey, again, it's self-empowerment. We have a problem.' Basically, the government tries to pit us against each other, and the only way it's gonna get solved is if everybody works together instead of being divided,' which is what it seems what the government and the powers that be seem to want. They want everybody divided because it's easier to rule when you are dividing and conquering."

"II" was released on February 22 via Frontiers Music Srl.

LAST IN LINE was formed in 2012, when Appice, Bain and Campbell — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — teamed up with Freeman. The debut album "Heavy Crown" was released in February 2016, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. The release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly passed away at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain's wish to keep the band moving, brought in Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album, hitting festivals, headlining clubs, and sharing the stage with metal luminaries such as SAXON and MEGADETH.