Swedish death metallers Lik have released a video for the new song "Dr Duschanka", featured on their new album Carnage, out on May 4th via Metal Blade. Pre-order the album here, and find the video below.

Says the band about the video: "'Dr Duschanka' is a gruesome piece about what can go down if you happen to book yourself into the appointment of your nightmares. We were looking for a video that necessarily didn't need to depict what happens in the lyrics, but reflects the dark and gritty story. At an early stage it was decided to do a classical performance video inspired by old classics like Pantera's 'I'm Broken'. Together with crew of "The Happy Creative" we achieved this and the visual distortion goes well with the sonical!"

Tracklisting:

"To Kill"
"Rid You Of Your Flesh"
"Celebration Of The Twisted"
"Dr Duschanka"
"Left To Die"
"Cannibalistic Infancy"
"Death Cult"
"The Deranged"
"Only Death Is Left Alive"
"Embrace The End"

"Dr Duschanka" video:

"Rid You Of Your Flesh":

Lik has no passage as this entity is devoted to make a permanent mark on those who lay down their souls to rock'n'roll. The possessed souls to carry out the sonics are Tomas Akvik (guitar, vocals), Niklas Sandin (guitar, bass) and Christofer Barkensjo (drums).

(Photo - Michaela Barkensjo)

Austin, TX sci-fi stoner metal band From Beyond will release its new LP, The Band From Beyond, on May 11th via Candlelight Records / UMG. Recorded with producer Bryan Richie of The Sword, the album delivers 14 tracks that pulse with dark synths and doomy hooks and brim with booming guitars and Lovecraftian, vintage horror film feels.

The Band From Beyond is the follow-up to From Beyond's EP, The Color Out Of Space, and its 2014 Scion AV split with ASG. Two tracks from the new album are available for streaming below.

Formed in 2010, From Beyond plays heaving heavy music through towering stacks of amps while adding suspense-generating synthesizer segways that create atmospheres and moods that are both a throwback and oddly timeless. Segueing between eerie drones and heavy rock, the band's tracks offer a multiplex worth of possibilities, spanning moments of action, horror, discovery, and victory in its suite-like sweeps.

With a tour history that includes gigs with The Sword, Purson, Truckfighters, and Saint Vitus, and festival shows alongside enigmatic acts such as Aphex Twin, John Carpenter, S U R V I V E and Squarepusher, From Beyond touches on multiple musical pressure points and makes new fans and believers the minute they step on the stage. It wouldn’t be surprising to catch them playing either The Mos Eisley Cantina or Coachella and totally tripping out everyone in the audience.

“When the original idea for the band came to fruition, I wanted to do something that was steeped in psychedelic horror," says bandleader Rob McCarthy. "Horror from the late sixties and early seventies was of particular interest to me. Films like Simon King Of The Witches, Psychomania, and the work of Coffin Joe (Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins) come to mind. At the same time, I love the scores for Escape From New York and Halloween. I got really into that sparse and minimal approach to synthesis. I wanted to bring those elements to music inspired by Queens Of The Stone Age, Sleep, and the writing of H.P. Lovecraft.”

Pre-order The Band From Beyond here.

Tracklisting:

"Invocation"
"The Fall To Earth"
"Blooming Sun"
"The Slip"
"Lost Way"
"The Color Into Space"
"The Color Out Of Space"
"Synthro"
"At Midnight"
"Laura"
"Machine Gun"
"White Marble"
"Black Mirror"
"Synthia"

"Laura":

"The Slip":

From Beyond features Rob McCarthy (vocals, guitar, synth), Dave Grooman (guitar, effects), Brooks Willhoite (bass, synth, vocals) and Anthony Vallejo (drums, vocals).

A music video for the title track of the upcoming Ross The Boss album, By Blood Sworn, is available for streaming below.

Ross "The Boss" Friedman left a huge mark on the scene as co-founder and songwriter of Manowar in the 1980s. Between 1982 and 1988, the band released one classic album after another and became the epitome of epic  heavy metal. In 1989, Ross left the band and indulged in other projects, in 2008 the cult guitarist launched his solo band under the banner Ross The Boss - again clearly geared towards traditional heavy metal. The debut New Metal Leader was succeeded two years later by Hailstorm.

But now the time has come: Ross The Boss is back - and this time taking no prisoners! With a new, hungry band consisting of vocalist Marc Lopes, Mike LePond (Symphony X), drummer Lance Barnewold, and Ross on guitar, Ross The Boss played a set of early Manowar classics on their Discipline Of Steel tour recently. But now it's finally time for a new album: By Blood Sworn shows the true metal icon in impressive shape: a thunderous, powerful opus, with which Ross and his band will delight all metal fans.

As a tribute to his eventful past, the limited digipak version of By Blood Sworn features "Hail And Kill", "Each Dawn I Die" and "The Oath" - all three Manowar classics in re-recorded versions.

By Blood Sworn will be released on April 20th (CD, digipak (3 bonus tracks), vinyl) via AMF Records.

Tracklisting:

"By Blood Sworn"
"Among The Bones"
"This Is Vengeance"
"We Are The Night"
"Faith Of The Fallen"
"Devil's Day"
"Lilith"
"Play Among The Godz"
"Circle Of Damnation"
"Fistful Of Hate"

Bonus tracks digipak:

"Each Dawn I Die"
"The Oath"
"Hail And Kill"

"By Blood Sworn" video:

"This Is Vengeance":

Ross The Boss tour dates (performing a Manowar set) can be found here.

Wolvhammer has released a video for "Law Of The Rope", the latest single from the band's impending fourth LP, The Monuments Of Ash & Bone, out on May 4th via Blood Music. The disturbing new video was directed by David Hall of Uneasy Sleeper. Check it out below.

The Monuments Of Ash & Bone was recorded and mixed by Jarrett Pritchard (Goatwhore, Exhumed) at his own New Constellation Studios in Orlando, Florida, and mastered by Ken Sorceron (Abigail Williams, The Faceless) - both of whom provide additional guitar tracks to the album - and completed with artwork by Brian Sheehan.

Blood Music will release the album on CD, LP, and digital formats; find pre-order options here.

Tracklisting:

“Eternal Rotting Misery”
“Call Me Death”
“Law Of The Rope”
“Bathed In Moonblood And Wolflight”
“The Failure King”
“Dead Rat Rotting Raven”
“Solace Eclipsed”

"Law Of The Rope" video:

"Eternal Rotting Misery":

Wolvhammer has announced new summer tour dates in support of The Monuments Of Ash & Bone. Leading with a performance at Stygian Rites Festival in Rapid City South Dakota, Wolvhammer will tour throughout the Western US and Canada from June 22nd through July 16th, supporting Uada alongside The Black Moriah. Directly after, Wolvhammer will headline shows in Indianapolis and Chicago July 20th and 21st with support from Doomsday, containing members of Wolvhammer. The band's performance at Psycho Las Vegas following in August will also be joined by additional tour dates. Stand by for more updates in the weeks ahead.

(Photo - Margaret McMakin)

One of the most theatrical rockers today, Granny 4 Barrel, is about to prove to be one of the most fearless and thought-provoking artists as well, as evidenced by the music video for the song “She Likes Guns”. Kicking things off with a spin on a famous Mae West quote, “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” The Quentin Tarantino-esque song and video is about unabashed women who take down villains.

Directed by adult film star Stormy Daniels (and featuring adult film stars Lily Lane, Casey Calvert, and Arya Fae) the video was filmed in one day in June of 2017 on location at CIA (California Institute Of Abnormalarts). Known for its underground band scene, burlesque and freak shows, CIA was the perfect venue to enhance and bring out the best parts of G4B.

Granny explains, “Stormy and I were on the same page from the outset. We discussed matching the songs’ provocative theme and double meaning innuendo with back-and-forth footage of the band interlaced with sexy women with guns. There’s always negative press associated with guns and we wanted another perspective. The gun represents a metaphor for empowerment and respect for women, courage and inner strength. Never underestimate the power of a woman, she can be very dangerous!”

Granny continues “It was an honor and a pleasure working with Stormy. Stormy and her crew worked tirelessly and efficiently capturing so many magical and intense moments! We wanted to use real weapons for the shoot, so the models were posing with real guns - from our outstanding gun wranglers Nabil Khattar (of Angeles Armory) and Sean Myers. These guys brought an arsenal to the video shoot. Everything from pistols including a .500 S&W Magnum, Derringer, assorted revolvers, Thompson Submachine gun, and an AK-47...just to name a few. And of course, at the end of the video, Lily Lane riding our insane CGI cannon!”

Tour dates (with Texas Hippie Coalition and Kobra And The Lotus):

April
19 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
20 - Denver, CO - Hermans Hideaway
21 - Colorado Springs, CO - Sunshine Studios
22 - Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room
25 - Johnson City, TN - MarX The Spot
26 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
30 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage

May
3 - Louisville, KY - Trixies
5 - Winchester, VA - Blue Fox
7 - Providence, RI - Alchemy
8 - Watertown, NY - Exhibition Hall
9 - Rochester, NY - Montage Music Hall
10 - Clifton, NJ - Dingbatz
11 - New York, NY - Kingsland
12 - Harrisburg, PA - Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center
13 - Warrendale, PA - Jergels
15 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Ballroom
16 - Flint, MI - The Machine Shop
17 - Joliet, IL - The Forge
18 - Battle Creek, MI - The Music Factory
19 - Racine, WI - Route 20
20 - St Louis, MO - Fubar
23 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
24 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
25 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
27 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720
30 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theater

June
1 - Fort Worth, TX - The Rail Club
2 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
3 - Austin, TX - Come And Take It Live

SHINEDOWN's video for the song "The Human Radio" can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's sixth studio album, "Attention Attention", which will be released on May 4 via Atlantic Records.

"Attention Attention" is available for pre-order at all DSPs and each pre-order includes an instant download of "Devil". Deluxe album bundles are available at the official SHINEDOWN webstore, including the limited transparent yellow colored double vinyl, a 3' x 5' flag and exclusive "Attention" and "Devil" t-shirts.


The 14-track album, SHINEDOWN's most raw and personal to date, is a mental, emotional and physical journey that follows an individual from life's lowest lows to the highest highs as anxieties dissipate and demons disappear. The ominous album opener and lead single "Devil" is a rush of unpredictable rhythms and roaring guitars that sets the stage for what's to come. The story that unfolds as the album progresses is a powerful and enduring statement about the resolve of the human spirit, our will to overcome struggles, and the importance of respecting and leaning on one another. On "Kill Your Conscience", a percussive march and a snarling refrain are instigated by the pitfalls of social media. Elsewhere, "Get Up" is an encouraging lyrical ode set to lush piano chords that speaks to struggles with depression. The energized distortion of "The Human Radio" is a rousing call to action to keep fighting together for survival and truth. Album closer "Brilliant" packs a punch as fears finally evaporate and strength returns. Given the deeply personal nature of the record, SHINEDOWN went in-house for production for the time ever, enlisting bassist Eric Bass to produce and mix the album in its entirety. "Attention Attention" ushers in SHINEDOWN's biggest and boldest chapter yet, as they once again uproot convention and deliver a cinematic and poignant body of work.

SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith told CrypticRock.com about "Attention Attention": "For us personally, where we are right now and how we've arrived at this record, one of the things that is different is we self-produced it. Eric Bass, who is our bass player, who is way more than just a bass player, really took the captain's chair in regards to the production on the album. He also mixed the record as well. The record is also not a traditional album [in the sense where] you write a hundred songs, you pick the 10 best, you wrap it up, and present it to the world. This is a concept record in a lot of different details and points of view in this album are very, very unique.

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a traditional concept record in regards to when I think of 'The Wall' (1979) by PINK FLOYD, or 'Operation: Mindcrime' (1988) by QUEENSRŸCHE or 'Tommy' (1969) by THE WHO," he continued. "This is an album that is definitely a psychological, emotional, and physical journey. You kind of have an understanding of what you are getting ready to experience with the first single being 'Devil', because it is the beginning of the story. Also, with the video out now as well, it really does allow the listener, from a sonic and visual side, to see what is getting ready to happen. It is taking the listener on a journey, everything happens in this room. It is really a record about not being afraid to fail."

Regarding the lyrical themes covered on "Attention Attention", Brent said: "There is definitely an expression on 'Attention Attention' about humanity. About understanding, I don't want people to forget how to be human beings. What I mean by that is I think sometimes, because of technology, and because there is such a wealth of information, that is a really great thing at times. We are living in a world where everyone has a smartphone, and if you have a question about something, you can just look it up and find the information that you need. I think that is invaluable in a lot of different scenarios. When it comes to the human spirit, I don't want people to forget how to talk to each other, face to face, and not through a text. Also, because of where we are in society, and not only in America, but all around the world, everybody has an opinion now. Everybody does see things in their own way and they want their opinion voiced. You can do that now with certain social media and what have you. At the end of the day, we are all human beings. We all have feelings, emotions, and drive. We have fears. We have things that concern us.

"I told this to a friend of mine, because they were trying to understand a little more of the record. They said, 'Can you give me an example?' I said, 'Tomorrow morning, when you get up and go about your day, if you see somebody, and for whatever reason, maybe they don't look completely there, and I am not saying you have to see it tomorrow, just in your mind, be conscious of this — have you ever gone up to someone just because you noticed maybe they weren't having a good day? As a total stranger walking up to them and asking, 'Hey, are you alright? Can I help you? Do you need anything?' I think you would be blown away at the people that would probably look at you and said, 'You know what, I'm not okay.'' Just to have someone to talk to, even if it's a stranger. That is what I am trying to say. That humanity. I don't want to lose that. In a lot of ways, 'Attention Attention' is a warning to people and society. Don't lose your human side. Technology is great, but don't lose the fact that you are a human being."


"Attention Attention" track listing:

01. The Entrance

02. Devil

03. Black Soul

04. Attention Attention

05. Kill Your Conscience

06. Pyro

07. Monsters

08. Darkside

09. Creatures

10. Evolve

11. Get Up

12. Special

13. The Human Radio

14. Brilliant

STONE SOUR has released a music video for the song "St. Marie". The clip was directed by Marc Klasfeld, who has helmed over two hundred music videos for artists such as Katy Perry, Jay-Z, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Nelly, FOO FIGHTERS, Kelly Clarkson, Shakira, Avril Lavigne and AEROSMITH.

"St. Marie" is taken from STONE SOUR's latest album, "Hydrograd", which came out at the end of June and features the chart-topping rock radio hit "Song #3". The disc was recorded at Sphere Studios in North Hollywood, California with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX and STEEL PANTHER.

Singer Corey Taylor recently that Josh Rand will rejoin his STONE SOUR bandmates on the road on April 27 at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Jacksonville, Florida.

The guitarist most recently performed with STONE SOUR on the ShipRocked cruise before it was announced that he had entered treatment for unspecified issues. STONE SOUR enlisted a temporary replacement for the January/February tour, which included dates with HALESTORM, IN THIS MOMENT and RED SUN RISING.

Corey told the Regina rock radio station 104.9 The Wolf that Josh "is not just somebody who I've been in a band with for a while; we've been best friends since we were 15 years old — I mean, we go way back. For me, it's not just the worry of my cohort, my partner, my songwriting guy, my lead guitarist, it's about worrying about my friend, my brother, somebody who let me sleep on his floor when I was homeless," he said. "So, for me, that's the biggest thing — worrying about him. But he seems to be doing really, really well. And we just support him as much as we absolutely can. And when it comes to being a friend, that's all you really can do — just be there for them. The best way to be a friend is just to stay right where you are and just let somebody lean against you if they need it, and that's what we're trying to do."

STONE SOUR will support Ozzy Osbourne on the initial North American leg of the legendary vocalist's "No More Tours 2" tour, which kicks off August 30 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's new song "Fake can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's seventh album, "And Justice For None", which will be released on May 18. The disc is available for physical pre-order in the following formats: standard physical CD (13 tracks), deluxe physical CD (13 tracks + 3 bonus tracks + deluxe artwork), vinyl (13 tracks + 3 bonus tracks + deluxe gatefold artwork). The band is also offering fans a variety of new CD/merchandise bundles.

"And Justice For None" (standard album) track listing:

01. Fake

02. Top Of The World

03. Sham Pain

04. Blue On Black

05. Fire In The Hole

06. I Refuse

07. It Doesn't Matter

08. When The Seasons Change

09. Stuck In My Ways

10. Rock Bottom

11. Gone Away

12. Bloody

13. Will The Sun Ever Rise

"And Justice For None" (deluxe album) track listing:

01. Trouble (Bonus Track)

02. Fake

03. Top Of The World

04. Sham Pain

05. Blue On Black

06. Fire In The Hole

07. I Refuse

08. It Doesn't Matter

09. When The Seasons Change

10. Stuck In My Ways

11. Rock Bottom

12. Gone Away

13. Bloody

14. Will The Sun Ever Rise

15. Bad Seed (Bonus Track)

16. Save Your Breath (Bonus Track)

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory told Detroit's WRIF radio station about the delay in getting "And Justice For None" released after being embroiled in a lawsuit with the band's record company, Prospect Park: "Everybody knows we were in this crazy situation last year, and actually, that's how the album title came about. When you're in a lawsuit, the only people that win [are] pretty much the lawyers. There was this back-and-forth forever, and finally when we settled, I think Ivan [Moody, vocals] was the one who said, 'Well, I guess that's justice for none.' And we were, like, 'Let's call the album 'And Justice For None'.' Even though we all know there's METALLICA album [called '…And Justice For All'], obviously, out there. And [those] lyrics, actually, METALLICA's '…And Justice For All', make a lot of sense to me. The same crap 30 years later, right?"

Asked if FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH went back and touched up any parts of "And Justice For None" after the original version of the album was completed in December 2016, Zoltan said: "The thing about music today and the technology today is you can kind of keep polishing things, working on things up until the last day — up until the very last day that you have to submit the record, you still can change things, so you can still touch things up and move things around. The music kind of stayed almost as is — there were just a couple of things that we did — and we ended up recording a couple of more songs that was part of the agreement with the label; we recorded three more songs for the album that was part the settlement. And we ended up shaking hands and everybody's fine. It just kind of took a year out of our schedule."

Regarding the musical direction of "And Justice For None", Zoltan said: "You pick any band — let's say IRON MAIDEN. IRON MAIDEN has a sound, and anytime [a new] IRON MAIDEN [album] comes out, you're gonna get an IRON MAIDEN record; it's never gonna sound anything else but IRON MAIDEN. And I think, not to compare us to IRON MAIDEN, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH kind of have a sound; you hear it on the radio and you know it's us. So we have a sound, and we're not gonna really go far away from that. We sometimes experiment, but we have a sound. And for us, it's always about writing the song — the song is what matters the most to us. If you stick with your instrument and you practice all day, you're gonna be great at it — mechanically, you're a good musician. But that's not songwriting. Songwriting is when you can write a song that becomes the soundtrack to people's lives. Music affects you in a certain way; there are songs that you listen to and you know where you were when you heard it the first time. Or what was the summer when this was the song on the radio; you remember those things. There are only a handful of those songs in the world that have that impact on you: 'Yeah, I remember, and I know how I felt. I remember how life was when this song was on the radio.' And if you, in your career as a musician, can write one of those songs, then I think you succeeded, 'cause that's what matters. Can I write a song that really means something to people? And that's what it is about. And I think this record has three or four, probably, of the biggest songs we ever wrote, and that's what matters to us. When you're listening to this album, there are some songs that, in my opinion, are just massive songs that are really going to hit some chords with a lot of people."

Photo credit: Kenneth Baluba Sporsheim / @kenspo



Standard cover:



Deluxe cover:

SAXON frontman Biff Byford has confirmed in a new interview with "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" that he is continuing to work on material for his upcoming solo album. Asked how the record will be different from the music he has released with the legendary British heavy metal band, Biff said (hear audio below): "I think it's probably gonna be a bit more rock and roll, a bit more classic rock. I mean, I've got seven songs, and it's quite mixed, really. But I'll have to wait and see."

Byford added that he doesn't compose music with a specific direction in mind. "The way I write is I write individual songs — I don't write albums, per se," he said.

"People say, 'What's the concept behind the album?' I go, 'There's no concept,'" he explained. "The concept is write as many great songs as possible and see if our fans like it."

With regards to when he expects to see his solo album completed, Biff said: "Well, I'm writing on the road already. I'm writing some stuff with Nibbs [Carter, SAXON bassist], I'm writing a bit of stuff on my own. We [SAXON] finish [touring] here in May, in America. I think we've only got two weeks off, and we start again. So I'm gonna try to get some time. It's the writing that takes the time, not the recording. You can record things really quickly."

Biff went on to say that his solo album will probably feature a number of guest musicians. "I'm gonna ask various people [to appear on the record]," he said. "It's not easy for guitarists to work with you, because they just smack down their signature solo and off you go. Singers, I might do some duets and things. We'll see. I wanna get the songs written first, and then see who wants to work on them. I'll probably have a nucleus of a drummer and a bass player, although I might play bass myself. I've still got my Rickenbacker."

Asked why he just doesn't use the extra material for a future SAXON album instead of setting it aside for his solo disc, Biff said: "Well, I did. Actually, 'Roadie's Song' [off SAXON's 2018 album 'Thunderbolt'] was a solo album project. And I do move them across all the time. And actually, originally, 'They Played Rock And Roll' was a solo-album idea [that also ended up on 'Thunderbolt']. So I do that all the time. And I do have songs that me and Nibbs have written for SAXON that I didn't think were right for SAXON that might end up on my solo album."

"Thunderbolt" was released on February 2 via Militia Guard (Silver Lining Music). The follow-up to 2015's "Battering Ram" was once again helmed by producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH, ACCEPT and TESTAMENT, among others. The disc features original artwork by longtime SAXON collaborator Paul Raymond Gregory.

SAXON is supporting JUDAS PRIEST on the North American leg of the "Firepower" tour, which kicked off on March 13 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and will wrap on May 1 in San Antonio, Texas.

Reunited California metallers BLEEDING THROUGH will release a new full-length album, "Love Will Kill All", on May 25 via SharpTone Records.

The official music video for the disc's first single, "Set Me Free", can be seen below.

Commented BLEEDING THROUGH vocalist Brandan Schieppati: "After five years away, we realized the heartbeat of BLEEDING THROUGH is still beating.

"We feel one of the best things that we could have done was to step away and concentrate on other aspects of our lives and let the dust settle on BLEEDING THROUGH, as people knew us.

"Our motivation to write the record was purely because of our passion for our music — the creative blood that runs through our veins, which hasn‘t changed since 1999.

"I feel that our creativity and passion is being put on display in this new record, 'Love Will Kill All'. We feel music is the ultimate expression and whether people want it or not we felt the need to express ourselves again. The beauty is that no one can stop it from happening.

"'Set Me Free' is a song that speaks of new beginnings.

"For so many years, I felt that BLEEDING THROUGH was a band that was held back because of other people interests in the band, whether it was business or personal. I just felt trapped by the business of the industry and outside perception.

"BLEEDING THROUGH is all about the music and the people who enjoy it. That was lost for a while and now it's found.

"'Set Me Free' is about a rebirth of purity of BLEEDING THROUGH. The video is dark, frantic and strong. I think it personifies what BT is and what we will always be. Time to rise."

BLEEDING THROUGH's last album, "The Great Fire", was released in January 2012 via Rise Records.

"Save Yourself", a brand new song from BREAKING BENJAMIN, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's upcoming sixth studio album, "Ember", which will be released on April 13 via Hollywood Records.


Speaking about the disc, BREAKING BENJAMIN founder/frontman Ben Burnley noted: "People have always really liked the heavier side of the band. I think that's what they sort of gravitate towards. But we also make sure to explore our melodic and softer side too." On "Ember", he explained, "we just tried to make it more extreme — the softer side on this album is really soft, and the heavy side is really heavy. We decided to give everybody what they want to the furthest degree."

Produced by BREAKING BENJAMIN, "Ember" is the follow-up to the band's 2015 release "Dark Before Dawn", which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 chart and spun off three No. 1 rock radio tracks, "Failure" (2015's most played Active Rock track), "Angels Fall" and "Never Again". The first single from "Ember", "Red Cold River", was released on January 5 and the accompanying video has more than seven million views.

"Ember" track listing:

01. Lyra

02. Feed The Wolf

03. Red Cold River

04. Tourniquet

05. Psycho

06. The Dark Of You

07. Down

08. Torn In Two

09. Blood

10. Save Yourself

11. Close Your Eyes

12. Vega

BREAKING BENJAMIN will hit the road this summer for co-headlining dates with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. A few of the shows will be part of Live Nation's "Ticket To Rock" program.

Photo credit: Chris Yankton

METALLICA played on March 31 at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria as part of the second European leg of the band's "WorldWired" tour. The two-hour show included a four-man drum jam that first made an appearance at METALLICA's Mexico City gigs in March 2017 within the new song "Now That We're Dead". During the section where drummer Lars Ulrich, from the center of the stage, played some tribal tom grooves, the other members started banging on individual sets of toms, with Ulrich stepping out to join them. Check out professionally filmed video footage below.

"I know it's been on [frontman James] Hetfield's laundry list for some time to experiment with a drum piece," Ulrich told Newsday. "He's always been a bit of a closet drummer, so he suggested that we all somehow stitch together a drum interlude."

METALLICA played 12 shows in Europe since early February and has another 12 dates booked between now and mid-May.

METALLICA recently announced the details of the 2018-2019 North American leg of of its "WorldWired" tour in support of the band's latest album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct".

The 34-date trek kicks off September 2 in Madison, Wisconsin and runs through March 13 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Each ticket purchase will be accompanied by a physical or digital copy of "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct".

METALLICA's "WorldWired" trek was the fifth-highest grossing tour of 2017, with 1.5 million tickets sold and $153 million earned. The band was also the top-selling rock act of the year and had the third best-selling rock album.

Underground death metal legends Matti Way (ex-Pathology and Disgorge, Abominable Putridity) and Erik Lindmark (Deeds Of Flesh) have joined forces to form a new band called Submerged.

Well known for raising the standard of heaviness on their pioneering, boundary destroying work the duo will continue their decades long quest to push extreme metal to its limits and continue to set the bar for absolute brutality beyond the reach of any of today's heaviest bands. Submerged promises to be one of the most monumentally heavy, experimental, atmospheric, and ominous projects that the two have been a part of, and will be an absolutely monstrous addition to their already unparalleled bodies of work.

The group will release a full length this year on Unique Leader Records.

Joining Way and Lindmark in Submerged are bassist Eric Little of the upcoming and widely respected slam masters Visceral Disgorge and phenomenal drummer Alex Gal of Foul Deformity. The two provide an extraordinarily tight rhythm section and are further proof of the band's devastating potential.

The band has released a trailer, which you can watch below. More news on Submerged in the coming weeks.

Multi-camera video footage of LYNCH MOB performing on March 23 at the Token Lounge in Westland, Michigan can be seen below (clip edited and produced by George S Pogacich).

LYNCH MOB recently recruited singer Nathan Utz to front the band following the departure of Oni Logan.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based Utz previousy sang for the late 1980s/early 1990s glam metal band BLONZ and is currently the frontman for the AEROSMITH tribute act PANDORA'S BOX, which also features EVANESCENCE's Troy McLawhorn.

Utz made his live debut with LYNCH MOB on March 9 in Medina, Minnesota.

LYNCH MOB was rejoined by singer Robert Mason for several shows in February and March, including appearances on the Monsters Of Rock cruise and at the '80s In The Park festival.

During an interview with Eddie Trunk, LYNCH MOB guitarist George Lynch declined to get into specifics about Oni's decision to exit the band in January, explaining: "We have tremendous respect for each other on the musical level, and I'll just leave it there and wish him well. I'm sure he's going to do fine. He's one of the great ones. Maybe he hasn't been recognized like I feel he should be. To me, he's a modern-day Paul Rodgers. We made a lot of fantastic music together, including the latest record, 'The Brotherhood' — which didn't turn out to be such a brotherhood after all [laughs], but it's a beautiful, beautiful record. I'll have a soft spot in my heart for these guys and wish it had continued on, but it didn't, so..."

LYNCH MOB's current lineup also includes returning drummer Scot Coogan. "I played with Scot off and on in various projects over the years, and he was in LYNCH MOB a number of variations, most recently up to a few years ago," the guitarist told Trunk. "Scot's wonderful. He brings so much to the table. He's one of those multitasking guys. He's a great singer; he's a great songwriter; and he plays everything a little bit. He's very tuned in with drum programming and the recording side of it, so that always helps. He's like a Swiss army knife, plus his drumming, it's got a great R&B feel. LYNCH MOB has that — LYNCH MOB has this blues-based, R&B-based, heavy rock thing. He really brings a lot to the table. He's a great fit, and we're great friends."

Logan first hooked up with LYNCH MOB in 1990, but exited the group after the release of its first album, only to rejoin the George Lynch-led outfit in the late 2000s.

"The Brotherhood" was released last September via Rat Pak Records.

SKILLET drummer Jen Ledger will release her first solo EP, titled "Ledger", on April 13 through Hear It Loud, a label imprint launched by SKILLET frontman John Cooper and his wife, SKILLET keyboardist Korey Cooper.

"Ledger" track listing:

01. Not Dead Yet

02. Warrior

03. Bold

04. Foreigner

05. Ruins

06. Iconic

The song "Not Dead Yet" can be streamed below.

Ledger told Billboard about the project: "I feel I've just been growing and changing over the last few years and I feel the time is now. It just feels like everything is lined up all at once. It's super exciting because it is a little bit of a destiny moment."

Ledger credited the Coopers with mentoring her and helping her develop her own sound, explaining: "Over the last couple of years, the Coopers have really been training me, helping me on my writing and really helping me find my own unique style."

She added: "I'm not just mini-SKILLET. I'm edgy and rocky, but I'm also soft and got a little bit of pop in me too. They've been helping me find out not only who I am musically, but also who I am as a person and what do I want to say."

Over the past decade, Ledger has contributed co-lead vocals to certain SKILLET songs. John Cooper told The Pulse Of Radio a while back how he determines when a song needs a feminine voice. "Some people say, 'You know, that's really cool you do it, you just don't do it enough. You need to do it more,'" he said. "Some people are more thinking of, 'It's really cool, and if you did it all the time, it might get annoying.' I'm kind of more along the lines of, if we're gonna do it, I want to write a song for that purpose, as opposed to we have a song and going, 'Oh, hey, you know what? You can come in and sing that line,' or something like that. That to me seems a little random, so when I do it, it's something that I've written for it."

Ledger is not leaving SKILLET, saying: "We're all on the same team and we're all kind of mixed into everything... I get to do everything I want and have the best of both worlds."

Ledger, together with a full band, will serve as opening act on SKILLET's upcoming tour and then take her usual place behind the drums for SKILLET's headlining set. The trek kicks off on April 12 in Amarillo, Texas.

SKILLET's latest LP, "Unleashed", was released in 2016. The group's 10th studio effort featured the hit singles "Back From The Dead" and "Feel Invincible".

Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE), Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Rudy Sarzo (OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT), and Dave Kushner (VELVET REVOLVER) are among the musicians who took part in "AC/DC Comedy & Rock Show: A Tribute To Bon Scott" on April 3 at the Avalon in Hollywood, California.

The event, which was organized by rock and roll comedian Dean Delray, started off with Delray, Bill Burr, Marc Maron and Joey Diaz doing stand-up comedy before an all-star band performed AC/DC's classic 1978 album "Powerage" in its entirety.

Prior to the event, Ian said: "I'm going to do my best to honor [late AC/DC guitarist] Malcolm's [Young] mastery. And I'm going to bang my fucking head playing songs from my favorite AC/DC record."

Video footage of "AC/DC Comedy & Rock Show: A Tribute To Bon Scott" can be seen below.

Singer Bon Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning on the night of February 19, 1980, after a night of heavy drinking at a club in London, just days after attending a session with AC/DC guitarists Malcolm and Angus Young where they began working on music for what became the "Back In Black" album.

Malcolm, who co-founded AC/DC with brother Angus in 1973, died on November 18 at the age of 64 after suffering from dementia and failing health for several years. His condition forced him to leave the band in 2014, with his nephew Stevie Young stepping into Malcolm's position.

Asked how Malcolm Young influenced his playing and how he was affected by Malcolm's passing, Scott told Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show: "I don't want it to sound weird, but it wasn't a shock [to hear that he had died]. I mean, people knew — I knew that he had been sick for a long time with a disease that, generally, you don't come back from. So it was one of these just-a-matter-of-time kind of things, which is just a huge bummer.

"I had actually talked to a friend of mine at the Loudwire [Music] Awards, who's very close with the AC/DC camp, just to ask if he had heard anything. Because there was no information out there — there was never any information on how Malcolm was doing. And he said he had spoken to someone and from what he had heard, [Malcolm] didn't have long, and that was, like, three weeks before he passed. So I wasn't surprised, but at the same time, that doesn't temper how sad it was and what a huge bummer it is that that guy is no longer with us doing what he pretty much was put on this planet to do."

Ian continued: "I'm the type of person that celebrates people when they go. I don't sit around and do the whole mourning thing and all that. I prefer to celebrate it, so we cranked AC/DC — we put 'Let There Be Rock' on and just cranked it. And that's what I've always done; it's never going to change. So we'll have all of those records for… I'll have 'em for the rest of my life, obviously. Anytime I think about Malcolm, I can go put something on.

"As far as my playing goes, [Malcolm] was my guitar teacher. Obviously, I wasn't sitting there taking lessons from him, but playing along to AC/DC records as a kid is really where I learned how to play guitar. And I would just go song by song by song and learn the chords and not take the time to sit there and learn the lead breaks, 'cause learning the leads would take me days whereas I could learn the whole album in a few hours if I was just learning the chords. And Malcolm was the guy playing the chords. I think my whole way of playing, my percussive right hand, it's very, very similar, in a lot of ways, to what he does. Obviously, I play a different style of music, and the metal that ANTHRAX is playing is a completely different style of music than AC/DC. So, yeah, even though my right hand is very percussive like his, it's in a different way, with palm muting and, obviously, playing the guitar to make a sound that works in the context of ANTHRAX. But, for me, it all comes from what he was doing."

A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH has re-signed with SPV. The band's new music is expected to be released in the fall via the record company's Long Branch Records imprint.


Led by founding TYPE O NEGATIVE and LIFE OF AGONY member Sal Abruscato, A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH released its debut, "And Hell Will Follow Me", in 2011 and firmly implanted its roots in the metal scene with the sophomore album, "Lay My Soul to Waste", in 2013. Both records were selected as part of the Revolver magazine "Top 20 Albums Of The Year" lists in the years they were issued.


Besides Abruscato on guitars and lead vocals, A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH's lineup includes Joe Taylor and Eddie Heedges on guitars and Eric Morgan on bass. Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE) is also back in the band on drums.


On the surface, A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH are impressive. But you'll want to dig deeper and immerse yourself in all the sonic and lyrical layers, because the band isn't afraid to plume the depths of darkness that humanity is capable of. It's murky stuff, but someone has to do it.


A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH is:


Sal Abruscato - Guitar, Vocals

Joe Taylor - Guitar

Eddie Heedges - Guitar

Eric Morgan - Bass

Johnny Kelly - Drums


Photo credit: Sandi Ryan / GoLightly Photography

HOOBASTANK has premiered "More Beautiful", the first song from the multi-platinum, three-time-Grammy-nominated band's upcoming album, "Push Pull", due out May 25 on Napalm Records.

"Push Pull" finds HOOBASTANK — Doug Robb (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Dan Estrin (lead guitar, keyboards), Chris Hesse (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Jesse Charland (bass, keyboards, backing vocals) — exploring both rock and pop songwriting with a renewed vigor.


For its sixth studio album and first new music since 2012's "Fight Or Flight", the band partnered with producer Matt Wallace (FAITH NO MORE, DEFTONES, MAROON 5, Andy Grammer). As a result, "Push Pull" nails a bull's-eye to the group's underappreciated sweet spot — the large-scale, muscular '80s-'90s alternative rock of U2, DURAN DURAN, INXS and even TEARS FOR FEARS, whose "Heads Over Heels" gets a brawny, Bowie-esque take on the new collection. HOOBASTANK approached "Push Pull" with the swagger and confidence of a band whose first three albums all went either gold, platinum or multi-platinum.


Album highlights include the go-for-broke "Just Let Go (Who Cares if We Fall)", which sums up HOOBASTANK's attitude. "At least we get to fly," sings Robb. In the title track, "Push Pull", and "More Beautiful", Doug unleashes his falsetto, while the funky R&B feel is a tribute to Dan's early, late-'90s penchant for CHIC and "groove-based" dance music. Songs like "True Believer" and "Buzzkill (Before You Say Goodbye)" show HOOBASTANK maturing from adolescent to adult relationships, often examining the difficulty of keeping alive the sexuality that fuels them. "We Don't Need the World" and "There Will Never Be Another" explore the protective bubble and the memories which bind two people together. Doug's lyrics to the headphones-worthy "Fallen Star" were inspired by a memory of him watching television one night and seeing a military family of a soldier who had died in combat. It made him think of the brave men and women who serve and even more so now the parents of those who serve.

Hailing from the Netherlands, Shylmagoghnar became one of the most spoken of extreme metal duos in underground metal throughout the years. This is not just because of pure heaviness, not because of incredible song structures and not because of fiery emotional music. This is a combination connecting all of these factors and creating a raw and unique soundscape.

With their debut album Emergence, Shylmagoghnar achieved an amazing feat, without having signed to a label, their album reached nearly 1,700,000 views on the bands YouTube channel. Now it's time to bring Shylmagoghnar's music even further... with Napalm Records. Their second strike is entitled Transience, and will be out on June 29th. On this album the band perfected their game and brought it to a whole new level.

Atmospheric black metal and harsh vocals burst into progressive guitar melodies deeply rooted in melodic death metal creating a rather melancholic and yet playful set-up indulging in themes of our existence in all its monumental beauty and horrible chasms. Watch a teaser for "Journey Through The Fog" from Transience below.

The album will be vailable in the following formats:

- Regular Jewel Case
- 2 LP Gatefold & Bonus Track
- Regular Jewel Case & Shirt Bundle
- Digital Full-Length Album

Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

"Transience"
"The Dawn Of Motion"
"As All Must Come To Pass"
"This Shadow Of The Heart"
"The Chosen Path"
"No Child Of Man Could Follow"
"Journey Through The Fog"
"Life"

Teaser:

Lineup:

Nimblkorg: Guitars, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals
Skirge: Vocals, Lyrics

(Photo - S.E. Dantchev)

Avantgarde death metal outfit The Antichrist Imperium have announced their sophomore album, which is entitled Volume II Every Tongue Shall Praise Satan. The follow-up to their 2015 self-titled debut, Volume II Every Tongue Shall Praise Satan is set for release on June 29th via Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings.

The Antichrist Imperium's second album presents the quartet with a sound that is unique and well established away from any of the groups other projects, all the while bringing musical composition to this album aiding it to be as diverse as it is unrelenting.

Once again, embalmer of the dead, Matt Wilcock (Abramelin, ex-Akercocke, ex-The Berzerker) brings the hyper-thrash death shreds that can only be contained by David Gray's (Akercocke, Voices, ex-The Berzerker) masterful blasts and Sam Bean's (The Senseless, ex-The Berzerker) cutting death metal barks that nail the coffins shut.

Lastly but not least, Samuel Loynes (Akercocke, Shrines, Voices) ties the sound together with vocals atypical to that of the context of the music, delivering the melodic and the emotive to this sonic funeral service.

Vocalist Sam Loynes comments: “Still finding our feet with the first album compositionally, I believe with Volume II Every Tongue Shall Praise Satan we have now arrived in a place of confidence and deep understanding of each others expectations and desires for this band. The trio laid the ground work for me to come in and tie the pieces together. The finishing parts of the puzzle that ultimately complete the expansive sound of this record.”

Information on pre-orders and formats will be announced shortly.

The Antichrist Imperium lineup:

David Gray - drums
Matt Wilcock - guitars, bass
Sam Bean - vocals
Samuel Loynes - vocals

Swedish classic/progressive rock supergroup THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA — featuring members of SOILWORK and ARCH ENEMY — will release its fourth studio album, "Sometimes The World Ain't Enough", on June 29 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was again produced by the bandmembers themselves and was recorded at Handsome Hard Music / Larsson Music Studio as well as Nordic Sound Lab in Skara, Sweden. Mixing duties were taken on by the band's guitarist/percussionist Sebastian Forslund and mastering was done by Thomas "Plec" Johansson at The Panic Room.

Just like 2017's "Amber Galactic", the LP will feature two different covers (see below) — one for the regular and the other for the limited edition.

The limited first-edition digipack CD, as well as the vinyl, will include an exclusive bonus track. The Japanese version will also feature an additional cut.

"Sometimes The World Ain't Enough" track listing:

01. This Time

02. Turn To Miami

03. Paralyzed

04. Sometimes The World Ain't Enough

05. Moments Of Thunder

06. Speedwagon

07. Lovers In The Rain

08. Can't Be That Bad

09. Pretty Thing Closing In

10. Barcelona

11. Winged And Serpentine

12. The Last Of The Independent Romantics

13. Marjorie (limited-edition digipack CD and vinyl bonus track)

14. Pacific Priestess (Japanese bonus track)

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA said in a statement: "THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA returns with another chapter in their steaming space opera that began with 'Amber Galactic'.

"This time, the female space commanders want even more revenge than they already had, space is even more infinite, and the amount of champagne it takes to keep this navy afloat and adrift in the cosmos is probably illegal on most planets!

"Never looking back, THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA boldly goes where no man or woman has ever gone before, and with this album, they've taken another step in their quest to elevate classic rock from being a music genre to becoming an immersive whole-body transcendental experience!

"It's time to prepare yourself, because the riffs will be riffier, the vocals will be throatier, the synthesizers will envelop you, the AOR will be AOR-ier, the long songs will be longer, the short songs will be shorter, the bass will seduce you, the drums will destroy you, the groove will hypnotize and paralyze you. Can you handle it?"

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA's third studio album, "Amber Galactic", was released in May 2017 via Nuclear Blast. The disc followed THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA's two previous releases, 2012's "Internal Affairs" and 2015's "Skyline Whispers".

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA is:

Björn Strid - Vocals

Sharlee D'Angelo - Bass

David Andersson - Guitars

Richard Larsson - Keyboards

Jonas Källsbäck - Drums

Sebastian Forslund - Guitars, Percussion, Special FX

Anna-Mia Bonde - Backing Vocals

Anna Brygård - Backing Vocals

Photo credit: Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg

Main cover:



Limited-edition cover:

Progressive metallers DREAM THEATER are planning to regroup in late spring to begin work on material for the follow-up to 2016's "The Astonishing". "We're gonna start back in the studio in June — just all be together and writing and working on the new album," singer James LaBrie told the "Lead Singer Syndrome" podcast (hear audio below). "We're hoping that the album will be out, let's say, February of 2019. And then we're looking, at this point, that we'd start the next world tour next March."

LaBrie also confirmed that he is working on material for the follow-up to his 2013 "Impermanent Resonance" solo album. In the meantime, he will join the Brazilian band NOTURNALL on stage later this month for four shows in South America, with one of the concerts — on April 24 at Teatro Porto Seguro in São Paulo — set to be recorded for a DVD.

"[NOTURNALL are] a huge [heavy metal] band down in South America," James said. "They've asked me to come in, and I'm gonna sing five songs a night: two DREAM THEATER songs, two solo songs, and then I'm gonna share the vocal duties with their vocalist, Thiago [Bianchi], on one of their songs. So it's just gonna be a fun gig."

DREAM THEATER's next studio album — its 14th — will be the band's first for Sony Music's progressive imprint InsideOut Music. The group spent the past 25 years recording under various labels in the Warner Music Group system, most recently Roadrunner Records, which released five albums by the band between 2007 and 2016.

DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess recently told Metal Wani about a possible musical direction for the band's next disc: "I think that we're interested to just put our heads together and find something that we feel is really representative of who we are. Yeah, I think maybe a little bit on the heavier side. Certainly nothing like a concept album, since we already did 'The Astonishing' and we had a lot of fun, and it was a wonderful, creative project. Now I think maybe [we'll be] returning a little bit more to the roots, and that probably involves a little bit of a harder approach, I guess, to the sound, but never losing sight of the melody. DREAM THEATER is DREAM THEATER — it's always a stylistic blend of a lot of different things. But all I can say about it at this point is we wanna kind of figure out what the core of who we are and what the music is and just kind of present that."

SLIPKNOT is planning to release its next studio album in 2019, Corey Taylor has confirmed. Speaking to Billboard, the singer said: "The guys are writing tons of music and I've written lyrics to almost all of it and we're going to start trying to put together demos here and there with the time off that I have and really try to get ahead of the curve as far as what happens next. I know that we're gonna try and put an album out next year. However, that is all speculation. The best way to make God laugh is to announce your plans out loud. So I'm just going with the flow. The plan right now is next year but that is a huge plan because we still haven’t narrowed anything down, so we will definitely see what happens."

Although he's still on the road with STONE SOUR, Taylor recently said that he has already begun putting together lyrical ideas for SLIPKNOT's follow-up to 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter", adding that the material will see him at his "most autobiographical" that he has "been in years." Taylor's comments came several months after SLIPKNOT percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan revealed that the band had "about 27 pieces of work" written for the band's new disc.

Asked by Musik Universe if he has heard any of the music Crahan has been composing with the other instrumental members of SLIPKNOT, Taylor replied: "Yeah, I have. It's awesome. That's all I'm gonna say about it. It's everything I wanted it to be." As for the lyrics, Taylor explained: "It's really dark. It's probably the most autobiographical I've been in years. Just for the fact that I've been through a lot the last few years and I've been sitting on a lot."

SLIPKNOT's touring cycle in support of its latest disc ended in November 2016, with Taylor returning to his other band STONE SOUR last year.

Taylor and STONE SOUR are preparing to embark on a new string of U.S. tour dates in support of that band's sixth studio effort, "Hydrograd".

KILLER BE KILLED has commenced work on material for its second album, tentatively due next year.

The supergroup, which is comprised of Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, ex-SEPULTURA), Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), Troy Sanders (MASTODON) and drummer Ben Koller (CONVERGE, ALL PIGS MUST DIE, MUTOID MAN), released its self-titled debut album in 2014 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

Asked in a brand new interview with the "Red Light District Show" if there are any plans for KILLER BE KILLED to record a follow-up effort, Max said (hear audio below): "We're actually practicing tomorrow. The guys are flying here to Phoenix and we're gonna go to our SOULFLY place of practice, which is like this big warehouse that we have [with] all our gear there. So they're flying in, and they rented a house. So, yeah, we're gonna finally, finally get some new stuff. We'll try to write as much as we can. I'm really excited. I think we're gonna definitely have a new KILLER BE KILLED [album] next year, man — I can say that I'm pretty much 99 percent sure it's gonna happen… Hopefully we'll have some stuff done [during this songwriting session], enter the studio sometime… I'm hoping maybe at the end of the year we can actually go in the studio and record some, and continue maybe next year, and have a record out next year. That's the perfect plan for me, at least I think in my mind."

Drummer Dave Elitch (ex-THE MARS VOLTA) played on KILLER BE KILLED's first CD but was unable to continue with the band due to scheduling conflicts with his other group, ANTEMASQUE.

For their live debut at the 2015 Soundwave festival in Australia, Cavalera, Sanders, Puciato and Koller were joined by Juan Montoya (MONSTRO, ex-TORCHE), who also performed on the KILLER BE KILLED debut album.

"Killer Be Killed" sold around 5,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 58 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released in May 2014, the CD was produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur, whose credits include work with GOJIRA, LAMB OF GOD, HATEBREED, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ESCAPE THE FATE, P!NK and STEVE EARLE. Cover art and packaging was executed by Ryan Clark of Invisible Creature Design, the Grammy-nominated design firm whose clients include ALICE IN CHAINS, FOO FIGHTERS, CHRIS CORNELL, DEVILDRIVER, MONSTER MAGNET, WOLFMOTHER and DEMON HUNTER.

Photo credit: TeamRock

ICED EARTH guitarist Jon Schaffer was recently interviewed by Greece's Rockpages. The full conversation can be seen below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):

On whether the band's latest album, "Incorruptible", will be judged a "classic":

Jon: "It's very early to tell. A classic record gets decided a few years after it's released, and the fans decide that, not me — but I have a pretty good feeling it will be. The response is very strong."

On the prospect of re-recording the group's early albums:

Jon: "We're talking about it. It just depends on really if it's going to be worth the time for us to do it. It's a lot of work to do. It would be completely different than [the previous re-release of] 'Days Of Purgatory', because the only thing that was was re-recorded vocals. This, we're talking about a ground-up production so that we have it for a set of masters that we actually own and can exploit in our way in the future, and that this band will be able to benefit from financially going forward, because our contracts were terrible back in the old days, so there's very little income from all the years of work. Plus, with my knowledge of production now compared to the very beginning, we can make those records sound amazing. I'm certain of that. But it's not to try to beat them — it's just to create something that we can actually control and have some financial benefit from, instead of a big corporation like Sony. People go, 'Well, you should just focus on new music.' We will do that too. I have my own studio, and we're not in a hurry to do a new record — we just put one out — so if we can take a year and just take the time to spend time in the studio doing re-records, and then work on a new album, and then do more re-records or whatever, we can do whatever the fuck we want. I don't really care if somebody lost their virginity listening to 'I'd Die For You'. It's my fucking song; I'll re-record if it I want to re-record it. That's the way it is."

On the band's early days:

Jon: "There was not promoters all over the world saying, 'Hey, ICED EARTH. We want you to tour.' It was the opposite. We were desperately trying to get tours. I moved the band from Florida to Indiana to be able to go to, like, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit on the weekends every now and then, to try to spread it to the coasts of the United States, which worked. We did two or three van tours, then we moved into a camper, and after that, we were in a tour bus, so my strategy worked. This is purely about understanding the situation and fighting all the time, and trying to push forward. That's the only thing that's kept this band going forward. Now the band can go... everywhere in the world, but that didn't happen like that [snaps]. That took twenty-five years of work beforehand, laying the groundwork to make it happen."

On his other future projects:

Jon: "SONS OF LIBERTY... people always ask me if there's going to be more, and there will be. I do have the masters back, so when I release it again in the future, I want to do a vinyl version, and I want to put the 'Spirit Of The Times' EP on there and maybe two or three new tracks and probably do a double-vinyl with some cool artwork. But next on my agenda is the DEMONS & WIZARDS stuff. That's this year that I'm focusing on. Hansi [Kürsch] and I have already got three songs going. This year, I would really love to get my parts finished, and to have the master tracking done. We'll see."

On being a KISS fan:

Jon: "KISS 'Alive!' is definitely, I would say, responsible for me pursuing this way of life. It was certainly this record, and then what pushed it over the top was seeing the band live in 1979. That's when I decided that's what I was going to do. ['Alive!'] was the first record I bought. I bought it the day it was released. My sister had the first three KISS records, so I was already familiar with their music and we were listening to it, but I really wanted to impress her and her friends, because they were older than me, by being the first one to get KISS 'Alive!' Whether it's live or not doesn't even matter because it's fucking awesome. It's just got the right vibe, and it's perfect illusion."

ICED EARTH is continuing to tour in support of "Incorruptible", which came out last June via Century Media.

The first trailer for "Queen Of Time", the upcoming studio album from Finnish melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS, can be seen below. Due on May 18 via Nuclear Blast, the follow-up to 2015's "Under The Red Cloud" will include the use of real strings, flutes, orchestral arrangements and even choirs. In addition, this will be the first time that people will be able to hear their lyricist Pekka Kainulainen on the album as he contributes a speech in Finnish.

"Queen Of Time" was once again produced by Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KREATOR), who is well known for challenging and motivating artists during the recording process. He isn't afraid to push them to their limits.

The disc's opening song, "The Bee", can be streamed below.

Guitarist Esa Holopainen states about the new track: "This song is a very powerful opener and gives a nice picture of what the whole album is all about. You can already hear some new elements like choirs and orchestral arrangements in it."

Adds vocalist Tomi Joutsen: "Of course, the lyrical inspiration is a bee, also in a metaphoric way. The tiniest thing can sometimes be the most important thing. A bee can bring life or if we destroy all the bees, life will stop here. It's a very beautiful animal, that's why you can find it on the album cover too. The track itself is a kind of progressive and I'm sure that it will surprise some fans in a positive way. We love it!"

The "Queen Of Time" cover artwork, which was created once again by French artist Jean "Valnoir" Simoulin from Metastazis, captures the feeling of the lyrics and the music. With Pekka Kainulainen's (lyricist) words, the lyrical theme is universal: "Cultures rise, flourish, and are destroyed. The story of man is the story of searching, finding, and forgetting. A single spark can set the world afire, a single idea can give birth to a new culture. The greatest can stagnate into insignificance, the smallest can hold the power for change. The lyrics on this album are distant echoes of ancient forest peoples, from a time when meaning was proportioned by the cosmic forces that govern birth and death. If the connection was lost, they sought for a strand of knowledge, found a new direction, and a new age began."

"Queen Of Time" will be also the first AMORPHIS album to feature the band's old/new bass player Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine following the departure of Niclas Etelävuori in 2017. Oppu was one of the founding members of AMORPHIS in 1990 and recorded the first seven records with the band before he exited the group in spring 2000.

"To be honest, 'Oppu' was the only guy we could imagine being in AMORPHIS," says Esa. "It was funny — when we started to play our first shows together again last summer, it all felt so familiar. He was involved with arranging songs and he also even brought some new songs to the table… really good ones, too!" Oppu adds: "Even though the last year with AMORPHIS has been exciting, nostalgic and fun, it's also been truly comfortable to be with the guys again. As a clichéd expression, it's been like returning home from a lengthy odyssey. After 18 years, it feels like we are picking up where we left off from the good ol' days! I'm really looking forward for the upcoming tour. The new album itself is a really strong package, the only hard thing will be picking which songs to play live! It's safe to say we are set to pull off some killer shows over the next few years. After that, I'm predicting a long and fruitful career for the band in its current form..."

"Queen Of Time" track listing:

01. The Bee

02. Message In The Amber

03. Daughter Of Hate

04. The Golden Elk

05. Wrong Direction

06. Heart Of The Giant

07. We Accursed

08. Grain Of Sand

09. Amongst Stars

10. Pyres On The Coast

Bonus tracks (digi, 2LP, and mail-order edition only)

11. As Mountains Crumble

12. Brother And Sister

Holopainen comments: "I guess 'Queen Of Time' turned out as a massive surprise to all of us. During the rehearsing and pre-production, we didn't have any idea that Jens had this huge picture inside of his head about the landscape of the album. It's a very natural continuation to 'Under The Red Cloud' but with steroids. The songs are more aggressive but there's more dynamics, harmonies and orchestral arrangements present. The result is AMORPHIS as something you've never heard before! Essentially, working with Jens worked really well. As a person, he is very similar to us — we share the same kind of weird humor and we all like to work hard."

Axel Rudi Pell released his Knights Call album on March 23rd. The first week chart entries for the album are listed below.

#6 - Sweden - Hard Rock Charts
#9 - Germany - Album Charts
#10 - Sweden - Physical Charts
#15 - Switzerland - Album Charts
#19 - UK - Indie Album Breaker Charts
#26 - Austria - Album Charts
#32 - US - Hard Music Charts
#39 - UK - Rock & Metal Charts
#68 - UK - Indie Charts
#105 - US - Indie Charts
#149 - Belgium - Album Charts

Tracklisting:

"The Medieval Overture (intro)"
"The Wild And The Young"
"Wildest Dreams"
"Long Live Rock"
"The Crusaders Of Doom"
"Truth And Lies"
"Beyond The Light"
"Slaves On The Run"
"Follow The Sun"
"Tower Of Babylon"

Axel Rudi Pell 2018 tour dates are listed in the poster below.

Lineup:

Johnny Gioeli - lead and backing vocals
Axel Rudi Pell - lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
Ferdy Doernberg - keyboards
Volker Krawczak - bass
Bobby Rondinelli - drums

Still On The Run: The Jeff Beck Story documents the history of a musical maverick and true innovator, delving below the surface to shed light on the circumstances, inspiration and technicality behind the man and his music. The film features extensive interviews with Jeff both at home and in his workshop, as well as interviews with Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, David Gilmour, Ronnie Wood, Slash, Jan Hammer, Joe Perry, Beth Hart & many more.

Beck’s childhood saw him surrounded by music; from the endlessly playing radio, to his homemade guitar and the countless hours he spent poring over records and playing music with his friend, Jimmy Page. “I didn’t have to think about taking up guitar, I just wanted to pour my feelings into it” said Jeff. Around the same time his love of classic cars was ignited from watching American B-movies featuring hot rods, and his two great passions in life were born.

At that time, visiting America seemed like an impossible dream for the young man from Surrey, but joining the Yardbirds spawned Beck’s first trip Stateside. A paycheck from the 1968 film, Blow Up saw him to splash out on a split window ’68 Corvette - a warm memory that clearly still delights him to this day.

Covering the Jeff Beck Group’s seminal 1968 Truth album featuring Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood right through to Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop album (1989) - from experimental rock departures to powerfully dirty, heavy grooves and everything in between, Jeff will always create a singularly unique guitar sound.

Still On The Run: The Jeff Beck Story reveals the true story of the guitar player who builds hot rods and captures the excitement and anecdotes of those who have worked alongside him. Jeff Beck has always been a risk taker, on an endless quest for fresh and challenging new sounds. Bending notes and filtering a myriad of musical inspirations, he will continue to inspire fans and musicians alike by giving voice to his guitar in the most unexpected ways.

Due for release on May 18th, the title is available for pre-order here.

In other Jeff Beck news, his acclaimed Live At The Hollywood Bowl performance, released last year on multiple video and audio formats, will be available for the first time as a standalone 2-CD set and as a 180-gram 2-LP set on April 6 and May 25, respectively, from Rhino.

Additionally, this summer, Jeff Beck will be joined by Paul Rodgers and Ann Wilson of Heart on the Stars Align Tour. The outing kicks off July 18th through August 26th with several Jeff Beck headlining dates as well. Check jeffbeck.com for the full itinerary and ticket information.