Coming off their Canadian debut performance at Indie Week in Toronto earlier this November, India's rock 'n roll lovers, Overhung, announce they have recruited new skin basher Pritesh Prabhubane, whom is also an accomplished live sound engineer and has mixed the likes of Wolfmother and Puddle Of Mudd, plus stage managed for Incubus and Alt J on their recent appearances in India. Prabhubane replaces the band's long time drummer and founding member Sheldon Dixon.

Vocalist Sujit Kumar comments: "Sheldon has been a part of every milestone Overhung has had as a band thus far. We wish him the best of luck his future endeavours and pray for success to follow him wherever he goes. Pritesh is one of those musicians that have literally grown up following bands around since he was in shorts. His versatility allows him to play several genres of music effortlessly with bands like In Memory Of, Chronic Phobia and several others. Although his back ground in heavy metal and hard rock is what clinched the deal for him. Overhung and the band's management are happy to announce him as the newest addition to the band."

Pritesh Prabhubane started playing drums at the age of 21 in 2007 and has toured extensively across India as a drummer, live sound engineer, stage manager and drum technician. He is currently endorsed by Meinl Cymbals and Bhargavas Musik along with performing with other musical groups such as blues act Howard Pereira Trio, pop act Sherise D’Souza Collective, deathcore band Grimmortal, black metal band Stark Denial, groove metal band Sutledge among many more. He also plays for a variery of other artists, mostly independent Indian bands like Daira, Paradigm Shift, Ankur & The Ghalat Family, Anand Bhaskar Collective, Blakc, Bombay Bassment being the most prominent ones, and in the commercial space – Prem Joshua & Band, Gaurav Dagaonkar, Piyush Kapoor Live and subbing / subbed for Kailasa, Mame Khan, Divya Kumar, Indian Ocean, The Bartender, Ash King Live, Point Of View (Dubai) and many more.

Brooklyn metallers, Sanhedrin, will release their sophomore album, The Poisoner, on February 22nd via Cruz Del Sur Music. Recorded in August and September of this year at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves with Colin Marston at the helm, The Poisoner features eight songs of timeless, classy heavy metal that picks up where the band's acclaimed A Funeral For The World debut left off, with an array of big riffs, catchy vocals and explorations into darker territory than before.

"We had no idea how that record would be received when we released it," begins guitarist Jeremy Sosville, also of Black Anvil. "We knew we were proud of it, but the response from the greater public was quite surprising and humbling. Since then, we've been able to play some great shows and really learn what makes our band unique and build on that."

Sanhedrin, who also feature former Amber Asylum and Lost Goat vocalist/bassist Erica Stoltz and drummer Nathan Honor, used ideas that date back to the formation of the band for The Poisoner in addition to songs that were written around the time of A Funeral For The World's release. The overriding goal, however, was to have an album ready in time for their European live debut next March alongside labelmates Gatekeeper.

"I think all three of us progressed quite a bit as individual players as well as learning to maximize our roles as a collective," says Sosville. "The approach is unique for every song, but it normally starts with me bringing in some riffs that work well together. Erica usually comes up with a vocal line and all three of us convene until we're all happy with the final result. A very important aspect we pay attention to is how all the songs flow together. It's a crucial element to any great record. We certainly did not want to write the same album a second time but we did not want to forsake what makes us Sanhedrin either. Overall, I think this record is a little darker and a little meaner.

A distinctive element of Sanhedrin is their thought-provoking lyrics, many of which that go deeper than metal's often fantasy and allegory-based themes. On The Poisoner, Sanhedrin addresses real-world themes that can be seen virtually every day in the news. "A lot of the album is about the destructive and chaotic side of human nature," says Stoltz. "The thirst for power, living in a world slipping into a surreal soup of archaic ideas and advanced technology."

Tracklisting:

"Meditation (All My Gods Are Gone)"
"Wind On The Storm"
"Blood From A Stone"
"The Poisoner"
"The Getaway"
"For The Wicked"
"Saints And Sinners"
"In From The Outside"

After an active 2018 that saw Sanhedrin share the stage with the likes of Eyehategod, The Obsessed, Cauldron, Witch Mountain and Sabbath Assembly (among others), the band is preparing for an even bigger live assault in 2019 behind The Poisoner.

"I hope that the people who support us already are as proud of this record as we are and that we can gain some new supporters with this new material," wraps Sosville. "We work really hard to make music we believe in, so it's gratifying when you can reach more people with it and bring them along for the journey. We're not the biggest band out there, but the people who do follow us have been extremely positive and supportive. We're really grateful for that. I'm probably most excited at the prospect of bringing these songs to as many stages as we can in 2019."

(Photos - Suzanne Abramson)

Lords Of The Trident are excited to share with fans their limited edition blood red vinyl, now available exclusively on the band's website here.

The blood red vinyl edition of Shadows From The Past is a dual vinyl, 45RPM that comes with a gatefold booklet with artwork/lyric insert along with a 320kbps MP3 download card.

"This is our FIRST vinyl release, and we're incredibly excited to finally have this available! Fun fact: since this is the first press, instead of red dye, we used the blood of the unworthy who were slain at our concerts! Gives it a little extra touch!" says vocalist Fang VonWrathenstein.

In addition to the vinyl release, Lords Of The Trident are celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with offering 20% off merch (except vinyl) with this special discount code: TRAMPLE2018 that can be used at the band's online store here. The coupon is good for the whole weekend, Black Friday (November 23rd) through Cyber Monday (November 26th).

(Photo - Mary Sweeney)

Swedish progressive death mongers, Mourning Sign, will release their third album, Contra Mundum, on December 20th via Orchestrated Misery Recordings. The new song "Nest Of Vipers", as well as a teaser video, can be found below.

Having formed in 1992 near Hallstahammer, Sweden, the band quickly hit the studio with their debut recording Last Chamber, which helped secure a recording contract with the Italian label Godhead. The following year the band released the mini-CD Alienor (1993) followed by the self-titled Mourning Sign (1995). Both received favorable reviews from the media, but the band's second full length, Multiverse (1996), left many scribes and followers stunned! Multiverse set the standard for progressive death metal, but alas the following year the band simply went on hiatus. Members eventually started new projects (Sweden's Amaran one of several) and continued to churn out progressive-sounding material over the years.

Having reformed in 2016, Mourning Sign sought to continue their attitude and achievements, thus creating their third album, Contra Mundum (meaning in Latin to defy or oppose everyone else). Recorded in the year 2018, this release will be limited to only 500 copies, and features some incredible guitar work from Kari Kainulainen and Petri Aho.

Tracklisting:

"Dualism"
"Homage To A Dying World"
"Nest Of Vipers"
"Sights Of Woe"
"The Defiant Pupil"
"These Scars"
"Who Will Crown The King"
"Sleep"
"White Light"
"The Devils We Adore"

"Nest Of Vipers":

Nest of vipers by Mourning Sign

Teaser:

Sweden's progressive/power metal band, Hollow, have inked a worldwide record deal with Rockshots Records.

Between Eternities Of Darkness is Hollow's comeback after 20 years from the latest release, Architects Of The Mind” (1999, Nuclear Blast Records). Right now, Hollow is a solo project by Andreas Stoltz, singer, composer and guitarist from Sweden.

The new album, Between Eternities Of Darkness, consists of 10 songs of progressive power metal and plays for about 45 minutes. It’s a dark, cathartic tale about running from problems, facing adversities and searching for a place to fit in. Between Eternities Of Darkness is an album you should listen to from start to end.

“It’s a journey through a short period in a small family’s life. This particular period is dark and tragic, but they’ve seen better days. Light and beauty remain in memory“, says Andreas Stoltz.

The album was written and recorded during the fall of 2017 and early winter in 2018. Between Eternities Of Darkness was mixed and mastered by Ronnie Björnström at Enhanced Audio Productions, Umeå, Sweden.

Between Eternities Of Darkness will be released via Rockshots Records on December 6th on all the major digital platforms, and on January 25th (Europe) / February 8th (North America) in physical format.

The music is melodic, emotional, atmospheric and of course from time to time crunchingly heavy. Andreas also sings in Binary Creed, who released two albums, Restitution and the latest A Battle Won released 2016 by Rockshots Records.

Pre-order the new album here.

Tracklisting:

"Travel Far"
"Fate Of The Jester"
"Down"
"Pull Of The Undertow"
"Shadow World"
"Hidden"
"Calling"
"The Road I'm On"
"Death Of Her Dream"
"Say Farewell"

Hollow is:

Andreas Stoltz: vocals and guitar
Stalder Zantos: drums

American sci-fi power metal duo Dire Peril, featuring Jason Ashcraft (Helion Prime) and vocalist John Yelland (Judicator), are premiering their new music video, "Always Right Here". The video captures the band in studio recording one of their lighter tracks off their recently released debut album, The Extraterrestrial Compendium.

“We are pleased to release our video for one of the slower tracks of the album. This video, though not as intense as 'Blood In The Ice', was a lot of fun to do. We wanted to keep this one simple and give a more in the studio feel. We captured that really well I think.” says Ashcraft.

The Extraterrestrial Compendium  consists of twelve full length tracks each inspired from a different science fiction movie. It features guest performances from Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon) and Brittney Slayes (Unleash The Archers).

The album was mixed by Carlos Alvarez at Dirty Viking Audio Productions and mastered by Brett Caldas-Lima at Tower Studio. Cover art for the album was done by Gwen Vibancos. Cover art for the single was done by Jill Colbert at Manfish Inc.

The Extraterretrial Compendium tracklisting:

"Yautja (Hunter Culture)"
"Planet Preservation"
"Enemy Mine"
"The Visitor"
"Total Recall"
"Queen Of The Galaxy" +
"Roughnecks"
"Blood In The Ice"
"Heart Of The Furyan"
"Altair IV: The Forbidden Planet"
"Always Right Here"
"Journey Beyond The Stars" ++

+ Features Brittney Slayes
++ Features Arjen Anthony Lucassen

"Queen Of The Galaxy":

"Heart Of The Furyan":

Ho, Ho, Ho! The holiday season has kicked into full throttle and the heavy metal elves are bringing their annual dose of Christmas cheer as Corners of Sanctuary release their latest Yuletide EP, Counting The Days… A Merry Metal Xmas V.

This fifth instalment of their unique brand of metal merriment is being released and distributed by Exquisite Noise Records USA and is now available digitally at all major online music outlets. A limited run of CDs are also available exclusively at the official COS website, here.

The new EP’s title track, “Counting The Days ‘Til Christmas Comes”, is available as a lyric video. Watch below.

Counting The Days also contains the non-holiday track, “Meet Your Maker”, which originally appeared on the band’s 2015 album, Axe To Grind. The newly re-recorded bonus track is available as a holiday gift MP3 download, here.

“The song has become a live favorite over the last couple of years and has also gone through a few incarnations since we first recorded it,” said COS guitarist Mick Michaels. “We knew we wanted to capture what the song morphed into… so having an opportunity to re-record it was a no brainer for us,” he added.

COS once again teamed up with LA producer Bill Metoyer to helm the final mastering of the six-song EP. “Bill is our diamond in the rough,” said bassist James Pera. “He knows exactly what we are looking for, always a great experience working with him,” Pera continued. Recently back from a West Coast tour, the band finishes up the year with a couple of shows followed by some time off for the holidays and plans to head back into the studio shortly after to begin work on their next album. “We already have a large chunk of new material together for our next album,” said Michaels. “We’re excited to begin putting it all together, as we have a lot of ideas but have found the real fun is just letting things develop on their own. That’s the magic of music and we have some surprises in store for 2019,” he added with a smile.

Tour dates:

December
7 - Karl Hall - Wilkes Barre, PA
8 - Basement Transmissions - Erie, PA

Roine Stolt, known as the guitarist, singer, writer and at times band leader of the groups The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Agents Of Mercy, Kaipa DC, as well as from his work with prog icon Jon Anderson and the new super-group The Sea Within, has released Manifest Of An Alchemist, his brand new studio album.

Under the moniker Roine Stolt's The Flower King,, this album offers 10 songs and almost 70 minutes of playing time celebrating the style Roine is most revered for: progressive rock, richly orchestrated with all the trademark elements from four decades of the genre.

To celebrate he is pleased to launch a stream of the new track "High Road", which you can listen to below.

Roine comments: “Today marks the day, Manifesto Of An Alchemist is released worldwide and I’m glad to be able to celebrate this and The Flower Kings’ music with our fans in Guadalajara, Mexico. It is a truly special ‘release day’ for me and I hope you will all enjoy this album as it offers an extensive prog rock journey that I consider a wonderful contrast to the haste and hectic pace of this age. So, enjoy the 12 minutes of ‘High Road’ on this day, get the album and see you on our European tour with Spock’s Beard kicking off November 30!”

Manifesto Of An Alchemist features stunning artwork from Shaun Beyond, and is available as a limited edition CD digipak, Gatefold 180g 2LP + CD & as digital download.

Tracklisting:

"Rainsong"
"Lost America"
"Ze Pawns"
"High Road"
"Rio Grande"
"Next To A Hurricane"
"The Alchemist"
"Baby Angels"
"Six Thirty Wake-Up"
"The Spell Of Money"

"Lost America" lyric video:

As previously announced, Roine will take The Flower Kings catalogue on tour later this year, as well as playing tracks from this new album. He comments: “I am excited that the album will be released in November this year and at the same time will be in South America playing The Flower Kings music with a band that also includes Hasse Froberg & Jonas Reingold and also introduces two younger friends; Zach Kamins on keyboards and Mirko DiMaio on drums - both fabulous musicians. We will also bring this to Europe where we join forces with legends Spocks Beard.”

The flashy band in the style of the 80s, John Diva & The Rockets Of Love, have released their first single and video, for the song "Lolita".

John Diva says: "'Lolita' is pure SoCal lifestyle, pure Californian rock: Like orange juice with that tiny shot of Whiskey, like the ladies in tight bikinis, like real rockers with pretty darn long hair… You name it! 'Lolita' is your 3.5 min. long summer vacation with sunshine guaranteed! "

At John Diva’s side are the guitarists Snake Rocket and J.J. Love, bassist Remmie Martin and drummer Lee Stingray Jr. who, in previous years, have pulled off their spectacular performances in front of thousands of fans, three times at the Wacken Open Air alone, amongst others. Once you have witnessed this band on stage, you know how exciting and stimulating strenuous rock’n’roll can be.

All twelve songs were produced by Michael Voss (Mad Max, Michael Schenker, Tony Carey etc..) in the Gizmo 7 Studios in Malaga, Spain, the Principal Studios and the Kidroom Studio in Münster, with Chris von Rohr (Krokus, Gotthard) as creative supervisor. A dream team of international renown with the experience of real rock’n’rollers.

Hence: Welcome to an album that will revive your rock’n’roll life as well!

Mama Said Rock Is Dead will be released through SPV/Steamhammer on February 8th on CD DigiPak, 2LP Gatefold, download and stream. The first single and video, for the song "Lolita", will be available on November 23rd.

Mama Said Rock Is Dead tracklisting:

"Whiplash"
"Lolita"
"Rock N' Roll Heaven"
"Wild Life"
"Blinded"
"Dance Dirty"
"Just A Night Away"
"Fire Eyes"
"Get It On"
"Long Legs"
"Toxic"
"Rocket Of Love"

Find the band's tour schedule here.

December 7th is the confirmed release date for the sophomore album from Swedish melodic rock quintet, State Of Salazar, via Frontiers Music Srl. Pre-order Superhero here, and watch a lyric video for the song "Hold On Tonight" below.

Sporting a melodic rock/AOR sound strongly inspired by musical giants such as Queen, Survivor, Toto, Journey, Europe, and the Rocky Soundtracks, State Of Salazar opened quite a few eyes with the release of their debut full length, All The Way, four years ago. And while it has been a bit of a wait between albums, work on what would eventually become Superhero actually began soon after the release of the debut album.

"After the release of All The Way, I started right away on writing new songs for a second album,” says singer Marcus Nygren. "We worked together as a band arranging the songs and recording really detailed pre-production demos. On the new album, we've given the instrumental parts a lot of space to capture the feel of the instrumental music that was often found in movies from the '80s. [Bear in mind that the “Training Montage” from Rocky IV is a major influence on the band’s sound.] At the same time, we wanted to show our love for smooth and groovy Westcoast AOR as well. All in all, Superhero consists of great guitar and keyboard riffs, some epic arrangements, and strong melodies, all performed with a heavier sound than last time."

Not too far after the release of All The Way, keyboard player Stefan Mårtenson chose to leave the band. Long-time friend Kevin Hosford took his place as the band's new keyboard player. Kevin wound up contributing not only as keyboard player, but also as lead vocalist and songwriter.

"I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the boys, with over the top arrangements, melodic songwriting and killer vocals. The only thing that worries me is that I might have to grow an extra pair of arms when we go out on tour with Superhero,” says Kevin.

"Superhero is more of a pure rock album, lots of guitars and keyboards riffin' it out, which, of course I enjoy,” concludes guitarist Johan Thuresson. "I think that all listeners will enjoy the path we've taken with our new songs, especially since we've been lucky enough to have Alessandro Del Vecchio helping out with the final touches regarding the sound.”

Superhero tracklisting:

"If You Wait For Me"
"My Heart Is At War"
"Hold On Tonight"
"Masquerade"
"She's A Loaded Gun"
"Lie To Me"
"Joanne"
"Someone I Know"
"To The Wire"
"Love Will Find A Way"
"Superhero"

"Hold On Tonight" lyric video:

"My Heart Is At War" video:

"If You Wait For Me" video:

"Making of" videos:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Lineup:
 
Marcus Nygren - Lead vocals & backing vocals
Kevin Hosford - Keyboards & lead vocals
Johan Thuresson - Guitars
Johannes Hansson - Bass
Kristian Brun - Drums

Guest appearances:

Kristina Talajic - Lead Vocals on "Lie To Me"
Rasmus Nyvall - Saxophone on "Love Will Find A Way”

(Photo - Nicklas Raab)

The Pineapple Thief are streaming an edit of the song "Uncovering Your Tracks", featured on the band's new studio album, Dissolution, released back in August. Listen below.

Dissolution features cover art artwork from iconic design agency Stylorouge, who have produced artwork for the likes of Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Blur and the British film Trainspotting.

Dissolution tracklisting:

"Not Naming Any Names"
"Try As I Might"
"Threatening War"
"Uncovering Your Tracks"
"All That You've Got"
"Far Below"
"Pillar of Salt"
"White Mist"
"Shed A Light"

"Uncovering Your Tracks" (edit):

"Try As I Might" video:

"Far Below":

Sweden's Thundermother have released a new single, entitled "Revival". A music video for the song can be found below.

Says the band, "We are fierce women in rock n´roll. We are always making noise, we are always gonna raise our voices high. We are bright awake, aware and alive, faster than light, brighter than bright. 'Revival' is a song dedicated to our fans, it represents what will come!”

Tour dates:

November
29 - De Verlichte Geest - Roeselare, Belgium
30 - Boerderij Cultuurpodium - Zoetermeer, Netherlands

December
1 - Rosenheckhalle - Ebernhahn, Germany
2 - L'empreinte - Savigny-le-Temple, France
4 - Konzertfabrik Z7 - Pratteln, Switzerland
5 - P.M.K. - Innsbruck, Austria
6 - Der Cult - Nürnberg, Germany
7 - X - Herford, Germany
8 - Nikolaut / Winterfestival - Oberhausen, Germany

Lineup:

Emlee Johansson - Drums
Guernica Mancini - vocals
Filippa Nässil - guitar
Sara Pettersson – bass

Finnish melodic death metallers MyGrain have released new music after five years of silence. They have issued a three-song digital  EP, III, today (November 23rd). The EP is their first sign of life since the Planetary Breathing album in 2013.

MyGrain was launched in 2004 and disbanded in 2015. This past summer the band announced they are back and will release new songs by the end of this year. The new EP is available on most common digital platforms: Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon, Radio, AOL, X-BOX Music and Google Play.

MyGrain has announced two live gigs for Finland, due to take place in January 2019. Dates are as follows:

January
18 - JKL Metal Festival  (Lutakko) - Jyväskylä, Finland  on 18th of
19 - Metal Crane Festival (Nosturi) - Helsinki, Finland

Check the band's official Facebook page here for updates.

Reactivated Norwegian progressive metallers CONCEPTION, who feature in their ranks former KAMELOT singer Roy Khan, have released a new EP, "My Dark Symphony". The EP features six tracks, including two from the recently released three-song single called "Re:Conception".

"My Dark Symphony" track listing:

01. Re:Conception

02. Grand Again

03. Into The Wild

04. Quite Alright

05. The Moment

06. My Dark Symphony

You can now listen to the entire "My Dark Symphony" EP below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Sinners", a brand new song from former ACCEPT guitarist Herman Frank, can be streamed below. The track is taken from Frank's upcoming fourth solo album, "Fight The Fear", which will be released on February 8, 2019 via AFM.

Frank has been an integral part of the German metal scene since the early '80s, from ACCEPT to VICTORY to his solo project and his work as a producer.

Featuring MASTERPLAN frontman Rick Altzi, guitarist Heiko Schröder, former RAGE drummer André Hilgers and JADED HEART bassist Michael Müller, Frank's new album contains razor-sharp riffs, sublime, hell for leather solos, consistently delivered high-class vocals between melody and heaviness, and a rhythm section, that drives every single song forward like a clockwork.

Track listing:

1. Until The End

02. Fear

03. Terror

04. Sinners

05. Hatred

06. Hail & Row

07. Hitman

08. Stay Down

09. Rock You

10. Don't Cross The Line

11. Are You Ready

12. Wings Of Destiny

13. Waiting For The Night

14. Lost In Heaven

Recording lineup:

Vocals - Rick Altzi (MASTERPLAN)

Drums - Andre Hilgers (ex-RAGE)

Bass - Michael Müller (JADED HEART)

Guitars - Heiko Schröder

Guitars - Herman Frank

Herman joined ACCEPT in 1982 shortly before the release of the band's "Restless And Wild" album and exited the group for the first time after the arrival of 1983's "Balls To The Wall" LP.

When ACCEPT reunited for festival appearances in 2005, Herman handled second-guitar duties alongside founding axeman Wolf Hoffmann, with Stefan Schwarzmann sitting behind the kit.

Frank and Schwarzmann were involved in ACCEPT's comeback with new singer Mark Tornillo and appeared on the reunited group's first three studio albums: 2010's "Blood of the Nations", 2012's "Stalingrad" and 2014's "Blind Rage".

Shortly before his exit from ACCEPT was made official in December 2014, Herman gave an interview to Metalholic in which he spoke about his frustrations at being unable to contribute to the band with his songwriting. He said: "[I've been writing] songs [for] 30 years, since I began my music career [in] a school band. And it's a shame that I can't show my talent [by] writing a couple of ACCEPT songs. I really would like to write some songs [for ACCEPT], but Peter [Baltes, ACCEPT bassist] and Wolf [Hoffmann, ACCEPT guitarist] decided, 'We are ACCEPT and we wanna do it [on] our own.' So why should I stop, 'cause I'm playing in ACCEPT, to write songs? I wrote songs for VICTORY, for HAZZARD, for MOON'DOC, for my two solo albums… for so many bands, you know. It's normal that I don't stop [writing songs]. PANZER and all these other bands give me a chance to just put out my music, which is in my head, you know?!"

Australian deathcore masters THY ART IS MURDER have released a brand new single, "Death Perception". The song, which was written and recorded during the sessions for last year's "Dear Desolation" album, was produced, mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator Will Putney.

This past summer, THY ART IS MURDER guitarist Andy Marsh spoke to Illawarra Mercury about the 2015 departure of the band's vocalist, CJ McMahon, over financial woes and substance-abuse issues. The frontman has since returned to the fold for "Dear Desolation".

"CJ's one of those people, he's never been diagnosed but probably has some kind of borderline personality disorder or bipolar," the guitarist said. "He was always difficult, and then compound that with drugs. Our problem was he was a dick, and his problem was that he had problems, and he was a drug addict."

According to Marsh, a number of factors have contributed to making band activities far more enjoyable in the year and a half since McMahon came back to the group.

The band has made more money, we became more successful and we can afford things like tour buses and [therefore] travel a lot more comfortably," he said. "That makes a massive difference on the road when we're doing these long tours. He quit the drugs, worked on his personality a lot and we make more money so he's less stressed. And because we make more money, we can have crew who can work for us to make things easier."

"Dear Desolation" was released in August 2017 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The disc was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio in Belleville, New Jersey. Artwork was created by Eliran Kantor (HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH, SODOM).

Earlier this year, CJ McMahon told Exclaim! that he hates it when THY ART IS MURDER is lumped in with the "cliché hashtag" of deathcore music.

"We all listen to so many different styles of music," he said. "That's what makes us unique; that we're so in touch with music as a whole.

"We're just writing music that we want to play and hear," he explained. "If people aren't going to give us a chance because they've heard someone call us a deathcore band, I really don't give a fuck. It is mindblowing that people will put shit on you without listening to your band just because of a genre's name. It's just a strange thing, man. I really don't get it."

"Demolition Man", the new video from Arizona metal veterans FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's upcoming 14th album, "The End Of Chaos", which will be released on January 18, 2019 via AFM Records.

The album will be available as a digipak, on clear orange, gatefold vinyl (limited to 450 units), black gatefold vinyl (limited to 450 units), limited picture vinyl (limited to 500 units), gold black splatter gatefold vinyl and limited boxsets with T-shirts.

Vocalist Eric "A.K." Knutson told Capital Chaos TV about the new disc: "There's 12 songs on the record. This was [whittling] down from 40-something songs these guys wrote for me to put lyrics on, and we had to quickly go through all of them and go, 'Which ones capture our attention the most?' Those are the ones we concentrated on. There was just great song after great song after great song coming to my house every other day, and I'm like, 'Wow, how am I going to keep up with this?' It worked out pretty good."

Added guitarist Michael Gilbert: "We used to have a certain template that we'd write. Now, we're writing more for this guy to sing a heavier, more memorable chorus for people. You're always learning as a songwriter, trying to achieve the perfect chorus that someone's going to remember after the song's over. If you've got that going, then you've [written] a successful song."

ontinued Eric: "Things have evolved a little more catchy with our songwriting, but not really on purpose too much. It was just as we evolve and our tastes and our loves in music evolve, so does our writing. I really like the direction we're going now."


FLOTSAM AND JETSAM recently officially welcomed Ken Mary (ALICE COOPER, ACCEPT) as the band's permanent drummer. Mary began touring with the group last year after Jason Bittner was invited to join OVERKILL.

"This album kills! It's all five guys with the gas pedal pushed to the floor for the entire album!" stated Mary.

Added bassist Michael Spencer: "It was cool to have a new element of influence on this album with having Ken's drum parts to partner with and play in and around his playing that also do with the guitars and vocals. Glad to have had Jacob Hansen bringing this album to the overall sound and energy it has. Jacob really highlights A.K.'s vocal melodies, as well as Steve and Michael's songwriting, while the power of the rhythm section drives the songs."

"The End Of Chaos" track listing:

01. Prisoner Of Time

02. Control

03. Recover

04. Prepare For Chaos

05. Slowly Insane

06. Architects Of Hate

07. Demolition Man

08. Unwelcome Surprise

09. Snake Eye

10. Survive

11. Good Or Bad

12. The End

After a successful North American tour earlier this year in support of Swedish power metal giants HAMMERFALL, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM will be returning to the road for a trek across North America, continuing its "Tour Of Chaos 2019".

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM states: "We're excited to hit North America for a headlining tour next spring in support of our upcoming album release, 'The End Of Chaos'. We'll be following up our March 2019 European tour with OVERKILL and DESTRUCTION, with this 34-show run throughout May/June 2019. Look for us to be playing music from the new album, as well as digging into our catalog to play FLOTSAM songs that haven't been in the set for a while, if ever, in our headline set. We're looking forward to bringing FLOTSAM AND JETSAM's metal to the masses, once again!"

Three teenagers, known as Alien Weaponry, from a tiny town in the small South Pacific nation of New Zealand have managed to capture the imaginations of people all over the world with their unique thrash metal sound and commanding live performances. They recently performed their song "Kai Tangata" live at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards 2018. Check out the pro-shot clip below.

Alien Weaponry have invaded North American shores for the first time ever, supporting industrial legends Ministry. The tour started on November 21st in San Francisco, CA and runs through December 21st in Los Angeles, CA.  A complete list of dates can be found below.

Sirius XM Liquid Metal's Jose Mangin cannot wait until they make their North American debut, "Alien Weaponry is one of the most remarkable bands on our station right now! Fans continue to be turned on to their music through SiriusXM, and we love helping fans discover new killer music!  This band is seriously one of our favorites and will be part of our Devil's Dozen"of the year for sure! We're f'in stoked that they're doing their first American tour, and we can't wait to see them live!"

November
23  - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
24  - Denver, CO - Fillmore
27  - Minneapolis, MN - Skyway Theatre
29 - Joliet, IL - The Forge
30 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre

December
1 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theater
2 - Toronto, ON - Rebel
4 - Rochester, NY - Anthology
5 - Washington, DC - Fillmore
6 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
7 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
8 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
10 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
11 - Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theater
12 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey
13 - Houston, TX - House of Blues Houston
14 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater
16 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee
18 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues San Diego
20 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda
21 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda

Message from the band regarding the tour:

Belgian symphonic black metal outfit Lemuria has released details about their upcoming album, The Hysterical Hunt. The concept album is set to be released on January 18, 2019 via Massacre Records, and tells a long forgotten tale about fear and monstrosity.

The Hysterical Hunt was mixed and mastered by Yarne Heylen at Project Zero Studio. None other than Kris Verwimp (Old Man's Child, Arch Enemy, Paths Of Possession) created the album's artwork.

Tracklisting:

"Prologue (The Land Of The Beast)"
"A Plague Upon The Land"
"The Hysterical Hunt"
"Between Man And Wolf"
"As Darkness Falls"
"Of Winter And Hell"
"A Secret Life"
"Deceptive Hibernation"
"An Elusive Monster"
"Endgame (The Impending Truth)"
"Epilogue (Before The Dawn)"
"A Dream That Never Came" (Bonus Track)

Alexandra Kastrinakis (Daedric Tales) contributed guest vocals, and the Belgian actor Herbert Flack serves as narrator. The first single from The Hysterical Hunt is scheduled to be released in mid-December.

(Photo by Jonas De Kooning)

Mortal Scepter have just inked a deal with Xtreem Music for the release of their debut album, Where Light Suffocates, scheduled for January 22nd, 2019. Check out the new track "Murder The Dawn" now:

Mortal Scepter was born in 2012 and released their first demo in 2014, followed by a six-song EP titled As Time Sharpens The Sentence in 2015, released by Unspeakable Axe Records (sublabel of Dark Descent). During the two following years, the band played several shows across France and Europe, including a tour with Skelethal in 2017. During the first months of 2018, Mortal Scepter finished the recording of their first full-length album, Where Light Suffocates, which caught the attention of Xtreem Music, who offered them a deal.

The style of Mortal Scepter perfectly captures the essence of the ancient French bands which emerged in the late '80s like Massacra, Agressor, Loudblast, and Mercyless, and can be defined as a raw, savage, and primitive blend of old-school death and thrash metal, dragging influences from bands like Massacra, Sodom, Possessed, Dark Angel, Kreator, and very early Sepultura.

The cover art and tracklisting for Where Light Suffocates are as follows:

"A Ray Of Despair"
"Where Light Suffocates"
"Murder The Dawn"
"Lust Spells"
"Perish With The Flesh"
"The Carpathian Castle"
"Spear And Fang"
"Swallow Your Tongue"
"...The Scepter Reigns"

For further details, visit Mortal Scepter on Facebook.

 

In the video below, all Canadian cover band Toque, featuring Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz - both of whom play in Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators - along with Cory Churko (Shania Twain) offer up their version of Chilliwack's 1981 hit "My Girl".

In live news, Toque will be part of The Grey Cup Festivities in Edmonton, Alberta with a pair of upcoming shows. On Friday, Novermber 23rd, Toque will be playing a FREE SHOW at 4:15 pm at the Nissan Titan Street Festival on Jasper Avenue.

Then on Sunday, November 25th, Toque will perform at a ticketed event - the Boston Pizza Grey Cup Outdoor Tailgate Party at Commonwealth Stadium.

 

Dark, meditative music group, Shibalba, are streaming their new studio album, Stars Al-Med Hum, due out tomorrow, Friday, November 23rd, via Agonia Records. Listen below, and pre-order the album here.

Shibalba was created by the members of black metal bands, Acherontas and Nåstrond. It differs greatly from the aforementioned acts, with main focus set on expressing shamanic, trance-like states, by the use of ethnic instruments and musical technics peculiar to religious rituals. In doing so, the band also incorporates contemporary synthesizers and guitar drones. Some of the more traditional instruments they use include Tibetan horns & singing bowls, bone & horne trumpets, darbukas, ceremonial bells & gongs as well as percussion instruments made of bones and skulls. The music is richly detailed and multidimensional, while its outcome is deep, unsettling and subconscious. As a whole, it offers an otherworldly voyage.

Co-founder Acherontas V. Priest commented (original spelling): "The Secret Society of Shibalba dives deep into the unmapped Astral oceans and corridors of Stars Al-Med Hum. Orchestrating a journey to the most obscure spheres beyond human perception, the pathways of otherworldly ingression and ecstasy, a newborn entity is brought to the Light. A soundtrack to the sexual Tantric Magick Meditation and a Sinister vocalization of the darkest corners of the psyche, as the Adept ascends to the astral worlds, the ones below and the ones above, within trances of lucid slumber and Inner awakening. Planes of All and Nought, envisioned by impulses and vibrations while the disciples of the sonic architects are dancing to invoke the sabbatical names of unspeakable Goddesses of the Moon. Kundalini and Brahmanic theurgy combined to solar and lunar atoms ascending and entwined around the spinal medulla, projecting the soul by mantras sacred and ancient, to the Astral worlds of Stars Al-Med Hum".

Stars Al-Med Hum was recorded and produced by the band themselves and both mixed and mastered by Nekelmu Ilu. The latter also created the album's cover artwork.

Tracklisting:

"Alignment I Fa Ra On"
"Alignment II TEI Re Re Re"
"Alignment III Ana Hat"
"Alignment IV La Ra"
"Alignment V Egi Pto"

Album stream:

Trailer:

Lineup:

Acherontas V.Priest
Aldra-Al-Melekh
Karl NE/Nachzehrer

German/American heavy metal legends ACCEPT have just released a live set, "Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017", via Nuclear Blast. It features a unique ACCEPT show, shot on August 3, 2017 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival, where the band played the biggest and most extraordinary show of its career in front of 80,000, on top of thousands more fans watching via a live stream.

The two-hour concert was divided into three parts, showing the full creative power of ACCEPT: The first part featured the premiere of new tracks "Die By The Sword" and "Koolaid", as well as some of the band's most popular songs, such as "Restless And Wild" and "Pandemic". The middle part featured guitarist Wolf Hoffmann accompanied by a symphony orchestra, presenting the best tracks from his recent solo album, "Headbangers Symphony", which includes metal versions of some of the world's biggest classical compositions (e.g. from Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi). And in the last but not least part, fans were able to bang their heads to ACCEPT anthems (also accompanied by the orchestra), such as "Princess Of The Dawn", "Breaker", "Fast As A Shark" and "Metal Heart", as well as to newer songs like "Stalingrad", "Shadow Soldiers" and "Teutonic Terror". The finale was an eight-minute version of ACCEPT's classic song "Balls To The Walls".

A performance clip of the song "Shadow Soldiers", taken from "Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017", can be seen below.

"Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017" is available as:

Blu-ray+2CD digipak

* DVD+2CD digipak

* 2CD digipak

* 3LP box (black) including booklet, poster

* 3LP Box (gold) including booklet, poster (Nuclear Blast mailorder exclusive)

* Blu-ray+DVD+2CD earbook

* BluRay+DVD+2CD earbook + photo card (signed) (Nuclear Blast mailorder exclusive)

DVD/Blu-ray track listing:

Part 1: Accept

01. Die By The Sword

02. Restless And Wild

03. Koolaid

04. Pandemic

05. Final Journey

Part 2: Headbanger's Symphony

06. Night On Bald Mountain

07. Scherzo

08. Romeo And Juliet

09. Pathétique

10. Double Cello Concerto In G Minor

11. Symphony No. 40 In G Minor

Part 3: Accept with Orchestra

12. Princess Of The Dawn

13. Stalingrad

14. Dark Side Of My Heart

15. Breaker

16. Shadow Soldiers

17. Dying Breed

18. Fast As A Shark

19. Metal Heart

20. Teutonic Terror

21. Balls To The Wall

Bonus:

22. Making Of: Wacken

23. Making Of: Headbanger's Symphony

"This was a mash-up of intensity and precision," Wolf Hoffmann says about the fusion of heavy metal and classical music. "The fans are extremely open-minded, but I was nervous 'till the last minute before the show anyway. After all, it's still a metal festival! But I think that, after many years of ACCEPT combining both worlds, fans have started to really accept this concept."

After the Wacken performance, Hoffmann told TotalRock's Whitney Alyson Ribbins: "It was phenomenal. We didn't really know what to expect. We did some rehearsals and stuff, but that was the first time we were ever on stage with an orchestra. It was totally different to what we normally do, but it sounded fantastic and it felt great. Everybody was smiling, the orchestra people had a lot of fun, the conductor was in a great mood and everybody was, like, 'This is fun.' It all went really, really smooth and it couldn't have gone better."

He continued: "A lot of preparation went into it — months of talking about it and organizing everything and writing the scores and writing all the sheet music for everybody, because playing with an orchestra, you can't just jam."

What started as a world premiere at Wacken will be continued in early 2019. ACCEPT is planning to tour with an orchestra across Europe in the spring of next year.

The song "Firelight" from Dutch metallers WITHIN TEMPTATION can be streamed below. The third single from the band's forthcoming studio album, "Resist", features a guest appearance by Belgian singer Jasper Steverlinck.

Vocalist Sharon Den Adel said: "It was originally written for my solo project MY INDIGO, but the trak felt too dark back then. However, it was and still is one of my favorite songs, even more now Jasper is singing it with me. I think he's one of the best alternative rock singers in the world. He's Belgium's best-kept secret!"

"Resist" will be released on December 14. It is the band's first release through Spinefarm Records, the specialist hard rock label of Universal Music Group.

"Resist" will also feature PAPA ROACH's Jacoby Shaddix and IN FLAMES' Anders Fridén on guest vocals.

b>"Resist" track listing:

01. The Reckoning (feat. Jacoby Shaddix)

02. Endless War

03. Raise Your Banner (feat. Anders Fridén)

04. Supernova

05. Holy Ground

06. In Vain

07. Firelight (feat. Jasper Steverlinck)

08. Mad World

09. Mercy Mirror

10. Trophy Hunter

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

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


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

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

Italian symphonic power metal kings RHAPSODY OF FIRE will release their new album, "The Eighth Mountain", on February 22, 2019. The disc will be the band's first collection of brand new material to feature vocalist Giacomo Voli and drummer Manu Lotter, who joined RHAPSODY OF FIRE in 2016.

The track listing for the disc is as follows:

01. Abyss Of Pain

02. Seven Heroic Deeds

03. Master Of Peace

04. Rain Of Fury

05. White Wizard

06. Warrior Heart

07. The Courage To Forgive

08. March Against The Tyrant

09. Clash Of Times

10. The Legend Goes On

11. The Wind, The Rain And The Moon

12. Tales Of A Hero's Fate

RHAPSODY OF FIRE will perform in more than 17 cities all around Europe in February and March with as-yet-unannounced special guests.

he band's latest release was 2017's "Legendary Years", a compilation album featuring re-recorded versions of songs from "The Emerald Sword Saga", a five-concept-album-long story started on RHAPSODY's first album "Legendary Tales" in 1997 and concluded on "Power Of The Dragonflame" in 2002.

Asked how he chose Giacomo Voli to be the replacement for RHAPSODY OF FIRE's longtime singer Fabio Lione, keyboardist Alessandro "Alex" Staropoli said: "I saw Giacomo performing on TV. I felt he was surely a person I wanted to meet. I contacted him to sing and to gather singers for the epic choir recordings for our latest studio album, 'Into The Legend'. So I finally had the pleasure to meet and work with him for the first time back then. He is one of the sweetest guys I've ever meet. I feel truly blessed. After Fabio left, I immediately thought about Giacomo and called him up. I am very satisfied. As a producer, I tend to push people to their limits and I have to say Giacomo reacted quite well, very professional and dedicated. I am the main composer of RHAPSODY OF FIRE, but lately I have worked with my brother Manuel Staropoli as well, and, of course, also with Roby De Micheli, both for the electric guitar side and for some songwriting. Roby has a lot of talent for guitar riffs especially and I really like to enrich our music with heavy riffs. Said that, I always leave the door open to someone's ideas. So, if Giacomo comes with an idea that literally shocks and excites me, well, that would be great, of course. I'm doing this music genre for more than two decades, so I can openly say that I exactly know what I am doing; I can recognize a great idea that would perfectly fit for this band when I hear it."

Regarding how he writes RHAPSODY OF FIRE songs, Staropoli said: "When I write for RHAPSODY OF FIRE, I often imagine movie landscapes, or natural scenarios. I was born in Trieste, Italy, a beautiful town where mother nature was really generous. We have the sea, the mountains, lakes, rivers, lots of caves and by driving just a few hours we can reach the alps. Trieste is a dream town and all those natural elements are always with me everywhere I go. So my sources of inspiration are strongly radicated in me. I have to sit in my studio, alone, and play my piano keys. Usually I never play randomly, I prefer to sit down with a specific idea and a goal to reach, then the notes come smoothly and fluent. I just do it."

The official music video for the song "A Silent Arc" from acclaimed Swedish dark melodic metal masters EVERGREY can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's upcoming studio album, titled "The Atlantic", which will be released on January 25, 2019 via AFM Records. The band has worked extensively on the follow-up to 2016's "The Storm Within" (which entered the charts on high positions in numerous countries).

Says the band: "We wanted to invite you into the world of 'The Atlantic' by listening to the music without a real music video. However, you can trust that those are coming as well. We have been waiting forever to give this to you, so let's hear your thoughts!"

EVERGREY again teamed up with Jacob Hansen, who — just like with the band's previous releases "The Storm Within" and 2014's "Hymns For The Broken" — took care of mixing and mastering.

EVERGREY's Tom S. Englund states: "Guys! This is album number 11! Isn't that just sick?! It's also the third album of a concept that might have reached its destination or at least one conclusion. It might also have been something that some of you saw coming or anticipated.

We've fought through giant private obstacles as well as an extremely complicated break-in at our headquarters studio to bring this album to you. So, at the same time as it's certainly not been painless or at all easy, it's been rewarding in new ways and our creativity has been painted in colors of honesty and sincerity.

"This is our heaviest, darkest, and perhaps also our most diverse album to date. It's everything we wanted to compose and the written words come straight from a place of transparency and never before experienced lucidity. Finally, as of yesterday, we've reached new shores. We can't wait for you to share this journey with us and dive into our worlds, our depths, and the waters of 'The Atlantic'!"

"The Atlantic" track listing:

01. A Silent Arc

02. Weightless

03. All I Have

04. A Secret Atlantis

05. The Tidal

06. End Of Silence

07. Currents

08. Departure

09. The Beacon

10. This Ocean

The cover art was created by Giannis Nakos and can be seen below.