Finnish cinematic metal band, Dark Sarah, is preparing their third album, The Golden Moth, which is scheduled to be released next year. The band have announced the first guest for the album, Zuberoa Aznárez from Diabulus In Musica, who will be singing the role of a fierce goddess called Iron Mask. Watch the video below:

Dark Sarah recently opened a crowdfunding campaign pre-sale for the album.

The band also released the music video for "Trespasser” with JP Leppäluoto, the first single from the upcoming album. Watch the clip here.

The third Dark Sarah album, The Golden Moth, is the last part of the first trilogy (The Chronicles). The trilogy tells about Dark Sarah's travel through three worlds: The Middle World (Behind The Black Veil album), The Underworld (The Puzzle album) and The Upper World (The Golden Moth album).

On The Golden Moth album, Dark Sarah has to face the final test and find her way to the gods in the Upper World. After she had solved the puzzle in The Underworld and found the three keys, the Iron birds came there for her and took her to the Upper World, a deserted waste land where the gods rule. But also a trespasser, The Dragon, came with her. In the heat of the desert they meet again and there is something The Dragon wants from her..

JP Leppäluoto (Charon) has joined the official lineup as The Dragon for the upcoming album. Also in the roles of The Gods you will hear featuring artists as Zuberoa Aznarez (Diabulus In Musica) and a yet unnamed guest.

Dark Sarah official lineup:

Heidi Parviainen (as Dark Sarah) - vocals
JP Leppäluoto (as Dragon) - vocals
Erkka Korhonen - guitar
Sami Salonen - guitar
Rude Rothstén - bass
Thomas Tunkkari - drums

Crowdfunding campaign video:

Lord Of The Lost have released a lyric video for “My Better Me”, a track from their new album, Swan Songs II, out now via Napalm Records.

Says vocalist Chris Harms: “My better me would say the ‘My Better Me’ ist a song about hope and about trying to change for the better. But in the end it’s only a mirror of what we are and we might not like what we see when looking at our reflection. So this most personal of all the albums tracks eventually turns out to be a song not only about me but about each one of us.“

With their Swan Songs-series, Lord Of The Lost showcase their ability to create fascinatingly heavy classical music. This is the second time the Hamburg-based dark rockers have conjured their music with an ensemble album in such grandiose style. Swan Songs II features some of the finest dark rock-sinfonia coated by dramatic arrangements with a chamber orchestra.

A true opus featuring ten brand-new songs, which showcase tender strings and charming piano play with a heaviness one has come to expect from the band. Once more Lord Of The Lost manage to deliver their songs with a new beauty and gloss, and prove that they cannot be reduced to their brute site only. Swan Songs II is a touching creation with top arrangements.

Swan Songs II is available as CD Digi Pack, LP Gatefold or Digital Download. Order here.

Swan Songs II tracklisting:

“Waiting For You To Die”
“Lighthouse”
“The Broken Ones”
“My Better Me”
“Ribcages”
“Wander In Sable”
“The Devil You Know”
“We Were Divine”
“From The Brink Of The Other World”
“Fall Asleep”

“The Broken Ones” video:

“Lighthouse” video:

“Waiting For You To Die” lyric video:

Tour dates:

November
17 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
18 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle (Sold Out)
21 - Dresden, Germany - Alter Schlachthof
23 - Berlin, Germany - Huxleys
24 - Bochum, Germany - Christuskirche (Sold Out)
25 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
26 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan, PEARL JAM guitarist Mike McCready and SCREAMING TREES/MAD SEASON drummer Barrett Martin have returned with two new songs for their side project, LEVEE WALKERS. Check out the track "All Things Fade Away" below. The new two-song single ("All Things Fade Away" and "Madness") was helmed by Grammy-nominated producer and Martin and features rising Seattle star and native son Ayron Jones on vocals. Jones's current album, "Audio Paint Job", was produced by Martin, who introduced the vocalist to McKagan and McCready. McKagan was so impressed with Ayron's talent that he invited him to open for GUNS N' ROSES in September when they played in Washington state. The songs were mixed by Seattle legend Jack Endino and the single is being jointly released through Martin's Sunyata Records and McCready's HockeyTalkter Records. The artwork was created by the renowned graphic artist Anthony Hassett, who passed away during the completion of the songs.

Legendary rock band ZEBRA will celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of its debut album by performing the LP in its entirety. The group's first West Coast tour in three decades will take place in February and will feature all original members: Randy Jackson, Felix Hanneman and Guy Gelso.

Founded in 1975 in Louisiana, ZEBRA eventually relocated to New York. Jackson, Hanneman and Gelso toured relentlessly on the East Coast before getting signed by Jason Flom at Atlantic Records. In 1983, ZEBRA's first LP became the fastest-selling debut album in the label's history, making it a cult classic to legions of fans all over the world.

The band started their career by playing covers of LED ZEPPELIN, THE MOODY BLUES and RUSH songs, and it was their early fans' reaction to their LED ZEPPELIN renditions that helped convince the band to bring their act to New York. They had introduced their original material into their cover sets years before they were signed to Atlantic Records, including "The La La Song", "Free" and "Bears" (originally titled "The Bears Are Hibernating").

The band continued to tour throughout the 1980s, but took a temporary break in the early 1990s. Randy Jackson formed his solo band RANDY JACKSON'S CHINA RAIN, and released its only album in the year 1993. ZEBRA finally reunited in 1997 and released "Zebra IV" in 2003, their first album of all-new material since 1986. A DVD of live performances, mostly from a show at the House of Blues in New Orleans, was released in the summer of 2007. On July 10, 2010, during the band's thirty-fifth-anniversary performance at New Orleans' Mahalia Jackson Theater, ZEBRA was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame. On October 8, 2012, the band was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

ZEBRA tour dates:

Feb. 08 - Brick By Brick, San Diego, CAFeb. 09 - Whisky A Go-Go, Hollywood, CAFeb. 10 - Count's Vamp'd, Las Vegas, NVFeb. 11 - BLK Live, Scottsdale, AZ

Tickets go on sale on Friday, November 3.

"Scavenger Consuming Death", a brand new song from Florida-based death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Red Before Black", which will be released on November 3 via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2014's "A Skeletal Domain" was recorded at Mana Recording Studios in Saint Petersburg, Florida with producer/engineer Erik Rutan (SOILENT GREEN, BELPHEGOR, HATE ETERNAL), who previously worked with CANNIBAL CORPSE on 2006's "Kill", 2009's "Evisceration Plague" and 2012's "Torture".

Many words come to mind when you hear the name CANNIBAL CORPSE, but one truly defines the soon-to-be-thirty-year death metal veterans: unstoppable. Returning with their fourteenth full-length, the monstrous "Red Before Black", serves to not only reiterate this but to once more raise the stakes, making it very clear who sets the standard when it comes to always compelling music that is equally brutal and complex. Moreover, the band have pushed themselves again, ensuring that it stands out from their catalog.

"We always try to make our music aggressive, but where an album like 'A Skeletal Domain' [2014] was definitely aggressive, it has a targeted refinement that the new album doesn't. 'Red Before Black' is as well executed as anything we've done, but it has a rawness to it that we haven't had in a long time," asserts bassist Alex Webster. "We really worked super hard crafting these songs, practicing them, and getting them where we wanted to be more so than on any of our previous albums," adds drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz. "And, as Alex said, musically I think it's the most raw sound we've had — and at the same time I think it's our most focused, tightest and catchiest record."

With 2017 seeing a slew of stunning new releases from death metal's old guard — including SUFFOCATION, OBITUARY and DYING FETUS — it's been a landmark year both for the genre and its early innovators, and with "Red Before Black", CANNIBAL CORPSE stand strong alongside their peers. "We're proud to be part of a scene that has great, experienced bands that stick to their guns," affirms Webster. "Death metal is an established form of underground music that's here to stay, and the leadership bands like these have shown by staying true to the genre is no doubt part of the reason it has such longevity."

That CANNIBAL CORPSE have carved out a career spanning almost three decades is testament to their work ethic, innovative songwriting, passion and devotion to extreme music — though it still remains an astounding feat to the members, as Webster makes humbly clear.

"Who could have imagined this?" he says. "When we started, even BLACK SABBATH hadn't been around for three decades. There simply was no precedent for a lifelong career in metal, of any kind, let alone a relatively new form like death metal. We've been unbelievably lucky, and we are so grateful to our fans for making it possible." In typically grounded fashion, they continue to forge ahead, seeing no end in sight, Webster stating he likes to think they have yet to write their best record, while Mazurkiewicz outlines their goals: "I would say we just want to keep it going, try to better ourselves — and finally open for SLAYER!"

"Red Before Black" track listing:

01. Only One Will Die02. Red Before Black03. Code Of The Slashers04. Shedding My Human Skin05. Remaimed06. Firestorm Vengeance07. Heads Shoveled Off08. Corpus Delicti09. Scavenger Consuming Death10. In The Midst Of Ruin11. Destroyed Without A Trace12. Hideous Ichor

The cover artwork for the album can be found below.

CANNIBAL CORPSE will kick off a USA tour in support of the upcoming disc on November 3 in Jacksonville, Florida. Support on the trek will come from POWER TRIP and GATECREEPER.

Ohio-based blackened metallers SKELETONWITCH will release their first full-length album in over four years in the spring of 2018 via Prothestic Records. The disc is being recorded with producer Kurt Ballou (CHELSEA WOLFE, HIGH ON FIRE, KVELERTAK) at his GodCity Studio. The effort will be mixed by Fredrik Nordström (OPETH's "Blackwater Park", AT THE GATES' "Slaughter Of The Soul") in Gothenburg, Sweden.

SKELETONWITCH's upcoming album was written throughout the year between Ohio and New York. It's the band's first full-length with vocalist Adam Clemans, who joined the group last year.

SKELETONWITCH guitarist Scott Hedrick says: "It feels great to be back in GodCity Studio! Those in the know are aware that working with Kurt Ballou ensures incredible sonics. We're very comfortable working with Kurt which has allowed us to stretch out into some new territory. We're excited for people to hear the new stuff."

Since its inception over a decade ago, SKELETONWITCH has released five albums of epic, blackened, thrash-infused heavy metal. Through extensive touring, the band has excited fans all over the world with its furious, high-energy live show.

In 2016, SKELETONWITCH recalibrated its lineup to include Clemans, a move that resulted the band's most powerful incarnation yet. The resulting EP, "The Apothic Gloom", was named the best EP of 2016 by Decibel magazine. The effort included a roaringly triumphant performance from Clemans and expanded on the band's previous explorations in atmospheric black metal.

SKELETONWITCH is: Scott Hedrick (guitar), Nate Garnette (guitar), Evan Linger (bass), Dustin Boltjes (drums), Adam Clemans (vocals).

"Self Pollution", the new video from former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman, can be seen below. The clip was directed by London-based photographer Jimmy Cheng.

Friedman says: "This video is the first to feature my live band, with Kiyoshi on bass, Chargee on drums and Jordan Ziff on guitar. These guys (and girl) outshine me every night on tour. The video is loosely based on some of the fun ways you can pollute yourself (hence the title) and takes you from serenity to a chaotic climax, just like real life does sometimes."

"Self Pollution" is taken from Friedman's latest solo album, "Wall Of Sound", which was released on August 4 via Prosthetic Records. Produced by Friedman, engineered by Paul Fig (GHOST, RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS) and mixed by Jens Bogren (KREATOR, OPETH, SEPULTURA), the disc "expands and destroys any conventional notions of instrumental music," according to a press release. Legendary QUEEN producer Mack came on board to handle the mixing on two tracks, "Streetlight" and "For A Friend", which Friedman proclaimed was "an honor for me, for sure."

Marty's new CD was recorded in part at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in California with engineer Paul Fig (ALICE IN CHAINS, RUSH, DEFTONES) and was previously described by Friedman as "a way more intense version" of its predecessor: "deeper, sadder, happier and more aggressive."

Like "Inferno", Friedman's new album features several guests, including prog-thrashers MUTOID MAN, Jørgen Munkeby of the Norwegian avant-garde jazz-metal outfit SHINING and Jinxx of Los Angeles theatrical rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES.

Regarding how the collaboration with Jinxx came about, Friedman told Guitar World: "I'm a big fan of Jinxx and BLACK VEIL BRIDES. He came to my show in L.A. in 2015. Right after that, I was told that he plays violin. I didn't even know that! Then light bulbs went off. I thought now's the chance to really turn some heads by doing something that's a little bit, well, a lot, unexpected to my fans and his fans."

Chris Jericho donned Paul Stanley's "Starchild" makeup for FOZZY's Halloween (October 31) concert at The Live Rooms in Chester, England. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

Jericho, who wrote in his book "A Lion's Tale: Around The World In Spandex" that he dressed as the Starchild for "a record-setting seven Halloweens in a row, told Fox Business in a recent interview that the KISS frontman helped encourage him to accomplish his dreams and to ignore naysayers who doubted him.

"It's a great quote from Paul Stanley: 'The only people that tell you you can't do something are the ones that have failed. I'm not going to tell you [that] you can't do something because I did it — you can do it,'" Jericho said. "When I heard that at sixteen years old … I didn't care at that point what anyone else thought, I still don't. If I believe it and I can see it and I know that I have the resources to do it, I'm going to do it."

Jericho said that he became friends with Stanley in 2014 because the KISS guitarist/vocalist's son Colin is "a huge wrestling fan" who wanted "to get some videos of some wrestlers saying happy birthday. So I kind of took charge of it and suddenly Paul Stanley and I were exchanging numbers because Paul was so excited about making his son happy," Jericho recalled. "To repay the favor, he's, like, 'I'll do your podcast.' So I went to Las Vegas to see the KISS residency and Paul does my show and suddenly he loves what I do and we start talking all the time to the point where, I'm not saying this to be a name dropper, but I just talked to him last night on the phone for lil five minutes because we had something to discuss. We're just two dudes now, which is real cool. It happened to me in wrestling too, where you go from someone who you're in awe of to someone you have an acquaintanceship with, to an okay friend, to someone you become a peer with and then suddenly you're just dudes."

He continued: "That's the strangest thing about it to me. 'Yeah, Paul's calling. I'll call him back in a bit.' That's a cool thing. Here's the best thing about meeting people who are kindred spirits; once you break down the wall, so to speak, you realize that we're just guys that have a cool job with similar interests and you can sit down and talk about THE BEATLES for an hour. We're all the same."

FOZZY's latest album, "Judas" was released on October 13 via Century Media. The production duties on the discs were handled by Johnny Andrews, who co-wrote FOZZY's "Lights Go Out" track back in 2014 and has written songs with the likes of ALL THAT REMAINS, THREE DAYS GRACE and HALESTORM in the past.

A previously unreleased recording of METALLICA performing the song "Damage, Inc." on January 25, 1987 at Grugahalle in Essen, West Germany can be streamed below. The track is taken from the upcoming reissue of METALLICA's seminal third album, "Master Of Puppets".

The "Master Of Puppets" reissue will arrive on November 10 via METALLICA's own Blackened Recordings. The LP has been remastered for the most advanced sound quality and will be available in various digital and physical configurations. The reissue is available for pre-order at Metallica.com where fans can see the full package details and track listing. Those who pre-order the standard album will receive an instant download of "Disposable Heroes (Remastered)". Those who pre-order the expanded or deluxe editions will receive an instant download of "Disposable Heroes (Remastered)" and "The Thing That Should Not Be (Live at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL - May 25th, 1986)" . The "Master Of Puppets" reissue will be available physically as a Standard LP, Standard CD, 3 CD Expanded Edition, and Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set and digitally as a Standard CD (available to stream and download), a 3 CD Expanded Edition (available for download only), and a Digital Deluxe Box Set (available for streaming and download). The Expanded Edition will include previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, interviews, live tracks, and a 28-page booklet. The Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set will include a 108-page hardcover book including never before seen photos, outtakes and previously unreleased interviews, three LPs, ten CDs, a cassette, two DVDs, a lithograph, a folder with handwritten lyrics, and a set of six buttons. Watch James Hetfield unbox the reissue below.

"Master Of Puppets" was released on February 24, 1986 and was the first album METALLICA recorded after signing a major label deal with Elektra Records.

The set only reached No. 29 on the Billboard album chart but has sold over six million copies in the U.S. since.

It is the last record to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who was killed later that year in a tour bus crash.

Several songs from the album are still staples of METALLICA's live set, including "Battery", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and the title track.

Many fans consider it METALLICA's finest album, a fact that the band acknowledged by playing it in its entirety on a European tour in 2006.

"Metallica: Back To The Front", the definitive story of "Master Of Puppets" and the tour that followed its release, hit bookstores and online sellers last September. A very special Collector's Edition of the book was made available two weeks earlier through Metallica.com and MoonriseMedia.net.

"That album, it's interesting, because from the moment it was released, it never went away," METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said last year while promoting the book. "It still has not and there are no signs of it going away at all."

"It was still rebellious," METALLICA frontman James Hetfield said. "Back then, it was still the four of us in a van out to conquer the world."

"I really feel that a lot of the music on 'Master Of Puppets', we pulled it out of a deep place," Hammett added. "A lot of it, it's just so emotional, from the music to the lyrics to the guitar solos to even the arrangements. It's so dramatic."

The official video for "Toadcrucifier - R.I.P.P.E.R.", a brand new song from the cult U.K. doom/sludge outfit IRON MONKEY, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's first new full-length in almost two decades, "9-13", which was released on October 20 via Relapse Records.

After disbanding in 1999 due to the death of their original singer J.P. Morrow, the group has reformed for phase two of their mission.

Recorded in IRON MONKEY's hometown of Nottingham in spring 2017 with producer Johnny A. Carter, "9-13" is nine songs and forty-eight minutes of total nihilism. Now older, more cynical and more isolationist, the band is back to usurp the scene, then crush its skull.

Without question IRON MONKEY's most focused, aggressive and direct material to date, "9-13" is an all-out assault of violent hatred and nightmarish negativity — recommended listening for fans of pain, suffering, and misanthropy.

"9-13" track listing:

01. Crown Of Electrodes02. OmegaMangler03. 9-1304. Toadcrucifier - R.I.P.P.E.R.05. Destroyer06. Mortarhex07. The Rope08. Doomsday Impulse Multiplier09. Moreland St. Hammervortex

Heavily influenced by the nihilistic sound of groups like EYEHATEGOD, BUZZOV*EN, FLOOR and GRIEF, IRON MONKEY originally formed in Nottingham, England in 1994 and released two full-lengths (1997's self-titled debut and 1998's "Our Problem"), a live album and a split with CHURCH OF MISERY before splitting in 1999. Now, almost two decades later, the band has decided to reform as a trio with co-founding members S. Watson on bass and J. Rushby on guitar/vocals. They're rounded out by new member S. Briggs (CHAOS U.K.,) who also played with original IRON MONKEY vocalist J.P. Morrow in the short-lived sludge supergroup MY WAR.

Morrow died of a heart attack in June 2002.

Photo credit: Ralph Barklam

BAD WOLVES will release its debut album in the spring on Eleven Seven Music.

The band, which is managed by Zoltan Bathory of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, consists of of vocalist Tommy Vext (ex-DIVINE HERESY, SNOT), drummer John Boecklin (ex-DEVILDRIVER), guitarist Doc Coyle (VAGUS NERVE, ex-GOD FORBID), guitarist Chris Cain (BURY YOUR DEAD) and bassist Kyle Konkiel (ex-IN THIS MOMENT).

The first single from the upcoming album, a song called "Toast To The Ghost", can be previewed below. The track, which will be released on Friday, November 3, provides a taste of what's in store for fans on the forthcoming collection: bold, metal-infused anthemic hard-rock. "We're already fans of the band so it's fantastic to welcome BAD WOLVES to the Eleven Seven label family," says Eleven Seven COO Steve Kline. BAD WOLVES burst on to the scene earlier this year with the independently released debut single "Learn To Live". The Los Angeles-based five-piece is now gearing up for an even bigger 2018 with new music, a new label and new management. "From a creative standpoint, we were very fortunate to garnish the support of not only a friend we trusted as a manager but also respected as an artist and entrepreneur," explains the band of the decision to work with Bathory's management company. "Zoltan's outside-the-box thinking and unique perspective helped broadened the vision of what we hope to accomplish as a band." Adds Bathory: "I knew these guys for many years from their previous bands so I knew they were all exceptional musicians, but when they formed BAD WOLVES and played me the first few songs, I thought, 'Okay... there is fire here, this one has the magical combination.' Hard work and persistence always outstrip talent, and these guys have both."

Boecklin previously described BAD WOLVES' style as "a heavy-slightly prog rock band that tunes low and cuts off most of the fat. Watching FAITH NO MORE on the reunion tour made my thought process change," he explained. "I was standing there, and it hit me that I don't want to be in a metal band with screaming all the time. We're heavy, yet from track-to-track, things change quite a bit."

"More was revealed, so more was required," added Vext. "The overall tonality and approach resonated with me as an opportunity to challenge myself and grow as a vocalist. I was given a platform to tap into some musical influences I hadn't yet explored in previous bands. All in all, it was some of the most diverse, original material I've gotten to wrap my hands around."

In no rush to put together something reminiscent of his musical past, Boecklin quietly wrote over the course of 2015. During summer of 2016, he entered AudioHammer Studios with longtime collaborator Mark Lewis (TRIVIUM, ALL THAT REMAINS) and tracked what would become the group's debut album.

"Starting from scratch is never easy," admitted Boecklin. "Many musical roads were traveled before getting to what you hear today — it's trial and error. I kept reminding myself not to do what I've done before. Eventually, we started to hear what we wanted."

Album opener "A Toast To The Ghosts" delivers a searing gut-punch punctuated by sharp succinct fretwork, smart-bomb precise percussion, and another searing vocal performance. Everything culminates on the pensive and punishing "Blood And Bones". Vext added: "It's like an open letter to an abusive relationship partner that no longer serves you or the opposing counterpart. It's left open to interpretation."

Defined by a push-and-pull between incalculable instrumentation and soaring melodies, BAD WOLVES will keep listeners guessing and thinking on their path to hard rock and metal supremacy.

"This is something new for me," Boecklin left off. "It's the most unique drumming I've ever done. Tommy has never sounded so good. The songs are much more diverse than anything from our collective past. I'd love for people to take away some sort of connection emotionally. That's what all of the bands who inspire me do. Everything else doesn't really matter."




One more teaser for Toast to the Ghost lyric video dropping Nov. 3!!

Posted by Bad Wolves on Monday, October 30, 2017

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based rock/metal band THE VEER UNION has released a lyric video for its cover version of the FAITH NO MORE classic "Epic". The track will appear on THE VEER UNION's first-ever box set, "Decade: History Of Our Evolution", which will be made available through Rockshop Entertainment. The set will include six albums: "Decade", "Decade Acoustic", "Decade 2", "Decade 2 Acoustic", "Decade Demos" and "Decade Rarities".

Says THE VEER UNION singer Crispin Earl: "Growing up, FAITH NO MORE was one of our favorite bands. Not only did they have great songs, but they had an uncompromising passion for what they did musically. We wanted to harness some of that inspiration with this cover and hopefully do some justice to one of the most underrated and influential bands of our time."

In 2016, Earl took a rather unique approach to coincide with the concept of the album "Decade". He reproduced five unreleased songs which were written prior to the first incarnation of THE VEER UNION in 2004, bringing them back to life, as well as combining five brand new songs to bridge the span over a decade. Now, with the box set release of "Decade: History Of Our Evolution", THE VEER UNION will continue this theme by Crispin, reproducing the five remaining songs as well as adding five brand new songs, again proving that THE VEER UNION can stand the test of time by incorporating the original vision of the band and blending it with the current incarnation.

Earl recently started his own record label, Rock Shop Entertainment, and this will be the label's first-ever worldwide release. Crispin says: "In the past, I have had the pleasure of working with many great people at various record labels and learning from some of the best in the industry. At this point in my career, I feel the most important part of being an artist is not having someone impeding on the creative process and now with Rock Shop Entertainment, I will have the creative freedom to do as I wish in all creative aspects which is what makes this one of the most exciting releases of my entire career."

Last night’s Halloween edition of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live featured guest host Dave Grohl filling in for Jimmy. Other guests included actress Kristen Bell (A Bad Moms Christmas) and shock rock legend, Alice Cooper. Video from the episode can now be seen below.

In the first clip, Dave Grohl reveals that his daughters love Kristen Bell’s song “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” from Frozen, so they decide to perform a mash-up of it with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.

Alice Cooper talked about touring the world, his haunted house experience, and meeting Colonel Sanders. He also revealed whether or not people knock on his door on Halloween.

Alice also performed a medley of "Ballad Of Dwight Fry" and "Killer" with Foo Fighters.

Sweden's Shining, featuring founder/frontman Niklas Kvarforth, are streaming the new song “Gyllene Portanas Bro”, featured on  their forthcoming album, X - Varg Utan Flock, to be released on January 5th via Season Of Mist. Listen to the new track below, and pre-order the new album here.

Shining enter their third decade with the epic new album X - Varg Utan Flock (English translation: ‘Wolf Without A Pack’). As is their wont, Shining use black metal as a foundation upon which to build epic and radical songs that smash all genre convention. The charismatic Kvarforth, ever the conductor of madness, leads the charge with some of metal's most daring and expressive vocals. With X - Varg Utan Flock, Shining proves once and for all that they stand alone as one of black metal's most intrepid bands.

“Gyllene Portanas Bro”:

"Jag Är Din Fiende":

Goatwhore returns less than six months since the release of their Vengeful Ascension full-length with a new track, "Command To Destroy," available exclusively via Decibel Magazine's renowned Flexi Series.

Issues Decibel of the band's latest hymn, "'Command To Destroy' is Goatwhore at their best, unleashing their signature fusion of black/death/thrash metal."

To obtain this exclusive, ultra-limited flexi, become a deluxe Decibel subscriber by Monday, November 6th at 9:00 AM EST.

Goatwhore is currently roadbound with 1349 and labelmates Tombs on a short run of live dates leading up to their performance at this year's edition of Ozzfest Meets Knotfest in San Bernardino, California. The journey commenced October 27th and includes three shows supporting Kreator. In February, Goatwhore will take to the seas on the 2018 edition of 70000 Tons Of Metal, the world's biggest heavy metal cruise before heading overseas for a month-long trek with Sepultura, Obscura, and Fit For An Autopsy. See all confirmed dates below.

November (with 1349, Tombs)
1 - Top Deck - Farmington, NM (supporting Kreator)
2 - Dive Bar - Las Vegas, NV
3 - The Rock - Tucson, AZ
5 - Ozzfest Meets Knotfest @ Glen Helen Amphitheater & Festival Grounds - San Bernardino, CA (no 1349, Tombs)

February
1-5 - 70000 Tons Of Metal - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Swedish melodic rockers, JoNo, will release their new album, Life, on December 1st. Pre-order the new album here, and check out a lyric video for the song “Crown” below.

The band says: “We are very thrilled and proud about our cooperation with Frontiers Music Srl, a label which is home to so many great artists we truly respect and admire. As a band, this is an excellent opportunity to reach the international markets we've been aiming for. We can't wait to release the coming album, and of course hit the stage to be heard and seen by a wider audience, meeting with old and new fans. See you all out there!'

JoNo started as a solo project of singer Johan Norrby (hence the moniker "JoNo"), who has been singing, writing, and playing music in various bands and projects over the years. This is very much true for all the members of the band. Guitarist Stefan Helleblad is also a member of Dutch symphonic sensations Within Temptation. Drummer Nicka Hellenberg actually played all the drums on Within Temptation's The Unforgiving and has an impressive resume involving bands and recordings. Both keyboard player Johan Carlgren and bass player Janne Henriksson are frequently hired for both live and studio sessions. Leo Olsson - also a busy musician - joined the band in 2015.

JoNo's music is hard to pinpoint. Maybe it's best described as melodic rock with symphonic and progressive elements, always based on strong melodies with bombastic arrangements. Dynamics and a contemporary, fat sound are important ingredients in the JoNo musical recipe. Their music has been said to show the influence of great artists like Queen, Supertramp, Kansas, Journey and Sparks, but above all the band has received a lot of credit and praise because of their unique sound.

Tracklisting:

“Sailors”
“Crown”
“No Return”
“On The Other Side”
“Downside”
“To Be Near You”
“My Love”
“The Magician”
“Trust”
“The March”

“Crown” lyric video:

“No Return” video:

Lineup:

Johan Norrby - lead vocals
Johan Carlgren - piano/keyboards
Stefan Helleblad - lead guitar, guitars
Leo Olsson - guitars
Janne Henriksson - bass
Nicka Hellenberg - drums

Copenhagen-based modern hardcore group, Psy:Code, have released an official lyric video for “Iskolde Øjne (Cold Dead Eyes)”, a track from their new album MØRKE, out now via Pavement Entertainment.

Complete with lyrics sung in Danish, the new video can be seen below:

Psy:code is a band driven by a desire to reach beyond its own boundaries. The band's first two releases, Delusion and Cause and Neglect, were met with critical acclaim by critics worldwide. The praise was not met with complacency and Psy:code set the bar higher when writing their third album. MØRKE is a natural progression, but remains grounded in the roots planted by its predecessors.

Dead Quiet's new album, Grand Rites, will be released this Friday, November 3rd. Pre-orders for Grand Rites are available at Bandcamp and iTunes. A full album stream is available below.

With influences ranging from doom metal to classic rock, Dead Quiet seeks to meld melody with catastrophe as they weave through a dissonant landscape of crushing metallic riffs and somber choral musings. While remaining loyal to crucial heavy metal foundations, the band is successful at pronouncing that heaviness with depth and honesty.

Having the addition of full time keyboard player Justin Hagberg (3 Inches Of Blood) to the creative process, the songs have seen a richer dynamic and further broadened their already ‘70s rock and early heavy metal characteristic.

With the release of Grand Rites on the horizon, Dead Quiet hope to continue traversing the globe, playing what has become well known as an ultra-energetic, charismatic and ear splitting live performance.

After just finishing a cross-country Canadian tour, supporting Season Of Mist recording artist Anciients, Dead Quiet will be playing a CD release party in Vancouver, BC on November 17th at Rickshaw Theatre.

Tracklisting:

“Moon Curser”
“Blood Lovers”
“Corpse Revival”
“Disgraced”
“Fucking Oath”
“Dear Demon”
“Old Hopeless”
“Spiritual Abuse”
“Grand Rites”

Album stream:

EMGtv presents the Hall Of Fame HD re-edit series. In the clip below, Tosin Abasi of Animals As Leaders shows his incredible command of the 8-string guitar using his EMG 808X pickups live on EMGtv.

Animals As Leaders and Periphery have teamed up for a North American trek, dubbed The Convergence Tour, which launched last night, October 31st, at Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH. Remaining dates are listed below.

The Convergence Tour:

November
1 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
3 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection
4 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew’s Hall
5 - London, ON - London Music Hall
7 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa
9 - New York,  -  Playstation Theater
10 - Providence, RI - Lupo’s
11 - Philadelphia, PA - The Electric Factory
12 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
14 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
15 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
17 - San Antonio, TX - Alamo City Music Hall
18 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Live
19 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
21 - Phoenix, AZ - The Marquee
22 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
24 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
25 - San Francisco, CA - The Regency Ballroom
27 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
28 - Vancouver, BC - The Commodore Ballroom
29 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox

December
1 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex (The Grand)
2 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre

Car Bomb opens through November 15th while Astronoid supports November 17th - December 2nd.

Harrogate, UK-based heavy-hitters, Blood Youth, have unleashed a live music video for “Parasite”, taken from the band’s debut album Beyond Repair, which was released in April this year via Rude Records.

Frontman Kaya Tarsus comments on the song and video: “’Parasite’ is probably the heaviest song we have written so far! Lyrically it’s about how substances can radically change who we are as a person. The kindest people can turn into raging maniacs after a few drinks. I remember seeing it happen when I was in a bar. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and ended up writing the chorus on my phone that night! The video is a compilation of the many shows we have played over the last 12 months and perfectly showcases the intensity of a BY show! We are so stoked with how it all turned out!"

It’s been a phenomenal year for Blood Youth. Since the release of their debut album Beyond Repair in April, the band have spent the best part of 2017 destroying venues across the UK and Europe on tours with blessthefall and Neck Deep, and winning over new audiences with knockout performances at Download Festival and Groezrock.

If that wasn’t enough, the hard-working trio have added a string of high-profile support slots for this winter:

November
5 - Nottingham, England - Rock City *
13 - London, Kentish Town, England - The Forum ** (Sold Out)
15 - Dusseldorf, Germany - Mitsubishi Electric Halle **

December
26 - Leipzig, Germany - Conne Island ^
27 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche ^
28 - München, Germany - Backstage Werk ^
29- Karlsruhe, Germany - Substage ^
30 - Hamburg, Germany - Gruenspan ^

* - supporting Neck Deep
** - supporting Prophets Of Rage
^ - supporting Caliban

Minneapolis, MN-based progressive/technical death metal group Reaping Asmodeia dropped their Prosthetic Records release, Impuritize, in February of this year.

Reaping Asmodeia is back on the spookiest day of the year with their equally-thrilling new Arlo Myren-directed music video for "Irreversible Evolution". In the video, we see a man following clues to a remote destination, but things quickly take an unexpected, frantic turn.

In a group statement, the band offers: "We love incorporating different styles and dynamics throughout our music, as well as in our music videos. We have continued that theme in our new video for the song 'Irreversible Evolution', which you can check out today."

While online, check out a guitar playthrough video for the track "The Clemency Guise". Watch guitarist Alex Kelly burn through the track

Dual twin harpists Camille And Kennerly are back with another cover, this time Metallica’s “Fade To Black”, from the album Ride The Lightning.

The twins comment on the song and video, “Our new silver Electro-Acoustic Pedal Harps make their YouTube debut! ‘Fade To Black’ is our most requested song of all time, our 5th Metallica cover, and our longest Metallica cover to date! We wanted to do justice to this amazing song – and not just the most well-known portions. So, we arranged the whole song – some parts were definitely more harp-friendly to arrange than others, but we love how it turned out!  We think the harps give the song a beautiful, ethereal and haunting quality. We also included some distortion since these harps can be electrified! Our video camera broke while we were filing our last music video, so this video was filmed by our mom entirely on our iPhone and edited by us.”

This single will soon be available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, CDBaby, and Spotify.

Their first ever Holiday / Christmas album Winter Lights is out now. It includes ten new arrangements and two new original songs.

It's Halloween, the night of the living dead. To celebrate it Crest Of Darkness and My Kingdom Music present a big dose of horror music in the classic extreme way the Norwegian band uses to play and we do it with the lyric video of "The Noble Art" one of the most amazing songs taken from their last acclaimed album Welcome The Dead.

Recorded at the at MLP Studio by Nils H. Mæhlum, and mastered at the Kvålsonic Lab by Tom Kvålsvoll, the nine-track album is the heaviest, darkest and most introspective album in the band's 20+ year history.

The artwork for Welcome The Dead features the extraordinary Zombie Foetus sculptures created by the Italian artist Andrea Falaschi.

Listenable Records has announced the signing of Crescent, a very hard working band and death metal pioneers in their own country.

Crescent was formed in 1998 by Ismaeel Attallah and Amr Mokhtar with the infatuation by bands like Death, Bolt Thrower and particularly the Swedish black metal scene. 
 
Crescent performed in various gigs in Cairo and Alexandria, mainly performing a few original songs along with a dedicated set list of Dissection songs. Abruptly, they decided to wipe it off completely and to work on achieving a style that marks their own sound. That new inception needed persistence and time on a journey seeking Crescent’s identity. 
 
Crescent recorded their debut album Pyramid Slaves in 2013, which totally embraced the black/death metal genre mixed with of their Egyptian sound. Pyramid Slaves uniqueness in composition and writing stands on its own for its richness in melodies and complexities. It tackles versatile subjects like Egyptian mythology, wars, religion, human nature and how history clearly repeats itself till today in nuances.

As The first Egyptian band to tour Europe, Crescent covered Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland and Czech Republic. Shortly after, they won the local Wacken Metal Battle and represented Egypt for the first time at Wacken Open Air 2014. 
Reaching a new level of maturity in striking a new balance between aggression and melody. 'The 

Order of Amenti' is a tribute to the Ancient Egyptian gods. It is their thought of contribution to Egypt and to the Metal world as they have always wanted to create something to pay homage to their history and country. 
 
Mixed and mastered at Vamacara studio in France, with its artwork created by Michal 'Xaay’ Loranc, Crescent’s The Order Of Amenti is scheduled for a February 2018 release on Listenable Records.

Tracklisting:

“Reciting Spells To Mutilate Apophis”
“Sons Of Monthu”
“Obscuring The Light”
“Through The Scars Of Horus”
“The Will Of Amon-Ra”
“Beyond The Path Of Amenti”
“The Twelfth Gate”
“In The Name Of Osiris”

No, this is not just another pirate metal band, this is Rumahoy ye landlubbers!

Rumahoy's music mixes bustling pagan metal-riffing mixed with exotic ancient instrumentation, producing melodies that run like the swell of stormy seas!  Make sure to beware of dancing peg legs when Captain Yarrface asks for a fervent "Forest Party," or you and your parrot might be thrown overboard! Oh, and what about Netflix and Chill .. oh let's better say Netflix and Yarr!

Well back to business: Rumahoy have unveiled first details of their upcoming album including title, track listing, available formats, preorders and YARRRR!
 
Their first full-length studio album entitled and Napalm Records debut The Triumph Of Piracy will be released on February 9th, 2018.
 
Captain Yarrface unveils: "Ahoy landlubbers! It's time to drink some rum, fire a gun, and sail the high seas in search of pirate heritage and gold! Yarr! Join our crew, and together we'll quest for a new pirate age on our debut album The Triumph Of Piracy!"

The Triumph Of Piracy is available as 1CD jewel case and digital album. Preorders available here.

Tracklisting:

“AHOY!”
“Quest For Heritage”
“Forest Party”
“The Haitian Slam”
“Huffman, The Pirate King”
“Kill The Trolls”
“Netflix And Yarr”
“Pirateship”
“The Triumph Of Piracy”

Load all of your gun barrels and light them up as Rumahoy have teamed up with their label mates and pirates in Alestorm to hit the seven seas for a stormy tour in the UK early 2018.

BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski has been brought in for questioning by Polish authorities for allegedly disrespecting one of the country's national symbols.

According to the guitarist/vocalist, the band's "The Republic Of The Unfaithful" t-shirt design is said to be insulting to the national coat of arms of Poland, a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield.

Polish symbols are protected against public profanation and insult. According to Lexology.com, any public use that could be damaging or insulting may be considered a criminal offense. Therefore, it is important not to use any national symbol (even if artistically processed) in a way that could be deemed as disrespectful or offensive.

Nergal revealed his latest legal challenge in an October 30 social media post. He wrote: "So here I go again. On my way to the prosecutor's office in Gdansk to be questioned as a suspect in 'The Republic Of The Unfaithful' case. Me and my partner in 'crime' Maciek Manticore Gruszka is showing up too. Several individuals have been already questioned, including heraldists who have made their statement clear: THIS IS NOT A POLISH EMBLEM. Apparently it's not [enough] for the decision makers in the court.

"Are they looking for a scapegoat? Is this another attempt of the Polish government to convict Nergal and give an example for other artists? What's the hidden message of those actions, may I ask? 'Do NOT fuck with us'? 'Polish emblem as well as other religious symbols are meant to be untouchable'? 'Art has its strict borders and thou shalt obey, Nergal!'?

"Weird times, weird country, weird vibes… I do NOT feel safe and comfortable here, I must admit, but do I feel guilty? Fuck no. I worship the reason and I'm a massive fan of logic, therefore it is OBVIOUS that the eagle that has NO crown can NOT be a Polish emblem. Period.

"Sadly we have stopped selling shirts with this motive (but hey, it's ALREADY the best-selling shirt in our catalogue! huurraaay!) but what we are gonna do with fans who have tattooed 'The republic of the unfaithful' on their back? Shall we arrest them? Peel the skin off? Cover it up? These rhetorical questions I'm gonna leave unanswered here and go to do what I do best: piss stupid people off with sincere and honest art and I shall NEVER give up on my freedom to do so."

In 2011, Nergal was acquitted in Poland on charges he insulted religious sentiment when he called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" during the band's September 2007 performance in Gdynia and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."




"So here I go again. On my way to the prosecutors office in Gdansk to be questioned as a suspect in “The republic of the...

Posted by Adam Nergal Darski on Monday, October 30, 2017

So... no. The stars have been a mainstay of the Polish Coat of Arms since 1927. #politics #Poland pic.twitter.com/MXYcykXOQQ

— Baba Jaszątróbiegało (@Sztrb) March 8, 2017

SLIPKNOT has "seven or eight" full songs written for its next studio album, Shawn "The Clown" Crahan has revealed.

SLIPKNOT's touring cycle in support of 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter", ended in November, with singer Corey Taylor returning to his other band STONE SOUR this year.

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

Asked in a brand new interview with Metal Hammer about the progress of the songwriting sessions for SLIPKNOT's next disc, Crahan said: "'The Gray Chapter' was pretty much the final learning velocity of our career. We had to replace a bass player, we had to replace a drummer — one of them was walking the earth, the other was buried in the earth. It was a very hard time. People were telling us, 'How is the band gonna write? Joey and Paul are gone.' Fuck you. We made a fucking awesome album that we love. And we're gonna continue to do that. I actually have a date that some of us are gonna get together in a studio and get things going for the next one."

According to the percussionist, he, guitarist Jim Root and drummer Jay Weinberg went to Los Angeles earlier in the year to "organize everything we had written out on the road. We wrote fifty fucking ideas," he said. "We spent two weeks organizing all that, and also adding some stuff that was written a year ago."

Shawn added: "We have over twenty-seven ideas ready to go — seven or eight of them are full songs. These songs can change, they can be written over, nothing is in stone. But it's great that we have concrete ideas to begin with. So the future has never been sweeter for SLIPKNOT music.

"I don't know what Corey's got in mind, because he will bring his own songs, too, but we're just writing music and getting ideas and moods and soundscapes — getting it all fucking together," he said.

In a recent interview with Metal Wani, Taylor spoke about a possible musical direction for SLIPKNOT's next album, saying that nothing has yet been decided. "I know I wanna write something violent, to be honest," he said. "I wanna do something that feels uncomfortable. I wanna go somewhere where we haven't been in a long, long time. I don't know what that means, but I think when I hear it, I'll know what it is."

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

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

SLIPKNOT recently premiered "Day Of The Gusano", a documentary about the band's first-ever visit to Mexico City, focusing on the importance of its fan base of "maggots" and featuring a catalog of live performances from the concert.

Bruce Dickinson says that his claim that IRON MAIDEN was "better than METALLICA" was just about "throwing down the gauntlet" and wasn't directly aimed at the San Francisco-based metal giants.

Back in 2011, the IRON MAIDEN frontman elaborated on a past comment in which he boasted that his band was superior to METALLICA. Refusing to back down from the stance, he explained to Metal Hammer: "I got into trouble for saying that we're better than METALLICA… and it's true. They might be bigger than us and they might sell more tickets than us and they might get more gold-plated middle-class bourgeoisie turning up to their shows, but they're not MAIDEN. I did say it's a bit of a windup. I thought, 'If I'm going to turn into an asshole, I might as well, you know, go for it.'"

Now, in a brand new interview with Rolling Stone, Dickinson was asked for his current take on his past comments about the James Hetfield-fronted outfit. He said: "Look, I'm acutely conscious that when you say things in print, people are going to pick up on things. The stuff about METALLICA, quite frankly, was a really good windup. We have a great relationship with METALLICA. It wasn't aimed at METALLICA. It was aimed at the rest of the world to say, 'We're back and we mean it. We mean it so much that we're going to say something pretty outrageous, so why don't you come to the show and find out. We dare you.' It's throwing down the gauntlet, and I'm the lead singer. It's my job. It's what I do.

"So is it arrogant? Uh, yeah," he admitted. "You're the lead singer of IRON MAIDEN, and you're going to be arrogant every now and again, because it kind of goes with the territory, yeah. Mick Jagger, is he arrogant? Yeah, probably — it's Mick Jagger, for fuck's sake. Do I make a distinction between me walking down the street and me onstage with IRON MAIDEN? Yeah."

When questioned about Dickinson's initial comments, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich took the high road, telling The Guardian: "I will never argue with that. I will always support Bruce Dickinson in whatever nonsense he says. That's part of the fun. So go IRON MAIDEN! It's fine."

Dickinson is promoting his autobiography, "What Does This Button Do?", which was released in the U.S. on October 31 via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.