Ozzy Osbourne was interviewed on the September 6 edition of SEX PISTOLS guitarist Steve Jones's radio show, "Jonesy's Jukebox". You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the end of BLACK SABBATH:

Ozzy: "[It's] done. Over. I've been solo thirty-five years. It wasn't like it was the breakup of the century. One thing I'm happy about is we're all friends at the end of the day. But I'm glad to be back on my own. I [only] have me to answer to now."

"It was good to end it on an up note, 'cause Ronnie James Dio [BLACK SABBATH and HEAVEN & HELL singer] had died and they couldn't do it with him anymore. So it was just a nice way to finish it. It would have been nicer if we had waited another year, I suppose, 'cause it would have been fifty years [since the formation of the band]. But I'm not retiring. How can you retire from this? It's not a job. It's not like I'm [punching a time] card at eight o'clock every morning. It's the best thing that ever happened to me."

On the differences between playing with BLACK SABBATH and performing solo:

Ozzy: "I'm just Ozzy. I just do what I do. BLACK SABBATH is a completely different thing. On my own, I'm all over the place, but with SABBATH, I'm just a singer with a band called BLACK SABBATH. Now on my own, I can choose what I wanna do myself. It's just fun."

On playing with guitarist Zakk Wylde again:

Ozzy: "We've just done a few gigs. We're doing one every month. But his playing is unbelievably good now. I hadn't played with him in a band situation for quite a while now, but I'm on stage with him and my jaw drops. He's so fast now!"

Osbourne's current touring lineup also includes Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards.

More Ozzy shows will follow in September and October, with the final date take place at this year's edition of the Ozzfest Meets Knotfest on November 4 in San Bernadino, California.

SABBATH finished its year-long "The End" farewell tour on February 4 in the band's hometown of Birmingham, England, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking forty-nine-year career with an emotional fifteen-song set.

According to the web site of RED Distribution, which distributes Metal Blade Records' releases in the U.S., Florida-based death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE will issue their fourteenth studio album, "Red Before Black", on November 3. 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".

"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.

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

"A Skeletal Domain" sold 8,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "Torture", opened with 9,600 units to land at No. 38. This figure was in line with the first-week performance of 2009's "Evisceration Plague", which entered the chart at No. 66. CANNIBAL CORPSE's 2006 CD, "Kill", debuted at No. 170 after shifting more than 6,000 copies.

"A Skeletal Domain" was produced by Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, DEVILDRIVER) at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida.

ACT OF DEFIANCE's video for the song "Overexposure" can be seen below. Directed by Vince Edwards, the melodic scorcher is backed with fast-paced imagery of the bandmembers in their finest form — churning out a precise metal assault!

ACT OF DEFIANCE is the group featuring former MEGADETH members Shawn Drover (drums) and Chris Broderick (guitar), alongside ex-SCAR THE MARTYR singer Henry Derek Bonner and SHADOWS FALL's Matt Bachand (bass).

"Overexposure" is taken from ACT OF DEFIANCE's sophomore album, "Old Scars, New Wounds", which will be released on September 29 via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2015's "Birth And The Burial" was mixed by Dave Otero, who has previously worked with CEPHALIC CARNAGE and CATTLE DECAPITATION, among others. The cover artwork was created by Travis Smith (KING DIAMOND, OPETH, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD).

On "Old Scars, New Wounds", ACT OF DEFIANCE has upped the ante. Each of the eleven new tracks sound fresh and urgent while wielding a timeless quality that will connect powerfully with metal fans new and old — and there aren't many contemporary bands who can make such a claim. Naturally blending a plethora of metallic styles and never recycling ideas, "Old Scars, New Wounds" is an even more dynamic and diverse collection than its predecessor, which was written solely by Broderick and Drover prior to recruiting Bachand and Derek. With a fully seasoned, tour-hardened band in place, there was room for everyone to bring something to the table this time around, and their varying styles helped shape the record. The title — plucked from the blistering track "Conspiracy Of The Gods" — stands as a metaphor for life in general, and the breadth of lyrical matter covered is as broad as the styles of heavy music found on the record. "Another Killing Spree" looks at hardcore drug use, while "Lullaby Of Vengeance" is an angry song about singing angry lyrics, and "Overexposure" is an anthem dedicated to not selling out. There is also some very topical material, most notably on "Mis-Information Age" and "Broken Dialect". "'Mis-Information Age' is very applicable in today's social climate, where we can no longer blindly trust the source of facts that determine our view," Broderick explains. "It asserts that we should be skeptical, making sure we have the truth and not someone's propaganda, while 'Broken Dialect' conveys the idea that people can no longer hold a conversation with each other where their views differ, instead turning to sources that only support the view they want to hold on to." With every track featuring a blistering solo from Broderick, fans of his shredding can rest assured that the guitarist has not held back — though that was not his initial intention. "I actually wanted to tone it down a bit technically in terms of my solos, but the opposite happened! This was because I inadvertently ended up creating a few new techniques to use in my trick bag and saw their potential, so I worked really hard on the execution so they could make the record." "Old Scars, New Wounds" track listing:

01. M.I.A.02. Molten Core03. Overexposure04. The Talisman05. Lullaby Of Vengeance06. Circle Of Ashes07. Reborn08. Conspiracy Of The Gods09. Another Killing Spree10. Broken Dialect11. Rise of Rebellion Going into writing the record, the quartet had no grand plan, and spread across the continental U.S., the individual members worked separately, bouncing demos back and forth and building on each others' ideas. Like many contemporary bands, through taking advantage of available technologies they made a record that is very much a collaborative effort, despite the distances lying between the members' home bases. Recruiting Otero, they tracked the record likewise, with Broderick laying down guitars in his own Ill-Fated Studios in L.A., Derek and Broderick's vocals tracked at Red Light Studios also in L.A., with Bachand tracking his contributions at Manshark in South Hampton, Massachusetts and Drover's drums were laid down at Atlanta's Glow In The Dark Studios. Having proven themselves on the road in support of "Birth And The Burial" both as headliners and supporting the likes of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, HELLYEAH and HATEBREED, the band is looking ahead to the expansive touring that will accompany "Old Scars, New Wounds", and their hunger to get back in front of crowds has not abated in the slightest.

On August 28, Denmark's TV2 aired a special called "24 Timer Med Lars Ulrich" ("24 Hours With Lars Ulrich"), featuring host Anders Breinholt spending a typical "day at the office" with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. The two travel to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for the final show of the North American portion of the band's "WorldWired" tour and spend some time at the METALLICA headquarters in San Rafael, California — all in 24 hours!

You can now watch the program below.

The European leg of METALLICA's "WorldWired" tour kicked off in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 2 and will run through November. After a break, the trek will pick up again on February 1, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, and continue through May, finishing up in Helsinki, Finland.

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame band is touring in support of its tenth studio album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", which came out last November.

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett told the 107.7 The Bone radio station last month that the North American leg of "WorldWired", which kicked off on May 10 in Baltimore, Maryland, was "in-fucking-credible. We're constantly being blown away by just… Everywhere we go… 'Cause it's been a while since we've been in America doing a tour like this, and we were a little bit apprehensive: 'Are people gonna show up with the same enthusiasm that they did last time?'" he said. "But they certainly have, in droves, and then more so. I mean, people are showing their love more than ever for METALLICA, and it's great. And just as importantly, we seem to be reaching a lot of new fans who have never seen us before, and to us, that's fantastic."

"The Line", a brand new song from the FOO FIGHTERS, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's ninth studio album, "Concrete And Gold", which will be released on September 15 via Roswell Records/RCA Records.

"The Line" pairs a signature FOO FIGHTERS propulsive melody with an urgent heartfelt lyric and rousing chorus described by composer Dave Grohl as "a search for hope in this day and age where you feel as if you're fighting for your life with every passing moment, and everything is on the line."

"The Line" is the third of "Concrete And Gold"'s eleven songs to be unveiled ahead of the album's impending arrival, the second being "The Sky Is A Neighborhood", visually realized as a Grohl-directed kaleidoscopic sci-fi mini-epic as massive as the slow burning rock anthem that gave it life — one of the most striking entries of the FOO FIGHTERS' video canon, and the first one to score the band coverage on Space.com. The run-up to "Concrete And Gold" began just as auspiciously, with the June 1 surprise release of the Billboard Mainstream Rock #1 smash "Run". With more than two million YouTube views in its first twenty-four hours, "Run" rocketed into the Top 5 of the iTunes video chart and the top Top 15 iTunes singles chart — quickly amassing the highest first-day numbers of any single in the FOO FIGHTERS' career.

"Concrete And Gold" will naturally be supported with a grueling trek of the arena, stadium and festival stages of the world. The U.S. leg kicks off October 7 with the band's Cal Jam 17 festival at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California: a non-stop, one-hundred-percent-live twelve-hour rock and roll extravaganza featuring camping, carnival rides, a water park, attractions, a mobile recording studio and so much more.

"Concrete And Gold" was written and performed by FOO FIGHTERS, produced by Greg Kurstin and FOO FIGHTERS, and mixed by Darrell Thorp.

Grohl recently revealed that Justin Timberlake is the mystery guest on "Concrete And Gold". He explained that Timberlake was recording at the same Los Angeles studio and would hang out with the FOO FIGHTERS. Grohl explained: "We'd drink whiskey in the parking lot. He was really, really cool. Then the night before his last day, he says, 'Can I sing on your record? I don't want to push it, but — I just want to be able to tell my friends.'"

Timberlake ended up doing background "la la la" vocals on one song on the LP, which was not identified. Grohl said that Timberlake "nailed" the part, adding, "I'm telling you, the guy's going somewhere."

Grohl first teased fans about the collaboration in June, telling fans, "I'd never spent time with this person, and we had a blast together."

Other cameos on the disc include Paul McCartney, THE BIRD AND THE BEE's Inara George, THE KILLS' Alison Mosshart and BOYZ II MEN singer Shawn Stockman.

"Concrete And Gold" track listing:

01. T-Shirt02. Run03. Make It Right04. The Sky Is A Neighborhood05. La Dee Da06. Dirty Water07. Arrows08. Happy Ever After (Zero Hour)09. Sunday Rain10. The Line11. Concrete And Gold

The official music video for the song "Absinthe Phoenix Rising" from PAIN, the Swedish metal band led by multi-instrumentalist and producer Peter Tägtgren, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's latest album, "Coming Home", which was released in September 2016 through Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2011's "You Only Live Twice" features cover artwork by Stefan Heilemann.

"Coming Home" track listing:

01. Designed To Piss You Off02. Call Me03. A Wannabe04. Pain in the Ass05. Black Knight Satellite06. Coming Home07. Absinthe Phoenix Rising08. Final Crusade09. Natural Born Idiot10. Starseed

Since the beginning of his career in the early '90s, the Swedish allrounder has enjoyed diving into the extreme and has grown to be an untameable force. But this is exactly what makes him so fascinating. Taboos, creative stagnation, or genre boundaries have never existed in the world of the forty-six-year-old mastermind. And, of course, Peter Tägtgren wandered the same unexplored paths when the time came to forge "Coming Home", the eighth studio release of the industrial institution PAIN. However, the path was long and winding and therefore, the writing process for the follow-up of "You Only Live Twice" wasn't all fun and games, but Peter Tägtgren is well prepared for the fight:

"Sometimes you pull your hair out and lay sleepless all night long, because you can't figure out this one chorus or don't know how to finish a certain song," admits the singer and guitarist."That's just me: When I dive into it, there's no ending in sight. It's a self-destructive mechanism. But I want perfection — or I don't want it at all."

Therefore, it is no wonder, that PAIN delivers a revolutionary mix of styles on this new release — bizarre alternative metal meets electronic melodies — and, in addition, the band weave some spectacular orchestral arrangements into the tracks on "Coming Home", without risking any cheesy moments or overloading the songs. The result is ten highly addictive hymns with massive depth and experimentation. With the orchestrated portions, PAIN entered a new era and seeked assistance from CARACH ANGREN's Clemens "Ardek" Wijers, who added some magical final touches to Tägtgren's bombastic songwriting. But the album also has time to breathe with beautiful acoustic guitar intros appearing hand in hand with stormy moments, showing the band at the zenith of their creativity.

"Coming Home" includes drummer Sebastian Tägtgren, Peter's eighteen-year-old son who delivers an impressive guest appearance on the title track as well as SABATON's Joakim Brodén who joins the team for some typically raw warrior vocals on "Call Me".

But a PAIN release wouldn't be a typical masterpiece without some thought-provoking topics and tales: On the callboy-singalong "Call Me" and "Final Crusade", the band crawls through the deepest corners of society and the human mind, while "Absinthe-Phoenix Rising" is based upon an incident in Leipzig during PAIN's tour with NIGHTWISH, where the band was attacked and beat up after leaving an Absinthe bar. And of course, lovers of mystery and conspiracy theories also get their money's worth with "Black Knight Satellite". "Nikola Tesla, who invented the lightbulb, electricity, and other stuff, thought that he heard beeping sounds from space," Tägtgren elaborates of the track's inspiration, "It was around the year 1899 and it seemed like a message to him, a hidden code. He was the first one to discover it, but in the 1950s, when humans started to go into space, they heard the same noises and found out: There is some signal from a satellite out there… but it isn't ours. And as they started their research, they found out, that people had been talking about this phenomenon for around thirteen-thousand years. The story of this so-called 'Black Knight Satellite' is very fascinating to me. Whether it's true or not, I don't know. But it definitely inspired me to write these lyrics."

German metallers PRIMAL FEAR will release a new collection, "Best Of Fear", on November 10. The set will include a cover of HEART's "If Looks Could Kill", which is available for streaming below.

"Best Of Fear", as the name implies, is a new "best-of" compilation. This double album culls together the best material from PRIMAL FEAR's last ten years of work — including the albums "New Religion", "16.6 (Before The Devil Knows You're Dead)", "Unbreakable", "Delivering The Black" and "Rulebreaker" — plus four brand new songs recorded specifically for this release.

This comprehensive overview of PRIMAL FEAR's body of work over the past ten years is aptly split into two records which showcases the magnificence (and constantly maturing) songwriting abilities of these heavy metal lifers. The first album encompasses the heavier and more straight-ahead material, while the second shows the more involved and epic side of the band’s songwriting.

"Best Of Fear" track listing:

CD1

01. Area 16 (new song)02. Predator (new song)03. If Looks Could Kill (new song)04. Thrill Of Speed (new song)05. The End Is Near06. Strike07. Sign Of Fear08. In Metal We Trust09. When Death Comes Knocking10. Six Times Dead11. Angels Of Mercy12. Unbreakable13. Riding The Eagle14. Rulebreaker15. King For A Day16. Bad Guys Wear Black

CD2

01. Every Time It Rains (feat. Simone Simons)02. We Walk Without Fear03. Fighting The Darkness (long version)04. Hands Of Time05. One Night In December06. The Sky Is Burning07. Where Angels Die08. Black Rain09. Born With A Broken Heart (feat. Liv Kristine) (remix)10. Born Again11. The Man (That I Don't Know)

PRIMAL FEAR's latest live album/home video, titled "Angels Of Mercy - Live In Germany", was released this past June on Frontiers Music Srl.

California rock and party legends STEEL PANTHER return with the third music video from their latest release, "Lower The Bar". The clip for "Wasted Too Much Time" can be seen below. STEEL PANTHER drummer Stix Zadinia directed the latest video, which visualizes the message of the song and the pitfalls of staying in a relationship that isn't working. STONE SOUR members make a cameo appearance in the NSFW (not safe for work) video performing at a house party and SS singer Corey Taylor does his best Michael Starr impersonation. STEEL PANTHER will also be making an appearance in the next STONE SOUR video. "Having sex with living, human women and directing music videos are my two favorite things to do," explains Zadinia. Keeping the STONE SOUR "bromance" alive, the two bands will be hitting the road together on a co-headline tour kicking off on September 24 in Omaha, Nebraska at the Sokol Auditorium. The tour will make stops in Kansas City, Missouri; Niagara Falls, New York; and Tulsa, Oklahoma before wrapping up in San Antonio, Texas on October 14. Tickets for all shows are currently on sale as well as VIP packages at select dates.

"Lower The Bar" was released on March 24 via Kobalt Music Recordings. The disc was co-produced with regular collaborator Jay Ruston, and includes eleven songs recorded at studios in north Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, with an additional two tracks on a Best Buy deluxe edition.

Starr told Billboard about the follow-up to 2014's "All You Can Eat": "I think we've expanded. Our style is still the same formula, I guess, but we've changed it up a bit. I could say that we used to sing about pussy and partying; now we're singing about partying and pussy, but the reality is we did switch up a few things. It's a really solid, fun, intelligent party record. We're just maturing as a band after being on the road for years together and living together. It shows."

He continued: "It's hard to put into words without sounding like a typical review, but it feels different to me. It feels like we're doing some melody lines we normally wouldn't do on a couple of sings, different kinds of moods and not necessary just 'Dr. Feelgood'. There's some different stuff in there, but everything's open for interpretation. Hopefully we connect with it."

On February 9th, Good Tiger will release their sophomore full-length, We Will All Be Gone, via Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records. For a preview of the album, the first single, "The Devil Thinks I'm Sinking", is streaming below.

The album is available for preorder in the following formats:
--Digipak CD
--180g Black Vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies) 
--Flesh Pink Clear Vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies) 
--Opaque Pale Pink Vinyl (USA exclusive - limited to 500 copies)

With music instantly accessed at the touch of a button, it seems that the urge to pigeonhole bands as quickly and neatly as possible has been driven to ever more extremes in recent years. Good Tiger, however, forge their own path. Blending their influences in a manner that defies lazy classification sets them apart from their contemporaries, imbuing everything they do with a distinctive sound and feel, and with We Will All Be Gone, Good Tigerhave dramatically built upon their stunning debut, 2015's A Head Full Of Moonlight. Comprised of guitarists Derya "Dez" Nagle and Joaquin Ardiles, bassist Morgan Sinclair, drummer Alex Rudinger and vocalist Elliot Coleman, Good Tiger has raised the stakes across the board - every track on We Will All Be Gone has a definitive character of its own, and none stay in a single gear, all of them dynamic and textured as they evoke various tones and moods. 

Tracking at Middle Farm Studios in southwest England, the band also recruited producer Forrester Savell (Karnivool/Dead Letter Circus), and engineer/mixer Adam "Nolly" Getgood (Periphery/Animals As Leaders). "We worked with Nolly on the last album, we had a great working relationship, and wanted to explore that further in a more developed situation," Dez explains. "Forrester has made some of our favorite albums, and is someone we could trust steering the ship. Having self-produced for so long it can be at times quite difficult to let go, so it was important we found people we could fully entrust to help create the album we wanted to make."

“The Devil Thinks I’m Sinking”:

Alcohol-soaked thrash metal act, Tankard, will release their new Schwarz-weiß wie Schnee EP on September 15th via Nuclear Blast. Pre-order the Schwarz-weiß wie Schnee EP at this location.

Three months ago, Tankard played the Eintracht Frankfurt club anthem “Schwarz-weiß wie Schnee” in front of over 30,000 enthusiastic Frankfurt supporters, a short time before the kick-off of the German cup final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. Today, the band release the video clip of that performance. The clip was captured by the band, but also from many fans in the stadium. Check it out below.

Tracklisting:

“Schwarz-weiß wie Schnee” (Studio version 2017)
“Forza SGE”
“Schwarz-weiß wie Schnee” (1999er Version)
“One Foot In The Grave”
“A Girl Called Cerveza”
“(Empty) Tankard” (live, 2016)

“Schwarz-weiß wie Schnee” video:

Sweden’s Sorcerer have released a music video for “Sirens”, featured on their new 2-track 7”, to be released on September 8th. The clip, directed by Daniel Nyqvist, can be found below.

The 7” features the title track “Sirens” as well as the exclusive B-side “Disciples Of The Dark”. The 7” will be available in three colors and is strictly limited, all versions hand-numbered. Black vinyl (300 copies), turquoise blue (200 copies) and clear (100 copies). Pre-orders are available on EMP.

Sorcerer have just finished recording their brand new studio album, The Crowning Of The Fire King, for a release later in 2017. More info on this shortly.

Sweden's sovereign avantgarde/melo-death act Loch Vostok have announced the worldwide release date of their seventh album Strife, through Vicisolum Records on November 24th.

However, early birds on September 29th can hear the single-release, which will be the song "Summer". 

Strife deals with loss on every imaginable level, the loss of life, love, monetary assets, friends and so on, but also the rebuild afterwards. 

Leadsinger/guitarist, Teddy Möller tells it, as it is: "Expect the unexpected.  Djent, modern progressive, dark, gloomy, groovy, doom, black metal, pop and ridiculously heavy.  Huge production. In your face/wall of sound. Songwriting in its most unpure form, still as catchy as the plague and as beautiful as summer rain."

The album was recorded at Frontporch Productions, mixed by David Castillo (Katatonia, Dark Tranquility, Sepultura) and mastered by Jens Bogren in Fascination Street.

South Wales, UK death metal outfit, Venom Prison, have released a music video for “The Exquisite Taste Of Selfishness”, a track from the band’s debut full-length album, Animus, released last year via Prosthetic Records.

Recorded by Tom Dring at Vagrant Recordings (Dragged Into Sunlight, Electric Wizard), Animus is 10 tracks of aural assaulting brutality. Venom Prison tackle subjects such as social Darwinism, misogyny, rape culture and the rejection of God and religion. As seen below, the artwork for Animus was created by German based legendary artist, Eliran Kantor (Testament, Sigh) who worked closely with Larissa to capture some of the themes of the album.

Tracklisting:

“Syllogism”
“Abysmal Agony”
“Celestial Patricide”
“Desecration Of Human Privilege”
“Corrode The Black Sun”
“Immanetize Eschaton”
“The Exquisite Taste Of Selfishness”
“Devoid”
“Perpetrator Emasculation”
“Womb Forced Animus”

“Perpetrator Emasculation” video:

“Corrode The Black Sun” video:

“Devoid” video:

“Celestial Patricide” video:

“Abysmal Agony”:

Night Legion, the new high energy Australian power metal band featuring members of Dungeon, Death Dealer, Blasted To Static and Darker Half, have released a new promo video for their upcoming self-titled debut album, out on October 20th via Massacre Records. The clip features the album track “The Eye Of Hydra”. Check it out below:

A trailer for the upcoming album can be seen below:

Filmed during Night Legion's headlining show at the Under The Southern Cross festival in Sydney, Australia, Night Legion’s video for "Hell Below" (watch below) recalls the legend of a swashbuckling adventure and tale of blood and gold. The video includes enhanced special effects from video king Owe Lingvalle (Hammerfall, Lordi).

The track "Hell Below" is a preview of the upcoming debut albumm and showcases the incredible cover artwork by fantasy artist Dusan Markovic.

Night Legion bring aggressive high screaming molten metal music infused with melodic vibes for fans of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and classic power metal. Stay tuned for updates.

45 years after Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour filmed Live At Pompeii in the legendary Roman Amphitheatre there, he returned for two spectacular shows that took place on July 7th and 8th, 2016, part of his year-long tour in support of his #1 album, Rattle That Lock. The performances were the first-ever rock concerts for an audience in the stone Roman amphitheatre, and, for two nights only, the 2,600 strong crowd stood exactly where gladiators would have fought in the first century AD.

David Gilmour Live At Pompeii is an audio experience on its own, while the audio-visual spectacle features lasers, pyrotechnics and a huge circular screen on which specially-created films complement selected songs. Paramount, however, is the incredible music: the show includes songs from throughout David's career, as well as many Pink Floyd classics, including “One Of These Days”, the only song that was also performed at the band’s 1971 show.

Both concerts also saw very special performances of “The Great Gig In The Sky” from The Dark Side Of The Moon, which David rarely plays as a solo artist. The 2-disc concert CD was produced by David Gilmour, and mixed by Andy Jackson and David Gilmour. The 148-minute concert film includes highlights from both shows, filmed in 4k by director Gavin Elder. DVD and Blu-ray versions contain an extra 7-minute documentary by Gavin Elder ‘Pompeii Then And Now’, while the Deluxe Blu-ray 4-disc box contains the 2xCD version, the 1xBlu-ray version, and a full 207 minutes of extra footage: 11 live performances and 5 documentaries, plus bonus collectables. Vinyl lovers can enjoy a deluxe 4xLP version in gatefold sleeves and a hardback slipcase, plus a 24-page photo booklet.

David Gilmour Live At Pompeii shows an artist at the top of his artistic game, performing incredible material with his world-class band, in a unique setting on one very special occasion. The release is set for September 29th. A third EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for the upcoming release is available for streaming below.

Tracklisting:

“5 A.M.”
“Rattle That Lock”
“Faces Of Stone”
“What Do You Want From Me”
“The Blue”
“The Great Gig In The Sky”
“A Boat Lies Waiting”
“Wish You Were Here”
“Money”
“In Any Tongue”
“High Hopes”
“One Of These Days”
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1 - 5)”
“Fat Old Sun”
“Coming Back To Life”
“On An Island”
“Today”
“Sorrow”
“Run Like Hell”
“Time” / “Breathe (In The Air)” (reprise)
“Comfortably Numb”

EPK Part 1:

EPK Part 2:

EPK Part 3:

“Time” / “Breathe (In The Air)” excerpt:

“Today” excerpt:

“A Boat Lies Waiting” excerpt:

“One Of These Days” excerpt:

Deluxe Box Set unboxing video:

“Rattle That Lock”:

Live At Pompeii will be in cinemas worldwide for one night only, September 13th. Tickets/info at this location. A trailer can be found below.

Presented in 4K and Dolby Atmos where available.

The Jelly Jam featuring Dream Theater’s John Myung, Winger’s Rod Morgenstein, and King’s X’s Ty Tabor have released an official video for the song "Water", taken from their latest album, Profit.

When asked about collaborative efforts of The Jelly Jam guitarist Ty Tabor describes John as, “The forefather of the band,” and enthuses that “Playing with Rod has been a lifelong dream. I was a huge fan of his right out of high school and The Dixie Dregs transformed my idea of what a band could do. Rod was a huge part of the insanity on all of those early Dixie Dregs albums. It’s just a joy to get to play with him.”

The band’s first album The Jelly Jam was released in 2002, followed by 2004’s The Jelly Jam 2. The members’ work with Dream Theater, Winger and King’s X kept the band away from the studio until the critically acclaimed Shall We Descend in 2011 marked a triumphant return for the trio.

Guitarist Ty Tabor’s musical pedigree is vast. Not only has he produced The Jelly Jam’s four albums, he wrote all three of King’s X top ten songs that include “It’s Love”, “Black Flag”, “Dogman” and toured the world with AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Cheap Trick, Scorpions, Iron Maiden amongst others. Honoured by VH1 as one of Hard Rock’s Top 100 bands, they were also included in the 1991 movie soundtrack to Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and their 1994 appearance at the Woodstock Festival was hailed by USA Today, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart and Howard Stern as the festival’s highlight.

Bassist John Myung is a founding member of Dream Theater who have sold over twelve million albums worldwide. Dream Theater have won many awards including the Spirit of Prog Award from Classic Rock Magazine, and were inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2010. The band have two Grammy nominations, while Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory was voted the #1 Progressive Rock Album of All Time by Rolling Stone, whose readers also voted Dream Theater as one of The Best Prog Rock Bands of All Time.

Drummer Rod Morgenstein began his illustrious career with The Dixie Dregs, who received six Grammy nominations, before becoming a darling of the ‘80s rock scene with Winger who achieved multiple chart topping singles including “Seventeen”, “Headed For A Heartbreak” and “Miles Away”. Rod has played with Platypus, The Steve Morse Band, Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess and is an Associate Professor at the prestigious Berklee College Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He has also been awarded Modern Drummer Magazine’s Best Progressive Rock Drummer five years in a row, as well as the Best All-Around Drummer Award, and was inducted into the magazine's Honor Roll.

Ty Tabor describes the album’s concept as “a fight between progress and jobs at all cost and not thinking about any future payment that are going to have to be made.” Adding further that, “Each Jelly Jam album is very different and we are most definitely discovering new ground. The first album was pretty straight ahead in its nature and vibe. The second album was more about the songwriting and had a very different feel. By the time we got to Shall We Descend, we were all at different musical places. It had more of a darker edge to it, but we finally realized that we had tapped in to something that was unique to us. There really is no Jelly Jam ‘sound’. In order to make Profit the strongest album, we recorded a lot of excess music and chose songs that work together towards the general story idea. Musically and sonically we started experimenting a lot further than we had before. It stands on its own as an album beginning to end with a purpose. It’s not just a bunch of songs thrown together. It’s an entire journey through a story.”

The album is available in LP + Mp3, CD, Digital and MFiT formats.

Tracklisting:

”Care"
"Stain On The Sun"
"Water"
"Stop"
"Perfect Lines (Flyin')"
"Mr. Man"
"Memphis"
"Ghost Town"
"Heaven"
"Permanent Hold"
"Fallen"
"Strong Belief"

"Stain On The Sun”:

“Care”:

The Jelly Jam is:  

Ty Tabor-vocals/guitar   
John Myung - bass   
Rod Morgenstein - drums

Poland-based epic black/death metallers, Devilish Impressions, will release their new album, The I, on September 22nd via Lifeforce Records. A lyric video for the album track “Eosphoros” is available for streaming below.

“Following on the notion that one can never reach full potential out in the open being a slave at heart it all comes down to - plain and simple - rising above and stepping over and beyond all force-fed limitations in order to accomplish honest satisfaction, fulfillment and unsuppressed growth as an individual.” - about the concept behind the lyrics comments Darky, a long-time friend of the band considered to be its spirit member who has also contributed to the lyrics.

“To accompany the fierce and powerful lyrical content of The I, we developed an equally strong-minded visual concept resembling the appearance of medieval scriptures. It refers to the intense religious critique omnipresent in each song and depicts the ancient spirit of rebellion at the same time. The cover illustration reflects the general notions of the album - centrality, elucidation and guidance. In the center of the image, the Devilish Impressions’ sigil represents the band’s everlasting propaganda of the aforementioned philosophy. The morning star on top of the sigil radiates enlightenment and wisdom upon and through the darkness of religion and blind belief. Each lyric is coupled with an old engraving modified in a certain way to create a stronger bond with the text. The carefully crafted typography and layout reinforce the antique and authentic look of the artwork.” - comments Infected Minds, the entity responsible for the album’s cover illustration, artwork and layout.

Recorded at various studios, including Dobra12 (drums) and Icaros Studio (guitars) the disc was mixed and mastered at Impressive Art Studio by Przemyslaw Nowak who also handled vocals recording sessions and guitars’ re-amping. The album’s artwork, design and layout were created by Infected Minds.

The album features special guest appearances by Mercyful Fate/King Diamond guitarist Mike Wead and by vocalist / guitarist Ares of Norway’s dark metal masters Aeternus. Other artists who also contributed to the record are shamanic ritual meditative experimental act Bon and Impressive Art Studio’s owner Przemyslaw Nowak, who came up with interludes, additional background tunes and effects.

“It’s been a really long way to be finally able to wrap it all up, countless nights spent on writing the music and lyrics first, then working on the album’s pre-production, followed by what seemed to be never-ending, proper recording sessions, and tones of work that had to be done for the band afterwards. We really wanted this new album to become something really special and therefore, to avoid any haphazard decisions, we let them come out of us smoothly, without putting ourselves under any external tension and stuff. Did it pay off? Well, we’ll see… We surely worked our asses off, pushed things back and forth to get the best out of it. As a result we’ve got something we are damn proud of, something that we believe surpasses on all possible levels everything we’ve done in the past. I simply believe we’d outdone ourselves and recorded something that will cause your hearts beat faster…,” comments Quazarre, the band’s composer, vocalist and guitarist.

The title chosen, The I, for the record is not only a phonetic acronym of the band’s name, but above all it reflects the manifesto they stand for since the Horde’s inception in the year 2000 - the notion of freedom of choice and will. A supremacy of an individual over any external factors being imposed on us by others, with special emphasis on religion and its convictions, dogmas and paradigms. The I is a rebellious manifesto targeted against all those who stand opposed to anything that drives us towards individual perfection.

The album will be available as CD digipak, limited vinyl LP and digital download.

CD digipak tracklisting:

“The I”
“The Dove And The Serpent”
“Eosphoros”
“Blood Imprinted Stigma”
“Ipse philosophvs, daemon, Devs et omnia”
“Czern i Biel”
“The Fatal Messiah”
 
Vinyl tracklisting:

“The I”
“The Dove And The Serpent”
“Blood Imprinted Stigma”
“Eosphoros”
“Ipse philosophvs, daemon, Devs et omnia”
“The Fatal Messiah”

“Eosphoros” lyric video:

“Ipse philosophvs, daemon, Devs et omnia”:

“The I” video:

Teaser #1:

Teaser #2:

Teaser #3:

A performance clip of the song "Vermilion", taken from the new SLIPKNOT documentary "Day Of The Gusano", can be seen below.

Directed by SLIPKNOT's own M. Shawn Crahan, a.k.a. Clown, "Day Of The Gusano" documents the Iowa band's first-ever visit to Mexico in December 2015 and features exclusive interviews with SLIPKNOT's members talking about the importance of their fanbase and the band's long-awaited first-ever show in Mexico City.

Talking about the movie, Clown said: "SLIPKNOT still has dreams for itself. Finally playing Mexico was one of them. It's been a surreal life of rock and roll for SLIPKNOT and the fact that the dreams still go on for us is simply incredible. Thank you." Guitarist Jim Root adds: "We had such a great time at Knotfest Mexico... Not only with all the friends and bands that were there, but with the fans and the crowd we had to document it with. Now we get to share it with the world." The ninety-minute documentary also chronicles the rabid devotion of the Mexican maggots and sees the band hearing personal, emotive stories from some of their fans, all interspersed with footage from SLIPKNOT's incendiary live show at the inaugural Knotfest México. The film features a full surround soundtrack, so you'll not only hear the show, but you'll 'feel' it as if you were actually there.

"Day Of The Gusano" will be premiered in more than a thousand screens across the world as a one-night-only cinematic spectacle on September 6.

SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor told the 97.1 The Eagle radio station in June that the band was "not really doing anything right now." He explained: "I know we're kind of slowly starting to write some music. Other than that, we're just kind of taking some time off. Clown's gonna direct some movies, Sid's gonna do some stuff… We're all kind of doing our own thing… But that's it. I mean, really. Next year is everybody kind of doing their own thing, and then probably after that, we will slowly but surely start to get together to do some SLIPKNOT stuff."

SLIPKNOT's touring cycle in support of ".5: The Gray Chapter", ended in November, with 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.

One of last gigs of "The Gray Chapter" touring cycle saw SLIPKNOT performing its 2001 second LP, "Iowa", live in its entirety for the first time during the band's set at their annual Knotfest.

".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.

"Catvrix", the new video from Swiss folk metallers ELUVEITIE, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's latest album, the long-awaited second part of their acoustic concept effort "Evocation", which was released on August 18 via Nuclear Blast.

"Evocation II" conjures another time travel to eras long gone. As the title already reveals, the concept of the first opus will continue and is entirely dedicated to the Celtic mythology. Even more, "Evocation II" takes you into the Gallic pantheon and bows down to the Celtic Gods after which the song titles are named. Anyone who will join ELUVEITIE on this journey will quickly notice that the character of each song is equal to the one of the god the song is about — and there is a lot more to discover!

ELUVEITIE mainman Chrigel Glanzmann stated about the new CD: "'Evocation II' is a journey back to the source of it all: Antumnos, the otherworld. Join us on this wayfare through the Celtic pantheon, the world of the gods of our ancestors! The album cover expresses nothing less but exactly this! It's full of symbolism and meaning and depicts things of deepest meaning and importance in Celtic mythology. The symbol contains the 'great wheel', symbolizing the wheel of the year with the four seasons and the equinoxes — forming the foundations of Celtic mythology. The great wheel is framed by a tripartite Enneagram; while three is an important number in Celtic mythology in general, we also face trinity in the Celtic pantheon! While the inner circle contains the initials of the names of the deities revered on this album — arranged tripartitedly according to their relations within the pantheon and place in the mythology — the outer circle utters an invitation as well as a blessing, a magical benediction for the one to dare to enter and set forth on this journey. The core of the symbol implies triune symbolism. The depiction shows the god Lugus, who was sometimes also adressed in the plural — Lugoves — since he's a triune god, as well as a tricephalos. The 'one with the skillful hand' and 'artisan of all skills' is depicted and a combination of two important symbols: On the one hand he's shown as 'high king' (and druid of druids), a typical gallic symbolism of an essential meaning and sigificance. On the other hand, he's framed by the gallic 'lord of the animals/lord of life' symbolism: The character surrounded with diverse animals, but being strongly connected with all of them at the same time. So after all, the album cover vibrantly and mystically expresses the content of 'Evocation II'! Join and let the journey begin!"

ELUVEITIE in May 2016 announced the departure of drummer Merlin Sutter, vocalist Anna Murphy and guitarist Ivo Henzi.

ELUVEITIE is:

* Jonas Wolf (guitar)* Matteo Sisti (whistles, bagpipes, mandola)* Nicole Ansperger (fiddle)* Alain Ackermann (drums)* Chrigel Glanzmann (vocals, whistles, mandola, bagpipes, bodhran)* Fabienne Erni (vocals, celtic harp, mandola)* Kay Brem (bass)* Michalina Malisz (hurdy gurdy)* Rafael Salzmann (guitar)

The new lineup of ELUVEITIE made its live debut at the Eluveitie & Friends festival in January at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland.

Photo credit: Manuel Vargas

PRIMUS will release its ninth studio album, "The Desaturating Seven", on September 29 via ATO Records.

This is the band's first studio collection of original material since 1995's "Tales From The Punchbowl" with the classic PRIMUS lineup of Les Claypool (vocals, bass), Larry LaLonde (guitar) and Tim Alexander (drums).

"The Desaturating Seven" is inspired by a 1970s children's book Claypool often read to his kids when they were growing up. The book tells a story of seven goblins — one representing each color of the rainbow — who simultaneously pull all of the color out of the world. "Many years ago, when my children were little kidlets scurrying around the place wreaking havoc and whatnot till it was time for bed and book time, my wife turned them on to a book called 'The Rainbow Goblins' by Ul De Rico," Claypool explained. "The dark imagery and beauty of the art struck me immediately and I thought, 'This would make good fodder for a piece of music.' The use of color and darkness both in the paintings and the writing was compelling and now, near two decades later, the metaphor of greed, gluttony and deceit vs unity of the masses is eerily relevant. I brought the notion to the PRIMUS guys and they were all for it. Plus, I figured it's about time someone brought 'Goblin Rock' back to the fold."

"The Desaturating Seven" track listing:

01. The Valley02. The Seven03. The Trek04. The Scheme05. The Dream06. The Storm07. The Ends?

The song "The Scheme" can be streamed below.

"The Desaturated Seven" will have two unique vinyl pressings — a limited-edition desaturated version drained of most of its color with a white vinyl and a version with full color sleeve and clear vinyl with rainbow splatter.

A Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum-selling band, PRIMUS has toured with some of rock's biggest names (JANE'S ADDICTION, PUBLIC ENEMY, RUSH, U2, etc.) and headlined the third-ever Lollapalooza festival.

Four years after Adrian Vandenberg made a spectacular comeback with VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS, the band returns with a sophomore album, simply titled "MK II". Due on November 3 via the Mascot Label Group, the disc has all the qualities of the debut: once again the four-piece band manages to create a perfect mix of vintage seventies hard rock and current styles of heavy rock. Adrian Vandenberg shines as a bonafide guitar virtuoso, while the rest of the band also delivers in spades. Yet "MK II" has even more to offer than the highly praised first album. It shows how the band grew into a strong unit during the world tours of the recent years. "The last few years have been very important indeed," confirms Adrian Vandenberg, who previously gained world fame as the guitarist and songwriter of VANDENBERG and WHITESNAKE. "We just got to know each other when we recorded out debut album. I think we all exceeded each other's expectations. But you really get to know each other while on the road. It was then that I really became impressed by the abundance of energy that this band has. We tried to capture this on our new album. At the same time, we all grew individually. I am really amazed by the way Jan Hoving has grown even more in his role as a singer and as a frontman. I've played with the best bass players and drummers in my extensive career, but, with all respect, I dare to say that Sem Christoffel and drummer Mart Nijen Es form the best rhythm section I ever had the pleasure of working with." The comeback gets a worthy follow-up with "MK II". It was (partly) recorded in the famous Wisseloord Studio in Hilversum, Holland, where the band also worked on the debut album. Once again produced by Adrian Vandenberg, engineer/ soundmixer Ronald Prent used his magic again and the mastering was done by Darcy Proper. "The fantastic response to our debut received also gave us a major boost," said Adrian. "We felt confident to loosen things up quite a bit. Sem and Mart really go for it of at the end of 'The Fire'. Previously, I would have called for a fade-out in the mix, but this time we decided to keep it and put it on the record. It somehow reminded me of the '70s CREAM and LED ZEPPELIN jam sessions that nobody seems to do anymore these days. I allowed myself to rip all over the end section of 'If You Can't Handle The Heat'. I've always found that as a guitar player you should be able to tell a story in about twenty seconds, so this time it was great to break this rule for a change and let myself go completely. Never before in my career I have done this on an album. All in all, working on this album was a wonderful experience. The notorious 'second album syndrome' never reared its ugly head." The release of "MK II" will be supported with club tours and appearances on festivals worldwide. "I've been a professional musician for over forty years, but I am still as eager as I have always been and still have the feeling that I'm just getting started," added Adrian. "I am convinced that we have many good years ahead with this band."

"MK II" track listing:

01. Tightrope02. Reputation03. Angel In Black04. The Fire05. Walk Away06. All Or Nothing07. What Doesn't Kill You08. Ready For The Taking09. New Day10. Love Runs Out11. If You Can't Handle The Heat

The first in a series of webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of "The Sin And The Sentence", the new album from Florida-based metallers TRIVIUM, can be seen below. Due on October 20 via Roadrunner, the disc is available for pre-order at all DSPs, with all pre-orders receiving instant grat downloads of the album's title track and the newly released single, "The Heart From Your Hate", which is streaming now accompanied by an official music video on TRIVIUM's YouTube Channel. Recorded with producer Josh Wilbur (LAMB OF GOD, GOJIRA) at Santa Ana, California's Hybrid Studios, "The Sin And The Sentence" finds TRIVIUM — Matt Heafy (lead vocals, lead guitar), Corey Beaulieu (guitar, vocals), Paolo Gregoletto (bass) and Alex Bent (drums) — returning with their first new music since their celebrated 2015 LP "Silence In The Snow". The new LP also features the band's first recordings with new drummer Bent who joined the band last year.

Paolo told Sweden's Bandit Rock about the production process for "The Sin And The Sentence": "It has been about a year and a half, almost two years since we started really working on it, so we were kind of working on it on the down load while we were touring. We really came together and made it November of last year when we got Alex into the band. We kind of threw him into the deep end, because we were, like, 'You've gotta learn an entire headlining set — and we're gonna start writing new music.' So we kind of rolled the dice with that one, but Alex ended up really stepping up — he really crushed it.

"I guess we just really wanted to make the 'most TRIVIUM' TRIVIUM album we could make — the culmination of everything we've been writing," he continued. "And it really just kind of came down to us being in our rehearsal room and just working together and not letting anyone outside of Matt, Corey and myself into the process. And then, of course, Alex. But no one else — we didn't send any demos to anyone. We were kind of telling the label, 'Oh, yeah, we're ready to record.' And I remember our A&R dude was, likem 'I've gotta hear something.' So we flew him down [to Florida]. But we didn't send demos out to anyone, and I think by retaining all the music for ourselves, it was the perfect culmination of what we've been doing throughout the years."

TRIVIUM will make its return to North America this fall on a co-headline tour with ARCH ENEMY featuring support from WHILE SHE SLEEPS and FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY. The tour will kick off on October 27 in Orlando, Florida and make its way across the U.S. and Canada before finishing on December 6 in Houston, Texas. Tickets for all dates are on sale now.

"The Sin And The Sentence" track listing:

01. The Sin And The Sentence02. Beyond Oblivion03. Other Worlds04. The Heart From Your Hate05. Betrayer06. The Wretchedness Inside07. Endless Night08. Sever The Hand09. Beauty In The Sorrow10. The Revanchist11. Thrown Into The Fire

"Lifeless", a brand new video from gore metal maniacs EXHUMED, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's new album, "Death Revenge", which will be released on October 13 via Relapse. EXHUMED frontman Matt Harvey comments: "Following sequentially through the album's track list, we are stoked to lay 'Lifeless' on you. 'Defenders Of The Grave' is the introduction for the tale of 'Death Revenge' and 'Lifeless' sets the actual plot that continues for the rest of the record in motion. Fitting with the vibe of the storyline as a whole, the clip focuses more on story elements and vibe rather than close up shots of guitar-noodling. I think it sets the tone nicely."

EXHUMED's sixth full-length sees them tread into ambitious new territory with their first concept album: a musical melodrama in thirteen parts based on shocking true events. "Death Revenge" takes place in the late 1820s in Edinburgh, Scotland and tells the macabre tale of a series of brutal murders where the victims' cadavers were sold to anatomists, amid a grisly underground trade of grave robbery. Recorded with producer Jarrett Pritchard (GOATWHORE, ETERNAL, GRUESOME), the disc takes the band's signature gore-drenched, death metal mayhem to theatrical and ghastly new depths. Cover illustration is by Orion Landau, with interior illustrations by Lucas Ruggieri. EXHUMED recently announced a short run of live dates in November with THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, SUFFOCATION, DECREPIT BIRTH and more as well as a performance at Ozzfest Meets Knotfest on November 5 in San Bernardino, California. EXHUMED is:

Michael "Bud" Burke - Guitar, VocalsMichael Hamilton - DrumsMatthew Harvey - Guitar, VocalsRoss Sewage - Bass, Vocals

"My Mistake", a brand new song from HALLATAR, can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below. The track, which features guest vocals by DRACONIAN's Heike Langhans, is taken from HALLATAR's debut album, "No Stars Upon the Bridge", which is based on the lyrics and poems of Aleah Starbridge and is slated for release on October 13 via Svart Records.

Although a brand new name, HALLATAR features in its ranks SWALLOW THE SUN and TREES OF ETERNITY guitarist Juha Raivio, AMORPHIS vocalist Tomi Joutsen and former HIM drummer Gas Lipstick. In fact, one could see HALLATAR as an extension of TREES OF ETERNITY, whose acclaimed debut for Svart, "Hour Of The Nightingale", served as the swansong of vocalist Aleah Starbridge.

Juha Raivio explains the genesis of HALLATAR: "After the death of my beloved and my life partner Aleah Starbridge last April, I have been gathering writings, lyrics, and the poems of Aleah to keep them safe and close to my heart.

"About one month after the world came down on the blackest day of my life on April 18th, I knew I needed to pick up the guitar and try to create something or I would be truly destroyed. And something did arrive out of the darkness, and I wrote the music for the HALLATAR album in a week's time.

"I don't have much memory of this week, not a memory of a single day of writing the music. But all I remember when going into this abyss of the writing process was a promise to myself that whatever music would come out, I would not touch or change anything of it afterwards. What mattered was that the music would stay forever as an absolute truth of those moments as they came out.

"I asked my good friends — and amazing musicians — Tomi Joutsen and Gas Lipstick if they would want to record this music with me, and both of them said yes without even hearing a note of it. I am forever grateful to both of them for sharing this road with me; even the weight of the process has not been easy to carry, or will be."

Says Gas Lipstick: "I am grateful and very honored to be asked to join this band. Juha is a dear friend of mine since many years ago, and when he told me about his vision for HALLATAR and asked me to join, I said yes instantly — I just had to be part of this amazing journey. I had never heard a single note of the music before I gave my 'yes' because I didn't need to. Juha has been one of my favorite songwriters already for years, and I knew that HALLATAR will be a very deep, personal, and one-of-a-kind story which I wanted to help him to bring alive."

Adds Tomi Joutsen: "I have known Juha from the year 2007, when we worked together for the first time. A couple years ago, I had the privilege to meet Juha's life partner, Aleah Starbridge, who was such a beautiful person, inside and outside, and had an angelic voice out of this world. Aleah lent her voice on the latest AMORPHIS album, and we called her 'the whispering ghost.' When I heard about Aleah's passing last spring, it came as a total shock and heartbreaking news out of the blue. When Juha asked me if I would want to be part of this album and carry Aleah's flame with him, I didn't have to think twice. When everything has been taken, all that is left is the music. The sorrow strips us naked and leave us humble — this is how it sounds like."

Concluded Raivio: "What we recorded was a raw moment in time honoring the memory, lyrics, and poems of Aleah Starbridge with all its pain, beauty and darkness. There are no stars left upon the bridge to light the way anymore, but the music will always be a dim light, even in the darkest of the night."

"No Stars Upon the Bridge" track listing:

01. Mirrors02. Raven's Song03. Melt04. My Mistake (feat. Heike Langhans)05. Pieces06. Severed Eyes07. The Maze08. Spiral Gate09. Dreams Burn Down (feat. Aleah Starbridge)

HALLATAR is:

Tomi Joutsen - VocalsGas Lipstick - DrumsJuha Raivio - Guitar, Bass, Keys

"First Day In Hell", a brand new song from ARCH ENEMY, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's latest album, "Will To Power", which will be released on September 8 via Century Media. Co-produced by guitarist and band leader Michael Amott and drummer Daniel Erlandsson, "Will To Power" was mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator and friend Jens Bogren (OPETH, AT THE GATES, DIMMU BORGIR). The album's captivating cover artwork was designed by Alex Reisfar. "Will To Power" marks the second ARCH ENEMY album since the departure of longtime singer Angela Gossow and addition of singer Alissa White-Gluz. It is also the first ARCH ENEMY disc to feature former NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis, who joined the band in late 2014.

"Will To Power" track listing:

01. Set Flame To The Night02. The Race03. Blood In The Water04. The World Is Yours05. The Eagle Flies Alone06. Reason To Believe07. Murder Scene08. First Day In Hell09. Saturnine10. Dreams Of Retribution11. My Shadow And I12. A Fight I Must Win

Speaking about the songwriting process for "Will To Power", Michael told TotalRock: "The writing never really stops; I'm always fiddling around on the guitar. I come up with a little idea, record it and save it. And then piece it all together later on.

"The actual real writing of the new album, 'Will To Power', started about a year and a half ago," he continued. "We started seriously putting together demos and so forth. So it was a fun process. When you've not recorded an album for two and a half [or] three years, it's really fun to get into that creative mindset again and enter the studio.

"People always ask us: 'Do you prefer being onstage playing shows, or do you prefer being in the studio?' But we're greedy — we want to do both, for the balance. We need to write new songs, and then it's a pleasure to go out and play them live onstage as well, of course."

Asked if White-Gluz and Loomis, were involved in the writing for "Will To Power", Amott said: "Yeah, especially Alissa. She was heavily involved in writing lyrics for the album. Of course, singing on the album. [Laughs] Also, Daniel, our drummer, is a big collaborator in the music as well."

ALMANAC, the band featuring former RAGE guitarist Victor Smolski, will release its sophomore album, "Kingslayer", on November 24 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was recorded at HeyDay Studios in Wuppertal, Germany and once again features cover artwork by Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák (ACCEPT, DESTRUCTION).

The first trailer for "Kingslayer" can be seen below.

"Kingslayer" track listing:

01. Regicide02. Children Of The Sacred Path03. Guilty As Charged04. Hail To The King05. Losing My Mind06. Kingslayer07. Kingdom Of The Blind08. Headstrong09. Last Farewell10. Red Flag

ALMANAC stands for a new dimension of symphonic power metal, featuring three singers Jeannette Marchewka (LINGUA MORTIS ORCHESTRA), Andy B. Franck (BRAINSTORM) and David Readman (PINK CREAM 69).

In March 2016, ALMANAC unleashed its acclaimed debut album, "Tsar", followed by a European tour along with ORDEN OGAN, as well as a European headlining tour earlier this year.

"Our second strike is complete," says Smolski. "'Kingslayer' is the logical follow-up to 'Tsar', just more compact, heavier and faster. The experience now under our belts gained from our many live experiences, including the two tours and festivals, has been fully implemented in the studio. The band have grown closer and stronger, you can feel this unified energy within the new tracks. We took a lot of time and gave our very best. 'Kingslayer' is a crafted metal album with a lively power sound!".

ALMANAC recently played at Czech Republic's Masters Of Rock festival, where they debuted the first two new tracks live, "Losing My Mind" and "Children Of The Sacred Path". The concert was filmed and will be part of a bonus live DVD which will accompany the limited first edition of "Kingslayer".

"Crimson Dawn", the new video from KEE OF HEARTS, the project featuring singer Tommy Heart (FAIR WARNING) and guitarist Kee Marcello (ex-EUROPE), can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's the self-titled debut album, which will be released on September 15 via Frontiers Music Srl. With a lineup rounded out by Ken Sandin (ex-ALIEN) on bass and Italian drummer Marco Di Salvia (PINO SCOTTO), the guys started working on the album in late 2016. With their songwriting strongly focused on melodic rock songs, the album came to completion under the direction of producer Alessandro Del Vecchio and covers a wide spectrum of styles with a lot of attention given to crafting great hooks delivered by musicians that know how to deliver the goods. Musically, the band operates in a territory defined by Scandinavian AOR meeting German melodic hard rock with influences from the classic U.S. AOR giants (think GIANT, JOURNEY, etc.).

"Kee Of Hearts" track listing:

01. The Storm02. A New Dimension03. Crimson Dawn04. Bridge To Heaven05. Stranded06. Mama Don't Cry07. Invincible08. S.O.S.09. Edge Of Paradise10. Twist Of Fate11. Learn To Love Again

The official video for "9-13", a brand new song from the cult U.K. doom/sludge outfit IRON MONKEY, can be seen below. The track is the title cut of IRON MONKEY first new full-length in almost two decades, which will be 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

Drummer Matt Cameron, who has played with SOUNDGARDEN, PEARL JAM and TEMPLE OF THE DOG, will release a new solo album titled "Cavedweller" on September 22 via Migraine Music.

The track listing for the disc is as follows:

01. Time Can't Wait02. All At Once03. Blind04. Through The Ceiling05. One Special Lady06. In The Trees07. Into The Fire08. Real And Imagined09. Unnecessary

A teaser for the album is available below.

In a 2016 interview with The Trap Set, Cameron compared working with SOUNDGARDEN to PEARL JAM, saying: "It's just different band dynamics in general... I think my role in SOUNDGARDEN is a little bit more of a musical director role, whereas in PEARL JAM it's more of a supporting in the rhythm section kind of role. I think the collaboration I have in SOUNDGARDEN is bigger in the creative realm, but I feel very fortunate to be in two really fantastic bands."

The Pulse Of Radio asked Cameron a while back if he altered his style for either band. "I don't think I do," he said. "I mean, I'm just really trying to play my role in each group. I definitely feel like I support the vocal in both groups. The music around the vocal is a little bit different. But that's the way I've always considered my drumming, is vocal-influenced. I've been lucky enough to play with two of the best singers in modern day history, so I think that's always sort of been my strength as a drummer."

Asked about playing in two of the most successful and influential rock groups of the past twenty-five years, Cameron told The Trap Set: "I totally earned it, I worked my tail off for it, but I think there's always an element of luck in success in the music industry, for sure."

Cameron was inducted with PEARL JAM into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this past April.

SOUNDGARDEN has been eligible for induction since 2012 but has yet to be nominated.

#MattCameron pic.twitter.com/5farQs308k

— Soundgarden (@soundgarden) September 5, 2017