Northwest Indiana’s Cloakroom have released a video for “Concrete Gallery”, a track from their upcoming second album, Time Well. The new clip is available for streaming below.

Grandiose and deeply insular, Time Well is a work that transcends simple genre descriptors as the trio prove dually capable of conjuring lumbering walls of sound as well as forlorn Americana (as predicted by a recent Songs: Ohia cover the band posted to Bandcamp). Cloakroom occupies a space between worlds, crafting its unique brand of thoughtfully heavy music, something Relapse has long specialized in.

Time Well will be released worldwide August 18th on CD/2xLP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical pre-orders and exclusive bundles are currently available via Relapse.com at this location and digital pre-orders are available via Bandcamp here.

For the new album, the trio (consisting of vocalist-guitarist Doyle Martin, bassist Robert Markos, and drummer Brian Busch) opted to explore their shared creative space by building their own studio, transforming their practice space into a sonic laboratory in which they could immerse themselves in every aspect of the creative process. Once the studio had completed its transition it became a workspace that was essential to the creation of Time Well, sheltering the band from the outside world as they immersed themselves in the songs and pushed sounds to their furthest limits.

“We could work at all hours of the night and pick up where we left off days later,“ said Doyle Martin. “We vaulted the ceiling, amassed some gear with a little help from Relapse, and, after laying a rat's nest of cables through the place, we started to record.”

Cloakroom first materialized back in 2012 with a couple songs that appeared on a Bandcamp page with the succinct description: “Cloakroom consists of three factory workers from the Region.” As far as biographies go it’s about as terse as they come, but it conveys simple facts that speak to greater truths. Cloakroom is still a trio and still resides in the Region, a unique amalgam of cities and towns in Northwest Indiana that’s equal parts industrial and rural, a sense of space that leaves a distinctive sonic imprint across all the band’s recorded works. With Time Well, Cloakroom shows itself untethered from the present moment. It’s a record that’s flanked by contradictory ideas that are always running parallel; growth begets destruction begets death. It’s an unending cycle, and Time Well is the soundtrack to that unending, awe-inspiring momentum.

Time Well tracklisting:

“Gone But Not Entirely”
“Big World”
“Concrete Gallery”
“Seedless Star”
“Sickle Moon Blues”
“Hymnal”
“The Sun Won’t Let Us Go”
“Time Well”
“52Hz Whale”
“The Passenger”

“Concrete Gallery” video:

“The Sun Won’t Let Us Go” video:

“Seedless Star” video:

Additionally, Cloakroom have announced a run of fall tour dates throughout North America. The band will kick off the fall with a record release show in Chicago before venturing east in October.

September
1 - Chicago, IL - Schuba’s *Record Release Show*
29 - Kalamazoo, MI - Bell’s Brewery
30 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison

October
1 - Montreal, QC - La Vitrola
3 - Boston, MA - Middle East
4 - Brooklyn, NY - St. Vitus
6 - Philadelphia, PA - Philamoca
7 - Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong
8 - Cleveland, OH - Mahall’s

(Photo: Colin May)

Alcohol-soaked thrash metal act, Tankard, returned to Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival this summer for the first time in 16 years. Professionally filmed video of the band’s performance can be seen below.

Setlist:

Intro
“Zombie Attack”
“The Morning After”
“Chemical Invasion”
“Rules for Fools”
“A Girl Called Cerveza”
“(Empty) Tankard”

Tankard’s 17th studio album, One Foot In The Grave, is available now via Nuclear Blast.

Tracklisting:

“Pay To Pray”
“Arena Of The True Lies”
“Don’t Bullshit Us!”
“One Foot In The Grave”
“Syrian Nightmare”
“Northern Crown (Lament Of The Undead King)”
“Lock ‘Em Up!”
“The Evil That Men Display”
“Secret Order 1516”
“Sole Grinder”

“Syrian Nightmare” lyric video:

“One Foot In The Grave” video:

“Arena Of The True Lies” lyric video:

Sweden’s The Quill will release their new album, Born From Fire, on August 25th via Metalville. A video for the album’s opening track, “Stone Believer”, is available for streaming below.

The classic lineup who created the albums Silver Haze, Voodoo Caravan and Hooray! It's A Deathtrip has reunited. Lead singer Magnus Ekwall (Ayreon) is back behind the mic, together with the dynamic power of drummer Jolle Atlagic (Hanoi Rocks, Electric Boys, Firebird), guitarist Christian Carlsson and bassist Roger Nilsson (Spiritual Beggars, Firebird).

The new album will be released on digital, CD and double vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

Tracklisting:

“Stone Believer”
“Snake Charmer Woman”
“Ghosthorse”
“Keep It Together”
“The Spirit And The Spark”
“Skull & Bones”
“Set Free Black Crow”
“Electrical Sons”
“Hollow Of Your Hand”
“Unchain Yourself”
“Revelation”
“Metamorphosis”

“Stone Believer” video:

Texan one-man slam, Slamophiliac, is back with a brand new sampler platter of gore, torture, violence, anti-religious, and cosmological slams, entitled Slam Rehab.

This stuff is deep - think Alien meets Dostoyevsky meets Texas Chain Saw Massacre meets Extermination Dismemberment meets Nietzsche. Yep. This is a thing. One must immerse themselves to believe. Even then, it will require a PHD level thesis in slam to truly comprehend.

Listen to the new track “Intermediate Manual Uncoiling” below. Slam Rehab is out August 18th vis CDN Records. Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

“Punched with a Forklift” (ft. I Am Destruction)
“Anally Invaded” (ft. Gape)
“Fecal Infection”
“Gross Mass of Genital Malformity”
“Intermediate Manual Uncoiling” (ft. Decimated Humans)
“Crushed”
“Feasting on Decomposing Cadavers”
“Resonation of a Crackling Ribcage”
“Special Leather” (feat. Necroexophilia)
“Creepy Crawly Booty Party” (feat. Goremonger)

“Intermediate Manual Uncoiling”:

Credits:

All songs written, arranged and performed by Slamophiliac
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Dazz
Cover artwork by Mark Cooper
Logo by Brutal Disorder Designs
Layout by Dazz

Guest vocals by:

Stephen Mashburn
Rick Ring
Lennon O'Donnell
Tommy Rouse
Joey Cashman

Primitive Race, the hard rock/industrial hybrid helmed by Chris Kniker with core members Mark Gemini Thwaite (The Mission UK, Peter Murphy) and Erie Loch (Wiccid, Luxt), release their sophomore album, Soul Pretender, on November 3rd via Metropolis Records.

As was the case with the band’s debut, Kniker brought an impressive group of guest musicians into the Primitive Race fold, with the full album featuring vocals by former Faith No More singer Chuck Mosley (pictured above) and drums by the Melvins’ Dale Crover. The album was produced by the band’s core trio, with Kniker recruiting Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Sepultura) for mastering, Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Helmet) for engineering and Joe Haze (tweaker, PIG) for mixing.

“Musically, Soul Pretender was a natural progression from the first album,” explains Kniker. “To have Chuck and Dale involved was perfect! They really brought a new vision to the project. Their style is a perfect match with Mark, Erie and myself. This record is more focused and organic. I wanted more of an alternative rock record. Stripped down. Live real drums. There’s space in the record. I didn’t want some overly polished ‘perfect’ record.”

Soul Pretender tracklisting:

“Row House”
“Cry Out”
“Cranial Matter”
“Take It All”
“Bed Six”
“Stepping Stone”
“Turn It Up”
“Soul Pretender”
“Nothing To Behold”
“Dancing On The Sun”

(Chuck Mosley photo: Andy Watson)

Washington's American Wrecking Company are streaming the title track for their forthcoming Pavement Entertainment album, Everything And Nothing, out on August 18th. Listen to the track below, and pre-order the new album here.

American Wrecking Company is a fusion of many influences from metal, punk, rock and everything in between. The camaraderie and mutual love for making music, AWC lays down infectious rhythms, choruses and face-pounding verses. The music combined with a stage presence seldom matched, American Wrecking Company leaves fans with an insatiable appetite for more.

The band is comprised of founder Jeff Bloomfield, who is endorsed by Spector and considered one of the "heaviest bassists" around. Randy Bebich (rhythm guitar) and Ben Reynard (rhythm & lead) are both endorsed by DBZ Guitars and Diamond Amps. The duo is known for their highly creative approach and excellent twin-guitar attack. Drummer Dylan Hickey brings an intense and positive energy to the mix. Vocalist T.J. Cornelius rounds out the lineup with a voice that calls upon the legends of metal who came before him.

Tracklisting:

“Everything And Nothing”
“From Grace”
“I Won't Listen”
“Health For Wealth”
“The Burning”
“Purge”
“Enemy”
“Beautiful Lie”
“Mad By Design”
“Day Of Shame”

“Everything And Nothing”:

Napalm Records have announced the return of Austria-based epic/atmospheric black metallers, Summoning. The band will release a new album in January 2018, and although no further details are currently available, the label has issued a video trailer (see below) with the following quote:

“And in the glade a light was seen...

“The past years have been a time of troubles, setbacks, disputes - and of resulting frustration. And then, the summonings faded and silence arose... Yet, it hasn’t been the end that was dawning.

“But in the ashes still a dim light was gleaming. The dying embers were set ablaze by ongoing dedication and new inspiration. And from the ashes fire was flaring to heat the forges again…”

Following their third album, The Grim Muse, In Twilight's Embrace have announced that their fourth full-length, Vanitas, will be released on September 22nd via Arachnophobia Records. The opening track, “The Hell Of Mediocrity”, is available for streaming below. CD pre-orders are now available through Arachnophobia Records. LP pre-orders will be available shortly.

Vanitas sees In Twilight's Embrace evolve into their own entity; taking a deathly and personal direction. Vanitas is the band's darkest material to date, both lyrically and musically.

“Having confronted several deaths of family members and friends, made me realize the true weight of mortality,” confesses vocalist, Cyprian Łakomy. “The realization paved the way for reflections which would later become the backbone of the lyrics and atmosphere on Vanitas.”

This is not just another gimmick to create a death worshipping album. There's far more to it. Cyprian adds: “Death is an opportunity to ask questions about the here and now, and what kind of legacy - if any at all - we are possibly leaving.”

Vanitas, a 33-minute long portion of black death metal, was recorded, mixed and mastered in 2017 by Marcin Rybicki at Vintage Records and Left Hand Sounds.

Vanitas tracklisting:

“The Hell Of Mediocrity”
“Fan The Flame”
“As Future Evaporates”
“Trembling”
“Flesh Falls, No Ghost Lifts”
“Futility”
“The Rift”
“The Great Leveller”

“The Hell Of Mediocrity”:

Don't miss In Twilight's Embrace opening for the legendary Immolation during their Polish tour (with more to be announced for 2017-18).

In Twilight's Embrace lineup on Vanitas:

Cyprian Łakomy - Vocals
Leszek Szlenk - Guitars, Bass
Marcin Rybicki - Guitars
Dawid Bytnar - Drums

"Doin' It Again" is the new single from Swedish rockers Honeymoon Disease. The song is available now via Spotify, Deezer, and iTunes. The track is taken from the upcoming album, Part Human, Mostly Beast, set to be released on September 27th via The Sign Records.

The band is well acclaimed for their intense and high energetic stage performances and have been one of the raising stars on the European rock stages, something the band have brought into the studio and recording the new album live.

Honeymoon Disease have been working with producer Ola Ersfjord (Imperial State Electric, Primordial, Tribulation, Dead Lord) since the recording of their last album, The Transcendence (Napalm Records, 2015), something that led up to a recording session with better crafted songs, a more luxuries production and a lot of focus on the vocal arrangements.

Pre-order the album here.

Part Human, Mostly Beast tracklisting:

“Doin' It Again”
“Only Thing Alive”
“Tail Twister”
“Rymdvals”
“Needle In Your Eye”
“Fly Bird, Fly High”
“Calling You”
“Four Stroke Woman”
“Night By Night”
“It's Alright”
“Coal Burnin'”
“Electric Eel”

“Electric Eel” video:

Poland-based epic black/death metallers, Devilish Impressions, will release their new album, The I, on September 22nd via Lifeforce Records. Check out a music video for the album’s title track, available for streaming below.

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”

“The I” video:

Teaser #1:

Teaser #2:

Teaser #3:

"Call Broken Arrow", the new video from AT THE DRIVE IN, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's first album in seven years, "Inter Alia" (Latin for "among other things"), which was released on May 5 via Rise Records.

Directed by Rob Shaw, "Call Broken Arrow" acts as the prequel to the video for "Hostage Stamps", as it unfolds a story of previously seen prisoner and faceless captors — with an eerie appearance by mechanized spiders. Using the same intricate mix of digital and stop-motion animation, the video for "Call Broken Arrow" gives viewers a closer look behind the man's reason for imprisonment.

Shaw explains: "In 'Hostage Stamps', we have a prisoner being tortured and monitored by some sort of authoritarian organization. The guys wanted to show why he was imprisoned, as well as cast doubt over his innocence. It's funny how in stories, especially film stories, you tend to sympathize with whoever you spend time with. When you watch someone being mistreated, the assumption is that person is the victim. 'Call Broken Arrow' is in part about illustrating the prisoner's culpability, but even that is in doubt as we see the Watcher character who follows him around slipping something in his drink at the end."

The striking animation featured in "Call Broken Arrow" utilized what Shaw describes as an "old film technique approach" — the team used rotating buildings, sliding clouds and in-camera practical effects to create an immersive world for the viewer.

Produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Rich Costey at Hollywood's Sound Factory, "Inter Alia" picks up where 2000's "Relationship Of Command" left off… and rockets off into myriad other trajectories as unpredictable as they are intense. "Inter Alia" track listing:

01. No Wolf Like The Present02. Continuum 03. Tilting At The Univendor04. Governed By Contagions05. Pendulum In A Peasant Dress06. Incurably Innocent 07. Call Broken Arrow 08. Holtzclaw 09. Torrentially Cutshaw10. Ghost-Tape No. 911. Hostage Stamps AT THE DRIVE IN is Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Paul Hinojos, Tony Hajjar and Keeley Davis.

Paradise Lost have released the third official trailer for their upcoming studio album, Medusa, out on September 1st via Nuclear Blast. Watch four trailers below.

The pre-order for Medusa is underway and you can purchase the full-length release in several formats:

- Standard jewelcase CD
- Digibook including 2 bonus tracks
- Various coloured 180g LP (black / clear / copper / grey+red bi-coloured / gold / NB anniversary green)
- Collector’s box including the digibook, gatefold picture disc, an exclusive 7'', a candle, poster, band photo card and poster flag.
- Mailorder edition Collector’s box including the digibook, gatefold picture disc, a 7'' featuring the tracks 'Shrines' and 'Symbolic Virtue', a candle, poster, band photo card, poster flag and exclusive cover artwork

Pre-order the physical editions of the new album, including special merchandise here, or get the digital versions here and receive 'The Longest Winter' as instant grat, or in the band shop, here.

Tracklisting:

“Fearless Sky”
“Gods Of Ancient”
“From The Gallows”
“The Longest Winter”
“Medusa”
“No Passage For The Dead”
“Blood And Chaos”
“Until The Grave”

Bonus tracks:
“Frozen Illusion”
“Shrines”
“Symbolic Virtue”

“Blood And Chaos” video:

“The Longest Winter” lyric video:

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

Trailer #3:

Trailer #4:

Shortly after the release, Paradise Lost will embark on an extensive European tour and with label mates and US doomsters Pallbearer, as well as Sinistro from Portugal. To drown in beautiful sorrow, visit the tour on one of the following dates:
 
September
1 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn (Album release show)
8 - Dubai, UAE - The Music Room (Majestic Hotel)

September (with Pallbearer, Sinistro)
27 - Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg - Kulturfabrik
28 - Herford, Germany - X
29 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset

October (with Pallbearer, Sinistro)
1 - Oslo, Norway - John Dee
3 - Helsinki, Finland - Nosturi
7 - Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
10 - Brno, Czech Republic - Fleda
11 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Randal
13 - Belgrade, Serbia - Dom Omladine
14 - Zagreb, Croatia - Boogaloo
15 - Budapest, Hungary - Dürer Kert
18 - Nuremberg, Germany - Hirsch
19 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
20 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage
21 - Geneva, Switzerland - L‘Usine
28 - Fontaneto D'Agogna, Italy - Phenomenon
29 - Munich, Germany - Theaterfabrik
30 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7

November (with Pallbearer, Sinistro)
3 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
4 - Leeds, UK - Damnation Festival
6 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Pandora
7 - Tilburg, Netherlands - 013
8 - Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
9 - Berlin, Germany - Columbia Theater
10 - Weissenhäuser Strand / Ostsee, Germany - Metal Hammer Paradise (Paradise Lost only)

December
14 - Brisbane, Australia - The Triffid
15 - Sydney, Australia - The Metro Theatre
16 - Melbourne, Australia - Corner Hotel
17 - Adelaide, Australia - The Gov
18 - Perth, Australia - Capitol

Summer Festival dates:

August
18-20 - Saint-Nolff, France - Motocultor Festival
25-26 - Wörrstadt, Germany - Neuborn Open Air

Swedish thrash metallers The Haunted will unleash their ninth studio album, Strength In Numbers, on August 25th worldwide via Century Media Records.

The album’s limited edition Mediabook CD version will additionally include the bonus tracks “Illusions” and “Sinister”, expanded layouts as well as three stickers. Strength In Numbers”will also be available on 180 gr. vinyl in various editions:

- Black LP (Unlimited)
- Silver LP (200x copies / Sweden)
- Clear LP (300x Copies / US)

A strictly limited Deluxe LP package will be available from CM Distro / CM Webshop in Europe. This very special edition is limited to 500x copies on transparent red coloured vinyl and comes with a printed guitar tablature book, a poster, a set of three guitar-picks and the entire album on CD as bonus. Grab it before it’s too late.

Guitarist Ola Englund unboxes the deluxe edition in the video below:

Pre-order the album in its various physical formats from CM Distro here, or digitally here.

Recorded at Parlour Studios in The UK with producer Russ Russell (Napalm Death, Dimmu Borgir, The Exploited), Strength In Numbers comes with artwork by The Haunted’s longtime designer Andreas Pettersson.

Strength In Numbers tracklisting:

“Fill The Darkness With Black”
“Brute Force”
“Spark”
“Preachers Of Death”
“Strength In Numbers”
“Tighten The Noose”
“This Is The End”
“The Fall”
“Means To An End”
“Monuments”

“Spark” video:

“Spark” guitar playthrough video:

“Brute Force” video:

​

Live dates:

August
31 - Oslo, Norway - Blå

September
1 - Stavanger, Norway - Folken
2 - Bergen, Norway - Hulen
8 - Örebro, Sweden - Frimis Salonger (with Witchery)
9 - Linköping, Sweden - The Crypt (with Witchery)
15 - Borlänge, Sweden - Liljan
16 - Sundsvall, Sweden - Club Destroyer
21 - Göteborg, Sweden - Pustervik (with Witchery)
22 - Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Strand (with Witchery)
23 - Malmö, Sweden - KB (with Witchery)
29 - Hultsfred, Sweden - Mörkaste Småland Festival
30 - Eskilstuna, Sweden - Loket

October
7 - Hoogeveen, Netherlands - Graveland Fest

The Haunted lineup:

Marco Aro - Vocals
Jensen - Guitars
Ola Englund - Guitars
Jonas Björler - Bass
Adrian Erlandsson - Drums

MASTERPLAN, which features former HELLOWEEN guitarist Roland Grapow, last month released a new studio album titled "PumpKings" via AFM. The effort consists of reworked versions of HELLOWEEN songs from albums that Grapow played on during his time in the legendary German power metal band. Included are three songs from HELLOWEEN's "Pink Bupples Go Ape" (1991) LP, two from "Chameleon" (1993), three from "Master Of The Rings" (1994), one from "The Time Of The Oath" and two from "The Dark Ride" (2000).

Speaking to Heavy Music Headquarters, Grapow stated about his decision to make "PumpKings": "I had the idea to re-record my HELLOWEEN songs a long time ago, even in the beginning of my work in MASTERPLAN.

"When you write a song, you have your own view on it; somewhere inside you know how the song should sound, how it should be arranged and so on," he continued. "Of course, during the work on it with the band, your ideal picture of your creation will be changed due to many reasons. Sometimes these changes are for better, but in some cases, you can be disappointed or disagree with them. And this is a normal situation, because you are working together with other band members and the fans are listening to the result of collective work that includes hours of analysis of guitars parts, ways of singing, arrangement elements. Every song is the result of teamwork and compromises. That's why I had the idea to re-record my songs that I wrote for HELLOWEEN, but to do it in my way, how I see them now."

Roland also discussed MASTERPLAN's recent drummer change, with the addition of Kevin Kott as the replacement for Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka.

"As you know, Martin Skarupka is a member of CRADLE OF FILTH, and sometimes their tour dates overlap with ours," he said. "When it happened the first time and we needed to find session drummer for our show, Rick [Altzi, vocals] introduced us to Kevin. Rick played with him in the band called AT VANCE. Later when Martin got very busy with CRADLE OF FILTH's new album and tour, we decided that Kevin should be our band drummer and Martin will play if Kevin cannot do this. We are very happy with this decision. Kevin is a very cool and easy-going guy and great drummer. And yes, we have a good relationship with Martin."

"PumpKings" track listing:

01. The Chance02. Someone's Crying03. Mankind04. Step Out Of Hell05. Mr. Ego06. Still We Go07. Escalation 66608. The Time Of The Oath09. Music10. The Dark Ride11. Take Me Home

MASTERPLAN's first-ever concert release came out in October 2015. "Keep Your Dream aLive" was made available as DVD/CD and Blu-ray/CD sets, both including the entire show from Masters Of Rock festival, recordings from Wacken Open Air, footage from the band's Asian tour and ProgPower USA, as well as all five official MASTERPLAN video clips. The Masters Of Rock show is featured on the CD.

MASTERPLAN's last collection of all-new material, "Novum Initium", was released in June 2013 via AFM.

SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor was interviewed earlier this week on the Fox Business program "Kennedy", hosted by former MTV VJ Kennedy. You can now watch the segment below.

Speaking about the recent death of LINKIN PARK frontman Chester Bennington, Taylor said: "I was just as blindsided as everybody was. I had just spoken to him a few weeks before, and he sounded fine — he sounded great. That's what I miss — the fact that I'm not gonna be able to hang out with him, I'm not gonna be able to make music with him again, I'm not gonna be able to share the stage with… What a talent, you know?

"When Chester died, I was, like, 'That's it,'" he continued. "I've really been devoting a lot of time and effort into promoting a lot of the suicide prevention centers. The Lifeline is what it's called — it's a national consortium of all the local suicide hotlines. But there's also a lot of great, different organizations that deal with it — whether it's pre-teen stuff, like You Cannot Be Replaced, or the older generation has The You Rock Foundation."

Bennington died by suicide on July 20. He was 41.

His private funeral service took place on July 29 near his home in Palos Verdes, California. It was attended by five hundred guests, including members of all three bands Bennington sang in: LINKIN PARK, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and DEAD BY SUNRISE.

Legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION) was interviewed by uDiscover Music at this year's Ramblin' Man Fair, which was held July 29-30 at Mote Park in Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about DEEP PURPLE's musical evolution after he and singer David Coverdale joined the band, Hughes said: "Ritchie Blackmore [guitar] wanted a different environment, a more bluesy approach. David had a lower baritone voice and I had the higher upper register. If you listen to it, we had the same vibratos — we [knew] how to use the vibratos, which was an interesting thing in 1973. I think no one else was kind of doing that, and we didn't really want to duplicate what was going with Mark II [of DEEP PURPLE] — you couldn't really copy it. So I thought it was a very bold move for Ritchie, Jon [Lord, keyboards] and Ian Paice [drums] to invite David and I to do something extremely different. And 'Burn' was a success. It was a really marvelous thing. For David and I, it was great. It was a really glorious moment, and I wanna thank the fans for accepting that — most of them did, anyway."

Hughes, who was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year along with fellow DEEP PURPLE members Blackmore, Coverdale, Lord, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Paice, released a new solo album called "Resonate" in November.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, in which Hughes is joined by drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN, FOREIGNER), Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER, ALICE COOPER, BILLY IDOL) and blues-rock guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, will release its fourth album, "BCCIV", on September 22 via Mascot Records.

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach says that he is "starting to feel normal again" after recently undergoing a hernia operation. He says: "The surgery on my guts is healing up and I can't wait to start [performing live] again!"

According to Bach, his hernia operation was needed "because [he] literally screamed [his] guts out."

Sebastian's next performance is scheduled for August 27 at the Hull City Hall in Kingston upon Hull, England. He will be appearing with ROCK N HULL ALLSTARS, also featuring George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB) on guitar and Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO, HEAVEN & HELL) on drums.

Bach spoke in a 2014 interview with Glide Magazine about how he takes care of his voice. He said: "I don't drink anymore, so I don't know what that means, but I have a scale called Bel Canto. You know, I'm still singing higher than ever. Even my speaking voice is quite high. I'm six-foot-four and my arms are super long, my legs are super long, my fingers are super long and I've always thought that maybe my vocal cords are super long. [Laughs] Because, like, when I listen to 'Push Away' on the new record, I'm singing higher than I've ever sang in my life. And that's insane to think about. But maybe I have tall vocal cords like the rest of me. [Laughs] Maybe I have a bigger depth of scales that matches my range of my voice. That would make sense, you know."

Asked if it surprises him that he is still hitting the high notes at his age, Bach said: "Yeah, it a hundred percent does. In the mid-nineties, when I didn't really try so hard 'cause I didn't think people wanted to hear that, I maybe would sometimes try and I wouldn't be able to do it, because I didn't have those muscles revved up and going. But once I get them going, I know how to keep them. It's just a way of singing. I save all my power for those super-high notes and I get it going like that and I try to sing as clean as possible and save the dirty part of my voice to use as little as possible. It's kind of like a trick. [Laughs]"

Sebastian recently confirmed that he was preparing to make the follow-up to his 2014 album "Give 'Em Hell".

The singer's autobiography, "18 And Life On Skid Row", came out last December via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna said in a new interview that the band will "open a new chapter" in its career by adopting "a new sound, a new stage and a new look" in time for the release its next studio album.

GODSMACK is currently at work on its seventh studio disc, which the band intends to release in 2018 to coincide with the group's twentieth anniversary.

Speaking to WFMZ-TV earlier today (Wednesday, August 9) prior to he group's appearance at Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Erna and GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin were asked if there was a specific theme running through the band's upcoming follow-up to 2014's "1000hp". "Not so much a theme, but we have made a conscious decision to kind of change the game a bit," Erna responded. "This show we're kind of marking as the last of the nostalgic GODSMACK shows, and from this point forward, we're gonna kind of open a new chapter in our career and go for a new sound, a new stage and a new look for the band. We're gonna change things up enough, maintain the integrity of what we are and what we do. But it feels so far that the writing is going a little bit more down into a commercial, mainstream kind of feel. But, again, without losing the power and the stuff that we built our heritage on."

Larkin went on to say that GODSMACK will celebrate its twentieth anniversary "by touring out butts off." Erna concurred, saying: "Yeah, there's gonna be a lot of roadwork to do. There's a lot of countries to hit. It's a big world out there, and I think we're gonna try to do at least two laps around the globe before we end this album cycle."

Erna's latest comments echo those he made last month in an interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie. Speaking about his songwriting is evolving, Erna remarked: "I'm not that young, angry kid that I used to be once. I'm a lot older now, I have a daughter of my own, I'm in a good place in my life. I don't have a whole lot to really be stressed out about or mad. And so the music has to evolve with that."

He continued: "So now where things are a little bit brighter and a little bit better, we're not gonna write about flowers and ice cream, but I certainly think that it's gonna have a little bit more positive of a message and I definitely think it's even gonna have a little bit more of a commercial edge to it. Because we're older now, and we wanna kind of continue to write and play music that we also enjoy and not always have to be in 'screamo' mode and chugging away."

Erna said that he wants to focus on composing "really well-written songs," adding, "I listen to a lot of great songwriters — Elton John, Michael Jackson, whoever it is that has been legendary and iconic. And I try once again to absorb and learn from them so we can put out the best record we can due to the year and the day and age that we're in."

The singer said that the hardest part of writing music is "just the challenge of getting up every day and putting in your time… As artists, it's no wonder that we become manic-depressive, alcohol addicts. We're always trying to beat our last thing, we're always wondering if our best days are behind us and if we've already done our best work."

GODSMACK's last release was a song called "Inside Yourself", which was made available in October 2015 as a free download at the band's official web site.

The new GODSMACK CD will be its first effort for BMG, following a split with the band's label home since 1998, Republic/Universal.

The attorneys for ADRENALINE MOB's tour manager, Jane Train (pictured), say that she suffered "catastrophic injuries" in last month's crash that killed the band's bassist.

The 48-year-old Train, whose real name is Janet Rains, is still in a burn unit in Gainesville, Florida, four weeks after ADRENALINE MOB's RV was struck by a tractor-trailer near Micanopy, Florida. The accident occurred when the tractor-trailer — dispatched by Largo, Florida company Twiss Transport Inc., veered off Interstate 75, crossed at least one full traffic lane before leaving the road, splitting the RV in half and causing it to become engulfed in flames.

According to Times Leader, attorneys Ed Ciarimboli and Greg Fellerman held a press conference on August 3 to offer an update on the conditions of those hurt and fill in some details about the ongoing investigation by Florida Highway Patrol and the litigation that could follow.

"[Janet] has catastrophic injuries," Ciarimboli said. "She's had a number of surgeries. We do anticipate that she will be in the burn unit for a considerable amount of time into the future."

It was previously reported that a total of nine people were in the vehicles. One died, six were taken to area hospitals, and the other two declined medical treatment. The majority of those injured were taken to UF Health Shands Hospital and North Florida Regional Medical Center.

ADRENALINE MOB bassist David "Z" Zablidowsky was killed in the crash.

Robert Dressler, 45, of Plains, who was the band's soundman on the tour; and Jason McCole, 41, of Wilkes-Barre, who was driving the RV, were also injured.

"Each one of the bandmembers was injured significantly in this crash, and they all continue to treat and recover from the injuries they sustained," Ciarimboli said. "A number of individuals have brain injuries. There's broken bones. There's been a number of surgeries. No one — and obviously the unfortunate death of David — escaped this horrific crash without a devastating physical or psychological injury."

According to The Citizens' Voice, Twiss Transport has a "satisfactory" rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, despite the fact that the company received 87 violations during the past 24 months. Of that total, 26 violations were for unsafe driving, 31 for hours-of-service compliance, 28 for vehicle maintenance and two for controlled substances and alcohol.

The company was also involved in 14 crashes, not including the ADRENALINE MOB crash, including one which caused a fatality, and seven that caused injury.

"Typically, what we can tell you is that when tractor-trailer drivers and tractor-trailer companies are following the rules, tractor-trailers don't just leave the roadway and strike vehicles that are well off the roadway and not moving," Ciarimboli said.

"In this case specifically, I would say that we have two fatalities, 87 violations, that's in the last 24 months," Fellerman said. "I really couldn't care less what their rating is. In this case, this guy was reckless, and he killed somebody. He injured six, seven people. His conduct was just woefully inadequate as a professional truck driver. Those ratings don't justify the true safety of the company. We'll find out what their true safety records is as we get to serve interrogatories, requests for production of documents, all the true tools of litigation to really take a good hard look at a company and how safe they actually are."

Fellerman said a team of lawyers is "ready to go" to take on the trucking company in connection with the incident. "We're going to take these guys to task," he said. "When we get into the courtroom, these guys are going to be held accountable from the civil side a hundred percent."

ADRENALINE MOB singer Russell Allen posted a message on his Facebook page in which he revealed that he helped pull Train and McCole from the wreckage before the RV became engulfed in flames. Allen sent special thanks to passer-by and Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Dumon for his "bravery in assisting me."

Train is best known as lead singer of '80s cover band M80.

ADRENALINE MOB was touring in support of its third studio album, "We The People", which was released in June via Century Media. The follow-up to 2014's "Men Of Honor" was the first ADRENALINE MOB release to feature Zablidowsky and drummer Jordan Cannata.

KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer says that it has been "really hard" for him and his bandmates to deal with the recent passing of Chester Bennington.

The LINKIN PARK singer died on July 20 after committing suicide at the age of 41. He had been open with the press and public about his struggles with drugs and alcohol, which landed him in rehab twice around 2006.

Asked what his reaction was to the news of Bennington's death, Munky told Loaded Radio (hear audio below): "Shock. Everybody was walking around in this cloud. Just frustration and shock and sadness, and there was all this mixed emotions for… still. It's still the residual effects of a roller coaster of emotions going around. Because we've known him for a long time — all those guys, all the guys in [LINKIN PARK].

"I can't imagine what his family and his band must be going through, and my heart sincerely goes out to him and his family," he continued. "And their families — the whole band's families. There are so many lives that are affected by this."

Munky added that he was "really" blindsided by Chester's suicide. "I think there's a statistic on Health.com where it shows musicians are number five in line for the most serious depression and they turn to drugs and alcohol to kind of make that go away, but it only worsens," he said. "Drugs and alcohol always win; the person always fails."

The guitarist, who had his own struggles with depression, works hard on keeping the dark cloud from pulling him back. "I have to make sure that I'm healthy, that I'm exercising, that I'm eating right, make sure to give myself enough time in the day to clear my head or meditate or get enough sleep," he explained. "Those things can get off balance and you can into this downward spiral that can just be brutal and just keep hitting you over the head. A lot of it's just anxiety and listening to your own thoughts. You've gotta step out of yourself and realize that's not the real you. And hearing the news about that really had me… I could feel the gravitation of the depressive sort of… I could feel it pulling me in."

Munky said that is has been "sad to lose Chris Cornell and Chester all within such a short period. It should have never happened, but it did… It's been really hard. It's been hard for the guys in [KORN] to hear [about Chester's death] and process [it]. And I can't imagine — I can't imagine what it's [like] for him and his family and his band. So, yeah, my deepest, sincere condolences to him and his family and his band."

KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch recently apologized for implying that Bennington was a "coward" just hours after the LINKIN PARK frontman was found dead in his Southern California home. In a Facebook message posted shortly after the news of Bennington's suicide broke, Welch wrote that "giving up on your kids, fans, and life is the cowardly way out." Reactions were swift, with one commenter calling Welch's remarks "incredibly tactless and distasteful" while another blasted them as "ignorant."

In an interview with Detroit radio station WRIF, Welch claimed that he "meant no disrespect," saying, "It was unfortunate. I spoke from a broken heart, a shattered heart, devastation and grief. And I would have worded it different... We wake up and we all see [the news] all over TMZ. I'm, like, 'This has gotta be a hoax. It's gotta be a hoax. It just can't be real.' Then I find out that it's actually true. And we were all devastated; you should have seen our faces. Just like the whole world, I bet, that knew of this guy. We were in shock."

Welch added that he was also hit hard by the death of Cornell two months earlier, saying: "When in the history of rock music, or even the music business, have we ever seen anything like that? [Both guys with] monster voices, such inspirations to so many. Chris Cornell ended his life [and I was] heartbroken."

Welch said his comments about Bennington's suicide being "cowardly" were the result of him processing his grief online, adding, "I was heartbroken and so sorry for my good friends that have been so close to him."

Former ACCEPT and current DIRKSCHNEIDER and U.D.O. frontman Udo Dirkschneider was interviewed at the tenth edition of the Alcatraz Hard Rock & Metal Festival, which was held August 11-13 in Kortrijk, Belgium. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about ongoing tour under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner, with which he is performing classic ACCEPT songs for the last time, Udo said: "Let's say it in this way: it was not planned to do the second part of [the] DIRKSCHNEIDER [tour] — what we are doing now until 2018; unbelievable. And, yeah, we had so many requests about it."

Udo explained his decision to stop performing ACCEPT material, saying: "I think ACCEPT is still existing. If I'm done with [performing songs from ACCEPT], then when people wanna hear some ACCEPT songs, they can go to [see] ACCEPT, and then I continue with U.D.O."

According to Udo, being on the road for the past year and half with DIRKSCHNEIDER has influenced the songwriting process for the next U.D.O. album, which is tentatively due in September 2018.

"It was very interesting when we were sitting together at the studio and the guys [in the band] came up with some riffs and stuff," he said. "Of course, if you play that long only ACCEPT songs, then in a way you get used to this style. And it will be a very interesting album. I'm really looking forward to this."

U.D.O.'s latest album, "Decadent", was released in Europe in January 2015 via AFM. The disc was recorded in Udo's home, Spanish island Ibiza, and also at Redhead Audio Productions in Wilhelmshaven.

The current U.D.O. lineup includes Udo's 23-year-old son Sven Dirkschneider, who joined the group as the replacement for drummer Francesco Jovino.

Finnish guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen recently left U.D.O. for personal reasons. He has been replaced by Bill Hudson.

Jackie Donovan of Classic Hits Q101.7 recently conducted an interview with SCORPIONS guitarist Matthias Jabs. You can listen to the full chat in three parts below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):

On SCORPIONS' longevity and continued relevance:

Matthias: "I think internally speaking, a band needs to be a band in the sense of, here are five friends, or four friends, whatever the band's configuration is. You need to like each other; otherwise, you couldn't spend so much time with each other in the same hotel, same bus, same plane, same rehearsal room, same studio. We spend a lot of time with each other creating the music and performing it on tour. That's part one. The other part is you have to have the same musical ideas — not exactly identical, [as] it's good to have a few tensions there, but you need to have a certain vision about what you want to do. Third, you need to be able to refresh your style, and I think the SCORPIONS have done that over the last couple of years, that we don't sound like an old band — like an oldies band — but we sound fresh from today, even though some of our songs are, like, 35 years old."

On the importance of having a signature style:

Matthias: "Once you've found your signature sound, it's something you should not experiment with too much. We did — lots of bands did — in the '90s, when grunge and alternative killed classic rock for a few years. Everybody was like, '[Yuck], this is old-fashioned now, '80s, forget about them' — but 10 years later, the '80s were great again. [Laughs] I noticed that when bands change their formula, their style, their sound, the fans didn't want to follow those changes — they wanted the band to sound the way they liked it. We realized that too. No point in changing your personal favorite sound; just keep doing it, and write new songs and the fans love your sound."

On how touring changes as a band ages:

Matthias: "When you're starting out, everything is new. Everything is exciting, and everything — you see it for the first time, or the second time, maybe. But we have so much experience now. We treat this all with more like a selective kind of view — I don't need to go to all the clubs in town to check it all out; we've been there, done that. We have different priorities.”

On the band's 1988 "Monsters Of Rock" tour with VAN HALEN and METALLICA:

Matthias: "The 'Monsters Of Rock' tour was something that was really exceptional. The lineup was fantastic, with VAN HALEN and SCORPIONS and METALLICA. It was a festival on tour, which I think the first time this has ever been done. To tour the more regular way, like we are doing it now again with MEGADETH this time, is something that's obviously easier to handle, and you get the fans that come specially for your music, but 'Monsters Of Rock', I will always remember as one of the greatest tours we've done.”

On why the band's upcoming tour is called "Crazy World":

Matthias: "If you look at what's going on in the world today, we couldn't think of a better title than the 'Crazy World' tour."

SCORPIONS' North American tour with MEGADETH will kick off on September 14 in Reading, Pennsylvania and conclude on October 15 in Tampa, Florida. The 16-date trek celebrates SCORPIONS' 1990 LP "Crazy World", which was the band's last album to feature bassist Francis Buchholz and was the most recent effort to feature the group's classic lineup.

Fan-filmed video footage of GUNS N' ROSES' August 13 concert at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania can be seen below.

The 2017 North American leg of GUNS N' ROSES' "Not In This Lifetime" tour kicked off July 27 in St. Louis, Missouri and includes eleven newly announced dates in cities across the U.S., including Newark, D.C., Hartford, Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, Sacramento, and San Diego. They have also added a second stop in Toronto, and third dates in both New York and Los Angeles.

GUNS N' ROSES recently made Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list of the world's top-earning entertainers for the first time. The band landed at No. 12 with earnings of $84 million in the past twelve months, before taxes and fees for managers.

Last summer's North American leg, which featured 25 stadium shows in 21 cities, grossed a whopping $116.8 million with over one million tickets sold.

The "Not In This Lifetime" tour features classic GUNS members Slash on guitar, Duff McKagan on bass and Axl Rose on vocals, backed by drummer Frank Ferrer, guitarist Richard Fortus, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

GUNS kicked off its long-rumored and long-awaited reunion trek in April 2016 with a club show in Hollywood and appearances in Las Vegas and at California's Coachella festival.

Veteran U.K. thrashers XENTRIX made their live debut with new guitarist/vocalist Jay Walsh (BULL-RIFF STAMPEDE) on August 12 at the Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Hall, Walton-On-Trent, West Midlands, United Kingdom. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

Walsh joined XENTRIX as the replacement for Chris Astley, who left the band at the end of 2015.

XENTRIX 2017 is:

Kristian Havard - GuitarChris Shires - BassJay Walsh - Vocals/GuitarDennis Gasser - Drums

Originally thrust into the public eye in the late '80s after their demo received a five-K review in Kerrang!, which in turn caught the attention Roadrunner Records, XENTRIX soon found themselves in the studio making "Shattered Existence". Of course, their now-infamous cover of "Ghostbusters" remains a firm favorite with fans old and new as does the band's phenomenal second album, "For Whose Advantage?", which is regarded as a bonafide thrash classic. The band went onto enjoy a short-but-successful career that saw them share stages with SLAYER, TESTAMENT, SEPULTURA, ANNIHILATOR, SABBAT, TANKARD and SKYCLAD before calling it a day in 1996, having become disillusioned with the U.K. metal scene.

XENTRIX released four albums on Roadrunner Records: "Shattered Existence" (1989), "For Whose Advantage" (1990), "Dilute to Taste" (1991) and "Kin" (1992). They also issued "Scourge" (1996) on Heavy Metal Records with Simon Gordon on vocals and Andy Rudd on guitar.

XENTRIX — with Chris Astley on guitar and vocals — played its first show in almost seven years in April 2013 at the Moses Gate in Bolton, England.

Prior to that, XENTRIX had reunited with its original lineup in 2006 for two gigs in the band's home country.

Waldemar Sorychta — former GRIP INC. guitarist who has produced a number of acclaimed albums from SODOM, MOONSPELL and TIAMAT, among others — joined New Jersey thrashers OVERKILL on stage last night (Sunday, August 13) at Zeche in Bochum, Germany to perform the OVERKILL classic "In Union We Stand". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Waldemar played guitar for OVERKILL for three shows on the band's fall 2016 European headlining tour after regular OVERKILL guitarist Dave Linsk was unable to make the dates.

OVERKILL's latest album, "The Grinding Wheel", was released on February 10 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was produced by OVERKILL and mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, ACCEPT). The artwork was created again by Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH).

OVERKILL recently announced the addition of drummer Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM) to the group's ranks.

Even though Ron Lipnicki had been part of OVERKILL's lineup for more than a decade, the drummer was absent from the band's last few tours, with OVERKILL's longtime drum tech, Eddy Garcia, stepping in to take his place.

Metallica’s WorldWired tour in support of their new album, Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, landed in San Francisco, CA on August 12th. The band have released this short recap video thanking their fans.

Remaining dates on Metallica's 2017 WorldWired Tour are as listed:

August
14 - Vancouver, BC - BC Place
16 - Edmonton, AB - Commonwealth Stadium

September
2 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Royal Arena - SOLD OUT
4 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome - SOLD OUT
6 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome - SOLD OUT
8 - Paris, France - AccorHotels Arena - SOLD OUT
10 - Paris, France - AccorHotels Arena - SOLD OUT 
12 - Lyon, France - Halle Tony Garnier - SOLD OUT
14 - Cologne, Germany - Lanxess Arena - SOLD OUT
16 - Cologne, Germany - Lanxess Arena - SOLD OUT

October
22 - London, England - The O2 Arena - SOLD OUT 
24 - London, England - The O2 Arena - SOLD OUT
26 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro - SOLD OUT
28 - Manchester, England - Manchester Arena - SOLD OUT
30 - Birmingham, England - Genting Arena - SOLD OUT

November
1 - Antwerp, Belgium - Sportpaleis - SOLD OUT 
3 - Antwerp, Belgium - Sportpaleis - SOLD OUT

Following two years of touring behind their debut album, Baptized In The Rio Grande, Sons Of Texas returned to the studio earlier this year with producer Josh Wilbur to record their follow up. The result is the 11 song CD, Forged By Fortitude, set for a September 22nd release with Razor & Tie. The album will be available in Europe through Spinefarm Records and with Sony in Japan.

The album is currently available for pre-order on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and at Merch Now. The Merch Now pre-order features multiple bundles including exclusive t-shirt and hoodie designs, a flask, a dog tag bottle opener, and a knit cap. All bundle orders will have the option at checkout to buy a limited edition seven-inch vinyl single featuring the album track "Beneath The Riverbed" and a B-side of the Social Distortion song "Ball And Chain".

"Beneath The Riverbed" can be heard now via the YouTube clip below.

Tracklisting:

"Buy In To Sell Out"    
"Feed The Need"    
"Down In the Trenches"   
"Cast In Stone"   
"Beneath The Riverbed"    
"Expedition To Perdition"    
"Turnin’ The Page"   
"Jaded Eyes"   
"Wasp Woman"   
"Forged By Fortitude"    
"Slam With The Lights On" 

Check out the lyric video of the album track “Feed The Need”. Those pre-ordering the album will receive the song as an instant grat track.

Sons Of Texas are planning an extensive worldwide tour lasting throughout 2018.  

(Band photo by Lindsey Byrnes)

 

Former The 3rd And The Mortal vocalist Kari Rueslåtten, who is also one-third of The Sirens also featuring Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) and Liv Kristine (ex-Leaves' Eyes), has checked in with the following update:

"Here is the brand new video for 'Spellbound'! It is taken from my upcoming album, Silence Is The Only Sound, out August 25th! Pre-order of CD/LP here.

Kari issued the following update in 2016:

"In 1995 I had just left The 3rd and the Mortal. I was sad about leaving them, but I was also eager to start making songs on my own. I bought a 4-track Portastudio and started to record new music onto the cassette. I decided to send the songs to record companies, but also release the songs on my own on a CD. Soon the CD was sold out, and I had a record deal with Sony Music Norway. I have had a little dream to put the songs on vinyl one day – and now this has become a reality! My very good friend Arild Juul has made a fresh version of the front cover, and I have found two previously un-released songs from another 1995-session and added them as bonus tracks."

Demo Recordings 1995 track-listing:

Side A: 
"The Homecoming Song "
"Våkenatt" 
"The Gathering" 
"Rapunsel"
"Forsaken"

Side B: 
"The Shadowchant" 
"In Here"
"Dead" 
"In a Day"

Bonus tracks (previously unreleased 1995 demo recordings): 
"Wither 
"Living Dead"

Musicians:
Jon Jenssen – sampling and programming
Vegard Segtnan – acoustic guitar
Helene Gisvold – piano
Geir Digernes – contrabass

Bonus material session:
Rolf Hoff Baltzersen – contrabass, acoustic guitar

Cover photo: Aage Asphaug
Layout and design: Arild Juul