Swedish melodic metallers, Narnia, have released an official music video for “Reaching For The Top”, the opening track of the band’s new, self-titled album, out now via Massacre Records. The new clip can be found below.

The new album was mixed and mastered by Thomas "Plec" Johansson. The cover artwork was created by Markus Sigfridsson.

Tracklisting:

“Reaching For The Top”
“I Still Believe”
“On The Highest Mountain”
“Thank You”
“One Way To The Promised Land”
“Messengers”
“Who Do You Follow?”
“Moving On”
“Set The World On Fire”
“Living Water” (2017 Version) (Digipak Bonus Track)
“Utvandrarna” (Digipak Bonus Track)

“Reaching For The Top” video:

“I Still Believe” video:

“Thank You” video:

Tour dates:

August
18 - Falun, Sweden - Sabaton Open Air
19 - Sävsjö, Sweden - Sävsjö Celebration

September
9 - Uppsala, Sweden - KulturNatten

December
2 - Pieksämäki, Finland - GoodMoodStock Festival

According to NBC 5, a man and woman were stabbed at Tuesday night's (August 8) RANCID / DROPKICK MURPHYS concert inside the Huntington Bank Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

An argument broke out between the two victims and their attacker just before 9:30 p.m. in a bar area and spilled into the concert space, police said. The attacker took out a knife and stabbed the man, 29, in the neck and face, and the woman, 34, suffered a cut to her abdomen.

The attack reportedly occurred within the pavilion gates, where security personnel were checking patrons before entering.

A witness told the Chicago Tribune that staff used metal wands and asked patrons to show what was in their pockets before entering the venue.

Both victims were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where their conditions stabilized.

Their alleged attcker was taken into custody and charges were pending.

A weapon was recovered from the scene, according to police.

No other injuries were reported.

Thanks: Jeff Giegoldt

Fan-filmed video footage of Yngwie Malmsteen's August 2 performance at O2 Forum Kentish Town in London, England can be seen below.

Malmsteen will embark on the second 2017 leg of his "World On Fire" U.S. headlining tour in the fall. Yngwie and his ensemble of musicians will perform pieces from the legendary neo-classical stylings of "Rising Force" (1984) as well as songs from the fierce "World On Fire", and material from everything in between.

Malmsteen's recent U.S. trek marked his first run of dates in the States since 2016 when he took part in the "Generation Axe" tour alongside Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi, playing to more than seventy thousand people over twenty-seven shows.

Yngwie's latest album, "World On Fire", came out in June 2016 via King Records. He told Seymour Duncan about the CD: "I spent two years [working] on it, touring, recording, touring, recording. And that's much, much better, actually, in a way. Back in the day I would write the songs then rehearse them with some musicians, then go and do a backing track and we'd record it, mix it, learn the songs to go play them on tour, then do it all again. That way isn't necessarily conducive to making the best music, y'know what I mean? So in a very, very backhanded way, this weird twist of fate in the music industry has actually made it a more inspiring environment, for me at least. I can write anytime and record anytime. My recording studio is always open, twenty-four hours. I can just record when I want and it's a beautiful thing."

Asked what the new record sounds like, Malmsteen said: "It's a Malmsteen record. [Laughs] But I would say it's a little different. First of all, I do all the lead vocals on it. Any time I did lead vocals in the past, I was singing blues stuff. This time I decided to do lead vocals in my style of songwriting, so it's different in that way. It's a very hard-hitting album and some parts are very advanced, very complicated. But it's a broad record. It's definitely a must-listen-to!"

After an intense six-month voting campaign, Dutch symphonic metal titans EPICA have announced that they've won the contest of Holland's famous and most prestigious Metropole Orkest! Over 650 artists of all possible music genres competed — among them popular Dutch acts like WITHIN TEMPTATION, Caro Emerald and Kensington — yet it was none other than EPICA who pulled the longest straw! After working with world's top artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Bono and Dizzy Gillespie, the Metropole Orkest is being considered the biggest professional pop and jazz orchestra in the world. Now remarkably, it's up to EPICA to show what they're made of and who will have the privilege to record an EPICA track together with this amazing orchestra. By winning the Metropole Orkest contest, EPICA has proven once again that they can righteously claim their place among Holland's top music acts! EPICA will release an EP with six brand-new numbers which were created during the creative phase of the band's latest album, 2016's "The Holographic Principle". "The Solace System" EP will be made available on September 1 via Nuclear Blast. The effort was recorded, mixed and mastered by Joost van den Broek and Jacob Hansen.

Fans will also be able to purchase "The Solace System" together with "The Holographic Principle" as a box set. It will be called "The Holographic Principle - The Ultimate Edition".

In other news, Nuclear Blast will re-release two ancient albums of EPICA, "Design Your Universe" and "The Divine Conspiracy", on vinyl on August 18. Each album is available in two different colors.

Former After Forever guitarist Sander Gommans, who is currently working on vocalist Amanda Somerville's new Trillium album, has checked in with the following update:

"Proud to have Erik van Ittersum (Kingfisher Sky, Ayreon, Phantom Elite) be a part of the new Trillium album. His arrangements really kick some serious metal bottoms. Amanda Somerville's off to Wacken Open Air with Avantasia this weekend, let's see if I can surprise her with the first mixes of Trillium after the weekend.

André Borgman, thanks again for your incredible work on this album, great to be reunited with the tightest and grooviest metal drummer in the world!"

Amanda Somerville issued the following update on the Trillium album back in May while in the middle of working on her new project, Exit Eden:

"The last time I’d written to you, I had thought that the new project I’m involved in would be released around now and I could therefore tell you all about it. Ah, but the music industry is ever an elusive beast! Sooooo… the release has been pushed back to the first of August. Thus, it’ll be a while before I can go public with the news, but hopefully not too long! Next week, I have several video shootings, a photo shoot and all kinds of crazy stuff going on for said project. It’s exhilarating and a tiny bit overwhelming how things keep going with this. Like I said, though I’ve been in the biz for a long time, this is all pretty new to me, so it’s very exciting. Even if nothing really takes off, I’m absolutely grateful to be a part of something like this.

And in the meantime, I’ve been writing and recording up a storm for the new Trillium album! This one’s definitely got a life of its own; no Alloy knock-off in any way, which may intrigue some of you and may scare some – haha! But I am really happy with how things are going. We’ve got a very new lineup for this album than we had for Alloy, which helps contribute to that, but Sander (Gommans / HDK) and I are running the show :-) Yves Huts, formerly from Epica, is contributing a song co-write as is a good friend of mine from my hometown, the talented Ashley Peacock."

Somerville released the debut Trillium album, Alloy, in November 2011.

“Soul Crusher” and “A Longer View”, two tracks from the new Shaman’s Harvest album, are available for streaming below. Red Hands Black Deeds is out now via Mascot Label Group.

Tracklisting:

“Red Hands Black Deeds” (Prelude)
“Broken Ones”
“The Come Up”
“A Longer View”
“Soul Crusher”
“Off The Tracks”
“Long Way Home”
“The Devil in Our Wake”
“Blood Trophies”
“So Long”
“Tusk and Bone”
“Scavengers”

“Soul Crusher”:

“A Longer View”:

“The Come Up” video:

“Broken Ones”:

“Red Hands Black Deeds”:

Trailer:

Find the band’s live itinerary at this location.

METALLICA and the San Francisco Giants held the fifth annual "Metallica Night" this past Monday (August 7) at AT&T Park in San Francisco as the Giants took the field against the Chicago Cubs. METALLICA once again threw out the first pitch and James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett performed a version of "The Star-Spangled Banner". Hammett also played an instrumental solo rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". Both were playing customized San Francisco Giants guitars. Hetfield later came out on the field with the Giants' ground crew and played air guitar on one of the large dirt rakes.

"Five already? It's been going pretty quick," Hetfield told Bay Area HQ about the event. "Well, we're blessed to be doing this every year and being a part of the vibe here. You know, when times are good, when times are bad, they need the support."

"It's great. It's a lot of fun," added Hammett. "It's a good opportunity for us to interact with our home team, hometown, and interact with the people of the Bay Area in San Francisco. And for me, it's a lot of fun to be able to play the national anthem."

Special-event METALLICA ticket packages included a ticket to the game and a limited-edition METALLICA/Giants T-shirt, with a portion of the proceeds from every special-event ticket sold benefiting the Posey Family Foundation. There was also an exclusive VIP event that night in Triples Alley with Ulrich hosting a pre-game question-and-answer session with tennis coach, commentator and author Brad Gilbert to talk sports, music and more.

A video recap of this year's "Metallica Night" can be seen below.

Hammett told ESPN.com that he feels the version of the national anthem he and Hetfield play is "really unique and different," and it's great that they can play it for their home team and hometown audience.

METALLICA has always kept strong ties to the Bay Area sports scene: the band has also performed before Golden State Warriors basketball games and San Jose Sharks hockey games.

Wayward Sons’ debut album, Ghosts Of Yet To Come, will be released on September 15th. A video for the album track “Crush” can be found below.

Wayward Sons is a UK guitar act made up of Toby Jepson (vocals, guitar), Sam Wood (guitar), Nic Wastell (bass), Dave Kemp (keys) and Phil Martini (drums). They have an impressive resume of groups they have previously worked with - Little Angels, Gun, Spear Of Destiny, Treason Kings and Chrome Molly to name a few - which is reassuring in terms of the band as players, but doesn’t really hint at their sound. Wayward Sons sound nothing like the sum of their parts. The music is hard rock but mixed with a vitality and energy - both musically and lyrically.

Ghosts Of Yet To Come is a hugely accomplished debut album - as might be expected. From the staccato riffing of “Give It Away” to the melodic intro of first single “Until The End”, from the hard rock of “Ghosts” to 4/4 rock of “Don’t Wanna Go”, the album sounds familiar yet of its own. Toby Jepson had the basis of songs written when the band formed. Together they then took these rough song ideas and forged their own sound. Lyrically the album sees Jepson treading a far more personal line than some of his previous output.

“I feel I have unfinished business, stories still left to tell, points to make, noise to create, all of the above... besides, it wasn't a choice, more of a need. My intention is very simple. I want to write about what makes me tick; about what I believe in. Hopefully you will believe in it too. It will be warts and all,” says Jepson.

The album was produced by Wayward Sons (Toby Jepson’s previous credits as a songwriter and producer include the likes of Katie Melua, The Virgin Marys, The Answer and Toseland) and Chris D’Adda (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds).

Tracklisting:

“Alive”
“Until The End”
“Ghost”
“Don't Wanna Go”
“Give It Away”
“Killing Time”
“Crush”
“Be Still”
“Small Talk”
“Something Wrong”

“Crush” video:

“Alive” acoustic:

“Alive” video:

“Until The End” acoustic:

“Until The End” video:

“Until The End” alternate studio video:

Finnish symphonic metallers AMBERIAN DAWN will release their eighth album, titled "Darkness Of Eternity", on November 10 via Napalm Records.

Commented AMBERIAN DAWN keyboardist and mastermind Tuomas Seppälä: "'Darkness Of Eternity' is one of the most emotional AMBERIAN DAWN albums so far. It's got some really bombastic songs in mood of dark and symphonic melodic metal and in contrast to that also some really poppy songs too.

"For me, it's really hard to stick in one genre only and I constantly want to compose different kinds of songs!"

"Darkness Of Eternity" track listing:

01. I'm The One02. Sky Is Falling03. Dragonflies04. Maybe05. Golden Coins06. Luna My Darling07. Abyss08. Ghostwoman09. Breathe Again10. Symphony Nr. 1, Part 2 - Darkness Of Eternity11. Anyone (bonus track)

Tuomas adds: "The song 'Symphony Nr.1. Part 1 - The Witchcraft' told the story on the last record, 'Innuendo', before the time of 'Magic Forest'. The little girl is a healer and village elders buried her alive in a coffin. The track 'Symphony Nr.1. Part 2 - Darkness Of Eternity' on our upcoming record 'Darkness Of Eternity' tells the story of the girl lying in the coffin trying to get out. Darkness is asking her to dance the waltz of eternity. The story will continue in Part 3 and we will tell you how she became the Magic Forest's evil witch!" Regarding the "Darkness Of Eternity" recording process, Tuomas said: "We did a lot of production at legendary Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland: drum recordings, mixing by Mikko Karmila and mastering by Mika Jussila. We also used a live string section on orchestral parts and that added nice color on the sound.

"It's easy for me to say that this album is without any doubt the best sounding AMBERIAN DAWN album ever! It's a kind of monument for me and it introduces the many sides of me as composer.

"I still feel very lucky that I've got Capri [Päivi Virkkunen] on this band because she's probably the only singer capable singing all of those different styles with superior sound and feeling.

"In fall 2016 and spring 2017, I had the honor to visit ABBA's Benny Andersson's studio in Stockholm, Sweden and was allowed to play his personal vintage keyboards and grand piano to be able to catch some of that ABBA vibe on a couple of 'pop-metal' songs. I know there's really a huge contrast to those symphonic songs, but I just needed to go even further with this style I started with 'Court Of Mirror Hall' and 'Knock Knock Who's There' on our previous album. So, if you liked those, you're going to love 'Maybe' and especially 'Sky Is Falling'!"

AMBERIAN DAWN released a compilation album of songs that originally appeared on their first four albums — "Circus Black" (2012), "End Of Eden" (2010), "The Clouds Of Northland Thunder" (2009) and "River Of Tuoni" (2008) — to showcase Virkkunen after the departure of Heidi Parviainen. "Re-Evolution" was made available on June 14, 2013 in Finland, distributed by Suomen Musiikki.

AMBERIAN DAWN parted ways with vocalist Heidi Parviainen in November 2012. Her final appearance with the band was at the Metal Female Voices Fest at the end of October 2012 in Belgium. AMBERIAN DAWN is:

Tuomas Seppälä – Keyboards, GuitarPäivi "Capri" Virkkunen - VocalsEmil Pohjalainen - GuitarJukka Hoffren - BassJoonas Pykälä-aho - Drums

ACT OF DEFIANCE will release its sophomore album, "Old Scars, New Wounds", on September 29 via Metal Blade Records.

The official video for the disc's opening track, "M.I.A.", can be seen below. The clip was directed by Robert Graves.

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).

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.

The end of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN may be nigh, but the progressive metal pioneers are going out in a blaze of glory. Their final show has been set for December 29 at New York City's Terminal 5 and it is sure to be a night to remember. Supporting the band at this show will be CODE ORANGE and DAUGHTERS. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's innovative sound and unpredictable, edgy live show has enabled the band to make a lasting mark in the heavy music world. Greg Puciato (vocals), Ben Weinman (guitar), Liam Wilson (bass), Billy Rymer (drums) and Kevin Antreassian (guitar) are going out on a real high note twenty years after the band's journey began. Their world tour in support of their final album, "Dissociation" (2016), took the band to Europe, Australia and Israel thus far. A fitting end to THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's journey is a show where it all began — at home.

"For me, in terms of shows, New York has always been one city on a short list of them, where every DILLINGER show felt like a homecoming," explains Puciato. "Maybe it's the proximity to New Jersey, maybe because we're all East Coast natives, maybe for me it's largely because it was the location of my first show with the band back in 2001, and maybe a lot of it is just the overall energy of the city itself. So many incredible shows, unforgettable memories on and offstage, and familiar faces both backstage and in the crowd. Add to that the fact that geographically its the one city that makes the most sense for anyone traveling from the east or west, or up the coast, and this was kind of a no brainer from the beginning."

Weinman told Clrvynt last year about THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's decision to call it quits: "We need to close the book; We need to take control of this and make a controlled dramatic ending to this story. That's the only way to do it right, So I talked to the guys — and I first talked to Greg about it and like most people, he was kind of confused, like, 'Why would we do that right now? Everything is going so well.' And I said that's exactly why we should do it now — because there needs to be tension. And everything in DILLINGER just always been chaotic, and seemingly random."

He added: "It's [DILLINGER's chaotic sound] always been intentional; almost every note we've ever made has been on purpose. So I just felt that it's very important for us to intentionally close the book in a way that every great piece of art does."

The lyric video for the song "Fire For Effect" from FIRE FOR EFFECT, the new band featuring former members of MALEVOLENT CREATION, SUFFOCATION and PESTILENCE, can be seen below.

Joining vocalist Brett Hoffman (MALEVOLENT CREATION), bassist Tony Choy (PESTILENCE) and drummer Mike Smith (SUFFOCATION) in the project is guitarist and songwriter Gio Geraca (MALEVOLENT CREATION, ASHES OF ARES).

The idea for FIRE FOR EFFECT was to form a mutual partnership strategically based on the skill set of each member involved. It was Geraca's idea to put some of the most influential and respected death metal musicians of all time together. Choy's unique bass sound, Geraca's melodic guitar riffs, Hoffman's unrelenting vocals and the onslaught of beats from Smith combine their talents for the most epic and brutally crafted songwriting sessions of their career.

FIRE FOR EFFECT is currently working on material for a full-length album, to be released at the end of 2017.

Lineup:

Brett Hoffman (MALEVOLENT CREATION) - Vocals Tony Choy (PESTILENCE) - Bass Mike Smith (SUFFOCATION) - Drums Gio Geraca (ASHES OF ARES) – Guitar

Photos courtesy of Gio Geraca

Resurrected Chicago metallers DIRGE WITHIN played their first comeback concert this past Saturday, August 5 at Route 20 at Route 20 in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. Video footage of the gig can be seen below.

DIRGE WITHIN in June released a new version of the song "Memories". The track was mixed by Joel Wanasek, who has previously worked with MACHINE HEAD and RIGHTEOUS VENDETTA.

Prior to the hiatus, DIRGE WITHIN's recorded works included "Force Fed Lies" (eOne), the "Absolution" EP (BTR) and "There Will Be Blood" (Rocket Science Ventures). All three releases are available to stream on Spotify, or to purchase at major retailers such as iTunes and Amazon. Live activities included tours and one-offs with the likes of TRIVIUM, FEAR FACTORY, DEVILDRIVER, DOPE, KITTIE, WHITECHAPEL, STATIC-X, GWAR, PRODUCT OF HATE, ALL THAT REMAINS and more.

In the time since, members of DIRGE WITHIN performed alongside vocalist Travis Neal as THE BLOODLINE, releasing one album, "We Are One", via Another Century/Century Media.

DIRGE WITHIN is:

Jeremy "Jerms" Genske - VocalsShaun Glass - GuitarFrankie Harchut - DrumsMike Sylvester - BassChuck Wepfer - Lead Guitar

The official lyric video for the song "You Will Know The Lion By His Claw" from U.K. extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's twelfth album, "Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay", which will be released on September 22 via Nuclear Blast.

Commented singer Dani Filth: "This track is one of my favourite songs from the new 'Cryptoriana' album — aside from 'Achingly Beautiful', 'Death And The Maiden' and the title track — due to its very unique flavor and its vehement brutality. The culminative strike is especially very 'Dusk… And Her Embrace'-era black metal…

"Inspired by the works of H. Rider Haggard, a Victorian author who schooled in my home town of Ipswich, this song uses the railroad annexation of the Transvaal in Africa during the 19th century to paint a vision of the greedy machinations of man coming up against a furious, displaced natural foe, thus posing an allegory for the downtrodden, revolting.

"I also have the Latin of this expression tattooed on my arm (due to being the usual supercilious Leo!). The quote was made famous, having been said in 1697 by Johann Bernoulli about Isaac Newton's anonymously submitted solution to Bernoulli's challenge regarding the Brachistochrone curve.

"So… Enjoy. Indulge. Desire. Darken."

"Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay" was recorded at Grindstone Studios, Suffolk, U.K. by the very honorable Scott Atkins, who has been the resident go-to producer for CRADLE OF FILTH for several albums. Dani Filth sat in during the mix, serving up flaming mugs of teas, making the studio couch his own and lending his ears when necessary.

Commented Dani: "The album is deeply infused with Victorian gothic horror and thus the title is a reflection of that. 'Cryptoriana' implies the Victorian's infatuation with the supernatural, the grave and the ghoulish. And the subtitle 'The Seductiveness Of Decay' further cements this attraction to death and the glittering lengthy process of self-annihilation."

The video for the album's first single, "Heartbreak And Séance", can be seen below. Dani stated about the clip: "Working with such an artistic director as Artūrs Bērziņš was indeed an honor, as the video shoot was very extensively planned, involving a myriad of extras and crew, make-up girls and set builders, a crow, some well-behaved snakes and a considerable amount of snow, candles, water, trees, naked bodies, lamentable mourners, as well as all being submerged in suitably gothic landscapes and vistas. And the fact that we travelled to Riga in Latvia to film it was also very unique and interesting. The video itself is fantastic, drawing from the darkly erotic imagery of the album artwork and bringing it to richly technicoloured classical life. We had such a blast shooting it, as the accompanying photos attest to..."

Bērziņš is the mastermind behind the "Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay" artwork, photography and videography — best known for his defiant neo-symbolism raster graphics and oil paintings; postmodern interpretations of classic myths. He has been proclaimed as a "sacred monster of Latvian postmodernism".

CRADLE OF FILTH has also announced its first full-scale U.K. and Ireland tour in years, starting in Belfast, Northern Ireland on October 30.

Willowtip Records has announced a partnership with Italian death metal purveyors Daemusinem. 

Based out of Torino, Italy and composed of members of Putridity, Daemusinem have been making sonic contributions to the death metal underground since 1999, with a style that is both barbaric and unrelentingly powerful. 

Their latest release, Thy Ungodly Defiance - available October 20th in CD, LP, and Digital formats - is a concept album based on the story of Fra Dolcino, a heretic preacher who lived in northern Italy during the 13th century, and was tortured and burnt at the stake by the Inquisition. 

"Thy Ungodly Defiance is a true testament of all things death metal, and an album that will stand the test of time after humanity’s inevitable extinction," says Daemusinem.

Listen to the track “Gospel Truth Is Bloodshed” via the YouTube clip below.

For further details, visit Daemusinem on Facebook.

 

Alice Cooper and earMusic are celebrating the chart success of Paranormal. The album was produced by long-time Cooper collaborator Bob Ezrin for earMusic, the rock label part of the Edel AG group, which markets and distributes the album worldwide through its international network. 

Paranormal features special guests including Larry Mullen (U2, who plays on 9 of the 12 new songs), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Deep Purple´s Roger Glover as well as a highly anticipated mini-reunion of the original Alice Cooper band members. Alice Cooper will join up with Deep Purple beginning this Saturday, August 12th, in Las Vegas. Tour highlights include The Greek in Los Angeles on August 13th and Jones Beach on August 26th. Listen to samples of each track from the album and take a look at Paranormal's chart positions around the world.

Some of the chart positions achieved by the album so far are among the highest for Alice Cooper in the last 30 years:

USA: #6 Soundscan, #32 Billboard Top 200

Germany: #4 (highest charts entry in 45 years since the classic "School's Out").

Australia: #4 (highest chart entry in 39 years).

Belgium: #5 

UK: #6 (highest chart entry in 23 years) / #1 Rock Charts #1 independent Charts.

Sweden: #6 (highest charts entry in 28 years since the smash hit album Trash in 1989). 

Finland: #9 (best charts entry ever) #1 physical album sales.

On release date, Paranormal climbed the iTunes rock charts to #1 in 12 countries and the Top 5 in 20 countries.

To view Alice Cooper's complete tour schedule, visit this location.

 

"Wow, what an amazing experience," proclaims The Dead Daisies. "On August 3, we played our Concert for Freedom at Woodstock Poland and it was an honor to team up with Gorzów Philharmonic Orchestra for that very special performance!"

"This must have been the biggest show we’ve ever played and we’re still more than overwhelmed by you guys rocking and partying with us all night! Thanks a lot for coming out – we left Poland with smiling faces and we’ll definitely come back!"

Here’s what vocalist John Corabi has to say about this amazing concert: “I can't begin to explain the thrill of playing The Woodstock festival in Poland with the Gorzów Philharmonic Orchestra for The Concert For Freedom!!! Firstly, just hearing our music being played with the orchestra was incredibly powerful, but to have played with them in front of a couple of hundred thousand people was fucking unbelievable!!!! The energy being given by both the bands, and the audience in return was truly a 'once in a lifetime' experience!!! Cross that off the bucket list!!!! Peace!!”

"So true! Up next: Our The Dirty Dozen Tour through the USA and Canada. We’re pumped and cannot wait to kick this tour off at the legendary 77th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally! Let’s get live and louder, North America!"

Catch The Dead Daisies live in concert:

August
9 - The Full Throttle Saloon - Sturgis, SD
10 - Arcada Theatre - Chicago, IL
11 - Shelter at Saint Andrews - Detroit, MI
12 - Lee’s Palace - Toronto, ON
16 - House Of Independence - Asbury Park, NJ
17 - Highline Ballroom - New York NY
18 - Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD
19 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
20 - The Basement East - Nashville, TN
23 - Gas Monkey - Dallas, TX
25 - El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
26 - House Of Blues - San Diego, CA
27 - Counts Vamp’d - Las Vegas NV

September
1 - The Easyriders Rodeo - Chillicothe, OH
2 - The National H.O.G. Rally at the Harley-Davidson Museum - Milwaukee, WI

Seattle doom metal duo, Bell Witch, will release their third full-length, Mirror Reaper, worldwide on October 20th via Profound Lore Records.
 
With Mirror Reaper, Bell Witch has created a truly enormous work - one continuous, 83-minute piece unfolding as a single track. Engineered and mixed by veteran producer Billy Anderson (Swans, Sleep, Neurosis), the duo of Dylan Desmond (bass, vocals) and Jesse Shreibman (drums, vocals, organ) have pushed the band's sound further beyond their landmark 2015 LP, Four Phantoms. While retaining the monolithic heaviness of their previous releases, Mirror Reaper sees the band explore the more meditative, melancholy, and introspective aspects to their sound through the introduction of long, lonely organ passages and the return of honorary Bell Witch member, vocalist Erik Moggridge (Aerial Ruin), offering a prominent presence. The artwork for Mirror Reaper was painted by Mariusz Lewandowski.

 
On the themes surrounding the concept and lyrics of Mirror Reaper the band issues, "The title 'Mirror Reaper' is indicative of the Hermetic axiom 'As Above, So Below,' written with two sides to form one whole. The song is both its own and its reflection, as an opposite is whole only with its contrary. Our focus as a band has always been the perception of ghosts and the implied archetype of the dichotomy of life/death therein. 'Mirror Reaper' is a continuation of that concept. During the writing process we were devastated by the loss of our dear friend and former drummer, Adrian Guerra. In love and respect to his memory, we reserved an important yet brief section in the song for him that features unused vocal tracks from our last album. This specific movement serves as a conceptual turn in the piece, or point of reflection. We believe he would be proud of it as well. 'Mirror Reaper' was the first collaborative writing project with the new lineup, and Adrian's death during it brought extra emotional weight. We sought to match the complexity and weight of these events within the composition of the piece."

Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper will be available on 2CD, 2LP, and digital formats. Preorder at this location.

(Photo by: David Choe)

Eyehategod performed at Blue Lamp in Sacramento; CA on August 6th. Video of their complete set courtesy of Capital Chaos TV is available below.

Eyehategod kicked off a thirty-nine-date US mega tour on August 1st. The Left To Starve summer takeover runs through September 13th, and includes performances with Capitalist Casualties, Phobia, Primitive Man, Negative Approach, Antiseen, Cro-Mags, Pig Destroyer, The Obsessed, and Mountain Of Wizard on select dates. The journey also marks frontman Mike IX Williams' lengthiest tour since undergoing liver transplant surgery this past December.

All confirmed dates, as well as a new video trailer, can be found below.

Dates:

August
8 - Portland, OR - Dante’s
9 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
11 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theater
12 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
13 - San Antonio, TX - Korova
14 - Dallas, TX - Trees
15 - Oklahoma City, OK - 89th Street
16 - Beaumont, TX - The Gig
18 - New Orleans, LA - South Port
19 - Spartanburg, SC - Ground Zero
20 - Wilmington, NC - The Muse
21 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
22 - Richmond, VA - Broadberry
24 - Boston, MA - Middle East
25 - Rochester, NY - Montage
26 - Frederick, MD - Café 611
27 - Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus Bar
28 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club
30 - Teaneck, NJ - Mexicali
31 - Kent, OH - Outpost

September
1 - Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit Hall
2 - Chicago, IL - Cobra Lounge
3 - Chicago, IL - Cobra Lounge
4 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
5 - Rock Island, IL - Rock Island Brewing
6 - Detroit, MI - Club El
8 - Columbus, OH - Ace Of Cups
9 - Washington, DC - The Pinch
10 - Harrisonburg, VA - Golden Pony
11 - Chattanooga, TN - Ziggys
12 - Huntsville, AL - Sidetracks
13 - Pensacola, FL - Vinyl Music Hall

(Photo - Dan Karr)

“Swing Again” the new single from Every Mother's Nightmare is now streaming for a limited time. The new album Grind is set for an October 6th release on HighVolMusic and will be distributed via MRi/Sony in North America and Cargo Records throughout Europe. Preorders begin September 1st online including Amazon, iTunes and more.

Grind features a total of 11 tracks and three videos. The enhanced CD contains the five tracks from the self-released EP, plus three brand new studio tracks, three new live tracks recorded from the band's performance at Minglewood Hall in Memphis, TN on August 21st, 2016 and the new video for “Push” along with the videos “Blown Away” and “Loco Crazy”.

Studio tracks on Grind were produced by Justin Rimer at Cross Trax Studios. Live tracks were produced by David Cowell at Cleaved Owl Productions with mastering by Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Masters. The project also features appearances by Jim Dandy (The Jim Dandy) guest vocals on “Stand Up”, Wayne Swinny (Saliva) guitar on “Snake”, and Zach Myers (Shinedown) guitar on “Crazy”.

Tracklisting:

“Loco Crazy”
“Snake”
“Upper Hand”
“Blown Away”
“Sacred Circle”
“Days Are Through”
“Stand Up”
“Swing”
“Closet” (Live)
“Walls” (Live)
“Push” (Live)
“Push” (Video)
“Blown Away” (Video)
“Loco Crazy” (Video).

"Swing Again":

Album teaser:

“Loco Crazy” video:

(Photo - Eric Martin)

Epic metallers Wintersun released their long-awaited third studio album The Forest Seasons, on July 21st through Nuclear Blast. Today, the Finns led by Jari Mäenpää can present several chart entries from all over the world. Positions as follows:

#1 Finland
#7 Sweden (Hard Rock)
#10 Sweden (Physical)
#14 Germany
#16 Switzerland
#16 UK (Indie)
#18 UK (Rock)
#20 Austria
#119 France
#124 Belgium (Flanders)
#170 Belgium (Wallonia)
---
#8 USA (Hard Music)
#19 USA (Rock)
#50 USA (Top Current Albums)

In celebration of this huge success, the band has launched the 4th and final lyric video from The Forest Seasons. Check out the emotional album closing track, “Loneliness (Winter)”.

Order The Forest Seasons at this location.

Tracklisting:

“Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring)”
Part I - The Dark Slumber
Part II - The Awakening
“The Forest That Weeps (Summer)”
“Eternal Darkness (Autumn)”
Part I - Haunting Darkness
Part II - The Call Of The Dark Dream
Part III - Beyond The Infinite Universe
Part IV - Death
“Loneliness (Winter)”

“Eternal Darkness (Autumn)” lyric video:

“The Forest That Weeps (Summer)” lyric video:

 

“Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring)” lyric video:

“Eternal Darkness (Autumn)” guitar playthrough:

“The Forest That Weeps (Summer)” guitar playthrough:

“Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring)” guitar playthrough:

Tour dates with Arch Enemy, Tribulation are listed below.

January (with Wintersun, Tribulation, Jinjer)
12 - Munich, Germany - Tonhalle
13 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn
15 - Zurich, Switzerland - Komplex
17 - Milano, Italy - Alcatraz
18 - Lyon, France - Transbordeur
22 - Toulouse, France - Le Bikini
23 - Paris, France - Bataclan
24 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
26 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle
27 - Geiselwind, Germany - Music Hall
29 - Hamburg, Germany - Große Freiheit
31 - Malmö, Sweden - KB

February (with Wintersun, Tribulation, Jinjer)
1 - Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller
2 - Stockholm, Sweden - Arenan
3 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Trädgarn
5 - Berlin, Germany - Huxleys
6 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
7 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage

Vertigo-inducing death metal overlords Incantation have dropped a festering and fetid new song, “Lus Sepulcri”, in the form of a dark and foreboding lyric video streaming below. The song is taken from their forthcoming 10th full-length album, entitled Profane Nexus. The album hits streets on August 11th via Relapse Records.

Additionally, the scheduling for Incantation's upcoming tour with Swedish black metallers Marduk and labelmates Abysmal Dawn has been announced. 

Incantation triumphantly return to their original label Relapse Records to vomit forth another unholy offering of godless abominations on Profane Nexus, their formidable tenth full-length album. Embodying a dizzying array of blasphemous tracks - culminating in sacrilegious conquests, crushing dirges, and vile riffing - Profane Nexus is an obliterating heavy execution of disgusting death metal that further solidifies the band as one of extreme music's most influential and consistently hailed artists of the past thirty years.

Recorded at the band's own Incantation Studios in Johnstown, PA and mixed/mastered by Dan Swanö (Bloodbath, Asphyx, Dark Funeral), Profane Nexus' is perhaps the finest example of pummeling death metal and disemboweling funeral doom ever conceived.

Order Profane Nexus on CD/LP/Digital via Relapse Records at this location.

Cover art, titled Draping The Tar Monster, by Eliran Kantor.

Tracklisting:

“Muse”
“Rites Of The Locust”
“Visceral Hexahedron”
“The Horns Of Gefrin”
“Incorporeal Despair”
“Xipe Totec”
“Lus Sepulcri”
“Stormgate Convulsions From The Thunderous Shores Of Infernal Realms Beyond The Grace Of God”
“Messiah Nostrum”
“Omens To The Altar Of Onyx”
“Ancients Arise”

"Lus Sepulcri" lyric video:

“Rites Of The Locust” guitar playthrough video:

“Rites Of The Locust” video:

In addition, the scheduling for Incantation’s upcoming tour with Swedish black metallers Marduk has been announced. See the full listing of dates and venues below.

Tour dates:

August
18 - Los Angeles, CA - Union
20 - San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick
22 - SanAntonio, TX - Korova
23 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey
24 - Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room
25 - Joliet, IL - The Forge
26 - Detroit, MI - Harpo's
27 - Reading, PA - Reverb
28 - Frederick, MD - Café 611
29 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
30 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
31 - Quebec City, QC - Salle Multi

September
1 - Ottawa, ON - Maverick's
2 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison
3 - Rouyn-Noranda, QC - Petit Théätre

Incantation are also set to appear at this year's edition of Brutal Assault Festival, which takes place August 8th through 12th, 2017 at Old Army Fortress Josefov, Czech Republic.

(Band photo - Scott Kinkade)

Janet Gardner, best known as the lead vocalist of the all-female rock band VIXEN, and her husband, Justin James, recently performed acoustically in the studios of the WDHA 105.5 radio station in New Jersey. You can now watch video footage of their appearance below.

Gardner will release her self-titled debut solo album on August 18 via Pavement Entertainment in conjunction with Pavement's cohorts Eternal Sound Records for Europe. All songs were written, performed and produced by Gardner and James, a guitarist, songwriter and producer who has previously worked with STAIND, COLLECTIVE SOUL and TYKETTO.

Gardner told Unrated Magazine about her solo debut: "This is a very diverse collection of music. Justin and I combined forces with hard rock influences from the last four decades. If you like the seventies, the song 'The Good Or The Bye' is the song for you. If you like the eighties, 'If You Want Me', 'Candle' and 'Hippycrite' are for you. If you like the nineties, you might dig 'Your Problem Now' and 'The Grind', but they all have a common thread that is simply our sound together."

Regarding how the songwriting process for the album compared to that in VIXEN, Gardner said: "Every creative relationship is different. Justin and I are married, so we obviously have tons of trust in one another. No one has any expectations of us, so we have a lot of freedom to do whatever we want. With VIXEN, we have an established musical style, so there is always that 'Is this right for VIXEN?' question looming over the writing process, but we have known each other for years, so it's very comfortable to present ideas."

Shawn "The Clown" Crahan has revealed that SLIPKNOT has "about twenty-seven pieces of work" written for the band's follow-up to 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter" album.

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

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

Speaking to NME, Crahan stated about SLIPKNOT's current status: "We have decided to do things differently. Our label had been bought and sold, people who used to give me advice are gone now, we're still standing. We're not going to wait around for Corey Taylor to say that he's ready, no one's going to wait for me to finish directing a movie, the same thing goes if someone wants to go out on tour with someone else.

"Every three or four months we've been getting together and we've been writing for up to thirty days," he continued. "Currently, we have about twenty-seven pieces of work — about seven or eight are completed. They're not completed songs, that's far from the truth. That's where people start fighting over Corey Taylor not being there or Jim [Root, guitar] wanting to do something else. We as artists have demanded that we get together every three or four months and blow our brains out with art. We've been trying to create as much art as possible."

When asked about a potential timeline for SLIPKNOT's next album, the percussionist replied: "For the three years we toured, we were writing and recording the whole time. We'll be getting together in September. Corey Taylor is doing his thing right now with STONE SOUR, and when he's done, he'll need a little time off. He's always done that. Then he'll be right back in it, writing SLIPKNOT songs and lyrics.

"A lot of us are meeting up in September to start working on those twenty-seven pieces of music and we're going to add to that," he explained. "Our goal is to get to somewhere where it feels like we could have a double album. Whether or not we'll get to that, I have no idea. It's almost an impossible thing to arrive at because you have to have so much music and pick what's right. But I would like to have a double album and I would like to have a concept album. I've been speaking to Corey and Jim and we're not just going to 'do it,' we're not going to be contrived. It has to be right, it has to work for all of us."

Crahan told BBC Radio 1's "Rock Show" in 2015 that he would love to see the band record a double concept album in the vein of PINK FLOYD's "The Wall" and THE BEATLES' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", with a movie to go along with the project.

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

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

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

A new SLIPKNOT film, documenting the Iowa band's first-ever visit to Mexico in December 2015, will be premiered in more than a thousand screens across the world as a one-night-only cinematic spectacle on September 6.

Directed by Crahan, "Day Of The Gusano" 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.

John Perry of the 95 WIIL Rock radio station conducted an interview with Ozzy Osbourne on July 16 at the Chicago Open Air festival in Bridgeview, Illinois. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below.

Asked about some people's claim that "rock is dead," Ozzy responded: "I'm still alive. [But] I never thought in my lifetime I'd see the demise of records. I never use the computer. It's totally changed. A lot of people steal music now, so a lot of people can't afford to do it anymore."

Ozzy said that he has no plans to retire anytime soon. "I think I'll do this till the day I die," he predicted. "It's not a job; it's a passion. It's great. It pays well."

Ozzy's appearance at Chicago Open Air marked his second solo concert since the completion of BLACK SABBATH's "The End" tour.

The singer is joined on the current run of dates by guitarist Zakk Wylde, who was the SABBATH frontman's regular axeman from 1988 to 2007, although they've often performed together since then. Osbourne's touring lineup also includes Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards.

Ozzy currently has only six more dates scheduled between now and early November. This month will see the singer play Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, South Dakota, Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Welch, Minnestoa and the Moonstock festival in Cartersville, Illinois. More 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.

Metal Wani's Jake Patton conducted an interview with vocalist/guitarist Mille Petrozza of German thrash veterans KREATOR. You can listen to the full interview below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the reception to KREATOR's new album, "Gods Of Violence":

Mille: "It couldn't be better. To us, the way we measured the success of our record is 'How do the fans react in the live situation to the songs we put in the setlist?' For this tour, we've added, like, five or six new songs to the setlist. Reactions are just as good for, let's say, 'Extreme Aggression' or one of the classic songs. To us, it's mind-blowing. It shows us that we did something right."

On how KREATOR maintains balance between brutality and melody:

Mille: "Music should never be a conscious decision if you know what I mean. [Laughs] When we write music, it's something that we feel, really. Music comes from the heart. Of course, we go into the studio and maybe this answers the question better, once we have the rough ideas for a song, we go into the studio and try to add something, make it even more exciting, put more dimensions, more ideas, more creativity into one particular song. That's where the melody might come in and the melodic parts. Some of the chorus parts, for example, have a lot of things happening in the background to make the listener's experience even more exciting. I guess that's how we write songs. We never sit down and go 'Okay, we've done 'Phantom Antichrist'' and follow up. It's more like 'Let's come up with new songs that we feel are different than anything we've done before.' Maybe we can explore some new feels in music, maybe we can learn something else, something new, maybe we can add some exciting new songs to the creative universe. That's how we write songs, really. There's never a masterplan or anything like that."

On the lyrical approach for "Gods Of Violence":

Mille: "[They're] very much stream of consciousness style. You just start writing something down. Every time I have music or sometimes I have the lyrics first, sometimes I have the title first. A lot of times I have the title first, then I try to fill the title that I think sounds cool with a meaning. Sometimes I come up with a story that I try to fill with life. For example, the song 'Death Becomes My Light', I was reading a lot about near-death experiences. I wanted to write a song about somebody that experienced that and he comes back to life and he tries to tell all of his friends about it. He's all excited to tell everyone that 'You don't have to be afraid.' And nobody listens. That's the frustration and the sadness is reflected in that song. 'World War Now', of course, is, for example, it's been kind of based on the [2015 terrorist attack] at the Bataclan [Theatre in France], but not really. I don't really like to write about current events too much because I want to write lyrics that still have the same meaning five years from now. I try to keep it pretty much timeless, so to speak."

On how the word "violence" ends up being reflected positively in KREATOR's music:

Mille: "I think, to me, I'm…I don't know if I'm a pacifist. I don't want to categorize myself, but I believe in peace. I believe in the good in people. I always try to keep the 'PMA' [Positive Mental Attitude] and if I meet someone, I try to see the good things rather than the bad things first. I figure out there's something evil in every one of us, but I try to mostly focus on the good things. I try to get that out of people and out of the band and out of music. I think that adds a lot more to music and makes it even stronger, especially since the titles are so graphic. You can think that we write about horrible things and we do, but it's a reflection. It's like 'Look, this is how fucked-up the world is. Let's come up with a solution and deal with it. At least deal with it and stick together to find a way of dealing without going insane.' That's how I see it. That's the very short version of it. [Laughs]"

On whether he's thought about writing a solo album:

Mille: "The thought popped up before in my mind. I have so many interests in music. I like so many different styles that I was thinking about doing a solo album, yes. But… to be honest, I'm the main songwriter in KREATOR and it's a timing issue. I don't have the time to write a solo album that I would be excited about, if you know what I mean. I'm not the kind of musician that just puts out something for the sake of putting out something. If I would write a solo album, it would occupy my time for at least a half year to a year. KREATOR is very busy. [Laughs]"

On whether he would consider writing an album again similar to KREATOR's '90s output when the band experimented with goth and industrial sounds:

Mille: "I do write music like I did back in the '90s. If you listen closely on 'Gods Of Violence', there is the song I mentioned earlier, 'Death Becomes My Light', [which] has a goth touch to it. There are certain parts that have goth touches and more strange PINK FLOYD-ish atmospheric parts. The '90s, you have to understand that when the '90s were happening, we were experiencing a change in technology, which was not normal. We were experiencing Pro Tools, we were experiencing sequencers and of course, as a musician you want to explore these things. You should go crazy with it. That's what we did in the '90s. Nowadays, these technologies are common and normal, so there's no use in experimenting anymore; we use them differently. We use these technologies differently nowadays. On a musical level, I'm totally happy with what I can do with KREATOR nowadays. An album has ten to twelve songs and I can have ten to twelve different vibes going from total thrash metal to traditional heavy metal to kind of a goth vibe, punk rock, hardcore, all of my favorite kinds of music. Like I said, in the '90s, I look at music sometimes as movies because I'm a movie nerd. I remember when I wrote the two albums 'Outcast' and 'Endorama'. Those were my 'Dogme' albums. There was this director, there was a group of directors and [Danish director] Lars Von Trier was part of this group, they were putting out movies where they created the 'Dogme' for each movie. For example, you were not allowed to do certain edits and were only allowed to have a hand camera. We did that on 'Outcast'. On 'Outcast', we were like 'Okay, we don't write a fast song. We only go to a certain beat.' On 'Endorama', for example, we're like 'Okay, we'll write the most dark album ever.' That kind of thing we wanted to do. We don't want to do that anymore."

"Gods Of Violence" was released on January 27 via Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork for the disc was created by renowned artist Jan Meininghaus, who also made the limited-edition artwork for KREATOR's last album, 2012's "Phantom Antichrist", and has lent his talents to bands like BOLT THROWER, ACCEPT and OVERKILL in the past. The exclusive North American cover was created by renowned artist Marcelo Vasco, who has previously worked with SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY and HATEBREED.

SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker has spoken out against President Donald Trump's plan to construct a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, saying that "building borders is not the answer."

A cornerstone of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, the wall's effectiveness has been questioned by many, with some describing it as "limited at best " and "impractical at worst." Immigration advocacy groups argue it would not stem illegal border crossings.

Trump has vowed that Mexico will eventually fund the border wall, which could end up costing well over $21 billion, despite the country repeatedly stating it would not pay.

As a German national, Schenker seen how the Berlin Wall — which separated East and West Germany both physically and politically — has had many long-lasting consequences through its division of families, friends, a culture and a nation.

Asked by Loudwire what is advice to be to somebody who is in support of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, Rudolf said: "I'll tell you one thing: as we learned, building borders is not the answer. It's not the way. I think that's maybe a momentum, but I think sooner or later the wall will be gone because walls never last a long time. Okay, we have [the Great Wall of China] now, but that's more of a tourist attraction than a wall for keeping other people away from everyone else. In this case, what can I say? I'm not a politician, but I'm very sad when I see things like that because time is going backwards. Some people [are] going away from the wall and taking the wall down and now other people are building one again. It's stupid, but that's the way life goes sometimes."

Last month, the House of Representatives earmarked $1.6 billion to be put toward the wall, a fraction of the estimated cost of the project.

Rudolf is not the first hard rock musician to voice opposition in public to Trump's proposed border wall. Back in March, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Mexico's Las Estrellas television network: "I don't think the world needs any walls. I think we need to bring people together." He continued: "METALLICA travels all over the world, and through music we try to bring people together. So whether we're in Mexico or whether we're in Asia or whether we're in Europe or whatever, we encourage as many different people from as many different backgrounds to come together and share music and life and culture and all these experiences."

Norwegian progressive black avantgardists ENSLAVED will release their new album, "E", on October 13 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2015's "In Times" was recorded at Duper & Solslottet Studios in Bergen and was once again mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden.

A press release states: "This fourteenth full-length masterpiece sets the musical mind-twisters free from genre boundaries and offers an unprecedented mix of prog, extreme metal and shoegaze on eight tracks with a play time of more than an hour.

"The album was once again written by the unholy alliance of guitarist Ivar Bjørnson and singer and bassist Grutle Kjellson and marks the introduction of their new keyboard master and clean vocalist Håkon Vinje.

"'E' heralds a new era for ENSLAVED. Its cover artwork was once again hand-painted by the Norwegian artist Truls Espedal.

"As support for their brave sound journey, the quintet brought several guest musicians on board for the songs 'Hiindsiight' and 'Feathers Of Eolh', including WARDRUNA's Einar Kvitrafn Selvik, flutist Daniel Mage and jazz saxophonist Kjetil Møster."

Ivar explains the "E" title: "The concept of the album lies in both its meaning as a letter in the latin alphabet and its runic reference: the rune 'Ehwaz', that is depicted as an 'M' when drawn as rune (just to make sure it gets really confusing) — the runes are drawn to look like what they literally mean. Ehwaz (pronounced and used as what's known as E, but drawn as an 'M') looks like and means 'horse.' Which is closely linked to its esoteric meaning; which is 'trust' and 'co-operation.' One of mankind's oldest and deepest pairings/collaborations with any 'outside' entities is with the horse. When they were first tamed and utilized, there must have arisen the notion of some esoteric link between the two; now we could move swiftly, escape faster and even eat and drink from the animal (both horse milk and horse blood), and of course show off and brag before our enemies and peers with the most spectacular horses.

"So, no, it is not about horses! It is about the symbioses that surrounds us; which are vital to our existence, to our development — on all scales: man and vessel (for instance horse, yes), a person and its significant other, child and parent, musician and instrument, chaos and order, subconscious and conscious, Oden and Sleipnir — wisdom and communication. There are many levels and variations of this concept on the album; the duality of man and nature, present and past personalities within one self, the conscious fear and the subconscious drive. And other symbiosis."

"E" is now available for pre-order through Nuclear Blast's online store in a variety of packages, including green and brown vinyl.

"E" track listing

01. Storm Son02. The River's Mouth03. Sacred Horse04. Axis Of The Worlds05. Feathers Of Eolh06. Hiindsiight07. Djupet (bonus track)08. What Else Is There? (RÖYKSOPP cover; bonus track)

"I'm always psyched and proud when we have finished an album recording, and this is no exception!" states Kjellson. "It was a really exciting process this time, with the lineup change and everything, so although it wasn't a dramatic change, the band dynamics were suddenly different. But, it was like a little re-boot, a fresh start so to speak. The studio sessions were great, and we all feel that we have done something truly amazing. We hope you'll enjoy it. Ugh!"

Bjørnson recently stated about ENSLAVED's new album: "I have never worked this hard to put together music for an album before. We are a tighter unit than ever before, which is obvious sonically. The concept conjured by myself and old war-brother Grutle is the strongest we have worked with. Finally, I am proud that we have taken more risks than ever before, and one in particular — and it is yielding awesome results. What does that mean? Stay tuned to find out!"

Profesionally filmed video footage of TRIVIUM performing its new song, "The Sin And The Sentence", earlier today (Friday, August 3) at the Woodstock Festival Poland can be seen below. The track, which has been made available for purchase as a digital single through online retailers, marks the band's first recording with drummer Alex Bent (BATTLECROSS, DECREPIT BIRTH), who joined TRIVIUM in late 2016.

"The Sin And The Sentence" is expected to appear on TRIVIUM's follow-up to 2015's "Silence In The Snow" album, tentatively due this fall via Roadrunner.

Asked why it has been so difficult for TRIVIUM's core trio — guitarist Corey Beaulieu and bassist Paolo Gregoletto and guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy — to keep a drummer in the last few years, Paolo told Germany's Grasser Production this past March: "I don't know. Alex is touring with us right now, and we're not rushing into anything. We wanna make sure he likes the situation, he likes the songs. We're having fun touring with him, he's an incredible drummer, and once we get done with the touring, we'll see what happens next. The other guys, we just rushed into every situation, so we're not making the same mistake for a fifth time. We decided to learn from our lessons, which is give it some time, tour with the dudes, see how they actually are on tour, 'cause that exposes a lot about people's personalities and playing. And we're just kind of taking it as we go. Matt, Corey and I have been doing it for so long, we have a set way we like to do things. We're very demanding of each other and of ourselves and our playing and how we are on tour, and we expect nothing less from whoever is behind us on the kit. And thankfully, Alex is a super-pro player, great person, [he's] crushing it live, [and he has] a lot of experience."

Bent's predecessor, Paul Wandtke made his live debut with TRIVIUM in December 2015 at Knotfest in Mexico. A short time later, he appeared in an official promotional photo with the three core members of the band.

Paul joined the Florida outfit on the recommendation of DREAM THEATER's Mike Mangini and replaced Mat Madiro, who departed due to reasons of "creativity."

Madiro was the featured drummer on TRIVIUM's latest album, "Silence In The Snow", which was released in October 2015 via Roadrunner.

SLAYER's concert last night (Saturday, August 5) at the Forum in Inglewood, California was reportedly filmed for a forthcoming DVD.

Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH, who supported SLAYER at the Forum show (along with LAMB OF GOD), wrote on his Facebook page a few hours before the gig: "Playing in a legendary The Forum tonight. SLAYER is shooting DVD. Proud to be part of this historical day."

In a recent interview with Westword, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King said that he had no desire to change up the band's sound or explore new musical territory.

"If SLAYER ended tomorrow, I'd be in a band that sounds just like SLAYER, because that's all I know how to make up," King said.

"I like AC/DC for being AC/DC. I like JUDAS PRIEST for being JUDAS PRIEST. I think people like SLAYER because we sound like SLAYER, and they don't want us to do anything else," he added. "As far as maturing, going different directions, I have no desire."

King also defended SLAYER's decision to carry on after the death of the band's co-founding guitarist, Jeff Hanneman, who wrote many of SLAYER's classic songs, and the departure of the group's original drummer, Dave Lombardo.

While writing material for SLAYER's 2015 "Repentless" album, "I was really just going for good stuff more than ever," King said. "Ninety-five percent of it was put on my shoulders for the first time. I wanted to make sure that I had a record that wasn't only awesome in my eyes, but pretty much bulletproof. More so than ever. You know how the Internet is. So many people say, 'Jeff's not here. Dave's not here. It isn't the same.' I said, 'Yes, motherfucker. It is the same.' I mean, there are some differences. I don't want to belittle that. But the SLAYER machine keeps on going."

"Repentless" was released on September 11, 2015 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2009's critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated "World Painted Blood" was produced by Terry Date, who has previously worked with PANTERA, DEFTONES and SOUNDGARDEN. The artwork was created by Brazilian artist Marcelo Vasco in collaboration with Tom Araya and Kerry King.

"Repentless" debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 50,000 equivalent album units in the week ending September 17, 2015.