American metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH have vowed to continue their European tour, one day after they played an abbreviated concert in Tilburg, The Netherlands during which singer Ivan Moody threatened to leave the band.

Said the group in a statement: "Those who have followed 5FDP from the beginning can tell you there has always been an element of danger and unpredictability in our music and in our shows. That's rock 'n' roll. When you do over 150 shows in a year, you will inevitably have a few derailments, but the train always keeps on moving. Last night in Tilburg was one of those instances, but as they say, you aren't a race car driver if you don't wreck a car or two.

"We can't wait to put on amazing shows tomorrow night at Nova Rock all the way to our just-announced winter tour all over Europe. See you all on the race track....bring a helmet…"

A friend of Moody, Tommy Vext (DIVINE HERESY, SNOT), handled lead vocals for FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH for the first song of the group's set in Tilburg before Ivan joined his bandmates for the remainder of the concert.

At one point, Moody told the audience they were seeing his last show with the band, although it now appears that his comment was meant in jest.

This is not the first time FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has been forced to cut short a show due to issues involving the band's lead singer. Last November, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH walked off stage in Worcester, Massachusetts because Moody was unable to perform.

Moody previously had an onstage meltdown during a May 2015 show in Memphis. The incident was blamed on his abuse of alcohol and drugs. He entered rehab after that.

The official lyric video for "Clear The Way (December 13th, 1862)", a brand new song from ICED EARTH, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Incorruptible", which will be released on June 16 via Century Media. The cover artwork for the disc (as well as additional illustrations to every song) was created by David Newman-Stump from Skeleton Crew Tattoo (pencil illustrations) and Roy Young (colors).

"Incorruptible" track listing:

01. Great Heathen Army (5:21)02. Black Flag (4:56)03. Raven Wing (6:25)04. The Veil (4:47)05. Seven Headed Whore (3:00)06. The Relic (Part 1) (4:59)07. Ghost Dance (Awaken The Ancestors) (6:35)08. Brothers (4:45)09. Defiance (4:08)10. Clear The Way (December 13th, 1862) (9:30)

"Incorruptible" will be available in the following formats:

* Deluxe CD digipak with extensive booklet, fold-out poster and slipcase (only available in Europe)* CD digipak (only available in the USA)* Strictly limited artbook with 36-page booklet with introduction, additional artworks, sketches and comments by Jon Schaffer to each individual song, CD and double 10" vinyl, worldwide limited to only 3000 copies* Deluxe 2LP version in various vinyl colors (see below for exact color split) with gatefold sleeve, 4-page lyric sheet, 180-gram vinyl, black anti-static inner sleeves, etching and 12-page LP-booklet with artworks to each of the 10 songs* Standard CD jewel case* Digital download / stream

The 2LP version of "Incorruptible" is offered in the following vinyl colors:

* Black vinyl: unlimited and offered through all retail channels* Dark-green vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively available in the U.K.* Yellow vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively available in France* Clear vinyl: limited to 100 copies, exclusively available at Century Media's European online store* Lilac vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively available at Nuclear Blast* Silver vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively available at EMP* Transparent-red vinyl: limited to 500 copies, distributed through RED in the USA* White vinyl: limited to 300 copies, exclusively offered in the USA through F.Y.E.* Transparent-orange vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively sold by ICED EARTH on tour

The artbook version of "Incorruptible" will be offered in the following vinyl colors:

* Transparent-red vinyl: main version, available through all retail channels* Clear vinyl: limited to 100 copies, exclusively available at Century Media's European online store* Golden vinyl: limited to 200 copies, available at various online stores* Black vinyl: limited to 200 copies, available at various online stores* Silver vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively available at Nuclear Blast* Transparent-orange vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively sold by ICED EARTH on tour

Regarding how "Incorruptible" compares to previous ICED EARTH albums, guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer told Metal Wani: "They're all kind of their own thing, but I have a very strong gut feeling about this, and so does everybody in the band, that this is one of the really special ones. So I put it up there with 'The Dark Saga' [1996], 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' [1998], 'Dystopia' [2011] — it's in that league of records — so it's really gonna be something special, man. I know musicians always say that, but there is something going on here, so it's cool. We're all very excited about it."

On the topic of the concept for the lyrics on "Incorruptible", Schaffer said: "There is no concept on this record; it's just ten individual tracks not related to each other. Actually, on 'Plagues Of Babylon' [2014], it was only the first six that were related to the 'Something Wicked' story; it was like a zombie apocalypse within the 'Something Wicked' framework. But this album, it's just ten individual songs. We have one called 'Clear The Way', which is about the Irish Brigade at the Battle Of Fredericksburg — very tragic, actually — but that's a big epic, like ten minutes; and then we have one called 'Black Flag', which is a pirate song. It's quite a… I think I pulled it off pretty well with the lyrics, to be able to tell such a big story in a very short amount of time. I think it's gonna be a highlight of the record. And then on [the last European] tour, [we opened] the show with a new song that will be the opener on the album — it's called 'Great Heathen Army' — that's got a Viking kind of a vibe to it. So there's a lot of different things, and none of it's really related. There's one called 'Raven Wing'… I can't really think of all of them righ now… 'Seven Headed Whore' — that's one that's actually pretty brutal; it's like a total kick in the balls. But, you know, there's a lot of varied emotions on this, and it's cool stuff, man."

Asked about singer Stu Block's contribution to "Incorruptible", Schaffer said: "Well, he came at the end of… for about the last month or so of pre-production… maybe a little bit more… five weeks… and we worked on his vocal parts. We do it like Stu and I normally do it. Some of the stuff we write together. I mean, I write the musical arrangements and do all that — he doesn't play any instruments — but he comes in… At the end of the writing process is when we focus on his parts. And the lyrics that we worked on together, on a song called 'Brother', which is about our brotherhood, [between] Stu and I and within the band… We've gone through a lot of shit together and we've had a lot of great times together, but the bond is very strong, and that's clear. So it's just a song, really, for us. And then he wrote the lyrics for 'The Great Heathen Army'. I'm trying to think… I can't think of 'em, man; I have to look at the list [of songs]. But usually, he goes to an area and works, and I go in my area and work. And, like I said, on some songs we collaborate sometimes. On this one, the only we did was 'Brother'… We work in the way we always work. And it's a very cool chemistry."

ICED EARTH took a break from touring in 2015, primarily due to Schaffer's second cervical fusion surgery.

Longtime ICED EARTH drummer Brent Smedley returned to the band for the current recording and touring cycle. Smedley had to step down due to personal family reasons in 2013 shortly before the recording of "Plagues Of Babylon".

Proto-metal legends BLUE CHEER's debut album, "Vincebus Eruptum", will be released on Limited Edition Hybrid SACD by Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity.

Rock and roll had grown louder and wilder by leaps and bounds during the '60s, but when BLUE CHEER emerged from San Francisco on to the national rock scene in 1968 with "Vincebus Eruptum", they crossed a line which most musicians and fans hadn't even thought to draw yet. The album features a heavy, thunderous blues sound, which would later be known as heavy metal. It also contains elements of acid rock, grunge, experimental rock, blues rock, stoner rock, and garage rock.

A commercial and critical success, "Vincebus Eruptum" peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and spawned the top-20 hit cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues".

The album has been held in high regard by many rock critics who regularly praised the band's "sound and fury" as one of the founding movements of heavy metal. No band could summon so much power with just three people. "Vincebus Eruptum" is still the BLUE CHEER album to own; it was their simplest and most forceful musical statement.

"Vincebus Eruptum" track listing:

01. Summertime Blues 02. Rock Me Baby 03. Doctor Please 04. Out Of Focus 05. Parchment Farm 06. Second Time Around

Produced by Abe "Voco" KeshMastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent AudioSACD Authoring: Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering

For more information, visit www.audifidelity.net.

DIRKSCHNEIDER — the band fronted by former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. singer Udo Dirkschneider — will release "Live – Back To The Roots - Accepted!" on August 4 in Europe and August 18 in the USA as a DVD/2CD, Blu-ray/2CD and gatefold triple vinyl in two different colors.

After putting out the live double CD last year, fans were asking for a visual output, so finally, in December 2016, the show in Brno, Czech Republic was recorded for that purpose. Besides many classics from Dirkscheider's ACCEPT era, there's a cover version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" as a bonus track on the CD and vinyl.

Track listing digipak:

CD1

01. Intro02. Starlight03. Living For Tonite04. Flash Rockin‘ Man05. London Leatherboys06. Midnight Mover07. Breaker08. Head Over Heels09. Neon Night10. Princess Of The Dawn11. Winter Dreams12. Restless And Wild13. Son Of A Bitch14. Up To The Limit

CD2

15. Wrong Is Right16. Midnight Highway17. Screaming For A Love-Bite18. Monsterman19. T.V. War20. Losers And Winners21. Metal Heart22. I'm A Rebel23. Fast As A Shark24. Balls To The Wall25. Burning26. Outro27. My Way (Bonus)

Blu-ray:

01. Intro02. Starlight03. Living For Tonite04. Flash Rockin' Man05. London Leatherboys06. Midnight Mover07. Breaker08. Head Over Heels09. Neon Night10. Princess Of The Dawn11. Winter Dreams12. Restless And Wild13. Son Of A Bitch14. Up To The Limit15. Wrong Is Right16. Midnight Highway17. Screaming For A Love-Bite18. Monsterman19. T.V. War20. Losers And Winners21. Metal Heart22. I'm A Rebel23. Fast As A Shark24. Balls To The Wall25. Burning26. Outro

Dirkschneider spent the last year and a half touring under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner, performing classic ACCEPT songs for the last time. The trek, which was originally supposed to conclude with the band's North American run in January/February, has now been extended through early 2018.

In a message on the DIRKSCHNEIDER Facebook page, Udo explained his decision to continue touring as DIRKSCHNEIDER, saying: "Originally it was our plan to go back to touring with U.D.O. in 2017. But we have received an incredible number of emails and letters from fans begging us to continue with DIRKSCHNEIDER, and as there are still so many (ACCEPT) songs left to be sung, we have decided to bow to your demands!

"During the last tours with DIRKSCHNEIDER, the audience had a lot of fun, and we as a band also had the time of our lives on stage. In fact, a whole lot of people in countries all over the world have been knocked out by these shows. Just check out all the media (especially from the U.S., where we have just finished a five-week tour) and you will read the caption 'tour of the year' multiple times…

"We are thrilled by the idea of continuing and we are really looking forward to seeing you all again live on tour!

"Oh, we nearly forgot to tell you about possibly the most important point of all: From October 2017 on, DIRKSCHNEIDER will tour with an almost completely NEW setlist. Of course, it will still contain only ACCEPT hits, but this time with many different songs compared to the last tours."

DIRKSCHNEIDER released a live album called "Live - Back To The Roots" in October via AFM Records. The effort, which was recorded on April 2, 2016 at Kaminwerk in Memmingen, Germany, was made available as two-CD digipak and gatefold three-vinyl in four different colors (black, gold, silver and clear).

In addition to Udo, the DIRKSCHNEIDER band on the recent tours included his son Sven Dirkschneider on drums, Fitty Wienhold on bass, Andrey Smirnov on guitar and Kasperi Heikkinen on guitar. Kasperi has since left the group and was replaced by Bill Hudson.

Belgium's busy-as-a-beaver death metal sickos ABORTED have recorded two new tracks for you, which are going to be released under the title "Bathos" as a limited 7" vinyl EP and digitally.

The 7" version will be released on July 7th! If you want to check out the two tracks first, then visit the streaming/download platform of your choice on June 30th, because both tracks will be online by then already!

"Bathos" is a fine example of what ABORTED have managed to achieve by hard work, staying focussed, excellent musicianship and the unwavering belief in what they are doing by offering two prime tracks of relentlessly raging, barbaric and horror-laden insane brutal death metal.

The 7" version of "Bathos" can be pre-ordered directly at CM Distro as of today! Pre-order your copy here.

It's available in the following vinyl colours:
Black vinyl: limited to 700 copies
Transparent-red vinyl: limited to 100 copies, exclusively available at CM Distro
Clear vinyl: limited to 200 copies

"Bathos" tracklist:
Side A
1. Bathos
Side B
2. Fallacious Crescendo

EMPEROR frontman Ihsahn (real name: Vegard Sverre Tveitan) will enter Sonic Attic Studio in Notodden, Norway next week to begin recording his new solo album. Laying down the drum tracks on the follow-up to last year's "Arktis" disc will be Tobias Ørnes Andersen, who has previously played in the Norwegian bands SHINING and LEPROUS.

"Arktis" was recorded at Ihsahn's studio in Notodden, Norway and was mixed in Sweden by Jens Bogren (OPETH, KATATONIA). The album featured guest appearances from Einar Solberg (LEPROUS), Matt Heafy (TRIVIUM), Jorgen Munkeby (SHINING) and renowned Norwegian author Hans Herbjornsrud. Graphic elements for "Arktis" once again were provided by award-winning Spanish designer Ritxi Ostariz.

Asked if he follows today's black metal scene and what his opinion is on it, Ihsahn told Metal Jacket Magazine last year: "I don't really follow anything. [Laughs] I guess that was my problem, even at the start. I must admit that it was always my colleague Samoth [guitar] from EMPEROR who had the big network and connections and everything. And I've been kind of tagging along and focusing on doing the music and writing lyrics and all that."

He continued: "It's kind of paradox. I mean, this whole black metal scene, with all these rules and kind of fashion police [laughs] coming out from this very individualistic and free-thought type of philosophy. So, for me, I think, in my own mind, what I do now musically is still black metal. For me, it comes from the same source. So, to me, black metal is not a type of guitar sound played at this or this speed with screeching vocals. For me, black metal is an attitude and an atmosphere. For me, Diamanda Galás' 'Plague Mass' is just as black metal as any BATHORY album."

In 1983, Star Licks Productions created a series of instructional videos featuring well-known musicians demonstrating their unique musical styles and techniques. The portfolio debuted with a wide-ranging group of players including Steve Lukather of Toto, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, guitarist Albert Lee, and acclaimed guitarist/educator Wolf Marshall.

In one of the videos, Queen’s Brian May discussed his equipment and techniques, and demonstrates a number of his guitar solos. He covers both famous and lesser known Queen songs, including “Brighton Rock”, “Tie Your Mother Down”, “Somebody To Love”, “It's Late”, “Dead On Time”, “Put Out The Fire”, “It's A Hard Life”, “Keep Yourself Alive”, “Jesus”, “Father To Son” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”.

Watch a clip featuring “Tie Your Mother Down” below.

The programme was produced and directed by Mark Freed and Robert Decker, and recorded at Sarm West, London, England. The video was originally released in 1983 and later reissued in 1993/4.

Note from Brian: “Mark initially came to me with an idea for making audio cassettes of guitarists explaining their techniques. It seemed a good one and we arranged to meet and make it happen. But I said ... if we’re going to the trouble of recording this stuff, why not film it as well, and make it into a Video Cassette ?! So we made a ‘pilot’ video, and people liked it, and this became the template for a whole collection of videos which, I think, stand up very well to this day. Maybe we should do an update?!”

Subscribe to Brian May’s channel here.

Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates 2017:

June
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Gila River Arena
24 - Las Vegas, NV - T-Mobile Arena
26 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
29 - San Jose, CA - SAP Center

July
1 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
2 - Vancouver, BC - Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
4 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
6 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center Arena
8 - Omaha, NE - CenturyLink Arena
9 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
13 - Chicago, IL - United Center
14 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
17 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
18 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
20 - Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
23 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
25 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
26 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
28 - New York, NY - Barclays Center
30 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
31 - Washington D.C. - Verizon Center

August
2 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
4 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
5 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

November
1 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
2 - Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
4 - Budapest, Hungary - Sportarena
6 - Lodz, Poland - Atlas Arena
8 - Vienna, Austria - Stadhalle
10 - Bologna, Italy - Unipol Arena
12 - Luxembourg, Amneville - Galaxie
13 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome
17 - Kaunas, Lithuania - Zalgiris Arena
25 - Dublin, Ireland - 3 Arena
26 - Belfast, Ireland - SSE Arena
28 - Liverpool, England - Echo Arena
30 - Birmingham, England - Barclaycard Arena

December
1 - Newcastle, England - Metro Radio Arena
3 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro
5 - Nottingham, England - Motorpoint Arena
6 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena
8 - Sheffield, England - Motorpoint Arena
9 - Manchester, England - Arena
12 - London, England - 02 Arena
15 - London, England - The SSE Arena, Wembley

During a recent interview with Rock Feed, Ghost frontman/founder Papa Emeritus (Tobias Forge) revealed he would be hitting the studio in August with a new batch of Nameless Ghouls to record the band's next album:

"Come August 14th, it's not gonna be a big day for mankind but it's going to be a big week for myself because I'm going into the studio and we're going to start recording the new album. The rest of the fall is going to be recording. While it's not going to be a big event for all y'all, it's going to be a big event for us."

Check out the interview below, featuring Forge dressed as a Nameless Ghoul.

In a new interview with CBS Philly Forge discussed the history and nature of the band, which is more of a solo project at the end of the day. An excerpt from the story is available below.

Forge: "I started writing songs for it in 2006. There has been about 10 to 15 people now going in and out of the band so, there’s been a lot of rotation. It’s never really been a band in the classic sense in that you have someone who plays his or hers instrument and that she or he is the only person in the world that can make it sound like that. People have a tendency to want to feel that they’re very important for something. If it’s not crucial that they’re there, there will also be a little bit of a friction there."

Go to this location for the complete story.

American rock act CKY has debuted a third new single today titled "Head For A Breakdown". This is the final song fans will hear from the band before the release of the new LP, "The Phoenix". CKY released "Replaceable" a couple of weeks ago, and "Days Of Self Destruction" (featuring Brent Hinds) before that.

"'Head For A Breakdown' seemed to write itself," says CKY vocalist Chad I Ginsburg. "In a sense, it's a song about taking things too far when you darn right know it won't end well but you do it anyway. Go figure. The mid solo section is an epic break unlike any we have done in the past. Very proud of this song."

In addition to all pre-orders now being live, all three tracks are also available as instant-gratification tracks on iTunes, meaning fans who pre-order the album on iTunes will receive the tracks as instant downloads.

"The Phoenix" will be released on June 16 via eOne Music. The all-new LP will be the first release since CKY put out "Carver City" in 2009. The disc was engineered and mixed at Rancho De La Luna, the highly regarded recording studio in Joshua Tree, California.

The cover art for "The Phoenix" can be seen below. The band commissioned chandelier maker and artist Adam Wallacavage to create a one-of-a-kind piece for the cover.

CKY has tour dates booked all summer highlighted by a return to the 2017 Vans Warped Tour. This is the band's first time returning to the Warped Tour since 2000.

Chad I Ginsburg steps into the frontman role with charisma, charm, and bravado, confidently delivering a diverse performance as he claims a position that was clearly rightfully his to own. He's joined in enduring partnership and musical and personal chemistry by fellow CKY co-founder, Jess Margera, the drummer whose extracurricular work in projects like THE COMPANY BAND (with guys from CLUTCH and FIREBALL MINISTRY) expanded CKY's horizons as much as Ginsburg's solo work has as well. The duo returned to their primary project refreshed and reenergized, with bassist Matt Deis (ex-ALL THAT REMAINS), who first joined CKY in 2005.

GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA and DEFTONES have all personally invited CKY on tour, cementing a legacy as a hard-charging live act. CKY built a worldwide fanbase of dedicated acolytes, friends, and supporters, lovingly dubbed the CKY Alliance, with a broader group of musicians, athletes, and other creative types in the CKY family, both literally and figuratively.

"We're grown adults now with an eagle-eye perspective on who we are, what we do, and how to do it right," Ginsburg declares, with matter-of-fact certainty. "None of us are out there in the clouds. We're pretty well-grounded people that have an honest perspective on where we're at."

"The Phoenix" track listing:

01. Replaceable02. Days of Self Destruction03. Unknown Enemy04. Head For a Breakdown05. The Other Ones06. Wiping Off The Dead07. Lies From You08. Better Than Get Even

HINDER will release its new studio album, "The Reign", on August 11 via BMG/The End. For this album, the band dug deep to try to express the emotional struggle of the rock and roll life. They explain: "The constant emotional expenditure that an artist must do in order to always be creating and the ups and downs of a career in music tends to lead to substance abuse and suicides. Unfortunately, the world has lost way too many music legends this way. Overall, this album is definitely darker and heavier than most of the past HINDER albums. However, for our old-school fans, it also has a few songs that have that signature 'HINDER' sound."

"The Reign" includes "Remember Me", a heavy song about trying to get your head above water while buckling under the weight of how you'll be remembered. The song is now available for download and can be streamed below.

"The Reign" track listing:

01. The Reign02. Burn It Down03. King Of The Letdown04. Remember Me05. Too Late06. Another Way Out07. Making It Hard08. Drink You Away09. Play To Win10. Long Gone11. Loser's Salute

HINDER is fresh off a major U.S. tour with NONPOINT and NINE SHRINES, and will perform select shows leading to the album release.

Photo credit: Doug Schwarz Photography

Unique Leader Records has announced the signing of Phoenix, Arizona-based death metal quartet, Lago, for the release of the band's impending second LP.

Issues Lago of their new album which is currently under construction, "With this record, we are really trying to step outside of the box that we've created for ourselves. Our previous stuff is very heavily influenced by Morbid Angel and Emperor, and though those influences are still very heavy in our sound, we really want to make sure we just aren't going to put out the same record as our last one, Tyranny. A lot of the new stuff we're doing is exclusively two-part guitar. We wouldn't go and call this a prog record, but in terms of what's going on within the songs themselves I would say the guitar work is a lot busier. Lyrically, I think you can expect a lot of similarities. Our country is a crazy place right now with the political climate and a seemingly divided population. There's a lot of vile, and disgusting things happening, and I think that will reflect in the writing and really set the tone for the album."

Lago was founded in January 2010 and released their first EP, Marianas, on Pale Horse Records in November 2010. Following two subsequent demos, Lago fully erupted into the scene in 2014 with the release of their Tyranny debut LP through Battleground Records. The record showed the band delivering a ferocious brew of classic but modernized death metal, surrounded in a blackened fog, wholly bearing an oppressive atmosphere, and received acclaim from a wide array of respected media outlets and fans alike.

Following some personnel restructuring over the next year, Lago returned with a new lineup in 2016, immediately issuing a split 7" with Poland's Calm Hatchery, which saw co-release through Battleground Records and Selfmadegod Records. Lago's prior attributes on the succinct but flooring new release were magnified from their prior material, sounding more ferocious and technically-advanced than ever before.

Stand by for additional info on Lago's impending second album upon its completion in the months ahead.

Lago lineup:

Cole Jacobsen - guitars/vocals
Garrett Thomas - bass/vocals
Gus Barr - lead guitars
Neil Koch - drums

Düsseldorf, Germany-based Celtic metal band, SuidAkrA, performed at Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival in the summer of 2011. Video of the band’s full performance is available for streaming below.

Setlist:

“Over Nine Waves”
“Dowth 2059”
“Isle Of Skye”
“Biróg's Oath”
“Stone Of The Seven Suns”
“Let Me Put My Love Into You” (AC/DC cover)
“Wartunes”

Cellar Darling, the new band formed by ex-Eluveitie members Anna Murphy, Merlin Sutter and Ivo Henzi, have released a third official video trailer for their upcoming album, This Is The Sound, out on June 30th via Nuclear Blast. Watch three trailers below.

Tracklisting:

“Avalanche”
“Black Moon”
“Challenge”
“Hullaballoo”
“Six Days”
“The Hermit”
“Water”
“Fire, Wind & Earth”
“Rebels”
“Under The Oak Tree…”
“…High Above These Crowns”
“Starcrusher”
“Hedonia”
“Redemption”

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

Trailer #3:

“Black Moon” video:

“Challenge”:

“Fire, Wind & Earth”:

Studio trailer:

Cellar Darling have announced three festival shows for Europe this summer. Their schedule is currently as follows:

July
14 - Bôle, Switzerland - ParaBôle Festival

August
17 - Dinkelsbühl, Germany - Summer Breeze
25 - Gränichen, Switzerland - Open Air Gränichen

New England-based death squad, Scalpel, have released a lyric video for new single, "Feeding The Worm”. The song is taken from forthcoming album, Methods To Delusion. Watch the video below.

Scalpel will self-release  Methods to Delusion on July 25th. A promo video for another new song, "Labors Of Loathing”, is also available for streaming below.

Crusted severed toes nailed to walls; humans covered head to toe in needles administering horrific psychoactive chemicals; an infants head being turned to apple sauce on a kitchen counter's edge - these are only fragments of the surreal and vicious stories told on Scalpel’s Methods To Delusion. Wielding chainsaw guitars and sledgehammer percussion, Methods To Delusion brings back a psychedelic element to extreme music, inflicting chaos and sickening truth unto the listener.

The album was engineered by Colin Marston (Gorguts) at Thousand Caves Studios. Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

“The Cleaner”
“Labors Of Loathing”
“The Stink”
“Feeding The Worm”
“Interdelude”
“Methods To Delusion”
“The Woodsman (Part II)”
“Brooding In The Gloom”
“Lung Butter”
“Intensified Festering”

“Feeding The Worm” lyric video:

“Labors Of Loathing”:

Steven Wilson has released a video for the track “Song Of I”, featured on his upcoming fifth album, To The Bone. The clip, featuring Sophie Hunger, is available for streaming below.

To The Bone is a gloriously dynamic modernist pop record as imagined by the UK's biggest underground artist. The album releases on August 18th. Pre-orders are live at this location.

Fusing driving futurist rock and spectral electronics to elegiac hyper-space ambience and dizzying, squalling guitars, To The Bone is Steven Wilson's hat-tip to the hugely ambitious progressive pop records of his youth (think Peter Gabriel's So, Talk Talk's Colour Of Spring, Tears For Fears' Seeds Of Love).

Lyrically, the album's 11 tracks veer from the paranoid chaos of the post-truth era and the creeping self-loathing of the technology age to steely fly-on-the-wall observations of the everyday lives of religious fundamentalists with a welcome shot or two of wide-eyed escapism. Sonically and melodically stunning, To The Bone is a high definition snapshot of the disconcerting times we live in.

The follow up to 2015’s Hand. Cannot. Erase., To The Bone is Steven Wilson’s first album since signing with Caroline International (Iggy Pop, Underworld, Thurston Moore, Glass Animals).

Formerly the founder and mainstay of outsider rock band Porcupine Tree, Steven released his first record under his own name, Insurgentes, in 2008. He has been resolutely independent throughout a three-decade career that’s made him the most successful British artist you've never heard of.

Tracklisting:

“To The Bone”
“Nowhere Now”
“Pariah”
“The Same Asylum As Before”
“Refuge”
“Permanating”
“Blank Tapes”
“People Who Eat Darkness”
“Song Of I”
“Detonation”
“Song Of Unborn”

“Song Of I” video:

“Pariah” video:

Boston-based death metal act, Soul Remnants, have released the new track “Echoes Of Insanity”, featured on their second full length album, Ouroboros, out on July 21st via Entertainment One Music / Lifeblood Inc. The track is available for streaming below.

"We are proud to releasing our new album Ouroboros through eOne Music / Lifeblood, Inc.  An insane amount of hard work and passion was poured into the creation of this record and we wouldn't have it any other way." says the band. "Ouroboros is as versatile as it is volatile.  Flowing seamlessly from track to track it runs the gamut from extreme technicality to filth ridden grooves, with plenty of other surprises to offer."

Ouroboros is a concept album revolving around a futuristic, dystopian war amongst all mankind. The all new effort will the follow up to their second album, Black And Blood, released in 2013.

“Echoes Of Insanity” and the previously released “Dissolving Into Obscurity" are being offered as iTunes instant gratification tracks, meaning those who pre-order the LP via iTunes will receive the songs as an instant downloads. Digital pre-orders are available here.

Tracklisting:

“Mechanical Synapse Modulations”
“Regurgitated And Consumed”
“Depravity’s Lock”
“Walled City”
“Mental Tourniquet”
“Echoes Of Insanity”
“Dissolving Into Obscurity”
“Decomposition”
“False Kingdom Of Prophecy”

“Echoes Of Insanity”:

“Dissolving Into Obscurity”:

Israel-based progressive metal band, Soul Enema, will release their new album, Of Clans And Clones And Clowns, on June 23rd. The album is now available for pre-order from Bandcamp and iTunes.

The promising band's second album represents an interesting and varied combination of influences, including 14 tracks mixed an mastered by legendary Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Paradise Lost, Symphony X).

Soul Enema has issued a statement on the forthcoming album saying: "Looking back, it took a lot of time and effort to create Of Clans And Clones And Clowns, and the final result brings the feeling of a real accomplishment. It was a long, complicated process, constantly laden with a myriad of good reasons to give up or compromise. It probably couldn't be any different, as our goal was a mature, well-produced statement, consistent in quality throughout, and at the same time versatile enough in its various moods, styles and approaches.

“A creative and diverse rock/metal album, exploring vast melodic and rhythmic territories from ABBA to Zappa, from King Crimson to King Diamond, between East and West and way beyond — in true progressive fashion. Like any reflection of the world we live in, it takes a wild ride over a wide emotional spectrum: sad, funny, perfectly sane, totally insane, very direct, quite obscure, and everything in between.”

Of Clans And Clones And Clowns also features guest contributions from Ayreon’s Arjen Lucassen, Yossi Sassi (ex-Orphaned Land, Yossi Sassi Band), Sergey Kalugin and Yuri Ruslanov (from leading Russian proggers Orgia Pravednikov).

The band commented: “We had a great honor of featuring the instrumental talents of these,  as well as other wonderful musicians. Our next aim was to ensure that all of these components  work in the final picture, and that's the reason why we welcomed one of the best guys on the list to mix and master this work — Jens Bogren. It deserved the best possible treatment, just as you as a listener deserve the best possible quality. The mixing process was far from trivial, and it took some effort to shape everything our way - clear and powerful enough, yet not overproduced. So, if you like what you hear, please order yourself a CD, or the highest quality digital download, to have it the way we really meant it to sound - full-scale and uncompromising. We hope you will have your own exciting experience with the album!”

Soul Enema have released a few singles from Of Clans And Clones And Clowns, you can check them out below.

Of Clans And Clones And Clowns tracklsting:

“Omon Ra”
“Cannibalissimo Ltd.”
“Spymania”
“Breaking The Waves”
“The Age Of Cosmic Baboon”
“In Bed With An Enemy” (ft. Y. Ruslanov, S. Kalugin)
“Last Days Of Rome”
“Dear Bollock (Was A Sensitive Man)”
“Aral Sea I - Feeding Hand”
“Aral Sea II - Dustbin Of History” (ft. Yossi Sassi)
“Aral Sea III - Epilogue” (ft. Sergey Kalugin)
“Octopus Song”
“Eternal Child” (ft. Arjen Lucassen)
“Of Clans And Clones And Clowns”

“Aral Sea III - Epilogue” video:

“Breaking The Waves” lyric video:

“In Bed With An Enemy” video:

Teaser:

Soul Enema lineup:

Noa Gruman - vocals
Yoel Genin - guitars
Michael Rosenfeld - bass, sitar, violin
Dor Levin - drums
Constantin Glantz - keyboards, programming, songwriting, production

Fan-filmed video footage of VENOM's June 10 performance at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden can be seen below.

VENOM is not to be confused with VENOM INC., the new band featuring original VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray (drums) alongside ex-VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan.

Without directly mentioning VENOM INC., VENOM guitarist Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) told Metal-Rules.com in a November 2015 interview: "Don't be fooled by pale imitations." VENOM bassist/vocalist Conrad "Cronos" Lant added: "Yes, indeed. Check out the real VENOM. We know that there's been some sites who've been putting our photographs and our VENOM logo up for a whole load of dates that don't have anything to do with us. VENOM play one-off shows, and that's the way we've always done it. And we like to have it as big and as best as we can. We don't do little club tours; that's never been the VENOM way. And we're trying to contact some of these sites to say, 'Look, you're misrepresenting the band. We don't know who this band is that you're talking about, but we're not coming to America to play thirty shows. Please get your shit together and sort it out.' But these web sites must just wanna put any shit on their site."

Cronos also talked about VENOM's musical evolution over the last three and a half decades. He said: "The thing is, the way I've always seen VENOM is… VENOM needs to be a band that evolves. You know, I don't wanna play the same songs fucking year after year after year. I wanna evolve this band. I wanna stay with a slightly commercial… Rock and roll has to be something that you remember, and a lot of the death metal stuff that's all based on the same sort of [fast rhythm], to me, it doesn't have a hook. And I've always found that with songs like 'Welcome To Hell', it's something that stays with you. I know people think 'commercial' is a dirty word with metal, and [they] can fuck off, because commercial just means something that stays with you, that you like, that you enjoy. And that's something that we do well. We come up with songs where you're still thinking about them weeks later, months later after you've heard them. They stick with you. They're not throwaway songs. We don't want any throwaway songs. If the song doesn't move you, and if you don't remember it, you don't wanna keep playing it in the car or wherever, then we throw it away; it's goodbye. We want the stuff that stays hardcore and evolving. You know, still being a bit controversial as well. You know, the song 'Smoke', I'm sure people didn't expect that one out of VENOM; it's a little bit different. But we've always done that. We got shit for '7 Gates Of Hell' back in the day. 'What the fuck? That's not like 'Angel Dust'.' But that's what I love about this band. We have the ability to just keep trying out new ideas and retaining that 'Black Metal' stamp. So fucking long may it continue."

VENOM's latest album, "From The Very Depths", was released in January 2015 via Spinefarm.

You can’t design rock ’n’ roll at the drawing board. You have to feel it from within, be really passionate if you want to play this music authentically and convincingly. Flo The Fly, guitarist with Berlin rock group Travelin Jack, refers to this phenomenon as “self-entertainment”, putting his band’s philosophy in a nutshell.

He and his three comrades-in-arms, vocalist Alia Spaceface, bassist Steve Burner and drummer Montgomery Shell, are prototypes of passionate rock musicians who won’t be deterred from following their chosen path.

“We don’t care what other people think about us, whether we rub them the wrong way or polarise,” says Flo. “We do what we believe in and what we enjoy most.”

This enthusiasm and their uncompromising attitude is the seed that has borne fruit on their upcoming new album Commencing Countdown. From September 8th, Travelin’ Jack’s latest offering will be released on Steamhammer/SPV as CD Digipak, vinyl LP, download and stream. Mark the day in your calendar, because that’s when the annals of rock music will be enhanced by another colourful chapter.

Founded in summer 2013, Travelin Jack have developed into one of Germany’s most unusual rock acts over the past four years, establishing their inimitable style, which is tailored to the vocals of Alia Spaceface, with two successful tours and shows at important festivals beyond the German borders. The general flair of Commencing Countdown may bring to mind great rock groups from the seventies, such as Thin Lizzy, Rush, Scorpions and Deep Purple, but the Berlin band’s compositions and the warm, analogue production of their new album are both contemporary and modern.

Flo: “There’s nothing retro about our material, we simply prefer the sound of the era when this music was really wicked.”

This motto is emphasised by the visual trademarks of their explosive live show - the make-up, the platform shoes and the glitter outfits which Travelin Jack are set to don when they present their album Commencing Countdown live on stage soon. As the legendary David Bowie would probably have commented: “I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring!”  

A taster of the first single and video "Keep On Running", can be found below. Both will be released by the end of June

Tracklisting:

“Land Of The River”
“Metropolis”
“Keep On Running”
“Cold Blood”
“Galactic Blue”
“Time”
“Miracles”
“What Have I Done”
“Fire”
“Journey To The Moon”

"Keep On Running" teaser:

Live dates:

August
11 - Plattenburg, Germany - Aquamaria Festival
18 - Bad Kötzting, Germany - Void Fest
19 - Luckenwalde, Germany - Sky Way Jam

September
7 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche (with  Wucan)
8 - Münster, Germany - Rare Guitar
9 - Berlin, Germany - Cassiopeia
21 - Hannover, Germany - Mephisto (with Wucan)
22 - Erfurt, Germany - Tiko
23 - Dresden, Germany - Scheune (with Wucan)

October
5 - Vienna, Austria - Das Bach (with Wucan)

Jorn have released an EPK video on the making of their recently released studio album, Life On Death Road. The new clip is available for streaming below.

Easily one of the greatest rock singers of the 21st century, Norway's very own giant Viking warrior Jorn Lande's vocals are resoundingly strong once again on his ninth original studio album, Life On Death Road. This absolutely brilliant new album sees Lande attacking the microphone with rejuvenated vigor, accompanied by a new band and a bigger and stronger sound.

Life On Death Road took several months of hard work for the songwriting vision to come together. Jorn needed to take the music to a new level to push the concept of the band further than it has ever gone before. The result is a record that is deep, strong, full of groove and powerful with anthemic songs aplenty. Songs like "Man Of The 80's", "Love Is The Remedy", Life On Death Road, "Insoluble Maze (Dreams In The Blindness)", and "The Slippery Slope (Hangman's Rope)" capture the essence of Jorn as a singer, songwriter and lyricist.

The album also marks the debut of a new lineup of very experienced and gifted musicians around the Norwegian singer. On bass is Mat Sinner (Primal Fear, Sinner, Kiske/Somerville) who needs virtually no introduction to European heavy metal fanatics. On keyboards and production is Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Revolution Saints), who already joined Jorn for the recording of his last covers album, Heavy Rock Radio, and was the glue that helped Jorn to create the feel and the direction for the new album. Francesco Iovino (Primal Fear) is on drums and Alex Beyrodt (Primal Fear, Voodoo Circle) handles guitar.

Life On Death Road tracklisting:

“Life On Death Road”
“Hammered To The Cross (The Business)”
“Love Is The Remedy”
“Dreamwalker”
“Fire To The Sun”
“Insoluble Maze (Dreams In The Blindness)”
“I Walked Away”
“The Slippery Slope (Hangman's Rope)”
“Devil You Can Drive”
“The Optimist”
“Man Of The 80's”
“Blackbirds”

EPK:

“Fire To The Sun” video:

“Life On Death Road” video:

“Love Is The Remedy” video:

“Man Of The 80's” lyric video:

Trailer:

Jorn lineup:

Jorn Lande - Vocals
Alex Beyrodt - Guitars
Mat Sinner - Bass
Alessandro Del Vecchio - Keyboards
Francesco Iovino - Drums

German metal queen Doro Pesch is celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of WARLOCK's "Triumph And Agony" album by performing the LP in its entirety at select shows around the globe.

"Triumph And Agony" was WARLOCK's fourth and final album. By the late 1980s, Pesch was the only original member remaining in the group, and under legal threats from former management, decided to carry on under the DORO banner rather than put her career on hold fighting over the WARLOCK name. (Pesch has since won back the right to use the WARLOCK moniker.)

Asked why now was the right time to go out and play the "Triumph And Agony" songs again, Doro said prior to an appearance at last week's Sweden Rock Festival (see video below): "Well, because we have our thirtieth anniversary of this big record. It was called 'Triumph And Agony', and it was the biggest record. I think it was one of the best records. And I thought, 'Man, we have to play one time the whole album in its entirety,' and we never did before. And then I called my old guitar player, Tommy Bolan, and he played on the whole record, he played all the solos. And I asked him if he was into that idea, doing a couple of shows with just the 'Triumph And Agony' album and then some encores. And he said, 'Oh, let's do it. I'm ready.' And then we were rehearsing all, yeah, the last week, and I think it sounds really good. We are playing some songs we've never played before, but I think they will sound really amazing. And I'm very excited."

Doro was asked during the same interview if she was comfortable with her status as a pioneer for women in heavy metal music. She responded: "I just always try to give it my all, and I'm so glad when people like it, when people can get some positive energy out of it. I never thought about being special or that it's different for a woman to do it. I just my thing, and it's always from the heart, from the gut. And I always wanted to become a metal singer, so it all feels natural to me. I don't put on an act or something, but when people love it… ahhh… that's, like… And the fans, to me, that's the most important thing in my life — it always was, it always will be — and so when they like it, that means the world to me."

Doro will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of "Triumph And Agony" on a short U.S. tour in September.

Confirmed dates are as follows:

Sep. 08 - Worcester, MA - PalladiumSep. 10 - New York, NY – B.B. King Blues Club & GrillSep. 12 - Westland, MI – The Token LoungeSep. 14 - Chicago, IL - ReggiesSep. 16 – West Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go

In a 2000 interview with Metal Rules, Doro stated about WARLOCK: "I loved that so much and my heart and soul was so much into it. I was totally devastated when it broke up and it broke up not because of the band but because of all the bullshit around it. It was the record companies, the management, everything. The band had no control anymore — everybody else had, and the band did not. It was really tough and there were a lot of problems and I was totally heartbroken about it. But those times were awesome, man, it was awesome! I will always treasure them. I love to think about the great times."

Doro told Get Ready To Rock! that "everything fell into place" for WARLOCK after "Triumph And Agony" was released. "The record company was totally behind it, MTV put our song 'All We Are' on heavy rotation, which was a big plus, I must say, the fans were there and metal was at its peak between 1987 and 1988. Sometimes you do wish for everything to fall into place, but it's very rare that this happens as things need to work like a watch."

Doro's last release was a package titled "Strong And Proud - 30 Years Of Rock And Metal", which came out in June 2016 via Nuclear Blast. It contained three decades of Doro — three unforgettable nights — forever captured on three DVDs and two Blu-rays, including a two-hour-plus music movie.

For more than 30 years, Metal Hammer has been the biggest heavy metal magazine on the planet, and after a turbulent end to 2016, and their resurrection in 2017, they threw the party of all parties for their readers at this year's Golden Gods Awards 2017 in association with Orange Amplification. Taking place at IndigO2 at The O2, London on Monday, June 12, the 2017 edition of the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards was hosted by WWE megastar and FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho, and like all Golden Gods shows, this year's event was all about the fans. There are no tables, no sit-down dinners, no industry backslapping — this is a room full of genuine fans who have voted in their hundreds of thousands to see their favorite bands be victorious. The night celebrated the best of heavy metal from the past twelve months as well as performances from some of the world's most exciting bands. "After a difficult end to last year in which the future of our magazine looked uncertain, we couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate our comeback," says Metal Hammer editor Merlin Alderslade. "From the one and only Chris Jericho returning to host our awards for a record-breaking third time, to seeing legends like Tony Iommi, Tom Morello and Chuck D walk out on stage, to honouring the contemporary names who make our scene great, it was the kind of evening that only the Golden Gods can provide. As always, though, the most important thing was the metal community coming together again — and we salute everyone who has supported us in the last year and beyond, be it by coming to the show, buying our magazine or simply spreading the good word of heavy. Horns up!" The godfathers of metal, BLACK SABBATH, collected the evening's main honor: the Golden God award presented by Roadrunner Records. Founding member and metal legend Tony Iommi was on hand to collect the gong in the year that saw the end of the band's final, 81-date world tour and glittering 49-year career. MASTODON headlined the evening's ceremony with a blistering live set in what was one of their most intimate performances in years. Following the release of their acclaimed "Emperor Of Sand" album in March, the band's stock has risen monumentally to become one of the world's must-see live acts, proven by them winning Best Live Band presented by Monster Energy. Opening the show were riff veterans ORANGE GOBLIN, one of the U.K.'s most vital and important metal bands. Frontman Ben Ward, along with his partner Sandie Soriano, were behind the incredible campaign to raise money for TeamRock (Metal Hammer's then-parent company) staff following the closure of Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog magazines — and rightly the team behind those magazines felt that Ben and Sandie deserved the Defender Of The Faith award presented by Orange Amplification. Sweden's AVATAR brought their catchy "circus metal" and enthralling theatrical live show to the proceedings. This truly unique band were also voted Breakthrough Band Of The Year presented by World Of Tanks, proving they are a band on the up. Completing the live lineup were blues rock legends CLUTCH, simply one of the greatest live bands heavy music has ever seen! One of the evening's most sought-after awards is Album Of The Year and this year it was awarded to "Magma" by GOJIRA. The follow-up to 2012's critically acclaimed "L'Enfant Sauvage", "Magma" was one of the most hotly anticipated albums of the past twelve months and also topped Metal Hammer's end-of-year critics' poll. EXODUS are true legends of the game. Founded in 1979 in California, they were one of the pioneers of thrash metal. A mainstay in "Greatest Thrash Metal Bands Of All Time" lists, they inspire and influence bands to this day and were rightly crowned 2017's Inspiration presented by Spinefarm Records, an award presented on the night by fellow thrash icon Mille Petrozza of KREATOR. This year's Icon presented by uDiscover Music award went to THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN. Currently on a world tour, the band announced earlier this year that they will be disbanding following their Tokyo date in October. In their 20-year career they've released six acclaimed albums and are regarded as the pioneers of mathcore. Best International Band presented by Nuclear Blast went to AVENGED SEVENFOLD, who continue to sell out arenas around the world, pushing the boundaries of rock and metal. Best U.K. Band went to ARCHITECTS, whose 2016 album "All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us" broke the Top 15 of the U.K. charts and capped off a significant and difficult year for the band. Rap metal supergroup PROPHETS OF RAGE picked up the Spirit Of Hammer award. This is an award for those who hold the principles and passion of metal and what Metal Hammer stands for in their daily lives. The group consists of three members of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and AUDIOSLAVE (bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk), two members of PUBLIC ENEMY (DJ Lord and rapper Chuck D) and rapper B-Real of CYPRESS HILL. On announcing the band, Morello stated, "We're an elite task force of revolutionary musicians determined to confront this mountain of election-year bullshit, and confront it head-on with Marshall stacks blazing." Need we say more about them collecting this year's Spirit Of Hammer gong?! IRON MAIDEN's role-playing mobile game, "Legacy Of The Beast", took the Best Game accolade, with Eddie himself making an appearance via VT to collect the award. Formed in 2015, U.K. death metallers VENOM PRISON have been making a serious impact on the scene and beyond, and they picked up Best New Band. Doom metallers PALLBEARER, who released their third album, "Heartless", in March, have received huge critical acclaim since their inception in 2008 and picked up the Best Underground award. Once again the guitarists got the plaudits that they deserve — after all, where would music be without the incredible axemen and women we love to worship?! This year, AIRBOURNE's kamikaze guitarist Joel O'Keeffe picked up the Dimebag Darrell "Shredder" award, and tour de force Devin Townsend was rightly awarded Riff Lord presented by Century Media. The Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in association with Orange Amplification winners are: Best New Band: VENOM PRISONBest Underground Band: PALLBEARERBest U.K. Band: ARCHITECTS Breakthrough Band: AVATAR Best Live Band: MASTODONBest International Band: AVENGED SEVENFOLDBest Independent Label: Nuclear BlastDimebag Darrell "Shredder": Joel O'Keeffe (AIRBOURNE)Best Game: "Legacy Of The Beast" by IRON MAIDENRiff Lord: Devin TownsendInspiration: EXODUS Best Album: "Magma" by GOJIRA Icon: THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Defender Of The Faith: Ben Ward and Sandie Soriano Spirit Of Hammer: PROPHETS OF RAGEGolden God: BLACK SABBATH

American metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH played an abbreviated concert earlier tonight (Monday, June 12) in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

There are conflicting reports about how long the band's performance at the Poppodium 013 venue actually lasted, with some attendees claiming the group was on for only forty minutes, while others have suggested that FIVE FINGER had played almost the entire set before exiting the stage.

A friend of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH singer Ivan Moody, Tommy Vext (DIVINE HERESY, SNOT), handled lead vocals for FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH for the first two tracks of the group's set, with Ivan joining his bandmates for the third song, during which he jumped into the crowd.

After performing most of the set, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH left the stage as three thousand fans waited for a return that never came.

At one point, Moody told the audience they were seeing his last show with the band (see video below), although it's unclear if his comment was serious or meant in jest. Meanwhile, guitarist Jason Hook threw his guitar down during "Burn MF" (see video below).

This is not the first time FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has been forced to cut short a show due to issues involving the band's lead singer. Last November, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH walked off stage in Worcester, Massachusetts because Moody was unable to perform. Although it was reported that Moody was overcome with grief over the illness and possible death of someone close to him — not his mother as initially reported — a number of audience members reported that he appeared to be intoxicated and disoriented.

Moody previously had an onstage meltdown during a May 2015 show in Memphis. The incident was blamed on his abuse of alcohol and drugs. He entered rehab after that.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that Moody was a true rock 'n' roll spirit. "He's very much the 'last pirate,' the middle finger of this generation, you know what I mean?" he said. "He's really the guy who jumps in a car anywhere in the world and says, 'Yeah, let's go' — no passport, no papers, nothing, just goes anywhere. He's really the last free spirit, he pretty much just lives for the now, you know, does what he feels like doing. So there's something admirable, for me at least — I'm looking at, like, I wish I could do that."






Five Finger Death PunchMandrake's Monster

Foto's door: Lotte Schrander FotografieAll Rights Reserved - www.lotteschrander.nl

Posted by Poppodium 013 on Monday, June 12, 2017

Wargaming and World Of Tanks have announced a long-term collaboration with the Swedish heavy metal band SABATON.

For Wargaming and its millions of players, the combination of history and epic music is a huge part of their gaming scene. Not only is SABATON a big influence for fans of the game, but the bandmembers themselves love playing World Of Tanks when they have some time between the shows. It just goes to show that this kind of united inspiration brings a massively diverse bunch of people together to share their passion…and blow stuff up.

"It's fantastic to see that SABATON's members are an active part of World Of Tanks," said Maxim Chuvalov, World Of Tanks marketing manager. "We know our players' interests don't just stop at gaming — their talents go far beyond. With this collaboration, we wanted to celebrate the musical talent from our World Of Tanks community because it's an extremely important part of the in-game experience. This was our chance to share the music in and around our games with the global gaming communities and help inspire them even more."

"History is a great source of inspiration to us," said Joakim Brodén, lead singer of SABATON. "We like to tell stories that influenced the lives of a lot of people. We've all been playing World Of Tanks and seeing the company step outside of just gaming in lots of cool ways is an awesome thing to be a part of."

Fans of Wargaming and SABATON can expect some cool surprises on the way, so you'd better stay tuned for more information. And, of course, rock on!

World Of Tanks is a team-based massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armored warfare of the mid-20th century. Throw yourself into the epic tank battles of World War II with other steel cowboys all over the world. Your arsenal includes over 500 armored vehicles from the United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, Japan, China, Sweden and Czechoslovakia carefully detailed with historical accuracy.

For more information, visit www.worldoftanks.eu.

The new animated video for the song "Black Rose" from Danish/American rock 'n' rollers VOLBEAT can be seen below. The clip was produced and directed by Toon53 Productions.

"Black Rose" is taken from VOLBEAT's sixth full-length album, "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie", which was released in June 2016 via Republic Records.

VOLBEAT guitarist Rob Caggiano told TeamRock about "Black Rose": "This song features Danko Jones and he's a good friend of the band; we love what he does and he loves what VOLBEAT do. We took him on tour on the last album cycle and it was great. He's such a cool dude, and he's a huge music nerd like we are. He's awesome. So we were working on this song 'Black Rose', and Michael [Poulsen, VOLBEAT frontman] was singing the verse part, and he was, like, 'Maybe Danko Jones could sing on this one. It sounds like something that he would do.' And it totally does! We could almost hear it before it even happened. When we approached him about doing it, he was totally psyched, and he completely nailed it."

Poulsen explained the story behind the "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie" album title. He said: "When I write, I'm pretty much locked into this bubble. And sometimes when I come out, I have no idea where I've been or where I got the idea from. And going back to where I came up with the title, I really don't remember. I think it popped up when I was writing the song called 'Seal The Deal' and things just popped up improvising, and I said, 'Well…that sounds pretty good.' And I pretty much used that title on every song somehow, because you can analyze the title in many different directions. So I think I came up with the title when I was writing the song 'Seal The Deal'."

Asked how VOLBEAT deals with the fact that fans sometimes worry that each new album from the band is going to be softer than the previous one, Michael told Studio Brussel: "We don't. [Laughs] We do what we do, and we love what we're doing. And we're just progressing as a band. Sometimes people think the next record is too heavy or too soft. It depends on which ears are listening to it. We don't care too much about it. We are VOLBEAT and we found our signature sound and style on the first record. And there's a lot of new songs that could be on the first record, but then again, we're also progressing as a band, so maybe some of the songs are a little bit more soft, but there will always be metal influences and… We don't care too much about it. We just like to write songs and be on the road. We would never like to be on the road if we didn't care about what we were doing. So who knows? Maybe the next record will be an extreme metal album. It really depends on where you are when you sit down and write. So we don't think too much about it."

WESTFIELD MASSACRE has parted ways with singer Tommy Vext (ex-DIVINE HERESY, SNOT) and has replaced him with Seann Nicols (pictured; a.k.a. Sheldon Tarsha; Bobby Blotzer's RATT, formerly of ADLER'S APPETITE and QUIET RIOT).

The new lineup of WESTFIELD MASSACRE will embark on a U.S. headlining tour, the "North American Meltdown", in early July.

WESTFIELD MASSACRE features lead guitarist Ira Black (METAL CHURCH, LIZZY BORDEN), guitarist Stephen Brewer, bassist Erik Tisinger (OTEP, THROWN INTO EXILE) and Brazilian drummer Dio Britto.

WESTFIELD MASSACRE stated: "We are committed to fulfilling all obligations and promises we've made to our fans. We have secured the legal right to perform and do business as WESTFIELD MASSACRE. Unfortunately, it's not always easy for our fans to understand the internal workings of a band. We appreciate all of our fans support as we move forward and are anxious to deliver our record and get back on the road."

WESTFIELD MASSACRE's self-titled debut album was released in April 2016 via Urban Yeti Records. The CD was recorded at Echelon Studios with producer Joseph McQueen.

GUNS N' ROSES as 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.

The GUNS N' ROSES "Not In This Lifetime" tour has grossed more than $230 million since launching in April 2016, according to Billboard.

That figure includes a $38 million haul from eight concerts in Australia and New Zealand, but does not account for earnings from seven Asian markets that the band visited during the first quarter of 2017.

One of the stops on the Australian trek, a two-night stand in Sydney, was the fourth biggest of the entire tour, pulling in $9.2 million from a total of 84,277 tickets sold.

The top earner on the tour remains a two-night stop in New York City, where 100,177 fans forked over $11.6 million.

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.

The band, with this same lineup, will come back to North America for at least another 15 stadium dates this summer, starting on July 27 in St. Louis and ending on September 8 in San Antonio.

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.

This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the release of GUNS N' ROSES' classic debut album, "Appetite For Destruction", which arrived on July 21, 1987.

"Freak Flag", a brand new song from QUIET RIOT, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Road Rage", which will be released on August 4 via Frontiers Music Srl.

QUIET RIOT is led by drummer Frankie Banali, who is joined by bassist Chuck Wright (who has been in and out of the band since 1982), guitarist Alex Grossi (who has been in the band since 2004), and new vocalist James Durbin.

Durbin, who became known as the "metal guy" on 2011's season of "American Idol" after performing "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law" with JUDAS PRIEST, hooked up with QUIET RIOT last month after the dismissal of Seann Nicols (a.k.a. Sheldon Tarsha; formerly of ADLER'S APPETITE). Nicols was with QUIET RIOT for just a few months, but long enough to record the vocals for an early version of "Road Rage".

"Road Rage" was originally scheduled for release in the spring of 2017, but with the injection of newfound energy for the band with the addition of Durbin in the vocalist slot, the band decided to scrap the original sessions and record a new version of the album with the new and improved lineup.

Banali said: "QUIET RIOT has always recorded songs that have a link with the QUIET RIOT 'sound' and at the same time always musically moving forward. 'Freak Flag' is such a song with a strong connection to our iconic sound from the past, which I think our longtime fans will appreciate and newer fans will embrace." Durbin added: "'Freak Flag' is a concept I've been holding on to for a few years. It's all about being you no matter what life has labeled you with. We're all broken and searching for acceptance, but there's a beauty in that search and it's something that should be celebrated."

"Road Rage" track listing:

01. Can't Get Enough02. Getaway03. Roll This Joint04. Freak Flag05. Wasted06. Still Wild07. Make A Way08. Renegades09. The Road10. Shame11. Knock Em Down

"The recordings for the new 'Road Rage' record have been an incredible musical journey in the storied history of QUIET RIOT," said Banali.

"I asked vocalist James Durbin to fill the very large shoes of the late great Kevin DuBrow because I knew he could. While no one can ever replace Kevin DuBrow, he has the same spirit and drive that Kevin had.

"James is an amazing live performer with insane vocal range, but he is also a very gifted songwriter and brought to the 'Road Rage' record totally unique original lyrics and melodies. Not only do they fit perfectly to the music we wrote, but took the songs to a completely new level.

"All the work that we have put into this record has been well worth the wait!

"I am extremely proud of guitarist Alex Grossi, bassist Chuck Wright and especially James Durbin for the work we have created on this record.

"QUIET RIOT continues to tour relentlessly and will be on the road throughout the year. Expect to hear your QUIET RIOT favorites as well as new songs from 'Road Rage' at our shows!" Durbin comments on joining the band and his work on "Road Rage": "The crown jewel, on top of joining one of your favorite bands, has to be writing, recording and releasing a new album. No matter what, you are now a part of that band's history and I'm honored to have had the opportunity to do that with QUIET RIOT.

"I spent just over three weeks marathon songwriting brand new lyrics and melodies for every song and recording vocals.

"I'm extremely proud of the 'Road Rage' record, not only that I had the band's support and trust to deliver, or how great of a personal accomplishment and blessing it's been, but that we can keep the QUIET RIOT freak flag flying and have the chance to inspire a new generation of fans!" Durbin made his live debut with QUIET RIOT on March 18 at The Cotillion in Wichita, Kansas.

Banali revived QUIET RIOT in 2010, three years after DuBrow's death, along with Grossi and Wright. The group went through two vocalists — Mark Huff and Scott Vokoun — before settling on Jizzy Pearl in 2013. Pearl announced his exit from QUIET RIOT last October.