Deep Purple’s latest studio album, inFinite, is quickly becoming one of the band’s most successful albums to date. With top chart numbers across the world, it has already surpassed the incredible success of their last release, NOW What?!.

Beginning with the US, the current single “All I Got Is You” has hit #1 on the Classic Rock radio chart. inFinite has also had incredible sales debut numbers, hitting the  #1 spot in Germany and Switzerland, while  reaching the Top 10 in an impressive number of countries worldwide including UK, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Poland and France. On release date, inFinite topped the iTunes main charts in sic countries and charted Top 5 in over 20 countries.

In addition, the band’s label earMUSIC has signed with RED Distribution, enabling them to reach additional consumers throughout the US and Canada. Max Vaccaro, General Manager/earMUSIC notes, “In little less than 10 years from its first release, earMUSIC has become the ‘go-to’ label in Europe for any established rock artist. We have enjoyed a long list of successes at the top of the charts in Germany, UK and France for nearly every release (Foreigner, Chickenfoot, Bush, and many others) very often showing far better sales - despite a declining market - than our artists' previous releases on other labels.”

Vaccaro continues, “Michael Black and Beth Tallman, joining our team of international managers, and now the new deal with RED Distribution, makes us feel ready to reach the same level of success in the USA. The extremely positive start of Deep Purple's latest album inFinite highlights how earMUSIC is entering the US market with the same confidence as in Europe.  We thank Bob Morelli, Alan Becker and the rest of the team at RED for making us feel so excited about the future."

Pictured above, left to right: en Burstein (Label Management/RED Distribution); Beth Tallman (earMUSIC US); Alan Becker  (SVP, Product Development/RED Distribution); Michael Black (earMUSIC US); Bob Morelli (President/RED Distribution)

 

Deep Purple’s relationship with their existing fans is constantly renewing. With “inFinite” a new generation of rock lovers has also connected globally with the band for the first time, as their charts results show. And the campaign is just beginning…

DEEP PURPLE keyboard legend Don Airey has launched a pre-sale campaign on PledgeMusic for a very special limited edition deluxe box set of his solo album "K2 - Tales Of Triumph And Tragedy", to be released on Gonzo Multimedia in June.

"K2" was recorded in 1988 at Sarm East Studios, London, and originally released worldwide on MCA Records. It was based on an article written by mountaineer Jim Curran about his harrowing experiences on the 1986 expedition to K2 that claimed the life of twelve climbers inspired it. The music was completed after Don met Jim at his house in Sheffield where he talked of his friends Al Rouse and Julie Tullis, who both died in a blizzard at the summit, having become the first U.K. climbers to conquer the peak.

The album also features guest appearances by Gary Moore, Cozy Powell, Colin Bluntstone, Chris Thompson and others.

There will only be a hundred copies of this deluxe box set manufactured and each will contain a signed and numbered certificate. There will also be additional signed items and exclusive merchandise as part of this pre-order campaign.

"You are going to get something that will please everyone and hopefully you'll like the music too!" said Airey.

Box set content:

* CD (includes seven previously unreleased bonus tracks)* DVD* Signed and numbered certificate* Repro press pack* Repro promo photo* A4 map of K2

In the new video below, Queen guitarist Brian May unwraps his book, Queen In 3-D, available on May 25th.

Brian May’s London Stereoscopic Company is a new fine-art publishing company with a mission to share the wonders of the world’s greatest 3-D images, from Victorian times to the present day.

Queen In 3-D offers a stunning portrait of the legendary rock band seen through the personal stereoscopic lenses of Brian May (and friends) - complete with patent OWL 3-D viewer. This is the first time Queen’s history has ever been documented in 3-D, from the early days with Freddie Mercury in the 1970s, right through to the present day. The vast majority of these shots have never been seen before, and provide a uniquely intimate view of the world’s greatest rock band.

Just weeks after announcing a 26-date summer tour of North America, Queen + Adam Lambert have revealed further live plans for 2017, which will now see the band return to Europe later this year for a series of 24 dates including 12 arena concerts in the UK and Ireland. The tour will showcase a spectacular new stage production and a set list that the band hints will provide some surprises (see video below).

Queen + Adam Lambert’s 11-city UK and Ireland tour will kick off in Dublin on November 25th. They perform in Belfast in Northern Ireland the following day, then reach mainland Britain on November 28th to play Liverpool’s Echo Arena. More dates follow in Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, climaxing with two huge London shows at the O2 Arena on December 12th and The SSE Arena, Wembley, on December 15th. Tickets are on sale now. The tour is presented by Phil McIntyre Entertainments.

These shows will mark the band’s first full British tour in almost three years, having last performed across the UK in January 2015 when they played 10 sold out shows. Their only UK appearance in 2016 was a one-off headlining set at the closing night of the Isle of Wight Festival on Sunday, June 12th, part of a 15-date European summer festival tour. Isle of Wight festival organizer John Giddings credited the band with “the greatest show we have ever had”.

For their 2017 tour, the band will unveil a brand new show including a specially designed state-of-the-art production. The choice of performance material will no doubt acknowledge this year’s 40th anniversary of Queen’s biggest-selling studio album to date, News Of The World from 1977, which yielded the immortal anthems “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”.

Queen drummer and co-founder Roger Taylor insists the 2017 tour “will look entirely different to the show we took around before. Production has really changed a lot, the things you can do now, you have a much broader palette, the technology has really come along. But we don’t use it all. We don’t play to click track. It’s 100% live. We're planning on doing stuff we either haven't done before or haven't done for a long time. We started as an albums band, that's what we were. The fact that we had hits was just a byproduct.”

Guitarist Brian May confirms Queen’s 2017 shows will have a more ambitious musical agenda. “The general public knows the hits, so you've got to cater for that,” he says, “but we can chuck in a few things that people really don't expect. We’ll do quite a bit more of that this time around. There are so many dimensions to Adam, which of course fits with our music. He can get down and do the rock stuff really dirty, and you have all those dimensions, and we can explore that even more.”

Adam Lambert welcomes the challenge of digging deeper into the band’s canon of classics. “What people should know if they came to the shows a couple of years back, is obviously we will still be playing the big hit songs you know and love from Queen, but we thought it would be good to challenge ourselves a bit,” he explains. “Change it up a little bit, change the visuals, change all the technology, change the set list to some degree. We will probably be pulling some other songs out of the Queen catalogue which we haven’t done before, which I am very excited about.”

Tickets are on sale now.

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

Reinvigorated black metal infamists Nargaroth have revealed a special lyric video for the new track "Whither Goest Thou?". The song hails from the band's seventh album, Era Of Threnody, set for international release on May 16th via Inter Arma Productions.

German black metal's longest-running and most prolific band, Nargaroth has built a canon of work that's as infamous as it is legendary in the underground. Led as always by the peerless vision of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ash, the Nargaroth aesthetic has spanned the many extremes of black metal as an artform, but always done with bravado and self-belief, purity of intent and purity of purpose. Now, with the band's first full-length in a long eight years, Era Of Threnody has arrived to mark a glorious new epoch for Nargaroth.

Ever aptly titled, Era Of Threnody burns with rage and repose - a war cry from a battlefield long forgotten, a remembrance of sorrows past, present, and future. Across its 65-minute landscape, the ten songs which comprise Era Of Threnody paint a portrait of Nargaroth at its most dynamic: nearly every unique era of the band is represented, but executed with a startling sense of professionalism. But let it be known that "professionalism" in no way should be conflated with mainstream ambitions, for this is still pure 'n' pristine BLACK METAL in all its monochromatic grandeur. More accurately, perhaps, Era Of Threnody is the sound of Nargaroth at the height of its powers, well rested from the studio hiatus and eager 'n' emboldened by an upcoming European tour with Absu and Hate. The time of reckoning is at hand, and it is indeed the Era Of Threnody!

A special teaser video can be enjoyed below. The cover art and tracklisting follow.

Tracklisting:

"Dawn Of Epiphany"
"Whither Goest Thou?"
"Conjunction Underneath The Alpha Weel"
"...As Orphans Drifting In A Desert Night"
"The Agony Of A Dying Phoenix"
"Epicedium To A Broken Dream"
"Love Is A Dog From Hell"
"Era Of Threnody"
"TXFO"
"My Eternal Grief, Anguish Neverending"

 

Tye Trujillo, the 12-year old son of METALLICA's Robert Trujillo and member of NorCal group THE HELMETS, played his fourth show with KORN last night (Sunday, April 23) at Pepsi On Stage in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Fan-filmd video footage of the concert can be seen below.

Tye is filling in for KORN's regular bassist, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, who is unable to make the band's South American tour due to "unforeseen circumstances."

Said KORN in a statement: "We are bummed Fieldy can't join us on this run but excited to do a few gigs with a young player like Tye. We look forward to welcoming our brother Fieldy back when we return to the States in May."

Remaining KORN shows with Tye Trujillo on bass:

April 25 - Estadio Malvinas Argentinas - Paternal, ArgentinaApril 27 - Teatro Caupolican - Santiago, Chile

Fieldy will rejoin his KORN bandmates at the Carolina Rebellion festival on May 6.

Robert Trujillo told Brazil's Globo Play about Tye: "I never forced him on music. I always felt that if he wanted to embrace an instrument, great; I'd try to help him with it. So initially, at first, it was drums. And then around that same time, when he was one, he had a little plastic guitar, and he would play it all the time, just strumming it — always strumming it everywhere, to the point where the plastic was worn down."

He continued: "It's a beautiful thing, 'cause he's still a 12-year-old, and he still acts wild and crazy, as a twelve-year-old should, but when it comes to music, he's very focused. And with KORN, it's funny, because I haven't shown him anything at all for the KORN stuff — I've been too busy and I've been out of town a lot — and he's taking this opportunity very serious."

Robert Trujillo previously told the Huffington Post that Tye was "an amazing bass player and a really great writer. The bass lines that he's writing and the riffs, I'm like, 'Man, I wish I had written that.' He's coming up with stuff on his own, but he's also been influenced by players like Jaco Pastorius, but also Miles Davis or BLACK SABBATH or LED ZEPPELIN."

Trujillo added: "He's like a sponge. He loves funk. He loves James Brown, he's this little 12-year-old who's soaking up and embracing all this different music and I can tell that it's helping him creatively in what he's writing with his band."

Tye's own band, THE HELMETS, counts TOOL, ALICE IN CHAINS and METALLICA among their influences. Tye told Billboard last year, "We hate pop, we despise it. It's all the same sound."

London, England-based rock legends, Thunder, performed on the Main Stage at Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival in the summer of 2013. Video footage of the band performing the songs “Dirty Love”, “Love Walked In”, and “I Love You More Than Rock ’N’ Roll” can be seen below:

Thunder released their new studio album, Rip It Up, on February 10th via earMUSIC.

Rip It Up tracklisting:

“No One Gets Out Alive”
“Rip It Up”
“She Likes The Cocaine”
“Right From The Start”
“Shakedown”
“Heartbreak Hurricane”
“In Another Life”
“The Chosen One”
“The Enemy Inside”
“Tumbling Down”
“There's Always A Loser”

Trailer:

“Rip It Up”:

“No One Gets Out Alive” studio session:

Thunder states: “Check out all the formats and the bundles in all their splendiferous glory, on our newly sexed-up online store.”

On Thursday, April 20, legendary U.S. heavy/doom metal band PENTAGRAM played the first of its previously announced four U.S. shows without frontman and founding member Bobby Liebling in Baltimore, Maryland. All lead vocals at the gig were handled by PENTAGRAM's guitar player Victor Griffin.

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of Rock N Roll Experience). A review of the show is available at this location.

Griffin, bassist Greg Turley and drummer Pete Campbell last week released a statement in which they blamed Liebling's absence from the gigs on "circumstances that are beyond anyone's control, that are a direct result of Bobby Liebling's personal actions."

Liebling was the focus of "Last Days Here", the critically acclaimed 2011 documentary that detailed his lifelong struggle with drug addiction and followed him as he revived PENTAGRAM in his 50s while emerging from his parents' basement to start afresh with a wife less than half his age and their newborn son.

In a 2010 interview with The Obelisk, Liebling claimed that he "made millions, tens of millions of dollars, sometimes in cash, five-figure millions at a time, but it was all running cocaine for the Median cartel during the Escobar years. And I blew it all, every dime of it on my own personal whoring, car-buying, house-buying for my friends, buying Ferraris and chinchilla coats and diamond rings for broads and flaunting it. I was 25 years old and we were running across from Bogotá and back in a Cessna every week and splitting $20 million cash three ways. [Laughs] And I shot it all up. I'm not proud of it at all..."

Chastain has just released the Chastainium album, and a new promotional video for the track "We Bleed Metal (V2017)”, available for streaming below.

Chastain has been a force in metal for over 30 years and Chastainium is the first album to chronicle the history of the band. Two tracks from each of the last eight albums showcases Chastain's inventive and unique sound. The band, originally put together by David T. Chastain and Mike Varney, has created some of metal's iconic moments.

Says band founder and guitarist David T. Chastain, "I thought it was time for a Chastain 101 refresher course for the fans who have been following the band for many years and also an introduction course to the newer fans who may have only became acquainted with the band in 2013 with the second coming of vocalist Leather Leone and the rebirth of Chastain. I went back over the last 8 albums that stretched some 30 years and picked 2 tracks from each for what I considered the best representation of that particular album. Most all of the tracks have been remastered. Some are completely new arrangements never heard before by the fans."

David continues: "I have been blessed to have had a lot of high quality musicians and 2 great vocalists in the band over the years so there is lot to be proud of considering many of the albums were recorded with pretty miniscule budgets and limited studio time. Of course the bottom line for me is: 'Was it an artistic success?' I think the consistency thru the years is quite apparent even with the evolution of different musicians and bands."

Chastain's albums from this period include:

1987 - The 7th Of Never
1988 - The Voice of the Cult
1990 - For Those Who Dare
1995 - Sick Society
1997 - In Dementia
2004 - In An Outrage
2013 - Surrender To No One
2015 - We Bleed Metal

More info at this location.

A music video for “Heroine’s Descent”, a track from Ides Of Gemini’s upcoming new album, Women, is available for streaming below. The album, due for release on April 28th via Rise Above Records, is available for pre-order at this location.

Formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2010, Ides Of Gemini have built a formidable and enigmatic reputation by stoutly refusing to conform to anyone else's idea of what lurks in the shadows-with a sound that elegantly salutes the greats of the post-punk and proto-goth eras while simultaneously harnessing the oomph and clangor of underground metal. The ornate sparkle of something else, something irresistibly alien has long ensured that Ides Of Gemini have stood proudly alone, and yet their stately invective has clearly connected with the discerning masses.

"We get lumped in with a lot of metal bands, I guess for obvious reasons," says guitarist and songwriter Jason Bennett. "There are some metal songs on the new album, but it's really not a metal record. And we're not exactly a Goth band, either. So I don't know what to call what we do. Is it heavy? Yes. Is it metal? Not exactly. I guess you could say it's a mystery..."
 
Even the haziest of musical entities undergo some process of regeneration between records. Ides Of Gemini are no different, but their journey from their stunning 2012 debut, Constantinople, and its formidable follow-up Old World New Wave-both released via post-metal mavens Neurosis' Neurot Recordings-to brand new studio album Women, the band's first for Rise Above Records, has been a turbulent and challenging one. Original drummer Kelly Johnston-Gibson incurred a career-threatening injury while on tour in the US in 2015, causing Bennett and vocalist (and then-bassist) Sera Timms to reassess their next move. After enlisting Scott Batiste of Saviours as a stand-in drummer for a short West Coast tour, a new alliance was formed and Scott soon became a permanent member. The band then expanded to a quartet for the first time, as Sera relinquished her bass-playing duties to newcomer Adam Murray.

"Having Sera make that change ended up being the best thing we ever did," Bennett recalls. "It's freed her up to do so much more vocally. She was somewhat confined by also playing bass, and now she doesn't have to do that anymore-the sky's the limit. Scott and Adam are awesome. It's almost a new band. I think that the new record would've been pretty similar if we'd stayed a three-piece, but it wouldn't have been this good. There's a totally different dynamic now. We're new and improved.
 
Still recognizable as the work of the band behind those early triumphs, the new Ides Of Gemini album is both a dramatic leap forward for these idiosyncratic spirit guides and their most direct and impactful collection of songs to date.

Produced by the inimitable Sanford Parker, Women also features guest appearances from Tara Connelly of Clay Rendering (on "Queen Of New Orleans") and bewitching singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle (on "She Has A Secret"). As ever, Ides Of Gemini's new songs uniformly fizz and crackle with a storyteller's verve, as Timms' emotionally devastating delivery and Bennett's scabrous riffs paint vivid images of womanhood's multifarious routes to the gates of Hell and beyond. As a result, the new album's title was a no-brainer.

"Why Women? The short answer is that all the songs are about women!" Bennett laughs. "The way we work is that I title all the songs and Sera writes all the lyrics, and I give her an idea of what inspired each title for me. She can either take my idea and use it or totally discard it and come up with her own concept for it. Some of these women are mythological figures, some are historical figures, some are obscure actresses, and some are people we just made up. But every song is about a woman, so the title seemed obvious."

Determined to make up for the time lost during recent upheavals, Ides Of Gemini hope to use Women as a springboard to re-launch their assault on the consciousness of the world's outcasts and eccentrics. Revitalized and armed with their finest album to date, these inveterate square pegs may yet prove to be unstoppable.

"We want to tour as much as possible," Bennett avows. "There are a lot of places we haven't been yet and a lot of places we haven't been to in a while. We never finished the tour when Kelly got injured, so we haven't done a full national tour since 2013 when we went out with Ghost. And we haven't been to Europe since 2012, so it's been a while. We can't wait to get started."

Tracklisting:

“Mother Kiev”
“The Rose”
“The Dancer”
“Raft Of Medusa”
“Heroine’s Descent”
“Swan Diver”
“The Last Siren”
“Zohra”
“She Has A Secret”
“Queen Of New Orleans”

“Heroine’s Descent” video:

A music video for “Nature Of The Damned”, a track from Beastmaker’s upcoming Inside The Skull album, is available for streaming below.

The glittering technological future we were all promised has turned into a dystopian nightmare. If music must reflect the times, the hour has plainly come to reject the mainstream status quo and get down to the roots and rhythms of life's elemental heaviness. And that's where Beastmaker comes in. Purveyors of some of the most ecstatically thunderous and raw doom metal to emerge in decades, this three-man riffing machine from Fresno, California, are manifestly the real deal. Their sound is instantly recognizable and yet thrillingly otherworldly, like all your favorite riffs fed through some perverse malevolent prism and reborn in fresh, overdriven grotesquery.

But while they may superficially appear to servants of a strict Sabbathian code, there is plenty of room for maneuver within the band's titanic sound. The result of this feverish desire to expand their sonic universe is new album Inside The Skull, a bruising tour-de-force of sinister riffs, skewed blues and looming horror, it is simply one of the heaviest and most mesmerizing albums you will hear in 2017, replete with a special cameo or two. 

Inside The Skull is set for release May 19th via Rise Above Records.  Today the artwork and track listing have been revealed.  From the old school evangelism of opener “Evil One” and the warped psychedelia of “Now Howls The Beast” through to the twisted fury and fire of “Psychic Visions” and creepy closer “Sick Sick Demon”, Inside The Skull is not just a muscular hymn to the glory days of heavy metal's genesis and early prosperity: this is a vital, virile and venomous slab of wildly creative but spiritually pure doom devastation, designed to rescue us from the drab harshness of present day reality and transport us somewhere cooler, somewhere better and, in the best way possible, somewhere much heavier. Recorded and produced by the band themselves, in their own self-built studio, it's an album with great depths and a macabre heart.

While they may be reveling in Hitchcockian disquiet, Beastmaker will not be lurking anonymously in the shadows for long. Once Inside The Skull is released, the band will be hitting the road in the US with Zakk Wylde's Black Sabbath tribute act, Zakk Sabbath, before the band's campaign to draw the world into this unique maelstrom of pitch-black riffs and morbid tales begins in earnest. Erupting from the underground, this beast is alive and ready to howl.

Tracklisting:

“Evil One”
“Heaven To Hell”
“Now Howls The Beast”
“Of God’s Creation”
“Give Me A Sign”
“Nature Of The Damned”
“Psychic Visions”
“Inside The Skull”
“Night Bird”
“Sick Sick Demon”

“Nature Of The Damned” video:

Beastmaker on tour:

May (with Zakk Sabbath)
17 – Morgantown, WV – 123 Pleasant St*
18 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
19 - New York, NY - The Gramercy Theatre
20 – Philadelphia, PA – Voltage Theatre*
21 – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter*
22 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall*
23 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
24 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia Nola*
25 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live Studio
26 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill
28 - St. Louis, MO - Fubar
30 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In
31 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade

June (with Zakk Sabbath)
2 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
3 – Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle Brewing*
4 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theater
6 - Spokane, WA - The Pin
7 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
8 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
10 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
17 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater

*Headline show

Balingen, Germany-based prog/power metal act, We Are Legend, have released a lyric video for “Hungry Mirrors”, the opening track from the 2013 debut album, Rise Of The Legend. Watch the video below.

Rise Of The Legend tracklisting:

“Hungry Mirrors”
“This Holy Dark”
“Enemy Within”
“Birth Of The Legend”
“Rise Of The Legend”
“God Is Dreaming”
“Out!”
“Only Time Can Tell”
“March Of The Living”

“Hungry Mirrors” lyric video:

“This Holy Dark” video:

“Enemy Within“ video

German power metallers, Thunder And Lightning, have released a lyric video for the track “Mary Celeste”, featuring Unzucht’s Der Schulz. The track is featured on the band’s new album, The Ages Will Turn, and the video can be found below.

Orders for The Ages Will Turn can be placed here.

Tracklisting:

“The Ravaging Overture”
“Welcome To The Darkside”
“Silent Watcher”
“Black Eyed Child”
“Eternally Awake”
“Columbia”
“One Blood”
“The Ages Will Turn”
“Hysteria”
“Mary Celeste”
“The Ravaging Overture” (Extended Orchestral Version) (Pre-order bonus track download)

“Mary Celeste” lyric video:

"One Blood" video:

“Eternally Awake”:

“The Ages Will Turn”:

For more on Thunder And Lightning, visit the band’s website, here.

World Entertainment Inc. and Powerglove are pleased to announce a new partnership with Knife Fight Media, who will manage the next album cycle, which will mark the band's return to video game themes. Instead of releasing an album all at once, the band will be releasing one track a month for the next 13 months, culminating with a box set released on the final month of the album cycle. 

Scheduled for release on May 1st is "Mario Minor 2", check out the artwork below:

Following is a message from the band:

“Pay attention my supple lads, for the time has come for the long anticipated next chapter from the purveyors of video game metal. Behold the first track of PowerGlove’s new release, Continue?. Each month, I, Zebediah, master magician, will release Powerglove from their musty basements, so they may bestow upon you a new piece of pompous, penis-pummelling powermetal, infused with videogame nostalgia, and a hint of lime. Be wary, hold a keen eye, and clench firmly, because if you do not hear these songs, you shall forever miss the chance to join Powerglove in the halls of videogame Valhalla.”

On March 31st, "Kraid's Lair" was issued:

On February 28th, "Kirby" was released:

Hailing from the outer reaches of flavor country, the Powerglove woodwind quartet is the perfect choice for any bat mitzvah or funeral procession. Top scientists from Powerglove University in Prague have ascertained specific evidence from the children of Sanchez the Wise that Powerglove’s music is answer to domestic abuse, and gout. However, clinical trials, have yet to prove that Powerglove is in any way effective against dysentery. These four young men, full of bold and fresh flavor, as well as all requisite herbs and spices will dance for you until the siren call of the Great Mancuso beacons us home to the undying realms with the audacity of succulent ham.

In March of 2013, Powerglove posted a message to their fans saying that they have started working on “Continue?” the Video Game Themed follow up to 2010’s Saturday Morning Apocalypse, and are releasing that effort in 13 parts over the course of 2017 (a song a month). Powerglove are no strangers to taking a ridiculous and silly concept and translating it into metal excellence, and they can't wait to tour across the universe again and make their audiences headbang and laugh ‘till they soil themselves at the same time once again.

For further details, visit powergloveband.com.

 

Italian heavy metallers, Black Phantom, are streaming the new song “Less Than Zero”, featured on the band’s new full-length album, Better Beware!, due for release on May 26th via Punishment 18 Records. Listen to “Less Than Zero” below.

Tracklisting:

“Light Behind The Armour”
“Black Phantom”
“Up Is Down, Black Is White”
“Less Than Zero”
“Firebase Valley Forge”
“From An Is To A Was”
“The Absence”
“Ninth Ring Of Hell”
“The Invisible Man”
“King Of Bottom Feeders”
“Total Eclipse” (Iron Maiden cover)

“Less Than Zero”:

“Black Phantom” lyric video:

(Photo - Black Phantom Facebook)

South America's Death Yell has revealed their new track "Soulless"; it hails from the band's forthcoming debut album, Descent Into Hell, which will see release later this summer through Hells Headbangers.

Death Yell had a very short but intense life in the late '80s until they abruptly split up in 1991. For good or bad reasons, their unique demo Vengeance From Darkness became a referent and even influential for many brutal death/black metal bands and 'bangers, raising the band - even after all these years - to the level of an emblematic and even cult name from that time.
 
Death Yell reunited 20 years after they broke up to come back with the recording of Back From The Depths - released in 2013 through Hells Headbangers as a split 7” with Atomic Aggressor - which received countless praise from zines and fans worldwide, showing they had not lost their eerie occult style. Since then, the band have been busy playing live and regaining the position they deserved, having recently joined the Nuclear War Now! Fest V in Berlin.

Says founding guitarist Andrés "Pollo" Lozano about this highly anticipated release, "Descent Into Hell is actually our first full-length after 30 years! We are very pleased to become part of the Hells Headbangers legion, as we wanted to work with a specialized, serious, and well-known underground metal label in order to materialize this project."

He adds, "It took us quite some time to decide about recording this album. We had to make the decision about either burying the band definitively or take the risk of resurrecting Death Yell… Eventually, we just did it and made all in our hands to keep our original brutality intact. We are quite sure that Death Yell fans will not be disappointed."

Artist Marcelo Vasco (Slayer, Kreator) designed the album cover, which can be seen below. Release date and pre-order info to be announced shortly.

Tracklisting:

"Soulless"
"Descent Into Hell"
"Cries Of The Nazarene"
"Bluffer"
"Betrayed Chastity"
"Purging Demons" (acoustic intro)
"Thy Will Be Done"
"Will Never Enjoy"
"Healing By Blood"
"Macabre Fuckfeast"

The CD edition will also include a new version of "Back From The Depths" as a bonus track. The current Death Yell lineup includes four of the five original founding members: vocalist Galleta, bassist Guatiu, and guitarists Pollo and Pulga.

Death Yell lineup 2017:

Sergio "Galleta" - vocals
Andres "Pollo" - guitar
Andres "Pulga" - guitar
Alejandro "Guatiu" - bass
Marco "Demon" - drums

 

California-based death-thrash machine, Sacrificial Slaughter, return to Horror Pain Gore Death Productions for the release of their Generation Of Terror EP.

Since forming more than 15 years ago, Sacrificial Slaughter has grown into one of the most dominant forces in the underground. The band's evolution is fuelled by a series of full-lengths, EPs and splits, along with relentless tours with  the likes of Vader, Master, Vital Remains and more.

Generation Of Terror showcases the band's razor-edged aggression and calculated violence with five brutal new tracks and a cover of the classic Carnivore track, “Race War”. A lyric video for the EP's title track, as well as the song “Meticulous Abominations”, are available for streaming below.

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions will release the Generation Of Terror EP on May 12th on CD and digital formats. Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

“Systematic Genocide
“Bodies In The Basement
“Meticulous Abomination 02:35
“Generation Of Terror
“Bare Knuckle Beat Down
“Race War (Carnivore cover)  

“Generation Of Terror” lyric video:

“Meticulous Abominations”:

Generation Of Terror by SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER

Catch the band live on the Strike of the Empire 2017 Tour featuring Vader and Internal Bleeding. Sacrificial Slaughter will also appear at the Las Vegas Deathfest.

Tour dates:

May
22 - Santa Fe, NM - Underground
23 - Oklahoma City, OK - Thunder Alley
24 - Memphis, TN - Growlers
27 - Spartanburg, SC - Ground Zero
28 - Tampa, FL - Brass Mug
29 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
30 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia
31 - Houston, TX - Arcadia

June
1 - Dallas, TX - Curtain Club
2 - El Paso, TX - Rockhouse Bar
3 - Albuquerque, NM - Blu Phoenix
4 - Mesa, AZ - Club Red
5 - Santa Ana, CA - Malones
6 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Metro
7 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
8 - LAS VEGAS DEATH FEST - more info at lasvegasdeathfest.com
9 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
10 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
11 - Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room
12 - Newport, MN - Opinion Brewery
13 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
14 - Chicago, IL - Reggies Rock Club
15 - Lakewood OH, - The Foundry
16 - New York City, NY - Webster Hall
17 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung-fu Necktie
18 - Richmond, VA - Banditos
19 - Louisville, KY - Highlands Taproom
20 - Murfreesboro, TN - Autograph Rehearsal Studio
22 - Shreveport, LA - Bushnookies
23 - Austin, TX - The Lost Well
24 - Odessa, TX - Krazy 8
25 - Tucson, AZ - The Loudhouse

New Jersey death metal derelicts, Kalopsia, will release their third album, Angelplague, on May 19th through Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. The album’s opening track, “Destined To Return”, is available for streaming below.

Weaving together the blasting intensity of American death metal, Scandinavian  melodies and Jersey's home grown breakdowns, Angelplague is Kalopsia's most ferociously heavy effort to date. The relentless opener "Destined To Return" is a high-velocity foreshadowing of things to come, while "Christened Upon The Slab" and "Not Peace But Pestilence" focus on knuckle-dragging, head nodding groove. "Scorched Earth And Blackened Skies," the longest and most dynamic track on the album showcases frenzied fretwork and brutal groove before unleashing a dual-guitar hook that gets stuck in the listener's head with all the subtlety of a pick axe.

"We wanted to come out swinging," says guitarist Matt Medeiros. "Our last album was focused on speed and dexterity. This time we wanted bigger hooks, and bigger breakdowns."

Angelplague continues Kalopsia's horrific mutation, blending blasting brutality, pit-inducing ignorance, melodic guitar interplay and an old-school vibe to create a pestilential soundtrack to scorch the earth and blacken the skies. The album was produced by Bobby Torres at Frightbox Studios.

Tracklisting:

"Destined To Return"
"As The Serpent Devours"
"Christened Upon The Slab"
"Not Peace But Pestilence"
"Scorched Earth And Blackened Skies"
"Source Of My Evil"
"Surge Of Terror"
"Bitter Sacraments"

"Destined To Return”:

"Christened Upon The Slab”:

Christened Upon the Slab by Kalopsia

Kalopsia is:

Matt Medeiros - vocals, guitars
Justin Spaeth - drums
Drew Murphy - bass
Steve Horvath - lead guitars

(Photo - Kalopsia Facebook)

The reunited original lineup of ROCK GODDESS — the female power trio from the days of NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) featuring sisters Jody and Julie Turner along with bassist Tracey Lamb — will release a new three-song EP called "It's More Than Rock And Roll" on May 19. The effort will be made available digitally via Cargo Records and as a physical CD, complete with a four-page booklet in a jewel case, through ROCK GODDESS directly. The first 500 copies will be signed and numbered.

The official video for the "It's More Than Rock And Roll" title track can be seen below.

Jody Turner wrote and produced all the songs on "It's More Than Rock And Roll", with Wes Maebe mixing and mastering the record.

According to a press release, the "It's More Than Rock And Roll" title track "is a mid-paced roaster that has genuine depth, yet a chant-a-long chorus to get everyone on their feet. The lyrics betray the GODDESS's complete immersion in the passion of this genre. 'Back Off' sees the band locked into an assaulting groove, one full of a spirit born from that essential-yet-so-often-elusive balance between virtuosity and aggression. 'We're All Metal' not only namechecks iconic artists across metal and rock's past and present, but is an anthem for all ages. From six to 96, it'll get everyone pumping out the horn sign!"

"It's been a long time coming, but we got there," says Jody. "We are so proud of this, and of each other. We hope people enjoy it as much as we want them to."

ROCK GODDESS was formed in 1977 in Wandsworth South London by Jody Turner (guitar and vocals) and Julie Turner (drums) when they were thirteen and nine years old, respectively. They recruited school friend Tracey Lamb on bass guitar.

ROCK GODDESS first rose to the nation's awareness when they were first featured in Kerrang! No. 5 in 1981 in the "Armed And Ready" section as one of the bands to watch out for. After recording a four-track demo tape and an appearance at the Reading Festival in 1982, sharing a bill with IRON MAIDEN, plus regular shows at the Marquee club, the band landed a contract with the A&M label. They recorded their eponymous debut album with producer Vic Maile in 1983 and hit the lower end of the charts. A follow-up album, "Hell Hath No Fury", arrived a year later, by which time Lamb had left the band to form SHE and later to join GIRLSCHOOL.

After their contract with A&M expired in 1987, ROCK GODDESS' already recorded (in 1985) third album, titled "Young And Free", was released only in France. The effort saw the band taking on a more commercial sound.

ROCK GODDESS' career was cut short by financial and contractual problems, which forced them to disband shortly thereafter.

ROCK GODDESS did briefly reform in 2009 and was due to play Hard Rock Hell festival in Prestatyn, and was also booked to perform at the Headbangers Open Air festival in Germany the following summer, but split before they had a chance to appear at either event.

In March 2013, it was announced that the original ROCK GODDESS lineup had reunited and would start recording a new album.

Fan-filmed video footage of ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna performing the DIO classic "Holy Diver" with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE on April 23 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California can be seen below.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE played in San Francisco as part of "The Killthrax Tour", a co-headlining bill with ANTHRAX that also features THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and CODE ORANGE as support.

In a 2014 interview with the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner, Belladonna spoke about what Ronnie James Dio meant to him." Ronnie's an inspirational singer for me," he said. "I really believe that as you grow up, you're inspired by the people that perform and things that you would like to hear yourself be in that kind of category and have such a talent like he did and just be inspired. [He was a] great human being, great musician — just all that… He was just the slickest. He was so heavy but melodic, as well as his attitude about everything. He had great charisma."

Belladonna also spoke about the first impression Ronnie made on him. "He made me laugh big time," Joey said. "He just want[ed] to be funny. And yet he [was] so sincere and [could] have that serious point of view. You need to be enthralled with that when you're around him, to have him speak to you with that kind of attitude and spunk that he had. And I'd been around him when things weren't so good, which I won't bring up right now, but to have him share that with me, which was more private, about being in his band — things like that. Just to engage in that with me and run that by me."

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE originally recorded a cover of "Holy Diver" for a 2006 Kerrang! magazine-commissioned compilation, "High Voltage", which was made up of classic rock and metal songs covered by contemporary bands, with ten of the tracks recorded exclusively for the CD.

SOUNDGARDEN singer Chris Cornell was interviewed by anchor Anthony Mason and performed three songs on "CBS This Morning" this past Saturday, April 22.

Cornell sat down with Mason and discussed his successful solo side projects on feature films, which include such songs as the James Bond theme song "You Know My Name" for "Casino Royale", "Live To Rise" in "The Avengers", "Misery Chain" in Oscar-winning "12 Years A Slave", and most recently, his solo track "The Promise". "The Promise" was composed for the film of the same name, which hit theaters on Friday. Cornell performed "The Promise", "Black Hole Sun" and "Higher Truth" on set. Video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

"The Promise" movie — starring Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon — is a love triangle drama set against the Armenian genocide.

The slaughter of the Armenians by the Turks claimed more than 1.5 million lives over a century ago, but Cornell told The Pulse Of Radio that the events of the movie are still relevant today. "That was one of the things that was important to me, was not just telling a century-old story, but telling that story because it's happening today," he said. "We need to be aware that these things happen now. We need to kind of be slapped in the face with the fact that, as horrendous as this was a century ago, in many parts of the world we haven't gotten anywhere."

Cornell will donate his proceeds from the song to the International Rescue Committee, which responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic well-being, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster.

SOUNDGARDEN last month announced a North American tour that will kick off on May 3 in Atlanta, winding down on May 27 at the Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma.

The band has been working on material for its seventh studio album, which will follow up 2012's "King Animal".

“One Of Life’s Mysteries”, a track from Harem Scarem's 14th studio album, is available for streaming below.

United will be released on May 12th. The new recording offers up 11 tracks of trademark Harem Scarem music from Harry Hess (lead vocals, keyboards), Pete Lesperance (guitars, bass, keyboards), long-time drummer Creighton Doane, and backing vocals from original sticksman Darren Smith (who will be playing live drums for the band on tour dates).

Frontman Harry Hess says: "This year will mark the 30th year of Harem Scarem and I can tell you that we are just as excited about writing and recording today as we were then. The brand new United album is one of the best collection of songs we have ever put on one release and I can't wait for everyone to hear it!"

Harem Scarem make it clear they still have something to say right from the start with the title track, "United", a chunky slice of guitar-driven melodic rock nirvana that kicks off their strongest studio outing since the early 00’s. From there, the album lifts off with well-crafted songs featuring big choruses with simple and addictive hook-laden earworms. Each track carries a power-rock-packed punch, swaggering riffs, and hooks to die for. Hess and Lesperance without a doubt show the world that their partnership still works, that they indeed are still "United".

With sales well over a million records in 43 countries and 12 top 40 hits around the globe, 2017 will see Harem Scarem return and ready to dominate while touring the world in support of their 14th studio album, United.

United tracklisting:

“United”
“Here Today Gone Tomorrow”
“Gravity”
“Sinking Ship”
“One Of Life’s Mysteries”
“No Regrets”
“Bite The Bullet”
“Things I Know”
“The Sky Is Falling”
“Heaven And Earth”
“Indestructible”

“One Of Life’s Mysteries”:

“United”:

“Sinking Ship” video:

Tour dates (with more to be announced):

September
30 - The Music Hall, Oshawa, Canada

October
6 - Norma Jeans - London, ON
14 - The Brass Monkey - Ottawa, ON
20-22 - Trent University - Nottingham, UK (Rockingham Festival)

"The Symbol Of Death", the new video from German death metallers DISBELIEF, can be seen below. The track is the title cut of the band's latest album, which was released on April 21 via Listenable Records. According to a press release, the follow-up to 2010's "Heal" is "a monster. First, band founder and vocalist Karsten 'Jagger' Jäger's guttural signature has never sounded so intense and relentless, and the precise and bloodthirsty double-bass drums back up a colossal wall of thickly produced, face-melting guitars. Still, the band adds in a melodic flavor that never sounds obvious."

Jäger comments on the studio experience: "We recorded and mixed 'The Symbol Of Death' at Rombado Recordings in Essen, Germany. It was the first time for us in this studio, and the band is very satisfied with the result. The combination of the brutal side of DISBELIEF and the melodic, apocalyptic parts of the band are displayed here better than ever before. Many excellent riffs, some fast stuff, some mid-tempo songs, it's a great trip going through those twelve strong, raw and aggressive death metal songs."

Asked about the lyrical themes explored on "The Symbol Of Death", Jäger says: "'Rest In Peace' is personal and deals with my father dying of cancer and his fight against this crawling sickness that destroyed him slowly. The song 'One By One' is dedicated to [Austrian Nazi hunter and writer] Simon Wiesenthal and is looking into the minds of all the German people who survived the Nazi regime, knowing what was going on with the Jews, betraying and denying their best friends to save their own lives. Everyone who survived such experience had to live with that shame until the rest of their lives; that's justice. 'To Defy Control' is an anti-addiction song about the daily manipulations people have to go through."

The artwork for "The Symbol Of Death" was created by renowned artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with TESTAMENT, HATEBREED, SOULFLY and KATAKLYSM, among others. Jäger explains the concept: "The cover artwork shows two statues. They're blessing each other and betraying and stabbing each other in the back with the other hand at the same time, a hypocritical blessing."

"The Symbol Of Death" track listing:

01. Full Of Terrors02. The Unsuspecting One03. The Symbol Of Death04. Embrace The Blaze05. To Defy Control06. Rest In Peace07. Evil Ghosts08. One By One09. Nothing To Heal10. The Circle11. Into Glory Ride12. Shattered13. Anthem For The Doomed

DISBELIEF 2017 is:

Karsten "Jagger" Jäger - VocalsJochen "Joe" Trunk - BassAlexander "Alex" Hagenauer - GuitarDavid "Dave" Renner - GuitarFabian "Fab" Regmann - Drums

On April 28th, Between The Buried And Me will release their new DVD/Blu-ray, Coma Ecliptic Live, via Metal Blade Records, in association with Good Fight Entertainment. The concert, which features the band performing their latest album, Coma Ecliptic, in its entirety, was filmed live on location October 4th, 2016 at The Observatory North Park in San Diego, CA. Watch “Turn On The Darkness” from the upcoming release below:

Bassist Dan Briggs comments: "The genesis of the Coma Ecliptic filming was based around capturing the look and feel of the show our lighting director Chris Hill produced for the full album set. It's such an important record for us and our progression as a band and the visual representation captures the moods of our tragic tale so well. It's the perfect way to wrap up the last two years we've been living with this album day in and day out!"

Pre-order Coma Ecliptic Live at this location. See below for available formats:

- CD/DVD/Blu-ray
- 180g black 2LP
- golden yellow marble 2LP (limited to 300 copies - EU exclusive)
- ultra violet marble 2LP (limited to 200 copies - EU exclusive)
- purple/black marble 2LP (limited to 300 copies - USA exclusive)

* exclusive bundles with a shirt, plus digital options are also available

Coma Ecliptic was released in July 2015, debuting at #1 on the Hard Music Billboard Chart, #12 on the Billboard Top 200, as well as #1 on the iTunes Metal Chart, Vinyl Chart, Amazon Hard Rock Chart, and Amazon Metal Chart. Additionally, the album charted on the iTunes Rock chart (#2), Canada Hard Music Chart (#3), UK Rock/Metal chart (#4), UK Independent Chart (#10), Canada Top 200 Chart (#17), Canada Top 200 Digital (#22), Germany Top 100 (#53) and UK Album chart (#74).

The upcoming DVD/Blu-ray for Coma Ecliptic Live will surely please fans once again, with the must-see visual component added to the already acclaimed album. Directed by Vince Edwards and edited by Blake Faucette and Justin Reich, Coma Ecliptic Live's audio was mixed by Jamie King at the Basement Recording NC, with live GoPro camera placement by the band's own Blake Richardson (drums).

Between the Buried and Me lineup:

Tommy Rogers - vocals, keyboards
Dan Briggs - bass
Blake Richardson - drums
Paul Waggoner - guitar
Dustie Waring - guitar

Finnish metal band, Torchia, are currently recording their debut album. The album will be produced by Finnish producer legend Hiili Hiilesmaa (H.I.M, Apocalyptica, Ensiferum, Amorphis), who will create sounds to match the infernal essence of Torchia.

Lead guitarist and artistic leader Ville Riitamaa states: "All the bands sound the same nowadays! I wouldn't care even if we had a crappy sound, as long as it's something different!"

Recording started in May at Sound Supreme Studios in Hämeenlinna, Finland. Fans can expect the same frantic death assault heard on promotional releases, but with more filth and danger.

Says vocalist Eetu Hentunen: “We agreed with Hiili that we'll make this the hardest hitting metal album to come out of Finland this year! Master Riitamaa has laid down solid riffs to guide the listener through the gutters of existential agony and the hordes of war. Totally fucking classic material!”

The record will be released later this year. More details to follow.

UK metal five-piece Bleed Again have released a video for “Walk Through The Fire”, a track from their upcoming debut album, Momentum, out through Sliptrick Records on May 1st. The new video can be found below.

Bleed Again have developed their own unique uplifting and emotive metal sound through years of writing and recording together in their very own SoundByte studio. The bands drummer Russell, worked tirelessly to record and produce their debut album Momentum, capturing an incredible energy that seeps through every track. Momentum was mixed and mastered by Acle Kahney of Tesseract at 4D sounds, and this took the album to a whole new dimension again and was the glue that brought the superb collection of material together. Momentum encapsulates everything the band love about metal. Crushing riffs, huge choruses and melodies stick in your mind for days.

The album is a huge achievement for all the members of the band who understand that if you ever want to achieve anything in life, there is only person that can make it happen, yourself. The album tackles faith, financial restraints, addiction, relationships & metal health issues, as well as overcoming other deep and personal adversities. Despite such challenges, they stand united, proud and moved by their achievements and hope others will now celebrate their music with them and take personal inspiration from the albums content and proceed to achieve their own dreams and goals ….anything is possible when you believe!

Tracklisting:

“Decimate”
“Walk Through The Fire”
“Legacy”
“Drowning In Dreams”
“Slavery”
“Kurtz”
“Heart Of Darkness”
“White Castle”
“Only We Can Save Us”
“Happy Never After”
“Icarus”
“Through My Eyes”

“Walk Through The Fire” video:

“Through My Eyes” video:

London metallers Exist Immortal have released a video for “In Hindsight”, taken from their new album, Breathe, released last year via Primordial Records. The new clip can be found below.

The band have also announced a new guitarist in Mikey G from Oxford metal 5-piece A Trust Unclean. On joining the band, Mikey says; "I'm really excited to be joining my friends in Exist Immortal as their new guitarist. I've been standing in for a couple of months now and we’ve decided to take it to the next step and make it official. It's always nice when everything just slots in easily on both a musical and personal level. The guys are brilliant to work with and we've already been throwing a few ideas around and getting excited about writing some music together.”

The band are also excited to welcome Mikey to the lineup, saying; “Bringing Mikey into the fold has been a real natural progression, both musically and practically. We are really excited to play all over the place in the next few months with this new line up, along with starting to write our next release.”

Breathe tracklisting:

“Saviour”
“In Hindsight”
“Invisible Lines”
“Misconduct”
“Follow Alone”
“Erode”
“Escape”
“Lucid”
“Breathe”
“Release”
“Chi”

“In Hindsight” lyric video:

“Erode” video:

“Follow Alone” video:

Tour dates:

April
28 - Sittard, Netherlands - Volt (supporting Textures)
29 - Middelburg, Netherlands - De Spot (supporting Textures)

June
3 - London, England - Camden Rocks Festival

Ex-DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy says that he is "not too busy" to rejoin his former bandmates on their "Images, Words & Beyond" tour, but notes that he hasn't been invited to take part in any of the shows.

DREAM THEATER is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its milestone RIAA-gold-certified album "Images And Words" with a special tour on which it is performing the LP in its entirety along with fan favorites from the group's renowned catalogue.

During a recent question-and-answer session, DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess were asked by a fan if they would be willing to play with Portnoy again, possibly at a show celebrating a band anniversary. The DREAM THEATER guitarist responded: "There's no plans to do anything like that. Mike's great, and he's doing many, many projects right now." Rudess jokingly added: "He's too busy for us." Petrucci continued: "Yeah, he's in twenty bands. I don't think he has time. But, yeah, this tour celebrating 'Images', we won't be having any past-member guests."

Asked by TNT Radio Rock if it's true that he is "too busy" to play with DREAM THEATER on the "Images, Words & Beyond" tour, Portnoy said (see video below): "I think [Petrucci and Rudess] were making a joke, saying I'm too busy for them. That's not true. I always have time for anybody from my history."

Portnoy went on to say that he has "a very good relationship with John Petrucci and Jordan, and we stay in touch and we remain friends. The other two [singer James LaBrie and bassist John Myung] I've barely heard from. I've tried to reach out. But anyway, I have very fond memories of all those years and it's a huge part of my life."

He added: "I'm not too busy for them. I always make time for everybody. I'm in eighty-seven bands, so, obviously, I'm very capable of juggling a lot of things. I just need the invitation. They haven't invited me to any of the shows. So that's up to them."

Portnoy also talked about his decision to perform DREAM THEATER's "Twelve-Step Suite" in its entirety for the first time ever on the Cruise To The Edge, which sailed out of Tampa, Florida on February 7. The music documents the musician's battle with alcoholism, and is an ensemble of five songs recorded by DREAM THEATER from 2002 to 2009, with titles that reflect his struggles: "The Glass Prison", "This Dying Soul", "The Root Of All Evil", "Repentance" and "The Shattered Fortress".

Portnoy said: "Well, the reason the SHATTERED FORTRESS came about — and it's not even a band, it's not even a project; it's just kind of an event, it's not like an ongoing thing that I'm going to do beyond these very special shows. The way it came about was because I was doing a fiftieth-birthday concert on Cruise To The Edge, and at that concert, or actually two concerts, I was basically playing music from my entire career, and, of course, inevitably, a lot of that was gonna be DREAM THEATER music. And I decided it was finally time to play the 'Twelve-Step Suite' that I started fifteen years ago, back in 2002, and never got to play it live in its entirety. So it really all began because it was originally just gonna be part of my fiftieth-birthday celebration, and once we announced that, suddenly I got offers to play these different festivals, and then some select other shows throughout Europe and America. Basically, I figured it's my fiftieth birthday this year, and it's a good time to just do it. And rather than do it only once for my fiftieth-birthday concert, maybe share it with fans around the world that have been wanting to see it. So this is it."

He went on to say: "I never had any intentions of continuing with DREAM THEATER music. Obviously, everything I've done over the past six or seven years is I've done everything but DREAM THEATER music — I've done THE WINERY DOGS and FLYING COLORS and ADRENALINE MOB and TWISTED SISTER and THE NEAL MORSE BAND and METAL ALLEGIANCE. So I've never revisited DREAM THEATER material, but this seems like the right opportunity to finally do it. So it's kind of just a one-off event and a special treat — not only for the fans, but for myself as well."

Asked what it has been like to revisit DREAM THEATER's "Twelve-Step Suite" more than half a decade since his exit from the band, Portnoy said: "Well, it's very therapeutic, I guess, maybe, to say. It was one level of being therapeutic for me to write all of these songs, 'cause it was coming out of my life and about what I was dealing with, with the twelve steps of sobriety. So it was one level of therapy to write all of this and release it, but now to actually put it together and perform it, it's another level of… It's kind of like unfinished business, it's kind of like closure, I'm getting some closure on this, because I never had the opportunity to do it once I completed all of the songs."

He added: "It was always a dream of mine to perform them from start to finish. It would have been nice if it was with DREAM THEATER, but the circumstances are what they are, and I'd rather do this and get it out of my system, not only for myself but also for the fans to enjoy. I'd rather do it this way than not do it at all."

Regarding whether there are plans to film and record any of the SHATTERED FORTRESS shows for possible release, Portnoy said: "Believe me, I would love to release this for the fans, but I can't guarantee that I can release it for the fans, because of legal issues with my other band, with DREAM THEATER. So if I can release it in some form, I would love to, but there's no guarantees. There's a lot of red tape involved."

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than thirty years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI). Portnoy later revealed that he tried to rejoin DREAM THEATER, only to be rebuffed.

Cradle Of Filth frontman Dani Filth has checked in with the following update:

"Cradle Of Filth's sojourn into Latvia's capital Riga last week to film our latest video was certainly an experience to remember. Directed by the previous album's artwork creator Artūrs Bērziņš, the production boasted a crew of around fifty people with many extras being drafted in for the three day marathon, with epic scenery being constructed and fantastic costumes being worn (or not worn at all, dependant on the scene).

I would love to tell you more, but due to the tight knit privacy shrouding production, all I can divulge are the facts that the days were long (we were still being photographed on the second evening at three in the morning), the crew and make-up girls were awesome fun to be around, the posh hotel showers were ruined by body paint, there was nudity, drowning, a fight on set, funerary rites, animals, early flights home meaning zero sleep and... it snowed, both on and off set.

More on this to come. In the meantime the new COF album has slouched into its second week of mixing and is slowly rising taloned from the proverbial grime."

In live news, Cradle Of Filth will be playing a special one-off festival warm-up show in Portsmouth, UK. The show will take place at The Wedgewood Rooms on June 23rd. Tickets are now on sale here.