Symphonic metal masters, Visions Of Atlantis, once more set sail to oceanic myths and the eternal dream of the sunken continent. Titled The Deep & The Dark and set for a release on February 16th via Napalm Records, with their upcoming seventh studio album Visions Of Atlantis showcase all musical facets of the genre with a breathtaking classic symphonic metal album.

Get the limited edition boxset edition of the album here, and watch an unboxing video below:

Coming as exclusive Deluxe Box Set, CD Digipak and Digital Download editions, The Deep & The Dark is now available to pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

"The Deep & The Dark"
"Return To Lemuria"
"Ritual Night"
"The Silent Mutiny"
"Book Of Nature"
"The Last Home"
"The Grand Illusion"
"Dead Reckoning"
"Words Of War"
"Prayer To The Lost"

Album preview:

"Return To Lemuria" video:

The Deep & The Dark interview Part 1:

The Deep & The Dark interview Part 2:

(Photo - Moritz Maibaum Photography)

What a great release week British rock icons Magnum had with their new album, Lost On The Road To Eternity. Top 10 chart entries in Germany and Switzerland, highest chart entry in the UK since 1992 and many more.

From the band: "We are chuffed to bits to have recorded another top 20 UK National charts album (Number 1 UK Independent Charts) and Number 8 in Germany and Switzerland amongst other charts. Thanks to all the fans worldwide. We see us on tour!"

These are the first week chart entries for Lost On The Road To Eternity:

#1 - UK - Indie Charts
#2 - Sweden - Hard Rock Charts
#4 - Sweden - Vinyl Charts
#8 - Germany - Album Charts
#8 - Switzerland - Album Charts
#8 - UK - Update Charts
#9 - UK - Vinyl Charts
#9 - UK - Physical Charts
#9  - UK - Scottish Charts
#11 - UK - Sales Charts
#15 - UK - Album Charts
#22 - Austria - Album Charts
#23 - Sweden - Album Charts
#30 - UK - Download Charts
#56 - USA - Hard Music Charts
#145 - France - Album Charts
#165 - Spain - Album Charts
#168 - USA - Indie Charts

Lost On The Road To Eternity is available via Steamhammer/SPV on 2 CD digipak version incl. bonus live disc, 2LP coloured version, download and stream. Order here.

Lost On The Road To Eternity contains eleven new songs, among them the first single release, “Without Love”, and a duet by Catley and Tobias Sammet on the title track, a kind of artistic thank you by the Edguy /Avantasia frontman in appreciation of Catley’s guest stint on a number of Sammet’s releases.

The release is complemented by Rodney Matthews’s atmospheric cover artwork as well as a total of four live bonus tracks on the CD digipak version recorded at Magnum’s 2017 performance at the Leyendas Del Rock festival in Alicante, Spain.

Tracklisting:

CD1

“Peaches And Cream”
“Show Me Your Hands”
“Storm Baby”
“Welcome To The Cosmic Cabaret”
“Lost On The Road To Eternity”
“Without Love”
“Tell Me What You've Got To Say”
“Ya Wanna Be Someone”
“Forbidden Masquerade”
“Glory To Ashes”
“King Of The World”

CD2 (Bonus Live Disc)
“Sacred Blood - Divine Lies”
“Crazy Old Mothers”
“Your Dreams Won’t Die”
“Twelve Men Wise And Just”

“Without Love” lyric video:

Norwegian black metal act Djevel have announced the release of the brand new single "Det Svartner Paa Likbleik Hud". The track is available for streaming below.

The stunning artwork was specially commissioned by artist Danny Larsen:

Djevel will release their fifth album, Blant Svarte Graner on March 16th via Aftermath Music.

The band has undergone some changes since the last album, where Mannevond (Koldbrann) has taken over the vocal duties from E. Hjelvik (Kvelertak). New drummer is Faust (ex-Emperor, Blood Tsunami), which has added a whole new dynamic range to the bands Norwegian styled black metal of the 90s. Still, mastermind and songwriter Ciekals continues to write his music the way its always been. Black metal with a brooding melodic sense, enriched with haunting acoustic passages.

Prosthetic Records have signed progressive death metallers, Monotheist, featuring JJ “Shiv”  Polachek (7 Horns 7 Eyes, Nekroi Theoi) on vocals and Prophet on guitars. Their new album, Scourge, will be available on all digital outlets, CD and limited edition blue w/ black and orange splatter LP on March 16th. Pre-orders are available here.

Shiv comments on the signing, "I'm honoured to share a label with such a great alumni, as well as such powerful current bands like Dawn Ray'd, Venom Prison, and Septicflesh. We can't wait for what the future holds, now that we're venturing into it with the great team at Prosthetic."

Prophet also adds, "Monotheist is excited and grateful to have the opportunity to work with Prosthetic Records to release our new album Scourge. Prosthetic has been home to some of the very best artists in metal and continues to pave the way for cutting edge and great music. We are honored to join the Prosthetic family in an effort to continue the tradition of banging out sick metal!"

The first track off the album, "The Grey King", featuring Christian Alvestam (ex-Scar Symmetry) can be heard below.

Scourge features eight tracks, clocking in at almost an hour of music and sees the band taking their progressive and technical style of metal into the next stage of their musical evolution. It was mixed and mastered by Aaron Smith (7 Horns 7 Eyes) of Envisage Audio and features guest contributions from metal luminaries such as Bobby Koelble (ex-Death, Death to All) and the aforementioned Alvestam.

Scourge tracklisting:

"The Grey King"
"The Great Chain At The Neck Of The Earth"
"Mark Of The Beast Pt. 1: The Image"
"Mark Of The Beast Pt. 2: Scion Of Darkness"
"Infinite Wisdom"
"Desolate It Mourns Before Me"
"Abominable Acts"
"Scourge"

"The Grey King":

Formed in 2004, this Orlando, Florida band has been carefully crafting their unique brand of progressive death metal for over a decade mixing the brutality of Suffocation, the melodic sensibilities of Extol, and the earnest riffing of Death (another Orlando-bred band), with the beautiful, somber meanderings of bands like Opeth, while being influenced by classical and jazz music. Scourge is sure to be a powerful testament to the musical legitimacy and thrilling nature of progressive and death metal.

Lineup:

Shiv - Vocals
Prophet - Guitar
Cooper Bates - Drums/Vocals
Tyler McDaniel - Guitar/Vocals
Jose Figueroa – Bass

Progressive rock group Mile Marker Zero formed in 2005 when brothers Dave Alley (vocals) and Doug Alley (drums) alongside childhood friend Mark Focarile (keys) connected with John Tuohy (guitars) while studying music at Western Connecticut State University. The quintet is completed by Jaco Lindito (bass).  

Following the release of their debut full-length, the band went on to be the first-ever unsigned artist to be featured on Harmonix/MTV Games popular vide game, RockBand and appeared on stages with a who's who of their genre including: Periphery, Scale The Summit, Nothing More, Adrenaline Mob, Fair To Midland and more.

Now, Mile Marker Zero has premiered the debut single, "The Architect", taken off of their upcoming full-length concept album, The Fifth Row, scheduled for self-release on March 2nd.

 Consisting of 15 tracks which brilliantly showcase the band's melodic hooks and unique arrangements, The Fifth Row was self-recorded at the band's home studio before being sent for mastering via Andy Vandette (Rush, Devin Townsend).

Vocalist Dave Alley revealed the concept behind the album stating, "The Fifth Row, is a reference to the legend of 'rice and the chessboard' and is frequently used by futurists as a way to show exponential growth in technology. As a society, humanity is currently in the 'fifth row' of the chessboard, a time which changes in technology happen so fast that they are almost impossible to accurately forecast or predict. The role of artificial intelligence and technology in our lives is a pretty hot topic right now. When we decided that we were going to do a concept album, it just seemed like the perfect topic to dive into given how we grew up and how technology influenced our lives."

On behalf of the cover artwork, as seen below, Alley added, "The album cover is filled with small references that are important to the band, and to our story. Growing up, we were all big fans of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and for the album cover we wanted to tip our cap to that film. Showcasing a monolithic element on the cover was the perfect way to pay tribute. The chess piece representing the dominant power in our story's future and the eclipse symbolizing the end of mankind's reign here on earth. Even the landscape itself is a deliberate reference to our first self-titled album."

Tracklisting:

“Source Code”
“2001”
“Digital Warrior”
“Architect”
“Building A Machine”
“Victory”
“JCN”
“Middle Game”
“Propoganda”
“Sacred Geometry”
“Clarity”
“U.I.”
“2020”
“Age Of Jason”
“Collective”

Teaser:

Recently signing to Vancouver, BC's Test Your Metal Records this past December, North Carolina sci-fi metallers Xael share their next video offering "Last Arbiter", as part of their forthcoming sci-fi adventure album of the same title set for release later in 2018. 

Following their previously unleashed story tracks "Apathy Of The Immortal", "Watchers Of Xan", "SRAI (Chained To The Demon Of Erring)" available for free download on Bandcamp, "The Last Arbiter" continues their science fiction experience with the following excerpt:

"I arrived on this alien world, along with the watchers of Xan seeking only their counsel, that they would welcome my wisdom and forsake their warfarin ways. They entertained our thoughts and for a second, took interest in our endeavors but it was short lived.  

Upon the chambers of the Tymeer capitol, news came declaring war between the three houses of Tymeer which included the outer colonies of the inhabited star system of Ezhani Yata Edaa.  It was imperative to quail the feuds of the Tymeer, being that they are the great seat of the “tribunal of the outer rim.”  It's an old world, an odd and barbaric place.

During our visit, we were to witness a odd assortment of events, each one heralded by a enigmatic and cloaked figure, one that I witnessed whispering with one of the master counselors. It seems to be an assassin of a sorts, something we have grown quite fond of in our travels, but this one seemed eerily gifted and was upon our shadows before we were aware.    

The warships floated over head as I left the capitol.  Once again, bearing witness to their idiocy, I am leaving them to their fate for it is now none of my concern.  It is time to go into exile once more, for they will soon scar the planet.  

As I ventured into the wastelands I could hear the barrage of weapons and explosions, shaking the foundation in which I step.  Fools, for their lust of desire erodes them from within.  Leaving the watchers of Xan in the city, I began walk in the wastelands aimlessly, wounded not by weapons or hate but by the pride and desires of the sentient world, hoping to find purpose once more."

Watch "The Last Arbiter" video below:

Vocalist / guitarist / studio drummer Nassaru elaborates upon their forthcoming debut album:

“We will have eight songs standard and two instrumental tracks. Instead of releasing an album upfront, we want fans to share in our progress in a musical series, releasing two songs a month to allow more time for fans to appreciate the work and for us to best represent the songs in some form of art to convey the entirety of our vision… The album series is called The Last Arbiter, referring to the protagonist’s mission in the story and his pursuit of an unattainable purpose in pacifying the destructive nature of the sentient world. It will be different and very diverse, but at its core it is extreme metal, melodies in abundance, and storytelling bard style! So I believe it will be refreshing… something different combining symphonic and folk elements with brutal metal…We want to paint a soundscape, a myriad of imaginative and diverse environments while exploring the complications of being sentient and self-aware.”

In additional news, Xael's debut live performance will be as local support for the Septic Flesh, Dark Funeral and Thy Antichrist North American tour stop in Spartanburg, SC on March 13th.

Xael vocalist / guitarist / studio drummer Nassaru comments: "We are very excited for the opportunity to open for Septic Flesh, Dark Funeral, and Thy Antichrist and especially for our debut show, which will be at Ground Zero in Spartanburg, SC. Our appearance here will mark the beginning of our live endeavors as we take our show on the road. Having the opportunity to open for music acts that we respect and as fans ourselves is the best way for us to kick off our journey!"

Xael was founded by Nassaru of Rapheumets Well / Enthean as well as Sorgiem “Daniel Presnell,” Tuurm “Alex Rush” from Enthean, and Xolotl “Fernando Ortega” and features various guest artists. Vocalist / guitarist / studio drummer Nassaru describes the band's music as “a thought provoking metal journey.”

"Apathy Of The Immortal" music video:

 

The Last Arbiter audio story video:

For further details, visit the official Xael Facebook page.

(Photo - Shannon Wells)

 

Cambridge ON's grind sludge duo Greber, featuring Steve Vargas (The Great Sabatini) and Marc Borugon (ex-Fuck The Facts) will be unleashing their new album Cemetery Preston on Friday, February 2nd. Audience’s jaws will drop at the raw mining of emotions it contains, its searing sincerity, and sheer innovation. Through collaborations between Ancient Temple Recordings, Pink Lemonade Recordings, Hibernation Release, No Why Records and d7i Records, the release will be available on vinyl, CD, cassette and digital download.  

Before it's officially out, Greber is presenting a full stream of the album.

Drummer Steve Vargas comments: 

"With Cemetery Preston we dug a bit deeper and got a lot darker in the overall sound and feel of this record. Our aim was to make it as ugly as possible both musically and lyrically. I feel like it's the best representation of the band to date and we're really excited to play a bunch of these songs on the road in February."

Tracklisting:

“Backhanded Interest”
“The Wreckers”
“Prophetic”
“By Any Other Name”
“Overdraft”
“Our Burnt Treasure”
“Grave Plot”
“No One But You”
“The Closer We Got”

For those in Eastern Canada, Greber will be hitting the road in February to destroy with their live assault in support of Cemetery Preston.

Dates:

February
1 – Ottawa, ON – Pressed
2 – Montreal, QC – Atomic Café
3 – Quebec City, QC – Scanner
6 – Fredericton, NB – Manic Mansion
7 – Saint John, NB – Second Spin
8 – Moncton, NB – Plan B
9 – Halifax, NS – Gus’ Pub
10 – Sherbrooke, QC – Le Murdoch
23 – Toronto, ON – Coalition
24 – Cambridge, ON – Scout Hut

Images Of Eden from Baltimore, MD have released their first single / music video, “Shield Me”, as an unsigned band while they shop record labels for a 2018 release of their full-length CD, titled Soulrise, which was just completed in December, 2017. The album was mixed and mastered by Bill Metoyer (Trouble, Flotsam And Jetsam, Sacred Reich) at Skull-Seven Studios in Hollywood, CA and is ready for pressing.

The single for “Shield Me” is available at all digital media outlets (iTunes, Amazon, etc). The “Shield Me” video was directed by Images Of Eden drummer Steve Dorssom and features "a strong message about the terrible opioid epidemic faced in today's society."

For further details, visit ImagesOfEden.com.

 

This release is a remastered, reissue of the classic Chastain album The Voice Of The Cult on its 30th year anniversary. This album features the studio lineup of David T. Chastain on guitar, Leather Leone on vocals, Mike Skimmerhorn on bass and Ken Mary on drums.

The Voice Of The Cult was originally released in 1988 and David states, "I have always felt that this album was the most commercial sounding of all the Chastain albums. Originally some of the songs were written with CJSS in mind but at around that time I decided to concentrate just on Chastain and my solo stuff so some of those tracks were reworked to fit on Voice."

Leather adds: "I knew when we were recording this record that it was special. I embrace the term "The Voice of the Cult" and that has stuck with me. We as a band had hit our stride at the release of this record. That feeling of accomplishment as a vocalist has never changed after this record."

David relates this little known info: "During that time many thought of Heavy Metal as Devil's music. We actually had a very hard time finding a plant in the US that would print up the Cd because of the name! They assumed we were talking about a Satanic cult when in reality we were talking about the Metal cult! Religious idiots!!"

David continues, "It is strange in a good way to see fans still singing along with the lyrics to some of these songs in concert. It seems the term "The Voice of the Cult" has resonated as a rallying call for many in metal. I decided I wanted to bring up the audio to today's standards so I remastered it personally. I think the album has withstood the test of time and holds up quite well to traditional metal standards. We have new young fans contacting me who say they just found out about these early albums and Chastain after all this time. To them we are a new band!"

After over thirty years Chastain is still going strong with new albums such as 2017's We Bleed Metal 17 to go along with a very prolific catalog. Those early albums certainly fall into the category of "metal classics" to those in the know of metal history and certainly any diehard Chastain fan.

Order here.

Swedish brutal, melodic, old-school death metal tyrants, Demonical, will emerge with a brand new, fifth studio album titled Chaos Manifesto, on March 23rd in Europe and April 27th in North America via Agonia Records. Listen to the first single "Towards Greater Gods" below.

Demonical arose from the ashes of formerly disbanded Centinex in 2006, and in comparison to its older sibling, executes death metal in a far more impetuous and melodic manner. Chaos Manifesto is a testament to that statement. After nearly five years since the release of the last full-length album Darkness Unbound (2013), the Swede's - now led by a new prominent death growler Alexander Högbom (October Tide, Centinex) - continue the traditional Demonical path with fierce HM-2 driven death metal of utter brutality, yet return in a partially new, yet fully fit five-piece line-up.

From the violent album opener "A Void Most Obscure", via melodic mid-tempo anthems "Towards Greater Gods" and "Välkommen Undergång" (the band's first ever track is Swedish), all the way to the final song "Nightbringer", Demonical once again prove that they're a force to be reckoned with in the extreme metal scene.

The five-year gap between albums has not made the band become stale in ideas, either: "Chaos Manifesto features some new elements and streaks the band hasn’t explored before" - comments bassist, Martin Schulman. "We have tapped an award-winning Swedish producer and we are confident that the album - which summons bits and pieces from all our previous releases - will become an improved quality-related chapter for Demonical, and push our Swedish Death Metal Darkness to a new level".  

Chaos Manifesto was recorded in 2017 and both mixed and mastered by Karl Daniel Lidén (Terra Tenebrosa, Cult of Luna, Katatonia). The album artwork was designed by Karmazid (Urfaust, Wolfbrigade, Blaze of Perdition). Pehr Skjoldhammer of Alfahanne guest appears on vocals.

Tracklisting:

"A Void Most Obscure"
"Towards Greater Gods"
"Sung To Possess"
"Välkommen Undergång"
"Torture Parade"
"From Nothing"
"Unfold Thy Darkness"
"Death Unfaithful"
"Nightbringer" (Digipack CD exclusive)

"Towards Greater Gods":

Album formats:

- Digipack CD with slipcase
- Black gatefold LP
- Silver gatefold LP (limited to 244 hand-numbered copies)
- Transparent white gatefold LP (limited to 166 hand-numbered copies)
- Black t-shirt.
- Hoodie zipper

Pre-orders here.

Upcoming live dates:

March
23 - Hirschaid, Germany - Braincrusher Festival

April
19. - Barcelona, Spain - Sala Upload
20 - Alicante, Spain - Sala Babel
21 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Estudios
22 - Zaragoza, Spain - Utopia
27 - Stockholm, Sweden - Stockholm Slaughter Festival

May
12 - Vienna, Austria - Vienna Metal Meeting

June
22 - Protzen, Germany - Protzen Open Air

July
27 - Tolmin, Slovenia - Metaldays Festival
28 - Rohr, Germany - Riedfest Open Air

August
18 - Helsinki, Finland - Helsinki Death Fest

Lineup:

Alexander Högbom - vocals
Martin Schulman - bass
Johan Haglund - rhythm guitars
Eki Kumpulainen - lead guitars
Kennet Englund - drums

LED ZEPPELIN and London's Reel Art Press are celebrating 50 years since the band's formation by releasing an official illustrated book.

"Led Zeppelin By Led Zeppelin" is the first and only official illustrated book to be produced in collaboration with the members of the band. It covers the group's unparalleled musical career and features photographs of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham on and offstage, in candid moments and in the recording studio. This definitive 368-page volume includes unseen photographs and artwork from the LED ZEPPELIN archives and contributions from photographers around the world.

The book will be released in October and is available for pre-order now. Enter code: LZ50 at checkout for free shipping on your pre-order until April 1.

Coming on March 23 is a newly remastered reissue of the LED ZEPPELIN 2003 live collection, "How The West Was Won". The set, which features new remastering supervised by Page, marks the first offering from the band in celebration of its 50th anniversary this year. "How The West Was Won" will be released in multiple formats including triple-CD, the first-ever vinyl and Blu-ray audio editions — with the Blu-ray containing hi-res 5.1 Surround Sound — and the LP version spread over four discs.

"How The West Was Won" was originally released on May 27, 2003 featuring tracks culled from two Southern California shows recorded at the L.A. Forum on June 25, 1972 and Long Beach Arena on June 27, 1972. Page sequenced the set to replicate a single concert from beginning to end. Standouts include a 25-plus minute version of "Dazed And Confused" and a 21-minute medley based around "Whole Lotta Love". The performances also capture the band introducing songs from its then-unreleased album "Houses Of The Holy", which would be released nine months later. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Influenced by bands like Iron Maiden and Dream Theater to Dragonforce and Angra, Novareign are the next generation of progressive power metal telling stories in musical literature speaking to a generation influenced by epic fantasy tales, comic books and video games.  Having made a reputation for themselves through energy-abounding live shows filled with nonstop shredding guitar interplay and powerful traditional metal vocals Novareign will debut their album on February 16th via M-Theory Audio. Legends is an hour-plus of over-the-top, shred-tastic epic, yet melodic, power and progressive metal. New single, “Heavy Heart”, is streaming below.

"‘Heavy Heart’ is the collaborative of [former Exmortus guitarist] Balmore Lemus and [vocalist] David Marquez. While Lemus had stored the guitar melodies in his back pocket for years, lyrics composed by Marquez spawned the appropriate time for the song to make its outing into the world,” explains guitarist Danny Nobel. “It is no secret that the number of people who suffer from depression, anxiety, or anger is running rampant. It’s a heartbreaking topic that caught the eye of David, who felt that it was too important to be ignored, and deserved to be addressed. The lyrics remind anyone who suffers that they can always rise above the pain, to remember that they are not alone, and there is always a choice.”

Legends will be released on CD and digitally and is already available for pre-order from the label’s webshop here.

“The art was based off an idea I had pitched to have giant statues of god-like figures in an astral plain,” explains Danny. “Our bassist, Moises, took the idea and created the drawings you’ve seen so far. The characters are all based on warriors and mythical beings, which represent themes of courage, heroism, strength and virtue. These are characteristics and themes of the overall album. That along with a cosmic decor.”

Stoner/sludge trio Empress are streaming “Baptizer” off their upcoming debut EP Reminiscence.

Introducing Empress... This three-headed beast from Vancouver, B.C. was born after guitarist/vocalist Peter Sacco (Seer) and drummer Chris Doyle attended a show headlined by doom mavens Elder. Inspired by the massive wall of sound and psychedelia they encountered on that fateful night, the pair enlisted bassist Brenden Gunn (Craters) and set out to create their own brand of stoner/sludge metal.

The trio, whose collective history dates back nearly a decade, went immediately to work. Within two months Empress wrote and recorded the five tracks now collectively known as Reminiscence. With this debut EP, Empress harvests a hybrid strain of monolithic groove, over-amped sludge and mutant prog.

Empress will self-release Reminiscence as a digital download on February 12th. Pre-order here, and listen to the track "The Offering" below.

Reminiscence by Empress

Lineup:

Peter Sacco - guitar/vox  
Brenden Gunn - bass  
Chris Doyle -drums  

(Photo - Shimon Karmel)

New York death metal pioneers Suffocation and Guitar World present a playthrough video for the song "Return To The Abyss", featuring guitarists Terrance Hobbs and Charles Errigo. The track comes off their latest release ...Of The Dark Light.

...Of The Dark Light was produced by Suffocation and tracked at Full Force Studios with longtime engineer Joe Cincotta (Obituary). Mixing and mastering was handled by world renowned producer/engineer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Arsis).Suffocation is:

Frank Mullen - vocals
Kevin Muller - vocals
Terrance Hobbs - guitars
Charles Errigo - guitars
Derek Boyer - bass
Eric Morotti - drums

Promising Greek speedsters, Sacral Rage, have started work on the follow-up to 2015's IllusionsIin Infinite Void debut full-length for a 2018 release via Cruz Del Sur Music. The as-yet-titled album will be produced by Sacral Rage, with drum and guitar recordings taking place in Ignite Studios in Athens. The band will track vocals and bass in White Socks Studios and will have the album mixed and mastered by Stamos Koliousis at an undisclosed location in Norway.

Comments guitarist Marios: "The music retains the classic Sacral mixture of tech madness/aggressiveness with the addition of more complex structures at times, along with a darker vibe and more layered sounds than the previous one. In terms of composition and arranging of the songs, the way we worked hasn't changed since our last work. The only difference was that we had to overcome and re-invent aspects of ourselves in order to present something different and fresh from our previous works."

Sacral Rage's sound - a blend of tech thrash in the vein of Coroner mixed with the sci-fi aura of Voivod and the melodic class of Helstar - has taken on a more aggressive form according to Marios, even finding the band going down even darker paths than before. "It's like we expanded every aspect of 'Illusions...' with this one. The songs came out bigger than expected without losing the character and the sound of the band. Lyrically, we present stories of the near (or not) future and visions of a traveler that wanders through time."

The positive reception to Illusions... helped spread the Sacral Rage name throughout Europe and included several key festival stops along the way. Aware of the expectations for their sophomore album, Marios feels like it's time for Sacral Rage to assert their place in the heavy metal underground.

"With our second release, we aim to make the next step for the band and participate in bigger festivals, as we believe that our live performance is one of our strong points," he closes. "We also hope that our music will be unleashed on much more people than before."

Sacramento, CA-based tech death act, The Kennedy Veil, have released pro-shot live footage from their Mesa, Arizona stop on the Origin-headlined Bloodletting North America Tour.

The Matti Way (From The North Films)-directed video shows the band absolutely devastating the crowd while touring in support of their newest album Imperium, which came out in September of last year through Unique Leader.

Continuing to support Imperium on the road, the band will be playing select dates of the Feast Winter Tour alongside Alterbeast, The Grindmother, and Aethere.

February
17 - Petaluma, CA -  The Phoenix Theater
18 - Santa Ana, CA -  Malones
19 - Las Vegas, NV - The Chxrch
20 - Mesa, AZ - The Underground

On March 23, Frontiers Music Srl will release a box set collecting all the solo works of acclaimed Grammy-nominated composer Kip Winger into one collection. The set will be comprised of Kip's solo albums, including:

* This Conversation Seems Like A Dream (1997)
* Down Incognito (1998)
* Songs From The Ocean Floor (2000)
* From The Moon To The Sun (2008)

In addition, there is going to be a bonus disc (exclusive to the physical edition, while stock lasts), which includes a new previously unreleased song and all of the bonus cuts from previous records.

The "Solo Box Set Collection" will be a strictly limited edition of 1,500 copies (worldwide) and include five CDs in vinyl replica cases and a booklet with liner notes written by Kip Winger.

A trailer for "Solo Box Set Collection" is available below.

Kip Winger rode the wave of the '80s/early '90s pop-metal explosion first with Alice Cooper and then in the wildly successful band of his namesake, WINGER, before beginning a solo career in the late '90s. His debut solo effort, "This Conversation Seems Like A Dream", was released in 1997 and supported with a solo acoustic tour. An acoustic album featuring the new track "Another Way" and of past favorites, "Down Incognito", was then released in 1999. Winger followed it with his second proper solo album, 2000's "Songs From The Ocean Floor", which addressed his grief over the loss of his wife, who had passed away in a car accident shortly after the release of his first solo album. After a long hiatus with his solo work, Kip returned with "From The Moon To The Sun" in 2008; an extensive body of work that includes everything from straight-up heavy and dark music to absolutely melodic and beautiful works.

More recently, Winger has enjoyed success composing classical music. Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon created the ballet "Ghosts", based on a piece Kip wrote, which premiered at the San Francisco Ballet on February 9, 2010. The ballet was a hit and was brought back for a five seasons in 2010. "Ghosts" will make its Nashville debut in May 2018 with Nashville Ballet. Winger then composed a four-part work titled "Conversations With Nijinsky", intended to celebrate the life of ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky. A recording of the piece performed by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra on the album "C.F. Kip Winger: Conversations With Nijinsky" entered at No. 1 on the traditional classical category on the Billboard music charts. "Conversations With Nijinsky" was also nominated in the "Best Classical Contemporary Composition" category at the 59th annual Grammy Awards.

Track listing:

CD 1 - This Conversation Seems Like A Dream

01. Kiss Of Life
02. Monster
03. Endless Circles
04. Angel Of The Underground
05. Steam
06. I'll Be Down
07. Naked Son
08. Daniel
09. How Far Will We Go
10. Don't Let Go
11. Here

CD 2 - Down Incognito

01. Another Way
02. Down Incognito
03. Under One Condition
04. Miles Away
05. Steam
06. Headed For A Heartbreak
07. How Far Will We Go
08. Naked Son
09. Spell I'm Under
10. Easy Come Easy Go
11. Daniel

CD 3 - Songs From The Ocean Floor

01. Cross
02. Crash The Wall
03. Sure Was A Wildflower
04. Two Lovers Stand
05. Landslide
06. Faster
07. Song Of Midnight
08. Free
09. Only One Word
10. Broken Open
11. Resurrection
12. Everything You Need

CD 4 - From The Moon To The Sun

01. Every Story Told
02. Nothing
03. Where Will You Go
04. Pages And Pages
05. In Your Eyes Another Life
06. Runaway
07. California
08. What We Are
09. One Big Game
10. Why
11. Reason To Believe

CD 5 - Bonus CD

01. Hands Of Love
02. Monster (European bonus track)
03. Holy Man
04. Free (Instrumental)
05. Ghosts
06. Now And Forever
07. Kiss Of Life (Demo)
08. Don't Let Go (Demo)
09. Headed For A Heartbreak (Demo 1987)
10. Hour Of Need (Demo)
11. Monster (Demo)
12. Rainbow In The Rose
13. Blind Revolution Mad
14. Headed For A Heartbreak (Live)

The classic lineup of DOKKEN — vocalist Don Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown — filmed a video in Los Angeles last month for a new song called "It's Just Another Day". The track, which will be featured on the band's forthcoming CD/DVD package, marks the the first new song by the classic DOKKEN lineup since the 1997 "Shadowlife" album.

During a recent appearance on the "The Classic Metal Show", Don Dokken stated about the Jamie Brown-directed clip: "There's some footage in the background, superimposed, from [DOKKEN's classic videos] 'Breaking The Chains' and 'In My Dreams' and 'Heaven Sent'; we threw a couple of little old clips superimposed in the background — a bit of nostalgia. But we were laughing 'cause this is probably one of our best videos we've ever done and it didn't cost close to what we used to pay. Because back in the day it was film. Now, I mean, c'mon — everybody's got an iPhone and you've got GoPros. People are making movies on GoPros now, so the cost has come down from a quarter million down to nothing."

As for the musical direction of the new song, Don said: "I'm really happy. I think it's very DOKKEN-sounding, it's very classic '80s — big harmonies. It was nice and refreshing to hear Jeff and Mick singing background vocals. They wrote the song, I guess — George and Jeff. I wasn't there — they wrote it. And when they gave it to me, I wasn't really that over the moon over it. It was kind of slow and kind of moody and kind of slow and dirgey. But George likes to play those heavy kind of slow grooves — 'Heaven Sent'-ish. And actually, Jeff had written the lyrics, Jeff had written all the vocals, and I just said, 'I don't like it.' I said, 'If we're gonna do a video after two decades, I think the song should be kicking, rocking, up-tempo.' So I did what I do, and I said, 'Why don't we just speed this baby up and kick it in the ass? And let me have a crack at it. Let me try to comp some lyrics and a chorus, and just let me have a crack at it.' And I said, 'If you guys don't like it, we'll stay with what you have.' But at the end of the day, I went to Jeff's house, his recording studio, and I wrote the lyrics in 30 minutes from scratch; I wrote the whole song in, like, a half an hour. And I just wrote it, said it, did it, sang it, and then I listened to it. And about a week later, I said, 'Hmmm… It's really good. A little negative. A little bit of crying in my beer.' The lyrics, to me, were too much, 'Oh, you loved me, you left me, you bitch,' that kind of stuff. So I kind of changed all that and tried to make it more upbeat and more hopeful lyric. I made some changes and I said, 'Let me know what you think, Jeff.' And I played it for George and everybody listened to the new version and they all loved it, and that was it."

DOKKEN's classic lineup played its only U.S. show in September 2016 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota before embarking on a six-show Japanese run dubbed "Unleashed In The East".

DOKKEN's upcoming concert DVD, which is tentatively due in April, will reportedly feature footage from two of the Japanese shows — including Tokyo — as well as the band's Sioux Falls gig. The band also recorded two acoustic remakes of a couple of the old DOKKEN songs.

Don told the "The Classic Metal Show" that he didn't know "why it took a freaking year to do this — the whole live DVD. But we had almost two hours of just backstage, goofing around, on the train, going to Osaka, Nagoya, on the train, having fun backstage, screwing around," he said. "That took forever to edit. So on the new live DVD, there's gonna a lot of bonus footage — a lot of just candid, messing around, having fun. 'Cause, you know, George and Jeff hadn't been in DOKKEN for over 20 years."

Dokken admitted that he had "a good feeling and a bad feeling about" the release of a new song featuring DOKKEN's classic lineup. "Because I know — I know — that when this video hits the streets, it's gonna go viral. I already know that; it's obvious," he said. "The video's over the top; it's killer — great song. It's just like 'Paris Is Burning' meets 'In My Dreams'. It's catchy, it's classic sounding. George did an insane solo on it; the solo he did was really, really… I was really proud of George. He's shredding, but at the same time, it's very melodic. So the Catch-22 is it comes out, it's the old members, it's what we call the O.G., the original gangsters, but this is not my lineup I've had for 20 years. So I'm gonna go forward with the band I have now. This was a one-time thing in life, one-time shot, one song — that's it. And, of course, already the phone's ringing off the hook, people throwing money at us for a show with George and Jeff and Mick. But, as you know, Jeff's in FOREIGNER, George has a million projects going on — KXM and LYNCH MOB — and we all have our things going on. But I just have no reason or desire to return to that lineup. But, with the old saying, never say never."

Don also talked about his current relationship with George and Jeff, both of whom he had previously traded verbal barbs with in the press. "I would say that I had some trepidation [about playing with them again], obviously," Dokken said. "We've been getting offers for years and years and years to do a reunion, quote-unquote, tour, and I said, 'Guys, I'm not interested. DOKKEN, to me, is Chris McCarvill, 'Wild' Mick Brown and Jon Levin, who's been in the band for 22 years. That's DOKKEN.' I don't see why I need to go back in time and do this. What's the point? If it's just for money, they know how I feel about that. And there's more to life than money. You can live in a mansion and drive a Ferrari and be miserable. And I said, 'I'm not interested.' So I had some trepidation. We only rehearsed with Jeff and George for three days when we did the South Dakota one show only in America, where we filmed. But they showed up, we rehearsed, went to Japan, we filmed the show, we did these huge arenas, sold out. And it was great. George and I shot the shit for hours and hours every day over sake and beer on the bullet trains and we talked about everything from politics to spirituality and it was all good. And Jeff is such addict, he's almost maybe worse than me when it comes to music. I mean, every day, Jeff's on the bullet train looking at the footage from the night before and he's looking at this, he's looking at that. 'Check this out. How about that? This is a good shot.' He's mixing the songs, he's trying to figure out what's the best takes. So it was a band effort. That was nice."

The 2016 Japanese tour featuring Pilson, Dokken, Lynch and Brown marked the first time in 21 years DOKKEN's classic lineup had hit the road.

JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner was recently interviewed by Greece's Rock Overdose. You can now listen to the entire chat in two parts at this location. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On JUDAS PRIEST's upcoming album, "Firepower":

Richie: "I'm really excited, and I think we are, in the band, all excited. We've put a lot of work, a lot of energy, a lot of passion into this record. We released a song earlier this month and journalists are hearing the record, so we're starting to hear feedback from people and it seems to be overwhelmingly positive, so it makes us even more excited for everyone to hear the rest of the record and put it on in the car or do whatever people do with it. So we're totally excited to be getting closer to the release date, and everyone can hear the songs, everyone can hear the record, and then we're gonna take it on tour. So it's an incredibly exciting time for JUDAS PRIEST."

On how the new album compares to 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls":

Richie: "It's hard to say when we are so close to it. We wrote the songs, we recorded the songs, we've lived with them for a while now, so it's very hard to be objective about it. But, obviously, we feel like it's a progression from 'Redeemer'. Everyone says it, but I think this is a better album than the last one. If it wasn't, there'd be no point in releasing it. So we wanted to do something that was better, that was different, that was classic JUDAS PRIEST but a modern JUDAS PRIEST for 2018. And I think we've done that. We love the songs. It's got a great energy, a great vibe. We recorded it differently, we recorded it more cohesively together. We rehearsed the songs, so it was a great experience to record and to write. And I think that comes across — when you listen to the album, you can hear that come across in the sound. So, yeah, man, I think it's a great record; I'm super proud of it. I know we all are super proud of it, and I hope the fans love it as well."

On how the writing and recording process was different from "Redeemer Of Souls":

Richie: "Personally, it was the same in terms of recording ideas and putting down ideas. It was slightly different in terms of the way I approached the guitar, but in terms of the songs and the recording, definitely. For 'Redeemer', [guitarist] Glenn Tipton and Mike Exeter produced the record. For this one, we all thought, 'What can we do differently? How can we do things different to 'Redeemer'?' and the production team was one of those things. So we got in Mike Exeter again as an engineer, and we also brought in Tom Allom and Andy Sneap to produce. So it was two producers this time — one from a classic period of PRIEST's career and a more modern producer. And it was a great, great marriage. They are two great producers. You know what? It could have gone horribly wrong. There could have been egos, they could have been going into each other's territory, and we didn't know if it was gonna work or not. But I'll tell you what: it worked beautifully. Tom being a more classic producer, he had certain ways of doing things, which complemented Andy Sneap's different ways of doing things, and they just worked fantastically together. And they were adamant that we got together in the same room with the songs that we had and we played them and we rehearsed them and we felt the songs out and we felt what it needed — the push and pull of music that happens naturally that you get from playing with people is what they wanted to bring back. And I don't think PRIEST has done that since 'Painkiller', according to [drummer] Scott Travis; he said that was the last time that they did it. And I think it really affects the feel of the songs, it affects the vibe and just affects the energy of the end result. [So] there were a couple of things that we did differently, which really affected the final result."

On whether PRIEST intentionally revisited some of its earlier albums for inspiration when making "Firepower":

Richie: "I don't think that was a conscious thing; we didn't try to go back anywhere. But I think that's a natural characteristic of JUDAS PRIEST's music. We try and push forward [and] we want to sound relevant and current and a modern JUDAS PRIEST in 2018. Of course, there are gonna be certain characteristics in JUDAS PRIEST's music which sound like they could have been from 'Defenders Of The Faith'. Dude, I'm a fan as well. We all love PRIEST, we all grew up with PRIEST, and we identify PRIEST with different parts of our lives and different albums. So that's always gonna be there. But it's definitely not a conscious thing to go in and recreate something from 1986. We do what we do, we go forward, and then it's up to the listener to make that connection. And we always do — I listen to 'Painkiller' and I can hear stuff from 'Rapid Fire' or different songs throughout the time. You can hear references all through the career — that's the same thing here. But it's definitely not a conscious thing."

"Firepower" will be released on March 9 via Epic. The cover artwork for the follow-up to 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls" was created by the Chilean/Italian digital artist and photographer Claudio Bergamin.

The North American leg of the "Firepower" tour will kick off on March 13 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and will wrap on May 1 in San Antonio, Texas. Support on the trek will come from SAXON and BLACK STAR RIDERS.

Philip Anselmo has commented on SLAYER's decision to embark on a "farewell" tour, calling it a "smart business" move.

Last week, SLAYER, one of metal's most popular and influential bands of the past four decades, announced its "final world tour" via a 30-second video. The group also confirmed that its last-ever North American run of dates would feature support from LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX, BEHEMOTH and TESTAMENT.

Asked in a new interview with Revolver for his take on SLAYER's announcement, Anselmo laughed and said: "Put it this way: There's a lot of bands that have claimed they're doing one last tour. It's called smart business, to a degree. So I'll believe it if it happens. But when I was a young man, SLAYER changed my life — so whatever they decide all I can do is extend my love and admiration for the fellas in the band and wish them the best."

Anselmo was also asked if he would consider collaborating with guitarist Kerry King on a future project once SLAYER was done touring. "You know, someone shot me an e-mail the other day saying there's been murmurs online about me and Kerry jamming together," Philip responded. "And you know everything you read on the Internet is always a hundred percent true. [Laughs] But the real truth is I haven't talked to Kerry since Jeff Hanneman passed away. I will say this, though: I'm on the worst side of life expectancy now, so for me to close any doors would be just flat out foolish. [Laughs] If Kerry King wants to do a record and it sounds cool, my door is always open."

SLAYER will kick off the first leg of its farewell world tour with a May 10 concert at San Diego's Valley View Casino Center, with dates running through June 20 at Austin's 360 Amphitheatre.

Philip's solo project, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, has just released its sophomore album, "Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue", via Anselmo's Housecore Records in the U.S. and Season Of Mist in other parts of the world. The disc is the follow-up to PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS' debut, "Walk Through Exits Only", which came out in 2013 to mostly positive reviews.

Armored Dawn is a promising heavy/power metal band from Brazil who will debut on AFM Records with their new album, Barbarians In Black, on February 23rd. A video trailer for the upcoming release can be seen below.

"Beware Of The Dragon"
"Bloodstone"
"Men Of Odin"
"Chance To Live Again"
"Unbreakable"
"Eyes Behind The Crow"
"Sail Away"
"Gods Of Metal"
"Survivor"
"Barbarians In Black"

Trailer:

After supporting Fates Warning on their latest European tour, Armored Dawn will now open for Saxon at the following shows:

February
27 - Tilburg, Netherlands
28 - Saarbrücken, Germany

March
1 - Hannover, Germany
2 - Frankfurt, Germany
3 - Dresden, Germany

UK based publisher Cult Never Dies recently announced the expanded edition of Secrets Of My Kingdom, the book originally written by Norwegian visionary artist Mortiis and published in a highly limited form in 2001.

“Once I got over my personal hang-ups about the Era 1 material, and started reissuing portions of it, I felt that the time was right to start work on a reissue of the Secrets Of My Kingdom book. Cult Never Dies had approached me about a reissue a couple of years ago I believe, but I wasn’t quite ready at the time”, recalls the godfather of dungeon synth.

“I had a couple of offers from labels/publishers to do this. At first I stalled with everyone, because I wasn’t really ready personally, to dig into this. When I finally came around, and figured the time was right, I chose Dayal & Cult Never Dies for a few reasons. Mainly because he already had a few books out that focused around the same scene (more or less) that I ‘belonged’ to back in the early to mid 90’s, so that made sense both in terms of his experience in publishing books and also the Cult Never Dies ‘clout’, which I appreciated. I also liked that Cult Never Dies is based in the UK which was a good market for me at one point, and still is. Of course the fact that Dayal also works as a journalist helps, but of course these are based on the way my cynical marketing and business brain works”, enthuses Mortiis.

A collection of writings accompanied by illustrations from a number of talents, this immersive work significantly fleshed out the universe Mortiis had drawn upon in his early releases and today changes hands for hundreds of dollars.

“It was a pretty easy process dealing with Cult Never Dies, as we pretty want the same thing with this, which is to retain the spirit of the original release, but update it/add to it where needed, and really just get it out there to everyone that weren't around the first time, weren't able to buy it back then, and for all the people that don’t want to dish out € 200 for an original copy today. When I reached out to guys like Juha Vuorma and Mark Riddick, it couldn't have been easier. Those guys are very easy to deal with, and Mark even dug up a couple of pieces from back in the 90s that hadn't been used, and he made a couple of new ones too, that fit in perfectly with the concept”.

Now considerably expanded, Secrets Of My Kingdom: Return To Dimensions Unknown sees this utterly unique work made available once more, this time with previously unseen illustrations and text. The new cover artwork has been made by David Thiérrée, an amazing artist able to create symbolism and subtle hints.

“We’ve collected additional artwork from one of original artists Mark Riddick, and new front cover artwork, inspired by the themes of the book, by David Thiérrée, whom I also collaborated with for the reissue of my first three albums. He recreated the artwork all of those with great success. There is a long in-depth interview where I discuss and dissect those days of old when the book was being written originally. There will be a special box set version of the book, that will also include, among other cool things, reproduced prints of selected artwork, some of which were originally made in color, and we’re reproducing them in color for the special edition. Until now they were only printed in black and white”.

Meanwhile extensive interviews with Mortiis himself explain the genesis and evolution of the Mortiis concept. Elsewhere the immense impact upon the ‘dungeon synth’ movement - a genre that is curiously at the height of its popularity today - is also examined in detail.

The book is due to appear in March, and will be released by Cult Never Dies publishing, who have already issued a number of acclaimed titles on black / underground metal and art, including Black Metal: Into The Abyss, Ultra-Damaged (by ex-Mayhem vocalist Maniac) and the recent Doom Metal Lexicanum.

Pre-order here.

Italian metal band Forbidden Seasons will make their anticipated return this year with the release of their debut full-length album, Promise, which will be available on March 16th from This Is Core Records. A video for the album track “Thank You For The Venom” is available for streaming below.

The video for “Thank You For The Venom” was produced by Lucernafilms and features actress Riae Suicide. The song, and album, was composed by Forbidden Seasons with artistic direction and recording from Heavy Tones Recordings Studio and mixed/mastered at Studio Fredman.

"The song “Thank You For The Venom” talks about an ill relationship with someone very dear to me. They played with my life; tried to take advantage of my weaknesses and of my unconditional love and all they did was turn my love into hatred, into venom, consuming my soul. When in times of need this person tried to get back in touch, however they managed to make me feel even worse. They made me numb even though in my veins flows their own rotten blood." - Mark Seasons (vocals)

Promise tracklisting:

“Atlantis”
“Thank You For The Venom”
“Keys and Locks”
“Gravity Fall”
“Wormhole”
“The Human”
“Sorrow Won't End”
“I've Seen The End In Your Eyes”
“The Rejected”
“Promise”

“Thank You For The Venom” video:

Italian death metallers, Grind Zero, has signed a record deal with Punishment 18 Records for their new full-length, following the 2014 debut album Mass Distraction.

The band was born in late 2011, when long-time friends Alex Colombo and Udo Usvardi decided to start a new project playing the music they liked most, the music they grew up with, the music with old-school attitude. In January 2012 Mr.D. (aka Dhilorz of Ancient) joined as guitarist speeding up the writing process and filling GZ’s riffing with his influences. Alessandro “Rullo” Durini (drums) and Marco Piras (vocals) teamed up with GZ shortly after to complete the lineup.

Spring 2012 was finally time to bring the band on stage, so at the end of April 2012, Grind Zero supported Entombed during their Italian show and shortly after they shared the stage with the Norwegian acts Diskord and Execration and played several more shows with other underground bands around the north of Italy.

In April 2015 Alessandro Durini was replaced by Matteo Amighetti on the drums. In December 2016 Matteo Amighetti was replaced by Emanuele Prandoni as the band's new session drummer.

Stay tuned for updates.

Formed from the depths of the much-revered Manchester, UK metal scene, Screaming Beast fuse heavy metal and the swagger of the deep south to bring you groovy and bluesy melodic metal.

After a successful live outing with the full line up in November 2017, Screaming Beast brings you their debut album, Our New Narrative Of Hate on March 23rd. The band promises and delivers ten tracks of groovers, shakers, bruisers and head banging neck-breakers. Today the artwork and track listing have been revealed.

Our New Narrative Of Hate tracklisting:

"This Dawn This Day"
"World With Fate"
"Giving Into Fear"
"Silent Submission"
"Despair"
"Lost and Betrayed"
"This Fray"
"Society of Slaves"
"The Nameless"
"Reborn"

The band began as the project of vocalist Anton War and drummer Daniel Mucs in the summer of 2013. Once songs took shape, the band released the first EP Blistering Lies in February of 2014, followed by a second EP To Assail And Conquer in September 2015.

Soon after these releases, sights for the stage were set, and the bands lineup was solidified. Daniel and Anton are joined by Arun Kamath (guitar, backing vocals), Rory Vallely (guitar) and Jason Hartley-Smith (bass, backing vocals).

Having each individually forged their own creative paths over the years, and with a lifetime worth of combined musical experience, all five of these rather talented and handsome chaps are connected by their love for creating and playing the best music possible, and having jolly good fun in the process!

Lyrically, the band draws on a healthy mix of personal experience and outward commentary. While not wishing to preach or force a particular message upon anyone, the listener is taken on a journey through the mind-set of the songs protagonists.

Screaming Beast will be taking the material to the live setting around the world in the following months. Check out the tour dates page for upcoming shows.
 

Spanish heavy metal band Evil Hunter - a new combo formed by experienced musicians coming from renowned bands like WarCry, Lords Of Black, Chicanos, Nova Era, Nightfear, Alien Rockin' Explosion, etc - have just inked a deal with Fighter Records for the release of their debut album, Evil Hunter, this upcoming spring.

Evil Hunter is formed by the following musicians:

José Rubio - guitars (ex-WarCry, guitar player of Jose Andrea Uroboros, Nova Era)
Damián Chicano - vocals (Chicanos and many others)
Gustavo Segura - drums (Nova Era, ex-Vargas Blues Band)
Victor Durán - guitars (ex-Lords of Black, Nightfear, and different artists)
Alberto Garrido - bass (Alien Rockin' Explosion, Ex-Black Hat, and many others)

Evil Hunter is an amazing album of heavy metal adding a little bit of power metal and hard rock, with terrific vocal arrangements and awesome guitar work and rhythm basis. For sure, Evil Hunter is going to be the delight of any lover of this genre.

The Evil Hunter album will be released this spring. Cover artwork, tracklisting, and first single will be revealed soon.

MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson says that he was "surprised" to hear about SLAYER's "farewell" tour, explaining that the Tom Araya-fronted outfit is "young to be retiring."

Last week, SLAYER, one of metal's most popular and influential bands of the past four decades, announced its "final world tour" via a 30-second video. The group also confirmed that its last-ever North American run of dates would feature support from LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX, BEHEMOTH and TESTAMENT.

During an appearance on the "Trunk Nation" show on SiriusXM channel Volume, Ellefson was asked for his take on SLAYER's announcement. "I am surprised by it," he said. "SLAYER's young to be retiring."

Despite the fact that he thinks SLAYER could keep going for a while longer, Ellefson said that he understood why the band would want to go out on top.

"Look, we've all worked hard," he said. "We've headbanged a lot. Our necks hurt. I get it. And I have not talked to the guys, so I don't know what their understanding is internally.

"We've been doing this a long time, and I think all of us are fortunate enough to have survived much of the stuff, some of it self-induced and some of it just rock and roll as we know it and the world as we know it," he said.

Noting that SLAYER has "had an incredible career," Ellefson went on to say that pioneering thrash metal outfit "should be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I mean, by [Rock Hall's] own standards, being an innovator, they are that band for sure," he explained.

David was also asked about MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine's recent comment that there should at least be one more "Big Four" concert before SLAYER calls it quits. "I completely agree with that," he said. "I think it would awesome. We can only hope and pray that that would happen. I think it would be a great way to sort of say 'adios' to that as far as kind of the 'Big Four' of us being together."

The last show featuring the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — was held on September 14, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in New York City.

SLAYER will kick off the first leg of its farewell world tour with a May 10 concert at San Diego's Valley View Casino Center, with dates running through June 20 at Austin's 360 Amphitheatre.

Brian Johnson has described his time with AC/DC as "a great run."

The singer was forced to leave the band in March 2016, midway through its world tour in support of "Rock Or Bust", after doctors told him he faced total hearing loss if he continued to perform live. His replacement for the balance of the dates was GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose.

Johnson joined AC/DC in 1980 following the death of vocalist Bon Scott. He made his debut with the band on that year's "Back In Black" album, one of the most successful LPs of all time.

The rock legend and car aficionado spoke to The Sunday Times about his passion for the most magnificent four-wheeled vehicles in history and he also touched upon the hearing problems that ended his 36-year career with AC/DC.

"On stage, it was getting harder and harder to hear the guitars, even hear the keys, and I was basically going on muscle memory," Brian said. "And I'm not the kind of guy who likes to cheat. The way I look at it, I had a great run."

Two years ago, Johnson said in an open letter to fans that he intended to solve his hearing problem and continue recording and touring, although he pointedly did not say whether he would be rejoining AC/DC.

The vocalist wrote: "My entire focus is to continue medical treatment to improve my hearing. I am hoping that in time my hearing will improve and allow me to return to live concert performances. While the outcome is uncertain, my attitude is optimistic."

AC/DC's future remains in doubt after the band completed its last world tour, a cycle that saw a massive turnover in the group's personnel. Guitarist Angus Young has not yet indicated whether the group will continue recording and touring.

The lineup that completed the tour consisted of Young, Rose, bassist Cliff Williams, Chris Slade on drums and Angus's nephew Stevie Young on guitar.

LINKIN PARK's Mike Shinoda has announced his first solo show — his debut live performance as a solo artist following Chester Bennington's death last July.

Shinoda will perform at this year's edition of Japan's Summer Sonic festival, set to take place August 18-19. Also scheduled to appear are NINE INCH NAILS, BECK and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, among others.

Late last month, Mike said that he had "every intention" of continuing with LINKIN PARK. Shinoda spoke out on the band's future after he released a surprise three-song EP titled "Post Traumatic" in which he directly addresses the LINKIN PARK singer's death and his own anxiety over what would come next.

Shinoda wrote on Twitter, "I have every intention on continuing with LP, and the guys feel the same. We have a lot of rebuilding to do, and questions to answer, so it'll take time."

Discussing the EP, Shinoda wrote, "I wanted to put this out as soon as possible because I'm living it, and a lot of other people are living it, too. I want people to see and hear it as soon as I complete each thing."

Shinoda also revealed that he has "a bunch" of additional songs, saying: "I wanted to release these three and see what the fans want me to do next. If you like these, I'll keep going."

Bennington committed suicide on July 20 at the age of 41. In the months that followed, fans have speculated about LINKIN PARK's future, with some wondering if the group would stay together.

LINKIN PARK paid tribute to Bennington last October with an emotional three-hour show that featured numerous guests joining the band onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

The one new song that Shinoda performed at that show, "Looking For An Answer", does not appear on the EP. Asked about its absence, he wrote: "It still exists. I just want to figure out the right presentation."

Harvey Radford of Extreme Metal Festival News recently conducted an interview with guitarist Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz) of Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Extreme Metal Festival News: It's been eight years since the release of "Abrahadabra" and on May 4 you return with your new offering called "Eonian". What musical direction has DIMMU taken with this album and is it like anything you've recorded before?

Silenoz: "It's always hard for us to say what we've done 'different' or 'changed', as we're always in our little bubble when we write, but we know for a fact that rushing art is not gonna get you anywhere. It's up to the fans and the critics to decipher whatever changes there are, I guess. We could've easily done 'Enthrone Darkness Triumphant' all over again and be sure that we'd satisfy a part of our fan base with that, but we wouldn't be satisfied and content. If the artist is not convinced and confident about their new work, there's no point releasing it, there's no point being an artist. I feel we've matured a lot just in a few years when it comes to the songwriting, especially on the arrangements side of things. I will say this though: there are links back towards our older albums in terms of riffing style, etc., as well as a homage to our black metal roots somewhat, but when we write, we 'DIMMU-fy' things, so it may take the listener a few spins to get under the layers. This is by no stretch an immediate album, it's a lot to take in, but did anyone really expect it otherwise?"

Extreme Metal Festival News: With "Eonian" meaning "eternal" or "everlasting", then can you tell us a bit about the lyrical theme of the album?

Silenoz: "We've decided not to elaborate on the lyrical aspect too much on this album, I feel it'll be totally against the whole idea of what's behind it. If one reads the words with an open and curious mind there'll either be a conscious or subconscious 'acceptance' of the fact that reality and time is not limited to the perception that we have traditionally used."

Extreme Metal Festival News: How much of an impact have Daray [drums] and Gerlioz [keyboards] had on writing process for "Eonian" or has it purely been down to the main writing core of the band and also who handled bass duties on the recording?

Silenoz: "We did the bass among ourselves and the music is written and arranged by the three of us core members. However, this album would not sound the way it does if it also hadn't been for Daray and Gerlioz's performances and inputs, they've done outstanding craftmanship and we're really proud of having them on the team. I think after so many years of too many cooks in the kitchen, we've all found our places and it helps the progress of the band and for a much better disciplined work ethic this way. Mind you, the current lineup is the longest lasting in the band's history, and that speaks volumes, doesn't it?"

Read the entire interview at Extreme Metal Festival News.