Rise Records has announced the signing of BLESSTHEFALL. The band's will new album, "Hard Feelings", will be released on March 23. The disc was produced by Tyler Smyth, with additional production by Matt Good and Howard Benson.

BLESSTHEFALL has released the video for the new song "Melodramatic". Check it out below.

"It's not often a band like ours, that's been together for nine years, that has five full-length albums, and that survives the ups and downs of the music scene, gets a chance at a fresh start," said singer Beau Bokan. "We're here to say that we feel brand new again. Signing to Rise has rejuvenated us as a band and we couldn't be more excited. They encouraged us to be ourselves and to continue to write the music that we wanted."

He continued, "Our new album, 'Hard Feelings', is a culmination of everything we love. It has all the old BLESSTHEFALL feels, along with a fresh new sound that will knock you off your feet."

"Hard Feelings" track listing:

01. Wishful Sinking
02. Find Yourself
03. Melodramatic
04. Feeling Low
05. Cutthroat
06. I'm Over Being Under(rated)
07. Sleepless in Phoenix
08. Keep Me Close
09. Sakura Blues
10. Welcome Home

BLESSTHEFALL will spend the months leading into album release on tour with OF MICE & MEN, CANE HILL and FIRE FROM THE GODS.

Canadian rocker Bif Naked has checked in with the following update:

"Utterly delighted to share our new single, this racy little song with you, Beautiful Friends! 'Heavy' is a celebration of feelings and noise. We wrote it and recorded it with intention and energy. Sing-a-linging by yours truly (hehe), guitars by Snake, bass and synths by Kuryakin, beats by Peter Karroll and Dave Martone, engineered by Peter and Dave Martone, and produced by Peter Karroll and Dave Martone. Enjoy and shimmy shimmy. Thank you for listening and all the requests for the song, for asking me for the song availability after the Snake And The Chain tour. You guys are the GREATEST. Plus, We are going to be releasing a few more tracks to you, as well so keep yer eyes peeled!! For "Heavy", here's a link to pick up the tune. Enjoy!"

Check out the official video for "Heavy" below.

Canadian rocker Lee Aaron has issued the following update:

"Hey All! Check out the last, fun video from Fire And Gasoline! A sneak-peek backstage while on tour! April 2018 brings the release of Diamond Baby Blues, our new album! Can't wait!"

Lee Aaron capped off her short 2017 summer tour of Germany with a show at the Bang Your Head Festival in Balingen. Fan-filmed video is available below.

She also performed a couple new songs and some covers on tour which are due to appear on her new album. Check out "Diamond Baby" and a cover of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" below.

Joining the ranks at Sliptrick Records this week: Swedish melodic hard rock/metal band, Black Rose.

Black Rose was originally formed in 1990 in Fagersta, Sweden. Their debut album Fortune Favours The Brave was released in 1993 and this once followed by lots of gigs in Sweden and the release of a couple of mini-cds and demos during the following years. A spurt of recording in the early 2000’s, culminated with the release of two albums in short succession. 2002 saw the release of their self-titled album and a follow up CD, entitled Explode, was released in 2004. After another period of time, Black Rose released their last album, Turn On The Night, in 2013. The Black Rose style of music has always stayed strong and constant, even though different music-trends have come and gone since the band began.

Throughout the bands existence, they have continually gigged around Sweden and Europe. They have also played support to bands such as Fate, The Poodles, Pain Of Salvation, Nocturnal Rites and Soul Sign (Yngwie-members). In August 2015, a new member joined the band, the powerhouse vocalist Jakob ”Jacke” Sandberg and this finalized the current Black Rose lineup. The group are now putting the finishes touches to their brand new album, A Light In The Dark, to be released worldwide via Sliptrick Records later in the year.

Black Rose are:

Jakob “Jacke” Sandberg - Vocals
Thomas Berg - Guitar
Peter Haga - Drums/Keyboards
Anders Haga - Bass

Dutch melodic death metal band Purest Of Pain announce the release of their debut album, Solipsis on March 1st to follow their 2013 single "Momentum" and 2011 EP Revelations In Obscurity.

Lead by guitarist and main songwriter Merel Bechtold of Delain, whom also performs in much respected bands MaYaN and The Gentle Storm/Anneke van Giersbergen, the energetic quintet from Holland, which now includes Delain drummer Joey de Boer is a force to be reckoned with. Combining Scandanavian metal influences with groove, ambiance, tone and melody, the band has unleashed their first single "Terra Nil". Listen to the track below.

Seven years in the making, from the writing process up to the final mastering to launching a successful online crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo (raising over 18,000 Euros, thank you video here), along with increasing their funds through live performances, which saw them open for such bands as Opeth, Textures, Suicide Silence, Unearth and Attack Attack! plus an unforgettable slot at Wacken in 2014. Solipsis is 14 tracks of brutality blended with groove and emotion produced by Merel Bechtold with recording done at Mantis Audio Studio (Delain) and mastering by Jens Jorgen (Opeth, Arch Enemy, Soilwork).

Guitarist Merel Bechtold comments: "Solipsis is a guitar oriented record, is has been recorded as organic as possible: partly at home, partly at Mantis Audio Studio. The song ‘E.M.D.R.’ is written by fellow guitarist Michael van Eck. All the other songs were summoned by myself. The lyrics are written by vocalist J.D. Kaye. And even though the music isat times technical and challenging, it's undeniably driven by relentless groove, enhanced by hugely melodic passages, wonderful tone and moments of ambient clarity."

Solipsis will be available on CD, Vinyl plus as a digital release and is available for pre-order here. Their single "Terra Nil" is available for download and stream on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, Deezer.

The CD and Vinyl versions have slightly altered artwork. Merel Bechtold was responsible for its concept and bass player Frank van Leeuwen designed and finalized the covers.

Tracklisting:

"The Pragmatic"
"Truth–seeker"
"Vessels"
"Crown Of Worms"
"Momentum"
"The Sleep Of Reason"
"Tidebreaker"
"Trial & Error"
"Terra Nil"
"Noctambulist"
"E.M.D.R."
"Phantom Limb"
"The Solipsist"
"The End"

"Terra Nil":

Lineup:

J.D. Kaye -­ Vocals
Merel Bechtold - Guitars
Michael van Eck - Guitars
Frank van Leeuwen - Bass
Joey de Boer - Drums

Cruz Del Sur Music has announced the signing of Canadian epic metal force, Gatekeeper. The band's first full-length, East Of Sun, will be released this April worldwide on compact disc (including two bonus songs), vinyl and digital formats.

Originally formed in 2009 as a solo project by guitarist Geoff Blackwell, Gatekeeper has assembled an impressive array of EPs and splits, including an appearance on Metal Blade's Metal Massacre XIV where they contributed the song "Bell Of Tarantia". Their signing to Cruz Del Sur will mark a new, exciting era for the band.

Comments Blackwell: "Cruz Del Sur has been a bastion for great heavy metal for a long time and it's a pleasure to be included alongside a host of bands that have been influences on our music and bands that we consider our contemporaries. Above all, Enrico [Leccese] has been extremely fair and willing to work with us so that we can present the album the way we've envisioned."

Recorded over the span of six months at Harbourside Studios in Vancouver, Canada, East Of Sun was produced by Mike Rogerson, whose previous credits include Annihilator, Aggression, 88 Mile Trip and Loverboy, with additional production assistance provided by Angelo Boose, who, according to Black "stayed up through many all-night recording sessions with us."

The East Of Sun title is a shortened version of a book of Scandinavian folk tales that parallels the content on the record where each song stands on its own. The album's cover art was created by Duncan Storr, who has previously worked with Skyclad, Rage and Cruz Del Sur's own Dark Forest.

East Of Sun boasts a mixture of older, unreleased material written by Blackwell which are complemented by live staples that have recently been updated. "It's pure heavy metal with a sword and sorcery flourish," says Blackwell. "We wear our influences on our sleeves, but we don't want to be a pale imitation of them. We try to capture the spirit of what we love without copying anyone's' notes. This album has our fastest song and it's got our biggest, most epic slow-burner and many songs in between. It has melodic electric guitar playing coupled with fierce riffs, thunderous rhythms, mystical acoustic passages and, of course, a unique and varied performance from our singer, Jean-Pierre. And these things are just the start."

Gatekeeper's immediate plans include assembling live dates near their Vancouver home base and on the west coast of Canada. Currently, they are scheduled to play the Northwest Metal Fest in Seattle this March alongside Q5, Heir Apparent, Glacier, Wild Dogs, Skelator, Substratum And Riot City. Aside from that, Blackwell says Gatekeeper has its sights set on even bigger territories, namely Europe:

"With Cruz Del Sur on our side, I think it's just a matter of time before we cross into European soil, so beware!"

Gatekeeper is:
 
Jean-Pierre Abboud - Lead Vocals, Chorus
Geoff Blackwell - Rhythm/Lead Guitar, chorus
Kenny Kroecher - Lead/Rhythm Guitar
David Messier, Bass guitar, chorus
Tommy Tro - Battery

Trevor And The Wolves, the new solo project from Sadist frontman Trevor Sadist, are set to release their debut album, Road To Nowhere, via Nadir Music.

Below you can find the first official video, for the song “Burn At Sunrise”. The clip was shot by director Matteo Siri in Italy's Ligurian forest. Check it out, and stay tuned for more album details, coming soon.

Trevor And The Wolves lineup:

Trevor Sadist - Vocals
Francesco Martini - Lead Guitar
Antonio Aluigi - Bass
Alberto Laiolo - Rhythm Guitar
Emanuele Peccorini - Drums

U.S. rockers Silk9 released their Retribution EP on January 5th through the newly formed RFL Records. BraveWords is premiering the rocking new video from the band with “I Don’t Know”.

Guitarist Anthony Leone comments: “Thanks so much for taking time to check out our video for ‘I Don't Know,’ off the new SiLK9 EP, Retribution. To quickly give you some incite, ‘I Don't Know’ is about struggles. You may have struggles in life, or you may have addictions…regardless, we want everyone to know that even though things may feel at the worst, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Even when moving forward may feel like falling far behind, it’s only temporary! Grab and cherish the good days, and let go of the bad ones."

A press release states about Retribution: “Five high energy and flat-out aggressive tunes that will burn the soul and etch new depths into your metal core; melody that stretches the heart; a heavy beat that ravages your mind; a pre-cursor to the brand new full-length album planned for 2018. The dawn of a new era launches and the thunder that is SiLK9 is set to take the hard rock world by storm.”

Tracklisting:

“Knife In My Back”
“Erased My Memories”
“I Don’t Know”
“Shattered And Stained”
“Damage”

Former Suffocation guitarist Guy Marchais - who played on the albums Souls To Deny (2004), Suffocation (2006), Blood Oath (2009) and Pinnacle Of Bedlam (2013) - has been diagnosed with cancer. Emily Parks has launched a GoFundMe page for Marchais, "Fighting For Guy", hoping to raise $100,00. Current donations total $6,488.

A fundraiser description states: "On January 19th, 2018, we found out that Guy Marchais was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a blood cancer effecting the body’s immune system and lymph nodes. This comes just 80 days after his niece was diagnosed with the same exact thing. Although not genetic, lighting struck twice in our family. I’m calling to everyone to donate what you can. Even with health insurance, bills are piling up in the thousands. There are many more tests to be done before starting his treatment plan on February 5th, which includes chemo and possibly radiation. Our family is struggling and could really use your help."

Says Guy: "I would like to thank everybody for their donations. This means so much to me and will be a huge help. I appreciate and love each and everyone of you very much, thank you."

Find the GoFundMe page here.

Melodic metal act, Artizan, have announced that legendary bassist Joey Vera (Fates Warning, Armored Saint) will guest on their upcoming project, tracking all bass parts.

Artizan drummer and founder, Ty Tammeus states, "It is an honor for us to announce that Joey will be making a special guest appearance on the upcoming Artizan project. When I think of the elite bass players in rock/metal, Joey is at the top of the list. I have always admired his skills and the pure energy that he delivers. Joey absolutely nailed it!"

Fans can expect a first quarter 2018 release for the new album. Stay tuned for updates.

Studio Diary #1:

Studio Diary #2:

Studio Diary #3:

Studio Diary #4:

Studio Diary #5:

Founded by drummer Ty Tammeus in 2008, Artizan crafts powerful, traditional metal. Dynamic arrangements, dominant rhythms and soaring melodies are key ingredients to the Artizan formula. The band has released three critically acclaimed albums via German record label Pure Steel Records, all produced by legendary producer Jim Morris (Iced Earth, Death, Jag Panzer, Crimson Glory): Curse Of The Artizan (2011), Ancestral Energy (2013) with guest vocalist Matt Barlow (Iced Earth), The Furthest Reaches (2015) - an epic sci-fi rock opera featuring guest vocalists Sabrina Cruz (Seven Kingdoms) and Matt Barlow (Iced Earth). Artizan was honored to be direct support for Fates Warning on their 2013 tour and recently performed at the legendary Keep It True festival in Germany.

Andrew W.K. continues his quest to reach "pure party euphoria" with the release of "Ever Again", the second single from his upcoming album, "You're Not Alone" (due out March 2 via RED Music/Sony Music). The new track debuted this morning as Zane Lowe's "World Record" on Beats 1/Apple Music. In a surprise twist, Zane himself requested that Andrew take over the entire broadcast as Zane's first-ever guest host. The official music video for "Ever Again" premiered at Noisey, which said: "Andrew W.K.'s 'Ever Again' video will literally save your soul… please listen to this song and watch the video and just try to feel cynical."

Andrew describes the song as: "A fantasy in which I imagine what it would be like to actually know the meaning of life — an ecstatic nightmare in which I've returned from the brink of annihilation, having clawed the Ultimate Insight from out of its hiding spot, and am finally able to solve the riddle of existence while I cry out in triumphant elation. The desire to possess this total internalized clarity — not only knowing what life really means, but actually feeling the Truth from the inside out — is a mirage for the mind, but a reality for the heart. But coming from a place of confusion and despair, perhaps simply having faith in the possibility of 'the answer to everything' is enough to see us through those frequent moments of painful disorientation. I'm not singing from the perspective of someone who has found this ultimate answer to everything, but as someone who's dreaming about how incredible it would feel if I had. And in a mysterious and strangely uplifting way, it seems that a belief in the possibility of an absolute Truth gives us access to something quintessential and crucial for our own survival — it connects us with a part of ourselves that's both primal and divine — an empowering, enlightening, and energizing force of unyielding and overwhelming feeling. A feeling that transcends emotion. A feeling that overwhelms all thought and language. A feeling that can't be understood, but can only be deeply and joyously experienced. And thus, celebrated in worshipful glee. Partying is born."

Andrew is asking for fans to listen responsibly to his new single so there isn't another incident like Luke Mitchell's now-infamous speeding ticket party last week. Luke was driving while listening to "You're Not Alone"'s debut single, "Music Is Worth Living For" on the U.K.'s BBC Radio 1 when he found himself overtaken by pure party propulsion and began to accelerate far past the legal speed limit. To his dismay, he was pulled over by a police officer and given a ticket, which Andrew caught wind of and promptly offered to pay. Andrew explained that he felt responsible for the "sonic party power" which compelled Luke to drive too fast.

Andrew will will be taking his party on the road (while obeying all traffic laws), in celebration of his new "You're Not Alone" album, and announces a string of new tour dates. Performances begin at the South By Southwest festival and Treefort fest in March, continuing with a U.K. tour in April, before the full U.S. run kicks off on April 28 in Jacksonville at the Welcome To Rockville festival.

FOZZY's video for the song "Painless" can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's latest album, "Judas", which was released last October via Century Media.

FOZZY singer — and WWE wrestling superstar — Chris Jericho recently told AXS that he felt "Judas" was going to be a "turning point" for his band. "I mean, you hear that every time a band releases something, but this album really does feel different," he said.

"There's a big hierarchy in rock radio. There are the B-level stations and then there's the A-level that are really the elusive ones," he continued. "They are very, very hard to land. If you can land those, that can get you to the Top 10 and it still means something for you to be able to do that, and 'Judas' has opened some of those doors for us. I think 'Painless', which is going to be our next single, will probably swoop right in there and take over."

Jericho went on to say that "Judas" was a collection of 11 potential singles. "We worked really hard to put together a record that could do that," he said. "I'm not gonna say we were set up to write that way, but once we started getting into a groove, we all really felt these songs were perfect for radio.

"These songs are just very memorable, hook-laden, melodic songs that sometimes don't have a guitar solo in them," he added. "We looked at is as if it doesn't feel right, then all right, there won't be one. For a rock and roll band to do a song without a solo is strange, but for us, we realized if it's not going to add anything to the song, then let's not do it. Once we got that mindset, then the record just came flowing out."

FOZZY will continue to rock its fans across America on the "Judas Rising" tour. Set to launch February 28 in New Orleans, Louisiana, the 25-date trek will cross the entire country before coming to a close on April 8 in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

The production duties on "Judas" were handled by Johnny Andrews, who co-wrote FOZZY's "Lights Go Out" track back in 2014 and has written songs with the likes of ALL THAT REMAINS, THREE DAYS GRACE and HALESTORM in the past.



Loudwire Premiere: Fozzy - "Painless"

Behold… we give you the world premiere of Fozzy’s new video for “Painless” ?

Read our exclusive interview with Chris Jericho about the video ? http://bit.ly/2noNuMl

Posted by Loudwire on Monday, January 29, 2018

Black Label Society, led by iconic American guitarist Zakk Wylde, released their tenth full length, Grimmest Hits, on January 19th via Entertainment One (eOne). BLS soared into the charts with the new LP, which has landed at #4 on the Billboard Current Charts, the highest charting LP since Order Of The Back released back in 2009.

Grimmest Hits reached #1 on the Billboard Hard Music, #1 Independent, and #2 Rock Charts. The LP was also the #1 selling album at Best Buy for the week of its release, beating out Grammy nominated Fall Out Boy by a considerable margin.

Upon its release last Friday, Grimmest Hits landed at #1 spot on iTunes Top Rock Albums Chart and #7 on the Overall Top Albums Chart.

The new effort is the follow-up to Billboard Top 5 charting titles Catacombs Of The Black Vatican (2014) and Order Of The Black (2010). In-between then and now, Zakk Wylde released Book of Shadows II, the follow-up to his 1996 solo debut of the same name, which debuted at #18 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

Tracklisting:

“Trampled Down Below”
“Seasons Of Falter”
“The Betrayal”
“All That Once Shined”
“The Only Words”
“Room Of Nightmares”
“A Love Unreal”
“Disbelief”
“The Day That Heaven Had Gone Away”
“Illusions Of Peace”
“Bury Your Sorrow”
“Nothing Left To Say”

"All That Once Shined" lyric video:

“Room Of Nightmares” video:

Order Grimmest Hits via the links below:

- Physical
- Digital

Black Label Society are touring with support from Corrosion Of Conformity. Select dates will see support from Eyehategod and Red Fang. A full list of tour dates can be seen below.

January
29 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore Silver Spring
31 - New York, NY - PlayStation Theater

February
1 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
2 - Portland, ME - Aura
3 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
5 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
6 - Akron, OH - The Goodyear Theater at East End
7 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
8 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom Club Stage
9 - St. Paul, MN - Myth Live
11 - Saskatoon, SK - O’Brians Event Centre
12 - Edmonton, AB - The Ranch Roadhouse
14 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
16 - Grande Prairie, AB - Bowes Event Center at Revolution Place
17 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall
19 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
20 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
21 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
23 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
24 - Tempe, AZ - The Marquee
25 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
27 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre

* Red Fang - through February 9
* Eyehategod - February 11 - 27

Black Label Society is:

Zakk Wylde - Vocals/Guitar
John DeServio - Bass
Dario Lorina - Guitar
Jeff Fabb - Drums

(Photo - Justin Reich)

Deliverance have announced that they are working with Roxx Records and 3 Frogz Records, to officially release their brand new album, The Subversive Kind, on February 23rd.

Hailing from Los Angeles, the band is comprised of members Jimmy Brown (founding member, lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Glenn Rogers (original member, lead/rhythm guitar), Victor Macias (formerly of Tourniquet, bass), and Jim Chaffin (formerly of the Crucified drums), with guest lead guitar work by Greg Minier.

"After so many years touring and recording I was honored to be asked back in Deliverance,” says Rogers. "We have unfinished business, and with The Subversive Kind coming out I hope the fans will rediscover what Big D is all about."  

The Subversive Kind is a true return to form for these Christian thrash pioneers, boosting eight brand new tracks that truly bring the thrash back.

Bill Bafford of Roxx Records had this to say about the new partnership - “We are very excited to once again be partnering with 3 Frogz, Jimmy Brown and Deliverance to bring you this awesome new thrash release. The fans that have been requesting a 'Weapons part 2’ will be ecstatic with this new release."

And the results speak for themselves, as evidenced by the newly unveiled lyric video for one of the album’s standout tracks, “The Black Hand”, which can be found below.

“’The Black Hand’ was one of the first tunes Jimmy and I hashed out together,” says Chaffin. “His articulation of what a panic attack feels like was spot on. Mental illness is a major problem in our country and I’m stoked to be able to give people some hope through music.”

“Anxiety has not only been a hot button issue, but a condition that is still being studied to understand,” adds Brown. “’The Black Hand’ is a vivid description of vitals, and emotions experienced in part by a person when going through such an experience.”

Collectors are also in luck - several different configurations are available for pre-order:

- Red vinyl
- Black vinyl
- CD

Head here to pre-order other release configurations.

: http://toppresskits.com/artists/deliverance/

Lastly, Brown says he couldn’t be happier with the band’s current lineup. “After 33 years, the band has evolved and morphed throughout, but has returned to the roots of why we started doing this years ago! The current lineup is a dream come true for me, and we can’t wait to bring it live.”

The Subversive Kind tracklisting:

CD:
"Bring 'Em Down"
"Concept Of The Other"
"Center Of It All"
"The Black Hand"
"Epilogue"
"Listen Closely"
"The Subversive Kind"
"The Fold"

Vinyl:

Side A:
"Bring 'Em Down"
"Concept Of The Other"
"Center Of It All"
"The Black Hand"

Side B:
"Epilogue"
"Listen Closely"
"The Subversive Kind"
"The Fold"

Eye Of Solitude (pictured above) and Marche Funèbre, who previously announced their joint March Of Solitude North American tour this March, have also partnered for a two-song, 30-minute split, arriving February 22nd via Hynoptic Dirge/Cimmerian Shades Recordings.

Eye Of Solitude/Marche Funèbre tracklisting:

Eye Of Solitude - “Collapse”
Marche Funèbre - “Darkness”

Pre-orders are available now via Hynoptic Dirge Records’ website and Cimmerian Shade Recordings’ website.

The pairing of the European doom outfits, Eye Of Solitude is from the UK while Marche Funèbre (pictured below) hails from Belgium, brings two of the continent’s most exciting underground doom artists together both for the split release as well as the forthcoming tour.

Tour dates:

March
8 - Seattle, WA - Highline
9 - Vancouver, BC - Astoria
10 - Portland, OR - Tonic Lounge
11 - Eugene, OR - Old Nick’s
12 - Sacramento, CA - Blue Lamp
13 - Oakland, CA - Metro Operahouse
14 - Santa Cruz, CA - Blue Lagoon
15 - Ventura, CA - The Garage
16 - San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick
18 - Los Angeles, CA - Five Star Bar

Tickets for all shows are on-sale now.

Belgium’s Wiegedood have announced that the final chapter of their De Doden Hebben He Goed trilogy is completed. De Doden Hebben Het Goed III is scheduled for release on April 20th via Century Media Records, just in time for their performance at the prestigious Roadburn Festival on Sunday, April 22nd.

Wiegedood shared insight on the album's cover art (featured below), which was completed by Stefaan Temmerman, stating: "The picture for this cover was taken in Sint-Eloois-Winkel, a small town near Kortrijk where Levy grew up. Subsequently, the cover for De Doden Hebben Het Goed II was taken in De Haan, where Gilles spent his childhood and the first cover picture was taken in Ransberg, where Wim grew up and is still living today.”

After being formed in 2014 by Levy Seynaeve (Amenra, Oathbreaker) as well as Wim Coppers and Gilles Demolder (both also in Oathbreaker) Wiegedood quickly became a household name in the European extreme metal scene. Both of their previous albums, De Doden Hebben Het Goed and De Doden Hebben Het Goed II, as well as their furious and cathartic live performances made waves beyond the realms of black metal.

Wiegedood have already confirmed the following live shows and more international dates will follow shortly:

February
2 - Aarshot, Belgium - Gasthuiskapel (Sold Out)

March
17 - Lokeren, Belgium - De Kapel
22 - Vilnius, Lithuania - Narauti
23 - Minsk, Belarus - Brugge
24 - Moscow, Russia - Model T
25 - St. Petersburg, Russia - Zoccolo
28 - Hasselt, Belgium - Muziekodroom
30 - Oslo, Norway - Inferno Festival
31 - Edegem, Belgium - Catacomb

April
22 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Roadburn Festival

May
5 - Sydney, Australia - Direct Underground Fest
6 - Melbourne, Australia - Direct Underground Fest
27 - Langres, France - Outch! Festival

August
8-11 - Jaroměř, Czech Republic - Brutal Assault
18 - Mean, Belgium - Metal Mean Festival

Band lineup:

Gilles Demolder - Guitars
Wim Coppers - Drums
Levy Seynaeve - Guitars & Vocals

"Ladies and gentlemen, I humbly present for your consideration the title track from our new album: Minducker. We got the rock if you want it! I hope you can dig it", says Dave Wyndorf, Monster Magnet frontman. The title track and first single, "Mindfucker" is a available for streaming below.

Monster Magnet puts the pedal to the metal with Mindfucker, their 11th record. Mindfucker is different, a step forward and a step back at the same time to the almighty roots of hard rock music, kindled by the unpretentious Proto-punk era. Up tempo, savage in both sound and spirit, Mindfucker is the real deal. The album has the potential to surprise and to whip up the love for the genre, while still giving the sludgies and stoner freaks exactly what they wish for in a new Monster Magnet album.

Mindfucker will be released on March 23rd, and can be pre-ordered right here.

“Mindfucker is a fuzzed out, headbangin’ celebration of hard rock and 21st century paranoia” says Dave. “Ten fuel injected, nitro burning tracks of fiery rock ’n roll and garage psych madness, all done Monster Magnet style. It’s also an album that gets right to the point: the world is out of it’s fucking mind and I’m livin’ it….for better or worse. It’s simple, really. In these crazy times I’ve been wanting to just drive my car at 100 miles per hour and howl, you know what I mean? So I wrote songs I can do that with. And with lyrics that don’t deny the times we’re living in. Feels good, feels right. Rock is alive, baby!”

Mindfucker tracklisting:

"Rocket Freak"
"Soul"
"Mindfucker"
"I'm God"
"Drowning"
"Ejection"
"Want Some"
"Brainwashed"
"All Day Midnight"
"When The Hammer Comes Down"

"Mindfucker":

Listen to MONSTER MAGNET – Mindfucker byNapalmRecords on hearthis.at

Monster Magnet have confirmed a European tour in May and June, visiting the biggest cities in Europe to promote the recent announced new album, Mindfucker. They will surely peform the Monster Magnet classics, as well as some songs from the new album, which will be "full-ahead Detroit-style, early 70s, MC5 and Stooges type of rock", according to mastermind Dave Wyndorf.

Tour dates:

May
3 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
4 - Berlin, Germany - Desertfest Berlin
5 - Nijmeden, Netherlands - Doornroosje
6 - London, England - Desertfest London
8 - Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
9 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
11 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27
12 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Riviera
14 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
15 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz Club
16 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche
18 - Nuremburg, Germany - Hirsch
19 - Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
21 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset
22 - Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Strand
23 - Oslo, Norway - Blâ
24 - Malmö, Sweden - Kulturbolaget (KB)
26 - Bremen, Germany - Schlachthof
28 - Leuven, Belgium - Het Depot
29 - Ghent, Belgium - Vooriut
31 - Manchester, England - Gorilla

June
1 - Glasgow, Scotland - The Garage
2 - Belfast, Ireland - Limelight
3 - Dublin, Ireland - The Tivoli

Monster Magnet lineup:

Dave Wyndorf (vocals, guitar)
Garrett Sweeny (guitar)
Phil Caivano (guitar)
Chris Kosnik (bass)
Bob Pantella (drums)

(Photo - Jeremy Saffer)

Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice conducted an interview with SLAYER and EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt at last night's (Wednesday, January 24) Hall Of Heavy Metal History awards gala and induction ceremony in Anaheim, California. You can now watch the chat below.

When asked about SLAYER's announcement that it was embarking on its "final" world tour, Holt replied: "My middle name is 'No Comment.' See you at the shows. Seriously, no comment."

After Kay suggested that the members of SLAYER might reconsider retirement from the road, similar to the way SCORPIONS changed their minds after announcing in 2010 that they would end their career following a three-year farewell tour, Holt said: "Noooo. C'mon! But I love the SCORPIONS. I hope [their tour] never ends.

"We are wrapping it up," he continued. "The tour dates have been announced. The tour is huge. It's gonna be awesome. And I'm honored and proud to be a part of it. And we're gonna make it something for people to remember. It's gonna be epic."

Pressed about whether there will be a final SLAYER album to complement the band's decision to stop touring, Holt said: "No. No, there's no new album. I'd say it's a no. But my name is Gary 'No Comment' Holt today. I don't know nothing. You've seen the dates, you saw the press releases. And come out and celebrate the mighty history of SLAYER, which I'm lucky to have been part of for the last seven years now. It's been a ride, it's been remarkable, and we're gonna end it in gloriously violent fashion."

Holt also confirmed that he has been writing material for EXODUS's follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out" album. "I'm taking my time," he said. "I'm super proud of it. It's heavy, of course. It's crushing. It's brutal. But it's something else — it's something altogether different."

SLAYER's latest album, "Repentless", was released in September 2015. Holt did not contribute to the songwriting process on the disc, although he did lay down guitar solos on most of the album's twelve tracks.

Holt joined EXODUS in 1981 shortly after their formation, and has been the band's main songwriter ever since. Holt has performed on every EXODUS album, and is considered highly influential in the world of thrash metal. In 2011, he began filling in for SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman at live shows, and became the band's full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS.

ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante says that he has "known for a while" that some of the members of SLAYER have been contemplating calling it quits.

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 Monday morning. The group also confirmed that its last-ever North American run of dates would feature support from LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX, BEHEMOTH and TESTAMENT.

In an interview with Jason "Bakko" Bakken of the "Cobras & Fire" podcast conducted on Tuesday, Benante was asked how felt about SLAYER pulling the plug on an impressive three-and-a-half-decade career.

"I think I've known for a while now that some of the guys in the band maybe were feeling it a bit at this point, and I can totally understand that, because I feel it too," the drummer said. "I guess when I saw it yesterday, it kind of hit home with me a bit. I actually got a feeling of putting a time stamp on things.

"I never look at age," Benante continued. "The only time I look at age is when someone brings it to my attention or someone posts my birthday in the papers and stuff like that; that's when I look at it. Or nowadays, it's become really common for the people that I looked up to who are now passing on. So when SLAYER put that thing out yesterday, it kind of hit me in a way that was, 'Fuck, man! This ride is… Maybe we're all coming to the end of our ride here a bit.' And I think it probably startled a lot of people, both musicians, both the fans.

"I think life is starting to catch up to all of us," Charlie added. "Fans are just… I think they're all worried now that, what's gonna be left? These shitty bands that are coming up now?"

Benante went on to say that he understands why so many people have a hard time letting their most cherished musicians retire gracefully. "I think the fans want these bands to live on forever, and, of course, so do I," he said. "But there's so many factors into this. Do you wanna go see your [favorite] band and do you wanna come out of it going, 'Oh my God! That was terrible. They barely could play.' Because I've witnessed that. And it's, like, 'Ooh, man.' You feel bad. And you don't want your favorite artist or favorite band to go out like that, but yet there's a part of you that's, like, 'No, no, no. Nostalgia, man. I still need this in my life. Don't do this to me.'

"There's one thing you have to remember: it could either be a song, it could be a movie or whatever, it's always gonna take you back to that place where you were probably most happiest," Charlie continued. "And that's a big thing, especially for all of us, to go back to a place that was safe, happy. You had no responsibility. Who cares? Who cares what time it is? I don't give a fuck. It's, like, remember the days of just staying up all fucking night just to finish a video game and not worry about the next day. I mean, things like that. Being on tour, staying up all night, drinking, listening to music, bonding, and then getting up the next day and doing it all over again. And not having the weight of the world, not having anxiety about what's someone gonna tweet today. I mean, it's crazy."

SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya talked about his possible retirement in a 2016 interview with Loudwire. He said: "At 35 years, it's time to collect my pension. [Laughs] This is a career move." He continued: "I'm grateful that we've been around for 35 years; that's a really long time. So, yeah, to me, it is. Because when we started off, everything was great, because you're young and invincible. And then there came a time where I became a family man, and I had a tough time flying back and forth. It just gets harder and harder to come back out on the road. 35 years is a long time."

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.

ANTHRAX will release its long-awaited live-in-concert DVD, "Kings Among Scotland", on April 27 via Megaforce. The DVD will be preceded by ANTHRAX's North American co-headline tour with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE — "KillThrax 2018" — set to kick off January 25 in Montreal.

Mike Shinoda says that he has "every intention" of continuing with LINKIN PARK, half a year after the death of his bandmate Chester Bennington.

Chester committed suicide on July 20 at the age of 41. In the months that followed, fans have speculated about the band's future, with some of them assuming that LINKIN PARK's time as a recording and touring entity would be at an end.

Earlier today, Shinoda released a three-song EP titled "Post Traumatic", which directly addressed Bennington's death and Mike's anxiety over figuring out what comes next.

In response to the Internet chatter about what's next for him and his bandmates, Shinoda tweeted: "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."

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.

Among the artists who performed with the band throughout the show were BUSH's Gavin Rossdale, Jonathan Davis of KORN, Alanis Morissette, the instrumental members of NO DOUBT, Oli Sykes of BRING ME THE HORIZON, BLINK-182, M. Shadows and Synyster Gates of AVENGED SEVENFOLD and many more.

Shinoda opened up about his relationship with Bennington in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, saying: "I spent more time with Chester than anyone else in my adult life, except for my wife. We were always around each other. People would say we were like brothers, but we were different because brothers are bound by blood. Technically, we were dudes in a band who could break up and walk away from each other if we wanted to. I think it’s more exceptional that we never did that."

Shinoda also spoke about Bennington's efforts to work on his life and sobriety, saying: "I know he worked really hard to do what he did. He woke up in the morning and spent time with his family. He worked out for two hours. He went to AA meetings, or therapy, or whatever worked that part of his brain. He warmed up his voice. He did all of those things just to exist in everyday life... I know he worked so hard to be the guy that everybody saw. It didn't come easily for him at all."

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. https://t.co/nXLxTSd40J

— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) January 25, 2018

A trailer for L.A. GUNS' "Made In Milan" release is available below.

After more than a decade apart, Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis reunited in 2016 under the L.A. GUNS banner and released arguably the most critically praised album of their catalog, "The Missing Peace".

With a newfound energy and the enthusiasm of the then-imminent release of "The Missing Peace", L.A. GUNS stormed onto the stage in Milan, Italy for the 2017 edition of the Frontiers Rock Festival and took absolutely no prisoners, packing the set front to back with stone-cold classics and soon-to-be classics. This once-in-a-lifetime performance was recorded and will be released on March 23 as "Made In Milan" on CD, DVD and Blu-ray formats via Frontiers Music Srl.

"Made In Milan" track listing:

CD:

01. No Mercy
02. Electric Gypsy
03. Killing Machine
04. Bow Solo/Over The Edge
05. Sex Action
06. Speed
07. One More Reason
08. Kiss My Love Goodbye
09. Don't Look At Me That Way
10. Malaria
11. Never Enough
12. Jelly Jam
13. The Ballad Of Jayne
14. Rip And Tear

DVD/Blu-ray:

01. No Mercy
02. Electric Gypsy
03. Killing Machine
04. Bow Solo/Over The Edge
05. The Bitch Is Back
06. Sex Action
07. Speed
08. One More Reason
09. Kiss My Love Goodbye
10. Don't Look At Me That Way
11. Malaria
12. Never Enough
13. Jelly Jam
14. The Ballad Of Jayne
15. Rip And Tear

Prior to "The Missing Peace", the last time Lewis and Guns joined forces was back in 2000 with legendary producer Andy Johns for the making of what would become "Waking The Dead".

Speaking with Express & Star, Tracii said: "With Phil and I in particular, we have a certain chemistry that's undeniable. And, you know, when you're at your loneliest, you wanna go home, right? So, we both felt like it was time to go home and be comfortable with that undeniable relationship that we have musically. I mean, right away, the first time we got back together and played, you know, it's so obvious, you can't deny it. At some point in your life, you can't deny what's real."

Regarding the sound of the new L.A. GUNS material, Tracii said: "Phil's vocal style and his way of writing kind of offsets that balance of the heavy music, that's something that's possibly more mainstream or identifiable, so there's a lot of, you know, kind of typical sleazy L.A. GUNS, high-energy riff rock. There's a little bit of sloppy New Orleans, kind of sweaty, kind of bluesier stuff too. It's a big record."

L.A. GUNS' present lineup is rounded out by Shane Fitzgibbon on drums and Johnny Martin on bass with Michael Grant on guitar as a touring member.

On the topic of the decision to use the L.A. GUNS moniker for the new album, Guns told LA Weekly: "When you put Phil and I together, that's the sound of L.A. GUNS. There's no way around that. As much as I love certain other [former] members of the band, it's hard to say what their contribution to the overall sound of the band was — but Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns, the band's gotta be L.A. GUNS. It can't be anything else."

Back in December 2016, Phil announced that he was leaving the L.A. GUNS version that included drummer Steve Riley.

L.A. GUNS 2018 is:

Phil Lewis - Vocals
Tracii Guns - Guitars
Johnny Martin - Bass
Michael Grant - Guitar
Shane Fitzgibbon - Drums

Don Airey says that fans shouldn't count on seeing a DEEP PURPLE reunion with Ritchie Blackmore.

Blackmore is a co-founder of DEEP PURPLE and wrote many of their most memorable riffs, including "Smoke On The Water", but he has not played with the group since his 1993 departure.

Steve Morse effectively took over Blackmore's slot in 1994 and has since been in the group longer than Ritchie.

During an appearance at this past Wednesday's (January 24) Hall Of Heavy Metal History event in Anaheim, California, the DEEP PURPLE keyboardist was asked by Eric Blair of "The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show" about the possibility of Ritchie returning to the band before it completes its ongoing "The Long Goodbye" world tour.

"I wouldn't count on that happening," Airey said (see video below). "I think Ritchie feels that he would like to do one gig with the band. And Steve Morse has said, 'Well, it's not a bad idea. [It would] give him a bit of closure.' But I just don't think it will happen. Not for any other reason than trying to organize something like that. It's so complicated, and you're compromising the band we've got. You've gotta fly Ritchie in and then you've gotta fly him out and then we've gotta rehearse. It's just too much for a traveling band.

"We just like our routine and we just keep going," he continued. "All we wanna do is play. We're playing some nice places and it's a very good band. It's not like we're living on our past reputation. We're a proper band and we think about the music and we talk about it. It's been the pleasure of my life, actually."

Blackmore was recently quoted saying he woud like to play one last show with DEEP PURPLE "for nostalgia reasons." He also previously suggested that the band's manager had blocked him from joining them onstage during the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, and he used that as an excuse for not attending the event.

Despite Blackmore being a no-show at the Rock Hall, he was given several shoutouts during the induction speeches of the DEEP PURPLE members in attendance. In addition, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich, who inducted DEEP PURPLE into the institution, praised "Ritchie fucking Blackmore" for one of the most memorable guitar riffs of all time on "Smoke On The Water".

DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan recently shot down the possibility of a reunion with Blackmore, saying that "the rain stopped and the sun came out" for the band once the guitarist left the group.

RIOT V, the band featuring members of legendary metal pioneers RIOT, will release its new album, "Armor Of Light", on April 27 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was produced by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (METAL CHURCH, FLOTSAM & JETSAM, SLIPKNOT, KORN), while the cover artwork was created by Mariusz Gandzel (CRYSTAL VIPER).

The new songs promise to please fans of the "Thundersteel" era of RIOT, as longtime Mark Reale music collaborator Don Van Stavern undertakes a lot of the writing as he did on "Thundersteel", "The Privilege Of Power" and the latest offering, "Unleash The Fire".

Don Van Stavern says: "This next offering will please longtime fans and create new ones, as the material is fresh and power metal at its finest."

On Wednesday, January 24, the metal community gathered to Anaheim for the Hall Of Heavy Metal History induction ceremony. RIOT V was inducted alongside BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward, DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess, bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan, and other metal royalty for their contributions and influence on the community.

"I am honored and psyched to be inducted into this year's Hall Of Heavy Metal History with RIOT!" comments Don Van Stavern. "The 30-plus years in existence is a testament to the longevity of a band through the fans love of our music. I am also honored to be inducted with legendary musicians like Bill Ward from BLACK SABBATH, Carmine Appice and, of course, last year's recipients the greats Lemmy, Randy Rhoads and Dio and that's an honor and award itself!"

Hardly any other metal act has such a long and absorbing history behind it. Since the quintet formed in 1975, they have been hit by several severe strokes of fate during their long career. Three deceased members — Rhett Forester (R.I.P. 1994), Guy Speranza (R.I.P. 2003) and Mark Reale (R.I.P. 2012) — have left their mark on the four decades of RIOT's band history.

Since their legendary debut album, "Rock City" (1977), RIOT has released numerous heavy metal classics, including "Fire Down Under" (with classics like "Swords And Tequila"), their masterpiece "Thundersteel" (1988) and the unforgotten "The Privilege Of Power" (1990).

After the death of Mark Reale and the departure of Tony Moore, Todd Michael Hall (from Michigan), completed the lineup of RIOT, which changed its name to RIOT V and moved forward under the auspices of the two long-term members and main songwriters Donnie van Stavern (bass) and Mike Flyntz (guitar). With the critically acclaimed "Unleash The Fire" (2014), a pure power metal jewel once again underlined the musical importance and influence of the quintet.

Many artists name-check RIOT as an important influence of their musical career and have paid tribute to the power metal godfathers on multiple occasions. The list is long and includes several well-known acts such as HAMMERFALL ("Flight Of The Warrior"), Luca Turilli's RHAPSODY ("Thundersteel"), AXEL RUDI PELL ("Warrior") and newcomers such as NIGHT DEMON ("Road Racin'"), ALPHA TIGER ("Flight Of The Warrior"), SAVAGE MASTER ("Swords And Tequila") and STALLION ("Rock City").

Da Capo Press has set a September 18 publication date for "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", a memoir by Kenneth "K.K." Downing, the co-founder and former lead guitarist of heavy metal giants JUDAS PRIEST. The book was co-written by the Scottish author and journalist Mark Eglinton, whose previous collaborations include "Official Truth, 101 Proof" with Rex Brown of PANTERA and "Confessions Of A Heretic" with BEHEMOTH's Adam "Nergal" Darski.

"Heavy Duty" official book synopsis: "JUDAS PRIEST formed in the industrial city of Birmingham, England, in 1968. With its distinctive twin-guitar sound, studs-and-leather image, and international sales of over 50 million records, JUDAS PRIEST became the archetypal heavy metal band in the 1980s. Iconic tracks like 'Breaking The Law', 'Living After Midnight' and 'You've Got Another Thing Coming' helped the band achieve extraordinary success, but no one from the band has stepped out to tell their or the band's story until now.

"As the band approaches its golden anniversary, fans will at last be able to delve backstage into the decades of shocking, hilarious, and haunting stories that surround the heavy metal institution. In 'Heavy Duty', guitarist K.K. Downing discusses the complex personality conflicts, the business screw-ups, the acrimonious relationship with fellow heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN, as well as how JUDAS PRIEST found itself at the epicenter of a storm of parental outrage that targeted heavy metal in the '80s. He also describes his role in cementing the band's trademark black leather and studs image that would not only become synonymous with the entire genre, but would also give singer Rob Halford a viable outlet by which to express his sexuality. Lastly, he recounts the life-changing moment when he looked at his bandmates on stage during a 2010 concert and thought, 'This is the last show.' Whatever the topic, whoever's involved, K.K. doesn't hold back.

"With the band at the beginning through his retirement in 2010 (and even still as a member of the band's board of directors), Downing has seen it all and is now finally at a place in his life where he can also let it all go. Even if you're a lifelong fan, if you think you know the full story of JUDAS PRIEST, well, you've got another thing coming."

Downing announced his retirement from PRIEST in April 2011. He has since been replaced by Richie Faulkner, who was once the guitarist in the backing group for Lauren Harris, daughter of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris.

During a 2015 interview with Guitar International, Downing elaborated on his reasons for leaving PRIEST. He said: "I had lots and lots of reasons for not continuing, as I wasn't content with things as they were. I wasn't happy with the band's live performance. I thought it could have been better; not that the fans would notice. To me, PRIEST was always a stealth machine and that's what I liked about it. Even though you get older, you still need to be able to deliver the goods. People came a long way and paid a lot of money to see us, so you've got to make sure you still give 110 percent. I thought that should be inherent and what it should always be."

K.K. also said that he didn't think his return to PRIEST would "ever, ever happen." He explained: "Obviously I'm quite happy for Richie Faulkner to be in the band. But I really wasn't expecting to have someone who had so many familiarities as me, the looks and everything. At a glance, nothing too much has changed for the fans."

Thrash metal pioneers MEGADETH will celebrate their 35th anniversary all year long, with special releases, exclusive merch items, and one-of-a-kind events and opportunities for fans worldwide.

Speaking to Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice at this past weekend's NAMM show in Anaheim, California, MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson said about the band's milestone anniversary: "With the 15 studio albums all throughout this year, we're gonna honor an album per month, sometimes two a month. This month is 'Dystopia' and 'So Far, So Good... So What!', which both came out in January 2016 and 1988, respectively. So that is the initiative this year. We have a full summer of festival tour dates."

Asked what he means when he says that MEGADETH will "honor an album per month," Ellefson said: "We're honoring them in the '35 Years Of Megadeth' campaign. Probably in the live shows, we're gonna start to incorporate more of those songs from the catalogue. There's some merchandising packages for fans. We're just making a whole extravaganza to basically thank our fans for giving us 35 years of the band."

When the "35 Years Of Megadeth" campaign was first announced last week, founder Dave Mustaine said: "When I started MEGADETH, I didn't imagine myself living for 35 years, let alone my band reaching this incredible milestone. Thanks to almost everyone I've met, worked, and played with these last three and a half decades."

To kick off the celebration, MEGADETH's new music video for "Lying In State" was released on Megadeth.com exclusively for Megadeth Cyber Army members. In addition, MEGADETH is offering discounted Premium Cyber Army membership through January 31 at 11:59 p.m. PST. In MEGADETH's webstore, all "Dystopia" items are specially priced for two weeks.

Throughout the year, Mustaine will also celebrate the band's anniversary on his weekly Gimme Radio show, "The Dave Mustaine Show", which premieres each Thursday at 12 p.m. PST / 3 p.m. EST, with exclusive giveaways, contests, and behind-the-scenes stories about his career and MEGADETH. Fans can tune in and communicate directly with Dave in the Gimme Live chat feed at GimmeRadio.com or via the Gimme Radio app.

MEGADETH is tentatively planning to enter the studio in mid-2018 to begin recording its new album for a 2019 release. Mustaine revealed on Twitter that he is in the process of "collecting ideas" for the follow-up to "Dystopia".

MEGADETH's upcoming effort will mark the group's first release to feature drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who officially joined the group a year and a half ago.

"Dystopia" was MEGADETH's first album with Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, best known for his work with ANGRA.

On February 9, symphonic metal pioneers THERION will finally release Christofer Johnsson's monumental brainchild "Beloved Antichrist", a sweeping rock opera loosely inspired by Vladímir Soloviov's "A Short Tale Of The Antichrist". The entire piece reaches an impressive length of three hours. The dramatic and epic opus comes to life through 27 different character roles, performed by long-time band members like Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis and Chiara Malvestiti, amongst many others. The cover artwork was designed by Thomas Ewerhart and can be seen below.

THERION has just unveiled the official music video for the song "Theme Of Antichrist", from the third act of the opera. The animated clip was created by Abysmo Films.

Johnsson explains: "So, the 'Beloved Antichrist' is ready, let's get on with promotion. We need a video clip. Lori is in the USA, Christian in Argentina, Chiara in Italy, Thomas is touring in Spain, Carlos (the video producer) and his team are in Chile and the rest of us are in Sweden. The budget won't be enough to fly everyone around. To have four different green screen sessions and let each person organize it by him/herself is too expensive and also very risky. So that leaves me with two options: 1. Tell the record label we don't have the means to do it currently. 2. Think outside of the box (as we often need to do).

"I've been eleborating with the thought of 'Beloved Antichrist' as an animated film. It could be just one of many crazy ideas I've had over the years that never got realized (sometimes sadly, sometimes for good reason). Or who knows? Either way, it gave me the idea of making an animated video clip and thus both solve the problem with people being spread around the planet and do something different at the same time. Which, of course, gives people something to talk about — the best promotion you can get."

"Beloved Antichrist" track listing:

Act I

01. Turn From Heaven
02. Where Will You Go?
03. Through Dust, Through Rain
04. Signs Are Here
05. Never Again
06. Bring Her Home
07. The Solid Black Beyond
08. The Crowning Of Splendour
09. Morning Has Broken
10. Garden Of Peace
11. Our Destiny
12. Anthem
13. The Palace Ball
14. Jewels From Afar
15. Hail Caesar!
16. What Is Wrong?
17. Nothing But My Name

Act II

01. The Arrival Of Apollonius
02. Pledging Loyalty
03. Night Reborn
04. Dagger Of God
05. Temple Of New Jerusalem
06. The Lions Roar
07. Bringing The Gospel
08. Laudate Dominum
09. Remaining Silent
10. Behold Antichrist
11. Cursed By The Fallen
12. Resurrection
13. To Where I Weep
14. Astral Sophia
15. Thy Will Be Done!

Act III

01. Shoot Them Down!
02. Beneath The Starry Skies
03. Forgive Me
04. The Wasteland Of My Heart
05. Burning The Palace
06. Prelude To War
07. Day Of Wrath
08. Rise To War
09. Time Has Come/Final Battle
10. My Voyage Carries On
11. Striking Darkness
12. Seeds Of Time
13. To Shine Forever
14. Theme Of Antichrist

Johnsson recently told That Drummer Guy about "Beloved Antichrist": "This is actually not a new album. If I would say 'Jesus Christ Superstar', you wouldn't respond saying, 'Hey, it's a great album.' It's a rock musical which is an album that is available in audio format in CD and vinyl. This is the same thing. I think it's our fault that we called it a 'rock opera', but because 'rock opera' usually means an album with a storyline and that's it. This actually is a THERION version of 'Jesus Christ Superstar', except it's about the antichrist. It's completely written for a theatrical stage performance. That's the entire point with this. The reason that we released it on CD first is because of financial reasons. If you want to present this to a musical type of promotion agency that could make this their next production, we need to show them the music and we don't have the funds just to record this just to display to somebody. We need the record label to pay for it and if the record label is paying for it, obviously, they need a product release to get their cash back, especially for an expensive recording like this. We spent 100,000 euros on this, like 120,000 dollars or something. So, obviously, we need to sell the product very fast. It's like having the soundtrack release first, then having the movie later, which is a bit odd. It is what it is. We do what we have to do to make this work. The idea is that this should be a Broadway rock musical. I think the correct term would be 'rock/metal musical with opera vocals' — that would be the right terminology. I realize it now when we already sent out the promo sheets and everything. It was a bit misleading calling it a 'rock opera.'"

Regarding the musical direction of "Beloved Antichrist", Christofer said: "I would say one third, in my own opinion, sounds like classic THERION. And one third sounds quite different and one third is somewhere in between. It's going to be interesting to see the reactions. I think every time we release a new album, there's always a lot of complaints because we always change the style. It wouldn't be THERION if there wasn't a lot of complaints every time. If you would check the Internet, the history of the Internet since around 2001, that's when it became popular to be on Internet forums and comment on stuff, it would appear we've never had a successful album because there's so many complaints. But yeah, we've had a lot of successful albums since. I think this one, in particular, will be a big challenge for a lot of fans. [New song] 'The Palace Ball' is a completely different type of music, but in this case, we have so much music so I hope people are smart enough to realize that if you would take your ten favorite songs out of this, you would get a very good, regular THERION album. If somebody doesn't like the idea of the super-long rock opera, then they can take the ten songs they fancy the most and burn a CD and play this on whatever people have these days. Yeah, there will be a lot of debate around it these days, especially when we stage it in a theatrical forum there will be a lot of opinions, but it's better to have a lot of opinions than no opinions. The day nobody speaks about you, you're not relevant anymore."

PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS (formerly PHIL CAMPBELL'S ALL STARR BAND), the band featuring MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell alongside his sons Todd, Dane and Tyla, plus vocalist Neil Starr, has released a video for "Dark Days". The song is taken from PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS' debut album, "The Age Of Absurdity", which was released on January 26 via Nuclear Blast.

"The Age Of Absurdity" was recorded at Rockfield Studios and Longwave Studios in Wales and produced, engineered, and mixed by Romesh Dodangoda. The record was then passed over to the acclaimed Abbey Road Studios in London for mastering.

Commented Phil Campbell: "I am really excited for the fans to hear our debut record. Every part of the process was done in Wales, from the writing, to the recording and even the artwork!

"The album title, 'The Age Of Absurdity', was inspired by the crazy world we live in today. The world to me seems to be a bit of a theater show, so the album artwork idea just seemed to fit so well with the whole concept and album title."

Added Starr: "Writing and recording this album was a lot of fun. We got to record at Rockfield Studios where so many great artists had been over the years — it really was inspirational. Hearing the blistering riffs that the Campbell family seem to churn out effortlessly made me ensure I pushed myself to the limits when writing the melodies and lyrics. It's an album that I, and the rest of the band, are very proud of and can't wait to share it with the world!"

"The Age Of Absurdity" track listing:

01. Ringleader
02. Freak Show
03. Skin And Bones
04. Gypsy Kiss
05. Welcome To Hell
06. Dark Days
07. Dropping The Needle
08. Step Into The Fire
09. Get On Your Knees
10. High Rule
11. Into The Dark
12. Silver Machine (HAWKWIND cover feat. Dave Brock of HAWKWIND)*

* only included in the first pressing of the CD version of the album

The cover art was created by Matt Riste and can be seen below.

Multi-Grammy-nominated thrash icons ANTHRAX will see "Kings Among Scotland", the band's long-awaited live-in-concert DVD, arrive in stores and online on April 27 (Megaforce). Captured on February 15, 2017 at the band's sold-out concert at Glasgow's historic venue Barrowland Ballroom, the two-hour "Kings Among Scotland" incorporates the band's entire live show along with interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and other B-roll shot on the band's tour bus, backstage, in hotels and elsewhere. The DVD will also include a "gear rundown" from each of the band members. "Kings Among Scotland" can be pre-ordered at www.anthrax.com.

A preview clip of the song "Caught In A Mosh" is available below.

"Playing for our friends at the Barrowlands has always been very special," said ANTHRAX's Frank Bello. "We all know we're going to get together and have an insanely great time, and we think that incredible interaction and energy really comes through on this video."

With packaging art created by Steve Thompson (SLAYER, MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN), the DVD's concert is presented in two parts. For part one, ANTHRAX perfomed the "favorites" that had been voted on pre-show by the band's fans and includes gems like "Madhouse", "Be All, End All", "Breathing Lightning" and "A.I.R." The band augmented the stage production for part two, with ramps and staircases and other production values while they tore into their classic 1987 album "Among The Living", performing "Caught In A Mosh", "I Am The Law", "Indians", "Eflinikufesin (N.F.L.)" and more.

"It was pretty a intense show," added guitarist Scott Ian, "especially when the crowd was so insane, the floor actually started moving up and down."

"It was a challenge for all of us to play 'Among The Living' live," admits Charlie Benante. "We've played a number of that album's songs in our shows over the years, but not all of them, and playing a song in a recording studio is not the same as playing it live on stage. So we put in a lot of time to get all of the tracks down perfectly. And I'll tell you, after we finished that set, as arduous as it was, we all felt a sense of exhiliration, like we could go out and do it again."

"Kings Among Scotland" was produced, directed, filmed and edited for Film24Productions by Paul M. Green (OPETH, THE DAMNED, THE LEVELLERS), with the sound mixed by ANTHRAX studio producer Jay Ruston. For the filming, Green utilized 17 cameras, including a crane and several mobile and stationery Go-Pros.

ANTHRAX's North American co-headline tour with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE — "KillThrax 2018" — kicked off January 25 in Montreal.

Photo credit: Andy Buchanan

KORN frontman Jonathan Davis will embark on a solo tour in early April. The trek, which will run through the end of June, will include a number of European festival appearances.

Davis will be promoting his new solo single, titled "What It Is". The song is included on the soundtrack to a new film called "American Satan", which came out on January 26. Davis has also been preparing a new solo album that is expected out this summer via Sumerian.

The new music represents a natural step for the Bakersfield, California singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Davis quietly compiled ideas for what would become this solo effort beginning back in 2007. Writing and recording on the road, he personally contributed guitar, keys, and anything else he could get his hands on to the record. Moreover, the music was primarily recorded live, a departure from KORN's heavily calculated, meticulous, studio approach to creation.

"It took 10 years, and I'm so glad this project is finally out. It is something that is very close to me and I'm excited for the world to finally hear it. This time, I'm pulling something out of the audience," Davis reveals. "I've bared my soul for so fucking long, I thought it'd be really cool to pull listeners in a different direction for once." The lead single "What It Is", for example, reveals hints of ominous piano keys, which bleed into a slow-burning verse before thick guitars snap towards an expansive and engaging refrain punctuated by his dynamic vocals. "I'm taking them out of that dark place and into somewhere that's spiritual, positive, and makes them really think," he adds. "It's just art. I've changed lives with KORN, but I wanted to open minds with this shit."

"I remember exactly when and where I was the first time I heard Jonathan's vocals and KORN's seven string guitars behind him," recalls Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen. "The world had never heard anything like it. His voice has been so culturally impactful that those same songs from two decades ago are still played countless times every day. As a true icon and pioneer artist, the influential significance of his music is unparalleled in the modern rock era. If it wasn't for what he created, I would not have ended up where I am today, nor would have many Sumerian bands. It is truly an honor to be releasing the debut Jonathan Davis solo album. The record is absolutely brilliant, showing new depths to his songwriting and vocal performances that the world has yet to experience."

Tour dates:

Apr. 06 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
Apr. 07 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
Apr. 09 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore
Apr. 10 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
Apr. 12 - Sacramento, CA - Ace Of Spades
Apr. 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Belasco
Apr. 16 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
Apr. 18 - San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
Apr. 20 - Tempe, AZ - Ufest
Apr. 21 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
Apr. 22 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
Apr. 24 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Live
Apr. 25 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
Apr. 26 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
May 01 - Kansas City, MO - Truman Theater
May 04 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
May 05 - Detroit, MI - The Majestic
May 06 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
May 08 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
May 09 - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
May 11 - Portland, ME - Aura
May 12 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
May 14 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live
May 15 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
May 17 - Silver Spring, MD - Fillmore
May 18 - Boston, MA - House Of Blues
Jun. 01 - Nuremberg, DE - Rock Am Ring
Jun. 02 - Nurnberg, DE - Rock Im Park
Jun. 04 - Hamburg, DE - Gruenspan
Jun. 08 - Newbury, UK - Download Festival
Jun. 10 - Luxembourg, LU - Rockhal Club
Jun. 11 - Pratteln, CH - Z7
Jun. 13 - Prague, CZ - Prague Rocks
Jun. 14 - Nickelsdorf, AT - Nova Rock
Jun. 16 - Florence, IT - Firenze Rocks
Jun. 20 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
Jun. 21 - Dessel, BE - Graspop Metal Meeting
Jun. 23 - Clisson, FR - Hellfest

Davis composed the score for "American Satan" with Nicholas O'Toole. He listed some of his favorite scores for The Pulse Of Radio a while back. "I'm really into Vangelis, what he did with 'Blade Runner'," he said. "I just like trippy scores, like what Wendy Carlos did for 'A Clockwork Orange' and just cool stuff. I really am a big fan of the movie 'Dune', I love — TOTO did that score. That was a cool score. And then there's the, you know, normal ones, the orchestral scores that are all good. Yeah, those are a few of my favorites."

Davis has recorded and toured on his own intermittently over the years. He has composed music for soundtracks, most notably "Queen Of The Damned", and has toured and DJed frequently over the years as his alter ego JDevil.

KORN's last album, "The Serenity Of Suffering", came out in 2016.

This August marks the 20th anniversary of KORN's 1998 breakthrough album "Follow The Leader". Guitarist Brian "Head" Welch indicated in a recent interview that the band is mulling over plans to celebrate that milestone.