With his first solo album in eight years just released and a UK tour to look forward to, Glenn Hughes caught up with Metal Express Radio's Mick Burgess to talk about his album, the tour, the renewed activity with Black Country Communion, and his thoughts on Ritchie Blackmore’s return to rock. An excerpt is available below.

Q: A few months back your old band mate in Deep Purple Ritchie Blackmore returned to his Rock roots with Rainbow for the first time in over 20 years.  What did you make of it?

Hughes: "I wasn`t really sure. I`m glad he came back for his own sake and obviously he wanted to make some electric rock music again after so long away, it`s been 20 something years.  It was his choice and his choice who he had playing with him. I wished him all the best and have nothing but total respect for him and he knows that. I hope he continues along the road he`s on as his fans want more electric shows from him. All I want for Ritchie is happiness. Although I don`t see him very often I still have good memories of him and it`s all good between us."

Q: You were big friends with Ronnie James Dio and he`s sadly not with us now. Have you heard any of the footage with (new Rainbow singer) Ronnie Romero?

Hughes: "I did. Singing Ronnie`s songs needs a special kind of singer and I think the young chap did a reasonably good job and I think Ritchie may well have found the guy for him. He was certainly a good fit for Rainbow."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Hughes tour schedule is as follows:

January
20 - The Riverside - Newcastle, UK
21 - Islington Assembly Hall - London, UK
23 - The Robin 2 - Bilston, UK
24 - The Garage - Glasgow, UK
26 - Rescue Rooms - Nottingham, UK
27 - O2 Academy 2 - Manchester, UK
29 - Sub 89 - Reading, UK
30 - The Junction - Cambridge, UK

February
1 - The Church - Leeds, UK
2 - The Fleece - Bristol, UK

Hughes new album, Resonate, was released on November 4th. Details below.

Tracklisting:

“Heavy”
“My Town”
“Flow”
“Let It Shine”
“Steady”
“God Of Money”
“How Long”
“When I Fall”
“Landmines”
“Stumble & Go”
“Long Time Gone”

“Long Time Gone” video:

“Let It Shine”:

“My Town”:

“Heavy” video:

EPK:

(Photo: © Stuart Westwood)

A PERFECT CIRCLE recently confirmed that it will trek across North America this spring in the outfit's first tour since 2011, with the month-long outing kicking off in Las Vegas on April 7 and April 8. The schedule will include previously announced appearances at the Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock and Carolina Rebellion festivals in late April and early May, along with a closing night stop at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 7.

The tour news arrives as the band begins work on its first new album since 2004's "eMOTIVe". Guitarist Billy Howerdel tells Billboard: "We're not promising anything, but I have every intention of doing my best to have us playing some new tracks during this run — with the idea that new music is coming very soon after. It felt similar to me to the very first thing we ever did. When Maynard [James Keenan, vocals] and I first started talking about working together in 1999, we collaborated on two songs, and the idea hatched to, 'Let's do a live show,' and let that fire under our ass be what's going to propel us to finish this music… And we approached it the same way this year. I said, 'We're gonna do shows,' and with those shows there's the hope of having some new music to go along with the shows. So let's let that be the thing that puts us in a panic mode."

Howerdel told The Pulse Of Radio a while back why he likes being on the road even more sometimes than the studio. "In a lot of ways it's a lot easier, just because of scheduling," he said. "You just know what you have to do when you have to do it. Whereas, you know, in the studio, at least for me, I'm making my own hours, and I just sleep like five hours a night and work the rest. And out here, playing the show is probably what you look forward to the whole day. It's kind of all laid out, so in a way, it's a lot easier for you."

A PERFECT CIRCLE has been largely inactive on the recording front for more than a decade, with only a new song titled "By And Down" surfacing on a hits collection in 2013.

In an interview that year, Howerdel said about the possibility of a new studio album: "I've got 75 percent of the foundation of [the next] A PERFECT CIRCLE record ready to go. I think that all will change once Maynard gets involved and he has more time to focus on it."

THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM, the new solo project from CANDLEMASS bassist and songwriter Leif Edling, will release its self-titled debut album on March 31 via Nuclear Blast. The disc will contain eight epic doom tracks with a pinch of NWOBHM and haunting catchy melodies. Joining Edling on the effort are WOLF singer Niklas Stålvind, guitarist Marcus Jidell (AVATARIUM, SOEN, ex-EVERGREY), drummer Andreas "Habo" Johansson (NARNIA), as well as several guest artists.

The first trailer for "The Doomsday Kingdom", in which Edling discusses the classic bands that influenced his new project, is available below. He also hints at his current involvement in CANDLEMASS, but clearly explains what his focus for 2017 will be.

"I'm extremely happy that THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM album is finally finished and ready to be released!", states Leif. "It's been a long windy road, to say the least, and many things and circumstances have been leading up to it. It is an album that I'm extremely proud of, from the cover artwork to the songs and sound. One of the best things I've done in my life!"

THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM will make its live debut at the Roadburn festival in April.

"The Doomsday Kingdom" track listing:

01. Silent Kingdom02. Never Machine03. A Spoonful Of Darkness04. See You Tomorrow05. The Sceptre06. Hand Of Hell07. The Silence08. The God Particle

The lyric video for the demo version of "The Sceptre" can be seen below. Edling stated about the song: "On the album version, 'The Sceptre' is a bit re-arranged. There's a couple of more harmony guitars added on it as well. We also have some people guesting: In the mid 'classical' solo part, we included a mellotron that is played by one of this country's best mello-players, whose name I will disclose later on... Same thing with the long end solo. One of my all-time heroes and musical influences was kind enough to put his guitar and stamp on here to make this song very special! Lovely solo, lovely bloke!"

Regarding the track "Never Machine", Edling said: "'Never Machine' is the very first song that I wrote for THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM. It starts with a riff à la BLACK SABBATH and takes off into doomier territories with the haunting chorus and the extra-heavy outro."

THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM's debut EP, "Never Machine", was released on November 25 via Nuclear Blast.

Edling stated about THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM: "THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM was created two years ago. I was in pretty bad shape. I couldn't go out, I couldn't work, I wasn't allowed to read, I couldn't watch telly and I wasn't allowed to work in front of the computer, so all I had was the music. And I created THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM, metal from the catacombs."

THE DOOMSDAY KINGDOM is:

Niklas Stålvind - vocalsMarcus Jidell - guitarsLeif Edling - bassAndreas (Habo) Johansson - drums

"Forever Militant", the new video from Detroit, Michigan's WALLS OF JERICHO, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "No One Can Save You From Yourself", which was released in March 2016 via Napalm Records.

WALLS OF JERICHO commented on the new clip: "We shot this over the summer of 2016 at With Full Force festival as a headliner of the main stage.

"The band really wanted to show the world what our live shows are live no matter what stage we play big or small.

"Getting ready to support SUICIDAL TENDENCIES in 2017 brings us back to Europe in a large club setting and we can't be more excited to see everyone up close and more personal.

"'Forever Militant' is a standout track on our new album, so be ready to see us play this song every night on the 'Persistence Tour'."

WALLS OF JERICHO frontwoman Candace Kucsulain recently told Toxic Online about "No One Can Save You From Yourself": "It's been a long time since we've put out a record, but not that much has changed. We are still pissed, it's still heavy as shit, maybe a bit more than before, and it still rips! We have a unique energy on stage, something we've worked hard on for the past 17 years, and with all the time between records, it helped us realize what was important to us for our live shows. So through that, we focused on a record with our live show in mind and made a record that represents us and the energy we create. Lyrically, a lot of shit has gone down in my life, and this record you can feel the pain, darkness and chaos. It's a soundtrack to all of it."

Regarding the "No One Can Save You From Yourself" album title, Candace said: "We have been doing this for a long time, and you never stop finding a reason to fight. We feel that real change can't happen until you look inside yourself and own up to your part. We are our own worst enemy, and that can apply to life limitlessly. It's about progress not perfect, but once you know the difference, there's nothing left to do but take action."

"No One Can Save You From Yourself" track listing:

01. Intro02. Illusion Of Safety03. No One Can Save You From Yourself04. Forever Militant05. Fight The Good Fight06. Cutbird07. Relentless08. Damage Done09. Reign Supreme10. Wrapped In Violence11. Anthem12. Beyond All Praise13. Probably Will

WALLS OF JERICHO released a demo version of the song "Relentless" in 2014.

The official video for the song "Call Of Destiny" from German/Dutch symphonic metallers XANDRIA can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Theater Of Dimensions", which will be released on January 27 via Napalm Records.

Commented the band: "After the release of 'Sacrificium', we embarked on our longest tour so far. Over 150 shows that took us around the globe. Through so many different countries and diverse cultures. Through so many different, yet inspiring dimensions. We brought back plenty of memories, sometimes just bits and pieces, but those stuck to our heads. And it made us see who we are and where we wanted to take our music. Made us fearless. Made us push our boundaries once more. Made us cross some so-called genre defining borders. Made us bundle all our trademarks and take them to the next level. All this makes the most colorful XANDRIA album so far. It contains our most heavy and most emotional moments. Again, producer Joost Van Den Broek did a phenomenal job capturing the atmosphere down to every detail. 'A Theater of musical Dimensions.' Can't wait to share the songs with you..."

"Theater Of Dimensions" is described in a press release as "a hyper-emotional affair — and a very heavy one too, naturally. High-class guest vocals can be heard by mighty Henning Basse (FIREWIND), Zaher Zorgati (MYRATH), Björn Strid (SOILWORK) and Ross Thompson (VAN CANTO). There is a soundtrack-like, orchestral finesse inherent to the compositions, echoed by pounding groove and sophisticated shredding. Folklore and ballad chime in ('Forsaken Love'), heavy thrash rears its ugly head ('We Are Murderers (We All)'), and overall there is no doubt: XANDRIA are not only fearless, they are at their most entertaining and thrilling!"

"Theater Of Dimensions" track listing:

01. Where The Heart Is Home02. Death To The Holy03. Forsaken Love04. Call Of Destiny05. We Are Murderers (We All)06. Dark Night Of The Soul07. When The Walls Came Down (Heartache Was Born)08. Ship Of Doom09. Ceilí10. Song For Sorrow And Woe11. Burn Me12. Queen Of Hearts Reborn13. A Theater Of Dimensions XANDRIA in 2013 parted ways with their singer of three years, Manuela Kraller, and replaced her with Dutch vocalist Dianne Van Giersbergen, who also fronts the progressive metal outfit EX LIBRIS.

Dianne Van Giersbergen made her live debut with XANDRIA at the end of November 2013 on a Spanish tour.

Speaking about XANDRIA's songwriting approach, Dianne Van Giersbergen told Metalheads Forever: "I think diversity is a good thing though it should never be used when only based on a commercial purpose. It is most important to create what you yourself would love and what is pure to your heart, close to who you are. If you lose that then the music detached from both band and musician and will cause the fans to not believe the music and performance anymore."

XANDRIA is:

Vocals: Dianne van GiersbergenGuitar: Marco HeubaumGuitar: Philip RestemeierBass: Steven WussowDrums: Gerit Lamm

VALLENFYRE, the U.K. death metal band featuring Gregor Mackintosh, songwriter and guitarist of PARADISE LOST, alongside Hamish Glencross of MY DYING BRIDE, has returned to GodCity studio in Salem, Massachusetts to record the follow-up to their second album, "Splinters" (2014). The new disc, titled "Fear Those Who Fear Him", sees the band recording as a three-piece for the first time.

Joining Mackintosh (vocals and guitar) and Glencross (guitar and bass) on the new record is Waltteri Väyrynen (drums), with production duties once again being helmed by Kurt Ballou (CONVERGE, NAILS).

Mackintosh comments: "12 songs. No samples. No triggers. No bullshit. Instead you get crucifyingly loud amps, ferocious drumming, and vicious vocals spitting out hate and venom. Raw honest brutality. No conformity. No compromise. A murderous nightmare vomiting poisonous bile onto a twisted world. Yeah, that's the bits I like..."

"Fear Those Who Fear Him" track listing:

01. Born To Decay02. Messiah03. Degeneration04. An Apathetic Grave05. Nihilist06. Amongst The Filth07. The Merciless Tide08. Dead World Breathes09. Soldier Of Christ10. Cursed From The Womb11. Kill All Your Masters12. Temple Of Rats

Acclaimed shows to audiences across Europe and America in support of "Splinters" honed the band into a bludgeoning live beast, and their ferocity in cohesion fuels this new album, which pushes their extremities of sound to wildly intense new levels.

"Fear Those Who Fear Him" will be released via Century Media Records this summer.

Regarding how VALLENFYRE was formed, Mackintosh told Metal Underground: "My dad died at the end of 2009 and my brothers and myself went to grief counseling. They told us to write things down about our feelings and whatever. I started to write things down and they turned into lyrics. At the same time, I was trying out old demos and just decided to turn them into songs, like old-school songs because I didn't feel that anyone was doing it the right way. I needed an old-school band, so I just kind of wanted to blend it together and gradually it became a band. I did a demo and got the attention of a friend of mine who works for Century Media in Germany and he said I should put out a record."

ARCH ENEMY will release a new live DVD, "As The Stages Burn!", on March 31 via Century Media. The set contains video footage of the band's largest stage production to date from their performance last summer at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. This performance marks the pinnacle of a highly successful album campaign in support of "War Eternal". It all began in March of 2014 when the band announced new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz as well as the video for the album title track, "War Eternal". This debut track went on to become the bands most successful video in their career, surpassing 20 million views on YouTube. The release of the "War Eternal" album also saw ARCH ENEMY reaching their highest U.S. and German chart positions to date while going on to play over 200 shows in over 40 countries around the world. In late 2014, Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE) joined ARCH ENEMY during the world tour with KREATOR and in 2015 they played arenas as direct support for NIGHTWISH.

The official trailer for "As The Stages Burn!" is available below.

ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott told Spark TV about "As The Stages Burn!": "I think this is the perfect album cycle to document. It's a fresh new ARCH ENEMY, and we just spent two years on the road or more, and, yeah, we just wanna put it out there kind of as a document of this time. And the show at Wacken was really special as well. We put a lot of effort into the production and had our biggest show to date. And that'll be the main part of the DVD, I guess, but there's gonna be a lot of other stuff as well, and it'll be like a live album, DVD, Blu-ray and all that stuff. We have a lot of other cool shows filmed as well, and parts of those might very well be a part of the DVD. But, you know, Wacken was just a great opportunity; it's the biggest heavy metal festival in the world."

ARCH ENEMY will celebrate the release of "As The Stages Burn!" with a number of European shows with special support from LACUNA COIL and THE HAUNTED.

Regarding the progress of the songwriting sessions for ARCH ENEMY's follow-up to "War Eternal", Michael said: "There's plenty of ideas floating around, and there's even some simple demos and stuff like that, but we haven't really seriously gotten into the songwriting process yet. But there's a lot of ideas. But we've been spending so much time on the road, and we're not really the kind of band that writes music on the road. I mean, we might come up with a little riff idea or a melody, or something like that, or a lyrical idea, but it's easier to put it together at home when you take some specific, dedicated time to write and put together music. It's a different kind of focus that you need, I think. You wake up in a different city every day, and it's a different life, and it's a little bit hard to focus on things like that."

Added Loomis: "I think the writing process is gonna be awesome between us. It's just like Mike said — we really haven't had a lot of time to sit down together yet, but I think that time is gonna be coming soon."

Regarding the expectations for ARCH ENEMY's next album, Alissa said: "I think that for all of us, with any new album, or even just with any show, it's always a challenge to do better than the last time. And I think that we all love 'War Eternal' and it's always gonna be super special to us, but we still wanna do better this time. It's just a matter of always keeping very, very high standards and being critical on yourself but in a constructive way, so that you can always produce good music and good performances. I don't think any of us are complacent when it comes to the quality of music that we've put out. I don't think we have any specific ideas in mind for things that we have to achieve within the album, but we have a really strong lineup here that's capable of putting together a really solid album. So we're all pretty excited about it… Let's not forget also that we have Jeff here for the writing process of this album, which we didn't have with 'War Eternal', so right there we have a whole new world to explore. So that's pretty exciting too."

North Carolina-based doom trio, Temptation’s Wings, will release concept album, Skulthor Ebonblade, on March 10th. The new song, "Lair Of The Gorgon Queen, is available for streaming below.

Following the release of 2012 EP Legends Of The Tusk, the new full-length release is the culmination of a decade spent continually improving and refining its thrashy doom metal style. The results speak for themselves, as Skulthor Ebonblade is the complete package: mighty riffs, propulsive rhythms, and emotionally penetrating vocals that hit the heavy metal sweet spot and leave the listener with songs that remain etched in the memory for days on end.

Lyrically, the story of the album concerns legendary warrior Skulthor who returns to find his village burning in black flames, and catches a glimpse of a witch as she disappears behind the smoke. He sets off on a quest to obtain a sword of great power, so he can avenge his clan but loses his humanity along the way only to have to rediscover it to ultimately obtain revenge he sought all along.

Skulthor Ebonblade will be released on CD and digital formats. The CD version will include an acoustic bonus track called "Solitude”. The album was mixed, mastered, and recorded by Andy Bishop at Giraffe Studios, Hendersonville NC. Artwork By David Paul Seymour.

Tracklisting:

“Burning Of Hjalmar”
“I Destroyer”
“Into The Maelstrom”
“To Forge A Legend (Ulfbehrt)”
“Lair Of The Gorgon Queen”
“Solitude” *
“Treachery Of The Blind Raven”
“Witches Of Dredmoor”
“My Name Was Skulthor”

* CD Bonus Track

“Lair Of The Gorgon Queen”:

Australian metal destroyers, Aversions Crown, will release their sophomore album, Xenocide, on January 20th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Today, the band has released their fourth video trailer for the record, in which they discuss the Australian metal scene and how it has influenced them. Find all trailers below.

Xenocide was tracked by Adam Merker at Studio Anders Debeerz in Brisbane and mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Devildriver) from Audio Hammer.

Fans can now preorder the album with or without the limited Erebus / Parasites 7" from the Nuclear Blast web shop. Xenocide can also be preordered digitally from iTunes, Amazon (widgets below) and Google Play. Pre-order the album digitally via iTunes or Amazon and receive the songs "Ophiophagy" and "Erebus" instantly.

Xenocide tracklisting:

“Void”
“Prismatic Abyss”
“The Soulless Acolyte”
“Hybridization”
“Erebus”
“Ophiophagy”
“The Oracles Of Existence”
“Cynical Entity”
“Stillborn Existence”
“Cycles Of Haruspex”
“Misery”
“Odium”

Trailers:

"Prismatic Abyss" video:

“The Soulless Acolyte” drum playthrough:

“The Soulless Acolyte” track video:

“Ophiophagy” lyric video:

“Erebus”:

 

 

 

 

(Photo - Harley Folbigg)

Scottish avant-garde blackened metal band, Ashenspire, have released a lyric video for "Restless Giants". The video features images of Glasgow while the harrowing track plays in the background. The track is taken from their new album, Speak Not Of The Laudanum Quandary, which will be released on January 20th.

The band commented: "Drawing particularly relevant parallels to scenes of today, Restless Giants is an observation focusing on the displaced, or refugees. Scottish history is no stranger to this concept (the Highland Clearances come to mind) but the uprooting and vilification of common peoples has long been a tool used by oppressors and imperialists the world over to justify subjugation and indifference. We leave the listener to draw their own conclusions on the associated images."

Tracklisting:

“Restless Giants”
“The Wretched Mills”
“Mariners At Perdition's Lighthouse”
“Grievous Bodily Harmonies”
“A Beggar's Belief”
“Fever Sheds”
“Speak Not Of The Laudanum Quandary”

"Restless Giants" lyric video:

Pre-order the album here.

US power/thrash metal act Wretch will release their new album, The Hunt, on February 24th via Pure Steel Records. The pre-order phase will start on February 10th.

Wretch are pioneers of their local Cleveland metal scene and have since forged ahead to become an internationally recognized force of powerful melodic metal with festival performances in Germany and Greece. Prepare for the bands latest release The Hunt - a shredding masterpiece that will appeal to fans of Primal Fear, Iced Earth, Helloween and Iron Maiden.

The first album to feature new singer Juan Ricardo, who has a voice reminiscent of the mighty Bruce Dickinson, the new album is 40 minutes of exceptional power/thrash that marks the bands long journey since its 2006 debut, Reborn.

Released through Pure Steel Records, who also released the band’s previous album Warriors, the new album will be released in February before the bands upcoming European tour in March alongside Split Heaven.

Tracklisting:

“Sturmbringer”
“The Hunt”
“Throne Of Poseidon”
“Twilight´s End”
“The Final Stand”
“Fortune’s Fool”
“The King In Red”
“Straight To Hell”
“Pierce The Veil”
“Once In A Lifetime”
“She Waits”

Lineup:

Juan Ricardo - vocals
Nick Giannakos - lead- and rhythm guitar
Michael “Mjölnir” Stephenson - lead- and rhythm guitar
Tim Frederick - bass
Jeff Curenton - drums

German alcohol-soaked thrash metal act TANKARD has set "One Foot In The Grave" as the title of its new album, tentatively due late spring/early summer via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2014's "R.I.B. (Rest In Beer)" is being recorded at Gernhart Studios in Troisdorf with producer Martin Buchwalter (DESTRUCTION, ACCUSER, PERZONAL WAR, SUIDAKRA). Guitars, bass and drums are already done, and TANKARD frontman Andreas "Gerre" Geremia is currently laying down his vocals on the soundtrack to the band's 35th anniversary.

He said: "At the moment I have seven songs ready!

"It's a great pleasure to work with Martin for the very first time! He really kicks my ass, so I have a lot of work! So I really look forward to a great result to celebrate our 35th birthday in a reasonable way!

"Senile with style!"

The cover artwork for "One Foot In The Grave" will be created by Patrick Strogulski, who is a student of Sebastian Krüger, the recent artwork designer of TANKARD.

UKEM Records have announced that the new Solitary album will be unleashed on Friday, March 3rd. The album is entitled The Diseased Heart Of Society and features sleeve art from Andy Pilkington of Very Metal Art (Flotsam And Jetsam, etc.), who also created the hard hitting lyric video for the single “Unidentified” (see below).

Renowned producer Simon Efemey (Amorphis, Paradise Lost, Napalm Death, etc.) worked with the band on The Diseased Heart Of Society to ensure that it delivers nothing less than total thrash destruction.

Tracklisting:

“Blackened Skies”
“Wait”
“Trigger Point Atrocity”
“Anthem Of Regret”
“Architects Of Shame”
“The Diseased Heart Of Society”
“Unidentified”
“The Words Define”
“The Edge Of Violence”
“Humanity's Decline”

“Unidentified” lyric video:

Pre-orders for the album are open now - with both the band and label offering some exclusive package deals. For some truly incredible bundles, featuring signed copies of The Diseased Heart Of Society and the following exclusive items head to solitary.org.uk/shop.

- I Promise To Thrash Forever: The Solitary Story - a brand new book written by Solitary front man Rich Sherrington, recounting the history of one of the UK’s most enduring thrash outfits
- The Solitary Media Card - featuring a digital copy of the new album along with a mass of video material and demos unavailable anywhere else
- Limited edition t-shirts, patches, stickers, key rings, metal artwork plaques - all only available from the Solitary shop

Meanwhile UKEM are offering digi-pack CDs combined with fantastic album artwork t-shirts at ukemrecords.co.uk.Or simply pick up a digi-pack copy of the album here.

Solitary will be heading up to Scotland and over to mainland Europe for a series of live dates to support the album release (full details to follow shortly) as well as playing at the already sold out Hammerfest, March 23rd - 26th and joining forces with Acid Reign and Shrapnel for a thrash spectacular in London, at the Camden Underworld on April 8th.

Due for release via AFM Records on January 27th, World Of Silence MMXVII is an entirely re-recorded and remixed version of the debut album by Canadian progressive power metal band, Borealis.

Originally released in 2008, this 2016 remix now sees these songs officially made available through a label for the very first time. The diehard fanbase surely will be amazed by the massive improvement on sound and performance over the original recordings. World Of Silence MMXVII is a must have for all prog power metal lovers. A re-recorded version of "Midnight City" is available for streaming below.

“We were in talks with AFM about re-releasing World Of Silence when we suddenly thought “why not re-record the entire album for this occasion?”, Borealis singer/guitarist Matt Marinelli says. “It was originally self-released in 2008. A lot has happened since then. The band has evolved a lot and two more albums were released in 2011’s Fall From Grace and 2015’s Purgatory. So making this reissue of World Of Silence a representation of what Borealis is about in 2017 made sense for us. We are in the fortunate position that our drummer Sean Dowell runs his own studio, so recording, mixing/mastering didn’t cause any problems for us in this case.”

After finishing work on World Of Silence MMXVII, Borealis has two more exciting projects for 2017: in April, the band will re-release their 2011 album Fall From Grace via AFM and has already continued songwriting for their upcoming studio album with all new material, which will drop in fall 2017.

World Of Silence MMXVII tracklisting:

“Lost Voices”
“Midnight City”
“From The Fading Screams”
“Forget The Past”
“Eyes Of A Dream”
“World Of Silence”
“The Afterlife”
“Divine Answer”
“The Dawning Light”
“Black Rose”

“Midnight City”:

Pride & Joy Music has announced the signing of Frode Hovd’s Aldaria for the release of their metal opera concept album, Land Of Light. The release of this record is scheduled for March 24th.

Land Of Light contains 11 epic tracks in the vein of old Helloween and Avantasia, with fast-paced hymns to beautiful ballads. The band is masterminded by guitarist Frode Hovd from the Norwegian metal group Memorized Dreams, who was joined by a host of world known guests from the metal community (listed below)

Produced and fully written by Hovd himself, this conceptional album was mixed by Roland Grapow (Masterplan) at Grapow Studios and mastered by Jacob Hansen (Primal Fear, Volbeat, Doro etc) at Hansen Studios. Artwork by Stan W. Decker (Jorn, Serious Black).

Performers:

Singers
Fabio Lione (Rhapsody of Fire)
Rick Altzi (Masterplan)
Todd Michael Hall (Riot V)
Yannis Papadopoulos (Wardrum)
Tommy ReinXeed (ReinXeed)
Mathias Blad (Falconer)
Jonas Heidgert (Dragonland)
Kristoffer Göbel (ex Falconer)
David Åkesson (Qantice)
PelleK (PelleK)
Marit Børresen
Bernt Fjellestad (Guardians Of Time)
Vasilis Georgiou (Sunburst)
Sigfried Samer (Dragony)
Mayo Petranin (Signum Regis)
Konstantin Naumenko (Sunrise)
Mina Giannopoulou

Musicians:
Uli Kusch, Roland Grapow, Frode Hovd, Mike LePond, Christer Harøy, Jimmy Hedlund, Peter Danielsen, Andreas Nergård, Peter Crowley, Ronnie König, Kenneth Skarsvåg, Rayner Harøy, Filip Andel, Paolo Campitelli, Linus Abrahamson, Robert Myrhaug, Filip Kolus, Mistheria and Gabriels.

Progressive black metallers, Code, are streaming the song "Affliction”, featured on the band's upcoming Lost Signal EP,  to be released on January 27th via Agonia Records, on vinyl and digital formats. Listen to the song below.

In the summer of 2015, Code spent some time in a studio in England to experiment with tracks from their back catalogue of four albums. The idea was to re-visit past works from a different angle and Lost Signal is the result.

The EP features three songs from their most recent album Mut (2015), performed with a strong metallic approach. It also features three further songs, one from each of the first three albums performed in a more subtle and introspective style similar to that seen on the Mut album. The result is a release that alternatively emphasizes the subtlety and heaviness of the band's sound and provides a chance to hear these songs in a completely new way.

The songs featured on the EP are:

"On Blinding Larks" (from Mut)
"Cocoon" (from Mut)
"Affliction" (from Mut)
"The Rattle of Black Teeth" (from Resplendent Grotesque)
"The Lazarus Cord" (from Augur Nox)
"Brass Dogs" (from Nouveau Gloaming)

“Affliction”:

“Brass Dogs”:

Trailer:

Produced and mixed by the band themselves, this is the sound of Code exploring the dichotomy within their music and producing a release of rich power, melody and dynamics.

Available formats:

- Transparent 12" LP limited to 389 copies
- Transparent 12" LP with black splatter limited to 111 copies
- Digital

Pre-orders: vinyl / digital

Code lineup:

Aort - Guitars
Andras - Guitars
LORDt - Drums
Syhr - Bass
Wacian - Vocals

Abreaction, the new studio album from Svart Crown, will be released on March 3rd in Europe, and March 17th in North America via Century Media. The album track, “Transsubstantiation”, is available for streaming below.

Abreaction will be available as a limited deluxe digipak that folds out to a cross (EU version), limited digipak (US version), limited gatefold LP+CD with a 12-page LP-booklet and as digital download/stream.

The cover artwork for Abreaction was created by Stefan Thanneur and perfectly captures the vibe of Abreaction with its voodoo-like atmosphere and eldritch inscrutability.

Abreaction tracklisting:

“Golden Sacrament”
“Carcosa”
“The Pact: To The Devil His Due”
“Upon This Intimate Madness”
“Khimba Rites”
“Tentacion”
“Orgasmic Spiritual Ecstasy”
“Transsubstantiation”
“Emphatic Illusion”
“Lwas”
“Nganda”

“Transsubstantiation”:

As a warm up to the release of Abreaction, Svart Crown have just been confirmed for the US tour of Marduk and Incantation.

Tour dates:

February (with Marduk and Incantation)
7 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
8 - Atlanta, GA - Heaven @ Masquerade
9 - Dayton, OH - Oddbody's
10 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's
11 - Kansas City, MO - Riot Room
12 - Fort Worth, TX - Rail Club
13 - Austin, TX - Grizzly Hall
14 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
15 - Phoenix, AZ - Joe's Grotto
16 - Las Vegas, NV - TBC
17 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater
18 - Oakland, CA - Metro Opera House
19 - Portland, OR - Bossanova Ballroom
20 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven

More tour dates:

February
21 - Le Ferraileur - Nantes, France
22 - Le Temps Machine - Tours, France
23 - Le Petit Bain - Paris, France
25 - Le 106 - Rouen, France

March
3 - Le Metronum - Toulouse, France

More dates to be announced soon.

Svart Crown lineup:

JB Le Bail - vocals, guitars
Ludovic Veyssière - bass
Kévin Paradis - drums
Kevin Verlay - guitars

Denver doom duo, In The Company Of Serpents, will release their long-awaited new studio offering this March. Titled Ain-Soph Aur, the entrancing six-track recording was captured last year at Flatline Audio in their home city by Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Khemmis, Cephalic Carnage).

Ain-Soph Aur takes its name from the three veils of negative existence which precede the manifestation of the material universe in the philosophy of Hermetic Qabalah, a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. "The phrase translates to 'Limitless Light,' and is emblematic of the Qabalistic concepts which are central to the record," elaborates vocalist Grant Netzorg. "Thematically, this record explores personal discovery and evolution through the lens of Qabalistic and Hermetic thought. It is about shedding the dross and superfluous baggage heaped upon us by society and blind adherence to convention in favor of pursuing the true self at the core of every being."

"Musically," he continues, "we're exploring territory that we've alluded to in the past on songs like “Rendered Unto Ash”, but haven't had a chance to really explore until this record. We've previously written many songs that are unrelentingly heavy the whole way through, while on this record we're exploring the softer, spookier elements of our writing to a much greater degree. The heaviness is still there, rest assured. The closing track, “Limitless Light”, is probably the heaviest thing we've written. But that heaviness is contrasted by the more prominent use of dark, sparse passages, and that in turn adds much more impact and heft to those heavy elements."

Ain-Soph Aur will see independent release on March 10th on digital and vinyl formats. The standard edition features a white-on-white outer sleeve with a die-cut stencil of the In The Company Of Serpents cross icon cut away to reveal key parts of the stark Mike Lawrence-designed cover art. The deluxe version of Ain-Soph Aur comes with two patches and two enamel pins of the A-side/B-side labels and a hand-printed block print. View an album teaser below.

Pre-orders will be available at the band's official Bandcamp page, here.

Ain-Soph Aur tracklisting:

“Middle Pillar”
“Nothingness”
“Crucible”
“Merkabah”
“Limitless Nothingness”
“Limitless Light”

Teaser:

In The Company Of Serpents will play a special record release show on March 31st at the Blurbird Theater with additional rituals to be announced in the coming weeks.

Heaven's Basement guitarist Sid Glover and bassist Rob Ellershaw have announced their new band, The Cruel Knives. The official statement reads as follows:

"After bringing in Tom Harris as our new singer, there was a completely rejuvenated energy and chemistry that we all felt had to be given the right to stand on it's own.

Chris (Rivers - HB drummer) strongly believes in this change, but as it turns out he won't be able to join us in this new chapter. We really value his ongoing support, he will always be our brother and we wish him and his new family a fantastic future. He explains his position here for you to read.

Long time friend of the band, Al Junior, has entered the fold as drummer for The Cruel Knives and we can't wait for you all to see him live with us.

We've always been blown away by how dedicated and supportive you've all been as fans throughout our career and figure you've waited way too long for new music! So here is our new song, 'The World We Were Sold'. This is just a taste of what’s to come, we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it and we can’t wait to share loads more music with you soon.

As well as new music, we're also going to be joining The Pretty Reckless on their upcoming European Tour starting January 19th. We can’t wait to get out on the road again, playing live has always been the most important thing for us and that'll never change!"

 

 

Invictus Productions has set March 13th as the international release date for Apostate Viaticum's debut album, Before The Gates Of Gomorrah. 

Apostate Viaticum feature in their ranks a number of Irish metal veterans, largely evolving out of the band Morphosis, whose roots stretch back to the early '90s. Indeed, ancient times inform much of Before The Gates Of Gomorrah: the foundation of late '80s deathrash is firm here, with the pioneering old works of Sadus, Pestilence, Master, and Sepultura setting forth the signposts by which Apostate Viaticum take flight and subsequently destroy.

And yet, it's what the band do with these influences which makes Before The Gates Of Gomorrah so fresh. Bolstered by blistering production, Apostate Viaticum conjure slowly evolving whirlpools of maniacal Metal of Death magick, simmering with patience and slithering in a most serpentine manner, all before exploding into rabid, red-eyed bestiality or striking with iron-fisted doom-trudge, in between moving with martial grace and malevolent ease. Get a first glimpse with the track "In The Shadow Of The Monolith" via the SoundCloud audio player below.

Before The Gates Of Gomorrah cover and tracklisting:

"In Articulo Mortis"
"Anathema Inherent"
"Moloch The Sanguinary"
"In The Shadow Of The Monolith"
"Bastards Of Cane"
"Before The Gates Of Gomorrah"
"Beckoned By The Callous Dead"

For further details, visit Apostate Viaticum on Facebook.

Hard rock band Silvertung has started the New Year with a bang thanks to the successful release of their new single “You & Me”. Debuting at number #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Radio’s Most Added List the week of release and continues to resonate with fans entering the Billboard Mainstream Rock Radio Chart’s Top 40. BraveWords is streaming the new video for “You & Me”. Watch now!

As the band’s only stripped down, acoustic song off their critically acclaimed debut Out of The Box (released on Pavement Entertainment), “You & Me” has continued its momentum thanks to the success of its video, which was directed by Wade Spencer. A homage to life on the road, the video takes viewers on a virtual tour with the band giving an inside look at the aspects that few get to see. Since its debut, the video has garnered over 34,000 views.

“When we came up with the concept for the video, we decided that we wanted to really show our fans what it was like to be on the road,” said Speed, Silvertung’s singer/guitarist. “Our fans are the reason why we have the opportunity to do what we love night after night. This is our way of giving them a backstage pass to our lives.”

It’s this devotion to their fans that has made Silvertung’s popularity soar over the past few years. That …and the hook-driven singles that have been released thus far. Their first single “Devil’s Advocate” also appeared on Billboard Mainstream Rock Radio’s Most Added List the week of release and “Never Too Late” and “Face The Music” both hit the Top 40 on Billboard’s BDS Rock Radio chart. Each of their videos has garnered over 100,000 YouTube views and these numbers are steadily climbing.

Palace Of The Pessimist is the impending new full-length from California technical death metal unit and recent Unique Leader signees So This Is Suffering. Set for a February 24th unveiling, the ten-track offering was captured at Interlace Audio and features artwork by Chris Panatier (Dopelord, Totem Skim).

In advance of its release, So This Is Suffering has revealed the visual companion to fifth album cut, "Columbine". "Question everything, and understand that the truth is ugly as fuck. Don't be a part of the corrupted corporate machine," elaborates vocalist Rudy Flores. "Free your mind. The video captures how easily humans are influenced to lose it all over an obsessiveness. We chose the title 'Columbine' because we want people to realize that their perspective can be askew. When you hear 'Columbine,' you feel tragedy and fear when it's also [the name of] a flower; a beautiful creation. We want to thank 1st Degree Entertainment for always bringing the magic out of So This Is Suffering and the gorgeous Jordyn Conway for her role in the video. She brought the evilness in the video."

And if you missed it, check out the video for first single, "Dreameater".

Tracklisting:

“Sleeper Hold”
“Lecherous”
“Xenomorphic”
“Palace”
“Columbine”
“Surveil”
“Muerte Bella”
“Portraits Of Fixation”
“Dreameater”
“The Sum Of All Fears”

Catch So This Is Suffering live in concert:

January
20 - Pub Rock Live - Scottsdale, AZ
27 - Starwood Studios - Dallas, TX
28 - The Korova - San Antonio, TX
29 - Boozers - Corpus Christi, TX

February
1 - Sofie's SS Saloon - McAllen, TX

The Neal Morse Band - singer/guitarist/keyboardist Neal Morse, drummer Mike Portnoy, bassist Randy George, keyboardist Bill Hubauer and guitarist Eric Gillette - kicked off their world tour for The Similitude Of A Dream on January 14th at Rocketown in Nashville, TN. Fan-filmed video is available below.

The setlist on the night, featuring The Similitude Of A Dream performed in its entirety, was as follows:

“Long Day”    
“Overture”     
“The Dream”  
“City Of Destruction”     
“We Have Got To Go”   
“Makes No Sense”   
“Draw The Line”    
“The Slough”     
“Back To The City”    
“The Ways Of A Fool”     
“So Far Gone”
“Breath Of Angels”             
“Slave To Your Mind”              
“Shortcut To Salvation”           
“The Man In The Iron Cage”          
“The Road Called Home”               
“Sloth”                                            
“Freedom Song”                             
“I'm Running”                                  
“The Mask”                                     
“Confrontation”                                 
“The Battle”                                      
“Broken Sky/Long Day Reprise”      

The band's North American tour schedule is as follows:

January
17 - Seattle, WA – Triple Door
18 - San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
21 - Whittier, CA - Center Theater
22 - Phoenix, AZ – Nesbitt-Elliott Playhouse Theater
24 - Denver, CO – Oriental Theater
25 - Dallas, TX – Curtain Club
26 - St Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
27 - St Charles, IL – Arcada Theater
28 - Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
30 - Toronto, ON – Mod Room
31 - Montreal, QC – Club Soda

February
1 - Quebec City, QC - Salle Jean Paul Tardif
2 - New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
3 - Washington DC – State Theater
4 - Atlanta, GA - City Winery

On Friday, January 13th, Amaranthe guitarist Olof Mörck and vocalist Elize Ryd performed acoutsically at the Swedish radio station Rockklassiker. Check out the video below.

Amaranthe are finally bringing Maximalism to North America. The band has just announced a North American headline tour for 2017, with support from Failure Anthem, Citizen Zero, Cypher 16, and Smash Into Pieces. The tour is the band's first in support of Maximalism, which came out in October via Spinefarm Records.

Of the upcoming trek, guitarist Olof Mörck said, "It is with great excitement that we can now confirm the next leg of our Maximalism World Tour: North America! A year has passed since our last visit and we have been looking forward greatly to return!”

He continued, "Joining us on this trek will be very special guests Failure Anthem, along with special guests Citizen Zero, Cypher 16 and Smash Into Pieces for a full evening's worth of cutting edge metal from both sides of the Atlantic! Prepare yourself as the juggernaut known as the Maximalism World Tour prepares to lay siege to YOUR city in early 2017. All shall march to the sound of Maximalism!"

Tour dates:

February
10 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
11 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill
12 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger
14 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
15 - Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
16 - Tempe, AZ - The Marquee
18 - Las Vegas, NV - Vinyl
19 - San Francisco, CA - Social halls SF
20 - Los Angeles, CA - The Belasco Theater
22 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
23 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
24 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
26 - Calgary, AB - Marquee Beer Market
27 - Edmonton, AB - The Starlite Room

March
1 - Minneapolis, MN - Cabooze
2 - Arlington Heights, IL - Home Bar
3 - Ft. Wayne, IN - The Hub
4 - Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theater
5 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
7 - Montreal, PQ - Corona Theatre
8 - New York, NY - Webster Hall – Marlin Room
9 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
10 - Asbury Park, NJ - House Of Independents
11 - Reading, PA - Reverb

Death metal veterans SIX FEET UNDER will release their twelfth studio album, "Torment", on February 24 via Metal Blade.

"Torment" was brought to life by Chris Barnes with bassist/guitarist Jeff Hughell (BRAIN DRILL) shouldering the load of writing the music, along with heralded drummer Marco Pitruzzella (BRAIN DRILL, ANOMALOUS, SLEEP TERROR).

In a post on his Facebook page, Pitruzzella wrote: "I recorded all the songs for the upcoming SIX FEET UNDER record entitled 'Torment' in one take. All acoustic drums, no triggers, no editing, no quantizing. I wanted to capture the realest sound possible unlike the majority of music being produced today. That way when you see SIX FEET UNDER perform live, we will sound exactly like the album, if not even better than the CD audio! No gimmicks, no tricks here, only raw true American death metal."

He continued: "The new album will showcase the fastest SIX FEET UNDER material to date, as well as the slowest SIX FEET UNDER... (there is a track that is 96bpm for a bit)... I recorded all the drums without using a click track. I played along to pre-recorded guitar and bass tracks that I had been studying for months before entering the studio.

"For those of you interested in possibly the craziest SIX FEET UNDER, you'll enjoy track three, 'The Separation Of Flesh From Bone', where I gravity-blast the ride cymbal for a bit. Followed by a speedy track 'Schizomaniac'.

"Anyways, I am very excited and eager for you all to hear this brutal album!"

Barnes states about "Torment": "I've been lucky to have a lot of standout albums in my career. That's only because I've had a great many talented writing partners and musicians to collaborate with. Our new album, 'Torment', to me, is one of those albums. Jeff Hughell has provided the flammable material for me to write some explosive lyrics and vocal parts to.

"I know people always say, 'This is my best album ever,' and I won't say that, because everyone has their own favorites, but I do enjoy creating new music, and I feel as though with this one we expressed concisely and to the fullest the duality of our music. I have also found it important over the years, going back to the start of my career, that the artwork for our albums gets to express, on some level, what the experience is within. To do that this time around, we were able to incorporate an amazing new artist, Septian Devenum, to take on the task of visually bringing this album to life.

"Every song on the album is depicted with a piece of artwork that explores the lyrical content of each song, similar to what we did for the packaging for our album 'Bringer Of Blood'.

"'Torment' has been a great album to work on and help create, we hope all of our fans appreciate it."

"Torment" track listing:

01. Sacrificial Kill02. Exploratory Homicide03. The Separation Of Flesh From Bone04. Schizomaniac05. Skeleton06. Knife Through The Skull07. Slaughtered As They Slept08. In The Process Of Decomposing09. Funeral Mask10. Obsidian11. Bloody Underwear12. Roots Of Evil

SIX FEET UNDER's new album was mixed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris and was previously described by Barnes as "the most brutally intense, groove-laden masterpiece we've ever put together!"

SIX FEET UNDER last month completed the "X-Mas in Hell Tour 2016" in Germany where the band celebrated the 21st anniversary of its debut album, "Haunted", by performing the LP in its entirety.

SPV has announced a spectacular new worldwide signing courtesy of a collaboration between its two imprints Steamhammer and Oblivion: Invidia - Travis Johnson (In This Moment), Brian Jackson, Marcos Medina Rivera (both ex-Skinlab) and Matt Snell’s (ex-Five Finger Death Punch) new band has signed with the Hanover based record company. The group is completed by drummer Darren Badorine.

March 31st will see the arrival of the band’s debut album, As The Sun Sleeps, produced by Logan Mader (ex-Machine Head). The first single release, “Feed The Fire”, will be available for digital download and as a video from February 3rd.

Invidia is truly a brotherhood. Each member of this brotherhood has a story that reflects the movies of Sylvester Stallone. Rocky fan Travis Johnson compares the band’s history with that of his famous movie hero: “I’m big on the underdog succeeding – on the fact that you are never out of the game… never too far from winning,” he explains.

Marco Medina Rivera adds: “Every one of us comes from a very different corner of the rock and metal spectrum and that’s a good formula that delivers power and identity on every note.”

Olly Hahn (A&R/International Product Manager Steamhammer) and Gero Herrde (A&R/Product Manager Oblivion) are more than pleased about their latest coup: “It proves our labels’ great significance that Invidia opted to join SPV. We will all hear lots of great things about this truly outstanding act in 2017.”

Invidia live:

February
12 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Live (KilPop Awards)

Swedish guitarist and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth recently spoke with Ultimate Guitar and revealed why he's cynical about today's metal scene, claiming many bands lack originality and excitement in their sound:

"It's easy to put bands down, especially in the metal scene. There are a lot of bands I just think are unnecessary (laughs). They don't have to be there. Most of the time I hear a song from a band it feels like I get it right away, if you know what I mean. I'm more interested in music when I hear something and it doesn't necessarily have to be completely new or something I haven't heard before. But I want something to make me go, 'Oh, that's odd. That's interesting.' That's what I've developed into myself, which is why I'm very cynical about the metal scene.

I've discovered so much from old music and I developed this songwriting approach from listening to older artists and bands and that shaped me for what I'm doing now. Even if we're a contemporary band, all the influences come from all these fantastic older bands, which basically makes it sound the way we do. It's not because we listen to what's going on today or anything like that. That also has me kind of frowning upon the music scene as it is today. That it's not really so exciting. It's very rare for me to listen to something and go, 'Hmm. That' cool. That's interesting.'

I wrote the best metal riffs from listening to old shit that doesn't have anything to do with metal. Which a lot of people might think sounds strange but that's how it is. Because I stopped consuming that contemporary metal music by the time we did our first record (1995's Orchid) pretty much."

Having recently announced a US date at the renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on May 11th, Opeth and Gojira have now confirmed more US dates.

Says Gojira: “This spring we are excited to announce we will be playing some US dates with our friends in Opeth! Tickets go on sale this Friday 10 AM, local time.”

Opeth states: “A very nice little USA tour together with our friends Gojira.”

Confirmed dates:

May
4 - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium

ACT OF DEFIANCE, the band featuring former MEGADETH members Shawn Drover (drums) and Chris Broderick (guitar), alongside ex-SCAR THE MARTYR singer Henry Derek Bonner, and SHADOWS FALL's Matt Bachand (bass), is continuing work on material for its sophomore album, tentatively due before the end of the year. Drover says in a new Facebook post: "I completed my song #3 today, and I'm really happy with it!!!! Chris is working on various stages of completion of five songs and Matt is working on a few things as well. As we get finished songs to Henry, he will be working on lyrics/melodies, as he has already completed one song and has other lyrical ideas brewing, so it won't be long now before most of these songs will be written, which by all accounts thus far, the material is sounding very strong, in my opinion (and HEAVY, of course!!)."

Broderick told Maximum Threshold Radio last year that he was "really excited to be able to have the full band contributing equally" to the songwriting process for the next ACT OF DEFIANCE album. He explained: "Because Matt was such a late addition to the band, all he got to do is record his bass lines [for 2015's 'Birth And The Burial' effort]. So he'll be able to write on this CD, and then we kind of know each other a lot better now than we did, and so we kind of know how to contribute with each other. It's more of a working relationship, whereas last time it was, 'All right, here's our format. This is the way we're gonna do it, because we've gotta get it out.'"

Chris also talked about the importance of getting everybody's input and allowing every musician to contribute his ideas to the final product. He said: "The main thing is not to bicker and argue. I think you have to put your ego aside and just realize that everybody's opinion is valid. There is no one best way to write a song or to make a band the way that the band should come across or the way that people should act. It's not for any one of us to try and do that."

"Birth And The Burial" was released on August 21, 2015 via Metal Blade Records.