The official lyric video for the song "Mean, Green, Killing Machine" from legendary New Jersey thrashers OVERKILL can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's eighteenth album, "The Grinding Wheel", which will be released on February 10, 2017 via Nuclear Blast.

Commented OVERKILL lead vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth: "Let's keep this rolling. 'Mean, Green, Killing Machine', the opening track — brand new, from us to you! Bang thy head."

"The Grinding Wheel" was produced by OVERKILL and mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, ACCEPT). The artwork was created again by Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH).

Pre-order "The Grinding Wheel" digitally and receive "Mean, Green Killing Machine" and "Our Finest Hour" as instant-grat tracks.

"The Grinding Wheel" track listing:

01. Mean, Green, Killing Machine02. Goddamn Trouble03. Our Finest Hour04. Shine On05. The Long Road06. Let's All Go To Hades07. Come Heavy08. Red White And Blue09. The Wheel10. The Grinding Wheel

Ellsworth recently told the Croatian metal portal NoiseEyes.com about the delay in getting "The Grinding Wheel" released: "It was simplicity. It was a matter of internal mix-ups. We thought we had the entire month of August to mix, when we really had none of the month of August to mix. When Nuclear Blast [OVERKILL's record label] called us, and said, 'Where's the music?' We said, 'Fifteen more days.' We were really close with the mix, but this was our first time working with [producer/mixer] Andy Sneap and he told us, 'Hey, man, it's close, it's 90 percent, but let's do another twelve days when I get back from a business trip. D.D. [Verni, bass], Dave [Linsk, guitars] and I discussed it, and asked: Do you take the great product? Or do you take the money? That's the way we thought about it. We took the dignity over the money with regard to pushing the release back. I always think of every record as your best opportunity to prove yourselves. If you go out pushing that record out, thinking it's 90 percent, then it fucking is 90 percent. It was a real simple mix-up with regard to time. We blame ourselves for 50 percent and Nuclear for the other 50 percent. No, 51 percent for them, 49 percent for us. [Laughs]"

Regarding the musical direction of the new album, Bobby said: "First and foremost, production. Andy has done some great work with different bands in the genre from ACCEPT to ARCH ENEMY. He's really the metal go-to guy. But we wanted to use his abilities, but we wanted to use them with regard to how we saw the record being. One of the things we saw in modern metal is a guitar tone that doesn't have a cohesive relationship with the drums. We wanted more organic drums to start with, and we wanted a guitar tone that came somewhere out of the high technology of the '90s. So it's really kind of a throwback with regard to our thinking, so if you're thinking a drum sounding like a drum and the guitars sounding more in the vein of 'Horrorscope' for us, where it wasn't just top end, but top end and low end with a little bit of mids carved out of them. I think that's the thing I noticed the most about it. "

He continued: "With regard to songwriting, we had done three records, 'Ironbound', 'The Electric Age' and 'White Devil Armory', that were for us, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. [Laughs] Or sisters! There's something about them where there was a formula that we were, I think in our opinion, neglecting some of the other tools that we've accumulated over the years. 'The Grinding Wheel' is much more diverse. There's an epic feel to some of the songs. There's a sludgy, slower feel. There is 'Our Finest Hour', which has been released, which could fit on one of those other three records but everything else doesn't seem like it would fit on these records. I think it's a wider OVERKILL, but press play when you get it. I think that's the best way for people to decide. Everybody has got to be a critic. That's the idea of being a music fan. I'm a music fan, but I'm also a critic. I love or I hate, or it's okay. It'd rather be loved or hated, not 'Ah, it's okay, whatever.'"

OVERKILL and NILE will join forces for a U.S. tour in February/March 2017.

Italian black deathsters Infernal Angels reveal the first song from their upcoming 4th full-length album Ars Goetia in form of the killer official video of "Belial: The Deceiver", written and directed by Andrea Mandozzi and Apsychos.

This song is a black monolith where glimpses of pure aggression are blended in parts with sudden melodic grafts and a strong Scandinavian component. Ars Goetia will be released on January 20th, 2017 through My Kingdom Music on CD and digital format. Preorder at My Kingdom Music.

Special guests on the album are Mancan from Ecnephias, Lorenzo from Frostmoon Eclipse and Snarl from Black Faith.

The cover art was created by the band's guitarist. Apsychos:

Tracklisting:

“Amdusias: The Sound Of Hell”
“Vine: Destroyer Of The World”
“Asmoday: The Impure Archangel”
“Purson: Matter And Spirit”
“Bael: The Fire Devour Their Flesh”
“Paimon: The Secret Of Mind”
“Balam: Under Light And Torment”
“Zagan: The Alchemist”
“Belial: The Deceiver”
“Beleth: Lord Of Chaos And Spirals”

"Belial: The Deceiver" video:

Teaser:

Special guests on the album will be three great characters of the Italian scene, Mancan from Ecnephias, Lorenzo Sassi from Frostmoon Eclipse and Snarl from Black Faith, who add new and obscure facets and atmospheres to the songs.

In a new interview with FOX News, country singer/songwriter Electra Mustaine, the daughter of Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine, discusses her Dad’s influence on her music and reveals any advice he gave her.

“I was very fortunate to have grown up with him as my father and in the household,” says Electra. “He's done a lot, he’s had a lot of platinum records and awards, etcetera, etcetera. But, yeah, he's offered invaluable advice about how the business works and things to look out for, things to make sure you pay attention with. Songwriting, it’s funny, because when I first came to Nashville, my first song I wrote, we wrote in an hour, and to this day, he'll tell you, 'I can't believe in country music they write songs so fast, it takes me, like, a month’, and stuff like that. So it's very different, but I have grown up with a very good counsellor."

Earlier this year, Electra released a country cover of the Megadeth song "I Thought I Knew It All”, which originally appeared on the 1994 album, Youthanasia. The official video is available below, along with the original Megadeth version.

Electra commented, saying her interpretation is for both country fans and disciples of the thrash titans: "We thought it'd be a great tribute to Megadeth fans for all the years of support. I wanted to say thank you, because honestly if it weren't for Megadeth fans, I wouldn't be able to try to fulfill my dreams now. I thought, let's show everyone this is where I come from, and yes, I am Dave Mustaine's daughter, but look what I can do with it. We tried to make it organic, raw and vocally driven."

For information and updates on Electra Mustaine go to this location.

The attorney who led the charge in the copyright suit against Led Zeppelin wants the Supreme Court to take his case — but it's not the one against the iconic band.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, shortly after the rock band prevailed in the "Stairway To Heaven" trial, the plaintiff's attorney, Francis Malofiy, was suspended from practicing law for just over three months. The court found Malofiy violated "various rules of conduct" during a copyright infringement lawsuit over Usher's "Bad Girl" — including tricking unrepresented co-defendant William Guice into signing an affidavit without consulting a lawyer.

Malofiy says not only is he innocent but also the judges conspired to rule against him and held to that predetermined three-month suspension despite a special prosecutor's recommendation that a private reprimand was the appropriate penalty.

Read more at hollywoodreporter.com.

As the year 2016 wraps up, Swedish progressive death metal duo, Witherscape, looks back to the release of their sophomore full-length album, The Northern Sanctuary, via Century Media Records.

And with many year-end polls mentioning the outstanding quality of this album, a next track off The Northern Sanctuary has now been launched, check out “Marionette” below.

Multi-instrumentalist and producer Dan Swanö (ex-Edge Of Sanity/Bloodbath, Nightingale, etc.), who partners up with fellow Swedish multi-instrumentalist Ragnar Widerberg in Witherscape, comments the song as follows: "Sometimes a song can take some unexpected twists and turns and what started out as an acoustic ballad, inspired by a very strange guitar tuning, turned into one of the first shoe-gaze/death/doom/A.O.R. ballads that the world has ever heard. The reactions to this track have been some of the strongest from any other track from any other band I have been in. There are several reports from tears of joy, goosebumps and other pleasant experiences when listening to this track, and if you, just like me, love "Leprosy" by Death as much as Journey's "Frontiers" well, then you are in for a sonic treat ;)"

Swanö also sent over a quick message about the fading year 2016 and a preview for 2017: “My musical highlights from 2016 are… Finishing off and releasing the 2nd Witherscape album The Northern Sanctuary. By far the most satisfying metal experience of my life so far! And also to see that the album even found its way to the #1 spot on some year lists makes all the hard work extra worthwhile!

“There's also a lot of awesome stuff that I mixed in the studio, and I'd love to mention them all, but in order to keep it short I can only recommend you to check out the awesome power-pop of The Sigourney Weavers and hear my mix work on something more traditional for a change! On the gig front, it was a milestone to finally step up on the stage of the mighty Rock Hard festival, with Nightingale!

“2017 has some cool stuff lined up already: Mix work with Rage, Misery Index, God Dethroned, The Project Hate, Entrails and lots more. I probably won't release new albums with any of my own projects. But that doesn't mean that I won't work on some of my own music. If all goes according to plan, I will get more work done on the Second Sky album… and hopefully some more Witherscape.”

Witherscape lineup:

Dan Swanö - Vocals, Keyboards and Drums
Ragnar Widerberg - Guitars and Bass

(Photo - Erik Ohlsson)

Robb Chavez of San Antonio cult TV-show, Robbs MetalWorks, interviewed lead vocalist/guitarist, Julz Ramos, of San Francisco Bay Area thrashers, Hatchet during the band’s stop in Austin on December 4th as part of the Forbidden Territories Of The World tour. Julz discusses the concept and maturity behind their latest, The End Records release, Fear Beyond Lunacy, touring with legends Helstar and Flotsam & Jetsam, extending their recording contract with The End Records and why they would like to release new music in 2017.

Far Beyond Lunacy was released in October 2015 via The End Records/ADA. The follow-up to 2013's Dawn Of The End debuted the new Hatchet lineup behind founding member, vocalist, and lead guitarist, Julz Ramos: Clayton Cagle on guitar, Kody Barba on bass, and Ben Smith on drums. The new members have injected the band with a surge of raw energy, and fans of Hatchet will be overly satisfied with this revived enthusiasm laid into the recordings.

Finnish melodic death/thrash metallers Re-Armed have released an official video for "Lullaby Of Obedience," a track from new album The Era Of Precarity.  The video was filmed with GoPro and the clips therein are taken from The Era Of Precarity Tour. 

Re-Armed released The Era of Precarity internationally on September 30th via Finland's Saarni Records. The physical core of the album is packed into a stylish digipak, which is made from ecological materials. The band has pledged to donate 50 cents from the sale of every copy to Karma Ry (organisation), which supports elder people and young adults in band's hometown area with their activities to prevent disenfranchisement.

The folks over at Banger are offering holiday greetings with the video below, featuring the Abbath Snow Globe.

Says Banger: “It's Winter Solstice in Canada and on this darkest day of year here's a little holiday cheer from our favourite new office ornament. Merry Christmas from everyone at Banger and long live Abbath!”

Order your Abbath Snow Globe in North America here, or in Europe at this location.

Abbath’s 2016 self-titled release lands at #14 on BraveWords’ BravePicks 2016. Check out the feature at this location.

Death metal band No More Fear recently released their new album, Malamente, a celebration of 20 years of extreme music and devotion. The band recently completed a new video for the single "Mare Mortum", directed by Daniele Campea. Watch a teaser for the upcoming video below:

Recorded last June at the ACME Recording studio by Davide Rosati, the new album is available digitally and on physical CD via Memorial Records. Order here.

About the new album the band says: “An attack to the stagecoach behind the wheel of very Italian car (Alfetta). The tarantella continues… MALAMENTE (Badly)!”

Tracklisting:

“Morte e Orazione”
“Mare Mortum”
“The Boss Letter”
“A Sinister Murder Case”
“Lady 'ndrangheta”
“Tre Cavalieri”
“Conferimento della Santa”

Album stream:

Finnish theatrical metal newcomers, Lost In Grey, have released a music video for the new song “Dark Skies”. The track will be featured on the band’s new album, The Grey Realms, due for release on March 3rd via NoiseArt Records.

Pre-order the album here, and check out the new video below.

Tracklisting:

“Waltz Of Lillian”
“Road To Styx”
“Dark Skies”
“Revelation”
“The Order”
“New Horizon”
“The Grey Realms”
“Silence Falls”

“Dark Skies” video:

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

"The Outsider", a brand new song from Los Angeles rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES, can be streamed below. The track will appear on the band's fifth album, which is due in early 2017.

The follow-up to BLACK VEIL BRIDES' 2014 self-titled effort was produced by John Feldmann at his Southern California studio. Frontman Andy Biersack told Alternative Press about the new disc: "Ultimately, it would be very silly for me to come out in the capacity of the guy that says [adopts loud, boorish tone], 'This is the greatest fuckin' thing we've ever done! It's our most melodic and our most heavy,' and all that other shit you hear everybody say. The reality is that I'm better at what I do now than when I was 18. All of us [in the band] are. You're looking at a group of people who understand this band more than anything else. Emotionally, I think this record will connect all the dots and bring the story full circle."

He continued: "If you listen to all of our records, there is a through line. And it is watching the growth of five people who come from different backgrounds and didn't have a whole lot in common, barring a shared experience in life. At this point, the level of comfortability in the band is that we know how to finish each other's sentences, musically. And I think we know where we're going."

Biersack also spoke about his mindset going into the making of the new BLACK VEIL BRIDES album. He said: "Anybody who follows me on social media knows I haven't been very active. That's because as I write this record and work on these things, I find that the free time I have, I want to spend enjoying the moment with my family. When I'm writing for the record, it's an emotional experience because I'm talking about things that affect me deeply. During the making of the ANDY BLACK record [Biersack's solo project], I don't think I was ready to talk about a lot of that stuff."

According to the singer, "nine or ten songs" have been recorded for BLACK VEIL BRIDES' forthcoming album and "are currently in the mixing process." He added: "I don't think we'll go too much further; it's been a process of shedding down to this point. Rather than record a hundred songs we didn't like, we were really able to strip away the stuff that didn't seem as strong. It feels like the story I want to tell will be done in the ten or eleven songs in this record. I can't tell you how great it is seeing how much [guitarists] Jake [Pitts] and Jinxx have grown as players and songwriters. The future is so bright."

GOLDFINGER frontman John Feldmann previously helmed BLACK VEIL BRIDES' 2013 effort "Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones".

BLACK VEIL BRIDES released its first-ever concert DVD and Blu-ray, "Alive And Burning", in July 2015. The cover artwork for the set was designed by the band's longtime friend and previous album cover illustrator Richard Villa.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES' fourth, self-titled album was helmed by producer Bob Rock, whose resume includes LPs by METALLICA, MÖTLEY CRÜE, THE CULT and many others.

Killer Bee have released a music video for “Shout It Out”, a track from their new album, Eye In The Sky, out now. The new clip can be found below.

Eye In The Sky tracklisting:

“Eye In The Sky”
“Shout It Out”
“One Step Closer”
“Higher And Higher”
“Face The Night”
“The Flight”
“Get On Board”
“Joystick Warrior”
“Right Between The Eyes”
“By My Side”

“Shout It Out” video:

“Get On Board” video:

Teaser:

Killer Bee lineup:

Brian “Bee” Frank - Vocals
Anders “LA” Rönnblom - Bass
Andre Hägglund - Guitar
Paul “Tonka” Champman - Guitar
Morgan Evans - Drums & Percussion
Denny DeMarchi - Keys

 

 

 

 

Norwegian black metal icons, Mayhem, are commemorating the release of their 1994 landmark De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas full-length. In celebration of its release, the band has self-issued De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive. Captured live in Norrköping, Sweden last year during the band's headlining set at the Black Christmass Festival, the show marked Mayhem’s first time ever playing De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in full.

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Tore Stjerna and NBS Audio and produced by vocalist Attila Csihar and guitarist Teloch with light production by Anne Weckstrom, stage design and production by Jonas Svensson, video recording by Thornfields Production and video editing by Tamàs Tarczi.

The offering is available now on CD, LP, and DVD (the first 1000 copies are numbered) as well as digitally. For physical orders, point your browser here. For digital orders go here. You can stream the record in full below.

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive tracklisting:

“Funeral Fog”
“Freezing Moon”
“Cursed In Eternity”
“Pagan Fears”
“Life Eternal”
“From The Dark Past”
“Buried By Time And Dust”
“De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive by The True Mayhem

Mayhem will march their way across North America next month performing De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in its monumental entirety. Set to commence on January 20th in Montreal, Quebec, the headlining tour will pillage its way through two-dozen cities, the trek coming to a close on February 19th in New York, New York. Support will be provided by Black Anvil and Inquisition.

Tour dates:

January
20 - Club Solda - Montreal, QC
21 - Phoenix Theater - Toronto, ON
22 - Agora Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
23 - Metro - Chicago, IL
24 - Turner Hall Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI
25 - Mill City Nights - Minneapolis, MN
27 - Gothic Theater - Denver, CO
28 - The Complex - Salt Lake City, UT
30 - Marquee - Calgary, AB
31 - Starlite Room - Edmonton, AB

February
2 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
3 - Rickshaw Theatre - Vancouver, BC
4 - Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR
6 - Social Hall SF - San Francisco, CA
7 - The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA
8 - Club Red - Phoenix, AZ
10 - Alamo Music Hall -  San Antonio, TX
11 - Trees - Dallas, TX
13 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
14 - Throne Theater - Wilmington, NC
15 - The Howard Theater - Washington, DC
16 - Theatre Of The Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
17 - The Chance - Poughkeepsie, NY
18 - Royale - Boston, MA
19 - Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY

Mutiny Within is back with their most ambitious and best album to date. This is the band's third full-length album, entitled Origins. The band spent all of 2016 writing and recording brand new music. Confirmed release date is February 10th, 2017. First single “Archetype Of Destruction” is streaming below.

The band is also doing a LIMITED run of physical CDs and merchandise. Preorder now at Mutiny Within’s official website.

Quote from bassist Andrew Jacobs:

"At the end of last year, we found some old demos we thought had been lost, which led to a discussion about putting together an EP. We planned on releasing the demos along with a couple of new songs but once we got started, we had more and more ideas for new songs and the plan quickly evolved into making an EP of brand new tracks. Our fans have stuck by us through so much and as we kept working we felt we were selling them short with just an EP, so we pushed on and turned it into a full album. We've now been in the studio for almost a year and have put together what we think are our best songs to date. It's Mutiny Within but evolved, more extreme, longer songs, but still with everything that made people excited about us. My favorite part; it's all real. The drums, the vocals, the shred, and most of all, the passion we've always had for our music...we tried to capture the energy as if we were on stage and we've done that. We're so excited about the results and have no plans on stopping now. We owe our fans everything and we hope they continue to enjoy listening to us for a long time to come."

Tracklisting:

“Origins”
“Archetype Of Destruction”
“Justify”
“Silent Weapons” (feat. Per Nilsson)
“Reasons” (feat. Andy James)
“Internal Dissension”
“Circles”
“Serenity” (feat. Justin Hill)
“Stay Forever”
“Secrets”

“Archetype Of Destruction” single:

Norwegian black metallers IMMORTAL — now consisting of lyricist/guitarist Demonaz (real name Harald Nævdal) and drummer Horgh (real name Reidar Horghagen) — will enter the studio in January to begin recording their ninth full-length studio album, to be released later in 2017 via Nuclear Blast.

Said IMMORTAL in a statement: "The songs have been ready for some time, but we wanted to record it at the right place and time.

"We will once again work with Peter Tägtgren at Abyss Studio who produced our four last albums.

"The band will enter the studio during wintertime to have the right atmosphere.

"We look forward to record and present the new album to the IMMORTAL hordes sometime in 2017.

"The tracks that will appear on the album are: 'Northern Chaos Gods', 'Into Battle Ride', 'Gates To Blashyrkh', 'Blacker Of Worlds', 'Where Mountains Rise', 'Grim And Dark', 'Called To Ice' and 'Ravendark'."

IMMORTAL previously promised that its upcoming effort would be its "darkest and coldest album in a long time: pure Blashyrkh metal the way our fans know it, with massive majestic riffs, grim frostbitten vocals and tales from our mighty realm. Fast and furious tracks, epic tracks and longer playtime than any of our previous albums."

Demonaz is now also handling the vocals for IMMORTAL following the 2014 split with frontman Olve Eikemo (a.k.a. Abbath).

"The massive fan support has been very inspiring and we will not let down the fans," the band said.

At a time when true and original black metal is nearly dead, IMMORTAL is said to be "in ultimate spirit."

"After the last years' incidents, it was time to go back to the roots to what this band is really about musically, and also to take the integrity of the band back to where it belongs," the group stated. "Cold, grim uncompromising Blashyrkh metal with a true feeling is what we deliver."

IMMORTAL also explained the delay in getting the new music out to the fans, saying: "From 2010 until 2014, IMMORTAL wrote all the songs for the successor to 'All Shall Fall', but when ex- member Abbath left the band in 2014, he changed the lyrics, songtitles and recorded these songs for his so-called 'solo album.' We had to focus on making a new album nearly from scratch, which is the main reason why things have taken this much time. We are now looking forward to record the new album and present it to all those who have shown their loyalty and support.

"IMMORTAL has always been a unique and unstoppable force, and that goes for our fans as well. We will never change our music or attitude."

IMMORTAL's core trio consisting of Abbath, Demonaz and Horgh had been together since 1996 and was responsible for crafting the band's last five albums: "Blizzard Beasts" (1997), "At The Heart Of Winter" (1999), "Damned In Black" (2000), "Sons Of Northern Darkness" (2002) and the 2009 reunion album "All Shall Fall".

The String Quartets is a new album by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and the Carducci Quartet featuring the classic songs of Jethro Tull, arranged and orchestrated by John O’Hara. A video for “Ring Out These Bells (Ring Out, Solstice Bells)” can be found below

Ian plays flute on most of the tracks and even sings a few lines here and there to provide his trademark sounds in the context of classical music traditions. “Living In The Past”, “Aqualung”, “Locomotive Breath” and “Bungle In The Jungle” are amongst the album tracklisting but appear, along with their fellow musical travelers, under more cryptic titles to differentiate them from the original recordings and arrangements.

Recorded in the crypt of Worcester Cathedral, UK and in St Kenelm’s Church, Sapperton, Gloucestershire, UK, Ian says that this album is, “Perfect for lazy, long sunny afternoons, crisp winter nights, weddings and funerals.”

He forgot to add, perfect also after a night of wild, abandoned sex or to celebrate the win of your favourite football team. Essentially, anytime music for sophisticated lovers of classic rock too afraid to wear their Tull T-shirt at the village barbecue.

The album will be released on March 24th via BMG/The End Records. Pre-order now at PledgeMusic.

Tracklisting:

“In The Past (Living In The Past)”
“Sossity Waiting (Sossity: You’re A Woman / Reasons For Waiting)”
“Bungle (Bungle In The Jungle)”
“We Used To Bach (We Used To Know / Bach Prelude C Maj)”
“Farm, The Freeway (Farm On The Freeway)”
“Songs And Horses (Songs From The Wood / Heavy Horses)”
“Only The Giving (Wond’ring Aloud)”
“Loco (Locomotive Breath)”
“Pass The Bottle (A Christmas Song)”
“Velvet Green (Velvet Green)”
“Ring Out These Bells (Ring Out, Solstice Bells)”
“Aquafugue (Aqualung)”

“Ring Out These Bells (Ring Out, Solstice Bells)” video:

“Pass The Bottle (A Christmas Song)”:

Check out a video interview with Ian Anderson, below:

Hellion guitarist Maxxxwell Carlisle has released a music video for "Have Yourself a Metal Little Christmas", a metal version of the traditional holiday classic.

The single is available on iTunes and Amazon (widget below). Watch the new video below:

 

 

Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody are streaming “Dark Fate Of Atlantis”, the live track from Prometheus, The Dolby Atmos Experience + Cinematic And Live, out now via Nuclear Blast. Listen below:

Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus was chosen to be the first studio album in music history to be remixed in Dolby Atmos. Renowned producer/mixing engineer Chris Heil (Scorpions, David Bowi) mixed the entire masterpiece in Dolby Atmos. Prometheus, The Dolby Atmos Experience + Cinematic And Live was released on December 9th.

Prometheus - The Dolby Atmos Experience (Audio Blu-ray) tracklisting:

“Nova Genesis (Ad Splendorem Angeli Triumphantis)”
“Il Cigno Nero”
“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”
“Anahata”
“Il Tempo Degli Dei”
“One Ring To Rule Them All”
“Notturno”
“Prometheus”
“King Solomon And The 72 Names Of God”
“Yggdrasil”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall Part II: Codex Nemesis”

“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”:

Cinematic And Live tracklisting:

CD1
“Nova Genesis”
“Il Cigno Nero” [Reloaded]
“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”
“Land Of Immortals”
“Aenigma”
“War Of The Universe”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall” [Extract]
“Excalibur”
“The Ancient Forest Of Elves”
“Son Of Pain”
“Prometheus”
Drum Solo
“Knightrider Of Doom”
“Warrior's Pride”

CD2
“The Astral Convergence”
“The Pride Of The Tyrant”
“Tormento E Passione”
“Demonheart”
Bass Solo
“Warrior Of Ice”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall Part II - Of Psyche And Archetypes”
“Dark Fate Of Atlantis”
“Dawn Of Victory”
“Quantum X”
“Ascending To Infinity”
“Emerald Sword”
“Finale”

British rock band STATUS QUO will release "The Vinyl Collection 1981-1996", on February 24, 2017 via UMC. This carefully curated release comes as a ten-LP deluxe edition box, with each LP also available via a digital download code. All of the material contained within "The Vinyl Collection 1981-1996" is remastered from original tapes and presented on 180-gram vinyl with original covers and inserts. This incredible collection takes us further into the world of one of the U.K.'s most cherished bands, with albums such as "Rock Till You Drop", "In The Army" and "Never Too Late". It also contains the never-before-on-vinyl "Don't Stop" as well as the hard-to-find "Perfect Remedy". To top it off "The Vinyl Collection 1981-1996" also contains a disc featuring a selection of rare 12" mixes. Charting the growth, development and burgeoning power of one of hard rock's all time classic acts, "The Vinyl Collection 1981-1996" is a tour de force highlighting the incredible catalogue created over one incredible decade by rock's true survivors. With nine complete albums, and a rarities album, this is a phenomenal collection that will be cherished by QUO fans the world over. Following on from the well-received release in 2015 of "The Vinyl Collection 1972-1980", STATUS QUO "The Vinyl Collection 1981-1996" is a triumphant revisiting of the glory days of one of the world's most important rock acts.

German power metal pioneers PARADOX, who were founded in February 1986, are reforming after 28 years in their original incarnation, with Charly Steinhauer (vocals/guitar), Markus Spyth (guitar), Roland Stahl (bass) and Axel Blaha (drums). This was the band's lineup for its debut album, "Product Of Imagination", that was released 1987. Soon they were hailed as the No. #1 German newcomer and their LP was named "Record Of The Month" in several print magazines. Also their second album, "Heresy", is considered to be an old-school speed metal classic. PARADOX will play their first reunion show in the original lineup at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany next July. An appearance at the Harder Than Steel festival in Dittigheim will follow in late September. They will play an old-school setlist with songs from the first two albums.

The announcement of the reunion of PARADOX's original lineup comes six months after the band celebrated its 30th anniversary with the release of its seventh studio album, "Pangea". Issued in June via AFM, the follow-up to 2012's "Tales Of The Weird" was produced by Steinhauer. The effort was mixed and mastered by Panagiotis Katsaounis at P.K. Productions in Athens, Greece.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, BRING ME THE HORIZON singer Oli Sykes has released a new collection through his clothing brand, Drop Dead, that is inspired by the new "Star Wars" movie, "Rogue One". Working in collaboration with Lucasfilm, Sykes said on Twitter that the the line was "an intensely challenging project for both sides, but worth it."

One of the jackets is designed in distressed denim and is aligned with the Rebel Alliance via patches and hand-painted designs with sayings like "What chance do we have?" and "We have hope." Another item, a white bomber jacket, nods toward the Empire with an image of an Imperial Stormtrooper and other iconic symbols.

Sykes's company has also posted a video about how these limited edition items were created.

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" was released in theaters last Friday and grossed more than $290 million worldwide in its opening weekend.

BRING ME THE HORIZON recently issued a music video for "Oh No", the latest track taken from the band's 2015 album, "That's The Spirit".

The disc reached No. 2 on The Billboard 200 album sales chart and featured the hits "Happy Song" and "Throne".

Heres some shots of our collaboration with @starwars for #rogueone was an intensely challenging project for both sides, but worth it. pic.twitter.com/biHWwQ7mCv

— Oliver Sykes (@olobersyko) December 19, 2016

British heavy metal legends SAXON performed a cover version of the MOTÖRHEAD classic "Ace Of Spades" in memory of Lemmy Kilmister on December 17 in Madrid, Spain. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below (courtesy of César Muela).

SAXON recently revealed that the band's forthcoming album will include a song dedicated to MOTÖRHEAD. "[It's] called 'They Played Rock And Roll', 'cause that's what Lemmy [late MOTÖRHEAD frontman] used to say every night [from the stage]," SAXON singer Biff Byford told Sonic Shocks. "It's basically about early MOTÖRHEAD — '79/'80 MOTÖRHEAD, like around 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith', 'cause that's the tour we were on, that one. So, yeah, it's about the band, really, and their music."

According to Biff, "They Played Rock And Roll" will be musically similar to Lemmy and Co. He explained: "I asked Nibbs [Carter, SAXON bassist] to write me some music that was like MOTÖRHEAD, and he did. So it sounds very MOTÖRHEAD-ish, but not MOTÖRHEAD, if you know what I mean."

SAXON's follow-up to 2015's "Battering Ram" album will be released in early 2017.

"Battering Ram" was released in North America via UDR Music. The effort featured Byford alongside Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt on guitar, Nibbs Carter on bass and Nigel Glockler on drums.

Hailing from Louisiana, Electric Age, since forming in 2013, have taken the craft of their sludge and southern metal contemporaries, and incorporated the dynamics of more traditional metal, along with folk, doom and straight-forward rock, to create the epic tale of their debut album Sleep Of The Silent King.

This Southern Louisiana three piece outfit are equally at ease finding their groove within traditional song structures to extended cerebral doom riffing, while never forsaking the simple art of storytelling in the process.

The band says: “We are excited  to be a part of the Argonauta family, and find solace in being with a label that truly respects the genre and shares in the love of this style of music and all it can offer."

In their relatively short career of bringing their live performance to the people, Electric Age have had the honor to share the stage with, among many others, sludge metal pioneers Crowbar, and thrash metal pioneers Anthrax.

Sleep Of The Silent King, mixed and mastered by acclaimed producer  Christopher “Zeuss”  Harris, is their debut album, and is a conceptual and mythological journey through the threshold of time and consciousness, into the heart of darkness and divinity, through death and redemption, and finally into the inexorable void.

Argonauta has allowed them to tell their story to you, all there is left to do... is listen. Sleep Of The Silent King will be available on CD from the 27th of February 2017, pre-orders run here.

Tracklisting:

"The Threshold"
"Shepherd And The Raven"
"Robes Of Grey"
"Cold Witch"
"Priestess Pt.1"
"Black Galleons"
"Sleep Of Winter"
"Silent King"
"Elders"
"Priestess Pt.2"
"Electric Age"
"The Dreaming"

Check out the official video for “Robes Of Grey”:

 

Following an extensive year of non-stop touring in support of their new release Ride Forth, Los Angeles neoclassical shred outfit Exmortus have just completed an immensely successful winter jaunt across North America alongside Children Of Bodom, Abbatth and Oni. The group will stop by The Warehouse in El Paso, Texas on December 22nd for a final headlining show before heading home for the holidays. 

While not busy out on the road with acts including Amon Amarth, Marty Friedman, Enforcer, Warbringer, Entombed A.D., Holy Grail and Cauldron - just to name a few, vocalist/guitarist Conan took time to begin a new solo project, Conan's Conquest, which features his own take on popular classical songs. Just in time for the holiday season, he recorded his take on the famous Russian composer Tchaikovsky's  eight track ensemble, "The Nutcracker Suite" with Allen Falcon at Birdcage Studios. 

Conan stated, "I've been wanting to record this masterpiece for quite some time now and it's finally complete and I'm very proud of the work! Enjoy this rendition of your favorite tunes this Christmas / Yule or any other time of the year!"

The Nutcracker Suite tracklisting:

"Overture"
"March"
"Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairy"
"Russian Dance"
"Arabian Dance"
"Chinese Dance"
"Dance Of The Reed Flutes"
"Waltz Of The Flowers"

Check out an excerpt of Conan performing a section of "March" in the video clip below. The full suite is available for download and/or streaming at BandCamp, Amazon, and Google Play.

 

ORANGE GOBLIN frontman Ben Ward has launched a fundraising campaign for employees of U.K. music media company Team Rock.

Ward started the campaign after news broke yesterday (Monday, December 19) that more than 70 members of staff were laid off with no severance pay.

Team Rock's titles and brands include Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, the Golden Gods Awards and the Classic Rock Awards.

Team Rock was founded in 2012 and the business acquired the Classic Rock, Prog and Metal Hammer magazines from Future Publishing in 2013 in a £10.2 million deal. The business had grown to a staff base of 80, with 31 based in Glasgow and 49 based in London.

A handful of staff have been retained to assist the administrators, with all other employees let go.

According to The Scottish Sun, staff at the South Lanarkshire-based company said they had to watch the office locks being changed as they were told the devastating news.

One source told the site: "As we were being told, a joiner turned up and literally started changing the locks on the doors. That's not something I've ever seen happen before and it certainly didn't help the mood. It feels like an unnecessary slap in the face."

The source added: "Christmas certainly isn't going to be a good one for the 73 people here."

Ward hopes to raise £20,000 via a campaign on fundraising platform JustGiving. "Today, 73 members of the Team Rock staff were told that the company is going into liquidation and that they are being made redundant with immediate effect with ZERO pay," he said in a statement. "These are good, hard-working, committed people that through Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog, Team Rock Radio and more, have supported the rock and heavy metal scene in this country for decades and now we, the rock community, need to pull together to help give something back."

According to the Daily Record, most recent accounts filed by Team Rock Ltd covering the 2015 year to March 31 show the business booked a pre-tax loss of £8.8 million, having booked a pre-tax loss of £4.3 million the prior year.

The company ended the 2015 year with net debts totalling £11.7 million, up from £5.9 million the prior year.

Team Rock generated sales of £6.5 million in the 2015 year, down from £7.5 million in 2014 and administrative expenses ballooned to £12.4 million, up from £9.3 million in 2014.

FRP Advisory is seeking buyers for the company's assets. Joint administrator Tom MacLennan said the business had traded at a loss for "a significant period of time."

MacLennan added: "The company explored every option to secure the long-term future of the business. However, the constraints on the cash position of the business were such that administration was the only viable option. The administration presents an excellent opportunity to acquire high-profile rock music titles, products and brands that have a substantial global following."

According to the Daily Record, UK Publisher Team Rock Ltd has gone into administration (UK's equivalent of bankruptcy/liquidation) with the loss of 73 jobs.

The Hamilton-based business, founded in 2012, published a stable of rock music magazines including Classic Rock, Prog and Metal Hammer magazines, as well as the rock music website www.teamrock.com and TeamRock internet radio.

Appointed administrators from FRP Advisory said the business had traded at a loss “for a significant period of time, with consequent constraints on the cash position”.

The administrators added: “Cost-cutting measures were implemented and despite the best efforts of the directors to seek additional investment or a purchaser for the business, no deal could be completed, leaving the company with no viable option other than to enter administration and to immediately cease trading.

“A handful of staff have been retained to assist the administrators, with all other employees made redundant.”

Most recent accounts filed by Team Rock Ltd covering the 2015 year to March 31 show the business booked a pre-tax loss of £8.8 million, having booked a pre-tax loss of £4.3 million the prior year.

Read more at the Daily Record.

Anders Fridén (vocals), Björn Gelotte (guitar) and Niclas Engelin (guitar) of Swedish metallers IN FLAMES recently performed an acoustic version of their song "In My Room" at the HardDrive Radio studio. Check out video footage of their appearance below.

"Battles", IN FLAMES' twelfth studio album, was released on November 11 via Nuclear Blast in all territories excluding North America and Scandinavia and Eleven Seven Music Group in the U.S.

IN FLAMES drummer Daniel Svensson announced last fall that he was leaving the band to focus on his family life. He has since been replaced by Joe Rickard, who played on "Battles" as a session musician.

More recently, bassist Peter Iwers issued a statement last month saying that he would leave IN FLAMES at the end of the current U.S. tour "to pursue other endeavors." A replacement bassist has not yet been announced.