Dave Mustaine says that he "didn't care" that the house band played the song "Master Of Puppets" from his former band METALLICA when MEGADETH was honored with its first-ever Grammy on February 12.

MEGADETH was nominated for a 2017 Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the title track of "Dystopia". This marked the band's twelfth Grammy nomination in this category (including nominations in the discontinued "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category).

Asked by Grammy.com what it was like winning his first award, Mustaine said: "It was really exciting. We were all sitting in a row, and when Margaret Cho [one of the pre-telecast hosts] had said, 'Dystopia', we were all ready to hear 'M_' [for MEGADETH], and she went 'D_' [for 'Dystopia'], and I think it kind of faked all of us out for a little while. And then after she said 'Dystopia' and said 'MEGADETH' really loud, I was, like, 'Oh my God! We got it.' So I remember standing up and being pretty excited."

He continued: "It was a long way from our seat to the stage, and a lot of people are making a big deal about the house band playing a METALLICA song. I don't care. I didn't care at all. It was about the award. I thought winning the award was great."

Mustaine added: "I wish that there would have been more time so that the [other] guys [in MEGADETH] could have had something to say too, but I know they're all gonna get their chance to say whatever they wanna say about winning the award."

Mustaine was fired from METALLICA in 1983 — some three years before "Master Of Puppets" was released — over substance abuse and anger issues. Although he later conceded that he was "bitter" for a period of time after being dismissed, he insisted that any perceived feud with his former bandmates was an illusion.

Mustaine recently told Radio.com that he "didn't even notice" "Master Of Puppets" being played as he walked toward the stage to give his acceptance speech. "It just sounded like some music in the background," he said. "The funny thing is that when I went back and listened to my acceptance speech, and I heard the song, I was, like, 'Wow!' Everyone was asking me, 'What about the METALLICA thing?' And I said, 'I didn't hear it, I just saw it.' 'How could you not have heard it?' I didn't know what they were talking about. I thought that they were talking about METALLICA's performance. Because we split [after the pre-televised awards]. By the time they did their thing with Lady Gaga, we were across the street eating dinner. So I went back and listened to my acceptance speech and I went, 'Wow!'"

He continued: "I didn't mind them playing it at all, it's a house band, and they're doing cover songs. They were probably saying, 'We don't know any MEGADETH songs. How about if we do a METALLICA song?' But when I went back and listened to it, I was, like, 'Oh my God! That's the worst version of 'Master Of Puppets' I've ever heard in my life!'"

When the interviewer pointed out to Mustaine that the house "house band seemed to be playing pretty random songs," Mustaine agreed: "They could've done a Cyndi Lauper song! [Laughs] I was just happy to be up there. It's about being recognized."The members of METALLICA have been mostly respectful while discussing their onetime member, with guitarist Kirk Hammett saying on a podcast last fall: "I've always seen Dave as someone who was just really, really sad, really angry, really frustrated about his situation with METALLICA, and he never could let that go. And, you know, I've always shown a lot of empathy for him, understanding that he was just pissed off. It's the equivalent of the woman of your life leaving you."

MEGADETH recently completed a month-long U.S. tour with AMON AMARTH, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, METAL CHURCH and BUTCHER BABIES.

A video recap of METALLICA's January 20 concert at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong can be seen below. Also available is a professionally filmed video clip of the "Atlas, Rise" performance from the same show.

The North American leg of METALLICA's "WorldWired" 2017 tour kicks off on May 10 in Baltimore, Maryland and will hit stadiums in 25 cities before winding down in mid-August. Support on the quartet's first North American trek since 2009 will come mainly from AVENGED SEVENFOLD and VOLBEAT, with GOJIRA taking over for the latter group for the last six shows.

Each ticket purchased for the tour will come with a copy of METALLICA's new album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", available as a physical CD or a digital download. Various VIP packages are up for sale as well.

METALLICA has also announced the formation of its All Within My Hands Foundation, which will raise funds through ticket sales to support national, local and Bay Area charities selected by the band members, while continuing to donate to music education programs and local food banks.

"Torment", the twelfth studio album from death metal veterans SIX FEET UNDER, can be streamed in its entirety below. The disc was released today (Friday, February 24) via Metal Blade.

There's plenty of classic SIX FEET UNDER groove to be had on "Torment", but fans will note a much more aggressive approach, and even more modern blast beats throughout. This is a cantankerous SIX FEET UNDER with absolutely nothing to prove. This is SIX FEET UNDER at its most deadly.

"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). The combination of Barnes's multi-decade death metal experience and the speed and precision of Hughell and Pitruzzella's relative youth go a long way to cementing this as a solid foundation for high-level death metal. This is immediately apparent in the first track "Sacrificial Kill" and expanded further right away in the second track "Exploratory Homicide". Both Hughell and Pitruzzella are allowed to play their style of metal with a unique SIX FEET UNDER flair. That's what makes "Torment" a unique and welcome addition to the band's stories catalog.

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 in December 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.

British punk legends THE EXPLOITED have issued a statement in response to an incident last weekend when a Russian music fan was stabbed and killed following the band's show in St. Petersburg.

According to the Russian web site Life, a 27-year-old man, identified only as Igor, confronted a group at the Cosmonaut venue who were chanting what translated to "zigovat." A Google search reveals that this refers to "Sieg Heil," a gesture affiliated to those sympathizing with Nazi beliefs. An altercation ensued and Igor was stabbed in the abdomen. A medical team quickly arrived at the scene, but the man died a short time later.

Authorities are reportedly investigating the situation and are gathering information from eyewitnesses about the whereabouts of any of the assailants involved.

THE EXPLOITED released a statement strongly condemning the attack and reiterating that Nazis are not welcome at their gigs.

The band said: "We have just been told that an EXPLOITED fan had been killed outside our gig in St Petersburg after Saturday's concert. Our condolences go out to his family and hopefully they catch the people who did this.

"There are a lot of people here talking shit as if it is THE EXPLOITED's fault that this kid got killed outside a gig.

"Let's get a few points cleared up. If we had seen anyone sieg heiling at our gig, we would have had them kicked the fuck out. Also, if the people who are talking shit had seen someone do this, then why did they do fuck-all about it? There was 1700 people at the gig.

The group continued: "We had stopped playing five or six times due to the bouncers beating up the punks at the front of the stage.

"Nazi skins or punks are not welcome to our gigs ever."

THE EXPLOITED is in the middle of a European tour, which is scheduled to stop in Athens, Greece Friday night (February 24).




We have just been told that an Exploited fan had been killed outside our gig in Saint Petersburg after Saturday's...

Posted by The Exploited on Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The official video for the song "Echoes" from the Amsterdam-based metal band THE CHARM THE FURY can be seen below. The track is taken from the group's sophomore album, "The Sick, Dumb & Happy", which will be released on March 17 via Nuclear Blast / Arising Empire. The disc was recorded at Wisseloord, ICP Belgium. The mixing was completed by Josh Wilbur (MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, HATEBREED) with additional mixing by Stefan Glaumann (WITHIN TEMPTATION, RAMMSTEIN, PARADISE LOST). Ted Jensen of Sterling Sound in New York City and Brian "Big Bass" Gardner handled the mastering.

The cover artwork for the follow-up to 2013's "A Shade Of My Former Self" can be seen below.

"The Sick, Dumb & Happy" track listing:

01. Down On The Ropes02. Echoes03. Weaponized04. No End In Sight05. Blood And Salt06. Corner Office Maniacs07. The Future Need Us Not08. Silent War09. The Hell In Me10. Songs Of Obscenity11. Break And Dominate

Commented the group: "This record is a cross-section of the metal sound we hope will resurrect in the next ten years — a return to thrash roots, headbanging anthems, and tried-and-tested songwriting that made metal so great back in the '80s and '90s.

"We found Robert Sammelin via an app, saw his work and immediately knew that this was our guy. He still hand-draws his designs, creating some completely surreal comic-style images. While working with him we actually found out that he did key artwork for 'Battlefield 1', which is crazy. We gave him the rough idea for the spiral eyed skull, the color scheme and blood spatters was all his idea. We wanted something different and we feel he created a completely unique piece, better than anything we could come up with."

THE CHARM THE FURY has matured since their debut. With several of Europe's biggest festivals under their belts, they have transformed their sound into a startling slab of ultra-modern but utterly distinctive metal that shrewdly and honestly redefines what THE CHARM THE FURY is all about. Driven by a collective distaste for the state of the world in the 21st century, the band recorded an angry album underpinned by ferocious intelligence and a heartfelt desire to wake people out of their digital stupors.

THE CHARM THE FURY is:

Caroline Westendorp - VocalsMathijs Tieken - DrumsRolf Perdok - GuitarMartijn Slegtenhorst - GuitarLucas Arnoldussen - Bass

German rockers SINNER — who are led by PRIMAL FEAR bassist Mat Sinner — have released the official video for "Tequila Suicide", the title track of their forthcoming album. Check it out below.

Due on March 31 via AFM, "Tequila Suicide" was produced by Mat Sinner, and co-produced, mixed and engineered by Dennis Ward. The album features Tom Naumann (PRIMAL FEAR), Alexander Scholpp (TARJA) on guitars, Francesco Jovino (PRIMAL FEAR) on drums, plus special guests Sascha Krebs, Kolinda Brozovic, Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE), Ricky Warwick (BLACK STAR RIDERS), Pete Lincoln (THE SWEET), Neil Witchard and Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR).

"Tequila Suicide" track listing:

01. Go Down Fighting02. Tequila Suicide03. Road To Hell04. Dragons05. Battle Hill06. Sinner Blues07. Why08. Gypsy Rebels09. Loud & Clear10. Dying On A Broken Heart

Digipack bonus tracks:

11. House Of Rock12. Monday Morning13. I Am

SINNER's album of re-recorded versions of the best songs from the band's early years, "Touch Of Sin 2" (in a nod to SINNER's 1985 album, "Touch Of Sin"), was released in August 2013 via AFM.

Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show", has apologized for repeatedly referring to SLAYER frontman Tom Araya as "Tim" Araya during a broadcast of her program.

Back on January 20, Maddow opened her show by drawing an unlikely connection between the 2010 "American Carnage" tour featuring SLAYER, MEGADETH and TESTAMENT and President Donald Trump's grim inaugural address, which painted a bleak picture of the America he now leads, declaring, as he had throughout the election campaign, that it is beset by crime, poverty and a lack of bold action. "This American carnage stops right here," Trump declared in his speech. "From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it's going to be America first."

During the segment, Maddow referred to Araya as "Tim" on several occasions, drawing the ire of metalheads everywhere, who questioned her journalistic skills and bashed her incessantly on social media for getting the name of their hero wrong.

Earlier this week, while alerting viewers that she would be part of a special broadcast looking at the first month of Donald Trump's presidency, Maddow finally offered up an apology for her slip-up and revealed that she would be wearing a special "American Carnage" tour t-shirt to make amends for the embarrassing month-old typo.

"For more than one month now, I have wallowed in shame over a mistake that I made on inauguration day," she said. "I have felt bad for more than a month. But tonight, perhaps an opportunity for a reprieve, because tonight, right after the show, we are going back to 'American Carnage'. Tonight is our special on Trump, the first month. But tonight, I am going to get 'American Carnage' right. I've got my 'American Carnage' tour t-shirt, I've got SLAYER lyrics tattooed on the inside of my eyeballs. Tonight I get a second chance to get at least the metal part of this right."

This is not the first time heavy metal bands were mentioned on Maddow's program. Back in August 2012, she brought up the Tampa, Florida death metal scene in a segment debunking stories in the day's news. Three years earlier, she interviewed METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich about a number of topics, including how he felt about his group's music being used to psychologically torture prisoners of war.

The Jamie Brown-directed video for "Noises In The Sky", a brand new song from KXM, the project featuring drummer Ray Luzier (KORN), bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick (KING'S X) and guitarist George Lynch (LYNCH MOB, DOKKEN), can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's sophomore album, "Scatterbrain", which will be released on March 17 via Rat Pak Records.

The follow-up to KXM's 2014 self-titled debut is currently available for pre-order via the Rat Pak web site in various bundles, including signed CDs and t-shirts. "Scatterbrain" was recorded at the Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California. The 13-track effort was helmed by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, PRONG, LAST IN LINE), who also produced KXM's debut. From the infectious riff of the album opener "Scatterbrain" to the outro of "Angel", KXM has created something truly special and musically diverse. Songs like "Breakout", "Calypso" and "True Deceivers" are sonically different from each other, taking the listener on a musical journey.

"Scatterbrain" is thematically a darker record than the debut. The album builds upon the developed KXM rock sound but this time includes some different dynamics drawing inspiration from prog, ska, punk and metal. Through it all, it remains undeniably KXM. Recorded over the span of ten days, every song on "Scatterbrain" was the result of a musical jam from all three members playing together in the same room. Luzier explains: "We wanted to use the same formula as the first KXM record: book studio time, come in fresh every day with a new idea and run with it and not overthink anything." Lynch describes the sessions as record-topia: "We showed up in the studio, camped out with a bunch of gear and let the tape roll! Just like the first album — no pre-production, no rehearsal, no pre-written songs." Pinnick adds: "The vibe was like a bunch of old friends having fun creating music like the previous record — nothing but fun!" "Scatterbrain" track listing: 01. Scatterbrain02. Breakout03. Big Sky Country04. Calypso05. Not A Single Word06. Obsession07. Noises In The Sky08. Panic Attack09. It's Never Enough10. True Deceivers11. Stand12. Together13. Angel KXM takes its name from the combination of the members' other projects: K from KORN, X from KING'S X and M from LYNCH MOB.

In an interview with Revolver magazine, Luzier, Lynch and Pinnick spoke about how KXM came together.

"I had a birthday party for my son and invited a bunch of friends and musicians," Ray said. "Doug and George ended up in my home studio picking up my guitars and jamming around a bit. George said, 'We should all do a record together sometime,' and I said, 'That would be a dream come true!'

"I've been a huge KING'S X fan for decades and have been following George and had respected his playing for decades. We just tried to figure out everyone's schedules to make it happen. I give it up for George for being so persistent in getting this going. KORN tours all year, every year, and with Doug and George's crazy schedules, it's just awesome that we made it happen. I'm very pleased with the result."

Pinnick added: "George was the instigator. Ray and I have known each other for quite a while and always talked about doing something together, but George brought it up at Ray's party and we agreed. George got after it and Ray did the same! Before I knew it, we were in a studio in the mountains, got a record deal, a video and a CD. As they say in Texas, 'You gotta get after it!' George has an incredible amount of energy and humor, and he gets things done. I've learned a lot from him. He's a true genius with the heart of a saint — and he comes up with some crazy guitar parts."

Lynch said: "When you're working as a pro musician in L.A., you're frequently running into other players who you know and respect. A lot of times, the 'dream band' conversation comes up. It's fun to talk about. A lot of times, it's the alcohol talking. But the reality for most of us is that we're locked into other commitments and obligations that in the cold light of day don't really afford us the time or flexibility to pull off these projects that look great on paper.

"I'm not trying to take credit here, but I gotta honestly say I was determined to follow through and at least push hard enough to see if we could get any momentum going. Ray jumped right in and was obviously really excited about making it happen, despite his insanely busy schedule with KORN. I think for Doug, it was sort of like, 'Well, yeah, sure, I'll invest some time and energy into this,' but I don't think he realized how profound and potentially musically rewarding and even important KXM could become. But as the writing and recording started to happen and evolve, he became like a little kid in a candy store!"

The official video for the song "Pickin' Up The Pieces" from TOKYO MOTOR FIST can be seen below.

You don't need to be a die-hard '80s metal fan to know that the fruits of an artistic alliance between DANGER DANGER singer Ted Poley and guitarist/producer Steve Brown of TRIXTER is going to make melodic rock fans rejoice! The two musicians from New Jersey recently created TOKYO MOTOR FIST and the new band has unleashed its self-titled debut album via Frontiers Music Srl.

Indeed, TOKYO MOTOR FIST is exactly what you would expect: catchy and uplifting hard rock, the way is should be! You want big — we mean, BIG — hooks? You got 'em. What about major guitar riffs? Of course there's plenty of those. Killer rhythm section? Well, with Greg Smith (TED NUGENT, RAINBOW, ALICE COOPER) and Chuck Burgi (RAINBOW, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, JOE LYNN TURNER), you simply can't go wrong! Ted and Steve have been friends for a long time. They were playing the same club circuit with their respective bands, DANGER DANGER and TRIXTER, when both bands were starting their careers. Over the years, they've had a great personal relationship and the idea of doing a record together has been in the cards for many years. Now, thanks to Frontiers, this concept has become a reality. "To say that I'm excited for the world to hear TOKYO MOTOR FIST would be an understatement," says Steve Brown. "Working on this project with my rock and roll brothers Ted Poley, Greg Smith and Chuck Burgi was a total blast… We had fun and it shows in the performances and in the music! As a songwriter, I couldn't be happier with the way the songs came together. Fans of TRIXTER, DANGER DANGER, DEF LEPPARD, BON JOVI and CHEAP TRICK will get the best of all those worlds." Poley adds: "Working with guys of this caliber was amazing. I was excited to collaborate with my longtime friend Steve Brown, who is not only a really great songwriter and guitarist but also an insanely cool producer! The band sounds great and very high energy. The vocals of Steve and I along with his SHREDDING guitar, combined with the world-class rhythm powerhouse section of Greg Smith and Chuck Burgi is amazing. What a cool band — the sound is HUGE. But it's the songs that drew me into making this album in the beginning and the record is full of catchy songs with massive choruses and great melodies and sounds BIG BIG BIG! I am beyond THRILLED with the final result and I hope you will be too." "Tokyo Motor Fist" track listing: 01. Pickin' Up The Pieces02. Love Me Insane03. Shameless04. Love05. Black And Blue06. You're My Revolution07. Don't Let Me Go08. Put Me To Shame09. Done To Me10. Get You Off My Mind11. Fallin' Apart TOKYO MOTOR FIST is:

Ted Poley - VocalsSteve Brown - Guitar, Vocals Greg Smith - BassChuck Burgi - Drums

Fort Worth, Texas death metal horde Asylum will unleash their debut album, Psalms Of Paralysis, March 17th via Metal Rising Records.

Psalms Of Paralysis features nine blistering, absolutely vile tracks that clock in around 40 minutes. These blasphemous hymns showcase a band who have honed their skills for the sole purpose of unleashing face-shredding madness upon the world.

Mixed, mastered and engineered by Irving Lopez at Imperial Mind Engineering in Dallas, Texas, Psalms Of Paralysis boasts technical prowess and a penchant for devlish heaviness. The debut album offers a comprehensive musical interpretation of human psychoanalysis, social deconstruction, and unbreakable attachment to technology. Psalms Of Paralysis dives far deeper into the enigma that is human imagination, exploring a multitude of philosophical ideas and archaic modi operandi within the realm of medical science. 

"Irving entirely surpassed our expectations for recording, adhering to strict schedules and fine-tuning the music to our liking with zen-like patience," said founding guitarist Jonathan Hatley. "Working with Irving Lopez at Imperial Mind Engineering was a fantastic experience!"

The album features a guest solo from Vital Remains lead guitarist Dean Arnold on the track "Obsidian Spine".

Tracklisting:

"Apprehensia"
"Spectral Incantation"
"Psalms Of Paralysis"
"Obsidian Spine" (featuring Dean Arnold of Vital Remains)
"Heliophobic"
"Conjuring Fog"
"Prefrontal Orbit"
"Syringic Pathology"
"Neuroslave"

Formed in 2012, Asylum creatively delivers audible personification of the enigmatic human psyche by a medium of technical death metal, heavily influenced by old school thrash and black metal. With Psalms Of Paralysis, Asylum is paving the way for a new perspective on old school and technical death metal. 

Upcoming tour dates:
 
February
25 - Reno's Chop Shop - Dallas, TX

March
3 - Tomcats West - Fort Worth, TX (with Interment)
24 - Dirty Dog Bar - Austin, TX
25 - Bonds 007 - San Antonio, TX

April
2 - Tomcats West - Fort Worth, TX (with Mindscar)
22 - Fields Of Despair - Corpus Christi, TX

May
5 -  Andy's Bar - Denton, TX

June
23 - Acadia Bar - Houston, TX
24 - Alamo City Music Hall - San Antonio, TX

July
7 - Tomcats West - Fort Worth, TX (with Whore Of Bethlehem)

Pre-orders for Psalms Of Paralysis are currently being offered at this location.

Asylum is:

Colby Rogers - vocals
Jonathan Hatley - guitars
Troy Hepfer - guitars
Carlos Alonzo Gallegos - bass
McKenzie Webb - drums

 

Shadow Kingdom Records has revealed the cover art and tracklisting for Temple Of Void's forthcoming second album, Lords Of Death. Ever aptly titled, Lords Of Death is an insanely massive slab of doom-death. Nearly three years in the making, Lords Of Death is an experience like no other.

"The Charnel Unearthing"
"Wretched Banquet"
"A Watery Internment"
"The Hidden Fiend"
"An Ominous Journey"
"The Gift"
"Graven Desires"
"Deceiver In The Shadows"

Temple Of Void is an uncompromising collaboration from the depths of Detroit, Michigan. Comprising five musicians who have put in decades of time in the Detroit underground, Temple Of Void entered this world with singular focus and methodical execution from the start. Temple Of Void harkens back to the somber sound of early European doom, while channeling the energy and devastation of old-school American death metal. But Temple Of Void is far more than the sum of its parts: Temple Of Void destroys.
 
Temple Of Void self-released their first demo in 2013. Four weeks later, they had signed to four different record labels to release Demo MMXIII and their imminent debut album across the world. The demo was met with staggering support from the underground, but just over a year later, Temple Of Void unleashed their debut album, Of Terror And The Supernatural, via Saw Her Ghost Records for the double-LP vinyl version and on CD through Rain Without End Records. The day it was released, Shadow Kingdom contacted the band and requested dibs on re-releasing the album to a worldwide audience. Unleashed internationally in September 2015, the slab of barbarity otherwise known as Of Terror And The Supernatural quickly became a cult hit amongst those looking for the darkest, dirtiest doom-death.

But, with the bar set so high by that debut album, Temple Of Void swagger forth to eclipse that achievement and soundly obliterate any comparisons with Lords Of Death. A prescient title if there ever was one, Lords Of Death casts Temple Of Void in a slightly newer light: whilst unmistakably Temple Of Void, this is the sound of the band shorn of any fat and fully representing the powerful, punishing experience of the band in a live setting. It's still signature Temple Of Void, to be sure, but Lords Of Death emits an enviable amount of focus and forward momentum, with the band largely ditching the doomier tropes in favor of ones reflective of their all-consuming onstage power. Instead, Temple Of Void emphasized the deathlier aspects of their debut, but pumped them full of addicting, headbanging energy. Put another way, whereas Of Terror And The Supernatural was doom with death metal, Lords Of Death is death metal with doom. Fittingly, the production here is utterly crushing, and once again recorded at Mount Doom in Detroit.

The release date, first track, and pre-order info for Lords Of Death will be revealed shortly. 

Modern melodic death metallers Lost Dreams have issued the following statement regarding a recently released drum playthrough video:

"Watch our drummer Rafael beating the devil out of his drum kit. This is also a sneak preview for the song 'It's Not A Game It's An Onslaught', taken from our forthcoming album Exhale - enjoy!"

Lost Dreams' new album Exhale is set to be released on May 26th via Massacre Records.

 

"Dying In A Red Room", the new video from California deathcore masters SUICIDE SILENCE, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's new, self-titled album, which is being released today (Friday, February 24) via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The CD was produced by Ross Robinson, who has previously worked with KORN, SLIPKNOT, LIMP BIZKIT and SEPULTURA, among others, and was mixed by Joe Barresi (KYUSS, MELVINS, TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE).

Commented SUICIDE SILENCE vocalist Hernan "Eddie" Hermida: "The way 'Dying In A Red Room' came about was simply being on tour in the back lounge one crazy night and that riff was spewed out and stuck. We started jamming it and that song was done quick and natural. We wanted that song to be very fluid.

"The song is meant to be a love song to the ghosts we carry around with us. To never be afraid to be yourself or listen to your heart. In a way, that is always what this band has wanted to represent. Fearlessness."

Hermida earlier in the month defended SUICIDE SILENCE's decision to explore new musical territory on the group's fifth abum, explaining that "if we didn't do this, it would be doing a disservice to the (band) name."

SUICIDE SILENCE has come under fire in recent weeks following the release of the track "Doris" from the new disc. The controversy over the track's new sound — featuring a more melodic and clean singing style, in the vein of acts like DEFTONES and KORN — even caused one disgruntled fan to launch a petition to stop the record coming out.

"We really stepped outside of ourselves and wrote a record that challenged us," Hermida told The Orange County Register. "It's going to challenge our fan base, too, and people that were used to hearing that certain sound out of us.

"If we didn't do this, it would be doing a disservice to the (band) name," he continued. "By making it self-titled, we're telling fans and we're telling ourselves that this is who we are now."

According to Hermida, "Suicide Silence" solidifies his status as a full-fledged member of SUICIDE SILENCE, four years after the death of his predecessor, Mitch Lucker.

"Nothing can change that Mitch passed away and when he did, he took what the band was and he actually changed it," Hermida said. "He gave us the gift of self-realization in a very volatile time and when you're given that gift and you don't explore it and take it where you need to, you're succumbing to the fear and pain instead of growing from it. We wanted to tell people that it's okay to grow and to step outside of the things that keep you from exploring and expanding your world, your community and yourself."

Los Angeles-based thrash metallers WARBRINGER will release their fifth album, "Woe To The Vanquished", on March 31 via Napalm. The disc was produced and mixed by Mike Plottnikoff (FEAR FACTORY, IN FLAMES), mastered by Howie Weinberg (SLAYER, PANTERA), with cover art by Andreas Marschall (SODOM, BLIND GUARDIAN, OBITUARY).

"Woe To The Vanquished" track listing:

01. Silhouettes02. Woe To The Vanquished03. Remain Violent04. Shellfire05. Descending Blade06. Spectral Asylum07. Divinity Of Flesh08. When The Guns Fell Silent

Bonus 7" single track listing:

01. Evil Dead (DEATH cover featuring Chris Monroy of SKELETAL REMAINS) 02. Arc Lite (CORONER cover featuring Jadran "Conan" Gonzalez of EXMORTUS)

The song "Shellfire" can now be streamed below.

"Woe To The Vanquished" will be made available as:

* Regular jewel-case edition * 1LP gatefold edition (black and other colored editions)* Super deluxe wooden box warchest edition (CD, exclusive 2 track 7” single, flag, band logo dog tags) only available via the Napalm Records webstores in the U.S. and Europe — strictly limited to 500 copies!

WARBRINGER singer John Kevill, who is studying to be a history professor, explains the "Woe To The Vanquished" title: "The title 'Woe To The Vanquished' comes from early Roman history — before they were the huge empire they became. In 390 BC, a host of Gauls led by a warlord called Brennus attacked Rome, and captured all the city except the Capitoline Hill. From this hill, the defeated Romans made a bargain, they would pay 1,000 pounds of gold for the Gallic army to leave the city with no further bloodshed. The Romans bring the gold before Brennus, who uses his own scales to measure it. On the Gaul's scales, the Roman's thousand pounds of gold measured to be less, which led the Romans to complain that the scale was rigged (it probably was). Responding to this, Brennus speaks 'Vae Victis' (Woe To The Vanquished) and throws his sword on the counterweight. Because the Romans lost, they have to pay the rigged sum of gold as well as the weight of the sword, to add insult to injury. The irony here is that vowing this type of humiliation would never happen again, Rome went on to become an ancient war machine conquering and subjugating most of the old world. On the record, 'Woe To The Vanquished' is spoken in an ironic, mocking tone — the defeated are trampled and time marches on, uncaring, and forgets they ever existed."

He adds: "One of the great things about heavy metal as a genre is you can express tougher subject material than 'I met a (boy/girl) and it was (happy/sad).' I looked for the most monolithic evil I could find to write about with this destructive, intense music... and I did not have to look any further than reality. Forget Satan, that's a children's story. Real evil is in the hearts of men."

"Live And Louder", THE DEAD DAISIES new live outing, set for release on May 19 on Spitfire Music/SPV, perfectly captures the awesome vibe of their supreme, sweat drenched, roof-raising live sets, recorded on a heady high at the end of an unbelievable 2016.

From the moment they dropped their first single "Long Way To Go" ahead of their European festival summer in June, the hits just kept on coming. The second single, "Join Together", ramped up the release of the third studio album, "Make Some Noise". The band were well underway touring the USA with KISS, a tour that finished with a sold-out headline show at West Hollywood's prestigious Whisky A Go Go.

The next single, "Song And A Prayer", was released with an accompanying short film, refocused attention and rang in the final, massive touring phase of the year which saw the band go to Japan for the first time, where they immediately became media and fan darlings and went down a storm at the world-famous Loud Park festival. A string of dates in Korea for the USO and, as the year's grand finale, a massive European co-headline tour that played more than thirty shows to sold-out venues.

The DAISIES, as they are affectionately referred to by their fans, quickly became people's favourite live band with their relentless energy, stellar musicianship and unabashed joy in bringing the rock back into roll. The big question at signing sessions after each show and on the band's social media channels continued to be: "When will there be a live album?" People simply could not get enough of them live.

Not to turn down a good opportunity, the band recorded a number of shows on the European tour. The album was mixed by Anthony Focx (AEROSMITH, BAD COMPANY, METALLICA, SANTANA) at Focxhole Studios and mastered by Howie Weinberg. They assembled a true monster in the vein of the great live albums of the '70s. You can feel the sweat drip from the ceilings, the energy of the crowd becoming one with the band, screaming, hollering and forgetting about the often-mundane reality for a night of true rock 'n' roll. Warts 'n all, "Live & Louder" is a document of a band in their prime, a raw slice of visceral energy, an in-your-face assault on the senses. Simply: THE DEAD DAISIES in their element and at their best!

Lead singer John Corabi says: "We're extremely excited and proud of our new album 'Live & Louder'!!! A lot of the fans have been writing to us and saying how much they loved our records but were even more blown away by the band live!!! So this documents our last U.K./European tour, and also shows the world how truly loud and supportive THE DEAD DAISIES fans are!!!! Thank you and turn it up!!!!"

"Live And Louder" will be released in a number of different, exciting formats. Again, the band listened to what the fans wanted and added a spectacular vinyl as well as a limited-edition box set that features, among other cool trinkets, an exclusive seven-inch vinyl single recorded at The Zoo at Planet Rock radio's highly coveted London fan-only gig in November 2016.

THE DEAD DAISIES were formed by guitarist and songwriter David Lowy, whose keen instinct and clear vision has guided the recruitment of an amazing revolving lineup of renowned musicians since the band's inception in 2012. Initially, Richard Fortus and Dizzy Reed of GUNS 'N' ROSES, plus THE ROLLING STONES band members Darryl Jones and Bernard Fowler, as well as John Tempesta and Charley Drayton of THE CULT, were involved. Lowy has once again enlisted incredibly talented international stars to record "Make Some Noise".

Regarding how he came to be involved with THE DEAD DAISIES in 2015, Corabi told Music Feeds: "I'd known Brian [Tichy, drummer] and Marco [Mendoza, bassist] for awhile; and I knew Dizzy, who was in the band at the time. I didn't really know David at all, though, and I'd never met Richard either. Marco was actually the one who called me when the band was in the process of changing singers. He asked me if I'd fly out to California to meet the guys, so I did — and next thing you know, we're in Cuba of all places, rehearsing to do some shows there. After those shows, I came down to Australia to make a record with them. It's been a whirlwind ever since. I had never even heard of the band before Marco called me, but when I mentioned them to my guitar tech, he knew them straight away. He was telling me about how they'd toured with KISS and DEF LEPPARD, so I got online to check them out — and here we are."

THE DEAD DAISIES are: Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE, DIO), John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, THE SCREAM), Marco Mendoza (WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY), Brian Tichy (OZZY OSBOURNE, FOREIGNER) and David Lowy (RED PHOENIX, MINK).

MEMORIAM, the new Birmingham, United Kingdom-based death/grind metal band featuring Karl Willets (BOLT THROWER) on vocals, Frank Healy (BENEDICTION, CEREBRAL FIX) on bass, Scott Fairfax (CEREBRAL FIX) on guitar and Andy Whale (BOLT THROWER) on drums, will release its debut album, "For The Fallen", on March 24 through Nuclear Blast Records. It will contain eight tracks, including "War Rages On", "Resistance" (both featured on "The Hellfire Demos I") and "Surrounded (By Death)" (featured on "The Hellfire Demos II"). The album's impressive artwork was created by Dan Seagrave (BENEDICTION, DISMEMBER, HYPOCRISY, SUFFOCATION).

The fifth trailer for "For The Fallen", in which the members of MEMORIAM talk about the songwriting process for the album, is available below.

Seagrave stated about the "For The Fallen" artwork: "Starting from the band's thoughts on visualizing a kind of funeral procession with a theme of combat, war and in conjunction with the title 'For The Fallen', as with all my works, I then attempt to make the information evolve in my mind's eye, and allow imagination to take over those elements but retaining the core concept. The painting thus depicts a funeral procession moving through a long-wartorn cityscape. Twisted shards of towers and buildings. A cathedral facade stands defiantly, yet riddled with destruction and decay. At closer insp,ection the structures all seem to be infected with an element of natural decomposition, as if organically inclined to fade with the demise of the season, the season itself lost in a timeless void. The figures appear as remnants of once soldiers, now strange in their gathered mass, drawn forwards by the drifting momentum of the procession. Unaware of their emaciated state they follow the commander. The commander's elongated appearance is tattered and almost creature-like, with the combat-style elements and gasmask falsely presenting as a costume. The procession appears almost ghost-like, ancient and serene, slowly moving through this eerie place as if forever. Far in the background there might still be a war happening, but perhaps in another time. As we view a sublevel of reality, lost in the present, captured in light, where the war had passed through and we are left in a ghost biology, where chemicals and history meet to create an inescapable surrealism."

To give a first taster of what to expect from this highly-anticipated record, the first single from "For The Fallen", "Reduced To Zero", can be streamed below.

Willetts stated about the track: "'Reduced To Zero' is a comment on the times that we live in. In a world that is dominated by fear, hatred and intolerance, the song is a direct result of Brexit and Trump and the general rise of right wing nationalistic xenophobia."

Pre-order "For The Fallen" now digitally and receive "Reduced To Zero" instantly.

"For The Fallen" track listing:

Digi

01. Memoriam02. War Rages On03. Reduced To Zero04. Corrupted System05. Flatline06. Surrounded (By Death)07. Resistance08. Last Words

LP

Side A

01. Memoriam02. War Rages On03. Reduced To Zero04. Corrupted System

Side B

01. Flatline02. Surrounded (By Death)03. Resistance04. Last Words

MEMORIAM was primarily developed to fill the void that was left following the tragic death of Martin "Kiddie" Kearns, the drummer from BOLT THROWER, back in September 2015. BOLT THROWER subsequently placed all activity on hold for the foreseeable future which gave Karl Willetts an opportunity to develop a new project with friends that had expressed interest in forming a band for some time.

MEMORIAM is an old-school death metal band, maintaining the standards set by their previous bands, focusing on the themes of death, loss and war. Initially, the bandmembers got together to play covers of songs that had influenced them throughout their careers within the death metal scene. However, it soon became apparent that the new songs that they created were of a superior standard.

Photo credit: Gobinder Jhitta

"Inception", the official prequel to 1988's classic debut "Refuge Denied" from the legendary U.S. metal act SANCTUARY, has just been released via Century Media Records. "Inception" contains presumed lost 1986 studio recordings, which guitarist Lenny Rutledge discovered recently and which were magically restored, remixed and remastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (QUEENSRŸCHE, HATEBREED).

In the video below, titled "Inside Inception #2: Ancient Merch", Rutledge takes a look at some of the early SANCTUARY merchandise.

Recorded in March of 1986 ("Soldiers Of Steel", "Battle Angels") at Triad Studios in Redmond, Washington and Studio One in White Center between April and July 1986, "Inception" offers such previously unreleased highlights as "Dream of The Incubus" and "I Am Insane" as well as several classic "Refuge Denied" songs that are burning with fervor and intensity. Apart from being expanded by art courtesy of Ed Repka, "Inception" is filled to the brim with tons of rare photos, flyers, early art designs, sketches plus detailed liner notes allowing you to delve deep into SANCTUARY's history.

"Inception" will be released as gatefold LP on 180-gram black and limited colored vinyl, including an extensive LP-size booklet, poster, and the album on CD as additional extra. Apart from that, it will be available as a special-edition CD digipak and digital album.

Rutledge comments: "I found the masters in my barn. The second floor of the barn is on top of our current recording studio and is very rough and open to the elements. The ground level is where we recorded the bulk of 'The Year The Sun Died'. We found the masters in an unknown box in the barn, full of water and just wasting away." Zeuss explains further how the "Inception" album was realized: "I got a call one day and Lenny said that he had discovered these tapes and had them transferred to digital. I was in the area and stopped over to check it out. The recordings were still in decent shape.

"We agreed that we wanted it to sound as good as possible without taking away from the original vibe and vision of what the band had back then.

"After a year of mixing on and off, we were able to resurrect these original demos.

"I hope everyone enjoys these recordings as much as I did working on them, especially being a huge fan myself." Lenny concludes: "For me personally, I just wanted fans to be able to hear proper versions of the demos. They had a certain energy that was captured during the early days, maybe even more so than 'Refuge Denied'.

"It's no secret that you can find these on the Internet, but the quality is horrible.

"I think most people are under the impression that these are remastered or re-recorded versions of 'Refuge…', but this is all a prequel!" "Inception" track listing:

01. Dream Of The Incubus02. Die For My Sins03. Soldiers Of Steel04. Death Rider / Third War05. White Rabbit (JEFFERSON AIRPLANE cover)06. Ascension To Destiny07. Battle Angels08. I Am Insane09. Veil Of Disguise

Black Mirrors have released a video for “Funky Queen”, the title track of the band’s upcoming debut EP, to be released on March 3rd via Napalm Records. Watch the video below.

If Janis Joplin, Jack White, Anouk, Nirvana and Queens Of The Stone Age ever had the chance to breed, this band would have been their favourite creation: Belgium's answer to pretty much every rock band out there, Black Mirrors, manage to gather an endless amount of influences which have been ruling the rock n’ roll universe for decades.

The EP artwork by mighty Sebastian Jerke (Greenleaf, My Sleeping Karma) and tracklisting below.

Tracklisting:

“Funky Queen”
“Kick Out The Jams” (MC5 cover)
“The Mess”
“Canard Vengeur Masqué”

“Funky Queen” video:

“Funky Queen” lyric video:

The Funky Queen EP will be available as a limited first edition 4-page digipack as well as black & colored vinyl. Pre-order here.

Tour dates with Horisont are listed below.

March
16 - Hamburg, Germany - Logo
17 - Siegen, Germany - Vortex
18 - Düsseldorf, Germany - Pitcher
19 - Helmond, Netherlands - Cacaofabriek
20 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Merleyn
21 - Liège, Belgium - La Zone
23 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
24 - Fontaneto D'Agogna, Italy - Phenomenon
25 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
26 - Vienna, Austria - Das Bach
27 - Salzburg, Austria - Rockhouse
28 - Mörlenbach-Weiher, Germany - Live Music Hall
29 - Lichtenfels, Germany - Paunchy Cats
30 - Berlin, Germany - Privatclub
31 - Randers, Denmark - Von Hatten

April
1 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Huset

Headline shows:

March
2 - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique    
7 - Ankara, Turkey - ODTÜ    

April
6 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix

Black Mirrors lineup:

Marcella Di Troia: Vocals
Pierre Lateur: Guitar
Gino Caponi: Bass
Nicolas Scalliet: Drums

Norway's Karisma Records has announced their first signing of the year, and, in keeping with the label's reputation for finding the best amongst the nascent talent on the Norwegian scene, they have inked a deal with Dobbeltgjenger, who, according to the band themselves, play "paranoid, dark and catchy rock".

Commenting on their joining forces with Karisma, Dobbeltgjenger had this to say: "We are very pleased to have signed with Karisma Records. It's a privilege to sign with a label with so many original and bold artists! Now we are heading to the studio to record a new, punk-inspired, and more hands-on record. The album is already written and we are really looking forward to sharing it with the world!"

Formed in 2015 in the rainy streets of Karisma's home town of Bergen, Dobbeltgjenger's lineup of Sondre Veland (Major Parkinson, Ossicles) on drums, Jakob Sønnesyn (Depresno, 9 Grader Nord) on bass, Vegard Wikne (Ocean Of Lotion) on guitars and vocals, and Knut Martin Rasmussen Langeland on guitar, draw their inspiration from everything from old videogames, to their own neuroticism, to bands like Queens Of The Stone Age, The Mars Volta, and Radiohead.

Dobbeltgjenger's debut full-length album, When I've Gone To Space, appeared in late 2016, and whilst this first album is heavily influenced by progressive rock and elements of jazz and psychedelia, the follow up album, which the band are currently working on, and which is expected to be released in 2018, marks a noticeable shift away from a purely psychedelic expression and towards a more varied and, as the band mentioned previously, punk-inspired direction. It's a direction in which allows Dobbeltgjenger to explore paranoid and angular mind games through the use of explosive stoner riffs and electric slide-guitars.

A video for the title track from Dobbeltgjenger's debut album, which frontman Wikne describes as being, “a lonely journey into space - about diving into oneself and into the vast and strange "space" where lost astronauts in search of inner peace meet", can be seen below:

(Photo - Jarle Hovda Moe)

Majesty will release their new album, Rebels, on March 3rd. In the video below, vocalist Tarek "MS" Maghary unboxes the limited boxset edition of the album:

The vlog below offers a behind the scenes look at how the band filmed the Rebels Of Our Time short film.

More intense, more powerful and more epic - Majesty have reached the next stage of evolution and sound the horn of their new album Rebels to conquer the heavy metal throne. Recorded in the band's own studio and refined by the mixing and mastering of Frederik Nordsträm in the Studio Fredman, Rebels is the fundament for "Majesty 2.0".

Pre-order Rebels at this location or via the Amazon widget below and receive “Die Like Kings” as an instant grat track.

Tracklisting:

“Path To Freedom”
“Die Like Kings”
“Rebels Of Our Time”
“Yolo Hm”
“The Final War”
“Across The Lightning”
“Not Available”
“Iron Hill”
“Heroes In The Night”
“Running For Salvation”
“Fighting Till The End”

“Die Like Kings” lyric video:

Studio Diary 1 – Backing Vocals:

Studio Diary 2 – Vocal Recordings:

Studio Diary 3 – Album Title Announcement:

Finland’s Battle Beast will launch their Bringer Of Pain Over Europe 2017 tour on March 2nd in Mannheim, Germany. Support on the dates comes from Majesty and Gyze. A video trailer promoting the trek can be found below.

Bringer Of Pain Over Europe 2017 dates:

March
2 - Mannheim, Germany - 7er Club
3 - Essen, Germany - Turock
4 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
5 - Wroclaw, Poland - Liverpool Club
6 - Vienna, Austria - Chelsea
8 - Brescia, Italy - Circolo Colony
9 - Puget-Sur-Argent, France - Le Rat's
10 - Barcelona, Spain - Bikini
11 - Madrid, Spain - Penelope
12 - Lisbon, Portugal - RCA Club
13 - Porto, Portugal - Hard Club
14 - Pamplona, Spain - Totem
16 - Nantes, France - Ferrailleur
17 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
18 - Marsberg, Germany - Metal Diver Festival (Schützenhalle)
19 - Vosselaar, Belgium - Biebob
20 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Little Devil
22 - Wolverhampton, UK - Slade Rooms
23 - Manchester, UK - Ruby Lounge
24 - London, UK - Underworld
25 - Paris, France - Petit Bain
26 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage
27 - Berlin, Germany - Bi Nuu
28 - Hamburg, Germany - Logo
29 - Würzburg, Germany - Posthalle
30 - Siegburg, Germany - Kubana
31 - Stuttgart, Germany - Im Wizemann

April
1 - Wetzikon, Switzerland - Hall Of Fame
2 - Regensburg (Obertraubling), Germany - Eventhall Airport
5 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
6 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Randal Club
7 - Lindau, Germany - Vaudeville
8 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
9 - Münster, Germany - Sputnikhalle

Trailer:

Video footage of Ringworm performing the Snake Church album track, “The Razor And The Knife”, live at Brooklyn, NY’s Saint Vitus Bar can be seen below. The footage was shot by Frank Huang.

Ringworm dates with Darkest Hour are listed below:

February
23 - Reggie's - Chicago, IL
24 - The Metal Grill - Milwaukee, WI
25 - The Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN
26 - The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
28 - Marquis Theater - Denver, CO

March
1 - Metro Bar - Salt Lake City, UT
2 - Beauty Bar - Las Vegas, NV
3 - Sweet Springs Saloon - Los Osos, CA
4 - Jub Jub's - Reno, NV
5 - Portland, OR - Analog Theater
6 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
8 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
9 - Sacramento, CA - Colonial Theater
10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent
11 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
12 - Phoenix, AZ - Club Red
13 - Tucson, AZ - Club XS
14 - Albuquerque, NM - Blu Phoenix Venue
15 - Lubbock, TX - Backstage Lubbock
16 - Austin, TX - Grizzly Hall
17 - Houston, TX - White Oak
18 - San Antonio, TX - The Korova
19 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Bar and Grill
21 - Cincinnati, OH - Northside Yacht Club

Hells Headbangers has set June 9th as the international release date for Cemetery Urn's long-awaited third album, Cemetery Urn, on vinyl, CD, and cassette tape formats. Hells Headbangers previously worked with Cemetery Urn in releasing the band's first two albums - 2008's Urn Of Blood and 2010's The Conquered Are Burned, both originally self-released on CD - on vinyl in 2011.

Formed in 2006 in Melbourne, Cemetery Urn specialize in a vicious, martial form of death metal they've branded "Australian Barbaric Death Metal." The band itself has a deep history in extreme metal: founding guitarist and songwriter Andrew Gillon also hails from reactivated Aussie barbarians Abominator, and previously played in the final lineup of Bestial Warlust; original vocalist Damon Bloodstorm was renowned as the frontman for Bestial Warlust and for Abominator from 1996-2001; new vocalist Chris Volcano is the founding drummer of Abominator - and more recently their vocalist - and concurrently plays drums in Ignivomous, and previously played drums on a handful of Denouncement Pyre's EPs, Urgrund's Unchangeable Fate album, and Destroyer 666's Six Songs With the Devil demo; and new drummer Matt Crossingham has played with such bands as Belligerent Intent, Scars of Sodom, and Draconis Infernum.

Cemetery Urn are a study in staunch self-reliance. Their first two albums were released on Gillon's own label, Cemetery Recordings, and the band self-booked two highly successful tours across the United States: the Blood of the Damned U.S. Tour in June 2008, which encompassed 17 shows alongside Angelcorpse and Gospel of the Horns, and the Western U.S. Torment Tour in October 2010, where they headlined 10 shows through Texas, California, Oregon, and Washington State. Now, armed with the support of Hells Headbangers, Cemetery Urn are prepared to unleash their most decisive and devastating attack yet in Cemetery Urn. A ten-track nuclear warhead, Cemetery Urn's third album takes the unremitting savagery of their first two full-lengths to its furthest extreme yet, exhibiting both power and poise in the middle of an incendiary maelstrom, and further solidifying the band's reputation for upholding Australia's rich tradition of extreme metal barbarity.

A statement from the band reads: "After aeons of primal chaos, Cemetery Urn return with our long-awaited third, self-titled album of super-heavy Australian death metal. Returning with a new lineup, now including Chris Volcano on vocals and human drum-machine Matt Crossingham, and also featuring our tightest and heaviest production ever, it will shred everything in its path like the steamroller of Armageddon! Prepare to be crushed!"

Indeed, feel that first fist of crush with the track "A Requiem For Servants Aflame”, streaming below. Pre-order the new album here.

Tracklisting:

“The Deepest of Graves”
“A Requiem For Servants Aflame”
“Weakened Mortals Bleed”
“Petrified Existence”
“The Sickening Sect”
“Misshapen Affliction”
“Doomed in Conterminous Decay”
“Dredge The Pit of Burial”
“Hemlock Transfusion”
“A Hex Upon Elitist Dynasties”

“A Requiem For Servants Aflame”:

Cemetery Urn by CEMETERY URN

Lineup:

Andrew Gillon  guitarist, songwriter
Chris Volcano  vocals, lyrics
Dan Macconni  guitar
Themmy Rentos  bass
Matt Crossingham  drums

Australian melodic progressive metal act, Damnations Day, will release their second album, A World Awakens, through Sensory Records in March. A lyric video for the album track, “A World Awakens”, is available for streaming below.

Recorded and mixed by Dean Wells at Wells Productions and mastered by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Kamelot, Wolverine), A World Awakens maintains the raw energy, power, and integrity of Invisible The Dead, while showcasing the bands growth in maturity, honesty and depth of both their musicianship and songwriting. Showcasing top-tier performances by vocalist/guitarist Mark Kennedy, brother and drummer Dean Kennedy, and lead guitarist Jon King, with additional strings and bass by Dean Wells, while not leaning to just one genre or direction, A World Awakens is an album that will have your undivided attention on first listen, only to pull you in further and further more on repeat.

A World Awakens will be the first 2017 title for Sensory Records, the album set for release on March 24th.

A World Awakens tracklisting:

“The Witness”
“Dissecting The Soul”
“Colours Of Darkness”
“I Pray”
“Into Black”
“To Begin Again”
“The Idol Counterfeit”
“A World Awakens”
“Diagnose”

“A World Awakens” lyric video:

"Colours Of Darkness":

Damnations Day lineup:

Mark Kennedy - Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Jon King - Lead Guitar
Dean Kennedy - Drums

Nervochaos has returned! Nyctophilia is the seventh studio album by the Brazilian extreme metal kings and will be released on April 7th via Cogumelo Records in Brazil, and Greyhaze Records in North America and Europe. A lyric video for new song "Moloch Rise" is available for streaming below.

Nyctophilia is an eclectic mix of all that characterizes the band, 13 new tracks of 80s-fueled blackened extreme music, executed in Nervochaos' trademark raw, aggressive and organic style of Metal. Nyctophilia has a new intensity and is a step forward compared to their older releases.

For the first time, the band recorded the album outside Brazil, spending a month in Como/Italy at Alpha Omega Studio along with producer Alex Azzali, who also did mixing and mastering of the new album. It's also the first album composed and recorded with the new line-up which features Lauro 'Nightrealm' on vocal/guitar, Cherry on guitar, Thiago 'Anduscias' on bass and the only remaining original member Edu Lane on drums.

The album artwork was created by Alcides Burn, a talented Brazilian artist that worked with acts such as Blood Red Throne, Acheron, Iconoclasm, Headhunter DC and many more. Nyctophilia also features special guest vocals appearance by Sebastian L. of Into Darkness and Leandro P. of R.N.S. plus one track, "Vampiric Cannibal Goddess”, that features the riffs of Bolverk (Ragnarok).

Nyctophilia surely is the best album up-to-date from Nervochaos, which managed to evolve musically without losing its trademark sound.

Tracklisting:

“Moloch Rise”
“Ritualistic”
“Ad Majorem Satanae Gloriam”
“Season Of The Witchv
“Waters Of Chaos”
“The Midnight Hunter”
“Rites Of The 13 Cemeteries”
“Vampiric Cannibal Goddess”
“Stained With Blood”
“Lord Death”
“Dead End”
“World Aborted”
“Live Like Suicide”

“Moloch Rise” lyric video:

The new video below features Thomas Zwijsen and Ben Woods performing an acoustic version of Europe’s “The Final Countdown”. The clip was shot all over Europe during the Master Guitar Tour 2016. This fingerstyle/acoustic/flamenco/classical guitar arrangement was made by Thomas Zwijsen and Ben Woods especially for the tour.

In another video, Thomas Zwijsen performs a cover of the Judas Priest classic, “A Touch Of Evil”, alongside vocalist Laura Guldemond. Laura is the singer of Shadowrise, but you may also know her from Idols, or from performing with Dutch metal opera Ayreon.

Canadian death metallers, Kataklysm, performed at Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival in 2015. Footage of the band’s full performance can be seen below.

Setlist:

“To Reign Again”
“If I Was God”
“As I Slither”
“At The Edge Of The World”
“The Black Sheep”
“Push The Venom”
“Like Animals”
“Taking The World By Storm”
“Like Angels”
“Ambassador Of Pain”
“Serpent And Tongue”
“In Shadow And Dust”
“Crippled And Broken”

In celebration of their 25th anniversary in 2017, Kataklysm will perform their albums Shadows & Dust and Serenity In Fire on a string of European dates in October.

A Moment In Time tour dates:

October
5 - Hannover, Germany - Capitol
6 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
7 - Antwerpen, Belgium - Trix
8 - Hambrug, Germany - Grunspan
10 - London, England - 02 Academy Islington
12 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA
13 - Luzern, Switzerland - Schuur
14 - Bochum, Germany - Matrix
15 - Nurnberg, Germany - Hirsch
17 - Prag, Czech Republic - Roxy
18 - Vienna, Austria - Simmcity
19 - Lindau, Germany - Vaudeville
20 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks
21 - Munich, Germany - Backstage

Metal Blade Records has announced the worldwide signing of French musician and eclectic composer Igorrr - the main musical project by Gautier Serre. Known for combining genres such as black metal, death metal, baroque music, breakcore, and trip hop, Igorrr completed their third album this past December, after spending four years writing and recording the material. This upcoming record, entitled Savage Sinusoid, will be released in spring 2017 via Metal Blade Records.

Igorrr comments: "We are super excited to release this album with Metal Blade - such a high quality music place, with great artistic freedoms! This label is the home we want for our music...Throughout the years, Metal Blade has had really great taste in music, and a real capacity to promote extreme music - only a label like this could have been brave enough to release music like ours."

From an early age, Gautier Serre listened to Domenico Scarlatti, Cannibal Corpse, Chopin, Meshuggah, Jean-Sebastien Bach, Aphex Twin, Taraf de Haidouks, and Jean-Philippe Rameau, which inspired him to join several death metal, experimental and electronic bands in the early 2000s, before launching Igorrr. During that time, Gautier waited for an artist to bring together different musical genres and influences, to create one new sound - but he was disappointed with what he heard in the scene.

Gautier began to create his own music - naming his project Igorrr - and self-released two demos: Poisson Soluble (2006) and Moisissure (2008). Following the underground success of these demos, Igorrr signed with an electronic record label and released two full-length albums to critical acclaim: Nostril (2010) and Hallelujah (2012) - the latter of which includes guest appearances by Mayhem's Teloch (guitars), Secret Chiefs 3's Adam Stacey (accordion), as well as the original musicians Igorrr had been working with for years: Laurent Lunoir and Laure Le Prunenec as vocalists.

In a live setting, Gautier Serre, Laurent Lunoir and Laure Le Prunenec are joined by Sylvain Bouvier, who also recorded the drum parts of Savage Sinusoid in the studio with them. Together, this group of artists has already performed in France, all over Europe, the Middle East and North America.

For Igorrr's third album, Savage Sinusoid - and Metal Blade Records debut - fans can expect another experimental record featuring multiple guest musicians, with worldwide touring to follow. Stay tuned for more news coming soon.

(Photo: Svarta Photography)

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. A video for the album track, “Orgasmic Spiritual Ecstasy”, 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. Pre-order here.

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”

“Orgasmic Spiritual Ecstasy” video:

“Khimba Rites” lyric video:

“Transsubstantiation”:

Tour dates:

February
23 - Le Petit Bain - Paris, France
25 - Le 106 - Rouen, France

March
3 - Le Metronum - Toulouse, France

Svart Crown lineup:

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

The official video for the song "No Surrender" from ART OF ANARCHY, the band featuring CREED singer Scott Stapp alongside DISTURBED bassist John Moyer and ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, can be seen below. The track is taken from ART OF ANARCHY's sophomore album, "The Madness", which will be released on March 24.

Stapp states: "In 'No Surrender', I addressed those moments in life where you've reached a personal crossroads or crisis. That place where your back is against the wall and your left with two choices: cave in and crumble, allowing whatever circumstance to break you forever, or to rise up and fight through holding on to that never give up spirit that lies deep within. I detail in the verses personal experiences, as I lived them, that have taken me to that critical place of choice. Am I to give up, stay down and fade away, or get up, fight on and never surrender?"

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Echo Of A Scream02. 1,000 Degrees03. No Surrender04. The Madness05. Won't Let You Down06. Changed Man07. A Light In Me08. Somber09. Dancing With The Devil10. Afterburn

Thal said in a recent interview with TeamRock that Stapp is thriving as ART OF ANARCHY's new lead singer, adding that the band is providing a healthy environment for Stapp as he continues his fight to stay sober. Thal explained: "The band, ART OF ANARCHY, is drug free. Me and the Votta brothers [guitarist Jon and drummer Vince] have never even smoked a cigarette, none of us drink, have never done drugs, never smoked pot or anything like that."

Thal continued: "So that's good, because the last thing you need on the road if you're trying to stay clean is a bunch of people doing that around you. Scott is doing well... It's great that he has a strong family and a lot of people that care and support and that were there to help him get out of that situation. Now he's better than ever."

The CREED frontman joined the band last year, following a highly publicized, drug-enhanced meltdown in late 2014, after which he entered rehab program and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Stapp told The Pulse Of Radio he was touring as a solo artist again when he was approached about joining. "I really wasn't looking for a band, but I was definitely curious," he said. "I wanted to see what it was all about. I love writing with talented people and I think that's really what made the decision for me, was to sit in a room with Ron, Jon and Vince and throw out ideas, trade ideas and realize, 'Hey, there's something that could come of this.'"

ART OF ANARCHY made its live debut on October 27, 2016 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City.

ART OF ANARCHY released a self-titled debut album in 2015 that featured former STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland.

Weiland, whom STP parted ways with in 2002 and again in 2013, died in December 2015.

Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and stayed in the band for eight years, playing on the 2008 album "Chinese Democracy". He has also released a number of solo CDs.

Photo: Annie Atlasman

German power metal outfit Stormhammer's new album Welcome To The End is set to be released on March 24th via Massacre Records. Graced with artwork created by Jan Yrlund, mixed by Mario Lochert and mastered by Jan Vacik, Welcome To The End features the following 14 tracks:

"The Beginning Of The End"
"Northman"
"Welcome To The End"
"The Heritage"
"Secret"
"The Law"
"Watchmen"
"Road To Heaven"
"My Dark Side"
"Into The Night"
"Spirit Of The Night"
"Soul Temptation"
"The Awakening"
"Black Dragon"

"Northman" lyric video:

Visit the official Stormhammer Facebook page for further details.