Michigan blackened grinders Sunlight's Bane will release debut album The Blackest Volume: Like All The Earth Was Buried on February 17th via Innerstrength Records. Formerly called Traitor, Sunlight's Bane has crafted a sound so inherently dark and repulsive that even the sunlight will withdraw and run from it. The album is streaming in full below.

The Blackest Volume: Like All The Earth Was Buried was recorded by Andy Nelson at Bricktop Recordings (Harm's Way, Weekend Nachos, Exalt, Dead In the Dirt) and mastered by Brad Boatright of Audiosiege (Nails, Full Of Hell, Integrity, Twitching Tongues).

Tracklisting:

“Praise The Venom Shield”
“Begrudging Soul”
“From Heaven Wept”
“Curse Diminished Years”
“I Am The Cold Harsh Whispers In Hell”
“Dance Of Thorns”
“The Blessed Ivory Tongue”
“No Taste More Bitter”
“With Fear This Love Is Given”
“Came No Dawn”
“To Whom I Await”

Album stream:

“Praise The Venom Shield”:

With the release of their sophomore full-length album set for March, Norwegian black metallers Endezzma will release a limited edition 7" EP on February 24th. Aside from showcasing a track from the new album, the B Side of the EP features the exclusive track  "Black Tempest", which is the last song written by Urgehal frontman Trondr Nefas before his death. Drums on the track are performed by Beastcraft bassist and former Tsjuder drummer Desecrator.

Titled Morbus Divina, the EP was recorded at the  Gravlund Studio , with mastering duties performed by Tore Stjerna at the Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Repugnant, Tribulation). Artwork on the two-track EP is by Remember The Fallen Artworks.

Morbus Divina will be released on Pulverised Records in a limited edition of 500 copies world-wide, with 100 on transparent yellow vinyl and 100 on transparent red vinyl.  The remaining 300 copies will be on standard black vinyl.

Tracklisting:

“Morbus Divina”
“Black Tempest”

“Morbus Divina”:

Morbus Divina by Endezzma

Signum Regis are releasing their 5th album called Decennium Primum (= the first decade in Latin). With this album the band celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding. Release is set for March 17th.

Signum Regis has released a lyric video for the song “Damnatio Ad Bestias”. The lyrics cover the persecution of early Christians in Ancient Rome, where they were often punished to death and eaten by beasts in the Colosseum.

Tracklisting:

“Decennium Primum”
“Unfold The Mastery”
“Damnatio Ad Bestias”
“Screaming For Justice”
“Kingdom Of Light”
“The Future King”
“Well Deserved”
“Thunder And Rain”
“Train To Neverland”
“A Psalm Of Life”

“Damnatio Ad Bestias” lyric video:

Infernal Angels have just released their new album Ars Goetia and My Kingdom Music is presenting the full album in streaming with its violence and obscurity.

Ars Goetia was released on January 20th  through My Kingdom Music on CD and digital format. Order 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.

A very special box set release from Unruly Chile, entitled Reigning Frogs - The Box Set Collection, will be released on April 21st.

This exclusive, limited edition box set includes the rare and hard-to-find releases from the band's catalog. In all, five full length studio albums and one DVD are included in this beautifully packaged, must have release for Unruly Child fans.

Reigning Frogs - The Box Set Collection contents:

- Waiting For The Sun, which was originally released in 1998 and featured the lineup of singer Kelly Hansen (ex-Hurricane, now with Foreigner), Gowdy and Jay Schellen (with special guest Ricky Phillips of Styx on bass).

- The Basement Demos, which features all the demos that the band recorded in preparation for their first record for Interscope Records. The album also includes a bonus DVD with rare in-studio interviews and recording sessions from the same period.

- UCIII, an album which sees another Unruly Child incarnation featuring Gowdy with Guy Allison and Philip Bardowell taking on vocal duties. While slightly more proggy at times, UCIII still retains the overall vibe that fans loved about Unruly Child.

- Worlds Collide, which featured the full reunion of the original lineup of the band (Gowdy-Allison-Free-Antonino-Schellen). This release truly brought back the magic of the early demos and the first record.

- Down The Rabbit Hole is an independently released album - very much sought after by collectors - which was only sold in a limited number of copies via the band’s website in 2014. Another fine and classic melodic rock release featuring the original lineup.

The Box Set houses the CDs in vinyl replica and includes all lyrics, a total of three bonus tracks (unreleased outside Japan) and a 20-page booklet, including exclusive stories personally written by Gowdy, Free, and Allison as well as photos from their archives.

A superb release limited to on 1,000 copies worldwide.

Tracklisting:

CD1 - Waiting For The Sun
“Heart Run Free”
“Rise Up”
“Why Should I Care”
“Forever”
“Man Inside”
“Do You Ever Think Of Me”
“Still Believe”
“To The Cross”
“Fool Again”
“Live In The Night”
“Waiting For The Sun”
“World Of Difference” (Bonus Track)

CD 2 - The Basement Demos Cd
“On The Rise”
“Rock Me Down Nasty”
“To Be Your Everything”
“Lay Down Your Arms”
“Is It Over”
“Let’s Talk About Love”
“Long Hair Woman”
“Forever”
“Live In The Night”
“Unruly Child”
“Undefeated”
“Down The Road”
“Still Believe”
“The Man Inside”
“Live Without Love”
“True Love”

CD 3 - UCIII
“Tear Me Down”
“Falling”
“All Around Me”
“Bring Me Home”
“Sleeping Town”
“You See Three”
“Kings Of Tragedy”
“Vertigo”
“Shades Of Love”
“Unruly Child”
“Something”
“Ruby Tuesday” (Bonus Track)

CD 4 - Worlds Collide
“Show Me The Money”
“Insane”
“When We Were Young”
“Tell Another Lie”
“Love Is Blind”
“When Worlds Collide”
“Talk To Me”
“Life Death”
“Read My Mind”
“Neverland”
“Very First Time”
“You Don't Understand”
“Talk To Me” (Acoustic Remix) (Bonus Track)

CD 5 - Down The Rabbit Hole
“This Is Who I Am”
“She Can't See Me”
“Down The Rabbit Hole”
“For All We Know”
“Breaking Hearts”
“Kindred”
“Say I Love You”

DVD - The Basement Demos DVD
“On The Rise” (Live Video)
“When Love Is Gone” (Live Video)
“Wind Me Up” (Live Video)
Unruly Child Revisited (Interview)
“Long Hair Woman”
History Lesson (Interview) (Incl. Medley: “Long Hair Woman”, “To Be Your Everything”, “Is It Over”, “When Love Is Gone”, “On The Rise”)
“Forever” (Ricky Phillips Studio Session)
“Buffalo Mics” (Ricky Phillips Studio Session)
“One Note Away” (Ricky Phillips Studio Session)
“Stairway To Drums” (Jay Schellen Studio Session)
“Unruly Child” (Tracking - Studio Session)
“On The Rise 1” (Tracking - Studio Session)
“Tunnel Of Love” (Tracking - Studio Session)
“Sinking Vocals” (The Asylum - Studio Session)

The new studio album from Unruly Child, entitled Can't Go Home, will be released on February 24th. The new song “Someday Somehow” is available for streaming below.

Marcie Free (vocalist - King Kobra, Signal), Bruce Gowdy (guitarist - Stone Fury, World Trade), and Guy Allison (keyboardist - Lodgic, World Trade, Doobie Brothers) together with the original rhythm section from the first record, drummer - Jay Schellen (Hurricane, World Trade, current touring member of YES) and bassist - Larry Antonino (Pablo Cruise), are back again with an awesome rock album, which will please old and new fans alike.

"Early in 2016, we decided to make time and give it a go once again with all five Unruly Child members," says Guy Allison. "The new album, Can't Go Home, has now become my favourite set of Unruly Child Band songs and performances ever. True story!"

The group has generated an exciting new album reflecting its musical roots in contemporary and classic rock sensibilities. With the return to the original line-up from the debut album, they have discovered that while time may pass, some things never change...

"We are so excited with this new album coming out in February," adds Marcie Free. "And if you find that you still got the heebie-jeebies after that and are in need of another transfusion of Unruly - try a shot of our new box set coming out too!  It's got practically everything we've ever done in it and that should hold over even the most shakiest UC junkies for at least as long as it takes before we hit your area for some live shows!  So come on get on board baby!  The UC Train is about to blast off!!"

The band is, in fact. also working on a box set release of their independent albums, which will see the light of day in spring on Frontiers. "We put together all the earlier material that's out of print (the first album non-withstanding - you know, lawyers!) together in one package - one box set - to make available to our fans," concludes Guy. News about the box set release will be coming soon.

With so much excitement centered around their new record, it has sparked talk of touring...Will they hit the road? News will also be coming on that front very shortly.

Can't Go Home tracklisting:

“The Only One”
“Four Eleven”
“Driving Into The Future”
“Get On Top”
“See If She Floats”
“She Can't Go Home”
“Point Of View”
“Ice Cold Sunshine”
“When Love Is Here”
“Sunlit Sky”
“Someday Somehow”

“Someday Somehow”:

“Point Of View”:

“She Can't Go Home”:

“Can’t Go Home”:

Lineup:

Marcie Free - Vocals
Bruce Gowdy - Guitars
Guy Allison - Keyboards
Larry Antonino - Bass guitar
Jay Schellen - Drums

Lonely Robot, the project masterminded by producer, guitarist and singer/songwriter John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*, Arena), has announced that its second studio album The Big Dream will be released on April 28th..
 
Following 2015's debut Please Come Home, The Big Dream has a core theme running through it - one that sees The Astronaut, the central character in the Lonely Robot adventure, emerging from a long period in stasis.
 
Mitchell explains: "The Astronaut wakes up from a cryogenic sleep but finds he's no longer in space, and is instead in a woodland area surrounded by a group of strange people with animal heads! It's a little surreal, a little 'Midsummer Night's Dream' to some extent. This is something of a solipsistic haze, for want of a better description!"
 
Mitchell explains more about his Lonely Robot concept: "I have always envisaged the storyline of The Astronaut's journey evolving over the course of three albums. And I always knew where I wanted to go with the second album - taking The Astronaut away from space and into a strange and unfamiliar environment. Right now, I have no thoughts of what will happen for the third one but I'd better start thinking about it now!"
 
"The key inspiration for Lonely Robot comes from my love of science fiction films, and the atmospheric soundtracks that often accompany them - such as Alan Silvestri's compositions for 'Contact' and Clint Mansell's work for 'Moon'."
 
The album once again features drums by Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson), with all other instrumentation on the album delivered by Mitchell himself.

The Big Dream will be available as a special edition digipak CD (including three bonus tracks), gatefold 2LP + CD & digital download.

Tracklisting:

“Prologue (Deep Sleep)”
“Awakenings”
“Sigma”
“In Floral Green”
“Everglow”
“False Lights”
“Symbolic”
“The Divine Art Of Being”
“The Big Dream”
“Hello World Goodbye”
“Epilogue (Sea Beams)”
“In Floral Green” (acoustic version) (bonus track)
“The Divine Art Of Being” (acoustic version) (bonus track)
“Why Do We Stay?” (feat. Kim Seviour) (bonus track)

At the end of 2015, Lonely Robot played a triumphant show at The Scala in London, and Mitchell wants to play further dates in 2017, with a few already confirmed. "The only condition is that I want them all to be special; and now we have two albums of material from which to choose the set." The current line-up is made of John Mitchell, Craig Blundell, Steve Vantsis (Fish) & Liam Holmes (Inglorious).

Helsott, whose exotic sound mixes melodic death with pagan influences, has signed with M-Theory Audio, who will release the group's new five-song EP, The Healer, on April 28th. The full cover art by Felipe Machado Franco (Blind Guardian, Iced Earth) can be seen below.

Since forming seven years ago, Helsott – whose name means “fatal illness” in Old Norse – has paid homage to pagan cultures and mythologies while keeping true to their American influences. The group's unique mix of folk metal, death metal, symphonic metal, thrash, classical and rock first caught the attention of audiences on a large scale during the 2013 Paganfest North American tour, where they performed with Ensiferum, Tyr and Trollfest. The group built further momentum the following year with the release of their debut full-length, Woven, behind which they toured alongside Arkona and Heidevolk.

Helsott now returns with The Healer, a five-song EP recorded in part at Southern California's Trench Studios (Intronaut, Abysmal Dawn) and mixed and mastered by J-F Dagenais (Kataklysm, Ex Deo). The release spawned from the band's successful crowd-sourcing campaign to fund the recording of Woven, when they offered to write a song about a fan who pledged a certain amount. A patron named Doc – who was indeed a doctor – took them up on their offer, and the band liked the final result so much that they decided to write and record additional new songs to be issued in conjunction.

M-Theory Audio is the new label recently launched by Marco Barbieri, the former president of Century Media Records' North American office. Its roster also includes Bay Area thrash outfit Cultural Warfare, Las Vegas heavyweights Sicocis and Sacramento headbangers Blessed Curse, among others.

“We are beyond excited to be working with the M-Theory Audio team,” says Helsott vocalist Eric Dow. “Marco is one of the true good guys of the industry and we look forward to everything he and his respected team brings to the table. We plan on bringing an equal amount of work to this partnership and we feel like this union will only benefit everyone involved, especially our amazing fans!”

Helsott will perform live in California in the coming weeks alongside Immolation and Evergrey. Additional tour dates will be announced shortly.

Helsott live:

March
5 - Brick By Brick - San Diego, CA (with Immolation)

May
14 - Brick By Brick - San Diego, CA (with Evergrey)

Fans and festival goers who were hoping to see Lucifer's Child in Bergen at the cancelled Blastfest can at least get a taste of what they are missing with the new video for the track "Hors de Combat",  from the band's debut full-length album The Wiccan, which was released on Dark Essence Records in the autumn of 2015. 

 
Filmed live in the studio, and a perfect illustration of the kind of powerful performance with which Lucifer's Child have been thrilling fans on stage.

Formed by George Emmanuel (Rotting Christ, ex-Chaostar) and Stathis Ridis (Nightfall), Lucifer's Child's sound is based on classic Greek black metal.  The lineup of Emmanuel (guitars) and Stathis (bass), together with Marios Dupont on vocals and Nick Vell on drums, creates a sound that ranges from the heavier end of the musical spectrum to the mid-paced.

Dutch thrashers Distillator will release their second full-length album, Summoning The Malicious, on May 1st via Empire Records. The album was recorded at the band's own studio, mix and mastering were done by Dennis Köhne (Sodom, Melechesh, Exhumer).

The artwork for Distillator’s follow-up to 2015’s Revolutionary Cells was created by Andrei Bouzikov (Municipal Waste, Nervosa, Toxic Holocaust, Vektor).

Summoning The Malicious tracklisting:

“Blinded By Chauvinism”
“Mechanized Existence”
“Estates Of The Realm”
“Summoning The Malicious”
“Enter The Void”
“Algorithmic Citizenship”
“Stature Of Liberty”
“The King Of Kings”
“Megalomania”

“Estates Of The Realm” lyric video:

The album can be pre-ordered here.

Metal Blade has set March 10th as the release date for The Shadow Archetype, the new album from Swedish death metallers, Evocation. The album track, “The Coroner”, is available for streaming below.

Pre-order the new album at this location.

Formats:

- Digipak CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- grey-marbled vinyl (limited to 300 copies - EU exclusive)
- salmon clear vinyl (limited to 200 copies - EU exclusive)
- clear/black-marbled vinyl (limited to 100 copies - USA exclusive)
* exclusive bundles with a shirt, plus digital options are also available

Evocation guitarist Marko Palmen comments: "In my opinion, the new album is a step towards the roots of the band, although it also has a footing in the future. I think the sound of the new album in many ways reflect the dynamic of me and Simon, who wrote the music for the album. I'm more of an old-school death metal kind of guy and Simon comes from the younger generation of death metal freaks who enjoy technicality and brutality. Somehow, we just merged those two sides of death metal into the creation that will be known as The Shadow Archetype. But I also have to point out that the album is a creation made by all the members of Evocation and I think we all pushed ourselves to the very limit of what is achievable. I'm certain that we all can stand proud of the album in the future."

Featuring a cover and layout by Xaay (Behemoth, Nile, etc.), The Shadow Archetype was recorded at three different studios. Backing vocals, mixing and mastering were done at Dugout Productions. Daniel Bergstrand handled the recording of backing vocals and mixing. George Nerantzis handled the mastering. Drums were recorded at Crehate Studios together with studio engineer Oscar Nilsson.

The Shadow Archetype also features veteran drummer Per Moller Jensen (ex-The Haunted, ex-Invocator) on session drums. Per sets a new death metal standard on the new Evocation album with his complex, yet groovy drumming, which we know well from his time in The Haunted. Guitars, bass, and lead vocals were recorded by the band in their own studio, Acacia Avenue Recordings.

"We started recording the drums in late June 2015 and did the last recordings with vocals in June 2016. So, we spent roughly a year in the studio with The Shadow Archetype," explains Palmen. "In my opinion, the production is our strongest so far. It has all the elements I want in a production; raw brutality with a distinctive punch!"

Tracklisting:

“Into Ruins”
“Condemned To The Grave”
“Modus Operandi”
“Children Of Stone”
“The Coroner”
“The Shadow Archetype”
“Blind Obedience”
“Survival Of The Sickest”
“Sulphur And Blood”
“Imperium Fall”
“Dark Day Sunrise”

“The Coroner”:

“Children Of Stone”:

Evocation is:

Thomas Josefsson - Vocals
Marko Palmén - Guitars
Simon Exner - Guitars
Gustaf Jorde - Bass

King Woman have released the track “Shame” from their upcoming debut full-length album, Created In The Image Of Suffering. The track is available for streaming below.

Due out February 24th, Created In The Image Of Suffering was recorded with engineer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Wreck & Reference, Oathbreaker) at the Atomic Garden in Palo Alto, CA.  Each song evokes rich, gloomy imagery with crumbling washes of blurred, billowing distortion densely layered atop hazy, psychedelic atmospheres that call to mind a surrealistic Black Sabbath fronted by Mazzy Star. Complete with deeply personal, introspective lyrics that serve as a catharsis for years of religious and mental torment, King Woman truly suffer to create their art.

Pre-order the new album at this location.

The band's debut EP Doubt (released on leading SF avant-garde imprint The Flenser in 2014) paired weighty subject matter such as religious abuse with cathartic, brooding, and hypnotic songwriting with a transcendental feel. With Esfandiari's lush and dramatic vocals, King Woman go far beyond mere stoner metal. The band's compositions call to mind rich, detailed imagery and powerful atmospheres that elevate their music beyond classification. King Woman’s mystical sound resonated strongly enough to catch the attention of Relapse Records, who signed King Woman in 2016.

Tracklisting:

“Citios” (Digital Bonus Track)
“Utopia”
“Deny”
“Shame”
“Hierophant”
“Worn”
“Manna”
“Hem”

“Shame”:

“Hierophant”:

"Deny" video:

“Utopia”:

King Woman will tour throughout 2017. They’ll kick off the run with a string of west coast headline dates and have been tapped as support for part of the Oathbreaker US tour in March. Additionally, the band will tour Europe with True Widow and select dates with Chelsea Wolfe. Check out the full tour routing below.

February
17 - Oakland, CA - Starline Social Club  
18 - Olympia, WA - Obsidian
19 - Portland, OR - Bunk Bar
24 - Sacramento, CA - Starlite Lounge
26 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo

March
14 - Brooklyn, NY - St Vitus
15 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts *
16 - Washington, DC - DC9 *
17 - Asheville, NC - Mothlight *
18 - Nashville, TN - The End *
19 - Orlando, FL - Backbooth *
20 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
22 - Dallas, TX - Three Links *
23 - Houston, TX - Walter’s *
24 - Austin, TX - Sidewinder *

April
8 - Linz, AT - Kapu ^
9 - Vienna, AT - Arena ^
10 - Leipzig, DE - Felsenkeller ^
11 - Berlin, DE - Musik & Frieden ^
12 - Dresden, DE - Beatpol ^
14 - Antwerp, BE - Het Bos ^
15 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club ^
16 - Glasgow, UK - Saint Luke’s &
17 - Manchester, UK - Gorilla &
18 - London, UK - Heaven &
19 - Brighton, UK - The Haunt &
20 - Lille, FR - La Malterie ^
21 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Roadburn ^
23 - Karlsruhe, DE - Dude fest ^
24 - Lyon, FR - Le Periscope ^
25 - Nantes, FR - Le Ferraileur ^
26 - Paris, FR - L’Espace B ^
27 - Brussels, BE - VK ^
28 - Groningen, NL - Vera ^
 
* - with Oathbreaker & Jaye Jayle
^ - with True Widow
& - with True Widow and Chelsea Wolfe

(Photo - Rob Williamson)

Carcass will see a Full Dynamic Range (FDR) vinyl repress of their 1993 album, Heartwork, released on March 17th via Earache Records. Pre-order now at this location, and check out a video trailer below.

The fourth effort from the kings of gore remastered in Full Dynamic Range, allowing the music's nuances to shine through and giving the whole album a more ferocious and dynamic sound than ever before, and enabling the listener to immerse in the full audio heaviness like never before.

If you haven't got hold of a copy already then now's the time to check this classic out. This was the jump from primitive gore to a finely tuned killing machine that was made with ease... arguably the band's finest hour.

Tracklisting:

“Buried Dreams”
“Carnal Forge”
“No Love Lost”
“Heartwork”
“Embodiment”
“This Mortal Coil”
“Arbeit Macht Fleisch”
“Blind Bleeding The Blind”
“Doctirnal Expletives”
“Death Certificate”

Bergen International Festival will feature new work by Einar Selvik (Wardruna) and Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved).

This new collaborative musical piece called Hugsjá, combines indigenous and contemporary music with Norse and Norwegian poetry, accompanied by instruments from the Stone Age up to the present day.

A series of concerts under the name Nordvegen (‘the northern road’ – an ancient shipping route connecting Norway to the rest of the world for some 3000 years), will be performed in four venues along the west coast of Norway in late May and early June. The audience will be taken on a spectacular journey along this route in a musical declaration of love to Norwegian coastal culture and Norse history. Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik have designed the concerts inspired by local history for each of these places. The Nordvegen concerts create an acoustic and intimate basis for the grandiose commissioned work Hugsjá, which will receive its world premiere in Bergen concert hall Grieghallen on May 31st.

Dates, venues and tickets (on sale from February 15th) here.

The Norse word hugsjá means to remember – literally ‘to see in the mind’. Focused on ideas, traditions and instruments from the Norse past, the work recounts Norwegian history while drawing lines to the present.

For their previous collaboration Skuggsjå, which was created for the bicentenary of the Norwegian constitution in 2014, the prize-winning composers and musicians already performed on guitar, keyboards and Hardanger fiddle alongside historical instruments such as the Kravik lyre and Goat’s horn. The project was a great success both nationally and internationally, with the album Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik’s Skuggsjá (2016) reaching ninth place in the Billboard World Music charts.

Frontiers Music Srl has announced the release of the first in a series of live albums and videos captured at the annual Frontiers Rock Festival. The first artist in the series is the legendary Swedish melodic rockers Treat, who will release their first ever live CD and first live DVD/Blu-Ray in over 10 years, entitled The Road More Or Less Traveled - Live In Milano on April 21st.

On April 23rd, 2016, Treat played a hotly anticipated set at Frontiers Rock Festival III. Held close to Milano, Italy, this was the third annual edition of the festival and saw Treat playing hot on the heels of the release of their latest studio album, Ghost Of Graceland. The release date of this live album happens to be about one year after the initial performance took place and almost coincides with the 2017 edition of the Frontiers Rock Festival as well.

The band took the stage by storm, opening the show with the title track from their last studio album and showcasing a very special lineup, which features H.E.A.T. keyboardist Jona Tee taking the place of Patrik Appelgren for this exclusive performance. Treat offered a show with a great mixture of new and recent songs taken from their latest album, the highly regarded 2010 release Coup De Grace, and classic songs from the good ol’ days including “World Of Promises”, “Get You On The Run”, and “Ready For The Taking”.

Says guitarist Anders Wikström, “As we haven’t released a live home video in 10 years, let alone a live album ever, and then Serafino asked us, we were more than delighted, and frankly, long overdue, to show our fans what we been up to for the last couple of years. With so many albums to choose from and our audience constantly asking for different songs in the setlist, this was a great opportunity to close one chapter, only to start writing the next. "The Road more or Less Traveled” is a great reminder for anyone to see that Treat is very much a living and breathing live entity!”

Treat’s performance was truly a unique and special one and this live video documents a great moment in the band’s history as well as serving as a celebration of one of Sweden’s finest hard rock bands ever!

"This year will take us right back we belong, on stage! We have some really cool surprises and will of course play the best of the new, but also older songs we haven’t performed in ages! See you all on tour through 2017,” concludes Anders.

The Road More or Less Traveled will be released on CD/DVD, Blu-Ray standalone, and digital editions.

Tracklisting:

“Ghost Of Graceland”
“Better The Devil You Know”
“Non Stop Madness”
“Ready For The Taking”
“Papertiger”
“Do Your Own Stunts”
“Endangered”
“Gimme One More Night”
“We Own The Night”
“Roar”
“Get You On The Run”
“Conspiracy”
“Skies Of Mongolia”
“World Of Promises”

Treat tour dates:

March
25 - Torp - Avesta, Sweden
31 - High Voltage - Copenhagen, Denmark

April
1 - Oefenbunker - Landgraaf, Netherlands
2 - Roxy - Flensburg, Germany
4 - Garage DeLuxe - Munich, Germany
5 - Kreuz - Obermachtal, Germany
6 - Der Cult - Nurnberg, Germany

May
17 - Shibuya Club Quattro - Tokyo, Japan
18 - Umeda Quattro - Osaka, Japan
27 - Kalos Festival - Madrid, Spain

August
25 - Hair Metal Heaven Festival - Hull UK

Band lineup:

Robert Ernlund: Lead vocals
Anders Wikström: Lead Guitars and vocals
Pontus Egberg: Electric Bass and vocals
Jamie Borger: Drums
Patrick Appelgren: Keyboards and vocals

New York death metal giants, Immolation, will release their new album, Atonement, on February 24th via Nuclear Blast Records. Today, the band has released the sixth video trailer, in which Robert Vigna discusses the recording and mixing of the album. Watch all six trailers below.

Atonement was recorded at Millbrook Sound Studios in Millbrook, NY with longtime producer Paul Orofino, and mixed and mastered once again by Zack Ohren (All Shall Perish, Suffocation). Cover art was created by renowned artist Pär Olofsson (Immortal, Exodus), along with additional artwork by the very talented Zbigniew Bielak (Enslaved, Watain).

Pre-order a physical copy of Atonement by itself or in various bundles from the Nuclear Blast webshop. "Destructive Currents" is now available as an instant download, when you pre-order Atonement from iTunes and Amazon (widget below).

Atonement tracklisting:

“The Distorting Light”
“When The Jackals Come”
“Fostering The Divide”
“Rise The Heretics”
“Thrown To The Fire”
“Destructive Currents”
“Lower”
“Atonement”
“Above All”
“The Power Of Gods”
“Epiphany”

Bonus Track (CD only):
“Immolation” (re-recorded)

Trailer #1

Trailer #2:

Trailer #3:

Trailer #4:

Trailer #5:

Trailer #6:

“Destructive Currents”:

Immolation are pleased to join Max & Iggor Cavalera on the second leg of their Return To Roots Tour.

"We are really excited to be a part of this tour!  It is no secret that Sepultura was one of our earliest influences, and Max and Iggor were the force behind it all!  From Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions to Schizophrenia, Sepultura was one of the classic metal acts that is responsible for inspiring us to do what we do!

"To be able to join these guys around the US is definitely something special for us and we feel this whole package is going to have a lot to offer for the entire extreme metal scene! We look forward to seeing the metal masses out there in February!"

February
15 - Austin, TX - Grizzly Hall
16 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution Music Room
17 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
18 - Columbus, OH - Alrosa Villa
19 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
20 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
21 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
22 - Rochester, NY - Montage Music Hall
23 - Chicago, IL - Portage Theater
25 - Denver, CO - The Summit Music Hall
27 - Billings, MT - Pub Station

March
1 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
2 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
3 - San Francisco, CA - Slims
4 - Santa Ana, CA - Observatory

Immolation is:

Ross Dolan - bass/vocals
Robert Vigna - guitar
Steve Shalaty - Drums
Alex Bouks - guitar

 

 

(Photo - Rodrigo Fredes)

The new studio album from Unruly Child, entitled Can't Go Home, will be released on February 24th. The new song “Someday Somehow” is available for streaming below.

Marcie Free (vocalist - King Kobra, Signal), Bruce Gowdy (guitarist - Stone Fury, World Trade), and Guy Allison (keyboardist - Lodgic, World Trade, Doobie Brothers) together with the original rhythm section from the first record, drummer - Jay Schellen (Hurricane, World Trade, current touring member of YES) and bassist - Larry Antonino (Pablo Cruise), are back again with an awesome rock album, which will please old and new fans alike.

"Early in 2016, we decided to make time and give it a go once again with all five Unruly Child members," says Guy Allison. "The new album, Can't Go Home, has now become my favourite set of Unruly Child Band songs and performances ever. True story!"

The group has generated an exciting new album reflecting its musical roots in contemporary and classic rock sensibilities. With the return to the original line-up from the debut album, they have discovered that while time may pass, some things never change...

"We are so excited with this new album coming out in February," adds Marcie Free. "And if you find that you still got the heebie-jeebies after that and are in need of another transfusion of Unruly - try a shot of our new box set coming out too!  It's got practically everything we've ever done in it and that should hold over even the most shakiest UC junkies for at least as long as it takes before we hit your area for some live shows!  So come on get on board baby!  The UC Train is about to blast off!!"

The band is, in fact. also working on a box set release of their independent albums, which will see the light of day in spring on Frontiers. "We put together all the earlier material that's out of print (the first album non-withstanding - you know, lawyers!) together in one package - one box set - to make available to our fans," concludes Guy. News about the box set release will be coming soon.

With so much excitement centered around their new record, it has sparked talk of touring...Will they hit the road? News will also be coming on that front very shortly.

Can't Go Home tracklisting:

“The Only One”
“Four Eleven”
“Driving Into The Future”
“Get On Top”
“See If She Floats”
“She Can't Go Home”
“Point Of View”
“Ice Cold Sunshine”
“When Love Is Here”
“Sunlit Sky”
“Someday Somehow”

“Someday Somehow”:

“Point Of View”:

“She Can't Go Home”:

“Can’t Go Home”:

Lineup:

Marcie Free - Vocals
Bruce Gowdy - Guitars
Guy Allison - Keyboards
Larry Antonino - Bass guitar
Jay Schellen - Drums

Athens, Greece-based hard rockers, DangerAngel, have released another video from their third album, All The King’s Horses, out now via MelodicRockRecords. Check out “Call My Name“ below:

Tracklisting:

“To Kill A Saint“
“Dia De Los Muertos“
“Dead In The Water“
“Who You Are“
“Call My Name“
“Best Of Me“
“All The King's Horses“
“Speak To Me“
“Will You Follow“
“How About Right Now“
“Devil's Waltz“
“The Hollow Men“

“Call My Name“ video:

“To Kill A Saint” video:

"Devil's Waltz" video:

“Who You Are” video:

“Dia De Los Muertos” lyric video:

“Will You Follow” video:

Doedsvangr, who’s lineup includes Shatraug (Horna, Sargeist, Behexen, Nightbringer), Anti-Christian (Tsjuder, Beaten To Death) and founder and frontman Doedsadmiral (Nordjevel, Svartelder, Enepsigos), have released a video for “Black Dawn”, a track from their debut full-length album, Satan Ov Suns. The clip can be found below.

Satan Ov Suns will hit the streets on March 27th via Immortal Frost Productions, and will be available in CD, double vinyl and digital formats. The album was recorded at Velvet Recording in Spydeberg with Christer Krohg, whilst drums were recorded at the Klang Studios in Oslo with Bjarne Stensli. Artwork is by Khaos Diktator Design.

Tracklisting:

“Our Lord Cometh!”
“Rituals”
“Doedsvangr”
“Black Dawn”
“Northern Watchtowers”
“Diaboli”
“Gnashing Of Teeth”
“Breath Of Lucifer”
“Throne Of Black Illumination”
“Blood Whores”
“Black Sun Nimbus”

“Black Dawn” video:

Despite the evil feel that pervades the whole album, Doedsvangr's vastly experienced Norwegian and Finnish members have not fallen into the trap of producing a formulaic black metal album, but have been able to create eleven tracks that offer extreme variations, and, it has to be said, "a lot of groove".

Commenting on the formation of Doedsvangr the band's prolific frontman "Doedsadmiral" recently had this to say: "All my other bands each have a different sound and musical ethos one from the other, and Doedsvangr is one that comes from a much darker direction. Doedsvangr, like the other projects in which I'm involved, does not come from me alone, but is the result of two great musicians coming onboard so that together we can create music the way we all want it to sound, and perform it in a way that we all want to hear it. Will Doedsvangr perform live one day? That remains to be seen, let's just see where the album takes us first".

Satan Ov Suns is now available to pre-order in CD and vinyl formats here, and in digital format here.

Australia’s My Dynamite are streaming the new song, “Motortalkin’”, featured on the band’s new album, Otherside, released via Listenable Records on January 27th. Listen to the song below.

This band of brothers from Melbourne has been serving up the finest brand of good-time boogie and funky blues grooves for many a year. Since releasing their debut self-titled album in 2012, touring Europe in the spring of 2013, and snatching one of two lucrative Lynyrd Skynyrd supports in February 2014, many have asked the question – what next? And when?

The time has now come. The boys have knuckled down to produce something to leave a footprint. Now meet the nine shiny new offerings on Otherside, spanning country picking and sweet soul through to guitar-driven rock’n’roll belters. Step up, tune in, drop out, and party on to the sonic constellation of My Dynamite.

Tracklisting:

“Round The Bend”
“Witch Hat”
“So Familiar”
“State We're In”
“Can't Tell Lies”
“Love Revolution”
“Motortalkin'”
“Otherside”
“Don't Steal The Light”

“Motortalkin’”:

Swedish black metal musician Tony Särkkä, who went by the stage name It, has died at the age of 45. No cause of death has yet been revealed.

His passing was confirmed by his sister and manager Desire on the multi-instrumentalist's Facebook page.

She wrote: "It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the sad news that my dear brother and soulmate, to you known as IT, left his long journey on Mother Earth.

"He will forever be with us in heart and mind, as the great thinker, philosopher and genius he was. IT was truly a unique character and those of us who got the privilege to meet and know him in person can consider ourselves lucky.

"I will try to keep his legacy on this page, but please feel free to help me out. He will never be forgotten. I love you forever."

Särkkä played in many black metal bands, including ABRUPTUM, OPHTHALAMIA, VONDUR, INCISION, BREJN DEDD, WAR and 8TH SIN. He also contributed guest vocals to DISSECTION's second album, "Storm Of The Light's Bane", and to MARDUK's third album, "Opus Nocturne".

8TH SIN's Michael Bohlin paid tribute to his friend, saying Särkkä "finally got his sought-after peace."

Bohlin wrote: "Tony was a unique character and held a deep philosophic view on life nowhere near anyone else I've met. He was like a brother to me for almost 30 years.

"We wrote songs together, played together, he slept on my couch in his teens, we were camping together, we were fishing together, played chess together, painted our house together, partying together — I even tried to teach him how to drive a car. That never worked out well though."

He also recalled the last time he saw Tony, which took place in the form of "brief" meeting in January 2017. "He hugged me really hard when I was leaving," Bohlin wrote. "It was not the usual hug; he wouldn't let go and I saw something in his eyes that I hadn't seen before, like a communication without words. I don't know what this was all about, but it was different from every other hug I got from him the past 29 years.

"We experienced so much together and had a big influence on each others lives. He will always live in my heart forever. I know that he now finally got his sought-after peace.

"Sleep tight brother, darkness it shall be."




Greetings. It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the sad news that my dear brother and soulmate, to you known...

Posted by It on Tuesday, February 14, 2017



non est ad astra mollis e terris via

Posted by It on Monday, March 2, 2015

Swedish rockers BACKYARD BABIES will release a new concert DVD, "Live At Cirkus", on February 24 via Gain Music Entertainment, which is distributed and partly owned by Sony Music. The was filmed at the band's February 10, 2016 headlining concert at Cirkus in Stockholm. The DVD contains singles like "Th1rt3en Or Nothing", "Brand New Hate" and "Minus Celsius". "To be able to shoot our concert from 2015 at one of my absolute favorite venues in Stockholm was amazing," said BACKYARD BABIES frontman Nicke Borg. "In this DVD, you'll catch some of the magic that went down that night. Enjoy."

BACKYARD BABIES officially reunited in 2014, five years after they announced that they were going on an "indefinite hiatus." A new album, "Four By Four", arrived in 2015.

Speaking about the meaning behind the "Four By Four" title, Borg told Rock 'N' Load: "'Four By Four'. It's, like, BACKYARD BABIES is like a four-wheel truck, you know?! It goes through mud and fucking terrain. And if one wheel, one bandmember, stops working, the three others carry the vehicle."

Regarding the band's decision to take a long hiatus, BACKYARD BABIES guitarist Dregen told All About The Rock: "Well, we started this band back in 1989 and we were working super hard to get a record deal, so when we got that, we toured heavily until 1998 on the back of our 1994 debut album, 'Diesel And Power'. So it was at that point that we started to make a living out of music. So since 1998, really, we've been constantly out on tour and recording albums. By 2010, we were fried. Absolutely worn out in a way."

He continued: "It wasn't anything within the band. It was just for that it got to a stage where I would have a friend come up to me and say, 'Hey, you guys where great tonight,' and I'd be, like, 'Oh, okay, thank you,' and then the next night someone else would come up and say, 'Hi, you guys were not that great tonight.' It was at that point where I couldn't even tell if a gig was good or bad anymore; I'd turned into some sort of robot rocking machine."

Heavy music magazine has uploaded front-row video footage of GUNS N' ROSES performing the song "Paradise City" on February 14 at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. Check it out below.

As previously reported, GUNS N' ROSES was booed at its concert in Melbourne after the band's announcer mistakenly called out the wrong city at the start of the show. The group was already nearly an hour late in getting to the stage when GUNS guitar tech and longtime announcer McBob shouting "Sydney!" That led already restless fans to begin booing and calling out "You're in Melbourne" before the concert finally got underway.

The band later tweeted an apology for the mistake, explaining that McBob "accidentally … made an error" for the first time in 30 years.

Guitarist Slash also weighed in on his own Twitter feed, calling it a "Spinal Tap intro" but nevertheless calling the show "an awesome fucking evening."

The concert continued to trend on Twitter, with a seemingly large portion of the 70,000 fans in attendance expressing their anger over the mistake.

GUNS N' ROSES next plays in Adelaide on Saturday (February 18) and Perth next Tuesday (February 21) before leaving Australia and heading to Singapore, Thailand and Dubai.

Finland's Kaaos TV conducted an interview with vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid of Swedish metallers SOILWORK before the band's February 11 concert in Tampere, Finland with KREATOR and SEPULTURA. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about SOILWORK's plans for the follow-up to the 2015 album "The Ride Majestic", Strid said: "I don't think we have any solid ideas yet. There's a few ideas where we wanna take things, but we don't really have any songs so far. I think we'll slowly get into writing mode maybe sometime during the summer. Maybe we'll enter the studio in the wintertime — in the beginning of next year, maybe."

SOILWORK last year released a special collection of rarities titled "Death Resonance" via Nuclear Blast.

The band's tenth studio album, "The Ride Majestic", was issued in August 2015 via Nuclear Blast.

Drummer Dirk Verbeuren left SOILWORK last year to join MEGADETH at the recommendation of LAMB OF GOD's Chris Adler who played on MEGADETH's "Dystopia" album.

Verbeuren was replaced in SOILWORK by Bastian Thusgaard of THE ARCANE ORDER.

New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL kicked off their North American tour on Tuesday, February 14 at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

OVERKILL is touring in support of its latest album, "The Grinding Wheel", which was released on February 10 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was produced by OVERKILL and mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, ACCEPT). The artwork was created again by Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH).

OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth recently told the Croatian metal portal NoiseEyes.com about the musical direction of "The Grinding Wheel": "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.'"

A couple of days before MEGADETH was honored with its first-ever Grammy, guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine sat down with The Recording Academy, which oversees the Grammy Awards, to discuss the band's twelfth Grammy nomination.

Speaking about being nominated in the "Best Metal Performance" category, Mustaine said (see video below): "We're proud to be a metal band. I don't mind being called a rock band, but we're a metal band. And to get nominated again, it's a really great feeling."

Mustaine also talked about the creation of the MEGADETH song "Dystopia", which ended up winning this year's Grammy. He said: "MEGADETH has always pushed the limits of guitar playing, and the vocals have always taken a backseat to the guitar playing.

"With a song like 'Dystopia', which is the song that's nominated, putting those two things together, having MEGADETH be such a strong guitar-oriented band, having the lyrics mean something on top of the guitar riffage in that song, it just worked; it kind of dovetailed together."

Mustaine expressed hope that MEGADETH would finally win its first-ever Grammy, explaining: "It's great to be recognized — it certainly is. To have your peers and your contemporaries to say, 'Hey, this is something that's worthy of standing out amongst a massive amount of releases that came out last year.'

"Because MEGADETH's been around for so long and there's so many really, really super-talented young, new bands, we've gotten to that pinnacle where we're kind of hitting a ceiling. We wanna win it."

As MEGADETH approached the stage to accept the "Best Metal Performance" Grammy at this year's event, the house band inexplicably played the song "Master Of Puppets" from Mustaine's former band METALLICA. But Mustaine didn't seem to mind the mishap, playing air guitar along to the track as he took to the stage to deliver his speech.

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

ANTHRAX's concert Wednesday night (February 15) at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, United Kingdom is being filmed for a forthcoming DVD.

The band is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its classic album "Among The Living" by performing the LP in its entirety on a European tour.

Despite the fact that "Among The Living" was ANTHRAX's third album (following 1984's "Fistful Of Metal" and 1985's "Spreading The Disease"), guitarist Scott Ian told Metal Hammer that the band wasn't being forced by the record company at the time to make any big commercial breakthrough. "We were under no pressure at all," he said. "We had no time limit for writing or recording. The way we worked back then, when there were enough songs for an album, then we'd go in and do it. We never wrote more than was necessary. In a way, I now regret that situation. We were on such a roll that perhaps someone should have persuaded us to carry on writing. Who knows what else may have come out? When you're in that zone, there's a lot to be said for staying in. I'm not criticizing what's on 'Among The Living', but we may have benefited from being a little less hasty in finishing up the writing side."

Regarding the recording process for "Among The Living", Scott said: "We had just come off the METALLICA tour in the fall of '86 when [METALLICA bassist] Cliff Burton was killed, and we had come off that tour obviously early because of the tragedy. And that's when we started recording that record, pretty much right after that. I feel like the energy just really jumps off that record; you fucking hear how pissed off we are playing our instruments on that record. There's a brutality on that album that you don't hear on the two records before 'Among The Living'. It was just the record of its time; it really was."

When ANTHRAX's "Among The Living" full-album performance at the 2014 edition of the Sonisphere festival was first announced, Ian said: "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away (1986, New York City) we wrote a record that at the time, we had no idea would become our 'signature' record. We had a song about the plight of the American Indian, we had songs about Stephen King characters (Randall Flagg from 'The Stand' and Todd Bowden from 'Apt Pupil'), we had a song dedicated to Cliff Burton and another about John Belushi's clichéd death. We had a song about Judge fucking Dredd and we had a song called 'Caught In A Mosh'. We had songs.'

He continued: "When 'Among The Living' punched the world in the face in 1987, it launched ANTHRAX into a high-speed trajectory that we could barely keep up with. Like going from 0-200 kph in 5 seconds flat. Our heads were spinning as fast as they were banging, and [nearly 30] years later, nothing has changed."




Glasgow - DVD being filmed tonight for the SOLD OUT BARROWLANDS show!!!!!! You know what to do.. Get Caught In The biggest Mosh of your lives! #Anthrax #

Posted by Anthrax on Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Singer Joshua Alan has quit Bobby Blotzer's version of RATT, explaining that he will be working and focusing on his original music this year.

Blotzer has spent the last year and a half battling the other three members of RATT's classic lineup over the rights to the band's name. At the same time, he has been hitting the road with his version of RATT, which, in addition to Alan, has most recently included guitarists Mitch Perry (TALAS, HEAVEN, STEELER, MSG, LITA FORD) and Stacey Blades (L.A. GUNS) and bassist Brad Lang (Y&T).

Earlier today (Wednesday, February 15), Alan released the following statement via his Facebook page: "As some of you may already know, I have resigned from my position with Bobby Blotzer/RATT as of January 23rd.

"I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all of your love and support along the way! I would not have made it through this without you!

"I will be working and focusing on my original music this year.

"If you would like to catch me live, I will be doing solo acoustic shows throughout the year as well (what I enjoy most).

"With that being said, I have had an absolute wonderful time on this tour. I have met a lot of very good people and gained experience that I would not have otherwise. For that, I am forever grateful.

"I will leave you with this: What I believe is the most important lesson here for myself is that music is a universal language. It is a tool... a very powerful tool. It is intended to bring peace, love and unity. I believe that to use such a beautiful and powerful thing for any other means is a complete disservice to the people! Music is power... unity is absolute power. Let's enjoy music, and let it bring us together as it is intended to do!

"Much love, people! Look forward to seeing you soon!"

Blotzer has consistently praised Alan for his live performances with the drummer's version of RATT, saying that "he sings like the records sound, which never live used to happen with RATT. And I'm not here to sling mud, but I'm just telling you straight up."

Besides Bobby, Alan was the last remaining "original" member of Blotzer's version of RATT which made its live debut in late 2015.

Back in November, a California judge ruled against Blotzer with respect to whether bassist Juan Croucier had committed trademark infringement by using the RATT name and logo to advertise his band RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER in the fall of 2015. The judge furthermore decided that the corporation WBS, Inc. — of which Blotzer and guitarist Warren DeMartini were thought to be the sole shareholders — did not have ownership interest in the RATT marks and that the name and brand was still owned by the members who were part of the original RATT partnership agreement.

In addition to claiming to have expelled Blotzer from the partnership following the November court ruling, DeMartini, Croucier and singer Stephen Pearcy said that Blotzer could now only refer to himself as a "former member of RATT," as per the partnership agreement.

Blotzer's attorney later filed a request for reconsideration, and a hearing was held on January 23 in a downtown Los Angeles federal courtroom at which point the judge took the matter under submission. Less than two weeks later — on February 3 — U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson issued an order denying Blotzer's request.

The RATT version featuring Pearcy, DeMartini, Croucier and later-period RATT guitarist Carlos Cavazo (ex-QUIET RIOT) made its first official return to the stage this past Saturday, February 11 at the Treasure Island Resort Casino in Welch, Minnesota.

Pitch Black Records has announced its 50th album release with the signing of legendary Greek epic/doom metal act Reflection.

Reflection, the driving force of Hellenic epic/doom metal, will be celebrating their 25th anniversary next year and they are now back, with their fourth album, Bleed Babylon Bleed. It’s been eight years since the band’s last offering, making this an eagerly awaited release; and with a new vocalist in their ranks this becomes an even more anticipated release.

As this is quite a special release, label founder, Phivos Papadopoulos, felt the need to briefly comment: 

“Our 50th release just had to be special. And this is as special as it could get, for a number of reasons! I remember discovering Reflection in the early ‘90s and receiving their demo tape after writing to them and how I was blown away by their music. Even more importantly though, since the day we first made contact, a truly unique bond has been formed between myself and the band’s founder and guitarist, Stathis Pavlantis.

“A bond that has certainly stood the test of time and has grown more and more throughout the years; we are not just friends, we are family now and the emotions associated with releasing this on my own record label, twenty-something years after we first “met”, cannot easily be put into words. I agreed to sign Reflection without even listening to their new album (which I haven’t regretted one tiny bit of course)! Here’s another fine example of that something that makes metal so magical and special I guess!”

With nine tracks of pure solid epic doom heavy metal, Bleed Babylon Bleed has all the elements that have defined Reflection’s superb musicianship throughout the years. The band has matured since a long time ago, yet their sound is even more refined now and full-bodied, still incorporating their signature fast to mid and low tempo song ranges. Bleed Babylon Bleed is just oozing with atmosphere, epic melodies and powerful emotions as it deals mainly with the Pontic Genocide (as well as genocides in general). The final track marks the album’s culmination as it features a Pontian lyra (masterfully played by Pavlantis) that takes a lead role, beautifully mixed with the rest of the instruments, for an utterly bone-chilling effect.

Special mention should be made to the guest appearance of Mats Leven of Candlemass. Besides his majestic input on this album, this is also of particular importance since Candlemass have always been a primary influence for Reflection. Other notable guest appearances include Albert Bell (Forsaken) and Kostas Tokas (Reload).

Bleed Babylon Bleed, is out on April 7th worldwide on CD and Digital. Preorders are available at Pitch Black Records.

Tracklisting:

“Marching To Glory”
“Glorious Victory”
“The Iron Tower”
“Fallen Shadow”
“Takla Makan”
“Time Traveller”
“Stormbringer”
“Ruler Of My Own Land”
“Bleed Babylon Bleed”

“Glorious Victory”:

Belgian black metal band Saille have premiered the lyric video for their new track "Benei ha'Elohim". The song is taken from their forthcoming album Gnosis which will be released on March 17th via Code666.

The band commented, "The Benei ha'Elohim (translated: ‘Sons Of God’) were a group of beings that descended from the Heavens to mate with the Daughters of Men and thereby defying the will of God. They gifted mankind with great knowledge, including that of crafts and magic, but their deeds resulted in the birth of the Nephilim, destructive giants that wreaked havoc upon the earth."

Tracklisting:

“Benei ha’Elohim”
“Pandaemonium Gathers”
“Blôt”
“Genesis 11:1-9”
“Before The Crawling Chaos”
“Prometheus”
“Thou, My Maker”
“Magnum Opus”
“1904 Era Vulgaris”

"Benei ha'Elohim" lyric video:

“Genesis 11:1-9”: