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

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

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

"Senile with style!"

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

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

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

Tracklisting:

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

“Unidentified” lyric video:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

World Of Silence MMXVII tracklisting:

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

“Midnight City”:

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

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

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

Performers:

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

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

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

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

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

The songs featured on the EP are:

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

“Affliction”:

“Brass Dogs”:

Trailer:

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

Available formats:

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

Pre-orders: vinyl / digital

Code lineup:

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

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

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

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

Abreaction tracklisting:

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

“Transsubstantiation”:

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

Tour dates:

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

More tour dates:

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

March
3 - Le Metronum - Toulouse, France

More dates to be announced soon.

Svart Crown lineup:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ain-Soph Aur tracklisting:

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

Teaser:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

Before The Gates Of Gomorrah cover and tracklisting:

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

For further details, visit Apostate Viaticum on Facebook.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tracklisting:

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

Catch So This Is Suffering live in concert:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tour dates:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Torment" track listing:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Invidia live:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Confirmed dates:

May
4 - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium

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

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

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

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

Finnish metallers AMORAL will play their farewell show tonight (Thursday, January 5) at Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland. Guitarist Ben Varon stated about the band's choice to call it quits: "Honestly speaking, I had no idea that AMORAL will disband after [2016's] 'In Sequence' while writing, recording or mixing the album. The decision was made only after the album was done, when it became clear that proper touring would be almost impossible because of everyone's schedules etc. But I've gotta say that I find it very intriguing that an album that talks about synchronicity has all these elements that make it a perfect last album, without anyone planning it like that. I mean, starting with getting Niko [Kalliojärvi] back in the band, then asking Silver [Ots] to play on it as well. And having the final song on our last album be called 'From The Beginning', the longest, biggest song we've ever done, getting bigger and bigger towards the end, with the solos, choir, orchestra... with literally nowhere left to go from there. It all seems so 'coming full circle' to me, it's spooky. Looking back at it, it's almost like I subconsciously knew. And besides, seven is the perfect number of albums to be in a discography. A much more pleasing figure than six or eight."

Asked to elaborate on AMORAL's reasons for disbanding, Ben said: "Like I said, the thing that made me stop and start thinking if this whole thing even makes sense anymore or not was the fact that touring was becoming harder and harder to arrange. Ari [Koivunen, vocals] told us that he was going to be held up for most of the year with his theater works, and Juffi [Juhana Karlsson, drums] also made it clear that multiple, long tours were going to be a problem for him in the future. And I really didn't want us to become one of those bands that have tons of fill-ins in the lineup, different musicians for every tour. I believe a band should be a band, and that the audience wants to see the same lineup that they hear on the record. Meanwhile, I wanted to keep touring like before, if not more so. It made no sense to me to spend a year on writing, recording and putting all this energy on an album if we're not gonna tour heavily on it, bring the music to the people all around the world and promote the hell out of it. So that's how the idea started to sneek into my head, that maybe AMORAL has ran its course, and that it was time to start something new."

"In Sequence" was released in February 2016 through Imperial Cassette (Gordeon Music, GSA). The cover artwork for the follow-up to "Fallen Leaves & Dead Sparrows" was designed by Aki Siltala, who is also one of the most well-known tattoo artists in Finland.

Drummer Bobby Blotzer has once again said that his former bandmates cannot play any shows under the RATT name without him, but has insisted that his version of the band "still has the right to tour" as RATT until the court dispute is resolved.

Despite the fact that a California judge 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, the drummer says that there has been "no final judgment" in the case, clearing the way for him to continue playing concerts as RATT.

The judge's decision was part of a ruling 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 back in the fall 2015,

Calling Croucier "the biggest liar I've known" and "a fat bug on the windshield that looks like Danny DeVito with a headband on," Blotzer disagreed with the judge's assertion that the bassist was illegally expelled from the business partnership controlling RATT's trademarks and claimed that he is legally free to play dates with his own version of the group, with six shows booked for 2017 so far.

With another hearing scheduled for later in the month, Blotzer attributed his former bandmates' sudden willingness to tour and record new music to what he claims has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the shows he has performed with his version of RATT, which currently includes singer Josh Alan alongside guitarists Mitch Perry (TALAS, HEAVEN, STEELER, MSG, LITA FORD) and Stacey Blades (L.A. GUNS) and bassist Brad Lang (Y&T).

"For five years I tried to rally these guys together, and NOW they're good to go on tour?" he wrote in a lengthy, rambling Facebook post. "I simply wanted to tour. They didn't. They didn't speak to each other 'till they saw the huge success we had this past year. We did 70 or so shows, and grossed more money on this tour than any tour RATT has done in 20 years past. I tried to keep the originals and the rest together. This isn't my undoing."

The drummer also made it clear that he is still legally permitted to tour under the RATT name, writing: "Until the court gives a FINAL judgment, everything stays status quo, i.e. WBS maintains ownership of the trademark RATT and still has the right to tour until this is resolved. This is why you have seen RATT out there on tour with me and the guys kicking ass all over after the summary judgment ruling."

He added: "[DeMartini, Croucier and singer Stepehen Pearcy] don't have a legal right or a court injunction to prevent RATT/us from touring or playing shows. However, anyone can send a cease-and-desist letter to anyone. As they did to the venue of our sold-out show on December 29th, putting enough fear and intimidation out that the venue stated, 'You can play if you don't fly the marks.' (Logo backdrop — like playing as a nameless band) Mind you, this took place 20 minutes before I was boarding my last (of three) flights on my way to venue. My response: 'F*ck that! No way!'"

The other RATT's current lineup includes Pearcy, DeMartini and Croucier alongside former QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on RATT's last studio album, 2010's "Infestation".

That version of RATT will embark on the "Back For More" tour later this year, with the first confirmed date being the previously announced appearance at the M3 Rock Festival, set to take place on Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.




Hi Everyone! We made it through 2016. Hopefully all of you are great and fully intact. Happy 2017!! Now to share my...

Posted by RATT on Monday, January 9, 2017

RATT singer Stephen Pearcy says that the band has gotten "rid of the cancer" by taking control of the RATT name following a legal dispute with drummer Bobby Blotzer.

Currently based around the vocalist and fellow "classic-era" members Warren DeMartini and Juan Croucier with later-period RATT guitarist Carlos Cavazo (ex-QUIET RIOT), the group will make its first official return to the stage on February 11 at the Treasure Island Resort Casino in Welch, Minnesota.

A completely different version of RATT — led by Blotzer and featuring a revolving door of members — has been hitting stages across the country since the fall of 2015.

Back in November, a California judge decided that the corporation WBS, Inc. — of which Blotzer and 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 latest court ruling, Pearcy, DeMartini and Croucier said that Blotzer could now only refer to himself as a "former member of RATT," as per the partnership agreement.

Speaking to Neil Jones of the "Star Radio Rock Show", Pearcy stated about Blotzer's legal defeat (hear audio below): "It's nice to not have these problems. The terrible thing was this person couldn't go out on his own, and he had to go out and play the music the rest of the guys [wrote]… our music. And it's great if you wanna make a living, you know, but to make it off our music and then claim that this band never… the original members never existed, or change the course of history, is just lunacy."

He continued: "Our audience is very smart. Our fans have been with us for a long time, and they're not stupid. Even worse and disrespectful to our fans, it wasn't mentioned that we weren't even playing; most of the people thought that it was Warren and I and Juan playing in [Blotzer's] project, this cover band. But it's good to say the dust has settled, the legalities are tightening down, and we just have to rebuild the brand, unfortunately. But it's there. We're taking it very carefully, methodically, down to every move every make, what shows we do. We're already talking about doing [a new] record, starting late in the year, and putting on the best show possible."

Asked if RATT's decision to move forward without Blotzer is tinged in any way with sadness that someone that he played with for most of his adult life would act in such a way toward his onetime bandmates, Pearcy said: "You know, it wasn't surprising, but how it got worse and worse and transpired and the stuff they were saying, it was really getting bad to where, collectively, the remaining surviving members had to step up, 'cause it was affecting our catalog and our reputation and our integrity. So, to not dwell on it much, we got rid of the cancer. It was really getting to be nonsense. And to this day, they're still feeding nonsense, regardless of what the court says, and the judgment, so it's kind of a terrible thing. But we're 'back for more' — aptly titled tour — and we're gonna go out there and beat some ass."

He added: "We're gonna actually go worldwide this time around. It's been a couple of years doing the RATT thing. We wanna go to Europe, we wanna go to South America, Australia, Japan… there's talks. And right now, we're talking about possibly doing a tour with somebody. So [there's] a lot going on."

Blotzer has filed a request for reconsideration, and a hearing has been scheduled for January 23 in a downtown Los Angeles federal courtroom.

Blotzer's lineup of RATT currently includes singer Josh Alan alongside guitarists Mitch Perry (TALAS, HEAVEN, STEELER, MSG, LITA FORD) and Stacey Blades (L.A. GUNS) and bassist Brad Lang (Y&T).

Australia's The Rockpit recently conducted an interview with NIGHTWISH singer Floor Jansen. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Rockpit: So many are worried that this "year off" [that NIGHTWISH is taking in 2017] might be the end of [the band]. Can you put their minds at rest so we can get that one out of the way?

Floor: "Oh, what drama queens! Taking a goddamn year off! We've communicated all that there is to know about the year off. If people are still worried, please get a hobby. We're doing this because things are good. When you can leave things behind with a good feeling that everything's going to be fine when you come back after a year, that's a luxury — that's a good thing to have. Instead of worrying, people should say, 'Good for you. Take your time,' because in 2018 we have something great in mind for everyone, so please tell them not to worry."

The Rockpit: NIGHTWISH these days seem to just get bigger and bigger — one of the best-selling Finnish bands ever, bigger albums, bigger tours. What could be next for the band? You aren't going to give us any hints, are you?

Floor: "No! [Laughs] Sorry! All I can say it's going to be very cool and every NIGHTWISH fan will truly appreciate this."

The Rockpit: One question I have to ask you as I particularly loved them is, you've drawn the line under [your other band] REVAMP. Is that for good?

Floor: "Yes. Unfortunately, life unfolds as it does, and you can't do everything at the same time, and you can't do some things if you can't spend the time. So in a band like NIGHTWISH, with the intense touring that comes with it, and then to have another band that would deserve the same input, it's impossible. So it was already a band in between other things, and when we started to talk about taking this year off, I thought about REVAMP and thought it could go two ways — I could have a lot of time for REVAMP, but that would mean another album and another tour, which I've been doing non-stop for the last four or five years. So I thought it would be nice to do something else and then, of course, there was the drive to start a family life, to have a family and two bands is simply impossible. I had to make a tough decision."

The Rockpit: So in your time off with the family will you still be doing anything musically? Or just have a complete break and enjoy that experience?

Floor: "Well, the idea is to be home and really enjoy that special time with a newborn. But not to have music would be unnatural to me. In 2008, I wrote an album with Jørn Viggo Lofstad, the guitar player in PAGAN'S MIND, he and I wrote a rock album, but we were never able to release it, and we've picked up our ambition to do this. So without any tight planning, we might be able to fit that into the year off."

Read the entire interview at The Rockpit.

Jansen revealed in September that she was four months pregnant. The singer's partner is SABATON drummer Hannes Van Dahl.

Official video footage of METALLICA performing the song "Hardwired" live on Wednesday, January 11 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea can be seen below.

METALLICA's setlist for the show was as follows:

01. Hardwired02. Atlas, Rise!03. Sad But True04. Wherever I May Roam05. The Unforgiven06. Now That We're Dead (live debut)07. Moth Into Flame08. Harvester Of Sorrow09. Halo On Fire (live debut)10. The Four Horsemen11. One12. Master Of Puppets13. For Whom The Bell Tolls14. Fade To Black15. Seek & Destroy

Encore:

16. Battery17. Nothing Else Matters18. Enter Sandman

"Hardwired" is taken from METALLICA's latest album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", which came out in November.

As previously reported, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed in an interview with the Nerdist podcast that the band will cap its live schedule starting in 2017 at around 50 shows a year. Hetfield explained: "My body has told me to tell these guys that 50 shows a year is kind of what we can do, so make the best of those. And I think we all kind of agree in that. But 50 shows a year, that's pretty good. My body can handle that. Body, mind and spirit all need to kind of revitalize themselves at home, and days off for voices — things like that — so 50 shows a year, it goes pretty quick, I'm sure."

Hammett remarked that the band used to tour "for 10 out of 12 months in the past," playing five shows a week for 12, 15, 16 weeks in a row," to which Hetfield added, "And we came home, and we were divorced, girlfriends were gone, and we were addicted to a few substances, and we were fighting."

Hetfield recalled that METALLICA toured constantly in the first 10 or 15 years of its existence, saying, "We would go and play where no one else would play. We're the working man's band. We'd go to the C, D and E markets, you know, and people would be so appreciative."

Hammett candidly admitted in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone that METALLICA has to tour pretty continuously in order to pay for the band's huge overhead, which includes their own studio, salaries for their staff and crew, and their live show production.

METALLICA has shows booked in South Korea, China, Singapore, Denmark, Mexico and South America over the next three months, but has yet to unveil its full 2017 tour plans, including its first North American tour in eight years.

The band's sole North American date so far is May 21 at the Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio.

The most shows METALLICA has played in a single year since 2010 is 75, with 45 last year and 43 the year before that.

Century Media Records has set February 24, 2017 as the release date of "Inception", the official prequel to 1988's classic debut "Refuge Denied" from the legendary U.S. metal act SANCTUARY. "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).

The song "Die For My Sins", taken from "Inception", can be streamed below.

Rutledge comments: "'Die for My Sins' was always one of my favorite SANCTUARY songs to play live. On the 'Inception' version, we left off the intro and the song starts right into the main riff. I think this version has a real 'in your face' edge to it. I'm excited that after much effort we were able to restore these nearly destroyed master tapes. Now we can share the proper audio versions with all of our fans!"

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

New York death metallers IMMOLATION will release their new album, "Atonement", on February 24 via Nuclear Blast.

The third trailer for "Atonement", in which guitarist Robert Vigna discusses how he writes and prepares songs for the recording studio, can be seen below.

"Atonement" was recorded at Millbrook Sound Studios in Millbrook, New York with longtime producer Paul Orofino, and mixed and mastered once again by Zack Ohren (ALL SHALL PERISH, DECREPIT BIRTH, SUFFOCATION). Cover art was created by renowned artist Pär Olofsson (IMMORTAL, THE FACELESS, EXODUS, ABYSMAL DAWN), along with additional artwork by the very talented Zbigniew Bielak (GHOST, ENSLAVED, PARADISE LOST, WATAIN).

A 360-degree visualizer video for the first single from the effort, "Destructive Currents", can be seen below.

Comments IMMOLATION vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan: "We are excited that everyone will finally get a preview of what the new record has to offer.

"'Atonement' is a very dark and haunting album, both musically and lyrically, commenting on the darker side of humanity and the world today. Each song on this album is unique in its own way, offering the listener a wide range of dark and sinister passages that I think really hone in on all the elements that make this band what it is.

"The sound of this record is exactly what we were hoping for, and we feel the production really gives these songs that massive sound and dark sinister feel they needed. Zack and Paul really nailed it with this one and made our tenth album our best-sounding record to date. We are all very proud of what we have created here, and we hope everyone else will enjoy these eleven songs as much as we think they will.

"The song 'Atonement' is about that blind fury and destructivnes of religious extremism regardless of where it comes from and under what religious banner it flies. The cover piece was inspired by a passage of lyrics from this song, and Pär managed to create a visual for those four lines that just blew us away. So needless to say, we are very pleased with the overall look and feel of the album, which also includes four amazing pieces of artwork done by the extremely talented Zbigniew Bielak.

"We chose the song 'Destructive Currents' as the first song to leak to the fans because it's a fast and aggressive song that gets right down to business. It's just dark and powerful, and I think it gives everyone a sense of whats in store for them with this release. Lyrically, the song deals with the herd/mob mentality and how it gets fed, manipulated and exploited by outside forces. These are the currents of deception, misinformation and destruction, which are designed to mislead people. So that's really the idea behind the song lyrically."

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.

"Atonement" track listing:

01. The Distorting Light 02. When The Jackals Come 03. Fostering The Divide 04. Rise The Heretics 05. Thrown To The Fire 06. Destructive Currents 07. Lower08. Atonement09. Above All10. The Power Of Gods 11. Epiphany

Bonus track (CD only):

12. Immolation (re-recorded)

IMMOLATION is:

Ross Dolan - bass/vocalsRobert Vigna - guitarSteve Shalaty - DrumsAlex Bouks - guitar

IMMOLATION will support Max and Igor Cavalera on the second leg of the "Return To Roots" tour in February/March.

Fan-filmed video footage of EPICA's January 14 performance at MHP Arena in Ludwigsburg, Germany can be seen below.

EPICA is currently touring Europe with POWERWOLF and BEYOND THE BLACK.

EPICA's latest album, "The Holographic Principle", was released on September 30, 2015 via Nuclear Blast.

EPICA singer Simone Simons recently told Metal-Rules.com about the lyrical themes covered on "The Holographic Principle": "It isn't a concept CD as the story is not in a chronological order of events from beginning to the end. Some songs deviate from the idea.

"'The Holographic Principle' is, basically, that we are living in a hologram. With the new technology and virtual reality glasses we realize reality is generated so perfectly that you can no longer tell the difference, so can reality also be a hologram?"

Simone also talked about the production on "The Holographic Principle" and how important it is get the right sound when it comes to symphonic metal. She said: "I think the sonics would be equally important to any band, not just a symphonic metal band like us. Every band wants to songs to sound the best they possibly can on the CD. That is why you have to record parts a million times in order for them to come as perfect as possible.

"When it came time for recording my vocals, our producer said that he doesn't want to overdo it as we don't want to lose the emotion in my vocals. That is something you cannot fix in editing.

"Overall, production-wise, we went bigger, because we recorded with more instruments as we had a good budget to finance it. We were in the studio for about five months recording. The writing took about a year; we had 27 songs to choose from when we were done. Then we had to narrow it down to 18 songs, which we recorded and mixed. Twelve went to the CD and the remaining six are in the corner waiting patiently to be released."

Power metal band Cryonic Temple has signed a deal with Scarlet Records for the release of their new album Into The Glorious Battle. After nine years of silence the band is finally going to release their fifth album. Into The Glorious Battle is Cryonic Temple's first concept album, an exciting story taking place in the future, made of the most dynamic songs the band have ever composed, still deeply rooted in the power metal genre but also open to new influences and sounds, including mindblowing ballads. The album will be released on April 21st. 

Cryonic Temple was founded in 1996 in Dalarna, Sweden. Together with Orphan Gypsy and Sabaton they are considered the originators of the new power metal wave in the early 2000s. Through the years they performed at festivals suchs as Sweden Rock Festival, HeadBangers Open Air, Sabaton Open Air, Peace And Love, Gothenburg Metal Festival, Motala Metal Festival, 2000 Decibel and many more. Cryonic Temple have also opened for Uriah Heep, Saxon, Tad Morose, Civil War, Lion's Share and Paul Di’Anno. 

For information and updates on Cryonic Temple go to this location.

Acclaimed metal band, Arthemis, have signed a deal with Scarlet Records for the release of their new album, Blood-Fury-Domination.

Widely recognized as a ground-breaking live band, Arthemis’ career is marked by several amazing shows full of energy and true passion. The band performed at some of the biggest metal festivals in the world (Download Festival, Hellfest Open Air, Wacken Open Air, Bloodstock Open Air, Gods Of Metal, Hard Rock Hell, Hammerfest and many more) and toured relentlessly since day one, eventually becoming the ultimate road-warriors. But they have also delivered seven full-length killer studio albums (plus the astonishing Live From Hell - Live In The UK’, proving that when it's about time to forge a new studio release they always deliver power and glory and give all they got to give: blood, sweat, tears and fury.

Their brand new album, Blood-Fury-Domination, is absolutely over the top. Massive production, uplifting songs, sing-along choruses and a true wall-of-sound that mixes the deepest roots of metal with modern influences and hooks. Songs like “Undead”, “Black Sun”, “Into The Arena”, “Warcry” and “Blood Red Sky” prove them right and will resonate in your heads forever.

Blood-Fury Domination has been mixed by Simone Mularoni (DGM) and will see the light of the day on April 7th.  Stay tuned for updates.

Minneapolis, MN-based technical death metallists, Reaping Asmodeia, have released a music video for the track “Of Talons And Teeth”, from their new album, Impuritize, out via Prosthetic Records. The new clip can be found below.

Mixed and mastered by Zach Ohren (Fallujah, First Fragment), the Impuritize album combines sheer brutality with meticulous technicality to craft one of the finest extreme death metal albums of the year.

The album's artwork was created by Eddie Danger of Unlimited Visual (Born Of Osiris) and can be viewed below. A teaser clip featuring samples of some of the the album tracks is also available Stay tuned for pre-order details in the coming weeks.

Tracklisting:

“The Clemency Guise”
“Defenestration”
“Of Talons And Teeth”
“Hidebound”
“Carnal Declivity”
“Irreversible Evolution”
“Virulent Exposure”
“Collage Of Toxins”
“Ritual Of Ignorance”

“Of Talons And Teeth” video:

Teaser:

Reaping Asmodeia linup:

Steven Lane -Vocals
Alex Kelly - Guitar
Daniel Koppy - Drums
Roman Pinter - Bass

Florida-based metallic doom trio, Weltesser, are streaming “Living To Try”, a track from their upcoming album, Crestfallen, which will be released via Prosthetic Records on February 10th. The six track album will be streaming two weeks prior (January 27th) exclusively via the band's official Bandcamp page here. Listen to “Living To Try” below.

Self-produced and engineered by Dan Byers, Crestfallen clocks in at just over 30 minutes of sickening, metallic doom. Having shared the stage with bands such as Primitive Man, The Body, Jucifer, Celeste and many more, they quickly became the go-to unsigned band in Florida for nationally touring acts. Their sound is inspired by Dystopia, His Hero is Gone, and Laudanum, lending a humble maturity beyond three years.

The LP version will be available in “Dab Slab” clear yellow swirl limited to retail only, while a clear/black resin smoke colour will be made available from the band’s Bandcamp page and the Prosthetic web shop in the coming weeks.

Tracklisting:

“Regret”
“Guide”
“Living To Try”
“Terminal”
“Rats”
“Crestfallen”

“Living To Try”:

“Rats”:

Fueled by sour diesel and misery, Weltesser is comprised of Ian Hronek (Rotting Palms, Landbridge) Nate Peterson (Rotting Palms, Sky Burial) and Mike Amador (Landbridge), who formed the band in Saint Petersburg, FL over Sabbath worship and Monolord. Roughly a year after their inaugural demo release - a syrupy four track cassette.