GuitarMania recently conducted an interview with guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg of Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH in Vienna, Austria. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked what piece of advice they would give to young bands that are just starting out, Olavi said: "Well, first of all, these days, it's gonna be fucking impossible to try to make a living out of it. Especially when you're a new band, that should not be their goal or whatever, because it's really difficult these days. I mean, it's easier for us that we've been around and we already have a name. For a young band, without a record label putting a lot of money and tour support into the band, it's gonna be very difficult. But, of course, you're gonna play as hard as you wanna play, but you should never think that's gonna be your career. But, yeah, do your thing and don't listen too much to other people. Trust yourself and listen to your own… go by your gut feeling."

Added Johan: "When I started to play, it was my biggest passion; I only wanted to play music all the time. That's the way it has to be. If you wanna play in a band, [it should be] because it's the best thing you know to do. And the, eventually, if that leads to a career, that's awesome. But you have to have [enough] passion [so] that playing is the main goal."

After touring the world this past year in support of their latest album, "Jomsviking", AMON AMARTH will head back out on the road this spring for a U.S. tour with Metal Blade labelmates GOATWHORE. Starting April 30 and running through May 21, the journey will also see AMON AMARTH making appearances at some of the country's premier music festivals, including Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Dark Lord Day, Northern Invasion and Rock On The Range.

AMON AMARTH's tenth studio album, "Jomsviking", debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 21,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 31, 2016.

"Jomsviking" was released on March 25, 2016 via Metal Blade in North America and Sony Music internationally. The first concept record in AMON AMARTH's storied career tells a tragic tale of love and revenge, backed by the Swedes' trademark melodic, anthemic metal, which was produced and mixed once again by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, ACCEPT). The epic original story is set in the world of the Jomsvikings, the legendary order of mercenary Vikings.

Jocke Wallgren was named AMON AMARTH's new permanent drummer in September. Jocke had been sitting behind the kit for all shows on the group's current "Jomsviking" world tour.

Life Of Agony singer Mina Caputo (formerly Keith Caputo) publicly announced she is transgender back in 2011. In a new interview with Greg Prato for Long Island Pulse, she reveals what made her decide to make that very personal announcement.

Says Mina: “Depression, anxiety, half-hearted suicide attempts… Overabundance of the worst drugs possible, self-destruction, self-hatred, shame, not loving thyself, wanting to be dead. You name it, I went through it. It was either that or I was probably going to OD or put a bullet in my head. I felt or saw no other option to carry on in life. It was a matter of life and death. What a lot of people don’t understand about folks like me is going through what we go through on a 24/7 basis, from society, from politicians, from all these bullshit institutions that are set into place for humanity to roll against people like me.”

Read the full interview at Long Island Pulse.

Life Of Agony, will release their new album, A Place Where There's No More Pain, on April 28th via Napalm Records. A music video for album track, “World Gone Mad”, can be seen below.

"The message behind “World Gone Mad” could not be more relevant to what's going on all over this planet right now. People are more divided than ever, and if we continue to ignore the fact that this world is busting at its seams and just continue to "stick our heads underground," like the lyrics suggest, we will see a madness in our lifetime like we've never experienced before,” explains bassist Alan Robert. “With the “World Gone Mad” video, we were really looking to break out of the typical performance video approach to capture a high concept visual. There is clearly a strong homage to horror movies such as Hellraiser and The Ring, and UK director Leigh Brooks of Firebelly Films went above and beyond to bring our ideas to life. It's definitely the darkest and scariest looking video we've done to date."

A Place Where There's No More Pain can be pre-ordered in various bundles here.

Tracklisting:

“Meet My Maker”
“Right This Wrong”
“A Place Where There’s No More Pain”
“Dead Speak Kindly”
“A New Low”
“World Gone Mad”
“Bag Of Bones”
“Walking Catastrophe”
“Song For The Abused”
“Little Spots Of You”

“A Place Where There’s No More Pain” video:

A History Of Agony video series:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Life Of Agony live dates are listed below.

April
27 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
28 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
29 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance

May
12 - Stroudsburg, PA - Sherman Theatre
13 - Wantagh, NY - Mulcahy's
19 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
20 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
29 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
30 - Zurich, Switzerland - Dynamo
31 - Lyon, France - CCO

June
2 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
3 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27
4 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Penelope

August
9-12 - Josefov, Czech Republic - Brutal Assault Festival
12 - Leeuwarden, Netherlands - Into The Grave Festival
17 - Dinkelsbuehl, Germany - Summer Breeze Festival

(Photo - Tim Tronckoe)


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On whether she feels better than ever after coming out as transgender in 2011:

Mina: "Absolutely. I'm living my life the way I always intended it to be, but didn't have the strength or the courage to let the lady out. Now that I have and I'm transitioning almost ten years now, I became an old lady real fast. [Laughs] It's a cruel world. I'm not going to let the cruel world stop me from being me. I don't give a fuck who likes it, who doesn't, I'm not here to please people. If you don't understand, then fuck off. I don't care if you don't like people like me or whatever, you don't understand it because you can't look deeply within your own self. Those are usually the people that dislike people that follow their dreams. I'm just going after my dreams. One dream after the other, I'm living it. That's the purpose of my life. I live my dreams and one of my dreams was to honor the feminine. I'm just a woman born without a uterus. I don't have the tools. I don't have the physical 'down there' to give birth, that's all. I'm no different than any other girl on the street. In my personal view, if you really knew who I was intimately, I think people would say the same."

On how long ago she started feeling like a girl:

Mina: "Since I was six, seven years-old, maybe. I always knew. I was just afraid. I grew up in the '70s and the '80s, so back then, it was very, very different than it is now. That's part of the point. I'm not like everybody. The more you walk into your fear, the easier life becomes because then you realize fear doesn't even exist. It's a charade, it's a game. The institutions play with us, all the institutions set into place for humanity creates fear and that's why they got everybody running around like sheep and slaves because everyone is afraid. I'm not afraid anymore. I don't give a fuck. I don't care what you think, what you say, just don't touch me because then I'll get Brooklyn on you and I might have to, I don't know, stab you in the fucking neck because if someone tries to harm my life, I'm going to do whatever I have to do to protect my life, or protect one of my friends. I'm still an angry, violent person. I'm fucking very angry. From society. 'You can be yourself, but not like that!' That's society. Very hypocritical, very fear-based and very counterproductive. The institutions set into place for humanity, the school system, the healthcare system, the food systems, the political systems, they should all be ashamed of themselves. They all should be ashamed of themselves. They're all big fuck-ups. It's fucking humanity, man. Humanity's taking some weird fucking turn. But I don't know if that's the way it's supposed to be. Are we supposed to destroy ourselves? I don't know. No one knows nothing. I don't care who you are. You're the fucking pope or [British physicist] Stephen Hawking, no one knows shit. No one knows the origin of life. No one knows why we're here, but you need to create why you're here. We're here to have fun, to feel good, we're here to give each other unconditional love and encouragement, we're here to protect one another. But the way the institutions are, unfortunately, they don't teach that."

Lunatic Soul, the solo project of Riverside leader Mariusz Duda, will release their fifth album, Fractured, in September via Kscope. A teaser video can be found below.

Mariusz Duda, the architect behind Lunatic Soul, comments: “Lunatic Soul has changed and if I were to describe this music, I’d call it dark melancholic trance with more electronics and more powerful sounds. But there will also be some lyrical fragments, and a couple of tracks will feature a symphonic orchestra I have worked with for the first time in my career. The new Lunatic Soul album will be brave, rich and musically very intense, a beginning of a new style rather than a continuation of the previous releases. I am under the impression that all my music experiences have led me to this place and that it will be one of the best albums I have ever made.

“Although I’m still a conscious prisoner of my own aesthetic, this time you can really hear some differences. My soul and body demanded that I settle accounts with the recent past, piece together what had been scattered, glue up the broken bits, stitch up the tears. Tell a story of how it felt when everything shattered into smithereens.”

Fractured will be released worldwide on Kscope and on Mystic Production in Poland. More details soon.

(Photo - Radek Zawadzki)

 

By way of Quebec comes a unique blend of Eastern European-inspired black metal and Bulgarian folk music, presented in the form of Цар Стангра (Tsar Stangra). Driven by complex songs, exotic rhythms, and multiple orchestrations, the music is as diverse and refined as the culture in which it represents.

With the impending release of their debut album Небесният ковач (Celestial Forger), set to drop on May 26th, the band has taken great care to deliver a mosaic of melodic music that blends mysticism with uncommon elements found in today's pagan/folk black metal scene. Inspired by the expertise of such legends as Negură Bunget, Drudkh, Rotting Christ, and Nokturnal Mortum, each and every song is then localized utilizing typical Bulgarian rhythms and harmonies.

In an effort to traverse the realms of extremity, Небесният ковач (Celestial Forger) ends with an epic 14-minute song where only terrestrial confines are the limit. In this composition, a canon of real pipe organ and lead guitar blends with blast beats and an Emperor-type of riffing. As the journey continues, the song evolves into epic death metal riffing, ending with a classic Bulgarian melody arranged as a military march. Each and every song is an exposition of ancient poetries from Bulgarian literature.

Tracklisting:

“Небесният ковач” (Celestial Forger)
“Обесването на Васил Левски” (The Hanging Of Vasil Levski)
“Сънят на героя” (The Dream Of The Hero)
“На прощаване” (At Farewell)
“Да, близък е краят” (Yes, The End Is Near)
“Опълченците на Шипка” (The Volunteers Of Shipka)

“Сънят на героя” (The Dream Of The Hero) lyric video:

Album teaser:

Credits:

Antoine Baril - Balalaika, additional keyboards/orchestrations, additional bass, additional guitars
Karina Charbonnier - Female vocal
Maxime Mlynarczyk (Morgue) - Male vocal
Louis-Olivier Brassard Gélinas (Endless Horizon, Dépérir, Hak-Ed-Damm) - Male vocal
Quentin Barry-Marcheterre - Male vocal

Band members:

Stanislav Stefanovski - Vocal, bass, balalaika (The Lightbringer, ex-Phosphorus)
Dobrin Stoyanov - Lead guitar
Raphaël Raymond - Rhythm guitar
Mike Raymond - Drums
Marc-André Houle - Keyboards, back vocals, pipe organ

The revamped version of the classic late 1980s/early 1990s death metal band MASSACRE has changed its name from MASSACRE X to GODS OF DEATH.

GODS OF DEATH includes death metal pioneers Kam Lee (vocals) and Rick Rozz DeLillo (guitar). In 1983, they formed the band MANTAS which would later add Chuck Schuldiner and become DEATH. In 1985, Kam and Rick spearheaded yet another legendary death metal band called MASSACRE.

Back in December, Lee and Rozz — after trading verbal barbs and taunts for many years — announced that they were rejoining forces in a revamped version of MASSACRE, dubbed MASSACRE X (the "X" was said to represent the band's tenth lineup). The main objective of the group — which also features Rozz's THE END bandmates Michael Grim (bass/vocals) and Mike Mazzonetto (drums) — was said to be "to rekindle the sound, style, aggression, and passion that originally elevated MASSACRE to cult status in the death metal scene two and a half decades ago."

Within a couple of days of Lee and Rozz's announcement, former MASSACRE drummer Bill Andrews — who moved to Japan in the early 1990s — released a statement saying that he did not approve of this latest attempt to reform MASSACRE and threatening legal action if Rozz and Lee moved forward with their plans.

The new name, GODS OF DEATH, was chosen to represent the band as well as the Rozz and Lee as two of the "founding fathers of the death metal genre," according to a press release.

MASSACRE's last incarnation included guitarist Rozz and Mazzonetto alongside bassist Terry Butler and vocalist Ed Webb. That lineup lasted for four years and released a critically acclaimed album, 2014's "Back From Beyond", via Century Media Records.

Last month, Butler — who is now playing bass for OBITUARY — told Metal Wani that Rozz and Mazzonetto "destroyed" MASSACRE with their "behind-the-scenes backtalking and backstabbing." He went on to make it clear that Rozz and Lee's new band "cannot be called MASSACRE." He said: "They can do all they want and write all the songs in the world they want, but it's not gonna be called MASSACRE."

GODS OF DEATH's plan is to play songs from MASSACRE's "From Beyond" album, along with a few new tracks and old classics from DEATH and MANTAS.

"Human Harvest", the brand new video from Chicago deathcore titans OCEANO, can be seen below. The clip was directed by Orie McGinness of Enlighten Creative Studio (BAD OMENS, OUT CAME THE WOLVES, ESCAPE THE FATE).

"Human Harvest" is taken from OCEANO's upcoming full-length album, "Revelation", which will be released on May 19 via Sumerian Records.

"Revelation" track listing:

01. Dark Prophecy02. Lucid Reality03. Path To Extiction04. The Great Tribulation05. Illusions Unravel06. Majestic 1207. Final Form08. The Event09. Human Harvest10. Revelation

Part of the first wave of American deathcore, OCEANO burst forth onto the scene with the release of 2009's "Depths", a pure and pummeling deathcore debut from the quintet. OCEANO established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the heavy metal scene by way of constant touring and the release of three more bone shattering full-length albums via their former label Earache Records. OCEANO fans can expect a devastating display of heaviness blended with vast atmospherics for the group’s upcoming, currently untitled record that sees the band continuing to take strides forward with their writing and involved lyrical message.

OCEANO is headlining "The Revelation" tour that kicked off on April 5 in Valparaiso, Indiana and will wrap up on May 20 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Joining OCEANO on "The Revelation" tour are SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL, AVERSIONS CROWN, SPITE and NO ZODIAC.

In conjunction with Cirith Ungol's first ever live show on European soil at the Keep It True festival in Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany, Metal Blade Records will release the Ultimate Edition of Cirith Ungol's King Of The Dead album on the weekend of the fest, April 28th.

For a preview of this release, fans can now stream a live version of the title track below. This version was recorded live during the band's comeback show at the Frost & Fire festival last October in Ventura, CA.

To hear the classic track, "Atom Smasher", visit metalblade.com/cirithungol where the King Of The Dead  Ultimate Edition can be pre-ordered in the following formats:

- CD/DVD Digipak
- 180g black vinyl
- clear ice blue vinyl (limited to 300 copies - EU exclusive)
- turquoise green/black-marbled vinyl (limited to 200 copies - EU exclusive)
- blood-red vinyl (limited to 200 copies - USA exclusive)

* digital options are also available

The King Of The Dead - Ultimate Edition digipak CD features a full re-mastering by Patrick W. Engel at Temple Of Disharmony, five bonus tracks, expanded packaging and a bonus-DVD. The King Of The Dead - Ultimate Edition LP will be released as part of the Metal Blade Originals series; featuring 400g spine sleeves, a 12-page booklet and an A1 sized poster, the vinyl was also mastered and fully restored by Patrick W. Engel in January 2017. This version reflects the original sound of the 1st vinyl pressing, released on Enigma in 1984.

King Of The Dead Ultimate Edition tracklisting:

“Atom Smasher”
“Black Machine”
“Master Of The Pit”
“King Of The Dead”
“Death Of The Sun”
“Finger Of Scorn”
“Toccata In D Minor”
“Cirith Ungol”
“Last Laugh” (Live)*
“Death Of The Sun” (alt mix)**
“Master Of The Pit” (Live)***
“King Of The Dead” (Live)***
“Cirith Ungol” (Live)***

* Live 1984 (bonus Track on original CD)
** alternative version (taken from Metal Massacre I)
*** Live at Frost & Fire Fest II at the Majestic Ventura Theater in Ventura on October 8th, 2016

Bonus-DVD track-listing (Live at The Roxy, West Hollywood, CA on January 19th, 1983):

“Atom Smasher”
“I'm Alive”
“Black Machine”
“Master Of The Pit”
“King Of The Dead”
“Death Of The Sun”
“Finger Of Scorn”
“Cirith Ungol”

Cirith Ungol lineup on King Of The Dead:

Tim Baker - vocals
Jerry Fogle - guitars
Michael 'Flint' Vujejia - bass
Robert Garven - drums

Cirith Ungol will perform live in Europe for the first time ever at the Keep It True festival in Lauda-Konigshofen on April 28th - 29th. See below for all dates.

April
28-29 - Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany - Keep It True Festival

May
26-27 - Athens, Greece - Up The Hammers

July
21-22 - Crispendorf, Germany - Chaos Descends

November
17-18 - Wurzburg, Germany - Hammer Of Doom

Germany's Grasser Productions have checked in with the following video:

"During the 20 Years Down & Dirty tour in Munich, we accompanied Jaska Raatikainen of Children Of Bodom on the drums. Jaska is a very talented musician and drummer and by our drum cam you can peek into his playstyle, his setup and the songs. Here you can see the song "Everytime I Die" from 2000s album Follow The Reaper."

 

Children Of Bodom are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Something Wild. Commemorative shirts for the occasion are now available at this location.

The band's tour schedule is as follows:

September
14 - Bingo Club - Kiev, Ukraine
15 - Re:public - Minsk, Belarus
16 - Yotaspace - Moscow, Russia
17 - Cosmonaut - St. Petersburg, Russia

While Swedish death metal supergroup THE LURKING FEAR continues working on its debut album, expected to be released in the late summer via Century Media Records, the group is now launching a first video teaser, containing first music samples for its upcoming seven-inch EP (cover artwork below).

The band checked in with the following comment: "Finally unleashed upon an unsuspecting mankind. THE LURKING FEAR rears its ugly head. The first three songs of death metal filth are soon to be released on the self-titled EP, out on Moondawn Records. The EP was recorded and mixed at Welfare Sounds studios in Gothenburg early 2017, produced by Per Stålberg. The EP features the songs 'Tongued In Foul Flames', 'The Infernal Dread' and 'Winged Death'. Cover artwork by Branca Studios and special handlettering by Fenriz (DARKTHRONE). Pre-order starts May 8th at www.moondawn.se."

Featuring members/ex-members of illustrious and influential acts like AT THE GATES, THE HAUNTED, SKITSYSTEM, DISFEAR and GOD MACABRE, THE LURKING FEAR is not just another retro all-star project, but a real band of five death metallers who organically got together in order to celebrate the metal breed closest to their roots as well as their hearts. THE LURKING FEAR is:

* Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES) - Vocals* Jonas Stålhammar (THE CROWN) - Guitar* Fredrik Wallenberg (SKITSYSTEM) - Guitar* Andreas Axelsson (DISFEAR, TORMENTED, EDGE OF SANITY) – Bass* Adrian Erlandsson (AT THE GATES, THE HAUNTED) – Drums

Citing common inspiration by bands like AUTOPSY, POSSESSED, early DEATH, REPULSION, early MORBID ANGEL, SLAUGHTER, BATHORY, early SLAYER and MASTER/DEATH STRIKE, THE LURKING FEAR previously stated about the band's formation: "We are a death metal band. Not your average new wave of old-school death metal band. We play death metal from the heart with pure emotional impact and a focused artistic vision. This is the music we live and breathe. Always have, always will. "We have all played in various other bands for over 25 years and we just want to spew out the music that we want to hear. When we get together,this is what comes out of naturally, because we share the exact same reference points. We love 'Seven Churches' and 'Mental Funeral' for the exact same reasons. "We want our death metal ugly, twisted and possessed. We miss the urgency, intensity and 'realness' in a lot of the modern death metal. Therefore, it is natural for us to stray away from the streamlined sounds of today, but rather focus on bringing sheer, natural weirdness and horror back to the table…"

German alcohol-soaked thrash metal act, Tankard, will celebrate their 35th anniversary with the release of their 17th studio album, One Foot In The Grave, to be issued on June 2nd via Nuclear Blast. In the new trailer below, the band discuss the album lyrics and songwriting:

A recent message from Tankard about the cover artwork: “With this, our iconic mascot, the Tankard-Alien, celebrates his return after about 13 years of absence. The alien was born in 1989 with the Alien EP and has already graced five album covers. Our fan club, Maniac Aliens, is named after it also. The artwork was brought to life by Patrick Strogulski, who is a student of Sebastian Krüger, the former Tankard cover artist. He also created the cover artworks for A Girl Called Cerveza and R.I.B..”

Tracklisting:

“Pay To Pray”
“Arena Of The True Lies”
“Don’t Bullshit Us!”
“One Foot In The Grave”
“Syrian Nightmare”
“Northern Crown (Lament Of The Undead King)”
“Lock ‘Em Up!”
“The Evil That Men Display”
“Secret Order 1516”
“Sole Grinder”

“Arena Of The True Lies” lyric video:

Listening session impressions:

Behind-the-scenes with song snippets:

Upcoming Tankard tour dates are listed on the flyer below:

Texas heavy rockers DROWNING POOL played their first concert with singer Joey Duenas at the Rivers And Spires Festival on April 21 in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee. Duenas, formerly of the bands UNLOCO and ANEW REVOLUTION, was apparently filling in for DROWNING POOL's singer of the past five years, Jasen Moreno, who was unable to make the show.

DROWNING POOL has not yet offered an explanation for Moreno's absence from the Rivers And Spires gig or indicated when he might return to the band.

Moreno, who previously fronted fellow Texas band THE SUICIDE HOOK, is DROWNING POOL's fourth singer. Jasen replaced vocalist Ryan McCombs, who exited the group at the end of 2011 after a six-year stint in the lineup.

DROWNING POOL's original singer, Dave Williams, died on tour in 2002 after singing on the band's debut, "Sinner". He was replaced by Jason "Gong" Jones, who also contributed to one record, "Desensitized", before being shown the door in 2004.

DROWNING POOL guitarist C.J. Pierce told Metalholic.com in early 2016 that Moreno was "our man, and he's gonna continue to be our man. The singer switch is over."

DROWNING POOL's latest album, "Hellelujuah", came out in February 2016 via eOne Music. The follow-up to 2013's "Resilience" was recorded with renowned producer Jason Suecof (AUGUST BURNS RED, DEICIDE, DEATH ANGEL).




Drowning Pool at the Rivers and Spires Festival

Posted by Clarksville Events on Friday, April 21, 2017

Dan Lorenzo, the founding member of both Hades and Non-Fiction, has teamed up with Nathan Opposition (Ancient VVisdom) to form a musical project called Vessel Of Light.

Their debut album will be released this September. Stay tuned for more details.

 

I wonder what it would sound like to collaborate with #NathanOpposition #music #musicians #songwriters #itsHappening #ancientvvisdom #hades #jesus #satan

A post shared by Dan Lorenzo (@danlorenzock) on Apr 22, 2017 at 4:27pm PDT

 

Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based heavy metal band, Seventh Calling, have announced Chad Pliska as their new drummer.

Guitarist/vocalist Steve Handel has checked in with the following comment: “Seventh Calling is happy to welcome drummer Chad Pliska to the group's lineup as we move forward with live performances and writing new material for the band's next album, which will follow Battle Call, released in 2016.

“Chad has been an active part of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota music scene for some time playing in groups such as Driven, Friction, We're No Angels, all of which are known to the area of Sioux Falls.

"Mike (Walters) and I are really excited about the energy and fresh attitude he brings to the music and to the band. We have known Chad for a long time but have never really had an opportunity to work with him in a project, so it was perfect timing when we were looking for a new drummer. He has the right experience that we are looking for and also we all get along. That part alone makes working in a group together much more enjoyable".

Seventh Calling lineup:

Steve Handel - Lead Guitar / Vocals
Mike Walters - Bass Guitars / Vocals
Chad Pliska – Drums / Vocals

"The Animal Inside", the first song from WE START WARS, the new all-female group led by Nita Strauss, the Los Angeles-based guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, can be streamed below.

Strauss said of the band's name: "A phrase I heard years ago has always stuck with me: 'Some of the greatest wars in history were fought over a beautiful woman.'

"I've always been fascinated by the idea of the female warrior, someone who fights her own battles and doesn't take shit from anyone, and equally fascinated with the concept that a woman's love or defending her honor would be worth so much that people would actually put their own lives and the lives of others at risk over it. The most famous story everyone thinks of first is, of course, 'The face that launched a thousand ships,' Helen of Troy. But there was also Cleopatra and Marc Antony, Attila the Hun's invasion of Rome, Richard the Lionheart rescuing his sister Joan of England during the crusades, General Wu Sangui's betrayal, which led to the downfall of the Ming Dynasty in the 1600s, and the Celts uprising against the Roman Empire in AD 60. The list goes on and on.

"So that's the story behind the name — WE START WARS represents not only the battles that women face in daily life, but also the battles that have followed them throughout history.”

Strauss previously stated about her decision to launch WE START WARS: "I've been wanting to be in this exact band since I started playing guitar, and after over a year of putting this together and auditioning musicians, finally ended up with an amazingly talented, hard-working and driven group of girls. I truly couldn't be more proud of how these songs are coming out."

WE START WARS will make its live debut on May 25 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

The band's lineup is as follows:

Nita Strauss (ALICE COOPER) - GuitarAlicia Vigil (VIGIL OF WAR) - BassSeana (a.k.a. Shauna Lisse) - VocalsNicole Papastavrou - GuitarKatt Scarlett (FEMME FATALE) - KeyboardsLindsay Martin - Drums

Strauss told Ultimate Classic Rock about her new project: "I started writing music, and it turned into something that sounded like it needed to be a band. It didn't sound like something that was indulgent enough to just be like, 'This is the Nita show.' They sounded like band songs. I'm a band person. I might come across like kind of a show-off onstage and stuff, but I like collaborating with people. So I threw together a great group of girls. I thought it needed a great female lineup, and I think I've almost got it the way that I want it now."

Strauss recently released a brand new solo single titled "Pandemonium". Written, recorded and produced by Nita, the song features the axewoman on all guitar and bass, alongside her boyfriend and manager Josh Villalta on drums and Katt Scarlett on keyboards.

Strauss is a longtime Ibanez signature series endorsee who made her name with THE IRON MAIDENS, FEMME FATALE and LA Kiss.

Anathema recently announced the release of their eleventh studio album, The Optimist (June 9th, Kscope), and have now released this new teaser video for the upcoming 11-song collection.

Anathema, led by brothers Daniel and Vincent Cavanagh, along with drummer John Douglas, singer Lee Douglas, bassist Jamie Cavanagh and drummer/keyboardist Daniel Cardoso began recording The Optimist in the winter of 2016 at Attica Audio in Donegal, Ireland and then finished at Castle Of Doom studios in Glasgow with producer Tony Doogan at the helm and was mastered at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

Tracklisting:

“32.63N 117.14W”
“Leaving It Behind”
“Endless Ways”
“The Optimist”
“San Francisco”
“Springfield”
“Ghosts”
“Can’t Let Go”
“Close Your Eyes”
“Wildfires”
“Back To The Start”

“Springfield”:

Teaser:

Pre-order the album here in the following formats:

Deluxe 12" hardbook featuring:

* 40-page artwork book, with artwork from Travis Smith
* CD The Optimist with 11 original album tracks
* CD featuring 6 bonus tracks - 3 demo versions and 3 live demo recordings from the band's November 2016 dates
* DVD-V The Optimist with 11 original album tracks, 24/96 LPCM Stereo & 24/96 DTS 5.1 surround mix
* Blu-Ray disc The Optimist 11 original album tracks, 24/96 LPCM Stereo, 24/96 LPCM 5.1 lossless surround mix & 24/96 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless 5.1 surround mix

2-Disc CD & DVD Mediabook:

* 24 page booklet
* CD The Optimist with 11 original album tracks
* DVD-V The Optimist with 11 original album tracks, 24/96 LPCM Stereo & 24/96 DTS 5.1 surround mix

Blu-Ray featuring:

* The Optimist 11 original album tracks, 24/96 LPCM Stereo, 24/96 LPCM 5.1 lossless surround mix & 24/96 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless 5.1 surround mix

CD featuring:

* The Optimist with 11 original album tracks

Double gatefold 180g heavyweight LP featuring:

* The Optimist 11 original album tracks (with MP3 download code)
* Limited edition red vinyl LP version (with MPD download code) available exclusively through the band's webstore

Digital download featuring:

* The Optimist 11 original album tracks with pre-orders receiving an instant download of "Springfield"

Anathema have announced their first North American dates since 2014. The nine dates, which kick off on August 16th in Baltimore, include stops in New York, Chicago and a trio of Canadian dates.

"Touring the US and Canada is always a fantastic privilege,” said guitar player Daniel Cavanagh. “These countries have been the birthplace of some of the most revered recording artists of all time. We are delighted to visit the east coast and we promise to visit the west coast, following up soon. Our new album, The Optimist, is set in America. It will be a blast!"

North American tour dates:

August
16  Baltimore, MD  Soundstage
17  New York, NY  Gramercy Theater
18  Boston, MA  Brighton Music Hall
19  Quebec, QC  Saile Multi
20  Montreal, QC  Astral
21  Toronto, ON  Opera House
23  Chicago, IL  Bottom Lounge
24  Cleveland, OH  House of Blues
25  Philadelphia, PA  Theatre of Living Arts

Tickets are available now. For more details, visit facebook.com/anathemamusic.

This past Saturday (April 22), ANTHRAX closed the show at the sold-out Los Angeles "KillThrax" tour stop and those in attendance witnessed an exclusive treat: the band's first-ever live performance of "Carry On Wayward Son", the thrash legends' cover of the classic KANSAS song.

With shout-outs from fans for the band to play the song at the "KillThrax" shows, airplay on Active Rock stations across the country, more than 300,000 YouTube views, and even a "thumbs-up" for the cover from KANSAS founding member Phil Ehart, the band decided it was time to play it live.

ANTHRAX fans are well aware that there is no keyboardist in the band and keyboards are prominent on this song, so the band enlisted the help of Fred Mandel to join them onstage at the Wiltern theater for the performance. Mandel recorded the keyboards for the "Carry On" cover track and has played with icons from Alice Cooper to Elton John to QUEEN.

ANTHRAX's cover version of "Carry On Wayward Son" is a bonus track on the new expanded vinyl edition of the band's latest album, "For All Kings".

ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante told The Aquarian Weekly that he had long been a fan of the KANSAS cut, and frequently drummed to it as a teen. "I had to go back into the hard drive of my brain and remember how to play the song. We wanted to do it justice," he said.

Available exclusively in North America and released in conjunction with ANTHRAX's spring co-headline tour with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE — "KillThrax" — the "For All Kings 7-Inch Box Set" retails for $79.99, and is an absolutely stunning collector's item for any ANTHRAX fan.

The "For All Kings 7-Inch Box Set" includes a removable lenticular cover and contains ten seven-inch vinyl discs featuring twenty songs — the eleven finished album tracks, two brand new covers (THE WHITE STRIPES' "Black Math" and " Carry On Wayward Son"), six demos from the "For All Kings" track listing, and "Vice Of The People", previously released as a bonus track only in Japan. The original album cover art sketch by Alex Ross is also part of this package, as well as a download card enabling the holder to access the box set's track listing for free.

Each seven-inch disc features gorgeous, double-sided four-color artwork designed by Douglas Heusser with additional art by Stephen Thompson, as well as band photos by Jimmy Hubbard. The tracks are pressed onto different-colored vinyl discs — red, green, blue, maroon, orange, most with a two-color swirl design.

"Doing a box-set edition of 'For All Kings' was something that we've always wanted to do," said Benante, who worked closely with Heusser and Thompson on the box set's artwork. "We wanted to do something special, something that was so much more than the original release, and have it be fun for our audience when they open it up, just be floored by the different colored vinyl, the artwork, everything that's inside. And we think we've done that."

Deep Purple’s latest studio album, inFinite, is quickly becoming one of the band’s most successful albums to date. With top chart numbers across the world, it has already surpassed the incredible success of their last release, NOW What?!.

Beginning with the US, the current single “All I Got Is You” has hit #1 on the Classic Rock radio chart. inFinite has also had incredible sales debut numbers, hitting the  #1 spot in Germany and Switzerland, while  reaching the Top 10 in an impressive number of countries worldwide including UK, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Poland and France. On release date, inFinite topped the iTunes main charts in sic countries and charted Top 5 in over 20 countries.

In addition, the band’s label earMUSIC has signed with RED Distribution, enabling them to reach additional consumers throughout the US and Canada. Max Vaccaro, General Manager/earMUSIC notes, “In little less than 10 years from its first release, earMUSIC has become the ‘go-to’ label in Europe for any established rock artist. We have enjoyed a long list of successes at the top of the charts in Germany, UK and France for nearly every release (Foreigner, Chickenfoot, Bush, and many others) very often showing far better sales - despite a declining market - than our artists' previous releases on other labels.”

Vaccaro continues, “Michael Black and Beth Tallman, joining our team of international managers, and now the new deal with RED Distribution, makes us feel ready to reach the same level of success in the USA. The extremely positive start of Deep Purple's latest album inFinite highlights how earMUSIC is entering the US market with the same confidence as in Europe.  We thank Bob Morelli, Alan Becker and the rest of the team at RED for making us feel so excited about the future."

Pictured above, left to right: en Burstein (Label Management/RED Distribution); Beth Tallman (earMUSIC US); Alan Becker  (SVP, Product Development/RED Distribution); Michael Black (earMUSIC US); Bob Morelli (President/RED Distribution)

 

Deep Purple’s relationship with their existing fans is constantly renewing. With “inFinite” a new generation of rock lovers has also connected globally with the band for the first time, as their charts results show. And the campaign is just beginning…

DEEP PURPLE keyboard legend Don Airey has launched a pre-sale campaign on PledgeMusic for a very special limited edition deluxe box set of his solo album "K2 - Tales Of Triumph And Tragedy", to be released on Gonzo Multimedia in June.

"K2" was recorded in 1988 at Sarm East Studios, London, and originally released worldwide on MCA Records. It was based on an article written by mountaineer Jim Curran about his harrowing experiences on the 1986 expedition to K2 that claimed the life of twelve climbers inspired it. The music was completed after Don met Jim at his house in Sheffield where he talked of his friends Al Rouse and Julie Tullis, who both died in a blizzard at the summit, having become the first U.K. climbers to conquer the peak.

The album also features guest appearances by Gary Moore, Cozy Powell, Colin Bluntstone, Chris Thompson and others.

There will only be a hundred copies of this deluxe box set manufactured and each will contain a signed and numbered certificate. There will also be additional signed items and exclusive merchandise as part of this pre-order campaign.

"You are going to get something that will please everyone and hopefully you'll like the music too!" said Airey.

Box set content:

* CD (includes seven previously unreleased bonus tracks)* DVD* Signed and numbered certificate* Repro press pack* Repro promo photo* A4 map of K2

In the new video below, Queen guitarist Brian May unwraps his book, Queen In 3-D, available on May 25th.

Brian May’s London Stereoscopic Company is a new fine-art publishing company with a mission to share the wonders of the world’s greatest 3-D images, from Victorian times to the present day.

Queen In 3-D offers a stunning portrait of the legendary rock band seen through the personal stereoscopic lenses of Brian May (and friends) - complete with patent OWL 3-D viewer. This is the first time Queen’s history has ever been documented in 3-D, from the early days with Freddie Mercury in the 1970s, right through to the present day. The vast majority of these shots have never been seen before, and provide a uniquely intimate view of the world’s greatest rock band.

Just weeks after announcing a 26-date summer tour of North America, Queen + Adam Lambert have revealed further live plans for 2017, which will now see the band return to Europe later this year for a series of 24 dates including 12 arena concerts in the UK and Ireland. The tour will showcase a spectacular new stage production and a set list that the band hints will provide some surprises (see video below).

Queen + Adam Lambert’s 11-city UK and Ireland tour will kick off in Dublin on November 25th. They perform in Belfast in Northern Ireland the following day, then reach mainland Britain on November 28th to play Liverpool’s Echo Arena. More dates follow in Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, climaxing with two huge London shows at the O2 Arena on December 12th and The SSE Arena, Wembley, on December 15th. Tickets are on sale now. The tour is presented by Phil McIntyre Entertainments.

These shows will mark the band’s first full British tour in almost three years, having last performed across the UK in January 2015 when they played 10 sold out shows. Their only UK appearance in 2016 was a one-off headlining set at the closing night of the Isle of Wight Festival on Sunday, June 12th, part of a 15-date European summer festival tour. Isle of Wight festival organizer John Giddings credited the band with “the greatest show we have ever had”.

For their 2017 tour, the band will unveil a brand new show including a specially designed state-of-the-art production. The choice of performance material will no doubt acknowledge this year’s 40th anniversary of Queen’s biggest-selling studio album to date, News Of The World from 1977, which yielded the immortal anthems “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”.

Queen drummer and co-founder Roger Taylor insists the 2017 tour “will look entirely different to the show we took around before. Production has really changed a lot, the things you can do now, you have a much broader palette, the technology has really come along. But we don’t use it all. We don’t play to click track. It’s 100% live. We're planning on doing stuff we either haven't done before or haven't done for a long time. We started as an albums band, that's what we were. The fact that we had hits was just a byproduct.”

Guitarist Brian May confirms Queen’s 2017 shows will have a more ambitious musical agenda. “The general public knows the hits, so you've got to cater for that,” he says, “but we can chuck in a few things that people really don't expect. We’ll do quite a bit more of that this time around. There are so many dimensions to Adam, which of course fits with our music. He can get down and do the rock stuff really dirty, and you have all those dimensions, and we can explore that even more.”

Adam Lambert welcomes the challenge of digging deeper into the band’s canon of classics. “What people should know if they came to the shows a couple of years back, is obviously we will still be playing the big hit songs you know and love from Queen, but we thought it would be good to challenge ourselves a bit,” he explains. “Change it up a little bit, change the visuals, change all the technology, change the set list to some degree. We will probably be pulling some other songs out of the Queen catalogue which we haven’t done before, which I am very excited about.”

Tickets are on sale now.

Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates 2017:

June
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Gila River Arena
24 - Las Vegas, NV - T-Mobile Arena
26 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
29 - San Jose, CA - SAP Center

July
1 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
2 - Vancouver, BC - Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
4 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
6 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center Arena
8 - Omaha, NE - CenturyLink Arena
9 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
13 - Chicago, IL - United Center
14 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
17 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
18 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
20 - Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
23 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
25 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
26 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
28 - New York, NY - Barclays Center
30 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
31 - Washington D.C. - Verizon Center

August
2 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
4 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
5 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

November
1 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
2 - Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
4 - Budapest, Hungary - Sportarena
6 - Lodz, Poland - Atlas Arena
8 - Vienna, Austria - Stadhalle
10 - Bologna, Italy - Unipol Arena
12 - Luxembourg, Amneville - Galaxie
13 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome
17 - Kaunas, Lithuania - Zalgiris Arena
25 - Dublin, Ireland - 3 Arena
26 - Belfast, Ireland - SSE Arena
28 - Liverpool, England - Echo Arena
30 - Birmingham, England - Barclaycard Arena

December
1 - Newcastle, England - Metro Radio Arena
3 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro
5 - Nottingham, England - Motorpoint Arena
6 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena
8 - Sheffield, England - Motorpoint Arena
9 - Manchester, England - Arena
12 - London, England - 02 Arena
15 - London, England - The SSE Arena, Wembley

Reinvigorated black metal infamists Nargaroth have revealed a special lyric video for the new track "Whither Goest Thou?". The song hails from the band's seventh album, Era Of Threnody, set for international release on May 16th via Inter Arma Productions.

German black metal's longest-running and most prolific band, Nargaroth has built a canon of work that's as infamous as it is legendary in the underground. Led as always by the peerless vision of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ash, the Nargaroth aesthetic has spanned the many extremes of black metal as an artform, but always done with bravado and self-belief, purity of intent and purity of purpose. Now, with the band's first full-length in a long eight years, Era Of Threnody has arrived to mark a glorious new epoch for Nargaroth.

Ever aptly titled, Era Of Threnody burns with rage and repose - a war cry from a battlefield long forgotten, a remembrance of sorrows past, present, and future. Across its 65-minute landscape, the ten songs which comprise Era Of Threnody paint a portrait of Nargaroth at its most dynamic: nearly every unique era of the band is represented, but executed with a startling sense of professionalism. But let it be known that "professionalism" in no way should be conflated with mainstream ambitions, for this is still pure 'n' pristine BLACK METAL in all its monochromatic grandeur. More accurately, perhaps, Era Of Threnody is the sound of Nargaroth at the height of its powers, well rested from the studio hiatus and eager 'n' emboldened by an upcoming European tour with Absu and Hate. The time of reckoning is at hand, and it is indeed the Era Of Threnody!

A special teaser video can be enjoyed below. The cover art and tracklisting follow.

Tracklisting:

"Dawn Of Epiphany"
"Whither Goest Thou?"
"Conjunction Underneath The Alpha Weel"
"...As Orphans Drifting In A Desert Night"
"The Agony Of A Dying Phoenix"
"Epicedium To A Broken Dream"
"Love Is A Dog From Hell"
"Era Of Threnody"
"TXFO"
"My Eternal Grief, Anguish Neverending"

 

Tye Trujillo, the 12-year old son of METALLICA's Robert Trujillo and member of NorCal group THE HELMETS, played his fourth show with KORN last night (Sunday, April 23) at Pepsi On Stage in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Fan-filmd video footage of the concert can be seen below.

Tye is filling in for KORN's regular bassist, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, who is unable to make the band's South American tour due to "unforeseen circumstances."

Said KORN in a statement: "We are bummed Fieldy can't join us on this run but excited to do a few gigs with a young player like Tye. We look forward to welcoming our brother Fieldy back when we return to the States in May."

Remaining KORN shows with Tye Trujillo on bass:

April 25 - Estadio Malvinas Argentinas - Paternal, ArgentinaApril 27 - Teatro Caupolican - Santiago, Chile

Fieldy will rejoin his KORN bandmates at the Carolina Rebellion festival on May 6.

Robert Trujillo told Brazil's Globo Play about Tye: "I never forced him on music. I always felt that if he wanted to embrace an instrument, great; I'd try to help him with it. So initially, at first, it was drums. And then around that same time, when he was one, he had a little plastic guitar, and he would play it all the time, just strumming it — always strumming it everywhere, to the point where the plastic was worn down."

He continued: "It's a beautiful thing, 'cause he's still a 12-year-old, and he still acts wild and crazy, as a twelve-year-old should, but when it comes to music, he's very focused. And with KORN, it's funny, because I haven't shown him anything at all for the KORN stuff — I've been too busy and I've been out of town a lot — and he's taking this opportunity very serious."

Robert Trujillo previously told the Huffington Post that Tye was "an amazing bass player and a really great writer. The bass lines that he's writing and the riffs, I'm like, 'Man, I wish I had written that.' He's coming up with stuff on his own, but he's also been influenced by players like Jaco Pastorius, but also Miles Davis or BLACK SABBATH or LED ZEPPELIN."

Trujillo added: "He's like a sponge. He loves funk. He loves James Brown, he's this little 12-year-old who's soaking up and embracing all this different music and I can tell that it's helping him creatively in what he's writing with his band."

Tye's own band, THE HELMETS, counts TOOL, ALICE IN CHAINS and METALLICA among their influences. Tye told Billboard last year, "We hate pop, we despise it. It's all the same sound."

London, England-based rock legends, Thunder, performed on the Main Stage at Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival in the summer of 2013. Video footage of the band performing the songs “Dirty Love”, “Love Walked In”, and “I Love You More Than Rock ’N’ Roll” can be seen below:

Thunder released their new studio album, Rip It Up, on February 10th via earMUSIC.

Rip It Up tracklisting:

“No One Gets Out Alive”
“Rip It Up”
“She Likes The Cocaine”
“Right From The Start”
“Shakedown”
“Heartbreak Hurricane”
“In Another Life”
“The Chosen One”
“The Enemy Inside”
“Tumbling Down”
“There's Always A Loser”

Trailer:

“Rip It Up”:

“No One Gets Out Alive” studio session:

Thunder states: “Check out all the formats and the bundles in all their splendiferous glory, on our newly sexed-up online store.”

On Thursday, April 20, legendary U.S. heavy/doom metal band PENTAGRAM played the first of its previously announced four U.S. shows without frontman and founding member Bobby Liebling in Baltimore, Maryland. All lead vocals at the gig were handled by PENTAGRAM's guitar player Victor Griffin.

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of Rock N Roll Experience). A review of the show is available at this location.

Griffin, bassist Greg Turley and drummer Pete Campbell last week released a statement in which they blamed Liebling's absence from the gigs on "circumstances that are beyond anyone's control, that are a direct result of Bobby Liebling's personal actions."

Liebling was the focus of "Last Days Here", the critically acclaimed 2011 documentary that detailed his lifelong struggle with drug addiction and followed him as he revived PENTAGRAM in his 50s while emerging from his parents' basement to start afresh with a wife less than half his age and their newborn son.

In a 2010 interview with The Obelisk, Liebling claimed that he "made millions, tens of millions of dollars, sometimes in cash, five-figure millions at a time, but it was all running cocaine for the Median cartel during the Escobar years. And I blew it all, every dime of it on my own personal whoring, car-buying, house-buying for my friends, buying Ferraris and chinchilla coats and diamond rings for broads and flaunting it. I was 25 years old and we were running across from Bogotá and back in a Cessna every week and splitting $20 million cash three ways. [Laughs] And I shot it all up. I'm not proud of it at all..."

Chastain has just released the Chastainium album, and a new promotional video for the track "We Bleed Metal (V2017)”, available for streaming below.

Chastain has been a force in metal for over 30 years and Chastainium is the first album to chronicle the history of the band. Two tracks from each of the last eight albums showcases Chastain's inventive and unique sound. The band, originally put together by David T. Chastain and Mike Varney, has created some of metal's iconic moments.

Says band founder and guitarist David T. Chastain, "I thought it was time for a Chastain 101 refresher course for the fans who have been following the band for many years and also an introduction course to the newer fans who may have only became acquainted with the band in 2013 with the second coming of vocalist Leather Leone and the rebirth of Chastain. I went back over the last 8 albums that stretched some 30 years and picked 2 tracks from each for what I considered the best representation of that particular album. Most all of the tracks have been remastered. Some are completely new arrangements never heard before by the fans."

David continues: "I have been blessed to have had a lot of high quality musicians and 2 great vocalists in the band over the years so there is lot to be proud of considering many of the albums were recorded with pretty miniscule budgets and limited studio time. Of course the bottom line for me is: 'Was it an artistic success?' I think the consistency thru the years is quite apparent even with the evolution of different musicians and bands."

Chastain's albums from this period include:

1987 - The 7th Of Never
1988 - The Voice of the Cult
1990 - For Those Who Dare
1995 - Sick Society
1997 - In Dementia
2004 - In An Outrage
2013 - Surrender To No One
2015 - We Bleed Metal

More info at this location.

A music video for “Heroine’s Descent”, a track from Ides Of Gemini’s upcoming new album, Women, is available for streaming below. The album, due for release on April 28th via Rise Above Records, is available for pre-order at this location.

Formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2010, Ides Of Gemini have built a formidable and enigmatic reputation by stoutly refusing to conform to anyone else's idea of what lurks in the shadows-with a sound that elegantly salutes the greats of the post-punk and proto-goth eras while simultaneously harnessing the oomph and clangor of underground metal. The ornate sparkle of something else, something irresistibly alien has long ensured that Ides Of Gemini have stood proudly alone, and yet their stately invective has clearly connected with the discerning masses.

"We get lumped in with a lot of metal bands, I guess for obvious reasons," says guitarist and songwriter Jason Bennett. "There are some metal songs on the new album, but it's really not a metal record. And we're not exactly a Goth band, either. So I don't know what to call what we do. Is it heavy? Yes. Is it metal? Not exactly. I guess you could say it's a mystery..."
 
Even the haziest of musical entities undergo some process of regeneration between records. Ides Of Gemini are no different, but their journey from their stunning 2012 debut, Constantinople, and its formidable follow-up Old World New Wave-both released via post-metal mavens Neurosis' Neurot Recordings-to brand new studio album Women, the band's first for Rise Above Records, has been a turbulent and challenging one. Original drummer Kelly Johnston-Gibson incurred a career-threatening injury while on tour in the US in 2015, causing Bennett and vocalist (and then-bassist) Sera Timms to reassess their next move. After enlisting Scott Batiste of Saviours as a stand-in drummer for a short West Coast tour, a new alliance was formed and Scott soon became a permanent member. The band then expanded to a quartet for the first time, as Sera relinquished her bass-playing duties to newcomer Adam Murray.

"Having Sera make that change ended up being the best thing we ever did," Bennett recalls. "It's freed her up to do so much more vocally. She was somewhat confined by also playing bass, and now she doesn't have to do that anymore-the sky's the limit. Scott and Adam are awesome. It's almost a new band. I think that the new record would've been pretty similar if we'd stayed a three-piece, but it wouldn't have been this good. There's a totally different dynamic now. We're new and improved.
 
Still recognizable as the work of the band behind those early triumphs, the new Ides Of Gemini album is both a dramatic leap forward for these idiosyncratic spirit guides and their most direct and impactful collection of songs to date.

Produced by the inimitable Sanford Parker, Women also features guest appearances from Tara Connelly of Clay Rendering (on "Queen Of New Orleans") and bewitching singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle (on "She Has A Secret"). As ever, Ides Of Gemini's new songs uniformly fizz and crackle with a storyteller's verve, as Timms' emotionally devastating delivery and Bennett's scabrous riffs paint vivid images of womanhood's multifarious routes to the gates of Hell and beyond. As a result, the new album's title was a no-brainer.

"Why Women? The short answer is that all the songs are about women!" Bennett laughs. "The way we work is that I title all the songs and Sera writes all the lyrics, and I give her an idea of what inspired each title for me. She can either take my idea and use it or totally discard it and come up with her own concept for it. Some of these women are mythological figures, some are historical figures, some are obscure actresses, and some are people we just made up. But every song is about a woman, so the title seemed obvious."

Determined to make up for the time lost during recent upheavals, Ides Of Gemini hope to use Women as a springboard to re-launch their assault on the consciousness of the world's outcasts and eccentrics. Revitalized and armed with their finest album to date, these inveterate square pegs may yet prove to be unstoppable.

"We want to tour as much as possible," Bennett avows. "There are a lot of places we haven't been yet and a lot of places we haven't been to in a while. We never finished the tour when Kelly got injured, so we haven't done a full national tour since 2013 when we went out with Ghost. And we haven't been to Europe since 2012, so it's been a while. We can't wait to get started."

Tracklisting:

“Mother Kiev”
“The Rose”
“The Dancer”
“Raft Of Medusa”
“Heroine’s Descent”
“Swan Diver”
“The Last Siren”
“Zohra”
“She Has A Secret”
“Queen Of New Orleans”

“Heroine’s Descent” video:

A music video for “Nature Of The Damned”, a track from Beastmaker’s upcoming Inside The Skull album, is available for streaming below.

The glittering technological future we were all promised has turned into a dystopian nightmare. If music must reflect the times, the hour has plainly come to reject the mainstream status quo and get down to the roots and rhythms of life's elemental heaviness. And that's where Beastmaker comes in. Purveyors of some of the most ecstatically thunderous and raw doom metal to emerge in decades, this three-man riffing machine from Fresno, California, are manifestly the real deal. Their sound is instantly recognizable and yet thrillingly otherworldly, like all your favorite riffs fed through some perverse malevolent prism and reborn in fresh, overdriven grotesquery.

But while they may superficially appear to servants of a strict Sabbathian code, there is plenty of room for maneuver within the band's titanic sound. The result of this feverish desire to expand their sonic universe is new album Inside The Skull, a bruising tour-de-force of sinister riffs, skewed blues and looming horror, it is simply one of the heaviest and most mesmerizing albums you will hear in 2017, replete with a special cameo or two. 

Inside The Skull is set for release May 19th via Rise Above Records.  Today the artwork and track listing have been revealed.  From the old school evangelism of opener “Evil One” and the warped psychedelia of “Now Howls The Beast” through to the twisted fury and fire of “Psychic Visions” and creepy closer “Sick Sick Demon”, Inside The Skull is not just a muscular hymn to the glory days of heavy metal's genesis and early prosperity: this is a vital, virile and venomous slab of wildly creative but spiritually pure doom devastation, designed to rescue us from the drab harshness of present day reality and transport us somewhere cooler, somewhere better and, in the best way possible, somewhere much heavier. Recorded and produced by the band themselves, in their own self-built studio, it's an album with great depths and a macabre heart.

While they may be reveling in Hitchcockian disquiet, Beastmaker will not be lurking anonymously in the shadows for long. Once Inside The Skull is released, the band will be hitting the road in the US with Zakk Wylde's Black Sabbath tribute act, Zakk Sabbath, before the band's campaign to draw the world into this unique maelstrom of pitch-black riffs and morbid tales begins in earnest. Erupting from the underground, this beast is alive and ready to howl.

Tracklisting:

“Evil One”
“Heaven To Hell”
“Now Howls The Beast”
“Of God’s Creation”
“Give Me A Sign”
“Nature Of The Damned”
“Psychic Visions”
“Inside The Skull”
“Night Bird”
“Sick Sick Demon”

“Nature Of The Damned” video:

Beastmaker on tour:

May (with Zakk Sabbath)
17 – Morgantown, WV – 123 Pleasant St*
18 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
19 - New York, NY - The Gramercy Theatre
20 – Philadelphia, PA – Voltage Theatre*
21 – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter*
22 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall*
23 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
24 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia Nola*
25 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live Studio
26 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill
28 - St. Louis, MO - Fubar
30 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In
31 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade

June (with Zakk Sabbath)
2 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
3 – Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle Brewing*
4 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theater
6 - Spokane, WA - The Pin
7 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
8 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
10 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
17 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater

*Headline show

Balingen, Germany-based prog/power metal act, We Are Legend, have released a lyric video for “Hungry Mirrors”, the opening track from the 2013 debut album, Rise Of The Legend. Watch the video below.

Rise Of The Legend tracklisting:

“Hungry Mirrors”
“This Holy Dark”
“Enemy Within”
“Birth Of The Legend”
“Rise Of The Legend”
“God Is Dreaming”
“Out!”
“Only Time Can Tell”
“March Of The Living”

“Hungry Mirrors” lyric video:

“This Holy Dark” video:

“Enemy Within“ video

German power metallers, Thunder And Lightning, have released a lyric video for the track “Mary Celeste”, featuring Unzucht’s Der Schulz. The track is featured on the band’s new album, The Ages Will Turn, and the video can be found below.

Orders for The Ages Will Turn can be placed here.

Tracklisting:

“The Ravaging Overture”
“Welcome To The Darkside”
“Silent Watcher”
“Black Eyed Child”
“Eternally Awake”
“Columbia”
“One Blood”
“The Ages Will Turn”
“Hysteria”
“Mary Celeste”
“The Ravaging Overture” (Extended Orchestral Version) (Pre-order bonus track download)

“Mary Celeste” lyric video:

"One Blood" video:

“Eternally Awake”:

“The Ages Will Turn”:

For more on Thunder And Lightning, visit the band’s website, here.