Hungarian neo thrash masters Ektomorf have released a video trailer for Warpath, their new DVD/CD, out on May 5th via AFM Records. Watch the clip below. Pre-order Warpath at this location.

Warpath includes the band's entire gig from Wacken Open Air 2016 on DVD and CD, plus a more than 60 minute. brutally honest and heavily entertaining behind-the-scenes documentary of Ektomorf’s tour life: Live And Life On The Road. This is real as it gets. Audio mix was again handled by the band's longtime engineer Tue Madsen (Antfarm studios).

Tracklisting:

“Aggressor”
“Move On”
“Ambush In The Night”
“Holocaust”
“Black Flag”
“Evil By Nature”
“United Nations”
“Leech”
“Fuck You All”
“I Know Them”
“Outcast”
“Live And Life On The Road” (road movie; DVD only)

Washington, D.C.-based metal band, Gloom, has signed a worldwide deal with Entertainment One Music / Lifeblood Inc. and is streaming an all new track, “Cede”. A lyric video for the track can be found below.

“We couldn't be happier to be a part of the Lifeblood and eOne family," says the band. "We've been hunkered down working so hard that I don't think the reality has set in for all of us. We're just really grateful to have such high a quality team backing us."

Gloom will release their debut full length, Solaris, on June 2nd.

"Solaris is our first full length and while we were writing the album we really wanted to bring all our individual influences to the table and create something dynamic. We really want to carve out our own niche in metal and Solaris is a big step in that direction. For us, “Cede” is a good musical representation of some of the different styles you'll hear on the album. Lyrically, it's about breaking the cycle of a bad on-off relationship I had for years and finding a place where I could grow out of those feelings."

Gloom will be opening the Devastation On The Nation Festival Tour throughout the US and Canada from 5/19-6/11 alongside Cryptopsy, Decrepit Birth, Rivers Of Nihil, The Zenith Passage, The Kennedy Veil, Visceral Disgorge, and Seeker via Continental Concerts USA.

Gloom began without career expectations and devoid of obligation toward any particular niche or sub genre. Gloom trades in succinct, to-the-point, blackened death metal groove with a doomy swagger, created first and foremost as art for its own sake. That mentality has paid off in spades, as the band’s unrelenting authenticity and overpowering singular heaviness quickly made fans out of underground metal fans and media tastemakers.

On their first release through Lifeblood, Inc. and eOne Music, the Washington D.C. quartet has fully hit their creative stride with nine masterpieces of sonic devastation and diverse musical prowess. Metal maniacs weaned on the dark ferocity of Norwegian black metal stalwarts Gorgoroth, the chaotic and challengingly surreal assault of early Burzum, or the demonstrative brutality of death metal icons Suffocation will find something evocative and provoking within Gloom. These savage elements collide with combustible energy against the near psychedelic, progressive, and technical excursions reminiscent of bands like Between The Buried And Me, all intermingled with the atmospheric groove of Deftones and Tool.

Gloom has the seemingly at odds brooding melodic menace of the darker sirens of grunge coursing through its DNA, as evidenced by their killer take on “Them Bones,” the song that opens Alice In Chain’s sophomore set, Dirt.

While Suffocation and modern deathcore kingpins like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence are kindred spirits vocally, frontman and co founder Bill Calomiris performance and lyrics draw from the earnestness and emotional honesty of Billy Corgan and Fiona Apple, jettisoning the gimmicky “gore” favored by the genre for a more sincere form of self-expression. Gloom never shies away from confronting feelings of anger, rejection, or nostalgia. As heavy and uncompromising as their music can be, the emotions at their core maintain a relatable nature, from relationship issues to inner struggle.

The fact that Musicians Institute graduate Dante Dalton, the band’s guitarist, has worked on film scores will come as no surprise after hearing the more cinematic moments mined within Gloom. Drummer Albert Born is a trained aerospace engineer; it would be both an easy joke and a severe understatement to say that his propulsive pummeling gives the band a lift. Like the rest of his close friends in the band, bassist Jason Sayell offers a true emotional outpouring within Gloom. Their music is deadly serious and cathartic, while the guys are fun loving and easygoing in everyday life.

The moody post-black metal of “1% Empty” is drawn from the bassist’s life experience, melding seamlessly but dynamically with the more traditional death metal attack of the David vs. Goliath style story of “Perseus,” the groovy, progressive, and sometimes esoteric bad relationship ender, “Cede,” and the unabashedly heavy and haunting “Sub Umbral.”

Combining death metal, black metal, doom metal, progressive metal, post-grunge, and grooving atmospheric rock to create a distinctive artistic identity of their own, Gloom earns a place in the pantheon of heavy music in closer proximity to timeless giants than forgettable clones. Gloom represents honesty in its glorious heaviness, philosophically and musically.

Tracklisting:

“Fallen”
“Perseus”
“Orbits”
“Cede”
“Coronation”
“Naught”
“1% Empty”
“Appetence Hominae”
“Sub Umbral”
“Them Bones” (cover)

“Cede” lyric video:

Pre-order the album via the following links:

Digital
Physical

Strike Mortal Soil, the debut album from Vancouver's Wormwitch, is scheduled for worldwide release on May 12th via Prosthetic Records. A music video for the album track “Everlasting Lie”, is available for streaming below.

Strike Mortal Soil is available for pre-order at this location.

"To go from recording a demo over a couple days in a sweaty jam space to putting out an LP on Prosthetic within a year and a half... it's just not something we could have realistically expected," remarks the band, "It's got our fingerprints all over it. If something was possible to do ourselves, we did it, down to mixing and artwork."

Tracklisting:

"As Above"
"Howling From The Grave"
"Weregild"
"Even The Sun Will Die"
"Relentless Death"
"Cerulean Abyss"
"Everlasting Lie"
"...And Smote His Ruin Upon The Mountainside"
"Mantle Of Ignorance"
"So Below"

"Everlasting Lie" video;

Thematically, Strike Mortal Soil is about being alive and what that means in today's society. The band elaborated, "We live in a society both obsessed with and terrified of death. We exist in a world constantly seeking immortality through fame or Gods. Strike Mortal Soil means to live with a furious passion. It is to be able to enter one's grave like lightning, in rejection of eternity. It enforces the message that life has worth, not from your nationality, your land, your God or your flesh, but what you do with yourself."

For further details, visit Wormwitch on Facebook.

British hard rockers, Inglorious, will release their new album, Inglorious II, on May 12th. The album track, “Making Me Pay”, is now available for streaming below.

Produced by the band and mixed by the legendary Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith), Inglorious II further enhances the standing of this remarkable band. From the body blow riffs of “Read All About It”, to the beautiful melodies of upcoming first single “I Don’t Need Your Loving”, from the groove of “High Class Woman” to the classic feeling ballad “Making Me Pay”, this is an album that shows the bands influences stem from iconic rock and roll shrine of rock albums from the 1970s - many years before the band members were born - merged with a truly contemporary feel. Driving riffs and instant melodies all overlaid with the unique and powerful vocals of Nathan James.

Tracklisting:

“I Don't Need Your Loving”
“Taking The Blame”
“Tell Me Why”
“Read All About It”
“Change Is Coming”
“Making Me Pay”
“Hell Or High Water”
“No Good For You”
“I Got A Feeling”
“Black Magic”
“Faraway”
“High Class Woman”

“Making Me Pay”:

“I Don’t Need Your Loving” video:

“Read All About It” lyric video:

EPK (Electronic Press Kit):

The album is available as a standard CD and also as a Deluxe 2CD/DVD edition. The DVD features a previously unavailable live performance from Download Festival 2016 plus extra bonus content, including videos for "I Don't Need Your Loving" and "Taking The Blame".

DVD Content:

Live At Donington:
“Until I Die”
“Breakaway”
“High Flying Gypsy”
“No Good For You”
“Holy Water”
“Warning”
“Unaware”

Special Features:
Inglorious EPK
“Taking The Blame” Music Video
“I Don't Need Your Loving” Music Video
Behind The Scenes

Consummate live performers the band already have a number of high profile shows confirmed, with more to follow through 2017. Dates listed below.

June
16 - Clisson, France - Hellfest Festival
18 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Festival
22 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Festival
24 - Vitoria, Spain - Azkena Rock Festival 2017

August
19 - Tilford, UK - Weyfest Festival

"Let's all give a Butcher welcome to our new drummer Chase Brickenden (pictured above). You may have seen him with us last year on tour with Megadeth, Knotfest USA and Knotfest Japan," says Butcher Babies frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey. "He's a beast and we couldn't be more excited to what he brings to the band. After writing this entire new album with us, he is currently tracking drums to make your faces melt."

"Formerly, he has slayed the drums for Thrown Into Exhile, Otep, and more. Chase is a multi-style drummer that graduated from Musicians Institute and we feel ultra lucky to have him! This is our first line up change ever! After seven years with Chris (Warner), we want to wish him a happy new marriage and success in all that he does. Cheers!"

Chase also issued a statement that reads, "Thank you for the warm welcome! It's an honor to join my friends in this band. I'm so excited to share what we're working on. Looking forward to meeting you all on tour!"

In live news, Butcher Babies will be part of this year's edition of the Blackest Of The Black festival, curated by Glenn Danzig, set for May 26th - 27th at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, California.

The music lineup for Blackest Of The Black is as follows:

Friday, May 26th: Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity, Suicide Silence, Discharge, Belphegor, Butcher Babies, 3 Teeth, and more to be announced.

Saturday, May 27th: Danzig, Ministry, Vamps, Atreyu, Venom Inc, DevilDriver, Fear Factory, Marduk, Combichrist, Ghoul, Ritual, and more to be announced.

In addition to the outstanding musical lineup, Blackest Of The Black will feature a slew of attractions including a Verotik/Comic Con area, a roaming freak show filled with contortionists, demons, and more, thrill rides, and a Sugar Skull Contest. The main attraction, Castle Danzig, is an interactive walk through with a number of activations. Within the vicinity of the eerie castle and courtyard, attendees will find a sacrifice altar, bondage stage, suspension stage, electro stage, blood bath, a padded cell, stocks, cage dancers, and more.

Information on tickets, VIP packages, camping and more can be found at BlackestFest.com. Discounted 2-day Early Bird Tickets start at $66.66 plus parking and fees, while supplies last. Early Bird Single-day Friday tickets start at $39.00, and single-day Saturday tickets start at $49.00. Tent, Tent and Car, and RV camping spaces are available.

On April 7th, Swedish heavy metallers Trial (swe) will release their new album Motherless worldwide via Metal Blade Records. The album track, “Juxtaposed”, is available for streaming below.

Motherless is one of the most original heavy metal albums in a long time. Trial (swe) have refined their sound and are one of the most unique acts you can find in today's heavy metal. Pre-orders are available at Metal Blade.

Trial (swe) comments: "'Motherless is a multifaceted album, a creation of many different elements, yet coherently crafted to perfectly represent the entity that is Trial (swe). The first single that we've chosen from the album is 'Cold Comes The Night'. A ferocious, fast-paced track which displays the aggressive and more straight-forward side of the album."

Tracklisting:

“Motherless”
“In Empyrean Labour”
“Cold Comes The Night”
“Juxtaposed”
“Aligerous Architect”
“Birth”
“Embodiment”
“Rebirth”

“Juxtaposed”:

“Motherless” lyric video:

“Cold Comes The Night”:

(Band photo by: Skoorell Photography)

Tengger Cavalry - the nomadic Mongolian folk metal group - has signed with M-Theory Audio. The band's new album is expected to be released in June and will be supported by a five-week North American tour and performances at several European summer festivals. Further details will be revealed in the coming weeks.

M-Theory Audio is the new label recently launched by Marco Barbieri, former president of Century Media Records and Nuclear Blast America.

Barbieri says, "Tengger Cavalry is one of the most unique new bands, and I've been impressed how Nature Ganganbaigal and the group developed themselves to this point independently. By teaming up with an old friend, Dawn Robinson, as management and now working with us at M-Theory Audio, I'm excited by the upward possibilities the future holds and the fun and breakthroughs possible with their themes and great music."

Tengger Cavalry frontman Nature Ganganbaigal adds, "To work with Marco, who was an integral part of Century Media, and M-Theory Audio is Tengger Cavalry's greatest honor. We are excited to bring on our next 'raid' together with the mighty M-Theory!"

One of the most unique and innovative acts in modern music, Tengger Cavalry ("the army of the sky god" in Mongolian) blends the nomadic musical traditions, instrumentation and warrior spirit of Central Asia with the aggression and power of heavy metal. The group was founded by Nature Ganganbaigal, who sings using the ancient Mongolian tradition of Khoomei (more commonly known as throat-singing) and plays multiple native instruments, including the Morin Khuur (an ancient fiddle), the Tovshuur (a Mongolian guitar) and the Mongolian flute.

Following Ganganbaigal's relocation to America four years ago, Tengger Cavalry has successfully completed two headlining tours and even sold out a performance at New York City's prestigious Carnegie Hall.

In the studio, meanwhile, the group's output has been prodigious - since forming in 2010, they've released four full-length albums, two EPs and numerous singles, including unique cover interpretations of metal classics. In January, Dave Mustaine retweeted the group's cover of "Symphony of Destruction," while the previous month, the official Motörhead Facebook page reposted their rendition of "Fight”.

The band's most recent original single, "A Blade Of Time”, was issued in January; a video for the song can be seen below:

"Forces Of The Northern Night", the highly anticipated double DVD from Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR, will be released on April 14 via Nuclear Blast. The set will contain two of the band's live performances: their legendary show in Oslo, presenting DIMMU BORGIR on stage with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and a bombastic choir, as well as their entire performance at Wacken Open Air festival in 2012 in Wacken, Germany with almost a hundred musicians on stage. Both concerts present a spectacular sound scenario of raging black metal in front of an epic orchestral landscape plus the band's unique visuals.

A performance clip of the song "Gateways", taken from the Oslo concert, can be seen below.

DIMMU BORGIR's remarkable and atramentous stage show has long seemed like a natural evolution for fans, but much time, arrangements and commitment were necessary to put this gigantic production into reality and fill the stage with 90 minutes of mindblowing aural delight per night. The shows guide the fans through classics from the band's discography — from the majestic finisher "Mourning Palace" — which can be seen below (footage from the Wacken show) — to the stomping manifesto "Puritania" and the haunting "Gateways". "For us, this is the pinnacle of our career so far," says DIMMU BORGIR frontman Stian Thoresen (a.k.a. Shagrath). "As a band, we've always used a lot of symphonic elements in our music. But we haven't been able to use a real orchestra. We've had to use samples, synthesizers and so on, so this was a huge, awesome experience for us." In addition to the two concerts, "Forces Of The Northern Night" will include a bonus documentary feature.

DIMMU BORGIR's May 28, 2011 concert at the Oslo Spektrum in Norway, which is included on "Forces Of The Northern Night", featured a special setlist with 53 members of KORK (the Norwegian Radio Orchestra) and 30 members of the Schola Cantorum choir, who were musical guests on the band's ninth studio album, 2010's "Abrahadabra". The show was professionally filmed and was broadcast as part of a one-hour documentary in June 2011 on NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company and the largest media organization in Norway.

In an interview with Scuzz TV, DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz) stated about the experience of performing with an orchestra: "It was, of course, really special, especially since it was in Oslo, and a lot of people traveled in for the show from all over the world. And everything went great on stage for once. When you have a hundred people on stage, the percentage of something going wrong is definitely there, but it was really, really good."

He added: "You think your band is professional, then you play with an orchestra, and then you know, 'Oh, we're not so professional after all.'"

DIMMU BORGIR last year extended its partnership with Nuclear Blast.

The band's tenth album is tentatively due before the end of 2017.

DIMMU BORGIR's most recent touring lineup included Geir Bratland (APOPTYGMA BERZERK, THE KOVENANT) on keyboards and Terje Andersen (a.k.a. Cyrus; SUSPERIA) on bass.

The official video wrap-up of the first-ever Megadeth Boot Camp — which was described in a press release as "a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the ultimate MEGADETH fan" — can be seen below. The event took place on March 10-12 on MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's private estate in Fallbrook, California.

Several "experience packages" for the event were sold, with prices ranging from $1999 to $5499.

As part of the premium boot camp package, guests camped in a private furnished bell tent with beds and a lounge. Premium ticketholders were also provided breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, gaining priority access to various workshops and exclusive access to the intimate acoustic performance from MEGADETH.

Fans opting for the $2000 second-tier package stayed at a hotel fifteen minutes away with shuttle service to the estate each day.

Over the weekend, attendees were getting the opportunity to meet members of the band at a question-and-answer session, participate in guitar, bass and drum clinics, drink coffee from bassist David Ellefson's boutique coffee brand Ellefson Coffee Co. with Ellefson himself and go to a wine-tasting session with Mustaine. There was also time allotted for campfire stories with bandmembers.

Ellefson, who is a pastor in the Lutheran church, also conducted a "contemporary non-denominational service" at the event, dubbed "Megadeth Church."

Mustaine put the Fallbrook house on the market in October 2015 for $5.375 million — more than five times what he paid for it three years earlier — but that price came down in June 2016 by almost a million and a half to $3.895 million. The property now sits at an even lower price of $3.195 million, according to public records.

Mustaine and his family moved to Nashville in October 2014.

"As The Sun Sleeps", the debut album from INVIDIA, the new band featuring former and current members of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, IN THIS MOMENT and SKINLAB, can be streamed in its entirety using the SoundCloud widget below. The disc is being released today (Friday, March 31) via SPV.

Fans may recognize vocalist Travis Johnson as the bassist from IN THIS MOMENT as well as bassist Matt Snell as ex-member of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. Guitarists Brian Jackson and Marcos Medina have worked together in SKINLAB. Since forming at the start of 2016, INVIDIA has had one purpose — to create good rock music with no rules and an open mind, leading them to immerse in everything from "radio rock" to "Bay Area thrash" and all that lies in between. INVIDIA has allowed each of the members of the band to produce music in their purest form.

"As The Sun Sleeps" track listing:

01. Now Or Never02. Making My Amends03. Feed The Fire04. Rotten05. Marching Dead06. Smell The Kill07. Til Death08. Step Up09. Truth In The Sky10. The Other Side11. As The Sun Sleeps

"As The Sun Sleeps" was produced and co-written by Logan Mader (ONCE HUMAN, MACHINE HEAD). "I loved working on this album!" he said. "INVIDIA's sound has huge balls while maintaining a great sense of mass appeal with big hooks and heavy grooves. The guys are dead serious about making it all happen and very self-sufficient. Producing records like this makes my job fun and inspiring."

Regarding the vibe and feel of "As The Sun Sleeps", Mader said: "I would call it hard rock/metal with big balls. It's got big choruses. It's got big hooks. It also has a serious 'metal energy,' which is where we all come from in our musical backgrounds. There are some songs that fit the American active rock radio format. There are some songs with a modern-industrial-type feel mixed with a kind of a pop sensibility and big chorus. The other end of the spectrum is more of a groove metal which draws a little bit from that classic PANTERA vibe. It gives it that sort of heavy testosterone metal feel."

In an interview with Rich Inzinna and Paula Noto from "The S.I.R.E.N." radio show on iRadioUSA.com, Travis stated about how INVIDIA was formed: "This all came together super fast and super flawless. I guess stars kind of aligned, really. I put something up online and Brian hit me up. He said, 'Dude, I'd be totally down t do some work together,' and that kind of thing. And I was, like, 'You know what? I totally miss singing. And I'm totally down for that.'"

He continued: "The funny thing is, everybody that's involved in this project as of now has worked together at different times except for me and Brian. So it's almost funny. It was like this circle that was just missing a piece for it all to connect. So once me and Brian got together, the whole circle came together, and within six weeks, this whole record's done, completely recorded, everybody's in place. And it's almost super ironic the way it all came together."

Travis, who still plays bass in IN THIS MOMENT, added: "We're all super excited about this project. I'm stoked to be singing again. I love playing bass, obviously, but I've been a singer for a long fucking time. I just took a huge break, so it's good to be able to kind of get back into it and kind of have my cake and eat it too, and be on both sides."

INVIDIA is:

* Matt Snell (FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH) - Bass* Travis Johnson (IN THIS MOMENT) - Vocals* Brian Jackson (SKINLAB) - Guitar* Darren Badorine - Drums* Marcos Medina (SKINLAB) - Guitar

Photo credit: Fred Morledge / PhotoFM.com

German guitar wizard Axel Rudi Pell will release his next offering, "The Ballads V", on April 21 via Steamhammer/SPV. In true Pell tradition, part five of his successful ballad compilation series features a smooth balance between the past six years and some brand-new songs.

For the first time ever in his almost thirty-year career as a solo artist, Axel Rudi Pell welcomes a special guest star on one of his albums: rock legend Bonnie Tyler has recorded a stunning duet with Axel's longtime singer Johnny Gioeli. Axel Rudi Pell is justly proud of his new single, "Love's Holding On" (street date: March 31), saying: "Bonnie Tyler only records songs she personally likes. So I wrote this tune just for her and she really loved it. She came to the studio and we recorded it within a couple of hours. The result is amazing — another soon-to-be Pell classic in the making. If I hadn't been a fan already, I would have turned into one instantly."

The official video for "Love's Holding On" can be seen below.

Apart from another brand-new track called "On The Edge Of Our Time", Pell has again risen to new challenges with his rocking version of the Ed Sheeran hit "I See Fire" (known from the motion picture blockbuster "The Hobbit"), which is an interesting take on one the best ballads in recent years. It shows that even hard rockers like Pell can have a sensitive side, and quite successfully at that.

The other seven tracks on "The Ballads V" (among them a new take on Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My", a live version of the DEEP PURPLE classic "Mistreated" and a previously unreleased live recording of his own fine ballad "The Line"), present Axel Rudi Pell at his best. Pell has established himself as an outstanding rock star, having sold up to 1.5 million records worldwide. Since leaving the influential German metal outfit STEELER in 1989, he's been out there on his own, recording and touring with some of the finest vocalists from the world of rock music: Charlie Huhn (TED NUGENT, GARY MOORE, VICTORY, HUMBLE PIE, FOGHAT), Rob Rock (IMPELLITERI, DRIVER, JOSHUA, AVANTASIA), Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, SOUL SIRKUS, TALISMAN, JOURNEY, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) and last but not least the mighty Johnny Gioeli, who has been working with Axel since 1997 (having been in HARDLINE before that, a project started by JOURNEY guitar legend Neal Schon in 1991).

"The Ballads V" will be released as a CD digipack (including a poster), double gatefold purple vinyl, limited boxset (including a CD digipack, powerbank, CD slim case single, sticker, photocard — Europe only), download and stream.

"The Ballads V" track listing

01. Love's Holding On (5:06) (new song feat. Bonnie Tyler)02. I See Fire (6:02) (new cover version, Ed Sheeran song)03. On The Edge Of Our Time (7:42) (new song)04. Hey Hey My My (5:02)05. Lived Our Lives Before (6:31)06. When Truth Hurts (6:46)07. Forever Free (8:27)08. Lost In Love (6:05)09. The Line (live) (7:31) (previously unreleased)10. Mistreated (live) (14:12)

Swedish metallers DREAM EVIL will release their sixth album, aptly titled "Six", on May 26 via Century Media Records. The official video for the disc's opening track, "Dream Evil", can be seen below. The clip was directed by the band's longtime partner in visuals Patric Ullaeus (IN FLAMES, LACUNA COIL, DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY). DREAM EVIL has checked in with the following comment about the eponymously titled song: "Many bands have a song that features the band's name… but it's actually hard to find a song you feel so directly confident with that it can 'wear' the band's name. In our opinion, the song 'Dream Evil' has this quality, so that's also why it was the obvious choice for our first video of 'Six'. Enjoy!" "Six" track listing: 01. Dream Evil02. Antidote03. Sin City04. Creature Of The Night05. Hellride06. Six Hundred And 6607. How To Start A War08. The Murdered Mind09. Too Loud10. 44 Riders11. Broken Wings12. We Are Forever In addition to the album's standard version as CD and digital download, will be made available as a 180-gram vinyl version with a poster and bonus CD as well as in the limited-edition mediabook CD format with two bonus tracks ("Under Attack" and "Nowhere To Run") and three stickers. The follow-up to 2010's "In The Night" was once again produced by DREAM EVIL guitarist Fredrik Nordström at his own Studio Fredman facilities, which is the birthplace of many modern metal masterpieces by such bands as IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY, HAMMERFALL, AT THE GATES, DIMMU BORGIR, POWERWOLF, ARCHITECTS and BRING ME THE HORIZON. The "Six" cover artwork, which can be seen below, was again created by Gustavo Sazes (ARCH ENEMY, AMARANTHE, FIREWIND). In related news, May 26 will also see the release of the third DREAM EVIL album, "The Book Of Heavy Metal", for the first time ever on vinyl. Considered a modern heavy metal classic by many, 2004's "The Book Of Heavy Metal" will be available on 180-gram black vinyl with the entire album on CD as a bonus.

DREAM EVIL is:

Niklas Isfeldt - Lead VocalsFredrik Nordström - Lead Rhythm GuitarsMark U Black - Lead Lead GuitarsPeter Stålfors - Lead BassPatrik Jerksten - Lead Drums

Bill Hudson has joined U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER — the two bands fronted by former ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider — as the replacement for the recently departed Finnish guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen.

U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER said in a statement: "We are very proud to announce that Mr. Bill Hudson from Brazil is the new guitarist of DIRKSCHNEIDER/U.D.O.!

"Bill is based in the United States, but has already been in Pulheim [Germany] a few weeks ago to join the songwriting session for our next album, which we will start recording soon.

"Bill fits in, in every way, perfectly with us and builds a fantastic guitar team together with Andrey Smirnov. He is very experienced and has shared the stage with several known bands, most notably CIRCLE II CIRCLE, JON OLIVA'S PAIN and TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA for the last few years. It's not really necessary to talk about his skills; simply check it out on our next tour and you will see what we're talking about!

"After Kasperi left the band, we have received many suggestions and applications from great guitar players from all over the planet. At the same time, we started getting hints from different and unrelated people in the business pointing straight into the same direction, telling us to check out this Brazilian/American guy. Once in Germany, he convinced everybody from the get-go and it was very clear that this guy had all the requirements to become the new band member.

"We are REALLY looking forward to kick ass even more so than ever before!"

U.D.O. has commenced work on the follow-up to 2015's "Decadent" album for a tentative late 2017 release.

Heikkinen left U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER in February for personal reasons.

Udo spent the last year touring under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner, performing classic ACCEPT songs for the last time.

"Decadent" was released in Europe in January 2015 via AFM. The disc was recorded in Udo's current home, Spanish island Ibiza, and also at Redhead Audio Productions in Wilhelmshaven.

The current U.D.O. lineup includes Udo's 23-year-old son Sven Dirkschneider, who joined the group as the replacement for drummer Francesco Jovino.

DIRKSCHNEIDER released a live album called "Live - Back To The Roots" in October via AFM Records. The effort, which was recorded on April 2, 2016 at Kaminwerk in Memmingen, Germany, was made available as two-CD digipak and gatefold three-vinyl in four different colors (black, gold, silver and clear).

Photo courtesy of DIRKSCHNEIDER Facebook page

An "unboxing" video for ARCH ENEMY's new live DVD, "As The Stages Burn!", can be seen below. Released on March 31 via Century Media, the set contains video footage of the band's largest stage production to date from their performance last summer at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. This performance marks the pinnacle of a highly successful album campaign in support of "War Eternal". It all began in March of 2014 when the band announced new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz as well as the video for the album title track, "War Eternal". This debut track went on to become the bands most successful video in their career, surpassing 20 million views on YouTube. The release of the "War Eternal" album also saw ARCH ENEMY reaching their highest U.S. and German chart positions to date while going on to play over 200 shows in over 40 countries around the world. In late 2014, Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE) joined ARCH ENEMY during the world tour with KREATOR and in 2015 they played arenas as direct support for NIGHTWISH.

ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott told Spark TV about "As The Stages Burn!": "I think this is the perfect album cycle to document. It's a fresh new ARCH ENEMY, and we just spent two years on the road or more, and, yeah, we just wanna put it out there kind of as a document of this time. And the show at Wacken was really special as well. We put a lot of effort into the production and had our biggest show to date. And that'll be the main part of the DVD, I guess, but there's gonna be a lot of other stuff as well, and it'll be like a live album, DVD, Blu-ray and all that stuff. We have a lot of other cool shows filmed as well, and parts of those might very well be a part of the DVD. But, you know, Wacken was just a great opportunity; it's the biggest heavy metal festival in the world."

ARCH ENEMY will celebrate the release of "As The Stages Burn!" with a number of European shows with special support from LACUNA COIL and THE HAUNTED.

ARCH ENEMY is currently recording its new album for a tentative September 2017 release. Michael stated about the musical direction of the new ARCH ENEMY material: "It's very diverse, I think, the material. It's got a lot of trademark ARCH ENEMY elements, I guess. I can think a song is really, really different, but then we're gonna play it, it's gonna be us playing it, Alissa [White-Gluz] singing, it's gonna sound very, very ARCH ENEMY. So it's not like a huge departure, but it's definitely the next… I think we're more relaxed, maybe, than on the last album… 'Cause Alissa's been with us for three years, and it's not as tense, maybe, as it was the last time around. [Before we released 'War Eternal'] we were, like, 'We don't even know if people are gonna like this, if people are gonna accept us, ARCH ENEMY, with a new singer.' We didn't really know, which made the songs maybe more… To me, 'War Eternal' has a very kind of dark and very angry and claustrophobic feel to it, which is really cool. But I think the new one is gonna be more open and probably more powerful, actually."

Michael also confirmed that ARCH ENEMY's new guitarist, Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE), has not contributed to the songwriting on the band's new disc but "he's gonna be playing on the album, of course."

THE MAGPIE SALUTE — the new band bringing together Rich Robinson, Marc Ford and Sven Pipien of THE BLACK CROWES — will release its self-titled debut album worldwide on June 9 via Eagle Rock Entertainment. Produced by CROWES guitarist and co-founder Robinson, the musically tight and expansive album was recorded live in the studio in front of an audience at Applehead Recording in Woodstock, New York, except for the full studio track "Omission". The album carries special significance as it marks the last recorded work by Eddie Harsch, the late BLACK CROWES keyboardist whose signature sound and gentle soul are woven into THE MAGPIE SALUTE. The deeply soulful rock "Omission" — written by Robinson and vocalist John Hogg — is the album's first single, arriving to radio in May, with a video to be released shortly thereafter. Look for the band to launch a national headline tour starting July 26 in Indianapolis. In advance of the album's release, THE MAGPIE SALUTE will issue a 10-inch vinyl 45 single of "Comin' Home" and "Glad And Sorry" on Record Store Day, Saturday April 22 (U.S). THE MAGPIE SALUTE — driven by the magic of the reunited Robinson and Ford guitar team — features musicians who've played together for decades throughout various projects and share a truly deep musical bond. Joining Robinson, Ford and Pipien in the bandare drummer Joe Magistro and guitarist Nico Bereciartua. The group also boasts a fine cast of vocalists, including Robinson, Ford, lead singer John Hogg (HOOKAH BROWN, MOKE), former CROWES singer Charity White and background singers, Adrien Reju and Katrine Ottosen. There is wide-open musical freedom on the band's debut album, with half of the 10 songs coming in over seven minutes in length, and the musicians' wide-ranging roots are reflected in the diverse selections. They offer fresh takes of THE BLACK CROWES' "What Is Home" and "Wiser Time", and interpret songs by DELANEY AND BONNIE ("Comin' Home"), Bobby Hutcherson ("Goin' Down South"), WAR ("War Drums"), PINK FLOYD ("Fearless"), THE FACES ("Glad And Sorry"), Bob Marley ("Time Will Tell", which THE BLACK CROWES covered on their second album) and the traditional "Ain't No More Cane". THE MAGPIE SALUTE first surfaced this past January with four back-to-back sold-out shows at the Gramercy Theatre in New York. "It was clear from the get-go that Ford and Robinson still have unmistakable synergy," noted Glide Magazine (1/24/17). Then came the announcement of their debut in London where the group will perform four concerts at Under The Bridge (April 12-15), with the first show selling out shortly within an hour of the tickets going on pre-sale. This news was followed by the announcement of shows in Chicago (July), San Francisco (September), Boston (August), Atlanta (August) and Los Angeles (September).

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine believes that he is one of the best rhythm guitar players in the world — part of what he calls "the fantastic four," alongside James Hetfield (METALLICA), Malcolm Young (AC/DC) and Rudolf Schenker (SCORPIONS).

Mustaine, who was the original lead guitarist of METALLICA, was dismissed from the band in 1983. He was replaced by Kirk Hammett and went on to form MEGADETH and achieve worldwide success on his own.

The MEGADETH leader spoke about his brief tenure in METALLICA during a February 2016 interview with Steven Rosen at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California. The chat, parts of which were originally published last year by Guitar Interactive magazine, has been transcribed in more depth for Rock Cellar Magazine and posted online earlier this month.

Speaking about his dismissal from METALLICA, Mustaine said: "I was a very dysfunctional person and a drunk and a loser and I liked to fight a lot. James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] one time kicked a puppy that I had and I freaked out. I just said, 'Man, I'm gonna kick your ass!' Ron McGovney [METALLICA's original bassist] said, 'You kick his ass, you're gonna have to hit me first.' I said, 'You shut up and sit the fuck down.' Then James goes, 'You hit him, you're gonna have to hit me first.' And I went, 'Okay, you win, James.' He had a mouthful of bloody, baby Chiclets and he was sitting there crying and telling me to get my shit out."

Mustaine also talked about his role in METALLICA and the early chemistry between him and Hetfield. He said: "The weirdest thing about it is when I was in the band, James didn't do any talking in between songs. If you put the two of us together side by side, split a TV monitor in half and had us both hopping around onstage, there's a lot of similarities. The way he acts and moves with his guitar and stuff like that."

He added: "I think James is one of the best rhythm guitar players in the world. As far as rhythm guitar players are concerned, there's James, there's me, there's Malcolm Young and there's Rudolf Schenker. There's no one else that touches the four of us. We're the fantastic four."

Mustaine feuded with the members of METALLICA for more than two decades before finally patching things up over the last few years. He has jammed with his ex-bandmates on several occasions during "Big Four" shows and at METALLICA's 30th-anniversary concerts in 2011.

Mustaine was not inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with METALLICA during the April 2009 ceremony at Cleveland, Ohio's Public Auditorium.

James Hetfield says that he is "honored" the U.S. military used METALLICA's music to psychologically torture prisoners of war because it "help[ed] us stay safe."

According to U.K. publication The Guardian, U.S. interrogators seeking to disorientate and break Iraqi prisoners played music from METALLICA and other heavy rock acts such as AC/DC, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and NINE INCH NAILS, as well as less aggressive and somewhat more surprising selections from Britney Spears, David Gray, Eminem, AEROSMITH, and even children's shows like "Barney And Friends" and "Sesame Street".

Asked by Thrasher magazine in a recent interview if he is offended at all by the CIA's use of METALLICA's music to torture prisoners, Hetfield said: "Ha! We've tortured people with it for a long time. A lot longer than the CIA."

He continued: "I've got nothing to say about that, really. I'm honored my country is using something to help us stay safe, if they are. But then again, once the music is out, I don't have control over that. Just like how someone's giving it away online. They're using it to do what they do.

"There's plenty of METALLICA cover bands, there's plenty of people doing 'Enter Sandman' or 'Nothing Else Matters' in Gregorian style, bluegrass style or Celtic harp combos and, you know — the music is out there and it gets used, so there you go."

Asked about Kerry King's comment that SLAYER's music "would have been scarier and maybe more effective" in psychologically torturing prisoners of war, Hetfield said: "I agree. No doubt about that, but there's still even scarier stuff than SLAYER too. There's some pretty intense crazy stuff out there."

Hetfield's latest comments echo those he made in 2008 when he was asked by a German TV network how he felt about the band's music being used to torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He replied: "Part of me is proud is because they chose METALLICA... And then part of me is kind of bummed about it that people worry about us being attached to some political statement because of that."

In a 2009 appearance on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show", METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was also asked about the band's music being used to psychologically torture prisoners of war. He responded: "There is a lot of METALLICA music that's helping a lot of scared 18-, 19- and 20-year-old kids out there who are out on the front lines and who are doing a hell of a job on behalf of you and me and the rest of us. But, obviously, when you hear stories like the one you're telling, it all seems so bizarre and so strange that METALLICA's music, which generally sort of facilitates bringing people together, is used in these bizarre circumstances. It's certainly not something that we in any way advocate or condone."

Ulrich also told Maddow that if someone really wanted to use music to torture others, there are groups out there that are way more extreme than METALLICA. "If there are people that are dumb enough to use to interrogate prisoners, you're forgetting about all the music that's to the left of us," he said. "I can name, you know, thirty Norwegian death metal bands that would make METALLICA sound like SIMON & GARFUNKEL."

Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR are putting the finishing touches on their long-awaited follow-up to 2010's "Abrahadabra" album for a late 2017 release via Nuclear Blast. Guitarist Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz) told Metal Wani about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's new disc: "Well, right now I'm calling from the studio in Sweden, and we're in the mixing stages, the last, final stages of the mixing of the album. So that's where we're at at the moment… We are attacking it now with surgical knives. And the small — extremely small — microscopic stuff that we feel is necessary to put the last pieces on the album, the last touches."

According to Silenoz, DIMMU BORGIR has decided not to use a live orchestra during the making of the band's new album, "but the orchestral parts on the album are, of course, built up by real orchestra sounds," he explained. "So I think this album is even sounding more orchestral in the orchestral parts than the previous album. So it hasn't lost anything from that aspect than the previous album."

The guitarist also spoke about the overall musical direction of the new DIMMU BORGIR material, saying: "To me, it's, of course, a bit difficult to analyze at the moment, and it probably will be for the next couple of years anyway. But it's definitely a diverse, very much varied-sounding album. Every song stands perfectly on its own feet and it offers so much stuff. There's tons of layers as usual, but more controlled, maybe. So I can't wait for the people and the fans that have been waiting for so many years and also, of course, complaining with good reasons. But I believe that it's much better for us to do it in our own tempo, and you can't force art anyway, so that's just how it is."

Silenoz couldn't provide a tentative release date for the new DIMMU BORGIR album but said that the plan is to definitely get it out this year. "We've been kind of under the radar and out of the so-called business for a few years now, so we don't really have a total overview of how it works, 'cause it changes maybe from month to month… I don't know," he explained. "We just wanna try and make this release as important as it can [be]. It needs a lot of preparation in the promotion department. Once we have done the mastering and the cover artwork and the videos and all that stuff, then the next part of the work — I wouldn't call it work even — but the next part of the scheduling is, of course, the world touring."

Asked if DIMMU BORGIR felt pressure following up an album as acclaimed as "Abrahadabra", Silenoz said: "It might sound cocky, but I feel that we are really confident about what we have done so far, and I know it's the best we can do at this point in our career. With that said, people are probably gonna either hate it or love it, and that's fine. I don't expect people to not have any issues about it, whether it's positive or negative, and that's how it's always been with this band, and that's fine with me. I just know that we have done our part, our best thing we can do at this point, so with that, we feel pretty confident, yeah."

Regarding whether DIMMU BORGIR was inspired by its earlier releases while making the new LP, Silenoz said: "It's hard to say if we draw influences from our previous albums, but I guess we do things in a certain way and we have our own framework, so to speak, which we work within. Of course, we try and expand that as much as we can, but it has to come naturally. If you force stuff, that's not gonna work. But I think it's been a total natural evolution, and that's probably a clichéd thing to say as well, but that's just how it feels. It just feels this is what we do at this point in our career."

DIMMU BORGIR's new DVD, "Forces Of The Northern Night", will be released on April 14 via Nuclear Blast. The set will contain two of the band's live performances: their legendary show in Oslo, presenting DIMMU BORGIR on stage with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and a bombastic choir, as well as their entire performance at Wacken Open Air festival in 2012 in Wacken, Germany with almost a hundred musicians on stage.

DIMMU BORGIR's most recent touring lineup included Geir Bratland (APOPTYGMA BERZERK, THE KOVENANT) on keyboards and Terje Andersen (a.k.a. Cyrus; SUSPERIA) on bass.

On March 23rd, Venom Inc. - featuring original Venom members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray (drums), as well as former Venom bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan - performed at Hammerfest IX in Pwllheli, Wales. Fan-fiilmed video is available below. 

 

 

Venom Inc. frontman Tony Dolan recently appeared on Joshs Metal Monday for an in-depth interview about the band and his start with Venom. Part 1 of the two-part interview is available below.

 

In mid-2015, former Venom member Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan, together with original members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Tony "Abaddon" Bray, formed a second incarnation of Britain's seminal black metal band. After coming together under the flag Venom Inc, history began to write itself once again. Now, after proving their lasting prowess on the road and at festivals internationally throughout the past year, the band is pleased to announce their signing with premier international heavy metal label Nuclear Blast Records. The band is scheduled to release a new album this year - more details coming soon!

Nuclear Blast A&R Manager Jaap Wagemaker states, "Nuclear Blast is very stoked to welcome Mantas, Abaddon and the Demolition Man as new members of the Nuclear Family! We grew up with the first three albums that Mantas and Abaddon recorded and made them legendary, and that led the foundations to black metal! I've also been a big fan of Atomkraft with the Demolition Man as well! I've already had the pleasure of working with Mantas and Abaddon early 90's when there was a tribute released, In The Name Of Satan, and when they did the reunion show at Dynamo Open Air! A couple of years ago I saw them perform with Venom Inc - their first ever concert at Keep it True and ever since then the band have proven to be road warriors and have played around the globe answering to the calls of their legions!

“This year I received the first demos and they proved that they are still built of iron and steel and that they have returned at full force! The band is ready to write another chapter to their legendary status!  It is with great pride that we welcome Venom Inc to Nuclear Blast!"

Venom Inc's Tony "The Demolition Man" Dolan states, "It is my greatest pleasure to announce we are now part of the superb Nuclear Blast team and roster! Nuclear Blast is a label run by people who care about their art, know what they are doing and hold their artist roster, and the fans, to the highest standard and level of respect. Their roster includes some of my biggest musical heroes. Those artists, combined with our friends on the exceptional Nuclear Blast staff, are what makes this label the very best. Top artists and a great team. I feel humbled and grateful to join their ranks. I know we will give all we have to make this partnership the very best in every way it can possibly be. For this opportunity, I thank them. ALL HAIL AVE!"

Venom Inc's Jeff "Mantas" Dunn adds, "It is an absolute honor and a privilege to now be part of the Nuclear Blast roster. I would like to thank all involved in this journey and our arrival at this prestigious destination. The one thing that I think that I can proudly say is that this has been realized through sheer hard work, perseverance and determination, and of course the amazing support from our lifeblood... THE FANS. I have to admit that I am overwhelmed and humbled by the faith and belief bestowed upon us by our management and now our new home, Nuclear Blast. So now, we have a new beginning with firm foundations in every respect. MAXIMUM RESPECT!"

Additionally, Venom Inc is now represented by Breaking Bands LLC (Testament vocalist and co-manager Chuck Billy, Adrenaline PR CEO Maria Ferrero, and former MegaForce Records and Crazed Management owners Jon and Marsha Zazula) for management, as well as Hexagon Booking Agency (Jerome Haultier) for booking in Europe and the UK and Circle Talent Agency (Dan Rozenblum) in North America.

Jon Zazula states, "Mantas and Abbadon have been friends of the Zazula family for 35 years, and it was Dolan that got us all together. We'll see where it goes! I must say that their new album is über heavy - you're going to love it!"

Maria Ferrero recalls, "I'm so happy to be able to work with Venom Inc! This band is so close to home and to my heart, as one of the first shows I ever saw was the Venom show that Jon and Marsha presented as Rock N Roll Heaven Presents in 1983. I've always believed in everything that they do, and to have Jon and Chuck as partners and to be able to continue to do this with people like Venom Inc brings it back around full circle. We're ready to knock this out of the park, have fun, succeed and pave the way for bands of the future."

Chuck Billy adds, "Congratulations to Venom Inc for signing a multi-record deal with Nuclear Blast. I couldn't be more proud to have such an iconic band added to the Breaking Bands LLC roster, as well. Wishing them the best of luck - the best is yet to come!"

Venom Inc. are set to perform at several festivals in Europe throughout 2017, including stops at Hammerfest Festival, Inferno Fest, Heavy Metal Cauldron and others. The band will perform classic Venom sets. See below for all current performance dates:

April
1 - Glasgow, Scotland - Lords of The Land festival
13 - Oslo, Norway - Inferno Fest
29 - Barroselas, Portgual - SWR Barroselas

July
24 - Sotocje, Slovenia - MetalDays Festival

August
5 - Lyon, France - Slovak Open Air

October
27 - Helsinki, Finland - Heavy Metal Cauldron

Middle East extreme metal pioneers Nervecell have set Past, Present…Torture as the title of their new album, due for release this summer via Lifeforce Records. 

Nervecell’s forthcoming effort will mark the band’s third full-length studio release since the follow-up to 2011’s Psychogenocide, which was also mixed and mastered by Wojtek and Slawek Wiesawski at Hertz Studios (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader) in Poland. The album cover artwork was created by Colin Marks of Rain Song Design (Exodus, Origin, Whitechapel) and can be seen below.

Commented the band: "Past, Present…Torture is an album we’ve been working on for roughly the last four years. The album consists of 13 new tracks that promise to be the most extreme and versatile Nervecell record to date, have no doubt about it! The title speaks for itself, focusing on the state of the world and where we are all headed as a civilization. We can’t wait for you all to have a taste of what’s in store, don’t say we didn’t warn you…"

For information and updates on Nervecell check out their official Facebook page here.

Comatose Music has set a June 9th release date for Aftermath, the new album from Logic Of Denial.

This is the third album by these Italian miscreants, further expanding the sonic exploration crafted in their previous 2013 effort Atonement with a more diverse, brutal and complex approach. 

The band's evolution can be heard on the premiere of album track "Devouring Seeds Of The Apocalypse."

Conceived as a three chapter concept album about the various stages during the grieving process, Aftermath contains twelve vicious tracks which conceptually probe the resentment consistent with the incessant and infamous vilification of human vulnerability.

Album artwork by the mighty Jon Zig.

Tracklisting:

“Abscission”
“Devouring Seeds Of The Apocalypse”
“Gorging On Innocence”
“Miroir”
“Sufferance”
“Assenza (The Sufferance Ouverture)”
“Larvae Of Eden”
“The Decaying Drama (Pt. I: Quietus – Pt. II: Antinferno)”
“Defilement”
“Violating The Canvas Of Forgotten Purity”
“Immaculate”
“Euphoric Abhorrent Synthesis”

“Devouring Seeds Of The Apocalype”:

Elize Ryd says that DYNAZTY's Nils Molin is "top of the list" of candidates to join AMARANTHE as the replacement for the recently departed singer Joacim "Jake E" Lundberg.

Having previously used Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye from the band SMASH INTO PIECES as a stand-in for Jake on some of the shows in 2016 and earlier this year, AMARANTHE recruited Molin for three Swedish concerts earlier in the month (see video below).

Asked if Molin will now join AMARANTHE on a more permanent basis, the band's frontwoman told Roppongi Rocks: "I hope so! Nils is top of the list. We had fun with these gigs in Sweden. It was so much fun! He's a cool and great guy. Thus it would be great to have him in the band. Exciting! It's great with some new blood." However, as was the case with Chris Adam, Molin is a member of another band. "That's the problem," Elize said. "He's awesome. It sounded really great. His voice fits us really well. He can even reach the high octaves together with me. That was cool! We want him! We obviously would like to have him. We'll see what happens. We'll find out. He's coming with us for the Finland tour [in April]."

Ryd also revealed that she was not expecting Jake's departure from AMARANTHE. "No!" she said. "The way I feel for the band, this was shocking. I would never want to leave my baby. But I understand that if he has other musical ideas. It's up to him. No one's forcing anyone to do anything. It's like everything in life — you take risks. If you feel that you're prepared to go for it, then that's what you should do. If you feel that you have nothing to lose, then it is nothing to dwell on."

AMARANTHE's latest album, "Maximalism", was released last October via Spinefarm Records. The disc was produced once again by Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, EPICA, DELAIN) and mastered by Svante Forsbäck (RAMMSTEIN, APOCALYPTICA, DRAGONFORCE).

BMG has announced it has signed a worldwide recording deal with multi-platinum rock band A PERFECT CIRCLE. The band is in the studio working on material for a new full-length album, to be released later in the year.

A PERFECT CIRCLE formed in 1999 with principal members Billy Howerdel (ASHES DIVIDE) and Maynard James Keenan (TOOL, PUSCIFER) creating a fluid band where lineups were free to shift with each ensuing album. The band's current lineup is Howerdel, Keenan, James Iha (THE SMASHING PUMPKINS), Jeff Friedl (DEVO, THE BETA MACHINE) and Matt McJunkins (EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, THE BETA MACHINE). Howerdel said: "We just signed a new record deal with BMG! Looking forward to sharing new music with you soon. New APC-2017!" Jon Cohen, EVP Recorded Music at BMG, said: "We're thrilled to welcome A PERFECT CIRCLE to BMG and excited to present their highly anticipated new music to the world. Their uncompromising approach, vision and legion of fans have made them one of the most artistic and commercially successful acts in rock." Howerdel recently said that the band has "every intention" of making new A PERFECT CIRCLE music available to fans in 2017 as it heads out on tour. Speaking with Billboard, Howerdel said: "We're not promising anything, but I have every intention of doing my best to have us playing some new tracks during this run — with the idea that new music is coming very soon after."

The band's tour — its first full-fledged trek since 2011 — kicks off on April 6. The schedule will include appearances at the Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock and Carolina Rebellion festivals in late April and early May, along with a closing night stop at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 7.

A PERFECT CIRCLE has been largely inactive on the recording front for the past 13 years, with only a new song titled "By And Down" surfacing on a hits collection in 2013.

The group was an instant success when it first came on the scene in 2000 with its debut album, "Mer De Noms", and Howerdel explained a while back how he felt about the band's early success. "I was appreciative then, I'm certainly appreciative now of how everything came together — how all the forces came together and made it happen, and all the timing worked out, with the NINE INCH NAILS tour, opening for them, and, you know, having key people at Virgin Records believe in us and ferociously campaign to market the band in the right way, and Maynard's reputation with TOOL in place... everything just came together."

During the time that the band has been mostly on hiatus, Howerdel launched an act called ASHES DIVIDE, while Maynard James Keenan toured and recorded with TOOL and PUSCIFER while also running a winery.

Howerdel said: "To be honest, I thought [a comeback] would be a few years earlier... It felt like a few years ago it was going to happen, but this is just the way the schedules lined up. But I'm always excited to get the machine back up and going."

Photo credit: Tim Cadiente

ITN Distribution has acquired the rights to worldwide distribution for the horror/psychological thriller "The Evangelist" (formerly "Clean Cut") with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and eOne Entertainment releasing the film in the U.S. and Canada. On May 9, enter the sadistic world of The Evangelist, a bible-quoting serial killer who has a small New Jersey town gripped with fear. Is he the same maniac from the past continuing his moral cleansing or a new, merciless angel of death? Starring Keith Collins ("The Meat Puppet","The Jersey Devil"), Doug Bollinger ("Waltzing Anna"), Samantha Artese ("The Coffee Shop") and Michael Billy ("The One"), "The Evangelist" won two coveted awards at the Atlantic City Cinefest Film Festival for Best Horror and Best Actor with original music by former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, who portrays Jack Hayes in the film.

"The Evangelist" tells the story of Bill Horton (Collins) who at seven years old watched in horror as a serial killer murdered his mother. Known as The Evangelist, he places a bible next to her body and quotes scripture as he leaves Bill alone and destroyed. Thirty years later, Bill has grown up and appears to be a model citizen, spending his days cleaning his house and baking. He has, however, picked up the mantle of The Evangelist, killing those who he finds wicked and evil and leaving a bible by their bodies. Bill only opens up to Dr. Laura Cooper (Artese), a psychiatrist, who discovers Bill's dark secret. She contacts young Detective Edward Legros (Billy) who is working on the case with his cynical, veteran partner, Detective John Vance (Bollinger). But what Vance knows about the original Evangelist will lead to a bloody showdown.

American rock act CKY has signed a worldwide record deal with Entertainment One Music (eOne Music). The band's new full-length album will be released this summer.

Scott Givens, SVP of eOne Music, says: "All of us at Entertainment One are elated to have CKY join us and are looking forward unleashing their amazing new record this summer."

"We are thrilled to be working with one of the most progressive record labels in the music business today," adds CKY vocalist Chad I Ginsburg. "CKY are looking forward to a long partnership in great music for the entire world with eOne!”"

CKY's as-yet-untitled new LP will mark the band's first release since 2009's "Carver City".

CKY just announced a slew of tour dates highlighted by a summer long trek with the 2017 Vans Warped Tour. This is the band's first time returning to the Warped Tour since 2000.

But first the band will head over to the U.K. to do thirteen-show run, some of which dates are already sold out. This will be the first time the band has been back to the U.K. since 2009. CKY will then head to Canada for ten key shows from Quebec all the way to Vancouver. Chad I Ginsburg, the band's guitarist and singer, steps into the frontman role with charisma, charm, and bravado, confidently delivering a diverse performance as he claims a position that was clearly rightfully his to own. He's joined in enduring partnership and musical and personal chemistry by fellow CKY cofounder Jess Margera, the drummer whose extracurricular work in projects like THE COMPANY BAND (with guys from CLUTCH and FIREBALL MINISTRY) expanded CKY's horizons as much as Ginsburg's solo work has as well. The duo returned to their primary project refreshed and re-energized, with bassist Matt Deis (ex-ALL THAT REMAINS), who first joined CKY in 2005.

GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA and DEFTONES have all personally invited CKY on tour, cementing a legacy as a hard-charging live act. CKY built a worldwide fanbase of dedicated acolytes, friends, and supporters, lovingly dubbed the CKY Alliance, with a broader group of musicians, athletes, and other creative types in the CKY family, both literally and figuratively.

"We're grown adults now with an eagle-eye perspective on who we are, what we do, and how to do it right," Ginsburg declares, with matter-of-fact certainty. "None of us are out there in the clouds. We're pretty well-grounded people that have an honest perspective on where we're at."

This year marks the 40th anniversary of RUSH's sixth studio album, "A Farewell To Kings". To kick-start the celebration, on April 22, UMe/Anthem/ole will release a limited-edition, 12-inch single for "Cygnus X-1" as an exclusive for Record Store Day, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Featuring "Book I: The Voyage" and "Book II: Hemispheres", this is the first time these tracks will be released as a single and the pressing will be limited to only 5000 copies. "Cygnus X-1" is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and features brand new artwork by Hugh Syme, RUSH's longtime artwork and creative director. Side A:

Cygnus X-1 – Book I: The Voyage Side B:

Cygnus X-1 – Book II: Hemispheres Released in 1977, "A Farewell To Kings" is the studio follow-up to "2112" and is a continuation of RUSH's musical growth, as they continued to push traditional rock boundaries and explore new ground, both musically and lyrically. Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, "A Farewell To Kings" was the band's first U.S gold-selling album, receiving the certification within two months of its release, and was later certified platinum.

Formed in Gothenburg ten years ago, Swedish band DEAD BY APRIL returns with its fourth album, "Worlds Collide", on April 7 via Spinefarm. Since the turbulence around the last record, "Let The World Know", drummer Marcus Rosell (ENDS WITH A BULLET) has replaced Alex Svenningson. And as a result of Zandro Santiago leaving the band in 2014, the clean vocals are, for the first time ever on a DEAD BY APRIL album, handled by the founder, guitarist and songwriter Pontus Hjelm. Together with Marcus Wesslén (bass) and Christoffer Andersson (vocals) the now-four-piece act is more focused than ever. "It's liberating to have a respectful attitude to each other in the band, and to be able to put all energy on the music instead," says Pontus Hjelm. "Worlds Collide" was once again produced by Pontus Hjelm. But this time DEAD BY APRIL had famous American producer Ben Grosse, known for his work with artists like MARILYN MANSON, SLIPKNOT, ALTER BRIDGE and DISTURBED, lay his hands on the final production. Grosse mixed "Worlds Collide" in Los Angeles and carved out a more grown DEAD BY APRIL sound that the fans will both recognize and hear distinct development in. The dynamic result spans from the powerful rock ballad "Perfect The Way You Are" to the aggressive all growl track "This Is My Life".

"What's relatively new sound wise on this album is that my clean vocals also has some rawness to it," Hjelm says. "I put more power into my singing, which adds attitude to the vocals. It was a challenge getting there without a complete change in our sound."

Having blasted its way into the metal scene, with MySpace as a springboard, DEAD BY APRIL debuted with its self titled album in 2009. That same year the band had an instant breakthrough with the single "Losing You", which soon led DEAD BY APRIL to gold albums in Sweden for both the debut album and the 2011 follow-up, "Incomparable". Fans all over the globe have discovered the unique sound of DEAD BY APRIL and the band have toured the world since — with artists like LINKIN PARK, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and SLIPKNOT. But along with the success their natural mix of catchy pop melodies and aggressive metal have provoked some listeners throughout the bands entire career. On the new album, this has inspired "Can You See The Red", a song reflecting on Internet hate as a phenomenon. And according to Pontus Hjelm it ended up being one of the angriest songs the band's ever written.

"It's quite depressing. How can the hate comments on YouTube be the same as they where ten years ago? It is provocative," he says. "But on the other hand, we don't really care. We won't be provoked by a single comment. The song is some kind of of reflection on how ridiculous the online hatred is. But it's complex. A pure hater probably has other problems behind all those comments."

And on "Worlds Collide", DEAD BY APRIL will likely once again provoke listeners with their music. The powerful ballad "For Every Step" breaks new ground for the band as none of the singers Christoffer "Stoffe" Andersson and Pontus Hjelm handles the vocals. Instead they have brought in the true Swedish voice giant Tommy Körberg. Not only has the singer been one of the most respected artists in Sweden for almost five decades, Körberg is also well known for his international work in both Eurovision Song Contest and the highly acclaimed musical "Chess" (written by ABBA legendary masterminds Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus). At the age of 68, Körberg makes a breathtaking metal debut.

The idea came from "Stoffe" who heard the voice of Körberg in his head when working on the demo. DEAD BY APRIL contacted the singer, who loved the song and agreed to make a exclusive guest appearance. After one hour in a studio in Stockholm, the vocals were done.

"It was awesome," says Hjelm. "Tommy Körberg, almost 70 years old, enters the studio and doesn't even bother to warm up his voice. He pulls off his leather jacket, steps into the tracking room and just nails it."

The collaboration could've ended there. The idea was to have Körberg singing one of the verses and Pontus the rest. But just a few days after the recording session in Stockholm, the Swedish icon is having second thoughts — Körberg is convinced that "For Every Step" will turn out even better if he sings the entire song by himself.

"It was very flattering," says Pontus Hjelm. "I replied, 'Of course, you are the best voice in Sweden.' Then he took a train to Gothenburg and recorded the rest of the vocals in my studio. It was awesome."

"Judgement Day", a brand new song from the multinational metal band DRAGONFORCE, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Reaching Into Infinity", which will be released on May 19 via earMUSIC on CD, LP and a special-edition CD and DVD. The follow-up to 2014's "Maximum Overload" marks the band's third full-length studio release with singer Marc Hudson, who joined the group in 2011 following the departure of original frontman ZP Theart (now in SKID ROW). The bulk of the recording sessions for "Reaching Into Infinity" took place at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK and SYMPHONY X, to name a few. The band also laid down tracks while touring their "Killer Elite" best-of album, utilizing Lamerluser Studios in London, U.K.; Dark Lane Studios in Witney, U.K.; as well as the band's own Evil1 Studios in Charleville-Mézières, France and Shredforce One Studios in California. "We were flying out, playing a festival, then back into the studio, then back out again," explains DRAGONFORCE bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who also handled the majority of songwriting on this album. "It was very intense and very tiring. I obviously played bass but also a lot of rhythm guitar, electric and acoustic, and lost my temper a few times. I think we all did at some point, because we wanted to deliver nothing but the best." For their seventh studio album, DRAGONFORCE have opened up their sound like never before, capturing the fierce, forlorn and fun with both menace and melody. "I think we have proven that playing fast was something we were good at, so this time I wanted to bring even more diversity into our music," Frédéric continues. "It's great to challenge ourselves instead of staying in a comfort zone, and I really wanted to experiment with Marc's vocals. I think people are going to be surprised at his brutality."

"Reaching Into Infinity" is DRAGONFORCE's first album to feature Gee Anzalone, the Italian drummer who has laid down an insanely impressive performance to provide the perfect backbone to the DRAGONFORCE sound, which, of course, still boasts the bands trademark crazy-fast solos, courtesy of guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman.

"The title of the album explains pretty much what we are trying to do with our music," Frédéric concludes. "Today's world is really crazy — there is fear of the future, uncertainty. But the power of music is infinite, and it can give strength and hope to people." The band will give fans their first taste of the new songs in a live setting at a very exclusive one-off show at Camden Town, London's Black Heart venue, on April 12.

Totman says: "This is going to be insane! We always like to kick things off with some intimate shows and this will be the smallest London show we've done since doing three consecutive weeks at The Barfly back in 2005. It's going to be a wild sweaty party!" "Reaching Into Infinity" will be available on the following formats:

Standard Edition 01. Reaching Into Infinity02. Ashes Of The Dawn03. Judgement Day04. Astral Empire05. Curse Of Darkness06. Silence07. Midnight Madness08. WAR!09. Land Of Shattered Dreams10. The eDGE OF THE wORLD11. Our Final Stand Special Edition with multi-angle Bonus DVD: Disc 1 - CD 01. Reaching Into Infinity02. Ashes Of The Dawn03. Judgement Day04. Astral Empire05. Curse Of Darkness06. Silence07. Midnight Madness08. WAR!09. Land Of Shattered Dreams10. The Edge Of The World11. Our Final Stand Bonus Tracks 12. Hatred And Revenge13. Evil Dead Disc 2 - Bonus DVDDRAGONFORCE Live at Woodstock Festival Poland 2016 01. Holding On02. Heroes Of Our Time03. Operation Ground And Pound04. Holding On (Multi-angles)05. Heroes Of Our Time (Multi-angeles)06. Operation Ground And Pound (Multi-Angles)

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and ANTHRAX kicked off "The Killthrax Tour" last night (Wednesday, March 29) at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey.

Fan-filmed video footage of KILLSWITCH's performance can be seen below.

With KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and ANTHRAX rotating the closing slot over the course of the dates, the tour will criss-cross the continent, wrapping up in Boston on May 7. The intense and dynamic THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is providing direct support on all dates.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's latest album "Incarnate", was released in March 2016 via Roadrunner Records.

2016 saw KILLSWITCH ENGAGE appearing on a "Stars Wars"-themed Revolver cover, staging an unforgettable and intimate, five-club New York City takeover for album release week, and embarking on an impressive "Incarnate" world tour. The band also released a limited-edition seven-inch single as part of the spring version of Record Store Day in April 2016; it featured "Define Love", an unreleased track from the "Incarnate" sessions.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE recently released the "Beyond The Flames: Home Video Part II" two-disc, Blu-ray and CD package. At the heart of this release is a 75-minute documentary that chronicles the return of singer Jesse Leach, after nearly a decade of being apart, to the band he helped form back in 1999. The piece also takes a close look at the KILLSWITCH ENGAGE early years that eventually led to Leach's initial departure. Produced and directed by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE storyteller Denise Korycki, this documentary picks up right where their 2005 "(Set This) World Ablaze" release left off, revealing the untold rest of the KILLSWITCH ENGAGE story.