Forbes.com is reporting that on February 18th in Portland, Oregon, KISS gave a surprise performance at the close of a gala fundraiser event, where legendary rockers such as Alice Cooper, Robby Krieger of the Doors, Danny Seraphine from the band, Chicago, and Will Lee from The Late Show with David Letterman, among others, also performed. The exclusive “All-Star Salute to the Oregon Military” event raised $1.4 million toward completing the construction of the $20 million Oregon Military Museum named after KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer's father, Brigadier General James B. Thayer. To help raise funds, Tommy Thayer joined forces with Zenith Swiss watch brand to create a special commemorative watch and a small, limited edition collection.

“Obviously, this is important to me on a personal level because my father is involved,” said Tommy Thayer in a private interview, “but it is important, too, for people to remember and commemorate the amazing people and their stories of heroism. The things they did for our country are inspirational and help us understand where we came from, what helped make us, as a country.”

Fan-filmed video from the surprise performance courtesy of Carmen Mesa is available below alomg with a message from Thayer.

Tommy: "Many, many thanks to Paul, Eric and Gene for being there when it really counts. To come to Portland to support my dad, Oregon's citizen soldiers, and the new museum shows the kind of people they really are." 

Read the complete Forbes.com article here.

The 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise set sail February 2nd - 6th on board Royal Caribbean’s luxurious Independence Of The Seas, which left from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to an all new Caribbean dream destination: Labadee, situated on the northern coast of Haiti, featuring pristine beaches, coral reefs and lagoon-like bays surrounded by forested mountains.

70000Tons.tv now presents exclusive recaps of Day 1 and 2 on board the world's biggest heavy metal cruise.

BraveWords was on board for this year’s cruise. Check out out ongoing coverage via the links below:

- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3
- Day 4

V1, featuring former Iron Maiden members Dennis Willcock (vocals, 1979 - 1978) and Terry Wapram (guitars, 1977 - 1978) will release their debut album sometime this year. The new song, “Don’t Cause A Scene”, is available for streaming below.

Says Dennis Willcock: “Well... just under two years ago I met up with Terry after 40 years... on both of us leaving Iron Maiden, yes leaving, we formed a band, V1 - he had some old recordings which I had never heard before, but so powerful were they that we took upon this mission to record a 2017 version plus some newbies.

“After 26 days of studio time we have finally reached completion - any hold ups but we made it - with Terry, Dwight (Wharton), Chas (Charlie Borg), Gareth (Dylan Smith) and myself... job done!

“The product is in pressing stage and in the week I will post info on purchasing... hope you do! In the meantime here is a freebie track from the album for your listening... POWER ROCK to be played loud!”

Listen to the track below, and stay tuned for updates.

Horror metallers, Cadaveria, celebrate today's release of the vinyl edition of the Mondoscuro EP (limited to 500 copies-black / 100 copies-white worldwide) by releasing the first of three singles extracted from this EP. “Christian Woman”, a cover of the Type O Negative track, is the first one, now available via all digital stores.

Cadaveria herself commented: “This is the very first vinyl release of our history and we are very pleased and excited. Usually we produce music videos along with our releases, but this time I thought to play with images in a different way. I will impersonate the titles of three songs from Mondoscuro, realizing three special shots, that will converge in the cover artwork for “Mater Tenebrarum”, “Dominion Of Pain” and “Christian Woman” singles. We will release them monthly through digital stores, starting today till April. Today is the day of “Christian Woman”, our homage to Peter Steele.”

Mondoscuro vinyl release comes via Sleaszy Rider Records, that in spring will also reprint Far Away From Conformity, the band’s second album, originally released in 2004. Mondoscuro is also available on CD via the Black Tears label.

(Photo - Fabry C. Photos / Stolen Instants)

Smile Empty Soul have announced the release of Rarities, a compilation album built out of previously unreleased tracks written over the course of the last 14 years. Out March 10th, Rarities is available to pre-order on the band's website in multiple bundle opportunities.

"I'm happy to be releasing all these songs we've recorded over the years that never made our regular albums. its gonna be cool to see them get out there to our fans and maybe play a few of them at our live shows" - Sean Danielsen

Tracklisting:

“One At A Time”
“Something New”
“Alone”
“Goodbye”
“This Is War”
“Wasted Town”
“Whats Going Through My Head Right Now”
“For You”
“Who I Am”
“Finding Myself”
“Precious Things” (Tori Amos Cover)
“Aneurysm” (Nirvana Cover)
“Possession” (Sarah McLachlan Cover)

Smile Empty Soul vocalist and guitarist Sean Danielsen also independently released his debut solo album, Product Of Isolation, on January 13th, which was ranked #18 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart.

"This album was my first venture into having a home studio and engineering and producing completely on my own. it was an amazing experience to make and i hope people can relate to it. i definitely poured myself into the songs, and i think that shows" - Sean Danielsen

Tracklisting:

“Scattered Ashes”
“Still”
“The Light”
“Back to Sleep”
“Skin”
“Tennessee”
“All This Talk”
“Parasite”
“Is it Wrong”
“Wedding Song”

“Still”:

New York progressive/brutal death metal pioneers, Afterbirth, featuring within its ranks members of Helmet, Artificial Brain, and Buckshot Facelift, are the latest additions to the Unique Leader Records roster.

Heavy, complex guitar work; atypically inspired bass rumblings; skillful, fast, and tastefully groovy drums/percussion; otherworldly growls from beyond known dimensions of time and space... All of this and more combine to form the basis of Afterbirth's current musical output.

Comments the band of their union with Unique Leader: "Afterbirth is extremely pleased to announce that we've signed with Unique Leader Records, one of the most legendary and long-running labels in the death metal underground. We couldn't be happier to be part of the Unique Leader tradition and its growing roster of some of the most intense and brutal bands operating in extreme music today."
 
Details of the band's forthcoming new full-length to be announced in the coming months.

Among the earliest purveyors of brutal death metal, Afterbirth was forged on Long Island, New York during the Summer of 1993. The following year, the band release the Psychopathic Embryotomy studio demo which has since become something of a cult-like classic among the extreme metal underground. Due to various issues among its members however, Afterbirth disbanded shortly thereafter the recording.

Fast forward almost twenty years to 2013: Setting aside the differences that might have contributed to their initial demise, Afterbirth reformed, rehearsing their older songs and crafting new material that not only drew upon their earlier work but also highlighted their collective musical evolution.

Afterbirth tracked a new demo simply titled 2014 Demo, which showcased their sharpened and honed musical prowess. It wasn't long before the band was road blocked yet again as longtime founding front man Matt Duncan was asked to leave due to numerous creative, personal, and musical differences. The three remaining members - guitarist Cody Drasser, bassist David Case (Helmet), and drummer Keith Harris decided to continue on as a three-piece instrumental unit for the time, descending into an extremely rich and productive period of songwriting, The band would toil away in obscurity as a trio before joining forces with vocalist Will Smith of Artificial Brain and Buckshot Facelift. Smith's inhuman gutturals harken back to Afterbirth's brutal death metal roots, while his impressive shrieking, hardcore bark and unearthly vocal techniques add much needed depth and color to the band's ever-increasing sonic palette.

Newly formed technical death metal supergroup, Virulent Depravity, recently announced the upcoming release of their debut full-length, Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree, out on April 7th via The Artisan Era Records. The new single, “Beyond The Point Of No Return”, is available for streaming below.

Virulent Depravity is the brainchild of guitarist, bassist, and vocalist Colin Butler. While he may be a new name to many, his impressive playing attracted the attention of well-known guitarist Malcolm Pugh (Inferi, ex-Entheos) who joined the band in 2016 on rhythm guitar and additional solos. The lineup is rounded out by Svart Crown (and ex-Benighted) drummer Kevin Paradis, whose incredible playing is the perfect foil to Colin and Malcolm's dazzling performances.

Pre-order the album here.

Tracklisting:

“Serpentine Messiah”
“Spineless Obedience”
“Your Demise”
“Desecrating Eden”
“Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree”
“Bad Drug”
“Beyond The Point Of No Return”
“Only Human”
“Mechanized Defilement”
“Crushed By Futuristic Filth”

“Beyond The Point Of No Return”:

Teaser:

On March 31st, Greek thrashers Chronosphere will release their new album, Red N' Roll, via Punishment 18 Records. A new teaser video is available for streaming below.

The album album was recorded and mixed by Kostas Spades and Spyros Lafias at Chrono Studios and co-mixed and mastered by Ivy DMC.

Tracklisting:

“Alu Card”
“Demonized”
“Before It’s Gone”
“Picking Up My Pieces”
“Be The Best”
“The Force To Put An End”
“Honest To Kill”
“Wolves Out Of Cage”
“Warriors”
“Portal To The Underworld”

Teaser:

“Picking Up My Pieces” video:

(Photo - chronosphere-official.com)

Scour, featuring Philip H. Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Superjoint), John Jarvis (Pig Destroyer), Derek Engemann (Cattle Decapitation), Chase Fraser (Continuum, Animosity, Decrepit Birth), and Jesse Schobel (Strong Intention) made their live debut last night, February 19th at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Fan-filmed footage of Scour performing Pantera's "Strength Beyond Strength" at One Eyed Jacks can be enjoyed below.

Upcoming Scour dates now include:

June
16 - Hellfest - Clisson, France

Scour's six-track, self-titled debut was mixed by Dave Otero (Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, Cobalt, Khemmis) and is out now via Housecore Records on CD and vinyl formats. A full stream can be found below.

Comments Anselmo, "Doing the Scour project was a blast. The track, “Dispatched” was the first one I attacked, as it was the first one sent to me. Lyrically, I leave it to the listener to evaluate, as usual. The way I saw it, the songs were short, and extremely straight-forward, so I didn't want to clutter 'em up with too much. Therefore, I had to pick particular lyrics that seemed provocatively absurd enough, and to perform them as raw as deemed fit. Hope all true extreme music lovers enjoy the stuff as much as I did performing it. A huge cheers to all the awesome collaborators on this project... Much love to all."

Order at this location.

Scour tracklisting:

“Dispatched”
“Clot”
“Crooked”
“Codes”
“Tactics”
“Tear Gas”

Mystic Prophecy have released a lyric video for “Burning Out”, a track from their ninth studio album, War Brigade, released last year via Massacre Records. The new clip can be found below.

Tracklisting:

“Follow The Blind”
“Metal Brigade”
“Burning Out”
“The Crucifix”
“Pray To Hell”
“10,000 Miles Away”
“Good Day To Die”
“The Devil Is Back”
“War Panzer”
“Fight For One Nation”
“War Of Lies”
“Sex Bomb”

“Burning Out” lyric video:

“The Crucifix” video:

“Metal Brigade” video:

Italian doom metallers Crimson Dawn will release their second full-length album, Chronicles Of An Undead Hunter, via Punishment 18 Records on March 31st. A new album teaser video is available for streaming below.

The album artwork was created by artist Mattia Stancioiu.

Tracklisting:

“Twilight Of The Wandering Souls”
“Eternal Is The Dark”
“Neverending Rain”
“The Suffering”
“The Skeleton Key”
“Gaze Of The Scarecrow”
“Dark Ride”
“Checkmate In Red”
“To Live Is To Grieve”

Teaser:

Crimson Dawn lineup:

Dario Beretta - Guitar, Background Vocals
Luca Lucchini - Drums
Antonio Pecere - Lead Vocals
Alessandro Reggiani Romagnoli - Bass
Emanuele Laghi - Keyboards
Marco Rusconi - Guitar

Earache Records will issue a Full Dynamic Range (FDR) vinyl repress of Napalm Death’s classic album, Altars Of Madness, on March 17th. A video trailer can be found below. Pre-orders at this location.

Scum tracklisting:

"Multinational Corporations"
"Instinct of Survival"
"The Kill"
"Scum"
"Caught... in a Dream"
"Polluted Minds"
"Sacrificed"
"Siege of Power"
"Control"
"Born on Your Knees"
"Human Garbage"
"You Suffer"
"Life?"
"Prison Without Walls"
"Point of No Return"
"Negative Approach"
"Success?"
"Deceiver"
"C.S."
"Parasites"
"Pseudo Youth"
"Divine Death"
"As the Machine Rolls On"
"Common Enemy"
"Moral Crusade"
"Stigmatized"
"M.A.D."
"Dragnet"

Trailer:

Napalm Death never slow down and recently announced a next headlining run across Europe, together with Brujeria and Power Trip, for April/May under the very suitable banner, Campaign For Musical Destruction.

Napalm Death’s Mark 'Barney' Greenway checked in with the following comment: “It's been absurdly long since we did anything resembling a proper European tour. To make up for it, it's nice then that we can bring along a box of crazies like Brujeria - certainly not run-of-the-mill. And Power Trip are, like, the good bits of that crossover thing from back in the day. And for our part we'll be digging out a few sweet treats from the annals of Napalm Death. We are officially as excited as small children.”

Campaign For Music Destruction dates:

April
25 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
26 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik
27 - Stockholm, Sweden - Kraken STHLM
28 - Flensburg, Germany - Roxy
29 - Magdeburg, Germany - Factory
30 - Haarlem, The Netherlands - Patronaat

May
1 - Köln, Germany - Underground
2 - Berlin, Germany - SO36
4 - Krakow, Poland - Kwadrat Klub
5 - Brno, Czech Republic - Klub Fléda
6 - Kassel, Germany - K19
7 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage
9 - Birmingham, UK - O2 Institute
10 - Glasgow, UK - Classic Grand
11 - Manchester, UK - Rebellion
12 - London, UK - The Electric Ballroom
13 - Paris, France - Le Glazart
14 - Antwerpen, Belgium - Zappa
16 - Six-Fours-Les-Plages, France - Espace André Malraux
17 - Geneva, Switzerland - L'Usine
18 - Bologna, Italy - Zona Roveri
19 - Karlsruhe, Germany - NCO Club
20 - München, Germany - Backstage
21 - Eindhoven, The Netherlands - Effenaar
 
Other Napalm Death tour dates:

March
17 - Limerick, Ireland - Dolans Warehouse
18 - Dublin, Ireland - Voodoo Lounge
19 - Belfast, Northern Ireland - Limelight 2
24 - Haven, UK - Hammerfest
31 - Moita/Lisboa, Portugal - Moita Metal Fest

April
8 - Erica, The Netherlands - Pitfest
10 - Kiev, Ukraine - Monte Ray
11 - Vilnius, Lithuania - Legendos Club
12 - Riga, Latvia - Melna Piektdiena
13 - Tallin, Estonia - Club Tapper
14 - St. Petersburg, Russia - Opera Club
15 - Kaliningrad, Russia - Yalta Club
16 - Moscow, Russia - Volta Club
17 - Yekaterinburg, Russia - TeleClub
19 - Tbilisi, Georgia - Night Office
20 - Erevan, Armenia - Vitamin Club

July
7 - Viveiro, Spain - Resurrection Fest

August
3 - Wacken, Germany - Wacken Open Air

More dates to be announced soon.

This coming Friday (February 24th), German avantgarge black metal act Fjoergyn, will release their new album, Lvcifer Es. A music video for the album's title track is now available for streaming below.

Originally intended to be a purely orchestral solo work, Fjoergyn was founded in 2003 by musical visionary Stephan L. His approach until today (with now having a full band lineup): to combine opulent orchestral, and classical sounds with heavy guitars, and a metal aesthetic. Following this path, Stephan L. achieves oppressive, yet tremendous compositions. Due to its challenging basis, and the unconventional direction of action, the result of his creative work has to be described as epic and forward thinking.

Through the time of its existence, Fjoergyn evolved to an insider tip for listeners of epic metal looking for a different approach to varicolored, neo-classical heavy music. Under constant accusations, the band declared the human kind to parasite and tells stories of a self-fulfilling prophecy about the end of all days and the final reckoning between nature and mankind. So far, Fjoergyn released four albums of thoughtful gloomy music with careful arrangements and exceptional moods. The Thuringians toured across Europe supporting progressive colleagues such as The Vision Bleak, and Alcest.

2017 sees the release of bands fifth full length, Lucifer Es, the first one for Lifeforce Records. Conceptually the album - again - stands for relentless social criticism and a disillusioning view on humanity. Individuality has no meaning in the anonymous system of populism and opportunism. Nothing is of value or importance. Even Lucifer was created to keep man submissive. Fjoergyn’s album marks a ruthless and harsh view on society and human marionettes.

Gene Simmons says that he is not interested in producing another KISS studio album "unless and if there's a financial model that works" to make it worthwhile for the band to write and record new music.

KISS's last studio effort, 2012's "Monster", sold 56,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous disc, "Sonic Boom", opened with 108,000 units back in October 2009 to enter the chart at No. 2. This marked the KISS's highest-charting LP ever.

During a recent appearance on "The SDR Show", Simmons was asked what keeps KISS motivated to continue making new records after more than four decades in the business. He responded (hear audio below): "That's less of an incentive, because downloading and filesharing… People have convinced themselves they don't wanna pay for stuff. And last time I checked, KISS is not a charity. We're philanthropic, but I'll be the one that decides how much I give and where. I don't want some college kid to decide, 'You have enough money. I don't wanna pay for your record.' Okay, then go download and RADIOHEAD record and see what happ… No, I ain't about that."

He added: "Make a distinction between commerce and philanthropy. So the idea of doing another KISS record, unless and if there's a financial model that works, personally I'm not interested in it."

Asked if there has ever been talk about KISS finally hanging it up once and for all, Simmons said: "Yes. A few times. When Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss], our beloved original members and brothers and all that stuff, we started the band together, when they succumbed to the cliché of clichés — drugs and alcohol. I mean, I can almost understand it if it was unique, but it's, like, really? Hasn't it been done by everybody yet? At least when [Kurt] Cobain [NIRVANA] blew his head off, you go, 'Ah, cool.' You know, fast, thank you, bye. You're not gonna torture anybody else. And he was not a happy camper by all indications, so…"

Simmons's comments were echoed by KISS frontman Paul Stanley, who last year said about the prospect of the band making a new album: "Well, it's a very conflicted subject. In one sense, there's no reason to put out any new music. Because the delivery systems that are available don't pay. We're in a situation now where artists have to take what they can get, as opposed to what they deserve. For me, it's more of a moral issue than anything else, because I don't have to worry about paying the rent, but what about new bands?"

Stanley previously that "it's only worth [making a new studio album] if, artistically, you wanna do it. Every time we finish an album, I kind of go, 'Well, that's it.' Whenever we've done an album… When we did 'Sonic Boom', it was because the band was so good that I just thought to not capture the band and do new material would be a shame. But once we did 'Sonic Boom', I said, 'Well, we've made the point.' And then, a few years later, it was, like, 'Wow, why don't we dig deeper and get a little closer to the roots and the people that we loved and kind of do something else,' so we did that, and then I said, 'We're done.' But lately I've been thinking, yeah, we should do another."

France's Clique recently conducted an interview with METALLICA frontman James Hetfield. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he believes in God:

James: "I believe in a higher power, yes. I don't know… he, she, it… whatever… I see it everywhere. It is everything to me. And if I choose to see it, it makes me feel better. If I think I can do better [laughs], it never works. [Laughs]"

On whether this "higher power" has saved him in his life:

James: "I believe so. I believe that a higher power, whatever it may be… Sometimes I think it's… 'Oh, it's my father coming back to help me,' or my mother, or somebody, or Cliff [Burton, late METALLICA bassist]. It's all one anyway. So if I choose to see it… It shows up in my wife a lot. She will say, 'What are you doing? Don't do that.' That used to make me angry. 'Don't tell me what to do.' But, okay, I understand that something is here helping me. Something is saying… If I choose to hear it, then I choose to hear it. Sometimes I don't. But it's everywhere."

On dealing with the negative aspects of fame:

James: "For me, I never… I don't understand gossip. It's never been important to me. My wife loves looking at the People magazine. 'Oooh, look who's dating who.' And I don't care. But to some people, it's important, and I don't know why. I think they just see themselves in other people, or wish, or they're dreaming, or they're mentors or something. I don't know. For me, I think when people follow me down the street or something, I understand what they might be looking for, but I'm not it. I mean, I'm just someone who gets to play music and has found my path. What I think is they expect something — they expect something, whether it's an autograph or a picture or something. It's like they want something. And I wanna shake their hand, I wanna say hello, I wanna talk with them, and it's not good enough for them. I don't understand that. Gosh, METALLICA, we've been together since we were nineteen years old, so I don't remember so much what it was like to just go to a concert and sit on the grass and enjoy it and not have someone come up and ask for something. So it's a part of my life, and I see that people want, they're in need of something. They look up to you, or they invest — they invest a part of themselves in you, and when you disappoint them, they don't know what to do. It's difficult. So alls I can do is be me. I can't be everything for everyone. It's not fair to myself."

As previously reported, METALLICA will perform at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, set to take place on February 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony will be televised at 8:00 p.m. on CBS. The band is nominated this year in the "Best Rock Song" category for the track "Hardwired", from its latest album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct".

METALLICA's nomination for "Best Rock Song" this year was a surprise since the band is not included in the "Best Metal Performance" category.

Guitarist Kirk Hammett told Billboard: "We've had such a crazy relationship with the Grammys, so when the Grammys do something like this we kind of like throw our arms in the air — 'Whatever. Whatever!' But it's still an honor. It's still great to be recognized by the academy, and it's still fun to play the Grammys when we're asked."

In a brand new interview with Entertainment Weekly, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich spoke about how the band's Grammy performance with Lady Gaga came about. He said: "[The Grammys] always encourage you to do cool, crazy collaborations. We thought some of the songs on the new album lent themselves well to a female co-conspirator. I was at a dinner party at my buddy's house a couple months ago and she was there. We ended up sitting and talking about her old metal days in Jersey and the Lower East Side. I knew she was a metal chick at heart, but I didn't know how deep her metal roots were. Her relationship with METALLICA goes way back — like deep album cuts on the early couple records. We're sitting there and I took a shot. I said, 'Listen, we've been invited to do the Grammys again. Come sing with us. It would be so much fun. I think this is the right fit.' She just said, 'Yes.' She didn't have to, like, 'Oh let me just check with my team,' or 'Let me call my 17 managers.' There was none of that stuff. She's so open and so authentic. She makes all the decisions herself and she's so talented and she's so eager. And she blew up the fucking Super Bowl!"

Ulrich also talked about the technical mishap that left METALLICA frontman James Hetfield without a working microphone for the Grammy performance with Gaga. He said: "When I couldn't hear his vocals in the first verse, I knew there was an issue. But in the heat of the moment, you don't quite know where the issue is — it's very difficult to troubleshoot. We just had to battle through it and keep going, which is what we did. It's live television, this stuff happens. This year it happened to us, last year it happened to Adele. In the context of the bigger issues that face humanity, I think we'll all be okay. I think, in some ways, the fact that James and her were singing out of her mic, there was another level of intimacy that was created. I'm totally happy."

Despite the problems with the Grammy performance, Ulrich told Rolling Stone earlier this week that Gaga was the "quintessential perfect fifth member of this band," adding that he would like to work with her again.

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

General ticket sales start Friday (February 17) at 10:00 a.m. local time.

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

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

The official video for "Bringer Of Pain", the title track of the fourth album from Finnish metallers BATTLE BEAST, can be seen below. Released on February 17 via Nuclear Blast Records, the ten-track disc was recorded and produced at JKB Studios by keyboardist Janne Björkroth, was mixed by Björkroth alongside Viktor Gullichsen and Mikko Karmila, and was mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios. The cover artwork was crafted by Jan Yrlund.

"Bringer Of Pain" is BATTLE BEAST's first album to feature guitarist Joona Björkroth, who joined the band in 2015.

BATTLE BEAST in February 2015 parted ways with lead guitarist and main songwriter Anton Kabanen due to "insurmountable disagreements" with the other members of the band.

Speaking to Metalholic, BATTLE BEAST vocalist Noora Louhimo stated about the writing process for "Bringer Of Pain": "You always have the pressure on to write good music and do a good album, but now we had extra pressure because people had their suspicions. People were already judging us that, 'They're not going to make it. They're not going to make as good music.' But as you can hear, yes we can! [Laughs] So, yes, it was a nerve-breaking, but still a very rewarding process to do this new album. For me personally, this was such a great experience. I learned so much about the other guys; the other band members. We got Joona to be part of this BATTLE BEAST family and now I'm just full of excitement. I can't wait to get on the road and bring the pain!"

Asked how she thinks having six songwriters instead of one impacts the sound and dynamic of the band, Noora said: "We all learned a lot from each other, how we want to work together. There are so many different ways to write songs. For example, Janne likes to write songs by himself and bring them to the table when they are almost final. I like to do solo also, but I like co-writing also. With Joona, we have a similar wave we are on, and we have a really good work ethic, and a good friendship also. So it's very easy to work with him. I did write some demos with Eero, our bass player, and our other guitar player Jusso, and it was fun also. I think through these next years, we are going to find new ways, and the best ways, for BATTLE BEAST to produce music."

"Bringer Of Pain" track listing:

Digi / CD

01. Straight To The Heart02. Bringer Of Pain03. King For A Day04. Beyond The Burning Skies05. Familiar Hell06. Lost In Wars07. Bastard Son Of Odin08. We Will Fight09. Dancing With The Beast10. Far From Heaven

Bonus (digi only)

11. God Of War12. The Eclipse13. Rock Trash

2LP

Side A

01. Straight To The Heart02. Bringer Of Pain03. King For A Day04. Beyond The Burning Skies

Side B

01. Familiar Hell02. Lost In Wars03. Bastard Son Of Odin

Side C

01. We Will Fight02. Dancing With The Beast03. Far From Heaven

Side D (Bonus)

01. God Of War02. The Eclipse03. Rock Trash

BATTLE BEAST's third studio album, "Unholy Savior", entered the Finnish chart at position No. 1. The CD was released in January 2015 via Nuclear Blast.

Louhimo joined the band in 2012 as the replacement for Nitte Vänskä.

Gory Blister filmed their recent concert at Centrale Rock Pub in Erba, Italy as DVD extra content, to be included on the band's forthcoming album. The songs "Thresholds" and "Toxamine", taken from the band's 2014 album The Fifth Fury, are posted below with real audio (no overdubs or editing).

Says guitarist Raff Sangiorgio: "For us,  to play live, it's a very important dimension.
Making a live video with real audio, without any kind of post-production, means to prove to those who do not know us or never watched us live, how the band genuinely performs, without any engineering, just like on our albums, from the studio to the stage"

After the great audience approval and sales achieved by The Fifth Fury, Gory Blister's fifth album released in 2014 via Sliptrick Records, the band has started work begun on a new album, which will be released by the end of 2017.

The sound of this new album (yet untitled) will be deeply rooted in the main influences of the band, including Death, Carcass, Kreator, Cannibal Corpse, but it is going to evolve forward focusing on some melodies and atmospheres from the most modern metal sound, without distorting  the band's style and personality.

Recently, Gory Blister welcomed bassist Fabiano Andreacchio to the fold. Along with working on new material, Gory Blister are preparing to hit the stage again with two new live gigs in Italy, scheduled for the beginning of 2017.

April       
20 - Legend Club – Milan, Italy

A show is also planned for March at Il Postaccio in Rome. Details to follow.

Rebirth is the first solo-album ever by Gory Blister guitarist Raff Sangiorgio, out now Sliptrick Records. He peforms the title track in a new video below:

In a previous video, Sangiorgio performs the album track “Magic River” in the new video streaming below:

In another clip, Sangiorgio performs the album track “Quick Trigger”:

It is a one-man studio project, focusing on instrumental metal-rock songs with blues influences, in which Raff Sangiorgio wrote, produced, arranged and performed every single instrument, with particular focus, on the guitar work. This new album consists of nine original songs.

“Back To Glory”:

“Quick Trigger”:

On April 21st, Profanity are returning with a new full-length: The Art Of Sickness on Apostasy Records. The first taste of the record can be heard below. The band state: "The album is more technical as well as more progressive at the same time and 'Who Leaves Stays' is the perfect example for that. It’s not the typical pre-release single because it is the longest song on the whole album (7:43 min running-time). Nonetheless, this is also the reason why it’s able to present all the album’s elements: unleashed drum-frenzy, complex structures, but also memorable guitar-melodies and a nearly pompous middle section."

Recorded at Iguana Studios (Spheron, Imperium Dekadenz, Necrophagist) with producer Christoph Brandes the new songs will bring all tech death gourmets to the scene. To make the album even more diverse, the band invited guests like Terrance Hobbs (Suffocation), Adrie Kloosterwaard (Sinister), Ricky Myers (Disgorge, Suffocation), Christian Münzner (Alkaloid, ex-Obscura) as well as their ex-bassist Martl Bauer. 

The artwork was done by Pär Olofsson:

Tracklisting:

“The Great Obstacle”
“Who Leaves Stays”
“Mouth Of Nepotism”
“Recreating Bliss”
“Specific Souls”
“Better Left Alone”

Canuck hard rock legends Helix have posted rare video footage of their 1990 European tour opening up for the Ian Gillan Band in Stockholm. The clip features guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen jamming the Little Richard classic “Lucille”. It also features late Helix guitarist Paul Hackman interviewing Yngwie.

Helix singer comments: “This was at our Swedish show with Ian Gillan when we toured Europe in 1990. Yngwie came out in the afternoon and we met him. That night he got up on stage with Ian Gillan and his band and played four songs, one of which is included here (‘Lucille’). Later he came back to our dressing room.”

On February 17th, YouTube user AmericanJackassI continued his efforts to make the internet a better place, uploading bootleg footage of Sebastian Bach performing in Hartford, CT at the Webster Theater in 2002. At the time, Bach's band featured former Anthrax guitarist Paul Crook, Savatage / ex-Megadeth guitarist Al Pitrelli, bassist Larry Fisher, and Bach's Madam X bandmate Mark McConnell on drums. Check out the complete show below.

 

The setlist on the night was as follows:

"Slave To The Grind
"Here I Am" 
"Frozen" 
"Piece of Me" 
"18 & Life" 
"The Threat" 
"Livin' On A Chain Gang" 
"This Is The Moment"
"Sweet Little Sister" 
"Done Bleeding" 
"In A Darkened Room" 
"Monkey Business" 
"Time Warp"
"I Remember You" 
"Youth Gone Wild"

Sadly, on May 24th, 2012 McConnell died from liver and kidney failure. Bach posted the following message online for McConnell's birthday on August 27th, 2012:

"Happy Birthday, Mark 'Bam Bam' McConnell.

Sure do wish you were around to read this. For so many years on this planet, you were my best buddy and musical partner. For so many years, you looked out for me. Like a brother. A best friend.

For so many years, we created music together. We paid our dues together. When times were hard, when we had nothing to eat, we made Dorito sandwiches at the truckstop together. We made our music because it was our dream come true. For us, it was actually fun to split on $1.25 for a loaf of white bread and one pack of Cheese Doritos. We made a feast of it. After driving all night in a van packed with six people and all of our gear, eating a Dorito sandwich can only be described as pure heaven.

Wow, your van. How many miles did we log in your green van, dude? With the brown leather couches in the back. How many times did we drive across the country, from Detroit to Phoenix to Florida to New York to Baltimore to Toronto to New Jersey? I saw this country for the first time with you, man. I saw so much with you. We lived, laughed, loved, fought and rocked together. We lived hard & we played hard. We rocked the only way we knew how. Hard.

Writing this is hard too. I cannot believe you are gone. We had so much fun. Some might say, too much fun. But we never knew, or could fathom, that we weren't supposed to be having as much fun as possible.

The stage was our home, where we felt the most alive. You were my backbone every night. You taught me so much about playing in concert. About giving 100%. You taught me to leave it all on the stage. All the energy, sweat, passion you had, you put it up on the boards. It was so much fun playing with you because I knew we would always blow 'em all away. Your playing and expertise behind the kit was amazing to behold and to make music with you was like driving a Ferrari. You were fast, precise, and showed everyone how to play the drums every time you sat behind the kit.

At no time did your face light up more than when you talked about your son. You would get the biggest smile on your face when you described to everyone how proud you were of your boy. You would brag about him to everyone who would listen, like it helped you when we had to spend months away from our loved ones doing what we were put here to do. You would always talk about plans, dreams you had, about spending time with him someday. He was your pride and joy and I'll never forget how excited you were when he came to our show in New York City.

You were so strong. You seemed invincible to me. It really is a wake-up call to no longer have you here. Life is so precious. Everything, and anything, can and will change at any moment & there is nothing we can do to change that. All we can do is try and realize how lucky we are to be alive. Having you gone makes me appreciate how fortunate we all are to even be here. I wish you still were!

Just before you left us, you posted on my Facebook Page. What you wrote to me is still there. Days before you were gone, you left words of encouragement to myself and others. Some sage words of advice. Like a best buddy. A musical partner. You were still looking out for me. Like a brother.

I guess you always were, and always will be... a best friend.

Happy Birthday Mark! We all love you and miss you."

Your Buddy Forever

Sebastian

Mark "Bam Bam" McConnell passed away on the morning of Thursday, May 24th in a Gainesville, Florida hospital.

The McConnell family issued the following statement regarding his passing:

"On May 24th, we all lost an amazing, incredibly talented and dedicated musician, Mark “Bam Bam” McConnell. Mark’s passing came as a complete shock to us all. The past few days have been intensely overwhelming in every respect. As his family, our focus has been directed at making sure we keep Mark’s best interests in mind and to follow his wishes. We would like to thank everyone for respecting our privacy and giving us the time we need.

Mark was taken from us too soon, but he lived life to the fullest and on his own terms. To all of us, Mark leaves behind his love and kindness, along with the humor and passion for music that he shared with everyone – family, friends and fans alike. He will never be forgotten.

For the music industry, Mark leaves behind a legacy. He was and will always be one of the most gifted drummers in the world. His passion and madness behind the drum kit were unmatched. He played with some of the biggest names in the music industry, and everyone who had the opportunity to make music with him will tell you what an honor it was. Mark’s spirit will live on forever in the hearts of many and through his music.

We would like to send out our deepest appreciation to everyone for all the support, prayers and shared memories of Mark. This has helped us through our darkest time and even made us smile, along with filling our hearts with so much warmth. The response has been overwhelming, and if Mark could see the outpour of love on his behalf, he too would be in awe. We know that all of Mark’s friends and fans are grieving and heartbroken by this loss. Know that Mark loved all of you, and you are all in our hearts and prayers."

When MEGADETH was honored with its first-ever Grammy last Sunday night (February 12), the band's walk up to the stage was inexplicably accompanied by the sound of the house ensemble playing the song "Master Of Puppets" from MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's former band METALLICA.

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

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

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

When the interviewer pointed out to Mustaine that the house "house band seemed to be playing pretty random songs," Mustaine agreed: "They could've done a Cyndi Lauper song! [Laughs] I was just happy to be up there. It's about being recognized."

He added: "We all want so badly, when we pick our careers as kids, to be the best at what we do, and when you choose to be a musician, the stakes are much different. The way they 'grade' us, the way they hold us in esteem, how you tell who is better than who."

Mustaine also once again reiterated his desire to see MEGADETH one day be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but he stressed that it's not "a be-all, end-all thing." He explained: "You work hard, there are certain awards that are achievable, why not strive to achieve them? It's not like if I don't win, my life is incomplete. With METALLICA being in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame already, in a way, I'm in [the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame]. But I would like to get my band in there so that it's all of us, and I can stand there with my bandmates and we can high-five and hug and all that kind of stuff. Last weekend at the Grammys, it was fun to say, 'We did it!'"

He added: "We just recently got this CLIO Award for creative marketing [for the 'Dystopia' Virtual Reality Experience], and there's another award called the Genesis Awards from the Humane Society Of The United States and they presented us with the Doris Day Award [for producing work which raises public awareness of animal issues]. We've got some awards that other bands will never get!"

The members of METALLICA have been mostly respectful while discussing their onetime member, with guitarist Kirk Hammett saying on a podcast last fall: "I've always seen Dave as someone who was just really, really sad, really angry, really frustrated about his situation with METALLICA, and he never could let that go. And, you know, I've always shown a lot of empathy for him, understanding that he was just pissed off. It's the equivalent of the woman of your life leaving you."

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

Maggie Meadows of the Banana 101.5 radio station in Flint, Michigan, conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson about the band's first-ever Grammy Award. On February 12, MEGADETH was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category for its 2016 album, "Dystopia". You can listen to the full chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On MEGADETH winning their first Grammy Award after being nominated twelve times:

David: "It's a nice change. I've been Grammy-nominated for a lot of years, which is also awesome, but it's nice to be Grammy Award-winning, that's for sure. It's twelve times nicer to know we're now Grammy Award-winning."

On whether he expected MEGADETH to win:

David: "You always go knowing there's a chance. I think the fact you get invited, that's huge, because out of all the people who put out music, they narrow it down pretty selectively to four, five, six people/artists that even get invited. I think probably the biggest thing, there's this moment when you're sitting in your seat and they go, 'And the Grammy goes to…' That moment right there, which is very euphoric, and you go, 'Oh my God. They may actually call our name right now.' In past years, which I've gone four times now, and they say 'And the Grammy goes to… not you.' [Laughs] It's a moment that you go 'Wow! All of that build-up and coming here and the excitement, and the press releases and the travel, getting the suit, tux, and the limo… it's all gone in that moment.' This is one where it was nice where it just got better when they said 'And the Grammy goes to ''Dystopia': MEGADETH.' We are over the moon about this."

On what MEGADETH would normally do after a different winner than them was announced:

David: "It's funny, this year, yeah, we all stayed around. There was a lot of press, obviously, Universal, our record company had a party that they wanted us to come to, and walk the red carpet. The night went on forever, which was wonderful. It was like, 'Please don't let this night end.' It was awesome. It was like Cinderella at the ball. 'Just don't let this end.' In past years, I've always stayed, except for the very first year in 1993, we went. We'd been nominated a couple of times before, starting as far back as 1991, but we were on tour, so we couldn't go. Finally in 1993, 'Countdown To Extinction', our biggest record, all over MTV, people congratulating us on the way in, 'You got this. So proud of you guys. This is great.' We sit down, and it was pre-televised that year, the first year they did it pre-televised. They make the announcements, I'll never forget Mary Chapin Carpenter and Lyle Lovett opening the envelope and 'The Grammy goes to: NINE INCH NAILS.' We're like 'What?!' We love NINE INCH NAILS, they were a cool, hip new band out of Hollywood. We love Trent's [Reznor] work; he even remixed one of the tracks we may have been nominated for, 'Symphony Of Destruction'. He was certainly deserving, but it was that moment, and I remember [former MEGADETH lead guitarist] Marty Friedman, and it was me and my wife, and Marty and his girlfriend at the time, Marty was so upset and said, 'That's it. We're out of here.' We're like 'Really? You don't want to stay?' 'No, we're out of here.' The limo hadn't even parked and we're calling the guy, 'Hey, pick us up.' He goes 'What happened?' We left and went up the street and had dinner. That was a regret, to not go to the Grammys that year. Every year since then I've gone, three more times now, I made a point, 'I'm staying. This is the biggest music party in the world. We got invited. You can't go unless you are a nominee. We're still in the exclusive club, man. I'm going to take this in.' I've always loved the Grammys. They do it very well; it's awesome. You're part of the biggest club in the world. It's awesome to go."

On whether he heard the Grammy house band playing METALLICA's "Master Of Puppets" as they were walking to the stage to accept their award:

David: "We could. [Laughs] We're sitting there together, and it's funny, we're number 69, ironically in this list of 75 awards, and we get in there around 58, 59, and sat down, and a few more were ahead of us and it's moving pretty quick at this point. We're sitting there and it comes up 'Best Metal.' They read them off, and they just listed the names: BARONESS, KORN, MEGADETH, PERIPHERY, GOJIRA, and then when they said 'The Grammy goes to…' They initially, they didn't say just 'MEGADETH,' they said ''Dystopia': MEGADETH.' We looked at each other like, 'Did we not win? Who's this 'D-word' they just mentioned?' Not realizing they said 'Dystopia'. That split second, the thoughts that race through your mind at the moment are incredible, then they start playing a METALLICA song. I wondered, 'Did Dave [Mustaine] hear that?' But he didn't care, we didn't care, it was just the obligatory heavy metal backing track. We came down and it was so funny, I was talking to Brian 'Head' Welch from KORN a few days before. I said, 'Hey, are you going to go to the Grammys?' He said, 'Yeah, I'll be there.' He said, 'By the way, it's okay if you win.' I thought, 'What a wonderful soul he is.' He was the first one to jump up out of his seat and run up and hug us, and congratulate us. [KORN bassist] Fieldy came up right after him, and [KORN drummer] Ray Luzier was right after. Those guys are so kind. We took them out on their first big tour. It's great they were there to high-five us and celebrate. Even later that night, Dan Donegan and David Draiman from DISTURBED who are on tour over in Germany, said 'Congratulations. We put it up on our Facebook congratulating you guys.' [MÖTLEY CRÜE and SIXX:A.M. bassist] Nikki Sixx hit me and Dave up and said 'Congratulations. Thank you for making the Grammys rock again.' The accolades from all of our friends from so many genres all around the world was just incredible."

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