Paul "HR" Hudson is a misunderstood spiritual warrior. As the voice of BAD BRAINS, punk/hardcore pioneers, one of the most influential bands to rise out of the 1980s, and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nominees, HR has trail blazed a musical aesthetic and codified a way of living. "Finding Joseph I", directed by James Lathos and produced by Small Axe Films with executive producer Jay Mohr, takes the viewer on a harrowing odyssey into the life and spiritual struggles of this iconic iconoclast. "Finding Joseph I" has been praised by the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, OC Weekly and the Washington Post. The documentary has been screened in New York, Maryland, Long Beach, California, England and Finland, with upcoming screenings in Brooklyn on January 24; in San Francisco on February 9 and February 11, at SF's Independent Film Festival; at the Long Beach, California Art Theater on February 12; and Missoula, Montana, at the Big Sky Film Festival. Currently, "Finding Joseph I" is also being considered for other national and international film festivals. From the start, HR oozed charisma and never-say-die swagger. His vocals were soulful and tribal, hitting us deep in our spiritual core. In performance, he gave it all, springing forth from stage monitors into swan-dive leaps into the audience, arguably, pioneering the stage dive. He frothed over with fiery enlightenment gleaned from his Rastafarian faith, Napoleon Hill's seminal self-help treatise Think And Grow Rich, punk rock, and his inborn sage wisdom. With the BAD BRAINS, he harnessed the fiery potential of melding punk rock, reggae, dub, jazz-fusion, metal, and funk into a kaleidoscopic art form. HR's uplifting ethos — P.MA. (Positive Mental Attitude) — have cast a light amidst dark defiance, and inspired everyone, from rock stars to regular Joes. He is a punk prophet, and his legacy is as resonate today as it was nearly four decades ago. Offstage, HR was mercurial and eccentric. "Finding Joseph I" presents a complex picture of a complex man. It shares his explosive artistry as well as his explosive temper, showing how a leader unraveled through being tangled in his own dogma and truth. Over the years, the BAD BRAINS have reunited several times only to struggle with their unpredictable singer. HR's increasingly strange and abnormal behavior has left many convinced that he his suffering from psychological troubles while others believe he is still living out his journey as one of the greatest frontmen in rock and roll history. "Finding Joseph I" features never-before-seen archival footage, photography, and exclusive interviews. Interviewees include Paul "HR" Hudson, Earl Hudson (BAD BRAINS, HR's brother), Ras Michael (THE SONS OF NEGUS), Anthony Countey (BAD BRAINS' manager), Ian MacKaye (MINOR THREAT, FUGAZI), and members of SUBLIME, DEFTONES, FISHBONE, CRO-MAGS, MURPHY'S LAW, THE WAILERS and LIVING COLOUR. In this revealing documentary, HR's peers and fellow musicians share their stories and firsthand experiences with the tumultuous singer. HR's own interviews find him digging deep to discuss his life, philosophies, and career. James Lathos is a director, cinematographer, editor, and published writer living in Florida. He makes his documentary debut with "Finding Joseph I: The HR From Bad Brains Documentary". Previously, he wrote the definitive tome "Finding Joseph I: An Oral History Of H.R." (Lesser Gods). This oral history is the first fully authorized biography of the enigmatic frontman.

Swedish metallers Soilwork have recruited Taylor Nordberg (Infernaeon, Ribspreader) to play bass for the band on their upcoming European tour with Kreator, Sepultura and Aborted, which is scheduled to kick off on February 1st in Metz, France. It is not presently clear how this affects the status of Soilwork's bassist of the past couple of years, Markus Wibom, who was previously in the Helsingborg hardcore group Hearts Alive. Wibom joined Soilwork in 2015 as the replacement for the band's longtime bassist Ola Flink, who amicably left the group to focus on other endeavors.

Soilwork released a special collection of rarities under the moniker Death Resonance lasy year via Nuclear Blast Records.

Australian metal destroyers Aversions Crown will unleash their third album, Xenocide on January 20th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The video for “Prismatic Abyss” is streaming below.

Xenocide was tracked by Adam Merker at Studio Anders Debeerz in Brisbane and mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Devildriver) from Audio Hammer.

Fans can now preorder the album with or without the limited Erebus / Parasites 7" from the Nuclear Blast web shop. Xenocide can also be preordered digitally from iTunes, Amazon (widgets below) and Google Play. Pre-order the album digitally via iTunes or Amazon and receive the songs "Ophiophagy" and "Erebus" instantly.

Xenocide tracklisting:

“Void”
“Prismatic Abyss”
“The Soulless Acolyte”
“Hybridization”
“Erebus”
“Ophiophagy”
“The Oracles Of Existence”
“Cynical Entity”
“Stillborn Existence”
“Cycles Of Haruspex”
“Misery”
“Odium”

"Prismatic Abyss" video:

“The Soulless Acolyte” drum playthrough:

“The Soulless Acolyte” track video:

“Ophiophagy” lyric video:

“Erebus”:

Trailers:

 

 

 

 

(Photo - Harley Folbigg)

Portuguese thrash metal quintet Primal Attack has premiered a music video for the song “Halfborn”, taken from the band’s second full-length album, Heartless Oppressor, due out on February 10th via Rastilho Records.

Produced, mixed and mastered by guitarist/backing vocalist Miguel Tereso, the new album not only picks up right where its predecessor left off, but also surpasses expectations showcasing a much stronger, tighter and more dynamic unit. “Heartless Oppressor” also sees the Lisbon-based group expanding their musical palette, incorporating new influences from prog, industrial and even rock without ever compromising the pummeling metallic heaviness of their thrash-metal roots.

Tracklisting:

“Red Silence”
“Halfborn”
“The Prodigal One”
“Truth And Consequence”
“Strike Back”
“Heart And Bones”
“Hypersonic Generation”
“Above The Live”
“XXI Century Curse”

“Halfborn” video:

Portuguese death-metal newcomers Burn Damage have premiered a new music video for the song “Acid Rain” from their imminent debut full-length album, Age Of Vultures, due out on January 15th via Raging Planet.

Recorded and mixed by Nuno Pardal and Hugo Andrade (Switchtense) at Ultrasound Studios and mastered by Daniel Cardoso (Anathema), the band’s follow-up to 2013’s five-track EP Reborn features eight tracks of pummelling and groovy death-metal with some thrash-metal influences.

Tracklisting:

“Age Of Vultures”
“My Own Game”
“Seventh Seal”
“4 Four Little Pigs”
“Refugee”
“Slaughterhouse Of Cowards”
“Acid Rain”
“Beyond Good And Evil”

“Acid Rain” video:

Born Of Osiris are streaming the new song, “Glorious Day”, featured on their upcoming release, The Eternal Reign, out on February 24th via Sumerian Records.

In regards to The Eternal Reign (The New Reign completely re-recorded and re-envisioned, including the brand new song “Glorious Day”), guitarist Lee McKinney comments: “We are beyond excited to break the silence on what we've been up to this past year. 10 years ago we were seniors in high school in Chicago and spent our spring break recording a record that we had no idea would massively impact our lives. The New Reign was something we all believed in, and for that reason we were all anxious and curious to see how it would be taken.

“This past year we decided to re-record our debut. I know what you're thinking.... "they took the album and sent it to someone else to re-mix / re-master and they are going to re-package and re-sell it." Wrong! We went to the studio, re-recorded the entire thing, changed guitar riffs/drum parts/bass/vocals and even recorded a new song that I wish made it onto the original version 10 years ago. This song "Glorious Day" was made before some of the other songs that made the original recording.

“I must say, it's crazy to still be in our 20's and be on a 10 year anniversary. I'm so thankful for this... and I must thank the fans for supporting us every step of the way, as well as Sumerian Records for believing in us all of this time.

“So to go along with such a monumental occasion, we give you The New Reign Tour to go along with this release. We are going to play this record for you now that we as a band and production are better and tighter than ever. Joining us, Volumes, and some more new friends on what should be one of the most meaningful Born Of Osiris tours to date.”

Sumerian Founder, Ash Avildsen states: “The New Reign was a seminal album for both Born Of Osiris and Sumerian Records. 10 years later, it is getting a well-deserved rebirth as they have re-created it from scratch. I believe fans, old and new, will be excited to hear these songs come to life re-imagined both musically and production wise."

Tracklisting:

“Rosecrance”
“Empires Erased”
“Open Arms To Damnation”
“Abstract Art”
“The New Reign”
“Brace Legs”
“Bow Down”
“The Takeover”
“Glorious Day”

“Glorious Day”:

The New Reign Tour runs from February 17th - March 19th. Dates and tickets here.

Massachusetts metal veterans, Within The Ruins, have debuted a music video for their new track "Beautiful Agony". “It has a darker vibe than most of our previous material and this video totally conveys that,” says guitarist Joe Cocchi.

Directed by Justin Reich, this is the first music video being released from the forthcoming LP. “Justin Reich did an amazing job with the video!”

"Beautiful Agony" and the previously released "Death Of The Rockstar" are available on all major streaming services and will be offered as an iTunes instant gratification tracks. Fans who pre-order the album today will get both tracks immediately as a download.

Within The Ruins will release Halfway Human on Friday, March 3rd via Entertainment One (eOne) in North America and SPV overseas. The band recorded the new effort from their own studio with producer and guitar player Joe Cocchi at the helm. Vocal production took place at Zing studios in Westfield, MA with Jim Fogarty (Killswitch Engage, The Devil Wears Prada).

"The writing process was a bit different for this album," says Cocchi. "We took a step back and kind of reviewed some of our older material. Typically we'd rush and blast out a group of songs and then hit the studio. At the time it felt right. And It had a more organic feel. Now because of a combination of maturity and honestly just feeling sick of the same old formula, we really focused on creating something different sounding."

Halfway Human will be the band's followup to the critically acclaimed Phenomena LP released in 2014. Cocchi concludes, "We went back to a more organic style of writing and production. I personally was finally able to abandon a lot of my writing habits or 'rules,' if you will. No more 'oh, that part doesn't really sound like us, have to change that,' type of bullshit. Doing that created a fresher sound. This is the most raw and extreme sounding material we've ever written. Keep an eye out for studio blogs and more updates."

Within The Ruins maintain an emphasis on showmanship but with diversity, smartly sidestepping predictable structures and contrived breakdowns. Born and bred in the same heavy metal rich Northeast soil as New Wave Of American Heavy Metal progenitors Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, Unearth and Shadows Fall and weaned on the dark sounds of classic death metal, the technical melodicism of Scandinavia and the precision staccato crunch of Meshuggah, Within The Ruins have busted their collective ass to carve out a unique identity for themselves from those ingredients.

Within The Ruins are refreshingly authentic, feverishly committed and have proven that they will endure. Filled with power, deserving of utter respect, armed with concise compositions and technical might, Within The Ruins will not be stopped.

Tracklisting:

“Shape-Shifter”
“Death Of The Rockstar”
“Beautiful Agony”
“Incomplete Harmony”
“Bittersweet”
“Objective Reality”
“Absolution”
“Ivory Tower”
“Sky Splitter”
“Ataxia IV”
“Treadstone”

“Death Of The Rockstar”:

The band will be heading out on the road in support of the new LP with friends in Born Of Osiris on The New Reign Tour. Click here for all tour dates.

(Photo - Jeremy Saffer)

Swedish metal band, Zonetripper, have released a music video for “Disconnected”, the first single from their debut album, due for release later this year. The video was shot by Ninja Agborn in support of Standing Rock and the water protectors there - to commemorate the Wounded Knee massacre. Watch below:

Zonetripper was formed by metal and rock producer Fredrik Reinedahl, known for producing, engineering and mixing bands like Solstafir, Peter Dolving, Opeth, In Flames, Burst, Gadget and more, with the idea to reinvigorate the metal scene by taking what he learned from growing up as a metal fan and fusing it together into a something fresh, something never heard before. Everything from blues to thrash metal, from psychedelia to pop. There are no limits, that was the basic idea.

Songs came together quickly, but forming the band took some time. Numerous singers have passed the door, among them Peter Dolving from The Haunted (now in I Am Fire and Dress The Dead) and Krummi Bjorgvins (Legend).

Now the band consists of some known faces from the Gothenburg metal and punk scene. The bass is handled by none other than Martyrdöd vocalist Mikael Kjellman. Kalle Persson from Skitsystem joined Zonetripper on drums last spring, together with keyboard player Niklas Abrahamsson. The band is fronted by vocalist Anette Lith, who has a background as a singer and dancer in musicals and shows across the globe.

The band have recorded it's first album and is looking to release it in 2017. In the meantime, the band will do as much touring as possible.

The first signing on the newly created label, Fighter Records, a division of Xtreem Music devoted to heavy metal, is Swedish epic metallers, Candle.

The new band emerged in 2015 with guitarists Markus Janis and Christian Kanto (both from Corrosive Carcass), who shared the same enthusiasm for heavy metal. Soon after, brothers Jorma Pihlajainen (drums) and Juhani Pihlajainen (bass) joined the lineup, as well as vocalist Erik Nordkvist with a very personal voice that perfectly fits the context of the band.

Blending classic influences that go from the mighty Mercyful Fate with a dose of old US metal a la early Savatage and of course some NWOBHM a la early Judas Priest, just to name a few, Candle created a haunting and epic kind of classic metal with which they started to work on writing songs for their debut demo that was finally recorded during summer-fall 2016, and is now officially released through Fighter Records, while the band is finishing work on their debut album due to be recorded around spring-summer 2017.

Demo 2016 tracklisting:

“Betrayal”
“Dancing Lights”
“Frozen With Fear”
“No Peace For My Soul”

“Dancing Lights”:

Demo 2016 will be released on February 15th through Fighter Records on an initial limited run to 500 copies on CD format.

British rock 'n' rollers, The Temperance Movement, have teamed up with streaming service Deezer for the release of an exclusive new live EP.

The Live Bear EP was recorded at the band's London show during their January 2016 European tour, and features five tracks including a rendition of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" in honour of the late icon.

Frontman Phil Campbell comments: "January 2016 was an exciting time for The Temperance Movement. We released our second album and embarked on a nationwide UK tour with The Sheepdogs, playing to 2000 people a night in some of the best venues in the country. The tracks on this EP were recorded at The Forum in London on Wednesday, 27th January, the final date of the tour. Although all the nights were recorded, this was by far the best. We opened the show that night with David Bowie's “Ziggy Stardust” in honour of the great man from Beckenham who passed the week before our tour started. His death rocked the world and we felt it at our shows with calls from fans to play one of his songs, but we held back until London. That version is included here and we're very proud to share it on the first anniversary of his passing. Thank you to all who attended those shows. It was an exhilarating experience which I'll never forget."

Listen to the Live Bear EP now exclusively on Deezer at this location.

Live Bear EP tracklisting:

“Ziggy Stardust” (Live)
“Magnify” (Live)
“Modern Massacre” (Live)
“The Sun and Moon Roll Around Too Soon” (Live)
“I Hope I'm Not Losing My Mind” (Live)

Don't miss The Temperance Movement live on tour:

January
20 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
21 - Nancy, France - Le Hublot
22 - Lille, France - Le Splendid
24 - Paris, France - Divan Du Monde (Sold Out)
26 - Rennes, France - L'Ubu
27 - La Roche-sur-Yon, France - Fuzz'Yon
28 - Cognac, France - Le West Rock
29 - Limoges, France - La Fourmi

February
1 - Besançon, France - La Rodia
2 - Lyon, France - La Marquise
3 - Marseille, France - Le Moulin
4 - Toulouse, France - Le Metronum

The release of the self-titled debut album from Finnish rockers One Desire is scheduled for March 24th. The music video for first single, "Hurt”, can be seen below.

One Desire was started in 2012 by drummer Ossi Sivula. A couple of years were spent writing songs and making demos with different musicians and friends with an aim to create music that could change the world. Various musicians came and went along the way, but in 2014 things started to click when they met Jimmy Westerlund (Negative, Sturm und Drang, Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, Pitbull, etc.), who has several platinum and gold albums to his credit as a producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He had just moved back to Finland after a stint in Los Angeles and the band hired him to produce some songs.

After recording three songs with a new musical direction, they managed to attract the attention of Serafino Perugino, owner and head of A&R at Frontiers Music Srl, but, at this point the band needed a great singer. After trying out some different options, Jimmy suggested his long time friend Andre Linman from the band Sturm und Drang (who had sold over 100,000 records and gone platinum and 2x gold in Finland) who had recently decided to go on hiatus. Andre got together for a couple of sessions with the guys and after writing a couple new songs together, the style and sound that was about to become One Desire was born. Ossi and Andre asked Jimmy to join the band in 2016 and this is the album that was born from that collaboration. Also, not long after this happened, the very talented Jonas Kuhlberg (Paul Di'Anno, Cain's Offering, MyGrain) was brought on and he became the last link in the chain.

This kickass new lineup perfectly captures the original vision for the band and continues upon Linman's and Westerlund's successful legacies. Musically, the band draws musical influences from classic rock bands like Journey, Toto, and Def Leppard, but also lots of heavier, more modern bands. “Our sound is very melodic, slightly pop-ish at times, but still based on a heavy rock sound,” says singer Andre Linman.

After Jimmy brought in the song “Hurt”, the band felt that that they had taken it to the next level. Andre wrote the beautiful ballad, “This Is Where The Heartbreak Begins” plus many other songs and at that time, One Desire started to find the right direction for Ossi's rocker, “Do You Believe”. Finally, in mid-2016, the band felt they finally were musically locked in and had the material to make an album that they could honestly stand behind and love beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“After the album is released we will be touring heavily, so stay tuned for some shows!” concludes Linman. 2017 will be a fantastic year as the journey of One Desire just begins!

One Desire tracklisting:

“Hurt”
“Apologize”
“Love Injection”
“Turn Back Time”
“Falling Apart”
“Straight Through The Heart”
“Whenever I'm Dreaming”
“Do You Believe”
“Buried Alive”
“This Is Where The Heartbreak Begins”

“Hurt” video:

Lineup:

Jimmy Westerlund - guitars
André Linman - lead vocals
Ossi Sivula - drums
Jonas Kuhlberg - bass guitar

Norwegian Balkan metallers, Trollfest, will release their new album, Helluva, on February 24th via NoiseArt Records. The Trolls once more bring their mix of extreme metal and Balkan influences to a new level with an added brass section, combined with more kaos. A first video trailer, in which the band talk about the cover artwork, can be found below.

Tracklisting:

“This Is Just The Intro”
“Professor Otto”
“Spelunking Sisters”
“Gigantic Cave”
“Steel Sarah”
“Trollachen”
“Hen Of Hades”
“Reiten mit ein Fisch”
“Fräulein Helluva”
“Kabaret”
“La Grande Finale”
“What A Good Idea”

Bonus tracks (Digipak)
“Don Gnomo Vega”
“Sputnik”

Trailer #1:

"Steel Sarah" video:

Studio Trailer #1:

Studio Trailer #2:

Helluva will be available in the following formats:

- CD-Digipak incl. Helluva-Patch
- Gold Vinyl incl. Poster
- Mint Vinyl incl. Poster
- Silver Vinyl incl. Poster
- Black Vinyl incl. Poster
- Download and Streaming

Pre-order a copy here. "Steel Sarah" is now available as an instant download, when you preorder Helluva digital. The single is also available on all digital plattforms.

Bassist Håkan Skoger (Passenger, Gardenian) has joined In Flames for their current European tour with with Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed. Håkan replaces Peter Iwers, the longtime In Flames bassist who announced back in November that he’d be leaving the band to “move on with other musical and non-musical adventures”.

Check out fan-filmed video from Håkan Skoger’s debut with In Flames, last night (January 10th) in Glasgow, Scotland:

In addition to In Flames’ busy touring schedule ahead, their recent album Battles has now been nominated for the Swedish Grammis as “Hard Rock/Metal Album Of The Year”, marking the group’s eighth nomination to date. The awards will take place in Stockholm on February 28th. Other bands nominated in this category include Dark Tranquillity and Ghost.

The band states: "We are very honored to have received our 8th Swedish Grammis nomination for our newest album, Battles. We can’t thank our fans enough, who, throughout their years of support and dedication to our music have kept In Flames alive and inspired. Jesterheads, this one's for you!"

In March, the band will kick off their European tour named In Our Room - An Evening With In Flames. They will perform in spectacular, intimate locations such as churches and theaters. Most of the shows are already sold out, so make sure to grab some of the last tickets available now at InFlames.com.

Dates:

March
18 - Oslo, Norway - Kulturkirken (Sold Out)
19 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik (Sold Out)
20 - Stockholm, Sweden - Berns (Sold Out)
22 - Berlin, Germany - Admiralspalast
23 - Bochum, Germany - Christuskirche (Sold Out)
24 - Offenbach, Germany - Capitol (Sold Out)
26 - Munich, Germany - Freiheiz (Sold Out)
27 - Milan, Italy - Teatro Dal Verme
28 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
29 - Paris, France - Alhambra
31 - Zurich, Switzerland - Theatre 11

Finnish bashers, Wintersun, have revealed that their upcoming third full-length album, coming this year via Nuclear Blast, will be titled The Forest Seasons. A message from the band follows:

“That's right folks, we'll leave you pondering a bit what this name means. Next week we'll release the album tracklist and everything will become very clear to you! Promise!”

About the new album, the band previously revealed: “This album will be something new and different, but equally great or perhaps even better in some ways. Over 53 minutes of solid Wintersun material (with no intro tracks) and with a killer concept!”

Stay tuned for updates.

Sweden’s Antarktis has signed a record deal with Agonia Records. The group features two full-time members of In Mourning, who instead of entertaining the fact of being labeled as a side project, decided to dedicate their time and venture off into a territory uncharted by their mother band.

Said members are guitarists Björn Pettersson and Tobias Netzell (ex-October Tide), both co-founders. In Antarktis, they're accompanied by vocalist and bassist Daniel Jansson (Ikhon) together with drummer Jonas Martinsson (Me The Tiger, Necrosavant). The band is currently working on a debut album.

Commented Antarktis: "We are super stoked to announce that we are getting on board with Agonia Records for future collaborations! We have been silent for some time now but we're working on a full length album and we might have some additional stuff coming up too. Good vibes.”

Antarktis first started out as an after work side project from Björn and Tobias many years ago. A few songs were made but the idea of a band was laid on ice before it ever saw the light of day. Years later ideas were picked up again and given new life in 2013 by a complete band lineup consisting of Björn and Tobias in company of Jonas on drums and Daniel on bass and lead vocals. A debut EP was recorded under former band name, Majalis.

As a band consisting only of members being a part of other musical acts, Antarktis might be considered somewhat of a side project, but a side project in the shape of a real band getting great portions of dedication and love from its members. Since the release of the debut EP, the band has done a bunch of live shows, festivals and a shorter tour. Steadily growing closer as a unit, continuously writing and working on new material.

Lineup:

Daniel Jansson - Bass/Vocals
Björn Pettersson - Guitar
Tobias Netzell - Guitar
Jonas Martinsson - Drums

(Photo - Pierre Stam)

 

The new Place Vendome album, Close To The Sun, will be released on February 24th. The album track “Light Before The Dark” is available for streaming below.

One of the most popular projects put together over the years by Frontiers' President Serafino Perugino, Place Vendome was an idea sparked during a phone conversation between Serafino and Helloween singer Michael Kiske, where they discussed their common passion for several melodic rock giants of the 80’s. The Hamburg singer agreed to be part of a studio project where he would sign songs written especially for him by various writers with an AOR/melodic rock flavor.

The amazing reception of the first Place Vendome album released in 2005 planted the seeds for a second recording, Streets Of Fire, which was recorded during 2008 and for a third album, Thunder In The Distance, which was released in 2013. Being a project so close to Kiske’s heart, it was agreed during 2016 that work on a new album would start with his Unisonic  bandmate Dennis Ward at the production helm, as usual.

Of the album, Ward said, "Upon receiving the demos for the new songs intended for the new Place Vendome record I was a bit concerned because a few vocal styles seemed to go against what Michael Kiske is known for vocally. After talking together we agreed to just let the melodies come out naturally, without trying to imitate or “reproduce” the demos. Michael really stood up to this on the new album. He did “his” thing, with no compromises. He managed to make the songs his own and brought all the songs to another level. I have a lot of respect for him because of this and now the album is much more than just another AOR album. That being said I have to pay high respects to the other musicians on the album: Dirk Bruineberg proved again that he is a multi-talented drummer that can literally pull of any groove, any style of any era with the highest of expectations. Günter Werno is also a gem amongst a pile of stones. He really shines on this album and holds all the songs together, true to the Place Vendome sound. Uwe Reitenauer is also a master of his instrument taking over duties that were critical and complicated to say the least. He has the perfect AOR tone and can implement it no matter what type of song you throw at him. The rest of the “guests" that helped out made this album into a truly interesting compilation and also making this a milestone for Place Vendome. That being said, it’s the first Place Vendome album where I feel that we have achieved our trademark sound. This is how we want to be heard and this is how we imagine ourselves to sound."

Speaking of other album guests, once again, Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear) was one of the first to answer the call to participate and offered the awesome song, “Falling Star” to the project. Jani Liimatainen (Cain's Offering, ex-Sonata Arctica) was the next contributor with the epic “Welcome To The Edge”, the album’s tour de force. Following Labyrinth’s reunion, guitarist Olaf Thorsen sat with Eternal Idol, Angra and Rhapsody singer Fabio Lione and offered “Helen” and “Riding The Ghost”. Frontiers’ President Serafino Perugino then proposed that his favourite DGM song, “Hereafter” be included. This brought DGM’s main composer, Simone Mularoni into the picture and he wrote the album’s title track and “Across The Times”. Alessandro Del Vecchio also offered two new songs, “Strong” and “Yesterday Is Gone”, while Secret Sphere’s guitarist Aldo LoNobile wrote “Distant Skies” and “Breathing”. The full picture was finally completed with a new song written by Swedish melodic rock artist Michael Palace (Palace, Skylander), “Light Before The Dark”.

Kiske and Ward wanted to make the album a little bit special, so besides the “usual suspects” (including drummer Dirk Bruinenberg, Vanden Plas’ ivory tinkler Gunter Werno and Pink Cream 69’s Uwe Reineauer on guitars), some guitar heavyweights appear on the recordings. The list includes Alfred Koffler and (of course) Uwe Reineauer of Pink Cream 69, Magnus Karlsson, Michael Klein, Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind), Simone Mularoni, and Unisonic guitarists Kai Hansen and Mandy Meyer among the others.

Kiske comments: “The production with my buddy Dennis was great, as always, but what I especially like about this album - beside the new microphone I used that Dennis has built me - is the various styles of the songs. It is all a still very AOR-produced album, but we also have progressive or ''wilder'' elements here and there. It was (again) interesting to see how much the songs change until you finally reach the mixing stage.”

In a year that will see Michael Kiske rejoin with his old Helloween bandmates for a unique world tour, Place Vendome’s new album is the icing on the cake of a special and very rewarding period for the German singer.

All in all, Close To The Sun is probably the most hard rocking release ever from Place Vendome and an absolute monster of an album!

Close To The Sun tracklisting:

“Close To The Sun”
“Welcome To The Edge”
“Hereafter”
“Strong”
“Across The Times”
“Riding The Ghost”
“Light Before The Dark”
“Falling Star”
“Breathing”
“Yesterday Is Gone”
“Helen”
“Distant Skies”

“Light Before The Dark”:

“Welcome To The Edge” lyric video:

Produced by Dennis Ward.

- Lead Vocals - Michael Kiske
- Backing vocals - Dennis Ward, Michael Kiske // Additional Choirs on “Strong” by Alessandro Del Vecchio
- Bass - Dennis Ward
- Keyboards - Günter Werno
- Drums – Dirk Bruinenberg

- All Rhythm Guitars by Dennis Ward, except: "Welcome To The Edge", "Across The Times", "Close To The Sun", "Hearafter" – Rhythm Guitars by Uwe Reitenauer
- Guitar solo by Michael Klein on "Yesterday Is Gone", "Distant Skies", "Strong", "Breathing".
- Guitar solo by Uwe Reitenauer on "Close To the Sun"
- Guitar solo by Alfred Koffler on "Welcome To The Edge"
- Guitar solo by Magnus Karlsson on "Falling Star"
- Guitar solo by Gus G on "Light Beyond The Dark"
- Guitar solo by Simone Mularoni on "Hearafter"
- Guitar solo by Mandy Meyer on "Helen"
- Guitar solo by Kai Hansen on "Riding The Ghost" and "Across The Times"

Dave Stabley of Big Bad Dog Productions has uploaded multi-camera, professionally filmed video footage of three members of RATT's classic lineup — singer Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and guitarist Warren DeMartini — performing the RATT song "Wanted Man" as the "surprise band" on October 1, 2016 on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise West, also known as Monsterwood. Check out the clip below. Joining Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini on stage at the event were former QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on RATT's last studio album, 2010's "Infestation", and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

As previously reported, the newly reunited RATT — featuring Pearcy, Croucier, DeMartini and Cavazo — has been confirmed to perform at this year's edition of the M3 Rock Festival, set to take place on Friday, April 28, 2017 and Saturday, April 29, 2017 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini took control of the RATT name after a judge ruled against drummer Bobby Blotzer with respect to whether Croucier had committed trademark infringement by using the RATT name and logo to advertise his band RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER back in the fall 2015. The judge furthermore decided that the corporation WBS, Inc., of which Blotzer and DeMartini were thought to be the sole shareholders, and which Blotzer has claimed owns the RATT name and brand, did not have ownership interest in the RATT marks and that the name and brand was still owned by the members who were part of the original RATT partnership agreement: Pearcy, Croucier, DeMartini and Blotzer.

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

Blotzer's attorney, Drew Sherman, fired back last month, saying, "It's a long time before this is done. We're not even at the appeals part yet."

MUTINY WITHIN will release its third full-length album, titled "Origins", on February 10, 2017.

The song "Silent Weapons", taken from "Origins", can be streamed below.

Commented MUTINY WITHIN bassist Andrew Jacobs: "At the end of last year, we found some old demos we thought had been lost, which led to a discussion about putting together an EP.

"We planned on releasing the demos along with a couple of new songs but once we got started, we had more and more ideas for new songs and the plan quickly evolved into making an EP of brand new tracks.

"Our fans have stuck by us through so much, and as we kept working, we felt we were selling them short with just an EP, so we pushed on and turned it into a full album.

"We've now been in the studio for almost a year and have put together what we think are our best songs to date. It's MUTINY WITHIN but evolved, more extreme, longer songs, but still with everything that made people excited about us. My favorite part; it's all real. The drums, the vocals, the shred, and most of all, the passion we've always had for our music... We tried to capture the energy as if we were on stage and we've done that.

"We're so excited about the results and have no plans on stopping now.

"We owe our fans everything and we hope they continue to enjoy listening to us for a long time to come."

Pre-orders are available at www.mutiny-within.com.

MUTINY WITHIN made waves in the metal community early in its career by joining the Roadrunner Records roster and touring endlessly on the heels of its self-titled debut album. Having half the lineup live across the great Atlantic pond and experiencing serious financial difficulties due to the rampant piracy in the music industry, MUTINY WITHIN was forced to go on hiatus in 2011. That was the end of the touring band, but not the end of their music. A second album in the form of the independently produced "Synchronicity" followed in 2013.

An official trailer for the forthcoming "The Homecoming Tour" documentary from BLACK VEIL BRIDES singer Andy Biersack's solo project, ANDY BLACK, is available below.

ANDY BLACK's debut album, "The Shadow Side", was released last May via Lava/Republic. The disc was produced by John Feldmann and included collaborations with FALL OUT BOY's Patrick Stump, Gerard Way, 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER's Ashton Irwin and ALL TIME LOW's Rian Dawson.

Asked what ANDY BLACK sounds like, Biersack told U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine: "I think my intention for this was to go as far in the other direction as possible. Sonically, the goal was to really play with music and a lot of different stuff, to have a lot of odd instrumentation and to have a lot of programmed stuff, keyboards and more classic, almost pop-rock guitar. It's more U2 than MEGADETH. There are no guitar solos on the record. There's a lot of drumming styles; there's some weird sleigh bells. It was about playing with music and seeing what happened. We came up with something in the vein of stuff I love — U2, Adam Ant… It's somewere between Springsteen, new romantic and modern goth-pop music."

Biersack previously described ANDY BLACK as a "fun and artistic way for me to try something that musically I wouldn't want to force into BLACK VEIL BRIDES."

BLACK VEIL BRIDES recently completed work on its fifth album for an early 2017 release. A track from the effort, "The Outsider", was made available last month.

2016 was another record-breaking year for TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA (TSO), the project founded by producer/composer/lyricist Paul O'Neill. Proving that the critically-acclaimed, multi-platinum, progressive rock group is more popular on the road than ever before, TSO's winter tour 2016 sold the most tickets per show in the group's history, with a total in excess of 927,000. The tour also set a record gross for TSO with a total of more than $56.9 million.

20 years since the band's first album, and since its historic touring debut, TSO has played in excess of 1,800 shows for more than 14 million fans, with tour grosses of over $625 million, and sold in excess of 12 million albums and DVDs. In 2009, Billboard magazine placed TSO at #25 on its "Top Touring Artists Of The Decade."

TSO's 2016 winter tour kicked off on November 17 and concluded, after 105 shows, with special New Year's Eve performances in Seattle and Cleveland. Based on the group's perennial TV special "The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve", the 2016 winter tour played in 61 cities in a 45-day span. 2016's tour was ranked #11 on the Worldwide Ticket Sales "Top 100 Tours" chart, #16 on the "Top 200 North American Tours" chart, and #25 on the "Top 100 Worldwide Tours" chart by concert industry trade Pollstar magazine. As in years past, TSO gave at least $1 from every ticket sold to charity — approximately $14 million has been donated in total.

Prior to the winter tour, Atlantic Records/Rhino Entertainment released "The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve" on CD, vinyl and as a digital audio album. The album debuted at #2 on Billboard Top Rock Albums chart and #6 on The Billboard 200. Additionally, "The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve" hit #2 on Billboard's Holiday Albums chart, its seventh album to chart there.

Previously, TSO has enjoyed a string of successful album and DVD releases throughout its illustrious career. "Night Castle" debuted at #5 on The Billboard 200 chart and is now certified platinum. "Christmas Eve And Other Stories" (1996) boasted the smash hit "Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24" and is certified triple platinum with over 3.5 million albums sold. "The Christmas Attic" (1998) earned certified double platinum status with 2 million albums sold. "The Lost Christmas Eve" (2004), featuring hit single "Wizards In Winter", was certified double platinum with 2.5 million albums sold. "Beethoven's Last Night" (2000), TSO's first non-holiday rock opera, was certified gold with more than 650,000 album sales. 2015's "Letters From The Labyrinth" was TSO's third Top 10 album debut in a row, and it spent six weeks at #1 on Billboard's Rock Chart.

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA is split into separate touring units to cover more of the country in a limited time. Having two troupes, each of which features a full band and multiple lead singers, allows TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA to play 100 shows in 60 cities over a six-week period.

Asked if he feels pressure to top himself year after year and show after show, O'Neill told The Morning Call: "Yes. Every year we always say the same thing: 'How the heck are we going to beat this?' Actually, a couple of our crew members used to work for PINK FLOYD and one of them said, 'Paul, there is a reason why PINK FLOYD toured like once every five years.' I'm discovering why. It's a good problem to be having and it's also one of the reasons why at the end of every tour we take quite a bit of the production and pretty much cut it up which forces us to have to come up with something new, something different."

He continued: "One year we had Greg Lake as a special guest. I love Greg Lake because Greg Lake is the guy who invented prog rock. … He said, 'Paul,' he goes, 'you really get prog rock.' I'm like, 'I'm afraid I have no idea what that means.' He said, 'Prog rock is the ultimate form of music. If you're in a blues band and you play jazz songs, it's no longer a blues band. If you're in a jazz band and you play reggae band it's no longer a jazz band. If you're reggae band and play Strauss waltz, it's no longer reggae. But a progressive rock band you can do anything. It's built into the name — progressive — you're always pushing the envelope, which is why bands like RUSH on the radio can go from rock to reggae and back to rock and nobody says boo."

O'Neill added: "Also, with progressive rock bands like EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER, PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, progressive rock bands are not just expected to come up with great songs. Progressive rock is always expected to be pushing the live stage show. When I was kid growing up in New York City, basically there was four guys in spotlights and you were on a roll. I'll never forget the first time I saw GENESIS when they invented the Vari-Lite which changed colors, moods. Everyone was like, 'What the heck is that?' They didn't just rent them they were involved in the design and financing it. It was GENESIS I think that sparked the arms race of special effects on the stage. It basically helped take it to a different dimension. Just make sure that everybody in that arena gets to go to someplace where they normally couldn't go."

Horror icon Bill Moseley — most notable as Chop Top in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2", and Otis in Rob Zombie's "House Of 1000 Corpses" and "Devil's Rejects" — recently joined forces with extreme music legend Philp H. Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA, SUPERJOINT, SCOUR, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, ARSON ANTHEM) for a very special collaborative release titled "Songs Of Darkness And Despair".

Due on January 20 via Anselmo's own Housecore Records, the five-track offering was produced and performed by Anselmo and Stephen "The Big Fella" Berrigan (DOWN, SYK, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, EYEHATEGOD, HAARP, CLASSHOLE), and mastered by Scott Hull of Visceral Sound.

"Songs Of Darkness And Despair" includes guest appearances by Kevin Bond (SUPERJOINT) on guitar, Squizzy Squires (KING PARROT) on bass and guitar, and José "Blue" Gonzalez (SUPERJOINT, WARBEAST, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS) on percussion.

The song "Bad Donut", taken from "Songs Of Darkness And Despair", can now be streamed below. From preppie journalist to Satanic serial killer, Bill Moseley's taken a long and unusual road to cult stardom, firmly cementing his place in the annals of horror history along the way. Having released his "Spider Mountain" record, and collaborated with Buckethead on their CORNBUGS project, Moseley expands his musical endeavors by teaming up with Anselmo. BILL & PHIL's "Songs Of Darkness And Despair" is a brilliant trip that will give everyone a thrill. Comments Anselmo: "Working with Mr. Moseley was an awesome experience! Bill brought the lyrics and Stephen [Berrigan] and I just improvised directly on the spot, and squeezed out six tunes in three days. All the songs have a different vibe because I wanted the music to represent Bill's lyrical vision(s), and we needed to, because Bill does indeed have a unique, visual element within his choice of words and phrasing. I love Bill Moseley, and can't wait to work on the next one! Be cool and enjoy this one!" BILL & PHIL's "Songs Of Darkness And Despair" preorder bundles (including limited-edition air fresheners and face masks) are available at the Housecore store.

Additionally, you can check out a hilarious interview with Moseley and Anselmo courtesy of Little Punk People below. "Songs Of Darkness And Despair" track listing:

01. Dirty Eye02. Corpus Crispy03. Catastrophic04. Widder Woman05. Tonight's The Night We Die06. Bad Donut

In a brand new interview with the "WTF With Marc Maron" podcast, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield spoke about the importance of reconnecting with MEGADETH, ANTHRAX and SLAYER — the other members of the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — for a run of dates in 2010 and 2011.

"It really started [when METALLICA was inducted into] the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame [in 2009]," Hetfield said (hear audio below). Getting nostalgic and thinking, 'My God, look at all the people that have helped us along the way, and look who are still around. Let's say 'thank you' to them.' And so the 'Big Four' was kind of that thing. We're all still playing after thirty… whatever it was… thirty-two years. Let's go do a gig together. I mean, why shouldn't we? Let's celebrate the fact that we're still alive and playing music that we love. And I think the other thing was, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. That's all I ever hear about. NWOBHM. Blah blah blah. What about the 'Big Four'? No one knows the 'Big Four'. Come on, let's make it known. Let's make some history here, and let people know, and put a mark there that, hey, the 'Big Four' was, and is, a force to be reckoned with."

Hetfield also talked about his relationship with MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine, who was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1982 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Kirk Hammett.

"There's no reason [for things] to not be good [between us]," Hetfield said. "At this point, we've all freakin' fell off the wagon, we've all gone into the ditch, we've all gotten back on track, we've all learned from our stuff. And at the end of the day, it's just journeys — everyone is doing a different journey — and why would you hold a grudge with someone or vice versa?"

James credited his emotional maturity for being able to focus on making amends and repairing relationships with current and former bandmates — something he never would have been able to do in the early part of METALLICA's career.

"I've seen some kind of light around that," he explained. "Because I think [inducting BLACK SABBATH into the] Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame [in 2006] was a part of that realization that… You know, when we were up there and seeing… Ozzy [Osbourne] is sitting at one table, and the rest of BLACK SABBATH at the other table, and they don't wanna jam together, and they're being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. So we go up and we play a song — we played BLACK SABBATH songs for them— and that was beautiful for us, but it was sad to see that."

He continued: "I'd rather see you guys play. Whatever it is, put it away, please. I get it — I get it's hard to get past stuff — but there's stuff in my life that I thought I could never get over. Just see past that shit, go 'big picture,' whatever it is you need to do, [and] you can get past the most unbelievable places that you think you can never get out of."

METALLICA's latest album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart, selling 291,000 copies in its first week of release.

METALLICA will head out on a major world tour in support of the set later this year, with North American dates rumored to begin in late spring.

Interview (audio)

According to The Times, DEEP PURPLE has filed a lawsuit against its longtime accountant, accusing him of siphoning off up to £4 million (approximately $4.93 million) in band royalties.

Vocalist Ian Gillan, drummer Ian Paice and bassist Roger Glover have sued Dipak Shanker Rao, who has been working for DEEP PURPLE for more than twenty years, for allegedly misappropriating funds from their financial companies, HEC Enterprises and Deep Purple (Overseas) Ltd.

High Court this week froze the assets of Rao, who has admitted "borrowing" or "lending" at least £2.27 million of the company's money. Only £477,000 has been recovered thus far, with both HEC Enterprises and Deep Purple (Overseas) Ltd. having gone into administration a year ago.

Former DEEP PURPLE guitarist Ritchie Blackmore last year sued the companies, alleging that was owed £750,000 in unpaid royalties.

In a 2009 interview with The Telegraph, Gillan admitted he has not been particularly involved in overseeing DEEP PURPLE's financial affairs.

"I'm completely irresponsible," he said at the time. "I'm ignorant about money as a commodity — I have never really understood it. Years ago I decided to delegate running everything to my management because I'm only home three months every year and the rest of the time on tour."

DEEP PURPLE will release its new album, "InFinite", on April 7 via earMUSIC.

The band — which has been eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for two decades now — finally entered the Rock Hall as part of the class of 2016. DEEP PURPLE's first three lineups were inducted, including Paice, Blackmore, late keyboardist Jon Lord, and various singers and bassists — Rod Evans; Ian Gillan and Roger Glover; and David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.

In a brand new interview with Newsweek, legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was asked if he was disapppointed that he wasn't able to invite original RAINBOW singer Ronnie James Dio, who died in 2010, to take part in the band's reunion shows last year. He responded: "I hate to say it, but no, I wasn't. I'd finished with Ronnie a long time ago, and we kept in touch now and again, but I went on to other things, and he was in other things. We kept it very convivial and that, but I think neither one of us really wanted to get back together. He's a strong alpha male, and so am I; he wanted to go one way, I wanted to go the other."

In a 2009 interview with Greece's Rock Overdose, Ronnie was asked if he would be open to making a RAINBOW reunion album with Ritchie. Dio responded: "No, I will never do another RAINBOW album. I'll never ever do that again. I want no part in doing it; I want no part in doing anything with Ritchie at all. I respect him. He's a genius. He was a great part of my life, but I don't need to go through that hell. Especially when you get to be this age, do I need to suffer more? I think life should be easier as you get older and not more difficult. And Ritchie is too difficult a person for me to deal with, because I like to have control of my own life.

"When I'm not in [HEAVEN & HELL], I'm in the DIO band. We think the same. So, there is no problem with not liking each other or demanding that I have to do something that I don't want to do. So, it's not a place I want to go to.

"I'm happy for Ritchie that he's happy doing what he's doing. I wish he were not doing it and I wish he was still making rock 'n' roll music. But maybe he's too old… He's pretty close [to my age] too."

He added: "I'm not trying to make Ritchie out as a bad person, because he's not a bad person — he's a good person — and, as I said before, he's a genius, but he's making life difficult for people. He's not a kind man at times, and I don't wanna be around cruel people. I had enough of that from him…

"I had no problem with Ritchie. Ritchie and I never argued. We never had a problem. I think I was always able to write the things that he wanted — until he decided he wanted to be a pop star. And then he started doing pop music. And once he did that, that was the end for me. I didn't want to do that.

"I was lucky enough to be able to get into [BLACK] SABBATH and write things that were… perfect for me. I wanted to be heavier than what he allowed me to be… or allowed his band to be."

Blackmore performed RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE material at three shows last June. He was joined at the gigs by LORDS OF BLACK singer Ronnie Romero, STRATOVARIUS keyboardist Jens Johansson, BLACKMORE'S NIGHT drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau (a.k.a. Robert "Bob" Curiano, ex-BLACKMORE'S NIGHT).

Ronnie James Dio died on May 16, 2010 from gastric cancer at the age of 67.

Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR will release their highly anticipated double DVD, "Forces Of The Northern Night", 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.

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" 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.

"Beyond The Matrix", the new video from Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA, can be seen below. The clip was produced by Jens De Vos and his team at Panda Productions.

"Beyond The Matrix" is taken from EPICA's latest album, "The Holographic Principle", which was released on September 30 via Nuclear Blast.

Commented EPICA frontwoman Simone Simons: "The energy that lives within 'Beyond the Matrix' is extremely contagious. It will sweep you off your feet when the melodies enter your mind.

"The video embodies the spirit and liveliness of EPICA.

"Transcend together with us and shine past the sky" EPICA guitarist Mark Jansen added: "'Beyond The Matrix' is one of my favorite tracks to play live from our new album, as it makes the crowd go wild, so I'm happy we are releasing a video of it.

"We have managed to catch the energy of the song and translate it into images (and words).

"The song is dealing about us humans, being caught in a matrix (an illusion) because of our excessive thinking. We have lost control over our lives and accept the illusion as 'the one reality.' But if we manage to free ourselves from those shackles and become masters of our thoughts again, we can make a huge step forward in collective consciousness and will be able to look beyond the borders of our matrix.

"Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!!!"

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

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

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

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

"Overall, production-wise, we went bigger, because we recorded with more instruments as we had a good budget to finance it. We were in the studio for about five months recording. The writing took about a year; we had 27 songs to choose from when we were done. Then we had to narrow it down to 18 songs, which we recorded and mixed. Twelve went to the CD and the remaining six are in the corner waiting patiently to be released." After finishing a successful North American tour last month, EPICA will kick off a massive European tour with POWERWOLF and BEYOND THE BLACK this week.

Florida death metal veterans OBITUARY will release their self-titled, tenth studio album on March 17 via Relapse.

Picking up where 2014's "Inked In Blood" left off, OBITUARY show no signs of slowing down as they continue to reign as kings of death metal. Recorded at the band's home studio in Tampa, "Obituary" is a ten-track tour de force of bone-pulverizing death metal that is as heavy, uncompromising and infectious as anything they've released in the group's historic, nearly 30-year career.

"Obituary" track listing:

01. Brave02. Sentence Day03. Lesson In Vengeance04. End It Now05. Kneel Before Me06. It Lives07. Betrayed08. Turned To Stone09. Straight To Hell10. Ten Thousand Ways To Die

The cover art was created by Andreas Marschall and can be seen below.

Commented OBITUARY vocalist John Tardy: "When writing records the song titles and album titles are always the last things on our minds. We know that the songs themselves are the most important thing, so with this our tenth studio album and nearly three decades as a band, we thought it was the perfect time for a self-titled release. It always helps to have a killer album cover so we worked with Andreas Marschall, gave him our ideas and thoughts and asked him to break out the big guns to create an epic logo and he delivered like he always has for OBITUARY." Added the band in a collective statement: "We could not be any more excited about this new album. We had a blast writing and recording it and having Ken [Andrews, guitar] and Terry [Butler, bass] as part of the writing process was a very cool experience for all of us.

"We really took our time with the writing process of these new songs, recording riffs and ideas as we went along and recording them as rough mixes then listening back and making necessary changes to help mold them into the songs that we are extremely proud of. "It's always a challenge in the studio to get the song ideas out of your head onto the recording the way you want but we made sure we were comfortable with the songs and the sounds we were getting before we even hit the record button and it made it a great experience.

"It's hard to believe it's been two and a half years since the release of 'Inked In Blood' and we are so excited to get this new album into the hands of our fans.

"Can't wait for everyone to hear it. Hang on to your ass!!!!"

OBITUARY will hit the road this spring as part of the 2017 Decibel Magazine Tour with KREATOR, HORRENDOUS and MIDNIGHT. The tour kicks off on March 17 in Charlotte, North Carolina and runs through April 15 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On January 8, rock journalist Mitch Lafon of the "One On One With Mitch Lafon" podcast (Facebook page) conducted an interview with former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER frontman Udo Dirkschneider backstage in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the decision to extend the DIRKSCHNEIDER "Back To The Roots - Farewell To Accept" tour, during which he is playing classic ACCEPT songs for the last time, Udo said: "Now we're on tour until the beginning of February, and then we make a short break and then we start working on the new U.D.O. album. But, over the summer — I mean, it takes a while before the album is coming out — so we had a lot of… people wanna have us back on festivals in the summer in Europe, so we said, okay, why not? So [instead of sitting at] home, let's do it. And that's the plan, at the moment, for 2017. And you never know what's coming up. [Laughs]"

Asked if it's possible that the "Back To The Roots" tour will continue through the end of 2017, Udo said: "I don't know. We will see. I mean, never say never. I mean, as long as people are really interested in this, [for us] to do this, why not? It's not a problem. We can come up every minute with U.D.O.; it's not a problem for us. So if there is interest, and it looks like there's a big interest in the DIRKSCHNEIDER thing… If we do it, yeah, [and] if not [shrugs his shoulders]."

Udo told Lafon in a previous interview that his decision to perform classic songs from ACCEPT for the last time under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner was the result of his desire to focus on the U.D.O. material on future tours. He explained: "A lot of people ask me, 'Why do you do this?' And I said… Always people are asking, 'Oh, can you play this ACCEPT song and this ACCEPT song and this ACCEPT song?' I mean, I have fifteen U.D.O. albums out, and, for me now, U.D.O. is U.D.O. Of course, I know that the people like to hear ACCEPT songs with my voice, but I wanna close something — I wanna close, like a book, and say, 'Okay, that's it. I read it.' Sometimes you have to come to an end with something. I wanna close up everything with ACCEPT. And this will be the last time. And I said, okay, I'll do one more tour. It will be a world tour. And yeah, that will be the last time that you… When we are on tour with U.D.O., we'll never play any ACCEPT songs again."

DIRKSCHNEIDER released a live album called "Live - Back To The Roots" on October 28, 2016 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).

DIRKSCHNEIDER touring lineup:

Udo Dirkschneider - VocalsSven Dirkschneider - DrumsFitty Wienhold - BassAndrey Smirnov - GuitarKasperi Heikkinen - Guitar

My Kingdom Music, in collaboration with Sad Sun Music, will release the vinyl version of the new Crest Of Darkness album, Welcome The Dead, on January 13th. The album will see the co-production of Metal Age Productions, Kristallblut Records and Supreme Music Creations. This masterpiece of horror black metal will include a bonus track, "Drink My Blood”, and will be released in a gatefold double LP format, limited to 600 copies.

Crest Of Darkness have released a video for "My Black Bride" a special song that Ingar Amlien wanted to dedicate to his wife Laila. It is a particularly unusual choice for the band, not only because it is an instrumental, something the band has only recorded on two occasions over the years, but it is also a melodic, deeply atmospheric piece, totally different from the band's usual black/death metal sound. The reasons for creating such an "out of character" piece are quite fascinating, and are explained on My Kingdom Music site at this location..

The video itself can be seen below.

Tracklisting:

“Welcome The Dead”
“Chosen By The Devil”
“Scourged And Crucified”
“My Black Bride”
“Borrowed Life”
“The Almighty”
“Memento Mori”
“The Noble Art”
“Katharsis”

“My Black Bride” video:

“Welcome The Dead” video: