After a three year wait, Italian black/death metal band, Infernal Angels, will release their fourth full-length album, Ars Goetia, on January 20th. An album teaser is streaming below.

With Ars Goetia, their tribute to the Kings Of Hell, the band come back via My Kingdom Music for their most obscure and intransigent album, a black/death metal vortex, a must for all fans of Dark Funeral, Belphegor, Mor Dagor, and Mgla.

The cover art was created by the band's guitarist. Apsychos:

Tracklisting

“Amdusias: The Sound Of Hell”
“Vine: Destroyer Of The World”
“Asmoday: The Impure Archangel”
“Purson: Matter And Spirit”
“Bael: The Fire Devour Their Flesh”
“Paimon: The Secret Of Mind”
“Balam: Under Light And Torment”
“Zagan: The Alchemist”
“Belial: The Deceiver”
“Beleth: Lord Of Chaos And Spirals”

Teaser:

Special guests on the album will be three great characters of the Italian scene, Mancan from Ecnephias, Lorenzo Sassi from Frostmoon Eclipse and Snarl from Black Faith, who add new and obscure facets and atmospheres to the songs.

Electronic / rock pioneers The Album Leaf have shared a new music video for the track "Never Far" off their recently released first full-length in over 6 years, Between Waves. The gorgeously shot video, directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead follows the famed cut-out Flat Stanley on a life-changing adventure across various parts of the globe.

Additionally, The Album Leaf kick off their West Coast headlining tour next week in Santa Ana, CA. Rituals Of Mine will provide support on select dates. 

Dates:

December
8 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
9 – San Diego, CA – Irenic
10 – Visalia, CA – Cellar Door
12 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
13 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
14 – Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
16 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
17 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Atrium 

Between Waves is out now via Relapse Records on CD/LP/DLX 2xLP/Digital. Physical orders can be placed at this location, and digital orders are available via The Album Leaf's Bandcamp page here. “New Soul” is also available on white 7" vinyl via The Album Leaf's store at this location.

With Gerald Broms' masterly portrayal of Krampus the Christmas demon, enshrining the cover, Sterbhaus is now releasing the digital Christmas EP Krampusnacht. With its dynamic, high-quality Metal Sterbhaus clearly shows what Christmas should be all about. As always with tongue in cheek wit but this time also with proper "slay bells" in spirit. 

In addition to the two original songs - title track "Krampusnacht" and the instrumental "Santa Claus In Satans Claws" a cover of Britain's finest Spinal Tap "Christmas With The Devil" can be found. Mix and master was handled by Jocke Skog (Clawfinger, Crucified Barbara, Entombed, Scar Symmetry, The Haunted). The EP will be available for free download annually from December 1st - December 31st.

Any attempt to download "Krampusnacht" post-Christmas will be followed by a ridiculous price-tag. Download the EP on Bandcamp.

Evil Masquerade have released a video for the 200-year old song, “Märk Hur Vår Skugga” (translation: Note How Our Shadow), written by Carl Michael Bellman (1740 – 1795) who is one of the most important Swedish troubadours and poets.

It's a very dark song about death and alcohol. The lyric tells about a funeral for a girl who drank herself to death with her male friends at the local bodega. The video is from the time before she died.

The track is sung by Evil Masquerade guitarist Henrik Flyman in his native language. It also appears on the band's new album, The Outcast Hall Of Fame. Watch via the YouTube clip below. Also streaming at Spotify.

The Outcast Hall Of Fame is available via Dark Minstrel Music. The album was produced by Henrik Flyman, and was mixed and mastered by Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Pretty Maids, Jorn). Featured vocalists include Mats Levén (Candlemass), Rick Altzi (Masterplan, At Vance), Apollo Papathanasio (Spiritual Beggars), and Nicklas Sonne (Defecto, Malrun). Backing vocals by Yenz Leonhardt (Stormwarrior, Lacrimosa).

The album’s front cover was once again painted by David Troest, who also did the artwork for the albums The Digital Crucifix and 10 Years In The Dark.

Tracklisting:

“The Outcast Hall Of Fame”
“Death Of God”
“Darkness (I Need You)”
“One Thousand Roses And A Lot Of Pain”
“Lost Inside A World Of Fear”
“The Spineless”
“Märk Hur Vår Skugga”
“On No Way To Broadway”

“Lost Inside A World Of Fear” video:

“Darkness (I Need You)” lyric video:

With the end of 2016 Alone Records keeps working on their next releases for 2017, this time with the last two studio albums (prior to Live at Rockefeller Music Hall ) from Norwegian masters of prog rock/metal Leprous on limited picture disc edition.

Coal and The Congregation meant the consolidation of Leprous as one of the top most influential prog bands in 21st century, with frontman and genius songwriter Einar Solberg as badge of identity. Both albums will be issued as double picture disc LP with trifold sleeve, each limited to 500 units worldwide. Release date is scheduled for February 17, 2017 by Alone Records.

Leprous will be touring Europe early next year with Devin Townsend and American proggers Between The Buried And Me from late January until mid-March 2017. UK dates will count on Tesseract instead of BTBAM.

Both versions of Coal and The Congregation will be up for preorder tomorrow December 1st at theAlone Records webstore at reduced price and limited bundles.

In other news, Leprous have announced a long overdue vinyl 2LP re-release of their groundbreaking 2011 album, Bilateral, which will be out on January 27th via InsideOutMusic, in good timing for their commencing tour campaign across Europe/UK. Look out for more details and pre-sale info soon.

European dates with Devin Townsend Project and Between The Buried And Me:

January
28 - Antwerpen, Belgium - Trix * No BTBAM
30 - Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg - Rockhal
31 - Paris, France - Bataclan

February
1 - Bordeaux, France - Rockschool Barbey
3 - Madrid, Spain - La Reviera
4 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
5 - Marseille, France - Le Moulin
7 - Milan, Italy - Live Club
8 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
9 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn
10 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
12 - Zagreb, Croatia - Tvornica Club
13 - Budapest, Hungary - A38
14 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
16 - Prague, Czech Republic - The Roxy
17 - Leipzig, Germany - Täubchenthal
18 - Kraków, Poland - Kwadrat
19 - Warsaw, Poland - Stodola
21 - Hamburg, Germany - Grünspan
22 - Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
23 - Göteborg, Sweden - Pustervik
25 - Bergen, Norway - Blastfest
26 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
28 - Helsinki, Finland - The Circus

March
1 - Seinajoki, Finland - Rytmikorjaamo
3 - Stockholm, Sweden - Berns
4 - Malmö, Sweden - KB
5 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
7 - Berlin, Germany - Columbia Theater
8 - Dortmund, Germany - FZW
9 - Tilburg, The Netherlands - 013
10 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands - De Melkweg

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

"We're excited to be working with one of the top leading labels in extreme music," offers the band in a collective statement. "It's been a long journey and we want to thank our fans, friends, and family for their endless support along the way. This album is everything we all wanted, bone crushing and in-your-face with obese breakdowns, finger-licking riffs, and a bit of melodies for some soft listening. We can't wait for you all to hear it. It's an exciting time for us and the future of So This Is Suffering!"

Palace Of The Pessimist preorders will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out the visual accompaniment to ninth track "Dreameater" below.

Tracklisting:

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

“Dreameater”:

Boston rockers Mass have released a four track holiday CD.

Mass do renditions of holiday classics from Grammy nominated writer’s David Foster, Mariah Carey, and Beale & Boothe.
 
This CD also features the first holiday original song by Mass called “Holden On To Christmas”. The majority of all CD sales go to the Toys For Tots organization. CDs available exclusively at Mass’ official website. Downloads are available on iTunes and other digital stores.

Tracklisting:

“Jingle Bell Rock”
“Where Are You Christmas”
“Grown Up Christmas List”
“Holden On To Christmas”

Trailer:

Late January 2017 sees the deluxe edition release of Fresh Cream, the debut album by British, blues boom, power trio, Cream.

The 3-CD + 1 Blu-Ray Audio disc come housed in a gatefold sleeve within a rigid slipcase and includes a 64-page hardback book, featuring new sleeve notes by respected Rolling Stone writer, David Fricke. The set comprises various alternate and new stereo mixes plus several, previously unreleased BBC sessions.

A special 6LP 180g Vinyl edition of Fresh Cream will also be released in April 2017.

Originally released in 1966, at the height of the UK blues bloom, Fresh Cream showcased the not inconsiderable talents of three of the then music scene’s brightest lights: Eric Clapton fresh from John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers; drummer, Ginger Baker straight from the Graham Bond Organisation and versatile bassist and musician, Jack Bruce who, at the time, had just left Manfred Mann. Collectively the three had decided to give up their roles as much sought after sidemen to form their own super group.

Coming together as Cream in the early summer of 1966, the trio moved at impressive speed to make the release of Fresh Cream in December of the same year. Highlights include the racing harmonica work-out and the call and response excitements on Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ and Tumblin’, a spine-tingling vocal on the Willie Dixon classic, Spoonful, as well as the self-penned Sleepy Time Time, which gave Clapton a free hand to wake up all and sundry. Their rousing treatment of the traditional standard, Cat’s Squirrel alerted listeners to just how well Clapton, Baker and Bruce musically complemented each other.

Fresh Cream is available to order now:

* 3CD + 1 Blu-Ray Audio
* 6LP 180g Vinyl

Complete tracklisting details at this location.

Italy’s Lionville will release their third album, A World Of Fools on February 24th.

Born as a project dedicated to pure AOR with a touch of Westcoast and melodic rock, Lionville draw musical inspiration from acts like Toto, Richard Marx, Giant, Bad English, Survivor Band, and Boulevard. The band was started by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer, and guitarist based in Genova, Italy and his brother Alessandro. After years of playing the local club circuit of Genova, Stefano formed Lionville with the encouragement and help of Pierpaolo “Zorro” Monti (Shining Line) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Revolution Saints, Ted Poley, etc.). With the involvement of singer Lars Säfsund (Work of Art), Lionville quickly took shape and became something very near and dear to everyone involved.

With two critically acclaimed releases - which came out in 2011 and 2012 - Lionville managed to find their place in the European melodic rock scene while also appearing at Firefest in Nottingham in 2012. With their combination of rockin’ AOR tunes and classic Westcoast AOR sounds, Lionville piqued the interest of Frontiers, who signed the band in early 2016.

“It’s a very important record for Lionville, since we are coming back after four years of silence,” says Stefano Lionetti. “I really wanted to make happy all the fans who waited so long for it. As a producer and songwriter I have done my best to create a high class record, but with the right variety. You will find classic melodic rock songs, a couple of ballads, songs in the style of the previous record and of course a lot of attention on the arrangements. I also wanted to have more of a band feel with this record and I am very proud of the final result.”

“These songs have been fun to sing and they’re really good,” adds Lars Safsund.

Recorded by a gifted cast of experienced studio cats and upcoming talents and produced by Stefano Lionetti, the new album, A World Of Fools finds a winning combination of very strong songwriting (courtesy also of Robert Sall, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Bruce Gaitsch, Soren Kronkvist, Gianluca Firmo, Thomas Vikstrom, and Ida West) and stellar musical performances, crowned by impressive lead vocals and an album mix that gives space to all the significant little details.

The Lionville team has high hopes that people will embrace their vision of a reinvigorated musical genre and everyone is looking forward to continuing the Lionville story with another awesome contribution to melodic rock music.

Tracklisting:

“I Will Wait”
“Show Me The Love”
“Bring Me Back Our Love”
“Heaven Is Right Here”
“A World Of Fools”
“One More Night”
“All I Want”
“Living On The Edge”
“Our Good Goodbye”
“Paradise”
“Image Of Your Soul”

EPK:

Lionville:

Stefano Lionetti: Guitars, Vocals, Keyboards
Lars Säfsund: Lead & Backing vocals
Michele Cusato: Guitars
Giulio Dagnino: Bass
Martino Malacrida: Drums

French extreme metallers, Betraying The Martyrs, have announced the release of their third studio album, The Resilient, out on January 27th via Sumerian Records. Following their recent single “The Great Disillusion”, Betraying The Martyrs have unleashed a dark music video for the new single, “Lost For Words”, streaming below.

Says the band: ”We are extremely pleased and proud to announce the release date of our third full-length album, The Resilient, out January 27th on Sumerian Records. After over a year and a half of hard work, taking into consideration our strengths and our weaknesses, looking back on our success and more importantly our downfalls, we can honestly say that this is by far the best material we have written since the beginning of this incredible journey. Betraying The Martyrs has been taken to a whole new level, we couldn't be more excited to share the result of everything we have lived since day one; we are back. Without further ado, we are pleased to present to you our new single and music video for “Lost For Words”.”

The Resilient tracklisting:

“Lost For Words”
“Take Me Back”
“The Great Disillusion”
“Dying To Live”
“The Resilient”
“Unregistered”
“Won't Back Down”
“(Dis)Connected”
“Behind The Glass”
“Waste My Time”
“Ghost”
“Wide Awake”

“Lost For Words” video:

“The Great Disillusion” video:

To coincide with the announcement, pre-order bundles and digital pre-orders have been made available along with their new singles “Lost For Words” and “The Great Disillusion”:

* iTunes
* Amazon
* GooglePlay
* CD/Merch Bundles

Betraying The Martyrs tour Europe as main support to Chelsea Grin on February 3rd through March 5th, where they’ll be joined by Make Them Suffer and Void Of Vision.

Tour dates:
 
February
6 - Cardiff, Wales - Clwb Ifor Bach
7 - Birmingham, England - O2 Institute 3
8 - Glasgow, Scotland - Cathouse
9 - Manchester, England - Sound Control
10 - London, England - O2 Academy Islington

"Doom Laden Progressive Wall Of Metal!" Sounds like the perfect definition of Arduini / Balich's debut album, Dawn Of Ages, which will be released via Cruz Del Sur Music on February 24th.

Arduini / Balich is the result of two very powerful figures in their own right of the metal scene. Victor Arduini needs no introduction being one of the founding members of Fates Warning, same can be said  for Brian "Butch" Balich, the mighty voice of Argus.

The story goes back in time to the end of 2013 when Arduini put a final word to his experience with Freedoms Reign. Victor needed more freedom to express his creativity, feeling his ideas weren't much fitting into the style of FR anymore.

"At that time I was at a creative peak. It seemed like I wrote new riffs every day which seemed heavier and darker than anything I've done before," commented Victor Arduini. "They were becoming more intricate and challenging which fuelled my passion to see how far I could take them. I was really close to the whole process and soon realized it had to be a project where I could have complete artistic control and produce an album that represented who I am as an artist, guitarist and musician."

In search of musicians who could get along with this challenge, Victor recruited Freedoms Reign's drummer Chris Judge and was on the lookout for a singer when his path crossed with Butch who had recently shared stages with him.

"I truly feel Brian's vocals are some of the best he's ever done. It's like when Dio went from Rainbow to Sabbath," Arduini stated. "Same voice but new music around it inspired new melodies and gave a different presentation. While it took longer than both of us expected for many reasons we reached the finish line and are both very proud of the music and our collaboration together. It is truly a joint collaboration and we hope our fans will enjoy what they hear."

Dawn Of Ages is one of the most ambitious records ever released on Cruz Del Sur Music. A monumental piece of music on the level of While Heaven Wept or Atlantean Kodex's releases (to name two Cruz Del Sur recording artists). A rollercoaster of emotions, an album that captures the collisions of two worlds, progressive and doom. The final result is a really amazing journey inside human soul. Through six original compositions that last for more than an hour, the audience will be captured and hypnotized by the eclectically familiar Victor's guitar melodies empowered by Butch's passionate interpretation. Indeed Dawn Of Ages is an album that could have been easily recorded in the mid/late 70s for the total dedication that transpires through each and every note of it. It is not an album that wants to please any old or new trend in metal, rather an intimate expression  of two musicians who have always put their passion for heavy music before anything else.

Dawn Of Ages will be released in a deluxe 6-panel digipack embellished by a wonderful, original Michael Cowell's (Alunah) artwork. The vinyl version will be released in a gatefold colored vinyl double LP with three incredible cover songs as a bonus. Uriah Heep’s "Sunrise", Beau Brummels’ "Wolf Of Velvet Fortune" and Black Sabbath’s "After All (The Dead)”.

Black Swamp Water, featuring former Illdisposed/Dawn Of Demise drummer Kim Langkjær Jensen, have released a video for “Into The Fire”, a track from their debut album, Chapter One, released back in August via Mighty Music/Target Group. The video can be found below.

Chapter One tracklisting:

“Leave Nothing Behind”
“Harmless”
“World On Fire”
“Interlude”
“Into The Fire”
“Black Swamp Water”
“Life Is Pain”
“The Only Road”
“Efuckingnough”
“Run”
“Let It Go”

“Into The Fire” video:

”World On Fire" performance video:

Black Swamp Water lineup:

Vocals: Bjørn Bølling Nyholm
Guitars: Jan Geert & Martin Lykke Hansen
Bass: Jeppe Birch Friis
Drums: Kim Langkjær Jensen

Live video of Luca Turilli's Rhapsody performing the track “Prometheus” at Masters Of Rock 2016 is streaming below. The original version of the track can be found on the Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus album.

Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus was chosen to be the first studio album in music history to be remixed in Dolby Atmos. Renowned producer/mixing engineer Chris Heil (Scorpions, David Bowi) mixed the entire masterpiece in Dolby Atmos - the mindblowing result will be submitted for the 2017 Grammy nominations. Prometheus, The Dolby Atmos Experience + Cinematic And Live will be released December 9th via Nuclear Blast.

A second video trailer has been released. See both trailers below:

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

Luca Turilli, responsible for composition and orchestra- and choir-arrangements states: "The new Dolby Atmos sound fits perfectly with Luca Turilli's Rhapsody music just as the Rhapsody music - emotional, visionary and cinematic in its nature - is perfect to showcase the potential of an amazing technology destined to revolutionize the field of immersive audio's experience. From a composer's point of view, Dolby Atmos is like the advent of a canvas with colors in three dimensional space. It enables me to place the band, orchestra and choir around me like I would in a real life situation, granting to the listener an emotional and breathtaking journey in a parallel dimension. Every instrument can finally breathe and live in three dimensions, turning the Dolby Atmos version of Rhapsody's music into a divine, musical experience of transcendence. No limits for creativity anymore. This new Dolby technology allows my heart and soul to finally express themselves with complete freedom and exciting force!"

But what actually is Dolby Atmos?

Cinemas discovered this new format and integrated loud speakers in their ceilings to place the listener into an 'acoustic honeycomb’.

"This novelty has now reached the home technology and we at Yamaha wanted to support the project of Luca Turilli's Rhapsody with an audio blu-ray-disc in Dolby Atmos“, Michael Geise from Yamaha explains. "It's a very thrilling challenge and makes this release a vivid and new experience. And since we are always looking for new contents, the cooperation with Luca Turilli was a great idea for us. Dolby Atmos is already included in our receivers and the customer can immediately use it - but so far only few releases support this new format and usually it is only available for films, not for music blu-rays. But now it is and we created a medium that could easily bring instruments to life, without any artificial effects. We had the know-how to turn this performance into a real live experience with our loudspeakers, receivers and the new sound bar that brings the musicians almost right into everyone's living room!"

Producer and mixer Chris Heil found Luca Turilli's Rhapsody almost by accident: "I heard excerpts from Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus in the studio right next to me and knew immediately that this was the material I wanted to use to showcase the potential of Dolby Atmos to the world. This kind of music is made for this format with its combination of band,orchestra and choir arrangements. I called Luca Turilli immediately to ask his permission to use the material and he immediately agreed.

The result of their two months long cooperation is a vivid combination of metal, filmscore and a wide variety of ethnic elements. "It is incredibly entertaining and inspiring to listen to the result. It's the first album in my 36-year career where I had to leave longer pauses between the tracks because you really need time to digest that bombastic sound. It's mindblowing," states Chris Heil. And Luca Turilli agrees: "Dolby Atmos will bring a revolution to the world of films and music and allows you to enjoy every release even more!"

Prometheus - The Dolby Atmos Experience (Audio Blu-ray) tracklisting:

“Nova Genesis (Ad Splendorem Angeli Triumphantis)”
“Il Cigno Nero”
“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”
“Anahata”
“Il Tempo Degli Dei”
“One Ring To Rule Them All”
“Notturno”
“Prometheus”
“King Solomon And The 72 Names Of God”
“Yggdrasil”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall Part II: Codex Nemesis”

“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”:

This unique package will be completed by two brand-new live CDs, which were produced by Luca Turilli and Alex Landenburg, mixed by Christian "Moschus" Moos at Spacelab Studio (Grefrath, Germany) and mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio (San Marino).

"Cinematic And Live is the first live product to be released by my Luca Turilli's Rhapsody band and represents the live album I always dreamed of. It was recorded in Italy, France, Germany and Spain in 2012 and 2016 and it almost includes all the songs played by Luca Turilli's Rhapsody until now. We recently played our show number 100 and this important release represents the perfect celebration for these last years of live activity around the world. Cinematic And Live features songs from both the Ascending To Infinity and the Prometheus cinematic tours and it includes over 120 minutes of Rhapsody music: the newest songs, the old classics and some titles from my solo discography, too. The mix of Christian "Moschus" Moos and the mastering of Simone Mularoni were the cherry on the cake for this live album sounding really powerful, soulful and emotional like no others, with the important live atmosphere adding a new and exciting dimension to Luca Turilli's Rhapsody's cinematic music!"

Cinematic And Live tracklisting:

CD1
“Nova Genesis”
“Il Cigno Nero” [Reloaded]
“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”
“Land Of Immortals”
“Aenigma”
“War Of The Universe”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall” [Extract]
“Excalibur”
“The Ancient Forest Of Elves”
“Son Of Pain”
“Prometheus”
Drum Solo
“Knightrider Of Doom”
“Warrior's Pride”

CD2
“The Astral Convergence”
“The Pride Of The Tyrant”
“Tormento E Passione”
“Demonheart”
Bass Solo
“Warrior Of Ice”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall Part II - Of Psyche And Archetypes”
“Dark Fate Of Atlantis”
“Dawn Of Victory”
“Quantum X”
“Ascending To Infinity”
“Emerald Sword”
“Finale”

Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus was composed and produced once again by Luca Turilli, responsible as always of all the orchestral and choral arrangements. It was recorded and mixed at the Backyard Studios of Sebastian Roeder (Bonfire a.o.) and mastered by Christoph Stickel (Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock a.o.) at MSM studios.

Seven months of composition, three months of production, over 50 days of mix, two choirs, several special guests, including Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Dan Lucas (Karo) and David Readman (Pink Cream 69). Including 70 minutes of epic music, sounding cinematic, bombastic and dramatic as never before, the new Rhapsody masterwork will lead the listener to an emotional and memorable journey between quantum gates, parallel dimensions, myths and legends hiding cosmic truths, ancestral secrets and spiritual revelations.

Amsterdam-based metal band THE CHARM THE FURY has signed a deal with Nuclear Blast / Arising Empire. The group's sophomore album will be released in March 2017.

A teaser for follow-up to 2013's "A Shade Of My Former Self" is available below.

THE CHARM THE FURY has matured since their debut. With several of Europe's biggest festivals under their belts, they have transformed their sound into a startling slab of ultra-modern but utterly distinctive metal that shrewdly and honestly redefines what THE CHARM THE FURY is all about. Driven by a collective distaste for the state of the world in the 21st century, the band recorded an angry album underpinned by ferocious intelligence and a heartfelt desire to wake people out of their digital stupors.

With more details about the band's new album to come, the critical moment has arrived: THE CHARM THE FURY is armed, ready and hungry for the next big push. When it explodes in 2017, the smart money is on these diehard noisemakers claiming their rightful place among the new metal elite. They have the songs, the determination and the charisma to make it happen.

THE CHARM THE FURY is:

Caroline Westendorp - VocalsMathijs Tieken - DrumsRolf Perdok - GuitarMartijn Slegtenhorst - GuitarLucas Arnoldussen - Bass

Forbes revealed its annual list of the highest-paid musicians of the year and legendary rockers AC/DC landed at No. 7, having made $67.5 million in 2016.

Pop singer Taylor Swift topped the list with a whopping $170 million, followed by ONE DIRECTION at No. 2 with $110 million and Adele at No. 3 with $80.5 million.

Madonna came in at No. 4 with $76.5 million and Rihanna landed at No. 5 with $75 million.

It was reported in December 2015 that AC/DC had sold the most tickets last year. The rockers sold 2.31 million tickets to beat Swift's total of 2.27 million. AC/DC did benefit from performing 15 more shows than Swift. AC/DC also held down the No. 2 position when it came to gross sales with $180 million.

Guitarist Angus Young told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that AC/DC has never changed its approach to its live shows even as it's played bigger and bigger venues. "Somebody once had said, 'You know, people know what they like and like what they know,'" he said. "In the beginning, we were a, you know, just a rock 'n' roll band, and, you know, when you would play in bars and clubs and stuff, you know, this is what the audience was coming to hear you for."

AC/DC played what was believed to be the band's last-ever concert with bassist Cliff Williams on September 20 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Williams's decision to bow out of the group followed a string of personnel changes for the band that started with co-founding guitarist Malcolm Young's departure in 2014 after he was diagnosed with dementia. Last year, drummer Phil Rudd was sentenced to house arrest after he was found guilty on a drug charge, while earlier this year singer Brian Johnson was forced to step down or face the loss of his hearing.

Assuming neither Rudd nor Johnson return, Williams's exit means that only Angus remains from the lineups that recorded classic albums like 1979's "Highway To Hell" — the last album recorded with late lead singer Bon Scott — 1980's "Back In Black" and 1981's "For Those About To Rock...We Salute You".

The Philadelphia concert was the last of ten North American dates that were rescheduled after Brian Johnson had to leave the tour. As with the band's European shows earlier in the summer, the vocals were handled by GUNS N' ROSES lead singer Axl Rose.

The band does not have any more shows on its itinerary at the moment and Angus Young has not indicated for certain whether the band will continue on.

West Hollywood, California's famous Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip has dedicated its patio to iconic MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister and re-named it "Lemmy's Lounge." It is a fitting gesture from the Rainbow, as when Lemmy wasn't touring or recording, the majority of his waking hours were spent on said patio. There is already a life-size bronze statue immortalizing Lemmy at The Rainbow, which attracts fans from all over the world, and Lemmy's Lounge will allow hardcore fans and casual patrons alike to sample the wares and atmosphere that Lemmy loved so much. To celebrate Lemmy's Lounge, Roxy owner Nic Adler and Goldenvoice's Paul Tollett have kindly agreed to allow the painting of a celebratory mural commemorating the life of Lemmy and MOTÖRHEAD on the side wall of the Roxy, opposite Lemmy's Lounge and statue. MOTÖRHEAD's management is seeking a local L.A. muralist painter that is interested in the opportunity to provide their services to paint this immortal artwork in celebration of our fallen hero's life. Interested parties should fill the form at www.lemmyslounge.com to submit their resume. The closing date for submissions is December 24, 2016. Any other inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]/* */

Lemmy, who celebrated his 70th birthday last Christmas Eve (December 24), learned two days later that he was afflicted with an aggressive form of cancer. He died two days later, on December 28, at his home in Los Angeles.

The MOTÖRHEAD frontman had dealt with several health issues over the past few years, including heart trouble, forcing him to cut back on his famous smoking and Jack Daniels habits.

The band canceled a number of shows last year, although they did manage to complete one final European tour on December 11, 2015.

In a 2015 interview with Kerrang! magazine, Lemmy was asked how it makes him feel when people call him a legend. He responded: "As long as they don't believe it, that's alright." He continued: "Who wouldn’t want a hero somewhere in their lives? And it might as well be me, 'cause I don't take the piss out of them for it, and I don't laugh at them because of it." But he added, "I'm not a legend. I never thought of myself as being special in particular. Maybe I make brilliant music, but that's about it."

"Death Rattle", the new video from BEASTO BLANCO, the band fronted by long time ALICE COOPER bassist Chuck Garric, can be seen below. The song is taken from BEASTO BLANCO's self-titled, full-length second album, which was released on November 25 via Rat Pak Records. "Beasto Blanco" is the follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed 2013 release "Live Fast, Die Loud" (Rat Pak Records), which was endorsed by the likes of movie actor Johnny Depp, IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain, producer Bob Ezrin, and many more. The latest effort, which was produced by Ryan Greene (ALICE COOPER, LITA FORD, MR. BIG), features 11 new tracks and an amped-up cover version of Alice's hit song "Feed My Frankenstein" that also features Alice's daughter and BEASTO bandmate Calico Cooper.

Influenced by bands such as WHITE ZOMBIE and MOTÖRHEAD, BEASTO BLANCO's all new 12-song, sophomore effort is a potent mix of heavy riffs, driving bass and melodic choruses.

"I'm very proud of this release," says Chuck Garric. "This new album showcases the bands evolution as songwriters and our unity as a musical force." Calico adds: "This record is like a baseball bat to the chest that you want more and more of." The track listing for "Beasto Blanco" is: 01. Buried Angels02. Grind03. Feed My Frankenstein (ALICE COOPER cover)04. Carcosa05. Death Rattle06. Dark Matter07. Sadhana08. I Rise09. Machine Girl10. Honey11. Blind Drive12. Damnation BEASTO BLANCO's fall/winter tour will include a string of U.S headline dates, as well as an arena tour of Europe with German hard rock heavyweights BÖHSE ONKELZ. They return home to the U.S for another run of headline dates that will conclude with performances on the 2017 Monsters Of Rock cruise in February.

Professionally filmed video footage of Danish/American rock 'n' rollers VOLBEAT performing their song "Seal The Deal" this past June at the FortaRock festival at Goffertpark in Nijmegen, the Netherlands can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's sixth full-length album, "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie", which was released on June 3 via Republic Records.

VOLBEAT guitarist Rob Caggiano told TeamRock about the "Seal The Deal" track: "We already had the album title before we wrote this song, and as is the case with all these songs, they came together musically before we had any lyrics. But this song, to me, very much has the spirit of MOTÖRHEAD in it."

He continued: "We were originally talking about covering a MOTÖRHEAD song in tribute to Lemmy, but when [drummer] Brandon [Carlisle] from TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET passed away, that kind of changed our plan. So we made the title track a kind of indirect tribute to Lemmy and MOTÖRHEAD."

VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen explained the story behind the "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie" album title. He said: "When I write, I'm pretty much locked into this bubble. And sometimes when I come out, I have no idea where I've been or where I got the idea from. And going back to where I came up with the title, I really don't remember. I think it popped up when I was writing the song called 'Seal The Deal' and things just popped up improvising, and I said, 'Well…that sounds pretty good.' And I pretty much used that title on every song somehow, because you can analyze the title in many different directions. So I think I came up with the title when I was writing the song 'Seal The Deal'."

Asked how VOLBEAT deals with the fact that fans sometimes worry that each new album from the band is going to be softer than the previous one, Michael told Studio Brussel: "We don't. [Laughs] We do what we do, and we love what we're doing. And we're just progressing as a band. Sometimes people think the next record is too heavy or too soft. It depends on which ears are listening to it. We don't care too much about it. We are VOLBEAT and we found our signature sound and style on the first record. And there's a lot of new songs that could be on the first record, but then again, we're also progressing as a band, so maybe some of the songs are a little bit more soft, but there will always be metal influences and… We don't care too much about it. We just like to write songs and be on the road. We would never like to be on the road if we didn't care about what we were doing. So who knows? Maybe the next record will be an extreme metal album. It really depends on where you are when you sit down and write. So we don't think too much about it."

A GUNS N' ROSES fan by the name of Dan Delaney has uploaded video tour of the official and bootleg merchandise stands at the band's November 29 concert at at Palacio De Los Deportes in Mexico City. Check out the clips below.

The production manager for the current GUNS N' ROSES reunion tour shed some light on the trek's future and inner workings in an interview with local Atlanta TV station WXIA. Speaking one day before the group's concert there, Dale "Opie" Skjerseth said that the "Not In This Lifetime" tour has "no end date," and that shows are already booked "far into next year."

Skjerseth said that all members of the band are "getting along just fine" and shot down speculation that they have separate dressing rooms due to tension within the ranks, Skjerseth said: "Just because everybody's older, they carry their families with them. They all have to have their space. Everybody meets before we go on stage. It's a meeting point and that's where the chemistry happens."

The tour features original members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan on stage together for the first time in more than 20 years.

Asked if it was money or music that brought the core members back together, Skjerseth said: "I believe it starts with the love of the band. And then of course we all want money."

Regarding the future of the tour, Skjerseth said, "I've been told there's no end date, and I've seen plenty of dates going into next year, far into next year. Everybody's working together to keep a common goal and common direction: keep the machine going."

Skjerseth also discussed how Axl Rose is managing to get onstage on time, as opposed to previous tours when he was notorious for starting shows sometimes hours behind schedule. Skjerseth said, "We're all older and want to get to bed now. It's his maturity and business and how it should be. Everybody feels good about it."

NIGHTWISH singer Floor Jansen says that SLAYER is "a dreadful band" whose music is "unbelievably boring."

The Dutch vocalist's comments were part of an interview for Metal Hammer 's regular light-hearted feature "The Metal Test" in which she was asked to name the most metal album she has ever owned. Jansen responded: "I mainly listen to metal, so they are all metal albums. But the most metal? Some would say SLAYER, but I think they're a dreadful band. Unbelievably boring. Terrible. Apparently it's not metal to say that, but it's a personal opinion."

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

Jansen, who officially joined NIGHTWISH in 2013, recently shot down speculation that NIGHTWISH's upcoming year-long break in 2017 has something to do with tension between members of the group. The vocalist also dismissed rumors that she will leave the band after welcoming her first child in early 2017. She told Mariskal Rock TV: "No, I won't [quit NIGHTWISH]. I love this way too much; don't worry. You don't even have negative speculations one way or another. Things are great, and let's keep on doing this forever."

David E. Gehlke of Dead Rhetoric recently conducted an interview with guitarist Bill Steer of British extreme metal veterans CARCASS. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Dead Rhetoric: I remember Jeff [Walker, bass/vocals] saying when you first got back together that there were a few high-profile guys who wanted the two open spots. In hindsight, do you feel like you've nailed it with Dan [Wilding, drums] and Ben [Ash, guitar]?

Steer: "Yeah, we are very lucky. I think the key to the whole thing was Dan, really. The pair of us — Jeff and myself — had made the decision we were going to plow ahead and do a new album because the ARCH ENEMY guys [Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson] had quit. It was a real fork in the road; either we give up or carry on. Given the stubborn nature the pair of us share, we naturally wanted to do some more stuff. I had always wanted to do a new record. I couldn't realize it with that lineup, with the ARCH ENEMY angle."

Dead Rhetoric: You'd have to be sharing time.

Steer: "That, and they had no interest in making a new album. It was totally counter… in their minds, ARCH ENEMY is the main job, the CARCASS thing was, 'Let's do a couple of tours and forget all about it.' We were at cross purposes from the start, but it didn't really commence the opening until the end. It was back to me and Jeff and I said, 'I've got a bunch of ideas which I think sound like CARCASS music. We should at least try it. No one has to hear it if it's embarrassing.' Of course, the first thing was a drummer. That was always the first thing. I already had somebody in mind from one of the U.S. tours we had done, and that was Daniel Wilding, who played in ABORTED. I saw him in ABORTED and I remember just being very impressed with his playing."

Dead Rhetoric: Now with Ben being around the last three or four years, for the next album, will he contribute?

Steer: "At this stage, it's not clear whether he will actually be on the record, in all honesty. What he does live works in that environment. Recording is putting everything under a microscope. If somebody's bringing in influences that are not within the scope of the band, it's going to be problematic. Ben's a killer guy and he works hard on his playing, but some of his favorite stuff is not our favorite stuff. If some of those things bled into our music, it would really dilute it, to be honest with you. It remains to be seen, but I'm just saying we wouldn't just take another album. We want everything to be as good as it can be. You could have the best guitarist on earth, I'm sure if Steve Vai played on it, that would excite a lot of people, but it would dilute it. It wouldn't work with our stuff."

Dead Rhetoric: As you get further into your career, are you more of a control freak with stuff like that?

Steer: "No, only with that. Everything else, I have zero control. It is completely Jeff's band. He makes every decision."

Dead Rhetoric: But the guitars, riffs…

Steer: "That's the only thing. It cracks me up when people refer to us as my band. I just laugh. They have no idea. The only thing is the music. I bring in a lot of riffs. That's it. But in terms of where we're doing things, how we're doing them, everything is down to Jeff."

Dead Rhetoric: "Surgical Steel" is the all-encompassing CARCASS album that will be difficult to top. Where do you go from there? What's the direction going to be?

Steer: "You're right, it does have to be a step up from the last record. All I would say is there has to be small stylistic elements that haven't appeared on CARCASS records before. We're going to be walking the tightrope of sounding like the band CARCASS and bringing in new elements. There's nothing valid to say if we're going to do a retread… what's the point? That was a very nice summary of our previous records. We updated all of the stylistic parts of those albums without trying. It just happened."

Dead Rhetoric: Is there a timeframe to release a new album?

Steer: "We've got a couple of festivals next year, so in other words: an enormous amount of free time. Once we get started, we work very quickly, especially with Jeff. Jeff's got a real work ethic, so we'll have something we feel is in very good shape to play to him, then he comes in and critiques that. It's just like a distillation process. Sometimes it takes a while for a song to reach a point where we're all happy with it, other times, it happens on that day. I think we should have an album that's available by the end of the year [2017]. But I know how the industry has changed…so if it's not happening, it's not happening. We can't really rush this. We don't want to waste anyone's time, including our own by putting out something substandard."

Read the entire interview at Dead Rhetoric.

Black Sabbath has uploaded footage of them performing the hit “Paranoid” on the UK television show Top Of The Pops in 1970.

 

Home Of Metal is going global, with a major international touring exhibition to celebrate the musical influence of Black Sabbath, reports Birmingham Mail.

The show was first staged at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in 2011, showing how heavy metal was born in the city and then took over the world. And now it’s coming back, bigger and better than ever, in a three-year project which will see it touring to other countries before returning to Birmingham. Arts Council England is investing £450,000 in Digbeth-based arts organization Capsule’s plans.

The new Home Of Metal show will be centred around Black Sabbath’s fans around the world. The funding will help bring together fans with artists and academics to tell their stories and explore the cultural legacy of the band.

The programme will launch in February 2017 in Birmingham on the final date of Black Sabbath’s last world tour. The organizers will be using social media to connect with fans, in countries as far afield as Brazil, India and Malaysia.

Read the full story at BirminghamMail.co.uk.

Remaining Black Sabbath tour dates:

November
30 - Curitiba, Brazil - Pedreira Paulo Leminski

December
2 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Apoteose
4 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Estadio Morumbi

January
17 - Cologne, Germany - Laxness Arena
20 - Dublin, Ireland - 3Arena
22 - Manchester, UK - Arena
24 - Glasgow, UK - The SSE Hydro
26 - Leeds, UK - First Direct Arena
29 - London, UK - The O2
31 - London, UK - The O2

February
2 - Birmingham, UK - Genting Arena
4 - Birmingham, UK - Genting Arena

Italian symphonic metal band Secret Rule have released a new video for “You’re The Player”. Special guests for the video are current Delain guitarist Timo Somers and former Delain drummer Sander Zoer. The track is taken from their new album Machination.

Machination was mixed and mastered at Antfarm Studio in Denmark and produced by Tue Madsen. In the lineup of the album you can find Henrik Klingenberg (Sonata Arctica) on keyboards, Sander Zoer (ex-Delain) on drums, other special guests include Stefan Helleblad (Within Temptation), and Fabio D’Amore (Serenity).

After the successful European tour this summer and being the opening act for Serenity in Switzerland, the bands next shows are listed for 2017:

January
29 – Rome, Italy – Orion Club

February
2 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Reaper
3 – Ciudad Real, Spain – Sala Nana
4 – Sevilla, Spain – Sala Le Calle
5 – Madrid, Spain – Sala Silikona

Joe Satriani has revealed the details of Joe Satriani's G4 Experience: Surfing With The Alien 30th Anniversary, set to take place July 24-28 at Asilomar Center in Carmel, California.

For its fourth installment, the G4 Experience enjoys a game-changing and historic first. The camp will celebrate the writing, recording, and performance of Satriani's seminal Grammy Award-nominated, platinum-selling 1987 epic "Surfing With The Alien" — one of the most successful instrumental guitar albums ever made. Recognizing the record's 30th anniversary, campers will enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pull back the curtain on the album with the visionaries behind the music.

Satriani will be joined by longtime co-conspirator and "Surfing With The Alien" co-producer John Cuniberti in addition to other special guests. His original live band during the record's tour cycle, Stu Hamm and Jonathan Mover, return for the first time since 1995 for the evening's performances.

About Joe Satriani's G4 Experience: Surfing With The Alien 30th Anniversary, Satriani says: "To this day, every fan conversation ends up referencing 'Surfing With The Alien'. We thought the best way to celebrate its 30th birthday would be to devote the 2017 G4 Experience to all things 'Surfing'. It's such a special moment for me, and I can't wait to see everyone there so we can relive this album together and create new memories in the process."

Sign-up is encouraged immediately as the event will sell out soon.

Packages are available at the camp's official site starting today.

It's official... NITRO has reunited!

Joining founding members, legendary guitar virtuoso Michael Angelo Batio, and glass-shattering vocalist Jim Gillette, is one of today's most respected and revered metal drummers, Chris Adler (LAMB OF GOD).

"I'm not sure who keeps giving my phone number to the most talented musicians on the planet, but I couldn't be more thrilled!" says Adler.

"I used to wonder what a metal band would sound like with all the cheat codes unlocked, and, well, I don't wonder about that anymore.

"I'm blown away by the modern sound and groove in the material. The chaos has been harnessed and it's incredibly heavy."

States Batio: "I can't wait to get onstage with these guys! Inspirational is an understatement."

Adds Gillette: "I'm honored to be surrounded by such insanely talented musicians. I mean, Michael and Chris are the best of the best. So yeah, it's very exciting, humbling and even a little intimidating. To be honest, I'm less intimidated when I get in the ring with a 300-pound monster that wants to tear my head off!"

NITRO is currently writing and is scheduled to start recording next month with Grammy-winning producer Josh Wilbur (LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, KORN, MEGADETH, HATEBREED). A spring 2017 release is expected, with a world tour to follow.

Back in 2008, Michael Angelo Batio dismissed the idea of a NITRO reunion, telling Ultimate-Guitar.com: "Jim doesn't want to do any of the old songs. Jim's idea is for a [modern version of] NITRO, not the NITRO from the past. He doesn't want to redo NITRO, he just wants to get back up onstage again and do what he's doing now. But for me to do a NITRO reunion and not do any of the old songs, I don't think it would be the same."

"Healed By Metal", the new video from German power metallers GRAVE DIGGER, can be seen below. The track is the title cut of the band's new album, which will be released on January 13, 2017 via Napalm Records.

Asked if GRAVE DIGGER has ever been "healed by metal," vocalist Chris Boltendahl told Spark TV: "Yeah, I've [been] healed by metal a lot of times in my life. Mostly in bad times. When I listen to metal music, it builds me up again. I think it's a good title for GRAVE DIGGER. There's so many people outside who have problems. I think this record can help some people.

Regarding why the band named the album "Healed By Metal", Chris said: "Two years ago, we played a big open-air festival in Moscow. There was a hospital beside the festival [site]. There were people inside who had to listen to metal all day. I said while I was with our sound engineer, 'Oh, the poor people. They have to listen to GRAVE DIGGER all day.' He said, 'Look at me. Yes, all the people are healed by metal.'"

Chris also talked about GRAVE DIGGER's goal with the new album. He said: "First, to satisfy ourselves, then to satisfy the people outside. We want to always deliver a piece of quality. This time, it's much better quality, not than the previous albums, but in our own mind. Yeah, I think it's a piece of metal."

"Healed By Metal" track listing:

01. Healed By Metal02. When Night Falls03. Lawbreaker04. Forever Free05. Call For War06. Ten Commandments Of Metal07. The Hangman’s Eye08. Kill Ritual09. Hallelujah10. Laughing With The Dead

Digipack bonus:

11. Kingdom Of The Night12. Bucket List

GRAVE DIGGER's last collection of all-new material, "Return Of The Reaper", was released in July 2014 via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded at Principal Studios (KREATOR, IN EXTREMO, GRAVE DIGGER) in Senden, Germany.

Legendary New Jersey thrashers OVERKILL will release their new studio album, titled "The Grinding Wheel", on February 19, 2017 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was produced by OVERKILL and mixed by Andy Sneap (TESTAMENT, EXODUS, ACCEPT). The artwork was created again by Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH).

"The Grinding Wheel" track listing:

01. Mean Green Killing Machine02. Goddamn Trouble03. Our Finest Hour04. Shine On05. The Long Road06. Let's All Go To Hades07. Come Heavy08. Red White And Blue09. The Wheel10. The Grinding Wheel

The first trailer for "The Grinding Wheel", in which the members of OVERKILL talk about the album's title and artwork, is available below.

OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth recently told the Croatian metal portal NoiseEyes.com about the delay in getting "The Grinding Wheel" released: "It was simplicity. It was a matter of internal mix-ups. We thought we had the entire month of August to mix, when we really had none of the month of August to mix. When Nuclear Blast [OVERKILL's record label] called us, and said, 'Where's the music?' We said, 'Fifteen more days.' We were really close with the mix, but this was our first time working with [producer/mixer] Andy Sneap and he told us, 'Hey, man, it's close, it's 90 percent, but let's do another twelve days when I get back from a business trip. D.D. [Verni, bass], Dave [Linsk, guitars] and I discussed it, and asked: Do you take the great product? Or do you take the money? That's the way we thought about it. We took the dignity over the money with regard to pushing the release back. I always think of every record as your best opportunity to prove yourselves. If you go out pushing that record out, thinking it's 90 percent, then it fucking is 90 percent. It was a real simple mix-up with regard to time. We blame ourselves for 50 percent and Nuclear for the other 50 percent. No, 51 percent for them, 49 percent for us. [Laughs]"

Regarding the musical direction of the new album, Bobby said: "First and foremost, production. Andy has done some great work with different bands in the genre from ACCEPT to ARCH ENEMY. He's really the metal go-to guy. But we wanted to use his abilities, but we wanted to use them with regard to how we saw the record being. One of the things we saw in modern metal is a guitar tone that doesn't have a cohesive relationship with the drums. We wanted more organic drums to start with, and we wanted a guitar tone that came somewhere out of the high technology of the '90s. So it's really kind of a throwback with regard to our thinking, so if you're thinking a drum sounding like a drum and the guitars sounding more in the vein of 'Horrorscope' for us, where it wasn't just top end, but top end and low end with a little bit of mids carved out of them. I think that's the thing I noticed the most about it. "

He continued: "With regard to songwriting, we had done three records, 'Ironbound', 'The Electric Age' and 'White Devil Armory', that were for us, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. [Laughs] Or sisters! There's something about them where there was a formula that we were, I think in our opinion, neglecting some of the other tools that we've accumulated over the years. 'The Grinding Wheel' is much more diverse. There's an epic feel to some of the songs. There's a sludgy, slower feel. There is 'Our Finest Hour', which has been released, which could fit on one of those other three records but everything else doesn't seem like it would fit on these records. I think it's a wider OVERKILL, but press play when you get it. I think that's the best way for people to decide. Everybody has got to be a critic. That's the idea of being a music fan. I'm a music fan, but I'm also a critic. I love or I hate, or it's okay. It'd rather be loved or hated, not 'Ah, it's okay, whatever.'"

OVERKILL and NILE will join forces for a U.S. tour in February/March 2017.

"Divided… Conquer Them", the new video from the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based metal act NONPOINT, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's latest album, "The Poison Red", which was released on July 8 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was recorded at Uptown Recording Studio in Chicago with producer Rob Ruccia.

Commented NONPOINT frontman Elias Soriano: "This video is part one of a story we are looking to bring our fans into throughout out next few releases. I don't know how far or deep this project will allow us to go with it, but I'm excited to see reactions to each step of this story. This one is all about setting the pace." "Divided... Conquer Them" is currently at radio and is additionally featured on both Spotify's Rock Hard Playlist and Apple Music's A List Rock.

"The Poison Red" is the first NONPOINT album to feature lead guitarist BC Kochmit, whom Soriano has described as "Eddie Van Halen's illegitimate child."

"The Poison Red" track listing:

01. Generation Idiot02. Foaming At the Mouth03. Bottled Up Killer Bees04. Rabbit Hole05. Chasing White Rabbits06. Standing In the Flesh07. Divided... Conquer Them08. Radio Chorus09. Spanish Radio Hour10. El Diablo11. No Running Allowed12. Promises13. Be Enough14. My Last Dying Breath

Soriano added about their new disc: "This record tells a lot of stories: going from guts to glory; chasing impossible dreams down the rabbit hole; harsh and honest words with consequences attached; uncovered rules for the weak, made by the wicked and heartless; recalling fight or flight moments with a deep breath. And it all starts with a warning to all the world's generations past, present and future to look up, look forward and live their lives loose from social media shackles, online bullying, the devaluation of art and music, and to not be absorbed by the dramatic, megalomaniacal side of politics. Life is right outside of your phone and newsfeed. Go live it and play this record while you do. It'll all start to make sense."

NONPOINT will kick off 2017 in expected fashion — on the road and touring with ALTER BRIDGE. The dates begin on January 24 and run through February 22.

On October 25th, Halestorm performed at the Kalamazoo State Theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Pro-shot footage of the entire show, courtesy of Live Nation, is available below.

The setlist on the night was as follows:

"Love Bites (So Do I)"
"Mz. Hyde"
"Apocalyptic" 
"It's Not You" 
"I Get Off"
"Freak Like Me" 
"Amen" 
"Rock Show"
"Unapologetic" 
"Dear Daughter" 
"I Like It Heavy" 
- drum solo-
"I Am the Fire" 
"Here's to Us"
"Still Of The Night" (Whitesnake cover) 
"I Miss The Misery"

Halestorm are streaming their cover of AC/DC's "Mistress For Christmas" (listen below).

Says the band: “Hey Freaks, is it too early to be saying "Happy Holidays"? Regardless if it is or not, we're jumping into the holiday spirit TODAY with the release of a cover of the always excellent AC/DC! Check out our version of "Mistress For Christmas" and start spreading the holiday cheer to your friends and family!

“And yes, we DO have a new covers EP in the works (this song will NOT be on it), details of which we will release very soon!”

"Mistress For Christmas" is available for download via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon (widget below), Apple Music,  and Google Play.