US melodic power/progressive metal act, Psyco Drama, recently signed a worldwide record deal with German label Pride & Joy Music (with distribution through Edel) for their new album, From Ashes To Wings, to be released on October 30th. To promote the album the band has released the lyric video for "To Live Again":

Psyco Drama return with From Ashes To Wings, continuing the melodic power/progressive metal sound that brought them worldwide acclaim. Formed in Colorado Springs in 1990, Psyco Drama established themselves as a musical force to be reckoned with on their debut album, The Illusion (1996). Its unique blend of hooks and melodies combined with epic and progressive passages resulted in compositions such as “Eyes Of A Child”, “Flames” and “From Here”, with favourable comparisons placing them in the same league as progressive metal giants Dream Theater, Queensrÿche and Fates Warning.

With Corey Brown (vocals) and Hercules Castro (guitar) being the main writing team behind Psyco Drama, the band is considering From Ashes To Wings to be the rightful follow-up to The Illusion. Joining Corey and Hercules on this musical rebirth is bassist Ian Ringler, a member of Psyco Drama during their previous incarnation (as well as Corey’s band mate in Magnitude 9), and drummer Greg Sands.

From Ashes To Wings’ 11 tracks will deliver Psyco Drama’s unique style of heavy metal to the world, with songs such as “To Live Again”, “Broken Road” and "Far From Grace" firmly reestablishing the band at the forefront of the power/progressive metal genre.

The band has put together two album preview videos which feature samples from all of the tracks on From Ashes To Wings:

 

Canadian rock legends RUSH will release their "R40 Live" concert film in November.

A performance clip of the song "Closer To The Heart", taken from "R40 Live", can be seen below.

All roads have led to this. Forty-one years in the making, RUSH's "R40 Live" tour took a very real journey back through time. Beginning with the grand design: a state-of-the-art stage set that pivots, rolls and dives, and brings "Clockwork Angels" in to bombastic, colorful life before marching stridently back in time (through theatre stages, a panoply of band and fan shots, the accrued memories of a life spent playing live) to a mocked-up school gym and the band playing there; a solitary bass amp set on the chair behind Geddy Lee, a mirror ball spiraling crazily above, casting thin rods of light like a light rain across the crowd, "Working Man" coming to a shuddering halt as the band's beginning becomes their end.

RUSH recorded and filmed "R40 Live" over two sold-out shows in the band's hometown of Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on June 17 and June 19, 2015 in the middle of their "R40 Live" 35-date North American tour.

"R40 Live" had the trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart, performing a career-spanning live retrospective, celebrating their 40-plus years together. The epic live shows by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers were captured with 14 cameras to present the band feature-film style.

The center-point of this tour was the remarkable setlist, coupled with their idea of a "de-evolution" set design. When the band opened the show with cuts "Headlong Flight" and "The Anarchist" from their most recent studio recording, 2012's "Clockwork Angels", they did so with all the bells and whistles from that extensive tour. They worked backwards through their catalogue as the show progressed, the innovative set design making for constant visual eye-candy, as stagehands exchanged the gear and props on stage to resemble the era-correct tour staging in accordance with the songs being played.

The first set featured the infamous dryers on stage while they played "Roll The Bones", "Subdivisions", and for the first time ever live, "Losing It" featuring violinist Ben Mink, who appeared on the original studio recording from 1982's "Signals".

The second set opened with classics "Tom Sawyer", followed by crowd favorite "The Spirit Of Radio", but also included "Jacob's Ladder", which hasn't been performed live since 1980 on their "Permanent Waves" tour. The last few songs of the "R40" were set against the persimmon curtained theatre-looking stage, with the crowd raising their lighters and camera phones to "Closer To The Heart", and then Alex and Geddy appeared with their signature doubleneck guitars as they played "Xanadu", into the epic "2112" and encored with "Lakeside Park/Anthem" and "What You're Doing/Working Man".

The concert film also includes the the band's renowned tour videos, highlighted by "Roll The Bones (R40 Live)", that features an array of special guests in the rap part of the song: Jay Baruchel (SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE), Les Claypool (PRIMUS), Peter Dinklage ("Game Of Thrones"), Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, AUDIOSLAVE), Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), "The Trailer Park Boys", and Jason Segel and Paul Rudd ("I Love You, Man"). It is the first time the band put the song back in the setlist since the "R30" tour, a full decade ago. During the "R40 Live" tour, "Roll The Bones" gained new life and became a fan-favorite with an arena sing-along to the chorus "Why are we here? Because we're here — Roll The Bones."

Singer/bassist Geddy Lee explained how the large group of cameo appearances came about: "We had this older video of an animated skeleton doing the 'rap' part of 'Roll The Bones', and felt it was time to update the concept for this tour. So after a lot of joking around with our show design team, we thought it would fun if we called upon some of our well-known pals and see if they wanted to have some fun with the lyrics. There were so many good and funny moments that it was hard to choose, some really hilarious and outrageous stuff! I'm so glad it worked out as it brought a big smile to the faces in the audience (and to us) every single night!"

"R40 Live" audio was produced by RUSH and David Botrill, and mixed by David Botrill (TOOL, MUSE); the film was directed by Dale Heslip, and produced by Allan Weinrib. The live photograph on the cover of "R40" was shot by baseball Hall Of Famer Randy Johnson, who captured the band in a rare moment when both Geddy Lee and Alex LIfeson were on Neil Peart's drum kit riser.

"As a friend and fan of RUSH, and the passion I have for photography to capture moments, it's great that both can blend together in a lasting impression, here for the world to see," commented the self-described 6' 10" ninja in the photo pit," who was on a portion of the tour in his new role as photographer.

"R40 Live" will be released on November 20, 2015, and will be available in the following configurations:

* 3-CD/1 Blu-ray set* 3-CD/1 DVD set* 3-CD set (audio only)* Single-disc Blu-ray* Single-disc DVD

Pre-orders from the band's site feature each configuration bundled with a special "R40" All Over t-shirt.

The official lyric video for "Evil Twin", the first new song from ANTHRAX's long-awaited album, set for a first quarter 2016 worldwide release (Megaforce in North America, Nuclear Blast in Europe), can be streamed below. The clip is a compelling barrage of places, victims, actions, and some of the infamous zealots and others who have perpetrated violent extremism on innocents around the world, aptly exemplifying the song's powerful message.

"Evil Twin" is now available digitally, and can be purchased via Apple Music, iTunes and Amazon.

Musically, "Evil Twin" is a full-on thrash-metal tune that blasts off with a raging guitar riff, accelerates expeditiously and is completely uncontrollable.

"Yeah, that opening riff is really evil," laughed the band's Charlie Benante. "We had done a lot of touring with DEATH ANGEL and EXODUS, so I was in a really thrashy state of mind when I starting writing the riffs for that song. I think along with Scott's lyrics and Frank's melodies, we came up with a really great, old-school thrash metal feel."

As ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello put it, "it's a song that begs to be played live."

Lyrically, the track unapologetically denounces the self-righteous religious extremists who spread their bloody terror under the guise of a Holy War.

You represent your discontentSlaughtering the innocentInsolenceYou're no martyrs

"I was very affected by the Charlie Hebdo massacre as I have been with all of the shootings that have taken place at schools and movie theatres," said ANTHRAX's lyricist Scott Ian. "I can't figure out what would cause someone to think that was the right thing to do. 'I'll show the world, I'll make my God happy.' It's just such bullshit. I'm not bagging on religion, that's not my intent, but people who go to that extreme, who feel they have become judge, jury and executioner over their fellow man because you or I don't believe the same thing they do, I think that's the 'Evil Twin' of humanity. Writing words about that is my only catharsis."

Beginning in the fall of 2014, ANTHRAX — Benante (drums), Ian (rhythm guitar), Bello (bass), Joey Belladonna (vocals), and lead guitarist Jon Donais — took their time in the studio recording the follow up to their Grammy-nominated, critically acclaimed 2011 album, "Worship Music". The band recorded some 20 original songs, almost twice as many as they had ever brought into the studio in the past. In terms of how the new music sounds, Bello said, "The thing about ANTHRAX...we have this heavy, thrashy music and Joey's powerful and melodic vocals. I love heavy music, but I also love melody, so the challenge is to blend them together so they sound like ANTHRAX. I think we've done a really good job of that on the new album."

ANTHRAX is set to join their fellow "Big Four" comrades SLAYER on a seven-week European tour that kicks off this Sunday, October 25.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

Lita Ford says that Sharon Osbourne was "a godsend" for her when Ozzy's Osbourne's wife managed the former RUNAWAYS guitarist's career, explaining that Sharon was "another female in the rock world" that she could relate to.

Lita hired Sharon to manage her in 1985, three years before the release of Ford's platinum "Lita" album, which produced two Top 40 singles, including "Close My Eyes Forever", which was a duet with Ozzy Osbourne.

Asked what the experience was like being managed by Sharon during the late 1980s, Lita told Eddie Trunk: "Well, I actually… I talk a lot about Sharon in my [upcoming] book, because I had a love-hate relationship with her. I loved Sharon. I thought she was awesome. For me, as a female in the rock world, she was another female in the rock world, and I could relate to her on that level. There was really nobody else to relate to that was female in the rock world, except for maybe one of the record company people. But as far as managers or musicians, there weren't any, except THE RUNAWAYS, but we had already gone our separate ways by then. We weren't really in touch with each other. So Sharon was a godsend for me."

Lita also talked about "Close My Eyes Forever", which came about by accident during a night of drinking and getting stoned with Ozzy.

"It went Top Ten, and it was Ozzy's first Top Ten hit single — on my record," Lita recalled. "And I thought, 'Wow! After all these amazing songs and everything he's done for the music industry, he gets his first Top Ten hit single on my record. I guess, because I had… By that point, I had really fallen into this chick who could sing and play guitar and we were able to creep our way up the charts, because it took away some of the darkness that was behind Ozzy's 'Prince Of Darkness' [persona]. And it was okay — it made it okay — for the record to go Top Ten. It was politically okay. But I was happy. We were voted 'Best Male Rock Vocalist', I was 'Best Female Rock Vocalist' in all the rock magazines. And then together we did a duet, both managed by Sharon Osbourne. It was a win-win situation."

Ford's autobiography, "Living Like A Runaway: A Memoir", will be released next spring via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

At least a good portion of "Living Like A Runaway: A Memoir" will focus on Lita's years with the all-teenage-girl rock band THE RUNAWAYS, whose members also included fellow future rock star Joan Jett.

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi received the Gibson Les Paul Award at the 2015 Q Awards, which took place Monday night (October 19) in London, England.

Iommi, who has played a Gibson guitar for the duration of his career, was honored for his outstanding contribution to music, pop culture and as part of the 100th-anniversary celebrations of the birth of Les Paul guitars.

Asked by Danielle of Absolute Radio if he could imagine playing any other instrument, Iommi said (see video below): "As a matter of fact, I did play another instrument before. I used to play an accordion — only because all my family had bloody accordions and drums and stuff. My father used to play an accordion and my uncles and cousins and all that, so I had one, of course. I wanted to have a guitar, but… Well, I wanted to play drums, but they wouldn't let me have any drums. As you can imagine, we were in a tiny little house, so a set of drums wouldn't have gone down very well. But, yeah, I took to the guitar. I loved the idea of playing guitar. And I played it a few years before I had my accident [resuling in Iommilosing the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right, fretting hand], which then changed everything for me. But I stuck with it and made it work for me."

Iommi also talked about the importance of writing music that comes from the heart as opposed to following a formula or constantly chasing commercial success. He said: "For me, playing and writing riffs and stuff has to come from within. I can't just sort of do something what I think people wanna hear. I have to feel it and do it how I feel. Same with solos — I have to play 'em from the heart as opposed to… I can't play a solo that's written down… note for note. I just can't do that. I have to play it how I feel it that day."

Iommi said in a recent interview that BLACK SABBATH's upcoming farewell tour, which will begin in January 2016, is truly its last because he is not physically capable of doing it any longer. Speaking with the Birmingham Mail, Iommi explained, "I can't actually do this anymore. My body won't take it much more."

Iommi, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012 and was treated all through SABBATH's extensive 2013 world tour, admitted that he was worried the rigors of the road could bring the disease back. He revealed: "I don't want that creeping back again, and all the traveling involved in SABBATH tours increasingly takes its toll. That's why we're going out on one last tour, to say our farewells. And then it very definitely is the end. We won't be doing it again."

The legendary guitarist continued: "Don't get me wrong, I still love gigging. It's all the traveling and the exhaustion that goes with it that's the problem. That side of things has a big impact on me… I love being up there onstage, playing with SABBATH. What I don't love is all the other stuff necessary to enable that to happen."

Iommi was also hospitalized recently with back problems, and he still requires blood tests every six weeks to monitor his lymphoma.

The tour kicks off on January 20 in Omaha and will encompass about a year, including breaks.

Legendary '80s metalheads Metal Church, complete with returned singer Mike Howe (who was part of the Metal Church line-up from 1988 to 1994), have released a New Album EPK Part 1 below.

About his return Howe remarrks: "Kurdt Vanderhoof got a hold of me in August 2014 and he proposed me coming back to the band. He didn’t want to carry on with Metal Church unless I considered coming back. I told him that I was open to it, but I wanted to see what kind of music we could come up with. We went back into the studio and started writing songs in the vein of Hanging In The Balance, and he sent them to me over the internet and I was like ‘damn!’ He was doing great work, so he sent me another batch, which was good if not better than the others. So I said to him that ‘I can’t say no to this.’ So I started writing lyrics and we were getting together it morphed into this.”

Metal Church previously released a 2015 album update with drummer Jeff Plate. The clip below also includes audio snippets for the demo tracks "Find Your Way" and "Killing Your Time":

Metal Church previously released and updated version of “Badlands” titled “Badlands 2015” and a studio snippet for ”Suffer Fools” streaming below:

Metal Church is:

Mike Howe (vocals)
Kurdt Vanderhoof (guitar)
Rick VanZandt (guitar)
Steve Unger (bass)
Jeff Plate (drums)

 

 

Occult heavy metal conjurors, Mirror, will unveil the cult crafting of their self-titled debut through Metal Blade Records on November 13th. The band are teasing the new song called “Galleon” below:
 

The brainchild of bassist/diehard metal connoisseur/Satan's Wrath vocalist Tas Danazoglou, Mirror was forged in fire following a chance meeting with London-based producer (Cathedral, Angel Witch, Paradise Lost) and accomplished drummer, Jaime Gomez Arellano. The union ultimately led to the two embarking on a shared musical vision that encompasses a classic hard-rock/proto-metal sound with tasteful songwriting and musicianship. Satan's Wrath guitarist, Stamos K., was next to join, his musical instincts and considerable production experience suiting the band's ethos perfectly. Vocalist, Jimmy Mavromatis who, with his operatic tenor, rounded out the growing unit would subsequently join the ranks. The last addition was completed with the final addition of Los Angeles-based guitarist Matt Olivo whose infamy was earned as the co-founder of grindcore pioneers, Repulsion.

The recording of Mirror's self-titled debut began in London at Orgone Studios (Ghost, Paradise Lost, Cathedral) in the autumn of 2014 with Arellano handling production duties. The recording boasts strong melodic ideas with classic, heavy riffs inspired by the sounds of UFO, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and the like. 

Tracklisting:

“Mirror”
“Curse Of The Gypsy”
“Year Of The Red Moon”
“Heavy King”
“Madness And Magik”
“Galleon”
“Cloak Of A Thousand Secrets”
“Orion’s Sword”
“Elysian”

“Heavy King”:

Allow Hundred Suns to make your acquaintance. The band features Cory Brandan, vocalist of Norma Jean; Ryan Leger, former drummer for Every Time I Die; and Chris LeMasters, ex-guitarist of Dead And Divine.

The band has been percolating under the radar since 2013, growing from a seed of an idea to a fully-fleshed out project. Now, Hundred Suns are ready to make themselves known. A snippet of music can be heard in the clip below. While the pedigrees and the pasts of the members of Hundred Suns will certainly arouse interest and spark curiosity, once listeners hear the music, they will become instant believers.

Hungarian neo thrash masters Ektomorf are set to release their Aggressor Beer. A message from the band follows:

“Dear beer lover metalheads… here you go! The Ektomorf Aggressor Beer is done - thanks a lot to Marton Csupor at Csupor Beer! Soon it's available! And soon some cool things will come with our beer! Prepare - its a 12% alcohol beer! A real metal drink for real metalheads!”

Extomorf are one of the most consistent forces in the heavy music scene. A band that never disappointed their fans and stood true to what they are: a powerful, unstoppable groove machine. The band has released the first single from the Aggressor album with the lyric video "Evil By Nature" featuring Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and can be seen below.

The band has commented about working with Corpsegrinder. Frontman Zoli Markas says: “We are friends with the Cannibal Corpse guys since a long time. Last year in November I spoke to George (Fisher) about doing a song together. The recent Budapest show of Cannibal Corpse then was the perfect opportunity to meet and record his parts. So I took small home recording studio gear with me and recorded vocals with George in the dressing room before their show. It was fun and turned out killer! The song's title is "Evil By Nature" and you can be sure that it will smash your face!”

Following their Retribution album (which was released in early 2014), another successful headliner tour and numerous festival gigs, the band around charismatic Farkas now presents its new album. Continuing their no-nonsense philosophy, the title Aggressor is not misleading at all - in fact this new piece of work definitely is the band’s heaviest and most energetic to date. Also, Aggressor is a return to some old Ektomorf marks from earlier days, like the Eastern European gypsy harmonies and grooves, which give a special dark and unique atmosphere to the album.

Once again Ektomorf of course worked with highly-acclaimed Danish producer Tue Madsen, who is a stable part of the team and perfectly understands the musical visions of Ektomorf.

Aggressor tracklisting:

“Intro”
“I”
“Aggressor”
“Holocaust”
“Move On”
“Evil By Nature” (feat. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher)
“You Can’t Get More”
“Emotionless World”
“Eastside”
“Scars”
“Damned Nation”
“You Lost”
“You’re Not For Me”
“Memento"

Lyric video "Evil By Nature" featuring Corpsegrinder:

One of the most eagerly awaited releases of 2015 by the AndersonPonty Band, featuring music icons Jon Anderson and Jean Luc Ponty, is out now. Better Late Than Never is the new album taken from a live performance, and enhanced with innovative production. The package includes a bonus DVD featuring outstanding performances by the band captured in September 2014 at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colorado.

Watch “Wonderous Stories” from the release, streaming below:

The AndersonPonty Band has created some breathtaking new musical compositions. Better Late Than Never also showcases rearrangements of classic YES hits like “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”, “Roundabout” and “Wonderous Stories”, as well as some of Jean Luc Ponty's beloved compositions, with Jon's lyrical vocals and melodies enhancing the music and creating a very special and unique sound such as “Infinite Mirage” a new song incorporating Jean Luc's classic tune “Mirage”.

YES's original singer/songwriter for 35 years, Jon Anderson has had a successful solo career, which includes working with such notable music artists as Vangelis, Kitaro, and Milton Nascimento. International violin superstar Jean Luc Ponty is a pioneer and undisputed master of his instrument in the arena of jazz and rock. He is widely regarded as an innovator who has applied his unique visionary spin that has expanded the vocabulary of modern music. Together these two music legends have formed a musical synergy that is unparalleled!

“A breakthrough feeling came as I sang with Jean Luc's music, to be in a band again is very exciting on many levels, we will play and sing our way around the world and have fun, for music is pleasure, music is all that is.” - Jon Anderson

“Collaborating with Jon who is such a creative singer/songwriter is unlike any project I have done before. I knew that we had plenty of musical affinities to make it work, but the result is way beyond my expectations. It is also a lot of fun to reunite with these excellent musicians who played with me in the past, they really put their heart in this project and with Jon's creative input we are not just rehashing the past but giving a new life to the music we started developing decades ago.” - Jean Luc Ponty

The AndersonPonty Band also includes Jamie Glaser on guitars - well known guitarist who has worked with Jean Luc Ponty, Chick Corea, Bryan Adams and Lenny White; Wally Minko on keyboards - virtuoso player and composer who has performed and recorded with many worldwide stars including Pink, Toni Braxton, Jean Luc Ponty, Tom Jones, Gregg Rolie and Barry Manilow; Baron Browne on bass who has played with Steve Smith, Billy Cobham and Jean Luc Ponty; and Rayford Griffin on drums and percussion, who has played with Stanley Clarke Band, George Duke, Jean Luc Ponty and Michael Jackson. The band visit the music created by Jon Anderson and Jean Luc Ponty over the years with new arrangements, virtuosic performances and new energy.

Jean Luc Ponty was originally approached by Jon Anderson with the idea of working together as far back as the 1980's. Now 30 years later the dream has finally come to fruition! In support of the new release, a world tour is currently in the works. Also, a videography documenting the making of the Better Late Than Never album will be released along with videos and performances.

AndersonPonty Band tour dates:

October
27 - Philadelphia, PA - Keswick Theater
29 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie
30 - Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse

November
1 - Pittsurgh, PA - Carnegie Theater
3 - Chicago, IL - Arcada Theater
4 - Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee PAC
6 - Detroit, MI - Detroit Music Hall
7 - Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall
10 - Washington, DC - Howard Theater
11 - Long Island, NY - Paramount Theater
13 - NYC, NY - Ethical Culture
14 - Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Center
17 - San Francisco, CA - Regency
18 - Sacramento, CA - Crest Theater
20 - Los Angeles, CA - Saban Theater
21 - Scottsdale, CA - Talking Stick

 

Napalm Records has announced the signing of Zombie Motors Wrecking Yard. It is probably no coincidence that Napalm Records had to look literally at the other end of the world to find these crazy lunatics in Australia.

Sebastian Muench, A&R Napalm Records on the brand new signing with Zombie Motors Wrecking Yard: “Zombie Motors Wrecking Yard is probably not the easiest band name to remember but already the demo tracks like “Fight, Fight, Fight”, “Galactic Motherfucker” or “Roll N Burn” are straight up sucker punches to the face in a dirty fight! Pure raw anger, tits and gasoline liquored up to wash down the desert sand on a hot day in Victoria! We are proud and pumped to have ZMYY join the Napalm Team!”

Zombie Motors Wrecking Yard vocalist Ran adds: “Zombie Motors Wrecking Yard are fucking stoked to be in the Napalm Records Army, we are busily working away on our debut album, of Australian dirty rock n roll styled stoner galactic blues and destruction. We are recording in factories, strip clubs and back rooms with booze and weed staining the walls, why do it like everyone else when we can do it the way we want? We are hanging in Europe and fly the Aussie flag and rock with our European brothers and sisters. If you dig choppers, muscle cars, girls n rock done dirty, then we are here to serenade you while you right yourself off… We are the galactic mother fuckers from the wild west of Victoria, fuelled on gasoline and running on empty.”

The upcoming album is already scheduled for 2016. More info and news coming soon.

Legendary Bay Area power thrashers, Hexx, announce the addition of new vocalist Eddy Vega, and second guitarist Bob Wright (from Brocas Helm). The new lineup, which includes bassist Mike Horn and original members Dan Watson and John Shafer, recently joined forces with the Gabriel Management team, and have been hard at work on new material.

The band is also preparing to re-release all the albums from their classic back catalog: their '91 album release Morbid Reality will be reissued on CD via Dark Symphonies / The Crypt Records in January of 2016, and Vic Records from Holland announced reissue of Quest For Sanity and Watery Graves. The band's two early power metal classics - Under The Spell and No Escape, which earlier this year were reissued as limited edition vinyl albums on Metal Blade Records, will get a 2CD/DVD Box set treatment as well.

Hexx was formed in 1983, and released its debut album, No Escape, on Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records label in 1984. Since then the group has been through several lineup changes and musical style variations. The first lineup for the No Escape album was: Dennis Manzo (vocals), Dan Watson (guitars), Bill Peterson (bass) and Dave Schmidt (drums). The group’s second effort, Under The Spell, was released in 1986 once again on the Shrapnel label, and with European distribution support from Roadrunner Records. For this album Dennis Manzo was replaced by Dan Bryant on vocals, and Clint Bower was added on rhythm guitar. The musical style for this album was still very much power metal, but with a hint of the speed and thrash influence that would define the band's subsequent musical style and direction.

By 1988 Hexx recorded the Help Your Self demo demonstrating a shift away from traditional power metal to the speed/thrash style that was taking over the Bay Area musical landscape at the time. Clint Bower took over on vocals, and Dave Schmidt was replaced by drummer John Shafer. England's Music For Nations label signed the band and released the Quest For Sanity EP in Europe. This album was released in the United States the following year by Wild Rags Records. In 1990 Hexx released a single on the Wild Rags label called "Watery Graves" which included two speed/thrash bonus track versions of "Under The Spell" and "Edge Of Death" from their 1986 Under The Spel" album. In 1992 Hexx signed with Century Media Records and released their most technical and speed driven album to date, Morbid Reality. A year or so after this release the group disbanded and lay dormant until spring of 2013.

Hexx 2015 is:

Eddy Vega - vocals
Dan Watson - guitars
Bob Wright - guitars
Mike Horn - bass guitar
John Shafer - drums

(Photos - Frank Ranney)

 

Swedish groove rockers, Honeymoon Disease, will release their new studio album, The Transcendence, on November 20th via Napalm Records. Today the band release their music video for the album’s lead track, “Higher”. The clip can be found below.

The Transcendence tracklisting:

“Higher”
“Stargazer”
“Imperial Mind”
“Gotta Move”
“You're Too Late”
“Break Up”
“Bellevue Groove”
“Fast Love”
“Rock N Roll Shock”
“Brand New Ending”
“Keep Me Spinning”

“Higher” video:

Available as a 4-page digipak, limited to 200 copies in yellow 1LP gatefold edition and 1LP gatefold edition in black.

The Transcendence will be a real pleasure for fans of rockers such as KISS, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. To get the full live experience check out their upcoming tour dates with Avatarium and The Vintage Caravan.

November
18 - Lyngby, Denmark - Templet
19 - Hamburg, Germany - Klubsen
20 - Essen, Germany - Turock
21 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Speedfest
22 - London, England - Underworld
23 - Frankfurt, Germany - Das Bett
24 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z-7
25 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
26 - Leipzig, Germany - Moritzbastei
27 - Wien, Austria - Szene
28 - Innsbruck, Austria - Weekender
29 - Berlin, Germany - Bi-nuu

 

Emperor frontman Ihsahn has completed work on his forthcoming new album, coming soon via Candlelight Records. Complete details coming soon.

Candlelight Records and Ihsahn are giving five fans the chance to come to a secret location on November 13th in London to hear the new album. Winners have been announced. Find more info at Ihsahn’s Facebook page.

Ihsahn performed the new song ”My Heart Is Of The North", from his forthcoming solo album, during his set at Heavy Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Fan-filmed video can be seen below:

 
Ihsahn is among the performers scheduled for Wacken Open Air 2016. Complete festival details here.

 

Finish rockers, Santa Cruz, have dropped their scorching new video for "Let Them Burn”. The clip captures the essence of the band's explosive shows and takes their dynamic pulse, all the while showing off youthful shenanigans.
 
Witness the action for yourself:

The band previously issued the video for the song "My Remedy”, from their second studio album, entitled Santa Cruz, out now via via Spinefarm Records.

"My Remedy” video:

Santa Cruz perform next on October 23rd at Rock City in Nottingham, UK. Find the band’s live itinerary at this location.

 

InsideOut Music recently announced the signing of The Mute Gods, a brand new band from the mind of renowned bassist, chapman stick player and vocalist Nick Beggs, alongside drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson), and long-time Steve Hackett collaborator and keyboardist Roger King. Now it has been revealed that their debut album, Do Nothing Till Your Hear From Me, will be released January 22nd, 2016, and you can find the enigmatic artwork for the record, created by Lars 'Zeituhr" Tellmann, below.

Nick Beggs had this to say: "The record has a number of moods. But overall, it's a rather disgruntled rant at the dystopia we've created for ourselves and our children. The song "Swimming Horses" is a warning about the passing of time and the rising of tides. "Feed The Troll" is a dedication to all those who have too much time on their hands. The person who has helped me realize this record is Roger King. We worked together for quite a few years in the Steve Hackett band and when I approached him last year about producing, I was honoured and surprised when he agreed. His strengths are my weaknesses and I believe we complement each other rather well. But the public will have the final word on that.

“After working extensively with the Steven Wilson band, I invited Marco Minnemann to play drums for me. Although I have a couple of other guest drummers like Nick D'Virgilio and Gary O'Toole, Marco is playing on the majority of tracks. He also added his genius with some sound modelling and guitar.
Sonically, you can expect an album that tips its hat in the direction of alternative rock and pop, due for release in early 2016."

Nick has most recently been involved with Steven Wilson's solo band, both in the studio and on tour, whilst also playing live with legendary guitarist Steve Hackett as part of his Genesis Revisited run of shows. In recent years he has contributed to projects such as Lifesigns, Fish On Friday & Lonely Robot, as well as playing live with Rick Wakeman.
 
The Mute Gods have also launched a brand new website which will be updated with new content and information on how the band came together in the coming months.