BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski joined British black metal pioneers VENOM on stage this past Sunday, August 9 at the Alcatraz Hard Rock & Metal Festival in Kortrijk, Belgium to perform the VENOM song "In League With Satan". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Nergal previously teamed up with VENOM frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant, Jeff Waters of ANNIHILATOR, Mike Sifringer of DESTRUCTION and Florian "Specki T.D." Speckardt of IN EXTREMO on stage to perform a cover version of the MOTÖRHEAD classic "Ace Of Spades" during the infamous all-star jam aboard the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise in January.

Nergal stated at the time: "Out of all the bullshit preaching by Christians, one is true: miracles DO happen!

"I remember when I was 8-9 year old kid, I'd be coming back home and instead of reading books, I would crank up [VENOM's] 'Bloodlust' real loud and do air guitar in front of the mirror.

"It took me 30 years to stand next to Cronos on the same stage covering MOTÖRHEAD!

"Yes, I am living my dream… And these words sooo defining my whole life: 'if you like to gamble, I'm your man, you win some, you lose some, it's all the same to me…"

BEHEMOTH's latest album, "The Satanist", sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 34 on The Billboard 200 chart.

A two-minute video clip of SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya talking about the band's participation in this year's edition of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival can be seen below.

"Our production has been bigger than we've ever done in any SLAYER tour," he said. "The last few times that we've done Mayhem, we invested some, but this one, we actually invested quite a bit in this one.'

The 2015 Mayhem Festival generated controversy earlier in the summer after festival co-founder Kevin Lyman blamed the event's low ticket sales on the fact that metal has failed to produce new and younger headlining bands, adding that "metal got gray, bald and fat" and "chased girls away." SLAYER guitarist Kerry King responded by saying that the problem with this summer's event lay not so much with the metal bands themselves but with the way the festival was organized. He told Metal Insider: "Do I know this tour wasn't booked correctly? Absolutely I know this tour wasn't booked correctly. [Fellow SLAYER guitarist] Gary Holt made the comment that usually there's the main stage, a second stage, a third stage, and then that piece-of-shit record stage… Now what they're calling a second stage is at best a fourth stage and they're wondering why people aren't showing up." He continued: "It's easy to fill these stages, but I guess they wanted a different price point, take away the second and third stage which I think had a lot of value. To me, a second-stage headliner is ANTHRAX, MACHINE HEAD…"

King told Unrated Magazine in a separate interview: "We did a show at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee last year — it was us, SUICIDAL [TENDENCIES] and EXODUS — and it was sold out. We had Mayhem there four days ago, and it wasn't sold out. That tells you something."

Regarding the relatively low cost of the tickets for this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, Kerry said: "Nah [tickets are not that expensive], but they're expensive on this tour for bang for your buck. Because a bang for your buck… other than one band I know of on the second stage and a handful of main-stagers, you know, it's… This is usually where people would come out and just party all day, and they're passing on the party 'cause the bill's so shitty."

SLAYER's new album, "Repentless", will be released on September 11 via Nuclear Blast.

Video footage of SAINT ASONIA members Adam Gontier (formerly of THREE DAYS GRACE) and Mike Mushok (also of STAIND) performing an acoustic version of their song "Better Place" at the studio of "HardDrive Radio" can be seen below.

SAINT ASONIA released its self-titled debut album on July 31. Gontier told The Pulse Of Radio about the musical direction of the band band: "I'd say it's some of the heaviest stuff that I've ever written, some of the heaviest riffs and heaviest music that I've ever, you know, sang on top of, that sort of stuff. And it's also got a couple of the most straightforward acoustic guitar-vocal tracks. So it's kind of all over the place, but really it's mainly, you know, heavy."

SAINT ASONIA also includes STUCK MOJO bassist Corey Lowery and former FINGER ELEVEN drummer Rich Beddoe.

Mushok said about the new disc: "I'm really proud that we created such a cohesive body of work. I hope when people hear it they want to see a show! That's why you do it."

The group played its first live show at Rock On The Range in Columbus, Ohio in May, and will kick off its first North American tour on August 14 in Oklahoma City. A fall trek as guests of SEETHER is also on the calendar.

"Archers", the new video from WOVENWAR, the band featuring the talents of Jordan Mancino (drums), Nick Hipa (guitar), Phil Sgrosso (guitar) and Josh Gilbert (bass) of San Diego, California based metal act AS I LAY DYING, and Shane Blay (vocals) of OH, SLEEPER, can be seen below. The clip was shot by Josh Knoff and directed/edited by Nick Hipa. The song is taken from WOVENWAR's self-titled debut album, which was released in August 2014 via Metal Blade. The CD was produced by Bill Stevenson (DESCENDENTS, BLACK FLAG) and mixed by Colin Richardson (SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD, TRIVIUM).

Says Hipa: "Our video for 'Archers' is cut from live footage — filmed by Josh Knoff — from our recent hometown show at Brick By Brick. The lyrics heavily reference specific themes and songs from Shane's previous band (OH, SLEEPER) as a sentimental nod to how that chapter in his life was unforgettably formidable. With that in mind, it felt appropriate to create a visual edit captured from our venue in a room filled with quite a bit of family and friends… it kinda just completes the whole vibe as positively nostalgic."

In an interview with The Weeklings, Hipa stated about the name of the new band: "As human beings, there's a common thread that runs through us, and we have the spectrum of love and hate and everything in between; we're born exactly the same but as we age and go through life, certain parts of our character are cultivated, whether it's a belief system or whether it's a religious belief or a political belief, or prejudices or anything. Those are influenced by the people who are raising you or the environment you're reared in.

"We chose 'WOVENWAR' instead of 'WOVENHEARTS' or something like that because we had to go with the heavier-sounding one and that might sound superficial, but the idea is there."

Hipa also spoke about WOVENWAR's much more melodic vocal approach compared to that of AS I LAY DYING. He said: "When we were thinking of singers, we thought about who met our criteria who we'd want to be in a band with, almost immediately when Shane's name came up, that was it. There was no tryouts with other guys, or there was no, 'Okay, he's an option, let's see who else is out there.' This is somebody that's been my friend that half of my life, and somebody that the guys knew and that they respected as a musician and who we were all comfortable with. It was like he was already one of us, and he's such a talented guy, so let's see what we can do with Shane… He's just got a great voice and what he does best is sing, and we love that about him and we wanted to explore that, so that's what we did. It worked out extremely naturally because we didn't ask him to do anything that he didn't feel comfortable doing. We'd say, 'Here's some music, what would you do with this?' and he'd come back with all these vocal melodies. Immediately Josh hears those and has all these harmony ideas, so you've got two singers making the vocal presentation something that, if you take away all of our past musical endeavors, on its own, we felt it was awesome and that's what we wanted to develop."

Fan-filmed video footage of DEATH TO ALL's August 9 performance at the Alcatraz Hard Rock & Metal Festival in Kortrijk, Belgium can be seen below.

The current lineup of DEATH TO ALL (DTA) — which features former members of DEATH celebrating the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner — includes Gene Hoglan (also of TESTAMENT, DARK ANGEL, DETHKLOK), Steve DiGiorgio (TESTAMENT, CONTROL DENIED, SADUS) on bass and Bobby Koelble on guitar. Max Phelps (CYNIC), who has been touring with DEATH TO ALL, is once again handling the vocal and second-guitar duties.

In a 2014 interview with Metal Rules, DiGiorgio was asked what DEATH TO ALL means to him. He responded: "Our formulated answer is that it is a tribute memorializing the memory of Chuck. To me, it means getting back with buddies. And you've seen their lineup change a little bit here, we had Paul [Masvidal] and Sean [Reinert] from CYNIC. We had Shannon Hamm in for a while. And now Gene and Bobby. I've jammed with all these guys over the years. They're pretty much some of the best musicians in the world. At least in my opinion."

He continued: "We did those albums back in the day, and when our cycle was over, and when whoever lasted however long, we went our own ways. Now we're back together again and it's cool, from my point of view, to do music with some of the best, amazing musicians/guys in the world. It's awesome. And we have a lot of fun every night, man, because we all realize that not only did we make a statement 20-something years ago, but here we are 20-something years later in our mid-40s playing that stuff as we did as young men. It's kind of, like, yay us. Because we are only just a few years off of 50 and we're playing this music we did just turning the corner into 20 and we're doing it pretty good. And that's not a brag. The reason is we push each other. Somebody falls a little bit behind and this guy's right behind him. You don't want to let your guard down, because everybody's really good at what they do. And that's what it means to me, man. It means to carry on what we did back then with no idea where we'd be in the future, and here we are doing it with conviction."

Chuck died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

Fan-filmed video footage of ROB ZOMBIE's August 9 performance at the Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Park, Derbyshire, United Kingdom can be seen below.

Rob Zombie recently spoke to Louder Noise about why he has held back the release of his new album even though the record was completed months ago. Zombie said: "It'll probably come out in March, because what I wanna do is I wanna do a very large visual component to go with the record — shoot thirteen videos, or shoot a movie go with it. And because of [Zombie's upcoming sixth live-action feature film, a horror thriller called] '31', I couldn't get to that yet. So I'm gonna do that probably in January, so we'll put it out soon after that.'"

He continued: "I love it. I mean, I really like the record. The last record was my favorite record in a long time. 'Cause I had kind of hit a low with making records. It just kind of got boring; I hated being in the studio, and I kind of got reinspired on the last record. And this sort of follows up on it. So I think that, much like '31'… You just have those things in your career where you're, like, they all can't be the best one. With records, sometimes you have those moments where you can tell, 'This one's special.' And that's how it feels."

Zombie told Loudwire that the follow-up to 2013's "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" was recorded over the course of a year, with the band working for a few weeks, taking a break for a few months, then coming back. He said, "We were living with it for a long time, and it really — I think it made the record so much better."

Zombie is currently editing "31", which is expected out later this year.

The rocker-director's next feature film will be an adaptation of Steve Stoliar's memoir, "Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House". The book tells the bizarre story of the last years in the life of Groucho Marx, told by a young Marx Brothers fan who spent those years as his personal secretary and archivist.

Oklahoma City-native quintet, Broken Flesh, are poised to breathe new life into the brutal death metal genre with their upcoming self-titled full-length album, set to release via Luxor Records on September 4th. The new album features ten brand new tracks and two rerecorded tracks from the band’s 2009 debut, Forever In Flames.  

While Christianity is far from common in the brutal death metal genre, it’s a breath of fresh air to learn that Broken Flesh are just that - unabashed Christians - and they have much to say about it. While as a ministry the band’s first priority is to spread God’s word, as a band, their main goal is to create the most crushing and aggressive forms of brutal death metal that they have the ability to conceive.

Broken Flesh tracklisting:

“Valley Of Mass Crucifixion”
“Blood Harvest”
“Consumed By Death”
“Buried Alive”
“Hell”
“Cries Of The Dead”
“Forever In Flames”
“Unworthy”
“Exalt”
“Ignominy”
“By His Blood”
“Hate”

Broken Flesh are no strangers to the live scene, having performed with bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel, Suicide Silence, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus and others. The band is performing at several Midwestern US venues in the coming months. See below for all confirmed tour dates:

September
4 - Oklahoma, OK - 89th Street Collective (Official Album Release Party)
5 - Joplin, MO - Blackthorn Pizza & Pub
6 - Columbia, MO - The Social Room

November
7 - Lawton, OK - The Railhead Saloon
21 - Fort Worth, TX - Tomcats West

Broken Flesh is:

Jacob Mathes - Vocals
Kevin Tubby - Guitar/ Vocals
Dakota Whiteside - Guitar
Joshua Mathes - Bass/ Vocals
Brandon Lopez - Drums

Anfinnsaas is a duo that was formed by Knut Finsaas and Geir Anfinn Halland Johansen in 2013, in the middle of Norway.
 
Their self-titled debut album, coming in the fall of 2015, is an earth-shattering blend of Nordic traditional music and metal. Taking their main inspiration from traditional Nordic tunes, Anfinnsaas wanted to have a fresh and new sound that differs from the metal sound of today. The duo format gives the band room to explore new ways of playing and incorporating different soundscapes, as well as allowing them the freedom to indulge in an over-the-top chaotic style, showcasing their virtuosity on their instruments, without heading into self-indulgence.
 
Anfinnsaas are ready to turn the world upside down with their fresh and terrifying sonic assault that resonates from the depths of the earth. The band likes to offer a hint of melody, only to quickly demolish it with an avalanche of buzzing guitars and thunderous drums. This is an audio apocalypse.
 
Anfinnsaas will be released worldwide on September 18th.

Tracklisting:

“Svensk Revelje”
“Anfinnsaas”
“Hålandsdal”
“Slått Fra Røstad”
“Elve”
“Spissrot”

German rockers 21Octayne (featuring members of The Joe Perry Project and Rhapsody) will release their sophomore album on September 25th (Europe) / October 2nd (North America) via AFM Records. The album’s lead track, “Devil In Disguise”, can be heard streaming below.

Following the successful debut Into The Open from 2014, the band has crafted 10 diverse, powerful rock songs for the new record (3 additional tracks are featured on the limited digipak).

Tracklisting:

“Devil In Disguise”
“Take Me Back”
“When You Go”
“Love's Just A Heartbreak Away”
“Take Me Away”
“Lost”
“The Circle”
“Date With Myself”
“Fly Away”
“Tale Of A Broken Child”

“Devil In Disguise”:

For Today are back with a swirl of activity surrounding the band. Last month, they announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast for the worldwide release of their next album. Today, they are revealing the title and release for their label debut.

Wake will be released worldwide on October 2nd.

More information about Wake will make itself known in the coming days and weeks. But for now, get a taste of what to be expect by checking out the album teaser below. It builds from a piano melody to an explosive crescendo.

 
For Today will also hit the road on October 1st for an album release tour. They will be traversing the country on a headline run with Fit For A King, Gideon, Phinehas, and Silent Planet in tow. The tour kicks off in Tulsa and winds through the country for the entire month of October before wrapping in Albuquerque on November 2nd.
 
The VIP on-sale, which includes early pre-sale of Wake, launches tomorrow at this location. Tickets will be available to the general public on Friday, August 14th at 10 AM local time.

British metal revival band, Kaine, have unveiled a brand new song from their revamped lineup, entitled “Justice, Injustice”. Stephen Ellis (Drop Dead Fred/Failing To Fly) has joined Kaine on bass ahead of the preparation for the recording of the band's upcoming third album. The single will be released digitally via the usual spots of Spotify, iTunes, Amazon etc., while the album will be released on Revival Metal Records.

“Justice, Injustice” is a belting heavy metal roar, both in vocalist/guitarist Rage Sadler’s thrashing yell and relentless guitar leads from Saxon Davids and Ant Murch, while the thumping rhythm section inspires endless headbanging. The track was recorded and produced by Ade Hare at Threecircles Studio in Essex, England, where the band recorded their debut album Falling Through Freedom, and mastered by Z-Plane who worked on the band’s second album The Waystone.

Stream the song below:
 

Stephen Ellis commented on joining the band: “Kaine have been one of my favourite bands on the local scene for a while. Dan Mailer is obviously going to be a very hard act to follow as that guy is an insane bass player, but I will try my hardest to continue his legacy.”

Rage Sadler added: “I am extremely pleased to have Stephen joining us in Kaine and he’s already proven to be a perfect fit with the band both playing wise and personality wise. I am impressed with what’s he’s contributed to our new music, as well as the dedication shown by learning our back catalogue in such a short amount of time.”

Stephen Ellis will play his first official show on August 28th at the Firehouse in Southampton, followed by the Rock Den in Hatfield on the 29th and the Asylum in Chelmsford on the 30th.

New Jersey stoner-rock trio The Atomic Bitchwax, now featuring drummer Bob Pantella and bassist/vocalist Chris Kosnik of fellow NJ rock legends Monster Magnet, have just unleashed their brand new, psychedelic-style music video for the track “No Way Man”, cut from their new album Gravitron, which released via TeePee Records earlier this year.

 
The Atomic Bitchwax recently announced their upcoming US headline tour, which kicks off next Thursday, August 13th in Brooklyn, NY at The Shop. The tour will feature support from Mos Generator and Against The Grain.

The Atomic Bitchwax tour dates:

August
13 - Brooklyn, NY - The Shop
14 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
15 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East
16 - Montreal, QC - Foufounes Electriques
17 - Ottawa, ON - Mavericks
18 - Sudbury, ON - Townhouse
19 - Toronto, ON - Bovine
20 - Rochester, NY - Montage
21 - Pittsburgh, PA - 31st Street Pub
22 - Dayton, OH - Rock Star Arena
23 - Detroit, MI - Small's
24 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
25 - Milwaukee, WI - Metal Grill
26 - Kansas City, MO - Riot Room
27 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
29 - Boise, ID - Neurolux

September
1 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
2 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw
3 - Portland, OR - Panic Room
4 - Oakland, CA - Leo's
5 - Los Angeles, CA - Loaded
6 - Phoenix, AZ - Club Red
8 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
9 - Dallas, TX - Three Links
10 - Austin, TX - Red 7
11 - Houston, TX - Rudyard's
12 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia
13 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
16 - Richmond, VA - Strange Matter
17 - Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery
18 - New York, NY - Bowery Electric

 

 

Romanian occult black metal band, Ordinul Negru, have launched a video teaser (see below) for their upcoming full-length album, Sorcery Of Darkness, scheduled for a September 1st release via Loud Rage Music. Pre-orders can be placed at this location.

The band worked this time with talented Romanian artist Alexandru Das; together with the band members he designed a whole concept about the dark essence of things and emotions toward the unknown and will have quite a development when it will be ready.

The band’s seventh album, Sorcery of Darkness, will be a massive change in sound and attitude but will have the same dedication towards the black cult. The raw, primeval and abrasive sound was replaced by a more daring and modern approach, although trying to keep a spontaneous expression without exaggerate editing and post-processing.

Teaser:

“Sorcery Of Darkness”:

British metallers Amulet have released their brand new music video for the title track of their upcoming 7" single, “Bloody Night":

“Bloody Night” is taken from the band’s debut album The First, that was released in 2014 and took the heavy metal world by storm. If you haven’t heard the band before, check out the video or the previously released track “Mark Of Evil”:

Amulet have a brand new 7” out (licensed from Century Media Records to High Roller Records). It’s a 2-track EP with “Bloody Night” on side A and a brilliant and previously unreleased cover version of Hawkwind’s “Levitation” on side B. Get your copy at High Roller Records.

Amulet will go on North American and European tours in September and October (see flyer below). Be prepared for the heavy metal attack. More dates/venues to be announced on the coming weeks.

Amulet lineup:

Jamie Elton - vocals
Heathen Steven - guitar
Nippy Blackford - guitar
Bill Dozer - bass
Dave Sherwood - drums

More news has surfaced in regards to the second album from Italian heavy metal band Odyssea, the project featuring Pier Gonella on guitars (Mastercastle, Necrodeath, Vanexa, etc.), with Roberto Tiranti on vocals (ex-Labyrinth, Wonderworld).

The recording process is going on at Musicart Studios in Rapallo (Genoa, Italy). The title of second album will be Storm, which will contain 10 tracks (one track will be instrumental) and two bonus tracks in the deluxe edition. Pier Gonella has also revealed names of various special guests who will take part to the recordings, listed below, in alphabetical order:

Alessandro Bissa, drums (Labyrinth, Vision Divine, Soundstorm, APD)
Alessandro Del Vecchio, vocals (Edge Of Forever, Hardline, Revolution Saints)
Alessio Spallarossa, drums (Sadist)
Anna Portalupi, bass (Custodie Cautelari, Hardline, Tarja Turunen)
Francesco La Rosa, drums (Extrema, MPire of Evil, Meganoidi, Mastercastle)
Giorgia Gueglio, vocals (Mastercastle)
Mattia Stancioiu, drums (ex Labyrinth, Magnificat, Crown Of Autumn)
Mistheria, keyboards (Bruce Dickinson, RoyZ, Rob Rock, Artlantica, Vivaldi Metal Project)
Peso, drums (Necrodeath)
Simone Mularoni, guitars (DGM)
Steve Vawamas, bass (Mastercastle, Athlantis)

More news late summer, with names of other guests, complete tracklisting and artwork. Stay tuned.

 

UK metal act, Heart Of A Coward, will release their third album, entitled Deliverance, on October 2nd via Century Media Records.

Deliverance was produced and mixed by Sikth vocalist Justin Hill. The artwork was done by Daniel McBride (After The Burial, Veil Of Maya), who also did the artwork for the band’s debut album Hope and Hindrance.

Deliverance tracklisting:

“Hollow”
“Miscreation”
“Turmoil I: Wolves”
“Turmoil II: The Weak Inherit The Earth”
“Anti-Life”
“A Grain Of Sand”
“Mouth Of Madness”
“Deliverance”
“Skeletal I: Mourning Repairs”
“Skeletal II: Arise”

“Hollow” video:

 

Kansas City-based death/thrash metal band, Ares Kingdom, have released a new audio trailer (see below) for their upcoming album, The Unburiable Dead, due for release in September via NWN! Productions on LP, Die Hard LP, CD, and picture disc formats. The album was recorded at the band’s Very Metal Sound studio in suburban Kansas City.

Ares Kingdom recently announced that rhythm guitarist Doug Overbay is taking an indefinite hiatus from the band in order to address health issues. The band is continuing as a three piece with Alex Blume - vocals/bass, Mike Miller - drums, and Chuck Keller - guitars. The lineup change will have no effect on any upcoming shows.

Ares Kingdom formed in 1996, the year following the end of Mike and Chuck's previous band Order from Chaos. AK’s first four years were spent as a two-piece. In 2000, Doug joined as bassist, followed soon by Alex as vocalist. In 2006, Doug switched to rhythm guitar while Alex assumed bass duties.

The band signed to NWN! Productions in 2004 and has released two full-length albums, Return To Dust (2006) and Incendiary (2010), plus a compilation CD Firestorms And Chaos (2008), an album of covers entitled Veneration (2013), and two 12" maxi singles, “Firestorm Redemption” (2006) and “Failsafe” (2007).

In addition to their upcoming third full-length, The Unburiable Dead, the band is set to release a special live picture disc entitled Chaosmongers Alive: 8/21/2006 as part of NWN! Productions' Onward // Ascendant warehouse fund campaign.

 

Orange County, California quartet Speaking The King's will release their debut full-length, Carousel, via Nuclear Blast on October 16th. The album is frontloaded with moshy breakdowns, which are tempered by soaring melodic choruses that will camp out in your brain for weeks at a time.

Carousel was recorded with the mighty Steve Evetts at the helm. The producer lists Suicide Silence, Architects, and Every Time I Die among his credits.

The band said, "We are ready to win the world over with Carousel, which is a journey through catchy choruses to the heaviest of breakdowns. This album offers a diversity and range of emotions, which are reflective of each member and the ride we have been on to this day. We are so eager to let the world into our hearts and for you to let us into your ears."

The band's humble origins can be traced back to 2011, when it began as a project between former bandmates Justin Bock, fellow guitarist Mike Entin, and drummer Will Peacock. Their demos captured the attention of A Day to Remember producer, songwriter, and former guitarist Tom Denney (Pierce the Veil, Secrets), who ushered the band into his Florida-based studio to record their first arsenal of music. The band booked studio time but was missing a critical element — a singer!

The fevered search for a frontman ended with Bobby Burap, who was the total package, thanks to his stage presence and his ability to sing in both clean and aggressive registers. Plus, the singer's welding talents were a bonus, since touring bands never knows when they’ll suffer from a broken axle in the middle of nowhere and in 100-degree heat. Just sayin'.

Since their inception, Speaking The King's have shared stages with bands of their ilk, such as We Came As Romans, Of Mice & Men, Winds of Plague, Bleeding Through and Blessthefall.

Speaking The King's are carving out their status as a band to watch in 2015 and beyond.

Carousel tracklisting:

"Breathe"
"Choke"
"Caught In The Middle"
"Liar Liar"
"Motion Sickness"
"Shipwrecked"
"Worthless"
"City Lights"
"The Way"
"Close To Impossible"

France-based old school death metal act, South Of Hell, have signed a worldwide deal with Sliptrick Records.

Originally formed by three childhood friends, Olivier (vocals), Fargio (guitar) and Laurent (bass), they went through several lineup changes through the years and finally managed to gather a complete lineup, joined by Sophian (drums) and Nicolas (guitar).

A blend of old school bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Hypocrisy, Death. and more modern bands like Dying Fetus, Suffocation, Six Feet Under turn into a blast of catchy music that will have you spinning like a chopper.

Their debut album, Rising Of Hate, has been recorded and mixed by Jerôle Salomon through August 2014 and mastered by Anton. An album featuring a wide array of genres going from old school riffs to modern blastbeat death metal chords.

Check out the band’s video for “I’ll Be Back Soon” below. More details to follow.

 

"3D", a 30-minute current affairs show which airs on New Zealand's TV3 channel, will air an interview with estranged AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd this Sunday, August 9 at 6:30 p.m. local time.

In a world exclusive, Rudd opens his house and life to "3D"'s Michael Morrah, talking candidly about the events that saw him convicted in a New Zealand court, and the path to redemption he's setting out on.

Rudd — whose legal problems made his ability to tour with AC/DC a question mark, even though he did play on the band's new album, "Rock Or Bust" — admitted that he wants to make amends and get back with the group.

"I've got a lot to think about now," Rudd said. "I've grown up, but not grown old. I hope there's a difference. I still want to play the drums. I've got a lot of game left and I reckon I'm just starting to get cleared up. So I just want a chance to get back in with the boys and just carry on from there."

Rudd previously said that he was "very disappointed" over the breakdown of his relationship with his bandmates. Rudd was replaced in AC/DC's lineup by Chris Slade after he was arrested on charges of drug possession and threatening to kill a former employee last November in Tauranga, New Zealand, where he lives.

Rudd — who reportedly was angry over the fact that his debut solo album, "Head Job", had flopped — told Australia's "A Current Affair" that he "was pretty stressed at the time," adding, "The people who I had working for me for this (album) launch — it was a total fucking disaster. So I was really pissed off."

Rudd said that he tried to reach out to his bandmates, revealing: "I'm very disappointed. I tried to get in touch with Angus [Young, guitarist], but I've had no contact with him. They haven't called me. You know who your friends are. That's life." He added: "I'm sure they're really enjoying playing. I'm sure it really sounds great."

But Rudd seemed confident that he would get his old job back eventually, saying: "There'll be another tour and another and I'll be on it. It'll go until we all die. We'll probably all have to be dead before it stops." He also said that he's "seen the errors of my ways… It's onward and upward from here."

Slade, who played with AC/DC from 1990 to 1993, was announced in February as the group's drummer for its current world tour.

Rudd last week pleaded not guilty to charges of breaching the conditions of his home detention. The 61-year-old Rudd also faces charges of possessing and consuming alcohol, which constitute the breach in his sentence of eight months home detention. Rudd appeared in a New Zealand court on Monday (August 3) to address the charges.

Rudd will return to court on November 24 for a hearing in front of a judge on the possible breach.

Rudd was arrested on the new charges on July 18, just 10 days after he was sentenced to his home detention.

The drummer appealed that sentence after pleading guilty to charges of threatening to kill and drug possession stemming from an arrest last fall. He faced up to seven years behind bars.

Asked by reporters on Monday if he was nervous about the new charges, Rudd replied, "No, the only thing I’m nervous about is I don't actually don’t know what's going on." Rudd added that he will spend his time out on bail focusing on "self-improvement."

Meanwhile, AC/DC's 2015 North American tour will kick off on August 22 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with Chris Slade manning the drums.

The new album from Voodoo Hill, entitled Waterfall, will be released on October 16th in Europe and North America. The album’s title track can be heard below:

The new album – the third release from the musical alliance between Italian axeman and producer Dario Mollo and legendary former Deep Purple singer / bassist Glenn Hughes – is the culmination of a 30+ year career for Mollo as a musician, songwriter and producer. Dario Mollo’s career started in 1981 with the heavy metal band Crossbones, he continued to develop his abilities with musical giants like Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, MSG), Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy, Deep Purple) and several others. The Voodoo Hill albums with Glenn Hughes has always marked a special milestone in Dario’s career though.

With the first Voodoo Hill album in 2000, Dario, for the first time, had the chance to have a proper international release, while the follow up album Wild Seed Of Mother Earth is probably the heaviest and strongest release ever from Dario.

The new record came about as a result “of the most prolific and creative period I had in my entire career” tells Dario. “I wrote and recorded more than 35 song ideas in a very limited amount of time, leveraging from all the experiences I gathered as a guitar player, writer and producer. This creative phase had a further development when Dario Patti (keyboardist, bass player and orchestra arranger) came into the picture. He brought the songs a new palette of sounds and some superb arrangements. I also wanted the songs to sound as fresh as possible, trying my best to preserve the feeling of the overall performances, so I used very old school recording methods, including recording acoustic drums in rooms with natural reverb.”

“It was right in the middle of this creative spring that Serafino of Frontiers called me to see whether I wanted to finally work on a third Voodoo Hill album after all these years,” continues Mollo. “He said Glenn Hughes was available in principle, so the next thing I did was to choose the 11 songs which I thought suited the project the best. In comparison to the previous albums, I wanted to have Glenn more involved in the artistic decisions, so I sent him the songs before the final mixes in order to have his advices on the final result. That was a precious process that brought substantial changes, for instance on “Last Door”, where I literally changed the entire guitar riff to make it work better with the vocal melodies. In the end the song was basically rewritten and dramatically improved. It was a fabulous creative process, which I am truly confident will last more than a bunch of listening sessions and will offer a lot of enjoyment to all those will want to follow Voodoo Hill in this exciting musical venture”.

Waterfall is a strong and straightforward hard and heavy rock album which is equally split between aggressive and heavy moments and beautiful melodies.

Waterfall tracklisting:

“All That Remains”
“The Well”
“Rattle Shake Bone”
“Underneath And Down Below”
“Waterfall”
“Karma Go”
“Evil Thing”
“Eldorado”
“White Feather”
“Sunflower”
“Last Door”

Album trailer:

Dani Filth's Witch County slippery horrors, Devilment, premiere the official music video for “Sanity Hits A (Perfect) Zero”. The song comes off the band's debut, The Great And Secret Show (2014). The video, directed Lizzy Ellam and edited by Sam Scott-Hunter, can be viewed below.

Dani Filth states: "It was enormous fun filming the video for “Sanity Hits A (Perfect) Zero” as it was decided that it would appear very chaotic, retro and dirty from an early stage, as if the discovered film stock had slightly perished with age, bringing with it a psychedelically lurid post-apocalyptic vision. The whole experience was undertaken close to home in Suffolk at a countryside scrapyard, with friends and performers being assembled, dressed, watered and fed by the extended Devilment family, with a crew 'borrowed' from the local university. In essence it was very much an underground guerrilla effort, the spirit of which we intended to capture on a day which fortunately fell between two bouts of horrible stormy weather, thus enabling the use of flame on what was essentially a fuel-soaked death trap waiting to ignite. Still, all's Hell that ends well, and we think the finished video (perfectly) compliments the madness and feral metallic adrenaline of the track heaved under the spotlight."

Devilment will be playing this year's Summer Breeze Festival during the Nuclear Blast Label Night on Wednesday, August 12th at 12.45 AM, CET.

North Carolina trad/doom heavy metallers Dogbane have released their new album, When Karma Comes Calling, via Heaven And Hell Records. Stream the album in full below, and purchase When Karma Comes Calling at this location.

Combining traditional/NWOBHM-inspired heavy metal with just the right amount of doom, Dogbane’s new release follows the 2011 debut Residual Alcatraz. When Karma Comes Calling is first and foremost a riff-heavy, hook-laden slab of metal and the ultimate dedication to the band's fallen comrade/guitarist David Ellenburg who passed away on July 30th, 2012.

When Karma Comes Calling was recorded and produced by Kevin Davis and Dogbane at Studio 5 in Greensboro, NC.  Mixing and mastering was done by Gary Hawkins in Winston Salem, NC. The cover art is credited to Wayne Miller, CD layout/design to Linda Ronsick and Mitch Allred, and photography by Linda Ronsick and Jon Upchurch.

 

 

When Karma Comes Calling tracklisting:

“Warlord”
“Dogbane”
“Karma”
“Deceiver”
“Calm Before The Storm”
“Devil By The Horns”
“Apocynaceae”
“Free Soirit”
“Sands Of Time”

When Karma Comes Calling by Heaven And Hell Records 2015

Klogr have released video footage of a performance of their 2015 track, "Make Your Stand", at the Obihall Theatre in Florence, Italy on June 13th. "Make Your Stand" is the title track from Klogr's homonymous EP+DVD, published on Zeta Factory last May.

The Obihall appearance was for a show that Klogr delivered as opening act for Limp Bizkit in June, before taking a break to work on their next full length release.

Klogr previously released a video for “Breaking Down”, from Make Your Stand (see below).
 

 

Tracklisting:

EP:

“Breaking Down”
“Make Your Stand”
“Breathing Heart”
“Draw Closer” (Live)
“Zero Tolerance” (Live)
“King Of Unknown” (Live)
“Failing Crowns” (Live)
“Vultures Feast” (Live)
“Hell of Income” (Live)
“Silk And Thorns” (Live)
“Bleeding” (Live)
“Guilty And Proud” (Live)
“Guinea Pigs” (Live)

DVD:

1) Live in Trezzo: 45 minutes live show filmed at the Live Music Club in Trezzo (November 2014, supporting Guano Apes)
2) Behind the scenes: 120 minutes of documentary ("Till You Decay", "Till You Turn 1&2", "Black Snow European Tour", "Make Your Stand")

“Breaking Down” video:

Make Your Stand trailer:

 

The title track of SOULFLY's tenth studio album, "Archangel", can be streamed below. Due on August 14 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment, the CD was produced by Matt Hyde, who has previously worked with SLAYER and CHILDREN OF BODOM. The cover artwork was created by artist Eliran Kantor (TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH, SODOM).

Pre-order "Archangel" in a bundle or by itself in multiple formats and from this location.

"Archangel" track listing:

01. We Sold Our Souls To Metal02. Archangel03. Sodomites (feat. Todd Jones of NAILS)04. Ishtar Rising05. Live Life Hard! (feat. Matt Young of KING PARROT)06. Shamash07. Bethlehem's Blood08. Titans09. Deceiver10. Mother Of Dragons (feat. Richie Cavalera of INCITE, Igor Cavalera of LODY KONG, Anahid M.O.P.)

Bonus tracks for CD/DVD special edition:

11. You Suffer (NAPALM DEATH cover)12. Acosador Nocturno13. Soulfly X Bonus DVD: "Live At Hellfest 2014" (special edition only)

01. Cannibal Holocaust02. Refuse/Resist03. Bloodshed04. Back To The Primitive05. Seek 'N' Strike06. Tribe07. Rise Of The Fallen08. Revengeance09. Roots Bloody Roots10. Jumpdafuckup/Eye For An Eye

In regards to the band and the album cover, artist Eliran Kantor states: "I've been a fan of Max's music ever since discovering 'Beneath The Remains' in high school. When my wife and I got married, 'Territory' was even played at the dance party part of our wedding.

"Max asked me to do a traditional piece depicting Archangel Michael — and I tried to go beyond the straight-up neo-classical style as that has been perfected centuries ago, so I mixed in SOULFLY's own visual world: hence the wings and spear being shaped like the SOULFLY tribal icon, the cliff with the ocean view just like on the first record, and the Brazilian flag being the core of it's color scheme." Speaking about "Archangel", Max told RockRevoltMagazine.com: "It's a very biblical, very mystic, very exotic kind of a album. This is a totally different vibe [from 2013's 'Savages']. There's songs like 'Sodomites', about the destruction of Sodom; there's songs like 'Shamash', about the Akkadian god of the sun; 'Ishtar' (since retitled 'Ishtar Rising'), which is the Babylonian queen; 'Titanomachy' (since retitled 'Titans'), which is about the war of the titans. So there's really more mystic, exotic sounds and songs and lyrics. So it's really cool. It's really artistic, the new SOULFLY, which I like about it."

In an interview with Metal Wani, Max called "Archangel" "an interesting record." He explained: "It's one of those [records] that come out once in a lifetime, an album like that comes out — really crazy sounds and very different dimensions. It's more experimental than the other stuff. It's still heavy as hell, and it's still fast. And Zyon's [Cavalera, Max's son] playing drums on it. He's actually playing really good. He reminds me of a young Dave Lombardo [SLAYER]. The fills that he's doing [are] really amazing; he surprised everybody in the studio. Matt Hyde is producing; he worked with SLAYER before. So it's really cool; a really good team."

SOULFLY will embark on a North American headlining tour at the end of September. Joining them on this epic campaign are Swedish melodic death metal visionaries SOILWORK, Polish technical death metallers DECAPITATED, and hot newcomers SHATTERED SUN.

LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe joined JASTA, the band led by HATEBREED's Jamey Jasta, on stage on August 9 at the Heavy Montreal festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to perform the song "Enslaved, Dead Or Depraved". You can now watch fan-filmed video footage of his appearance below.

Jamey Jasta's debut solo album, "Jasta", sold around 4,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 133 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 1 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Jasta" was released in North America on July 26, 2011 via eOne Music and in Europe one day earlier through Century Media Records.

During an interview with Metal Assault, Jamey stated about his solo album, "It's just more of the thrash and rock element in it. I think there's a lot more clean singing than I'm used to doing. It's a lot of stuff that I recorded for other artists, but it ended up sounding cool so I just left it in there. My engineer was really liking the stuff that I was doing. I still have a lot of guest parts on there Randy Blythe from LAMB OF GOD, Zakk Wylde, Phil Labonte [of ALL THAT REMAINS], Tim from AS I LAY DYING, Mark Morton from LAMB OF GOD so it's just like a fun project before we do the next HATEBREED album."

He continued: "I did all of it by myself, except for the guest parts. I did it all throughout 2008, 2009 and 2010 so it was fun to go back, listen to those old tracks and go, 'These are still good, let's release them!' I'm just very lucky that I'm in a position to be able to do this."

The official lyric video for "I Worship Chaos", the title track of the ninth studio album from Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM, can be seen below. The CD will be released on October 2 via Nuclear Blast. The artwork for the CD was created by Finnish artist Tuomas Korpi and can be seen below.

"I Worship Chaos" was once again recorded at Helsinki, Finland's Danger Johnny Studios and was produced by CHILDREN OF BODOM and Mikko Karmila, who worked with the band on their earlier albums "Halo Of Blood", "Hatebreeder", "Follow The Reaper" and "Hate Crew Deathroll". The CD was mixed and mastered at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland.

"I Worship Chaos" will be available in following formats:

* CD + DVD digibook (incl. bonus DVD and three bonustracks!)* CD* 2LP (black, clear, silver, yellow, picture)* digibook + canvas (Nuclear Blast mailorder edition)

The album can be pre-ordered at this location. Comments CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho: "To me, it seems like 'I Worship Chaos' has a lot darker vibe in it than the previous albums and so far everyone has told me that the songs are a lot catchier this time, which I'm definitely glad about. To sum it up, it's angry, dark and catchy as fuck. I think it's safe to say 'I Worship Chaos' is CHILDREN OF BODOM reborn even more pissed off." "I Worship Chaos" track listing:

01. IHurt02. My Bodom (I Am The Only One)03. Morrigan04. Horns05. Prayer For The Afflicted06. I Worship Chaos07. Hold Your Tongue08. Suicide Bomber09. All for Nothing10. Widdershins

Bonus tracks (digibook only):

11. Mistress Of Taboo (PLASMATICS cover)12. Danger Zone (KENNY LOGGINS cover)13. Black Winter Day (AMORPHIS cover)

The song "Morrigan" can be streamed below.

CHILDREN OF BODOM has recruited Antti Wirman, the younger brother of the band's keyboardist Janne Wirman, to handle second-guitar duties for their upcoming shows.

Antti, who has been a member of Janne's band WARMEN since 2001, made his live debut with CHILDREN OF BODOM on May 30 when the group played a surprise six-song set at Nosturi in Helsinki, Finland.

"We wanted to go with someone close to the band we can count on and who can nail these songs. Antti was the obvious choice," said Janne.

Antti played with CHILDREN OF BODOM through the band's appearance at the Kuopio RockCock festival on August 1. The group will then decide what to do about the second-guitarist position on a more permanent basis.

CHILDREN OF BODOM's first official concert with Antti took place on June 4 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

CHILDREN OF BODOM in May announced the departure of the band's guitarist of the past decade, Roope Latvala.

Known for supporting legendary bands KISS and DEF LEPPARD on KISS's massive 40th-anniversary North American tour last summer, Canada's explosive hard rockers KOBRA AND THE LOTUS will soon release a brand new EP. Due out August 28, the "Words Of The Prophets" EP (Titan Music) was produced by the Grammy-nominated Johnny K (MEGADETH, DISTURBED, THREE DOORS DOWN) and will feature cover songs by great Canadian artists.

KOBRA AND THE LOTUS's cover version of RUSH's classic "The Sprit Of Radio" can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below.

Of the new release, frontwoman Kobra Paige commented, "KOBRA AND THE LOTUS is a riff-loving, vocal-whaling, storm-bringing band. We couldn't do what we do without paying homage to the true roots that were laid down before us.

"'Words Of The Prophets' is a tribute to those great Canadian classic rock influences that have set the foundation for music magic since we first heard these songs playing on the radio as little kids. They carry a ton of nostalgia, inspire ambitious journeys, and we hope to rub some of that off on you!"

KOBRA AND THE LOTUS's most recent album, "High Priestess" (Titan Music), was also produced by Johnny K and delivers a blend of fiery vocals (courtesy of lead singer Kobra Paige), heavy riff-laden melodies and ferocious musicianship. DecibelMagazine.com declared it "a stunning slab of beating, bleeding traditional metal heart and unadulterated bombast refracted and heightened through a dynamic prism of those very things that are actually right with modern metal." Led by frontwoman, the classically-trained vocal powerhouse and Calgary native Kobra Paige, KOBRA AND THE LOTUS has been making a name for themselves worldwide with extensive touring and two well-received albums. "Words Of The Prophets" track listing:

01. Lay It On The Line (TRIUMPH)02. Sign Of The Gypsy Queen (APRIL WINE)03. Black Velvet (ALANNAH MYLES)04. Let It Ride (BTO)05. Spirit Of The Radio (RUSH)