Swedish Viking/folk metallers Grimner have released a video for "En Fallen Jätte", a track from their new full-length album, Vanadrottning, out via Despotz Records on February 9th. Find the video below.
A heavier, more powerful and rhythmic sound, together with a fantastic new voice brought by their latest addition Martin. Expect a dynamic, fresh and thrilling album with the band pushing the boundaries and taking their unique music to a new level. With Vanadrottning and their 10th anniversary celebrations, the Grimner Vikings continue their journey towards new adventures.
Tracklisting:
"Vanadrottning"
"Avundas Hennes Ungdom"
"En Fallen Jätte"
"Kvällningssång"
"En Vilja Av Järn"
"Fafnersbane" feat. Erik Grawsiö (Månegarm)
"Vårt Blod, Våra Liv"
"Dödens Dans"
"Ägers Salar"
"Sången Om Grimner"
"Freja Vakar"
"En Fallen Jätte" video:
Grimner give a unique mixture of folk and metal, incorporating catchy melodies, folk instruments and heavy riffs into their own, yet aggressive metal. With their dynamic and captivating music, with lyrics sung in Swedish, and looking like they have recently arrived from a fantasy world, they have taken enthusiasts of both metal and folk music by storm. Grimner’s lyrics revolve around Norse mythology, folklore, historical adventures of Vikings and life in the same era. With some songs dark and brooding; others fast, jovial and folkish, Grimner’s music is as awesome as it is entertaining.
Chicago-based Americana metal outfit, Huntsmen, have released a video for "Pyre", a track from their upcoming American Scrap album. Watch the clip below.
Storytelling is the great, albeit fading, American pastime. It predated writing and in many instances, was told in song. In modern times, many musicians have approached their music from a storytelling point of view: Dylan, Springsteen and Waits to name a few. Huntsmen are carrying the torch for heavy bands to be added to that list and recently announced their signing to Prosthetic Records.
Huntsmen have released two EPs, 2014's Post War and 2016's The Colonel. When it came time to work on the band's first full length, American Scrap, vocalist/guitarist Chris Kang wanted to tackle the paradox of American nationalism and pride, given we are a country of immigrants.
"I always have conflicting feelings," says Kang, "where I'm really proud of the inclusive and optimistic ideal it represents- my father found opportunity here to carve a life that just didn't exist back home - but I'm really ashamed of so much of its past and present. I wanted to make an album that spent some time with these confusing feelings, and that was American Scrap."
American Scrap will be released on February 23rd on all digital platforms, compact disc, limited edition gold splatter LP and VHS. Pre-orders can be found here.
Huntsmen will have their record release show a day before release date at the Empty Bottle in Chicago. Label mates Livid and Rezn will be joining them.
American Scrap was recorded at Treehouse Analog Studio in Chicago. The opening, mostly acoustic track "Bury Me Deep", is the perfect first chapter to the album; with its ending of feedback and electric guitar, it foreshadows something heavy, but then swiftly goes into the dark, moody "Pyre". "Atlantic City" starts off in a post-rock fury, sure to tell-tale some catastrophic event while the album's epic closer, "The Last President" with guest vocalist, Aimee Bueno, is the perfect ending to the story.
Spoiler alert, if you're the type to open a book and read the ending, continue on, as Kang describes the final track, "the last American President gives a final TV address to the nation then has a nice dinner with her family before euthanizing them and hanging herself before the bombs fall."
American Scrap tracklisting:
"Bury Me Deep"
"Pyre"
"Canary King"
"Interlude A - Shipwrecked"
"Atlantic City"
"Interlude B - Insurrection"
"The Barrens"
"The Last President"
"Pyre" video:
"Bury Me Deep" video:
Tour dates:
February
22 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle (with Livid and Rezn)
Huntsmen lineup:
Chris Kang - Vocals, guitar
Marc Stranger-Najjar - Bass
Kirill Orlov - Guitar
Ray Knipe - Drums
San Diego-based trio Earthless return with the full-length album Black Heaven on March 16th via Nuclear Blast. The band is giving fans an early preview of the six-track, forty-minute album, with a stream of the first track on the album, "Gifted By The Wind". Watch a visualizer below.
“We are proud to drop the first single ‘Gifted By The Wind’ today,” says drummer Mario Rubalcaba. “Something that moves, grooves and wants to shake your brains! We hope you enjoy and of course blast the ‘F’ out of it.”
The song, which kicks off the album, marks a shift for the band, with four of the six songs featuring vocals whereas earlier albums only occasionally had vocals. “It wasn’t a premeditated thing to do a record with vocals,” continues Rubalcaba. “On the older records, Mike [Eginton] was responsible for a lot of the riffs that would start these jams, but on this one Isaiah [Mitchell] really brought his own pizazz and flavor to it. I’d say that’s one of the major differences on this album: It has more of Isaiah’s input. He took a risk bringing these ideas to us, not knowing if we’d like them. But as with everything we’ve done in the past, it felt very organic and natural.”
Black Heaven was recorded at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, CA with Dave Catching (Eagles Of Death Metal) handling production. Pre-order bundles, with digital releases offering an instant download of "Gifted By The Wind", are available here.
Black Heaven tracklisting:
"Gifted By The Wind"
"End To End"
"Electric Flame"
"Volt Rush"
"Black Heaven"
"Sudden End"
Los Angeles rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES have released the official music video for the song "Wake Up". The track is taken from the band's fifth album, "Vale", which is being released today (Friday, January 12) via Lava/Universal Republic. The follow-up to BLACK VEIL BRIDES' 2014 self-titled effort was produced by John Feldmann at his Southern California studio.
BLACK VEIL BRIDES frontman Andy Biersack said: "We cannot wait for the BVB army to hear 'Vale' in its entirety!
"In my opinion, this record is the most complete and exciting album we have done to date.
"The opportunity to work with John Feldmann once again over the course of the past two years creating 'Vale' was an incredible experience and I am thrilled with the collection of songs we have put together as a band.
"The Latin translation of 'Vale' is 'be well, be strong!' and central to the message of this record.
"We hope to continue to inspire our fans and friends to embrace their own individuality and inner strength.
"The central narrative once again finds 'The Wild Ones' characters facing the challenge of moving on from the pain and anguish of their past and looking to a new chapter in their lives. This concept is one that is near to my heart and I believe will resonate with those that find themselves cast on the fringe of society.
"From our inception, BLACK VEIL BRIDES have stood up for the outcasts and disenfranchised. With this album, [we] hope to give you hope, fun and most importantly a kickass rock and roll record."
"Vale" track listing:
01. Incipiens Ad Finem
02. The Last One
03. Wake Up
04. When They Call My Name
05. The Outsider
06. Dead Man Walking (Overture II)
07. Our Destiny
08. The King Of Pain
09. My Cow
10. Ballad Of The Lonely Hearts
11. Throw The First Stone
12. Vale (This Is Where It Ends)
During an interview with the Rock Sound Podcast, Biersack said about the overall sound of the new BLACK VEIL BRIDES album: "We made 'Wretched And Divine [The Story Of The Wild Ones]' with John in 2013, and that was, at least commercially, our most successful record to date. A song like 'In The End' is probably our most successful song. And so a lot of times, people point to that record as the sound of the band. But what I think is interesting is that we have evolved significantly, I think, from record to record — from the first record to the fifth record. The previous record that we made with [producer] Bob Rock was a much more straight-ahead, hard rock, heavy metal record. I think that this album — and everybody says this, of course, because you want it to be true — but at least for me, I believe that it's a nice combination of many different eras of the band. I think that it represents all the different places that we've been while retaining that Feldmann thing, that thing about Feldy that I don't think anybody else can even touch or come close to; he just knows how to make things huge."
BLACK VEIL BRIDES has just embarked on a North American co-headline tour, dubbed "The Resurrection Tour", with ASKING ALEXANDRIA. CROWN THE EMPIRE is acting as support on all dates.
"The Luddite", the new video from CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's first studio recording with vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan in over a decade, "No Cross No Crown", which is being released today (Friday, January 12) via Nuclear Blast Entertainment.
In 2014, after nearly a straight decade traversing the globe as a guitarist with New Orleans supergroup DOWN, Pepper Keenan reconnected with the core CORROSION OF CONFORMITY trio of Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean and Reed Mullin to hit the road hard. "Reed called me and mentioned maybe playing a couple shows," Keenan recalls. "I said, 'Let's just go to Europe and see if it works.' So we went to Europe and then ended up going back four times in one year... We toured for a year and then started tracking about ten or eleven months ago."
Recording in North Carolina with longtime producer John Custer, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY cut "No Cross No Crown" in about forty days over the course of a year. "We took our time and didn't put any pressure on ourselves," Keenan says. "I'd go up from New Orleans and we'd do four or five days at a time, just hacking away at it. It was fun because we did it like a demo, but in a studio. We were writing and putting it on tape at the same time. We took what parts we thought were great from the old days and weren't scared to go backwards. It kinda wrote itself that way."
Some of these new jams sound like could've easily been on "Wiseblood" or "Deliverance", two of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's most revered records. On "No Cross No Crown", beefy Southern stompers like "The Luddite", "Little Man" and "Forgive Me" are interspersed with melancholy guitar interludes like "No Cross", "Matre's Diem" and "Sacred Isolation" — just like SABBATH used to do in the '70s. "We started doing that on 'Deliverance'," Keenan points out. "My theory on that is that if you're trying to make a record flow, you need to break it up a little. When you need a breather, write an interlude. I like writing those mellow pieces just to space things out and make the next thing come in heavier."
The album's iconic title comes from a recent tour stop in England. "We were playing this old church from like the 1500s that had been turned into a performing arts center," Keenan recalls. "The dressing room had stained glass windows and one of them showed this poor fella being persecuted. Underneath it said, 'no cross no crown.' So I just took that idea. We're not trying to be on a soapbox, but we used it as a catalyst to write songs around."
Which is to say that "No Cross No Crown" has a lot less to do with politics or religion than its title implies. "I think everyone needs to get away from that mindset in general," Keenan offers. "It just seems to be a mess out there nowadays. We need to get back to being humans and taking care of each other and simple things like that. For us, the terminology 'no cross no crown' is a theme. It's mentioned in like three songs throughout the album. We just weaved it through as we went."
"No Cross No Crown" stands as irrefutable proof of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's ability to overcome. "CORROSION OF CONFORMITY and the prior records I've done with them didn't just go away," Keenan observes. "It's an honor to be back out there and have an opportunity to do it again in a real way and not some washed-up reunion thing. Even before we wrote the record, we were out there for a year seeing there was a demand for it and that there was a void that we could fill. That's been CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's deal from day one. We're not chasing anybody around. We're not gonna worry about what the new trends are. CORROSION OF CONFORMITY is CORROSION OF CONFORMITY."
"No Cross No Crown" track listing:
01. Novus Deus
02. The Luddite
03. Cast The First Stone
04. No Cross
05. Wolf Named Crow
06. Little Man
07. Matre's Diem
08. Forgive Me
09. Nothing Left To Say
10. Sacred Isolation
11. Old Disaster
12. E.L.M.
13. No Cross No Crown
14. A Quest To Believe (A Call To The Void)
15. Son And Daughter
In advance of the release of "No Cross No Crown", CORROSION OF CONFORMITY has join edBLACK LABEL SOCIETY for a mammoth North American live takeover. The tour kicked off December 27 in Denver, Colorado and will wind its way through nearly four dozen cities, the journey coming to a close February 27. Additional support is being provided by EYEHATEGOD and RED FANG on select shows.
Megaherz have released a music video for "Komet", the title track of the band's new album, due February 23rd via Napalm Records. Watch below.
Megaherz are back, with full force and sweeping passion. They are digging deeper on their brand new studio album, Komet, than ever before.
Megaherz went straight up and rocked the boat with their latest releases Zombieland (2014, Napalm Records) and Erdwärts EP (2015, Napalm Records). Now is the time for the next big Megaherz step into completely new spheres. With their upcoming studio album Komet they deliver a perfectly blended mosaic of metal, rock, gothic and sensitive and heavy weighted sensible lyrics.
The soul of Komet is clearly tangible: "Uncompromising and emotional." Hard, musically as well as lyrically. "On the other hand also incredibly touching," nods Lex satisfied about the opening to more depth, to change in his own cosmos. The genre term Neue Deutsche Härte has shaken off Megaherz over the years.
Following the album’s release on February 23rd, Megaherz will be hitting the road in March and April throughout Germany and special shows in Austria and the Switzerland.
Megaherz comments on the upcoming headlining tour: "Finally we are back on the road and out of our recording studio! We are beyond thrilled to meet all of you on our upcoming shows! New album, new shows, bigger, better, louder!!!"
April
14 - München, Germany - Backstage Werk
28 - Magdeburg, Germany - Factory
Megaherz lineup:
Vocals - Alexander 'Lex' Wohnhaas
Guitar - Christian 'X-ti' Bystron
Guitar - Christoph Klinke
Bass - Werner 'Wenz' Weninger
Drums - Jürgen 'Bam' Wiehler
Salt Lake City's traditional metal champions, Visigoth, will release their sophomore album, Conqueror's Oath, on February 9th via Metal Blade Records. A music video for the new single "Warrior Queen", directed by Brock Gorssl, is available for streaming below.
The new album is available for pre-order in the following formats:
- CD
- 180g black vinyl
- silver vinyl (limited to 400 copies - USA exclusive)
- clear with white/blue smokey swirl vinyl (limited to 300 copies - USA exclusive)
- opaque blue vinyl (limited to 300 copies - USA exclusive)
- cool grey marble vinyl (limited to 300 copies - EU exclusive)
- white/blue splattered vinyl (limited to 200 copies - EU exclusive)
- sky-blue marble vinyl (limited to 200 copies - EU exclusive)
- purple red marble vinyl (limited to 100 copies - EU exclusive)
* exclusive bundles with a shirt, plus digital options are also available!
Standing in staunch opposition to any presumptuous notion of "reinventing the wheel" or "redefining the genre", Visigoth instead dedicates themselves to worshipping at the ageless altars of heavy metal with a singular focus on writing music inspired by their favorite records. Whether whipped into a frenzy ignited by classic USPM or NWOBHM anthems, or pensively meditating on traditional epic heavy metal or weighty doom-inspired moments, these Salt City hessians wear their influences proudly on their sleeves.
With their new 2017 long-player Conqueror's Oath, Visigoth stays true to the title and conquers the sophomore slump blues with 8 iron-forged anthems of pure metal magick guaranteed to satiate the hunger of the rock'n'roll hordes! Returning to the depths of the Boar's Nest in their hometown of Salt Lake City to record once again with engineer extraordinaire Andy Patterson (Subrosa, Deathblow, Dreadnought, et al), Conqueror's Oath was hammerforged in a whirlwind month of mayhem and mastered by Dave Otero of Flatline Audio (Satan's Host, Nightbringer, Khemmis, et al).
Immortalized by breathtaking cover art created by none other than underground album art legend Kris Verwimp (whose work has graced records by Absu, Bewitched, Desaster, Horna, Moonsorrow, Skullview, Arkona, and many, many more) in proper swords-and-sorcery fashion, Conqueror's Oath stands tall on the field of battle, serving as a gauntleted fist in the face of non-believers. Prepare for the onslaught of Salt City Steel!
Conqueror's Oath tracklisting:
"Steel And Silver"
"Warrior Queen"
"Outlive Them All"
"Hammerforged"
"Traitor's Gate"
"Salt City"
"Blades In The Night"
"The Conqueror's Oath"
"Warrior Queen" video:
Tour dates:
February
17 - Würzburg, Germany - Metal Assault Festival
18 - Oldenburg, Germany - MTS Records Store
19 - Berlin, Germany - Cortina
20 - Leipzig, Germany - Four Rooms
21 - Wien, Austria - Escape Metal Corner
22 - Innsbruck, Austria - Livestage
23 - Dornbirn, Austria - Schlachthaus
24 - Lünen, Germany - Swordbrothers Festival
25 - Genk, Belgium - Flashback
27 - Barcelona, Spain - Rocksound
28 - Zaragoza, Spain - Sala Lopez
March
1 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Live
2 - Ljungby, Sweden - Turbofest
3 - Niederjossa, Germany - Full Metal Fest
6 - Göppingen, Germany - Zille
7 - Leiden, Netherlands - De Noble
8 - Marburg, Germany - Szenario
9 - Weiher, Germany - Live Music Hall
10 - Hamburg, Germany - Hell Over Hammaburg Festival
Swedish quartet TRIBULATION will release its new album, "Down Below", on January 26 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2015 release "The Children Of The Night" will feature artwork crafted by TRIBULATION guitarist Jonathan Hultén.
The official visalizer video for the song "The World", created by Robert Piel, can be seen below.
"Today we are announcing our third and last single before the release of the new album," said the band. "It is called 'The World' and once again filmmaker Robert Piel has created a visual interpretation for you to enjoy."
"Down Below" track listing:
01. The Lament
02. Nightbound
03. Lady Death
04. Subterranea
05. Purgatorio
06. Cries From The Underworld
07. Lacrimosa
08. The World
01. Here Be Dragons
10. Come, Become, To Be (bonus track)
"Down Below" is preceded by a brand-new seven-inch EP. Titled "Lady Death", it includes the album track "Lady Death" as well as the B-side "Skärselden".
TRIBULATION will commence its touring cycle for "Down Below" with runs across Central Europe and the U.K. supporting ARCH ENEMY and WINTERSUN, as well as dates in the East and South of Europe with INSOMNIUM.
TRIBULATION is:
Johannes Andersson - Vocals, Bass
Adam Zaars - Guitar
Jonathan Hultén - Guitar
Oscar Leander - Drums
The official animated video for MYSTIC PROPHECY's cover version of MIKE OLDFIELD's "Shadow On The Wall" can be streamed below. The track is taken from the German metallers' covers album, "Monuments Uncovered", which will be released on January 12 via Massacre Records.
Singer Roberto Dimitri Liapakis comments: "This album is like a love letter to the music that accompanied so many of us, myself included, in the '70s, '80s and '90s — and believe me, you have not heard the songs like this before! I'm also really excited to show you a new and different side of MYSTIC PROPHECY!"
The album was produced by Liapakis and MYSTIC PROPHECY at the Prophecy Studios, and mixed and mastered by Henrik Udd at Udd Recording Studios (ARCHITECTS, HAMMERFALL, BRING ME THE HORIZON, AT THE GATES, DELAIN). Dušan Markovic created the album's cover artwork.
MYSTIC PROPHECY's "Monuments Uncovered" will also be available as a limited-edition digipak with an exclusive bonus track as well as limited vinyl LP.
"Monuments Uncovered" track listing:
01. You Keep Me Hangin' On (KIM WILDE/THE SUPREMES cover)
02. Hot Stuff (DONNA SUMMER cover)
03. Shadow On The Wall (MIKE OLDFIELD cover)
04. Are You Gonna Go My Way (LENNY KRAVITZ cover)
05. I'm Still Standing (ELTON JOHN cover)
06. Because The Night (PATTI SMITH cover)
07. Space Lord (MONSTER MAGNET cover)
08. Get It On (T.REX cover)
09. Toyko (TOKYO cover)
10. Proud Mary (CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL cover)
11. The Stroke (BILLY SQUIER cover) (digipak bonus track)
"Burnin' The Candle", the new video from SAINTED SINNERS, the band featuring former ACCEPT singer David Reece, can be seen below. The song is taken from SAINTED SINNERS' second album, "Back With A Vengeance", which will be released on February 16 via El Puerto Records.
Says guitarist Frank Pané: "For the video, we went for a very spontaneous approach. Having a day off in Hamburg between two shows, we were happy to have our friend Volker Thiele (who did our previous clips as well) with us. There was no bigger plan what to do; we basically walked through the city searching for cool locations."
Reece adds: "The shooting was a challenge, because firstly the weather was cold and we shot some on the pier in Hamburg, but it was freezing balls and tough to do. We looked behind us and there was Hard Rock Cafe Hamburg, so we asked the manager out of need to warm up if we could shoot some footage and he luckily agreed, before we froze to death, haha!"
Expressing the "pure essence of rock 'n' roll" was the ambition that paired those four well-known and experienced musicians together in early 2016 to create and play the music which is deeply inside their hearts and in their blood. The love for rock legends, such as DEEP PURPLE, LED ZEPPELIN, RAINBOW, WHITESNAKE, UFO, BLACK SABBATH, VAN HALEN and many others, built the cornerstone for the music of the new founded quartet called SAINTED SINNERS.
Fronted by the unique, soul-driven voice of American-born vocalist David Reece and highly gifted guitar player Frank Pané (BONFIRE), SAINTED SINNERS got completed by the dynamic rhythm section of the two former PURPENDICULAR members Malte Frederik Burkert (bass) and the Hungarian drum maestro Berci Hirleman.
"We were aiming for a more guitar-heavy approach this time and also a warmer, more ballsy sound," explains Pané and continues: "This time we already knew where to go. You definitely can hear my huge VAN HALEN and Randy Rhoads influences more than on the previous one. But it also has that DEEP PURPLE touch, even with less keyboards this time. In other songs, you definitely hear a RAINBOW and DIO influence... and it goes on and on. These influences are totally natural and are not planned. So we just go with the flow and that's the essence of rock 'n' roll for us."
The keyboards on "Back With A Vengeance" were handled by guest musicians Angel Vafeiadis and Eric Ragno, who is known for his work with Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley (KISS) and Billy Gibbons (ZZ TOP).
"I'm really happy and satisfied with the end result," summarizes Pané. "Being a new band, it's hard to be recognized nowadays with all the hundreds of releases every month, so we wanted to make a statement that SAINTED SINNERS is a band you should look out for."
SAINTED SINNERS is:
David Reece - Vocals
Frank Pané - Guitar
Malte Frederik Burkert - Bass
Berci Hirleman - Drums
Swedish death metal veterans THE CROWN will releae their new album, "Cobra Speed Venom", on March 16 through Metal Blade Records. Produced with Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman, the record promises to be one of the biggest surprises of the year — a return to death metal speed and darkness in full glory!
THE CROWN comments: "We are really looking forward to finally be able to show our fans how damn good this band can be when the circumstances are right. With that, [we] mean to be able to do an album the way we want to do it: creating as a band, rehearsing as a band, recording as a band. You will hear a band performing here, with fierce energy and hunger!"
The video for the album's first single, "Iron Crown", can be seen below.
With their motivation at an all-time high, THE CROWN spent most of 2017 intensely rehearsing 13 new songs. They eventually entered Studio Fredman with Nordström to record what would become "Cobra Speed Venom". The sound is massive, brutal and a real punch in the face. Extreme speed and aggression mixed with classic heavy metal and rock 'n' roll, which really shows that THE CROWN has no boundaries. The apocalyptic theme of the lyrics and music also fits perfectly with the outstanding artwork of Christian Sloan Hall.
"Cobra Speed Venom" track listing:
01. Destroyed By Madness
02. Iron Crown
03. In the Name of Death
04. We Avenge!
05. Cobra Speed Venom
06. World War Machine
07. Necrohammer
08. Rise In Blood
09. Where My Grave Shall Stand
10. The Sign of the Scythe
11. Nemesis Diamond (bonus track)
12. The Great Dying (bonus track)
THE CROWN is:
Johan Lindstrand - Vocals
Magnus Olsfelt - Bass
Marko Tervonen - Guitar
Robin Sorqvist - Lead guitar and backing vocals
Henrik Axelsson - Drums
The official music video for the song "Turn It Over" from WE SELL THE DEAD can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's debut album, "Heaven Doesn't Want You And Hell Is Full", which will be released on February 23 via earMUSIC.
Revolving around Niclas Engelin (IN FLAMES, ENGEL), DRÖMRIKET's Jonas Slättung, Gas Lipstick (former HIM drummer) and the voice of Apollo Papathanasio (SPIRITUAL BEGGARS, FIREWIND), WE SELL THE DEAD goes beyond the strains of conventional storytelling and create a multi-media experience of premium quality heavy metal music embedded in visually stimulating and atmospheric visuals.
Heavy-yet-melodic sounds transport the listener into a Victorian inspired world that is defined by pompous manors and daunting luxury standing in deep contrast to the harshness and cruelty of the gutter. It is a world that reeks of hysteria, but, above all, a sense of mysticism and dark romanticism. WE SELL THE DEAD's music rises above this, not merely pointing out this injustice, but expanding the narrative into the extreme, playing with themes of ghosts, death or religion.
But not only…
Despite a reference to Victorian times, WE SELL THE DEAD maintains a very modern and ever-so-current approach that translates to the world we live in today.
Explains Slättung: "From the late 1800, an era that has inspired our band enormously, comes one of the greatest and darkest crime mysteries of them all: Jack The Ripper. We don't know 100 percent who he was but we know his horrendous deeds. All the visuals we had in our mind, combined with the sometimes slightly morbid lyrics, made us think that this is what music would have sounded like if heavy metal had existed in the 19th century, or if Jack The Ripper had travelled forward in time to join a metal band. WE SELL THE DEAD would have been his natural choice for a backing band. He probably would have felt right at home with us.
"But, at the same time, the world hasn't exactly evolved into a beautiful place since the 1880s. In the 1979 movie, 'Time After Time', Jack The Ripper escapes justice by, indeed, fleeing in a time machine to 1979. After getting caught by his followers, The Ripper utters this line of wisdom: 'Back in 1893, I was a monster. Today... I'm an amateur.'"
"Heaven Doesn't Want You And Hell Is Full" will be released as a CD, LP and on digital.
Track listing:
01. The Body Market
02. Echoes Of An Ugly Past
03. Leave Me Alone
04. Imagine
05. Turn It Over
06. Too Cold To Touch
07. Trust
08. Pale And Perfect
09. Silent Scream
"Watch The Fire", the new video from the Swedish/American melodic hard rock supergroup W.E.T., which features vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (SONS OF APOLLO, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, TALISMAN), guitarist/vocalist Erik Martensson (ECLIPSE, NORDIC UNION, AMMUNITION) and guitarist Robert Säll (WORK OF ART), can be seen below. The song is taken from W.E.T.'s third studio album, "Earthrage", which will be released on March 23 via Frontiers Records Srl.
W.E.T. — whose moniker is an acronym of the names of the acts that the group's core members are best known for (WORK OF ART, ECLIPSE, TALISMAN) — released its acclaimed self-titled debut album in 2009. The band's sophomore effort, "Rise Up", surfaced in 2013, followed by the live CD/DVD "One Live - In Stockholm" in 2014.
Now, the group — which also features drummer Robban Bäck (MUSTASCH) and guitarist Magnus Henriksson (ECLIPSE) — returns with an album that label owner Serafino Perugino claims is "by far one of the best records in Frontiers's history."
"Earthrage" track listing:
01. Watch The Fire
02. Burn
03. Kings On Thunder Road
04. Elegantly Wasted
05. Urgent
06. Dangerous
07. Calling Out Your Name
08. Heart Is On The Line
09. I Don't Wanna Play That Game
10. The Burning Pain Of Love
11. The Never-Ending Retraceable Dream
Soto told 100 Percent Rock Magazine last year that W.E.T. is "a project. It's not a band in the sense of touring and we get together and do the things that bands do. That's why we only have a handful of dates under our belts to date. We've never actually done a tour together, because it's three completely different bands that are just so busy all the time. And Erik is as bad as I am — Erik Mårtensson. He's in several bands and he's always producing and writing and jumping from one to the next. We've never tried to actually follow up as a band."
Greek melodic death metal band, Aetherian, have released a video for "Black Sails", a track from their debut album, The Untamed Wilderness, out now via Lifeforce Records. Watch the clip below.
Tracklisting:
“Wish Of Autumn Twilight”
“Dark Earth”
“As The Veil Fades”
“Black Sails”
“Seeds Of Deception”
“Shade Of The Sun”
“Clouds Gathering”
“The Rain”
“The Path”
"We Defy", the new video from FIREWIND, can be seen below. The clip was filmed, directed and edited by Panagiotis Kountouras.
"We Defy" is taken from FIREWIND's eighth studio album, "Immortals", which was released on January 20, 2017 via the band's longtime label partner Century Media Records in Europe. The disc marks the first time FIREWIND used an outside co-producer, having worked with Dennis Ward (UNISONIC, PINK CREAM 69), who not only engineered, mixed and mastered the album, but also co-wrote it together with guitarist and main songwriter Gus G.
"Immortals" is FIREWIND's first release to feature singer Henning Basse (METALIUM, SONS OF SEASONS), who previously toured with the band on various continents in 2007 and was most recently the singer in Gus's solo touring group.
Gus told Canadian rock journalist Mitch Lafon about the concept behind "Immortals": "Doing a concept record with the guys is something we talked about for years. It's not something new, but you need to have the right kind of material for that. You need to be in the right mindset, and of course, you have to decide what it's going to be about. For us, since most of us are Greek, we thought it would be cool to talk about our heritage, or some part of Greek history."
He continued: "In 2013, we took a break from touring and recording and I went on to do solo stuff. When I started gathering all this material over the years, I realized the character was very epic and more focused, like into power metal, and this epic style, so I thought it would be a good idea to do the concept record we talked about now. I needed a co-writer for this, so I reached out to Dennis Ward. To make a long story short, we decided to do a record about the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis during the second Persian invasion in 480 B.C."
BULLETBOYS will release their new album, "From Out Of The Skies", on March 23 via Frontiers Music Srl. The disc was recorded at the Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Northridge, California.
The official music video for the disc's first single, "D-Evil", featuring guest vocals from Jesse Hughes of EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, can be seen below.
BULLETBOYS vocalist, guitarist, and founding member Marq Torien stated about the track: "Jesse and I had an instant bond when we met and he did an outstanding job collaborating on the song with his vocals a welcome contribution."
Regarding the making of "From Out Of The Skies", Torien said: "Writing and recording 'From Out Of The Skies' was a humbling experience and recording this unpredictable album at the FOO FIGHTERS' Studio 606 was unbelievable and magical. Dave Grohl's music got me through a very difficult time, so from day one I knew that we were in the right home to record. I was privileged enough to use one of Dave's acoustic guitars to record with along with a hand-picked drum set by Taylor Hawkins. I appreciate the opportunity to record there."
The BULLETBOYS began as a collection of talented musicians from high-profile bands such as KING KOBRA and RATT. Using their credentials, they were able to quickly capture the attention of music fans around the world while Torien emerged as one of the most underrated vocalists of the era.
The BULLETBOYS formed in 1988 at the very peak of the Los Angeles glam metal movement. With record companies constantly searching for new talent, they possessed a pedigree that most bands would kill for. Unlike the other glam rockers of the day, the BULLETBOYS were more hard rock and blues fusion than pure hair metal. Thanks to comparisons to the likes of AEROSMITH and especially VAN HALEN, talent scouts came running and the band quickly received their first major label contract. Over the years, they have dominated the airwaves, and remain relevant to this day in heavy rotation on VH1's "Metal Mania" and Internet (SiriusXM's Hair Nation, KNAC.COM) radio throughout the world.
"From Out Of The Skies" track listing:
01. Apocalypto
02. D-Evil
03. From Out Of The Skies
04. Hi-Fi Drive By
05. Losing End Again
06. Whatcha Don't
07. P.R.A.B.
08. Sucker Punch
09. Switchblade Butterfly
10. Once Upon A Time
PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS (formerly PHIL CAMPBELL'S ALL STARR BAND), the band featuring MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell alongside his sons Todd, Dane and Tyla, plus vocalist Neil Starr, has released a video for its new single, "Welcome To Hell". The song is taken from PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS' debut album, "The Age Of Absurdity", which will be released on January 26 via Nuclear Blast.
"The Age Of Absurdity" was recorded at Rockfield Studios and Longwave Studios in Wales and produced, engineered, and mixed by Romesh Dodangoda. The record was then passed over to the acclaimed Abbey Road Studios in London for mastering.
Commented Phil Campbell: "I am really excited for the fans to hear our debut record. Every part of the process was done in Wales, from the writing, to the recording and even the artwork!
"The album title, 'The Age Of Absurdity', was inspired by the crazy world we live in today. The world to me seems to be a bit of a theater show, so the album artwork idea just seemed to fit so well with the whole concept and album title."
Added Starr: "Writing and recording this album was a lot of fun. We got to record at Rockfield Studios where so many great artists had been over the years — it really was inspirational. Hearing the blistering riffs that the Campbell family seem to churn out effortlessly made me ensure I pushed myself to the limits when writing the melodies and lyrics. It's an album that I, and the rest of the band, are very proud of and can't wait to share it with the world!"
"The Age Of Absurdity" track listing:
01. Ringleader
02. Freak Show
03. Skin And Bones
04. Gypsy Kiss
05. Welcome To Hell
06. Dark Days
07. Dropping The Needle
08. Step Into The Fire
09. Get On Your Knees
10. High Rule
11. Into The Dark
12. Silver Machine (HAWKWIND cover feat. Dave Brock of HAWKWIND)*
* only to be included in the first pressing of the CD version of the album
The cover art was created by Matt Riste and can be seen below.
PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS' last release was a digital-only live EP, "Live At Solothurn", which came out in June 2017.
"Vibrational - Mysteries, Not Answers", the new video from the Los Angeles progressive rock group PERFECT BEINGS, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Vier", which will be released on January 19 via InsideOut Music. The band's current lineup includes Ryan Hurtgen (vocals, piano), Johannes Luley (guitar, bass, production) and Jesse Nason (keyboards) alongside new drummer Sean Reinert (ex-CYNIC, DEATH).
"This is a song of hope from the darkest, emptiest place," says Hurtgen. Nason adds: "The video is a portrait of a character who follows his imagination to wherever it may lead."
"Vier" track listing:
Guedra - 18:23
01. A New Pyramid
02. The Blue Lake Of Understanding
03. Patience
04. Enter The Center
The Golden Arc - 16:47
05. The Persimmon Tree
06. Turn The World Off
07. America
08. For A Pound Of Flesh
Vibrational - 18:17
09. The System And Beyond
10. Mysteries, Not Answers
11. Altars Of The Gods
12. Everywhere At Once
13. Insomnia
Anunnaki - 18:42
14. Lord Wind
15. Patterns Of Light
16. A Compromise
17. Hissing The Wave Of The Dragon
18. Everything's Falling Apart
Hurtgen originally met Luley as a client in Luley's Los Angeles-based recording studio My Sonic Temple. Luley, who was instantly impressed with his personality, song-crafting skills, and voice, asked Hurtgen to join him on a new project. This new group was going to continue the path Luley's former band MOTH VELLUM had set out on. The two became fast friends and soon put together a full band which would also include founding member Jesse Nason on keyboards. After releasing "Perfect Beings" (2014) and "II" (2015) to critical acclaim, a few personnel changes occurred that left the band without a rhythm section. The guys decided they wouldn’t be deterred, even by such a major setback. Instead, they hired Minneapolis transplant Ben Levin to play the drums on their next album, with Luley taking over the bass spot in addition to playing guitars. The result is the exhilarating double album, "Vier". As the group got closer to completing the record, they approached InsideOut, whose label chief Thomas Waber had shown interest a couple of years earlier. The parties agreed to join forces and release the record in early 2018. Levin dropped out and progressive rock drumming phenom Sean Reinert joined the band to add even more life force to an already powerful and highly skilled group.
PERFECT BEINGS is:
Ryan Hurtgen - vocals, piano
Johannes Luley - guitars, bass
Jesse Nason - keyboards
Sean Reinert - drums, percussion
Greek masters of symphonic death metal SEPTICFLESH have released the official music video for the song "Martyr", directed by longtime collaborator Jon Simvonis. The track is taken from the band's tenth full-length album, "Codex Omega", which was released on September 1 via Prosthetic Records. The disc was produced by Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, DIMMU BORGIR, KREATOR and SEPULTURA, among others.
SEPTICFLESH comments: "We are welcoming the new year by releasing a second video from our latest album, 'Codex Omega' — this time for the song 'Martyr'. Once again, the clip is directed by Jon Simvonis, blending the music of SEPTICFLESH with Kendo, which literally means 'the way of the sword.' It is a battle of sword and spirit. The ultimate goal of the fighter is to become superior to his own previous self."
Simvonis adds: "We really had an awesome time filming SEPTICFLESH while they were delivering an explosive performance for the 'Martyr' video! No wonder why this band nails it on every stage that they set foot on."
SEPTICFLESH bassist/vocalist Spiros "Seth" Antoniou (a.k.a. Seth Siro Anton) recently told WSOU 89.5 FM about "Codex Omega": "This time, every time that we are thinking [about] and we are writing and start pre-recording then composing a new [album] with SEPTICFLESH, it's a great challenge. I mean, after 'Communion', [2008] we wanted to create something different from the previous albums that we made in the past. Regarding 'Codex Omega', I think this album is much different than 'Titan' [2014] or even 'The Great Mass' [2011] or even 'Communion'. The basis is the same; for sure we have a formula that we really like and we'll still use it, but on 'Codex Omega', we have some new elements, some new elements that I could say we found the 'great spot' to combine the extreme sound with the orchestra and the guitars."
Regarding how the band's sound has evolved over the years, Spiros said: "SEPTICFLESH, it's a team production. It's a production of a team. It's not the music of one person only. So that means, the main composers of the band, which is me, Chris and Sotiris [Vayenas, guitar], we have our own home studios, so before a new album, we are composing our own tracks in our studio and later, we exchange ideas and we start to combine all the elements together. I would say me and Sotiris, we are most responsible for the 'metal' part of SEPTICFLESH, about the guitar riffs, about the extreme sound. Chris is exclusively working with the orchestra. Even sometimes with his tracks, he composes them with a piano or with some instruments of samples of the orchestra before going to the real orchestra. As you understand, SEPTICFLESH is working as a whole team and this is something that gives to the band, a multi-color of sound. I'm really happy about this cooperation."
On the topic of the lyrical direction behind "Codex Omega", Spiros said: "Sotiris is actually the guy behind the lyrics. He's the brain of SEPTICFLESH, but I made the artwork and the whole visual style of SEPTICFLESH, we work together a lot. This time, we wanted to create and to move in a different approach than our previous albums. Most of the lyrical concepts of SEPTICFLESH, we are always talking about ancient traditions of many cultures and many countries, from Sumerians, Egypt, even from Incas. Every tradition that has something really interesting. This time, it was an idea from Sotiris. He said, 'Why don't we write a new concept about a third testament? About a new book that talks about humans?'"
The official video for "Lightning Strike", a brand new song from JUDAS PRIEST can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Firepower", which will be released on March 9 via Epic.
Singer Rob Halford stated about "Lightning Strike": "To me, the overall concept of this song is to use the element of a lightning strike to pull away and tear apart at an individual, at a body of people, maybe an organization, maybe an administration, that is kind of leading you, or leading us, into potentially a destructive place. You're kind of spinning that effect round, and you have the right to react and to do something about it. So that, in essence, is what this song is all about."
"You're sowing the seeds of a nightmare from hell, your friends and your demons are tolling the bell," Halford sings on the track. "Walking through fire, fate's in my hands, waiting for lightning to strike.
The British heavy metal legends spent much of 2017 in the studio recording the follow-up to 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls" with the band's longtime collaborator Tom Allom, acclaimed British knob-twiddler Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, TESTAMENT, ACCEPT) and engineer Mike Exeter (BLACK SABBATH).
The cover artwork for "Firepower" was created by the Chilean/Italian digital artist and photographer Claudio Bergamin.
"Firepower" track listing:
01. Firepower
02. Lightning Strike
03. Evil Never Dies
04. Never The Heroes
05. Necromancer
06. Children of the Sun
07. Guardians
08. Rising From Ruins
09. Flame Thrower
10. Spectre
11. Traitors Gate
12. No Surrender
13. Lone Wolf
14. Sea Of Red
Halford told VintageRock.com about the making of "Firepower": "We came off the 'Redeemer Of Souls' tour, had a little bit of a break, like we've always done, and then we dove straight back into the second record with Richie [Faulkner, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist]. And it's Richie's moment, really, because when we did 'Redeemer Of Souls' with Richie, obviously it was his first time with PRIEST as a writer, so I think it was great how Richie coming into the band at that point, and then going through the writing experience and the world tour together really put Richie in a better place for when we went in to do 'Firepower' — just because you learn so much in a band."
Halford added: "Richie's playing is fucking unbelievable on this album. And just the contribution, I think, as the writing team of Richie and Glenn [Tipton, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] and myself. This is some of our best work — without a doubt."
Rob told "Trunk Nation" that collaborating again with Allom, who produced every PRIEST release from "Unleashed In The East" (1979) through "Ram It Down" (1988), along with several live records since then, has been "brilliant" and "absolutely fantastic." "Tom has a rich history with PRIEST, particularly those great moments with 'Screaming For Vengeance', 'Defenders Of The Faith' [and] 'British Steel'," he said. "My God — he's the man in that respect. So I thought it was really great for Andy Sneap and Mike Exeter to accept that this was gonna be like a three-man job, with Andy mostly holding the reins, but with Tom by his side and Mike there [as well]."
Sneap, who plays guitar in the reactivated British occult metal act HELL, told Serbia's Hardwired magazine that PRIEST's new album will contain "a really good energy and some real classic moments." He said "Rob did great" during the album's final recording sessions. "I'll tell you what: for someone who's got that much experience, there's no ego there at all," he said. "We'd do, like, six or seven passes, and I'd ask him to try something a bit [different] on this part, and he was, like, 'No problem.' And he'd give me another four takes with a slightly different vibe. And then me and Tom Allom would sit there and we'd comp it, and we pretty much agreed on everything."
The North American leg of the "Firepower" tour will kick off on March 13 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and will wrap on May 1 in San Antonio, Texas. Support on the trek will come from SAXON and BLACK STAR RIDERS.
Faulkner joined PRIEST in 2011 as the replacement for founding guitarist K.K. Downing.
Prior to hooking up with PRIEST, Faulkner was the guitarist in the backing band for Lauren Harris, daughter of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris.
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