Canadian metallers ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN will release their second full-length album, "Kingdom Undone", on May 26 via Nuclear Blast Records. The band began recording the LP in August of 2021 at Mark Lewis Studios in Hendersonville, Tennessee and at its own studio in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, and concluded in December 2021. The album was engineered by the band and Mark Lewis, who also was in change of producing, mixing and mastering. The artwork for the album was created by Travis Smith.
ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN said: "After many obstacles and times of uncertainty, we are reenergized, refocused and ready to finally show the world what we have been working on! 'Kingdom Undone' is ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN firing on all cylinders. This is our masterpiece and we can’t wait to play these songs for you on the road!"
Today, the band set the stage with the incendiary fretwork and pummeling drums that erupts throughout "Scars". The contagious melody will lead listeners on an energetic journey that will leave them shouting along "Why don't you show your scars?"
ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN vocalist Jamison Friesen adds: "We are very excited to release the first track off our upcoming album 'Kingdom Undone'! 'Scars' is about being real with the people around you and to stop pretending to be something you're not. It doesn't matter what's on the outside, it's about having the courage not to hide who you are! We look forward to playing it on our upcoming tours."
"Kingdom Undone" track listing:
01. Scars
02. Your Fiction
03. Trust
04. Ghosts
05. Hell Comes Home
06. One More Day
07. Liminal
08. Burn
09. Who The Masters Serve
10. Bury Me
11. Hallowed
Next month, ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN will hit the road with San Francisco Bay Area thrash legends HEATHEN. The "Empire Of The Blind" tour will kick off on March 9 in Rhode Island and will travel up and down the East Coast, making stops in Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando before concluding in Philadelphia on March 26.
Tour dates:
March 09 - Providence, RI - Alchemy
March 10 - Brooklyn, NY - The Kingsland
March 11 - Montreal, QC - Petit Campus
March 12 - Toronto, ON - Sneaky Dee’s
March 13 - Detroit, MI - The Sanctuary
March 14 - Cudahy, WI - X-Ray
March 15 - Chicago, IL - Reggies
March 16 - Cincinnati, OH - Legends
March 17 - Knoxville, TN - The Brickyard
March 18 - Atlanta, GA - Boggs
March 19 - Tampa, FL - Brass Mug
March 20 - Miami, FL - Gramps
March 21 - Orlando, FL - The Haven
March 23 - Charlotte, NC - The Milestone
March 24 - Chesapeake, VA - Riffhouse
March 25 - Baltimore, MD - Metro
March 26 - Philadelphia, PA - Milkboy
ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN is:
Jamison Friesen - Vocals
Brendan Anderson - Guitar
Ryan Sorensen - Guitar
Liam Frith - Bass
Ty Fox - Drums
WHITESNAKE returned in 2008 with "Good To Be Bad", the band's 10th studio album and its first in over a decade. Fans embraced the comeback, pushing the album into the Top 10 in the U.K. and flocking to shows on the band's massive world tour. Today, album tracks like "Best Years" and "Summer Rain" have taken their place in the band's live repertoire alongside global hits like "Here I Go Again" and "Still Of The Night".
WHITESNAKE explores the group's 2008 return with the upcoming legacy retrospective, "Still Good To Be Bad". The collection will be available in different configurations on April 28, a few days after the original album's 15th anniversary. The first collection is a 4-CD/Blu-ray with two new versions of the original album (one remastered and the other newly remixed),a selection of rare and unreleased studio and live recordings from the period, and videos all the music videos, interviews, and electrifying live performances from the "Good To Be Bad" world tour.
Three other versions of "Still Good To Be Bad" will also be available on April 28. The album's 2023 remix will be released on vinyl as a double-LP and a single CD. "Still Good To Be Bad" also comes as a 2-CD set that includes the remixed and remastered versions of the album. The new alternate mixes also feature new background vocals from the "Hook City Harlots", Cami Thompson, Misty Rae and Jackie Landrum, plus the "Hook City Horns" with Rick Metz on saxes and the trumpet of Joshua Reed.
The newly remixed version of "Can You Hear The Wind Blow" is out today as a digital single and new music video.
WHITESNAKE founder and lead singer David Coverdale played an integral role in making the new collection, serving as its executive producer. In the set's liner notes, Coverdale traces the creative spark for "Good To Be Bad" back to 2003 when he reconvened WHITESNAKE for a tour celebrating the band's 25th anniversary.
"We went out for two months and came back nine months later, and I had a big smile on my face and felt really energized," David said. "I thought, 'Wow! I've got thirty years of music here that I can go out and play, and I don't have to promote a new record…I can just have fun out there.'"
The anniversary ended, but the tour buses kept rolling as WHITESNAKE remained in demand on the road. As a result, in 2006, the band released "Live…In The Shadow Of The Blues", a concert album that also introduced four new studio recordings. Those songs raised fans' hopes for a new WHITESNAKE studio album, the first since 1997's "Restless Heart".
Coverdale enjoyed a newly forged creative friendship with electrifying guitarist Doug Aldrich. After initially saying he wasn't interested in new projects, after three years of touring, he felt the need for new music — not only for the fans, but also to reinvigorate himself. He found the perfect writing partner with Aldrich. Not only as a co-writer but, as a co-producer, too.
Coverdale said: "Doug and I got on so well, I suggested we sit down with our acoustic guitars & see what unfolded…I was thrilled how effortless it was to create new WHITESNAKE music with him…"
So, it was that in 2007, Coverdale, guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, keyboardist Timothy Drury, bassist Uriah Duffy and drummer Chris Frazier began recording tracks for WHITESNAKE's tenth studio album, "Good To Be Bad". Celebrated by both fans and critics, the record was named "Album Of The Year" at the 2008 Classic Rock Awards.
"Still Good To Be Bad" explores the creative process behind the record with 28 different mixes and alternate versions of album tracks, all but one of them previously unreleased. High points include "If You Want Me", backed by the Hook City Harlots and Horns and a version of "All For Love" that features a different guitar solo by Aldrich. The collection also includes "Evolutions", a disc of unreleased recordings that presents a guide through the genesis of each song, from initial ideas with rough vocal melodies, lyrics and riffs through to finished demos and full band production versions.
The Blu-ray delivers a variety of WHITESNAKE video footage, including live tracks from the band's 2008 European tour, acoustic performances from the era, and an interview by Eddie Trunk. New songs like "Best Years", "A Fool In Love" and "Can You Hear The Wind Blow" come to life in these incredible live performances. The Blu-ray also features promo videos for "Ready To Rock" and "Lay Down Your Love".
March 17, 2023 will see Redemption release their much-awaited, new album I Am The Storm on AFM Records. Following previously-shared singles, the blistering album title track as well as "Seven Minutes From Sunset", today, the Los Angeles-based outfit presents a brand new music video for the song "Remember The Dawn"!
Redemption belongs to one of the leading progressive metal bands in the heavy music world today. Formed in 2000 by guitarist / keyboardist / songwriter Nicolas van Dyk, the band features iconic vocalist Thomas England of Evergrey, the rhythm section of Chris Quirarte (drums) and bassist Sean Andrews, as well as Vikram Shankar on keys.
As the album title already promises, I Am The Storm is a gripping, stirring, overwhelming and dramatic, new record by the power prog metal act. Combining unapologetic melodies and hooks with technicality, complexity and thundering riffs, Redemption once again occupies a unique place with its powerful, heavy, intelligent and deeply emotional music.
Says band mastermind Nicolas van Dyk about the new single: "With out first two advance releases, we have emphasized the heavier side of Redemption and the economic melodic metal side of Redemption. We have a third side — longer form songs with roots in progressive rock as well as metal, delivered in a cinematic style. Remember the Dawn showcases this third side of Redemption, both musically and — thanks to Vikram’s video assembly — with the visuals of us performing the piece individually in-studio. The meaning of the song touches on a familiar theme with Redemption: live is full of challenges and rewards, of ugliness and beauty, of despair and hope."
I Am The Storm was produced by van Dyk, Vikram Shankar and sound engineer/guitarist Simone Mularoni (DGM), who – alongside Chris Poland (ex-Megadeth) and Henrik Danhage (Evergrey) – will be also featured as a guest musician on the album. The new Redemption record also contains two cover songs, 'Turn It On Again' by Genesis and 'Red Rain' by Peter Gabriel.
On March 24, blackened deathcore outfit Ov Sulfur will release their debut full-length, The Burden Ov Faith, via Century Media Records. For a preview of The Burden Ov Faith, the video for the new single, "Befouler" - directed/animated by Anastasia Solti with additional effects by Dylan Gould, and featuring Alex Terrible.
Vocalist Ricky Hoover comments: "Breaking away from our constant blasphemy, 'Befouler' focuses on real-life heretics who say one thing to your face but believe another. They use this false front as a pathetic defense to slowly plot your demise. This type of life became foreign to me in my years away from the music industry, but it seems the more you're in the public eye, the more you face dissenters and weaklings. I've made so many great friends through the industry, but this one is a middle finger to those who are too cowardly to even spit in your face because they only open their mouth while hiding theirs."
Guitarist/vocalist Chase Wilson adds: "This is easily our most energetic song. The technical riffing keeps you banging your head so hard you just might get lightheaded while singing along to the anthemic chorus - shout out to Ricky! By the time you get to the end, you've basically given yourself short-term memory loss and forgotten that Alex Terrible comes in to just bludgeon you to death on the final breakdown. For the video, we went with a tale of revenge that ties our early single and EP artworks to 'The Burden Ov Faith'. Rather than go with the typical animated video, we wanted it to be almost like a moving painting or storybook, complete with hyper-stylized art from the super talented Anastasia Solti. We had our friend Dylan Gould add some extra effects to really make it pulse with the music, and we're very excited to have a unique visual for one of our collective favorite songs from the album!"
--Standard CD jewel-case
--Black LP
--Silver LP available from USA retail (limited to 500 copies)
--Transparent red LP available from CM Distro Wholesale EU and CMdistro.de (limited to 300 copies)
--Golden LP available from Ov Sulfur (limited to 300 copies)
--Digital album
Album artwork by MM Fabrications (design) and Blaqk Rabbit (photo):
Tracklisting:
"Stained In Rot"
"Befouler" (ft. Alex Terrible)
"Unraveling" (ft. Left to Suffer / Taylor Barber)
"Death Ov Circumstance"
"Earthen"
"A Path to Salvation?"
"I, Apostate"
"Wide Open" (ft. Light The Torch / Howard Jones)
"The Inglorious Archetype"
"The Burden Ov Faith" (ft. Bodysnatcher / Kyle Medina and Lindsay Schoolcraft)
Japan power metal force Galneryus has issued a music video for “Let Us Shine”. The track is taken from their new album Between Dread And Valor, out March 1 via Warner Music Japan.
Between Dread And Valor will be available as a CD / DVD package with the DVD containing a concert: Live At Shinjuku Blaze, Tokyo from August 8, 2021 from the Find The Way To Overcome Tour.
Tracklisting:
“Demolish The Wickedness!”
“Run To The Edge”
“Time Will Tell”
“Let Us Shine”
“With Pride”
“Bravehearts”
“A Piece Of Souls”
“祈”
DVD:
“The Howling Darkness”
“Flames Of Rage”
“MC 1”
“Hold On”
“My Last Farewell”
“A Far-Off Distance”
“MC 2”
“Deep Affection”
Guitar Solo
“Everlasting”
“Bleeding Sanity”
“See The Light Of Freedom”
“Whatever It Takes (Raise Our Hands!)”
Encore
“MC 3”
“Rock You Like A Hurricane” (Scorpions cover)
“Fate Of The Sadness”
“Tear Off Your Chain”
“Braving Flag”
“Raise My Sword”
“MC 4”
“Destiny”
“Ray Of Light”
Lineup:
Syu – guitars
Yuhki – keyboards
Taka – bass
Masatoshi Ono – vocals
Lea – drums
Phantom Elite have shared another fantastic single from their upcoming album Blue Blood out March 17. "Black Sunrise" is accompanied by a fiery animated video. Watch the clip below, and pre-order/pre-save Blue Blood here.
Phantom Elite is an international metal band fronted by Marina La Torraca (Exit Eden, live vocalist for Avantasia) with guitarist Max van Esch, drummer Joeri Warmerdam, and featuring executive production by former After Forever guitarist and founder Sander Gommans. The band traffics in modern metal, combining elements of symphonic, progressive, and metalcore into their own unique concoction.
After their independently released debut album, Wasteland (2018), Phantom Elite trimmed themselves down to a power trio and released their sophomore album, Titanium (2021) via Frontiers Music Srl. This album, with its powerful punch, complex rhythms, and stunning vocals, marked Phantom Elite as a band on the rise.
With Blue Blood, and an upcoming European tour already scheduled (details forthcoming), the trio is ready to further expand their fanbase and continue to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
Blue Blood tracklisting:
"Skin Of My Teeth"
"Inner Beast"
"This Sick World"
"Birdcage"
"Apex"
"Fragments"
"Laid With Vines"
"Daydark"
"Blue Blood"
"Black Sunrise"
"Black Sunrise" animated video:
"Skin Of My Teeth" lyric video:
"Inner Beast" video:
Phantom Elite will be touring Europe with Temperance this spring. Dates below.
Tour dates:
March
25 - Arci Tom - Mantova, Italy
26 - Klub Kotac - Pula, Croatia
28 - Gustaf Pekarna - Maribor, Slovenia
29 - Hardplace - Zagreb, Croatia
30 - S8 Underground - Budapest, Hungary
31 - Zipp It - Cjuj Napoca, Romania
April
1 - Jack's Cowhouse - Daskabat, Czech Republic
2 - Melodka - Brno, Czech Czech Republic
4 - Lucerna Music Bar - Prague, Czech Republic
5 - Metbar - Lenzburg, Switzerland
6 - tba - Colmar, France
7 - Rock Box - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
8 - Ragnarok - Bree, Belgium
9 - Nachtleben - Frankfurt, Germany
Phantom Elite are:
Marina La Torraca - Vocals
Max van Esch - Guitars, Bass, Synths/Electronic Arrangements
Joeri Warmerdam - Drums
Vio-lence performed on the Ronnie James Dio stage at Bloodstock Open Air 2022. Check out pro-shot vdeo of "World In A World" below.
The setlist on the day was as follows:
"Eternal Nightmare"
"Serial Killer"
"Calling in the Coroner"
"Officer Nice"
"Kill on Command"
"Upon Their Cross"
"Phobophobia"
"World in a World"
Formed in 1985, Oakland thrashers Vio-Lence helped define and refine what came to be known as the Bay Area sound. Eternal Nightmare originally debuted on June 27, 1988, and is widely regarded as a thrash masterpiece in the world of heavy music. Metal Blade Records reissued this seminal crusher on Vinyl, CD, Digital and Cassette on October 28th, 2022.
The original tracklisting has been remastered by Patrick Engel for all formats, which will all feature the original iconic cover art by Edward J. Repka. Both the CD and Digital release feature the original tracklisting along with 12 additional live tracks, recorded at Slims in San Francisco, CA on December 14, 2001, while the LP and Cassette feature the original tracklisting. Vinyl comes with a download card that includes all of the bonus tracks.
Vinyl Variants:
- Bloody Flesh Marbled (US)
- Deep Purple Marbled (US)
- 180g Black (EU)
- Blood Red Marbled (EU - ltd. 1000 each)
- Black / White Marbled (EU - ltd. 1000 each)
CD tracklisting:
Disc 1:
"Eternal Nightmare"
"Serial Killer"
"Phobophobia"
"Calling in the Coroner"
"T.D.S. (Take It as You Will)"
"Bodies on Bodies"
"Kill On Command"
Disc 2:
"Liquid Courage" (Live at Slims)
"Ageless Eyes" (Live at Slims)
"Calling in the Coroner" (Live at Slims)
"World In a World" (Live at Slims)
"Officer Nice" (Live at Slims)
"Subterfuge" (Live at Slims)
"Kill on Command" (Live at Slims)
"Phobophobia" (Live at Slims)
"Bodies on Bodies" (Live at Slims)
"I Profit" (Live at Slims)
"T.D.S." (Live at Slims)
"Paraplegic" (Live at Slims)
Vinyl tracklisting:
Side 1
"Eternal Nightmare"
"Serial Killer"
"Phobophobia"
"Calling in the Coroner"
Side 2
"T.D.S. (Take It as You Will)"
"Bodies on Bodies"
"Kill on Command"
MÖTLEY CRÜE played its fourth concert with guitarist John 5 Tuesday night (February 21) at Estadio Banorte in Monterrey, Mexico. The show also marked the fourth date of the band's 2023 "The World Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, following two intimate gigs in Atlantic City, New Jersey and a concert in Mexico City.
MÖTLEY CRÜE's setlist was as follows:
01. Wild Side
02. Shout At The Devil
03. Too Fast For Love
04. Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
05. Saints Of Los Angeles
06. Live Wire
07. The Dirt (Est. 1981)
08. Looks That Kill
09. Rock And Roll, Part 2 / Smokin' In The Boys Room / Helter Skelter / Anarchy In The U.K. / Blitzkrieg Bop
10. Home Sweet Home
11. Dr. Feelgood
12. Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)
13. Girls, Girls, Girls
14. Primal Scream
15. Kickstart My Heart
Fan-filmed video can be seen below.
MÖTLEY CRÜE held its first rehearsal with the former ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON guitarist on January 23 in preparation for the band's shows with DEF LEPPARD. A short time later, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx took to his Twitter to write: "Well that was fucking epic.
"@john5guitarist walks into rehearsal and we just rip the set from top to bottom seamlessly. That took 90 minute's and then the next few hours we just laughed and told dumb rockstar war stories.
"@MotleyCrue DAY 1".
He followed that up with an Instagram Story post thanking the band's crew and gushing that "today sounded insane."
John 5 joined CRÜE as the replacement for founding guitarist Mick Mars, who announced last October he would no longer tour with the legendary rock act because of his long struggles with degenerative disease ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in the spine joints and ligaments and can lead to stiffness over time, according to the National Institute Of Arthritis And Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases.
In October, Sixx praised John 5, saying he "checks all the boxes" as Mars's replacement following the latter's decision to retire from touring. Sixx commented on John 5's addition to CRÜE while answering fan questions on Twitter. Asked why the band chose John 5, who is one of the credited co-writers on the three original songs on CRÜE's "The Dirt" soundtrack, Sixx said: "He checks all the boxes. He's a insane player. Has respect for our music, is funny as fuck and has history with us and we've written some pretty big hits together."
Sixx also addressed Mars's announcement that he was retiring from touring, saying: "He's been a soldier along with us for 4 decades. We will continue to carrying our legacy to Generations of fans and honor Micks request for us to keep touring as Motley Crue."
In addition to co-writing the three songs on "The Dirt", John 5 collaborated with Sixx and Desmond Child on Meat Loaf's "The Monster Is Loose". In 2021, Sixx and John 5 launched the L.A. RATS supergroup in which they were joined by Rob Zombie and drummer Tommy Clufetos.
The 71-year-old Mars — whose real name is Robert Alan Deal — served as MÖTLEY CRÜE's lead guitarist since the band's inception in 1981.
In his statement, Mick said that he had decided to step back from live shows due to his "ongoing painful struggle" with ankylosing spondylitis and while he will continue to be a member of the band, he cannot "handle the rigors" of touring life.
Speculation about John 5 replacing Mars gained strength after the longtime ROB ZOMBIE guitarist failed to appear with the shock rocker at last year's Aftershock festival in Sacramento. Rob was instead joined on stage by returning guitarist Mike Riggs for the first time since 2006.
MÖTLEY CRÜE's "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020 but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After selling more than 1.3 million tickets in 2022, MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD and are going global in 2023 with their co-headline "The World Tour" along with special guest Alice Cooper. After the launch of European and Latin American dates, additional U.S. shows will take place in August.
Produced by Live Nation, the U.S. leg of the world tour kicks off on August 5 in Syracuse, New York. The bands will bring their electrifying stage shows across America throughout the month of August including being the first-ever show at the H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The animated music video for "Blind Leading The Blind", the first single from ELEGANT WEAPONS, the new project featuring guitarist Richie Faulkner (JUDAS PRIEST) and singer Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW, MSG),can be seen below. The track is taken from ELEGANT WEAPONS' debut album, "Horns For A Halo", which will be released on May 26 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with bassist Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN) and drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and was helmed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, EXODUS and MEGADETH, among many others.
"The video is great and gives a quirky and stylistic representation of the meaning of the song," explains Faulkner. "The main character is getting drunk on the power he is given by the people that trust him, only to be found out later when his followers really see the truth. When the power is taken away, he is seen for what he really is."
"Horns For A Halo" track listing:
01. Dead Man Walking
02. Do Or Die
03. Blind Leading The Blind
04. Ghost Of You
05. Bitter Pill
06. Lights Out
07. Horns For A Halo
08. Dirty Pig
09. White Horse
10. Downfall Rising
In a recent interview with Pete Pardo of Sea Of Tranquility, Romero stated about ELEGANT WEAPONS: "That's something Richie [brought] to the table a couple of years ago. He call[ed] me and said, 'Listen…' If I remember correctly, he had the album recorded already, but he told me [at the time], 'We feel that doesn't work with the singer we have. So we're gonna try with another singer.' So I recorded a song, and then they loved it. And we ended up working together. And the plans are we're gonna release the album in, I think it's gonna be May, it's gonna be released by Nuclear Blast. And then we're gonna make some summer festivals around Europe. Then probably we'll go properly on tour, if everybody's okay. And probably we're gonna record a second album, and then we will see."
Romero went on to say that ELEGANT WEAPONS is "a very solid project," adding that "it's not something we will do once, and that's it. And also we're not doing it because of a contract that we need to fulfill. It's because we really want to do it together," he explained. "Richie is a cool guy; we are friends. And the rest of the guys also. Andy Sneap, [who did] the production, is a cool guy also. And we really want to see what happens with the band because we think people are gonna be very surprised about what they're gonna listen on the music side. It's not the typical thing Richie and I were doing for the last few years. It's a different thing. And I think the people are gonna like it. So we will see what happens. And we're gonna build the house from that point."
ELEGANT WEAPONS, which is rounded out by Dave Rimmer (URIAH HEEP) on bass and Christopher Williams (ACCEPT) on drums, has announced the following 2023 European festival appearances so far:
June 16 - Clisson, France @ Hellfest
Jun. 23-25 – Cartagena, Spain @ Rock Imperium
Jun. 29 - Galicia, Spain @ Resurrection Fest
July 02 - Bologna, Italy @ The Return Of The Gods
July 28-30 - Ebbw Vale, U.K. @ Steelhouse Festival
"Horns For A Halo" was recorded with bassist Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN) and drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and was helmed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, EXODUS and MEGADETH, among many others.
Regarding the ELEGANT WEAPONS band name, Faulkner said: "In almost any endeavor, the craftsman needs the right tools for the job. For a musician, those tools are things like their instruments, their voices and the emotions that the right combination of all those can bring to the surface. You can also consider it a reference to the instruments we play, because they're almost antiquities now. So yes, it references our instruments and also this kind of music, where we're carrying on the tradition of the greats like SABBATH and DIO but also bands the guys are connected to, like RAINBOW, PANTERA and PRIEST."
Richie and Rex have been friends for years, so when Richie was recording "Horns For A Halo" during the pandemic, he called on his friend to record the bass for the album.
"Well, Rex brings a sound, first of all, that is like no other bass sound," explained Richie. "The way he plays bass is instantly recognizable. But I got involved with Rex, you know, as with a lot of things that we do, as humans, really — we got involved as friends first. But Rex has got a great way of hearing the way the bass parts and the drums interact together. I mean, Rex's parts just breathe grit and life and dynamic into the songs. So it's a pleasure to have him on the record and it's a pleasure, obviously, to know him and have him as a friend — he's a legend."
As for Travis's involvement with the LP, Faulkner said: "I always wanted to make a record with Scott playing on it outside of PRIEST. His technique and style are legendary but also his groove."
When it comes to the live show, there was no other bass player even considered other than Rimmer. Davey and Richie go back over 20 years and they played the bars and pubs of London and England together, night in, night out for many years. Their musical relationship is almost telepathic in the way they communicate, from that early hard graft together on the circuit.
"Davey is an untouchable player," Richie said. "In sound, style and presence. A killer writer too, contributing great songs with URIAH HEEP. A great friend and a great musician."
When it came to choosing the drummer for the touring band, it was a no-brainer for Richie to enlist fellow Nashville resident and good friend Williams. Christopher had played and recorded the initial demos for the "Horns For A Halo" album, and was the obvious choice for the drum position. A phenomenal player, a great personality and a consummate professional.
And finally there's the new hotshot on the scene, Romero, Chilean-born, now living in Eastern Europe.
"Ronnie's got that heritage," says Richie, "and he nailed his parts in a week, which was a testament, really, to how good the guy is and how perfect he was for it. And he's just such a lovely guy, and, I think, one of a dying breed. There's not many people like him. There's good singers, like [Rob] Halford and [Ronnie James] Dio, but there's not many of them. He's really something special. When he sings with RAINBOW, he sounds obviously like Dio, but when he sings this stuff, there's something in there that comes out of him — he's his own monster, with his own trademark quality, which is an important thing to have."
Producing is PRIEST's touring guitarist of the past five years Sneap, who has been respectful of Richie's vision concerning a certain classic sound he wanted across the expanse of the record's 11 songs (ten originals plus a cover of UFO's "Lights Out"),and that is a signature Flying V through a Marshall Plexi amp.
"With the Marshall Plexi I've kind of gone back to the ‘70s, really," figured Faulkner. "And, you know, it's just one channel. And I've been using a prototype Flying V by Gibson, a blue Flying V with signature pickups, which I had been using on the PRIEST tour. I used it on the whole record, every track. So it's pretty straightforward technology-wise — the Flying V through a Marshall on 11."
As for the music, Richie described it as "a mix of Jimi Hendrix, PRIEST, SABBATH, solo Ozzy and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, but with a lot of melody, sort of old school and modern at once if that makes any sense, and actually down-tuned a whole step. The Marshall Plexi basically does one thing, but you've got to crank it to 11 for it to have that distorted sound. It hasn't got a lot of bells and whistles on it or different channels and effects. It basically does one thing and does it very well. But again down-tuning creates more of a modern sound, and by using the classic sound of the Marshall Plexi, you get that juxtaposition, that contrast. All told, there are a lot of guitar solos and the songs are on the heavier side. And even though there's a lot of melody, it's still going to shake your bones."
Specific to the songs, Richie explained that, "Me and acoustic don't really get along, so there's only one mellow song on it, a sort of smoky, haunted, New Orleans kind of tune called 'Ghost Of You', with de-tuned 1920s piano on it. That one is about a memory, or ghost of a lost love. But that's about as acoustic as it gets. I'm not really attracted to acoustic guitar in general. It's mainly kind of heavy and full-on, really. There's a song called 'White Horse', plus 'Horns For A Halo', which is like Tony Iommi crossed with ALICE IN CHAINS. That's about the way we justify the bad things we do. When we turn up on Judgement Day, will the angels kind of confuse our horns for halos, if you know what I mean. Then there's 'Rose Girl', which has a bit of a psychedelic '60s hippie vibe. It's about the rose girl who sells roses to the patrons at a strip club, and reflecting on what her life is all about."
Besides having these stories told, another mandate of the band is for Richie to propose more fully than he can across a PRIEST record, his own voice or style as it pertains to the guitar.
"Yes, everything that you do, without sounding pretentious, is trying to find your own voice and extension of your voice," he said. "I've been in cover bands all my life. Then you find yourself replacing K.K. Downing and it's, like, 'Now what am I gonna say?' I can't sound like K.K. Downing. I can't sound like Eddie Van Halen. I can't sound like Zakk Wylde. So it's refining and honing what your voice is, constantly fine-tuning what that voice is. And hopefully when people listen to it, they'll think, 'Oh, that's Richie.' In every song and every solo hopefully there's that sound, that narrative, that voice, and hopefully it stands the test of time."
But really, the over-arching mandate with ELEGANT WEAPONS is to perpetuate the rich legacy of the traditional proto-power metal invented by the heavy metal titans of the '70s and '80s, most pertinently JUDAS PRIEST.
"All four of us have got that original DNA in us, as does the new breed of traditional heavy metal fans," Richie said. "And so maybe a band like ELEGANT WEAPONS, hopefully we've got the credibility to make those original bands proud, because we were accepted by the members of those bands and by their fans. That's really the idea behind ELEGANT WEAPONS — to keep flying the flag for this style of timeless heavy metal."
GODSMACK has shared the music video for the band's latest single "Soul On Fire". The clip, which was directed by GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna and was produced by RED13 Creative at Red13 Studios, is taken from GODSMACK's new album, "Lighting Up The Sky", out now via BMG. The LP was co-produced by Erna and Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ALICE COOPER).
The first single from "Lighting Up The Sky", "Surrender", which arrived in September, marked the first release from GODSMACK in four years, following their globally acclaimed and gold-certified 2018 album "When Legends Rise", which earned the Sully Erna-fronted outfit a No. 1 spot across U.S. Hard Rock, Rock, and Alternative album charts.
In a recent interview with Pablo of the Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station 93X, Erna spoke about the fact that "Lighting Up The Sky" will likely be GODSMACK's final collection of original material. He explained: "It's the most important record, I think, we've ever written and recorded.
"I've never been that artist who says, 'Oh, this record is our newest record. It's our best work ever.' You can read any interview you want over my whole career, and you've never heard me say it," he continued. "I've always loved our records [and] I always knew there would be some good singles on it and hoped it did well, but I was never the guy that said, 'This is our best fucking work ever.' And I'm telling you right now this is our best fucking work ever. And it's because it's emotional, man. This is the last record we're ever gonna do. This is the last run around the mill for us. We put every single ounce of energy and emotion into this album. Especially for me, when I wrote a lot of these songs, it was about my life journey. That's really what the sequence of this album becomes about. Not that it was planned that way, but this really kind of mystical thing happened where I felt like the universe wrote this record."
Erna went on to clarify that GODSMACK does not intend to stop playing live shows anytime soon. "I wanna make sure people are clear about what we're saying here," he said. "I'm not saying that the band may be breaking up. What I'm saying is I think this may be the last body of work you get musically from the band. And it's because we're in this place in our lives right now where we've done a lot of work over the last three decades. Without sounding egotistical, which we're not trying to do, we're at 27 Top 10 singles, 11 Number Ones. We could literally do back-to-back nights in an arena and play 15 songs a night and never play the same single twice, let alone the 'B' cuts. And we started thinking, when we were in that thought process, why are we in here grinding all the time and doing this new music when we wanna just also know that we've never stopped in the 25 years we've been touring. We'd like to be able to enjoy our lives, our family, our houses, the things that we've earned over the years that we've sacrificed. So I think the balance for that, the happy medium, is to be able to just go out there now and continue to do live shows and put the greatest-hits show together.
"I don't know what we're gonna do after this record," he explained. "And it doesn't make sense to continue to do music. It really feels complete in a good way, in a positive way. We feel like we've honored our career, our relationships with our fans, and we're always gonna be there for them; we're gonna do shows. But as far as to continue this, after this [album], unless we just decide one day, 'Yeah, one more for the road,' I think this could be it for us with new music."
GODSMACK will embark on a spring 2023 tour with special guests I PREVAIL.
L.A. GUNS, featuring singer Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns, has released a new song called "Shattered Glass". The track, which can be streamed below, is taken from the band's upcoming studio album, "Black Diamonds", which will arrive on April 14. This will be the fourth studio album since the much-welcome reunion of the band's core foundation of Lewis and Guns. It will follow the well-received studio albums "The Missing Peace", "The Devil You Know" and "Checkered Past", plus the live release "Made In Milan", and a covers EP "Another Xmas In Hell".
Last October, Lewis took to his personal Facebook page to share the "Black Diamonds" title and track listing, and he included the following message: "Incredibly happy to announce the completion of our forth record (post reunion). Great songs, fantastic playing and some of the best singing of my career. It's heavy and dark in places and bright n breezy in others. It's all over the place as per our usual style. I think it's the best thing we've ever done but yeah I know I say that about all of them but I truly love this record and had fun recording parts on the tour wagon and then five intense days doing vocals with Mitch [Davis] in NYC. Of course the wait for it to drop will be excruciating but I'll do my best to contain the excitement. Seriously it's fantastic and you're all gonna love it."
Written and recorded over the course of 2022, "Black Diamonds" sees Guns, Lewis and company continuing on the same successful and inspiring sonic journey that they've been taking on their most recent albums. The band doesn't shy away from flexing their hard rock influences as they always have, but also incorporates more introspective acoustic tracks reflective of their classic rock influences from the '70s. This makes for a potent and highly listenable cocktail of an album in "Black Diamonds".
"Black Diamonds" track listing:
01. You Betray
02. Wrong About You
03. Diamonds
04. Babylon
05. Shame
06. Shattered Glass
07. Gonna Lose
08. Got It Wrong
09. Lowlife
10. Crying
11. Like A Drug
"Checkered Past" was released in November 2021 via Frontiers Music Srl.
In April 2021, a settlement was reached between drummer Steve Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the L.A. GUNS name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Guns and Lewis continue to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS are now operating under the new name RILEY'S L.A. GUNS.
L.A. GUNS was formed in 1983 and have sold over six million records, including 1988's "L.A. Guns" and 1990's "Cocked And Loaded", both of which were certified gold. "Cocked And Loaded" contained the hit single "The Ballad Of Jayne" that went to No. 33 on Billboard's Hot 100 and No. 25 on the Mainstream Rock charts. From the mid-'90s to the mid 2000s, L.A. GUNS continued to tour and release new music. Following their successful performance at SiriusXM's Hair Nation festival in September 2016, L.A. GUNS went into the studio to record the critically acclaimed "The Missing Peace", which was the highest-selling release for Frontiers Music Srl in 2017. Their 12th album, "The Devil You Know", was released in 2019 to the same critical acclaim. Since reuniting, Tracii and Phil continue to tour around the world with L.A. GUNS, which currently includes Johnny Martin (bass) and Ace Von Johnson (guitar).
FIREWIND has shared the official music video for the band's new single "Destiny Is Calling".
FIREWIND guitarist Gus G. comments: "As we're out on a massive 42-date European tour with BEAST IN BLACK, we thought it'd be a good time to finally give you guys some new FIREWIND music. We've been testing the new track live every night and the reception has been phenomenal.
"The video was filmed on February 11th in Munich at Tonhalle in front of 2,000 screaming metalheads and we feel it captures the energy and mood of the song.
"Crank it up and enjoy!"
Last month, Gus confirmed to The Metal Voice that FIREWIND had commenced work on a new LP. The guitarist said: "We actually just recorded the new album. We just drums. I haven't started with the guitars yet, but the drums are done."
As for a possible release date for the new FIREWIND effort, Gus said: "We don't yet, because now… The thing is I was talking to [our record label] AFM Records, to the owner, actually. We met over Christmas and talked about it. And now there's a new approach, it seems — we're just gonna be releasing singles. It was an interesting topic they brought on, because they just wanna keep on releasing singles, and then eventually those singles will be part of an album. I mean, we still worked on the album — we did it old school. I already wrote the songs; I wrote 10 songs and all that. But they were, like, 'We'll just drop singles as we go and see how much traction you get, see if we get playlist placement.' Because Spotify playlists are like the new radio; that's the new medium right now. And that's what makes money for labels and artists, I guess. You get 'X' amount million streams and then that's revenue and that keeps it going. And you move on to the next song and the next song, and then eventually you take those five or six singles over a period of a year and you package them with another four or five songs."
He added: "I know it sounds very boring now — it doesn't sound artistic at all — but that's how labels think nowadays."
Regarding the musical direction of the new FIREWIND material, Gus said: "I think it still sounds like FIREWIND. My goal was to make a little bit more anthemic type of tracks this time around. Because of the whole direction that was, 'Okay, let's work singles,' I thought every song should be a single. So I didn't write any kind of obscure type of tracks or didn't experiment in that type of area. I kind of focused on writing three- [or] four-minute songs that are very high energy, something that you can play in an arena in a festival in front of a large crowd. That was my philosophy behind this one this time. Which is good. It's not easy to write that type of songs. People think it's easy, 'Oh, it's so simple' and stuff. But it's not so easy to make that and resonate with a bigger crowd. So let's see how it does."
FIREWIND's ninth, self-titled studio album was made available in May 2020.
In early 2020, FIREWIND officially parted ways with guitarist/keyboardist Bob Katsionis and singer Henning Basse. The group's current vocalist is Herbie Langhans, who has previously played with AVANTASIA and SINBREED.
Gus and Langhans got to know each other back in the autumn of 2019, when the FIREWIND leader was looking for a suitable replacement for Henning Basse after the tour with QUEENSRŸCHE. Just a few weeks later, the recordings for "Firewind" were a done deal, ready for Swedish sound engineer Tobias Lindell (EUROPE, AVATAR, H.E.A.T.) to mix them in Lindell Audio Studios.
Gus spoke about the evolution of FIREWIND's sound in a 2020 interview with Audio Ink Radio. He said: "Like every band, we go through our different phases. Especially for us, having quite a few different singers in the lineup in the past, each guy brought a different vibe and different things to the band. I think on this record, you'll hear elements from all our past records, especially with our new singer, Herbie, because he reminds me a lot of Stephen Fredrick, our first singer. But this album also has a lot of variety, and that might remind fans of albums like [2006's] 'Allegiance' and [2008's] 'The Premonition'. But then again, we're not trying to be retro or nostalgic or copy those albums. We're moving towards the future. The way I see it, there's always a new song to write. Every album, I try to make better songs, play better guitar, try different tempos, write in different keys. There's always things you can experiment with in the studio."
FIREWIND 2023 is:
Gus G. (guitar)
Herbie Langhans (vocals)
Petros Christo (bass)
Jo Nunez (drums)
KILL DEVIL HILL's music video for the band's first single in nearly a decade, "Blood In The Water", can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's upcoming third album, which will be made available later in the year via the Ohio-based Legend Recordings. The label, which was founded by artist manager Chris Bianchi, has partnered with Ingrooves/Universal to release the LP worldwide.
KILL DEVIL HILL was established in 2011 by former BLACK SABBATH and DIO drummer Vinny Appice and PANTERA bassist Rex Brown. After going through a few member changes, KILL DEVIL HILL's present lineup consists of Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE) on drums, Mark Zavon on guitar, Dewey Bragg on vocals and Matt Snell (ex-FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH) on bass.
Zavon commented: "We are beyond excited to release our first single, 'Blood In The Water', from our upcoming album. It's been a while since our last release, but we've been working hard writing and recording songs for this third record for a long time behind the scenes, and are really looking forward to sharing the finished product with our fans. We are proud to have partnered with Chris Bianchi and Legend Recordings for this release and are looking forward to working with them and Ingrooves to bring these songs to our fans worldwide. It's definitely some of our strongest material, and I can't wait to get out in front of an audience and play it live."
2023 will see KILL DEVIL HILL hit the road for select festival appearances and additional tour dates.
Shortly after he left KILL DEVIL HILL in early 2014, Vinny said that the band's inability to gain significant traction with its music was a major factor in his decision. However, more recently, Vinny has suggested that he exited the group because he "couldn't deal with" the fact that some of his bandmates were consistently tardy for KILL DEVIL HILL activities by an hour and a half or even longer.
Asked to respond to Appice's comments and address the fact that the drummer's explanation for why he left the band appears to have evolved over time, Mark told "J-Bunny's Music Hub": "Well, both [of his stated reasons] are true. And he's right. And there was [tardiness]. Dewey, our singer, at the time, was kind of going through some hard times and some personal difficulties, and he did have a hard time showing up sometimes. And even when we were on tour, he was — I don't know, man — just having a little bit of trouble. He's a totally changed man now, and now he's the first guy, anywhere we go, he's the one telling us, 'Hey, man, we're gonna be late for soundcheck.' But in those days, yeah, it was a little harder to wrangle him. So Vinny was right. And Vinny, he doesn't really put up with that. He's a name guy — he's got a history and a reputation. He's a pro. He's a star. So you can't blame the guy for that. I certainly didn't. I was the first one there [for rehearsals and live shows], 'cause I was stoked to play with those guys. Are you kidding me? Vinny Appice and Rex Brown in a room, and I get to play guitar?"
He continued: "So, anyway, I wish it could have kept going, but sometimes things don't work out, and everything happens for a reason. So I try not to question it. We've got great guys in the band now, and everything happens for a reason. So I'm looking forward to putting out this new record and people hearing what we can do without those guys in the band."
Vinny, who had previously played with BLACK SABBATH, DIO and HEAVEN & HELL, left KILL DEVIL HILL in March 2014.
KILL DEVIL HILL released its sophomore album, "Revolution Rise", in October 2013 via Century Media Records.
German modern power metal band, Vanish, have released a video for "Voyage In Suffering", featured on their new album, A Hint Of Solace, out on March 31 via El Puerto Records. The concept for the video came from singer Bastian Rose, who also realized the clip. Watch below:
Classic metal trademarks combined with innovative elements create a strong new modern power metal sound. The new album, A Hint Of Solace, also provides comfort in difficult times with its eight songs: anthemic refrains, riffs full of power rounded off in a modern sound robe.
"Crowdpiercer"
"Walk With Me Through Fire"
"Act/Live/Resolve"
"The Crossing"
"Voyage In Suffering"
"Black Elation"
"As Though The Dead Are Here"
"A Hint Of Solace"
"Crowdpiercer" video:
Lineup:
Philipp Schönle (Guitar)
Andreas Armbruster (Bass)
Bastian Rose (Vocals, Keys)
Ralf Nopper (Drums)
Ben Galster (Guitar, Screams)
Frontiers Music Srl presents the fourth instalment of Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall, Hunt The Flame, on April 14.
Once again, the multi-talented Swedish guitarist/songwriter/producer has assembled a killer cast of incredible lead vocalists to lend their talents to his musical vision. See below for a full list of participating singers.
A new single and video for the track "Far From Home" featurning James Robledo is out today. Watch the clip below, and pre-order/save Hunt The Flame on CD/LP/Digital here. Please note, due to ongoing vinyl manufacturing wait times, the LP version will be released on August 4.
For Hunt The Flame, Magnus once again enlisted some of the strongest melodic singers in metal and hard rock. Stunning performances are provided, in order of appearance, courtesy of Alexander Strandell (Art Nation, Crowne), Jakob Samuel (The Poodles), James Durbin (Durbin, Cleanbreak), Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal, Ginevra), James Robledo (Sinner's Blood), Michael Eriksen (Circus Maximus), Girish Pradhan (Girish And The Chronicles), Raphael Mendes (Icon Of Sin), Terje Haroy (Pryamaze, Mantric Momentum), Jake E (Cyhra), and Antti Railio (Celesty, Diecell, The Wildfire). Rounding out the lineup on the album is Anders Kollerfors on drums with Magnus Karlsson handling all other instrumentation on this stunning slab of melodic metal.
Magnus Karlsson is well known as the mastermind behind several productions associated with Frontiers Music Srl, including the successful initial Allen/Lande (Russell Allen and Jorn Lande) trilogy and the recent spin-off, Allen/Olzon (Russell Allen and Anette Olzon), which has released two albums thus far.
Additionally, releases by Starbreaker (with Tony Harnell), Bob Catley, and Kiske/Somerville have been guided by his talented hand. In 2008, he joined German heavy metal icons Primal Fear and with them has toured the world and recorded several successful albums which charted in multiple countries around the globe.
In 2013, he launched his solo project Free Fall, which was warmly received by the numerous fans of the Swedish mastermind and showcased Magnus’ songwriting and production skills with lead vocals provided by a varied cast of some of the finest singers of the genre on each release.
Hunt The Flame tracklisting:
"Hunt The Flame" ft. Alexander Strandell
"You Can't Hurt" Me Anymore ft. Jakob Samuel
"Thunder Calls" ft. James Durbin
"Break Of Dawn" ft. Kristian Fyhr
"Far From Home" ft. James Robledo
"Night Bird" ft. Michael Eriksen
"Holy Ground" ft. Girish Pradhan
"Following The Damned" ft. Raphael Mendes
"The Lucid Dreamer" ft. Terje Haroy
"Demons Of Our Time" ft. Jake E
"Summoning The Stars" ft. Antti Railio
"Far From Home" video:
"Hunt The Flame" video:
Lineup:
Magnus Karlsson - Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Anders Köllerfors - Drums
Kristian Fyhr - Backing Vocals on "Hunt The Flame" and "Demons Of Our Time"
On April 21, Finnish post-punk outfit Grave Pleasures will release their third full-length, Plagueboys, via Century Media Records. For a preview of Plagueboys, the video for the new single, "Heart Like A Slaughterhouse" (directed by David Fitt) is available below.
Guitarist and songwriter Aleksi Kiiskilä comments as follows: "'Heart Like a Slaughterhouse', the go-to midnight hour dance track for crooked minds. Hooks you dive into head-first psycho-hypnotic frenzy and Buffalo Bill - influenced disco moves.
"After playing at Wave Gotik Treffen a few years back, I was impressed by all those creative costumes and their uncanny, sinister details. It felt like being in some apocalyptic, gothic steampunk city where everything's messed up, with that being all normal. So, the morning after our show, basically out of nowhere popped up this riff and the driving beat for 'Heart Like a Slaughterhouse', where the confidence of Eliminator meets Virus-like psychotic hooks. Something that feels wrong and right at the same time, something addictive and macabre which makes you move around your room like some broken manikin."
--CD Digipak
--Black LP (incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)
--Transparent blue LP available from CM Distro Wholesale EU and CMdistro.de (limited to 300 copies; incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)
--Yellow LP available from UK outlets, Levykauppa Äx, Nuclear Blast (limited to 300 copies; incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)
--Lilac LP available from Grave Pleasures via Evil Greed (limited to 300 copies; incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)
--Digital album
Formed in 2015, after the dissolution of singer Mat McNerney and bassist Valtteri Arino's short-lived sensation Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures have defiantly expanded on what has been described as their "war-cry for the eternally doomed," with each album seeing their song-craft reach new heights. Their raw atomic punk of their major label debut album Dreamcrash (2015) was revamped and contorted into the uplifting nihilism of distinctly more frenetic sophomore smash-hit album Motherblood (2017), ultimately amped up and finessed into the heady Plagueboys (2023), their most mature yet dangerous album to-date. With the electrifying contradiction of light and darkness, the duality of the funereal Grave and euphoric Pleasure in their moniker, Plagueboys is an exhilarating, tear-filled, grinning dance of death, undoubtedly their most pleasurable yet.
With music written by McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Me & That Man) and guitarists Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu) and Aleksi Kiiskilä, and then arranged together with Arino and drummer Rainer Tuomikanto, Plagueboys sees the lineup, who frantically hacked out Motherblood together, come of age and find their superpowers. Recorded in Finland and produced by Vanhanen and his Oranssi Pazuzu comrade Niko Lehdontie at the controls, the sound on Plagueboys is a blistering wash of reverb and neon warehouse dancefloor; unabashed lone drum and bass carrion call give way to synth and guitar interplay that brings to mind British grandmasters Wire, The Sound and Echo & The Bunnymen through a contemporary lens.
Album artwork by Tekla Vály:
Tracklisting:
“Disintegration Girl”
“Heart Like A Slaughterhouse”
“When The Shooting’s Done”
“High On Annihilation”
“Lead Balloons”
“Imminent Collapse”
“Society Of Spectres”
“Conspiracy Of Love”
“Plagueboys”
“Tears On The Camera Lens”
“Heart Like A Slaughterhouse”:
“Society Of Spectres”:
On April 28, Grave Pleasures will host a special album release show for Plagueboys in Helsinki, FI.
Ahead of BABYMETAL's forthcoming concept album "The Other One", due March 24, the Japanese pop-metal group has released the LP's fourth single, "Light And Darkness". Along with the single comes a new video featuring live footage from their recent comeback performance called "Babymetal Returns - The Other One" on January 28-29 at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall in Chiba, Japan, their first performance in almost two years.
Last year BABYMETAL was "sealed" from the world after a successful 10-year journey. In April 2022, "The Other One" restoration project began to recover the BABYMETAL we never knew existed within a virtual world called the Metalverse. A total of 10 songs have been discovered within "The Other One" restoration project, with each song representing a unique theme based on 10 separate parallel worlds that they have discovered.
One of the discovered 10 parallel worlds is "Light And Darkness" and this fourth pre-release digital single centers around this theme. Because light exists, darkness also exists. And because darkness is present, there is also a world that shines. During the night when light and darkness intersect, what we seek after being poisoned with darkness awaits a world filled with strong love. As the door opens, is it hope or despair that awaits us? The song expresses the duality in everything, and the way things are perceived and interpreted differ depending on each person's point of view.
BABYMETAL is preparing for its next performance on April 1 and April 2 at Pia Arena MM. Their first day is named "Black Night" and their second day is named "Clear Night". At their previous show, they conveyed that together with the departure into a new world, a new metal will be born. We will continue to see what the future will unfold for BABYMETAL.
"Light And Darkness" follows previous singles "Metal Kingdom", "Divine Attack - Shingeki -" and "Monochrome".
BABYMETAL will make a return to the live scene alongside SABATON and LORDI on their European tour in April and May.
"The Other One" track listing:
01. Metal Kingdom
02. Divine Attack - Shingeki -
03. Mirror Mirror
04. Maya
05. Time Wave
06. Believing
07. Metalizm
08. Monochrome
09. Light And Darkness
10. The Legend
BABYMETAL was formed in 2010. Their mission was to unify the world through heavy metal by creating a fusion of heavy metal and the Japanese pop genre. Their music contains a stunning mix of electronic pop, a pinch of alternative and industrial rock, and is leveled up by fast-driven heavy metal. Their live shows are ground-breaking and epic visual as well as sound performances. BABYMETAL continued to travel the path of metal with the international release of their three albums, telling the story of the mighty Fox God and his brave metal warriors.
A book about the first ten years of BABYMETAL, "Bessatsu Kadokawa Souryoku Tokushuu", was released in Japan in October 2020. It contains a long interview with Su-metal and Moametal as well as never-before-heard stories from band producer Kobametal from BABYMETAL's decade-long history, photos taken from live shows, a discussion between Demon Kakka and Kobametal, and much more.
BABYMETAL's third studio album, "Metal Galaxy", came out in October 2019 via earMUSIC/Edel. The follow-up to 2016's "Metal Resistance" was based on the concept of "The Odyssey Of Metal Galaxy".
In 2018, BABYMETAL announced the departure of Yuimetal, who was formerly one of the members of the Japanese group's core trio. She exited the band, explaining in a statement that she would go on to pursue a solo career as Mizuno Yu.
VANDENBERG and Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group have premiered "House On Fire", the lead video from the band's upcoming studio album titled "Sin".
VANDENBERG guitarist and leader Adrian Vandenberg shares: "Like every other band or artist we were forced to 'hold our horses' when we found ourselves playing our part in one of those Hollywood 'Outbreak'-style movies these past Covid years. Without having auditioned for a role. You'll understand we were extremely eager to 'break out of the stables' with a loud bang, so we thought it'd be more than appropriate to 'set the world on fire' with this new track! House On Fire'!"
Every album paints a picture. Instead of utilizing a brush and canvas, VANDENBERG paints with towering vocals, earthquaking rhythms, and the iconic and instantly recognizable fretwork of guitarist and namesake Adrian Vandenberg. Joined by vocalist Mats Levén, drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Randy Van Der Elsen, the influential axe-slinger delivers a vibrant, visceral, and vital vision on the group's fifth full-length offering, "Sin", brought to life in broad strokes of anthemic hard rock and airtight metal and produced by Bob Marlette (OZZY OSBOURNE, ALICE COOPER, ROB ZOMBIE).
"For me, music is very much like a painting," affirms Adrian. "You have your ups, downs, lights, and shades. One song might make you want to jump on the table and party your brains out. Another song will inspire you to think. Either way, you're thrown into a landscape, which my favorite albums still do to me. You could be in your car or at home with your headphones plugged into a soundsystem, and you're in a different world."
Exploding out of The Netherlands and onto the global scene with 1982's self-titled "Vandenberg", the Dutch phenomenon notched an international hit in the form of "Burning Heart", paving the way for seminal releases such as "Heading For A Storm" (1983) and "Alibi" (1985). The band canvased the United States, Europe, and Japan alongside OZZY OSBOURNE, KISS, RUSH, SCORPIONS, MICHAEL SCHENKER, and many others. Sought out to join WHITESNAKE, Adrian famously ripped the legendary lead on the 1987 recording of the No. 1 smash "Here I Go Again", which adorned the eight-times-platinum "Whitesnake" and ended up touring the world's largest arenas for a year-and-a-half when the 1987 album went through the roof in terms of sales. He co-wrote the entirety of 1989's platinum "Slip Of The Tongue" and spent the ensuing tour sharing axe duties with none other than Steve Vai. In addition to playing guitar on and co-writing "Restless Heart" from DAVID COVERDALE & WHITESNAKE, he performed hundreds of shows as part of the band for some twelve years. Speaking to the breadth of his output, he notably penned and recorded "A Number One" as the theme for his hometown Dutch football team FC Twente. 2013 saw him launch the acclaimed VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS, releasing "MoonKings" (2014),"MK II" (2017) and "Rugged And Unplugged" (2018).
VANDENBERG as a band roared back to life with the comeback LP "2020". Among many highlights, "Freight Train" gathered 1.6 million Spotify streams, while the record attracted praise. Sonic Perspectives enthused, "The end result sounds like the missing link between WHITESNAKE and RAINBOW, and updates the group's sound to the new generation of hard rock fans."
In its wake, VANDENBERG welcomed Mats (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, CANDLEMASS) to the fold.
"He's an amazing singer," notes Adrian. "I'd heard him online, and we got in touch. It's funny because his mom brought the first two VANDENBERG records back to Scandinavia from England when he was in his early twenties — and he was a fan. He's a workaholic like me. We picked up after COVID and put the new album together. The spark is definitely there. On top of that, Koen and Randy lay down the most solid concrete, grooving foundation that I could ever wish for. I'd say it's one notch heavier than '2020'."
Recorded in Holland and Los Angeles with Marlette, "Sin" represents a natural evolution for VANDENBERG. Scorching pinch harmonics light up the first single "House On Fire" as the groove underlines a chantable chorus from Mats.
"In one way, it's a party song, because it keeps you tapping your foot," Adrian exclaims. "Mats added a different darker twist with his lyrics. It also envisions a person who's frustrated about the things other people have. This person can't control their anger and sets the place on fire."
Sweden’s Siena Root will release their eighth studio album, Revelation, on Friday, February 24, through Atomic Fire Records. Today, the band releases a video for the song "Dusty Roads", which you can view below:
Fittingly titled Revelation, the new album serves as the group’s most versatile offering of their long-spanning career, guiding listeners through a true journey rather than simply stringing together song after song. The eleven-track offering was recorded analogously at Silence Studio in Koppom, Sweden and Root Rock Studios in Stockholm, Sweden where it was also mixed. Mastering was handled at Stockholm’s Cutting Room.
Founded in the late ’90s, Siena Root are constantly working on something new. They’ve continually changed their approach and experimented with their sound — not only to keep their music fresh but to challenge themselves, which is among the main reason why the group’s relevance remains after all these years. Besides touring with acts such as Deep Purple and Dewolff, the quartet — founding members drummer Love Forsberg and bassist Sam Riffer with guitarist Johan Borgström and vocalist/keyboardist Zubaida Solid — have always brought an infectious performance to stages globally and consistently gaining new fans with every show.
Pre-order Revelation on CD, LP, pre-save it on your favorite DSP or pre-order it digitally at this location.
Tracklisting:
"Coincidence & Fate"
"Professional Procrastinator"
"No Peace"
"Fighting Gravity"
"Dusty Roads"
"Winter Solstice"
"Dalecarlia Stroll"
"Leaving The City"
"Little Burden"
"Madukhauns"
"Keeper Of The Flame"
"Keeper Of The Flame" lyric video:
Lineup:
Zubaida Solid - vocals, keys
Johan Borgström - guitars
Sam Riffer - bass
Love Forsberg - drums
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