German progressive metallers M.I.GOD. have returned with a new single / video, "Chances", taken from their 2019 album, Specters On Parade. Check it out below.
Specters On Parade was released in February 2019 and is the first of two concept albums from M.I.GOD. It features 21 tracks in total, 13 being full songs connected with short interludes to tie the concept together. Specters On Parade in the follow-up to M.I.GOD.'s 2012 album, Floor 29, marking an epic return following the tragic death of bassist Matt Weber that sidelined the band.
The tracklist is as follows:
"Vertigo"
"The Solitary Ghost"
"Tongues Of Poison"
"We All Belong To The Dark"
"Embracing The Neon"
"Titans Of The Void"
"The Sleeping Cruelty"
"Atelier Macabre"
"Specters On Parade"
"Sonata In Tenebris (Interlude I)"
"Tears Of Today"
"What's Your Favorite Scourge"
"Chances"
"The Call"
"Weight Of A Million Souls"
"Cluster (Interlude II)"
"Bound To A Daydream"
"Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea"
"The Threshold"
"Terminus Life"
"I Feed You My Love"
For information and updates on M.I.GOD. go to the band's official Facebook page here.
PROJECTED, the band featuring SEVENDUST members John Connolly (guitar) and Vince Hornsby (bass) alongside ALTER BRIDGE/CREED drummer Scott Phillips and guitarist/vocalist Eric Friedman (a.k.a. E-Rock; TREMONTI), will release its third studio album, "Hypoxia", on June 24 via Rat Pak Records. The 13-track follow-up to 2017's "Ignite My Insanity" was tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with SEVENDUST, ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.
The official music video for the "Hypoxia" title track can be seen below.
Connolly explains: "We wanted a performance video, but we wanted to strip it down literally to just the band and the song with atmosphere. It was cool to just jam without worrying about anything else."
Regarding the "Hypoxia" LP, Connolly previously said: "To me, personally, it feels like the most cohesive work we've done especially considering it's the first time we all went in the studio together. That in itself had a huge impact on the songwriting process. And it's taken some time to finally get released but it feels like we've matured quite a bit as a band."
"Hypoxia" shows a band building on its established foundation while incorporating new and exciting elements. Following the brooding album intro "Consequences", listeners are then greeted to the crushing guitar riffs of Connolly to open the galloping track "Dead Weight", setting the stage for the rest of the album's journey.
PROJECTED shows great range on its latest offering, establishing hooky and singable moments in songs like "Stain", "Take Aim" and "Scars" while expertly crafting classic nu-metal styles in "The Thing That's Real" and "Hypoxia". Songs like "Dark" and "Death Is Mostly Permanent" showcase the band's ability to slow things down while still keeping a foot-stomping pulse.
"Hypoxia" track listing:
01. Consequences
02. Dead Weight
03. The Thing That's Real
04. Stain
05. Take Aim
06. Hypoxia
07. Without You
08. Scars
09. My Addiction
10. Test
11. Dark
12. Death Is Mostly Permanent
13. At Your Window
"Ignite My Insanity" was a two-disc collection featuring 21 tracks. ALTER BRIDGE/TREMONTI songwriter Mark Tremonti co-wrote "Rectify" and "Call Me The Devil" and SEVENDUST's Morgan Rose co-wrote "Concede" with PROJECTED.
In a 2017 interview with Shockwave Magazine, Connolly stated about PROJECTED: "With PROJECTED, its something that has given me a ton of opportunity, whereas in SEVENDUST, we all know our parts. If I'm having a bad day in SEVENDUST, I need to remember that I'm only 20% of the puzzle and when the other guys are on, they can pick me up. The freedom and creativity is endless with PROJECTED, and it has certainly brought me to somewhere where I'm not used to, but it's so much fun, and these guys are so easy to work with."
Asked if he has had any formal training as a lead vocalist, Connolly said: "Honestly, no. My training is basically the 20 years with SEVENDUST, and everything I do is the wrong way. Other vocalists probably cringe when they hear the way I do it. I do hope that one day I can take some time and have someone give me direction and training, though. It's funny, I can wake up and sing a half a song one day, not feel it, then the next day a song. Then some days, I'm on, I just keep going and blow my voice out. My friends will ask, 'John, are you all right?', and I'm fine, but I'm just pushing it to the limit. Then I'll have to stop for a few days and then everything is all right again."
Dutch powerhouse singer Floor Jansen performed her new solo single, "Fire", live for the first time on Sunday, April 17 at the Paaspop festival at Manegeclub De Molenheide in Schijndel, Netherlands. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.
"Fire" was made available on March 25 via ADA, the division of Warner Music Group dedicated to independent label and artist distribution.
Jansen is best known as the frontwoman in the multi-million selling and internationally successful symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH. As part of the band, Jansen has landed two number one albums in Finland, and Top Five albums in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Born in the Netherlands, Jansen joined her first band, one of the world's first symphonic metal bands, AFTER FOREVER, when she was only 16 years old. The group went on to release five albums from 2000 to 2007, before they broke up in 2009.
Jansen's next band, REVAMP, released two albums in 2010 and 2013, before she joined NIGHTWISH as a full-time member. NIGHTWISH's first album with Jansen as the lead singer was 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful", which landed in Top 10s around the world. This was followed by 2020's "Human. :II: Nature." , which was also an international success.
Jansen has toured extensively with the band and appeared on three of NIGHTWISH's live albums "Showtime, Storytime", "Vehicle Of Spirit" and "Decades: Live In Buenos Aires".
In 2019, Jansen participated in the popular Dutch TV show "Beste Zangers" where she scored a big hit with "Phantom Of The Opera" together with Henk Poort. She was recognized with a Dutch Popprijs award — a prestigious accolade for artists that has made important contributions to Dutch music. In the same year, her first solo tour sold out in less than 24 hours.
Three months ago, the 41-year-old Dutch-born singer, who made her live debut with NIGHTWISH a decade ago, stated about the musical direction of "Fire": "It's a pop song, so it's not metal, it's not rock, but it's definitely me." Jansen went on to explain that the track will not necessarily be representative of all the new solo music she has been working on in recent months. "I guess it's more of a mash-up [of styles] actually," she said, referring to her upcoming collection of solo material, "though it's not so extreme as in genres, like all of a sudden it becomes… Here's a metal song and here's a rock song and this is more poppy… I mean, pop music — the word of it — [it's short for] popular music, and it kind of describes a lot, and within that it falls. I can only say that it's not metal and it's not rock, but it will have its influences and it will have a part of the sound. It can't even be so that the first song is how everything else will sound like because, yeah, if you know NIGHTWISH and also for us, it's always so hard to pick just one song that's gonna be like the kick-off of an album but it can never really represent everything. And I guess it's the same for this first song that comes on the 25th of March."
Last summer, Floor said during an appearance on the "Breaking Absolutes With Peter Orullian" podcast that she had been working on a solo album since shortly before the beginning of the pandemic. "And it really kickstarted my own creativity that I haven't really been able to use over the years," she said. "It's nice that it gets out. And I would like to do more of that and actually finish that album and make those steps and find a way to combine a solo career with NIGHTWISH and my life at home, which I even more value after spending so much time here in this green heaven [in Sweden] where I live."
Jansen discussed the prospect of making a solo album during a 2020 interview with Metal Hammer magazine. At the time, she said: "After 20 years of rock and metal, I think I would like to do something else. I don't mean stop with NIGHTWISH, but something alongside it.
"I was recently involved in a TV show in my home country in the Netherlands [reality TV show 'Beste Zangers', which translates to 'Best Singers']. That really inspired me to start writing, and the stuff that has come out is very calm.
"I would love to make an album where less actually is more. Something different — not because I'm bored, but because if you are already in one of the biggest bands in your own genre, and you have someone like Tuomas Holopainen as a songwriter, I don't really see that I'd be adding anything by making another metal album myself."
Earlier in 2020, Jansen spoke about a possible musical direction for her solo album during an Instagram Live chat. She said: "I cannot imagine it would be rock or metal — just because rock now I've done, and metal I've done a lot. And I'm already in one of the best bands, I think, that are out there, in my opinion, to my taste. Plus, if you're in a band with a songwriter such as Tuomas Holopainen, it's a little bit hard to come up with something — anything — better, I would say, and I only say that out of love and respect for him. Plus, after 20 years of metal, wouldn't it be lovely to do something completely different for me? That's how I feel."
Jansen performed live with NIGHTWISH for the first time on October 1, 2012 at Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington following the abrupt departure of the band's lead singer of five years, Anette Olzon. Jansen officially joined NIGHTWISH in 2013.
This year will see Jansen become the Dutch ambassador for Record Store Day on April 23, as well as participate in Germany's "Sing Meinen Song".
Brazilian trio The Damnation attack with their debut album, spewing forth a versatile sound which mixes several strands of extreme metal, and brings life to old school thrash. Way Of Perdition will be released on May 6th via Soulseller Records on CD, LP and digitally. Pre-save the digital album here. Pre-order physical CDs and vinyl at this location.
To promote their new work, The Damnation issued the second single from Way Of Perdition, entitled "The Greed", which accompanies the music video with making-of scenes.
"We are all very excited to finally release our debut album," says vocalist and guitarist Renata Petrelli. "This album is a compilation of some old riffs and some new ideas, based on all the mess we've been going through these days. You'll hear some details also featured on our first EP, and some other influences we've had. See you on the road friends."
Way Of Perdition was produced and recorded by Rogério Oliveira, who worked on the band's Parasite EP. It was mixed and mastered by Martín Furia (Nervosa, Eskröta, Bark). Martin was recently announced as the new guitarist for Destruction.
Tracklisting:
"Before The Drowning"
"Way Of Perdition"
"Into The Sun"
"This Pain Won’t Last"
"Grief Of Death"
"Random Words"
"Slaves Of Society"
"Rotten Soul"
"No Hope Inside"
"The Greed"
For further details, visit The Damnation on Facebook.
William DuVall, frontman for the iconic band ALICE IN CHAINS, will release his second solo album, "11.12.21 Live-In-Studio Nashville", on June 10 via DVL Recordings. The effort captures an explosive power trio performance recorded live direct-to-disc at the famed Welcome To 1979 Studio in Nashville on November 12, 2021. No "fixing" or remixing took place after the fact whatsoever. It's as supercharged, raw, and exciting as it gets. The CD is housed in a beautiful six-panel gatefold digipak. The first 500 copies are autographed by DuVall.
Track listing:
01. The Last Light
02. The 3 Wishes
03. Unbreakable
04. Fire Come Down
05. Rockslide
06. So Divine
07. White Hot
08. Flying Blind
The official music video for "Rockslide" from "11.12.21 Live-In-Studio Nashville" can be seen below. The visual was assembled by Roger Okamato from photos taken at the live album recording session by Madison Thorn.
William's critically acclaimed debut solo effort, "One Alone", arrived in October 2019. The 11-track album showed DuVall's powerful voice with nothing but an acoustic guitar to back it.
In contrast to the multi-layered sonic assault, comprising most of his discography, "One Alone" was as sparse and intimate as it gets — part late-night confessional, part living room concert. As William described it at the time: "I felt the need to peel everything back. This album is strictly one voice, one guitar. It reveals the very core of who I am as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter."
Three years ago, DuVall told Q104.3's "Out Of The Box" that he didn't decided to make an album until he had already recorded the first track, "'Til The Light Guides Me Home". "I had written it with the possible intention of giving it to someone else, and when I first [had the song idea], it was playing like a record in my head," he explained. "It was one of those [quick] songs. ... It is what we live for, and it doesn't happen nearly often enough. But when it does, you just go, 'Okay, I'm in.' And you just let it happen — get out of your own way."
The initial recording session saw DuVall demoing seven more tunes, all of which ended up on the "One Alone" album.
Prior to joining ALICE IN CHAINS in 2006, DuVall was a member of punk rock bands AWARENESS VOID OF CHAOS, NEON CHRIST, BL'AST! and FINAL OFFERING. DuVall's long musical history also includes COMES WITH THE FALL and ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell's solo work.
Cantrell befriended the members of COMES WITH THE FALL in the early 2000s, playing shows with the band on the West Coast, then enlisting the musicians to tour with him as both opening act and backing group in support of his album "Degradation Trip".
DuVall appears on the last three ALICE IN CHAINS albums: 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue", 2013's "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" and 2018's "Rainier Fog".
Overkill bassist’s D.D. Verni and The Cadillac Band offer their new video for the Nat King Cole song “L.O.V.E”, taken off the Let’s Rattle album. The video was directed by Nick Wolf at Howlpeak Productions and filmed at New Jersey‘s own Shorefire Studio in Long Branch.
“Besides the rockin’/swinging tunes on the record, I wanted to do a few standards and this was one is one I have always loved. Plus it’s just in time for Mother’s Day,” says D.D. D.D. and the band will be at the Vogel in Red Bank on Friday, May 6 (Mother’s Day weekend) with a special set by comedian Don Jamieson. Tickets on sale now.
Verni has always dreamed of recording a big band album, as his love for the sound dates back many years. The New Jersey-based artist began by writing a fantastic collection of soon-to-be big band classics. Next he recruited longtime Brian Setzer Orchestra upright bassist, John “Spazz” Hatton, to do horn arrangements and play upright bass, while bass player D.D. switched things up playing some guitar on the album. Then D.D. brought in the LA based horn section from Phat Cat Swinger to play the horns and added Brian Setzer Orchestra drummer and current Doobie Brothers member, Tony Pia. Add jazz pianist Dave Moscoe and Hot Rod guitarist Damian Bacci, and you have a star-studded line-up of big band greatness that made this album shake and swing.
With songs like “Cadillac Man,” “Shake It Swing It” and “Olivia…that’s Who!” the album features 13 tracks (nine originals and four covers), was produced by Verni and mixed by Greg Reely (Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Overkill), and recorded in Los Angeles and New Jersey.
Black metal pioneers VENOM performed at this year's Inferno festival on Thursday, April 14 at Rockefeller in Oslo, Norway. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube channel Mo blackmetalbitch).
VENOM formed in 1979 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, VENOM's first two albums — "Welcome To Hell" (1981) and "Black Metal" (1982) — are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. VENOM's second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the extreme metal sub-genre of black metal. The band classic lineup trio of Conrad "Cronos" Lant, Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray recorded two further studio albums, "At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985), and live album "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM are still fronted by original singer/bassist Cronos and headline festivals all over the globe and continue to release new music.
In a 2018 interview with Consequence Of Sound, Cronos stated about his band's influence on subsequent extreme metal groups: "I really like to think of VENOM as a catalyst rather than inventors. Influence would probably be more like it. I've always been — from being young — a fan of what you'd call 'rock music.' From THE BEATLES to THE [ROLLING] STONES to THE WHO, through [LED] ZEPPELIN and [DEEP] PURPLE and everybody. So, I've always liked the idea of drums, guitar, this, that, and the other. My mum's brother used to play guitar in a country-western band, so I've always been around instruments and music. I've never really gotten into any of the electronic stuff when it came along in the '80s. I didn't really see how that was working for me in any way — I just like a drum kit and a guitar."
He continued: "When people used to ask back in the day, 'How do you describe VENOM?' I would say, 'It's all the best bits of the bands that I love.' So, if JUDAS PRIEST wear leather jackets, then I'm going to wear a leather jacket and a pair of leather pants! And if KISS have three flashpots on the front of the stage, I'm going to have ten! And if Ozzy Osbourne is going to sing about the devil walking down the street, then I'm going to be the devil walking down the street! It was taking all of the great things that I loved, and all the crazy frontmen, like Gene Simmons, Ian Anderson, Rob Halford, and encompassing all of these ideas into a new thing. And then, adding that dash of punk. That's why I always used to wear the big Doc Martens — that was my punk heritage.
"And just putting some aggression back into the music," Cronos added. "I mean, heavy metal has always been 'the devil's music.' They always say the devil has the best tunes, and I was bit frustrated at leaving school and being told that rock music was dead, and it had its day and everybody was finished with it. I had to absolutely disagree. So, when the New Wave of British Heavy Metal started in England — which became IRON MAIDEN, SAXON, SAMSON, and all these bands — I wanted to create something different from that. I appreciated that they were very heavily influenced by the ZEPPELINs, the PURPLEs, and the [BLACK] SABBATHs, and were trying to keep a hold of this '70s vibe. I get all of that, but I wanted something that was kind of a cross between SABBATH and MOTÖRHEAD. Something more aggressive — with a bit of SEX PISTOLS in there, to get nasty."
VENOM's 15th full-length studio album, "Storm The Gates", was released in December 2018 through Spinefarm Records.
VENOM is not to be confused with VENOM INC., the band featuring Mantas alongside ex-VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan.
Swedish Skellefteå-based hard rockers Blister Brigade have released a new stand-alone single and music video, "Carousel" via Inverse Records. Beside from being a groovy and heavy rock song, it is an homage to the fabulous ink studio, Carousel Tattoo.
The band comments: "'Carousel' is in its foundation a heavy rock song. But with this one we decided to also get a little experimental. Since this song was written partly as a tribute to a tattoo studio, we found inspiration in circuses, carnivals and of course, tattoos. With these keywords in mind we just had to go outside our comfort zone and get a little nutty. It’s also the first song we’ve written together from scratch and it’s safe to say that we think this jam ended up really awesome."
Blister Brigade was formed in 2010 by guitarist/vocalist Gustav Lund and drummer Jerker Avander. Joined by guitarist Cristoffer Strand and bassist Simon Lundström, the band started jamming on some ideas. With inspiration from bands like Motörhead and Skid Row Blister Brigade quickly developed a raw but yet a heavy and solid sound.
In 2013 the band released their debutalbum ”To Serve And Punish”. The album was well recieved and the gigs started rolling in. Blister Brigades second album ”The Executioner” was released in December 2016, and by that time drummer Jerker Avander had already left the band, leaving the drumchair to Rickard Lundmark (Zonaria, ex-Feral). Before the release of the Pissed, Outraged And Outgunned EP in 2018, Simon stepped down as the bands bassplayer. After a thrilling audition shortly after, bassist Anders Gustavsson joined Blister Brigade.
With the new line-up, the spark was lit again and after playing some gigs the band hit the studio once again to record their third full-length album. ”Slugfest Supreme” was released in February 2020 and with a harder, faster and heavier sound than before, Blister Brigade got ready to hit the stages. But as for so many other bands and artists, the pandemic ruined all plans. But the band didn’t give up and stayed intact throughout the recent bleak years. With the brand new single "Carousel", Blister Brigade is more alive and rock’n’roll fueled than ever.
Swedish metallers SABATON were rejoined by their former guitarist Thobbe Englund on stage this past Thursday (April 14) at their hometown concert at Kulturföreningen Magasinet in Falun. Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be see below.
The day after the show, SABATON shared a photo of the reunion on its social media and included the following message: "Last night we played a sold-out show in our hometown, Falun, as part of our Swedish tour. Gracing us on stage was Thobbe Englund, our old guitarist, who joined us for a few songs. Together we forged a powerful triple guitar assault that was both epic and emotional. It has been 6 years since Thobbe left SABATON."
Back in 2016, SABATON singer Joakim Brodén told The Metal Voice about Englund's decision to leave the band: "We wear people out, I think. [Laughs] In a sense, it's part of the reason, actually.
"When we did the most intensive period we had in our career, it was 170 shows from April '14 to April '15 — twelve months there — of course, you don't play every day, so if you 170 shows, that probably means you were on the road, or away from home, for 270 days that year," he explained. "So I totally understand why, even though most people get into doing this… I've seen it before, and it's gonna happen again, I guess, that people [are like], 'Yeah, of course, I don't wanna do anything else. And then, after a couple of years, [they're like], 'Oh, man. I thought I wanted this.' [Laughs]"
When Thobbe announced his decision to exit SABATON, he said in a statement: "I have in recent years become more aware of what would make me feel real happiness and content, and that is to expand my own creativeness in combination with a somewhat stiller life, where I will not tour all year round at the speed of light."
SABATON is considered to be one the most important bands to emerge from the Swedish modern metal scene, having been honored with five Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards (including "Best Live Band" three different years) and nominated several times for the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards, the Grammis. In 2016, SABATON's "The Last Stand" album debuted at No. 1 in three different European countries and cracked the Top 3 in four others. Brodén, Sundström, Chris Rörland (guitar), Hannes Van Dahl (drums) and Tommy Johansson (guitar) curate a festival of their own, Sabaton Open Air, that started back in 2008, as well as their own forward-thinking Sabaton Cruise which has been held since 2009.
Last month, SABATON announced "The Tour To End All Tours - North America 2022", a 25-date U.S. trek that will include a special headline show at Montreal's Place Bell, the band's first-ever arena headline concert in Canada. The tour, produced by FPC Live, kicks off on Thursday, September 15 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington, and will wrap up at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom on October 23. Supporting SABATON on all dates will be special guest EPICA, the renowned Dutch symphonic metal band.
Last night (Saturday, April 16), Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Devin Townsend played the first of two shows at London, England's prestigious Royal Albert Hall. The two dates, which are part of Townsend's European tour, were being promoted as "The Greatest Sets Of My Life", with Devin previously promising to play "my favorites, your favorites and a bunch of hardly played songs."
Earlier this week, Devin told Stereoboard about the Royal Albert gigs: "The idea of the Royal Albert Hall shows is to play a huge parcel of my catalogue in the best way that I possibly can. I want to get back out there and really play this music in a way where I can say, 'Listen, ladies and gentlemen, this is how it's supposed to sound. This is how I want to represent it. This is how it should be,' and focus on the music."
Regarding his setlist for the two concerts, Devin said: "I've got 30 albums' worth of music. It's not something that I take lightly. It's not, like, a component of my work; the music is the fundamental part of what I do. And I want to be able to present myself as a musician who is able to really articulate himself emotionally."
Setlist for Devin Townsend's April 16 show at Royal Albert Hall:
Last December, Devin released a new album, "The Puzzle". The LP was accompanied by five-part documentary. In the first installment of the series, dubbed "Making The Puzzle", he detailed his creative process and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected it.
Unlike most of Devin's recent musical output, which has been made available via Sony's leading progressive music label imprint InsideOut Music, "The Puzzle" was released through Devin's own label.
Devin's next release will be the "Lightwork" album, due later in the year. The effort was recorded with producer GGGarth Richardson at his The Farm Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Devin told Stereoboard about "Lightwork": "'Lightwork' is the exhaust of the process of trying to figure out how fucking crazy the world is. Describing the LP's musical direction as "strong, healthy, clean and big," he explained that right now "I don't have the emotional bandwidth to participate in something that's oppressively heavy. So, it's a lot more light-hearted. It's easy listening and it's innocent.
"I think the diehards may like it in the beginning and then get bored of it quickly," he said. "I think that the people who are much less invested in what it is that I do will probably like it more than the others. It's a lot easier to digest."
Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH debuted a brand new song, "Ov My Herculean Exile", at the first show of "The North American Siege 2022" tour with ARCH ENEMY and NAPALM DEATH last night (Saturday, April 16) at The Marquee in Tempe, Arizona. Fan-filmed video of the performance is available below.
"Ov My Herculean Exile" is expected to appear on BEHEMOTH's next studio album, which is due later this year.
Last year, BEHEMOTH announced that it had extended and expanded its contract with Nuclear Blast, which will now distribute the group's music worldwide outside of Poland. The band originally signed with the European branch of Nuclear Blast prior to the release of 2009's "Evangelion" LP, but BEHEMOTH's upcoming effort will be its first to be released by the label outside of the Old Continent.
Formed in 1991 by then-teenage guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski, BEHEMOTH shattered the glass ceiling of the European metal underground thanks to a combination of aggressive worldwide touring, fiery and theatrical live performances, visually captivating music videos and unwaveringly intense music. Albums such as Decibel Magazine Hall Of Fame inductee "Demigod" (2005) and 2014's "The Satanist" — hailed by Metal Hammer as the greatest extreme metal album of the 21st Century, and one of two BEHEMOTH records to achieve gold-certified status in Poland — pushed blasphemous blackened death metal to heights previously thought unattainable. Those releases provided the group with no shortage of fierce ammunition to conquer all audiences in its path, whether in support of childhood heroes such as OZZY OSBOURNE, SLAYER and DANZIG; on some of metal's biggest festival stages around the globe; or more recently, in European arenas alongside fellow subversives SLIPKNOT.
Despite numerous attempts to be silenced by Poland's religious right, BEHEMOTH has steadfastly refused to compromise, and Nergal believes that the best is yet to come.
"Nuclear Blast has been a household name in metal for decades, and BEHEMOTH has been part of that long and illustrious history," he said. "But now is about the future, and we look forward to beginning BEHEMOTH's next chapter with a refocused and revitalized team at Nuclear Blast."
BEHEMOTH released its latest full-length, "I Loved You At Your Darkest", in 2018 to vast critical acclaim. "I Loved You At Your Darkest" marked a milestone in the history of the band, being not only their most successful album, but also an audiovisual masterpiece: from its detailed, blasphemous artwork to the highly vicious yet deeply emotional tracks.
BEHEMOTH's latest EP, "A Forest", came out in May 2020 via Metal Blade. The EP's title track was a cover of THE CURE classic, and it featured a guest appearance by SHINING frontman Niklas Kvarforth. The "A Forest" EP also included a live version of the title track as well as two songs from the "I Loved You At Your Darkest" sessions.
Last October, BEHEMOTH celebrated its 30-year career with a massive livestream event called "XXX Years Ov Blasphemy". The event featured three separate sets in three spectacular locations, commemorating the band's three decades making music and art.
BEHEMOTH supported SLIPKNOT on an arena tour of Europe in January and February 2020.
Swedish/Canadian/American melodic death metallers ARCH ENEMY played the first show of "The North American Siege 2022" tour with BEHEMOTH and NAPALM DEATH last night (Saturday, April 16) at The Marquee in Tempe, Arizona. ARCH ENEMY's set included the three new songs the group released over the last few months: "Deceiver, Deceiver", "House Of Mirrors" and "Handshake With Hell". Fan-filmed video of the concert is available below.
After the show, ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz shared a post-performance photo of her band and she captioned it: "@archenemyofficial We just kicked off the North American Siege Tour in Tempe, AZ!!! Our first show after 2 1/2 years off the road... A lot of emotions tonight & you guys were fckn awesome! Next stop: San Antonio, TX on Monday!!! #archenemy #deceivers".
ARCH ENEMY's setlist was as follows:
01. The World Is Yours
02. Deceiver, Deceiver (live premiere)
03. Ravenous
04. War Eternal
05. My Apocalypse
06. House Of Mirrors (live premiere)
07. The Eagle Flies Alone
08. As The Pages Burn
09. Handshake With Hell (live premiere)
10. Dead Bury Their Dead
11. Nemesis
12. Fields Of Desolation (outro)
"Deceiver, Deceiver", "House Of Mirrors" and "Handshake With Hell" are taken from ARCH ENEMY's 11th studio album, "Deceivers", which will be released on July 29 via Century Media Records.
ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott stated about the new LP: "Having just celebrated our 25th anniversary as a group and now releasing our 11th studio album, one could easily assume that we would be cruising along and going through the motions at this point. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to ARCH ENEMY and our new album, 'Deceivers'.
"It is, without a doubt, always a challenge to raise the bar each time in both the songwriting and production side of things, and it can feel a bit daunting before we get into it. But once we do get started and fully immerse ourselves in the creative process, it's really like there is nothing else in the world and we are very focused. And believe it or not, for the most part, we have a ton of fun making this music! Creating 'Deceivers' was no different. Once again we shut out the outside world and went deep into the artistic zone. I believe we pulled out some really interesting musical and lyrical themes this time, a few things might even raise an eyebrow or two — while retaining all the signature elements of the band. In the end, it's ARCH ENEMY at full speed and power."
After "The North American Siege 2022" tour, ARCH ENEMY will appear at select summer festivals before embarking on the rescheduled "European Siege 2022" trek (with BEHEMOTH, CARCASS, UNTO OTHERS) in the fall.
@archenemyofficial We just kicked off the North American Siege Tour in Tempe, AZ!!! Our first show after 2 1/2 years off...
MACHINE HEAD's Robb Flynn and Jared MacEachern held the latest "Electric Happy Hour" on Friday, April 15 during which they played the band's new single, "Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate", live for the first time. You can now watch video of the performance below.
"Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate" will appear on MACHINE HEAD's tenth studio album, "Of Kingdom And Crown", which will arrive on August 26 via Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings. The follow-up to 2018's "Catharsis" includes the three songs that were featured on last year's "Arrows In Words From The Sky" single: "Become The Firestorm", "Rotten" and "Arrows In Words From The Sky". Much of the new MACHINE HEAD album was recorded at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California with producer Zack Ohren.
"Of Kingdom And Crown" is a 13-track concept album set in a decimated futuristic wasteland where the sky is stained crimson red. The crux of the story is based on two main characters: the first and main character is Ares (pronounced Aries), who loses the love of his life (Amethyst) and goes on a murderous rampage against the vile sect responsible for her murder; the second character is the perpetrator Eros (pronounced Arrows), who loses his mother to a drug overdose and becomes radicalized in the aftermath. Eros goes off the deep end manifesting his own killing spree. The lyrics detail how their lives intertwine.
Flynn commented: "Thanks to my two teenage boys, my family has become obsessed with this awesome Japanese anime series called 'Attack On Titan'. The album's concept was loosely inspired by the series in the sense that in the storyline there is no 'good' or 'bad' guy; both characters believe they're doing the right thing as it applies to their being, but make no mistake, both are committing acts of pure atrocity and evil. The opening track 'Slaughter The Martyr' is basically our character No. 1's origin story.”
The colossal concept comes with a list of equally colossal packaging for various physical formats including 16 different worldwide vinyl formats, deluxe vinyl box set (with bonus tracks), CDs (both old-school longbox and jewel box options), multi-color cassettes, and a limited-edition digipak with bonus tracks. CDs, digipak, cassettes, and all digital formats will be available on August 26, with all vinyl formats arriving on November 25.
Flynn recently told Metal Hammer magazine about the musical direction of the new MACHINE HEAD material: "It's similar to [2003's 'Through The Ashes Of Empires' and 2007's 'The Blackening'] in that we're moving forward into something fresh and new but it's got that classic MACHINE HEAD vibe. We have a lot to deliver and expectations are very high, so I'm lucky to have great people surrounding me. Jared really stepped up and wrote some great riffs and great vocals. Vogg [guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka] contributed a few ideas and brought some really great songs."
He continued: "It's fucking heavy, probably the heaviest we've been in a few albums. I've been playing so much guitar recently; I do Electric Happy Hours every Friday and sometimes you play a song you haven't played in 10, 20 years, or go through a whole album from top to bottom. When we toured 'Burn My Eyes', it took me back to where I was writing that music. I don't think I can ever be in that place again lyrically, but riff-wise, I think that all spilled into this album."
This past February, MacEachern told Primordial Radio about his contributions to MACHINE HEAD's new album: "I think that I was very aware from day one that Robb is the leader, he's the creative leader, the musical leader… We all have our inputs but I think it's always understood that ultimately the decision is up to him for how things go. But, yeah, I definitely made contributions and I feel great about those contributions and I'm asked about my opinion on certain things. But, like I said, I'm following his lead."
As for the sound of the new MACHINE HEAD LP, Jared said: "It's a pretty — to use Robb's word… I believe he used the word 'colossal' the other day. It's a pretty big-, epic-sounding album. We've been toying around with the order, but I've been listening, sitting down, taking the time to listen to it all the way through, and the way it goes, it's a ride — a really great, heavy, beautiful, melodic, raging, thrashing ride."
MACHINE HEAD will team up with Sweden's Viking metal overlords AMON AMARTH for a co-headline "Vikings And Lionhearts" European arena tour in September and October.
Cathartic black metal titans, Gaerea, have released a guitar playthrough video for "Glare", featured on the band's 2020 album, Limbo.
Says the band: "Today we officially conclude the Limbo video cycle by unveiling something as special as the 'Glare' Guitar Playthrough, a song which will be part of every night’s setlist on the upcoming live appearances. Sit back and enjoy!"
Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess has shared another video clip from home. Check it out below.
Rudess: "I was recently inspired to write a very wild and short progressive piece of music. I asked my friends Marco Minnemann, Mohini Dey and Jason Richardson to join me for this adventure. Here it is in all its glory.
You can find the guitar tabs and Guitar Pro files on my Patreon courtesy of Jason here."
Rudess recently announced a solo summer tour for the US. His schedule is as follows:
June
7 - The Triple Door - Seattle, WA
12 - The Old Church - Portland, OR
25 - Lulu's Downstairs - Colorado Springs, CO
26 - Fort Collins Armory - Fort Collins, CO
July
6 - The Dacota - Minneapolis, MN
8 - City Winery - Chicago, IL
9 - Kent Stage - Kent, OH
10 - Ludlow Garage - Cincinnati, OH
13 - City Winery - Washington DC
14 - Rams Head Tavern - Annapolis, MD
16 - City Winery - New York, NY
17 - Ardmore Music Hall - Ardmore, PA
21 - The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Center - Old Saybrook, CT
22 - Center For The Arts - Natick, MA
23 - Shalin Liu Performance Center - Rockport, MA
New York City band Sunlord have released a visualizer video for the track “The Vigilante”, track that comes off their latest album 222 released independent early 2021.
Alfonzo Ferrazza commented: "‘Vigilante’ is a song that encompasses two of my favorite music styles, it's got NY hardcore and thrash metal, Agnostic Front meets Exodus . The lyric goes with the times as it is a pro 2nd amendment song about protecting your family and dispensing death to those who threaten our lives or our homes or our loved ones.”
Sunlord is a heavy metal/punk rock NYC band that has been rocking the tristate area underground for long years and actively touring the nation, South America and Europe since 2015. Formed by Argentinian American frontman Alfonzo Ferrazza, Sunlord has currently two albums released.
New York City band Sunlord will be supporting thrash metal icons Destruction and label mates Nervosa on their upcoming Diabolical North American Tour 2022.
Tour dates:
April
28 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere
29 - Boston, MA - Middle East / Downstairs
30 - Montréal, QC - Les Foufounes Électriques
May
1 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
3 - Millersville, PA - Phantom Power
4 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
5 - Detroit, MI - Sanctuary
6 - Chicago, IL - Reggies
7 - St Paul, MN - Turf Club
8 - Iowa City, IA - Wildwood
9 - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck
10 - Denver, CO - The Oriental Theater
12 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
14 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
15 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
17 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
18 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720
19 - Garden Grove, CA - Garden Amp
20 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
22 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
23 - El Paso, TX - Rockhouse
24 - Austin, TX - Come And Take It Live
25 - Houston, TX - White Oak
27 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage (The Vinyl)
28 - Spartanburg, SC - Ground Zero
On August 13, 2021, Raging Speedhorn performed upon the Sophie Lancaster Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Metal Festival. You can watch the band's full set below.
Setlist:
"Fuck The Voodooman"
"Halfway To Hell"
"The Gush"
"Hard To Kill"
"How Much Can A Man Take"
"Spitfire"
"Thumper"
"Doom Machine"
"The Hate Song"
"Snakebite"
Dragged Under and Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group have released an official music video for “Crooked Halos” in front of the band’s new studio album, Upright Animals, which will be released globally on June 10. The video can be viewed below.
Singer Tony Cappocchi shares, “’Crooked Halos’ is a story that’s probably familiar to all of us. Relationships are complex and challenging. What happens behind closed doors is often a lot less perfect than what we allow others to perceive. If you’re from a divorced family like I am you probably know that better than most, which is why a lot of the ‘mommy and daddy don’t love each other anymore’ talks can seem to come out of nowhere. Sometimes two people shouldn’t be together, and everyone knows it, but for some reason they won’t let go. That’s what ‘Crooked Halos’ is about.”
The release will be available on CD, an orange transparent LP, and digitally.
Tracklisting:
"Upright Animals"
"All Of Us"
"Never Enough"
"Crooked Halos"
"Long Live The King"
"Suffer"
"See You Alive"
"Weather"
"No Place Like Home"
"Words For Hire"
"Brainwash Broadcast" (feat. Spencer Chamberlain)
"This Is The End"
Transatlantic progressive metal outfit, Monuments, will release their fourth album, In Stasis, tomorrow (Friday, April 15). To celebrate the release, the band is dropping their new music video for “Makeshift Harmony”
“Temptation - Being lured in by beauty on the outside, but toxicity on the inside. You know it isn't good for you, but you're drawn to it anyway. – ‘Caught in your current, I mistake a vulture for a swan,” states Monuments about the new track.
Adds the band about In Stasis, “We approached this album without the intention of a specific concept. However - three songs in, what was being written ended up sharing a common theme. This feeling of being stuck in the middle, a feeling we experience throughout our lives - within friendships and relationships, love to hate, life to death, belief or non-belief, being in power to total defeat, isolation to freedom. Over the past 2 years, we have been faced with many of these trials, and these struggles can be heard throughout the record. This record is a culmination of our greatest triumphs and our deepest struggles. We hope it resonates with you, and brings you closer to equilibrium. We'd like to thank guests Neema Askari (Form Subtract, ex Fellsilent, ex-Monuments), Spencer Sotelo (Periphery, King Mothership), and Mick Gordon (DOOM, Prey, Killer Instinct) for enhancing the record with their unique perspectives.”
Pre-orders for In Stasis are available here in the following formats:
- Ltd. CD Digipak
- Digital album
- Gatefold black LP+CD & Poster
-300x Gatefold transp. blue LP+CD & Poster from UK Indies and EMP
- 500x Gatefold ultra-clear LP+CD & Poster from Monuments and cmdistro.de
Cover art by Visual Amnesia.
Tracklisting:
“No One Will Teach You” (feat. Neema Askari)
“Lavos”
“Cardinal Red”
“Opiate”
“Collapse”
“Arch Essence” (feat. Spencer Sotelo)
“Somnus”
“False Providence”
“Makeshift Harmony”
“The Cimmerian”
“False Providence” video:
"Cardinal Red" video:
“Lavos” feat. Mick Gordon:
In Stasis credits:
Produced, Recorded and Edited by John Browne, Andy Cizek and Mike Malyan
Co-Produced by Mick Gordon
Additional Engineering by Ross Halden, Justin Woodward and Adam Steel
Additional Editing by Charlie Abend and Evan Sammons
Mixing by George Lever at G1 Productions
Mastering by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street
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