Broken Hope’s latest album is also their first in several years – Mutilated and Assimilated was released just a few weeks ago and was met with many great reviews all around. Now, the band plans to bring Hell On Earth as they head to join in with several other heavy death metal bands on a UK tour in support of the record. Death Metal, Deathgrind and more await those who head to this gory scene kicking off in the month of September. You can get the digital download of Broken Hope’s latest record on iTunes here (affiliate link). More on the tour, plus further details on the Mutilated and Assimilated record, can be found on Broken Hope’s page here: https://facebook.com/brokenhopeofficial/.
Nightwish has a special tour and a record in the works – March of 2018 will mark the start of the band’s 9-month long Decades: World Tour 2018, beginning with a North American tour spanning 34 shows. The band plans to revisit early material, playing tracks that are rarely heard as well as putting a new spin on some classics. Decades, a 2-CD compilation, will be released on March 9th, 2018 via Nuclear Blast to accompany and commemorate the tour. Though this world tour is still a bit far off, pre-sales will begin as early as next week, and all the dates (including for the rest of this year) can be found here: http://www.enterthevault.com.
The New Roses are prepping for their third album release as One More For The Road has been set for an August 25th release on Napalm Records. This record will follow up their 2016 release Dead Man’s Voice which was accompanied by plenty of touring, and this year will be no different for the German Hard Rockers. Their European dates start off this month and continue throughout the summer and fall at venues and festivals alike. All the details, future updates on the record, and upcoming tour dates can be found on the band’s official Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/TheNewRoses.
Kamelot is planning a grand return to North America as a set of spring dates have been announced for 2018. The band has an upcoming album on Napalm Records and though the title of this record has yet to be revealed, it’s already set for a release early next year. The yet-to-be-titled record will also be the follow-up to Kamelot’s last album, Haven, which reached #1 on the Billboard Hard Rock Charts upon its 2015 release. Joining Kamelot on their North American trek will be their “Very Special Guests” from The Netherlands, Delain, with Finland’s Battle Beast holding the opening slot.
Experimental Prog-Metallers In The Presence of Wolves has a new EP, produced by Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Kevin Antreassian, out later this month, entitled Of Two Minds, Stages 1-2: The Ape and The Cage. The band’s lead guitarist, Chris Capitanio, has made a guitar playthrough video, giving an inside look into some of the multi-genre-influenced musical techniques infused into the 5-track EP – MusicRadar has the exclusive. The record’s first single, “The One Who Fell To Earth”, can be found on the band’s own YouTube Channel here, and for more on In The Presence of Wolves, visit their Official Facebook page
Belgium-born-and-bred Thrashers Evil Invaders have recently revealed some details for their upcoming second album. Feed Me Violence is the title of the follow-up to debut record Pulses of Pleasure and their first full-length since the EP In For The Kill. Feed Me Violence is set for a fall release, with a street date of September 29th on Napalm Records, and the album art can be seen below. According to frontman Joe and guitarist Max, “We went through hell for this record but I think we really nailed it on this one. We spat out all our frustrations into this album which will be quite noticeable when you listen to it. This is quite angry shit and out of control. Feed Me Violence will be a whole new chapter for Evil Invaders as it unveils new and quite unexpected sides of our music. Going from fast brain-bashing riffs to slow and clean, almost theatrical compositions.This album will take you on a dark trip through pain, vengeance and insanity!” Evil Invaders has plenty of European touring coming up, including festivals and a support slot with Sepultura. Further details at: https://www.facebook.com/evilinvaders.
NYC “First Wave of American Hardcore” contributors Antidote have been around since 1983, but had a big shift in style in the late 80’s as they got into Hard Rock in 1988. The band has teamed up with Old School Metal Records for a new record featuring remastered tracks from this Hard Rock-oriented time in their careers, known as Antidote: The Rock Years. June 9th marks the date of this compilation, in vinyl, CD, and digital form. More info on the label can be found here, and for more on Antidote themselves, pay a visit to their site as well: https://www.facebook.com/antidotenyhc1983.
The Agonist is a band out of Canada that’s planning a return to the road while still very much at home, with a Canadian tour that’s been recently announced. This is the first time ever that The Agonist is headlining a full tour in Canada, and this one is in support of their recent Napalm Records debut Five. All the dates can be found on the Star Wars-inspired tour poster above, or on The Agonist’s official site here: http://theagonistband.com/home/.
As Polish metallers Decapitated prepare for Anticult, their seventh studio album being released on July 7th via Nuclear Blast, the band has given several looks into the record ahead of time. The first single, “Never” was unveiled not too long ago (https://youtu.be/Dzsnunj-5gg), and an official drum playthrough from Michal Lysejko followed shortly after (https://youtu.be/X24bcfTLD7k).
Bloody Hammers has a rather exclusive release on the way – a six-song EP called The Horrific Case of Bloody Hammers set for July 14th. The record will be available as vinyl with only 300 copies available through the band’s webstore. Bloody Hammers has teamed up with Dread Central for an exclusive music video premiere of the track “Blood”, featuring not only the duo themselves, but footage from a 1922 horror film known as Häxan.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/BloodyHammers for further details on the upcoming record.
EDGUY is celebrating a 25th Anniversary, and while getting out on the road to celebrate, they’ve got a new release in store at the same time. Monuments is set for July 14th on Nuclear Blast Records, and will be a 2 CD/DVD package featuring new music, an array of “best of” tracks, never before released rarities, full concert footage from the Hellfire Club tour, and a complete music video collection. A lyric video for one of the new tracks, “Ravenblack” has just been revealed on the Nuclear Blast Records YouTube Channel. For more on EDGUY, the upcoming record and tour dates , visit: https://www.facebook.com/edguy.
Today marks the official release date for Unleash The Archers’ new album Apex. The title track is currently streaming in audio form and can be found on Napalm Records’ official YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/NTWbVUUkWm4.
Here’s some of what frontwoman Brittney Slayes has to say about the track: “The title track is not only the last song on the record, but was also straight up the last song written for the album. We wrote it the night before we hit the studio, right after ‘moving in’ to the little house in the Danish countryside we lived in while recording. It is very representative of the headspace we were in during our time at Hansen Studios, and it has actually become my favourite track on the album! I love the chorus; I wrote it with our fans in mind, calling out to them to join us on the journey that is this record. I love when the guitars just take off instrumentally as well, I told Andrew he had free reign to write riff after riff, one flowing into the other, very reminiscent of Hallowed Be Thy Name (which is one of my absolute favorite Maiden tracks!) and I think it turned out perfectly. We also played with dynamics a lot on this track, allowing it to become a summary of the adventure the listener just experienced through the first nine songs; I consider it a kind of epilogue. It’s on the longer side but we really hope to be able to play this one live! We’ll see what the fans think though, if they ask, they shall receive ;)”
You can also hear more of Brittney’s thoughts on Apex in a track-by-track video courtesy of Napalm right here. Keep an eye on Unleash The Archers via their official website, http://unleashthearchers.com.
The Third Annual “Ride For Ronnie” took place a few weekends ago, on Sunday May 7th, in an effort to raise money for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. Music fans, musicians, and other celebrity guests gathered to ride in the rally, which was accompanied throughout the day by several concerts and an all-star jam led by Steven Adler. Despite threats of rain, the originally announced lineup for the ride and shows alike all came through as planned (with some additional special guests), and the event succeeded in raising $40,000 for charity toward cancer research with over 200 bikers – though the rain did at last arrive at the close of Lynch Mob’s set. Additional donations were brought in through a silent auction, raffle and live auction, which included a trenchcoat from Eddie Money and a Great White signed acoustic guitar. The late Randy Rhoads’ brother and sister – Kelle Rhoads and Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio – presented Wendy Dio with a donation in Randy’s name. A donation was also presented by Wendy Dio and Dr. Sandy Kapoor (medical director of the Cancer Fund) on behalf of the Ronnie James Dio Cancer Fund to a Dr. David Wong at UCLA School of Dentistry to fund his original early cancer detection research project. During the concert, Rough Cutt were joined on stage by a variety of guests, including Lita Ford, Ronnie James Dio’s cousin David “Rock” Feinstein, Brittany Denaro (Vixen), Patrick Stone (Budderside), Sean McNabb (Lynch Mob), Joe Retta, Bjorn Englen and Scott Warren of Dio Disciples, Ace Von Johnson (Faster Pussycat) and Kelle Rhoads, for a special performance of Hear ‘N Aid’s “Stars”. KLOS and its radio personalities also came out to support, sponsor, and host the event, sharing a few hosting duties with Eddie Trunk.
For more information on the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, visit http://www.diocancerfund.org.
Projected, a hard rock supergroup consisting of Sevendust guitarist and bassist John Connolly and Vinnie Hornsby, Alter Bridge/Creed drummer Scott Phillips, and Tremonti guitarist Eric “E-ROCK” Friedman, has signed to Rat Pak Records for their second album, Ignite My Insanity. This will be the group’s follow-up to their debut full-length Human, which was self-released back in 2012. Ignite My Insanity will be a huge deluxe double album release packed with 21 tracks worth of new music, and is set to burn up the summer starting on July 21st.
On the making of the new record, John Connolly says, “There are four very strong personalities in this band. Everyone has been in the business doing various things, from Tremonti to Alter Bridge to Creed to Sevendust and it took all those elements and sounds to make this album what it is!” Guitarist Eric “E-Rock” Friedman comments, “When I think Projected, the first words that come to my mind is a very raw and honest band. Things aren’t overthought. It’s very organic.” Scott Phillips states, “We’re all part of other bands that we’ve put our heart and soul and life into and this was just a chance to extend that into somewhat of a different direction.” And last but not least, Vinnie Hornsby adds, “We’ve been playing so long together, you know it’s kinda like a marriage to a certain degree, it really warms my heart to be able to play with my friends and these great musicians.”
Ignite My Insanity is available for pre-order directly from Rat Pak, with several different bundles available. The record is also up for pre-order on Amazon (affiliate link).
Rat Pak Records has shared an album teaser for Ignite My Insanity – check it out below:
EXIST is a group of musicians out of Maryland that defy many descriptions with their unique touch to Progressive and Technical Death Metal. Their upcoming album is also an upcoming label debut, with Prosthetic Records, as they release So True, So Bound on June 9th. The band recently teamed up with Metal Injection for an exclusive video premiere of the 8-minute long epic track “Fault’s Peaks”, which you can see right here: http://www.metalinjection.net/av/song-premiere/prog-metal-masterminds-exist-unleash-multi-faceted-wizardry-on-faults-peak.
Here’s what frontman Max Phelps has to say about the track: “‘Fault’s Peaks’, the album closer, is probably the best overall representation of So True, So Boundand our sound as it includes all of our elements from psychedelia to heavy, dissonant riffing with a little improvisation sprinkled in. We’ve jokingly referred to this song as the ‘bleed etude’, as the right hand pattern is very reminiscent of the Meshuggah song off obZen, no shame there. This song was (and continues to be live) a real bitch to pull off technically, but it was worth it as we’re very proud of the composition itself.”
EXIST self-produced their new record, with some help on mixing from Nolly Getgood (Periphery) and cover artwork created by Sebastian Jerke (Ahab, Zodiac). So True, So Bound is available for pre-order from Amazon (affiliate link) and iTunes (affiliate link). EXIST is also heading out on a North American tour just a few days before their record release alongside Montreal Progressive Metallers Gorguts. The full listing of tour dates, and all details on the album, can be found on EXIST’s official website.
