V petek so Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons pri Nuclear Blast izdali album Kings Of The Asylum, ki so ga pospremili z videospotom za skladbo Strike The Match.

Organizatorji avstrijskega festivala Metal On The Hill sporočajo, da bo letošnja edicija festivala tudi zadnja. Festival bo letos potekal 1. in 2. septembra v Gradcu, spodaj pa si lahko preberete izjavo organizatorja:

»Liebe MOTH Fangemeinde!

Schweren Herzens müssen wir leider bekanntgeben, dass es sich beim MOTH 2023 um die vorläufig letzte Ausgabe des Festivals handelt. Neben der logistischen Herausforderung die – bei aller Schönheit der Location – jedes Jahr aufs Neue unser Team fordert, hat sich die „Kostenseite“ leider von Jahr zu Jahr gesteigert. Das MOTH ist ein kleines, überschaubares Festival, wir haben pro Tag maximal 1700 Gäste, es ist familiär, übersichtlich und besticht durch die einzigartige Atmosphäre zwischen Fans & Bands. Jeder kann die Bands quasi hautnah erleben, wie es sonst nur bei Club-Konzerten möglich ist. Und genau hier ist der Haken – dadurch, dass MOTH ein „Festival“ ist, verlangen die Bands leider auch die »Festival-Preise« und somit ähnliche Gagen wie bei den großen Festivals und in den großen Märkten, unabhängig davon, wie stark die Band z.B. im Grazer Einzugsgebiet ist. Hier können wir nicht mehr mithalten, es war schon schwierig genug, das Billing 2023 zu erstellen und dabei die Ticketpreise für 2 Tage um die 100 EUR beizubehalten.

Deshalb lasst uns gemeinsam zum Abschied NICHT leise Servus sagen und das MOTH 2023 gebührend feiern. Sag niemals nie, wir schließen nicht aus, dass wir das MOTH wiederbeleben werden, sofern sich die Marktgegebenheiten eben wieder etwas freundlicher für kleinere Veranstalter entwickeln.

Vielen Dank an alle Beteiligten, die das MOTH möglich gemacht haben und danke an euch Fans & Besucher fürs Feiern mit uns!«

Ameriška hardcore punk/metalcore zasedba Integrity bo ponovno izdala albuma Seasons In The Size of Days in Closure. Oba sta že dobila nov miks in mastering ter novo vizualno podobo. Če sledite zgornjima povezavama, boste na YouTubu našli vse potrebne povezave za oddajo prednaročila oziroma za poslušanje posameznega albuma.

Heavy metal zasedba KK's Priest je posnela videospot za pesem Reap The Whirlwind s prihajajočega ploščka The Sinner Rides Again. Tracklista:

Sons of the Sentinel
Strike of the Viper
Reap the Whirlwind
One More Shot at Glory
Hymn 66
The Sinner Rides Again
Keeper of the Graves
Pledge Your Souls
Wash Away Your Sins

Avstralski enočlanski black metal band Artanor prekinja 14-letni studijski molk z napovedjo dolgometražnega prvenca z naslovom In Servitude of Darkness. Od šestih komadov, ki jih prinaša plošček, že lahko prisluhnete četrtemu po vrsti na tracklisti:

I. Consumed by Time
II. From the Roaring Fire
III. A Reminder of Past Glory
IIII. Sons of the Rock
IIIII. First Born Minion
IIIIII. Despondent Echoes of Misery

Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, ki bodo nastopili v četrtek, 27. julija, na Tolminatorju 2023, so v obliki videospota izdali single Schizophrenia. Single je del prihajajočega albuma Kings Of The Asylum, ki bo izšel 1. septembra pri Nuclear Blast Records.

Italijanski simfonični metalci Reasons Behind so v obliki videospota razkrili single The Flame Inside, ki je del prihajajočega albuma Architecture of an Ego. Ta bo izšel 26. maja pri Scarlet Records. Tracklista:

Zero Dawn
The Fall of Human Race
A New Breed
Into the Break of a Better Day
Heart Begins to Break
The Phantom Pain
Seas of Grey
I3 (feat. Steva/Deathless Legacy & Grace Darkling/Nocturna)
The Flame Inside
Letter to the Last of Us

Organizatorji legendarnega festivala Bang Your Head sporočajo, da se je ta za vedno poslovil. Več podrobnosti lahko preberete v izjavi organizatorja:

THAT WAS IT! Hello friends, it is with a heavy heart that we are writing these lines. But there is no other way. We really gave and did everything we could to finally catch up with celebrating the big BANG YOU HEAD!!! anniversary in 2023, and eagerly anticipated this summer like no other. But: We alone, unfortunately, did not have control over creating the circumstances needed to set up an event of this caliber with the requirement to quality connected to the name BANG YOUR HEAD!!! and actually make it happen. A lot changed in the past three years and not a lot of it was and is good. All in all, it can and must be said: The whole scene changed, and the preconditions for organizing an open-air event in Balingen are completely different in 2023 than they were in 2019 – also from an economic perspective. All in all, we thus come to the conclusion, even if it is incredibly sad, that there are too many factors and forces working against us, and pushing through to organize an event at any cost would cause more losses for us and others involved than putting an end to it now. And this is how it is now: The BANG YOUR HEAD!!! 2023 can and will NOT take place. Due to the abovementioned reasons which we can’t describe in further detail due to reasons that are hopefully understandable, there is no viable path that we can take responsibility for aside from calling off the big anniversary party in Balingen. We hope for your understanding and thank everybody from the bottom of our hearts that supported us, believed in us, and kept their tickets or even bought new ones. Especially for you we tried everything to finally raise the BANG YOUR HEAD!!! flag again over the Swabian Alb, but it seems like it was not meant to be. And to make sure to avoid any potential misunderstandings: There will be no more BANG YOUR HEAD!!! festivals in the future. This was it. Because we know that many of you waited for the BYH!!! this year with immense anticipation, we intensely tried to come up with a way to marginally make up for the cancellation of the event. So, we had an idea for a ticket exchange to the ROCK OF AGES festival 2023 which you can read up on in the detailed statement on www.bang-your-head.de. Of course, we will also reimburse the purchasing price to everybody who would like to return their tickets – irrespective of which of the past years the tickets for 2023 were purchased. We will inform you about the detailed process shortly through our channels. We want to thank you once again for your support at all 24 festivals and we would be thrilled to greet you as part of the LOYAL ONES in Seebronn on 28th June! Stay heavy! Horst and the BANG YOUR HEAD!!!-Team

Avstrijski hard rock/heavy metalci Roadwolf so z novim besedilnim videom razkrili skladbo Supernatural z drugega albuma Midnight Lightning, ki bo 19. maja izšel pri založbi Napalm Records. Ta obsega naslednje skladbe:

On the Run
Midnight Lightning
Mark of the Devil
Supernatural
High Under Pressure
Sons of the Golden Horde
Don’t Deliver Us from Evil
Running Out of Time
Savage Child
Isolated Hearts

Italijanski moderni simfonični metalci Reasons Behind so včeraj razkrili single Heart Begins To Break, ki je del njihovega prihajajočega albuma Architecture Of An Ego. Ta bo izšel 26. maja pri Scarlet Records.

Ukrajinska post/black metal zasedba White Ward je bila zaradi situacije v Ukrajini žal primorana odpovedati vse načrtovane nastope in turneje. Spodaj lahko preberete izjavo banda:

»Dear friends,

With a heavy heart, we need to inform you that our April tour is canceled. Last 2 weeks we fought for the fate of the tour. We tried all the possible ways, but the system proved to be stronger.

So, let's make it clear about what happened and about the reasons for the cancellation.

Right now “wartime” restrictions are applied in Ukraine, and they include limitations for men in ages 18-60 to cross the border, because it is a range when men are available for military service. So, there is a need to get special permission from state authorities to travel out of Ukraine. During the year 2022 the Ministry Of Culture helped Ukrainian musicians and different artists and assisted in acquiring such permits (for a limited time) and that is why we, and many other bands, were able to play in Europe last year.

But a working algorithm that allows to control the “way back” was not created and responsibilities related to the violations of the permission terms - were nowhere written. And that is why some impudent people just used this opportunity to run out of Ukraine and decided not to come back. Very few cases are known, but after the last one, which raised a lot of noise and dissatisfaction in the media, the Ministry Of Culture decided to implement immediate changes and new rules, even for artists who have already sent a request for permit weeks before an accident - we have sent such request on February, 20th. That is the reason why many Ukrainian bands like Schizogen, Bezlad, The Hypnotunez, Kazka, and many more have already canceled or almost canceled their tours. Some bands were affected when they were already at the border and shows should take place the next day, but due to new rules, they were not allowed to leave Ukraine!

The new rules suppose some additional documents to a request. In our case, every member of the band has his own difficulties in acquiring that, even with an immediate start - there is no guarantee that the process will be successful and accomplished in time. Also, that is anyway not a guarantee that the request will be approved - our colleagues` request was refused even with all the requested documents. So, we just can't get this permission and it is over.

We have tried everything, and the media noise was our last hope. But it hasn’t worked, unfortunately. Months of work, preparations, money - all this is now in vain.
We sincerely apologize to our fans, promoters, and everyone who helped us with this tour. We hope that one day we will make this tour real, and you will wait for us. We will still try to figure something out before Hellfest and August festivals, but no new tour announcements till the end of the war will be made.

But, the one and only responsible for this is russia. They broke everything by invading our country, killing our children, bombing our cities, destroying our culture, and applying all fascist methods to destroy us and we will never forget what they DID and are still DOING!«

Italijanski simfonični power metalci Reasons Behind napovedujejo izid novega albuma Architecture of an Ego. Album naj bi izšel 26. maja pri založbi Scarlet Records in bo zajemal naslednje komade:

Zero Dawn
The Fall of Human Race
A New Breed
Into the Break of a Better Day
Heart Begins to Break
The Phantom Pain
Seas of Grey
I³ (feat. Steva/Deathless Legacy & Grace Darkling/Nocturna)
The Flame Inside
Letter to the Last of Us

Portugalski melodični metalci Enchantya so izdali Existence, prvi single s prihajajočega albuma Cerberus. Tracklista:

Karma
All Down in Flames
Lunar Fire
Alone
Prana
Rising Star
Existence
United We Stand
Anima
Collective Souls
Sons of Chaos
Inward

Sons of Cult predstavljajo besedilni video za skladbo Fighters, ki se nahaja na prihajajočem prvencu z naslovom Back to the Beginning.

Irski viking metal/pagan rockerji Ren Marabou and the Berserkers so posneli video za King of Asgard, ki si ga lahko ogledate tukaj. Pesem je del kompilacije Odin (Songs for the All Father), ki vsebuje pet komadov:

Odin’s War
The Wanderer (Odin)
All Hail Odin
Odin’s Sons and Daughters
King of Asgard