Na voljo za poslušanje sta že dva komada s ploščka New Nights of Euphoria norveških progresivcev Strange New Dawn, kjer delujejo sedanji in bivši člani zasedb Nattehimmel, Emancer, Green Carnation, In the Woods... Celotna tracklista je takšna:

Journey Within
Class Hero Idol
Defenders of Faith
The Wake of Icons
Fortune Bringer
Finding the Pieces
Seek It
High Strangenes
Sons of Galaxy
The Passing

Grški tehnični thrash metal dvojec Venus bo 14. novembra pri založbi Xtreem Music izdal prvenec z naslovom Obscured Until Observed. Ta bo prinesel devet komadov:

Sons of Grus
The Observatory
City of Nektron
Circus Strange
Alive
Artificially Prolonged Existence
Venus Legacy
The Arrhythmic Pulse of the Universe
Subatomic Search For Human Consciousness

Metallica so objavili live posnetek komada Too Far Gone?, ki so ga posneli 6. avgusta. Komad lahko v originalni izvedbi najdete na bandovem zadnjem albumu 72 Seasons.

Melodični folk/power metalci Grymheart s singlom Ignis Fatuus napovedujejo prvenec Hellish Hunt, ki bo izšel ta petek, 22. septembra, pri Scarlet Records. Tracklista:

The Twilight Is Coming
Hellbent Horde
Ignis Fatuus
To Die by the Succubus
My Hellish Hunt
Army from the Graves
Everlost
Fenrir’s Sons
Facing the Kraken
Harpies of Devil
Monsters Among Us

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

Metallica predstavljajo video za skladbo Chasing Light s svežega albuma, ki nosi naslov 72 Seasons.

Rival Sons so objavili videospot za novi single Bird in the Hand, ki je del njihovega prihajajočega albuma Darkfighter. Ta bo izšel 2. junija.