Iz tabora britanskih modernih metalcev Asking Alexandria sporočajo, da so bili zaradi zloma noge bobnarja Jamesa Cassellsa primorani odpovedati preostale nastope v sklopu njihove evropske turneje. Na tem mestu Jamesu želimo čim hitrejše okrevanje, spodaj pa si lahko preberete tudi izjavo banda v celoti.

»After seeing another specialist here in Estonia it has been advised that James rests his broken foot. Playing drums is just not an option for him at this current time.

Ekstremneži Pestilence sporočajo, da jih je zapustil basist Joost van der Graaf. Zasedba trenutno še išče njegovo zamenjavo, spodaj pa si lahko preberete celotno izjavo banda in Joosta.

»First off: family comes first, always!! Too bad this day had to come, because we were a very solid team and we will surely miss our good friend Joost van der Graaf. We respect his decision to spend more time with his family. Awesome he is offering to fill in from time to time, if needed.

Domači progresivni death metalci Morost sporočajo, da so podpisali z založbo TeufelsZeug Records. Spodaj lahko v celoti preberete uradno sporočilo banda:

»It is with great honor and joy that I inform you that Morost has signed a contract with the German metal label TeufelsZeug Records.

We first met at Kaltenbach Open Air 2022, where a windy storm got us all in a bit of trouble. Seeing T-shirts flying around the merch stand, we helped each other out and a few hours later we were already talking over beer. Some meetings and calls later, we can finally announce the signing of a contract.«

Black metalci Taake dve leti po kompilaciji Avvik napovedujejo nov album. Et Hav av Avstand naj bi izšel 1. septembra pri založbi Dark Essence Records, zajemal pa bo štiri komade:

Denne forblaaste Ruin av en Bro
Utarmede Gruver
Gid sprakk Vi
Et Uhyre av en Kniv

Nemški melodični death metalci Kambrium so se razšli s kitaristom Maximilianom Wernerjem. Zasedba je trenutno v fazi snemanja novega albuma. Spodaj lahko preberete izjavo banda v celoti:

»Dear Kambrium fans, today we would like to contact you with an important announcement. Maxi and Kambrium will now go their separate ways. It was a difficult decision for all of us, but we strongly believe that this is the right step for us to continue to grow and explore new musical paths.

Maxi was a constant part of Kambrium. His talent, commitment, and energy have shaped our music and shows in a significant way and accompanied us on many memorable journeys. We are grateful for the years we spent together and will carry the memories we made together forever in our hearts.

Although Maxi will no longer be part of the band, we want to emphasize that our friendship remains and remains strong. We've been through so much together and been through so many highs and lows together that we're sure our connection goes beyond music. We will continue to stay in touch, support each other and look for new adventures in our respective musical projects. Maybe you'll even see Maxi at our merch stand.

For Kambrium, this change is also a chance to reinvent ourselves. We are already working on the next album and are looking forward to enthralling you with our music in the near future. We are very grateful for your support and hope you’ll join us on this new chapter of our journey.

At this point we would like to thank Maxi again from the bottom of our hearts. You'll always be a part of the Kambrium family and we wish you all the best on your journey ahead.«

Švedski simfonični metalci Eleine so objavili vizualizer za pesem Stand by the Flame s četrtega albuma We Shall Remain, ki bo izšel 14. julija pri Atomic Fire Records.

Italijanski doom metal trio Bottomless predstavlja skladbo Stand in the Dimming Light s prihajajočega albuma The Banishing, ki bo 25. avgusta izšel pri Dying Victims Productions in obsega naslednje naslove:

Let Them Burn
The Great Unknown
Guardians of Silence
Stand in the Dimming Light
By the Sword of the Archangel
Illusion Sun
Drawn into Yesterday
Dark Waters

Člani Bottomless so Giorgio Trombino (Assumption, Becerus, Shrieking Demons, ex-Haemophagus) na kitari in vokalu, David Lucido (Assumption, Shrieking Demons, ex-Haemophagus) na bobnih in Sara Bianchin (Messa, ex-Restos Humanos) na basu.

Ameriški black metalci Uada sporočajo, da so se razšli s kitaristom Jamesom Sloanom. Več lahko preberete v uradni izjavi banda:

»Uada has officially parted ways with guitarist James Sloan. After receiving consecutive accounts and admittance of misconduct, we have decided to let James go. It is of utmost importance that we protect ourselves, the band, and most of all, the fans. After recently learning about years of manipulation, lies, deceit, abuse, and sexual harassment towards many different people, we feel that we have made the absolute best decision in moving forward without him.

Our thanks and appreciation go out to everyone who has come forward and provided proof about this situation. Please know that UADA will never stand for this type of behavior and that our only agenda here is music and the spirit of its creation. Unfortunately, due to these circumstances, we are now forced to cancel our appearances in Tasmania and Australia next month, but we hope to make it up to the fans down under as soon as we possibly can.

Thank you for your understanding and our deepest apologies to anyone who may have been hurt because of these actions.

Sincerely,
Jake, Nate, and Josh.«

Nemški high speed power metalci Sculforge so posneli besedilni videospot za pesem Glorious, ki je del prihajajočega albuma Intergalactic Battle Tunes, ki bo vseboval kar 26 pesmi:

Into The Never
Lost In The Warp
Forbidden Knowledge
For The Omnisavior
For Honor
Spacehull
Lost And Found
Dark Ruins
The Sovereign Protects
Secrets Unlocked
Slave To The Machine
The Extraction
Extermination
A New Hope
Castilla Stands
Glorious
Schwanengesang
The Escape
Epitaph
Kings Of The Battlefield
Reign Of Chaos
Follow Me
Into The Depths
Heart Of Darkness
The Sculforge Inn Incident
Sculforge Inn

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

James Hetfield, vokalist zasedbe Metallica, bo v sodelovanju s Permuted Press 17. oktobra izdal knjigo Messengers: The Guitars Of James Hetfield. Gre za čtivo v obsegu 400 strani, na katerih bo James predstavil svojo zbirko kitar in vlogo vsake izmed njih v njegovem življenju kitarista, frontmana in pisca komadov za Metallico.

Svoje kitare oziroma kitaro pa bo ljudstvu približal tudi Kirk Hammet. Eden izmed najbolj znanih proizvajalcev kitar Gibson je namreč najavil prvo partnerstvo in globalno sodelovanje oziroma izid s Kirkom. Ta legendarni status si je prislužil s svojo kitaro »Greeny« – gre za magični 1959 Les Paul Standard. Naveza bo prinesla 2 kitari, in sicer različico Greeny v Gibson Custom Shop in Greeny v standardni različici Les Paul.

Blaze Bayley, nekdanji vokalist zasedbe Iron Maiden, je prejšnjo soboto doživel srčni infarkt in bil zaradi tega hospitaliziran. Njegovo stanje je že stabilno, žal pa je zaradi tega moral odpovedati turnejo. Več lahko preberete v uradni izjavi:

»We sincerely regret to announce that Blaze had a heart attack at home yesterday evening & is now in hospital in a stable condition, awaiting news of further surgery/treatment. He is in good spirits in the circumstances but utterly disappointed to have to postpone our imminent shows due in March & April. Ticket refunds will be available at source but we truly hope you will keep your tickets & make it to the new dates which we will be announcing as soon as they are scheduled.

Regarding shows already booked for June-November this year, we understandably have to wait a short while to see how quick Blaze’s recovery will be, so please stay tuned & meanwhile most importantly we're sure you will join us in wishing him a complete & speedy recovery.

Blaze misses you, cannot wait to regain full health & see you all again.

Every Storm Ends… ‘your heart will heal’

Thank you so much everyone for your understanding & support.

Mark Appleton & Christopher Appleton (management / bookings)«

Švedski simfonični metalci Eleine z videom za pesem We Are Legion napovedujejo svoj četrti dolgometražni album We Shall Remain, ki bo izšel 14. julija pri Atomic Fire Records. Tracklista:

Never Forget
Stand By The Flame
We Are Legion
Promise Of Apocalypse
Blood In Their Eyes
Vemod
Through The Mist
Suffering
War Das Alles
We Shall Remain

Avantgardna metal zasedba DieHumane predstavlja nov single Shell Shock s prihajajočega albuma The Groutesque. Album izide 5. maja pri založbi WURMgroup Records, zajemal bo pa naslednje komade:

Executively Dysfunctional
King Of Nothing (The Bruiser)
Standing At The Edge Of Forever
Shell Shock
The Death Knell
Epitaph
Oblivion
The Vanishing
Ghosts
Aphasia
Nevermind
Crossroads
The Descent
The Devil Sings
Sparrows
Skeletons
Stardust Blues

Finska atmosferična progressive metal zasedba Alase bo 14. aprila pri Inverse Records izdala svoj drugi studijski album, naslovljen A Matter Of Time. Poleg naslovnice in naslovov komadov so predstavili tudi videospot za single Clear Sky Is Not A Curse.

Understanding the Waves
Clear Sky Is Not a Curse
Fate's Intervention
Unburden
Life Ahead
The Source
Out of Place
Feeling Free
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