…AND JUSTICE FOR ART: Stories about Heavy Metal Album Covers – Ultimate Edition Limited Run Hardcover Book Out Now, Feat. Black Sabbath, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Neurosis & More

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 15, 2026
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The new hardcover book, …And Justice For Art: Stories About Heavy Metal Album Covers – Ultimate Edition, is now available.

…And Justice For Art: Stories About Heavy Metal Album Covers – Ultimate Edition includes 372 color pages, 700 graphics, and more than 120 exclusive interviews about the making of hundreds of iconic metal album covers. This epic journey through the art of heavy music features stories about the sleeve artworks for albums like Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden’s Killers, Metallica’s …And Justice For All, Cynic’s Focus, At The Gates’ Slaughter Of The Soul, Slayer’s Reign In Blood, Opeth’s Heritage, Darkthrone’s A Blaze In The Northern Sky, Suffocation’s Effigy Of The Forgotten, Tiamat’s Wildhoney, Neurosis’ Times Of Grace, among many others.

The stories behind these iconic artworks are told through hundreds of exclusive comments and interviews with metal icons like Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Nailbomb, ex-Sepultura), Jeff Walker (Carcass), David Vincent (ex-Morbid Angel, Vltimas), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Esa Holopainen (Amorphis), Fenriz (Darkthrone), Tom Angelripper (Sodom) and many others. The book also includes insightful interviews with legendary illustrators such as Eliran Kantor, Dan Seagrave, Travis Smith, Valnoir, and Costin Chioreanu, who also designed the book’s cover.

“This hardcover book features 372 glossy color pages, more than 700 images and firsthand information about hundreds of graphics, which are presented in extremely high quality,” author Ramon Oscuro comments. “This is a complete reinvention of the original …And Justice For Art book published in 2015, which have been out-of-print for almost a decade. Instead of just reprinting the original volume, I decided to rewrite, redesign and update every page. I also added 108 new pages featuring new chapters, new interviews and hundreds of new graphics. It’s a completely new book, an epic journey through heavy music imagery from 1970 to 2025.”

According to Vltimas/ex-Morbid Angel frontman, David Vincent, who penned the book’s foreword, this is “a historical document about the importance of Metal album covers.” Soulfly’s Max Cavalera has thanked the author “for helping to keep alive the ritual of the album cover.” Cattle Decapitation vocalist Travis Ryan assured that “this is exactly what the music world needs to remind us how important album covers have been to all of us that grew up surrounding ourselves with physical media.”

Watch a trailer for …And Justice For Art: Stories About Heavy Metal Album Covers – Ultimate Edition:

This is a limited edition of 500 copies. It’s only available at THIS LOCATION. Use the discount code AJFA15GOOD to save 15% on your purchase.

Journalist/musician, Ramón “Oscuro” Martos García, was born in Cuba in 1975. His interest in heavy music started at a very early age after discovering the music of bands like Queen, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Sepultura, among others. He graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Santiago de Cuba before emigrating to the Dominican Republic in the early 1990s, where he played in several metal bands, including Necro, Divinis Invocat, and Los Recalcitrantes, and founded the country’s first rock/metal fanzine, Esperando El Final. After moving to the United States in the 2000s, he started writing for publications like MetalUnderground.com, This Is Metal Magazine, PureGrainAudio.com, among others.

In 2011, Ramón formed the Metal art community …And Justice For Art, which is the result of his longtime obsession with visual arts, especially heavy music art. This community and the book series …And Justice For Art – Stories About Heavy Metal Album Covers (which has spawned five volumes during the last decade) have provided exclusive information about the making of thousands of metal album covers, the work of hundreds of graphic artists and other related topics.

https://www.andjusticeforart.com
https://andjusticeforart.bigcartel.com
https://www.instagram.com/officialandjusticeforart
https://www.facebook.com/andjusticeforart

REPENTANCE Announce New Album “Retaliate” + Unleash Crushing Title Track as First Single

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 15, 2026
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Photo by Dan Haggerty

Chicago metal outfit REPENTANCE has announced their upcoming third full-length album “Retaliate”, set for release on July 17th, 2026 via Noble Demon. Alongside the announcement, the band has unleashed the record’s title track as the first single, offering an intense glimpse into what promises to be their most hard-hitting and focused release to date.

“Retaliate is a straight punch to the teeth. Coming out swinging“, vocalist Adam Gilley comments about the track. “This song has that take no prisoners intensity and hooks. So tune in and turn that sh** up!!!!“

LISTEN TO “Retaliate” HERE

Formed in 2018 by guitarist Shaun Glass (ex-Soil, Dirge Within), REPENTANCE have steadily carved out a name for themselves in the modern metal landscape with a sound built on groove, heavy riffs, technical precision, and unrelenting intensity. Emerging from the Chicago scene, the band quickly gained traction on the live circuit, sharing stages with acts such as Trivium, DevilDriver, Jinjer, Sacred Reich, and Toxic Holocaust, among others. 

Their debut album “God For A Day” (2020) received strong critical attention, leading to a worldwide signing with German label Noble Demon in 2021. This partnership marked a new chapter for the band, beginning with the EP “Volume I – Reborn” (2021), which introduced vocalist Adam Gilley and featured a guest appearance from Trivium guitarist Corey Beaulieu.

In 2023, REPENTANCE followed up with their sophomore album “The Process of Human Demise”, a record that further solidified their reputation for blending groove metal intensity with modern thrash precision. Produced by Alex Lackner and mixed/mastered by Chris Collier, the album also featured guest contributions from Corey Beaulieu and Milo Silvestro (Fear Factory), drawing comparisons to genre heavyweights such as Pantera and Lamb of God.

Tracklist:

01. From Violence To Silence
02. What’s Done Is Done
03. Retaliate
04. Unholy Guardian
05. Fade Into Silence
06. Among The Wolves
07. Annihilate
08. Concrete Coffin
09. Bleeding Out
10. Blood Of The Earth

Now, with “Retaliate”, the band push their sound even further. Once again produced by Alex Lackner at Accelerated Sound, the record was mixed by Ari Mihalopoulos at Inner Light Studio – a pairing that brings both familiarity and a fresh sonic perspective to the band’s most aggressive material yet. The album arrives with punishing groove and nonstop aggressive hooks, pushing the band’s sound forward while staying rooted in the intensity that has defined them since day one. 

“Retaliate” will be released digitally on July 17 via Noble Demon and is available for pre-save at
THIS LOCATION.

REPENTANCE are:
Adam Gilley – Vocals
Shaun Glass – Guitar
Eric Burns – Guitar
Eric Karol – Bass
Brandon White – Drums

For more info visit:
http://repentanceband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/WeAreRepentance/
https://www.instagram.com/repentanceband/
https://twitter.com/WeAreRepentance/
https://linktr.ee/nobledemon

MOONLIGHT HAZE Release New Video for ‘Interstellar Madness’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 15, 2026
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
photo by Beatrice Demori/Oround Media

Moonlight Haze has released a video for “Interstellar Madness”, third single/titletrack taken from the new EP to be released on May 22 by Scarlet Records.

«A whirlwind of emotions, accompanied by the most epic melodies the band has written so far, by long instrumental parts and evocative choir sections. This song shows how compelling it can be to get carried away by the deepest feelings, letting rationality rest for a while in order to discover sides of the inner self never dared to be acknowledged before. That is part of the process that leads to the creation of new Art.» (Chiara Tricarico)

video by Marco Falanga & Beatrice Demori/Oround

“Interstellar Madness”:

  • Brand new EP for the Italian symphonic power metal stars;
  • produced by Sascha Paeth (Avantasia, Angra, Kamelot, Edguy);
  • mixed and mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio (Wind Rose, Vision Divine, Twilight Force);
  • cover & artwork by Beatrice Demori/Oround;
  • Moonlight Haze is officially part of the Dragon Productions booking roster;
  • over 10 million streams accumulated on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Amazon Music;
  • over 5 million views accumulated on YouTube;
  • frontwoman Chiara Tricarico is currently one of the live vocalists of Avantasia and was a special guest on the Manowar 2022’s EP “Highlights From The Revenge Of Odysseus”;
  • FFO: Stratovarius, Avantasia, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Angra, Within Temptation;

“Interstellar Madness” tracklist:
1 Moonlight Legion
2 Lost In Moonlit Symphonies
3 We Are Fire
4 Shine
5 Interstellar Madness
6 Interstellar Madness: Finale

Total running time – 21:04

artowrk by Beatrice Demori/Oround Media

Moonlight Haze and extraordinary vocalist Chiara Tricarico (Avantasia) brought symphonic power metal to the next level throughout the tracklist of their fifth studio release, indulging in extremely mighty, epic and theatrical moments.

Guided by striking instrumentals parts, catchy and epic melodies, and truly introspective lyrics, the EP once again proves the talent and boldness of the Italian unit.

“Interstellar Madness” is an invitation to take on a journey through cosmic landscapes and beyond, led by a whirlwind of emotions – madness here is to be intended as a deeper and overwhelming way of experiencing reality, investigating and going beyond what lies on the surface of things in order to be able to discover hidden parts of the inner self.

Moonlight Haze:
Chiara Tricarico – vocals
Marco Falanga – guitar
Alberto Melinato – guitar
Alessandro Jacobi – bass
Giulio Capone – drums and keyboards

A COLD PARADISE Release Music Video for Brand-New Single ‘Here I Rise’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 15, 2026
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Modern metal act A COLD PARADISE have released a new music video for their latest single “Here I Rise”. The project is led by Antonio Calanna, known to many metal fans as the former vocalist of All For Metal. Marking a bold new chapter, the track combines modern heaviness, emotional intensity and soaring energy into a powerful statement of intent.

Driven by massive riffs, cinematic atmosphere and an uncompromising performance, “Here I Rise” perfectly captures the core identity of A COLD PARADISE. The song reflects themes of growth, resilience and transformation while channeling raw emotion into an explosive and deeply personal listening experience.

Calanna comments: “‘Here I Rise’ is a statement. After our first live shows, we felt the connection with the audience and knew this was just the beginning. This song captures exactly what A Cold Paradise stands for: the will to grow, to rise, and to turn emotion into something powerful. It’s raw, energetic, and unapologetically intense.”

Stream / Download “Here I Rise”: https://acp.rpm.link/risePR

A COLD PARADISE is a modern alternative metal band founded in 2025 by Antonio Calanna, signed to Perception – A Division of Reigning Phoenix Music. The project was born from a desire to emphasize atmosphere, melody, and emotional depth within heavy music, without compromising its force.

Rooted in genuine feeling, A COLD PARADISE builds its sound from the inside out, letting emotion guide both songwriting and production. Heavy riffs collide with expressive melodies, cinematic atmospheres, and carefully woven electronic elements that shape the emotional arc of each song. The band works with a defined collective identity: music, lyrics, and visuals all feed into the same artistic world, where storytelling, contrast, and emotional weight matter as much as the breakdowns. Living in the tension between vulnerability and force, A COLD PARADISE blends modern metal and rock with immersive textures to create a dynamic, evocative, and unmistakably human sound.

A COLD PARADISE Artist Line-Up:
Antonio Calanna | vocals
Paolo Avanzini | guitars, vocals
Luca Birocco | guitars
Fortunato De Negri | bass
Daniele Motta | drums

More on A COLD PARADISE:
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ANTHRAX Announce New Album “Cursum Perficio” + Share First Single ‘It’s For The Kids’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 15, 2026
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Photo credit: Travis Shinn

Multi-GRAMMY® award-nominated New York heavy metal titans Anthrax – Scott Ian (guitar), Charlie Benante (drums), Frank Bello (bass), Joey Belladonna (vocals), and Jonathan Donais (guitar) – will unleash their long-awaited 12th full-length studio album Cursum Perficio on September 18th via Nuclear Blast Records and Megaforce Records (North America). It marks the band’s first record in ten years since 2016’s For All Kings, which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. Cursum Perficio will be available in various physical configurations to pre-order/pre-save; click HERE. The phrase Cursum Perficio is Latin for “My journey has come to an end,” “My journey is over,” or “I complete my journey.” It proves apropos for such a complete body of work.
 
For Cursum Perficio’s first single and video, ‘It’s For The Kids‘, the quintet bulldoze the way for the album’s impact. It’s a classic Anthrax ripper locked and loaded with buzzsaw-sharp riffs, explosive drumming, and a howling and head-banging hook. It undoubtedly has all the makings of a future live staple. Listen HERE. See the quotes below from the band about the single and album.

Pre-order Cursum Perficio here: https://anthrax.bfan.link/cplp

Stream ‘It’s For The Kids‘ here: https://anthrax.bfan.link/iftksg

The band dove into recording Cursum Perficio in earnest during 2022, working out of Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in Los Angeles. They carefully pieced together what would be this magnum opus, mining their history with reverence, delivering on fan expectations tenfold, and broadening the scope of their signature sound. Produced by Jay Ruston and Anthrax, the result is an album that’s as angry, aggressive, and alive as their most celebrated fare. 

“It was quite a journey from the inception of this album to its completion,” Ian says. “We were supposed to make this in 2020, but the universe had other plans for everyone. After the Pandemic, we got to be a band again. When we started working on the record, we were just happy to be in a room together. It was so exciting that it was like being reborn in a way. All of that energy and emotion went into the music. The fear of being forced out of our lives and the joy of coming back together are present. The title ‘Cursum Perficio’ feels like ANTHRAX. It resembled what we went through to get to the point of finishing the record.”

“There was an awful lot of growth between Worship Music in 2011 and CURSUM PERFICIO,”Benante elaborated. “This album is a culmination of everything we’ve learned. I was watching a Marilyn Monroe documentary, and I saw ‘Cursum Perficio’ written on a tile in her last home. When I found out what the phrase meant, it immediately clicked with me. We aren’t saying this is our last record, but our journey has come to an end. I believe we’ve completed the task.”

“We had to make Fistful Of Metal and Spreading The Disease to be able to write Among The Living,”Ian goes on. “In the same respect, it took Worship Music and For All Kings for us to be able to write CURSUM PERFICIO. I very much compare this record to Among The Living.”

“We left it all on the table,” agreed Bello. “We really know who we are as ANTHRAX, what turns us on, and what we need to do. I don’t think anybody knows what’s next, but we’re hungrier than ever. From here on out, we’re going to go full throttle for every fucking minute.”
 
“A friend of mine said, ‘It’s For The Kids’ is a straight-up love letter to your fans,’” Ian says. “That’s exactly what I wanted it to be. The album needed a four-minute thrash song that harkened back to our first era. Whether it’s the aggression or the big chorus, it represents all the best parts of ANTHRAX in a very angry four-minute package. For the video, we wanted to throw back to our ‘Madhouse’ video–thematically it just made sense and this idea opened the door for us to share the experience with our fans. For all of us!”

“The video for ‘It’s For the Kids’ turned out really well,” Benante says. “I don’t necessarily like doing videos and this one had elements of things that I really love. There were fans in it, they showed up, they enjoyed it, it made me enjoy the video just seeing them enjoy it. Hearing the song for the first time, their reaction to it, and just the interaction with them was just great. I think the director did a great job on it. It’s kind of a throwback to our first ever video, ‘Madhouse.’ So I think fans are gonna see it and think ‘oh look at that, I see what they did.’  But yeah, great song and a great video. ‘It’s For the Kids’ is one of the songs that I felt was so strong, and the riff behind it and the rhythm behind it was almost like a tug of war, it’s like a push pull. It has this tension to it where the drums are just playing at a high pace speed, and the guitars are doing pretty much quarter notes with it. And the drums are just going full speed ahead. One of my favorite songs on the record and one of my favorite riffs. I really think this song is a gift to ANTHRAX fans who have been with us throughout the years. This basically is ANTHRAX at its best. Fast paced, thrashing, melodic fucking metal.”

“When I hear certain tracks, I immediately go, ‘I want to do this song. It might have a shot,” Belladonna notes. “Even the first time I started singing a tune like ‘Madhouse,’ I figured it was going to be a strong one. You just know. There’s a lot of variety to each of our records. To me, ‘It’s For The Kids’ is nice, straight-up ANTHRAX. It has a lot of fire and a punch to it. Vocally, it’s really cooking. It was definitely fun to hammer down on this one and put a lot of drive into it.”

Donais adds, “‘It’s For The Kids’ is a right to the point thrasher. It’s fast, aggressive, catchy and definitely going to be a fun one live. I love the ‘madhouse’ inspired throwback vibe of this video. Involving the fans and capturing their reactions to a new song adds some energy that really stands out.”

“I’m psyched for people to hear ‘It’s For The Kids!’”Bello comments. “This is a heavy, driving song with a big hook chorus-a combination of classic ANTHRAX and current- I can’t wait to play it live! Had a (cold!) blast filming the video too. It’s a great, energy packed video with a bunch of amazing ANTHRAX fans having a good time on a freezing day in Pennsylvania. The metal kept us all warm.”

Their journey has brought them to Cursum Perficio – a powerful, pummeling, and poetic milestone in Anthrax’s 45-year career.

The CURSUM PERFICIO track listing is as follows:
 
01. Persistence of Memory
02. The Long Goodbye
03. It’s For the Kids
04. Everybody’s Got A Plan
05. The Edge Of Perfection
06. Infectious
07. NYC93
08. Cursum Perficio
09. T.O.M.B
10. Watch It Go
11. My Victory

More info: WEBSITE | TIKTOK | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

CROBOT: Dive Headfirst into ‘Trouble’ with New Single & Video

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 15, 2026
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment

“Trouble” is the kind of song you’d be proud blowing the speakers out of that ‘69 Nova (or that 2024 Prius…) – either way, this one is made to be jammed LOUD.  This brand new CROBOT track off of their new record Supermoon features the fuzzed-out, wooly intro riff from guitarist Chris Bishop, Brandon Yeagley’s moon-beaming vocal screams, and the funkified and unified rhythmic brotherhood of Nico and Willie Jansen on drums and bass. “Trouble” stares danger right in the face and asks it to stay a little while longer, just to see what happens.

STREAM HERE: SPOTIFY – APPLE MUSIC – AMAZON MUSIC – YOUTUBE MUSIC

Rock heavyweights CROBOT recently released their highly anticipated new album, Supermoon, arriving today which has received significant media coverage. Known for their thunderous riffs, infectious hooks, and larger than life swagger, the band returns with a record that is both a natural evolution and a bold expansion of their sonic identity.

With Supermoon, CROBOT tap into something bigger, something louder, dirtier, and undeniably cosmic. The album channels the band’s raw energy into a collection of tracks that blend crushing hard rock, fuzzed out grooves, and psychedelic textures into an experience that feels as expansive as it is explosive.

Lyrically and sonically, the album reflects a band fully locked in confident, creative, and ready to take listeners on a ride that’s as electrifying as it is immersive. Whether it’s the swaggering, riff driven stompers or the more expansive, mood driven moments, Supermoon proves CROBOT are operating at full power.

CROBOT BIO

They’ve burned down the temple just to see what would crawl out of the ashes.

CROBOT have always been the house band for the apocalypse — all sweat-stained riffs, swampy swagger, and enough grease under their fingernails to make the saints choke — but this time, the inferno’s aimed inward.

Frontman Brandon Yeagley sounds like he’s howling through a séance, summoning every demon he’s ever danced with and daring them to stay for the encore. Beside him, Christopher Bishop peels off guitar lines that swing somewhere between scripture and sin, his tone dirtier than a bar mat in a Texas roadhouse. The low end rumbles under the command of Willie Jansen, whose bass hits like a sermon in a steel mill, while his brother Nico Jansen drives the kit like a preacher possessed — a rhythm section born to baptize you in groove.

The new record was tracked between the hallowed boards of Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio and the Machine Shop in Dripping Springs, then mixed and mastered by Alberto de Icaza, who captured every ounce of holy delirium. But it wasn’t just a recording — it was a ritual. There were smoke cleansings, moon rites, gemstones humming on console tops, meditations between takes, and lyrics treated like spells. Every session felt like a sweat-lodged dream in which the band tried to drown their egos and come back clean.

Lyrically and philosophically, it’s a fever dream stitched from Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Jung, with pages torn from Siddhartha, Reality Transurfing, Black Elk Speaks, and Castaneda’s Don Juan scattered on the studio floor. The result is a raw-nerve meditation on ego death, rebirth, and the dirt-under-your-nails work of becoming a whole human again — a trip through shadow and light, anchored in the red pulse of the root chakra but aiming for something far higher.

If the last few years found CROBOT flirting with heavier metal machinery, this era drags the beast back to the groove pit — to the swamp funk and snarling riffs that made their early believers fall in line. It’s the sound of four weirdos rediscovering the primordial ooze beneath their boots and realizing that enlightenment still needs distortion.

CROBOT have always preached the gospel of Dirty. Groove. Rock.  Now they’re living it, leaner, meaner, and wired straight into the source.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/Crobotband/