US Death Metallers ARTIFICIAL BRAIN have released “Planet: Carrion”, the second single from the band’s upcoming full-length album “Antillia”, due out November 13 via Profound Lore Records.
The track is accompanied by a brand new video edited by Alex Moreán, which you can watch below.
Discussing the songwriting process behind “Planet: Carrion”, guitarist Dan Gargiulo comments: “The writing process for ‘Planet: Carrion’, and the song itself, are pretty different for us. The riffs were co-written by Sam and myself, and during the writing session we bounced ideas off one another and ended up with a song that stands out from more typical AB fare. Just harmonically alone, it’s more experimental than usual. There are notes that sour the consonance of melodic sounding riffs, and we used chord changes that we hadn’t tread upon yet. It’s also our slowest song, until the end where it kind of explodes. Personally I think it’s a good pick for an early release, as it may surprise longtime fans with how it breaks from tradition.”
Talking about the concept behind the video, editor Alex Moréan adds: “Exploring the idea of a dying planet is something that is sadly very relevant to our generation, so I chose to look at it through the eyes of said planet and go beyond the usual scope. A barren wasteland is what we leave behind, but what comes after that? In this case, Planet Carrion is the aftermath of the aftermath.“
Tracklist:
The Wandering Star Prion
Quantum Malignancies
Obsidian Agents
Deciphering the Anachronistic Tongues of the Relic Satellites
Planet: Carrion
Against the Furthest Reaches of the Light
Cosmic Death Church
Solar Ark
Antillia (in Chromatic Aberration)
Space and time transform their passengers; all boundaries are permeable. ARTIFICIAL BRAIN wrestles at length with this reality on “Antillia”. It’s nine tales of cosmic woe repeatedly invoking images of invasion and penetration: strange diseases filter down from the sky; pollutants corrupt the water and soil; medical nanobots trigger cancerous plagues; alien subversives undermine terrestrial governments. Again and again, humans are defiled and transformed as they struggle to navigate the sea of stars.
ARTIFICIAL BRAIN itself has been similarly transmuted by their local environment. After a period of operation as a six-person international collective, the band has established a new base of operations in Richmond, Virginia. In doing so, they have absorbed some local contaminants of their own in the form of vocalist Mike Paparo (Inter Arma) and drummer Alex Tomlin (Battlemaster). Rounding out the lineup for the new era of the band are the founding-member core of guitarist Dan Gargiulo and bassist Samuel Smith along with most-recent guitarist Oleg Zalman. Other satellites in the band’s orbit remain familiar, like recurring guest vocalist Paulo Pangutalan (Miasmatic Necrosis) and longtime ally Ian Jacyszyn (Aeviterne), who delivered Antillia’s mix – a marvel of gritty, lived-in detail, as impeccably designed as the bridge of the space freighter Nostromo in Ridley Scott’s Alien.
The core premise of ARTIFICIAL BRAIN’s music remains consistent, too: a grafting of sinuous, futuristic black metal melody onto a dense and imposing death metal skeleton. Antillia brings a new degree of urgency to this distinctive formula. It is their shortest and most aggressive album to date; its blastbeat-laden cacophony is by turns punctuated by riotous solos and shrouded by a nimbus of hazy textures.
Despite its ferocious clamor, Antillia’s primary emotional affect is melancholic, even wistful. A sense of loss and surrender permeates the record, most strikingly articulated by its title track’s ode to a homeworld irretrievably abandoned to the void: “Was it ever real? Was it ever real?” For Artificial Brain, the future has ceased to serve as a repository for optimistic dreams. It is here, now, in all its horror, visiting itself upon our bodies and minds, whether we like it or not.
“Antillia” was recorded/mixed by Ian Jacyszyn (Miasmatic Necrosis, Aeviterne) and mastered by Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts. Defeated Sanity etc.). Artwork by Fleshflies.
The album will be out November 13 on Profound Lore Records and is available for pre-order HERE.
ARTIFICIAL BRAIN are: Mike Paparo – Vocals Dan Gargiulo – Guitars Oleg Zalman – Guitars Samuel Smith – Bass Alex Tomlin – Drums
Riding high off their first tour of Europe and the United Kingdom in more than a decade, the two-time Canadian Grammy winners Anciients are excited to announce their newest member, Justin Hagberg.
A member of 3 Inches of Blood, Ritual Dictates and The Organist, Hagberg played keyboards on Anciients’ latest album Beyond the Reach of the Sun, which won a JUNO Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Anciients, from providing synths on their latest record to performing live with them”, Justin Hagberg says. “They’re all incredible musicians and, above all, brothers. I’m truly honored that they’ve invited me to officially join them as they enter their next phase”.
“It all began when we decided to cover an Alan Parsons’ song” Anciients vocalist and guitarist Kenny Cook says in regards to Hagberg playing on the band’s cover of “Some Other Time”. “We asked Justin if he’d like to be a part of the recording, and within a few hours, he sent us 15 tracks of keys and synths that sounded perfect for the song. From there, I sent him a few demos for songs from what was to become Beyond the Reach of the Sun and asked if he’d be into contributing anything. We were all blown away with what he added to the songs and are excited to expand upon the last record with him in the fold from the ground floor for our next one. We are very happy to announce Justin as a permanent member moving forward”.
To celebrate, Anciients are releasing an official visualizer for their recent re-recording of “Humanist”. Originally recorded for the band’s debut EP, Snakebeard, in 2011, the song was later included as a bonus track on their beloved first full-length, 2013’s Heart of Oak.
Watch the visualizer for the 2026 re-recorded version of “Humanist”:
The visualizer for “Humanist” (Re-Recorded) was created by Spencer Palmerston.
Tracklist 1. Forbidden Sanctuary (8:16) 2. Despoiled (5:19) 3. Is It Your God (7:07) [WATCH] 4. Melt the Crown (7:08) [WATCH] 5. Cloak of the Vast and Black (6:20) [WATCH] 6. Celestial Tyrant (5:52) 7.Beyond Our Minds (4:12) 8. The Torch (4:13) 9. Candescence (4:10) 10. In the Absence of Wisdom (6:35) [WATCH]
It’s been a rough handful of years for British Columbia-based extremity-laced progressive rockers, Anciients. When the quartet unleashed their Voice of the Void album in 2016, the world appeared to be their oyster and things seemed ripe for the picking. They were coming off the success of their Heart of Oak debut from 2013, its ascendancy due in large part to a collective uptick in interest for involved, forward-thinking music. The public had moved beyond toe-dipping and tire-kicking, and were instead doing headfirst dives into exploring the likes of Opeth, Mastodon, Baroness, The Ocean, Intronaut and others who originally hailed from the extreme music underground, but had since grown, matured and scrubbed behind their ears to include heaping and healthy chunks from the outskirts of their record collections and influence pools.
The Band That Auto-Correct Loves to Fuck With™ shared stages with everyone from High on Fire and Goatwhore to Boris and Lamb of God, were in the midst of a European tour when they discovered they were JUNO Award (Canadian Grammy equivalent) winners in the heavy metal/hard rock category. The world was ready to accept Anciients into its welcoming arms. Anciients was gearing up to employ takeover methods, specifically their brand of thunderous rhythms and labyrinthine riffing bolstered by a road warrior mentality. And then, the momentum petered out and the band seemingly fell off the face of the earth.
Today, Anciients are ready and poised to resume their spirited quest for heavy metal paramountcy. There’s no doubt the band is back and with a stunning and beautiful collection of ten songs on offer in the form of new and third album, Beyond the Reach of the Sun, they are positioning to reestablish themselves as a dominant force for those who love windmilling their tresses around thoughtful tempo changes, complex harmonic layers and driving power chord shifting. But what the hell happened and where did they disappear to?
“Basically,” explains guitarist/vocalist Kenny Cook, “right before Voice of the Void was recorded, my wife had our first kid. She ended up having heart complications and almost passed away from it. We recorded the last record and once it came out, I was kind of just focusing on her, dealing with her health issues and keeping that in check. I wasn’t at the stage where I could be gone for half a year, especially with a new kid. Long story short, she’s happy and healthy now, but dealing with family issues was the main priority. It was a bit of a road.”
Adding to that bit of Anciients camp turmoil, guitarist/co-vocalist/co-founding member, Chris Dyck and the band parted ways in January of 2017. This left a gaping lineup hole at an inopportune juncture in the band’s timeline. Not only did Cook have to deal with the absence of his long-term song and lyric writing partner, but Dyck was also someone he had been splitting vocal duties with since the pair formed the band in 2009. And then, while helping his wife with her recovery, raising their new born and “because we wanted to raise our son in a small town environment,” the Cook family uprooted to Columbia-Shuswap four hours east of the Vancouver area, where drummer Mike Hannay, Brock MacInnes (Dyck’s replacement) and brand spanking new bassist Rory O’Brien still reside.
“We knew Brock from other bands he’d been in and we knew he’d be a great fit,” explains Cook. “He actually filled in for Chris on a tour we did back in 2015. As far as the vocals, I just found myself picking up the slack on both ends. It felt somewhat natural, it was definitely different. Doing the lyrics myself for the first time was somewhat daunting, but it was also something done out of necessity. But even when Chris was in the band I handled 80-90% of the vocals anyway, so it didn’t change all that much.”
Then, that whole COVID-19 thing you probably heard about once or twice hit in 2020 and put another restraining bolt on Anciients’ activity, especially touring as the Canadians found themselves dealing with stricter travel restrictions and mandates than many other countries; most notably, not being able to cross the border for almost two years. Once the dust settled, Cook had to adjust to being the lone vocalist and how that impacted the material he was writing while navigating being creative with distance between Anciients’ members for the first time. Not a biggie, as in-person writing sessions are more of a rarity these days, but because of the time elapsed since Voices of the Void, things/interests/influences changed and the band ended up scrapping half of an album’s worth of material and starting fresh. When they put their heads down at the end of 2021 with the focus being Beyond the Reach of the Sun, what was revealed a year later was more streamlined and slithery, more chest-thumpingly direct, more epic and triumphant sounding. Riffs come in explosive layered packets. Leads, harmonies and melodies are more on par with wind-tussled mountain tops instead of sweaty bar shows and the band moves with finely honed, martial accuracy as conducted by Hannay’s rocket-in-the-pocket staccato swing and accents.
Songs like “The Torch” blaze with the shirtless glisten of ‘70s stadium rock power. “Cloak of the Vast and Black” swirls and whirls with a combination of hardcore intensity, grunge groove and expansive six-string parries. “In the Absence of Wisdom” is a hurricane-sized maelstrom of classic and prog rock elevated to grandiosity by a return to their growling sludge/death early years as the song/album concludes. The album’s first single, “Melt the Crown” mixes cues from legendary fellow hosers Rush and Harlequin, turn-of-the-millennium post-metal and the most psychedelic corners of the Rise Above Records roster.
“The new record has a lot more of our rock side,” Cook offers, “and leans towards those elements of our sound and personalities, whereas Voice of the Void was pretty crushing all the way through. With the new material we’ve tried to add more dynamics to the music and give the songs more room to breathe.”
Album opener “Forbidden Sanctuary” is the soundtrack to exploration, of new worlds and sonic arrangement as sine-wave guitars pull from vintage Mercyful Fate covens and Krautrock communes with synths opening up novel textural avenues, as they do on the ethereal wispiness and space rock/sci-fi soundscapes of the instrumental “Candescence.” Beyond the Reach of the Sunsees synths and keyboards making their first appearance on an Anciients record and were played by producer/mixer Jesse Gander and Justin Hagberg at the former’s Rain City Recorders studio. In addition to augmenting the album with his skill on the black and whites, Hagberg — a member of the recently reunited 3 Inches of Blood — also helped Anciients navigate a significant last-minute hurdle, one that threatened to pull the reins back on their comeback roar.
“We lost our bass player literally a month before we were going in to record and were kind of up shit’s creek. Justin also plays in a band called Ritual Dictates with Rory and is the one who brought his name up.”
O’Brien, a former member of Vancouver’s Bushwhacker, was absolutely interested when approached by Anciients.
“We got lucky and he saved our asses at the last minute.”
Cook stepped up to the challenge of being the sole lyricist to drape Beyond the Reach of the Sun in deeply personal expressions of the inner turmoil, fear and isolation he’d experienced in himself and saw in others over the past few years. There were moments where he didn’t know whether loved ones were going to pull through and what life was going to look like were tragedy come to pass. Mental health and people living life without being able to see any light at the end of the tunnel became a very prevalent theme to tracks like “Despoiled” and “Beyond Our Minds.” And while the line that became the album’s title is taken from a David Attenborough-narrated Planet Earth documentary, it speaks more to the coming and going of despondency when one doesn’t know how dark the darkness is going to get, as in “Is It Your God,” which pulls from the manifestation of grief and how it can shatter belief systems. “That one is a little more personal to me and my situation,” Cook says somberly. “I had a good friend of mine from when I was younger pass away from cancer. His mother was super-religious and there were ideas taken from her questioning how could something like that happen to her when she had such a strong faith.”
The title and themes of stripped away hope and piled on anguish and tumult were parlayed into the album’s spectacular cover art. Created by Adam Burke (Nightjar Illustrations), the drawing is part-pulp novel cover, part-Franzetta landscape, part-sci-fi movie poster and all a vast illustration one can easily lose themselves in while the record spins in the background.
“We gave him the concept and basic outline of how we wanted the cover to look and he took it to a whole new dimension. It turned out pretty wild!”
With all being said and done, Anciients have returned! They stand ready to ascend the prog metal ladder and get back to doing what they do best with a weighty and dense, but wholly accessible, album. It’s a collection of ten songs that possesses the ability to have those furiously banging heads also tapping into their power of self-reflection and contemplation to ponder the finality of existence, the value of life and their place in the universe.
“Totally! We’re going to take as many of the opportunities that come to us. The hiatus is over and I think with the new members and everyone being on the same page we’re ready to get out there as soon as possible. We missed out on a huge block after the last record, so we’ve got to make up for lost time. Now that everyone is happy and healthy, we plan to hit it hard.”
Finnish death-grind duo GOATBURNER have unleashed a brand new music video for “Leaf Blower”, taken from their recently released EP “Time of Danger”, which arrived on October 9th, 2026, via Time To Kill Records.
Combining crushing death metal riffs, abrasive grindcore intensity and filthy sludge-driven grooves, “Leaf Blower” captures the band’s raw and uncompromising approach to extreme music.
“Time of Danger” brings together material from the band’s early releases, combining the 2022 “Danger” EP and their self-released 2018 debut “Time to Burn”. Newly mastered in 2026 by Keijo “Kaos” Niinimaa, the six-track EP gives these recordings a renewed presence, introducing them to a wider audience while preserving the raw energy and underground spirit of the original versions.
Formed in 2017 by Jaakko “Spider” Forsman and Keijo “Kaos” Niinimaa (ROTTEN SOUND), GOATBURNER have established themselves as a formidable two-piece force, delivering a massive wall of sound built on primitive grooves, relentless aggression and crushing heaviness.
The release also features cover artwork painted by Forsman himself, reflecting the themes of uncertainty, danger and death that run throughout the record.
Following the release of “Time of Danger”, GOATBURNER are gearing up for an extensive European run as part of the legendary Campaign For Musical Destruction Tour 2026, alongside grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH, death metal veterans MASTER and BRAT.
Kicking off on November 6th in Nürnberg, Germany, the tour will bring the four bands to 26 cities across Europe throughout November and early December, with stops in Germany, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Eastern and Southern Europe, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
With members also known for their work in ROTTEN SOUND, RATFACE, MORBID EVILS, SKULMAGOT and PIKAKASSA, GOATBURNER are no strangers to the European underground circuit. Having built a reputation for their intense live performances, the duo are ready to bring their devastating wall of sound to audiences across the continent.
CAMPAIGN FOR MUSICAL DESTRUCTION TOUR 2026 NAPALM DEATH / MASTER / BRAT / GOATBURNER
Elevate Records / Virtuoso Records announces the release of “Starbearer”, the debut EP from the power metal project of American guitarist David McDaniel, known online as thedavidshreds. The record is available now in digital format on all major platforms.
Four tracks that blend epic melodies, virtuoso guitar work and fantasy storytelling. Rooted in the power metal tradition, Starbearer pushes beyond its most familiar boundaries: shred passages, progressive influences, darker and heavier moments, and cinematic atmospheres coexist in a sound that moves from heroic and triumphant to aggressive and intricate, without losing its own identity.
The reference point is the narrative grandeur of bands like Gloryhammer and Rhapsody, with a more varied approach in which every song serves a specific purpose within an evolving fantasy story. Behind the project is a professional guitarist and longtime creator, whose instrumental background gives technical solidity to a work that remains focused on memorable songs and on building a narrative world.
The EP is the first chapter of a larger story, which will continue with new music.
British thrash metal crew HELGRIND have signed with Time To Kill Records for the release of their new album, “Shadows of Souls”.
Featuring ten new tracks, the record captures a band shaped by decades of experience both in the studio and on stages across the UK and Europe, delivering a focused, hard-hitting take on thrash metal. Its tracklist alternates between high-speed assaults and more elaborate compositions, with a notably bleak atmosphere reflecting the troubled times we live in. Meticulous riff work and seasoned performances drive the album, drawing on the classic traditions of American and German thrash while injecting leaner, more direct passages with a punk-inspired edge.
“Shadows of Souls” marks the next chapter in a career that began in 2000 and has seen HELGRIND steadily build their reputation through releases and relentless touring.
Further details about the album, including its release date and first audio previews, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Biography:
Formed in the UK in 2000, HELGRIND emerged during a period when thrash metal was losing ground in the mainstream, developing an aggressive, punk-inflected take on the genre that helped them establish a loyal following across the British and European underground. After several years of live performances, the band released their debut album, “Denial”, in 2005, laying the foundations for a career built on relentless riffing, uncompromising energy and a strong connection with their audience.
The group continued to refine their sound with the “Fallen Prophet” EP in 2007 and the second full-length, “Religious Persecution”, in 2008, introducing melodic and clean guitar passages alongside their thrash metal foundations. Their third album, “Inquisition”, followed in 2010, while “Insurrection”, written in 2015, was eventually released in 2021 through Metal Rocka Records after a lengthy delay caused by label disagreements.
Extensive touring has remained central to HELGRIND‘s history, taking them across the UK and continental Europe through festival appearances and headline shows. Despite the interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a serious accident that required vocalist Paula Nelson to relearn how to walk, the band returned to the stage in 2022 and continued to build momentum. In 2024, they recorded their fourth studio album, “Shadows of Souls”, a ten-track collection conceived as a fast, heavy and unrelenting statement. New material was road-tested in Germany, Austria and the UK in 2025 and 2026, as the band prepared for their next chapter.
Line-up:
Paula Nelson – Vocals Simon James Ellis – Lead Guitar Rob Stedman-Lloyd – Lead Guitar Michael Worsley – Bass Michael O’Neill – Drums
DEVIHATED is the new industrial horror metal project featuring Sonya Scarlet, vocalist of Theatres Des Vampires and Faz (Semifer / Theatrum Mentis).
Blending industrial and alternative metal with dark electronic textures, DEVIHATED explore the darker corners of the human psyche, confronting fear, obsession and the inner voices that threaten to take control.
Their debut single, “Second Voice,” arrives on October 23, 2026, accompanied by an official music video.
Sonya Scarlet brings her distinctive voice and stage presence, forged through ten internationally released albums with Theatres Des Vampires and extensive touring worldwide. Faz handles music, composition and visual direction, drawing on his experience across black metal, dark ambient, photography and graphic design.
“Second Voice” was recorded and produced by Christian Ice at Temple Of Noise Studios in Rome, Italy, who also handled mixing and mastering.
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
