Out now on Virtuoso Records, ‘Virtus Absentiae’, the electrifying single by Raffaello Indri, taken from the highly anticipated album “Royal Wizard”, set to release in March in both physical and digital formats.
‘Virtus Absentiae’ is available on digital platforms and as a video, offering an exciting glimpse of what’s to come in the epic “Royal Wizard”.
Raffaello is the current guitarist for IT’sALIE, Adamantis Guitar Orchestra, Frankenstein Rooster, and Never Say Duo. He has also been a prominent member of numerous other bands across various genres, including Elvenking, Burnin’ Dolls, Garden Wall, Rain, The 666, East Cargo, Deja, and After Globul. Over his career, he has released more than 30 albums with renowned record labels such as AFM Records, Rock of Angels, Folkest Dischi, and Lizard Records.
His extraordinary talent has taken him to major festivals and iconic venues around the world, performing in countries such as the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Colombia, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal, Austria, Poland, Israel, England, Slovakia, and Spain.
Photo by Tina Korhonen, astrophotography courtesy of Giancarlo Erra
As ORANGE GOBLIN approach their 30th anniversary, the band have announced that 2025 will mark their final year of activity—for now. The legendary UK heavy metal band, renowned for their uncompromising DIY ethos and electrifying live performances, shared this emotional decision with their fans, expressing gratitude for the support that has fuelled their extraordinary three-decade career.
In a heartfelt statement, Orange Goblin reflected on their journey:
As Orange Goblin enters its 30th year of existence, we have made the collective decision that 2025 will be our last. Maybe not forever and who knows what could be possible further down the line. It’s been a wild 30 years and we have had some incredible experiences and are left with magical memories. For that we are all truly grateful. We started the band with no real preconception of what it eventually became, we started as bored teenagers with a mutual love of Heavy Metal, Classic Rock and Punk Rock. We feel very fortunate that we have been able to travel all over the world, numerous times, and have made a network of friends all around the globe. We are proud of everything we have accomplished together, we’ve always maintained a DIY ethic and done things our own way and on our terms. We have never compromised to fit into any specific scene and we feel we leave a very strong legacy of 10 studio albums, each one a milestone that marks exactly where we were at each point of our journey. Of this, we are fiercely proud. It’s not been an easy decision for any of us, we have all given 30 years of our lives to this incredible band, but we feel that now is the right time for us to focus our attention on our families and other interests outside the band. We will of course be honouring all the shows and festivals we currently have planned for 2025, as well as a few other things that we have in the pipeline, but these could be your last chance to catch Orange Goblin live, wherever you are, for a while!
We would like to express our gratitude to every single person that has made this possible for us, there are too many to name personally, but especially to our wives and children that have supported us no matter what, our former band mates, Martyn and Pete, the current and former road crew that have kept the show on the road for so long, despite us never making things easy for them. But last and by no means least, we thank you, the Orange Goblin fans that have been the bedrock of everything for us. Nothing we have done would’ve been possible without the fans that have bought the albums, the merchandise, the show tickets and ALWAYS showed us and made us feel just how appreciated we are. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts…………Orange Fuckin’ Goblin Baby! End of transmission.
– Ben, Joe, Chris & Harry – Orange Goblin
ORANGE GOBLIN FINAL TOUR DATES Fri 07 Mar – Block 33, Thessaloniki, GREECE Sat 08 Mar – Heavy Psych Sounds Fest, Athens, GREECE Sun 09 Mar – Mixtape 5, Sofia, BULGARIA Sat 24 May – Maryland Deathfest, Baltimore, USA Fri 13 Jun – Into The Grave Festival, Leeuwarden, THE NETHERLANDS Thu 19 Jun – Hellfest, Clisson, FRANCE Fri 20 Jun – Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, BELGIUM Thu 31 Jul – Rockstadt Extreme Fest, Rasnov, ROMANIA Sat 02 Aug – Wacken Open Air Festival, Wacken, GERMANY Sun 03 Aug – Sylak Open Air Festival, Saint Maurice de Gourdans, FRANCE Wed 06 Aug – Brutal Assault Festival, Jaromer, CZECH REPUBLIC Fri 08 Aug – Bloodstock Open Air Festival, Catton Hall, UK Fri 15 Aug – Frantic Fest, Francavilla Al Mare, ITALY Fri 05 Sep – Summer Dying Loud Festival, Lodzki
For tickets to Orange Goblin’s final shows and updates on potential future projects, visit www.orangegoblinofficial.com. An all-out, mammoth farewell concert is currently in the works for December 2025 in London with more details to follow.
New Model Army announce their upcoming live album, ‘Live SO36’, to be released on March 28th, 2025, through earMUSIC.
Raw, unfiltered, and brimming with energy, ‘Live SO36’ captures New Model Army at their most visceral. This is the full electrifying performance, recorded on July 16th, 2022 at Berlin’s legendary SO36 venue, with 19 Songs, mixing both fan-favourites such as ‘The Hunt’, ‘Vengeance’ and ‘Poison Street’ with rarer songs from all eras of their long history – and can be seen as a companion piece to their 2023 live release ‘Sinfonia’, that had been recorded the day before.
When the idea of doing a New Model Army concert with a full orchestra at Berlin’s magnificent Tempodrom venue was first floated, we had a thought: that if we were going to do something so extravagant, we should also do the exact opposite on the same weekend. So, we booked the following two evenings at Berlin’s legendary Punk Rock sweatbox, the SO36 in Kreuzberg, and returned to being the simplest, stripped-down version of New Model Army we could be – without orchestra, keyboards or double drums. Over the two nights, we performed 38 different songs (to add to the 21 performed with the orchestra), with the intention that the weekend should be seen as a whole. The Sinfonia project, in all its magnificence, was released in 2023. Now, at last, comes the sweaty, full-on rock and roll. Both nights were recorded although only the first was filmed. Here it is!’– New Model Army
‘Live SO36’ will be available as ‘2CD+DVD Digipak’, including the full show audio and video, and ‘Black 2LP Gatefold’. The first print-run of both formats exclusively include an audio download for the unreleased show 2, recorded one day later on July 17th, 2022.
MOTÖRHEAD, the multi-generational soundtrack and lifestyle for millions worldwide, will celebrate their 50th year in 2025, and in honor of this historic milestone, a series of releases and events will take place throughout the year. Having played live to millions of fans, and sold over 25 million albums in their career, the Grammy-Award winning Motörhead are as popular as ever as their golden jubilee commences. In 2024, the band enjoyed a brand new UK top 10 single in October with “Lawman”, racked up over 320 million streams globally, numbered 20 million listeners on Spotify, and garnered over 112 million views on YouTube. And starting with a very special release to be announced in May, the year 2025 will be a celebration that confirms Motörhead is For Life and Lemmy is Forever.
“It’s incredible to know that our music, and all it stands for, continues to resonate with so many people,” says guitarist Phil Campbell, “of course we’re enormously grateful to still be appreciated like we are, and truthfully, the music remains as vital and important as ever because there’s a unique energy and honesty to it that we will all always need.”
“It’s a remarkable story, the connection we have with our fans can only be described as family and it’s so exciting to see the family still growing,” says Mikkey Dee, “But it also makes sense, because people know who we are and what the music is about. Motörhead has always stood for doing it OUR way, it’s timeless, and continues to inspire people to take that path.”
Kicking off the celebrations will be special 50th anniversary, limited vinyl editions of Motörhead’s breakthrough albums; Overkill, Bomber and Ace Of Spades. These are all cut as half speed masters, pressed as special colour configurations and all include an exclusive poster and released on 28th February. Preorder here https://motorhead.lnk.to/50vinylOBAPR
Then on May 8th, International Motörhead Day, a very special Lemmy Forever ashes event will take place – the unveiling of a Lemmy statue in his birthplace of Stoke-On-Trent. The sculptor of the piece is renowned British artist Andy Edwards (who has previously done statues of The Beatles, Bob Marley, and The Bee Gees among others), and Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell will place the ashes and lead the celebrations. “This new statue of Lem is special, not just because I share the same birthplace as him or because of how much he personally means to me, but because it’s so important to have a permanent international landmark celebrating him where he was born,” says Edwards. “Lemmy gave me joy, confidence in myself, and energy, and he’s also an avatar of the original spirit and power of Rock n Roll. I really hope it will become a meeting place for people from all over the world to take the journey to.”
“To be able to see Lemmy further immortalized in his place of birth by Andy’s amazing statue is a huge deal,” says manager Todd Singerman. “This man left the building 10 years ago, yet he remains not only with us, but is even more popular than ever. It’s because Lemmy stood for honesty, integrity, inclusion, and making the greatest, loudest rock’n’roll possible. Let’s face it, there is only one Lemmy and the world continues to celebrate him and his music loudly and proudly.”
To whet your appetite for a year of Motörhead celebrations, you can now watch a new, HD version of their first ever TV performance from 25th October 1978 on the BBC’s flagship Top Of The Pops show, performing ‘Louie, Louie’ here https://motorhead.lnk.to/50yearsPR
There will be plenty of other celebrations happening throughout the year, so keep your eyes and ears peeled…and remember…
THE ONLY WAY TO FEEL THE NOISE IS WHEN IT’S GOOD AND LOUD! MOTÖRHEAD FOR LIFE LEMMY FOREVER
NEST OF PLAGUES have released a new music video for ‘Mundane’. The track is about the overwhelming fear of living an ordinary life. You might suffer in isolation for your entire life because you fear the question of whether you’re special or just another puppet. Everyone tries to find excitement and tries to prove that somehow they’re different which makes this thought even more depressing and scary: in a world where everyone is agonizing over their own significance, can anyone actually become significant?
The song’s music video is set in an arcade, where anyone can quit their everyday lives and escape from reality, if even for an hour. You can get lost in the amusement and skip your ruthless thoughts for a while, but if everyone does that, what is actual reality? The artwork of the single represents the ordinary person – the fireman, the policeman, the lonely guy, the young girl lost in the underworld. But among them, there’s the evil rearing its ugly head.
The song is taken from Nest of Plagues’ third concept album ‘Hellsolation’ being released in September 2024. The album deals with social problems and creates a metaphor for the struggles that we all go through every day. Visually the band puts these messages into a dark cyberpunk universe.
With their lyrics, Nest of Plagues reflects on modern social diseases like social anxiety, depression, and the feeling of loneliness that people can collectively feel. Sharing this message, they encourage people to face their mental problems and connect, use the power of community. Bringing a fresh sound to the stage, they expanded from a metalcore sound into groove metal with elements of alternative metal while still adding a little core edge to the mix. Due to their eclectic image and powerful live performances, they bring a little joy and fun where it seems there is only darkness.
Melodic metal powerhouse THE FERRYMEN (Magnus Karlsson, Ronnie Romero, and Mike Terrana) have released their new studio album, “Iron Will”, out now via Frontiers Music Srl. They also share the new single “Above It All”.
Guitarist Magnus Karlsson describes the new single: “Above It All” is probably my favourite song of the Iron Will album, with beautiful lyrics by Jane E Gillard. The chorus is a blend of dual melodies soaring together. And of course, with Ronnie singing his heart out and Mike’s awesome groove it really became something special we can be proud of and hope that you will enjoy! May it move you, inspire you, and lift you… above it all!”
Karlsson also expresses his excitement for the release: “It’s pure fire creating metal with legends like Ronnie and Mike! These tracks hit hard with unrelenting power, but there’s this raw, emotional edge woven into the heaviness that I can’t get enough of. Heavy, honest, and straight from the soul—that’s the vibe we’re bringing”.
“As usual, I just loved singing over Magnus/The Ferrymen songs!! As a singer there is nothing better to work on melodies and lyrics that inspire your performance, but also in real life day by day, and that’s something I strongly believe the fans of the band like the most of this project. Can’t wait for everybody to listen what, once again, is a strong melodic yet heavy album that I am very proud of”, adds vocalist Ronnie Romero.
“Iron Will” Tracklist:
1. Choke Hold 2. Mother Unholy 3. Iron Will 4. Above It All 5. Adrenaline 6. Darkest Storm 7. Dreams And Destiny 8. Dust To Dust 9. The Darkness That Divides 10. Mind Games 11. You’re The Joker
The Ferrymen was formed by masterful Swedish guitarist/songwriter/producer Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear, Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall), awesome vocalist Ronnie Romero (Lords of Black, Sunstorm, Rainow), and thunderous drummer Mike Terrana (Rage, Axel Rudi Pell, etc.), and have become an established name amongst European melodic metal fans after their first three successful albums. Fans should now prepare themselves for album four!
On “Iron Will”, once again, the band take the classic heavy metal sound and combine it with heavier, updated songwriting textures and arrangements. “Iron Will” is certainly a huge shot of adrenaline for all lovers of melodic heavy metal!
Musically, you can expect as usual a very heavy, melodic metal that fuses the songwriting and epic structures of the great Karlsson, who is known for his work with Primal Fear, Allen/Lande, and more, with the huge, powerful vocal approach of Romero, and the driving, explosive drumming of Terrana.
From the high emotional intro of the opening track “Choke Hold”, ready to explode into a powerful melodic metal track, through songs like “Mother Unholy”, “Adrenaline” and the latest track “You’re The Joker”, the album showcases the amazing talent of these three great musicians!
With, once again, stunning artwork courtesy of Stan W. Decker, The Ferrymen’s latest album, “Iron Will”, will take the metal world by storm in 2025!
Line Up: Ronnie Romero – Vocals Mike Terrana – Drums Magnus Karlsson – Guitars
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 