In celebration of their new album, Invincible Shield, released in March, Judas Priest will embark on an extensive EU tour next year. The Shield of Pain Tour kicks off in summer 2025, with four shows in Germany and two dates in Switzerland, where you can catch them live!
Here’s the complete list of tour dates:
June 14 – Hamar, NO: Tjuvholmen Arena
June 17 – Stuttgart, DE: Schleyerhalle
June 18 – Frankfurt, DE: Hessentag Festival
July 1 – Ferrara, IT: Summer Festival
July 3 – Zurich, CH: Hallenstadion
July 7 – Łódź, PL: Atlas Arena
July 10 – Rättvik, SE: Dalhalla
July 13 – Munich, DE: Olympiahalle
July 15 – Carcassonne, FR: Festival de Carcassonne
July 17 – Sion, CH: Sion Sous Les Etoiles
July 19 – Luxembourg, LU: Rockhal
July 20 – Oberhausen, DE: Rudolf-Weber-Arena
July 5 – Special Guest at the Scorpions 60th Anniversaryconcert, Hanover: Heinz von Heiden Arena
If you want to secure your ticket early, there’s an exclusive presale starting on November 6 at 10 AM. General sale opens on November 8.
Polish black metal icons PATRIARKH (formerly Batushka) embark on a dark and ominous pilgrimage as they unveil the next single from the upcoming concept album, ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ (Lat. PROROK ILJA), out on January 3, 2025 via Napalm Records. Accompanied by an official music video, the new song, entitled “ВЕРШАЛИН IV” (Lat. WIERSZALIN IV), weaves the sacred-inspired vocals of Eliza Sacharczuk with liturgical melodies, building into a storm of dark choirs and unforgettably intense harsh vocals.
Building on the critical success of Hospodi (2019) and relentless touring around the globe, PATRIARKH brings a renewed vision and profound storytelling to their Napalm Records debut. This eight-track journey immerses listeners in the true story of Eliasz Klimowicz, the enigmatic Prophet Ilja, set against the dramatic historical backdrop of the 1930s and ’40s. Deeply rooted in Eastern Orthodox traditions, PATRIARKH masterfully merges black and doom metal with haunting religious themes, conjuring an atmosphere as dark as it is mesmerizing.
Make sure to pre-order your copy of ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ (Lat. PROROK ILJA) now and check out the thrilling music video for “ВЕРШАЛИН IV” (Lat. WIERSZALIN IV) below!
PATRIARKH on the new single “ВЕРШАЛИН IV”: “This is the most Oriental sounding song on our new album. The beautiful monody that runs throughout the entire piece is deeply influenced by Greek and Romanian traditions, which are integral to Orthodoxy. In our new music, we aim to showcase different aspects of Orthodoxy. Just as the Prophet Ilja journeyed to Kronsztadt, we traveled far for musical inspiration to create a psalm in honor of the New Jerusalem that our prophet was building.
This song features our long-time singing teacher, Eliza Sacharczuk. We have been collaborating with her since 2016, continuously improving our singing skills through lessons and consultations. Our choice was intentional; Eliza has a truly unique voice. Listen and see for yourself!”
ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ details a true story that happened in the band’s home area of Podlasie, in the village of Grzybowszczyzna, in the 1930s and 40s. The album takes the listener into the world of Eliasz Klimowicz, the titular Prophet Ilja, an illiterate peasant who was the leader of the Orthodox Grzybowska Sect, active until the 1960s, cultivating and transmitting the history of the self-proclaimed prophet. PATRIARKH spread their gospel by using an arsenal of folk instruments, such as tagelharpa, mandolin, mandocello, hurdy gurdy and stringed dulcimer, and worked with a symphony orchestra and choirs to give their new creations the most organic and vivid feeling possible. As is trademark with PATRIARKH’s music, Orthodox sacredness is mixed with black and doom metal, now largely enriched with folk music, neo dark folk, and even film music. The band utilizes the entire palette of Orthodox music, venturing into the areas of Byzantine monody, liturgical chant and Russian polyphony, neatly adapting folk and liturgical melodies to their own style.
PATRIARKH on the new album: “With this new release, we are starting a new chapter in our history – not only is our name changing, but our music is also undergoing a natural evolution. The story on the album encouraged us to get out of our comfort zone, we reached for means that we had not used before in our music. Many of you will wonder if this is still black metal? Or is it even metal? Radio play, audiobook, theater, film soundtrack, folk music, performance… All these terms will fit here. Some will hate, others will love…”
The lyrical side of ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ is an interesting mix of theater and pastoralism. PATRIARKH uses fragments of texts from the theater play “Prorok Ilja” and draws from the messages contained in the works of Włodzimierz Pawluczuk, combining it with folk and liturgical texts. On ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ, listeners can hear various languages – and Polish for the first time ever! The album was recorded in January and May 2024 at Tall Pine Records (Behemoth, Zalewski, Afromental), Heinrich House (Behemoth, Vesania, Hate), Wem Studio (Kasa Chorych, Lukasyno, Cira) and Radio Białystok studio. Mixing and mastering was handled by Wojciech Wiesławski at Hertz Studio (Vader, Behemoth, Decapitated), and production was helmed by band mastermind and leading vocalist Bartłomiej “Варфоломей” Krysiuk. “ПРОРОК ИЛИЯis an album full of emotions, sentimentalism and folklore. It’s pastoral, lyrical, epic, multidimensional and multicolored, just like my Podlasie is multicolored,” says Варфоломей. Dive into the deepest of all shadows with this black metal masterpiece and join PATRIARKH on this intriguing ride!
ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ tracklisting: 1. WIERSZALIN I (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН I (Cyrillic) 2. WIERSZALIN II (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН II (Cyrillic) 3. WIERSZALIN III (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН III (Cyrillic) 4. WIERSZALIN IV (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН IV (Cyrillic) 5. WIERSZALIN V (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН V (Cyrillic) 6. WIERSZALIN VI (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН VI (Cyrillic) 7. WIERSZALIN VII (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН VII (Cyrillic) 8. WIERSZALIN VIII (Lat.) – ВЕРШАЛИН VIII (Cyrillic)
PATRIARKH Live 2024 Asia & Australia Prophecy 2024 29.11.24 TH – Bangkok / Mr.Fox Livehouse 01.12.24 HK – Hong Kong / MOM Livehouse 03.12.24 CN – Shanghai / MAO Livehouse 04.12.24 CN – Beijing / Omnispace 06.12.24 KO – Seoul / West Bright Hall 07.12.24 TW – Taipei / Jack Studio 09.12.24 JP – Tokyo / Shibuya Club Asia 12.12.24 NZ – Auckland / Tuning Fork 13.12.24 AU – Melbourne / Max Watts
NOWY WIERSZALIN Poland 2025 03.01.25 PL – Łódź / Wytwórnia – SINFONIA ORTHODOXIA w/symphonic orchestra and male choir 22.02.25 PL – Krosno / Rock Klub Iron 07.03.25 PL – Wrocław / Transformator 08.03.25 PL – Zabrze / CK Wiatrak 09.03.25 PL – Kraków / HYPE PARK 14.03.25 PL – Lublin / Fabryka Kultury Zgrzyt 15.03.25 PL – Olsztyn / Scena Zgrzyt 16.03.25 PL – Warszawa / Klub Proxima 17.03.25 PL – Białystok / Zmiana Klimatu 21.03.25 PL – Gdynia / Podwórko.art 22.03.25 PL – Szczecin / Kosmos 23.03.25 PL – Poznań / 2progi
From the birthplace of post-punk and goth rock, London’s legendary Batcave club, comes the first ever full-length collection of recordings by one of the bands that defined the era, Sexbeat!
Formed by Batcave DJ Hamish MacDonald, SEX BEAT never recorded a full studio album. But their 1984 recording of the scene-defining “Sexbeat” remains one of the crucial dance tracks of the Batcave era, and was elected #9 on Rolling Stone‘s Top 50 goth tracks. Sex Beat also cut another of the year’s most electrifying singles, the beat-driven, chant-laden “Pump,” and they were a constant presence on the live scene of the day, not only at the Batcave but elsewhere, too.
Releasing on November 29, Live at the Batcave and Other Dark Places captures the Sexbeat experience as its most torrid. But, if you can’t wait that long, there’s also a new single, the audience favorite “Girls,” recorded at London’s Lyceum in 1984.
Lost for decades, these historic live recordings offer a livid portrait of one of the era’s most pivotal acts – frontman MacDonald, bassist Sophie Chéry, drummer Linzi Light – in front of one of the most loyal audiences.
Hamish says, “We recorded most of these tracks live on stage in London in 1984, me, Sophie and Linzi, with various guitarists. Strung out on the mainstream rush, Sex Pistols’ backline, wearing leather, lace and Lycra, we took our chance. It was trash glam punk, a metropolitan mysticism, born out of what we created in those early Batcave days. It was girls and boys and all the rhymes and reasons. We rocked.”
“Pump,” of course is among the album’s highlights, and so is “Sexbeat,” which despite its pedigree, waited 40 years for release (as a standalone single on purple Cleopatra Records vinyl). But there is so much more here to relish, more than a dozen songs that fans have waited four decades to hear again – and presented here with full digital remastering, and exclusive (and revealing) liners by Hamish MacDonald himself.
“Furiously and Curiouser,” “Dogs Made Love,” “Voodoo Man,” “Violent Elation,” “We Will Come And See You” – these are the songs around which the Gothic Rock movement of the day evolved, and whose influence hung heavy across all who saw and heard the band.
Live at the Batcave and Other Dark Places will ensure that Sexbeat’s audience is set to grow even larger, and their memory spread even further. The beat goes on forever.
Norwegian Dark Metal Queen LIV KRISTINE announces her new studio album ‘Amor Vincit Omnia’ for April 25th 2025 on Metalville Records.
The follow-up to the successful 2023 album ‘River Of Diamonds’ was produced by Sascha Dannenberg at Twilight Sound Studio. Andy Classen (Stage One Studio) is responsible for mastering.
‘Amor Vincit Omnia’ was recorded by Liv Kristine (lead vocals), Sascha Dannenberger (guitars), Tobias Glier (bass), Roland Bliesener (keyboards), Björn Etzel (drums) and Michael Espenæs (guest vocals).
To this day, Liv Kristine, with her angelic soprano voice, has been an inspiration for numerous subsequent bands and artists.
Since she was fifteen years old, Liv has been performing with ‘Theatre Of Tragedy’, and later with ‘Leaves’s Eyes’ and under her own name, on stages large and small in over sixty countries, enchanting audiences with her clear and multi-faceted voice. Authenticity and heart always come first, both for her as a person and as an artist.
TOUR DATES 15.11.2024 DE Übach-Palenberg – Rockfabrik / Support: Splaindor 16.11.2024 DE Mannheim – European Dark Dance Treffen 30.11.2024 DE Nagold – Alte Seminarturnhalle
“Amor Vincet Omina” Album Release Shows 2025 25.04.2025 NL Uden – De Pul 26.04.2025 DE Dorsten – Vinylcafe Schwarzes Gold
GODSLAVE have released a documentary film to mark the band’s 15th anniversary. The movie is called “Hinter der Kulisse – ein Blick in die Seele einer Metalband” (Behind the scenes – a look into the soul of a metal band) and can be watched below.
2024 is a special year for the guys from GODSLAVE in Saarbrücken – they are celebrating their 15th birthday, which almost didn’t happen … the 15 years have been hard-earned and that should be celebrated!
In their own documentary: HINTER DER KULISSE – The relentlessly honest look at the people behind the metal band GODSLAVE.
…when the common dream, for which you have bled so much, threatens to fail – what do you do then…?
A documentary that takes you behind the scenes of the metal band GODSLAVE: …unpleasant – gruelling – relentlessly honest! A documentary that shows what otherwise remains hidden: the people behind the musicians, who are happy, who suffer, who can no longer but still want to! A documentary deliberately without glitz & glamour – about brotherhood and humanity!
This documentary is a vehement statement in favour of an empathetic approach to mental health in the metal scene – the five musicians lay their souls and their vulnerability on the table for all to see. Only within the band they were often not so open with each other and that almost cost them their common dream…
GODSLAVE want to make a contribution to metal musicians being more open with each other and thus being able to maintain their shared passion – with a lot of joy in the music and the community. At the same time, GODSLAVE also show all fans the struggles that have to be fought behind the scenes to make a CD or a show possible in the first place.
The documentary and further information on what GODSLAVE will be releasing as part of their birthday celebrations can also be found at www.godslave.de/15years
In We Fall are a compelling Alternative Metal band known for creating a distinct and exotic sound bursting with flavors of Alternative Metal, Post Grunge, and Progressive Metal. The band just premiered a mysterious and somber music video entitled “Winter Shades” which is the first single & video taken from their upcoming full-length album Inner Self which will be released on December 13, 2024 via Eclipse Records. The album was produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Daniel Moreira at EvoluiSom Studios. The music video for “Winter Shades” was directed by Coalblur.
“We thought Winter Shades would be a great track to shoot a video for, figuring it would really translate well into the visual domain given its sombre and ominous ambience”, says lead vocalist & guitarist Daniel Moreira. “The elements we thought were essential to a visual portrayal of this song were the presence of the band, and the specific color scheme we used in it which had to relate to the general vibe of the song or else it wouldn’t make sense. Shooting the video was a really cool experience. The whole process was as fun as well as efficient and the Coalblur team were really able to capture the band’s energy performing on camera.”
In We Fall’s debut album titled Inner Self, is a concept record and the songs are magnificent fireworks displays bursting with stories that speak to the shock of betrayal, the risk of blind trust, the horrors of war, and the tragedy of putting our fists against the world. Altogether, the band shows us how much we are one, learning together how to feel, how to fall, and how we can finally rise. Inner Self has something for everyone, like a magical prism exploding with colors. Some of the song-introductions are flavored with grunge, just as many of the verse-riffs have heavy metal backbone. Often, the vocals possess an alternate flair that other times weave satisfying harmonies that remind us of the best album-oriented rock of the ages. The drums are complex, tight, and surprising, delivered in clever mixed meter and also a straight four/four that makes us want to stand up, stamp down, clap our hands over our heads, and shout at the moon. And for the utmost in blissful diversity, the platform lead guitar solos provide to us an electrifying smorgasbord including profound melodies, soaring runs, heart-breaking bends, and blistering sweeps, giving beginners a mission and the most dexterous shred-wizards – beautiful nightmares. Inner Self will be released on December 13, 2024 by Eclipse Records.
In We Fall lineup Daniel Moreira (vocals & guitar), Luis Almeida (bass guitar), Frederico Lopes (drums), Carlos Carneiro (guitar)
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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 ) 