The long-awaited sixth full-length album from Norwegian Prog Rockers MAGIC PIE is on its way. Titled “Maestro”, it is set to be released on Karisma Records on the 16th of May on CD, LP and Digital formats.
As for the three previous Pie albums with Eirikur on vocals, Kim has composed the music for “Maestro”, and Eirikur have done the lyrics and the melodies on top of it. But Kim has his saying on the melodies and sometimes he has some parts already written out. Eirikur explains: To me, the essence of our co-work lies in the fact that he knows his Prog while my main influence is heavy metal, along with some flirting with “The Beatles” and “maestro” David Bowie. This creates something unique (I hope) and gives us a special approach within the prog-rock industry. I have even managed to squeeze in a Beatles title in one of our songs, – look for it!
The new single from the album is released today (03.04) and it’s for the track “Someone Else’s Wannabe”. The band has this to say about it:
Our new single “Someone Else’s Wannabe” has all the high-lighted Magic Pie elements you can ask for. Fast finger-skills, complex vocal-arrangements, along with a little touch of sweet romance. Who could ask for more? Enjoy…
The band has a special welcome this time to the new drummer Martin Utby who has given them new energy with his energetic playing. Mixed by Jacob Holm-Lupo and mastered by Rich Mouser, who tragically lost his home and studio in the fierce fires in the Los Angeles area some few weeks back. The master of the new album delivered from Rich just 2-3 days before the fire. Our thoughts are with you Rich!
With artwork and design by Kim Stenberg, tracklisting on “Maestro” is as follows:
1. Opus Imperfectus Pt.1 – The missing chord 2. By the smoker’s pole 3. Name it to tame it 4. Kiddo 5. Someone else’s wannabe 6. Everyday hero 7. Opus Imperfectus Pt.2 – Maestro
More information about MAGIC PIE, whose lineup is comprised of Kim Stenberg on Guitars and Vocals, Lars Petter Holstad on Bass and Vocals, Eirikur Hauksson on Lead Vocals, Martin Utby on Drums, Eirik Hanssen on Vocals and Erling Henanger on Keyboards and Vocals, can be found at https://www.magicpie.no/ or on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MagicPieOfficial/
Japanese Alt-Rock Visual Kei band XANVALA presents “ANCHOR-EP”. This new release is available in both physical format and digital distribution as from April 2, 2025.
“ANCHOR-EP” features their latest digital single, “ruru”, a charming rock song with a melodic foundation that builds like a pounding heartbeat in anticipation. The EP also includes fiercer re-recordings of the singles “Angel drop” and “Beautiful”, along with two brand-new tracks, “Ark” and “Boku no kamisama”. In addition, it comes with a live DVD with footage from the final date of their “BANQUET” tour 2024.
Like a strong anchor, XANVALA have firmly secured their place in the ever-changing waves of the Japanese Visual Kei scene, establishing themselves as one of the prominent forces of the new generation. The band continues to pushing forward steadily with their high-energy sound and striking performances.
XANVALA is currently gearing up to take the stage at EX Theater Roppongi, for the grand finale in Tokyo, of the “ARK” tour on May 5.
About XANVALA XANVALA is one of the most thrilling emerging acts in the current Japanese Alternative Visual Kei scene. Their music is a burst of energy, characterized by heavy yet melodic rock, along with catchy rhythms, distorted guitar riffs and electronic backings. Combining the composing skills of the four members with the emotional stories crafted by vocalist Tatsumi, XANVALA’s style ranges from dark aggressive sounds to vibrant effervescent melodies. With the name XANVALA (pronounced ”zanbala”), meaning “disheveled hair,” it’s no surprise that headbanging is a must at their concerts. Their fierce presence and intense music create a mesmerizing atmosphere that is captivating audiences both in and outside of Japan.
Finnish Viitasaari based melodic death/doom metal band Shadecrown is set to release their fourth studio album 0 on July 25th 2025 via Inverse Records. The first single ‘The Art of Grieving’ featuring Sheila Bernal is unleashed today and music video is available below.
The band comments single: “Sometimes when we face grief we bury it too deep for too long. The grief work remains unfinished or not done at all. We should learn to break the emotional dam before it is too late.”
Track list:
The Art of Grieving
In a State of Agony
Fragile Chapters
Gone
Zero
Under the Waves
Inadequate
Tear-blind
Repentance
Cover art by Saku Tammelin
Biography: The Finnish Shadecrown is a versatile melodic death metal band founded in Viitasaari in 2012, whose melancholic melodies and lyrics tell stories about the dark side of life. The band has released three full-length albums so far: Agonia 2016, Riven 2019, Solitarian 2021. The fourth album 0 will be released in 2025.
Line-up: Jari Hokka – Vocals Joonas Vesamäki – Guitar Tomi Tikka – Guitar Saku Tammelin – Keyboards Janne Salmelin – Bass & clean vocals Kalle Varonen – Drums
French multi-instrumentalist and producer Gautier Serre has been operating under the name IGORRR for twenty years now, yet each new record still resounds with a startling freshness and radical vitality. Steadfastly unclassifiable fifth album Amen, set for release on September 19th via Metal Blade Records, maintains this impact, blindsiding the listener with a new set of exploratory curveballs and continuing to surprise and unnerve even the most attuned enthusiast.
Since signing to Metal Blade in 2017, the IGORRR name has expanded from one man’s pseudonym to become a full group identity, but Gautier remains the project’s guiding light and mastermind, so he’s the best man to ask to describe the indescribable. “This album is definitely darker than its predecessors; it has such a very weighty and solemn vibe that has never been reached before in IGORRR,” explains Gautier. “The fact that I recorded a real choir in a church helped this a lot, but above all there has been very long and meticulous work on the sound and the choice of instruments, and deep experimental research to create a unique sound design. Of course, because it’s an IGORRR album, there are some more colorful tracks, like ‘Blastbeat Falafel,’ ‘ADHD’ etc… They contrast very much with the ambient heaviness. I need tracks like these on an album, it helps to really get through it fully focused, like a shot of limoncello before the next meal.”
With an urge to continually take IGORRR‘s multifaceted and challenging sound further forward with each release, Gautier has spent a lot of time cultivating multiple new modes and methods of working since 2020’s breathtaking, critically acclaimed opus Spirituality And Distortion, which even reached number twelve on the official German album chart. Gautier has always made clear that IGORRR is as much about the influence of Bach and Chopin as it is about Cannibal Corpse, Aphex Twin, and Meshuggah, but the source of specific stimuli gets harder to ascertain as the process is refined.
Artwork by Adrian Baxter
“It’s always difficult for me to know from where the inspiration comes,” he muses. “Music is an expression of life, and everything, even what seems the most insignificant thing, can be a source of inspiration. I would say there hasn’t been one event or one experience that has led me on a creative process, it’s more like a cumulation of everything. I love making music. My brain processes music all the time. You cannot imagine the amount of albums and concertos I create during my sleep. The challenge is more how to sort these ideas to keep the ones with the best potential, the ones that I won’t get bored of, the ones that I really Love, with a big letter L.”
In anticipation of the upcoming release of Amen, today IGORRR unveils the record’s first single, “ADHD,” alongside an accompanying video.
Gautier comments, “‘ADHD’ is kind of an autobiographical piece of music starting from one point and moving to another, with no clear link except for the person itself. From simple thoughts, symbolized here as simple dots of sound in the silence, to a complex pathological chaos that somehow still stands. It’s getting worse and worse until the final giant lets go.” Gautier continues, “we know the use of AI in art might be polemic right now, plus we with Meat Dept actually started the clip in 3D, like we did for ‘Very Noise,’ but at some point we were laughing so hard trying to do creepy things in AI that the clip ended as a mix of both technologies. The music, however, is 100% homemade.”
Adds Meat Dept, a creative duo known for their unique style of hyper-realistic CG animations, “After ‘Very Noise,’ we explored the possibilities of AI for this new IGORRR music video, ‘ADHD.’ We embraced almost all existing tools, both proprietary and open source, diverting and mixing them with our 3D tools. This video is a symbolic journey into an experimental therapy for treating a patient with ADHD, brimming with nods to ‘Very Noise.’ The ambition was to push further into the ‘mental cringe,’ with an aesthetic that blends 1960s James Bond and the ineffable charm of the Fantômas universe. We pushed the discomfort dial even further into a pleasurable realm, and we hope the audience will watch the video on repeat, like an addictive treat.”
Amen Track Listing: 01. Daemoni 02. Headbutt 03. Limbo 04. Blastbeat Falafel 05. ADHD 06. 2020 07. Mustard Mucous 08. Infestis 09. Ancient Sun 10. Pure Disproportionate Black and White Nihilism 11. Étude n°120 12. Silence
Stay tuned for more info on Amen to be revealed in the coming weeks.
IGORRR Live w/ Master Boot Record, Imperial Triumphant: 10/01/2025 Le Rocher de Palmer – Bordeaux, FR 10/02/2025 Le Bikini – Toulouse, FR 10/03/2025 Santana 27 – Bilbao, ES 10/04/2025 Apollo 1 – Barcelona, ES 10/05/2025 La Riviera – Madrid, ES 10/07/2025 L’Usine – Istres, FR 10/08/2025 Les Docks – Lausanne, CH 10/09/2025 Batschkapp – Frankfurt, DE 10/10/2025 Soulcrusher Festival – Nijmegen, NL 10/11/2025 Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, BE 10/12/2025 Live Music Hall – Cologne, DE 10/14/2025 Markthalle – Hamburg, DE 10/15/2025 Nancy Jazz Pulsation – Nancy, FR 10/16/2025 Le Transbordeur – Lyon, FR 10/17/2025 L’Olympia – Paris, FR 10/19/2025 Stereolux – Nantes, FR 10/21/2025 Prospect Building Crane – Bristol, UK 10/22/2025 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – London, UK 10/23/2025 O2 Ritz – Manchester, UK
This May, iconic dutch death metallers PESTILENCE will kick off a headlining tour of Asia. The band will take a break from working on their tenth studio album, “Portals”, to play select venues in Turkey, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, China, Thailand, Taiwan and Japan.
PESTILENCE comments: “We’re truely blessed to be able announce and share the following information with all you metalheads out there in… Asia. Pestilence will be infecting your eardrums. Make sure to get your ticket and go to this epic event. Come and say hi or take a sefie with us, showing us some Death Metal love. Pestilence Can´t wait to see you all!”
PESTILENCE was established in the Netherlands in 1986 and is considered to be a genre-defying, progressive death metal phenom, who paved the way alongside Death, Cynic and Atheist. The group is led by founder, guitarist and mastermind Patrick Mameli, who’s been the band’s binding factor through two breakups and reunions. Both a reinvention and a confirmation of everything the band has been standing for since 1986, PESTILENCE is more than ever breaking new grounds and exploring the further outposts of extreme metal on “Exitivm” (2021) – their last album, which landed on several Billboard charts, most notably including Billboard 200. In recent years, the band remastered & reissued its classic catalog (feat. “Mallevs Maleficarvm”, “Consvming Impvlse”, “Testimony Of The Ancients” and “Spheres”), released a re-recorded best-of album “Levels Of Perception”, and announced “Portals” to be the title of its next studio album, which is presently nearing its completion.
Tour dates: 19.04.25. BA – Sarajevo, Eternal Flame Festival — Asia Tour 2025 07.05.25. TR – Istanbul, Dorock Heavy Metal Club 09.05.25. BH – Bahrain, Diggers Club 10.05.25. AE – Dubai, Level R Lounge 13.05.25. CN – Shanghai, Cave Art Venue 14.05.25. CN – Tianjin, 20 Years Of Music Scene 16.05.25. TH – Bangkok, Mr. Fox Livehouse 17.05.25. TW – Taipei, Jack Studio 18.05.25. JP – Tokyo, Garret — 19.06.25. DE – Herford, Kulturwerk 20.06.25. DE – Homberg, Miso Open Air 10.08.25. BE – Kortrijk, Alcatraz Festival 18.09.25. DE – Essen, Turock 19.09.25. DE – Schrobenhausen, Metal Im Void 20.09.25. DE – Weinheim, Cafe Central
Line-up: Patrick Mameli – vocals and lead guitars Michiel van der Plicht – drums Max Blok – lead guitars Roel Käller – bass
Symphonic blackened death metal duo RawMoor proudly unveils the lyric video for “Forth,” a relentless descent into darkness, taken from their forthcoming album En Route, due for release on May 2, 2025, via Wormholedeath.
Prepare for total devastation. RawMoor unleashes Forth—a symphonic blackened death metal assault forged in defiance and drenched in wrath. This track drags you through a desolate wasteland of oppression, hypocrisy, and forced indoctrination, culminating in a rallying cry against the system.
Crushing riffs, ferocious vocals, and orchestral darkness collide to deliver a soul-shattering experience. Will you bow to the tyranny, or will you rise?
With an uncompromising vision, RawMoor merges haunting melodies, blistering riffs, and symphonic grandeur into an unrelenting storm of blackened death metal. Drawing inspiration from Dimmu Borgir, Agathodaimon, Windir, Cradle of Filth, Behemoth, and Finntroll, the duo carves out their own identity in the extreme metal underground.
Their upcoming album, En Route, cements their ability to balance brutality with elegance, setting them apart in an already savage genre. Guest soloist Renton (tracks 2, 3, 6) adds searing leads to the chaos, while Brim’s vocals deliver a dual assault of guttural brutality and spectral shrieks.
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