After Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Marina Ammouri, a Ukraine native vocalist and pianist living in Stockholm, Sweden reached out to her musician friends with the idea of doing a musical project to show support for the people of Ukraine.
This quickly resulted in UMFU – United Musicians For Ukraine, consisting of members and former members of bands like Europe, HammerFall, Soilwork, King Diamond, Therion, Eclipse, Yngwie Malmsteen among others, coming together to record their own version of the John Lennon classic “Imagine”. Pontus Egberg, ( King Diamond Wolf ) team leader and one of the brains behind the UMFU – Imagine conceive made the production of the song and the music video.
Line up
Vocals: Marina Ammouri Lee Small (Lionheart, Sweet) Björn Strid (Soilwork, Night Flight Orchestra) Doogie White (ex. Yngwie Malmsteen) Nina Söderquist Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse) Mats Levén (Prins Svart, Vandenberg) Daniel Vargas (Adellaide) Jakob Samuel (ex. The Poodles) Joacim Cans (HammerFall) Thomas Wikström (Therion)
Keybords: Mic Michaeli (Europe)
Guitar: Pontus Norgren (HammerFall) Staffan Österlind (From The Sky, Paul Di’Anno) Simon Johansson (Wolf)
Bass: Pontus Egberg (King Diamond, Wolf)
Drums: Johan Koleberg (Wolf) Johan Norgren (Vikingarna)
Produced by Pontus Egberg Recorded at SolnaSound Studios and various studios around the world Mixed by Pontus Norgren at Damage Done Studio Mastered by Claes Persson Video edited by Pontus Egberg
UNHCR – unhcr.org UNICEF – unicef.org Doctors Without Borders – msf.org Internatial Red Cross – icrc.
Legendary Los Angeles based heavy metal act KNIGHTMARE II, will reissue their debut album “The Edge Of Knight” via Skol Records (CD and Digital) and Lost Realm Records (LP). The reissue will include 6 studio bonus tracks. CD and Digital version will be available on Friday, May 13 – release date of the vinyl version will be announced later.
Watch “Metal Massacre” video below.
KNIGHTMARE II was a mainstay of the Los Angeles heavy metal scene during the ‘80s. The band made a name for itself with the raucous vocals of Dennis Carlock aka Rotten Rod, along with the brilliant guitar playing from several different guitar players who went onto leave their marks in several other successful LA bands. KNIGHTMARE II was influenced by ALICE COOPER and JUDAS PRIEST, and the stage show they incorporated was bringing comparisons to acts such as W.A.S.P. or LIZZY BORDEN. The band released several singles and EPs, both independently and on the infamous Azra and Iron Works labels, and their only one full album (with songs recorded during separate recording sessions), „The Edge Of Knight”, came out in 1989. The Skol Records / Lost Realm Records reissue will include material restored from the original master tapes, and remastered by Bart Gabriel, known from recent mastering jobs for acts such as CIRITH UNGOL, MEDIEVAL STEEL or SAVAGE GRACE. Both CD and vinyl reissue will include 6 rare studio bonus tracks, and a thick booklet with previously unseen photos.
Don your bandanas, leather jackets and distressed jeans, because heavy metal is about to shine brighter than ever as Swedish newcomers BOMBER bring back the hottest era in hard rock history. Asserting their own trademark blend of 70s and 80s inspired classic and hard rock with catchy hooks, top-notch guitar solos and a vibrant aesthetic, BOMBER brings you their debut album, Nocturnal Creatures, via Napalm Records – out this Friday, March 25!
Today, the Swedish upstarts enter the last round before the release of their debut album, revealing their third single “Fever Eyes”! It ensnares with wistful weeping choirs and guarantees a quickly increasing temperature. With tours through Europe and a passionate following under their belts, BOMBER are sure to leave their mark on modern hard rock with their debut album, Nocturnal Creatures!
BOMBER on “Fever Eyes”: “So here we are. After over a year of hard work, our debut album Nocturnal Creatures is finally on its way to fans and music lovers world-wide. This is without any doubt an emotional moment for us. We went into the studio without a dime on our pockets, we we’re truly chasing a dream. The only thing we could be certain of was how much these songs meant to us – and how much love we felt for each other as friends. How we got discovered by Napalm Records within minutes is well known by now. But perhaps even more important is all you fans who’ve discovered us during these last few months. Your response has been overwhelming and heart-warming. We would now like to present the album ‘Nocturnal Creatures’ in it’s full glory. From us in Bomber: thank you. And Enjoy!”
After explosive live shows in Sweden and a subsequent tour of Germany, Sweden’s hard rock upstarts BOMBER prove that the glorious era of rock isn’t over and that they’re already setting the highest standards on Nocturnal Creatures. On ten powerful tracks, the four piece turns the night into an intoxicating adventure that convinces both old and new fans of the prominent classic and hard rock genre. Album opener and title track “Nocturnal Creatures” opens the gates with epic storytelling and interludes the following passionate ride through “Zarathustra”, while “Fever Eyes” ensnares with wistful weeping choirs and guarantees a quickly increasing temperature. “Black Pants Magic” emerges into an unforgettable high-class rock experience through its industrious and catchy hook, while songs like “A Walk Of Titans (Hearts Will Break)” and “You’ve Got Demons” surprise with dynamic melodies and Anton Sköld’s powerful voice. On “The Tiger”, BOMBER send their listeners right into the eye of a raging thunderstorm of riffs driven by brilliant grooves, while “Kassiopeia” sets the strings on fire with its marvelous solos. Bursting album closer “Aurora” presents Nocturnal Creatures’ crowning achievement, bringing the 40-minute escapade to the edge of the world.
With their new studio album, Nocturnal Creatures, the rising stars of Sweden establish a milestone in the legacy of hard rock that leads the once so majestic genre to new glory – marked by their very own special vision!
BOMBER on Nocturnal Creatures: “This is an album filled with big drums, loud guitars and great vocal performances. But there are certainly many layers and emotional depth to this album as well. We all went through some difficult times during the writing process. We strongly believe that having put our heart and souls into the songs makes them more relatable to a wider audience, so we did just that. The conceptual theme of the album is the night, and all that belongs to it. Night-time is when set our imaginations free, and we can truly release whatever is living deep inside of us. Sometimes the night can summon fears, but it can also be a comforting place. We used these concepts as songwriters to bring you stories of what can happen under the cover of darkness. From tales of spirits and ghosts to the stars above – to stories of love and heartbreak. Going through life has many challenges, it can mean going through a lot of hardships and sacrifice – but it’s also about finding our joy, meanings, and the good in all of us. That´s what this album is about. Welcome to the night… We’re all nocturnal creatures.”
Nocturnal Creatures tracklist: 1. Nocturnal Creatures 2. Zarathustra 3. Fever Eyes 4. A Walk Of Titans (Hearts Will Break) 5. Black Pants Magic 6. The Tiger 7. You’ve Got Demons 8. Hungry For Your Heart 9. Kassiopeia 10. Aurora
In celebration of their recently released studio album, By Night, French metal frontrunners DAGOBA return once more with the lyric video for “Sunfall”, featuring rigorous vocals and dominant blast beats!
On their beloved new album, By Night, the French bruisers once again put their stamp on the metal scene with their unique blend of metal and grooves.
DAGOBA on “Sunfall”: “We are stoked to release a lyric video for our track ‘Sunfall’. Although we already have released four video clips for our new album ‘By Night’, we had the feeling that also this track deserves a video… Now, you can all sing along at home to our single ‘Sunfall‘!”
DAGOBA deftly aces the balancing act between harsh breakdowns, dense walls of sound and grooving passages with ease. Even in its hardest passages, the album never gets too overwhelming – one smashing track is followed by the next, moving breathlessly with ease. By Night is a beast of an album showcasing how far DAGOBA can take a multitude of influences and styles and combine them effortlessly. This is a must-have for true fans of searing modern metal!
DAGOBA on the creation process of By Night: “We live in challenging times, and that’s not only because of the strength-sapping pandemic. Sometimes the world seems to be a dark place. We know it’s an ambitious project, but we really want our fans to feel good, and contribute to their happiness. Therefore, we deliver our blend of metal music. During the weeks and months in the lockdown period we had so much time to have a focus on the album production. We could look at every detail in each track, and after all By Night has become our most accomplished album so far. We are really happy with the new record and cannot wait to share it with our fans and the world.”
Bass Magazine published an interview with fretless bass player Jeroen Paul Thesseling (OBSCURA, QUADVIUM) where he explains about his instruments, influences, bass studies, playing technique and recording OBSCURA‘s sixth studio album “A Valediction” (2021)”. Thesseling, known for his signature fretless playing in death metal and world fusion, rejoined OBSCURA in 2020 and also appeared on the band’s critically acclaimed full-length albums “Cosmogenesis” (2009) and “Omnivium” (2011). During 1992-1994 and 2009-2012, Jeroen worked with Dutch death metallers PESTILENCE. He recorded their fourth and sixth studio albums, “Spheres” (1993) and “Doctrine” (2011).
Italian legendary Speed/thrash metallers CELTIC HILLS have released a new video ‘Living out of the egg‘, Feat. band’s drummer Simone Cescutti as singer. ‘Living out of the egg’ is taken from the band’s upcoming album “Huldufólk” on April 1st, via Elevate Records.
Jonathan Vanderbilt, the band’s frontman shared: “Simone Cescutti, the drummer of CELTIC HILLS, leaves the band to pursue a career as a singer. To say goodbye and wish him the best in this new adventure, he and Jonathan Vanderbilt have made a video to greet the fans with a song designed just for Simone’s new career: Living out of the egg. The song is present in the new album “Huldufolk”, coming out on April 1st, and maybe Simone will still play some live concerts, while the band is still rehearsing with the new drum substitutes.”
Watch ‘Living out of the egg’ video here:
The new album “Huldufolk” collects and relaunches the excellent reviews obtained from the previous work. “Huldufolk” is a record with a lot of melody but characterized by the speed that distinguishes Celtic Hills, and this single is a great taste of what we’re going to hear.
The album was produced by Michele Guaitoli singer of Temperance and Vision of Atlantis in the studios of the Groove Factory in Udine and for the realization of the cover again the talented Sheila Franco.
Just recently the band released the first single and lyric video ‘After the Earthquake’, taken from “Huldufólk”, in case you missed it, watch here: https://youtu.be/5duEIoowp9A
“After The Hearthquake” is a song that tells of the strength and aggregation of the people after the terrible earthquake of May 6, 1976 in Friuli. A text that tells the tenacity, the solidarity for what has gone down in history as the Great Reconstruction of Friuli. A hymn to remain united and help each other during the tragedies that afflict the peoples of the whole Earth.
Earlier Jonathan revealed on “Huldufólk”: “Again this time we will talk about Friuli, and the theory is at work that the location of the American Air Force Base Aviano is used to control an ancient access to the underground world, which has been used by the pagan gods since ancient times. The magical rites of the inhabitants of the mountains and the places where elves, fairies and gnomes once lived among the people are revealed. There are already definitive titles such as The Sound of the Earth in F sharp minor. A text tells how you can use the beneficial energy of the trees at dawn to strengthen your energies, but there will be no lack of historical events that accompany every CELTIC HILLS album.”
Jonathan on the album cover artwork: “The cover was again entrusted to Sheila Franco with the input of drawing a brighter cover, with the predominant green between the green that characterizes the MATRIX movie and the green of uncontaminated nature. A record in the balance between the enchanted world of legends, heroic deeds performed by people who wanted a better world. A record that looks to the past, projecting itself into a future to be built. A passing disc that wants to take past history with it to go further …to draw.”
The tracklisting reads the following: 1 – The Secret of the Grail 2 – Metal Message 3 – After The Eartquake 4 – Hidden Folk 5 – Green Forest 6 – Gate Of Hollow Earth 7 – Living Out Of The Egg 8 – The Sound Of Earth 9 – The Hammer Of Thor 10 – Villacher Kirktag Bonus track Words In Out (remix 2022) Living Out Of The Egg sings by Simone Cescutti
CELTIC HILLS were born in 2010, in 2020 they sign a recording contract with Elevate Records with which they released the album “Blood over Intents” and the EP “Schrage Musik” both in 2020. In 2021 another album is out “Mystai Keltoy” produced and recorded by Michele Guaitoli singer of Temperance, Vision of Atlantis and Era. The style played is difficult to place in a single vein of metal, as there are many influences ranging from death to power, with sound elements that can also recall a certain type of 90’s thrash. The singing is quite varied, and for some listeners it may seem unusual in a metal band. power, speed and good melodic lines distinguish the band from others. Between 2010 and 2020 they released “Horns helmet fighters” and for the Slovak Music Globalliance they came out on international compilations on volumes 2,3,4. CELTIC HILLS’ new album “Huldufólk” is coming out on April 1st, 2022 via Elevate Records.
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 ) 