Legendary drummer Mike Portnoy, renowned for his work with Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold, and The Winery Dogs, has collaborated with up-and-coming rock band Last Second Chance to release their debut single, “Send Me A Sign.” The track features a powerful anthemic rock chorus with a cinematic rock feel to it.
“Send Me A Sign” is the lead track from the band’s forthcoming EP, “Past Forward – Part 1,” set to release soon. This EP represents the first half of their debut album, with the second installment currently in development.
The official music video for “Send Me A Sign” features Mike Portnoy on drums and is now available on YouTube. The single is also available on all major streaming platforms.
For more information and updates, follow Last Second Chance on social media and streaming platforms.
Line-up: AxiA: Vocals Manuel Giusti: Guitar Mike Portnoy: Drums
Emerging like a phantom from the depths of an unseen plane, “Time and Timeless Timeline” is Gaahls WYRD at their most lucid and direct—yet no less enigmatic. Clocking in at just over three minutes, the tightly-wound second single from the Norwegian Grammy winners’ upcoming second album, Braiding the Stories, defies the sprawling structures often associated with esoteric metal. Instead, it delivers its message with precision, fire and clarity—imbued with a fierce groove, bold ’80s-inspired production and an almost ritualistic cadence.
Driven by Ole “Lust Kilman” Walaunet’s razor-edged riffwork and soaring melodic leads, “Time and Timeless Timeline” explores the dissonance of perception and memory. It’s a meditation on temporal dislocation, how when the time collapses, the subconscious rises to the surface.
Anchored by Gaahl’s commanding vocal performance, “Time and Timeless Timeline” captures the essence of Braiding the Stories. The album goes behind the veil, delving into reams of emotions and emerging into a dream state that lives somewhere between structure and spirit, time and timelessness.
Filmed at the Solslottet Studio in Bergen, Norway, the music video for “Time and Timeless Timeline” offers an intimate look at Gaahls WYRD as they channel the song’s metaphysical energy through pure, raw performance.
Tracklist: 1. The Dream (2:11) 2. Braiding the Stories (8:37) [WATCH] 3. Voices in My Head (2:00) 4. Time and Timeless Timeline (3:03) [WATCH] 5. And the Now (5:49) 6. Through the Veil (1:57) 7. Visions and Time (6:00) 8. Root the Will (5:25) 9. Flowing Starlight (7:11) Full runtime: 42:15
Norwegian Grammy-winning metal outfit Gaahls WYRD stun with their new album, Braiding the Stories, via Season of Mist. Featuring vocalist Gaahl (aka Kristian Espedal), guitarist Lust Kilman (aka Ole Walaunet), drummer Spektre (aka Kevin Kvåle), and bassist Nekroman (aka Andreas Salbu), the group’s sophomore full-length elaborates conceptually on and widens the musical gaze of Gaahls WYRD sonic aesthetic. To wit, they’ve artfully united introspective vistas and violent upheaval on singles “Braiding the Stories,” “Time and Timeless Timeline,” and “And the Now.” If The Humming Mountain (2021) resided between spaces, Braiding the Stories is the lighthouse out of it.
“I call it the White Lodge,” Gaahl says, referring to Braiding the Stories’ differentia. “Maybe I’ll call it the Bright Lodge. I wanted to put focus on where I think Ole is most comfortable music-wise. There’s more things he’s connected to on this album than before. So, I jumped over the more black metal tracks, as I felt they didn’t belong to this process. For example, when we sat down in the studio, we wanted a specific energy. That energy is a ‘80s and ‘90s thing. Almost gothic rock, but it’s more about the sound than the style. It’s an aesthetic for sure. If I may, everyone should pay close attention to Ole’s fantastic solos. They’re pieces of music [inside the songs].”
Braiding the Stories doesn’t scream retro, though. As with previous releases GastiR – Ghosts Invited (2019) and The Humming Mountain, it’s also not easy to pin down. From the unbridled dissonance of “And the Now,” the first track out of Gaahl’s grimoire, and driving scenery of “Flowing Starlight” to the heavy metal-prone “And the Now” and the aching nostalgia of the title track, Gaahls WYRD cleverly stalk their influences, while also ensuring their unorthodox fingerprints and adventurous mindset remain unspoiled. Reinforced by show-stopping musicianship and Gaahl’s penchant for Peter Gabriel-esque showmanship, Braiding the Stories isn’t black metal, death metal, or any other metal. Truly and utterly, this is Gaahls WYRD.
“Musically, it’s unique,” says Gaahl. “It’s not necessarily connected to GastiR and The Humming Mountain. Those albums are connected to very earthly elements, the natural flow of things. This album is another dimension—behind the veil, if you will. I remember I wanted to release ‘And the Now’ as the first single, but there’s probably too much information to be the first track out. Throughout this album, I use a lot of different voices, and I’ve thought a lot about how all these different characters fit [into the music]. So, I wanted the listener to fall into the album, not be distracted, and I think I’ve accomplished that. It’s cinematic.”
While most artists abhorred the pandemic, Gaahl adored it. Not for its destructiveness, but for what it afforded the songmaster. The isolation was creatively energizing. Without the thrum of the record industry and all its demanding machinations, Gaahl crafted his heavily-cerebrated metals unagitated. Indeed, much meaning and purpose was imbued into the process that fueled Braiding the Stories. The last words (about sleep) uttered by Gaahl on The Humming Mountain have transited into the first words (about dreams) on “The Dream.”
“I always work with the subconscious,” Gaahl says. “And dreams are where we are at the most aware of our subconsciousness, I think. In a way, Braiding the Stories is a continuation [of ‘The Sleep’] but told from a different perspective. So, to simplify, Braiding the Stories deals with dreams. Not specific dreams, though. The transitions of dreams, emotions flowing from one to another without pause. Everything I do tends to end up with a melancholic flow and feel without it necessarily being an idea–it just happens, really–but I avoided that this time around. It’s less physical. I referred to the White Lodge before. This time around, I feel I visited the White Lodge not the Black Lodge.”
The old adage says, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Gaahls WYRD are very much the “old adage” type. For the production, the group returned to Solslottet Studio in Bergen, Norway to co-produce with ace Iver Sandøy (Enslaved, Wardruna). There, they put down and perfected “Time and Timeless Timeline,” “And the Now,” and the title track, as well as the album’s three vivid interludes “The Dream,” “Voices in My Head,” and “Through the Veil.” Though Braiding the Stories wasn’t recorded all at once, it’s audio-visually breathtaking. Sandøy also mixed and mastered the sessions.
“Me and Iver have been working together on several albums,” says Gaahl. “He’s an important part of Gaahls WYRD. He’s used to my way of working. Sometimes, I can be quite frustrating to work with. If my mind isn’t feeding me inspiration, I won’t get anything done. In that way, I’m very comfortable working with Iver. I need to spar conceptual ideas with someone, and Iver’s very good at that. I don’t annoy the rest of the band with these things. Iver and I have a lot of discussions, and the ideas naturally grow from there. This time around, it was very easy.”
The striking cover art by visual artist Øivind Myksvoll (Wardruna, Trelldom) is just as mysterious and arresting as his work for The Humming Mountain. Look closely and you’ll find what appears to be hair (aka the veil) and the cosmos (crystallized wine from Gaahl’s collection). Indeed, the group’s signature horned figure lurks between the layers. For Gaahls WYRD, music, lyrics, concept, and art are synonymous. They’re designed to be experienced in their entirety and in unison. Braiding the Stories isn’t an obvious listen, but it gently (and sometimes maniacally) pulls at the listener. The sensation of the journey from opener “The Dream” to closing epic “Flowing Starlight” is quite unlike anything before. All hail Braiding the Stories!
Line-up: Kristian Espedal «Gaahl» – All Voices Ole Walaunet «Lust Kilman» – All Guitars Andreas Salbu «Nekroman» – Bass Kevin Kvåle «Spektre» – Drums
Production Credits: Recorded at Solslottet Studio, Bergen, Norway. Produced by Iver Sandøy & Gaahls WYRD. Mixed & mastered by Iver Sandøy at Solslottet Studio, Bergen, Norway.
Trick Or Treat has released a video for “Dance With The Dancing Clown”, third single taken from the new album “Ghosted” to be released on April 25 by Scarlet Records.
Are you scared by the killer clown iconography? Well, get ready because the Trick Or Treat jester seems so busy that he needs an assistant! In this song the apprentice murderous clown is learning how to scare our children from the master: a grotesque and hilarious theatrical power metal piece where you don’t know whether to laugh or scream!
video by Domenico Guidetti
“Ghosted”:
brand new studio album for the Italian happy metal champions of the world;
eleven compelling fun songs infused with smart references to the horror, video game and comics culture;
featuring the special guests vocalists Chris Bowes (Alestorm) & Adrienne Cowan (Avantasia, Seven Spires);
produced by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio;
cover artwork by Alessandro “Alle” Conti (Trick Or Treat & Twilight Force singer; former Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody singer);
Trick Or Treat is officially part of the Rock The Nation booking roster;
1 Lost In The Haunted House (intro) 2 Craven Road 3 Bloodmoon (ft. Adrienne Cowan) 4 Ghosted 5 Dance With The Dancing Clown 6 Polybius 7 Evil Dead Never Sleeps 8 Return To Monkey Island (ft. Chris Bowes) 9 Make A Difference 10 The 13th 11 Bitter Dreams
Total running time – 46:00
artwork by Alle Conti
“Ghosted” is the album that definitely marks the new Trick Or Treat course, where the classic power happy metal mixes with terrifying and yet funny horror atmospheres.
The Italian band put in music some of the most famous horror movie franchise such as “Evil Dead Never Sleeps” (“Army Of Darkness”), “Bitter Dreams” (“A Nightmare On Elm Street”) or “The 13th” (“Friday The 13th”), and paid heartfelt homage to the world of comics (“Craven Road”, Dylan Dog) and video game (“Return To Monkey Island”) that shaped their imaginary too.
With a little help from a couple of famous international friends, Trick Or Treat delivered just another irresistible collection of wicked, catchy and energetic metal tunes!
“Irrational II” is the sixth release by Avantgarde Black Metal project DERHEAD.
The EP is out today and can be streamed at THIS LOCATION.
After the critically acclaimed “The Grey Zone Phobia”, DERHEAD is back with its very own distinctive take on Avantgarde Black Metal.
For the first time since the project’s inception back in 2001, founding member Giorgio Barroccu is joined by a live drummer – Enrico Meloni (IKITAN, ExpiatoriA, The Healing Process).
True to the avantgarde nature of the project, the band this time has experimented with the use of analogue synthesizers, samplings and no-input noise improvisation creating here something unsettlingly atmospheric, furiously tense and psychedelic at the same time.
Thematically, “Irrational II” offers a meditation on the nature of relationships and the price that we all have to pay to live in our society. Loosely taking inspiration from F. Dostoevsky’ “Demons”, the two songs expand upon themes such as the moral decay, the weight of guilt, and the inevitable feeling of emptiness that we feel in a world that has lost its values.
The tired demons are the nihilists in the age of the information society: extinguished, suffocated, with nothing left to destroy that has not already been identified and annihilated by the system itself.
The fantastic original artwork was made by Cesare Bignotti, who has also lent his vision to the previous three releases of DERHEAD.
With “Irrational II” DERHEAD once again delivers a multifaceted work that flows effortlessly, blending the aggressiveness of Black Metal with the solemn grandiosity of the most soul-annihilating and darkest atmospheres.
Tracklist:
01. The Weight of Emptiness (06:50) 02. Tired Demons (07:33)
Credits:
Written and performed by Giorgio Barroccu All instruments and vocals performed and recorded by Giorgio Barroccu Drums by Enrico Meloni Drums recorded by Luca Nasciuti at Marsala Studios Visual art and graphic art direction by Cesare Bignotti / https://www.uselessidea.it
FFO: DHG, Blut Aus Nord, The Great Old Ones
DERHEAD is a solo project from Genoa (Italy). The project was created in 2001 by Giorgio Barroccu, a multi – instrumentalist active for many years in various projects and also founder and co-owner of Brucia Records. From the first demo recorded in 2003 and influenced by the industrial, experimental black metal typical of those years, DERHEAD has in time developed its very unique style – mixing aggressive riffs to more atmospheric passages.
The second demo released in 2013 already showed signs of compositional maturity and balance which were then refined in the project’s first EP “Via” released in 2016, and especially with the second EP “Irrational I”, released in 2020.
In 2023 DERHEAD released its first full length album “The Grey Zone Phobia”, which was received with critical acclaim, and especially praised by the press for its unique songwriting and emotional intensity.
Featuring a live drummer (Enrico Meloni, also playing drums for IKITAN, ExpiatoriA, The Healing Process) for the first time since the project’s inception, DERHEAD will release its third EP – “Irrational II” on digital and limited CD via Brucia Records.
Tampere, Finland -based thrash metal act OSIRIS REX – led by US thrasher Superstar Joey Severance – have revealed the first details of their upcoming EP “Arrival Of The New Dawn”:
Out of the ashes of Tornado comes Osiris Rex with their new forthcoming 4 track EP, “Arrival of the New Dawn” featuring three brand new tracks of old school thrash metal mixed with a hint of modern fluences, and a blistering cover of the Donna Summer classic “Hot Stuff”! “Arrival of the New Dawn” was recorded at Imperial Cassette Recording Facilities Helsinki, Finland and Produced by Ben Varon. Mix and Mastering was done at Mix Studio 1101 in Tampere, Finland by Aleksis Pelli. Joining Superstar Joey Severance and Henry Steel, (both of whom were in Tornado) are newcomers V. Grave and John Creweholm on guitars respectively. All rhythm guitars and bass on this EP were performed by Ben Varon. Drums were performed by Oskari Niemi. EP cover art was created by Jana Vé.
With “Arrival Of The New Dawn”, Osiris Rex are ready to impress long-time fans and new listeners alike.
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OSIRIS REX is a Finnish thrash metal band featuring former members of TORNADO alongside new talents. Although the name has changed, the core remains the same: high-energy, riff-driven thrash metal with a modern twist. The release of their debut single, under the name Osiris Rex, marks the start of a new chapter, with the same raw intensity and attitude that made Tornado a household name in underground metal scenes. Fans of Testament, Megadeth and Exodus will find plenty to love: frenetic aggression, razor-sharp guitars and anthemic choruses built for the mosh pit.
Osiris Rex are: Superstar Joey Severance – Vocals Henry Steel – Bass John Creweholm – Lead Guitar V. Grave – Lead Guitar
Fresh from a triumphant gig in the main stage of the Epic Fest in Denmark, tomorrow Fellowship will join the headliners Frozen Crown and the other special guests Lutharo in the European War Hearts Tour 2025!
BUY/STREAM the band’s latest album “The Skies Above Eternity”
“The Skies Above Eternity” tracklist:
1 Hold Up Your Hearts (Again) 2 Victim 3 The Bitter Winds 4 Dawnbreaker 5 Eternity 6 King Of Nothing 7 World End Slowly 8 A New Hope 9 Memories On The Wind
Total running time – 40:53
artwork by Peter Sallai
Fellowship was the absolute power metal revelation of 2022 with their magnificent debut album “The Saberlight Chronicles”; after successfully bringing their positive vibes live in Europe and Japan, and hitting the American stage for the first time as headliners of the Mad With Power Fest on August 2nd, the English band is now ready to take things to the next level with their sophomore record.
“The Skies Above Eternity” is a journey into a new side of the Fellowship sound: darker, and more dynamic, but still retaining their classic sense of joy, this album tells a new story that delves into a deeper sense of melancholy with themes of helplessness and resistance, asks us to find joy in the darkest of places through its uplifting, powerful choruses, and reminds us that with each new day comes new hope – because sometimes all it takes to find it is looking up at the skies above you.
Drawing additional influence from Japanese power metal and delivering non-stop bangers from start to finish, this might just be the work that catapults Fellowship all the way up to the stars!
FELLOWSHIP are: Matthew Corry – vocals Brad Wosko – guitar Sam Browne – guitar (studio-only) Ed Munson – bass Callum Tuffen – drums
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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 ) 