Rising Los Angeles band The Scarlet Opera releases a colorful and kitschy music video for their recent cover of Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 classic “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”—watch HERE.
The video was directed by Alexa Cha and edited by Justin Moon. On the inspiration behind it, frontman Luka Bazulka shares, “The goal was simple, to have a very good time. I think at first we tossed around the idea of having a little glass menagerie of the boys for me to break in this elaborate set, but the budget permitted us puppets and a green screen instead—and thank goodness.”
The Scarlet Opera initially began covering “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” during their headline tour this summer, and it quickly became a fan favorite throughout their live set. Belinda Carlisle caught wind of their rendition and lent her stamp of approval. Not to mention, the single’s original producer and co-writer Rick Nowels [Lana Del Rey, Stevie Nicks, Madonna] also joined forces with the band to produce their 2024 take on the ‘80’s hit.
2024 was a big year for The Scarlet Opera—this summer, the band released their Mirror, Mirror EP, featuring their fiery lead single “Catch Me If You Can.” UNCLEAR Magazine proclaimed, “The Scarlet Opera is here to change the way we listen to music, and their latestMirror, Mirror EP does just that.” In addition, they embarked on their headlineCatch Me If You Can Tour, selling out shows across the country. Speaking to their standout live performance, RIFF Magazine applauded, “A little bit Queen and a little bit Journey, the band had a cinematic sound with the flair of a Broadway show.” Pit Crew Media noted, “Between their iconic look, over-the-top stage-presence, and quality sound, The Scarlet Opera put on an incredible performance that left fans wanting more,” while The Concert Chronicles praised their live show as “a performance that was nothing short of electrifying.” Not to mention, the band received a nomination for “Breakthrough Music Artist” at this year’sGLAAD Media Awards.
Last year, the band released their empowering single “That Kind Of Woman” and beloved debut ComedyEP, which features breakout songs “The Place To Be,” “Big City Thing,” “Alive,” and “Riot.” Amassing millions of streams to date, Comedy landed acclaim courtesy of Rolling Stone, Flaunt, LADYGUNN, Jezebel, Just Jared, Queerty, and more, with HITS Daily Double proclaiming, “The Scarlet Opera blends classic arena pomp rock, neon-bright ’80s pop and more than a dash of Broadway-style virtuosity into an infectious, gender-blending cocktail that its burgeoning fan base finds utterly intoxicating.”
Stay tuned for more music to come from The Scarlet Opera in 2025!
Can’t get enough rock n’ roll? Who said 2024 was over?! Off the backs of their latest single release, “Hellraiser,” and their North American Tour with Raven to support the full length release of the latest album “Sunburn,” WICKED is back with more high energy rock n’ roll!
WICKED is set to release yet another single; “Reptile Roots” today, on Friday the 13th of December 2024!
Not only will there be a reckless new hard rock track to crank up, but a new music video to accompany it, which will give a look back in time to scenes from the “It’s Summer Somewhere Tour” that the band just completed.
Reptile Roots is the epitome of WICKED’s high energy rock n’ roll brand and a cult favorite that will finally be available for your eyes and ears!
The band will be celebrating their single release with an intimate home town show on December 13th at LUX located on 666 South Ave. Rochester, NY 14620, before they break into the new year and embark on their trip to NAMM to play the Anaheim, CA House of Blues with Metal Allegiance, as well as OTTTO and Lost Legacy on January 23rd!
With no stopping in sight, join WICKED as they rip through the end of 2024 and into 2025 with a mission to put that reckless fun back into Rock N Roll!
“You all have been asking for it after every show, from NY to LA and Toronto to Mexico City. Well now you’ve got it! I give you Reptile Roots!” – Scotty V
“What does Reptile Roots mean?! IYKYK… It’s in your blood, running through your veins! It’s that eternal bond in all of us who walk the walk in the Rock N Roll world!” – Danny
“It’s hard not to end the set with Reptile Roots! I love the song’s climax at the end with absolute Rock N Roll mayhem erupting!” – Gunnar
“The music video for Reptile Roots was a perfect way to put a bow on our North American Tour with Raven this year and give the fans some nostalgia and a reminder of what to look forward to in 2025, starting with the House of Blues in Anaheim California!” – Chad Michael
This time last year, Oceans of Slumber gifted fans a sneak peak at their new album with the piano medley “Poem of Fire”. The Texas trailblazers of progressive metal have never bowed to convention, but on Where Gods Fear to Speak, they reached dark, cinematic new heights. This year, the band toured North America with Lacuna Coil and New Years Day before topping the charts at college radio and critics’ year-end lists.
Today, Oceans of Slumber are putting a bow on 2024 with one of their cherished covers. Their faithful-but-still-groundshaking rendition of “Alone” was recorded at Houston’s Southwing Audio during the same session as last year’s fiery piano medley.
Watch Oceans of Slumber cover Heart’s #1 hit “Alone”:
While originally written in 1983 by proven hitmakers Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, “Alone” wasn’t inducted into the pop culture cannon until it became a popular cover. Valerie Stevenson and John Stamos recorded the song for the short-lived rock band CBS sitcom Dreams the year before sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson turned it into Heart’s second Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.
Oceans of Slumber remain faithful to the spirit of Heart’s beloved power ballad. Underground metalheads will always recognize him as the drummer for grindcore legends Insect Warfare, but Dobber Beverly is also a classically trained pianist who composed every note on Where Gods Fear to Speak. His nimble fingers dutifully recite the song’s gentle opening, twirling amidst Cammie Beverly’s solitary calls like snowfall.
“Dobber heard me sing ‘Alone’ one night at karaoke and thought it’d be cool for us to cover it”, Cammie remembers.
Of course, Oceans of Slumber aren’t ones to play directly to the script. Chris Kritikos cranks the power chords to a truly heart-pounding level, while Semir Ozerkan lays down a headbanging bass line. A classic, high-flying, heavy metal guitar solo from Alex Davis clears the runaway for Cammie, whose booming cleans could fill the loneliest of nights.
“When we got together, we decided to make our version of ‘Alone’ heavier by leaning into Oceans of Slumber’s sound”, Cammie continues. “By the time we finished recording, it felt like we’d really transformed the song, giving it new weight and energy while still keeping its heart intact”.
Where Gods Fear to Speak opens with more of the sultry, doom metal headbanging that Oceans of Slumber’s long-time acolytes have come to expect, but the album’s spellbinding title track breaks entirely new ground. Punishing blast beats and a blackened torrent of melodic tremolo picking collide with powerhouse cleans, a skyrocketing guitar solo and synths that swirl like the aura of a mystical planet.
So what are we to call this otherworldly occurrence?
“Dark cinematic metal” says the band’s maestro Dobber Beverly. Underground metalheads will always recognize him as the drummer for grindcore legends Insect Warfare, but Dobber is a classically trained pianist who composed every grand note on Where Gods Fear to Speak. “We’ve taken the raw and heavier direction of our last two albums and elevated it to the scale of a blockbuster IMAX movie”.
Staying true to Ocean of Slumber’s irreverent musings, Where Gods Fear to Speak takes more inspiration from The Handmaid’s Tale, The Dark Tower and Cormac McCarthy than it does Opeth. Each song acts as another gripping plot twist along a narrative arc that’s part science fiction, part western gunslinger with a heavy dose of post-apocalyptic romance. Lead single “Poem of Ecstasy” splices together an album’s worth of stand-out moments into its own mini-epic, cutting from a moonlight piano sonata to outlaw country, doom-laden power metal and what can only be described as “dystopian grindcore”.
“I’ll do everything to stay by your side” frontwoman Cammie Beverly belts, her cleans pushing back against the charging blast beats like a force field.
Performing such a radical play on extreme metal requires a talented cast of characters. Dobber’s Necrofier bandmate Semir Ozerkan adds heat with harsh backing vocals and warm but bruising bass fills, while co-guitarists Alex Davis and Chris Kritikos roar through Where Gods Fear to Speak like a sandstorm. The album also gets a lift from two special guests. Moonspell’s Fernando Ribeiro casts his big bad shadow over the chugging, rumbling “Run From the Light”. Amidst a spirited tug of war between distorted tremolo picking and folksy acoustic strumming, “Prayer” is visited by gothic angel Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquility.
Even with all that talent on display, Oceans of Slumber still cede the spotlight to their leading lady. Cammie has always possessed one of the strongest voices in metal. Even though the album was recorded a cool 8,000 feet above sea level in Bogotá, Colombia, the grueling altitude couldn’t stop her bottomless belt from scaling the slippery crush of “The Given Dream”. But Where Gods Fear to Speak has her flexing a guttural new muscle.
“I’ve always wanted to do death growls”, Cammie says. “Where Gods Fear to Speak presented the perfect opportunity. Mixing harsh vocals in with my cleans speaks to the internal struggle between pleasure and pain that’s at the heart of this album”.
If the Oceans of Slumber’s impromptu cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” is the doomed end credits score to Where Gods Fear to Speak, then “Impermanence of Fate” is the album’s climactic finale battle. “I know my name and what it means / and what I have to say”, Cammie sings with all her might as the band rise up behind her with the jaw-dropping magnitude of a tidal wave.
“Every time you make a new record, you think it’s the best”, Cammie and Dobber say, “but Where Gods Fear to Speak easily has some of the best songs we’ve ever written. It sounds like an energetic, pissed-off band, with enigmatic storytelling and all those magical things”.
On Where Gods Fear to Speak, Oceans of Slumber remake progressive metal in their own dark, cinematic image.
Tracklist 1. Where Gods Fear to Speak (6:25) [WATCH] 2. Run From the Light (5:15) 3. Don’t Come Back From Hell Empty Handed (8:28) 4. Wish (3:53) 5. Poem of Ecstasy (6:33) [WATCH] 6. The Given Dream (3:36) [LISTEN] 7. I Will Break the Pride of Your Will (5:27) 8. Prayer (5:03) 9. The Impermanence of Fate (6:20) 10. Wicked Game (5:26) [LISTEN]
Lineup Cammie Beverly – vocals Dobber Beverly- drums, piano Semir Ozerkan – bass Alex Davis – guitar Chris Kritikos – guitar, synth
Recording Audiovision Studios in Bogotá, Columbia Assistant engineering at Audiovision by Deyra Castillo and David Dueñas Piña
Production Produced and engineered by Joel Hamilton Mixed by Joel Hamilton at Studio G in Brooklyn, New York Additional engineering by Chris Kritikos Assistant engineering by Justin Termotto
Hammerheart Records are proud to announce the remastered version of Defender‘s Dutch Metal classic City Ad Mortis (EP, 1987), which will be released on 24th January, 2025 via the label. After 38 years, City Ad Mortis is available again on vinyl and CD, including three newly recorded bonus tracks.
City Ad Mortis can now be pre-ordered in various formats, including a limited yellow/orange splatter vinyl, here: https://hammerheart.lnk.to/defender
Track-list: 1. City Ad Mortis 2. Die for You 3. Deadly Peril 4. In the Beginning 5. Counter Attack 6. The Lady Vanished (2025 re-recording) 7. Moloch (2025 re-recording) 8. Heaven on Your Mind (2025 re-recording)
Defender was a Dutch speed metal band formed in the mid-1980s and known for their energetic and technically proficient music that combined elements of traditional heavy metal with the intensity of thrash.
After their first demo Tales of the Unexpected, Defender released their first major work City Ad Mortis (EP) in 1987 which cemented their reputation among speed metal enthusiasts. Defender‘s lyrics often explored themes of fantasy, battle, and the struggles of humanity, aligning with the aesthetic of many metal bands of the era.
Despite their talent and loyal fanbase, Defender faced challenges common to many underground metal bands, including limited exposure and resources. They released a few other recordings, including Journey to the Unexpected in 1989, before disbanding in the early 1990s as the speed metal wave began to subside and grunge and alternative music rose to prominence.
Defender‘s work however, remains a cult favourite which is celebrated by fans of classic speed and thrash metal. Their recordings are considered a testament to the raw energy and creativity of the 1980s European metal scene.
After 38 years, City Ad Mortis is remastered and finally available on vinyl and CD again including three newly recorded bonus tracks.
BOOBS LICKERS, the funky-rock trio from Italy, proudly announce the release of their new album “Road Through The Milky Way”, available today on all digital platforms and in physical format via Volcano Records & Promotion.
“Road Through The Milky Way” is a sonic journey filled with infectious grooves, funky rhythms, and the bold rock attitude that defines the band. This album delivers a mix of psychedelic stories, on-the-road experiences, and cosmic visions, solidifying the Boobs Lickers’ eclectic and captivating identity. Ahead of the album release, the band dropped the single “Amsterdam”, paired with an official music video shot entirely in the Dutch capital and produced by Zenbang Productions. The video takes viewers on a surreal, psychedelic adventure with a humorous twist, perfectly embodying the band’s wild spirit.
Watch the Amsterdam music video below.
Adding to the excitement, Boobs Lickers are gearing up for a five-date tour across California in January 2025. The band will perform in iconic venues across Los Angeles and San Diego, including the legendary Whisky A Go Go and Viper Room on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip.
January 24 – Hollywood, CA (Whisky A Go Go) January 26 – Downtown L.A. (Seahorse Studio) January 29 – San Diego, CA (Humble Heart) January 31 – Los Angeles, CA (Viper Room) February 1 – The Amp Shop, North Hollywood
With “Road Through The Milky Way”, Boobs Lickers mark a new chapter in their musical journey, blending groove, technical skill, and an irresistible sound that promises to make its mark on the international funky-rock scene.
Re-Armed, the internationally acclaimed Finnish metal band, is known for their infectious riffs, melodic sensibility, and socially conscious lyrics. Throughout their long career, the band has explored numerous topical themes, and their latest single, Sky Falls Down, is no exception.
The band shares their thoughts on the song’s message:
“This track delves into the challenges of modern communication, such as the endless flow of information and the shouting matches often seen on social media and in the mainstream media. The lyrics invite listeners to reflect on how to navigate the constant noise and maintain a healthy sense of critical thinking without being misled – whether through opinion shaping or outright manipulation. Additionally, the song emphasizes the importance of genuine, person-to-person interaction and how easily that connection can be lost through instant messaging instead of face-to-face encounters.”
Sky Falls Down is not only timely but also a powerful showcase of Re-Armed’s ability to combine heavy riffs, melodic structures, and profound, introspective lyrics. The song’s choruses are elevated by a guest appearance from vocalist Mirva Saviniemi. The single is available now on all streaming platforms.
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 ) 