Defying was formed in 2008. Within 15 years of existing they released two records: “Nexus Artificial” (2014, LP) and “The Splinter of Light We Misread” (2016, EP) which include Joy Division “New Dawn Fades” cover. They combine a variety of genres in their music: post- and progressive metal with sludge, black metal and elements or ambient.
Earlier this year, February 23, 2024, Defying released brand new studio album titled “Wadera” which was released by Italian label These Hands Melt (buy CD). Music was self-recorded by Tomasz Semeniuk, and later mixed & mastered by Filip Hałucha at Heinrich House Studio (Azarath, Behemoth, Entropia, Obscure Sphinx). Cover artwork was done by Paweł Siemaszko.
“Wadera” is a concept album inspired by the Polish horror film “The Wolf” (1983) and the short story “Wadera” (1977) by Jerzy Gierałtowski. The album is a musical story about revenge from beyond the grave, told in the spirit of dark romanticism.
After well-received album “Wadera“, Olsztyn post-metal band Defying published a live session where they perform selected songs from the previous-mentioned album.
Tomasz comments: “Just like our music, the form of the recording itself is unusual. Filmed in one continuous take, without cuts or corrections. The authors of the picture are the duo Ćmy i Paprocie: Natalia Semeniuk behind the camera and I, responsible for the lights and post-production of the shots. Szymon Stadniczenko, the band’s guitarist, supervised the sound. The recording may be a foretaste of what the band performs live, and soon you will be able to hear us, among others: at the Summer Dying Loud festival in Aleksandrów Łódzki [PL].“
Loud buzzing is music to the ear of most metalheads. But Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren and guitarist Sylvain Demercastel are so enraged by the sound of chainsaws destroying Costa Rica’s ecosystem that they’ve started Savage Lands, a musician-run 501 (c) 3 non-profit.
Savage Landshaveprotected 60,000 square feet of Costa Rican rainforest using royalties from their music. Next week, they’re planting their ecological flag at Hellfest with a little help from some of their famous friends.
Savage Lands Live at Hellfest (Main Stage 02) Friday, June 28 @ 5:35 – 6:30 pm CEST
Featuring special guests:
– Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) – Shane Embury (Napalm Death) – Vincent Dennis (Body Count) – Daniel de Jongh (Textures) – Silje Wergeland (The Gathering) – Jesper Liveröd (Nasum) – Alejandro Londono Montoya (Cultura tres) – Chloe Trujilo
During their hour-long set at Hellfest, Savage Lands will perform classic metal covers along with other songs off their upcoming album, including new single “No Remedy”, which features Heilung’s Maria Franz.
Watch the chilling video for “No Remedy” on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.
“No Remedy” follows the same approach, though to different results than Savage Land’s firsttwo singles. Sylvain still comes speeding out the gate with another burning riff that will ignite the crowd at Hellfest, but this is the most melodic song they’ve ever written. When the band hit the chorus, the guitars don’t crunch but crest into warm, washed-out power chords.
“That’s one of the beautiful things about Savage Lands”, Sylvain says. “As a band, we’re not limited to just one genre. We can adapt to boost the strengths of whomever is joining us”.
“Supporting what Savage Lands is doing on the ground in Costa Rica was an easy decision” Maria says. After all, Heilung have a tradition of donating to tree planting initiatives. “But when Sylvain sent me ‘No Remedy’, there was a sense of melancholy to the song that really resonated with me”.
Protecting the environment is the heartbeat of every Savage Lands song. “No Remedy” can be seen as a reflection on destroying the planet. The video was shot in an abandoned, run-down building that was once owned by Napoleon. But the song speaks to other human concerns. “I am locked in my head / And I lost the key”, Poun bemoans, his quiet desperation only answered by Maria’s haunting echo (“Never, never now”).
“We are all helpless to stop the passing of time”, Sylvain says. At the end of the video, the band members disappear from the screen, one by one, using an old-school film technique. “Each of us is left with only our memories”.
Still, “No Remedy” does find a silver lining. “What do we need to live together?” Poun and Maria sing, their voices climbing, almost circling each other, before locking into perfect harmony. They might look mad as hell while yelling at each other across the kitchen table, but the whole video crew was in stitches after the sixth take of Maria throwing water on poor Poun. “Whether we’re talking about the environment or our friendships, it’s vital that we appreciate what we have during our time on this earth”, Sylvain says.
Just listening to “No Remedy” helps support Savage Lands. 100% of the song’s royalties fund the musician-run non-profit’s preservation efforts in Costa Rica.
Stop by the Savage Lands booth at Hellfest to learn more about the green zones, nature sanctuaries and other preservation projects that they’re building in Costa Rica. Make a donation and receive the chance to win a one-of-a-kind guitar.
Tracks 1. “The Last Howl” (5:48) [WATCH] 2. “Black Rock Heart” (4:54) [WATCH] 3. “No Remedy” (4:24) [WATCH]
Artists occasionally support causes through donations to organizations. With SAVAGE LANDS, Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren teamed up with his guitar-wielding friend Sylvain Demercastel to create their own US 501(c)3 non-profit.
Savage Lands raises money for reforestation and the creation of sanctuaries free of human destruction in Costa Rica. Using their own royalties, donations and other fundraising efforts, the organization builds nature sanctuaries, establishes green zones and other land preservation projects. They partner with other non-profits, scientists and forest engineers, as well as Decibel Magazine and Season of Mist.
“If you want to make a difference, take action! Our greatest hope with Savage Lands is that it will inspire you to join us, and if you can, to start your own initiative to help preserve animals, forests, and our planet”, says Dirk.
The Anix raw emotional depths in his latest rock single “PANIC“. “PANIC” is the next single off his upcoming album VOLTAGE, due in late 2024 from FiXT.
“PANIC” embodies a rich mix of synth, drums, guitar, and bass to create a sound that is at once expansive and deeply introspective. The track offers listeners a gateway into the artist’s private experiences with sudden anxiety and panic attacks, particularly around performances and public speaking. This release is not just a song but a story of vulnerability and the human condition, revealing the often unseen struggles individuals face while seemingly riding a wave of success.
Detailing the inspiration of “PANIC,” The Anix explains, “‘PANIC’ is written as an internal dialog with myself during unexpected issues I started having with anxiety/panic attacks before a performance or speech. This started happening out of nowhere, with no warning, where I would just lose the ability to manage my breathing, which makes it impossible to speak. All it takes is for this to happen to you once, then the fear of it happening again can trigger it to happen, which creates a downward spiral of events and paranoia.”
The Anix is the alternative / electronic-rock project of Los Angeles artist/producer Brandon Smith. Known for pushing creative boundaries with his genre-blending mix of alternative rock with dark melancholic undertones drenched in an array of synthesizers, The Anix’s music has captured the attention of global editorial curators with prominent features across official playlists from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Yandex Music, and more. The Anix has received press support from outlets like Revolver, Substream, and Outburn magazines as well as features in TV and video game franchises including Call of Duty, Destiny, Mass Effect, and WWE.
Photo by Tina Korhonen, astrophotography courtesy of Giancarlo Erra
The new single from UK metalheads ORANGE GOBLIN’s hugely anticipated new album Science, Not Fiction is out today. The track, titled ‘The Fire at the Centre of the Earth is Mine’, follows ‘(Not) Rocket Science’ and ‘Cemetary Rats’ as the third single to be taken from the album and is accompanied by a new lyric video by Matt Vickerstaff which you can watch below.
Speaking about the new track, singer and lyricist Ben Ward said, “We are very proud to present our new single ‘The Fire at the Centre of the Earth is Mine’. We consider this a very ‘typical’ Orange Goblin song…uptempo, melodic and instantly catchy, with all the ingredients of classic Heavy Metal! it’s the perfect way to kickstart the new Orange Goblin album! Lyrically, it’s about how we can’t change our past, but as the rest of the world is seemingly falling apart, we all have a chance to change our future. We are very excited about adding this banger to the live set at future shows!”
Science, Not Fiction will be released on 19th July on the following formats:
CD Deluxe with Bonus track presented in a digipack with a 20-page booklet
Limited Edition Gatefold 2LP Green and Black Marble vinyl edition available exclusively from the band & Peaceville stores
Orange Goblin – UK & Ireland tour 2024 Friday 4 October – Opium, Dublin Saturday 5 October – Limelight 2 – Belfast Sunday – 6 October – King Tut’s – Glasgow Tuesday 8 October – Gorilla – Manchester Wednesday 9 October – KK’s Steel Mill – Wolverhampton Thursday 10 October – The Fleece – Bristol Friday 11 October – The 1865 – Southampton Saturday 12 October – The Dome – London
Michael Schenker announces new album ‘My Years with UFO’ celebrating the 50th anniversary of Schenker’s years with UFO. The first Single ‘Mother Mary’ featuring Slash and Eric Grönwall is out now and released through earMUSIC.
Guitar phenomenon Michael Schenker is set to revisit his iconic past with a new album ‘My Years with UFO’ which will be released on September 20th. The album reimagines classic UFO hits, celebrating his 50th anniversary alongside today’s rock elite.
Produced by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss, the new album marks the 50th anniversary of Schenker’s groundbreaking era with UFO, spanning from 1972 to 1978—a period that brought the English hard rock band international acclaim and cemented their place in rock ‘n’ roll history.
In this celebratory album, Michael Schenker re-records 11 of UFO’s greatest hits from this magical era, infusing new life into the classics with an impressive lineup of guest stars. Joining Schenker on this journey are Derek Sherinian on keys, Brian Tichy on drums, and Barry Sparks on bass. The album boasts a stellar roster of guest artists, including Axl Rose, Slash, Kai Hansen, Roger Glover, Joey Tempest, Biff Byford, Jeff Scott Soto, John Norum, Dee Snider, Joel Hoekstra, Joe Lynn Turner, Carmine Appice, Adrian Vandenberg, Stephen Pearcy, and Erik Grönwall.
The first single ‘Mother Mary’ featuringSlash andGrönwall is out now.
This album is the introduction to an upcoming trilogy as Michael Schenker signed an exclusive three-album-deal with earMUSIC, with albums to be followed in 2025 and 2026.
Following this year’s Cruise To The Edge, Big Big Train travelled to Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana to take part in a recording and mixing session run by Sweetwater chief engineer, Shawn Dealey. This session gave the band an opportunity to record an alternative version of Last Eleven, the closing song on this year’s acclaimed The Likes Of Us studio album. You can listen to the Sweetwater version of Last Eleven, which has been mixed by Shawn, here: https://bigbigtrain.lnk.to/LastEleven-SweetwaterLiveVersion
Shawn has previously worked with artists including Steve Hackett, Spock’s Beard, Animals As Leaders, Counting Crows, Jared James Nichols, Bootsy Collins, Beth Hart and many more. You can read more about Shawn here: https://sweetwaterstudios.com/about-us
Lead vocalist Alberto Bravin comments: “Having rehearsed at Sweetwater before our USA shows and Cruise To The Edge in March, it was wonderful to return there for a recording session. It was interesting to take an alternative approach to Last Eleven, which differs significantly from the version released on The Likes Of Us album. We really enjoyed working with Shawn in Sweetwater’s amazing studios and hope to return there again in the future.”
Drummer Nick D’Virgilio adds: “I really get into how songs make me feel and this version of Last Eleven, with its mellow beginning, has such a great vibe to it. Not that the original has anything wrong with it at all! I just like how the story in the song now comes across. It starts mellow, revs up and gets powerful, then ends mellow again. It also showcases some wonderful vocals.”
Guitarist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom says: “We had this idea to take it down in the first verse, which I think turned out really sweet! I ended up doing the intro on acoustic guitar, with Oskar [Holldorff, keyboards] on Fender Rhodes and Clare [Lindley] adding some nice violin lines, which turned Last Eleven into a different song for me. I also played some electric baritone guitar later in the song too, which added some further flavour to the overall sound. I think I like this new version even better than the original!”
Big Big Train headline the final Night Of The Prog festival in Germany on 21st July before making their debut at the renowned Cropredy Festival in the UK on 9th August. The band then undertake their own headline tour in September and October, playing 13 shows across the UK and Europe, before returning to co-headline Cruise To The Edge in April next year.
21st July – Night of the Prog, Loreley, Germany 9th August – Cropredy Festival, Oxfordshire, UK 17th September – Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, UK 18th September – The Riverfront, Newport, UK 19th September – Playhouse Theatre, Whitley Bay, UK 21st September – Queens Hall, Edinburgh, UK 22nd September – Palace Theatre, Newark, UK 24th September – Stables Theatre, Milton Keynes, UK – SOLD OUT 25th September – The Stoller Hall, Manchester, UK – SOLD OUT 27th September – Stadthalle, Weinheim, Germany 28th September – Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands 29th September – Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands 1st October – Cosmopolite, Oslo, Norway 2nd October – Viften, Copenhagen, Denmark 5th October – Cadogan Hall, London, UK
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 