The HEAVY METAL ASSAULT TOUR descends upon the U.K. next February for four shows only. Featuring four of the greatest traditional Heavy Metal bands and offering triple headlining sets from GIRLSCHOOL, RAVEN and ALCATRAZZ plus special guests Airforce.
All three headliners have released new albums this year via Silver Lining Music with NWOBHM’s pioneers Girlschool’s “WTFortyfive?” going to #1 on the UK Metal/Rock Charts.
RAVEN released “All Hell’s Breaking Loose” this June, while Alcatrazz released “Take No Prisoners” this May, all three to critical acclaim.
Special Guests Airforce have a new album set for release early 2024.
The three co-headlining bands will be playing equal sets every night.
Wednesday 14 February – Glasgow – Ivory Blacks Thursday 15 February – Newcastle – Trillians Newcastle Friday 16 February – Manchester – Manchester Academy Saturday 17 February – London – The Dome
After welcoming Marco Pastorino as additional guitarist/backing vocalist and releasing their standalone single “Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)”, Austrian symphonic metal force SERENITY have announced the release of their brand new studio album, entitled Nemesis AD. Their newest masterpiece will be released on October 27, 2023 via Napalm Records. Their previous studio album, The Last Knight (2020), which landed at #25 on the German album charts, and the band’s stunning 2022 live release, MEMORIA, contained SERENITY’s most iconic hits, such as “Wings of Madness” and “The Chevalier”, and have gathered over three million views on YouTube.
As a first glimpse of what can be expected, SERENITY unleash “The Fall of Man”, a mighty single off of the band’s new album, Nemesis AD! With vocal support from legendary singer Roy Khan (Conception, ex-Kamelot), the song is a sure future hit with fans old and new and is released alongside a fascinating lyric video.
Georg Neuhauser (vocals) on “The Fall of Man”: “To welcome Roy Khan as a feature guest on the first single of our upcoming album is a great honor. We’re bound by a longstanding friendship between SERENITY and Kamelot, along with a strong personal connection. For me it’s really a dream coming true to collaborate with this outstanding and remarkable vocalist and to see how exceptionally well our voices complement each other.”
Known for their thematic albums inspired by historic characters and stories of the past, on Nemesis AD, SERENITY draw inspiration from the life and highly influential art of painter Albrecht Dürer of the German renaissance.
Grandiose intro track “Memoriae Alberti Dureri” sets the scene for the album, before legendary singer Roy Khan (Conception, ex-Kamelot) lends his impressive vocals on the mighty “The Fall of Man”. “Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)” (named after Dürer’s famous artwork) features lyrics sung partially in German, for the first time in the band’s history spanning over more than two decades. The powerful track showcases SERENITY’s signature blend of orchestral arrangements, heavy guitar riffs, and soaring vocals. Heart-wrenchingly emotional yet empowering “Reflections (of AD)” mesmerizes the listener with its awe-inspiring instrumentation, multifaceted vocals and brilliant changes throughout the gripping eight-minute track. Theatrical “Sun of Justice” leads the listener to a faraway fantasy world while the vocal performance of skilled singer Georg Neuhauser ultimately unlocks the track’s hit potential. “The End of Babylon” represents one of the darker, heavier tracks on Nemesis AD – climactic arrangements carry the dramatic storyline. Monumental orchestral version of “The Fall of Man” closes the album on a thrilling note that is sure to send a chill up your spine.
With Nemesis AD, SERENITY adds yet another bombastic symphonic metal masterpiece to their notable discography – there is no doubt that the talented unit’s standing in the scene is well deserved.
SERENITY comment: “We are always focused on historical themes. Our latest album The Last Knight (2020) was about Maximilian I and his era. The narrative unfolds further as we structured our new album around his contemporary Albrecht Dürer, who is one of the most revolutionary and remarkable artists of all time for us, representing a pivotal juncture between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, bridging Gothic and modern eras.”
Tracklisting Nemesis AD: 1. Memoriae Alberti Dureri 2. The Fall of Man (feat. Roy Khan) 3. Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall) 4. Soldiers Under the Cross 5. Reflections (of AD) 6. Sun of Justice 7. Nemesis 8. The End of Babylon 9. Crowned by an Angel 10. Just the Sky is the Limit 11. The Fall of Man (Orchestral Version, feat. Roy Khan)
Catch SERENITY live on tour: 25.10.2023 AT – Wörgl / Komma 27.10.2023 AT – Vienna / Aera 31.10.2023 DE – Dusseldorf / Mitsubishi Electric Halle* 02.11.2023 DE – Ravensburg / Oberschwabenhalle* 03.11.2023 DE – Bamberg / Brose Arena* 04.11.2023 NL – Alpendoorn / Brainstorm Festival 05.11.2023 DE – Leipzig / Quaterback Immobilien Arena* *Supporting Powerwolf
SERENITY are: Georg Neuhauser – Vocals Christian Hermsdörfer – Guitars & Backing Vocals Marco Pastorino – Guitars & Backing Vocals Fabio D’Amore – Bass & Backing Vocals Andreas Schipflinger – Drums & Backing Vocals
Finnish thrash legends BLOODRIDE have a huge pleasure to announce tour dates with their long time friends, Swedish thrashers METHANE, alonside Sgt Slime! See the shows and details below.
The band comments: “Several years ago we played high octane gig with Methane guys so this is great fun to reunite and raise hell with them as well as our moshing pals Sgt Slime. Actually this also first time that Bloodride thrashes in Sweden territory, really looking forward to that!”
Fierce Finnish thrash metal band Bloodride was formed 2000. The band released their first EP “Bloodridden Disease” in 2004 and debut full-length album “Crowned In Hell” came out 2011. Latest and fourth album “Idiocracy” came out September 2021 through Great Dane Records. Musically Bloodride play old school thrash metal with some vibes of darker sound like death metal and harsh edge of hard core. Real stuff to bang your head and break your neck! During these years band has devastated stages all around Europe with names like Exhumed, Exodus, Nunslaughter, Toxic Holocaust, Whiplash etc. On stage you can expect perfect storm from Bloodride!
BLOODRIDE are: Jykä Leskinen: vocals Esa Pennala: bass Simo Partanen: guitar Teemu Vähäkangas: guitar Petteri Lammassaari: drums
BLOODRIDE Discography Idiocracy – Album, Release date: 2021-09-17, Label: Great Dane Records Planet Alcatraz – Album, Release date: 2016-11-25, Label: Inverse Records Bloodmachine – Album, Release date: 2014-03-14, Label: Violent Journey Records Crowned in Hell – Album, Release date: 2011-04-16, Label: Violent Journey Records Supreme Predator – Single, Release date: 2010-04 Bloodridden Disease EP, Release date: 2004
At the end of last year a mysterious project called ABYSS OF HEL appeared on FB for the first time, which at first only revealed that a certain Daniel Stromayer was involved, who is perhaps known to most as the guitarist of the now defunct Thrudvangar.
In January they let the cat out of the bag with the release of a lyric video titled “YRU”: A heavy groove/death metal thunderstorm somewhere between Sepultura and Fear Factory should set the tone for Abyss Of Hel!
In the last days the quintet signed with MDD Records to release their debut longplayer towards the end of the year. Be curious, more info soon. You can find the link to the lyric video as a first appetizer below!
Budapest-based melodic death metallers GRYMHEART have released a lyric-video for ‘My Hellish Hunt’, second single taken from the debut album ‘Hellish Hunt’ to be released on September 22nd via Scarlet Records.
Grymheart combines the energy of power metal, the harmonies of folk metal, the epicness of symphonic metal and the screaming vocals of death metal.
The most important elements of their sound are the catchy melodies: every track contains memorable parts which get stuck in your head; the songs are mostly fast and uplifting with lots of double kick drums, but there are some slow parts with a darker mood too.
The overall concept and image of Grymheart come from iconic monsters & demons hunter characters like The Witcher, Solomon Kane, Van Helsing etc.; each song tells about mystical creatures such as ghosts, Succubus, the living dead, Ignis Fatuus, or harpies. The hunt is open!
Grymheart is leaded by Gábor Kovács (Gabriel Blacksmith), founder of Hungarian power metal legends Wisdom
engineered, produced and mastered by Gábor Kovács; recorded and mixed at Blacksmith Studio
cover & artwork by Gyula Havancsák (Accept, Burning Witches, Stratovarius)
October 6, 2023 will see German stoner rockers WOLF PRAYER release their much-awaited, second studio album “Spell Of The Crimson Eye” via Barhill Records. Following the previously-released, first single “Luna”, the trio has shared a new music video for the haunting track “Oblivion”!
“The song is about forgetfulness, more precisely the disease-related forgetfulness of Alzheimer’s dementia, an incurable disorder of the brain,” the band says. “Due to the death of nerve cells in the brain, affected people become increasingly forgetful, confused and disoriented. Familiar, simple activities such as drinking or eating can no longer be carried out. Visual impressions and spatial relationships are no longer understood. There is a change in the mood and personality of the affected persons. They easily become upset when they are outside their familiar environment. If routines or developed rigid processes are interrupted, there is restlessness, anxiety or confusion. Reality changes into a strange illusion that is no longer believed or trusted. Gradually, the long-term memory also suffers, so that loved ones, family members and friends are no longer recognised and are treated or perceived with a distrustful distance. There is hardly anything left of the former beloved personality. Due to the degradation of cognitive abilities, the loss of personality and the degradation of the physical, bodily condition, one can only watch helplessly the decay and the associated dwindling of the life forces of the loved one.”
Just exclusively premiered with The Sleeping Shaman, you can now watch the new WOLF PRAYER video for “Oblivion” here:
Following their much acclaimed 2019-debut album “Echoes Of The Second Sun”, on “Spell Of The Crimson Eye”, WOLF PRAYER deal with a wide variety of topics in their seven new songs: the longing for a new love, the loss of personality of a loved one due to oblivion caused by illness, the mindless following and carrying out of socially “respected, correct” teachings and losing oneself in an everyday routine, the eternal game between good and evil, a homage to the moon and space travel, and the inner urge that results in a conscious personality change that one accepts and thereby wrongs loved ones.
Like its predecessor, “Spell Of The Crimson Eye” was mastered by Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios. WOLF PRAYER see “Spell Of The Crimson Eye” as a further refinement of their style, a mixture of atmospheric fuzz/desert/stoner and heavy rock, which had its origins on “Echoes Of The Second Sun”. This time it was important for them to capture the “power, consistency and force” of their live set. Not least due to the long recording phase with producer Christian Hack, the understanding and ear of Christian Schmid, who was able to wonderfully empathise with the sound they were looking for, and the mastering by Sidney Claire Meyer in the internationally renowned Emil Berliner Studios, an optimal, powerful symbiosis of live and studio sound was achieved.
Since the release of their debut, WOLF PRAYER have played several small tours with genre-similar bands such as Elara Sun Streak Band, Kosmodrom or Have Blue, and in support of Motorowl and J. Mascis’ band Witch. Fans of Nebula, All Them Witches, Kyuss and beyond should definitely keep an eye and ear on WOLF PRAYER‘s upcoming “Spell Of The Crimson Eye”! The album pre-sale is available HERE!
Tracklist:
Interludium Nebulae
Desire
Oblivion
Doctrine
Cards Of Evil
Luna
The Devil Told Me So
WOLF PRAYER is: Jan Sprengard: vocals, guitar Tim Hansen: bass Matthias Schorr: drums
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 ) 