TESTAMENT Announce European Tour with EXODUS + VOIVOD

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 27, 2023
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Photo by Stephanie Cabral

Following their highly successful Summer 2022 tour dates, Bay Area thrash metal giants, TESTAMENT and EXODUS, have announced that they will be teaming up for a 2023 European tour in May and June. In addition to some of the biggest and most renowned European open air festivals like Hellfest, Graspop, Copenhell, Sweden Rock, Metalfest, Mystic and Rock Hard Festival, the bands will also be playing a bunch of sweaty and intense club shows, in a few cities that they had to leave out last year.

Legendary Canadian thrash metal eccentrics VOIVOD are joining the line-up as support, rounding off an exciting tour package that sounds like a trip back in time to the mid 1980s.

You can find the 2023 TESTAMENT + EXODUS tour dates below!

TESTAMENT – TITANS OF CREATION EU TOUR 2023

TESTAMENT w/ EXODUS and Voivod
26-May-2023 DE – Wiesbaden, Schlachthof
28-May-2023 DE – Munich, Backstage
30-May-2023 FR – Lyon, Transbordeur
31-May-2023 CH – Pratteln, Z7
01-June-2023 IT – Milan, Live Club
02-June-2023 SI – Ljubljana, Kino Siska
03-June-2023 DE – Stuttgart, LKA Longhorn
05-June-2023 DE – Berlin, Columbia Theater
11-June-2023 FR – Strasbourg, Laiterie *
13-June-2023 DE – Hamburg, Markthalle
16-June-2023 DE – Hannover, Capitol *
*without Voivod

FESTIVALS
27-May-2023 DE – Gelsenkirchen, Rock Hard Festival
04-June-2023 CZ – Plzen, Metalfest
07-June-2023 SE – Sölvesborg, Sweden Rock Festival
08-June-2023 PL – Gdansk, Mystic Festival
09-June-2023 FI – Hyvinkää, Rockfest
10-June-2023 NL – Leeuwarden, Into The Grave
15-June-2023 DK – Copenhagen, Copenhell
17-June-2023 BE – Dessel, Graspop Metal Meeting
18-June-2023 FR – Clisson, Hellfest

Bay area thrash metal giants TESTAMENT unleashed their highly acclaimed thirteenth studio album, Titans Of Creation, via Nuclear Blast Records in 2020. 

Revisit the album Titans Of Creation on any streaming platform: https://testament.bfan.link/titans-of-creation

TESTAMENT has taken their style to the next level and presents an album that is loyal to the roots of traditional thrash metal while still including the alluring, brilliant, and progressive ingredients they are known for.

With a bond forged in youth and decades-old friendship, thrash metal masters EXODUS released their acclaimed eleventh studio album, Persona Non Grata, in the fall of 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Revisit EXODUS’ most recent album, Persona Non Grata, here: https://exodus.bfan.link/persona-non-grata 

OVERKILL Announce New Album “Scorched”, Release First Single ‘The Surgeon’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 27, 2023
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For over 3 and a half decades, OVERKILL have been the trailblazers in producing some of the most signature moments in the world of metal. On April 14th, the New Jersey Thrash legends will bludgeon your ears with their twentieth studio album, entitled Scorched via Nuclear Blast Records.

Today, the band offers fans the first taste of the album with the single, ‘The Surgeon’. Listeners will enjoy a crash course in OVERKILL 101 featuring blistering vocals, surgically shreddy riffs, galloping drums, and the dirty low-end bass that fans come out of the gutter for. . Enjoy the classic sound has made you love the NJ thrash outfit for 40+ years via the visualizer for ‘The Surgeon’ here:

Listen to ‘The Surgeon’ on all streaming platforms: https://bfan.link/Overkill-TheSurgeon

OVERKILL Bobby Blitz comments,
“Man, it seems like for F-in ever since we chatted!!!! Ha! I tell you what, this is the longest ever between Overkill releases, Feb ’19 to April ’23.
For me, it became my ‘peterpandemic’ go-to. I wrote my part, tore it down, then again and again. I found myself still changing parts while Colin was mixing!  It became the normal in a very abnormal time, sanity amongst the insanity. Somewhere in ‘Scorched’ that is all reflected, a common thread, it is the place I went to get what I needed, maybe what “we” needed. It’s different, that’s for sure an old-school approach/mix in a modern world….was it worth the wait? You tell me…….see ya on the road! Horns up!”

Scorched offered a new recording environment as all members were able to record on their own. The mixing of the record was handled by Colin Richardson and his assistant engineer Chris Clancy. Johnny Rodd helped with producing vocals, and finally, Maor Appelbaum took over mastering and adding finishing touches. The band returned to artist Travis Smith to create the album cover art.

OVERKILL are expanding their reach but don’t be fooled, the band will remain the filthy, massive gutter thrashers that we all know and love.

Pre-order Scorched in the format of your choice here: https://bfan.link/Overkill-Scorched 

Below is the track listing for Scorched:
1. Scorched
2. Goin’ Home
3. The Surgeon
4. Twist OF The Wick
5. Wicked Place
6. Won’t Be Comin Back
7. Fever
8. Harder They Fall
9. Know Her Name
10. Bag O’ Bones

OVERKILL will be heading overseas this Spring for their “Killfest” European tour supporting the new album. The 14-day trek will kick off on April 13th and feature labelmates and Bay area legends HEATHEN. For the tour, OVERKILL will offer VIP tickets that include the opportunity to hang out with the band and take pictures. Only 20 VIP tickets will be available for each show.

ENSLAVED Release New Single ‘Forest Dweller’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 27, 2023
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ENSLAVED have released a new single and video from Heimdal, their 16th studio album due out on March 3rd 2023. ‘Forest Dweller’ launches with progressive splendor, guiding the listener into a churning, psychedelic journey through archaic Norse folklore. One might ask what lessons we can divine from our celestial ancestors? We might never understand their true intentions, but their echo will live on regardless.

Enslaved’s Grutle Kjellson commented,
“To me ‘Forest Dweller’ was the most immediate song on the album, at least in its earliest form as an instrumental demo. I spent quite some time to get into some of the other songs of the album, but this one seemed somehow logical, well logical by Enslaved standards that is. I had an idea for a lyric, and Ivar’s amazing and diverse riffs on this one made it easy to pan out the scripture. I made a rough plan on what to sing over it, and we actually ended up using some parts of those recordings on the album!
The song sort of showcases our representative samples of inspiration: Led Zep, Genesis, Destruction, Iron Maiden and David Bowie, to mention a schizophrenic tapestry of influences. It mirrors in the lyrics as well, which deals about both darkness and light in connection to the nature of Heimdal.”

The tree set ablaze at the end of my days
Awaiting my deserved death yell
Long forgotten, no one whispers my name
In the mountains and forests, I’ll dwell

You can pre-order Heimdal here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/heimdal
Listen to ‘Forest Dweller’ here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/forest-dweller

Heimdal, is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. The record is named after Heimdal, arguably the most mysterious entity in Nordic mythology.

The record features psychedelic track ‘Caravans To The Outer Worlds’ from last year’s EP of the same name. Album bonus versions contain an extra track, ‘Gangandi’, alongside a Blu-Ray copy of 2021’s stunning Otherworldly Big Band Experience streamed event – the band’s boldest project to date, featuring fellow Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. The kaleidoscopic stage show features a stellar setlist, covering Enslaved’s career, both past and present. 

Enslaved in 2022 are a band in stellar form – a band at its most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometown’s extraordinary musical history. Their most recent material shows Enslaved at their most unleashed and thought-through – a lethal combination unfurling a potential that’s easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. A contradiction? Life itself is a contradiction. And yet we all live to prove it wrong.

FEAR FACTORY Re-Sign to Nuclear Blast

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 27, 2023
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Nuclear Blast Records is proud to announce that extreme industrial metal pioneers FEAR FACTORY have re-signed their contract and are ushering in a new era. Initially signed to the label in 2013, the band has released the albums Genexus, Aggression Continuum, and Recoded.

FEAR FACTORY’s Dino Cazares comments:
“This is a new year and a new chapter for FEAR FACTORY. We are off to a great start because we have re-signed with Nuclear Blast Records and our A&R legend Monte Conner, who originally signed the band in 1992. It is a great feeling to be with a label that gets us and who has always had our backs, especially when we needed them the most. Prepare for the future of FEAR FACTORY.”

Nuclear Blast A&R Monte Conner states:
“Working with FEAR FACTORY right from the start of their amazing career has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my own career. I was thrilled to be reunited with them when I signed FEAR FACTORY to Nuclear Blast in 2013, and to be able to continue that journey once again for round #3 feels incredibly satisfying. I have believed in Dino Cazares from day one, and I know he is going to deliver a killer new album with all the trademarks that have made and still make Fear Factory one of the most pioneering and unique sounding metal bands of all time.”

Next month, FEAR FACTORY will hit the road with headliner STATIC X on the “Rise Of The Machine” North American tour. The 42-date trek will also feature Dope as well as selected dates with MUSHROOMHEAD and TWIZTID. 

Last year, the band released Recoded via Nuclear Blast. Like the innovative one-two punch of Demanufacture and Remanufacture, Recoded brilliantly reimagines the songs from 2021’s landmark Aggression Continuum with diverse ferocity.

The remixes stand as a mesmerizing counterpart to the band’s tenth album. Produced by co-founder, songwriter, and guitarist Dino Cazares and mixed/mastered by Damien Rainaud (DRAGONFORCE, ONCE HUMAN), Recoded boasts new interpretations of Aggression Continuum songs. Recoded features long-time collaborators Rhys Fulber, Zardonic, Tyrant Of Death, Rob GEE, BLUSH_RESPONSE, and Dualized. The album is the fourth FEAR FACTORY album with artwork by Anthony Clarkson.

Order/stream Recoded here: https://fearfactory.bfan.link/recoded

DEATHSTARS Announce New Album “Everything Destroys You”, Release Video for First Single ‘This Is’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 27, 2023
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Swedish industrial cult act DEATHSTARS finally return with their latest sonic output ‘Everything Destroys You’, which will be released on May 5th through Nuclear Blast Records. Their first release in over eight years marks a long-awaited comeback, spotlighting everything that is DEATHSTARS: adrenaline, bombast, sex & glam!

“The reason it’s been taking so long is that we simply wanted – and needed – a break after intense touring and so on, and on top of that the pandemic happened so tours were postponed and the release with them, so it feels fantastic to finally be able to present Everything Destroys You”, says Nightmare Industries.

The band are celebrating their return with an amazing video for the first single  ‘This Is’.

Frontman Whiplasher Bernadotte stated about the video: “We had a lot of discussions regarding the first video. At some point it was going to be filmed in Mexico City, the next day Paris or Belgrade but we ended up just filming it in Stockholm, where we live. It was kind of a slimmed down production, shooting for a couple of days in the old slaughterhouse area in Stockholm.
We wanted to do a video with no green screen or blue box, just a straightforward rock video that illustrates what this band is about in less than four minutes. It was weird shooting it where we did. We actually filmed it in “Slaktkyrkan”, which means “The slaughter church”, and the scenario… well, in one corner you could see a very androgynous looking Cat in high heels with a lot of weird lights all around him, in another corner Nightmare strapped to some fence in a straitjacket, then we had Skinny with a chainsaw and an angle grinder – just decapitating mannequins, Nitro toiling in a sea of fire and drums, and also me with my 130 kilo python, who is 6,30 meters long and her name is Cruella. Interesting creature! She was very heavy to walk around with; sliding around my shoulders and constantly licking my neck with her tongue. We had a good time.”

Listen / pre-order: https://bfan.link/deathstars-thisis-1152

THE CONVALESCENCE Release Claymation Video for ‘No Survivors’ Ft. CARNIFEX’s Scott Ian Lewis + Announce USA Tour Dates w/ Casket Robbery, Ignominious

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 27, 2023
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THE CONVALESCENCE is a five-member symphonic deathcore band formed in Toledo, USA in early 2011. The Convalescence blends black metal/horror theatrics with intense death metal style blast beats and shredding guitar along with brutal slamming breakdowns and catchy melodies. Since their inception, they have amassed an impressive discography including five full-length albums, and have toured extensively across the planet. The latest from them is the single “No Survivors”  featuring Scott Ian Lewis of Carnifex accompanied by a claymation music video. Vocalist Keith Wampler details the single and the upcoming album:

“The single is one of the hardest-hitting songs we’ve ever released. The lyrics and video were inspired by the Alien films, and having Scott doing some nasty guest vocals really helped give it the brutality we were looking for. We played it live throughout our recent European Tour and absolutely loved the energy it brings to the stage. We’re looking forward to this one being a part of our live show for many tours to come. This new album is basically like one big horror movie, song by song each one tells a story. Each one is brutal in its own way.”

The Convalescence expects the album will be received well by the fans, as they do their very best to step things up on each record. They worked with producer Jason Suecof on this one at Audiohammer Studios in Florida who has worked with most of their favorite bands (The Black Dahlia Murder, Carnifex, Deicide, Job For A Cowboy) and they were beyond stoked he was down to do the recording with them. In their opinion, they’ve created the heaviest The Convalescence album so far. The full-length was mastered by Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy) and is expected for release summer 2023.

Filthy, brutal, and symphonic, The Convalescence is recommended for fans of Carnifex, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Chelsea Grin.

Listen and watch to “No Survivors” ft. Carnifex’s Scott Ian Lewis, below.

In additional news, The Convalescence will be hitting the road this coming March for the “No Survivors Tour” with support from Casket Robbery and Ignominious. Tickets and info are available at Tconband.com.

The Convalescence – No Survivors Tour w/ Casket Robbery, Ignominious​
3/10 – Jackson, MI @ The Music Box
3/11 – Toledo, OH @ Main Street Bar & Grill
3/12 – New Haven, IN @ Carl’s Tavern
3/13 – Louisville, KY @ Mag Bar
3/14 – Overland Park, KS @ Vivo Live Events
3/15 – Tulsa, OK @ The Whittier Bar
3/16 – Fort Worth, TX @ The Rail Club DFW
3/17 – San Antonio, TX @ Bonds Rock Bar
3/18 – Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
3/19 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
3/20 – Pensacola, FL @ The Handlebar
3/21 – Sanford, FL @ West End Trading Co.
3/22 – Murfreesboro, TN @ Crossroads
3/23 – Knoxville, TN @ Brickyard Bar & Grill
3/24 – Lakewood, OH @ The Foundry
3/25 – Chesterfield, MI @ Diesel Concert Lounge