Progressive death metal outfit REVOCATION have released a new music video for the song Godforsaken off the band’s current album, Netherheaven. The video was directed by David Brodsky and Allie Woest of My Good Eye (mgenyc.com).
“Heavy metal heathens rejoice! Today we premiere our new music video for Godforsaken which was once again filmed by the dynamic duo of directors, David Brodsky and Allie Woest. We’ll be playing this one live for the next few months on our upcoming world tour, get ready to do some calisthenics in the pit for this banger!” comments guitarist and vocalist David Davidson.
The band is kicking off 2023 with a headline tour taking them through Europe and the UK featuring special guests Goatwhore, Alluvial, and Creeping Death. The tour starts next week on January 19 in Wiesbaden, Germany and wraps up in Hannover, Germany on February 18. See below for all dates!
Revocation tour dates w/ Goatwhore, Alluvial, Creeping Death Jan. 19 – Wiesbaden, DE – Kulturzentrum Schlachthof Jan. 20 – Bochum, DE – Matrix Bochum Jan. 21 – Nijmegen, NL – Doornroosje Jan. 22 – Hamburg, DE – Logo Musik & Bier GmbH Veranstaltungsservice Jan. 23 – Gothenburg, SE – Nefertiti på Valand (Jazzföreningen) Jan. 24 – Oslo, NO – John Dee Jan. 25 – Copenhagen, DK – Pumpehuset Jan. 27 – Berlin, DE – SO36 Jan. 28 – Chemnitz, DE – AJZ Jan. 29 – Nürnberg, DE – Hirsch Jan. 30 – Prague, CZ – Modrá Vopice Jan. 31 – Budapest, HU – Akvárium Klub Feb. 01 – Vienna, AT – Viper Room Feb. 02 – Munich, DE – Backstagen Halle Feb. 03 – Solothurn, CH – Kofmehl Feb. 04 – Bologna, IT – Alchemica Music Club Feb. 05 – Toulouse, FR – Le Rex De Toulous Feb. 06 – Barcelona, ES – Bóveda Feb. 07 – Madrid, ES – Copernico Feb. 08 – Bilbao, ES – Stage Live Feb. 10 – Paris, FR – Travbendo Feb. 11 – Lille / Wasquehal, FR – The Black Lab Feb. 12 – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall Feb. 13 – Manchester, UK – Rebellion Feb. 14 – Dublin, IE – Whelan’s Feb. 15 – Birmingham, UK – Mama Roux Feb. 16 – Bristol, UK – The Fleece Feb. 17 – Antwerp, BE – Zappa Feb. 18 – Hannover, DE – Kulturzentrum Faust
Multinational All Star Death Metal Kings SIEGE OF POWER have set February 17th as release date for their new full-length “This Is Tomorrow“! For a first preview of the album, a visualizer for the single ‘Force Fed Fear’ can be viewed at: metalblade.com/siegeofpower – where “This Is Tomorrow” can also be pre-ordered in various formats.
Siege Of Power consists of Chris Reifert (Autopsy) on vocals, Paul Baayens (Asphyx) on guitars, Theo van Eekelen (ex-Hail Of Bullets) on bass and Bob Bagchus (ex-Asphyx) on drums.
“We still like the debut ‚Warning Blast’ a lot but after a few years we started talking about doing another album and then we realized we had to be more serious. So we started writing 11 songs – all killers, no fillers!“, comments drummer Bob Bagchus. “Most of our inspriation on this album came from old school bands like Venom, Bathory, Slayer and even Black Sabbath. Combined with our own personal style we have for decades, of course.”
“This Is Tomorrow” is a tad darker than “Warning Blast” and that’s not all. Chris Reifert’s vocals are a lot more diverse giving each song it’s own identity. It’s a straight forward, rough metal album with good, old 80s vibes and reflects the dark times we are living in these days.
The album was recorded at Toneshed studios and mixed/mastered by Erwin Hermsen. The stunning artwork was created by Roberto Toderico.
“This Is Tomorrow” track listing 01. Force Fed Fear 02. Sinister Christians 03. Scavengers 04. Zero Containment 05. Ghosts of Humanity 06. As the World Crumbles 07. Oblivion 08. Deeper Wounds 09. The Devil’s Grasp 10. No Salvation 11. This Is Tomorrow
Siege Of Power started in 2013 -under the moniker First Class Elite – as a project without any expectations. Shortly after releasing a split album it was left for dead, buried and almost forgotten until the rotten corpse was exhumed in 2017. This resulted in 19 no-nonsense extreme metal tracks mixed with several doomdozers and the debut album “Warning Blast”.
Waving the flag of a new generation of metal, alternative and punk, THE HELLFREAKS are thrilled to announce the upcoming release of their fierce new album, Pitch Black Sunset, set for release April 14, 2023 via Napalm Records. Founded in 2009, Hungary’s most exciting upstarts emerged with a marvelous discography and their massive psychobilly-punk hit, “Boogie Man”, which has gathered millions upon millions of views on YouTube.
The curtain has finally fallen again as the budding band unveils their addictive first heavy rock-infused single, “Hit Me Where It Hurts”. Jumping right into the pit, the quartet blends metallic punches with a sound echoing the likes of genre visionaries Muse, accented by electrified guitar leads and raspy punk vocal attacks by singer Shakey Sue. Representing the relentless atmosphere of the song, the Hungarian musicians strap on their boots to celebrate a never-ending night in their official music video.
THE HELLFREAKS state on “Hit Me Where It Hurts”: “’Hit Me Where It Hurts’ is about hope and despair. Hope is able to move mountains. But what if the desired dream stays a dream? Then hope turns to prison. Intoxicated by a desire that never comes true, we reach the dead end, where the brain clearly sees the way out, but our heart won’t let us make the necessary steps. All that’s left is suffering.
This song is an invocation for the metaphorical punch to eliminate the last piece of false hope, the real culprit in such a situation.”
With almost a decade of existence, THE HELLFREAKS embrace the influence of modern metal, alternative, post-hardcore and punk to form their unmatched sound. Performing in almost every European country and gaining more awareness via their American tour in 2015, the well-experienced band from Budapest proves with their fifth album, Pitch Black Sunset, that they are more than ready to kickstart their next chapter!
Kicking off with vocalist Shakey Sue’s trademark sing-along-screams, “Old Tomorrows” raises the pulse with fast-paced punk mixed with groovy metal beats. Followed by the restless track “Chaos”, boisterous thrash lines meet pop-punk-infused metal before closing with a Tom Morello-worthy solo. THE HELLFREAKS stay true to themselves yet never become stagnant or pretentious – as tracks like “Weeping Willow” are driven by more modern metal interpretations and electronic interludes. With its fragile clean vocals and the eerie sounds of the guitar’s strings, the atmosphere of the song changes throughout before taking an unexpected turn into a hard-hitting core-hymn. “Body Bag” offers a total contrast – surfacing like a message in a bottle with its in-your-face, straight forward 2000s skate punk vibe that fans of the genre have always wished for. THE HELLFREAKS showcase the individual musical expertise of its members when chunky riffs merge with strong beats and highly aggressive shouts, while bittersweet vocal lines call out for a feelgood song.
THE HELLFREAKS state on Pitch Black Sunset: „Since our last album, our world around us has turned much darker than what we ever expected. Covid, war, inflation. Enough reasons for introspection to find out if there is any light left in us. An excursion between the best and worst parts in us.
Pitch Black Sunset is about how these contraries interfere with each other: the past and the future, peace and chaos, eastern and western, life and death. This album invites you to a car ride straight into the canyon between these opposites. Does it end in a car crash? Sometimes. But we found beauty in it.”
January 27, 2023 sees New York-based thrash metal titans TOXIK to reissue some highlights of their career-spanning back catalogue. Formed in 1985, TOXIK belong to the founding spearheads of progressive thrash metal.
For the first time ever, the band’s much acclaimed records In Humanity (2014), Breaking Clas$ (2017) and Kinetic Closure (2019), will be available on vinyl through Massacre Records! Furthermore, their box set, III Works, comprising three discs: The In Humanity recording sessions with original singer Mike Sanders, an expanded version of their Breaking Clas$ EP as well as Kinetic Closure, will be coming out as a 3-CD Digipak and digital formats.
The pre-sale of all upcoming TOXIK reissues are now available at the following links:
American heavy rock band CARBELLION have just revealed a new music video for their latest single “Barfight“. This is the second music video & single taken from their upcoming LP album Weapons of Choice which is scheduled to be released on March 17, 2023 via Eclipse Records. The video was directed by Joel Nilsson. The album was produced by Carbellion and Chris Djuricic (Nonpoint, Soil, Novembers Doom) and mastered by Andy VanDette (Beastie Boys, Porcupine Tree, Rush).
“People often come up to us after we perform saying that our music makes them want to fight… I have heard that quite a few times” says lead guitarist Jamie Damrow. Lead vocalist Cameron Kellenberger continues, “We really felt this was a strong single for the new record and the feedback we have received echoed that sentiment. It’s got a great intro with thick drums and bass slamming into these big heavy guitars. I put a lot of sarcastic humour in the lyrics and played around a little with a few vocal stylings from verse to pre-chorus to call & response chorus parts. This one makes you want to drive fast and take chances. I mean, damn it feels so good to be alive right?”. Drummer Brent Nimz adds, “the video was filmed in two locations 4,000 miles apart. The bar footage was filmed in an old wood shed that director Joel Nilsson and his team in Sweden had transformed into a casual drinking establishment complete with white linen tablecloths, mood lighting and an old tube television blaring in the corner of the dining area. The characters in the bar scenes were played by members of the band Outshine. Carbellion and Outshine have a long history of touring together over the years so we thought it was pretty special to have our good friends included in our video. The live footage of the band was shot inside the Andy Bohl Racing facility in Caledonia, Wisconsin. Andy competes in the Top Fuel Funny Car division of the NHRA and is a great supporter of the band. We thought it would be rad to set up our gear in his shop and get as loud as we could!”
The new album by Carbellion is entitled Weapons of Choice. The band’s third full-length album pulls from nearly twenty years of experience and lessons learned by fire to deliver the group’s most compelling release to date. The ten-song collection brings together the band’s strongest and most cohesive material, though its inception was rather unusual. Lyrically, the album finds Carbellion working to engage its audience. “I want to make people think,” Kellenberger states. “We’ve never been great at writing straightforward songs. Translating the thoughts and ideas in my head is a complicated process, but an exciting one. These songs are definitely fun and we write them with the intention of making people have a good time, especially with the live show, but this record more than any other also aims to make people think. Don’t take everything at face value. Nothing in this life is black and white. The truth is almost always somewhere in the middle.” “We started the record before COVID,” says Kellenberger. “The pandemic made us stop temporarily, but we found a way to work together digitally during that time. That allowed us to write the record, which we took to the studio as material was finished, so some songs were recorded two years before others, but it was a constant creation process”. With the now album complete, Carbellion is taking stock of its place in the rock ecosystem. After nearly two decades and half a dozen releases, the Wisconsin bad boys feel they are just now hitting their stride.
Steve Vai and Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group will release VAI / GASH digitally and on CD January 27, 2023. The vinyl album will follow on February 24. Today, they present “She Saved My Life Tonight” which can be heard below. Vai shares, “Recorded in 1991, this track is an uplifting rocker about being way down and out, and then finding something worth living for.” The first reveal was “In The Wind,”: https://youtu.be/AkbnEj2yDw0. When initially presented Vai offered, “’In The Wind’ was the first track that was recorded for this record. It captures the spirit of the open road freedom we felt while riding our Harley’s on bike rallies and interstate road trips. The track has the exhilaration of having that kind of power under you while kissing the wind.” The second recording presented, “Busted,” can be previewed here: https://youtu.be/O2U5pSbFSIg.
As Vai shares, “This record was written and recorded in somewhat of a stream of consciousness in 1991 within perhaps a 2-week period as an answer to my desire to have a particular kind of music to listen to when I was riding my Harley Davison Motorcycle with my friends. It’s reminiscent of a certain type of rock music I enjoyed as a teenager in the 1970’s. These recordings sat on the shelf for over 30 years and are being released now in 2023. Here’s the story…”
An abbreviated synopsis of the anecdotal history and fond remembrances as articulated by Vai in the liner notes offer detail on singer Gash and his deep connection to Vai. From his teenage years on Long Island, to today, he has openly shared his love of motorcycles. Gash shared that passion.
Vai reflects, “Around 1990, I was overcome with a desire to rip out what I thought would be a straight-ahead type of rock record that contained the kind of music I wish I had to listen to when I was that teenager ensconced in the biker culture. And then I met Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto.”
John was born in Queens, New York and as a youth was an avid motorcycle enthusiast. In 1977 at the age of 21, he endured a serious accident that caused his body to catch fire while plunging 30 feet onto a barbed wire fence. Vai wrote in the liner notes, “The doctors told his family that he had third degree burns over 60% of his body, and that if he even survived, there was a strong possibility that he would lose his right arm and left leg. While in the Burn Unit, he endured excruciating pain, especially when given the intense daily cycle of hot baths for his burns. He soldiered on, and after a month he was finally discharged from the hospital. Luckily, no limbs were amputated. He was, however, left with a partial left ear and layers of skin grafts over his neck, arms, legs, and entire chest. The stories he told about his recovery and the excruciating pain involved were crushingly gut wrenching. But he survived, and eventually thrived again. He made his way out to Los Angeles in 1982 and got right back up on his motorcycle.”
Vai met John through a mutual friend, Mark Cimino. They bonded over biker culture, and he choose the name “Gash” as a nickname. Vai wrote, “…I’ve observed many people interacting with him on our numerous motorcycle road trips and other adventures. At first sight, many people could be taken by his bald head, scarred neck and burnt-off ear. Looking as he did and riding a Harley it was easy to assume he was perhaps a tough, menacing biker with a nefarious attitude, but after engaging with him for even a minute, his charm and magnetic charisma had them laughing in their shoes and completely enjoying his uplifting presence. He endeared people with his wit, warmth, and sparkle. John hit it off instantly with the most unlikely of people of every age, color, size, political or sexual persuasions. He was non superficial and never judged people. This allowed his engaging personality and intoxicating charm to draw you in. Under all those scars was a bold and fearlessly warm heart that can be seen in his disarming and big soft blue eyes.”
He continues, “…something in me wanted to get him in the studio and see how he would belt over these biker type songs I had demoed, but nothing could have prepared me for the voice that came out of his mouth. I had to think, off course he sounds like that because that’s him, confident, authentic, fearless but with a lighthearted intention. This was the voice I wanted to hear wailing over these slamming rock tracks. I was stunned. Around that timeframe I was also starting to launch work on ‘Sex and Religion’ and was hoping to eventually record more than the 8 songs I had laid down with John for an alternative project, but that was proven impossible. On September 7th, 1998, two days after my father had passed away, the phone rang, and it was John’s beloved girlfriend Nancy. Her voice was quaking, and I somehow knew what she was going to tell me. ‘John was in a bike accident and was killed’.”
After three decades, Steve Vai has finally shared this master with The World. In his opinion, “He would have absolutely been the greatest rock lead singer you would ever want to know. All the elements were in place, but he was gone. Disheartened, I put the entire project on the shelf, and would listen to it at least once a year for the past 30 years, especially around the anniversary of his passing. Then recently something compelled me to want to put it out now. I wish you would have had a chance to get to know John. I believe you would have loved him just as we all did. For now, he is ‘In the Wind’.”
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 ) 