Einar Solberg of Leprous has recently completed work on his upcoming second solo album, the follow-up to 2023’s ‘16’. Today he is pleased to reveal his first new piece of solo music since that release, in the shape of the bold & dynamic ‘Stella Mortua’, recorded alongside The Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Watch the video here:
The first live dates in support of his upcoming second solo album have also been announced, and 2026 will see him playing the following headline dates across Europe.
Big Big Train, the award-winning, international progressive rock band, will issue their 16th studio album, Woodcut, via InsideOutMusic on February 6th, 2026. Woodcut marks their first ever full-length conceptual piece, a continuous narrative exploring creativity, sacrifice and the thin line between inspiration and madness.
They have released the first single from the album, ‘The Artist’, which is accompanied by a stunning video created by Crystal Spotlight. Watch it now here:
Fresh off their fourth career GRAMMY® nomination, progressive metal mainstays Dream Theater have released a live performance video for “Night Terror”, the Best Metal Performance–nominated track from their 2025 album Parasomnia. The clip previews the band’s upcoming concert film and album, Quarantième: Live à Paris, recorded during their sold-out 40th Anniversary tour stop at the Adidas Arena in Paris.
Released yesterday, Mystification Zine presents an exclusive stream of “Under Sadistic Law”, the merciless debut EP from Sweden’s rabid death-thrash metal crew ZADISM.
From the blackened mines of Bergslagen and rising from the ashes of the now‑defunct band Maniak, Sweden’s ZADISM emerge as an unholy force bent on obliterating restraint.
Guided by the spirit of the early Brazilian underground (you know the ones – disfigured riffs, filthy production, uncompromising aggression) and the savage blueprint laid down by the German thrash metal pioneers at the dawn of the scene, this duo brings a sound steeped in raw violence and fury.
Their debut EP “Under Sadistic Law”, out 21 November via De:Nihil Records and Dala Destroi Records, is a concentrated dose of extremity: short, brutal and unrelenting. ZADISM don’t just honour the relics of the past: they inject them with fresh, virulent energy and drag them screaming into the present.
Tracklist:
01. Ernestine 02. Victims of the Sadistic Whip 03. Under Sacred Soil 04. Chapel of Scum 05. Coprophilian Nightmare
Italian death metal collective SKULLD will release their highly anticipated new album, “Abyss Calls to Abyss”, on January 30th, 2026 via Time To Kill Records. The record marks a decisive step forward in the band’s evolution, expanding their uncompromising sound into a work of rare intensity and depth.
Rooted in the raw aggression of old-school Swedish death metal and infused with the grit of crust punk and hardcore, “Abyss Calls to Abyss” channels both ferocity and purpose. Yet beneath the surface of blast beats and corrosive riffs lies a profound lyrical and conceptual dimension, one that merges feminist and pagan themes, esoteric reflection, and socio-political awareness into a cohesive, cathartic whole.
Across eight tracks, SKULLD explore the abyss as both an inner and outer dimension: a place of dissolution and regeneration, death and renewal, where individual and collective struggles mirror one another. Written and recorded in 2025, the album captures the band at their most inspired and urgent, balancing sheer aggression with moments of melody and introspection.
With “Abyss Calls to Abyss”, SKULLD reaffirm their place as one of the most compelling voices in Italy’s extreme metal underground: fearless, defiant, and entirely their own.
“‘The Blink’ is a sonic spell cast by two legendary figures: Circe, the sorceress, and Scylla, the abyssal monster. Enemies by fate, sisters by curse, bound by the love that turned them into eternal damnations.
The song is an explosion of fury and feminine power, where magic intertwines with vengeance, and the voice becomes a storm.
Through razor-sharp verses and mythological imagery, The Blink tells the tale of revenge from the betrayed, turning men into swine, words into spells, and the blink of an eye into a curse. It’s an act of creation and destruction, a scream rising from the depths to the shore, where the shadow of the goddess and the monster merges with the sea.
One single blink — and everything disappears”.
Tracklist:
1. Healing the Wound 2. The Blink 3. Accabadora 4. Wear the night as a Velvet Cloak 5. Le Diable and The Snake 6. Mother Death 7. Drops of Sorrow 8. Sacred Fires
For fans of: Entombed, Dismember, The Crown, Trap Them, Martyrdöd
SKULLD formed in Romagna, Italy, in 2019 with the ambitious goal of blending old-school Swedish death metal with shamanic and esoteric overtones, all rooted in a strong feminist, anti-fascist, and anti-racist stance. Hailing from cities such as Cesena, Forlì, Bologna, Imola, and Milan, the members of the band have deep roots in the DIY punk and hardcore scene — a defining element of their artistic identity.
In 2020, they released their debut EP “Reinventing Darkness”, a DIY co-production with various Italian and international labels, distributed throughout the underground network. The lineup featured Pamela (vocals), Monti and Rappo (guitars), Ciufs (bass), and Teo (drums). The songs, fast and razor-sharp, combine Scandinavian death metal with crust and stenchcore, evoking dark and pagan atmospheres. The EP was well received for its raw and original sound, as well as for its lyrical themes — most notably the track “Satanic Feminism”, which explicitly ties death metal to political and gender awareness.
On March 20th, 2024, the band released their first full-length album “The Portal Is Open” via the French label World Eater Records. Recorded in Imola and mixed/mastered by Ulf Blomberg at Hobos Studio in Lund, Sweden, the album features eight tracks merging death and black metal with hardcore/crust influences and punk-infused vocals. The lyrics delve deeper into the concepts introduced on their debut, exploring pagan traditions, mythology, feminine archetypes, and esoteric and literary references.
In 2024, guitarist Moqi joined the band as a live replacement for Rappo, who had relocated to Berlin. He later became the sixth full-time member, contributing to the writing and recording of the band’s latest effort, “Abyss Calls To Abyss”.
The technical chameleon and guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert today announces his new album, WROC, which will be released on 27 February via Music Theories Recordings. To celebrate, he has revealed the music video for Go Not Thither, which you can watch HERE.
WROC, which stands for “Washington’s Rules of Civility,” could very well be the guitar superstar’s most outlandish offering to date. Using George Washington’s Rules of Civility as a conceptual homing beacon, Gilbert has dared himself to think outside the box and use an etiquette guide dating back to the late 1500s as his main source of inspiration.
He may have wielded a cordless power drill for supersonic tremolo picking and used a slide to summon the voice of Ronnie James Dio in the past. Still, this latest recording is the sound of a musician defiantly broadening himself into new uncharted horizons for his first vocal album since 2016’s “I Can Destroy.”
“Go Not Thither” pairs throbbing vibe pedals with regal harmonies, classic metal riffage and ZZ Top boogie blues. Talking about the song, Gilbert muses, “Hundreds of years ago, everyone must have been walking around kicking the earth. They kicked the earth so much that a rule had to be invented to put a stop to it! Another rule in the song, “Play not the peacock,” is more difficult to follow. I know this, as I can’t resist playing guitar solos while wearing a tricorn hat.”
The idea for the album came to him on the flight home from the last show of Mr. Big’s final tour, where the group bid farewell to a packed house at Tokyo’s Budokan Arena.
“I don’t know why it came into my head,” he shrugs. “But I love using lyrics to build melodies. I think I was looking for my own Bernie Taupin – who writes all the lyrics for Elton John. Neil Peart is another example, as he wrote the lyrics for Rush, while Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee composed the music. I wanted to find my own Bernie or Neil, because while lyric writing is something I’ve certainly done, it’s not really my favorite part of the process. So, I got George Washington to be my Bernie Taupin!”
On further investigation, it became clear that the first president of the United States of America had simply copied an English translation of the “Rules Of Civility & Decent Behavior In Company And Conversation” as a school writing exercise, inadvertently becoming its most widely credited author. Its lineage, however, can be traced even further back to a 1595 French etiquette manual written by the Jesuits.
As someone who has vividly shaped the role of the electric guitar in rock music, Paul Gilbert knows a thing or two about which rules to follow — and when to break them. In Mr. Big, he was responsible for pioneering pop rock anthems that saw the group top charts and headline arenas around the world. In Racer X, he pushed the electric guitar to its furthest limits, in a more metallic direction, leaving listeners and audiences mesmerized by how his compositions could be so technically thrilling and tastefully musical at the same time. As a solo artist, he’s traversed both instrumental and vocal-led sonic landscapes that have crossed over from blues, classical and jazz to straight-up rock.
So, for Gilbert, there was palpable excitement in resurrecting these 16th-century guidelines for the hyper-advanced social order of today’s world. “I’ve never had such a good time writing songs in my life!” he admits.
The album was recorded live over four days at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon, with Nick D’Virgilio on drums, Doug Rappoport on guitar, and Timmer Blakely on bass. Paul recorded additional vocals at home to sweeten the tracks, but the core energy comes from the live band jamming face to face.
It all kicks off with “Keep Your Feet Firm And Even,” which is based on a Washington rule that Paul finds personally challenging. The hook-laden “Speak Not Evil Of The Absent,” saw Gilbert molding unique phrasing to deliver a rule that’s now 430 years old. “Some of these rules are easy to follow, and others… I don’t know if I could ever do them! But it’s certainly aspirational to think about them,” says Paul.
“I’m really excited to play this music live and see how people enjoy it,” adds Gilbert. “I would say WROC is one of the most musical and listenable albums I’ve ever done. It’s much more than just guitar licks that came from my fingers. The music came from my sense of melody. I’ve been enjoying that pure connection more and more. I feel like this is the most successful journey I’ve made to my Inner Melodic Generator… thanks to the inspiration from George Washington and those who went before him. They were my Bernie Taupins. Overall, the process was so enjoyable, and you can hear that joy in the tracks.”
Track listing
Keep Your Feet Firm and Even
Show Not Yourself Glad (At the Misfortune of Another)
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 ) 