Cleopatra Records is proud to announce the signing of synthwave act PRIEST featuring former members of Grammy Award-winning Swedish rock act GHOST! Hailing from the same icy darkness of the Scandinavian inland that birthed GHOST, PRIEST consists of a trio of musicians – vocalist Mercury, who was known as Water when he played bass for Ghost, keyboardist Salt, formerly known as Ghost keyboardist Air, and programmer/ keyboardist Sulfur – who came together in 2017 and started releasing their own unique brew of electronic music that bears little sonic resemblance to their former band yet still shares the same creative DNA. But whereas GHOST borrowed their theatrics from old school horror and ‘80s rock, PRIEST comes steeped in cyberpunk and industrial music.
Cleopatra owner Brian Perera declares, “We’ve been living in this genre since the ‘90s so we have a pretty good feel for when bands do it right, and as soon as we heard PRIEST, we knew they were something special. We see an extremely bright future ahead for the band and are thrilled to be partnering with them to make that happen!”
PRIEST concurs saying, “Signing with such a legendary label like Cleopatra will probably be the biggest step in our career. With great knowledge of the genre we’re in, we can’t think of a better match for PRIEST. Our next album is by far the best yet and we can’t wait to unleash it to a wider and more diverse audience!”
Watch for PRIEST’s new full-length album, produced by another GHOST alumni Simon Söderberg (GHOST guitarist and producer/engineer of debut album Opus Eponymous) as well as a full-scale U.S. tour in Summer 2022!
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke Airforce’s guitarist Chop Pitman and Drummer Doug Sampson (Former Iron Maiden). The two spoke about their upcoming U.K. tour supporting Steve Harris’ British Lion, Di’anno aid to raise money to assist former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno, their new Live album Live locked and loaded and re-recording of the Iron Maiden Classic ‘Strange World’ for their upcoming new album and as a charity single to assist Paul Di’Anno.
The two spoke about the re-recording of the Maiden Classic ‘Strange world’ Charity Single for Di’anno with legacy Maiden members “We are working on a version of Strange World that is something in the pipeline. It’s all in the early stages, we got demo ideas for it. So probably after we come back from Steve’s (Harris) British Lion tour we will start thinking about getting some work done on it and start laying down some tracks on it.” Doug Sampson
“The re-recording of ‘Strange World’ will be on the upcoming new Airforce album. We are also will be trying to re-release it (as a single) to help Paul (Di’Anno) with the operation, as a download. It would be nice if we could get Stave Harris to sanction it, to say I endorse it. Whatever we could do, we will do. We will play for free for Paul just to get him up and about. We are going to take out time and make sure we do it right. First thing I have done was to phone up Steve and I tell him I am doing a version of ‘Strange World’, it’s a track that Iron Maiden does not do any more and it’s a track people associate with Paul Di’anno. And he went, yeah yeah great. I said I will do a version and send it to you. listen to it and let me know what you think and Steve liked it, which is good. Dave Sullivan (Iron Maiden guitarist 1975-75) got involved, he phoned me up, quite excited about it and then Terry Rance (Iron Maiden guitarist 1975-76) phoned me up and he got quite excited about it. So we are planning to have Doug Sampson, Dave Sullivan, Terry Rance and Paul (Di’anno) on it, that is a big thing. It’s a different version of the track, nothing like the original and more up to date. “Chop Pitman
MAIDEN’s first demo recording, “Soundhouse Tapes”, featured Sampson, Harris, singer Paul Di’Anno and guitarist Dave Murray. It eventually landed MAIDEN a record deal with EMI in 1980. The band’s self-titled debut album brought about a new lineup with the addition of Clive Burr to replace Sampson and Dennis Stratton on guitar.
AIRFORCE is:
Flavio Lino – Vocals Chop Pitman – Lead Guitar Tony Hatton – Bass Doug Sampson – Drums
Airforce album ‘Strike Hard’ was released 2020
Airforce ‘Live locked and loaded’ released Sept 2021
According to who you talk to, rock and roll is either dying out, evolving, or back in full swing. In the case of the POISON BOYS from Chicago, they’re pumping new life into the genre and keeping it as punk as possible!
POISON BOYS recently released their new single ‘Little Speedway Girl’ via Riot Records. ‘Little Speedway Girl’ is a tasty little punk rock romp that channels all the good vibes from rock legends like New York Dolls, The Stooges, Kiss and UK punk acts such as The Heartbreakers and The Vibrators.
‘Little Speedway Girl’ gave a strong indication of what to expect from their new album Don’t You Turn On Me, which will be released digitally on the 29th of October. ’Don’t You Turn on Me’ is a Stones-worshipping, 70’s sleaze rock-inspired hit about losing a loved one to a falling out and wanting to make up with them. The track features backup vocalist Dana Athens on layered soul vocals, a 70’s slide guitar in the bridge, and long-time Poison Boys touring guitarist “Sleepy Doc” Julius Lange on keys.
Don’t You Turn on Me is the second full length album from POISON BOYS. It’s a long time coming since their first album Out of My Head in 2019, and is a general move in the direction of the band’s punk styling and ability to write hard-hitting, late 1970’s punk, steeped fully in rock n roll roots. It ranges in vibe from more early-mid 70’s sleazier hits, like title track ‘Don’t You Turn on Me,’ ‘Sweet Marie,’ or ‘I Was Cryin’,’ to blistering punk rippers like ‘Nothing but Darkness,’ ‘Day by Day,’ and ‘Keep Knocking,’ to instant punk classics that could have been played by early punk bands such as ‘Little Speedway Girl,’ ‘Living on the Edge of the Knife,’ or ‘She’s Nowhere.’
The band’s classic Johnny Thunders sleaze is showcased on ‘Dick in the Dirt,’ and ‘Take a Chance With Me’, while a less aggressive, more charming side is shown on ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Mind.’ Shining bright like rock n roll torch bearers through the endless sea of bands who add too many modern influences to their pursuit of punk, POISON BOYS are bringing you back to 1977 with this new album, transporting you to a time and place you may not have even existed during, but definitely wish you were there for.
THE VTH CIRCLE have released a guitar amp shootout video for the upcoming single and video ‘The Intense Vibrations’.
In this video, Mike and Dave from Vancouver BC dynamic death metal band The Vth Circle rip through 6 modern and vintage guitar amps and play some riffs from their upcoming single “The Intense Vibrations”.
We shootout a Marshall JCM2000, a Marshall 1984 JCM800 2203, a converted Marshall JCM800 combo, a Peavey 6505+, a Peavey XXX and a 1995 Rev. G Mesa Dual Rectifier.
The Intense Viberations will premiere Thursday October 28th and release worldwide on October 29th.
The Vth Circle is a Vancouver, Canada based band that describes their music as “Dynamic Death Metal.”
The band consists of Dave Keske on guitar, Ramil Abad on drums, Mike Watson on guitar, Jordan Kinicki on vocals, and Nakuset Gould on 6 string fretless bass.
The Vth Circle released its debut full-length album titled “I” in 2019 and since then have been hard at work on their new single, “The Intense Vibrations,” as well as their follow-up EP set for release in 2022.
The band draws influence from many genres, including thrash, melodic death metal, progressive metal, classic rock, and deathcore while seamlessly blending in atmospheric soundscapes, acoustic elements and spoken word passages.
The Vth Circle has been featured playing the stages of Metallion metal fest (Prince George BC), Metalocalypstick fest (Lone Butte BC), and Armstrong metal fest (Armstrong BC) and opened for such international acts as Bloodshot Dawn, Battlecross, Origin, Nekrogoblikon, Neck of the Woods, Aggression and many more.
The Vth Circle adds:
“The Intense Vibrations” tackles themes such as capitalism, ecological destruction, collective dissociation, big pharma, government oppression, hopelessness and states of societal schizophrenia.
The lyric video was created by Alex Canaran McFabe and Waking World Productions in collaboration with The Vth Circle.
Hard rock band ARTIFAS released their new single “Safe” via Imagen Records! The single is from their forthcoming album titled Reflections due out January 14, 2022. The band will kick off The 2021 Tour Part 1 on October 29th in Huntsville, AL @ Shagnasty’s.
“Safe is about working to overcome obstacles in pursuit of a goal. For us the target of this song manifested itself as our career as a band, but it’s core meaning is just about climbing that proverbial mountain and overcoming anything in your path to success…” says the band.
10/29 – Huntsville, AL @ Shagnasty’s 10/30 – Clarksville, TN @ Private Event 11/4 – Braidwood, IL @ Top Fuel Saloon 11/5 – Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop 11/6 – Janesville, WI @ The Back Bar 11/7 – Battle Creek, MI @ The Music Factory 11/10 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Rockstar Lounge 11/12 – Akron, OH @ Empire Concert Club 11/13 – Martinsburg, WV @ Bad Habits Bar 11/14 – Winchester, VA @ Bright Box Theater 11/19 – Jackson, TN @ Slide & Ride 2 11/20 – Clarksville, TN @ The Warehouse
American Hard Rock band Artifas was formed in 2011 in Jackson, TN by lead guitarist Cody Criswell and lead vocalist Scottie Somerville. In the months following, the two founders of the group would immediately recruit an assortment of hometown musicians and begin looking to record their debut EP. After having a long and ugly encounter that resulted in the theft of all the bands funds and receiving no album in return, the original incarnation of the group would spend 2012-2013 doing several independent tours and writing music. After debuting with their EP Enemy Inside in 2013 and doing numerous regional/national tours in support of it, the band replaced former members with guitarist Mikey Miller, bassist Anthony Mattox, and drummer Jared Wainscott.
With almost two years of touring with the new lineup under their belts, Artifas inked themselves a record deal and hit the studio to make their first full length album. The 2015 release of the title track, “Inhuman,” would bring the band some commercial success, reaching # 32 on Billboard’s Active Rock chart and sending the band on the road in support of their new album. The band landed tours with established artists like Theory of a Deadman, Shamans Harvest, Pop Evil, Saint Asonia, Aranda, and others. The follow up single from that record, “Blood 4 Blood”, would later get picked up by the World Series of Fighting and subsequently land a feature in the UFC movie “Fight Valley”. The band parted ways with their record label in 2016, and remained on tour throughout the US for most of the following year, also traveling internationally for the first time with the likes of Papa Roach, Hoobastank, P.O.D., Trapt, and Sick Puppies to play for our American Troops.
Multiple tour cycles later, Artifas found themselves back in the studio making new music. The band worked with multiple writers and producers throughout the entirety of 2018, but would ultimately only find themselves frustrated with the recordings that resulted. After a soul search within the group, Artifas elected to embrace their own vision and write/produce their next album independently, free from the creative overreach of outside influence.
After two years of writing, recording, and mixing, Artifas has completed the new album, and plans to unleash it upon the world. With catchy guitar riffs, dizzying drums, and soaring melodies, Reflections will send you on an emotional journey, exploring the band’s semi-prog, radio rock sound while diving deeper into the human complex with lyrics centered around self awareness and the bands own struggles with mental health. The goal for the creation of this album was to make a record that met the band’s expectations and you can rest assured they held nothing back. Mixed and Mastered by Forrester Savell (Twelve Foot Ninja, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus), Reflections promises to wow you with musical prowess, all the while delivering Artifas’ important message on unity, inspiration, and the sempiternal battle between dark and light.
More Music by Artifas:
ARTIFAS – Cut Me Out (Official Music Video):
ARTIFAS – Leave Me For Dead (Official Music Video):
Australian hard rock group SHAKE THE TEMPLE have put out the first official video from their forthcoming self-titled album released via Sliptrick Records worldwide on November 16th. The track is called Driven and here’s the band’s statement on the track; “Welcome to the super charged music video by Melbourne’s Shake The Temple for their single Driven.
Watch as the Australian 3 piece showcase their live energy in front of a backdrop of stained Marshall amplifiers whilst spinning the wheels in some or the world’s hottest cars and motorbikes including a Mad Max Ford coupe and Harley Davidson! Driven is the first single off the groups anticipated self-titled album due out on November 16th, 2021.”
Shake The Temple is currently available on pre-order at Dead Pulse.
Chief Shock Video
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
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 