Emperors & Angels Ignite with New Single “Walk Into the Fire” — Available Now
Hard rock power meets raw emotion as Emperors & Angels unleash their latest release.
Emperors & Angels are turning up the heat with the release of their brand-new single, “Walk Into the Fire,” available now on all major streaming platforms. Known for their high-energy sound, powerful hooks, and emotionally charged lyrics, the band once again delivers a track that hits hard and stays with you long after the final note.
“Walk Into the Fire” is a bold anthem about facing fear head-on, embracing risk, and choosing passion over comfort. Driven by soaring vocals, thunderous guitars, and a relentless rhythm section, the song captures the signature Emperors & Angels sound—modern hard rock with a melodic edge and a fearless attitude.
This release showcases the band at their most confident and focused, blending arena-ready choruses with an intensity that speaks to both longtime fans and new listeners. “Walk Into the Fire” is more than just a song—it’s a statement of intent from a band pushing forward without compromise.
Emperors & Angels continue to build momentum with each release, carving out their place in today’s rock landscape through authenticity, power, and undeniable energy. With “Walk Into the Fire,” they invite listeners to stand on the edge, take the leap, and feel the burn.
“Walk Into the Fire” is available now on all major streaming platforms.
Following the recent announcement of their debut album “The Cursed Cult”, due out on March 1st, 2026, Italy’s NOVOMUNDO unveil a third single from the record. Titled “Vodun”, the new track further expands the band’s sonic palette, pushing their blend of thrash-driven aggression, massive groove-laden sections and ritualistic atmospheres into darker and more immersive territory. “Vodun” highlights the Roman outfit’s ability to balance raw impact with layered arrangements, reinforcing the album’s overarching concept while offering another glimpse into the band’s evolving identity.
NOVOMUNDO was born near Rome around 2012 with the idea to blend heavy and groovy music textures alongside various influences, rhythms, and instruments from all over the world. After some line-up changes over the years, the band rewrote and refined some of their previous material, releasing “Echoes of Ego”: four songs focused on mid-paced ferocity and exotic grooves, with themes exploring modern world decay, primeval instincts, and nightmarish visions.
“The Cursed Cult” represents the band’s first full-length effort: a darker and more crushing take on their renewed sound. The album explores Voodoo culture, its symbols and meanings, interpreted through the lens of contemporary life. Fourteen tracks of ferocity and raw energy blend dark ambient passages with a rotten edge, fusing death-groove and 2000s metal influences enriched by modern tones and crust-core elements.
The album is a concept piece centered on Voodoo — its mysteries, rituals, and symbolic icons. Lyrically, it touches on slavery, prejudice, and death as a way to give value to life, among other themes. Across the tracks, listeners are guided through the pantheon of Voodoo deities, called Loa, exploring their stories and traits as metaphors to convey the album’s core messages. The soundscape of NOVOMUNDO evokes emotional instability and a sense of unease, symbolizing the fear stemming from ignorance and unfamiliarity.
Tracklist:
01 Son of Mawu 02 Deathless 03 Erzulie 04 Bokor 05 The Coven 06 Mojo 07 Vodun 08 OSFTG 09 Le Marriage de Brigitte 10 Warlord 11 God’s Violence 12 Maitresse La-Sirene 13 Papa Legba 14 Orishas
Line-up:
Valerio Cristiani – Vocals Carlo Ridolfi – Guitar Fabio Ciccone – Guitar Fausto Idini – Drums
Swedish heart and soul musicians MOTHER MISERY deliver the perfect empowering hymn for the start into the new year.
MELODIC HEAVY ROCK with a commanding Industrial touch and playful Electro nuances is their theatric pleasure – a special, individual mix of edgy Hard’n’heavy Rock and Melodic Metal. MOTHER MISERY also give their music a certain Nordic charm – as only they can. The musicians have thus created their very own genre: SUPERSONIC ROCK!
On Jan. 01, the lively bunch from Enköping released its brand new single ‘Fake Into Real‘, via Doc Gator Records.
–Artwork: Jimmy Lindbergh / Mother Misery –Rob Hakemo + JB Studio & Media –Logo & Symbol: Mother Misery
The musicians themselves say about the new single “Fake Into Real“:
“The lyrics are all about the new way of using the media to build fake news, fake lives and to manipulate us into believing what is fake to be real. How that can build hatred, hope and false beliefs among people and entire countries. How it ultimately can be used as a weapon. We need to stop and reflect on how this is affecting us and the world.” (John)
“The song starts very dark and apocalyptic to then quickly ease into a double bass drum inferno on the verses. Melodic vocals, pounding bass and drums with riffing guitars. Powerful and melodic choruses and to top it off a superb guitar solo with an epic ending.” (Jimmy)
LINE-UP John Hermansen • Vocals, Guitar Emil Ström • Guitar, Lead-Guitar Stiff Hell • Bass Jimmy Lindbergh • Drums, Percussions
OVERTOUN have unveiled “Yūrei”, the second single taken from their upcoming third full-length album “Death Drive Anthropology”, due out on February 13th, 2026 via Time To Kill Records.
Musically, “Yūrei” sharpens the band’s death–thrash core with an unsettling melodic tension, where tightly wound riffs, dynamic rhythmic shifts, and subtle Latin and folk-inflected nuances converge into a focused and oppressive atmosphere.
“Inspired by Japanese folklore, the title refers to the yūrei , spirits trapped between worlds, a reflection of humanity’s eternal struggle with the shadow of death. This song also embodies our deepening bond with Japan, a connection that grew even stronger during our 2025 tour. This is another step into the ritual”.
On “Death Drive Anthropology”OVERTOUN expand their fierce Chilean/American identity, channelling the death drive (Thanatos) into a relentless exploration of human rituals, mortality, and cultural collapse – a true Book of Death forged in sound.
Rooted in the primal force of ’90s death–thrash yet sharpened by a modern, incisive edge, the album fuses Latin rhythms, folk-tinged guitars, and razor-tight riffs, featuring standout guest performances by Max Phelps (CYNIC, DEATH TO ALL), Enrico H. Di Lorenzo (HIDEOUS DIVINITY) and Shantanu Vyas (HAZING OVER).
Produced by acclaimed Argentinian mastermind Martín Furia (DESTRUCTION, BARK), “Death Drive Anthropology” further cements OVERTOUN as one of the most compelling and forward-thinking forces emerging from the Latin American metal landscape.
Tracklist:
01. What Unites All (feat. Max Phelps) 02. The Final Beat 03. Memento Mori (feat. Enrico H. Di Lorenzo) 04. Dur Khrod 05. Jade, Gold, Obsidian 06. Yūrei 07. Weeping 08. Wind And Water (feat. Shantanu Vyas) 09. The Waves Suite: Siren 10. The Waves Suite: Ocean 11. The Waves Suite: Caleuche 12. Death Drive Anthropology
OVERTOUN is a death-thrash metal band based between Santiago, Chile, and Boston, MA, fusing the rich musical heritage of Latin America with the complexity and aggression of technical death metal. Founded by Agustín Lobo and Matías Bahamondes, the band solidified its lineup with Yoav Ruiz-Feingold (Atheist, Graviton) on vocals and Matías Salas on bass.
Their discography includes two full-length albums: “Centuries of Lies” (2018) and “This Darkness Feels Alive” (2021). The latter was mastered by Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica) and won Best Metal Artist at the 2022 Chilean Pulsar Awards (Chilean Grammys), earning strong praise from the specialized media.
OVERTOUN has performed extensively throughout Latin America, with five national tours in Chile, a tour in Brazil, and shows in Argentina, sharing the stage with Death To All, Sinister, Cryptopsy, and Atheist. In 2025, the band completed its first tour of Japan, including performances in Yokohama and Tokyo, with an appearance at the Tokyo Brutal Fest.
Produced by Martín Furia (Destruction, Bark), OVERTOUN’s third album marks a bold new chapter, introducing darker, genre-defining material that aims to amplify Chilean metal’s global presence.
January 2nd saw the release of There Should Have Been A Rainbow – the NY Folk Sessions 1963-1965, 19 tracks (11 on the vinyl edition) spotlighting the repertoire that Melanie would take into the New York and New Jersey folk clubs at the height of the early 1960s folk revival.
Lost until now, and forgotten about even by Melanie herself, the tracks here were recorded over a period of two years by her high school drama teacher Larry Kassab, using a domestic reel to reel machine. They then lay all-but undisturbed for 60 years before Kassab’s nephew, author Michael J Moore, passed them along to Melanie’s family.
“I can’t count how many times I listened to that 3” reel-to-reel tape over the next few years,” Moore says, although he admits, “After I moved on to better equipment and other music, I forgot about that tape, but I never forget about Melanie.”
Already spotlighted by Mojo magazine among the essential archive releases of 2026, There Should Have Been A Rainbow captures Melanie at an age (she was just 16 when the first session took place) when many performers are said to be still trying to find their voice.
That is not an issue here. Already her tone, her delivery and her guitar playing are instantly recognizable, while her songwriting, too, was developing fast. Five Melanie originals are included here, including a title track that she once described as the first song she ever wrote.
Her talent as an arranger and interpreter, too, was already coming to the fore. Although her core repertoire of traditional folk was certainly influenced by such contemporaries as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Hedy West and Caroline Hester, Melanie’s musical vision owed little to their blueprints.
Seven of the songs here are taken from 19th century scholar Francis J Child’s The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, aka The Child Ballads, and Melanie is already toying with both lyric and arrangement – the energy, emotion and most of all, defiance with which she concludes that epic tale of betrayal and murder, “Matty Groves,” surely ranks among her most powerful performances ever. Contrarily, her take on “Barbara Allen” – released as a single last month – captures her at her most vulnerable.
Other traditional songs here include a unique version of “I Never Will Marry,” its extemporized spoken word passage illustrating the humor that was already essential to her performing style; and it is illuminating, too, to compare Melanie’s version of “All My Trials” to Baez’s own, possibly definitive reading. Even at 16, Melanie had no intention of being labeled a copyist.
Several of these songs wiould reappear in Melanie’s later repertoire, among them the 1959 country ballad “Long Black Veil,” revisited during studio sessions in 1979; Ritchie Valens’ rock’n’roll hit “La Bamba,” rerecorded for a 1975 single; and Malvina Reynolds’ protest song “What Have They Done To The Rain,” to which Melanie returned in 1988, on her Cowabonga album.
The most powerful takeaway from this collection, however, is the realization that a full three, even four years before Melanie was finally permitted to record her debut album (1968’s Born To Be), she was already in a position to do so.
Would such a release have resembled this? We cannot say.
But it is patently clear that – even if we regard these as simple demos – much of the attention and acclaim that awaited Melanie in her 20s might easily have been granted her in her teens. In fact, the vinyl edition of this album has been designed to replicate what that album might have sounded like, focusing on the folk songs but opening, as does the CD, with that self-penned title track.
History has already confirmed that Melanie was destined to be ranked among the most visionary songwriters and performers of her era. This collection proves that history was late to the party.
Rancid Offal Promotions, the organisers behind events such as Offal Fest and Goremageddon, have launched a brand-new showcase series designed to spotlight the next generation of extreme metal talent and provide one emerging act with the opportunity to open Offal Fest 2026.
This competition invites fans to play a direct role in the festival’s curation, as attendees at each heat will be responsible for voting for their favourite bands to determine who progresses to the final stage. The showcase series is built on a commitment to supporting the local scene and rising international talent, ensuring the festival’s opening slot is earned through pure live intensity and crowd support.
The competition begins with Heat 1 on 8 February 2026, which features a heavy-hitting billing including Vast Slug, World War Three, Erectomy and Mindhold. This will be followed quickly by Heat 2 on 22 February 2026, where Combat Evolved, Dushman, 12 Gauge Autopsy and War Bastard will take to the stage to compete for their place in the final.
Organisers have emphasised that every single vote matters and have encouraged the community to turn out in force to support these rising acts. While the dates for the preliminary rounds are now set, the date for the final will be announced in due course and is set to feature a surprise guest headliner to close out the competition.
“We are so stoked to give these bands a real shot at opening the big stage next year,” says the team at Rancid Offal Promotions. “The scene is absolutely crawling with talent right now, and letting the fans decide who gets onto the Offal Fest bill feels like the best way to keep things authentic. Make sure you get down to the heats and vote, because your voice is literally what puts these guys on the poster for July.“
Tickets for the showcase heats are available now and can be purchased through the official competition website at https://battleoftheslams.com/. Further details regarding the surprise headliner and the final date will be released via social media channels in the coming months.
Dedicated to the most extreme facets of gore, grind, slam, and brutal death metal, Offal Fest has solidified its status as a vital fixture in the international metal calendar following its sold-out 2025 edition. The 2026 festival, scheduled for 24-26 July at its new Manchester home, The Bread Shed, is headlined by two major UK-exclusive performances from genre pioneers Devourment and Ohio powerhouse Regurgitation, the latter making their debut appearance on UK soil. The comprehensive lineup features a global roster including New York legends Immortal Suffering, Japan’s ButcherABC, and Korea’s Fecundation, alongside a formidable domestic contingent headlined by the “wobble-box” specialists Crepitation and the official reunion of Infected Disarray. Bolstered by further international talent such as GutturalSlug, Unbirth and DarkallSlaves, Offal Fest 2026 aims to build upon the momentum of previous years, which saw exclusive sets from acts like Skinless and Wormed, to provide a definitive weekend of brutality for the global extreme music community.
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 ) 