KLAW is a force of nature in the world of thrash metal from Switzerland! Last Friday, 20th March, they released the EP “KLAWstrophy…the B-sides of Gods and Creators,” the follow-up to their successful 2025 album “Gods And Creators”!
This album will only be available at live concerts or, for those who live too far away to attend, exclusively at the El Puerto Records shop.
Tracklist: 1.Dead Eyes 2.Klawstrophy 3.Mountain Of Origin 4.Blasphemous
KLAW live: 11/04/26 Muri at Gator 17/04/26 Schaffhausen at Metal Night/Klub 8 01/05/26 Luzern at Sedel 16/05/26 Siebnen at District 28 17/07/26 St. Silvester at Sensler Chapter 12/12/26 Lörrach at SAK
Epictronic is thrilled to announce the signing of Red Sky, the enigmatic masked rapper-guitarist whose boundary-pushing “Kintsugi Music” fuses rap, metal, and global influences into something entirely his own. The artist’s highly anticipated album “Nostalgia del Futuro” drops worldwide on May 29, 2026.
For 15 years, Red Sky has been carving out a unique space in the music landscape, one where Linkin Park meets Caparezza, where metal riffs collide with Japanese poetry, and where personal struggle becomes universal art. With 14 albums, millions of social media views, and stages shared with Italian rap heavyweights like Jesto, Shade, and Rayden, Red Sky has built a devoted following that transcends genre.
A Philosophy Forged in Fire and Gold
Red Sky calls his approach “Kintsugi Music”, named after the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, making the fractures beautiful rather than hidden. It’s a perfect metaphor for music that transforms outsider experiences, cultural displacement, and existential questioning into something powerful and complete.
Singing in both Italian and Japanese, Red Sky explores what it means to protect your inner fire in a world that demands conformity. His lyrics resonate with anyone who’s ever felt like they don’t quite fit, and anyone who’s refused to dim their light because of it.
“Nostalgia del Futuro”: A Sonic Odyssey
The new album takes its title from Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cybernetics, embracing the concept of “nostalgia for the future”, longing not for what was, but for who we’re meant to become. Created just before Red Sky’s move to Japan (the one place where he finally feels at home), the album is both a farewell and a manifesto. Musically, Nostalgia del Futuro is fearless: black metal bleeds into reggae, techno pulses beneath traditional Japanese instrumentation, and Arabic textures add unexpected depth to the metal foundation. The result is a deeply personal fusion that mirrors Red Sky’s own cross-cultural journey—Western anger meeting Eastern spirituality, Italian passion colliding with Japanese restraint. Thematically, the album digs deep: life, death, aging, family, self-esteem, and the complexities of modern Italian society. It’s introspective without being insular, specific without losing universality.
First Single “Il Paese Dell’Arte” Out Now
The journey begins with “Il Paese Dell’Arte” (The Country of Art), a stunning introduction to Red Sky’s world, complete with a visually arresting music video that captures the artist’s theatrical, masked aesthetic.
JOHN MACKO MUSIC continue to unveil new facets of the critically acclaimed debut album “Zero-Point Machine” with the release of the new single and video “No Way Home”.
Following the previously released tracks that showcased the project’s dynamic blend of progressive rock, jazz fusion and modern metal, “No Way Home” features singer Georgie Chapple with an In-Studio Performance that stands out as one of the album’s most immediate and anthemic compositions, combining driving momentum, memorable hooks and emotional depth.
Led by Fifth Angel bassist John Macko, the project explores a wide sonic spectrum, brought to life by an exceptional lineup including vocalist and lyricist Georgie Chapple, guitarist and sound designer Adrian Thessenvitz (Ad Infinitum), and drummer Ken Mary (Alice Cooper, House Of Lords, Fifth Angel, Flotsam & Jetsam).
With “No Way Home”, the band deliver a powerful and uplifting anthem, built around a striking chorus and a relentless sense of forward motion. The song captures the essence of “Zero-Point Machine”: a balance between technical sophistication and emotional accessibility, where progressive arrangements meet cinematic songwriting.
Vocalist Georgie Chapple comments:
“When I first heard the instrumental for ‘No Way Home,’ I immediately felt that it needed a chorus that hit like an anthem – something powerful, catchy, and impossible not to sing along to. The very first line I wrote was ‘No way home,’ and that phrase became the emotional anchor for everything that followed.
The track has a driving determination to it; it never really sits still, so the lyrics had to keep up – playful with rhythm, intelligent in meaning, and memorable enough to match the energy of the music. I loved how the production left space to experiment with words and phrasing while still carrying that sense of momentum.
What excited me most was the chance to pair that uplifting, sing-along feeling with a deeper message: the realization that sometimes growth requires you to walk away from what’s familiar. So the song lives in that tension – an empowering anthem on the surface, but underneath it reflects the bittersweet courage it takes to leave, knowing that the person you’re becoming can’t return to who you once were.”
“Zero-Point Machine” marks a bold artistic statement from John Macko, expanding beyond the boundaries of traditional power metal into a rich and cinematic soundscape shaped by progressive structures, modern production and diverse influences.
With the start just weeks away, My Sleeping Karma and Colour Haze are getting ready to hit the road together across Europe this April and May. Under the banner “The Karma Haze Tour 2026”, the co-headline run will bring two of Germany’s most influential names in instrumental psychedelic and stoner rock back on stage.
Both bands have played a defining role in shaping the European heavy psych landscape over the past two decades. While My Sleeping Karma have built a reputation for their deeply immersive, almost meditative instrumental soundscapes, Colour Haze stand as one of the most enduring and influential acts in the stoner and psychedelic rock scene, known for their dynamic songwriting and unmistakable groove.
“The Karma Haze Tour 2026” will take the bands across Europe, uniting two of the scene’s most beloved acts in a blend of atmospheric instrumental journeys and expansive psychedelic rock.
My Sleeping Karma comment: “Dear Friends and Fans, We can’t wait to hit the road across Europe this April/May with our tourmates in Colour Haze. New cities, familiar places, and all of you amazing people who make these nights unforgettable. See you out there!”
The Karma Haze Tour 2026: My Sleeping Karma + Colour Haze 17.04.26 Karlsruhe (DE), Substage 18.04.26 Wien (AT), Arena (Echoes of Erebos) 19.04.26 Krakau (PL), Hype Park 20.04.26 Warschau (PL), Hydrozagadka 21.04.26 Leipzig (DE), Werk 2 22.04.26 Nijmegen (NL), Doornroosje 23.04.26 Köln (DE), Die Kantine 24.04.26 Hamburg (DE), Markthalle 25.04.26 Berlin (DE), Festsaal Kreuzberg 26.04.26 Bielefeld (DE), Forum Bielefeld 27.04.26 Sint-Niklaas (BE), De Casino 28.04.26 Paris (FR), La Machine du Moulin Rouge 29.04.26 Tübingen (DE), Sudhaus 30.04.26 Aarau (CH), KIFF 01.05.26 Segrate (Mailand, IT), Circolo Magnolia 02.05.26 München (DE), Backstage
Vanaheim, an international storytelling caravan, has its roots in the land of the far sight, namely the Netherlands, in the city of Tilburg. Since their founding in 2015, the quintet has been on an everlasting journey through foreign lands, to spread folktales of their own.
Vanaheim have released their first single and video for the song “De Overtocht“.
“”De Overtocht” (English: The Crossing) tells the story of the moment someone loses themselves: physically, mentally, or emotionally, and awakens in a mist, a kind of purgatory between life and death. The song follows an inner journey through fear, loneliness, and regret, where the longing for love and company collides with self imposed isolation born from anxiety. Within the realm of shadows comes the confrontation: this is not how I want to fade away. What begins as panic slowly turns into clarity, and ultimately into a renewed hunger for life. It is a story about being trapped, breaking free, and realizing that life, despite all your fears, is more beautiful than you ever imagined. The tragedy is finding beauty in life at the very moment you learn you no longer belong to it, with a quiet yet powerful message: open your eyes, cherish what you have, be kind to those around you, and live your dreams before the light fades”, comments the band and adds: “With this second album, we started from nothing again. At the start, you need a spark, a kind of kickstarter song that makes you want to keep writing in the same feeling, style and direction. “De Overtocht” was that spark, which is why it became the first track we started with and the one that ultimately shaped the direction of the entire album.”
Already, since the first two self-released outputs, an EP in 2017 (“The House Spirit”) and an LP in 2022 (“Een Verloren Verhaal”), all eyes and ears of the scene were directed on Vanaheim. Counting as the candidate for bringing back the golden era of folk metal and for returning the genre to the glory that it once had. “Een Verloren Verhaal” struck the scene like a meteor and was often highlighted by the metal press as album of the year 2022.
2023 to 2025, the hype around the band lifted them onto stages of major festivals in Europe, like Graspop Metal Meeting (BE), Wacken Open Air (DE), Wave Gotik Treffen (DE), Milagre Metaleiro (PT) and enabled them to widen their audience while touring with genre veterans like Manntra, Heidevolk, Ensiferum and playing support shows for Alestorm and Equilibrium.
Vanaheim paved their way into the heart of the scene and are ready to take the next big step. In the continuation of their success, the band signed a record deal with Fireflash Records, teamed up with MasterMoldMusic as their management team and found a trustful partner in RTN Touring for booking endeavors.
In September 2026, Vanaheim will release their highly anticipated follow-up concept album, which carries the name “Roede voor de Borst” together with a new band design and lyrics that tell a tragic, emotional but engaging story. The new album features top musicians like Coen Janssen of Epica and Nils Fischer of Eluveitie, who enhanced the band’s sound with their performances on all new tracks. The Dutch luminary of all things symphonic and melodic metal, aka Joost van den Broek produced, recorded and mixed the album before it was mastered by Finnish mastering legend Mika Jussila in Helsinki.
“Roede voor de Borst” involves the listener in an immersive storyline about regrets, despair, hope and salvation. A musical journey full of surprises coated by a Dutch 19th century setting that pulls you deep into a book of untold legends. The Dutch vocals award these songs with an emotional honesty which leads every sung word directly under your skin. With a rousing mix of symphonic heaviness, elegant folk-inspired melodies and grounding death metal riffs, Roede voor de Borst represents the next level of Vanaheim and a new level of epic folk metal.
VANAHEIM is: Zino van Leerdam – Vocals Michael van Eck – Guitar Mike Seidel – Bass Rikke Linssen – Violin Bram Trommelen – Drums
Turin-based death thrashers Extinction have released the video for the song ‘The Horned God’, the title track of their fourth album, due out on 27 March via Punishment 18 Records.
“The song explores the theme of the ancient horned gods, such as Moloch, Pan, Cernunnos and others, who, with the advent of Christianity, were subsequently classified as the embodiment of absolute evil, thus giving rise to the figure of Satan.”
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 ) 