Desert rock veterans AVON are set to release their highly anticipated third studio album “Black On Sunshine” on April 17 via Go Down Records. Alongside the announcement, the band has unveiled an official album trailer.
AVON unites an impressive pedigree of desert rock history. On drums, the mighty Alfredo Hernández –known for his work with Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Yawning Man –brings his unmistakable groove and desert-born power to the record. Frontman James Childs previously found success with British rock outfit Airbus and collaborated with Geoff Barrow as well as “Philthy Animal” Taylor. His songwriting even earned him an Emmy nomination for the theme to Disney’s worldwide hit cartoon “Kick Buttowski”. On bass, Charles Pasarell – deeply rooted in the Palm Springs desert scene – completes the sonic backbone that defines AVON’s sound.
Following the success of “Mad Marco” (2016) and “Dave’s Dungeon” (2018), “Black On Sunshine” showcases AVON’s tight, dynamic songwriting and their ability to merge melodic depth with unrestrained energy. Rooted in the spirit of the Californian desert yet pushing beyond genre boundaries, the album blends psychedelic rock textures, driving grooves, and an unmistakable desert-born energy.
Tracklist: 01. Black On Sunshine 02. Awkwardness 03. Spacebar 04. Never In A Million Years 05. Bandits 06. Ninteen Bruises 07. Super Furry Antidote 08. Doorway 09. Strangest Love 10. Oblivion
“Black On Sunshine” will be available via Go Down Records on all major digital platforms and physical formats April 17. Pre-orders are now open at THIS LOCATION
To celebrate the release, AVON will tour Europe this spring with a string of live shows across the UK, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy:
April 24th – UK – Kicker, Portishead April 25th – UK – Frog & Fiddle, Cheltenham April 26th – UK – Old Ham Tree, Holt April 28th – BE – tba, Brussels April 29th – DE – Friday, Heidenheim April 30th – CH – Horst Klub, Kreuzlingen May 1st – IT – Velvet Corazon, Cervia, Ravenna May 2nd – IT – HPS Fest, Bologna May 3rd – IT – Damage Inc, Verona May 4th – IT – Altroquando, Zero Branco, Treviso May 5th – IT – Legend Club, Milano May 6th – CH – Burning Sound Lab, La Chaux-de-Fonds May 7th – DE – Rockjungfer, Arnstadt May 8th – DE – Molle Hildberghausen May 9th – BE – Cafe de Stam Paal
Line-up: Alfredo Hernández | drums James Childs | vocals & guitar June Kato | bass
What if your favorite fantasy RPG had a soundtrack forged from blazing metal and cinematic symphonies? When ancient magic awakens, seeing legends and ghosts emerge from the mist at the borders of reality, AVALAND answers the call. Forged at the crossroads of power metal and opera grandeur, the band from France doesn’t just write songs – they combine high-fantasy narrative wizardry and heroic quests with explosive riffs and orchestral bombast, creating an immersive metal experience where every track is part of a larger legend.
In AVALAND’s new single “Sail On” (released: February 27) we follow an alchemist who falls into the Realm of Death… yet does not die. Guided by the God of Time who takes on the disguise of the Ferryman, Charon, he must navigate the depths of Hell, protected by the Gypsum Flower – a mystical stone, first introduced in the band’s two previous albums. “This is the first song composed by our guitarist Lucas. He wanted to record a track to replace my first idea that was too ‘happy’ for what this song is about. Everyone in the band directly loved it and it was really cool to add the final touch all together on this song. All the guys in the band and all the people who could listen to the demo, agree that it’s a really strong track – an epic and dramatic hymn you can’t resist singing!”, says band leader Adrien.
After two studio albums, a live album, and a European tour with Rhapsody of Fire, AVALAND’s journey has only just begun. With this first single release, the door opens to a broader narrative, wider mythology, and much larger fantasy world of a continuous saga, one that will continue to reveal itself in the months ahead, with further stories arriving soon.
Born in 2020 from the ambition to be more than a band, AVALAND was conceived as a fully immersive, theatrical live experience. Drawing inspiration from acts such as The Alan Parsons Project, Avantasia, Winger, and Savatage – and fueled by a deep love for 80s hard rock – AVALAND blends orchestral arrangements and metal opera storytelling with dynamic rock and power metal. Adrien G. Gzagg and Jeff Kanji lead the charge with twin male lead vocals forged from steel and fire, while Lucas Martinez shoots his barrage of blazing guitar riffs into the foundation of Camille Souffron’s ferocious basslines and Léo Mouchonay’s war drums that command the thunder and drive the rhythm. On stage, the band features between two and five voices fueled from within as well as by varying guests, transforming each performance into a truly magical journey.
Inspired by the lives of the five musicians who quickly learned to channel their emotions and experiences into compelling stories, the band invites listeners to follow the ongoing saga of AVALAND that unfolds across albums, songs, and story fragments. The lore has been brought to yet another dimension of life through monthly lore chapters published on World Anvil (a platform offering worldbuilding tools that help create, organize, store, and share world settings).
On March 6, AVALAND will bring their metal opera to the sold-out opening show for the Festival Yggdrasil in Lyon, France. March 7-8, you can visit their merch booth to meet the band and dive into the epic mythical realm behind their music. A perfect match for this immersive fair that’s all about fantasy worlds.
Swedish death metal institution VOMITORY will unleash their punishing In Death Throes full-length on April 10th via Metal Blade Records.
In any serious conversation about death metal, VOMITORY‘s name is a must-mention. Formed in 1989, the Swedish band unleashed eight blistering albums between 1996 and 2011, cementing their status as genre titans before parting ways in 2013. However, their retirement was short-lived, as they returned to the stage in 2019 to mark their 30th anniversary. Now, three years after the release of their critically acclaimed 2023 comeback album All Heads Are Gonna Roll, VOMITORY are back with their latest beast, In Death Throes.
The band didn’t miss a beat in getting back to writing. According to drummer Tobias Gustafsson, while the unmistakable VOMITORY sound remains, the new album cranks up the intensity. “In Death Throes picks up where All Heads Are Gonna Roll left off, but we’ve turned the intensity up a notch. [New guitarist] Christian [Fredriksson] quickly found his place and even contributed music to four killer tracks. These additions bring a bit of diversity to our sound without straying too far from the formula.”
Recording took place across multiple studios in late 2025. Drums and vocals were recorded at Leon Music Studios in Karlstad, Sweden, with producer Rikard Löfgren, who previously worked on Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize, Carnage Euphoria, and Opus Mortis VIII, handling the engineering. Guitars and bass were tracked at Goff Studios in Karlstad, with Christian Fredriksson taking the reins as the engineer. For mixing and mastering, the band once again turned to Lawrence Mackrory (Paradise Lost, Bloodbath, Lik) at Rorysound Studios in Uppsala, Sweden, who delivered a crushing, heavy sound that still manages to breathe.
As with All Heads Are Gonna Roll, the album artwork was handled by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art Design (Evergrey, Suffocation, The Crown), while Seiya Ogino of Ogino Design handled the layout. The result is an album that’s as ferocious as it is visually stunning.
In advance of the record’s release, today VOMITORY unleashes first single, “For Gore And Country.” Offers Gustafsson, “‘For Gore and Country’ charges forward relentlessly just like the rotting hordes in the lyrics do. Starting off with a classic VOMITORY grind, then diving headfirst into a total headbanging party, to then take off again into grind and D-beat turmoil. Oh wait! Another headbanging party towards the end of the song! For gore and country, we endure!“
In Death Throes Track Listing: 01. Rapture in Rupture 02. For Gore and Country 03. Forever Scorned 04. Wrath Unbound 05. In Death Throes 06. Cataclysmic Fleshfront 07. Two and a Half Men 08. Erased in Red 09. The Zombie War General 10. Oblivion Protocol
VOMITORY Live w/ Hypocrisy, Abbath, Vreid: 4/02/2026 Astra – Berlin, DE 4/03/2026 Amager Bio – Copenhagen, DK 4/04/2026 Traedgarn – Gothenburg, SE 4/05/2026 Fryshuset – Stockholm, SE 4/07/2026 Tavastia – Helsinki, FI 4/08/2026 Spelet – Riga, LV 4/09/2026 B90 – Gdansk, PL 4/10/2026 Sono Centrum – Brno, CZ 4/11/2026 Ragnarök Festival – Lichtenfels, DE 4/12/2026 Majestic Music Club – Bratislava, SK 4/14/2026 Joy Station – Sofia, BG 4/15/2026 Arenele Romane – Bucharest, RO 4/17/2026 Cvetlicarna – Ljubljana, SI 4/18/2026 Metal Franconia – Geiselwind, DE 4/19/2026 Z7 Konzertfabrik – Pratteln, CH 4/21/2026 Gruenspan – Hamburg, DE 4/22/2026 LKA Longhorn – Stuttgart, DE 4/23/2026 Essigfabrik – Köln, DE 4/24/2026 Felsenkeller – Leipzig, DE 4/25/2026 Backstage – München, DE 4/26/2026 Stadsgehoorzaal – Leiden, NL 4/28/2026 Trix – Leiden, DE 4/29/2026 Machine du Moulin Rouge – Paris, FR 5/01/2026 Academy 2 – Manchester, UK * No Abbath 5/02/2026 Incineration – London, UL * No Abbath
VOMITORY: Erik Rundqvist – vocals/bass Urban Gustafsson – guitar Christian Fredriksson – lead guitar Tobias Gustafsson – drums
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar release their new live album A Beautiful Buzz via Gypsy Soul Records on May 22, 2026. Captured during the band’s Love Is All Around tour across Western Canada in 2022, the album documents the raw power, soul, and communal energy that have made Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar one of Canada’s most electrifying live acts.
The CD and limited edition gatefold double vinyl editions of the album are available via www.samanthamartinmusic.com/store with the digital edition available on all streaming platformsHERE.
The album is preceded by the lead single “My Crown,” released Friday February 27, offering a first taste of the sweat-soaked, soul-driven performances that define the power and the excitement of A Beautiful Buzz.
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar occupy a rare space in modern roots blues music: deeply reverent of soul and gospel tradition, yet unafraid to push those forms into something louder, sweatier, and fiercely alive. Led by Martin’s unmistakable, powerhouse vocal delivery, the band has earned a reputation as one of Canada’s most commanding live acts, equal parts grit, grace, and emotional force.
A two-time JUNO Award nominee and seven-time Canadian Blues Award nominee for Female Vocalist of the Year, Samantha Martin has long drawn comparisons to the great soul shouters of the past. As Rhythm & Booze put it, “Samantha Martin’s name can be talked of in the same sentence as Etta James, Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin. It’s soul for the modern age with a turbocharger.” Paris Move (France) went further, calling her “indispensable, Samantha Martin, the new Southern soul tornado.”
Those comparisons aren’t casual. Over the course of their catalogue, discerning listeners will hear echoes of Mavis Staples, Sharon Jones, Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG’s, and the Memphis Horns, all filtered through a modern, road-hardened sensibility. It’s classic soul DNA delivered with contemporary urgency and volume. As Glide Magazine noted, “a jaw-dropping display of vocal prowess that showcases this band’s brand of supercharged blues. Comparisons of soul greats run rampant, but like Brittany Howard, Samantha Martin might be the next musical game changer.”
Mixed by Renan Yildizdogan and Ross Hayes Citrullo, the in-house team at Gypsy Soul Records, A Beautiful Buzz marks a first for the band: a long-overdue live album capturing the raw electricity that has defined Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar onstage for over a decade.
Recorded during the band’s Love Is All Around tour across Western Canada in 2022, A Beautiful Buzz was born under extraordinary circumstances. Originally scheduled for January and repeatedly delayed by the final wave of COVID-era disruptions, the tour finally launched in November, with Martin six months pregnant. Undeterred, a 13-person touring party loaded into a sprinter and rental car and pushed west from the sub-zero cold of Saskatoon toward the West Coast.
Night after night, the shows carried a heightened emotional charge, but one final performance stood apart, crackling with urgency, joy, and the awareness that one chapter was closing just as another was about to begin. That moment became A Beautiful Buzz, a testament to resilience, love, and transformation, capturing a band at full throttle and an artist on the edge of profound personal change.
For many listeners, the album lands somewhere in the lineage of Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen, a communal, unrestrained live soul revue where horns, grit, gospel, and sweat collide. It’s not a polished live souvenir; it’s the sound of a band at peak intensity, feeding off the room and giving it everything back.
With a new studio album already in development for 2027, A Beautiful Buzz stands not as a detour or placeholder, but as a deliberate statement, finally committing to record the live force that made Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar essential in the first place.
“The Love Is All Around tour, initially set for January 2022, faced the trials of postponement until November 2022—marking the closing chapter of COVID-era delays,” says Samantha Martin. “By the time the tour kicked off, I was six months pregnant with my son. I’ve never been one to be easily deterred. So, clad in a winter jacket that barely zipped, our 13-person touring party loaded into a sprinter and a rental car and embarked on a tour from the sub-zero temperatures of Saskatoon to the balmy West Coast of Canada.”
“Each show was a whirlwind of energy and emotion, but one stood out above the rest. Perhaps it was the excitement of the final show, or maybe it was the realization that my life was about to change in a big way. Whatever the reason, the atmosphere was electric, filled with a beautiful buzz that I wanted to share with you. This album captures the magic I felt, and is a testament to resilience, love, and the power of music amidst life’s transformations.”
A BEAUTIFUL BUZZ – ALBUM TRACK LISTING
1- Love is All Around – 3:35 (S. Martin, J. Chisholm) 2- Don’t Have To Be – 3:02 (S. Martin, A. Beer-Colacino, A. Warner) 3- You’re The Love – 3:37 (S. Martin, C. Chaffey) 4- Good Trouble – 3:18 (S. Martin, S. Vinnick) 5- All Night Long – 4:39 (S. Martin, C. Chaffey, M. McCallum, D. Yates, D. Nash, S. Marriner) 6- The Shape I’m In (feat. Steve Marriner) – 3:58 (Robbie Robertson) 7- I’ve Got a Feeling – 6:58 (S. Martin, C. Chaffey) 8- My Crown – 5:53 (Rench) 9- Loving You Is Easy – 7:25 (S. Martin) 10- “Band Intro” – (1:48) (S. Martin) 11- Pass Me By – (3:31) (S. Martin, C. Chaffey) 12- Them Changes – 3:54 (George Buddy Miles) 13- Loving Cup – 6:25 (M. Jagger, K. Richards)
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Recorded November 26, 2022 @ A.C.T. Theatre in Maple Ridge, BC Mixed by Renan Yildizdogan and Ross Hayes Citrullo at RHC Music in Toronto, ON Mastered by Phil Demetro Mastering in Toronto, ON
BAND LINE-UP
Lead Vocals & Acoustic Guitar: Samantha Martin Background Vocalists: Tafari Anthony & Sherie Marshall Electric Guitar: Curtis Chaffey Bass: Ian McKeown Drums: Will Fisher Keys: Jeff Heisholt Trombone: Emily Ferrell Saxophone: Andrew Moljgun Trumpet: Brian Walters Special guest vocalist and acoustic guitar on “Shape I’m In” and 2nd electric on “Them Changes” and “Loving Cup”: Steve Marriner
Finnish rock band BEYOND A.C. releases their first album on all streaming services. Their eponymous debut is a rock, hard rock and rock’n’roll record with ten hand-crafted songs. Some of the tunes are brand new, some come from a different time and a place. Years and years ago, these guys had a band together somewhere beyond the arctic circle.
Totally timeless, “For Better For Worse” rocks like AC/DC, Little Richard and the Rolling Stones having a threesome. “Hero With No Name” is a cartoon rocker about an unknown hero who saves the day. The ballad “Behind the Sun” is about of longing and solitude. For contrast, “Absolute Power” finds the band channeling their inner Iggy Pop.
There’s a cover tune halfway through: “(Just a) Little Bit More” is one of the better-known 22-Pistepirkko gems, yet lost in time. Starring the brilliant Finnish pianist Christopher Forsman (who tinkles the keys also on “For Better For Worse”) and the soulful British singer Phillipa Cookman, “Can This Be Real?” is a Beyond A.C. original in the traditional blues rock form. “For No One” paints a strange picture with moody 90’s alternative rock influences.
“My World” situates somewhere where 80s Ozzy Osbourne meets Jane’s Addiction and Hawkwind – far as possible from the online world. Melancholy “Let It All Come True” reminisces the past and ponders the future-defining crossroads that life tends to offer. “Savage Queen” provides an epic hard rock ending for the album.
“It’s cool that no matter when the songs were written, they really work well together”, the band comments. “That’s because we know what we’re doing and what we want to sound like. We always have.”
Beyond A.C. are: Kristian Herkman: vocals, keyboards, saxophone Janne Särkelä: guitar Jake Tani: bass Ari Väntänen: guitar
Guest musicians: Santiago Ortola: drums Christopher Forsman: piano Phillipa Cookman: vocals
DIVINE CHAOS have released a new single and official video ‘Without a Trace’, taken from upcoming album.
The band melds influences from the likes of Metallica and Sepultura throughout their latest record ‘Hate Reactor’, which is being released on 27th March [self-released].
With Hate Reactor, Divine Chaos refine and elevate every facet of their sound. Returning to work with producer Scott Atkins, where they spent a month sculpting their best work to date. After the band and Atkins were finished producing the record, they sent the album on to Chris Clancy [Machine Head, Architects + more], to mix and master. The band credit both Atkins and Clancy for their valuable input on Hate Reactor.
The album showcases heightened focus, devastating hooks, and a richer vocal landscape, all while preserving the band’s foundational ethos. It is a fierce, sharpened statement from a group who continue to push the boundaries of modern thrash while honouring the genre’s legacy.
Track listing:
Regicide
Hate Reactor
Where Gods are Last in Line
Condemned to the Void
The New Reality
Without a Trace
Blood of the Earth
This Coming Storm
Shadows of the Wasteland
Band members:
JUT TABOR – VOCALS MATT GILMOUR – GUITAR CHRIS O’TOOLE – GUITAR CRAIG DAWS – BASS MARIUSZ MARECKI – DRUMS
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
