Following last year’s sold-out performance of Live At The Acropolis, Symphonic death metallers SEPTICFLESH are proud to announce they will return to Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the Acropolis of Athens for a second ceremony on September 27th! The night will feature the band reuniting on stage with the Athens State Orchestra including the Adult and Children’s Choir under the baton of Koen Schoots.
SEPTICFLESH comments, “Children of Prometheus, we are summoning you to attend our second ceremony at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the Acropolis of Athens, one of the most iconic places in the world! Last year, a lot of people couldn’t join us, as the tickets were sold out shortly after the show announcement. Thankfully, and just before the closing of this ancient place for at least 3 years for necessary maintenance and restoration work, we have been allowed to return for the Classick Rock 9 on the 27th of September 2025. Once again, we will be joined by the Athens State Orchestra, Adult and Children’s Choir under the baton of Koen Schoots, as we will perform an updated setlist. See you there!”
Formed as “Septic Flesh” in Greece in the early ’90s, SEPTICFLESH has carved an indelible mark on the metal scene. With a rich history spanning decades, the band has continuously evolved their sound, incorporating symphonic elements to create a truly unique sonic experience. From their debut EP Temple of The Lost Race to their latest masterpiece SEPTICFLESH has captivated audiences with their dynamic compositions and haunting melodies. With each album, they push the boundaries of symphonic metal, weaving together intricate orchestrations with crushing riffs and powerful vocals. Don’t miss your chance to witness their monumental live performances, where the thunderous sound of SEPTICFLESH will engulf you in a whirlwind of emotion and intensity.
Soul-seeking alt hardcore quintet Higher Power are proud to announce that their third studio album, There’s Love In This World If You Want It, has been surprise released digitally today via Nuclear Blast Records. The album will be released physically on September 19th and is now available for pre-order.
Vocalist Jimmy Wizard comments: “This album is the natural progression of Higher Power sonically and as a band. This is our first time consciously self producing an album and I am, for once, genuinely excited to put something out that feels really authentic to us as individuals and where we are at as a band.”
Higher Power have also released a psychedelic video for new single ‘All The Rage‘, watch it here:
Inner peace. That’s the aim for us all, isn’t it? Well, the truth is that it is always there waiting for you. You just need to work away a little bit to find it, digging deep and questioning yourself to get closer and closer to achieving that ultimate sense of personal zen. It may not always feel like the search is paying off, but there is always potential for that love, compassion and understanding of who you are to seep through. The journey may be challenging, but you’ll be glad that you took part in it in the end.
For Higher Power, that journey has seen them do things that, when they emerged onto the Yorkshire hardcore circuit in 2015, were never even on their radar. From their innocently frantic beginnings of emulating and celebrating legendary bands like Leeway and Merauder for a new generation, even playing their first two shows in the basement of the house owned by The Flex and at an early iteration of Outbreak Fest respectively, the ten years that have followed have seen them ride every ebb and flow that the music industry has to offer. From touring with everyone from Alexisonfire and Neck Deep to Knocked Loose and Angel Du$t to signing to Roadrunner Records for their sophomore full-length 27 Miles Underwater, they have achieved the sort of things that, up until recently, would never have been on the horizon of possibility for a hardcore band of their ilk. Yet, within experiencing the industry mechanics usually reserved for the highest echelons of rock royalty, they also realised they were drifting away from the things that made them want to do all of this in the first place.
The result of putting what feels right for them first is There’s Love In This World If You Want It, a record that encapsulates the Higher Power spirit in a way that only those whose hearts are truly entrenched in the band can produce. Peeling away layers of assumption and ideology placed upon them by others and focusing once more on the genre-splicing experimentation that inspired them to create together in the first place, they have produced nine songs that showcase exactly what they are made of in a screaming rainbow of colour.
TRACKLIST 01. Absolute Bloom 02. Count The Miles 03. All The Rage 04. Better 05. Two Doors Down 06. Lunar Tuesday 07. Kaleidoscope 08. Wide Awake 09. My Sweet Surrender
PERTURBATOR – the Paris-based composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist James Kent – today announced his new album Age Of Aquarius, his debut for renowned metal label Nuclear Blast Records, will be released on October 10th, 2025. The album’s new single “Apocalypse Now,” a visceral, dance-ready anthem featuring lead vocals by Norwegian metal titan Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), is out now alongside a fittingly epic video directed by David Fitt. Punitive kick drums and blasting synths live up to the song title, as Rygg’s chant feels applicable to being alive at any given moment (“Apocalypse now! / There is blood on the ground / We’ve got bullets for everyone”). “’Apocalypse Now’ is a song about the systematic destruction we cause to our own kind. It is our inability to get along with–and often vilify–’the others.’ Thus accelerating the end of our ways of life through simple hubris and self validation,” Kent explains.
Director Fitt says of the video: “The lyrics of ‘Apocalypse Now’ have made me wonder: what would the last war look like? A coup? A war of all against all? A nuclear war? Maybe. Could be. But I realized that what I would love to do, to watch, to happen, is a war of world leaders against themselves. The war they all dream of, but are too cowardly to fight themselves. This would be the ultimate war, in my opinion. And that’s what I aimed to show. And then we’re left wondering: what would be next? What if women took charge? Would power consume them too, eventually? Are we doomed as a species? That’s what I wonder and want people to wonder with me.”
‘Apocalypse Now‘ follows the album’s powerful recent single ‘The Art of War.’ Later this year, PERTURBATOR will embark on a headlining tour of the UK and Europe – which sees him playing his biggest venues to date – including London, UK’s 02 Forum Kentish Town and two nights at Paris’ La Bataclan; a full itinerary is listed below and tickets are on-sale now HERE.
On Age of Aquarius, PERTURBATOR offers up a more propulsive spin on his moody early work, showcasing his most confident, plainly beautiful, and thematically refined music to date. Where his previous album, 2021’s Lustful Sacraments, was about bad habits and addiction, his sixth LP – also featuring Alcest, Author & Punisher and Greta Link –explores how individualism, conflict, and war are interrelated and dominant societal forces. Both brutal and sublime, Age of Aquariusfeels like the musical equivalent of a scream into the existential void.
“The first half of Age of Aquarius is all about conflict. The misanthropy and violence that lays in all of us,” explains Kent. “The second part of the album then talks about individualism. The understanding that group-thinking leads to nowhere and having your own free will is the single most essential thing we have in life.“
PERTURBATOR’s ballistic, militaristic sound dovetails with his thematic focus on human aggression, which manifests itself throughout Age of Aquarius. “We have this climate nowadays of people getting divided over everything,” Kent says. “Every debate is two-sided, very extreme, very warlike, and people are very into group thinking: ‘There’s this side of the conflict, and there’s this side of the conflict, and if you’re not on my side, you’re wrong.’” Bleak and blunt, yes, but expectedly so from an album that starts with ‘Apocalypse Now,’ introducing Age of Aquarius’ themes in just the right way: When have we, as a species, not been defined by conflict, violent and otherwise, arising from individualism?
Kent intentionally chooses very evocative song titles since most of his tracks lack lyrics and primarily convey mood through instrumentals. “I like to think of every album as a movie,” he says. “The tracks are all scenes from that one big movie.” The most brutal scene, then, is ‘The Art of War,’ which ranks among Kent’s hardest-hitting songs; its vivid, forceful production attests to the two and a half years he spent tirelessly mastering and elevating his signature style (he wrote, recorded, performed, produced, and mixed the record himself, minus the guest vocals and lyrics). The track embodies the very sound of going into battle, and it could well be the album’s thesis. “It’s more of war as an idea than a concrete event,” Kent says about the LP’s subject matter. It’s no surprise his distinct style of electronic body music (EBM)–built on a DNA of post-punk, goth, and techno influences–has widely appealed to fans of new wave, industrial, and metal alike (his recent collaborators and tourmates HEALTH are an apt comparison).
We might always be in conflict as a species – with others and ourselves – but with Age of Aquarius, Kent provides its fantastic score.
Age Of Aquarius Tracklist: 01. Apocalypse Now (Ft. Ulver) 02. Lunacy 03. Venus (Ft. Author & Punisher) 04. The Glass Staircase 05. Hangover Square 06. The Art of War 07. 12th House 08. Lady Moon (Ft. Greta Link) 09. The Swimming Pool 10. Mors Ultima Ratio 12. Age of Aquarius (Ft. Alcest)
PERTURBATORUK & EUROPEAN HEADLINE TOUR 2025 w/ support form KÆLAN MIKLA and GOST. 05.11 – FR, Nantes – Stereolux 06.11 – FR, Lille – Aeronef 07.11 – UK, London – O2 Forum Kentish Town 08.11 – UK, Manchester – Damnation Festival 11.11 – AT, Vienna – Arena 12.11 – HU, Budapest – Dürer Kert 13.11 – CZ, Prague – SaSaZu 14.11 – DE, Berlin – Huxleys 17.11 – LT, Vilnius – Loftas 19.11 – FI, Helsinki – Kulttuuritalo 21.11 – SE, Stockholm – Fallan 22.11 – DK, Copenhagen – The Grey Hall 23.11 – NO, Oslo – Rockefeller 25.11 – DE, Hamburg – Gruenspan 26.11 – NL, Nijmegen – Doornroosje 27.11 – BE, Brussels – Ancienne Belgique 28.11 – DE, Cologne – Live Music Hall 29.11 – FR, Meisenthal – La Boite Noire 01.12 – DE, Munich – Muffathalle 02.12 – SO, Ljubljana – Kino Šiška 03.12 – IT, Milan – Live Club 04.12 – CH, Lausanne – Les Docks 05.12 – FR, Paris – Le Bataclan 06.12 – FR, Paris – Le Bataclan
Richmond, Virginia metal-punk trio BAT are pleased to announce that they’ll be hitting Europe this summer, for three killer shows.
Make sure you catch the guys at Obscene Extreme Festival in the Czech Republic on July 9th, in Berlin at Cassiopeia on July 11th, or at In Flammen Open Air in Germany.
BAT – EU SUMMER 2025 09-07-2025 TRUTNOV – OBSCENE EXTREME (CZE) 11-07-2025 BERLIN – CASSIOPEIA (GER) 12-07-2025 TORGAU – IN FLAMMEN OPEN AIR (GER)
ABOUT BAT: The power trio, including Ryan Waste, Nick Poulos, and Chris Marshall, decamped to Philadelphia in June 2021 where Arthur Rizk recorded the basic tracks for Under The Crooked Claw. Yavé Rust tracked lead guitars and vocals later when the band was back in Richmond, ultimately to be mixed by Rizk and mastered by Joel Grind. The artwork for the album was inked by Brandon Holt and colored by Margaret Rolicki. Jam-packed with tight, concise songs loaded with punchy choruses and lightning-laced leads, each of the 13 tracks offers a new horror short story mixing the perfect blend of heavy metal, punk, and rock ‘n’ roll or as Waste coins it “primitive heavy speed”.
Melbourne blackened nu-metal outfit MÉLANCOLIA share new single ‘SPIT!‘ featuring Christopher Mackertich of DREGG, off their sophomore album ‘random.access.misery‘ out Friday August 29 via Greyscale Records and Nuclear Blast. The band join Thy Art Is Murder on a regional tour of Australia starting this week.
‘SPIT!’is a shift in MÉLANCOLIA‘s established sound, expanding on the nu-metal-influenced direction the upcoming album promises. It’s the first track in their catalogue to feature clean singing and the first to include a guest feature. The new single adds another layer to the dark atmosphere they’re becoming known for and was written to be played live—specifically to cater for sing alongs, mosh pits and stage dives.
Leading single ‘ALL_IS_RUST‘ came before ‘SPIT!’and released as both a declaration of evolution and a warning: MÉLANCOLIA are not here to follow trends – they’re here to dismantle them.
MÉLANCOLIA’s forthcoming album random.access.misery melds metalcore, deathcore, industrial noise, blast beats and DJ scratching and blends into a hellish sonic cocktail. ‘ALL_IS_RUST‘ and ‘SPIT!‘ welcomes listeners to the band’s new sound and a genre the band have coined as “Blackened Nu Metal”.
‘SPIT!‘is streaming everywhere now. random.access.miserywill be out everywhere via Greyscale Records and Nuclear Blast on Friday August 29.
Picked as one of four “brilliant new metal bands you need to hear” by Metal Hammer in April, the band are primed and ready and unleash their defining new album this August; “We are bringing a fresh sound to an otherwise stale scene, you will not hear what we are doing from anyone else. We are setting the trend as we set the bar for modern heavy music. Love us or hate us, you will fucking remember us.”
Momentum is at an all time high for the band, having toured Australia three times over off the back of ‘HissThroughRottenTeeth‘ and breaking into Europe and the UK twice on tours with SUFFOCATION (US) and INGESTED (UK). The band will join THY ART IS MURDER on a regional lap of Australia this June and July and will debut some of their new music for the very first time.
[photo: Andreas Mattsson – Perspective by Mattsson]
August 29, 2025 will see Swedish metal vikings MÅNEGARM release their much-awaited new studio album, entitled Edsvuren, via Napalm Records. Following a previously-released first video single, “Hör mitt kall”, today, the trio is premiering a music video for the epic album opening track “I skogsfruns famn”!
””I skogsfruns famn” is our second single from the new album “Edsvuren (sworn) and this video is probably the coolest and rawest Månegarm video to date (made by awesome Svartna Film),“the band comments.
”The song is a really groovy and epic track and the lyrics are based on a local story that is said to have taken place just a few miles from where we live. The music is written together with Tobias Rydsheim from Wormwood and it features Erik’s daughter Lea Grawsiö Lindström on vocals once more. Hold on tight folks, this one is something really special!“
Known for weaving Norse mythology, ancient rites, and folkloric wisdom into an unrelenting metal tapestry, MÅNEGARM celebrate their 30-year career with the release of their most evocative album to date. As one of the leading bands in the genre, they once again bring their inimitable style and the blood oath of viking, black and folk metal back together for an unforgettable and diverse sonic journey. Pensive and dreamy atmospheric monsters meet songs for a proper mead binge – this mixture has brought the band a loyal international fan base and highly acclaimed appearances at prestigious festivals such as Ragnarök and Summer Breeze Open Air.
On their forthcoming studio offering, Edsvuren, MÅNEGARM offer necessary authenticity with the use of traditional Nordic instruments. Guest vocalists Ellinor Videfors and Lea Grawsiö Lindström, who have also supported the band on previous albums, once again provide the perfect contrast between harshness and beauty. On title track “Edsvuren”, singer Liv Hope Lenard joins the wolf pack for the first time and provides one of the album’s most breathtaking highlights. On violin, the acoustic master Martin Björklund is back again, especially shining on pieces like “Rodhins hav”. Edsvuren was recorded and mixed by Pelle Saether at Studio Underground, and was mastered by Sverker Widgren at Wing Studios. The epic cover artwork was created by Kris Verwimp.
Melding raw aggression, ancient beauty and hypnotic black metal influences, Norse mythology, rites and folkloric wisdom in a relentless frenzy of orchestral finesse – on the battlefield of Viking Metal, only Swedish legends MÅNEGARM can emerge victorious with their thunderous anthems. With over 30 years of battle-tested heritage, MÅNEGARM continue to assert themselves as torchbearers of the genre with Edsvuren!
As long as winds will blow – Falkenbach Cover (Wooden Box + Deluxe Vinyl Edition Bonus Track)
Flight of Icarus – Iron Maiden Cover (Wooden Box + Deluxe Vinyl Edition Bonus Track)
Hear my call – English version of Hör mitt kall (Wooden Box + Deluxe Vinyl Edition Bonus Track)
Ulvhjärtat – Exclusive piano Version (Wooden Box + Deluxe Vinyl Edition Bonus Track)
MÅNEGARM live: 07/26/25 – HMN Festival – Heimburg/DE 08/02/25 – Wacken Festival – Wacken/DE 08/29/25 – Manegarm Open Air – Norrtälje/SWE 12/13/25 – Heavy Metal X´Mass – Mexico City/MEX
MÅNEGARM is: Erik Grawsiö – Vocals & Bass Markus Andé – Guitars Jakob Hallegren – Drums
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 ) 