Best of 2012 – Arto

1. Kreator – Phantom Antichrist

Kreator: Phantom Antichrist

The German thrash legends never slow down and never give up the spirit of the German thrash metal. Phantom Antichrist is another great slap of Kreator’s aggressive and vital thrash hymns.

2. Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol

Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol

The legendary gothic metal mongers went total downhill in the late 90’s, but the band has managed to recapture the magic and spirit of the true Paradise Lost sound and approach having the dark, depressive and suicidal atmosphere and feeling.

3. Accept – Stalingrad

Accept – Stalingrad

Accept literally blew the metal audience away with the great comeback album titled Blood Of Nations with Mark Tornillo on the vocals. The German metal veterans continue the triumphinal classic Accept sound with the modern grip (thanks to Andy Sneap).

4. Hooded Menace – Effigies Of Evil

5. Candlemass – Psalms For The Dead

6. Master’s Hammer – Vracejte konve na místo

7. Cannibal Corpse – Torture

8. Asphyx – Deathhamer

9. My Dying Bride – A Map Of Our Failures

10. Destruction – Spiritual Genocide

11. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Last Of A Dying Breed

12. Testament – Dark Roots Of Earth

13. Turbonegro – Sexual Harassment

14. Overkill – The Electric Age

15. Jess And The Ancient Ones – s/t

16. Woods Of Ypres – Woods V – Grey Skies And Eletric Light

17. Saint Vitus : Lillie : F-65

18. Wintersun – Time I

19. Mgla – With Hearts Toward None

20. Hour of 13 – 333

Best Live Album

Machine Head -Machine Fucking Head Live

The Bay Area groove bulldozer metallers are extremely murderous and vital on the stage. The four piece’s aggression and head blowing riff with the heavy grip have been managed to capture on this new live album.

Best EP

Down – Down IV Pt.1 – The Purple Ep

The stoner super group’s ep is pure weed oriented.

Best Book

Judas Priest – Defenders of The Faith- The true story of Judas Priest

Even though the book saw the light of day a few years ago, but re-issued with the updated info definitely brings the more updated info on this legendary heavy metal band which is going to pull the plug piece by piece.

Best TV/Movie

Desperados Stage Dive

Back in the day Sky and Super channels used to air metal shows where young metal heads discovered a lot of death and thrash bands and managed to see rare videos, live performances and interviews. After those channels vanished MTV started showing Headbangers Ball till MTV lost the touch to the reality. Instead the German music channels Viva 1 and Viva 2 used to show Metalla and Virus being the killer metal shows on TV, where we could see videos of Gamma Ray, Grave Digger etc. The German channel Tele 5 used to have “Mosh TV” hosted by Sabina Classen. When those shows vanished, there was nothing on German music channels, but we got youtube. However the new metal shows has been launched on the German music Viva+ called Desperados Stage Dive.

http://www.bunch.tv/desperadosstagedive

Best Concert

King Diamond

King Diamond Live @ Sweden Rock

The Legendary King Diamond’s return to the stage after health problems at Swedenrock was definitely the most waited gig amongst the fans. King Diamond’s gig was pure magic from the beginning to the end.

Coroner

The Swiss technical thrashers Coroner headlined the fourth day at Roadburn and offered the amazing gig by including several killer cuts from all the albums.

Crimson Glory

I would have never ever believed to witness Crimson Glory on the Finnish soil, but the Finnish Jalometalli Open Air metal festival managed to book Crimson Glory. The five piece offered a great deal of the immortal classic CG songs and the audience went totally beserk.

Doom

The crust punk in the old chapel was such an eccentric experience when the audience was diving and moshing and the British punkers unleashed a pure cacophonic hell, this blew the head off.

Best New Band

Jess And The Ancient Ones

The flourishing occult rock boom arrived at Finland and of course bands started popping up like mushrooms after the rain. However Jess And The Ancient Ones doesn’t offer any groundbreaking, but the music is etherical hypnotic and spellbounding.

Best Discovery

A lot of great great bands never seen and heard before until this year. Kobra And The Lotus, Christian Mistress, Year Of The Goat, Valient Thorr…

Major events in the Metal world

First off Geoff Tate got booted out of Queensryche and Crimson Glory vocalist Todd LaTorre was recruited to fill in. After that, a major shitstorm started between Geoff Tate and the rest of the camp of Queensryche.

The premature death of the Ministry / Rigor Mortis guitarist Mike Scaccia. He played and blasted with Ministry at Tuska and now he is gone. Of course Rigor Mortis was the true form of the Texas thrash metal.

Former Deep Purple member Jon Lord lost the battle to the cancer and several other losses in the metal world.

Predictions for 2013

Absolutely outstanding Queensryche album with Todd LaTorre.

Killer Line-up of Jalometalli 2013 can be expected.

The Ghost album will make these Swedish occult rockers massive big.

Best of 2012 – Marko

METAL TOP 15

1. Kiss: Monster

KISS – Monster

The bands 20th album MONSTER picks up where SONIC BOOM was two years ago. The album sounds identifiable KISS and includes all trademarks of which the band is famous for.Although the single tracks of the album are penned by Paul Stanley’s it’s mostly the other guys who are shining on this album. Simmons’s “Wall Of Sound”, “All In The Love For Rock’n Roll” sung by Singer and especially Tommy Thayer’s excellent “Outta This World” present this album at its best.

2. Accept: Stalingrad

Accept – Stalingrad

Accept did the comeback of the year with its brilliant BLOOD OF THE NATIONS in 2010 and STALINGRAD it really does not lose an inch for it.The bombastic title track, “Hellfire” and “Shadow Soldier” are all excellent metal songs and future Accept classics.

3. Slash: Apocalyptic Love

Slash – Apocalyptic Love

APOCALYPTIC LOVE is the second solo release by former Guns’n Roses guitar hero Slash.Unlike the previous album which included various special guests and different vocalists on each track this album was recorded by members of Slash’s touring band. It appears to have been a good solution because this album is much more complete than its predecessor and it sounds like a band album this time.

4. Testament: Dark Roots Of Earth
5. Stone Sour:House of Gold & Bones
6. Unisonic: Unisonic
7. Adler: Back From Dead
8. Europe: Back Of Bones
9. Kreator: Phantom Antichrist
10, Adrenaline Mob: Omerta
11. Dokken: Broken Bones
12. Corrosion Of Conformity:s/t
13. L.A Guns: Hollywood Forever
14. Doogie White & La Paz: Granite
15. Axel Rudi Pell: Circle Of Oath

ROCK ALBUMS TOP 5

1. The Cult: Choice Of Weapon
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd:Last Of A Dying Breed
3. Rush: Clockwork Angels¨
4. Black Country Communion:Afterglow
5. ZZ Top: La Futura

DISAPPOINTMENT ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Van Halen: A Different Kind of Truth
The new Van Halen album is the disappointment of the year. One can only wonder how a band like Van Halen can sound so uninspirng and loose. There are no single great songs on the album which actually is a collection of leftovers from the bands early albums. There’s a reason why someting wasn’t good enough to make it on the first attempt, right? Eddie Van Halen sounds great as always but he can’t save this album alone. Highly overrated album from highly overrated and band, that’s the truth.

Steve Harris: British Lion
This album is something that no one could have anticipated from Steve Harris. It’s an album full of dull and pathetic mid tempo songs with no any hooks or interesting there. It doesn’t help that the vocals are really weak and just breathless. The bass does sound great but that only can’t save this miserable release.

Manowar: Lord of Steel
It’s a fact that Manowar is always been just a joke for many and I gotta admit that after hearing this tragicomic bungle I do agree with those people. Long gone are the glory days when the band made such classic albums as HAIL TO ENGLAND or KINGS OF METAL. What we got now is a really poor sounding album full of bad songs with childish lyrics. This album is nothing but short of disgraceful publication.

Aerosmith: Music From Another Dimension
Although MUSIC FROM DIMENSION is not a bad in it’s entirely it’s still a huge disappoinment after eleven years of waiting.The songs on the album are so breathless that I can’t help of thinking that maybe the band has nothing more to say?

BEST LIVE ALBUM

Motörhead: The World Is Ours I & II
Nothing new here but straight rock’n roll with Lemmy’s style.

BEST REMAKE ALBUM

KISS: Destroyer Re-surrected
It was great that this classic album finally got a proper re-mastering from the original producer Bob Ezrin. There’s nothing revolutionary there but the sound is now much more clean and the rhythm section does sound more powerful now. I was hoping to get more extras though,there’s plenty of that stuff out there, but the only bonus included is “Sweet Pain” with original guitar solo by Ace Frehley.

BEST COVERS ALBUM

Sunstorm: Emotional Fire
Sunstrom is a project band of former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner and some members of German hard rock band Pink Cream 69. This is the third release from the band and included re-recorded versions AOR classics from bands like Michael Bolton and Cher but also some originals so it’s not actual covers only album but close enough for me.

BEST BOOK

KISS: Monster
The basic idea of this book is so crazy in itself that this must be the book of year. The few who do own the book do agree with me for sure!

Peter Criss: Makeup and Breakup
If I do remember correctly, this book has been under works since the late 80′s. Out of all those KISS related books or memoirs this one is the most interesting and also the “dirtiest” one for sure.

Ace Frehley: No Regrets
Ace’s book goes along the same paths as Criss’s but it more “clean” and not as interesting as the other one. Perhaps Ace simply doesn’t remember half of his life?

BEST DVD

AC/DC: Live at River Plate
There are other live DVD’s from AC/DC already out there but this one is just brilliant and it truly captures the magic of the band in live situation perfectly.

Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day
This needs no explanation there. The DVD sounds and looks amazing. It’s really sad that the band decided not to do more shows after putting this out.High class stuff.

Saxon: Heavy Metal Thunder -The Movie
This DVD actually came out already years ago but because of some legal problems it wasn’t available in public but just a short time through bands own website. The package includes two separate DVD’s,the other one is the actual HEAVY METAL THUNDER -movie. It’s really well combined documentary from bands entire career including ton’s of interviews and footage from past years to date. The other DVD includes a show from year 1981, a show from year 2008 and bits and pieces from everything between. Over five hours of NWOBM, doesn’t that sound interesting enough?

BEST TV

Family Jewels
It’s not too good to be honest but it’s the only reality series which I do follow sometimes still…

BEST CONCERTS

KISS: Live at HMV Forum,London, UK

I have seen numerous KISS shows but this one was really special since the band played a full show in such a intimate 700 seat venue. The show was a part of bands then ongoing promotion for the new MONSTER album and it was literally HOTTER THAN HELL!

KING DIAMOND: Live at Swedenrock festival,Solvesborg, Sweden

King Diamond Live @ Sweden Rock

This was something I wasn’t excepting to see ever again. King has gone through very difficult issues with his health but the man is now back with a vengeance. The show was amazing and King was singing better than ever..LONG LIVE KING!

TNT: The 30′TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW, Trondheim, Norway

TNT has always been one of my favorites from the melodic genre and not least because of their (former) vocalist Tony Harnell. The man now appeared as a special guest with the band forthe first time since 2006 and sounded just phenomenal. All three TNT vocalists present and the band backed up with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.Amazing event!

BEST NEW BAND

Adler
One this year most positive surprises was the new band of former Guns’n Roses drummer Adler. The album BACK FROM THE DEAD is one the best releases of the year and it’s full of modern hard rock anthems with a lot of potential to really put Adler and co on the map.
The band also performed on KISS KRUISE on last November and they totally convinced me on live situation as well. Way to go Steven!!

BEST DISCOVERY

La Paz
La Paz is an Englsih old school had rock band fronted by one time Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen and current MSG, Tank etc vocalist Doogie White. La Paz was actually the band where White was singing before heading into larger patterns but now, over twenty years later, the band decided to regroup and released its first full length album ever. The material, part of it is from the old days and some of it is brand new, does sound excatly like early Whitesnake/Rainbow and that’s something what you can rarely hear anymore on these days.

MAJOR EVENTS IN THE METAL WORLD – 2012

The death of Jon Lord, Ronnie Montrose and Mark Reale.
Horrible news after another. Every year we do some rockstars but the year 2012 was one of the worst in a long time.

PREDICTIONS FOR YEAR 2013

New Black Sabbath album
- Although I have no any exceptations it’s going to be really interesting and one of the main events of the year!

New albums from other classic bands.
- There will be new releases from Deep Purple, Helloween, Saxon, Carcass, Motörhead etc etc..

Another great run of tours and festivals
- KISS KRUISE III, Swedenrock, Sonisphere, Tuska Festival, KISS European tour etc…

New Video Launched Highlighting the CHRIS ADLER Signature VRUK DrumMaster Heel Plate

LAMB OF GOD’s CHRIS ADLER is pleased to announce his new, exclusive North American endorsement and distribution deal with VRUK Corporation, specifically in conjunction with the CHRIS ADLER Signature VRUK DrumMaster Heel Plate—a vital tool for drummers looking to increase endurance and speed that CHRIS ADLER himself will be distributing exclusively throughout North America.

The CHRIS ADLER Signature VRUK DrumMaster Heel Plate acts as an attachment to your current pedal setup providing heel support, rebound acceleration and control, the key factor of any drum technique. Today, CHRIS ADLER released a brand new video that shows what the VRUK DrumMaster Heel Plate is and how it works! Head to this location to view the video (click “watch video” link), read testimonials, grab coupon codes and more! Read the rest of this entry »

Tickets for this year’s NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL are officially on sale NOW. Set to commence with a pre-party on April 18th, the official three-day ritual will take place the weekend of April 19th, 20th and 21st at the historic Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts and mark the annual event’s 15th anniversary.

Read the rest of this entry »

      

On January 21st in Europe and January 22nd in North America, Canadian progressive metal pioneers VOIVOD will release their 13th studio album, Target Earth! To hear the album in its entirety, please head over to Loudwire.com for the album stream:  http://loudwire.com/voivod-target-earth-exclusive-album-stream/

To pre-order Target Earth, please visit iTunes for a digital copy or CM Distro for the album, plus a special bundle that includes the CD and an exclusive t-shirt.

Recorded at producer Pierre Rémillard’s Wild Studios in Quebec and mixed by Sanford Parker (PELICAN, NACHTMYSTIUM), Target Earth features artwork by drummer Away (Michel Langevin), who used color schemes from each one of the band’s previous albums to make this new masterpiece. The album brings back original bass player, Blacky (Jean Yves Thériault), marking his first recordings with the band since 1991′s Angel Rat. It’s also the first to feature guitarist Chewy (Daniel Mongrain), who cut his teeth playing guitar to the late Piggy’s (Denis D’Amour) riffs, and thus has matched his style to a tee. VOIVOD, as a full group, hadn’t sat down to write a record together since 2003′s self-titled album. The end result harkens back to the group’s late 80s output and after 30 years together as a band, one of their best yet.

VOIVOD lineup

Michel Langevin (Away) – drums
Denis Bélanger (Snake) – vocals
Jean-Yves Thériault (Blacky) – bass
Daniel Mongrain (Chewy) – guitar

VOIVOD online:

http://www.voivod.com/

http://www.facebook.com/Voivod

http://www.irongang.com
http://www.voivod.net
http://www.myspace.com/voivod
http://www.voivodfan.com

Bay Area Thrash and Rollers KILL RITUAL have lined up the following US dates in support of their debut release “The Serpentine Ritual” (Scarlet Records).

The band are also introducing new guitarist Mehl Anoma (ex-Potential, Threat SF) who takes over for the departing Roberto Proietti who has stepped down because of a demanding professional career and new family. Roberto will be missed and we all understand and support his decision. Mehl is a Bay Area Metal veteran and we look forward to our future collaborations.

KILL RITUAL is: Josh Gibson – Vocals, Steven Rice – Lead Guitar (ex Imagika), Mehl Anoma – Guitar (ex Potential, Threat SF), Wayne De Vecchi – Drums (ex Imagika, Doom Society), Danyael Williams – Bass (ex Dark Angel)

KILL RITUAL US TOUR 2013

03/1 – Gilbert, AZ – Crabby Don’s
03/2 – Albuquerque, NM – Hooligans
03/3 – El Paso, TX – Bombardiers
03/4 – Las Cruces, NM – The Green Room
03/6 – Roswell, NM – Silverdome
03/7 – Midland, TX – Fast Freddy’s
03/8 – Lawton, OK – The Railhead Saloon
03/9 – Ft Worth, TX – The Rail Club
3/10 – Austin, TX – Headhunters
3/15 – Houston, TX-TBA
3/16 – Brownwood, TX – Brownwood County Fairgrounds
3/17 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Chameleon
3/18 – Wichita, KS – Kirby’s Beer Store
3/19 – Garden City, KS – Four Winds Bar and Grill
3/20 – Denver, CO – Casselman’s
3/21 – Casper, WY-TBA
3/22 – Salt Lake City, UT-TBA
3/23 – Reno, NV – Shea’s Tavern
3/30 – Las Vegas, NV – The Cheyenne Saloon

More dates will be announced soon.

www.killritual.com
www.facebook.com/KillRitual

Source: http://www.rockngrowl.com/kill-ritual-announced-us-tour-dates

We are delighted to announce that I AM I will be playing Download Festival this summer.

The band are absolutely stoked that they will they be joining the likes of Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Stone Sour, QOTSA, Down and many others playing at the UK’s biggest rock festival this year.

This is going to be an absolutely huge weekend, so make sure you get your tickets to see them for the biggest Festival on the rock Calendar, 14-16 June 2013 at Donington Park.

Weekend and Day tickets for Download 2013 are on sale now and available from http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/tickets
Check out the RIP packages too! Download RIP ticket packages are on sale now and can be purchased via www.livenationexperience.co.uk or by phoning 0207 009 3484.
Upcoming shows:

I AM I Headline shows (supports tbc):
28th March, Stereo, Glasgow
29th March, Ironworks, Inverness

SKID ROW: UNITED WORLD REBELLION TOUR DATES

Main Support to SKID ROW, April 2013:

4th April, The Railway, Ipswich
5th April White Rabbit, Plymouth
6th April Great Hall 2, Cardiff
9th April Yardbirds, Grimsby
10th April, Fibbers, York
11th April NQ Live, Manchester
12th April Leamington Assembly
13th April, Islington Academy, London

14 – 16th June, Download Festival

‘You’re The Voice’ and debut album ‘Event Horizon’ are available worldwide via Plastichead Distribution and can be bought via all the usual outlets, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify etc

www.IAMIofficial.com
https://twitter.com/iamiofficial
https://www.facebook.com/IAMIOfficial

2009 Metallica at The O2

Lars Ulrich describes the plot: “It’s two separate worlds — a Metallica show and a story that unfolds in a parallel universe — and at some point they intertwine”

Metallica’s upcoming 3D movie now has an official title and theatrical release date: Metallica Through the Never will hit movie screens on August 9, the band revealed on their website today (January 15). The film, written and directed by Predators lensman Nimród Antal, will consist of concert footage shot during Metallica’s August 2012 performances at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena and will also feature a fictional narrative centered around actor Dane DeHaan (set to co-star in 2014′s The Amazing Spider-Man 2).

According to the official statement, ”DeHaan plays a young band crew member who is sent out on an urgent mission while the band is playing a rousing live set in front of a sold-out crowd and unexpectedly finds his world turned completely upside down.”

Through the Never will be the first flick distributed by the newly relaunched Picturehouse, the independent film marketing and distribution company that was founded in 2005 and subsequently shuttered in 2008. Picturehouse founder Bob Berney announced today that the company would reopen with him acting as CEO and his wife, Jeanne Berney, serving as president. “Nim and the band have made a film that really captures the spirit of Metallica and their millions of loyal fans,” Berney said. “It’s an entertaining genre film with a concert inside it, a fun ride featuring an exciting young actor, Dane DeHaan.”

Metallica wrote in a post on their website, “Like your friends in ‘Tallica, Picturehouse is truly independent, take big chances and often think outside of the box.” Drummer Lars Ulrich added, “Metallica’s way of doing things is to jump into unexplored creative endeavors with no safety net whatsoever.” (Sure, like online streaming.)

Ulrich continued, saying, “Putting this movie together for the last couple of years has been a pretty wild ride, and we’ve definitely done our share of flying without a net! Bringing Bob and Jeanne and the new Picturehouse team in at this point provides us with a much needed level of security for the distribution of the film. Their spirit of independence and desire to work outside the box is something we can relate to in every way, and this makes them both a welcome addition and a natural fit in the Metallica family.”

In a recent interview with Classic Rock (via Blabbermouth), the Danish drummer compared Through the Never to Led Zeppelin’s 1976 concert movie, The Song Remains the Same, which included fantasy sequences starring each member of the English rock band. “There are four members in Led Zeppelin, four members in Metallica, it’s a full-length movie, and there’s a lot in this film that does not take place onstage,” Ulrich said. “The major difference is that the stuff that takes place offstage in the Metallica movie does not feature any members of Metallica. It’s two separate worlds — a Metallica show and a story that unfolds in a parallel universe — and at some point they intertwine.” Back in September, YVRshoots.com uploaded photos of a riot scene filmed in Vancouver for Through the Never that featured, “400 extras as rioters and riot police, things on fire and riders on horses.”

This won’t be the heavy metal icons’ first foray into cinema. Aside from last year’s Quebec Magnetic concert DVD, the foursome also appeared in the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster, which focused on the fallout of longtime bassist Jason Newsted’s decision to quit Metallica in 2001 and the long-building resentment between the group’s remaining members.

Game Over Cycles (GOC), a Polish company producing custom motorcycles, is embarking on a unique project which will combine the automotive world with the world of music. On January 15th, 2013 GOC announced they would begin construction of a custom bike endorsed by the global Polish icon of metal music – Behemoth. “Behemoth Bike”, as the project is initially called, is planned by the designers to be a powerful dark machine with exceptional technical parameters and unprecedented ornamentation. Completion of construction is scheduled for May 2013. The whole process can be followed on Game Over Cycles’ Facebook profile.

Behemoth Bike

Anthems, Anthrax’s long-awaited, eight-track EP that pays tribute to the classic songs by some of Anthrax’s favorite bands from the 1970s, will be released in North America on March 19 (MRI/Megaforce), and on March 22 in Europe (Nuclear Blast).  Anthems‘s track listing features Rush’s “Anthem,” Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak,” “TNT” by AC/DC, Boston’s “Smokin’,” “Big Eyes” by Cheap Trick, Journey’s “Keep on Runnin,” as well as the album version and a special remix of Anthrax’s “Crawl” from the band’s critically-acclaimed 2011 album Worship Music.

Said the band’s vocalist Joey Belladonna, “These are all bands I grew up with and have listened to forever.  It’s just great music.  I had fun singing these songs and I was happy recording together with Anthrax, doing classic rock songs.  Fun stuff!”

On Boston’s “Smokin’,” Anthrax brought in a special guest to play keyboards - Fred Mandel, who has played with Alice Cooper, Queen, Elton John, Cheap Trick, Supertramp and on Pink Floyd’s The Wall.  About the track, drummer Charlie Benante said, “If ever there were a perfect first album, it’s Boston’s first album.  The harmony leads they did would later be heard by Iron Maiden, which of course would lead to thrash metal.”

The EP will be available on CD as well as digitally via iTunes and other online retailers.  In addition to Anthems‘ cover art (attached), Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have subtly redesigned each track’s original album cover art to “Anthrax” it.  The Anthems EP will first be housed in one of the “re-imagined” digipak covers, and then inserted inside the main CD cover sleeve.  The main cover sleeve has been designed in such a way so fans will be able to see which one of the six “re-imagined” covers is inside.

Anthems was produced by Anthrax, Jay Ruston and Rob Caggiano, and recorded for the most part throughout 2012 literally all over the world:  at Benante’s home studio, in Ruston’s New York studio, on the band’s tour bus while on last summer’s Mayhem Tour, in hotel rooms, and backstage at their Berlin show last December.

The Grammy-nominated Anthrax – Belladonna, Benate/drums, Scott Ian/guitar and Frank Bello/bass – will hit the road in support Anthems on February 16 with dates in India and Australia, and then return to North America to headline the Metal Alliance Tour that kicks off March 22.  For all of these dates, Anthrax will be joined by Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais.

FIREWIND have announced Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Adagio, Beyond Twilight, etc.) as new vocalist for their upcoming North American touring activities, after longterm vocalist Apollo Papathanasio parted ways with the band. Even though Papathanasio has been temporarily replaced for some touring activities in the past, he has appeared on all FIREWIND releases since 2006’s “Allegiance” album and the band’s upcoming live-album will feature recordings from his recent final shows with the group.

FIREWIND have checked in to comment the news as follows:
“Today we are in the unfortunate position to announce that Apollo has decided to step down permanently from the vocal duties in FIREWIND. For the past few years it was evident that Apollo could not keep up with FIREWIND’s ever growing and demanding touring & promotional schedule. Several times we’ve had to recruit replacements in order to continue touring the world and keep playing for our fans. We’re lucky enough to have worked with some of the best Metal singers out there!

Although we’re sad to announce Apollo’s departure and we sure will miss him, at the same time we feel that the show must go on! FIREWIND is a band that has gone thru lots of ups and downs the past 10 years, but is still going strong!

With that said, we’re happy to announce that Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Adagio, Beyond Twilight, Darkology) will be singing for us on the upcoming N. American tour with Turisas! This guy’s a phenomenal singer and we can’t wait to get out there and Rock! We’re looking forward to our return in America. See you all soon!”

FIREWIND wrapped up 2012 with 4 packed club-shows in their native Greece, commencing the celebration of the band’s 10th Anniversary of existence and entered studios in order to mix recordings from their “Few Against Many” live-campaign for an upcoming live-album, scheduled to be released before the summer of 2013.

Here is a list of all next FIREWIND live-dates revealed so far:

TURISAS + FIREWIND & STOLEN BABIES:
“Guards of Glory – North American Tour 2013”

02.02.2013 Jacksonville, FL – Roc Bar
03.02.2013 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
04.02.2013 Charlotte, NC – Tremont Music Hall
05.02.2013 Richmond, VA – Empire
06.02.2013 New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
07.02.2013 Worcester, MA – The Palladium
08.02.2013 Montreal, QC – Les Foufounes Électriques
09.02.2013 Toronto, ON – The Mod Club
10.02.2013 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
11.02.2013 Cleveland, OH – Peabody’s Downunder
13.02.2013 Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights
15.12.2013 Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
16.02.2013 Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue
18.02.2013 Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
19.02.2013 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
20.12.2013 Portland, OR – Branx
21.02.2013 Oakland, CA – Oakland Metro Operahouse
22.02.2013 West Hollywood, CA – Key Club
23.02.2013 Santa Ana, CA – The Constellation Room
25.02.2013 Tempe, AZ – 910 Live
28.02.2013 Dallas, TX – The Door
01.03.2013 San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit
02.03.2013 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
04.03.2013 Orlando, FL – The Social
05.03.2013 Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
06.03.2013 Tampa, FL – State Theatre

FIREWIND @ EUROPEAN FESTIVALS 2013:

14.04.2013 Mons (Belgium) – PPM Fest
http://www.ppmfest.com
27.04.2013 Dortmund (Germany) – Rock in den Ruinen
http://www.rock-in-den-ruinen.com
05.05.-12.05.2013 Full Metal Cruise (DE/UK/F/NL)
http://www.full-metal-cruise.com
05.06.-08.06.2013 Sölvesborg (Sweden) – Sweden Rock Festival
http://www.swedenrock.com
08.08 2013 Derbyshire (UK) – Bloodstock Open Air
http://www.bloodstock.uk.com
15.08.2013 Dinkelsbühl (Germany) – Summer Breeze Open Air
http://www.summer-breeze.de

Frontiers Records is proud to announce the signing of iconic Christian rockers Stryper to a multi-album deal. The first release due out will be a new re-recorded collection; SECOND COMING will hit streets on March 22nd in Europe and March 26th in North America.

The album features sixteen tracks, including new recordings of fourteen songs from the band’s early years as well as two brand new songs recorded especially for SECOND COMING, and is produced by Stryper frontman Michael Sweet.

Sweet commented, “We’re really excited about this record. The re-recorded songs are sounding awesome… better than the originals in many ways! One word to describe the record? Heavier. We’ve hooked up with some great people – we’ve got new management, a great album, a great label. We just feel like everything is coming together, and hopefully some big things are to follow.” Please see below for the complete track listing.

Stryper is one of the top Christian rock bands of all time. Comprised of the original line-up of Michael Sweet (vocals/guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Tim Gaines (bass), and Robert Sweet (drums), Stryper has been rocking since 1984, and is responsible for such ’80s metal classic albums as SOLDIERS UNDER COMMAND, TO HELL WITH THE DEVIL, IN GOD WE TRUST and such MTV hit singles/videos as “Calling on You,” “Free,” and “Honestly.”

After a sabbatical for much of the 1990′s, Stryper returned strong in the early 21st century. To date, the band has sold upwards of 8 million records worldwide and is a Dove Award-winner and Grammy nominee. Stryper is the first band to have two songs in MTV’s Top 10 simultaneously.

SECOND COMING track listing: Loud N’ Clear; Loving You; Soldiers Under Command; Makes Me Wanna Sing; First Love; The Rock That Makes Me Roll; Reach Out; Surrender; To Hell With The Devil; Calling On You; Free; The Way; Sing Along Song; More Than A Man; Bleeding From Inside Out (New song); Blackened (New song)

Weblinks: www.stryper.com / www.frontiers.it

We are glad to announce that the English version of Attention! Black Metal! has released in the first week of 2013. The 66 minutes long documentary can be watched on the official website (attentionblackmetal.hu) and the downloadable version is coming soon. All the versions are free and will not be marketed.

After a short looking out to the story of black metal the movie examines the symphonic black metal genre in a specific viewpoint, from the point of view of the postmodern. It’s an important element of this that it brings together different opinions and doesn’t want to show just “one obligate truth”, doesn’t want to show or interpret just one viewpoint.

The documentary is based on 25 interviews, mostly made with famous and internationally appreciated musicians like Sakis Tolis (ROTTING CHRIST), Mike Gaspar and Fernando Ribeiro (MOONSPELL), Michael Chirva (TVANGESTE), Byron Roberts (BAL-SAGOTH), Nigel and Dylan (HECATE ENTHRONED), Clemens Wijers (CARACH ANGREN), András Nagy (SEAR BLISS). There’s also a unique interview in the movie: with two members of the legendary BISHOP OF HEXEN whose members’ faces have never been seen since the ‘90s, the starting date of the band’s way. Now they revealed themselves exclusively in this documentary. Beside the musicians and some fans other people “from outside” tell their opinions and attitudes about the genre too, including Prof. Dr. Antal Bókay, professor at University of Pécs, Tove Skarstein, Norway Ambassador to Hungary and Attila Gyulai the author of the paper Black Metal ist Krieg.

The Hungarian version will be released at about March and the Russian version follows it. We are checking the possibilities of a Spanish version too because lots of people asked it.

Megadeth / Kyng

Countdown to Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour
Sherman Theater
Stroudsburg, PA, November 19, 2012

Megadeth Tour Poster

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Best of 2012 – Monika Deviat

My top 15 are listed in alphabetical order. We were of course supposed to come up with 20, but as I started putting together this list I realized that there weren’t really much more than these fifteen bands that stood out for me this year. I also know I missed out on a bunch of new albums, so hopefully I will get to them eventually. The list tends towards death, black and thrash. I’ve also made sure to add a couple Alberta locals that made quite an impact with their newest releases.

1. Aura Noir – Out to Die [Indie Recordings, March 2012]

Aura Noir – Out to Die

The latest offering from Norway’s blackened thrash group Aura Noir is as raw and ugly as anything they have put out. The production is quite good and just rough enough around the edges to give the expected dirty sound but allows for the instruments and vocals to mix together well.

2. Begrime Exemious – Visions of the Scourge [Dark Descent Records, April 2012]

Begrime Exemious – Visions of the Scourge

Begrime Exemious from Edmonton, Alta., is a great band to see live and their second full length album gives you a taste of what the live experience could be like. Their harsh and aggressive mix of death and black metal is unleashed in the speed and energy of the songs.

3. Cannibal Corpse – Torture [Metal Blade, March 2012]

Cannibal Corpse – Torture

The thing that is most often said about this album is along the lines of, “it is just another Cannibal Corpse album”. For this band however, it’s a good thing. The twelfth album from Cannibal Corpse gives fans exactly what they want but with just enough to differentiate it from the eleven preceding albums. It’s a solid brutal death metal album.

4. The Devil’s Blood – The Thousandfold Epicentre [Metal Blade, January  2012]

The Devil’s Blood – The Thousandfold Epicentre

The Devils Blood is one of the few bands categorized in the heavy metal genre that actually puts together first-rate occult rock styled music. In their second full length the heaviness and sense of a prevalent malevolence is skillfully melded with satanic lyrics and 70’s psychedelic influence.

5. Devin Townsend – Epicloud [HevyDevy, September 2012]

Devin Townsend – Epicloud

Epicloud contains all the variety that has been seen from Townsend’s catalogue of albums and then some. This album also leans towards the lighter side of the spectrum but does include some heavier tunes. The execution and composition is brilliant.

6. Enslaved – RIITIIR [Nuclear Blast, October 2012]

Enslaved – RIITIIR

RITTIIR is a great album from Norway’s Enslaved. The sound on this album is very well produced. Enslaved also shows their more progressive nature – straying a bit further from their black metal roots, while still showing consistency in the blackened and mythical elements.

7. Goatwhore – Blood For Master [Metal Blade, February 2012]

Goatwhore – Blood For Master

The fury and sharp riffs really stand out in Goatwhore’s latest album. The individual songs sometimes lean a little to thrash or more to black but overall this album is excellent blackened thrash.

8. Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage [Roadrunner, June 2012]

Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage

Gorija delivers their unique sound with some different twists on the newest album. The new creation by the French quartet is heavy and contains that groove that is a part of Gojira’s style.

9. Incantation – Vanquish In  Vengeance [Listenable Records, November 2012]

Incantation – Vanquish In Vengeance

John McEntee has created a killer album with a new line up for Incantation. This is the first album in six years and the ninth in their entire catalogue. The singular Incantation sound is prevalent along with a fresh ferocity. The production on the album is superb and every song is either a bludgeoning barrage of technically impressive speed or a brooding piece of evil in the slower tracks.

10. Kreator – Phantom Antichrist [Nuclear Blast, June 2012]

Kreator: Phantom Antichrist

The thirteenth studio album from the German thrashers is an outstanding collection of songs that have the essential Kreator style but with some new elements involved. As promised by frontman Mille Petrozza, the album leans toward an epic style but is still fast and fierce.

11. Marduk – Serpent Sermon [Century Media Records, June 2012]

Marduk – Serpent Sermon

Marduk’s newest album assaults listeners with malevolent growls, shredding guitars and blistering drums. Serpent Sermon shows Marduk is still working hard and can continue to deliver consistent black metal wrath.

12. Overkill –The Electric Age [Century Media Records, March 2012]

Overkill – The Electric Age

Overkill has packed some tremendous energy into their sixteenth studio album. The band has always put out quality albums and this new one definitely stands out. From the first track, the music grabs you and pulls you through a heavy thrashing worthy of Overkills reputation.

13. Secrets of the Moon – Seven Bells [Lupus Lounge, March 2012]

Secrets of the Moon – Seven Bells

Seven Bells offers seven tracks that each have incredible atmosphere. The fifth album from Secrets of the Moon shows some experimentation and leads to an innovative black metal album.

14. Testament – Dark Roots of the Earth [Nuclear Blast, July 2012]

Testament – DARK ROOTS OF EARTH

Right from the first track, Dark Roots of the Earth sets the tempo for the whole album with shredding riffs, masterful solos and thundering bass and drums. The album returns to a classic Testament sound with some melodic additions to all the heaviness.

15. Weapon – Embers and Revelations [Relapse Records, October 2012]

Weapon – Embers and Revelations

Weapon is another accomplished band from Edmonton, Alta., that has created an album where they mix death metal and black metal with engaging melodies. Frontman Vetis Monarch has always excelled at delivering malice and venom live and in studio and the darkness is apparent in Embers and Revelations. The album shows well thought out arrangements and production allowing the listener to take in the instrumentation and atmosphere.

Best Concert

The Decibel Magazine tour with Watain, The Devil’s Blood, Behemoth and In Solitude in Vancouver B.C., at the Rickshaw Theater.
Best Festival (I’m cheating and picking two)

On Land: Noctis V – Baphomiss. Scarab Productions never fails to put on an amazing festival and conference. This year headliner Venom was brought back to Canada for the first time in 27 years and it was a big draw for the fans. The reputation that the Noctis festivals have built has created a loyal local fan base and has started drawing people from across the globe. Usually held at the very end of September, it is worth the trip out to Calgary Alta.

On Sea: Barge to Hell. Being on a cruise ship packed only with metalheads and metal bands was one of the best (working) vacations I’ve ever been on. I would recommend UMC’s heavy metal cruises to everyone. It’s not just a concert, it’s an amazing experience and you will meet some of the best people – and this is not just in reference to the band members that are hanging out around the ship with you.