Canadian progressive metal band BOREALIS will have its label debut Fall From Grace released on Lion Music on 20th May 2011.

FALCONER will release its seventh album, Armod, in Europe on June 3rd through Metal Blade Records.

LILLIAN AXE has a new singer. Brian Jones is formerly of FULL MOON CIRCUS.

AEROSMITH guitarist Brad Whitford will appear in an upcoming episode of A&E's Storage Wars series. Whitford will appraise guitars. AEROSMITH will release Tough Love: Best Of The Ballads on May 10th through Geffen Records to cash in on singer Steven Tyler’s American Idol gig.

Due on June 14th through SPV/Steamhammer, Live In Hellvetia, is FREEDOM CALL’s live DVD and features a set shot in Switzerland in late 2010.

Frontiers Records has announced April 15th as the release date for the new self-titled album of KING KOBRA. The band only retains drummer Carmine Appice from the original days. Monsters And Heroes is a new song from the band whose proceeds will be donated to Ronnie James Dio's Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund.

FIREWIND will tour Europe in September. Support will come from WOLF.

SATAN'S HOST will release its ninth studio album, entitled By The Hands Of The Devil, on May 3rd through Moribund Cult Records. The album was recorded at Flatline Audio with producer Dave Otero.

LAKE Of TEARS will release a new album, Illwill, on April 29th through AFM Records.

Juggernaut Of Justice is the title of ANVIL's new album, due on May 10th through The End Records. The album was recorded at Dave Grohl's (NIRVANA and FOO FIGHTERS) Studio 606 in Northridge, California with producer Bob Marlette.

HAMMERFALL will release its eighth studio album, entitled Infected on May 20th in Europe and on June 7th in North America. After laying down the foundation themselves in its own studio in Sweden, the band traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to put on the finishing touches on the album with producer James Michael (MÖTLEY CRÜE, SCORPIONS and MEAT LOAF) who also mixed the album.

Inspired by KEEL? Frontiers Records will release a new album by BLACK 'N BLUE called Hell Yeah! on May 13th. The band is Jaime St. James – vocals, Jef "Woop" Warner and Shawn Sonnenschein – guitar, Patrick Young – bass and Pete Holmes – drums.

Inspired by KEEL? CORONER has reformed. The Swiss act will play its comeback show at the Impetus festival on April 23rd at Les Docks in Lausanne, Switzerland. The band will also play at Maryland Deathfest IX in May 26 in Baltimore.

Set for release in the US and Canada on May 31st through Armoury Records/Eagle Rock Entertainment, Skeletons & Majesties is a collection of songs GAMMA RAY gathered from previous albums represented in two completely different styles. There is a karaoke style song, a rare track called Wannabees from the To The Metal 7” and several rarities.

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA is a new rock band featuring Björn Strid (SOILWORK) and Sharlee D' Angelo (ARCH ENEMY, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS, etc.). The band is currently unsigned, but is looking into recording a debut album this summer.

SATURNUS has left Firebox Records and looking for a new home.

KISS’ proposed April tour of Japan was cancelled in early March (prior to the Japanese disaster). The band is working on a new album.

In And Out Of Loooove! Singer Matt Barlow has once again left ICED EARTH citing the need to be with his family more as a reason. He will tour with the band for the rest of the year. He returned to the band in 2007.

This May U.K.'s ANATHEMA will tour North America as special guests to BLACKFIELD on the East Coast/Canadian leg of the tour.

Denmark's ANUBIS GATE has signed a deal with Nightmare Records. The band has lost singer Jacob Hansen and replaced him with Henrik Fevre. Hansen was busy with his production work. The new singer had worked with the band before.

Cruz Del Sur Music confirmed May 3rd as the official release date for the sophomore album from Pennsylvania-based ARGUS! Entitled Boldly Stride The Doomed, this is the first release from ARGUS through Cruz Del Sur.

LEAGUE OF LIGHTS has announced details of its debut album. Comprised of vocalist Farrah West and her husband keyboard player/producer Richard West (THRESHOLD), the forthcoming album LEAGUE OF LIGHTS also features guitarist Ruud Jolie (WITHIN TEMPTATION), drummer Mark Zonder (FATES WARNING) and bassist Jerry Meehan (Robbie Williams). The LEAGUE OF LIGHTS album is out on 11th of April 2011.

HEDDA is recording a full-length, which is due out this summer. A new song is already posted at http://www.myspace.com/heddatheband.

KAMELOT is supporting its Poetry For The Poisoned album through a North America tour this summer. Dubbed Pandemonium Over North America 2011 the tour kicks off in August and features ALESTORM, BLACKGUARD and THE AGONIST.

DECEASED will be heading back into the studio this year to record Surreal Overdose, the band’s first full-length of all-new material since 2005's As The Weird Travel On. The new record will be recorded at Assembly Line Studio in Virginia with Kevin Gutierrez engineering and King Fowley producing. The CD will be handled in the states by the band's own label, Shrieks From The Hearse Records, alongside PATAC Records. Hell's Headbangers will handle the vinyl edition.

DEFENDER is a newly formed Los Angeles-based heavy metal band featuring founding CELLADOR members Mikey Gremio (vocals) and Bill Hudson (guitar) alongside ZODIAC MINDWARP drummer Bruno Agra. The band has a song called Out Of Time.

SOILWORK, which was originally scheduled to head out this April and May supporting SYMPHONY X, has been forced to cancel its participation in the planned upcoming North American tour. Guitarist Peter Wichers has a herniated disc.

Century Media Records is proud to announce the signing of IN FLAMES. The Swedish mallcore band will next record its tenth album.

IN THIS MOMENT has plans for its first headlining tour of 2011. Dubbed Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock: Hell Hath No Fury tour IN THIS MOMENT will be supported by STRAIGHT LINE STITCH, SYSTEM DIVIDE and SISTER SIN.

Cherry Lane Music has issued a book called Order Of The Black of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY featuring transcriptions of all 13 songs from the band's Searing 2010 CD.

Proud Irish band CRUACHAN’s singer Keith Fay was recently beaten up and stabbed in downtown Dublin upon leaving a nightclub. He reports that a gang of approximately 20 men were taunting the singer’s sister following which they attacked the singer and his entourage when confronted.

KILL DEVIL HILL is a new band featuring Dewey Bragg on vocals, drummer Vinny Appice, Rex Brown (ARMS OF THE SUN, DOWN and PANTERA) on bass and Mark Zavon (RATT, W.A.S.P. and 40 CYCLE HUM).

Reminiscing about the experience of listening and enjoying music John Bon Jovi told Sunday Times Magazine that, “'What happened?' Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business." The singer for BON JOVI was blaming Apple CEO Steve Jobs and that company’s iTunes.

HANKER has thrown in the towel.

SOLSIKK, a new U.K. "groove metal" band featuring ex-BIOMECHANICAL members Chris Webb (guitar) and Matt C. (drums), will release a self-titled debut album on May 2nd through Femme Metal Records.

QUEENSRŸCHE has picked Dedicated To Chaos as the title for its twelfth studio album, which is due in August through Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records.

IRON MAIDEN fans caused a barricade to fall during the band's concert on March 27th at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, forcing the group to cancel the appearance. The incident happened during the first song of the band's show, Satellite 15 ... The Final Frontier.

Ted Nugent is a joke. A Bad one.

TITANS EVE – THE DIVINE EQUAL
Gotta love bands like this that come from left field and surprise one with their sound, attitude and imagery. Titans Eve hails from Vancouver, hardly a global metal hotspot, and performs traditional and true heavy metal without any of the superfluous gimmickry that has become a hallmark of metal betrayal and ineptitude. The quartet’s sound is heavy and anthemic and blatantly related to the true sounds of Priest, Maiden and Arch Enemy.
Were the sound of the band not so delightfully heavy metal, the four’s imagery, CD’s artwork, monicker and album and song titles would give it all away. This is metal done the metal way. Sorry, dimwit burger and Nightwash(edup).
Aside from a short intro and an interlude called Dusk, the band’s songs are catchy and, as said, anthemic metal numbers with titles like Becoming The Demon, Judgement (which the biography calls Judgement Day) and my favourite Nightfall. The best analogy here is early Arch Enemy with Johan Liiva on vocals. Indeed, aside from a couple of Iron Maiden-esque harmonies like the one on Judgement these boys are an extension of the early Arch Enemy albums minus the guitar solos. Brian Gamblin could be Liiva for all anyone knows and the name and photo be a ruse. Speaking of the guitars by the way, the band needs more solos fast because they are lacking and those, which exist, are of sufficiently high calibre to justify more of them. The lyrics, however, are best described as minimalist. Strange, given how they are based on the Book Of Genesis and Paradise Lost.
Titans Eve is fun, heavy and surprisingly adept at its craft. More of the same please. The band is at titanseve.bandcamp.com or can be reached through ashermedia@gmail.com. - Ali “The Metallian”

CRYPTIC REALITY – WHEN THE TOWERS DECAY
This kind of metal is normally not my cup of tea preferring to stick with metal with more glam and pizzazz, men with long hair and a stage show, none of which is Cryptic Reality, but here it comes a girl can review material like this and still be valid.
Cryptic Reality gave this girl little hope the way it all started with the biography. The band comes from Kentucky (that states does not give mankind much hope), apparently resides where they make Corvettes (really ugly cars especially compared to Ferraris or Porsches) and speaks of thrash, power and progressive, which make it sound like the band cannot stand for anything.
All of that is kinda moot actually because Cryptic Reality might look like a modern rock (argh, mouth wash) act, but these boys deliver in the metal department and there is no sign of progressive music from start to finish. It is power and thrash metal top to bottom on When The Towers Decay. The quintet begins slowly with an intro, yet soon it is into some cool and controlled US metal that mixes old style true power metal with heavy machine-gunning metal. Bands like Meliah Rage are known for this style except Cryptic Reality goes at it with a lot more style and power. This is some good stuff complete with interludes of slowness on songs like Beyond The Waters and Prophets Never Die, but also much better powerful jabs like Mirror On The Wall and When The Towers Decay. The track Mirror On The Wall is the band’s best and has a really tempting build-up to start. Vocalist Jon Garcia will never be considered a great vocalist, but no one would ever accuse of a certain Dave Mustaine of being able to sing and look how far that guy has gotten. In contrast, the guitarists are creative and heavy and bassist Evan Crowe adds a loud and heavy dimension to this band with his distorted presence. A girl can get behind that. Just grow some metal hair. The boys can be found at www.reverbnation.com/crypticreality or by e-mail at cryptic.realityband@gmail.com. - Sheila Wes Det

ANA KEFR – THE BURIAL TREE (II)
It was a given that these Americans would prove to be weak and pitiable even before one hears a single note from the music. The Burial Tree (II) sports a melancholy cover artwork of a lone man and a tree and points at the artwork of acts like Opeth or Porcupine Tree. It wasn’t that, or the typography, that hinted at the dismal nature of this band, but the biography loaded with praise from the likes of Blistering.com, Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and Metal Hamster. It will come as no surprise to Metallian readers that the fifth column is still in full force lavishing praise at any band that deviates from metal and ignoring or denigrating groups that maintain genuineness. Funny, the guys from The Gathering are bagging groceries at their local supermarket.
So it was barely surprising that back-to-back replays of this full-length CD revealed a band mixing growls with clean vocals with shrieks, female vocals with whispers, 'synth' with classical pieces and a million tempos and speeds in a bid to not be true to anything and committed to nothing. For good measure, let’s not forget the djembe, saxophone and clarinet. And the Middle Eastern melodies are not far behind. At this point, those traitors to the metal cause, haters of real heaviness and weaklings scared of speed and power are drooling so fast that an 11 out of 10 mark is not out of the question!
Metal fans, however, are laughing at the futility of it all. Years of attack on metal by the commercial media and the talking-head class of so-called reviewers and know-it-betters have not diminished heavy metal. Indeed, Cruachans and Stormlords of the world are dead and dying, while real metal bands march forward.
Ana Kefr, in the meantime, has a great production and sound, interesting artwork and a guitarist who can play and play well. Even the band’s dexterity is impressive. Yet, the issue remains, what it all have to do with heavy metal? Why would the supposed metal press heap praise upon a group that features “rattlesnake rattle”? Do rap magazines praise rap bands with aria or jazz monthlies place ensembles, which mix in arena rock on their covers? Why is it that ‘metal’ is the sole genre that requires praise and compliments when it dilutes itself?
And since the band, very artistically, prefers “weaving together a rich, multi-cultural and organic tapestry out of varied genres and sounds,” over delivering good, strong music then let me offer a quotation from the world of art here: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” - William Shakespeare, Macbeth.
For information e-mail sundiscpr@gmail.com or contact Sara Heitman c/o Sundisc PR, 26132 Hemet Street, Hemet, California 92544 USA. – Ali “The Metallian”