Metallian Heavy

Canada-based SCORN has a demo called A Comedic Tragedy.

Ottawa, Canada-based power thrash quartet LYCANTHRO will be hitting the road this month for dates across Central and Western Canada along with performing at this year’s Hyperspace Metal Festival in Vancouver. An album called Mark Of The Wolf is coming through Alone Records.

VADER will release a new album, called Solitude In Madness, through Nuclear Blast in May.

TRIAL BY COMBAT has a demo called Consumed By The Darkness in the works.

AS I LAY DYING, WHITECHAPEL and SHADOW OF INTENT will embark on the Burn To Emerge tour in May.

Season Of Mist has signed EN MINOR, featuring Philip Anselmo (PANTERA) for Europe. The band will release a debut later this year.

VENOMOUS SKELETON’s Drowning In Circles is out through Everlasting Spew Records on 17.04.2020.

Toronto, Canada-based AXMINISTER has a music video for the song The Succubus And The Crucible Of Sin, which is taken from The Crucible Of Sin demo of two years ago.

“Symphonic black metal” act WELICORUSS are will issue an album, called Siberian Heathen Horde, through El Puerto Records this month.

SUBTYPE ZERO’s Ceremonious Extinction EP is out through Seeing Red Records.

Greece-based EPHEMERAL, which claims tro be death metal but has a keyboardist, has a demo called VII. The band is working on a full-length release.

Nutrition at McDonalds? Brazil-based Viking metal band ARMORED DAWN has issued Viking Zombie (Deluxe Edition) through The Orchard. The initial edition was issued in October.

SAVAGE ANNIHILATION’s Soumises À La Procréation is out through Xenokorp this month. It is a compilation of material recorded during the sessions for the band’s second record, compilations, etc.

3000AD’s The Void is out through Metal Scrap now.

Former SACRED REICH guitarist Jason Rainey died of a heart attack on March 16th. He was booted out of the band he had found in 2019.

Ex-CHILDREN OF BODOM singer and guitarist Alexi Laiho has a new act called BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT. Former CHIDLREN OF BODOM guitarist Daniel Freyberg, bassist Mitja Toivonen (ex-SANTA CRUZ), drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (PARADISE LOST) and piano player Lauri Salomaa are also in.

On the heels of its reunion show VIO-LENCE has signed with Metal Blade. An EP is due this summer.

UK-based black metal band ARGESK shall release its debut album, Realm Of Eternal Night, through Clobber Records on April 17th.

THE END A.D. has recruited bassist Jim Weiss. The man is also in WOLVES ATTACK.

DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll is ill with suspected COVID-19 and critically hospitalized.

Founding DARK TRANQUILLITY guitarist Niklas Sundin has quit the band. He announced a cessation of touring four years ago.

FUNERAL LEECH will release its debut full-length, Death Meditation, through Carbonized Records this month.

Redefining Darkness has issued CURSE’s The Awakening..And The Old and SOVEREIGN’s Neurotic. The bands ae based in Sweden and Norway respectively.

US-based thrash metal band AFTERMATH has recorded a video for its cover version of JOHN LENNON’s Give Peace A Chance.

DISABLED’s Expanding oblivion is a release of an old recording by the France-based band which was recorded before the Faith Ablation demo of 1997.

LYNCHWOOD’s Breathe is out through One Eyed Toad Records. The band is described as crossover.

ENGUTTURALMENT CEPHALOSLAMECTOMY will release a full-length debut album, Glam Not Slam, through Gore House Productions on 24.04.2020.

Chicago, USA-based death metal veterans DISINTER has a record called Demolition Red through Pest Records in late 2020.

Australia-based crossover combo SHATTER BRAIN has signed with Wormholedeath for the release of its Pitchfork Justice album in May.

TRIAL BY COMBAT has a demo called Consumed By The Darkness. The band is based in USA.

Denver, USA-based PILE OF PRIESTS has signed with Extreme Metal Music a subsidiary of Italy’s Rockshots Records for the release of its self-titled album. It is due in May.

Peru-based TWO FACE SINNER’s Spiritual Nemesis is out through Non Serviam Records on 24.04.2020. The band features two members from ANAL VOMIT.

Canada-based BLACK PESTILENCE has a new demo, entitled Hail The Flesh arriving on May 1st. The band has a video for the single Spurn All Gods.

Canada-based OMNIARCH will release its debut self-titled demo on May 8th.


Metallian Hard

Halifax, Canada-based hard rock band has a demo called Fast As Fvck later this year.

KING DIAMOND had to undergo surgery in March and cancelled his appearance at Hell & Heaven festival in Mexico.

Singer Michael San Ciro (CANEDY) and bassist Freddy Villano (QUIET RIOT) have joined THE RODS. The band is writing music.

PINK CREAM 69 has recruited two new members, namely guitarist Marco Wriedt (replacing Uwe Reitenauer) and bassist Roman Beselt (replacing Dennis Ward).

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT will release iHeart Radio Theater N.Y.C. 2012 CD and DVD through Frontiers in May.

CONCEPTION has a demo called State Of Deception out this month. The band has a video for the single Waywardly Broken.

THE DEAD DAISIES, which now features Glenn Hughes, has signed with Spinefarm/Universal. The band is working on a new album.

Italy-based hard rock band 17 CRASH has an album called Through Hell And Back through Volcano Records. The glam band was founded in 2011.

Italy-based ANIMAE SILENTES has announced that the band has gone on hiatus until further notice.

Melodic metal band COFFEINNE has an album called Requiem through Art Gates.

Jolly Roger Records has issued MEMORY GARDEN albums Forever and Tides as licensee from Vic Records. The band’s monicker was taken from a song released by American doom band TROUBLE.

USA-based power metal band HELION PRIME has a fundraising campaign for its next studio recording Question Everything, which is the follow-up to Terror Of The Cybernetic Space Monster released through AFM in 2018.

LARS ERIC MATTSON’s Hot And Able 1983-85 is a re-recorded collection of material originally performed by the guitarist’s early band JOE COOL. It is out through Lion Music.

BON JOVI keyboardist David Bryan says that he has tested positive for COVID-19, but is feeling better now.

WHITESNAKE's tours, including shows with SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE and NIGHT RANGER, have been cancelled since singer David Coverdale has to undergo surgery for hernia.

FIREWIND has lost guitarist and keyboardist Bob Katsionis and singer Henning Basse. The new vocalist is Herbie Langhans who has played with AVANTASIA and SINBREED.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has postponed the remaining portion of its North American Crusade tour with OBITUARY and LORD DYING. This tour was already postponed once. DEVN TOWNSEND, IRON MAIDEN, SEPULTURA, MAYHEM, SICK OF IT ALL, SEBASTIAN BACH and others have done the same. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will record a new album in May.

PARADISE LOST has an album called Obsidian through Nuclear Blast this month.

Italy-based heavy metallers SKANNERS have released a new single and video called Cut My Heart. It is taken from the band's 2019 effort Temptation.

ENSLAVED will release a new album, entitled Utgard, through Nuclear Blast this autumn. It was recorded at drummer Iver Sandøy's Solslottet Studio.

GRAVE DIGGER will commemorate its 40th anniversary with the release of its twentieth studio album, Fields Of Blood. It is out through Napalm Records at the end of May.

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan has begun a show called Three Chords & The Truth on SiriusXM.

Don’t forget that CVID-19 is a “hoax” per the orange orangutan. Metallian’s sincere apologies to all monkeys for the insult.


Metallian Demos

CCD - MINDFUCKNESS
CCD stands for Compulsive Composing Disorder and stems from Robin Vagh's need and desire to keep writing songs. MindFuckNess was originally released in 2017 but re-released in 2019. The Swedish guitarist and scene veteran formerly of Vagh and Optimystical assembled like-minded people, in this case vocalist Niklas Hult and various other musicians, to record the first of this new project. The info and bio accompanying this release speak of known cliché like pounding metal, screaming guitars and also metal flavoured drums and big keyboards. The latter two are as confusing as any phrase said about heavy metal. The claimed roots are NWOBHM. Ms Bad News is an interesting title. After a brief intro a hard rock sound ala various (American) 80s hard rock bands and perhaps a small hint of Pretty Maids are the initial impression. The keyboards are ever present in the background of a clear production and the vocals stand out well. Pyramids Of Power is the second song and follows the known formula of ballad to heavier transition. Fans of 80s hard rock will not mind this. The solos do not disappoint, they also stay true to the aforementioned genre. It is may be Hult's vocals that come closest to Pretty Maids' Ronnie Atkins but the music of Since Tomorrow does go there too. The songs present more or less the same sound and a big variation other than ballad to heavier sounds is neither required nor would it be an improvement. It is perhaps acceptable that originality is near impossible to achieve so many years into the story of rock and metal. Simple hard rock it is. www.ccdisorder.se to find out more. – Anna Tergel

CCD - WINTER IN PARADISE
Compulsive Composing Disorder's second release features 12 songs again. This time the vocals are by Peter Highmountain and the other collaborators are new too with some solos by Lars Granat and basslines by Jan-Ake Jonsson. As expected, roaring drums, pounding basslines and other clichés are promised. Robin Vagh - of Vagh and Optimystical - also "experiments" with new and old sounds. Ominous. Death Angel is the opener. Guitars and keyboards dominate the early seconds. Highmountain's vocal range is higher than his predecessor, Niklas Hult. The latter supplied the vocal chords on CCD's debut. Overall there is no other marked difference from the debut. The sound and arrangement might be a bit more modern and Highmountain a bit Don Dokken like. Temple Of Mammon has a Korn-like start. It doesn't last though. Hell Is Loving You makes reference to twitter. If nothing else at least the lyrics are more modern! The song titles and theme are obviously darker. The album title and songs like Into Dystopia and Other Side of Heaven are a few examples, even without trying to listen to the lyrics. Ultimately this is hard rock. Hard rock with keyboards and often present solos may make many hard rock fans get into Winter In Paradise and the production, once again, doesn't stand in the way. Crash www.ccdisorder.se for more. – Anna Tergel