Candlelight Records has announced June 16th as the release date for A Dracula, the second full-length album from Las Vegas-based doom metal band DEMON LUNG.

Metal Scrap records has issued SUNLIGHT’s My Own Truth album. It is the group’s debut.

Laser's Edge division, Sensory Records, will issue KINGCROW's sixth full-length studio album Eidos this June.

Axl Rose of GUNS N’ ROSES, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and NAPALM DEATH singer Mark "Barney" Greenway had written separate letters to the Indonesian president Joko Widodo to appeal for the lives of convicted drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran who were identified as the leaders of the so-called Bali Nine group, who were arrested at Denpasar airport in April of 2005 and convicted of drug charges. An appeal was also made for the life of fellow drug smuggler Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso. Chan and Sukumaran were executed.

OPETH has announced two special U.S.A. shows to commemorate the band’s 25th anniversary. The shows, called An Evening With Opeth will take place on October 22nd at New York's Beacon Theater and October 24th at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theatre.

RED DRAGON CARTEL has recruited singer Chas West of LYNCH MOB for its current set of concerts.

SUPREMACY is a new project featuring singers Claus Lessmann (BONFIRE) and Michael Voss (CASANOVA, MAD MAX, etc.), guitarist Robby Boebel (FRONTLINE), bassist Francis Buchholz (SCORPIONS, MICHAEL SCHENKER'S TEMPLE OF ROCK) and drummer Axel Kruse of JADED HEART. The act is working on material for its debut album, which is due in late 2015 through Frontiers.

White metal act METAL CHURCH has been rejoined by singer Mike Howe. He sang for the band from 1988 to 1994.

After a break due to guitarist Jon Schaffer's second cervical fusion surgery ICED EARTH is writing for its twelfth studio album. Brent Smedley has rejoined on drums.

STRATOVARIUS has completed a new album, called Eternal, for an August 14th release through earMUSIC. The band will play at the Wacken Open Air festival and will also tour Europe.

Inspired by KEEL? BRITNY FOX, featuring vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tommy Paris, bassist Billy Childs and drummer Johnny Dee, and new lead guitarist Chris Sanders, have reformed. The band is currently writing material for a new album and is planning shows.

The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund, the charity founded in memory of the dead singer by his ex-wife, was one of the chosen charities at the Monsters Of Rock Caribbean cruise on the MSC Divina last month. The charity was also mentioned by Jack Black on US TV talk show Ellen. Black mentioned the charity in connection to his band, TENACIOUS D, winning a Grammy for a song written for the charity.

BROKEN RAIN from Slovakia has released a demo called Here Comes The Pain. The band’s website is at http://broken-rain.webnode.sk.

British hard rock band TEN has announced that the release of its twelfth studio album is scheduled for May 20th 2015 through Rocktopia Records. The new album is entitled Isla de Muerta.

Joe Lynn Turner, who fronted RAINBOW on the Difficult To Cure album, has told an interviewer that a reunion with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore will occur this year. Turner claims shows are being planned for this autumn. Subsequently he rated the chances for a band reformation as “probable.”

SYMPHONY X bassist Mike LePond has rejoined his former band HEATHEN'S RAGE for three reunion shows. Also in the band are Rob Warner (guitar) and Chris Teresyn (drums). Singer for the shows was HADES’ Alan Tecchio.

The mayor of Winnipeg, Canada Brian Bowman paid tribute to ‘80s band DEF LEPPARD by quoting several of the band's song titles at the opening remarks of a city council meeting on April 29th. Despite being a fan the mayor did not hold tickets to the concert.

The infamous “final shows”: TWISTED SISTER is planning a final tour, called Forty and F**k It, in 2016. As well, to honour the memory of TWISTED SISTER's dead drummer A.J. Pero the band will play two shows in the USA this spring. Former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy is in the band.

The infamous “final shows”: Accountable Beasts, BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward's first solo album in eighteen years, has been released through iTunes. The songs features Ward's own drumming on seven of the album's nine cuts, as well as contributions from Keith Lynch (guitar and keyboards), Paul Ill (bass) and Ronnie Ciago (drums). In the meantime, Ozzy Osbourne has claimed that 2016 will bring the final BLACK SABBATH shows ever.

Frontiers Music will release a HOUSE OF LORDS album, entitled Indestructible, on June 3rd.

ARCTURUS will release its first new album in a decade, called Arcturian, on May 8th through Prophecy Productions. ARCTURUS will make a USA appearance on May 23rd at the 2015 Maryland Deathfest.

ACCEPT have announced the addition of guitarist Uwe Lulis (GRAVE DIGGER) and drummer Christopher Williams to the group's ranks. They replaced guitarist Herman Frank and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann who left in December due to limited participation room and to focus on their own band, PANZER.

AEROSMITH has a 15-city USA tour lined up for June dubbed Blue Army.

Monsterman is a Finnish documentary by director Antti Haase, which narrates the story of LORDI and winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. The film will receive its international premiere on Saturday, May 9th at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver, Canada.

After splitting again from TNT singer Tony Harnell has joined SKID ROW replacing Johnny Solinger. The band has rerecorded early song 18 And Life. The singer switches were announced on the same day. At the same time, former SKID ROW drummer Rob Affuso has joined FOUR BY FATE, the band featuring former FREHLEY’S COMET guitarist Tod Howarth.

INTO ANOTHER has released a new five-song EP called Omens.

HIGH ON FIRE will release a new album, called Luminiferous, on June 23rd through eOne Music. It was produced by Kurt Ballou and is the follow-up to 2012’s De Vermis Mysteriis.

US heavy metal band DARKOLOGY will issue a new demo called Fated To Burn through its imprint called Prime Eon Media in June. The Dallas-based band features former CHASTAIN guitarist Michael Harris.

Oakland, California-based doom band and recent Metal Blade signees, SECRETS OF THE SKY, will support UK duo and label-mates ANAAL NATHRAKH on its North American tour this month.

Philadelphia-based stoner/doom band WIZARD EYE has announced a partnership with fledgling Philadelphia-area label, Black Monk Records, for the release of its upcoming self-titled album.

Horror punk metal band RAGING DEAD released its debut demo Born In Rage on April 24th with Atomic Stuff taking care of promotion. The very same day the band presented the music at Midian in Cremona, Italy. Born In Rage was recorded, mixed and mastered at Atomic Stuff Studio by Oscar Burato.

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has entered a guilty plea to charge of methamphetamine and cannabis possession in a New Zealand court as of Tuesday April 21st. He also pled guilty to one charge of threatening to kill. A second identical charge was dropped.

Former STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos has left SOULFLY and decamped to FEAR FACTORY. Campos was also touring with MINISTRY.

PSYCHOTHERMIA – FALL TO THE RISING SUN
Psychothermia is a surprise. In a world where either predictability comes with the territory or, worse, any deviation veers towards defilement and weakness there comes this independent full-length, which does what one, does not expect.
For one - and this might well be I - despite the artwork, colours and monicker this is neither a thrash nor a death metal band. Think hard rock meets modern rock instead. The latter style is hardly attractive in Metallian circles. Still, one cannot be blind to the stylistic achievement in the act's music. Whether hard or rock, Psychothermia delivers fine arrangements, harmonies and production. Every track is delivered in a professional manner corresponding to what an established act would muster or often better. The vocals are even better. The Johan Maldonado is aggressive when desired and melodious where needed. Amazingly, it works no matter if it is this, that or in-between. The singing really is in control and commanding. Unfortunately, the man starts rapping somewhere on the song Angels.
It is good to hear this disc. Here is a band that is serious and puts heart and effort into presenting a strong series of songs from start to finish. These bands evidently still exist. Having said that, the band is neither wise nor humane given the biography’s mention of its support for the US armed forces. It is one of the biggest con jobs in history that Americans think feeding the war machine and enriching military lobbyists and manufacturers is such a glorious thing. Hospitals, school, civilians and peace be damned. US Armed Forces this that so on and so forth. Unfortunately, deprogramming years of corporate media and flag waving is improbable. Go to www.psychothermia.com or e-mailmike@psychothermia.com. - Ali "The Metallian"

SKYCONQUEROR - UNDER THE PENTAGRAM
Cool your jets there, black metal fanatics. Skyconqueror is not black metal. The Germans are a heavy metal band with no apparent Satanic sympathies. In fact, it is good to see hard rock and heavy metal reclaim the pentagram for its devices.
The demo has its highlights, which normally revolve around the guitarist trying something different, but mostly is middling and limited. Singer Niko is partly to blame for this. His voice is flat and his experimentations are better left undone. While at times his voice is indistinct, at other times one hears a nod to Hansi of Blind Guardian. Musically, the band is firmly in the classy straightforward traditional heavy metal camp. The music is a mixture of Demon, Sortilege, Saxon, Iron Maiden circa 1987 (especially the bass lines on Through Different Lines) and Excess. The Sanctuary Of ’83 is an interestig title and begins with a chord and sound reminiscent of UDO and Accept. The drumming specially is non-eventful and reminiscent of the old Excess rhythm in the back. Skyconqueror really needs to speed up. The upbeat segments are more interesting than the plodding songs or segments, which as mentioned earlier plod. Here is the band's website: http://www.skyconqueror.de/. - Ali "The Metallian"

SUPERFIX – Same
There are not many people who read Metallian and appreciate the kind of music that Superfix patches up. Despite starting quietly and deceptively and soon exploding the group is eight parts modern rock and two parts mallcore. The hard parts are aggressive and are sharp, but at its ‘core,’ this thing is commercial and predictable. The vocal melodies and alternation between aggressive and melodic give it all away.
Either way, the sound is razor-sharp with the lead guitars and drums, in particular, sounding great. Invasion is a good mix between melodic and violent and one of the better songs. Soul Survivor, in contrast, goes nowhere. It is still better than the Gorefest song! The group has a Korn connection, but frankly is much better than Korn. Naturally, not being a loser trendy pre-teen I would think so though, wouldn’t I? If there is a metal song on this round thing, it might be closing track The Rider. It is a bona fide good song with some crazy drumming. The sharp rhythm guitar is not far behind. The ‘wah wah’ leads are reminiscent of Fireball Ministry’s Sun Down. To check out the CD visit the band’s website atwww.superfixband.com or write to contact@supefixband.com. - Anna Tergel