Metallian Heavy

Vancouver’s grind death band AUROCH is touring Western Canada using the Canadian Abomination Tour monicker. Dates include British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The band is also recording new material.

Pulverised Records is issuing an album called Bestial Thrashing Bulldozer by Japan`s FASTKILL. The label is also issuing ZOMBIEFICATION EP Reaper’s Consecration. The latter band hails from Mexico.

Deepsend Records has issued Age of Perversion, the second album by France’s OFFENDING.

Germany’s DEATHRONATION has issued an album called Exorchrism.

Norwegian Death Metal band CHTON will release its next album The Devil builds on CD and vinyl through German label Godeater Records. The album will be released in autumn of 2012 and the vinyl is planned for release in early winter 2013. The digital release of the album will be handled by Morningstar Music.

GRAVEHILL played at the Goregon Massacre Fest III which took place on June 22nd and Saturday June 23rd at the East End Outdoor Annex in Portland, OR. GRAVEHILL performed alongside CARDIAC ARREST, CIANIDE, PHOBIA and many more.

Swedish band CORROSIVE CARCASS has completed its debut full-length, Composition Of Flesh, which is due for a summer release on Abyss Records.

Inspired by KEEL? After initially reuniting in 2011 with its full original line-up, New York’s PRIME EVIL has a new demo called Evilution due in mid-July. Original members left since the band’s heydays and 2011 are singer Andy Eichorn and guitarist Mike Usifer. More information at www.primeevil.net.

EYEHATEGOD is touring Europe under the Europe Is The New Vietnam Tour 2012 monicker this July. The band is planning on touring the USA this autumn.

ABSU regretfully announced the cancellation of its set at Chaos In Tejas where they were being supported by TERRORISM, LOSS, MORBOSIDAD, ARES KINGDOM and BLACK WITCHERY. Immediately following a show at Maryland Deathfest ABSU drummer and vocalist Proscriptor had to rush back to Texas due to a knee infection and had to have surgery.

Bolivia’s BESTIAL HOLOCAUST has a new album called Into the Goat Vulva. The US licence is through Metalhit.com.

Spain’s GAUNTLET has a new album called Stubburn. It was recorded at New Life Studios in Madrid.

Dallas-based thrash band POWER TRIP has signed with Southern Lord.

ARTILLERY has recruited drummer Josua Madsen to replace founding member Carsten Nielsen who leaves the band after 30 years.

Steeve Hurdle of PURULENCE, NEGATIVA, and formerly of GORGUTS has died. The Canadian musician and label owner was planning a new NEGATIVA album.

Walkerton, Canada metal band ODIUM has released a new CD called Burning The Bridges To Nowhere on Year of The Sun Records. The band is touring in Canada this summer.

As Negative Black is the third album by Germany’s BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS. It is out on June 5th through Exile On Mainstream.

Deathgasm Records has released MORBID EXECUTION’s Vulgar Darkness, which is the first full-length album from this Polish band featuring members of THRONEUM.

More line-up changes in DARKEST HOUR. Bassist Paul Burnette has left the band, but will continue in IRON REAGAN. Aaron Deal, who has been playing live with the band, is the permanent replacement.

Italian death metal band HOUR OF PENANCE has announced the addition of drummer James Payne (HISS FROM THE MOAT and BROKEN HEART COLLAGE) to its line-up. The band has several European shows this summer.

Canada’s VESPERIA has teamed up with Ax Media Studios for a June 15th concert in Toronto to film a live DVD. The band is spending June playing shows in Central Canada.

Deepsend Records has issued the album Severing Humanity by California`s DEADLY REMAINS.

Inspired by KEEL? Reformed Canadian thrash metal band ENTROPY has a new CD called E3.

Edmonton’s ALL ELSE FAILS has recruited drummer Shane Tym to its line-up after the departure of Tom Wolf.

GRAVE will release a new album, Endless Procession Of Souls, on August 27th through Century Media Records. It was recorded at the band’s own Soulless studio.

MALEFICE, which was formerly on Metal Blade, has signed to Transcend Music.

MEGADETH’s show at Croatia’s Metalfest was cut short in early June after projectiles were launched at the band. A roadie for MEGADETH would tell the audience the set was cut short as singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine was hit in the head. Apparently, W.A.S.P. and DARK TRANQUILLITY had technical disputes with MEGADETH and did not play.

CRYPTOPSY, featuring bassist Olivier Pinard, will release a self-titled album later this year. Song titles include Damned Draft Dodgers, Amputated Enigma and The Golden Square Mile.

Swedish death metal band FETUS STENCH is releasing its debut full-length, Stillbirth, on June 15th through Abyss Records. The band features members of BLOOD RED THRONE, SLAUGHTEROUS and THE LAW.

DYING FETUS will tour Europe using The Womb To Waste Tour monicker in September. Support on the tour will come from JOB FOR A COWBOY, REVOCATION and CEREBRAL BORE.

KREATOR’s Phantom Antichrist has entered the German Media Control chart at position number five.

CHAOS INCEPTION’S album The Abrogation is out on Lavadome Productions.

Inspired by KEEL? SUTURE is back. After years of dormancy, the band has re-emerged. A recently re-recorded and remixed version of the 2008 release, Skeletal Vortex, is now available through Soulflesh Collector Records. With the original line-up intact, SUTURE is currently in the process of re-recording the long-out-of-print 2002 debut full-length, Carnivorous Urge To Kill, for release later this year.

DECAPITATED is looking for a new bassist. Anyone interested can contact the band at decapitatedband@gmail.com.

To coincide with AGALLOCH’s recently recorded EP Faustian Echoes the band is touring Canada and USA. TAURUS is supporting.

Canadian thrashers TITANS EVE are back with a sophomore CD Life Apocalypse out on Friday, July 13th. It is the follow up to last year’s debut release The Divine Equal. The band is opening for ANVIL at several shows.

INCANTATION has signed with Listenable Records for a record it is working on. The album will be mixed by Dan Swano.

MARDUK’s Serpent Sermon was number 44 in the US Billboard Heatseekers chart.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM has picked Ugly Noise as the title for a demo recording it is working on.

MALIGNANCY will tour Europe this month on the back of its Eugenics album. The band’s drummer, Mike Heller, is busy with FEAR FACTORY and is temporarily replaced by Alex Cohen of PYRRHON.

Stefan ‘Schleifi’ Traunig is no longer the singer of LOST DREAMS. The Austrian band is looking for a replacement and can be contacted through contact@lost-dreams.com.

Founding guitarist Dave Carlo of RAZOR was diagnosed with Stage 2 oral cancer this spring. He is currently undergoing treatment.

Rob Urbinati of SACRIFICE is one of several musicians that will appear on DEW-SCENTED’s next album, Icarus. Urbinati will appear on Gleaming Like Silver. Dan Swano is also guesting.

Gothenburg band CEREMONIAL OATH will reunite for a show at The Gothenburg Sound Festival, planned for January 5th and 6th, 2013 at Trädgår’n in Gothenburg, Sweden.

A cover version of a band covering itself? ANTHRAX was rumoured to be releasing an EP of cover versions in September to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the release of the band’s latest album, Worship Music. This was later denied by the band.

German technical death metal band SOPHICIDE will release its debut, Perdition Of The Sublime on August 14th through Willowtip Records.

Trenches Of The Netherworld is the name of the debut full-length of Sweden’s USURPRESS, which is out this summer through Selfmadegod.

Denver thrashers SILENCER will release The Great Bear demo on September 25th. The album is the group’s third full-length and its first concept record. The story deals with the space race between US and USSR of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Chaos Records and Dark Blasphemies will co-release UNCONSECRATED’s Awakening in the Cemetery Grave on July 9th with a vinyl LP version to follow later in the year. The release is a band compilation.

He is denouncing God again? Bassist Tony Choy has rejoined ATHEIST.

HOUWITSER have recruited bassist Roderick Ras of DIATRYMA. Ras’ live debut with HOUWITSER is on July 14th at the Obscene Extreme festival. HOUWITSER was also rejoined by its original singer Mike Van Mastrigt. The band has also recruited Marten van Kruijssen (DICTATED and NIBIRUS) as its new drummer.

In early September Metal Mind Productions will release two albums of thrash metal band ALASTOR from Poland. The band’s debut album, entitled Syndroms Of The Cities, from 1989 will be available for the first time in CD format, while its previously unreleased second studio album Destiny will see its official premiere.

Just two months after joining Pablo Magallanes left DEMONICAL in February. His predecessor Johan Jansson will be back.

LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe was held in Prague, Czech Republic after pushing a fan back from the stage more than two years ago. Daniel N. had jumped the stage, reportedly, for a third time. Blythe’s bail was set at $200,000.

But being Swedish he needs to be in 15 bands at the same time!! Singer Jimmie Strimell has left DEATHDESTRUCTION and will focus on DEAD BY APRIL.

DEICIDE has cancelled its European shows this summer.


Metallian Hard

THRESHOLD has announced its next album title as March Of Progress, which is out on August 31st through Nuclear Blast Records. The album features Damian Wilson on vocals.

Swedish doom metal band KONGH has signed with Agonia and will have a new album this year.

Canadian hard rock band FAMOUS UNDERGROUND, featuring ex-SLIK TOXIK singer Nick Walsh, has signed a management deal with Germany’s Rock N Growl Management.

Metal On Metal Records has signed death metal band Bosnia And Herzegovina’s AFTER OBLIVION (a first for the label and the sub-genre) and ARKHAM WITCH.

Christopher Lee, who has had major roles in films like Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Return From Witch Mountain and Dracula, has released a second heavy metal album upon reaching the age of 90. The actor-cum-singer's Charlemagne: The Omens Of Death follows his debut, Charlemagne: By The Sword And The Cross.

CLIVE NOLAN (PENDRAGON and ARENA) has returns with a new solo project. Alchemy is a musical project being developed in numerous stages and forms. The libretto and the original story are both by Clive Nolan. It is a Victorian adventure set in 1842, “with a sense of the dark and mysterious.”

STRATOVARIUS will release a live DVD filmed in Tampere, Finland on November 19th, 2011. This is one of the last shows featuring drummer Jorg Michael. STRATOVARIUS is working on a new studio album.

KATATONIA and OPETH will tour North America in October.

AMORPHIS will play an acoustic show at Sampomäki in Sammatti, Finland on July 1st. Sampomäki is the birthplace of Elias Lönnrot, the man who compiled the Finnish national prose The Kalevala, which AMORPHIS has often adopted for its lyrics.

Due to "creative differences," guitarist Peter Wichers has left SOILWORK again.

UK’s hard rock band TAINTED NATION has signed a deal with Massacre Records. The band’s debut album, F.E.A.R., will be released on December 7th.

GRAVE DIGGER will release a new album on August 24th through Napalm Records called Clash Of The Gods. A six-song mini-CD, called Home At Last, will precede it. The EP features live songs as well. Simultaneously, GRAVE DIGGER has joined marketing forces with two German natural cosmetics companies, Esthertol and Rutano.

PARADOX will release a new album, Tales Of The Weird, on December 14th through AFM Records.

The firm Ole has signed a worldwide music publishing deal with AEROSMITH singer Steven Tyler who also judges American Idol. The deal covers future material written and credited to Tyler. AEROSMITH is undertaking its The Global Warming Tour.

MASTERPLAN has recruited Czech drummer Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka of CRADLE OF FILTH to record for the band's new album.

John Harrison, founding bassist for British space rock band HAWKWIND, died in his sleep on May 26th. John had been suffering from Huntington disease since 2005. John died at Garden Crest clinic in Los Angeles, California. John would have been 70 on May 28.

Swedish Viking metal band KING OF ASGARD has a new album …To North through Metal Blade this month. It was recorded at Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden with engineer Andy La Rocque.

BLACKLIST UNION, featuring Tony West, has a new CD entitled Til Death Do Us Part.

Bulgarian metal band RAMPART has issued an album called War Behest on Inferno Records of France. The label has also reissued the band’s cassette A Tale To Cold as a MCD.

LYNCH MOB has recruited drummer Brian Tichy of WHITESNAKE for upcoming shows and an EP called Sound Mountain Sessions.

BLACK MAJESTY will release a new album, Stargazer, on July 20th through Limb Music.

ICARUS WITCH’s Rise album is out this month through Cleopatra Records.

FORTE has been forced to cancel its appearance at this year's Warriors Of Metal Fest V Open Air on June 30th. Guitarist Jeff Scott has injured his knee at work.

CANDLEMASS, which had already announced a pending retirement, has asked singer Robert Lowe to leave the band. According to a statement by CANDLEMASS, the American singer was let go because his live performance was not up to par. Singer Mats Levén of THERION and TREAT fame, who played with CANDLEMASS’ Edling in KRUX, is replacing the American for live work. CANDLEMASS will release its final album, Psalms For The Dead, on June 8th through Napalm Records.

Will they kill it this time? The original members of the Chicago-based '80s heavy metal band WITCHSLAYER are scheduled to reunite in September in Phoenix, Arizona and kick start the band once again. The band appeared on the Metal Massacre IV compilation.

Former TNT singer and current solo artist Tony Harnell rejoined his former band-mates for a 30th-anniversary concert on June 2nd at the Clarion Hotel in Trondheim, Norway. The group performed a set accompanied by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Also appearing was TNT's original singer, Dag Ingebrigtsen.

Screaming Records is issuing an ENTOMBED 7” single this month called When In Sodom Revisited. It features the title track, a version of the same by Klaus "Q" Hedegaard Nielsen and a cover of KING DIAMOND’s Welcome Home.

Rudy Sarzo has left BLUE ÖYSTER CULT. He makes more money with Animetal USA and Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp. He is also in the DIO cover band DIO DISCIPLES.

Kristen Randall formerly of ABIGAIL WILLIAMS and WINDS OF PLAGUE has joined EMBERGHOST.

California’s ENCHANT has signed a worldwide deal with InsideOut Music. The group is working on an album due in 2013.

RISING WEST is a new project featuring Eddie Jackson, Michael Wilton, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren of QUEENSRŸCHE, as well as vocalist Todd La Torre of CRIMSON GLORY. The band is performing older QUEENSRŸCHE material. QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate is recording a new solo album with InsideOut Music. However, with the differences between the camps escalating QUEENSRŸCHE dropped Geoff Tate in favour of La Torre. Tate is touring as a solo artist.

DOWN is issuing four EPs in the next several years. The first six-track EP is due this year.

Pure Steel Records has issued POWER THEORY’s An Axe to Grind. The release coincides with the Americans’ show at Warriors Of Metal Fest V.

OVERKILL drummer Ron Lipnicki, HADES guitarist Scott LePage and two musicians from '80s’ band PROWLER have formed a project called MINISTRY OF HATE. The band has a demo called All Your Godz Are Dead.

Inspired by KEEL? NONEXIST, featuring former ARCH ENEMY and current HEARSE singer Johan Liiva as well as guitarist Johan Reinholdz, has signed a deal with Pivotal Rockordings. The band's next album, entitled From My Cold Dead Hands, is currently being recorded at Multipass Studio and will be out this year.

AMERICAN DOG’s Poison Smile will be released on June 6th through Colonial Canine in USA and Bad Reputation in Europe.

Joke of the month section: Violin player Janne Liljekvist has left Swedish Viking metal act MÅNEGARM "due to lack of motivation."

Southern Lord Recordings has announced the reissue of The Art Of Self Defense, the first recording from HIGH ON FIRE, on July 31st.

Vancouver’s MY OWN CHAOS has announced dates for a Chaos Across Canada Tour , which will see them venture across the Canadian provinces kicking off in Vancouver on June 26th and going east to return west on July 28th for a tour wrap-up show in Innisfail.

DEF LEPPARD played a seven-song YouTube Presents rare club show on June 6th at the House Of Blues in Los Angeles. The show was followed by a question-and-answer session with fans and attendees. The band is on tour this summer with POISON and LITA FORD. The band is rerecording its classic songs to be digitally rereleased after failing to agree with its former record company. The band has already recorded Rock Of Ages and Pour Some Sugar On Me.

Oakland, California`s HIGH ON FIRE has announced that it is forced to miss participation in Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival as singer and guitarist Matt Pike is entering treatment for alcohol rehabilitation.

White metal action? LEE AARON will release a video of her performance at the 2011 Sweden Rock Festival, which was held June 8-11, 2011 in Sölvesborg. It is called Live In Sweden.

‘80s KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent has been ordered to divert his royalty payments to KISS bassist Gene Simmons to cover lawyer fees Simmons incurred while defending himself in a legal dispute with the former guitarist. Vincent (Vincent Cusano) had also written subsequent material for KISS.

Australia’s LORD will release a new album, Digital Lies, in the autumn through Dominus Records.

Warriors of Metal, Inc. has announced that ANCIENT CREATION has had to cancel its appearance at Warriors Of Metal Fest V Open Air. According to the vocalist, Steve Bentley, complications arising from the pregnancy of lead guitarist, Peter Nisenkier's wife who needs to be induced on June 29th, has forced the band to cancel. Replacing Ancient Creation will be the melodic Heavy Metal band, Brazen Angel from Atlanta, Georgia.

The America Rocks tour with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, FASTER PUSSYCAT, BULLETBOYS, LILLIAN AXE and PRETTY BOY FLOYD is touring the USA.

Guitarist Brent Doerner has left HELIX. He will play with the band in Toronto on September 28th and on September 29th in Stratford.

If A Corporation Is A Person Can We Put Them In Jail?


Metallian Demos

MECHANIK WAR III – Same
This US-based band’s demo CD insists on a black metal – actually commercial symphonic stuff – inclination, but the sound is industrial rock and metal. The band has an obvious Ministry influence, but also sounds as if the group is trying to do the same things that Canada’s Malhavoc was attempting all those years ago.
There is some variety here and there are both harsher songs and more melodic times. The voice is gruff, but not mind-blowing. The drums sounds real when one is certain there is a drum machine at play. God Forsaken, for instance, begins with a King Diamond-ish Bach-esque melody. Apokalypse X-69 (hmmm… Psalm 69!), contrary to its name, has a very commercial and danceable rhythm embedded in it. This should probably be the band’s direction should it want the fame and cash. It is quite catchy and could be easily mainstreamed. The reference is to the electronic effects. The disc closer The Preacher is pure Ministry from 1992. The disc is real, with real musicians and a real production. Here it is: mechanikwar@yahoo.com – Anna Tergel