ELECTRIC WIZARD will release its next full-length album, Time To Die, this autumn through Spinefarm Records.

Paul Allender has left CRADLE OF FILTH. He lives in the USA.

San Francisco's BLACK COBRA was denied entry into Canada last month and had to, consequently, cancel its northern leg of the North American tour.

Dutch power metal band LORD VOLTURE will issue its third studio album Will To Power worldwide this September through Mausoleum Records.

Canada’s OBLIVEON reunited for a show on June 21st at Amnesia Rockfest in Montebello.

Standard farewell marketing ploy: JUDAS PRIEST will tour the U.S.A. this autumn with STEEL PANTHER as support.

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell will receive a stem-cell transplant this September after doctors discovered his Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis has returned.

KING DIAMOND will tour North America this autumn. The tour will end at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas. Two Canadian shows are scheduled for October. A new album is in the works for 2015.

BELIEVER bassist Jeff King has announced he has had a “very aggressive case of ulcerative colitis,” an autoimmune disease that attacks the large intestines. The band still is in recording mode.

MOTORFINGERS will take part in Masters Of Rock in Vizovice, the biggest open-air festival in Czech Republic. The Italian band will perform on July 12th.

KIX will release an album called Rock Your Face Off on August 5th through Loud & Proud Records.

In an interview with Los Angeles Times, CYNIC members Paul Masvidal (guitar and vocals) and Sean Reinert (drums) have come out of the closet.

EVERGREY will release a new album, Hymns For The Broken, on September 26th through AFM Records. The album was mixed at Hansen Studio in Ribe, Denmark by Jacob Hansen.

GOTTHARD has released its album, BANG!, in North America through The End Records. This version features three bonus tracks.

On November 9th the Dutch band THE GATHERING will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a special show at the Doornroosj in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. All past and present member of THE GATHERING will appear on stage and perform in this special show.

Swedish hard rock band BULLET will release a new album, Storm Of Blades, on September 5th through Nuclear Blast.

Jonny Morelli, the founding drummer for Italian pagan band DRAUGR, was killed in a road accident in his hometown Pescara on June 11. He was 30 years old.

The new rerelease “Deluxe” editions of LED ZEPPELIN's first three albums, namely Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III, each have sold more than 30,000 copies in the United States in the first week of release. They have all landed in the top ten of the charts.

GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose has a cameo in a new Budweiser Beer World Cup commercial.

Quebec City, Canada-based power metal band, SUDDENFLAMES has released their sophomore studio album Under The Sign Of The Alliance on June 6th through Canadian label Maple Metal Records. The record was produced by Patrice Dalpé and SUDDENFLAMES at SF Studio in Quebec City and was mastered by Pierre Rémillard (ANVIL, KATAKLYSM, VOIVOD, etc.) at Wild Studio, north of Montreal.

US doom trio, IDES OF GEMINI, is preparing to unveil its sophomore offering, Old World New Wave, through Neurot Recordings this autumn.

YOB will release Clearing The Path To Ascend on September 2nd through Neurot Recordings.

Hard rockers HIGHWAY DREAM has signed a deal with Street Symphonies Records for the release of its debut album Wonderful Race, which was recorded by Oscar Burato at Atomic Stuff Studio.

U.K. doom band MY DYING BRIDE has parted ways with guitarist Hamish Glencross due to "irreconcilable differences" and has been rejoined by Calvin Robertshaw. The band is playing shows in Europe.

ICED EARTH has canceled this summer’s festivals and headline concerts as guitarist Jon Schaffer needs to undergo a neck surgery again. He had one surgery in 2000 as a result of a mid-concert injury from 1996.

KISS's new compilation, called Kiss 40, sold 7,200 copies in the United States Of America in its first week of release to debut at position 30 on The Billboard 200 chart. 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of KISS.

ASTRAL DOORS will release its next album, Notes From The Shadows, on August 29th through Metalville. The follow-up to 2011's Jerusalem was mixed and mastered at the Black Lounge Studio in Grangärde by Jonas Kjellgren.

W.A.S.P. has completed a new studio album, entitled Golgotha, due for an early 2015 release. Golgotha is Hebrew for ‘the place of the skull,’ and is the hill where Jesus Christ was supposedly crucified. Band leader Lawless, who had broken his leg last year and thus delayed the record, is a born-again Christian.

Portland's AGALLOCH has embarked upon a North American summer excursion. The Serpens In Cvlmination tour commenced on June 18th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band is joined by OBSIDIAN TONGUE, VEX, JEX THOTH and THRONES on select dates.

The BLACK RAIN's second album, Water Shape, will be released on June 24th through Atomic Stuff Records.

Perhaps one day a metal band can also play at UK’s Glastonbury Festival.

EXPAIN – JUST THE TIP
What Vancouver’s Expain delivers on this debut demo CD is such a surprise. The cheap and silly cover and imagery yields no clue to what will come out of the speakers. It looks like a joke, but it sounds like technical thrash metal like Pestilence’s Testimony Of The Ancients.
The CD’s intro is called Bacchus and is built around the same ideas as the start of Rush’s 2112 with synth and guitar strumming. Then the technical thrashing begins and next to Pestilence it is not far from an old release from Cynic or Anacrusis. An effective sound and aggressive vocals, make up for the times when the group slows to jazz it down, but with a frantic drummer especially skilled and tasteful guitar leads are tasteful like the song The King it is anything, but a waste of time to get this full-length. The bio insults the band by comparing it to Megadeth and Metallica so visit their site https://www.facebook.com/Expainmetal or e-mail the publicist at ashermedia@gmail.com and ask why. – Anna Tergel

GRIMLORD – V-COLUMN
Grimlord is a difficult band to classify, review and report on. There are several styles and elements mixed into the act and the CD at hand, the decidedly ‘green’ V-Column.
The group is best described as a mix of Running Wild and Sodom. It could be fast or mid-paced. It could be impressive as with the song Mass Delusions & Hysterias. On other songs, things go awry and synthesizers, dubs and female vocals add to weak vocals and rhythms to tarnish the sound. As ominously, the band has opted for a drum machine in lieu of a drummer, which as always is mechanical and unfeeling. It might be my CD, but a couple of tracks like King of Death are interrupted either due to a defective disc manufacturing or damage thereafter. Ignoring the stop-and-go malfunction there, the song March Again features a Dissection reference or two, Faithful Avenger Till The Remainder (??) has progressive rock-like synthesizers, Dead Bodies Don’t Swim is weaker with its flawed vocals and slow strumming and the disc also features several interludes and instrumental sections. The “na na na” on Superconscious might be a nod to Metallica, but once again manage to reinforce the inconsistency and confusion that is prevailing here. Otherwise, when the guitarist wants to he can execute on a lead.
One wonders what the band’s stated goals and intentions were when it could do well, but somehow confuses instead. – Ali “The Metallian”

MATTERSPHERE – Same
First of all this girl is confused. The copyright date on the back of the album indicates the disc is five years old and stems from 2009. The biography claims the Australians band was formed in 2009 and the line-up gelled in 2011. So I head to the group’s website and it looks like what we have here at Metallian Towers is a two-song single from a full-length self-titled disc. The biography that came with this disc is useless.
Nonetheless, and on to the meat of the matter, how is this hitherto unknown band? The two songs on the disc feature elements of Judas Priest, Steel Heart and Rough Cutt. It is a good style and made even better by the crunchy guitars and fabulous sound. Someone pay the engineer of this disc a couple of extra bucks. Unfortunately, the range of the singer is limited and he struggles at times, although he does inject character and emotion into his delivery. He also has the longish hair in the band and is the cutest of course. There is more than enough here to make this girl want to hear more. There a couple of wicked metal riffs and serious leads on the songs Hearing You and Rainmaker. The crunchy heavy metal main riff of Rainmaker is an instant classic. Here is the band: http://mattersphere.com.au/the-band/. - Sheila Wes Det

SALVACIÓN - GOD GOLD AND GLORY
God Gold And Glory is Salvación's third release and by its cover artwork and some lyrics it is inspired by Hernan Cortes, the 16th century Spanish colonizer. Despite the spelling the band is from North Carolina and is the work of Nicky Love Sponsel and Carlos Sergio Denogean who handle all instruments and have recorded God Gold And Glory with the help of various guests. This seven song - plus one opening overture - is often a mix of hard rock and NWOBHM with few melodic German metal elements. The vocals by Sponsel are reminiscent of one of many '80s hard rock bands. A song like Obsidian Knife starts Iron Maiden-ish but drifts into somewhat predictable hard rock. Sponsel who also handles the guitars is able to show off his skill here and there but God Gold And Glory would probably benefit from more solos. Gambler's Throw, for example, can be boring. Satan Shame And Steel has power or speed metal elements with a brief Deep Purple-ish organ start! The band is at www.facebook.com/salvacionrocks - Anna Tergel

NANOWAR OF STEEL - A KNIGHT AT THE OPERA (CD + DVD)
A Knight At The Opera is a compilation of sorts for the funny Italians. The 17 songs on the CD are mostly taken from previous releases. It begins with the title track with, naturally, a symphonic or operatic start. Tricycles Of Steel (misspelt on the back cover) joins King, Power Of The Power (Of The Great Sword) and The Number Of The Bitch as being taken from Other Bands Play, Nanowar Gay. All include clever, often funny sections like bicycle horns and of course references to metal bands and Manowar in particular. Metal again mixes serious with the silly and the listener can see that beneath the sometimes funny entertainment the quintet can actually play! To Kill The Dragon You Need The Sword is an intermission of sorts and like Fight The Dragon For The Village is taken from the Made In Naples release. The latter once again proves there are real musicians here. Poser features 'How does it feel to be a poser like you ... How does it feel to listen Tokyo Hotel ... And you don't know the title of the first Manowar album' and it goes on from there. Giorgio Mastrota is one of many songs sung in Italian and other languages. The other language songs are included under the "Nanowar's majestic language lessons" section. King features 'He's the king ... King of the hill of the happy meal' and is obviously a tribute to fast food. The Number Of The Bitch is easily one of the best parodies of all time. The bonus DVD features most of the same songs and 18 in total recorded in Bülach, Switzerland and a selection of video clips. They provide the visual that is the mighty Nanowar Of Steel. These self proclaimed queens of steel are at http://www.nanowar.it - Anna Tergel