Metallian Heavy

BOLT THROWER is organizing a ‘Bolty Birthday Bash’ to celebrate its 25th birthday. More details on the free show is coming.

Loyalty! D.R.I. Drummer Rob Rampy is taking a hiatus from the band. The other members will continue the tour with Walter “Monsta” Ryan of POSSESSED and MERAUDER. Rampy was hospitalized before D.R.I.’s Portland, Oregon show on Friday, September 23th.

FUCK THE FACTS new album is called Die Miserable and available this month on Relapse. The band is opening for NAPALM DEATH in Ottawa this month.

WEVERIN is readying a full-length, The Skeletons Of Fallen Angels. The self-released, eight-track demo was recorded at Backrooms Studio in New Jersey.

ARCH ENEMY has teamed with Amnesty International in order to raise awareness level for human rights abuses and social injustices worldwide. During the band’s headlining Canadian and U.S. tour, called North American Khaos 2011, Amnesty International will be present helping to create awareness for its campaigns.

Candlelight Records has signed thrashers RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER. The Philadelphia-based band is already working on its next album, titled Ghostmaker, expected for release in the early spring 2012.

German grindcore band MILKING THE GOATMACHINE will release its concept album, Clockwork Udder, on November 18th through NoiseArt Records. MILKING THE GOATMACHINE will play at this year’s Hatefest tour in December with KATAKLYSM, TRIPTYKON, MARDUK, AZARATH and DAWN OF DISEASE.

Guitarist and vocalist Jim Malone of Virginia’s ARSIS is sitting out the band’s Frets Of Fury tour with FIREWIND, WHITE WIZARD and NIGHTRAGE in October due to personal reasons including work obligations.

MARDUK and RAGNAROK, among others, have left Regain Records. The label is undergoing financial difficulties.

IMPALED EXISTENCE has announced November 21st as the release date for its debut EP, These Lifeless Plains. The five songs were recorded at Endless Studio in Birmingham.

DESTRUCTOR has entered Supernatural Sound Studio in Ohio to record an album, Decibel Casualties, for a 2012 release through Auburn Records.

Shannon Hamm (METALSTORM, DEATH and CONTROL DENIED, BEYOND UNKNOWN) and Tim Aymar (PHARAOH and CONTROL DENIED) will play at a Chuck Schuldiner (DEATH and CONTROL DENIED) tribute show on December 18th at Latino Rock Café in San Jose, Costa Rica. They will be joined by members from local metal bands BLACK GALLERY, ADVENT OF BEDLAM and PSEUDOSTRATIFIED EPITHELIUM.

Aethyris, the ex-ABSU and present PANTHEON I guitarist, is filling in for MELECHESH‘s Moloch while he works on and completes his university work during the Lux Mundi European tour with SAMAEL and KEEP OF KALESSIN.

Poland’s HATE has signed a deal with Napalm Records. The band is touring Europe with VESANIA, NEGURA BUNGET, INFERI and LIVARKAHIL.

Italy’s NECRODEATH will release a new album, Idiosyncrasy, in October through Scarlet Records.

ANTHRAX played a rare show under the name SATAN’S LOUNGE BAND on Monday, September 12th at the Best Buy Theater in New York City. The band has both used the monicker before and issued rare singles under the name. The band`s Worship Him album has landed in the US Top 20 charts.

Abyss Records is reissuing the Boil(ing) album from DEAD HORSE on LP. It will be limited to 1,000 copies.

Sweden’s SKINEATER has recruited drummer Matte Modin (DARK FUNERAL, DEFLESHED, etc.) The band is working on its debut album, Dermal Harvest, due in early 2012 release through Pulverised Records.

FUNERUS returns with an album called Reduced To Sludge. This eleven-track album is the second release from the Pennsylvania/New York based death metal band that features INCANTATION guitarist John McEntee, bassist/vocalist Jill McEntee and drummer Sam Inzerra (MORTICIAN and MORPHEUS DESCENDS). The album was engineered by Sam Inzerra, Jim Roe and John McEntee. It is out through Ibex moon In late November.

German metal label Massacre Records has secured new North American distribution through AFM Records’ deal with E1 Entertainment, and is preparing to bring four of their strongest 2001 releases stateside on the 25th of October, 2011, including the latest albums from ILLDISPOSED, STORMWARRIOR, SUPREME PAIN and WIZARD. ILLDISPOSED`s album is called There Is Light (But It’s Not For Me). STORMWARRIOR`s album is called Heathen Warrior.

Journalists against freedom of speech: BEHEMOTH’s Adam “Nergal” Darski has signed up as a judge on Polish version of a televised American singing competition called The Voice, which is named The Voice Of Poland. Ironically, the Catholic Association Of Journalists has protested his involvement. The program has confirmed the artist.

MEGADETH will headline the Hell And Heaven Metal Fest, on Saturday, November 19th in Guadalajara, Mexico. Other bands on the bill include DARK FUNERAL, WEHRMACHT and VITAL REMAINS. MEGADETH had refused shows in Europe with ROTTING CHRIST in 2005 due to the latter band’s Satanic name. MEGADETH’s Dave Mustaine revealed during an appearance at the Big Four concert at the new Yankee Stadium in New York City that he will undergo surgery on his neck after suffering an injury on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour.

Black doom band ORDO OBSIDIUM will release its debut album, Orbis Tertius in through Eisenwald on October 10th.

DIABOLICAL will celebrate its 15 years of existence by playing several European dates in September. Each date will see different local support bands.

BRUTAL TRUTH will issue its sixth full-length release, End Time, through Relapse Records on September 27th.

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION has signed with 20 Buck Spin for the North American release of two full-length releases. The first of the pair, a compilation of out-of-print tracks entitled The Unspoken Hymns, acts as a prologue for the band’s new full-length album, The Book Of Kings.

GENERATION KILL, the new band fronted by EXODUS singer Rob Dukes, will see the release of its debut album Red White and Blood on September 27th in North America through Season Of Mist.

EXODUS, HEATHEN and DEATH ANGEL are among the bands that played at a celebration for EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt and his girlfriend Lisa Perticone’s upcoming wedding. The event took place on Saturday, September 24th at Avalon in Santa Clara, California.

New Death Celebrity is the name of the second album from Athens, Greece-based death/thrash metal band DESCENDING. It is now due on October 28th through Massacre Records.

Finland’s TURISAS has recruited Jukka-Pekka Miettinen (ex-ARTHEMESIA and ENSIFERUM) on bass for live activity and Robert Engstrand (THE FLOWER KINGS and ex-KOTIPELTO) as the band’s keyboard player.

Oh no! KRISIUN will release a new album, The Great Execution, on October 31st in Europe and November 1st in North America through Century Media Records. The band’s eighth studio album “musically expands KRISIUN trademark high-speed death metal violence with a heavily increased amount of diversity ranging from extreme tempo variations over distinct rhythm patterns to clean guitars and even Flamenco parts!”

AUTOPSY is in the studio recording three songs for a new EP.

Vocalist Johan Lindstrand has re-joined the reformed THE CROWN. He replaces Jonas Stålhammar.

THE HAUNTED and ENTOMBED are touring together for the 2011 edition of the Close Up Made Us Do It tour of Sweden. Support on the November tour comes from WALKING WITH STRANGERS.

DEMONICAL drummer Ronnie Bergerståhl is sitting out the band’s Eastern Death Infernal Tour 2011 due to “other commitments.” The Swedes have recruited WITCHERY’s.

HARPOON entered Bricktop Recording in June to record its sophomore record Deception Among Birds. Andy Nelson, who recorded the band’s first full-length Double Gnarly /Triple Suicide (Released on Interloper), was brought back to handle engineering duties. Deception Among Birds will be released on October 25th through Seventh Rule Recordings.

Abyss Records is issuing THOUSAND YEAR WAR’s Tyrants And Men. The band hails from Alaska.

AMON, featuring former DEICIDE members Eric Hoffmann (guitar) and brother Brian Hoffman (guitar), has announced October 31st as the release date for its new demo Liar In Wait.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM has fired drummer Craig Nielsen in favour of the re-joining Kelly David Smith.

WARMACHINE has recruited drummer Dave Langguth. He has previously played with NELLY FURTADO!

ABORTED has completed work on its next album, Global Flatline, due in January through Century Media Records. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by the Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studio.

Sweden`s NECROCURSE has signed with Pulversied Records. A new album will be recorded this winter. In other NECROCURSE news, the band issued a new 7″ EP entitled Insane Curse Of Morbidity earlier this month through Aftermath Music.

American Metalcore act LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES has signed a European deal with Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s full-length debut, When We Don’t Exist, is scheduled for a November 11th release.

FAITH OR FEAR has completed its first new release in 20 years. The group’s new demo is called System Is Armed.


Metallian Hard

Norway's MANIFEST will release a new demo, Written In Blood, on November 11th through the band's own record label, Violent Media.

GUNS N’ ROSES is touring the USA this month and next before hitting South America.

Singer Jizzy Pearl has left the Tracii Guns-led version of L.A. GUNS.

ASTRAL DOORS has cancelled its The Desert Forces Of Rock Tour 2011, in support of the Jerusalem album, due to lack of advance ticket sales.

BANG TANGO will release a new album, Pistol Whipped In The Bible Belt, on September 27th through Seventy-Eight Productions.

ESOTERIC's Paragon Of Dissonance is out next month through Season Of Mist.

Finland's melodic rockers MYON has inked a worldwide deal with Rock N Growl Management and Promotion.

Former METAL CHURCH singer Ronny Munroe will release a solo album, called Lords Of The Edge, on October 18th through Rat Pak Records. The album features guitarists Chris Caffery (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, SAVATAGE and METALIUM), Stu Marshall (EMPIRES OF EDEN) and Michael Wilton (QUEENSRŸCHE).

LONEWOLF is mixing its new studio album, Army Of The Damned, at MP Studio in Poland. The album was produced by Bart Gabriel and features a guest appearance by ex-IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley.

Stupid and anti-human: ROSE TATTOO frontman Angry Anderson has joined The National Party Of Australia and will for a seat in the next federal election.

On September 21, 2012, W.A.S.P. started its 30 Years Of Thunder anniversary tour beginning in the United Kingdom. The tour will feature two hours of music, an abridged version of The Crimson Idol and older material.

Saints Of Sulphur, the new album by FORCE MAJEURE, will be released on October 19th through Scandal Music Company.

CHICKENFOOT song Up Next is now dedicated to the band's former manager, John Carter, who died of cancer halfway through the recording of the band’s new album.

Premier, a manufacturer of drums and percussion, is sponsoring An Evening With Nicko – A Night Of Drums, Drumming And Entertainment With IRON MAIDEN's Nicko McBrain. The Western European dates span the month of November.

Inspired by KEEL? The reformed 1980s metal band OZ has signed a deal with AFM Records. The group's new album, Burning Leather, will be released on November 18th.

DRAGONLAND has picked Under The Grey Banner as the title for its new album. The third part of the DRAGONLAND Chronicles trilogy will be released on November 18th through AFM Records.

EVERGREY will release a compilation called A Decade And A Half, a two-disc greatest-hits package on November 22nd through SPV/Steamhammer. The package contains previously unreleased songs, live tracks and an extensive booklet.

Autumn of 2011 will see the release of SERPENTCULT's new album Raised By Wolves on the French label Listenable Records. It contains four new tracks.

BRAND NEW SIN will issue a new album called United State this month on Goomba Music.

GLENN HUGHES will undertake his first U.K. solo acoustic tour featuring acoustic versions of songs from his career.

SONATA ARCTICA will release a live DVD called Live In Finland on October 28th. The disc includes the band's entire April 15th, 2011 performance at Club Teatria in Oulu, Finland as well as a bonus disc containing four songs that were filmed at the band's very own festival on August 8th, 2009 in Kemi, Finland.

Music Buy Mail has announced October 28th as the release date for a new VAIN album entitled Enough Rope.

DREAM THEATER’s A Dramatic Turn Of Events has hit position #1 in Japan. Drummer Mike Portnoy sat on the stool for STONE SOUR for the band's appearance at the Rock In Rio festival on September 24th in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

STONE SOUR's regular drummer, Roy Mayorga, is currently home and anxiously awaiting the birth of his first daughter.

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE will issue 17th Street on Metal Blade this month. Metal Blade has also signed Swedish heavy metal band RAM. The band's third album, Death, will be released in March.

Heritage is the name of the new album of OPETH, which is out through Roadrunner Records. The album was produced by OPETH singer and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt and was recorded earlier this year at Atlantis studio. The band is touring Australia in December.

ION VEIN, with new vocalist Scott Featherstone, has signed with Mortal Music.

Yet another compilation! JUDAS PRIEST will release a new compilation album, The Chosen Few, on October 11th through Legacy. The songs were selected by several musicians including Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.

British band HOSTILE, which features bassist Alex Hill, son of JUDAS PRIEST's Ian Hill, will release its debut demo, Eve Of Destruction, on October 31st. The CD was produced by former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has recruited Chad Szeliga (BREAKING BENJAMIN and OURAFTER) as the band's new drummer. He replaces live stand-in Mike Froedge (SPEED X and DOUBLEDRIVE).

BLIND GUARDIAN guitarist Marcus Siepen will play two shows with SINBREED this month and next.

Ireland’s STORMZONE will release a new album, Zero To Rage, in Europe on November 21st through SPV/Steamhammer.

UK’s AWAKE will release a new album, called Forever More, on Lion Music on October 14th.

Inspired by KEEL? ‘70s and ‘80s hard rock band SNOW, featuring original members Carlos Cavazo (QUIET RIOT, RATT, etc.) on guitar, Tony Cavazo (QUIET RIOT, HURRICANE, etc.) on bass and drummer Stephen Quadros has reformed.

RAGE is entering Twilight Hall Studio in Grefrath, Germany this month to record its new album for an early 2012 release.

Inspired by KEEL? EXXPLORER will release a new album, Vengeance Rides An Angry Horse, on October 21st through Pure Steel Records.

Inspired by KEEL? FASTWAY has signed a deal with Steamhammer/SPV. The band's first studio album since 1990 is called Eat Dog Eat and will be released on November 11th. The album features vocalist Toby Jepson (ex-LITTLE ANGELS).

RIOT will release its new album, Immortal Soul, on October 21st in Japan through Marquee. The band is signed to SPV elsewhere.

DIMMU BORGIR is touring the UK and Ireland in November.

STRATOVARIUS has lost drummer Jörg Michael for “personal reasons.” Jörg leaves after sixteen years, but will remain until the end of January and be part of a Finnish "Farewell Jörg" tour from November 18 to November 26th.

PEGAZUS’ Cory Betts (bass) and Ange Sotiro (drums) have opted out of touring due to their work schedule. Ange Sotiro will be replaced by co-founder and former drummer Robbie Stoj who had originally left due to a hand injury. Cory Betts is replaced on bass by the former PEGAZUS vocalist Rob Thompson! The band’s European trek is called In Metal We Trust!

Self-cover band: GIRLSCHOOL has re-recorded the 1981 album Hit And Run to celebrate the LP's 30th anniversary. Hit And Run Revisited is out now through Wacken Records.

GRAVEWORM will release a new album, called Fragments Of Death, on October 21st through Nuclear Blast Records.

Finland's GHOST BRIGADE has a video for the song Clawmaster, off its new album Until Fear No Longer Defines Us, which was issued through Season Of Mist. The album is in the Top 10 of the Finnish charts. The same label will issue CYNIC’s new EP entitled Carbon-Based Anatomy, on November 11th.

Hard rock band GHOST will not be able to take part in the upcoming US tour with ENSLAVED and ALCEST due to difficulty obtaining a US visa.

INTENSE has signed a deal with Pure Legend Records. The band's third album, Shape Of Rage, was again recorded at Thin Ice Studio with Karl Groom of THRESHOLD.

The line-up changes never end: CLOVEN HOOF has a new guitarist called Joe Whelan formerly of DEMENTIA. The band claims to have auditioned 147 guitar players. CLOVEN HOOF has also recruited Mark Gould as its new drummer. CLOVEN HOOF has announced the addition of singer Ash Cooper too. More line-up changes next month.

Age Of The Joker, the new album by EDGUY, has entered Germany’s Media Control chart at position No. 3. It is also charting elsewhere in Europe.

KORPIKLAANI has lost violinist Jaakko "Hittavainen" Lemmetty due to health reasons and replaced him with "a young prodigy" called Teemu Eerola. KORPIKLAANI will embark on the "Ukon Wacka" North American tour in November with opening act being Russia's ARKONA. POLKADOT CADAVER and FORGED IN FLAMES will also open.

Inspired by KEEL? DESPISED ICON guitarist Eric Jarrin has again joined the reformed HEAVEN'S CRY. The group played at Montreal’s Les Foufounes Electriques on September 18th as the opener for KATATONIA.

Brad Hull of ‘90s band FORCED ENTRY has joined SANCTUARY on second guitar. SANCTUARY just played an announced show in Seattle.

TIAMAT has signed with Napalm Records. The band will release a new album in 2012.

ARMORED SAINT is playing New York for the first time in 20 years on November 30th and December 3rd at Amityville and NYC respectively.

Jesse James Dupree of JACKYLL is currently recuperating after a motorcycle accident on Route 411 near the Georgia/Alabama state line. Dupree was hit by a car and suffered a broken left ankle and foot and a fractured right arm.

The Big Four features four sell-outs.


Metallian Demos

SKULL FIST – HEAVIER THAN METAL
The title for this disc is out-and-out profanity, isn’t it? Nothing is heavier than metal. What are these lady and gentlemen thinking? It is a little strange because the trio profess to real heavy metal. All three are adorned in leather, have long hair, are cute, and like to flaunt metal.
The band is from Toronto. It is impossible to miss with the old Skydome, now Rogers, and CN Tower in full view on the cover. The trio, which is missing a bass player, sounds like a mix of early Iced Earth and Killer Dwarfs also of Toronto. No False Metal would scare many into Manowartitis, but the songs here are dynamic and full of guitars, pounding drums and shrieking vocals (see Killer Dwarfs reference). Sign Of The Warrior is probably the most complicated, while Blackout the most peculiar with its intro and fadeout ending. Go over here to find out more: http://www.myspace.com/skullfisted. - Sheila Wes Det

SIN MG - THEY LIKE ME
The disc's name is really not They like Me, but since the disc has no real name and They Like Me is the first track then that is what we at Metallian will call it. The CD contains four Sin MG cuts, each a single with its very own cool cover art, of which the band has many. Think of the music as traditional hard rock infused with modern touches and contemporarier vocals. Yeah, unusual, but it works. They Like Me is powerful. It's Game Time a bit dull, but audibly better than the butchering of Ozzy's Crazy Train. What, yet another cover you ask? Very sorry you had to ask it, but it's true. Nonetheless, the four songs do have excitement and action packaged in, but the mixes are unbalanced with the order of magnitude being vocals, drums and guit.... yes, the guitars are lost in the mix. Sin MG is different and worth checking out. The band is at www.sinmg.com and checks info@sinmg.com all the time. - Ali "The Metallian"

SIN MG – VAMPIRE/IT’S ALL OVER
This is a two-song single from Sin Mg (www.sinmg.com) that bears the typical high quality graphics and sound quality of the band’s multiple releases. The disc’s first song is both hard and melodic. The synthesizer goes overboard and is lush, but the heavy beats are also included. The song’s big downfall is the grating drum machine that attempts to substitute for drums. The fake digitalness of it sounds stupid. It’s All Over is of the same ilk except for its chorus which is strongly reminiscent of Alice In Chains’ Man In The Box, “Jesus Christ, Deny Your Maker….”. Sin Mg is different, but not to the point of weirdness. Check out their website. – Anna Tergel

ALL ELSE FAILS – THE ORACLE
The band’s biography is quick to acknowledge the band is “socially conscious.” Whether the band is left or wrong is another matter. A couple of tracks feature spoken word that – when heard and understood over the background music – sounds progressive and pro-environment. During these moments the band comes across as intelligent, mature, serious and outstanding. Speaking truth to power and waving a populist and anti-establishment flag has been a fine artistic tradition for aeons. Early street poets and court jesters did just that and, in the process, left a legacy for artists to combine awareness and progressive politics with their art. All Else Fails could be such a band. On the other hand, the band might have it all wrong and, with the above-mentioned tracks, played a trick on this listener. The album’s closer, Robots!!! KOLTG, attacks government and its members as mindless robots. This is a fallacy. Government, especially in modern times, is the only thing that stands between the powerful elite, corporations, multinationals, gougers, thieves, rip-offs, scams, lobbyists, marketing, spin and the military-industrial complex and the citizen. The government’s role is critical and its powers should be increased. Modern society has taken so much away from the political process in favour of corporatism and capitalism that government powers’ restoration has a long way to go before the balance of power and influence is restored. Naturally, corporations, capitalists, the self-serving and the suicidal have aligned with the corporate-owned right-wing media to attack and lynch government. For, with government out of the way, these companies can lie, thieve and steal with further impunity. Admittedly, All Else Fails is from Alberta where a fascist right-wing government has been raping the land, citizenry and its people with abandon. In that case, it might only be logical for the band to attack governments. Alberta's, after all, is not a branch of the people. It is a corporate welfare enabler, a mechanism for the riches of the land and the taxes of the people to be transferred to multinational raiders.
No one should be afraid of the government if the government is of the people and by the people. Right-wing jurisdictions and territories need to transform theirs to a democratic and legitimate body however. – Ali “The Metallian”