BOOZE CONTROL’s 2013 debut Heavy Metal was re-released by Kernkraftritter Records in February 2015.

North Carolina’s occult hard rockers DEMON EYE are back and will release a full-length entitled Tempora Infernalia on May 8th through Soulseller Records.

Swedish hard rockers REACH will release their debut album, Reach Out To Rock, on March 4th through Sun Hill Production/Cargo Records.

Valery Records and V-Promotion have announced the release of a new album by ELEGACY called The Binding Sequence. It will be out this spring.

Slovenian Doom Metal band MIST will release a new EP on May 8th though Soulseller Records. The 4-track disc is entitled Inan and will include three new songs and one from Demo 2013.

CANDLEMASS founder and main Leif Edling will sit out the band’s shows this year due to health issues. Jörgen Sandström of GRAVE and ENTOMBED has joined the act.

Self-cover band: WHITESNAKE’s next album will be out in May through Frontiers Music. The Purple Album features reworked songs from WHITESNAKE main man’s DEEP PURPLE era.

SANCTUARY has parted ways with guitarist Brad Hull and replaced him with Nick Cordle who was recently asked to leave ARCH ENEMY. Brad Hull had replaced Jeff Loomis in Sanctuary who, in turn, replaced Cordle in ARCH ENEMY!

QUEENSRŸCHE will open for SCORPIONS this summer and autumn in the USA.

HELLOWEEN will release its next album, My God-Given Right, on May 29th through Nuclear Blast. The album was recorded at the band's MiSueno Studio on the Isle of Tenerife with producer Charlie Bauerfeind.

CRASHDÏET singer Simon Cruz has left the band. According to the act he left the band during the Japanese tour.

MAGNUM will release a new live album, called Escape From The Shadow Garden - Live 2014, through SPV on May 6th.

British metal label and distributor Music For Nations, which was sold to Jive years ago, has returned and will both reissue products from its catalogue and release new music. A series of 7” singles will also be issued. The band had worked with the likes Of MANOWAR, ANATHEMA and CANDLEMASS among others in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

According to the band’s management before Christmas IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson visited his doctor for a check-up and was diagnosed with an early stage cancerous tumour at the back of his tongue. The man has completed a seven-week course of chemotherapy and radiology. The band reports that there is a good chance for a recovery. The band has been working on a new album, which is almost complete.

Singer Dennis Willcock, keyboardist Tony Moore, guitarist Terry Wapram and drummer Barry ‘Thunderstick’ Purkis recently got together courtesy of the Maiden77 Facebook page at a show by Wapram's band, BUFFALO FISH. The members are attempting to record original Maiden tracks for a release.

RAVEN will release a new album, ExtermiNation, next month through SPV/Steamhammer.

Norwegian progressive metal act LEPROUS has completed work on its album, The Congregation, which will see release on May 25th through InsideOut Music.

Mats Johan Olausson (formerly of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) was found dead at a hotel room in Rayong, Thailand February 19th. He was 54 years old. He had been drinking.

Do not call them a band! Call them a "unit": Oakland, California-based metal unit, SAVIOURS has signed with Listenable Records.

German hard rockers NITROVOLT will release a new album, Dirty Wings on March 20th through Mausoleum Records.

Belgian atmospheric doom metallers THURISAZ will release the fourth full-length album, The Pulse Of Mourning, on March 31st through Sleaszy Rider Records.

Swedish heavy rockers MARYS CREEK has signed a worldwide management deal with Germany’s Rock’N’Growl Promotion/Management. After a couple of years of absence, MARYS CREEK is back and working on its sophomore album. MARYS CREEK recently released a new demo, called Incubic Twin, featuring five new tunes.

Swedish symphonic rock band THERION, founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987, will be playing at the upcoming edition of EUROROCK on May 16th.

DIRTY FINGERS' debut album 250 Dollars will be released by logic(il)logic Records and distributed by Andromeda Dischi on March 17th.

Russian melodic metallers GRENOUER will release a new album, Unwanted Today, on March 20th through Mausoleum Records. It is produced by Dualized (MNEMIC, VOODOO HIGHWAY, FEAR FACTORY, etc.).

Hailing from Long Island, New York, USA, "epic folk" metallers YONDER REALM has signed a worldwide deal with Maple Metal Records to release its first full-length album The Old Ways. The record was self-released by Yonder Realm in mid-2014, but has now seen an official release date of February 14th, 2015 by the label. As part of the deal, Maple Metal Records will re-release Yonder Realm’s demo from 2011 Beyond A Long Lost World worldwide as well.

KATATONIA has announced a new DVD, called Sanctitude, out on March 31st through Kscope.

Van Halen? Sven Dirkschneider, the 21-year-old son of Udo Dirkschneider, has joined UDO's line-up as the band’s drummer. Sven is filling in with SAXON for that band’s tour.

Relapse Records has signed crossover band TAU CROSS. The project features AMEBIX vocalist/bassist Rob "The Baron" Miller, MISERY guitarist Jon Misery and WAR//PLAGUE guitarist Andy Lefton and drummer Michel "Away" Langevin of VOIVOD. The project was formed in 2013 and recorded its debut album over several months in 2014 and in three countries. The album is due this summer.

Frontiers Music will release a new IMPELLITTERI studio album, entitled Venom, on April 17th.

DRAGONFORCE will release its DVD, In The Line Of Fire, on July 10th. It was filmed at the band's show at 2014’s Loud Park Festival at the Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo, Japan.

DEF LEPPARD will undertake a Canadian and US summer tour with STYX and TESLA. The tour will visit 40 cities beginning June 23rd in Tampa, Florida.

PENTAGRAM has re-signed with Peaceville. The doom metal band will issue a DVD, called All Your Sins, this month. In the meantime, Sean Saley has left and has been replaced by new drummer "Minnesota" Pete Campbell.

MOONSPELL will release a new album, Extinct, in March through Napalm Records. The album was recorded at Fascination Street Studio in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren.

NEUROMORPH, a new project by Patrick Mameli of PESTILENCE, has signed a deal with Imperative Music. The progressive jazzy band's debut album, Synaptic, will be released late this year.

After 15 years in its current incarnation RAGE has disbanded. The members do not identify with one another and have drifted musically apart.

VAN HALEN will release a live album with David Lee Roth. It was recorded on June 21st, 2013 at Tokyo Dome in Japan, Tokyo Dome Live In Concert will include 23 songs.

Following his departure from TNT Tony Harnell has signed on to write and record a third STARBREAKER album with Magnus Karlsson. They will begin working on it later in the year and hope to have it out in 2016.

AC/DC’s North American tour in support of Rock Or Bust will kick off in August.

BATTLE BEAST has parted ways with lead guitarist and songwriter Anton Kabanen due to "insurmountable disagreements." The group believes its booked shows will forge ahead with a new member.

SAMAEL has parted ways with bassist Christophe "Mas" Mermod and replaced him with Thomas "Drop" Betrisey formerly of SYBREED. Apparently, Mermod’s lighting company has reached a successful enough stage to warrant full-time attention.

PYRAMIDS ON MARS - Same
For a demo CD of its kind Pyramids On Mars punches above its capstone. The independent CD is merely an independent record done without a full cadre of musicians and even to the exclusion of a singer. Such solo projects and instrumental forays are largely tedious and pontifical. Ignoring them is a safe bet. Not so with Pyramids On Mars. Admittedly, the monicker's similarity to a Doctor Who episode is appealing, but despite a lack of vocals - save for a dubbed intro - and the presence of a drum machine in lieu of the real thing POM somewhat works. The guitarist/band member is impressively high-quality. His rhythms are solid and gritty. His constant and non-stop lead work, however, is where he shines. Smooth, melodic, adapt and soaring lead after lead on song after song speaks to good soloing. Kevin Estrella is not quite David Gilmour, but we are in the same ballpark. The disc has a few harder songs, slower songs, rockier and wackier tunes, but as with all these things, and despite being interesting, after ten tracks things do begin to meld. A few trivia points: Where The Hearts Meet begins like a certain Genesis song. Darth Chaosic grinds! Saturn On The Horizon is the perfect title for an album with such a name and is one of several tunes going the way of electronica. Best advice for the man is to recruit a real band or join one. This is otherwise too wasteful. Progressive-electronica-rock fans, however, would enjoy listening to any of these songs. pyramidsonmarsband@gmail.com or www.pyramidsonmars.com. - Ali “The Metallian”

ELDORADO - BABYLONIA HAZE
The Spanish quartet's fifth release belongs to the recent trend of albums made via crowd funding campaigns. Eldorado raised €13,335 to produce Babylonia Haze's 10 songs. The theme of the album is said to be darker and Babylonia is used as a metaphor for destroying and rebuilding or action and reaction. The music is mostly rock or hard rock owing something to so-called classic sounds a la Deep Purple. All complete with the recognizable keyboard sound. The third song, Breathe The Night, goes all-acoustic and incorporates extras like the flute. There is also a bit of psychedelic going on, perhaps not too surprising with the ‘70s influence. Goodbye & Carry On is mid-paced and slows down in its six minutes. The sometimes thick guitar sound is interrupted by a melancholic section. Songs like I'll Be Satisfied add in the famous 80's hard rock sound into the mix. Flowers Of Envy solidifies the classic rock attribution with a bit of Led Zeppelin. Flutes and other extras make another appearance on Resurrection Song. The 11-minutes long Karma Generator is a trip, with some of the aforementioned psychedelic sounds together with some hard rock. Moon Girl closes Babylonia Haze with another mellow sound that conjures up Pink Floyd too. Into the haze at www.eldoradorockband.com. - Anna Tergel