Darkwater is still
looking for a new bassplayer. In the meantime Simon Andersson (formerly of Pain Of
Salvation) will be used as a session player. Even without a full line-up, Darkwater is
determined to work on their new album. They've written enough songs for even ten albums.
The band hopes to head into the studio later this year.
Hawk Nelson posted the new
song The Job from their new album Live Life Loud on myspace.com.
The Letter Black posted
the new song Best Of Me from their new album Breaking The Silence on myspace.com as well.
Here's a trailer supporting the album:
Saving Grace from New
Zealand has signed with Strike First Records from the USA. They'll finish the work on
their new album in October.
And Desyre from Finland will
release their debut album Warning Of The Night. The release date is not set yet, but
pre-orders will be shipped within two weeks.
Death metal band inExordium has a new
guitarist. His name is Sheldon D'Costa and he's a Canadian. He'll be playing with the band
at the Blackstump Festival in Sydney, Australia, on October 2nd.
The Brazilian metal
band Shaphal is back. After a two
year hiatus band leader Arnon Mello decided to reform the group. Shaphal is preparing the
launch of an album called Shaphal 2004-2007 Unreleased Tracks. Expect this one in October.
It will be available as a free download. On myspace.com you can listen to three songs from the album.
Friday
September 18th 2009
On September 22nd Stryper will shoot a video for the song
I Believe from their new album Murder By Pride. The video will be directed by Michael
Sarna (Megadeth, Counting Crows, Dream Theater). Strper is currently on tour. They did
their first show on September 11th in Boston. Check this video for The Rock That Makes Me
Roll, to get an impression:
Have you seen the
new video from Hawk Nelson?
It's for the title track of their new album Live Life Loud (out on September 22nd):
Ecthirion is still working on
their new album. The band hopes to have finished the entire CD by Christmas. They will
have five guest vocalists: David Cooney (death metal vocals), Ema Walton (operatic
vocals), Kim Cook (clean vocals), Lois Bolderson (clean vocals) and Sarah Ashton (clean
vocals).
Grave Declaration is
looking for permanent band members. Preferably from the Oslo area.
And the Dutch band Docile lost their singer JJ.
This doesn't mean the end of the band. They've recorded almost the entire new album,
including drums, bass and guitars.
The annual Christmas Rock Night takes
place in Haus Ennepetal, Ennepetal (near Wuppertal), Germany on December 4th & 5th.
Some of the bands playing the festival are: Haste The Day, Fireflight, Flatfoot 56, HB, FM
Static, Manic Drive, Disciple, Thousand Foot Krutch, The Letter Black, Seventh Day
Slumber, Showbread, Children 18:3, Arson and more.
Friday
September 11th 2009
Illuminandi entered the
Chinook studio in Debica, Poland, to record their new album. This CD will have nine songs
and perhaps instrumental pieces.
Also Blinside is writing
and recording a new album. Do you want to follow the process, go to Twitter.com.
Hawk Nelson added the song
Alive to their myspace.com profile. This is a song from their upcoming album Live Life
Loud.
Also Gwen Stacy has a new song up
on myspace. It's called The First Words and it's taken from the A Dialogue album that
appears on October 20th.
The Dutch rock band John Coffey will release
their debut full length Vanity on October 22nd. A release show will be held at the Ekko,
Utrecht, Holland. Pre-sale tickets are 8 euro, but if you pay 10 euro extra, you'll get
the CD as well. Isn't that a nice deal? You can find the details for this deal on their website.
Perhaps you know Mark
Glunt of Silent Planet Promotions and Silent Planet Radio (also known as The Sasquatch). Over the years he
supported bands getting reviews, radio air play and other promotional bonuses, without
getting paid. Now he's in trouble as one of his heart valves needs to be replaced. Fortunately,
the state of Ohio is probably going to foot the bill for his medical needs, but he's on
his last paycheck from his former employer. If you want to help him, his wife and their
four children, donations are welcome. He has paypal and the email address associated with
it is mark@yccm.net. His snail address is: 8466
Township Road 166, West Liberty, OH 43357, USA.
Friday
September 4th 2009
Dark Balance will release the
farewell DVD/CD One Last Embrace from the Dutch symphonic metal band Morphia. The band did their final show at
the Brainstorm Festival last year. Expect a full 60 minute show with former members as
special guests, backstage material, photo's, extra clips and the live music on an audio
CD. The DVD/CD will be released on September 11th in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The
rest of the world can get it on September 7th. Check out this trailer:
Relient K is getting ready to release
a new album. It's called Forget And Not Slow Down and it will come out through the Mono
Vs. Stereo label on October 6th.
Demon Hunter is working on
their fifth album. This will be the first album without founding member Don Clark who left
to focus on his other obligations. Also drummer Ethan Luck left to focus on his other band
Relient K. Patrick Judge is the new drummer. Randy Torres from Project 86 is an unofficial
member of Demon Hunter now. About 90% of the music for the new album has been written.
The new Bride CD Tsar Bomba is delayed to
October 27th.
Austrian Death Machine
put a preview track on their myspace.com page. This track features fragments of songs from
the new album Double Brutal that will appear on September 25th/28th. A full song is
streaming on the Metal
Blade Records' myspace. The song is called I Need Your Clothes,
Your Boots And Your Motorcycle.
The German band Saphena
is finishing their new album.
Project 86 will be shooting a
new music video in late September for Dark Angel Dragnet from their new album Picket Fence
Cartel.
Haste The Day is doing the 5
Countries 3 Continents Tour. During this tour they will be filming for their upcoming DVD.
The band visits the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Colombia and Panama.
Advent posted a new song, the
title track off of Naked And Cold on myspace. The album comes out on September 8th.
Friday
August 28th 2009
The European release
of Stryper's new album Murder By
Pride will have a bonus track. It's the song My Love, My Life, My Flame, taken from
Michael Sweet's solo album Touched. This song is dedicated to Sweet's late wife Kyle and
he wrote it during her battle with cancer. Murder By Pride will be released by Frontiers. The Stryper site is now
renewed as well.
Does the idea of a Deliverance DVD make you
excited? There are plans to release a DVD with three live shows. Three songs from the Stay
Of Execution tour (1993) will be on it, a full show from the What A Joke tour (1992)when
the band played in front of 1000 people, and a full show from the As Above So Below tour
(2008). The DVD will also have backstage footage with The Crucified.
According to a post
on The Christian Metal Realm Deliverance will be playing live in
Cleveland Ohio at Peabody's Downunder on November 21st. The original members Jimmy P.
Brown II, Brian Khairullah and Glenn E. Rodgers will be together on stage for the first
time since 1989. Mike Reed from the As Above So Below album will be drumming. The four
members are currently working on the next Deliverance album The Annals Of Subterfuge.
Expect this one out in 2010 through Retroactive Records. The return of Brian Khairullah to
the line-up of this formerly known Christian metal band is remarkable, since he considers
himself an atheist now.
Gwen Stacy signed with Solid
State Records. The band will release their new album A Dialogue on October 20th. A video
for the song The First Words is currently being shot by Jeremy Jackson.
Rock band Kutless will release a new
worship album called It Is Well.
November 3rd is the
release date for the new Living
Sacrifice album The Infinite Order. The album was produced by Jeremiah Scott (Destroy
Destroy Destroy) and mixed by Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Machine Head). The tracks on the album
are: Overkill Exposure, Rules of Engagement, Nietzsche's Madness, Unfit to Live, The
Training, Organized Lie, The Reckoning, Love Forgives, They Were One, God Is My Home,
Apostasy.
Day Of Fire published their
video of Lately on their myspace.com page.
Bury
Me Alive is the new Inhale
Exhale album. It comes out on October 6th. The record was produced by Travis Wyrick
(P.O.D., Pillar) and mixed by Devin Townsend.
Advent have a new song called
Revival on myspace. This is a track off their upcoming album Naked And Cold that will
appear on September 8th.
Due to problems with
the equipment, Thy
Bleeding Skies have to re-record the guitars for their next album.
Sacred Warrior is still
working on their next album. This will be their first new CD since Obsessions (1991).
According to singer Rey Parra the album will be the band's heaviest disc so far. The album
will also have contributions from original keyboardplayer Rick Macias who passed away due
to a heart attack in February.
You can now download three Kekal albums for free: Audible
Minority (2008), Acidity (2005) and 1000 Thoughts Of Violence (2003).
The Letter Black shot a
video for their song Hanging On By A Thread. This is a song off their new album Breaking
The Silence.
The US release of Narnia's Course Of A
Generation will have the bonus track Master Of Lies. Course Of A Generation will be
released by Nightmare Records on October 13th.
Friday
August 21st 2009
The Brainstorm Festival
will do a preparty. This extra festival takes place on Saturday October 31st in De Kelder, Amersfoort, Holland.
Headliner is Becoming
The Archetype. Co-headlining is Seventh Avenue from Germany. Other bands playing are Sacrificium, Edge Of
Serenity and another support-act yet to be announced. Doors open at 18:30. First band
19:00. Tickets are 14 euro.
Nightmare Records
will release the new Narnia
album Course Of A Generation in the USA.
Guitarist Ben left
the German group World To
Ashes. He can no longer combine band life with his job. World To Ashes is looking for
replacement.
The Letter Black put a
new track on their myspace.com page called Moving On. It's the first song from their new
album Breaking The Silence that will appear on September 22nd.
Underoath performed on The
Daily Habit. The show is now posted on Fuel.tv. For example, check out Desperate Times,
Desperate Measures:
Former Stryper bassist Timothy Gaines will
release a new instrumental CD called Breakfast @ Timothys. It will come out in September.
Timothy Gaines will also be the bassist for Stryper during the 25th Anniversary Tour
starting on September 11th.
Seventh Angel had
to cancel their performance at the Flevo Festival due to one of the band members having to
stay in another country after an accident to a family member. Simon Bibby and Ian Arkley
went to the festival nonetheless to meet people. Ian's other band, My Silent Wake, was still
able to come to play.
Oh, Sleeper put the song
Reveries Of Flight on their myspace.com
page. It's one of the songs from Son Of The Morning that will come out next week.
Take It Back! released
their limited edition EP Rumors Of Revolt.
Friday
August 14th 2009
Flyleaf finished recording their
new album Memento Mori. The first single of the record is Again. This one will first air
on radio stations across the USA on August 25th.
As I Lay Dying will record a new CD
in October/November.
Living Sacrifice is
almost ready with their new record. The mix is done by Andy Sneap (who worked for
Megadeth, Testament, etc). Jeremiah Scott produced. The record is called The Infinite
Order.
The Polish band Illuminandi will enter the
studio to record their first full length album. It will start on September 14th. The album
will have nine songs and perhaps an intro and/or instrumental interludes. The record will
be finished in November/December. The band is discussing with a few labels.
Have you seen Kutless' video for To Know That
You're Alive?
Jeff Arwadi and Leo
Setiawan have left Kekal. After
fourteen years the band is now without members. Jeff: "So does that mean Kekal has
ended? No, absolutely not. We all understand that Kekal CANNOT be dissolved as a band. No
one has a right to disband Kekal legally as it is already bound to copyrights, licenses
and all the legal stuff as an independent institution. But it is a good thing to see Kekal
as a band will stay forever in the music world, even without current active
band-members."
Bassist Tracy Ferrie
will not be performing on the U.S. leg of the Stryper tour. Instead, original bassist Timothy Gaines will be the
sole bass player. What was originally planned as a 2-set show, will now be one full
90-minute show, consisting of all the greatest hits and new Stryper material. The band
will be wearing new yellow and black outfits designed by the original outfit designer. All
original members, Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, Oz Fox and Tim Gaines will be performing on
the 25th Anniversary U.S. tour. Tracy made his decision to put the needs of his family
first. To support his family he has a day-job. Leaving this job for the tour would put his
family in a tough situation upon returning from tour. The other band members support
Tracy's decision.
The Stryper album
Murder By Pride will be released by Frontier Records in Europe, on August 28th.
September 22nd is
the release date for Live Life Loud, a new CD from Hawk Nelson. This studio
album was produced by Steve Wilson and it has twelve songs. Hawk Nelson also supports TOMS
Shoes. For every pair of shoes purchased via Hawk Nelson's website, another pair of shoes
will be donated to a child in Haiti. Check out this video about the band's involvement:
The Canadian rock 'n
roll metal band Blessed
By A Broken Heart is writing songs for their next album. They'll be locked in the
recording studio for five weeks to get some hits.
In late September Austian Death Machine
will release the double CD Double Brutal. Disc one contains newly written songs, Disc two
has covers from bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Agnostic Front,
Misfits and Goretorture. Guitarist, bassist, drummer and vocalist, Tim Lambesis (As
I Lay Dying frontman as well) says: "Most bands sit around in a rehearsal room for a
few years to put out a 10 song album and do a tour supporting that release. I've been a
busy touring with As I Lay Dying and traveled everywhere this year besides Antarctica, but
in the five minutes that I was home between tours I decided to put together a double disc
of Ahhnold inspired brutality called Double Brutal. Also, Ed Repka (the legend behind
the artwork for Megadeth) did an amazing job on this album cover."
Fuel Magazine is the official
magazine of Tooth & Nail and Solid State Records. You can download it online. Don't
forget to download the Fuel MP3 sampler as well, with music from bands like Underoath,
Thousand Foot Krutch, Oh, Sleeper, The Showdown, MxPx, Living Sacrifice, Haste The Day and
more. This stuff will only be available through September 18th.
The Devil Wears Prada has a new
video. It's for the song Danger: Wildman. The video was directed by Spence Nicholson
(Hollywood Undead, Taylor Hicks). The song is from the band's new album With Roots Above
And Branches Below which debuted in May at #11 on the Billboard Top 200 with over 32,000
copies sold in the first week. Since then the band have surpassed the 75,000 mark. The
band will be on the Warped Tour until August 23rd and have recently announced a full
European Tour in October and November.
Here's the video:
Martyrs Shrine is working
on new songs for their next album. The lyrics will be based on the Pacific War. The band
wants to have this record out in 2010.
The new Bride CD Tsar Bomba will be released in
September.
Thousand Foot Krutch
posted a new song called Forward Motion on myspace. This is a song from Welcome To The
Masquerade that will come out on September 8th.
Also Narnia uploaded material
to myspace. The songs Course Of A Generation and Scared can be listened to now. The album
Course Of A Generation will be released in Japan by SoundHolic on October 28th. Narnia has
also signed a deal for the USA as well. Details will be announced.
Disciple made a video for
Lay My Burdens. You can view it on Tangle.com.
A fan put it on youtube:
Coming up is the Destruction Fest in
London, UK. This festival will happen on October 24th. Booked so far are: A Hill to Die
Upon (USA death / black), Antidemon (Brasil death / grind), Back Pocket Prophet (UK metal
/ thrash / rock), Bloodwork (UK extreme metal), Conduit (UK progressive hardcore), More
Than Dust (UK metal), My Silent Wake (UK death / doom), Rising From Death (UK metalcore),
Solace The Day (Denmark hardcore), Xphere (UK rock / industrial). The venue for the
Destruction Fest is Rooz Studio, 2a Corsham St, Old Street, London N1. First band goes on
stage at 14.30!
From October 29th
through November 1st the annual Nordic
Fest will be held in Oslo, Norway. So far seven bands are booked: Becoming The
Archetype, Drottnar, A Hill To Die Upon, Eleos, In Grief, Solace The Day, Sáwol.
Friday
August 7th 2009
The Dutch band Docile is still working on
their next CD. After rewriting songs they've recorded drums and are now working on
guitars. Check out this video with impressions of the drum recording:
Difficult times for Rowe Productions. Due to illegal
downloading the Mortification home label is on the edge of collapse. Right now Steve Row
is working on a Christian rock project, but it's not certain how things will develop
financially. The 20th Anniversary Album will be available for pay download in early
February next year. But December/January is make or break time for Rowe Productions.
Interested in
downloading free music? Check out the Summer Slam samplers, including music from Everdown, Harmony, For
Today, Sleeping Giant, Venia, Theocracy and many more.
On August 4th Oh,
Sleeper released their new album Son Of The Morning. They put a few new songs on their myspace.com page. On
OutlawVideo.TV you can see an interview with singer Micah, explaining the meaning behind
Son Of The Morning:
Roxx Productions are working on an online radio show called Strictly Stryper. This new
monthly series is dedicated solely to Stryper. It features old songs, new songs, live
songs, rare songs, exclusive songs and songs from solo projects. Episode 1 will begin
airing September 5th on Almighty
Metal Radio and Blabber
Jesus Radio.
The metal element however is less prominent. But if that's not a problem
to you, you can get professional song writing and high quality melodic rock that could
fill arenas. Kerry Livgren fans... (read the full review)
Morphia - One Last Embrace DVD/CD (Dark Balance)
The song list represents the band well: From the heavier doom/death
songs to the lighter atmospheric stuff. And Morphia was a well-oiled machine at
Brainstorm, playing convincingly. The highlight of the concert... (read the
full review)
Templar - Dark Circus (Black Pope Music/ Youngside
Records)
Dark Circus proves this group can stand on their own feet. Though
there are guest vocals, Templar singer Toad does lead vocals in all songs. Musically a lot
has changed as well. Gone are the Saint... (read the
full review)
Stryper - Murder By Pride (Big 3 Records/ Frontiers
Records)
The trademark Stryper elements returned: harmonic vocals, interesting
guitar sounds and solos. One of the songs that stick out is... (read the
full review)
Conspiracy Of Thought - Nothing More Than Light (Independent/
Youngside Records)
Sometimes you hear something in the nu metal vein (Blowback). Sometimes
it's more along the lines of funky hard rock (The Plan), grunge (Genome) and even rapcore
(Missing). You can hear all kind of influences from... (read
the full review)
Narnia - Course Of A Generation (Massacre Records)
The melodic metal from Narnia has thrashy leanings in some songs, like
the opener Sail Around The World and especially the title track. There are also songs with
progressive... (read
the full review)
Coriolis - Coriolis (PsychoAcoustiX Records)
The guitar sound is quite good and some ideas are interesting, like the
whistling in Hypothetical Life. Occasionally Coriolis reminds of a lighter and less
impressive version of Rammstein, with... (read the full
review)
Luther-N - Dogmatics (Youngside Records)
If the first two minutes of an album are decisive when listening to it
in a store, hard music fans will stay away from this release. The combination with the
computer-made image will be enough to discourage any headbanger. First... (read the full
review)
Heel - Chaos And Greed (CM Sweden / Rivel
Records)
You can hear melodic metal with frequently repeated choruses. It's easy
accessible music that you can sing along to if you like. But at least it's not overdone...
(read
the full review)
Pain Remains - Identity (Bullroser Records)
Pain Remains is a melodic hardcore band from Finland. Most of the
songs display the two guitar approach: One guitarist plays the rhythm parts, the other the
melody. However... (read the
full review)
ReinXeed - Higher (CM Sweden/Rivel Records)
This is your thing when you appreciate uptempo music, with lots of
keyboards, fast guitar picking, harmonic vocals and occasionally high pitched singing.
Sometimes you hear a melody or a harmony that is faintly... (read the full
review)
Bridgeshadows - Pray For Rain (Independent /YoungSide
Records)
Gothic metal, rock, dance and electronic elements form a convincing
combination. The opening track Feedback is a good example of the bands power. Take the
chorus with its huge guitar... (read
the full review)
ManufraQture - In Spite (Independent /YoungSide Records)
The music of this group is a melting pot of different styles, but it
could be described as an industrial metal sound. In Spite has more variety than such a
description might suggest. For example, there's an amalgam of synthopop... (read the
full review)
Seldomly I've heard an independent release that sounded as professional
as this debut album from Honduras. Though the music is a bit softer than what I normally
review, this CD is worth mentioning. Codigo Eterno is a female fronted... (read
the full review)
Templar - Preaching To The Perverted (Black Pope
Music /YoungSide Records)
Better example of the band is Desolator. This track is one of the
highlights on Preaching To The Perverted with its raw vocals and impressive chorus that
will stick itself fast in your memory. Templar singer... (read
the full review)
Believer - Gabriel (Metal Blade Records)
First of all, Gabriel is clear evidence that the guys are still able to
pulling it off. Their three previous albums set the standard high with excellent and
technically challenging thrash metal. Dimensions... (read the full
review)
Callisto - Providence (Fullsteam Records)
Callisto still provides a very rousing and intense atmospheric rock
sound with frequent outbursts. Just listen to great songs like In Session, Statis and the
title track. It's not metalcore, nor extreme metal, but overwhelming... (read the
full review)
