Category: news

The guitarist has released two different live albums so far this year. Continue reading…

Heist, a prog-punk power trio from Cincinnati, Ohio, is led by the pyrotechnic guitar playing of Michael Ragan

Eight songs you need to hear right now, from the Rolling Stones, Stanley Simmons, Joanne Shaw Taylor and more

Lyrre combines the organic sound of the hurdy-gurdy with metal riffs and clean vocals. The band’s music oscillates

(We begin a new week at NCS with DGR’s review of the debut album from the Swiss band Apolaustic, which is out now on Transcending Obscurity Records.) Often when a band splits with a long-tenured vocalist it can feel like the group have hard-capped themselves at about eighty percent of their potential. While the reasons […]

The post APOLAUSTIC: “NO PLENITUDE WITHOUT SUFFERING” appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

The Budapest-based extreme groove metal pioneers, Omega Diatribe will kick off their summer tour covering five countries over

Amon Amarth’s towering frontman opens up on his life, career and whatever else we can squeeze into a cup of coffee

Joe Strummer never stopped being Joe Strummer. Long after the Clash, long after the revolution was supposed to have been televised and filed away, he kept showing up — in dive bars, on festival stages, at record stores in lower Manhattan — still swinging. This 2001 clip finds him in a New York record store […]

Here are the new releases for May 10th to 16th. Releases reflect proposed North American scheduling, if available.

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Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/9/26 – 5/16/26

Tyrannus — Mournhold | True Cult Records | Death Metal + Thrash Metal + Black Metal | United Kingdom (Scotland)

From Colin Dempsey’s track premiere of “Reignfall”:

Tyrannus inhabit the no man’s land between thrash metal, death metal, and black metal, packing a punch while eluding genre conventions. The miasma they cultivate is pungent, but on their new single “ Reignfall,” they cut through it for a more direct method. That’s usually the best one for offense.

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Junon — The Golden Citadel of the Astral Sphere | I, Voidhanger Records | Black Metal | Germany

The patented I, Voidhammer oddity is present on Junon’s debut album, crossing into avant-garde territory on occasion. That being said, The Golden Citadel of the Astral Sphere is just as much an art school experiment as it is a recognizable black metal record, replete with frosty, Finnish melodies. It’s an unsettling pairing for sure, with the experimental leanings giving the album its character.

–Colin Dempsey

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Ara — Hohe Tannen | Into Endless Chaos Records | Black Metal | Austria (Vienna)

What distinguishes Hohe Tannen are its brighter melodies and tones that, nonetheless, feel dangerous. It’s evident that Ara aren’t from Scandinavia. There’s too much heat and not enough loneliness here, designating Ara’s second record as distinct but not unfamiliar.

–Colin Dempsey

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Atavistia — Old Gods Awaken | Independent | Melodic Death Metal + Folk Metal | Canada (Vancouver, BC)

Folk metal’s heyday is long past, but Atavistia is one of the better newer bands trying to keep that sound alive. Armed with razor sharp vocals, galloping rhythms, and orchestrations that recall the best of Finnish melodic death metal, Old Gods Awaken is an absolute blast to listen to. It’s the band’s folkiest album yet, infusing their trademark melodic death metal sound with the kind of bouncy fun that you get with Ensiferum or Finntroll. The old gods are indeed awakening.

–Kevin Zecchel

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Crown Lands — Apocalypse | InsideOut Music | Progressive Rock + Progressive Metal | Canada (Oshawa, ON)

It’s pretty much impossible to talk about Crown Lands without comparing them to Rush. While they are definitely influenced by the godfathers of prog metal (all eras, not just the 70s albums), they also draw inspiration from a wide range of sources, blending them into a high-energy, science fiction-themed package. Apocalypse is the band’s third full-length album and it sees them at their most ambitious yet. Their arrangements are more complex and full of interesting ornamentations than in the past. Songs like “Through the Looking Glass” are heartfelt melodic pieces that come closer to Led Zeppelin at their proggiest, whereas “Blackstar” shows off some fantastic bassline flourishes. Meanwhile, the title track is a side-long epic that closes out the album fantastically. Apocalypse takes a few listens to get everything out of it, but is immensely rewarding once you start digging.

–Kevin Zecchel

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Jungle Rot — Cruel Face of War | Unique Leader Records | Death Metal | United States (Wisconsin)

Grizzled Midwestern death dealers Jungle Rot will soon reveal the Cruel Face of War to an eager global metal underground. This grimy new salvo, the band’s second on California’s brutal Unique Leader imprint, is built upon “crushing grooves and violent hooks,” according to the Rot’s head honcho, Dave Matrise. This neckwrecking blueprint is clearly evident on “Maniacal,” an old school M.O.D. style mosh tempo beatdown fed by a relentless cyclonic swirl of pummeling double bass courtesy of powerful sticksman Spenser Syphers, while “Apocalyptic Dawn” and “Cruel Face of War” are a double-shot of raging, guns-blazing 90-proof hardcore tinged American death metal, just the way the elders intended.

–Dennis J. Seese

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GOZU — VI | Metal Blade Records | Hard Rock | United States (Boston, MA)

VI is the latest slab of “heavy soulful rock” to emanate from veteran Bostonian riff merchants, GOZU. The stakes for this record are high, as the band sought to create “something that really moved and hit a nerve,” according to guitarist and vocalist Marc Gaffney, who in turn challenged himself to “write music differently.” The results can be heard on tracks like “Banacek,” a barnstorming hook-laden monster, which Gaffney says owes a debt to both Iron Maiden and cult 90’s power-pop crew, Jellyfish. Influences loom large upon GOZU, as the Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, Pete Townsend, Queens of the Stone Age, Queen and “Motown harmonies” are all cited within the group’s commentary on VI’s aural lineage. The QOTSA influence is most apparent in the smothering desert rock guitar tone and overall Welcome to Sky Valley vibes manifested by album opener “Corinthian Leatherface.” Mere inspiration blurs into awkward imitation elsewhere as I don’t think neither Matt Pike nor Giorgio Moroder will appreciate how closely the main riff in “Midnight Express” echoes the pulse of High on Fire’s iconic “10,000 Years.” Ultimately, VI is comprised mostly of bruising, contagious FM radio ready (does this still exist?) hard rock songs saturated with buzzing Big Muff riffs, major hooks and massive production courtesy of Benny Grotto.

–Dennis J. Seese

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The Beastie Boys and FBI Director Kash Patel have both been in the news lately — the Beasties because of Mike D’s solo single and tour, Patel for obvious and depressing reasons. You will not be surprised that something incredibly stupid now unites the two of them — a social-media video, posted by Patel, that seemingly uses AI to rip off the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” video.

The post Now Kash Patel’s Ripping Off The Beastie Boys appeared first on Stereogum.