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Hardcore Superstar has signed with Frontiers Music SRL, kicking off the new partnership with the release of the Swedish hard rock band’s brand-new single, “Halo.” The signing marks the beginning of a new chapter for one of Scandinavia’s most enduring rock acts, arriving just days before the band launches its Scandinavian Dirty Halo tour on Oct. 2.

The band commented: “We’re really excited to start this new chapter with Frontiers. After all these years, we’re still just as hungry to make great records, play loud and push Hardcore Superstar forward.

“We feel Frontiers understands where we come from, but more importantly, where we want to go next. There’s a lot of new music coming and we can’t wait to get it out there.”

Aldo Lonobile, VP of global A&R at the Frontiers label group, stated: “Being a fan of the band for many years, I am particularly excited to welcome Hardcore Superstar to Frontiers! They have built an incredible legacy, but I truly believe they still have a lot to say and many more chapters to write. We’re excited to be the right partner for their next steps and to support their vision as they enter this new chapter.”

Built on heavy riffs, attitude and a chorus made for the live stage, “Halo” revels in the turmoil between chaos and redemption. The band described the single: “‘Halo’ is an anthem for people faking their prayers in the hope of securing a little grace under their ‘Dirty Halo.’ It’s about that distorted line that lies somewhere between praying for redemption and embracing the chaos — the sins, mistakes and bad decisions you can’t take back.”

The band added on returning to the road: “We are excited to be back on the road for this long-awaited tour. We love the chaos, the crowds, the late nights and the connection with the fans. This tour is going to be something special.”

Alongside preparations for the tour, Hardcore Superstar is currently in the studio working on the follow-up to Abrakadabra. The upcoming release will also mark the first recording to feature new drummer Efraim Larsson (Gathering of Kings, Masterplan). Hardcore Superstar has also gained visibility in recent years through multiple song placements in the HBO Max series Peacemaker, created by James Gunn.

For more information about dates and to get tickets, click here.

Hardcore Superstar is: Joakim “Jocke” Berg (vocals), Martin Sandvik (bass), Vic Zino (guitar), Efraim Larsson (drums).

The post HARDCORE SUPERSTAR Signs With FRONTIERS MUSIC SRL & Releases New Single “Halo” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge is reportedly recording a new death metal project.

Reports from multiple friends and collaborators suggest that the Swedish singer/multi-instrumentalist, who founded Ghost and performs as their masked frontman Papa V Perpetua, is in the studio working on something more extreme than his main band’s fare.

Speculation started in June, when Swedish drummer Johan Koleberg – who’s played in Hammerfall, Therion and other heavy metal bands – took to social media and said that he was helping Forge prepare drums for a new project.

“Helping out Mr Tobias Forge to tune these fine drums for his new project for the next couple of weeks,” Koleberg wrote, accompanied by a picture of a mic’d-up drum kit.

Another report emerged in July, when Digby Pearson, the head of UK rock and heavy metal label Earache Records, appeared on the Temple Of Bleh podcast. During the interview, Pearson recalled his attempts to sign Ghost before they blew up in the mid-2010s; even though Earache didn’t get the band at the time, he says that they’ve just “got the connected-to-Ghost death metal band” and that “apparently, he’s [Tobias] doing a death metal album, as well”.

Now, another hint has come from Joey Tempest, the lead singer of Swedish rockers Europe. Tempest – whose band got Forge to handle backing vocals on their album Come This Madness, out today (Friday, September 25) – tells Planet Rock “I don’t know [Forge’s] Ghost plans”. However, he adds: “I know he’s sitting in his studio again and no one is allowed in … he’s doing something!”

Although Forge switching from Ghost’s hard rock hit-making to savage death metal may seem like a leap, the 45-year-old has an extensive history in heavier music. From 1998 to 2004, under the pseudonym ‘Mary Goore’, he was the frontman of death metal outfit Repugnant. Their sole album, Epitome Of Darkness, came out in 2006: the same year that Forge formed Ghost.

Forge told Metal Hammer in 2023 that Repugnant’s split “broke my heart”. “I wanted us to be signed to Roadrunner and support Slayer,” he said. “That never happened, unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately, as it kept me grounded for a few more years and if those things had happened maybe I wouldn’t be here today.”

Talking to Loudwire, he admitted that he didn’t “know if [Repugnant] were good enough” to find success.

“Now, knowing a lot of the things that are required, how many stars that need to align and all the decisions you have to make, I can definitely look back on myself as a 21-year-old and quickly see why I didn’t achieve that with Repugnant. I wasn’t mature. I wasn’t thinking. I wasn’t there yet.”

Forge reformed Repugnant in 2010 and hoped to record a second album with the band, tentatively titled Toxic Contagion. However, the reunion was short-lived and new music never materialised. The singer has ruled out making death metal with Ghost but told Loudwire that he was “still chasing” his longtime passion for the genre.

“I still get the same kick out of things that I liked as an 11 or 12-year-old, when I really started listening to that and when death metal was this really dangerous animal that you can just go to this one store to find,” he explained.

Ghost, one of the biggest rock bands in the world, went on hiatus in February, following the conclusion of their Skeletour world tour. Forge told Kerrang! that he was “exhausted” after completing the trek.

Metal Hammer has contacted Ghost’s representatives and asked Forge to comment on the rumours of a new death metal pursuit.

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It could arrive in early 2027 once a release platform is secured

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Goth rock icons The 69 Eyes are thrilled to unveil their new single “Brandon Lee (Forma Acustica)”, out now via BLKIIBLK.  Originally featured on “Blessed Be”, the song was first released in 2000 and became an international success for the band. Its title refers to the late American actor Brandon Lee, who played the lead… Continue Reading →

beabadoobee has hit the top of the UK Albums Chart once more with her new album, celebrating emo and alt-rock in abundance.

The album features contributions from everyone from Deftones’ Chino Moreno and The 1975’s Matty Healy and George Daniels, to vocal features from Turnstile’s Brendan Yates and Hayley Williams. It was co-produced by the legendary Rick Rubin and has writing credits from Title Fight’s Shane Moran. Basically, it is a who’s who of alternative brilliance.

And the result is sensational. Fuzzy, intimate, beautifully considered and celebratory in all the right ways, it’s a record that already feels timeless.

And in rising to the top of the charts, according to the Official Charts Company, it follows on from 2024’s ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’, which also debuted that high.

She’s electric! beabadoobee secures her second consecutive Number 1 album with Pylon 🔌⚡ https://t.co/XGmQfibqXX

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) September 25, 2026

And to celebrate, here is the video for ‘Write Me A Letter’:

The post beabadoobee Secures UK No.01 Album With ‘Pylon’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

Raw, loud, and unapologetic — “Halo” shows Hardcore Superstar at their most direct. Driven by heavy riffs, plenty of attitude, and a chorus built for the live stage, the song thrives in the tension between chaos and redemption. Bitter truths, wine-soaked resentment, and prayers that ring hollow all collide along the way. The band describes… Continue Reading →

Back in the great SoundCloud-rap wave of the ’10s, the West Palm Beach weirdo Ghostemane emerged with a messy and fascinating style that combined that moment’s underground rap, and its ’90s Memphis origins, with metal, hardcore, goth, and industrial. Ghostemane had a strange and prolific run, but he largely disappeared following the release of 2020’s Anti-Icon, his most recent LP. But now he’s coming back with a new album, just in time for Halloween.

The post Ghostemane Announces New Album <em>AM:FM</em>: Hear “BucketList” appeared first on Stereogum.

Clutch has announced their fourteenth studio album, Wasted Lands, set for release Jan. 22, 2027 via the band’s own Weathermaker Music. The band has also shared the title track, “Wasted Lands,” along with its official music video — the first studio album from the Maryland quartet since 2022’s Sunrise On Slaughter Beach.

Wasted Lands was produced by Gene “Machine” Freeman (Lamb of God, Kyng), marking Clutch’s first collaboration with Freeman since 2015’s Psychic Warfare, following previous partnerships on Pure Rock Fury, Blast Tyrant, Earth Rocker and Psychic Warfare. The album was written and recorded at Doom Saloon, the band’s longtime rehearsal space in Frederick, Maryland. Among the album’s firsts: “Beware The Fever” marks the introduction of banjo on a Clutch record, using a rough demo played by Neil Fallon and captured by Jean-Paul Gaster during a writing session — despite several attempts to re-record it, the original performance is what ended up on the record.

Regarding the inspiration behind the title track, Fallon shares: “The inspiration for the lyrics in ‘Wasted Lands’ came about when it was brought to my attention that someone had been dragging my name on Facebook (weird, right?). Apparently, I had reneged on a free t-shirt and dinner. I think it was a prize in a pay to play contest. Not to overstate the obvious, but it was a load of horse hockey.

“Many people tried to explain to this person that it was not me and that they had been hustled. But they simply would not believe it. So I thought, screw it, no half-measures. You want a monster? Let’s give you one.”

Drummer Gaster shares a note on a defining detail within the track: “There’s a part where Neil says, ‘Vegetable, mineral, man, or beast.’ And I put a bass drum on, ‘man or beast,’ and Machine thought that was kind of weird. He was like, ‘Man, you’re covering up the vocal!’

“And I said, ‘No, that bass drum is gonna make the crowd go nuts, I guarantee it.’ And it does, because there’s nothing more exciting than having a big bass drum slam through a PA, and Neil singing a vocal on top of it. I mean, I get goosebumps from that, you know?”

Clutch share: “Exploded monuments, haunted coal towns, robber barons, time cops, a chestburster, fifteen tons of antimatter and a creature called Neil Patrick Fallon. ‘Wasted Lands’ came from one clear intention: write a great rock record that will make fans go nuts when they hear these songs live, while leaving enough space in the creative process to follow the unexpected turns that keep Clutch exciting to us and our fans after thirty-five years together.”

In support of the album, Clutch will head out on a 16-date U.S. headline tour beginning Oct. 16 at The Fillmore Charlotte and wrapping Nov. 7 at The NorVa in Norfolk, Virginia, with support from Slomosa and Blood Vulture. The band will then launch its global Wasted Lands tour in Australia starting Jan. 23, 2027, the day after the album drops, with support from Corrosion of Conformity, running through Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Clutch is: Neil Fallon (vocals), Jean-Paul Gaster (drums), Dan Maines (bass), Tim Sult (guitar).

The post CLUTCH Announces Fourteenth Studio Album “Wasted Lands” & Shares Music Video For Title Track appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

The first single from their upcoming album ‘Scorn Eternal’

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“Upperhand” draws from the eerie, paranormal world of the game, turning the tension of CONTROL Resonant into a dark, cinematic metal anthem. Apocalyptica’s melancholic cellos and thunderous rhythms meet the distinctive vocals of Katrine Stenbekk (Kalandra), creating a track that feels equally at home on a movie soundtrack or a concert stage. Here is the… Continue Reading →