Category: news

Their sophomore album “Manslayer” will follow this Friday.

The post BRAT’s Bloody “Speculum Bleed” Music Video Debuts appeared first on Theprp.com.

HELLOWEEN brought their world tour to a close on Saturday with a wildly acclaimed show at the sold-out Suhai venue in São Paulo.

Under the banner of their “40 Years Anniversary”,  this German power metal institution thrilled fans across the globe, from major arenas in Europe, North America, and Asia to Latin America, complemented by appearances at Europe’s most significant summer festivals in 2026.

The tour was far more than just a series of high-energy concerts: HELLOWEEN took fans on a musical journey through 40 years of band history. Featuring a setlist that spanned everything from early, defining tracks and all the fan favorites to brand-new material from their current album Giants & Monsters, the show combined hits from every era, delighting fans across generations.

Visually, too, the show set new benchmarks, elevating the standard of modern metal productions. The elaborate stage show, combined massive screens, spectacular lighting and video effects, pyrotechnics, and a carefully especially crafted production design into a comprehensive audiovisual experience that underscored the music and showcased the band members in impressive fashion.

HELLOWEEN played in sold-out arenas before tens of thousands of fans, including the largest headlining show in the band’s history in Mexico City and the O2 Arena in Prague and captivated international audiences on major European festival stages. In total, the world tour took the band through 28 countries across three continents, reaching an audience of over one million people.

From the tour’s kickoff in Europe to the final concerts in Latin America, HELLOWEEN’s extraordinary enduring appeal was once again evident: songs like “Eagle Fly Free,” “Future World,” “Dr. Stein,” and “I Want Out” have made history and are essential parts of the metal soundtrack.

The “40 Years Anniversary” tour concludes with the concert in São Paulo. However, HELLOWEEN’s journey is far from over! The story of this exceptional septet is far from fully told, and major festivals for the summer of 2027 are already booked!

First dates and many more to come:
 
10 JUN — CZ-Plzeň — Metalfest
 
24 JUN — NO-Oslo — Tons of Rock
 
4 JUL — ES-Cartagena — Rock Imperium Festival VI
 
29 JUL — DE-Wacken — Wacken Open Air
 
6 AUG — DE-Neu-Ulm — Wiley Sportpark
 
7 AUG — DE-Loreley — Freilichtbühne
 
22 AUG — FR-Carhaix — Motocultor Festival

Watch/listen- HELLOWEEN “A Little Is A Little Too Much” here: https://youtu.be/8wcT6IkMOdw

L-R:
Dani Löble (drums), Michael Weikath (guitars), Markus Grosskopf (bass),
Michael Kiske (vocals), Sascha Gerstner (guitars), Andi Deris (vocals),
Kai Hansen (guitars, vocals)

More on HELLOWEEN:
helloween.org | Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music | RPM

Source: C Squared Music

New York alt-metal mainstays Prong are making their Napalm Records debut, and they’re doing it loud. New single “Fear The Sun” leans into the band’s hometown roots, the kind of track built to spark pit chaos straight out of the old CBGB playbook, backed by frontman Tommy Victor‘s sharp, biting pen.

Breaking down “Fear The Sun,” Victor explains, “I think we went back into time on this song. It’s a modernized version of the groove metal basics Prong laid a foundation for back with ‘Beg To Differ’. Lyrically ‘Fear The Sun’ reflects upon living with no seasonal changes, metaphorically.”

Closing in on four decades in the game, Prong has stayed a fixture on the touring circuit, hitting stages at heavyweight festivals like Wacken Open Air, Alcatraz and Brutal Assault, and stacking up a catalog that’s stayed in rotation across TV, radio and streaming for the better part of its run.

The upcoming record, Prong, packs 11 tracks that lean into the band’s full range, pulling from industrial, thrash, alternative rock and classic New York hardcore.

Victor previously called it a landmark effort, saying: “This could be the best Prong album to date. It’s definitely the best-sounding Prong album ever, with the incredible Andy Sneap mixing and mastering it! This record represents a new lease on life for Prong with a new label, a fresh attitude with faster and heavier songs, bigger hooks and top-notch sound quality. That’s why it’s self-titled; it’s a redefining episode for Prong!”

Of everything that came out of CBGB’s storied scene, Prong stands alone. The band formed during the club’s late-’80s resurgence, running alongside hardcore staples like Gorilla Biscuits, Madball, Sick Of It All and Biohazard, but carved out its own identity through melodic instincts on early records like Beg To Differ (1990) and Cleansing (1994), which turned the band into regulars on MTV Headbangers Ball. That mix of New York hardcore grit, addictive grooves and industrial texture would go on to influence groove metal, industrial metal and crossover thrash for years afterward.

Prong leans fully into that history. Opener “The Banner” moves from thrash-heavy sections into full, melodic choruses before “New Commission” cranks the intensity up further still. “The Uprising” brings back the band’s industrial leanings, layering gritty synths over a driving two-step groove, and “Uncertain Truth” shows off the band’s softer melodic side with a genuinely sweet hook. Then “Fear The Sun” hits like a gut punch, tailor-made for classic New York hardcore pit chaos. Victor‘s guitar and vocal work take center stage on “Proportionate Response,” a slow-burning call for justice, before “Simulated Drowning” kicks the pace back into high gear. Closer “Our Continuance” ends things on a heavy note, all discordant breakdowns and a methodical, crushing pulse, tied off with a soaring chorus and swelling synths.

Andy Sneap handled mixing and mastering at Backstage Studios, giving the record a tight, punchy finish, while Victor‘s lyrics stay confrontational throughout, digging into questions of truth, self-limitation and altruism. Bold, purposeful and melodically sharp, Prong stands as a fitting tribute to the band’s staying power.

On lead single “The Banner,” Victor had this to say: “We are unbelievably excited to share the first single, ‘The Banner’, from our upcoming self-titled record. Andy Sneap‘s mix and master is absolutely blistering and ferocious. This is just the beginning and we hope you enjoy it.”

The album will be available across a range of formats, including a Black LP, Inkspot Cristallo/Red LP, White Label LP, digital release, and a CD featuring both bonus cuts, “Out Of Body” and a cover of Bananarama‘s classic “Cruel Summer.” Two cap bundles — one tied to the CD, one to the LP — round out the offerings.

Prong is available to pre-order here.

The post PRONG Returns With Punishing New Single “Fear The Sun” Off Self-Titled Album appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Tommy Victor likens it to a modernized version of the “Beg To Differ” era.

The post Prong’s New Song “Fear The Sun” Is Now Streaming appeared first on Theprp.com.

REVIEW BY DAVID TAYLOR AND PHOTOS BY PAM WHISENHUNT | Go Venue Magazine

On Sunday, September 20, 2026, thousands of people packed the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa to see two legends of 2000s modern rock, Breaking Benjamin and Chevelle, performed their extensive catalog of songs. Both bands have not played this venue since 2007, so it was a throwback for the ages. It was also nice to see a concert back at the MAC since my last one there was in October of 2016. Couldn’t ask for a better night for live music.

Kami Kehoe from Los Angeles opened the show. She came all the way from the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, KY, which was quite a drive, so it was kinda a rush for her to set the equipment on stage. But they showed up to warm the crowd up and that’s what they did. Turns out, she is also a drummer and was excellent behind the kit. I’m always here for more women in rock music and I’m glad to see that continue. There is a ton of potential for her and getting to open up for a band like Breaking Benjamin is one of those stepping stones of making it big. Be sure to check out her latest album, Love is a Weapon.

Starset was up next. This was my fifth time seeing these guys, but it hasn’t been since 2018 and I feel like so much has changed for the group. I love that the band still wears astronaut costumes. They leveled up production, added a member or two, singer Dustin Bates was in a box for the first couple of songs. It was incredible. The crowd was really impressed. They deserve to headline arenas. I hope with their upcoming album, they can fulfill that dream because their production deserves it. Dustin Bates continues to sound incredible vocally, singing and screaming. Towards the end of the set while shouting out the acts on the tour, he jokingly said, “Make some noise for 311!” He also kept calling the crowd “Omaha”, which you got to love. It sounds like a new album is coming soon, led by singles, “Paradoxic” and “Annihilation”, so keep an eye for that.

Chevelle was the direct support for the night. This was my fourth time seeing them live, but my first seeing them in an arena. And they crushed it. They were so tight rhythmically. The audience was so enthusiastic for them, hearing loud cheers when Pete Loeffler would break into a guitar solo. Just hearing those older songs like “The Clincher” or “Send the Pain Below” transported me to when they played here in 2007. It must have been the same feeling nearly twenty years ago. I’m so glad I got to see them in an arena this time around because it’s much better than seeing them play in a smaller sized venue because of the thick heavy sound they produce. Check out their latest album that came out last year, Bright as Blasphemy.  

Breaking Benjamin was ready to melt the crowd’s faces. This was my eighth time seeing them and they never disappoint. They had this opening video of a Microsoft desktop opening up LimeWire and downloading Breaking Benjamin songs and then eventually getting a virus. It was pretty amusing and fun. The band just nails every note they play. The crowd was so loud, singing all the lyrics to their big songs. I was curious about their new drummer, Brian Medeiros, but he crushed it behind the kit. Benjamin Burnely, who had a great vocal performance, was very appreciative of the fans, saying they’re lifeblood of the band. They seem to love what they do and I’m glad to see them play at this level. I really hope we get that seventh album very soon. And I think Mid-America Center should host more concerts. It was a good test run and let’s keep on bringing more acts to fill that arena.

Breaking Benjamin

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com]

Chevelle

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com]

Starset

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com]

Kami Kehoe

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com] All images © Pam Whisenhunt

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The post Breaking Benjamin and Chevelle Rocked the MAC as Co-headliners, Delivering an Unforgettable Show appeared first on Go Venue Magazine.

The very name “Primitive Blast” implies a brief but explosive existence. You probably don’t pick that band name if you expect to last a long time. The Australian hardcore crew Primitive Blast has been around for more than a decade, which would seemingly undercut that band name. But Primitive Blast still play like a band called Primitive Blast; it’s hard to imagine two better words to describe their new EP D.I.D.

The post Primitive Blast Return With Sick New EP <em>D.I.D.</em> appeared first on Stereogum.

Iron Maiden’s 80s albums are seven records, from the 1980 debut to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in 1988, and this ranking judges them on one thing: the stories. The riffs, the chart positions and which one you’d put on first are all left at the door. What counts is how well each record tells a story, whether it’s a Poe murder, a doomed cavalry charge or a man cursed with second sight. Two singers, one songwriter at the wheel, and a band that turned heavy metal into a library. The record with the 13-minute Coleridge epic isn’t at the top, and I’ll show you why.

Loaded Radio Also Recommends – The Definitive Iron Maiden Albums Ranked: The Loaded Radio List That Settles the Debate Once and For All

How This Ranking Is Different

If you want to know which Maiden album is the best overall, that’s our full ranking of all 17 Iron Maiden studio albums, and it weighs songs, sound and impact. This page asks a narrower question. Which 80s Maiden record tells the best story?

That changes the order, sometimes a lot. A record can be packed with great songs and still be a pile of short stories with nothing tying them together. A record can also have a weaker single or two and still hold together from the first note to the last.

The criteria, in order:

1. The narratives themselves. Do the songs tell stories with a beginning, a middle and a consequence, or do they just set a mood?
2. The sources. How far does the band reach into books, film, history and myth, and what do they do with what they find?
3. Point of view. Does the song put you inside a character’s head, or does it describe from a distance?
4. Cohesion. Does the album work as one piece, or is it an anthology?

Cohesion is what decides the top two. Keep that in mind.

#7: Iron Maiden (1980)

The debut is a street-level record. Paul Di’Anno sings like a man who’s just been thrown out of a pub, and the lyrics mostly stay at that eye level. ‘Prowler’, ‘Charlotte the Harlot’, ‘Running Free’ and ‘Sanctuary’ (on the American edition) are character sketches and snapshots of East London nights. They’re great punk-fuelled metal songs, but they aren’t stories.

The exception tells you where the band was headed. ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is seven minutes long, borrows its title and its haunted figure from Gaston Leroux, and changes direction more times than anything else on the record. It’s the first time you can hear Steve Harris thinking like a writer.

There’s plenty more on how the first two albums came together, and the Di’Anno era deserves its own respect. On storytelling, though, this is the sketchbook.

#6: Killers (1981)

Killers is where the library card comes out.

‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ takes Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 story, generally credited as the first modern detective story, and drops it into a two-guitar gallop. The narrator stumbles on the bodies, gets mistaken for the killer and goes on the run. That’s a full plot in under four and a half minutes. ‘Genghis Khan’ turns history into an instrumental charge. The title track is sung from inside a killer’s head, which is a point-of-view trick the band would keep using for the rest of the decade.

The rest is still rooted in the debut’s world: ‘Wrathchild’, ‘Purgatory’, ‘Drifter’. The Poe song is the spark. The fire comes a year later.

#5: The Number of the Beast (1982)

Bruce Dickinson arrives and the scale changes overnight. Where Di’Anno snarled, Dickinson plays a part, and suddenly Harris could write characters who needed an actor.

The title track opens with Barry Clayton reading from the Book of Revelation, and it came from a nightmare Harris had after watching Damien: Omen II. ‘Run to the Hills’ tells the story of the colonisation of America from both sides, first the Native Americans and then the cavalry. ‘Children of the Damned’ comes from the British horror film of the same name. ‘The Prisoner’ opens with dialogue from the Patrick McGoohan TV series. It uses the same idea of a man refusing to be a number.

Then there’s ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’. A condemned man counts down his last hours in a cell and walks to the gallows. It’s seven minutes of fear, bargaining and defiance sung in the first person, and it’s the best first-person narrative in metal. I’ve never heard anything that beats it.

So why fifth? Because the album is a short-story collection with a filler problem. ‘Gangland’ and ‘Invaders’ don’t belong in the same book as ‘Hallowed’. The peaks are the highest on this list, but the valleys cost it. The satanic panic the record set off is its own story, and Dickinson has explained why the band leaned on the imagery.

#4: Somewhere in Time (1986)

After the World Slavery Tour nearly broke them, Maiden went inward. Somewhere in Time swapped history books for philosophy and science fiction. It’s their most cerebral record, and it sounds like it. Guitar synths and bass synths gave it a gleam nothing before it had.

The stories are quieter but sharper. ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ shares a title with Heinlein’s novel but has nothing to do with it. Adrian Smith built it from a conversation with an explorer about finding the frozen dead of the Franklin Expedition. It’s a man preserved in ice for a century, which is haunting when you know where it came from. ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ takes its title from Alan Sillitoe’s 1959 story. ‘Alexander the Great’ is Harris doing a history lesson at eight and a half minutes. The band didn’t play it live until 2023.

‘Wasted Years’ is the heart of it: a song about being homesick while living the dream, told by someone who’s lived it. It’s thoughtful and consistent, but it’s more about ideas than stories. That’s why it sits here and not higher.

#3: Piece of Mind (1983)

Piece of Mind is the reading list. No Maiden album before or since pulls from as many sources, and it does it with Nicko McBrain behind the kit for the first time.

• ‘Where Eagles Dare’ comes straight from the 1968 war film.
• ‘Flight of Icarus’ retells the Greek myth, and Dickinson and Smith turned it into a story about the old sending the young to their deaths.
• ‘Revelations’ opens with a verse from G.K. Chesterton’s hymn ‘O God of Earth and Altar’.
• ‘The Trooper’ is the Charge of the Light Brigade from inside the saddle, taking its lead from Tennyson’s poem about Balaclava in 1854.
• ‘Quest for Fire’ takes its title from the 1981 film.
• ‘Sun and Steel’ draws on the samurai Miyamoto Musashi and borrows its title from Yukio Mishima.
• ‘To Tame a Land’ is Frank Herbert’s Dune in seven minutes. The band wanted to call it ‘Dune’. Herbert’s agent refused and reportedly said the author didn’t like rock bands, “particularly heavy rock bands, and especially bands like Iron Maiden.”

‘The Trooper’ is the story everyone knows. You’re on the horse, the guns are ahead, and the gallop in the music is the gallop of the charge. Few metal songs put you inside history that directly.

It sits third because it’s a library, not a novel. Every book on the shelf is great, but they’re all different books.

#2: Powerslave (1984)

This is where the storytelling ambition hits its ceiling. Powerslave is a masterpiece, and on most days I’d call it the best record the band ever made.

‘Aces High’ puts you in an RAF fighter cockpit during the Battle of Britain. ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’ takes its title from the Doomsday Clock and makes the arms race sound like a horror film. ‘The Duellists’ comes from Ridley Scott’s 1977 film about two officers fighting the same duel for years. ‘Back in the Village’ returns to The Prisoner. The title track is sung by a dying pharaoh who realises his godhood won’t save him.

Then ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ closes the record: thirteen minutes and forty-five seconds of Coleridge’s 1798 poem. Harris quotes the poem directly, lets the ship stall in the middle section with the creaking-timbers breakdown, and brings it home. It’s the most ambitious single piece of storytelling Maiden recorded in the decade.

But it’s one epic at the end of an anthology. Powerslave is the best collection of stories the band ever put out. The record at number one is the only one that’s a single story.

#1: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)

Steve Harris had no title and no ideas for the band’s seventh album. Then he read Orson Scott Card’s novel Seventh Son. A seventh album, a seventh son and folklore saying the seventh son of a seventh son is born with the gift of second sight: the concept arrived whole.

The album follows that child from birth to the gift to the curse of it. He sees what’s coming and nobody listens. ‘Moonchild’ opens the story with the birth, and shares its title with Aleister Crowley’s novel. ‘Infinite Dreams’ is the terror of the visions arriving. ‘The Evil That Men Do’ borrows its title from Mark Antony’s speech in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The ten-minute title track is the prophecy made flesh. ‘The Prophecy’ and ‘The Clairvoyant’ are the warning that goes unheard and the price of seeing too much. ‘Only the Good Die Young’ closes the circle and lands back on the same words that opened the album.

Dickinson later called it “only half a concept album”, and he’s not wrong. The plot isn’t spelled out line by line. But it’s the only 80s Maiden record where every song belongs to the same world, and where running the tracks out of order breaks something. Keyboards moved to the front, the production went widescreen, and it went straight to number one in the UK.

It’s the one Maiden album of the decade built to be heard start to finish, like a book read cover to cover. That’s why it’s first.

Check This Out – The Other Iron Maiden: Why the Paul Di’Anno Albums Were a Different Band (And Why That’s Perfect)

Every 80s Iron Maiden Song Based On A Book, Film, Poem Or Real Event

This is the reading and viewing list behind the decade: every song with a documented source, in album order.

Twenty-five songs in nine years. That’s why the bands Maiden were measured against at the time sounded like they’d never opened a book. There’s a whole side of Dickinson that explains where some of this came from: the fencer, the pilot, the history graduate. He’s also named the Maiden song he thinks is most underrated.

The Full Ranking

1. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
2. Powerslave (1984)
3. Piece of Mind (1983)
4. Somewhere in Time (1986)
5. The Number of the Beast (1982)
6. Killers (1981)
7. Iron Maiden (1980)

For the order judged on everything, not just the stories, see every Iron Maiden album ranked worst to best.

TL;DR

• Iron Maiden released seven studio albums in the 1980s, from Iron Maiden (1980) to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988).
• This ranking judges them on storytelling alone: the narratives, the sources, the point of view and whether the album holds together.
• Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is first because it’s the only one built as a single story. Powerslave is second because it’s an anthology with ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ at the end.
• Piece of Mind draws on the most sources: Dune, Tennyson, Chesterton, Mishima, Greek myth and war films.
• 25 songs on Maiden’s 80s albums are based on a book, film, poem or real event.

FAQ

Which 80s Maiden record tells the best story in your book: Seventh Son, or does Powerslave’s closer beat the lot? Tell us your order in the comments. Follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post Best Iron Maiden 80s Albums: Ranking the Lyrical Storytelling From ‘Iron Maiden’ to ‘Seventh Son’ appeared first on Loaded Radio.

The third single from “Anemoia” is here.

The post Northlane Premiere New Single “Crucified” appeared first on Theprp.com.

KENYON RECORDS ANNOUNCES THE DEFINITIVE DELUXE REISSUE OF THE DANGEROUS TOYS 1989 CLASSIC DEBUT ALBUM Original producer Max Norman (Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth) returns to remaster […]

The post KENYON RECORDS ANNOUNCES THE DEFINITIVE DELUXE REISSUE OF THE DANGEROUS TOYS 1989 CLASSIC DEBUT ALBUM appeared first on Metal-Rules.com.

Pain, the long-running industrial outfit fronted by Hypocrisy‘s Peter Tägtgren, recently released a (very amusing) video for the song “I Don’t Give A Fukk.” The song and video present a clever parody of focus-grouped pop music and the cynical priorities of the industry that produces it. But it also allows the band to throw in some crushing industrial metal as well. It’s also pretty cool that a video based on the idea that no one likes Pain already has more than 500,000 views! And to top it off, it features Peter Stormare as the evil record label boss. That’s right, they got Satan himself to be in the video.

And so Decibel is therefore pleased to present the behind-the-scenes video that shows how it all came together. In it, Tägtgren and his son talk about the decisions that went into constructing the song, which I found really cool — especially in the funny way they interact with each other. It also features commentary from the rest of the band, director Ville Lipiainen, and Stormare as the team plans and films each shot in Stockholm and Helsinki. Although it was clearly a lot of work, the footage makes it look like everyone had a blast.

According to Tägtgren:

“Had a great time making the video. Bringing back Ville as a director and of course working with Peter Stormare is always a pleasure, (gossiping about The Beatles as always) and not least the band, that goes insane when needed … And proud that I wrote the song with my son.“

Check out the clip below:

The post Behind The Scenes of Pain’s “I Don’t Give A Fukk” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.