Which translates to mother.
The post Black Spikes Launch “MOTINA” Music Video appeared first on Theprp.com.
Category: news
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Five For Friday: June 12, 2026
Greetings, Decibel readers!
This week’s new releases bring a lot of though-provoking songs to the weekend. In particular, there’s two masters of weaving doom into their styles and creating remarkable and memorable sonic passages. There’s also the latest from a 2000s mathcore heavyweight and one of the best melodic black metal bands in the game. But if you want something with no frills and all kills, scroll to the bottom.
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Fires in the Distance – Circadian Promise
It feels odd to characterize Fires in the Distance as simply a “melodic death metal band” or an “extreme doom metal band,” as the CT-based powerhouse is so much more than that. Although the band’s sound bears notable echoes of Draconian-style melancholy, Amorphis-style exploration, and the gloomy determination of early Katatonia and Empyrium, they’ve taken all of this in to construct something truly their own. Circadian Promise embodies a true sense of possibility for metal like this — epic and cinematic, but never overblown or self-indulgent. The blending of harsh and clean vocals follows the natural profile of each song, the sweep picking hits at just the right moments, and the songs build and descend in a way that gives the listener a feeling of being on a long and introspective voyage. I suggest we follow Fires in the Distance and see where they might take us next.
Stream: Apple Music
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Genghis Tron – Signal Fire
Imagine if Trent Reznor or Al Jorgensen got really into mathcore, and you’d have a pretty good idea of what this album sounds like. Genghis Tron‘s latest shows the band, characteristically, going off in many directions, from post-punk to industrial and many other odd places in-between. But one constant is the engaging songwriting and strong riff work. And don’t worry, the band still rages out on songs like “Born Prey.”
Stream: Apple Music
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Khemmis – Khemmis
One of the masters of modern doom-laden heavy metal, Khemmis will always be a giant Decibel favorite. And to be honest, I might like this album the most out of anything I’ve heard from the band. The songwriting, especially the vocal melodies and swirling guitars, just pops off on this self-titled triumph.
Stream: Apple Music
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Stormkeep – The Nocturnes of Iswylm
I wonder if any of the guys from Stormkeep ever have nightmares where they’re about to play a gig and then, to their horror, realize they accidentally packed the Wayfarer frontier gear instead. Anyway, I’m a giant fan of this project and am glad we get another righteous offering of mid-90s blue-cover black metal (and much else besides) to enjoy for all time.
Stream: Apple Music
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Tombal – Grave of the Damned
But nevermind all that. Maybe you just want to listen to some death metal. Here is some really good, HM-2-style death metal straight from the crypts. Yes, this style has been done to pieces many times over, but there’s a good reason it keeps reassembling and reanimating itself. All the proof you need is in these four tracks.
The post Five For Friday: June 12, 2026 appeared first on Decibel Magazine.
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The Psychology of Beautiful Darkness: Why We Find Comfort in Melancholy
The Psychology of Beautiful Darkness: Why We Find Comfort in Melancholy
Modern culture often treats sadness as a condition that must be corrected immediately. Yet Gothic literature, noir cinema, melancholic music, and dark aesthetics continue attracting millions of people precisely because they create emotional spaces where grief, loneliness, memory, and introspection can exist without apology.
The attraction to darkness is not necessarily a fascination with suffering itself. In many cases, people connect with melancholic art because it feels emotionally honest. Gothic atmosphere, noir imagery, and reflective music acknowledge emotional complexity instead of simplifying human experience into permanent optimism.
Gothic woman in candlelight surrounded by books, skulls, and moonlit darkness representing melancholy and emotional introspection.
Across literature, music, fashion, and cinema, darkness frequently becomes a symbolic language for emotional depth. Shadows, candlelight, silence, rain, ruins, nocturnal streets, and melancholic melodies externalize internal psychological states that are otherwise difficult to describe directly.
Rather than encouraging emotional collapse, dark aesthetics often transform painful emotions into structured artistic experiences that feel understandable, controlled, and meaningful.
Why Melancholy Feels Emotionally Honest
One reason melancholic art resonates so deeply is because sadness often feels psychologically truthful. Human life contains grief, uncertainty, mortality, regret, loneliness, and emotional contradiction. Gothic literature and noir storytelling acknowledge those realities openly instead of hiding them behind constant reassurance.
Edgar Allan Poe understood this tension with unusual precision. In The Raven, mourning becomes an obsessive psychological rhythm rather than a simple narrative about loss. The repetition of “Nevermore” traps the narrator inside unresolved grief, transforming emotional suffering into atmosphere itself. Similarly, Annabel Lee treats memory and mourning as inseparable emotional forces that survive beyond death.
Poe’s work continues resonating because readers often recognize emotional states inside his stories that ordinary social language struggles to articulate clearly.
The Brain, Music, and Emotional Atmosphere
Psychologists studying “aesthetic sadness” have repeatedly observed that people often experience melancholic art differently from real-life suffering. Research by scholars such as Winfried Menninghaus and his collaborators explored why sadness inside music, literature, and cinema can produce emotional pleasure rather than distress. Their work suggests that artistic melancholy creates psychological distance, allowing difficult emotions to be explored safely within aesthetic structure.
Atmosphere plays a major role in this process. Dim lighting, candlelight, rain, silence, reverberation, and slow musical pacing encourage introspection by reducing sensory overload. Dark aesthetics frequently slow emotional perception itself. Instead of overwhelming attention through speed and stimulation, Gothic atmosphere encourages reflection and emotional immersion.
Darkwave and Gothic music demonstrate this effect clearly. Bands such as Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Clan of Xymox, and The Sisters of Mercy relied heavily on repetition, spacious production, restrained vocals, drum-machine rhythms, and reverberating guitar textures. These sonic environments sustain emotional tension gradually instead of forcing immediate catharsis.
Songs like Bela Lugosi’s Dead or Marian feel immersive because they create psychological space rather than emotional resolution. Silence, repetition, and atmosphere become part of the emotional architecture itself.
Why Beauty and Darkness Often Merge
Across Gothic art, beauty rarely exists independently from fragility, decay, mortality, or longing. Candlelight becomes visually powerful because darkness surrounds it. Ruins feel emotionally beautiful because they preserve traces of vanished lives. Melancholy intensifies emotional perception rather than diminishing it.
This relationship between sadness and beauty appears repeatedly throughout Romanticism, Symbolism, Gothic literature, and noir cinema. Charles Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe rejected the idea that art should function primarily as moral reassurance. Both writers treated emotional contradiction as aesthetically meaningful.
Modern Gothic fashion operates similarly. Black clothing, Victorian silhouettes, lace, silver jewelry, pale makeup, and nocturnal imagery function as emotional symbolism rather than decoration alone. Clothing becomes atmosphere made visible.
The Comfort of Solitude and Shadow
Dark aesthetics also create emotional permission for solitude. Contemporary culture often associates silence and isolation with social failure. Gothic culture frequently reverses that idea entirely by treating solitude as reflective rather than shameful.
Noir cinema visualizes this psychology constantly. Characters drift through rain-soaked streets, dim apartments, empty diners, abandoned train stations, and late-night city landscapes that mirror emotional interiority. These environments communicate loneliness visually without reducing it to weakness.
Many people experience such imagery as calming because darkness reduces social performance. Silence softens overstimulation. Shadows create privacy. Atmospheric spaces allow emotional complexity to exist without immediate judgment or explanation.
This emotional relationship helps explain why candlelit rooms, rainy weather, nighttime walks, abandoned architecture, cemeteries, and melancholic music often feel emotionally comforting instead of frightening.
Why Gothic Culture Still Feels Modern
Modern life frequently rewards emotional speed, productivity, visibility, and constant stimulation. Gothic culture moves in the opposite direction by valuing ambiguity, introspection, atmosphere, symbolism, and psychological depth.
Dark aesthetics continue surviving across generations because they provide emotional language for experiences that mainstream culture often simplifies or suppresses entirely. Gothic literature, noir cinema, melancholic music, and atmospheric fashion all create symbolic spaces where grief, desire, alienation, beauty, memory, and mortality can coexist without contradiction.
Beautiful darkness does not celebrate suffering itself. Instead, it transforms difficult emotional states into artistic experiences that feel recognizable, reflective, and emotionally meaningful.
Wear the Darkness
Explore Edgar Allan Poe apparel, Gothic aesthetics, noir-inspired fashion, and psychological darkness inside the official Edgar Allan Poets Noir Store.
Enter the Noir Atmosphere
Explore Gothic music, cinematic tension, melancholic atmosphere, and emotional darkness through the official Edgar Allan Poets playlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do people feel comfort inside melancholic art?
Melancholic art often feels emotionally honest because it allows grief, reflection, loneliness, memory, and emotional complexity to exist without forced positivity or immediate resolution.
What is aesthetic sadness?
Aesthetic sadness refers to the emotional experience of enjoying sadness within artistic environments such as music, literature, cinema, or visual art where difficult emotions can be explored safely through symbolic structure.
Why does Gothic culture remain psychologically appealing?
Gothic culture explores mortality, beauty, memory, isolation, emotional contradiction, and psychological depth through atmosphere and symbolism that many people find emotionally recognizable.
Can dark aesthetics improve emotional reflection?
Dark aesthetics can encourage emotional reflection by creating calm, introspective environments that reduce overstimulation and allow difficult emotions to be processed symbolically through art and atmosphere.
The post The Psychology of Beautiful Darkness: Why We Find Comfort in Melancholy appeared first on Edgar Allan Poets – Noir Rock Band.
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ONLY 100 AVAILABLE! Pre-Order HULDER’s New Album ‘Verbolgen’ on Decibel-Exclusive Hardwood Color Vinyl!
U.S. black metal torchbearers Hulder return with their third full-length statement Verbolgen and Decibel is proud to offer our own exclusive edition on Hardwood color vinyl limited to just 100 copies courtesy of our dear friends at 20 Buck Spin.
Over the course of three albums, Hulder has evolved from the vision of a solitary black metal entity into something more expansive and collaborative, though still guided by the strident vision of its creator and namesake. On Verbolgen long-time session member Necreon steps forward to join Hulder as full-fledged co-conspirator, amplifying the duos sweeping solemnity. Joined on session drums by both Vapula (the band’s live drummer) and Vrolok of the legendary Aeternus as well as live second guitar player Keld (Majesties, Obsequiae), who here contributes additional leads, keys and hurdy gurdy, the Hulder universe widens its collaborative disposition to a new creative level.
Mixed by Ahti Kortelainen at Tico Tico Studio in Finland, Verbolgen also features cover art created by Morrigan of Aeternus, her first cover work since contributing art for the earliest Aeternus LPs nearly 30 years ago. The result is a towering and immersive work that cements Verbolgen as the most potent and immersive expression of Hulder’s artistic vision to date.
Answer the call of the ancestral fires and forest spirits and pre-order Verbolgen now!
The post ONLY 100 AVAILABLE! Pre-Order HULDER’s New Album ‘Verbolgen’ on Decibel-Exclusive Hardwood Color Vinyl! appeared first on Decibel Magazine.
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The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
unpeople, Bring Me The Horizon and Ho99o9 are just some of the bands who are vying for your vote in this week’s new song round-up -
Staind To Release “Break The Cycle (25th Anniversary Live)” In August, Stream “It’s Been Awhile” Live Video
Featuring live performances of each track from the record.
The post Staind To Release “Break The Cycle (25th Anniversary Live)” In August, Stream “It’s Been Awhile” Live Video appeared first on Theprp.com.
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The Damn Truth Sign With Frontiers Music SRL & Announce Deluxe Edition Of Self-Titled Album
Following the success of their critically acclaimed, JUNO Award-nominated self-titled album, The Damn Truth are thrilled to be joining the Frontiers Music family as the label prepares the worldwide release of ‘The Damn Truth Deluxe Edition‘ with bonus track on September 11th, 2026. Pre-order the album – here. To celebrate the announcement, the band will […]
The post The Damn Truth Sign With Frontiers Music SRL & Announce Deluxe Edition Of Self-Titled Album appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.
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BITTER PREMIERE CRUSHING NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “MALEVOLENT” VIA SLAM WORLDWIDE – @thebeast
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BITTER PREMIERE CRUSHING NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “MALEVOLENT” VIA SLAM WORLDWIDE
Quebec Beatdown Deathcore Outfit Continues Momentum Following CDN Records Signing
Montreal, Quebec – June 2026 – Quebec slamming beatdown deathcore band Bitter have unleashed the official music video for their devastating new single, “Malevolent,” premiering exclusively through Slam Worldwide.
Following their recent signing to CDN Records, Bitter waste no time demonstrating exactly why they are one of the most aggressive new acts emerging from Canada’s underground heavy music scene. “Malevolent” delivers a relentless barrage of crushing breakdowns, savage vocals, and punishing groove, offering listeners a brutal first glimpse into the band’s upcoming EP, Slamosaurus Rex.
The video captures the raw intensity and uncompromising energy that Bitter have quickly become known for, translating the song’s crushing atmosphere into a visual assault worthy of its title.
“Malevolent” represents the next evolution of Bitter’s sound, combining slamming deathcore brutality with beatdown influences and an unapologetically heavy approach that leaves no room for compromise.
Watch the official Slam Worldwide premiere now.
Stream “Malevolent”:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1mCEFndDNheBRVjL7tOpyW
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/bitter/1864987764
Bandcamp: https://bitter-qc.bandcamp.com/music
ABOUT BITTER
Formed in December 2024, Bitter is a slamming beatdown deathcore band comprised of musicians from Montreal, Lanaudière, and Gatineau, Quebec. The project was founded by father and son Yan Chatel and Kilian Langlois-Chatel before expanding into a full lineup united by a shared passion for extreme music and unfiltered aggression.
Current lineup:
Kilian Langlois-Chatel – Lead Vocals
Michael Lalancette – Guitar and Electronics
Mathieu Parent – Guitar
Eric Cooper-Lefebvre – Drums
Yan Chatel – Bass and Backing Vocals
Drawing influence from bands such as Xenotheory, Kanine, and The Acacia Strain, Bitter have forged a sound that balances sheer brutality with precision, creating music that is as punishing as it is memorable.
PRODUCTION
“Malevolent” was produced, mixed, and mastered by guitarist Michael Lalancette, whose production captures the band’s crushing heaviness while maintaining clarity and impact throughout.
THE ROAD AHEAD
With “Malevolent” now unleashed through Slam Worldwide and Slamosaurus Rex on the horizon, Bitter are poised to make a serious impact throughout 2026. Armed with a new label partnership and a growing reputation for uncompromising heaviness, the band is preparing to bring their brand of sonic devastation to an even wider audience.
For fans of Xenotheory, Kanine, The Acacia Strain, and modern slamming deathcore.
More information on Slamosaurus Rex will be announced soon.
CONNECT WITH BITTER
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitter.qc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitter_band/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bitter_qc
LABEL
Bitter are now officially part of the CDN Records roster:
https://cdnrecords.com/label-artists/bitter/
Contact: bitterqc@gmail.com -
Olivia Rodrigo Shares “stupid song” Video, Performs It For The First Time On Jimmy Kimmel
Olivia Rodrigo’s heavily anticipated new album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is finally out today. As if the great early singles “drop dead” and “the cure” and the involvement of figures like Robert Smith and Weyes Blood hadn’t already convinced the discerning listeners of the world to care, Rodrigo did a ton of promo on the LA leg of her press tour this week. That included a surprise appearance at 102.7 KIIS FM listening event, a pop-up for AMEX, a love advice radio show with iHeartRadio, and two nights on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The post Olivia Rodrigo Shares “stupid song” Video, Performs It For The First Time On <em>Jimmy Kimmel</em> appeared first on Stereogum.
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Hardcore Juggernaut Hatebreed Signs New Record Deal to Unleash Crushing Fall Album After Six Years of Studio Silence
The global extreme music landscape is about to experience a profound structural shift. For more than three decades, Connecticut’s Grammy-nominated heavy metal and metallic hardcore pioneers Hatebreed have served as the undisputed gold standard for aggressive, pit-certified motivation anthems, weaponizing tectonic-plate-shifting breakdowns and fiercely poignant lyrical philosophies.
Now, following a six-year full-length studio absence since 2020’s critically acclaimed Weight Of The False Self, the legendary five-piece unit has officially broken their silence. The band has signed an ironclad worldwide deal with BLKIIBLK Records, the extreme metal imprint of Frontiers Label Group, to unleash their most vicious, uncompromised, and technically devastating studio album to date this fall.
Listen To Today’s Metal Breakdown Daily News Report Below:
Want the direct, real-time tracking on Hatebreed’s studio tracking logs, exclusive single premieres, and breaking Summer Slaughter tour updates? Turn up the Loaded Radio Daily Podcast on your preferred streaming network to hear Scott Penfold break down this massive hardcore industry signing, or stream 24/7 high-decibel commercial-free metal directly via our native digital player below.
Unveiling the Dream Team: Hatebreed Aligns with BLKIIBLK
The global acquisition of Hatebreed marks a massive declaration of intent for the newly established BLKIIBLK imprint. Engineered by Frontiers Label Group to serve as a high-velocity home for elite, vital extreme music titans, the label put together what frontman Jamey Jasta defines as an absolute operational dream team to pilot the band’s next historic chapter.
“BLKIIBLK put together a dream team to get behind the new Hatebreed record and we couldn’t be happier — new label, new horizons, crushing new songs,” Jasta shared in an official corporate briefing. “We are beyond grateful and can’t wait to unleash these tracks on the world!”
The excitement is heavily matched by BLKIIBLK label head and Frontiers global head of A&R Mike Gitter, who emphasized that Hatebreed’s cultural currency and sonic relevance are higher now than ever before.
“Not only are they a name carved into the heavy music landscape, but they are as vital and relevant a force as ever. Perhaps even more so,” Gitter stated. “Jasta and Hatebreed aren’t merely about perseverance — they’re about bringing the sound of the extreme to a new level. We’re honored to be working together.”
LIVE & LOUD: Stream the World’s Hardest Radio Station 24/7 Below:“Decisions Become Destinies”: Zeuss Returns as the Sixth Member
For the tracking of the new full-length effort, Hatebreed bypassed standard commercial production spaces to return to their absolute comfort zone, tapping legendary studio mastermind Chris “Zeuss” Harris (Rob Zombie, Shadows Fall, Queensrÿche) to captain the tracking board.
The relationship between the band and Zeuss stretches back decades, long before the tracking of timeless anthems like “I Will Be Heard” or “Destroy Everything.” Jasta noted that their connection goes far beyond the standard producer’s chair, explicitly declaring Zeuss as a literal sixth member of the Hatebreed architecture.
“His connection with Matt, Wayne, Frank, Carl and me goes far beyond the producer’s chair. I’ve known him since the Pushbutton Warfare and Jasta 14 days,” Jasta explained. “When you’re chasing something timeless, memorable, and meaningful, having that level of trust and understanding makes all the difference. We would high five, scream, pace, and celebrate every time we elevated the song or hit on something killer. From ‘I Will Be Heard’ to ‘Destroy Everything’, ‘Looking Down The Barrel’ to now, ‘Decisions Become Destinies!’ We got another one, Zeussky!”
Taking No Prisoners: The 2026 Summer Slaughter Invasion
The impending fall album drop acts as the primary fuel for what is shaping up to be an incredibly intense international live routing strategy. According to long-time drummer Matt Byrne, the band is actively operating at a rapid pace to ensure 2026 is officially crowned the Year of Hatebreed. Following a packed summer layout that features multiple high-profile European open-air festival headlines, the band is scheduled to return to domestic soil to headline the second leg of the resurrected Summer Slaughter Tour 2026. Launching on August 20, 2026, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hatebreed will captain an absolute powerhouse package featuring support from metallic hardcore brothers Terror, alongside Incantation, Gates To Hell, Torture, and Creeping Death.
“This juggernaut as we know it is picking up the pace rapidly and is taking no prisoners,” Byrne verified. “As if 2025 wasn’t enough of a truly busy and successful year, this summer sees multiple European festivals/headline tours for the band, two separate U.S. legs of the ‘Summer Slaughter’ tour, and a powerhouse of a new record dropping this fall on an awesome new label BLKIIBLK!!! We can’t wait to see everyone on the road!”
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FAQ: Hatebreed’s 2026 New Album Signing
What record label is Hatebreed on now?
Hatebreed has officially signed with BLKIIBLK Records, the newly formed heavy metal and extreme music imprint operating under the global Frontiers Label Group umbrella.
When does the new Hatebreed album release?
While an exact calendar day has not yet been logged, the band and label have verified that the highly anticipated ninth studio album is slated for a worldwide release in Fall 2026.
Who is in the active 2026 Hatebreed lineup?
The active recording and touring lineup features iconic frontman Jamey Jasta on vocals, guitarists Wayne Lozinak and Frank Novinec, drummer Matt Byrne, and newly integrated bassist Carl Schwartz.
The Hardcore Blueprint of Hatebreed
Emerging from the gritty, uncompromised Bridgeport, Connecticut underground scene in the mid-1990s, Hatebreed executed a flawless sonic fusion that fundamentally bridge the historical gap between New York Hardcore punk and classic thrash metal. By taking the hyper-syncopated breakdown patterns of Madball and Earth Crisis and pairing them with the precise, serrated guitar tracking mechanics of Slayer and Sepultura, they birthed a highly commercially viable crossover sound that re-engineered modern heavy music.
Crucially, under the steadfast leadership of Jamey Jasta, the band subverted the typically insular, exclusionary tropes of traditional hardcore punk by weaving universal messages of self-discipline, mental resilience, and personal triumph into their lyrics. This tactical decision expanded their reach far beyond underground clubs, transforming Hatebreed into a permanent main-stage fixture across global rock festivals and earning them an ironclad reputation as one of the most culturally vital and structurally enduring heavy music institutions in American history.
Now that Hatebreed has officially planted their flag with BLKIIBLK Records and set their coordinates for a massive fall album assault, the floor belongs to the Loaded Radio global family. Are you ready to dive headfirst into the pit when their new Zeuss-produced tracks drop, or are you currently booking your tickets to catch them live on the Summer Slaughter tour? Fire off your thoughts, mosh-pit warnings, and album expectations in the comments section below!
Also – The 13 Most Brutal Metal Breakdowns Ever Recorded (Ranked)
TL;DR
- A New Architectural Era: Connecticut metallic hardcore titans Hatebreed have officially broken their six-year studio silence by signing a definitive global contract with BLKIIBLK Records.
- The Imprint Powerplay: BLKIIBLK serves as the newly deployed, extreme heavy metal vanguard imprint under the massive global umbrella of the Frontiers Label Group.
- Reuniting with the Sixth Member: The band’s highly anticipated ninth studio masterpiece—the direct follow-up to 2020’s Weight Of The False Self—was tracked alongside their legendary long-time producer, Chris “Zeuss” Harris.
- Absolute Live Warfare: The massive autumn street date is strategically synchronized with a monumental live agenda, featuring multiple European festival runs and a headlining slot on the second leg of the 2026 Summer Slaughter Tour.
Never miss an official hardcore tracking update, an exclusive label signing report, or breaking autumn tour routing notices. Download the free Loaded Radio App for [iOS App Store] and [Google Play Store] today to command our live 24/7 high-decibel digital audio stream and catch our Daily Podcast on demand.
The post Hardcore Juggernaut Hatebreed Signs New Record Deal to Unleash Crushing Fall Album After Six Years of Studio Silence appeared first on Loaded Radio.