Category: news

Austrian brutal death metal band MONUMENT OF MISANTHROPY has officially launched an exclusive, time-limited pre-order campaign for their brand-new merch item: the official Ted Bundy inspired "WASHINGTON STATE CHARM" T-SHIRT BUNDLE". Available via the band’s MONUMENT OF MISANTHROPY BANDCAMP SITE, this premium screen-printed apparel is strictl… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Equal Vision Records and Saves the Day are excited to present “INVADER,” the first original track in eight

Yammer Jaw, the new project from members of Waxed, Sheep Shifter, and War Brides, has shared a video

After a Man or Astro-Man? show in 1995 at Einstein A Go-Go, one of the only all-ages venues

Airbourne – Airbourne (Spinefarm Records)

A self titled album, especially one that’s a band’s sixth record usually indicates a change of membership or a reinvention, so I was interested to see that Warrnambool’s favourite sons Airbourne new album is called Airbourne and I braced myself for some trad jazz. It never came. Obviously. Airbourne will never, ever do away with their blue collar rock n roll sound inspired by AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Motorhead and any band that party’s hard and rocks harder.

They even say as much on album closer Send Me To Rock N Roll Heaven, where they pay tribute to those rock heroes we’ve lost, shouting that heaven will have “one hell of a band” (Ain’t that the truth!), as they carry the flame from that generation to this. They showcase some of their other influences on Bogotá which features Joel O’Keefe using Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein guitar to hail Colombia and it’s frankly scary love of rock n roll.

It’s all part of Joel, drummer brother Ryan and brothers in arms Justin Street and Brett Tyrrell wider plan for this record which was to play rock n roll the way it should be played with vintage instruments, recorded onto tape at some legendary locations in Aussie rock history by Mike Fraser, produced by Brian Howes, mixed by Zack Cervini and mastered by Ted Jensen, to make sure it’s dirty and loud but also polished and powerful.

Airbourne, is like a runaway freight train, no ballads, no slow songs, just four on the floor rocking from the opening riff of Gutsy and we’re in familiar territory, through Alive After Death (Last Plane Out), Kid In A Candy Store, Last Man Standing that history of pub rock takes priority, even on the the filthy Christmas Bonus (in September?), there’s that wink wink nudge nudge of Bon Scott, the brothers Young and Die Hard too.

Airbourne have shown they can also embrace the slicker side of rock with two songs on this record, Here She Comes and Who Put The Rhythm In You? which are co-written by Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange and Bryan Adams, the former famously helmed Back In Black making it a smash hit. So on album number six Airbourne, there’s no massive reinvention, no sonic overhaul, just good ol’ honest rock n roll, as Airbourne carry the torch. 8/10

Bleeker – Elephant (Known Accomplice)

That’s Bleeker. Not the tube headed guy that meeps from The Muppets. Bleeker are an Ontario based rock band who play massive fuzzy riffs, bugger choruses and meld together emotional moments and songs about resilience with fun rockers and some tongue-in-cheek lyricism.

The alt rock four piece have had quite a glittering start to their career in the lead up to this third full length, with songs featured in NFL and UEFA coverage along with tours alongside Airbourne, Dinosaur Jr and Papa Roach. With album number three, called Elephant, they aren’t looking to give up the sound they have established, taking it to a more experienced place where they have the heaviest riffs yet along with the most emotionally intelligent songwriting, that runs the whole emotional spectrum, inspired by the majestic creature the album gets it’s name from.

Musically Bleeker take from The Black Keys on the thundering Boom Boom, great use of “whole enchilada”, Royal Blood and even Queens Of The Stone Age on the angular title track and the groovy Boring. Bleeker play loud as hell alt rock that never sacrifices it’s volume for accessibility, but can bother radio play with tracks such as the Kings Of Leon-esque More.

Equally Elephant has a vulnerability of fellow Ontario band The Trews on Laundry and an anthemic side that reminds me of The Struts on the glammy Outside, Bleeker switching between their different sides with ease, putting throbbing basslines beneath the acoustics and stadium ready choruses against walls of fuzz riffs, this Elephant stampedes in as a glammy, boisterous, alt rock treat from Bleeker that you should pay attention to. 8/10

Mad Max – Stories Of Destiny (ROAR – A Division of Reigning Phoenix Music)

Misinformation is a terrible thing as we all know and somewhere down the line I was convinced that Mad Max were a power metal band. So when I listened to Stories Of Destiny their new album I was a little distracted by the fact it was melodic rock/AOR.

However it turns out I was wrong and it seems Mad Max have always been a melodic rock band, stretching all the way back to when guitarists Jürgen Breforth founded the band in 1981. He’s been the driving force behind the band for over four decades and with their 45th anniversary this year Breforth has taken a retrospective look at his career while redefining a new chapter of it.

It means that Mad Max now features the vocals of British singer Alan Clark, from Dark Heart but their album also has two contributions from Andreas Baesler the original Mad Max vocalist for the first time in 45 years on Piece Of Candy, one of their earliest songs and a Spanish version, Dulces Falsos, which is a tribute to their South American fandom.

Having Baesler on the album is just one way that Breforth celebrates his band, the other being filling this record with songs that Jürgen has co-written with some high profile Germany based musicians such as Sascha Gerstner (Helloween), David Readman (Pink Cream 69), Andreas Broon and Micheal Voss, as the album also features two unreleased songs written in 1991.

Stories Of Destiny sees another Mad Max record that’s packed with guitar driven melodic rock, nothing too dissimilar from what they’ve been doing for 45 years but these songs have some special significance and celebrate the lasting legacy of the band. 7/10

Stormbringer – Transcendence (Attic Records)

We’ve been following and covering Stormbringer for a long time now, their mix of classic rock and heavy metal has seen them release four albums and take to some high profile stages, always bringing an anthemic sound that often means they can fit into any kind of festival be it as heavy as anything or full of radio friendly rock.

It’s this adaptability that’s so obvious on their fifth release Transcendence as they bring some Alice In Chains grunge to the soaring Dirt & Bone and Cut The Vein, while Grow lets loose with driving rock and some Scott Weiland-esque vocal sneers.

This record continues the outward looking perspective from their previous album, while MMXIII was deeply personal and introspective, AIIV saw them looking at the problems of the world at large. Ones that affect everyone and this approach is continued, with vocalist Mike Stockley calling Transcendence an album about “growth through adversity”, something which tracks such as All Along and Whole Again highlight.

Produced by Russ Russell he brings his veteran ear to this record, looking back to their earlier style of classic rocking but with the grittier/heavier sound they’ve developed over the years, album number five is the most complete package from Stormbringer. 8/10

Today SLIPKNOT unleash “Arsenal”, the first new song from the band in over three years.  The anthemic release

The Rasmus have released a charged cover of Alphaville’s 1984 classic Forever Young, giving the familiar song a faster and grittier punk rock edge. The Finnish rock band remain faithful to the spirit of the original through the verses, but turn up the guitars, pace and energy to place their own stamp on the track.

“Forever Young, originally performed by German artist Alphaville, is kind of like a soundtrack of our youth,” Lauri Ylonen said. “Covering this song feels nostalgic, but lyrically also quite relevant considering what’s happening in the world right now.”

The release arrives as The Rasmus undertake their first headline tour of North America. Saint Agnes and Death Valley Dreams appear as support on the run, which began in Chicago on 6 September and concludes in Los Angeles on 12 October.

“It feels surreal that after all these years, we finally get to play our first-ever headline tour in the US,” Ylonen said when the tour was announced. “We have super-devoted fans, some of whom have been waiting over 20 years to see us live. These shows will be loaded with emotion and fierce energy.”

A Latin American headline tour follows in October and November, before the band returns to Europe for a run beginning in Tallinn on 28 January 2027. Full dates and tickets are available from therasmus.com.

The Rasmus North American Tour 2026

• 10 September – Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
• 11 September – Quebec City, QC – Salle Montaigne
• 13 September – New York, NY – Racket
• 14 September – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
• 16 September – Flint, MI – The Machine Shop
• 17 September – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life Festival
• 19 September – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
• 20 September – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
• 22 September – Hidalgo, TX – Payne Arena
• 23 September – Dallas, TX – The Studio at The Bomb Factory
• 24 September – Houston, TX – Bad Astronaut
• 25 September – Austin, TX – Come And Take It Live
• 27 September – Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
• 28 September – Salt Lake City, UT – The Grand at The Complex
• 29 September – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater
• 1 October – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
• 2 October – Boise, ID – The Shrine Social Club
• 3 October – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
• 4 October – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
• 6 October – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
• 7 October – Reno, NV – Cargo Concert Hall
• 8 October – San Francisco, CA – August Hall
• 11 October – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
• 12 October – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater

The Rasmus Latin American Tour 2026

• 14 October – Guatemala City, Guatemala – Parque de la Industria
• 16 October – San Salvador, El Salvador – Besport
• 18 October – Tegucigalpa, Honduras – Radio House Casa Campo
• 20 October – San Jose, Costa Rica – Pepper’s
• 22 October – Bogota, Colombia – Auditorio Mayor CUN
• 24 October – Quito, Ecuador – Teatro Bolivar
• 25 October – Panama City, Panama – Aurora at Soho Mall
• 27 October – Lima, Peru – CC Leguia
• 29 October – Santiago, Chile – Teatro Cariola
• 31 October – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Carioca Club
• 2 November – Montevideo, Uruguay – MM Box
• 4 November – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Teatro Flores

The Rasmus European Tour 2027

• 28 January – Tallinn, Estonia – Helitehdas
• 29 January – Riga, Latvia – Palladium
• 30 January – Vilnius, Lithuania – Loftas Club
• 31 January – Gdansk, Poland – Club B90
• 2 February – Poznan, Poland – B17
• 3 February – Wroclaw, Poland – A2
• 4 February – Krakow, Poland – Studio
• 5 February – Budapest, Hungary – Barba Negra
• 6 February – Graz, Austria – PPC
• 8 February – Linz, Austria – Posthof
• 9 February – Dornbirn, Austria – Conrad Sohm
• 10 February – Treviso, Italy – New Age
• 11 February – Rubigen, Switzerland – Muhle Hunziken
• 12 February – Villeurbanne, France – La Rayonne
• 13 February – Audincourt, France – Le Moloco
• 14 February – Mannheim, Germany – Alte Feuerwache
• 16 February – Dusseldorf, Germany – Zakk
• 17 February – Prague, Czech Republic – Forum Karlin
• 18 February – Bremen, Germany – Schlachthof
• 19 February – Dresden, Germany – Beatpol
• 20 February – Ulm, Germany – Roxy
• 22 February – Erlangen, Germany – E-Werk
• 23 February – Nijmegen, Netherlands – Doornroosje
• 24 February – Lille, France – Blacklab
• 26 February – Norwich, England – Epic
• 27 February – Oxford, England – O2 Academy Oxford
• 28 February – Leeds, England – Stylus
• 2 March – Newcastle, England – Northumbria Uni
• 3 March – Wolverhampton, England – KK’s Steel Mill
• 4 March – Bristol, England – Electric Bristol
• 5 March – Exeter, England – Phoenix
• 6 March – Brighton, England – Chalk

The Rasmus are Lauri Ylonen, Eero Heinonen, Emilia “Emppu” Suhonen and Aki Hakala. Best known internationally for the 2003 single In The Shadows, the band have sold more than five million albums. Their latest album, Weirdo, is out now through Better Noise Music.

The post The Rasmus Reinvent Forever Young With A Punk Rock Twist first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Beast In Black have released Fear The Beast, the title track from their forthcoming fourth album, alongside a cinematic new video. The Finnish Heavy Metal force return with new music after a festival summer and a North American tour with Helloween. The single arrives before the band heads to Asia for shows in Tokyo, Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing, followed by its extensive Resurrection Tour across Europe.

Songwriter and producer Anton Kabanen says the track was inspired by Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien and, in particular, the biomechanical art of H.R. Giger. “Ever since I was a teenager I’ve seen recurring nightmares about a xenomorph hunting me in dystopian-themed environments, yet never quite catching me – thank goodness. Beside the creature’s downright perverted and extreme appearance, I find it sensual, elegant, intense, fierce, horrifying, exotic and mysterious, almost as if it’s a beauty and a beast merged into one.”

Kabanen says the concept began taking shape in Turku in early 2020 while he and artist Roman Ismailov were developing the first sketches for the Dark Connection album cover. The idea of a Giger-inspired sleeve was held back for the band’s fourth record.

“And in a funny way, it turned out that it’s I who captured my assailant, the xenomorph, inside a song after all these years.

“It was in early 2020 in Turku (a city in Finland), when Roman Ismailov and I were hanging out at a hotel and working on the first sketches for the Dark Connection album cover. Then alongside came the idea of making Giger’s art-inspired album cover, if not now then possibly for the fourth album, so here we are.

“Though the song is solely based on the first film, James Cameron’s sequel Aliens is equally important to me in terms of an emotional impact. We tried to blend some of the feel from both films into our music video, with Cameron’s influence weighing more on the visual side of industrial elements.

“Another speciality in the video and on the album cover is the debut of our XENOBEAST, which was, quite obviously, designed by Roman Ismailov. In the video you’ll also see some reptilian-looking embryos which may raise a question: are the reptilians and the Xenobeast actually of the same alien race but shown in their radically different stage of metamorphosis, or is the Xenobeast rather a Cerberus-type of a creature guarding the eggs?”

Although the song draws solely on the first Alien film, the video blends its atmosphere with the industrial influence of James Cameron’s sequel, Aliens. It also introduces the Xenobeast, designed by Ismailov. “We’re absolutely thrilled about this beautiful cinematic video, which wouldn’t have been possible without Katri Ilona Koppanen and Emil Pohjalainen of Nestruction Studios, who pushed their abilities to the extreme and beyond to fight against a juggernaut of challenges. We, the band, salute you!”

Featuring new lead guitarist Markus Venehsalo, Fear The Beast carries Beast In Black’s familiar combination of dance-driven Heavy Metal, memorable riffs, forceful vocals and fiery guitar solos. The song was written and produced by Kabanen, with artwork by Ismailov. Award-winning director Katri Ilona Koppanen created and directed the video.

Beast In Black 2026 Tour Dates

Asian Tour

• 19 September – Tokyo, Japan – Zepp DiverCity
• 20 September – Tokyo, Japan – Zepp DiverCity
• 22 September – Taipei, Taiwan – Moondog
• 24 September – Shanghai, China – VAS Live
• 25 September – Beijing, China – MAO Livehouse

Full Metal Holiday

• 23 October – Mallorca, Spain – Pool Stage

Resurrection Tour With Sonata Arctica And Frozen Crown

• 26 October – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town
• 27 October – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
• 28 October – Tilburg, Netherlands – 013 Poppodium
• 29 October – Leipzig, Germany – Haus Auensee
• 31 October – Vienna, Austria – Gasometer
• 1 November – Budapest, Hungary – Barba Negra
• 2 November – Zlin, Czech Republic – Sports Hall Datart
• 3 November – Gliwice, Poland – PreZero Arena
• 5 November – Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
• 6 November – Hannover, Germany – Swiss Life Hall
• 7 November – Ludwigsburg, Germany – MHP Arena
• 8 November – Offenbach, Germany – Stadthalle
• 9 November – Paris, France – L’Olympia
• 11 November – Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz
• 12 November – Madrid, Spain – Sala La Riviera
• 13 November – Bilbao, Spain – Santana 27
• 14 November – Toulouse, France – Le Bikini
• 15 November – Lyon, France – Le Transbordeur
• 17 November – Zurich, Switzerland – Komplex 457
• 18 November – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
• 20 November – Munich, Germany – Zenith
• 21 November – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – Rockhal
• 22 November – Oberhausen, Germany – Turbinenhalle
• 23 November – Hamburg, Germany – Inselpark Arena
• 24 November – Gothenburg, Sweden – Tradgar’n
• 25 November – Stockholm, Sweden – Arenan Fryshuset
• 27 November – Joensuu, Finland – Unholy Winter Fest *
• 28 November – Jyvaskyla, Finland – John Smith Frozen *
• 5 December – Helsinki, Finland – Ice Hall **

* Without Sonata Arctica and Frozen Crown. ** With special guest The 69 Eyes and support from Rabbit Cult.

Tickets are available from the official Beast In Black website.

Beast In Black Lineup

• Yannis Papadopoulos – lead vocals
• Mate Molnar – bass
• Atte Palokangas – drums
• Markus Venehsalo – guitars
• Anton Kabanen – guitars, vocals and virtual instrument programming

The post Beast In Black Unleash Fear The Beast Ahead Of Massive European Tour first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

In the midst of a tour of Spain previewing their upcoming album, All Inside Aquarium, New York City

The final preview of their new album ‘Monarch’

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