Finnish classic Gothenburg-style melodic death metal band, Morbid Intent, are set to release their debut EP Marionettes, later in 2026 via Inverse Records. The second single “Vitriol Shards” is unleashed today and it’s accompanied by a music video which can be seen here: https://youtu.be/i5AJooBpMYY
The band comments: “Vitriol Shards is diving into the destructive power of toxic words, psychological violence and bitterness. The track portrays how hatred and poisoned communication can shatter into fragments that slowly corrode the human mind, piece by piece.”
Morbid Intent is an upcoming melodic death metal act formed in Oulu, Finland. Looking to take the scene by storm, Morbid Intent will release their debut EP Marionettes in 2026.
The main inspiration for the band is the classic Göteborg-style melodic death metal mixed with a splash of modern extreme metal aggression. Fast blast beats, crushing riffs, and haunting melodies are to be expected.
The band members have experience playing in bands such as Mors Subita, Electric Deathbeat, Swansong, Se, Josta Ei Puhuta.
Morbid Intent – Vitriol Shards (single 2026)
Composed & arranged by Juha Väyrynen, Juho Näppä. Lyrics by Juha Väyrynen.
Single cover by Nikos Stavridakis (VisionBlack).
Marionettes will crush you, set you on fire, hit you like a truck, set you on fire again, and leave you wanting for more. This is a band and a debut that you will not want to miss.
According to anonymous sources, “Neal And Jack And Me,” the opening song on King Crimson’s 1982 album Beat, reflects singer and the song’s lyricist Adrian Belew’s fantasies of joining Kerouac and Cassady on a car trip across the United States. Or maybe a tour of the seedy underside of Paris.
As the song winds down, Below sings out: “absent lovers…absent lovers ” — rather apt when you consider the rampant whirlwind of activities he’s been involved with in recent years. And perhaps a bit too much on the nose when you see “Neal and Jack and Me” on the setlist for the shows around BEAT, the top tenant occupying Belew’s time for the past two years.
Indeed, the BEAT train has taken the singer and guitarist, King Crimson bandmate and bassist Tony Levin, guitarist Steve Vai, and drummer Danny Carey across North and South America, Europe and Japan. Clearly, there’s an audience for the repertoire: three King Crimson albums released in the early 1980s — Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. Most of the shows sold out shortly after they were announced. Even Robert Fripp, Crimson’s founding father, couldn’t stay away, popping up for two concerts with wife and current co-conspirator Toyah.
With a break in the action, I spoke with Belew about the next chapter for BEAT: a 40-concert U.S. Fall tour with Terry Bozzio taking the reins from Carey, who has commitments to fulfill with his main squeeze, Tool. Before jumping forward, I ask Belew if he is pleased with how well the BEAT project has been received.
“It has more than exceeded my expectations,” he says. “I had thoughts on the way I hoped it would go and basically hoping that the band would be so great that it could do all the material perfectly, but do it its own way as well. And I think that’s exactly what we achieved. With the pent-up sort of audience that I know about that’s on my Facebook and other places, I knew there would be a level of success.”
The idea for BEAT was hatched during conversations between Belew and musician, producer and promotor Angelo Bundini, known as Scrote. The two were part of the Celebrating David Bowie tour, which also featured Todd Rundgren. Belew initially asked both Fripp and Bill Bruford to join him and Levin, which would have reunited the King Crimson lineup of the early 80s. Having disbanded the latest version of Crimson, Fripp was supportive, but uninterested in being part of it. Bruford expressed similar reservations.
Once Vai and Carey signed on and the project was officially christened BEAT, a pragmatic approach was put in place when it came to moving forward with the tour. COVID was a major disruption, of course (yes, plans for BEAT stretch back that far). Schedules were another issue. Once the smoke cleared and the players were freed up, announcements were made, word got out, and the interweb, among other outlets of information, was abuzz. Even then, there was some trepidation.
“The producers I was working with just wanted to be very cautious,” Belew explains. “So, they booked us into places they thought were a little smaller than what we might be able to do.”
The payoff was surprising to many, least of all Belew.
“The first show went on sale, and it sold out in three hours,” he laughs. “That’s when I said to them, ‘Remember, I told you this was going to do better than you think.’ So, they started shuffling around, putting us in some larger places.”
After conquering America, BEAT moved onto South America (“Great!” is how Belew puts it), the Budokan in Japan (“Fantastic!” he exclaims), and most recently, Europe — “21 countries, 31 shows, and some of the greatest venues.”
Going to Europe to play King Crimson music was especially poignant.
“Some of these places we went to, they didn’t get King Crimson maybe ever or for a long time. We played Croatia. We played Estonia. We played so many places like that. Bulgaria and Turkey. A lot of these places I hadn’t been to for a while since COVID hit.”
Back on home turf, Belew proudly proclaims BEAT “a total success,” adding, “We certainly missed (some cities), not toured everything, but we’ve made the first circle, I guess.”
The second circle will be brief. After the fall tour, there are no plans for BEAT to carry on any further. In fact, it’s been announced as their “final” run, though Belew is quick to clarify: “This is the end of it — for now…”
He goes to explain the particulars. “Next year, nothing can happen with BEAT because everyone has other commitments, especially Steve. I mean, he’s taken a whole year away from it. So, I don’t know what’ll happen from there. There are other questions about it. What do you do next? I mean, I don’t think any of us want to continue to play the same 80s music for the rest of our lives.” He laughs. “We’ll have to see what can be done. And I’ll wait.”
As for the recent shift in personnel, Belew explains there was no shortage of choices for Carey’s replacement.
“I had reasons for every drummer that I called, and I called quite a few very famous drummers. Stewert Copeland, for one. He was really excited about it, but he did have two engagements he could not get out of. He spent the next day trying to.
“I was the one calling them. When it got to Terry, I had Steve call because they’re closer friends. They worked with Frank (Zappa), and they did other things over the years. Tony played with Terry, so Tony was very into seeing Terry be in the band. Of course, Danny is in the band. He’s the drummer in the band, so I don’t want anyone to think that there’ll never be another Danny Carey moment.”
With Bozzio currently residing in Japan and rehearsals for the tour at press-time not yet underway, there’s an air of mystery around what will happen, especially when it comes to gear. Anyone who follows Terry Bozzio knows he has the proclivity to go big. This could possibly pose issues around space constraints and room for other players — of which Belew is only too aware.
“We had a talk with Terry,” he says, “and we were gingerly kind of approaching that. I said to him, ‘You’ve seen Bill (Bruford). What he did and the kind of kit that he had when he did this music, right?’ I was trying to suggest kind of subtly that that’s probably all you need.”
Then they just came out with it: “Are you thinking of using the Big Kit?”
For those unfamiliar with Bozzio’s infamous “Big Kit,” here’s how it breaks down: 36 acoustic drums, two electronic pads, 53 cymbals, and 22 pedals, plus mallet instruments and extras. Press accounts estimate a 100 to 115+ piece kit. Even though it’s transported on its own trailer, it still requires an entire day to set it up for a show.
The Big Kit
Fortunately, according to Belew, the drummer’s reply was somewhat of a relief.
“‘No, no, no. I’ve got another kit. Go to my website. There’s another kit on there you can look at while we’re talking on the phone,’ he said. ‘I call it my Sick Jazz Kit.’ And we looked at it, and it was pretty substantial. He said, “Well, it only has three bass drums.”
Belew laughs at the notion of Bozzio’s Sick Jazz Kit.
“I’m thinking to myself, a jazz kit is kind of what I play in my studio. Four drums and two cymbals, you know? But hey, we want Terry to do what he wants to do. I don’t like holding people back. If somebody said to me, ‘No, you can’t bring that much gear,’ it would not please me.”
When it comes to the caliber of musicians within BEAT’s ranks, the tools of the trade are part of the bargain. Considering the style of progressive rock the band plays and the fans they draw, it’s pretty much a given. Belew knows that better than anyone and he’s excited about this next phase of BEAT.
“I think Terry Bozzio will definitely take us to a different place, there’s no question about that. He’s that kind of drummer. He really has developed entirely his own style. I was worried that he would even be able to play with a band because for so long he’s done sort of a one-man show. But the fact that he felt like, ‘Absolutely, I can do this.’ I have so much faith in Terry. I was always really just so impressed by his ability because he could play anything. This is a guy who can play ‘The Back Page’ by Frank Zappa, supposedly one of the hardest pieces in the world.
“So, we have a new Superman drummer. That’ll change the complexion of the music. I do want to do three or four things from the 90s (i.e., King Crimson’s 1995 release Thrak). That’s a six-piece band, but there are pieces I know we can play with this band as a four-piece band. I think it’s time to take out some of the ones in the 80s set that aren’t my favorites and replacing them with better songs.”
Getting back to the future of BEAT, Belew is as ambiguous as he is adamant that it will continue in some form at some time or another.
“I don’t know when this will end, where it’ll go from here. We just have to go through the rest of this year and do what we’ve got. I think it’s going to be a fabulous tour.”
As for next year and how he’ll spend his downtime, Belew has a rough laundry list of activities on the 2027 calendar he’s hoping to pursue.
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to be doing for next year. First of all, I’ve cleared my schedule for doing Remain in Light or David Bowie. I don’t know that I’ll ever do those again, but I know I won’t be doing them next year.
“I’m going to try to start recording again at the very beginning of the year and see how far I get. I have a lot of material that’s just sitting there unfinished. And it’s been that way for three years ever since we started BEAT because there hasn’t been time.
“I’m looking at whether or not I can really go out and put together a power trio or a power quartet kind of thing to do some touring to catch people up with my solo music. I know it’s been sort of languishing ever since I’ve been touring so much with BEAT.
“Personally, I have a lot of things that I need to attend to. We’re in the place where your house now starts to need things.”
He pauses for a second. The man who sings about “absent lovers” has been an absent homeowner. When you live in the middle of Tennessee, that can be a challenge. Belew seemingly contemplates this before admitting: “I would be happy to do nothing next year, to be honest.”
Whatever happens, Belew assures me he’ll “definitely do something that’s creative.”
Before finishing up, there’s a couple of questions about King Crimson. Did Belew happen to catch the last incarnation that completed their tour of duty in 2022?
“I did not,” he answers swiftly. “My intention was to never see them because it hurt. It was not a good experience for me to watch another team walking by. I’d rather be in the parade than be on the sidewalk. I basically kind of forgot about King Crimson in that time. I felt it was better for me to stay in my own my own little universe.”
Still, he has fond memories about being part of the band’s colorful history.
“I put it top of the list in terms of being in a band and being able to create a body of work. When it was handed to me on a platter by Robert in 1980, I couldn’t have been happier even though I knew how hard the work was. It was what I had been waiting for. Up to that point, I’d been a side man to some pretty great people.
“I had started my whole thing from the beginning thinking I would write songs and be in something successful. King Crimson gave me that. For 33 years, I thought Robert and I were great writing partners and great guitar playing partners. I thought the band was always amazing.”
Ask anyone who’s seen BEAT, and they’ll likely agree the music of King Crimson back then, before and since, has never stopped being anything short of amazing.
Bring Me The Horizon‘s Can You Feel My Heart will be added to Fortnite Festival on September 3.
The addition of the song will allow fans to play along to the song on the Main Stage, create a unique mashup or add as a loop emote in the game or Battle Royale. It will be free to play, or for 500 V-Bucks, gamers can add it in their library.
They join the likes of Metallica, Linkin Park and Slipknot, who’ve all had their music feature in the Fortnite ecosystem.
The Sempiternal song was released as a single in 2013 and appeared on the soundtrack of the EA Sports UFC video game three years later.
In 2024, the single was awarded platinum status in the UK by the British Recorded Music Industry, signifying 600,000 sales and streams, and it is currently the band’s most popular song on Spotify, with its play count reaching 905 million streams.
In other video game music news, it was recently announced that frontman Oli Sykes and Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante have collaborated on a new song titled If The Sun Burns Out Tonight.
The song, which was written and produced by American DJ/composer Grabbitz, will be the theme of this year’s Valorant Champions Tour, an annual esports tournament where teams compete on 2020 first-person shooter videogame Valorant.
“I’ve always been drawn to projects that blur the lines between storytelling and music,” said Sykes, “so working with Riot Games, alongside Grabbitz and Courtney, and becoming part of the Valorant world felt like a really natural fit.”
The band are set to perform at Rock in Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 5, then begin a North American tour later in the month. They play:
Sep 20: Rogers Arena, Vancouver BC Sep 23: Rogers Place, Edmonton AB Sep 24: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary AB Sep 26: Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg MB Sep 30: Centre Vidéotron, Quebec City QC Oct 02: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa ON Oct 03: TD Coliseum, Hamilton ON Oct 06: Canada Life Place, London ON Oct 08: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids MI Oct 11: Furnace Fest 2026, Birmingham AL
The band’s new album Count Your Blessings | Repented is out now via RCA/Sony.
Mathias Lattin has signed with Red Zero Records, the new label founded by GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram in partnership with Exceleration Music.
The 24-year-old guitarist marks the signing with the release of a new single, “Cadillac Assembly Line.” The track was produced with frequent collaborator Christopher Thornton, who has worked with WE$TPHAL, Logic, and Young Thug.
“It’s refreshing to be a part of something where I can be unapologetically me,” says Lattin. “With Red Zero, I have the freedom to explore my music the way I hear it, take chances, and bring all of my influences into the mix. The blues will always be the foundation, but I’m excited to see how far I can push it.”
Lattin has built his reputation through a style that brings together blues, jazz, funk, and soul. He has also shared stages with a number of prominent blues and blues rock artists, including Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Ingram, Eric Gales, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Samantha Fish, and Joe Bonamassa.
Ingram says Lattin’s versatility and willingness to move beyond traditional boundaries made him a natural fit for Red Zero.
“I’ve known Mathias for a while and I’ve watched him really grow into his own thing. He can really play, but it’s bigger than just the guitar,” says Ingram. “He’s got his own sound, he can write, he can produce, and most importantly he’s not afraid to take the music somewhere different. That’s what Ric and I are really excited about. He represents where the blues can go next.”
Red Zero Records was launched by Ingram as a new label venture with Exceleration Music. Lattin becomes the latest addition to its growing roster as he continues to develop his own blend of contemporary blues and other influences.
The signing comes as Lattin prepares for several live dates and festival appearances this fall. His upcoming schedule includes Fishers Blues Festival in Indiana, Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas, The Mucky Duck in Houston, Denton Blues Festival in Texas, and Natchez Balloon Festival in Mississippi.
History loves Alexander the Great. We are taught that his military genius and sheer force of will allowed him to conquer the known world by the age of thirty. But behind Alexander’s rise was a woman whose political influence was just as important to his path to the throne: his mother, Olympias.
In the 4th century BC, the Macedonian royal court was not a place for the weak. It was a deadly, constantly shifting world of rival factions, assassinations, and ambitious warlords. Olympias entered that world as the wife of Philip II and quickly became a formidable presence at court. She was deeply involved in the Dionysian mystery cults and was famously associated with large, tame snakes that were said to move through her chambers. She cultivated an image of someone mysterious and almost untouchable. But beneath all of that, what really made Olympias dangerous was her political mind.
Olympias’s marriage to Philip placed her in the middle of a fiercely competitive royal household. Philip was a polygamist with seven wives, which meant the palace was a constant struggle over succession. Olympias made it her life’s mission to ensure that her son, Alexander, remained the strongest possible heir. For years, she fought her way through one rival faction after another, using the politics of the court to protect her son’s position.
The ultimate test came when Philip married a young Macedonian noblewoman named Cleopatra Eurydice. Olympias was a foreigner, and a fully Macedonian son born to this new wife could have destroyed Alexander’s claim to the throne. The tension became so severe that Olympias and Alexander were forced into temporary exile. For Olympias, this was no longer simply another rivalry within the palace. Her son’s position was suddenly in serious danger.
Shortly after, King Philip was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
History still debates whether Olympias had anything to do with Philip’s murder. What she did afterward, however, is much harder to debate. While Alexander rode off to secure the loyalty of the army, Olympias returned to the palace and cleared away the most immediate threat to her son’s succession. She orchestrated the deaths of Cleopatra Eurydice and her infant child, reportedly giving her rival a sword, a rope, and a cup of poison and forcing her to choose how she would die. It was horrifyingly brutal. There is no need to soften that part of Olympias’s story. But in the violent reality of ancient Macedonian politics, her actions left Alexander as the only serious claimant standing when the struggle was over.
Even when Alexander left to conquer Asia, Olympias did not disappear into the background. She remained a powerful political force in Macedonia, repeatedly clashing with the regents left in charge and fiercely defending her family’s interests. Alexander may have been building an empire thousands of miles away, but Olympias was still fighting her own political battles at home. Her influence did not end when her son left Macedonia.
Her most awe-inspiring moment, however, came after Alexander’s sudden death. His empire began to fall apart, and his generals turned on one another as they fought for power. Olympias was already an elderly woman by this point, but age did not keep her out of the struggle. She personally took to the field and led an army to defend her young grandson’s claim to the throne. After everything she had done to secure Alexander’s position, she was now fighting to protect the next generation of her family.
Eventually, she was defeated and cornered by a rival general, who sent two hundred armed soldiers to execute her. But when they entered her chambers, Olympias did not cower or beg for her life. She stood there in full royal dress, facing the soldiers sent to kill her. According to the ancient accounts, they were so struck by her presence that they dropped their weapons and refused to carry out the execution. The general eventually had to send the relatives of people she had killed to finish the job. There is something almost fitting about the image of Olympias meeting her end this way. Even at the very end, surrounded by people who had come to kill her, she was not willing to surrender the dignity of her position.
Olympias’s story is often reduced to the familiar image of the “crazy, jealous queen” or the “meddling mother.” Her actions were certainly ruthless, and some were horrifying. But those labels make her much easier to dismiss than to understand. She was navigating a political world where succession could mean life or death, where marriage was a political weapon, and where losing power could put an entire family at risk. She understood that world extremely well, and she knew how to use it.
What stays with me about Olympias is how much of her story exists in the shadow of Alexander’s. His achievements were extraordinary, but he did not simply appear on the throne and set out to conquer an empire. Before any of that happened, his mother spent years fighting over his place in the Macedonian succession. She continued that fight after he left, and even after his death, she was still willing to take the field herself. Olympias was not merely the mother of Alexander the Great. She was a formidable political figure in her own right, and her story is far more complicated, ruthless, and fascinating than the caricature history so often leaves us with.
NWOBHM veterans Saxon have announced a new album. Gods Of Thunder – the follow-up to 2024’s Hell, Fire and Damnation – will be released via Silver Lining Music on January 22, and the undoubtedly epic title track is released as a single today.
“Gods Of Thunder is a mighty tale of Celtic mythology, packed with the spirit and power of true heavy metal,” says frontman Biff Byford. “Turn it up and bang your head!”
The album was produced by Byford and mixed by longtime collaborator Andy Sneap, who has worked on every Saxon album since 2013’s Sacrifice. It’s also the second Saxon album to feature Diamond Head guitarist Brian Tatler, who initially joined the band as a touring guitarist in 2023.
“We had great fun making this album,” says Biff. “This is gonna be one to beat!”
Gods Of Thunder will be available in a variety of physical editions and is available to pre-order now. Saxon tour the UK and Ireland in February, with further international shows to be announced. Full dates below.
Saxon: Gods Of Thunder tour
Feb 13: Wolverhampton Civic Hall, UK Feb 14: Glasgow O2 Academy, UK Feb 16: Belfast Telegraph Building, UK Feb 17: Dublin 3Olympia Theatre, Ireland Feb 19: Manchester O2 Apollo, UK Feb 20: Newcastle O2 City Hall, UK Feb 21: Sheffield City Hall, UK Feb 23: Cardiff The Great Hall, UK Feb 24: Bristol Beacon, UK Feb 25: Southampton O2 Guildhall, UK Feb 27: London Eventim Apollo, UK
GRAMMY® Award-nominated progressive metal quintet Periphery are headed back to Australia next March, bringing their new album A Pale White Dot to life on stages across the country for a six-date headline tour. Supporting them on all dates will be Sydney modern metalcore outfit Inertia – tickets go on sale Thursday 10 September at 9am […]
Introducing Gamer Techno – a brand-new music genre. Forged by a lifelong gamer, this project is a high-octane fusion of driving techno, industrial grit, heavy metal, and dark synthwave, seamlessly blended with the infectious, melodic hooks of mainstream J-Rock and J-Pop. It’s heavy, it’s groovy, and it’s built for the dancefloor. Check out Fast & […]
GRAMMY® Award-nominated progressive metal quintet Periphery are headed back to Australia next March, bringing their new album A Pale White Dot to life on stages across the country for a six-date headline tour. Supporting them on all dates will be Sydney modern metalcore outfit Inertia – tickets go on sale Thursday 10 September at 9am […]
Introducing Gamer Techno – a brand-new music genre. Forged by a lifelong gamer, this project is a high-octane fusion of driving techno, industrial grit, heavy metal, and dark synthwave, seamlessly blended with the infectious, melodic hooks of mainstream J-Rock and J-Pop. It’s heavy, it’s groovy, and it’s built for the dancefloor. Check out Fast & […]