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Z2 has announced The Mandrake Project: Year Two, the next installment of the graphic novel saga co-created by Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson and writer Tony Lee. The 184-page volume picks up where the first book left off, sending Necropolis into a near-death experience that propels him into a parallel world where the dark secrets of his family tree — and the forces controlling his fate — come into full, disorienting focus.

Dickinson teased the new volume: “Oh, just hold on to your proverbial hats, folks… This one gets REALLY weird!” Lee added: “You thought the first book was going to get us sued and bring out the pitchforks? You haven’t seen anything yet!”

Beyond the graphic narrative itself, Year Two includes an extensive series of interviews and essays documenting Dickinson‘s 2025 solo tour in support of The Mandrake Project album, along with behind-the-scenes insight from the creative team on how this chapter of the saga developed. The book opens with an introduction by Sacha Gervasi, director of Anvil! The Story of Anvil. It also contains a feature article on Wilhelm Reich, the sociologist and mystic whose controversial work led to his imprisonment by the FBI; Reich died in federal custody in 1957.

The oversized 12″x12″ deluxe and platinum editions are housed in a die-cut slipcase bound with a sealing ribbon and gilt paper edging, and include four new foil collector cards and a new edition of the antiqued metal “Mandrake Project” medallion. Both signed editions will be available directly from Z2 here. A standard 9″x9″ hardcover edition without slipcase will be available through Z2‘s retail partners, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, HMV UK, and independent comic and music shops worldwide.

Z2 editor-in-chief Rantz Hoseley said: “I thought I knew the limits and boundaries of Bruce‘s mad vision for this world, but one thing ‘Year Two’ has made brutally clear… there are no limits to where the story will go! And, let me just say, we are all the luckier for it!”

Dickinson is the vocalist of Iron Maiden and a multidisciplinary figure whose work outside music includes a career as a commercial airline pilot — flying three configurations of Iron Maiden‘s Ed Force One, including a 747 — as well as a BBC radio show, a podcast, television documentaries, films, novels, memoirs, film scripts and comics. He has also competed internationally in fencing and co-created a multi-million-selling beer with Robinsons Brewery. He has developed the mythology behind The Mandrake Project for over a decade.

Lee is a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and comics writer with credits at DC, Marvel, Hachette, IDW, Del Rey and Z2. He is known for his long run on IDW’s Doctor Who comic beginning in 2008, the 2012 Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover series, audio dramas including Confessions of Dorian Gray and Robin of Sherwood, and writing for BBC One and ITV Studios. Pre-orders for The Mandrake Project: Year Two are available at Z2Comics.com/BruceDickinson.

The post IRON MAIDEN’s BRUCE DICKINSON and Z2 Announce “The Mandrake Project: Year Two” Graphic Novel appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Arch Enemy and The Black Dahlia Murder will team up for a co-headlining North American tour, to be executed in October and November. ‘Wrath Across North America’ encompass 30 shows in total and feature support from Septicflesh, Crypta and Thrown Into Exile.
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Paul Rodgers carried the blues into hard rock with a voice built for weight, fire, and restraint. Born in Middlesbrough, England, on December 17, 1949, Rodgers began his professional path playing bass in the Roadrunners before moving into the lead vocal role. The band later became the Wildflowers, a lineup that included Micky Moody, later of Whitesnake, and Bruce Thomas, later of Elvis Costello and the Attractions. By 1968, Rodgers had joined Free as lead singer and songwriter, setting in motion a career that would move through Free, Bad Company, the Firm, the Law, Queen + Paul Rodgers, and a

The post Complete List Of Paul Rodgers Bands And Musical Projects appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Canadian prog genius Devin Townsend has some good news for his fans. He’s just released a new double single and a video to go with it. It’s for the songs “Prepare For War / The Big Snit”. Devin recently announced the long-awaited release of his ambitious, orchestral-metal opus The Moth, out on May 29th 2026 via Inside Out Music, an album over a decade in the making.
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So far, Australia’s Swapmeet have shared “I Know!” and “Sand” from their upcoming debut album Mount Zero. The former is straight-up banger, whereas the latter is more of an evocative reverie. Today’s “2 C U” is both of those things, operating as an enrapturing anthem about infatuation. About the song, the quartet says, “2 C…

The post Swapmeet – “2 C U” appeared first on Stereogum.

Static-X has canceled its remaining tour dates for 2026, citing serious medical issues affecting an undisclosed member or members of the band. The announcement came via social media on Monday, May 18.

The band’s statement read: “Due to serious medical issues, Static-X will be forced to cancel our remaining tour dates in 2026. The situation is unavoidable and requires immediate attention. We are very sorry for the inconvenience, and we promise to return to the stage, bigger, stronger and faster in 2027. We appreciate your continued love and support and look forward to seeing you all again very soon! Sincerely, Static-X.”

Static-X‘s most recent releases are Project Regeneration Vol. 1 (July 2020) and Project Regeneration Vol. 2 (January 2024), both featuring the original lineup of Campos, drummer Ken Jay, and guitarist Koichi Fukuda alongside the masked frontman Xer0, widely believed to be Dope singer Edsel Dope. The lineup honors the memory of late Static-X frontman Wayne Static, who died in November 2014.

The post STATIC-X Cancels All Remaining 2026 Tour Dates Due to Unspecified Medical Issues appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Massacre Records is proud to announce a partnership with Polish extreme metal legends Behemoth for the worldwide physical edition of their exclusive release I, Scvlptor, featuring 8 unreleased songs. Due out September 4, 2026 on CD, LP, MC and Limited Edition Box Set.
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The Swedes Gold Spire have joined forces with Awakening Records for the release of their second long player, Steps Into Shadow. The latter drops June 19, 2026.
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Listenable Records has released a limited deluxe edition of Gojira‘s landmark 2005 album From Mars to Sirius — a double gatefold zoetrope picture disc featuring exclusive, never-before-seen band photos. The first pressing is limited to 3,000 copies worldwide and is available to order now.

Released in September 2005, From Mars to Sirius was Gojira‘s third studio album: a concept record addressing environmental collapse, life, death, and planetary rebirth through a space travel narrative. It has since been named one of Rolling Stone‘s “100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time” and remains one of the most cited metal records of the 21st century.

Gojira‘s momentum has only accelerated since. In February 2025, the band won the Grammy Award for “Best Metal Performance” for “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!)” — a version of the French Revolution-era standard “Ah! Ça Ira!” that Gojira performed at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, making them the first metal act ever to perform at the Games.

The post GOJIRA Celebrates “From Mars to Sirius” Anniversary With Limited Zoetrope Picture Disc appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Heavy metal history is littered with stories of “evil” imagery, but for a select few bands, the darkness became a physical, claustrophobic reality. From the “Ghost in the Black Cloak” that paralyzed Black Sabbath at Clearwell Castle to the literal bloodletting inside Slipknot’s vocal booth, these five albums were forged in environments that can only be described as supernatural warfare.

As we look back in 2026, these sessions remain the most documented instances of when the occult, mental fractures, and heavy riffs converged to nearly destroy the artists involved.

TL;DR:

While most bands struggle with bad monitoring, these five legendary acts survived sessions involving genuine paranormal sightings, self-mutilation, and even murder. This is the definitive countdown of the “Cursed Five” that define the dark side of the recording booth.

5. Nine Inch Nails: ‘The Downward Spiral’ (1994)

The Location: 10050 Cielo Drive, Beverly Hills (The “Tate House”)

In 1992, Trent Reznor moved into a secluded home at 10050 Cielo Drive to build a studio he called “Le Pig.” It was the same house where the Manson Family brutally murdered actress Sharon Tate and four others in 1969. While Reznor initially claimed he didn’t know the house’s history, the “curse” of the location manifested as a deep, suffocating isolation that birthed industrial metal’s most claustrophobic masterpiece.

The session was so dark that Marilyn Manson—who was there recording his debut—reportedly engaged in rituals to appease the house’s spirits. Reznor eventually moved out after a chance encounter with Sharon Tate’s sister, admitting that the house’s sadness had finally “slapped him in the face.”

4. Ghost: ‘Prequelle’ (2018)

The Location: Artery Studios, Stockholm, Sweden

In 2026, Tobias Forge is a global stadium-filler, but during the Prequelle sessions, he was a man on an island. Forge was recording the album in total isolation while embroiled in a brutal, public lawsuit with his former “Nameless Ghouls.”

The “curse” here wasn’t a spirit, but a legal and psychological execution of the band’s identity. Forge has since admitted the studio felt “heavy” with a morbid energy he attributed to the spirit of the “Black Death,” which gave tracks like “Rats” and “Faith” their desperate, survivalist edge.

3. Black Sabbath: ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ (1973)

The Location: Clearwell Castle, Forest of Dean, England

Facing a massive case of writer’s block, Black Sabbath moved into the dungeons of Clearwell Castle. The inspiration returned, but it brought company.

Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne both documented sightings of a “figure in a black cloak” that would vanish into solid stone walls. The band was so terrified they began sleeping in the same room with their lights on. Iommi found the title track’s legendary riff in that dungeon, but the band fled the castle the second the tape stopped rolling, convinced the fortress had a “will of its own.”

Further Reading – BLACK SABBATH’s ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’: The Haunting Story Behind a Heavy Metal Masterpiece

2. Slipknot: ‘Iowa’ (2001)

The Location: Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California

The Iowa sessions are a gold standard for “intentional hell.” Producer Ross Robinson pushed the “Nine” into a state of psychopathic friction.

To record the title track, Corey Taylor stripped naked, shattered glass on the studio floor, and began cutting himself with the shards to achieve a vocal performance that sounded like a genuine death rattle. The session was so toxic that the band members refused to look at one another, creating an atmosphere of pure, unadulterated hatred that many members admit nearly ended the band before the album even hit the shelves.

We Also Recommend – Slipknot Albums Ranked: Every Masked Masterpiece From Worst to Best

1. Mayhem: ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’ (1994)

The Location: Grieg Hall, Bergen, Norway

The ultimate “cursed” artifact. The recording of this album involved a slow-motion car crash of suicide and murder.

It features the lyrics of vocalist “Dead” (who took his own life before recording) and the performances of guitarist Euronymous and bassist Varg Vikernes. Shortly after the sessions, Vikernes murdered Euronymous. The final record is a macabre document featuring the victim and the killer on the same tracks—a reality so dark that the album cover (the Nidaros Cathedral) was allegedly the duo’s next target for arson.

The Loaded Radio Ritual Check

What happened to the ‘Le Pig’ studio at the Tate house? The house was demolished shortly after Reznor moved out. However, Reznor famously took the front door—the one where the word “PIG” was written in blood—and installed it as the front door to his new studio in New Orleans.

What is ‘Sisu’ in the context of these sessions? Sisu is the Finnish concept of white-knuckled determination. While most of these bands aren’t Finnish, the term is frequently used in 2026 to describe the sheer endurance required to finish these “cursed” records without losing one’s mind.

Why does ‘Iowa’ sound more aggressive than modern Slipknot? Because the aggression wasn’t staged. The “cursed” nature of the session was a result of genuine, un-filtered mental health crises and substance abuse within the band at that specific moment in 2001.

The Loaded Radio Vault

At Loaded Radio, we don’t just cover the music; we cover the focal points where history and the heavy music mythos collide. These five albums represent just some of the genre’s darkest corners.

STAY LOUD: If you want to dive deeper into the occult history of your favorite bands, catch the latest episode of the Loaded Radio Daily Podcast. Scott Penfold breaks down the “Nuggs” of metal history every morning. Head to LoadedRadio.com or download our free app now.

The post Recording in Hell: 5 Legendary Metal Albums Nearly Destroyed by ‘Cursed’ Studio Sessions appeared first on Loaded Radio.