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It would appear that Helen 55 and Empty Shell Casing will be joining them onstage in June.

The post Shortie Are Working On A Reunion Show And CD Reissues appeared first on Theprp.com.

What if your favorite fantasy RPG had a soundtrack forged from blazing metal and cinematic symphonies? When ancient magic awakens, seeing legends and ghosts emerge from the mist at the borders of reality, AVALAND answers the call. Forged at the crossroads of power metal and opera grandeur, the band from France doesn’t just write songs – they […]

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Sepultura, Lamb Of God and Arch Enemy are among the best new metal songs this week.

French rock band Barn Hooker has released their latest single, “ANTIBLUES (Dance with the Devil),” a track that uses a gritty, western-fairground aesthetic to critique the modern trend of “miracle cures” for mental well-being. The song features a charismatic salesman peddling elixirs for the blues, serving as an ironic commentary on the commodification of suffering and the desperate pacts people make to find relief. It’s a dark, high-energy anthem that asks exactly how far someone is willing to go to feel better.

The release marks a new chapter for the band’s revamped lineup, centered around the magnetic vocals of frontwoman Joey Delish. Musically, the track stays true to the group’s “visceral” style, blending stoner rock, blues, and metal with a heavy, rhythmic groove. Designed for a raw live experience, “ANTIBLUES” solidifies Barn Hooker’s shift toward a more provocative and unrefined sound.

The post Barn Hooker Releases New Single “ANTIBLUES” first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.

– February 27th, 2026 –

Hypnotic Heavy Metal Band Drops New Song + Video “Lilac”

“Music is magic, and Spell is a spell. Fundamentally, it is a forum to make our dreams come true” – Cam Mesmer

Vancouver based hypnotic heavy metal outfit Spell, will release its new LP, ‘Wretched Heart‘, on May 1 via Bad Omen Records. A shadow-drenched journey through desperation, passion and defiance, ‘Wretched Heart‘ sees Spell transform heavy metal into something urgent and human – gothic, cinematic and hypnotic. Not only Spell‘s strongest record to date but also a thunderous celebration of eccentricity which stalks its nocturnal realm with both savage finesse and beguiling charm. ‘Wretched Heart‘ is the follow-up to Spell‘s 2022 LP, ‘Tragic Magic‘, an album hailed as a celebration of “the mystique and darkness within hard rock and heavy metal“.

Pre-order/save ‘Wretched Heart‘ at this location.

The first track released from ‘Wretched Heart‘ is “Lilac“, Spell‘s most addictive and bittersweet moment to date, and a song that channels both stadium-sized passion and wistful longing. Featuring a guest guitar solo by former Spirit Adrift, Carcass, and Angel Witch man, Tom Draper, “Lilac” dances with harmony-laden metal and synth-driven gothic chills. In the song, the titular flower forms an overarching metaphor for the ephemeral and transient forms of both nature and love.

Stream a music video for “Lilac“, directed by James Barry and Sean Edwards for Ramble Films, at this location.

Credit Sean Edwards

“There are many things in life that disappear so quickly and will be gone immediately if we get preoccupied and forget to enjoy them and care for them” elaborates Spell vocalist/bassist Cam Mesmer before noting, “This song isn’t really about a flower“.

‘Wretched Heart‘, in all its gory glory, embodies a very vital paradox – a record made by true believers who yearn for catharsis beyond. The oxymoron of anthems forged from steel, yet with a very human heart. Even the most cynical bystander will likely struggle not to be bewitched.

Track listing:
01.) Dark Inertia
02.) Lilac (stream VIDEO)
03.) Take My Life
04.) Unquiet Graces
05.) Oubliette
06.) Iron Teeth
07.) Exquisite Corpse
08.) Savage Scourge
09.) In Duress
10.) Wretched Heart

Spell is Cam Mesmer (vocals, bass, rhythm guitar, synthesizers), Al Lester, (vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, drums), Jeff Black (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Gabriel Tenebrae, (lead guitar, synthesizers). Follow Spell on Facebook and Instagram.

“Tipping their caps to a range of classic hard rock influences like Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush and even old-school Mercyful Fate, Spell captures a dreary, overcast and lo-fi vibe” – Exclaim!

“If this band was a van, they would be the raddest, most pimped out airbrushed 70′s van with plush interior and a BOOMING system. SPELL is a perfect name for them, because their songs are jamming heavy metal magic.” – Cvlt Nation

“If you like your throwback metal loaded with 70s occult magic, this may cast a spell over you.” – Angry Metal Guy

Buy iTunes Artist Page Artist News

This week’s top tracks include some of Sepultura’s final music, a very chilly new track from Frozen Soul, and more!

The post SEPULTURA, FROZEN SOUL, BEYOND CREATION & More Among Metal Injection's Top Tracks Of The Week appeared first on Metal Injection.

U.S. touring is also planned for the fall.

The post Elder’s New Album “Through Zero” Headed For A May Release appeared first on Theprp.com.

In 1976, astronomers at the Big Ear Telescope discovered a signal from space. The signal was so strong and unexpected that while reading the printout, astronomer Jerry Ehman circled it a wrote ‘Wow!’ in ballpoint pen. ‘Royal Discordance’, the third album from The Gloom In The Corner, is the Wow Signal but metalcore.

Trying to define the record’s sound is difficult. They call it ‘metalcore’ but the description is neither particularly helpful nor entirely accurate. Yes, it contains elements of hardcore and metal, but the portmanteau doesn’t come close to covering the amount of more the band is capable of. Basically, it sounds like the unholy offspring of Knocked Loose and My Chemical Romance; one part scouring heaviness and bone-crunching breakdowns, one part progressive glam. It’s enough to make you gasp at its audacity. It is, putting it mildly, quite an experience.

The term ‘glam metal’ might bring to mind sparkly costumes, a sense of majesty, and a certain degree of cheesiness. ‘Royal Discordance’ is a lot of things, but it’s not that. While similar bands like Motionless In White or Ice Nine Kills lean into that schlocky sound, this draws a clear line and stays on the other side of it. It’s dark and gritty, and takes itself seriously. While there’s nothing inherently good about dark grittiness, sticking to that one tone means the record feels powerful and coherent. This is particularly helpful because they’re also unafraid to discard genre; no two songs are alike and nothing seems to be off limits, combined with an epic sense of scale you’d think the resulting album would be a massive mess. It isn’t. There are three reasons for that;

Firstly, it has a clear sense of purpose. The opening track ‘The Problem With Apocalyptic Tyranny’ is an intense and vicious introduction but it also seeds many of the ideas they will bring into play later, like a sweep of clean vocals and sprightly shifts in direction. The album then unfolds like a map, every song with a variety of contours each within its own little square.

Secondly, Mikey Arthur’s vocals are stunning, not just because he handles a variety of styles either. What separates him from most other vocalists is he seems to be good at everything. Death growls, snotty snarls and guttural rasps are all used on songs like ‘Painkiller Soliloquy’ to give them shape and personality while his singing voice is equally powerful. For example, the soaring section of ‘Shadow Rhapsody II’ simply wouldn’t work if he couldn’t lean so hard into its soaring melody. By using a mixture of styles he makes the record feel consistently creative and emotionally earnest.

Finally, and most importantly, the record has a hard edge. Producer Jonathan Delese has captured a tangible sound, a kind of  anti-glam dirtiness, that makes it bite. This gives the heavier songs like ‘Painkiller Soliloquy’ or ‘Assassination Run‘ a chunky hardness that stings like a spanking from a plank of wood. Although this is where the Knocked Loose comparisons are most clearly felt even the more expansive songs like ‘Short Range Teleportation (A Guide To Guerilla Warfare)’ feature bruising breakdowns or nasty, scratchy pick scrapes. This anchors the songs in an aggressive mode and avoids them feeling overblown or straying into camp, even – or especially – when they aim for the epic.

Although ‘If You Didn’t Like Me Then, You Won’t Like Me Now’ is an amazing title for a progressive metalcore song, it’s also blatantly wrong.  Delve into the band’s back catalogue and it becomes clear just how much of a step up this new record is. Their 2022 album ‘Trinity’ treads similar ground, but something has changed. It’s like a dial has been turned back, the maximalism has been toned down. To be clear, there is still a lot happening, but the ideas are carefully applied rather than heaped on. It’s the difference between smoky eye and clown makeup. Basically, they have discovered taste.

On the subject of taste, ‘Assassination Run’ opens with a line that tells you exactly the tone the song is going for before liberally scattering swearwords around like holy water at an exorcism, tongue wedged firmly in its cheek. This is testament to the band’s understanding of its creation, the differing approaches they are able to take and proof they can excel in different styles. It is in effect saying ‘You want deathcore? Try This’.

Subsequent songs share that same level of confidence regardless of the style so ‘That’s Life (Carry Me Home)’ is a pop-rock song in the style of AFI that has a blistering understanding of momentum, while ‘Note (Hollow Point Elysium)’ is built around a looped sample of a shotgun being cocked and a revolver being spun, giving it an unusual rhythmic profile. Indeed, despite making a lot of strong choices they also make consistently good choices and each song has a clear sense of purpose no matter what approach it takes.

If you have any lingering doubts this is exactly the kind of record that has a grand finale. More than that, it’s split into two parts. ‘Love I – A Quaver Through The Pale’ flexes its muscles while ratcheting up the tension allowing ‘Love II – A Walk Amongst The Poppy Fields’ to pay it all off in one sweeping gesture. It’s a fitting end and a striking way to conclude the album.

On their new album, The Gloom In The Corner are tuned to a whole new wavelength. The results are as thrilling as a signal beamed in from another planet. Wow – ‘Royal Discordance’ is a breathtaking piece of work.

IAN KENWORTHY

In 1976, astronomers at the Big Ear Telescope discovered a signal from space. The signal was so strong and unexpected that while reading the printout, astronomer Jerry Ehman circled it a wrote ‘Wow!’ in ballpoint pen. ‘Royal Discordance’, the third album from The Gloom In The Corner, is the Wow Signal but metalcore.

Trying to define the record’s sound is difficult. They call it ‘metalcore’ but the description is neither particularly helpful nor entirely accurate. Yes, it contains elements of hardcore and metal, but the portmanteau doesn’t come close to covering the amount of more the band is capable of. Basically, it sounds like the unholy offspring of Knocked Loose and My Chemical Romance; one part scouring heaviness and bone-crunching breakdowns, one part progressive glam. It’s enough to make you gasp at its audacity. It is, putting it mildly, quite an experience.

The term ‘glam metal’ might bring to mind sparkly costumes, a sense of majesty, and a certain degree of cheesiness. ‘Royal Discordance’ is a lot of things, but it’s not that. While similar bands like Motionless In White or Ice Nine Kills lean into that schlocky sound, this draws a clear line and stays on the other side of it. It’s dark and gritty, and takes itself seriously. While there’s nothing inherently good about dark grittiness, sticking to that one tone means the record feels powerful and coherent. This is particularly helpful because they’re also unafraid to discard genre; no two songs are alike and nothing seems to be off limits, combined with an epic sense of scale you’d think the resulting album would be a massive mess. It isn’t. There are three reasons for that;

Firstly, it has a clear sense of purpose. The opening track ‘The Problem With Apocalyptic Tyranny’ is an intense and vicious introduction but it also seeds many of the ideas they will bring into play later, like a sweep of clean vocals and sprightly shifts in direction. The album then unfolds like a map, every song with a variety of contours each within its own little square.

Secondly, Mikey Arthur’s vocals are stunning, not just because he handles a variety of styles either. What separates him from most other vocalists is he seems to be good at everything. Death growls, snotty snarls and guttural rasps are all used on songs like ‘Painkiller Soliloquy’ to give them shape and personality while his singing voice is equally powerful. For example, the soaring section of ‘Shadow Rhapsody II’ simply wouldn’t work if he couldn’t lean so hard into its soaring melody. By using a mixture of styles he makes the record feel consistently creative and emotionally earnest.

Finally, and most importantly, the record has a hard edge. Producer Jonathan Delese has captured a tangible sound, a kind of  anti-glam dirtiness, that makes it bite. This gives the heavier songs like ‘Painkiller Soliloquy’ or ‘Assassination Run‘ a chunky hardness that stings like a spanking from a plank of wood. Although this is where the Knocked Loose comparisons are most clearly felt even the more expansive songs like ‘Short Range Teleportation (A Guide To Guerilla Warfare)’ feature bruising breakdowns or nasty, scratchy pick scrapes. This anchors the songs in an aggressive mode and avoids them feeling overblown or straying into camp, even – or especially – when they aim for the epic.

Although ‘If You Didn’t Like Me Then, You Won’t Like Me Now’ is an amazing title for a progressive metalcore song, it’s also blatantly wrong.  Delve into the band’s back catalogue and it becomes clear just how much of a step up this new record is. Their 2022 album ‘Trinity’ treads similar ground, but something has changed. It’s like a dial has been turned back, the maximalism has been toned down. To be clear, there is still a lot happening, but the ideas are carefully applied rather than heaped on. It’s the difference between smoky eye and clown makeup. Basically, they have discovered taste.

On the subject of taste, ‘Assassination Run’ opens with a line that tells you exactly the tone the song is going for before liberally scattering swearwords around like holy water at an exorcism, tongue wedged firmly in its cheek. This is testament to the band’s understanding of its creation, the differing approaches they are able to take and proof they can excel in different styles. It is in effect saying ‘You want deathcore? Try This’.

Subsequent songs share that same level of confidence regardless of the style so ‘That’s Life (Carry Me Home)’ is a pop-rock song in the style of AFI that has a blistering understanding of momentum, while ‘Note (Hollow Point Elysium)’ is built around a looped sample of a shotgun being cocked and a revolver being spun, giving it an unusual rhythmic profile. Indeed, despite making a lot of strong choices they also make consistently good choices and each song has a clear sense of purpose no matter what approach it takes.

If you have any lingering doubts this is exactly the kind of record that has a grand finale. More than that, it’s split into two parts. ‘Love I – A Quaver Through The Pale’ flexes its muscles while ratcheting up the tension allowing ‘Love II – A Walk Amongst The Poppy Fields’ to pay it all off in one sweeping gesture. It’s a fitting end and a striking way to conclude the album.

On their new album, The Gloom In The Corner are tuned to a whole new wavelength. The results are as thrilling as a signal beamed in from another planet. Wow – ‘Royal Discordance’ is a breathtaking piece of work.

IAN KENWORTHY

(written by Islander) Any year that brings us a new Wolfbastard record isn’t a complete failure, even a year like this one which is already turning into an abysmal beast — with 10 months left to go! In fact, the worse everything around us looks, the more fuel it adds to Wolfbastard’s fires. Their newest […]

The post AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: WOLFBASTARD — “F.O.T.D” appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.