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45 Tage bevor wir den Holy Ground für euch öffnen, schließt die Pforte zu allen Buchungen der Special Camping-Areas auf Metaltix.

Findet bis zum 14. Juni 2026 euren Schlafplatz bei Residenz Evil, T^E.N.T., Moshtel oder euren Campingplatz im Camper-Park.
Wer diesen Termin verpasst, kann nur noch in der Ticketbörse fündig werden.

Deadline nicht verpennen – HIER und jetzt Special Camping-Unterkunft buchen!

 

Der Beitrag Das Ende naht erschien zuerst auf Live, laut, legendär!.

There’s a particular kind of tension in hearing Voivod’s fractured, futuristic metal suddenly stretched across strings and brass.

The post Voivod, ‘Symphonique’ Review – Metal Meets Orchestra appeared first on Audio Ink Radio.

June has a lot of birthdays, so see which rockers are blowing out the candles for this month. Continue reading…

Let’s be honest, the indie scene has been stagnant for years now, with so many artists and bands

While most people would consider it an EP, Hard Luck by Austin-based pop-punk standouts Hoaxxers could easily qualify as an album. Out on Mom’s Basement Records, it backs six new songs with the three tracks the band previously released as singles and comes on nifty 12″ vinyl. Call it what you want, but I’m just going to call it first class pop-punk. 

It blows my mind when I note that my history of writing about Charlie, Kye, and Tron as a musical trio dates back more than 20 years to the first Joe Jitsu EP. Yes, that was before YouTube and smartphones existed. Only the most cutting edge of folks had ventured into this new thing called social media. Now it’s 2026, and these guys are still doing their thing — and unlike me, they’ve only improved with age. Hard Luck delivers six (or nine) tracks of tight, melody-driven pop-punk that perfectly balances smooth vocals with punchy guitars. Hoaxxers are part of this whole wave of Xennial pop-punk bands (and most of them are on the Mom’s Basement roster!) that have managed to transform the genre into proper music for grown-ups. The songs on this record are largely reflections on living life and navigating the complicated world we live in. The cited influences (Dan Vapid, Smoking Popes, Green Day, Big In Japan) certainly give you an idea where Hoaxxers are coming from. But after all these years, Charlie has carved himself his own niche as a vocalist and a songwriter. You pretty much know what to expect, but all these guys are older and wiser now. They haven’t reinvented the formula; however, they’ve certainly refined and perfected it. 

Hard Luck is noteworthy because it includes a couple of very political songs. “Straight Down the Shitter” and “Make Your Bed” both explore similar themes about how to cope with day-to-day life when the world is burning, and they both opine on the folly of being apathetic or in denial that anything is wrong. “Sidetracked” is officially/unofficially the first “slow song” Hoaxxers have done, and it’s quite a successful change of pace (literally). “Against the Odds” is the first Hoaxxers song to feature Tron on lead vocals, and it really fits his vocal tone and style. 

There are countless bands out there emulating the “snottier” side of ’90s pop-punk, so it’s nice to have bands like Hoaxxers working in very different territory. Produced by Matt Morris with some assistance from Steven Jolly, Deedle Lacour, and Zephyr Huffman and mixed and mastered by Davi Pacote, this is an incredible-sounding recording that really accentuates the quality of the songwriting, vocals, and musicianship. This is pop-punk of the highest quality, and little else needs to be said. For decades, I’ve pushed back on the notion that pop-punk as a musical genre has to live in a world of eternal adolescence. And bands like Hoaxxers are either proving me right or serving as exceptions to the rule. For me, listening to Hard Luck is like reconnecting with old friends and appreciating that they haven’t turned into assholes. Get your copy on colored vinyl while supplies last!

As a great-grandchild of Slovakian immigrants, I’m always pleased to encounter bands from the mother country. While the band name Nazi Tampons might have you thinking, “What the fuck?”, the band itself has absolutely floored me with its raw and hyper-spirited brand of old school garage punk. The group’s new EP, Moon Invasion, powers through six tracks of blistering ferocity that falls somewhere between ’90s budget trash and late ’70s/early ’80s fast-and-furious punk rock. This is music that will have you jumping around and shouting along like a maniac even as it kicks you straight in the teeth. You certainly can’t question the enthusiasm and pure power that these individuals put into these songs. And every single one of these tunes absolutely rips. I’m reminded of bands like The No-Talents and The Loudmouths from back in the day — and who can deny that we need more of that kind of energy in today’s punk rock? The Nashville-based tape label Knuckles on Stun has given Moon Invasion a limited-edition cassette release. And when I say “limited,” I mean you better move fast! If you long for the good old days when punk music was dangerous and disreputable, you’ve just met your new favorite band! 

Over a decade in the making, the wait is finally over for European fans of symphonic metal. Anette Olzon will return to European stages, marking her first tour on the continent since 2012. This exclusive, limited-run tour will be dedicated to the acclaimed albums she recorded with Nightwish, Dark Passion Play (2007) and Imaginaerum (2011), and some surprises too!

Fans can expect a nostalgic and high-energy journey, featuring hits such as “Amaranth“, “Bye Bye Beautiful“, “Storytime“, and “The Poet and the Pendulum“. Notably, this tour will feature the live European debut of several songs from these albums that were never performed live by the band during her tenure, making this a historic event for followers of the symphonic metal genre.

To celebrate this historic return, an exclusive ticket pre-sale is available starting now. Fans who secure their tickets during this special 3-week pre-sale window will receive an exclusive, numbered postcard, personally signed by Anette Olzon, as a special thank you for their early support. Pre-sale runs until February 20th, or until the pre-sale ticket allocation is exhausted. General sales, with the announcement of the venues and without the pre-sale benefits, will begin on March 4th.

Ticket link on bio of @anetteolzon_official and @esteticatorta!

Here are all the planned dates for this tour:

JUL 25th – Vaas, FIN – tickets HERE
JUL 27th – Oslo, NOR
JUL 28th – Stockholm, SWE
JUL 30th – Copenhagen, DEN
JUL 31th – Amsterdam, NLD
AUG 2nd – Milan, ITA
AUG 3rd – Rome, ITA
AUG 5th – Athens, GRE
AUG 6th – Istambul, TUR
AUG 8th – Budabest, HUN
AUG 9th – Prague, CZE
AUG 11th – Warsaw, POL
AUG 13th – Berlin, GER
AUG 14th – Hamburg, GER
AUG 16th – Frankfurt, GER
AUG 17th – Stuttgart, GER
AUG 19th – Munich, GER
AUG 20th – Vienna, AUT
AUG 23rd – London, UK
AUG 25th – Madrid, SPA
AUG 26th – Paris, FRA
AUG 27th – Lisbon, POR

Ticket and info at www.esteticatorta.myshopify.com

The post Anette Olzon’s exclusive European tour starts next month first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.

Posted on June 1st 2026, 11:07a.m.

A cancer tragedy and other real-life dramas inspired Mastodon’s seventh album Emperor Of Sand, which they believe was 17 years in the making

[Album artwork by Staffan Lindroth]

The last time we gathered together under the Dimhav banner, I was busy losing my grip over the Swede’s very excellent and very sudden debut, 2019’s The Boreal Flame. I say ‘very sudden’ in that everything concerning the band and that initial effort seemed to drop out of the clear blue sky on one random day, and as strange as it feels to admit in 2026, I have a Facebonk algorithm to thank for that initial prompt because it somehow understood the name ‘Daniel Heiman’ might be a priority for me. Hey, remember when algorithms actually did some heavy lifting? Buddy, those were the days.

Anyway, on a rather random day—November 7th, 2019—a post from Daniel Heiman himself (a bonafide rarity, it must be said, after a crucial span of media silence) concerning his fresh involvement with a new band called Dimhav ended up getting prioritized for me upon jumping into my FB account to… who knows, post a picture of a squirrel throwing hands at a plucky crow. And thusly didst this emotional adventure officially commence.

To spice the brew even further, Daniel made his abrupt announcement THE DAY BEFORE that new project’s debut was about to be released, which gave me very little time to: 1) Figure out just who the hell Dimhav was, and 2) Come up with a very cerebral post expressing my excitement for this very smashing news:

Even MORE bonkers: Once the album dropped, and despite casually advertising one of power metal’s most reputable recluses behind the mic as a crucial allure, Dimhav opted to launch The Boreal Flame with a 10-minute instrumental. Like, who the hell… How… Why wouldn’t you…

Dimhav, YOU PLOWED A 10-MINUTE INSTRUMENTAL INTO OUR EARS before even giving us a taste of the advantage that is having ‘Ethereal Magnanimus’, the fellow responsible for the vocal stunts heard throughout “Highlander (The One),” behind the microphone.

It’s fine, though, because it worked. It all worked. It worked wonderfully, and here are a couple things I had to say about The Boreal Flame shortly after its release in 2019:

“This is the first case in what feels like quite some time where the FFO actually hits the target dead center:  ‘…It will appeal to fans of bands like Wintersun, Lost Horizon and Symphony X.’ Yes! Right on. The smooth fluidity and jaw-dropping proficiency of the Wintersun debut; the proggy, epic and absorbing substance behind The Odyssey; and all the magnificent energy and bravado that made Lost Horizon crucial—this record is an ideal collision of all these things, with the added bonus of an atmosphere that very much fits that wonderfully luminous cover artwork.”

And:

“If Last Rites still lived in the scoring days, I would be extremely tempted to hand The Boreal Flame a 10/10. And yes, this is stated with full recognition of the fact that three days spent with an album is a very short honeymoon and one swallow does not a summer make. But I feel like I’ve been waiting for Dimhav and a power / prog record of this sort (and caliber) for over a decade, and now that it’s landed—blindsided, no less—I could not be more pleased with the result. Hell, even if this ends up being the only thing this trio manages to thrust into the aether, The Boreal Flame delivers enough ins and outs from start to finish to keep the engine purring for years to come.”

Suffice to say, the Dimhav debut delivered enough on its surprise and promise to become my top pick of 2019, and in the years that followed I sort of resigned myself to the belief that it would find its rightful place amongst a stack of other top-shelf one-shot gems we all have in our collections. In truth, I think part of me might have even hoped for a ‘one-and-done’ status because why tempt fate with the possibility of a sophomore release that might somehow blemish the wonderful adventure that was the discovery, the initiation and the assimilation of The Boreal Flame. Hello, I am a selfish wanker, hear me roar.

Oh, hello! I didn’t see you there! Ready to meet Dimhav record number two, Ondine?

They, um… They did it again. Not quite a true shadow drop, but media silence for the better part of 7 years and then dropping a new record with less than two months notice? I really didn’t have much of a chance to come to terms with the fact that my resolute ‘one-and-done’ determination was suddenly blasted into bloody smithereens, but I will not deny the fact that the nervous anticipation I felt upon first reading the Ondine announcement leaned harder into “I’M SHITTING MY PANTS! (In a good way!)” again. Ever the class act:

So, what’s new in Dimhavland circa 2026?

Quite a bit, honestly, though Ondine does sound every bit the sister to The Boreal Flame as I’d hoped and expected. The approach still pits Wintersun, Symphony X and Lost Horizon together for an overall yarn that’s as proggy, melodic, epic and complex as anything you’ve heard in recent years, but just as the debut did a remarkable job of achieving its governing theme both musically and in the way it “felt,” Ondine does so in a largely separate way.

One thing the Lindroth brothers (Olle on drums, keys and orchestration; Staffan on guitars, bass and keys) appear to be quite adept at is producing ideal heavy metal soundtracks for the stories swimming around in their minds. So, where The Boreal Flame did a wonderful job of pushing a narrative and atmosphere rooted in Scandinavian mountainscapes that painted cold, expansive and, at times, gradual scenes—like a lone individual trudging through two feet of freshly fallen snow towards a welcoming cabin—Ondine opts for a narrative based on the sea’s “elemental fury and the inescapable pull of what lies beneath the surface.” With that in mind, replace much of the more gradual and dark moods suggested via record number one in favor of… well, turbulence. A deferential salute to the sea and the turbulence, dread and general unrest she so often dispenses, but in an intensely calculated and melodic way that befits the skill of the brothers Lindroth.

To further illustrate the point, there are times when this record is flailing furiously enough from all directions that I might even suggest replacing the Wintersun connect with a band more apt to storm, like maybe Moonsorrow? Splitting hairs, sure, but walk into the foray with the understanding that Ondine often feels quite a bit angrier and more unpredictable compared to the band’s debut.

That being said, as I am often over-eager to point out, for every action in nature, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and that obviously includes the forces put forth throughout Ondine. So, given the record’s penchant for wave-crashing unrest, this time around Dimhav opts for a counterbalance that’s even lighter and more delicate compared to what was delivered in 2019, which also happens to complement the album’s water spirit motif. Gone are the warm acoustic flourishes that offset the cold heaviness of The Boreal Flame, and in swoops a placid orchestral softness largely centered on guest oboist Malin Klingborg.

As evidenced by a song like “Pilgrimage,” Ondine also feels quite a bit more proggy and complex compared to the debut. There’s an endless sea of leads—guitar AND keyboard—to soak in, and essentially every song features some sort of tempo / mood shift(s) to accommodate an ever-evolving storyline. The riffing is still as buttery as it was 7 years ago, but it also feels a bit more indebted to thrash when things really start to cook.

And hey! Somehow I’ve gotten this deep into the sauce without even mentioning the presence of Daniel Heiman, which feels just as brazen / bat-shit bonkers as leading off a record he’s fronting with a 10-minute instrumental. As expected, Daniel sounds fantastic—I wouldn’t even pretend to understand how his voice never seems to lose an ounce of its power and range. Is… Is he actually human? Do we not hear from him directly all that often (or AT ALL) because he actually lives in the sea? Has anyone checked his neck for gills? If you need further proof of his continued glory, please enjoy the fully absurd stunt he pulls 6:50 into opener “Tides Immemorial,” or basically throughout the whole of the wonderfully catchy “Windward Bound.”

All said and done, there is just A LOT to unpack here—too much to yield a comprehensive summary after spending just over a week with these songs. As such, I’d probably caution fresh ears and newcomers to the band to approach the record with a bit of patience because the hooks aren’t quite as immediate as they were for The Boreal Flame. But, again, I think that’s mostly due to them getting swept up in the overall uproar / proginess / bedlam amidst initial spins. Over time, I fully expect this bracing one-hour voyage to settle in just deep and deeply as did The Boreal Flame, and whether or not Ondine eventually eclipses its predecessor matters a hell of a lot less than simply enjoying the very epic ride.

And as far as the future’s concerned, I would have to imagine that, at the least, Dimhav should shoot for the blessed hat-trick. After all, the best things in life come in threes—it’s the magic number—and there doesn’t appear to be much of a ceiling to what this trio is capable of generating.

The post Dimhav – Ondine Review appeared first on Last Rites.