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Country metal upstarts ink deal with Frontiers and hit the road with Steel Panther.

The post CODY PARKS & THE DIRTY SOUTH Saddle Up For Major Label Debut With "Snake Shaker" appeared first on Metal Injection.

Beartooth was originally published on HM Magazine by Annie Davenport.

Beartooth was originally published on HM Magazine by Annie Davenport.

Faster Pussycat’s Taime Down was on vocals.

The post Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler & Gilby Clarke Reunited To Cover Guns N’ Roses “It’s So Easy” Last Night appeared first on Theprp.com.

’90s pop-alternative fixtures Eve 6 and Fastball are going on tour together, and they made a funny video to promote it. More specifically, Patrick Stickles made the video. The Titus Andronicus frontman — whose fans are definitely devoted, no matter what Ian Cohen says — directed the lo-fi clip, which emphasizes the value of an Eve 6/Fastball co-bill. Whereas many ’90s nostalgia tours will only afford you two or three hits, this one presents you with six. See for yourself:

The post Patrick Stickles Directed Eve 6 & Fastball’s Funny Tour Promo Video appeared first on Stereogum.

Hardcore outfit Incendiary released a surprise compilation of old shit yesterday that got a little remastering love from GRAMMY Award-winning producer Will Putney.

Dubbed the Product Of New York, this new release features a remastered version of their debut EP Amongst The Filth, along with some b-sides, tracks from various 7″ splits, and unreleased tracks. It really is a look into the band’s past.

Speaking of the collection, which is available digitally right now and will be available on vinyl by May 15 via Closed Casket Activities, it’s all there for you to enjoy. Frontman Brendan Garrone explained why the band opted to put this out when they did.

“Product of New York captures the complete early Incendiary output across multiple Split 7″s and our debut 7″, ‘Amongst The Filth.’

“We’re proud of the history of the band and wanted to compile the songs that defined this time period, many of which continue to be staples of our live sets. Hopefully, people more familiar with our later LPs have a chance to check out these tracks.”

The collection also contains the song “Not Your Prophet”, which was supposed to be on the band’s Change the Way You Think About Pain release, but never made it to the final product. Garronej

You can head over to your favorite digital streaming platform or to the band’s Bandcamp page to check this release out.

The post Incendiary Releases Remastered Collection Featuring Debut EP and B-Sides appeared first on MetalSucks.

Prepare for her first album since 2018, “Sexistential,” with 49 minutes of up-tempo gems.

What Do We Know About Armored Saint’s New Album Emotion Factory Reset?

The band will release their ninth studio album on May 22, 2026, led by the single “Close To The Bone,” blending classic heavy metal roots with a modern edge.

TL;DR:

Armored Saint return with Emotion Factory Reset, their ninth studio album arriving May 22 via Metal Blade Records. The first single “Close To The Bone” captures a balance of vintage influence and forward-thinking songwriting, backed by a major 2026 tour schedule.

This Is A Band Still Moving Forward

Armored Saint have been around long enough to lean on legacy if they wanted to.

They’re not doing that.

This feels like a band still actively chasing something—not revisiting it.

Legacy bands don’t usually sound this driven this deep into their career. That’s what makes this release stand out—it feels like momentum, not nostalgia.

Loaded Radio Recommends – Thrash Metal Titans: The 13 Best Bands of All Time Ranked (2026 Edition)

What Emotion Factory Reset Represents

A New Chapter Without Repeating The Past

Bassist Joey Vera explains it best: “Each Armored Saint record, to me, is like a new skin for the band, a different chapter. I don’t think we’ve ever repeated ourselves. Every album has been pretty different from the previous one, a snapshot in time. In 2026, Emotion Factory Reset is where our heads are at.”

That mindset defines the entire record.

It’s not about recreating past eras—it’s about capturing where they are right now.

Built On Freedom And Chemistry

Frontman John Bush adds: “When we start coming up with songs, I always say we can do whatever we want. Use all our influences through the years… and let that seep in and bring something new out of us. It leads to something more adventurous.”

That openness is what keeps the band evolving.

The Meaning Behind The Album Title

Resetting Perspective

The album title comes from guitarist Phil Sandoval: “To me, ‘Emotion Factory Reset’ means to reset yourself back to clarity. Take a pause and breathe before you respond or react. You can’t control outside events, but you can control your mind.”

It’s a concept that goes beyond lyrics—it reflects a mindset.

Drummer Gonzo Sandoval expands on that idea: “The world is going through a technological upswing… we need to realign, reimagine, reset for our better selves.”

There’s intention behind this record.

Breaking Down “Close To The Bone”

Classic Feel, Modern Execution

The first single sets the tone immediately.

John Bush describes it: “The first track on the record sounds like vintage ARMORED SAINT. Yet vintage that comes out in 2026! How did we do that? Killer riffs, awesome rhythms and attacking vocals gets this train rolling.”

It walks that line between past and present without leaning too hard either way.

The Tension In The Lyrics

Bush explains the core idea: “The title implies the human response to withdraw… Do you just say, ‘aww, whatever man,’ or do you say, ‘hey, fuck you!’ Depends on the moment I guess.”

That push-and-pull is what gives the song weight.

And it raises a bigger question—how many bands this deep into their career are still writing from that kind of honest place?

Rooted In Early Metal DNA

Joey Vera ties it back to their origins: “Musically, this song was inspired by… the NWOBHM… I try to reimagine my early influences by giving them a slight modern twist.”

That’s the balance—respecting the past without being stuck in it.

The Sound And Recording Approach

Keeping It Raw

One of the more interesting elements is how the vocals were handled.

A large portion of Bush’s performances were taken directly from demo sessions, preserving raw energy instead of over-polishing.

At the same time, Vera keeps the writing instinctive: “I try not to overthink… Once the ball starts rolling, I just sit back and let it happen.”

That combination keeps the record feeling alive rather than calculated.

Emotion Factory Reset Track Listing

1. Close To The Bone
2. Every Man-Any Man
3. Not On Your Life
4. Hit A Moonshot
5. Buckeye
6. Compromise
7. It’s A Buzzkill
8. Throwing Caution To The Wind
9. Ladders And Slides
10. Bottom Feeder
11. Epilogue

Armored Saint 2026 Tour Dates

The band is taking this record on the road immediately.

4/19/2026 Rainbow Bar & Grill – West Hollywood, CA w/ L.A. Guns, Pentagram, Alien Ant Farm, Boy Hits Car
5/17/2026 San Luis Metal Fest – San Luis Potosí, MX
5/22/2026 Rock Hard Festival – Gelsenkirchen, DE
6/06/2026 Milwaukee Metalfest @ The Rave/Eagles Club – Milwaukee, WI
7/30/2026 Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, DK  w/ Metal Church
7/31/2026 Skogsrojet Festival – Rejmyre, SE
8/01/2026 Pustervik – Gothenburg, SE w/ Testament, Metal Church
8/02/2026 Mejeriet – Lund, SE * w/ Testament, Metal Church
8/05/2026 Brutal Assault – Jaroměř, CZ
8/07/2026 Alcatraz Festival – Dessel, BE
8/08/2026 Poppodium Boerderij – Zoetermeer, NL *ARMORED SAINT headlining show
8/09/2026 Keep It True Legions  –  Geiselwind, DE
8/11/2026 Progresja – Warsaw, PL w/ Savatage, Nevermore
8/12/2026 Collosseum – Kosice, SK  w/ Vio-Lence
8/13/2026 Klub Studio – Krakow, PL w/ Testament, Metal Church
8/29/2026 Stonedead Festival – Newark, UK

Fans interested in catching Armored Saint live can find tickets at this location.

This One Comes From A Different Headspace

There’s a noticeable shift in how this album was approached.

It’s not built on nostalgia or trying to recreate past success. It’s built on clarity—on knowing exactly what the band wants to say and how they want to say it.

That’s rare this far into a career.

And it’s what gives this record its edge.

So the real question is—is this just another chapter, or is this the version of Armored Saint that finally pulls everything together?

FAQ

When Is Emotion Factory Reset Released?

May 22, 2026 via Metal Blade Records.

What Is The First Single?

“Close To The Bone” is the lead single and opening track.

How Many Albums Has Armored Saint Released?

This will be their ninth studio album.

What Is The Album About?

Themes focus on clarity, perspective, and controlling your internal response to external situations.

Band Bio: Armored Saint

Armored Saint formed in Los Angeles in the early 1980s and became one of the most respected traditional heavy metal bands in the U.S. Known for their consistency and evolution, they continue to push forward decades into their career.

The post Armored Saint Announce ‘Emotion Factory Reset’—New Album And “Close To The Bone” Single Unleashed appeared first on Loaded Radio.

It turns out you can improve quite a bit at something if you chip away at it for three decades straight. Such is the realization that comes from Nordlys’ debut record, Lichterglanz Finsternis, which released earlier this month. It’s not immediately apparent from the straight-laced and vaguely atmospheric black metal. Hold it up beside the Norwegian band’s previous release, ‘Til Pest, and time will make its tautological case. ‘Til Pest compiles the band’s demos from the ‘90s up until they changed their name to, who would’ve guessed, Pest. In this light, Lichterglanz Finsternis becomes a work of refinement. The scrappy guitar work on ‘Til Pest becomes melodic, the shrill vocals mature into gravel, the impulsive transitions and adolescent attention-span songwriting learns to calm down and trust itself. All this would be missed when taking Lichterglanz Finsternis at face value because it ignores three decades’ worth of context.

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Intricate knowledge of Nordlys’ lore isn’t required to enjoy Lichterglanz Finsternis. You could exit right now and be satisfied with the stone-faced and gimmick-free black metal. But it’s a marvel it even saw the light of day, considering that lead vocalist and guitarist Aleksi Schorn has been preoccupied with a larger project for the last 20 years, totalselfhatred. Additionally, Nordlys has adopted multiple names since they formed in 1994, and each represented a change of direction. As can be implied, returning to the Nordlys mantle implies how Schorn compares the band to his other projects.

Reflexively, Nordlys breaks from the absolution of totalselfhatred. The latter immolates and overwhelms with slow and dense compositions, embodying the depressive suicidal black metal descriptor. As Schorn puts it, his time away from Nordlys and working with totalselfhatred “made me return to the very roots of Nordlys’ music, since totalselfhatred includes a lot of variety and out-of-the-box elements. So with Nordlys, we focus on what we know best and rather enhance it than try to create something new.”

That’s why Nordlys is a fundamentals-first, foremost, and only act. Moderation and technique are the cardiovascular and muscular systems. Nordlys isolate the evergreen black metal ideal, musically speaking, which is all to say that they replace the scorched-earth production and minimalist playing that were proxies for ideological rejection and marked many Norwegian staple albums with fluid songwriting and agreeable production. Even the synth work follows this pedestrian example, as you’d have to dig through “Wilde Natur” to find them.  

Much of Lichterglanz Finsternis rolls off Nordlys’ tongue then, the ease at which they play and the power that fuels them coming from what’s by now a deep familiarity with their material. Schorn says, “We started actively rehearsing for the album in January 2019. However, there’s a lot of music on that album that was created in the nineties that just never got finished or recorded properly.” Surely, six years of practice for songs you wrote 30 years ago will beget expertise, doubly so if you’re still playing with the same people. 

While Schorn spent his time with totalselfhatred, drummer Torstein (credited as Hraesvelgr on earlier Nordlys releases) stayed quiet. It’s not clear what he did in between Nordlys/Pest/Die Pest/Schwarze Wut releases, though he and Schorn kept in contact. Those first few Nordlys demos only feature Schorn and Torstein. Lichterglanz Finsternis maintains that union, adding only Kriya on bass. 

The way Schorn speaks about working with Torstein implies that there was some separation between them and that Lichterglanz Finsternis, in a sense, reacquaints them with what originally linked them–orthodox Norwegian black metal. Of course, physical proximity from one another plays a role (“Living some 2000km north from Memmingen, since almost 25 years, made the contact less intense than it has been back in the days,” says Schorn), but it fails to explain why the pair never released a full album as Nordlys or Pest even though they had a record contract with Solistitium Records at one point. 

Despite releasing a handful of demos and compilations, Nordlys couldn’t finish an LP before each members’ strong-willed personality derailed the band. Schorn states that he and Torstein are passionate and possess a specific vision for Nordlys, and that is just as likely to spur them into action as it is detrimental to the band’s progress. The differing ideals led the two to split Nordlys and relinquish the Solistitium deal in the late ’90s or early ’00s (the exact date is unclear). This schism and eventual reconnection, which arose after they accepted an invitation to play a revival show in 2017 alongside Mightiest, Lunar Aurora and Nagelfar, their first time performing together in years, explains the relieved and celebratory nature of Schorn’s responses. “It felt great to kinda celebrate the old times and create something similiar after such a long time,” Schorn says.

Lichterglanz Finsternis has, in a way, been around for 30 years as an uncovered black metal totem, outlasting waves of mainstream interest and ignorance towards the genre alongside the requisite developments and trends that have persisted and faded. It’s something like an avatar for the genre as a whole. The sonic identity is there, it’s just the pomp is stripped away because, after you’ve changed your name more than a few times, gone through years of silence and “self-hatred,” and seen the face paint become cod pieces, all that’s left is the music. Schorn says that was the totality of their ambition, “I personally feel it includes the original Nordlys sound but executed with an updated sound. That was actually the goal. However, I don’t mind adding some rough edges on the next album.”

By reviving Nordlys, Schorn and Torstein convert what’s inherently young and reactive into something mature and reflective. How does one uphold a truth to a genre that was formed on embellishment and pageantry, one that built a moat between the self and the image, and that obscured its creators in the name of “darkness?” These are youthful concerns and holding onto them as we age is akin to keeping a pumpkin on your doorstep as December approaches. Nordlys answer these questions with Occam’s razor: stick to the music. The core that other black metal subgenres can’t replicate. Lichterglanz Finsternis must be seen as a 30-year debut project; to ignore that would be to ignore how it earned its limping leg and arthritis and hoarse voice, its defining features, elevating it above Nordlys’ earliest work. 

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Lichterglanz Finsternis is available now via Solistitium Records.

Russian Death Metallers GROND unleash a new crushing blow with “Pour le Mérite”, the 2nd advance single presented as a lyric-video, a dark, heavy and utterly devastating attack.       The track is taken from their upcoming third album “The Temple”, set for release on April 30th through Xtreem Music on CD and digital formats, ready to destroy everything in […]

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The increasing trend continues to leave some fans divided.

The post Black Label Society’s “Engines Of Demolition” Is The Latest Metal Record To Feature Limited Time Digital Bonus Tracks appeared first on Theprp.com.