The multi-dimensional, progressive-rock band, Coheed and Cambria announced today that they will be touring the US this spring, performing their landmark third album, “Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness”, in its entirety. The tour, entitled NEVERENDER GAIBSIV, will take the band across North America commencing on April 11, and ending May 20, and including stops at the Hollywood Palladium; Aragon Theater in Chicago; and the Blues Hill Bank Pavilion in Boston.  Support on all non-festival dates will be from The Dear Hunter.   

Brooklyn hard rock legends LIFE OF AGONY have completed work on their new album and Napalm Records debut A Place Where There’s No More Pain, which will be released April 28th via Napalm Records.  

Darkest Hour, who released their ninth album, Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora, earlier this month, have announced a limited edition 7-inch titled “Pain Killer/I Don’t Want to Hear It” (via Southern Lord Recordings) for Record Store Day (April 22).  

This year marks the first Blackest Of The Black Destination Festival. The brainchild of Glenn Danzig, the event not only serves as a music festival, but as a cultural experience: an escape. Coming to Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, CA in Orange County on Memorial Day Weekend, Friday, May 26th and Saturday, May 27th.  

Ohio-based Metalcore outfit MISS MAY I will make their highly awaited return to the road in North America. The band has announced their “Shadows Inside” headlining tour, which is set to begin in Canada with a week long run supported by Obey The Bray and Auras. Following their Canadian dates, Miss May I will embark on a month long trek in the U.S., with support coming from Upon A Burning Body, Kublai Khan & Currents. Speaking about these upcoming headlining shows, Miss May I lead vocalist, Levi Benton, states:  

Norwegian black metal icons MAYHEM today kick off their Purgatorium Europæ Septentrionalis MMXVII tour. Set to commence in Karlstad, Sweden and run through April 16th in Munich, Germany, the band’s latest trek includes stops at the Vienna Metal Meeting and Dark Easter Metal Meeting. Support is provided by Dragged Into Sunlight on select shows. See all confirmed dates below.  

Under their belt, Warrant has eight million records sold worldwide, two Top Ten Billboard albums, five Top 40 Billboard hits, five #1 MTV videos…the list goes on and on. Now, six years after the release of “Rockaholic,” the album that relaunched the band as a force to be reckoned with in the 21st Century, Warrant returns with another slab of muscular hard rock, aptly titled “Louder Harder Faster”, to be released on Frontiers Music Srl on May 12th. Today the first single from “Louder Harder Faster” has been made available for streaming.  Check out the exclusive debut of “Only Broken Heart” HERE. “Louder Harder Faster” can be pre-ordered here: http://radi.al/Warrant... 

Clutch is pleased to announce their first annual Earth Rocker Festival at Shiley Acres in Inwood, WV on Saturday, May 20th. The lineup includes: Lucero, The Sword, Bad Seed Rising, Apollo’s Prophecy, and  the Frederick Maryland School of Rock band. Tickets for the festival are on sale now at this location: https://tinyurl.com/n3saltt.   

To have more impact to smash the European club and festival stages, the infernal Swedish Death ’n‘ Roll machine JESUS CHRÜSLER SUPERCAR added a second guitar player to complete their line-up. Nobody less than former Refused guitarist Pär Jaktholm entered the band. His baptism of fire will already be at this Saturday’s show at William’s Pub in Uppsala, Sweden.  

NWoBHM legends RAVEN announce the first live dates for 2017. The band is excited to go back on the road again:  

PRODUCT OF HATE will hit the road again this summer, continuing in support of their Napalm Records debut album, BURIED IN VIOLENCE. The next round of touring kicks off with a May-June East Coast run supporting Bay area legends, SKINLAB, along with IKILLYA. The action continues as PRODUCT OF HATE and IKILLYA trek on for the 2017 Summer Annihilation Tour, making their way across the U.S. through July. Confirmed dates below, with more to be added shortly  

I like the idea of going to shows and seeing a wide variety of bands, particularly in heavy metal. Not every tour needs to be a conglomerate of metalcore or thrash metal on every single run, and seeing different bands on the bill help change things up. So, thus, when it was revealed that Swallow the Sun and Amorphis would be joining an already diverse pairing of Nile and Overkill at Starland Ballroom in New Jersey, it was a complete breath of fresh air.