It’s not very often, but some weeks there’s just too many albums to come out with and they’re so to-the-point that you need to give blunt, direct commentary on each one. Running with a snake theme, Testament, Crowbar, and the new super-group Serpentine Dominion all released albums, and depending on your flavor you might have something worth picking up! Ranging from ballistic death metal to crushing, doomified sludge metal, this past week had more than enough to appease your varied or particular taste.  

AVENGED SEVENFOLD has “surprise-released” THE STAGE, becoming the first-ever rock band to drop an unannounced album in both digital and physical form. THE STAGE, available HERE, is the band’s 7th studio album and first for Capitol Records. The Southern California-based quintet (vocalist M. Shadows, guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ and drummer Brooks Wackerman) revealed the news at midnight eastern, surprising the millions of fans who were watching their live-streamed performance from the rooftop of the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, CA. The groundbreaking event saw the band give a 3D/360-degree live-streamed virtual reality performance, enabling fans around the globe... 

GRIDFAILURE‘s Further Layers Of Societal Collapse EP has infected the masses through free digital download!  

Riding on the coattails of SURVIVAL‘s Shayda and No Grief, California eccentric NICK NORO will release a neuron-zapping solo EP entitled Vietnamm on December 2 via Turkey’s Merdumgiriz Records and Noro’s own label, NBRD Records.  

I have something of a love-hate relationship with Avenged Sevenfold. Arguably one of the bands that was present in my transition into more extreme metal bands, (City of Evil and their self-titled circa 2008) I did not find myself a fan of Nightmare or Hail to the King upon their release. I still don’t hold a place in my heart for either albums, but at the very least, it was great to see the band grow bigger with each and every release. When people claim there’s never going to be another Metallica or Iron Maiden, look at Avenged Sevenfold and you’ll be proven wrong. That idea, though, is what makes this surprise-release album, The Stage, so interesting.  

Canadian progressive sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD are staying busy in support of their current Mini-CD entitled Post Society – EP. Today marks the beginning of a comprehensive European tour together with Century Media label mates Entombed A.D. as well as Lord Dying and freshly announced supporting acts (See lower for details!).  

2016 doesn’t know when to stop when it comes to great music. Whether it be Devin Townsend and Between the Buried and Me or Fear Factory and Soilwork, the amount of shows to correlate with the great albums coming out are nothing to scoff at. So is anyone actually surprised to know that another killer toured happened and if you missed it you were actually missing out on something? It’s the truth.  

Riff lords Crowbar have announced co-headlining tour dates with NOLA neighbors GOATWHORE, capping off the calendar year with style. “This upcoming tour is one that we’re all looking forward to!,” says Kirk Windstein. “These are our Brothers. Hell, Sammy Duet was in Crowbar for a few of our best records! To the fans of both bands, here’s your early Christmas present! and we are super stoked to have Lillake on this tour with us!”  

Sumerian Records, the Los Angeles-based label who the LA Weekly dubbed “one of the world’s most successful independent metal labels,” have re-signed Born of Osiris on the eve of the band’s, and label’s, celebratory 10 Years In The Black tour.  

‘The Best of Deicide‘, a brand new compilation album, is available now from Earache Records on CD and digital download. One of death metal’s most successful and enduring names, DEICIDE formed in the late ’80s in Tampa, Florida and have courted controversy across the world for their uncompromising lyrical and musical approach. ‘The Best of Deicide‘ is a brutal introduction for newcomers and a must-have for any diehard fan, featuring 12 of the best tracks from the band’s Earache releases during their long and notorious career. Get ‘The Best of Deicide‘ now on CD in Europe at http://webstore.earache.com/deicide or in North America at http://uswebstore.earache.com/deicide The... 

A deadly dawn is spreading across the land as ENTOMBED A.D. drops a horrifying new video for the title track off their newest album, Dead Dawn. Zombies will attack, so hold on to your brains! Guitarist Nico Elgstrand comments on the video: “Finally a serious video without the usual nonsense often associated with Metal these days. This one has depth and a very important message that we think is overlooked in today’s media climate. Anyone with half a brain will stop with whatever they’re doing and realize that we must take a stand against these unjust accusations that metal is for stupid people, that’s simply not true and this video we think portrayed it beautifully! Enjoy this fine release that... 

JUST LAUNCHED on Kickstarter – GWAR: ORGASMAGEDDON, a blasphemous and blood-drenched 4-issue full-color comic book series by shock rock legends GWAR, writer Matt Miner (Toe Tag Riot, Critical Hit), artist Jonathan Brandon Sawyer (Welcome Back, Critical Hit), colorist Marissa Louise (RoboCop, Escape from New York), letterer Taylor Esposito (Batman Eternal, Red Hood and the Outlaws) and editor Brendan Wright (Archie vs. Predator, Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight).   The Kickstarter can be found at GWARKICKSTARTER.COM and it ends in 31 Days.     Having already violated the art, music, and film worlds, now infamous scumdogs GWAR are coming for your comic books!  Do you need to be a GWAR fan to love this...