Legendary Cleveland quintet RINGWORM have just announced their 8th full-length album Snake Church, a 12-track, 30+ minute testament of vicious aggression. After having converted metalheads and hardcore fans alike with their intense, no-holds-barred live shows and consistently punishing albums over the course of the last 25+ years, RINGWORM once again prove that they are in a league of their own when it comes to face-breaking sonic fury.
Relapse Records is extremely proud to announce the signing of legendary hard rock / doom metal band THE OBSESSED! Formed in 1976 by Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, Shrinebuilder, Probot etc.), the band recently reformed and are on the road now! The band will enter the studio this summer to record the follow up to 1994’s seminal classic, The Church Within.
They came from Venus to destroy the cities. VALIENT THORR is a wild ass Rock N Roll band said to hail from inside of the planet Venus. Since crash landing on Earth in the year 2000, they’ve played well over 1500 shows all over the world. They’ve toured with visionaries from Motörhead and Joan Jett to contemporary heroes like Mastodon, Gogol Bordello, and Clutch. Since 2005 they have put out six full-length records and two seven inches! And just so you don’t think we’re blowing smoke, look them up! This is only the cusp of the feats of greatness this hard working, sweat drenched band has accomplished!
Metal Blade Records is proud to announce the worldwide, multi-album signing of Norwegian death metallers Execration! Execration comments: “We’re really excited to pen this deal with Metal Blade. Metal Blade is a legendary label, with legendary bands and releases from all the way back to the beginning, and joining the ranks is a true privilege. After an eventful year with touring and receiving a Norwegian Grammy Award for our latest album, we are now ready to embark on the next chapter for Execration, and we’re confident that Metal Blade is the perfect partner in doing so.” Execration formed in 2004 and unleashed a few demos and an EP before releasing their debut full-length, Syndicate Of Lethargy,...
On the eve of their 10 year anniversary, and after headlining a special show at the Göteborg Rockfest, Swedish hardrock band HORISONT are pleased to announce the next chapter within their illustrious career by putting pen to paper and confirming a worldwide deal with Century Media Records. Formed in 2006, HORISONT have spent the last decade establishing themselves within the Scandinavian retro-rock revival scene, along with peers such as Witchcraft, Graveyard etc, thus creating a sound that takes the foundations of the movement while injecting hearty doses of boogie blues, infusing prog complexities and finishing it all off with that good ole NWOBHM swagger!
Finnish melodic deathsters INSOMNIUM have been forging a very special release during the past few months, entitled Winter’s Gate. It’s a concept album made up of one epic 40 minute song. The album is built around a short story, Winter’s Gate (Talven portti in Finnish), written by vocalist & bassist Niilo Sevänen, recipient of numerous Finnish awards and nominations.
Thrash is a complicated genre, despite several aspects of it being relied on conventions established 30 years ago. The genre itself has grown in different ways, but for the most part it’s common for bands to follow the standards set before them. That’s not a bad thing, but for people trying to find new bands in the genre, it’s usually new, safe bands that gather attention. Occasionally bands do new things with the sound, but they’re few and far between. Xenophile are among the few to venture out and break some rules while honoring the genre triumphantly. Playing a hybrid of progressive metal and thrash metal, Xenophile echo that of Megadeth’s technicality but on a more extreme level. Taking that technicality...
Nick Menza’s recent passing came as a shock to the world. The former Megadeth drummer had been a part of the band’s lineup for years, being a part of the legendary album Rust in Peace and the band’s most commercially successful albums Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia, (Can’t forget Cryptic Writings, either) thus recognizing him as part of the band’s most iconic time period.
