John Schaffer, the guitarist of the Iced Earth has become the first Capitol rioter to plead guilty on charges of his participation in the January 6th riots that took place on the Capitol. Reports are coming out that he is now working in cooperation with the government. Schaffer met with U.S District Court Judge Amit Mehta on Friday morning and came to a deal that he understood meant that he would need to “cooperate fully with the United States”. He pleaded guilty to charges that he obstructed Congresses efforts to certify the 2020 election and that he unlawfully entered a restricted building. Because of this agreement, Schaffer will be put into the witness protection program. Schaffer got caught red-handed... 

Puscifer unveil the next chapter in the saga of desert dwelling scamp Billy D with the psychedelic, alien-infused mini film for “Bullet Train to Iowa”  

The Metal Band, Magg Dylan, have released their next single/video “Pawns” with Eclipse Records (4/9). At times the greatest expression of frustrations bleeds itself over into lyrics, vocals, strings, and a beat. “Pawns” is that collection that rides itself through the metal power of who Magg Dylan is – their music sets a standard. The vocal expression plays a power-hungry performance – together their band sanctifies the simple into the metal foray of unabashed truth. “Pawns” speaks through, so play it loudly.  

‘A Night of Emperial Wrath 2021’ is set to take place on May 23rd and will include guest appearances from ex-members Mortiis and Faust.  

Iron Maiden’s Legacy of the Beast free-to-play mobile game is excited to announce their first ever in-game band collaboration with Swedish metallers Amon Amarth. Entitled the Viking Invasion, the month-long event takes its broad themes from Iron Maiden’s song, ‘Invaders’ from 1982’s ‘The Number of the Beast’ album. Taking a page out of its own (comic) book, Legacy of the Beast created a new character and storyline borrowing from Amon Amarth’s latest album, ‘The Berserker’.   

On June 4th, Desaster will release their new album, Churches Without Saints, via Metal Blade Records. For a first preview of Churches Without Saints, a video for the new single, “Learn to Love the Void”, can be viewed below…  

Italian technical death metal band HIDEOUS DIVINITY releases their second brutal single and visualizer video “Chestburst” today. Watch the video below… The track is off their forthcoming EP LV-426, which is set for release via Century Media Records on April 23rd. “That persistent beat in James Horner’s ‘Face Huggers’ theme from the movie score… it all starts there. If ‘Acheron Stream of Woe’ is the epic theme, then ‘Chestburst’ is the crazy fast escape tune. It’s the soundtrack of alien drones hunting the Colonial Marine squad. And no, there’s no happy ending,“ states HIDEOUS DIVINITY about the track. Italian based technical Death Metal... 

Red Fang, the beloved Portland-based “riff-heavy” (NPR) rock band, return with their highly-anticipated new album, Arrows, on June 4 via Relapse Records.  

When matchless vocalist/guitarist Alexi Laiho and guitarist Daniel Freyberg joined forces with Waltteri Väyrynen, Mitja Toivonen and live keyboardist Vili Itäpelto to form the explosive new metal pillar BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT, it was meant to mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter. Their sonic plans were massive – including an EP release in the spring followed by a full-length album later in the year. But this promising force ended far too soon in very late 2020.  

Active Rock Powerhouse band, Blameshift, have released their official sports themed music video for their single “Came For Blood” that came out on March 5, 2021.  

Crobot and Mascot Records have announced the global release of an EP titled Rat Child on June 18. The complete track listing features “Mountain” (featuring Frank Bello), “Kiss It Goodbye” (featuring Howard Jones), “Everyone Dies,” (featuring Stix Zadina), and “Rat Child.”  

– Marty Friedman and The Players Club / Mascot Label Group have released a third instant gratification track titled “Kaze Ga Fuiteiru” in front of the April 16 release of Tokyo Jukebox 3. The reveal follows the prior release of instant grat. tracks “The Perfect World”