Always expect the unexpected: after four years of delusive calm, something stirs in the wide outback of Northern Sweden, a wind rises up and sweeps over the land – Lekamen Illusionen Kallet (LIK) is back with a new album entitled The Second Wind, wayward as always!  

Bestial unholy death doom has returned. Sworn to death and evil, Houston, Texas’ BLASPHERIAN have conjured a work of pure, crushing old school death metal. Heavy guitars, demonic vocals and ritualistic, pounding drumming create an atmosphere unmatched by BLASPHERIAN’s contemporaries. <  

  Latex artist SikRik has completed his G.G. Allin Limited Edition Latex Mask project. Only 35 numbered copies will be produced, and they can be preordered for $89.00 USD at  

Intergalactic heavy-metal warlords GWAR and fellow all-caps organization PETA2 have announced (or, actually, are announcing right now…)  

Feb. 17, LOS ANGELES — Responding to ongoing rumors surrounding a possible Black Sabbath reunion, Geezer Butler has issued the following statement:  

  CROWBAR’s new album SEVER THE WICKED HAND sold 3.7k copies in its first week in stores making it the biggest first week of sales in their twenty year career. The record fared well on Billboards various charts as well: #4 Heatseekers #22 Independent # 16 on Hard Rock Chart #58 on Canadian Soundscan Indie Chart #59 on Canadian Soundscan Hard Music Chart Kirk Windstein offers his comment. “A huge thanks to all of the CROWBAR fans who bought SEVER THE WICKED HAND this week! This was by far the biggest first week we’ve ever had! Equally big thanks to all at eOne, Jamey Jasta and Steve Ross for believing in us. Let’s keep it up, spread the word and stay HEAVY!” The band is getting ready to kick off the inaugural... 

  Two new dates have been added to the 2011 Metalliance Tour. Headlined by HELMET, ST VITUS and CROWBAR, The 2011 Metalliance Tour will kick off in just about one month. The tour will proudly be supported by metal heavyweights KYLESA, RED FANG, HOWL and ATLAS MOTH on all dates.  

German Black Metal heathens INFESTUS are set to release E x | I s t, the long awaited follow-up to their critically acclaimed Chroniken des Ablebens (2008) on May 19th, 2011 in North America (May 18th elsewhere) via Debemur Morti Productions. Album artwork and track list will be revealed soon.    

The face of black metal as we know it is set to change today (2.15.2011) as Nordvis Produktion unleashes the melancholic majesty that is Towards The Shores Of The End upon the world. Featuring two of today’s most compelling acts in UK’s FEN and Sweden’s DE ARMA, this split promises to deliver some of the most cerebral and darkly emotive music set to tape.  

Mortal Music will release No Closure from Chicago’s WITHERING SOUL on March 8. MVD Entertainment Group will handle distribution.  

THE HUMAN ABSTRACT will be releasing their next full length entitled “Digital Veil” on March 8, 2011 via eOne Music. Preorders are now live at MerchNOW [], offering numerous added incentives not offered in stores. The track listing and cover can be seen below. 1. Elegiac        2. Complex Terms 3. Digital Veil  4. Faust           5. Antebellum 6. Holographic Sight   7. Horizon To Zenith 8. Patterns      The band will be part of the Atticus Metal III tour with Darkest Hour, Born Of Osiris, As Blood Runs Black and more running from February 25-March 27. Dates can be found below. Visit http://www.facebook.com/atticusmetaltour for more info. 2/25-Washington, DC @ 930 Club (Darkest... 

Florida-based extreme metallers HATE ETERNAL have just confirmed a European tour in support of their forthcoming release on Metal Blade Records. The tour kicks off April 29th in Wurzburg, Germany and will run through May 20th ending in Leipzig, Germany.