US Black/Thrash Band AFFLIKTOR Announces New Single “Chaos Magick Totality” [Song Stream]

Underground metalheads are in for a treat as guitar virtuoso Toby Knapp, who previously was an ex-GODLESS RISING member, and also is in WAXEN, WHERE EVIL FOLLOWS, is back with his new solo band AFFLIKTOR. Playing a sacrilegous and dirty breed of black and thrash metal. Toby Knapp has been a reckoning force in the underground since the 90s, working in many bands and delivering genre crossing and boundary shattering metal albums. Be it progressive metal, classic metal, black or death or just pure thrash, you name it, it’s already there. The self titled debut AFFLIKTOR record is slated for its release in October 20, 2017 through Indian label Transcending Obscurity, which is one of the best underground metal record labels out there. Check them out, you won’t disappointed.

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Exclusive Stream: ORISSA Release Title Track From ‘Resurrection’!

Progressive/cinematic rock project, Orissa, drops the title track from the upcoming album, ‘Resurrection’, due out November 3, 2017. Mixed by Sahaj Ticotin, (RA, Meytal Cohen, Adekain, September Mourning) and mastered by Paul Logus, (Stone Sour, Steel Panther, Shadows Fall) the LP showcases, “progressive metal that demonstrates remarkable mastery.” (Codifiers) Mastermind behind the project, David Dodini, graduated with honors from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and completed his masters at the Biella Conservatory’s Scuola Niccolo Paganini in Biella, Italy. Orissa’s live band is a roster of NYC’s finest musicians from Trans Siberian Orchestra, Neal Morse Band, Stratospheerius, Book Of Mormon, Dyed In Grey, Haakons Fault, Emergence and Astronaut Down.
Orissa was created in 2010 by Dodini, a virtuoso singer, guitarist and bassist, who writes, arranges and performs all the parts on Orissa’s records. Born out the of desire to explore inner creative space and create a distinctive, cathartic, deeply personal and therapeutic art, Dodini abandoned the strictly classical background and delved into his own songwriting, fusing his classical training with his love for jazz, balkan and other ancient rhythmic traditions; these styles translated into Dodini’s immersion into metal and progressive music, as the genres carry numerous parallels. Orissa released its debut EP, Omens in 2012; on which Dodini played all the instruments and was backed by Dan Walsh (drums). Omens was mixed by Stacey O’Dell, (Killcode, Panzie, Awaken), and mastered by Chris Muth of Taloowa. Orissa launched two additional singles in 2013 as, The Musical Offering. They were mixed and mastered by Patrick Derivaz, (Jon Scofield, Jeff Buckley, Meshell Ndegeocello), and released to support a Kickstarter Campaign. In turn, the Kickstarter raised over $20K to fund the upcoming album, ‘Resurrection’, which features Dodini’s vocal and instrumental arrangements and performances as well as drummer Jason Gianni, (Trans Siberian Orchestra, Neal Morse, Book Of Mormon). In 2016, Orissa brought the music from the studio to the stage when Dodini attracted the best musicians from NYC’s progressive, metal and rock communities.

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HELL OR HIGHWATER’S Joey Bradford “We Had To Fight For Every Fan We Got” [Video]

Hell Or Highwater was formed originally as a solo project by Atreyu vocalist/drummer Brandon Saller in 2011 when Atreyu went on a brief hiatus. This material is definitely more upbeat and rock’n’roll while Atreyu was on the darker, metalcore side for most of their career. Hell Or Highwater new album ‘Vista’ released on May 19th. Since forming 6 years ago, the band released their debut record the same year titled ‘Begin Again’ and featured guest vocals on “Go Alone” from M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold. One of the things that really stands out to me from this band is the great classic rock sounding guitar work from Joey Bradford and Jon Hoover. Saller is typically behind the kit but he is only fronting the band here while Kyle Rosa is killing it behind the drum kit. Nick Maldonado rounds out the lineup presenting big fills on the bass and works with the synth parts that the band has in certain songs like “Terrorized in the Night”. Continue reading

Quiet Riot’s Frankie Banali – James Durbin First Learned Of Quiet Riot From A Video Game! [Audio Available]

 

You’re never to old to “Bang Your Head”. Here in 2017 QUIET RIOT are still giving fans a reason to keep their heads banging with their newest release “Road Rage”, Available today from FRONTIERS MUSIC. “Road Rage” marks the first release with new front man, and ex American Idol finalist James Durbin. The lineup is Rounded out with long time drummer Frankie “Boom Boom” Banali, long time bassist Chuck Wright and Guitarist Alex Grossi who’s been with the group since 2004. Continue reading

MOTÖRHEAD Pays Lovely Tribute To David Bowie With A Cover Of “Heroes” [Official Video]

MOTÖRHEAD had a special knack for covering songs of their favourite artists and giving it a pure rock and roll and classic heavy metal touch to it. Every album had one song or the other which Lemmy and co. liked to morph it to their own taste and it would undoubtedly make an excellent rendition of the original song. Hell, sometimes even better than the original. MOTÖRHEAD recently announced the release of their upcoming covers compilation album, Under Cöver‘ – a collection of some of their best covers.

Today, MOTÖRHEAD have released a never-before-heard cover and music video of David Bowie‘s timeless classic “Heroes“(see below). The music video features massive performance footage and heartwarming behind the scenes images and video of the band. Recorded during the ‘Bad Magic‘ sessions in 2015 by Cameron Webb, “Heroes” was one of the last songs MOTÖRHEAD recorded together.

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ACCEPT Announce Worldwide Live Stream Of Their Big WACKEN Show!

Heavy Metal pioneers ACCEPT are back in the game with a new studio album! The record entitled ‘The Rise Of Chaos‘, will be unleashed this Friday, on August 4th, 2017! This will be the band’s 4th studio release through Nuclear Blast and continues the tradition of its three predecessors – ‘Blood Of The Nations‘, ‘Stalingrad, and ‘Blind Rage‘ – with grandeur and precision.

On Thursday (Aug, 3rd), ACCEPT will celebrate the album’s live premiere exclusively with a special show at Wacken Open Air, Germany. The set will consist of three parts and can be seen worldwide on a live stream.

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LACUNA COIL Announce European Tour Dates With CELLAR DARLING

How about a femme fatal double attack? This is probably one of the very few times where two female led bands have toured together. Italian rockers LACUNA COIL are joining hands with new born Swiss folk metal outfit CELLAR DARLING consisting of former ELUVEITIE members Anna Murphy(Vocals & Hurdy Gurdy), Ivo Henzi(Guitars & Bass) and Merlin Sutter(Drums). ‘Delirium‘ was the last and eighth studio album released by the Italian outfit last year in May 2016, and since then they have been touring extensively in support of the same. Now they hop on the same bus with CELLAR DARLING who just released their ground breaking debut album almost over a month ago in June titled, ‘This Is The Sound‘ released through Nuclear Blast Records. The Swiss trio also have been playing a lot of shows in and around Europe in the wake of their new album support, even festival shows and an exclusive concert with EVANESCENCE in Pratteln and their chart success (#16 in the Swiss album charts, #19 in the UK Rock Charts…) only spurred them on. So this autumn, the founders of the New Wave of Folk Rock will not only support DELAIN on several dates, but also join the Italian Gothfathers LACUNA COIL on their extensive European tour!

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Louder Than Life Spotlight: HE IS LEGEND

*Every Tuesday and Thursday from now until Louder Than Life gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

Today’s artist is He Is Legend.

On Saturday, September 30th, He Is Legend brings their rock fury to the 4th annual Louder Than Life. The North Carolina quartet has been around since the early 90s but didn’t become He Is Legend until 2003. Before that, they were known by other names such as Stronghold, The Uriah’s Omen, and No One Wins. Their current name was taken from a book from the 1950s titled “I Am Legend” by Richard Matheson. You may be familiar with this work as it was spun into a movie back in 2007 featuring Will Smith. Solid State Records picked up the band only a year after their name change and they released ‘I Am Hollywood’ the same year. This record was really along the lines of that southern metal sound similar to Every Time I Die. Their sound really expands across several subgenres though including alternative metal, sludge metal, and hard rock. ‘I Am Hollywood’ featured several songs that the band still plays to this day like “Eating A Book”, “I Am Hollywood”, and the fan favorite “The Seduction”.  Two years later the band released ‘Suck Out The Poison’. This record took some fans by surprise as Schuylar Croom’s voice had changed a bit from the previous record. Check out “Attack of the Dungeon Witch” from it below. In 2009, the band switched labels to Tragic Hero Records and released ‘It Hates You’. After this, He Is Legend announced that they would be taking a hiatus as a band and that they didn’t know when they would return. Continue reading