Into The Grave Festival 2017 Preview

Into The Grave is a Dutch festival located in Oldehoofsterkerkhof, Leeuwarden. It is on the 11th of August and on the 12th of August. It features a diverse taste from Saxon to Arch Enemy to The Charm The Fury. This is the 7th edition and this line-up is the best so far. It’s unique and it offers something for anyone.  You can either buy a Friday or Saturday ticket or just buy a Weekend ticket to enjoy them all. I would highly recommend to buy a weekend ticket because both days are one of kind that you can’t miss out on. Buy a Friday ticket HERE, Saturday ticket HERE and a Weekend ticket HERE.

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Review: FLOATING WIDGET – ‘The Sounds Of Earth’ [Album Stream]

Floating Widget hail from the great north of Montreal, Canada. The band first made waves in 2004 with their debut ‘Praises To The Riff Monolith’. The debut was a tribute to the early days of riff heavy stoner rock. Even the title conjures up religious symbolism revolving around the beauty of the riff. By now I think you can grasp that Floating Widget truly are riff’tastic. The band has just dropped their sophomore release in the form of a 5 track EP titled ‘The Sounds Of Earth’. Yes, you heard that right, this EP is the first release from the band in 13 years. The album released March 2, 2017. ‘The Sounds Of Earth’ was recorded, mixed & mastered by Jef Fortin (Anonymus) at Bad Ass Studio. There is also a special treat on this album as well. The concluding track “Spiderzilla” features guest vocals from none other than Voivod’s Snake. Floating Widget is also playing the prestigious Montebello Rockfest alongside veteran acts like Queens Of The Stone Age, Rammstein, Iggy Pop, Megadeth, A.F.I. and a ton more. If you have the opportunity to catch this show make sure not to miss the heavy stoner riffs of Floating Widget. Continue reading

Review: SATAN TAKES A HOLIDAY – ‘Aliens’ [Official Videos]

Photo by Bisse Bengtsson

SATAN TAKES A HOLIDAY are the incredibly addictive, blunt rock band your ears have always craved. The Stockholm based trio formed in May of 2006. They released their self-titled debut album late 2009. A week later they were nominated in the Best Rock category at the Swedish P3 Guld Awards, and the singles “Missy” and “Heartbreaker” were played regularly on the radio. The now award winning band went on to release ‘Who Do You VooDoo’ in 2012 which included the single “Karma Babe” which was voted into the national radio station’s hall of fame by listeners. By this time the fans were flocking to the unique sounds of SATAN TAKES A HOLIDAY. Their third release again was on the up and up. ‘Animal Man Woman’ hit stores in 2014. The album took the band back to their energetic style which was showcased on their debut. SATAN TAKES A HOLIDAY mixes rock n roll, 60’s garage rock, and 70’s groove into their own unique blend of sounds. They have also been a must see for festival and concert goers as well. Opening up for various bands like Mustasch, Juliette Lewis and Nicke Andersson’s Imperial State Electric. The list doesn’t stop there. In 2013 they supported living legends KISS at Sweden’s new national arena in front of an audience of 30 000 people. Following the release of ‘Animal Man Woman’ Svante Nordström (drums) left the band and was replaced by Danne McKenzie (Truckfighters, Mustasch). Danne’s natural high energy level and stage charisma helped to further elevate the already amazing live performances. High on the inspiration stemming from this new line-up, work on new material started and in September of 2015 production got underway on what would ultimately become Satan Takes A Holiday’s fourth album – ‘Aliens’. In August of 2016 the band signed to Despotz Records. ‘Aliens’ is essentially an album that deals with alienation, anxiety and powerlessness – feeling out of place in contemporary culture, in social contexts as well as in oneself. To be standing in the center of the present only to be asking oneself: ’how the hell did this happen!?’ ‘Aliens’ was released on February 23, 2017. Continue reading

DEMONIC RESURRECTION Release “Narasimha – The Man-Lion”[Official Video]

Hello metalheads, Rattlehead here with another piece of new release news. Looks like we’re not leaving the Indian metal scene anytime soon now. So, today’s news is a video release from the symphonic blackened death metal band from Mumbai, India called, ‘Demonic Resurrection‘. They have been around for 17 years and have put out five albums and two EPs all this while, which is incredible in itself. They have really pinned India on the global metal map and are rightly called the ‘flag bearers of Indian metal’, they have also done shows in reputed European festivals like Wacken Open Air in Germany, Bloodstock Festival in the U.K., and the beautiful MetalDays festival in Slovenia etc. It all began with their debut album titled, ‘Demonstealer’ in 2000 and since then you can actually see they have not only been a dynamic outfit but also constantly changed their approach to their sound along with a couple of line up changes. The new album, ‘Dashavatar’ that released on March 15 this year is a testimonial to this very fact. Spearheaded by vocalist & guitarist, Sahil Makhija, who is also involved in other side projects like Reptilian Death, Workshop and just so you know, for the awe factor, he also runs a cooking show, ‘Headbanger’s Kitchen’. Now that is some serious multi-tasking. Anyways, let’s plunge into the video.
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Review of Night Demon’s Killer, Band Defining “Darkness Remains”

Night Demon is:

Jarvis Leatherby: vocals and bass guitar

Armand John Anthony: guitar

Dusty Squires: drums

Night Demon has been a universal favorite among our staff members for quite some time now. When I was fortunate to see them for the first time with Anvil and Graveshadow last month (Review), I was simply blown away. I loved their music before, but after seeing them, Night Demon has damned near become an obsession that eventually landed us a copy of Darkness Remains, to be released April 21st, 2017 on the Century Media record label. Needless to say, this CD has been worn… the… hell… out!

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Chicago Open Air Spotlight: HELL OR HIGHWATER [New Song Stream]

*Every Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

This week’s artist is Hell Or Highwater.

Friday, July 14th, Hell Or Highwater will be one of the first bands to hit the Chicago Open Air stage in 2017. The band 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 will be at the festival promoting upcoming new material from their album ‘Vista’ which comes out on May 19th. You can check out the artwork for that and a few tracks below. Continue reading

The Bucketlist With DAWN OF ASHES Vocalist Krisrof Bathory!

Industrial/Symphonic Black Metal artists Dawn of Ashes are set to release their new record. On June 9th they will release their seventh album ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’ on Metropolis Records. Dawn Of Ashes has already released a lyric video for the track “Guardians” from the upcoming album. The band formed in 2001 and has been a dominating force in the symphonic metal genre ever since. ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’ is a diabolical musical milestone & Dawn of Ashes‘ most brutal fusion of Extreme Symphonic Black Metal to date. Like Dawn of Ashes‘ previous album ‘Theophany’, ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’ was mixed & produced by Mick Kenney of AnaalNathrakh. Features a cover of Black Metal legend Mayhem’s “Freezing Moon”, as well as guest vocals from Cradle of Filth’s Lindsay Schoolcraft. In support of ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’, Dawn of Ashes will set out on a headling North America tour called “Fire Of The Phoenix” with Projekt F Continue reading

SOILWORK Announces 25-Year-Old BASTIAN THUSGAARD as Permanent Drummer

Photo Credit: Marc Duvollet

It was well publicized last year, when Soilwork’s drummer of twelve years – Dirk Verbeuren – departed from the Swedish melodic death metal band to join Megadeth. In response to Dirk’s exit, Soilwork enlisted young gun, Bastian Thusgaard, to fill in as touring drummer for the remainder of the band’s touring commitments during these last ten months. And now, the band has confirmed that Bastian is the permanent drummer for the band! Below is a statement issued by the band via the Soilwork Facebook page today, concerning Bastian Thusgaard’s addition to the lineup.  Continue reading

SLAYER/LAMB OF GOD/BEHEMOTH NA Tour, PLUS A Chance For FREE TIX! [Tour News, Contest Announcement]

 

ARE YOU KIDDIN’ ME?!?

I mean, just look at at that lineup! Our friends over at WOLVERINE KILLS gave us a heads up here at the Nexus about the upcoming tour between larger than life legends Slayer, the MIGHTY Behemoth, and the ferocious Virginia based Lamb of God (themselves now ubiquitous on the ever expanding metal tabula rasa) Continue reading

Review of the Incredible “Building Castles in Air” by Lucid Fly

Lucid Fly is:

Nikki Layne – vocals
Doug Mecca – guitar

Aaron Ficca – drums

Often described as a dark and epic cross between Evanescence and A Perfect Circle, Lucid Fly has been together since 2001. Founded by vocalist Nikki Layne and guitarist Doug Mecca in Orlando, FL, the band found its name, interestingly, from a headline in the paper, reading: “Lucid Flies Into The Record Books” that documented the record breaking time in space by astronaut Shannon Lucid. Once cementing their staying power in the Orlando music scene and growing their fan base, Lucid Fly released their debut LP entitled Adapting to Gravity in 2005. With almost universal acceptance and mounting acclaim, Lucid Fly continued to play in and around FL, but they had their sights set on a bigger prize and moved to the West Coast. Once landing in L.A., drummer Aaron Fica, who had been touring with Macy Gray, was given an honorary spot behind the kit. As a follow up to their 2009 release of The Escape Stage, a three song EP entitled Stasis was released in 2015. As their fan base has continuously expanded and critical acclaim has come in droves, demand for new music thrust the band, once again, into the studio. Once their successful crowdfunding campaign that raised in upwards of $13K for what would become Building Castles in Air, Lucid Fly, were one of only seventeen bands invited by Mike Portnoy to play at the 2014 Progressive Nation at Sea event along with other noteworthy bands including Periphery, Haken, Riverside and many others. After great care and thoughtful songwriting, Building Castles in Air was recently released in November, 2016 and is deserving a prominent spot in any music fans’ collection. Continue reading