PORTRAIT
"THE HOST"
Dark Heavy Metal
Year:21.06.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

For almost 20 years, Portrait from Sweden have delivered their ‘heavy metal darkness’ to the world. The bands’ development since the debut demo in 2006 is remarkable. Ever since then, Portrait has managed to develop and stretch their sound into several territories, without losing touch with their original core. Their current day live shows are testimony enough of this, in which songs from the first album or even the Welcome to my funeral demo can be thrown into the set and blend in perfectly with songs from later releases, even though the songwriting and musicianship have developed greatly since the early days of the band.According to the band themselves, their evolution is a result of the goal of finding their own identity as a band. Musical influences will always be par...

WITHIN TEMPTATION
"WORLDS COLLIDE TOUR - LIVE IN AMSTERDAM"
Symphonic Female Heavy Metal
Year:21.06.2024
(ADA - Alternative Distribution Alliance)

In 2022 the highly anticipated and long awaited Worlds Collide Tour kicked off. Few collaborations in Within Temptation’s career have ignited as much anticipation as their co-headlining tour with Evanescence, after it being postponed four times due to COVID.As soon as the world reopened, the Worlds Collide Tour finally took place. Over the course of over four weeks, the tour traversed 17 cities across Europe and the UK, delivering a total of 19 performances. For this tour, Within Temptation and Evanescence saw an amazing amount of over 200,000 tickets sold, 7703 km’s traveled, 8 tour buses serving as mobile homes for the artists and crew, twelve trailers loaded with the gear to fuel the spectacle, and a dedicated team of over 80 experienced individuals whose tireless efforts en...

HELLBUTCHER
"HELLBUTCHER"
Black Metal
Year:31.05.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

From the depths of the black metal underground, comes one of its most elite figures with a new band and an even more evil attitude. As frontman of legendary Swedish maniacs Nifelheim, Hellbutcher upheld the bad name of real black metal with an iron fist. Now, with this eponymous new band, the frenzied mission continues: nothing less than total metal mania will do. Teaming up with old compadres in evil, guitarists Necrophiliac (also of Mordant) and Iron Beast, bassist Eld, and drummer Devastator (ex-Nifelheim), HELLBUTCHER quickly set about bringing this vision to life. Recording in various locations around Sweden, such as Devastator’s own Red And Black Hall Drum Studio and Iron Beast’s Chrome Studios, and producing and mastering everything themselves, it is a record ...

D-A-D
"GREATEST HITS 1984 - 2024"
Hard Rock/ AOR/ Glam
Year:10.05.2024
(AFM RECORDS)

The biggest Danish rock band celebrates its birthday! D-A-D turns forty years old. Of course, it's time to celebrate. And how! A best-of release that's really something. All of the band's hits from four decades of music history, compiled on one album. The absolutely true greatest hits. And the icing on the cake? Of course, the strictly limited edition vinyl version with four alternative covers. Only while stocks last! And we'll go one better: for the CD lovers among you, a strictly limited version of the digipak is only available in the AFM Shop, with several surprises in store. That's all? Nonsense! In the AFM Shop you can also get the vinyl covers as a bundle at a lower price - so it's best to buy all four versions directly! Congratulations to the band and h...

LUCASSEN/ SOETERBOEKs PLAN NINE
"THE LONG-LOST SONGS"
Hard Rock/ Melodic Metal
Year:17.05.2024
(MASCOT LABEL GROUP)

- Lucassen & Soeterboek's Plan is released on the same date as Ayreon - 01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves, another project of Ayreon master mind Arjen Lucassen.It was the early nineties, and musical polymath Arjen Lucassen had begun working on several projects: a solo album, a progressive-rock opera and a rock album. Around this time, he watched singer Robert Soeterboek perform live with Bodine, his former early-eighties heavy metal band. "His vocals truly impressed me, a rarity!" Lucassen recalls. "He had the charisma and power of singers like David Coverdale and Robert Plant. Discovering that we really got along personally, we decided to collaborate on some songs, just for fun.""We started writing songs together and found a natural flow, leading to a wealth of ideas," remembers ...

AYREON
"LIVE BENEATH THE WAVES"
Symphonic Progressive Rock/ Metal
Year:17.05.2024
(MASCOT LABEL GROUP)

- Once in lifetime concert with an all-star cast including Simone Simons (Epica), Damian Wilson (Threshold), Anneke van Giersbergen, Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Tom Englund (Evergrey), Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation), Marcela Bovio (MaYan), Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Archers), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), John Jaycee Cuijpers (Praying Mantis). Maggy Luyten (Beautiful Sin), Michael Mills (Toehider) and Wudstik.- Ayreon - 01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves is released on the same date as Lucassen & Soeterboek's Plan Nine album, another project of Ayreon master mind Arjen Lucassen.An Ayreon live event is a spectacular moment in time. An enormous production with musicians of the highest calibre combine to create a bombastic spectacle. The shows’ infrequencies make it ...

SIX FEET UNDER
"KILLING FOR REVENGE"
Death Metal
Year:10.05.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

Killing for Revenge marks the second album that Barnes and guitarist Jack Owen (ex-Cannibal Corpse) have created together since reuniting for 2020’s Nightmares of the Decomposed, an album one critic praised an “often slow-ish and doomy yet crushing death metal” which offered an “uncompromising show of strength.” Owen also produced Killing for Revenge. “We worked well together in Cannibal Corpse,” Barnes says. “ I loved him to death as a friend and a musician, so I'm really comfortable giving him the reins because I just have such great respect for him as an artist.”Six Feet Under was initially formed as a side project for Barnes during his final years with the band that he co-founded, Cannibal Corpse. It became the frontman’s...

PESTILENCE
"LEVELS OF PERCEPTION"
Technical/ Progressive Death Metal
Year:26.04.2024
(Agonia Records)

• Pestilence is a progressive death metal phenom, labeled on the same genre-defying scale as Death, Cynic and Atheist.• Founded in 1986, the band blazed the trail for generations of progressive death metal artists.• Invariably guided by the long-established personality of founder, vocalist & guitarist, Patrick Mameli.• Last album "Exitivm" (2021) ranked on Billboard charts, most notably including Billboard 200.• 12 re-recorded, classic & distinctive Pestilence songs from their entire career.• Drums were re-recorded in 2021, during a live stream held in T Paard (The Hague, NL). • Guitars, bass & vocals were re-recorded at On Duty Studio (Mijdrecht, NL). • Fine-tuning and re-recordings were done with Reaper behind the console.• Enginee...

IVANHOE
"HEALED BY THE SUN"
Melodic Power Heavy Metal
Year:10.05.2024
(MASSACRE RECORDS)

"Reflections" emerges as a powerful exploration of environmental issues and our connection to planet Earth. Each track reflects a specific aspect of this often troubled and problematic relationship.On this album, collaboration and teamwork led to greater complexity in musical structures and arrangements. Clean vocals, interwoven with Gabriele's signature growl, emphasize the album's central theme, creating an intense and engaging atmosphere.This album goes beyond mere musical listening, transforming into a sensory experience. SOULLINE presents a work that combines music and images to stir deep emotions and stimulate concrete actions.The environmental message, expressed through the power of metal music, makes "Reflections" a work not only of music but also of cultural activism.The...

TYR
"BATTLE BALLADS"
Folk Metal/ Viking Metal
Year:12.04.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

Týr returns with their ninth full-length studio album, Battle Ballads.Mixed and mastered by renowned producer and engineer, Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, The Black Dahlia Murder).Battle Ballads features stunning art by Gyula Havancsak.The follow-up to the band’s 2019’s powerful progressive folk-metal album Hel, the new Battle Ballads is aptly named – a crushing, soaring, batch of classical embellished songs that conjure images of galloping steeds, clashing swords, and hard-fought victories. And, as if it needs to be stated, the title Battle Ballads has nothing in common with the lighter-raising songs so prevalent in the 1980s.CD/ LP:01. Hammered02. Unwandered Ways03. Dragons Never Die04. Row05. Torkils Døtur06. Vælkomnir Føroyingar07. Hangman08. Axes09...

WARWORLD
"FREE SPIRIT"
Heavy Metal
Year:06.05.2024
(High Roller Records)

Legendary US Metal band Warlord was formed in 1981 by Mark Zonder and William J. Tsamis. One year later, in 1982, the song “Lucifer’s Hammer” (based on a novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle) appeared on the prestigious compilation album »Metal Massacre II«. This resulted in a deal with Metal Blade Records, with Warlord recording their debut mini-album. »Deliver Us« was released in 1983 and is today considered as the blueprint for what was later to be called “Epic Metal”. »Deliver Us« was followed by »And The Cannons Of Destruction Have Begun...« in 1984. After a long hiatus, »Rising Out Of The Ashes« appeared as the comeback album for Warlord in 2002, while it took another eleven years for the fo...

KISSIN DYNAMITE
"BACK WITH A BANG"
Hard Rock/ AOR/ Glam
Year:05.07.2024
(NAPALM RECORDS)

German Stadium Rockers KISSIN’ DYNAMITE are Back With A Bang!German stadium rockers KISSIN’ DYNAMITE return with their eighth full-length, the aptly entitled Back With A Bang, out July 5, 2024 via Napalm Records! Founded as a teenage school band in 2007 and equipped with an authentic 80s stadium rock attitude, KISSIN’ DYNAMITE have performed at countless major festivals internationally, opened for acts such as L.A. rockstars Mötley Crüe and played massive sold-out headline tours. KISSIN’ DYNAMITE’s booming career has seen several high chart entries, with the latest studio album and Napalm Records debut Not The End Of The Road (2022) impressively climbing to #2 on the Official German Album Charts. Moreover, the rock formation’s catchy hits have ...

DAATH
"THE DECEIVERS"
Technical Death Metal
Year:03.05.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

The Deceivers is at once a devastating reminder and giant leap forward that showcases the technical wizardry and brutal intensity that the Atlanta, Georgia-bred band is capable of. Band founder/guitarist Eyal Levi has overseen an overhaul of the lineup, though importantly DÅÅTH still features force-of-nature vocalist Sean Zatorsky, who has fronted the band since 2007. Together they are now joined by Kerim “Krimh” Lechner on drums, Jesse Zuretti on orchestration and guitar, Rafael Trujillo on lead guitar, and David Marvuglio on bass.Guest guitar solos are contributed across numerous tracks by Jeff Loomis (Nevermore, Arch Enemy), Mark Holcomb (Periphery), Dean Lamb (Archspire), Per Nilsson, (Scar Symmetry, Meshuggah), Spiro Dussias (Platonist), and Dan Sugarman (Ice N...

VULTURE
"SENTINELS"
True Heavy Metal
Year:12.04.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

If there is one band that combines a classic approach with fresh ideas and an expansive joy of playing to honor their ancestors from the likes of early Exodus, Metallica, or Slayer, then it is the German heavy metal hellions, VULTURE. On their fourth album Sentinels, set for release on April 12th via Metal Blade Records, they prove once again that tradition and further development are not mutually exclusive, but on the contrary can lead to something extraordinary that leaves no headbanger untouched.VULTURE again recorded with Marco Brinkmann in his Hellforge Studio where there were also some innovations. "We had a clearly structured daily routine, a normal working day with set goals in which we could focus purely on recording the songs. Our previous recordings were a bit less organized whi...

COGNITIVE
"ABHORRENCE"
Technical Death Metal
Year:17.05.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

Technical death metal troupe Cognitive are back with Abhorrence, their fifth full length album and a tremendously worthy successor to 2021’s Malevolent Thoughts of a Hastened Extinction. This is the New Jersey powerhouse quintet at its brutal best – unrelenting riffs leave the listener stunned, while a wave of thoughtful, devastating lyrics washes over. The album is a turbulent, draining but ultimately fulfilling experience. Cognitive started work on Abhorrence while touring Malevolent Thoughts of a Hastened Extinction, sending tracks back and forth to each other while trekking from one intense gig to another. That desire to create something with an authentic artistic vision is what led to the recording of Abhorrence. The album is an exercise in aural turbulence, each taking th...