RIOT V
"MEAN STREETS"
Heavy Metal
Year:16.02.2024
(ATOMIC FIRE)

Finally, after more than 5 years: the new album by heavy metal cult band RIOT V!RIOT are the epitome of class, longevity and integrity: The New Yorkers play their high-class heavy metal with full fervour and have not let numerous strokes of fate (such as the death of guitarist Mark Reale, since when, out of respect, they are operating as "RIOT V") get them down. A lot of time has passed since their debut "Rock City" (1977), but RIOT V are still around and now delight their fans with an absolute masterpiece: More than five years after "Armor Of Light", which saw the band achieving chart success in numerous European countries for the first time ever, RIOT V now present "Mean Streets". From the ferocious opener "Hail To The Warriors" to the hypnotic hymn "Feel The Fire" and the up-tempo hit "...

PALLBEARER
"MIND BURNS ALIVE"
Progressive Metal/ Doom
Year:17.05.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

Mind Burns Alive finds PALLBEARER navigating the space between disquiet and serenity with a singular intensity. At times poetic and blistering, their fifth full length is a heartfelt meditation on isolation, trauma and mental breakdown, framed by the possibility of redemption and the quiet, aching beauty of escape.

Musically and lyrically stripped bare and vulnerable, Mind Burns Alive deals in universal themes of loneliness and the feeling of emotionally drowning in a world turning upside down. Bassist/vocalist Joseph D. Rowland describes the album as “an exploration of fate; when you are deceived by your own instincts and internal voice.”

CD/ 2LP:

01. Where The Light Fades
02. Mind Burns Alive
03. Signals
04. Endless Place
05. Daybreak
06. With Disease

BENIGHTED
"EKBOM"
Death Metal
Year:12.04.2024
(SEASON OF MIST)

-    Born from French Death and Black metal bands DISHUMANIZED, DARKNESS FIRE, and OSGILIATH; BENIGHTED emerged in 1998 with a mission to explore a more brutal, heavy, and modern form of musical expression.-    The impact of their first self-produced and self-tled full-length album in 2000 transformed BENIGHTED from a side-project into a main act, quickly amassing a devoted fan base.With roots deeply entrenched in the macabre realms of extreme metal, BENIGHTED has evolved from a side-project into a malevolent force, captivating fans worldwide with their skull-shattering sound and thematically explorative pieces.Dive into the auditory abyss with 'Ekbom,' BENIGHTED's latest offering inspired by the rare neurological disorder known as 'Ekbom s...

NESTOR
"TEENAGE REBEL"
Hard Rock/ AOR/ Glam
Year:31.05.2024
(NAPALM RECORDS)

Get ready to embark on a journey through time as up and coming 80s rock purveyors NESTOR, hailing from the vibrant music scene of Sweden, release their electrifying, long-awaited new album, Teenage Rebel, via Napalm Records on May 31, 2024. Having formed in 1989 only to fall into a slumbering hibernation over three long decades, NESTOR emerged stronger than ever in 2021 with their debut album, Kids in a ghost town, marking the band's triumphant return to the spotlight and captivating fans with their timeless sound and unmatched energy. With glossy production and nostalgic authenticity, they take you straight back to the golden age of rock music, openly displaying their influences ranging from Bon Jovi and Aerosmith to Journey and Foreigner. With over 30 years of existence, NESTOR turn...

TYR
"THE BEST OF THE NAPALM YEARS"
Folk Metal/ Viking Metal
Year:31.05.2024
(NAPALM RECORDS)

Tyr from Tórshavn, Faroe Islands is a unique metal band that has made a name for itself worldwide, delighting fans with their powerful music and epic lyrics inspired by Faroese culture and mythology. And now the time has finally come - the long-awaited best-of album from Tyr is finally here!On this album you will find the band's strongest songs from their time under Napalm Records. From rousing anthems to epic ballads, the band covers an incredible spectrum. Singer Heri Joensen's powerful voice and virtuoso guitar riffs transport you to another world and captivate you from start to finishThe band Tyr has managed to combine traditional Faroese music with modern metal, creating a unique sound that sets them apart from other bands. With their impressive stage presence and pas...

BLACK TUSK
"THE WAY FORWARD"
Stoner Rock/ Metal
Year:26.04.2024
(SEASON OF MIST)

-    It’s their first with their new lineup, which sees guitarist Chris “Scary” Adams and bassist Derek Lynch joining Fidler and drummer James May. Which also makes it Black Tusk’s first record with a two-guitar lineup resulting in the album with the most guitar work. -    In true Black Tusk fashion, the new lineup has expanded their triple-vocal approach to quadruple. “Everyone is doing vocals,” Fidler says. Black Tusk go way back. Guitarist Andrew Fidler and drummer James May both grew up down in the swamps of Savannah, Georgia, where they’ve been banging heads together for the past 19 years.While often mentioned in the same weed-infused breath as Baroness and Kylesa, Black Tusk are a different beast. These swamp mon...

GATECREEPER
"DARK SUPERSTITION"
Death Metal
Year:17.05.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

"The new wave of American death metal needs a breakout album, and Dark Superstition is it. Gatecreeper's third full-length sees the Arizona death metal specialists-vocalist Chase H. Mason, guitarists Eric Wagner and Israel Garza, drummer Metal Matt Arrebollo and bassist Alex Brown-carving out their own path. The band's first album for Nuclear Blast is more concise, melodic, and memorable than anything they've done in the past. "We refined the song structures," Mason says. "We're getting better at what we do."Think of Dark Superstition as Gatecreeper's answer to Entombed's Wolverine Blues or Dismember's Massive Killing Capacity, pivotal albums on which the songs got tighter and more rock influenced. Or even Paradise Lost, who went even further in a rock di...

NIGHT SHALL DRAPE US
"LUNATIC CHOIR"
Black Metal
Year:26.04.2024
(SEASON OF MIST)

-    With members Wraath (Behexen, Ritual Death), LHR/Kassara (Black Death Ritual, Chamber of Unlight, Horna) & brother Spellgoth (Black Death Ritual, Chamber of Unlight, Horna), Infection & Vexd.-    Fast, melodic and uncompromisingly raw, Lunatic Choir is black metal executed to perfection.Though they came together from far corners of the Nordic underground, Night Shall Drape Us are united by blood and an unwavering spirit for fast, melodic, uncompromising black metal.Their debut album features eight perfectly executed hymns sung by a relentless choir of lunatics. Lunatic Choir offers fast blast beats together with raw yet melodic traditional black metal riffs.“One with the beasts of the black flame”, the band chant in dedication during "...

KVAEN
"THE FORMLESS FIRE"
Melodic Black Metal
Year:21.06.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

There have been many great extreme metal bands from Sweden, but only one from Kalix. This remote beauty spot near the Finnish border, on the northernmost shores of the Baltic, is home to Jacob Björnfot, creative mastermind behind Kvaen (named after the folk who populated the area in the Viking era). Kvaen’s third album The Formless Fires - their first for those world-renowned headhunters at Metal Blade Records – is a sumptuous but bitingly intense exploration of beauty and violence, a melodic black metal masterwork radiating an inspirational sense of place. Even more than 2020’s folky, speed metal-infused debut The Funeral Pyre or 2022’s compelling, expansive follow-up The Great Below, the vast pine woods and icy lakes are powerfully evoked in the elemental glo...

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 ...