NIGHTWISH
"YESTERWYNDE"
Symphonic Female Heavy Metal
Year:20.09.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

Still, Finnish Symphonic metal legends NIGHTWISH filled this word with life, when they announced their tenth studio album at the end of last month. Today, NIGHTWISH have officially launched the pre-order for Yesterwynde.Yesterwynde will be available in a number of different vinyl variants, as a jewelcase, digipak, earbook and as part of a deluxe vinyl boxset.To celebrate the news, NIGHTWISH have opened the door to their newly-built universe a tiny bit and allowed their fans a first glimpse of Yesterwynde. The band shares their first single 'Perfume Of The Timeless' today, a beautiful song that provides a taste of the grandeur, drama and heaviness the new album has to offer. Tuomas Holopainen shares his thoughts about 'Perfume Of The Timeless':”You a...

SIMONE SIMONS
"VERMILLION"
Symphonic Female Heavy Metal
Year:23.08.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

SIMONE SIMONS has been a pioneering force within the world of metal for over two decades as part of EPICA. Now, alongside her musical partner and longtime collaborator, ARJEN LUCASSEN (AYREON), she embarks on the journey of her debut solo record, Vermillion.ARJEN is no stranger to SIMONE's soaring operatic voice, one that can stir even a gargoyle’s stone heart to tears. Together they have crafted a sonic universe that befits the influential figure she is. Vermillion emerges as a gargantuan goose-bump generator, a universally touching, stellar tour de force. Vermillion will be released on the 23rd August via Nuclear Blast Records.CD/ LP:01. Aeterna02. In Love We Rust03. Cradle To The Grave (feat. Alissa White-Gluz)04. Fight or Flight05. The Weight of My World06. Vermillion Dreams...

CAVALERA
"SCHIZOPHRENIA 2024"
Thrash/ Death Metal
Year:21.06.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

After the two new recordings of Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation were so well received by fans and the press, the Cavalera brothers Max and Iggor are going into the next round.

The album Schizophrenia, which was originally released by Sepultura in 1987, will also be released in 2024 under the band name Cavalera.

CD/ LP:

01. Intro
02. From The Past Comes The Storms
03. To The Wall
04. Escape To The Void
05. Inquisition Symphony
06. Screams Behind The Shadows
07. Septic Schizo
08. The Abyss
09. R.I.P. (Rest In Pain)
10. Nightmares Of Delirium

HAMMERFALL
"AVENGE THE FALLEN"
Power Heavy Metal
Year:09.08.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

That’s right, less than a year after taking the final bow of the “United Forces” tour, the quintet of guitarist Oscar Dronjak, singer Joacim Cans, bass player Fredrik Larsson, guitarist Pontus Norgen, and drummer David Wallin are back with ten brand new solid pieces of classic heavy metal.“This is our 13th album”, Joacim Cans says with pride. “How do you still stay relevant after 13 albums? It’s very much like the opening line to the song ´Avenge The Fallen´: “What is the worst, be the one who died, or be the one who survived.”“Think about it, because it is a tough question”.He continues, “Do we want to be a band who releases new music just for the sole reason of getting out on the road again or do we want ...

AMORPHIS
"TALES FROM THE THAUSAND LAKES - LIVE AT TAVASTIA"
Folk Metal/ Melodic Death Metal
Year:12.07.2024
(ATOMIC FIRE)

Immerse yourself in a musical phenomenon that is second to none: The 30th anniversary of AMORPHIS' landmark album "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" is celebrated with a live recording that sets new standards in terms of brilliance and intensity. This unique release, available on BluRay, CD and vinyl, was recorded at the iconic Tavastia club in Helsinki, Finland,in chronological order. Available from July 12, 2024, this release manifests AMORPHIS' unparalleled dynamism and artistic uniqueness. Rarely has the raw power and emotional depth of a live performance been captured so authentically as on this sonic memento and extraordinary concert film.“Tales From The Thousand Lakes” unfolds as much more than your average live recording; it is an ode to Finnish mythology, a nod ...

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 ...

PAIN
"I AM"
Industrial Metal
Year:17.05.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

Pain are back. Peter Tägtgren's industrial metal playground is releasing the long-awaited follow-up to the 2016 album Coming Home.

CD/ LP:

01. I Just Dropped By (to say goodbye)
02. Don’t Wake The Dead
03. Go With The Flow
04. Not For Sale
05. Party In My Head
06. I Am
07. Push The Pusher
08. The New Norm
09. Revolution
10. My Angel
11. Fair Game

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...