BENEDICTION
"RAVAGE OF EMPIRES"
Death Metal
Year:04.04.2025
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

British death metal legends, BENEDICTION, have unveiled the cover of their upcoming new studio album, Ravage Of Empires, which is due to be released on April 4, 2025, via Nuclear Blast Records. Ravage Of Empires will be the band's ninth full length since forming back in 1989 in Birmingham, England.The year 2020 saw BENEDICTION re-enter the stage with their eighth record, Scriptures, after 12 years without releasing any new music. The album was a huge success and it was praised by fans and critics alike, also due to the return of long-time vocalist Dave Ingram.Just like its predecessor, Ravage Of Empires was produced by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Sudio with cover artwork by Wolven Claw Artist. The album continues BENEDICTION’s flawless discography on Premier League lev...

GHOST
"SKELETA"
Hard Rock/ AOR
Year:25.04.2025
(ADA - Alternative Distribution Alliance)

Swedish occult rockers GHOST will release their new album, "Skeletá", on April 25 via Loma Vista Recordings. The official music video for the LP's first single, "Satanized", is out now. The "Satanized" music video introduces the new character who will be fronting GHOST for its 2025 touring cycle: Papa V Perpetua."Satanized" is described in a press release as "an avalanche of infectious hooks and harmonies is buoyed by a hypnotic shuffle, as the narrator succumbs to dark forces within and without, helplessly acknowledging their own blasphemy and heresy as it inexorably consumes them." By the time the song's opening lines "There is something inside me and they don't know if there is a cure" have moved from the inner monologue of the possessed to the ears of t...

MESSA
"THE SPIN"
Doom Heavy Metal
Year:11.04.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

Sailing past their tenth anniversary in 2024, MESSA takes another step towards legendary status with their majestic fourth album The Spin, which takes its listeners on a breathtaking journey across the wide-open skies of their creative imagination and over a compelling landscape of moods, twists, and styles. Based in the band's eclectic, self-defined “scarlet doom” sound, The Spin rises, falls, broods, bites, comforts, and destroys, all the while resounding with both instinctive magic and obsessive, concerted hard work. After lighting up the underground with a triptych of increasingly distinctive and wondrous records – 2016's Belfry, 2018's Feast For Water, and 2022's Close – MESSA is audibly equipped for the proverbial big leagues.CD/ LP:1. Void...

GHOST BATH
"ROSE THORN NECKLACE"
Black Metal
Year:08.05.2025
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

Depressive black metallers GHOST BATH have emerged from beyond the veil with their new album, Rose Thorn Necklace.Free from the Moonlover-Starmourner-Self Loather conceptual trilogy, sole proprietor Nameless (aka Dennis Mikula) explores the most intense and introspective GHOST BATH’s oeuvre, advancing with blackened blasts and melancholic movements while moving his only child forward into the unknownGHOST BATH comments:"Rose Thorn Necklace is both beautiful and grotesque. It blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, exploring the contrast of something gorgeous and disgusting. I tried my best to not hold myself back - both musically and lyrically - and this is the result; depressive black metal with raw emotion, unique melodies, and textured synths."Rose Thorn Necklace was recorded...

NIGHTFALL
"CHILDREN OF EVE"
Blackened Death Metal
Year:02.05.2025
(SEASON OF MIST)

Since their formation in 1991, Nightfall have stood alongside Rotting Christ and Septicflesh as the pioneering trinity of Greek metal. The legendary Athenian death metal band sound as vengeful as ever. But backed by monumental production and a powerful message, their eleventh studio album stands as their darkest and most epic creation yet.   Like their contemporaries, Nightfall weave gothic melodies into blackened death metal. Children of Eve features the most infections collection of hooks that the band has ever created thanks to the mixing and mastering of Jacob Hansen. Armed with cloak and dagger, masked frontman Efthimis Karadimas commands lead single “I Hate” behind blast beats that fly like a swarm of arrows.But Children of Eve wouldn’t bear the ...

DIRKSCHNEIDER
"BALLS TO THE WALL RELOADED"
Heavy Metal
Year:28.02.2025
(Reigning Phoenix Music)

•    The cult Accept Album Balls To The Wall Rerecorded with guests on each song!•    Guest vocals by Danko Jones, Ylva Eriksson (Brothers Of Metal), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Tim Ripper Owens (KK's Priest, ex-Judas Priest). 40 years after the original release of the legendary classic album Balls To The Wall by the German Heavy Metal sensation Accept, Udo Dirkschneider (former voice of Accept) started working on reviving this classic. "Balls To The Wall Reloaded" features some of Heavy Metal's most famous voices as guests: Joakim Broden (Sabaton), Biff Byford (Saxon), Mille Petrozza (Kreator), Nils Molin (Amaranthe & Dynazty), Michael Kiske (Helloween), Ylva Eriksson (Brothers Of Metal), Danko Jones, Dee Snider (Twiste...

ALLEGAEON
"THE OSSUARY LENS"
Death Metal
Year:04.04.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

For ALLEGAEON, sitting still is not an option. The Fort Collins, Colorado-based group has never allowed itself to stagnate, prefering to thrive on chaos, change and evolution. Their latest offering, The Ossuary Lens, is their seventh full-length overall but it’s the first with original vocalist Ezra Haynes since his 2015 departure following the Elements Of The Infinite album. Replacing a singer is no easy task, so the fact that Haynes was in a place to rejoin is something to celebrate. The cleaner vocal approach on the last three albums was a fascinating artistic maneuver, one that refreshed ALLEGAEON, but it’s undeniably thrilling to hear Haynes’ graveled larynx back in the fold on this inarguably brutal and technically dazzling slab of work. The science-based...

SANHEDRIN
"HEAT LIGHTNING"
Heavy Metal
Year:14.03.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

New York trio Sanhedrin have spent the last decade at the forefront of the American heavy metal scene. Their blend of traditional metal and hard rock sounds combine with a fresh modern energy and perspective. With 2022’s release Lights On, the band had created their most complete work to date. Now they follow it up with Heat Lightning, a diverse collection of songs that capture the band’s wide array of influences with an elevated level of production. When asked how this new album compares to the band’s previous efforts, drummer Nathan Honor explains: “Sonically there’s no comparison. Heat Lightning is the fullest representation of the power of this band. When you take three seasoned musicians with their favorite hand picked instruments, put them in front of tw...

ELVENKING
"READER OF THE RUNES - LUNA"
Epic/ Viking/ Folk Metal
Year:11.04.2025
(ADA - Alternative Distribution Alliance)

The final installment of the Readers of the Runes trilogy crowns one of the most epic sagas in metal history. With Luna, Elvenking combine the medieval splendor of Divination with the dark intensity of Rapture, finally unraveling the mysteries surrounding the enigmatic rune reader and the fate of the eight characters.Masterful songwriting and a unique blend of folk, melodic and symphonic metal create stunning anthems like “Throes of Atonement” and “Gone Epoch” as well as dramatic epics like “The Ghosting” and the monumental 11-minute finale Reader of the Runes - Book II. An absolute must for fans of Blind Guardian, Skyclad or Helloween - an album that redefines fantasy metal.Immerse yourself in the magical world of Luna - where magic, wonder and heavy me...

EPICA
"ASPIRAL"
Symphonic Female Heavy Metal
Year:11.04.2025
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

Symphonic metal titans EPICA are excited to announce that their 9th studio album Aspiral will be out on April 11th, via Nuclear Blast Records. The album title is derived from the eponymous bronze sculpture made by Polish sculptor and painter Stanisław Szukalski back in 1965 and stands for renewal and inspiration – keywords that define EPICA in 2025. In Szukalski’s work every detail is a piece of art in its own right, and there’s always more to the story than you initially think. The band saw this as the perfect analogy for the creation of this 9th album: each song stands on its own with a distinctive vibe and meaning, while together they enforce each other into a monumental effort. The album, featuring stunning cover artwork by Hedi Xandt (Rammstein, ...

BEHEMOTH
"THE SHIT OV GOD"
Blackened Death Metal
Year:09.05.2025
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

Extreme Metal giants BEHEMOTH have revealed the title, cover artwork, and release date (09.05) of their 13th studio album The Shit Ov God. This new album promises to be the most provocative and extreme work of their 34-year-long career. Featuring eight tracks, it dives deep into the abyss of humanity, divinity, and rebellion - in a time when individuality is celebrated, yet many still cling to their saviors, whether musical, political, or otherwise.BEHEMOTH frontman Nergal says about the album:"The number thirteen - so magical and significant. If this were to be our final album, I could say I die a proud man. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the most refined, purest representation of Behemoth. No filler, no excess - just the very best we have to offer, handed to you."CD/ LP:1...

ULVER
"LIMINAL ANIMALS"
Dark Pop/ Progressive/ EBM
Year:07.03.2025
(PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS)

At the end of the roughest year in their history, Ulver is proud to release their thirteenth studio album, titled Liminal Animals. Liminal Animals is permeated by the smell of disaster and documents, with deep concern, a dark and troubled place in a dark and troubled time. The cover art features The Senseless Seven, a 1911 drawing by Austin Osman Spare.

CD/ LP:

1. Ghost Entry
2. A City in the Skies
3. Forgive Us (feat. Nils Petter Molvær)
4. Nocturne #1
5. Locusts
6. Hollywood Babylon
7. The Red Light
8. Nocturne #2
9. Helian (Trakl)

WHITECHAPEL
"HYMNS IN DISSONANCE"
Death Metal/ Metalcore
Year:07.03.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

WHITECHAPEL, who formed in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2006, has seen the core lineup - vocalist Phill Bozeman, guitarists Ben Savage, Zach Householder, and Alex Wade, and bassist Gabe Crisp - intact since 2007, with the exception of drummer Brandon Zackey, who has been playing with the band since 2022. While Hymns In Dissonance follows 2021’s Kin chronologically, the new album is actually somewhat of a sequel to This Is Exile thematically, the three-word title Hymns In Dissonance representing that correlation.The band’s dynamic, brutal musicality serves as a soundtrack to the compelling lyrical story that vocalist Phil Bozeman vividly imagines. “Hymns In Dissonance is a mockery of the true nature of what hymns are,” Bozeman explains. “Hymns are melodious and har...

MANTAR
"POST APOCALYPTIC DEPRESSION"
Black Metal
Year:14.02.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

MANTAR's new album, Post Apocalyptic Depression, is a raw, stripped-back response to their previous, highly produced work. Guitarist Hanno Klänhardt describes it as a return to their punk roots with a "quick and dirty" recording process using minimal gear and little planning. Embracing the beauty in defying expectations, the album’s opener, “Absolute Ghost,” embodies their energetic, visceral punk 'n' roll sound, perfect for live performances. The album’s haunting cover by Aron Wiesenfeld links back to their debut Death By Burning, symbolizing a full-circle moment for the band. The title captures the exhaustion and disillusionment after mass hysteria - a sense of burnout that’s both deeply relatable and darkly catchy.CD/ LP:01 Absolute Ghos...

AVANTASIA
"HERE BE DRAGONS"
Melodic Power Heavy Metal
Year:28.02.2025
(NAPALM RECORDS)

"Rock and metal flagship AVANTASIA is set to unleash their bombastic 10th studio album and Napalm Records debut, Here Be Dragons, on February 28, 2025! Featuring absolute AVANTASIA essentials such as spellbinding choirs and theatrical symphonic metal elements, multitalented mastermind and frontman Tobias Sammet also surprises fans old and new with plenty of intriguing fresh soundscapes. Here Be Dragons gives the celebrated AVANTASIA sound that has been carefully crafted over a quarter of a century an exciting and powerful spin. The new album is the most consistent and concise piece of art that the band has ever crafted. The band’s impressive success story has seen nine previous studio albums (including the 2019 offering Moonglow that charted at #1 in Germany), gold awards, hundreds o...