OVERKILL
"SCORCHED"
Thrash Metal
Year:14.04.2023
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

LIGHT THE MATCH! Setting the scene ablaze, the rough and rowdy OVERKILL have reappeared to bludgeon your ears with their twentieth, that’s right, twentieth studio album: SCORCHED. For over 3 and a half decades their bottom line crazy method of thrash has produced some of the most signature moments in the world of metal. Now in the latter half of their career, all the experience is showing face with SCORCHED as it somehow rings more mature, refined, and embellished with hints of more than just thrash metal. “It’s not aggression for the sake of aggression,” explains vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, “there are a lot of different elements on the record. To me, it’s more heavy metal, and less of an outright thrash record. There’s a hell of ...

MOTORHEAD
"SERIOUSLY BAD MAGIC"
Heavy Metal
Year:24.02.2023
(ADA - Alternative Distribution Alliance)

MOTÖRHEAD the iconic Godfathers of heavy metal, released their 23rd (and final) studio album Bad Magic in 2015. Instantly hailed as one of the best the beloved trio had recorded in many years, Bad Magic: SERIOUSLY Bad Magic enjoys a bonus-packed refresh, adding two previously unreleased tracks from those furious sessions: “Bullet in Your Brain” and “Greedy Bastards” as well as a snarling, fangs-out live performance from that subsequent tour at the giant Fuji Rock Festival in Japan in 2015. Fans will also get “War, Love, Death and Injustice”, an audio interview with Lemmy conducted by Motörhead expert Robert Kiewik during the tour, and should the desire to have a chat with Lem or anyone beyond this mortal coil arise, the box-set will exclusively...

SORTILEGE
"APOCALYPSO"
Heavy Metal
Year:03.03.2023
(SEASON OF MIST)

The mighty Sortilege are true pioneers of French heavy metal. From their 1980 inception, and the prolific six-year run that followed, the quintet paved the way for a generation of French bands and labels to follow.'Apocalypso', their first album of new material in over 30 years, flies the flag of heavy metal loudly and proudly. Led by cult vocalist Christian "Zouille" Augustin, the new incarnation of Sortilege steps back into the limelight with metal as timeless as it is classic.For fans of IRON MAIDEN, BLASPHEME, ADX, JUDAS PRIEST, …CD/ 2LP:01. Poseidon (03:32)02. Attila (feat. Stephane Buriez) (04:06)03. Derriere les portes de Babylone (feat. Myrath) (06:33)04. Le sacre du sorcier (05:08)05. La parade des centaures (feat. Stephane Buriez) (02:59)06. Walkyrie (04:20)07. E...

AZAGHAL
"ALTTARIMME ON LUISTA TEHTY"
Black Metal
Year:24.02.2023
(SEASON OF MIST)

 - Twelfth full-length album from the Finnish black metal pioneers. - Includes members from Wyrd, Hin Onde, Amberian Dawn etc.The Finnish Black Metal Legends of Azaghal are back with their 12th studio album «Alttarimme on Luista Tehty» and once again they’ve managed to deliver an album that respects the origin of their creation. Heart shredding guitars in the classic way of Azaghal riffing, fast, relentless pounding drums and beautiful bass melodies in combination with haunted  crushing vocals delivered by a brand new Vocalist who is able to create the well needed refreshing in their sound.All in all, their new album sounds exactly how Finnish black metal should sound, Uncompromised, relentless, furious, hateful and fast in combination with some new found r...

STEVE VAI
"VAI/ GASH"
Progressive Metal
Year:27.01.2023
(MASCOT LABEL GROUP)

 - Steve Vai – Vai/Gash is announced on November 10 with the video for In The Wind: Vai / Gash record was written and recorded in 1991 by Steve Vai and his friend and talented rock singer Johnny Sombrotto, nickname Gash. After three decades, Steve Vai is finally ready to share the music with The World.Steve Vai and Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group have announced the release of VAI / GASH digitally and on CD January 27, 2023. The vinyl album release will follow on February 24.Vai shares, “This record was written and recorded in somewhat of a stream of consciousness in 1991 within perhaps a 2-week period as an answer to my desire to have a particular kind of music to listen to when I was riding my Harley Davison Motorcycle with my fri...

SAINT DEAMON
"LEAGUE OF THE SERPENT"
Melodic Power Heavy Metal
Year:21.04.2023
(AFM RECORDS)

The Swedish/Norwegian melodic power metal band SAINT DEAMON returns with a new longplayer "League Of The Serpent" about three and a half years after their quasi-"comeback" album "Ghost". It's well known that SAINT DEAMON stand for high-quality sound and an individual touch (which is often hard to find in the power metal genre). Also "League Of The Serpent" clearly shows the great quality of vocal wonder Jan-Thore Grefstad, guitarist Toya Johansson, bass player Nobby Noberg (ex-Dionysus) and new drummer Alfred Fridhagen (Gaia Epicus). Tracks like the upbeat first single "At Break Of Dawn", the extremely catchy "Load Your Cannons" or the ear-pleasing melodic rocker "The Final Fight" are typical SAINT DEAMON compositions, in addition the band skillfully incorporates progressive nuances a...

DEWOLFF
"LOVE, DEATH & IN BETWEEN"
Hard Rock/ AOR
Year:03.02.2023
(MASCOT LABEL GROUP)

DeWolff will release their brand-new album Love, Death & In Between on 3 February via Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group. In May 2022, they went to Kerwax, an analogue studio in the village of Loguivy-Plougras in Brittany. "We thought, let's go on an adventure," Pablo says. Located in North-western France and surrounded by forests, they retreated to the residential studio for two weeks, engulfed in vintage recording equipment from the 1940s to the 1970s.Recording live to tape, with no overdubs, brothers Pablo (guitar/vocals) and Luka van de Poel (drums/vocals) alongside Robin Piso (Hammond/Wurlitzer) were joined by a host of friends for the recordings. DeWolff left Brittany with twelve songs, over four tapes, with friends, having fun and remembering what is most important to them...

XANDRIA
"THE WONDERS STILL AWAITING"
Symphonic Female Heavy Metal
Year:03.02.2023
(NAPALM RECORDS)

The time has finally come to dive into new adventures! Chart-topping German symphonic metal iconsXANDRIA open the promising next chapter of the band's history with their long-awaited brand new full-length, The Wonders Still Awaiting, out February 3, 2023 via Napalm Records. With a potent new line-up, steadfastly centered around band mastermind Marco Heubaum to maintain the band’s trademark essence, XANDRIA invite their devotees into a new world of wonders, genres and elements without ever forgetting their sonic roots.After breaking the silence with their latest standalone single, the aptly entitled “Reborn”, followed by the multifaceted, hard-hitting “You Will Never Be Our God” (featuring Primal Fear frontman Ralf Scheepers), The Wonders Still Awaiting ma...

DELAIN
"DARK WATERS"
Symphonic Female Heavy Metal
Year:10.02.2023
(NAPALM RECORDS)

"Dutch symphonic metal pioneers DELAIN break into new realms with their eagerly awaited, brand new full-length, Dark Waters, out February 10, 2023 via Napalm Records. The pristine record marks a game-changing chapter in the band's history and presents the brainchild of keyboardist, founder and main songwriter Martijn Westerholt with a new lineup. Rejoining the fold and bolstering DELAIN’s continuity are original guitarist Ronald Landa and original drummer Sander Zoer, while new members - terrific vocalist Diana Leah and bassist Ludovico Cioffi - continue to evolve their sound. Dark Waters follows the chart-breaking Apocalypse & Chill (2020), integrating the most refined sounds in the genre. DELAIN’s renowned orchestral arrangements, highlighted by modern shadings, set ...

…AND OCEANS
"AS IN GARDENS, SO IN TOMBS"
Black Metal
Year:27.01.2023
(SEASON OF MIST)

It’s rare for a band to commandingly return with their best effort to date, but Finland’s ...And Oceans are here to prove that 2020’s Cosmic World Mother was the sound of creative floodgates bursting through into a new body of water, an ocean if you will. Everything that ...And Oceans’ first full-length in 18 years did well – blistering symphonic black metal, heady themes that dealt with the connection between philosophy and psychics, and ...And Oceans’ trademark adventurous songwriting - As In Gardens, So In Tombs manages to eclipse and recontextualize. It’s the sound of a band seizing every ounce of momentum and upping the ante in every way. While ...And Oceans has never written the same album twice, in many ways, their latest sounds like an oppo...

RPWL
"CRIME SCENE"
Progressive Rock/ AOR
Year:17.03.2023
(SOULFOOD MUSIC)

On the new longplayer Crime Scene this Bavarian Artrock institution directs its attention to the morbid, the perverse, the evil in good, the abysses of the human behavior spectrum in all its unpredictable diversity, which sometimes comes across as bizarrely disturbing and conclusive, if one tries to fathom it. In six densely atmospheric tracks RPWL have once again embarked on intensive journeys through their own band vita, as well as their own record collections. The effort of comparisons is always such a thing, because after all this is the 19th release of this internationally successful band.The partly morbid-dark themes are countered with old-school fuzz, the almost 13-minute "King of the World" with its growling big muff and its flat vibes, or "Life beyond Control", which with its offb...

MEMORIAM
"RISE TO POWER"
Death Metal
Year:03.02.2023
(ATOMIC FIRE)

The fifth studio album of the legendary British death metal tank MEMORIAM.MEMORIAM needs no introduction ‐ they are living legends of Old School Death Metal. Not only because the former fields of activity of the Brits belonged and still belong to the pioneers of UK Death Metal, but because they managed to follow their master plan more than precisely. MEMORIAM has built up their own loyal fan base over the past seven years and developed its own musical identity. It would certainly have been easy for them to just follow the old paths, but the true art of the band is that they never deny their origins, but gradually incorporate something new ‐ with every album a few new nuances and facets are added."Rise to power" will not only once again offer an atmospherically dense Dan Seagrav...

AXEL RUDI PELL
"THE BALLADS VI"
Hard Rock/ AOR
Year:21.04.2023
(SPV)

- "The Ballads VI" is an absolute priority at SPV-Steamhammer!- First new ballads album for 6 years. 1 brand new track, 2 brand new cover versions, 2 brand new instrumentals.- High class digipak with poster.- High class double gatefold LP in trans orange black.- Produced by Axel Rudi Pell, mixed by Tommy Geiger (Blind Guardian).- Cover by Thomas Ewerhard (Gotthard, Edguy, Sons Of Apollo).LINE-UP:Axel Rudi Pell - Lead, Rhythm and Acoustic GuitarsJohnny Gioeli (Ex-Hardline, band with Neal Schon of Journey)Ferdy Doernberg (Rough Silk, he also played with Uli Jon Roth, Therion and many others)Volker Krawczak (he played also bass in Steeler)Bobby Rondinelli (he played with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult)- AXEL RUDI PELL celebrated last year his 34th anniversary as a solo artis...

URIAH HEEP
"CHAOS & COLOUR"
Hard Rock
Year:27.01.2023
(ADA - Alternative Distribution Alliance)

Chaos & Colour, the energetic and triumphant 25th studio album from British hard rock legends and progenators Uriah Heep, bristles with explosive classic rock guitars, supreme harmonies, and Heep’s famously generous keyboard foundation. Led by founding member Mick Box, it is no surprise that themes of light, love and, ultimately, positivity are constant through the eleven tracks. Opener “Save Me Tonight” shows the band’s weighty yet blistering chops, whilst “One Nation, One Sun” is a journey of soaring balladic contemplation. “Fly Like An Eagle” takes the listener on a journey of meditation, and “Closer To Your Dreams” is a battle cry for all rockers to get out there and do it, with Shaw imploring that “So many have trie...

TWILIGHT FORCE
"AT THE HEART OF WINTERVALE"
Symphonic Power Heavy Metal
Year:20.01.2023
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

With their new album "At the Heart of Wintervale", the adventure metallers TWILIGHT FORCE begin the fourth chapter of their epic tale! Scheduled for release on January 20th, 2023, the six heroes embark on a glorious journey through their own fantastic realm – the Twilight Kingdoms – filled to the brim with gallant melodies, fierce riffs, heroic orchestrations, pounding drums and magical sagas resulting in a unique, immersive experience. Combined with stunning artwork by Kerem Beyit and presented live on 2023’s Winter Wonder European headlining tour, “At the Heart of Wintervale” is a mandatory quest to join if you are looking for symphonic power metal at its most proficient and captivating.CD/ LP:1. Twilight Force2. At the Heart of Wintervale3. Dragon...