ATROPHY
"ASYLUM"
Thrash Metal
Year:15.03.2024
(MASSACRE RECORDS)

"Asylum" is the next evolutionary step for ATROPHY.

Keeping the speed of "Socialized Hate" and the grooves of "Violent By Nature", the album adds a big dose of heaviness to the mix resulting in a satisfying aural kick to the face.

The lyrical focus is still focused on societal ills, from the insurrection to the brainwashing performed by the major news networks, and then also the obvious results from these on the people just struggling to live their lives.

CD/ LP:

1. Punishment For All
2. High Anxiety
3. Seeds Of Sorrow
4. Distortion
5. Bleeding Out

6. American Dream
7. Close My Eyes
8. The Apostle
9. Five Minutes 'Til Suicide

ALTERIUM
"OF WAR AND FLAMES"
Melodic Power Heavy Metal
Year:08.03.2024
(AFM RECORDS)

Since ALTERIUM released their first single "Drag Me to Hell", the power metal community screamed for a full album by the Italian newcomers. After four long months, the wait is finally over: ALTERIUM are here with their debut album "Of War and Flames". The previous singles have already foreshadowed, what to expect: potent vocals, explosive instrumentals, and a dash of gothic mystique to create an unforgettable experience in fantastic realms!

CD/ LP:

1. Drag Me to Hell
2. Siren's Call
3. Of War and Flames
4. Firebringer
5. Crossroads Inn

6. Shadowsong
7. Crystalline
8. Heroine of The Sea
9. Chasing the Sun
10. Bismarck

WALTER TROUT
"BROKEN"
Blues/ Classic Rock
Year:01.03.2024
(MASCOT LABEL GROUP)

- Broken features guest appearances by Will Wilde, Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and Beth Hart (on the title track).All of us are broken. But no-one is beyond repair. It’s a philosophy that Walter Trout has lived by during seven volatile decades at the heart of America’s society and blues-rock scene. Even now, with the world more fractured than ever – by politics, economics, social media and culture wars – the fabled US bluesman’s latest album, Broken, chronicles the bitter schisms of modern life but refuses to succumb to them. “I’ve always tried to write positive songs, and this album is not quite that,” considers the 72-year-old of an all-original tracklisting that rages and soothes. “But I always hold on to hope. I think that’s w...

MESSIAH
"CHRISTUS HYPERCUBUS"
Thrash/ Speed Metal
Year:01.03.2024
(High Roller Records)

Switzerland has always been a fertile breeding ground for Extreme Metal. Messiah were formed in 1984 and issued two truly ground breaking records on Chainsaw Murder Records, »Hymn To Abramelin« in 1986 and »Extreme Cold Weather« a year later. In the early 1990s Messiah signed to Karl Walterbach’s Noise Records label and issued three more full-length albums: »Choir Of Horrors« (1991), »Rotten Perish« (1992) and »Underground« (1994) before going their separate ways.In 2018, Messiah decided to reform in the original line-up of their Noise Records albums with Andy Kaina on vocals, Steve Karrer on drums, Patrick Hersche on bass and band founder R.B. Brögi on guitar. Lavish re-issues of »Hymn To Abramelin« and &ra...

SONATA ARCTICA
"CLEAR COLD BEYOND"
Melodic Power Heavy Metal
Year:08.03.2024
(ATOMIC FIRE)

SONATA ARCTICA return to their power metal roots on “Clear Cold Beyond”.SONATA ARCTICA have been many things in their storied career. Finnish power metal messiahs, relentlessly touring powerhouses, champions of sublime melody. First and foremost, however, they have been stalwarts in showcasing the magic and the enchantment flowing through heavy metal. They have been embodying the majesty and serenity of Nordic nature since their foundation in 1995 and have been spellbinding their world with ten records, EPs and countless tours."Clear Cold Beyond" easily is the most relentless SONATA ARCTICA record to date, a spectacular resurgence of their trademark, lightning fast power metal forged far, far north. "We’ve felt for a while now that we’d need to get heavier again aft...

AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE
"QUAD BRUTAL"
Death Metal
Year:23.02.2024
(NAPALM RECORDS)

"It’s not a rumor! After nearly 10 years of absence, the undisputed champions of metal brutality - AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE - are muscling their way back into the scene with their fourth album and Napalm Records debut, Quad Brutal - out February 23, 2024. The unmissable project of As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis, launched 15 years ago as a one man band, triumphed as the metal scene’s newest obsession with their 2008 debut album, Total Brutal. After releasing two more acclaimed albums in 2009 and 2014, the one man band did the impossible - they broke up. After a decade of regrowth and rebirth, and with the help of good friends by his side, Lambesis finally felt inspired to work on new music for the project, now emerging as Quad Brutal - chock full of the band’s most hea...

HIRAES
"DORMANT"
Melodic Death Metal
Year:26.01.2024
(NAPALM RECORDS)

"German-based death metal formation HIRAES – featuring former members of DAWN OF DISEASE and CRITICAL MESS – strikes back with their hotly-anticipated sophomore modern melodic death metal assault! Dormant will furiously kick off the new year, slated for release on January 26, 2024 via Napalm Records.With their very first offering, HIRAES already created an exciting new melodic death emergence, built upon a brutalized vocal attack, intense melodies and aggressive guitars. On Dormant, HIRAES  flexes their own trademarks in an intensified way, ranging from versatile drumming, catchy riffs and hymn-like melodies to enthralling soundscapes and an impressive vocal onslaught by singer Britta.Dormant was mixed by Jens Bogren and Ricardo Borges, and was mastered by Jens Bogren at F...

SULDUSK
"ANTHESIS"
Dark/ Black Metal
Year:01.03.2024
(NAPALM RECORDS)

Founded by the highly talented Emily Highfield, Australian dark folk/blackgaze project SULDUSK released their debut album, Lunar Falls, in 2019. With their “killer debut album” (Folk N Rock), SULDUSK not only stunned listeners and international press, but also rock and metal empire Napalm Records, who proudly welcomed the band to their eclectic artist roster in 2023!March 1, 2024 will see SULDUSK release their sophomore studio offering, entitled Anthesis, continuing where they left off with their captivating debut, yet musically more complex. While SULDUSK started as a one-woman project, for Anthesis, Highfield recruited incredibly talented musicians to help elevate the vision of their acoustic-based music to the level of an intense, powerful and heavy record. The album will ta...

VINCENT CROWLEY
"ANTHOLOGY OF HORROR"
Dark/ Horror Metal
Year:23.02.2024
(HAMMERHEART RECORDS)

• Artwork by Timo Wuerz (Acheron, Sonic Syndicate, Psychopunch).• Recorded by Joe Viers at Sonic Lounge Studios in Grove City, Ohio.• The CD version comes with an exclusive coversong of King Diamond’s “Killer”.• Vinyl edition comes as a deluxe gatefold LP.• Vincent Crowley was previously active in bands like Acheron, Incantation and Nocturnus.A dark Heavy Metal adventure telling tales of horror and the macabre created by Vincent Crowley (ex-Acheron mastermind). A must have for both old school Death Metal fans as well fans of Mercyful Fate and Candlemass!Death Metal fans as well fans of Mercyful Fate and Candlemass! The moment Vincent Crowley pulled the plug on the long-lasting Acheron saga in 2019, Vincent Crowley started this initiative here unde...

SAMAEL
"PASSAGE - LIVE"
Black Metal
Year:16.02.2024
(NAPALM RECORDS)

Swiss industrial black metal masters SAMAEL bring their groundbreaking album "Passage" to life!!Switzerland’s legendary industrial black metal force SAMAEL unleash their live album, Passage - Live, out on February 16, 2024 via Napalm Records!Recorded during a sold-out concert in Krakow on the last day of the European leg of the "Passage 25th Anniversary Tour", Passage - Live offers a fresh take on the original album released in 1996. SAMAEL states: "This album is a celebration of a record that is a landmark in our history. The album that made us the band we are today!"The songs remain the same, but captured in the urgency of a live environment, they appear rawer and heavier than they were originally, and the maturation of a quarter-century makes them more immediate. Passage - Live is...

MINISTRY
"HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES"
Industrial Metal
Year:01.03.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

Regimes rise and fall. Stars shine and fade. Trends come and go. MINISTRY lives on. The six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated multiplatinum juggernaut founded and fronted by Al Jourgensen has seeped through the darkest corners of popular culture and infected the main stream for over four decades, gleefully spewing sonic bile between the cracks of the system's facade. Born in the eighties, they survived the nineties, weathered the turn-of-the-century, and even held on through a Goddamn pandemic. However, MINISTRY shows no signs of stopping or slowing down—even for a breath. Instead, the band—"Uncle Al,”John Bechdel [keyboards], Monte Pittman [guitar], Cesar Soto [guitar], Roy Mayorga [drums], and Paul D’Amour [bass]—cranks out another blast of anthemic indu...

FIREWIND
"STAND UNITED"
Power Heavy Metal
Year:01.03.2024
(AFM RECORDS)

In such turbulent times it's important to stand closely together as humanity instead of fighting each other. That's exactly what the new FIREWIND album 'Stand United' is about! In addition to societal problems and environmental issues, which are the main topic in ten new tracks, we are expecting the strongest masterpiece of band history. In line with the new release, the band around ex Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G. and vocalist Herbie Langhans (formerly Avantasia) will spread their message of 'Stand United' all over Europe in spring 2024. Combined with MASTERPLAN they will play a big co-headliner tour, among Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and many other countries. 'Stand United' will be released on March 1st, 2024 - available as several limited spla...

ZAKK SABBATH
"DOOMED FOREVER FOREVER DOOMED"
Doom Heavy Metal
Year:01.03.2024
(SOULFOOD MUSIC)

Celebrating more than 50 years of Birmingham's most famous four, the 'inventors' of heavy metal are being honoured by the preeminent tribute trio led by guitarist and singer Zakk Wylde with the double album "Doomed Forever Forever Doomed". This loving tribute contains the Americans' brilliant take on BLACK SABBATH's second and third full-lengths, the classic heavy metal masterpieces "Paranoid" (1970) and "Master of Reality" (1971).
ZAKK SABBATH were founded by BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist and singer Zakk Wylde, who is widely renowned for his many years as lead guitarist for OZZY OSBOURNE and now PANTERA. After initially only performing live with rotating members, ZAKK SABBATH solidified a stable cast with the addition of OZZY OSBOURNE and ROB ZOMBIE bass player B...

AMARANTHE
"THE CATALYST"
Symphonic Female Heavy Metal
Year:23.02.2024
(NUCLEAR BLAST)

15 years into a career that has seen them become one of metal’s most ruthlessly individual and uplifting bands, selling out venues and tours across Europe and the US, AMARANTHE are about to make their most definitive and revealing move. Three years on from the widely acclaimed Manifest which hit top 20 charts internationally and has amassed over 130 million streams, Sweden’s masters of thunderous, melodic futurism are about to unveil The Catalyst.12 songs deep and almost overburdened with lethal hooks and genre-blending ingenuity, The Catalyst is a snapshot of a band hitting a new level of collective power. From the electronic pulse and irresistible forward momentum of Re-Vision onwards, AMARANTHE have given their sound a fearless upgrade. They have incorporated yet more enthra...

KING DIAMOND
"MASQUARADE OF MADNESS"
Heavy Metal
Year:23.02.2024
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

King Diamond/Masquerade of Madness was originally released as a digital single on November 8th, 2019. On February 23rd, 2024 Masquerade of Madness will be available for the first time on vinyl! The 3-track LP features Masquerade of Madness, Welcome Home (Live at Graspop) and Arrival (Live at Graspop) all available for the first time on vinyl. The 12’ LP will feature a collectable paper mask, and will be available in 2 color variants in Europe.KING DIAMOND is quite possibly the most recognizable and prolific personality ever in heavy metal. Revered by icons as big as Metallica and Pantera to inspiring new upstarts like Goatwhore; KING DIAMOND, the man and the band, have left an indelible mark on the history, and now again, the future of heavy metal.Side A:Masquerade of Madne...