BILL ZEBUB: Pagan/folk metal has been growing in popularity for years and has virtually overthrown black metal in Europe. These bands have tested the American shores playing to sold-out venues from coast to coast. The time has come to explore this unsuspected invasion. Pagan Metal: A Documentary is the first documentary of its kind and features in-depth examinations of some of the genre's most coveted bands including: Korpiklaani, Primordial, Finntroll, Ensiferum, Leaves' Eyes, Turisas and Tyr! Enjoy live performances, learn about the subculture, and gain insight into the music. The artists give cordial and informative interviews. Indeed, you will feel like you have made new friends. Two hours of metal await you! From the twisted mind of Bill Zebub (Grimoire Of Exalted Deeds Magazine, Metal Retardation, Breaking Her Will et al). Pagan Metal: A Documentary will street December 8, 2009, just in time for the holidays! For more info, visit: http://www.billzebub.com or http://www.thegrimoire.com. (Earsplit)

SAXON: U.K.'s Coolhead Productions is putting the finishing touches on a new documentary about the legendary British heavy metal band SAXON called "Heavy Metal Thunder - The Movie". The film, which is expected to be released in November, celebrates the group's 30th anniversary. Produced by the makers of the critically acclaimed "Ian Gillan: Highway Star" (Universal, 2007), it not only has contributions from members of SAXON, past and present, but also from the likes of Lars Ulrich (METALLICA); Lemmy, "Fast" Eddie Clarke, Phil Campbell, Mikkey Dee (MOTÖRHEAD); Harvey Goldsmith, Danko Jones, Doro Pesch and many, many others. It will also feature plenty of rare archive material and previously unseen concert footage, from the classic 1980s lineup to the brilliant St. George's Day show in 2008 and Wacken Open Air in 2009. A special limited edition of "Heavy Metal Thunder - The Movie" will contain a feature-length documentary, at least two never-before-seen concert films and plenty of revealing extra content. (HeadbangerNYC)

MADDEN NHL 10: BLACK S4BBATH, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PR1EST are among the featured artists on the soundtrack for Madden NFL 10 from Electronic Arts Inc. Since 2001, the annual Madden NFL soundtrack has become music's most essential launching pad for such artists as AVENGED SEVENFOLD, FRANZ FERDINAND, LUPE FIASCO and FALL OUT BOY. The soundtrack for Madden NFL 10 includes the following songs, among others: AIRBOURNE - "Heads Are Gonna Roll", ALICE IN CHAINS - "Them Bones", BLACK SABBATH - "Paranoid", HELMET - "Unsung", IRON MAIDEN - "Aces High", JUDAS PRIEST - "Painkiller", KID ROCK - "I Am The Bullgod", KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - "Reckoning", KORN - "Blind", MASTODON - "Divinations", NIRVANA - "Breed", PANTERA - "Walk", RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - "Guerrilla Radio", SET YOUR GOALS - "Gaia Bleeds (Make Way for Man)", SLIPKNOT - "Duality", SYSTEM OF A DOWN - "Sugar". (HeadbangerNYC)

METAL CHURCH: Seattle, Washington-based metallers METAL CHURCH have released the following statements: "To all of our fans and friends...We regretfully announce that METAL CHURCH is calling it quits. The performance at Rocklahoma will be our last show. We have had to cancel the shows scheduled for August and that, among other things, has led us to have to make this decision. There has been far too much frustration and disappointment in trying to keep moving forward. The collapse of our record company, SPV, has made it next to impossible for us to continue in any kind of professional manner due to lack of tour support. This decision was not made lightly." (HeadbangerNYC)

CLIFF BURTON: METALLICA is currently selling "To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton", the first-ever Burton biography, via the band's official web site. Written by U.K.-based author Joel McIver and published by Jawbone Press, the book includes a foreword by Cliff's close friend in METALLICA, Kirk Hammett. Other interviewees who spoke to McIver for this book, many for the first time on the public record, include Cliff's bass teacher Steve Doherty; EXODUS founder Gary Holt; Metal Blade label founder Brian Slagel; Cliff's first guitar tech Chuck Martin; METALLICA's first fanclub manager K.J. Doughton; "Ride The Lightning" and "Master Of Puppets" producer Flemming Rasmussen; the last reporter to interview Cliff, Jörgen Holmstedt; roadie and ex-METAL CHURCH guitarist John Marshall, who was also in the bus crash which ki11ed Burton; Lennart Wennberg, the photographer at the scene of the crash; and Cliff's gurlfriend for the last year of his life, Corinne Lynn. McIver's earlier book, "Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica", will be republished in its third edition in the summer by Omnibus Press. (HeadbangerNYC)

MORMON CRICKETS PROBLEM: Discover magazine reports that residents of Tuscarora, Nevada are using the music of LED ZEPPELIN and THE ROLLING STONES to ward off the mormon crickets' semi-annual invasion. Mormon crickets are a real problem in northern Nevada and other parts of the Great Basin: They march in columns up to two miles long and one mile wide from about May through August. They hatch in April and invade all aspects of life before they finally lay eggs and die. They destroy crops, invade people's homes and clog roadways — even requiring snowplows to clear out their piled-up carcasses. People do what they can to steer the pests away, trying poison bait and other tricks. But in 2006, after reading about a woman in the 1930s who had driven the insects off with a Chinese gong, a Tuscarora resident was inspired to try out some modern music. Since she knew the crickets rested at night, she got a group together to blast music for several days from early morning 'til evening. They tuned their stereos to a hard rock station, and local reports that year said that the music stopped many of the bugs in their tracks. (HeadbangerNYC)

VINNIE PAUL: Vinnie Paul will publish a paperback photo book/DVD on his late brother, PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, on November 18 via Vinnie's Big Vin label. Entitled "He Came To Rock", the book will contain over 400 pictures of Dimebag along with a biography of his life. Included will be personal tributes from a number of metal's most prominent musicians, among them SLAYER's Kerry King, ANTHRAX's Scott Ian and OZZY OSBOURNE/BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's Zakk Wylde. The DVD portion of the package will consist of the previously released "DimeVision - Vol 1: That's The Fun I Have", complete with never-before-seen bonus footage. (HeadbangerNYC)

INSOMIUM: INSOMNIUM have completed work on “Down With the Sun” their new video from the band's upcoming fourth album Across the Dark. The video, now available on Candlelight USA's Myspace page, was filmed in high-definition and captures the band in a live soundstage setting. It is the first opportunity for fans to see and hear the band’s new material: http://www.myspace.com/candlelightrecordsusa. Across the Dark, set for US release September 22, finds the quartet delivering an even more expansive recording than their earlier efforts in what many already expect to be their most successful to date. The band reveals, "this is our by far our most abundant and versatile album. Our trademark sound is stronger than ever and we are very pleased with every single riff and passage on the album.” Kerrang! says “there are few things more satisfying than watching a good band become great.” Metal Hammer adds, “INSOMNIUM have not merely pushed that Swedish envelope. They have stuffed it with a stick of dynamite.“ The album features guest vocals by Jules Naveri (Profane Omen/Enemy of the Sun). Alongside the standard edition of Across the Dark, a limited deluxe edition of the album is available from Candlelight’s official webstore (http://www.candlelightrecordsusa.com/store). Together since 1997, Joensuu-based INSOMNIUM has slowly but surely made themselves a household name among melodic death metal bands. Redefining the boundaries of the genre, the band (featuring drummer Markus Hirvonen, guitarists Ville Friman and Ville Vanni, with vocalist/bassist Niilo Sevanen) combine aggression and violent riffing with a melancholic atmosphere; a true marriage of Scandinavian death metal and traditional Finnish tunes. The band’s acclaimed third album, Above the Weeping World, found compositions and arrangements reaching a new pinnacle. Longtime friend Aleksi Munter (Swallow the Sun) contributed the epic keyboard parts which added a whole new layer to the songs. The album charted at nine on the Finnish album charts on release. The band toured extensively for the first time including their first dates in the US alongside Katatonia. http://www.insomnium.net or http://www.myspace.com/insomniumband. (Earsplit)

SLOW SOUTHERN STEEL: Coming in 2010: One of the most comprehensive southern metal documentaries in history! Appropriately dubbed SLOW SOUTHERN STEEL, the 80+ minute film is executive produced by Karim Khan (I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE RECORDS) and directed by Rwake vocalist CT and David Lipke with the additional and integral assistance of George Hancock, Alix Petrovich and Beer Wolf guitarist Christian Sweeney (who will be releasing a paperback version of the production) among many others. SLOW SOUTHERN STEEL peers into the world of true southern metal/doom through live footage and personal interviews; CT's devout commitment/knowledge/love of the topic at hand bringing the movie to life in a way few first-time directors can. Said CT about the laborious undertaking: "I knew there were things I could get out of these bands that other film makers could not." Added Khan, "There's just something very appealing to me about taking unyielding heavy songs and adding a strong southern element to them." At press time, the film was still being shot and thus far, featured bands will include (in alphabetical order): A Hanging, ASG, Baron Grod, Beaten Back To Pure, Beer Wolf, Black Skies, Black Tusk, Blackblood Division, Blood Of The Sun, Collapsar, Colossus, Cough, Dark Castle, Deadbird, Dead-I-On, Dixie Witch, Doomsayer, Eyehategod, Flesh Parade, Haarp, Hawg Jaw, HOD, Hope And Suicide, Hostile Apostle, House Of Lightning, In The Lurch, Jucifer, Ketea, Khann, Kylesa, Mala Suerte, Music Hates You, Parasytic, Queen Beast, Royal Thunder, Rwake, Seahag, SeaWitch, Sourvein, Speedealer, Spickle, Suplecs, Subrig Destroyer, The Devil And The Sea, The Dumps, The Roller, The Unbeheld, Vessel Of The Divine, Weedeater, Withered and Zoroaster. SLOW SOUTHERN STEEL will make its debut at the renowned Little Rock Film Festival in May of 2010 [http://www.littlerockfilmfestival.org] where many of the bands featured will be in attendance (stay tuned for further details). Additional festival previews will follow. The DVD edition is slated to be released in 2011 via fast-growing, vinyl-only (and now DVD) Chicago imprint, I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE RECORDS. Check out a two-minute SLOW SOUTHERN STEEL trailer here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=507704410. http://www.myspace.com/slowsouthernsteel. (Earsplit)

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING: STRUCK BY LIGHTNING has posted the new tracks “The Watchful Eye” and “Nothing Sacred” from their Translation Loss Records debut release entitled Serpents due September 1st, 2009 on their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/struckbyfuckinglightning. Serpents was recorded at Red Room in Seattle, WA by Chris Common (Pelican, Mouth Of The Architect, These Arms Are Snakes), mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East (Bloodhorse, Battlefields, Pelican) and features artwork by Ryan Patterson of Coliseum / Auxiliary Design. STRUCK BY LIGHTNING also features Greg Lahm, previously of Mouth Of The Architect. (Earsplit)

GORGOROTH: The unleashing of Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt, the ninth studio album from Norwegian black metal legion GORGOROTH, is drawing near. Recorded at drummer Tomas Asklund's Monolith Studio and mastered at the Cutting Room in Stockholm, Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt is the first recording featuring the band's official new lineup of guitarist/founder Infernus, former vocalist Pest , former guitarist Tormentor, bassist Frank Watkins (Obituary) and Asklund (Dissection, Dark Funeral et al). The record was produced by Infernus and co-produced/engineered by Asklund. Said Infernus of the nine new tracks: "[they are] mature. The record is indeed harder and more sinister than anything we have ever done before. It is an album I can be proud to say I am standing a 100% behind." View the cover art here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=507265917. Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt will be released in the US on October 27, 2009. http://www.gorgoroth.info/. (Earsplit)

IN MOURNING: Swedish melancholic metallers IN MOURNING recently entered Black Lounge Studio (Scar Symmetry, Carnal Forge, Steel Attack etc.) with producer/producer Jonas Kjellgren (Carnal Forge, Centinex etc.) to begin work on the follow-up to their successful debut release Shrouded Divine. Drum tracks are already completed. Said IN MOURNING drummer Crille: “Yesterday I managed to nail all the drums for our upcoming album. I’m very pleased with how they turned out and the following days, Mr. Kjellgren will do the mixing of the drums. We expect to begin the recording of guitars at the end of this week. Check out video from the recording below!” View the video here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=507212329. http://www.inmourning.net/. (Earsplit)

PELICAN: PELICAN have posted a new track from their upcoming album on their official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/pelican. The song, entitled "Strung Up From The Sky", is one of the eight tracks encompassing the band's upcoming full-length What We All Come To Need, being released on October 27th, their first for Southern Lord Recordings.(Earsplit)

THE COLD EXISTENCE: Pulverised Records is proud to announce the new signing of Gothenburg death metallers THE COLD EXISTENCE! Said Pulverised A&R manager Calvin Chiang, “THE COLD EXISTENCE approached us some time ago and what we heard on their latest album Sombre Gates totally caught us off guard! We have confidence that the third full-length will slay everything else they have done in the past!” THE COLD EXISTENCE's upcoming studio album will be recorded at Andy LaRocque’s (King Diamond) Sonic Train Studios later this year with producer Peter Laustsen. The record is expected to hit streets in early 2010.The material written thus far is reportedly "very fast and brutal and will be the best album by this band yet." http://www.myspace.com/theColdExistenceonline. (Earsplit)

MERAUDER: Hardcore assassins MERAUDER have released their most brutal album to date. The almighty metallic crunch of God Is I shows the band expanding their patented hardcore sound in ways that will give longtime fans as well as newer audiences something to throw down in a mosh frenzy to. The album shows the band at their most inspired and invigorated in years with its runaway freight train grooves, mid-pace stomps, seething gang vocals and death metal drenched riffs all find themselves vying for supremacy amidst their patented NYHC delivery. Upon the completion of God Is I, as well as solid recent tour action under their belt - including a full North American tour alongside The Haunted earlier this year - MERAUDER are definitely leaving their mark as a hardcore force to be reckoned with once again in 2009. http://www.myspace.com/merauder. (Earsplit)

THE FEW AGAINST MANY: Swedish all-star collaboration THE FEW AGAINST MANY, featuring ex-Scar Symmetry singer Christian Alvestam, Par Johansson of Satariel and Demiurg fame, Patrik Gardberg (Torchbearer), Jani Stefanovic (Miseration, Solution .45, etc) and Anders Edlund (Incapacity, Angel Blake etc.), will release their debut full-length, Sot, on September 15, 2009 via Pulverised Records. Sot combines death metal brutality with a progressive sensibility and features the striking imagery of legendary artist Dan Seagrave (Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Dismember, Entombed etc.). The record was produced by Tomas "Plec" Johansson at Panic-Room Studios in Sweden. In addition, Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity and Jonas Renkse of Katatonia/Bloodbath are credited for some of Sot's lyrics. Sot is a documentation of how an album sung almost entirely in their own native language could offer so much emotion and conviction. An exclusive vinyl version of Sot will also be released by Pulverised in two different formats: Black vinyl/gatefold-sleeve and as a classic picture-disc (both formats will be limited to 250 copies). http://www.myspace.com/thefewagainstmany. (Earsplit)

ENEMY REIGN: Denver, Colorado extreme metal troop ENEMY REIGN refuse to adhere to the restrictions of a closed-minded genre. Drawing influence from early '90s death metal, late '80s grindcore, East Coast hardcore, and Bay Area thrash, friends and fans have coined the term "metal for metalheads." ENEMY REIGN features former Skinless vocalist Sherwood Webber alongside drummer Andon Guenther (Deadspeak; creative director, programmer, and co-creator of Sick Drummer Magazine), guitarist Nick Guenther (Becoming The Enemy, Masakado) and bassist Cassie Begay (Throat Culture/Throcult, Deadspeak). The band's recently released self-financed EP, Means To A Dead End -- recorded by Dave Otero at Flatline Audio (Cephalic Carnage, Martriden, Cobalt et al) -- has reaped considerable praise from the media in a relatively short span of time. Decibel called it, "death metal, the kind with big muscles and bigger t-shirts with offensive phrases in huge letters on the back;" Metal Hammer compared it to, "being repeatedly punched in the face by a ramrod. Invasive riffs and unrelenting vocals are in essence the real pull-factors to this awesome whirlwind of a mini-album that is bound to get your blood pumping and your horns in the air." And Terrorizer added: "An admissibly ferocious, hate-filled and avenging band who have confidently taken control of their own fate... This is a hard-hitting metal release, which more than deserves to be checked out on its own accord." Stream Means To A Dead End in its entirety at: http://enemyreign.com (click the MP3 player at the top right of the page) and hear for yourself. ENEMY REIGN are currently acting as their own record label but are using Means To A Dead End as a provocation to those interested in joining the fight. The band will record their as yet untitled full-length in early 2010. With touring and major distribution on the horizon, it's time to bring the reign. http://www.myspace.com/enemyreign. (Earsplit)

THE ATLAS MOTH: Chicago’s THE ATLAS MOTH unveil their epic full-length debut A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky via Candlelight/Battle Kommand on October 20th. An awesome metallic hybrid of sludge, doom, psychedelia and blues, TAM are a unique beast, and prove it on the eight expansive tracks that make form this, their debut full-length. THE ATLAS MOTH have announced a record listening party on October 4th at Chicago's Kuma's Corner (http://www.myspace.com/kumascorner), the restaurant known for naming it's burgers after international and hometown favorite metal bands. Here they'll unveil the mammoth "Atlas Moth Burger"... a 10 oz. slab of beef on waffles, topped with collared greens, fried chicken, chicken fried bacon and a bacon infused maple syrup. Amazing! In Mid-October the band have a record release show at Reggie's with Kylesa and Saviours, and then hit the road for a full month across the US, mostly with Dark Castle and also working in a few days with Wetnurse, Across Tundras and more. With influences ranging from the Deftones to Neurosis, Cave In to Quicksand, and pulling in pieces from all that is heavy in between, THE ATLAS MOTH's swamp-worthy sludge epics are heavier than sin, a call for cleansing and nothing short of brutally honest. A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky is a jaw-dropping debut that is sure to leave a lasting impression. http://www.myspace.com/theatlasmothband. (Earsplit)

IMPERIAL VENGEANCE:A message from UK extreme metallers IMPERIAL VENGEANCE: "Greetings Ladies and Gents: We are happy to announce that we have been invited to play the Hellfire Festival 2 on Sunday the 8th November at the NEC in Birmingham. You can get tickets here: http://www.hellfirefestival.com/?page=tickets and it looks like to be one amazing array of bands. IV will be playing the Terrorizer Stage, and you are encouraged to bring your Union Flags - we shall certainly be bringing ours! See you there." In releated news, the band recently shot a video for "6th Airborne Division (Redux)." The song comes off recently issued Candlelight full-length At The Going Down Of The Sun. The video was shot in HD at London's 400 Company. In total contrast to "Unto That End" -- the other video currently in production -- the "6th Airborne Division - Redux" video was to be a totally stripped down affair, without CGI wizardry. Just the band, a white room and the music. Check the video out here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=512401962 . IMPERIAL VENGEANCE formed in 2007 with a unique vision of creating music through inspirations firmly rooted in the glory of the early British Empire. Their image and lyrical direction incorporate a wide range of subjects influenced by the country’s colorful social, political and artistic legacies. At The Going Down Of The Sun was largely written by gas-light and fuelled by absinthe and cigar smoke. The new songs represent an uncomfortable meander through British history principally between the dates 1873 and 1943. Ten blistering tracks mixed and mastered by Brett Caldas-Lima; a great start for a still very young band. http://www.myspace.com/imperialvengeanceuk or http://www.myspace.com/imperialvengeancestusa. (Earsplit)

IRON LAMB: One of Sweden’s newest, scruffiest and back-to-basics punk band IRON LAMB, featuring some of extreme metal’s most prominent figures, is now officially a part of the Pulverised Records family! IRON LAMB's all-star lineup includes ex-Repugnant singer Graga Lindström, Johan Wallin of General Surgery on guitars, Thomas Daun of Dismember on drums and Swedish Death Metal book author Daniel Ekeroth, also of Tyrant and ex-Insision fame, on bass. The band is slated to record their as-yet-untitled debut full-length in early 2010. Official release date TBA. Comments Pulverised Records A&R Manager Calvin Chiang: “IRON LAMB is probably one of the most unlikely band to be on our roster, but their infectious brand of ‘filthrock’ -- what they call it -- and the straight-up Motorhead-esque riffing is absolutely something that we missed and loved from the old days. There was definitely no question about it when the band approached us to work with them on the debut full-length!” Added axe-man Johan Wallin: "IRON LAMB are stoked on doing our first full-length on Pulverised! We're currently working on the songs, and will be ready to record during the first few months of 2010. Expect a whole lot of dubious preaching scumbag rock ‘n' roll!" http://www.myspace.com/ironlambofficial. (Earsplit)

JAVELINA: JAVELINA posted the new tracks “You’re Going To Hate This” and “Black Blizzard” from their Translation Loss Records debut release entitled Beasts Among Sheep due out tomorrow, September 29th, 2009 here: http://www.myspace.com/javelinaphiladelphia. JAVELINA’s new record Beasts Among Sheep was recorded at Volume Studios in Chicago, IL by Sanford Parker Parker (Minsk, Pelican, Nachtmystium), mastered by Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room, and features artwork by Philadelphia’s very own Old City Tattoo stalwart artist Jason Goldberg. Beasts Among Sheep is now available for with exclusive CD/T-shirt package deals only available on the Translation Loss Records web-store! (Earsplit)

INCOMING CEREBRAL OVERDRIVE: Italian tech-metal unit INCOMING CEREBRAL OVERDRIVE have completed a video for the song "Controversial". View it here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=511704797 . The track comes from the band's sophomore release Controverso, to be released September 30th on Italy's Supernatural Cat Records, also home to Malleus Art Labs. While blistering and technical, their songs create something rather unique and multiform; the combination of their furious dynamics, searing vocals, 70s Italian Prog reminiscence, and psychedelic aesthetic show ICO’s will to continuously experiment and mutate song structures. http://www.incomingcerebraloverdrive.com or http://www.myspace.com/incomingcerebraloverdrive (Earsplit)

SECRETS OF THE MOON: Privilegivm is not a sequel nor is it a follow-up. The first full-length in over three years from German black metallers SECRETS OF THE MOON, Privilegivm is poised to appear on Year-End lists of all those in the know. A unique mix of classic black metal with elements of rock, the band -- now featuring bassist LSK (Hell Militia, Vorkreist, Antaeus etc.), guitarist/vocalist sG and drummer T. Thelemnar -- channel their creativity in a way that's more multi-facetted and focused than ever before. Privilegivm is the articulation of many emotions; an album of sacral depths, full of light, the spectrum of unlight, death and blasphemy. A pure metal album to be listened to at extreme volumes in the dark. Proclaimed Zero Tolerance Magazine of the offering, "SECRETS OF THE MOON have re-defined how people should view occult metal. This is a true milestone in the black metal pantheon!" Added Metal Hammer UK: "Well-produced, epic and yet understated, Privilegivm is recommended for fans of forward-thinking bands such as Deathspell Omega and even Celtic Frost." http://www.myspace.com/secretsofthemoon. (Earsplit)

SUSPERIA: Oslo-based SUSPERIA today premiere their newest video for the song “Character Flaw.” Check out the video here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=511537753 . The Daniel William Bones directed performance video continues the band’s use of apocalyptic imagery as featured on their latest album, Attitude and celebrates the return to action of vocalist Athera who was sidelined earlier this year from a near-fatal heart attack that stemmed from a previously undiagnosed heart defect. Released in May, Attitude was recorded in Norway and mixed at Studio Fredman in Sweden. The album features guest appearances by Chuck Billy (Testament) and Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir). Attitude entered the official Norwegian charts at 28, the band’s highest placement to date. "Ten years and still the same five guys," exclaims vocalist Athera with regards to the band’s long commitment to their music. Working for the first time worldwide with Candlelight Records (previous albums only saw release by the label in the US), bassist Memnock notes, "We now have the backing of one label worldwide and this is going to make life a lot easier for us. And we hope that finally we get to play to our American fans." Formed in 1998 by drummer Tjodalv (then of Dimmu Borgir) and guitarist Cyrus (then of Satyricon/Old Man’s Child), SUSPERIA released its debut, Predominance, via Nuclear Blast in 2001. The band's much-acclaimed second album, Vindication, followed in 2003. After signing with Norwegian label Tabu Records in 2004, the band released its third album, Unlimited, later that year. A powerful live act, the band has consistently remained focused to the stage. With numerous high profile support, headline and festival appearances, one of the band's most cherished experiences thus far remains supporting the newly reformed Testament in late 2005. The dates would culminate in the release of the band's Norwegian charting mini-album Devil May Care, followed by the group's fourth album, Cut From Stone, in 2007. Unfortunately due to financial constraints two tries to visit the US to support the Daniel Bergstrand-produced album during 2007/08 would set back the album's overall sales target but the band remained committed. Touring Europe including numerous dates with W.A.S.P., the band's ambitions stayed and continue to remain in tact. SUSPERIA recently completed a run of Norwegian dates; the shows followed the band’s appearance at Norway’s Steinkjer Festival which served as the return of Athera to the stage. Commenting just prior to the June festival Athera noted, "I can't wait to get back on the road again. It's something that at one point I thought I would never experience again, so I'm grabbing this opportunity with both hands." Attitude is available in stores worldwide. SUSPERIA currently includes guitarists Cyrus and Elvorn, bassist Memnock, with drummer Tjodalv and vocalist Athera. http://www.susperia.net/ or http://www.myspace.com/susperiafans. (Earsplit)

DESULTORY: Reunited Swedish death metallers DESULTORY will begin recording their as-yet-untitled new full-length in November with producer Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio in Sweden (Watain, In Battle, Nominon). The album will mark the band's first long player in nearly 14 years. Said DESULTORY guitarist Håkan Morberg: "The songs are a mix of fast and heavy melodic death metal with dark and melancholic lyrics, all in the true spirit of DESULTORY. The album will be a logical continuation of Into Eternity (1993) and Bitterness (1994) and will be a strong bridge linking the past to the present." http://www.myspace.com/desultoryofficial. (Earsplit)

AMBASSADOR GUN: Check out AMBASSADOR GUN's new video for "Ignorance Is This" from the band's latest full-length When In Hell: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=510862027 . The recently released When In Hell album came out on the band's own label, Pangea Recordings. Previously known as A SECOND FROM THE SURFACE, the band have shared the stage regionally with national acts including Today Is The Day, Weedeater, Sourvein, Dead To Fall, Battlefields, Red Sparrowes and more over recent years. When In Hell is a thunderous, angst-ridden, cross-genre stampede of energy, combining elements of Slayer, Nasum, Cattle Decapitation, Mastodon and more. http://www.myspace.com/ambassadorgun. (Earsplit)

PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS/ LUPOS LOUNGE: EarsplitPR are proud to unleash several new titles from Prophecy Productions/Lupus Lounge upon North America! We'll be working closely with Knife Fight Media, who are releasing these albums stateside. Several crushing titles are slated for release in the coming weeks, including: Privilegivm; The newest and darkest opus to date from German black metal horde SECRETS OF THE MOON, who will be embarking on a full North American tour supporting Moonspell this fall. The new album from German metallers GEIST, entitled Galeere, featuring over 51 minutes of the haunting, ethereal black n' roll. A 3-CD soundtrack to Daniel Ekeroth's book Swedish Death Metal; over 3 1/2 hours of pure... well, Swedish Death Metal! The Pure Fucking Mayhem DVD, an official MAYHEM documentary spanning the band's controversial lineage, from 1984 through today. View the DVD's trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Kopziat8k&feature=player_profilepage . Rising from the ashes of the company previously known as SPV Marketing, Inc., Knife Fight Media is a focused, brand by brand co-venture specializing in the development of marketing and promotional campaigns for frontline and catalog products, along with tour and special events marketing. The team has launched successful campaigns across a wide array of genres including recent releases from Type O Negative, Skinny Puppy, Motörhead, Unleashed, Kreator, Sepultura, Alice Cooper and countless more. http://www.myspace.com/knifefightmedia or http://www.prophecy.cd or http://www.myspace.com/eerieemotionalmusic. (Earsplit)

DARK FUNERAL: On October 4th, "My Funeral," the brand new video from Swedish black metal brigade DARK FUNERAL, will premiere exclusively through the official DARK FUNERAL YouTube channel [http://www.youtube.com/darkfuneral] and through their MySpace Page [http://www.myspace.com/darkfuneral]. "My Funeral" is one of three heavier, non blastbeat-based songs from upcoming new full-length Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus. The video was shot in and outside an old mental hospital by Standard Film Team [http://www.myspace.com/standardfilmteamumea]. Check out photos from the shoot here: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=11713147&albumId=3054398 . Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus is slated for a US release date on November 10, 2009 via Regain Records. http://www.darkfuneral.se (Earsplit)

A STORM OF LIGHT: Brooklyn, NY's doom/post rock experimentalists A STORM OF LIGHT recently shot a startling new video for the song "Tempest," the third track off their upcoming new full-length, Forgive Us Our Trespasses. The video was shot in HD at an undisclosed location in Brooklyn and directed by ASOL guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Josh Graham (Neurosis visuals, Blood And Time, Battle Of Mice). The hauntingly textured, black and white performance video reflects the lyrics of the song, which essentially revolve around the inevitable contamination of the air, sea and earth. Said Graham of "Tempest," "This is one of the heavier songs on the new record, and we really thought this would make a good video. It's a performance video with a twist. Over the course of the song we basically deteriorate into the chaotic footage of a dying planet." View the new video, hosted exclusively by BROOKLYN VEGAN: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2009/09/a_storm_of_ligh.html. Forgive Us Our Trespasses is scheduled for release on Tuesday, September 22nd in the US via Neurot Recordings. The follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed debut, And We Wept The Black Ocean Within, finds its power through a dense bringing together of melodies, moods and textures, ensuring that while things are as heavy and cataclysmic as fans would expect, the devastating effects rely on interwoven melodies and graceful shifts in timbre, instead of a stream of identikit riffs. "I'm really happy with the progression the band has made on this record," said Graham. I think we moved into more dynamic and orchestrated territory while still keeping the bulldozer heaviness intact. I can't wait to play this stuff live." A STORM OF LIGHT features Graham, bassist/vocalist Domenic Seita (formerly of Tombs and Asea), drummer/percussionist Andy Rice (formerly of Sinking Ships) and guitarist/keyboardist Joel Hamilton (Book Of Knots, Battle Of Mice), who also recorded the album. http://www.myspace.com/astormoflight or . (Earsplit)

GRIMUS: Northern New Jersey death metal/hardcore merchants GRIMUS formed in 2007, with a relentless DIY ethic, have been ravaging the ears of the Tri-State area metal underground ever since. The band's recently issued, self-financed six-song EP The Progress In Elimination was recorded in Clifton, New Jersey by Bobby Torres in Frightbox Studios (Abacinate, One Brick Down, The Grieving Process) and mastered by Alan Douches (Mastodon, The Black Dahlia Murder, Cannibal Corpse, Unearth et al). Said Metal Hammer Magazine of the EP, "This New Jersey band have been around for two years, honing their combination of hypnotically driving riffs and the gruff, apocalyptic vocals of Bryan Martinez to a senses-shattering unstoppable force." Added Mouth For War, "The six tracks on this debut EP encompass a sound that is raw, honest, yet contains a maturity and uniqueness that separates it from the rest of the death/grind/hardcore bands out there. Amongst the combination of melodic hooks and crushing mosh is a vocal delivery that is aggressive and varied. Not only are the songs straight-to-the-face bludgeoning they’re also catchy as hell." The band is currently writing material for a 2010 full-length. Further details TBA. New track "In The Gutter" was recently posted to their official MySpace page. Check it out here: http://www.myspace.com/jerseygrimus. (Earsplit)

THE COMPANY BAND: THE COMPANY BAND, featuring vocalist Neil Fallon, drummer Jess Margera, guitarists Jim Rota and Dave Bone with bassist Brad Davis, today confirm November 10 as the release date of their full length debut. The self-titled album was recorded in Los Angeles earlier this year and teamed the band with renowned producer/engineer Andrew Alekel (Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters). The band will release in advance to the album a special digital-only single featuring the album track “It’s A Confusing World” with an exclusive cover of BTO’s “Not Fragile.” The single will be available for download via various DSP’s in early October. “It was pretty awesome to get everyone into a studio together and make this record,” reveals Jess Margera of the album’s recording process. “I never thought it would happen given that everyone has insanely crazy touring schedules. But sure enough the results turned out amazing. It was a strange reality for me, personally, as I am a huge fan of Fireball Ministry, Clutch and Fu Manchu. So to be in a room playing drums with members of all those bands was kind of unbelievable." “It's not very often that one gets to write and play music with people that they respect as well consider family,” says Jim Rota. “This band is a dream come true.” “Good times and great friends made this music that we are proud to bring you,” adds Dave Bone. “So pick up your balls and load up your cannons for the 21 gun salute!” Founded by Margera (CKY) with Rota (Fireball Ministry) and Dave Bone in 2006, THE COMPANY BAND originally got together to jam among friends. Their initial recordings were laid down for the band’s 2008’s mini-album Sign Here, Here, And Here. It quickly sold through its limited pressing and has continued to be a popular digital seller via CDBaby.com and others since release. Restricted Release has now pressed it on a special 10-inch available now exclusively through the label’s Amazon store. The vinyl pressing features exclusive artwork and is hand-numbered; limited to 1000 copies. http://www.myspace.com/thecoband. (Earsplit)

EYEHATEGOD: New Orleans' EYEHATEGOD have spent the last two decades at odds with a corrupt music industry, using their music as a proverbial middle finger aimed at everything from government officials to sanctimonious shitheads hiding behind organized religion. They have defied all odds and continue to exist and persist despite personal and professional setbacks, from drug addiction to natural disasters. In the midst of all this turmoil EYEHATEGOD have become the high water mark when it comes to "sludge metal," having birthed rock's unholy bastard feasting on the teat that Black Sabbath and Black Flag built. Countless band's have followed in their fetid footsteps and they continue to inspire bands around the world to this very day. Confederacy Of Ruined Lives is their fourth studio album, released in late 2000. Vinyl-only imprint I'm Better Than Everyone Records is extremely proud and honored to collaborate with EYEHATEGOD on its vinyl release. This extremely special release will be available to the masses on Tuesday, October 22nd and will be available in two versions: The main edition will behand numbered and limited to 400 on thick black vinyl. There will also be an extremely limited edition of 100 hand numbered copies on white vinyl with tan and black splatter. Both editions will be encased in a deluxe triple gatefold! Pre-order options are available now at: http://www.imbetterthaneveryonerecords.com. http://www.myspace.com/eyehategod. (Earsplit)

ABSU: Texas-based mythological occult metal outfit ABSU have announced the addition of session lead guitarist Vis Crom (pronounced "Vish Krahm") to the group's ranks. He replaces Zawicizuz, who was recently dismissed due to irreconcilable differences. Says drummer/vocalist Proscriptor of the replacement, "We are extremely thrilled to welcome Vis Crom as the newest touring musician of ABSU. He has proven to be a conquering performer and we’re delighted to convey our next live chapters of mythological occult metal with him.” “I felt it was time to re-evaluate the path of the band in a live aspect," he continues. "ABSU’s expanding growth, metaphysically and musically speaking, will embark on a journey like nothing we have ever experienced before. One of the main objectives is to never create the same album twice, so one can expect a revolving lineup. Working with Zawicizuz for the past two years has been a prosperous experience and I have the utmost respect for him as my comrade and a superlative musician. I wish him good fortune and success in the future." ABSU's self-titled album was released on February 24 via Candlelight Records. The CD was co- engineered by the band and mixed by none other than J.T. Longoria at Nomad Recording Studio (King Diamond, Solitude Aeturnus et al). It was mastered by Proscriptor at his studio Tarot Productions. ABSU last year announced the addition of bassist/co-vocalist Ezezu (ex-Panzram) to the group's ranks. http://www.absu.us/ or http://www.myspace.com/absu. (Earsplit)

DARKBLACK: Portland, OR traditional metal squadron DARKBLACK recently inked a deal with California's StormSpell Records. Said the band of the union, "StormSpell is currently in the midst of waging an unending, seemingly pitched battle against the followers of the False Metal Gods (more or less weakling usurpers). We now, with our newest allies, raise our weapons of war to the sky! DARKBLACK will be the vanguard for this righteous cleansing of the weak, uninspired and mediocrity that plagues our world! StormSpell Records are true believers in the true Underground Heavy Metal movement!" The band recently unleashed their debut full-length Sellsword, featuring over 49 minutes of music fit for true heavy metal believers! View the striking cover art by Halseycaust (Toxic Holocaust etc.) here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=510129810 . http://www.myspace.com/darkblack. (Earsplit)

RAISE THE RED LANTERN: Following their releases on Seventh Rule and Witch Trial Records, At A Loss Recordings is pleased to present to you RAISE THE RED LANTERN's self-titled full-length. Recorded in their hometown by Sanford Parker (Minsk, Nachtmystium) the Chicagoan unit have recorded their most blistering release yet. A ripping, bombardment of filthy rock riffage, crunchy, metallic shred and distorted, low-end thunder, all topped with the utterly savage throat-shredding bellows. Three members of RTRL also make up three-fourths of the almighty Emperor Custom Cabinets crew; the craftsmen who make those rad cabinets that Pelican, Trap Them, Russian Circles and more use. The band also share a member with forward-thinking, prog/jazz/metal greats Yakuza. The album will be released on October 27th. The band will be touring heavily well-into 2010. http://www.myspace.com/raisetheredlantern. (Earsplit)

BORIS: For over 15 years Boris has lead the charge as Japan’s most exciting experimental rock act. This fall marks yet another first for the band as they release Japanese Heavy Rock Hits, a series of 7"s showcasing their wide-reaching, genre-smashing sound. The band has been locked in the studio over the last few months and in association with Southern Lord are ready to bring to you their latest offerings. Over the course of the next three months three brand new exclusive vinyl 7"s will be released. http://www.myspace.com/borisdronevil. (Earsplit)

BLACK COBRA: BLACK COBRA shall release their monolithic Southern Lord debut album Chronomega on September 29th. The album slams the listener with nine slabs of the band's diversified, patented, breakneck sludge, and shows the San Franciscan duo expanding their knowledge of punishing tones and colossal rhythm changes. View the Alan Forbes cover art for Chronomega here: http://www.southernlord.com/press/blackcobra/. Recently the band's video for "Sugar Water", from 2006's Bestial release, surpassed 52,000 views via Youtube and the band's Myspace page, where you can also now pre-order an amazing, limited edition Japanese import version of Bestial. The band will embark on an extensive tour of Japan later this month, followed directly by a massive string of dates in Australia, including a Vice Magazine sponsored premier of the film Heavy Metal In Baghdad, in Melbourne. They then return to the States for a full US tour alongside labelmates Pelican. http://www.blackcobra.net or http://www.myspace.com/blackcobra. (Earsplit)

FAUST: FAUST is the brainchild of singer/vocalist Aleister (Ancient, Abgott) who formed the band in 1992. After releasing a self-titled demo a year later, the band fell silent release-wise until 2001 when Aleister was commissioned as a live member of Ancient, and the aptly-titled first EP And Finally Faust was released independently. Aleister constructed an all-star lineup and in 2008 brought the newest and most high-profile FAUST to fruition onnew album From Glory To Infinity. The album lineup features both Ghiulz Borroni [Profanatum] and Luca Princiotta [Doro, Blaze, Clairvoyants] on guitar, Steve DiGiorgio [Sadus, Death, Iced Earth, Testament] on bass, and Darek “Daray” Brzozowski [Dimmu Borgir, Vesania, Neolithic] on drums. The album was mixed and mastered by Juan Urteaga owner of Trident studios who has worked with Testament, Sadus, Vile and Exodus to name a few. FAUST represents death metal in the true spirit of what the style stands for, with intelligent and well-crafted passages and brutal, in-your-face approach. The songs found within have been meticulously fine-tuned. All who question the state of modern death metal need to witness From Glory To Infinity. From Glory To Infinity is out now on Paragon Records! http://www.deathmetal.it. (Earsplit)

HELLBASTARD: HELLBASTARD formed in the UK in 1984 playing non-compromising crossover, mixing the ferocity of punk with the crunch and chops of metal, and bearing socially-conscious lyrics. HELLBASTARD released the Natural Order record on Earache in 1990 and released several demos, compilation tracks and remix collections. After breaking up in 1993, HELLBASTARD reformed in 2008 with all guns blazing! They are back in action with The Need to Kill, available on limited edition LP from German label Civilisation Records. The renowned Polish label Selfmadegod Records will issue The Need to Kill on CD, as well as the newly recorded Eco-War CD EP, in late October 2009. The Need to Kill features six re-recorded HELLBASTARD ragers, while the six-track Eco-War release includes a track originally on the band’s 1986 demo as well as a Slayer cover. http://www.myspace.com/rippercrust. (Earsplit)

ENSIFERUM: Finnish Viking metal warriors ENSIFERUM recently shot a video for the song "From Afar," the title track off their forth coming new full-length, scheduled for release on September 8th in the US! View the stunning new video here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=508701426 . In related news, ENSIFERUM will embark on a full North American headlining tour this November. Support will be provided by Hypocrisy, Ex Deo, Blackguard and Swashbuckle (on select dates). The trek begins on November 6th at Jaxx in Springfield, VA and concludes on December 5th at Irving Plaza in New York City and will include a stop at the eclectic Anti*Pop Music Festival in Central Florida which plays host to indie acts from all over the world. http://www.ensiferum.com or http://www.myspace.com/officialensiferum. (Earsplit)

EMPEROR: Norway’s EMPEROR have been added to the impressive list of artists set to be featured on Electronic Arts forthcoming Brutal Legend video game. The action-adventure game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 features Jack Black as the game’s lead character with additional game players featuring the voices of Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford and actor/celebrity Tim Curry. Brutal Legend creative director Tim Schafer, used his own music experience as inspiration for the game. It is the second game from Schafer’s San Francisco-based Double Fine Productions, a company he launched in 2000 after leaving LucasArts. Electronic Arts’ web-based biography of the game notes it “features the character of Eddie Riggs, a roadie, who is accidentally transported to a fantasy world inspired by the artwork of heavy metal album covers. Eddie becomes the world’s savior leading the down-trodden humans against a range of supernatural overlords using a battle axe, his Flying V guitar infused with magical powers and a customizable hot rod.” The game follows the recent release of Live Inferno, a special series of recordings (2cd, dvd, deluxe box, limited 7-inch) captured during EMPEROR’s 2006/2007 reunion performances. Professionally tracked and featuring stunning packaging, the series celebrates the Norwegian black metal band’s sold out performances at Norway’s popular Inferno Fest and Germany’s Wacken Open Air Festival. Forming in 1991, EMPEROR recordings have sold hundreds of thousands worldwide. Their impact on black/extreme metal ranks them as one of the genre's most influential. Respected by musician, fan and critic alike, Emperor recorded their final album, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise, in 2001. Guitarist Samoth and drummer Trym continued together in Zyklon; their third and latest album, Disintegrate, released in 2006. Vocalist/guitarist Ihsahn went on to work with the now defuct band project Peccatum. He produced/recorded the debut from Hardingrock (featuring musical contributions from partner Heidi S. Tveitan from Starofash and famed Norwegian fiddler Knut Buen). He is currently finishing work on his third solo album planned for release in early 2010. Additional artists confirmed for inclusion on Brutal Legend include Anthrax, Anvil, Black Sabbath, Carcass, Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved, Judas Priest, King Diamond, Mastodon, Megadeth, Ministry, Motley Crue, Motorhead, Ozzy Osborne, Rotting Christ, Skeletonwitch, Slayer, and Testament. http://www.emperorhorde.com(Earsplit)

CASTEVET: NYC based trio CASTEVET will commence the recording of their debut album in early September. Renowned engineer Colin Marston (of Behold… The Arctopus, Gorguts, Krallice fame) will record the yet-to-be-named album at PAINcave studios. The album will feature a guest appearance by instrumentalist/composer Tim Byrnes, and will debut J. Scott (Defeatist, Anodyne) on bass, and will be released in 2010. CASTEVET's debut 7" EP, Stones/Salts, was released this year on Paragon Records. http://www.castevet.com (Earsplit)

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS: ABIGAIL WILLIAMS currently winding down dates for the ongoing Conquered & Cursed Tour have to sit out the final week of dates due to sickness within the band. The nine-week tour has seen the band, alongside Goatwhore, Daath, Abysmal Dawn and S.W.W.A.A.T.S. travelling the country all summer and the flu has battled them the entire way. Several members have had to visit emergency rooms in the past week and are under doctor supervision to regain their strength. Touring in support of their full-length debut, In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns, the band extends apologies to fans they will not see in having to cancel their final performances. ABIGAIL WILLIAMS will resume touring in September when they hook up with God Dethroned for another run of US dates prior to breaking for the year. The band has already begun a work writing material for their sophomore release. In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns and the band’s popular EP Legend are available in stores now. http://www.myspace.com/abigailwilliams (Earsplit)

THE ACCUSED: THE ACCUSED's long awaited new full-length, The Curse of Martha Splatterhead, will be released TOMORROW, August 18, 2009 via Southern Lord Records. The band teamed up with Billy Anderson at Seattle's Soundhouse Recording studio to create the epic beast of a long player. With Anderson at the controls, THE ACCUSED have indeed splattered the carnage far and wide. The Curse of Martha Splatterhead -- their first full-length in four years -- features 14 tracks of brutal splatter rock mayhem chock full of the band's trademark buzzsaw-guitar riffs and manic, glass-shard-swallowing vocals. Commented founding guitarist Tommy Niemeyer on the new record, "...old fans of the band will not be disappointed in the feel and intensity on this record... and those who've never really heard THE ACCUSED are in for something like they've never heard before!" Visit the band's official MySpace page for further info! http://www.splatterrock.com or http://www.myspace.com/kingsofsplatter (Earsplit)

GNAW THEIR TONGUES: Picking up where 2008's An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood left off, GNAW THEIR TONGUES is back with nine new tracks of fearsome blackened orchestral chaos and abstract horror that still sounds like little else out there. On All The Dread Magnificence Of Perversity, we're feeling an even heavier bass-assault compared to the other releases, and this is easily the heaviest GNAW THEIR TONGUES release yet. This monstrous, noxious bottom-end roar that skulks and slithers throughout the album suggests a foul fusion of Abruptum and Leonard Rosenman's most nightmarish film scores, piled in towering heaps of sadistic noise, warped orchestral strings, degraded samples, shrieking voices, and punishing lurching doom draped in suffocating atmosphere. Hyper-abstract black metal sound-collage? Wagnerian avant-doom psychosis? You can try, but GNAW THEIR TONGUES remain ultimately impossible to pin to any one genre. This album plunges even deeper into a black pit of total cinematic horror, sexual perversion, and shapeless chasms, deeper into dementia than you previously thought music could take you. All The Dread Magnificence Of Perversity will be released on September 8th on Crucial Blast. Samples of this heinous, auditory expulsion can be unleashed at this location: http://www.crucialblast.net/gtt_dread.html. http://www.myspace.com/gnawtheirtongues (Earsplit)

WHITE MICE: Rodent obsessed, toilet-humored, ill-tongued masked wackos. Weed-fueled, grinding sludge, noise-damaged, broken oscillator junkyard trio. Demented cheese lovers with a beef against God. Yeah the WHITE MICE from Providence, Rhode Island are all those things and more. Too fucked up and noise fixated for the average metalhead, too stoned, sleazy and salacious for the hipster and punk set, the WHITE MICE have for years existed on the fringes of every underground scene and belonged to none of em. After condemning the Earth with 3 albums and a deluge of other releases on labels like Load Records and Blossoming Noise, WHITE MICE are now set to defile the world once more in collaboration with 20 Buck Spin. Their 4th LP, Ganjahovahdose, is the crowning drool in the band's discography, with the heaviest, noisiest, ugliest, most beautiful sound they've achieved yet, thanks in part to the massive mixing job of one Ken “HiWatt” Marshall (Skinny Puppy). Musically speaking one might hear traces of Melvins, Brainbombs, Buzzoven, and their Providence brethren Landed, Drop Dead and Lightning Bolt, yet they stand easily apart from any proper comparison, remaining a beast of their own making. The band's live show is devastatingly loud, crude and visually incredible live show leaves mouths agape and the uninitiated properly converted, every time. A cursory Youtube search will reveal the sinister aesthetic the WHITE MICE inhabit. Further mission plans include lo-fi video productions of their strange, peculiar world view in the near future. A completely unhealthy compulsion to alter page after page of obscure religious texts and images with their own PUNishingly scatological mockery of all things pure permeates the perverse Dadaist artwork contained within the album’s pages. The totality of the WHITE MICE vision on Ganjahovahdose stands as a testament in praise of lord Cheezus for bestowing this deadly “conncocktion” of music, art, visuals, noise and words onto on an unsuspecting and dangerously unprepared public, on its October 20, 2009 release. http://www.thewhitemice.com or http://www.myspace.com/whitemice (Earsplit)

SHRINEBUILDER: The much-anticipated upcoming debut album from SHRINEBUILDER will be released on Neurot Recordings this October. Featuring Dale Crover (Melvins), Scott "Wino" Weinrich (Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan), Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep), the album is a powerful culmination of it's members' distinct styles that coalesce into an entity of it's own. Comprised of five epic passages showcasing this group's grandiose merging of soulful doom dirges, spiritual mantras, monstrous buildups and chest-collapsing grooves, the self-titled debut is truly a must-hear album of 2009. http://www.myspace.com/shrinebuildergroup (Earsplit)

ATTACKHEAD: Well the 4th of July show at the US Army Base, Fort Irwin went awesome and a good time was had by all. The next show is in Las Vegas on August 1st at the Aruba Hotel. We had a few member changes and would like to welcome Robert Johnsen as our new bass player and welcome back Steve Cordero on drums. Also we just inked a licensing deal with Satanica Production in New Zealand to distribute our CD. We look forward to working with our new friends down under. New photos from our show at Fort Irwin are up now at www.attackhead.com. Also we now have Attackhead "Voices in the Dark" Ringtones and Wallpaper available for your mobile phone. You can get yours at www.myspace.com/attackhead or www.attackhead.com or you can text Attackhead to 69937.

AXEMASTER: AXEMASTER has posted a new song titled "Technoslave" at http://www.myspace.com/thebandaxemaster. This is the first new song that the band has posted anywhere that features a professional recording and will appear on their next CD. Fresh from the studio! Hope everyone will check it out!!!!!!!!!!!!

MASTER: Legendary death metal icons MASTER recently returned home from the successful Slaves To Society US tour. With support from Ibex Moon recording artists Dreaming Dead and Goreaphobia, the journey kicked off on July 2nd in New York City and ran through 19 cities before winding down on July 31st at the Central Illinois Metalfest in Urbana, IL. Said MASTER mainman Paul Speckmann from his home in the Czech Republic, "It was great to experience the American dream one more time. I had a great time once again meeting up with the many people that came to support the tour. It was cool to hook up with the many legends that graced us with their presence on tour including Chris Reifert from Autopsy, Joe Caper from Righteous Pigs, Jim Martinelli from Burnt Offering, Alex Olvera from Funeral Bitch, Sammy Duet and Ben Falgoust from Goatwhore and a of course Mark from Impetigo. These are the legends that keep the underground alive. It was an honor to work alongside Goreaphobia and Dreaming Dead as well. I'd like to thank Matt Bishop for booking the tour and of course the legendary John McEntee and his wife Jill of Ibex Moon Records for the support as always." MASTER signed with Singapore's Pulverised Records earlier this year and are currently working on a new full-length (release date TBA). In the meantime, the band will embark on a Brazilian tour this November. http://www.master-speckmetal.com (Earsplit)

EMBRYONIC DEVOURMENT: EMBRYONIC DEVOURMENT is currently in the final stages of their next album titled Vivid Enterpretations Of The Void and are prepared to book a much longer, region expanding tour in 2010. The members of EMBRYONIC DEVOURMENT want to take their band to the top of the heap and will not stop until they are satisfied. Check out the songs "Fear Of Reality," "Beheaded By Volition," "Woulded And Keelhauled" and "Mutiny" on the band's official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/embryonicdevourment (Earsplit)

CRIPPLE BASTARDS: Selfmadegod Records is proud to announce the release of CRIPPLE BASTARDS’ Age Of Vandalism complete demos four-CD boxset this summer. This deluxe digipak boxset features remastered versions of ALL of the Cripple Bastards’ releases from 1988 to 1993, plus an incredible amount of unreleased tunes, and draws the complete history of the Bastards on tape. This will include the four official demos, the split 7” with Violent Headache (with extra unreleased tracks!), and basically HOURS of unreleased noise including pre-Cripple Bastards thrash from 1986/87! In September of 2008 FETO RECORDS released their Variante All Morte album too, and their Misantropo A Senso Unico (2000) reached the 6th position of Terrorizer Magazine’s Top-20 European Grindcore releases. The band was featured in the Grindcore Specials of both Decibel and Terrorizer Magazines. Age Of Vandalism is due to be released in Europe on July 16th, 2009. http://www.myspace.com/cripplebastards (Earsplit)

MASS GRAVE/ STORMCROW: Selfmadegod Records is happy to announce the release of the Stormcrow / Mass Grave split CD! Originally released on LP on the Mass Grave European 2008 tour, it’s now time for CD version. The Bay Area’s Stormcrow are one of the best stench-core (that’s the way it’s called nowadays) bands in the world, along with groups like Sanctum, Hellshock or Limb from Limb. They have taken the sound of Axegrinder, Hellbastard, Prophecy of Doom, Amebix, Bolt Thrower, Deviated Instinct and more, swallowed them and then given birth to an even more brutal heavy sounding hellspawn! Mass Grave hail from Vancouver, Canada, and have beein infesting the scene since 2004 with several records, and each one is always more brutal than the previous one. This is grind and even death metal-fueled crust. Think Disrupt crossed with a pneumatic hammer: fast, violent, heavy! http://www.myspace.com/stormcrowcrust or http://www.myspace.com/massgrave (Earsplit)

BLOOD I BLEED: Selfmadegod Records is pleased to release the long-awaited first full-length of Dutch madmen BLOOD I BLEED. The album, entitled Gods Out Of Monsters, consists of 23 super-fast tracks of high-speed octane thrash/punk/grind. All GO, NO slow, with blistering, merciless blasts strongly influenced by Heresy, Hellnation, and Intense Degree. The artwork was handled by Nabbe (Insult) who previously did work for bands like Regurgitate, Collision, and Reproach. Gods Out Of Monsters will be released July 6th, 2009. http://www.myspace.com/bloodibleed666 (Earsplit)

DEAD INFECTION: Poland’s Selfmadegod Records is proud to announce the release of DEAD INFECTION’s new MCD! After playing the Auditory Assault Fest in Brooklyn, New York, in May of 2009 with BRUTAL TRUTH, GADGET, ROTTEN SOUND, MISERY INDEX and others, DEAD INFECTION is slaughtering again with its latest offering.Originally intended to be a split with MORTICIAN (U.S.), things didn’t work out for a variety of reasons and it was decided to release the material as a stand alone MCD/EP. This release also marks the first time since Surgical Disembowelment that the band has used actual lyrics in the songs. The CD includes a re-recorded song from the Start Human Slaughter demo, a bonus track that is not featured on the Obliteration version (a cover of MORTICIAN’S “Bloodcraving”), and two video tracks. This amazing MCD is housed in three-panel digipak. http://www.myspace.com/deadinfection (Earsplit)

20 BUCK SPIN: 20 Buck Spin is proud to announce its next upcoming release.... the debut from Brooklyn transcendental black metal craftsmen Liturgy, entitled Renihilation. Brooklyn, NY’s Liturgy (not to be confused with a Chicago death metal band of the same name) deal in a style of indie black metal steeped in the genre’s most basic foundations of buzzing, dissonant guitars and whirlwind percussion, and yet they demonstrate an acute ability to make the sound firmly their own, both modern and ancient. Liturgy’s unique take on the genre only slightly recalls their NYC friends Krallice and the earlier works of the Norwegian wolves Ulver (particularly their 3rd LP masterwork Nattens Madrigal). In some sense Liturgy represents the seeping of black metal into the consciousness of the indie music world at large. The band claim influences ranging from cult black metal figures Vlad Tepes to Angelo Badalamenti to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, all of whom can be distantly identified in Liturgy’s approach. The album weaves intricate waves of dissonant dual guitar riffing and complex blackened harmonics between main songwriter Hunter Hunt-Hendrix and second guitarist Bernard Gann. The strange tonalities they seamlessly create providing layers of eerie dimension over which Hendrix’s tortured howls battle to be heard. The ultra-chaotic yet superbly minimalist drumming of Greg Fox (also of Dan Deacon and Teeth Mountain), utilizing only a kick, snare and crash symbols, adds a dose of old, raw punk/grind to the mix. Several intros and interludes consisting of vocal pieces and drones break the album up into distinct sections. Renihilation was recorded and mastered at the Thousands Caves Of Menegroth with Colin Marston of Krallice at the helm. The purposely low-res minimalist artwork recalls the work of German photographer Thomas Ruff in both aesthetic and intent. A photograph of a total eclipse, a massive celestial event, its aura being subdued and defeated by the void the low resolution of the image leaves in its wake – an apt analogy for Liturgy’s ecstatic sonic experiments. Renihlation will be released worldwide on August 25, 2009. http://www.20buckspin.com (Earsplit)

DARK CELEBRATION: Brazilian metallers DARK CELEBRATION will release their new album, Phlegeton: The Transcendence of Demon Lords, later this summer via Paragon. DARK CELEBRATION specializes in death metal played in the old ways of early Morbid Angel, Diabolic, Krisiun and hints of The Chasm blended with traditional heavy metal riffing and contagious melodies. http://www.myspace.com/darkcelebration666 or http://www.darkcelebration.com.br/ (Earsplit)

FAUST: Paragon will release FAUST's From Glory To Infinity full-length this September. The band's all-star lineup features: Aleister - Guitars/Vocals [Ancient], Steve DiGiorgio - Bass [Testament, Autopsy, Sadus, Death, Iced Earth etc.], Darek "Daray" Brzozowski - Drums [Dimmu Borgir, Vader, Vesania], Luca Princiotta - Guitar [Doro, Blaze Bayley, Clairvoyants] and Ghiulz - Guitar [Profanatum, Obscurity]. Do not mistake this for a one-time thing. FAUST has been dwelling in the Italian underground since 1992. Sure to be a stand-out release of 2009. Any fan of modern style death metal, but with a true passion for the underground, will be able to sink his/her teeth into this release. A worldwide tour to follow...http://www.myspace.com/faustband2 (Earsplit)

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS: Australian black metallers PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS recently inked a worldwide deal with Pulverised Records for their latest opus In Memoriam, Ill Omen. In a world filled with disease and mindless genocide, it is no wonder why PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS chose the term "Anti-Human Plague Black Metal" to represent their brand of devastation. In Memoriam, Ill Omen is a pummeling onslaught of sorrow-drenched riffs with a sonic production that mirrors the early '90s black metal sound, courtesy of guitarist/singer Balam. Featuring past and present members of Naxzul, Rift, Illium, Funeral Moruning and many others. In Memoriam, Ill Omen is a timeless piece of art that transcends all forms of mournful resentment towards human nature. Recorded and mixed by Balam and mastered by D.Backovic. Stunningly beautiful oldschool artwork and layout by Balam. http://www.myspace.com/pestilentialshadows (Earsplit)

MARDUK: Swedish black metallers MARDUK will land on US soil in the middle of August for three very special dates with Withered and Black Anvil. Said guitarist Morgan Håkansson, “We are excited to finally be over in the states and do these shows after all the problems with the visas. The three shows in August are just the start. We are preparing for a full tour in the winter that will cover all the areas we missed on Blackenedfest. Please join us as we raise the Banner Of The Wolf!” MARDUK will be holding a special signing session at renown NY metal mecca, Duff's, in Brooklyn, NY on Friday - August 14, 2009 from 10:00pm - 12:00am. View flyer here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=504778540. They are currently holed up in Endarker Studios in Norrköping, Sweden mixing their 11th studio album, Wormwood. The album will contain 10 tracks. View the cover art here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=502451407. Said guitarist Morgan Håkansson from the studio, "Greetings, we are just working out the final details for the upcoming album set to be released in September [via Regain Records]. The recordings are coming along just fine."http://www.marduk.nu (Earsplit)

ENSIFERUM: Finnish folk metallers ENSIFERUM have set From Afar as the title of their fourth album, slated for a US release on September 8, 2009 (September 9th for the rest of the world) via Spinefarm Records. The CD was produced by Tero Kinnunen (Nightwish, Amorphis) and Janne Joutsenniemi, who produced the band's previous offering, Victory Songs and mixed by Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Sentenced, Amorphis). The band will embark on a European headlining tour in support of From Afar in October with a return to the states to follow shortly thereafter. http://www.ensiferum.com( Earsplit)

KHORS: A note from Ukrainian black metallers KHORS: "Guitar player Nort has left KHORS. We thank our friend for the years he devoted to the band and his work in the creation of 2006's Cold and 2008's Mysticism albums as well as the solid concert activity which couldn't take place without his active help. We remain very good friends and we yet shall drink together in Glory of Us and Our Ancient Gods! Warth, the guitarist of death metal band Faces Of Death has recently joined the band as Nort's replacement." http://www.khors.info (Earsplit)

SOTHIS: "Shockhound.com has premiered the stunning video from black metal band SOTHIS. The video for the title track to the band’s current album, De Oppresso Liber, was filmed in the band’s hometown of Los Angeles and features stunning computer animation and performance footage of the six-piece band. Just having completed their first national US tour alongside labelmates Absu, the band continues to promote their full-length debut released last fall via Candlelight Records. Mixed by Andy LaRocque (King Diamond), De Oppresso Liber has enjoyed growing and consistent sales since release. To view the video follow the link: http://www.shockhound.com/videos/649-sothis-de-oppresso-liber . http://www.myspace.com/sothis (Earsplit)

OVERMARS: Born Again - the Crucial Blast Records debut from France’s OVERMARS - will see US release September 22nd, 2009. Born Again descends deep into themes of self-immolation, horror, and rebirth, and becomes a harrowing narrative as it moves through a series of different musical moods. Overmars had already established their atmospheric, electronically-tainted sludge-metal sound on their excellent 2005 album Affliction, Endocrine...Vertigo and all of the previous splits with Donefor, Iscariote, Fugüe and Icos, but Born Again is something new from the band; this forty-minute epic moves from pulverizing industrial dirge blanketed with heavily textured layers of processed guitar and fearsome guttural roars intermixed with captivating female vocals, to passages of haunting dark ambience and bottom-heavy churn, and a magisterial finale that stretches gloom-ridden moody riffage, vaporous electronics and dramatic male/female singing across the song's final fifteen minutes, a tense, slow buildup that erupts into an earth-shaking crescendo of super heavy riffage. Immensely bleak and heavy, Born Again brings together elements of Godflesh's industrial pummel, black metal, tribal dirge , the violent nihilism of Swans, doomy death metal, and even some black strains of psychedelia into a monumental metallic black hole. Audio samples from Born Again can be found here: http://www.crucialblast.net/overmars_born.html. In support of this colossal release, OVERMARS will be touring the US for the first time this month! The band will be touring alongside Translation Loss Rec’s artists Battlefields from Mid-August through early September. http://www.destroyalldreamers.org (Earsplit)

THE ATLAS MOTH: Candlelight Records today confirms the worldwide signing of Chicago’s The Atlas Moth. Popular throughout the Midwest region, the quintet joins the UK-based label’s growing American roster having already shared the stage with Pentagram, Saviours, Intronaut, Nachtmystium, Wolves in the Throne Room, Coalesce and many others. Recently completing tracking at Chicago’s Phase Recordings, the doom warriors expect to hit the road in the next month performing tracks from their forthcoming label debut. A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky, featuring artwork by Ryan Kasparian, is scheduled for American release on October 6. Produced by the band with post-production work handled by Michael Kandel (Tranquility Bass), the album showcases the band’s triple-guitar wall of sound that is sure to leave a lasting impression. Clocking in at just under an hour, the album’s eight metal epics are dynamic, expressive, and heavier than sin. Looking back on the album’s creation, guitarist/vocalist Stavros reveals, "A Glorified Piece of Blue-Sky became something none of us could have expected. It is a completely collaborative record, from start to finish. It really is a true representation of our band." Formed in 2007, The Atlas Moth unites sludge, doom, psychedelia, blues, and more. Stavros notes, "it is heavy music for heavy thinkers." Taking influence from an array of artists including The Deftones, Neurosis, Cave In, Quicksand and pieces of all that is heavy in between, the band twists sound ebbing from sheer intensity to peaceful interludes that is far more sophisticated or expected from a band of their relative youth. The band’s prior solo release, the highly regarded Pray for Tide (Witch Trial Records) mini-album received rave reviews on its release in 2008. http://www.myspace.com/theatlasmothband (Earsplit)

PELICAN: The mighty PELICAN are in the studio putting the finishing touches on their fourth studio album, entitled What We All Come To Need. What guitarist Laurent Lebec has dubbed “the most perfect synthesis of everything we've done to date, sonically”, this new album is a giant step forward within the complex, intricate, beautiful and crushing sound PELICAN is famous for. The album features more guests than have ever appeared on a PELICAN album before: Greg Anderson of sunn O))), Aaron Turner of Isis, Ben Verellen of Harkonen and Helms Alee and Allen Epley from The Life & Times and Shiner. Content-wise, Lebec says “there is a current of inspiration that feels particular to each album's music and titles. Though we lack a singer, the song names are often conceptual. This new album speaks to a rapidly decaying world, the fulfillment we find in each other, as well as the resolve to move beyond disillusionment.” If the recent Ephemeral EP is any indication of what’s to come, we can expect nothing less than the apex of PELICAN’s creative output. http://www.myspace.com/pelican (Earsplit)

PANTHEON I Norwegian extreme metallers PANTHEON I have unveiled the new video for “Serpent Christ,” a track taken from the band's recently released full-length, Worlds I Create. “Serpent Christ,” which shows PANTHEON I performing amidst scenes of bondage and torture, was directed by Espen Krukhaug, who also worked on the band’s previous video “Where Angels Burn” and features Finland’s Peik Mattheiszen in the role of torturer. Reprising their role of victims in the video are models Maria Olsen and Helga Bårdsdatter Kristiansen who were recently seen in the band’s promo photos - the uncensored versions of which can only be found on the band’s website due to their explicit nature. Worlds I Create, PANTHEON I’s third full-length album, was released at the end of July via Candlelight Records, and includes a guest appearance on the track “Ascending,” from KATATONIA frontman Jonas Renkse. Three tracks from Worlds I Create are currently streaming on the band’s MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/pantheoni. View the video here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=451309518&blogId=503575783. PANTHEON I are currently preparing for a short tour of their home country, as well as looking into the possibility of touring Eastern Europe, and are planning to hit the road in November on a European tour along with SKITLIV, featuring former MAYHEM frontman MANIAC, and DEN SAAKALDTE. (Earsplit)

SUBARACHNOID SPACE: SUBARACHNOID SPACE shall return with Eight Bells on September 22, 2009 via Crucial Blast. The band's first new release since 2005's The Red Veil, Eight Bells is the newest chapter in their continually evolving vision of music as ecstatic ritual. The recording features a new lineup of Daniel Barone, Melynda Jackson, Lauren K. Newman and Daniel Osborne and was produced by Steven Wray Lobdell who also performs on the album. Eight Bells continues in a similar heavy lysergic vein as their last couple of post-Relapse albums, fusing wicked metallic crunch with celebratory sky-streaking guitar freak-outs and some of the band's most narcotized jamming yet. The album features five songs and bears stunning new artwork from Stephen Kasner. A full US tour is currently being locked down and will be announced shortly! http://www.myspace.com/subarachnoidspace (Earsplit)

SUSPERIA: Norwegian five-piece SUSPERIA are currently working on a new video for the song "Character Flaw" with up and coming director/producer Daniel William Bones. Filming took place in Oslo last month and the footage is now being edited. The performance video will continue the apocalyptic theme featured in the artwork of the band's latest album Attitude, which was released via Candlelight Records in May. SUSPERIA's fifth studio album, Attitude was recorded in Norway and mixed at Studio Fredman in Sweden. It features guest appearances by Chuck Billy (Testament) and Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir). Band vocalist Athera made his return to the live arena in June at the Steinkjer Festival in Norway. The singer, who earlier this year suffered a heart attack which resulted in major open heart surgery, has made a rapid recovery and doctors gave him the go-ahead to make his comeback. Regional newspaper Trønder-Avisa posted performance footage and an interview with Athera from the festival. Watch the Norwegian-language report at: http://www.t-a.no/kultur/article80926.ece. http://www.susperia.net (Earsplit)

SHRINEBUILDER: The upcoming debut monolith from "doom supergroup" SHRINEBUILDER is one of the most anticipated heavy releases of 2009, hands-down. A collaborative effort between members of some of the doom, drone and stoner rock scene's most influential alumni, SHRINEBUILDER consists of Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Al Cisneros (Sleep, Om), Scott "Wino" Weinrich (The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, The Hidden Hand, Wino) and Dale Crover (Melvins). To be released in September the upcoming self-titled SHRINEBUILDER album shows these top-tier icons coalescing their power into a multi-headed beast that not only surges with each member's personal approach, but also thrives on it's own thunderous vitality. This release will prove to be one of the most monumental heavy releases of the year. http://www.myspace.com/shrinebuildergroup (Earsplit)

SUNN O))): The third wave of SUNN O))) live aktions on American soil in support of Monoliths & Dimensions have been announced, this time blanketing the East Coast. As on their previous Midwestern and upcoming West Coast tours this summer, label mates EAGLE TWIN will be joining SUNN O))) on these dates, in support of their debut full-length The Unkindness of Crows, which was released this week. A very special night on the tour will at Brooklyn's cavernous Masonic Temple in Fort Greene, where SUNN O))) and EAGLE TWIN will also be joined by Southern Lord brethren EARTH and PELICAN. MAXIMUM VOLUME YIELDS MAXIMUM RESULTS. http://www.southernlord.com (Earsplit)

ANAAL NATHRAKH: New ANAAL NATHRAKH long player, In The Constellation Of The Black Widow, hits North American record shelves on July 28th! The record is being released via Candlelight Records. Commented ANAAL NATHRAKH vocalist V.I.T.R.I.O.L. on the new material: "Constellation is faster, more insidious, more ominous, more musically dextrous and wilder than ever before. The album features a curve ball guest appearance from Zeitgeist Memento of Mexican extremists REPUBLIKA." Formed in 1998, ANAAL NATHRAKH have recorded five full-length albums. Based in Birmingham, the band fuses traditional black metal with elements of industrial, grindcore and early-day death metal resulting in a one-of-a-kind soundscape that has earned it high acclaim from media and fans around the globe. http://www.myspace.com/anaalnathrakh (Earsplit)

WHIPLASH: Reactivated Garden State thrashers WHIPLASH have posted another new song -- "Fight Or Flight" -- on their official MySpace Page. Visit: http://www.myspace.com/whiplashusa to check it out. The track comes off the band's new album, Unborn Again, which is scheduled for Aug 5th release via Pulverised Records. The CD was recorded at Studio with world-renowned engineer/producer Harris Johns (SODOM, KREATOR , HELLOWEEN, SEPULTURA). The band mixed and mastered the CD at Spiderhouse Studio. The record will be made available in digipack CD + DVD format later in the year which documents the making of Unborn Again. WHIPLASH is a three-piece power trio hailing from New Jersey. The band was assembled back in 1984 when Tony Portaro (guitar, vocals) and Tony Scaglione (drums) joined forces, recruited Tony Bono on bass and released their first CD, Power and Pain, in 1985 on Roadrunner Records. The debut CD was followed up by their first live performance at Ruthie's in Berkley, California with POSSESSED and DEATH ANGEL. (Earsplit)

THE COMPANY BAND: Restricted Release proudly presents a special 10-inch vinyl pressing of THE COMPANY BAND's mini-album Sign Here, Here, And Here. Set for release September 15, the pressing features format-exclusive artwork and is limited to 1000 hand-numbered units worldwide. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Andrew Alekel (Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Religion), Sign Here, Here, and Here was originally released as a digital-only recording early in 2008 (followed later by its physical digipak partner). It brings together five highly-regarded musicians with nothing but the love of jamming on their minds. Two live performances to date have highlighted their still short sonic union (early fans of the band surely hoping to see more; member schedules permitting). Founded by Jess Margera (CKY) with James Rota (Fireball Ministry) and Dave Bone in 2006, THE COMPANY BAND originally got together and recorded some instrumental tracks. Jason Diamond was approached to contribute bass tracks while friend Neil Fallon (Clutch) agreed to appear as a guest on one of the songs but quickly changed status to that of a full fledge member. Brad Davis (Fu Manchu) replaced Diamond earlier this year when the band laid down tracks for their full-length debut which is planned for release later this fall. Visit http://www.myspace.com/restrictedrelease or http://www.myspace.com/thecoband. (Earsplit)

BICLOPS: Biclops (ex-Postman Syndrome/current East Of The Wall) have posted a preview track from their forthcoming record, to be released through a to-be-determined label in early 2010. The still-untitled record was recorded with producer Will Putney at The Machine Shop (Clutch, Lamb Of God, King Crimson). In addition, Biclops is booking a short tour in October. Anyone looking to help them out can contact the band directly [band(at)biclops(dot)net] or http://www.biclops.net. (Earsplit)

EAGLE TWIN: EAGLE TWIN's debut full-length The Unkindness of Crows was recorded to tape in Seattle by Randall Dunn (Earth, sunn O))), Kinski, Ascend), and will come beautifully packaged in a digipak with original artwork from Densley, Sri Whipple and others, and designed by Stephen O’Malley. The album is to be officially released this Tuesday, July 21. EAGLE TWIN played two killer outdoor sets at this year's SXSW Festival, and has recently completed a Midwest tour with sunn O))). Catch them on tour on the West Coast in early August again with sunn O))), and also with new labelmates The Accüsed. http://www.myspace.com/eagletwin (Earsplit)

AMBASSADOR GUN: AMBASSADOR GUN began in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the summer of 2002. Within the music, there is ingrained a unique ability to master catchy and truly memorable elements. Using rhythmic and aggressive vocal patterns, dissonant down-tuned chords and progressions along with drive saturated low-end. They envelop music expressing comical, political and social disdain; put home lyrically, and fired through a blistering soundtrack of metal, punk, grooves and grind. Previously known as A SECOND FROM THE SURFACE, the band have shared the stage regionally with national acts including Today Is The Day, Weedeater, Sourvein, Dead To Fall, Battlefields, Red Sparrowes and countless more over recent years, and further live/tour plans are in the works for the coming year. To be released August 11th on the bands' own imprint Pangea Recordings, the band's 4th full-length When In Hell is a thunderous, angst-ridden, cross-genre stampede of energy, combining elements of Slayer, Nasum, Cattle Decapitation, Mastodon and more. http://www.myspace.com/ambassadorgun (Earsplit)

DARK AGE: DARK AGE - AFM recently inked a deal with Hamburg, Germany-based melodic death metallers DARK AGE. Commented the band on their official MySpace page: "We are really looking forward to working hand in hand with this renowned label!" The as yet untitled full-length is slated for a Fall 2009 release. DARK AGE entered Eikey Studio, owned by vocalist/guitarist Eike Freese, in May. "You can expect the typical DARK AGE melodies and some surprises in our sound as well, mainly because every band member was involved in the songwriting [more so] than ever before." For fans of In Flames, Soilwork, Machine Head and Metallica. More info TBA.... http://www.dark-age.de/ (Earsplit)

THE NEW BLACK: Recently signed to AFM, THE NEW BLACK released their self-titled debut in June. Featuring former members of Sinner, Runamok, Abandoned and Paradox, THE NEW BLACK play rock. Real rock; real heavy with all the requisite hooks, leads and riffs galore. Singer Fludid has been compared to “Zakk Wylde, James Hetfield and Phil Anselmo” (Rock Hard) and “sometimes even Mike Patton in a 'sane' state of mind” (Metal Hammer). The screams, the roaring, the harmonies, they’re all there, but most importantly, the guy can actually sing. Add to this shredding guitars, a well-developed sense of melody and a professional work ethic, and you get a solid piece of metallic rock. Fans of Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society, beware. Said Canada’s BW&BK magazine : “[This is] The Real Thing as opposed to the often disposable Next Big Thing. THE NEW BLACK makes it on sheer over-the-top delivery and very obvious love for the simple rock-driven life.” Germany’s Guitar took note of the “assured sense of style and passion,” while Metal Hammer simply stated: “Whoever said that bands can’t form their own sound anymore these days, should listen to this – and then shut up!” The band is currently working on a clip for "More Than A Man." Explained the band, "it's a little tune about temptation and that funny feeling you get when... well, you know what we mean. And we like what we're seeing so far. Given the subject matter, the video has to have some serious 'hotness' in it. And it will. The band needs to be in there, too, at some point. Even in the same scenes as the 'hotness.' So someone had to do it, and Fludid, er, stood up for the team and did." Check out some of the screen shots here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=240422154&blogId=495408522. The model's name is "Lucky Charm" from Rockstar Sessions [http://www.myspace.com/rockstarsessions_group - a rock & roll model agency) and according to the band, "she rules." http://www.thenewblackofficial.de (Earsplit)

SHARKA: The follow-up to 2007's critically-acclaimed Infected offering, Swiss hard-rockers SHAKRA unleash Infected. Featuring 12 tracks of powerful, passionate hard rock anthems that sound modern without denying tradition. Said Lords Of Metal, "Everest is a logical step in SHAKRA’s path, but more than that an appealing and honest hardrock album....Those who have a heart for melodic hardrock and heavy metal and the ones who can’t get enough of Edguy’s last album, should definitely give this album a shot." Check out the videos for "Ashes To Ashes" and "Why" HERE: http://www.myspace.com/shakrarock. (Earsplit)

TANKARD: Beer-soaked German thrash legends TANKARD recently released Thirst stateside to riotous applause. The album was produced again by band friend Andy Classen at his Stage One Studio. A video clip for "Stay Thirsty" appears on the limited edition of the record. Formed in 1982 in the boiler room of the Matthäus Church, Frankfurt/Main, TANKARD first took the stage in 1983. In 1984 they released the first demo and two years later cult record Zombie Attack (Noise). The self-proclaimed "most ugly band in Germany" would move on to a worldwide musical crusade to implement the German Purity Law of 1516. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich are said to have commented on the band following a bar-hopping mission through Manhattan (and before deciding on an official name): "Hey, you guys sound like a mix of Tank and Discharge." Later, German language magazine Stern, in an article about the subculture of heavy metal wrote, "their music sounds like a train laden with beer tankards.... derailed!“ Whatever the case, and from whomever the quote, there's little doubt that TANKARD are indeed the founders of "Alcoholic Metal" and for that they are proud. Said Decibel magazine in a recent review of Thirst: "These Krauts love beer and fart jokes and zombies and they beat Municipal Waste to he whole 'part thrash' thing by a good 20 years AND they do it well..." "[More Than] 25 Years In Beer". http://www.tankard.info (Earsplit)

RAM: Release Date: August 25, 2009; AFM is proud to announce the signing of Gothenburg, Sweden-based traditional heavy metal troupe RAM. Featuring Morgan Pettersson, a former member of Swedish crossover metallers B-Thong, the band's second album, Lightbringer, is scheduled for US release on August 25th. A darker, more concept-oriented record than their more straight-forward debut, Lightbringer features guest vocals from E of Swedish black metal overlords Watain, Mexican poet Adelaida Caballero and and the band's longest song ever in "Suomussalmi (The Few Of Iron)," a RAM-epic based on the 1939 battle at Suomussalmi during the Finnish Winter War. The 10-track disc was produced by Johan Reivén (Transport League). Check out "Awakening The Chimaera,"(featuring Watain's E) on the band's MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/rammetal. (Earsplit)

THE ACCUSED: THE ACCUSED's long awaited new full-length, The Curse of Martha Splatterhead, is scheduled for release August 18, 2009 via Southern Lord Records. The band teamed up with Billy Anderson at Seattle's Soundhouse Recording studio to create the epic beast of a long player. With Anderson at the controls, THE ACCUSED have indeed splattered the carnage far and wide. The Curse of Martha Splatterhead -- their first full-length in four years -- features 14 tracks of brutal splatter rock mayhem chock full of the band's trademark buzzsaw-guitar riffs and manic, glass-shard-swallowing vocals. Commented founding guitarist Tommy Niemeyer on the new record, "...old fans of the band will not be disappointed in the feel and intensity on this record... and those who've never really heard THE ACCUSED are in for something like they've never heard before!" Song titles include "The Splatterbeast," "Bodies Are Rising" and "Martha's Disciples." http://www.myspace.com/kingsofsplatter Earsplit)

MY OWN GRAVE: The new full-length from Swedish death metallers MY OWN GRAVE entitled Necrology is now available for streaming in its full entirety at the Pulverised Records MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/pulverisedrecords. The MY OWN GRAVE E-Card also includes behind-the-scenes video footage of how Necrology was spawned. The stream will remain on the website until July 23, 2009. Necrology will officially hit streets on July 20, 2009. Three years after the debut full-length and mini-album , Sweden’s MY OWN GRAVE return with a darker, denser and more merciless form of death metal in Necrology. Relentlessly sinister, MY OWN GRAVE merge the tenets of oldschool Swedish death metal with brutal US death metal creating a sound too brutal for the weak. Necrology was produced at Dan Swanö at Unisound, Sweden (Dissection, Dark Funeral et al) and killer album artwork courtesy of illustrator/tattooist Jon Zig (Suffocation, Deeds Of Flesh, Sinister et al). http://www.myowngrave.com (Earsplit)

BLACK COBRA: BLACK COBRA, the heaviest two-piece band in the universe, have completed their upcoming Southern Lord Recordings debut album, Chronomega. With a tentative worldwide release date set for September 29, 2009 the album's nine tracks rage with BLACK COBRA's patented megacrushing, groove-heavy style of fuzztone doom-metal angst. With the grandmaster of sludge Billy Anderson manning the soundboard for this mammoth recording, Chronomega promises to be one of the most tonally destructive and overall damaging releases of the year. Rafa Martinez and Jason Landrian have been coalescing Black Cobra's sonic brew for nearly seven years now, yet neither were strangers to heaving heavy riffage prior; Rafa did time with Acid King and -16-, Jason with Cavity. The pair unleash a tone heavier than a trio of both guitar and drums. Their impenetrable hardcore doom chemistry evokes an intensity that sets them apart from the others, both live and recorded. The band have toured seemingly endlessly on both US and foreign soil since their 2002 inception, sharing the stage with The Sword, Weedeater, High On Fire, Torche and countless other bands in the upper ranks of metal and doom, many times blowing the competition away. http://www.myspace.com/blackcobra (Earsplit)

SUBHUMANS: SUBHUMANS were at the forefront of the UK anarcho-punk scene in the early 80s, alongside such bands as Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Rudimentary Peni and Conflict. From the start SUBHUMANS were praised for their ability to stretch the boundaries of punk rock with their unique blend of structured dynamic tunes and incisive sociopolitical lyrics. SUBHUMANS were, between 1980-85, one of the most prolific and original bands of the evolving UK punk scene; they were based in Warminster, Wiltshire, SW England, and the lineup was Dick on vocals, Bruce played guitar, Phil on bass, and Trotsky on the drums. Dick had previously sung for The Mental, who released one EP and embodied the "can't-play-will-play" early punk "anyone-can-do-it" attitude. Bruce had been in The Stupid Humans, also based in Warminster; these two met at an Angelic Upstarts gig in 1980, and when their bands split they got together to form SUBHUMANS. Musical influences were a mix of Sex Pistols, The Damned and similar punk originators, and pre-punk bands like King Crimson and Frank Zappa, which led to a style of punk more intricate in its structure than their contemporaries, without losing the base energy and dynamics of punk. Dick’s lyrics, at once socially aware and heavily critical of social norms, placed them in the anarcho-punk area of the ever-expanding UK punk scene of the early 80s, alongside Crass, Antisect, Conflict and Flux Of Pink Indians, who released the band’s first 3 EPs (Demolition War, Reason For Existence, and Religious Wars) and their first LP The Day The Country Died, which became an instant classic that went on to sell 100,000 copies (largely at the cover price of ‘pay no more than £3.25’, which was as cheap as possible in order to make the music more accessible). In ‘83 they formed their own label, Bluurg Records, and over the next two years released the From The Cradle To The Grave LP (which included a 16 minute track of the same name that had the music press calling for a redefinition of ‘punk’!) Evolution EP, Time Flies 12" EP, Rats EP, Worlds Apart LP, and 29:29 Split Vision LP, which was released after splitting up in ‘85. By then the band had played 262 gigs including several European tours and two in the USA, (which was in the 80’s a rare achievement for a non-commercially minded band). Bluurg records are proud to announce the forthcoming reissues of the SUBHUMANS back-catalog. Remastered and presented in deluxe digipacks with all original artwork, these re-releases give you another chance to hear one of the original UK punk bands at their very best. http://www.subhumans.co.uk (Earsplit)

DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA: Since the release of their debut The Butcher’s Ballroom in 2007 Sweden's DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA have gained a loyal fan base of their own. People have embraced their mind bending mix of metal, opera, swing jazz, and spaghetti-western soundtrack with open arms and they have been perceived as a fresh breath of air in a genre getting more and more stale and formulaic. DSO’s sophomore effort titled Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious proves that they are no one hit wonder but are here to stay. The new album is a smörgåsbord of different levels of musical insanity building on the foundation laid down on their debut. The cover art was crafted by acclaimed Swedish illustrator Peter Bergting, most notable for his work with the graphic novel Gangkrig 145; a Swedish #1 bestseller. Touring will begin in September starting with Progpower USA and will continue in Europe later in the fall. Licensed from Ascendance Records to Sensory Records for North American distribution, Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious shall be made available to North American fiends on September 22nd.tory. Afterwards, armed guards arrested the orchestra and they were subsequently sentenced to death by hanging. http://www.diabloswing.com (Earsplit)

GORGOROTH: The ninth GORGOROTH album, Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt, is complete! The album was recorded in Tomas Asklund's Monolith Studio and features Infernus on guitars, Frank Watkins on bass, Pest on vocals and Tomas Asklund on drums. Since Infernus wrote all the music and because of all the rehearsals and pre-recording prior to the return of second guitarist Tormentor last year, it was decided that it would be more convenient for Infernus to record all guitars on the album. Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt was produced by Infernus and co-produced/engineered by Tomas Asklund. It will be mastered at Cutting Room Studios in Stockholm this month and released via Regain Records on October 21st in Europe and November 11th in the US. http://www.gorgoroth.info (Earsplit)

DUSTED ANGEL: Santa Cruz, California has given birth to an ungodly musical beast known as DUSTED ANGEL. Formed in 2008, the band features Clifford Dinsmore on vocals, Bill Torgerson on drums, Eric Feiber and Scott Stevens manning the guitars and Eliot Young on bass, DUSTED ANGEL'S members are longtime friends from the days when several of the members rolled together in hardcore henchmen BL'AST. Following that band, Clifford was a member of avant-prog-doomsters SPACEBOY, and also helped form the cerebrally crushing outfit GARGANTULA. Over the past half year since their inception, DUSTED ANGEL has transformed from somewhat of a side-project into a full-on act for the members. After playing out quite a bit locally and generating a massive response in the region in recent months, the band have also recently put a few tracks onto wax. DUSTED ANGEL's upcoming self-titled debut 7" will be released on LA-based indie label Corruption Recordings this September. Featuring three sludged-out sledgehammer tracks mixed by Billy Anderson (Neurosis, High on Fire, etc.), this is just the beginning. A full-length record is being planned now and is to be recorded soon for a yet-to-be decided label. http://www.myspace.com/dustedangelrocks (Earsplit)

U.S. CHRISTMAS: Although their name would invoke yuletide tidings and blissful chanting, U.S. CHRISTMAS creates music which is anything but. Spanning the dark, decrepit and painful side of disharmonic psychedelia, this North Carolina outfit has successfully distilled the essence of cacophony through countless layers of sound and crushing waves of volume that are an orchestrated assault on the senses. None other than Neurosis' Scott Kelly took notice of U.S. CHRISTMAS through his Combat Music Radio show, playing their material regularly on the show which ultimately led to a release on their esteemed Neurot Recordings imprint. I'm Better Than Everyone Records will be releasing a live full-length LP. One side will consist of a live acoustic set recorded the day before Atlanta's 2009 Scion festival, while the remaining wax will contain one new and unreleased live track alongside a live non-acoustic version of their song "Say Sister." http://www.myspace.com/uschristmas (Earsplit)

EYEHATEGOD: New Orleans' EYEHATEGOD have spent the last two decades at odds with a corrupt music industry, using their music as a proverbial middle finger aimed at everything from government officials to sanctimonious shitheads hiding behind organized religion. They have defied all odds and continue to exist and persist despite personal and professional setbacks, from drug addiction to natural disasters. In the midst of all this turmoil EYEHATEGOD have become the high water mark when it comes to "sludge metal," having birthed rock's unholy bastard feasting on the teat that Black Sabbath and Black Flag built. They became the cornerstone for countless of sonic acolytes following in their fetid footsteps and continue to inspire bands around the world. Confederacy of Ruined Lives is their fourth and latest studio album, released in late 2000. I'm Better Than Everyone Records is extremely proud and honored to collaborate with EYEHATEGOD and finally give this a vinyl release, the way it was intended to be heard, without compromises nor excuses: A beautiful fuck you to all the non-believers. http://www.myspace.com/eyehategod (Earsplit)

DELIAN: The much anticipated second album from Delain is finally here! Originally conceived by ex-Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt as an all-star studio project, the success of the debut album Lucidity tipped his hand and Delain evolved into a full blown active band. With Charlotte Wessels on vocals, Ronald Landa on guitar and grunt vocals, Sun Caged bassist Rob Vander Loo, and Sander Zoer on drums, Delain took Europe by storm. The band initially opened for many acts including sister band Within Temptation, and performed at numerous festivals. Ultimately they became a headliner in their own right. With that behind them they went into the studio to create their sophomore opus, April Rain. Martijn Westholt is clearly at the helm - the epic symphonic sounds that he brought to Within Temptation and Delain’s debut are obvious. There are differences though...engineer Jacob Hansen's mix slams with immediacy and crunch. With all the band members now contributing, a clear style has been defined. April Rain also benefits from the guest performances of Nightwish bassist Marco Hietala who sings male vocals on two tracks, as well as world renowned cellist Maria Ahn. The comparisons to Within Temptation and Nightwish will continue but it's evident that Delain has come up with a sound that stands on its own. April Rain is THE symphonic gothic metal album of 2009. The album debuted on the Dutch Top 100 album charts at #14, and at #1 on the Dutch Alternative Charts. The band just completed a tour as direct support for Kamelot, which was immediately followed by their European headlining tour. Licensed from Roadrunner Records, who released the album in Europe and Japan, we are able to offer a digipak edition, with the exclusive bonus track "Come Closer". http://www.delain.nl (Earsplit)

THE BLACK: Long overdue new album, Alongside Death, will be available worldwide on July 29, 2009. Featuring 8 tracks of unholiness, Alongside Death is the band's first full-length since 1994's The Priest Of Satan and is an attestation that pure black metal is alive, well and more abhorrent than ever! Featuring members of Tyrant, Eternal Darkness and Vinterland, the long player was recorded, mixed and mastered at Studio Beast in Sweden by Peter Bjärgö (Tyrant, Arcana, Crypt Of Kerberos) with cover artwork and layout by THE BLACK vocalist D.F Bragman. http://www.myspace.com/officialtheblack (Earsplit)

LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH: California black metallers LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH were recently invited to take part in the soundtrack to Undead Knights, a new PlayStation game from leading video game/publisher TECMO. The game was unveiled earlier this month at the illustrious E3 Expo — the Electronic Entertainment Expo — an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry. In Undead Knights, the player is the anti-hero, battling the wrath of fearless enemies to build the nastiest, most irreverent army possible. Your inherently foul-mouthed army and raging metal soundtrack helps you channel your inner anger. If you can deal with the gut-wrenching, smack-talking, fluid-spitting, and limb amputating ways of your battalion, you can embark on your journey of vengeance to defeat the king! TECMO sought a supremely evil soundtrack to coincide with the game’s morbid concept and thus, LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH, along with fellow black metal brigade VALDUR, was called upon to do the unholy deed. “Undead Knights follows a being from hell as he destroys his enemies and turns them into undead soldier-slaves for his army,” said LSOD vocalist Autarch excitedly. “Once the premise of the game was presented to us, it was clear that this rare opportunity provided yet another form of media that could be used to spread our message, without sacrificing the principles and ideology of the band. We also take delight in the idea of children all over the world receiving the glory of our hymns while enslaving the dead.” Undead Knights will be released this Fall. At press time, the game had not yet been rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. In related news, LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH has a string of dates coming up this summer, including a spot on this year’s Kansas City Power Metal Fest where LSOD will be the only black metal band on the bill. “Since our inception, we have always felt it necessary to perform this ritual beyond the comfort of Satan-centric gatherings,” said Autarch from the confines of his dimly lit abode. “We take great pleasure in spitting bile, cursing upon the uninitiated. It's a feeling that could only be described as jubilation.” http://www.myspace.com/lightningswordsofdeath (Earsplit)

JAVELINA: Philadelphian behemoth JAVELINA shall unleash their sophomore album September 29th via Translation Loss Records. The aptly titled Beasts Among Sheep boasts eight tracks of the band's ultra-brutal brew of sludge-inspired, streetfight gutter metal, as was witnessed on their 2008 debut self-titled release. These rabid hymns were captured in March of this year at Volume Studios in Chicago by Sanford Parker, and mastered at the Boiler Room in Chicago by Collin Jordan. The cover art, as with the previous album, was handled by Jason Goldberg (Olde City Tattoo, The Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza, etc.). JAVELINA will rampage through the US this October with an arsenal of local brutality joining them at every show. The band plan on touring as much as possible in the coming months so stay tuned for futher updates on this beast rolling through your area. http://www.myspace.com/javelinaphiladelphia(Earsplit)

LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH: It began seven years ago when a pact was made within a dilapidated house hidden in Southern California. It was here that Autarch, Roskva and Menno found themselves in agreement that should the occult sciences be applied to music, the results would prove extremely dangerous to their sanity, yet yield spectacular results. LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH, as they would name it, would be in itself a meticulously designed hyper-sigil constructed to direct and antagonize the limitless dark energy that lurks within the less navigable chasms of the human mind and the space between spaces. In 2007 the band unleashed The Golden Plague upon the earth. This declaration of unholy war was well-received and inspired a tour of the west coast and north western blocks of the United States. Audiences witnessed performances by men possessed by insane devils. LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH live continuously proved to be a conqueror’s fury leaving an ashen stain on every stage they destroyed. The tour began sharing battleground with bands like Nachtmystium and High On Fire and concluded with LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH opening for Danzig during the mighty Blackest Of The Black tour. Said Decibel magazine of The Golden Plague, "I truly wanted to know how USBM crew LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH get their sound. It's seriously crushing and vicious and yet it sounds like it's 10 miles away. Or 10 miles underground. Uncanny. You know, it's an art sounding this fucked up. …'Let This Knife Lead You To Us’ has a riff worth killing for." SOD magazine simply called it "a torrent of anguish" while Pit added, "LSOD leave no face unripped with a blackened death approach that puts as much importance on memorable hooks and downtrodden groove as it does on blast beat blaspheme." The second release took the form of a split CD with comrades VALDUR which was only available for a limited time at performances during the country wide 2008 Blodhevn tour. Metal Maniacs called LSOD’s part a "heavy, bestial and brutal assault bringing to mind a young and hungry Thornspawn.” Said Decibel in a recent review of the split, “Sort of like Watain with American heft, LSOD's four beastly shanties shake Tiamat from their centuries-long slumber. And she ain’t happy ‘bout it.” The split continues to infect all who experience its unyielding expression of true chaos, but it’s only a precursor of the grand and terrible horror that is looming in the future like a headsman's shadow…. The band will pillage their way through Missouri for this year’s edition of the Kansas City Power Metalfest [ http://www.myspace.com/kansascitypowermetalfest] on August 14th then make their way to New York City on August 17th for a show at Lit Lounge’s renowned Precious Metal Party [http://www.myspace.com/preciousmetalnyc]. More dates TBA soon… http://www.myspace.com/lightningswordsofdeath(Earsplit)

I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE RECORDS: Mission Statement: In an age of low-quality mp3s reducing music to electronic files downloaded over the Internet, there's been an absolute disconnect from the artistic aspect of music. I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE RECORDS was created with the goal to resurrect the experience of listening to music as it was intended. We believe that music should be an organic experience, where one is welcomed to participate in the artist's vision at creating their art both sonically and visually. We won't be releasing any CDs, focusing instead on vinyl, which in our opinion is the only way to enjoy the true sound of the bands we choose to work with. Our goal is to rekindle the beauty of the almighty riff in its intended format: Needle against groove, analog trumping digital. Each release will be limited but no corners shall be cut. There will be a heavy focus on artwork with this label as well. I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE RECORDS intends to give each release the opportunity to cater to those who appreciate rock the way it was meant to be heard.
Out Now: DEADBIRD - The Head And The Heart. DEADBIRD have successfully fused the melancholic drone of Neurosis with the almighty riff worship perfected by High On Fire to create a new breed of metal not unlike their fellow Arkansas brothers in Rwake: A dark, brooding heaviness few bands can even attempt to harness. Their debut The Head and The Heart (originally released on CD in '05) generated immediate interest worldwide and heralded DEADBIRD as a band to watch. I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE chose The Head and The Heart as their debut vinyl release, with 500 hand-numbered copies on thick vinyl, and a deluxe gatefold jacket to immortalize DEADBIRD in the best manner possible. http://www.myspace.com/deadbird
HAIL!HORNET - Hail!Hornet. HAIL!HORNET, featuring members of Alabama Thunderpussy, Weedeater, Beaten Back to Pure and Sourvein, released their debut CD on Dwell in 2007. Although HAIL!HORNET could be erroneously considered a "super group," none of the members are resting on the laurels of their respective bands. Collectively they've created a sound which personifies abrasiveness and glorifies doom; a style they've aptly christened as "grime metal." Few can argue upon listening to the angst-ridden sludge of HAIL!HORNET that their particular style has all the subtlety of an exploding hand grenade. This vinyl pressing of their debut is strictly limited to 500 hand-numbered gatefold copies with artwork by renowned underground artist Tom Denney, known for his work with Kylesa, Sourvein and Soilent Green, among others. http://www.myspace.com/2hailhornet
On Deck: BLACK SKIES - Hexagon. From the aptly named opening track "The Quiet Before the Storm" through the thundering conclusion of "Chain of Command," Chapel Hill, NC's BLACK SKIES throw their heavy hat into the ring with their latest EP Hexagon. Together for just over three years, BLACK SKIES weave their songs with well-thought and executed riffs playing alongside a churning organic groove. This is tonal chemistry befitting of a legendary band sharing the same initials, yet with a decidedly American flavor. Through hard work BLACK SKIES has been making waves across the eastern half of the United States and continue gaining momentum with tours booked throughout 2009. If these six tracks serve as a fitting prelude of greater things to come, the next waves of attack from this sonic strike-force will truly be something to behold. The limited edition vinyl pressing of Hexagon will be available very soon via I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE RECORDS, and features exclusive cover artwork by Tom Denney. This edition will be in an edition of 500 hand numbered copies, on 180g vinyl, with numbers 1-100 on clear brown vinyl and 101-500 on black. http://www.myspace.com/losblackskies
POWER PELLUT - Power Pellut. Simply put, three Shreveport friends jammed and a band was born. However, pegging Louisiana's POWER PELLUT as simply the end result of a mere jam session would be a near-criminal disservice. This trio feasts on sonic dissonance and regurgitates thick, plodding and devastatingly heavy songs with emphasis on volume, catharsis and discomfort. With more than a cursory tip of the hat to Unsane, Melvins, Black Sabbath, the Jesus Lizard, and Merzbow, POWER PELLUT is a tribute to the ugliness that surrounds and consumes us all: An exercise in despair in the form of a song. To date, they've shared bills alongside Black Cobra, Jucifer, Black Skies, Collapsar, Rwake and Bible Of The Devil, among others, with more shows in the works. POWER PELLUT's debut LPis available via I'M BETTER THAN EVERYONE RECORDS and features artwork by Glyn Smith(Scrawled). This will be an edition of 500 hand numbered, 180g vinyl. Records numbered 1-100 will be on turquoise vinyl and 101-500 will be in black. http://www.myspace.com/lonnietreyscott
http://www.imbetterthaneveryonerecords.com or http://www.myspace.com/imbetterthaneveryonerec(Earsplit)

IMPRIETY: Singapore's almighty maelstrom returns, possibly with their most furious release to date. IMPIETY are one of the world's most notoriously destructive bands, gaining that reputation over the course of their near 20-year existence. The band's incalculably destructive nature amalgamates insanely high-speed blasting, brutally-fast riff structures and relentless guttural torment, resulting in some of the most destructive blackened death metal on the planet. IMPIETY's 6th studio album - appropriately entitled Terroreign: Apocalyptic Armageddon Command - is arguably the band's most hellish bloodstorm of relentless rage to date. Dedicated to and based upon the pitiful scum that humans are, the album presents a grim look at man's final days on Earth. The album presents ten tracks in total, including an Intro and Outro exclusively provided by Holocausto Vengeance of Beherit! http://www.mightyimpiety.com (earsplit)

BLOODHORSE: You can now stream BLOODHORSE’s entire new record entitled Horizoner for free via Myspace! Horizoner officially came out on May 26th. Stream the entire Horizoner record here: http://tinyurl.com/Bloodhorse-Horizoner. Horizoner is still available with special package deals only available on the Translation Loss Records Webstore! Packages include the CD (gatefold digi) version as well as a limited edition double gatefold vinyl that comes in 4 colors and has an etching on the 2nd LP!

DARK CASTLE: DARK CASTLE will hit the road late May for a month in support of their debut full-length, Spirited Migration, out this week on At A Loss Recordings. The Floridian duo's eclectic, pentatonic, organic doom riffs and engaging live energy should be quite impressive alongside acts like Zoroaster, Mouth of the Architect, It's Casual and more over the coming month. http://www.myspace.com/darkcastlemetal

MARDUK: The situation with MARDUK not having performed during the first week of Blackenedfest is due to vocalist Mortuus not having received his visa yet. Note, it is not a "denied" visa. The band filed for a P-1 non-immigrant work visa, which is required for a band to play in the states. The visa was approved by the United States Government's Homeland Security Office. Furthermore, as required, the band members each individually went to their Visa appointments at the US Embassy in Stockholm for the standard interview, at which point the persons handling the band's applications informed the band that there was no further action needed and that they should expect their passports in the mail with the P-1 visa attached. Everyone in the band received theirs except Mortuus. The day before tour, while the rest of the band were at the airport awaiting to board their flights to the US, Mortuus returned to the embassy to inquire as to the location of his passport. At this point, he was informed that he was missing one document in order to finalize the visa. No one in the band, nor the label, was made aware of this missing form. After we were made aware of this missing document, we provided the document to the Embassy in Stockholm and we are currently awaiting each day for the Passport to be returned to Mortuus with the visa stamp. The Embassy is aware of the urgency of this matter and we expect the band to join the tour in progress any day now. We are hope to announce the arrival of the band soon. http://www.marduk.nu/

OBLITERHATE: Due to Derrick Ramirez’s (ex-Dragonlord/ex-Testament) hectic schedule, Terry Butler (Six Feet Under/ex-Death/ex-Massacre) will join the ranks of OBLITERHATE and has recently laid down all the bass tracks at Redneck Studios (owned by John and Donald Tardy of Obituary) for upcoming debut, Blessing In Disgust. Comments Terry Butler: “It's a great honor to be part of something with musicians of this caliber. I would like to thank Calvin for offering me the chance to play bass for OBLITERHATE. He has written some amazing tunes for this release! Describing the music I would have to say that it's very heavy and riffy. There's a good mix of thrash and death metal. The lead work is amazing, the drums are crushing and what else can I say - Dan Swanö on vocals! I had a lot of fun recording the bass for OBLITERHATE. The bass tracks were recorded at John and Donald Tardy's Studio - Redneck Studios. If anyone is looking to record, I highly recommend using Redneck Studios!” States OBLITERHATE guitarist Calvin Chiang: “Having such an amazing musician like Terry Butler be involved in OBLITERHATE was exactly what I needed for this band. Not only does Terry have the solid groove nailed down to perfection, his work attitude towards this entire project was more than spectacular! Both of us spent several weeks discussing the song structures and Terry treated the band like it was his own. He wanted to make sure he got every single note figured out before stepping into the studio. A true masterclass musician in every sense of the word! I would have no second thoughts to collaborate with Terry again if the opportunity arises in the future. John Tardy was responsible for tracking Terry’s bass tracks at their very own Redneck Studios, and I would like to thank John for the total professionalism shown throughout the entire recording and also for the patience in sending over the edited bass tracks. The bass tracks that were laid down sound huge and monstrous! I'm definitely very anxious to start working on the album again after a long delay.” http://www.myspace.com/obliterhate

CELAN: CELAN’s eagerly awaited debut album, Halo, will see a Sept. 1 US release via Exile On Mainstream Records. Featuring a who’s who of prominent experimental musicians including Unsane front man Chris Spencer, Einsturzende Neubauten/Redux’s keyboard player Ari Benjamin Meyers, flu.id’s Franz Xaver and Phil Roeder along with Oxbow guitarist Niko Wenner the quintet immediately sent tongues wagging and bloggers blogging when they posted a trio of tracks on their MySpace page (myspace.com/celanband) this winter. “I’ve always wanted to play in another band that’s different than Unsane,” explains Spencer. “Something more musically developed that is also able to exploit the raw noise from my neighborhood. The whole collaboration turned out better than I could have hoped.” Founded and based in Berlin, the outfit has a European tour plotted with a US run being starting in September 2009. Spencer and Meyers are currently working on the score to La Mute, a French hardcore gore film.

INCOMING CEREBRAL OVERDRIVE: In 2003, the band released a self-produced demo that helped break them quickly into the local show circuit and also in the media, earning the Top Demo from Metal Hammer Magazine and more. In August 2006 their debut album CEREBRAL heART (recorded at Fear Studio, mixed by Kurt Ballou) was released on Italian label Myphonic Records, gaining the band quite a bit of attention all over Europe. Now it's time for Controverso… the next evolution in ICO’s destructive lineage. Controverso represents a new impulse of uncontrollable nature. Constructed of eight tracks, the album evolves through a conscious musical growing, breathing with the innovative soul of Avant-garde music. Originating from the Mastodonic approach to the riff, wholly rooted in a hardcore attitude, and overall developing in something rather unique and multiform, their furious dynamics, searing vocals, 70s Italian Prog reminiscence, and psychedelic aesthetic show ICO’s will to experiment on continuously mutating song structures. Tracklist: 1. Reflections / 2. Oxygen / 3. Controversial / 4. Science / 5. Magic / 6. Sound / 7. Colours 8. There. Controverso will be released in September in a very limited edition packaging, hand-printed by Malleus, with colored LP and CD. http://www.incomingcerebraloverdrive.com

UFOMAMMUT: Coming soon…. The double LP limited edition, super deluxe, handmade edition of UFOMAMMUT’S massive Snailking release, printed by Malleus. Pressed on heavyweight 180-gram transparent wax, the record has been remastered for this version, resulting in a crushingly intense tone. This Snailking version is strictly limited to 100 copies and it's a "MUST HAVE" for any record collector. This version differs from the black vinyl version. Witness the beauty of this amazing pressing here: http://www.supernaturalcat.com/eng/snailking.html.

LENTO: LENTO’s organic earthmover Earthen will be repressed in very limited LP versions as well. There are only 200 pieces on black 180-gram vinyl, and a more limited version with 100 copies on red wax. All the packaging was designed and hand-printed by Malleus, of course. See the pressing coming to life here: http://www.supernaturalcat.com/eng/lento.html.

BETHLEHEM: Pre-order BETHLEHEMs-"A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear" for only $9.95 (postpaid in America) now from http://www.redstream.org! KRANK German Dark Metal re-make featuring Kvarforth from SHINING on shrieks and howls. These characteristic, unique and groundbreaking BETHLEHEM tracks (from the S.U.i.Z.i.D. sessions of '97-'98) have been re-manipulated, re-mixed and re-murdered with new disturbed dialogues in English! This was the start of "Kill Yourself" Dark Metal that's now specially updated for all haters. Prepare yourself for your sacrificial offering!!! The price above is our Special Special Pre-Order price! You are PRE-ORDERING Bethlehem's "A Sacrifical Offering..." CD which will be shipped on or before 6/12/2009! ** Please note the Official European release date is June 30th, where European customers will be able to find this album in stores directly.

TOURNAMENT: Years Old is the title of the new full-length record by Brooklyn, New York's TOURNAMENT. Like the title, equal parts dismal declaration and playful de-contextualization, the new album is both dark and raucously arousing. Recorded in January with Kevin Reilly Jr. at Melody Lanes Recording Studio and Last Stop Recording, Years Old is the follow-up to the band's 2007 debut EP Swordswallower, released on New York label Trip Machine Laboratories. TOURNAMENT show tremendous musical progression on their ten-track 180 gram 12”+CD, Forcefield Records debut. Featuring an unforgettable layout by Bill Adable, Years Old is louder, darker, and will take listeners on a drugged out roller-coaster ride of ear shattering feedback, stoner grooves, and oft kilter rock’n’roll sensibilities reminiscent to that of Karp, Rye Coalition, and Drive Like Jehu. http://www.myspace.com/tournamenttournament.

INFERNAL STRONGHOLD: Basically a D.I.Y. punk band that brandish venomous black metal ready for a streetfight, INFERNAL STRONGHOLD have represented the 2-1-5 Philly area with the "nothin but goats and blunts since 2002" mindset. The new album Godless Noise was recorded live over 2 days at Disgraceland. The album jams It's 10 tracks down your throat in just over 27 minutes. That doesn't mean that it is a grind record.... that means it's a fast one, with no bullshit at all. The band's only goal is to create honest, extreme music that pushes the limits of conveying evil, while living by the rule: Metal attitude sucks. http://www.myspace.com/infernalstronghold.

MASTER: From the Pulverised HQ in Singapore: It is our greatest pleasure to welcome one of the pioneering and oldest bands in death metal history to our roster: The legendary MASTER! States A&R Manager Calvin: "MASTER was and is still truly an influential band and I would daringly assume that a lot of the early extreme metal bands were somehow influenced by MASTER.... Paul Speckmann was really enthusiastic to join the Pulverised family and furthermore, very easy to work with. We hope that with our support on the upcoming new album, it will be MASTER's most devastating and crushing album yet!" Comments Paul Speckmann: “It's an honor and a pleasure to be signing with a real label like Pulverised Records. I really feel like this label will believe in MASTER like a label should. It's really been difficult to find a label that's willing to dedicate itself to a band like MASTER who incidentally has been surviving the underground since 1983. I certainly have confidence in Pulverised Records and hopefully we can bring the band along to the next level. Forget all the cheap imitators, there's only one MASTER consisting of Speckmann, Nejezchleba and Pradlovsky, so be forewarned. The soon to be recorded new CD will be as brutal as its predecessor. Look for speed, intensity and as always objective lyrical content. For myself, I certainly live through my music, it is certainly my muse.” Speckmann and co. are set to commence work on the new material for a full-length album in August and the new album should be completed at the end of 2009. More details and announcements will be made. MASTER will kick off their tour on 5th of June 2009 with two shows in Germany before proceeding for a 21-date American tour starting on 8th of July 2009 onwards. http://www.master-speckmetal.com.

OSI: In Blood, OSI have succeeded in creating a fascinating album at the crossroads between rock and progressive metal. Music that alternates between atmospherically dense and aggressively demanding elements, while effortlessly transcending barriers between different styles and genres. Following its impressive predecessors, Office Of Strategic Influence (2003) and Free (2006), Blood is the third release by Kevin Moore and Jim Matheos. OSI unites two exceptional composers who share their penchant for the unusual and are on the same artistic wavelength. “We have different musical tastes but an unspoken musical understanding" Moore enthuses.http://www.osiband.com.

ABSU: US black metal legends ABSU will tour the US for the first time in nearly 8 years on Candlelight Records' third North American label package tour. Set to kick off on June 6, CIII will feature ABSU, with support from French black metal troupe GLORIOR BELLI, Los Angeles-based SOTHIS and the recent addition of Pennsylvania thrashers RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER. The tour will visit 22 cities throughout the US and Canada beginning in San Marcos, California and wrapping up in Dallas, Texas on June 29. CIII follows the success of Candlelight's previous label tours — the first in 2005 featuring ENTOMBED, CROWBAR, PRO-PAIN and THE MIGHTY NIMBUS, and second in 2007 featuring ENSLAVED, DARK FUNERAL and then-newcomers ABIGAIL WILLIAMS. http://www.absu.us.

IN MOURNING:Touted as one of the Swedish metal scene's most promising new comers, Pulverised is pleased to announce the signing of melancholic metallers IN MOURNING for a two-album deal. The band has commenced work on their still-untitled second album and will once again enter Black Lounge Studio (Scar Symmetry, Carnal Forge, Steel Attack etc) with producer/engineer Jonas Kjellgren. IN MOURNING’s 2008 debut Shrouded Divine earned critical acclaim worldwide with its heart-wrenching melodic passages entwined with progressive elements and death metal aggression. Comments label manager Roy: “When I came across their debut album, I really loved what I heard and knew that we had to have IN MOURNING on our roster as not many bands of this particular genre could fascinate me the way IN MOURNING did. It was perfect timing when I found out that the band was just about to enter the studio to record their follow-up to Shrouded Divine. I quickly struck a deal with them and the rest is history. We are very excited to have them on our roster and cannot wait to hear the new album.” Adds the band: “Signing to Pulverised feels like a good ‘next step’ for the band and will hopefully bring our music to a broader audience. We are very pleased that Pulverised has given us this opportunity, and we think this will be a good collaboration. We're currently focusing hard on rehearsing and finishing up the material for our new album." http://www.inmourning.net.

IQ:With a 28-year history, IQ are widely regarded as one of the world’s most highly respected progressive rock bands. The group was formed in 1981 by guitarist Mike Holmes and keyboard player Martin Orford. They recruited bassist Tim Esau, later that year, followed by vocalist Peter Nicholls and drummer Paul Cook in 1982. The year 1982 saw the release of their first record Seven Stories Into Eight. Constant shows throughout the UK led to them becoming a regular fixture at London’s legendary Marquee Club. Their next album Tales from the Lush Attic was released in 1983, followed by the classic The Wake in 1985. Tensions within the band, plus a punishing live schedule, resulted in the departure of Peter Nicholls in 1985, at the end of a UK tour with Wishbone Ash. With new singer Paul Menel, the band headlined London’s Piccadilly Theater and secured a lucrative record deal with Phonogram. New studio albums Nomzamo (1987) and Are you Sitting Comfortably? (1989) were promoted by extensive European tours with Magnum and Mike and the Mechanics. The 1991 release of the live and rarities album J’ai Pollette d’Arnu” was a significant event as it was the first release on Giant Electric Pea, a new label founded by members and associates of IQ. 1991 also marked the return of original singer Peter Nicholls, as well as the arrival of John Jowitt as the band’s new bassist. With a stable line-up once more, IQ resumed live work in the UK, Europe, and North America while also writing new songs which would serve as the basis of the album Ever (1993). In 2005 Paul Cook left IQ after 23 years of service. He was replaced by Andy Edwards (ex-Robert Plant Band). Another line-up change followed in 2007 when Martin Orford left after 26 years to pursue a solo career. Mark Westworth (Darwin’s Radio) joined the line-up, and after a short tour in autumn of 2007, IQ set about completing work on their next studio album. 2009, sees the release of Frequency, IQ’s ninth studio album, a musical tour de force which finds the band still at the top of their game. The return of original drummer Paul Cook for this year’s live work ensures another exciting and memorable year for these popular and innovative prog rockers. Frequency will be released on June 2nd, 2009. http://www.iq-hq.co.uk.

HELLEWACHT:Cold, depressive sounds of total desolation, bleak and endless corridors of hatred. A road, that leads to nowhere. It doesn't Matter how you god there, there is no exit. No way out, just emptiness and pain... Raw and tormenting landscapes from the very depths of Belgian Underground. Hellewacht's "Euvele Daeden" is a trip towards the dark unknown. A path beyond Horizons and despair. Just take a step. Do it. Orders your copy for 10€ at: http://www.myspace.com/hellewacht.

DEVIN TOWNSEND:DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT To Release KI. In a world of increasing conformity and musical banality, Devin Townsend is among the few real personalities who have character, charisma and surprising innovative creativity. As a solo artist and producer, a member of the (by now disbanded) Strapping Young Lad, with whom he played Ozzfest and the main stage at the Download festival, and vocalist on Steve Vai’s album, Sex And Religion, – Townsend has always inspired fans and critics alike. The latest chapter of his extremely diverse career is entitled Ki and will be out in May/June 2009. “Ki is the first in a series of four albums under the moniker ‘Devin Townsend Project’. Each album is essentially a different band or collection of session musicians playing my music,” Townsend explains. “They were chosen based on what the theme of the album is and the vibe that the album is trying to project. The album Ki is very specific in this quartet of albums in that it controls its anger throughout, barring one song - ‘Heaven Send’ - and really is an exercise in having little to prove.” The most renowned project member on Ki is drummer Duris Maxwell (62), who has played with many acts, such as Heart, Jefferson Airplane, The Powder Blues, Tommy Chong and The Temptations. Maxwell even jammed with Hendrix. “I am very conscious of drummers and the energy they bring to the bands,” Townsend says. “I went to a blues club way up in the North of Canada and watched Duris. He has the vibe I wanted for the drums here: nothing to prove, but strong and a bit angry. Duris is an older cat but he’s heavy.” He is supported by bassist Jean Savoie. “Jean plays in a Beatles cover band and spent years playing the cruise ships all over the world. Name a style and he can jam it for hours. His technique is accomplished, and the fact that he had never played heavy music made him and Duris perfect for the project.” Dave Young is the keyboardist, and Townsend has been working with him for years: “He’s the most schooled musician out of all of us and can play any instrument. Keyboard players typically annoy the hell out of me, but Dave is more of an ambient musician and fills the spaces with fitting but unusual note choices simply by watching where I am on my fretboard.“ After an extremely difficult phase (“I quit many bad habits in my life after SYL ended. I felt depressed, angry and unhealthy and was not satisfied with living that way for the rest of my life. I quit all drugs, alcohol and a host of other addictions that were controlling me and my world”), Ki now sees him embark on an unmistakably new path. Although not overly aggressive, the album oozes a haunting intensity, a vitality which hides below a seemingly smooth surface. “Ki is a subtle, severe album, a challenge in some ways. The point to the music is that the whisper is louder than the roar in many ways. Ki is - on the surface - quiet and unassuming. Whenever it begins to lose its temper, it stops and doesn’t let go. It is avoiding that temptation, as that sort of anger is really gratifying but ultimately just leaves me unhappy. “In perfect unison with this thoroughly unusual, gripping and intelligent album, Townsend presents a three-dimensional cover artwork. As the music on Ki, the graphic design is also consciously multilayered. Townsend: “I live in the North of Canada and I believe that the native cultures of the world have it really down in terms of spirituality. Nature is ‘God’, in all its subtlety and terror. And we are all a part of it, whether or not we want to be. The mask on the cover is based on native North American and Chinese paintings. It is not authentic and is just meant to be two faces in one.” And what will the future bring? “When all four records in the DTP series are done and the ultimate box set is released at the end (eight records plus a DVD), I will play selected shows throughout the world. I will not climb into a van and play clubs in the middle of nowhere, though, I am going to assemble a sober team of incredible musicians to play ALL the records, perfectly, to many people. You will see me soon, and get ready for the next three records in the series; Ki is a subtle introduction to a sprawling theme. Please enjoy, it’s good to be back.” http://www.myspace.com/devintownsenddtb.

BLOOD TSUNAMI:Release Date: May 5, 2009. “BLOOD TSUNAMI kicks serious ass the same way vintage Kreator, Destruction and Testament,” said Decibel Magazine in review of BLOOD TSUNAMI’s highly acclaimed 2007 debut, Thrash Metal. Now returning with seven blistering new songs the Norwegian metallers, featuring among their ranks former Emperor drummer Bard “Faust” Eithun, have crafted even faster, darker and heavier titan tunes that really capture the essence of the thrash genre fans both old and new know and love. Formed in 2004, BLOOD TSUNAMI is an instant adrenalin shot of classic thrash. Reviving the long cherished vibe of both German and Bay Area scenes, the band bring a new modern approach to the fan favored genre. Two sparingly circulated demos is all it took before the band found themselves a growing fanbase, solid reputation and ultimately a deal with Nocturnal Art Productions (the label owned/operated by Emperor/Zyklon guitarist Samoth). Kerrang calls the band’s wicked metal mixture, “unstoppable pedal-to-the-metal old school thrash metal mayhem.” Recorded at Lion Heart Studios in Oslo, Grand Feast for Vultures was produced in cooperation by the band and Oyvind Larsen. Album packaging was rendered by Alex Horley. http://www.myspace.com/bloodtsunami.

HAVOK:Release Date: May 19, 2009. Thrash metal has seen a noted return to popularity over the last few years. Be it via reformations of tried-and-true artists like Testament, Exodus, and Death Angel, or the rise of a whole new crop of bands, the genre has successfully found renewed consumer focus. For Denver-based HAVOK, the release of their debut, Burn, is a celebration of years of hard work and dedication. Recorded in late 2008, Burn features 12 savage tracks that showcase the young band’s technical precision and musical creativity. Featuring artwork by upcoming illustrator Halsey Swain, Burn is a solid start for a promising band. HAVOK -- vocalist/guitarist David Sanchez, guitarist Shawn Chavez, drummer Ryan Bloom and bassist Jesse de Los Santos -- have been impressing their growing fanbase since their formation in 2004. Via two independent recordings, PWN ‘Em All and Murder By Metal, both quickly selling out , the band have reached audiences far outside their regional borders. Sanchez says of the band’s signing, “this is the break we’ve been working toward and now that it’s finally here, we’re more than ready to make the most of it. We are both psyched and humbled to be a part of the Candlelight roster.” http://www.myspace.com/havok.

SUSPERIA:Release Date: May 19, 2009. Passion has long been at the core of Norway’s SUSPERIA . Battling their way through obstacles that would crush lesser humans, their journey bears a musical heart that has year-after-year delivered onto their loyal and growing fanbase quality music that strikes with not only power but shines with their unique sense of melody. Attitude, the band’s latest album, again finds the band making unparalleled strides. With a new label and even stronger focus, the band hopes to reach a new level of success. Formed in 1998 by drummer Tjodalv (then of Dimmu Borgir) and guitarist Cyrus (then of Satyricon/Old Man’s Child), SUSPERIA released their debut, Predominance, in 2001. The much-acclaimed Vindication followed in 2003 and after signing with Norwegian indie label Tabu in 2004, the band quickly unveiled third album, Unlimited. Brave Words Bloody Knuckles called the album, “a scorcher from start to finish, on par with Testament classic The Gathering.” Commenting on the new album, vocalist Athera recently noted, “ten years and still the same five guys. We have worked nearly two years on this material, perfecting it for your pleasure and our devoted fans. It will take you back to the early days with melancholic riffing and dark emotional vocals. It’s a perfect blend of everything SUSPERIA has been and become.” Recorded at various studios during the later part of 2008, Attitude was mixed by Fredrik Nordstrom (In Flames, Meshuggah). http://www.susperia.net.

GLORIOR BELLI:Release Date: June 2, 2009. Metal Kult calls the music of France's GLORIOR BELLI "as darkly beautiful as it is gloom inducing." With their new album (first for Candlelight), Meet Us at the Southern Sign, the band look to build upon their already growing stateside fanbase. Their album finds release as the band embarks on their first American tour alongside labelmates Absu and Sothis. It will be their most extensive tour since their formation a an adventure they are looking forward to. Dating to 2002, Paris-based GLORIOR BELLI unveiled their first recordings in mid-2005. The album, Lavdate Dominvs, saw very little US distribution but it found the attention of inquisitive listeners. So much so that when their first proper stateside introduction came in 2007 (Manifesting the Raging Beast, Southern Lord), the band found a solid base in which to comfortably nestle their unique take on black metal. Fans are already anticipating MUATSS and with due merit. http://gloriorbelli.luxferous.com.

1349:Release Date: June 2, 2009. If ever there was a band to truly turn heads, Norway’s 1349 are more than up for the challenge. Since their inception, the band has not only shocked but impressed music fans with their theatric image, blistering speed and over-the-top ferocity. Their live shows have become legend as their rapidly growing fanbase and acclaim mounts. Now with album number four, the quartet once again go for the jugular but this time round with a twist. The intensity shifts revealing a sound of days past but with a modern and, of course, always sinister soul. Decibel Magazine once boldly said, "almost every corpse-paint commando in Scandinavia might as well pack up their shit and go home while they can." May we now lead you to door? From their beginnings 1349 have been touted as a band to watch. All Music Guide called them, "a band ripe with promise," in a review of debut, Liberation. The band, featuring always outspoken vocalist Ravn, guitarist Archaron with bassist Seidemann and studio drummer Frost (Satyricon), quickly took the metal world by storm and have not let go since. Committed to the stage, 1349 have been to the US five times in the last two years and plan to return again leaving no city untouched by their musical madness. http://www.legion1349.com/.

OBITUARYRelease Date: June 30, 2009. When OBITUARY announced plans to record a new album in early 2007, the metal world stood up and applauded. One of death metal’s crown jewels was returning and fans couldn't have been more enthused. The album, Xecutioner’s Return, delivered the goods as only OBITUARY could. Now, two years later, the band returns with eighth full-length Darkest Day. Signature in every way, the record proves the band gets even better with age. OBITUARY's core of brothers -- John Tardy (vocals) and Donald Tardy (drums) -- with guitarist Trevor Peres came together in 1984 forming what would become one of death metal's most successful and internationally respected bands. OBITUARY 2009 -- the Tardy brothers, Peres, guitarist Ralph Santolla and bassist Frank Watkins -- remains unwaveringly brutal. Said John Tardy about new CD Darkest Day, "It came out really sick and I cannot wait for you guys to hear it... it is heavy!" Added guitarist Ralph Santolla, "The new stuff is heavy, some of my favorite OBI riffs yet. Trevor's guitar sounds huge and menacing. If you like OBITUARY, you're gonna love this record." The band once again worked with artist Andreas Marschall, who created the art for The End Complete, Frozen In Time, and the group's last record, Xecutioner's Return. http://www.obituary.cc.

ANAAL NATHRAKH :Release Date: July 14, 2009. Based in Birmingham, ANAAL NATHRAKH formed in 1998. The band fuse traditional black metal with elements of industrial, grindcore and early-day death metal resulting in a one-of-a-kind soundscape that has earned them high acclaim from media and fans around the globe. Commenting on the new album, vocalist V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (Mistress, Benediction) reveals, “Constellation is faster, more insidious, more ominous, more musically dextrous and wilder than ever before. The album will feature a curve ball guest appearance from Zeitgeist Memento of Mexican extremists Republika.” According to the band’s official website, ANAAL NATHRAKH was created for one purpose: To be the soundtrack for Armageddon and the true spirit of necro taken to its musical extremes. The band has collaborated with such legendary figures as Attila Csihar (Mayhem), Shane Embury and Danny Herrera (Napalm Death), Nick Barker (Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth etc.), Joe Horvath (Circle of Dead Children), Sethlans Teitan (Watain) etc. http://www.anaal-nathrakh.tk.

BONE GNAWER:The American/Swedish collaboration BONE GNAWER, which features the legendary Kam Lee (Massacre/ex-Denial Fiend), Rogga Johansson (Paganizer), Ronnie Bjornstorm (Ribspreader, Hate Ammo) and Morgan Lie (Naglfar) is readying to unleash their debut album Feast Of Flesh. An early June 2009 release date is to be expected. To ease fans of their insatiable hunger for this crushing debut, Feast Of Flesh is currently streaming in its entirety at: http://www.myspace.com/pulverisedrecords and: http://www.myspace.com/bonegnawerband. The stream will be available for a limited time only. The record includes guest vocals from Killjoy of Necrophagia (on "Defleshed And Skinned"), Stevo do Caixao of Impetigo (on "Feast Of Flesh") and Dopi of Machetazo (on "Hammer To The Skull *).

THE NEW BLACK:Release Date: June 2, 2009. Recently signed to AFM, THE NEW BLACK will release their self-titled debut this June. Featuring former members of Sinner, Runamok, Abandoned or MCF, THE NEW BLACK play rock. Real rock; real heavy with all the requisite hooks, leads and riffs galore. Singer Fludid has been compared to “Zakk Wylde, James Hetfield and Phil Anselmo” (Rock Hard) and “sometimes even Mike Patton in a 'sane' state of mind” (Metal Hammer). The screams, the roaring, the harmonies, they’re all there, but most importantly, the guy can actually sing. Add to this shredding guitars, a well-developed sense of melody and a professional work ethic, and you get a solid piece of metallic rock. Fans of Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society, beware. Said Canada’s BW&BK magazine : “[This is] The Real Thing as opposed to the often disposable Next Big Thing. THE NEW BLACK makes it on sheer over-the-top delivery and very obvious love for the simple rock-driven life.” Germany’s Guitar took note of the “assured sense of style and passion,” while Metal Hammer simply stated: “Whoever said that bands can’t form their own sound anymore these days, should listen to this – and then shut up!” In Related News: Various US and European radio stations picked up on THE NEW BLACK, and the band -- unsigned at the time -- was asked to write the title track for an American road movie called Ballad Of Broken Angels. http://www.thenewblackofficial.de.

RAM:Release Date: June 19, 2009. AFM is proud to announce the signing of Gothenburg, Sweden-based traditional heavy metal troupe RAM. Featuring Morgan Pettersson, a former member of Swedish crossover metallers B-Thong, the band's second album, Lightbringer, is scheduled for release on June 19. A darker, more concept-oriented record than their more straight-forward debut, Lightbringer features guest vocals from E of Swedish black metal overlords Watain, Mexican poet Adelaida Caballero and and the band's longest song ever in "Suomussalmi (The Few Of Iron)," a RAM-epic based on the 1939 battle at Suomussalmi during the Finnish Winter War. The 10-track disc was produced by Johan Reivén (Transport League). Check out "Awakening The Chimaera,"(featuring Watain's E) on the band's MySpace page: . http://www.myspace.com/rammetal.

SHAKRA:The follow-up to 2007's critically-acclaimed Infected offering, Swiss hard-rockers SHAKRA unleash Everest. Featuring 12 tracks of powerful, passionate hard rock anthems that sound modern without denying tradition. Said Lords Of Metal, "Everest is a logical step in SHAKRA’s path, but more than that an appealing and honest hardrock album....Those who have a heart for melodic hardrock and heavy metal and the ones who can’t get enough of Edguy’s last album, should definitely give this album a shot." Check out the video for "Why" HERE: http://www.myspace.com/shakrarock.

TANKARD:Beer-soaked German thrash legends TANKARD recently released Thirst stateside to riotous applause. The album was produced again by band friend Andy Classen at his Stage One Studio. A video clip for "Stay Thirsty" will appear on the limited edition of the record. Formed in 1982 in the boiler room of the Matthäus Church, Frankfurt/Main, TANKARD first took the stage in 1983. In 1984 they released the first demo and two years later cult record Zombie Attack (Noise). The self-proclaimed "most ugly band in Germany" would move on to a worldwide musical crusade to implement the German Purity Law of 1516. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich are said to have commented on the band following a bar-hopping mission through Manhattan (and before deciding on an official name): "Hey, you guys sound like a mix of Tank and Discharge." Later, German language magazine Stern, in an article about the subculture of heavy metal wrote, "their music sounds like a train laden with beer tankards.... derailed!“ Whatever the case, and from whomever the quote, there's little doubt that TANKARD are indeed the founders of "Alcoholic Metal" and for that they are proud. Said Decibel magazine in a recent review of Thirst: "These Krauts love beer and fart jokes and zombies and they beat Municipal Waste to he whole 'part thrash' thing by a good 20 years AND they do it well..." http://www.tankard.info.

ELVENKING:Two Tragedy Poets (...And A Caravan Of Weird Figures) is the latest acoustic album from Italian power/folk metallers ELVENKING. Said the band in a statement: "The [making of] the acoustic album...was a hell of a ride...but in the end we reached the goal and we’re here...You can expect something unique, that's for sure! This album is an experiment for us; a journey in a world that was waiting to be explored." Since 1997, ELVENKING have been an active part of the European scene and have built a rapidly growing and cult fan-base which has seen them perform with ex Skyclad/Sabbat singer Martin Walkyier in the UK at Bloodstock Festival (in 2002) and around Europe in both their home country and Budapest where a strong set at the Sziget gathering one year had people talking for months. The band release the excellent Heathenreel debut in 2001, but this was only the beginning. Spreading mystic tales of fantasy and imagination to a wider audience, this album was awarded Album Of The Month in many magazines and proved that their mixture of epic power metal and frisky folk was capable of instantly grabbing attention. The band would release three more records, each more exceptional than the last. Two Tragedy Poets (...And A Caravan Of Weird Figures) finds ELVENKING exploring uncharted waters in a way only ELVENKING can. http://www.elvenking.net/index.htm.

MAGICA:Romanian female-fronted symphonic metallers MAGICA are back with the stunning Wolves & Witches. Their fourth full-length and second release for AFM, MAGICA continue to transcend the boundaries of melodic power metal with poise and precision. Classically trained vocalist Ana Mladinovici -- whose impressive resume includes time with the Marea Neagra philharmonic orchestra -- dominates the record with her enchanting words while remaining bandmates -- guitarist Bogdan Costea, keyboardist 6 fingers, bassist Sorin and drummer Hertz -- provide the complimentary headbanging brawn to bring it all to life. For fans of Nightwish, Edenbridge and After Forever. http://www.myspace.com/magicaband.

EXILIA:Newly signed to AFM, female-fronted Italian modern metal act EXILIA recently released fourth full-length My Own Army to North American shores. “This album is the heaviest record since the birth of Exilia,” said striking front woman Masha Mismane, in a statement. “We managed to unleash even more hidden talents of our great guitarist Alien and with the return of our great drummer Ale, there is no lack of power! After a lot of hard work on melodies and lyrics, I’m also very pleased with the outcome of my vocals. There are definitely unique elements within every song. I wanted to give them an edge whilst maintaining the original and true characteristics of EXILIA. Rock on!” The album was produced by Dave Chavarri (Ill Nino, Sepultura) and Masha Mysmane, mixed at Temple Studios in L.A. by Jeremy Blair (Fear Factory, Coal Chamber, Guns 'N Roses) and Jeff Hannanh (Black Light Burns) and mastered at Sterling Sound in NY by UE Nastasi (Walls Of Jericho, Pantera). http://www.exiliaweb.com.

EKTOMORF:Hungarian modern metallers EKTOMORF's latest studio album What Doesn't Kill Me... is the first EKTOMORF release on AFM Records. “This signing is a great new chapter in the band's career and we are very happy about it,” said founder/frontman Zoltán Farkas. EKTOMORF formed in 1993 in Mezökovacsházak, Hungary, a small city near the Romanian border, by Zoltán "Zoli" Farkas. Today, Zoli is the sole original member. The band is completed by guitarist Tamás Schrottner, bassist Szabolcs Murvai and drummer Jozsef Szakács. In 2003, the band joined forces with Danish producer Tue Madsen who helped the band find its sound. EKTOMORF's cutting lyrics revolve around Zoli's gypsy background and explore the horrors of discrimination, pain and anger. Their music combines the tenets of primal gypsy music with modern metal elements: Groovy, down-tuned guitar riffs and aggressive drums, supplemented by raw screaming vocals. Three years after their fantastic 2006 Outcast album (lauded on European soil as one of the most important neo thrash/hardcore releases of the year), EKTOMORF return with an album more potent than anything prior. Walls will fall, borders will crash and once again under the guidance of producer Tue Madsen. http://www.ektomorf.com.

SOUTHERN LORD:SOUTHERN LORD Joins TONES OF DEATH: Southern Lord Records is now a part of the Tones Of Death army, the most diabolic ringtone one stop around! Never thought a SUNNO))) ringtone was possible? Wrong! ! You'll also find ringtones from: BORIS, WINO, THORR'S HAMMER and more! Check it out and spread the word! http://www.tonesofdeath.com.

HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA:Julian Cope at Head Heritage [http://www.headheritage.co.uk/addressdrudion/120/2009/] remarked on HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA's recently released album The Politics Of The Irredeemable: "That I’ve been meditating to the inhuman sounds of The Politics Of The Irredeemable by HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA probably says more about the current workings of my mind than any useful comment about the music of the band itself. However, if you also find your sleep suffering from 100,000 thoughts downloading every moment, please try this exquisitely epic (and obliterating) sonic journey through landscapes of burnt out Black Metal, and onwards trudgefully past a Burke Shelley rehearsal and fallen statues of the Doom God Dubin, through a Wodenist environment wherein tortured vocalists serenade crows and tree-impaled musicians set off Nadja samples to long-rotting corpses. It’s not for Casuals maybe. But I’ve always been a sucker for a Hieronymus Bosch pic, and this new album on the excellent Crucial Blast Records is a sonic Dead Ringer for that Dutch painter dude. Besides, any ensemble this Cunted that manages/needs to quote R.D. Laing, Jared Diamond and the Iron Cross-wearing Dakota Sioux chief Big Soldier has gotta be worth paying attention to. Damn."http://www.myspace.com/thehumanquenaorchestra.

NACHTMYSTIUM: NACHTMYSTIUM: Chicago psychedelic black metallers NACHTMYSTIUM recently confirmed an endorsement with Moog Music! Said the band on their official MySpace page: "We look forward to adding to the arsenal some new pedals and synths from this excellent company." NACHTMYSTIUM started using Moog synthesizers and effects pedals with the Worldfall recording and have used them on both the Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. I full-length and the brand new EP Doomsday Derelicts. "We're very honored to now have a direct endorsement from the company whose instruments and effects pedals have helped create the modern NACHTMYSTIUM sound." http://www.myspace.com/nachtmystium.