Deathcorovci Chelsea Grin sporočajo, da je vrzel na bobnarskem stolčku zapolnil Josh Miller. Zasedba se je pred kratkim razšla z bobnarjem Pablom Viverosom in tako je nov polnopravni član zasedbe postal Josh. Izjava banda:

»We hope everyone has been doing well; we have some updates. We have parted ways with our fill-in drummer, Nathan Pearson. We sincerely value his friendship, as well as his devotion to furthering his craft and bringing his all to the stage. We truly look forward to watching his drumming career continue to blossom and advance, and value his time with us.

Furthermore, the band and Pablo have mutually agreed to separate. Pablo is one of our oldest friends, the life of the party, a masterful player, and a powerful creative. After Pablo spent some years away from the band, we all came together and realized that personal visions had diverged through time. We will always wish the very best for him, and seriously value all that he brought not only to the band, but to our lives. Nothing but tremendous love for him, always. We also encourage everyone to show support for him, Jaek and Alex’s new band, Ameonna.

Moving forward, we are proud and excited to announce that Josh Miller will be joining Chelsea Grin. It goes without saying that the future is bright – you will hear it in our music and witness it in our performances.

We keep very much to ourselves at this stage in our lives, but when we check in we want each of you to know that you are deeply and sincerely valued – we are so grateful for the opportunity to do what we love. We cannot wait to bring more of our vision to you all. Thank you for the years of support and love, and we will see you on our current tour supporting Fit For A King.«

SHADOHM je nova moderna poljska metal zasedba, ki jo je ustanovil bobnar Paweł "Pavulon" Jaroszewicz. 8. marca bo pri Selfmadegod Records izšel bendov debitanski studijski album Through Darkness Towards Enlightenment, na katerem bodo ti komadi:

Through Darkness
⁠Blurred
⁠Fair Weather Friend
⁠Ripped Apart
Towards Enlightenment

Legendarni Mercyful Fate so se razšli z basistom Joeyjem Vero. Zamenjava zanj še ni znana. Spodaj si lahko preberete izjavo Kinga Diamonda:

»Our friendship and respect for each other will always remain the same, and we all sincerely wish each other the absolut best for the future.«

Nemški heavy metalci The Night Eternal sporočajo, da je band iz osebnih razlogov zapustil Jones Nühlen.

»Unfortunately we have to inform you that Jones decided to part ways with The Night Eternal due to personal reasons. We‘re still good friends, so there‘s no bad blood and we respect his decision. Being a founding member, Jones was notorious for his catchy bass lines through all of our releases so far and we want to thank him sincerely for the great times we had.
There‘s a last chance to catch The Night Eternal with its original line-up on stage at Endzeit Festival on January 27th, so give Jones the honor and get your tickets!
For THE SATANIC PANIC TOUR starting on February 1st, our good friend Jannik will take over the bass duties.«

Nemška zasedba Paradox se vrača z napovedjo novega albuma Mysterium. Album naj bi izšel še letos pri založbi AFM Records, točen datum izida pa še ni znan. Spodaj pa si lahko preberete izjavo Charlyja Steinhauerja:

»Friends and fans,
I had a dream. I wanted to start together with AXEL BLAHA, with whom I founded PARADOX in 1981, and end together again at some point. Unfortunately, that is no longer possible because he has said goodbye to this world.
In all these years, AXEL was the only musician who worked with me the way you have to, to achieve a goal. We never danced around at multiple weddings and were always loyal to one band. PARADOX! This was the only way the two classics “PRODUCT OF IMAGINATION” and “HERESY” were possible.
I miss him very much and it is very difficult for me to move on without him, but anyone who knows me knows that giving up is not an option for me.
Not even after 43 years and that's why I can tell you, that I have composed a new PARADOX album, which will hopefully be released worldwide this year via AFM RECORDS. The album will be called “MYSTERIUM” and will contain all the trademarks a Paradox fan wants.
The special thing about “MYSTERIUM” is that I composed all the songs and played all the instruments myself, because I will never again work with project-hungry musician whores who play a few notes on an album but otherwise have nothing to do with PARADOX, or none maintain contact with his colleagues. Unfortunately, this runs like a common thread through the entire career and is the main reason why PARADOX was never able to really get off the ground. To do this you need musicians who work together and pursue a common goal.
It should also be a warning to all young musicians and new bands who want to achieve something with their band. You can find out more about this in the numerous interviews for the new album. You should definitely read this!
I will also be responsible for the mix and the entire production.
The lyrics are written by ACHIM “DAXX” HOEMERLEIN (ex-Vendetta), who also wrote the lyrics for “TALES OF THE WEIRD” and “PANGEA”.
TRAVIS SMITH (Opeth/Nevermore etc) is currently working on the artwork.
“MYSTERIUM” is a very heavy album and contains 10 songs with a playing time of 51 minutes. Dedicated to AXEL BLAHA, my best friend and co-founder of PARADOX!
Cheerz!
Charly«

Sporočamo, da je umrl basist Mike »M. S.«, član nemške black metal zasedbe Groza. Mike je bil njen član od leta 2018. Naj počiva v miru. Izjava banda:

»With the heaviest of hearts we announce the passing of our brother and bass player, Mike "M.S." after a prolonged battle with illness. We will forever remain greatful for his friendship, passion and commitment for the band as well as all the great times we had spent with him. He will always be part of the collective.

Our hearts are with his family, friends and everyone who had the privilege to know him. Please respect our wish to be able to grieve in privacy during these incredibly difficult times.«

Ameriški stoner/doom metalci Demons My Friends iz Teksasa bodo 8. septembra preko Gravitoyd Heavy Music izdali prvenec z naslovom Demons Seem To Gather. V posluh z napovedanega albuma že ponujajo video za svoj drugi single z naslovom Ghosts of You.

Ameriški stonerji Nebula napovedujejo plošček Livewired in Europe. Ta zajema devet pesmi na vinilu in tri dodatne bonus komade na CD-ju, ki so bili posneti na Švedskem in Nizozemskem v okviru bandove letošnje turneje Transmission From Mothership Earth European Tour 2023. Tracklista:

na vinilu:
stran A
Man's Best Friend
Down The Highway
Out Of Your Head
Highwired

stran B
Giant/Clearlight
Full Throttle
Aphrodite
Messiah
Let It Burn

na CD-ju:
Man's Best Friend
Down The Highway
Out Of Your Head
Highwired
Giant/Clearlight
Full Throttle
Aphrodite
Messiah
Let It Burn
Transmission From Mothership Earth (bonus)
Let's Get Lost (bonus)
Warzone Speedwulf (bonus)

Bliža se konec tedna in veliko nas komaj čaka na koncert Psychonaut 4 in Morost v Menzi pri Koritu. Že ob napovedi koncerta so domači Morost obljubili, da bodo pripravili poseben nastop, zdaj pa so nam postregli z nekaj podrobnostmi:

»For the first time in Ljubljana, Morost will be joined on stage by our friend and fellow musician Dudec on Saxophone. Together we will perform an unreleased song Devour Thine Light and a song from our first album Solace in Solitude. In addition to this, we will premiere a totally new song called Volčji Gon.«

Cena vstopnic znaša v predprodaji 22 EUR in 25 EUR na dan dogodka.

Avtor fotografije je Tadej Pišek.

Nemški progresivni death metalci Alkaloid sporočajo, da so se razšli s kitaristom Dannyjem Tunkerjem. Spodaj lahko preberete celotno izjavo banda:

»We are sad to announce that Danny Tunker left Alkaloid almost 2 years ago. After going through some profound personal tragedies which had little to do with the band, he decided to adjust course and step away to focus on other endeavours. There was no drama and we all support his decision.

After some time for reflection, we decided to make this new album with the four of us. There was plenty of material as always, and we are delighted to have one of Danny's songs on the album at least. It's one of our more insane tracks, and we look forward to sharing it with you all soon!

Danny will be sorely missed. We remain good friends, wish him the best of luck in his new incarnation, and of course hope to work together again in the future in whatever form.«

Organizatorji festivala Tolminator iščejo prostovoljce! V kolikor vas to delo zanima, se lahko do 7. julija prijavite prek spletnega obrazca.

»We know that many of you might not have enough budget to attend the festival, so this option might be perfect for you! As it's the first edition, we surely need as much help as we can get! Wanna volunteer? Just fill up the form on the link below! Deadline is July 7th 2023, spread the news to your friends as well! Thanks!«

Ekstremneži Pestilence sporočajo, da jih je zapustil basist Joost van der Graaf. Zasedba trenutno še išče njegovo zamenjavo, spodaj pa si lahko preberete celotno izjavo banda in Joosta.

»First off: family comes first, always!! Too bad this day had to come, because we were a very solid team and we will surely miss our good friend Joost van der Graaf. We respect his decision to spend more time with his family. Awesome he is offering to fill in from time to time, if needed.

Danski thrasherji Demolizer s komadom Warmonger napovedujejo svoj drugi celovečerni album Post Necrotic Human. Plošček bo izšel 7. julija pri Mighty Music na vinilu in digitalno. Tracklista:

stran A:
Post Necrotic Human
Fascist State
The Butcher
Crossfire
Sarnarth

stran B:
Killing A Friend
Day After Day
The Wheel
Capital Punishment
Warmonger

Nemški melodični death metalci Kambrium so se razšli s kitaristom Maximilianom Wernerjem. Zasedba je trenutno v fazi snemanja novega albuma. Spodaj lahko preberete izjavo banda v celoti:

»Dear Kambrium fans, today we would like to contact you with an important announcement. Maxi and Kambrium will now go their separate ways. It was a difficult decision for all of us, but we strongly believe that this is the right step for us to continue to grow and explore new musical paths.

Maxi was a constant part of Kambrium. His talent, commitment, and energy have shaped our music and shows in a significant way and accompanied us on many memorable journeys. We are grateful for the years we spent together and will carry the memories we made together forever in our hearts.

Although Maxi will no longer be part of the band, we want to emphasize that our friendship remains and remains strong. We've been through so much together and been through so many highs and lows together that we're sure our connection goes beyond music. We will continue to stay in touch, support each other and look for new adventures in our respective musical projects. Maybe you'll even see Maxi at our merch stand.

For Kambrium, this change is also a chance to reinvent ourselves. We are already working on the next album and are looking forward to enthralling you with our music in the near future. We are very grateful for your support and hope you’ll join us on this new chapter of our journey.

At this point we would like to thank Maxi again from the bottom of our hearts. You'll always be a part of the Kambrium family and we wish you all the best on your journey ahead.«

Organizatorji legendarnega festivala Bang Your Head sporočajo, da se je ta za vedno poslovil. Več podrobnosti lahko preberete v izjavi organizatorja:

THAT WAS IT! Hello friends, it is with a heavy heart that we are writing these lines. But there is no other way. We really gave and did everything we could to finally catch up with celebrating the big BANG YOU HEAD!!! anniversary in 2023, and eagerly anticipated this summer like no other. But: We alone, unfortunately, did not have control over creating the circumstances needed to set up an event of this caliber with the requirement to quality connected to the name BANG YOUR HEAD!!! and actually make it happen. A lot changed in the past three years and not a lot of it was and is good. All in all, it can and must be said: The whole scene changed, and the preconditions for organizing an open-air event in Balingen are completely different in 2023 than they were in 2019 – also from an economic perspective. All in all, we thus come to the conclusion, even if it is incredibly sad, that there are too many factors and forces working against us, and pushing through to organize an event at any cost would cause more losses for us and others involved than putting an end to it now. And this is how it is now: The BANG YOUR HEAD!!! 2023 can and will NOT take place. Due to the abovementioned reasons which we can’t describe in further detail due to reasons that are hopefully understandable, there is no viable path that we can take responsibility for aside from calling off the big anniversary party in Balingen. We hope for your understanding and thank everybody from the bottom of our hearts that supported us, believed in us, and kept their tickets or even bought new ones. Especially for you we tried everything to finally raise the BANG YOUR HEAD!!! flag again over the Swabian Alb, but it seems like it was not meant to be. And to make sure to avoid any potential misunderstandings: There will be no more BANG YOUR HEAD!!! festivals in the future. This was it. Because we know that many of you waited for the BYH!!! this year with immense anticipation, we intensely tried to come up with a way to marginally make up for the cancellation of the event. So, we had an idea for a ticket exchange to the ROCK OF AGES festival 2023 which you can read up on in the detailed statement on www.bang-your-head.de. Of course, we will also reimburse the purchasing price to everybody who would like to return their tickets – irrespective of which of the past years the tickets for 2023 were purchased. We will inform you about the detailed process shortly through our channels. We want to thank you once again for your support at all 24 festivals and we would be thrilled to greet you as part of the LOYAL ONES in Seebronn on 28th June! Stay heavy! Horst and the BANG YOUR HEAD!!!-Team