Pomegranate Tiger je kanadska instrumentalna progresivna metal zasedba, ki bo 7. septembra izdala že svoj tretji dolgometražec z naslovom All Input Is Error. Trenutno si lahko pogledate kar dva nova videospota, in sicer za skladbi Dagger Dance in Devils to Ourselves.

Nemški death metalci Hallucinate predstavljajo komad Black Smokers s prihajajočega prvenca From the Bowels of the Earth, ki bo 4. avgusta izšel pri založbi Caligari Records.

Ameriški black metalci Uada sporočajo, da so se razšli s kitaristom Jamesom Sloanom. Več lahko preberete v uradni izjavi banda:

»Uada has officially parted ways with guitarist James Sloan. After receiving consecutive accounts and admittance of misconduct, we have decided to let James go. It is of utmost importance that we protect ourselves, the band, and most of all, the fans. After recently learning about years of manipulation, lies, deceit, abuse, and sexual harassment towards many different people, we feel that we have made the absolute best decision in moving forward without him.

Our thanks and appreciation go out to everyone who has come forward and provided proof about this situation. Please know that UADA will never stand for this type of behavior and that our only agenda here is music and the spirit of its creation. Unfortunately, due to these circumstances, we are now forced to cancel our appearances in Tasmania and Australia next month, but we hope to make it up to the fans down under as soon as we possibly can.

Thank you for your understanding and our deepest apologies to anyone who may have been hurt because of these actions.

Sincerely,
Jake, Nate, and Josh.«

V petek je ameriški enočlanski black metal band Kostnatění izdal svoj drugi dolgometražni album Úpal, ki ga lahko preverite na Bandcampu.

Britanski death metal band Ageless Summoning, v katerem delujejo člani Abyssal, Of Spire & Throne, Black Talon, Belliciste, Haar in Scordatura, predstavlja komad Epoch of Souls s prvenca Corrupting the Entempled Plane. Naslovnico albuma je naslikal Paolo Girardi. Album bo izšel 21. julija pri Dark Descent Records in prinaša naslednje komade:

Usurper of the Void
Descent from the Infinite
Epoch of Souls
Among the Worms
Corrupting the Entempled Plane
Incarnate Nothingness
Toward the Fractal Absolute
Retribution Eternal
Invocation
Salvation in Ash

In Element so argentinska melodic death metal/metalcore zasedba, ki je lani decembra obiskala Ljubljano kot predvozač Brazilcem Krisiun in legendam Nile. Med nastopom je frontman zasedbe med publiko razdelil nekaj CD-jev, od katerih je eden pristal v naših rokah. Gre za bandov četrti dolgometražec po vrsti, izdan leta 2018, ki lahko postane vaš, če nam znate povedati njegov naslov. To storite tako, da se udeležite naše aktualne nagradne igre.

Nemški death metalci Hallucinate s komadom AION napovedujejo prvenec From the Bowels of the Earth, ki bo 4. avgusta izšel pri založbi Caligari Records. Omenjeni album obsega naslednjih devet komadov:

A Universe Obscure
Blackened Gills
Black Smokers
Mahavishnu's Dream instrumental
Paracletus
Tachycardia
AION
Crimson Rain
Dying Consciously

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

Pred časom smo že poročali, da so melodični death metalci The Agonist iz Kanade odpovedali nastop na letošnji ediciji festivala MetalDays. Sedaj pa je iz tabora zasedbe tudi odjeknila vest, da je uradno prenehala z delovanjem. Več si lahko preberete v spodnji izjavi:

Dear friends, it's time to make a very difficult but necessary announcement.
We have decided that The Agonist as a band, has come to an end. Much deliberation and care has been put into making this decision, and unfortunately, given the circumstances, this is the conclusion that makes the most sense for the band and us as individuals.
There are many factors that led to this decision. It is a mix of personal, financial and industry related issues, but in the end the 5 of us are no longer able to agree on a way forward that would benefit The Agonist business as a whole, while respecting each member's personal lives and wishes.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to the fans for coming out to the shows, buying our merch, and supporting us over the years. Nothing is more satisfying than connecting with our fellow human beings via the gift of music. It is the number one factor that has always driven us- to make you, the listener, feel something. In the end, we know that we've accomplished this together.
Some members of the band will continue to work on music in various ways, others will focus on personal projects and family. We kindly ask you to respect their privacy on this particular matter and encourage you to follow them on their individual social media accounts to support their future endeavors.
Vicky Psarakis will be carrying on with her band, Sicksense. They have a new EP coming out this summer and she will be playing 2 live shows with them in Montreal, in June.
You can also directly support her by following her on Patreon and Twitch.
Simon McKay is currently looking to join a new band full-time, while offering session work for studio and live gigs. Also, keep an eye out for new music coming soon from his solo project.
Chris Kells will be focusing on his career as a videographer. Since 2015, he has directed all of The Agonist's music videos, as well as many other established bands.
Danny Marino is currently writing music for 2 new projects.
Pascal "Paco" Jobin will be releasing new music with his project Leading the betrayed.
Our US-based merch store with Sound Escape Agency will remain open. We have also put together an EU-based store for our European fans. Inventory is final and there will be no restocks. Proceeds will go directly to the band to help us pay off our remaining debt.
Once again, we thank you and we love you.
»We will survive. At the end of the tunnel there's always a light.« - The Agonist

Ameriški enočlanski black metal band Kostnatění je objavil skladbo Rukojmí Empatie kot drugi single s prihajajočega albuma Úpal. To bo njegov drugi studijski album, izšel pa bo 26. maja pri založbi Willowtip Records.

Ameriški blackened thrasherji All Hell in Nate Garnette (Skeletonwitch) so posneli besedilni videospot za komad Black Leather Wings. Ta je del polvečerca All Hail the Night, ki ga lahko poslušate spodaj.

Nizozemski progresivni death metal veterani Phlebotomized predstavljajo single Destined to Be Killed s prihajajočega albuma Clouds of Confusion, ki bo 26. maja izšel pri Hammerheart Records.

Bury My Heart
Alternate Universe
Lachrimae
Desolate Wasteland
Destined to Be Killed
Pillar of Fire
Bury My Heart Reprise
Death Will Hunt You Down
A Unity Your Messiah Pre Claimed
Dawn of Simplicity
Context Is for Kings (Stupidity and Mankind)

Američani Whythre bodo konec maja izdali album z naslovom Impregnate my Hate, ki prinaša naslednje komade:

Scorchbreath
Impregnate My Hate
Can't Escape This
Scorpions of Sinai
C Section S1urpee
Death Frontier
Tantric Aspects of the Cross
Immanence
Run It Red

Po tem, ko so pred kratkim turnejo odpovedali White Ward, je ista usoda doletela blackened death metalce 1914 iz Ukrajine. Upamo, da se stvari umirijo in nas bo zasedba lahko obiskala letos poleti na festivalu Črna Loka. Sledi bandova izjava za medije:

»Many of you could have been noticing a recent wave of European tours cancellations by UA bands. Unfortunately, 1914 is not an exception here. With heavy hearts we must inform you that we cannot play for our fans this April and have to cancel our upcoming tour.

Just to make it clear, it is still a 'wartime' on the territory of our land, and this specific time makes it impossible to leave the borders by the men of a conscript age. How could we travel last year? It was possible to get a special permission from the state authorities for the artists to leave the country and do shows and other activities in order to aid the country and spead the truth about unprovoked and brutal war started by russia. There were some irresponsible people who used such permissions to leave the country and never come back, and after it became public and went through a media - the state authorities stopped granting the special permissions for the artists by artificially overcomplicating the process of getting all the necessary documents, by enlarging the list of the documents and making it impossible for bands to obtain what is needed. This affected a lot of different bands in UA.

Last couple of weeks for us were in a constant fight with that new stupid system trying to show that we had a positive experience of returning back home after foreign tours, trying to display the value of such tours for our country benefit, but no matter how hard we tried - we couldn't break that system and it made impossible for us to go and play this time. We want to apologize to our fans, other bands, promoters, but currently we are powerless here. We will work hard to be able to get to our other shows this year, maybe the ice will melt and we will see some easement in the future, but currently we just did everything we could.

Міністерство культури та інформаційної політики України - Thank you for nothing!«

Ukrajinska post/black metal zasedba White Ward je bila zaradi situacije v Ukrajini žal primorana odpovedati vse načrtovane nastope in turneje. Spodaj lahko preberete izjavo banda:

»Dear friends,

With a heavy heart, we need to inform you that our April tour is canceled. Last 2 weeks we fought for the fate of the tour. We tried all the possible ways, but the system proved to be stronger.

So, let's make it clear about what happened and about the reasons for the cancellation.

Right now “wartime” restrictions are applied in Ukraine, and they include limitations for men in ages 18-60 to cross the border, because it is a range when men are available for military service. So, there is a need to get special permission from state authorities to travel out of Ukraine. During the year 2022 the Ministry Of Culture helped Ukrainian musicians and different artists and assisted in acquiring such permits (for a limited time) and that is why we, and many other bands, were able to play in Europe last year.

But a working algorithm that allows to control the “way back” was not created and responsibilities related to the violations of the permission terms - were nowhere written. And that is why some impudent people just used this opportunity to run out of Ukraine and decided not to come back. Very few cases are known, but after the last one, which raised a lot of noise and dissatisfaction in the media, the Ministry Of Culture decided to implement immediate changes and new rules, even for artists who have already sent a request for permit weeks before an accident - we have sent such request on February, 20th. That is the reason why many Ukrainian bands like Schizogen, Bezlad, The Hypnotunez, Kazka, and many more have already canceled or almost canceled their tours. Some bands were affected when they were already at the border and shows should take place the next day, but due to new rules, they were not allowed to leave Ukraine!

The new rules suppose some additional documents to a request. In our case, every member of the band has his own difficulties in acquiring that, even with an immediate start - there is no guarantee that the process will be successful and accomplished in time. Also, that is anyway not a guarantee that the request will be approved - our colleagues` request was refused even with all the requested documents. So, we just can't get this permission and it is over.

We have tried everything, and the media noise was our last hope. But it hasn’t worked, unfortunately. Months of work, preparations, money - all this is now in vain.
We sincerely apologize to our fans, promoters, and everyone who helped us with this tour. We hope that one day we will make this tour real, and you will wait for us. We will still try to figure something out before Hellfest and August festivals, but no new tour announcements till the end of the war will be made.

But, the one and only responsible for this is russia. They broke everything by invading our country, killing our children, bombing our cities, destroying our culture, and applying all fascist methods to destroy us and we will never forget what they DID and are still DOING!«