Metal

Polish death metal legends VADER have announced the release of their new studio album, »The Empire«. The follow-up to their highly-acclaimed 2014 album, »Tibi Et Igni«, was recorded at Hertz Studios in Bialystok, Poland and produced by Wojtek and Slawek Wiesawski. Record Label: Nuclear Blast Style: Metal

digipak. Dissonance Recordings are finally making available again the 1990 EP "Insanity Addicts" by the UK cult thrash metal act SLAMMER. The band was a lesser known player in a lesser known scene, but their music was certainly up to the standards of their American and German counterparts. We may have lost Slammer from the scene, but this EP, and follow up full length are reminders of what we are missing. Record Label: Dissonance Style: Trash Metal

digipack. Featuring members of Albatross and Killibrium, PRIMITIV unearth a form of music that can only be called primitive. One of the most active bands in the live circuit around the country, Primitiv lay to waste posers peddling anything less than catastrophically heavy like they do. Sounding humongous, the music plods powerfully, each step creating shock waves, as the legendary vocalist of the Indian metal scene, Nitin Rajan, growls like a thundering beast. Reverberations of his voice tear through the heart of those residing in his earthly kingdom. Primitiv's debut is about the creation of mankind, amidst dominating creatures, and its ponderous progression towards damnation. The music is as morbid, crude and old school as it can get, and at the same time, it marks a cyclic evolution for the genre as a whole, as it retraces the roots of the genre and sets out afresh to carve a path that's only half as familiar - a second life given to the genre of death metal, set in the primal proto-death/doom period, but finding relevance today in the soulless mechanical era. This is where pure brute force meets suspenseful exploration, and gives new hope for the future of the style. Record Label: Transcending Obscurity Records Style: Death Metal

In the year 2003 two brothers Anssi (voc.+ gtr) and Ossi (drums) started to play together some angry-finnish-metal. Everything began with cover songs and pretty quickly first own songs started to come out. Later a bassist and a second guitarist joined in and something explosive had been born. After furious training first demo "Verisuot" came out and few other demos was released in 2005-2011. Years elapsed and some members left the band, but in 2013-2015 the band was complete again, when Sami starts at bass and Make at 2nd Gtr. This crew started to work the band's first full-length album immediately. So an album called "Oksat pois... ja osa latvuksista" is released November 11th via Inverse Records. The album mostly includes re-recorded older pieces. Record Label: Inverse Style: Metal

Mithras' fourth full-length album, 'On Strange Loops', is the band's first album proper in almost ten years, and sees the UK's foremost experimental extreme metallers raise the bar to a whole other level. The band's signature sounds are all present across the album's 56 minutes: Leon Macey's mind-bending, ethereal solos creep in and out when you're least expecting them, and his insanely fast blastbeats and crushing drums underpin Rayner Coss' otherworldly vocals and lurking bass; in essence, 'On Strange Loops' delivers everything that can and maybe should be expected from a band of Mithras' stature – and then some! And the 'some'? There's a mastery to the song-writing on this fourth instalment that (and the band agrees) surpasses everything they've released over the past two decades – the musicality and attention to the smallest of details leaves absolutely nothing to chance, and 'On Strange Loops' should satisfy the most wide and varied of musical palettes... It came as a blow to Leon Macey when Rayner Coss decided to leave the band just over a month before the album was due to be finished, apparently deciding he could no longer find the time to learn the lyrics or practice basslines. So 'On Strange Loops' is the last Mithras release to feature Rayner Coss. This revelation saw Coss put in a rare and last live performance for the band at London's Incineration Festival in May before he decided to leave prior to any further shows. Despite the turbulent times, Macey continued mixing and mastering the album at Dreaming Studios – giving it a truly massive-sounding production, while he solidified a live line-up to make sure the band could keep their live commitments - including an appearance at the Czech Republic's prestigious Brutal Assault Festival - without Coss. Completing an album as ambitious as 'On Strange Loops' alone was challenging enough, but it soon became clear that positive things could and would manifest from the negative situation Macey found himself in, and with their new line-up the band is now better placed than ever to support the release. Looking at the song-titles in hindsight, perhaps Macey had some sort of premonition...Stranger things have happened. Record Label: Galactic Records Style: Metal

Record Label: Pure Steel Style: Metal

The debut by these Danish shooting stars clearly has been influenced by acts such as LACUNA COIL, HALESTORM and BRING ME THE HORIZON! The limited double digipak boasts a bonus DVD! Record Label: Nuclear Blast Style: Metal

6-piece avantgarde extreme metal band from Zory, Poland, formed for more than 20 years in 1993. "No Way Out" is the band's 6th album and debut on ToT records. Professional done video available before the release date. Full world-wide promo campaign, promo pack reached out to important physical and digital media in the scene. Shared stage with bands like Behemoth, Kampfar, Furia, etc. Released in 6pp deluxe digipak with epic artwork and 16 page booklet. FOR FANS OF: Enslaved, Arcturus... Always changing, always evolving. Poland has long been at the forefront of the extreme metal scene, and Eternal Deformity have been testing its limits since the mid 90s. From the doom- and Gothic-slanted leanings of their early material to the circus-themed nightmare of Frozen Circus and sympho-blackened traits of The Beauty Of Chaos, this group have drawn from the widest of infuences in their continual search for new boundaries. To quote vocalist Przemyslaw Kajnat on their sound: "Some people tried to describe it as "art death" or "prog gothic metal". These opinions display both the variety of our ways of expression and the great number of sources that inspire us in the process of creation. However, the musicians have never forgotten about their roots."Artistic yet extreme, Eternal Deformity's new album No Way Out is in some ways a blend of the elements above, but this is no retread. The sound is as fresh as ever, with Kajnat delivering a range of demented blackened snarls and Arcturian cleans. "Esoteric Manifesto" opens with an almighty stomp before later swirling in a maelstrom of bombastic keyboards and technical guitar work, while "Mimes And Ghouls" recalls some of that carnival atmosphere and "Glacier" is a grand finale for No Way Out, as the band wind down into frozen wastelands Record Label: Temple Of Torturous Style: Metal

Enslaved releases “The Sleeping Gods - Thorn”; a full-length album comprised of rare material from 2010/2011. For the first time this unique collection of experimental material, also connecting with their early roots, is available as an album. “The Sleeping Gods – Thorn” will mark the conclusion of Enslaved’s 25th anniversary year. Costin Chioreanu of Twilight 13 Media (Roadburn Festival, Opeth, Darkthrone, At The Gates, etc.) did the beautiful new layout, including mesmerizing new illustrations, displaying a unique symbiosis between two of our times’ most exciting visual and sonic artists. The songs originally appeared on extremely limited EPs between the full-length albums “Axioma Ethica Odini” and “Riitiir”, and is recorded both in Solslottet Studio in Bergen, as well as the band member’s own studios and partly in the deep woods of Valevaag on the south-west coast of Norway. Like the songs itself, the production is a mix of old and new; high tech and no-tech – a mix of concepts that has been essential in achieving the signature sound Enslaved is famous for today. Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson from Enslaved co-produced the material together with long-time collaborator Iver Sandøy. The album has lyrics sung in both Norwegian, English and Old Norse, and the theme centres on mythology and the esoteric side of the runes; as well as contrasting the Norse Ways as a polytheistic belief system to the monotheistic plague of the Big World Religions. The music nods respectfully to the wildly varying deities that make up the pantheon of inspiration for Enslaved, both “then” and “now”. There are traces of both proto-black metal of Bathory, the classic Rock and Heavy Metal of the 70s and 80s, the synthisized and sequenced masters of the 70s, prog-rock, world/ Norse folk music, Norwegian Black Metal of the 90s, modern classical music, goth rock a la Fields of the Nephilim and much more. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, and did their first demo “Yggdrasill” in the summer of 1992, while the legendary mini-album “Hordanes Land” was released the year after in 1993. “Vikingligr Veldi” came in the spring of 1994 and is Enslaved’s landmark debut album. Since then the band has released another 12 studio-albums, the latest being “In Times” in 2015 – they have won 4 Norwegian Grammys and toured Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia with growing success for over two decades Record Label: By Norse Music Style: Metal

Pink Floyd cover band ECHOES presents Floyd songs in acoustic sounddress. Highly recommended! Record Label: Pride & Joy Music Style: Rock

Record Label: Pure Steel Style: Metal

Record Label: Recordjet Style: Pop

Imagine Killswitch Engage at their heaviest, with the immediately recognizable guitar playing of Adam Dutkiewicz, the precision drumming of former The Black Dahlia Murder member Shannon Lucas, and the legendary death metal growl of Cannibal Corpse's George Corpsegrinder Fisher - the result is Serpentine Dominion. After 7 years in the making, this highly anticipated project will finally be releasing their self-titled debut on October 28th via Metal Blade Records. The origins of Serpentine Dominion can be traced back to 2009's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, which boasted a line-up that included Killswitch Engage, Cannibal Corpse, and The Black Dahlia Murder. During that fateful summer, Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz made a proposition to Cannibal Corpse vocalist George Corpsegrinder Fisher: George, I want to write you a record. On the Mayhem Fest tour, Shannon Lucas, who performed with The Black Dahlia Murder through 2012, was tapped to record drums on the album. Between 2009 and 2016, Cannibal Corpse and Killswitch Engage released three albums each, so scheduling time to work on Serpentine Dominion was no easy feat - but when their rigorous schedules allowed, Serpentine Dominion began to come together, with Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach penning the lyrics, which touch on corruption within the government, religion, big business, and other timely issues. Ultimately, though, this debut is a pure passion project; it was written and recorded simply for why musicians get into music in the first place: fun. Record Label: Metal Blade Style: Death Metal

Secretly Canadian is honored to partner with Chimera Music on releasing Yoko Ono's musical output from 1968 to 1985. Comprised of eleven studio albums, the reissue project's focus is to painstakingly reconstruct the original vinyl packaging, to thoroughly excavate and appropriately curate the treasure-laden archives of never-before-seen photos and ephemera, and to re-master the audio, all for the purpose of creating the definitive editions of this timeless work. In addition to making the vinyl available for the first time in decades. Secretly Canadian and Chimera Music couldn't be more proud to be a part of re-introducing Yoko Ono's seminal work. The first batch to be reissued will be 1968's Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, 1969's Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With The Lions, and 1970's Plastic Ono Band. If Two Virgins is the ecstatic first kiss shared between two of pop culture's greatest lovers, then Life with the Lions is the sound of the pair validating their love as something impenetrable and timeless. It's when we, the listener, begin to fully understand that the scope of their recording efforts was much more than a recording collaboration, and something closer to a performative documentary, a declaration of Our life and our love is our art - every nitty, gritty part of it. The collection begins with a more straightforward - at least in terms of explaining what it is - piece of improvised music, edited down from live performance at Cambridge University's Lady Mitchell Hall in March 1969. The entirety of Side B was recorded in a patient suite at London's Queen Charlotte Hospital where Ono was admitted with pregnancy complications and ultimately lost a child, John Ono Lennon II. The album cover photo was taken in the suite, with Ono in her hospital bed and Lennon in a sleeping bag made up on the floor next to her, both of them looking exhausted from the process. Secretly Canadian's reissue also includes Ono's Song for John and Mulberry, which did not appear on the original release. Record Label: Secretly Canadian Style: Avantgarde

Dope are back with their first studio output since 2009 Record Label: Steamhammer Style: Rock / Metal

Have Guitar Will Travel is the third studio album by rock and roll pioneer and blues icon Bo Diddley. It was released on the Checker Records label in 1960. Record Label: Goodfellas / Cornbread Style: Rock & Roll

Everyone knows I love Swedish hardcore and no one does it better than Skitsystem from Gothenburg. This second full-length follows up on the head crushing sounds of their first LP Gra Varld Svarta Tankar. This is a scathing steamroller of pure Scandinavian hardcore power. Combine the raw thrashing power of early 80's bands like Anti-Cimex, Asocial, Crude SS and Crudity with the ferocity and anger of modern day crust core with some brutal production by Mieszko of Nasum and you begin to feel the weight of the power of Skitsystem. Record Label: Power It Up Style: Grindcore

Finally available on CD this release compiles all the out of print early Skitsystem material. The essential early recordings from 1995-1998 are here, the Profithysteri 7, split 7 with Wolfpack and the Ondskans Askinte 10. These are the most raw and brutal Skitsystem recordings in the classic 80's Swedish hardcore tradition of Anti Cimex, Crude SS, Asocial and Avskum with just a hint of black/death metal influence. Record Label: Power It Up Style: Grindcore

Robert Pehrsson (born 13th of December 1975) is currently one of the most talented Swedish rock guitarists. Furthermore, he is an outstanding songwriter as well. It's only a matter of time until a broader (rock) audience will recognize him as what he is: a star in the making. Robert Pehrsson has worked for such diverse bands such as Runemagick, Thunder Express, Death Breath, Dundertåget, Imperial State Electric, Slingblade and also Dagger. He picked up his guitar in 1987 and started a (professional) career in 1994 (at the time concentrating mainly on playing extreme music like thrash and early death metal). In 2013, his debut longplayer under the name of Robert Pehrsson's Humbucker was released (via High Roller Records). It was a perfect example for a contemporary classic rock album, landing the Swedish guitarist extraordinaire the album of the month award in Germany's leading independent metal magazine Rock Hard. No wonder then that expectations for the follow-up album Long Way To The Light are sky high. The record contains eight brand new compositions (plus a re-worked version of the single The Hollow In A Rising Tone). With songs such as Send Her My Love or Traveling Through The Dark Robert Pehrsson's Humbucker carry on where they have left off with the captivating debut album – albeit with even slicker guitar playing and sharper song arrangements. I put so much pressure on myself so I got enough to deal with already, comments Robert Pehrsson on the expectations surrounding the release of Long Way To The Light. The main thing is to not disappoint myself and to know in the end that I did the best I could. I was sincerely happy both for High Roller and of course for myself with the great reviews on the previous album. I think the new album is stronger, but in the end, it's up to the listener and that I have no control over. Listening to Long Way To The Light for the first time, one might get the impression that overall it's a slightly poppier record compared to the debut. It might be, reflects Robert Pehrsson. But it's not really intentional. I like the songs short and to the point with a strong hook. That's what I strive for always. I think people sometimes put us in the same category as more hard rocking bands and we're not really that type of band in the end. I want the freedom to do other styles as well. If I look at the old bands, I like that they were all very diverse, not playing on 10 all the time. D'accord, diversity in songwriting has always been the forté of Robert Pehrsson's Humbucker. But in the past, for some, this has been a dangerous road, if you look at Phil Lynott's solo album Solo In Soho, which for some is, well, a total mess. I actually like a lot of that album, confesses the Swedish guitarist. But maybe it was wise to do it as a solo album. I'm not scared to try different approaches to both writing and recording and I think it's possible to paint with a wide brush and still be true to the overall sound of the band. I'm not talking about rocket science here and we record in a very old school fashion. But there are so many different ways to approach things and I am intrigued with these things. I'm interested in the craft of songwriting and recording. This approach shows on each of the nine tracks of the record. So nine songs once more (just like on the debut platter), that must be the lucky number for Robert Pehrsson indeed. I guess so, he laughs. There was more material written and recorded, but I was not 100% happy with how some of the songs came together so I've put them on hold for another day. I don't want any filler material and I don't like albums that go on forever personally. Sometimes we are limited as performers. I wrote some material for this album that I was really excited about, but I just could not make it sound right this time around. I listen to lots of different music and I would like the band to be able to do diverse material. The biggest difference is that we have played live since the first album, comments Robert Pehrsson on the main differences between the first album and Long Way To The Light. My approach for the writing was not that different, but I kept in mind that I want do be able to perform the songs live in their true form. I also co-worked with Joseph Tholl, Nicke Andersson and Andreas Axelsson on some tracks. So I think there is more of a band feeling to this one compared to the first album. And that was something I wanted from the beginning when I started working on this album. Robert Pehrsson's Humbucker have played around 40 live shows since the debut album, so the line-up is starting to gel. Robert Pehrsson: Long Way To The Light has been recorded mostly by me and Nicke Anderssons (drums and bass). Joseph Tholl has also been involved a lot. I really like recording with these guys. But a lot of the players on the previous also appear on this. The live line-up has been Joseph Tholl, Jakob Ljungberg and Jens Lagergren, and they all appear on the album. It's a mixture of really talented friends from other bands: Enforcer, Imperial State Electric, The Hellacopters, Tribulation etc... We tend to do a lot of stuff together. Here's some names: Robert Eriksson, Jonas Wikstrand, Johan Bäckman, Johannes Borgström. The list goes on! Maybe Robert Pehrsson is indeed one the last great guitarist in the tradition of Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Jimmy Page and Scott Gorham. But then again Long Way To The Light is not a guitar-driven record per se. So what comes first for the Swedish guitarist exytraordinaire, the song or the guitar performance? Robert Pehrsson: Thanks! The song is always first. I see it the same way playing live. I want us, as a band, to play together and be a strong unit. It's not about individual performances at all. I do, however, think there is quite a lot of guitar playing, but there is no room for unnecessary flash in the songs. I want the listener to feel that the solo is an integral part of the song and not just there for me to show off. My main goal is to create a solo that you can and would want to hum along to. There are lots of great songs on the album, for example Zero Emotion. It's some kind of a love song, correct? It's more of a breakup song, laughs Robert Pehrsson. And how you sometimes end up dealing with things like that. A lot of the lyrics are about losing loved ones in one way or another. I guess it's because I'm at that age now when things like that happen, whereas in the past I did not really have to deal with that in the same way. The closing number No I don't is quite funky partially … so maybe the right choice for the title of most unusual song on the album? Robert Pehrsson begs to differ: I would probably say it's rather 'Traveling Through The Dark'. It's got an 1980s vibe to it and I don't really see any other of the songs having that. But overall I think this album is more diverse. 'Pretender' also comes to mind as a bit unusual and something we have not really done before. These are the songs I tend to like the most. Record Label: High Roller Records Style: Metal

Limited Edition Box including the album on CD and PRETTY MAIDS bust Record Label: Vinyl Eck Style: Metal