One of the UK heavy music scene’s most exciting prospects – Lake Malice – will release their debut EP Post-Genesis on October 27 via SO Recordings (Enter Shikari / Placebo / Deaf Havana). Alice Guala (vocals) and Blake Cornwall (guitar / production) explain of the EP’s lead single: “‘Mitsuko’ is a deeply personal and intense torrent of ‘full-on rage’, dealing with the complexities of family values, and raw emotions of a fragmented childhood. The title takes inspiration from the original ‘Battle Royale’ manga, where the character Mitsuko shares a similar struggle of family heartbreak and abandonment.”
Hearts & Hand Grenades are an explosive American hard rock group from Buffalo, NY, bursting with an edgy sound for all generations of true rock addicts, and they just premiered a new music video and single entitled ‘Burn (By My Fire)’. The music video was directed by Nick Sonricker. “With our first single off the new album being such a powerful track, we wanted the video to make an impact” says lead vocalist and bassist Stephanie Wlosinski, “so we felt what better way to launch our third full length album than arriving back on the scene with raging fire, which also symbolizes that the band is here to stay!” Guitarist Mike Bress continues, “This was a challenging shoot for us because we never shot a music video synced with another video on a giant screen before. It was a very interesting process of bringing it to life, and our director Nick Sonricker was fantastic to work with. He came up with some great ideas to make the video pop? We did the shoot at The Palace Theater in Hamburg, NY but we had numerous technical difficulties playing along with the video on the big screen. It was dark in the room, and we almost fell off the stage a couple of times. The stage lights were also very difficult to work with because they were so bright that they were blinding. This also caused the temperature in the room to increase drastically. We lost a few pounds of water weight during the shoot as a result, but Nick took extra measures to keep us safe, and despite the dangers he was able to make sure the end result was all worth it!”
Massive Scar Era, the brainchild of visionary artist Cherine Amr, is proud to announce the upcoming release of their highly anticipated seventh release, an EP, Metal Goes Egyptian, which is coming out in November. Known for pushing the boundaries of music and blending genres, Massive Scar Era is set to captivate audiences once again with its unique fusion of progressive rock, post-grunge, Egyptian music, and metal. The second single is ‘Between Waves’, which Amr comments on: “’Between the Waves’ was the first song that we worked on. It’s one of the oldest songs for MSE that wasn’t released digitally. In this song’s intro, a heavy riff is playing in the background, consisting of just two notes. Weka was free to incorporate the Hijaz scale without constraints, and he used maqam kord as a secondary “gens,” a modern approach to this maqam. That’s how the song began. As the song progresses, it transitions into a new section with modulation on the G note, leading into maqam Rust. Finally, the ending of the intro (“Taslim” in Arabic) concludes with a return to the Hijaz scale, creating a glamorous ending. I wrote this song when I was very young. It was even before I moved to Cairo in 2009. I was still in the process of discovering myself as a person before a lyricist and a songwriter. While I don’t resonate with the lyrics anymore, singing this song again reminded me of an entire lifetime.”
Italy’s Raining Nails ft. members of Eternal Silence, Fallen Arise, Oracle Sun, and Sound Storm will be releasing their debut album Human Deeds this coming October via Rockshots Records. To continue their introduction of catchy, aggressive, and powerful heavy metal, they are sharing their second single ‘Every Angel Has Its Demon’ to follow ‘Anthem’ released this past July.
International sleaze rock quintet, Cobra Spell, strike with their debut album, 666, out December 1 via Napalm Records. With all guns loaded, the fierce ladies fire their first shot today with the release of the single, ‘S.E.X.’, centered around lead singer Kristina Vega’s skillful, powerful sky-high vocals climaxing in a stunning guitar solo by guitar hero Sonia Anubis. Cobra Spell on ‘S.E.X.’: “We are excited to share with you the sleaziest track of our upcoming album 666. This one speaks about a deep desire for sexual pleasure that manifests in different ways and forms, to fill an inner emotional void.” [via Brave Words]
Swedish six-piece, Amaranthe, reach for the stars and launch their art even higher – into space, to be precise – with the release of the new single, ‘Insatiable’. Delivering an extraterrestrial late summer banger, Amaranthe once again demonstrates their versatility, and the six-piece succeeds in keeping the world on their toes with their ongoing, high-quality output. Amaranthe’s Olof Mörck states: “As the release of The Catalyst draws ever nearer, we are now very proud and super excited to unveil the second single from the album – ‘Insatiable’! Contrasts collide like a cataclysm in this ultra-heavy, yet outstandingly catchy groove-monster, which bears all the hallmarks of a classic Amaranthe hit, and then some! We once again teamed up with long-time collaborator and director extraordinaire Patric Ullaeus, for an all-out, take-no-prisoners video to go along with the song. Beyond that, this is a song you will NEED to hear live on our upcoming tour with our friends in DragonForce in the USA, so remember to practice those lyrics! And see you all soon!”. ‘Insatiable’ is the second single from Amaranthe’s forthcoming album The Catalyst, that will see the light of the day on February 23 via Nuclear Blast Records. [via Brave Words]
Leeds outfit Artio are on typically incendiary form on their latest single ‘Wallflower’, bringing their explosive cocktail of noise from the offset on their latest creative and energetic new release. The band have made these feats of creativity and sheer energy feel somewhat pedestrian as of late, thanks to the sheer consistency and strength of their output, making a claim the title of the most exciting emerging band in the UK right now. ‘Wallflower’ explores the theme of protecting yourself from toxic relationships and the harm that people try to cause you, and the sheer force and power of the sound does a great job of reinforcing this sense of defiance and refusal to be manipulated. The way that Artio continue to feel both so experimental and unique while having such an intoxicatingly catchy, powerful feel is admirable to say the least, this new release just feels like another brick on the band’s path to huge, insurmountable heights. [via Clout]
NERVOSA have released a new music video. The new music video, for the track ‘Elements Of Sin’, is taken from the death/thrash metal band’s new album, Jailbreak, which is out now. Speaking about the new song, vocalist/guitarist Prika Amaral says, “’Elements Of Sin’ was one of the first songs that me and Helena composed together. I remember when the riff from the chorus came at the end of 2021 and the lyrics of the chorus came together. We were so excited with this song that we also composed a few parts of the drums at that time. The process of composing of this album was very fun.” [via Metal Planet]
Dying Wish have released the latest track from their excellent forthcoming Symptoms Of Survival album, ‘Path To Your Grave’. The song finds the U.S. hardcore heavyists revisiting the themes of 2021’s Fragments Of A Bitter Memory, and looking at the personal journey along the hurt at the centre of the two songs. “‘Path To Your Grave’ was written in mind as Fragments… Part Two,” says singer Emma Boster. “Fragments was written about the struggle of my relationship with my stepfather, who was manipulative, controlling, and abusive towards me. That mistreatment has resulted in a lot of unhealthy habits and patterns in my life that I have struggled to move on from. Fragments… was me talking about my experience publicly for the first time,” she continues. “After expressing my grief, the song concludes with ‘I would bury you if I could.’ This song also concludes with the same seven words but has a different outlook. Since releasing Fragments, I have grown to a new level of acceptance with my trauma, and this song is about that acceptance. The anger and the hurt is still there, but now, it just stings a little less. It has a much more triumphant expression.” [via Kerrang!]
Within Temptation is now streaming the new single ‘Ritual’ from their upcoming record Bleed Out, coming October 20. While Bleed Out has proven to be a fairly political affair, ‘Ritual’ takes a break from all that to get a little sexy. As vocalist Sharon den Adel explains. “It’s a fun track about seduction, about the lady taking power in a male dominated world and taking her own initiative.” The song is inspired by the iconic Quentin Tarantino movie From Dusk Til Dawn, about a seemingly normal road trip turning into a vampire slayer party. [via Metal Injection]
Rock band New Years Day has shared their new single, ‘Vampyre.’ A ferocious and haunting track – just in time for the scariest time of the year – ‘Vampyre’ serves as a follow up to last year’s ‘Hurts Like Hell.’ On the new single, vocalist Ash Costello shares: “‘Vampyre’ is a song for anyone who has battled or is battling a malignant narcissist, which, essentially, is a certain kind of person who tries to suck the life out of you. Since I have personally experienced living with this type of monster, I wanted to write a song specifically for anyone else going thru something similar in hopes it may help them discover some strength or help give them power to overcome it. So this is a song for anyone who has dealt with this type of person. It insists, ‘You’re not going to drain the life from me.’” [via Outburn]
BLACKBRIAR release their brand new album A Dark Euphony. The album delivers a comprehensive storytelling as you would expect from BLACKBRIAR. Beside gothic beauty and metallic darkness there is much more to explore on this fantastic album. Zora Cock comments: “Some say that there is beauty in darkness… Terrifying visitors, worlds far gone, Gothic romances, bone-chilling legends, sin-eaters, burning hearts frozen in time, songs with a misleading voice, and a truthful whisper. This and so much more for you to discover on ‘A Dark Euphony’. We’ve had the pleasure of working with producer and musical genius Joost van den Broek, and we gave it our all to write this record and feel that this is our most complete, personal, and mature album to date.” Watch a video for new single ‘Spirit Of Forgetfulness’ below. [via Metal Shock]
British guitarist Sophie Lloyd has released her latest single, ‘Imposter Syndrome’, a collaboration with HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale. The song is the title track of Sophie’s upcoming full-length album, which will arrive on November 10. Other guests set to appear on the CD include STEEL PANTHER’s Michael Starr, ATREYU’s Brandon Saller, TRIVIUM’s Matt Heafy, Canadian singer Lauren Babic and BLACK STONE CHERRY’s Chris Robertson. [via Blabbermouth]
