Anette Olzon, the former powerhouse vocalist of Nightwish and one-half of the dynamic duo behind The Dark Element alongside Jani Liimatainen, is back with her highly anticipated third solo album, Rapture. The first single, ‘Heed the Call,’ from Rapture is out now, offering a tantalizing taste of what’s to come from this highly anticipated release. With a sense of excitement and anticipation, Anette Olzon shares: “I’m so happy to release the first song from my upcoming album Rapture. ‘Heed the Call’ is a culmination of passion, energy, and creative expression, and I truly hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed bringing it to life.”

Sweden’s masters of thunderous, melodic futurism, AMARANTHE, release their highly anticipated album The Catalyst via Nuclear Blast Records. Along with the album release, a music video has dropped for the title track. The band states: “The proverbial eagle has landed! After a few years of hard toil, sweat, and at least a small amount of blood, we are enormously proud and downright electrified to know that our newborn and latest album – The Catalyst is available worldwide! This has truly been a journey of pure passion and creative experimentation, along with a dose of soul-searching for good measure. We hope that you will find it to your taste, and if you do – don’t forget to stop by The Catalyst World Tour when it hits a town near YOU!” [via Outburn]

Furor Gallico has released a video for ‘Call Of The Wind’ (directed by Raoul Noise / Nova Rolfilm Studios), second single taken from the new album Future To Come to be released on March 22 by Scarlet Records.

RELIQA have released a new music video. The new music video, for the track ‘Terminal’, is the brand new single from the Australian progressive metalcore band and its release comes as the band signs with Nuclear Blast Records for all territories outside of Australia, where they have signed to Greyscale Records. Speaking about the new single, vocalist Monique Pym says, “’Terminal’ feels like the perfect re-introduction of RELIQA to the world. It’s vibrant, high-shine and optimistic, yet with a moody, introspective cloud hanging over it that foreshadows all that’s still to come. We’re beyond thrilled to be back, especially now with the support of our new families at Nuclear Blast and Greyscale.” [via Distorted Sound]

LEAVES’ EYES have released a new music video. The new music video, for the track ‘In Eternity,’ is taken from the German symphonic metal band’s upcoming new album, Myths Of Fate, which is scheduled to be released in March this year. Speaking about the new song and its accompanying music video, vocalist Elina Siirala says, “’In Eternity’ is one of the most personal songs in LEAVES’ EYES history, dedicated to Alex‘ late mother Heidi Krull. It’s a tribute to our ancestors, a primal anthem to their lives and spirits. The song embodies the rawness of emotion which the video’s striking visuals accompany. The vast landscapes of Iceland and a pagan ceremony filmed in Wolin / Poland bring the story of the song alive in a captivating way.” [via Distorted Sound]

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NØ MAN and Iodine Recordings are proud to announce the new album Glitter and Spit, due out March 29. On their third full-length album, the Washington DC band affirm their essential presence as a necessary voice in modern hardcore. Singer Maha Shami has fully come into her own as a front person, snarling out the most vicious vocals of her career. As the daughter of refugees, a recent return home to Palestine included witnessing first-hand the casual atrocities inflicted on her family. Though written before the current conflict’s boiling point, Glitter and Spit synthesizes the 70+ years of systemic violence carried out against Palestine and her own lived experiences. Along with today’s album announcement, the band and Iodine Recordings share the lead single and title track ‘Glitter and Spit’. “‘​Glitter and Spit’ is about the distortion of one’s lived experience and existence, dealing with people imposing a version of you that meets the expectations of their fantasy. These attempts to shape and define your life often romanticize the idea of an angry woman until you disrupt their status quo.” says Maha Shami.

Rising from the ruins of the past few years, QUEEN LAYA is emerging into uncharted waters, defying expectations as she demonstrates a ferocious new sound. Now she has unveiled the official music video for her new single ‘RAGE’. Fusing powerhouse vocals with rocky acidity, QUEEN LAYA continues to usher in a new era of headstrong and vehement views of social issues and every day life. She shares her experiences of going through therapy in 2021 within her music and her empowering new single ‘RAGE’ is a pivotal point of this process. QUEEN LAYA delves into the context of the track, “‘RAGE’ is about suppressing your emotions so that you appear smaller to others, well behaved to others, in compliance with others, liked by others – to create a safe space within yourself, until all your thoughts and feelings are so congested that you can’t even fathom keeping in even a single ounce of these emotions within you. This intense energy eventually manifests itself into uncontrollable rage.”

Without Warning, the new promising Finnish modern metal act which opened recent live shows for Fear Of Domination among others, has released their 6th single called ‘New Order’ with a music video. The single is a provocative dive into the destruction of humanity. ‘New Order’ takes its listeners to a dystopian world where the machine pulse gets fused with heavy electronic and melodic elements. With the new single, the band also showcases their updated look in their outfits which has grown to become a noticeable element. “As I was writing the song, I wanted to support the band’s concept while showcasing our heavier and dramatic sides. With the familiar melodic elements that have become staples in our music, this song roams through chaotic atmospheres that also support the lyrical themes of the song,” says bassist and producer, Aleksi Rintala. ‘New Order’ provides a strong musical experience, but also awakens you to ponder how technology affects our society. The single can also be described as a soundtrack from an anxiety-filled future, where artificial intelligence birthed by mankind wants to create a new start by tyranny. Along with the strong lyrics, Without Warning has been able to create a unique atmosphere that sticks to the listener. “The single is a song about our concept in Without Warning, where we view the story from three different angles. We have built a fictional backstory and theme for the band where an evil artificial intelligence named Omega wants to destroy humankind to build a new future. We, the members of the band, use the term “disciples” when referring to ourselves and we are the creation of Omega. The messengers. In ‘New Order’ you can hear the desperate realization the humankind faces, Omega’s bittersweet thirst for revenge and the disciple’s final warning for what is to come,” describes the vocalist, Michaela “Micha” Tuomenoksa.

Self-described “Harajuku-core” phenoms HANABIE. are one of the most buzzed-about metal bands in the world right now, winning cosigns from heavy-hitters like Limp Bizkit, Slash and Bring Me the Horizon, and regularly selling out shows. The Tokyo quartet’s latest single is ‘OTAKU Lovely Densetsu,’ which was released last week and hails the culture of “Otaku,” a Japanese word for people obsessed with anime, manga and video games. The single also got its music video, which matches the song’s chaotic metalcore sound with equally over-the-top visuals. Vocalist Yukina commented: “I wanted to write a song to express my gratitude to all the fans, staff, and bands that I met and played with on our world tour, and to express what I felt on the tour. One of the things I felt was ‘Japanese culture, such as anime and video games, is truly loved’! We love Japanese culture, but not only about Japanese culture, this is a chaotic and Harajuku-core-like song that makes you think it’s cool to be faithful and straight up to what you like.” Guitarist-vocalist Matsuri added, “‘OTAKU Lovely Densetsu’ is a chaotic song that focuses on anime and games that are part of Japanese culture. You shine brightest when you’re into what you love and just being Otaku. Otaku is not just in Japan but also overseas too so be confident being Otaku! This song is just freestyle and doing what we want, so please enjoy this HANABIE. world! Japan culture rocks!” [via Revolver]

Spaced have announced their debut album This Is All We Ever Get, due out this March via Revelation Records. Spaced call themselves “far out hardcore” due to their guitarist’s affinity for throwing flange and phaser effects over their traditional hardcore distortion, giving their songs a slightly psych-ier feel compared to the average hardcore band. That, combined with frontperson Lexi Reyngoudt’s electric screams, make for a pretty unique sound that fans of Turnstile, Buggin, and GEL can certainly get down with. In the video for ‘Landslide,’ the band teach a mosh aerobics class that’s styled like a vintage exercise video from the 1980s. It’s a lot of fun, and you can watch and listen above via YouTube. [via Revolver]

Four years after bringing ‘The Last Viking’ to Valhalla with their previous opus, Leaves’ Eyes resurrect with ‘Myths Of Fate’ to celebrate their 20th year of existence. With their ninth studio album, the Germany-based artists consolidate their leading position in the symphonic metal universe. Powerful, epic and impressive – Leaves’ Eyes once again merge traditional metal genres by fusing elements of folk, gothic, and classical music into a captivating sonic masterpiece. [via Metal Planet]

NUBIAN ROSE, the Melodic Rock sensation of the early 10’s, is back after a long hiatus. Their new album, AMEN, will be released on the January 26. On AMEN, Nubian Rose show a more progressive side of the band, but with their trademark foundation of strong melodies, great hooks, big guitars, and the powerful voice of Sofia Lilja. While writing AMEN, Christer and Sofia wanted to challenge themselves to take Nubian Rose to new frontiers. [via Metal Planet]

WASP MOTHER have released a music video for ‘Gravemouth’, taken from the new EP Digital Pollution which is available to stream now.

It’s exhilarating when you get to hear a band execute a style perfectly. Hand of Kalliach delivers folk-infused melodic death metal in the absolute best way possible. The band brings heavy and rich guitar tones and weaves them with a mix of harsh and melodic vocals, topped off with infectious rhythms and traditional instrumentation. It’s a fascinating combination of aggression and atmosphere — a balancing act between power and mystery that draws you into the band’s sonic realm. Out noe is the band’s new video for the song ‘Fell Reigns,’ from their upcoming album Corryvreckan, due out on February 23 via Prosthetic Records. Vocalist and bassist Sophie says: “Building upon the legend of the Cailleach, the ancient witch god of winter from Scottish Celtic mythology, with Fell Reigns, we wanted to explore her seasonal rise to power at Samhainn (the end of summer and beginning of winter) from a different perspective – that of one of her unnamed eight attendants, that assist her in ushering in winter.” [via Decibel Mag]

ALTERIUM have released a new music video. The new music video, for the track ‘Crossroads Inn,’ is taken from the Italian power metal band’s upcoming debut album, Of War And Flames, which is scheduled to be released in March this year. The new song is a metal tribute inspired by the popular medieval tavern simulator video game. In cooperation with video game creator Klabater, the following statement has been released, “welcome to Delcrys, adventurers! The doors of the fantasy tavern are now open! To celebrate the arrival of the second chapter of the iconic video game Crossroads Inn, ALTERIUM wrote and recorded a track inspired by the lore of the game. Crossroads Inn is a real-time management sim set in the immersive fantasy world of Delcrys. Players must build, manage, and expand their tavern, catering to the needs of adventurers from far and wide! The game is available on Steam, while Crossroads Inn 2 has been announced and is currently in development – you can already add it to your wishlist!” Singer and songwriter Nicoletta Rosellini adds, “I’m a huge fan of management video games, and I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing Crossroads Inn, which also features great lore that inspired me to write lyrics for this track. I believe that power metal is the perfect genre to convey the funny atmosphere of a typical night at the tavern. We also recreated the whole scenery in our new music video!” [via Distorted Sound]

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Symphonic Metal soprano vocalist/pianist Talia Hoit premieres ‘Whispers in the Storm’, flexing beautiful vocals and astonishing range whilst delivering an operatic and angelic vocal performance in cinematic grandeur. Talia Hoit explains, “The song ’Whispers in the Storm’ is about the moment when someone has been caught up in a bad relationship and they begin to realize the truth that things aren’t really supposed to be happening that way. Since the lyrics use the idea of the whispers in the storm as a metaphor, I wanted to create a visual metaphor in the video with a very stormy scene.” [via Outburn]

Symphonic metal Vikings, LEAVES’ EYES, have revealed first details about their new album to be released in 2024 with AFM Records. The band’s ninth studio offering will be titled Myths Of Fate. The band unveiled their album cover artwork and a music video for the first album single, ‘Forged By Fire’. Says LEAVES’ EYES band mastermind and singer, Alexander Krull: “Finally the time has come and we can present you our new video FORGED BY FIRE! We played FORGED BY FIRE on stage at WACKEN as a world premiere and the song was enthusiastically celebrated by the fans! Here’s the video with an awesome storyline about the legendary Tyrfing sword and a fiery performance in the truest sense of the word! With FORGED BY FIRE we are starting a series of videos with the magical theme of the new album MYTHS OF FATE! Are you ready to travel with us into the world of sagas?” [via Metal Planet]

Swiss modern metal upstarts Illumishade unveil their magical sophomore record and Napalm Records debut, Another Side of You, out February 16. Fronted by vocalist Fabienne Erni and guitarist Jonas Wolf (both of Eluveitie) and completed with orchestration and synths by film composer Mirjam Skal, bass by Yannick Urbanczik, and drums by Marc Friedrich, Illumishade skillfully balances all things both dark and light on Another Side of You. On their new single cut from the new album, ‘Here We Are’, Erni’s radiant charisma shines brighter than ever with her crystal-clear vocal delivery. Wolf’s guitar work is as blazing and emotional as ever, while a fresh dose of modern prog brings a cutting edge to the band’s elaborate songwriting. The song impresses with a stomping chorus and an exciting variety in its middle passage, and arrives alongside a stunning music video. Illumishade on ‘Here We Are’: “‘Here We Are’ is an anthem to the essence of being in the here and now. It tells about accepting the legacy of history, acknowledging our current standing as a foundation from which we can move forward.” [via Amplify the Noise]

Elettra Storm will release the debut album Powerlords on February 16 through Scarlet Records. First single and video ‘Higher Than The Stars’ is out now.

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