This year it was really REALLY tough to choose just 5 shows (Sam Alone, The Mission and Heavenwood should also be there somewhere):
Hills Have Eyes at Canecas Bar (Paços de Ferreira)
Sonic Syndicate at Göta Källare (Stockholm)
Moonspell at Pavilhão Multiusos (Guimarães)
More Than A Thousand at Time Out Market (Lisboa)
Testament at Coliseu (Porto)
The albums were easier:
“Stand Up, Forward, March!” by Sister
“Confessions” by Sonic Syndicate
“Atoma” by Dark Tranquillity
“When Patsy Cline Was Crazy…” by Ricky Warwick
“Brotherhood Of The Snake” by Testament
My video top-5 is “lighter” than last year’s: two emotional, one a kind of tribute, and two funny as hell:
“The Beat” by Satan Takes A Holiday
“Make It Right” by Hills Have Eyes
“I Apologize” by Five Finger Death Punch
“The Great Disillusion” by Betraying The Martyrs
“Call Me” by Pain
Anticipations/expectations for 2017:
Infraktor – a “gourmet thrash metal” all-star project who I’m proud of being close to, hence keeping tabs on. Let’s see how others will receive them.
Hills Have Eyes – saw some new pictures of the boys in the studio. Needless to say I’m thrilled.
Equaleft – yep, something’s still brewing…
Five Finger Death Punch – “Got Your Six” isn’t my favorite 5FDP album but it’s still good enough. Let’s see if what they’re up to now pleases me more.
Guns N’ Roses – this is a live expectation. I’m having totally mixed feelings about this reunion. Not even sure if I’ll go to the Portugal show, so I’m also expectant on what my final decision will be…
Five Finger Death Punch “Got Your Six” Metal Release: 4th September 2015 Via Prospect Park
I confess I was taken aback by the level of… restraint in the new Five Finger Death Punch album, and not in a good way. But after listening to it a few times, “Got Your Six” has grown on me. The more melodic approach I, at first, saw as shallow is actually a refinement process.
The band’s respect for the USA army is well known so I was surprised that it took them so long to name an album after a military expression. And given its strong meaning, it’s also natural that “Got Your Six”, the opening track, is one of those songs that you immediately identify as Five Finger Death Punch’s when you first hear it. The punching beat (no pun intended), the fluid guitars… somewhat less aggressive than usual, but it still has the band’s trademark sound all over it.
“Jekyll And Hyde” is intense rather than brisk, the drums in the chorus almost like a hypnotic mantra and the “oyoyo!” a clear invitation to sing-along. It was on the next track, “Wash It All Away”, that the doubt started to bite, as I found the chorus way too much pop-ish. The main riff is quite melodic too, but in a way that will win you over immediately. The catchiness of the chorus eventually triumphs and you realize how good this song actually is, but it takes a while. Pretty much the same with “Question Everything”, where somberness and heaviness take turns as the leading role of the melody. Once again, not really an edgy song, but very well written. And the acoustic solo is stellar!
You’ll find plenty of edginess on “No Sudden Movement” though, so it’s not like they dismissed the fast lane completely. And the cranking guitars on both “Meet My Maker” and “Hell To Pay” bear that dear ol’ feisty spirit of 5FDP – not to mention “Boots And Blood”, an ode to the F word. It’s only “Ain’t My Last Dance” and the ballad “My Nemesis” that I’m still struggling with, both being somewhat too average for my taste (and the sudden change of pace in the chorus of the first doesn’t feel right to me). The other ballad, “Digging My Own Grave”, may not be exactly spectacular, but the seductiveness of its melody will linger in your ears.
“Got Your Six” is definitely Five Finger Death Punch’s more polished album so far and that’s why one might be skeptical. But give it a couple of tries and you’ll see how toning down the rage isn’t that bad after all.
Five Finger Death Punch “The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, Vol. 2” Metal Released on 19th November 2013 Via Prospect Park (U.S.A.) and Eleven Seven Records (rest of the world)
A little less than four months after the release of volume 1, volume 2 came and conquered.
The overall sound is thicker, the beats more straight-forward and the guitars fuller – as “Here To Die” and “Let This Go” best illustrate. Jason Hook and Zoltan Bathory let their fingers dance more loosely throughout this album, without getting overzealous about elaborate patterns, which I’m personally thankful for – guitar virtuosos have become such a cliché that they’re just too boring.
The ballads are also more enthralling, deeper. Starting with “Battle Born”, which made it to single. The life on the road is always a delicate subject that both artists and fans fall for. And when it’s put in such a heartfelt way, lyrical and musical wise, like “Battle Born” is, then it’s a guaranteed hit.
Then, preceded by a somewhat melancholic instrumental piece called “”The Agony Of Regret”, there’s a more sophisticated version of “Cold” – a dark song originally by Black Blood Orchestra, which is a project of Ivan Moody and therefore I don’t think it’s accurate to say this is a cover. 5FDP revamped it with a piano and alternative lyrics and the outcome is emotionally stunning.
The real cover, also a smooth tune, comes in the form of “House Of The Rising Sun”, that traditional folk song that The Animals made famous in 1964 and so many bands have covered ever since. But it seems that this was the first song that Zoltan learned how to play on the guitar, so the number of previous versions didn’t mean a thing. Replacing “New Orleans” by “Sin City”, Ivan sings with his deepest tone and that alone makes it all worth it.
Also regarding the vocal performance, I must call your attention to “Cradle To The Grave”, where the insertion of a harsher second voice in some key-verses boosts the power of an already strong track.
Volume 1 may sound catchier and have all those guests embellishing its work, but volume 2 deserves nothing less than the same 5-star stamp.
Last night, metal legend Rob Halford, frontman for Judas Priest, surprised fans as he jumped on stage to join Five Finger Death Punch for a performance of their song Lift Me Up at the LG Arena in Birmingham. Halford is featured on the studio version of Lift Me Up, which appears on the first installment of Five Finger Death Punch‘s masterwork titled The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, released in July.
Later that night the band, Ivan Moody (vocals), Zoltan Bathory (guitar), Jeremy Spencer (drums), Jason Hook (guitar) and Chris Kael (bass),announced they would be returning to Europe next Spring for their most expansive headline tour of Europe yet. The tour kicks off with a performance at the just announced Bandit Rock Awards in Stockholm, Sweden on March 8, 2014. UK tour dates are as follow:
March 2014
Friday 28th Birmingham Academy
Sunday 30th London Forum
April 2014:
Tues 1st Manchester Academy
The band wrapped up their European arena tour with Avenged Sevenfold last night and finish the year in Russia with four headline shows. They kick off 2014 at Florida’s ShipRocked in January, before heading over to Australia for the Soundwave Festival.
Five Finger Death Punch have just released their 3rd track-by-track video regarding their upcoming “The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell – vol. 2” (out on November 19th). The track under the spotlight is “The Agony Of Regret”:
See here the links for the other two videos, “The House Of The Rising Sun” and “Weight Beneath My Sin”, and check the official sites of the band for more info:
“The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell – vol. 2” (read our review of vol.1 here) will be released on November 18th, but a career-spanning compilation album is now exclusively available with the 250th special edition of Metal Hammer.
As done with volume 1, Five Finger Death Punch will also release track-by-track videos regarding volume 2 and a couple of them are already online:
After the release of “The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell Vol. 1” (review here), Las Vegas-based Five Finger Death Punch have now announced that volume 2 will hit the stores on the 19th ofNovember. The new single “Battleborn” is already getting radio airplay and whoever pre-orders the album on iTunes (standard or deluxe edition), gets an instant download of it.
Regarding this song, singer Ivan Moody says: » After getting off the road from two years of touring, I was physically and emotionally drained. (…) Even though I was doing what I’d dreamed of doing, it took all the energy that I had … it was exhausting. That made me realize, everything worth fighting for you will actually HAVE TO fight for. Every wish, every dream, every idea comes to existence only through blood, sweat and sacrifice… we are all battle born. «
Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, the boys of Battlecross have hit major success with the release of their albums Push Pull Destory, Pursuit of Honor, and their newest release War of Will. Playing with major metal acts and being a part of massive tours such as the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival and Orion Music Fest, it’s no wonder that they’re well known and loved by many. They’ve taken influences of upbeat thrash, death and southern metal to create a sound that’s punishing but is also is refreshing for fans of metal. I got the chance to catch up with Battlecross guitarist; Hiran Deraniyagala for a word or two about the new album; War Of Will as well as his musical inspirations and movies.
Lauren: How did you come up with the name Battlecross?
Hiran: Tony came up with it. I remember coming out of one of my classes in college and getting a text from Tony saying “What about Battlecross, as a band name?” I remember it just hit me really well. I loved it but like with all band names we always check the internet to see if anyone already had the name we came up with. No one had the name from what we could find so we both agreed it was an awesome name. It took some convincing to get the other band members to agree with it but eventually they just went with it. “Battlecross” to me represents something powerful, epic and aggressive which I think represents the music. I like the fact that our name can give people different expectations about how we sound versus a typical band name. People have assumed we’re a “Power Metal” band and obviously got something different from what they expected.
Lauren: Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Hiran: In general I would say that we draw a common influence from Pantera, Metallica and Slayer but we each have our own musical influences that we draw influence from. Personally, I draw influence from various metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Circle Of Dead Children, Pig Destroyer, Woe Of Tyrants, Goatwhore, Emperor, Meshuggah, Morbid Angel, Mastodon, Black Sabbath, Down, and local metal bands from Michigan like, Enkephalin, Summer Dying and GutRot. I’ve always been intrigued by the technicality and aggressiveness of extreme metal bands but also the groove of doom metal.
Lauren: How would you say your newest album, War of Will, differs from your previous releases?
Hiran: Yes definitely. War of Will is a much more focused and mature album for us. We grew as a band, from touring and also mentally, from being in a different position as a full time touring band on a label. There are expectations that not only come from ourselves but from fans and the industry. We were under pressure to complete the album and had roughly a month or two to finish writing followed by a tour and then right into the studio. We didn’t let the pressure stop or deter us from what we had to do. We knew we had to kick it up a notch to top what we did on the first album but at the same time not lose who we are as a band. I think each song on this record has more of a dynamic. We didn’t want every song to sound the same or just play fast all the time. There’s more melody but still brutality on this record. With tracks like “Flesh and Bone” and “Wage a War” which have a lot of melody to them, then you have “Beast” and “The Will To Overcome” which reflect the brutality of the band and then songs like “Ghost Alive” and “Force Fed Lies” that are thrash style songs.
Lauren: How has touring been this last year?
Hiran: Touring has been great! We’ve had so many great opportunities that we had the pleasure of being a part of. From Trespass America with Five Finger Death Punch and Killswitch Engage, opening for In Flames, then Orion fest with Metallica and of course, Mayhem Festival with Rob Zombie, Mastodon, Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom, Machine Head and Huntress. All these tours have given us a chance to play in front of large crowds and have really helped us gain a quickly growing fan base. There a lot of bands that never get a chance to do these types of tours so we’re really thankful we’ve had the chance to be a part of these. Touring is hard work and a lot of dedication but when you bust ass and do tours like these it really makes the work all worthwhile. We’ve always been a hard working band and we know that this just the beginning to more opportunities. We don’t let these opportunities get to our head and we know that we’re still a young band that has more to prove but we’re ready.
Lauren: Have there been any memorable shows for you this last year?
Hiran: I would say most memorable show for us was Orion Music and More with Metallica. Playing a show with Metallica is a dream come true and we got to play with them in our hometown of Detroit! Not only did we play on the same bill with them but we got to be part of a press conference with the band! Out of all the great bands on the bill we were selected to do this! It was unreal and as a matter of fact I barely said a word at the press conference because I was so nervous! Never thought I would be sitting next to Metallica! To top it all off, James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo, came out on stage before we went on and introduced us! They pumped up the crowd and us! We went up there on fire and just burnt the place down with our energy and excitement. Truly a memorable and career highlight for us!
Lauren: If you could replace the soundtrack to any movie with your own music, which one would it be and why?
Hiran: I’m honestly more of a fan of scores when it comes to movies versus putting songs in a movie soundtrack. I really wouldn’t want to change the soundtrack of any particular movie I like because I feel like the music is already fitting for it but if I could I make my own movie with our music I would make an action movie. It’d be like the Expendables battling against the cast of all those dumb reality TV shows.
Lauren: Where would you like to see Battlecross in 5 years?
Hiran: My hope that our career is still thriving and that we will be touring all over the world. That’s all I really want from this band is a solid career and be playing anywhere and everywhere we can.
Lauren: Are there any plans for any upcoming tours or a new album?
Hiran: Definitely upcoming tours, we have a tour with Hatebreed, Shadows Fall and Acacia Strain this fall followed by a tour with Death Angel, 3 Inches Of Blood, Revocation and Diamond Plate! After that not sure what else is in store other than more touring and hopefully heading overseas! Can’t wait to play in Europe, South America, Japan and every where else on the globe! As far as a new album we’re not really focused on that yet other than working on some ideas on our own here and there.
Five Finger Death Punch “The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, Vol. 1” Metal Released on 30th July 2013 Via Prospect Park (U.S.A.) and Eleven Seven Records (rest of the world)
As annoying as it is to read so many words in just one title, I can assure you that the quality of its contents is directly proportional to its size: HUGE!
Nothing much has changed from “American Capitalist” and that’s the beauty of it: Five Finger Death Punch created ten brand new songs using the same characteristics as before but without sounding repetitive.
“Lift Me Up” counts with those familiar cranking guitar riffs that one recognizes as 5FDP’s and the guest vocal appearance by the one and only Rob Halford is just the icing on an already yummy cake.
Jeremy Spencer has always had a thing for double bass drumming, but in “Watch You Bleed” he shows just how catchy that can be.
Both “You” and “Burn MF” are quite antagonistic, the former having Ivan Moody in use of his harsher tone with the speed and belligerent force of a machine gun. Their counterweight comes in “Wrong Side Of Heaven” and “M.I.N.E. (End This Way)”, the power-ballads that 5FDP are also famous for.
“Diary Of A Deadman” is almost an instrumental track, full of liquid guitars and heavy beats, the few lyrics in it spoken – as in a diary – proving that if Moody wasn’t such a brilliant musician, he had a promising future in radio hosting, given the depth of his voice.
The other three original songs come in pairs, as they all have guest singers in them and the band decided you should also know how those songs sounded like without the guests. So Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy) half-sings, half-speaks in his native language Portuguese in “I.M.Sin”; Maria Brink from In This Moment is featured in both versions of “Anywhere But Here”, although in the first one she only does background vocals/sounds, and in the second she sings a proper duet with Moody – and don’t think this means we’re talking about a ballad; and finally “Dot Your Eyes” has the help of Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Kingdom Of Sorrow) “coring up” the tone a bit.
In the previous paragraph I didn’t use the word “original” by chance: “The Wrong Side Of Heaven…” also includes a cover song, and it’s important to say so as 5FDP did it in such a way that it actually sounds as their own: a metal version of a hip hop hit by L.L. Cool J, “Mama Said Knock You Out”. And to maintain a certain level of its true nature, the band invited Tech N9ne to rap away part of the lyrics.
I don’t know how volume 2 will be like, even though I strongly suspect it will be in the same mold as this, but the combining fierceness, melody and groove in this “The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell Volume 1” has already put the “Vegas Knuckleheads” in my annual best-of list of releases.
Battlecross have begun streaming their brand new album War of Willat their official Metal Blade landing page. This stream will be up for a limited time only, from now until 8pm GMT tonight. Additionally, the brand new music video for Never Coming Back was recently finished and can be viewed below.
Battlecross triumphantly return as one of the true champions of American Heavy Metal with their devastating sophomore release, War of Will. Co-produced at Audio Hammer Studios by famed producers Mark Lewis and Eyal Levi, the sophomore effort from Detroit’s newest soldiers of steel will soon prove as one of the most impressive follow-up releases, destined to become a heavy metal classic for fans of all sub-genres.
War of Will is now in stores and on-line. The band is on tour now as part of the Rock Star Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Tour with Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom, Machine Head, Mastodon and more. For tickets and details, head to this location.
Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth have been forced to cancel their upcoming appearance on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival due to their drummer Inferno taking ill and requiring surgery. The band’s frontman Nergal comments:
This must have been the most difficult decision we were forced to make in recent years. Behemoth is known for not cancelling any shows or tours. But this is not something we can do when we are missing our driving force, the man behind the drums – Inferno. Unfortunately, he was hospitalised due to appendix surgery and it’s gonna take him few months to fully recover and get back to shape. We are trying to save selected European Festivals with a fill in drummer [Krimh, ex-Decapitated], but we won’t be risking doing a full-on prestigious tour like the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival without Inferno. Behemoth is a solid unit and any part of this unit missing makes us weaker, and that is not how we want to present our new material to our fans. Please, accept our apologies and be patient, we shall return to Europe (this fall) and the US (early 2014) empowered and motivated as never before!
The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival is set to kick off on Saturday 29th June in San Bernardino, CA and features bands such as Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, Amon Amarth, Machine Head, Job For a Cowboy, Battlecross, Children of Bodom, and many more. For tickets, dates, contests, and more, head to the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Official Site and follow the tour on Facebook and Twitter. Behemoth’s recently announced forthcoming full-length album, The Satanist, is scheduled for a fall 2013 release.
Last week, Battlecross unveiled the title, cover art, and first single from their upcoming new album, War of Will. This week, the Battlecross lads have posted the first of two studio videos. The clips were filmed entirely by the band as they were holed-up at Audio Hammer Studios in Florida. In this first instalment, fans will be treated to raw video of session drummer Shannon Lucas tracking songs for the album, as well as other candid clips from throughout their time in the studio. Watch clip #1 at this location. At that page, fans can also stream Force Fed Lies and pre-order the album.
Battlecross triumphantly return as one of the true champions of American Heavy Metal with their devastating sophomore release, War of Will. Co-produced at Audio Hammer Studios by famed producers Mark Lewis and Eyal Levi, the sophomore effort from Detroit’s newest soldiers of steel will soon prove as one of the most impressive follow-up releases, destined to become a heavy metal classic for fans of all sub-genres. Levi comments on the album:
War of Will triggers a strange Déjà Vu while feeling completely brand new.
After a fist-pumping debut, impressive breakout tours in 2012, Battlecross will continue their climb as one of metal’s most impressive new bands with appearances at Orion Music +More with Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deftones and Suicidal Tendencies in the band’s hometown of Detroit and the 4th Annual Gwar-BQ with Municipal Waste and Corrosion of Conformity.
War of Will will be released on 8th July 2013 via Metal Blade just as the band head out for the summer on the Rock Star Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Tour with Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom, Machine Head, Behemoth, Mastodon and more. For tickets and details, head to the official Rock Star Mayhem website.
Babylon Fire Dark Horizons Released: 12thNovember, 2012 Heavy Metal Released via Rocksector Records
Babylon Fire is a band who says they are influenced by older metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath and also by the newer bands like Stone Sour,Machine Head, and Five Finger Death Punch. This blend of older heaviness with a new, clean vocal style has created a unique sound that goes beyond standard metal to create something with a bit more groove and rhythm to it. Although they’ve been a band for five years now, their first full length album Dark Horizons depicts their influences very well.
Every song on this album had a medium to fast tempo that kept it diverse and exciting to listen to. The first song on this 12 track album, The Clarion Call, wasted no time in drawing you in with fast paced riffs and that made you instantly hooked into the song. However, I found it hard to enjoy the music itself because of the vocals. While I am not opposed to mixing clean vocals with fast and melodic riffs, I felt that the vocals were too overpowering in every song. Also, the mix of clean vocals with growling vocals made it confusing at first, in my opinion, as to what kind of band they were trying to be.
In modern metal and heavy music, there seems to be this pattern now where bands want to incorporate so many different influences into their music. I feel that Babylon Fire shows each of their influences throughout this album but with the newer influences definitely being the more dominant sound. I would recommend this album to anyone who is a fan of Five Finger Death Punch,Stone Sour, or any other band that sounds like them. While I could hear subtle influences of older heavy metal throughout Dark Horizons, I feel that they are definitely a newer sounding band.
Godlike Malicious Mind Alternative/Melodic Death Metal Released: October 2012 Released via Inverse Records.
Godlike is a new Finnish band. Malicious Mind is their debut album. As soon as you start playing it you guess the kind of influences they have… Made me have a regression to the early 2000’s.
With strong nu metal references mixed with melodic death, kind of in a Five Finger Death Punch way, they manage to take that Limp Bizkit sound and put make it sound a bit fresher.
The album goes down the nu metal road the first 4 songs. In Original Rebel takes a turn more to the death metal side with heavier sounding elements on the music and a song theme that made me think of Destruction’s The Antichrist. Then comes Shi No Negai and stirs the album back in the previous direction.
The album doesn’t have a central topic that the songs revolve around, at least an apparent one. Some songs talk about the Catholic Church and the original sin, same others talk about this chick who is a hot mess, or how someone betrayed them. I find these last ones extremely cheesy but they melody and rhythm are quite catchy.
The album sounds solid and like an album made of t best songs they wrote during the years. I am a bit excited to see how they do next, for I believe their next album will be deciding on their future. I am not such a big fan of this kind of music, but keeping an objective eye on that aspect, the album is not bad.
Five Finger Death Punch‘s video for The Pride premieres on Vevo TODAY, and can be viewed here. The clip is the first wherein the band has presented live footage from the road within the short-form music video medium. Footage was selected from the band’s successful Metal Hammer Presents Trespass America Tour over this past summer, and the band’s critically acclaimed set at Rock On The Range.
Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody shares, “One of the best parts of being in this band is that we have the chance to design and build bigger and bigger live shows. Our concerts became spectacular gatherings of our extended family and we wanted to share this amazing experience with everyone. So we wrote & designed this video in dedication of our loyal, dedicated, militant fan base known as Knuckleheads who deserve the best experience we can give them. You’ve all stood by us & diligently helped us introduce the world to Five Finger Death Punch and this is our way of saying THANK YOU ! We couldn’t have done any of this without all of you. WELCOME TO THE PRIDE !”
Kobra And The Lotus – the five-piece group fronted by powerful vocalist Kobra Paige – are set to play BloodstockOpen Air Festival on Sunday August 12th. The band will open the Ronnie James Diostage, the main stage at the event.
KATL – who recently guested with Judas Priest and legendary Yorkshire rockers Saxon at the Hammersmith Apollo in London – will release their self-titled album on August 6th 2012 via Spinefarm Records.
To celebrate this release, the five-piece will play a one-off, headline show at The Borderline in London onAugust 13th, tickets available here.
Produced by Kevin Churko (whose previous credits include both Five Finger Death Punch and Ozzy Osbourne), the 10-track album has an intentionally grand-scale dynamic, revelling in the glories of the genre and making its mark as arena rather than garage rock; precisely delivered music, still heavy with emotion.
“Some of the songs do have specific meanings,” states Kobra. “For example, ‘Heaven’s Veins’ is about addiction, and ‘50 Shades Of Evil’ is about greed, about the constant desire for more… but, by and large, the theme is one of hope, of finding a way through dark situations…
“I do have broad musical tastes, but by choice I’m a heavy metal fan, and I’m truly excited with the album we’ve just finished. It’s rooted in the great history of the music, the escapism and the larger than life imagery, which is something I’m very comfortable with, but it’s for a new generation too, and it’s delivered 100 per cent from the heart!”
Signed to Simmons Records and released internationally via Spinefarm,Canadians KATL already have lead single/video ‘Forever One’ on release, and will have a second single out shortly; titled ‘50 Shades Of Evil’, the song will be accompanied by a brand new video, and follows in the wake of an intense run of European shows that has seen the band making festival appearances in the UK, Spain, Germany, Austria, Sweden, France, Belgium & Italy, as well as guesting with Black Label Society.
UK dates are as follows:-
August
12th – Ronnie James Dio Stage, Bloodstock Open Air Festival, Derbyshire
13th – Album launch show, The Borderline, London
Kobra and the Lotus; the five-piece group fronted by powerful vocalist Kobra Paige, will release their debut, self-titled album on August 6th 2012 via Spinefarm Records.
The album is produced by Kevin Churko (whose previous credits include both Five Finger Death Punch & Ozzy Osbourne), this 10-track outing has an intentionally grand-scale dynamic, revelling in the glories of the genre and making its mark as arena rather than garage rock; precisely delivered music, still heavy with emotion.
Commenting on the record, songwriter & no-holds-barred performer Kobra divulged: “Some of the songs do have more specific meanings – for example, ‘Heaven’s Veins’ is about addiction, ‘Calm Before the Storm’ is about children born into troubled situations, ‘pearls in the ashes’, and ‘50 Shades Of Evil’ is about greed, about the constant desire for more… but, by and large, the theme is one of hope, of finding a way through dark situations… I do have broad musical tastes, but by choice I’m a heavy metal fan, and I’m truly excited with the album we’ve just finished. It’s rooted in the great history of the music, the escapism and the larger than life imagery, which is something I’m very comfortable with, but it’s for a new generation too, and it’s delivered 100 per cent from the heart!”
Kobra And The Lotus, signed to Simmons Records, and released internationally by Spinefarm, will be coming to the UK to guest with both Judas Priest and Guns N’ Roses in late May, then appearing at the Download Festival in June.
In support of this activity, ‘Forever One’ – the lead single / video from the new album – will be released digitally on May 28th.
The UK dates are as follows:
May 2012
26th – Hammersmith Apollo, London (with Judas Priest & Saxon)
29th – MEN Arena, Manchester (with Guns N’ Roses & Thin Lizzy)
31st – O2 Arena, London (with Guns N’ Roses & Thin Lizzy)
June 2012
10th – Download Festival, Donington Park (Encore Stage)
A second single, ‘Heaven’s Veins’, and more UK dates from the Canadian outfit will follow, in the wake of key European festivals in Spain, Germany, Austria, Sweden, France, Belgium and Italy.
California metallers Bonded By Blood are currently in the studio finalising a brand new studio album coming this summer, set to be released through Earache Records.
The new album is being recorded with producer and former Machine Head/Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader, who has worked with the likes of Devildriver and Five Finger Death Punch, at Darth Mader Music in Los Angeles. The band have been documenting the studio experience and have posted a new video to update fans on the recording process which can be watched below:
Last week, Battlecross unveiled the title, cover art, and first single from their upcoming new album, War of Will. This week, the Battlecross lads have posted the first of two studio videos. The clips were filmed entirely by the band as they were holed-up at Audio Hammer Studios in Florida. In this first instalment, fans will be treated to raw video of session drummer Shannon Lucas tracking songs for the album, as well as other candid clips from throughout their time in the studio. Watch clip #1 at 
Kobra and the Lotus; the five-piece group fronted by powerful vocalist Kobra Paige, will release their debut, self-titled album on August 6th 2012 via Spinefarm Records.
Valkyrian Music 