Metal Mix Tape Volume 3
Let there be metal! Have a look to see who made Metal Mix Tape Volume Three:
Finnish Folk Metal Superstars KORPIKLAANI have released a new single called Krystallomantia which sees the band couple their trademark sound with their most politically influenced lyrics to date. The melancholic, yet upbeat anti-war song was written about Ukraine and the ongoing Russian invasion currently happening in that country. In addition, KORPIKLAANI are playing a charity show for Ukrainian troops, families and innocent victims at Faine Miste Festival in Poland on August 26th, 2022.
JONNE comments:
“I had been working on this song for a while, but when Russia invaded Ukraine, it came naturally to write these lyrics and finish the song. We were planning to release it later this year, however when Faine Misto asked us to perform at their festival in Poland as a charity event, it seemed perfect time to release it. The cover artwork, again done by Jan Yrlund, shows the impact and deep sadness we all feel. Peace & Love – Jonne”
Enslaved have released a stunning new track titled Kingdom alongside an evocative concept video. The unorthodox Norwegians have found themselves at an intersection of sorts, where the momentum of living time rushes forward at an ever-increasing pace, imperceptibly modulated by the primeval echoes of eons past.
Ivar Bjørnson stated:
“Kingdom – a tribute to the endurance of ideas and the people that carry them forward through hardship and fatigue, for the benefit of us all. Musically, it is a tribute to the Riff and the Rite: to the Teutonic Thrash kings, to Space Rock, to the Ambient pioneers of the 70s. With this we ask you to join us on this coming trek. Thanks for listening!”
Fresh off the road from their first U.S. tour in years, Los Angeles rock band 96 BITTER BEINGS has dropped a brand new single, Wish Me Dead, from their highly-anticipated second full-length album, Synergy Restored, that’s due on November 4th from Nuclear Blast.
Founding songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller says of the song:
“At some point in their lives, many of us come face to face with that special someone that actually puts more time and effort into attempting to get us to fail than they do into trying to succeed themselves. Jealousy is so baffling because it is too transparent of an emotion to deny. There’s nothing else you can call it… whether you are the recipient or the one dishing it out. We knocked it out of the park on ‘Wish Me Dead’. Instantly you recognize that classic CKY sound; and a song I am this proud of has only come around once or twice in my whole life.”
UK progressive metal masters THRESHOLD recently announced their 12th studio album Dividing Lines to be released on November 18th via Nuclear Blast.
They reveal the second single from the album, King Of Nothing, alongside an amazing lyric video.
Glynn Morgan comments on the song: “It’s about moving on, accepting defeat and just moving on, instead of spending the rest of your life blaming yourself or whoever for things not going the way you´d hoped. As hard as it may seem, don’t give up, just press reset, smile! grab your dreams and start over again, be the King of your own destiny! King of Nothing is the first single I have written for THRESHOLD since Innocent back in 1994 during my first stint with the band, and it feels awesome and exciting to have one of my songs chosen for release as a single from the new album Dividing Lines.”
With over 100+ million streams and a tremendously successful album released just a year ago, symphonic metal titans THERION have not been idle and continue their epic Leviathan trilogy with striking new single Pazuzu.
Christofer comments:
”Pazuzu” is a song originally written for another artist, but in lack of a positive answer on acceptance of the song, we decided to rewrite it for Therion instead. So style-wise it’s almost like a cover song on another artist – but still written by Therion. The song contains some powerful guest vocals from Eclipse singer Erik Mårtensson, in my mind the “Blackie Lawless of AOR”, definitely one of my fave singers from the last decade of new bands.”
Bay Area metal icons MACHINE HEAD unleash their incendiary 10th studio album, ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN, with the collection landing at DSPs and in stores via Nuclear Blast X Imperium Recordings.
To commemorate release day, the band have revealed a brand-new video for the album track, NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS, which you can watch below.
Speaking about the new track, MACHINE HEAD founder and visionary, Robb Flynn shares:
“We’re really proud of the video for ‘NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS’. It was an incredible collaboration between three different creative teams working across two different continents. Our director/editor Mike Sloat (Machine Head, Testament) teamed up with the amazing Grupa 13 (Behemoth, Amon Amarth) and then the stunning 3-D CGI came from Phil Radford AKA MayaGuy of Strangebox. The track was masterfully mixed by long-time Machine Head collaborator Colin Richardson and his engineer Chris Clancy. This is a really special song from the album.”
Extreme Metal pioneers VENOM INC. are proud to present Come To Me – the 3rd single from their upcoming album There’s Only Black, which will be released on September 23rd, 2022 via NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS. The song comes with an atmospheric lyric video, full of occult imagery, which you can watch below.
Almost 40 years after their inception, the revitalized 1989 – 1992 Venom line-up of guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and vocalist/bassist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan and the new addition of drummer Jeramie ‘Warmachine’ Kling have returned with one hell of a follow-up to their acclaimed debut, Avé, and show no signs of slowing down.
Swedish metal legends SOILWORK have released their new album Övergivenheten – both highly anticipated by fans and lauded by the press, the twelfth output by Helsingborg’s finest lands as one of the finest metal records of the year, and of SOILWORK’s career.
Together with the new album, the band have released a live video for their focus track Valleys Of Gloam.
Singer Björn Strid comments:
“Valleys of Gloam has a fierce metallic rock drive and sticks out quite a bit on this album. It might remind some people of the Figure Number Five days – yet it’s moving forward with the bands new found era, where the melodic language and intensity unites in a unique and beautiful way. This one is a very uplifting piece, that goes straight to the heart”.
GRAMMY Award-winning Iowan icons SLIPKNOT have announced details of their widely anticipated new album, THE END, SO FAR, which will be released September 30th on Roadrunner Records. The band has shared the album’s lead single The Dying Song (Time To Sing), which is available on all streaming platforms with an official music video streaming on Slipknot’s YouTube channel. Directed by the band’s own M. Shawn ‘clown’ Crahan, the The Dying Song (Time To Sing) video, and the track itself, sees one of the world’s most popular and deeply enigmatic bands relentlessly charting new ground as they continue to redefine, revitalize, and reimagine the scope of rock music.
Speaking about the forthcoming album, Crahan asserted, “New Music, new art, and new beginnings. Get ready for the end.”
In celebration of their recent career-defining headline performance at Bloodstock Open Air 2022, Malevolence offers the world a sneak-peak into the festivities with a video of set highlight Karma, featuring live special guest Will Ramos of Lorna Shore. Malevolence laid waste to the attending crowd during their biggest headline show to-date, in a packed-to-the-rafters tent inundated with frenzied crowd surfers.
Malevolence vocalist Alex Taylor commented:
“We knew that we wanted to make Bloodstock a special show, so it only felt right that we invited a few special guests onto the stage with us to make the night even more memorable for the people of Bloodstock. I hit up Lorna Shore and asked if Will would be up for it, and he was on it straight away.”
Fresh from dominating the main stages at Reading & Leeds festivals over the weekend, Enter Shikari are sharing the video for their latest single, The Void Stares Back feat. Wargasm. The song became the subject of much conversation over the weekend as the band brought Wargasm themselves out on stage with them for a first live airing.
Lead vocalist / producer Rou Reynolds previously described the song as being about “the forward march of social progress” and the stunning official visual for the song is unveiled, directed by Elliot Gonzo.
Compelling breakthrough Mongolian rock group THE HU are excited to reveal the second part of their epic single/cinematic music video, Black Thunder (Part Two).
Black Thunder (Part One) was released in July and has since garnered over 1.4 million views.
The videos for Black Thunder were filmed in the band’s native country Mongolia and tell a powerful story of battle, faith, and death while celebrating traditional Mongolian values both lyrically and visually. They were directed by Erdenebileg Ganbold and THE HU’s producer Dashka.
The day has come for EPICA to finally release their Early Years Collector’s Editions We Still Take You With Us, including their first 3 albums, the rare Live At Paradiso and their first official live recording at Netherland’s Twee Meter Sessies.
Order the early years collection We Still Take You With Us and Live At Paradiso here: https://nblast.de/Epica-WeStillTake or get it at your local store!
Join us on one last trip down memory lane with this 4K remastered video for Blank Infinity (Live At Paradiso).
Mark Jansen comments: “Blank Infinity is one of the songs from the ‘Consign To Oblivion’ album that we played a lot live during the early years. I sometimes miss the song in our set, but we have so much to choose from that nowadays it is impossible to integrate all of them!”
German nu-metal stars OCEANS are back. After delivering the second in a trilogy of EPs earlier this year with Hell Is Where The Heart Is – Part II: Longing, the band have proudly announced the third and final part of the series Hell Is Where The Heart Is – Part III: Clarity which will be released on November 25th.
In addition, OCEANS will release Hell Is Where The Heart Is as a physical album on November 25th, comprising of the songs from the Hell Is Where The Heart Is EP series.
To coincide with the announcement, OCEANS have released a video for their brand new single called If There Is A God She Has Abandoned Us.
Timo Rotten comments:
“No matter how positively you try to go through life, there are times when you just feel abandoned and left alone. It seems like everything is going down the drain, so how can one not lose hope in these times right now? Previous generations seemed to give no fucks about this world and now we’re left to pick up the shards. Some people just want to watch the world burn and I’m so fed up with all of this.”
Swedish melodic metal rockers CYHRA return with an explosive new single and video Ready To Rumble on September 2nd via Nuclear Blast. The band which was founded by vocalist Jake E (ex-AMARANTHE) and guitarist Jesper Strömblad (ex-IN FLAMES) are thrilled to finally release new music after having their No Halos In Hell (2019, Nuclear Blast) album touring campaign cut short due to the global pandemic outbreak.
Vocalist Jake E comments: ‘’No Halos In Hell got such great reviews all over the world, and we had shows planned for a year ahead. Then COVID hit, and in a heartbeat it felt like the world was pulled from under our feet.” Jake continues, “I can’t express the gratitude over how I feel about the whole Cyhra team. The crew, tour agents, management, and the band, and how we all managed to stay true to our beliefs and to what we want to achieve! I would be lying if I said it was easy to start writing songs again, but we managed to do it as a TEAM! I think that we all agreed that the new songs and the new album needed to demonstrate that Cyhra is a force to be reckoned with moving forward. And I hope we’re able to break new ground on this new album, while at the same time pleasing our existing fan base.”
IRIST release a mesmerizing new track titled Surging Ablaze, taken from their forthcoming EP Gloria, out on September 16th via Nuclear Blast Records. Surging Ablaze sees the nascent post-metallers hit a new stride, transcending our mortal coil with the ebb and flow of slow-burn melody, and sludgy, crushing atmospherics.
Vocalist Rodrigo Carvalho stated,
“Surging Ablaze is a song about the contemplative journey, and meditative states, one experiences when getting to the other side of a difficult situation. On top of a beautiful lead for the chorus, Pablo wrote an insanely heavy riff towards the end of the song that definitely sticks to you. This is a rhythmically more measured song for us, and the fact that we were able to add some lyrics in Portuguese makes it even more unique.”
Fit For A King announced their new album The Hell We Create. It arrives on October 28 via Solid State Records.
“Falling Through the Sky represents the mental struggles I had dealt with during the pandemic, and how little my upbringing prepared me to deal with it,” says singer Ryan Kirby. “Between adopting two children, my wife having constant health issues, and me losing almost 70 percent of my income, I was an absolute wreck.”
The San Diego band Pierce the Veil has just shared the lyric video for the brand new song Pass the Nirvana.
Pierce the Veil, which Rolling Stone once described as “hyperactive, progressive post-hardcore,” serve up a new track full of fuzzy guitars, massive melodic hooks, and PTV’s distinct emotional heart. Pass the Nirvana is quite the riff fest and it marks Pierce the Veil’s first new music since 2016. It was worth the wait — and then some. It is destined to become a fan favourite that the PTV faithful will scream the lyrics to at their live shows.
Architects have shared the second preview off their new album, the classic symptoms of a broken spirit, which will be out via Epitaph on October 21st. Single deep fake continues the band’s exploration of electronic and industrial elements, pitting gritty synths against wailing guitar leads. The song premiered this morning at BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record in the World.
The band were buoyed by finally being back in the room together after their last album was made mostly remote due to COVID restrictions, the result was something altogether more “free, playful and spontaneous” the bands drummer and songwriter Dan explains. “This one feels more live, more exciting and more fun – it has that energy. We wanted it to be a lot more industrial and electronic,” agrees frontman Sam Carter.
Australian metal juggernauts PARKWAY DRIVE have shared their new track Ground Zero, lifted from their new album, Darker Still, out now via Parkway Records.
The band has shared the song Ground Zero which opens the album in an anthemic way. The track erupts with galloping guitar solos, stadium-sized riffs, and the thunderous roar of McCall. It’s a fist-in-the-air tour de force that will send adrenaline coursing through your veins from start to finish.
“Ground Zero, the first impact,” the band states. “This song is where it all begins, from the fragile opening to the anthem inspiring chorus. Welcome to the new era of Parkway Drive. Live like life depends on it.”
A few weeks ago, Swedish modern metal sensation AMARANTHE began to release a series of very special interpretations of songs from their 2020 hit album, Manifest. The band are proud to present the latest and final entry in this sequence of unique singles: a new version of the song Make It Better which now features BEYOND THE BLACK’s Jennifer Haben on guest vocals. Please check out this new rendition below.
2023 is set to be a big year for DORO PESCH, who will be celebrating 40 years in music!
The absolute highlight is certain to be her anniversary hometown show on October 28th, 2023, in Düsseldorf. The ticket sales have started already sensationally.
But the metal queen already has another big surprise up her sleeve. Her label Nuclear Blast are releasing a very unique single, never-before-seen in the musicians long and successful career: is a soulful adaptation of DORO’S classic metal anthem Raise Your Fist In The Air.
DORO comments: “It was incredibly difficult to find the right song for this format. Making a metal anthem sound pop, yet cool, was even harder. A real balancing act, which I think we managed very well.“
Melbourne’s alt metal titans Circles deliver the pinnacle of Australian progressive metal with their new single Dig. Illustrating this next chapter via Wild Thing Records on September 14, they are also announcing and starting pre-orders for their long-awaited EP – The Stories We Are Afraid Of | Vol. 1.
The Stories We Are Afraid Of | Vol. 1 is the first instalment of an epic two-part EP, following Circles sophomore record, The Last One, which garnered international recognition and domestic success (#4 TheMusic’s Album of the Year 2018, #3 AIR Independent Albums). The progressive giants continue to lead the path of the international djent movement with their upcoming release, furthering the incorporation of shimmering wavering pads, belting breakdowns and propelling percussion.
The next instalment of The Stories We Are Afraid Of continues on where Sleepwalking left off, portraying the process of piecing together existentialism and identity to rekindle a strong connection with oneself, which had previously dwindled to a flicker. Sleepwalking encompasses the realisation of the cathartic state and Dig marks the first steps towards change, leaving four more tracks to shape the meaning of the EP. Frontman Ben Rechter states:
“The overarching theme of Vol.1 is one of a loss of identity and purpose, and trying to recapture a sense of wonder and passion for life that was once a core part of you. Musically, we went into these writing sessions with a focus on being more direct than on previous albums, steering away from crowding songs with heaps of different riffs for the sake of having more riffs that we personally like in there.”
Virtuosic extreme metallers OBSCURA are ready to start their European tour, to finally take their acclaimed sixth studio album A Valediction out to their fans live. To celebrate this, they have released a brand-new video for The Neuromancer, their latest single from A Valediction.
The Neuromancer was filmed by Mirko Witzki (Arch Enemy, Powerwolf, Kreator) at the famous Kupfersaal in Cologne, Germany in August 2022. The theatre was built in 1820 and has been protected for decades after being declared a historic monument.
Frontman Steffen Kummerer comments: ‘’We produced a brand-new music video with Mirko Witzki for one of the most challenging and demanding songs off our album A Valediction. ´The Neuromancer´ features high speed riffing, sharp solos and a spot-on performance by the entire band. Catch us performing this monster on our upcoming ‘’A Valediction Europe Tour’’ with guests Persefone and Disillusion. Make sure to pick up your tickets!’’.
US progressive heavy metal band INTERLOPER have been keeping busy of late. Last year, they released their debut album Search Party, and have since been undertaking several tours across America. The band have released their new single, titled Bear The Weight.
Miles Baker comments:
“’Bear The Weight’ is a song about the struggle one goes through when their life starts to catch up with them. We’re really proud of this one musically as well and think it shines some cool light on another area of our music. Hope you enjoy it!“
Gold-selling hard rockers Of Mice & Men — Aaron Pauley (bass + vocals), Valentino Arteaga (drums), Alan Ashby (guitar), and Phil Manansala(guitar) — have shared another remix of a song from last year’s critically acclaimed Echo album. They have shared Gravity (The Forgotten Remix).
“I love how The Forgotten was able to completely reinterpret the song, creating a lush, futuristic, and atmospheric landscape, all while staying completely connected to the emotional content at the core of the song,” says Pauley.
With potent and palpable intensity, the momentum continues for Omens, arguably Lamb Of God’s most aggressive and ambitious work to date … and today the Grammy-nominated goliath unleash their third single Grayscale from the forthcoming Omens album out October 7 on Nuclear Blast Records.
The heavy Grayscale includes Blythe’s vibrantly unhinged vocal attack plus Morton and Adler’s threatening riffage to challenge and devastate headbangers alike and also features Cruz and Campbell’s unstoppable rhythms.
Willie Adler commented on the single: “Grayscale has just a smack you in the face, bit of hardcore feel to it. We had basically finished writing the record and I wrote this song thinking it won’t necessarily be a Lamb song. I sent it to Josh Wilbur, our producer, to check out and he responded with ‘Perfect, this is the last song we need for the record!'”
Bay Area masters of atmospheric technical death metal FALLUJAH have unleashed their monumental 5th studio album, Empyrean, with Nuclear Blast. Receiving rave reviews from critics around the world and legions of fans championing their return, FALLUJAH has emerged with one of their best records to date. On their latest epic journey the band explores new sonic realms while revisiting past influences and styles, captivating listeners along the way with Scott Carstairs’ massive riffs and guitar wizardry and new recruit Kyle Schaefer’s seething vocals. Strap in and witness a cataclysmic collision of atmospheric death metal.
In addition to the record’s release, FALLUJAH has debuted a visualizer for the song Mindless Omnipotent Master.
Primary songwriter and guitarist Scott Carstairs says of the song:
“’Mindless Omnipotent Master’ is about the massive, globally-linked systems of technology and society that were created for humankind’s own benefit, but have now grown into self-sustained forces beyond our control. The music sets an appropriately dark tone with four minutes of relentlessly brutal riffs and mechanically sharp precision.”
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