Tuesday 12 January 2016

CRADLE OF FILTH - UK and Ireland shows March 2016



Cradle Of Filth, one of the greatest and most influential British metal bands of all time are very pleased to announce a run of three UK and Ireland shows this upcoming March. These dates will follow a highly anticipated headline performance at renowned UK metal festival Hammerfest VIII.

You can see Cradle Of Filth live on the following dates:

March 10th to 13th - Hammerfest VIII March 12th – Chester, Live Rooms March 13th – Dublin, Academy March 14th – Belfast, Limelight 1

Cradle Of Filth’s latest album and opus nocturne ‘Hammer Of The Witches’ was released earlier this year to widespread critical acclaim. The album stands out as a milestone in Cradle’s lengthy history. It continues their grand tradition of infusing every album with a unique atmosphere and conceptual elements that embolden the songs' dramatic execution. It is classic Cradle from start to finish. And with typically mischievous aplomb, the album's title flips the historical script, turning the tables on the gruesome witch hunts of 16th and 17th century Europe and exacting some hard-earned vengeance on behalf of all of those who suffered persecution at the hands of religious zealots during that turbulent period in history.

Cradle Of Filth have cast a commanding and macabre shadow across the metal scene for nearly a quarter of a century. Armed with their trademark, cross-pollinated assault, that taps into myriad strands of sonic extremity and morbid opulence, they have steadily conquered the entire world, unleashing a malevolent slew of classic albums along the way. From the raw and rambunctious savagery of their 1994 debut ‘The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh‘ to the wickedly monstrous, technicolour bombast of 2012's ‘The Manticore & Other Horrors‘, the Cradle ethos and aesthetic has had a huge impact on the evolution of metal. The band's insatiable appetite for performing live alongside frontman Dani Filth's unerring charisma and sense of occasion ensure that they have established a powerful and enduring connection with Hell-bound acolytes everywhere.

Melbourne's Them Swoops get sky-high



Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Them Swoops first started making waves back in 2012, when an early demo version of their track, ‘Work Around It," crept it's way into rotation on major Aussie radio tastemaker, Triple J.

After supporting the likes of The Macabees, playing sold out shows in their hometown, and with hype amassing on the airwaves and in the blogosphere, word of the band quickly spread to the other side of the globe. ‘Work Around It’ scored an add to influential USA radio station SiriusXM Alt Nation, and the track frequently appeared in the 'Alt 18' most requested tracks and in the stations Top 20 most played songs each week.

The band released their debut EP titled Glimmers, in 2014 via the New York based label, +1 Records. The release, recorded by the band themselves in Melbourne and mixed by Mark Needham (The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Bloc Party) in Los Angeles, was a staggering arrival for the boys, and garnered attention from NYLON, Indie Shuffle and more in the HypeMachine charts.

Today, Them Swoops return with their new track, "Into The Atmosphere" - a synth heavy track dripping in tropical vibes. The song is premiering exclusively on Indie Shuffle.

CALIBAN – announce details for new album



While the majority of the scene is aiming for a more melodic and overall accessible sound, CALIBAN are plunging into darkness with their new album and heaviest offering to date, 'Gravity', which will be released worldwide on March 25th, 2016 via Century Media Records.

Yet again the album was produced by Benny Richter and guitarist Marc Görtz as well as co-produced by Marcel Neumann. 'Gravity' was recorded at Görtz’ Nemesis Studio by the guitarist himself who mixed the album together with Klaus Scheuermann.

The track listing of “Gravity” reads as follows:

1. Paralyzed 2. Mein schwarzes Herz 3. Who I Am 4. Left For Dead 5. Crystal Skies 6. Walk Alone 7. The Ocean’s Heart 8. brOKen 9. For We Are Forever 10. Inferno 11. No Dream Without A Sacrifice 12. Hurricane

After wrapping up the recordings for 'Gravity', CALIBAN played another installment of their very own established ”Darkness Over Xmas“-tour that was sold out in all 3 cities at the end of 2015. The crowd that came out to those shows already got the chance to check out two brand new songs from the forthcoming album, 'Paralyzed' and 'Left For Dead'.

CALIBAN are currently working on selected release shows in Germany as well as summer festivals which will be followed up by extensive touring in Autumn.

CALIBAN on European summer festivals:

05.05.2016 (CH) Zürich - Impericon Festival 17.-19.06.2016 (F) Clisson - Hellfest 21.-24.07.2016 (DE) Cuxhaven - Deichbrand Festival 23.07.2016 (CZ) Velké Meziříčí - Fajtfest 04.-06.08.2016 (DE) Wacken - Wacken Open Air 03.-08.09.2016 (DE) Kiel - Full Metal Cruise More summer festivals TBA!

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER tour kicks off in the UK this week



The Black Dahlia Murder will kick off their European tour with Benighted at The Haunt in Brighton on January 14, 2015.

The Black Dahlia Murder and Benighted will also be joining forces with Abbath and Primordial at O2 Forum Kentish Town on Saturday 23rd January 2016! Original Underworld tickets will remain valid for the O2 Forum show!

The Black Dahlia Murder will still be playing their headline show with Benighted at The Underworld on Friday 22nd January 2016!”

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER + Benighted + Guests

01/14 Brighton, GB @ The Haunt 01/15 Southampton, GB @ Talking Heads 01/16 Bristol, GB @ The Fleece 01/17 Nottingham, GB @ Rescue Rooms 01/18 Leeds, GB @ The Key Club 01/19 Glasgow, GB @ Cathouse 01/20 Dublin, IE @ Voodoo Lounge 01/21 Manchester, GB @ Sound Control 01/22 London, GB @ Underworld 01/23 London, GB @ The Forum with Abbath, Primordial 01/25 Dunkerque, FR @ Le Feerailleur 01/26 Toulouse, FR @ Connexion Live 01/28 Madrid, ES @ Caracol 01/29 Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz 2 01/30 Lyon, FR @ O'Totem 02/01 Winterthur, CH @ Gaswrk 02/02 Graz, AT @ Explosiv 02/03 Leipzig, DE @ Conne Island 02/04 Hamburg, DE @ Logo 02/05 Eindhoven, NL @ Dynamo 02/06 Antwerp, BE @ Biebob 02/07 Essen, DE @ Turock

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's devastating new album, Abysmal, serves to once again demonstrate why they are considered one of the most vital bands in contemporary death metal. The blistering new effort debuted at #45 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, as well as making very impressive debuts across the globe.

The group's first official music video for this album, "Receipt," can be viewed now atmetalblade.com/tbdm (scroll down once on site). "Receipt" was directed by Robert Graves and produced by Marco De Molina for Veva Entertainment Co. (VEC).

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER will return to North America this fall to headline the Second part of IndieMerch Tour with Goatwhore, Iron Reagan, Entheos and Artificial Brain.. Look for them headlining across Europe/UK in Jan.

Abysmal is a vicious slab of unrelenting aggression showcases TBDM at their very finest with a meticulous, pin-point precise rhythmic assault mixed with ferocious speed and dynamic hooks. The band also re-enlisted the services of renowned producer Mark Lewis (Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel) and former bass player Ryan Williams, who also produced Everblack, with the sole intent to get away from the overt sonic sterility affecting far too many contemporary metal albums.

INDIEMERCH TOUR 2015: PART II w/ Goatwhore, Iron Reagan, Entheos, and Artificial Brain

11/27 Joliet, IL @ The Tree 11/28 Minneapolis, MN @ Mill City Nights 11/29 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater 11/30 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater 12/03 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge 12/04 Los Angeles, CA @ Regent Theater 12/05 Phoenix, AZ @ The Pressroom 12/07 San Antonio, TX @ Alamo City Music Hall 12/08 Dallas, TX @ Trees 12/09 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live 12/11 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade 12/12 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum 12/14 Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage 12/15 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer 12/16 New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre 12/17 Boston, MA @ The Sinclair 12/18 Buffalo, NY @ Waiting Room 12/19 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls 12/20 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre

LIFE OF AGONY SIGNS WORLDWIDE DEAL WITH NAPALM RECORDS! First Details of New Album in Over a Decade Unveiled!



Photo by Jeremy Saffer

They are one of the most influential bands with one of the most distinctive sounds of the 90's era. A whole decade has gone by since their last album but now, LIFE OF AGONY are finally back!

Brooklyn's hard rock legends LIFE OF AGONY have signed a worldwide record deal with Napalm Records. LIFE OF AGONY returned to the stage and performed on multiple festival dates in Europe over the summer of 2014. The famed River Runs Red line-up, of vocalist Mina Caputo, guitarist Joey Z, bassist Alan Robert and drummer Sal Abruscato were excited to take the stage together once again after a three-year hiatus. And now the band has come back to stay, as they are about to continue touring the world and release their 5th studio album, the first in over a decade, since 2005's Broken Valley.

Now the band unveiled the first details as well as the cover artwork for their upcoming album, titled A Place Where There's No More Pain, set to be released on Napalm Records in 2016!



Bassist Alan Robert comments: "I think our fans know that our music comes from a very real place of suffering, from all of us in the band. Many of our fans have told us over the years that sharing our personal struggles has been cathartic for them in healing the pain in their own lives. That uplifting energy we share at the shows, gives us hope that there's light at the end of the tunnel. And for us and hopefully our fans, that short time when we're all together is a place where there's no more pain."

"Life Of Agony is without a doubt one of the most exciting and energetic Rock bands of our times. It is an honour to work with such talent, we are excited to announce their signing to Napalm Records and release the band's first album after over a decade." states Thomas Caser, CEO of Napalm Records, about the recent signing with legendary LIFE OF AGONY.

To shorten the wait on LIFE OF AGONY's exciting, new release and to celebrate the band's worldwide comeback, make sure to catch them live on the following dates:

19.01.2016: Köln (DE) – Live Music Hall 20.01.2016: Hannover (DE) – Capitol 22.01.2016: Berlin (DE) – Huxleys 23.01.2016: Wiesbaden (DE) – Schlachthof 24.01.2016: München (DE) – Backstage 17.03.2016: London (UK) – Electric Ballroom 18.03.2016: Wolverhampton (UK) – Slade Rooms 19.03.2016: Manchester (UK) – Club Academy 16.07.2016: Dynamo MetalFest (NL ) - Eindhoven

MORGOTH - announce European tour with Incantation



German death metal pioneers MORGOTH, who returned triumphantly to the scene with last year’s highly praised comeback album “Ungod”, will be touring through Europe with Incantation in April! Be sure not to miss this killer package of total death metal sovereignty and scroll lower for dates.

In other news and due to the high demand for the band’s classic early releases, Century Media have just recently re-released the first two MLPs “Resurrection Absurd” (1989) and “The Eternal Fall” (1990), which showed the band still very much akin to bands like Death or Pestilence, as well as MORGOTH’s debut album “Cursed” (1991), a milestone in the career of the band and doubtlessly among the best Teutonic death metal albums ever.

Now especially mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel / Temple Of Disharmony (Massacra, Grave, Possessed), the two MLPs and the debut album return in classy layout-editions widely resembling the original releases. Absolutely mandatory!

“Resurrection Absurd” vinyl color split: Black vinyl: unlimited Lilac vinyl: limited to 100 copies (exclusively available at CM Distro Europe) Clear vinyl: limited to 100 copies (exclusively sold by CM Distro US)

“The Eternal Fall” vinyl color split: Black vinyl: unlimited Red vinyl: limited to 100 copies (exclusively available at CM Distro Europe) Clear vinyl: limited to 100 copies (exclusively sold by CM Distro US)

“Cursed“ vinyl color split: Black vinyl: unlimited Transparent-green vinyl: limited to 100 copies (exclusively available at CM Distro Europe) Clear vinyl: limited to 100 copies (exclusively sold by CM Distro US)

Here are all the upcoming MORGOTH tourdates announced so far:

MORGOTH live 2016:

SA 12.03.2016 Plateruena / Durango (Spain) - Euskal Assault festival

MORGOTH, Incantation, Darkrise & Omophagia “Ungod UK & European Tour – April 2016”

TU 12.04.2016 Vienna (Austria) - Viper Room WE 13.04.2016 Poznan (Poland) - U Bazyla TH 14.04.2016 Ostrava (Czech Republic) - Barrack Club FR 15.04.2016 Erfurt (Germany) - Club From Hell SA 16.04.2016 Rheine (Germany) - Hypothalamus SU 17.04.2016 Drachten (The Netherlands) - Iduna / Stonehenge Indoor Fest * + Gorguts MO 18.04.2016 Rotterdam (The Netherlands) - Baroeg TU 19.04.2016 Chapelle-lez-Herlamoint (Belgium) - Maison Du Peuple WE 20.04.2016 London (UK) - Nambucca TH 21.04.2016 Glasgow (UK) - Audio FR 22.04.2016 Southampton (UK) - The Talking Heads SA 23.04.2016 Oberhausen (Germany) - Helvete

ENTER SHIKARI - ‘REDSHIFT’ Brand new single / video



Photo credit: Corinne Cumming

Enter Shikari today unveil a brand new single following a surprise reveal on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show last night. You can watch the video here:



Almost twelve months from the release of their fourth UK Top 10 album, ‘The Mindsweep’ - which went onto win Independent Album Of The Year at the 2015 AIM Awards and scoring highly in many end-of-year polls - plus two months since the release of companion album ‘The Mindsweep: Hospitalised’, Enter Shikari drop a completely new track ‘Redshift’.

Produced by the band and Mindsweep producer Dan Weller, and mixed by Tim Bran (London Grammar, La Roux, The Verve), the track is accompanied by a video directed by Mike Tyler (responsible for the bands previous videos Anaesthetist and Torn Apart)

As vocalist Rou Reynolds explains:

"Redshift is a song about bloody good luck! On the grandest of scales! Literally! Our universe is expanding faster and faster and a few trillion years from now, everything will have sped away from us so fast that all we would see when looking out from Earth is empty space. We would deduce that we were totally alone in the universe. A lost sheep. The last and only biscuit in the tin”

‘Redshift’ arrives ahead of the band’s most ambitious UK tour; bigger rooms than they have headlined in before, utilising quadrophonic sound for the first time in their live career, and their largest production to date. Support comes from The Wonder Years and the freshly-reformed original line-up of The King Blues.

Following the UK run, Enter Shikari head to mainland Europe for a tour that includes the band’s biggest German shows ever, and see them joined by The Qemists for the first half of the tour, and Modestep for the remainder.

The full dates are as follows:

ENTER SHIKARI - THE MINDSWEEP TOUR 2016

FEBRUARY - UK.

THUR 18 - GLASGOW - O2 Academy FRI 19 - EDINBURGH - Corn Exchange SAT 20 - NOTTINGHAM - Motorpoint Arena MON 22 - BOURNEMOUTH - International Center TUES 23 - CARDIFF - Motorpoint Arena THUR 25 - MANCHESTER - Victoria Warehouse SAT 27 - LONDON - Alexandra Palace

MARCH - EUROPE.

SUN 13 - NANCY, France - Autre Canal MON 14 - STRASBOURG, France - La Laiterie TUES 15 - PARIS, France - Trabendo THUR 17 - BORDEAUX, France - Krakatoa FRI 18 - LA ROCHELLE, France - La Sirene SAT 19 - PAMPALONA, Spain - Zentraal SUN 20 - BARCELONA, Spain - Sala Apolo TUES 22 - TREVISO, Italy - New Age WED 23 - MUNICH, Germany - Kesselhaus THUR 24 - BERLIN, Germany - Huxley’s SAT 26 - NETHERLANDS - Paaspop Festival SUN 27 - COLOGNE, Germany - Ewerk MON 28 - BRUSSELS, Belgium - AB

BLIND GUARDIAN Announce UK & Ireland Tour



Progressive power metal masters and Germany’s favourite sons, Blind Guardian are very proud to announce that they will be returning to our UK and Ireland shores this year.

Enigmatic front man Hansi Kürsch said of the announcement:

“We are super excited about these upcoming five shows in the UK. Expect nothing but the best!!! Don’t miss your chance to join us at one of these five enchanting evenings. It is going to be pure magic.”

Blind Guardian played to a rapturous crowd at The Forum, London last April – pledging to return to the UK and Ireland with some wider reaching dates. The tour kicks off in Glasgow, taking the band across to Dublin with the tour finally culminating in what will be another breath-taking performance at The Forum, London.

Blind Guardian will be playing a spellbinding 150 minute long set every night – these shows are not to be missed!

Tickets for these shows will go on sale this Friday 15th @ 10.00 am.

You can see Blind Guardian live on the following dates:

17 May – Glasgow, Queen Margaret Union 18 May – Manchester, The Ritz 19 May- Dublin, Academy 21 May – Nottingham, Rock City 22 May – London, The Forum

The band are still celebrating the release of epic opus and critically acclaimed tenth studio album ‘Beyond The Red Mirror’, which was released in February 2015. The album was produced by Charlie Bauerfeind (Saxon, Hammerfall, Helloween) showcases Blind Guardian's incredible collaborative work with three different choirs: one from Prague (Czech Republic), one from Budapest (Hungary) and one from Boston (USA). Plus two grand orchestras, each featuring 90 musicians. These brilliant talents combined to create spellbinding results.

The album transports listeners via a mysteriously powerful red mirror into an otherworldly dimension that includes tyrants, gods and the Holy Grail. The ten songs comprising Beyond The Red Mirror’s story lines revolve around the young protagonist who we first met twenty years ago in their 1995 tracks ‘Bright Eyes’ and ‘And The Story Ends’.

With a steady evolution from their early days as a speed metal band to their current, renowned musical alchemy of glory, drama, and grandiosity, Germany’s Blind Guardian have long since made their mark as the world’s definitive melodic/progressive metal band. For many they need no introduction, as the band possesses a track record and back catalogue of classic staples that perhaps only Iron Maiden can match. Called everything from heavy metal bards to modern day minstrels, Blind Guardian possess the ability to transport their legions of fans to new landscapes with their majestic song writing, fantastically themed lyrics, and their meticulous, emotion-packed music. Founded under the name Lucifer’s Heritage in Krefeld, Germany by vocalist & bassist Hansi Kürsch, lead guitarist André Olbrich, rhythm guitarist Marcus Dork, and drummer Thomen Stauch, the band released only two demos – 1985’s Symphonies Of Doom and 1986’s Battalions Of Fear - before landing their first record deal with Remorse Records. Inspired by the Fates Warning album, Awaken The Guardian, band members decided to change their name to Blind Guardian and soon acquired new rhythm guitarist Marcus Siepen.

Blind Guardian signed with Nuclear Blast Records in early 2005 alongside welcoming new drummer Fredrik Ehmke after possessing the same line up for nearly 20 years.