Organizatorji češkega festival Brutal Assault 2024 so najavili 16 novih bandov, in sicer After The Burial, Cryptopsy, Deicide, Dopethrone, Night Verses, Obscura, Plini, Red Fang, Riverside, Severe Torture, Spiritbox, Stoned Jesus, Ten56., Textures, The Amity Affliction, Villagers Of Ioannina City.

Vse bande najdete v našem Napovedniku.

Ob praznovanju 20. obletnice delovanja so TrollfesT, pionirji »True Norwegian Balkan« metala, napovedali izid nove kompilacijske plošče z naslovom 20 Years in The Wrong Lane. Ta vsebuje mešanico starih demo posnetkov, jam sessionov, neobjavljenih skladb, bonus materiala in nekaj remiksov, ki povzemajo divje in veselo potovanje skupine skozi svet metala. Tracklista:

Stran A
Atlantis
...Skogfest
Smoldering Failure
A Shot of Trolljoy
Drinking Beer
Happy Little Boozer (Korpiklaani cover)
Dance Like a Remix

Stran B
Der JegerMeister
Drinking Song From Hell
Gigantic Cave (live)
Flamongous (live)
Kjetteren Afterski

Speed/thrash/heavy metal band Iron Curtain iz Španije je objavil besedilni video za skladbo Gypsy Rocker, s katero napoveduje svoj peti studijski dolgometražec Savage Dawn. Izšel bo 23. februarja pri Dying Victims Productions, prinaša pa naslednje skladbe:

The Aftermath (Intro)
Devil's Eyes
Gypsy Rocker
Thy Wolf
Калашников 47
Rattlesnake
Tyger Speed
Evil Is Everywhere
Jericho Trumpet (Stuka)
Savage Dawn (Outro)

Witherfall iz Los Angelesa po nedavno objavljenem komadu Insidious zdaj predstavljajo že drugi single Ceremony Of Fire s prihajajočega albuma Sounds Of The Forgotten. Izšel bo 31. maja, tracklista pa je sledeča:

They Will Let You Down
Where Do I Begin
A Lonely Path
Insidious
Ceremony Of Fire
Sounds Of The Forgotten
Aftermath
When It All Falls Away
Opulent
What Have You Done?

Bruce Dickinson je posnel videospot za Afterglow of Ragnarok, prvi single s prihajajočega albuma projekta The Mandrake Project.

Progresivni enočlanski death metal band Angel Rising je posnel besedilni videospot za komad Reign of Torture z aktualnega tretjega dolgometražca Afterlife.

Italijanski metalci Conspiracy of Blackness so posneli video za pesmi Oblivion in Rise s svojega drugega ploščka Pain Therapy. Ta je nasledil prvenec Conspiracy of Blackness and Relative Aftermath iz leta 2017. Conspiracy of Blackness so:

Antonio Bortone (kitara)
Grazia Riccardo (vokal)
Andrea Caliri (bas)
Francesco Salerno (bobni)

Progresivni enočlanski death metal band Angel Rising z besedilnim videospotom za Bent on Rampage spominja na svoj letošnji tretji dolgometražec Afterlife.

Ameriški death metalci Vitriol so objavili videospot za komad The Flowers of Sadism s svojega drugega albuma Suffer & Become, ki bo izšel 26. januarja naslednje leto pri založbi Century Media Records in obsega naslednje naslove:

Shame and Its Afterbirth
The Flowers of Sadism
Nursing from the Mother Wound
The Isolating Lie of Learning Another
Survival’s Careening Inertia
Weaponized Loss
Flood of Predation
Locked in Thine Frothing Wisdom
I Am Every Enemy
He Will Fight Savagely

Progressive/death metal veterani Afterbirth so na tej povezavi v celoti objavili svoj nov album In But Not Of, ki bo jutri uradno izšel pri WillowTip Records.

Sporočamo, da je umrl basist Mike »M. S.«, član nemške black metal zasedbe Groza. Mike je bil njen član od leta 2018. Naj počiva v miru. Izjava banda:

»With the heaviest of hearts we announce the passing of our brother and bass player, Mike "M.S." after a prolonged battle with illness. We will forever remain greatful for his friendship, passion and commitment for the band as well as all the great times we had spent with him. He will always be part of the collective.

Our hearts are with his family, friends and everyone who had the privilege to know him. Please respect our wish to be able to grieve in privacy during these incredibly difficult times.«

Ameriški heavy/doom metalci Cirith Ungol so naznanili, da s koncem leta 2024 ne bodo več koncertirali. Tukaj izjava banda:

»After careful deliberation, we have decided that 2024 will be the final year that Cirith Ungol will be performing live. Having taken a 25 year long hiatus, we could never have imagined the tidal wave of love and support that would come from all of you upon our return. From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank every one of you, who has attended our shows and supported our music. We are immensely proud of the work we have created in the past few years, and are beyond excited about our latest epic album, Dark Parade.

Legions, this is your rallying call. If you've never had the opportunity to see the band live, or if you want to see us perform once more, 2024 is your year. We will be announcing shows worldwide in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for news.«

Švicarji Samael bodo 3. novembra pri Metal Scrap Records ponovno izdali svoj EP Rebellion iz leta 1995. Ta bo izšel na zgoščenki v limitirani luksuzni digipack izdaji, ki jo lahko naročite tukaj. Nova tracklista:

Rebellion
After the Sepulture (nova različica)
I Love the Dead (priredba Alice Cooper)
Static Journey
Into the Pentagram (nova različica)

Bonus:
I. Unnamed
II. Static Journey (nemška različica)

Black metalci Khold sporočajo, da je v pripravi material za novo ploščo in da se kmalu odpravljajo v studio. Spodaj lahko preberete izjavo banda:

»Next week we will do some video recordings at rehearsal as promised, so you can get a short glimpse of some of the new songs. Shortly after that we will go into the studio and record a dark, heavy, groovey new Khold album for you. We will also book live gigs. Scream out to the venues and festivals near you to get Khold on stage.

There will also be new merch along with the album release.«