Poslušate lahko The Fate of The Antagonist, prvenec madžarske metalcore/HC punk zasedbe The Way We Are.

Portugalska black metal zasedba Gaerea je objavila najnovejši video za komad Dormant. Tokrat gre za poseben video, ki ga je posnel Claudio Marino. Komentar banda:

»Complementing the song's aural journey, the video art installation accompanying "Dormant" delves into the anguish and struggle for survival. The visuals depict the main character, trapped and enclosed in a tormenting world, as water relentlessly pours over his body, simulating drowning and suffocation. This immersive and visceral experience offers a harrowing glimpse into the protagonist's fight for life, evoking a range of emotions and challenging viewers to confront their own mortality.«

Pred časom smo že poročali, da so melodični death metalci The Agonist iz Kanade odpovedali nastop na letošnji ediciji festivala MetalDays. Sedaj pa je iz tabora zasedbe tudi odjeknila vest, da je uradno prenehala z delovanjem. Več si lahko preberete v spodnji izjavi:

Dear friends, it's time to make a very difficult but necessary announcement.
We have decided that The Agonist as a band, has come to an end. Much deliberation and care has been put into making this decision, and unfortunately, given the circumstances, this is the conclusion that makes the most sense for the band and us as individuals.
There are many factors that led to this decision. It is a mix of personal, financial and industry related issues, but in the end the 5 of us are no longer able to agree on a way forward that would benefit The Agonist business as a whole, while respecting each member's personal lives and wishes.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to the fans for coming out to the shows, buying our merch, and supporting us over the years. Nothing is more satisfying than connecting with our fellow human beings via the gift of music. It is the number one factor that has always driven us- to make you, the listener, feel something. In the end, we know that we've accomplished this together.
Some members of the band will continue to work on music in various ways, others will focus on personal projects and family. We kindly ask you to respect their privacy on this particular matter and encourage you to follow them on their individual social media accounts to support their future endeavors.
Vicky Psarakis will be carrying on with her band, Sicksense. They have a new EP coming out this summer and she will be playing 2 live shows with them in Montreal, in June.
You can also directly support her by following her on Patreon and Twitch.
Simon McKay is currently looking to join a new band full-time, while offering session work for studio and live gigs. Also, keep an eye out for new music coming soon from his solo project.
Chris Kells will be focusing on his career as a videographer. Since 2015, he has directed all of The Agonist's music videos, as well as many other established bands.
Danny Marino is currently writing music for 2 new projects.
Pascal "Paco" Jobin will be releasing new music with his project Leading the betrayed.
Our US-based merch store with Sound Escape Agency will remain open. We have also put together an EU-based store for our European fans. Inventory is final and there will be no restocks. Proceeds will go directly to the band to help us pay off our remaining debt.
Once again, we thank you and we love you.
»We will survive. At the end of the tunnel there's always a light.« - The Agonist

Organizatorji festivala MetalDays 2023 so najavili 12 neuveljavljenih zasedb oziroma »New Forces Bands«. To so: Corpus, Entoria, Fatal Error, Maskeratt, Offscore, Peace is Just a Break, Pennhurts, Schrodinger, Taste of Plague, Tol Morwen, Versatile in Zenoth.

Naslednji paket bandov naj bi bil najavljen že naslednji teden, medtem ko organizator poleg tega sporoča, da sta svoj nastop odpovedala zasedbi The Agonist iz Kanade in Here Comes The Kraken iz Mehike. Odpovedi obeh zasedb sta povezani z odpovedjo njune celotne evropske turneje.

Medtem ko uradno še zmeraj ni znano, kje se bo odvila naslednja edicija festivala MetalDays, so organizatorji včeraj razkrili nov paket nastopajočih bandov. To so: In Flames, Helloween, I Am Morbid, Belphegor, The Agonist, Venus 5 in Secret Sphere.

Urkraft so objavili video za skladbo I Got Blood, prvi single s prihajajočega albuma z naslovom The True Protagonist, ki bo izšel 27. maja pri založbi Massacre Records.

Od 11. do 14. avgusta se bo na jugu Hrvaške, natančneje povsem ob meji z Bosno v Rajevem Selu, odvijal festival Pannonian Rock Festival. Čeprav v imenu stoji beseda rock, pa je med nastopajočimi precej predstavnikov trših ritmov. Med drugimi so to Paul Di´Anno, Tarja, Sonata Arctica, The Agonist, Rings Of Saturn, Ignea, Temperance, Nemesis, Riverroth in domači Sovrag. Skupno bo nastopilo okoli 30 zasedb, za enodnevno vstopnico boste odšteli 34 EUR, za festivalsko pa 74 EUR. Več informacij o festivalu boste dobili tukaj.

Od leta 2019 ponovno aktivni danski death metalci Urkraft bodo 27. maja pri založbi Massacre Records izdali album z naslovom The True Protagonist. Za miks in mastering petega studijskega izdelka banda je poskrbel Tue Madsen.

Zapoznelo praznovanje 25. obletnice festivala Brutal Assault se uradno začne v torek, 9. avgusta, za to pa veljajo vse vstopnice, kupljene od jeseni 2019. Organizatorji še sporočajo, da je 60 % vstopnic že prodanih in da se prodaja trenutnega paketa vstopnic izteka ravno danes.

Zaenkrat potrjeni bandi so: 1914, Abbath, Aborted, Ad Nauseam, Ahab, Alcest, Amenra, Arcturus, As I Lay Dying, Asphyx, At The Gates, Atari Teenage Riot, Baest, Bell Witch, Benighted, Blood Incantation, Bloodbath, Butcher Babies, Cannibal Corpse, Cattle Decapitation, Clutch, Comeback Kid, Conjurer, Cradle Of Filth, Dark Funeral, Darkest Hour, Decapitated, Die Krupps, Draconis Infernum, Evil Dead, Evoken, Excrementory Grindfuckers, Exhorder, Exhumed, Extinction A.D., Fleshgod Apocalypse, Front Line Assembly, Frontierer, Fueled By Fire, Gaahls Wyrd, God Mother, Hangman's Chair, Hentai Corporation, Humanity's Last Breath, Igorrr, Imperial Triumphant, Insomnium, Jinjer, Katatonia, Leprous, Life Of Agony, Lorna Shore, Lost Society, Manes, Mass Infection, Mayhem, Melt-Banana, Mercyful Fate, Misery Index, Mors Principium Est, Municipal Waste, Mysticum, Nailed To Obscurity, Necrophobic, Necrot, Nekrogoblikon, Nunslaughter, Onslaught, Ottone Pesante, Pallbearer, Paradise Lost, Pensées Nocturnes, Pentagram, Phlebotomized, Psycroptic, Psykup, Razor, Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, Rings Of Saturn, Rivers Of Nihil, Sacred Reich, Sigh, Skywalker, Slagmaur, Soen, Soreption, Static–X, Strigoi, Suffocation, Swallow The Sun, Tallah, Tesseract, The Agonist, The Black Dahlia Murder, Uada, Undergang, Unearth, Urne, Valkyrja, Venom, Vitriol, Voices, Vola, Winterfylleth.

Italijanska shamanic doom metal zasedba Caronte je objavila besedilni video za najnovejši single Cauldron Of Ecstatic Loneliness, na katerem so se jim pridružili black metalci Fides Inversa.

Caronte nameravajo vsako enakonočje in solsticij do marca 2022 izdati nov single, ki bo predstavljal posebno sodelovanje z različnimi protagonisti metal scene, ki jih skupina ceni, spoštuje in jih ima po 10 letih delovanja za svoje brate.

Finski melanholiki Insomnium bodo 17. septembra izdali EP Argent Moon. Na njem bodo singli, ki so jih v večini že predstavili v letošnjem letu, in sicer:

The Conjurer
The Reticent
The Antagonist
The Wanderer

Floridski death metal dvojec Goregäng je pravkar podpisal pogodbo z Blood Blast Distribution za digitalno distribucijo. Jeramie Kling (Inhuman Condition, Venom Inc., The Absence) na vokalu in kitari ter Taylor Nordberg (Inhuman Condition, The Absence) na bobnih, kitari in basu združujeta umazane kitarske zvoke in s crustom podkrepljen švedski death metal iz poznih 80-ih/zgodnjih 90-ih z domačimi protagonisti s floridske death metal scene.

Goregäng napovedujeta tudi nov album Long Live The Grime, ki bo izšel 30. aprila pri Blood Blast Distribution oziroma pri njuni lastni založbi Listenable Insanity Records.

Spisek skladb je sledeč:

Born. Slave. Death.
Pernicious Thief
Long Live The Grime
Farm The Mother
Electric Head Part 1 (The Agony) (priredba White Zombie)
A Cavity In Reality - Intro (Live)
False Flags (Live)
Plague Of Hammers (Live)
Cathedral Of Chemicals (Live)

Švedski progresivci Soen napovedujejo svoj peti studijski album z naslovom Imperial, ki bo izšel 29. januarja pri založbi Silver Lining Music. Za produkcijo albuma je poskrbela skupina sama ob pomoči Inakija Marconija, medtem ko je bil za miks in mastering zadolžen Kane Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Hellyeah, In This Moment, Five Finger Death Punch).

Spodaj si lahko ogledate tudi igrani besedilni video za prvi single Antagonist, v katerem ima glavno vlogo igralec Brendan McGowan.

Imperial prinaša naslednje skladbe:
Lumerian
Deceiver
Monarch
Illusion
Antagonist
Modesty
Dissident
Fortune

Kultni češki festival Brutal Assault, katerega 25. edicija se bo odvijala med 10. in 14. avgustom, ponuja nov seznam nastopajočih:

1914 – ABBATH – THE AGONIST – ALCEST – PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS – ARCTURUS – AS I LAY DYING – ASPHYX – ATARI TEENAGE RIOT – AUTHOR & PUNISHER – BAEST – BELL WITCH – BENIGHTED – BEYOND CREATION – BLOOD INCANTATION – BLOODBATH – BUTCHER BABIES – CATTLE DECAPITATION – CRADLE OF FILTH – DARK FUNERAL – DARKEST HOUR – DENIAL OF GOD – DESPISED ICON – DEVIN TOWNSEND – DRACONIS INFERNUM – EVOKEN - EXCREMENTORY GRINDFUCKERS – EXHORDER – EXHUMED – FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – FRONTIERER – FUELED BY FIRE – GAAHLS WYRD – GATECREEPER – GOD MOTHER – HAVOK – HENTAI CORPORATION – IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT – KATATONIA – LEPROUS – LIFE OF AGONY – LOST SOCIETY – M.O.D. – MALEVOLENCE – MASS INFECTION – MAYHEM – ME AND THAT MAN – MELT-BANANA – MERCYFUL FATE – MUNICIPAL WASTE – MYRKUR – MYSTICUM – NAILED TO OBSCURITY – NECROPHOBIC – NECROT – NOCTURNUS AD – OTTONE PESANTE – PARADISE LOST – PENSEÉS NOCTURNES – PENTAGRAM – PSYCROPTIC – PSYKUP – RAZOR – RINGS OF SATURN – SACRED REICH – SHADOW OF INTENT – SIGH – SLAGMAUR – SOEN – SOREPTION – STATIC X – STRIGOI – SUFFOCATION – TERROR – TOXIC HOLOCAUST – UADA – VALKYRJA – VENOM – VITRIOL – VOICES – VOLA – WHILE SHE SLEEPS – WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM

Vstopnice lahko kupite na tej povezavi.

Spodaj lahko pogledate videospot za naslovni komad še zmeraj aktualnega albuma Orphans, ki so ga kanadski melodičarji The Agonist izdali lani.