The "Pumpkins United" lineup of the German heavy metal band HELLOWEEN has been forced to postpone its previously announced European "United Alive World Tour Part II" due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe. The trek was scheduled to kick off on September 26 in Zvolen, Slovakia and run through October 31 in ...
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FIREWIND, the band featuring former OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Gus G., has released a seven-minute EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for its ninth, self-titled studio album, which will be made available on May 15. FIREWIND recently parted ways with guitarist/keyboardist Bob Katsionis and singer Henning Basse. The group's new vocalist is Herbie Langhans, who has previously played ...
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The "Pumpkins United" lineup of HELLOWEEN recently entered the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984) to work on brand new song material. The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" is now being utilized to record the band's ...
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Tobias Sammet says that he is working on a new album from his AVANTASIA project. The disc will be the follow-up to "Moonglow", which came out last year. In addition, the German singer and songwriter has revealed that his long-running band EDGUY is currently "on hiatus." Sammet broke the news of his recording plans in ...
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German metallers HELLOWEEN have paid tribute to their founding drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg on the 25th anniversary of his death. Earlier today (Sunday, March 8), HELLOWEEN uploaded a four-minute video of a Schwichtenberg drum solo, along with the following message: "On this day 25 years ago our friend Ingo Schwichtenberg passed away. We will never forget ...
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PINK CREAM 69 has announced the addition of two new members — guitarist Marco Wriedt and bass player Roman Beselt. Wriedt replaces Uwe Reitenauer, who left the group late last year for personal reasons, while Beselt takes the place of Dennis Ward. Commented founding member Alfred Koffler: "It wasn't a long search. And it was ...
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Roland Grapow says that he doesn't understand why the members of HELLOWEEN "still have problems" with him, almost two decades after he was dismissed from the group. Grapow joined HELLOWEEN in 1989 as the replacement for original guitarist Kai Hansen and stayed in the band for 12 years. He appeared on the HELLOWEEN albums "Pink ...
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DIRKSCHNEIDER, the German band led by former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider, will support HELLOWEEN on the European leg of the "United Alive World Tour Part II" 2020 tour in the fall. The DIRKSCHNEIDER portion of the trek will kick off on September 26 in Zvolen, Slovakia and conclude on October 31 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Tour ...
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LOVEBITES, the all-female heavy metal band from Tokyo, Japan, has released a new single called "Signs Of Deliverance". The song is taken from the group's new album, "Electric Pentagram", which is due on April 24 via Red River Entertainment/BFD, in partnership with JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Group and distributed by The Orchard in North America. "'Signs ...
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There's nothing more satisfying than shutting people up. With their first two albums, and a whole bunch of acclaimed live shows, LOVEBITES swiftly proved that the fact they are an all-woman group that collectively weigh slightly less than one of Chuck Billy's forearms is, thank the metal gods, the least interesting or impressive thing about ...
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At a point in time where most bands take at least two years between albums, HAUNT's generous prolificity has been a real treat over the last couple of years. Not content with producing some of the best doom metal of recent years with BEASTMAKER, frontman and creative mastermind Trevor Church clearly had some extra fire ...
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HELLOWEEN's as-yet-untitled new album will see the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analogue and Dani Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings. A sneak peek is available in the ...
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The "Pumpkins United" lineup of the German heavy metal band HELLOWEEN recently entered the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984) to work on brand new song material. The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" is now being ...
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Japan's iron maidens LOVEBITES show their samurai spirit in latest music video, "When Destinies Align", out today. The thrilling heavy metal romp is available to download now and is the lead track from the band's third album, "Electric Pentagram", out on CD in the U.K. via JPU Records from January 31, 2020 and available to ...
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In a recent interview with the "Metal Magdalene With Jet" show on Metal Messiah Radio, frontman Andi Deris of German power metal legends HELLOWEEN reflected upon his joining of the band in 1994. Deris replaced Michael Kiske, who was unceremoniously dismissed from HELLOWEEN after the duel failures that were 1991's "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" and ...
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Timo Tolkki has accused the Swedish band ECLIPSE of "ripping off" a song from his post-STRATOVARIUS project REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE. According to the guitarist, the ECLIPSE track "The Masquerade", which appears on the group's latest album, "Paradigm", is a copy of the song "Revolution Renaissance" from the band he founded after he left STRATOVARIUS in 2008. ...
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Power metal was considered outdated when HAMMERFALL released its "Glory To The Brave" debut in 1997. Save for BLIND GUARDIAN, very few power metal acts actually increased in popularity throughout the decade, with the style's pioneering band, HELLOWEEN, struggling to regain footing after lineup changes, and alternative and grunge music taking precedence, effectively pushing out ...
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The official video for "Halloween", the second single from HELLOWEEN's upcoming live DVD/Blu-ray and live CD, can be seen below. During the "Hellbook" production to celebrate HELLOWEEN's 30th anniversary, the contributors came to realize that the chemistry in the band had always been unique — and that what belongs together needs to be together again. ...
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You know what you're getting from a new TWILIGHT FORCE album. Ever since the Swedish crew emerged with 2014's "Tales of Ancient Prophecies", the ante for overblown, fantasy-based power metal has been robustly upped. They pulled off the same trick, albeit with even more bombast and pomp, on 2016's big-label breakthrough "Heroes of Mighty Magic"; ...
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The official video for "Pumpkins United", the first single from HELLOWEEN's upcoming live DVD/Blu-ray and live CD, can be seen below. During the "Hellbook" production to celebrate HELLOWEEN's 30th anniversary, the contributors came to realize that the chemistry in the band had always been unique — and that what belongs together needs to be together ...
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German a cappella metal band VAN CANTO has released the official music video for its cover version of the AC/DC classic "Hells Bells". The song is taken from VAN CANTO's seventh studio album, "Trust In Rust", which came out last August via Napalm Records. Since 2006, they have brought pure vocal power to the metal ...
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During the "Hellbook" production to celebrate HELLOWEEN's 30th anniversary, the contributors came to realize that the chemistry in the band had always been unique — and that what belongs together needs to be together again. However, the birth of "Pumpkins United" wasn't just an original line-up reunion, but the real deal. The ultimate cast consisting ...
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As much as we should avoid judging books by their covers, it seems reasonable to note that "Above The Sky" gives every indication that it will be a preposterous and overblown power metal record, quite possibly with a few progressive touches thrown in. The artwork, the band name, a lingering sense that someone involved has ...
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Asami, the singer of LOVEBITES, the all-female heavy metal band from Tokyo, joined HALESTORM on stage on June 15 at the Download festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England to perform the latter group's Grammy-winning song "Love Bites (So Do I)". Fan-filmed video footage of her appearance can be seen below. LOVEBITES took its name ...
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The greatest heavy metal festival in the world, Wacken Open Air, will unleash its latest collection on July 26 through Silver Linings Music/Wacken Records when "Live At Wacken 2018: 29 Years Louder The Hell" smashes into stores. The 16th release in the "Live At Wacken" series, which dates back to 2002, is stuffed with pulverizing ...
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The official music video for the song "How Many More Goodbyes" from STARBREAKER can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's third album, "Dysphoria", which was released on January 25 via Frontiers Music Srl. Tony Harnell, the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and former vocalist of hard rock band TNT, and Magnus Karlsson, current ...
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AVANTASIA vocalist Tobias Sammet recently spoke with writer Clay Marshall in conjunction with an OC Weekly story about the group's upcoming performance in Anaheim, California. Some select "outtakes" follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On AVANTASIA's new album "Moonglow": Tobias: "It's not trendy. It's not flavor of the week, but it's put together with a lot ...
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Finnish metallers MERGING FLARE, who are led by former U.D.O./ DIRKSCHNEIDER and current BEAST IN BLACK guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen, will release their second album, "Revolt Regime", on June 14 via Ram It Down Records. The follow-up to 2011's "Reverence" was recorded by Eero Kaukomies and mixed by Mattes Pfeiffer, whom Heikkinen got to know during ...
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Swiss hard rock veterans GOTTHARD have entered the studio to begin recording their new album. A late 2019 release is tentatively expected. GOTTHARD has released a new video message from the studio for the attendees of the upcoming MetalItalia.com Festival, where the band will perform on Sunday, June 2. GOTTHARD's most recent release was "Defrosted ...
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NORTHTALE, the new Swedish-American power metal band featuring guitarist Bill Hudson (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, I AM MORBID, ex-U.D.O./ DIRKSCHNEIDER), vocalist Christian Eriksson (ex-TWILIGHT FORCE), and drummer Patrick Johansson (ex-YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ex-W.A.S.P.) — has inked a deal with Nuclear Blast. The group, which is completed by bassist Mikael Planefeldt and keyboardist Jimmy Pitts, will release its debut ...
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