Iz tabora britanskih modernih metalcev Asking Alexandria sporočajo, da so bili zaradi zloma noge bobnarja Jamesa Cassellsa primorani odpovedati preostale nastope v sklopu njihove evropske turneje. Na tem mestu Jamesu želimo čim hitrejše okrevanje, spodaj pa si lahko preberete tudi izjavo banda v celoti.

»After seeing another specialist here in Estonia it has been advised that James rests his broken foot. Playing drums is just not an option for him at this current time.

Italijanski power metalci Frozen Crown, ki so marca letos izdali šesti dolgometražec Call Of The North, sporočajo, da so podpisali z založbo Napalm Records. 

»We're happy and honored to join the Napalm Records family and we're ready for our next big step together! Since we founded this band in 2018 we worked hard incessantly, day after day, not only trying to put our best in our studio albums and live, but also managing the band all by ourselves, conquering every single little accomplishment with our DIY attitude, always keeping loyal to our (extremely) small entourage. Thanks to the support of our lovely fans, Frozen Crown eventually grew bigger, and got to a point where we were not able to handle it all by ourselves anymore. At the same time, we knew we needed more firepower to push the band further and bring it to the next level. And speaking of firepower, Napalm Records was just the best record label to start this new chapter with!!! We're excited beyond words to be part of the best metal label in the world, and we can't wait to start working together on our new album, joining forces with this huge team of professionals!«

Ekstremneži Pestilence sporočajo, da jih je zapustil basist Joost van der Graaf. Zasedba trenutno še išče njegovo zamenjavo, spodaj pa si lahko preberete celotno izjavo banda in Joosta.

»First off: family comes first, always!! Too bad this day had to come, because we were a very solid team and we will surely miss our good friend Joost van der Graaf. We respect his decision to spend more time with his family. Awesome he is offering to fill in from time to time, if needed.

Angleški metal band Our Last Goodbye iz Walesa je objavil video za single Narcissist s prihajajočega EP-ja Aftershock.

Danski thrasherji Demolizer s komadom Warmonger napovedujejo svoj drugi celovečerni album Post Necrotic Human. Plošček bo izšel 7. julija pri Mighty Music na vinilu in digitalno. Tracklista:

stran A:
Post Necrotic Human
Fascist State
The Butcher
Crossfire
Sarnarth

stran B:
Killing A Friend
Day After Day
The Wheel
Capital Punishment
Warmonger

Ameriški tehnično-progresivni thrasherji Aftermath so posneli videospot za komad SLAVeABLE (We're not your animals) z aktualnega albuma No Time To Waste.

Ameriški black metalci Uada sporočajo, da so se razšli s kitaristom Jamesom Sloanom. Več lahko preberete v uradni izjavi banda:

»Uada has officially parted ways with guitarist James Sloan. After receiving consecutive accounts and admittance of misconduct, we have decided to let James go. It is of utmost importance that we protect ourselves, the band, and most of all, the fans. After recently learning about years of manipulation, lies, deceit, abuse, and sexual harassment towards many different people, we feel that we have made the absolute best decision in moving forward without him.

Our thanks and appreciation go out to everyone who has come forward and provided proof about this situation. Please know that UADA will never stand for this type of behavior and that our only agenda here is music and the spirit of its creation. Unfortunately, due to these circumstances, we are now forced to cancel our appearances in Tasmania and Australia next month, but we hope to make it up to the fans down under as soon as we possibly can.

Thank you for your understanding and our deepest apologies to anyone who may have been hurt because of these actions.

Sincerely,
Jake, Nate, and Josh.«

Belgijski heavy metalci Ironborn za konec maja napovedujejo svoj prvenec After the Flood. Album bo izšel 26. maja v digitalni obliki, 2. junija na CD-ju, 9. septembra pa še na vinilu. Na svoj račun naj bi prišli ljubitelji zasedb, kot so Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden in Pantera.

Norveški simfonični gothic metal projekt Mortemia in njen ustanovni član Morten Veland (Sirenia, ex-Tristania) je izdal video za skladbo The Endless Shore. To je druga skladba na njegovem projektu, ki se imenuje The Covid Aftermath Sessions. Kot gostja na vokalu sta sodelovala Ulli Perhonen in Nils Courbaron, kitarist simfoničnih gothic metalcev Sirenia.

Po tem, ko so pred kratkim turnejo odpovedali White Ward, je ista usoda doletela blackened death metalce 1914 iz Ukrajine. Upamo, da se stvari umirijo in nas bo zasedba lahko obiskala letos poleti na festivalu Črna Loka. Sledi bandova izjava za medije:

»Many of you could have been noticing a recent wave of European tours cancellations by UA bands. Unfortunately, 1914 is not an exception here. With heavy hearts we must inform you that we cannot play for our fans this April and have to cancel our upcoming tour.

Just to make it clear, it is still a 'wartime' on the territory of our land, and this specific time makes it impossible to leave the borders by the men of a conscript age. How could we travel last year? It was possible to get a special permission from the state authorities for the artists to leave the country and do shows and other activities in order to aid the country and spead the truth about unprovoked and brutal war started by russia. There were some irresponsible people who used such permissions to leave the country and never come back, and after it became public and went through a media - the state authorities stopped granting the special permissions for the artists by artificially overcomplicating the process of getting all the necessary documents, by enlarging the list of the documents and making it impossible for bands to obtain what is needed. This affected a lot of different bands in UA.

Last couple of weeks for us were in a constant fight with that new stupid system trying to show that we had a positive experience of returning back home after foreign tours, trying to display the value of such tours for our country benefit, but no matter how hard we tried - we couldn't break that system and it made impossible for us to go and play this time. We want to apologize to our fans, other bands, promoters, but currently we are powerless here. We will work hard to be able to get to our other shows this year, maybe the ice will melt and we will see some easement in the future, but currently we just did everything we could.

Міністерство культури та інформаційної політики України - Thank you for nothing!«

Ukrajinska post/black metal zasedba White Ward je bila zaradi situacije v Ukrajini žal primorana odpovedati vse načrtovane nastope in turneje. Spodaj lahko preberete izjavo banda:

»Dear friends,

With a heavy heart, we need to inform you that our April tour is canceled. Last 2 weeks we fought for the fate of the tour. We tried all the possible ways, but the system proved to be stronger.

So, let's make it clear about what happened and about the reasons for the cancellation.

Right now “wartime” restrictions are applied in Ukraine, and they include limitations for men in ages 18-60 to cross the border, because it is a range when men are available for military service. So, there is a need to get special permission from state authorities to travel out of Ukraine. During the year 2022 the Ministry Of Culture helped Ukrainian musicians and different artists and assisted in acquiring such permits (for a limited time) and that is why we, and many other bands, were able to play in Europe last year.

But a working algorithm that allows to control the “way back” was not created and responsibilities related to the violations of the permission terms - were nowhere written. And that is why some impudent people just used this opportunity to run out of Ukraine and decided not to come back. Very few cases are known, but after the last one, which raised a lot of noise and dissatisfaction in the media, the Ministry Of Culture decided to implement immediate changes and new rules, even for artists who have already sent a request for permit weeks before an accident - we have sent such request on February, 20th. That is the reason why many Ukrainian bands like Schizogen, Bezlad, The Hypnotunez, Kazka, and many more have already canceled or almost canceled their tours. Some bands were affected when they were already at the border and shows should take place the next day, but due to new rules, they were not allowed to leave Ukraine!

The new rules suppose some additional documents to a request. In our case, every member of the band has his own difficulties in acquiring that, even with an immediate start - there is no guarantee that the process will be successful and accomplished in time. Also, that is anyway not a guarantee that the request will be approved - our colleagues` request was refused even with all the requested documents. So, we just can't get this permission and it is over.

We have tried everything, and the media noise was our last hope. But it hasn’t worked, unfortunately. Months of work, preparations, money - all this is now in vain.
We sincerely apologize to our fans, promoters, and everyone who helped us with this tour. We hope that one day we will make this tour real, and you will wait for us. We will still try to figure something out before Hellfest and August festivals, but no new tour announcements till the end of the war will be made.

But, the one and only responsible for this is russia. They broke everything by invading our country, killing our children, bombing our cities, destroying our culture, and applying all fascist methods to destroy us and we will never forget what they DID and are still DOING!«

Francoski progresivni melodični death metalci Carcariass so v začetku meseca pri založbi Great Dane Records izdali svoj šesti album Afterworld, ki ga lahko naročite in v celoti poslušate preko Bandcampa.

Heavy metalci Archon Angel, pri katerih opravlja vokalne dolžnosti Zak Stevens (ex-Savatage, Circle II Circle), napovedujejo izid drugega albuma s preprostim naslovom II. Album naj bi izšel 11. aprila, pred tem pa lahko prisluhnete novemu singlu Afterburn.

Slovaški moderni power/heavy metalci Eufory so posneli besedilni video za Afterglow, tretji single s svojega prihajajočega tretjega albuma Fifth Dimension. Tracklista:

Nile
Fifth Dimension
Afterglow
Waiting for the Rain
Never Stay at Home
The Scent in the Room
Promise of Tomorrow
Falling into Nowhere
Forever Too Late
Day for Night

Dianne van Giersbergen, bivša vokalistka simfoničnih metalcev Xandria in Ex Libris, je izdala svoj prvi samostojni single. Pri tem gre za pesem After the Storm, ki bo na prihajajočem prvencu Soulward Bound, ki ga bo izdala pod imenom Dianne.