Iz tabora hrvaških doom metalcev Old Night sporočajo, da jih je zapustil vokalist in kitarist Matej Hanžek. Vrzel v zasedbi bo na vokalu tako zapolnil njegov brat Ivan, na kitari pa se je zasedbi pridružil Rafael Cvitković (Nekroza). Spodaj lahko preberete celotno izjavo banda:

»This is a post I write with a heavy heart, yet full of hope and with a bright look on the future. After eight years with us as our lead singer and frontman, earlier this year Matej decided to step down from his duties within Old Night. I know you are hoping for some gossip or a sassy story, but there was no drama involved. He just wants to focus on other things in life and at this point, music is not a priority for him. Having said that, I wish to thank him on our behalf for everything he has done for us, all the great times we shared on stage and backstage, but also for all the long hours he has put in working on our first three records. It was a privilege and you'll always be a part of our family. Obviously, this news has taken us aback and we had to figure out how best to proceed. We took some time to see what our options were, as this is an important role we needed to fill. After much deliberation we figured out we need not look outside our band for a perfect candidate as we have one in our midst. Ivan has been singing all the backing vocals from day one and from now on he will be handling all the lead vocals. No need to worry, he’ll remain our lead guitarist as well.

The only piece of the puzzle left to figure out was who’ll play the rhythm guitars? Without further ado, we welcome Rafael Cvitković, from the Croatian death metal machine Nekroza, as our new guitarist. If you attended our concerts, you might have already seen him filling in on sound checks or working on our merch booth. Nekroza just released their debut album on InsArt Records – you can check them out and show them your support.

With our line-up complete, we will continue working on our new record and we hope we’ll have some news in that regard soon. In a couple of weeks, we’ll have our first concert with the new line-up and we can’t wait to present you the New Old Night.«

Italijanska zasedba Lacuna Coil predstavlja nov single In The Mean Time. Pri komadu je sodeloval tudi Ash Costello (New Years Day). Ali je single tudi predhodnik novega albuma, pa bomo videli kmalu.

Organizatorji dogodkov Hangtime Agency sporočajo, da je nedeljski koncert zasedb Grima in Ultar v zagrebškem klubu Močvara odpovedan. Odpovedana sta tudi koncerta v Beogradu in Novem Sadu ter tudi 40 drugih nastopov skupin po Evropi. Zapletlo se je namreč pri vizah. Izjava banda:

»Dear followers of the Grima cult, sometimes even the biggest and oldest spruce tree can't withstand (in)human acts. There is a point where we have to bow down and accept what cannot be changed.
After 4 months of non-stop efforts from everyone involved behind the scenes, the best we got is a 30 days stay in the Schengen area. We have applied for a 90 days arts science visa, which we have been granted in past years, but not this time, the reasons have not been communicated to us.
We did everything we could do, Asgaardian Events and even Les Acteurs de L'Ombre Productions helped us as much as possible, but all we got are these 30 days for now, which we shall use to the fullest.
Our first show will be on the April 25 in Switzerland and the last one will be on the May 22 in Paris. Any other show will be cancelled. There will be no further rescheduling. We will be happy to see each one of our cultists at these shows. We won't have any other Central European tours in the near future, except a few festivals next year, which we are already negotiating with.«

Nizozemski melodični death metalci Heliphron, ki smo jih v živo ujeli na lanskem festivalu Eindhoven Metal Meeting, imajo novega bobnarja. To je postal Paul Beltman, ki je pred tem bobnarske palice vihtel že pri Sinister in Judgement Day.

Z EP-jem We Are, We Remain... se po 12-letnem studijskem zatišju vračajo poljski black/death metalci North. EP bo izšel 29. aprila pri Pagan Records in bo prinesel pet komadov:

Czas by powstali
Stulecia we krwi
Horda duchów
Hymn to Winter
A Fine Day to Die (Bathory cover)

Power metalci Thornbridge predstavljajo nov single s prihajajočega album Daydream Illusion. Album izide 22. marca, za komad I Am the Storm pa je band posnel tudi video, ki ga najdete spodaj.

Thomas Eriksen, ki stoji za imenom Mork, je pred kratkim razkril, da se v njem skriva tudi Udåd. Na to ime sliši njegov najnovejši black metal projekt, ki bo z istoimenskim albumom razkril drugo plat Eriksena. Izid je napovedan za 15. marec pri Peaceville Records. Kako zveni Udåd, pa lahko preverite prvi singel Avgudsdyrker, ki ga najdete spodaj.

»It is satisfying to unveil the first track from the first Udåd creation. It was both painful and rewarding to get this out of my being and onto tape. Pure atmospheric darkness straight into your soul. "Avgudsdyrker" was chosen as the first single as it represents the different elements of the album well. Take some minutes out of your everyday life, light a candle, cover the windows, turn off the lights and just take it in.«

Sobotni koncert zasedb Relentless Youth, Gründ, The Kripless v idrijskem Swenaku je odpovedan. Tako pravi organizator: »Due to unfortunate circumstances we are being forced to cancel the Relentless Youth release party!! We'd like to extend an apology to the bands and to all of you that were planning on coming this Saturday.«

Lloyd Hektoen, bolj poznan pod psevdonimom Mannevond (Koldbrann), se je pridružil švedski black metal zasedbi Craft.

»Today we officially welcome Mannevond as the new lead vocalist of Craft! Mannevond should be a familiar face to most, as he is the devestating voice for our brothers in Koldbrann as well – and we are extremely satisfied that he has agreed to join the chaos and destruction that is Craft. Mannevond will make his live debut with us in July at Metal Theatre Festival in Kalmar and has already begun recording vocals for the new album.

The next era has begun…«

Kanadska heavy metal zasedba Withering Scorn, katere člana sta tudi brata Shawn in Glen Drover, pripravlja material za drugi celovečerec, ki bo nasledil prvenec Prophets Of Demise iz leta 2023. Shawn Drover o novem materialu:

»At this point, this is where we're at. I've got three songs done for drums completed, and we started working on song four today; Glen and I started working on this intro piece to song four, where it's got this whole intro thing and stuff. And so we worked that out. And that's where we're at in terms of music as well. We just started song four. Glen still has a couple of songs to do for keeper guitars and so does Joe for bass. We haven't even approached the lyric process or the singing yet. Once we get far enough ahead, that's when we'll start to tackle that. Once I hear keeper guitars, then I start to assemble lyrics. I need to kind of hear the finished product of certainly the drums and guitars, if not bass as well, so I get inspired to write lyrics. That's kind of how I work with that.«

Poslušate lahko Chosen • Obeyed • Forgotten, prvenec poljske groove metal zasedbe Sunday at 9.

Italijani Neid so priredili komad Rebels Today…, ki ga v originalu izvajajo Comrades. Priredba je del prihajajočega EP-ja Still Offensive.

Norveški hardcore stonerji Bokassa bodo ta petek izdali album All Out of Dreams. Tracklista:

The Ending Starts Today
Garden of Heathen (feat. Lou Koller)
Straight Edgelord
All Out of Dreams
Bradford Death Squadron (feat. Aaron Beam)
Let's Storm the Capitol
Everyone Fails in the End
Gung Ho
No More Good Days
Crush (All Heretics)

Domača hard rock/metal zasedba Xskull8 je izdala single Shadows In My Mind s prihajajočega EP-ja z naslovom When The New Day Comes.

Poleg tega vas zasedba 10. aprila vabi v ljubljanski Orto Bar, kjer bo v okviru Ortofesta nastopila skupaj z Le Serpentine.

Ameriški hard rockerji Another Day Dawns so objavili video za komad On And On. Najdete ga na aktualnem albumu Finding Peace Through All The Noise iz lanskega leta.