Author: Web Rock Radio News Dept

Feature Photo: Badlees, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Reigning Phoenix Music recetly announced that Udo Dirkschneider is celebrating 40 years of Accept’s iconic album, Balls To The Wall, by releasing a reimagining of the album, including illustrious guests, on February 28.

“Re-recording Balls To The Wall was a big challenge for me. The album is a milestone of my career, of course, that’s why it was even more important to me to make the original songs shine in a new light without losing their initial essence. All guests have put their individual stamps on these classic tracks, and collaborating with such outstanding vocalists has moved them into a fresh and exciting dimension. The result is a powerful homage to all fans but also an invitation to the next generation to experience the songs not minorly passionate than I was when I recorded them back in the day. It’s a never-ending personal journey for me – Balls To The Wall will always be a part of me,” states Udo.

Now, the reloaded version of “Balls To The Wall”, featuring Sabaton vocalistJoakim Brodén, has been released. Check out the official lyric video below.

Pre-order Balls To The Wall Reloaded here.

Tracklisting:

“Balls To The Wal”l [feat. Joakim Brodén of Sabaton]
“London Leatherboys” [feat. Biff Byford of Saxon]
“Fight It Back” [feat. Mille Petrozza of Kreator]
“Head Over Heels” [feat. Nils Molin of Dynazty / Amaranthe]
“Losing More Than You’ve Ever Had” [feat. Michael Kiske of Helloween]
“Love Child” [feat. Ylva Eriksson of Brothers Of Metal]
“Turn Me On” [feat. Danko Jones]
“Losers And Winners” [feat. Dee Snider of Twisted Sister]
“Guardian Of The Night” [feat. Tim “Ripper” Owens of KK’s Priest / formerly of Judas Priest]
“Winter Dreams” [feat. Doro Pesch]

“Balls To The Wall”

Finnish melodic death metal band, Defiled Serenity, is set to release their long-awaited debut album, Within The Slumber Of The Mind, on February 21st via Inverse Records. The third single is a cover of Rihanna’s ‘Unfaithful’ featuring Karisma on vocals. 

Vocalist Paavo Laapotti comments: “I’ve always loved making cover songs, and especially when you do a metal cover of a pop song. I heard this song when I was younger and the melody got stuck in my head. This song is very suitable as a melodeath cover and I got the vision for it pretty quickly. We also got a very talented singer Sonja Lindberg to do a feature for this track. I met her while filming The Voice Of Finland program. She did an excellent job and I really like her unique sound a lot.”

Defiled Serenity is a melodic death metal band from Loimaa, Finland. It was founded by the vocalist and Before The Dawn frontman Paavo Laapotti in 2021. The band’s music is for the fans of old In Flames, Amorphis, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquillity etc. Their sound relies heavily on the 90’s melodeath sound, but with modern twists. The songs are filled with low growls, chunky guitars, beautiful melodies and tight rhythm sections.

They released their first stand-alone single, “Voices From The Void”, in 2022 and it has reached over 25,000 streams on Spotify alone. Since then, the band has been writing new material and now it’s time to unleash their long-awaited debut album.

Tracklist:

“Alkutaival” (feat. Juha Tapio)
“Voices From The Void”
“Exiled To Infinity”
“Death”
“Mortal”
“Within The Slumber Of The Mind”
“Through The Chaos”
“Your Worst Enemy”
“Tears Of Black”
“Unfaithful” (Rihanna cover feat. Karisma)

“Voices From The Void”

Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch, The Guess Who, April Wine) and Sean Kelly (Nelly Furtado, Lee Aaron, Crash Kelly) recently joined forces as Northern Strum, a classic rock duo reviving timeless tunes, Canadian music and classic rock.

In the new video below, the duo perform the Bachman–Turner Overdrive (BTO) classic, “You Ain’t See Nothing Yet”, featured on that band’s 1974 album, Not Fragile.

In the previously posted clips below, Dixon and Kelly perform Michel Pagliaro’s “Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy”. Rush hit “Closer To The Heart”, Coney Hatch’s “Hey Operator”, BTO’s “Let It Ride”, Trooper’s “We’re Here For A Good Time (Not A Long Time)”, and Anne Murray’s “Snowbird”:

Gulfshore Business is reporting that Metal Church/ex-W.A.S.P. drummer, Stet Howland, bought a longtime Fort Myers dive bar and then transformed it into a haven for rock and roll.

Stet’s Bar, 1926 Winkler Ave., across U.S. 41 from Floor & Decor, operates out of what originally was built as a house in 1947 and had the same ownership as a bar called Winkler House since 1987.

Then Howland bought the Winkler House business for about $50,000, leasing the space from property owner REIKO Inc. Seven months ago, Howland began taking a more hands-on approach to Stet’s Bar, booking rock bands.

The concert venue looks like an oversized garage, and it’s a separate building behind the bar. Howland had used it for about 14 years for band rehearsals and as a recording studio.

“I took the bar over about seven months ago,” said Howland, who still drums for Metal Church and will be doing some shows this spring with former Dokken guitarist George Lynch. “I went full steam on bringing in national acts.”

Read more, and see photos of the venue, at Gulfshore Business. Visit the Stet’s Bar Facebook page here.

TALENT WE LOST

HEAVY BIRTHDAYS 

Happy 66th 
Pete Trewavas (MARILLION) – January 15th, 1959

Happy 58th  
Chris Julke (HELIX)  – January 15th, 1967

Happy 55th
MC5’s Back In The USA – January 15th, 1970

Happy 29th  
ACCEPT’s Predator – January 15th, 1996

Happy 23rd  
BOLT THROWER’s Honour-Valour-Pride – January 15th, 2002

Happy 18th  
AL ATKINS’ Demon Deceiver – January 15th, 2007

Happy 4th
BLOODY HAMMERS – Songs Of Unspeakable Terror – January 15, 2021
DRAGONY – Viribus Unitis – January 15, 2021
EDENBRIDGE – The Chronicles Of Eden, Part 2 – January 15, 2021
INGESTED – Stinking Cesspool Of Liquefied Human Remnants – January 15, 2021

In the final countdown to the release of their studio album “The World Was Never Enough”, Swedish alternative metal band, Days Of Jupiter, are ramping up the excitement with a new music video. The album, set to be released on February 7 through RPM (Reigning Phoenix Music), promises to be a pivotal moment for the band.

Today, Days Of Jupiter released the music video for “Parazite”, the last single from their upcoming album. The track showcases the band’s signature sound with revelling guitar tones and the raw, unmistakable vocals of lead singer Janne Hilli. The music is underpinned by straightforward yet powerful riffing and drumming, setting the stage for a hard-hitting exploration of toxic relationships. “Parazite” not only narrates an intense personal struggle but also offers a cathartic release with its captivating chorus, resonating deeply with listeners.

Lyricist Robert Hilli comments: “Embrace yourselves for a hard-hitting and contagious song called ‘Parazite.’ It has fantastic melodies and is an incredibly catchy song with world-class vocals that explore the issues of manipulation, loyalty, betrayal and relationships, where the feeling of melancholy and abandonment is always present.”

Pre-order or pre-save the new album here.

Tracklist:

“Original Sin”
“The World Was Never Enough”
“Machine”
“Desolation”
“The Fix”
“Parazite”
“My Heaven My Hell”
“Denial”
“Ignite”
“Invincible”

“Desolation” video:

“Original Sin” video:

“Machine” lyric video:

“The Fix” video:

(Photo – Reigning Phoenix Music)

With their unique blend of epic power metal and dark, atmospheric sounds, South Germany’s Black & Damned is gearing up for their third studio album, Resurrection, to be released on March 14 via ROAR. The album pre-sale is available here.

Resurrection sees the band captivate with thunderous guitar riffs, intense rhythms and gripping vocals that whisk you away into a world full of myths and inner conflicts. Their music is a storm of power and emotion, perfect for anyone who wants to experience the ultimate metal rush.

But give ear, today, Black & Damned are premiering a music video for a second album single, the stomping heavy metal anthem “Bound By The Moon”.

Frontman Roland “Bobbes” Seidel says: “Bad dreams don’t let me sleep. Hunted by demons until the morning. My life is stuck in chaos. Even when I wake up, the fear of life remains. Bound to the moon by day and by night.”

“Bound By The Moon” is now streaming on all digital services here. Watch the new clip below:

In the four years since their debut, Black & Damned have made a first-class name for themselves, sharing the stage with Vicious Rumors, Rage and Tankard, among others, and earning great reviews in the press.

It is now clear that the band from the Stuttgart area can be described as a real enrichment of the heavy metal world and so they took no prisoners, used the energy of past live shows and composed ten new neckbreakers, which they recorded in the fall of 2024 under the aegis of ex-Primal Fear guitarist Stefan Leibing. Once again, this gripping melancholy hovers over the entire work, which is incredibly captivating and addictive. Black & Damned have grown together as a unit and with Resurrection the band created a profound, melodic and melancholic heavy metal album with lasting anthems!

Resurrection tracklisting:

“Silence Breaker”
“Ruthless Wrath”
“Red Heavens”
“Bound By The Moon”
“Circle Of Amnesia”
“Injustice”
“Searing Flames”
“Shadows”
“Reborn In Solitude”
“Navigate Me To The Sun”

“Ruthless Wrath” video:

(Photo – Reigning Phoenix Music)

January 31 will see Barcelona-based power metal act, Kilmara, release their new studio album, Journey To The Sun, via ROAR. Coming as CD jewel case, limited to 300 copies “Mediterranean Aura” marbled vinyl and digital streaming/download, the album pre-sale is available here.

On their forthcoming magnum opus, Kilmara sound more current, more powerful and heavier than ever, thanks to an excellent and careful production. With the aim set on finding the best and most fresh sound possible, Kilmara put the recording of their new album in the hands of Carles Salse in his Sureau Studio, and also teamed up with world-renowned and award-winning producer Seeb Levermann (Orden Ogan, Angus MCSIX, Rhapsody Of Fire, Riot V). Conceptually, Journey To Tthe Sun is set in the Arcade halls of the late 80’s, where first loves, unbreakable friendships, rivalries, defeats and victory celebrations took place.

Today, the five-piece band has shared a new music video for their latest, epic single, “Wildfire”. Listen on all digital streaming platforms here, and watch the clip below.

“This song is fast-paced, unleashed as its name indicates and incorporates galloping rhythms, riffs close to hard rock and one of the best choruses on the album without a doubt,” Carles Salse (guitars & synths) comments. “A true anthem of melodic power metal that we hope will delight fans.”

Guitarist John Portillo reveals: “We were rehearsing when we jammed playing some pure old school power metal, Eric has a fast and consistent double bass drum so we thought it would be great to have a great fast song. I immediately thought of some epic Halloween style openings, doubling or tripling instrumental harmonies… but I wanted to give it a more personal touch, something more unusual, so we played around with American hard rock a bit. The result is a wonderful punch in the face.”

“Lyric-wise, this is an homage to the party classics of the 80’s and early 90’s that we all grew up listening to,” singer Dani Ponce adds. “It’s a song about living life to the fullest and not wanting to slow down. An explosive cocktail of youth, enregy, love and danger…”

After the additions of Eric Killer, a real steamroller on the drums, and guitarist, producer and composer Carles Salse, the band is renewed in every way and presents their new work Journey To The Sun, an adventure of epic proportions that transcends the limits explored up to this point by the band from Barcelona. Kilmara furthermore pick up the baton as heirs of the heroes of power metal and bring back the singer of the legendary and sorely missed swedish band Lost Horizon, Daniel Heiman, one of the best voices that the genre has given and who will undoubtedly overwhelm you with his performance as a special guest in “Take Me Back”.

Tracklisting:

“Point Of No Return”
“Journey To The Sun”
“Alliance Of The Free”
“Chances”
“Liberticide”
“Wildfire”
“An Even Whole”
“Power Of The Mind”
“Take Me Back”
“Journey To The Sun” (8 Bit Version)

“Chances” video:

“Journey To The Sun” video:

(Photo – Manuel Damea Morenas)

Dean Guitars will be hosting a live performance from Rob Barrett of Cannibal Corpse on Friday January 24 at 2 PM on the Center Stage in Hall C during the upcoming industry trade show, NAMM in Anaheim, California.

As a Dean Guitar artist, Barrett will perform through a setlist of backing tracks demonstrating exactly why he prefers Dean Guitars over all others.

Citing influences that include Gary Moore, Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, Tony Iommi, and Steve Vai, the performance will be an excellent showcase of Barrett’s repertoire and the versatility of Dean’s Cadillac guitars.

Formed in 1988, Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band with 16 album releases to their name.

For more information on Dean Guitars, visit them at NAMM in Room C-1 or online at deanguitars.com.

Dean Guitars is a musician-run enterprise, having worked with some of the biggest names in the industry on the biggest stages and in the best studios all over the world. Since 1977, Dean Guitars has catered to musicians in all genres, at all skill levels, and has the most recognizable headstock profile in the industry.