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Croatia’s finest folk metal powerhouse, Manntra, bring roaring hymns and swelling horns, announcing their 8th studio album Titans, set for release on February 21 via Napalm Records.

With seven albums already under their belts and a reputation forged on stages like the mighty Wacken Open Air and tours with legends like German folk mainstays In Extremo, Manntra has proven themselves as a tour de force in the metal world. Titans is another testament to their unstoppable momentum, blending ancient tradition with modern sounds to create something truly unforgettable.

Giving insight on their latest onslaught, today, Manntra release their first single, a tribute to YouTube phenomenon Miracle Of Sound, an explosive cover of “Skal”. This high-octane track is a resounding toast to unity, revelry, and the timeless power of music. With their signature fusion of raw metal riffs, traditional folk instrumentation, and industrial elements, Manntra delivers an electrifying rendition of this modern classic, turning it into a full-fledged anthem for warriors, dreamers, and partygoers alike. Rooted in the band’s unique soundscape, “Skal” is a riot of pounding drums, razor-sharp guitars, and soulful pipes, seamlessly blending raucous energy with melodic folk charm, showcasing Manntra’s ability to bridge worlds with their masterful songwriting. Whether you’re a metalhead, a folk enthusiast, or simply someone who loves a good party, this track will have you raising your glass and stomping your feet.

Manntra on the new single “Skal” (Miracle Of Sound Cover): “’Skal’ is the first single from our upcoming album Titans. We chose to cover this song by Miracle Of Sound because it captivated us from the first listen and already embodied the Manntra vibe. It felt like a song we could have written in a parallel reality. While we typically don’t do covers, this one perfectly aligns with the energy and themes of the album!”

Watch the video for “Skal” below.

Formed in 2012 around mastermind Marko Matijević Sekul, the band has proven to be extremely productive as Titans is already their eighth studio album. Over the years the quintet developed their trademark sound by combining raw metal riffs and hard-hitting industrial sounds with traditional folk instruments, unleashing a relentless storm of catchy metal hymns. Manntra’s high energy soundscape is skillfully built by supposed opposites: authentic folk instruments like pipes and mandolins interwoven with raspy male vocals and an uplifting industrial metal sound. With their newest masterpiece they clearly take no prisoners as the album sets off with the title track “Titans” delivering forceful rhythms and powerful drumming. This continues on tracks like “Higher” or “Riders In The Dawn” kicking off with strong intros. Like no other, Manntra manage effortlessly to transport the ancient tunes into modern times by combining its folk elements with synths like on “My Sandman” or the album closer “Nav” delivering massive melodies. But Manntra also stay true to their roots with “Teuta” telling the story of a legendary Illyrian queen who reigned in Croatia around 200 BC and “Unholy Water (Voda)” containing a catchy chorus and intense female folk vocals delivering a hymn like melody with lyrics partly in Croatian. The same can be witnessed on the extremely groovy and catchy “Heart Of The Storm”, while uplifting “Skal” is a song to get every folk party started. A clear highlight are the combined songs “Forgotten Pt.1” and “Forgotten Pt.2” which are true industrial metal masterpieces that seamlessly cross genres, heavily leaning towards electronic elements, while maintaining their very own soundscape.

Overall Titans convinces with an enormous hit-density and sets a clear mark, delivering proud hymns and in-your-face metal songs that are undeniable, proving that Manntra are on the very top of their game, ready to enter the next level of their promising journey!

Titans will be available in the following formats:

– 1 Vinyl Bundle (Tote Bag, Autograph Card, Drinking horn, Patch, Invitation Card “Online Meet & Greet” – Napalm Records mail order only – strictly limited to 300)
– 1 CD Bundle (Tote Bag, Autograph Card, Drinking horn, Patch, Invitation Card “Online Meet & Greet” – Napalm Records mail order only – strictly limited to 300)
– 1 LP Marbled Orange / Black – Napalm Records mail order only – strictly limited to 200
– 1 LP Black Vinyl
– 6p Digipak + Booklet

Pre-order here.

Titans tracklisting:

“Ceremony”
“Titans”
“Teuta”
“The Heart Of The Storm”
“Unholy Water (Voda)”
“Skal” (Miracle Of Sound Cover)
“Higher”
“My Sandman”
“Riders In The Dawn”
“Forgotten Pt.1”
“Forgotten Pt.2 – The Ritual”
“Nav”

“Skal” video:

Experience Manntra live.

Manntra are:

Marko Matijević Sekul – Vocal / Synth / Guitar / Pipes
Andrea Kert – Drums
Zoltan Lečei – Bass
Zlatko Štefančić – Guitar / Mandolina / Pipes
Dorian Pavlović – Guitar / Acoustic

(Photo – Franz Schepers / Marko Ristić)

December 3, 2024, 2 hours ago

news black death dimmu borgir

Norwegian symphonic black metal band, Dimmu Borgir, have returned to the studio to work on new material with producer Fredrik Nordström. The band’s latest studio album, Eonian, was released in May 2018 via Nuclear Blast. Eonian is the group’s final album to feature lead guitarist Galder (real name Thomas Rune Andersen), who left the band in August of this year.

Dimmu Borgir shared the image below earlier today (Tuesday, December 3), showing drummer Dariusz “Daray” Brzozowski in the studio with Nordström. The photo is simply captioned “#studiotime”.

Dimmu Borgir recently confirmed their appearance at the 2025 edition of Norway’s Tons Of Rock festival, where they will perform on Friday, June 27.

Stay tuned for further updates from the band.

Armored Saint, who are currently opening for W.A.S.P. across North America on their Album One Alive World Tour ’24, have issued the following message:

“After going out to Thanksgiving dinner in New Orleans with the band and our crew, and then a hang with a couple guys from W.A.S.P. and their crew, Joey Vera went to sleep. When he woke up in the morning in Houston he realized his left eye was impaired. His vision looked like it was only at 60% and he had several huge floaters in his sight. Hoping it was just fatigue he went on with his day and Saint played Houston, the first of three dates in Texas.

“The next day when he woke up in San Antonio the eye was not better and obviously worse. He became extremely concerned and found an Ophthalmologist. The doctor was not a specialist but did various tests and said it was very possible this was something called PVD, Posterior Vitreous Detachment. The doctor recommended seeing a Retinal specialist but it was too late in the day to do that. Joey explained the situation to the band but the show had to go on. So Joey subdued himself onstage (which is not a natural state for him as a performer) and we rocked the house at the Aztec theatre.

“By Sunday in Dallas even though he didn’t show it, his anxiety had grown extremely high. Because it was Sunday there were few options to see a doctor. He decided after the show (he performed again mind you) to go to the Baylor University emergency hospital. Unfortunately there was little they could do test wise other than an ultrasound which again confirmed PVD but not much else. The band reluctantly contacted a couple of bass player friends in case he would have to go home so we could continue the tour.

“Finally having an off day on Monday, the band stayed in Dallas (our next show is in Little Rock, Arkansas tonight) and Joey found a Retinal specialist in Fort Worth. The Specialist confirmed he had PVD with a tear on the retina and confirmed the blurry eyesight he was seeing in his eye was blood.

“He recommended immediate laser surgery. He had about ten minutes to make a decision. After considering the limited options he decided what to do. “Gotta do it!”

“The surgery went well and other than an Uber ride from hell Joey returned to the band bus feeling more relieved physically and emotionally. It will take several weeks before his sight will return to normal and follow up doctor visits are on tap.

“Arriving in Little Rock on Tuesday Joey and the band are ready to resume playing our last 10 shows of this 7 week tour with W.A.S.P.

“If Joey is a little more tame than he usually is onstage, I know you’ll all understand why. Although I’m sure it will be difficult for this bad ass mother fucker to contain himself.” – John Bush & his brothers in Armored Saint

Remaining tour dates are as follows:

December
3 – Little Rock, AR – The Hall
4 – Wichita, KS – The Cotillion
6 – Albuquerque, NM – Revel
7 – Tempe, AZ – The Marquee Theatre
9 – Tucson, AZ – The Rialto Theatre
10 – San Diego, CA – House Of Blues
11 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
12 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl
13 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
14 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium

Fans hoping for new Depeche Mode music may need to temper expectations.

During a recent conversation with NME, frontman Dave Gahan noted the band was in no hurry to follow up 2023’s Memento Mori.

“Martin and I have talked,” Gahan confirmed, referring to bandmate and fellow songwriter Martin Gore. “We actually saw each other recently, and it was really nice. We spent some time in Italy where Anton Cobijn and his wife were renewing their wedding vows in a really nice spot just outside of Rome. We had a really nice time without any work or show pressure.”

Of course, Gahan couldn’t totally avoid discussing work while catching up with Gore.

READ MORE: The Best Song From Every Depeche Mode Album

“I actually did ask Martin if he’d been writing and he was like, ‘Nah!’” the singer recalled. “That’s normal – especially when you’ve worked intensely for a couple of years. It takes a while. Wait and see. I wouldn’t rule out us getting together at some point, but it’s not on the cards at this point.”

Dave Gahan Will Perform at the Mark Lanegan Tribute Concert

While Gahan may not have any Depeche Mode-related plans, the singer is still staying busy. He’ll be performing at the all-star Mark Lanegan tribute concert, taking place in London on Dec. 5.

“For me, he’s right up there as a 20th and 21st Century voice and writer,” Gahan said of the former Screaming Trees singer, who died in 2022. “We talk about the Nick Caves and Johnny Cashes of this world in terms of what a voice can do. There are few of them, but Mark is at the top of that list.”

READ MORE: How Depeche Mode Found Their ‘Personal Jesus’ in Elvis Presley

Gahan also recalled spending time with Lanegan when the two were on tour together in 2009.

“His music changed the way I think about music, songs, songwriting and the use of your voice as an instrument to create this amazing cinematic story,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer admitted. “Even if you’re not interested in what he was saying in any particular phrase, there was just something about the way he opened his mouth. I was completely engaged.”

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Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

Village People singer Victor Willis has called on the media to stop calling his band’s 1978 hit single “Y.M.C.A.” a “gay anthem.”

In a long post to Facebook, Willis — who commonly performed dressed as a police officer — addressed the famous song’s history.

“There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is somehow a gay anthem,” the singer noted. “As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life.”

Willis went on to insist that he “knew nothing” about YMCA’s “being a hang out for gays” when he wrote the song’s lyrics.

READ MORE: Top 200 ’70s Songs

“I therefore wrote ‘Y.M.C.A.’ about the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and cheap food and cheap rooms,” he explained. “And when I say, ‘hang out with all the boys’ that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that.”

Willis went on to threaten legal action to those who continue to call “Y.M.C.A.” a gay anthem.

“Come January 2025, my wife will start suing each and every news organization that falsely refers to ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the story, that ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is somehow a gay anthem because such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to elicit activity for which it does not,” the singer declared, adding that such insinuations were “defamatory, and damaging to the song.”

Victor Willis Thanks Donald Trump for Using ‘Y.M.C.A.’ at His Rallies

Elsewhere in his lengthy Facebook post, Willis addressed the use of “Y.M.C.A.” at Donald Trump rallies.

“Since 2020, I’ve received over a thousand complaints about President Elect Trump’s use of ‘Y.M.C.A.’ With that many complaints, I decided to ask the President Elect to stop using ‘Y.M.C.A.’ because his use had become a nuisance to me,” Willis noted. However, the singer’s stance on Trump’s usage softened as he saw other artists refusing to let the controversial politician use their songs.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Wins 2024 Election: Rockers React With Joy and Anger

“I simply didn’t have the heart to prevent his continued use of my song in the face of so many artists withdrawing his use of their material,” Willis explained. Trump’s embrace of “Y.M.C.A.” has also provided a financial windfall for the singer.

“’Y.M.C.A.’ is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song,” he admitted. “Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of ‘Y.M.C.A.’ And I thank him for choosing to use my song.”

British death metallers Mutagenic Host have shared their new track “Artificial Harvest Of The Obscene”. The song is the second to be revealed from the band’s debut album, The Diseased Machine, set for international release on January 3, 2025: the album will be co-released by Gurgling Gore (vinyl, cassette), Dry Cough Records (vinyl, cassette), and Memento Mori, with the CD version slated for release on January 20, 2025.

Mutagenic Host are a five-piece band hailing from London, England as part of the New Wave of British Death Metal (see also: Coffin Mulch, Celestial Sanctuary, Slimelord, Vacuous, Mortuary Spawn). The group comprises members from various parts of the UK and United States. With a diverse background spanning the hardcore, black metal, and death metal scenes, Mutagenic Host blend hardcore sensibilities and groove with the heavy, well-crafted sound reminiscent of ’90s Floridian death metal.

Mutagenic Host dive into a technological apocalypse, examining a world overshadowed by hypocritical, insidious, and murderous global powers. The band is deeply disillusioned with the traditional themes of death metal and hardcore, feeling that these subjects no longer capture the urgency of the present. Instead, Mutagenic Host tackle the modern-day specters of complacency, apathy, and the looming threat of AI. Their work is an allegory for the systematic industrialization of humanity’s eradication — whether by human hands or by the machines we create to snuff out life. In this narrative, the instruments of the state use AI to monitor, control, and suppress the population, sounding a warning of impending doom through a fresh, intense lens in the death metal genre.

The Genotoxic Demo, unleashed in early 2023 via Dry Cough, featured four tracks that plunged listeners into a cerebral mulch while simultaneously slashing through them with a ruthlessness found in the streets. Following a year of relentless live performances alongside bands such as Incantation, Fulci, Fuming Mouth, Undeath, Celestial Sanctuary, Kruelty, Portrayal Of Guilt, and Doldrey, Mutagenic Host have now finished writing, producing, and recording their inaugural full-length debut, The Diseased Machine.

Aptly titled, The Diseased Machine is a dark and thought-provoking journey into that post-plague world, which frankly doesn’t feel so far away from present times. As a debut album, it consolidates Mutagenic Host’s myriad strengths – stomping ‘n’ slamming grooves, world-eating heaviness, patient deployment of double-bass movement – and then intensifies them to an enviable degree. To be sure, the band are the proverbial well-oiled machine (but not diseased!) across the album’s ten oft-twisting tracks, the clean-yet-crushing production amplifying their strident execution. And with their fluid shifting between tank-rolling downtempo and galloping bouts of speed, we can confidently declare The Diseased Machine as the epitome of “chug and slug” – Mutagenic Host have stormed the gates to further solidify their ferocious presence in the death metal scene.

Tracklisting:

“Neurological Necrosis”
“Genestealer”
“The Twisted Helix”
“Artificial Harvest Of The Obscene”
“Organometallic Assimilation”
“DIRECTIVE:: [kill_on_sight]”
“Incomprehensible Methods Of Slaughter”
“S.W.A.R.M. (Systematic War Against Restless Machines)”
“Promethean Dusk”
“Rivers Of Grief”

For further details, visit Mutagenic Host on Bandcamp.

Initially launched in 2016, the incredibly popular free-to-play RPG, Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast, will cease to exist at the end of this calendar year. An official statement from Navigator Games, dated December 2, 2024 reads:

“Even the most incredible journeys come to an end. Today we announce that after 8 amazing years, Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast will finally be coming to a close.

As the band’s 2023/24 The Future Past Tour concludes in Brazil this weekend, we’re reminded of this games’ incredible achievements – notably having a tour inspired by, and named after, it. Complete with multiple onstage worlds, the Iron Maiden Legacy Of The Beast Tour played to over 3 million fans, running from 2018 to 2022, circumnavigating the globe – headlining some of the biggest festivals and stadiums including Rock In Rio, Hellfest, Download & Wacken to name but a few. It was by far the most exciting and ambitious way to promote a video game ever – contributing to its incredible longevity and popularity with over 6 million players as the greatest Heavy Metal Game ever. As far as the future goes, our team is continuing to work on new projects with Iron Maiden that we are excited to share with you somewhere down the line. We must, however, bid farewell to this chapter first and to do that we want to celebrate the incredible legacy that we’ve all built together with you. So now it’s time to dust off those flight cases one last time and end with a bang and a momentous end of tour party!

Come with us on a 4-week celebration of Legacy Of The Beast! Starting today we’ll be sharing epic milestones, memories, and honoring the game’s impact on the world with our amazing community of players. Additionally, we are celebrating with in-game additions such as exclusive character giveaways, powerful unreleased cosmic talismans, legends characters, and increased soul odds on rare and legendary souls. Collect your celebration pack in store now!

We want to thank all of our Troopers for their loyalty, passion and dedication by making this the most legendary celebration of Iron Maiden and our game Legacy Of The Beast.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Cash only in-app purchases are removed, free giveaway packs have been added and are available all month.
• All in-game currency should be used by December 31, 2024, as Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast will neither be downloadable nor playable after that date.

Thank you for your continued commitment and passion for all things Iron Maiden.

As for the future… something wicked this way comes!”

Further details can be found here.

December 2, 2024, an hour ago

news hard rock rarities glassjaw

Today, Glassjaw and Revelation Records team up to announce the release of the Don Fury Sessions for the first time on vinyl.

Recorded in 1998 at Don Fury Studio at 18 Spring Street Nolita NYC, the eight songs were the beginning of the materialization of Glassjaw’s full depth of sound and creativity – going on to become the basis of the band’s debut album, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence.

The original tracks are now remastered by Don Fury himself and put together for vinyl release limited to 1998 in Opaque Yellow (Canary) with a release date of March 7, 2025. Pre-order Don Fury Sessions through Revelation Records, here.

Don Fury Sessions tracklisting:

“Pretty Lush”
“One Eight Becomes Two Zeros”
“Ry Ry’s Song”
“Majour”
“Motel Of White Lotus”
“Matchbook Blackbook”
“Harlem”
“Train In Vain”