A roundup of the latest news from Nuclear Blast including updates on Machine Head, Meshuggah, Amorphis, Dimmu Borgir and Pristine.
Norwegian rock band PRISTINE, featuring lead singer and primus motor Heidi Solheim, have released official music video for the title track of their most recent album, Ninja.
Furthermore, the band have announced more live dates in support of Ninja:
04.04. D Nürnberg – Hirsch
05.04. D Bonn – Harmonie
06.04. D Bückeburg – Schraub-Bar
07.04. D Ulm – Roxy
08.04. D Jena – Café Wagner
11.04. D Berlin – Quasimodo
12.04. D Hannover – Mephisto
16.04. E Barcelona – Sala Rocksound
17.04. E Madrid – Sala Boite
18.04. E Cangas de Morrazo – Salason
19.04. E Gijón – Memphis
20.04. E San Sebastián – Intxaurrondo Kultur Etxea
25.04. D Stuttgart – Café Galao
26.04. D Wuppertal – Live Club Barmen
27.04. D Leipzig – Moritzbastei
28.04. D Willofs – Veteranentreffen
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Melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS recently released their 2015 studio album »Under The Red Cloud«, which won countless soundchecks and reached great chart results all around the world, including their first ever entry in United Kingdom and Australia, as well as their highest ever entries in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Following this success, they released their »Under The Red Cloud Tour Edition« in February 2017, including the entire album with two bonus songs as well as the live tracks of their »An Evening With Friends«-Shows @ Juhlaviikot – Huvila (more info, see below).
Today, there are some good news for all fans of AMORPHIS: The band is currently working on a new studio album! The pre-production process is already done and most of the recordings have been finished. But this time, the band didn’t rush at all and took their time to focus on details so there’ll be also some really amazing surprises: additional recordings with real strings and flutes, as well as orchestra arrangements and choirs! In addition, this is the first time that people will be able to hear their lyricist Pekka Kainulainen on the album as he contributes a speech in Finnish!
Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, and many others) will be once again the producer of the upcoming album. More details to be announced soon, so stay tuned!
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San Francisco Bay Area metal titans MACHINE HEAD, will release their highly anticipated new album »Catharsis« tomorrow, on January 26 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Today, the band has released the official lyric video for the opening track, ‘Volatile’.
The pounding track featuring sociocritical lyrics is dedicated to Heather D. Heyer who lost her life in during a protest against neo-nazism and white supremacy in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017.
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Over seven years, deathlike silence has filled the halls of the world’s biggest black metal forge, DIMMU BORGIR, whilst powers have been gathering to resurrect the band right in time for their 25th anniversary. Now they finally mark their return with a vicious work of art that can be defined as timeless in the truest sense of the word: »Eonian«.
The songwriting core of DIMMU BORGIR furthermore consists of charismatic vocalist Shagrath, as well as the string wizards Silenoz and Galder, but other familiar faces also emerge from the darkness: Drummer Daray and keyboarder Gerlioz are still part of the team, and Gaute Storaas helped with the choral arrangements for the majestic voices of the Schola Cantrum Choir.
The cover artwork was designed in fascinating detail by Zbigniew M. Bielak (GHOST, BEHEMOTH, MAYHEM).
This tenth full-length record will see the light of spring on May the 4th, and it will contain 10 new tracks, produced by the band itself and engineered by Jens Bogren. Emerging from the dark minds of the three songwriters, »Eonian« follows a philosophical concept, dealing with the illusion of time:
“Time, when not approaching it from the construct we’re used to can’t be defined and thus it is illusory”, explains axemaster Silenoz. “There’s only an ‘eternal now’, which the album title is already hinting at. When we travel between the worlds seen and unseen, the perception of time ceases to exist, it has no function. Our energy is our torch and our compass when we make rifts and pierce through the veil – when we go beyond.”
Vocalist Shagrath adds: “»Eonian« represents the illusion of time, everything that is and always has been. For us, it also marks the 25th anniversary of DIMMU BORGIR and the album itself is a tribute to our own history and the Norwegian black metal history.”
On February 23rd, DIMMU BORGIR will unveil their first single ‘Interdimensional Summit’, that will be released as a 7” vinyl EP, providing a first taste of the upcoming album.
You can pre-order the EP here. The pre-order for the full-length album starts on the single’s release day, February 23rd.
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Grammy nominated extreme tech-metal messiahs MESHUGGAH have announced a European tour for summer 2018. After the release of their highly successful, eighth studio album, »The Violent Sleep Of Reason«, which hit the world sales charts at #19, and an extensive tour in 2016, the band will return to Europe in June 2018 to play some select club shows.
Check out the tour dates:
05.06. PL KRAKOW – KWADRAT
06.06. PL WARSAW – PROGRESJA
13.06. CZ PRAGUE – AKROPOLIS
15.06. DE KARLSRUHE – SUBSTAGE
18.06. IT MILAN – LIVE CLUB
19.06. IT ROME – ORION
20.06. IT BOLOGNA – ESTRAGON
23.06. FR BESANCON – LA RODIA
Order tickets here: https://www.meshuggah.net/tour/
MESHUGGAH have been nominated in the “Best Metal Performance” category for the Grammy Award. The 60th awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, January 28, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Already announced festival shows 2018:
03.03. S Umeå – House of Metal
01. – 03.06. D Nürburgring – Rock am Ring
01. – 03.06. D Nuremberg – Rock im Park
02.06. NL Nijmegen – FortaRock
08.06. S Sölvesborg – Sweden Rock
08. – 10.06. UK Donington – Download Festival
14. – 17.06. A Nickelsdorf – Nova Rock
16.06. F Bretigny-Sur-Orge – Download Festival
22./23.06. F Clisson – Hellfest
24.06. B Dessel – Graspop Metal Meeting
