Swedish metallers EVERGREY will release their thirteenth studio album, “A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)”, on May 20 via Napalm Records. This overwhelming journey through progressive heaviness and searing emotionality reaches new heights and is preceded by the arrival of the soaring first single “Save Us”, in which heavy prog and melancholic beauty climax in a soulful chorus that proves EVERGREY to be top songwriters in their genre.

The pounding album opener reflects everything the new full-length stands for, as it kicks in immediately with stunning guitar work and unveils a chorus sure to top the annals of EVERGREY history. Listen carefully and you will hear the voices of hundreds of fans who were invited by EVERGREY to send recordings of their voices to later provide group vocals for the track — making their everlasting mark on EVERGREY history.

For the astonishing music video, the five-piece teamed up with longtime companion Patric Ullaeus to create a bewitching visual experience that exemplifies EVERGREY.

EVERGREY frontman Tom S. Englund states about “Save Us”: “‘Save Us’ is about us. It’s about you and I. It’s about how I see our minds becoming hostages in a world where painting optimal portraits of ourselves is more important than being who we really are. It’s about my observation of watching people around me who are feeling that they’re not good enough for the world, or for themselves. I’m afraid we’re lost, and I think we need to help each other to find our way back to what is important, to rediscover a true sense of self. As we, as artists, also contribute to content and social media as a livelihood, it’s about the paradox of being caught in a world which is hard to free yourself from. I can only wish that our music brings some balance to that equation.”

The follow-up to 2021’s “Escape Of The Phoenix”, “A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)” was recorded at Top Floor Studios in Gothenburg, engineered by Jakob Herrman and produced by Englund and Jonas Ekdahl, with mixing and mastering by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios (VOLBEAT, DESTRUCTION, EPICA), whereas the hauntingly beautiful album artwork was conjured by Giannis Nakos at Remedy Art Design. Nakos is known for creating artworks for acts like OCEANS OF SLUMBER, AMARANTHE, THE AGONIST and THE CROWN as well as merchandise for MORBID ANGEL, SUFFOCATION and CRYPTOPSY.

EVERGREY says about the new album: “Here it is! A new album! Yet again! This is what we love about music, it never ends! Our mission is to write music so here you are! 10 new songs! 10 new EVERGREY songs that we hope you will have by your side as your life continues to shift and grow. 10 songs that we wish will be part of the soundtrack when you’re creating new memories and new possibilities in your life. 10 songs that we feel privileged to have you listen to. 10 songs that have risen through the ashes of two years where our creativity has had more time than ever to flourish. 10 songs we really hope you will enjoy as much as we did writing them. As usual we have given it our best and we can’t wait to hear what you have to say! A new year, a new album, a new record label = new possibilities. All this can only be positive, right? Enjoy!”

“A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)” impresses with flawless, meticulous production that deftly depicts both heartfelt honesty and scorching metallic intensity, while its instrumental force of furious, technically driven riffs, skyrocketing solos and dramatic synths merges with the expert, brooding vocal performance of Englund — one of the most distinctive vocalists in metal. He skillfully balances harsh and heavy tones with an inarguably soulful approach, all topped by melancholic, thought-provoking lyricism that digs deeper with every spin, leaving a long-lasting impact. Songs like “Midwinter Calls”, which also contains fan participation with atmospheric audience recordings from the band’s latest tour through Sweden, and “The Great Unwashed”, draw the listener in with grooving, glistering instrumentation, flowing between boisterous dynamics and a next level vocal performance, while emotive “Wildfires” turns the volume down as a goosebump-worthy ballad that hurts and heals all at once. “Call Out The Dark” begins atmospherically with accented keys, suddenly evolving into an intense opus of symphonic and power metal attributes in the blink of an eye, whereas the record’s longest track, “The Orphean Testament”, impresses by revealing its heaviest facet. A sensitive introduction lures the listener into “Heartless”, and offers one of the album’s most engaging verses, followed by a hauntingly beautiful chorus and variety in pace to create a magnificent listening experience.

“A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)” track listing:

01. Save Us
02. Midwinter Calls
03. Ominous
04. Call Out the Dark
05. The Orphean Testament
06. Reawakening
07. The Great Unwashed
08. Heartless
09. Blindfolded
10. Wildfires

EVERGREY will embark on a European headlining tour in September.

EVERGREY is:

Tom S. Englund – Vocals, Guitar
Henrik Danhage – Guitar
Rikard Zander – Keyboard
Jonas Ekdahl – Drums
Johan Niemann – Bass

In a new interview with Rob Rush, Maynard James Keenan was asked why he thinks his various bands and projects — a list that includes TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE and PUSCIFER — have all managed to draw audiences worthy of arenas and theaters. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, they’re not gonna support it if they show up and it’s boring; they’re not gonna come back. You have to have follow-through. You have to have a thoughtful presentation.

“People wanna be entertained; they wanna be moved in some way,” he explained. “And I think in order to do that, depending on your agenda, people like me, I just need to do a thing and I need to do it well. And I’m never satisfied with how I did it; I think I can do it better. So if you get in that mindset — you’re always trying to improve on the thing you did, even if it was the night before and you’ve done this thing ten thousand times, there’s always room for improvement and adjustment. So I think that’s what people have come to expect, is that they know that we are thoughtful and we’re always thinking about fixing, correcting and making better.”

Actor, performer, musician, entrepreneur, winemaker, athlete, writer and curious adventurer, Maynard is the embodiment of the archetypal artist. Best known as the vocalist in TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE and PUSCIFER, he has trusted the path he’s followed and heeded his inner voice, ever open to synchronicities and unexpected turnings along the way.

In addition to his musical output, Keenan was able to launch a second career as a winemaker with Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards from his home in the hillside town of Jerome, Arizona, where he has lived since the mid-1990s.

PUSCIFER’s “Existential Reckoning” tour will kick off June 9 at The Smith Center in Las Vegas. Joining Keenan at the shows will be longtime PUSCIFER members Mat Mitchell and Carina Round. The trek will include the group’s largest scale performances to date, with shows slated for Los Angeles’s venerable Greek Theatre (site of Keenan’s one-time-only Cinquanta mini festival), Brooklyn’s movie palace-turned-concert-hall Kings Theater and the state-of-the-art Mission Ballroom in Denver.

The tour in support of PUSCIFER’s highly regarded 2020 album “Existential Reckoning” will mark the band’s first U.S. dates since 2016.

PUSCIFER was unable to play live shows to promote “Existential Reckoning” at the time of its release due to the ongoing global pandemic. But the band did manage to livestream performance of the album in October 2020, a show which was made available as on-demand/VOD version and an accompanying soundtrack in November 2021, with physical versions of the soundtrack and film (vinyl and VHS) available via retailers on February 25.

I AM MORBID, the band featuring former MORBID ANGEL members David Vincent (vocals, bass) and Tim Yeung (drums) alongside guitarists Bill Hudson (CIRCLE II CIRCLE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) and Kelly McLauchlin, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of MORBID ANGEL’s second album, “Blessed Are The Sick”, with a European tour in March/April. Support on the trek will come from BELPHEGOR and HATE.

Initially announced for 2021, the “Morbidfest” tour had to be postponed due to the pandemic. But it’s finally happening in 2022.

“Morbidfest” 2022 tour dates featuring I AM MORBID with support from BELPHEGOR and HATE:

March 24 – Berlin, DE @ ORWO Haus
March 25 – Roskilde, DK @ Gimle
March 26 – Aalborg, DK @ Streetfood
March 27 – Bochum, DE @ Matrix
March 29 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum
March 30 – Poznan, PL @ Klub U Bazyla
March 31 – Gdansk, PL @ B90
April 01 – Katowice, PL @ P23
April 02 – Ostrava, CZ @ Barrack Club
April 03 – Bratislava, SK @ MCC Majestic
April 04 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
April 06 – Hengelo, NL @ Metropool
April 07 – London, UK @ Underworld
April 08 – Cardiff, UK @ Fuel
April 09 – Manchester, UK @ Rebellion
April 10 – Rotterdam, NL @ Baroeg
April 12 – Nantes, FR @ Le Warehouse
April 13 – Paris, FR @ L’Empreinte
April 14 – Metz, FR @ Le Geulard
April 15 – Aaburg, CH @ Musigburg
April 16 – Munich, DE @ Dark Easter Metal Meeting
April 17: Leipzig, DE @ Hellraiser
April 18 – Kassel, DE @ Goldgrube
April 19 – Weiheim, DE @ Cafe Central
April 20 – Milan, IT @ Slaughterclub
April 21 – Rome, IT @ Orion
April 22 – Venice, IT @ Revolver

In a May 2019 interview with Jorge Botas of the “Metal Global” radio show, which airs on the Portuguese public TV and radio broadcaster RTP, Vincent said that he had every right to perform MORBID ANGEL’s classic songs with I AM MORBID.

“Times come and life works the way that it does,” Vincent said. “And there are times when… It’s like a marriage — sometimes they don’t always work forever. But that doesn’t mean that the children that we’ve had together, that I don’t still love my children. Although Trey [Azagthoth, MORBID ANGEL guitarist and sole remaining original member] and I have some irreconcilable differences, that doesn’t in any way preclude me from still having the love and the passion for all of my children.”

Asked what he has to say to people who insist that he should not play MORBID ANGEL’s early material without any other members of the group’s classic lineup, David said: “There’s examples of this very situation… I mean, when Ozzy [Osbourne] left BLACK SABBATH, that didn’t stop him from playing ‘Paranoid’ every night, even though he didn’t write the song. All of the songs that I’m singing I wrote. So I don’t really understand that. But different people become attached to different things. And they have their opinion and I have mine. And I don’t really consider this kind of negativity. I don’t have it in my life.”

Vincent also spoke about the mostly negative fan reaction to MORBID ANGEL’s controversial 2011 album, “Illud Divinum Insanus”, which marked the group’s first CD to feature David since “Domination”.

“Listen, I’ll be the first person to admit and agree with you that there is some very weird stuff on ‘Illud’,” he said. “But when you are in a band scenario and there’s things that are included, then you make the best of them, and that’s what I attempted to do. Now, I think there’s some fantastic material on that record, but some of the more… well, I guess, ‘techno’ stuff, that seems to be what some people were most annoyed about. And yeah, it’s weird. I agree it’s weird. But when a song is presented to me, it’s my job to do the best I can with it, and that’s what I did.

“I think there’s a lot of good stuff on that record, and then, yes, there is some weird stuff on that record, but, well, it is what it is. And on we march,” he continued.

“Everybody has the things that they like and don’t like, and I’m the same, and you’re the same, and everyone’s the same when it comes to preferences. We like who we like. Is everything gonna have the same reaction as the last thing? No. Of course not. But, there you go.”

In 2019, Vincent released “Something Wicked Marches In”, the debut album from his supergroup VLTIMAS, also featuring guitarist Rune Eriksen (formerly of MAYHEM) and CRYPTOPSY drummer Flo Mounier. Two years earlier, Vincent issued his debut country single, “Drinkin’ With The Devil”.

Vincent left MORBID ANGEL in 2015. He has since been replaced by a returning Steve Tucker, who previously handled bass and vocals on MORBID ANGEL’s “Formulas Fatal To The Flesh”, “Gateways To Annihilation” and “Heretic” LPs.

German thrash metal veterans DESTRUCTION will celebrate their 40th anniversary by releasing a new studio album, “Diabolical”, on April 8 via Napalm Records. The official music video for the LP’s latest single, “No Faith In Humanity”, can be seen below.

DESTRUCTION singer/bassist Schmier states about the new video: “This back-to-the-roots dystopic crusher drops an in-your-face message: only solidarity is the key for the survival of our kind. The sonic performance delivers extreme riffs, pounding drums and a shredding solo part that shows that DESTRUCTION, more than ever, stands for brutal guitars, vociferous vocals, quick as lightning drums and acoustical mayhem! We hope you enjoy it.”

As one of the most legendary thrash metal bands in existence, DESTRUCTION graces the wall of fame alongside fellow German acts KREATOR, SODOM and TANKARD. On their 15th studio record, DESTRUCTION brings out heavy artillery full of honest and uncompromising thrash metal, catapulting you straight into the seventh heaven of metallic bliss and causing a massacre of razor-sharp sound no fan of the genre should miss.

After the charging start of opener “Under The Spell”, DESTRUCTION shows no mercy on the “Diabolical” title track, with fiery drums, bloodthirsty riffs and hellish vocals that sink deep down into your bones. “No Faith In Humanity” relentlessly rages on with non-stop headbanging action, while DESTRUCTION continues to smash eardrums on “Hope Dies Last” — providing unbeatable brutality with unstoppable speed, destructive verses and screeching voices. “Tormented Soul”, on the other hand, is loaded with proper heavy metal and explosive drums. The grand finale of the 47-minute parade of devastation is provided by cover track “City Baby Attacked By Rats”, originally by GBH, guaranteeing whiplash by combining rough hardcore punk with brute thrash metal.

DESTRUCTION guitarist Martin Furia states about the new record: “‘Diabolical’ is an album of extremes. Everything is more brutal and more technical but at the same time more melodic and to the point. It’s a pure and devastating DESTRUCTION album with no gimmicks, full of power and adrenaline. I’m excited for what the future is bringing and can’t wait to play the new songs live.”

“Diabolical” will be available in various formats in different territories, including a digital album and CD (bundled with a t-shirt and an exclusive “Mad Butcher” bust), 1LP gatefold editions in black, crystal clear and marbled yellow/red.

Last August, DESTRUCTION officially parted ways with founding guitarist Michael “Mike” Sifringer and replaced him with Furia. The Argentinian-born, Belgian-based Furia is best known for his work as sound engineer and producer for such bands as NERVOSA and EVIL INVADERS.

Sifringer was the only member of DESTRUCTION to have remained constant throughout the band’s career. Schmier appeared on DESTRUCTION’s first three albums before exiting the band and being replaced by POLTERGEIST vocalist André Grieder. André’s sole recorded appearance with DESTRUCTION was on the “Cracked Brain” album, which came out in 1990. Schmier rejoined DESTRUCTION in 1999.

DESTRUCTION’s last studio album, “Born To Perish”, was released in August 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was DESTRUCTION’s first to feature Randy Black on drums and second guitarist Damir Eskić.

Damir is a Swiss guitar player of Bosnian decent who works as a guitar teacher, himself being a former pupil of Tommy Vetterli (CORONER). He also plays in a heavy metal band called GOMORRA and previously contributed three solos to DESTRUCTION’s 2016 album “Under Attack”.

DESTRUCTION 2022 is:

Schmier – Bass, Vocals
Martin Furia – Guitars
Randy Black – Drums
Damir Eskić – Guitars

Photo credit: Gyula Havancsák

METALLICA, one of the most iconic names in rock music, today announced it will perform only two summer stadium shows in 2022: Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, New York on August 11, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 14. Both shows will feature special guests GRETA VAN FLEET and ICE NINE KILLS.

METALLICA presale tickets will be available to Legacy Fan Club members at 9 a.m. ET and General Fan Club members at 11 a.m. ET on Monday, February 28. All presales will end Thursday, March 3 at 10 p.m. ET. Tickets for METALLICA in Buffalo and Pittsburgh go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 4 at 10 a.m. ET at ticketmaster.com.

METALLICA previously played at Highmark Stadium on July 25, 1992, and Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium on July 26, 1992.

Formed in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, METALLICA has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, having sold nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 15 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on all seven continents. The band’s several multi-platinum albums include “Kill ‘Em All”, “Ride The Lightning”, “Master Of Puppets”, “… And Justice For All”, “Metallica” (commonly referred to as The Black Album), “Load”, “Reload”, “St. Anger”, “Death Magnetic” and “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct”, released in November 2016 and charting at No. 1 in 32 countries.

METALLICA’s awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden’s Polar Music Prize.