One of the most refreshing things about Finnish metallers Children of Bodom is that they never cease to provoke their fans by doing exactly what they want to do when they want to do it. They take great pleasure in thwarting expectations at every turn. Ironically, this makes their (many) hardcore fans even more devoted. Holiday at Lake Bodom: 15 Years of Wasted Youth, a CD/DVD compilation that ranges from their debut offering in 1997 straight on through to 2011, contains 20 tracks from virtually every period in their existence. It's sure to piss off almost everyone for what's been excluded, though no one can argue that what's here is essential, with the possible exception of the previously unissued cover version of Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl"…

Emotive and conceptual, Klone have once again broken new sonic ground and built further on their signature expansive sound.

For its 30th anniversary this extremely beautiful box presents LACRIMOSA from all sides! Over three CDs, with a total playing time of three hours and forty minutes, the legendary 25th anniversary concert immerses the listener in LACRIMOSA's incomparable live atmosphere.

Industrial metal reached its creative peak in the late '80s and early '90s thanks to agitators such as Ministry, Godflesh, and White Zombie, but there is still room for quality industrial metal in the 21st century - even if it's a less than groundbreaking album like Cynic Paradise. Peter Tägtgren's Pain, of course, came to the industrial metal party later than the abovementioned bands; Tägtgren founded Pain as a one-man band in 1996, and Pain has remained a side project for the Hypocrisy founder (who is known for producing death metal and black metal). But if Tägtgren is a follower rather than a leader where industrial metal is concerned, that doesn't mean that Pain's work isn't worthwhile - and Cynic Paradise is an engaging disc even though it doesn't pretend to break any new ground for industrial metal…

Five albums and gazillions of singles into Pain's existence, it's still difficult to accept the fact that this industrial music project is actually helmed by extreme metal producer extraordinaire Peter Tägtgren, but Psalms of Extinction (that fifth album) adds another few layers of belief - even if it gets off to an inconspicuous start. With little more than a jagged metallic riff to counter its robotic dullness, first track "Save Your Prayers" pretty much falls flat on its polished chrome face, but next cut "Nailed to the Ground" turns the ship around with a more danceable beat, groovy Rammstein riff, and a surprisingly catchy singalong chorus. Somewhat surprisingly, it's this particularly accessible formula that usually produces the album's best moments when repeated for ensuing tracks like "Clouds of Ecstasy," "Does It Really Matter," "Just Think Again," and "Bottle's Nest"…

The recording of "Cell-0" followed a four-year break between albums that gave the band — Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso, Paavo Lötjönen and Mikko Sirén, all of whom are classically-trained musicians — a fresh perspective and affected the way they approached the new music. The album sees them return to their roots and is the quartet's first instrumental album in 17 years, finding APOCALYPTICA challenging themselves to discover new flavours and colors in their respective instruments.

While Children of Bodom are used to personnel shakeups, the departure of longtime guitarist Roope Latvala before the recording of I Worship Chaos posed a challenge. A member since 2003, he was an integral part of the band's sound. This left vocalist/guitarist Alexi Laiho handling all six-string chores alone for the first time, making this COB's debut as a quartet. It was recorded in a converted warehouse rather than a conventional recording studio, and delivers a more spacious sound. Laiho and bassist Henkka Seppälä tuned half a step lower for each song, resulting in a much darker, heavier attack. Opener "I Hurt" is classic COB with a knotty, technical death metal riff, labyrinthine scalar flights, and piercing melodic interludes…

"Music is everything to me. I’ve been through two divorces and a whole world of shit because of music but still it is the most important thing in the world to me. I’d rather have music than anything else." So speaks 36-year-old Peter Tägtgren, musician, producer and creative brain behind Pain, Sweden's finest industrial metal export. His has been a life immersed in music, in pushing boundaries, and taking ideas to both their logical and illogical extremes. It’s been a career that has involved fronting bands - notably iconic death metal veterans Hypocrisy, and now Pain - or shaping their sounds - as he has done with Celtic Frost, Children of Bodom, Dimmu Borgir and Immortal amongst others. It’s a calling that has made him one of Europe's most respected musicians and producers…

Immortal - War Against All will be released on May 26th 2023 via Nuclear Blast Records. From the very depths of the frozen tundra that is the Norwegian Black Metal world, Demonaz has clawed his way back up the ice-capped peaks of Blashyrkh to claim the throne and bring forth Immortal's 10th studio album War Against All; a rather poetic title considering the years of turmoil and lawsuits before assuming the rights to the Immortal name. Completely composed, performed and recorded by Demonaz with the assistance of session artists, War Against All embarks on a journey which proves that Immortal are still very much…immortal. War Against All is a wintery blast of intense ferocity and melodic, mid-tempo beats with a blackened foundation. It's full of ambition, intensity and raw beauty that only the likes of Immortal can achieve. For returning fans of the band's 90s heyday and newcomers alike, this record won't disappoint.

With Constant to Death, their twelfth studio album, Necronomicon embarks on an explosive tightrope walk between thrash, punk and powermetal. The hard, uncompromising characteristics of the songs have remained. New is the tidy, fat sound and the dominance of the vocals, in which songwriter and frontman Freddy shows himself more vocally powerful than ever.

Alcatrazz are determined to make up for lost time, roaring forwards at warp factor 10 to deliver Take No Prisoners, their sixth studio album and the third in three years. Comprising of ten cracking, charismatic tracks, with each containing the unique fusion of classic American rock with the full grain hard-rocking attitude of British metal, Take No Prisoners sees Alcatrazz energetically soaring and exploring melodic progression with road-warrior riffs. Lead single and video "Don't Get Mad… Get Even" sees the band collaborating with the legendary Girlschool in a full-force, head-banging fist-pumper, while "Little Viper" rides a scything guitar into a thunderous, Dio-like assault.

Swedish mastermind Peter Tägtgren has long been hailed as one of the most talented Metal musicians and producers around, working together with a slew of bands, all the way from Sabaton to Children Of Bodom, all whilst playing in numerous other projects such as Hypocrisy and Lindemann. Despite this daunting schedule, and a full two decades after its inception, Peter's hobby project Pain, is back in 2016 with Coming Home, unleashing the eighth full-length album five years after its predecessor You Only Live Twice.
When it comes to guest musicians, Coming Home rolls out a red carpet: on drums, Peter's 17-year-old son Sebastian Tägtgren delivers an impressive guest appearance and for the song "Call Me", Sabaton's Joakim Brodén joins the team for some typically raw warrior vocals…

Following the death of Avenged Sevenfold drummer James “The Reverend” Sullivan in 2009, the band marched on, enlisting the help of Sullivan’s drumming hero, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy, for their fifth studio album Nightmare. Luckily, the sound of the band remains unchanged, and as one of the best drummers in the business, Portnoy picks up the reigns and rides the Deathbat's double kick in complete synchronicity with Gates, Christ, and Vengeance. Like their previous outings, the group incorporates a New Wave of British Heavy Metal influence throughout Nightmare while paying tribute to ‘80s hair metal with guitar god appeal; but playing retroactive music doesn’t seem to concern them, as long as they play it more skillfully than their forefathers…

Robb Weir is never a man to take what he has for granted. Having led TYGERS OF PAN TANG since their first album through a number of line-up changes, he recognises that the current Tygers are probably the strongest since they were at the forefront of the NWOBHM. The original band, who made four albums for MCA Records, survived the unexpected departure of Jess Cox to run Neat Records and later John Sykes, who was bound for Thin Lizzy and a multi-million seller with Whitesnake. What they didn’t survive was their greatest commercial success with the album “The Cage”. Now the band are all set for the release of their new album, “Bloodlines”.