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THE LUNAR EFFECT - New Album Fortune’s Always Hiding out in October 2025 via Svart Records - Single / Video Clip Premiere
 THE LUNAR EFFECT were formed in London in 2017 by brothers Jon and Dan Jefford and later completed by vocalist Josh Neuwford, bassist Brett Halsey, and eventually second guitarist Mark Fuller. Since their arrival on the scene, they’ve carved out a reputation for crafting music that feels both familiar and original - a modern echo of grunge-soaked ’70s rock, fuzzed-out blues, and melancholic British soul.
Following the underground success of 2019’s "Calm Before the Calm", the band signed with Svart Records and released the critically praised sophomore album Sounds of Green & Blue in 2024. After touring the album across the UK and Europe, they set their sights on album three, their most ambitious work to date. "Fortune’s Always Hiding" lands in October 2025; a brooding journey through loss, memory, and the weight of time. It marks a new era for the band - deeper, stranger, and more soul-baring than ever.
The first taste from the upcoming album, "Feed the Hand", has been premiered here with a video clip: https://youtu.be/MdZGUEpFsFw
The band comments on the new single: "'Feed the Hand' sets the tone for what’s to come, uncomfortable, deliberate, and heavy with implication. It reaches back with one hand, grabbing a handful of early 90's alternative nostalgia to bring a high energy groove. With the other, it drags the listener through an unravelling; guidance twisted into obedience, time eroding memory from a feeling to a realisation. There’s weight here, but it’s not theatrical. It’s cathartic and satisfyingly powerful. A quiet reckoning fed by the band's influences, serving up a whole new dish to the table."
They don’t imitate the past, they channel its spirit through a warped, modern lens. From thunderous grooves and fuzz-soaked guitar riffs to intimate, fractured vocals, THE LUNAR EFFECT channel the unease of the modern world with a sound that refuses to sit still.
2026 promises more touring, more evolution, and no interest in standing still. For a band that’s never fit neatly into any box, THE LUNAR EFFECT continue building their own universe — one hypnotic, heavy track at a time.
"Fortune’s Always Hiding" is available on Svart exclusive Cream/Red/Orange marble vinyl, limited Transparent Green vinyl, Black vinyl, CD, and digital platforms on October 24th, 2025.
https://www.svartrecords.com +++ https://thelunareffect.bandcamp.com
SPECIES - Sophomore Album "Changelings" via 20 Buck Spin - Music Video Premiere
 20 Buck Spin proudly announces the second full-length of Polish power trio SPECIES, entitled "Changelings", set for release on September 19th 2025 on all formats.
Following the debut "To Find Deliverance" and a step up in every regard, "Changelings" is astonishing in its accomplished precision and how much it manages to achieve within the scope of individual tracks and as a cohesive whole. The album features an overload of angular guitar warfare, traditional Euro-thrash aggression with a modern resonance, rhythmic percussive seizures, and intricate basslines that make their intention deeply felt, not just following the guitar but dialoguing with it in a way that offers a second melodic brain to the album. In combination these elements thread seamlessly to give "Changelings" its colorful and uncanny vision, as if John Carpenter had co-produced "Rust In Peace" behind the iron curtain. It’s bristling with sci-fi paranoia, alien terror and a hint of Cold War menace. The early convergence of Thrash Metal with Death Metal is also unmistakably present in the shape-shifting sound of SPECIES.
While there’s more than enough primitive and traditional Thrash bands to go around, SPECIES embraces the genre’s lesser-travelled road of forward-thinking virtuosity and inventive experimentation, showing there’s still plenty of fertile ground to seed new musical territory. Nowhere is it more apparent than on 10-minute album closer "Biological Masterpiece", where SPECIES displays all its weapons; hyperspeed assaults, dystopian lulls and instrumental mastery, in a climatic saga beyond space and time. "Changelings" is that rare album nowadays that still has the ability to surprise in the most triumphant and euphoric way possible.
A music video for the first single "The Essence" is available here: https://youtu.be/djS0vmtLcRM
Cover artwork by Aleksandra Pawłowska.
Tracklist:
1. Inspirit Creation
2. The Essence
3. Waves of Time
4. Voyager
5. Born of Stitch and Flesh
6. Terror Unknown
7. Biological Masterpiece
https://www.20buckspin.com +++ https://www.facebook.com/MetalSpecies
BURNING SUN - New Album "Retribution" out soon via Metalized Records / Second Single available
 On August 22nd 2025, BURNING SUN will finally unleash their second full-length album via Metalizer Records! "Retribution" a full-story concept album set in BURNING SUN's dark fantasy world that tells a tale about fight, struggle, revenge and finally, salvation. For fans of Helloween, Grave Digger & 90s power metal in general.
The second single, "Fight In The Night", has been premiered here with a visualizer clip: https://youtu.be/9PtmRSgYbx8
Following their successful debut album spawning a cassette, a CD release via Stormspell Records and a CD re-release via Silverstream Records, Hungary's BURNING SUN is ready to unleash their second record, "Retribution"! It is a dark and cohesive fantasy power metal concept album that tells a story about fight, struggle, revenge and finally, salvation.
Although the main influences of "Retribution" are rooted in the German scene of the 1990s such as HELLOWEEN or GRAVE DIGGER, BURNING SUN delivers a power metal album with a unique touch. With a wide range of guitar harmonies, massive choruses, soaring vocals and tasteful guitar solos, "Retribution" is not just another memorable power metal release, but a musical journey that creates an immersive experience. Though the songwriting is polished, the mix has a sharp and raw edge that emphasizes the concept of the record.
Lyrically, the songs of the album are directly connected telling the story of Emaly, a young paladin, who remains the sole survivor of a clash between her group and the death cult of a necromancer. After her mentor and his companions fell, she swears to avenge their death then sets out find the necromancer and destroy his cult once and for all.
The album is based on Zoltán Papi’s (bass) story and lyrics while the music was composed by Pancho Ireland (vocals, guitars) also known from his own band, Merciless Law. "Retribution" offers some minor sound effects & acted narration that help to tell the story but don’t break the flow of a strong and powerful record.
Tracklist:
1. By the Light
2. Fight in the Night
3. Aftermath
4. Cold Winds
5. Heart of Darkness
6. Open Your Eyes
7. Shadows Undone
8. Redemption
https://www.metalizer-records.de +++ https://www.facebook.com/burningsunpower
WHITE MANTIS - Second Album "Arrows At The Sun" via High Roller Records - New Track Premiere
 Bavarian thrash metallers WHITE MANTIS have revealed another song from their upcoming sophomore full-length "Arrows At The Sun", set for release on August 22nd 2025 through High Roller Records.
A lyric video for the track "Roboticator" is available here: https://youtu.be/uly-SWim3Pk
Six years after "Sacrifice Your Future", the band’s second album continues on the path they have followed ever since drummer Thomas Taube and bass player Jan Strobl joined in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Explains the latter: “Based on a traditional thrash metal foundation, the new songs also display some weird, chaotic and progressive influences. Given the members’ different musical backgrounds, we are always open to diverse songwriting.”
As a consequence, WHITE MANTIS have refined their sophisticated style of lyric writing even further. The album deals with sociopolitical issues, technocriticism and scepticism towards progress but also spirituality and death as a mystery of life. It’s easy to hear influences from Voivod or early Megadeth on "Arrows at the Sun", yet for the most part, WHITE MANTIS are very much themselves, with songs such as "Reality Exists" or the title track encapsulating their own brand of thrash: crushing melodies, frantic rhythms and multiple turns, all without sacrificing their catchiness.
Cover art by Velio Josto.
Tracklist:
01. Nekrotornado
02. Arrows at the Sun
03. Pass the Torch
04. Divide and Kill
05. Atavistic Power
06. Over Your Pale Bones
07. Toxic Sniper
08. Roboticator
09. Reality Exists
10. Altar of Technology
https://www.hrrecords.de/WHITE-MANTIS +++ https://www.facebook.com/white.mantis
NEW WORLD DEPRESSION - New Lyric Video revealed - Seventh Album "Abysmal Void" coming in September 2025 via Testimony Records
 German death metallers NEW WORLD DEPRESSION have unleashed the second single from their new album "Abysmal Void", coming on September 19th 2025 via Testimony Records.
Check out the lyric video for "Carnage" here: https://youtu.be/xw_K3DSE0pI
Guitarist Julian Schulz comments: "We have picked 'Carnage' for the lyric video, because this song is particularly groovy, relentless, and crushing. This track paints a grim picture of a world consumed by chaos and brutality. With pounding riffs and furious vocals, it soon becomes clear that nothing will survive!"
NEW WORLD DEPRESSION raise the furious spirits of earth and sea on their seventh full-length "Abysmal Void". The album's ten songs each represent a chapter filled with one or more of humanity's failures such as delusion, greed, destruction, and war.
The German death metal veterans deliver an honest reckoning with the current state of the world – brutal, unfiltered, and unforgiving. "Abysmal Void" continues the dark thematic journey that began in 2020 with "Descent" and found its continuation throughout the band's latest album "Interment of Sins" (2023). Having landed in a mire of guilt and ruin of its own making, humanity now stares into the Abysmal Void, where nothing remains but darkness and decay.
Musically, NEW WORLD DEPRESSION stay on track and true to their old school death metal roots, yet "Abysmal Void" received a healthy dose of more groove, more atmosphere, and more depth. Sound-smith Jörg Uken has honed the album to perfection at his famous Soundlodge Studio in East Frisia, which enjoys an excellent reputation in death metal circles and beyond.
NEW WORLD DEPRESSION take humanity to the edge of the abyss with all the musical expertise gained from many years of experience both live and in studio. Just remember, if you listen hard to the brutal death metal inferno of "Abysmal Void", the abyss might also become aware of you!
Cover artwork by Juan Castellano.
Tracklist:
01. The Vault
02. Book of Trophies
03. Spoils of War
04. Blind Eyes
05. Marching on Our Graves
06. Burning Down
07. Grenadier
08. Expect No Mercy
09. Carnage
10. Moonbound Hunger
Live:
19.09.2025 - Saarbrücken (DE) Garage + Benediction
20.09.2025 - Villingen (DE) Klosterhof, Black Forest Fest VIII
http://lnk.spkr.media/newworlddepression-abysmal +++ https://www.facebook.com/newworlddepression
DRAGONSCLAW - New Lyric Video revealed - New Album "Moving Target" coming via High Roller Records
 DRAGONSCLAW have revealed the second single from their new album "Moving Target", coming on August 22nd 2025 via High Roller Records.
A lyric video for the track "Cry Wolf" is available here: https://youtu.be/9iBFwlGL2ZE
Giles Lavery is best known as the vocalist of Warlord, Alcatrazz and Jack Starr. On top of that, he is also a highly prolific band manager, record producer and label co-owner. DRAGONSCLAW is the name one of the first bands he formed in 2010, while still residing in Sydney, Australia. Their debut album "Prophecy" was quickly recorded in 2011, followed by "Judgement Day" (2013). And now, a record breaking twelve years later, it’s time for the follow-up.
Apart from Giles Lavery on vocals, "Moving Target" features Australian citizens Ben Thomas (guitars) and Aaron Thomas (bass) as well Warlord members Mark Zonder (drums) and Jimmy Waldo (keyboards).
"For me the direction on 'Moving Target' was intended to be if Judas Priest had made an album somewhere in 1985 between 'Defenders Of The Faith' and 'Turbo'," describes the vocalist the sound of the new DRAGONSCLAW album, "with some of the second Fifth Angel album in there too."
Keyboards are prominently featured on "Moving Target", which was actually the original plan of the band: "I think for this album the keyboards are very important, they create the needed atmosphere and drama. I would say that we used them in a similar way that Virgin Steele did on 'Age Of Consent', namely to build atmosphere. I really like that haunting effect keyboards can have when used right. Like Tony Banks from Genesis does, or Tony Carey on his Planet P Project albums ... Jimmy Waldo is one of those guys too."
With the band on fire and Giles Lavery coming across as a blend of Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate and Ronnie James Dio, "Moving Target" has every chance to become a modern-day heavy metal classic.
Artwork by All Things Rotten.
Tracklist:
1. The Road Beneath Your Wheels
2. Survival
3. Cry Wolf
4. Don't Break the Silence again
5. Back on the Streets
6. Ghost Soldiers
7. Shadowfire
8. (Tell me) All Your Lies
9. Raise Your Fist
https://www.hrrecords.de/DRAGONSCLAW +++ https://www.facebook.com/DragonsclawOfficial
AZURE EMOTE - New Video Single - New Album "Cryptic Aura" out soon via Testimony Records
 US Avantgarde Death Metallers AZURE EMOTE have revealed the final single from their upcoming new album "Cryptic Aura", set for release on July 25th 2025 via Testimony Records on CD, LP and in digital formats.
Check out the video clip for "Bleed With The Moon" here: https://youtu.be/6xa0MLONYqw
Band mastermind and vocalist Mike Hrubovcak states: "Overall, 'Bleed with the Moon’ is conceptually very simple and straightforward, but also one of the more personal songs on the album. Alcohol is a demon and I've named him Al-Kuhl. This analogy is based on my personal experiences and the lyrics are about getting possessed by this demon around a bonfire in the woods at night. I'm not trying to glorify excessive drinking here. I rather artistically convey the passion, euphoria, and physical and mental dangers of convening with such 'spirits' in the heat of the moment. I have a love/hate relationship with Al-Kuhl and I have learned that eventually it ends up taking much more than it gives. This song was written during such a night however, and even the album cover is a photo of a homemade skeleton that I made and burned in the woods along with a bottle and a bonfire."
AZURE EMOTE was created in 2003 by Mike Hrubovcak, with the help of long-time friend and guitarist Ryan Moll. It was formed as an experimental musical outlet to express personal negativity without the genre limitations often present within Extreme Metal. AZURE EMOTE incorporates a wide variety of instruments and musical styles to give each song its own unique sound, which includes varying elements of Experimental, Industrial, Electronic, Doom, Progressive and Blackened Death Metal.
The new album "Cryptic Aura" is a much darker and heavier offering than the previous albums. It’s misanthropic and disturbing atmospheres can be felt weaving it’s way throughout a skeleton of Progressive Death Metal, all the while engulfed by a firey smoke of dark keyboard effects and foreboding Violins. The cover photo (also created by Hrubovcak) is a returning meditation concept from the previous album, symbolizing the trauma and seismic change that has occurred throughout the last 5 years: Burning the effigy of the past, while embracing the cryptic next chapter.
"Cryptic Aura" was recorded by Ron Vento (Aurora Borealis) at Nightsky Studios, Maryland/USA, mixed by Noah Buchanan (Nunslaughter) at Mercinary Studios, Ohio/USA and mastered by Andy La Rocque (King Diamond) at Sonic Train Studios, Varberg/Sweden.
Tracklist:
01. Into Abysmal Oblivion
02. Insomnia Nervosa
03. Aeons Adrift
04. Bleed With The Moon
05. Defiance Infernus
06. Provoking The Obscene
07. Disease Of The Soul
08. Feast Of Leeches
09. Return To The Unknown
10. Writhing Lunacy
Line-up:
Mike Hrubovcak - Vocals & Keyboards (ex Monstrosity)
Ryan Moll - Guitars (Total Fucking Destruction)
Mike Heller - Drums (Malignancy, Raven, ex Fear Factory)
Kelly Conlon - Bass (ex Death, ex Monstrosity)
Pete Johansen - Violins (ex Sirenia)
Anna Murphy - Clean Vocals (ex Eluveitie)
Featuring guest solos by James Murphy, Andy La Rocque and Bob Davodian.
http://lnk.spkr.media/azureemote-crypticaura +++https://www.facebook.com/azureemote
LORD VIGO - New Album "Walk The Shadows" out now via High Roller Records - Full Album Stream
 The new and sixth overall full-length of German epic masters LORD VIGO, "Walk The Shadows", is out now via High Roller Records.
You can listen to the entire album here: https://youtu.be/ksD6oGK4yck
Following the highly acclaimed "Danse De Noir" (2020) and "We Shall Overcome" (2022), which formed part one and part two of a trilogy, the new album is not connected to this concept. Drummer, vocalist and keyboard player Vinz Clortho explains: "'Walk The Shadows' stands on its own and is not part of the trilogy. There is no coherent concept this time around, not a specific plot. These are all individual songs. It was quite a change for us after two very elaborate concept albums, and it was fun."
Songs like "Through A Glass Darkly", "Servant Of The Dark" or "The Triumph Of The Killing Heart" evoke some sort of Gothic Horror feel. If you delve into "Walk The Shadows", you will find a pretty eclectic mix of epic metal, gothic rock and post-punk, with traces of Sisters Of Mercy, Fields Of The Nephilim and even The Cure.
"Walk The Shadows" was recorded at Atomic Age Studio, produced / mixed by Vinz Clortho & Lord Vigo and mastered by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony. The front cover artwork was created by Markus Vesper, the back cover by Mirkow Gastow.
Get ready for the most varied LORD VIGO album so far!
Order options: https://www.hrrecords.de/LORD-VIGO +++ https://lordvigo.bandcamp.com/album/walk-the-shadows
Tracklist:
1. A Morbid Realm
2. Walk The Shadows
3. Through A Glass Darkly
4. We Shall Not
5. Killing Hearts And Endless Nights
6. Servant Of The Dark
7. The Triumph Of The Killing Heart
8. El Hakim
https://www.facebook.com/hrrecords +++ https://www.facebook.com/LordVigo666
ETERNAL DARKNESS - Debut & Final Album in July 2025 via Pulverised Records - Lyric Video Premiere
 A debut album 35 years in the making…
ETERNAL DARKNESS, one of Sweden’s oldest Death/Doom acts, will finally release their debut full-length on July 18th 2025 through Pulverised Records on CD, LP and digitally. Simply titled as "Eternal Darkness" it will also close the band’s chapter at the same time.
"Eternal Darkness" features eight tracks of unwavering Death Metal with the hefty strike of Doom maceration. It was recorded, mixed & mastered by Peter Bjärgö (Tyrant, Krypt Of Kerberos, etc) at the band’s former K-13 rehearsal room. The cover artwork was created by Skiftinge Darkness.
A lyric video for the album's opening track "The Beyond" has been premiered here: https://youtu.be/vo1avPdiC_M
In Death! Eternal Darkness (1990-2025)
Tracklist:
1. The Beyond
2. Pungent Awakening
3. Funeral
4. Grief
5. Into Crematory
6. When Life Ends
7. Death Above All
8. Til Death
https://www.pulverised.net +++ https://www.facebook.com/EternalDarknessSwe
FER DE LANCE - Second Album "Fires On The Mountainside" via Cruz Del Sur Music - Track Premiere
 Cruz Del Sur Music proudly announces the sophomore full-length of Chicago's Epic Heavy Metallers FER DE LANCE, entitled "Fires On The Mountainside", set for release on June 27th 2025 on CD, LP and in digital formats.
The band's name translates to spearhead, thus expect to be pierced by the archaic prowess of these musicians who have proven before to be a most wonderful example of the genre’s most mystical corner. Combining the melodic, folky, and ancient music of a far-gone time with the heavy metal magic of bands like Atlantean Kodex, Rainbow/Dio, Rotting Christ, and others.
Weaving landscapes from notes with such natural ability, fans of epic heavy/power metal with a pronounced doomy flare here and there will be enamored by "Fires on the Mountainside", a heartily warm yet battle-torn record. What you will find really sets this out from other bands in their niche is the ability to seamlessly incorporate elements of black metal, which enhances the atmosphere and greatly broadens the palette of sounds and feelings on display. Adding the most exciting progressions and combining the immersive and fantastical to masterfully fuse music with storytelling, there is still plenty of heavy metal at the core of this record to keep heads banging while they take you on a colossal adventure of tyrannical palaces, cruel temples, grim altars, black-winged ravens, and fiery revolution.
Expect the band to take you on enthralling adventures that harken back to the epic metal greats, especially of the 90s period, while stamping their own personality and vision clearly onto everything they do. In a world where so much music sounds the same, a band like FER DE LANCE takes you to untraversed lands and on conquests bolder than many dare to go. So, the brave amongst you, this is your clarion call!
"Fires On The Mountainside" was recorded, engineered and mixed by Matt Russell and mastered by Arthur Rizk.
The title track has been premiered at this location: https://youtu.be/DkeZw1RwXz8
Tracklist:
1. Fires on the Mountainside
2. Ravens Fly (Dreams of Daidalos)
3. Death Thrives (Where Walls Divide)
4. Fire & Gold
5. The Feast of Echoes
6. Children of Sky and Sea
7. Tempest Stele
https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com +++ https://www.facebook.com/FerdeLanceMetal
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