Metal News

For whatever reason, yesterday Metal Call-Out failed to bring you two important points of news. The first and probably most important would be the release of Dark Tranquility’s album, “We Are the Void”, that I reviewed here.

Secondly, the members of Dragonforce announced yesterday the departure of their singer ZP Theart. In an official statement the band said the following:

"It is with great regret that DragonForce announce a parting of the ways with singer ZP Theart. This is due to insurmountable differences of musical opinion but the rest of the band sincerely wish ZP great success with his future projects.”

Its hard for me, on the outside looking in, to see why a bad as formulaic as Dragonforce would struggle with creative differences. I always imagined rehearsals for them were Herman Li screaming “More epic!!” while crossing swords with the other members who replied “Ho!”. So what could possibly be the "insurmountable differences"? I can only really speculate but I imagine it has to do with one of these three key things; hair, speed, and/or booze. Any how, if you want to audition for the empty spot just follow the directions here to apply.

Just as a quick reminder- the Abscess album, 'Dawn Of Inhumanity' that I reviewed here, was released today. Available through Peaceville records, the album features ex-members of Death and Autopsy as well as artwork from Dennis Dread (responsible for the artwork on the last two Darkthrone records). 'Dawn Of Inhumanity' is the band's sixth studio album since their first demo in 1994. You can pick up a copy of the album here. 

I wish we had a countdown timer here at Metal Call-Out. If we did, it surely would be counting down the seconds to the release of Primordial’s live DVD. Entitled ‘All Empires Fall’, the DVD will feature 2-disks of the band playing live in Dublin, Germany, Norway and Belgium. In addition to the live tracks there will be about sixty minutes of interviews and a documentary.

Vocalist Alan Averill has commented on the raw nature of the DVD saying, “We are proud that 'All Empires Fall' shows us as we are and as a Primordial show always is. Blood and thunder and no quarter given from start to finish." You can see the trailer for the DVD above, available through Metal Blade Records on March 16.

Ok Five Finger Death Punch fans, let’s get one thing straight right now; I am not, have not and probably will never be among your ranks. However, in the spirit of impartial reporting, I feel it is my duty to alert you of their new video clip ‘No One Gets Left Behind.’ The single and video was released today to promote their forthcoming album, ‘War Is The Answer’.   Watch for it on March 8th through Spinefarm Records. You can watch the clip above.

Alright, you can file this bit of news under weird.  It would seem that Burzum’s label, which ‘Belus’ will be released, is donating a portion of the proceeds to benefit victims of the Haitian earthquake.  Seriously?  In the same press release announcing the Haitian funds, Burzum's frontman/only man, Vikernes stated the following: “It was the dark, the Dionysiac, and that is a force no man can control. Instead, I pursue the pure and honorable, which includes racial purity for Norwegians, and helping those who suffer misfortunes in life.”   The album ‘Belus’ will be released worldwide on March 8, including Haiti on Byelobog Records.  I guess if any Haitians wanted to listen to “racially pure” music and help themselves, a simple trip to the local earthquake ravished record store will do the trick.

Apocalyptica, the cello-Metallica cover band turned commercialized pop-rockers, have settled on a title for their upcoming album. ‘The 7th Symphony’ will be the band's seventh studio album set for release this summer. Very original, let's all just hope this record is better than that über-crap ‘Worlds Collide’ that preceded it. The album who's first single ‘I’m Not Jesus’ featured vocals from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and a number one hit with the guy from Three Days Grace. Surly it can't be worse than that?

If the name Anna Murphy sounds familiar it may be because she is one of the vocalists and multi-instrumentalists in the folk super-group Eluveitie. Recently she agreed to make a guest appearance on the upcoming record, ‘Ouroboros’, from the Finnish progressive metal band Status Minor. If you want to get a glimpse into Status Minor’s recording process and stay updated on the goings on with the album, you can visit this blog the band set up for just that. ‘Ouroboros’ is due in September on Lion Music.

Last week the legendary Noregian black/thrash duo Darkthrone launched a mini-site for their upcoming album, ‘Circle The Wagons’. We failed to bring you that news as it happened because, well, we forgot. The ‘Circle The Wagons’ mini-site will contain exclusive audio samples, album info, artwork and more. It’s definitely worth a few of the spare minutes you may or may not be looking to waste today.  The mini-site can be viewed here and ‘Circle The Wagons’ will be released March 8 through Peaceville Records. 

Hirax released a new video today for the title track off their latest album, 2009’s “El Rostro de la Muerte” (The Face Of Death). For those of you not in the know or maybe too young to know this, Hirax was one of many early thrash bands that hit the California scene in the 80’s. They've stayed consistent through the years, consistently good and true to the memory of that great thrash era. I would put Hirax a victor in a toe to toe match-up between any of the ‘’Big 4”s recent material. 

Today Equilibrium, who we reported last month as down a singer and drummer, announced with this video that their search for a singer was over: 

As far as a new drummer the band has stated the following “Fortunately we have quickly found one [drummer]. But as he comes from abroad, there are still some problems which do not allow him to enter the country as originally planned.“  Despite fallbacks, Equilibrium will play Paganfest dates in Bochum, Antwerp and Amsterdam as originally billed.