HOLY GRAIL RELEASE LYRIC VIDEO FOR NEW ALBUM'S TITLE TRACK

Los Angeles-based heavy metallers HOLY GRAIL have teamed with NOISECREEP to premiere the lyric video for the title track of their upcoming album, "Ride The Void." You can view the video directly on their site HERE or by watching the video below. The album, which will be released on Jan. 22 through PROSTHETIC RECORDS in U.S., Jan. 16 via Universal in Japan, and via Nuclear Blast on Jan. 18 in Europe and Jan. 21 in the UK, is currently available for pre-order through www.RideTheVoid.com. Pre-order bundles include "Ride The Void" on CD or LP along with either a t-shirt, long-sleeve, or pullover hoodie featuring the album’s artwork (featured above).




"Ride The Void," produced by Grammy award winner Matt Hyde (Slayer, Children of Bodom), was hailed by Decibel magazine, who claimed "You'd have to go back 20 years to find a metal record that achieves this level of instant infectiousness," while receiving a 9/10 from Outburn magazine and Blistering.com (who praised its "jaw-to-the-floor, wrist-spraining moments"). The band will kick off an extensive tour cycle on the upcoming Metal Alliance tour, which will see them play alongside Anthrax, Exodus, High on Fire, and Municipal Waste. Dates & tickets can be found on www.MetalAllianceTour.com.

HEATHEN SIGNS WITH NUCLEAR BLAST

The ink has finally dried and Nuclear Blast Records is proud to announce the worldwide signing of the Bay Area’s indomitable thrash metal band HEATHEN!

Founding member & guitarist Lee Altus comments on the new alliance: 

“I'm really happy and couldn't think of a better label for HEATHEN. I've known people at Nuclear Blast, some of whom have been fans of the band going as far back as the early demo days, and have been friends with them for many years. It's amazing for me to think that throughout this band’s career, every album we recorded has been released on a different label. I can finally say that we have found home. Nuclear Blast has become a mecca for Bay Area thrash bands and we are happy to join our friends and partners in crime Exodus, Death Angel, Testament and Forbidden. Now it's time to get to work on the new album!”

Lead singer David White adds: “I want to thank all the fans for their amazing support; we do not take any of this lightly! Now we move forward with a true Metal record company that really understands what we're all about, 2012 and beyond!!!”

Jaap Wagemaker of the A&R Department at Nuclear Blast Germany shares the following:

“It is no secret that the staff of Nuclear Blast has a soft spot for thrash metal. We all grew up here with classics such as Breaking The Silence and Victims Of Deception, and who doesn’t remember that legendary tour from 1991 with SEPULTURA, SACRED REICH and HEATHEN destroying the stages night after night! We are totally stoked to announce that these legendary Bay Area Thrashers have inked a deal with us and are now labelmates with EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL,TESTAMENT, FORBIDDEN, ANTHRAX, SEPULTURA, OVERKILL, KREATOR, DESTRUCTION and TANKARD!!! Since HEATHEN’s reunion for Thrash of the Titans, we had been following the band very closely over the last couple of years with first-hand information from Lee Altus - who is also swinging the axe in EXODUS - and what we heard from him made us very curious! After seeing HEATHEN play an amazing show at Rock Hard and their release of another classic album with The Evolution of Chaos, it was very clear to us that the band needed to become part of the Nuclear family as well. Seeing the band play several times at last year’s Thrashfest Classics, we were finally able to make this work!! With the signing of HEATHEN, another thrash dream has came true!! Welcome home guys!!!”

Forged in the fertile breeding ground of the Bay Area’s thrash scene in 1984 and debuting onto the worldwide tape-trading scene in 1986 with their six-song “Pray For Death” demo, HEATHEN went on to create the now classic Breaking The Silence in 1987 (whose opening track “Death By Hanging” quickly became a live staple) and 1991’s Victims Of Deception, which included the nine-and-a-half minute opus “Heathen’s Song.” 

Reunited in 2001 for San Francisco’s Thrash of the Titans benefit for Testament’s Chuck Billy and Death’s Chuck Schuldiner, HEATHEN reemerged in full force after a 19-year absence with stellar reviews for 2010’s The Evolution Of Chaos and will begin recording their fourth studio album later this year.

HEATHEN has performed their brand of guitar-driven, fuel-injected thrash metal in Europe at numerous summer festivals, on the Thrash Fest Classics tour with co-headliners Exodus & Sepultura, and the Killfest tour with Overkill, in North America on last year’s spring tour with Destruction, and most recently at the “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance” memorial in Oakland in February. Their live sets continually test the endurance of headbanging audiences everywhere.

Check out the video for “Dying Season” from The Evolution Of Chaos on YouTube.

HEATHEN 2012 is David White on vocals; Lee Altus on guitar; Kragen Lum on guitar; Jason Viebrooks on bass; and Darren Minter on drums.

ORIGIN: U.S. Headlining Tour Announced!

Genre defining technical death metal giants, ORIGIN, will tour the United States this April/May on an epic headlining run that will bring together some of today’s best brutal bands. Groups like spastic-vegetarian-gore-grinders CATTLE DECAPITATION, psychedelically influenced tech-deathsters DECREPIT BIRTH, groove laden death-gore mongers ABORTED, and underground buzz band sensations RINGS OF SATURN and BATTLECROSS. Commented gentlemen drummer/wordsmith John Longstreth of ORIGIN:

"Hey ladies n' germs, it's Longstreth of ORIGIN here with a little dirt on what we currently have on the table. We're calling it OCCUPATION DOMINATION 2012. Simply put, it’s the most brutal death metal tour package of the spring and it’s starting up in the end of April and running all the way through till the end of May. This tour is for fans of the extreme, blast beat driven, face melting, skull crushing, type of DEATH METAL that parents and young children are still afraid of. In addition to ORIGIN, we have CATTLE DECAPITATION, ABORTED, DECREPIT BIRTH, and new comers RINGS OF SATURN and BATTLECROSS coming through your town to lay waste to your local music venues. It would be appropriate to consider these shows more endurance tests than metal concerts. Come out and treat yourself to death metal boot camp this spring to ensure yourself that you will be in top shape for the next ‘progressive’ core band or washed up ‘old school death metal’ fest tour that will be sure to roll through the states soon after. Cheers and see you there!"

OCCUPATION DOMINATION 2012

ORIGIN, CATTLE DECAPITION, DECREPIT BIRTH, ABORTED, RINGS OF SATURN, BATTLECROSS

April 20 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
April 21 Wilmington, DE @ Mojo 13
April 22 Trenton, NJ @ BackStage at Champs
April 23 Keene, NH @ Railroad Tavern
April 24 Brooklyn, NY @ Europa
April 26 Peoria, IL @ Brass Rail
April 27 Joliet, IL @ Mojoe's
April 28 Portage, IN @ Camelot Arena
April 29 St Louis, MO @ Fubar
May 2 Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater
May 4 San Diego, CA @ Ruby Room
May 5 Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
May 6 Hollywood, CA @ The Whisky A Go-Go
May 7 Fullerton, CA @ Slidebar
May 8 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
May 9 Stockton, CA @ Plea For Peace
May 10 Sparks, NV @ The Alley
May 11 Portland, OR @ Branx
May 12 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
May 13 Boise, ID @ The Venue
May 14 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
May 15 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
May 18 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater

Entity was released on June 7, 2011, and was recorded at Chapman Recording Studios in Lenexa, Kansas with longtime engineer and friend Robert Rebeck. Artwork was handled this time around by Colin Marks (NEVERMORE, KATAKLYSM, EXODUS).

One of the most intense and technical forces of the contemporary death metal world, ORIGIN has returned to stake its claim as the leader of metal's new wave of extremity with its fifth studio effort, Entity. As expected, the death the band continues to churn out frantic, hell-paced grids of metal torment, but now further complements the arrangements with a newfound propensity for churning grooves and the hook-laden approach that first reared its ugly, but accessible head on the band's 2007 offering, Antithesis. As stated multiple times in the past, ORIGIN proves once again that they stand head and shoulders above their peers.

"BONDED BY BALOFF" ON-TRACK TO BE A SOLD-OUT EVENT

For those who were either born too late or living in the wrong part of the world while music which has now become legendary was exploding from the Bay Area’s thrash metal scene in the early-to-mid 1980s, here’s your second chance to re-live history.

With a very special All Ages show marking the 10-year anniversary of former EXODUS singer Paul “Pavel” Baloff’s passing, “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance” will take place at the Oakland Metro Operahouse on Saturday, February 4^th, 2012 and features the evening’s headliners EXODUS plus POSSESSED, FORBIDDEN, HEATHEN, and MAD AT SAM on the Main Stage. Playing the Second Stage are ANGERHEAD, MUDFACE, THE VENTING MACHINE, HELLFIRE, and HYSTERIA.

The evening is well on its way to being a SOLD-OUT event and may very well turn into the second installment of the recent Bazillion Points book Murder in the Front Row (which can be purchased here), so don’t miss out!

Of the event, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has previously stated:

"[We] knew it was high time we do something special to remember the legend of Paul Baloff, so we decided to put together a show the Bay Area will not soon forget. There are some nice surprises in store as well! It will be ten years and two days since the thrash world lost one of its greatest frontmen ever, and we will always make sure his memory lives on and is never forgotten. Long live The Destroyer!”

Advanced tickets for “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance” can be purchased at this location.

EXODUS & FORBIDDEN MEMBERS COMMENT ON

EXODUS and FORBIDDEN are just two of the bands from the now infamous Bay Area thrash metal scene who will be performing at the special show marking the 10-year anniversary of former EXODUS singer Paul “Pavel” Baloff’s passing. “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance” will take place Saturday, February 4^th, 2012 at the Oakland Metro Operahouse.
States guitarist Gary Holt of EXODUS:

"With February 2nd being the 10 year anniversary of Paul's passing, the band knew it was high time we do something special to remember the legend of Paul Baloff, so we decided to put together a show the Bay Area will not soon forget. We've pulled some of the Bay's finest for this, bands who knew and shared many a stage and drink with Pavel. There are some nice surprises in store as well! It will be ten years and two days since the thrash world lost one of its greatest frontmen ever, and we will always make sure his memory lives on and is never forgotten. Long live The Destroyer!”

FORBIDDEN guitarist & founding member Craig Locicero adds:

“Everyone in FORBIDDEN is honored to have been asked by Gary and EXODUS to play this show marking the 10th anniversary of Paul Baloff’s crazy fucking life! I witnessed his insanity first-hand at the Mabouhay Gardens and Ruthie’s Inn. As EXODUS got bigger, Paul got crazier - in a good way. It was genius at work. He was the mold that all thrash frontmen cut themselves from, but he was also a pretty damn sweet guy. Always kind to those he liked, he'd be in the front row at FORBIDDEN gigs screaming things like ‘Why does it have to be so heavy?’ and my favorite, ‘Heavier than time!’ I'm laughing just typing this!

“At his memorial, I saw people I hadn’t seen in years. So much love, so many laughs. It made me happy in some strange way just to see that kind of respect displayed for Paul. We all really loved him. Luckily his legend has returned with a vengeance… and hey, Paul, you did it: You’ve become heavier than time!”

The Main Stage line-up for “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance” includes: EXODUS, POSSESSED, FORBIDDEN, HEATHEN, and MAD AT SAM.

Playing the Second Stage are: ANGERHEAD, MUDFACE, THE VENTING MACHINE, HELLFIRE, and HYSTERIA.
Advanced tickets can be purchased at this location.

EXODUS TO OPEN FOR JUDAS PRIEST IN POLAND; ANNOUNCE FESTIVAL SHOWS

California Bay Area thrashers EXODUS are pleased to announce their confirmation to perform at Ieperfest in Belgium and Rock im Betonwerk in Germany.   For their August 10^th performance at the Metal Hammer Festival in Katowice, Poland, EXODUS will be opening for British metal legends Judas Priest. 

Guitarist Gary Holt has the following to say about the upcoming opportunity:

"I can't believe that after getting to play with Iron Maiden in Chile, now we can announce that we will be sharing the stage with Judas Priest in Poland!  How much better can it get?  Two shows with two of our biggest heroes!  Now if only I can select the set for them… I can dream, can't I?!  It's gonna be awesome; to say we're excited is an understatement."

View video footage of Gary Holt playing live with SLAYER at the Brisbane Soundwave Festival on February 26^th in Australia here and here.

Visit EXODUS online at www.facebook.com/EXODUSATTACK, www.myspace.com/EXODUS, www.YouTube.com/exodus, and www.twitter.com/_exodus

Magician: demo song of new album available

Brazilian power metal band MAGICIAN, who recently announced Tiago Masseti (DAYDREAM XI) as its new vocalist, is now working on the pre-production of their second album. A demo version of "The Scorching Curse", one of the new songs, was posted online at www.myspace.com/magicianband

"This is the first Magician's release in the past four years, and it shows a new phase of the band. Even being just a demo you can feel the power of Tiago's voice and get a preview of the new album. I hope you like it and leave your comments on MySpace", commented Renato Osorio, Magician's guitarist.

MAGICIAN's first album, "Tales of the Magician", was released in 2008 and 2009 via Die Hard Records (Brazil), Dockyard 1 (Europe), Soundholic (Japan) and Locomotive Records (North America). The album was mixed and mastered by Dirk Schlächter (GAMMA RAY), Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY, ex-HELLOWEEN) and Arne Lakenmacher. The band's debut entered japanese charts at position No. 10, surpassing known rock and metal acts like EXODUS, VELVET REVOLVER, MARILYN MANSON and LINKIN PARK.

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Magician
press@magician.com.br
http://www.magician.com.br/
www.myspace.com/magicianband