The Greek melodic metal phenomenon FIREWIND, led by the young guitar sensation Gus G. has returned with the scathing new studio album effort Days of Defiance, which is easily their defining musical moment. The much anticipated disc is set for an October 25th release in Europe, as well as an October 26th release in North America. Days of Defiance is a truly ambitious and dynamic opus featuring some of the most brilliant guitar playing the genre has seen in many years.

The striking cover artwork was designed by the band’s longtime partner in all design matters, Gustavo Sazes / www.abstrata.net and can now be viewed at www.myspace.com/firewind.

A special iTunes edition for Days of Defiance will feature the exclusive new track, “Riding On The Wind.”
FIREWIND’s guitarist and songwriter Gus G., currently on tour with Ozzy Osbourne in Europe, checks in with the following comment about the album and its artwork: “I’m very excited and cannot wait for our fans to listen to our new album! We feel we’ve captured great performances and took our songwriting to the next level on this one. There’s tons of cool guitar on there and I believe Bob has finally managed to reach warp-speed with his keyboard solos! Even more seriously, I highly recommend that you listen to this album at a very loud volume.

“As for the artwork, it was once again done by our visual wizard and webmaster extraordinaire, Gustavo Sazes. This time we asked Gustavo to come up with a great landscape scenery, with a more traditional approach and even get the “pencil” style of artwork on there, but also combine it with more modern stuff. So, he gave us that…with a slight futuristic, sci-fi element and I think the end result is stunning!”

FIREWIND – Days of Defiance Track Listing
1. The Ark Of Lies
2. World On Fire
3. Chariot
4. Embrace The Sun
5. The Departure
6. Heading For The Dawn
7. Broken
8. Cold As Ice
9. Kill In The Name Of Love
10. SKG
11. Losing Faith
12. The Yearning
13. When All Is Said And Done
14. Riding On The Wind (iTunes Exclusive)

Extreme metal at its very best, plain and simple, is what the Atlanta based quintet DAATH delivers. The group’s highly anticipated third full-length release is going to be self-titled and is set for an Oct. 26th North American release. The disc is a face melting masterpiece that was co-produced by the renowned Mark Lewis (Trivium, Devildriver) and Eyal Levi (guitars). Check out the exclusive debut on MetalSucks of the blistering new track, “Destruction Restoration,” now at the link below.
http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/09/02/exclusive-premiere-daaths-destructionrestoration/

Dates have been announced for “The Decibel Defiance 2010 Tour” this fall, which will see PROSTHETIC RECORDS’ THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD supporting the legendary SUFFOCATION, along with THE FACELESS, DECREPIT BIRTH and FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE. The tour kicks off at the annual “Rock and Shock” Horror and Music Fest in Worcester, MA on October 15th, and concludes on November 13th, in Allentown, PA.

Guitarist Justin Longshore commented on the tour; “‘The Decibel Defiance’ tour is a dream come true for any fan of extreme music. I must say we are extremely honored to share the stage with the almighty Suffocation and some of the best up and coming bands in death metal out there. This tour is a huge deal for Through The Eyes Of The Dead as Suffocation has been a big inspiration since the early days and continues to be a huge impact on our music. If the ‘Decibel Defiance’ tour is coming to your area, do not miss the best line up this fall!”

“THE DECIBEL DEFIANCE TOUR 2010″
SUFFOCATION w/ THE FACELESS, THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD, DECREPIT BIRTH, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE
10/15-Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (ROCK AND SHOCK)
10/16-New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
10/17-Quebec City, QC @ Imperial Theater
10/18-Montreal, QC @ Foufounes
10/19-Jonquiere, QC @ Place Nikitoutagan
10/20-Toronto, ON @ Opera House
10/21-Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance
10/22-Detroit, MI @ Harpos
10/23-Chicago, IL @ Clearwater Theatre
10/24-St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
10/25-Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
10/27-Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
10/28-Salt Lake City, UT @ TBA
10/29-Las Vegas, NV @ The Farm
10/30-Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse
10/31-Los Angeles, CA @ The Whisky  
11/01-Phoenix, AZ @ The Clubhouse
11/02-Albuquerque, NM @ Fusion Factory
11/03-Amarillo, TX @ Club Khaos  
11/04-Tulsa, OK @ Marquee Theatre   
11/05-Austin, TX @ Emo’s
11/06-Ft. Worth, TX @ Ridglea Theatre  
11/08-Tampa, FL @ Brass Mug  
11/09-Jacksonville, FL @ The Pit
11/10-Raleigh, NC @ Volume 11
11/11-Philadelphia, PA @ Polaris
11/12-Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
11/13-Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD participated in a portion of this summer’s “Thrash and Burn Tour,” and has spent time on the road this year with OTEP, BURY YOUR DEAD, IMPENDING DOOM, and more, as well as appearing at New England Metal and Hardcore Fest in April. “Skepsis,” the band’s third proper full length, was released on February 2, 2010. The self-produced effort is the first TTEOTD release to feature new vocalist Danny Rodriguez, drummer Mike Ranne and guitarist Chris “Hank” Henckel.  The album was recorded at Geller Cellar Studios in New York and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall), and features cover art by Paul Romano (Mastodon, Trivium).

Ha! what a looser. There were a total of 2 douche bags  preaching to the masses but in reality and as you would expect, no one was listening and no one cared!. We were there to have a good old time and that my friend, it was…

Long Beach Arena, Ca… Testament was Fucking amazing! They mostly played  new material for the exception of “Practice what you Preach” as you know was one of their best hits in the earlier years. Apart from that, the energy was high. Chuck Billy is still one of my favorites front-man of all times and he seems to get better as time passes.

Megadeth took center stage next. Holy Wars exploded from the speakers and the crowd went mad. Megadeth had taken the already high energy that Testament had injected into a new level. Hangar 18 was the next song and I knew right there what was happening. They were gonna play the “Rust in Peace” album on its entirely. Chills went through my whole body. Now, I have heard that there were doing this but what I did not know was that they were doing it on this tour. Amazing!!!! After the “Rust in Peace” they hit all of the fan favorites. Symphony of Destruction, Peace sells, Trust, etc. Needless to say, Megadeth delivered… again.

The mighty Slayer, and apparently, the crowds favorite hits the stage.  I must admit (and you can hate me for it) I am not a slayer fan… I know, right? Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate Slayer, I support them for what they stand for and their influence into the music that I have love for the majority of my life. I buy their albums and buy tickets for their tours. I know that they are a amazing band and the crowd agrees. The pit was engulfed in what seems to be fire from the pits of hell. The lighting work for Slayer was superve  to say the least.

All in all, we had a great time. Long Beach has shown SDMETAL that you can have a good as time and still rock you ass off. Everyone was awesome and for that, we thank you.

Stay Brutal Long Beach, we thank you again from the San Diego Source of Local Metal… SDMETAL.COM

Queensryche have been – and unquestionably remain- one of the most respected and innovative names in forward-thinking hard rock throughout the course of their nearly 30-year history. Since their inception over 25 years ago, Queensryche have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have performed in over 22 countries.

“We are very happy to be signing with Road Runner/Loud and Proud. This is the rock label and a place where they are as excited about our music as we and our fans are,” Tate said.

“We are excited to welcome Queensryche to the label” stated Loud & Proud President Tom Lipsky. “They have earned global acclaim for their distinctive approach to music and we are confident of a successful partnership with them.”

Queenryche’s 1988-issued album Operation: Mindcrime is universally respected as a classic concept release about rock, revenge and redemption. The album elicited comparisons to The Who’s Tommy and Pink Floyd’s The Wall and is ultimately regarded as one of the most important and essential hard rock records in the genre’s expansive canon. 1990’s follow-up, Empire, yielded a #1 single, the Grammy-nominated ballad “Silent Lucidity,” which the band performed at the 1992 Grammy Awards accompanied by a supporting orchestra.

In 2006, the band released Operation: Mindcrime II, a scorching sequel to their original. The band then hit the road performing both albums Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II back-to-back in their entirety in an incredible theatrical presentation throughout the year. The final performance was recorded at The Moore Theatre in Seattle that October and the Mindcrime at the Moore double CD/DVD release debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Music DVD Chart and eventually reached Gold status.

Visit http://www.queensryche.com/ for more information.

„For this special CD we composed a unique song of around 35 minutes divided in 7 „acts“. Looking at the title you can easily imagine that such long and epic song will show the most cinematic and orchestral side of our band, all our passion for the world of cinema we love so much and that always represented our main influence while composing the RHAPSODY’s music“, says Luca Turilli and adds: „Essentially it is a long huge song, sounding very symphonic, full of orchestral sections very soundtrack oriented, narrations and spoken parts. More than in other cases we tried to create a real movie atmosphere with very dynamic musical results, also thanks to the help of the English actors that gave voice to different charachters. You will just need to close your eyes and explore those new emotional dimensions we wrote the music for.“

The lyrics of this monumental, epic symphony is based on the „dark secret saga“ and represents a new chapter, directly connected with „The Frozen Tears Of Angels“.

Luca explains: „After the long journey to the icy frozen northlands at the borders of the known world, while facing concrete natural obstacles and the inner demons lying in the depths of their conscience, the five main charachters reach the ancient gothic fortress of Har-Kuun, a real monument of evil trapped between ice and snow, the mystic place where the Erian’s book could be finally found. „The Cold Embrace Of Fear“ tells about the entrance of those bravehearts in the ancestral world of Har-Kuun and the dramatic search for the holy book of the angels, only possible way to understand something more about the dark secret threatening the whole known world. Also in this case I liked to create particular „bridges“ connecting the new chapter of the saga with our modern life on the basis of symbolism, ancient wisdom and spiritual evolution. To someone who knows something about modern psychology and the study of the different „self“, the hidden geometries and gothic labyrinths of Har-Kuun will reveal themselves very clearly.“

Once again Christopher Lee was chosen for the spoken parts as a main narrator. „We couldn’t imagine to release something like this without his fundamental partecipation. Sir Lee is one member of the RHAPSODY OF FIRE‘s family since a lot of time and we love him not only as an actor but also as man. Because of his great and majestic personality he has surely the aura of a king of the ancient times.

This extraordinary release, will hit the stores on October, 15th for a special price.

www.rhapsodyoffire.com

This post was submitted by Victor.

CRISIS IN UTOPIA, the debut album from Los Angeles’ rising star metal quintet Holy Grail has now been confirmed for an October 26th release date via Prosthetic Records.  CRISIS IN UTOPIA is produced by acclaimed producer/remixer/musician Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle) and features cover artwork by Andrei Bouzikov (Skeletonwitch, Municipal Waste).  To pre-order CRISIS IN UTOPIA, please click here.  Please click here to download the album cover.  Holy Grail is currently on the road in supporting Exodus (please see below for tour dates).

Assembled a year ago, Holy Grail is already at the forefront of the new wave of metal that pays homage to such legends as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Dio.  The band’s debut EP IMPROPER BURIAL (released in late 2009), featuring just two original tracks and two covers, has earned Holy Grail significant press accolades including a 2-page feature in hometown paper LA Weekly, a spot on Decibel’s “25 Most Anticipated Releases Of 2010″ list and inclusion on Metal Hammer’s “Guide To The Best In The Upcoming New Wave Of Trad Metal.”  Holy Grail was also recognized with a nomination for the Metal Hammer’s Golden God Awards this year in the “Best New Band’ category – quite an honor since they haven’t even released a full-length album yet!  With monster vocals, not one, but two guitar virtuosos and a thundering rhythm section, Holy Grail’s sound is at once classic, yet contemporary, encompassing the best of traditional metal with a youthful spirit.

Holy Grail supporting Exodus:

AUGUST
25        Montreal, QC              Foufounes Electriques
26        Quebec City, QC        Capital Du Metal
27        Worcester, MA            The Palladium
28        New York, NY            Gramercy Theatre
29        Philadelphia, PA          Polaris
31        Springfield, VA            JAXX

SEPTEMBER
1         Cleveland, OH                        Peabody’s
2         Louisville, KY              Phoenix Hill Tavern
3         Atlanta, GA                 The Masquerade
4         Orlando, FL                 The Social
5         Fort Lauderdale, FL    Culture Room
7         Dallas, TX                   The Door
8         Austin, TX                   Emo’s
10        Tucson, AZ                 The Rock
11        Santa Ana, CA            Galaxy Concert Theatre
12        Santa Clara, CA          The Avalon
13        Sparks, NV                 New Oasis

To experience Holy Grail, please visit: www.myspace.com/holygrail

The statement from the band: “Sometimes, you go through a life altering situation. That’s how these past two weeks have been for all involved in The Funeral Pyre. But through all of that, we have managed to talk about the current situation of the band. While nobody in our group was hurt seriously, there are still some injuries that did happen. Currently, we’re all trying to just regroup and stay positive about the band and our future. Now while we all need time to just reflect on what has happened, we also had to come to a decision about what we will be doing. We will continue to tour and to write records. Although this has been a difficult time for all of us, we know that continuing to make music is something we have to do. We thank everyone who gave us their support during some of the most difficult times of our lives. We will be out on tour at the end of this year and still working harder than ever. Thank you to all of our friends and family for supporting these decisions as well. We’ll see you all soon. We’ll be out on tour again in December with dates to be announced soon. We’ll be hitting some of the spots we missed at the end of the last tour as well. Thanks again.”

SDMETAL wishes the best for the band as we are a huge fan of THE FUNERAL PYRE. Our condolences goes out to Family and friends of Makh Daniels.

Photo: Early Graves

INFERNAEON will be supporting the legendary GWAR on their “Bloody Tour of Horror,” this fall, starting October 2nd.

Their upcoming dates are:
10/2      Baltimore, MD – Sonar
10/4      Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
10/5      Knoxville, TN – Valarium
10/7      Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
10/8      Ybor City, FL – The Ritz Ybor
10/9      Orlando, FL – Firestone Live
10/10    Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
10/11    Charlotte, NC – Amos’ Southend
10/12    Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts
10/13    Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
10/14    Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
10/15    Clifton Park, NY – Northern Lights
10/16    Worcester, MA- Rock and Shock, Palladium
10/17    Montreal, QC – Theatre Telus
10/19    Moncton, NB – Club Oxygen
10/20    Halifax, NS – The New Place
10/22    Quebec City, QB – Theatre Imperial
10/23    Toronto, ON – Opera House
10/24    Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall
10/26    Chicago, IL – House of Blues
10/27    Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
10/28    Sauget, IL – Pop’s
10/29    Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
10/30    Detroit, MI – Harpo’s
10/31    Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
11/2      Dallas, TX – House of Blues
11/3      Little Rock, AR – The Village
11/4      New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
11/5      Houston, TX – House of Blues

“Genesis To Nemesis,” picks up where 2007′s “A Symphony of Suffering,” (which Metal Hammer described as, “brave, unflinchingly inventive and jackhammer-heavy from beginning to end,”) left off, with a devastating mix of Floridian death metal and symphonic, sinister European black metal. The album features guest appearances by GWAR’s Oderus Urungus, Erik Rutan, John Zahner of Savatage (who served as keyboard engineer) and Bill Hudson and John Slaughter of Coldera. The band has previously shared the stage with the likes of Malevolent Creation, Deicide, Atheist, Deeds of Flesh, Vile, and Impaled.

The track listing for “Genesis to Nemesis” is as follows:
1. Into The N.O.X.  
2. First of the Fallen  
3. Lilith Ave Satanas  (Bill Hudson, guest guitar solo)
4. Legacy of Kane  (Erik Rutan, guest vocals)
5. Ziasudra  
6. Creeping Death  (Oderus Urungus, guest vocals)
7. The Scar of David  
8. Immaculate Deception  
9. Graven Image  (John Slaughter, guest guitar solo)
10. Revelations