Artist

Former Pantera bassist Rex Brown has shared the official music video for "Train Song," which is the second single from his forthcoming debut solo record, Smoke on This... The video can be seen below.

Directed by Justin Reich (Zakk Wylde, Ace Frehley), the video sees Brown delivering an energetic performance in greyscale. "It was a frickin' blast working on this with Justin," said Brown. "I always hated the sitting around and waiting mentality, but Justin and his crew made it incredibly easy and very productive! This first video shows a ton of power and Justin captured it all with no hesitation."

Speaking about the album in a statement, Brown explained, "My motto these days is 'Shake some shit up.' I've had my ups and downs, like anybody in this business. I wanted to feel like a true artist again, where I can write and record songs without worrying about any of the bullshit. This is just something else I'm doing for fun, man. And musical Freedom. Fun has to come into it or I'm not going to do it. I've had a tremendous career and now I feel like I'm twenty-five years old again. This has given me that freedom I needed.

"I've got so much more in me. I'm just getting my feet wet."

Brown tracked the lead vocals, rhythm guitars and bass while working alongside guitarist and songwriter Lance Harvill and drummer Christopher Williams (Accept, Blackfoot). "Lance was and is, my main man on this. Everything we did was finely tuned, both musically and brotherly," he said.

Smoke on This… will be released on July 28th via Entertainment One Music (eOne Music.) Physical copies can be pre-ordered here while digital pre-orders are available at this location.

Metalcore outfit Eighteen Visions have released an official music video, which is directed and edited by Michael R. Garcia, for the track "Live Again." Check it out below.

Their sixth studio album, XVIII, drops today via Rise Records. The album signifies the first new music from the band in over 10 years.

Eighteen Visions will commemorate the record's debut with a live performance at The Observatory in their hometown of Orange County, California tonight. The performance will be the band's first since their 2007 show at Chain Reaction in Orange County, which was thought to be their final show ever. Tickets are still available at this location.

XVIII can be purchased in various formats at this location.

Stone Sour have shared the song "Taipei Person/Allah Tea," which is the third single from their forthcoming sixth studio album, Hydrograd. The album is the first of original Stone Sour material to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow, both of whom came aboard after House of Gold & Bones was recorded. The song can be heard below.

While issuing a studio update on what to expect from Hydrograd for our February/March 2017 issue, frontman Corey Taylor explained of the new album's sound, "People have had it wrong about Stone Sour for a long time. We're not a metal band that plays hard rock stuff—we are a rock band that plays everything. And to me, this is the first Stone Sour album that's really going to prove that point about this band."

It's hard to explain," he continued. "It's hard rock, but not in the typical hard rock sense. It's heavy and melodic, but not in those typical senses. Anybody who likes the 'Burbank' stuff [on which the band covered classic rock and metal anthems by The Rolling Stones, Bad Brains, Alice in Chains, Iron Maiden, Slayer, and others] is going to love the originals. As eclectic as those covers were, that's kind of where we're at with the music here. But when you listen to the songs as a whole, it all just fits so well together!"

Hydrograd will be released on June 30 via Roadrunner Records. The album can be pre-ordered in various formats at this location.

The first annual Metal Maya festival will take place from October 29 through November 2 at the Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun in Puerto Morelos on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Hosted by Sirius XM's Jose Mangin, the four-day all-inclusive event will feature performances from Anthrax, Hatebreed, Overkill, Superjoint (with Philip Anselmo), Metal Allegiance, Death Angel, Whitechapel, Crowbar, Prong, KYNG, Otep, Tim "Ripper" Owens, and Oni. Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler will also be featured as a special guest.

The Metal Allegiance lineup will feature Testament's Alex Skolnick, Hellyeah's Kyle Sanders, Machine Head's Phil Demmel, Megadeth's David Ellefson, Slayer/Exodus' Gary Holt, Death Angel's Mark Osegueda, The Winery Dogs/Transatlantic's Mike Portnoy, Exodus' Steve "Zetro" Souza, Municipal Waste's Ryan Waste, Mark Menghi, and more to be announced.

Scheduled for Halloween weekend, bands will trick-or-treat at your door and will feature a special Halloween Horror Movie Night which will be curated by Philip H. Anselmo. Attendees are encouraged to dress up to celebrate Dia de los Muertos as well.

Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta said, "We're honored to have been invited to play at the inaugural Metal Maya in Cancun this October. We plan on losing our minds for a few days in Mexico, and we'd love for you to join us … and to top it all off … free booze!"

"Kyng is honored to be a part of this festival, and share the stage with all of the gut-wrenching bands that have inspired us to play heavy music," added Kyng singer/guitarist Eddie Veliz. "To top it off, this will happen in our motherland! Can't wait for Metal Maya!"

Metal Maya will also offer excursions that will be hosted by the artists. The full schedule of excursions are listed below.

ATV Riding with Metal Allegiance at Emotions Native Park:
Feel the thrill of driving an ATV through the Mayan jungle trails. An exciting route will take you to explore caves and discover authentic Mayan vestiges where you can learn about the lifestyle of the ancient residents of Playa del Carmen. (40 guests maximum capacity.)

Deep Sea Fishing with Death Angel:
Experience world-renowned fishing in one of the most exciting big game locations in the world at Marina El Cid. Enjoy the picturesque Mexican Caribbean while a private boat guides you to the prime spots famous for their extensive variety of fish, like sailfish, white and blue marlin, mahi mahi, king mackerel, wahoo, barracuda, amberjack and more. (30 guests maximum capacity.)

Rio Secreto with KYNG, Otep and Jose Mangin:
Experience a unique natural treasure in one of the most incredible locations in the Riviera Maya. Enter this natural museum filled with a kaleidoscope of speleothems and walk amidst the thousands of stalactites and stalagmites found in this protected natural reserve. Learn and marvel in this ancient, magical subterranean world that until now has remained unexplored for millions of years. (50 guests maximum capacity.)

Metal Maya packages start at $1399 per person and are available now at this location.

Australian metalcore outfit Northlane have dropped the official music video for their song "Solar," which is taken from their recent release, Mesmer. The clip, which is directed by Jason Eshraghian, can be seen below.

Earlier this year, Northlane quietly released Mesmer, surprising fans everywhere with their secret album. Speaking with Revolver during an exclusive interview about the record and its stealth release, guitarist Josh Smith said, "Whenever you enter an experience with an expectation it can dictate how you feel about it. Just know it's full of twists, turns, surprises and we poured our hearts and souls into the record. It mainly explores the theme of loss. This was unintentional but we experienced it a few times during the writing process and had to talk about it ('Heartmachine,' 'Fade,' 'Veridian,' 'Paragon'). Prior to writing these passages there were a lot of songs written about existential topics like the violent, frivolous nature of humanity ('Savage'), the destruction of the environment ('Solar'), intellectual programming ('Intuition') and the invasion of privacy through electronic surveillance ('Citizen'). Strangely enough though, the songs that were not written about physical loss in a way still conformed to that theme, whether it's exploring a loss of liberty, or attachment with our intrinsic human nature.

"Musically, we wanted to challenge ourselves to write a record that was in parts as heavy as anything we'd done before, with some real juicy riffs but also incorporate a seamless sounding electronic element. More so we wanted to really focus on the vocal approach and really harness the emotion in the voice of the songs, which our producer David Bendeth helped with to an extent far greater than we imagined was possible. He worked us to our breaking point, especially Marcus [Bridge, vocalist]."

Metallica's tenth studio album, Hardwired … to Self-Destruct, has been certified platinum by the RIAA for having sold over a million copies. The commemorative plaques were presented to the band by Blackened Recordings executives at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

In addition to the news, Metallica have dropped a second official music video for their current single, "Now That We're Dead." Directed by Brett Murray, the live clip was filmed during the band's Mexico City stop on their current Worldwired Tour. The video follows up the original clip, which was directed by Herring & Herring. "Now That We're Dead" can be seen below.

Hardwired … to Self-Destruct was named Revolver's "Album of the Year" in 2016. "It's weird to think that something that we love doing is loved by other people so much," said frontman James Hetfield in an interview for our December 2016 issue. "Because honestly, we're writing these songs for ourselves, and the fact that other people like them still blows me away. And after 35 years, having an impact on people like that… I really appreciate the fact that it's accepted by so many people, especially you guys." Lars Ulrich added, "Listen, 35 years ago when we started out, we didn't know that there would be another 34 years in front of us. I mean, back in the '80s, with Reagan and Brezhnev and the talk of nuclear war, who the fuck knew that the Earth would still be even fucking bouncing around in the universe 35 years later? So the fact that we're still here, and you guys are awesome enough to not only run a magazine, but to say that our record deserves all these accolades, I don't even know where to begin with any of that stuff. So maybe I'd better just leave it there! [Laughs] Thanks for always supporting us, and for supporting everything in metal and hard rock."

Miss May I have shared "Casualties," the latest single from the band's forthcoming sixth studio album, Shadows Inside. Check it out below.

Frontman Levi Benton said, "The track, 'Casualties,' came from a place of loss and feeling numb. This song is about how sometimes you lose interest in things you once loved and you start to feel nothing. When this happens both sides are lost and become casualties in the end. This song came from not feeling anything anymore towards everything I was doing. I felt so burned over the years and was so exhausted that it felt like there was no point to anything. I couldn't feel happy, I couldn't feel sad and I simply couldn't feel anything! I never wanted to really show this side of myself in a song, but I felt it was a the time to and really be honest on this album. It's great to have songs that are so over the top in honesty and in the music because it gives us a chance to really give our fans a next level experience."

During an interview with Revolver for our April/May 2017 issue, Benton explained the album's musical direction. "We didn't know the record sounded this way until it was finished. You don't think about it when you're in the moment and you're writing, and then you step back after a long day's work and you're like 'Holy Crap! This is totally different than what we thought we were doing!' It was exciting and fresh and it was cool because the sound came out organically. Those [songs] literally came out of us jamming. I kid you not, it was straight up high school-basement-teenage boy room vibe. This feels like we're starting all over again."

The album will be released this Friday, June 2, via SharpTone Records.

Tombs have shared "November Wolves," the latest single from their forthcoming fourth studio album, The Grand Annihilation. Produced by longtime Tombs producer Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Soilent Green, Belphegor, Hate Eternal), the record will be released on June 16 via Metal Blade Records. Check out "November Wolves" below.

Speaking of the new album in a statement, frontman Mike Hill said, "If you've been following Tombs, you probably know to expect the unexpected, and I always strive to present a full range of emotion on everything with the band's name on it. That said, this is a very dark and introspective record that digs deep into the common ideas of mortality, infinity and cosmic mysteries. The lyrics on the new record are a celebration of freedom through embracing the dark side. Once you realize that you follow the dark path – the path of the individual – there is a certain feeling of liberation that accompanies it."

The Grand Annihilation can be pre-ordered in various formats at this location.

Following the success of their Phantom Bride signature beer, Deftones have once again teamed up with San Diego's Belching Beaver Brewery for a new brew, Swerve City IPA.

"We're super excited about where this Deftones/Belching Beaver partnership is heading," said frontman Chino Moreno to Vents Magazine. "Starting off with the simple idea of doing one limited run of the Phantom Bride collaboration has now turned into a full year of seasonal specialty brews to be put together by our love of beer and Belching Beaver's ability to turn out amazing product. We're looking forward to all of you enjoying the tasty brews we have in store."

According to a statement, Swerve City is described as "an American IPA with passionfruit, guava and orange. Inspired by the famous POG juice, it's a tropical fruit bomb with a juice-like finish. The beer has just enough bitterness and hop flavor to balance the big fruitiness. Available soon in all markets where fine craft beer is sold, it takes its name from the leadoff track of Deftones' 2012 album, Koi No Yokan."

Additionally, the band will be rereleasing their Phantom Bride IPA in cans this summer. A post on Belching Beaver's official Facebook read, "The Return of Phantom Bride! This juicy IPA brewed with Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo and Simcoe hops is hitting shelves in 6 pack 16 oz cans this June. Exploding with flavors of tropical fruit and citrus, we are insanely stoked about the continued partnership with Deftones. To make this announcement even juicier we are releasing four more limited brews with the band. Stay tuned!"