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Sunday Old School: Nocturnus

For decades, heavy metal fans have pointed certain things and debated as to whether they are or aren’t, "metal." Haircuts, elements of classical music, or indeed most other forms of music, these are a couple of the targets, but one of the first things to shock some fans of metal music was the use of keyboards. In his book, "Hell Bent for Leather," author Seb Hunter mentions the time when he first heard British legends, UFO and recoiling when he realised they were using keyboards. Metal has certainly evolved since the days of UFO and keyboards have been used on many metal records, especially in the symphonic black metal genre, but one of the first bands to bring the instrument to extreme metal music was a group from Tampa, Florida named Nocturnus.

Nocturnus began life in 1987 after drummer/vocalist, Mike Browning and guitarist, Gino Marino’s previous band, Incbus folded. They recruited Agent Steel bass player, Richard Bateman and a second guitarist named Vincent Crowley, recording and releasing their first demo later that year. This self-titled demo would prove to be their only recording with Crowley, who left soon afterwards to form, Acheron and was replaced by Marino’s eighteen year old cousin, Mike Davis. Bateman would also soon leave the group to join Nasty Savage, whereupon Nocturnus hired a new bassist, Jeff Estes and most famously, a keyboard player named, Louis Panzer, whose inclusion helped to set them apart from the ever growing Florida death metal scene, as it was practically unheard of at the time to utilise keyboards in extreme metal. More...

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Awakened Posts Lyric Video

Detroit-based metal band Awakened has a lyric video out for the track "Memories," which can be seen below. You can find details about the band's upcoming live performances at Facebook here, and the band consists of:

Dennis Spens - Lead Vocals
Revin Magee - Drums
Kevin Jutila - Guitar
Jeremy Neils - Guitar
Nick Gettleson - Bass

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Midnight Bullet Announces New Album

Following 2012's "Faraday Cage," Midnight Bullet will release second album "Lose My Face" on January 16th. 2015 via Inverse Records. The label also comments:

"The album will lead you to a journey where you're walking through tight riffs, fast punk and catchy melodies. 'Lose My Face' has a theme which is a fear of making yourself a total fool. Some people find it necessary to keep the walls around you so that the other people won't see who you really are, and you're trying to hide your mistakes. The mask on the cover is a symbol of that fake life you're living in.

"The album has dynamics and the atmosphere changes with different tempos and interpretation. Band is playing with the same enthusiasm like it was back in the old days when it all get started. Midnight Bullet is tighter than ever!" More...

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Odetosun Streaming Full Album Online

German progressive death metal band Odetosun (formerly known as Oden's Raven) has uploaded the full self-released 2013 album "Gods Forgotten Orbit" to Bandcamp.

Pick up your own digital or physical copy of the album over here, and you can stream all the songs below. The "Gods Forgotten Orbit" track listing consists of:

1. Cracking Shell of Calypso 05:28
2. Veil of Leviathan 08:54
3. Eclipse Chaser 05:21
4. Journey to Gliese (instrumental) 06:24
5. The swarming Infinity 08:26
6. Gods forgotten Orbit 07:59 More...

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Scandelion Gives You A Choice: Die, Or Die

"Die... or Die (Your Choice)" is the title of the new lyric video available online from U.K. metal band Scandelion. The track comes off latest album "Nonsense," released digitally last month. The full track listing is:

1. Nonsense - Part I 01:47
2. My Darkest Thoughts 04:06
3. Dusk in Your Dreams 05:09
4. My Tears Drown Your Heart 06:23
5. Asleep in The Embrace of Death 06:43
6. Die... or Die (Your Choice) 04:16
7. Nonsense - Part II 01:22
8. Leave Your Cage 05:06
9. Tragic Solitude 05:54
10. Pain of a Dying Soul 05:24
11. Swan's Lament (Reimagined Version 2014) - Bonus Track 05:28
12. Wishes - Bonus Track 04:19 More...

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Ad Astra Posts Peter Gabriel Cover

Ad Astra has a new video clip out for a cover version of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," which can be seen below. The band also issued this statement:

"Although we’re still spending our relaxed song writing / gig-free period, we’ve finished our latest video for the Peter Gabriel cover 'Sledgehammer', originally released as a non-official bonus track of our 2012 album 'Open Wide.'

"Just for the sake of this video the audio track itself also received some facelift in terms of vocal tracks, sound and mastering in order to make it sound heavier than ever before. And thus we closed the 'Open Wide' period once and for all, as the next time you’re going to hear about us will be in connection with some new material in 2015!"

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Headline News

Immortal's Battle Over Band Name Rights Escalates

Immortal frontman Abbath (Olve Eikemo) claims that he rightfully attempted to secure exclusive rights to the band's name and logo after lyricist/guitarist Demonaz (Harald Nævdal) and drummer Horgh (Reidar Horghagen) effectively quit the legendary Norwegian black metal group this past summer.

According to Dagbladet, Abbath's application to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office has been stopped by a lawyer representing Demonaz and drummer Horgh, who want the Immortal trademark to be shared by all three members.

In his latest letter to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, Abbath says that he thought Demonaz and Horgh left Immortal earlier this year after they moved out of the band's rehearsal room and stopped paying their share of the rent expenses.

"This summer Abbath received amessage from Demonaz and Horgh indicating that they wanted to take a longer break from Immortal after a conflict occurred between Abbath and the other 2 bandmembers," writes Eikemo in his letter to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.

"The band rents a rehearsal space where costs were being shared between the 3 bandmembers. Demonaz and Horgh did not want to pay their share of the rent since the band, in their opinion, was not active. Abbath, as Immortal's chief songwriter, was dependent on the rehearsal space and was willing to cover the rental costs himself. The other 2 members then moved out of the premises and stopped paying their share of the rent. Abbath perceived this move as them pulling out of the band."

The letter also argues that Demonaz has not played guitar since he suffered an injury to his arm in 1997, and that Horgh 's role in the band has been limited to playing drums. In addition, Abbath claims that, as Immortal's composer and frontman, he is virtually synonymous with the band and that, as a professional musician, he is dependent on revenue generated by Immortal and therefore cannot simply take a break. More...

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