Kosmos
Photo: The End Records

Fans of Canadian experimental-metal band Voivod are known for their open-mindedness, so drummer Michel "Away" Langevin is hoping they'll embrace his new band Kosmos — even though the group's music is more meta than metal.

Inspired by '70s Krautrock bands like Neu!, Faust and Can, and more obscure bands including Birth Control and Omega, Kosmos combine the majesty and complexity of heavy prog rock with the effect-laden otherworldliness of space/psych rock.

"With a name like Kosmos, I hope people are expecting something pretty experimental," Langevin said. "[Late Voivod guitarist Denis] 'Piggy' [D'Amour] and I had been listening to this kind of music since the mid-'70s. I've always enjoyed these bands that create strange progressive music mixed with avant-garde stuff, so I figured, 'Well, why not put together a band like that?' "

Langevin formed Kosmos in early 2006 with Paradise guitarist Jetphil, Groovy Aardvark and Grim Skunk bassist Vincent Peake and keyboardist/programmer Alex Crow. The band also recruited admired underground Montreal musicians to guest on its self-titled debut: Xavier Caféïne, the singer for punk band Caféïne, provided vocals to a cover of Gong's "Much Too Old"; and Lucien Francoeur of the '70s experimental band Aut'Chose did spoken word on "Amerique Innavouable."

"Piggy and I actually helped re-form Aut'Chose with the original guitar player and singer for a one-show, one-album kind of thing," Langevin said. "And we played a few shows with them in 2005. It was actually the last show Piggy played before he took ill."

Kosmos, which comes out September 4, is a mostly instrumental collection of songs that sound like a bizarre hybrid of Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Amon Düül and horror-film-soundtrack band Goblin. But while songs like "Krautrock," "Psycho" and "Grand Grizou" are filled with expansive jams, mind-bending rhythms, clattering electronics and dueling guitar and keyboard solos, they're structured with both entrancing groove and compelling diversity.

"We worked hard on it, but it was fun," Langevin said. "We did it bit by bit over a period of nine months. After it was finished, we sent it to the End Records, [which signed Voivod,] but it's so experimental, we didn't think anyone would be interested. And then they got back to us and ended up singing us for three albums. So now we are writing new material. It's specifically a very fun project that turned more serious than we expected."

After the album is out, Kosmos may do some touring, but as for Lanvegin, he's focused once again on Voivod. He recently finished remastering the band's 1986 album, Rrröööaaarrr!, and editing a bonus DVD that will accompany the re-release of the LP in the fall. The package will be filled with live and demo recordings that were sold in the '80s via the band's Iron Gang fan club; fan-recorded footage, including the group's first U.S. show, an opening gig for Venom; rare archival photos; and cassette recordings dating back to 1980. "I found an early tape of Piggy doing an avant-garde collage of sounds that's very good, so that will be a bonus on Rrröööaaarrr! as well."

The Rrröööaaarrr! reissue will be followed early next year by reissues of 1987's Killing Technology and 1988's Dimension Hatröss, which will be similarly equipped with bonus DVDs. After the first batch of reissues come out, Langevin plans to work on reissues of 1991's Angel Rat and 1993's The Outer Limits. He's negotiating to put out 1989's Nothingface as well but is running into some red tape.

"We had a deal back then where it was distributed by MCA in America and Noise in Europe," Langevin said. "And right now that's causing some logistical issues that we need to settle before I can start thinking about that."

Langevin also plans to begin work on a box set of Voivod's '90s catalog, much of which featured Eric Forrest on vocals. As if that's not enough Voivod to shake a psychedelic stick at, next year Langevin will assemble two proper Voivod DVDs, "D-V-O-D-2" and "D-V-O-D-3," to follow up 2005's "D-V-O-D-1." These discs will feature the professionally filmed material lacking from the album-reissue bonus DVDs.

"There's a lot of good material that I'm putting together," Langevin said. " 'D-V-O-D-1' took me a while to do because I had to track down all the footage, which was shot on videotape in the '80s. But 'D-V-O-D-2' will feature stuff from the '90s, and that's in a very good format, and 'D-V-O-D-3' will feature the lineup with [bassist] Jason [Newsted], and all that footage is on digital, so those should be much easier to do."

And lest anyone forget, Voivod still have an album of new material to record, using the last batch of recordings Piggy made before he died. Originally, Voivod planned to track the 13-song swan song this summer, but Newsted's shoulder injury — which he sustained in October 2006 trying to catch a falling bass amplifier head — is delaying it until around September.

"We have to wait until Jason is healed 100 percent from the surgery he had on his shoulder," Langevin said. "I know that he's jamming right now, but he can't really play professionally until it's all healed. But when he's better, we want to get together in one studio — instead of three different studios in three different periods of time, like we did for [2006's] Katorz. Last time everything happened in difficult conditions. This time we want to make things easier for ourselves and take more time to make a really special record."

The rest of the week's metal news:

With President Bush's term winding up, it would seem Ministry's Al Jourgensen would either have to find someone else to pick on or cash in his chips and call 'er a day. Well, Al's chosen the latter — he'll issue Ministry's "last-ever" LP, The Last Sucker, September 18. "I [kind of] like the synchronicity of Dubya and Ministry riding off into the sunset hand in hand," Jourgensen joked in a press release. Look for the effort to feature 11 tracks, including "The Di-- Song," "No Glory" and "Die in a Crash." ... Job for a Cowboy, Despised Icon, A Life Once Lost and the Faceless will hit the road together in August for a string of U.S. dates. So far, the bands have booked a total of 10 gigs. Dates are scheduled from August 13 in Troy, New York, through August 28 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with more gigs to be announced in the coming weeks. ... In related news, A Life Once Lost have completed work on their next LP, Iron Gag. The disc lands in stores September 1, and will include "Firewater Joyride," "All Teeth" and "Others Die." The ALOL recently shot a clip for "Firewater Joyride," and they've posted several snaps from the shoot on their Web site. ...

Coalesce's 1999 effort There Is Nothing New Under the Sun, will be reissued August 7 with eight additional tracks. The original LP included seven songs — all of them Led Zeppelin covers. The version that hits stores next month will also include two new original songs, along with renditions of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut," Boy Sets Fire's "Vehicle" and Get Up Kids' "I'm Giving Up on This One." ... On Tuesday, Legacy of the Catacombs, a CD/DVD collection chronicling Nile's career, will land in stores. The set features a dozen tracks from the Ozzfest 2007 act, and the DVD features tons of studio footage, along with all the band's various videos. This offering comes in addition to Nile's new studio album, Ithyphallic, which is set for a July 20 release. ...

Arsis has been forced to drop off the Summer Slaughter Tour, which runs through Sunday in New York. According to a statement from the band, which had been touring in support of its latest release, United in Regret, "Everything was going great for us until we reached Sacramento, California. After that show, our van began to give us trouble — which surprised us, since the van had just been in for repairs twice before the tour even started and we were sure the problem had been fixed." In short, Arsis' van has been inoperable for two weeks, and they've gone broke paying for repairs and hotel stays. Hence, they'll be unable to rejoin the tour, which stops in Worcester, Massachusetts, Friday night (July 6). ... Pelican and Clouds will team up later this month for a run of shows that'll cut through the Midwest and up the West Coast. The first show is set for July 31 in Atlanta, and dates are scheduled through August 22 in Iowa City, Iowa. ...

Australian Christian death-metallers Mortification have postponed the U.S. leg of their forthcoming tour due to "time restraints in securing performance visas," the band explained on its Web site. "We hope to be back in the U.S. as soon as it becomes feasible," Mortification wrote. "All good things come to those that wait." The group will soon issue a concert set, Live Humanitarian, which will contain 16 songs and a DVD of goodies. ... Hardcore legends Christ on Parade are reuniting for a series of shows, beginning with a pair in Berkeley, California, July 27-28. The guys are also set to play San Francisco (August 2 and 18); Portland, Oregon (August 3); Tacoma, Washington (August 4); and Seattle (August 5). ... Floridian black-metal force Kult Ov Azazel have begun writing material for their next album, which has been titled Destroying the Sacred. Look for the LP to feature 10 tracks, including "Prelude to Holocaust," "Slaughter the Prophet" and "The Lucifer Principal."

• Voivod
• A Life Once Lost
• Ministry
• Nile

Pelican
Photo: Hydrahead Records

Fans who have followed Chicago instrumental post-metal band Pelican through their curvy and meandering atmospheric explorations will probably be pretty surprised by the sound of their new album, City of Echoes, out June 5. And they're not alone.

"I had no idea where we were going with the music when we started doing these songs," guitarist Laurent Lebec said. "The changes were pretty subconscious at first, then looking back we realized what was happening and we just went with it."

That doesn't mean City of Echoes is so radically different that it sounds like Disturbed, but Pelican have definitely strayed from the droning, spacey jams of past and focused more intently on concrete — yet still mercurial — metal riffs.

"We definitely wanted to write shorter songs that got to the point a little quicker dynamically and pleased us as a live band as opposed to what we were before this record, which was a band that toured rarely and indulged itself in the studio," Lebec said. "When we were touring for our last album, The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw, even if we had a 75-minute-long set, we could only play five songs because they were all so long, and that can be tiring for an audience."

Some crowds have been more forgiving than others. While many open-minded metal fans have enjoyed Pelican's spacious netherworld of noise, the band has received some flack while opening for several more decidedly metallic bands. Surprisingly, one of the worst reactions Pelican have received came in San Francisco when they were performing with Opeth.

"We started playing, and right away some people started yelling, 'f--' at us," Lebec said. "Then someone else shouted, 'You guys look like Weezer.' I couldn't believe it. These guys were coming to see Opeth, this really progressive band, yet they were still locked in such rudimentary middle-school kind of nonsense attitudes."

Another reason for Pelican's metallic migration has to do with a desire to expand beyond the hazy parameters of the current ambient-metal scene. Over time, they've grown all too aware that the kind of music they used to play — which seemed innovative a couple years ago — has become a little stagnant as more and more post-rock and indie bands search for louder avenues of expression. Fortunately, Pelican have the chops to pull off the stylistic shift.

"We've all grown up in punk and death-metal scenes," Lebec said. "We've been in grind bands, thrash bands, you name it. And our drummer [Larry Herweg] plays in Lair of the Minotaur, which is a total Swedish metal band. So doing songs that were more to the point and maybe a little heavier didn't seem like that huge of a stretch."

Of course, that doesn't mean that Pelican will necessarily score more points with metal fans. Their music is still largely progressive and filmic and it lacks mosh parts and solos. At the same time, the band's evolution in a heavier direction could alienate alternative rockers attracted to Pelican's more diaphanous, melancholy passages. But such possibilities are beyond the band's control and, therefore, of little concern.

"We've clearly always made music without aspirations of maintaining some huge level of success," Lebec said. "I don't know that we could ever write this kind of music if we were doing it for anybody else but ourselves."

The rest of the week's metal news:

After spending 16 years in one of the best metal bands ever, guitarist Peter Lindgren has decided he's done with Opeth. Calling the decision one of the "toughest I've ever made," Lindgren said in a statement that he feels it's the right one for him at this stage in his life. "I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry," he explained. "The love of music has always been — and still is — our motive, but I personally have lost something along the way. The massive amount of touring has taken its toll. Opeth has worked extremely hard to get where we are right now and in order to persist and maintain the quality of the music, it is necessary that we continue to work hard and always stay focused. But in doing so, it means that we nowadays spend 18 or 19 months on the road and I don't feel the same enthusiasm for the upcoming world tour that I have felt earlier. I have come to a point where I realize I won't be able to give the band 100 percent, and from both sides, this will not be good enough for what Opeth stands for." The band has recruited former Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson as Lindgren's replacement. ...

Speaking of Arch Enemy, the Swedish melodic death-metal band has wrapped recording its much-anticipated follow-up to 2005's Doomsday Machine. Produced by Fredrik Nordström (Dimmu Borgir, In Flames), the album is untitled for now, and there's no official word yet on when it will see the light of day. Frontwoman Angela Gossow said in a statement that she "experimented quite a bit with doubling vocal lines on the last album, which I now feel kind of took personality and vocal attack away. So this time it's the classic, one-vocal-track, no-frills and no-effects approach." Look for the disc to include "Blood Is on Your Hands," "Vultures" and "In This Shallow Grave." ... Florida metallers Khann — who feature former Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus frontman Josh Vitale — have inked a deal with Black Market Activities, founded by the Red Chord's Guy Kozowyk. Khann's debut, Tofutopia, will boast a healthy 23 tracks, including "Himalayan Green," "Black Water Permeates" and "The Lone Hum." ...

Unearth have parted ways with drummer Mike Justian, claiming there were "many reasons why we decided it was time to move on without him, but we are not in the business of airing dirty laundry. ... We will say that we grew apart as individuals and as musicians and the split will be best for both the band and Mike." The band will carry on with Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan. ... As for SYL, don't expect to hear from them anytime soon — or the Devin Townsend Band, for that matter. Devin Townsend has announced he'll be taking a break from the business of recording to focus on producing. "I have to do it for the love," he said, "[and] when it becomes a burden, it's time to step away for a while," he said. "I'm sure at some point I'll get the itch to play, but in the meantime, please respect that I've burnt myself out and need to get away from it all. I'm no good to anyone as a tired shell going through the motions for money." ...

Nile's forthcoming album Ithyphallic will be in stores July 20 and feature 10 new cuts, including "As He Creates So He Destroys," "Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor ..." and "Even the Gods Must Die." Look for the band all summer on this year's Ozzfest. ... Former Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers reports he has returned from Sweden, where he was mixing and mastering a project he's been working on for over a year. The album, which will reportedly be released under the moniker Nuclear Blast All-Stars, will feature 10 tracks written by Wichers. A host of guest singers — including In Flames' Anders Fridén, Hypocrisy's Peter Tägtgren, former Anthrax frontman John Bush and Mark Osegueda of Death Angel — will contribute to the effort, which should be in stores later this year. ...

Norwegian black-metal luminaries Mayhem have announced that they'll be touring the States this summer — the first time the band has done so in six years. Their Deconsecrate the States run will hit select cities nationwide with support acts Nachtmystium, Sigh, Today Is the Day, Intronaut, Withered, Amber Asylum, Ludicra, Crematorium, November's Doom, Mouth of the Architect and Dekapitator. Mayhem will be touring in support of their forthcoming LP Ordo Ad Chao, which features singer Attila Csihar. The tour is set to kick off July 16 in San Francisco and run through July 25 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. ... Former Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares' new project, Divine Heresy, have signed with Century Media. Cazares also handles bass duties for the band, which includes drummer Tim Yeung (Hate Eternal, Vital Remains) and frontman Tommy Vext. The band's debut offering, Bleed the Fifth, will drop in August. ...

Biohazard's Evan Seinfeld — that lucky bald dude who's married to porn thespian Tera Patrick — has a new band he'd like you to hear called the Spyderz. The group also features guitarists Dirrty and Charli D, drummer Lee Nelson and bassist John Monty. The Spyderz's debut is expected to hit stores early next year, and they recently made their live debut during a gig with Buckcherry in Long Island, New York. ... South Carolina's Through the Eyes of the Dead will issue their next one, Malice, August 21. The disc marks the debut of singer Nate Johnson — American audiences will see him for the first time in June, when the band hits the road with the Red Chord. ...

New Jersey's God Forbid are keeping busy with touring but have several releases in the works as well. The band will head out with Hatebreed, Evergreen Terrace, Terror, the Acacia Strain and After the Burial under the Monsters of Mayhem 2 banner beginning Friday night (May 18) in Rochester, New York, with dates booked through June 9 in Indianapolis. The band recently filmed its gig at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, which will be released soon in DVD form and include a documentary. God Forbid are also writing material for their next album and, according to a statement, "we really won't be able to dive into writing for real until this Hatebreed tour is over. [We] can tell you this, though: We are going to take our time with this next record. Every time we make an album, we try to do something that will make a mark on the fabric of heavy-music history. Whether that has happened or not, who knows? This time around is no exception. There are big ambitions, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised to hear significant change from the band." ...

Cellador are hard at work on their next album, which could be out early next year. "The plan is to compose upwards of 20 songs and then pick out the best 10 [to] 12 for the next album," the band said in a statement. "We hope to enter the studio and begin recording [this] fall." ... Those Viking-loving lads in 3 Inches of Blood have revealed a gaggle of Ozzfest off-date gigs with Lamb of God, Hatebreed and Behemoth. The shows are booked from July 13 in Vancouver, British Columbia, through September 2 in Richmond, Virginia. The band's forthcoming CD, Fire Up the Blades, is due in stores June 26.

• Pelican
• Opeth
• Nile

In This Moment
Photo: Century Media

There's no denying Maria Brink's a babe. The full-bosomed, pouty-lipped, heavily inked blond frontwoman for Southern California metallers In This Moment sort of gets that, too. That's not to say she isn't a modest lass, of course. But she's reminded on an almost daily basis just how striking she is.

"There's definitely a lot of marriage proposals," she confided, before guitarist Chris Howorth, who runs the band's MySpace page, chimed in: "Every day, there's like five or six marriage proposals that come in, and all of her picture comments — there's about a 1,000 posts for each picture — they're all like, 'You're hot,' 'Will you marry me?,' 'You're hot.' It's retarded."

At the same time, though, In This Moment — which formed in 2005 and will release their debut full-length, Beautiful Tragedy, March 20 — realize that having an attractive face behind the microphone can't hurt in a male-dominated genre. Gorgeous singers have helped the likes of Lacuna Coil and Arch Enemy get noticed, both onstage and off. One thing In This Moment fans may not notice, though, is the gash that graces the bridge of Brink's nose in the video for the first single, "Prayers."

"I literally got my head split open during the shoot," she explained. "I have a big scar across my face. The [camera] dolly came a little close, and I was headbanging, and we just collided and my whole face split open. There was blood all over the place."

When the band's manager tried to call off the shoot, to let Brink recoup, she insisted In This Moment finish what they had started. "We just iced it and glued it shut," she said. "My hair's in my face for much of the video, to cover up the cut on my face." How much more metal does it get?

In This Moment are on tour with Kittie, Walls of Jericho, Dead to Fall and 36Crazyfists through March 24 in Warren, Michigan. After that, they'll head out with Lacuna Coil and Stolen Babies in May for a North American run that launches May 7 in Louisville, Kentucky. The trek's routing is still being finalized.

Howorth said there was a great deal of pressure on the band during the recording of Beautiful Tragedy, which has been in the bag since late August and was produced by Eric Rachel (Atreyu, Every Time I Die). "It's our first record, and we're trying to impress a lot of people," he said. "So we wanted everything to be perfect and sound great. Everything has worked out phenomenally for this band."

Brink — who sounds like a cross between Lamb of God's Randy Blythe and Evanescence's Amy Lee — shows a great deal of range on In This Moment's inaugural studio outing, which immediately differentiates the band from other female-fronted metal outfits. Lyrically, Brink was inspired by challenges she's faced throughout her life, as well as by her son.

"Whether or not it's the past or something more recent, each song's based on things I've been through in my life," Brink explained. "Some of it's heart-wrenching and torturous for me to sing or scream about. But it was also cathartic for me. I was crying in the studio and fully upset, at moments. I think it helps my performance sound real. You can hear the pain in my voice. One song I wrote about my best friend, who died two years ago. I would pull all of his pictures out, and it helped bring me to that place while I was singing. It's important that people can feel what I'm singing about."

In This Moment, while relatively new to the scene, have been making a name for themselves on the road, thanks to their intense, visceral live shows. And for the rest of 2007, Brink and Howorth expect they'll be living out of a van, traveling from one venue to the next, spreading the word about Beautiful Tragedy.

If all goes well, In This Moment would like to land a spot on either Sounds of the Underground or Ozzfest this summer. Ultimately, though, Howorth said they have a very important mission in mind: "We want to be the biggest band in the world. Like Metallica, only I don't want to kiss our bassist."

The rest of the week's metal news:

More details have emerged regarding this year's New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, which is set for April 27-28 in Worcester, Massachusetts. So far, the bill's shaping up like this: Bury Your Dead, Satyricon, Walls of Jericho, Kataklysm, Unearth, Cannibal Corpse, the Black Dahlia Murder, the Red Chord, Job for a Cowboy, Lizzy Borden, Goatwhore, I Killed the Prom Queen, Shai Hulud, Since the Flood, Demiricous, Hallows Eve, Cellador, Beyond the Embrace, the Architect, Animosity, Psyopus, If Hope Dies, Ed Gein, the Absence, Kylesa, Skinless, the Devil Wears Prada, All Shall Perish, 100 Demons, Nora, the Human Abstract, Still Remains, Thy Will Be Done, Nachtmystium, December Aeterali, Merauder, Death Before Dishonor, Suicide Silence, Beneath the Massacre, Skeleton Witch, Stick to Your Guns, the Faceless, Blood Runs Black, Dead Hearts, xDeathStarx, Palehorse, Bloodlined Calligraphy, the Funeral Pyre, Gaza, Forever in Terror, Apiary, Sons of Azrael, the Destro and the Network. ... Florida metallers Into the Moat would like you to know that, contrary to rumor, they're not disbanding. In fact, according to guitarist Kit Wray, the band hopes to record a new album later this year. Bassist Josh Thiel has once again left the group, to focus on school, but Into the Moat insist they're "not looking for a bass player. A longtime friend of ours will be lending his bass skills for this upcoming album. We are hard at work on our next album, The Campaign." The band said it would like to once again work with producer Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Goatwhore). ...

North Carolina metalcore maestros Between the Buried and Me have entered writing mode and are hard at work on the follow-up to 2006's The Anatomy Of, claiming in an online post that "things are coming along very well." The band plans to begin recording in May with producer Jamie King (Human Abstract, Far-Less). In the meantime, you can catch the band in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, March 30; Harrisonburg, Virginia, March 31; and Greensboro, North Carolina, April 1. ... Bled Fest 2007 has been set for May 5 at the Skateland West complex in Westland, Michigan. Animosity, the Faceless, As Blood Runs Black, Beneath the Massacre and At the Throne of Judgment have been confirmed for this year's lineup. ... A Life Once Lost have completed tracking their forthcoming album, Iron Gag. The effort was helmed by producer Eric Rachel (Atreyu, Every Time I Die) at Trax East Recording Studio in New Jersey, and the LP has now entered the mixing phase. No word yet on when the disc will drop, but we'll keep you posted. ... Los Angeles death-metallers the Funeral Pyre will launch a two-week West Coast tour with Cerberus March 29 in Canoga Park, California. Dates are booked through April 13 in San Diego. ... Montreal deathcore dudes Despised Icon have wrapped the recording of their forthcoming sophomore LP, with producer Yannick St-Amand (Beneath the Massacre, Neuraxis). The still-untitled disc is set for a May 22 release. ... South Carolina technical death-metal mammoths Nile are working on their next studio offering, the follow-up to 2005's Annihilation of the Wicked. The band has recruited Neil Kernon (Nevermore, Deicide) to produce the effort, which should land in stores later this year. ...

Experimental metal band the End have just finished their debut video, "Throwing Stones," from their just-released album, Elementary. The clip was shot in Toronto with director Jeff Scheven and producer Dallas Dyer. The End will play a week of Canadian shows with Cancer Bats, Johnny Truant and the Gorgeous starting Wednesday in Sudbury, Ontario, and running through March 13 in London, Ontario. Then they'll open for Poison the Well across the States beginning April 3 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and ending April 20 in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Fear Before the March of Flames and Heavy Heavy Low Low are also on that bill. ... We'll tread carefully with this one since the great uncle of Blessed by a Broken Heart's new singer, Tony Gambino, was Carlo Gambino, a former boss of the Gambino crime family. Tony Gambino recently replaced Hugh Robbie for the Montreal band's upcoming album You Wanted the Best, You Got the Blessed: Greatest Hits. "Tony can do back flips and breakdance better than Turbo in 'Electric Boogaloo,' " the band enthused on its Web site. "We're psyched to have him on board." If Gambino were ever on the wrong side of the law, we're guessing he's clean now, since Blessed are widely considered Christian metal — but we'll refrain from one-liners just in case. Blessed by a Broken Heart will enter a studio with producer GGGarth (It Dies Today, Atreyu) March 19 to track the album. "It will be one of the best metal albums of all time," said the self-proclaimed "superheroes destined to save the world from nuclear annihilation with the power of metal." We couldn't agree more. ...

Metalcore fans will likely weep with joy when they find out Bullet for My Valentine and All That Remains will tour together starting May 2 in Philadelphia. Dates have been booked through May 10 in Toledo, Ohio, and the rest of the shows will be announced soon. Escape the Fate and the Confession will open. Bullet for My Valentine are currently at home in Wales working on their next album, and All That Remains are taking a quick break before heading to Europe, where they'll tour through April 21. ... Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman will release his sixth solo album, Loudspeaker, March 13. The fast and furious disc features guest appearances by Steve Vai, Dream Theater shredder John Petrucci, ex-David Lee Roth bassist Billy Sheehan and ex-Michael Schenker drummer Jeremy Colson. "I wanted to get these guys to play the most aggressive way they could because, as a fan, I really wanted to hear them in a full metal context," Friedman said. Tracks include "Coloreas Mi Vida," "Black Orchid" and "Elixir." ... Widely hyped U.K. metalcore band Fightstar will release their U.S. debut, Grand Unification, in April. The record was produced by Colin Richardson (Bullet for My Valentine, Cannibal Corpse), and while it holds together as a concept album, that wasn't the band's original intention. "When I hear something is a concept album, I always think, 'I hope this isn't a load of pretentious bullsh--,' " singer/guitarist Charlie Simpson said in a statement. "But gradually, as we wrote more lyrics, everything seemed to link together." Bassist Dan Haigh added: "The songs are supposed to be key moments in people's existences during that last day of the world. A lot of the music is born of a desire to capture something epic." Fightstar will make their Stateside performance debut with two March 15 shows at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. A full U.S. tour will follow. ...

Swedish doom-metal legends Candlemass will celebrate their 20th year anniversary with a March 31 concert in Stockholm. They'll be joined onstage for the first time ever by their original singer, Johan Lanquist, who left after the recording of their legendary 1986 debut, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. The show will also mark the debut of the band's new singer, Robert Lowe (also of Solitude Aeturnus), who replaces Messiah Marcolin. Grand Magus will open the evening and Cathedral frontman Lee Dorrian and Witchcraft singer Magnus Pelander will DJ. ... New Jersey emo-metal band Bedlight for Blue Eyes have started tracking their second album, tentatively titled Whole Again. The band is recording in Atlanta's Tree Sound Studios with producers Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, who also recently worked with Cartel. The disc will be the group's first to feature new singer Danny — original singer James quit in September to "pursue other interests." "The past year has been really rocky for the band and for us individually," guitarist Itzhak "Itchy" Bishburg said. "We thought we were on the verge of the end until we met Danny. So we took all of that energy and channeled it into the album." ... Polish black-metal band Behemoth are finishing up their new record The Apostasy, which is being produced by frontman Nergal and the band's longtime sound engineer, Malta. The album is tentatively scheduled for release in late July. "It is taking us much longer than we had originally expected but The Apostasy is technically the most demanding of all Behemoth albums thus far," Nergal said in a statement. "We are extremely proud of what we've recorded and the sound is just devastating."

• Behemoth
• Nile
• Bullet for My Valentine
• All That Remains