The Aebyss Portal

Original VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray (drums) have rejoined forces with ex-VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan in a brand new band called VENOM INC. VENOM INC. will make its live debut at this weekend's Keep It True festival in Lauda-Königshofen Germany, and will continue with shows in China, Japan and Taiwan in July, followed by a full European tour with Polish death metallers VADER in September. VENOM INC. will play a full set of VENOM classics, with plans to record a brand new album in the coming months. Dunn, Bray and Dolan released three albums as VENOM between 1989 and 1992 — "Prime Evil" (1989), "Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992). Dolan and Dunn have spent the last few years collaborating in a new band called M-PIRE OF EVIL, which released its full-length debut, "Hell To The Holy", in March 2012 via Scarlet Records. A follow-up effort, "Crucified", came out in May 2013 via Deadline Music (a subsidiary of Cleopatra Records). In a March 2015 interview with PowerOfMetal.dk, Dunn revealed that he was writing a book about his life, focusing heavily on VENOM's early years. "I've been asked for a long time to write a book, but I've always avoided it," he said. "But a couple of years ago, I was in Japan and I was speaking to some people who told me I should really write a book to, you know, tell the truth about what happened. What's being said in the press today and what I read on the Internet is complete horseshit." He continued: "I'm talking to an Italian publisher and there a couple of other publishers who are interested [in releasing the book]. I don't yet know whether it's going to be released by one publisher or whether it's going to be licensed in different countries. Currently I'm roughly halfway through writing the book. "For me, it's more complicated than putting an album together, because, besides writing it, you've got to check dates and lots of other stuff. There's so much writing involved, one thing leads to another, and your memory gets jogged about certain incidents. "You know, there's a lot to go into there, and it doesn't just concentrate on the VENOM thing. I'm taking it from Day One, from when I was born, and all the way through my early childhood, influences… It's basically my life story, with the VENOM thing in it as well. It's from the beginning to where we are today." In an April 2014 statement on his Facebook page, Dunn shot down the possibility of a reunion of VENOM's classic lineup, featuring Conrad "Cronos" Lant on bass/vocals. He explained: "I received a call almost one year ago regarding this matter from the original management who had an enquiry regarding the possibility of a reunion of the original lineup. My response to this was that I was willing to talk, but I did not believe for one minute that there would be any realistic chance of this happening given the past history between the members, I was, however, open to discussion and would await further information. "In 2005, I had a lengthy telephone conversation with Conrad ['Cronos' Lant; VENOM bassist/vocalist] initially regarding the return of a product licence. It was during this conversation that he asked if I was OK with him continuing as VENOM. I said yes and wished him well with it. At this point in my life, VENOM was of no concern to me as my mother had suffered a serious stroke, and later in that year, after a long battle, she passed away, so my focus had obviously been on her. "As you are all aware, Conrad has since been actively gigging and recording as VENOM, and as you know, I am continually busy with M-PIRE OF EVIL. "As time went by and rumours and discussions of a reunion increased, but without any input from Conrad or myself, it became obvious to me that the two people who had to communicate in some way were the two of us, as we both have active and ongoing careers, so I made the decision to contact him to get an answer which would basically come down to a simple 'yes or no.' In my heart of hearts, I already knew and was prepared for the answer, and quite honestly I also had my reservations about the validity and practicality of such a venture. "As you may have already guessed, the answer came back as 'no,' so I can hereby officially say that there will be no reunion of the original lineup. "I will include only one line from Conrad's response as these were personal and private communications between him and myself. In his response he stated: 'I've personally got no interest whatsoever in trying to work with the original lineup ever again.' "This was something that I fully expected and understand." The classic lineup of VENOM — Lant, Dunn and Bray — is often credited with kickstarting the whole black metal movement, but is more accurately seen an early example of extreme metal. VENOM's second album, 1982's "Black Metal", was a major influence on on the early Norwegian black metal scene.

VIRGIN STEELE Changes New Album Title, Reveals Cover Artwork Long-running American metallers VIRGIN STEELE have changed the title of their new album from "Hymns To Damnation" to "Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation". The CD will be released on June 17 in Scandinavia, June 19 in Germany, June 22 in the rest of Europe and June 23 in the USA via SPV/Steamhammer. It will be made available in physical format with three different covers — as a standard 1CD version (the gargoyle cover), 2CD digipak version (the angel cover), 2LP gatefold version (the flute playing skeleton cover) — and as a digital download. Comments VIRGIN STEELE singer David DeFeis: "Our new album, which is called 'Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation', is not a concept album per se, but there is a through line that connects the tracks. The lyrics essentially deal with relationship issues, and by that I mean the connections between entities, as in all sorts of beings, not only human being, but also gods and goddesses, spirits, elements, or whatever, plus various creatures, animal, vegetable and or mineral, but largely the album is about connections between people. People and their belief systems, people and their gods or goddesses, people and their life philosophies and also the various substances we invest or inject into our daily or nightly rituals and our worldview, and all the complexities of what drives us, makes us who we are and takes us where we may or may not be going. "To sum it up, this album is about all the various ways in which humans can entangle themselves, or destroy themselves, so the album's title essentially encompasses what the vibe of the whole work is about. "The title relates to the album in the way that the title 'Noble Savage' or 'Age Of Consent' expressed each of those particular works. The title provides a framework and connective tissue, but each song is really its own thing. "Musically, the album is pretty heavy, high energy, often dark, at turns melancholy, and at turns aggressive or angry sounding. It does have that over-the-top bombastic heaviness that we are about, and the whole barbaric-romantic thing that we are known for. "The overarching theme that comes to mind when I think about the album or listen to it is passion… raw passion. There are big monolithic riffs, moody chord changes, 'classical' type bits, sort of bluesy moments.... It retains the VIRGIN STEELE signature, but it adds new dimensions to it. In a strange way, it 'feels' to me like it could have been the album we might have made to follow up 'Noble Savage' had I been able to devote all my energies into the more bombastic or progressive side of my musical nature at that time, rather than trying to appease some of the other 'factions' around me who wanted some kind of a 'hit'...whatever that meant at the time. "So, to conclude, we have infused the recordings with all that we have gone through over these past months, every fiber of our being, and I think this album will be something our fans will really enjoy."

METAL CHURCH Rejoined By Singer MIKE HOWE Singer Mike Howe, who fronted METAL CHURCH from 1988 until 1994, has officially rejoined the band. In the summer of 2014, METAL CHURCH suddenly found themselves in need of a new singer. As fate would have it, guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof was already in talks with Mike for another project that he was working on with SAXON drummer Nigel Glockler, so he decided to ask Mike to rejoin METAL CHURCH. Mike agreed, but true to form, didn't want to make it official until he knew for sure that the integrity of the new material was there. Says Mike: "I didn't want to come back to METAL CHURCH just for nostalgia. It had to be for the right reasons. It had to be the best stuff we've ever written together or it just wouldn't be worth it to anyone, especially the fans." Soon after, Kurdt and Mike began exchanging ideas and writing new material with the band. The end result sounds like "classic Mike Howe-era METAL CHURCH," according to Vanderhoof. "It's both heavy and melodic. Mike sounds the same as he did 20 years ago. He adds: "This is going to be truly epic!!" Drummer Jeff Plate comments: "Mike Howe is the ONLY singer for METAL CHURCH. He has a reputation of complete honor and respect. We can now take METAL CHURCH to the next level!" Howe originally joined METAL CHURCH in the late '80s and released three albums with the band: "The Human Factor" (1989), "Blessing In Disguise" (1991) and "Hanging In The Balance" (1994). Mike was also the face of popular music videos "Date With Poverty" and "Badlands" that aired during MTV's heyday. METAL CHURCH is currently in the process of working on its new album, to be released later this year via Rat Pak Records. METAL CHURCH 2015 is: Mike Howe (vocals) Kurdt Vanderhoof (guitar) Jeff Plate (drums) Steve Unger (bass) Rick VanZandt (guitar)

DEW-SCENTED To Release 'Intermination' In June German thrashers DEW-SCENTED will release their tenth studio album, "Intermination", on June 30 in North America. The CD was mixed by Dan Swanö (Unisound Studio) and features cover artwork by Gustavo Sazes (Abstrata.net). The band stated: "Our tenth (!) studio album sounds more focused and determined than ever before. We couldn't be more pleased with the results we achieved. We can't wait share the new music with all of you!" All formats of "Intermination" include a cover of REPULSION's "Radiation Sickness", while the digital edition and the limited-edition gatefold vinyl (dark green and 180-gram black variants) will include two bonus tracks, "Those Who Will Not See" and "Survival Reaction" (SOLSTICE cover). "Intermination" track listing: 01. Declaration Of Intent (1:00) 02. On A Collision Course (3:49) 03. Scars Of Creation (3:46) 04. Affect Gravity (3:56) 05. Means To An End (4:41) 06. Ode To Extinction (4:05) 07. Demon Seed (3:48) 08. Power Surge (3:53) 09. Ruptured Perpetually (3:35) 10. Living Lies (4:19) 11. Atavistic (3:38) 12. Reborn (3:32) 13. Radiation Sickness (2:05) (REPULSION cover) Bonus tracks (only available on vinyl and digital versions) 14. Those Who Will Not See 15. Survival Reaction (SOLSTICE cover) DEW-SCENTED will embark on a European tour dubbed "Thrash Mercenaries" in October with ANGELUS APATRIDA from Spain and NO RETURN from France. Additionally, the band has just been announced to support CAVALERA CONSPIRACY as well as EXODUS on select dates.

SAVATAGE: 'Return To Wacken' Collection Due In June To celebrate SAVATAGE upcoming reunion performance at Wacken Open Air in Wacken, Germany, SAVATAGE and earMUSIC will release the ultimate "Return To Wacken" album on June 19. The effort will contain studio versions of classic songs that the band played live at Wacken as part of their previous two appearances at the world-famous festival: in 1998 and 2002. In addition to SAVATAGE's greatest hits, such as "Hall Of The Mountain King", "Gutter Ballet" and "The Wake Of Magellan", the "Return To Wacken" booklet will offer insight into the band with personal memories by the group's mastermind, Jon Oliva, rare pictures and press quotes. "Return To Wacken" track listing: 01. Hall Of The Mountain King 02. Gutter Ballet 03. Believe 04. Chance 05. Edge Of Thorns 06. The Wake Of Magellan 07. Dead Winter Dead 08. The Hourglass 09. Tonight He Grins Again 10. Prelude To Madness 11. When The Crowds Are Gone Asked in an interview with Femme Metal Webzine if SAVATAGE has any plans for beyond Wacken for either live shows or new material, Jon Oliva said: "As far as that goes, the whole Wacken thing came up, and I was, like, you know what? If we're going to do anything, we have to do it now. I don't want to do it when I'm 60 years old. I mentioned that to [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA producer/composer] Paul [O'Neill]. He said to me, 'We're going to do the Wacken thing, but let's just wait until the [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA] winter tour is over and then you and me we're going to sit down in January and discuss what we're going to do.'" He continued: "We've already gotten offers to do it in certain areas of the world, America being one, Greece, South America, places like that. We have to see how we're going to do this. It's something that Paul and I, honestly — and I'm telling you totally honestly — we just brushed over what we thought we might want to do and we said, with all the chaos of getting the winter tour out, we said, let's just wait until after the tour is over and then we'll figure this whole thing out. We know we're going to start with 'Gutter Ballet'; that's all we agreed on. [Laughs]" Oliva added: "[TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA] is going to come out first for, I think, 40 or 50 minutes doing the big-production numbers, then Paul is going to bring me out and we're going to do the SAVATAGE thing and we're going to start with 'Gutter Ballet' and that's where we ended the conversation and said, we'll pick this up and we'll figure out what we're going to do as far as other shows go and everything like that. As of right now, Wacken is the only place, but I'm sure once everything works out and we see what happens, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of there being a couple more on top of that." SAVATAGE's last album release, "Poets And Madmen", in 2001 was highlighted by Jon Oliva's return as lead vocalist, replacing Zak Stevens, who left the band citing family reasons, and the departure of Al Pitrelli, who accepted an offer to join MEGADETH in 2000. Pitrelli did record solos for some songs prior to his departure. Another very limited U.S. tour followed, supported by FATES WARNING in the early shows, and then NEVERMORE for the remainder. Around this time, Jon chose Zak's replacement in the form of Damond Jiniya (DIET OF WORMS). Damond performed Zak's parts on tour, with Jon having an increased vocal role in proceedings.

Polish death / black metal machine HATE is about to release it's ninth studio album called 'Crusade: Zero'. This new effort is a perfect reflection of the world we live in today and Adam, the lead guitarist and vocalist of the band does not hide his disappointment in the human race. We had the chance to talk to him about the meaning of the title of the album, about the strength of the Polish metal scene, but also of the tragic death of their bass player Mortifer on the tour in 2013 and how it affected the band and the creative process for this record. Join us for this chat, around 10 pm, or one hour into the show, filled with metal and new HATE songs! Broadcast time: 9-11 PM CET (Berlin/Sarajevo) 8-10 PM GMT 4-6 PM EST 3-5 PM CST 1-3 PM PST You can listen to the interview online, wherever you are, following this link: http://beta.radiosarajevo.ba/media/player2/rs_player_mini.html

Thulcandra will release a new album come end of January, which will be called 'Ascension Lost'. This album will be their third and it will leave a mark on the melancholic melodic black metal scene, for sure! People compare them to the early Dissection, and not just because of the Necrolord covers, but also because the approach to music is similar. Steffen, the leader of the band, who is also a mastermind of the technical death metal band Obscura, does not deny this, although Thulcandra, after three albums has it's own identity. We talked about the theme of this new album, Steffen's approach to writing the music and of course the balance towards his main band Obscura. Join us for this chat, around 10 pm, or one hour into the show, filled with metal and new Thulcandra songs! Broadcast time: 9-11 PM CET (Berlin/Sarajevo) 8-10 PM GMT 4-6 PM EST 3-5 PM CST 1-3 PM PST You can listen to the interview online, wherever you are, following this link: http://beta.radiosarajevo.ba/media/player2/rs_player_mini.html

Finsterforst is a band from Germany that just released their fourth full length album called "Mach Dich Frei". The band consisting of 7 musicians is a part of the pagan metal scene, with musical references that put them in the folk, viking or even black metal genre. Since we never did interview this band, it is time for them to introduce themselves and tell us what musical genre are they actually playing, why do they sing in German or why their songs are never shorter than 9 minutes. We had the chance to chat with the guitarist of the band David and the drummer Wombo. So open up your beer and join us for this interesting and funny conversation. And open up your mind because we will listen to some Finsterforst tracks! Broadcast time: 9-11 PM CET (Berlin/Sarajevo) 8-10 PM GMT 4-6 PM EST 3-5 PM CST 1-3 PM PST You can listen to the interview online, wherever you are, following this link: http://beta.radiosarajevo.ba/media/player2/rs_player_mini.html

Black and extreme metal fans are already very familiar with the works of the German black metal pioneers DARK FORTRESS. On the 1st of September the band unleashed it's new album called 'Venereal Dawn' which might once again reinvent the genre.  And why shouldn't it? With musicians in the band like the leader V.Santura (also in Triptykon (Official)) and our guest of honor Morean, DARK FORTRESS are certainly capable of that task and if you had the chance to hear the new effort and dig deep into the concept behind the music, you would agree that they already succeeded . If you haven't heard the album, or if you want to know more, join us for our chat where Morean will explain in detail the story behind the new album.  We will also talk about Morean's other projects and bands like Noneuclid, the upcoming Alkaloid and his guest performances on the new album of Bosnia's finest Silent Kingdom. Broadcast time: 9-11 PM CET (Berlin/Sarajevo) 8-10 PM GMT 4-6 PM EST 3-5 PM CST 1-3 PM PST You can listen to the interview online, wherever you are, following this link: http://beta.radiosarajevo.ba/media/player2/rs_player_mini.html

Most people think of ALESTORM as of a party band and that they certainly are. There are not many bands with so many anthems to party to and it works so perfectly well with their pirates image that they managed to release yet another album called 'Sunset Of The Golden Age'.