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LORDI release their new DVD ‘Recordead Live – Sextourcism in Z7‘ (on DVD, Vinyl and Digipack) on 26th July on AFM Records.

Besides the live cut of the show in Pratteln, Switzerland during their latest ‘Sextourcism‘ tour, the DVD provides a lot of bonus material, including some real rarities.

The live show itself has a playing time of two hours. “We just cut a little bit of my stupid announcements on stage“, said Mr. Lordi about the impressive duration. “Apart from that, everything that happened this evening ended up on this DVD“.
The choice of the Z7 is a matter of duration as well: There is no club that hosted LORDI as often as this one located next to the German border and for that reason, the club became something like a second home to the Finns over the years.

Though there are some live records of LORDI, ‘Recordead Live – Sextourcism in Z7‘ is the first official Live DVD of the band, checked by the musicians, and was a plan that LORDI had been pursuing for years and finally put into practice during the Sextourcism tour. Mr. Lordi states: “I am very happy that we waited until the Sextourcism tour, because we look amazing, the stage looks amazing and everything was perfect to create a stunning DVD“.

The bonus material is stunning as well: Alongside a tour diary with LORDI, the DVD provides all of the official video clips the band ever made. Among them a real rarity, the very first official music video for ‘Inferno’, which was made 1994 and was Mr. Lordi’s final dissertation at the film academy. Besides production, location and the camera settings, Mr. Lordi was also responsible for writing, directing and editing the video and for costumes and the masks.
“That was the historical moment that the masks and costumes became an essential part of the band“, he remembers. “Since it was my final dissertation, everyone was dressed up except me. When I saw the clip for the first time, I was like Fuck, everybody looks way cooler than I do – it was supposed to be the other way around. That was the moment, I decided, to create the most elaborate costume for myself.“  
In the video to ‘Inferno’ Mr. Lordi does not wear a mask. But since a real monster never loses face, the clip was censored afterwards. A retrospective edited mask had Mr. Lordi staying Mr. Lordi.

Since their stunning victory at Euro Vision song contest in 2006, the Finnish monster rocker LORDI are omni present. With charm, exciting melodies and elaborate and crazy monster costumes the unconventional formation rocked over all Europe. With their new studio album ‘Sexorcism, released in spring 2018 and one of the most successful in the band’s history, LORDI returned with new costumes and a wonderful live show that now is caught in moving pictures, released in July.

Pre order link: https://shop.afm-records.de/lordi/ , http://www.lordi-webshop.com 

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BLOODBOUND release their new album ‘Rise Of The Dragon Empire‘ on 22nd March on AFM Records.

BLOODBOUND can be considered as one of the hardest working bands of the Metal scene. Since Fredrik Bergh and Tomas Olsson toyed around with ideas of founding a new band in 2004, BLOODBOUND have secured an impressive fan following which increased steadily and significantly since vocalist Patrik J. Selleby joined the band in 2010 (and followed in the footsteps of Michael Bormann and Urban Breed). 2011’s ‘Unholy Cross‘ was their fourth studio album, and first for AFM.

Only the biggest optimists (and the band itself) would have imagined where BLOODBOUND’s place in the scene would be today: their 2016 release ‘War Of Dragons‘ was their first to achieve impressive chart results in numerous countries, the band played a successful European headlining tour and a big number of festivals. The years of consistency, delivering quality releases over and over again, as well as making new fans on tours with Sabaton, U.D.O. and HammerFall, paid off. In the process BLOODBOUND have played concerts in 25 countries.

“Our audience is very much a combination of fans who follow us since they early days of our debut “Nosferatu” and ones who joined party somewhere along the way”, keyboardist Fredrik Bergh smiles. “Many of our older songs have become classics among those fans, but at the same time our audience demands that we play lots of songs from the new records, every time we tour again. That’s a great situation to be in for us as artists and keeps things fresh and exciting.”

At the end of 2018, BLOODBOUND once again hit the studio to record the upcoming 8th album. They once again teamed up with renowned engineer Jonas Kjellgren who has been responsible for the mix on the last four BLOODBOUND albums. While the 2012 release ‘In The Name Of Metal‘ was still a kind of celebration of the classic metal the band grew up on, the following album, ‘Stormborn‘ saw BLOODBOUND head into a more bombastic, orchestral and symphonic direction – while still maintaining (and even restore) their preference for solid, hymn-like tracks.

Album #8 is called ‘Rise Of The Dragon Empire‘ and music-wise it is a continuation of the latest two albums ‘War Of Dragons‘ and ‘Stormborn‘, but this time a clearer Nordic folk music influence is mixed in with the typical trademark sound of BLOODBOUND.
The band continues to develop with every album they make and with ‘Rise Of The Dragon Empire‘, they have taken their sound to a new level.

Line up:

Patrik J. Selleby (Vocals)

Tomas Olsson (Guitars)

Henrik Olsson (Guitars)

Anders Broman (Bass)

Fredrik Bergh (Keyboards)

Daniel Sjögren (Drums)

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IRON SAVIOR release their tenth album ‘Kill Or Get Killed‘ on March 8th on AFM Records.

Their new video for single  ‘Kill Or Get Killed” is out now.

IRON SAVIOR are back in the killing zone with the mission to bring on great power metal with no compromises.

The fact that Hamburg is not only the “most beautiful city in the world” but also the capital of Teutonic powermetal has been well known since the late eighties of the last millennium. Also, it should be familiar to any friend of melodic, heavy sounds that IRON SAVIOR, the band around mastermind Piet Sielck is a staple in the Hanseatic Metalscene. In1996 the multi-talented artist, who made a mark among others as a guitarist and producer, founded his solo project IRON SAVIOR.

In 2019 finally the time has come to turn over a new leaf, the hanseatic Metal-Institution will unleash the martial titled album ‘Kill Or Get Killed‘ The fact that the artwork and the lyrics seem unusually grim in contrast to the earlier concept albums is no coincidence. “We just were up for something new, and I was inspired by the book ‘The Star of Pandora’, a sci-fi novel about the destruction of humanity by an alien civilization,” explains Piet.

Apart from that, IRON SAVIOR stick to their guns. From the first tune, opener ‘Kill Or Get Killed‘ they are bringing the message home that they will take no prisoners. With epic anthems like ‘Eternal Quest‘, ‘Never Stop Believing‘, the stomper ‘From Dust And Ruble‘ and higj-octane-stunner ‘Heroes Ascending‘, coupled with on point guitar solos, perfect hooks, catchy choirs and the extraordinary signature voice of frontman Piet, this album has all the makings for another Power metal classic in the band’s history.

The album was produced by Piet Sielck at Powerhouse Studios.

Tracklist:
Kill Or Get Killed
Roaring Thunder
Eternal Quest
From Dust And Ruble
Sinner Or Saint
Stand Up And Fight
Heroes Ascending
Never Stop Believing
Until We Meet Again
Legends Of Glory
Sin City (Bonus)

Line up:
Piet Sielck (vocals, guitars)

Joachim “Piesel” Küstner (guitars)

Jan S. Eckert (bass)

Patrick Klose (drums)

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Review: Flotsam And Jetsam – The End Of Chaos

AFM Records (January 18th 2019)

Reviewer: Stephen Brophy

In many ways Flotsam and Jetsam are not only one of the heavyweights of the Thrash Metal, a band during 90’s for me far ahead of their time but also one that has so often been underrated in the genre. Something that has perhaps become quite a common thread in reviews I write, but something that could again hold back an album like this is the current need for immediacy in music, and perhaps to a certain extent the older generation that see’s their free time reduced and therefore the ability to sit and properly listen to music is no longer there, this again is an album you need to live with a bit.

What we have grown to expect from this band is a more mature often melodic style of Thrash, well written songs and it’s always most importantly tight as hell and Metal. The band have always had one of the more original sounding vocalists in Erik A.K, and that is still true today. To have existed as a band for 38 years is no easy feat in itself, and there has been a fair share of ups and downs, but to continue to make albums of this quality is a great sign of the hard work they continue to put in. Having listened to the album a lot over the last few weeks it just continues to grow on me, the songs stay fresh and I haven’t wanted to put it down, it’s on constant rotation as I travel around the City and that is never a bad sign.

Of the eleven tracks on offer here you will be grabbed by the power of ‘Control‘ which is just class, everything in proportion, pounding drums, screaming guitars and a layering that just drives it all home, there’s a nice anger in Erik’s vocal delivery on this one too that fits perfectly to the tune. Alongside this we’ve got other highlights including ‘Demolition Man‘ which a really nice bass line, spitting guitars, it’s another no holds barred track and ‘Unwelcome Surprise‘ which just smashes you right in the face and keeps going, pacey, crunchy goodness. Going to be really interesting what they pick from this album to their live set as there are many options.

This is another excellent release from a band that never really went away but appear to have become totally reinvigorated in recent years, there’s power, control and just some really excellent tracks that have translated brilliantly in the live environment. F&J will be hitting the UK in March with Overkill and again in July for the Amplified Festival. Do yourself a favour and get this one, if you are a fan of Thrash, heavy music or just good music, this is one that is sure to satisfy a lot more than just old school fans. Top stuff from a band all too often referred to as the one Jason Newsted left to go to Metallica, they have continued to be relevant in a scene where so many of their peers lost the creative spark many years ago. 2019 sees a band with a great lineup that seems to be working so well together, creatively and live, plenty more to come from this band.

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Herman Frank has released the new video for single ‘Fear‘ which you can check out here:

This is the third track taken from his new album ‘Fight The Fear’ due out on 8th February.
Herman Frank releases his new album ‘Fight The Fear‘ on the 8th February via AFM Records.
Pre-order the new album here: https://shop.afm-records.de/herman-frank/

The guitarist has been an integral part of the German metal scene since the early 80s. From Accept to Victory to his solo project started in 2009 and his work as a producer, the Hanoverian has proved a recipe for uncompromising Heavy Metal.

With the first three albums ‘Loyal To None‘, ‘Right In The Guts‘ and ‘The Devils Ride Out‘, Frank and his comrades-in-arms are causing storms of enthusiasm in both the press and the fans. And the fourth album “Fight The Fear”, cast in the same mold, will not change that. The Heavy Metal veteran and his men bring to proof, that the former solo project is much more
than a mere one-man show of the name giver.

Together with Masterplan front vocalist Rick Altzi, guitarist Heiko Schröder, former Rage drummer André Hilgers and Jaded Heart bassist Michael Müller, the musicians show that this is the perfect teamwork for a close-knit band. With razor-sharp riffs, sublime, hell for leather solos, consistently delivered high-class vocals between melody and heaviness, and a rhythm section, that drives every single song forward like clockwork, Herman Frank presents a flawless metal album, without even a single second of boredom.

 “We’ve never had this kind of band structure before,” Herman enthuses, “Each of us plays an active part in our collaboration, and the result is a fantastic and highly constructive approach to our work.”

In particular when it comes to the group’s lyrics, Frank has always believed in his proven dictum: “I feel that the vocalist should contribute the lyrics, because at the end of the day he’s the one who has to get them across to the audience and fill them with life. That’s the way I’ve been working with Rick since ‘Right In The Guts’ and the result speaks for itself.” Altzi sums up the lyric´s sense: “It wasn’t my intention to make any political statement on this album but my frustration concerning where we are in the world today somehow led me to write lyrics about that. How do we adapt to the threat and the fear of violence? Mankind seems to have a short memory keeps on doing the same mistakes over and over again. How we in modern time still let’s religion dictate and form the decisions made by people and governments?”

With a slight grin, Rick adds,”but I only wrote eight out of fourteen lyrics, so there’s enough room for love songs and pure rock’n roll.”

Line up:

Rick Altzi – vocals

Herman Frank – guitar

Michael Müller – bass

André Hilgers – drums

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Flotsam And Jetsam release their blistering new album ‘The End Of Chaos‘ on 18th January on AFM Records.

They’ve just released their last teaser before the album comes out, and you can check out the Lyric Video for ‘Control‘

Pre-order The End Of Chaos here: http://smarturl.it/TheEndOfChaos

Flotsam And Jetsam – The End Of Chaos Biography
“Hell no!“, Flotsam And Jetsam’s master behind the microphone Eric “A.K.” Knutson exclaimed when asked if this was the band’s final swing of the axe! ‘The End Of Chaos‘ certainly could be construed that way title-wise. But what do you do when you unleash arguably the finest hour in your 30-plus year career (2016’s genius Flotsam And Jetsam)? You head back to the dark n’ dusty garage to keep that momentum going. Let’s get one thing straight. Flotsam And Jetsam are a true anomaly in the annals of heavy metal history. The most under-rated entity in heavy metal history. Period.

True fighters, the Phoenix-based five-piece led by originals A.K. and guitarist Michael Gilbert (along with longtime bassist Michael Spencer, guitarist Steve Conley and drummer Ken Mary) have been doing battle in the trenches since the early ’80s. And although people point to their first album (1986’s Doomsday For The Deceiver ) as a game-changer, the band didn’t need the first (and only) 6K rating in Kerrang!’s history to gain accolades. There was much more to come, a helluva lot more. And without the ghost of Jason Newsted hovering – he jumped onto the Metallica freight-train just after the debut was released – Flotsam And Jetsam were off and running.

“A.K.’s vocals are what makes our band and who we are,” Michael Gilbert hits the nail on the metal-head. “He’s very unique, there is nobody else like him. He’s a fantastic singer. But the dude gets better and better.” So, no, The End Of Chaos is far, far from the end. Flotsam and Jetsam – the album – saw a band firing on all cylinders, writing/performing years younger than a band with three decades of power and glory notched on their bullet belts.

The End Of Chaos is loaded with 12 crushing songs that clock in at nearly 50 minutes, so for traditional thrashers there is plenty bone to chew on. Like a prize-fighter that refuses to kneel down, Flotsam And Jetsam tread onward with black eyes and bloody noses. It’s the youthful exuberance and a certain ‘we don’t give a flying fuck about age or time’ mentality. And the kinetic energy that they exude on stage is quite contrary to their street persona.

‘The End Of Chaos‘ lead-off track ‘Prisoner Of Time’ blasts out of the gate with a frenzied rhythm section filled with a hearty dose of Mary-mastery double-bass, as A.K. screams with passion “Live your life without regret, don’t be a prisoner of time.” And time has been very kind to these legends, despite the roller coaster highs and lows.
“This album kills!” says Ken Mary. “It’s all five guys with the gas pedal pushed to the floor for the entire album!”

‘The End Of Chaos‘ is “our heaviest release yet and can’t wait to share the chaos across the globe,” Michael Gilbert says with complete and utter confidence. And his riffs are his bragging rights. There is not one moment to take a deep breath as closer “The End” sees Flotsam And Jetsam at the top of their game once again. Each member feeding off each other’s undying emotions, and collectively they are unstoppable. “I can see the end is taking over and it always brings me down,” A.K. recites with majestic grace. Yes, it’s bleak, but have you taken a look outside lately? But that’s the beauty. The angst and anger is an outlet. And for those with Flots ‘Til Death tattooed on their headbanging forehead, we welcome the discomforting comfort.

“We’ve been through a lot of crap,” A.K. closes. “For a while I had a lineup with me that was just together to go out on vacations then have the promoters pay for it. And it’s a little different now, we are back to a real band making a stab at growing and becoming a bigger entity in the music industry. Our goal in writing a record, is to put out the coolest music we
can. The End Of Chaos hits the mark.”

Line up:

Eric “AK” Knutson (Vocals)

Steve Conley (Guitar)

Michael Gilbert (Guitar)

Michael Spencer (Bass)

Ken Mary (Drums)

 

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Brothers Of Metal have released a new music video for ‘Yggdrasil‘, taken from their new album ‘Prophecy Of Ragnarok‘, which was released on AFM Records on November 16th.

A new band like Sweden’s heavy/power metallers Brothers Of Metal doesn’t cross the music fan’s way very often. In fact, the kind of talent this 8-piece band brings to the table is very rare, but what makes Brothers Of Metal so special? Is it their distinctive, striking songwriting, the outstanding vocal delivery, the amazing hooks? ‘Prophecy Of Ragnarök‘ is an astonishing debut album which consist 14 anthemic, powerful, melodic metal tracks of highest quality.

Fans of acts such as Sabaton, Manowar or Powerwolf (just to name a few) will embrace the band for sure, even though Brothers Of Metal are so much more than a copy or anything lout there.

Their line-up consist of three vocalists – one of them being Ilva Eriksson, a real discovery! Her voice covers the whole spectrum from powerful to sensitive and marks the perfect counterpart to Joakim Lindbäck Eriksson’s energetic, rough vocal style. A third voice appears in shape of Mats Nilsson, the “Tongue of the Gods”, whose spoken parts compliment the extraordinaire vocal mix in a perfect way. Add to that, three guitarists, a bass player and a drummer; and you have a unique constellation which give us amazing heavy/power metal with a folky touch. A new force has arrived!

Line up:

Ylva Eriksson – Voice of the Valkyries

Joakim Lindbäck Eriksson – Battle Cries

Mats Nilsson – Tongue of the Gods

Dawid Grahn – Guitar

Pähr Nilsson – Guitar

Mikael Fehrm – Guitar

Emil Wärmedal – Bass

Johan Johansson – Anvil and War Drums

Order here: shop.afm-records.de/brothers-of-metal/

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HERMAN FRANK releases his second single ‘Hail And Row‘, along with lyric video on the 7th December. The track is taken off the new album ‘Fight The Fear‘ which will be released on the 8th February via AFM Records.

Herman Frank has been an integral part of the German metal scene since the early 80s. From Accept to Victory to his solo project started in 2009 and his work as a producer, the Hanoverian has proved a recipe for uncompromising Heavy Metal.

With the first three albums ‘Loyal To None‘, ‘Right In The Guts‘ and ‘The Devils Ride Out‘, Frank and his comrades-in-arms are causing storms of enthusiasm in both the press and the fans. And the fourth album ‘Fight The Fear‘, cast in the same mold, will not change that. The Heavy Metal veteran and his men bring to proof, that the former solo project is much more
than a mere one-man show of the name giver.

Together with Masterplan front vocalist Rick Altzi, guitarist Heiko Schröder, former RAGE drummer André Hilgers and Jaded Heart bassist Michael Müller, the musicians show that this is the perfect teamwork for a close-knit band. With razor-sharp riffs, sublime, hell for leather solos, consistently delivered high-class vocals between melody and heaviness, and a rhythm section, that drives every single song forward like clockwork, Herman Frank presents a flawless metal album, without even a single second of boredom.

 “We’ve never had this kind of band structure before,” Herman enthuses, “Each of us plays an active part in our collaboration, and the result is a fantastic and highly constructive approach to our work.”

In particular when it comes to the group’s lyrics, Frank has always believed in his proven dictum: “I feel that the vocalist should contribute the lyrics, because at the end of the day he’s the one who has to get them across to the audience and fill them with life. That’s the way I’ve been working with Rick since ‘Right In The Guts’ and the result speaks for itself.” Altzi sums up the lyric´s sense: “It wasn’t my intention to make any political statement on this album but my frustration concerning where we are in the world today somehow led me to write lyrics about that. How do we adapt to the threat and the fear of violence? Mankind seems to have a short memory keeps on doing the same mistakes over and over again. How we in modern time still let’s religion dictate and form the decisions made by people and governments?”

With a slight grin, Rick adds,”but I only wrote eight out of fourteen lyrics, so there’s enough room for love songs and pure rock’n roll.”

Line up:

Rick Altzi – vocals

Herman Frank – guitar

Michael Müller – bass

André Hilgers – drums

Pre-order the new album here: https://shop.afm-records.de/herman-frank/

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Flotsam And Jetsam release their new single and official video for ‘Demolition Man‘,the second track taken from their new album ‘The End Of Chaos‘ which is set for release 18th January.

‘The End of Chaos‘ will be released by AFM Records on January 18th, 2019 and is the fourteenth album in their more than 30-year of band history.

“This album kills! It’s all five guys with the gas pedal pushed to the floor for the entire album!” states Ken Mary
“It was cool to have a new element of influence on this album with having Ken’s drum parts to partner with and play in and around his playing that also do with the guitars and vocals. Glad to have had Jacob Hansen bringing this album to the overall sound and energy it has, Jacob really highlights AK’s vocal melodies, as well as Steve and Michael’s songwriting, while the power of the rhythm section drives the songs.”  Michael Spencer

The album will be available as Digipak, clear orange, gatefold vinyl (ltd. to 450 units), black gatefold vinyl (ltd. To 450 units), ltd. picture vinyl (ltd. to 500 units), gold black splatter gatefold vinyl and limited boxset’s with T-shirts which is available here

Tracklist:
01 Prisoner Of Time
02 Control
03 Recover
04 Prepare For Chaos
05 Slowly Insane
06 Architects Of Hate
07 Demolition Man
08 Unwelcome Surprise
09 Snake Eye
10 Survive
11 Good Or Bad
12 The End

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Herman Frank has released his first single ‘Sinners‘, taken from new album ‘Fight The Fear‘ which is set for release on on the 8th February via AFM Records.

Since 2010, former Accept guitarist Herman Frank has also released solo albums, the initial project-like nature of this venture having turned into a real band in due course. Following ‘Loyal To None‘, ‘Right In The Guts’ and ‘The Devil Rides Out‘, his fourth album ‘Fight The Fear‘ will be released on AFM Records on 8th February 2019.

Vocalist Rick Altzi (Masterplan) continues to be part of the line-up, complemented by erstwhile Rage drummer André Hilgers and Jaded Heart bassist Michael Müller. “We’ve never had this kind of band structure before,” Herman enthuses. “Each of us plays an active part in our collaboration, and the result is a fantastic and highly constructive approach to our work.”

In particular when it comes to the group’s lyrics, Frank has always believed in his proven dictum: “I feel that the vocalist should contribute the lyrics, because at the end of the day he’s the one who has to get them across to the audience and fill them with life. That’s the way I’ve been working with Rick since ‘Right In The Guts’ and the result speaks for itself.”

Line up:

Rick Altzi – vocals

Herman Frank – guitar

Michael Müller – bass

André Hilgers – drums

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