Photo Credit: Jarmo Katila / Toni Kilpinen

International powerhouse BEAST IN BLACK have proudly revealed 'Lost Children', the breathtaking next track from their highly anticipated upcoming fourth studio album, Fear The Beast (Nuclear Blast).

Arriving just in time to fuel the anticipation for their upcoming gigantic headline tour—which officially kicks off with a sold out show at London's Kentish Town Forum on 26th October —'Lost Children' delivers a sweeping, truly epic power ballad experience. Deepening the band's long-standing creative love affair with the iconic manga Berserk, the track features a towering vocal performance from frontman Yannis Papadopoulos, who pushes his soaring, dramatic voice to phenomenal new heights.

To visually match the grand scale of the song, the band has once again collaborated with award-winning director Katri Ilona Koppanen to deliver a stunning and cinematic music video that perfectly captures the majestic, emotional weight of the track.

Watch the video for 'Lost Children': https://youtu.be/O4pf13iML6c
Listen to 'Lost Children': https://beastinblack.bfan.link/lcsg

Anton Kabanen explains:
"Lost Children Chapter" is one of my absolute favourite parts of Berserk manga, if not my favourite. It had an enormous impact on me when I first read it, some 20 years ago, and ever since I wanted to write songs (or at least one!) about it. I wanted to find my own way to tell this important, tragic and heart-wrenching story, while staying true to its delicate child-like purity and meaningful core.

"What makes the story so powerful is its emotional complexity. Children are generally seen as innocent and pure, and in many ways they are also victims of their circumstances. Rosine (the girl from the story) is a particularly fascinating example of this contradiction. She becomes the antagonist and commits genuinely terrible acts, yet deep down, she isn't inherently evil. She's a vulnerable child who has been pushed into a tragic situation.

"When the God Hand (from Berserk) offers someone a way out of unimaginable suffering, it's difficult to say how most people would respond. You can understand why Rosine makes the choices she does without necessarily being able to forgive what she does.

"That's what makes the story emotionally turbulent. You experience anger, horror, sadness and compassion, sometimes almost simultaneously. By the end, there's a sense of emotional absolution, because you realise that the character you've been fighting against is also a victim herself. It's not a straightforward story of good versus evil. The emotions are contradictory, and that's precisely why it's so deeply moving.

"I wish to add that with Katri's visual and emotional storytelling abilities she created a beautiful, unique, layered and the most soulful Beast In Black music video to date, which connects to a human heart and reminds us how fragile it is, and yet so sincerely hopeful in its innocent core. We all have been children, we all are someone's children, some of us have children. And we all are drawn to that warm light glowing softly in the window called home."

RESURRECTION tour: (w/ Sonata Arctica, Frozen Crown)

26.10.2026 UK London - O2 Forum Kentish Town

Line up:

Yannis Papadopoulos - Lead vocals
Mate Molnar - Bass
Atte Palokangas - Drums
Markus Venehsalo - Guitars
Anton Kabanen - Guitars, vocals, virtual instruments programming

BEAST IN BLACK online:

https://beastinblack.com
https://www.facebook.com/beastinblackofficial
https://www.instagram.com/bib_band
https://www.tiktok.com/@bib_band
https://www.youtube.com/@BeastInBlackOfficial

Photo Credit: Tania Horbatiuk

Mere days away from the release of new album Monumental, Ukrainian modern metal architects IGNEA open another door to their upcoming studio album. 'Harmony Manufactured' is fast and heavy and features guest vocals from Britta Görtz of melodic death metal band HIRAES who recently floored audiences as an interim front woman for Heaven Shall Burn. On IGNEA’s new single, her vocals create intense harmonies with Helle Bohdanova’s vocals to unfold another facet of Monumental.
 
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/L7J_N_tuD2E

Pre-order Monumental here: https://lnk.to/Ignea-Monumental/napalmrecords

IGNEA’s new record is set around the concept of nostalgia and draws from architecture in its aesthetics. 'Harmony Manufactured' draws its brutal sound from Bauhaus buildings. Monumental releases this coming Friday via Napalm Records.
 
Vocalist Helle Bohdanova commented on 'Harmony Manufactured': “The song ‘Harmony Manufactured’ is a tribute to industrial design, the Bauhaus school, and the birth of technical aesthetics, celebrating objects in which function and beauty coexist perfectly. The Bauhaus believed in the unity of art, craft, and technology, and that well-made things shouldn’t be a privilege but part of everyday life. In this song, the mechanical intensity is combined with a melody that reflects the elegance of everyday products emerging from the production line: stylish, timeless, and capable of evoking nostalgia, like a tubular-steel chair that has outlived three generations of owners.

"In the video, though, it is the human body that is treated as the peak of design. After all, it is humans who carry the most beauty and enduring memory.

"We’re extremely grateful to have Britta as a guest on ‘Harmony Manufactured’. Her voice is the technical aesthetics of extreme vocals, and she has elevated this song enormously. I hope we’ll be able to perform it live together someday.”
 
Britta Görtz adds:
"Helle and I have a lot of mutual respect and appreciation for each other, so joining forces on a song felt like a very natural thing to do. I love the strong artistic vision that she and IGNEA brought to 'Harmony Manufactured', especially the way they explore the themes of nostalgia and Bauhaus through their music. It's always inspiring to work with artists who have such a clear creative identity, and it was a pleasure to become part of their musical world for this song. Having Helle come all the way from Ukraine to my hometown Hannover for the video shoot made the whole experience even more special!"

Monumental is IGNEA’s second full-length album that was written during the full-scale war in Ukraine. The recording process mostly took place in the winter of 2025-2026, during icy temperatures and long power outages in Kyiv.

Helle Bohdanova comments about Monumental: “Back in the 17th century, nostalgia was considered a deadly disease - and in many ways, it still is. It’s a universal feeling experienced by every human being, pulling us toward a past that felt gentler than it truly was, especially during the bitter moments of the present. Much of this album was inspired by modernist architecture - concrete giants built to signal progress and a brighter future, now slowly decaying. They've become a sort of memory box: monuments to unrealised dreams, where the future that was once imagined never arrived, yet continues to echo through the ruins and bright mosaics.”

On Monumental, IGNEA takes the listener on nostalgic rides, with all their ups and downs, expressed in music and lyrics, carrying a sense of gentle sadness and reflection, as nostalgia can bring back beautiful memories, darkened by the awareness that these moments will never happen again.
 
Following Dreams of Lands Unseen (2023), the band navigates through unique facets of the past across nine tracks - from the grandeur and ambition of Cold War space dreams to the melancholy of urban decay and forgotten modernist structures, all the way to the emotional weight of personal and collective memory. All lyrics on Monumental were written by vocalist Helle Bohdanova. The music was composed by keyboardist Yevhenii Zhytniuk, with additional contributions from Helle Bohdanova. Mixing and mastering were handled by Grammy Award-nominated producer Jacob Hansen, known for his work with bands such as DELAIN, Amaranthe, Volbeat, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, and Epica.
 
Catch IGNEA live supporting EVERGREY on their Architects Of A New Weave European Tour 2026 with Stellar Circuits.

UK dates:
25.11.26 UK - Southampton / The Brook
26.11.26 UK - Birmingham / Asylum
27.11.26 UK - London / The Underworld
28.11.26 UK - Leeds / The Key Club
29.11.26 IE - Dublin / Opium
30.11.26 UK - Belfast / Limelight 2
01.12.26 UK - Glasgow / G2
02.12.26 UK - Newcastle / Anarchy Brew
03.12.26 UK - Manchester / Rebellion
04.12.26 UK - Bristol / Strange Brew
05.12.26 UK - Nottingham / Saltbox

IGNEA are:
Helle Bohdanova – Vocals
Yevhenii Zhytniuk – Keys
Dmytro Vinnichenko – Guitars
Oleksandr Kamyshyn – Bass
 
IGNEA online:
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
NAPALM RECORDS

Monumental tracklisting:

1. Darkness     
2. Dreams of Lands Unseen      
3. Presence of the Past              
4. Prefab (feat. Combichrist)
5. What Buildings Dream of     
6. I am in Hell 
7. Between No Longer and Not Yet       
8. Harmony Manufactured (feat. Hiraes)
9. Nadir           

Monumental will be available in the following formats:

1-LP Splatter Vinyl, incl. LP-Sized Booklet – strictly limitd (Napalm Records Mailorder only)

Bundle 1-CD Jewelcase + T-Shirt (Napalm Records Mailorder only)

1-LP Solid Silver Vinyl

1-CD Jewelcase

Digital Album

Photo Credit: Manon Hure

Denver’s Wayfarer have released 'Grey Country', the third and final single from their sixth album Riders Of The Setting Sun, due 20th November via Vesperian. For the track, the band enlist Munly J Munly and Rebecca Vera, two enduring voices of Denver’s dark americana underworld known for their work with Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Munly & The Lupercalians and DBUK. Following David Eugene Edwards' appearance on 'Perdition’s Crossing', they bring yet another of that scene’s defining voices to the record.

One of the album’s darkest reckonings, ‘Grey Country’ moves like a funeral procession across a land stripped bare. Slow-burning and steeped in dread, it stares into the long shadow of inheritance, the weight of old sins and the things we carry long after everything else has turned to dust. Munly’s unmistakable voice rises from the wreckage, meeting Wayfarer’s sparse, spectral instrumentation somewhere between confession and lament. This is the sound of a country with blood on its hands and nowhere left to bury its dead.

Stream the new single and pre-order Riders Of The Setting Sun here: https://tr.ee/vesperian_wayfarer

Produced by Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe), Riders Of The Setting Sun finds Wayfarer venturing beyond their extreme metal roots into a desolate strain of gothic americana, where post-punk, folk and rock ’n’ roll drift through the dust. The result is a portrait of the American West with its mythology stripped away: beautiful, brutal and haunted by everything it would rather forget.

For Wayfarer, the American West has never been merely a backdrop. It is a character. A memory. A wound. Formed in Denver, Colorado, the band have spent more than a decade developing a sound as vast and unforgiving as the landscape that surrounds them, building a singular strain of dark americana from the mythology, history and haunted beauty of the Western United States.

For the first time, Wayfarer have joined forces with visionary producer Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe), with recording and mixing contributions from James Barone (Beach House) and Iver Sandøy (Enslaved). The result is a record that feels simultaneously ancient and unfamiliar, a strange collision of Western dust, nocturnal highways, widescreen guitars and songs that sound as though they have been waiting for decades to be uncovered.

It is dark americana, but not the sepia-toned kind. This is the America after the sunset. The ghosts. The gamblers. The drifters. The dead. The beautiful things that should probably have been left buried.

Adding further weight to the album's lineage, Riders Of The Setting Sun features a remarkable cast of collaborators including David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower, Wovenhand), Munly J Munly, Midwife and Kelly Schilling (Dreadnought), while Steve Von Till (Neurosis) provides the spoken introduction to 'The Dusklands'.

The album also features Wayfarer's own take on Kris Kristofferson's 'Casey's Last Ride', a song that sits naturally within the band's dark americana world, its tale of loneliness, regret and a man disappearing into the night echoing the album's broader fascination with the darker corners of American mythology.

With album artwork created by celebrated artist Tony Stella, whose distinctive film-poster work has become synonymous with some of cinema's most iconic visual worlds, the artwork for Riders Of The Setting Sun feels less like an album cover than the poster for a lost Western, a film that perhaps never existed, but somehow feels familiar. It would also become one of Stella's final works before his passing earlier this year.

Riders Of The Setting Sun will be available on Digipak CD, cassette and vinyl LP, with the vinyl edition featuring a dedicated LP booklet and OBI strip.

Watch previous single 'Perdition's Crossing': https://youtu.be/R7Ukxm9qA2I and 'Hollow Hearts On The Way To Eden': https://youtu.be/DqvV8MTppzE

Discography:
Children Of The Iron Age (2014)
Old Souls (2016)
World’s Blood (2018)
A Romance With Violence (2020)
American Gothic (2023)
Perdition’s Crossing (2026)
 
Wayfarer are:
Joe Strong-Truscelli: Guitars
James Hansen: Bass
Shane McCarthy: Vocals, guitars
Isaac Faulk: Drums
 
Wayfarer online:
https://www.instagram.com/wayfarercolorado/
https://www.facebook.com/wayfarercolorado/
https://wayfarercolorado.bandcamp.com
ttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBO2-ZH9jAErEWQG8AUxS9w
 
Vesperian online:
www.vesperian.world
www.instagram.com/vesperian.world/

Tracklist:

1. The Dusklands - feat. Steve Von Till
2. Perdition's Crossing – feat. David Eugene Edwards
3. Black Roses & Early Graves
4. Casey's Last Ride – feat. Kelly Schilling
5. Fell Spur
6. Grey Country – feat. Munly J Munly
7. Hollow Hearts On The Trail To Eden    
8. Prairies Of Babylon – feat. Midwife

Photo Credit: JN Lightning Photography

Swedish melodic death metal heroes SOILWORK have officially released their brand-new single, ‘Night Whispers & Shining Lights’, capping off a monumental year celebrating the band's 30th anniversary.

The track drops in the midst of the band’s massive, ongoing European tour alongside Amon Amarth and Orbit Culture. 

Delivering the band's signature fusion of razor-sharp riffs, soaring melodies, and epic choruses, ‘Night Whispers & Shining Lights’ proves that the Swedish icons continue to bring relentless, genre-defining energy three decades into their storied career.

Björn “Speed” Strid comments: “'Night whispers & Shining Lights' is a hidden gem that’s been brewing in the vaults for a couple of years but celebrates our 30th anniversary and the embarkation of our tour with Amon Amarth and Orbit Culture in a grand way. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do! See you on stage soon.”

Listen to ‘Night Whispers & Shining Lights’: https://soilwork.bfan.link/night-whispers-shining-lights

Originally forming in late 1995 under the moniker Inferior Breed, the band rebranded as SOILWORK in 1996. Hailing from Helsingborg, they quickly carved out their own unique path in the landscape of Swedish metal, famously fusing the foundational elements of the Swedish melodic death metal sound with their own power-groove riffs and soaring hooks.

To mark this major 30-year milestone, frontman Björn “Speed” Strid and the band have been hosting a year-long retrospective throughout 2026. Every month, the group has dug deep into their extensive catalogue, spotlighting two albums at a time to share never-before-seen studio footage, rare media, and intimate behind-the-scenes stories with fans worldwide.

'Night Whispers & Shining Lights' serves as both a celebration of this rich history and a fierce look toward the future.

SOILWORK are:
Björn "Speed" Strid - vocals
Simon Johansson - guitars
Sven Karlsson - keyboards
Sylvain Coudret - guitars
Bastian Thusgaard - drums
Rasmus Ehrnborn - bass

SOILWORK
www.facebook.com/soilwork  
www.instagram.com/soilwork  
www.twitter.com/soilwork
www.soilwork.org 
www.nuclearblast.de/soilwork 

Photo Credit: Oscar Rodriguez

Southern California's BIG ASS TRUCK I.E. are putting the pedal to the metal with today's release of their explosive debut EP, FOUND ON ROAD DEAD, available now via Nuclear Blast Records. To celebrate, the Inland Empire hardcore wrecking crew have unleashed a brand new music video for the EP's pit-destroying anthem ‘BIG ASS GUN,’ directed by Chris Klumpp (156/Silence, Currents).

Clocking in at just under two minutes, ‘BIG ASS GUN’ is a relentless barrage of crushing riffs, bone-rattling breakdowns and irresistible two-step grooves. Already a fan favourite at the band's notoriously chaotic live shows, the track wastes absolutely no time getting down to business, delivering a concentrated dose of hardcore brutality designed to incite immediate headbanging and full-scale mosh pit destruction. No filler, no wasted motion, just pure, unfiltered aggression.

Stream / purchase FOUND ON ROAD DEAD: https://bigassmftruck.bfan.link/found-on-road-dead

Watch ‘BIG ASS GUN’: https://youtu.be/DBI5koONTt0

The five-track FOUND ON ROAD DEAD EP is a thunderous introduction to one of hardcore's most outrageous new acts. Hailing from California's Inland Empire, BIG ASS TRUCK I.E. have carved out their own lane in the heavy music underground, combining pulverising metallic hardcore, massive breakdowns and an unapologetically over-the-top monster truck aesthetic. From the punishing assault of previously released single 'DRAGGING MEAT' to the sheer blunt-force impact of 'BIG ASS GUN', the EP delivers an uncompromising soundtrack to absolute mayhem.

In addition to its digital release, FOUND ON ROAD DEAD is being offered in several collectible physical editions. The limited Black Tire Edition, a 10-inch tire-inspired vinyl pressing, is available from 20th October, alongside a new EP T-shirt. Two additional vinyl variants, the F.O.R.D. Edition and the Crusher Edition (independent record store exclusive), are available for pre-order starting 20th October, with both editions scheduled for release on 11th December.

BIG ASS TRUCK I.E. will head to the UK in January for a headlining tour with support from local hardcore crew PINTGLASS.

Dates:

Jan 21 - Newcastle, UK - The Grove
Jan 22 - Glasgow, UK - Classic Grand
Jan 23 - Liverpool, UK - Rough Trade
Jan 24 - London, UK - Downstairs at The Dome
Jan 25 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
Jan 27 - Leeds, UK - Boom
Jan 28 - Bristol, UK - Exchange
Jan 29 - Portsmouth, UK - Kola
Jan 30 - Birmingham, UK - Flapper
Jan 31 - Manchester, UK - Rebellion
Feb 2 - Dublin, IE - The Grand Social
Feb 3 - Belfast, UK - The Limelight 

Tickets and additional tour information: https://bigasstruckie.com

Follow BIG ASS TRUCK I.E.:
Instagram | X | Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music

Tracklisting:
1. FOUND ON ROAD DEAD
2. DRAGGING MEAT
3. BIG ASS GUN
4. FORCED THROUGH SLUDGE
5. 1 TRILLION POUNDS

Photo Credit: Pelagic Records

French sludge metal quartet Love Sex Machine will release their mighty new album
Thriving on 13th November via Pelagic Records.

Today, the group have revealed another new single from the record, 'Borrow the Will'.

Watch: https://youtu.be/QXjtT6jmWS8
Stream: https://orcd.co/lsm-thriving

Formed in Lille, France, Love Sex Machine have spent more than a decade developing one of the most recognisable strains of contemporary sludge. From their earliest recordings the band established an approach built around weight, repetition and confrontation, stripping heavy music down to its most physical components while retaining a distinct sense of brutal humour. Love Sex Machine continue to expand through sludge, post-metal, post-hardcore and blackened extremity as a band with zero interest in restraint or convention.

Uncompromising, darkly humorous and physically overwhelming, Love Sex Machine‘s new album Thriving is “…uglier, more direct and more violent than anything we’ve done.“ Though routed in a violent approach to sludge, the band constantly distort that foundation through the angular precision of modern metal, the tension of post-hardcore and the colder, more hostile colours of black metal. The songs arrive and sustain such density and repetition that their massive depth of sound is unapologetically abrasive; rattling listeners to the core and giving direct access to the human shadow in all its vile glory.

Short and brutally immediate compositions give Thriving a particularly urgent character, whilst each song stands unique in the onslaught of ear-drums and curdling flesh. The result is music that is filthy yet precise, punishing yet strangely catchy, ugly yet meticulously constructed. Love Sex Machine make heaviness itself the organising principle, and then find increasingly inventive ways to make it stampede over all expectations and sensibilities.

Love Sex Machine online:
https://www.instagram.com/lovesexmachineband
https://lovesexmachine.bandcamp.com/album/love-sex-machine

Love Sex Machine are:
Xavier - Drums and Backing Vocals
JB - Guitar and Backing Vocals
Laurent - Bass and Backing Vocals
Yves - Guitar, Lead Vocals and Mix

Tracklisting: 
1. Yellow Is Dead
2. Borrow The Will
3. The Herd
4. Dig
5. Holy Filth
6. Awaken
7. Born Erased
8. Polymorphism
9. Ultrasatan
10. Amputation
11. Thriving

Photo Credit: 360Grad Design

Modern metal stars DOMINUM are joining the ranks of the most well-known musical zombies by covering Michael Jackson’s hit 'Thriller'. The modern metal four-piece adds their irresistible charm to the 80s soundtrack and turns the pop song into a metal anthem. Horror aesthetics and arena-ready choruses are brilliantly fitting on this homage.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/cBxmD4tpjA0
 
The song is fresh off their current album, Night is Calling, which was released on 3rd July via Napalm Records and earned itself a spot in the top 10 on the German charts. This follows their previous record, second album The Dead Don’t Die (2024), which also infected Germany’s top 10.

Mastermind and singer Felix Heldt—better known as Dr. Dead—has since taken his zombies, Tommy Kemp (guitars), Patient 0 (bass), and Victor Hilltop (drums), and the undead spectacle to major stages across Europe. Touring alongside icons such as Bruce Dickinson, Avantasia, Battle Beast, and Peyton Parrish, the band has proven its strength both at major festivals and during their own headline shows.

DOMINUM will be touring the UK in December with The Night Flight Orchestra and Edge Of Paradise supporting.

Dates:

08.12.26 UK – Manchester / O2 Ritz
09.12.26 UK – Bristol / Bristol Electric
10.12.26 UK – London / Electric Brixton

Get the album here: https://lnk.to/DOMINUM-NightisCalling/napalmrecords

Dr. Dead comments: "Let’s be honest for a second: before Michael Jackson came along, zombies had a serious image problem. They were extras in cheap B-movies, hanging around on terrible diets and taking a shotgun blast to the face by minute twenty. No rights, no lobby.

"Then, in 1983, a man in a red leather jacket showed the world that this valuable part of our society had more to offer. Suddenly they were dancing on MTV. Prime time. Michael Jackson did more for the undead than any politician ever has. So we owe him one. And since a thank-you card felt a bit boring, we’re paying him back our way: by spicing up this masterpiece a bit.

"Just for your information: our security on the Night is Calling Tour has been briefed. Anyone caught moving forward during ‘Thriller’ is officially cleared as dinner."

DOMINUM open the next chapter of their dark, theatrical universe with their new full-length Night Is Calling. With their bombastic sound and outstanding stage presence, the band continues its rapid ascent on the international metal scene, without losing sight of its strengths: theatrical, melodic, and uncompromising modern metal—driven by the dark charisma of Dr. Dead and his zombies. One thing is certain: the Living Dead Squad continues to grow.
 
Dr. Dead on Night Is Calling:

"'They grow up so fast.' – Ugh. It makes me sick. And now I feel it myself: my zombies have grown up. Our creation… has grown up too.

"But unlike the pitiful rest, we don’t mourn our childhood. No. We revel in who we are. Being a child, being an adult – what does that even mean? Anyway – the world lies at our feet, and we can do whatever we damn well please.

"Believe me from firsthand experience: an army of zombies makes everything a hell of a lot easier… and way more fun with every bit of trouble getting the punch it deserves. We have the power to reshape our world. And oh, we do.

"Night Is Calling - this is our outlet.

"Stronger melodies, heavier riffs, sharper, unflinching lyrics – honesty as our deadliest weapon. We are who we are. And you… you’re in this whether you like it or not. The undead are on the march, more relentless than ever. Join us – immediately, willingly… or a little later when we come to your neighborhood. Either way… we’ll be seeing you."

Produced by Felix Heldt and mixed by renowned producer Jacob Hansen, Night Is Calling expands the band’s sonic universe with even heavier riffs, bigger choruses and cinematic drama. The explosive opener 'The Circus Is In Town' throws listeners straight into DOMINUM’s twisted carnival, while infectious anthems such as 'Doctor Doctor' and 'Dark Melodies' deliver massive hooks destined to echo across festival crowds. The powerful title track 'Night is Calling' (feat. Battle Beast) further highlights the band’s growing presence on the international metal stage.

DOMINUM are: 
Dr. Dead – Vocals
Patient 0 – Bass
Victor Hilltop – Drums
Tommy Kemp – Guitars

DOMINUM online:
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TIKTOK
NAPALM RECORDS

Tracklist: 

1 The Circus Is In Town    
2 Doctor Doctor    
3 Children Of The Night
4 Nosferatu
5 Dark Melodies    
6 Night is Calling (feat. Battle Beast)
7 Jack The Ripper
8 Thriller (Michael Jackson Cover)
9 Devil's Son    
10 I Don't Drink Wine    
11 Endzeit
12 Don't Get Bitten By The Wrong Ones (Acoustic)
13 Hey Living People (Acoustic)

Leading independent festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents is proud to announce the first headliner for the upcoming 2027 edition of Sonic Temple Art + Music. Metal legends Iron Maiden will headline Friday 14th May as one of the nearly 150 bands taking over Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio during the 4-day destination event, scheduled for 13-16 May 2027.
 
Following packed shows and rave reactions across Canada and the USA for the recently concluded North American leg of their 50th Anniversary Run For Your Lives Tour, Iron Maiden will return to North America for limited shows in 2027 and will headline Sonic Temple on 14th May. The set list for the 2026 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees will include songs drawn from their career-defining early decades.
 
The announcement of Iron Maiden follows the previously revealed acts including A Perfect Circle, Primus, Sleeping With Sirens, PRESIDENT, Clutch, Imminence, Saosin, PeelingFlesh, Crowbar, Emmure, Escape The Fate, Showing Teeth, and Vana.
 
The full music artist lineup for Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival will be revealed next week.
 
4-Day and Single Day General Admission Field, Stadium and GA+ passes, as well as VIP, Rock Royalty and Columbus Owners Club passes are on sale now at early bird prices, starting at only $1 down, with flexible layaway options available. Service fees on all pass purchases include a charity fee for the DWP Foundation, which gives back to local and national charities throughout the year. Hotel packages, RV camping passes, and parking and shuttle add-ons are also available now at SonicTempleFestival.com
 
Last year, Sonic Temple - the Pinnacle of Rock Festivals In America - drew a record-breaking sold-out crowd of over 184,000 music fans, with nearly 145 bands on five stages. Beyond the music, one of the most distinctive elements of Sonic Temple is the celebration of visual art - transforming the festival into a living, breathing gallery experience with a range of renowned talents and Secret Walls, the world’s premier live paint battle, where global street artists go head-to-head in real time in creating live murals.
 
Here’s what the media had to say about Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival 2026:
 
“With record attendance at this year’s festival, the enormous turn-out and vibes just cement the sense that Sonic Temple is fast becoming the spiritual home of metal in the US.”
— Metal Hammer
 
“Sonic Temple never fails to deliver one of the year's biggest spotlights on modern hard rock and metal and this year is no different.”
— Loudwire
 
“Sonic Temple just delivered another massive four-day concert event that found more than 140 acts treating heavy music fans to a hell of a show.”
— Revolver
 
“Sonic Temple 2026 spread its wings over Historic Crew Stadium with a roar that made all its previous editions sound like a warm-up, shattering attendance records and confirming that DWP’s empire of rock and metal festivals has yet to find its ceiling. Columbus keeps answering the call, and Sonic Temple keeps redefining what answering it looks like. “
— Metal Injection
 
“With record-breaking attendance … and a lineup that read like a living archive of heavy music’s past, present, and future, Sonic Temple didn’t just return, it expanded its footprint as one of America’s most essential hard rock festivals.”
— Consequence
 
Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival is produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, one of the largest independent producers of destination music festivals in America.
 
In 2025, producer Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) solidified its long-term commitment to Columbus by announcing a five-year extension of its partnership with the Historic Crew Stadium, ensuring that the Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival will continue through at least 2030. This milestone not only secures the future of one of the nation’s most iconic rock festivals but also underscores the event’s growing cultural and over $40 million in economic impact on the region.

For more information on Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival, visit:
 
Website: https://sonictemplefestival.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sonictemplefestival | @SonicTempleFestival
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sonictemplefest | @SonicTempleFest
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sonictemplefestival | @SonicTempleFestival

Sonc Temple 2026, photo: Sam Shapiro

Photo Credit: Jascha Kreft

Berlin ambient duo Tschaikowsky & Kann have released their new single and video, ‘Journey Through Wannsee’, the final preview of their debut album, A New Way To Life, arriving 23rd October via Vesperian.

Named after the lake and district on Berlin’s south-western edge, ‘Journey Through Wannsee’ captures a fleeting moment of quiet reflection. Ethereal and unhurried, the track drifts through delicate textures and understated melodies, evoking the melancholy of a lakeside sunset as the last light fades from the sky. Beneath its weightless surface lies a deeper emotional resonance, drawing the listener into its quietly hypnotic world.

Shot by the duo themselves, the accompanying video has been animated and edited by Miles Skarin (Steven Wilson, Porcupine Tree, Blood Incantation). His work draws out the melancholy at the heart of the footage, transforming a lakeside sunset into a quietly hypnotic meditation on light, atmosphere and passing time.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/MvnQiYEM-R8
Pre-order A New Way To Life: https://tr.ee/vesperian_tschaikowskykann

That sense of reflection runs through A New Way To Life, a deeply personal record concerned with the possibility of starting over, finding your footing after a fall and taking stock of life at a crossroads. Across eight tracks, the duo favour gradual shifts and unfolding arrangements over easy resolution, creating space for listeners to find their own meaning in the music. Seven pieces are entirely instrumental, with ‘Relocate My Heart’ providing the album’s sole vocal-led moment. Watch the video for the previously released single 'I Knew It Would Be A Mistake But I Did It Anyway'. 

Formed by Niklas Tschaikowsky (guitars) and Leonhard Kann (synthesiser, drum computer, field recordings), the Berlin duo draw on the rich lineage of German electronic and experimental music. The spectral synthscapes of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, the exploratory spirit of Harmonia and the ambient sensibilities of Brian Eno all cast their shadows across their sound, reimagined through a distinctly contemporary, introspective lens.

Having already shared stages with artists including Hayden Pedigo, Minami Deutsch and Blood Incantation, Tschaikowsky & Kann are now preparing to open a new chapter with A New Way To Life, an album that finds quiet beauty in uncertainty and possibility in the act of beginning again.

Tschaikowsky & Kann online:
tschaikowskykann.bandcamp.com/
www.instagram.com/tschaikowsky.kann

Vesperian online:
www.vesperian.world
www.instagram.com/vesperian.world

A New Way to Life tracklist:

1. Begin Again (7:50)
2. Journey Through Wannsee (3:26)
3. Relocate My Heart (4:14)
4. To Enhance Living Spaces (8:14)
5. Lichtenberg (4:22)
6. Blaue Stunde (1:36)
7. I Knew It Would Be A Mistake But I Did It Anyway (4:25)
8. I Thought This Was Going To Be My Year (11:51)