Swedish doom metal legends CANDLEMASS have parted ways with singer Mats Levén and have been rejoined by Johan Längqvist.

Längqvist sang on CANDLEMASS's debut album, 1986's "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus", before exiting the group and being replaced by Messiah Marcolin.

Commented CANDLEMASS: "We wanted to find our way back to the roots of CANDLEMASS, back to the soul and essence of the band. Johan Längqvist is back and we hope this will give us some new energy and kickstart the heart of doom again. We don't know if it will last 10 more years or even five, but if it will give us just another year of having fun and playing the music that we love so much, it will be a blas ...

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Mark 'The Shark' Shelton of Manilla Road has passed away at age 60. Suspected heart failure due to heat exhaustion.

Manilla Road was playing Brande-Hornerkirchen, Headbangers Open Air festival in Germany on July 26, 2018 in extreme heat.

Quote from a friend at the gig.

"Absolutely shocking!! He got sick after his show last night and they sent him to the hospital. Probably heart related. It's ridiculously hot here. Even at night it's about 30c. "

Singer of Manilla Road Bryan Patrick shared on his Facebook page:

"July 27th 2018: I'm very sorry to announce today that my long time brother and Best Friend since 1981 has passed through the Halls ...

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Florida death metal veterans DEICIDE will release their long-awaited new album, "Overtures Of Blasphemy", on September 14 via Century Media. The follow-up to 2013's "In The Minds Of Evil" was produced by Jason Suecof (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, TRIVIUM) at AudioHammer Studios in Sanford, Florida. The cover artwork was created by Zbigniew M. Bielak (GHOST, PARADISE LOST, MAYHEM) and can be seen below.

DEICIDE frontman Glen Benton states: "This album came together over time, meaning we didn't want to rush it.

"A few people might remember an interview where Steve Asheim (original member, drummer/songwriter) said 'the material is done, but it's just not there yet.' Well, that ...

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ALICE IN CHAINS will release its new album, "Rainier Fog", on August 24. The much-anticipated follow-up to 2013's critically acclaimed album "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was recorded was recorded in Los Angeles, Nashville, and for the first time in more than 20 years, the band's hometown of Seattle. Mixed by Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), "Rainier Fog" is the group's third straight album recorded with Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES), who produced 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue" and 2013's "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here".

"Rainier Fog" track listing:

01. The One You Know
02. Rainier Fog
03. Red Giant
04. Fly
05. Drone

Vinnie Paul Abbott's family has told TMZ that the legendary drummer died in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas. His body has been turned over to the medical examiner to determine a cause of death, and after that, he will be flown back to his home state of Texas to be buried between his mother and brother.

Vinnie Paul and his brother "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage. He was 38 years old.

Vinnie and Dimebag's father was Jerry Abbott, a successful country songwriter whose tunes we ...

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SLEEP has just released its first full-length album of new recordings since 1998. Years after the release of "Volume One" in 1991, "Holy Mountain" in 1992 and "Dopesmoker" in 2003, the sonic titans reaffirm their place at the top of the riff pyramid with this brand-new double album, "The Sciences", available on Jack White's Third Man Records.

Words elude us to describe this masterpiece, we recommend you listen immediately. "The Sciences" is available now everywhere one can listen to music in 2018, and physically in stores hand-selected by the band as a limited-edition split-colored LP with an alternate cover. A standard edition of the album is also available to order now.

URIAH HEEP guitarist Mick Box was recently interviewed by 365NYportal.com. The full conversation can be seen below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):

On whether he thinks the music industry has changed for the better over the years:

Mick: "It's very hard to say. I think it's a bit of each. It's good that things are so immediate now, but it's also a disposable age where you can do everything with one button in your home, and it arrives the next morning, so there's no anticipation, no romanticism involved with the music. It's very disposable. That's the bad side of it. The good side is the immediacy, with Facebook and web sites and Instagram and ...

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Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES will release their new album, "To Drink From The Night Itself", on May 18 via Century Media.

Produced with Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, THE HAUNTED, DIMMU BORGIR) at Parlour Studios in the U.K., the follow-up 2014's "At War With Reality" will feature conceptual artwork created by Twilight 13 Media's Costin Chioreanu, who previously worked with AT THE GATES on the band's last disc.

AT THE GATES vocalist/lyricist Tomas Lindberg comments: "It has once again been an absolute pleasure working creativily with Costin.

"We had a lot of ideas for what we wanted to get across with the art this time around. Overall they w ...

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Ihsahn will release his seventh solo album, "Ámr", on May 4 via Candlelight/Spinefarm.

True living legends are few and far between, but Ihsahn has long since earned the right to be regarded as one of metal's all-time greats. As frontman and chief songwriter with legendary Norwegian black metal pioneers EMPEROR, he swiftly cemented a formidable reputation as one of the underground's most idiosyncratic creative forces. Classic albums like 1995's "In The Nightside Eclipse" and 1997's epoch-shattering "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk" ensured that the young band were among the most respected the most popular of Norway's many black-hearted exports. Their imperious rise to prominence cam ...

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Norwegian symphonic metallers DIMMU BORGIR will release their new album, "Eonian", on May 4 via Nuclear Blast.

The songwriting core of DIMMU BORGIR furthermore consists of charismatic vocalist Shagrath, as well as the string wizards Silenoz and Galder, but other familiar faces also emerge from the darkness: drummer Daray and keyboardist Gerlioz are still part of the team, and Gaute Storaas helped with the choral arrangements for the majestic voices of the Schola Cantrum Choir.

The cover artwork was designed in fascinating detail by Zbigniew M. Bielak (GHOST, BEHEMOTH, MAYHEM).

"Eonian" will contain 10 new tracks, produced by the band itself and engineered by ...

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