New & Noteworthy is a weekly column in which we highlight some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. This week features new music from Overkill and Mors Principium Est, a live Def Leppard CD/DVD/Blu-Ray release, and maybe even Marilyn Manson’s Say10. If you want to check out last week’s releases or see the latest sales numbers, you can do so here, and here. Last week’s Kreator release was the biggest US debut for the band yet!
Overkill, The Grinding Wheel (Nuclear Blast)
The New Jersey based thrash legends Overkill have released their eighteenth studio album The Grinding Wheel. The album was produced by Overkill, and mixed & mastered by Andy Sneap (Accept, Carcass, Testament, etc.). Speaking with Full Metal Jackie vocalist Bobby Blitz had this to say about writing the album: “I think I’m writing about things that are quite pertinent to what I go through all the time and what other people go through all the time. It could also be something as totally from left field… and the next thing I know I’m down here smashing on the computer and scratching out notes on the back of cocktail napkins and recording lyrics… I would think that the weight of that source comes from the internal things that I’ve collected. Trying to dispose any of the negativity I’ve collected over the last year and a half.” The Grinding Wheel, initially planned for a late 2016 release date, was pushed back to today to coincide with the US tour that the band is embarking on with Nile starting this Tuesday in Philadelphia. It’s also available on vinyl.
Mors Principium Est, Embers of a Dying World (AFM)
Finish melo-death band Mors Principium Est have released their sixth studio album Embers of a Dying World. The album has been getting amazing reviews from Metal Storm, Metal Assault, and Metalwani so far, and upon first listen I would be hard pressed to disagree. The only thing more brutal than the album itself is the artwork on the cover, which was done by Eliran Kantor, known for his work for Testament, Iced Earth, and Sodom. It’s available on vinyl, I suppose that’s pretty brutal too.
Def Leppard, And There Will Be A Next Time… Live From Detroit (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
The newest things to come from hard rocking British group Def Leppard is the live DVD And There Will Be Next Time. The set was filmed on July 16, 2016 at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, MI and is available on Blu-Ray and DVD, with both editions being packaged with a 17 song, two disc CD. Bonus features on the DVD include the official music videos for “Let’s Go”, “Dangerous” and “Man Enough”, as well as the lyric video for “Let’s Go.”
Cynic, Uroboric Forms – The Complete Demo Recordings (Century Media)
Florida progressive metal Cynic are releasing a 17 song collection of demos, spanning the entirety of the band’s careers. It is the first release from the band since their 2014 studio album Kindly Bent to Free Us. Guitarist Paul Masvidal had this to say about the collection’s release: “The demos are more like sketches of an early artist. I can hear the thread, at least in my own playing, that’s still in me now. What’s happening in that group, on those demos, is still happening to me now. I can hear the through-line. Like, “Oh, wow! I’m still doing that!” The voice was always there. Now, it’s more refined, articulate, and precise. I could never get back to the demos. It’s a time and space, relative to it. It’s a snapshot of who we were then. It’s a document. That’s the beauty of it.” Also vinyl.
Marilyn Manson, Say10
Supposedly shock rock icon Marilyn Manson will be releasing his tenth studio album Say10 this Tuesday, February 14th, but there has been very little word or promotion as of writing this that would allude to an upcoming release. We have a teaser that was released back on election day, and that is about it. No artwork has been revealed, no music videos released, and it’s not even available for pre-order yet. Manson describes the album as “not very much in any way like The Pale Emperor. The people who have heard the new songs said it reminded them of their favorite parts of Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals—but with a new, different approach. It’s pretty violent in its nature for some reason, and it’s not emotional in the same way. It’s got a chip on its shoulder.” I suppose we will just have to wait and find out.
