Canadian heavy metal artist Devin Townsend has announced that the long-awaited album version of his rock opera, The Moth, is finally dropping on May 29th. The concept of the opera has been in the works since 2016, and was first performed live back in March of last year.
Devin described the album as "a loose story following someone who realises that old patterns of behaviour are no longer serving them. By digging in and sitting with themselves, an internal conflict is revealed, one they may have been resisting or unconsciously rationalizing for years."
The album is said to be part of a "quadrilogy" of projects, which also includes his 2024 release, Powernerd, as well as another one called Axolotl, and his web series, Ruby Quaker which released its first episode back in November.
Along with the announcement, Devin also released the lead single from the album, "Enter the City".
Pioneering industrial group Godflesh has been forced to retire ahead of the release of its final album after founder Justin Broadrick revealed the impact of an inguinal hernia meant he could no longer perform harsh vocals.
Broadrick confirmed in a statement on Instagram that continuing to perform harsh vocals with Godflesh risks further hernias, and potentially blowing out his abdominal wall entirely, so for his own health Godflesh has immediately ceased operating as a live band. However, the penultimate album, titled Decay, is currently in the mixing and mastering phase with a tentative July/August release. A final album has already been written and will be recorded in late 2026, Broadrick's health permitting. Further dub albums and live albums have not been ruled out.
Broadrick has, however, confirmed that his other less intensive projects, such as Jesu and JK FLESH, will continue alongside other newer projects which won't demand harsh vocals.
The world may be crumbling around us in hyper-speed these days, but at least we're getting some good music to score it to.
Speaking of score, humanity has gotten a big win today with some great news to some old heads of metal:
Avant-garde prog metal band maudlin of the Well is reuniting for their 30th anniversary this year.
Per founding guitarist/bassist/singer/clarinetist/pond water hand tappist Toby Driver:
"In 1996, three friends from Connecticut set out to build a private world, a place to disappear into. We approached music guided by an inner compass, following whatever paths the work revealed, rather than creating something meant for a career or a specific scene. After some time, we left that place, but it continued to unfurl in silence. It traveled quietly from person to person, connecting with those who were meant to find it and gathering energy from around the world as it went, reaching farther than we ever did. In th ...more
Britrockers A have announced that they will be releasing their first studio album since 2005's Teen Dance Ordinance on 22 May.
After signing with Cooking Vinyl late in 2025, the group have announced their comeback album will be called PRANG, which will be their first album with bassist Richard Trigg, having gone through a series of live bassists including Dougie Poynter (McFly) and Tim Hillier-Brook (ex-Architects) since Daniel P Carter's departure in 2012 to focus on his career as a BBC Radio DJ. New single "Hello Sunshine" was accompanied by a lyric video animated by Tom Perou.
PRANG track list:
1. Hello Sunshine
2. Walkover
3. Bring On The Likes
4. Shit Summer
5. All In
6. Techno Viking
7. Kings of Lowestoft
8. Comment Leaver
9. Back To The Shop
10. Lifeline
Texan death metallers Frozen Soul have released the title track off their new album No Place of Warmth, out 8 May via Century Media.
Guesting on the track is My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, another venture into extreme metal after his appearance on Ibaraki's progressive black metal effort "Rōnin" in 2022. The collaboration resulted from a chance meeting between Way and Frozen Soul a couple of years ago:
“We met Gerard a couple of years ago and have become friends. I knew he had a love for metal, so I spun the idea to him about singing in a Frozen Soul song and he was stoked! Gerard is an amazing artist and musician whose creative vision has shaped generations and more to come.”
Album track list:
1 – No Place of Warmth (Feat. Gerard Way)
2 – Invoke War (Feat. Machine Head)
3 – Absolute Zero
4 – Dreadnought (Feat. Sanguisugabogg)
5 – Chaos Will Reign
6 – Eyes of Desp ...more
Brazilian thrash group Sepultura have released first single from their final EP, The Cloud of Unknowing, which will be released on 24 April via Nuclear Blast.
The song, "The Place", was released accompanied by an AI generated lyric video interspersed with real footage of the band, and lyrically challenges the hypocrisy of immigrants who subsequently become anti-immigration once they have settled into a new country.
Track list:
1. All Souls Rising
2. Beyond the Dream
3. Sacred Books
4. The Place
Wounds of Recollection, the long running one man Blackgaze project, has released a split ep with genre newcomer American Sacred Music. The collaboration is entitled “Late in the Season of Flies” and features one new song by WOR and three by AMS. It is available to stream and purchase via their shared label, Fig on Wrist.
For the first time in 15 years, WU LYF will be returning with a new album, A Wave That Will Never Break, set to release on April 10. The opener for the album and first single, "Love Your Fate" can be found below:
Legendary SoCal Punk Rock band Social Distortion have announced their long awaited new album, Born To Kill, with the title track revealed.
Last December, singer and guitarist Mike Ness, who revealed a diagnosis of tonsil cancer in June 2023, offered an update on his recovery, telling Kevin Ryder at the annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2025: "I was afraid I was gonna not gonna live. I've been through some hard things in my life in some dangerous situations, as you can imagine, but nothing like that."
Asked if he had to learn to talk and sing again, Mike said: "I had to learn to eat, swallow — everything. I mean, they went in there — they sent a robot. I call him Ike, the robot. He went down and cut out my tonsil and the tumor. And then the second part of the surgery was, they slit my neck and cut the lymph nodes out. So I could not eat food. I mean, I came out of surgery with a drain and a feeding tube."
It's always a pleasure to announce when new staff writers and contributors are joining the ranks at Sputnikmusic! Please join me in congratulating the following individuals on their success and their newfound platforms as music journalists:
Synthwave project Gunship, led by Fightstar duo Alex Westaway and Dan Haigh alongside Alex Gingell, have released a new single for the upcoming video game John Carpenter's Toxic Commando.
The track, "Tell Me When the World Stops Ending", is not yet lined up to appear on any imminent album, but marks a more aggressive turn for the electronic group, incorporating guitars and harsh vocals, leaning more into electronic rock at times. The group also recruited Choir Noir, who last year collaborated with prog metal group TesseracT, for additional choral elements in the track. In an interview with NME, Westaway hinted that this may be a clue towards the direction of the next album, which the band are currently writing.
Read the interview with NME here: https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/gunship-interview-ohn-carpenter-toxic-commando-tell-me-when-the-world-stops-ending-3931105
Circa Survive have announced a reunion show, their first live performance in 5 years. The band has been on hiatus (or breakup as lead singer Anthony Green has called it in interviews) since 2022.
The show will take place at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville in September 2026. No other tour dates or hints of new music have been dropped. The band has also deleted all pictures from their instagram, which fans speculate may mark a “fresh start” for the group.
Birmingham natives ERRA (all uppercase) continue their rollout of singles, this time presenting us with "i. the many names of god" for their new upcoming album silence outlives the earth (all lowercase) due to come out on March via Australian label UNFD.
“the many names of god is the first in what we consider the trilogy of silence outlives the earth" said guitarrist Jeese Cash. "The trilogy represents a distinct shift in tone from the previous songs on the record. we wanted the aesthetic of the track listing to persuade the feeling of that shift. the record transitions to a darker place at this point, and the many names serves to take the heaviest moods expressed in the preceding tracks and visceralize them.”
Listen to "i. the many names of god" (all lowercase) below:
Swedish extreme metal powerhouse Arch Enemy are charging into a new chapter as they unveil the first new musical piece after their latest album cycle with Blood Dynasty.
The new single "To The Last Breath" is a testament to the band's legacy, and a step towards a new exciting era of Arch Enemy: "To The Last Breath" comes not only with powerful music but is also the first Arch Enemy song to feature the latest addition to the lineup — new singer Lauren Hart (ex-Once Human).
Michael Amott, guitarist and founder of Arch Enemy, comments, "Connecting with Lauren has marked an important step in my journey. Working with her was an exceptional experience — her remarkable voice, coupled with her dedication and professionalism, brings a rare level of excellence. I look forward to continuing the collaboration."
Michael Amott adds, "Make no mistake — this song is a reckoning. Musically, it's unapologetically align ...more
At the Gates have published a music video for the first single "The Fever Mask" from their upcoming album The Ghost of a Future Dead, out April 24th via Century Media Records.
The vocals for the whole album were recorded in one day in early 2025, the day before vocalist Tomas Lindberg had surgery for cancer. Tomas tragically passed away later the same year.
The video stands as a tribute to Tomas, in loving memory.
Tracklist:
1. The Fever Mask
2. The Dissonant Void
3. Det Oerhörda
4. A Ritual of Waste
5. In Dark Distortion
6. Of Interstellar Death
7. Tomb of Heaven
8. Parasitical Hive
9. The Unfathomable
10. The Phantom Gospel
11. Förgängligheten
12. Black Hole Emission
The Dear Hunter released the first single, "The Glass Desert I - Giants" off their upcoming album, Sunya out on March 20 through Cave and Canary Records. Sunya continues the story begun with 2021's Indigo Child EP and 2022's Antimai.
Listen to "The Glass Desert I - Giants" below:
The band also launched an interactive experience in the world of the Indigo Child on their website for fans to explore -> https://thedearhunter.com/fly/
Also, a European tour is scheduled for September, see the dates here: https://thedearhunter.com/#tour
Foo Fighters return with their 12th studio album, Your Favorite Toy, due out on April 24 via Roswell/Columbia Records. The band shared the title track, which is the second single off the LP, after "Asking for a Friend", released last October. It is unclear at the moment if Ilan Rubin played drums on it or Dave handled the respective parts again.
“‘Your Favorite Toy’ really was the key that unlocked the tone and energetic direction of the new album,” Grohl mentioned. “We stumbled upon it after experimenting with different sounds and dynamics for over a year, and the day it took shape I knew that we had to follow its lead. It was the fuse to the powder keg of songs we wound up recording for this record. It feels new.”
Alternative rock veterans and heavy shoegaze pioneers Failure have announced a new album, Location Lost, due April 24. It was self-produced and one song (“The Rising Skyline”) features Hayley Williams, whose band Paramore covered a Failure song on their second release, The Summer Tic EP, 20 years ago.
Band member Greg Edwards says the album is “very different” and adds that “there are sounds and parts that really don’t have any precedence within the Failure world.” You can definitely feel that coming through on lead single “The Air’s On Fire,” a brooding rock song that sounds like new territory within this band’s already-musically-diverse catalog.
Vocalist Ken Andrews says the song was written about the serious back injury that he suffered shortly after editing the recent Failure documentary Every Time You Lose Your Mind that required him to get surgery. “I basically coded,” he says. “Everything was spinning. I kept saying, ...more
Tim Very, the long standing drummer of Atlanta indie rockers Manchester Orchestra, has suddenly passed away. The band announced this news via social media on February 14th. The cause of death is yet to be revealed. Tim was 42.
Full statement by the band:
The entire Manchester Orchestra family has been devastated by the sudden passing of our brother, Timothy Very. The most beloved human being any of us were lucky enough to know in this life. We’ve all been dreading sharing this news as we are all still in absolute disbelief.
Tim was instantly likable and interacted with everyone he met with kindness and warmth. His laugh was infectious and he immediately made people feel invited and encouraged. His humor and energy were the very foundation that held together the entire MO universe.
Strangers quickly became friends and friends became family.
He had an undeniable light that was only matched by his dedication and ...more
