For the past two decades, Sweden's Dark Tranquillity have been at the forefront of melodic death metal. One of the pioneers of the Gothenburg sound, they are still going strong with their latest album Construct. I spoke with vocalist Mikael Stanne, who talked about a change in their songwriting process that made this album much less stressful, the departure of bassist Daniel Antonsson, upcoming tour plans, new music he's been listening to and other subjects.

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Every week we bring you a bunch of short reviews of the latest metal albums, collected in one convenient location. This week we evaluate the latest from Age Of Taurus, Antigama, ASG, Black Star Riders, Blood Ceremony, Blood Red Throne, Burial Vault, Chaostar, Death Of An Era, Eldkraft, Gevurah, Haraball, Hebosagil, Iron Tongue, Mortuary Drape, Pasadena Napalm Division, Sacred Oath, Slidhr and Sound Of Contact.

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The German trio Kadavar recently released their sophomore album Abra Kadavar. The band was supposed to do a U.S. tour this spring, but ended up only playing South By Southwest. The band's drummer Tiger fills us in on the new album, switching record labels, tour plans and other topics.

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Here are the new heavy metal CD releases for this week.   For the most detailed and up-to-date schedule, check out our complete Heavy Metal CD Release Date calendar.

May 28, 2013
Age Of Taurus - Desperate Souls of Tortured Times(Metal Blade)
Antigama - Meteor (Selfmadegod)
Anvil - Hope In Hell (The End)
ASG - Blood Drive (Relapse)
Black Star Riders - All Hell Breaks Loose (Nuclear Blast)
Blood Ceremony - The Eldritch Dark (Rise Above)
Burial Vault - Incendium (Apostasy)
Cadaveria - Horror Metal - Undead Edition Re-Release (Bakerteam)
Cerna - Restoring Life (Domestic Genocide)
Chaostar - Anomima (Season Of Mist)
Dark Tranquillity - Construct (Century Media)
Dew-Scented - Insurgent (Prosthetic)
Dio - Finding The Sacred Heart: Live In Philly 1986 DVD (Eagle Rock)
Eldkraft - Shaman (Poison Tongue)
Gardenjia - EPO (Memorial)
Gevurah - Necheshirion (Profound Lore)
Haraball - Sleep Tall (Fysisk Format)
Humiliation - Turbulence From The Deep (Deepsend)
Iron Tongue - The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown (Neurot)
Judas Priest - Epitaph DVD (Legacy)
Kylesa - Ultraviolet (Season Of Mist)
Leprous - Coal (Inside Out)
Lux Interna - There Is Light In The Body... (Pesanta Urfolk)
Mortuary Drape - Tolling 13 Knell Re-Release(Peaceville)
Pasadena Napalm Division - Pasadena Napalm Division (Minus Head)
Sacred Oath - Fallen (Angel Thorne)
Shining - One One One (Prosthetic)
Slidhr - Deluge (Debemur Morti)
Sound Of Contact - Dimensionaut (Inside Out)
Tesseract - Altered State (Century Media)
Zombiekrig - Den Vänstra Stigens Ljus (GMR)

Season 12 of That Metal Show premieres Saturday night on VH1 Classic. Guests on the first episode include Lemmy and Jason Newsted. I caught up with co-host Don Jamieson for a discussion on some of this year's new show segments, some of this season's guests, his experience at the recent Golden Gods awards and other topics.

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The legendary German power metal band Helloween are returning to North America. They will be back for the first time since 2008 beginning in September. Their latest album Straight Out Of Hell was released in January.

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5 Questions With... is your chance to get to know a new or up-and-coming band. Surgeon are a Philadelphia based progressive metal group whose latest album is Chemical Reign. Vocalist/bassist Sean Bolton introduces us to his band.

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Every Friday I turn the blog over to Dan Marsicano for his Retro Recommendation, giving you a chance to learn about underrated and overlooked gems from metal's past. This week, Extreme are in the spotlight. They had some huge mainstream radio hits like "More Than Words" in the early '90s, but Extreme was a harder-edged band than many people realized. They shifted their musical direction a bit for 1995's Waiting For The Punchline, which is this week's Retro Recommendation.

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He's the drummer/composer for Charred Walls Of The Damned and a staffer on the Howard Stern Show, but Richard Christy also works in the visual arts. He has developed a new animated web series Majestic Loincloth, a metal based fantasy cartoon. I spoke with Christy about the new project, the status of the next Charred Walls album, the Death To All tour (Christy used to be in Death), the passing of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman and other topics.

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Once a week we collect a bunch of the latest metal releases into one article of short reviews. Get the quick lowdown on the latest from Burning Rain, Enshine, Extrema, Fact, For The Broken, Gaytheist, Hybrid, Masteroid, Negator, The Poodles, Satan, Svart Crown, Thinning The Herd and Zed.

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Here are the new heavy metal CD releases for this week.   For the most detailed and up-to-date schedule, check out our complete Heavy Metal CD Release Date calendar.

May 21, 2013
Acherontas - Amenti (World Terror Committee)
Airbourne - Black Dog Barking (Roadrunner)
Burning Rain - Epic Obsession (Frontiers)
Circle - Six Day Run (Ektro)
Decaying - The Last Days Of War (Hellthrasher)
Death Of An Era - The Great Commonwealth EP (Artery)
Erlen Meyer - Erlen Meyer (Shelsmusic)
Extrema - The Seed Of Foolishness (Scarlet)
Fact - Burundanga (Good Fight)
For The Broken - Aurora (Imminence)
Gaytheist - Hold Me...But Not So Tight (Good To Die)
Hebosagil - Lähtö (Ektro)
Masteroid - MMXIII (Inverse)
NK - Nothing To Be Gained Here (Triple Crown)
A Pale Horse Named Death - Lay My Soul To Waste (SPV)
Palisades - Outcasts (Rise)
The Poodles - Tour De Force (Frontiers)
PTSD - A Sense Of Decay (My Kingdom)
Ruindom - In The Eyes Of Death (Inverse)
Saffire - From Ashes To Fire (Inner Wound)
Satan - Life Sentence (Listenable)
Svart Crown - Profane (Listenable)
Timo Tolkki's Avalon - The Land Of New Hope (Frontiers)
U.D.O. - Steelhammer (AFM)
Zed - Desperation Blues (I And I)

At About.com Heavy Metal we are big supporters of underground and unsigned bands. Check out our monthly column Drago's Dungeon, featuring great albums from unsigned metal bands. Dan Drago is himself a member of an unsigned band and knows the struggles and challenges unsigned bands face. If you're in an unsigned metal band anywhere in the world, or know someone who is, there's information in the column on submitting material for future columns.

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Kamelot will be touring North America this fall in support of their latest album Silverthorn. Delain and Eklipse will be opening all shows.

"We are really looking forward to getting back on the road for our headline shows in the US and Canada, along with great support acts Delain and Eklipse, says Kamelot's Thomas Youngblood. "This tour will be something very special."

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5 Questions With... is your chance to get to know a new or up-and-coming metal band. Tribulation are a Swedish death metal group whose second full-length is The Formulas Of Death. Guitarist Adam Zaars introduces us to his band.

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Every Friday I turn the blog over to Dan Marsicano for his Retro Recommendation, giving you a chance to learn about underrated and overlooked gems from metal's past. This week, Anvil are in the spotlight. The Canadian band, whose hard luck story was told in the incredible documentary Anvil! The Story Of Anvil, are a study in dedication and perseverance. We go all the way back to the beginning for this week's Retro Recommendation, their 1981 debut Hard 'n' Heavy.

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The latest album from The Dillinger Escape Plan is One Of Us Is The Killer, which has been getting rave reviews, including 4.5 out of 5 stars on this site. I had a great conversation with vocalist Greg Puciato about the writing and recording of the album, the issues that inspired the album title, their memorable performance at the Golden Gods Awards and other topics.

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Every week our writers deliver a ton of short reviews of the latest metal albums, all collected in one convenient location. This week we put nearly 30 releases under the microscope, including Aggressa, Ape Machine, Arckanum, Artizan, Beyond Creation, Black Cowgirl, Damnation Angels, Death Ray Vision, Devil, Enemy Reign, Entrails, Eternal Rest, Gravewurm, Heart In Hand, Intoxicated, Kadavar, Kings Destroy, Lifeforms, The Monolith Deathcult, Mortal Form, Orchid, The Resistance, Steve Von Till, Surgeon, Tribulation, Utopium, Zolle and Zombiefication.

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Volbeat's latest album Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies has something for everyone. There are radio-friendly singles, a little rockabilly flavor, and even a guest appearance from metal legend King Diamond. I spoke with Volbeat singer Michael Poulsen about the writing and recording of the new album, how King's appearance came about, his memories of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman and other topics.

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Here are the new heavy metal CD releases for this week.   For the most detailed and up-to-date schedule, check out our complete Heavy Metal CD Release Date calendar.

May 14, 2013
Adoran - Adoron (Consouling)
Aggressa - Nuclear Death Re-Release (Iron Bonehead)
Ape Machine - Mangled By The Machine (Ripple)
Arckanum - Fenris Kindir (Season Of Mist)
Artizan - Ancestral Energy (Pure Steel)
Beyond Creation - The Aura (Season Of Mist)
Beyond Mortal Dreams - Dreaming Death (Lavadome)
Black Cowgirl - Black Cowgirl (Restricted Release)
Bolzer - Aura EP (Iron Bonehead)
Cultura Tres - Rezando Al Miedo (Devouter)
Death Dealer - War Master (Steel Cartel)
Death Karma - A Life Not Worth Living EP (Iron Bonehead)
Death Ray Vision - Get Lost Or Get Dead (Bullet Tooth)
Devil - Gather The Sinners (Soulseller)
The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer (Sumerian)
Enshine - Origin (Rain Without End)
Entrails - Raging Death (Metal Blade)
Escape The Fate - Ungrateful (Eleven Seven)
Extinction Protocol - Aeonic Obliteration (P2)
Fatal Smile - 21st Century Freaks (FS)
From Far Away - Recover Repeat (At Your Command)
Gravewurm - Infernal Minions (Hells Headbangers)
Heart In Hand - Almost There (Siege Of Amida)
Hexvessel - Iron Marsh EP (Svart)
Hybrid - Angst (Deepsend)
Immolation - King Of Conspiracy (Nuclear Blast)
Intoxicated - Rock N Roll Hellpatrol (Hells Headbangers)
Kadavar - Abra Kadavar! (Nuclear Blast)
Killing Joke - The Singles Collection (Spinefarm)
Kings Destroy - A Time Of Hunting (War Crimes)
Lifeforms - Multidimensional (Lifeforce)
The Monolith Deathcult - Tetragrammaton (Season Of Mist)
Mortal Form - The Reckoning (My Kingdom)
My Dying Bride - The Manuscript EP...

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After a couple of limited release demos drew a lot of attention, Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats signed with Rise Above Records, which is distributed by Metal Blade in North America. Their latest album Mind Control comes with high expectations. The band's namesake and frontman Uncle Acid fills us in on the new album, signing with Rise Above, tour plans, his musical background and other topics.

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