Brazil's melodic / progressive power metallers Darkship have unleashed a new music video 'II Hearts' in support of their debut album 'We Are Lost' released earlier this year. The album features ten songs with album artwork done by artist Carlos Fides of Artside Studio (Evergrey, Noturnall, Shaman, Almah). The album is the first part of the band's concept trilogy based on a fictional story about two people in love who are controlled by a force called “Darkship”.

Watch 'II Hearts' directed by Douglas Castilhos Coutinho at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUg6znjtx68

Another year, another awards edition. 2016 certainly shaped up to be eventful in the world of metal music. From Twisted Sister's disbandment announcement to Freddy Lim (ChthoniC) being elected to the Taiwanese Government and from Phil Anselmo's 'racist' spat to Lynchpin (Trinidad & Tobago) becoming the first Caribbean Metal band to play Wacken Open Air.

The 2016 GMA Awards received the biggest total of votes in GMA's history, a grand total of 66,785 votes from all corners of the globe were cast and needless to say whilst some categories were dominated throughout, over the last 2 weeks or so some categories saw many nominees change places as the voting continued, with some finishing extremely close-to-the-wire.

This year as it's our 5th anniversary we will acknowledge the 2nd and 3rd placed nominees as runner-ups and along with the winners, will receive a certificate cementing their place in GMA Awards history. All that's left is the GMA releases of the year by country, this will come in due course.

From the Global Metal Apocalypse editor and owner Rhys Stevenson, I thank everyone who voted and made this possible - I run GMA entirely by myself, in my free time, often working on it till 11pm at night, so my gratitude to those who support me cannot be more expressed than is already. Thanks!

I have included a gallery showing the breakdown of the votes per category to show you how the voters voted. The GMA Awards 2017 will commence Thursday 14th December and close Friday 29th December, so until then have a great last few days of 2016 and a very metal, but happy new year!

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Metallica - Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (Taking 27.7% of the votes)


BEST LIVE ACT
Iron Maiden (UK) (Taking 34.6% of the votes)


BREAKING METAL SCENE
New Zealand (Taking 22% of the votes)


NEWS EVENT OF THE YEAR
Twisted Sister announce their splitting-up (Taking 35.7% of the votes)


FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR
Bloodstock Open Air (UK) (Taking 26.6% of the votes)


MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Myrath - Believer (Taking 22.7% if the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH AFRICAN BAND
Iron Sliver (Gabon) (Taking 17.1% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH ASIAN BAND
Plecto Aliquem Capite (Sri Lanka) (Taking 22.1% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH AUSTRALASIAN BAND
Chronolyth (Australia) (Taking 12.9% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH EUROPEAN BAND
MindAhead (Italy) (Taking 18.9% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH UK BAND
Agrona (Wales) (Taking 23.7% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICAN BAND
Storm (Hawaii) (Taking 49.6% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH SOUTH AMERICAN BAND
Soulcrusher (Chile) (Taking 24.5% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH INTERNATIONAL BAND
Myrath (Tunisia) (Taking 35.3% of the votes)


BREAKTHROUGH NON-METAL BAND / ARTIST
Chvrches (Scotland) (Taking 14.7% of the votes)

Italian Horror metallers Cadaveria have announced that their music will be featuring as soundtrack of the "Prepararsi Alla Morte" TV programme. Read and watch the band's announcement below:

"We are very excited to announce our deadly cooperation with director Luigi Pastore for the soundtrack of Prepararsi Alla Morte TV programme!" Produced by LuPa Films, “Prepararsi Alla Morte” is the first thanatological TV format (in Italian), dealing with the greatest mystery of every human being’s existence: death.

Cadaveria's music will be the soundtrack of all the episodes of the first series, debuting on the web on January 13, 2017. Moreover Cadaveria herself will be the guest of the special episode, already recorded in the esoteric city of Turin, that will conclude the season.

Watch the official video announcement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVtZx5dsDA

https://www.facebook.com/prepararsiallamorte
http://www.lupafilm.com/prepararsi-alla-morte.html

http://www.cadaveria.com
http://www.facebook.com/OfficialAlphaOmegaManagement

Brazilian thrashers Blackforce have posted their new lyric video for 'Downfall' in support of their debut EP ‘Slaves To Reality’, which was recorded, mixed and mastered at the band’s home studio and is now available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Google Play and also can be heard in full stream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkPgnge6L8U

'Downfall' lyric video was edited by Marcelo Nespoli and can be watched at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfQPwbgjX50

www.facebook.com/BlackForceTM 
www.metalmedia.com.br/blackforce  

Greek progressive metallers Need released a lyric video for ‘Alltribe‘, it's the third single out of Need’s fourth album ‘Hegaiamas: a song for freedom’ due for release on January 17th, 2017. Musicwise the song explores new soundscapes for Need, something that’s always the band’s purpose when writing new material while lyric-wise it’s a journey for freedom through the exploration of one’s self. The video was made by by Haris Kountouris and HK Visual Creations. The video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/j8eTQbaIHQo

The album was produced by Need and mixed / mastered by Hector.D at HD Studios. The cover artwork was made by Nick “Eyejacker” Panagiotopoulos.

Need is a prog metal/rock band based in Athens, Greece. Formed in 2004 they have 3 more albums and have toured Europe twice, having shared the stage with the likes of Jon Oliva’s Pain, Symphony X, Candlemass and more while they’ve also performed the 15th edition of ProgPower USA in 2014, at Sonisphere Festival 2011 opening for Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Slipknot and more. Need to support Evergrey on their forthcoming North American tour in May 2017.

www.facebook.com/needband
www.needband.bandcamp.com
www.needband.net

Ukrainian Black Metal horde, Balfor, are set to release their new album, Black Serpent Rising, on January 15th via Drakkar Productions.

Today band launched official album pre-orders through their BandCamp: https://balfor.bandcamp.com/album/black-serpent-rising


www.balfor.info
www.facebook.com/balforofficial
www.balfor.bandcamp.com/

Last week Albanian metal band Crossbones launched teaser for their upcoming studio album WWIII (via Nadir Music Genova (IT)). International release in Digital and Digipack formats. In stores January 2017. And now band unveil album cover-art!

www.facebook.com/CrossbonesBandAlbania

Like the main gallows and gibbet in Paris, France for which it's named, two-man Uzbekistani Doom / Death metal project Montfaucon resonates with historic tales of violence and upheaval, exploring the implications and consequences of emotional turmoil, aggression and fear. Drawing from elements of death metal, black metal, progressive doom and symphonic metal, the band's debut full-length, Renaissance is a majestic, eclectic and musically diverse portrait of darkness, desperation and barbarism that presents a new perspective on the ever-shifting landscape of extreme metal.
 
Renaissance will be released on February 17, 2017 and features mixing and mastering from death metal veteran Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Katatonia). A new track from the album, entitled "Prisoner", can be heard now via the band's Bandcamp page here. Pre-orders are also available at the same location.

"I'm the kind of person who loves math puzzles and mind-bending challenges," says Montfaucon multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Valentin Mayamsin, an Uzbekistan-born musician currently residing in the San Francisco Bay area. "That's why I started listening to increasingly complex music and that's how Montfaucon evolved, both technically and compositionally."
 
Inspired as much by the literature of Victor Hugo and the history of the Middle Ages as by the numerous bands that motivated Valentin to first pick up a guitar, Montfaucon achieves a sound that's at once brutal and beautiful, alternately direct and dizzying.
 
From one song to the next, there are hints of well-known acts such as Satyricon, Darkthone, Cradle of Filth, Death, Opeth and Pink Floyd, as well as traces of more obscure artists, including Lux Occulta, Dominion and My Dying Bride. Regardless of how many rocky paths, dense forests or barren wastelands Montfaucon explore sonically, the six epic songs on Renaissance are unified by the haunting piano and keyboard lines of Valentin's songwriting partner Michel Cadenzar, who still lives in the duo's native land.
 
"All the music came out of lots of experiments," Valentin says. "I liked [our new track] 'Insanity' very much but I wanted to experiment more with guitar and make the other songs less obvious. So, we tried everything: black metal, death metal, even progressive stuff. And then we found ways to tie everything together and make it work so it doesn't sound like 10 different bands going at once."
 
It's incredible that Valentin and Michel have crafted such diverse, high-impact and intensely melodic songs from opposite parts of the world. What's even more impressive is that as forward-thinking as the songs on Renaissance are, the skeletons were written years ago, and early versions of some of the tracks were played on metal radio in Uzbekistan, and were well received by the region's loyal underground scene. The band even played shows in the country with a different line-up.
 
But then Valentin relocated to the U.S. to work as a software developer, while Michel continued to work on computers in his home town. For a while, Montfaucon was on ice. But after a few years in limbo the players discovered that raw determination, and a little technology, can break the bonds of distance. When Valentin went back home to Tashkent to visit friends and family, he and Michel decided to resurrect Montfaucon by trading files back and forth over the internet.
 
When it was time for Valentin to start putting Renaissance together back in his home studio in San Francisco, he struggled at first to find the right gear and learn how to use it. Since he didn't have much experience with home recording, he experienced several setbacks. To make sure the songs sounded as good on the digital files as they did when he played them in his living room, Valentin hired The Faceless guitarist Michael Keene to help him assemble a rig that would yield a high quality recording.
 
"I thought he would be good to teach me because he actually recorded great sounding Faceless albums in his living room," Valentin says. "He gave me very good advice and we were able to make the guitars sound really strong."
 
For metal fans who are excited to hear more, Montfaucon are already working on five or six new death / prog songs that will leave listeners speechless. Until then, Renaissance should be inspiring and enthralling enough to keep listeners completely satisfied. Stay tuned for more updates leading up to the release of Renaissance in February. 
 
www.facebook.com/montfauconband
https://montfaucon.bandcamp.com/

HMS Keelhaul from Finland have released a music video "Fall To The Floor". The track is taken from their debut album which was released December 9th 2016 by Inverse Records.The band was founded in 2013 and they are known from their nautical theme. 

The video is available in this location: https://youtu.be/P29iMMCPEWI 

Listen to the whole album on Spotify: 
https://open.spotify.com/album/5mjZ1Hveo2vPsKMevLGfdw 


Line-up:

Tomi Kurtti (Vocals)
Markus Lukkarila (Guitar and backing vocals)
Tuomas Puhakka (Guitar and backing vocals)
Janne Korpi (Bass and backing vocals)
Kimmo Korva (Drums)

Discography:

Album: Anchord 2016 Inverse Records
Ep: Catch You When You Fall (In Love) 2015


http://www.hmskeelhaul.com
https://www.facebook.com/HmsKeelhaul
https://www.youtube.com/user/HMSKeelhaul
https://www.instagram.com/hmskeelhaulofficial
https://twitter.com/HmsKeelhaul

Damned Pilots announce the release of their new CD Overgalaxy via Sliptrick Records (Dec 15th, 2016). Overgalaxy is a steam punk concept album. As drummer / founder Don Nutz says, ‘it’s built on the story of four cartoon characters, Don Nutz, Sgt Ote, Willer Hertz and Erik Space …aka The Damned Pilots. They travel through space in the year 2500 A.C. on a 1970’s hippy van customized to fight against their arch-enemy Gorguss and his evil empire’. The lyrics, written by Sgt Ote, are about love and hate, war and peace, past and future, rebellions against failed systems, all imbued with the sensibilities and humour of classic sci-fi b-movies.

The CD has been recorded at Track Terminal Studio in Trieste, Italy by Francesco Bardy, except ‘Just Another Day’ and ‘People Don’t Die’ which were recorded at Voodoosound Studios in Ijmuiden, Holland by Paul van Rijswijk. Overgalaxy is produced by Ron Goudie (Gwar, Death Angel, Poison) and mixed and mastered by legendary producer Bill Metoyer (W.A.S.P., Trouble, Slayer). The artwork has been made by Philippine graphic designer Uzi Emperado.

Overgalaxy includes nine songs written by Don Nutz and Sgt Ote and one by Ron Goudie (Hell Is Cold). Their style varies from mid tempo groovy metal to doom metal plus psychedelics ballads all strung together by catchy melodies.

The Tracks:

• Damned Pilots and Season Of The Endings are two groovy metal pounding numbers dominated by huge solid riffs made to bang your head to. 

 

• Desert Europa is a deep slow doom-laden song with black metal influences characterized by a soulful raspy metal vocal. 

 

• Just Another Day and People Don’t Die are both spaced out ballads. 
• Gorguss is a catchy doom pop song with monolithic riffs and memorable cosmic melodies. 
• Hell is Cold is the electric first single from the album written by producer Ron Goudie. 
• Sylvanic is a song about a Bigfoot from another planet, it’s a powerful crossover between classic rock and 90’s metal.

 

• Finally, Mos is a pure noise drone written together with Mos DJ.

Damned Pilots are influenced by Kiss, Monster Magnet, Trouble, Beatles, Mayhem, Turbonegro, Voivod, Ghost, Devil’s Blood, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd & ELO.

Official Website / Facebook