So we now know who the winners of the GMA Awards 2021 were, but to wrap up the event in it's entirety and bid farewell to 2021 and usher in 2022, we must turn to the last bunch of awards - 'Metal Release By Country / Area'.

     Usually these would include the flag of the band's nation, but given the events in Afghanistan this year among other political turmoil, I felt it would be prudent to forgo any flags and just list the winners.... so without further ado here are the....

The votes are in, have been counted, vetted and verified.
So without further ado, we present the winners of the
2021 Global Metal Apocalypse (GMA) awards.
​
All categories except "Release Of The Year"
came with an 'other' option.

See you in December 2022

​

​

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​Global Metal Release Of The Year

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​Breakthrough African Band

​
Breakthrough European Band

     British Lion, the ‘up close and personal’ side project band of Iron Maiden bassist & founder Steve Harris, have released a brand new video, ‘Land Of The Perfect People’. Watch here.
 
     Taken from their 2020 album The Burning, the song’s lyrics were written by vocalist Richard Taylor who comments, “It's about abandonment and issues from being brought up in a children's home."
 
     Although a summer European tour in support of The Burning couldn’t go ahead last year as planned, British Lion have now been confirmed for the 2022 UK Download Festival and are very much hoping to also reschedule some other European club and festival dates. All updates will be posted on www.britishlionuk.com

World dominating, multi-award nominated Bring Me The Horizon are poised to release a highly anticipated EP entitled ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’ on October 30th via RCA.  Today, they also announced a long awaited Arena tour, kicking off on September 21st 2021 at Glasgow SSE Hydro. This will be their only live shows in the UK for 2021.
 
Continuing to push their creative boundaries, even during lockdown, the band have created a body of work that is arguably one of their most exciting, diverse, intricate pieces of music to date.
 
The first two tracks from the EP ‘Parasite Eve’ and the recent colossus ‘Obey’ featuring fellow Brit Yungblud, have received critical acclaim and amassed over 115 Million audio and video streams combined to date. Other guests on the EP include Babymetal, Nova Twins and Amy Lee from Evanescence.
 
EP –POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR’

1. Dear Diary,
2. Parasite Eve
3. Teardrops
4. Obey with YUNGBLUD
5. Itch For The Cure (When Will We Be Free?)
6. Kingslayer featt. BABYMETAL
7. 1x1 feat. Nova Twins
8. Ludens
9. One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As You March Towards Your Death feat. Amy Lee

 
UK TOUR DATES – SEPTEMBER 2021

21st – Glasgow, The SSE Hydro
22nd – Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
24th – Sheffield, FlyDSA Arena
25th – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
26th – London The O2 Arena

No matter if you are ready or not, you filthy landlubbers – Alestorm returns in an uncensored, satirical, and glorious manner! Two years after their latest album, No Grave But The Sea, the pirate metal drinking crew will return to the nightmares of all decent sea marauders out there with their brand new conquest, Curse Of The Crystal Coconut, to be released on May 29th, 2020 via Napalm Records.

Known for their signature attitude and unashamedly catchy tunes, the crew, led by Captain Christopher Bowes, is proud to present eleven bombastic pirate anthems, kept in their signature unadulterated, chaotic fashion that will pull the rug out from under your feet.

Breaking the stereotypical portrayal of pirates as the lone wolves of the sea, on Curse of the Crystal Coconut, Alestorm will be joined by Ally Storch of Subway to Sally (violin on the entire album) and Captain Yarrface of Rumahoy – amongst others! The variety of tracks featured on the album will satisfy even the pickiest adventure seeker and the wildest pirate parties out there. “Chomp Chomp”, featuring vocals of Vreth of Finntroll, may make you never want to enter the open waters again, but will definitely invite you to dance along to ravishing melodies. The catchy rhythm of “Pirate Metal Drinking Crew” makes the track yet another foot-stomping anthem in the assortment of these treasure-searching marauders. However, don’t take their rage too light-heart, as once they unleash the “Pirate’s Scorn” and its brutal riffs, there may be no coming back…

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Alestorm album without their unique sense of humour – this, and much more, can be found on the party-smashing “Treasure Chest Party Quest” or the surprising “Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship”. Although the Curse of the Crystal Coconut may remain a mystery for now, one thing is for sure – it will make you throw all the conventionalities aside and join this humorous pirate crew on their most fierce and grim journey so far!
 
Pre-Order Curse of the Crystal Coconut NOW!

Curse of the Crystal Coconut will be available in the following formats:

• Wooden Boxset (including Mediabook, exclusive 7’’ Single, Track Stems on USB Stick, Pendant, Flag, Postcards)
• 2 CD Mediabook - including 16th century interpretations of all songs
• 1 CD Jewel Case
• LP Gatefold BLACK Vinyl
• LP Gatefold RED Vinyl
• LP Gatefold GOLD Vinyl
• LP Gatefold PURPLE Vinyl
• LP Gatefold Silver Vinyl (Napalm Records US Store exclusive)
• Music Cassette + Walkman Bundle in Pirate Bag RED (strictly limited to 250)
• Digital Album
• Digital Deluxe Album

ALESTORM are:

Christopher Bowes – vocals, keytar
Gareth Murdock – guitar
Mate Bodor - bass
Peter Alcorn - drums
Elliot Vernon - keyboard
 
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
NAPALM RECORDS
 

The Crystal Coconut definitely granted Alestorm fans their wish: the visionary world travellers have officially entered the recording studio and will return with their upcoming album, Curse of the Crystal Coconut, to be released via Napalm Records in summer 2020. This release will mark the band’s sixth studio album, and promises new anthems bursting with the chaotic energy Alestorm fans have come to love. Prepare yourself for a level of epic symphonic folk metal insanity that no other band on the high seas could ever aim to touch!

Alestorm’s latest album, No Grave But The Sea, was a worldwide success – reaching #1 on the US Heatseekers album charts, #14 on the German album charts and other top 20 placements in Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland and Belgium. Grab your best rum, take a swig and hold tight – further album details will be revealed soon (but let’s hope King K. Rool doesn’t steal the demos first).

Alestorm on Curse of the Crystal Coconut:

     “Oh wow, humans of planet Earth! We're super excited to announce that today we have entered Krabi Road Studios in Thailand to begin the recording of the 6th Alestorm album, which will be called Curse of the Crystal Coconut! We may or may not have stolen that title from Donkey Kong. Anyway, we'll be here for the next 3 weeks recording 13-ish songs, some of which will be so absolutely terrible that they'll never see the light of day. The ones that somehow turn out alright will be released on Napalm Records sometime in the early summer! LOTS OF UPDATES COMING SOON, stay tuned and we'll tell you all about it.”

For more info, please visit:

Homepage
Facebook
Napalm Records

After one month of voting, nearly 6,000 votes cast and countless sharing across all social media platforms by us and nominees alike, the time has come to announce the winners of the GMA Awards 2019.

But before that happens, there will be a change to how the nominees are cast. For 10 months of the year we will be running a series of rounds from which the 10 finalists will be recognised for the annual event.

The system will work as thus: nominees elected in the month of January are voted for in February... February nominees voted in March, etc and finishes with nominees in October being voted for in November - the finalists will then be voted for across the month of December and into early January 2021; finishing 8th January 2021.

Now that's put out into the open, we can finally reveal the winners of the GMA Awards 2019.

Global Metal Ambassador 2019

1. Gojira (France) - (28.1%)
   
2. Freddy Lim (Taiwan) - (21.4%)
3. Jake Shuker & Monzer Darwish (Syria) - (9.7%)
4. Sahil Makhija (India) - (8%)
5. Slaves To Sirens (The Lebanon) - (6.9%)
6. Underside (Nepal) - (6.4%)
7. Rock Arka'n (Togo) - (4.9%)
8. Roy Dipankar (India -'Extreme Nation' director) - (4.6%)
9. Overthrust (Botswana) - (4.1%)
10. Zarraza (Kazakhstan) - (3.5%)
11. World Metal Congress (International) - (2.2%)*
    

  * Later withdrawn by request of nominee.

Bloodstock is delighted to share that New Delhi’s BLOODYWOOD will headline the Sophie Lancaster stage on Friday, in a UK festival exclusive. Blending Indian folk instruments and heavy metal, this is sure to be a unique set you won’t want to miss! Check out their most recent single (closing on 1.4 million views), ‘Machi Bhasad (Expect A Riot)’ at https://youtu.be/Gsy5sJy5_34. 

Saturday’s Sophie Lancaster stage headliners are none other than extreme metal miscreants CATTLE DECAPITATION. Hailing from California, the Metal Blade signed group release their crushing new album ‘Death Atlas’ this Friday, November 29th! Not familiar? Listen to ‘Bring Back The Plague’ from the new LP at https://youtu.be/BBy4gn8VBMo. Head here to pre-order all manner of cool formats.

Birmingham death metal brutes MEMORIAM will be Saturday’s special guests on the Sophie Lancaster stage. The band’s third album, ‘Requiem For Mankind’ was released by Nuclear Blast in June. Watch the video for ‘The Veteran’, taken from that album, at https://youtu.be/_uTsdsc3cys. 

Also joining the Sophie bill on Saturday, are Edinburgh-based prog experimentalists RAMAGE INC. With five albums under their belt now, they’ve plenty of songs to choose from! You can explore their latest record, ‘Under The Skin’, in its entirety over on their Bandcamp page at: https://ramageinc.bandcamp.com/. 

Have you discovered London’s psych-doom crew GREEN LUNG yet? Appearing on the Sophie stage on Sunday, Metal Hammer described them as, “a fantastic mix of stoner rock, hard rock, and psychedelic rock laden with harmonies,” with further praise heaped on them by Kerrang!, The Guardian, and BBC Radio 1 Rock Show host Daniel P. Carter. Play their latest album, ‘Woodland Rites’ on Bandcamp at https://greenlung.bandcamp.com/. 

BLOODSTOCK is pleased to welcome back post-metal squad BOSSK, joining the Sophie stage line-up on Friday. Following on from 2016’s well received ‘Audio Noir’ album, the band’s Facebook page was recently teasing new music is coming in 2020. Here’s hoping it’s out in time for BLOODSTOCK! Watch the full set of their 2017 performance at https://youtu.be/PLNpbvyUzQw. 

Filled with questions about BLOODSTOCK? Put them to festival directors ADAM GREGORY and VICKY HUNGERFORD in a Facebook Live Q&A tonight! Head over to BLOODSTOCK’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bloodstock/ for a 7pm start! Can’t make it? Don’t worry, you’ll be able to replay it later on the page too.

In other BLOODSTOCK fun, as 2020 marks 20 years of BLOODSTOCK, instead of ‘12 Days Of Christmas’ competitions, BLOODSTOCK is going to have 20! Be sure to check  Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bloodstock/ every morning from December 5th for details of each one-day-only competition, and be in with a chance to win all sorts of prizes from BLOODSTOCK bands past and present, festival sponsors, and of course BLOODSTOCK!

BLOODSTOCK’s 2020 main stage headliners are DEVIN TOWNSEND (Friday), BEHEMOTH (Saturday), and JUDAS PRIEST (Sunday). The festival also welcomes PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, SKINDRED, PARADISE LOST, LIFE OF AGONY, BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, DIAMOND HEAD, JINJER, VIO-LENCE, SACRED REICH, GLORYHAMMER, DARK TRANQUILITY, and BUTCHER BABIES so far. Many more bands performing over the weekend will be announced in due course. 

Discounted Early Bird tickets, VIP tickets, child tickets, and car parking tickets for 2020’s event are available now at the ticket store.  Be quick though, the early bird discount ends on December 15th (or sooner if the early bird allocation sells out) and weekend tickets then revert to the standard price of £145 (+ fees)! Campervan tickets for 2020 are already sold out. 

BLOODSTOCK 2020 takes place at Catton Park, Derbyshire from 6th-9th August 2020.  For more info, click to www.bloodstock.uk.com.  

Metal Blade Records is proud to welcome Dvne to its worldwide roster! Founded in 2013, Dvne is a 5-piece progressive rock/metal band from Edinburgh, Scotland. With highly dynamic compositions venturing from delicate and intricate melodies to crushing and brutal soundscapes, Dvne's music takes its listeners through a deeply emotional journey filled with dystopian thematics, grand narrative, and other-worldly landscapes. Fans can expect their upcoming 2nd full-length album - and Metal Blade debut - in 2020.
 
Dvne comments:

     "We are over the moon to announce that we have joined forces with Metal Blade Records. Working with such a legendary label and being among so many bands that have inspired us throughout the years is a huge honour. Having just finished recording our next album, we are beyond thrilled on how far we've pushed our music and ourselves, and can't wait to unveil it to you all with the support of one of the most iconic record labels in heavy music."

To date, Dvne has released one studio album and two EPs. They emerged within the UK scene with their first EP Progenitor (2013 - Wasted State Records), shortly followed by a second EP, Aurora Majesty (2014 - Sea of Corruption Records).

Dvne quickly began to make a name for themselves in the UK and around Europe, with various shows throughout these territories alongside the likes of Eyehategod, Crowbar, Dragged Into Sunlight, among others. The band's sound at the time was already crossing over different music styles, including post-metal, progressive rock and sludge metal, but it is with their first full-length album, Asheran (Wasted State Records), that the band further established their unique blend of heavy music. Released in August 2017, Asheran was overwhelmingly praised by the press and was listed on many "best album of the year" lists.
 
Since Asheran's release, Dvne has toured all over the UK, Europe and North America, appearing at prestigious festivals such as Psycho Las Vegas, Desertfest London and Inferno Festival Norway. Not content to repeat their previous releases and always looking to push their sound forward, Dvne recently finished recording their 2nd album at Chamber Studio with producer Graeme Young. This new 10 track journey will be released worldwide via Metal Blade Records in 2020. Stay tuned for more news coming soon!
 
Dvne line-up

Victor Vicart - guitar, vocals, keys
Dudley Tait - drums
Daniel Barter - guitar, vocals
Jack Kavanagh - bass
Richard Matheson - keys


https://facebook.com/DvneUK
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk/
https://twitter.com/songsofarrakis
https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/

Masterful Norwegian storytellers Wardruna sign to Sony Music/Columbia Records for the world, and announce European tour dates for 2020. Dates below with tickets going on sale on 11th October at 10am BST, 11am CEST. Details of the upcoming album shall be revealed in due course.
 
Einar Selvik comments:

     “Wardruna has been a DIY to-the-bone kind of project since the very beginning. Slowly and patiently evolving. Working hard and always keeping the art itself as the primary decisive factor. This will never change for me, and so having people on our team that also embrace this way of working is paramount. Partnering up with Sony Music / Columbia Records is a new steppingstone for us and I am very confident that this new addition to the team will give us new opportunities to further develop our art and take it to the next level.”

2019 marks ten years since Wardruna’s first release. A series of sold out shows at prestigious concert venues around the world culminate in the highlight of the fall; Wardruna will perform in the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in the United States, followed by sold out European tour. The group's critically acclaimed “Runaljod” trilogy based on the Nordic runes reached its conclusion and was followed by a stripped-down, fully acoustic album exploring the ancient poetic traditions of the Skalds. This spring, a new chapter for the band will start. New music is being worked on as well as further steps in the band´s concert production.
 
     “I don’t wish to reveal too much at this point but can say that we are now deep into the process of writing and recording a new album. When Wardruna gets up from the current studio-hibernation and initiate the concert-year of 2020, it is clearly allowed to hope for new music!" Says Einar Selvik.

WARDRUNA 2020 EUROPEAN TOUR DATES:

28 Mar - Oslo (NOR) - Sentrum Scene
2 Apr - Kristiansand (NOR) - Kilden Teater
3 Apr - Stavanger (NOR) - Konserthus
4 Apr- Bergen (NOR) - Grieghallen
30 Apr - Moscow (RUS) - Crocus City Hall
01 May - St. Petersburg (RUS) - Yubileyny Sports Palace
03 May - Poznan (POL) - Hala Ziemi

04 May - Krakow (POL) - ICE Congress Center
05 May - Bratislava (SVK) - Refinery Gallery
07 May - Belgrade (SRB) - Sava Centar
08 May - Bucharest (ROM) - Arena Romanele
04 Jun - Manchester (UK) - Albert Hall
05 Jun - Dublin (IRL) - Vicar St.
06 Jun - Birmingham (UK) - Symphony Hall

07 Jun - Glasgow (UK) - Royal Concert Hall
09 Jun - London (UK) - Royal Festival Hall
10 Jun - Cambridge (UK) - Cambridge Corn Exchange
01 Aug - Savonlinna (FIN) - Savonlinna Opera Festival
21 Sep - Reykjavik (ISL) - Harpa