Set to release their new album, Fear Itself, next week (March 11th) via Metal Blade Records worldwide, Anglo-Chilean thrashers CRIMINAL have now launched a lyric video for the track 'Animals To Gods'.

Criminal's Anton Reisenegger (vocals/guitar) comments: "This song has been one of our favourites since we wrote it. It's got many different sections, yet it flows like a stream of lava. The lyrics are about the human species reaching the pinnacle of evolution and what a one-way street that means in terms of the environment and other species. It's based on the book 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind' by Yuval Noah Harari, and I do realize it is unusual to base a song on a scientific book, but it was a real eye-opener for me when I read it, and I can only recommend it to anyone remotely concerned about the future of life on our planet. Despite the heavy subject matter, I don't think the lyrics are too heady or pretentious, but rather menacing and apocalyptic.
Costin [Chioreanu, the artist also responsible for the album cover] did an absolutely fantastic job in translating the words and vibe of the song into images. He did it in record time as well, and we didn't ask him to change anything when we first saw it, as we thought it was absolutely perfect."

Criminal - Fear Itself
	1. Intro 2. Down Driven 3. False Flag Attack 4. Shock Doctrine 5. The Needle And Knife 6. Scream Of Consciousness 7. Summoning The Apocalypse 8. The One Who Speaks At Night 9. Animals To Gods 10. Deep In The Rot 11. Wasted Youth 12. Carne Molida

Two of the biggest bands in heavy metal – MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD – will be joining forces on a co-headline tour across North America this year, presented by SiriusXM. And to add to the firepower of this already formidable tour, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES are joining, making this THE must-see heavy music package of the year. Tickets will go on general sale Friday, February 14 from livenation.com

MEGADETH, fueled by Dave Mustaine's triumphant return to the stage following his diagnosis and recovery of throat cancer, will embark on their first North American tour since 2017. Speaking on the epic announcement, MEGADETH's leader and frontman, Dave Mustaine says, "Hello me! I'm back again, better than ever and coming to a town near you with Lamb of God, Trivium and In Flames. If you want high octane metal madness this is the tour for you."

LAMB OF GOD released their first new music in five years last week with the single "Checkmate." The track is the first to be released from the band's self-titled eighth studio album, due out May 8, which is one of the most anticipated and important metal records of the year. Commenting on their upcoming co-headline run, Mark Morton, lead guitarist of LAMB OF GOD, adds, "The world has never needed heavy more than it does today and top to bottom, this tour delivers! LAMB OF GOD has toured with and been friends with all of these bands for years, but for all of us to be on the same bill is something extra special. Come early and stay late. This is THE metal tour of the year."

TRIVIUM's Matt Heafy adds, "We are happy to be a part of the biggest real metal tour of the year. This tour is the main event and represents heavy metal and the culture that goes with it."

With IN FLAMES singer, Anders Fridén stating, "We were honored to be asked to join this package. We were actually supposed to take this summer off, but of course we couldn't say no. After playing shows with all of these guys for years, 2020 is going to feel like a kick ass reunion. See you on the road, Jesterheads!"

Produced by Live Nation, this epic 55-city tour will stretch across summer and fall, kicking off June 12 in Bristow, VA, and hit every region of the U.S. before wrapping November 13 in Reno, NV. Multiple Canadian shows are scheduled as well. See full itinerary below.

Tickets and VIP packages for all four artists go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, February 14 at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Citi is the official presale credit card of the tour. As such, Citi cardmembers will have access to purchase presale tickets & VIP packages beginning Tuesday, February 11 at 10 a.m. local time until Thursday, February 13 at 10 p.m. local time through Citi Entertainment®. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.

MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES North America tour dates:
Summer 2020:
6/12 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
6/13 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
6/14 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
6/16 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
6/17 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
6/18 – Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion
6/20 – Holmdel, MA @ PNC Bank Arts Center
6/21 – Boston, MA @ Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
6/23 – Syracuse, NY @ St. Joseph's Heath Amphitheater at Lakeview
6/24 – Providence, RI @ Bold Point Lake Amphitheater
6/28 – Burgettstown, PA @ S&T Bank Music Park
6/29 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
7/1 – Detroit, NI @ DTE Energy Music Theater
7/2 – Mount Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino Amphitheatre
7/3 – Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
7/5 – Atlanta, GA @ Ameris Music Center
7/7 – Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion
7/8 – Cleveland, OH @Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
7/10 – Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL
7/11 – Sgt. Louis, MO @ Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO
7/12 – Nashville, TN @ Nashville Municipal Auditorium
7/14 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP*
7/16 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater
7/17 – Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
7/18 – Irving, TX @The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
7/20 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/21- Phoenix, AZ @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/23 – Irvine, CA @ FivePoint Amphitheatre
7/25 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
7/26 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
7/29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
7/30 – Pocatello, ID @ Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre
8/1 – Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion

Fall 2020:
10/2 - West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
10/6 – Birmingham, AL @ Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
10/7 – New Orleans, LA @ UNO Lakefront Arena
10/9 - Corpus Christi, TX @ American Bank Center Arena
10/11 – El Paso, TX @ Don Haskins Center
10/14 – Springfield, MO @ JOH Arena
10/16 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
10/21 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
10/23 – Huntington, WV @ Mountain Heath Arena
10/24 – Bethlehem, PA @ The Wind Creek Event Center
10/27 – Quebec City, QC @ Centre Videotron
10/28 – Laval, QC @ Place Bell
10/30 – St, Paul, MN @ Armory
10/3 – Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center
11/2 – Omaha, NE @ Baxter Arena
11/3 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
11/5 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
11/7 - Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Events Center
11/10 – Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
11/11 – Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Arena
11/13 – Reno, NV @ Reno Events Center

On June 6th death metal drunks HEREZA will release their 3rd full-length via Godz ov War Productions but today we are honored to host the premiere of the full album stream giving you an early taste of an alcohol drenched sexual orgy with zombies.

Originally formed in 2014, Beli Manastir, Croatia but currently residing in Stuttgart, Germany, Hereza's obvious change of scenery coupled with fresh blood from new members resulted in completely different record and view of the world. Well, maybe not completely but to borrow from the promo flyer: "No 'pre', no 'post', no 'tech', no 'prog', not even any 'swe' references or connotations - the death metal drunks Hereza return with sheer fun and straightforward death'n'roll attack."

First look at the cover and title should give you an instant indication that we're up for a change compared to the predecessor. Dark cover of I Become Death was replaced with colorful art of a guitarist holding the bottle of booze aptly titled Death Metal Drunks and while death and zombies are still the lyrical theme across the whole record there's more emphasis on sex, drugs (in this case alcohol) and definitely death'n'roll.

And while they never were 'tech' or 'prog' the fascinations with Swedish sound was definitely there and this part is gone too. Dirty and distorted sound of HM-2 is replaced with cleaner, modern and more polished sound but don't fret, the punch is not only still there but it's bigger and more suited for their refined style. Hereza always had punk overtones but this time it's a lot more pronounced pushing the album into more thrash/hardcore-ish territories and combined with free spirited lyrics adds to 'n'roll athosphere. And packing 11 tracks into 28 minutes definitely gives you that fast party with nonstop shots and fast girls feeling with each track bringing different flavors to this orgy. Style-wise ranging from death, through thrash, punk to pure rock Hereza makes sure you drink as much of their cool-aid as possible and spices things up with variety of tasty solos, tight blast drumming or sound effects of running horses, trucks crushing bones or moaning cowgirls. Extra bonus points are earned for 'Necrobitch, Cowgirl From The Morgue' where clean guitar classical strumming always gets my heart pumping when incorporated into a metal track.

No matter how you slice and dice, this record is just pure fun and should be treated as such. No hidden, life changing lyrical messages or trips into unknown musical territories but if you need a laugh or break from everyday seriousness make yourself a drink, cap-off that beer and enjoy the party.

While some will definitely miss old school Swedish sounding Hereza I'm definitely not one of them (I've literally heard over 100 bands with that old school sound this year alone!). So, while still not breaking new grounds in originality department it takes good party and a massive hangover to break from the old and go for the change, and it looks like Hereza knows how to party.

So, if you're up for a mid day drink hit play and stream the full record below and don't forget to pre-order through Godz ov War Productions' Bandcamp page here.