The Pomona, California death metal/hardcore unit Xibalba has just premiered the first track from their new, upcoming record Tierra Y Libertad via Noisey. The track is a punishing mid-tempo grind that is sure to send you neighbors in search of a realtor. “Invierno” is track number three from Tierra Y Libertad, and is just a small glimpse of Xibalba’s most hate-filled assault to date. The album was recorded by Taylor Young (Nails, Twitching Tongues, Disgrace) at The Pit in Van Nuy, and features the cover art of Dan Seagrave (Dismember, Entombed, Suffocation). Give a listen to the song here below.

While Tierra Y Libertad is not up for pre-order at the moment, keep a watch out on their Amazon page because the album will be released on CD, LP, and digital outlets on January 26th in Europe and January 27th in North America via the mighty Southern Lord Records. For now, check out their previous release, Hasta La Muerte.

Ben Bishop is a talented comic book artist and writer who is utilizing Patreon in hopes of funding his next graphic novel, The Aggregate.

I first met Bishop at New York Comic-Con in 2008. I was strolling through the Artist Alley, not really looking for anything specific, when a particular work of art stood out among the hundreds I’d already glanced over. I found myself flipping through the 300-page Nathan the Caveman, the first self-published graphic novel that he had created. As I spoke with Bishop about the concept behind the novel, I knew I needed to read the book. I bought a copy, brought it home with me, and finished it that night in one sitting. The next day, I went back to Bishop’s table at the convention and explained to him how much I enjoyed the honesty and humanity of the story through the medium of a graphic novel.

I have since been following Bishop’s work, immersing myself in the short story work he did for the 2014 Harvey Award nominated The Reason for Dragons, as well as the multiple award winning, The Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness. I am thrilled to announce that his latest project, The Aggregate is in the works.

Stoner/doom metal legends High On Fire have announced that they plan to commence recording for their seventh studio album in late January at Salem, Massachusetts’ GodCity Studios with producer Kurt Ballou. Ballou, who is also the guitarist in legendary hardcore/metalcore band Converge, is currently one of the most critically acclaimed and sought-after producers in extreme music. In addition to producing HOF’s most recent album, 2012’s De Vermis Mysteriis, he has helmed numerous classics from the likes of Nails, Baptists, All Pigs Must Die, Code Orange Kids, Trap Them, Skeletonwitch, Vallenfyre, Black Breath, Kvelertak, and countless others.

High On Fire wrote the material for the new disc over the past year in both their hometown of Oakland and in New Orleans. The songs have been described as “epic” and “sonically huge.”

We’re still many months away from the premiere of Season 5 of HBO’s Game of Thrones, but by the way things left off in Season 4, we know we can expect a lot of changes. One such change will be to the character of Arya Stark, the younger Stark daughter who spent the last few seasons on the road disguised as a boy to hide from the Lannisters while she searched for her surviving relatives.

The tomboyish teenager, played on the show by Maisie Williams, will finally put aside her long pants and grow out her short locks in favor of a more feminine look.

Shotgun Messiah started out as a somewhat run-of-the-mill 80’s glam metal band. The Swedish band spent their first album mining the vein of Hanoi Rocks with some degree of success owing to moderate rotation on MTV. The band’s original singer split after the first album and bassist Tim Skold took over the lead vocal duties for their 1991 album Second Coming. The album was a fairly large success thanks to the heavy rotation of the anthemic hit single, “Heartbreak Boulevard.” However, the success would be short lived, as internal friction left only Skold and guitarist Harry Cody standing to make the band’s third and final record, 1993’s absolutely brilliant, groundbreaking, and ahead of its time Violent New Breed. The record saw the band completely abandon glam rock in favor of a souped up industrial metal hybrid. It managed to simultaneously alienate the band’s core following and be completely overlooked by its intended audience due to the band’s previous affiliation with hair metal, which was by then a huge taboo.

Never the less, Violent New Breed is an overlooked masterpiece that deserves to be heard by a new generation. Harry Cody went on to work with numerous artists, including Tom Waits. Tim Skold has had a great deal of success in the industrial rock genre that he helped proliferate with Violent New Breed. His solo albums under the name Skold and his work with KMFDM are required listening for students of the form. He was also, for a time, a member of Marilyn Manson as both a bassist and guitarist.

Here below is the audio for the blistering closing track of Violent New Breed, “I Come In Peace.”