Hi and Welcome to my new column, Shrapnel! Here you’ll find a plethora of news snippets, clips and vids from some metal bands that might not find there may into Sentinel Daily otherwise! As I’m based in the US there’ll probably be a slight bias towards American bands, but I’ll try and fit in everyone I can, wherever they’re from as space allows – welcome to Shrapnel. Enjoy the ride!

New York’s Ashes of Ares are first up; The band, who of course feature former Iced Earth vocalist Matt Barlow among their number, have released a new video for the track By My Blade…

The track comes from the band’s soon-come new album Emperors and Fools, which is set for release on January 21st next year through ROAR! Rock of Angels Records.

Earlier this week Biohazard Alumnus Billy Grazadei announced plans for a new Billybio release, the first since 2018’s Feed The Fire.

The iconic hardcore guitar player and frontman will release Leaders And Liars next year through the AFM Records label. Earlier this week a video was unwittingly leaked by sometime Graziadei collaborator Lindsay Martin on her Instagram account – Graziadei says “It blows my mind how fast things can spread on the internet! It’s not how I wanted everyone to hear about the new release but at least it’s something I’m proud of so I hope the fans enjoy it!”

Having been caught by surprise, Graziadei and AFM Records have now officially posted the lyric video for the song One Life To Live. The song is a call to action. It is an adrenaline drenched anthem inciting fans to stand up for what is right. “I love how every generation has their version of YOLO,” Graziadei says, “Life is too short to be worried about bullshit. Those who let the crap out there consume them, get pushed to the grave quicker than everyone else.”

The record was mixed and mastered by Tue Madsen. Additional musicians performing on the album include Fred Aching Rios (Powerflo) on drums; Ra Dias (Suicidal Tendencies, currently touring with Korn) on bass; Daniele Manca on bass; Dan Palmer (Death by Stereo, Zebrahead) on guitar; Robbie Davidson (The Exploited) on guitar. Vocals on Remission and Just In The Sun by Jennifer Bair with Jay Roth. Toby Morse (H2O, Hazen Street) appears on One Life To Live.

Italy’s Nightland started life as a folk/power/death kinda conglomerate before concentrating more on the symphonic side of things. Last week they released their third full length album, entitled The Great Nothing, through Scarlet Records!

The band say The Great Nothing ‘will lead the listener through an outstanding extreme metal experience made of dramatic and epic melodies, blasting riffs and dreamy atmospheres enriched by massive orchestral arrangements’. You can decide for yourself whether they’ve achieved that goal by taking a look at the video for the track Further below…

They continue: “Growling vocals and powerful choirs magnify the obscure and thrilling lyrical concept behind the album, making this amazing journey across the darkest deepness of the universe even more unique and sensational”.

The Italian band built a strong thematic/visual identity around their astrology-inspired lyrical content and symbolism that distinguishes both the live performances and music videos, defined as high value cinematic experiences; In this way, they feel The Great Nothing becomes an elegant and sophisticated gateway to a higher level of sonic domination. What do you all think?

Sentinel Beast is a name that will immediately prick up the ears of old thrash metal fans, especially those who remember the band’s warp-speed cover of Iron Maiden‘s classic Phantom of the Opera!

The band was formed in Sacramento, California in 1984 by vocalist Debbie Gunn and Mike Spencer (bass) with Scott Awes on drums. During that time, the axes were played by Greg Williams and Jerry Fraiser, who were later to be replaced by Barry Fischel and Mark Koyasako.

Discovered by Kerry King of Slayer, the band recorded and released the influential Depths Of Death album on Metal Blade Records in 1986. Depths Of Death was produced by the legendary Bill Metoyer (Slayer, Omen, Trouble, Sacred Reich and many more). Sentinel Beast who attained legendary cult status across the globe after the release of the album, opened up for the likes of Slayer, Exodus, Megadeth, Mercyful Fate and King Diamond amongst others. It has now been announced that Depths of Death is set for a reissue on CD and as a digital release through MDD Records – have a listen to that Maiden cover below!

Los Angeles thrash metal force Fueled By Fire have unleashed the music video for their newest single, Disrupt. The track is the A-side from their newest release, Past…Present…No Future Part 1, the first in a pair of two-song  seven inch releases recorded by Allen Falcon (Exmortus, Blade Killer), mixed by Carlos Cruz (Hexen, Warbringer) and mastered by Toxic Holocaust’s Joel Grind (Power Trip, Midnight).

Says guitarist/vocalist Rick Rangel, “Disrupt is a song that touches on fear, greed, corruption, ignorance, oppression, manipulation, hypocrisy and all-out anarchy happening around the world. Having gone through one of the craziest times in modern history, I think this song reflects the dire feeling that has been felt by everyone that has been affected by a global pandemic, media manipulation, corporate greed, corrupt politicians and police brutality all going on at the same time. Ultimately, this song is about a bleak future for everyone and that there are no happy endings… just endings.”

He goes on: “’Past…Present…No Future‘ is a four-song EP that was two years in the making. After numerous setbacks with writing and recording, these recordings seemed doomed to never be released. But as fate would have it, not even a global pandemic could stop it! If anything, the pandemic only fueled the anger and aggression felt on these songs. The reason we chose to release a four-song EP as opposed to a full-length was to get music out a lot sooner and we were anxious to announce to the world that Fueled By Fire has returned to fuck shit up! We feel like this is the pinnacle of what we have to offer as artists and musicians and we hope to have that bleed over to our next offerings and we can’t wait for you to play these songs at full volume!”