2015 brings in a whole new year of Metal to look forward to as many bands have already announced new releases as well as amazing tours. After an exploding year of Metal in 2014, I’m guessing this ever diverse musical genre can only get better. Whether you like Death, Thrash, Symphonic, or Black there’s probably going to be a release for you in the next coming year. I say this because the genre has recently grown exponentially, adding thousands of all new bands and a resurgence of Metal popularity. Also, old classics are coming back strong this year, which means a ton of new music for everyone in the new year. There are negative sides to it growing and getting more recognition however, as Black Veil Brides is still alive and decently thriving. Below I will list and expand on some releases and tours that you can look forward to that don’t involve your typical Emo-Rock boy bands.
Dark Tranquility With Insomnium North American Tour
In late December, Dark Tranquility announced a North American tour with Finnish Melodic Death Metal band, Insomnium. The tour has already embarked but you can check out the remaining dates below. I have seen both bands live before and highly suggest them one hundred percent.
Kamelot with Dragonforce North American tour
A night of Power Metal at its best, what more do you want in 2015? Kamelot are also currently in production of a new album, sadly without much detail yet. Check out tour dates below.
http://enterthevault.com/artist.php?id=47
Nightwish Endless Forms Most Beautiful, NA Tour With Sabaton/Delain
2015 is set to be the biggest year for Nightwish since the release of Imaginaerum in 2011, with a brand new album with a new vocalist and a new drummer, but also a massive North American tour. Nightwish is easily the most revered Symphonic Metal band of all time, so the wait for a new album has been seemingly long. “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” is said to utilize the softer and beautiful intricacies of Floor Jansen’s vocals. The title is inspired by a quote from Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. The album is also said to have a whole new sound that we’ve never heard from the band. From the “Making Of” videos for the new album, you can see how hard Tuomas worked to make the new album and truly put everything he had into it. The entire band has a level of musicianship that is unmatched, so I honestly expect nothing less than a total masterpiece from this album.
Nightwish are also embarking on a month long North American tour upon the release of their new album. This tour is all over the country and features two of the best metal bands right now, Power Metal band Sabaton and Gothic Symphonic Metal band Delain. There is not going to be a better European tour in the US this year, so I highly recommend buying your tickets as soon as possible. Do not miss this tour.
Battle Beast Unholy Savior
Finnish Female Fronted Power Metal band, Battle Beast, is back in 2015 with new traditional influenced album. “Unholy Savior” comes out early, January 13th to be exact. The album features a broader range of styles and different emotional influences than previous albums. Guitarist and writer Anton wanted to go farther on his “spiritual journey” of music and expand the horizons of Battle Beast’s sound.
The Track listing for UNHOLY SAVIOR will be as follows:
- Lionheart
- Unholy Savior
- I Want The World….And Everything In It
- Madness
- Sea Of Dreams
- Speed And Danger
- Touch In The Night
- The Black Swordsman
- Hero’s Quest
- Far Far Away
- Angel Cry
Sylosis Dormant Heart
Progressive Death Metal band Sylosis are back in 2015 with a crazy technical and shredding album “Dormant Heart”. With a new drummer, Ali Richardson from DevilDriver, the band aims to come back heavier and darker than ever. The album drops January 17th via Nuclear Blast Records, but you can preorder it still on their site.
Blind Guardian Beyond the Red Mirror
German Power Metal band are releasing their 10th studio album January 30th, 2015. “A story between science fiction and fantasy,” explains Blind Guardian vocalist and lyricist Hansi Kürsch. “The story begins with our 1995 album, Imaginations from the Other Side. The two worlds described therein have changed dramatically for the worse since then. While there used to be several passages between the worlds, there is only one gate left now: The Red Mirror. It has to be found at any cost.” It is their first release in five years and is highly anticipated, because of its recent high mark reviews from Blabbermouth and other popular sites. For the hardcore fans of Power Metal I can say that this album will be everything you expect from Blind Guardian, no tricks or frills here.
Halestorm
If you caught any of Halestorm’s studio diary videos or their recent live shows, you know they’ve got a screamer of an album coming very soon this year. You also know the band is teasing the new album picture by picture, purposely torturing the fans. The reveal however is set for January 13th. There are no more details beyond the date and song titles. Check out more below.
http://www.halestormrocks.com/11315
Bands in Production
Kamelot
Deftones
Soilwork
Fear Factory
Decide
Five Finger Death Punch
Stone Sour
Symphony X
Dimmu Borgir
Soulfly
Paradise Lost
For a full comprehensive list of heavy metal releases go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_in_heavy_metal_music
Metal Valkyrie Reviews 