BABYMETAL have released the explosive new single Kon! Kon! featuring Bloodywood. This is the fifth single off their upcoming album METAL FORTH out on August 8 via Capitol Records.

Commenting on the song, vocalist Nick Holmes says: "The cross represents stability, prosperity, hope and happiness. The serpent represents trepidation, anguish and overbearing sadness, lurking in the shadows ready to take everything away."

Will you wake up, press play and follow the white rabbit into The Great Unknown or choose the blissful ignorance of The Matrix? Red pill or blue pill. The choice is yours!

The song is a moody, dreamy anthem and it's everything fans have come to know and love about Dayseeker — stunning and dramatic vocal shifts, Rodriguez's DNA-distinct falsetto, rising sonic tension that escalates and then explodes, and downright pretty melodies co-exist alongside plate-shifting breakdowns.

“We wanted to explore iconic film scores beyond Star Wars,” say Grant McFarland and Carson Slovak of Galactic Empire. “This album features the most densely layered, complex arrangements we've ever tackled. It was challenging, but incredibly rewarding.”

Talking about the track, in their own words, The Hives declare: “Have you ever felt as though life is strangling you a little bit every day? Like a tight rollneck or the hands of an invisible garden gnome?... Stop normalizing this normalization! Join The Hives in the campaign for the legalization of living across all countries!”

Acclaimed progressive stoner rock powerhouse GAUPA have dropped a new video for their track "Lion’s Thorn". Vocalist Emma Näslund shares, “In a world full of chaos, I hope these songs will bring you dance, hope, and lust to resist oppressors.”

Johanna Kurkela comments: “ As we venture deeper into the enchanting realm of our new album 'Candles & Beginnings', we take flight on the wings of imagination, across the safe havens of our hearts, into the ‘Museum of Childhood’.

“Every inch of skin is aching, iron muscles in the making: our new single is here to turn your sweat into steel. Heavy riffs. Hard reps. Heroic gains. Stream it now and enter the ‘Grail Gym’,” state the power metal heroes.

JINJER have dropped a raw one-take vocal video for “Hedonist,” featuring Tatiana Shmayluk’s powerhouse performance in a single, unedited take. The track appears on their latest album Duél and showcases her signature blend of clean vocals and fierce growls, all delivered with precision and power.

“To put it simply,” adds Ronnie, who lives in Los Angeles, “my neighbors are disappearing. Families are being torn apart. And our community has reached a breaking point. These aren’t strangers, they're our friends, our loved ones. They're not immigrants to us, they’re neighbors. And like Jesus said, 'Love thy neighbor.' That’s what this song is about.” 

"Thematically, you can think of it as a person who's ready to begin the sacrifice of himself for a greater cause, but there are a million things asking for his attention," says Kirby about the song's subject matter.

Vocalist Will Ramos says of the track:

“It’s a very triumphant, all-inclusive song written to bring people together for a beautiful moment where they can realize that no matter what this world throws at us, it will never break us down. We and our bonds are unbreakable.”

“This song is one of the most personal songs I’ve ever written. This song is a raw exploration of my own resentment, and unresolved anger” comments frontman ALEX TAYLOR.

This cover version was handpicked by front man Mikael Stanne, who shares: “During my teenage years the darkness and allure of the early Danzig albums introduced me to a whole new way of thinking about what rock and metal could be”.