The Japanese pop-metal group’s third album, which arrives October 11th, will contain 14/16 songs and feature a bevy of guest artists. The musicians appearing on Metal Galaxy include Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz; Sabaton singer Joakim Brodén; Polyphia guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage; B’z guitarist Tak Matsumoto; and Thai rapper F.HERO.

Them Crooked Vultures is a rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 by John Paul Jones (former member of Led Zeppelin), Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters and former member of Nirvana), and Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age and former member of Kyuss). The group also includes guitarist Alain Johannes during live performances. The band's first single "New Fang" was released in October 2009, followed by the group's self-titled debut album the following month, debuting at number 12 on the Billboard 200. The group won the 2011 Grammy Awards Best Hard Rock Performance category for "New Fang".

Orph is a three-song demo that was released by the band Dredg in 1997. Drummer Dino Campanella says, "Our first two recordings were written to be rhythmically aggressive. We did the third one, Orph, because we wanted to grow up the right way, from our roots with harmony and melody." Singer Gavin Hayes explains the heavier sound of Orph compared to later releases: "Heavy music back then to me was a little more rebellious. It wasn't so mainstream at the time. You used to have to wait for MTV's Headbanger's Ball to see anything of the sort. It's just different now, and that's kind of why we steered away from it. This was just a natural progression."

Bleed Out is the eighth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was released on 20 October 2023. It is produced by their longtime producer Daniel Gibson, alongside Mathijs Tieken and Within Temptation. The album marks the first time the band opted for releasing a full record without the support of a major record label. Musically, the record incorporates elements from symphonic metal, gothic metal, metalcore, and djent. Lyrically, the band approached themes related to freedom. They addressed subjects such as war, oppression, women's rights, religion, bullying, and inner-struggles.