With every generation comes a great war. It may take years to fully reveal itself, but the seasoned warrior knows preparation is everything. Now in 2025, Bay Area thrash metal icons Testament return with their fourteenth studio album, Para Bellum, via Nuclear Blast Records. Taken from the Latin phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum - "If you want peace, prepare for war" - the album stands as both a battle cry and an observation of humanity's uneasy alliance with its own creations. As technology accelerates and disconnection grows, Para Bellum sees Testament reflecting the modern chaos through music that’s urgent, sharp, and unflinchingly human.
True to their legacy, Para Bellum is a masterclass in dynamic thrash songwriting, guided by founding guitarist Eric Peterson and vocalist Chuck Billy, who continue to lead the band with vision and force…

Three major works for piano and orchestra by English composers, all eschewing the traditional nineteenth-century model of a bravura virtuoso soloist pitted against an orchestra, in distinctive ways. Together with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under George Vass, Clare Hammond presents an original programme that provides a unique perspective on how the piano concerto reflected musical currents in mid-twentieth-century Britain.William Walton's Sinfonia Concertante for Orchestra with Piano Obbligato began as a ballet score. After it was rejected by Sergei Diaghilev, Walton arranged his scoreinto a leaner, more direct and more effective work thatreveals the influences of Stravinsky, Poulenc, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and, at times, Elgar. Benjamin Britten's Diversions was commissioned by the left-hand pianist Paul Wittgenstein. Enthusiastic about the challenge of writing for the left hand, Britten devised a work in variation form; he did not seek to conceal the soloist's one-handedness, but revelled in it while still retaining emotion and grandeur. Michael Tippett's Piano Concerto completes the programme. Inspired by a performance of Beethoven's Fourth Concerto, Tippett was convinced that a contemporary concerto could be written, 'in which the piano is used once again for it's poetic capabilities'. In his work, the orchestra does not merely accompany; the principal players shine when they get their opportunity for solos or close dialogue with the soloist.

„L’Enchanteur“ ist eine mitreißende Hommage an den Atem, den Klang und das musikalische Erbe. Alice Szymanski haucht einem Instrument des französischen Flötenbauers Louis Lot von 1867, die einst der große Gaston Blanquart spielte, neues Leben ein. Mélanie Bracale spielt einen Bechstein-Flügel aus dem Jahr 1900. Die herausragende Mezzosopranistin Lucile Richardot und die renommierte Cellistin Marie Ythier ergänzen das Ensemble. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die Eleganz des französischen Repertoires und die Farben des frühen Impressionismus. Werke von Fauré, Roussel, Debussy und Ravel werden mit bewegenden, teils bisher unveröffentlichten Stücken verwoben.

Avec « Le retour des beaux jours », Vanessa Paradis fait son grand retour à la musique. Ce 8ème album studio est le fruit de son étroite collaboration avec Étienne Daho et Jean-Louis Piérot. Il a été enregistré, mixé et réalisé à Paris (Motorbass Studio) et Londres (Abbey Road). Le premier single « Bouquet final », l'un des hits de l'été 2025, annonce un album pop soul très attendu…

As an artist, singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Samantha Fish has earned numerous accolades for her unique self-expression (including multiple Blues Music Awards and a GRAMMY nomination), which she channels through explosive riffs, visceral rhythms, and spine-tingling vocals. Her talent has been recognized by none other than Eric Clapton, who invited her to perform at his Crossroads 2023 in Los Angeles. She’s a festival headliner, who has graced the cover of guitar magazines and toured internationally to packed houses. Fish commands her cathartic shows with her edgy vocal delivery and in-your-face slide guitar.

On 2016's Afraid of Heights, Canadian hard rock mainstays Billy Talent stared fear and anxiety in the face and struck an ideal balance between energy and message, delivering one of the best albums in their catalog. Six years later, they confront negativity and darkness once again on Crisis of Faith, ten tracks of cathartic release and hardened hope from a band still digesting the chaotic years between releases. Executive produced by guitarist and main songwriter Ian D'Sa, Faith sticks close to their winning formula, offering a few artistic surprises to push the group forward. Opening salvo "Forgiveness I + II" is an instant standout, a two-part prog exercise that unfolds from a crunchy riff-packed assault into an unexpected midtempo, horn-backed epic. It's one of the most daring and satisfying creative moves in their decades-long career…

Aldean celebrates his unprecedented run of chart dominance with Jason Aldean – 30 Number One Hits.This career-spanning collection highlights every single one of his chart-topping hits, giving fans the ultimate soundtrack of the last two decades of country music. From his breakout 2005 debut all the way to his most recent No. 1 smashes, this definitive release captures the history of a modern icon whose music continues to shape the sound of country today.Whether you’re a lifelong fan or discovering his music for the first time, 30 Number One Hits is a celebration of Aldean’s unmatched legacy and a must-have for any country music collection

No one redefined the limits of contemporary keyboard writing in the 18th century more radically than Domenico Scarlatti, whose formal innovation, harmonic daring and virtuosic brilliance set him apart from his contemporaries. In this selection of sonatas Martin Cousin presents a multifaceted portrait of Scarlatti’s full creative range. Along with scalic runs, extended trills, dramatic dynamics and playful syncopations, we also meet the impish, quasi-improvisational and introspective composer capable of great nobility and lyrical beauty, one who bridged Baroque traditions with the new Classical style.

The use of boys’ voices in performances of Bach’s sacred works is not solely for historical authenticity. Especially just before their voices change, well-trained boy singers possess a captivating tonal perfection—both mysterious and fragile—that carries with it a sense of vulnerability and the foreboding of imminent farewell. This sense of impending transition was particularly evident in Alois Mühlbacher. Even as a child, he was internationally recognized as an exceptional talent. His extraordinary boy soprano voice has been preserved in numerous recordings—not only in Baroque music but also in the art song repertoire, where he interpreted works by Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss with remarkable musical maturity. His transition into a new vocal realm happened so gently that he was able to retain much of the magic of his boyhood voice: the emotional depth, the fragility—now combined with a newly honed technical mastery.

Helen Merrill's first American record since 1968 (she had spent much time in Japan) is mostly a duet set with pianist John Lewis; three songs also have flutist Hubert Laws, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Connie Kay. The emphasis is on ballads, with all of the nine songs (other than the pianist's "The Singer") being quite well-known. The obvious empathy between Merrill and Lewis is well displayed on such numbers as "Django" (which has rarely been sung), "Angel Eyes," "Alone Together" and "Mad About the Boy." An introspective set full of subtle creativity.

During his time in Italy and later in Leipzig, Charles Gounod was drawn by the balance of sonic beauty and proportion to be found in the music of Palestrina and J.S. Bach. He developed an innate desire for simple directness as can be heard in the excerpt from the Messe solennelle de Sainte Cécile and the Méditation sur le premier Prélude de J.S. Bach, now better known as Ave Maria. Gounod’s talents for melody and mood painting are demonstrated in his Romances sans paroles, while his sense of wit can be heard in the famous Marche funèbre d’une marionnette.

In 2015 Shoreng Tsintsabadze founded “Young Musicians International Association of Georgia. The primary mission of the organization is to help young talented musicians, to help them with motivation, to support creativity and career advancement with various events in the future. In this regard, some of the first and most important achievements are the establishment of MISA – Music International Summer Academy(2015) and the Georgian Youth Symphony Orchestra(2017). In 2020, in the frame of the “Creative Europe” programs, the Association won a European Union Grant. The association organized projects and actively participates in promoting talented youth to this day.

The first solo album by the former leader of the Impressions, Curtis represented a musical apotheosis for Curtis Mayfield - indeed, it was practically the "Sgt. Pepper's" album of '70s soul, helping with its content and its success to open the whole genre to much bigger, richer musical canvases than artists had previously worked with. All of Mayfield's years of experience of life, music, and people were pulled together into a rich, powerful, topical musical statement that reflected not only the most up-to-date soul sounds of its period, finely produced by Mayfield himself, and the immediacy of the times and their political and social concerns, but also embraced the most elegant R&B sounds of the past. As a producer, Mayfield embraced the most progressive soul sounds of the era, stretching them out compellingly on numbers like "Move on Up"…

Vanessa Mai ist eine der facettenreichsten und bedeutendsten Pop- und Schlager-Künstlerinnen Deutschlands. Sie steht für Wandel, dafür sich immer wieder neu zu erfinden und doch zu 100 Prozent sie selbst zu bleiben. Zwei Nummer 1-Alben, vier Top-3-Alben und über 3,5 Millionen Follower:innen geben ihrer einzigartigen Persönlichkeit recht. Das Album "Traumfabrik" schließt nahtlos an ihre Erfolge an und steht für all das, wofür ihre Fans Vanessa lieben: Leichtigkeit, gute Laune, viele Emotionen. Songs, die den grauen Alltag vergessen lassen und in eine Welt entführen, in der alles möglich ist. Willkommen in Vanessa's "Traumfabrik".

Heldon's real excellence as a band is dramatically demonstrated with this fine recording. A dashing young left-wing intellectual, Richard Pinhas was something of a cult figure in his native France, or at least had the potential to be one, but he wisely rejected the role of rock & roll guitar hero with backing band, in favor of something much more interesting and radical. Patrick Gauthier on moog and Francois Auger on percussion had played with Pinhas on and off for the previous several years, and at this point they had developed into a solid sympathetic unit with a strongly rhythmic orientation. The intricate interlocking rhythms, created by percussion and several synthesizers, have a proto-techno quality at times, and suggest both the German group Can and, on at least one piece, early Ash Ra Tempel…