We have been following Schock’s return and the progress of their new album Halt Still for a while now. The past few years have been troublesome for the band and I knew more than a few people who thought they had simply split up in the 5 years since their last album Glamour was released, so we’re all very glad the band is back and moving towards the release of a third album.

Now, that new album has just become a little bit more real in the mind’s of Schock’s fans. They just announced the release date for Halt Still: June 6th. That’s barely over a month away, so it’s time to get excited! To help build your enthusiasm, go check out the 2 new songs from the album on the band’s MySpace page. Listen to their older ones too, if you’re not already a fan of Schock. They are fantastic!

The band’s site doesn’t have the tracklisting yet, but I found it on an online review of the album (which gave it 10 out of 10 points, by the way). It also tells us the total playtime is 47 minutes and 43 seconds, not bad for 13 tracks. I’m not crazy about the cover art, but I am definitely looking forward to this album and I hope you are too.

One last thing before the tracklisting, you can watch a “Making of Halt Still” video on our April 22nd Newsbites post.

Schock - Halt Still tracklisting
01. Kein Atemzug
02. Oh Yeah
03. Halt Still
04. Wie Ein Tier
05. Nichts Verlieren
06. Lolita
07. Hilf Mir
08. Am Ozean
09. Niemand
10. Frei
11. Es Tut Weh
12. Innerlich Tot
13. Am Ende

First new Corvus Corax song online

Corvus Corax is still working on their next album Cantus Buranus II which is scheduled for release on August 1st, but they have already uploaded a new song on their MySpace page. It’s called “O Varium Fortune” and despite the fact that it’s only a 3-minute rough mix of the song, it’s still well worth a listen. It’s very nice, definitely Corvus Corax. I’m eagerly awaiting this album.

Seabound offers an exclusive MP3 download

During Seabound’s U.S. Alliance Tour, they performed the song “Watching Over You” as an encore with Iris’s singer Reagan Jones in certain cities. This duet was so well received by the crowds that the band decided to record it. Now it’s available as an exclusive MP3 download for fans of both bands to enjoy (or relive the experience, if you were there) over and over again. This particular recording was made at the March 29th concert in San Francisco. To download “Watching Over You” live, just head on over to Seabound.de or simply click here.

Udo Dirkschneider celebrates 20 years: Special concerts, DVD, South American tour

Udo Dirkschneider first met fame as the singer for Accept, but for the past 20 years he has been at the head of his own band U.D.O. To celebrate, the band has planned 2 special concerts in Germany, one of which will have an extra-long 3 hour set that will also include several Accept songs. This concert will also be filmed and turned into a DVD in the future for all U.D.O. fans who couldn’t get tickets for the sold out show.

U.D.O. is also booking concerts for South America and Mexico during the first half of June. For details, visit the tourdates page of U.D.O.’s website.

Schock’s “Making of Halt Still” video

As I reported a while ago, Schock is hard at work on their next album, Halt Still. But it looks like they are making a lot of progress on the album because they recently released a “making of Halt Still” video on their MySpace page. It’s in German, but even if you can’t understand any of it, there’s still plenty of music to listen to between segments of the members speaking and making random noises.

Back in October, Schock surprised us when they emerged from years of total silence with several new songs already recorded. They have kept their site very up to date since then, adding a new flash animation, new band photos, a new forum, and also the announcement that their forthcoming third album will be called Halt Still. There are also a few new songs (full length) on Schock’s MySpace page for you to enjoy until the album comes out. Honestly, I have to say that I liked the 4 songs they had on there before, but “Hilf Mir” and “Nichts Verlieren” aren’t bad, either. I am looking forward to this album and will post more updates as the news emerges.

Wow! This totally caught me by surprise. For many, many months, years even, Schock was silent. Their website had absolutely no updates for the longest time and honestly I was beginning to think they had quietly slipped away into history. But tonight upon performing my regular rounds of German band websites, I typed www.schockline.de into my browser and I think my heart skipped a beat. Not only was it updated, but the website is entirely new! Granted, there’s not a whole lot there at the moment, but at least now I know Schock is still around. Not only are they still around, but they have new music!

Schock has 16 new songs ready to be perfected for release on a new album. I immediately headed over to their MySpace page and was absolutely pleased with what I heard. Four new songs, full length songs, and each one is amazing! Lots of heavy guitars, great riffs, awesome vocals… This is definitely going to be one hell of an album. Head on over and hear for yourself.