Trent Reznor took to his Twitter Account to announce new music for the first time in a while. Heres what he had to say.
Anybody out there? New Nine Inch Nails out now. Ghosts V – VI. Hours and hours of music. Free. Some of it kind of happy, some not so much.https://t.co/Q7VZ1z8gFi
AS THE NEWS SEEMS TO TURN EVER MORE GRIM BY THE HOUR, WE’VE FOUND OURSELVES VACILLATING WILDLY BETWEEN FEELING LIKE THERE MAY BE HOPE AT TIMES TO UTTER DESPAIR – OFTEN CHANGING MINUTE TO MINUTE. ALTHOUGH EACH OF US DEFINE OURSELVES AS ANTISOCIAL-TYPES WHO PREFER BEING ON OUR OWN, THIS SITUATION HAS REALLY MADE US APPRECIATE THE POWER AND NEED FOR CONNECTION.
MUSIC – WHETHER LISTENING TO IT, THINKING ABOUT IT OR CREATING IT – HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE THING THAT HELPED US GET THROUGH ANYTHING – GOOD OR BAD. WITH THAT IN MIND, WE DECIDED TO BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL AND COMPLETE THESE NEW GHOSTS RECORDS AS A MEANS OF STAYING SOMEWHAT SANE.
GHOSTS V: TOGETHER IS FOR WHEN THINGS SEEM LIKE IT MIGHT ALL BE OKAY, AND GHOSTS VI: LOCUSTS… WELL, YOU’LL FIGURE IT OUT.
IT MADE US FEEL BETTER TO MAKE THESE AND IT FEELS GOOD TO SHARE THEM. MUSIC HAS ALWAYS HAD A WAY OF MAKING US FEEL A LITTLE LESS ALONE IN THE WORLD… AND HOPEFULLY IT DOES FOR YOU, TOO. REMEMBER, EVERYONE IS IN THIS THING TOGETHER AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AGAIN SOON. BE SMART AND SAFE AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.
Ozzy Osbourne’s new video for the song “Ordinary Man” was released today and it does not disappoint!
It features legendary pianist Sir Elton John, Guns N’ Roses duo Slash and Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.
Ozzy says of the new track, “It all just came together. Slash is a dear friend of mine, as is Elton. When I was writing ‘Ordinary Man,’ it reminded me of an old Elton song and I said to Sharon, ‘I wonder if he would sing on it?’ We asked and lo and behold, he agreed and sings and play piano on the song.”
It takes us on a reflective journey through a collage of photo’s and film footage of Ozzy, band mates, friends and family through the years. Theres video of Randy Rhodes, Zakk Wylde and members of Black Sabbath.
We see clips and photo’s of Ozzy and company while on tour and all the crazy antics.
The video shows Osbourne in his hometown, Birmingham, England, watching a home movie of his life. We see clips from his childhood, the early days of Black Sabbath, his solo career, and his life with his family.
The video also includes the less-than-stellar moments, such as his 1984 mugshot when he was arrested for public intoxication. Its a poignant and candid journey revealing moments of his private life and we are invited in to catch a rare glimpse.
The song and video are the stuff if legends and the staff at Vinyl Lair are blown away by this work of art.
Here’s the lyrics for the song below:
I was unprepared for fame Then everybody knew my name No more lonely nights it’s all for you I have traveled many miles I’ve seen tears and I’ve seen smiles Just remember that it’s all for you
Don’t forget me as the colors fade When the lights go down it’s just an empty stage Ok Yes I’ve been a bad guy Been higher than the blue sky And the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man I made momma cry Don’t know why I’m still alive Yes the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man
Many times I lost control They tried to kill my rock n roll Just remember I’m still here for you
I don’t wanna say goodbye When I do you’ll be alright After all I did it all for you
Don’t forget me as the colors fade When the lights go down it’s just an empty stage Ok Yes I’ve been a bad guy Been higher than the blue sky And the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man I made momma cry Don’t know why I’m still alive Yes the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man
Yes I’ve been a bad guy Been higher than the blue sky And the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man I made momma cry Don’t know why I’m still alive Yes the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man
Polish death metal metallers VADER will release their 16th studio album, “Solitude In Madness”, on May 1 via Nuclear Blast.
VADER leader Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek comments: “Humanity never learns from its lessons. I feel tensions continuing to rise around the world. People have forgotten about true pain, from a bigger picture standpoint. Generationally, the new generation doesn’t respect the old, and I’d challenge they don’t even respect themselves. Our everyday lives are on TV, so there’s no soul left. Everything’s empty. I think technology is also sucking the human out of us. There are more lonely people now than ever before, and yet we’re supposed to be connected together by technology. It’s madness! That’s where the title, ‘Solitude In Madness’, came from, actually. Of course, I approach these topics in a very VADER way. I love telling stories and expressing myself through those stories.”
For “Solitude In Madness”, VADER went outside its comfort zone to Grindstone Studios in Suffolk, England, where the band teamed up with one-stop shop Scott Atkins to engineer, produce, mix, and master for four weeks in summer 2019. The album artwork was created by Wes Benscoter (AUTOPSY, CATTLE DECAPITATION).
“Solitude In Madness” track listing:
01. Shock And Awe 02. Into Oblivion 03. Despair 04. Incineration Of The Gods 05. Sanctification Denied 06. And Satan Wept 07. Emptiness 08. Final Declaration 09. Dancing In The Slaughterhouse 10. Stigma Of Divinity 11. Bones
As first impression of the upcoming album, VADER have already released a very first single and lyric video for the track “Shock And Awe”.
VADER‘s European tour will kick off on March 7 in Germany. The trek will hit Germany, U.K., Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Hungary with support from DEFILED, CHRONOSPHERE and FALLCIE.
According to various online retailers, the new DEEP PURPLE album will be titled “Whoosh!” and will be released on June 12 via earMUSIC. The legendary rockers’ 21st studio LP was once again helmed by Canadian producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, ALICE COOPER), who also worked on DEEP PURPLE‘s last two studio albums, 2017’s “Infinite” and 2013’s “Now What?!”
DEEP PURPLE will promote “Whoosh!”‘s release by embarking on a five-date U.K. tour in October with special guests BLUE ÖYSTER CULT.
Last fall, DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover told the Chicago Sun-Times that he and his bandmates planned to keep recording new music.
“We’ve been working a bit,” he revealed. “There’s a few things around, we don’t know yet what’s, where, or when, but we’ve not stopped yet.
“There’s a danger, of course, if you’ve become successful, that people want you to do the same thing and be successful all over again and keep going, but it doesn’t work that way,” he added. “You can’t just simply repeat yourself.”
Having released six albums since 1996, Glover said everyone in PURPLE has been committed to keeping things fresh.
“I think that there was almost an unspoken desire to move forward, to not repeat ourselves,” he explained. “Of course, the players are the same, so the sounds can be the same in all the style or something like that. But as far as writing songs are concerned, I think most bands don’t get the songs right. They talk about performance and hooks and stuff like that, but to me writing a song is much more than that. And we’ve always tried to write different songs. The danger is, of course, you become a parody of yourself if you try and copy yourself. And so, we’ve always tried to move on and change. It’s a challenge.”
DEEP PURPLE — which had been eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for two decades — finally entered the Rock Hall as part of the class of 2016. The band’s first three lineups were inducted, including drummer Ian Paice, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, late keyboardist Jon Lord, and various singers and bassists — Rod Evans; Ian Gillan and Glover; and David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.
San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENTperformed their new song “Night Of The Witch” live for the first time this past Thursday (February 6) at the opening show of “The Bay Strikes Back 2020”European tour at Amager Bio in Copenhagen, Denmark. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.
“Night Of The Witch” is taken from TESTAMENT‘s upcoming album, “Titans Of Creation”, which will be released on April 3 via Nuclear Blast. The long-awaited follow-up to 2016 album “Brotherhood Of The Snake”was produced by singer Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson while Juan Urteaga of Trident Studioshandled co-producing, recording and engineering. Andy Sneap was responsible for the mixing and mastering of the album. Eliran Kantor stepped up once again to create a new masterpiece of artwork for the cover of this release.
Billy comments: “It has been months since the final mixing of ‘Titans Of Creation’ and we are eager for fans to hear it. We feel that we put a lot into this record and at the end of the day it is a TESTAMENT record that stands on its own. We are very proud of ‘Titans Of Creation’.”
He adds: “‘Night Of The Witch’ uses old-school lyrics about witches chanting in the moonlight and casting spells. The beauty of this song is that I worked Eric‘s vocals into the chorus. I wanted to incorporate him as he does DRAGONLORD and this song was a perfect match. It is a heavy song and a great way to introduce everyone to ‘Titans Of Creation’.”
“Titans Of Creation” track listing:
01. Children Of The Next Level 02. WWII 03. Dream Deceiver 04. Night Of The Witch 05. City Of Angels 06. Ishtars Gate 07. Symptoms 08. False Prophet 09. The Healers 10. Code Of Hammurabi 11. Curse Of Osiris 12. Catacombs
In a recent interview with Heavy New York, Billy was asked if the band’s new disc is a musical continuation of “Brotherhood Of The Snake”. He responded: “You’re always trying to top your last record, and I thought ‘Brotherhood’, up to that point, was a pretty strong record. This one, it definitely stands on its own — all the songs have their own identity. Eric [Peterson, guitar] somehow came up with a way to make it be TESTAMENTbut feel fresh and new still TESTAMENT, so that’s pretty awesome.”
He continued: “It was a quicker process than the last time, but I think at the end, the mix is awesome, the songs came out awesome, and the process wasn’t as painful as it was the last time. So, it’s a good record. I can’t wait for everybody to hear it.”
Asked if he waits for music for new TESTAMENT songs to be completed first before he starts working on lyrical ideas or if he has lyrics in mind before even hearing a note of music, Chuck said: “I have some concepts before I hear music and apply ’em to what I feel when I feel the song. So usually, a lot of it, the riff is first — it’s a riff; it’s not even a song yet, so it’s usually just a riff. And then, from there, I just kind of feel it out and just kind of find my way through it.
“On this record, we didn’t get to work and do any demos, so a lot of it was a lot of riffs going into the studio with ideas and then fine-tuning it, which I think put the pressure on ourselves,” he explained. “Sometimes when you’re under pressure, I think you work a little harder and you give it a little more. So I think, again, us forcing ourselves in the studio — ‘Let’s go. We’re gonna record this record now’ — it paid off, ’cause the record came out great. Everybody’s performance — Steve [DiGiorgio, bass] and Gene [Hoglan, drums] just killed it on this record. It’s an awesome record. TESTAMENT fans, I think, are gonna dig it.”
Last year, Billy told the WSOU radio station that the new TESTAMENT album would “definitely” contain “some different elements. I think Eric definitely stepped back into little of his — I don’t know — maybe, MERCYFUL FATE shoes,” he said. “There’s a lot of MERCYFUL FATEkind of stuff. Eric does some black metal stuff. There’s some blast beats, which he’s kind of mixed in there, which that’s not the norm for us. So it’s a little different again. I think all the songs definitely have their own identity and stand on their own.”
Chuck said that he is using his “melodic tone of a voice and less of a death metal voice” on the new TESTAMENTLP. “It’s just kind of where the songs took it,” he said. “There’s a song on here that was kind of one of the last ones that came around — it’s one of the slower-tempo songs. And I kind of was shying away from it ’cause the pace of the rest of the record was pretty quick, so I wasn’t sure it was the right fit. But in the end, once we wrote it and finished it, it turned out to be a great song. But I’m doing some stuff on there — I’ve never sang a three-part harmony on a TESTAMENT song ever. And on this one, there’s a situation where I tried it and did it, and it sounds really cool for the song. So it was just something different — challenging again that was different notes to use and different challenges, and I kind of dug it. And it actually was cool, and it actually made the experience on those songs, of creation, just kind of fun.”
Billy went on to discuss two of the tracks that will appear on TESTAMENT‘s new disc, saying: “On this record, there’s a song called ‘Children Of The Next Level’, and that’s one that really came together, musically, and came together lyrically. There’s another one on the record that, actually, the first time I heard the song, I kind of mimicked the vocal pattern and actually we wrote it the next day. So that was a song that was, like, ‘Wow!’ I got inspired and laid down the first gut feeling of what it felt like. And it ended up being a keeper, and we ended up molding it right into a killer song. And lyrically, the timing, the melody, the lyrics — everything just really kind of fell into place.”
“The Bay Strikes Back 2020” European tour features TESTAMENT alongside EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL. The trek will hit 25 cities before concluding on March 11 in Hannover, Germany.
AMARANTHE has released a teaser for what appears to be the music video for a new song called “Do Or Die”. The full track will be made available on Friday, February 14.
Last fall, the Swedish/Danish six-piece announced it had signed a new deal with Nuclear Blast for the release of its sixth studio album, due later this year.
AMARANTHE will embark on a North American headlining tour in the summer/fall of 2020. The 37-date trek will kick-off at the Soundstage in Baltimore on August 20 and will make stops in Chicago, Vancouver and Denver before concluding on October 2 at the Riverfront Live in Cincinnati, Ohio. Support on the trek will come Finnish metallers BATTLE BEAST and the Boston symphonic metal band SEVEN SPIRES.
With its foundations tracing back to 2008, AMARANTHEhas released five albums thus far, consistently delivering hauntingly catchy tunes led by their unique three-part vocals. Within their arsenal of hit singles, a myriad tracks have been received very well via press and fans alike; having also gained countless plays on both radio stations around the globe and across streaming services (the group’s songs have been streamed more than 100 million times on Spotify). A string of support tours has blazed AMARANTHE‘s trail in front of huge crowds as well as at their own headline concerts (the group impressively once performed in front of 10,000 fans at Liseberg, Gothenburg). They have kept working incredibly hard over the years, the latest product of which culminated in the form of 2018’s “Helix”, which achieved them some of their highest chart positions in the band’s history.
Two leaders of hardcore industrial music, Tim Sköld (ex-MARILYN MANSON, SHOTGUN MESSIAH) and Nero Bellum (PSYCLON NINE), combine forces on this debut album for their brand new project, NOT MY GOD.
The pair are no strangers to working together, having both served as live bandmembers for the other’s projects — Sköld as the guitarist for PSYCLON NINE and Bellum as the keyboardist for SKOLD. However, NOT MY GODmarks their first artistic collaboration, writing and recording together on a studio album.
NOT MY GOD‘s self-titled release features 13 all-new compositions and while some might brand this release as industrial, Sköld and Bellum have crafted a majestic new take on electronic music that showcases experimentation while perverting pop sensibilities. The duo also teamed with renowned video director, Vicente Cordero of Industrialism Films, for a spectacular video for the lead-off single, “Fiction”.
“Not My God” will be available on digital platforms everywhere as well as on digipak CD and a very limited (only 300 made) 2LP clear vinyl pressing via Cleopatra Records starting February 14.
rack listing:
01. Fiction 02. Until The Pain Is Gone 03. Sowing Discord 04. Murder Suicide 05. Equalizer 06. Birthright 07. Decay, Decay 08. First Blood 09. Nevermore 10. Right Now 11. Persephone 12. Cold Black 13. 13
Sköld has been one of few lasting Swedish music exports since the 1980s as frontman for one of that country’s earliest and more successful metal bands, SHOTGUN MESSIAH. After the suspension of that outfit in the mid-90s, Sköld struck out on his own and released the debut album for his industrial metal project, the self-titled SKOLD album, in 1996. The album was hailed as a triumph with songs such as “Chaos” and “Hail Mary”landing in major motion pictures as well as mainstream video games. Since then, Sköld has gone on to work in a numerous other major bands, becoming a member of KMFDM and MARILYN MANSON as well as playing live with Taime Downe‘s THE NEWLYDEADS and Nivek Ogre‘s OHGR, all the while composing, performing, and producing for other artists, for example MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, as well as several SKOLD albums.
Death metal veterans SIX FEET UNDER have entered the studio to begin recording their new album. The follow-up to 2017’s “Torment” is due later this year via Metal Blade Records.
SIX FEET UNDER revealed its recording activities in a social media post Thursday night (February 6). The band wrote: “Tracking for the new SFU album is underway… Marcos [Marco Pitruzzella] drums are complete .. Jack[Owen] is heading into the studio this weekend to start tracking guitars! Good stuff going on! Excited for you all to hear!!”
Back in 2018, SIX FEET UNDER issued a compilation album, titled “Unburied”, in digital format through Metal Blade Records. The disc was produced by vocalist Chris Barnes, and mixed and mastered by Chaz Najjarat Badlands Recording in Denver, Colorado. The LP consisted of nine songs recorded during sessions for the albums “Undead” (2012), “Unborn” (2013) and “Torment”.
In a 2017 interview with Metal Insider, Barnes spoke about the fact that he has been a Metal Blade recording artist for three decades. He said: “One of the reasons that I’m proud of it is because when I was getting a ride to that record store when I was a kid, I didn’t have a guide — maybe a couple magazines here and there like Metal Forces or Kerrang!, but you didn’t have much to go on. But if it was on Metal Blade Records, and if it was produced by Brian Slagel, if I saw his name on the record and it was a Metal Blade release, that’s what I bought. I could’ve had, like, three other choices, but if that one was there and if I saw that black on red, man, I bought that. [If] Slagel or Bill Metoyer mixed it, that was my guide. And seven years later, I’m in a band and I have a press package and I send it to Metal Blade Records, and the record label that I was a fan of that guided me through my metal years, they end up signing me. It was like a dream come true and me and Brianbecame friends over the years, and he’s one of my greatest friends.”
SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser has told Dead Rhetoric in a new interview that his band never considered calling it quits after the departure of founding guitarist/vocalist Max Cavalera in 1996. “No, we never thought about that,” he said. “Changing a singer is always difficult — especially Max who was a very strong personality, image. Of course, bringing Derrick [Green] in, a totally different guy, a black guy in the metal scene, which is very rare.
“We are not here to please everyone — if you don’t like it, fine,” he continued. “If you like it, fine. We are not here as a church or a religion to indoctrinate people or make people believe in it what I believe. This is art. Somehow it’s going to touch people in a good and a bad way. The influence is there.
“People talk shit about SEPULTURA, but they are still talking about SEPULTURA, you know? We never thought about pleasing anyone. Who is the fan of SEPULTURA? It’s very hard to create a stereotype of a SEPULTURAfan, you know? We have grandmothers to little kids that like SEPULTURA. Some people like a specific period of time, or an album, or everything. Thirty-five years of a band, so it isn’t like an IRON MAIDEN fan who you can see from far away. Our albums show that we are very diverse and we are not really locking into a specific thing. We do music because we like to do music.”
SEPULTURA‘s classic lineup fell apart in 1996 with the exit of Max after the rest of the band split with his wife Gloria as their manager. His brother, drummer Igor Cavalera, stuck around with the group for another 10 years before leaving SEPULTURA and re-teaming with Max in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY.
Although SEPULTURA has maintained a diehard fanbase in all parts of the world throughout the band’s three-and-a-half-decade-plus history, Max-era albums “Roots” and “Chaos A.D.” were by far SEPULTURA‘s most commercially successful, having both been certified gold in the U.S. for sales in excess of five hundred thousand copies.
SEPULTURA‘s new album, “Quadra”, is now out via Nuclear Blast Records.
Guitarist Kevin Estrella’s project Pyramids On Mars has a new album being released on December 21, 2019, entitled “Edge of the Black”. The full length offers up an aural palette of intense instrumental progressive shredding rock that’s emotional, provocative and 4-dimensional.
Teaming up with MusicLegends.ca, Pyramids On Mars is premiering the next single ‘The Ambassador’ here.Estrella explains the track in further detail:“The idea for The Ambassador was actually sparked from the guitar it was played on. It is played on a Signature ‘Aurora’ Guitar. Built by the Signature Guitar Company sometime around 1987. Alex Lifeson of Rush made the guitar famous playing it exclusively for the albums “Hold Your Fire” and “Show of Hands”. Alex designed the guitar, along with Russ Heinl. What makes it unique is the balance of Basswood (from a rare variety found only in Quebec) and has the three active single-coil pickups, giving the guitar a very unique: clear, bright yet warm distinctive sound. No guitar sounds like it. It was meant to be the ultimate Superstrat. It’s almost like an acoustic guitar on hyperdrive. Only 500 Signatures were ever made. My Signature Aurora is quite unique. The original owner purchased it from Steve’s Music Store in Toronto back in the late eighties. It was a floor model. It doesn’t even have a serial number. It is quite the collector’s item. The Ambassador was written by-that-guitar. I didn’t write the song, the Signature guitar did.Speaking of Rush, the song is heavily influenced by Rush’s early works from the eighties. The concert video Show of Hands comes to mind was a huge influence on the Edge of the Black sound, particularly in the songs The Ambassador and Arcturian Rain.The theme of the song is about an Ambassador who has been selected from Earth, chosen to be a spokesperson for the people of Earth. Scientists found a way to open a portal to another galaxy and he was chosen to go through it and hopefully meet some Extraterrestrial nation on the other side. Some other interesting things come to mind in the song. The guitar solo is doing some interesting combinations of two-note per string sweep picking, combined with string skipping arpeggios a-la Paul Gilbert style. The solo ends in a nice diatonic extension arpeggio legato phrasing. These and other techniques I teach on my online instructional guitar lessons https://pyramidsonmarsguitarlessons.pivotshare.com/“
Following Pyramids On Mars’ two previous albums, “Edge of the Black” was written, composed and performed solely by Kevin Estrella who cites influences from musical greats including J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi along with today’s guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. “Edge of the Black” pays homage to these artists while still maintaining Estrella’s own creative flair. Estrella shares his thoughts on the album:
“On Edge of The Black, I wanted to put emphasis on songwriting and telling a story. The emphasis is not just on the lead guitar melody, but on the band as a whole. Harmonic variations on repeating themes are strongly utilized; like rhyming phrases in spoken language that allows easier accurate retelling of the original story. This idea of repeating music phrases/themes so the audience can easily recall it and hum it all the way home.”
“Edge of The Black” pre-order available on Bandcamp.
Singles: ‘F-22 Raptor’here. ‘Song of Light’here. ‘Nacht Waffen’here.
Track Listing: 1. Blood Moon 5:42 2. Nacht Waffen 6:56 3. Song of Light 5:44 4. F-22 Raptor 5:53 5. The Ambassador 4:57 6. Mercury Magnetar 4:58 7. Arcturian Rain 4:38 8. Time to Believe 4:40 9. Arioso Lullaby 4:39 10. Whale Song 4:28 Album Length: 52:40 For more info: PyramidsOnMars.com Facebook Instagram
About:
Every once in awhile there comes along a band that is so different or unique, you would think they were dropped on Earth from another planet. Pyramids On Mars is one of those bands. What first catches you, is that they are an instrumental band. A combination of elements such as hard rock, industrial, metal and psychedelic rock: and then the lead guitar comes soaring in. Well crafted, beautiful, melodic phrases so catchy and memorable they will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
Pyramids On Mars is the solo project of guitarist Kevin Estrella. He wanted to do something musically different that would stand out from the crowd. Estrella’s musical style is very similar to world-renowned rock guitarist Joe Satriani, so much so that Estrella has nicknamed himself the “Satriani of the North.”
“Of course Satriani has had a huge influence on me,” he says “But he (Satriani) does more of a bluesy thing whereas I am more influenced by classical music. I absolutely love the Baroque classical composers J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi who are my biggest musical influences.
Estrella recorded, produced, engineered and mastered his debut album, self-titled “Pyramids On Mars” in 2013. Since then, he has been capturing music industry attention-getting international radio airplay in the U.S, Canada, South America, and Europe. He is a regular guest on Brian ‘the hammer’ Jackson radio (Los Angeles) to over 4 million listeners and a weekly speaker on Real Rock Radio (Chicago).
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