We've still got a while left to go in 2018 with some big releases on the horizon, but next year is already heating up as Megadeth, Tarja and Venom Inc. all plan on issuing new studio albums in 2019.

Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine told Guitar World the band has been working on new music for the successor to 2016's Dystopia "for a few weeks now" and that "all the band members are at home writing stuff and putting it in the same spot, keeping all the riffs centralized in one place and anybody can access anybody's stuff." He noted he'll start "assembling everything" once they're done and that there is a "95 percent chance" the new record arrives in 2019 and a 100 percent chance of "at least one new song" next year.

Meanwhile, former Nightwish frontwoman Tarja Turunen has eyes on 2019, telling Kaaos TV, "I hope to hit the studio with the guys, [to begin] the production, in the beginning of next year, so you can expect the album release more or less maybe October — September or October, somewhere there, I could say." She says the new album will be her first rock-oriented album since 2016's The Shadow Self.

The sophomore effort from Venom Inc. appears to be in the bag as bassist / vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan told AntiHero Magazine, "We've already got [the new album] ready" and that "it'll be out in March 2019." The group, which features Venom's iconic original members Mantas (guitar) and, until very recently, Abaddon (drums), who has been replaced by live skinsman Jeramie Kling. Venom Inc.'s debut record, Avé, was released last year.

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