Swedish experimental heavy-rock pioneers Opeth have unveiled the title track to their highly-anticipated album, Sorceress, due out September 30th via the band’s imprint label Moderbolaget Records with Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

Leader Mikael Åkerfeldt remarks: “Here you go kids! Here’s the title track, ”Sorceress,” combined with the now obligatory lyric video. Why not eh? We’re happy with the tune. It’s heavy, a bit "meat and potato,” but what the hell…we love it! Hope you do too!”

Opeth’s new album, Sorceress, their first for Nuclear Blast via the band’s imprint label Moderbolaget Records, is proof chief architect Mikael Åkerfeldt has a near-endless well of greatness inside. From the album’s opener “Persephone” to “The Wilde Flowers” and “Strange Brew” to the album’s counterpart title tracks “Sorceress” and “Sorceress II”, Opeth’s twelfth full-length is an unparalleled adventure, where visions cleverly and secretly change, colors mute as if weathered by time, and sounds challenge profoundly.

”The new album Sorceress is our 12th studio album since our beginnings in 1990,” says Åkerfeldt. “I find it difficult to understand that we’ve been going on for 26 years, let alone that we’ve made 12 records now, all of which I am very proud of. Sorceress is no exception. I love this album, as does the whole band. I wrote the music during 5-6 months and we spent only 12 days recording it at Rockfield studios in Wales. I find that once again we’ve taken a step forward. Or sideways, Or backwards. Somewhere!? It’s different! It’s extremely diverse. And if I may say so myself, extremely good. I feel the right to say that since I like to think I know this band better than anyone on the planet. Also, I always manage to detach myself from the record and listen as a fan. It’s a fine little record. My favourite in our discography right now. Of course. That’s how it should be, right? It’s both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it. Hopefully there’ll be others around the globe sharing this opinion. It was a joy to make it. A fucking joy to record it, and a sheer joy listening to it. So there you have it!”

For Sorceress, Opeth returned to Rockfield Studios in Wales, also home to pivotal releases from Queen, Rush and Judas Priest, where the Swedes had tracked Pale Communion in 2014 with Tom Dalgety. The band spent 12 days recording at the countryside venue among its serene and inspiring surroundings. The result is nothing short of a powerful and intriguing record that will add yet another layer to the band’s celebrated career.

Sorceress trackisting:

“Persephone”
“Sorceress”
“The Wilde Flowers”
“Will O The Wisp”
“Chrysalis”
“Sorceress 2”
“The Seventh Sojourn”
“Strange Brew”
“A Fleeting Glance”
“Era”
“Persephone (Slight Return)”

Studio Teaser #1:

Studio Teaser #2:

In the video below, Mikael Akerfeldt takes you on a tour of Rockfield Studios during the recording process of Sorceress.

Sorceress is being released on limited edition pink vinyl with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Gilda’s Club NYC. Additional editions of the vinyl will be announced at a later date. Pre-order the special edition pink vinyl now at this location.

The mission of Gilda’s Club NYC is to support, educate and empower cancer patients and their families. A cancer diagnosis can be an extremely isolating experience which triggers many emotions including fear, anger, depression and an overwhelming sense of helplessness. Currently more than 4200 men, women, teens and children attend free support groups, educational lectures and workshops at the West Village townhouse or at hospital partners around NYC. More than 55 percent of their members have a cancer diagnosis, and the remaining are their loved ones - their children, partners, relatives or friends. At Gilda's Club NYC, they believe no one should face cancer alone.

Sorceress 2LP pink vinyl (180 gram) tracklisting:

Side A
“Persephone”                                                                                                
“Sorceress”                                                                                                      
“The Wilde Flowers”                                                                                     
“Will O The Wisp”                                                                                       

Side B
“Chrysalis”                                                                                                         
“Sorceress 2”                                                                                                  
“The Seventh Sojourn”                                                                               

Side C
“Strange Brew”                                                                                              
“A Fleeting Glance”                                                                                      
“Era”                                                                                                                  
“Persephone (Slight Return)”                                                                

Side D
“The Ward” (Bonus Track)                                                                                                    
“Spring MCMLXXIV” (Bonus Track)

Opeth have announced a North American headline tour, which will kick off with a performance at Ozzfest/Knotfest on September 24th in San Bernardino, CA. The tour will continue through the following month before wrapping up on October 26th in Vancouver, BC.

The tour announcement comes on the heels of Nuclear Blast Entertainment’s recent signing of the band and news of the band’s forthcoming, 12th studio album, Sorceress, that’s due out later this year on the band’s own imprint label Moderbolget Records.

Tour dates are listed below. To purchase VIP packages and tickets visit this location.

Tour dates:

September
24 - San Bernardino, CA - Ozzfest/Knotfest @ San Manual Amphitheater
29 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
30 - Silver Spring, MD - Fillmore

October
1 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
2 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
4 - Montreal, QC – Metropolis
5 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
7 - Detroit, MI - Fillmore
8 - Akron, OH - Good Year Theater at East End
9 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theater
10 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
12 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
13 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
14 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
15 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Live
18 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
19 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theater
21 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
22 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
24 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
25 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theater
26 - Vancouver, BC – Orpheum

(Photo Stuart Wood)

Italian prog metal masters DGM will release their new album, The Passage, on August 26th. A lyric video for the song "Ghost of Insanity" is available for viewing starting today. This epic song features special guest Tom Englund, vocalist of Evergrey on vocals.

The Passage is DGM’s eighth studio album and is the culmination of almost 20 years of hard work that started back in 1997 with the release of their self-produced mini-album, Random Access Zone. The band went through several incarnations and lineup changes during the years, but since singer Mark Basile joined the group in 2007, DGM evolved and developed their sound into what they have now become.

It was probably the release of Frame (2007) that pushed the band into the top of the league of international prog metal. It was also on the strength of this material that DGM managed to tour for almost four years around the world, taking part in some of the biggest metal festivals, supporting Symphony X on their European tour, and sharing the stage with Pagan's Mind too. In 2013, DGM came back with Momentum, an album which showed the full stylistic maturity of a band which felt fully confident with their abilities, both on the songwriting and the musicianship side. The last album was promoted with more shows and after several gigs in Europe, they performed for the second time at ProgPower USA and started their first Asian tour in November 2014 playing Beijing, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka as headliners.

The new album, The Passage is another substantial step forward for DGM. Sounding like a hungry, urbanized version of Symphony X, with substantial hard rock influences, the new record is remarkable in several aspects. The compositions are phenomenal, with sweeping choruses, technical passages, lightning fast fretwork, big vocals and bombastic transitions. The playing is simply faultless and the melodies are perfectly woven into the killer guitars, epic keyboards, and pounding drums!

“This album can easily be seen as our most ambitious work to date,” says guitarist and producer Simone Mularoni.

“This time we tried to evolve to an even more personal sound. We took all the elements we developed through all these years and we tried to take them to the limit. Throughout the whole record you will hear a recurrent musical theme. Instead of doing a usual concept album with the lyrics, we decided to do a sort of musical concept with this melody that repeats in every song but every time with different time signatures and keys,” tells drummer Fabio Costantino.

“This album will offer to the listener a key for a positive dimension. A path made of sound vibrations: The Passage to our dreams and hopes,” concludes bassist Andrea Arcangeli.

Evergrey singer Tom Englund and Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo also appear as special guests tributing the value of this outstanding album. And let's not forget the great job that producer Simone Mularoni did in the studio. The future looks bright for these guys. Check them out live when they come to a town near you.

The Passage tracklisting:

“The Secret (Part 1)”
“The Secret (Part 2)”
“Animal”
“Ghosts Of Insanity”
“Fallen”
“The Passage”
“Disguise”
“Portrait”
“Daydreamer”
“Dogma”
“In Sorrow”

“Animal” video:

“The Secret (Part 1)” audio:

EPK:

Teaser:

DGM lineup:

Simone Mularoni – guitars, keyboards
Marco Basile – vocals
Andrea Arcangeli – bass
Fabio Costantino – drums
Emanuele Casali – keyboards

Special guests:
Tom Englund – vocals on “Ghosts Of Insanity”
Michael Romeo – lead guitar on “Dogma”

Bay Area hardcore thrashers X-Method will release their debut full-length Sex, Alcohol, Rebel Music August 12th on Pavement Music. The official video for “Suicide Gir/Cutter” is streaming below.

Hailing from the infamous and iracible thrash metal breeding grounds of California's Bay Area, X-Method was formed in 2012 by lead singer Abby. Their self-titled seven song EP gained the band national attention and landed them extensive touring in Peru and South America. X-MEthod is a family that loves to involve their fans in every aspect of the band. Referred to as the "Method Militia," these rabid and loyal fans stretch across the world and are ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Tracklisting:

“Denied What’s Ours”
“Brutal As Fuck”
“When Darkness Falls”
“Drink From The Horn”
“Woke”
“Waiting 4 The Rain”
“Addicted”
“Triangles And Sixes”
“Southern Comfort”
“Wasting My Tears”
“Born Into The Affliction”
“Silver On My Back”
“And I Know”
“Suicide Girl/Cutter”
“Fuck Sobriety”
“No Tey Yayas”

“Suicide Girl/Cutter” video:

   

Swedish thrash horde Kayser has disclosed the cover and two featured outtakes from the brand new and upcoming album IV: Beyond The Reef Of Sanity.

Consider them as distant early alerts taken from the September 23rd release. This is Kayser's strongest release to date, setting sails far beyond the reefs. The "Asphalt And Suicide" track is about alienation and hopelessness and "I Sold My Soul (For Your Dream)" talks about the feeling of sometimes being trapped by the dreams you have for your life. The burden of life and the knife edge of creativity dividing sanity from insanity. Both tracks are streaming via the Bandcamp player below.

This magnificent artwork has been done by German artist Timo Wuerz following the previous album concept.

Joke explains the cover art: "The artwork mirrors the dystopian topics in the lyrics. Emptiness, fear and regret. Mankind or a single soul come to an end.  The rise and demise of the world as we know it. It's connected to the previous album Read Your Enemy, which can be seen as the rise. IV: Beyond The Reef Of Sanity is the demise. But also the start of something new in the cycle of life."

Tracklisting:

“Beyond The Reef Of Sanity”
“Through The Darkness”
“Debris (Of A Dream)”
“The Silent Serenade”
“Dusk”
“Asphalt And Suicide”
“One Man Army”
“I Sold My Soul (For Your Dream)”
“Old Blanket”
“Allergic To Life”

“Asphalt And Suicde” and “I Sold My Soul (For Your Dream)”:

‘IV : Beyond the Reef of Sanity' by KAYSER

Preorders are available at Listenable Records.

Frontiers Music Srl will release HARDLINE's new album, "Human Nature", on October 14.

Following the rebirth of the band that happened with the release of "Danger Zone" in 2012, HARDLINE has regrouped around fabulous singer Johnny Gioeli (AXEL RUDI PELL) with the excellent production and keyboard skills of Alessandro Del Vecchio (RATED X, RESURRECTION KINGS, REVOLUTION SAINTS), the shredding talents of guitarist Josh Ramos (THE STORM), and the powerful rhythm section made up of bassist Anna Portalupi (TARJA) and drummer Francesco Jovino (PRIMAL FEAR, JORN). All these musicians have an impressive pedigree, but what makes HARDLINE special is how well their unique and different talents blend together.

The goal for their new album was to have a heavier and updated version of the original HARDLINE sound. Think debut album, 1992's "Double Eclipse", updated for the 21st Century, with a grittier and more straight-ahead sound. Anthemic, hard rocking songs are what you can expect from this record and hook after hook, riff after riff, you'll find yourself wowed by this absolute monster of an album!

When Gioeli and Del Vechhio got together to begin writing songs for the album, "The plan was to create an album that emulates the feeling of 'Double Eclipse' combined with the dynamics of modern-day rock. Very heavy and in your face, but still with hitting melodies," says Johnny.

"I have a tremendous amount of Axel Rudi Pell fans that know me for the way I deliver a metal song too. So, yes, it's definitely the heaviest we have done since the debut. I see this album as the perfect mix of styles."

"As a producer, I pushed everyone to squeeze these songs and put as much attitude as we could on tape," adds Alessandro Del Vecchio. "We wanted more of an in-your-face attitude than our softer albums. I think we understood we had something special in our hands when we finished 'Take You Home'. Even if it's the ballad of the album, I guess it's the focal point of the musical bond that Johnny and myself share with the whole band."

"The guys put their heart and soul into their performances," concludes Johnny. "You can hear the essence of every drum strike and the sweat hitting the drums shortly after. Do it again, Cesco! HARDER, HARDER! Josh, Anna and Ale wouldn't stop until their fingers said 'enough' …and then… we did it again and again. That's rock and roll man. Songs like 'Where Will We Go From Here', 'Human Nature' and 'Take you Home', to me, they are the essence of what I LOVE to sing and HOW I love to sing!"

"Human Nature" track listing:

01. Where Will We Go From Here02. Nobody's Fool03. Human Nature04. Trapped In Muddy Waters05. Running On Empty06. The World Is Falling Down70. Take You Home08. Where The North Wind Blows09. In The Dead Of The Night10. United We Stand11. Fighting The Battle

HARDLINE recording lineup:

Johnny Gioeli - Lead VocalsAlessandro Del Vecchio - Keyboards, Backing VocalsJosh Ramos - GuitarAnna Portalupi - BassFrancesco Jovino - Drums

ANVIL singer/guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner were reunited with the band's original members Dave Allison (guitar) and Ian Dickson (bass) for the first time since 1989 at ANVIL's July 23 concert in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

A photo of the reunion — taken by Drew Masters of M.E.A.T in Toronto — can be seen above.

In a 2013 interview with Myglobalmind, Reiner spoke about the possibility of ANVIL's original lineup coming back together to play a number of shows in celebration of the band's early albums. He said: "In recent years, we have been throwing the notion around of doing a world tour and calling it the '1, 2, 3 Tour'. Which really means that we would only play songs from the first three records, and having said that, there has been discussion of doing it with the original guys, but at this moment, it's unknown and undetermined if they are physically in the condition to weather the life of rock' n' roll for a tour. Regardless of their involvement, we still plan on doing this tour."

Kudlow and Reiner began performing together in the early 1970s and formed the original lineup of ANVIL in 1978. The band won a cult following with albums like "Metal On Metal" and influenced may of the current metal heavy hitters like METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich and GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash. But ANVIL never hit the big time, although they received an unlikely late-career boost thanks to the movie "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", which documented the long struggle of Kudlow and Reiner to keep their group together and maintain a living long after their brief period of glory ended.

ANVIL is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Anvil Is Anvil", which came out on February 26 worldwide (excluding Japan) via SPV/Steamhammer.

Video footage of Finnish symphonic metallers AMBERIAN DAWN performing on July 9 at the LankaFest in Puolanka, Finland can be seen below.

AMBERIAN DAWN's latest album, "Innuendo", was released on October 23, 2015 via Napalm. The follow-up to 2014's "Magic Forest" was produced by composer Tuomas Seppälä, who also plays keyboards and guitar, and Mikko P. Mustonen, known for his work with DELAIN, ENSIFERUM and SONATA ARCTICA. The CD was mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers.

The cover artwork for "Innuendo" was created by Jan "Örkki" Yrlund.

Commented Seppälä: "This is one of the most melodic and vocal-driven album in AMBERIAN DAWN's history. I've composed these songs in a little bit of a different way than I've used to do before. I have worked with these songs without any limitations. Some of the elements I've used have been quite unusual in the heavy metal genre and there's a fresh new sound for AMBERIAN DAWN. Musically, these songs are still very much influenced by classical music but also by electro-composers like Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis, for example. Our new vocalist, Capri [Päivi Virkkunen], was able to bring tons of emotion with her sound and lyric writing and I'm sure that this album [is] our best so far!"

AMBERIAN DAWN released a compilation album of songs that originally appeared on their first four albums — "Circus Black" (2012), "End Of Eden" (2010), "The Clouds Of Northland Thunder" (2009) and "River Of Tuoni" (2008) — to showcase Virkkunen after the departure of Heidi Parviainen. "Re-Evolution" was made available on June 14, 2013 in Finland, distributed by Suomen Musiikki.

AMBERIAN DAWN parted ways with vocalist Heidi Parviainen in November 2012. Her final appearance with the band was at the Metal Female Voices Fest at the end of October 2012 in Belgium.

Long-running Oakland, California-based industrial/alternative/metal pioneers NEUROSIS will release their eleventh full-length album, "Fires Within Fires", on September 23 via the band's own Neurot Recordings. The follow-up to 2012's "Honor Found In Decay" was recorded at Electrical Audio Studio with producer Steve Albini.

Our first and only glimpse of the music on this record, prior to release date, is sampled in a new video which can be seen below.

"Fires Within Fires" track listing:

01. Bending Light02. A Shadow Memory03. Fire Is The End Lesson04. Broken Ground05. Reach

In true Ouroborean style, "Fires Within Fires" gives due to its predecessors while progressing forward into the unfamiliar and formidable. Striking the band's signature balance between light and dark, beauty and repulsion, dense sonic heaviness and reflective space. "Fires Within Fires" is succinct, raw and deeply soulful, an all-encompassing reminder to all that transfiguration in sound remains their most commanding and inimitable strength.

The album features exquisite album artwork from the renowned Thomas Hooper, as seen below.

A year ago, NEUROSIS's Scott Kelly spoke about the band's plans for its next studio CD. He said: "We're going to try to get a new record out quicker than the last one. The last one took five years to get out because of, you know, basically, because of personal shit that came up and interrupted the process. We're hoping to turn one around in a more reasonable time and just keep gigging."

In the meantime, NEUROSIS has announced a dozen new live performances across Europe in August, where they will be joined on select dates by Latvia's fascinating experimental trio TESA. For a list of dates, go to this location.

"Honor Found In Decay" sold around 1,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 9 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

John 5 & The Creatures will embark on a string of dates in the U.K. and Europe starting October 5th in London, England. This tour includes an exclusive VIP upgrade; go to this location for details and ticket information.

Tour dates are as follows:

October
5 - The Garage - London, UK
6 - The Corporation - Sheffield, UK
7 - Cathouse Rock Club - Glasgow, UK
8 - Academy 3 - Manchester, UK
10 - De Helling - Utrecht, Netherlands
11 - Kaiserkeller - Hamburg, Germany
12 - Luxor - Cologne, Germany
13 - Colos-Saal - Aschaffenburg, Germany

In addition, John 5 & The Creatures have released a new single and video, "Hell Haw". The song is available via iTunes, the video can be viewed below.

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) has uploaded a sven-minute video report from his June/July 2016 tour of Central and South America. Check it out below.

The 53-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left in 1994 to join MAIDEN, with whom he recorded two studio albums — 1995's "The X Factor" 1998's and "Virtual XI" — before Bruce Dickinson returned to the group.

Bayley stated in an interview about his time with IRON MAIDEN: "They were great years for me. I loved being a part of IRON MAIDEN, and I had a lot of support and encouragement from the fans as the new man in IRON MAIDEN; I had a lot of support. So I say a huge thank you to all the fans for making me feel so welcome when I was in IRON MAIDEN."

He continued: "They were great days for me, and, really, I found my true voice and my identity when I was working in IRON MAIDEN with Steve Harris and the other musicians. And then after IRON MAIDEN, my solo work, it really reflects the lessons that I learned when I was in IRON MAIDEN. So they were great days for me, and I look back very fondly, and I'm very, very proud of the work that we did together and the songs that we did."

Bayley released his eighth solo album, "Infinite Entanglement", on March 1.

Fan-filmed video footage of ALLEGIANCE OF ROCK's July 30 performance at the HojRock festival in Västervik, Sweden can be seen below.

ALLEGIANCE OF ROCK is the new Swedish/Greek collaboration between guitarist Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND), bassist John Levén (EUROPE), drummer Anders Johansson (HAMMERFALL, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and vocalist Mats Levén (CANDLEMASS, TREAT, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN).

The group, which performs songs from the past, present and future of the bandmembers' own back catalogues and more, made its live debut in May at the Stockholm Rocks festival.

In an interview with Hardrock Haven, Gus stated about his collaboration with Mats: "I met him in 2003 at a festival in Sweden where he was playing with . And I'm bit a fan of him since he saw on Yngwie Malmsteen's 'Facing The Animal'. So we met there and had a great time. And we became buddies through the years and jammed together. We always stayed in touch. And he's the guy whose I always wanted to do something with. And in 2010, I asked him to join FIREWIND because our singer couldn't come on tour with us. Mats has the advantage to be not only a singer but a songwriter and producer too."

"Limerent Death", a brand new song from THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, was premiered earlier tonight (Sunday, July 31) on the BBC Radio 1 "Rock Show" with Daniel P. Carter and can now be streamed using the audio player at BBC.co.uk (starting at around the 2:00:00 mark).

The "Limerent Death" seven-inch single will be made available at select dates of the band's summer tour.

According to an ad in the latest issue of Revolver magazine, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN will release its new album, "Dissociation", on October 14 via Party Smasher Inc., the multi-faceted collective founded by the band's guitarist, Ben Weinman, and the label's global partnership with Cooking Vinyl.

Weinman spoke about THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's upcoming album in an interview with The Void. He said: "It's heavy, man. It's super-heavy, it's definitely dark, but I think it's actually weirder than maybe our last record. There's, like, ideas and riffs that just are so weird. I have to say when I hear it, I'm proud to say nobody sounds like DILLINGER, really. We may be the worst band in the world, but when I listen to it, I really don't think anybody would ever write a riff like this. And that's, I guess, what I'm most proud of. And that's what you gotta do, that's what we try to be, you know? A band that stands out."

The guitarist added in a separate interview with Loudwire: "I'm never objective enough to actually say anything about the music, especially at this part of the process because I'm too close to it. It's like asking someone if they're crazy. If they're crazy, they're gonna say they're not crazy. I will say, though, that there's elements of the process that remind me of the 'Calculating Infinity' time. This record, we had our hands on every single thing. There's also something different about the sound of it. It doesn't sound like anything in our catalogue, production-wise. 'Calculating' didn’t sound like any record I had ever heard; it sounded cold and weird. In that respect, it's kind of a bookend to 'Calculating'."

In preparation for a busy year of new music and worldwide touring, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN has announced a short run of intimate shows throughout North America. Starting in Toronto on August 5, the band will be playing at Hard Luck, making their way down the East Coast through Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Soon after, they will be continuing the tour towards the West Coast for shows throughout California.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's fifth full-length album, "One Of Us Is The Killer", sold around 15,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 25 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released on May 14, 2013 through Party Smasher Inc., in partnership with Sumerian Records in North America.

California based rockers have release a new video for their latest single, "Shade Of Crazy”, taken from their latest album Immortal Waltz. The video was directed by Val Rassi, with cinematography by Paradox.

“We’re excited to share the evolution of our sound, it’s been fun exploring the heavier side of Paradise! We had a great time creating this song and video! We’re all a shade of crazy one way or another, and get ourselves in situations or relationships that can drive us out of our minds, but something about that, can be enticingly addicting!”

Download the song on iTunes here.

Catch Edge Of Paradise on tour this summer. Check out the dates here.
 

Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, who previously asked Donald Trump to cease using their hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, debuted a new acoustic version of the song earlier this summer. It can be viewed below.

Guitar legend Steve Vai has posted the following message with regards to Snider's stand and the video:

"Historically, when a piece of music gets performed on the radio or publicly the publishers of that song get paid but the musicians don’t. Through the world this has changed and in virtually every territory around the world except America, when a song is performed the musicians who recorded it get paid. The USA has been very stubborn in responding to this and there are many musicians and advocates who are taking great steps to wake up the politicians in regards to this dilemma so that laws can be put into place to rightfully enable a musician who is on the recording to get paid. Dee Snider is such an advocate, God bless him for it. Here is a clip he made to spread the word. Check out how powerful his voice is too. If you are a recording musician and live in the USA, THIS DIRECTLY AFFECTS YOU!"

Snider’s rerelease of the rock classic calls for fair compensation for members of the music industry (and has been tapped as the official anthem for The Recording Academy’s advocacy efforts, including the “Fair Play Fair Pay” Act) and comes ahead of his upcoming solo album We Are The Ones.

Read more at EW.com.

Sharon Osbourne has confirmed that she is trying to work out her marital issues with Ozzy Osbourne, less than three months after she allegedly discovered his affair with a celebrity hairstylist.

Ozzy told "Good Morning America" on Monday that he and Sharon were "back on track" after experiencing "bump in the road." "Some days are good. Some days are terrible," he said. "Some days you just drift apart for a while, but you get back on the horse."

On her own show, "The Talk", Sharon addressed Ozzy's comments, saying: "Um, 'Get back on the horse,' how dare you? He's such a romantic fool. So romantic, back on.

"It's been very hard... I shouldn't speak for him, but I know he wants to come on the show anyway and talk for himself to you all; he does. And I'm fine with that. He feels that he owes everybody here an apology, because he's put us all through it."

She continued: "He's very embarrassed and ashamed about his conduct. And through his shame and embarrassment, you know, he finds it hard to actually get it out. But with you guys, I think he'll be much better. It will be easier for him to speak. And I can't speak for him. But for me, um, yes, you know, I forgive. It's gonna take a long time to trust, but, you know, we've been together 36 years, 34 of marriage, and it's more than half of my life. And I just can't think of my life without him. Even though he is a dog. He's a dirty dog. So there we are. He's gonna pay for it, though, big time."

Sharon told The Sun that she is seeing a therapist regularly, and that she and Ozzy see a couple's therapist together.

Sharon said: "Ideally I would love for my husband to deal with his issues and work at the problems that he has now. And be honest and open, to be able to come back to us with honesty and respect for the family. That's what I really wish."

Ozzy resumed a year-long farewell tour with BLACK SABBATH last month, which will include SABBATH and SLIPKNOT headlining a combined festival, Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, this September in San Bernardino, California. He has also reportedly been working on a new solo effort.

"Sorceress", the title track of the new album of the twelfth album from Swedish progressive metallers OPETH, was premiered earlier tonight (Sunday, July 31) on the BBC Radio 1 "Rock Show" with Daniel P. Carter and can now be streamed at BBC.co.uk (starting at around the 1:27:37 mark).

"Sorceress" will be released on September 30. OPETH's first effort for Nuclear Blast via the band's imprint label Moderbolaget Records is proof chief architect Mikael Åkerfeldt has a near-endless well of greatness inside. From the album's opener "Persephone" to "The Wilde Flowers" and "Strange Brew" to the album's counterpart title tracks "Sorceress" and "Sorceress 2", OPETH's new full-length is an unparalleled adventure, where visions cleverly and secretly change, colors mute as if weathered by time, and sounds challenge profoundly.

For "Sorceress", OPETH returned to Rockfield Studios in Wales, also home to pivotal releases from QUEEN, RUSH and JUDAS PRIEST, where the Swedes had tracked "Pale Communion" in 2014 with Tom Dalgety. The band spent twelve days recording at the countryside venue among its serene and inspiring surroundings. The result is nothing short of a powerful and intriguing record that will add yet another layer to the band's celebrated career. "The new album 'Sorceress' is our twelfth studio album since our beginnings in 1990," says Åkerfeldt. "I find it difficult to understand that we've been going on for twenty-six years, let alone that we've made twelve records now, all of which I am very proud of. 'Sorceress' is no exception.

"I love this album, as does the whole band. I wrote the music during five-six months and we spent only twelve days recording it at Rockfield studios in Wales.

"I find that once again we've taken a step forward. Or sideways, Or backwards. Somewhere!? It's different! It's extremely diverse. And if I may say so myself, extremely good. I feel the right to say that since I like to think I know this band better than anyone on the planet. Also, I always manage to detach myself from the record and listen as a fan.

"It's a fine little record. My favorite in our discography right now. Of course. That's how it should be, right? It's both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it. Hopefully there'll be others around the globe sharing this opinion. It was a joy to make it. A fucking joy to record it, and a sheer joy listening to it. So there you have it!" "Sorceress" track listing:

01. Persephone02. Sorceress03. The Wilde Flowers04. Will O The Wisp05. Chrysalis06. Sorceress 207. The Seventh Sojourn08. Strange Brew09. A Fleeting Glance10. Era11. Persephone (Slight Return)

OPETH has announced a North American headline tour, set to kick off with a performance at Ozzfest Meets Knotfest on September 24 in San Bernardino, California. The tour, with THE SWORD as support, will continue through the following month before wrapping up on October 26 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Band photo credit: Stuart Wood

"A Quick Death In Texas", the new video from Maryland rockers CLUTCH, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's latest album, "Psychic Warfare", which debuted at No. 11 on The Billboard 200 chart after shifting 26,000 equivalent album units in the week ending October 8, 2015.

"Psychic Warfare" was released on October 2, 2015 via CLUTCH's own label Weathermaker Music. The CD consists of 12 new tracks.

"The title 'Psychic Warfare' is taken from the track 'X-Ray Visions'," states singer Neil Fallon. "It's a tale about an unnamed protagonist who is forced to seek refuge in a flop house motel. He is hiding from several nefarious psychic forces, the worst of which is his own sleep-deprived paranoia."

According to Fallon, the "X-Ray Visions" lyrical concept was influenced by Philip K. Dick, the science fiction author whose 1968 novel"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was the basis for "Blade Runner". Neil said: "[Dick's] general philosophy and questions have always crept into my lyrics, because I share an interest in it. On [2013's] 'Earth Rocker', 'Crucial Velocity' was definitely a Philip K. Dick song for me. On this record, 'X-Ray Visions' certainly is."

Fallon added that the secluded studio location was the inspiration for the song "A Quick Death In Texas". He explained: "I was staying in a kind of unique, maybe 100-year-old property, by myself. I got spooked out because I come from the East Coast and the suburbs and I was out in the woods. That was the environment that brought out 'A Quick Death In Texas' — and the locals."

"Psychic Warfare" track listing:

01. The Affidavit02. X-Ray Visions03. Firebirds 04. A Quick Death In Texas 05. Sucker For The Witch06. Your Love Is Incarceration07. Doom Saloon 08. Our Lady Of Electric Light 09. Noble Savages 10. Behold The Colossus 11. Decapitation Blues 12. Son Of Virginia

Regarding the musical direction of "Psychic Warfare", Fallon said: "It's probably faster than 'Earth Rocker'. We wrote it pretty quickly after 'Earth Rocker', so we were, kind of, still in that headspace."

CLUTCH drummer Jean-Paul Gaster told The Aquarian Weekly: "There are some similarities in regards to 'Earth Rocker', and there are some songs on it that are sort of familiar, but we did some different stuff, too. There's stuff that is a little funkier, and there's other stuff that's a little more bluesy. So there's more diversity, I think."

"Metallica: Back To The Front", the definitive story of METALLICA's classic 1986 album "Master Of Puppets" and the tour that followed its release, hits bookstores and online sellers on September 13. A very special Collector's Edition of the book will be available two weeks earlier on August 30 through Metallica.com and MoonriseMedia.net.

Says METALLICA: "Two years in the making, we're beyond excited to finally share it with you.

"To refresh your memories, we teamed up with acclaimed award-winning author Matt Taylor ('Jaws: Memories From Martha's Vineyard') and you all jumped in to assist us in putting the pieces together by sending your photos, videos, stories and mementos. We hit the storage lockers, attics and basements to fill the book with hundreds of never-before-seen images pulled from our personal archives and have been involved every step of the way to bring you the complete story.

"The deluxe edition comes in a sleek case that includes a hardcover, clothbound, limited edition copy of the 276-page book and a portfolio containing a 1.25" x 1.25" piece of an original roadcase used to ship the band's equipment to Denmark for the recording of the album and on the tour that followed its release.

"Matt sat with us for exclusive, intensive interviews and we dug deep in our memory banks for stories, anecdotes, tidbits and tales from the studio, the road and beyond.

"A huge thanks to the people who were a part of our history at that time who sat with Matt, including record producer Flemming Rasmussen and the man who mixed it, Michael Wagener. Matt also tracked down the entire 'Master Of Puppets' road crew, including John Marshall and members of the bands who toured with us, ANTHRAX and ARMORED SAINT. Our booking agent, tour promoters and managers, Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, all were overly generous with their time and recollections. FAITH NO MORE guitarist Jim Martin and drummer Mike Bordin and DIAMOND HEAD's Brian Tatler spoke with Matt about their memories of those crazy times. Of course, you, the fans who were at those shows gave us an amazing view of your memories and experiences. Finally, we're honored that Cliff Burton's dad Ray sat down for an extensive interview.

"As we continue to celebrate 30 years of 'Master Of Puppets', in honor of the release of the book we've teamed up with ESP Guitars to give Fifth Members [members of the METALLICA fan club] a chance to win a very limited-edition 'Master Of Puppets' guitar. Now you can customize Metallica.com with the new 'Master Of Puppets' skin.

"If you're in the mood to hear some live music all eleven shows from the 2006 summer tour (those of you counting note that was the 20th anniversary of the release of the album!) featuring live performances of the entire album are now available on CD in the Met Store.

"Keep watching [Metallica.com] and on social media for sneak peeks of the book, videos with us chatting about the making of and other fun and games as we'll be celebrating all throughout August.

"Oh, one more thing. We're pretty sure that some of you will wonder about the remastered versions of 'Master Of Puppets' we told you were in the works. They still are! As we keep digging in the vaults, we're finding more and more music and video so that we can bring you an even bigger, more comprehensive, no stone-unturned version of the album. As always, [Metallica.com] is the place for more info as we have it!"

"Master Of Puppets" was released on February 24, 1986 and was the first album METALLICA recorded after signing a major label deal with Elektra Records.

The set only reached No. 29 on the Billboard album chart but has sold over six million copies in the U.S. since.

It is the last record to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who was killed later that year in a tour bus crash.

Several songs from the album are still staples of METALLICA's live set, including "Battery", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and the title track.

Many fans consider it METALLICA's finest album, a fact that the band acknowledged by playing it in its entirety on a European tour in 2006.

RES 9 Management, along with Mascot Label Group, has announced that Rik Emmett and his new band, RESOLUTION9, have just delivered an album of eleven brand new rockers as part of a multi-album, worldwide deal. The album, titled "RES 9", is tentatively slated to be released through Mascot Label Group in November. The members of RESOLUTION9 are from Rik's touring quartet: Dave Dunlop on guitar, Steve Skingley on bass, and Paul DeLong on drums, with Dave and Steve co-producing the project. Much of the album was recorded and mixed at Mississauga's famed MetalWorks Studios, where Rik enjoyed a profoundly comfortable re-connectivity to his own roots. In fact, the other two founding members of TRIUMPH (Gil Moore and Mike Levine, from the trio that received eighteen gold and nine platinum awards in Canada and the U.S. in the '70s and '80s) reunite with Rik as special guests on "The Grand Parade", a song that conjures 1979's "Suitcase Blues". Additionally, legendary guitarist Alex Lifeson of RUSH performs on two stellar tracks, with James LaBrie of DREAM THEATER contributing extraordinary guest vocals on two cuts as well. Canadian rock and Juno Hall Of Famer Rik Emmett says: "I'm really happy and grateful that Mascot Label Group gave our band complete freedom and trusted us to do our best.

"Some might see this as a comeback record, but I'm really proud of the vitality the band generated.

"For me, it's always about the songwriting — how the melodies and sonic landscapes capture the storytelling." After twenty years apart, Emmett, Levine and Moore reunited for appearances at the 2008 editions of the Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma. A DVD of the historic Sweden performance was made available four years later.

Emmett has said in various interviews over the years that he would welcome the chance to play TRIUMPH songs with Moore and Levine again but that those two have been reluctant to commit. "If the carrot was big enough and golden enough, I think it would make Mike and Gil, but especially Gil, do it," Emmett told the QMI Agency four years ago.

"I do like playing with the guys. It's fun. And we go out for dinners together and we're hanging out again and laughing and joking. The reunion shows, for me, was the real lovely bit of us being back as friends again, for Mike and Gil much less so. For them, they don't need the playing of the music to return to the magic of the brotherhood thing. And, honestly, when I look back on it all now, doing the Sweden thing and the Rocklahoma thing, yes, there was the money, but I think it was pretty much Gil and Mike saying, 'You know, I think this will close the circle for Rik. This will be the thing that will make Rik feel the happiest that this has all happened, and that Rik will feel like it has been done right.' And so it got done and now there's really not anything compelling them to do it."

Part of the problem, according to Emmett, is a desire on the part of Levine and Moore, the latter in particular, to embark on a TRIUMPH tour of old with big venues, tons of lasers, lights and pyro — something that most view as unrealistic for an act that hasn't been an active touring entity for three decades.

"If the offer was there, and it was a solid thing, and it wasn’t just speculative, then it would change the temperature of the conversation," said Emmett. "But at this point, so much of it is just speculative.

"But if you ask me, in my guts, do I still think there are one or two gigs left in us, I would say yes there is probably the likelihood that something will come along, like maybe some big charity gig, that would get the guys to say, 'Okay, we'll strap it on one more time.'"

TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson has weighed in on the 2016 presidential election, saying that controversial Republican candidate Donald Trump is only now finding out how to act on a world stage.

Peterson made his comments earlier this month during an interview with PlanetMosh at Finland's Tuska festival. He said: "I'm not really a Republican. I liked some of the stuff Donald was saying at first. You know, when you take away the pun, it's kind of cool. But he would have been the perfect president in the '40s or when everything was more pro-American and the world wasn't so connected. For the U.S.A., it would be great. But the world is now connected, and we need to be not talking about building walls; it needs to be more of a global thing and not be, you know, 'Fuck Muslims!' or the Mexicans or… And I'm sure he doesn't mean it… 'Cause he's more like a normal person, and he's learning that you can't just say… In politics, you can't… People are really gonna define what he said. 'Cause it would be like me running for president. I'd probably say a lot of stupid shit. But I didn't mean it. I'm just, like, 'I kind of mean it, but I meant it more like this.' And I think he's finding that out."

In a 2012 interview with Decibel magazine, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy said that the group generally stayed away from politics in its lyrics despite covering environmental themes in several of its songs. He said: "We've never been a political band; we just like to write things that are real, that we have to deal with and everybody has to deal with, things that are part of everybody's life so that people can relate to it. I think everybody has to relate to what's going on in our world as far as the environment goes."

TESTAMENT will release its new album, "The Brotherhood Of The Snake", on October 28 via Nuclear Blast. The CD was recorded under the watchful eyes of producer Juan Urteaga (EXODUS, HEATHEN, MACHINE HEAD), Eric Peterson and Chuck Billy and was mixed and mastered by British metal producer Andy Sneap (ACCEPT, ARCH ENEMY, CRADLE OF FILTH, KREATOR, MACHINE HEAD, MEGADETH).

TESTAMENT will promote "The Brotherhood Of The Snake" by teaming up with AMON AMARTH for a European tour this fall.

Ronan McGreevy of The Irish Times conducted an interview with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King on June 14 in Dublin, Ireland. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

The the recent attack on Orlando's Pulse nightclub, which shared similarities to the 2015 massacre at the Bataclan in Paris:

Kerry: "The world's a nasty place. I love living. I love being part of this destructive human race. But there's still so many things that aren't right with it, like that. You know, after [the Bataclan attack], we had just come through France, like a week prior to that, and then right after that, Belgium happened, and we had just gone through Belgium. But, you, know does it cross my mind? Absolutely. Do I worry about it? No, because then I'm giving in to what they're trying to achieve and alter my way of life. Is there security? Yeah, there's security. Is somebody that's nuts gonna come in with a gun and shoot everybody? Yeah, it's gonna happen somewhere — it might be my gig, it might not be my gig. But I can only prepare myself so much and then forget about it."

On mortality:

Kerry: "Some people just think they're invincible. I mean, I did. I'm 50 now. And, you know, you get older, and people around you that you know start dying because you're getting to that age, and it sucks, and it makes you think of your mortality a little bit. Do I change what I do? Not as much as I should; I'm still a little bit 'invincible.' But, you know, it's also just part of getting to that age. We were in an age of an explosion of rock in music and metal, and now people in that genre that started it are getting old, and when people get old, they die, and it sucks, and we're gonna miss these people. And along the way, we [lost] Randy Rhoads, Dime [Dimebag Darrell Abbott], [Ronnie James] Dio, who had a full career, but he died way too young."

On MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy:

Kerry: "I love Lemmy. I wish I went to his birthday [bash in December 2015], because I didn't know he was gonna die a couple of weeks later. But Lemmy lived a hard life. It never would have surprised me over the last ten years if I got news, 'Hey, Lemmy passed away today.' I would have said, 'That's a bummer.' But it wouldn't have surprised me, 'cause I know how Lemmy lived."

On whether he misses late SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hannemann:

Kerry: "Of course I miss Jeff. And, you know, that could be a severe downward spiral if I dwelled on that too much. And I don't dwell on it. I think about it, and I have regrets. And does it suck? Of course it sucks. But at the end of that mourning, I've either gotta go find a new job or carry on. I've been working too long doing this — too long working on this, too long achieving our level of history, continuity… You know, 30, 35 years deep in recording history, that's a long time that most people don't get to say they had."

SLAYER's latest album, "Repentless", debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 50,000 equivalent album units in the week ending September 17, 2015.

As previously reported, SLAYER will join forces with special guests ANTHRAX and DEATH ANGEL this fall for a seven-week North American tour. The dates start in Cleveland on September 9 and will hit both major and secondary markets across the continent.

Marco Hietala has dimissed the suggestion that NIGHTWISH is a dictatorship, insisting that everybody in the band "has their say."

Since its inception twenty years ago, NIGHTWISH has been the guiding vision of keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen, with many fans speculating that the rest of the band is minimally involved in how the NIGHTWISH songs eventually turn out.

Asked by PlanetMosh in a recent interview how much input he has in the songwriting department, the NIGHTWISH bassist/vocalist replied: "Actually quite a lot. Obviously, Tuomas writes most of the songs and lyrics but there are four or five songs on the latest album where I got music written, a couple where I got some lines of lyrics written, and then when we get together to rehearse and arrange, everybody has their say."

He continued: "Every democracy has their president and Tuomas, he's not a dictator or tyrant — everybody has their say. When you write songs with keyboards you cannot really tell if something is uncomfortable for a bass player to play, so sometimes things will have to be changed that way, but there's also the fact that we have really free sharing of ideas in the rehearsal room so anybody can come up with something and we'll try it out and see if it works, and that's how it goes."

Holopainen spoke about the songwriting process in NIGHTWISH during a December 2015 interview with GuitarMania.eu. He said: "The way it works in NIGHTWISH is that I am very much a solo worker. So I try to make all the songs — even the arrangements — as ready as possible, as much as I feel that I have to give to the songs. Most of the riffs, even some drum fills and stuff like this. I just try to make it as good as I can do it by myself. And then I introduce the songs and demos that I've done on my own to the other members of the band, and then we start the rearranging process. You know, 'Could you come up with a better riff for this one?' 'Would the bass line be different in that one?' 'What about if the vocal line is like this?' And sometimes the songs change a lot — like song 'Nemo', for example, changed a lot during the arrangement process. And sometimes they are almost to the drum fill as they were on the original demo. So that's the way it goes for us. When it comes to guitars, I try to come up with riffs on my own — like the 'Scaretale' riffs are all mine, for example. But then again, in a song like 'Nemo' again, and 'Alpenglow', on the new album, it's all Emppu [Vuorinen, NIGHTWISH guitarist]. [He would say to me], 'That's okay, but it could be more interesting if I did this.' [And then I say], 'Yeah, that's excellent. Do it like that.'"

He continued: "I try to make it as ready as I can; that's the way I like to do it. Because all the songs are very much storyline-orientated; I have a story from beginning to the end. And in order to bring that story to life, to tell that story, you need the full song, with all the little details here and there. And that's why I try to make it as ready as possible."

Asked how much influence the other members of NIGHTWISH have during the songwriting process, Tuomas said: "Whenever they feel like that could be better; it's as simple as that. Same with Floor [Jansen, vocals]. 'I mean, this vocal line is really nice, but how about I do this little thing here, a little note there.' 'Oh, yeah, that's perfect.' Or on the new album [2015's 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful'], the song 'My Walden', the structure of it was pretty different originally, and it was actually Troy [Donockle] who came up with the idea of kind of, like, putting this there and that there and the tempo change there, and it really works. But sometimes everybody seems to be really happy with what I had in mind originally, and then we stick with that."

NIGHTWISH recently announced that it will take a year-long break in 2017 following the completion of the touring activities for the group's latest album, 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful".

An unofficial 20th-anniversary show will be held on August 20 at Himos Park in Jämsä, Finland.

NIGHTWISH will release a new concert DVD, "Vehicle Of Spirit" on November 4. The DVD will feature the band's performance from London's Wembley Arena in the U.K., along with their show at Tampere, Finland's Ratina Stadion.

"L.Y.L.A.B.", the new video from AUDIOTOPSY, the band featuring guitarist Greg Tribbett (MUDVAYNE, HELLYEAH), drummer Matt McDonough (MUDVAYNE), vocalist Billy Keeton (SKRAPE), can be seen below. The song is taken from AUDIOTOPSY's debut album, "Natural Causes", which was released on October 2, 2015 via Napalm. The CD was produced by the AUDIOTOPSY bandmembers at The Porch Studio in Orlando, Florida with engineer Tim Laud.

McDonough stated about the clip: "In keeping with the DIY philosophy of AUDIOTOPSY, we took upon ourselves the task to create our own video for the track 'L.Y.L.A.B.'. We enlisted our close confidantes, Adam Neal Gonzales for filming [and] directing, and Terry Linder for post production. Their skill and dedication shines in the end result. We share a deep sense of pride and accomplishment in the work on this video. And we are excited to now have the opportunity to share our vision with you."

"Natural Causes" track listing:

01. Headshot02. All We Know03. L.Y.L.A.B.04. The Calling05. H2O (Interlude)06. Swim07. Disguise Your Devils08. Burn the Sky09. Distorted10. Darken the Rainbow11. Frozen Scars12. Natural Causes (Outro)

Tribbett told Metal Insider last year about how AUDIOTOPSY was formed: "In July of 2013, I gave Matt a call just to say what's up, and we talked and were, like, 'Man, we should put a band together. Why aren't we playing music?' I ended up flying up to his house for a weekend and we wrote seven songs in two days. We hadn’t played together since 2009, so the creativity was definitely there. And as soon as that happened, we knew we had to find a singer and a bass player. I mentioned Billy to him, and we knew him from SKRAPE touring with MUDVAYNE back in the day or whatever. He was taken aback by it, because he was pretty much in retirement — he was playing in cover bands and stuff — but he was totally stoked. He happened to be playing with Perry, our bass player at the time, so they came in like a package deal. We went down to Florida to record those seven songs in August of last year, and we just gelled. It came together really quick."

Greg previously stated about the making of "Natural Causes": "The focus was to write solid, hooky, big riff songs. We didn't want to sound or look like every other band. It's not supposed to be regular. We're all building this vision together." Merging intricate instrumentation with a seamless knack for melody, they conjured up a style as heavy as it is hypnotic. "We got a vibe going", added Greg. You could call it 'progressive hard rock.'"

Tribbett and bassist Bob "Zilla" Kakaha were dismissed from HELLYEAH in 2013.

HELLYEAH and MUDVAYNE singer Chad Gray told The Pulse Of Radio that the split with his longtime bandmate and friend Tribbett was painful. "It was really, really tough, I mean, kind of watching Greg go through the things he was going through, you know, as his brother, as somebody that's worked with him for 18 years," he said. "I was watching this decline in him, you know, and it was really, really difficult."

Meanwhile, it's been seven years since MUDVAYNE released its self-titled fifth album, which was barely promoted and sold weakly upon release.

The band has been silent since then, although a message was posted at its Facebook page in 2014 saying that the group had not broken up.

Fan-filmed video footage of GUNS N' ROSES' July 29 performance at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida can be seen below.

As previously reported, the production manager for the current GUNS N' ROSES reunion tour shed some light on the trek's future and inner workings in a new interview with local Atlanta TV station WXIA. Speaking one day before the group's Wednesday night (July 27) concert there, Dale "Opie" Skjerseth said that the "Not In This Lifetime" tour has "no end date," and that shows are already booked "far into next year."

Skjerseth said that all members of the band are "getting along just fine" and shot down speculation that they have separate dressing rooms due to tension within the ranks, Skjerseth said, "Just because everybody's older, they carry their families with them. They all have to have their space. Everybody meets before we go on stage. It's a meeting point and that's where the chemistry happens."

The tour features classic lineup members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan on stage together for the first time in more than 20 years.

Asked if it was money or music that brought the core members back together, Skjerseth said: "I believe it starts with the love of the band. And then of course we all want money."

Regarding the future of the tour, Skjerseth said, "I've been told there's no end date, and I've seen plenty of dates going into next year, far into next year. Everybody's working together to keep a common goal and common direction: keep the machine going."

Skjerseth also discussed how Axl Rose is managing to get onstage on time, as opposed to previous tours when he was notorious for starting shows sometimes hours behind schedule. Skjerseth said, "We're all older and want to get to bed now. It's his maturity and business and how it should be. Everybody feels good about it."

The "Not In This Lifetime" tour will play Mercedes-Benz SuperdomeIn New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, July 31.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello joined JANE'S ADDICTION on stage Saturday night (July 30) at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago to perform the JANE'S classic "Mountain Song". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

A longtime fan of JANE'S ADDICTION, Morello praised the band when he inducted the group into Guitar Center's Hollywood RockWalk in 2011.

"[Hearing JANE'S ADDICTION for the first time] blew my mind and jolted the axis of my understanding of rock music," Morello said at the time (see video below). "I'd never heard anything like it. It was like a punk-rock LED ZEPPELIN. JANE'S provided all the testosterone-fueled guitar riffage that my suburban upbringing required, but mixed it with gorgeous acoustic songs and an underground artistry that was completely original and completely awesome."

He added: "NIRVANA often gets credit for being the first 'alternative' band to break through, the band that changed music and led rock out of the hair metal wilderness of the 1980s. That's just not true. It was JANE'S ADDICTION: inspiring, intelligent, furiously rocking and artistically deep as fuck.

"As their number one fan, I'm happy to report that my good friends Jane's Addiction are just as great today as that day I snuck into their rehearsal space long ago."

JANE'S frontman Perry Farrell said after Morello's speech, "That speech made me sound so damn good, I don't need to look in the mirror ever again. Just play that over and over every morning."

JANE'S ADDICTION is currently doing shows in support of the 25th anniversary of its 1991 album, "Ritual De Lo Habitual".

Three members of RATT's classic lineup, singer Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Crouceir and guitarist Warren DeMartini, reunited Friday night at the Los Angeles birthday party of former RIP magazine editor Lonn Friend. Also joining them at the event were former QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on RATT's last studio album, 2010's "Infestation", and ex-WHITE LION drummer Greg D'Angelo, a longtime member of Pearcy's solo band.

Notably absent was drummer Bobby Blotzer, who has been touring the U.S. for the last few months with his own version of RATT, featuring several new members alongside bassist Robbie Crane, who previously played bass for RATT from 1996 to 2012 and appeared on the band's 1999 self-titled album and "Infestation".

Blotzer's new version of RATT played shows early last year under the name BOBBY BLOTZER'S RATT EXPERIENCE before the drummer announced that he was taking control of the RATT name.

DeMartini later filed a lawsuit against Blotzer, claiming that the drummer was falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the real thing. That dispute is still pending in California state court.

Blotzer and DeMartini are the only remaining shareholders in WBS, Inc., the company which manages the business and operations related to RATT.

WBS, Inc. was originally formed by Blotzer, DeMartini and Pearcy. Pearcy lost his share of the name in court after splitting with the group in 2000. He returned to the band in 2006 but exited again in 2014. Blotzer later expressed his desire to keep RATT alive with a new singer, but explained that DeMartini did not want to tour as RATT without Pearcy.

Blotzer's revamped RATT is rounded out by vocalist Josh Alan (ex-SIN CITY SINNERS) and guitarists Doc Ellis (Jizzy Pearl's LOVE/HATE) and Nicholas "Blaze" Baum.

Croucier played a number of shows last year with a band called RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER, which also features Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE), Mike Moore and Toni Aleman. WBS — with Blotzer acting as both chairman of the board and president — later sued the bassist, claiming that Croucier was using the RATT logo "on all advertisements, web sites, merchandise, marquees, fliers, and record jackets" and was "referring to himself as 'The Other Voice of RATT,' even though… he was never the lead singer of RATT."

Happy B Day Lonn, good seeing ya last night. Great bash. pic.twitter.com/bb8xc3ZVag

— STEPHEN PEARCY (@StephenEPearcy) July 30, 2016



Out on the streets, that's where we'll meet....

Posted by Stephen Pearcy on Saturday, July 30, 2016

German epic metal band, Equilibrium, have released a lyric video for “Born To Be Epic”, a track from their upcoming Armageddon album, out on August 12th via Nuclear Blast. The clip can be found below.

Armageddon tracklisting:

“Sehnsucht”
“Erwachen”
“Katharsis”
“Heimat”
“Born To Be Epic”
“Zum Horizont”
“Rise Again”
“Prey”
“Helden”
“Koyaaniskatsi”
“Eternal Destination”

“Born To Be Epic” lyric video:

Track-by-track Part 1:

Track-by-track Part 2:

“Prey” lyric video:

The limited Digipak Edition includes a bonus CD with the instrumental versions of the entire album.

Album pre-orders at this location.

In June 2016, SIXX:A.M. — the band featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx alongside guitarist DJ Ashba and vocalist James Michael — toured Sweden for the first time. The trek included a headlining performance at the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm as well as an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival. The four-minute clip below, dubbed "The Damned Of Scandinavia", contains footage shot on that tour (courtesy of RockSverige.se).

The first volume of "Prayers For The Damned", the new double album from SIXX:A.M., was released on April 29 via Eleven Seven Music.

The second leg of the SIXX:A.M. world tour will kick off with an extensive Canadian run this September followed by a stop in Japan, and ending the year with a massive U.S. tour with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and SHINEDOWN, starting in October.

In a recent interview with Guitar World magazine, Sixx spoke about what keeps him motivated to write and record new music with SIXX:A.M.. He said: "I understand why people would say, 'Well, he was in a huge band, he made a lot of money, now he should just get fat and go to sleep.' But here's the thing: writing new music, being in a great band, pushing myself as an artist, having a musical brotherhood, all of that is exciting to me. The idea of not doing it anymore would be painful."

He continued: "Look, man. I'm not trying to be macabre or morose, but I'm on the dark side of 50, right? There's more years behind me than in front of me. I know that. So my question to you is, knowing that truth, should I just stop? Or… should I run faster?"

Sixx also stressed that the two "Prayers For The Damned" efforts are not concept albums. At least, not exactly. "The answer is yes and the answer is also no," Sixx said. "There's definitely some glue — for instance, DJ designed the artwork to both records, and the covers will actually fit together and make one piece of art. And the last song on 'Prayers', 'Rise Of The Melancholy Empire', how it ends is also sort of the way the first song on the next one begins. But, are there recurring themes like with [THE WHO's] 'Tommy' or 'Quadrophenia'? No. But that said, we recorded both albums at the same time, so, sonically, there's a definite consistency there."

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR will celebrate their 20th anniversary next year with a special concert in their home country. Vocalist Ralf Scheepers told Metal Master Kingdom before a recent gig in Toronto: "There are now negotiations for one big [anniversary] show. I don't wanna tell so much, because it's gotta be a surprise. There's still one year to plan and to schedule things."

Scheepers also said that PRIMAL FEAR has not yet begun work on material for the follow-up to this year's "Rulebreaker" album, "Not so far," he said. "It's a little bit too early. Maybe we'll find some time after the tour to collect ideas then and, basically, next year is gonna be a writing year, so we still have enough time for the next one. But be sure that it's gonna be an extremely heavy metal album."

As previously reported, PRIMAL FEAR is planning to release new concert DVD and CD in 2017. The band's producer and bassist Mat Sinner told Roppongi Rocks: "We've recorded a concert for a DVD and live CD, and this will be the next project. When we stop touring, we will mix it and this will be released next year. Last time we recorded a live album in America, so this time we said we'll do it in Europe."

PRIMAL FEAR last year parted ways with Brazilian drummer Aquiles Priester (HANGAR, ANGRA) and replaced him with Francesco Jovino (U.D.O.). In addition, founding PRIMAL FEAR guitarist Tom Naumann — who had been touring with the group for a couple of years — had officially rejoined the band as a full member.

"As you know, [Tom's] a forming member of PRIMAL FEAR so we knew him before, and we had a good time again," Scheepers told Metalholic. "And, of course, his impact [on 'Rulebreaker'] was really good with solos here and there and also some riffs for 'Raving Mad' and stuff. So you can really hear that on the album too — that he's back."

Fan-filmed video footage of MEGADETH's entire July 13 concert at Arenele Romane in Bucharest, Romania can be seen below.

Featured songs:

00:00 Hangar 1805:13 The Threat Is Real09:34 Tornado Of Souls15:11 Poisonous Shadows20:50 She-Wolf26:11 Wake Up Dead29:53 In My Darkest Hour35:20 Conquer Or Die37:24 Fatal Illusion41:45 Trust47:00 Post American World51:28 A Tout Le Monde56:05 Dawn Patrol/Poison Was The Cure01:01:52 Sweating Bullets01:07:08 Dystopia01:12:05 Symphony Of Destruction01:16:05 Peace Sells01:20:33 Holy Wars

MEGADETH fall 2016 North American leg of the "Dystopia" world tour kicks off in Casper, Wyoming on September 20 and takes them across the U.S., visiting 16 states with special guests AMON AMARTH, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, METAL CHURCH and HAVOK.

MEGADETH recently announced the addition of Dirk Verbeuren as the band's new drummer. Verbeuren, formerly of Swedish metal band SOILWORK, has been performing with the band for months; his first show was Rock On The Range festival in May, to a crowd of 40,000 concertgoers. Most recently, LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler had performed all the drums on the band's latest album, "Dystopia", and had toured with MEGADETH when not otherwise busy with his band.

MEGADETH canceled the last two shows on its European tour earlier in the month after bassist David Ellefson fractured his foot before a scheduled concert in Hungary.

In addition to Ellefson and Verbeuren, MEGADETH's current lineup includes guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine and Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, best known for his work with ANGRA.