GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus will miss the upcoming Australian tour from his other band THE DEAD DAISIES due to what has been described as "a bit of a motorcycle accident."

Explained Fortus in a statement: "On September 17, 2015, I was involved in a motorcycle accident. As a result, I broke my shoulder blade, collar bone, six ribs, a toe, I have a bruised lung, lacerated liver and a concussion. Amazingly, my doctors have assured me that I will make a full recovery.

"I have never missed a show in my entire career, and, unfortunately, I will have to miss the entire Australian and New Zealand leg of this tour.

"I am devastated that I will not be able to play for the Australian and New Zealand fans who have been so supportive and loyal.

"I am healing quickly and getting stronger by the day.

"I'm looking forward to rejoining the DAISIES for the Kiss Kruise as well as the WHITESNAKE tour and our own tour of the U.K. and France.

"I'd like to thank everyone for their well-wishes and can't wait to be back in Australia very soon."

Fortus's replacement for THE DEAD DAISIES' Australian dates, which will see them supporting KISS, will be Richard Leslie, who stated about the task: "Richard Fortus is an amazing guitar player and I'm really thrilled to be asked to cover for him. I am going to have to pack an extra bag of socks, because his are extremely big shoes to fill!"

THE DEAD DAISIES are a powerful musical collective created by a rotating lineup that features some of the world's best rock musicians. Influenced by '70s and early '80s hard rock, THE DAISIES' sound is soulful and accessible-equal parts THE FACES, BAD COMPANY and FOREIGNER: muscular vocals, bluesy riffs, big choruses, powerful melodies and strong hooks.

THE DEAD DAISIES' second album, titled "Revolucion", was released in June via INgrooves.

Metal Wani editor in chief Owais "Vitek" Nabi recently conducted an interview with MERCYFUL FATE and DENNER/SHERMANN guitarist Hank Shermann. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Asked if there is a chance that MERCYFUL FATE will record a new studio album or play any shows in the not-too-distant future, Shermann said: "Nothing has been completely planned at this point, but me and [MERCYFUL FATE frontman] King [Diamond] have been talking about, some years ago, that, at some point, when the opportunity is there, and the time is there, and it makes sense, and also for the many fans that really want to see and hear MERCYFUL FATE… I mean, we still have a contract with Metal Blade, we still have one album left. So I would personally love to do, let's say, a final, cool album. Maybe we could do some special selected shows — that could also be an option — but it needs to be [done at the right time.]. But, you know, I'm sure it will happen at some point. It would be a shame if it didn't."

He continued: "I would think it's more up to King Diamond, how his career goes with [the band KING DIAMOND]… He's doing the 'Abigial' tour now and they're looking into recording a new album and maybe tour with that. So it has to be in between, or certainly it's just there. And the good thing about all this, for the fans that want to hear about this, is that King is very active, doing really well now. Me and Michael [Denner, MERCYFUL FATE guitarist] is active and in good shape. Timi Hansen [MERCYFUL FATE bassist] is also in good shape; we just recently played a few jams with him. So we're not that old."

MERCYFUL FATE's last studio album, "9", was released in 1999.

MERCYFUL FATE will be remembered for its unquestionable mark on the history of metal with its innovative sound, complex arrangements, memorable melody, and its influence on bands that later took the genre to new heights.

In 1998, METALLICA paid tribute to MERCYFUL FATE by recording a medley of classic MERCYFUL FATE songs on the album "Garage Inc." Entitled "Mercyful Fate", the medley included parts from "Satan's Fall", "Curse of the Pharaohs", "A Corpse Without Soul", "Into the Coven" and "Evil".

Lars Ulrich of METALLICA (a fellow Dane) played drums on a new version of MERCYFUL FATE's "Return of the Vampire" on the "In the Shadows" album, which came out in 1993.

Shermann and Denner have created a new classic in the forthcoming EP "Satan's Tomb", coming on October 2 via Metal Blade Records. These songs were crafted with the MERCYFUL FATE worldwide legion of fans at the forefront of the duo's collective minds. From the first riff to the last wail, one cannot help but feel the magic newly recaptured once again.

The band, which is simply called DENNER/SHERMANN, calls into service a formidable group of allies who were capable of helping realize this menagerie of malice, was a task carefully orchestrated by these metal mad scientists. Shermann first called upon Marc Grabowski (DEMONICA) to handle the bass guitar, followed by the only drummer that made sense for many obvious aspects, the one known as Snowy Shaw (MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND, DREAM EVIL). Many voices were considered, but fate lead them to Sean Peck (CAGE, DEATH DEALER). He was not only a fan but had the versatile vocal skills to make the new songs come to life like their fans would expect.

Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon in "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck". Acclaimed filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never-before-seen movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends. Wildly creative and highly praised, the documentary follows Kurt from his earliest years in this visceral and detailed cinematic insight of an artist struggling to come to terms and make sense of his place in the world. "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck", will be released by Universal Music Enterprises in multiple formats, including the Super Deluxe Edition as well as in Blu-ray, DVD and digital video formats. The soundtrack album, "Kurt Cobain - Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings", will also be released on CD and digitally on November 13. A 2LP vinyl edition of "Kurt Cobain - Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings" will follow on December 4. In addition, a seven-inch single featuring "And I Love Her" and "Sappy (Early Demo)" is also scheduled for release on November 20.

"Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck Super Deluxe Edition" and "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings" both include the highly anticipated soundtrack, an aural complement to the documentary in both concept and experience. Comprised from various early and raw cassette recordings made by Kurt alone, the soundtrack allows a rare, unfiltered glimpse into Cobain's creative progression from early song snippets and short demos to musical experiments and ultimately, pieces of songs or lyrics that eventually appeared on later NIRVANA albums.

"Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck Super Deluxe Edition" will include the two-hour-plus full-length feature film and 48 minutes of bonus interviews on Blu-ray and DVD, a 31-track deluxe soundtrack on CD and cassette, a 160-page hardbound book with extended interviews and images from the Cobain archive, a puzzle with a collectable storage container, movie poster, postcards and bookmark. The 31-track deluxe soundtrack CD is exclusively available in the Super Deluxe Edition and showcases tracks from the documentary including spoken word, demos and full songs.

"Kurt Cobain - Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings" soundtrack will be released in two stand-alone physical formats: a 31-track deluxe album available on 2LP vinyl and a standard edition 13-track CD. The standard soundtrack focuses on the music discovered on Cobain's personal cassettes. The soundtrack will also be available in standard and deluxe digital editions.

The documentary, "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck", is an authentic and unflinching look into Kurt's life, art and mind through his own unique lens. Following Kurt from his earliest years in Aberdeen, Washington, through the height of his fame, the film creates an immersive cinematic insight into an artist who craved the spotlight even as he rejected the trappings of fame. Brett Morgen who wrote, directed and produced the documentary began working on it in 2007 when Cobain's family approached him with the idea and offered him unrestricted access to all of Cobain's personal and family archives. The documentary features Cobain and Courtney Love's only daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, as a co-executive producer on the film and includes footage from various NIRVANA performances as well as unreleased home movies, recordings, artwork, photography, journals, demos, and songbooks.

The title, "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck", takes its name from a musical collage that was created by Cobain with a four-track cassette recorder in 1988, of which there are two versions; one is about thirty-six minutes long and the other about eight-minutes long. Several of the film's scenes were animated by Stefan Nadelman and Hisko Hulsing. The film was co-produced by HBO Documentary Films and Universal Pictures International Entertainment Content Group.

"Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck", also internationally billed as "Cobain: Montage Of Heck", had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It was released in theaters across the globe by Universal Pictures and premiered on television in the United States in May, following a limited theatrical run. Following its initial global success, Abramorama re-launched Brett Morgen's critically acclaimed documentary, "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck" in select theaters across the country on August 7.

Magic Bullet will be re-releasing some of Intergrity‘s early offerings on October 30th. First up, a ’20th anniversary edition’ of the bands 1996 album “Humanity Is The Devil” has been re-mixed by Joel Grind of Toxic Holocaust fame, with guidance from vocalist Dwid Hellion and ex-guitarist Aaron “A2” Melnick. Brad Boatwright remastered the release, which also comes with revised cover art and an updated narration from Hellion. The revised package has been titled “Humanity Is The Devil: 20th Anniversary Remix + Remaster“.

Also on the way is. “Den Of Iniquity“, a 23-song collection comprised of various EP’s, splits and such highlighting Melnick‘s tenure in the band. You can dig into all the extensive details and find pre-orders for both releases over at Magicbulletrecords.com.

Sally Steele, CEO, founder, publisher and editor in chief of Vegas Rocks! magazine, recently conducted an interview with singer Klaus Meine of German hard rock veterans SCORPIONS. A couple of exceprts from the chat follow below.

On whether there was anything in the band's long, fifty-year history that he might have done a little differently now that he looks back:

"There is nothing, really, we could have done differently. The great thing is we had a chance to — like [we sing] in the song 'We Built This House' — to build up our career, brick by brick, and [through] all those storms the windows were shaking and the house was shaking, but the SCORPIONS, we learned by doing [it], and we went up step by step on this ladder. And it was all about music and delivering on stage and playing in front of the fans. It was not so much about becoming a superstar or whatever — it was about being up on stage and really delivering a great show every night. This is what it's all about, and that we still can do this even after fifty years. We're getting older and it's an ugly number — 5-0 — I think, but we're still young at heart, and to see all those young kids in front of the stage who have joined the party in the last couple of years, it's exciting to play in front of new generations and to see and realize that our music became timeless. That's simply wonderful."

On the biggest lesson he learned in his music career:

"Well, I think it's very important that you believe in yourself and that you make sure it's not all about business; it's about the passion for music, it's about friendship, it's about chemistry in a band. That's very important, you know. And you've gotta be honest to yourself. And you're very lucky if you find the right people in the right moment in your life and you have a chance for something like a long career. And you always have to follow that path and try to be true to yourself and, well, enjoy life. And even when sometimes it all goes downhill, there might be the right moment where there's some light at the end of the tunnel and you'll be back again. And this is what we went through. You have to be patient, and you have to be patient to wait for the right moment, and everything will be cool. But you just have to believe in yourself, and don't give up too early."

On whether SCORPIONS' 50th-anniversary tour will be the band's real "farewell":

"After we did the [last] 'farewell' tour, we really don't wanna talk about another farewell tour. We don't wanna make any predictions for the future whatsoever. Because, I mean, we lost some close friends in the last couple of months. Our manager, Peter Amend, it's almost a year ago he's gone, and our tour manager, Michael Gehrke, passed away earlier this year, so we went through some tough…. last couple of months. At the same time, we were making this record and we're back on the road and everything. But you realize that it can be all over just tomorrow — you know, you just realize. When something like this happens — a real tragedy — you don't take anything for granted anymore. So we enjoy the day, we enjoy what we're doing, but you never know. So no predictions. We're here right now, and we enjoy, and when we come to America, we wanna give our fans a great show and not too much thinking about what might be next year, what might be 2017. I know about 2018, so I will be 70. That's scary. I wanna say… I watching THE ROLLING STONES last year here in Germany, in Berlin, and next to me was Steven Tyler [AEROSMITH], and Steven and me were watching Mick Jagger — he was dancing and going totally crazy. And I said to Steven, 'Look, Steven, this guy is 70 now. Isn't that amazing?' And Steven Tyler went, 'Klaus, I'm 66!' And I said, 'Well, me too, man.' So all of us are growing older, but we're still out there with the same passion. And I guess we're young at heart, and we get so much energy from the audience, from the fans, and that's a great thing."

A special one-night national screening event of SCORPIONS' first theatrical release, the documentary film "Forever And A Day", is scheduled for on Wednesday, October 14. Presented by SpectiCast and Tempest Films, "Forever And A Day" captures the history of one of the most influential bands in music history — following them for 18 months with an insightful look into the dynamic that has kept them at the top of the metal community. Filmmaker Katja von Garnier accompanied the SCORPIONS on their "Final Sting" dates — originally the band’s farewell tour around the globe, from Bangkok via Los Angeles to Moscow. The resulting documentary, "Forever And A Day", is a moving portrait of their unique history, packed with candid moments and SCORPIONS' memories, culminating with the decision to scrap their retirement plans. For more information on locations and tickets, go to this location.

SCORPIONS continue their global assault in support of their 19th studio album, "Return To Forever" (Sony Music/Legacy Recordings), just released September 11, with North American dates.

SCORPIONS' "Return To Forever 50th Anniversary Tour", featuring longtime members Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs, alongside James Kottak (drums) and Paweł Mąciwoda (bass), kicked off in May 2015 with dates on four continents. For these milestone shows, SCORPIONS have built a career-spanning setlist of their hits, anthems, ballads and vintage classics.

Video footage of SOUNDGARDEN singer Chris Cornell performing an acoustic version of the band's classic song "Fell On Black Days" in the SiriusXM studios for an "Artist Confidential" can be seen below.

Cornell's fourth solo studio set, "Higher Truth", was released on September 18. His first album on his own since 2009's controversial "Scream" is in the singer-songwriter vein and very different from his work with SOUNDGARDEN. Cornell told The Pulse Of Radio that that was the point of doing it. "Writing an album like 'Higher Truth', the same as it was writing any of my solo records, there's always this effort to try to make it different than the band that I'm known for," he said. "Mainly just 'cause I've never — as a music fan — never really liked when those two lines get kind of smeared."

The "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart" video — envisioned by Cornell and directed by Jessie Hill — features a cameo by acclaimed Hollywood actors Eric Roberts ("Runaway Train", "Heroes", "The Expendables"), W. Earl Brown ("Deadwood"), as well as Chris Cornell making his acting debut. It tells a love story in a quintessential Wild West setting with an unexpected ending. The video demonstrates Cornell's instinctive ability to incorporate fascinating stories into his music.

Cornell kicked off the "Higher Truth" acoustic tour on September 18 in San Diego, California at the Balboa Theatre, stopping at famed North American venues like the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Massey Hall in Toronto and more before winding down on November 4 in Phoenix, Arizona at the Orpheum Theatre.

ABBATH, the band led by ex-IMMORTAL frontman Olve Eikemo (a.k.a. Abbath), will release a seven-inch single, "Count The Dead", on December 11 via Season Of Mist. The A-side features the title track while the B-side consists of a cover version of the JUDAS PRIEST classic "Riding On The Wind".

"Count The Dead" will be released in two versions, which are both limited to 500 copies worldwide and exclusively available for pre-order through the Season Of Mist shop.

ABBATH's video for the song "Fenrir Hunts" can be seen below. The clip is a live recording of a new ABBATH track, the studio version of which will appear on the group's forthcoming debut album, due in early 2016 via Season Of Mist.

The band states: "We have performed 'Fenrir Hunts' live since our debut concert at Tuska festival in Finland. This led to the decision to record a few live songs properly. With the aid of a camera team, we have recorded three tracks in a live setting at the beginning of September. Along with 'Fenrir Hunts', which you can see today, there will be two cover versions coming up soon. Now, here is 'Fenrir Hunts', the first glimpse from our upcoming debut album!"

The "Fenrir Hunts" video was directed by Fraser West. The song was recorded and mixed by Jamie Ward.

Bass duties for ABBATH are being handled by a man familiar to metal fans across the world — Tom Cato Visnes, more widely known as King Ov Hell and main composer for several GORGOROTH albums as well as his own bands OV HELL, with singer Shagrath from DIMMU BORGIR, and GOD SEED, with exceptional black metal vocalist Gaahl. His fellow GOD SEED member and BORKNAGAR percussionist, Baard Kolstad, has also joined ABBATH on drums.

Abbath announced earlier this year that he was moving forward under his own name.

"I didn't want to go solo in the first place," Abbath told U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine. "I wanted the best for IMMORTAL. I didn't want it to end this way. First of all, I just wanted my music out. I wanted to record the [next] album [because] it's been so many years since 'All Shall Fall'. And both Demonaz and Horgh, they have kids and families now, and it just hit that point where I couldn't work the way they wanted to work any more. I wanted things on my terms and they wanted things on their terms, and it was very difficult."

He continued: "I wanted to rehearse at least three times a week, but often it was only once a week and things went so slow. I sat there with all this material, I kept the rehearsal space and recorded the stuff on click track, but it was a very strained atmosphere and the Last time we worked together was in early June last year."

Asked if the decision to part ways and seek out new band members was inevitable, Abbath said: "I was forced to do it this way. I wanted IMMORTAL to continue, but not the way it was. The dialogue has not been there and it's also my mistake. I should have brought up this shit a long time ago, but IMMORTAL, after Demonaz's problems with his arms, it never became a band after that."

He continued: "IMMORTAL is a very special situation. [Demonaz] hasn't been in the band, but then I always wanted to do the best for everybody, to have the band spirit, and that's why when we decided to start IMMORTAL again, we tried to get the spirit back, and bring him on tour, and just share our thing and be a band and have a kick-ass time. But it never worked out. The chemistry wasn't there with the IMMORTAL guys and hadn't been for a while."

Abbath added: "I believe in my music and I believe in my expression, but time flies and we grow apart. Maybe in the future we can go back again, I don't know, but right now I just want to do my thing and just be ABBATH and have people around me who support that."

A six-minute clip featuring behind-the-scenes footage from EPICA's summer 2015 festival appearances can be seen below (filmed and edited by Jens de Vos of Panda Productions).

EPICA earlier in the month canceled the remaining dates on its North American headlining tour so that the band's lead singer, Simone Simons, could be by her father's side while he was "fighting for his life." (He is now "slowly recovering," according to Simone.)

EPICA will reschedule its North American tour for early next year.

The group's fall 2015 run was supposed to mark EPICA's long-awaited return to North America after their tour with MACHINE HEAD in late 2014 got canceled. It was also to be the band's first North American trek in support of their latest album, "The Quantum Enigma", which hit the charts all over Europe and beyond.

Frontiers Music Srl has announced the signing of the GRAHAM BONNET BAND for the release of a brand new studio album of original songs, tentatively due in early 2016. Currently making preparations for a February tour in the U.K., the GRAHAM BONNET BAND is a four-piece hard rock outfit led by Graham Bonnet, the former singer of RAINBOW, ALCATRAZZ, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP and IMPELLITTERI. The lineup is rounded out by guitarist extraordinaire Conrado Pesinato, bassist Beth-Ami Heavenstone and former FATES WARNING and WARLORD drummer Mark Zonder. During the upcoming tour, the band will showcase many acclaimed songs spanning Bonnet's illustrious career, plus new compositions from the band’s forthcoming, as-yet-untitled studio album. Bonnet says: "It has been a while since I last released a full-length album, but this band is the perfect group of musicians to do just that.

"We are very excited about working with the great folks at Frontiers for our first 'GRAHAM BONNET BAND record. We look forward to a productive and exciting 2016!" The new album will also include a bonus disc of brand new recordings of classic songs from the Graham Bonnet repertoire.

GRAHAM BONNET BAND recently released a two-song single titled "My Kingdom Come", the title track of which was written by none other than Russ Ballard, who previously collaborated with Graham on such hit singles as RAINBOW's "Since You've Been Gone" and on Graham's solo album "Line-up" from 1981. This collaboration marked the first time the two have worked together since 1990 (FORCEFIELD's "Let The Wild Run Free").

ARCH ENEMY will be rejoined by the band's original members Johan Liiva (vocals) and Christopher Amott (guitar) for their appearance at this year's edition of the Loud Park festival, set to take place October 10-11 at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

Liiva was replaced by German singer Angela Gossow as ARCH ENEMY's lead vocalist in 2000. Gossow exited the band in 2013 and was succeeded by former THE AGONIST frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz, while remaining as the group's manager.

Christopher Amott first left ARCH ENEMY in 2005, only to return to the group two years later. His second, and apparently final, departure came in March 2012.

ARCH ENEMY in November 2014 parted ways with guitarist Nick Cordle and replaced him with former NEVERMORE axeman Jeff Loomis. Loomis made his live debut with ARCH ENEMY on the band's fall 2014 European tour.

ARCH ENEMY headlined the 2015 installment of "Summer Slaughter". This tour marked the band's second North American run on this album cycle — but the first stateside trek to feature Loomis.

ARCH ENEMY's latest album, "War Eternal", sold around 8,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 44. The CD was released on June 10, 2014 in North America via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu.

Avant garde/industrial/metal musical act MORTIIS will return with its ninth studio album, titled "The Great Deceiver", on January 29, 2016 via Omnipresence. "The Great Deceiver", which has remained in a torturous state of constant evolution until just recently, led the band through the darkest of places and back. The anger, frustration and disgust that permeate the record are loud and clear. "It's been one hell of a steep climb to where we're at right now," says MORTIIS's leader and namesake. He continues: "Knowing me, I'll step right off of that ledge, and plunge head first into the abyss." MORTIIS will make a long-awaited return to the United States this October as the band joins MUSHROOMHEAD for a month-long warm up tour in preparation for the release of "The Great Deceiver". MORTIIS will preview material from the upcoming ninth album, as well as reaching back to favorites from the ensemble's ever-evolving catalog of music.

Canadian brutal tech death outfit, Deformatory, are set to release their second full-length album via CDN Records in December. Entitled Malediction, the eight-track relentless follow-up to In The Wake Of Pestilence was recorded, mixed and engineered by Dan Rogers at From The Frost Audio in Ottawa, Ontario, and takes their hate-filled sound to an entirely new and dark dimension. A new song, "Infernal Gateway", is streaming below.

Malediction delivers a fresh approach to the band’s sound, and the entire brutal technical death metal genre as a whole.

Malediction is the first instalment in a series of concept albums revolving around Saväel, the creator of Darkness, and the original source of pure evil. In Malediction, the story follows the discovery of the sacred incantation text, his re-awakening, and the subsequent obliteration of the Light, the Heavens, and all remnants of humanity. This is an album that will appeal to the nostalgia of old school death metal, delivered with modern, dark, and technical ferocity.

Malediction will carry listeners on an aphotic expedition through forbidden depths of evil, and into a new awakening of inhumanity.

The cover artwork was designed by Jon Zig.

Malediction tracklisting:

“Infernal Gateway”
“Dimensions Of Malevolence”
“Obsequium”
“Eviscerated Requiem”
“A Hideous Veneration”
“Apotheosis”
“Oracles Of Perdition”
“Aphotic Existence”

"Infernal Gateway":

Malediction will be released on December 12th worldwide through CDN Records. Pre-orders and new music to defile your soul will be available in the coming weeks.