Pagan metallers Heidevolk check in with the following lineup news:

“We are pleased to inform you that after touring with us as live members for more then a year both Kevin (Storm) and Jacco (De Wijs) have joined the ranks of Heidevolk as permanent members. Check out the video to find out what these two will be up to in Heidevolk!

“On top of that we have rerecorded the song “Drankgelag (Velua)” with Jacco on vocals. Check it out on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services. We hope to see you somewhere on tour soon!”

Tour dates:

September
22 - Nürnberg, Germany - Hirsch
23 - Hamburg, Germany - Metal Days
24 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
25 - Prague, Czech Republic - Nova Chmelnice
26 - Wien, Austria - Szene
27 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra Track
28 - Cracov, Poland - Kwadrat
29 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja
30 - Berlin, Germany - Bi Nuu

October
1 - Bochum, Germany - Matrix
2 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Dynamo
3 - London, England - Underworld
5 - Paris, France - Divan Du Monde
6 - Rennes, France - Antipode
7 - Toulouse, France - Metronum
8 - Madrid, Spain - Arena
9 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
10 - Lyon, France - CCO Vileurbanne
11 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
12 - Vosselaar, Belgium - Biebob
13 - Colmar, France - Grillen
14 - Karlsruhe, Germany - Substage
15 - München, Germany - Backstage
16 - Dornbirn - Conrad Sohm

The official lyric video for the song "Age Of Apocalypse" from THE END, the new old-school Florida death metal trio featuring ex-DEATH/MASSACRE guitarist Rick Rozz, ex-MASSACRE drummer Mike Mazzonetto and vocalist/bassist Michael Grim, can be seen below. The track is the title cut of THE END's debut EP, which will be released on September 23 via FDA Rekotz.

Formed in 2015 in Altamonte Springs, THE END "combines the classic Floridian death metal, well known from the early '90s, bloodsoaked heaviness and modern influences with catchy-as-fuck hooklines," according to a press release.

"Age Of Apocalypse" was recorded at CGM Studios in Altamonte Springs, Florida with producer/engineer Tim Vazquez.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Age Of Apocalypse02. Crawling Back To Life03. Silent Screams Of Death04. Inhale The Plague

The cover art was created by Misanthropic Art and can be seen below.

Fan-filmed video footage of Bobby Blotzer's RATT performing on September 4 at Goodyear Theater in Akron, Ohio can be seen below.

Blotzer's RATT recently announced the addition of Mitch Perry (TALAS, HEAVEN, STEELER, MSG, LITA FORD) and Stacey Blades (L.A. GUNS) on guitar and Brad Lang (Y&T) on bass. They joined the band as the replacements for Nicholas "Blaze" Baum, Michael "Doc" Ellis (Jizzy Pearl's LOVE/HATE) and Robbie Crane, who left Blotzer in early August.

Asked why his version of RATT has already undergone so many lineup changes in the past year, Bobby told the SiriusXM satellite radio show "Eddie Trunk Live": "[It's] hard to say. I think it started way back when we first came from [Las] Vegas with those guys, and we had this very unsavory guy that kind of corralled them, in my opinion… Some of these guys are really young; the lead guitarist was really young and impressionable. And there was colluding going on, a lot of colluding, and there was a lot of politicking. And I don't wanna name any names, but there was things of that nature going on."

He continued: "We've never had a fight in this band, we never have ever had an argument; we don't even disagree. So for me to find out, while we had a four-show run that started out in Louisville, then Cincinnati, then Wabash, Indiana, and then finishing the week in Detroit, I find out after the Cincinnati show that the lead guitar player is quitting; he's joining a country band and he's just out. And I'm, like, 'Ooookay.' And in the next week coming up, obviously, there [were] some giant shows…. I had to scramble, with a two-day notice, to either get somebody — which I didn't know who it was gonna be… I was pretty freaked out that out of the blue this guy is just quitting without telling me. And we finished the shows and subsequently got Stacey. He learned the set, an eighteen-song set, in two days, and came out in front of 35,000 and ripped it up. And we had Todd Kerns, who was filling in for Robbie Crane. And we knew that Todd was only out there for those specific shows.

"One of the guys in the band said from the get-go he doesn't wanna be on the road, even though he was having a great time. Even though I have texts from these guys saying, 'Thank you for bringing me aboard here,' and these are recent texts. And I respect a couple of these guys at this point. And when they're thanking me, I'm, like, 'Thank you for playing up there. You have helped build this thing, like we're building it right now. You're doing your job.' But the lead player split after Detroit. Stacey came in and did the gigs, like I said, and right now… I had so much e-mails and phone calls from guitar players and singers and bass players, it was insane. I'm, like, 'Fuck! How am I gonna get through all this?' So I just started thinking about personal friends. Mitch Perry and I go way back. Him and Sean McNabb and I had a band with Ralph from STEEL PANTHER back around '90, '92, something like that. So I called Mitch — great guitarist — and I said, 'Here's the deal.' And he's, like, 'Great! I'm in.' And then we were thinking, 'Okay. Bass player. Who? This person, that person.' And he came up with Brad Lang, who's a friend of his, and I had jammed with Brad at New Year's Eve in San Francisco for Phil Kennemore's memorial show that they did up there. And he's a great player and a great guy, he's got stage presence. And you know what? These guys are seasoned pros. I'll miss one of the guys that were in this band, but, you know, the knives that were just thrown into my back, dude, I'm just never gonna get over; they're never gonna stop bleeding."

Blotzer defended his decision to go out on tour as RATT without any other original members of the band, explaining that fans just want to hear the music performed the way it was recorded on the group's albums.

"No matter what, this band plays so good and does such great integrity to the music of RATT," he told ClassX Radio. "That's why everybody's been hired. The singer [Josh Alan] just blows Stephen Pearcy out of the water at this day and age. And frankly, [he sounds better than Stephen did] even when we started out."

Blotzer is involved in a legal battle with Warren DeMartini over the rights to the RATT name, with the guitarist filing a lawsuit last fall claiming that the drummer was falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the real thing. That dispute is still pending in California state court.

Iberian extreme metal act Noctem have released a video for “The Submission Discipline”, a track from their new album Haeresis, due out September 30th via Prosthetic Records in North America, The UK and Europe, and through Art Gates Records in Spain.

Haeresis consists of ten brutally punishing tracks which conceptually delve into the dark history of Noctem's home country of Spain. Complimenting cover artwork, as seen below, was completed by Seth Siro Anton (Septicflesh, Moonspell, Behemoth) and depicts an epic and grotesque display of obscene torture extracted from the Spanish inquisition (1.500 A.C.).

 

 

Haeresis tracklisting:

"Through The Black Temples Of Disaster"
"Auto-Da-Fé"
"The Submission Discipline"
"Blind Devotion"
"The Dark One"
"Haeresis"
"Whispers Of The Ancient Gods"
"Conjuring Degradation And Morbidity"
"The Paths Of The Lustful Abandon"
"Pactum With The Indomitable Darkness"

"Through The Black Temples Of Disaster”:

Noctem, consisting of Beleth (vocals), Exo (lead guitars), Ethell (rhythm guitars), Varu (bass) and Voor (drums), self-recorded and produced Haerisis earlier this year at Firework Studios in Valencia before sending it to Sweden's Necromorbus Studio for mixing and mastering by Tore Stjerna (Watain, Valkyrja).

The band collectively proclaimed; "This record is proof that a band like us can keep evolving with time. It looks, sounds, smells and tastes different from anything we've ever done while keeping our original essence in every track. We're sure that any fan of extreme metal will be satisfied with this new opus."

Catch Noctem live:

October
27 - Salamanca, Spain - Nave Bunker (with Negura Bunget, Antagonist Zero)
28 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Silikona (with Negura Bunget, Antagonist Zero)
29 - Zaragoza, Spain - CC Vadefierro (with Negura Bunget, Antagonist Zero)
30 - Barcelona, Spain - Sala Monasterio (with Negura Bunget, Antagonist Zero)

"The Revelation", the long-awaited fourth studio album from REV THEORY, can be streamed in its entirety using the SoundCloud widget below. The CD is being released today (Friday, September 9).

REV THEORY vocalist Rich Luzzi states: "It's been an amazing experience recording these songs that were written and inspired from within.

"Julien and Matty did an incredible job producing this album and I am proud to have been able to lend my voice to it.

"This record takes me back to our very first release when we made music out of sheer love and passion.” Bassist Matty McCloskey adds: "This is the first time in our careers that we have been able to create freely.

"Finally given the chance to fully produce an album ourselves, we were able to capture the true vision that we imagined for REV THEORY since the very beginning.

"By incorporating our favorite elements from the past three records, we believe we have created the quintessential REV album.” REV THEORY previously released three studio albums — "Truth Is Currency" (2005), "Light It Up" (2008) and "Justice" (2011) — as well as two EPs: "Acoustic Live From The Gibson Lounge" (2009) and "Take 'Em Out" (2012). The song "Voices" is currently being used by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Randy Orton. Another track, "Hell Yeah", was the opening theme song for the popular Spike show "Blue Mountain State", and the song "We Own The Night" was the main theme song for the WWE network reality series "Breaking Ground".

The official lyric video for the song "Seventh Seal" from veteran Arizona metallers FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new, self-titled album, which was released on May 20 via AFM Records.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM in 2014 parted ways with guitarist Edward Carlson and bassist Jason Ward and replaced them with Steve Conley and Michael Spencer, respectively. The band also recruited SHADOWS FALL drummer Jason Bittner after Kelly Smith left the group in November 2014 to focus on caring for his family.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM singer Eric "A.K." Knutson recently told Metalholic about "Flotsam And Jetsam": "There's a couple of songs on there that Spencer wrote for 'No Place [For Disgrace]' back in the '80s that never made it to the record that we kid of revamped and put on this new one. The remaining songs were half Steve Conley and half Mike Gilbert so they put a lot of input into this new record. Bittner's drumming just brought everything up to the next life level from where it was when we wrote everything. He's really been a huge addition."

Regarding the band's decision to make the new FLOTSAM AND JETSAM album a self-titled affair, Spencer told Metal Invader: "When we started talking through songtitles to see if there was a lyric theme, we felt there really wasn't anything that tied the songs together when it came to a theme. But the one thing that did tie the songs together was the new entity of FLOTSAM that we now are, with Steve Conley, myself, and Jason Bittner now in the band. We were all wanting to get back to more of the old-school FLOTSAM thrash sound, since that's where the band was when I left them in 1987. We looked at the self-titled aspect as being the start of the incarnation of the band that was always looking back on the history of the band's sound."

Spencer also talked about FLOTSAM AND JETSAM's current lineup. He said: "Steve and I have been in the band for three years now, and Jason about one and a half years. So we've became a tight unit on and off stage in that time. Steve is a great fit as a player and songwriter, has the same musical influence as the rest of us, and Jason has been a fan of the band since he was 16-17 years old, playing to 'Doomsday' and 'No Place' in his bedroom. So he understands the legacy of the band and he's allowed to still put his personality into the songs to still be himself, while keeping it as FLOTSAM as he feels it needs to be. The current lineup is also what drove the self title for the album, because we're really starting off new as a band putting out their first album."

The track listing for "Flotsam And Jetsam" is as follows:

01. Seventh Seal02. Life Is A Mess03. Taser04. Iron Maiden05. Verge Of Tragedy06. Creeper07. L.O.T.D.08. The Incantation09. Monkey Wrench10. Time To Go11. Smoking Gun12. Forbidden Territories

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM is:

Eric "A.K." Knutson - VocalsSteve Conley - GuitarMichael Gilbert - GuitarMichael Spencer - BassJason Bittner - Drums

KORN, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, Devin Townsend, SABATON and KATATONIA are among the artists featured on "Decades Of Destruction", a compilation of covers which will be included with the 30th-anniversary issue of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine.

Set to hit U.K. newsstands on September 13, "Decades Of Destruction" will feature the following songs:

* KORN - "We Care A Lot" (FAITH NO MORE cover)* ASKING ALEXANDRIA - "Duality" (SLIPKNOT cover)* DEVIN TOWNSEND - "Fast As A Shark" (ACCEPT cover) (feat. Wolf Hoffmann of ACCEPT and Fredrik Thordendal of MESHUGGAH)* NEW YEARS DAY - "mOBSCENE" (MARILYN MANSON cover)* SABATON - "Kingdom Come" (MANOWAR)* KATATONIA - "Night Comes Down" (JUDAS PRIEST cover)* CANE HILL - "We Die Young" (ALICE IN CHAINS cover)* HACKTIVIST - "Break Stuff" (LIMP BIZKIT cover)* WILSON - "Sleep Now In The Fire" (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE cover)* THE QEMISTS - "Blind" (KORN cover)* EMPLOYED - "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste" (NORMA JEAN cover)* COUNTING DAYS - "Disciple" (SLAYER cover)* STONEGHOST - "I Disappear" (METALLICA cover)* MAMMOTH WEED WIZARD BASTARD - "Scum" (NAPALM DEATH cover)* NO CONSEQUENCE - "The Pot" (TOOL cover)

Check out audio samples of the entire CD below.

KORN's version of FAITH NO MORE's "We Care A Lot" was originally planned to be included on a full album of covers, which was said to be in the works more than a decade ago. Other tracks the band reportedly recorded included NINE INCH NAILS' "Head Like A Hole", PSYCHEDELIC FURS' "Love My Way", PUBLIC ENEMY's "Fight The Power" and CAMEO's "Word Up".

KORN's new album, "The Serenity Of Suffering", will be released on October 21. The follow-up to 2013's "The Paradigm Shift" was helmed by Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON and RUSH, among others. The CD features a guest appearance by SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor on the song "A Different World".

"The Serenity Of Suffering" marks the band's return to Roadrunner, which previously released 2010's "Korn III - Remember Who You Are" and 2011's "The Path Of Totality".

The journey of Neal Morse has seen three decades of musical accomplishments, the latest being the inception of The Neal Morse Band. Morse has forged many relationships over the years with his other bands, Spock’s Beard, Flying Colors, and Transatlantic. However, the most compelling and fruitful efforts have been those with drummer Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs, Twisted Sister, ex-Dream Theater).

Now the current lineup of The Neal Morse Band - Morse, Portnoy, bassist Randy George, keyboardist Bill Hubauer and guitarist Eric Gillette - brings forth The Similitude Of A Dream, a concept album to be released November 11th on Radiant Records via Metal Blade Records/SONY. Pre-orders for The Similitude Of A Dream are live at Radiant Records’ website.

This will be the eighth studio album with Morse, Portnoy and George, and the second as a true collaboration with this current lineup. A lyric video for the song, “Overture” is streaming below.

Clocking in at over 100 minutes, this amazing piece of prog storytelling will leave you breathless, exhilarated, amused and fulfilled in a way that only inspired music can. It will be available in various formats: a two CD package, a Special Edition with the two CDs and The Making Of A Dream DVD, or as three vinyl records along with two CDs.

Together, Morse and Portnoy have launched four bands, but the one that has endured the longest and thus with the most musical output has been The Neal Morse Band. Over the years, Morse, along with Portnoy and George, always assembled musicians as needed to support Neal’s solo music. In 2012, they held auditions to find the musicians needed to fill out the band as a permanent lineup that would write music collectively. Hubauer and Gillette joined the band after three days of auditions. The fivesome went on to release The Grand Experiment in 2014 followed by the Alive Again live DVD/2 CD package in 2015.

As Neal Morse explains, “The Similitude Of A Dream is loosely and sometimes directly based on the book, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. The book’s original title was The Pilgrim’s Progress from this world to the that which is to come, delivered under The Similitude Of A Dream, and it was originally published in 1678. The book chronicles the spiritual journey of a man from the City of Destruction to the place of Deliverance. Someone had suggested to me that I do a concept album based on this book, but I kind of forgot about it. Then when I began writing new songs last December, the suggestion came to my mind. I had never read the book, so I Googled the SparkNotes story outline and began to write some little song bits and instrumentals based on what I had read. Those bits combined with the ideas that the other guys brought to the table then miraculously exploded into this double concept album. Funny thing is, this album only really covers about the first 75 or 80 pages. Maybe we should've made a five disc collection! Well, we'll save that for later. Ha.”

He continues, “At the conclusion of the grueling recording sessions, I remember Mike saying rather prophetically, ‘Boys, I think we just made the album of our careers.’”

"I honestly think this is THE album of my career,” declares Portnoy. “Neal and I have now made 18 studio albums together, and I consider The Similitude Of A Dream the absolute creative pinnacle of our collaborations together. I've always had a soft spot for double concept albums such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and The Who's Tommy, and I can bravely say that I think we've created an album here that can sit side by side with those masterpieces. Bold words, I know, but after a career of almost 50 albums, I honestly consider this to be one of the defining works of my career.”

“We weren’t sure we had enough music to make a double CD, and yet it seemed as though the concept and the music wanted to go there,” bassist Randy George continues. “Ultimately, we created so much great music in the sessions that it just had to be a double album! To cap that off, we worked with a pre-imminent classic album cover artist to create painted illustrations of our concept which will grace the booklet!”

The Neal Morse Band tours worldwide almost yearly and continues to grow in popularity, attracting new listeners everywhere they go. The band has toured in North America, Central America, Europe, Israel, Mexico and India. The shows are filled with excited and extremely loyal fans, some which have regularly traveled very long distances to see the band. The band has an extensive catalog of live shows on Blu-Ray and DVD as well.

Their latest round of worldwide tour dates start January 15th in Morse’s current hometown of Nashville, TN. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks on the band’s official website.

Tracklisting:

Disc 1
“Long Day”     
“Overture”     
“The Dream”   
“City Of Destruction”     
“We Have Got To Go”     
“Makes No Sense”    
“Draw The Line”     
“The Slough”     
“Back To The City”    
“The Ways Of A Fool”     
“So Far Gone”
“Breath Of Angels”               

Disc 2
“Slave To Your Mind”              
“Shortcut To Salvation”           
“The Man In The Iron Cage”          
“The Road Called Home”               
“Sloth”                                             
“Freedom Song”                             
“I'm Running”                                  
“The Mask”                                      
“Confrontation”                                 
“The Battle”                                      
“Broken Sky/Long Day Reprise”      

“Long Day” / “Overture” lyric video:

Tour dates:

January
15 - Nashville, TN – venue tba
17 - Seattle, WA – Triple Door
18 - San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
21 - Whittier, CA - Center Theater www.calprog.com
22 - Phoenix, AZ – Nesbitt-Elliott Playhouse Theater
24 - Denver, CO – Oriental Theater
25 - Dallas, TX – Curtain Club
27 - St Charles, IL – Arcada Theater
28 - Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
29 - Toronto, ON – Mod Room
31 - Montreal, QC – Club Soda

February
1 - Quebec City, QC - Salle Jean Paul Tardif
2 - New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
3 - Washington DC – State Theater

March
22 - Barcelona, Spain - Apoloa
23 - Milan, Italy – venue tba
24 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
25 - Aschaffenburg, Germany – Colo-Saal
26 - Berlin, Germany – Lido
28 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja Music Zone
29 - Hamburg, Germany – Markthalle
30 - Verviers, Belgium – Spirit of 66
31 - Cologne, Germany – Stollwerck

April
1 - Malmo, Sweden – KB
2 - Tilburg, Holland – O13
4 - Luxembourg – Rockhal
5 - Paris, France – Divan Du Monde
6 - Birmingham, England – O2 Academy 2
7 - Glasgow, Scotland - O2 Ritz
8 - Manchester, England - O2 ABC 1
9 - London, England - O2 Islington Academy
12 - Tel Aviv, Israel - Havana Club

May
6 - Gettysburg PA - RosFest

(Photo - John Zocco)

Witchcraft main man Magnus Pelander's solo project, Pelander, has released a lyric video for “Umbrella”, the lead track from the upcoming debut album, which is scheduled to be released on October 21st via Nuclear Blast. Time is now available for pre-order in various formats (CD digipak, black vinyl, clear vinyl) here, as well as digitally here.

Time will contain seven tracks with an approximate running time of 44 minutes.

Tracklisting:

“Umbrella”
“Family Song”
“The Irony Of Man”
“True Colour”
“Precious Swan”
“Time”
“Rebecka” (Bonus Track)

“Umbrella” lyric video:

After his latest journey with Witchcraft, Nucleus, multi instrumentalist and lyricist extraordinaire, Magnus Pelander, returns to his solo career which without a doubt can be recognized as being tied to the cult doom/rock band, still exploring other paths and going full on acoustic.

Magnus Pelander comments: "At last my first solo album is done and soon to be released. I cannot believe this is true."

Commented Nuclear Blast A&R representative Markus Jakob: "We're thrilled to not only work with a gifted artist as Magnus on his main band but now also on his solo career. Both Witchcraft and Pelander have always stood for variety, artistic freedom and development which we're more than happy to support. Prepare yourself for another deep and intense look into the mind and musical vision of a genius!"

Swedish adventure metallers, Twilight Force, have released a new video, entitled The Lore Of Born, in support of their new studio album, Heroes Of Mighty Magic, out now via Nuclear Blast. Learn more about bassist Born below.

Heroes Of Mighty Magic tracklisting:

“Battle Of Arcane Might”
“Powerwind”
“Guardian Of The Seas”
“Flight Of The Sapphire Dragon”
“There And Back Again”
“Riders Of The Dawn”
“Keepers Of Fate”
“Rise Of A Hero”
“To The Stars”
“Heroes Of Mighty Magic”
“Epilogue”
“Knights Of Twilight's Might”

The Lore Of Born character video:

The Lore Of Aerendir character video:

The Lore Of Lynd character video:

The Lore Of Chrileon character video:

“Powerwind” video;

"To The Stars" lyric video:

“Battle Of Arcane Might” lyric video:

"TriggerPulse", a new song from Canadian hard rockers KOBRA AND THE LOTUS, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's fourth album, "Prevail I + II", will be released as two separate volumes via Napalm Records. The first part will be made available in February 2017, with the second part to follow in October 2017. Stated KOBRA AND THE LOTUS frontwoman Kobra Paige: "We are ecstatic to finally be releasing a new track from KOBRA AND THE LOTUS! After two years, it's time to unleash something new and tasty, so here we go..." KOBRA AND THE LOTUS will take to the road this fall in Europe alongside labelmates DELAIN. Fans can expect to hear a mix of KOBRA AND THE LOTUS classics and new songs from "Prevail I + II".

KOBRA AND THE LOTUS last year released an EP featuring cover songs by great Canadian artists like RUSH, TRIUMPH and APRIL WINE. "Words Of The Prophets" was produced by the Grammy-nominated Johnny K (MEGADETH, DISTURBED, THREE DOORS DOWN).

Fan-filmed video footage of AC/DC's September 4 performance at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio can be seen below.

The rescheduled dates of AC/DC's North American tour — which are the band's first concerts here with GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose on lead vocals — kicked off on August 27 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

AC/DC guitarist and sole founding member Angus Young recently said that he has not made a decision yet regarding the band's future once the current "Rock Or Bust" tour cycle ends. Following the 2014 retirement of his brother and co-founder Malcolm Young due to dementia, Angus also dealt with the exit of drummer Phil Rudd later that year because of legal problems, and more recently the departure of singer Brian Johnson because of hearing loss and bassist Cliff Williams's decision to retire after the tour ends.

Angus was asked by Rolling Stone whether he had given any thought to his or the band's future, replying, "At this point, I don't know. We were committed to finishing the tour. Who knows what I'll feel after? When you sign on and say, 'I'm gonna do this and that,' it's always good to say at the end of it, 'I've done all I said I would do.'"

Asked if he thought Williams's decision was brought about by Johnson's departure, Angus said, "Cliff made it known before we'd even started touring — this would be his last. Besides myself, Cliff has been there the longest, since 1977. Cliff and Brian are in the same age bracket. They like to go out, hit the pubs. They had the bond."

Williams made his decision to retire public earlier this year, telling Gulfshore Life, "It's been what I've known for the past forty years, but losing Malcolm, the thing with Phil and now with Brian, it's a changed animal. I feel in my gut it's the right thing."

Williams told The Pulse Of Radio he never imagined back in his early days with the group that their career would last 40 years. "Didn't really think about it," he said. "Not that longterm thought process went into it. It was just doing it at the time and we were just on the road all the time and doing it and doing it and doing it, and it was just like, not really thinking that far ahead."

Assuming neither Rudd nor Johnson return, Williams's exit means that Angus will be the only member remaining from the lineups that recorded classic albums like 1979's "Highway To Hell", 1980's "Back In Black" and 1981's "For Those About To Rock...We Salute You".

Prosthetic Records will release legendary progressive metallers WATCHTOWER's recent digital-only tracks on LP and CD. The four tracks will be combined with one brand new song, creating the MCD "Concepts Of Math: Book One", and will be released on limited edition vinyl and CD on October 7.

A video trailer for "Concepts Of Math: Book One" is available below.

Comments WATCHTOWER vocalist Alan Tecchio: "I am so stoked to be a part of this legendary jazz-metal-prog group once again! Right now we are close to finishing the tracking for the additional ten-minute song that we are adding to the other four tunes. This will complete the EP that Prosthetic plans to release later this year. I can tell you that the new song is especially super cool and has that classic WATCHTOWER sound. I think the fans, both new and old, will have a deep appreciation for what is going to be available from us later this year." WATCHTOWER guitarist Ron Jarzombek remarked on the partnership: "I'm psyched to be on the same label as my old friend Marty Friedman! Prosthetic has also been home to great bands like GOJIRA, ANIMALS AS LEADERS, ALL THAT REMAINS, as well as my fellow Texans SCALE THE SUMMIT. It's nice to know we are in good company on this label. The music we'll release later this year picks up right where we left off with 'Control And Resistance'." WATCHTOWER was formed in 1982 in Austin, Texas and has been hailed as the first jazz inspired progressive metal band. They have released two full length albums to date: "Energetic Disassembly" in 1985 and 1989's "Control and Resistance", which is often hailed as the benchmark for progressive metal and has influenced a countless number of heavy, technical bands. "Control and Resistance" was inducted into Decibel magazine's Hall Of Fame in 2010.

Over the years the group has gone through lineup changes, break-ups and hiatuses, though the individual members have always kept themselves in the public eye. Jarzombek, through his SPASTIC INK and BLOTTED SCIENCE projects, has established himself as one of the most respected guitar players in the scene. Tecchio has fronted HADES and NON-FICTION, and sang for SEVEN WITCHES throughout the years. His vocal range and style is unrivaled. Drummer Rick Colaluca has been name checked consistently by the likes of Gene Hoglan and Mike Portnoy, among many other drummers. Bass player Doug Keyser has an impressive list of bands who've asked him to audition for them (METALLICA, being one) while still being cited as a major influence from a younger generation of four-string players. "Concepts Of Math: Book One" features 2010's digital single, "The Size of Matter", along with three additional tracks the band surprised fans by releasing across digital platforms late last year. An epic new track, "Mathematica Calculis", rounds out the EP. "Concepts Of Math: Book One" track listing:

01. M-Theory Overture02. Arguments Against Design03. Technology Inaction04. The Size Of Matter05. Mathematica Calculis

A new version of the DREAM THEATER song "Our New World", featuring a guest appearance by HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale, can be streamed below.

"Our New World" is taken from DREAM THEATER's latest album, "The Astonishing", which was released on January 29 via Roadrunner. The CD was made available in a wide range of distinctive versions, including standard 2-CD set, 4-LP vinyl box set and a limited-edition deluxe box set.

Recorded at Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York, with guitarist John Petrucci producing, studio luminary Richard Chycki (AEROSMITH, RUSH) engineering/mixing and legendary arranger, composer and conductor David Campbell orchestrating, "The Astonishing" paints a tale of a retro-futurist post-apocalyptic dystopia ruled by medieval style feudalism. It's a place aching for a Chosen One to rise above the noise and defeat an Empire defined by the endless drone of noise machines and the illusion of safety in bland conformity.

DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess told La Grosse Radio about "The Astonishing": "Well, the story is really about hope and it's about the power of music for healing and bringing good energy and good spirit to people. It was a story that was written by John Petrucci. He originally thought of it, the seed of the idea, about two and a half years ago. And a little over a year ago, he presented it to the band as an idea to do our concept album, and we were all very excited about it; it seemed really great. So after he presented it to us, then we started to work on all the music for it."

Regarding the inspiration for "The Astonishing" story, Rudess said: "Well, I think the inspiration comes from things like 'Star Wars' and 'The Lord Of The Rings' and 'Game Of Thrones' and all these kind of fantasy, sci-fi stories. And it's something that certainly John, who wrote the story, is into and all of us could really relate to. Especially from a musical point of view, to create the music for it, for me it was like doing a score for a film. So I was very comfortable with all the different genres of music that had to be composed, 'cause it was everything from electronic sounds and music — not so much, but there's definitely electronics throughout the album — and also some more classical type of musical ideas to our usual prog kind of metal mixture."

Asked whether making "The Astonishing" forced the members of DREAM THEATER to step outside their comfort zone, Rudess said: "I think it definitely challenged everybody. It was interesting especially because, stylistically speaking, yeah, it has the prog and it has the metal — the usual components of a DREAM THEATER album — but it also has more than that. We also had to bring in electronic sounds, so I had to have some fun and search for cool sounds and get into that mode, and also there [are] some classical elements, so I was very much in my classical headspace. So it kind of brought more styles out of me that I am used to doing, for the most part, but more than I usually get to do with DREAM THEATER. And then there were some things that I hadn't done that we were learning, some stylistic things that we were learning. There's a section that's almost like a military band section — I had to try to score that — and there's a little tango section, and we were learning a little bit about that. It was an education for us to do this album as well."

"Script Writer", the new video from the Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based nu/alternative metal band SLAVES ON DOPE, can be seen below. The clip, which was directed by JP Barcha Charlebois, features a guest appearance by Darryl "DMC" McDaniels of hip-hop legends RUN-D.M.C.

SLAVES ON DOPE singer Jason Rockman stated about the video: "Working with Darryl was a dream come true for us. Being RUN-D.M.C. fans since we were kids, he has always been someone we wanted to collaborate with. He came to Montreal prepared and later down his parts in three takes. A true pro. We bonded over our love of comic books and PUBLIC ENEMY, and he came back in July for the Montreal Comiccon, so we shot the video for the song while he was here. We can't wait for the world to hear what we created!"

"Script Writer" is taken from SLAVES ON DOPE's new album, "Horse", which will be released on October 7. It was recorded in Montreal at Uplift Studio and features additional guest appearances by Bill Kelliher (MASTODON), H.R (BAD BRAINS) and Lee-la Baum (THE DAMN TRUTH). The cover art is an original painting created especially for the release by Marvel Comics artist Marco Rudy.

"Horse" track listing:

01. Electric Kool-Aid02. Health Food & Heroin03. Freebasing04. K-Hole05. Script Writer (feat. Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels)06. Interplanetary Mission (feat. Bill Kelliher)07. Liquid Sunshine (feat. HR)08. Codependency (feat. Lee-La Baum)09. P&P10. Disco Biscuit

Formed in 1993 by Jason Rockman and Kevin Jardine, SLAVES ON DOPE somewhat eschewed the grunge music explosion for a new and heavier metal sound. The band relocated from their native Montreal to Los Angeles, eventually signing with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's Divine Recordings. The subsequent release, "Inches From The Mainline", helped the band reach a much larger audience through radio airplay, retail sales, and touring, including Ozzfest and the SnoCore tour. The group recorded another album in 2003, and shortly after took an extended hiatus, returning with their 2012 independent release "Over The Influence".

Frontiers Music Srl will release SECRET SPHERE's first live album, titled "One Night In Tokyo", on October 14.

The video for the song "Legend", taken from "One Night In Tokyo", can be seen below. SECRET SPHERE are without a doubt one of the most well-known metal bands in Japan, with a solid fan base there since their inception in 1997. All their albums have been released in Japan and in fact, it is the only country where you can find SECRET SPHERE's very rare, original debut demo tape, officially released as a special edition item there. That says a lot about the respect and affection that the fans in the Land Of The Rising Sun have for Aldo LoNobile's band. During the band's last Japanese tour, in support of the special anniversary edition of the band's "A Time Never Come" album, SECRET SPHERE had the chance to record their show in Tokyo in its entirety, which included all the band's major hits: "Legend", "Under The Flag Of Mary Read", plus the melodic metal gems taken from the latest album "Portrait Of A Dying Heart". Featuring vocalist extraordinaire Michele Luppi (now also keyboard player with WHITESNAKE), the show was one for the ages. The result is a genuine performance in a very warm atmosphere, a night to remember, where the band played all their classic songs with true passion. The same passion that you can expect from the band's next release, currently in the writing stages. Aldo Lonobile says: "Since I started the band, the idea of recording our first live album in Japan, was the ultimate goal! All my musical heroes described their experiences in Japan with a happiness and a warmth that you could almost feel. That was the truth, among the most loyal fans in the world, and I am 100% happy that Frontiers liked the idea to release our first live album!" To enhance the celebration, the band agreed to the label's suggestion to release a brand new version of "Lie To Me", featuring an outstanding duet between Michele Luppi and former NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon. Released originally on "Portrait of A Dying Heart", the video reached almost one million views and this new version shows a depth and a reach that makes it even better compared to the original!

"One Night In Tokyo" track listing:

CD1

01. Intro: A Journey Through Time02. X03. Healing04. Union05. The Fall06. Lie To Me07. Wish And Steadiness08. Legend09. Under The Flag Of Mary Read10. The Scars That You Can't See11. Eternity

CD2

01. Mr. Sin02. Leonardo Da Vinci03. Lady Of Silence04. Dance With The Devil05. Lie To Me (studio bonus track; duet with Anette Olzon)DVD:

01. Intro: A Journey Through Time02. X03. Healing04. Union05. The Fall06. Lie To Me07. Wish And Steadiness08. Legend09. Under The Flag Of Mary Read10. The Scars That You Can't See11. Eternity12. Mr. Sin13. Leonardo Da Vinci14. Lady Of Silence15. Dance With The Devil SECRET SPHERE is:

Michele Luppi: VocalsAldo Lonobile: All Lead and Rhythm GuitarsAndrea Buratto: BassMarco Pastorino: Rhythm Guitars and Backing VocalsGabriele Ciaccia: Keyboards & PianoMarco Lazzarini: Drums

Alter Bridge’s fifth studio album, The Last Hero, is scheduled for worldwide release on October 7th by Caroline Records in the United States/Canada and Napalm Records throughout the rest of the globe.

Heroes push us to excel. Their will, courage, and sacrifice can bring out the best in the world around them. Fittingly, on their fifth full-length album, Alter Bridge pursue a level of excellence inspired by timeless heroism. Today a brand new lyric video has been unveiled.

“My Champion” climbs from a swell of delay into an impressive guitar lick before Myles delivers one of the most spirited choruses of their career to date. “The lyric was actually inspired by thinking back to my situation as a kid,” he remembers. “I was this really small, underdeveloped kid who had to work extremely hard to keep up with all of my peers. It was very frustrating. I would hear a lot of words of encouragement from parents, coaches, or teachers though. A lot of those things were stored away, and they manifested themselves in this song. I’ve been able to apply some of those concepts in my life a thousand times over since then.”  

The Last Hero is now available for pre-order via iTunes, Amazon (widget below) and Google Play. Fans who order the album will receive an instant download of the debut single “Show Me A Leader”.

The album will be available in various fan bundles at Alterbridge.com/store and fans can get exclusive early access to the band’s ticket pre-sale by pre-ordering any item in the store.

The Last Hero was produced by longtime friend and collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette (Slash, Tremonti Trivium, etc) and mastered by Grammy award winner Ted Jensen.

 

 

The Last Hero tracklisting:

“Show Me A Leader”
“The Writing On The Wall”
“The Other Side”
“My Champion”
“Poison In Your Veins”
“Cradle To The Grave”
“Losing Patience”
“This Side Of Fate”
“You Will Be Remembered”
“Crows On A Wire”
“Twilight”
“Island Of Fools”
“The Last Hero”

“Show Me A Leader” video:

“Show Me A Leader” lyric video:

 

 

Alter Bridge is heading out on select US headline dates in support of The Last Hero this coming September. The headline run kicks off September 22nd in Destin, FL.

Tour dates:

September
22 # - Destin, FL - Club LA
24 - Houston, TX - Houston Open Air Festival
25 # - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater
28 # - Minneapolis, MN - Skyway Theatre
29 # - Lincoln, NE - Bourbon Theatre

October
1 - Janesville, WI - Sonic Boom
2 - Louisville, KY - Louder Than Life
4 # - Charlotte, NC - Fillmore
5 # - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium
8 - Tulsa, OK - Tulsa State Fair – Oklahoma Stage

* playing with Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Saint Asonia
# headline show

Alter Bridge have announced their long-anticipated return to Europe. Their biggest headline shows yet, the 24-date tour treks 15 countries and kicks off on November 4th.

Special guests include Danish rockers Volbeat, who just released their sixth album, Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie. French metal group, Gojira, will be giving fans a taste of their crushing new album, Magma, and up-and-comers, Like A Storm, jet in from New Zealand to get the party started.

Tour dates:

November (with Like A Storm)
4 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27
5 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
8 - Paris, France - Zenith
9 - Brussels, Belgium - AB
10 - Amsterdam, Holland - HMH
13 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
14 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
16 - Katowice, Poland - Spodek
20 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
21 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega Main Hall

November (with Volbeat, Gojira, Like A Storm)
23 - Manchester, England - Arena
24 - London, England - O2 Arena
26 - Nottingham, England - Motorpoint Arena
27 - Birmingham, England - Genting Arena
28 - Cardiff, Wales - Motorpoint Arena

December (with Volbeat, Gojira, Like A Storm)
1 - Glasgow, Scotland - Hydro
2 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena

December (with Gojira, Like A Storm)
4 - Frankfurt, Germany - Jahrhunderthalle
5 - Cologne, Germany - Palladium
6 - Hamburg, Germany - Mehrl Theater
9 - Bologna, Italy - Unipol Arena
10 - Munich, Germany - Zenith
11 - Basel, Switzerland - Jakobshalle

Italy’s Aborym have revealed an impressive list of names behind their upcoming seventh album, Shifting.negative (including Sin Quirin of Ministry and Guido Elmi of Vasco Rossi fame). The band has also unveiled the full trackilsting and cover, made by French artist David Cragne (Asymetric Entity).

The new album has been engineered by Emiliano Natali (Fear No One Studios), Teo Pizzolante (Braingasm Lab) and Luciano Lamanna (Subsound Studios). In the nearest future it will be mixed and mastered by Grammy-award winning Marc Urselli at Eastside Sound Studios (Lou Reed, John Zorn, Mike Patton) in New York.

Guido Elmi (Vasco Rossi's legendary producer & manager) has been revealed as the post-production sound supervisor behind Shifting.negative.

Fabban commented: "We are working with a real professional, a true legend, probably our biggest fan and a great friend. Please join us in welcoming mr. Guido Elmi. No need to say Guido is Vasco Rossi’s producer & manager over the past 30 years and he has worked as producer with dozens of artists including Stadio, Skiantos, Gaznevada, Steve Rogers Band, Clara & Black Cars and many others. Today he's also a singer and songwriter".

Shifting.negative was recorded in the following line-up: founder Fabban on programming, modulars, synth and vocals, multi-instrumentalist Dan V on guitars and bass, Davide Tiso (Niō, Gospel of the Witches, ex-Ephel Duath) on guitars and Stefano Angiulli behind synths and keyboards. Aborym’s ranks also include a long time associate RG Narchost, who's a live musician for the band.

There's also a long list of guest musicians involved in the album, most noticeably featuring Sin Quirin of Ministry fame on guitars. Other contributors include: Ricktor (The Electric Hellfire Club), Pier Marzano (Koza Noztra), drummer Andrea Mazzucca, vocalists Victor Love (Dope Stars Inc., Victor Love), Cain Cressall (The Amenta) and Nicola Favaretto N-ikonoclast.

Further there's Greg Watkins (Static of Masses, Order Sixty Six) and Luciano Lamanna on modular synths, Kelly Bogues (Zogthorgven) delivering additional ambient noise, Joel Gilardini (The Land Of The Snow, Mulo Muto, Black Machineries) on additional treated guitars, electronics & (D)ronin, Ben Hall (Silent Eretic) on power-electronics and Tor Helge Skei (Manes) on ambient-electronics.

There's also Tokyo based artist Youko Heidy responsible for experimental noise and FX and Leja Siv Harju who wrote the lyrics to "Going New Places".

Tracklisting:

“Unpleasantness”
“Precarious”
“Decadence In A Nutshell”
“10050 Cielo Drive”
“Slipping Throught The Cracks”
“You Can’t Handle The Truth”
“For A Better Past”
“Tragedies For Sales”
“Going New Places”
“Big H”

Shifting.negative is set to be released on Agonia Records at a date yet to be determined. More news will follow soon.

SIXX:A.M. — the band featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx alongside guitarist DJ Ashba and vocalist James Michael — will release "Prayers For The Blessed Vol. 2" on November 18. The album is the companion piece to "Prayers For The Damned Vol. 1", which arrived back in April.

A 70-second teaser video that contains snippets of five songs from "Prayers For The Blessed Vol. 2", including a cover version of BADFINGER's "Without You" is available below.

Regarding the decision to split the "Prayers" project into two separate albums, James told The Aquarian Weekly: "When we set out to make two records, it was very intentional. We didn't want this to fall into that category that a lot of albums do, where it actually sounds like you went into the studio to one record, you have a few extra songs, you figured you'd polish them up and then you have a double album. We've all fallen victims to those albums before. This was a very different beast. It was very intentional. We thought of this as one big record, but then in a lot ways, we knew that we were going to be releasing them separately, so we did treat them separately, so they would stand alone. But we put so much effort and thought and care into every single note of both records and we wrote them both at the same time, and then figured out where each song made sense, so I think 'Vol. 2' is absolutely as strong, if not stronger than 'Vol. 1'. There are some songs on there that are really career songs. So, in a way, while we're so excited about 'Vol. 1' and the response that we're getting, we're also chomping at the bit for people to sink their teeth into 'Vol. 2' as well."

In a separate interview with Lehigh Valley Music, James stated about the decision to release "Vol. 2" so soon after "Vol. 1": "We didn't want to wait too long in between because they’re definitely connected. Both volumes certainly stand alone and are very satisfying bodies of work, but when they are experienced together, another layer of SIXX:A.M. and another of the messaging will be revealed. So it was important that we didn’t release them too far apart because they are connected, but we didn't want to release them at the same time 'cause that's an awful lot of music to absorb. And as you know, SIXX:A.M. music is — it's pretty heavy and it's pretty complex and deals with very, sometimes, difficult subject matter. So we wanted people to have time to absorb the messaging and absorb the songs before we then dropped a whole other album on them. But the reason we decided to do two records is we wanted to provide a lot of new music for people. We also kind of felt like we were playing catch-up in a way. 'Cause for the last ten years, we haven't been able to tour very much at all, and so we felt like, in a way, we were making up for lost time."

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.

Ready for new Sixx:A.M.? #PrayersForTheBlessed coming soon... pic.twitter.com/Yib0wCZlIg

— Sixx:A.M. (@SixxAM) September 8, 2016

Maryland hard rock icons, Kix will release Can’t Stop The Show: The Return Of Kix, a two-disc DVD/CD set, October 21, 2016 on Loud & Proud Records.  The 71-minute film is an in-depth look into Kix’ decision to record their first new album, 2014’s Rock Your Face Off, in almost 20 years.

The DVD also features the making of the album from bassist Mark Schenker’s studio, interviews with the band as well as notable rock artists such as Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, Jeff LaBar of Cinderella, Share Ross of Vixen, Shannon Larkin of Godsmack, and more. It also includes a rare appearance by producer Taylor Rhodes (Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Kix’ Hot Wire).

The CD, Can’t Stop The Show (Live) offers never-before-released live Kix tracks recorded over the last three years.  A bonus Kix logo sticker is inside the first manufacturing run, a special treat for KIX fans around the world, and each band member offers his own special contribution to the package’s booklet including vocalist Steve Whiteman’s rigorous exercise routine, cartoons by guitarist Brian “Damage” Forsythe, an essay by bassist Mark Schenker, a gear rundown by guitarist Ronnie “10/10” Younkins and a favorite recipe from drummer Jimmy Chalfant, aka “Chef Chocolate.”

 “Kix is proud of the band's legacy, but equally proud of our new chapter,” says Schenker.  “We had an opportunity to work with some great film makers, so we just let the cameras roll everywhere, and had so much fun putting the project together. There was a true outpouring of love and admiration from our fans and our peers after the release of Rock Your Face Off and luckily, we had documented the recording sessions on film. Now we are excited to share the process of making the new album with our loyal fans. Kix thanks everyone involved and hopes everyone loves it as much as we loved making it!”

Can’t Stop The Show: The Return Of Kix tracklisting:
“Wheels In Motion”
“Rock Your Face Off”
“Cold Shower”
“Mean Miss Adventure”
“You’re Gone”
“Cold Blood”
“Can’t Stop The Show”
“Girl Mone”
“Love Me With Your Top Down”
“Blow My Fuse”
“Love Pollution”
“Midnite Dynamite”

 
DVD Interviews:
Taylor Rhodes (producer)
Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme)
Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)
Share Ross (Vixen)
Shannon Larkin (Godsmack/Wrathchild America)
Jeff LaBar (Cinderella)
Jaime St James (Black N Blue/Warrant)
Chip Z'Nuff (Enuff Z'Nuff)
Alex Kayne (L'Amour)
Kevin Butler (Hammerjacks)
Steve Kicas (Hammerjacks)
Scott Spelbring (producer)

   
(Band photo by Mark Weiss)

An audio sample of a new song from THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Dissociation", which will be released on October 14. The group — vocalist Greg Puciato, guitarist (and original member) Ben Weinman, bassist Liam Wilson, drummer Billy Rymer and guitarist Kevin Antreassian — tracked drums at Vudu Studio on Long Island. Guitars and bass were recorded at Party Smasher Studio in New Jersey with producer Steve Evetts. Half the vocals were recorded at Steve's studio in Long Beach and the others with producer Josh Wilbur at his home studio. Then additional guitars and sound design was done in Weinman's own personal studio. The album was then mixed by Kurt Ballou at Godcity in Boston, Massachusetts. The album's first single, "Limerent Death", Weinman says, "is one of my all-time favorite DEP songs. I feel that this song is one of the rare instances where all the members are feeling, and conveying the same energy from start to end. A sharp, focused dagger plowing its way through thick heavy walls." "Dissociation" track listing

01. Limerent Death02. Symptom Of Terminal Illness03. Wanting Not So Much As To04. Fugue05. Low Feels Blvd06. Surrogate07. Honeysuckle08. Manufacturing Discontent09. Apologies Not Included10. Nothing To Forget11. Dissociation

In an interview with Noisey, Weinman stated about THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's plans to call it quits after touring in support of "Dissociation": "Well, I think in some ways we didn't want to pull a 'Seinfeld', you know what I mean? The band has actually never been more prolific and we're as credible and popular as ever. I think whenever we're on stage, there's not another band in the world playing at that time that even comes close to us, and that's our goal.

"We're really excited about this new album as well, but at the same time, it's going to be our 20-year anniversary in 2017 — it might be even longer because I'm not sure when I started writing songs, but the first EP came out in '97 — so I think it's one of those things where we didn't want to get to the point where we're stopping because we have to or because we're old or people are kind of over it."

He added: "I mean, it's probably a fact that we couldn't do it when we're 60, but we're not stopping right now because we feel incapable, that's for sure. There's a reality that eventually, the type of show that we're doing wouldn't be realistic — I'm pretty much falling apart at the limbs at this point — but it doesn't matter, because when we play, we play. The rest of the world and anything else going on in our lives doesn't exist. I think that's what I'll miss the most, those moments. But there isn't any time in the very near future where we feel like we couldn't do this; we still feel excitement from it and still get that catharsis when we play because it's uninhibited free expression. But, again, one of the reasons to stop now is because it's great to still feel that way and control our destiny."



i panic in dreams
Dissociation. 10.14. Pre-sales available now: tdep.lnk.to/DissociationSM

Final world tour starts October 12th. If your city/country isn't on here, it's possible/probable that we'll get there. Dates so far...

Oct 12 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage Oct 13 Providence, RI Fete Music HallOct 14 Poughkeepsie, NY The Chance TheaterOct 15 New York, NY Webster HallOct 17 Pontiac, MI The Crofoot BallroomOct 18 Cleveland, OH House Of BluesOct 19 Indianapolis, IN The VogueOct 20 Sauget, IL Pop’s NightclubOct 21 Lawrence, KS GranadaOct 22 Denver, CO Marquis TheaterOct 23 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge Oct 25 Seattle, WA El CorazonOct 26 Portland, OR Dante'sOct 27 Berkelye, CA The UC TheatreOct 28 San Diego, CA Brick By BrickOct 29 Las Vegas, NV Beauty BarOct 30 Los Angeles, CA The RegentNov 1 El Paso, TX Tricky Falls Nov 3 San Antonio, TX Paper TigerNov 4 Dallas, TX TreesNov 5 Austin, TX Sound On Sound FestivalNov 6 Houston, TX White Oak Music HallNov 7 New Orleans, LA Southport HallNov 9 Ft. Lauderdale, FL RevolutionNov 10 St. Petersburg, FL State TheatreNov 11 Atlanta, GA Variety PlayhouseNov 12 Wilmington, NC The Throne TheatreNov 13 Knoxville, TN The ConcourseNov 15 Philadelphia, PA Union TransferNov 16 Boston, MA Paradise Rock ClubNov 17 Burlington, VT Club MetronomeNov 18 Huntington, NY The ParamountNov 19 Hartford, CT The Webster

Jan 18 UK, Norwich, WaterfrontJan 19 UK, Glasgow, QMUJan 20 UK, Manchester, Academy 2Jan 21 UK, Nottingham, Rock CityJan 22 UK, Birmingham, O2 InstituteJan 23 UK, Cardiff, TramshedJan 25 UK, London, O2 Forum Kentish TownJan 26 UK, Brighton, Concorde 2Jan 27 Holland, Tilburg, 013Jan 28 Holland, Amsterdam, Melkweg OZJan 30 Germany, Hamburg, MarkthalleJan 31 Denmark, Odense, Musikhuset PostenFeb 1 Denmark, Arhus, VoxhallFeb 2 Norway, Oslo, RockefellerFeb 4 Finland, Helsinki, TavastiaFeb 5 Finland, Tampere, KlubiFeb 7 Sweden, Stockholm, Debaser StrandFeb 8 Sweden, Gothenburg, PustervikFeb 9 Denmark, Copenhagen, PumpehusetFeb 10 Germany, Berlin, Columbia TheatreFeb 11 Poland, Warsaw, StodolaFeb 12 Poland, Krakrow, KwadratFeb 14 Germany, Leipzig, Conne IslandFeb 15 Czech Republic, Prague, Rock CafeFeb 16 Austria, Vienna, SzeneFeb 17 Hungary, Budapest, A38Feb 18 Croatia, Zagreb, Culture FactoryFeb 20 Germany, Munchen, Backstage HalleFeb 21 Switzerland, Lausanne, Les DocksFeb 22 Italy, Turin, Hiroshima Mon AmourFeb 23 Italy, Bologna, Zona RoveriFeb 24 France, Lyon, L’Epicerie ModerneFeb 25 Spain, Barcelona, ApoloFeb 26 Spain, Madrid, BarceloFeb 28 France, Toulouse, Le BikiniMar 1 France, Paris, Le TrabendoMar 2 France, Strasbourg, La LaiterieMar 3 Germany, Wiesbaden, SchlachthofMar 4 Germany, Cologne, GloriaMar 5 Belgium, Brussels, AB Ballroom

Tickets for all shows are available now.

Posted by The Dillinger Escape Plan on Thursday, September 8, 2016

Heaven Below, the current project of Union Underground/Lita Ford guitarist Patrick Kennison has signed with EMP Label Group, the label of Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, distributed by eOne Entertainment, who will release the band’s upcoming LP Good Morning Apocalypse on October 14th. Check out the track “Renegade Protest Movement”, streaming at this location.

GMA, a mind-blowing masterpiece of an apocalyptic concept album, features guest appearances from Lita Ford, Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys, Broken Teeth), Udo Dirkschneider (Accept), and Kobra Paige of Kobra And The Lotus.

Fronted by Kennison, who also handles guitar duties, Heaven Below has been breaking ground in LA for several years with their brand of progressive hard rock/metal, self-releasing three LPs and a series of EPs, spawning several active rock hits, including “When Daylight Dies”, and the band’s monstrous take on Rush’s “Subdivisions”, featuring a guest appearance from the one and only William Shatner.

Says Kennison, “Nearly 4 years ago the band and I decided that we’d like to start working on a concept record. We knew how ambitious it sounded to even consider that, but once several legendary artists offered to help make it become a reality, we knew we had something.”

He continues, “With over 30 songs written, we narrowed it down to the top 12. Udo Dirkschneider, Lita Ford, Jason McMaster, and Kobra Paige all stepped up to lend their amazing talents. We feel this album is a powerful culmination of old school metal meets current fresh metal. This kind of undertaking only comes along once in a lifetime, and we think we captured the moment on "Good Morning Apocalypse". The timing was perfect with EMP’s outside of the box approach to new music.”

EMP operations and A&R director Thom Hazaert says, “Me and Patrick go back a long time, and I was, and still am, a huge fan of The Union Underground. He is an extremely talented player (and vocalist), and Heaven Below was doing some amazing stuff, so it was a really great fit. I got the record from Patrick, sent it over to David, and we were both blown away. We are definitely blessed to continually find new amazing rock and metal artists who are pushing the envelope the way Heaven Below is.”

Tracklisting:

“Nefarious Angels” (feat. Jason McMaster)
“Renegade Protest Movement”
“Follow Me Under”
“Devilina And The Damage Done” (feat. Kobra Paige)
“Nightfall Comes To Life”
“Killing The Deadman”
“Running Under Satan’s Hand” (feat. Lita Ford)
“Death Battalion”
“Bonded By Blood”
“Black Sunrise / War Of The Gods” (feat. Udo Dirkschneider)
“Among The Wolves / Worldwide Suicide”
“I Would Do It All Again / Burials At Sunset”

Album sampler:

(Photo - Adam Hendershott)

According to Billboard.com, GUNS N' ROSES' North American "Not In This Lifetime" summer stadium tour grossed a whopping $116.8 million with over one million tickets sold, a staggering amount for a rock band in 2016.

The trek kicked off on June 23 and included 25 concerts in 21 stadiums, wrapping on August 22.

Out of the stadiums that hosted the band for two performances, the New York City market produced the top box office counts with ticket sales reaching $11.6 million at MetLife Stadium from 100,177 fans at two concerts. Meanwhile, Chicago's Soldier Field, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts and L.A.'s Dodger Stadium each topped the $8 million mark in revenue from their two-show stints.

Live Nation exec Bob Roux recently said that some less well-attended shows on the GN'R tour were the result of the band playing cities it wanted to play, rather than sticking to the highest population centers that would better guarantee sellouts.

GUNS N' ROSES' "Not In This Lifetime" stadium tour features classic lineup members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Axl Rose (vocals) backed by drummer Frank Ferrer, guitarist Richard Fortus, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and new second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

Drummer Steven Adler performed with GUNS N' ROSES at two shows in July and at the second Dodger Stadium concert on August 19. Adler joined GUNS for "My Michelle" and "Out Ta Get Me" at all three dates.

Guitarist Izzy Stradlin remains the last member of the classic band to keep his distance from the current reunion. He tweeted earlier this week that he was approached about the reunion, but was not happy with the money he was offered.

Photo credit: Katarina Benzova

According to The Pulse Of Radio, a longtime key member of GUNS N' ROSES' management team, Beta Lebeis, posted a message on Instagram in which she responded to fans critical of GUNS singer Axl Rose doing double duty as the current touring frontman for AC/DC. Lebeis wrote: "Do them a favor, don't come or watch any shows. They don't need assholes like you around. You are an illness to both bands."

Lebeis said later in a second post: "I'm sure all of you wish Brian [Johnson, AC/DC singer] would be there, but Brian is sick and for God's sake, just appreciate what's up there and stop being so selfish. Grow up and stop complaining. This is also about Angus [Young] and his mates, have some respect for them. Brian chose to leave due to health issues and Axl is helping his idol. I guess haters will always be haters and have nothing better to do than shit on other people."

Axl Rose was recruited to sing for AC/DC on a series of European gigs and a current run of ten North American shows after severe hearing problems forced Johnson to stop performing live.

Rose's performances with AC/DC have been widely acclaimed by fans and the press.

Angus Young, the band's sole original member and leader, has said he's not sure what the future holds for AC/DC beyond the current tour. The group has gone through extensive lineup changes in the past two years due to illness and legal issues.

Rose will return to GUNS N' ROSES for a South American tour this fall.

An hour before UNLEASHED's headlining appearance at Kaltenbach Open Air festival in Spital am Semmering, Austria in August, Stormbringer took aside the band's frontman Johnny Hedlund to throw some words and phrases at him. You can watch the exchange below.

Asked for his opinion of Facebook, Hedlund said: "Well, let's just say five years from now, it'll be called something different, in my opinion. I recall when everybody said, 'MySpace,' and I said, 'Well, two years from now, it's called something different,' and I think that's the same with Facebook. It's about to die. Young kids don't use it that much anymore, at least where I'm at. So we'll see. It's still working as a channel for contact and promotion and stuff like that. I don't use it as much privately. I don't have time to sit down and tell everybody when I'm taking a shit. It's just nice to read about bands and what's happening in the scene, but that's that for me."

UNLEASHED's twelfth full-length album, "Dawn Of The Nine", was released in April 2015 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2012's "Odalheim" was once again produced by the band's guitarist, Fredrik Folkare, at his Chrome Studios in Stockholm.

FOK! recently conducted an interview with drummer Michel "Away" Langevin of Canadian progressive sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the band's latest release, the "Post Society" EP, Away said: "It does have ingredients from '80s and '90s and the Jason [Newsted, former VOIVOD bassist] years, but with a new twist. It's where we're heading for. And the reviews were really positive, so it's encouraging for us. So we are writing a concept album right now — like, ten new songs — for Century Media."

Away also outlined VOIVOD's plans for the coming months, saying: "We're coming back [to] Europe in October and November with ENTOMBED A.D. And then we're gonna work on the new album and try to deliver it to Century Media early next year. And then we have a busy schedule as well in terms of touring. We write on the road and record between tours, so it's like a machine, a factory. No choice. [Laughs]"

Asked if VOIVOD waits until the songs are fully worked out before entering the studio to record them, Away said: "Yeah. Nowadays we try to record three or four songs at a time and then go on the road and then write more on the road. We set up a small studio in the van or in the bus with a laptop. So we record a bunch of songs and put them together, but next album, since it's a concept album, we might have to record the whole thing all together to make it solid."

VOIVOD's will team up with ENTOMBED A.D. for a limited-edition split seven-inch EP, featuring the VOIVOD track "Fall" off the "Post Society" EP, which is so far unreleased on vinyl. The release will coincide with the start of the two bands' tour on October 28.

2013's "Target Earth", VOIVOD's first album of new material written without Piggy's left-over riffs, was almost universally hailed it as a triumphant return to form, a return to the "classic" VOIVOD sound, and the best thing they'd done in years.

Swabian death metallers Revel In Flesh will unleash their new and fourth full-length-onslaught, entitled Emissary Of All Plagues, on December 2nd via Cyclone Empire.

The album was produced by guitar master Maggesson at the band´s own Vault M. Studio. For mix and mastering they worked again with none other than Dan Swanö (Bloodbath, Edge Of Sanity, Nightingale) at his Unisound Studios.

The tracklist and cover artwork will be revealed follow soon.

Mainman Haubersson comments: “After intense months of working and recording we are damned excited about releasing “Emissary of all plagues” upon mankind! It's probably our darkest and most melodic output thus far! Expect a haunted trip to the darkside mixed with the previously known Revel In Flesh death metal brutality! We are looking forward to present those new tracks on stage as soon as possible! The restless servants of the Deathkult are back!”

Here´s what the Dan “the legend” Swanö has to say about Emissary Of All Plagues: “Another fantastic worship at the altar of SweDeath. To create the best album so far into their career is astonishing. Both me and the band feel this our best sonic co-operation so far, and to me personally, it is extra cool to finally have nailed what I believe to be the ultimate tribute to the SweDeath guitar tone! It takes more than just a HM2 pedal to get the right 'vomiting' to occur 'inside' the distortion! Make sure to check out the vinyl version for a full dynamic mix of this amazing slab of true fucking death metal!”

Athens based symphonic metallers Fallen Arise have parted ways with their singer, and announce the successor, Fiona Creaby:

“We would like to announce that Spyla is no longer with us, she decided to follow other activities and we wish her all the best! Our new singer is Fiona Creaby from the United Kingdom, singer also of Apparition.”

Fallen Arise now is:
Fiona Creaby – vocals
Gus – keyboards
Rudy R. Rallis - bass
Frangiskos K. - guitar
Thanos – drums
Vlassis K. - male vocals

Fiona, will begin with the band, touring in our South-Eastern European tour in October. The dates will be announced very soon.

Due to some personal reasons, the band's tour line up will be the following:
Fiona Creaby – vocals
Gus – Keyboards
Rudy R. Rallis – bass
Cheis Vaelor Chaldaios – guitar
Marios K. - drums
Vlassis K. - male vocals

Fallen Arise, formed in 2009, released their second full length album “Adeline” in October 2015, via Rock Of Angels Records (aka ROAR), combining a theatrical atmosphere with a progressive approach and a heavy-metal-alike heaviness. The album takes us back in time of the Victorian era of the 19th century (1837-1901), presenting us the decay of the human body and mind through fiction. The album was realized in the collaboration with an ensemble of 40 renowned musicians from the National Opera, the Athens State Orchestra, the Nerit Orchestra and the Piraeus Concert Band.

For The Outlaws, it's always about the music. Especially live music! For more than 40 years, the southern rock legend has celebrated triumphs, endured tragedies and survived legal nightmares to remain one of the most influential and best-loved bands of the genre. It’s a band of brothers bound together by history, harmony and the road. It’s about a group that respects its own legacy while refusing to be defined by its past. But most of all, it’s about playing live, playing for their audience.

The sextet proves just how well this combination works with Legacy Live, its brand-new double live CD, scheduled for release on November 11th (November 18th in North America) via Steamhammer/SPV.

“I want people to hear this album and see our show and realize that The Outlaws are still there,” says founding member and front man Henry Paul. “Our goal is to unite the fans and bring the group back into the limelight.”

Legacy Live consists of two CDs, full to the brim with classics such a “There Goes Another Love Song”, “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky”, “Green Grass & High Tides Forever” and “Freeborn Man” as well as more recent material like “It's About Pride”, “Hidin` Out In Tennessee” and “So Long”. A total of 20 songs, every one of which proves: the gritty southern rock by The Outlaws mark 2016 is as intense and passionate as it’s always been.

Tracklisting:

CD 1
“Intro
“There Goes Another Love Song”
“Hurry Sundown”
“Hidin' Out In Tennessee”
“Freeborn Ma”
“Born To Be Bad”
“Song In The Breeze”
“Girl From Ohio”
“Holiday”
“Gunsmoke”
“Grey Ghost”

CD 2
“South Carolina”
“So Long”
“Prisoner”
“Cold Harbor”
“Trail Of Tears”
“It's About Pride”
“Waterhole”
“Knoxville Girl”
“Green Grass & High Tides Forever”
“(Ghost) Riders In The Sky”

Lineup:

Henry Paul - guitars, vocals
Monte Yoho - drums
Chris Anderson - lead guitar, vocals
Randy Threet - bass, vocals
Dave Robbins - keyboards, vocals
Steve Grisham - lead guitar, vocals

Tour dates:

September
17 - Nashville, TN - City Winery
18 - Ft. Wayne, IN - Foellinger Theatre
22 - Carlisle, PA - Carlisle Theatre
23 - Mt. Pleasant, PA - Glass & Ethnic Fest

October
5 - Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Symphony Hall
7 - Newton, NJ - Newton Theatre
8 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theatre
15 - Kerrville, TX - RevFest
22 - Panama City Beach, FL - 2016 Thunder Beach

November
5 - Sioux City, IA - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
9 - Shirley, MA - Bull Run Restaurant
10 - Hartford, CT - Infinity Hall
11 - Burgettstown, PA - Pepsi Cola Roadhouse
12 - New York, NY - BB Kings
19 - Mediana, MN - Median Entertainment Center

December
16 - Clearwater, FL - Capitol Theatre
17 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza LIVE Orlando

Metallica performed at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN on August 20th and subsequently made the show's audio available via their infamous LiveMetallica.com store. Using said audio, the folks at Master Of Collectors scoured YouTube and assembled a multi-angle (37 to be exact) 2.5 hour video of the full show. Check it out below.

Setlist:

“Creeping Death”
“For Whom the Bell Tolls”
“Fuel”
“King Nothing”
“The Memory Remains”
“The Unforgiven”
“Leper Messiah”
“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
“Sad But True”
“Wherever I May Roam”
“One”
“Master of Puppets”
“Battery”
“Fade to Black”
“Seek and Destroy”
“Hardwired”
“Whiskey in the Jar”
“Nothing Else Matters”
“Enter Sandman”

Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, the long awaited new Metallica studio album, and follow up to Death Magnetic, will be released on November 18th. The double CD will include nearly 80 minutes of music.

In the new album trailer below, a snippet of the new track “Moth Into Flame” can be heard at the 2 minute mark:

A music video for the album’s lead track and first single, “Hardwired”, as well as a nine-minute video featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the writing and recording sessions for "Hardwired”, can be found below. Check out the “Hardwired” single artwork...

Says the band: “Hardwired… represents the next phase of our journey as Metallica and we are so excited to share it with you. If anyone was tuned into radio station 93X in Minneapolis earlier today, you heard the world debut of the first track, “Hardwired”, and we’re hoping you’ll hear a lot more of it in the coming days. Produced by Greg Fidelman, along with James and Lars, this is our 11th studio album and is available for pre-order in a variety of configurations including 12 songs on a double CD, vinyl, digital download, as well as a deluxe version with the riffs that were the origins of the album. Everyone who pre-orders the album through Metallica.com will receive an instant download of the song “Hardwired”.

“We cannot wait to hit the road to play these songs live and get in your faces once again, so strap yourselves in… INCOMING!”

Tracklisting:

Disc One
“Hardwired”
“Atlas, Rise!”
“Now That We’re Dead”
“Moth Into Flame”
“Am I Savage?”
“Halo On Fire”

Disc Two
“Confusion”
“Dream No More”
“ManUNkind”
“Here Comes Revenge”
“Murder One”
“Spit Out The Bone”

Disc Three (Deluxe Edition Only)
“Lords Of Summer”
“Riff Charge” (Riff Origins)
“N.W.O.B.H.M. A.T.M.” (Riff Origins)
“Tin Shot” (Riff Origins)
“Plow” (Riff Origins)
“Sawblade” (Riff Origins)
“RIP” (Riff Origins)
“Lima” (Riff Origins)
“91” (Riff Origins)
“MTO” (Riff Origins)
“RL72” (Riff Origins)
“Frankenstein” (Riff Origins)
“CHI” (Riff Origins)
“X Dust” (Riff Origins)

“Hardwired” video:

Making of “Hardwired”:

Metallica have confirmed they will perform at the 30th Annual Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, California, taking place October 22nd - 23rd.

Organized by musicians Neil Young and Pegi Young, the Bridge School Benefit Concert is an annual, all acoustic, non-profit charity event held every October at Shoreline Amphitheatre. All proceeds directly benefit the operations of The Bridge School.

Acts scheduled to perform at this year’s event include: Neil Young + Promise Of The Real, Metallica, Roger Waters, Dave Matthews, case/lang/veirs, Willie Nelson, My Morning Jacket, Norah Jones, Cage The Elephant and Nils Lofgren.

More details at this location.