"Book Of Shadows", the long-awaited new solo album from former BLACK SABBATH singer Tony Martin, will feature a song called "Devil's Man Down", which was written by Clive Jones, "sax player, flute player, singer and all-round good egg" from classic U.K. progressive rockers BLACK WIDOW. Martin adds: "[This is] sad because Clive is struggling with cancer."

In a January 2013 interview, Martin stated about "Book Of Shadows": "[It] got put on hold, of course, because it's a solo album and solo albums are the worst because you are too close to it and it's never perfect. But apart from that, you still have to pay the bills and so I do other projects too, and that takes me away from the solo album."

Martin announced in 2008 that he had tapped Tom Galley of PHENOMENA fame to produce "Book of Shadows". Martin said at the time, "It's great to have Tom on board especially since he is getting over the death of his brother, Mel Galley [ex-WHITESNAKE, TRAPEZE guitarist] who died of cancer. Tom is a great producer; his PHENOMENA albums have always been an interest for me."

Tony added, "The artwork will again be done by Rory Fiorito who did the 'Scream' [Martin's last solo album] artwork and it's great to have him on board again too.

"I would say this, because I'm biased and because I can: this new album is the best I've done! And it's going to be different!!! Scared????? Don't be. I promise it's gonna be impressive."

Galley previously worked with such high-caliber musicians as Brian May, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, John Thomas, Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley, Don Airey, Ray Gillen, and Scott Gorham.

In January 2013, Martin was signed to a new music publishing deal by Alan Bambrough of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Limited. Martin said he was "very pleased" and was "looking forward to expanding into other areas."

Martin's latest release was the fourth album from GIUNTINI PROJECT, the Italian heavy metal band started in 1988 by guitarist Aldo Giuntini as a solo project. GIUNTINI "Project IV" came out in May 2013 via Escape Music and features additional contributions from Ezio Secomandi (on drums), Dario Patti (on keyboards) and Fulvio Gaslini (on bass).

Martin's last solo album, "Scream", was released in November 2005 via MTM Music. The CD featured legendary drummer Cozy Powell (BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW, WHITESNAKE) on the track "Raising Hell" as well as songwriting contributions by another SABBATH member, Geoff Nicholls.

BLACK SABBATH released six albums with Tony Martin on vocals: "The Eternal Idol" (1987), "Headless Cross" (1989), "Tyr" (1990), "Cross Purposes" (1994), "Cross Purposes Live" (1995) and "Forbidden" (1995).

Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One, Guilt Machine) and Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Devin Townsend Project) recently joined forces for new band, The Gentle Storm, and confirmed they have signed a deal with InsideOutMusic for the release of their debut album early next year.

In a post on Facebook, Lucassen sheds a little more light on the forthcoming album:

“The Gentle Storm concept album will be a double CD, with the same songs on each CD but in VERY different, contrasting arrangements. CD1, the 'Gentle' album, will be all acoustic and folky with lots of exotic instruments. CD2, the 'Storm' album, will be an all-out, bombastic orchestral metal album. Of course there are plenty of progressive elements mixed in as well. Questions? Ask away!"

Fans are invited to send their questions here.

Anneke offered the following update: "We're in the middle of recording these amazing new songs and are very excited the label shows an equal amount of faith in this release. We can't wait for people to hear it and are happy this superb team will help us spread the word."

Having originally worked together back in 1998 on Ayreon's album, Into The Electric Castle, and reconvening again for the seventh Ayreon album, 01011001, The Gentle Storm sees the duo collaborate for a full double-album that will see the light of day next year. Anneke will also take the music on the road in 2015, backed by a band of Dutch musicians; however Arjen himself will not take part.

Frontiers Music Srl has announced the release of the debut album from Bailey, entitled Long Way Down, on December 5th in Europe and December 9th in North America.

Bailey is the new solo project masterminded by Three Lions frontman Nigel Bailey. Although a relatively new name on the scene, Nigel has a vast experience as both a songwriter and performer. His deal with Frontiers served to bring to light his shining talent both as a powerful vocalist and also as a songwriter. Brand new compositions along with some material written over the years have been combined to complete an exciting solo debut.

“I wrote the bulk of the album songs between 2011 and mid 2012” says Nigel. “The plan was to write songs with no particular influences in mind. I have always loved rock music and wrote songs as they came to me. I didn’t have a particular style in mind which is reflected in the various styles on the record.”






With some similarities to Three Lions in terms of influences, Bailey is slightly heavier and more varied in its approach whilst still maintaining the edge and the trademark melodies of Classic British Hard Rock tradition.

“If pushed, I would say that "In The Name Of The King", "Long Way Down" and "Stay" are my personal favourites and show the variety in my writing and vocal style”, tells Nigel.

You can have a glimpse of Bailey’s debut album by viewing the EPK below.

Bailey will also have a free debut live show on December 4th at The Coniston live music venue in Bradford, UK. Nigel will be performing songs from the album as well as some surprises along with his bandmates and special friends!






Long Way Down tracklisting:

"Feed The Flames"
"In The Name Of The King"
"Dirty Little Secret"
"Bad Reputation"
"Stay"
"Somewhere In Oslo"
"Long Way Down"
"Spend The Night"
"Love Falls Down"
"Ticket To Yesterday"
"Dirty Angel"

EPK:

GuitarWorld.com presents the worldwide premiere of a new recording and performance video by the Commander-In-Chief, a seven-string guitarist from Norway who now lives in England, and classical guitarist Craig Ogden.

The uber-talented duo have collaborated on Caprice No. 24 by Niccolo Paganini, the 18th- and 19th-century Italian composer whose music has influenced scores of guitarists, including Yngwie Malmsteen.

It's the final caprice of Paganini's 24 Caprices, and a work that's usually associated with solo violin. It's considered one of the most difficult pieces ever written for solo violin.

It requires several advanced techniques such as parallel octaves and rapid shifting covering many intervals, extremely fast scales and arpeggios including minor scales in thirds and 10ths, left-hand pizzicato and quick string crossing.

Video footage of the Dallas, Texas rehearsals for KING DIAMOND's upcoming North American tour can be seen below. The trek is scheduled to kick off tonight (Saturday, October 11) in Atlanta, Georgia.

KING DIAMOND played its first show with new bassist, Swedish musician Pontus Egberg (THE POODLES, LION'S SHARE, ZAN CLAN), on July 25 at Gröna Lund in Stockholm, Sweden.

Egberg joined KING DIAMOND following the recent departure of Hal Patino.

Patino released a statement on July 20 calling KING DIAMOND's frontman and namesake "a tired, bitter, old man" and denying that he has a drug problem, despite the singer's implications to the contrary.

After King announced Hal's exit from KING DIAMOND, Patino posted a message of his own claiming that he was offered a "totally ridiculous" salary for the band's five shows this summer, calling the move "disrespectful" and insisting that he quit the band in disgust two days before King announced Patino was "relieved of his duties" as the bassist for KING DIAMOND. King then responded with a lengthy posting on his Facebook page, accusing Patino of "putting out extreme lies" about King's character and slamming Hal for asking for more money at the last minute after the rest of the band and the crew already accepted the same salary as they had received for last year's European tour.

King, 58, whose real name is Kim Bendix Petersen, underwent open-heart triple-bypass surgery in November 2010. He has since completed his cardiac rehabilitation program and has stopped smoking entirely, changed his diet and is getting regular exercise.

"Dreams Of Horror", a 2xCD collection of KING DIAMOND songs, newly enhanced into ultimate editions by King Diamond and Andy La Rocque themselves, will be released by Metal Blade Records on November 11.

"Dreams Of Horror" is the only "best-of" album covering the band's entire career. King Diamond and Andy La Rocque meticulously mastered and enhanced these 23 songs into the ultimate editions, chosen by the band from both the Roadrunner and Metal Blade catalogs.

Five years after their announced that they were going on an "indefinite hiatus," Swedish sleaze rockers BACKYARD BABIES are back and are working on a new studio album for a 2015 release. The band has also been confirmed for next year's edition of the Sweden Rock Festival, set to take place June 3-6, 2015 in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

In a 2009 interview with Classic Rock magazine, BACKYARD BABIES guitarist Dregen stated about the band's decision to take a break. "We've been touring, recording and writing for 20 years, the last 10 at a very intense level. It's time for a well-deserved break before we begin writing the next album. . . We're talking months. For the BACKYARD BABIES, two weeks is a long time. If the hiatus lasted for a year, that would be an absolute maximum. During that time we won't be booking any shows, just trying to find a new spark."

To celebrate two decades together, BACKYARD BABIES embarked on the "Them XX Tour" in January/February 2010. In addition, they released a deluxe 120-page book titled "Them XX" containing private photos, three CDs and a DVD-documentary that conveys the 20 years of the BACKYARD BABIES story.

The band's latest, self-titled album topped the chart in the group's home country in its first week of release. The CD also entered the Finnish album chart at No. 31.

Released in Europe on August 18, 2008 via Billion Dollar Babies/Spinefarm, "Backyard Babies" was recorded during 90 sweaty days and nights at Polar and Big Island Sound studios in Stockholm with producer Jacob Hellner (RAMMSTEIN, APOCALYPTICA).

Swedish hard rockers, Nubian Rose, will release their new album, Mental Revolution, on November 24th via Cargo Records. The cover artwork for the CD was created by Mattias Savage Wil, all photos by Tallee Savage for Savage Beauty, and can be seen below.

The album was produced by Christer Åkerlund, engineerd by Jakob Herrmann, mixed by Tobias Lindell (HEAT, Europe, Hardcore Superstar, Avatar, Mustasch), recorded at Top Floor Studios & Bohus Sound and mastered by Mats "Limpa" Lindfors (Crashdïet, Scorpions, Dan Reed, Treat) at Cutting Room.






Tracklisting:

"War"
"Time Again"
"Illuminated Within"
"The Eye"
"Tough Guys Don't Dance"
"Break Out"
"Higher"
"You Will Never Walk Alone"
"(Taking This) Further"
"All Of Your Love"

Nubian Rose evolves around the magnetic charisma and majestic voice of Sofia Lilja, combined with the unique talent of guitarist Christer Åkerlund. In combination with powerful guitar riffs and great melodies, they put a new spirit in the classic melodic hard rock.

Voodoo Terror Tribe released their latest EP A Walk in Hell earlier this year. Today the video that the band has been working painstakingly on for some time finally sees its world premiere. The video for "BloodSoaked" can be found below.






The band commented on the video: "Voodoo Terror Tribe's new music video for the song "BloodSoaked" presents deliberate darkness and intensity. We meant it to be more serious and in-your-face than our previous works, as the song is our heaviest so far. So as for filming, we threw ourselves out of our East-Coast element and out into the dark-recesses of remote Ohio. Working with director Jeffrey Moore and Assistant Director Angel Alfonso of Axtravaganza Films was a welcome breath of professionalism, and the video shows it.

"BloodSoaked" is our fastest and darkest song yet, and we wanted to present those ideas explicitly, with art and horror-flick-mysticism. We're proud of the amazing cast and the extraordinary work everyone committed in such a short amount of time. There is an interesting storyline to the film, that with multiple viewings one might discern, but even if you don't find the linear plot, the images and the atmosphere speak for themselves. Our dalliance with the horror film vibe and moderately authentic ritualism might have put the taste of blood in our mouths. There's no returning to the light after this, and everything only gets darker from here..."

In early 2014 it was announced that Cloudkicker, one of prog’s most enigmatic and mysterious artist, would tour North America with post prog metallers, Intronaut, as his backing band. Message boards and the blogsphere went crazy over this announcement, as Cloudkicker, aka, Ben Sharp, had vowed the band would never play live. The two bands piled into a van and every night played to an overzealous fanbase who knew they were experiencing a perhaps once in a lifetime opportunity.

For those unfortunate ones who missed a show, the band stopped off at Texas recording studio, The Fathom Tree, and played the set start to finish live and captured it all on tape. Century Media will release Cloudkicker – Live With Intronaut, from this recording session. The album will be in stores on November 24th.






Tracklisting:

"Subsume Part 1"
"Subsume Part 2"
"We Are Going To Invert.../Here, Wait A Minute, Damn It!"
"We're Goin' In, We're Going Down"
"Seriosity"
"You And Yours"
"Dysphoria"
"Subsume Part 8"
"Push It Way Up!"

Video footage from the band’s show in Cleveland, OH was overdubbed with the official audio from the album. “Subsume Part 1” can be seen below:

Boston's Revocation will release their fifth album, Deathless, on October 14th via Metal Blade. A full album stream can be found below. The album will be available in CD, 2LP and digital formats. A pre-order is available at MetalBlade.com.

Deathless was recorded with acclaimed producer Zeuss at Planet Z studios in Massachusetts. The album is ten tracks of ambitious, catchy, and undeniably heavy material. Musically, cuts like "Madness Opus" showcase a more deliberate Revocation - restrained, if even moderately so, to deliver a slow, near-dirge like track. Alternatively, the title track highlights the diversity of Davidson's vocals with a catchy chorus. It's an earworm the likes of which the band had only previously hinted. The rest of the album offers a refreshing variety of music and truly feels like an "album", rather than a collection of similar tracks. This is a refinement, achieved only through years of focusing on their craft.






Lyrically, Deathless addresses life on the road and the band's commitment to touring, followed by even more touring. "Madness Opus" made its live debut when Revocation toured with DevilDriver and Whitechapel during the summer of 2014. Davidson discusses the track: "The crowd response for that tune has been overwhelmingly positive. It's one of the heaviest songs we've ever written, hands down, and has been a blast to play live. Lyrically, it's about one of my favorite HP Lovecraft stories, The Music Of Erich Zann. Fans of unnamable cosmic horror and punishing death metal will not be disappointed!"






Deathless tracklisting:

“A Debt Owed To The Grave”
“Deathless”
“Labyrinth Of Eyes”
“Madness Opus”
“Scorched Earth Policy”
“The Blackest Reaches”
“The Fix”
“United In Helotry”
“Apex”
“Witch Trials”

Cruz Del Sur Music are streaming the self-titled debut album from old school Finnish heavy metal heroes, Mausoleum Gate, out now in North America.

Rarely in the past few years has any metal scene's newcomer has been able to craft such authentic sounding, classic heavy metal music with the passion and energy that Mausoleum Gate put into their debut album. Their appearance on the scene out-of-nowhere came so unexpectedly and shockingly, but immediately turned some heads, as the band has been invited to play the next edition of famous German Keep It True Festival in April 2015.

Inspired by the late 70s / early 80s metal sound, these Finnish lads know perfectly where to hit to provoke the most positive reactions among fans of the NWOBHM's sound, die-hard aficionados of the twisting sounds of Cirith Ungol, and lovers of 70s rock greats such as the Scorpions and Uriah Heep. The presence of unusual keys (Mellotron and Organ mainly) gives this album a spooky and somewhat tragic atmosphere, with long suites such as "Lost Beyond the Sun" and "Mausoleum Gate" serving as the highest peaks of an opera prima that will not pass unobserved.

A brand new SLIPKNOT song called "Custer" can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track is taken from the band's fifth album, ".5: The Gray Chapter", which will arrive on October 21 via Roadrunner. The new CD is the first by SLIPKNOT since the 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray and the late 2013 firing of drummer Joey Jordison.

Speaking to the Q105.1 radio station in Fargo, North Dakota, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor stated about the making of ".5: The Gray Chapter": "The great thing about this band is we've never put shackles on ourselves creatively. If we're feeling one way, we go that way. If we're not, then we tend to go in the opposite direction. It's one of the reasons why we took so long to actually start thinking about doing a new album, 'cause we weren't gonna do it until we were ready."

He continued: "As far as pressure, we've never had a lot of pressure, because we approach it that way. We're, like, 'We're gonna do what we want. If nobody listens to it, that's fine, but we've fulfilled something inside ourselves.' So it was more emotional than it was stressful, to be honest. Because filling in the shoes of Paul, especially, was heavy duty. He was such an integral part of the songwriting process and had such a great ear for it, we knew that we were all going to have to step in and fill those shoes in, and I thought we did a great job. Jim [Root, guitar] came up with some killer stuff, I brought in some stuff, Clown [percussionist Shawn Crahan] really, he brought in some really killer atmospheric stuff that we were able to build into some great music. I think we all really stepped up to the challenge, and I think it was because we wanted to. It wasn't because we felt we had to; we felt we wanted to, we wanted to be able to do that and really kind of make new music with this band again. So it wasn't so much stressful as it was powerful."

Taylor recently denied that the band's new song, "The Negative One", is about Jordison, telling Metal Hammer, "'The Negative One' is about me, and not just me, but everybody in the band. We all have so many different sides to ourselves, but especially with this band. When we get together, there's something about the music we make that really unleashes the crazy, dark shit inside of us. And that song in particular is about, basically, embracing it again, giving into it and letting it have its say. Because if you don't, then you sit on it and you repress and it blows up in really negative ways. So, that song is about freeing it."

Taylor told The Pulse Of Radio that the new disc is autobiographical. "The whole album is essentially the story of the band over the last four years, and part of that story is that we've had to reach a point of acceptance with everything," he said. "You know, the last four years have been really difficult for us."

Taylor told Metal Hammer that the album is laid out like a story, "from the moment Paul died to the moment we stepped out of the studio. So there are certain songs that deal with, not Joey in particular, but about the tension and trying to deal with the ugliness that we all have in us."

The identities of the band's new bassist and drummer have not yet been revealed, but the bassist is widely believed to be Alessandro "Vman" Venturella, while the new drummer is thought to be Jay Weinberg, son of longtime Bruce Springsteen drummer Max Weinberg.

The official video for the song "A Place In Your World" from FLYING COLORS, the band featuring Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (vocals, guitars) and Steve Morse (guitar), can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's sophomore album, "Second Nature", which was released in Europe on September 29 via Mascot Label Group's Music Theories label.

The music press acknowledged the eponymously titled debut album from FLYING COLORS among the most compelling releases of 2012. Executive producer Bill Evans assembled a team of virtuoso players, a pop singer/songwriter, and the right producer to create sophisticated music that was accessible. Over 100 singer/songwriters were considered for the role. Portnoy pitched the idea of approaching McPherson, a member of the group ALPHA REV, whose 2010 album called "New Morning" dominated the Billboard Top Ten for 17 weeks.

After an hour-long phone call with Evans, the band found their man. As Mike had quite rightly hoped, McPherson went on to prove the "X Factor" that elevated FLYING COLORS above the norm. "The idea of having an actual singer as opposed to a musician that also sang, really opened up a whole other world," Portnoy told Prog magazine.

Classic Rock magazine hailed the band's debut as "fearless", praising its "JOURNEY-sized choruses" and referencing artists as diverse as THE BEATLES, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, THE DOORS, MUSE, and even Frank Sinatra. In late 2012, the band toured America and Europe, dazzling fans with FLYING COLORS originals and selections from the catalogues of the five members.

Schedules allowing, the protagonists had always viewed FLYING COLORS as a genuine band as opposed to a side project, hence they began writing a second studio album. From the first writing session to final delivery of the masters in July 2014, the process took almost a year and half, in four distinct stages: writing sessions via Skype in January/February 2013, another burst of writing and recording at Neal Morse's house in Nashville, a trip to Portnoy's home that spawned five additional songs, and finally individual recording/arrangement over the Internet throughout the spring of 2014.

This time the band opted to self-produce, with Evans, the man responsible for the concept of FLYING COLORS, reprising his role as executive producer and co-engineer. Besides offering a finely tuned set of ears, Evans would remix a track each time an amendment was made, before sending it onto each band member, allowing closer collaboration by the band. "There was no repudiation of producer Peter Collins," clarifies Evans, "but the guys had become a family and they wanted to try something different."

Sporting stunning artwork from the legendary designer Hugh Syme (RUSH, AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, WHITESNAKE) and bookended by two tracks of truly epic stature — "Open Up Your Eyes" and the multiple-part "Cosmic Symphony" — the album is every bit as breathtaking as the debut. Portnoy stresses that the music’s proggier path was "not conscious at all."

"Direction was never even discussed," continues Portnoy. "We just did what we do. I think perhaps not having a producer to ‘trim the fat’ possibly led to the songs breathing and expanding a bit more."

"This is an album full of many layers," concludes guitarist Steve Morse. "The more you listen, the more you can hear. It’s an album to keep listening to."

"Second Nature" showcases a compelling and thought-provoking collection of songs written and performed by musicians at the top of their game.

"Second Nature" track listing:

01. Open Up Your Eyes02. Mask Machine03. Bombs Away04. The Fury Of My Love05. A Place In Your World06. Lost Without You07. One Lost Forever08. Peaceful Harbor09. Cosmic SymphonyI. Still Life Of The WorldII. Searching For The AirIII. Pound For Pound

The LED ZEPPELIN reissue campaign got off to a remarkable start in June as deluxe editions of "Led Zeppelin", "Led Zeppelin II" and "Led Zeppelin III" debuted in the top 10 of The Billboard 200 chart. The albums achieved similar international success with debuts near the top of the charts in more than a dozen territories, including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

The band has now prepared the reissues of "Led Zeppelin IV" (the third best-selling album in U.S. history) and "Houses Of The Holy". As with the previous deluxe editions, both albums have been newly remastered by guitarist and producer Jimmy Page and are accompanied by a second disc of companion audio comprised entirely of unreleased music related to that album.

"Led Zeppelin IV" and "Houses Of The Holy" will each be available October 28 from Atlantic/Swan Song in the following formats:

* Single CD - Remastered album packaged in a gatefold card wallet.* Deluxe Edition (2CD) - Remastered album, plus a second disc of unreleased companion audio.* Single LP - Remastered album on 180-gram vinyl, packaged in a sleeve that replicates the LP's first pressing in exacting detail.* Deluxe Edition Vinyl (2LP) - Remastered album and unreleased companion audio on 180-gram vinyl.* Digital Download - Remastered album and companion audio will both be available.* Super Deluxe Boxed Set - This collection includes:- Remastered album on CD in vinyl replica sleeve. - Companion audio on CD in card wallet featuring new alternate cover art. - Remastered album on 180-gram vinyl in a sleeve replicating first pressing.- Companion audio on 180-gram vinyl in a sleeve with new alternate cover art. - High-def audio download card of all content at 96kHz/24 bit. - Hard bound, 80 page book filled with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia.- High-quality print of the original album cover, the first 30,000 of which will be individually numbered.

An "unboxing" video for the "Super Deluxe" edition of "Houses Of The Holy" can be seen below.

The second round of reissues begins with one of the most artistically influential and commercially successful albums in the history of music, "Led Zeppelin IV". Released in November 1971, the album — which is officially untitled — defined the sound of rock music for a generation with ubiquitous anthems such as "Stairway To Heaven", "Rock And Roll", "Black Dog" and "When The Levee Breaks". The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999, has been certified 23x platinum by the RIAA.

The "Led Zeppelin IV" deluxe edition includes unreleased versions of every song heard on the original album including alternate mixes of "Misty Mountain Hop" and "Four Sticks", mixes of "The Battle Of Evermore" and "Going To California" heavy with guitar and mandolin, and the fabled, alternate version "Stairway To Heaven", mixed at the Sunset Sound Studio in Los Angeles which lets fans hear one of the most revered songs of all time as they have never heard it before.

LED ZEPPELIN topped the charts again in 1973 with "Houses Of The Holy", which features legendary tracks such as "The Song Remains The Same" and "No Quarter" while also showcasing the continuing evolution of the band's signature sound with the reggae-tinged "D'yer Mak'er" and the funk jam "The Crunge". The album has been certified diamond by the RIAA for sales of over 11 million copies.

The seven unreleased tracks on the companion audio disc include rough and working mixes for "The Ocean" and "Dancing Days" that reveal a deeper look inside the recording sessions of these classic songs. Other standout recordings include the guitar mix backing track for "Over The Hills And Far Away" and a version of "The Rain Song" without piano.

In 1968, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant formed LED ZEPPELIN, one of the most influential, innovative and successful groups in modern music, having sold more than 300 million albums worldwide. The band rose from the ashes of THE YARDBIRDS, when Page brought in Plant, Bonham and Jones to tour as THE NEW YARDBIRDS. In 1969, LED ZEPPELIN released its self-titled debut. It marked the beginning of a 12-year reign, during which the group was widely considered to be the biggest and most innovative rock band in the world.

LED ZEPPELIN continues to be honored for its pivotal role in music history. The band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1995, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and a year later was awarded with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm. Founding members Jones, Page and Plant — along with Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham — took the stage at London's O2 Arena in 2007 to headline a tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun, a dear friend and Atlantic Records' founder. The band was honored for its lifetime contribution to American culture at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012. In January of 2014, the band won their first-ever Grammy Award as "Celebration Day", which captured their live performance at the Ertegun tribute concert, was named Best Rock Album.

"Led Zeppelin IV" track listing

01. Black Dog 02. Rock And Roll 03. The Battle of Evermore 04. Stairway To Heaven 05. Misty Mountain Hop 06. Four Sticks 07. Going To California 08. When The Levee Breaks

Companion Audio Disc

01. Black Dog - Basic Track With Guitar Overdubs 02. Rock And Roll - Alternate Mix 03. The Battle Of Evermore - Mandolin/Guitar Mix From Headley Grange 04. Stairway To Heaven - Sunset Sound Mix 05. Misty Mountain Hop - Alternate Mix 06. Four Sticks - Alternate Mix 07. Going To California - Mandolin/Guitar Mix08. When The Levee Breaks - Alternate UK Mix

"Houses of the Holy" track listing:

01. The Song Remains The Same 02. The Rain Song 03. Over The Hills And Far Away 04. The Crunge 05. Dancing Days 06. D'yer Mak'er 07. No Quarter 08. The Ocean

Companion Audio Disc

01. The Song Remains The Same - Guitar Overdub Reference Mix 02. The Rain Song - Mix Minus Piano 03. Over The Hills And Far Away - Guitar Mix Backing Track 04. The Crunge - Rough Mix - Keys Up 05. Dancing Days - Rough Mix With Vocal 06. No Quarter - Rough Mix With JPJ Keyboard Overdubs - No Vocal 07. The Ocean - Working Mix

Bullet Tooth Records has announced the 3xCD Discography, Only Death Is Smiling, from Massachusetts' metal legends Overcast! The band started in the early '90s, long before the explosion of metal from the New England area, and released a few albums on indie labels until the late '90s, when they broke up to focus on new bands like Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, and more recently, Death Ray Vision. As a lot of their titles are currently out of print, the band decided to issue Only Death Is Smiling on Bullet Tooth featuring 45 tracks on three separate CDs, scheduled for release late 2014.

To say that Overcast were legendary is fairly accurate, as most newer metal bands have paid tribute to the obvious influences in their music. In fact, some give Overcast credit for starting the massive sub-genre called metalcore. Their recent performance at This Is Hardcore in Philadelphia sent hundreds of metal and hardcore fans into a frenzy with their brutal and technical metal written with the dancefloor in mind.


Some heavy hitters in the current metal world are quite excited about this new release, including both Jesse and Adam from Killswitch Engage and Ken from Unearth:

“In my eyes, Overcast was one of the most influential bands from their era. They came at a time where it wasn't so commonplace to mix heavy musical styles as much as they did. (And their singer Brian looked like a spooky creature from the deep with his hair.) Their ability to make unique, heavy, aggressive, and melodic songs was such a cool thing to see back then, and ultimately was what brought me to want to do a collaboration with Mike.” - Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage)

"When I was in the Danvers middle school system, one of my older high school friends Jay (Agoraphobic Nose Bleed) handed me Expectational Dilution on a copied cassette. Needless to say, I was in awe! Overcast was and always be one of the greatest bands to come from the New England area! I followed them religiously from gig to gig and was lucky enough to share the stage with them once or twice. The Unearth camp still rocks the whole discography to this day! Fans for life!" - Ken Susi (Unearth)

“Overcast was Revolutionary! Back when I first saw them I was blown away and quickly became a fanboy following the band around the Northeast and eventually landing shows with them with my band at the time Corrin. Every show became more and more intense, you never knew what was going to happen at an Overcast show. They changed the face of music for many people like my self who witnessed the brutality and precision of this band. I recently saw them play at set at This Is Hardcore 2014 and I screamed along to every word! The blend of hard hitting hardcore and metal riffing along with Brian’s mid range guttural screams makes Overcast a crucial part of the history of heavy music. They changed the game and helped inspire an entire generation of bands.” - Jesse Leach (Killswitch Engage)

Nuclear Blast has announced the signing of Belgium's anthemic grooving rock/metal outfit, Diablo Blvd.

Formed in 2005 with all members hailing from the city of Antwerp, Belgium, the band is named after a Corrosion Of Conformity song and lead by notorious stand-up comedian and singer Alex Agnew. With current and ex-members of bands like A Brand, Born From Pain and Meuris, this eclectic five-piece quickly started to turn heads and playing shows to appreciative crowds all over Belgium and the Netherlands.

Building on groovy riffs, catchy choruses and a charismatic stage presence, Diablo Blvd offers what made their heroes great within a wide range of influences from the heavy genre (like Danzig, The Cult, Guns N' Roses, Black Label Society and Type O Negative), classic rock and even blues.

After two successful full-length albums and numerous celebrated shows around Europe Diablo Blvd went to the legendary ICP studios in Brussels with producer Ace Zec to record the brand new album, Follow The Deadlights, in collaboration with the American duo Jay Ruston (mix) and Paul Logus (mastering) who have previously been behind the sound of Anthrax, Stone Sour, Meatloaf and Steel Panther.

Commented the band: "Everybody! We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we’re going to join the Nuclear Blast family for our first world-wide release. Signing to Nuclear Blast is like getting the hot chick everybody wants. They were our first choice when we started looking for a deal and to see it actually coming through still feels unreal. So a big thank you to everyone involved for making it happen and we hope to see you all in 2015."

Follow The Deadlights is planned for release on January 23rd, 2015 via Nuclear Blast. The official lyric video for the first single off the album, "Rise Like Lions", can be seen below.

Ozzy Osbourne is the latest musician to comment on U2's decision to team with Apple to put the Irish rock band's new album, "Songs Of Innocence", on every single iTunes account in the world for free regardless of whether it was wanted or not.

Speaking to Shortlist, the BLACK SABBATH singer said: "I think it's good in one way, and bad in another. People got so pissed off with it, it was terrific. Trying to find out how to delete it off their fucking phones, or whatever. But U2 can afford to put an album out for free, whereas other bands can't, so it makes it difficult for up-and-coming bands. It's fucking selfish, really. They just got a zillion fucking sales from Apple, I suppose. Not everyone is U2, not everyone can get a fucking deal with Apple. There are a thousand bands out there today that aren't going to get heard by fucking anybody because they can't afford to do it."

33 million of the world's 500 million iTunes users have reportedly accessed the U2 album, but there have been complaints about it as well. Apple gave an online tutorial on how to remove it, while BUCKCHERRY guitarist Keith Nelson dissed the Irish supergroup for devaluing their own music.

Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne delivered the most scathing remarks via a Twitter rant in which she wrote, "U2, you are business moguls, not musicians anymore. No wonder you have to give your mediocre music away for free, 'cause no one wants to buy it." She also called the Irish quartet "just a bunch of middle-age political groupies" and the group, iTunes and record company president Jimmy Iovine "a bunch of megalomaniacs."

While U2 continues to be one of the world's biggest group, the band's last effort, 2009's "No Line On The Horizon", was considered a commercial failure — although the two-year supporting tour was the highest-grossing in history.