Digital Tour Bus has uploaded episode #87 of Tour Pranks, this time with Septicflesh and Moonspell. Each episode of Tour Pranks features an artist telling one, or more, of their favorite prank stories from being on tour. In this episode, the metal bands, Septicflesh and Moonspell, talk about pranking on the road, while on the Conquerors Of The World III Tour with Deathstars.

Septicflesh, made their way to North America this past April, when they embarked on the third edition of the Conquerors Of The World tour. After kicking off the four-week trek with a special headlining date in Mexico City, the quartet continued to rampage across the continent with support from Moonspell and act Deathstars. The tour – the group's third Stateside tour behind their album Titan – also saw the North American live premiere of new drummer Kerim "Krimh" Lechner (Decapitated, Behemoth).

Aeons In Tectonic Interment is the new studio offering from Finnish funeral doom duo, Tyranny. Slated for release via Dark Descent Records next month, the band's first proper recording in a decade spews forth five sickly psalms of slow, tortured, epically soul-consuming grimness.

Aeons In Tectonic Interment was penned, performed and tracked by members Matti Mäkelä and Lauri Lindqvist with additional percussion by Jussi-Pekka Manner and mastered by D. Lowndes at Resonance Sound Studio (Absu, Pallbearer, Profetus, Sigh, Wodensthrone). Simultaneously spiritual and ominous, with Aeons In Tectonic Interment, Tyranny manages to manifest a traumatic, fifty-one-minute sound apocalypse where misanthropy, suffering and imminent ruin become one achieving purification through sonic decay. A new track, “Sunless Deluge” is streaming below.

Tracklisting:

“Sunless Deluge”
“A Voice Given Unto Ruin”
“Preparation Of A Vessel”
“The Stygian Enclave”
“Bells Of The Black Basilica”

"Sunless Deluge":

Teaser:

 
Aeons In Tectonic Interment will see release via Dark Descent Records on CD, double LP and digitally on September 18th, with pre-orders and track samples to be revealed in the coming weeks.

(Photo - Peter Troest)

The release date of the Lancelot album But I Just Can’t Stay Behind on CD is September 4 via Karthago Records. The preorder phase will start on August 21.

Saarland/Germany is not very famous for its hard rock scene. In the early ‘80s Lancelot was the No. 1 export from this small German country. The album But I Just Can’t Stay Behind was their only release, apart from four singles which go back to the year 1979; then they went to America to try their luck under another name and with a style more fitted for the American market. Now all their releases finally are available on one CD!

From the beginning, the band was only interested in their potential to create a hit. And they managed it to write several ones. “Stop Man”, "Blinded" and "Stargazer" just to name a few were catchy and showed the big songwriting ability of the band. And the really fine vocals convince even after 30 years.  

Lancelot played bombastic rock, for sure no heavy metal, but quite extraordinary. For those who only like hard songs, Lancelot is probably not the right band. If you are looking for jewels of German (hard-) rock music, you will definitely find some with Lancelot. This band is an exception in the Heavy Metal Classics series, because it is - strictly speaking - no heavy metal. But sometimes it is “heavy” and it is always definitely good music.

But I Just Can’t Stay Behind tracklisting:

“Stop Man”
“Home Again”
“Struck Down”
“Stargazer”
“Treat Me Right”
“But I Just Can’t Stay Behind”
“Killer Machine”
“All Right Now”
“Rock’n Roller”
“Tribute To F.J. Haydn Abjfv”
“Little Jane”
“Lancelot”
“Far Away”
“Miss You”
“Pretty Thing”
“Blinded”

Line-up:

Albert Jochum – vocals, guitars
Franky R. - bass
Bernardi Ferone - guitars
Joachim Hammerschmidt - drums
Volker Herschban - keyboards

US melodic/power/progressive thrash band, Chaos Frame, will release their sophomore album, Paths To Exile, via Nightmare Records on September 4th.

Virtuosic performances balanced with captivating songwriting and a strong focus on melody, Paths To Exile features eight new studio tracks which will appeal to fans of Symphony X, Pagan's Mind, Beyond Twilight, Wintersun, Pyramaze and Therion.

The album was mixed by Carlos Alvarez for Dirty Viking Audio (Divine Disorder, Noble Beast, Shadowdance, Judicator) and mastered by Brett Caldas-Lima at Tower Studios (Ayreon, Pain of Salvation, Megadeth, Devin Townsend Project).

Paths To Exile tracklisting:

“Painful Lessons”
“Paths To Exile”
“Derceto”
“Terra Firma”
“Paper Sun”
“Giantkiller”
“Doomed”
“The World Had Two Faces”

“Paper Sun” lyric video:

Teaser:

Chaos Frame lineup:

Dave Brown - Lead Vocals
Matt Hodsdon - Guitar/Bass/Keyboards
Andy Xiong - Guitar
Pat Ruhland - Drums (tracks 2-8)
Steve Bergquist - Drums (track 1)

Cinematic progressive metal/film nerds Opensight are streaming the new track “The Chase”, from their upcoming Ulterior Motives release. The release date for physical and digital versions is set for September 4th.

Ulterior Motives tracklisting:

“Alibi”
“The Chase”
“Vanishing Point”
“Ulterior Motif”
“Antagonist”

“The Chase”:

Trailer:

Opensight have revealed the final details for the launch gig for their upcoming EP, Ulterior Motives.

The concert, in conjunction with Chaos Theory Music, will take place on September 4th at The Black Heart in Camden, London. Headliners are the post-metal soundscapes of Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster (who are launching their third album), and opening the show are the hotly-tipped progressive metal act Sumer.

More details here. Tickets are available here.

Opensight are:

Ivan David Amaya - vocals/guitars
Genia Penksik - guitars
Danni Stanner - bass
Redd Reddington - drums

 

Australian powercore metal pioneers A Breach Of Silence have just premiered their new music video for a very special acoustic version of the song “Vultures”. The video (see below) features footage of the band shot while on tour, and memorable moments of the band hanging out with fans before and after the shows.

“The acoustic version of “Vultures” is something we have been wanting to record for quite some time now. We really wanted to do something special for our fans to show what they mean to us” states guitarist Mat Cosgrove. “We believe the feel and emotion of this acoustic version really brings that to the table.”  

Lead vocalist Rhys Flannery continues, “As musicians, we want people to see that we’re not just another metal band. This acoustic version of “Vultures” shows people that we can do things differently, think out of the box, and show another side of the band which people didn’t previously know existed.”

 
The “Vultures” single contains the new acoustic version, original album version, and an instrumental (karaoke) version as well.  It was released worldwide on August 14th, and is available for download via iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, eMusic, and streaming on Spotify, Rdio, and YouTube.
 
A Breach Of Silence recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to help get the band back to North America for another run of 30+ tour dates. The campaign, available online here, offers several unique perks, including a FREE Vultures digital booklet, autographed merch, poker night & bbq with the band, signed guitars, and more. Money raised during the campaign will assist bringing the band back to North America for their second US tour.

 

Grindethic Records has announced the September 22nd release of Subversions Of The Psyche, the full-length debut from Scottish brutal death unit, Iniquitous Savagery.

Three years removed from the release of the Compelled by Perverse Immorality EP, Iniquitous Savagery returns with eight tracks of ultra-violent and tech-laden brutality. On their first full-length outing, Iniquitous Savagery prove themselves to be a cut above the brutal death norm by forging memorable tunes out of rapid-fire blasts, crushing grooves and guttural intensity. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jörg Uken at Soundlodge Studios, Subversions Of The Psyche is easily one of the sickest UKDM albums in recent memory.

Check out album track, "Transient States of Metaphysical Revelation" streaming below.

Subversions Of The Psyche tracklisting:

“Prey To The Agonies of Morbid Apprehension”
“Transient States Of Metaphysical Revelation”
“Cognitive Dissonance” (featuring guest vocals from Batu Cetin)
“Sadistic”
“Subversions Of The Psyche”
“Propagating A Pestiferous Enmity” (featuring guest vocals from Tom Bradfield)
“Prognosis Of Terminal Parasitic Degradation Facilitating The Process For Utter Decomposition”
“Subjugated Into Pathological Servility”

“Transient States Of Metaphysical Revelation”:

Pre-order Subversions Of The Psyche at this location.

Eight months after their debut Fear Not EP was released, Virginia’s deathcore/metalcore outfit To Be A King has premiered their brand new single.

“Paradox” is the first material since the EP and will be featured on the band’s full length follow-up that they are currently working on, and will serves as the follow up to their debut EP that may be purchased from Bandcamp, iTunes, AmazonMP3, and Google Play.

Once the band is finished working on the new release they will begin hitting the road for more shows and a few tours this coming fall and winter.
 
Listen too “Paradox” below:

 

About 100 miles south of Atlanta, next to a field just outside the town of Byron, there stands a plaque erected by the Georgia Historical Society marking the location of the Second Atlanta International Pop Festival, where from July 3-5, 1970, "Over thirty musical acts performed, including rock icon Jimi Hendrix playing to the largest American audience of this career." Despite the overwhelming attendance (estimated to be 300,000-400,000), the festival and Hendrix's performance in particular, has not received its due in terms of historic importance and impact until now.

Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church, a new documentary film about the music legend's Atlanta Pop set and the circumstances surrounding it, will debut on SHOWTIME on September 4th at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Experience Hendrix L.L.C. and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, is releasing the DVD and Blu-ray version on October 30th, which will feature bonus content not included in the broadcast version. The film documents the massive festival hailed then as the 'Southern Woodstock' and recognized now as the last great US Rock Festival. The film presents the story of how rock music's burgeoning festival culture descended en masse to the tiny rural village of Byron, Georgia and witnessed Hendrix's unforgettable performance. Video of the classic "Purple Haze" from the Atlanta Pop Festival can be viewed below:

The film details the efforts by Atlanta promoter Alex Cooley to create the definitive music festival.  Cooley secured such talent as Bob Seger, BB King and the Allman Brothers, but Hendrix was the critical component he needed to elevate the three day festival to a major cultural event. Electric Church features interviews with Hendrix's Experience band mates Billy Cox and the late Mitch Mitchell as well as Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, Rich Robinson, Kirk Hammett, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, festival organizer Alex Cooley and many others. The film contains breathtaking, color 16mm footage of Jimi Hendrix's Independence Day appearance, a mere ten weeks before his untimely passing.  Standout performances include such Hendrix classics as "Hey Joe," "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," "Purple Haze," as well as confident, compelling versions of songs such as "Room Full Of Mirrors," "Freedom," and "Straight Ahead" that had not yet been issued by Jimi on an Experience album, but were intended to be part of the album he was working on that summer. "The Star Spangled Banner," played against a backdrop of exploding fireworks, is another highlight, which Cooley recalls as having "knocked peoples' socks off."

The audio release Freedom: Jimi Hendrix Experience Atlanta Pop Festival, which Experience Hendrix L.L.C. and Legacy Recordings will put out on August 28, includes six performances not seen in the Showtime documentary. This will be available as a 2CD set and also as a 200-gram 2LP vinyl set. The first 5,000 vinyl units will be individually numbered.

By the beginning of the 1970s, Jimi Hendrix was unquestionably one of the most exciting rock musicians of his generation, having captivated the world with his highly stylized approach to blues guitar. In Electric Church, Paul McCartney freely admits to worshipping him, adding, "We all played guitar. We all knew a bit. But he seemed to know more than us."

Jimi Hendrix put the rock festival concept on the map with his blistering performance at California's Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, headlining 1968's inaugural Miami Pop Festival, and providing the soundtrack for the counterculture with a dazzling set at Woodstock in 1969.

His performance at the Second Atlanta International Pop Festival was not only significant on a musical level, but also in terms of socio-political dynamics. The organizers were keen to push back against the cultural divide that was very much in evidence in the Deep South. It was assumed that rural audiences would not take kindly to "long-hair" bands, and that black and white artists could not comfortably exist on the same bill; Atlanta Pop set out to challenge those beliefs. Hendrix's music and message of universal love made him the ideal artist to represent that pushback, and, appropriately, was the first act booked for the festival.

In the sweltering Georgia heat, amongst intimidating bikers who were hired as security, hundreds of thousands of mostly young music fans descended upon the festival grounds, eventually knocking over fences and leaving the organizers with no choice but to declare it a free event. Law enforcement, not equipped to handle such crowds, adopted a hands-off policy with regards to crowd control, drug use and nudity. Against incredible odds, the event proved to be largely peaceful. By the time the Jimi Hendrix Experience took the stage on the evening of July 4, the audience swelled to more than 300,000.

Massive, anarchic music fests in the U.S., unencumbered by high ticket prices and corporate sponsors were soon to be extinct, and the Atlanta Pop Festival was the last of this dying breed. Glenn Phillips (Hampton Grease Band) says, "This was, certainly in retrospect, sort of the end of an era, and a great end to an era. It was a powerful moment."

The Atlanta festival footage in Electric Church was shot by Steve Rash, later known for directing such Hollywood films as The Buddy Holly Story and Can't Buy Me Love. Rash intended for the footage he and his team were filming to be used for a documentary in the vein of Woodstock. When a deal couldn't be secured, virtually all of the film lay undeveloped inside Rash's barn for over three decades. The full-color film stock held up remarkably well, and makes for a transcendent viewing experience.

Bill Mankin, who worked on the construction and stage crews for the festival, provides liner notes for the Freedom package, describing his first-hand account. He explains, "At the center of the vortex was the master magician on guitar: the personification of a life lived fully and wildly, with no boundaries, no limitations, and aiming for the stars at light speed."

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival 2CD/2LP vinyl (release date: August 28)

Disc 1
“Fire”
“Lover Man”
“Spanish Castle Magic”
“Red House”
“Room Full Of Mirrors”
“Hear My Train A Comin’”
“Message To Love”

Disc 2
“All Along The Watchtower”
“Freedom”
“Foxey Lady”
“Purple Haze”
“Hey Joe”
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
“Stone Free”
“Star Spangled Banner”
“Straight Ahead”

"Stone Free":

Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church DVD/Blu-ray (release date: October 30)
Contains performances of three additional songs not included in the broadcast version of the film, and other never before released Hendrix bonus content.

French atmospheric doom metallers Angellore inked a deal with Shunu Records earlier this year for the release of their sophomore album, La Litanie Des Cendres, which will be released at the end of August 2015. The label has posted an unboxing video for the digipack version of the album which can be viewed below. It featured the new song "A Shrine of Clouds":


Unboxing video for the CD version of "La Litanie des Cendres" by the french atmospheric post-doom metal band Angellore.Playing in the background: "A Shrine of Clouds" the opener of the album.Buy it now: http://angellore.bandcamp.com
Posted by Shunu Records on Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The band recently checked in with the following update:

"After months of hard work and dedication, we proudly present you the cover of our sophomore album. This oil on canvas has been created by Florent Castellani exclusively for our album. The digipack will be completed by more of his astonishing artworks, making La Litanie Des Cendres a very special item.

And finally, here comes La Litanie Des Cendres tracklisting:

"A Shrine Of Clouds" (13:46)
"Still Glowing Ashes" (10:25)
"Twilight’s Embrace" (9:28)
"Inertia" (6:24)
"Moonflower" (18:29)

A lyric-video for 'Inertia' will be presented before the release of the album, still planned for August 24th.

At the moment, Angellore is also working on a very special bonus-track which will only appear on the vinyl edition of the album, to be released later this year.

And apart from our dear Cathy, who already enlightened Errances with her bewitching violin playing and gladly accepted to participate on this new album, we welcomed another very special guest. More on that later!"

Just like their debut, Errances, this five-song album was recorded and mixed between July 2012 and April 2014 by Florent Krist (bass player in Cynic's side project Aeon Spoke) at EverTone Studio in France. It was mastered by Markus Skroch (Hel, Nattsol, Elane).

Commenting on the album’s production, the band said: “Creating La Litanie Des Cendres (French for Litany Of Ashes) was a very demanding process, but we can assure you that the result is worth all the efforts we put into it. And it definitely feels great to start anew with a young and welcoming home like Shunu Records. With their help, we will make sure we take Angellore to the next level. We can’t wait to take you on our new musical journey. The best is yet to come!”

Matteo Coppola Neri, founder of Shunu Records has issued the following statement:

“When La Litanie Des Cendres arrived on my desk I was immediately surprised by how these guys could, with absolute nonchalance, extend their music from the early-'90s doom to today’s most psychedelic post-rock, passing through the emotional gothic rock. Within Shunu Records we have a wide range of musical tastes, some of us prefer post-rock, some indie-rock, others progressive, but when we listened to the album we all agreed on one thing: Angellore’s language is universal and their music speaks to everybody, because it goes straight to the heart. We have rarely found records of such beauty.”

For information and updates on Angellore go to this location.

Spotlight Report recently conducted an interview with Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, SEPULTURA, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Spotlight Report: It's great to see you've come full circle. First you were a musician, and then a father, and now able to work with three of your sons who are extremely talented. How does that make you feel?

Max: Yeah, proud and excited. I mean, they're getting good, you know. I was not nearly that good when I was that age. You gotta give them time, you know, to get better and better, but they're already doing an excellent job — especially Zyon on the drums. He's doing amazing. We're on tour right now. Zyon and Igor are playing with me. Now Igor's playing bass and he's doing 110 percent every night. It makes me proud to be able to jam with my sons like that and to be able to put them in the band for a while and to get to jam with them. It's really a dream come true, you know, for any metal dad.

Spotlight Report: I was lucky enough to get a little bit of a sneak listen to [the new SOULFLY album "Archangel"] and I found it amazing, like your whole career that I've found amazing. It was very harmonic at the same time as having an industrial feel. All the sounds that you put into one song just blended so beautifully. I've never heard anything like it.

Max: It took a lot of work, you know. It was an album that we worked on for a long time. I worked for a couple of months last year writing and then jamming with Zyon in Phoenix. And then we entered the studio with Matt Hyde and made the songs all into real songs. And then we had production on top of it. Matt Hyde is an amazing producer and he created all of these great vibes, kinda biblical vibes in the songs, and choirs and angelic voices and things like that. So yeah, you know, when you work for that long on something and it comes out as exciting as this project does, everybody feels excited about it. And everybody is really thrilled to be having this album coming out and be ready to work and hopefully tour for it for a very long time.

Spotlight Report: Can you give us a rundown of your songwriting process? I also loved the comment from your wife saying that you shit riffs — you actually shit riffs. [Laughs]

Max: Yeah, that's because there have been some times when she's caught me off guard and told me I had two weeks to make some records. And even though I did not like that very much because it's a lot of pressure, the albums did come out really good. I like writing riffs all the time. I just sit down with the guitar and write riffs. It's a little bit of a hobby of mine, you know, even when I don't have to make anything for an album; but, most of the time when I'm sitting with a guitar with my drum machines, I'm writing for something. So it's very driven and very based on the album that I'm working on. And it's all pretty much the same. It's very old equipment. I've had this equipment for about 15 years. It's really just for the lines, you know, it's just for the riffs. We don't use anything that I record. None of that's going to go on the record because we redo everything anyway in the studio, so it doesn't really matter. It doesn't need to be a high-quality recording, just as long as it's a good guideline for the riffs for us to hear in the studio.

Read the entire interview at Spotlight Report.

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash has revisited the longstanding rumor SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor was the vocalist who came "closest" to replacing Scott Weiland in VELVET REVOLVER.

Speaking with Canadian rock journalist Mitch Lafon, Slash confirmed that Taylor recorded as many as 10 songs with VELVET REVOLVER, saying (hear audio below): "Corey came in, just like a lot of other guys came in. Of course, Corey's Corey, and he's probably one of the best guys out there. I love Corey. I just thought it was a different style than what VELVET REVOLVER was trying to capture. But, still, the songs are cool. But if we were gonna do anything with that, they would have to be re-recorded and… 'Cause, I mean, it was very raw and very, sort of, 'making it up on the spot' kind of deal. And so we'd have to revisit everything and then we'd put it together, I think. But that's not really a plan. I'm just saying if it was… I don't wanna get any ideas in anybody's head. That would be the only way that it could be released, [and] I'm not saying that it's going to."

Slash also talked about the current status of VELVET REVOLVER. He said: "Well, it's an active project, let's put it that way. It's been a matter of trying to find the right guy to front that unit, which is difficult, because, as we move down the road in the millennium, the style of rock singers is changing a lot. And I think that with the [musical vision] that Duff [MacKagan, bass] and Matt [Sorum, drums] and Dave [Kushner, guitar] and I have for VELVET REVOLVER don't really cater to the sort of stylistic vocals that are happening as we move down the road from, I think, it was 2008, was the last thing we did — 2008 up until the present. I mean, I was really fortunate to find Myles [Kennedy for my solo band], and it was really a great thing that we just sort of locked in. But, yeah, trying to find a really genuine, honest rock and roll singer is getting few and far between."

Taylor told Loudwire about his VELVET REVOLVER collaboration: "There was a handful [of songs] that we wrote, and then there was a handful that I kind of rearranged a little bit based on music that they already had. I think there was three songs that we wrote together, which were actually pretty sweet. And then the rest of it was me writing to music that they already had that I thought was pretty cool."

Taylor added: "The world will probably never hear 'em, which is fine, because, I mean, I would want another crack at kind of working on some of that stuff anyway. But that will never happen, so it's…. You know, it's all good."

Taylor told The Pulse Of Radio a while back how those sessions went. "We did a bunch of stuff, you know," he said. "We did a bunch of stuff from the first album, we did a bunch of stuff that we had been kind of demoing back and forth and whatnot, seeing if it would work, you know, just like that, and it was a lot of fun, man. You know, we ended up writing a bunch of stuff as well and just kind of seeing what would happen in that creative sense, you know."

Ultimately it was Slash who ruled against Taylor joining the band, saying that the combination "didn't have certain elements I thought it needed," but adding that Taylor came "the closest so far."

VELVET REVOLVER has never found a new singer following its April 2008 split with Weiland and is more or less on hiatus, although it reunited with the former STONE TEMPLE PILOTS frontman for a short one-off performance at a benefit concert in January 2012.

Shredload conducted an interview with SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser and vocalist Derrick Green on August 10 in Dublin, Ireland. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked what it was like filling in for ANTHRAX's Scott Ian in 2011 while Ian spent time with his family following the birth of his first child, Andreas said: "[It was] one of the best moments of my life, really, as a musician, to be respected that way by them. To have Scott calling me and thinking about my name, giving me six months to prepare and stuff. And everybody… I felt home, really. It was a great to jam with them and spend two weeks with ANTHRAX, [playing] five 'Big Four' shows plus other shows and festivals. It was great. Everything went smoothly, and I think I was prepared to do the job. And I enjoyed it a lot. I was really there with them. You know, it's something that you never dream about. You dream so many things. But reality is much better. [Laughs]"

Kisser made his live debut with ANTHRAX on July 2, 2011 at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany as part of a "Big Four" show with METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

After Kisser completed his stint with ANTHRAX, the band posted a letter addressed to the guitarist on ANTHRAX's official Facebook page, in which they wrote, "Words cannot express the feeling of love we have for you. From the first day, you were a part of the family. You were the only choice to fill in for Scott and that decision proved to be the right one. Thank you for being you."

Regarding how Kisser came to fill the temporary-guitarist slot in ANTHRAX, Ian said in an early 2011 statement: "We chose Andreas because we feel he can do the gig better than anyone. He has the fire, the attitude, and the crushing right hand to do the gig."

He continued: "I've played with Andreas at the Roadrunner 25th-anniversary show, and I've gotten up and played with SEPULTURA and we are kindred spirits. We both play every show like we're going to jail the next day, like it's the last show we'll ever play. He has what it takes and he has the experience and history to fucking bring it and make these ANTHRAX shows something special."

Mike Bax of Lithium Magazine conducted an interview with TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson prior to the band's August 8 performance at the Heavy Montreal festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the progress of the songwriting sessions for TESTAMENT's follow-up to 2012's "Dark Roots Of Earth" album:

"We're still working on it. I would say, probably, realistically, we're about halfway done. It depends on how it could just come to us and be done when I get home, or if you hit certain obstacles and different shows come up and tours. But I think the juices are starting to flow now… 'cause it's been so long, and we've been busting our balls and trying to get this record done, and I think we're getting it back into the whole vibe of what we really wanna do. 'Cause, I mean, we're on our eleventh record, and we're into this, like, 25, 30 years now. It's kind of, like, there's so many bands doing what we do, our style of music, and, I think, a band like us, when you've been around this long, you don't wanna just put out the same thing; you don't wanna do the cookie-cutter kind of thing, where you're just, like, 'Let's just copy what we did before.' For me, it's gotta come from the heart. So that's why it's taking so long. I think everybody will be stoked when it comes out."

On the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material:

"When you're beginning [as a band], you're just evolving — you're not thinking about it — but once you get to a certain plateau, you start going, 'Okay, do we wanna sound like our older stuff, or are we gonna do something like the new bands are doing now?' Like, 'You guys have gotta sound like this,' or, 'You're gonna do this. You're gonna do that.' So, I think where we're at, we're kind of choosing what record we wanna sound like, and then when I go to write songs, they don't sound like that. 'Cause it's just, like, you can't do that. Who knows what I was doing or what I was thinking when I wrote that? So, I mean, it's gonna come out. You do your best of what you're into at the time, and I really like what I'm creating right now. The stuff that I've written so far is a lot more thrashy. And Chuck [Billy, vocals] is on the edge of whether he wants to do 'death' vocals or clean vocals. I prefer when he's more of a singing style and using the 'death' stuff to throw it over the fence."

TESTAMENT bassist Steve DiGiorgio and drummer Gene Hoglan were forced to miss the band's appearance at the Heavy Montreal festival due to their touring commitments in Europe with DEATH TO ALL (DTA). Replacing them at the show were Tilen Hudrap from VICIOUS RUMOURS on bass and Alex Bent from BATTLECROSS on drums.

Steven Rosen of Ultimate-Guitar.com recently conducted an interview with LAMB OF GOD and MEGADETH drummer Chris Adler. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Ultimate-Guitar.com: Can you talk about what your experience has been like doing the new MEGADETH record?

Adler: It's been really, really great. I was humbled to be asked to do it. It was fantastic working with Dave. We were talking about earlier with LAMB OF GOD where I would purposely work on ideas that would syncopate with what they were doing instead of locking in. It was really great for me just as a professional to be able to come into a situation where that was probably and purposely off the table.

Ultimate-Guitar.com: Finding those types of alternate grooves wasn't why you were brought into MEGADETH?

Adler: It was, like, "I am here to lock into what they're doing and help those guitar players shine. That's my job in this band and so I wanna do that better than the guys they've had before do it." So instead of trying to show off or trying to come up with interesting, modern rhythmic technique, "How can I get my footwork to line up to the triplets the other guys couldn't do?" or that kind of thing. Or, "We can play it faster now" because I'm able to do different things. It was great on a professional level to kind of have that in mind.

Ultimate-Guitar.com: What was it like working with Dave Mustaine?

Adler: Dave has been super, super cool about the whole thing. Letting me contribute anything I wanted and helping him arrange stuff: speed stuff up, slow stuff done. Talk about what it is I liked about old MEGADETH records and how do we resurrect some of those ideas. Not necessarily from the records but just how do we get those feelings again out of the listener and push each other in the process.

Ultimate-Guitar.com: It sounds like Dave really gave you a lot of space do your thing.

Adler: We really had a good time. The one thing I learned about him that I didn't know and we had known each other for a long time, is that he has got an incredible sense of humor. I know he gets beat up a lot for the things he says but he's really genuinely a funny guy and we had a great time together.

Ultimate-Guitar.com: How did Kiko Loureiro work on the MEGADETH record?

Adler: Kiko is just on another planet. This dude speaks an entire different musical vocabulary than anybody I've ever seen. The band guys all lived together in a little house and he got there and he was talking to me about this project he just finished and he was over in Japan and blah blah blah. He mentioned he had done a solo record and I was like, "Oh, that's great, man. I'd love to hear it" so he gave me a copy.

Ultimate-Guitar.com: What did you think?

Adler: I'm looking at the back of it to see who played drums and it's Marco Minnemann, and I'm, like, "What is going on? Oh, my god. I'm just with the most elite team of people." He was such a ripper. He had a guitar in his hand seriously 25 hours a day and constantly playing classical stuff and then he'd rip into jazz stuff. It was all over the place and he's just an incredibly talented guy.

Read the entire interview at Ultimate-Guitar.com.

HALESTORM recently spent a few weeks the road with THE PRETTY RECKLESS and HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale praised THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer Taylor Momsen in a Louder Noise interview. Hale said (see video below): "Taylor Momsen, she is… We just had a tour with THE PRETTY RECKLESS… She's one of those true, just right-down-to-her-core rock and roll chick. It's an interesting perspective, because she's not doing it for the fame, 'cause she's already had that with her acting career, she's not doing it for the money, so she literally walks out there every day and just wants to rock. And it's really refreshing to see. With everybody, especially this day and age, everyone's, like, 'I don't know. I need a single, and I need money. I have a house. I need…' It's really neat to see her, more or less, just really just be herself out there, and I think that she's one of the few — male or female — that does that nowadays. And she's so consistent… I know she's 21. To be 21 again and finish a bottle of whisky and then go out there and sing amazing… I used to be able to do that. I can't anymore; don't challenge me — it's really messy. But [her] whole band was amazing. We had far too much fun with those guys — a lot of late-night hangs, a lot of sarcasm. It was a lot of fun."

Momsen appeared in various movies, commercials and TV shows since she was a child, and was best known for her role on the TV show "Gossip Girl". But she has not pursued any new acting gigs since recording two albums with THE PRETTY RECKLESS, including the recent "Going To Hell".

Hale was quick to dismiss any notions of a rivalry between her and Momsen in a West Virginia radio interview. She said: "It's not like that. Whatever that mentality is, that died out with the last generation." She added: "I don't know what it is about her, but she's a freakin' rock star, and I really enjoy listening and seeing the way that she carries herself. She's carrying that rock 'n' roll torch."

HALESTORM recently tied THE PRETTY RECKLESS's record for the most No. 1 songs on by an act with a female vocalist on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart.

HALESTORM and THE PRETTY RECKLESS are the only two female-fronted bands to lead Mainstream Rock Songs since Alannah Myles's "Black Velvet" topped the chart in 1990, according to Billboard.com.

Asked by RollingStone.com about the supposed "rivalry" between her and Momsen, Lzzy said: "Everyone always assumes that because we're two chicks that we somehow must be catty and hate each other, and it's never the case. Maybe everyone is just really horny and wants to see two chicks fight. In all honesty — and Taylor would probably agree, since you're usually the only girl on the bill — we've seen more guy bitch fights. [Laughs]"

HALESTORM's third album, "Into The Wild Life", was released on April 14. The CD follows up HALESTORM's Grammy-winning 2012 sophomore effort, "The Strange Case Of…"

Photo credit: VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show"

Grammy Award-winning iconic rock band MOTÖRHEAD will be honored by the Los Angeles City Council on August 26 in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary and the release of the group's new album, "Bad Magic". Councilmember José Huizar will conduct the honor, which will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the Council Chambers at City Hall.

MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy has lived in Los Angeles for 25 years. "Home is in here," he told The Independent, tapping his temple. "Where you live is just a geographical preference. I like it [in L.A.] because the sun shines a lot and you don't get the cynical fucking English bitching about everything. I find the Americans quite refreshing. Everybody sneers at the 'Have a nice day' thing but it's a lot nicer than having your change thrown at you."

MOTÖRHEAD's 22nd studio album, "Bad Magic", will be released on August 28. The CD was recorded at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood with longtime producer Cameron Webb.

In 2013, Lemmy underwent an operation to implant a cardioverter-defibrillator into his chest, a device that helps prevent an irregular heartbeat turning into no heartbeat. Then, shortly afterwards, he suffered a hematoma. Earlier this year, MOTÖRHEAD was forced to cancel shows after he suffered a gastric illness.

Lemmy has cut back on booze and cigarettes — he's down to a pack a week, and has swapped from Jack and Coke to vodka and orange, apparently to help with his diabetes.

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo was interviewed by PX TV prior to the band's June 6 performance at the X Games in Austin, Texas. You can watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how METALLICA manages to maintain such a high energy live with its live performances:

"I think what happens is when we put the instruments on, we actually feel… I mean, I don't know if 'younger' is the right word; I mean, we're all… I'm 50, [and] I'm the young guy in the band, okay? But, you know, there's no shortage of ideas when we're writing songs. I think the problem is having too much, you know what I mean?"

On how proud he feels to be a Latino member of METALLICA, the biggest rock band of our generation:

"I'm very proud. And I always say this: there's passion all over the world. There is. There's passion in Scandinavia, there's passion in Asia. There's passion in Europe. We just came from Europe. It's so incredible and beautiful. And I tell you, when I go down to Mexico, or even further south, like [when] you get down to Argentina and Brazil, it's just fueled with passion."

As previously reported, METALLICA has joined forces with ESPN and Circuit Of The Americas to assist the victims of the recent floods in Texas by donating all money raised from the sale of downloads of the band's show at the X Games to the American Red Cross of Central Texas. All formats of the download, including the high definition versions, were offered at LiveMetallica.com for the very deeply discounted price of $5.00 each through July 15.

Despite insisting that work has been proceeding on a new album, METALLICA has spent a lot of time outside the studio in the last year, with activities that included a string of European all-request shows last summer, a week-long residency on "The Late Show With Craig Ferguson", and the Rock In Rio USA stint in early May.

Canadian technical death metallers GORGUTS are putting the finishing touches on the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2013's "Colored Sands", tentatively due in early 2016. Speaking to Metal Injection at this month's Heavy Montreal festival in Montreal, Quebec, GORGUTS guitarist/vocalist Luc Lemay stated about the upcoming CD (see video below): "[Bassist] Colin [Marston] and [guitarist] Kevin [Hufnagel], when they come over [to Quebec to rehearse] for gigs, we like to spend more days working on [new] material. But the new record, beside lyrics, everything is written. The music is finished — let's say, 98 percent [is done]. We're into the minor-detail phase, which we stop every two seconds [and go], 'Oh, minor detail. What about this and this and this?'"

He continued: "The new record, it's gonna be a single track… one long song. I've been wanting to do that for a long, long, long time. After hearing PORCUPINE TREE's 'The Incident', MESHUGGAH's 'I', the DEATHSPELL OMEGA EPs, I said, 'I really wanna get into this compositional exercise,' you know — to get one big movement. And I think it's pretty cool. I can't wait to share it with the crowd, and that's gonna be a lot of fun to play live."

GORGUTS last year parted ways with drummer John Longstreth and replaced him with Patrice Hamelin.

The band's fifth album, "Colored Sands", was released on August 30, 2013 in Europe and September 3, 2013 in North America via Season Of Mist.

GORGUTS in 2014 joined forces with CARCASS, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and NOISEM for Decibel magazine's third cross-country domination.

On August 6, former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno was interviewed on CM TV in Argentina. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about his health, Di'Anno said: "Unfortunately, I have these injuries now, so I cannot stand up on stage; I have to sit to sing. But it's worked in Wacken [at the Wacken Open Air festival], and everywhere in Brazil. I think the fans don't give a shit to see me; they just wanna hear me sing. So maybe six months I have to do this before the [knee] operation. I still wanna play, so I sit down and sing."

Di'Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN before being replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.

ARCHITECTS OF CHAOZ, the new band featuring Di'Anno alongside members of Paul's longtime German touring backing group THE PHANTOMZ, released its debut album, "The League Of Shadows", in North America on July 24 via Metalville Records.


Live in Sweden 2015:

MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister has led quite an incredible life as an international rock star. Check out the three-part "Life Lessons" series from Playboy (see below) in which he talks about chasing women, coming close to death, finding God, parenting, fame, success, heroin, revenge and UFOs.

MOTÖRHEAD's 22nd studio album, "Bad Magic", will be released on August 28. The CD was recorded at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood with longtime producer Cameron Webb.

In 2013, Lemmy underwent an operation to implant a cardioverter-defibrillator into his chest, a device that helps prevent an irregular heartbeat turning into no heartbeat. Then, shortly afterwards, he suffered a hematoma. Earlier this year, MOTÖRHEAD was forced to cancel shows after he suffered a gastric illness.

Lemmy has cut back on booze and cigarettes — he's down to a pack a week, and has swapped from Jack and Coke to vodka and orange, apparently to help with his diabetes.

He told The Guardian: "I like orange juice better. So Coca-Cola can fuck off."

The singer and bassist said that he has to walk with a stick because his legs "are fucked," but he added: "Apparently I am still indestructible."

And he insisted the only way MOTÖRHEAD will stop performing is if he dies. "As long as I can walk the few yards from the back to the front of the stage without a stick," he said. "Or even if I do have to use a stick."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has revealed in a brand new tweet that he is "starting to get into the idea of doing a new record." That appears to be a different attitude to the one Bach had a little more than a month ago when he told Metal Wani that he was "not thinking about making a record right now."

Asked if he has commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to his latest solo album, 2014's "Give 'Em Hell", Bach told Metal Wani: "Honestly, I have two songs that I would sing to right now. One was written by [GUNS N' ROSES and SIXX: A.M. guitarist] D.J. Ashba, and it's an incredible tune, and the other song is one by Devin [Bronson, guitarist for Bach's solo band]. But I am not thinking about making a record right now. I've put out 'Angel Down' [2007], 'Kicking & Screaming' [2011], 'Give 'Em Hell'… not to mention [the] 'ABachalypse Now' [CD/DVD package from 2013]. I've put out so much stuff that I feel like I've made a lot of solo records, and people have gotta catch up with me a little bit."

He continued: "I've made a lot of solo records, and my fans love 'em, but I don't think they realize how much time and effort and money and attention to detail and everything is on those records; my whole heart and soul is on there. And it takes so much of your essence and spirit. And to make that happen… Like, to make a record is… People don't get it. You don't just walk in there and make records. It's like this whole crazy process that takes years; 'Give 'Em Hell' took two years [to make]. So people say, 'Are you doing a new record?' I mean, I will… I definitely will some day — a hundred percent. It's just… I don't think people really get how much it takes to make a record that's good. They don't understand."

He added: "To be honest, I've gotta recharge my batteries a little bit. I have given everything I have. I am so exhausted — not from [performing] tonight — [but] from thirty years of this. I'm gonna admit to you: I need to recharge my shit in order to make a record that is as good as that record. But I will do a record some day."

Bach went on to say: "I'm telling you, fans: go buy the [albums] I already did. Not that I'm complaining or anything, [but] I'm saying, it's gonna be a while before you get a new record from me. I'm not gonna rush it."

Sebastian also confirmed that he will likely aim for a stripped down production on his next solo effort, something that he attributes to his appreciation for the vintage sonics of the '70s and '80s.

"What I would love is to have an album of mine that sounded like a '70s album," he told the "Iron City Rocks" podcast. "What I mean [by that] is recording it in a way that… Like, when I listen to 'Women And Children First' by VAN HALEN, the guitar's all the way on the left, and the vocals are in the middle, with the drums who knows where, and it's just very different sounding, recording-wise, than the way albums are made today. So I think the next time I make an album, that's really what I'm gonna be going for."

He continued: "BLACK SABBATH's '13' sounds like a '70s BLACK SABBATH album, as much as it could in 2014. So whatever the fuck they were doing, I just would love to have an album of mine that sounds like that.

"I love 'Give 'Em Hell'… 'Give 'Em Hell' is like 'Star Wars'; it's, like, 'Holy shit!' I mean, it's a very modern-sounding record. And when it really got that sound was when it went to mastering with Tom Baker; he made it sound so fucking 'spacey,' and I totally love it. But my taste, as a fan, a rock fan, the next one I do, I'm gonna be going for, like… If I could have a BLACK SABBATH '13' kind of production, that's what I'll be looking for."

Bach is continuing to tour in support of "Give 'Em Hell", which was released on April 22, 2014 via Frontiers Records.

As previously reported, Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, has set a January 19, 2016 release date for Bach's much-anticipated autobiography, "18 And Life On Skid Row".

I am starting to get into the idea of doing a new record https://t.co/JT7WWWX0xY

— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) August 13, 2015

Post-metal progressive powerhouse INTRONAUT has revealed release details for its upcoming fifth studio album. Mixed by Devin Townsend, "The Direction Of Last Things" will be available November 13 via Century Media in the following formats; CD digipak, digital download, and limited-edition first-run LP.

The initial LP run of "The Direction Of Last Things" will be limited to 2000 copies worldwide and presented in an awe-inspiring package. This double LP piece will be housed in a matte-finished gatefold with a spot UV print over highlighted art elements. Collectors will also be treated to a rarely utilized packaging element, a printed inner-gatefold tube, which not only houses the LP's, but also a 12"x24" poster, showcasing the full cover art in all it's glory. Just when you thought it was over, LP's will be pressed on mint green-and-black splatter, red-and-black marble, solid dark green or standard black wax with an etching, which surrounds the music grooves, on side D. Actual color-run numbers to be announced at a future date.

"I don't care how cliché it is to say; this is our best record yet!" states INTRONAUT frontman Sacha Dunable. "This is INTRONAUT at our most technical, brutal, catchy, and straight up fearless. I haven't been this proud of an album since we recorded our first demo 10 years ago. We took a somewhat unusual approach and tracked most of it live over the course of four days, then handed it off to Devin Townsend to mix. The result is pure magic. Prepare your earholes for fornication."

On the heels of the new album release, INTRONAUT will hit the road on "The Coma Ecliptic Tour III", alongside BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, ENSLAVED and NATIVE CONSTRUCT.

"It's been over a year since our last North American tour. What better way to dust it off than with these three amazing bands. These shows are going to be insane, and we can't wait to play some new songs for you guys!" adds Sacha.

Metal-Exposure recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho of Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal-Exposure: You've said about the lyrics [on the new CHILDREN OF BODOM album "I Worship Chaos"] that they are "old school" in the sense that they are very aggressive'. Is it easier for you to write song when you get in an angry state of mind?

Alexi: Yes it is. It is definitely my main inspiration: negative, dark feelings in general. I do have that sort of dark side in me that I try to channel through the music as opposed to doing something stupid. I know how I am. I am a pretty impulsive person and I might react very violently to bad things. What I am trying to do, and I'm trying to get better at it, is when something bad happens, I try to savour it and then put that right there in the music. Turn the negative shit into something positive.

Metal-Exposure: How do you get back into that state of mind when writing a song?

Alexi: It comes out naturally. Of course, there is a writer's block sometimes. You just stare at your guitar, noodling out forever and nothing happens. So there is really nothing you can do about it. It is not hard for me to get into that state of mind. Like I said, I keep those band things in my head, so to speak, for the sake of using them in the music. The music itself and writing, it's really my form of therapy. It sounds like bullshit — everybody probably says that — but in my case, it is actually fucking true.

Metal-Exposure: How did you [come up with] the album title, "I Worship Chaos"?

Alexi: Originally it was a song which turned into an album title. I am a sort of dude who is very restless. I don't do well with silence. Dead silence is something that freaks the shit out of me. I just have to much things going on in my head. Things that I sometimes don't want to deal with, so that's why I need something in the background. So to speak, I need chaos around me to feel comfortable.

Read the entire interview at Metal-Exposure.

The "No Limits Music Show" recently conducted an interview with SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about how his playing style was influenced by that of his predecessor, original SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo, Paul said: "Yeah, I've learned from Dave. I had to. You know, you can't… When I joined the band way back, before 'Divine Intervention', they had a decade of epic records. I was a SLAYER fan. You're not gonna win an audition if you come in and you try to play Dave Lombardo's parts the way you think you should play them. And, as a fan, I'd probably be the first guy to throw beer at the guy [that tried to do that]. I mean, honestly, I was a SLAYER fan, and I know what being a SLAYER fan means, so to sit in the drum throne, I can't give it any less than my best, and part of that's to get my homework done and try as best I can to do Dave's drum parts honor."

Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the band, rejoined SLAYER in 2013 after Lombardo was effectively fired from the band due to a contract dispute with the other members of the veteran California-based thrash metal act.

In a recent interview with Fuse, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King stated about Bostaph: "Paul, I mean, he's a machine. I don't worry about him at all. He never would have been out of SLAYER if he didn't quit twice. It was never over anything personal — he was always my friend — so it was very easy for him to come back and be a part again."

Speaking to Loudwire about Bostaph's contributions to SLAYER's forthcoming album, "Repentless", King said: "I think it's just making the unit whole, more than anything. Of course, Paul can play the shit out of the drums. I didn't realize — and I don't mean this in a detrimental way to Paul — I never realized Paul had so many niche SLAYER fans who are just Bostaph fans; I didn't realize that, and a lot of people had mentioned that to me since Paul has been working on the record. And I think that's great, 'cause people are gonna be stoked when they hear what he did on this record. I used to say 'God Hates [Us All]' was his 'Reign In Blood' — Bostaph's. The new one is his 'Reign In Blood'. The new one's… I would play any song live."

SLAYER's eleventh studio album, "Repentless", will be released on September 11 via Nuclear Blast. The highly anticipated follow-up to 2009's critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated "World Painted Blood" was produced by Terry Date, who has previously worked with PANTERA, DEFTONES and SOUNDGARDEN.

OPERATION: MINDCRIME, the new band led by former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate, will release its debut album, "The Key", on September 18 via Frontiers Music Srl.

The official video for the song "Burn" can be seen below. The clip is one of two OPERATION: MINDCRIME videos which were produced and directed by Seattle filmmaker and documentarian Jamie Burton Chamberlin (of Black Dahlia Films), who previously worked with DUFF MACKAGAN'S LOADED on "The Taking" series.

Perhaps one of Tate's most ambitious recordings to date, "The Key" examines what one might do if they discovered "the key" to changing the way we view the world, the way we look at time, the way we travel, and could essentially change the human condition... for better or for worse. Fresh from the creative mind of Geoff Tate, "The Key" features a dozen songs (see entire track listing below) and marks part one of an epic musical trilogy that initiates that very question within a web of international politics, the world economy and social ethos. A trailer featuring snippets of four songs from the album ("Burn", "Re-Inventing the Future", "Life Or Death?" and "The Fall") is available below. OPERATION: MINDCRIME is described as a creative platform that continues in the spirit of the historic album of the same name, spawning concepts as grand as the music, and intertwining the intensity of the former QUEENSRŸCHE vocalist's iconic past with the provocative, progressive mindset that has made him one of music's most resolute forces and frontmen. "Musically, this album is quite adventurous," says Tate of "The Key". "Of course there are key elements in the music, melody and phrasings that are really identifiable, but throughout my career I've opened my eyes and ears to new standards and arrangements, and that's what keeps things fresh and exciting as an artist — we've thrown out the rules for this record, and it's been really liberating. I'm a fan of old prog, and that music didn't stick to rules. It's inspiring and enjoyable to be able to explore, and it's great being in a position to write without constraints." The results are a series of albums that don't languish in nostalgia, instead offering listeners an opportunity to delve into a world of ideas and inspiration that Tate has been nurturing for the better portion of the last decade. Instead of asking, "Who killed Mary?", OPERATION: MINDCRIME now asks, "What are the implications of changing the world?" "Like every album I've ever done, people will hear and experience it differently, and that is something that I look forward to," continues Tate. "Music is an intimate experience — your inspirations are unique to you, and will be heard differently through every set of ears and experiences - but isn't that really what makes art exciting? It inspires us all in different ways and for different reasons, and this album is no different. There are quite a few sections of this album that help propel the story with segues and dialogue, but the lyrics don't lay out a breadcrumb trail and tell the story in a linear fashion, there's a puzzle. We have several characters, and three other people singing lead vocals on the first album. That made it even more fun for me and helps give the album its own special character. "Musically, there's quite a smorgasbord, we've played with sound and established a sound palate — heavy guitar, obviously, cool drumming... all the music is very sophisticated, and there are interesting time changes, the band is playing with different countings and we switch throughout each piece. We can perform the verse in one feel, the bridge in another, and transition to a new chorus, very challenging stuff and lots of different sounds that people probably haven't heard on one of my albums before - new and different guitar sounds and vocal treatments, very dynamic stuff." Joining Tate on "The Key" are a hard-hitting cast of familiar faces and new collaborators: bass players David Ellefson (MEGADETH) and John Moyer (DISTURBED, ADRENALINE MOB), drummers Simon Wright (AC/DC), Scott Mercado (CANDLEBOX) and Brian Tichy (BILLY IDOL, OZZY OSBOURNE), guitarists Kelly Gray (QUEENSRŸCHE) and Scott Moughton (Geoff Tate's solo band), keyboardist Randy Gane (MYTH) and vocalist Mark Daly (THE VOODOOS). Tate makes one point exceptionally clear — OPERATION: MINDCRIME isn't a band, it is a musical project of like-minded people uniting to achieve a common goal. While the songwriting rests predominantly on the shoulders of Tate, Gray and Gane, it's up to every contributor to add their influence and help color the landscape. "The songs on these records tell a story, and each song is a scene or chapter — every scene is different," Tate says. "The words tell the story, the musical bed, the chord progressions and melodies, they set the pace. That's how I envisioned this album in total, very theatrical and definitely cinematic. "How do we describe passion?" Tate asks in conclusion, cautiously answering his own question: "Music is a personal journey, and all you can do is write what moves you. That's what passion is - it's so difficult, yet it's such an important human emotion. There are moments on this record that really impact me, the questions raised and the music those questions are set to... I don't know if it will have that same effect on everyone else, but that's where my passion and their passion meet. I do this because I love doing it. I love touring and I love playing live, performing with like-minded people in front of like-minded audiences, and being there in the moment together when all of our passions collide." "The Key" track listing:

01. Choices02. Burn03. Re-Inventing The Future04. Ready To Fly05. Discussions In A Smoke Filled Room06. Life or Death?07. The Stranger08. Hearing Voice09. On Queue10. An Ambush Of Sadness11. Kicking In The Door12. The Fall

Legendary vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION), nicknamed the "Voice Of Rock," has today unveiled an official photo of his new band that he has put together for his European solo tour. Glenn is pictured alongside drummer Pontus Engborg (far left) and ex-WHITESNAKE/DIO guitarist Doug Aldrich (far right). The photo was taken by Gene Kirkland. The band's U.K. leg of the European tour stars on October 17 at the Southampton Engine Rooms and ends at London's Electric Ballroom on November 1. Special guest on the tour is Jared James Nichols, who recently released his critically acclaimed debut album, "Old Glory & The Wild Revival". The concerts will showcase highlights from Glenn's career, including TRAPEZE, DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, CALIFORNIA BREED, along with his solo material. "I felt it was time for me to start touring with my solo band," says Glenn, who is currently on tour in Brazil. "I called my drummer Pontus Engborg, and guitar player Soren Andersen. Soren had made a contractual commitment to do an autumn tour in Scandinavia, so I had to find a replacement. There was only one man on my mind... Doug Aldrich." "I've known Doug from his time with Ronnie Dio , and, of course, WHITESNAKE. Doug played with me on a couple of PURPLE songs at a festival the night before Ronnie passed away. We had great chemistry, and talked about playing together again, when schedules permitted." Continues Hughes: "Doug is a welcome addition to my band, and is a dear friend, both loving and nurturing, and is a rock phenomenon.

"I'm beyond grateful to return to a solo band touring cycle, that will see me travel across many continents these next 12 months. See you down the front."

Fan-filmed video footage shot during Hughes's current Brazilian tour can be seen below. The dates are as follows:

Oct. 17 - Southampton, England - Engine RoomsOct. 19 - Norwich, England - Waterfront Oct. 20 - Newcastle, England - Tyne Theatre Oct. 22 - Belfast, Northern Ireland - LimelightOct. 23 - Glasgow, Scotland - The Garage Oct. 25 - Holmfirth, England - Picturedrome Oct. 26 - Bilston, England - Robin 2 Oct. 28 - York, England - Fibbers Oct. 29 - Manchester, England - Club AcademyNov. 01 - London, England - Electric Ballroom

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER will release its new full-length album, "Abysmal", on September 18 via Metal Blade. According to a press release, "this vicious slab of unrelenting aggression showcases TBDM at their very finest with a meticulous, pin-point precise rhythmic assault mixed with ferocious speed and dynamic hooks."

"Abysmal" track listing:

01. Receipt02. Vlad, Son Of The Dragon03. Abysmal04. Re-faced05. Threat Level Number Three06. The Fog07. Stygiophobic08. Asylum09. The Advent10. That Cannot Die Which Eternally Is Dead

The song "Threat Level Number Three" can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below.

Trevor Strnad (vocals) states: "The new album, 'Abysmal', is true to THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER formula, but further down the evolutionary path we began with our 'Ritual' release. It has bigger, more dynamic and developed songs. It sees the band in a darker, faster and more melancholic place than anything we've done to date. It is an album wrought emotion on a scale that we haven't reached with our previous attempts. It's dripping with urgency, and an undeniable sincere life and death purpose. It has moments of triumph and moments of utter abandon and defeat. It runs the gamut.

"If you can't sense the message of despair in a song like 'Receipt' or the title track, 'Abysmal', then you are an unfeeling statue of a person. You speed freaks can also thank the ungodly contribution of our young skinsman Alan Cassidy, as the new album sees us approaching maniacal speeds unseen before in the TBDM catalog."

He continues: "I get a lot of inspiration from our continuing success as a band. There is a tremendous pressure to deliver for our fans. I want to wow them every time we come back and for our new material to keep them excited about us.

"I have had a long, intimate love affair with death metal and I enjoy sharing my continued excitement for it through this outlet. I am still obsessed with the macabre and the darker side of life, and I revel in creating dark lyrical content that makes the listener react in some way. I enjoy straddling the line between fantastic elements and real life horror, as there is constant atrocity all around us in the human experience. You don't have to look far to find something that is happening in the modern world that can fill ones sails with disgust."

"The Apple And The Tree", the new video from Swedish rockers GRAVEYARD, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's fourth full-length album, "Innocence & Decadence", which will be released on September 25 via Nuclear Blast. The CD was recorded at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, Sweden with Janne Hansson (ABBA, THE HIVES, OPETH) and Johan Lindström (TONBRUKET).

Commented GRAVEYARD: "Somewhere between innocence and decadence is where you will find GRAVEYARD. Hard at work trying to figure out which apples that will fall from what tree. Can you see us? We're that little hopeless case of a fly in denial — since forever stuck between the piles of shit that your ever repeating life keeps lining up for you."

"Innocence & Decadence" will be released in various formats (vinyl look digipak, digital download, black/clear/splatter/orange/green/bi-coloured vinyl as well as a t-shirt/CD bundle). Pre-order your copy here.

Commented the band: "Got a new album coming your way in September called 'Innocence & Decadence'. It's gonna be an album filled to the rim with a little bit of this — and for all of those who might wonder or worry, there will be quite a lot of that on it as well.

"We've had a great time recording the album at the 'gemytliga' Atlantis Studios in Stockholm together with Janne Hansson and Johan Lindström. And after kinda being away from our daily routine as a touring band and the thrill of a new album on its way... we wanna leave you with.

"Good to be gone, great to be back and let there be September!"

Find the stunning cover artwork for "Innocence & Decadence" below.

Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of "Speed Of Light", the new video from British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN, can be seen below. Written by guitarist Adrian Smith and vocalist Bruce Dickinson, the track is taken from the band's new double album, "The Book Of Souls", due on September 4, 2015 through BMG in the U.S.A. (Parlophone Records in the rest of world).

MAIDEN fans can download the "Speed Of Light" song when pre-ordering "The Book Of Souls" on iTunes. It can also be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music. The "Speed Of Light" video was produced and directed by Llexi Leon with animation and visual effects by The Brewery Production Company. This is the first music video for Llexi Leon, who is said to be a huge IRON MAIDEN fan. Creator of the cult comic book series Eternal Descent — an IP that digitally animated a cast list of metal and hard rock luminaries — Leon has further expanded into the video gaming industry. He chose to collaborate with The Brewery whoss previous film credits include 2010's punk-rock inspired "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" with Andy Serkis, 2012's music festival-themed "Spike Island" with Emilia Clarke, and more recently were providing VFX for the Sky Atlantic biopic on Ian Fleming. The video is a "homage" to four decades of video gaming juxta-posed alongside IRON MAIDEN's 40 years of incredible visual canon centering on their talisman Eddie as he travels through space and time to complete his Herculean task.

Leon told Metal Hammer: "It seemed a perfect fit — 40 years of metal explored alongside four decades of video games.

"I pitched this idea to [IRON MAIDEN manager] Rod Smallwood and the guys in the band. They loved the concept and asked if I could pull it off. I figured it was IRON MAIDEN, so I had to pull it off — and it had to be the best thing I've ever done."

He continued: "The video is littered with nods to IRON MAIDEN artwork — whether it's the poses of the characters at certain key moments, or imagery woven into the background art. There's a lot to look out for in the video."

"The Book Of Souls" was recorded in Paris, France with producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley in late 2014, with the finishing touches added earlier this year. However, the band decided to delay its release so that Dickinson, who was recently given the all-clear from the tumor, would have time to recuperate sufficiently to join in the preparations for the album's launch.

The stunning cover art was created by Mark Wilkinson, who has worked with the band previously, and because this 11-track album has a total running time of 92 minutes, it is IRON MAIDEN's first-ever double studio album. There's a broader split on the songwriting compared to previous MAIDEN records, with bassist and founder member Steve Harris contributing to seven of the tracks; six of them with MAIDEN's guitarists and one sole composition. This is also the first time since 1984's "Powerslave" that an IRON MAIDEN studio album also features two tracks written solely by Bruce Dickinson, one of which is the longest song MAIDEN has ever recorded! And also two Dickinson/Smith collaborations.