Former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown joined ex-PANTERA and current DOWN frontman Philip Anselmo on stage at the Download festival earlier today (Sunday, June 15) at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom to perform the PANTERA classic "A New Level". You can watch fan-filmed video footage of the performance below.

Late PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's longtime girlfriend Rita Haney in 2011 called on ex-PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott and Philip Anselmo to settle their differences in honor of Dimebag, who was shot and killed by a crazed gunman while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at a Columbus, Ohio rock club in December 2004.

Vinnie, who is Dimebag's brother, and Anselmo have not spoken since PANTERA split in 2003. But the relationship got even more acrimonious when Vinnie indirectly blamed Philip for Dimebag's death, suggesting that some remarks the vocalist had made about Dimebag in print just weeks earlier might have incited Dimebag's killer.

Haney told the producers of "Behind The Music Remastered: Pantera" that she forgave the singer after they found themselves unexpectedly face to face at a concert in California.

In Brown's memoir, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera", Haney said: "My line has softened over the years since Darrell's death, probably because I feel an element of forgiveness and a desire for everybody to get along. No matter what ever happened, nobody did this to Darrell. I mean, they — Rex and Philip — didn't. The person who did it did it, and no matter what reason the killer — if he was still alive today — could give to justify that, it wouldn't change anything. But when you go through something like this, you want to lay blame somewhere. Obviously I had resentment to Rex and Philip because I had to watch Darrell trying to save his band. I wanted to fix it for him. As far as Philip is concerned, we are at least communicating, albeit on a fairly surface level. We haven't talked about any deep things like resentments because I've told him that I still harbor some resentment for how he handled band issues and how that impacted Darrell and I've made that very clear to him. And it's hard for me to trust him. But we'll see. It's a start and in time we'll probably sit down face to face."

She continued: "Despite all the issues I'll say this: going out selling the merchandise for Darrell every summer has given me a whole different perspective. When you are with all the people that PANTERA's music touched and you hear the stories they have about how a certain song got them through, even if they never got to see them, it makes you realize that you're being selfish and that your issues are petty and false. I'm not the big picture. They are. I'm so grateful for all the things I learned from Darrell and I want to try to be that kind of person you know. Better."

She added: "I wish Vince was more like his brother when it comes to welcoming new people into his world, instead of feeling strapped up or that it's a problem or an inconvenience. Of course it can be overwhelming, I used to watch Darrell every day and marveled at how amazing he was at handling it, but I wish there was more of that in Vinnie. I know he has never really dealt with the death of his brother head on, and instead he's chosen to shut it away and hope that he'll never have to discuss it. If he was open to sharing some of his stories with people, he might just find peace, and if he let people in, he might also just see the big picture I'm talking about."

Anselmo performed at this year's Download with his backing band, THE ILLEGALS — guitarist Marzi Montazeri (ex-SUPERJOINT RITUAL), drummer José Manuel Gonzales (WARBEAST) and bassist Steve Taylor.

Anselmo's career-first solo album, "Walk Through Exits Only", sold around 8,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Fan-filmed video footage of AVATARIUM's June 7 performance at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden can be seen below.

AVATARIUM is the project led by Leif Edling, founding bassist and main songwriter of Swedish doom metal legends CANDLEMASS.

Due to his health condition, Edling was unable to perform with AVATARIUM at the Sweden Rock Festival. Filling in for him once again was Anders Iwers from TIAMAT.

AVATARIUM previously performed without Edling at the House Of Metal festival on March 1 in Umeå, Sweden and at the Roadburn festival in April in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

AVATARIUM entered David Castillo's Studio Gröndahl on May 18 to begin recording its new EP, for a late 2014 release. The band stated: "Rickard Gustavsson assisted and did a great job! Lars Sköld made that vintage Gretsch kit sound amazing!!"

AVATARIUM's self-titled debut album was released in Europe on November 1, 2013 via Nuclear Blast.

In addition to Edling, AVATARIUM features Marcus Jidell (ROYAL HUNT, EVERGREY) on guitar, Lars Sköld (TIAMAT) on drums, Carl Westholm on keyboards and Jennie-Ann Smith on vocals.

AVATARIUM's first release was a 12-inch mini-LP, "Moonhorse", featuring the title track, the B-side "Boneflower" as well as an acoustic cover version of BLACK SABBATH's "War Pigs". It arrived on September 20, 2013.

The cover artwork for "Avatarium" was created by Swedish artist Erik Rovamperä, who has previously worked with CANDLEMASS.

Jidell had the following to say about the birth of "Avatarium": "When we started to demo the songs on this album, we had one thing that we thought was extremely important: we wanted to make music that was heavy, dark and poetic. Also, we had an urge to make an album with a very organic sound and no fixing and trixing in computers but just try to make great emotional music.

"During the whole process, we have been looking for feeling rather than trying to make everything technically perfect. "I think that everything really came together the first day Jennie-Ann came in the studio and sung 'Moonhorse'. She had everything we looked for in a singer: rock 'n' roll attitude, jazz and blues feel, a big and powerful voice and yet so able to be fragile and extremely tender in her interpretation of the songs.

"If you like heavy, dark riffs and big guitars, emotional, raw and bluesy vocals, thunderous and groovy drums, I am quite sure that you'll like AVATARIUM." AVATARIUM made its live debut on November 9, 2013 in Stockholm. The band played two songs at the private 40th birthday party for AVATARIUM and TIAMAT drummer Lars Sköld at Blå Cupolen.

AVATARIUM is:

Leif Edling: BassJennie-Ann Smith: VocalsMarcus Jidell: GuitarLars Sköld: DrumsCarl Westholm: Keyboards

Former SKID ROW vocalist Sebastian Bach was one of five contestants on ABC's latest singing competition, "Sing Your Face Off", where he had to take on the identity of some of music's famous faces such as into Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga, Adam Levine from MAROON 5 and Freddie Mercury of QUEEN. Unfortunately, after four weeks, Sebastian had the lowest score and was sent home. On June 14, however, Bach returned with fellow contestant, actor/comedian Jon Lovitz, on the show's season finale for a rousing rendition of LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It". Check out video footage of the performance below.

ABC launched "Sing Your Face Off" on May 31. The show is described as a talent variety competition where celebrities are transformed and trained to perform as a legendary musical icon. Over the course of the series, five personalities — Bach, Lovitz, basketball star Landry Fields, singer China Anne McClain ("A.N.T. Farm") and actress Lisa Rinna ("Days of Our Lives") — take on the identity of an iconic music performer. Debbie Gibson and Darrell Hammond are the primary judges.

Bach spoke to Afterbuzz TV about his experience on the show, including his controversial departure. Bach explained: "I was supposed to stand there and get eviscerated… and I just split… Let me paint the picture for you, my manager was running after me… and I literally… ripped my nose off and threw my nose off, so there's like a nose on the floor."

The former SKID ROW singer wanted to do the show because it gave him a chance to sing and do something different. "It's all about the song for me, for me that's why I show up… everything I do musically has to be designed for repeated listening, because people collect my songs and the collect my albums," he said.

Despite repeatedly mentioning he was unhappy with Gibson's scores for him, Bach enjoyed getting to know the celebrity contestants and creating friendships. "It's a fun show," he said.

Dutch black metallers CARACH ANGREN have entered Tidalwave Studio in Karlsruhe, Germany with Patrick Damiani (FALKENBACH, ROME, UMBRA ET IMAGO) to record their fourth full-length album for a late 2014 release. The follow-up to 2012's "Where The Corpses Sink Forever" will be mixed by acclaimed producer Peter Tägtgren (DIMMU BORGIR, IMMORTAL, SEPTICFLESH, CHILDREN OF BODOM, AMORPHIS).

Says CARACH ANGREN in a statement: "Our writing process is finally reaching its end and we are very excited to once again enter Tidalwave Studio to record our fourth full-length concept album! We are very much looking forward to work with our long time partner in crime Patrick Damiani, and, for the first time, with Peter Tägtgren. We can't wait to present this monster to our fans! This will by far be the most gruesome album we have ever done — yet!"

Official Metallica.com footage of METALLICA's June 4 performance in in Hamburg, Germany can be seen below. The 20-minute clip includes footage of the pre-show meet-and-greet, the band warming up in the tuning room and "Fuel" and "Seek & Destroy" from the show.

The setlist for the concert was as follows:

01. Battery02. Master Of Puppets03. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)04. Ride The Lightning05. The Unforgiven06. Creeping Death07. Lords Of Summer08. Sad But True09. Fade To Black10. ...And Justice For All11. One12. For Whom The Bell Tolls13. Whiskey In The Jar14. Nothing Else Matters15. Enter Sandman

Encore:

16. St. Anger17. Fuel18. Seek & Destroy

As previously reported, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told "Metal Zone" host Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic": "I can tell you, all kidding aside, I'm pretty convinced that 90 percent of the record is actually written, it's just gotta be kind of assembled between all those riffs. It's just a matter of connecting this to this and sort of shaping it into a song. And so, I'm pretty psyched about that."

Ulrich added: "Like I said, I'm pretty convinced that most of the raw material actually exists. It's just a matter of connecting the dots. And we're not busy with all this other stuff that we're doing . . . I've said this before, we've applied for 28-hour days, but we haven't gotten word back yet, because the four extra hours that we would get out of that would certainly expedite the making of the next record . . . it would get it sooner. But we're still stuck with 24-hour days and something about six-hour minimum sleep requirements and kids that have to go to school and all the rest of it. So we try to use the rest of the time as wisely as we can in connecting these dots. And it does move forward, but maybe not as fast as we would like and certainly not as fast as a lot of our fans would like. It's certainly not 'cause we're avoiding it."

The group debuted a song, "Lords Of Summer", earlier this year.

Video footage of from BODY COUNT, the metal band fronted by hip-hop legend, actor and director Ice-T, performing the song "Enter The Dark Side" on last night's (Friday, June 13) episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" can be seen below.

"Enter The Dark Side" is taken from BODY COUNT's new album, "Manslaughter", which was released on June 10 via Sumerian.

In a recent interview with Esquire, Ice-T stated about his decision to bring back BODY COUNT: "The band wanted to get back together. The band lives in L.A., and I live [in New Jersey], so Ernie [guitar] was calling me, saying, 'Ice, let's rock and roll!' I said that I didn't want to do a mixtape. I don't want to do another album unless I write the music, because on the previous album, in 2006, I kinda mailed it in. They wrote the music in L.A. and sent me the tracks, I wrote the lyrics, and I just kinda walked away. I didn't mix it, I didn't do anything to it, and the record suffered. And I didn't want to do another one unless we had a real shot at making a good record together."

Regarding how the Sumerian deal came together, Ice-T said: "Vince [bassist Vince Dennis, a.k.a. Vincent Price; STEEL PROPHET] was connected to Juan [guitarist Juan Garcia, a.k.a. Juan Of The Dead; AGENT STEEL, EVILDEAD] and Juan had connections to Sumerian Records. The head of the label, Ash Avildsen, is a BODY COUNT fan. He had a little money to throw at the project and he didn't care about previous sales or anything. When you're lucky enough in this business to run into a real fan, they're like, 'Let's just do this!' You need someone in this business who just believes in you, that's not doing that SoundScan and all that other shit. Not doing the numbers, but doing the — [Ice taps his fist into his left hand three times]."

"Manslaughter" track listing:

01. Talk Shit, Get Shot02. Pray For Death03. 99 Problems BC04. Back To Rehab05. Manslaughter06. Get A Job07. Institutionalized 201408. Pop Bubble09. Enter The Dark Side10. Bitch In The Pit11. Black Voodoo Sex12. Wanna Be A Gangsta13. I Will Always Love You

BODY COUNT's current lineup includes bassist Vince Dennis (a.k.a. Vincent Price; STEEL PROPHET) and guitarist Juan Garcia (a.k.a. Juan Of The Dead; AGENT STEEL, EVILDEAD), the latter of whom made his live debut with the group in November 2013 at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas. The band's set included first-time airings of new songs "Talk Shit, Get Shot" and the "Manslaughter" title track.

The "Talk Shit, Get Shot" video was filmed on April 6 at The Morgan in Brooklyn, New York with director Frankie Nasso, who has previously worked with EMMURE and ASKING ALEXANDRIA, among others.

BODY COUNT 2014 is:

Ice-T - VocalsErnie C - Lead GuitarJuan Of The Dead - Rhythm GuitarVincent Price - BassIll Will - DrumsSean E Sean - Backup Vocals/Sampler

BODY COUNT will take part in this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, which kicks off on July 5 in San Bernardino, California.

BODY COUNT's last album, "Murder 4 Hire", came out in 2006 via Escapi Music.

Florida death metallers ORDER OF ENNEAD, who feature in their ranks members of DEICIDE and Sebastian Bach's band, are preparing to enter FHU Productions in Seminole, Florida to record an as-yet-untitled EP.

The track listing for the new effort will be as follows:

01. Identifying The Faults Of Perception02. An Offering Of Reason03. The Spectre04. In A Silence Eternal05. Our Human Frailty

ORDER OF ENNEAD's current lineup includes:

Kevin Quirion (DEICIDE) - Guitar, VocalsSteve Asheim (DEICIDE) - DrumsScott Patrick (ex-RESURRECTION) - BassJohnny Chromatic (SEBASTIAN BACH) - Guitar

ORDER OF ENNEAD recently played the Metal For The Military benefit show, which was held at the Crowbar in Tampa, Florida. Also performing at the event were DEICIDE, PATHS OF POSSESSION, DARK DISCIPLE, DEADLIFT, NAHKHIEL, FORGED WITH BLOOD and comedian Damien Figler.

ORDER OF ENNEAD's previous releases include the 2008 self-titled album and 2010's "An Examination Of Being", both of which were issued through Earache Records.

Fan-filmed video footage of Florida death metal veterans OBITUARY performing a brand new song, "Inked In Blood", on June 13 at the Copenhell festival in Copenhagen, Denmark can be seen below.

OBITUARY has partnered with Relapse Records for the release of the band's highly anticipated ninth studio album. The band's first full-length CD in over five years was recorded by the band this past April at its own RedNeck Studio in Gibsonton, Florida and is currently being mixed.

Commented OBITUARY on the new material: "We don't know how to explain it but we really hit the 'metal nail' on the head with this album.

"We have been writing and working on the new material for nearly three years now and we could not be more excited how these songs have all turned out.

"All the stars seem to have aligned for us and this release, with the songs, production and overall feel of this record, the band is more solid than ever." The album recording was funded by an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2013. Now the band has partnered with Relapse worldwide to maximize the release and impact of what is surely their heaviest and most cohesive record in 20 years.

The group elaborated on the decision to create the Kickstarter campaign and sign with Relapse. "We always knew that our fans were some of the most devoted fans on the planet and they proved it by stepping up, being a part of something new and supporting us with our Kickstarter campaign," says the band. "This was an amazing display of true fan support and we could not be more proud of everyone who helped raise the money to record this album by pre-ordering it, buying all the cool stuff we offered and just being a part of something that we believe will be the way of the future. Now we have teamed up with Relapse Records to have them get this new album out there, in stores and available to the fans worldwide.

"We are very excited about our partnership with Relapse and are looking forward to working beside them with the release. They are a great label and super-cool people who have shown us that they are excited to have OBITUARY on their roster and are ready to push this album to its fullest potential." OBITUARY is: John Tardy - Vocals Trevor Peres - Guitar Donald Tardy - Drums Terry Butler - Bass Kenny Andrews - Guitar

Swiss folk metallers ELUVEITIE will release their new album, "Origins", on August 5 via Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork for the CD was created by ELUVEITIE frontman Chrigel Glanzmann and can be seen below. The effort was once again recorded at New Sound Studio in Pfäffikon, a municipality in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland, with producer Tommy Vetterli (a.k.a. Tommy T. Baron; CORONER/ex-KREATOR guitarist).

"Origins" track listing:

01. Origins02. The Nameless03. From Darkness04. Celtos05. Virunus06. Nothing07. The Call Of The Mountains08. Sucellos09. Inception10. Vianna11. The Silver Sister12. King13. The Day Of Strife14. Ogmios15. Carry The Torch16. Eternity

The official lyric video for the song "King" can be seen below.

Says Chrigel: "'Origins' deals in depth with Celtic mythology, or, to be more precise, with aetiological tales from Gaul in particular. Hence we're facing strongly mythical as well as spiritual subjects on this album, topics which we have approached very scientifically and in cooperation with several scientists and diverse universities.

"Many aspects of Gaulish mythology and spirituality remain in the dark nonetheless, while others run through the theme like a golden thread — like this eminent, yet innominate god, for instance, of which the Gauls claimed to be direct descendants and which was compared to the Roman chtonic deity Dis Pater.

"Today we cannot say which Gaulish god this was exactly. But according to all we know, it's likely that we're dealing with Sucellos here. Throughout space and time he appears over and over again — from very old spiritual customs of ancient Gaulish tribes in today's northern Spain all the way to later statues in today's Switzerland, France and elsewhere.Perhaps he is this mysterious nameless one.

"The album cover of 'Origins' is designed after the hammer/club-shaped 'halo' of Sucellos, as seen on a statue, that was found in a shrine of a gallo-roman household in today's France. It was created under the scientific supervision of experts from the university of Zürich." ELUVEITIE recently announced the addition of violinist Nicole Ansperger to the group's ranks.

ELUVEITIE's last album, "Helvetios", sold 4,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 143 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 3 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

Doug Pinnick (KING'S X), Eric Gales (LAURYN HILL) and Thomas Pridgen (ex-THE MARS VOLTA, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) loved the experience of collaborating so much that they quickly headed back into the studio to record a second album of psychedelic blues, hard rock, and progressive soul/R&B. Magna Carta honcho Peter Morticelli and his partner Mike Varney dreamed up the team and brought them together to collaborate on this second album just months after the first album was released to such critical acclaim among the press and the fans. As for the chemistry between the three, Gales said it all clicked almost instantly. "There was a lot going on and it was really exciting," he said. "We got together, collaborated and just pulled and tugged at each other and that's what came out. It was a beautiful outcome.” Doug was excited to work with Eric and Thomas again. "This time I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "We're going to start with a blank slate." The three wrote material together from bits and pieces of ideas that each brought into the studio. Pinnick is best known for his many albums with KING'S X, bringing with him his heaviness, smart lyrics and lush harmonies. Doug started playing a right-handed bass. "I started upside down, moving the low strings to the top," he said. Eric was born right-handed but learned to play the guitar left-handed from his brother. "I saw my brother play that way," he said. "I just picked up the guitar and it felt comfortable." He was heavily influenced by gospel music and traditional blues, and still prefers his rock with a blues edge. Thomas brought in his heavy-progressive rock playing, as well as his compositional background growing up in church and from playing on so many other people's records. Due on July 8 via Magna Carta, "PGP 2" contains all the stinging bite and all-out sonic boom of KING'S X, THE MARS VOLTA and the ERIC GALES band. In addition, fans of artists as far ranging as Jimi Hendrix, CREAM, LIVING COLOUR, Stevie Ray Vaughan, TOOL, THE WHO, Stevie Wonder and LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT might find something meaningful in these meaty, extended tracks.

"PGP 2" track listing:

01. Every Step Of The Way (4:32)02. It's Not My Time To Die (5:48)03. Psychofunkadelic Blues (4:20) 04. Watchman (8:23)05. Have You Cried? (5:54)06. Like You Used To Do (5:50)07. Build It Back Up (5:25)08. The Past Is The Past (4:48)09. LaDonna (0:52)10. I Ain't Got No Money (5:22)11. Down To The Bone (5:36)12. Jambiance (5:01)

The official video for the song "Every Step Of The Way" can be seen below.

Metal Blade Records has announced the signing of German thrashers CRIPPER.

CRIPPER is convincing with its enthralling mix of old-school and modern thrash metal. Served with technical refinement and a lot of groove, the band kicks ass while being varied and distinct.

Since their formation in 2005, the guys and gal from Hannover, Germany have left their marks as being a rousing live band, carrying the audience with dashing songs and sweaty shows. On tours with OVERKILL and ONSLAUGHT, CRIPPER has spread its virus throughout Europe. Once a big festival was infected, they would book the band again — CRIPPER played several times at festivals such as Summer Breeze, Wacken Rocks, Metalfest, and Rockharz Open Air. But there's more — boarding the well-known 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise ship from Miami twice, playing the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic, shows at the Bang Your Head!!! festival and being invited to enter the stage of the Slovenian Metaldays five times have allowed CRIPPER to gain international recognition and a continuously growing fanbase.

So far, CRIPPER has released three studio albums and with that formed its distinctive style. The creative works of this highly motivated team is always showing through in three different aspects: the album artwork, merchandise, and so far four complex and artistic music video productions that the band has produced from start to finish. Some new song material is ready, which will form the cornerstones of the upcoming album.

CRIPPER comments on signing with Metal Blade: "Crazy shit! We are part of the Metal Blade family now!

"CRIPPER is a self-made band. Despite never being signed to a real label, we have released three albums, toured Europe a couple times and even made it across the ocean twice. Being control freaks in every possible way, we were very content with our situation, but still we started to feel like it is time for a change. We were highly motivated to produce a new demo to see if Metal Blade liked our new stuff. To make a long story short: they did, and so we are here now, ready to walk trough newly opened doors and taking the opportunity to reach more people with our music.

"With Metal Blade we keep our self-made attitude regarding our artistic freedom and full control, only now we get the chance to present ourselves on a much larger platform.

"Our upcoming album with the title 'Hyena' is in the making and we hope to release it worldwide in November!"

CRIPPER is:

Britta Görtz - VocalsChristian Bröhenhorst - GuitarJonathan Stenger - GuitarDennis Weber - DrumsGerrit Mohrmann - Bass

Scranton, Pennsylvania-based metalcore quintet MOTIONLESS IN WHITE will release its tird studio album, "Reincarnate", on September 16 via Fearless. Produced by Dan Korneff (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, BREAKING BENJAMIN, LAMB OF GOD), the follow-up to "Infamous" features the new single "Reincarnate", which will be made available on July 1. "I think I speak for most artists of any kind when I say that it's a rarity to step back from something you created and feel 100% satisfied without seeing the flaws or things you wish you had made differently," says MOTIONLESS IN WHITE singer Chris Motionless. "This is the first time in my life I've composed an album and have departed from the studio feeling like everything I've ever wanted to accomplish, has finally materialized. I put past mistakes behind me and focused on becoming a new body of musical existence, while maintaining the characteristics that I enjoyed most about our band. As it is mine, this will absolutely be your favorite MOTIONLESS record."

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE will return to the road to introduce North America to "Reincarnate" as a main-stage act on the Vans Warped Tour 2014, set to kick off this Friday, June 13 in Houston, Texas.

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE has carved out a corner in the metal scene with its aggressive electro-tinged anthems, crowd-empowering choruses, melding with their dark and profound message. The band recruited a collection of devout fans across the world, having toured with metal juggernauts such as MARILYN MANSON, SLIPKNOT, A DAY TO REMEMBER, ESCAPE THE FATE and BLACK VEIL BRIDES.

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE's sophomore album, "Infamous", was released on November 13, 2012 via Fearless.

FOZZY, the band featuring WWE wrestling superstar Chris Jericho alongside members of STUCK MOJO, will release its new album, "Do You Wanna Start A War", on July 22 via Century Media.

A snippet of the CD's title track can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

Fans can now pre-order the 12-track album at iTunes and receive an instant download of the song "One Crazed Anarchist".

The official lyric video for "One Crazed Anarchist" can be seen below.

Produced by FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward, "Do You Wanna Start A War" features 12 tracks, including the debut single, "Lights Go Out", the title track and the return of the Theremin in "Bad Tattoo". SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor recently described the CD as "dark, dense and sharp. Sonically and lyrically, this feels like it's going somewhere big. I love it!"

Asked about whether FOZZY's new album will feature any special guests, Jericho told the Boise, Idaho radio station 100.3 The X Rocks: "I mean, we always have a guest or two on every record, because… It's interesting when you see… You listen to Top 40 radio — every radio when I drive my kids to school, we listen to it — and you'll always hear Jay-Z plus Beyonce, or featuring Beyonce, or Rihanna featuring Lil Jon. And we thought, why don't we do more of that in rock and roll? I man, that's what we did. The last record, we had 'Sandpaper' with M. Shadows [AVENGED SEVENFOLD] and we had 'She's My Addiction' with Phil Campbell of MOTÖRHEAD. So this record we have one collaboration — a song called 'Tonight' with Michael Starr from STEEL PANTHER, who we toured with in Australia; a great singer. And we like that vibe. Musicians like jamming with other musicians; it's kind of what we do."

Regarding FOZZY's musical uproach on "Do You Wanna Start A War", Jericho said: "We wanted to do something a little different. We love, obviously, AVENGED SEVENFOLD or FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, we love IRON MAIDEN, we love OZZY [OSBOURNE]. But we also love PINK FLOYD and LED ZEPPELIN and QUEEN and U2 and THE BEATLES, bands that would always broaden their horizons, but still sound… the core of the band's sound was still there, but they would different things. And when we were listening to a lot of songs on rock radio, we felt that they fit a certain pattern. We wanted to do something that was different from that, and that's what 'Lights Go Out' kind of came from that mindset. So it is a different type of tune, but we wanted to do that and shake things up and take a chance. You know, when you do something like that, sometimes your hardcore fans will go, 'Well, this isn't what we've heard before,' but they'll eventually like it. And you do this to appeal to new fans, and that's what we're getting from 'Lights Go Out', who'd never heard FOZZY before, who'd never listened to FOZZY. 'Man, you guys rock! This song is amazing!' That's what you want…. This is a song that you can hear in a strip club, you can hear it in a dance club, you can hear it in next to a SLAYER song. It's kind of got all things to all people. 'Cause all that matters with music and a good song is the melody and the hook. And this has a great hook; you could catch 'Jaws' with this hook, that's how big it is. But it's dark, it grooves, it's sexy, it's sleek, and the chicks dig it, which is the most important thing. 'Cause when the chicks like something, that means the guys will follow."

"Do You Wanna Start A War" track listing:

01. Do You Wanna Start A War02. Bad Tattoo03. Lights Go Out04. Died With You05. Tonite06. Brides of Fire07. One Crazed Anarchist 08. Unstoppable09. Scarecrow10. No Good Way11. SOS12. Witchery FOZZY's last album, "Sin And Bones", sold around 3,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 143 on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 1 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

FOZZY is Chris Jericho on vocals, Rich Ward on guitar and vocals, Frank Fontsere on drums, Billy Grey on guitar, and Paul Di Leo on bass.

"World On Fire", the title track of the new album from Slash (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER) and his backing band, MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS, will arrive at radio on June 13 and will be released digitally on June 16. The song can now be streamed in its entirety in the YouTube clip below.

"World On Fire", the third album to be made available under the Slash solo banner, will be released on September 15 via Slash's own label Dik Hayd International distributed through Roadrunner Records (Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America). A total of 17 songs, including one instrumental, were laid down for the follow-up to 2012's "Apocalyptic Love" with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette (ALTER BRIDGE, FALLING IN REVERSE, INCUBUS).

"World On Fire" track listing:

01. World On Fire02. Shadow Life03. Automatic Overdrive04. Wicked Stone05. 30 Years To Life06. Bent To Fly07. Stone Blind08. Too Far Gone09. Beneath The Savage Sun10. Withered Delilah11. Battleground12. Dirty Girl13. Iris Of The Storm14. Avalon15. The Dissident16. Safari Inn17. The Unholy

The cover artwork for the "World On Fire" album was designed by American contemporary artist Ron English and can be seen below.

"World On Fire" will be made available four weeks in advance of the U.K. general release as a Classic Rock Fanpack, which consists of:

* The full album* 116-page magazine featuring exclusive interviews with Slash, the band, producer Michael Baskette and cover artist Ron English. A Slash and Myles track-by-track breakdown. Exclusive pictures from the recording sessions as well as a brand new shoot, competition and much more.* Giant double-sided A1 poster* Metal pin badge

Slash told Music Radar about the new CD, "I wrote the majority of the music when I was on the 'Apocalyptic Love' tour. You know, just sitting around in dressing rooms and hotel rooms for a year, I accumulated all these ideas. Then in September [2013] I sat down and went through everything I'd recorded on my voice memo on my phone and picked out about 20 different ideas then we went into pre-production in October and just started jamming. We were there for a couple of months, holed up in Mates rehearsal studio in Los Angeles. There was the whole writing process then once we had all the songs down we rehearsed the shit out of it, and then we brought the producer, Mike Baskette, in. And so we went through another phase of fine tooth-combing everything and getting the arrangements together. Myles came down and started working on his vocal parts… and by the time we were done with all that we were ready to go in and just bang the stuff out. It was a very quick process in the studio."

He continued: "The one thing about this record is that it was almost like it wrote itself, it was very effortless. And that happens very rarely, when there's a certain energy that carries the creative process and it's almost like you're not in control of it and you just ride that wave. That's how this record was. I can't think of any outside influence other than just going with this creative flow."

Slash also spoke about the musical chemistry between him and his bandmates, telling Music Radar: "I think basically everyone's a great rock 'n' roll player. They're real rock musicians at heart — deep down. So when we get together, we've built up a certain chemistry. We started out with a certain kind of chemistry and we're just evolving from there. At this point, everybody feels very comfortable just being themselves and doing what it is that they do best. It's just an unsaid, natural synergy that happens. For example, this is probably one of Brent's [Fitz, drummer] best records as a player, being able to do all the things he wanted to do. And the same with Todd [Kerns, bass] and the same for me. But having such a great rhythm section means I have to really fuckin' put together some great guitar bits on top of it. The other thing that's cool is Mike Baskette was great. One of the reasons why I really wanted to work with him was he just loves guitars and it's rare to get anyone who brings any ideas other than the ones you bring to the table as far as sounds and tones or anything like that. And that's a limitation: you can only do as much as you know how to do in the studio and sometimes you really need to work with an engineer who knows something in the recording studio that you don't know. That's what Mike brought into it. He was so enthusiastic about getting guitar sounds. He would put as much time into that as I could possibly put it in — sometimes more so. It was really inspiring. I haven't had that in a long, long time."

Slash released his first self-titled solo effort in 2010.

The legendary guitarist employed a different vocalist on each track of his first album, before settling on ALTER BRIDGE member Kennedy for both touring and eventually recording.

"Apocalyptic Love" earned Slash his two first-ever No. 1 U.S. rock radio hits with "You're A Lie" and "Standing In The Sun". The record's third single, "Anastasia", cracked the Top 10 at both Modern and Active Rock.

Slash and AEROSMITH will team up for a U.S. tour this summer.

"World On Fire" song audio stream:


"World On Fire" single artwork:



"World On Fire" album artwork:

The new JUDAS PRIEST song "Dragonaut", along with footage of guitarist Richie Faulkner, discussing the cut, is available in the YouTube clip below.

"Dragonaut" is taken from JUDAS PRIEST's forthcoming studio album, "Redeemer Of Souls", which will be released in North America on July 8 (pushed up a week from the originally announced July 15) via Epic Records. The CD's title track was made available for purchase via iTunes and other digital service providers on April 29.

Speaking to the "Trunk Nation" show, which airs on SiriusXM's Hair Nation, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford stated about "Redeemer Of Souls": "When we finished [the] 'Epitaph' [tour], we just got so buzzed from the fans and the reaction wherever we went. Just to put the 'Epitaph' tour together, which was we tried to put a song from every record into the show, and we were living in the life of JUDAS PRIEST, all those decades, in one show, night after night on the world trek, and I think that really did something to us eternally; as musicians, it should do when you tour. So we realized that this next record really had to be really strong, full of energy, because it's relentless, the tracks are relentless. The energy that you feel off 'Redeemer Of Souls' is replicated in that direction time and time and time again."

Asked whether the members of JUDAS PRIEST still feel good about "Nostradamus" six years after the album's release, Halford said: "If you look at bands of longevity, like PRIEST, you see the trail of music that we've left, I don't think we could have probably made as great a record as we have with 'Redeemer Of Souls' if we didn't have 'Nostradamus' as a reference point. It's a stepping stone to the next place.

"Every record that we've made, we've tried to give it some distinction, some separate identity. 'British Steel' doesn't sound like 'Stained Class', 'Stained Class' doesn't sound like 'Painkiller', 'Painkiller' doesn't sound like 'Defenders Of The Faith'… So I think everything has its place and has its moments, and we've always fed off these different areas that we've gone into with our metal. So thanks to 'Nostradamus', we've got 'Redeemer Of Souls'."

Regarding why there are five "bonus" tracks that are included on the deluxe version of "Redeemer Of Souls" and do not appear on the CD's regular version, Glenn Tipton said: "They are all great songs. The reason they are not on the album is because the 13 that we chose are very consistent with what we wanted to do, which was release an undisputable heavy metal album. The others, they are not lightweight by any chance, but they've got a different feel, a different texture. So it's not a case of trying to rip the kids off and trying to get more money for an extra album, it's just a case of, these five tracks seem to deserve to go on their own CD, and that's what we did."

Added Halford: "We didn't want to drop the energy. From the opening thunder-and-lightning on 'Dragonaut' right up 'till the end of 'Battle Cry', it's just full-on, it's relentless. It's great."

"Redeemer Of Souls" CD track listing:

01. Dragonaut02. Redeemer Of Souls03. Halls Of Valhalla04. Sword Of Damocles05. March Of The Damned06. Down In Flames07. Hell & Back08. Cold Blooded09. Metalizer10. Crossfire11. Secrets Of The Dead12. Battle Cry13. Beginning Of The End

Bonus tracks:

14. Snakebite15. Tears Of Blood16. Creatures17. Bring It On18. Never Forget

"Dragonaut" full song:


"March Of The Damned" full song:


"Redeemer Of Souls" full song:


"Crossfire" preview:


"Halls Of Valhalla" preview:


"Redeemer Of Souls" album artwork:



"Redeemer Of Souls" single artwork:

Fan-filmed video footage of QUEENSRŸCHE's June 4 performance at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden can be seen below.

QUEENSRŸCHE members Eddie Jackson (bass), Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Michael Wilton (guitar) have successfully agreed to purchase Geoff Tate's portion of the QUEENSRŸCHE name. The band will buy out their former lead singer's share of the QUEENSRŸCHE corporation while allowing him the ability to be the only one to perform "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety. Tate will no longer have use of the TriRyche logo or any other album images aside from the "Mindcrime" releases. He can only refer to himself as the "original lead singer of QUEENSRŸCHE" or "formerly of QUEENSRŸCHE" for a period of two years and that text must be at least 50 percent smaller than his name in all materials. After this two-year period passes, he can only refer to himself as Geoff Tate with no mention of QUEENSRŸCHE at all.

Geoff Tate will be able to finish any confirmed dates billed for his QUEENSRŸCHE lineup scheduled to terminate on August 31, 2014. As of September 1, there will be only one QUEENSRŸCHE entity and that will consist of Eddie Jackson, Todd La Torre, Parker Lundgren, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton. This lineup will continue to perform selections from their entire musical catalog, including songs from "Operation: Mindcrime". The band will be able to use all TriRyche logos and previous album artwork for any purposes as needed by the corporation.

"It's a step in the right direction," Wilton told The Prog Report about the settlement agreement between QUEENSRŸCHE and Geoff Tate. "I mean, anytime one is in a lawsuit, it's not the funnest time in their life. Obviously, we learned a lot from it. We're just happy that we have made this forward progressive step and we're really happy to start playing and rebuilding the name. The fans are so happy. It's hard for anybody to really understand. It's really a step in a positive direction."

He added: "It was two arduous years plus, and I guess by these days, that's kind of standard for most lawsuits in business. It's unfortunate that the court systems have to go that way, and lawyers are the way they are, but that's the name of the game and you have to play the game… That's why I'm not a lawyer. That's why I play guitar."

Wilton also spoke about the support he and his bandmates have received from the QUEENSRŸCHE fans, telling The Prog Report: "We've been doing this for over 30 years, so by relaunching the name and going back and playing the classics that everybody has been screaming about and wanting to hear, it's been so open arms, 'please, play those songs.' Finally, we've gotten the ability to do that. The dynamic in this band is really supercharged to go out and play and be QUEENSRŸCHE."

QUEENSRŸCHE is: Todd La Torre- VocalsMichael Wilton - GuitarsParker Lundgren - GuitarsEddie Jackson - BassScott Rockenfield - Drums

Seminal progressive rock heroes YES will release their 21st studio album, "Heaven & Earth", on July 22 via Frontiers Records.

Having sold nearly 40 million albums in a career that has so far spanned more than four decades, YES continues with its tradition of symphonic progressive rock that remains timelessly fresh and innovative.

"Heaven & Earth" contains eight new tracks, each of which boasts the unique musicianship and craftsmanship that have come to be known as "the YES sound." YES' distinctive layered music, swirling arrangements, brilliant vocals and harmonies are all in abundance.

For "Heaven & Earth", YES teamed up with legendary Grammy Award winner Roy Thomas Baker (QUEEN, THE CARS, GUNS N’ ROSES, FOREIGNER, SMASHING PUMPKINS, ALICE COOPER), who handled the production and Billy Sherwood (TOTO, PAUL RODGERS, AIR SUPPLY) who mixed the album. Also onboard is longtime YES artist, the world-renowned Roger Dean, who again brings his masterful artistic creativity to the album's cover art and packaging.

"Heaven & Earth" track listing:

01. Believe Again02. The Game03. Step Beyond04. To Ascend05. In A World Of Our Own06. Light Of The Ages07. It Was All We Knew08. Subway Walls

An audio sample of the song "Believe Again" is available in the YouTube clip below.

To coincide with the release of "Heaven & Earth", YES wil launch a 35-date summer tour featuring the band performing 1971's groundbreaking album "Fragile" in its entirety for the first time ever and a repeat performance from last year's tour of 1972's "Close To The Edge", followed by an encore of the band's greatest hits.

YES is: Steve Howe - Electric, Acoustic, & Steel Guitars. Backing VocalsChris Squire - Bass Guitar. Backing VocalsAlan White - Drums. PercussionGeoff Downes - Keyboards. Computer ProgrammingJon Davison - Lead & Backing Vocals. Acoustic Guitar

"Death Comes Twice", the new video from the Los Angeles-based metal band MINDWARS, can be seen below. The track is taken from the group's forthcoming album, "The Enemy Within", tentatively due in the fall.

MINDWARS was formed when Roby Vitari (drums; formerly of JESTER BEAST) contacted Mike Alvord (guitar/vocals; formerly of HOLY TERROR) about putting together a project in the vein of classic speed/thrash metal and NWOBHM.

Since leaving HOLY TERROR in 1989, Mike has been absent from the music scene with the exception of helping prepare the HOLY TERROR compilation "El Revengo". However, his love of bands like MOTÖRHEAD, BLACK SABBATH, ANGEL WITCH, IRON MAIDEN and SLAYER never left him as he continued writing material in this vein. Roby's idea interested Mike and the two began sharing material through the Internet. Pleased with the results, they decided to launch a band. They settled on the name MINDWARS and solicited the efforts of Danny Z on bass to round out this power trio.

MINDWARS is:

Mike Alvord - Guitar/VocalsRoby Vitari - DRUMSDanny "Z" Pizzi- BASS

Fan-filmed video footage of BUCKCHERRY's June 11 performance at Alte Seilerei in Mannheim, Germany can be seen below.

BUCKCHERRY played a show as scheduled on May 20 at the Dixie Roadhouse in Cape Coral, Florida despite two bomb scares and the efforts of a local religious group to get the gig canceled. According to The Pulse Of Radio, a letter from the Holy Family posted on both the band's tour bus and the venue door demanded that the gig be scrapped, saying, "I do apologize for the last minute notice, however I'm afraid the concert is going to definitely have to be canceled." The letter cited the band's "totally disgusting" lyrics and "contrived ignorant babble and filth" as the reasons that the show had to be stopped, although it curiously added that aside from the lyrics, the Holy Family "very much enjoys BUCKCHERRY's music" and hoped that "in the future they will use the talent God bestowed upon them in not a shameful way, but to join us in saving the world.”The club also confirmed receiving two separate bomb scares, although it could not be confirmed if they were connected to the Holy Family organization.

BUCKCHERRY took the stage nevertheless, with singer Josh Todd saying, "BUCKCHERRY has always been about having a good time and we express ourselves the way we want to because we are free. They don't like our lyrics and hide behind religion as an excuse to attack us as a group or treat other people poorly. Well they can just fuck right off."

The show reportedly went off without a hitch and the band performed for a sold-out crowd.

Just to give the Holy Family even more heartburn, BUCKCHERRY will release a new EP called "Fuck" in August. The disc follows up last year's "Confessions" album.

Fan-filmed video footage of SKID ROW's June 11 performance at Alte Seilerei in Mannheim, Germany can be seen below.

SKID ROW — Johnny Solinger (vocals), Scotti Hill (guitar), Rachel Bolan (bass), Dave "Snake" Sabo (guitar) and Rob Hammersmith (drums) — will release its new seven-song EP, "Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two", on August 5 via Megaforce Records.

After a hiatus that started in 1996, SKID ROW returned to the big stage — literally — opening for KISS in 2000. Exhilarated to tour with the heroes who rallied them in the first place, the band was reinvigorated by being underdogs who needed to come out fighting to prove themselves. "When we put the band back together, we needed to reintroduce SKID ROW as relevant without relying too much on past success," explains SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan. "We wrote songs and hit the road. We sunk our heart and soul into it, letting people know we weren't doing it for lack of something better to do." 2003's "Thickskin" and 2006's "Revolutions Per Minute" were battle plans for hundreds of live shows with new singer Johnny Solinger out front, every night being a hard fought battle to win new fans and convince the old ones. "United World Rebellion - Part 2" is SKID ROW coming out swinging. Rachel and Sabo tapped again into the potent songwriting collaboration that built the band. Sabo says they were eagerly up to the challenge. "We seem to be at our best when we're faced with adversity. It's us against the world again — and by us I mean the band and the fans who stick with us and carry the SKID ROW torch without fail." New plans came together in an Atlanta recording studio. But it's a different time, a different industry, so they decided to record a series of EPs. "The idea really appealed to me," says Bolan, "especially with the constantly changing musical climate. I like the idea of a steady flow of new music, as opposed to releasing a full-length album then riding it for the next two years." That guerrilla burst of recording a concise EP fostered a focused intensity that was liberating, says Snake. "The pressure seemed to be lifted. That immediately set me at ease and it became really exciting." Exciting and potent, prompting Solinger to exert the full range of his ability. "The third time in the studio as the voice of SKID ROW was the proverbial charm, and the proof is in the tracks. 'United World Rebellion - Part 2' is the most meaningful work I've done with the band. It's definitely the most I've been challenged, vocally."

"Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two" will also contain covers of QUEEN and AEROSMITH classics as bonus tracks. Asked why they chose these tracks to cover, SKID ROW said: "These songs fit seamlessly into the subject matter of 'United World Rebellion: Chapter Two'. They both have that 'get up and fight' attitude.

"These songs were from our youth that meant a lot, and as far as we know, no one has covered them, and more important, the songs are still exciting and fit perfectly with the attitude of all other songs on the album."

"Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two" EP track listing:

01. We Are The Damned 02. Give It The Gun 03. Catch Your Fall 04. Damnation Army 05. Zero Day

Bonus tracks:

06. Sheer Heart Attack (QUEEN cover)07. Rats In The Cellar (AEROSMITH cover)