Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach is one of the contestants in ABC's new competition series, "Sing Your Face Off". Actor John Barrowman ("Torchwood", "Arrow") hosts the show, which features five celebrity contestants taking on the identity of an iconic music performer each week.

ABC launched "Sing Your Face Off" on May 31. Two all-new episodes are airing back to back in that two-hour time period each week. 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, basketball star Landry Fields, comedian Jon Lovitz, 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, and scheduled guest judges including David Allen Grier, RuPaul, Carnie Wilson, Richard Simmons, Tom Arnold and Carmen Electra.

"From the hours in the makeup chair to the days spent with choreographers and vocal coaches, each show will feature the complete transformation — not just physical — the celebrities will embody everything about the assigned icon — their walk, their talk, and their distinguishing mannerisms leading up to the live performance in front of the studio audience," according to production notes. "Viewers will get the chance to see each of the celebrities portray multiple musical performers during the series — such as Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Pavarotti, Pitbull, Britney Spears, and Tina Turner, to name a few."

Video footage of Bach as he is transformed into late QUEEN singer Freddie Mercury, singing "We Are The Champions", can be seen below. Previously released clips of Bach turning into country music legend Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga and MAROON 5's Adam Levine for performances of "Always On My Mind", "Bad Romance" and "Moves Like Jagger", respectively, are also available.

"Sing Your Face Off" is produced by Endemol USA with Georgie Hurford-Jones ("America's Got Talent") as executive producer.

GODSMACK's first all-new single since 2011, "1000hp" (One Thousand Horsepower), arrived at rock radio stations on Monday (June 9) and can now be streamed in the YouTube clip below. Singer Sully Erna told The Pulse Of Radio that his original title for the song took things to the next level. "Actually, the original title I wanted to put on the song was '100,000 Horsepower'," he said. "But unfortunately, rhythmically, it was too many syllables and I couldn't make it fit the way I wanted to creatively, so I trimmed it back to '1000 Horsepower', which is still pretty fuckin' powerful, by the way."

"1000hp" is taken from the album of the same name, which comes out on August 5.

The band's sixth studio effort will follow up 2010's "The Oracle" and follows a two-year hiatus.

The "1000hp" digital single will be made available on June 10. Erna told The Pulse Of Radio how the track came together: "It's one of those songs that surprisingly came out and was written from back to front in, like, an hour. I started putting one thing together with the next, and then Shannon [Larkin, drummer] started jumping in and then we arranged the whole song, and literally within an hour, maybe 90 minutes, this whole song was written and it was one of the last songs that we wrote, and it ended up becoming the first single."

Erna described the sound of the "1000hp" album to The Pulse Of Radio as "a little bit more raw, a little bit more open. The writing was a little freer. The production is really kind of raw and in your face, and the songs, man — I'm really, really excited about these songs. And I have to tell you honestly, I wasn't that excited about writing this record at first."

Following the tour cycle for 2010's "The Oracle", Erna told The Pulse Of Radio that years of working together almost non-stop were taking their toll on the group. "You know, it was getting rough," he said. "You know, I'm not gonna lie — the band was getting into a funky place and there was talks about breaking up and, you know, not really staying a band anymore. But you know, I think it was just some time we needed, some time to really reassess the thing and really appreciate what we have as a band. We've always been kind of level-headed about things and eventually we just needed to let a little time pass and let the dust settle."

Erna added that bad blood over the GODSMACK offshoot ANOTHER ANIMAL, as well as his satisfaction with his own solo album "Avalon", led GODSMACK to the brink before they reconsidered.

GODSMACK has yet to announce full tour plans behind the new disc, but the band is confirmed as one of the acts performing at the third annual Aftershock festival, set to take place on September 13-14 in Sacramento.

Cleveland metal veterans SHOK PARIS have entered the studio to begin recording their new album, "Full Metal Jacket", for an early 2015 release via Auburn Records. Eleven tracks are being laid down at Spectrum Sound with Tony Alberts engineering and SHOK PARIS guitarist Ken Erb producing.

Songtitles set to appear on the CD:

* Black Boots* Brothers In Arms* Do Or Die* Fall From Grace* Full Metal Jacket* Hell Day* Nature Of The Beast* Set The World On Fire* Symphony Of The Sea* Those Eyes* Up The Hammers

"Full Metal Jacket" will be SHOK PARIS' fourth full-length studio album and first since "Concrete Killers", which was released in 1989 via I.R.S./ Auburn and distributed by MCA.

SHOK PARIS is:

Vic Hix - VocalsKen Erb - GuitarJohn Korzekwa - GuitarEd Stephens - BassDonovan Kenaga - Drums

Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will reissue RUSH's legendary "Presto" album on limited numbered-edition Hybrid SACD.

RUSH was never a band known to play the same sort of thing for any extended period; they often pushed the boundaries of rock and their formidable list of albums helped to bring prog to a wider audience. By 1989, a change was inevitable and with their 13th studio album, "Presto", it was a change for the good. "Presto" marked the beginning of a transition period, moving away from a sound dominated by synthesizers and toward more traditional rock instrumentation. The synths were toned back while the guitars were brought up to a reasonable level allowing the emphasis to return to the rhythm instruments, resurrecting the groove that Rush maintains so very well.

Geddy Lee and Neil Peart are in good form, but Alex Lifeson is the real story; he can be heard in grand force and even pulls out the acoustic guitar. Lifeson's leads in "Superconductor" are brilliant, Geddy Lee does great solo work on "Show Don't Tell" and Peart's percussion on "Scars" features a complex tribal rhythm drum pattern in which both acoustic and electronic drums are utilized — a synthesis of the two that's accessible without compromising. Each of these tracks, along with "The Pass", reached the top of the Album Rock Tracks charts with "Show Don't Tell" hitting #1. "Presto" climbed to No. 16 on The Billboard 200 album chart.

RUSH made a stab at greatness with "Presto" and Rupert Hine's deft production had much to do with its success.

Track listing:

01. Show Don't Tell02. Chain Lightning03. The Pass04. War Paint05. Scars06. Presto07. Superconductor08. Anagram (For Mongo) 09. Red Tide10. Hand Over Fist11. Available Light

For more information, go to this location.

"Qwerty", the new video from MUSHROOMHEAD, the influential industrial metal band from Cleveland, Ohio, can be seen below. The song is taken from the group's eighth studio album, "The Righteous & The Butterfly", which sold around 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 20 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, 2010's "Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children", opened with over 11,000 units to land at No. 44.

MUSHROOMHEAD's 2006 effort, "Savior Sorrow", registered a first-week tally of 17,000 copies to enter the chart at No. 50.

"The Righteous & The Butterfly" was released on May 13 via Megaforce Records. Recorded in Cleveland with longtime co-producer Bill Korecky, the CD consists of 14 tracks, ranging from songs about survival and balance ("Devils Be Damned", "Qwerty", "Son Of 7") to emotionally charged anthems ("For Your Pleasure", "Worlds Collide") to a riff-heavy rendition of Adele's No. 1 hit "Rumor Has It".

MUSHROOMHEAD is comprised of drummers Skinny, Robert Diablo and Stitch; vocalists J Mann, Jeffery Nothing and Waylon; guitarist Church; keyboardist Schmotz; and bassist Dr. F.

The album's title, "The Righteous & The Butterfly", is a dedication to original guitarist J.J. Righteous and the band's former photographer (and drummer Steve "Skinny" Felton's wife) Vanessa Solowiow, who both passed away too soon.

"J.J. was a key member of our band," says Skinny. "He played on the first three records and Vanessa was our photographer and the mother of my children. They were both huge pieces of MUSHROOMHEAD and this record is dedicated to them."

"The Righteous & The Butterfly" marks the return of vocalist J Mann and the debut of new guitarist Church and bassist Dr. F.

"This album damn near wrote itself," proclaims Skinny. "With J Mann's return, this album is a fresh twist on a familiar vibe. It's also the first album with Church and Dr. F. They brought in fresh blood while keeping the integrity of the band's sound and vision intact.

"This is the 20th year of MUSHROOMHEAD and this album is us getting back to our roots."

"The Righteous & The Butterfly" track listing:

01. Our Apologies02. How Many Times03. Devils Be Damned04. Qwerty05. Portraits Of The Poor06. Childlike07. This Cold Reign 08. We Are The Truth09. Son Of 710. For Your Pleasure11. Worlds Collide12. Graveyard Du Jour13. Out Of My Mind14. Rumor Has It

MUSHROOMHEAD will be touring extensively in 2014 to support the effort.

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper took part in a press conference yesterday (Thursday, June 5) before his performance at this year's edition of the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. You can now watch video footage of the question-and-answer session below.

Asked about his upcoming covers album featuring songs that were originally written and recorded by THE DOORS, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and THE WHO, members of the so-called "Hollywood vampires" of the early and mid-'70s, Cooper said: "We have no release date on that. It's done; the album is done. And I can't tell you who's on it or what the songs are, because it's probably not gonna come out until the fall or the beginning of next year.

"When we put this tour together, here for Europe, and then the next tour is 72 [North American] shows with MÖTLEY CRÜE, that takes us all the way to December. There's no way wrapping a show around it until next year.

"We'll release, I think, parts of it.

"The music business is so different now. You don't release a single and then put the album out; you just kind of release songs out there and then you have an album.

"There will be an album; it's fully done and ready to go. And the lineup is jaw-dropping; the people who are on this album."

Cooper's covers album will include "four or five new songs," which the legendary rocker wrote specifically for the new CD. He recently yold VH1 Radio Network's Dave Basner: "We decided that in order to set up the 'Hollywood Vampires' thing, you had to kind of tell the story, and you had to write songs that were going to set up the story, and then get into the covers. So we had fun sitting there writing these new songs around it. So it's going to be quite a package, this thing is."

Regarding how the idea for the covers album came about, Cooper told Yahoo! Music: "Producer Bob Ezrin said to me, 'You know, you're a rock 'n' roll singer. It would be great to hear you doing someone else's material once in a while. And then we thought, 'Well, we can't just do a covers album where we bounce around from song to song.' So Bob came up with the idea, 'Let’s concentrate it on all the guys that you drank with in L.A., the Hollywood Vampires, the ones that are all dead.' It’s really an ode to all my dead, drunk friends: Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, some of the SMALL FACES, Harry Nilsson, T. REX. These were all of my drinking buddies. I like the title 'All My Dead Drunk Friends'. It’s just offensive enough to work, but all those guys would have totally got it. They had the same sense of humor. If you told them you were going to do an album after they were gone called 'All My Dead Drunk Friends,' they would have died laughing." Last year, Cooper said about the upcoming CD: "We do a thing in our show, which is a tribute to Hollywood Vampires, my drinking club. And it was Keith Moon, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Micky Dolenz — a very eclectic bunch of drunks. Half of them are dead, so we do four songs in the show in tribute to them. We do 'Break On Through', 'Revolution', 'My Generation' and Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxey Lady'. I just kind of said, 'We've never done a covers album, let's think about that.'"

Asked what some of the wish-list songs were, Cooper said: "I would keep it right to about '73, '74. I don't want to just go anywhere. I want to keep it right in that sort of drunk era, so it's specific. I would say 'Break On Through', that's a really good rock track there. The other ones, think of it — Harry Nilsson, there's a lot of good stuff there that could be rocked out. I think of songs as being clay. Take a song like 'Jump Into the Fire' and take that to a harder level, and that'll work."

San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans EXODUS yesterday announced the departure of their singer of the past nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of his predecessor, Steve "Zetro" Souza.

Dukes joined EXODUS in January 2005 and appeared on four of the band's studio albums — "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" (2005), "The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" (2007), "Let There Be Blood" (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS' classic 1985 LP, "Bonded By Blood") and "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" (2010).

EXODUS guitarist and main songwriter Gary Holt (pictured) elaborated on the band's decision to split with Rob and re-hire Zetro, explaining: "This was the most difficult decision of our lives, one the entire band made.

"This was not a majority-rule situation; that would not have worked. We all had to agree, and we all did. [There was] no pressure; everyone had to be on the same page.

"This band has all the love for Rob you could ever have for someone, [and] this was not easy.

"The details we will never bother going into. I only ask for people to be respectful both ways, for Rob and for Zetro.

"The lines of communication with the band and Steve are the strongest they've ever been. All things have been discussed — the past, present and future going forward.

"I have had the honor of watching Rob go from unknown guitar tech to awesome singer and frontman and could not be prouder, and his future is bright as fuck, that's for sure. It doesn't end here. The world will see plenty more from Rob, this much I will bank on. But as for the new [EXODUS] record, it is still in full swing.

"Steve will start [recording] vocals [for the new EXODUS CD] on Wednesday and the small sampling I have of him on the new songs is fucking amazing. His best shit ever is coming. Be prepared, it's going to kill.

"But I am well aware that as the so-called face of the band, it is I who will be blamed, the guy who masterminded it all, yada yada yada, but this was a choice made by all. And the most fucked up thing is doing this, it wasn't easy.

"None of us have ever been good at this shit, despite all the lineup changes over the years.

"Rob's contributions are some of the best stuff this band has ever did, a big part of this band's return, and we are grateful."

Back in March of this year, EXODUS entered a studio in Northern California with producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE) to record the band's tenth studio album. A month later, Dukes told Patch.com about the material that was slated to appear on the CD: "This album is very fast and has more of a punk rock feel to it, whereas I think the last few EXODUS albums were metal epics, with longer songs. These songs are shorter and a little faster. It has a really different feel to it. It sounds great."

EXODUS last month played six shows as direct support to SLAYER (with openers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) before joining GUNS N' ROSES, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and KID ROCK at this year's Rock On The Range festival.

EXODUS' next live appearance is scheduled for July 11 at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany.

Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004, left EXODUS ten years ago on the eve of the band's South American headlining tour over what was described as long-standing business and personal differences. Holt subsequently issued a statement calling Souza "human crap" for pulling out the trek "only about twenty-four hours before were ready to leave." He added, "Yes, he did a killer job on the [then-latest] album [2004's 'Tempo Of The Damned'], but mainly because we did not allow him to fuck everything up with his stupid Bon Scott impersonations anymore. We made him sing more like [previous vocalist Paul] Baloff. I tried to make it work. More than you can imagine. But he was (is) the most miserable pile of crap to be around."

After Souza made it clear in several interviews in 2011 that he wanted his old EXODUS job back, Holt — who has been pulling double duty with SLAYER for the past four and a half years — said: "I have nothing against Zetro; really, I don't. I consider him a friend, but the lobbying through the press for people to convince me to give him his job back just got under my skin, because Rob is NOT a placecard holder in EXODUS, he's our singer.

"Zetro's place in EXODUS history is solid, he made some great records with us, and had a good run with the band. But this is now, not then, and we do not plan on throwing away what we have to go back in time."

In a February 2014 interview with DeadRhetoric.com, Souza — who currently fronts an up-and-coming thrash metal band called HATRIOT — stated about the most recent version of EXODUS and whether he would ever return to the group: "I read an interview with Slash about a month ago and he explains it very well. He said, 'The new GUNS N' ROSES, they're great, but this version is not my version of GUNS N' ROSES,' just like this version of EXODUS is not my version of EXODUS, or this version is not Paul Baloff's version of EXODUS. To join would be going backward."

He continued: "Do I love singing those songs? Yeah, for the fans, it would be great. I sing some of those with HATRIOT. I've done so much work with [HATRIOT], I can do everything my way…

"I would have to pass on [rejoining EXODUS] if that actually came up… [If I were in the band] I would say, 'Let's turn left.' [And they would say] 'No, let's turn right.' 'But if you turn right, you're going to fall off the cliff! Let's turn left, guys. Who's the most successful out of this business?' But Gary says: 'Let's turn right.' Okay, fine, we fall off the cliff. With HATRIOT, I get to turn left. I get to drive the Cadillac, and it's fine with me."

On Sunday, HATRIOT released the following statement regarding Zetro's return to EXODUS: "This is great news and we are very happy about it and this will not stop HATRIOT at all. Zetro will be doing both bands. We are still going to be creating music, playing shows and staying an active band. We look forward to the European tour next month."

Rob Dukes, who sang for San Francisco Bay Area thrashers EXODUS for nine years before being fired from the band last week and replaced by his predecessor, Steve "Zetro" Souza, has released the following statement exclusively to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"I'm grateful for the last nine years.

"I've had the experience of touring the world playing music.

"I was just a regular guy, a fan, and I got the chance to front a legendary band while [having had] no prior experience of being a singer. I had no idea what I was doing and made it up as I was going along.

"I had the experience of making records.

"It was a great chapter of my life.

"I'm bummed it ended with [EXODUS], but I have another band, GENERATION KILL. So I will concentrate on that right now and continue to build hotrods and build a car to race in the Baja 1000.

"I will be riding my motorcycle all over this beautiful country every chance I get. That's the next chapter of my life."

Dukes joined EXODUS in January 2005 and appeared on four of the band's studio albums — "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" (2005), "The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" (2007), "Let There Be Blood" (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS' classic 1985 LP, "Bonded By Blood") and "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" (2010).

EXODUS guitarist and main songwriter Gary Holt said that the decision to fire Rob and re-hire Zetro "was the most difficult decision of our lives, one the entire band made." He added: "I have had the honor of watching Rob go from unknown guitar tech to awesome singer and frontman and could not be prouder, and his future is bright as fuck, that's for sure. It doesn't end here. The world will see plenty more from Rob, this much I will bank on… Rob's contributions are some of the best stuff this band has ever did, a big part of this band's return, and we are grateful."

Dukes has released two studio albums with his GENERATION KILL project, 2011's "Red White And Blood" and 2013's "We're All Gonna Die".

In a 2013 interview with Metal Assault, Dukes stated about "We're All Gonna Die": "It was cool to make this album because we were paying homage to the music that we loved. If you listen to it and open your mind, you can hear everything from QUEEN, a little bit of RUSH and THE DOORS, a bit of [IRON] MAIDEN, [BLACK] SABBATH, [JUDAS] PRIEST, early METALLICA and all of those. We expanded upon them and made it our own, but we didn't reinvent the wheel. We just wrote songs that we wanted to hear ourselves."

He added: "I like listening to my own album because I'm proud of it, and it has good songs. You can't ask for anything more than that, right? If the album doesn't sell, I don't care. I mean, I'm hoping that it does well, because I would love to be successful, but if it doesn't, hey man, at least I know I made a good record."

BLACK SABBATH members Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar) and Geezer Butler (bass) took part in a press conference yesterday (Friday, June 6) before their performance at this year's edition of the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. You can now watch video footage of the question-and-answer session below.

Asked about the band's recent concert in Moscow when technical issues prevented BLACK SABBATH from playing "Paranoid" as an encore, Geezer said: "It's probably one of the very few times that we haven't [that song during a SABBATH concert]. But it wasn't our fault, because it was the hard disk in the P.A. system went down. And you can't just replace it. You have to reboot the whole system, and it takes 24 hours, I think." Tony added: "We were all ready to go on, and then suddenly it went off."

Regarding BLACK SABBATH's plans for the future beyond the band's current tour, Ozzy said: "We haven't really discussed it. It is possible there's gonna be another album. But we haven't really sat down and decided what we're gonna do yet. We just wanna finish this tour and then we'll see."

Asked about Tony Iommi's recent remark that their upcoming concert in London's Hyde Park could be their last, Ozzy told Guitar World, "If it's goodbye, we're ending it on a high note… But I'm up for another BLACK SABBATH album and tour. If we can, great. If not, I'll just carry on doing my own thing." According to The Pulse Of Radio, Butler, meanwhile, thinks that the threesome already have a head start on a new record, explaining, "We've still got four tracks left over from ['13']. So maybe we'll fill in the other four or five tracks and put out another album — if it's right. We wouldn't do it just for the sake of it, or the money or whatever. But yeah, maybe."

Ozzy added, "I never say never. I never thought after 35 years I'd [be back with BLACK SABBATH], have a No. 1 record and a sold-out tour."

"13", the first SABBATH album since 1978 to feature Ozzy, Butler and Iommi, was No. 1 in the U.S., the U.K. and nearly a dozen other countries.

Iommi, who has battled cancer since 2012, said recently that the massive July 4 gig at London's Hyde Park could be the band's last because the touring can be tough on him.

Iommi, who is in remission, admitted, "To be honest I don't want to be touring to this extent too much longer, because it makes me feel so bad."

The Hyde Park show will feature SOUNDGARDEN and others in addition to the headliners.

Southern California-based four man hatecrew NAILS has inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The band's as-yet-untitled third album is tentatively scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2015.

"After waging an oppressive blitzkrieg against the world in 2013 with 'Abandon All Life', NAILS will join the ranks of the legendary Nuclear Blast for our next campaign of grindcore/death/punk tyranny," comments NAILS vocalist/guitarist Todd Jones. "Alongside the hate dogs is none other than Monte Conner, building on his work with gods like OBITUARY, DEATH and SEPULTURA in bringing the extreme underground to the forefront of heavy music.

"Deep in a Southern California bunker crafting our newest LP, the tyrants offer sincere thanks to our former team at Southern Lord for their commitment to NAILS' vision. Long live bleak aggression, crushing rage, and audial warfare. Long live NAILS. HATRED AD INFINITUM…"

Formed in December 2007, NAILS is comprised of Todd Jones, Taylor Young, John Gianelli and A.R. Saba. Their music can only be described as being beyond conventional aural brutality. Their unique blend of grindcore, death metal, and punk invokes the most unabashed violent emotions from the recesses of its listeners' reptilian brains. Their raw sincerity, take-no-prisoners live show and D.I.Y. work ethic has earned the band a vast loyal following, and made them the most talked about band in the underground. The legendary Max Cavalera recently accurately declared their current album "Abandon All Life" as "one of the best albums of the last 20 years," and NAILS to be "probably the heaviest band right now."

NAILS is:

Todd Jones - Vocals, GuitarSaba - Guitar John Gianelli - BassTaylor Young - Drums

An audio sample of the new JUDAS PRIEST song "Dragonaut", along with footage of guitarist Glenn Tipton, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis 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" preview:


"Crossfire" preview:


"Halls Of Valhalla" preview:


"March Of The Damned" audio stream:


"Redeemer Of Souls" song audio stream:


"Redeemer Of Souls" album artwork:



"Redeemer Of Souls" single artwork:

"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 cover artwork for the "World On Fire" single can be seen below.

Dutch pop/rock radio station 3FM has uploaded a 30-second audio sample of the "World On Fire" cut. Check it out using the audio player 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" single artwork:



"World On Fire" song audio sample:


"World On Fire" album artwork:

"Decayin' With The Boys", the new video from hardcore heroes EVERY TIME I DIE, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's new album, "From Parts Unknown", which will be released on July 1 via Epitaph Records.

It could have been easy for EVERY TIME I DIE to go on autopilot. After sixteen years as a band they know what works and could go on doing the same thing — but that would be "boring and baseless," according to vocalist Keith Buckley. "Instead of making something that the kids can all sing along to, we wanted to make music that scares them," he says.

So EVERY TIME I DIE brought out the big guns and spent a month recording with legendary producer and CONVERGE co-founder Kurt Ballou at his GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts.

"Working with Kurt was stressful in the best way, like when your dad comes to watch you play baseball for the first time and you just want to make him proud," says Buckley. Ballou challenged the band to dig deeper, work quickly, and create heavy but catchy tracks. Vocals transverse from dark and light by swerving from scream to howl to like a fired-up war cry. Guitarists Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams, and drummer Ryan Leger cement their massive riffs, frantic rhythms, and brutal vocal work into a dozen of the most awesomely devastating songs the band’s created so far. Ballou has produced countless classic hardcore records for over 15 years, with recent releases including NAILS' "Abandon All Life", SKELETONWITCH's "Serpents Unleashed" and MODERN LIFE IS WAR's "Fever Hunting".

The "From Parts Unknown" title was initially inspired by a term used by wrestlers to increase their mystique, It ultimately references the more hopeful mood that creeped into the album's lyrics during songwriting.

"I didn't even realize I had that more positive outlook in me," notes Buckley. The positive outlook is especially impressive considering that a bout of laryngitis left Buckley laid up for much of the recording and forced him to tear through most of the vocal tracking in a single day. Adding to the already impressive state of this album, Brian Fallon of GASLIGHT ANTHEM and Sean Ingram of COALESCE lend their vocals to a few tracks as well.

"From Parts Unknown" track listing:

01. The Great Secret02. Pelican Of The Desert03. Decayin' With The Boys04. Overstayer05. If There Is Room To Move, Things Move06. Moor07. Exometrium08. Thirst09. Old Light10. All Structures Are Unstable11. El Dorado12. Idiot

"Decayin' With The Boys" video:


"Thirst" video:

"Gunfight", the new Jamie Brown-directed video from KXM, the project featuring drummer Ray Luzier (KORN), bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick (KING'S X) and guitarist George Lynch (LYNCH MOB, DOKKEN), can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's self-titled debut album, which sold around 9.800 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 31 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"KXM" was released on March 11 via Rat Pak Records. The CD was produced by KXM and Chris Collier, who is known for his work with LYNCH MOB, Lita Ford and Tommy Bolin, to name a few.

KXM takes its name from the combination of the members' other projects: K from KORN, X from KING'S X and M from LYNCH MOB.

In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Luzier, Lynch and Pinnick spoke about how KXM came together.

"I had a birthday party for my son and invited a bunch of friends and musicians," Ray said. "Doug and George ended up in my home studio picking up my guitars and jamming around a bit. George said, 'We should all do a record together sometime,' and I said, 'That would be a dream come true!'

"I've been a huge KING'S X fan for decades and have been following George and had respected his playing for decades. We just tried to figure out everyone's schedules to make it happen. I give it up for George for being so persistent in getting this going. KORN tours all year, every year, and with Doug and George's crazy schedules, it's just awesome that we made it happen. I'm very pleased with the result."

Pinnick added: "George was the instigator. Ray and I have known each other for quite a while and always talked about doing something together, but George brought it up at Ray's party and we agreed. George got after it and Ray did the same! Before I knew it, we were in a studio in the mountains, got a record deal, a video and a CD. As they say in Texas, 'You gotta get after it!' George has an incredible amount of energy and humor, and he gets things done. I've learned a lot from him. He's a true genius with the heart of a saint — and he comes up with some crazy guitar parts."

Lynch said: "When you're working as a pro musician in L.A., you're frequently running into other players who you know and respect. A lot of times, the 'dream band' conversation comes up. It's fun to talk about. A lot of times, it's the alcohol talking. But the reality for most of us is that we're locked into other commitments and obligations that in the cold light of day don't really afford us the time or flexibility to pull off these projects that look great on paper.

"I'm not trying to take credit here, but I gotta honestly say I was determined to follow through and at least push hard enough to see if we could get any momentum going. Ray jumped right in and was obviously really excited about making it happen, despite his insanely busy schedule with KORN. I think for Doug, it was sort of like, 'Well, yeah, sure, I'll invest some time and energy into this,' but I don't think he realized how profound and potentially musically rewarding and even important KXM could become. But as the writing and recording started to happen and evolve, he became like a little kid in a candy store!"

"KXM" track listing: 01. Stars02. Rescue Me03. Gunfight04. Never Stop05. Faith Is A Room06. I'll Be OK07. Sleep08. Love09. Burn10. Do It Now11. Human Friction12. Tranquilize (bonus track)13. Rescue Me (radio edit) (bonus track)

Fan-filmed video footage of SEPULTURA's entire June 6 performance at Dom Omladine in Belgrade, Serbia can be seen below.

SEPULTURA's new album, "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart", sold around 1,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD came out on October 29, 2013 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Although it was inspired by Fritz Lang's classic 1927 movie "Metropolis", "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart" is not a concept album or a soundtrack like its precedessors "Dante XXI" (based on "The Divine Comedy") and "A-Lex" (based on "A Clockwork Orange").

"The Mediator Between The Head And Hands Must Be The Heart" was tracked over a 40-day period at producer Ross Robinson's (KORN, LIMP BIZKIT, SLIPKNOT) studio in Venice, California and was mixed and mastered by co-producer Steve Evetts, who previously worked with SEPULTURA on the "Nation" (2001), "Revolusongs" (2002) and "Roorback" (2003) albums, in addition to having collaborated with Ross on a number of other projects in the past.

In a 2013 interview with Live-Metal.net, SEPULTURA singer Derrick Green stated about the new album title: "We always have the simple one-word titles or very basic. And with this we knew what we wanted to do. We wanted to maybe make people think a little bit.

"I think we have become lobotomized, including myself, because I'm not putting myself outside of anything. I think a lot of times we live in a time where people are thinking actions or creating ideas — doing something in their head but going right to their hands. And they're missing the essential part, the heart and the compassion, that's behind what you are doing. And (the title) came from a movie called 'Metropolis' (1927) by a director called Fritz Lang, and it's a silent movie. And it's actually the first thing you see in the movie. And the meaning behind it is just that: It's impossible to be human without having the heart dictate what you're doing and why you're doing certain things.

"So I believe this album has that passion and drive and love for music.

"So many things I've been hearing are just about trying to be perfect, with the digital age and trying to make everything sound perfect. Like on albums and things like that, it doesn't even sound real. It doesn't sound human anymore. So this is something going back to really trying not to be perfect. We're trying to pull out that love and desire and just grabbing that moment, placing it on an album and recording it, and not being worried about those other things."

Rob Zombie joined Alice Cooper on stage during the legendary rocker's June 5 performance at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Asked what it was like touring with Alice Cooper, Zombie recently told Fanpass: "I have known Alice for about 20 years. Doing a tour with Alice was one of the best tours. 'Cause usually, you're on tour with people and they might be your friends, but maybe… they're just your buddies, but musically, you're not compatible. That was the first time I remember being on tour and it felt like what I thought touring should be. In your mind as a kid in the '70s, like, 'This is what touring should be.' But the best moment of that whole thing was, one night we were playing and Alice was watching the show from the side of the stage, and the lights were dark enough and on him, he was just wearing his leather jacket and he had his shirt on, and he was drinking a Coke which looked like a beer, and it looked like a 20-year-old Alice Cooper watching us, and it was fucking weird, man. Even, like, with the guys in his band. We've done stuff. We did the Scream Awards once and they showed a tribute to Alice, or like at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I get so used to knowing the Alice as he is now that I forget when I watch clips when he's really young. I'm, like, 'Fuck, it's the same guy.' I forget sometimes, just because it's separated in your mind."

Cooper was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2011 at New York City's Waldorf Astoria. Cooper was inducted by Zombie, who said during his introduction, "Alice Cooper invented the rock show. Before Alice Cooper, there was no rock show. They're more than a band. They were more like a murderous gang of drag queens — in a good way."

Zombie's first-ever concert film, "The Zombie Horror Picture Show", came out on May 19. The set features Zombie leading his band through longtime favorites like "Living Dead Girl", "More Human Than Human" and "Dragula". The movie was filmed during stops on last year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour in Houston on August 3, 2013 and Dallas on August 4.

A photo book by photographer Rob Fenn was published as a companion to the Blu-ray and DVD.

Zombie has also been working on a new studio album, telling Billboard, "It sounds fuckin' weird man. That's a really good thing… It's going good. I'll work on that for about a month and get as far as I can get. Then in July we have a little bit of a break where I'll probably finish the record, and then we have some more touring."

Zombie's fifth solo album, "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor", came out in April 2013.

Professionally filmed video footage of EPICA's June 7 acoustic performance at the Pinkpop festival in Landgraaf, The Netherlands can be seen below.

EPICA's sixth studio album, "The Quantum Enigma", sold around 3,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 110 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, "Requiem For The Indifferent", opened with 4,800 units back in March 2012 to enter the chart at No. 104.

EPICA's fourth album, "Design Your Universe", registered a first-week tally of 2,100 back in 2009 to land at position No. 12 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.

Where the 2013 "Retrospect" performance reflected on a decade as one of the leading bands in the symphonic metal scene, "The Quantum Enigma" marks the beginning of a new EPICA: modern, heavy, and without compromises.

In a recent interview with Metal-Rules.com, singer Simone Simons stated about the making of "The Quantum Enigma": "Entering the studio two months after giving birth [to my son], being quite fatigued, it was a challenge being tired and being in this new state of mind. I put that to good use and kind of got strength out of the whole thing and I feel emotionally and physically a richer person than I did before and I put that in my vocals for the record."

Speaking to ThisIsNotAScene.com, Simons stated about how being a first-time mother has changed her outlook on being in a touring band: "Being in a band like EPICA isn't so much a job as it is a way of life.

"I always wanted to become a mother, so being away from my son is something that comes with being a touring musician.

"My husband [KAMELOT keyboardist Oliver Palotai] is also a musician, so [my son is] basically being raised with the idea that both his parents are touring musicians.

"Being a mother has really enriched my life as a human being and that's something you can also hear in the vocals on the new album.

"I miss him terribly when I'm touring, but then again, touring is the only way for our band to make a living and raising a child costs money, so in a way, it's a classic Catch 22 situation. I do have the best of both worlds. I'm a mother and a singer in very successful metal band."

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich says that the band's isn't bothered by the negative feedback to its upcoming appearance at this year's Glastonbury, explaining that he and his bandmates are "respectful" of the fact that METALLICA is the first metal act to ever headline the event in the festival's 44-year history.

A petition was launched online last month calling for the removal of METALLICA as Glastonbury headliners after it was announced that frontman James Hetfield will be hosting a new series about bear hunting on the History channel. In addition, drummer Martin Bulloch of Scottish post-rock icons MOGWAI described METALLICA as "shite," while multi-instrumentalist Barry Burns added: "I can't wait to hear that guy [referring to Ulrich] play the drums again — unbelievably bad."

Ulrich tells U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine that METALLICA is able to deflect negative comments from naysayers, explaining (see video below): "Glastonbury is like the Holy Grail in England, and we're respectful to that. But if somebody sits there and talks about petitions or what some other guy says, there's a point that it just becomes ridiculous.

"We're fairly thick-skinned. Obviously if Mick Jagger [of THE ROLLING STONES] has something to say, or Alex Turner [of ARCTIC MONKEYS], or the nice guys in KASABIAN, it's cool. But if some guy in some other band… it's like, 'Huh? What? Who are you?'" METALLICA will close the show at Glastonbury on Saturday, June 28. Other headliners include ARCADE FIRE and KASABIAN.

During a recent interview with the BBC Radio 1's "Rock Show", Ulrich spoke further about the criticism METALLICA has received for its appearance at Glastonbury, saying: "The fact that everyone's got an opinion I'll take as a good thing because it means that people still care and are still interested and we still have one foot in relevance of some sort. It's comforting that 33 years into a career you can still manage to stir up a little bit.

"Glastonbury is the biggest, greatest festival on this planet and we're headlining Saturday night.

"Bring it on. We're going to show up and have fun, but all the hoopla is interesting."

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Glastonbury is a very laid-back type of festival, with more of a hippie/indie vibe than most, which is why there has been so much controversy over METALLICA playing the show in the first place.

Mick Jagger of THE ROLLING STONES — who headlined the festival last year — recently shared his opinion of METALLICA headlining Glastonbury, saying: "I've seen them live and they're going to be great." Jagger added that his band had a "great time" headlining the event.

Norwegian black/death metallers ANCIENT are working on their seventh album, "Chapter VII: Back From The Land Of The Dead", for a tentative fall release. Nick Barker (ex-DIMMU BORGIR, CRADLE OF FILTH) recorded the drums for the CD at Alpha-Omega Studio in Como, Italy, and the guitars were laid down in March. Founder and frontman Zel (a.k.a. Aphazel) recorded vocals with Jacob Hansen (who also produced the "Proxima Centauri" album from 2002) in Denmark.

Comments Zel: "[There are] by far the best vocals I have done for ANCIENT.

"Recording with Jacob really made me start to enjoy the vocalist role again, a feeling stronger than I have had for years now.

"Recording at the Hansen studios, with the great set ups, effects, etc., somehow brings out the beast in me again, you will hear!"

There will also be some guest vocals on the album, to be announced later.

Recordings of bass and keyboards will take place in June and July, and the album should be finished around the end of July.

Adds Zel: "The recordings have taken more time than expected, but the way it goes now, this album is turning out to be a serious masterpiece and we absolutely want to give it all the time and attention necessary before making the final master.

"The wait has been long, and stressing for us, but it will be very worth it."

"Chapter VII: Back From The Land Of The Dead" is being recorded in seven different locations, with the best studio selected for each instrument in order to give the very best production ANCIENT has ever had.

States Zel: "This album is the most aggressive Ancient album so far, a lot thanks to Nick Barker.

"As always, there are many dark melodic and atmospheric parts to be found, the sound ANCIENT is known for."

Songtitles set to appear on "Chapter VII: Back From The Land Of The Dead" include:

* Born In The Land Of The Dead* The Sempiternal Haze * The Ancient Disarray

ANCIENT 2014 is:

Zel - vocals, guitars, keyboards Dhilorz - guitar, bass Nick Barker - drums

ANCIENT's sixth album, "Night Visit" was released in June 2004 through Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2001's "Proxima Centauri" was recorded at Mirage and Alpha-Omega studios and was mixed at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström (HAMMERFALL, IN FLAMES, DIMMU BORGIR, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS, etc.). Mastering was done at Sterling Sound in New York City.

Dutch pop/rock radio station 3FM has uploaded a 30-second audio sample of "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. Check it out using the audio player 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 "World On Fire" was designed by American contemporary artist Ron English and can be seen below.

"World On Fire", which features the blazing title track as the first single, 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 sample:

W.A.S.P. is "about three weeks away from finishing" its new studio album, titled "Golgotha", for an early 2015 release. During a press conference yesterday (Friday, June 6) before the band's performance at this year's edition of the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden, W.A.S.P. mainman Blackie Lawless stated about the lyrical inspiration for the upcoming CD (see video below): "'Golgotha' is Hebrew for place of the skull, and it's the hill where Christ was crucified. And it's interesting, when you see a lot of bands going around using Satanic images or images of death and things like that, and I'm thinking, all they need to do is look at the source, 'cause it's right there. I mean, if you want death, there's enough to go around there."

Regarding the musical direction of W.A.S.P.'s new material, Lawless said: "It sounds probably more similar to the last two that we've done [2007's 'Dominator' and 2009's 'Babylon']. And we've been working on this thing for four years now."

He continued: "I don't know if you guys heard, I had a little hiccup last year, and that delayed recording for almost a year. I broke my leg. And that, too, was an interesting trip.

"But there's one thing that I learned when I was doing [1992's] 'The Crimson Idol': if you make a record over too long of a period of time, you have to be very, very careful, because the record you start out making is not the record you end up finishing, because you've changed so much as a person over a three- or four-year period, you've gotta be very, very careful to hold on to that vision. But from what I'm hearing so far — and it's not completely mixed yet — it has definite overtones of the last two records."

Lawless was also asked about his statements in past interviews that he will never perform W.A.S.P.'s classic song "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)" live again because of his "religious faith."

"I look at it like this: I'm a representative of the most high God," he said. "But I have to be very careful about the things I say and do," he said. "I mean, I'm gonna answer one day for the things that I've done. And I wanna make sure that when I do, that my slate is clean. But equally as import as that, I think, is I've been given an opportunity to stand in front of people, and you're either gonna say something positive or you're gonna say something midnless; there's no in between — you're either one or the other. And I'm just trying my best. And I'm not saying that I'm doing it all the time, but I'm trying my best to say something that I think could help somebody's life."

He continued: "I remember on the first album [1984's 'W.A.S.P.'], we had a song called 'B.A.D.'. And a girl came up to me one day, and she says, 'I wanna thank you for that song.' And I said, 'What for?' And she says, 'Well, I used to be a really bad heroin addict. And when I heard that song, it changed my life and I don't shoot heroin anymore.' Now, that song had nothing to do with heroin; I don't know what she heard in those lyrics. And at the time, I really didn't wanna hear that, because, to me, I knew enough about what a statement from her like that meant. To me, that was the 'R' word, and I didn't wanna know about… The 'R' word, to me, was 'responsibility,' and I didn't wanna hear it. And I ran from that as far as I could. And then over a period of time…

"We got finished with the 'Inside The Electric Circus' record [1986], and I realized we had made one of the biggest piles of junk in the history of the recording industry. And I said, 'You know what?! That's it. I'm not doing that anymore. If I can't say something with the music, there's no point in me doing it.' And I thought, 'This girl is telling me she's not shooting heroin anymore, and I didn't even try. Imagine what I could do if I tried just a little bit.' And there's a ton of stories that you hear like that.

"You don't realize the impact that you're having on people. Because I'm one of those kind of people, I live in my own little bubble. I mean, I am one of the worst people to ask opinions about anything, because I just live in my own little space. If I'm not writing or in the studio, I live way away from everybody and I'm just in my own world. So you don't realize the impact you have on people a lot of times. I mean, when I'm at home, I have a ranch that… It's a pretty big piece of property, and I get out there and I just walk around and I'm just me. And I forget, a lot of times, until I go some place and somebody is interested, for whatever reason, in anything I might have to say. To me, that's always surprising. Because, quite honestly, I don't think it's that important. But apparently somebody does."

According to Lawless, the change in his lyrical approach happened with the 1989 release of "The Headless Children" album. He said: "There's a place, I guess, for all kinds of music, but for myself personally, I started looking around at what I felt was my purpose. And I thought music can be so much more than this. And I'm not saying that there's not a place for gusy to have a good time. But if I can do something to say something or help change somebody's life, I'm gonna sleep a lot better at night."

Blackie also spoke about his early life as a born-again Christian and his decision to leave the church at age 18, only to return to his Christian faith 20 years later.

"Like a lot of people, organzed religion was telling me things that I didn't see in the Bible," he explained. "And so, for 20 years after I left the church, I walked around with all these things that I had been taught, and I thought I was mad at God. And after 20 years, I realized I was not mad at God, I was mad at man for the institutionalized thinking that I had been indoctrinated with. And I discovered then, whether it's the Bible or anything else you ever wanna know in life, don't listen to somebody else telling you. You wanna find out, go find out for yourself, because ultimately you are going to be responsible for yourself. And so that's what I did. And when I did that, I realized, like, I wasn't mad at God anymore. These guys that had been telling me this stuff for the longest time, I realized that they had an agenda."

Florida-based technical metal pioneers ATHEIST will record their fifth studio album later in the year with producer Jason Suecof (DEATH ANGEL, JOB FOR A COWBOY, GOD FORBID, DEVILDRIVER) for an early 2015 release. Comments vocalist Kelly Shaefer: “We are happy to report that the fifth ATHEIST LP is in the works, and the band could not be more excited about the possibilities...

"[Returning bassist] Tony Choy will join us this go-around, and having the endless rhythmic possibilities will be amazing.

"We will be working with Jason Suecof on this record. He has such a vast wealth of knowledge of our history as well as our sound, and we were lucky to be able to have him mix 'Jupiter', but this time he will be involved in the recording as well as the mix so that will be beastly!!" Rounding out the current ATHEIST lineup are drummer Steve Flynn as well as guitarists Chris Martin and Jason Holloway, the latter two of whom joined the band on the past tours but who have not been featured on an ATHEIST recording yet.

ATHEIST has also signed a worldwide management deal with New York-based Extreme Management Group, Inc. (SUFFOCATION, ORIGIN, DECREPIT BIRTH, CATTLE DECAPITATION, CRYPTOPSY). Comments the band: "This is a brand new venture for ATHEIST as we have never had management in our 25-year career, and EMG seems to be the perfect fit.

"We are inspired to set sail, and move forward in this the next, very important phase of the legacy, and integrity of the band, as well as this new album forthcoming.

"They have done great work with bands we are familiar with and friends with, and it is something we had never been afforded in the past to create new ventures for the band, as well as field the ones available to us now." The first three studio albums from ATHEIST — "Piece Of Time" (1989), "Unquestionable Presence" (1991) and "Elements" (1993) — were re-released on vinyl in North America in June 2013 via Season Of Mist. The new editions are remastered on colored vinyl and limted to 500 copies per title worldwide.

ATHEIST's last abum, 2010's critically acclaimed "Jupiter""Jupiter" was released on November 9, 2010 (one day earlier internationally) via Season Of Mist. The CD was recorded at LedBelly studios in Atlanta, Georgia with engineer Matt Washburn and was mixed by Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER). The cover artwork was created by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with TESTAMENT, SIGH, ANACRUSIS and GWAR, among others.

Southern Lord Recordings has announced that influential, visionary metal act TODAY IS THE DAY has joined with the label's roster for the release of its tenth studio album, "Animal Mother", due later this year. Earlier this year, TODAY IS THE DAY's newest lineup was announced, as the foundation of the then-unnamed album was taking shape. Guitarist/vocalist Steve Austin welcomed Sean Conkling (REGRESSION, BURN YOUR HALO, SPRAWL) on bass as well as returning member Jeff Lohrber (ENABLER, ex-HARLOTS), Lohrber having previously handled touring drum duties for TODAY IS THE DAY many times in the past. Conkling and Lohrber tracked most of their parts in December and January at the founding frontman's own recording and mastering studio in Maine. Since then, Austin has been painstakingly layering guitars, vocals and more, and the final sessions for TODAY IS THE DAY's tenth studio full-length will take place later in June. "Sometimes things just dial-in and align perfectly," Steve Austin stated about signing with Southern Lord for the release of "Animal Mother". "Myself and TODAY IS THE DAY are extremely excited about working with Southern Lord Records and Greg Anderson. To me they have the right idea about the kind of music they release; heavy, real, experimental, integrity-driven music is what the label represents to me. TODAY IS THE DAY's 'Animal Mother' LP on Southern Lord in 2014... I don't think I could ask for anything more!”

Added Southern Lord owner Greg Anderson on the union: "Southern Lord is deeply honored to be working with TODAY IS THE DAY. Steve Austin has been a long time force in the underground and we're stoked to now be a small part of the TODAY IS THE DAY legacy." Regarding the album title, Austin offers: "'Animal Mother' means the embodiment of the prophetic gift of the shaman; it is the shaman's visionary power, which is able to penetrate the past and future."

Earlier this year, the frontman warned the public that the album would be "a fifteen-song rampage of bloody carnage fueled by hate, love and vile, raw emotion," continuing, "I feel it is my finest work to this date. It is the most complex and heavy record we have ever made. This is real — no bullshit Pro Tools crap; just pure violent energy and real band songwriting in the middle of the woods in Maine. It lies somewhere between 'Temple Of The Morning Star' and 'In The Eyes of God', and Jeff's playing is beyond incredible. I was determined to push the limits in complexity, musicianship, and creativity as far as we could and I feel we have put together a record that narrates the horror and pain that we have been living through.”"

For two and a half decades, TODAY IS THE DAY has woven Steve Austin's prophetic observations and noise-soaked chaos through a psychedelic, unique and unmatched battery of heavy styles. The outfit has spawned an incredible discography, forging its way to the forefront of Amphetamine Reptile, Relapse, Blackmarket Activities and many others.

Steve Austin has produced nearly all of TODAY IS THE DAY's releases, as well as groundbreaking albums for LAMB OF GOD, CONVERGE and DEADGUY, among many others.

Austin is featured in the "Color Of Noise" documentary about Amphetamine Reptile Records, and is currently scoring several independent films.