"Godless Arrogance", the fifth full-length album from Dutch black metallers SAMMATH, is available for streaming in its entirety using the SoundCloud widget below (courtesy of Terrorizer magazine). The effort, which will be made available on CD, vinyl and download on February 3 via Hammerheart Records, was mastered by Peter Neuber (REVENGE, HORNA, SEVERE TORTURE).

SAMMATH was formed in 1994 by guitarist and vocalist Jan Kruitwagen, who drew inspiration from early black metal and the thrash, speed and death metal legends of the Eighties. After a string of well-received demo tapes, the band put out their gruesome debut, "Strijd", in 1999, quickly gaining a reputation for themselves in the Dutch black metal scene.

Quality fan-filmed video footage of ALICE IN CHAINS November 13 performance in Biringham, England can be seen below.

ALICE IN CHAINS' fifth studio album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here", sold 62,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. The disc follows up 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue", which was the group's first all-new collection of material in 14 years. That CD opened with 126,000 units back in October 2009 to debut at No. 5.

ALICE IN CHAINS was last in the Top Two with its self-titled 1995 set, which debuted at No. 1 on that year's November 25 chart, according to Billboard.com. It would be their final studio release with singer Layne Staley, who died in 2002.

"The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" is ALICE IN CHAINS' second album with William DuVall on vocals.

DuVall began touring with the group in 2006, four years after the death of Layne Staley from a drug overdose.

ALICE IN CHAINS began working on the new disc in 2011, but the sessions for the album were delayed when guitarist Jerry Cantrell had to undergo shoulder surgery.

Finnish / Dutch / British symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH released their new DVD, "Showtime, Storytime", on November 29 as a limited 2Blu-ray + 2CD digipack, limited 2DVD + 2CD digipack, limited 2CD digipack, 2LP (colored) in gatefold and an exclusive Nuclear Blast mailorder edition. The set will be made available in North America on December 10.

"Showtime, Storytime" contains NIGHTWISH's entire August 3 performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. The show, which was played in the front of 85,000 screaming metalheads, was directed by Ville Lipiäinen, filmed with seventeen cameras and has a total running time of 85 minutes. The second disc consists of a 120-minute tour documentary, "Please Learn The Setlist In 48 Hours", also directed by Ville Lipiäinen, with no shortage of drama or overall madness. Also, there is a 16-minute NIGHTWISH Table Hockey Tournament, filmed on tour. In addition, there are two music clips: "I Want My Tears Back" (live at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland) and "Ghost Love Score" (live in Buenos Aires). The Wacken Open Air appearance was the first of the three final shows of NIGHTWISH's "Imaginaerum World Tour", which saw the band and their Dutch singer Floor Jansen (REVAMP, ex-AFTER FOREVER) playing 104 concerts in 34 different countries, with a total audience of over 1.5 million fans around the globe.

Commented NIGHTWISH mastermind and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen: "Our darling flying Dutchwoman, Floor Jansen, has been nothing but incredible during her time in NIGHTWISH on this tour, so this is a perfect opportunity to immortalize the current vibe of the band on film!" NIGHTWISH's setlist for the Wacken Open Air performance was as follows:

01. Dark Chest Of Wonders02. Wish I Had An Angel03. She Is My Sin04. Ghost River05. Ever Dream06. Storytime07. I Want My Tears Back08. Nemo09. Last Of The Wilds10. Bless The Child11. Romanticide12. Amaranth13. Ghost Love Score14. Song Of Myself15. Last Ride Of The Day16. Outro (Imaginaerum)

The sixth trailer for"Showtime, Storytime" can be seen below.

German melodic metallers FREEDOM CALL will release their new studio album, "Beyond", on February 24, 2014 in Europe and March 4 in North America via SPV/Steamhammer. The 14-song effort was recorded at Separate Studios in Nuremberg and FREEDOM CALL's own studio and was produced by guitarist/vocalist Chris Bay and Stephan Ernst.

Comments Chris Bay: "Stylistically, we have remained faithful to ourselves. In fact, we've even returned to a slightly more traditional direction. I think that's probably the result of recent tours, where we had lots of fun with the classic FREEDOM CALL numbers, which not only a lot of our faithful fans from the band's early days will appreciate."

Along with the album release, there will be a video for the song "Union Of The Strong". Other tracks featured on the CD include "Knights Of Taragon" and "Colours Of Freedom", which is described as "a typical FREEDOM CALL number."

"'Dance Off The Devil' — the 'off' is consciously spelled with a double 'f' — with its African rhythms and mystic grooves may sound slightly unusual, but it perfectly suits the album title, which is meant in a spiritual sense," adds Bay.

"Beyond" was recorded by FREEDOM CALL's current lineup consisting of Chris Bay (guitar, vocals), Lars Rettkowitz (guitar), Ilker Ersin (bass) and Ramy Ali (drums).

Limited Boxset Edition

CD Digi

01. Union Of The Strong 02. Knights Of Taragon 03. Heart Of A Warrior 04. Come On Home 05. Beyond 06. Among The Shadows 07. Edge Of The Ocean 08. Journey Into Wonderland 09. In The Rhythm Of Light 10. Dance Off The Devil 11. Paladin 12. Follow Your Heart 13. Colours Of Freedom 14. Beyond Eternity Bonus CD In Cardboard Sleeve

Freedom Call (live) in the Black Forest

01. Back Into The Land Of Light (live) 02. Hero On Video (live)03. Rockstars (live)04. Farewell (live)05. Mr. Evil (special version)(Live)06. Power & Glory (live) Freedom Call - Unplugged & Masqueraded 07. Freedom Call (unplugged)08. The Quest (unplugged)09. Warriors (unplugged)10. Power & Glory (unplugged)11. Farewell (unplugged)12. Mr.Evil - Reggae (live) 13. Rockin' Radio - Killerbilly -live DigiPak Version

01. Union Of The Strong 02. Knights Of Taragon 03. Heart Of A Warrior 04. Come On Home 05. Beyond 06. Among The Shadows 07. Edge Of The Ocean 08. Journey Into Wonderland 09. In The Rhythm Of Light 10. Dance Off The Devil 11. Paladin 12. Follow Your Heart 13. Colours Of Freedom 14. Beyond Eternity 2LP Gatefold Version Side A 01. Union Of The Strong 02. Knights Of Taragon 03. Heart Of A Warrior 04. Edge Of The Ocean 05. Dance Off The Devil Side B 06. Beyond07. Among The Shadows08. Journey Into Wonderland09. Paladin Side C 10. Come On Home11. Rhythm Of Light12. Follow Your Heart13. Colours Of Freedom14. Beyond Eternity Side D (bonus tracks) 15. Back Into Land Of Light (live)16. Hero On Video (live) 17. Freedom Call (unplugged)18. Power & Glory (unplugged)

"Watching My Every Move", the new video from the Australian traditional metal act DRAGONSCLAW, can be seen below. The song features a guest appearance by former ACCEPT singer David Reece.

"Watching My Every Move" comes off DRAGONSCLAW's sophomore album, "Judgement Day", which was released this past summer via Killer Metal Records.

Comented DRAGONSCLAW vocalist Giles Lavery: "We are extremely happy with how 'Judgement Day' has turned out. I feel we have our strongest batch of songs yet. There is more diversity musically than heard on the first album and we are ready to take no prisoners. There have been some killer metal albums released this past 18 months and we knew we had to rise to the challenge."

"Judgement Day" track listing:

01. Watching My Every Move (feat. David Reece)02. Onset of War03. Judgement Day04. Bullet05. Fear06. Fly: Defenders Of The Skies Part II07. Lucifer's Hammer (WARLORD cover)08. Battle Cry - A Tribute to Mark Reale (feat. Jack Starr)09. Eternally

Lavery was recently named the vocalist for WARLORD on the band's European shows.

DRAGONSCLAW's debut album, "Prophecy", was released in January via Arkeyn Steel Records. The CD featured guest appearances by Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (EDGE OF FOREVER, EDEN'S CURSE).

The band's lineup is as follows:

Ben Thomas - GuitarGiles Lavery - VocalsRay Martens - KeyboardsAaron Thomas - Bass, OrchestrationAlcides "Seed" Stowe - Drums

"I Am Oblivion", the new video from the Scottish metal act BLEED FROM WITHIN, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's third full-length album, "Uprising", which was released in March in Europe and April in North America via Century Media Records. The CD features artwork by Tom Bates.

"I don't want to slag anyone off, but we never wanted to be part of some trendy scene," says BLEED FROM WITHIN frontman Scott Kennedy. "We're a metal band, pure and simple.

"The first two albums were good but maybe we didn't get our message across to as many people as we should have done. Everything's been building up towards this new one. This is the album we always wanted to make."

"Uprising" was produced by Martyn "Ginge" Ford (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, TRIVIUM), Adam "Nolly" Getgood (PERIPHERY) and Romesh Dodangoda (FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, SYLOSIS), and was mixed and mastered by Logan Mader (GOJIRA). It includes guest vocals from CANCER BATS and AXEWOUND frontman Liam Cormier on the song "The War Around Us".

"We're all so fucking happy with this record, man," adds Kennedy. "It's a massive adrenaline rush from beginning to end.

"We always knew we were capable of something this good, but this is the first time we've really achieved the best possible result. I think it proves you can make a great metal album without using gimmicks or trying to win over the trendy hardcore kids. This is an album for metalheads like us."

"Uprising" track listing:

01. III02. Colony03. It Lives in Me04. Nothing. No One. Nowhere.05. Escape Yourself06. Strive07. I Am Oblivion08. Speechless09. Our Divide10. Uprising11. The War Around Us12. Leech13. Devotion

German "a cappella metal" band VAN CANTO — which consists of five singers and one drummer (no guitars, no bass, no keyboards) — will release its new studio album, "Dawn Of The Brave", on February 7, 2014 via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded with Charlie Bauerfeind (BLIND GUARDIAN, HELLOWEEN, HAMMERFALL) and Ronald Prent (MANOWAR, RAMMSTEIN, WITHIN TEMPTATION).

An EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for "Dawn Of The Brave" can be seen below.

Commented the band: "'Dawn Of The Brave' is our fifth studio album and it was important for us to go a little bit further than before. From the drum sound of Charlie Bauerfeind through to the choir recordings with over 200 VAN CANTO fans up to the mixing of Ronald Prent, who made the whole thing shine, as we always wanted to. The album will be bigger, fatter and more powerful-voiced than ever. We are thrilled to look forward to the release of the album and to play the songs live on tour."

"Dawn Of The Brave" track listing:

01. Dawn Of The Brave02. Fight For Your Life03. To The Mountains04. Badaboom05. The Final Countdown (EUROPE cover)06. Steel Breaker07. The Awakening08. The Other Ones09. Holding Out For A Hero (BONNIE TYLER cover)10. Unholy11. My Utopia12. Into The West ("Lord Of The Rings" soundtrack cover)13. Paranoid (BLACK SABBATH Cover)

Fan-filmed video footage of BLACK SABBATH's December 7 concert in Prague, Czech Republic can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. War Pigs 02. Into The Void 03. Under The Sun / Every Day Comes And Goes 04. Snowblind 05. Age Of Reason 06. Black Sabbath 07. Behind The Wall Of Sleep 08. N.I.B. 09. End Of The Beginning 10. Fairies Wear Boots 11. Rat Salad 12. Tommy Clufetos Drum Solo13. Iron Man 14. God Is Dead? 15. Dirty Women 16. Children Of The Grave

Encore:

17. Paranoid

According to The Pulse Of Radio, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi is not sure if making a follow-up to this year's reunion album, "13", would be a good idea for the group. Iommi said in Revolver magazine, "I don't know if that would be an anticlimax if we wrote another album. I'd like to, but we haven't actually spoken about it, you know? I don't know if that would be a good idea after this one, because this one's done so well. I'm sure we'd all like to do one. But I don't know. Maybe I should talk to the others about it." Bassist Geezer Butler added, "I really haven't thought about it. I'm just glad that we made this one. It can't be something where you go in and go, 'Well, that one was No. 1, so let's do another No. 1 album.' I think we'll know if we can do it or if we can't. If we have to force it, then we won't be doing it."

"13", the first SABBATH album in 35 years to feature Iommi, Butler and singer Ozzy Osbourne recording together, went No. 1 around the world, earning the band their first chart-topper ever in the U.S.

Ozzy said about the prospects of making another record, "I don't want to say there's going to be another album, because I don't want you to ask me in another year, 'What happened when you said you were going to do another record?' I'll leave it open. I'm open for anything. I have three albums to deliver of my own solo thing to my record label."

Ozzy added, "We'll all still be doing music. It's been a lot of fun doing it with BLACK SABBATH, and I'm not sorry at all for getting back together."

The making of "13" was marked by several dramatic events, including drummer Bill Ward's withdrawal from the project over a contractual dispute and Iommi's cancer diagnosis.

Butler told Revolver that he started writing a song for "13", called "Hanging By A Thread", that was inspired by Iommi's illness. He explained, "It was very much about dying, about giving your last breath and passing your spirit on." But the track didn't make it onto the album because, Butler said, "We never came up with the finished thing."

BLACK SABBATH will return to North America in 2014 for 10 shows that will be among the last in support of "13".

Swedish doom metal legends CANDLEMASS to perform their "Ancients Dreams" album in its entirety at Mikael Åkerfeldt's (OPETH) 2014 curated Roadburn event on Friday, April 11 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

"Wow, just wow!" says Åkerfeldt. "I am friends with the entire band, and especially boss/bassplayer Leif Edling. He is just a text message away and we meet up frequently to talk music and eat spicy food. Under the influence of… beer. And fine Italian wine.

"When OPETH started, myself and founder David Isberg agreed that our sounds should be a mix of MERCYFUL FATE, BATHORY, MEFISTO and CANDLEMASS.

"It's such an amazing honour for me to share stage with one of my primal influences since the dawn of OPETH.

"Leif has always had a chip on his shoulder when it comes to their timeless masterpiece, 'Ancient Dreams'. I don't know what it is, since I've always held that record in such high regard. At Roadburn we'll get a rare chance to witness it performed in its entirety. Maybe Leif has changed his mind, I don't know, but I won't fucking complain, though, that's for sure."

"It will be a total joy to perform 'Ancient Dreams' at Roadburn," says Leif Edling, "It's a classic record that has been a bit overlooked through the years, and quite truthfully, I haven't been in total love with it since the production doesn't reach 'Nightfall' standards. But nevertheless, the music is good. Songs like 'Mirror Mirror', 'Darkness in Paradise', 'Bearer of Pain' and the title track are really cool pieces that we'll love to play once again. Slow, heavy and majestic... they're my own key words to describe this album, and to play 'Incarnation Of Evil' and 'The Epistle' live for the first time will be interesting... hehe!

"I could never imagine that I would still be playing this weird doom metal that we started over 25 years ago, and to have a special performance doing 'Ancient Dreams' is totally surreal if you ask me... but FUN AS HELL!!

"Maybe I can persuade Mikael Å to grab the microphone and join us on stage… I'll work on it."

Also scheduled to appear at Roadburn is Edling's new band, AVATARIUM, which features Marcus Jidell (ROYAL HUNT, EVERGREY) on guitar, Lars Sköld (TIAMAT) on drums, Carl Westholm on keyboards and Jennie-Ann Smith on vocals.

"Roadburn 2014 will be the first time ever I do gigs with two different bands in the same weekend," says Edling, "But playing with AVATARIUM at the Roadburn Afterburner show will be exciting as it will be one of our first gigs outside Sweden, and a rendezvous with the international press and fans. I hope we can pull it off!

"The [AVATARIUM] album has received great reviews.

"It feels like I'm 20 and about to make my live debut again.

"What's cool is that many of the songs from the first album are written for a live situation, specially arranged to grow and become something more than the recorded versions, and now we have the opportunity to play them as we thought they could be played... or fail completely doing it, hehe. Well, guess we'll find out at Roadburn!

"Anyway, I'm thrilled, stoked and honoured about the whole thing. 'Moonhorse', 'Boneflower' and 'Lady In The Lamp' are songs that have the potential to capture an audience and it will be a thrill to present Jennie-Ann's voice to the Roadburn crowd as well!"

Adds Åkerfeldt: "At another metal talk/wine session, Leif once suggested we should write music together. I said 'of course,' not really aware that I had little time for anything apart from my current business. Leif is a workaholic and all of a sudden he texted me saying, 'I've got two songs ready! Come on!' I got somewhat stressed out and gradually it was understood between the both of us that I would not be able to find the time to participate. However, Leif soldiered on, found an amazing lineup, fronted by the charismatic genius vocalist-ess Jennie-Ann Smith and has now released a 12-inch single as well as their debut album. Hearing some of the early demos made me go, 'What the fuck?!' wishing I'd shuffled my priorities around. It was/is so good. So fucking good! Is it doomy? Goddamn right it is! AVATARIUM got a sound that is both traditional metal and something 'new' that I can't put my finger on what it is. I think it might be the elusive 'magic!' They've got it."

Christofer Johnsson of Swedish progressive/experimental metallers THERION has issued the following update:

"The coming rock opera will be about the rise and fall of Antichrist and is inspired by and partly (not to be confused with 'entirely') based on Vladimir Soloviev's 'A Short Story Of The Anti-Christ'.

"I have been attempting to write a regular opera for some years following the same theme (which is now being therionized to fit in with what we are writing for this rock opera). We don't have a name for it yet, but for the time being we could humorously give it the working title 'Antichrist Superstar'.

"We will be performing beta versions of the overture and four excerpts from the opera. An excerpt is a part of something (not to be confused with the concept of a song;) you might consider it torn-out pieces from a puzzle. Here is a list of what we will be performing:

1. 'Overture' - It contains the main theme of the opera and simply has to be played. It's the beta version 0.8 and still has some potential to expand further, but the parts that are already there will likely sound something in the vein of this version.

2. 'End Of The Dynasty' / 'Military March Of The United States Of Europe' - In the book, there is an Asian rule over Europe for 50 years after China and Japan have successfully invaded and occupied the continent. In the end, Europe manages to fight back and drives the occupants back east. 'End Of The Dynasty' is the swan song of the last Asian emperor of this dynasty. The orchestration needs to be worked on a bit more, but the basic idea is there. Musically, it's band and orchestra playing all the time in a very therionish type of manner. The military march is played while the European army marches back. It has not been orchestrated yet, so we will just be performing it in a guitar-based form. But I actually have become quite fond of it this way, so maybe we'll partly keep it like that and just add on some piccolo flute and maybe some brass typical for military orchestras.

3. 'Who's Your God?' - Here Antichrist is being interrogated by some prominent religious people. He is at the time a world leader and by far the most beloved leader of all times. Musically, this is an example of a part where the guitars have a smaller role and the focus is very vocally oriented and mostly backed up by orchestra, bass and drums. There's still work to be done on it; there is a need for chorus to perform it live like the composer intended. But you will get a good sense of it.

4. 'Onda Toner' (Swedish for 'evil tones') - This is a part that comes fairly soon after 'Who's Your God?', in which there is an outspoken accusation that he is the Antichrist. Making an opera/rock opera on the theme like this without including the famous 'Diabolus In Musica' interval would of course be an epic fail. So in the heat of this very intense moment, you will be enjoying infernal tritones and diminished chords backed up by unusual drumbeats to 3/4 time signatures — for those of you not acquainted with musical terms; it sounds very infernal and weird (in a good way). This part feels quite finished in terms of orchestration and vocal melodies/harmonies. It will require many more singers, when performed as composed later on, however.

5. 'Sad End' - This is a very emotional duet at the end of the opera. I don't want to spoil what happens (the end of our opera will be totally different from the Soloviev book, as it has been completely rewritten), but it involves two important people in the opera having lost everything they fought for and, at the time of dying, they start reflecting on their lives and things they did wrong. The vocal duet is pretty much finished. There will be more stuff added before the duet, but this particular piece will sound at least close to this. Orchestration is quite basic at the moment. We will see if we keep it that way (it is sometimes better) or if we want work more on it.

"The purpose of this tour is to try out some of the parts of the rock opera to see if we're on the right way or not. So we are looking forward to all constructive comments afterwards.

"Before commenting, keep this in mind: Imagine that a movie is about to be filmed and needs film music. They need a death metal song for one scene, a love ballad for another scene and a heavy metal track for the third scene. You're being asked your opinion if they are good songs. Then it's totally useless bombing the movie producer with with opinions like, 'I don't like ballads/death metal' or 'I prefer the heavy metal song because that's my kind of music.' He wants to know if each song is good or not, not what taste you have in terms of music styles. If the movie needs to have a love ballad at a certain place, then it will be a ballad there. And he wants to know if it's a good ballad or not.

"Same thing applies to opinions on what we perform from the opera on this tour. It's totally useless information to us what styles you prefer. The opera needs to have different styles in music when different things happen on stage. You cannot have happy music when there is a sad scene and an army cannot march to just any kind of music. So each type of music needs to be judged for what it is and what it is supposed to be.

"I know this may be a slightly complicated request for many people on Internet who are used to comment off-the-cuff on things they come across on the web, without any deeper reflection or paying any attention to circumstances and facts. But none of those are likely to read this text anyway, so I'm fairly confident at least a majority will be able to supply us with intelligent usable feedback. It's a great bonus if people also make an effort to use their imagination a bit extra and picture how these pieces will sound later with more singers and a real orchestra (obviously we use samples and keyboards to demonstrate this now.) You may consider what you will hear an advanced sketch of something that later will be an oil painting.

"For those of you coming to see us on this tour: there will be an attractive special offer concerning a future release for the fans coming to the concerts. Hint: It could be a good idea to bring 20 euro extra to the show."

THERION last year celebrated its 25th anniversary with the release of a new album, "Les Fleurs Du Mal". The band signed a licensing deal with End Of The Light Records to make the CD available in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The "Les Fleurs Du Mal" title refers to Charles Baudelaire's (French author and poet 1821 - 1867) famous poem collection "Flowers Of Evil" ("Les Fleurs Du Mal" in French) that caused such an upset of emotions in France that the author was brought to court and got fined for "insulting the public" with six of the poems, that remained forbidden in France until 1949 when the ban was finally lifted. The spirit of the project is a tribute to Baudelaire, and is imbued into both music and artwork.

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's latest installment of his online blog, "The General Journals: Diary Of A Frontman... And Other Ramblings", reads as follows:

"As you may have noticed, there aren't any, 'Hey, we're in the recording studio' updates happening. That's because we're not!

"A few journals ago, I said we'd hit the studio at end of October, and while we tried our damnedest to make that deadline, the fact is, we weren't ready.

"We started writing in January of this year, but between the bassist auditions, teaching [new bassist] Jared [MacEachern] all the old tunes, rehearsing for headline dates, doing [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival], getting Jared up to speed on the new tunes, and back into writing mode in September, we just didn't have the songs yet. We probably only wrote music for 4 out of those 9 months. If we went in [back in October], it would have been rushed.

"This is an important record for us. With a new label, a new member, and this being the follow-up to 'Unto The Locust', all eyes are on us. This record cannot be rushed or hurried, it needs to be great. It needs to be classic MACHINE HEAD. It needs to be a timeless album.

"Our new label, Nuclear Blast, agreed and said, 'Hey, if it comes out in April or August, who cares? In 5 years, they're only going to remember if it's great or not.'

"It was refreshing and we were grateful that's how they felt.

"We are now going in the studio the first week of February 2014.

'We already have 5 or 6 song demoed. Some are in more finished stages than others, so we'll continue demoing through the New Year. Shit, who am I kidding? We’ll probably be demoing up until the day before we hit the studio, LOL!

"Thanks for the patience, my friends."

Tentative songtitles set to appear on the next MACHINE HEAD CD include "Killers & Kings", "Beneath The Silt", "Ojos De La Muerte", "Sail Into The Black" and "Night Of The Long Knives".

MACHINE HEAD's most recent studio release, 2011's "Unto The Locust", entered The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 22 — putting them in the Top 25 for the first time in the band's history. The CD was the follow-up to the 2007 metal milestone "The Blackening", widely hailed as one of the finest metal albums of the last decade, which led the band to an extensive three-year tour, sharing the stage with such heavy hitters as SLIPKNOT and METALLICA.

MACHINE HEAD headlined the Jägermeister Stage at this past summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.

The first photos of METALLICA performing earlier today (Sunday, December 8) in Antarctica can be seen at the group's official Facebook page. The one-of-a-kind show was sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero and fans from several Latin and South American countries had a chance to enter a contest and win the opportunity to join the band on the expedition.

A posting on the METALLICA Facebook page reads: "This was the most unique show METALLICA has ever done. The band, contest winners, research station scientists (from Russia, South Korea, China, Poland, Chile, Brazil and Germany), and the ship crew, all crammed in this little dome out on the helipad of Carlini Station in Antarctica! The energy in the little dome was amazing! Words cannot describe how happy everyone was."

METALLICA's setlist was as follows:

01. Creeping Death02. For Whom The Bell Tolls03. Sad But True04. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)05. Master Of Puppets06. One07. Blackened08. Nothing Else Matters09. Enter Sandman10. Seek & Destroy

Speaking to Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone last month, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said: "We are playing Antarctica; it's pretty wacky. It's crazy, because I don't deal with cold very well, so I have my reservations. But it should be pretty cool, because we've played the North Pole before — we've played Tuktoyaktuk [in 1995]— so we have to play the South Pole. Tuktoyaktuk was fine; it wasn't as cold as it sounded. But I have a feeling that the Antarctica is a lot colder than the North Pole. And it should be an interesting experience."

Fans from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico were able to enter the contest, which started on October 28 and ended on November 22. METALLICA said in a statement: "After over 30 years as a band, we have been unbelievably fortunate to visit just about every corner of the earth . . . except for one. That is all about to change as we are set travel to Antarctica, the only continent that METALLICA has never played on until now!! We are partnering with Coca-Cola Zero for one of the most unique and special concert events in our career as we'll be performing near the heliport of the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini on Sunday, December 8, 2013."

The winners left on December 3 in a cruise from the port of Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuego, on a 10-day journey to Antarctica.

While on their trip, the winners got to view the landscapes of the continent, participate in lectures to be provided by specialists, see audio-visual material on the work of the scientists and receive environmental information.

The concert took place under a dome at the Carlini Argentine Base was heard by the fans through headphones, with no other amplifiers or sound system. The gig was also live-streamed in the participating countries.

Photos courtesy of METALLICA's official Facebook page

Norwegian/American hard rockers TNT, whose lineup once again features powerhouse singer Tony Harnell, has scheduled the following dates in 2014:

Jan. 17 - Gregers Live - Hamar (Norway)Jan. 18 - Rockefeller - Oslo (Norway)Apr. 26 - Telenor Arena - We Love the '80s - Oslo (Norway) Apr. 30 - Idun Folkets Hus - Umeå (Sweden)May 02 - Kulturens Hus - Luleå (Sweden)May 03 - Waterfront - Stockholm (Sweden)Jun. 06 - Sweden Rock Festival - Sölvesborg (Sweden)Jun. 20 - Tons of Rock Festival - Halden (Norway)Jun. 21 - Hønefoss Rock Festival - Hønefoss (Norway)Jul. 19 - Väsby Rock Festival - Väsby (Sweden)

Harnell confirmed his reunion with TNT in October, explaining in a statement: "After much discussion and lots of soul searching, I'm happy to officially announce that I'll be back behind the microphone with TNT.

"I'm very proud of all we accomplished over the years and proud to have written and recorded all those great songs with my brother from another mother, Ronni Le Tekrø.

"Sometimes it's just time to give the fans what they're asking for.

"2014 is the 25th anniversary of the successful 'Intuition' album and we thought it would be a good time to get out and relaunch this little machine for you guys!

"Can't wait to see you all on tour!"

In August, TNT parted ways with its frontman of the past seven years, British vocalist Tony Mills (ex-SHY). He explained in a statement: "Maybe we did 500 shows or something like that, but not many out of Norway.

"It has been the most prolific live period in my career, and when I felt the stagnancy and the lack of desire to grow and develop any further, I knew my time was done with the band.

"I don't think it's sensible to expect new art from the band after thirty years, just a lot of re-living the past and reconstructions of old albums and performances.

"None of us are getting any younger, but I have a great desire to not stop creativity in my life. I hate wasting days and singing songs from the past to satisfy old fans.

"Nostalgia wasn't doing it for me.

"We were never close as friends or anything like that, so there is no great loss, and I have no doubt they will reform the original lineup and just do the whole thing all over again. I wish them good luck on that. I have other releases to come that excite me much more than that."

Harnell rejoined TNT on stage for their 30th-anniversary concert on June 2, 2012 at the Clarion Hotel in Trondheim, Norway. The group performed a special setlist while accompanied by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (Trondheim Symfoniorkester). Also making a special appearance with the band was TNT's original singer, Dag Ingebrigtsen.

After leaving TNT in 2006, Harnell was replaced by Mills, who has since appeared on three studio albums from the band: 2007's "The New Territory", 2008's"Atlantis" and 2010's "A Farewell To Arms".

Harnell's final release as a member of TNT was the "Live in Madrid" DVD, which came out in September 2006 via MTM Music. The set, which was filmed on April 1, 2006 in Madrid, Spain, was accompanied by an 82-minute audio CD plus booklet liner notes from Harnell about his work with the group as well as an additional tour documentary by Darren Paltrowitz.

Photo credit: Kjell Solstad

Fan-filmed video footage of Marc Rizzo's (SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY) December 7 performance at The Trash Bar in Brooklyn, New York as part of a holiday tribute show to "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN) can be seen below.

Rizzo earlier in the year released a single from his forthcoming fourth solo record, which was recorded with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (SUICIDE SILENCE, ALL THAT REMAINS, SHADOWS FALL, SOULFLY). The song titled "Wicked Shattered" is now available for download via iTunes, Amazon and other digital retailers.

Rizzo's previous single, "Downside Up", was released in September 2012.

New Jersey native Marc Rizzo embarked on his first U.S. solo tour in 2007. He released two solo albums with Shrapnel Records in 2006 and 2007, entitled "Colossal Myopia" and "The Ultimate Devotion", respectively. In 2010, Marc issued his latest album on his own Phlamencore Records, entitled "Legionnaire".

Rizzo has been endorsed by the likes of Peavey, Yamaha and B.C. Rich, and currently has a B.C. Rich Stealth Pro seven-string signature guitar available for public purchase.

Rizzo is well known for his position in popular metal act SOULFLY, with whom he has released five records to date; "Prophecy" (2004), "Dark Ages" (2005), "Conquer" (2008), "Omen" (2010), "Enslaved" (2012) and "Savages" (2013). In addition, he is a member of CAVALERA CONSPIRACY with SEPULTURA co-founders Max and Igor Cavalera, with whom he collaborated on the project's debut album, "Inflikted", in 2008 and the follow-up effort, "Blunt Force Trauma".

Jordan Rudess, best known as the keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire for the Grammy-nominated prog rock band DREAM THEATER, has released his latest solo piano recording, "All That Is Now". The album contains 13 pieces, composed and performed by Jordan on his favorite instrument, a 9-foot Steinway concert grand piano. The album was created as part of a PledgeMusic crowdsourcing campaign in which almost 1,000 fans pledged between $10 to $5,000 in exchange for updates on his recording process and a battery of prizes ranging from private lessons to backstage passes. The PledgeMusic campaign also raised money for Rudess' upcoming orchestral album which will be released early in 2014.

Says Rudess: "This album is very close to my heart. For years, I searched until I found the instrument of my dreams that would be the perfect extension of my musical thought, playing literally every piano I could find all over the world. I found my concert grand seven years ago and, ever since, my deepest musical connection occurs when I play my Steinway. It is my lifetime goal to purely translate the music in my mind, to my hands and then onto the keyboard. This album captures the magic of that connection. The recording was done simply in the piano room of my house using just my Steinway D and Earthworks microphones. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it."

In addition to his solo piano CD, "All That Is Now", Rudess has also released a Wizdom Music interactive iOS app, Jordan Rudess Explores, which enables an interactive aural and visual experience with the music from the CD. Jordan Rudess Explores was created by Jordan with developer Joe Zobkiw to explore the intersection between the traditional and electronic world we all live in.

In addition to playing in DREAM THEATER, Rudess, voted "Best Keyboardist of All Time" by Music Radar magazine, is the pesident of a successful music app development company Wizdom Music, creators of award-winning apps such as MorphWiz, SampleWiz, and Geo Synthesizer.

Jordan has worked with a wide range of artists including LMR, his newest side project with Tony Levin and Marco Minneman; LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT; David Bowie; Steven Wilson; Aviv Geffen; DIXIE DREGS; Rod Morgenstein; Enrique Iglesias; Tony Williams; Jan Hammer; and the PAUL WINTER CONSORT.

DREAM THEATER's self-titled album was released this fall on Roadrunner Records.

The band will begin a whirlwind 14-month world tour in January, 2014. Their full-length concert DVD, "Live At Luna Park", released last month went immediately to #1 on the Music DVD chart.

"All That Is Now" track listing:

01. Flash Of Hope 02. Pacific Waves 03. Spectral Haze 04. A Last Goodbye 05. State Of Being 06. Flying Into Blue 07. A Thousand Years 08. Uncovered 09. The Telling 10. Altitude High 11. The Untouchable Truth 12. Looking Beyond13. Eye Wonder

LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe was one of many musicians who have taken to social media to pay their respects to Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president and a groundbreaking civil rights activist.

Mandela died on Thursday (December 5) at age 95. One of the foremost civil rights leaders in his battle against apartheid, he had spent 27 years imprisoned for treason and his work and eventual release captured the hearts of the rock world — especially those of U2, Paul Simon, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt — all of whom went to great lengths to raise awareness of Mandela's imprisonment and the plight of black South Africans living under apartheid.

Writing on his Instagram account, Randy said: "[On Thursday] Nelson Mandela died, and many people will take to social media to say 'RIP Mandela' and post a picture of the great man, free and smiling after 27 years in prison for allegedly conspiring to commit sabotage and conspiracy against the South African apartheid government in 1962.

"He was one of the finest humans of our time.

"I grew up hearing of this man imprisoned in South Africa, and I, like millions worldwide, was overjoyed when he finally was released in 1990. He came out of prison and within four years was South Africa's first black president, having spearheaded the political movement that peacefully ended the racist apartheid government. He did great things for his people after he was free, there is no doubt. But this picture is a far more telling testament to what kind of man Mandela was than any modern photo. Here he is defiantly raising his fists with other men on the way to prison — he had JUST been given a life sentence.

"Mandela knew what would happen with his trial, and instead of focusing all his energy on keeping himself free, he disrupted the trial by wearing traditional garb, refused to call any witnesses to his defense and turned the trial into an arena for political speech to show the world what was happening in South Africa. He sacrificed his own freedom so that his people could one day be equals in their own native country, because he knew something had to change, and if he had to go to prison for LIFE to speed that change, so be it. He was a living example of DOING THE RIGHT THING, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. THAT is a REAL MAN. In fact, one of his most famous quotes about prison was this: 'If I had my time over, I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man.'

"So rest in peace, Nelson Mandela. I can only hope others will take a page from your book. Your 27 years of hard time are a blessing to us all."

The Neurot Recordings family has welcomed the audio devastation that is Portland's STONEBURNER to its expanding roster of forward-thinking music.

Featuring four members with a compelling musical ancestry that winds through BURIED AT SEA, BURIED BLOOD, HEATHEN SHRINE and more, STONEBURNER — named after a subterranean weapon from the novel "Dune" — spews forth a groin-churning orchestration of crust-strewn, hypnotic, sludge metal, their torrid odes glazed with pain and distress.

The band will unleash the follow-up to its 2012 debut full-length, "Sickness Will Pass", which The Sludgelord fittingly crowned "an ugly, visceral and truly terrifying beast of an album," via Neurot Recordings this spring. Titled "Life Drawing", the offering promises to take their sonic crush to entirely new levels of heaviness.

Notes the STONEBURNER collective on their union with Neurot: "We've been working on the material for this album for a long time now and couldn't feel better about how it's come together.

"We're humbled and honored that Neurot have asked to be involved.

"Since the band formed, we've always done our best to work with people we respect and know personally, signing to Neurot is an extension of that… another step in combining our personal and musical lives and bringing it all full circle."

STONEBURNER was spawned in early 2008 though the bands' familial roots reach back two decades.

STONEBURNER is:

Elijah Boland - GuitarJason Depew - GuitarDamon Kelly - Bass/VocalsJesse McKinnon - Drums/Vocals

Former WHYZDOM and current SERENITY vocalist Clémentine Delauney last week officially joined Austrian metallers VISIONS OF ATLANTIS as the band's new female singer. She has released the following statement regarding the matter:

"I am now free to say that it is with great pleasure that I can officially announce that I am joining VISIONS OF ATLANTIS' history and universe.

"The band got in touch with me as they are willing to make a new start by going back to their musical origins and I am delighted to take part of this journey, offering me this unique chance to use my voice in a way I have never done within a band before.

"When I started to take classic singing lessons ten years ago, I discovered symphonic metal with female vocals on and I realized this was exactly the style of music I wanted to explore and to evolve in.

"VISIONS OF ATLANTIS wants to go back to the style of their two first releases, which will enable me to show other aspects of my voice and personality.

"I couldn't resist the call to realize such an old dream of mine to sing like this and to offer it to those of you who still love this genre!

"Shall the SERENITY fans not worry; I absolutely do not drop the band! But I have to say that I am very happy to join a band I've been following for years and which, no matter what came to happen, always managed to stand as a reference in the symphonic metal scene for over a decade.

"Since SERENITY and VISIONS OF ATLANTIS are good friends, it also makes me happy to tighten the links between these two Austrian bands.

"I am honored to join the raw of singers I got to meet and became close friends with: Melissa Ferlaak and especially Maxi Nil — thank you, girl, for your invaluable support and outstandingly pure friendship.

"I am deeply moved by the trust I'm being shown once again.

"I wish to not disappoint anyone and I promise to offer my best to honor VISIONS OF ATLANTIS' name, music and heritage as I'll be part of this last crew sailing the seas under the VISIONS OF ATLANTIS Pavillon….

"To the band's fans, I hope you share my excitement about this new adventure and I wish to meet you on the road soon!"

Drummer Thomas Caser of Austrian symphonic metallers VISIONS OF ATLANTIS has issued the following update:

"VISIONS OF ATLANTIS warmly welcomes French soprano Clémentine Delauney and Austrian singer Siegfried Samer as new front vocalists! In addition, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS is going 'back to the roots' and reunites founding members Werner Fiedler (guitars), Chris Kamper (synths), Mike Koren (bass) and Thomas Caser (drums).

"It was mostly a decision by me — Thomas — the only remaining founding member.

"I will tell the truth, I will tell you that VISIONS OF ATLANTIS is homeward bound and will sail the old and known musical paths. The paths that were initially discovered with the founding members through friendship and the passion for the music we wanted to create.

Although the journey, after new shores have been discovered since 'Trinity', has been a successful one, the work and musical outcome became blurrier and blurrier in the end and has finally ended up as something the initial idea and spirit is not existent in anymore. Many things have happened, some good, some bad. Sometimes the bad prevail the good as sailing long routes may change people and demands a lot of energy and endurance... Mutiny always also comes with a price... Therefore, we have decided to hire new crew, strike sails, and turn back to the course we originally bound outward on. The sea is dark, the waters deep and unknown...

"This is and will be the last and final line up of VISIONS OF ATLANTIS ever!

"We are working on a new album as you read this, shows are planned and will be announced soon.

"This is more VISIONS OF ATLANTIS than the band ever was in the past years.

"Nevertheless, sincere gratitude goes out to Mario Plank and Maxi Nil and we wish all the best to Martin Harb, Cris Tían!

"Over the next days, we will post statements from our new and not so new members of VISIONS OF ATLANTIS. The former members Maxi Nil, Mario Plank, Cris Tían and Martin Harb will also issue statements through the official VISIONS OF ATLANTIS Facebook page but will reveal more detailed statements on their sites."