Professionally filmed video footage of GHOST's entire September 19 performance at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil can be seen below.

GHOST's sophomore album, "Infestissumam", sold around 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 28 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The CD topped the official chart in the group's home country after selling nearly five times as many copies as the No. 2 album, MISS LI's "Wolves".

In a recent interview with ARTISTdirect, a nameless ghoul from GHOST said about "Infestissumam": "It feels way more theatrical and bombastic. In many ways, 'Infestissumam' is thematically a continuation of where [the debut album] 'Opus Eponymous' began. Whereas a lot of the thematic ideas we have in mind for upcoming albums might differ a little bit and will go in another direction. That's not to say we won't sing about the things we do and not have makeup. I'm just saying it will evolve into other things in the future. On this record, I feel like we're doing a lot of things we intended to do on the first naïvely being we could pull off a show like that at that point — which we couldn't. Now, we have a little bit more muscle. The attendance is probably more in accordance with being able to present a show like that."

Regarding the lyrical themes covered "Infestissumam", the nameless ghoul said: "Thematically we knew the major difference between the first and the second albums as much as we do between the second and the third. It's a bit ironic now. Jumping up to the contemporary controversy with our album artwork and the refusal of printers to print the art is funny because the whole record is about the presence of the devil. Obviously, it's about how mankind relate to the presence of the devil. Historically, it's always been the female body that has taken the fall for that, which is what happened in this case. The problem was a vagina in the art not the inverted crosses."

GHOST was forced to modify its name in the U.S. to GHOST B.C. for "legal reasons."

The lyric video for the song "Children Of Cain" from the heavy metal "supergroup" TWILIGHT OF THE GODS can be seen below. The track comes off the band's debut album, "Fire On The Mountain", which will be released on September 27 in Europe and October 1 in North America via Season Of Mist.

TWILIGHT OF THE GODS is: Alan Averill (PRIMORDIAL, DEAD SOVEREIGN, BLOOD REVOLT) on vocals, Nick Barker (ex-CRADLE OF FILTH, ex-DIMMU BORGIR, ex-TESTAMENT, ex-EXODUS) on drums, guitarists Rune Eriksen (AURA NOIR, ex-AVA INFERI, ex-MAYHEM) and Patrik Lindgren (THYRFING), and Frode Glesnes (EINHERJER) on bass.

"Fire On The Mountain" track listing:

01. Destiny Forged In Blood02. Children Of Cain03. Fire On The Mountain (1683)04. Preacher Man05. Sword Of Damocles06. The End Of History07. At Dawn We Ride

The effort will be made available as a CD digipack and a limited-edition LP via the Season Of Mist e-shop.

In a recent interview with Metal Hammer magazine, Averill stated about "Fire On The Mountain": "We grew up with and through most of our reference points. This is just what just came out when we play. We didn't need to go, 'We need to write songs that sound like MANOWAR,' but we all love MANOWAR. There's a fine line to walk between pastiche, parody and putting of the old gonzoid heavy metal charm into it, but not being too self-knowing in that sense."

Asked if it was weird to switch over to singing classic metal lyrics, and finding out how he related to those lyrics, Averill said: "Definitely. The thing is that it's full of the gonzoid heavy metal idioms — the swords and the steel and the blood and the fire. It was a difficult balance to find, to strike between being full of a certain glory and beauty and charm of old heavy metal, without it being too wink-wink, nod-nod, self-parody, but really genuinely meaning it because that's what we all love, and treating it with the sort of kid gloves and respect that it deserves."

He continued: "But yeah, it was difficult trying to find a different voice, another kind of lyric but at the same time, if you take, say, the title track, 'Fire On The Mountain', that's my Dio tribute and it sounds like a RAINBOW songtitle. But yeah, the song is about the siege of Vienna by the Ottoman empire in 1683 where King Leopold I and the Holy Roman See defeated the Turks, and those, I think, had a lot to do with saving the European culture and the Enlightenment and all sorts of stuff. So if you were to actually look at it, you'd go, 'Actually, there's something being said here, but it's written in heavy metal vernacular, which was handed down to us from IRON MAIDEN and whoever. But it's a challenge, for sure, and it's also a challenge to write a chorus that people could sing. You're sitting there for the first time thinking, actually, how could I write this in such a way for people at a show or at a festival to get behind it, you know? It's just a traditional, hard-rock structure, which is a breath of fresh air for all of us, because we've all, for the past 20 years, been playing extreme music and darker music to some degree, so it's a bit like something fresh for all of us, despite the fact that it's all old."

DEEP PURPLE will release the track "Above And Beyond" as a CD-single and on seven-inch vinyl on October 25 in Europe. The single artwork was based on the original graphic work of Black Dwarf Designs.

A promotional video for the single can be seen below.

"Above And Beyond" comes off DEEP PURPLE's latest album, "Now What?!", which sold 4,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 115 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Now What?!", the 19th studio album from DEEP PURPLE, was released in North America on April 30 via earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group.

After various songwriting sessions in Europe, the band recorded and mixed the album in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, PETER GABRIEL, ALICE COOPER, KANSAS). The CD contain 11 tracks, including "Out Of Hand", "Weirdistan", "Uncommon Man" and "Above And Beyond". The latter song references the band's late keyboard player, Jon Lord, in the lyric "Souls having touched are forever entwined."

In a recent interview with RadioMetal.com, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan stated about the songwriting process for "Now What?!": "There were no rules. We started with nothing, except the right attitude; that's all. Every day, it was the same routine: the guys walked in at noon and we all worked until 6 o'clock on the writing sessions. We just stopped at 3 o'clock for a cup of tea. After 6 o'clock, we would go home, have a shower, some dinner and go to bed early, even if I'm always up in the middle of the night, writing lyrics. We start at 10 o' clock the next morning when we're recording. But the writing is always noon until six. It starts with nothing. Ian [Paice, drummer] and Roger [Glover, bassist] would start jamming, playing for an hour non-stop and trying out some rhythms or grooves. They would stop and say, 'No, that's not good,' then start something else and say, 'Remember that. Maybe on Thursday we'll try this again and maybe it'll be a song.' Everything emerged from jamming sessions."

MÖTLEY CRÜE kicked off its second residency at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas this past Wednesday night (September 18).

Fan-filmed video footage of the second concert of the residency — which took place last night (Friday, September 20) — can be seen below.

The fall shows, dubbed "Evening In Hell", are an all-new production and the band is pushing its own envelope once again. The production was designed exclusively for The Joint in partnership with AEG Live and sees the band performing in front of just 4,000 people per show max, a far cry from the arenas MÖTLEY CRÜE is accustomed to playing.

"There is no show like this. There never has been, and there never will be," MÖTLEY CRÜE lead singer Vince Neil told Robin Leach of the Las Vegas Sun. "You've seen video fire from other rock acts on tour, but never the real thing."

Vince continued: "It's more than any rock group has ever produced or attempted. It really is entering the depths of hell. There's fire all around and fire coming down from above.

“There's no question this is the most dangerous theatrics ever created and far more than anything we expected. But, hey, this is Vegas, and we do bigger, bolder, badder, sleazier here better than any other place on Earth.

"We have the best fire tech experts in the world. This is so over the top, the only thing cool is what we do! Basically, we're setting everything on fire in a way that's never been done before."

Vince also spoke about the challenge of singing nonstop for 90 minutes. "I don't get one break," he told the Las Vegas Sun. "We start with a song from when we began 30 years ago. We've reached back over the years to old hits to match up with new hits. It's a difficult setlist for me vocally — 'Too Young To Fall In Love' is no easy song to perform."

In November and December of 2012, MEGADETH blazed hot on the band's "Countdown To Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour", ripping through their entire double platinum 1992 album from start to finish before performing other classics from their recorded catalog. Recorded and filmed at Los Angeles' Fox Theatre last December, "Countdown to Extinction: Live" is a definitive document of the acclaimed, sold-out tour.

In addition to MEGADETH's blistering performance of the entire "Countdown To Extinction" album, including the essential "Symphony Of Destruction", "Foreclosure Of A Dream", "Sweating Bullets" and "Skin O' My Teeth", "Countdown to Extinction: Live" features all of the other MEGADETH classics the band performed at the epic concert, including "Holy Wars" and "Hangar 18" from 1990's "Rust In Peace", "Peace Sells" from the band's influential, platinum-certified 1986 album "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", and "Trust" from 1997's platinum certified "Cryptic Writings".

On September 24, "Countdown To Extinction: Live" will be released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray via Capitol.

"Countdown To Extinction: Live" track listing:

01. Intro 02. Architecture Of Aggression 03. Ashes In Your Mouth 04. Captive Honour 05. Countdown To Extinction 06. Foreclosure Of A Dream 07. Hangar 18 08. High Speed Dirt 09. Holy Wars 10. Peace Sells 11. Psychotron 12. Public Enemy 13. She Wolf 14. Skin O' My Teeth 15. Sweating Bullets 16. Symphony Of Destruction 17. This Was My Life 18. Trust 19. Outro

A trailer for "Countdown To Extinction: Live" is available below.

An EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for KORN's 11th studio album, "The Paradigm Shift", can be seen below. The CD is the first to feature original KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch in more than eight years. Welch rejoined the group permanently earlier this year after leaving in 2005.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, the melodic, almost pop-driven style of the first single, "Never Never", has met with some mixed reactions from KORN fans, which singer Jonathan Davis told Metal Hammer was his intention. He explained, "We put this out first cause I knew it was going to piss off a lot of people. And um, so I did it. That song ain't for dudes, it's for the ladies."

Guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer told The Pulse Of Radio that the new disc is another big step forward for the band musically. "The melodies on it, on the tracks we did, they just sound like, so much like a mature band," he said. "Sounds like they're well thought out, the themes of, you know, the songs that Jonathan wrote about — it's just where we are now. Every record's just sort of a snapshot of where you are musically, personally . . . financially. [laughs]."

KORN will release "The Paradigm Shift" on October 8. A deluxe edition will feature two bonus tracks and a documentary DVD called "Reconciliation".

The band will kick off a headlining North American tour on September 26 in Philadelphia, concluding in Las Vegas on October 12.

Fan-filmed video footage of THE WINERY DOGS' September 15 headlining concert La Maroquinerie in Paris, France can be seen below.

THE WINERY DOGS is the power trio featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB), legendary bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH) and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen (MR. BIG, POISON).

The band's self-titled debut album sold around 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released in North America on July 23 via Loud & Proud Records and in Japan on May 15 via Victor Entertainment, the CD was mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, ADRENALINE MOB, STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER.

"Bands like [LED] ZEPPELIN and THE WHO, THE [ROLLING] STONES, and THE BEATLES, CREAM, and [Jimi] Hendrix. I mean, I grew up with that stuff," Portnoy told Voice Of America. "And, although I've been able to pay tribute to it throughout my career with tribute bands and things like that, I've never been in an all-original band that was kind of playing classic rock power trio stuff. That's how I describe this band: just a straight-up rock band."

Regarding the songwriting process for THE WINERY DOGS' album, Portnoy said: "In all cases, the music was the very first element and from there, Richie would start melodies on top of it. Sometimes the final lyrics were there, coming up on the spot, and other times he would take the melodies and write lyrics later. There were a couple of examples of Richie having something and bringing it in. In those cases, like 'Damaged' and 'Regret', we just left them. Because in those two particular cases, the songs were great as they were."

Portnoy was full of praise for his THE WINERY DOGS bandmates, telling Voice Of America: "Billy Sheehan is my favorite bass player on earth and he has been for almost 30 years now. So to work with him and make music with him for me is an honor. And Richie is someone I have the utmost respect for as an artist. I mean, he is just so underappreciated, not only as a guitarist, but as a singer and a writer as well. I think for me, the most exciting aspect of this band is for people to discover Richie that aren't aware of what a musical genius he is."

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA's September 19 performance at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Hit The Lights02. Master Of Puppets03. Holier Than Thou04. Harvester Of Sorrow05. The Day That Never Comes06. The Memory Remains07. Wherever I May Roam08. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)09. Sad But True10. ...And Justice For All11. One12. For Whom The Bell Tolls13. Blackened14. Nothing Else Matters15. Enter Sandman

Encore:

16. Creeping Death17. Battery18. Seek & Destroy

According to The Pulse Of Radio, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich explained in a question-and-answer session that followed a recent screening of METALLICA's upcoming movie, "Metallica Through The Never", that the film has actually inspired the metal legends to get moving on new music. Ulrich said, "Getting a chance to do all these challenges and adventures really fuels us to go back into the studio and make hopefully a better album... METALLICA, I think, increasingly depends on these types of things to feel challenged as artists. So making films is great and it certainly gets us out of our comfort zone, so when we get back to the studio we just feel more inspired and more invigorated."

Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that the band gets energized by branching out into other projects before returning to work on its next record. "There'll be a new record and we certainly never want to turn into a nostalgia band, but at the same time, you've got to keep yourself, I guess, creatively alive and that's what we do by playing these gigs and doing all these other projects and doing movies and festivals," he said. "I mean, it's just, all that stuff's a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of time, you know."

The drummer added that the band is immensely satisfied with the filmmaking experience and final result, saying, "Three years later it's just so cool to sit up there and feel the energy and take it in that energy on the screen."

Frontman James Hetfield agreed that the band's creative process while making the film was similar to the way it comes up with ideas for its albums, saying, "We had a whole bunch of ideas and that was the easy part. Making them all come to fruition and getting them in the movie was (the hard part). We couldn't put everything in there as the price tag would have doubled or tripled."

"Through The Never" premiered earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival and will open in IMAX theaters on September 27, expanding to more screens on October 4.

This Saturday (September 21), METALLICA will play a special show at New York's famed Apollo Theater as part of the promotion for the film.

Professionally filmed video footage of ALICE IN CHAINS' September 19 performance at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 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.

Professionally filmed video footage of former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach' September 19 performance at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil can be seen below.

Acclaimed drummer Bobby Jarzombek (HALFORD, RIOT, SEBASTIAN BACH, FATES WARNING) recently finished laying down drum tracks for 12 songs on the new solo album from Sebastian Bach. The CD is being recorded at a Los Angeles studio with producer Bob Marlette (BLACK SABBATH, ALICE COOPER), who helmed Bach's last solo CD, 2011's "Kicking & Screaming".

The guitars on Bach's new album will be performed by Devin Bronson (AVRIL LAVIGNE, PINK) and Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL). There will also be songwriting contributions from guitarist John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE, ex-MARILYN MANSON), who co-wrote the song "TunnelVision" on "Kicking & Screaming". Making a guest appearance on the CD will be bassist Duff McKagan (DUFF MCKAGAN'S LOADED, VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES).

Bach previously stated about his new material: "It is going to be balls-out, kick-ass rock 'n' roll with tons of vocal histrionics and harmonies especially… I am going to really concentrate on harmonies and pushing my voice to the maximum you have ever heard it pushed. The riffs are crazy and cool."

Bach's brand new CD/DVD package, "ABachalypse Now", was released in North America on March 26 via Frontiers Records. The "ABachalypse Now" Ultimate CD/DVD Edition includes never-before-seen footage from last year's Graspop Metal Meeting festival in Dessel, Belgium, the full never-before-seen Hellfest set from France and the fully-remixed and remastered Nokia show from Los Angeles (originally broadcast on AXS TV), as well as bonus music videos. The DVD contains a running time of nearly 160 minutes. "ABachalypse Now" was made available in two configurations: the Ultimate CD/DVD Edition (2 CDs + DVD) and a standalone DVD.

"Gettysburg", the new video from CIVIL WAR — the Swedish metal band featuring former SABATON members Rikard Sundén (guitar), Daniel Mullback (drums), Daniel Mÿhr (keyboards) and Oskar Montelius (guitar) alongside singer Patrik Johansson (ASTRAL DOORS, LION'S SHARE) and bassist Stefan "Pizza" Eriksson (VOLTURYON) — can be seen below.

"This is from us to you, to honor the memory of the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg and a small poof of appreciation for the fantastic support you have showed us," commented CIVIL WAR.

"We travelled across our native Sweden and a short stop in wonderful Budapest, Hungary this summer, doing show after show with a response no one could dream of.

"Thank you for your support.

"Bow your head in respect for the ones who lost their life so many years ago on the battlefield of Gettysburg. We salute YOU!"

"Gettysburg" comes off CIVIL WAR's full-length debut, "The Killer Angels", which was certified gold in Sweden by the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 20,000 copies.

(Note: The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry [IFPI] in Sweden has revised the sales requirements for albums to reach gold status in the country twice in the last 11 years — from the pre-2002 level of 40,000 to the current 20,000.)

"The Killer Angels" was distributed in Sweden via the June 2013 issue of Sweden Rock Magazine and each copy of the magazine containing the CD was counted towards the certification; the album was also sold separately.

The members of CIVIL WAR were presented with their gold plaques before headlining the Metal War festival in Budapest, Hungary. Commented the band: "Selling 20,000-plus in our home country is something none of us could ever imagine when getting into the sessions leading up to the album. Even though we felt we made a solid record, getting these numbers was still something we couldn't predict upon our wildest imagination." "We at Despotz are incredibly proud to have reached gold status in Sweden with the band CIVIL WAR," added Despotz Records founder, Ömer Akay. "The band has received great international support from their fans, and it shows with growing sales and upcoming tours as a result. This is just the beginning of a brilliant career. We will rule the universe."

"The Killer Angels" track listing:

01. King Of The Sun 02. First To Fight 03. Saint Patrick's Day 04. Rome Is Falling 05. Sons Of Avalon 06. I Will Rule The Universe 07. Lucifer's Court 08. Brother Judas 09. My Own Worst Enemy 10. Gettysburg 11. March Across The Belts (bonus track)

CIVIL WAR's debut EP was released on November 13, 2012 via Despotz Records.

Borrowing its name from the novel by Michael Shaara about the Battle of Gettysburg, "The Killer Angels" was recorded by Jonas Kjellgren at Studio Myhrer (which is actually the bed and living room of keyboard player Daniel Myhr), Black Lounge Studio and Peter Tägtgren's The Abyss in Pärlby, Sweden. Artwork comes courtesy of Polish artist Lukasz Jaszak. CIVIL WAR is: Nils Patrik Johansson - VocalsRikard Sunden - GuitarsOskar Montelius - GuitarsDaniel Myhr - KeyboardDaniel Mullback - DrumsStefan "Pizza" Eriksson - Bass

SARKE's third album, "Aruagint", is available for streaming in its entirety using the SoundCloud widget below. Released on September 20 via Indie Recordings, the CD was once again recorded at H-10 Productions studios in Oslo with producer Lars Erik Westby.

Says they band: "Our music is inspired by the great '70s rock bands, '80s speed metal bands and '90s black metal bands. Put this together with the creative mind of the band and your get pure dark rock music sounding is clear, raw and honest."

Originally a one-man band, SARKE today consists of founder Thomas "Sarke" Bergli (KHOLD, TULUS, ex-OLD MAN’S CHILD), Nocturno Culto (DARKTHRONE), Steinar Gundersen (SATYRICON, SPIRAL ARCHITECT), Anders Hunstad (EL CACO, AUTOPULVER) and Asgeir Mickelson (SPIRAL ARCHITECT, ex-BORKNAGAR).

Their previous releases, "Vorunah" (2009) and "Oldarhian" (2011), both received critical acclaim for their mesmerizing sounds taking the listener on a journey through dark and soothing soundscapes inspired by legends like MAYHEM, SLAYER, DARKTHRONE, CELTIC FROST, BLACK SABBATH, CANDLEMASS, DEATH, MOTÖRHEAD and KREATOR.

"Aruagint" features nine tracks of "pure death rock madness." It combines metal, death, black and punk music, but wrapped in a '70s rock veil.

"Aruagint" track listing:

01. Jaunt Of The Obsessed02. Jodau Aura03. Ugly04. Strange Pungent Odyssey05. Walls Of Ru06. Salvation07. Skeleton Sand08. Icon Usurper09. Rabid Hunger

SARKE is:

Asgeir Mickelson - Drums Steinar Gundersen - Guitar Nocturno Culto - VocalsAnders Hunstad - Keyboards Sarke - Bass

The official lyric video for the song "The Best Is Yet To Come" from former THE GATHERING singer Anneke Van Giersbergen can be seen below. The track comes off her new solo album, "Drive", which will be released on September 23 in Europe and on October 15 in North America via InsideOut Music.

Anneke had this to say about the album: "In a time when entire albums are being created by transferring files online, I really wanted to do things the old-fashioned way and record an album together with a group of musicians in a studio.

"The album is infused with enthusiasm and freshness. I'm really happy with it."

Anneke Van Giersbergen will take part in the first annual Progressive Nation At Sea, which is due to take place between February 18 and February 22, 2014. The cruise also includes frequent collaborator Devin Townsend, as well as TRANSATLANTIC, SPOCK'S BEARD, KING'S X and many more,

Anneke had this to say about joining the InsideOut roster, where she joins Devin Townsend: "I look forward to a long and prosperous collaboration with InsideOut Music. We share a genuine passion for music and it's great to become labelmates with my friend Devin Townsend and many more talented musicians. I am incredibly happy with my new album and I am stoked it will be available all over the world!"

"Drive" track listing:

01. We Live On02. Treat Me Like A Lady03. She04. Drive05. My Mother Said06. Forgive Me07. You Will Never Change08. Mental Jungle09. Shooting For The Stars10. The Best Is Yet To Come

Anneke played two exclusive U.S. shows in Chicago at the end of March. Also appearing on the bill both nights were Anneke's "dear friends" NOVEMBERS DOOM.

Anneke van Giersbergen announced her departure from THE GATHERING in 2007. She has since released four albums on her own and with her AGUA DE ANNIQUE solo project: "Air" (2007), "Pure Air" (2009), "In Your Room" (2009) and "Everything Is Changing" (2012).

"Everything Is Changing" was released on January 20, 2012 via PIAS Holland. The CD was recorded at Ultrasound Studios in Braga, Portugal with producer Daniel Cardoso.

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen joined LIVING COLOUR on stage on September 12 at Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires, Argentina to perform a cover version of the CREAM classic "Sunshine Of Your Love". Fan-filmed video footage of her appearance can be seen below.

LIVING COLOUR bassist Doug Wimbish played with Tarja on her "My Winter Storm" (2007) and "What Lies Beneath" (2010) albums and has toured with her in the past.

Asked by TarjaArgentina.com how he became involved with Tarja, Doug said: "Well, they found me. They researched and found me, actually. When she was in the process of making her record, they had put together a 'dream team' of musicians that they would like to work with, based off of records that they liked. And quite a few of those records that they liked, that they used for reference, I recorded on, one of with was the Seal record, the first Seal record I did. And I did Annie Lennox's records, her early records. DEPECHE MODE... And I did a lot of work with Trevor Hom. They know what I did with THE ROLLING STONES and all that stuff, but I think, honestly it was the Seal record, the production of the Seal record and the sound of that. They were kind of going for this orchestral energy with a great voice embedded inside and the luscious energy of music. And my name kept appearing on these records, you know, and the producer, Daniel Presley, who did that record ['My Winter Storm'] contacted me on behalf of Tarja and [Tarja's husband/manager] Marcelo, and I guess what they did was, they put together a list of those who they'd really like to participate in there. They didn't know me, they didn't really know who I was, they just saw... They knew my name from the records. So they reaserched and found me. They found my accountant, they found the person that handles my money and I got an e-mail from him saying, 'There's some people who're trying to contact you•' So I followed up on the contact... and I contact the producer, he contacts me, we talk about it, and he's' like, 'Hey, are you available to do this record> I'm working with this artist..." I heard of NIGHTWISH, I wasn't familiar with the exact setup, but I know of NIGHTWISH from living in London, the music scene in Europe. So then, next thing you know, I get a phone call, my lawyer talks to their business person, and off we go. It happened very quickly and very natural. It was a very natural thing."

Video footage of METALLICA performing its classic song "Master Of Puppets" — featuring various other clips from the band's movie "Metallica Through The Never" — can be seen below.

The performance footage for "Metallica Through the Never" was filmed in Edmonton and Vancouver, Canada. In addition, the film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9.

"It's all been a five-year journey to try to get to the Toronto Film Festival," METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich recently told HuffPost Canada. "And we figured with Canadian content we would have a better shot if we shot it here in Canada. So we've had this planned for a long time."

"We've always felt comfortable filming stuff up [in Canada]," METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett. "And obviously everyone knows that there are great crews here, good production deals to be had, that kind of stuff."

"Canadians have so much love for METALLICA," Hammett added. "It's very, very evident all across the country. I mean, every time we come here, we sell out instantly. We play the shows and the fans are always so great and the people are always so great. Canada is a very welcoming place for METALLICA."

METALLICA reportedly spent $20 million of its own money to make the film, which will also play at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas several days before it opens in limited release on IMAX screens around the country on September 27. The film will then expand to more theaters on October 4.

The soundtrack, which features a number of METALLICA classics performed live in the movie, will be out on September 24. The two-disc CD will come out on METALLICA's own label, Blackened Recordings, also in digital and vinyl formats.

The official trailer for "Swedish Empire Live", the new DVD and Blu-ray from Swedish metallers SABATON, can be seen below. Due on September 20 via Nuclear Blast, the disc features the band's live performance at the renowned Polish Woodstock Festival in 2012, where over half a million fans had gathered to watch SABATON in action. Besides this main feature, the first-ever SABATON live offering also features even more live footage of the band's performances in Gothenburg, London and Oberhausen on their extensive "Swedish Empire Tour".

Says SABATON: "We can tell you that we have watched this countless times and feel very proud and cannot wait to share all this with all of you. You are in for a great surprise!"

"Swedish Empire Live" will be made available in the following formats:

* 2Blu-ray digi* 2DVD digi* DVD (Poland only)* CD digi* 2LP (limited black vinyl in gatefold + poster)* 2LP (limited yellow vinyl in gatefold + poster) (Nuclear Blast mailorder only)* Earbook (2Blu-ray + 2DVD + CD + exclusive bonus CD, 48-page earbook) * Special Leather Hardcover Earbook (Nuclear Blast mailorder only) (2Blu-ray + 2DVD + CD + exclusive bonus CD, 48-page earbook)

The cover artwork and complete track listing for "Swedish Empire Live" can be seen below.

SABATON's latest album, "Carolus Rex", was recently certified gold in Poland for sales in excess of 10,000 copies. The band was presented with gold plaques during their signing session in Warsaw. The CD was also certified gold in Sweden for sales in excess of 20,000 copies. (Note: The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry [IFPI] in Sweden has revised the sales requirements for albums to reach gold status in the country twice in the last 11 years — from the pre-2002 level of 40,000 to the current 20,000.)

"Carolus Rex" was released on May 22, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. The lyrics for the CD, which was made available in both English and Swedish, deal with the Swedish Empire (referring to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721).

SABATON last year parted ways with guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mulback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr.

Professionally filmed video footage of SEPULTURA's entire September 19 performance at this year's edition of the Rock In Rio festival can be seen below. The band was joined on stage by Les Tambours Du Bronx, featuring sixteen drummers from France.

Founded in 1987, Les Tambours Du Bronx beat 225-liter barrels with beech wood bats or even axe handles. In more than 1000 concerts they've smashed about 16,000 barrels and more than 110,000 broken "drum sticks!"

SEPULTURA's setlist was as follows:

01. Kaiowas 02. Spectrum 03. Refuse/Resist 04. Sepulnation 05. Delirium (LES TAMBOURS DU BRONX cover)06. Fever (LES TAMBOURS DU BRONX cover) 07. We've Lost You08. Firestarter (THE PRODIGY cover)09. Requiem (LES TAMBOURS DU BRONX cover)10. Structure Violence (Azzes)11. Territory 12. Big Foot (LES TAMBOURS DU BRONX cover)13. Roots Bloody Roots

SEPULTURA's new album, "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart", will be released on October 25 via Nuclear Blast Records. The artwork was created by Brazilian artist Alexandre Wagner, who specializes in charcoal drawing techniques.

Although it was inspired by Fritz Lang's classic 1927 movie "Metropolis", the CD, "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.

Robinson produced SEPULTURA's classic "Roots" album in 1995. Released in February 1996 by Roadrunner, it was the band's last studio album to feature founding member and vocalist Max Cavalera.