Canada's KOBRA AND THE LOTUS have checked in with the following update:

"Seems a bit surreal to make a similar announcement for the second time in a week, but hey, its rock n' f***n' roll!! We are stoked to introduce to the KATL line-up bass player, Canadian proud Brad Kennedy from UNLEASH THE ARCHERS! Welcome Brad! Can't wait to get this party started!"
Photo by Jenna Kiernan

Kobra And The Lotus originally announced Juanba Nadal as their new bassist for the band's upcoming European tour, but Nadal was sidelined after tearing tendons and muscles in his left elbow.

Upcoming tour dates are as follows:

October
19 - Metal Female Voices Fest - Wieze, Belgium
20 - Underground - Koln, Germany
21 - 013 - Tilburg, Netherlands
22 - White Trash - Berlin, Germany
24 - St Pauli Rock Café - Hamburg, Germany
26 - Factory - Milan, Italy
28 - Le Batofar - Paris, France
30 - Borderline - London, United Kingdom
31 - Esquires - Bedford, United Kingdom

November
1 - O2 Academy 3 Birmingham - Birmingham, United Kingdom
2 - Fibbers - York, United Kingdom
3 - Corporation - Sheffield, United Kingdom
5 - Club Alterego - Manchester, United Kingdom
6 - Exchange - Bristol, United Kingdom
7 - Joiners - Southampton, United Kingdom
8 - Rock City - Nottingham, United Kingdom



Tour trailer:



For more info visit Facebook.

Marsa, Malta-based metal act LOATHE have announced that their upcoming 5-track EP, entitled Wolves In The Fold, is set to be released in the forthcoming days. The band have published a short teaser video with a number of song samples alongside live footage, promotional photos and a set of more candid shots snapped during the video shoot of Loathe's highly popular clip for their single 'Bucketlove'.
Artwork, tracklisting and other details central to the release of the new EP will be announced soon.

In addition, Loathe will be playing the highly awaited Notte Bianca event in Valletta, Malta, a cultural event organised by the Maltese Government in tandem with the Local Council and the Notte Bianca foundation. The band will be showcasing their set alongside a number of other active and sought after metal bands from Malta.

More on Loathe at Facebook.

Canadian epic folk metallers NORDHEIM have released four live videos from their Toronto show as a support act to FINNTROLL in August. Clips for 'Soulblood', 'Mask Of The Banned One' and 'The Grief', from their second album Refill, can be seen below:

The fourth live clip 'Beer, Metal, Trolls and Vomit!', from their debut album Lost in the North is streaming below:
The artwork for Refill was created by Nicolas Francoeur of Vorace Art, as was their 2010 debut album Lost In The North. Refill was recorded at Badass Studio, Montreal, QC, Canada in the winter of 2012/13 and produced by Jef Fortin (NEURAXIS, AUGURY, BLACKGUARD, UNEXPECT, KÄLTER).

Refill tracklisting:

'OV Frost and Ice'
'Mask of the Banned One'
'Get Drunk or Die Tryin’'
'Watch the Raven Die'
'Under a Crying Storm'
'The Grief'
'Winter’s Dawn'
'As Shadows Pass By'
'Soulblood'

BraveWords' review of Refill can be found here.

'Get Drunk Or Die Tryin’' lyric video:
'Winter’s Dawn' lyric video:
‘The Grief’ lyric video:

Nordheim is:

Warraxe – lead vocals and guitars
Fred - lead guitars
BenFok - bass and vocals
Thom - keyboards
Lukas – drums (Kälter)

More on Nordheim at Facebook.

Vocalist Leigh Oates of North West England's SOLDIERFIELD checks in with an update on the band's forthcoming album:
"We’re really happy with how things are going, the songs are shaping up great and we’re really building on the blueprint we laid out with the EP but taking the song writing further. Look out for the crushing riffs and massive hooks like before and the odd new element! It’s great to be working with Steve (Wray) again on the production side and we can’t wait for you all to hear it!”
Updates to follow. More on the band at this location.

A two-minute video report from NBC 7 San Diego on yesterday's (Monday, September 16) court hearing to determine whether AS I LAY DYING frontman would stand trial on charges he tried to hire someone to kill his estranged wife can be seen below.

Lambesis will be arraigned on the charges October 22, which is when a date for his trial will be set.

According to NBC 7 San Diego, investigators found a lock box in Lambesis' Carlsbad, California home containing "a lot of different quantities" of male enhancement-type drugs, male libido-type drugs and estrogen blocking drugs — approximately 30 to 40 vials along with different types of pill packages. In addition, investigators found more than $12,000 in cash.

Lambesis' defense attorney, Tom Warwick, previously blamed Lambesis' steroid use for the alleged murder-for-hire plot. He also revealed that Lambesis was going through steroid withdrawal while in custody.

Lambesis' attorney said the "gym culture" led to "changes in [the singer's] physiological and mental status," with Tim's bodybuilding obsession causing him to go from 170 to 220 pounds after first taking supplements, then steroids. "[He] was not the same person. He was irritable and lost God."

Prosecutors allege Lambesis had twice told a man at a gym that he wanted his wife killed, then met with an undercover detective known as "Red", and gave the agent an envelope containing $1,000 in cash, photographs of his wife, and the security gate code to her house. He also allegedly told the agent the dates he would be with the couple's three adopted children, in order to give himself an alibi.

A number of witnesses testified for the prosecution during today's hearing, including the undercover officer who posed as a hitman. The officer explained that Lambesis told him, "Just to clarify, just so you know, I do want her dead."

Investigators say the undercover cop operation was staged after Lambesis told a man at his gym at Pure Fitness back on April 23 that he wanted his wife killed. Lambesis was allegedly complaining that she was making life difficult for him, that it was hard for him to see his children and that it was impossible for them to complete their divorce.

"[Lambesis said that] he wasn't allowed to visit his kids, he wasn't allowed to see his kids, he wasn't allowed to take his kids out of the state to go on tour with him, and that angered him," the undercover officer testified. "And the fact that his wife was gonna get a large portion — up to 60 percent — of his income [as part of a divorce settlement]."

A PERFECT CIRCLE, the multi-platinum rock band helmed by Maynard James Keenan (TOOL, PUSCIFER) and Billy Howerdel (ASHES DIVIDE), will release "Three Sixty", the outfit's first greatest-hits collection, on November 19 via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). The release also includes A PERFECT CIRCLE's first new original, studio recording in a decade with the inclusion of "By And Down", a song written after the band returned from their self-imposed hiatus for a series of live performances throughout 2010 and 2011. "Billy and I created A PERFECT CIRCLE out of a now long-running friendship, and I think the music we have made reflects that personal connection and has given us the ability to further develop and trust our intuition," explained Keenan. "I feel 'Three Sixty' is an accurate representation of that friendship and those instincts."

In a brand new intervie with RollingStone.com, Keenan stated about "Three Sixty": "Of course, record companies always have their little clause in their contract, about their right to release a greatest-hits record. I think that can be kind of weird sometimes, when you see 'the greatest hits,' no, no — 'the greatest greatest hits.' Releases by a record label that the band had nothing to do with, and there's several versions of the same thing, over and over again. That's kind of why we did the DVD and the box set. If you're going to release a greatest hits, we should also offer something that's not just the old recordings, rearranged. But on that greatest hits, there's going to be the studio version of 'By And Down', which is the new track that we've been working on, that we never quite got around to recording." A PERFECT CIRCLE formed in the late '90s with Keenan and Howerdel making up the core of the band with a number of well-known musicians having recorded and/or toured with the outfit, including James Iha (SMASHING PUMPKINS), Troy Van Leeuwen (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, FAILURE), Paz Lenchantin (ENTRANCE BAND, ZWAN), Jeordie White (MARILYN MANSON), Josh Freese (THE VANDALS, DEVO) and Tim Alexander (PRIMUS). A PERFECT CIRCLE also recently announced the release of a limited-edition box set titled "A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone And Echo". The collection, which focuses on the band's live outings from 2010-2011 includes a full-length DVD of the outfit's August 2011 Red Rocks concert (with accompanying audio) as well as a 3-CD collection of live releases, one dedicated to each of the three studio albums from the band's discography. The collection is available on November 26. "Three Sixty" track listing: Standard Edition 01. The Hollow02. Judith03. Orestes04. 3 Libras05. Weak And Powerless06. The Noose07. The Outsider08. Blue09. When The Levee Breaks10. Imagine11. Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums12. Passive13. By And Down Deluxe Edition Disc 1

01. The Hollow02. Rose03. Judith04. Orestes05. 3 Libras06. The Package07. Weak And Powerless08. The Noose09. The Outsider10. Blue Disc 2

01. Imagine02. Passive03. People Are People (live)04. Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums05. When The Levee Breaks06. By And Down07. 3 Libras (live)08. Gravity (live)09. Fiddle And The Drum (live)

The Pulse Of Radio reports: Although Slash and BLACK EYED PEAS singer Fergie became good friends after collaborating on a song for Slash's first solo album, when it came time to name her new baby with husband Josh Duhamel, Fergie went with the first name of Slash's former GUNS N' ROSES bandmate, Axl Rose. Were Slash's feelings hurt at all? Asked by TMZ what he thought of Fergie calling her son Axl, Slash said, "I think it's really cool, I actually talked to [Fergie and Josh] yesterday. It's all good . . . who am I to judge?" Slash told The Pulse Of Radio a while back how he first met Fergie and what he thought of her. "I did a BLACK EYED PEAS fundraiser called Peapod, and she showed up. I'd never met her before, and I was expecting, really, I thought, a Puerto Rican girl, 'cause of the way that her songs sort of sound. And so here's this white girl from Orange County and that really sort of surprised me. And then we started doing this LED ZEPPELIN song and she jumped on the vocal and it just blew my mind."

Fergie and Slash ended up recording a song called "Beautiful Dangerous" for his 2010 solo debut as well as a cover of GUNS N' ROSES' "Paradise City" that ended up as a Japanese B-side.

Slash has been working on material for his third solo outing, but is also currently doing press for "Nothing Left To Fear", the first horror film produced under his Slasher Films banner.

In addition to producing, Slash scored the film and wrote two original songs for it, with vocalist Myles Kennedy from his band singing on one of them.

"Nothing Left To Fear" opens in limited theatrical release on October 4, and hits VOD and DVD on October 8.