Andorra-based progressive death metal act PERSEFONE has inked a worldwide deal with ViciSolum Productions. The band's fourth album, "Spiritual Migration", will be released on March 29. The CD was mixed by Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, PRETTY MAIDS, MERCENARY, PESTILENCE, DESTRUCTION) at Hansen Studios in Denmark, and is described in a press release as "a portrait of all the emotions the band has gone through within the first decade of their existence. Fine-tuning has never been a better word to describe the progression of a band than in the case of PERSEFONE."

"Spiritual Migration" track listing:

01. Flying Sea Dragons
02. Mind As Universe
03. The Great Reality
04. Zazen Meditation
05. The Majestic Of Gaia
06. Consciousness (Pt. 1): Sitting In Silence
07. Consciousness (Pt. 2): A Path To Enlightenment
08. Inner Fullness
09. Metta Meditation
10. Upward Explosion
11. Spiritual Migration
12. Returning To The Source
13. Outro

The artwork for "Spiritual Migration" was created by Travis Smith (KATATONIA, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, NEVERMORE) and can be seen below.

PERSEFONE is:

Marc Martins: Vocals
Carlos Lozano: Guitar
Jordi Gorgues: Guitar
Miguel Espinosa: Keyboards, Vocals
Toni Mestre: Bass
Marc Mas: Drums

Austin Fusion Magazine recently conducted an interview with TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Austin Fusion Magazine: In the video documentary that is included with the ["Dark Roots Of Earth"], we get the sense that this record was perhaps more intentional and collaborative than many of your previous records in the past, that each member has grown to respect the others opinions and roles in regard to songwriting and producing. How has this album and that collaboration process matured from past recordings?

Alex Skolnick: This was the second reunion album. "The Formation Of Damnation", released in 2008, was the first new record in almost a decade, and I had been away from the band. But having completed that previous album, we'd done a lot of touring, and all that experience playing on the road, gave us more of a prerequisite. There's just nothing like coming off of a tour, and having that feeling of being on stage, and then you just have this connection with what ideas that are gonna work. Also we've had a few different drummer changes. For a while we didn't have a drummer to work with, so Eric (Peterson) and I just had to sit with our guitars and write songs, and I think that was a really good way to write songs. It used to be more Eric sitting with the drummer and then I'd come in and make changes. And this time we really initiated the songs together.

Austin Fusion Magazine: Back in the day, it used to be that if you were a metalhead, that's what you were, but perhaps your music has crossed genres a little bit?

Alex Skolnick: Well I think that's true. One of the struggles I had with it early on was it just felt so exclusive. If you played metal, you couldn't do acoustic world music, and you couldn't do blues, and I believe in being an all-around musician. But I also believe that you can be an all-around musician and do metal. When I left the band, I immersed myself into other music scenes, the jazz guitar scene, the world music scene, and even to study music at the university level in New York, and that was unheard of. Nobody ever thought that I'd return to play heavy metal, but one of my points was that you can be an all around diverse musician and play metal. So now it's a pleasure to play all these different styles of music. Now there's an environment where you can be a diverse musician and also play metal, but back in the late '80s, early '90s, there was a lot of resistance.

Austin Fusion Magazine: Do you think there has been a resurgence of heavy metal music in the US and/or globally?

Alex Skolnick: Absolutely, at least at the underground level. What happened in the '90s was very strange. METALLICA became this supergroup in league with BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and MADONNA, and the harder metal had been sort of relegated to underground status. And now it's growing a lot. A band like TESTAMENT, for example, was playing very small clubs in the late '90s and early 2000s in the U.S., and now in addition to playing Emo's in Austin, we're playing the Fillmore in San Francisco and the House of Blues all over the country. So it's not arena level, but it's not tiny club level either. And I think that's true of a lot of other metal bands. In Europe we just played the Wacken festival, which had 70,000 people.

Read the entire interview from Austin Fusion Magazine.

Video footage of I AM I, the new band led by former DRAGONFORCE singer ZP Theart, performing an acoustic version of the song "Stay A While" at the Hard Rock Hell festival, which took place between November 29, 2012 and December 3, 2012 at Hafan-y-Mor Holiday Camp in North Wales, United Kingdom, can be seen below.

I AM I released a cover version of John Farnham's classic '80s track "You're The Voice" on December 10, 2012 on digital format, distributed worldwide by Plastichead and available from all the usual digital outlets.

I AM I's rocking, feel-good rendition had been received exceptionally well on the band's recent tour, with everyone singing along with the memorable chorus of this great track, leading them to decide to put it out as an end-of-year single. ZP also felt that the lyrical content of the track was especially relevant in this current era, mirroring what's actually happening with the us all right now and making the timing for the single release perfect.

Written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson, "You're The Voice" was originally released by Australian singer John Farnham in 1986 and was a smash hit, reaching the Top 10 in most European countries.

I AM I released its debut album, "Event Horizon", digitally worldwide on December 10, 2012. The CD was previously released exclusively throughout Europe, but due to the increasing demand for the LP throughout the U.S., Americas, Australia and other territories, the decision was made to go ahead and release it digitally worldwide.

Written and produced by Theart and Jacob Ziemba and mixed and mastered by Roland Grapow (HELLOWEEN, MASTERPLAN), "Event Horizon" is described in a press release as "an absolutely blistering slice of heavy rock liberally infused with Theart's passion, energy and soaring vocals."

I AM I last year announced the addition of drummer Phil Martini (DOWN 'N' OUTZ, TOKYO DRAGONS, THE QUIREBOYS) to the group's ranks.

N.O.W., the brainchild of Brazilian bassist Alec Mendonça, will release its sophomore album, "Bohemian Kingdom", on March 22 via the British label Escape Music.

Three years in the making, the CD — which features additional contributions from Philip Bardowell on vocals, Jean Barros on keyboards, piano and vocals, Juno Moraes on lead and rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar and mandolin, and Diogo Macedo on drums — was mixed and mastered by Swedish musician and producer Lars Chriss (LION'S SHARE).

"Bohemian Kingdom" is described in a press release as "much darker and moodier" than its predecessor, 2010's "Force Of Nature". It includes the song "No One Can Feel It's Over", which was written about Alec's "very close friend" who died of leukemia at the tender age of 17.

"Bohemian Kingdom" track listing:

01. I'm Alive
02. I Feel Divine
03. Don't Go Now
04. Strong Enough
05. Mary-Ann
06. Tonight Is The Night
07. Bohemian Kingdom
08. Leon's Going Soft
09. Cassie's Dream
10. No One Can Feel It's Over

A snippet of the song "I'm Alive" can be streamed using the audio player below.

Acoustic dark rockers ANCIENT VVISDOM have released their new video, for 'Deathlike', the title track of their new album, out now in the UK and North America, and due throughout Europe on February 8th, via Prosthetic Records. Watch the new video below:
Deathlike was once again mixed and mastered by engineer/co-producer Jason Buntz (JET, THE DARKNESS, …TRAIL OF DEAD), along with partner and Enormous Door founder Jack Control whilst being recorded at Diamond Factory Studios in Austin, TX.
More on Ancient VVisdom including tour dates at this location.

"Learn To Live Again", the new video from the international powerhouse rock group W.E.T., can be seen below. The clip was shot on location last month in an industrial barn outside Stockholm, Sweden under bone-chilling weather conditions.

"Learn To Live Again" comes off W.E.T.'s new studio album, "Rise Up", which will be released on February 22 in Europe and February 26 in North America via Frontiers Records.

W.E.T.'s 2009 debut CD was one of the rare occasions when a band, created by the vision of a record label president, managed to generate a wave of enthusiasm and interest from fans and the media alike. Not only did it go beyond the band's own expectations, but it pushed the musicians themselves to raise their own game, when in the beginning they thought no one would care except maybe the die-hard fans from the three bands the name W.E.T. came from.

The key element to the success of W.E.T. was to create a modern melodic hard rock sound and drive it into the future with powerhouse rhythm and production, making it an equally classic and contemporary release.

Robert Säll (the "W" from WORK OF ART), Erik Mårtensson (the "E" from ECLIPSE) and Jeff Scott Soto (the "T" from TALISMAN), along with returning ECLIPSE members Magnus Henriksson and Robban Bäck, accepted the daunting task to create a follow-up that could live up to the expectation of thousands of fans across the globe.

The album's first single, "Learn To Live Again", was released on December 17 — and was described in a press release as "an unbelievably radio-friendly song, which features for the first time a vocal duet between Mårtensson and Soto."

"Rise Up" presents again a massive production and equally impressive songwriting, which updates the term "classic rock" into the new century.

"The songs were written between December 2011 to February 2012 and were recorded between March through May. We then wrote/added three more songs in September, recorded them in October and the whole album was finally mixed and mastered," says Erik Mårtensson. "To me, this album sounds more like a 'band' verses the first album", adds Jeff Scott Soto. "The first album was great as it had a lot of great songs, but this one has great songs and a band personality, which shows growth as far as I'm concerned."

Hook after hook, "Rise Up" is another one of these albums where you can enjoy the dynamics of a brilliant partnership bringing out a unique result. Melodic bullet rockers are followed by haunting ballads and fabulous arena rockers in an album that will leave listeners in awe from start to finish.

"We took what we all loved about the first album and built the songwriting and sound from that," says Mårtensson. "We wanted to give the band more of an identity and tried to find 'our' own sound. I really think we achieved it with this album. Heavier and darker than the first album which we all in the band love. It's melodic rock for a new century!" Soto adds: "Strangely, my faves are the more uptempo songs and ballads on this album, W.E.T. do great AOR stuff naturally but to have more strength on some tracks and then get emotionally charged in others made those songs the more interesting for me."

"Rise Up" track listing:

01. Walk Away
02. Learn to Live Again
03. Rise Up
04. Love Heals
05. What You Want
06. The Moment
07. Bad Boy
08. On The Run
09. Broken Wings
10. Shot
11. Still Believe In Us
12. Still Unbroken

W.E.T. is:

Jeff Scott Soto: Lead Vocals
Erik Mårtensson: Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Robert Säll: Keyboards, Guitar
Robban Bäck: Drums
Magnus Henriksson: Guitar

LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia is among the musicians who took part in an all-star jam aboard 70000 Tons Of Metal — the world's biggest heavy metal cruise — which sailed Monday, January 28 aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty Of The Seas from Miami, Florida to Cockburn Town on Grand Turk Island, and returned to the real world last Friday, February 1. Video footage of Scabbia performing a cover version of the OZZY OSBOURNE classic "Bark At The Moon" with a backing band that included ANNIHILATOR's Jeff Waters on guitar, TURISAS' Robert Engstrand on keyboards, GOTTHARD's Marc Lynn on bass and ENSIFERUM's Janne Parviainen on drums can be seen below.

The first photo of the new lineup of multinational melodic metallers MASTERPLAN can be seen below. Joining recently announced new drummer Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka (CRADLE OF FILTH) are vocalist Rick Altzi (AT VANCE, SANDALINAS, THUNDERSTONE), who replaces Jorn Lande, and bassist Jari Kainulainen (STRATOVARIUS, SYMFONIA, DEVIL'S TRAIN).

The band recently recorded the follow-up to its 2010 album, "Time To Be King", for a March release via AFM Records.

Commented MASTERPLAN guitarist/leader Roland Grapow: "The last years have not been easy for MASTERPLAN. Because of several factors, we have been unable to play festivals and tours — even though we had plenty of offers. But this will definitely change now.

"I'm very happy to welcome Rick and Jari on board now. Beside their undoubted musical qualities, they both fit perfectly into our team.

"We feel a huge motivation to get things going now.

"2013 will be see a new MASTERPLAN album, several festivals and a tour! It's time to return with full force."

MASTERPLAN's new lineup:

Rick Altzi - vocals
Roland Grapow - guitars
Axel Mackenrott - keyboards
Jari Kainulainen - bass
Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka - drums

Back in March 2012, Grapow revealed that he had 15 songs written for MASTERPLAN's next album. He added, "We are looking for a more powerful album this time... still with great melodies and feelings, but also with more orchestration and faster stuff again… just more metal."

In an August 2011 interview with the Czech web portal Kultura21.cz, Grapow stated about the status of the songwriting sessions for the next MASTERPLAN album, "This time we tried not to make demo productions, which have a poor sound — so we wanted to make really nice pre-production [recordings] which sound very close to the album sound, which is very easy [to do] in my studio now. I think we have many, many new ideas which, I guess, are a little bit more modern and more aggressive as well. So we try not to follow any trends of MASTERPLAN — I'm not saying we're reproducing the first album or the third one or the fifth one. I think we always have to try to make some surprises for the people. The 'Time To Be King' album is great, but this new album sounds a bit different again. I always want to do this, because I'm not that kind of guy who wants to make every year the same album."

On the topic of MASTERPLAN's numerous lineup changes, Grapow said, "I think it's always difficult in this band, I guess. If you see, the first album just came out after a big turbulence — leaving HELLOWEEN, Uli [Kusch, drums] and me. I think this band always needs some very bad moments to some great songs. [laughs] And it looks like MASTERPLAN, basically, is my main band, and whoever will sing and whoever will play in the band, I'm happy with. But, basically, at the moment, I'm thinking the main songwriters are Axel now and me. So whatever happens, this band will continue. It's very important for me to show that we still have the power and the ability to write beautiful melodies and some aggression and rock and metal songs. Whatever we do, we want just to make good-quality stuff."

MASTERPLAN's last CD, "Time To Be King", was released on May 21, 2010 through AFM Records. The CD's first single, "Far From The End Of The World", was issued on April 16, 2010.

"Russian Holiday", the new video from British heavy metal singer Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) and Belgium-based classical guitarist Thomas Zwijsen, can be seen below. The song is the title track of the duo's collaborative acoustic EP, which is available for order at Blaze's official web site. The EP features four re-arranged songs from previous albums — including a "full classical guitar arrangement" of the IRON MAIDEN song "Sign Of The Cross" — and one brand new song written by Bayley and Zwijsen.

"Russian Holiday" EP track listing:

01. Stealing Time
02. Russian Holiday
03. Soundtrack Of My Life
04. One More Step
05. Sign Of The Cross

Zwijsen previously recorded an acoustic IRON MAIDEN tribute album called "Nylon Maiden", which featured a guest appearance by Bayley on a cover version of "The Clansman".

Zwijsen is one of the musicians who backed Bayley on Blaze's most recent European "The King Of Metal" tour.

Bayley's new studio album, "The King Of Metal", was released in March 2012. The CD was recorded at Fear Studio in Ravenna, Italy.

The 49-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left in 1994 to replace Bruce Dickinson as the lead singer of IRON MAIDEN.

American/German/Swedish symphonic metallers KAMELOT will release a new digital single tomorrow (Friday, February 8). Acording to a press release, "Falling Like The Fahrenheit" "combines everything what the band stands for: melody, epic and melancholy atmospheres, and the unique voice of the new singer Tommy Karevik."

The "Falling Like The Fahrenheit" single will feature a special radio edit of the title track as well as the full album version.

"Falling Like The Fahrenheit" comes off KAMELOT's new album, "Silverthorn", which sold 5,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 79 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "Poetry For The Poisoned", opened with around 6,100 units in September 2010 to enter the chart at No. 74.

"Silverthorn" was released on October 30, 2012 in North America, October 26, 2012 in Germany and October 29, 2012 in the rest of Europe via Steamhammer/SPV. The CD marks the band's first release with Tommy Karevik, the Swedish vocalist who previously fronted SEVENTH WONDER (a group that he is still a member of).

Tommy first appeared as one of the guest singers on KAMELOT's very successful 2011 Pandemonium World Tour.

KAMELOT supported Finnish/Dutch symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH on their North American tour last summer.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones revealed some of the details following the LED ZEPPELIN jam sessions following their 2007 reunion. It's no secret that Page, Jones, and Jason Bonham were all geared up for more live work with the band, but the pair has now revealed that following Robert Plant's decision to not join in, the trio were working up original material for a new band.

Although both Steven Tyler (AEROSMITH) and Myles Kennedy (ALTER BRIDGE, SLASH) have gone public about their time working with the ZEP members, it seems now that the majority of the work was done before any vocalist entered the picture. Jimmy Page explained to Ultimate Classic Rock, "Certainly for Jason, myself, and John Paul Jones; Robert had his Alison Krauss project to promote. It seemed the right thing to go in and start playing new material. I thought we really should play to our strengths here, which was the music. But there were a lot of movements to bring in singers and do this, that and the other. And that would've changed the character too early from what we were doing. I won't say there was pressure, but there was a lot of hinting about this singer and that singer. For me it was more a question of, let's see what we can really do. And I don't think we got a chance to do that. Of course we would've played LED ZEPPELIN material, but you want to be playing some really, really good new music beforehand."

John Paul Jones added that once it was clear that Robert Plant was not going to be joining the exploratory rehearsals featuring the new material, it was never going to be merely a LED ZEPPELIN project with a new lead singer. "Not at all," he said. "That's a total misunderstanding. I said, 'Of course, if we go out (on the road), we're going to have to do some ZEPPELIN numbers.' And there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, we rehearsed 'Carouselambra' (from 'In Through The Out Door'), which we've never done live before, and we had a bunch of new material done. But Jimmy and I couldn't agree on singers. . . I quite liked Myles Kennedy. He's got the range, but his voice is completely different than Robert's. Which was fine by me, because it was going to be a completely different band. But it didn't work out and we all moved on."

John Paul Jones has often made light of the fact that Page and Plant reunited in the mid-'90s for two albums and a world tour without him. He recalled that despite being partners with the pair in LED ZEPPELIN — he found out about their team-up through a third party. "I was kind of disappointed that I found out about. . . I read about it in the newspapers," he said. "I called up somebody who works with all of us at the time and said, 'I see the rumors are getting strong again,' because there's always rumors about reunions and stuff. And they said, 'Oh didn't they tell you?' And I went, 'Well, tell me what?' And he said, 'Well, they're getting back on the road again.' 'Oh, well, OK, (laughs) whatever.'"

Santiago, Chile-based death/thrash metal act TORTURER will release their new self-titled double album this March, via Ausatralis Records. As a promotion for the new album, the band created a promotional video for the first single, 'Guerras'.

This new video clip, directed by Daniel Duarte, shows a mix of outdoor scenes with apocalyptical and macabre images, alluding to the lyrics of the promotional single. Check it out below:

Torturer lineup:

Francisco Cautín - Vocals/ Bass
Pablo Navarrete - Guitars
Francisco Garcés - Guitars
Rodrigo Zuñiga - Drums
More on Torturer at this location.

The reunited METAL CHURCH — Ronny Munroe on vocals, Kurdt Vanderhoof and Jay Reynolds on guitars, Steve Unger on bass, and Jeff Plate on drums — celebrated its official reunion on board 70000 Tons Of Metal, the world's biggest heavy metal cruise.

For one of their two shows on board, they played their debut album, "Metal Church", in its entirety. The other show was a "greatest-hits" set.

Fan-filmed video footage of their performance can be seen below.

Speaking to Metal As Fuck, Munroe stated about the possibility of a new studio album from METAL CHURCH: "We've got plans. We're going to start working on a new record and maybe do some festivals this summer. We'll keep everyone posted as soon as we make up our minds on that. We wanted to see how this went, and it went very very well. Kurdt has sent me a couple of things here and there, but it's nothing really that has stuck yet. We pretty much stopped doing that to focus on [70000 Tons Of Metal]. So when he gets back, he's got a few things to do, and then he's going to bury his head in writing some new stuff. It'll be phenomenal. He's a great writer. I'm really looking forward to it."

Asked if this is a permanent reunion, Munroe said: "Well, time will tell. We'll do a record, and we're just not going to do things the way that we did before. We're not 25 anymore. [I'm] not saying that we're old, but we need to do things the right way."

Added Plate: "Everybody understands that this is a complicated business. A lot of things had to fall into place. We gotta get a good record put together and done first; to be honest, that's the first thing. There's a distance between some of the bandmembers, but that's really not so much of an issue. It’s really getting the music to the ears of the fans, in their hands and then getting with someone who can put us in the right environment, at the right show, working with the right band."

METAL CHURCH called it quits after performing at the Rocklahoma festival in July 2009 in Pryor, Oklahoma.

"This Present Wasteland", the latest album from METAL CHURCH, sold 920 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD artwork was submitted by a fan via a MySpace contest.

METAL CHURCH's previous album, "A Light in the Dark", came out in June 2006 via SPV. The LP included a new version of the classic "Watch The Children Pray" as a tribute to vocalist David Wayne, who passed away in May 2005.

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx spoke to Loudwire about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's next studio album.

Sixx and his bandmates last year released a brand new song called "Sex" to coincide with the launch of MÖTLEY CRÜE's North American co-headlining tour with KISS.

Written when the band was together during their residency in Las Vegas in February 2012, "Sex" was the first studio track from the CRÜE since their June 2008 release of "Saints Of Los Angeles".

"We've been writing," Sixx said. "We started the record with the song 'Sex' and I have a ton of riffs. I know Mick [Mars, guitar] has told me he has a ton of riffs and it's just a matter of now collecting riffs. For a while, it was only writing segments of music and getting together and collaborating but now I'm starting to finish music more like I used to more — like I used to in the old days — and finish it top to bottom. So I look forward to getting in the room with my band and going, 'Here's ten of my ideas, what have you got?' and then we kind of let that process happen."

Asked about MÖTLEY CRÜE's long-term future, Sixx said: "We haven't been shy that MÖTLEY CRÜE has been talking about somewhere in the near future doing a farewell tour. We talked about it on 'Piers Morgan' and different interviews. It's not that we hate each other or we don't work together well. I think it's just at some point we want to leave it with some sort of a legacy that's leaving it in a good way. I just see some bands that keep fucking beating a dead horse and I'm like, 'Get off the horse, dude, it's dead.' And MÖTLEY CRÜE is really at one of our highest points we've been and I would like to see us even climb higher by seeing us finish our movie, an album and then maybe announcing a farewell tour and going out at the top. It would be a really nice look."

Fan-filmed video footage of FIREWIND's February 6 performance at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City as the support act for TURISAS can be seen below.

Vocalist Apollo Papathanasio left FIREWIND last month and is being temporarily replaced by American singer Kelly Sundown Carpenter (BEYOND TWILIGHT, OUTWORLD, DARKOLOGY, ADAGIO).

In a recent interview with Blastzone Online, FIREWIND guitarist Gus G. (real name: Kostas Karamitroudis) stated about Kelly Sundown Carpenter: "Kelly is an amazing singer. We jammed with Kelly recently and he did a great job on our songs. Looking forward to playing some gigs with him and we'll see what happens."

Asked how the FIREWIND fans have reacted to Carpenter's addition to the band, Gus said: "I expected it to be a lot worse. Apparently, there are lots of fans out there who are looking forward to the change for various reasons. There's some that took it really bad, which was expected, but to be honest, even with Apollo in the band, we had to recruit replacement singers for our tours. In 2007, Apollo missed the whole second leg of the "Allegiance" tour and that was a whole around-the-world run! Also, in 2011, he missed our European headline tour, which was also important, 'cause it was FIREWIND's first tour since 2009 when I joined Ozzy. So, changing singers is not a new thing for us! But it's amazing, 'cause I can't think of any other band that would be able to get away with shit like this. I think we do, because our fans come to the shows to listen to the songs, they connect with the music first and foremost and that's a very strong thing. And that means a lot to the rest of us in the band."

Esquire.com has compiled a list of the 10 Craziest Drummers Ever which includes METALLICA's Lars Ulrich, LED ZEPPELIN's John Bonham, BLACK SABBATH's Bill Ward, HELLYEAH's Vinnie Paul,. CREAM's Ginger Baker, THE WHO's Keith Moon, THE CLASH's Topper Headon, MÖTLEY CRÜE's Tommy Lee, Terry Bozzio (FRANK ZAPPA, MISSING PERSONS) and Josh Freese (NINE INCH NAILS, A PERFECT CIRCLE, GUNS N' ROSES).

Read the entertaining article at Esquire.com.

According to an update from ADRENALINE MOB drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-DREAM THEATER) the band's cover of DURAN DURAN's 'Come Undone' has gone to radio in the US. He has listed the first round of stations that have the song in circulation via his official Facebook page and is asking fans to call their local stations to request the track.

'Come Undone' - fearturing HALESTORM's Lzzy Hale as a guest vocalist - is taken from Adrenaline Mob's 2012 album, Omerta. Check out the song below:
In support of their album Omerta and 'Come Undone', Adrenaline Mob - featuring Portnoy, Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X) and Mike Orlando (SONIC PUMP) - will be commencing a US tour on March 12th. Additionally on that day, the band will be releasing Coverta, an 8-track EP featuring cover versions of some of the band’s favorite songs.

Long time fans of Portnoy are aware of the multiple cover CDs he has released with Dream Theater and with Neal Morse. Coverta is the first CD of covers recorded by Adrenaline Mob.

Coverta tracklisting:

'High Wire' (BADLANDS)
'Stand Up And Shout' (DIO)
'Break On Through' (THE DOORS)
'Romeo Delight' (VAN HALEN)
'Barracuda' (HEART)
'Kill The King' (RAINBOW)
'The Lemon Song' (LED ZEPPELIN)
'The Mob Rules' (BLACK SABBATH)
The tour will consist of two legs this spring. The dates for the first leg are as follows:

March
12 - New Haven CT - Toads Place
13 - New York NY - Marlin - Webster Hall
14 - Pittsburgh PA - Altar Bar
15 - Allentown PA - Crocodile Rock
16 - West Springfield VA - Empire
18 - Jacksonville FL - Brewster’s Roc Bar
19 - Tampa FL - Orpheum
20 - Orlando FL - The Haven
22 - Houston TX - Scout Bar
23 - San Antonio TX - Backstage Live
24 - Dallas TX - Trees
26 - Albuquerque NM - Launch Pad
27 - Phoenix AZ - Joe's Grotto
28 - San Diego CA - Brick By Brick
29 - Las Vegas NV - Cheyenne Saloon
30 - Los Angeles CA - Roxy

April
1 - Colorado Springs CO - Black Sheep
2 - Kansas City KS - The Voodoo Lounge
4 - St Louis MO - Fubar
5 - Nashville TN - Exit IN
6 - Atlanta GA - Masquerade
7 - Richmond VA - Kingdom

Tickets for all shows go on sale this weekend. NOTHING MORE will be the support act on the first leg.

'From the Dead', a track from the upcoming album from Norwegian black metallers CREST OF DARKNESS has debuted on the band’s SoundCloud page. The new album, titled In the Presence Of Death, will be the band’s sixth full-length release, and is set to appear on My Kingdom Music on the 25th February. 'From the Dead' can be heard below:



Crest Of Darkness was formed in the mid-nineties by frontman Ingar Amlien, at a time when his then-band CONCEPTION was at the peak of its popularity. Unlike Conception, which tended more towards the progressive side of power metal, Crest Of Darkness allowed Amlien to explore his interest in Vampirism and Satanic ideology, which, combined with his passion for sonic brutality, created a much more extreme sound that has grown in power and intensity over the 18 years since the band’s inception.

The lineup on In the Presence of Death includes Amlien on vocals and bass, Rebo on lead guitars, Kjetil Hektoen on drums and Kjell Arne Hubred on rhythm guitars. Hubred recently left the band and and was replaced by DJEVELKULT guitarist Jan Fredrik Solheim.
Tracklisting for In The Presence Of Death is as follows:
'Intro'
'In The Presence Of Death'
'Demon Child'
'Redemption'
'The Priest From Hell'
'Welcome To My Funeral'
'Womb Of The Wolf'
'Vampire Dreams'
'From The Dead'
'The Day Before She Died'

Check out an album trailer below:
For more details visit Crestofdarkness.com.

Reactivated British extreme metal legends CARCASS have begun mixing 15 new songs for their first studio album in 17 years with acclaimed producer Colin Richardson (FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, NAPALM DEATH, SLIPKNOT, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE). The band has yet to secure a label home for the effort, which is expected later this year.

Guitarist Michael Amott and drummer Daniel Erlandsson, who have been touring with CARCASS since the band's reunion was announced in 2007, are no longer involved with the group due to scheduling conflicts with their main band, ARCH ENEMY. Joining guitarist Bill Steer and bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker in the studio for the new CD recording sessions was drummer Daniel Wilding of TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED. "For live, we'll obviously add another guitarist — we have someone in mind but we are not interested in a 'name' player," Walker told Decibel magazine in December.

Regarding the sound of the forthcoming CARCASS album, Walker stated: "We've taken stylistic cues from all the albums because it's in our blood, but it's no rehash or mess of ideas. I think it sounds almost like the missing link between the third and forth albums but with some groove in there. I've jokingly christened some parts 'trad blast' and some 'death sleaze'… don't think for a minute this is just some nostalgic throwback album — we're setting up another 17 years of ideas for other bands to copy and clean up on. [laughs]"

Asked if this means we'll be hearing some death metal vocals out of Bill for the first time since "Necroticism", Walker told Decibel, "Yes, already in the can. It's more along the lines of how I envisioned him backing me up on 'Heartwork'. That said, my own vocals have a hell of a lot more range than they did in the past solely down to the luxury of having time to record them — I did all the vox for 'Heartwork' in two days and it shows! Also, (hopefully) [drummer] Ken [Owen] [who is not involved in the band's current reunion because he suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage in February 1999 and has had some rather serious health problems since then. — Ed.] will make an appearance — we just need to tidy a few loose ends before the mix."

CARCASS is in the process of booking a number of live shows for 2013, including appearances at year's Maryland Deathfest, Germany's Party.San Open Air, Czech Republic's Brutal Assault, U.K.'s Damnation, The Netherlands' Neurotic Deathfest and Chile's Metal Fest.

CARCASS' last album, 1996's "Swansong", was re-released in July 2008 via Earache Records. The reissue came fully remastered on a DualDisc (combined CD and DVD) in a deluxe digipak with extra artwork and a free sticker sheet featuring exclusive CARCASS designs, and included part 5 of a mini-documentary series entitled "The Pathologist's Report" as bonus video material, plus an exclusive bonus track, "Deathrider Da".

Translation Loss Records has announced the signing of LESBIAN. The Seattle, Washington band's third full-length offering, "Forestelevision", is a single-song, 44-plus-minute all-encompassing force of nature. Never has an album sifted through the deepest trenches of prog-influenced epic-doom and blackened metal to produce such an awe-inspiring aural assault to the senses. Recorded at Avast! Studios with longtime producing collaborator Randall Dunn (WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, EARTH, BORIS) and featuring gorgeous artwork by Arik Roper, the effort will see an early/mid-2013 release on CD (digipack), digital and 2xLP. The 2xLP version will come housed in deluxe gatefold packaging and include an exclusive vinyl-only extended outro bonus track.

Consisting of guitarists Arran McInnis and Daniel La Rochelle, bassist/vocalist Dorando Hodous and drummer Benjamin Thomas-Kennedy, LESBIAN has grown accustomed to composing lengthy eclectic journeys that take the listener through myriad genres ranging anywhere from doom to prog to psyche to '70s rock to black metal to grunge and beyond. "Forestelevision" continues LESBIAN's music genre-defying journey from their prior full-length on Holy Mountain Records called "Power Hor", a split 10-inch with OCEAN on Roadburn Records, an independently released two-song tour EP, and a second full-length on Important Records called "Stratospheria Cubensis".

U.K. mainstays and international cult act CATHEDRAL has released its first new recorded material in three years exclusively via Decibel magazine's subscriber-only Decibel Flexi Series. The song, "Vengeance Of The Blind Dead", can be heard in the flexi included in this month's issue, which hits newsstands today. The track is also streaming on Decibel's SoundCloud page. Limited quantities of the issue with the flexi can be ordered on DecibelMagazine.com.

CATHEDRAL will be the featured cover story for Decibel magazine's May issue, on newsstands in April. The feature will highlight the band's storied career, as well as discuss their final studio release, "The Last Spire". The CD is due in April/May.

In 2011, CATHEDRAL released "Anniversary", a two-disc live album captured during a special show at the Islington Academy in London. Disc one features the band's original lineup performing its 1991 debut, "Forest Of Equilibrium", in its entirety. The second set featured the longstanding lineup of Lee Dorrian, Garry Jennings, Brian Dixon and Leo Smee, in which they performed a raucous selection of songs old and new.

German power metallers HELLOWEEN have posted a three-minute video recap of their appearance aboard 70000 Tons Of Metal — the world's biggest heavy metal cruise — which sailedon January 28 aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty Of The Seas from Miami, Florida to Cockburn Town on Grand Turk Island, and returned to the real world on February 1. Check out the clip below.

HELLOWEEN's new album, "Straight Out Of Hell", sold around 4,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 97 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD entered the Media Control chart in Germany at position No. 4 — the highest chart position in the band's history. It also landed at No. 4 in Finland and No. 2 on the international album chart in Japan.

"Straight Out Of Hell" was released in Europe on January 18 and in North America on January 22. The cover artwork for the CD was once again created by Martin Häusler, who previously worked with the band on the "7 Sinners" and "Gambling With The Devil" CDs.

"Straight Out Of Hell" was produced by Charlie Bauerfeind, who also worked on "7 Sinners", and sees the five musicians maintaining a rawer edge throughout, working quickly in the studio (MiSueno Studio in Tenerife) and delivering 13 brand new compositions that, in the words of founding member, guitarist Michael Weikath, will "kick even the laziest listener's ass!"

NIGHT RANGER guitarist Brad Gillis has recorded a guest solo on a track on the new album from the Geoff Tate-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE, due later in the year via the Los Angeles-based independent label Cleopatra Records. Tate says: "Brad is an amazing player and completely shredded through the entire track."

Although a lineup for Tate's QUEENSRŸCHE was originally announced in the fall of 2012, things have changed. The band will now feature Tate along with bassist Rudy Sarzo (OZZY OSBOURNE, DIO, WHITESNAKE, QUIET RIOT), guitarist Kelly Gray (QUEENSRŸCHE 1998-2001), keyboardist Randy Gane and new additions, guitarist Robert Sarzo (QUIET RIOT, HURRICANE) and drummer Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO, RHINO BUCKET).

Wright takes over for previously announced drummer Bobby Blotzer, who will be returning to RATT as an integral part of the band that made him famous.

"I'm very much looking forward to being involved in the QUEENSRŸCHE project with Geoff," stated Wright. "I've always admired his singing and songwriting and working with Rudy Sarzo again is going to be cool! Between this and my other project, DIO DISCIPLES, I look forward to a very busy year!"

Other guest musicians on the new album from the Geoff Tate-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE include legendary guitar slinger K.K. Downing of JUDAS PRIEST, KING'S X guitarist Ty Tabor and Blotzer.

Tabor comments, "I'm very happy that Geoff considered me for this record. It will be great to play with all of these great musicians."

Beginning in early April, Tate's QUEENSRŸCHE will be hitting the road to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band's epic 1988 release, "Operation: Mindcrime", performing all fifteen songs from the album along with other well-known hits and rarities from the catalog they've compiled over the past 30 years.

"I try to surround myself with the best players available and feel our longtime fans deserve nothing less," says Tate. "I expect the forthcoming effort to be one of our best yet."

Tate, who was fired from QUEENSRŸCHE in June 2012 after fronting the group for three decades, last year sought to prevent his former bandmates from touring and operating under the QUEENSRŸCHE name without him. While ruling against Tate, the presiding judge determined that there was no legal hurdle in Tate also using the name with an all-new lineup of musicians. "I don't see any reason that Mr. Tate can't have the benefit, if he gets other members, of whatever name he uses of using the brand," Superior Court Judge Carol A. Schapira said during the July 13, 2012 court hearing. "I think [doing that would be] inherently confusing, although I'm sure the market can get these things sorted out," she added.

Last November, Tate released his first solo CD in over a decade titled "Kings & Thieves" (InsideOut Music) and toured with his solo band in support of the CD, which included dates with the legendary ALICE COOPER.