The fifth annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards presented By Epiphone will take place Thursday, May 2, at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles. For the first time ever, the event will be broadcast live on national television through AXS TV and broadcast in the US and key international markets through Xbox LIVE and Facebook.

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.

FOZZY frontman and WWE pro-wrestling legend Chris Jericho will reprise his role as host for the fourth consecutive year. The nominees in 11 different fan-voted categories, plus the recipients of this year's prestigious "Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award" (presented by Ernie Ball), "Golden God Award" (presented by Sumerian Records) and "Riff Lord" (presented by EMG Pickups), were revealed at a press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Host Chris Jericho was on hand, along with Sebastian Bach, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, HALESTORM, Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Maria Brink and Chris Howorth (IN THIS MOMENT), John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE), Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) and Zakk Wylde to announce the nominees. HALESTORM performed a special live set, including a guest appearance by Sebastian Bach on a cover of the SKID ROW classic "Slave To The Grind".

Fans everywhere can cast their vote to decide who will take home the awards for "Best Guitarist" (presented by Epiphone), "Best Drummer" (presented by Drum Workshop), "Best Vocalist" (presented by Rockstar Energy Drink), "Album of the Year" (presented by Orange Amplification), "Song of the Year," "Best Live Band" (presented by Samson/Zoom), "Best New Talent," "Most Metal Athlete," (presented by Roadrunner Records), "Comeback of the Year," "Paul Gray Best Bassist" (presented by Dean Markley) and "Most Dedicated Fans" (presented by Xbox LIVE).

Voting is now open at GoldenGodsAwards.com and ends April 15.

The Golden God Award (presented by Sumerian Records), which is given to one special honoree a year who embodies the spirit of hard rock and metal, will go to Rob Zombie, who commented, "What can I say? It is a complete honor to receive this award and have my name join the list of such legendary past winners as Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons. Pretty cool deal to be part of the Golden God club." (The other previous honorees are Rob Halford of JUDAS PRIEST and Dave Mustaine of MEGADETH.) Rob Zombie will be releasing his brand new album, "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" (Zodiac Swan/T-Boy/Ume), on April 23, and his latest feature film, "The Lords of Salem" (Anchor Bay), on April 26.

The Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award (presented by Ernie Ball), will go to hard-rock and metal icons METALLICA, who will release the 3D movie "Through The Never" in August. (Previous honorees include RUSH, MÖTLEY CRÜE, Lemmy Kilmister of MOTÖRHEAD and Ozzy Osbourne.)

METALLICA's Lars Ulrich commented: "Since the Revolver Golden Gods Awards is fast becoming THE most rocking awards ceremony in the hard rock world, we are beyond psyched to be at the receiving end of this shout out and in the distinguished company of RUSH, Lemmy, Ozzy and MÖTLEY CRÜE. I was hanging out and presenting at the shenanigans two years ago and the energy in the room and the vibe backstage was beyond fucking cool, so METALLICA is chomping at the bit to partake in this year's event. Once again, we are honored to be recognized as achievers (!!) and we can't wait to get up and jam onstage and sweat for and on everybody gathered."

The Riff Lord Award, (presented by EMG Pickups) is given each year to a legendary guitarist in the field of hard rock and heavy metal. This year it's going to none other than BLACK SABBATH axeman Tony Iommi, who had this to say about the honor: "What a great honor to receive the Golden Gods Riff Lord Award for 2013, especially with our new SABBATH album coming out. I hope there will be some new favorite riffs in these songs." Slash of GUNS N' ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER won the award last year.

Adding to the celebration, the 2013 Revolver Golden Gods Awards show will feature one-of-a-kind special performances and collaborations that honor both the past, present and future of heavy music. The night's hard-rocking musical performances will include sets by METALLICA, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ANTHRAX, STONE SOUR, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and HALESTORM, with more performers to be announced in the coming weeks.

Ivan Moody, lead singer of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, had this to say about his band's Golden Gods performance: "Being in the studio these last few months working on our new album, the momentum has been building. We are ready to be back where we belong — onstage in front of all of you! What better way to play our first show of 2013 than with our family at Revolver magazine and on America's only hard-rock and heavy-metal awards show!"

Returning as well is the "Black Carpet" pre-show that will be hosted by legendary heavy-metal frontmen Sebastian Bach and Dee Snider. Bach and Snider will be interviewing all the nominees, honorees and performers on the Revolver Black Carpet before show time for the special, which will air on both AXS TV and Xbox LIVE.

Also announced today was the launch of the first-ever Revolver Road To The Golden Gods Tour. Featuring STONE SOUR and IN THIS MOMENT, the 30-city national tour will kick off in March and conclude at the 2013 Revolver Golden Gods Awards Show. STONE SOUR lead singer Corey Taylor says: "Me and the guys in STONE SOUR are very excited, not only to be a part of the Golden Gods, but also to be headline the first Road To The Golden Gods Tour! The Golden Gods is the only awards show in America that truly recognizes and honors our genre; so to be a part of a tour that they sponsor is something that we are all very proud of. We're looking forward to the tour, and looking forward to the awards ceremony. We promise we will have something special that no one will ever forget!"

The nominees for the 2013 Revolver Golden Gods Awards are:

Best Guitarist

* John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON)
* Stephen Carpenter (DEFTONES)
* Alex Lifeson (RUSH)
* Misha Mansoor (PERIPHERY)
* Brendon Small (DETHKLOK)
* Kim Thayil (SOUNDGARDEN)

Best Drummer

* Abe Cunningham (DEFTONES)
* Mario Duplantier (GOJIRA)
* Arejay Hale (HALESTORM)
* Gene Hoglan (DETHKLOK, TESTAMENT)
* Roy Mayorga (STONE SOUR)
* Neil Peart (RUSH)

Paul Gray Best Bassist

* Rex Brown (KILL DEVIL HILL, PANTERA)
* Steve Harris (IRON MAIDEN)
* Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD)
* Geddy Lee (RUSH)
* Jason Newsted (NEWSTED, METALLICA)
* Sergio Vega (DEFTONES)

Best Vocalist

* Philip Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA)
* Maria Brink (IN THIS MOMENT)
* Chris Cornell (SOUNDGARDEN)
* Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM)
* Chino Moreno (DEFTONES)
* Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT)

Best New Talent

* DEVICE
* GHOST
* KVELERTAK
* MISS MAY I
* OF MICE & MEN
* YOUNG GUNS

Most Metal Athlete

* Tom Crabtree (Green Bay Packers, NFL)
* Tanner Faust (Rally and drifting car racing)
* Clay Guida (Mixed Martial Arts fighting, UFC)
* Triple H (WWE wrestling)
* Geoff Rowley (Skateboarding)
* CJ Wilson (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, MLB)

Best Live Band

* ANTHRAX
* FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
* HATEBREED
* LAMB OF GOD
* SLIPKNOT
* VOLBEAT

Comeback Of The Year

* AEROSMITH
* THE DARKNESS
* QUICKSAND
* REFUSED
* SOUNDGARDEN
* TENACIOUS D

Song Of The Year

* ASKING ALEXANDRIA - "Run Free"
* AVENGED SEVENFOLD -"Carry On"
* BLACK VEIL BRIDES - "In The End"
* DETHKLOK - "I Ejaculate Fire"
* HALESTORM - "Love Bites (So Do I)"
* IN THIS MOMENT - "Blood"

Most Dedicated Fans

* BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
* BLACK VEIL BRIDES
* A DAY TO REMEMBER
* HIM
* RAMMSTEIN
* SLIPKNOT

Album Of The Year

* DEFTONES - "Koi No Yokan"
* GOJIRA - "L'Enfant Sauvage"
* HALESTORM - "The Strange Case Of…"
* MARILYN MANSON - "Born Villain"
* SOUNDGARDEN - "King Animal"
* STONE SOUR - "House Of Gold & Bones Part 1"

Dutch female-fronted symphonic metallers WITHIN TEMPTATION have issued the following update:

"We have been, and we are still hiding in our studios since winter started. With every writing session, new things are happening. We are experimenting a lot and are trying to hold on to this magical feeling.

"We are looking forward to the moment that we can share with you where this journey has taken us.

"We are excited to have found a new enthusiastic label partner, BMG Rights, with whom are aiming for a release in autumn, which perfectly fits the mood of the album. As soon as we can, we will share more information about the new album. In the mean time we will see you on the road this summer!"

WITHIN TEMPTATION's fifth studio album, "The Unforgiving", sold around 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 50 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on March 29, 2011 the CD was produced by Daniel Gibson and is based on a comic book story written by script writer Steven O'Connell (BloodRayne, Dark 48). The band asked comic artist Romano Molenaar (Witchblade, Darkness, X-Men) to draw the characters and scenery of "The Unforgiving", which was made available via Sony Music in Continental Europe and Roadrunner Records in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland, Japan and Australia.

WITHIN TEMPTATION guitarist Robert Westerholt in 2011 announced that he would step down from touring duties in order to focus on taking care of the three children he has with the band's lead singer, Sharon den Adel. His replacement on stage is Stefan Helleblad, who had been working with the band behind the scenes for a few years.

Forty years ago in January 1973, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss held auditions for a lead guitarist for their new band. As the group took shape, they chose Ace Frehley. Paul suggested the name KISS, and the band was born. Later that month, KISS performed its first show on January 30 at Popcorn, a club in Queens, New York.

Four decades on, KISS is still rocking a legion of fans that number in the millions around the globe. Now 40 years strong, Paul, Gene, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer prepare for a "Monster" world tour in 2013.

Says Stanley: "My dream from the start was five years of glory with KISS. Along with Peter and Ace, we kicked doors open that stood in our way, and every band member who has stood with me at some point during these decades has played an essential part in turning that five year dream into a phenomenal 40-year reality. I thank each of you for your contribution to this milestone.

"Our journey and victories are a joy I also share with you, our fans who have always given us the freedom to stand and fall on our own terms, and we have done both with a grateful smile. For the past ten years, Tommy and Eric's pride and dedication have enabled Gene and I to reclaim and celebrate all that we have been, while continuing to move forward in a way that would have been impossible without them. I love playing with the band as it is today, and many of my proudest moments are tied to moments of magic we have created together in the studio and on the stage. I know we're ready to do it again."

Adds Eric Singer: "A special thanks to all of the fans who have been with the band on this roller coaster ride called KISS for 40 years! I am honored to be a part of this machine and pay special respect to all members past and present. I especially want to thank Paul, Gene, Tommy and [manager] Doc McGhee for giving me a place to call home. And most importantly the fans. YOU fuel this engine!"

States Tommy Thayer: "At 40 years strong, I'm proud to be in one of the greatest bands in rock history. KISS is a band that is as full of life and vitality today as it was 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago. All eras of the band should be celebrated today. Long live KISS."

Says Gene Simmons: "To the Kiss Army — who made it all possible for us.

"To Paul, without whom I would never have been able to achieve my dreams.

"And to the band — past and present — for continuing to treat the stage as holy ground and the fans as our bosses.

"Here's to another 40 years!"

The first trailer for "The Living Infinite", the ninth studio album and first dual-disc release from Swedish metallers SOILWORK, can be seen below. Check out what singer Björn "Speed" Strid has to say about the idea of a double album, the songwriting process and working with new guitarist David Andersson for the first time.

"The Living Infinite" will be unleashed on February 27 in Asia (via license to Marquee Records), in Europe on March 1, and in North America on March 5 through Nuclear Blast Records. Produced by Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH), the CD features artwork by MNEMIC's Mircea Eftemie Gabrie.

"The Living Infinite" features Justin Sullivan — lead singer of the English band NEW MODEL ARMY — as a guest vocalist on the track "The Windswept Mercy" and also marks the recording debut of longtime SOILWORK touring guitarist David Andersson (also of THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA).

SOILWORK's world tour launches with a 55-show headlining trek through the U.S. and Canada this March. Support will come from JEFF LOOMIS, BLACKGUARD, THE BROWNING and WRETCHED.

"The Living Infinite" track listing:

CD 1

01. Spectrum Of Eternity
02. Memories Confined
03. This Momentary Bliss
04. Tongue
05. The Living Infinite I
06. Let The First Wave Rise
07. Vesta
08. Realm Of The Wasted
09. The Windswept Mercy
10. Whispers And Lights

CD 2

01. Entering Aeons
02. Long Live The Misanthrope
03. Drowning With Silence
04. Antidotes In Passing
05. Leech
06. The Living Infinite II
07. Loyal Shadow
08. Rise Above The Sentiment
09. Parasite Blues
10. Owls Predict, Oracles Stand Guard

"Point Of No Return", the new video from Denver-based metallers HAVOK, can be seen below. The song is the title track to the band's EP, released last spring as a tide-me-over release while the band continued their non-stop touring. The video was directed by Roy Warner and was filmed on location in Detroit, Michigan.

Discussing the video, HAVOK vocalist/guitarist Dave Sanchez says,: "The lyrics of 'Point Of No Return' are highly interpretable, but the message of the video pretty simple. The world as we know it is a delicate place and we have never had such a high capacity to destroy the human race as we do now. At some point, our self-made concoction of nuclear/biological weaponry, ancient superstitious beliefs, nationalism, corruption, ignorance, and conflicting ideologies is going to become lethal: on a global scale. We live in a time like no other and it's obvious that if we don't change our behavior, its only a matter of time before the world is extinguished at the hand of fanatics. It's literally within everyone's power to leave the world a little nicer than we found it. Don't believe everything you've been told: Think for yourself."

Director Roy Warner notes: "Working with the guys from HAVOK was great. They had awesome ideas to start out with and build from; wanting to showcase real life as the concept. It really illustrates the depths of human depravity in the past, present and what we can expect from the future if attitudes don't change."

Now with the band busy at work recording their new album, anticipated for early summer release, HAVOK fans can expect the Denver-based thrashers to keep an active schedule for 2013. Sanchez says: "On a lighter note, we're currently wrapped up in the studio writing album #3. We should be finished recording in March and then, in usual HAVOK fashion, we'll tour practically all year! There are lots of exciting things coming up in 2013. Keep an eye out for tour dates and we'll see all of you on the road soon!! Until then, spread the word and support heavy metal."

HAVOK is guitarist/vocalist Dave Sanchez, bassist Jesse de los Santos, guitarist Reece Scruggs, and drummer Pete Webb.

"Curse The Living", a brand new song from MURDERDOLLS frontman Wednesday 13, can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below. The track comes off Wednesday 13's fifth solo album, "The Dixie Dead", which will be released on February 18 in the U.K. and on February 19 in North America.

"The Dixie Dead" limited-edition packing with expanded artwork is available only in the U.S. or througn a U.S. source for initial orders. Retail limited edition will have a pullout poster and expanded artwork, which comes in DVD packaging. The version ordered during the web site pre-orders comes with the above and an exclusive patch and an exclusive sticker.

"The Dixie Dead" track listing:

01. Death Arise (intro)
02. Bloodsucker
03. Get Your Grave On
04. Curse The Living
05. Too Fast For Blood
06. Hail Ming
07. Coming Attractions
08. The Dixie Dead
09. Ghost Stories
10. Fuck You (In Memory Of...)
11. Carol Anne... They're Here
12. Hands Of The Ripper
13. Death Arise (overture)

In a recent interview with Metalkrant, Wednesday 13 stated about "The Dixie Dead": "I think it's the best CD I have ever made. It's a great combination of everything I have done over the years. It's heavy, it's still catchy and singalong songs, it's a full horror record."

He continued: "The album is going to look like a 1980s horror movie. It's a special way we did it. I'm more excited about that than everything I can remember that I put out. We have some different sounds, too, that we've tried. There's some really heavy stuff. Heavy for me — I don't mean like SLAYER heavy. [laughs] But for me, it's heavy. There's a track on the record that reminds me of BLACK SABBATH and there's one that reminds me of MINISTRY and METALLICA. There are a lot of influences in there and it showcases my lineup that I have now. I didn't play anything on the record, but vocals and keyboards. It's the first time I haven't played guitar on a record. I wrote everything, but I let the band play it. So to me, that definitely added something to it. I think I have a great band and my guitar player is amazing. The things he does and what he brought to the table… It's the perfect record for me. I feel like it's taken me 10 years to… Not that I didn't like what I did before, but I feel like this is finally the one that we got where I wanted it to be. I'm super excited and I hope people will embrace it the same way."

2013 is a special year for Wednesday 13 as it marks 20 years of him releasing recorded music and 10 years of the band WEDNESDAY 13.

POISON singer Bret Michaels will release his new solo album, "Good Songs & Great Friends", on March 26 via Poor Boy Records. The effort brings together the friends that Michaels has made along the way with some of the songs that have shaped all of that success. Featuring collaborations with artists from a variety of genres and generations, this album contains a live duet with Jimmy Buffett ("Margaritaville"), a cover of "Sweet Home Alabama" with Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke and Peter Keys from LYNYRD SKYNYRD playing on the track, new versions of some of POISON's biggest hits, including the highly anticipated remake of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" with Loretta Lynn. Musical greats such as Joe Perry of AEROSMITH, Michael Anthony of VAN HALEN/CHICKENFOOT, Leslie West of MOUNTAIN, Ace Frehley of KISS/FREHLEY'S COMET appear on this record, just to name a few.

Two new songs are included on the CD — the wildly popular ode to social media "The App Song" and "You Know You Want It". The single, "Get Your Rock On", released at the beginning of 2012, makes its album debut featuring Phil Collen of DEF LEPPARD/MANRAZE and Sal Costa of MY DARKEST DAYS.

The genre-bending album features 17 songs, and in addition to the artists mentioned above, also includes guest appearances by Miley Cyrus, Hugh McDonald (BON JOVI), Bobby Capps (.38 SPECIAL), Scot Coogan (LITA FORD), THE SHEILDS BROTHERS, and more.

"Good Songs & Great Friends" track listing:

01. Nothin' But A Good Time
02. Get Your Rock On
03. Sweet Home Alabama
04. The App Song
05. Margaritaville
06. Every Rose Has Its Thorn
07. You Know You Want It
08. Unskinny Bop
09. Nothing To Lose
10. Raine
11. Driven (Rock Mix)
12. Fallen
13. What I Got
14. Talk Dirty To Me
15. Go That Far (Hybrid Mix)
16. Party Rock Band
17. Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Country Version)

The song "You Know You Want It" can now be streamed at MySpace.

In an interview with Gimme Noise, Bret stated about his upcoming CD, "I'm really proud of what we've done with it. It's really not just a Bret Michaels album. I had so many other talented artists come in and support that it's really a 'Bret Michaels And Friends' album. There's a staggering amount of talent on this album. . . It's been such a fun project for me and I'm excited to share it with the fans."

Israeli/American outfit SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE, which features in its ranks Paul Kuhr of NOVEMBERS DOOM on vocals, has set "Home" as the title of its new EP, to be released in March. The EP will be released only on seven-inch vinyl for now and will be available to pre-order directly from the band. It is limited to 300 copies only — 100 transparent orange and 200 regular black. The artwork was created by longtime collaborator Travis Smith (OPETH, KATATONIA).

Eight years after the release of SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE's acclaimed album "Suspended Animation Dreams", "Home" features two tracks: the new title cut and a cover version for THE MISSION UK's "Beyond the Pale". The effort was recorded at various studios around the world with a lineup that included drummer Mathan Shmuely of ORPHANED LAND, bassist Mike Feldman of NOVEMBERS DOOM, and Arabic orchestra, featuring violins, oud, bazuki and lyra. According to a press release, the EP contains "lots of vintage keyboards and the band's heaviest guitar parts ever."

Says SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE songwriter and mastermind Tomer Pink: "We got so excited while writing this long-due follow-up that we decided to release a two-track EP as a teaser for the album. This is gonna blow people's minds!"

"Home" was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY, BLOODBATH, NIGHTINGALE) at Unisound studios in Örebro, Sweden.

SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE plans to enter the studio later this year to record a new full-length album.

Christian rockers STRYPER will enter the studio on April 2 to begin recording their next all-new original album for a late 2013 release. The band's frontman, Michael Sweet, states: "[I] started arranging songs for the next STRYPER record today. I've got a phone filled with 50-plus riffs and I'm diving in! STRYPER starts recording on April 2 and wrap the record on June 1. It will be released later in the year, 2013! We're busier now than in 1986."

In a 2012 interview with Guitar World, Michael Sweet stated about STRYPER's plans for the next studio CD: "We're going into this new record with the mentality and thinking of making it like a 'To Hell With The Devil 2'. That's not to say it will actually sound like that album, but we really want it to be as great as 'To Hell With The Devil', which was our biggest album. We want people to put on this record and go; 'Whoa! Wow! This is as good as or better than 'To Hell With The Devil'!' We want the new album to be a powerhouse and we're going to do whatever it takes to make that happen."

Frontiers Records earlier in the month announced the signing of STRYPER to a multi-album deal. The first CD to be made available the agreement will be a collection of re-recorded versions of the band's classic songs, due in North America on March 26. Entitled "Second Coming" and produced by Michael Sweet, the CD will contain a total of 16 cuts — two from "The Yellow And Black Attack", six from "Soldiers Under Command", six from "To Hell With The Devil", as well as two new tracks, "Bleeding From Inside Out" and "Blackened".

STRYPER's "Live In Indonesia At Java Rockin' Land" DVD was released in October 2012 via MVD Visual. The set was recorded in front of an enthusiastic crowd in 2010.

The band's covers album, "The Covering", was unlike any previous STRYPER recording in that it was a collection of cover songs from bands that inspired them and helped to shape their sound and musical identity, including hits from JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, LED ZEPPELIN, KANSAS and many others. "The Covering" also included "God", a new original recording from STRYPER.

Photo credit: Tina Enos

KINGDOM COME, the veteran German hard rock band led by singer Lenny Wolf, will release a new studio album, "Outlier", on April 29 in Europe and May 7 in the USA via SPV/Steamhammer. According to a press release, the group's first studio CD featuring completely new material since the arrival of 2009's "Magnified" "picks up with ten powerful rock songs where [Lenny's] long tradition of fascinating studio albums left off. At the same time, mastermind Lenny is starting a new chapter of his diverse creative career, expertly positioning his charismatic voice on 'Outlier' between traditional rock structures and modern sound elements, which add a third dimension to this album."

"I simply felt the need to delve deep inside of me and run riot in the infinite expanse of the audio cosmos. The result is a friction of mercilessly mechanical, heartless sound collages, combined with my typical melancholy-melodious style," Wolf explains the album's artfully interwoven experimental approach to his sound, which never detracts from the familiar atmospheric basic mood of his songs. "A whole number of souls happen to dwell in my breast, which is why experimentation and the development of my musical existence simply belong together."

"Outlier" was recorded at Wolf's own Hamburg studio, the Two Square Noise Factory. With the exception of the solo guitar parts contributed by Eric Förster, all instruments were recorded by the KINGDOM COME boss himself. In addition, Wolf produced, engineered, mixed and mastered the CD.

"Eighteen months of struggle and madness lie behind me, a period which saw me go through the usual alternating bath of euphoria and doubt," Wolf says. "As an artist, you can never be quite sure just what you've cooked up, but I happen to be an idealist and simply have to keep embarking on new adventurous journeys. The path of predictability has never satisfied me."

The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND had announced the release of two high-quality vintage recordings of their early incarnations this February 12th. The band - one of rock’s most iconic live acts and members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and recipients of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award - historically recorded many of their live shows and are selectively releasing their personal choices through the band’s Allman Brothers Band Recording Company label, distributed through Entertainment One Music.
The February 12th releases include two especially unique shows. The February 11th, 1972 concert in their Macon, GA hometown is the Allman Brothers Band’s first show there after the death of founding guitarist Duane Allman, and features the group as a five-piece with all original members: keyboardist Gregg Allman, drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimo, bassist Berry Oakley and guitarist Dickey Betts. Never-before-heard in the bootleg market, the Macon performance showed the band in ferocious form, just two months before their legendary Eat A Peach live album was released.

The band’s May 1st, 1973 show at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY marked a much different line-up for the Allman Brothers Band.

Keyboardist Chuch Leavell (who would later go on to THE ROLLING STONES) had joined the group in mid-1972 just before founding bassist Berry Oakley’s untimely death. Jaimoe’s childhood friend, Lamar Williams, was chosen to replace Berry Oakley six months prior to the Nassau recording. Four songs from this set had not appeared on any of the previous live or archival releases: 'Come & Go Blues', 'Wasted Words', 'Jessica' and 'Ramblin’ Man'. Like the 2/11/72 Macon show, this concert is from a two-track reel-to-reel soundboard master tape.

In 2011, the band joined forces with Entertainment One Music to market two signature band-owned labels: Peach Records for the sales of its previous Sanctuary label releases and new live recordings of the current band as well as the Allman Brothers Band Recording Company for the release of archival recordings featuring the late Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.

Tracklistings for the shows are as follows:
City Auditorium, Macon, GA - February 11th, 1972:

Disc 1
'Statesboro Blues'
'Done Somebody Wrong'
'Ain'T Wasting Time No More'
'One Way Out'
'Midnight Rider'
'You Don't Love Me'
'Stormy Monday'
'Hoochie Coochie Man'
'Hot 'Lanta'

Disc 2
'Les Brers In 'A' Minor'
'Trouble No More'
'Whipping Post'
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY - May 1st, 1973:

Disc 1
'Wasted Words'
'Done Somebody Wrong'
'Statesboro Blues'
'One Way Out'
'Stormy Monday'
'Midnight Rider'
'Jessica'
'Come And Go Blues'
'Ramblin' Man'
'In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed'

Disc 2
'Trouble No More'
'You Don't Love Me'
'Les Brers In 'A' Minor'
'Whipping Post'
'Mountain Jam'

The Allman Brothers Band are getting set to honor the 40th anniversary of their iconic 1972 live album, Eat A Peach, in a big way: they’re hailing 2012 as The Year Of The Peach.

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees will start the year with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which “honors performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.” That event will take place Saturday, February 11th during Grammy Week in Los Angeles and the group will be mentioned on the Sunday, February 12th national TV broadcast.

“It’s shaping up to be a great year,” says Butch Truck, who co-founded the band in 1969 with Gregg Allman, drummer Jaimoe, guitarist Duane Allman, bassist Berry Oakley and guitarist Dickey Betts.

“We just wanted to make music that was honest and play it for friends, which is pretty much what we’ve done. It’s an honor to be able to be recognized like this.”

Soon after the Grammy Awards, the band will launch their annual residency at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, where they will perform 10 shows beginning Friday, March 9th (see full itinerary below). Tickets for those shows go on sale Friday, January 6th. The group have performed over 200 sold out Beacon Shows since they began the March tradition in 1989. Their 2003 run was captured on the gold-selling Live At The Beacon Theatre DVD and the One Way Out CD, which features the Grammy-nominated track, 'Instrumental Illness'.

In April, the group returns to Live Oak, FL, where they will host their 8th annual Wanee Festival on April 19th - 21st. The full line-up for the three-day festival has yet to be confirmed.
Confirmed New York City Beacon Theatre dates include:

March
9 - Beacon Theatre - New York City, NY
10 - Beacon Theatre - New York City, NY
13 - Beacon Theatre - New York City, NY
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San Francisco Bay Area metallers DEATH ANGEL have begun demoing material for the follow-up to 2010's "Relentless Retribution". The band is currently recording drums and guitars. A photo from the sessions can be seen below.

"Relentless Retribution" sold 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 10 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200. The band's previous album, "Killing Season", opened with around 2,300 units back in March 2008. This number was in line with the performance of its predecessor, "The Art of Dying", which registered a first-week sales tally of around 2,100 back in May 2004.

"Relentless Retribution" was released in the U.S. on September 14, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, AUGUST BURNS RED, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ALL THAT REMAINS, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER). The cover artwork was created by Brent Elliot White (JOB FOR A COWBOY, CARNIFEX, WHITECHAPEL).

DEATH ANGEL's long-awaited DVD, "A Thrashumentary", will be released later in the year. Guitarist Ted Aguilar recently stated about the set, "It's gonna cover the history of DEATH ANGEL from the very beginning all the way up to the current version of DEATH ANGEL now. It's gonna be jam-packed with a lot of old footage, stuff from early D.A., even their side projects after D.A., when D.A. broke up and THE ORGANIZATION formed, and the reformation of the band [for an appearance at] Thrash Of The Titans [festival in 2001]."

According to a press release, "A Thrashumentary" is a combination live video and documentary, all wrapped up in one thrashing DVD. The footage was directed by Tommy Jones (SOILWORK, KATAKLYSM) and mixed by Chris Clancy of The Studio. The film gives the viewer an in-depth look into one of the longest-running thrash acts out of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for turning out historic thrash bands such as METALLICA, TESTAMENT and EXODUS.

Kelleigh Welch of Pro Sound News recently conducted an interview with former ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Pro Sound News: The big question: Why did you decide to leave ANTHRAX?

Caggiano: That was a very tough decision to make and it's also a tough question to answer. There are a number of reasons why I left the band. Some of them are very personal to me but I ultimately have no problem being open about these things. If you were to ask me to give you the absolute main reason why I decided to leave ANTHRAX, I would tell you that I left because my heart simply wasn't in it anymore. I had a blast playing with those guys and they will always be family to me, but outside of my guitar solos and production work, ANTHRAX was never a creative outlet for me (musically). That wasn't by any choice of my own by the way; it's just the way it is. But at the same time I was committed 100 percent to the band and the relentless touring schedule, etc. It's been a blast playing with those guys. I love them dearly and I wouldn't change a thing about the last 12 years, but I guess it just got to the point where I started asking myself: "What the hell am I doing? I'm a musician; this is who I am. Being creative is simply food for my soul. Why am I devoting all of my time and energy into a band where being creative is impossible for me?" It simply stopped making sense a while ago and I ended up feeling very unhappy and unfulfilled. It started feeling like I was just going through the motions and that's not what music is about to me at all. As soon as I realized that my heart was not into it anymore, I knew I needed to make a major change in order to make things right for myself.

Pro Sound News: So what are your plans moving forward as a producer?

Caggiano: It's been in the back of my head that I wanted to get back into producing records because that is my other passion. I've always been enamored with recording studios and the whole recording process. Producing records can be a very cathartic and rewarding experience or it can be the most stressful thing you've ever done in your life. I say that with a smile on my face because I've experienced both scenarios many times over the years. I have some amazing memories and I've seen things go down in a recording studio that most people wouldn't even believe. Making records is a lot of hard work and to be honest, I usually can't even listen to an album I've worked on when I'm done with it. It's the smiles and excitement people have when they listen to it that make it worthwhile for me. I'm actually in Denmark right now producing the new VOLBEAT album for Universal and I'm extremely amped up about this one. It's the best thing that could have happened to me at the best possible time, and so far, I think it's my best work to date. Leaving ANTHRAX was an emotional decision, but it was also extremely liberating at the same time. I definitely feel like I made the right choice.

Pro Sound News: So will we hear you on guitar again some day? Do you think you will miss playing with ANTHRAX?

Caggiano: I already do, but at the same time I'm very excited to see what the future has in store for me. I'm absolutely not giving up my guitar! I'm not giving up touring anytime soon either. I love the stage and I love touring. It's in my blood and it's who I am. I just needed to step off the machine to reevaluate things. Sometimes it's good to do that and with change comes growth. I have a lot to say musically and I'm ready to scream!

Read the entire interview at Pro Sound News.

Progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER have commenced work on the follow-up to 2011's "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" for a tentative late summer/early fall release via Roadrunner Records. The band's guitarist, John Petrucci, and keyboardist, Jordan Rudess, recently spoke with Roadrunner Records about the process. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Roadrunner Records: How prepared are you going into sessions? Are songs fully plotted out, or are there just vague ideas that get shaped in the studio?

Jordan: Well, with DREAM THEATER, we really like to write together, but that's not to say we have no ideas going in. We'll have seed ideas, things to get us started. Riffs, motifs, eight bars, maybe 16 bars. For the most part, that's how DREAM THEATER works. Occasionally, John will bring in a ballad he wants to put on the album, but we enjoy having these seeds that whoever came up with them did, and then we all work on them together.

John: We always talk about the concept for the album, so we always come in with a plan, the direction of the album, the type of album we want to make, and we get everyone literally on the same page, so that we're all focused in a general sense and even in some specific senses. But as far as actual ideas, throughout the touring year, as we're playing live, if someone has an idea and they bring it into soundcheck and we start jamming on it, we always record it, and so those little recordings, whether they're jams or chord progressions or whatever, we'll archive them and have them ready to go. And then, ideas that I come up with by myself at home, in the hotel room or whatever, I archive them in a special folder, New Album Ideas, whether they're completed demos or just little seeds or riffs or whatever, but those are good starting points. We'll go through all that stuff and use what we want, and at the same time we come up with fresh stuff in the studio, just having nothing to do with previous ideas. So it's a combination.

Roadrunner Records: How much writing do you guys do on the road? Do you practice together or separately, and does it ever bleed into a writing session?

Jordan: Sometimes. We don't generally write on the road, but on this last tour there were a lot of times when we'd be inspired, partly because we had this amazing new drummer and we'd just sit there and go "Wow," and come up with some cool musical ideas, or [new DREAM THEATER drummer Mike] Mangini and I would walk onstage a little bit earlier to do the soundcheck because we knew we could just go have some fun, so we'd start playing and record it and review that at some time during our stay in the studio. So there's definitely stuff that happens in soundcheck, but we're not formally trying to write on the road. As long as I've been in this band, it's been the kind of thing where we know we're going to block out a certain amount of time, and it's going to be our job to go in over the course of these months and write an album. And it's really great for us, because all of us are family guys, we've got kids and families and responsibilities, but we love our music and we want to be able to focus on it, so to be able to put aside a block of time where we know that's what we're going to do, that's what really seems to work best for all of us.

Roadrunner Records: What's Mike Mangini's role in the writing process this time around? Are you looking forward to having him be a participant in the creative process?

Jordan: Well, we just got started, so it's hard to answer that. I will say that Mike comes into this being very respectful of all of us, understanding that we've been a functioning organization without him for all these years. So Mangini comes into this knowing that the compositional forces are alive and well in the band. [laughs] And yes of course he's somebody we want there, because we think he's fabulous, but he's coming in with some care and understanding. That's first of all. But Mike Mangini is one of the biggest rhythm experts on the planet Earth right now. He can do things with rhythm no one else can do. He's inspired; for him, math and music is totally one thing in his brain, and it's an incredible thing for us to have that mixed into the writing process. It's exciting. Because somebody like myself, I'm really terrible at math, but somehow when it comes to rhythm, I'm really good. Not as good as Mike Mangini — I don't think anybody is. But having that skill, as part of a band that already has a fairly high skill set when it comes to different aspects of writing music and making music, is pretty cool. It's major for us. I feel like it brings in this element that will put us even more on top of our game. So that's what I'm looking forward to in the writing, and so far, even though we're just getting started, I can tell that's the way it's going to go.

John: First of all, it's been going great with him, and as much as we've been a band together for about 15 years, we haven't really experienced that process together. We've been in the studio for a few weeks now, and he's been amazing. Amazing chemistry is great, the writing process and the whole vibe is great, and his role is to let his personality shine as a drummer, creatively and to have his input and his musical personality really come through. And I gotta tell you, it's happening. When people hear the drumming on this album, they're gonna be pretty freaked out. On the last album, he did a great job, but he wasn't there for the writing process and he was interpreting drum parts that I had programmed. Even though he used his creativity, of course, to change them up and do his thing, I feel like now he's just Mike Mangini unleashed. It's all him. It's all his creativity, all his decisions and ideas and man, the guy's an animal.

Read the entire interview from Roadrunner Records.

Video footage of former NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis and the Portland, Oregon studio musician Keith Merrow jamming at the Seymour Duncan booth at this year's NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show, a massive music-products convention that took place January 24-27 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, can be seen below. Also taking part in the jam was SIX FEET UNDER guitarist Ola Englund.

As previously reported,Loomis will join forces with Merrow to record a new album.

Commented Merrow: "[Jeff and I] been talking about it for a while, and it just seems right. So we'll start writing some new music for that soon. I'm extremely motivated by the thought of this, and I know that the chemistry between the music... all ideas we have will make for a truly amazing album."

Loomis previously contributed a guest guitar solo to Keith's second full-length instrumental album, "Awaken The Stone King", which came out in January 2011.

According to his official bio, Merrow's extreme style of guitar playing is a unique blend of traditional metal with a dash of obscurity. In May 2009, he released a self-produced EP titled "Lonestar Transcend". The six-song instrumental effort was a compilation of songs that were first heard on Merrow's YouTube page, where he posted play-through videos of the songs. Just six months later, in November 2009 came "The Arrival", which marked Merrow's first album that he wrote from start to finish.

Loomis and drummer Van Williams announced their departure from NEVERMORE in April 2011 due to personal differences with singer Warrel Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard. Their replacements have not yet been announced.

Multi-camera video footage of INTO ETERNITY performing the song "Fukushima" on January 18 at The Vat Pub in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada can be seen below.

INTO ETERNITY last year tapped Amanda Kiernan of the Edmonton, Alberta-based metal band THE ORDER OF CHAOS as their new touring vocalist. Kiernan took over from Stu Block, who was hired away in 2011 by American metallers ICED EARTH, leaving INTO ETERNITY without a full-time singer.

Kiernan made her live debut with INTO ETERNITY on February 24, 2012 at the 11th edition of the Manitoba Metalfest at The Zoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

INTO ETERNITY's signature sound has often been described as a hybrid of latter-day DEATH and CONTROL DENIED, combined with the technical stylings of DREAM THEATER.

INTO ETERNITY's last album, "The Incurable Tragedy", came out in 2008 via Century Media.

In a recent interview with UWeekly, guitarist/vocalist Justin Hawkins (pictured below) of reformed British rockers THE DARKNESS was asked for his thoughts on his band being mentioned in a less-than-favorable light in the 2010 documentary "Lemmy" in which the MOTÖRHEAD mainman called THE DARKNESS a "novelty act."

"I haven't seen it," Justin said. "I've heard about it, though. Isn't it one fictional character discussing a fictional character with another fictional character? [laughs] There's a lot of that kind of stuff in the world. Too much, if you ask me, and I didn't bother watching it. You know that expression: 'water off a duck's back?' Um, like that… only with less interest, I suppose. Water off a disinterested duck's back."

Speaking to Classic Rock magazine in 2004, Lemmy revealed that THE DARKNESS banned him from appearing at one of their Los Angeles shows after he branded them a "novelty act."

"I don't have a problem with them," Lemmy told Classic Rock, "I just have a problem with people making them out to be more than they are. They're just a band — a good band that play good tunes. I just have a problem with the vocals.

"Ginger wanted me to do a song with him when THE WILDHEARTS were supporting them in L.A., but they banned me because I said I didn't like THE DARKNESS in some paper. I said I thought it was a novelty record.

"And it was: they're not normal vocals, and it was the first one of its type, so... And then all this terrible shit came down."

FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl, who invited Lemmy to work on his PROBOT project, acted as peacemaker between the two parties.

Lemmy: "Dave Grohl — the cunt — rings me up, 11 o'clock at night, and says: 'Come down the Rainbow and have a drink.' And I get there and he's surrounded by THE DARKNESS. Dave's a nice guy — he likes to keep the peace, which is a great thing. So I'm sitting next to the singer and he says: 'So you don't like my vocals?' I said: 'I don't like 'em because it's not my sort of thing, but I defend to the death your right to do what you want to do.' As soon as we talked about it, it made it alright, cos bands are basically on the same side."

Best known as the singer/songwriter/guitarist of the Philadelphia-based blues-rock band CINDERELLA, Tom Keifer is making his debut as a solo artist with the release of his long-awaited and highly anticipated solo album, "The Way Life Goes", on April 30 via Merovee Records (through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group).

The collection of 14 new songs ranges from intimate, organic, acoustic tracks to driving hard rock. It embraces the blues, rock and country roots that have always been present in his unique sound that has generated the sale of over 15 million records worldwide for CINDERELLA. Rolling Stone praised Keifer as "a gritty, bluesy (rocker) with enough genuine swagger to draw comparisons to Mick Jagger."

"The Flower Song", the album's first single, will be serviced to AAA radio stations nationwide on February 4, while "Solid Ground" will be serviced to all rock formats on March 11.

"To me, ['The Flower Song'] is about how unbelievable it is that you're able to find that one person that's perfect for you," Keifer, 52, tells USA Today. "Obviously, it's told from the perspective of a guy, but I think it's true for both men and women: When you find that one person, it's a miracle."

Keifer wrote "The Flower Song" with Jim Peterik, formerly of the bands SURVIVOR and the IDES OF MARCH.

"'The Flower Song' is one aspect of the record," Keifer says. "The record ranges from that more acoustic side to hard-driving, high-energy rock songs, and everything in between. It's a pretty diverse album."

"The Way Life Goes" is a raw, introspective look at the roller coaster ride that has been Keifer's life for the past 15 years. From being told that he would never sing again as a result of a partially paralyzed left vocal cord, to the emotional and personal battles that followed, his solo debut is a story of perseverance, a testament to the power of passion and will, when combined with a true love of music.

In touring news, Keifer will launch his first-ever solo tour on February 9 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at Ziggy's. The 14-city trek of small, intimate rooms is an up-close and personal preview of songs from "The Way Life Goes" along with some CINDERELLA classics. Dates beyond February 28 are currently in the works.

Keifer recently spoke with HuffingtonPost.com about "The Way Life Goes". "The idea for a solo record started in the Nineties when the band parted ways and we left Universal," he said. "There was just a changing of the guard in the industry at that time and I started thinking about a solo record. I wrote for it for many years and the songs just kept going on the pile and I never got around to actually making a record... We started cutting tracks for this record in 2003 and I went to the pile of songs that had been building up and picked some that I liked and I've just been working on it ever since. It was produced independently of a label, because the idea from the beginning was to just work and record until I was happy with it. I wrote with a lot of different people — my wife, Savannah, who's a great writer, co-wrote a lot of the songs on the record and also co-produced the record with me, and a good friend of ours, Chuck Turner, who's a great engineer and producer. So from the beginning, the attitude was, 'Let's have fun and just make a great record and it'll be done when it's done.' Little did we know it'd be nine years later… it's done and we went through some crazy stuff and mixed and remixed and reworked things over and over and probably made a lot of mistakes along the way, but finally got it where we were all happy with it, so here it is."

"The Way Life Goes" track listing:

01. Solid Ground
02. A Different Light
03. It's Not Enough
04. Cold Day In Hell
05. Thick And Thin
06. Ask Me Yesterday
07. Fools Paradise
08. The Flower Song
09. Mood Elevator
10. Welcome To My Mind
11. You Showed Me
12. Ain't That A Bitch
13. The Way Life Goes
14. Babylon

Often regarded as the greatest frontman in the history of rock music, Bon Scott tragically died on February 19, 1980 but his memory lives through the music he created with AC/DC. From 1975's Australian album "High Voltage" to 1980's "Highway To Hell", Bon Scott and AC/DC were a global force to be reckoned with.

AC/DC formed in 1973 but it wasn't until the latter half of 1974 that Scottish-born singer Robert Belford Scott joined the fold. Scott would help take AC/DC to legendary heights of success. Although the bands success did not arrive quickly, they released a stream of stunning albums and were undoubtedly the most electrifying live rock band of the 1970s.

Despite the latter-day success of the band, the Bon Scott years of 1974 to 1980 are often regarded by many as the band s most fertile creative period. Those years spawned 1976's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", 1977's "Let There Be Rock" and 1978's "Powerage", not forgetting the now-legendary live album, "If You Want Blood You've Got It" from 1978.

Exploring the two Australian albums, the five international studio albums as well as other releases featuring Bon Scott, the book "AC/DC - The Early Years With Bon Scott" is a fitting recognition of Bon Scott's legacy and a reminder of just how influential AC/DC's 1970s period remains. It hharts the most creative period of the band's history from 1973 to Bon Scott's death in 1980.

Due on February 22 via Independent Music Press, "AC/DC - The Early Years With Bon Scott" includes a foreword from URIAH HEEP's Mick Box and a bonus chapter on "Back In Black", the first album with Brian Johnson. Authored by Neil Daniels, it extensively covers AC/DC's five international albums and two Australia-only releases with Bon Scott and is said to be "perfect as a fans book as well as a book for AC/DC beginners."

For more information, visit www.neildaniels.com.

Finnish symphonic metallers AMBERIAN DAWN last month announced the addition of 40-year-old singer Päivi "Capri" Virkkunen to the group's ranks. The band's new lineup re-recorded the "best" songs from its first four albums — "Circus Black" (2012), "End Of Eden" (2010), "The Clouds Of Northland Thunder" (2009) and "River Of Tuoni" (2008) — for a compilation album, to be released later in the year.

Behind-the-scenes footage from the compilation CD recordings can be seen below.

Capri previously released two solo albums: "Salaa Sinun" (1997) and "Kuun Morsian" (2001).

Commented AMBERIAN DAWN: "As announced recently we have spent quite some time with the search for a new singer. A pretty hard task, but we think we managed to find an extraordinarily talented singer.

"We are very proud to present you Capri! She is from Finland and a professional vocalist with a strong background: she has worked for a vast amount of different kinds of studio and live projects (musicals, lead and backing vocal recordings, live shows etc).

"Capri has a classical training but is still 100 percent a rock singer. We are sure she will bring AMBERIAN DAWN to a new level by interpreting AMBERIAN DAWN songs with a different kind of style and emotion.

"And since we all thought that Capri can sing those 'classic' AMBERIAN DAWN songs with new and refreshing style and sound, we decided to re-record a selection of our best songs again with her. Also 75% of the music stems are going to be re-recorded. Mikko P. Mustonen, who did orchestral arrangements for our previous album ('Circus Black'), will add some more color to those songs with awesome orchestral additions. He's also going to mix this album."

Added AMBERIAN DAWN songwriter Tuomas Seppälä: "Finding Capri and getting her join AMBERIAN DAWN is like a big dream coming true to me. Capri shares the same taste in music as I and that's why is obvious that our new partnership is like 'match made in heaven.' She really makes my compositions to shine like never before and I'm so impressed about her every way. I'm as excited as back then when I found our original singer Heidi. Now my main focus is to make the whole world to hear about Capri and start composing new songs for her. But first, we're all concentrating on recording this compilation album with Capri and then I'll start working with new material for new studio album."

AMBERIAN DAWN 2013 is:

Päivi "Capri" Virkkunen - Vocals
Tuomas Seppälä - Guitar, Keyboards
Emil Pohjalainen - Guitar
Kimmo Korhonen - Guitar
Jukka Koskinen - Bass
Joonas Pykälä-aho - Drums

AMBERIAN DAWN parted ways with vocalist Heidi Parviainen in November 2012. Her final appearance with the band was at the Metal Female Voices Fest at the end of October in Belgium.

AMBERIAN DAWN's fourth studio album, "Circus Black", was released in Finland on February 29 via Spinefarm Records. The band's mainman, keyboardist and guitarist Tuomas Seppälä composed all ten songs for the CD and Parviainen penned the lyrics.

PENTAGRAM CHILE is nearing completion of its first-ever studio album, which will be titled "The Malefice". Drums for the CD were tracked at Sade Studios in Santiago, Chile, while all guitars and vocals were recorded at HVR Studios in Suffolk, U.K., where the album is currently being mixed by vocalist/guitarist Anton Reisenegger with longtime friend, collaborator, co-producer and studio owner Daniel Biggin.

The band faced a dilemma when deciding whether to re-record their legendary '80s material. Reisenegger comments: "We weren't sure if we should re-record the old demo songs; some people encouraged us to do so, others said we would ruin our own legacy. At first, we decided to re-record just a couple, but while we were at it, we were so pleased with the results we decided to do them all."

"We obviously didn't want to base our first studio album on 25-year old songs," he continues, "as people have been — rightfully — accusing us of flogging that material to death already, so I think we found an elegant solution: The album's first edition will consist of two records, one of all-new material written during the last two years, and a second one of re-recorded songs from the '80s demos. The few friends who've been able to listen to the re-recorded material have been amazed at how we've been able to capture the vibe of the old material despite using modern recording technology. Hell, even the new stuff sounds like it came from that era!"

While the PENTAGRAM drum throne was recently taken over by veteran Chilean drummer Juan Pablo Donoso (SADISM, EXECRATOR, THRONAFIRE) after original member Eduardo Topelberg left the band (he is now a local politician for the Ñuñoa district of Santiago), bass duties on the album were split between various musicians. Besides the band's touring bassists Juan Francisco Cueto and Daniel Biggin, the band also invited longtime friend Rodrigo "Pera" Cuadra of DORSO to record the bass on one song, as well as to re-do the evil laughter he originally contributed to the demo version of the track "The Malefice".

Another bassist to guest on the album is Mauricio Peña, brother of original PENTAGRAM bassist Alfredo "Bey" Peña, who committed suicide in 1990. "It was really emotive to have Mauricio perform on the album. He looks a lot like his brother and is just as talented. In a way, it's like Alfredo is still with us in spirit."

In addition, the track "La Fiura" will feature a scream provided by MORGOTH singer Marc Grewe. "The song is about this mythological creature from the South of Chile," Reisenegger explains, "which emits this really piercing, high-pitched scream that literally melts people's faces. When we were playing the Maryland Deathfest last year, MORGOTH were on while we were getting ready, and all of a sudden we heard this insane scream. We all looked at each other and said: 'That's it, that's La Fiura!!!' So we approached Marc and he immediately agreed."

The album mix is due to be finished at the end of January, and the band are aiming for a late spring release on Germany's Cyclone Empire Records.

Australia-based hard rockers BABYJANE have inked a multi-album deal with England's Z Records. The band's 's sophomore album, "Make It Sick", which was previously made available through CDBaby.com, will receive a wider release in March. The CD's title track, which features a guest appearance by John Corabi, former lead singer of MÖTLEY CRÜE, THE SCREAM and UNION, was recorded with legendary producer Michael Wagener's (METALLICA, SKID ROW, OZZY OSBOURNE) Wireworld Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The song can now be streamed using the SoundCloud player below.

Commented Z Records: "Upon hearing material that was sent into the label, an offer was immediately made after the album instantly grabbed everybody's attention at Z's office . Fans of LILLIAN AXE's classic 'Love And War' album will drool over 'Make It Sick'."

BABYJANE's "She's Just A Liar" video can be seen below. The clip was filmed by Kundabuffer Photography & Multimedia and was directed by Baz Harvey.

BABYJANE's previous album, "Are You Listening?", was mixed by Wagener in 2010.

BABYJANE is:

Andy Smith - Vocals, Guitar
John Gerasolo - Lead Guitars
Paul Judge - Bass, Vocals
Nik Kats - Drums

For more information, visit BABYJANE's web site, www.babyjane.com.au.

Florida-based death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE will release a box set to commemorate their 25th anniversary: "Dead Human Collection: 25 Years Of Death Metal". The box contains: all 12 full-length studio albums in a 12-CD foldout case with new artwork, "Torturing And Eviscerating Live" on CD and LP picture disc recorded in Tampa, Florida in 2010 and Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2012, plus new exclusive images by Vince Locke, 12" x 12" graphic prints of all 13 original album covers, and a 2013 CANNIBAL CORPSE calendar. The box will be in stores on March 16 and will be available for pre-order soon, along with the previously announced series of CANNIBAL CORPSE picture discs, at metalblade.com/cannibalcorpse.

After a bloody successful maiden voyage in 2012, Decibel magazine is doubling down on veteran star power for their second annual national tour. This spring, the plague spreads as Decibel brings you three living legends of death metal and grindcore: the preeminent gore institution CANNIBAL CORPSE; rabble-rousing U.K. grind icons NAPALM DEATH, and NYDM stalwarts IMMOLATION.

While occultism permeated last spring's inaugural Decibel tour — featuring exclusively European headliners in BEHEMOTH, WATAIN, THE DEVIL'S BLOOD and IN SOLITUDE — they looked (mostly) to North America for this year's unholy assemblage. Three of Decibel's favorite underground powerhouses will take on this year's rotating opening slot: demented Bay Area death-grinders CRETIN, Canadian tech-prog upstarts BEYOND CREATION and Beltway grind/powerviolence crushers MAGRUDERGRIND. And the time is ripe to see the new bleed into the old: three of the six artists performing are expected to have new records detonating during the tour.

Kicking off in May, this year's Decibel Magazine Tour gauntlet will last a full week longer than its 2012 counterpart, spanning over 30 North American dates. Presented by Metal Blade, IndiemerchStore.com, Nuclear Blast, Lace Pickups, Century Media and Season Of Mist, the 2013 Decibel Magazine Tour will bring together the kind of globally-renowned, boundary-pushing innovators that have made it possible for the magazine to continue thriving for over 100 issues. Coming off a tour noted for BEHEMOTH frontman Nergal's triumphant return to the States following his battle with leukemia — which culiminated in an explosive sold-out closing gig in New York City — Decibel had no choice but to go bigger and even more badass.

Detroit thrashers BATTLECROSS will enter Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida next month to record the follow-up to their 2011 Metal Blade debut, "Pursuit Of Honor". The band will begin tracking immediately after the "Another Year, Another Tour" with IN FLAMES, DEMON HUNTER and ALL SHALL PERISH for 27 North American dates that begins on February 2 in Ft. Lauderdale. Eyal Levy will handle engineering duties on the record and ARMORED SAINT's Joey Vera, who mastered the band's cover version of PANTERA's "Fucking Hostile", will master.

Lewis, responsible for the production and/or engineering for bands such as THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER and DEICIDE, said: "I can't wait to be a part of BATTLECROSS' next record. From the moment I heard the band I knew I wanted to be a part of their development. Hearing the new music has only solidified that feeling. Working with our good friends at Metal Blade and bringing great new music to the masses is what it's all about."

BATTLECROSS guitarist Hiran Deraniyagala says the band is "stoked to be working with a prolific studio and producer at Audiohammer. We're so focused on making a killer follow-up album and we feel that Mark Lewis will help bring our raw, live sound to life."

Metal Blade President Michael Faley said: "2013 is destined to be big year for BATTLECROSS, starting with a tour with IN FLAMES in February, followed by recording the new album with Mark Lewis in March and April. We have high expectations for the band's sophomore effort, which will be released to coincide with a massive tour this summer (stay tuned for details). We are excited by the band's 'non-stop' approach which has landed them on significant tours and support from Jose Mangin at SiriusXM Liquid Metal."

In addition, BATTLECROSS was recently added to the 15th annual New England Metal And Hardcore Festival in Worcester, Massachusetts. This will be the band's first appearance at the event, which will also feature ANTHRAX, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, OPETH and many more.

"Pursuit Of Honor" topped the SiriusXM Liquid metal chart, garnered great reviews and earned the band high-profile tours, including last summer's Trespass America with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and TRIVIUM.

Reformed Chicago death metallers BROKEN HOPE have posted a new EPK (Electronic Press Kit) containing a brief recap of the band's history, information about their upcoming album, and more. Check it out below.

In regards to BROKEN HOPE's next studio CD, guitarist Jeremy Wagner comments: "We finished writing the new BROKEN HOPE album and plan to start recording in March with Chris Djuric at Belle City Sound and Scott Creekmore at Mercenary Digital Studios. As reported recently, the 11 tracks include 'The Flesh Mechanic' and 'Give Me The Bottom Half'...and these are just the tip of a massive and sick iceberg. We plan to turn this new monstrosity in to Century Media in May — before our appearances at Extremefest (Germany) and Maryland Deathfest 2013."

BROKEN HOPE was formed in 1988 by Wagner, while he was in high school. Shortly after formation, they recorded two demo tapes and signed with indie label, Grind-Core Records. Then in 1991, they released their debut album, "Swamped In Gore", launching the band out of the underground and into the mainstream. From there, the band signed to Metal Blade Records and released three more albums, all stellar examples of BROKEN HOPE's fury, which etched their place in death-metal history.

After BROKEN HOPE's last album (1999's "Grotesque Blessings") and world tours, Wagner cleaned house and put BROKEN HOPE into "metal hibernation" in 2000. On January 20, 2010, original BROKEN HOPE vocalist Joe Ptacek tragically committed suicide. He was only 37 years old. Before his death, Ptacek met with Wagner and Glass and discussed the resurrection of BROKEN HOPE. With Ptacek's death, Wagner and Glass took time off to reconsider their next moves.

In 2012, BROKEN HOPE signed with Hard Impact Management and vowed to make BROKEN HOPE a full-time monster. Wagner and Glass recruited longtime friend and GORGASM vocalist Damian Leski as their new frontman and shortly after marked their return on the highly successful Carnival Of Death tour. BROKEN HOPE's high-intensity concerts received top praise, and confirmed the band was back and more rabid than ever.

BROKEN HOPE 2013 is:

Damian Leski - Vocals
Jeremy Wagner - Guitars
Shaun Glass - Bass
Chuck Wepfer - Lead Guitars
Mike Miczek - Drums

The official lyric video for "One Finger And A Fist", a brand new song from Texas heavy rockers DROWNING POOL, can be seen below. The track will appear on the band's fifth album, which is due out later this year via Eleven Seven Music. The band teamed up with producer Kato Khandwalla at House of Loud Studios in New Jersey, as well as John Feldmann (THE USED, STORY OF THE YEAR), and completed the album in Dallas.

DROWNING POOL bassist Stevie Benton recently spoke to AOL's Noisecreep about the latest addition to the group lineup: singer Jasen Moreno. Moreno, who previously fronted fellow Texas band THE SUICIDE HOOK, is DROWNING POOL's fourth and newest frontman. Jasen replaces vocalist Ryan McCombs, who exited the group at the end of 2011 after a six-year stint in the lineup.

Asked how DROWNING POOL's chemistry has been affected by the singer changes over the years, Benton said: "Well, it's a forced form of band evolution, I would say, certainly not something you strive for and not something that I would advise other bands to do, because it's a lot of extra work and it's hard on you at times, but for us, we still had a such great time with Dave [Williams, DROWNING POOL's original singer] and such great vibes still remains and we've been trying to recapture that ever since then. It feels cheap to stick with a chemistry that just doesn't feel right and so maybe that's why we've had a lot of turnover. We knew if we switched singers again that a lot of people would look at it and make comments, but for us it seemed like it was worth it to take that shot at capturing the best chemistry we ever had. So we did. Look, sometimes you have to shift gears and I'm sure some of our ex-singers feel the same way: 'I can't wait to get the hell out of here.'"

He added: "One thing we have learned is that each singer has strong points and weak points and we've learned to craft the sound of the band that will benefit the singer at the time. It can be tricky at times to learn the nuances of it, but this time around, one fortunate thing is Jasen, our new singer, is a Dallas guy, we've know him for years and so it's not like having a stranger coming in. We had a great idea about him though, who he is and what he is about, and so we've been able to hit the ground running."

Moreno made his live debut as a member of DROWNING POOL on July 8, 2012 at a club in Ardmore, Oklahoma.

DROWNING POOL's video for the song "Saturday Night" was directed by Jon Bertorelli and produced by Daniel Livschultz, both of Vulpine Films.

"One Finger And A Fist" lyric video: