Ruben Mosqueda of Oregon Music News recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Oregon Music News: Since we last spoke, there was a falling out with QUEENSRŸCHE and you. There had been rumblings that things were "tense" within the band. When did things begin to sour between you and your bandmates?

Tate: [pauses] Uh, it all came down in May (2012); that was the "big explosion," I guess. It just came out of the blue and from out of nowhere and bah-boom! It came out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting it. It caught me off guard and since then I've been rolling with it. [laughs] Life goes on and I was readying this album so I just put all my energy and positive thoughts into [my new solo album] "Kings & Thieves".

Oregon Music News: How much of a factor in the break-up was communication between you and Michael [Wilton] with Scott [Rockenfield] and Eddie [Jackson]?

Tate: (pauses) Uh, honestly, Ruben, I don't know. It hard for me to speculate how they are or were thinking, you know what I mean? It's all a mystery to me. Up until this happened in May, we had touring plans for this year, plans to make a new record and plans for to tour in 2013. Everything was business as usual. It all changed drastically and I've been playing "catch-up" since.

Oregon Music News: Currently you can use the name "QUEENSRŸCHE," as can Scott, Michael and Eddie. You put together an all-star line-up that will tour under the name QUEENSRŸCHE. How confusing do you think this will be to the casual fans and will this hurt the brand?

Tate: Oh, yeah, it will be. That's why I tried to file an injunction to stop everyone from using the name until we settled our differences. They didn't want that they wanted to keep touring. They couldn't sell their other project without the name "QUEENSRŸCHE." I think that is what caused them to fire me and go through such extreme measures. They're operating in "survival mode,"' which is really too bad. This isn't the way I envisioned the ending of the band. I do think this will be confusing for the "casual fan," but I think most QUEENSRŸCHE fans are very intelligent people can go to Queensryche.com or GeoffTate.com and get a clearer picture of what's happening. I think this will allow them to make an informed decision on what they'd like to do.

Oregon Music News: So, Geoff, how much of the breakup has to do with money?

Tate: Oh, it's all about money! It's all about money. It's unfortunate that some people are able to see the picture of where they are at. They have this misinformed of idea of what "reality" is. So these people make these bad decisions on this "misinformation" and then they have to justify their actions. I really believe that is what is happening here.

Oregon Music News: Out curiosity, have you heard or viewed any of the clips of Todd La Torre performing "classic" QUEENSRŸCHE material? If so what did you think?

Tate: Oh, no. I'm not even interested in that.

Oregon Music News: Do you hope to at some point reunite with QUEENSRŸCHE in the future or are things beyond repair at this point?

Tate: I never like to say never. [Long pause] I will tell you that there will have to be a lot of discussion before there could be any decision like that. Honestly, Ruben, I feel completely free right now. I love the feeling of being able to work with people that I like. I get to work people that are happy and that really love to be doing what they are doing. I get to work with some very creative people that I don't have to drag along because they can't be bothered to show up. I like not having to operate with my hands tied behind my back.

Read the entire interview from Oregon Music News.

Quality video footage of DEICIDE's November 4 performance at Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio can be seen below.

DEICIDE's latest album, "To Hell With God", sold 2,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD was issued on February 15, 2011 via Century Media Records. It was produced by Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, CHIMAIRA) at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida.

DEICIDE's previous CD, "Till Death Do Us Part", opened with 2,900 copies back in May 2008.

DEICIDE's "Conviction" video was directed by David Brodsky and Tim Kellen (Brodsky also handled editing duties while Kellen animated the video) and produced by MyGoodEye LLC. The clip tells the story of frontman Glen Benton and his pursuit of Jesus, claymation-style.

DEICIDE earlier in the year completed the North American headlining "March Of Death 2012" trek, with support from JUNGLE ROT, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS and LECHEROUS NOCTURNE.

At the inaugural installment of the Beastival festival — set to take place from May 30 to June 1, 2013 in Geiselwind, Germany — "The Big Teutonic 4", the legendary quartet of German thrash metal bands that shaped the European heavy metal scene like no other since the '80s and established "thrash made in Germany" as a quality seal all around the world, will share the same stage on the same evening! Be there when KREATOR, SODOM, DESTRUCTION and TANKARD tear down the venue and thrash you into the ground!

The Beastival 2013 billing also includes such acts SABATON, WINTERSUN, KATAKLYSM, SATYRICON, U.D.O. and DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER.

For more information, visit www.beastival.com.

In a recent interview with Greece's Metal Kaoz, KREATOR frontman Mille Petrozza stated about the possibility of a full-fledged tour with SODOM and DESTRUCTION: "We have been talking about this all the time. We have been having this discussion since the last time we were in Greece along with SODOM and DESTRUCTION about getting that tour in the U.S. But this never happened and you wanna know why? … There are certain people who don't want to tour. [DESTRUCTION bassist/vocalist] Schmier wants to tour, we want to tour but Tom [Angelripper] from SODOM does not. And, as you can understand, we can only do this tour with the three bands onboard because otherwise it would not be the same. So, without SODOM, this will never happen and I am really sorry to say this."

Mitch Harris and Mark "Barney" Greenway of NAPALM DEATH joined the reactivated late 1980s Portland, Oregon-based thrash metal/hardcore band WEHRMACHT on stage on November 11 at the Hawthorne Theatre in Portland, Oregon to perform the WEHRMACHT song "Night Of Pain". Video footage of their appearance can be seen below.

NAPALM DEATH covered "Night of Pain" on their 2004 release, "Leaders Not Followers Part 2".

WEHRMACHT is currently demoing songs for a new album, due out in 2013. The band is also preparing for a week of West Coast dates in February, ending at the Key Club in Hollywood on February 23 as direct support for SACRED REICH.

Earlier this year, WEHRMACHT parted ways with vocalist Tito Matos and replaced him with Eric Helzer.

In the mid-'80s when most West Coast metal bands in America were copying either METALLICA or MÖTLEY CRÜE, WEHRMACHT had a different approach which set them apart! By 1986 the band's self-distributed demo cassette and an appearance on the "Speed Metal Hell" compilation series had gained the group considerable acclaim in the metal underground. Music publications such as England's Metal Forces and the Netherlands' Aardschok were among many to praise WEHRMACHT's original sound.

In 1987, New Renaissance Records released WEHRMACHT's debut album entitled "Shark Attack". Although "Shark Attack" was well received by the metal underground, until 1999, it was never available in America on compact disc.

After "Shark Attack", the band set out to record their second album. That album, "Biermacht", was released in spring of 1988 on CD, LP, and cassette. Despite substantial pre-orders for "Biermacht", many record shops and distributors returned the products to the record company after discovering a song entitled "Suck My Dick" was listed on the album's cover. Many distributors also complained about the cover artwork.

Impericon has uploaded a nine-minute documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the November 7 concert at Huxleys in Berlin, Germany featuring TRIVIUM, AS I LAY DYING, CALIBAN and UPON A BURNING BODY. Check it out below.

TRIVIUM's latest album, "In Waves", sold 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band's career. The group's previous CD, "Shogun", opened with just under 24,000 units back in October 2008 to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up "The Crusade", which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.

AS I LAY DYING's sixth album, "Awakened", sold around 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 11 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on September 25 via Metal Blade Records, the CD was produced by Bill Stevenson, who has played drums for both the DESCENDENTS and BLACK FLAG and is one of the most highly renowned producers in rock. His production credits include work on records by RISE AGAINST, NOFX, PROPAGANDHI, THE CASUALTIES, ANTI-FLAG and many more. The album was mixed by Colin Richardson (MACHINE HEAD, NAPALM DEATH, SLIPKNOT).

"In The End", the new video from Los Angeles theatrical rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's new album, "Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones", which will be released on January 8 via Lava/Universal Republic. The CD was produced by by John Feldmann (PAPA ROACH, THE USED, ATREYU) and is a full-fledged concept effort, though the band's lead singer, Andy Biersack, has not revealed the exact narrative just yet. "Lyrically, the most important thing for me is, how can I tell a cohesive story?" he told Revolver magazine. "How can I take the story and kind of weave it into songs that are written otherwise about a lot of personal experiences and the band's experiences?"

The BLACK VEIL BRIDES are also going bigger in the range of musical influences
they're drawing from this time out. "We've tapped into some of the influences that,
as songwriters, we haven't really played with yet," the singer told the magazine. "The record has just as much influence from SISTERS OF MERCY or NINE INCH NAILS as it does SOCIAL DISTORTION, as it does METALLICA or SLAYER or anything else."

BLACK VEIL BRIDES will screen their brand new movie, "Legion Of The Black", at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles, California on December 21, December 22 and December 23.

Directed by Patrick Fogarty, written by Andy Biersack, Patrick Fogarty and Richard Villa III, "Legion Of The Black" tells the visual story of "Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones". The film follows a group of rebels known as "The Wild Ones" as they defend their hearts, minds and bodies against F.E.A.R.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES will launch the first leg of "The Church Of The Wild Ones" world tour on January 4 in Las Vegas. The trek will wrap in San Francisco on March 8.

"Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones" track listing:

01. Exordium
02. I Am Bulletproof
03. New Year's Day
04. F.E.A.R. Transmission 1: Stay Close
05. Wretched And Divine
06. We Don't Belong
07. F.E.A.R. Transmission 2: Trust
08. Devil's Choir
09. Resurrect The Sun
10. Overture
11. Shadows Die
12. Abeyance
13. Days Are Numbered
14. Done For You
15. Nobody's Hero
16. Lost It All
17. F.E.A.R. Transmission 3: As War Fades
18. In The End
19. F.E.A.R. Final Transmission

The cover artwork for the CD was created by the band's longtime friend, artist Richard Villa, and can be seen below.

Video footage of EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting performing a karaoke-style cover version of the 1960s classic "Soul Man" aboard Barge To Hell — the world's most extreme metal cruise, which sailed Monday, December 3, 2012 from Miami, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas and returned to the real world on Friday, December 7 — can be seen below.

The members of EXODUS donned tuxedos for their closing set on Barge To Hell.

EXODUS' latest album, "Exhibit B: The Human Condition", was released in North America on May 18, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.

The CD sold around 4,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 114 on The Billboard 200 chart.

EXODUS' previous album, "The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A", opened with 3,600 units back in October 2007.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, HALESTORM is considering heading back into the studio to whip up another EP of cover songs. The band issued its first set of remakes, "Reanimate", in 2011, and singer Lzzy Hale said in a new post at their Facebook page, "The boys and I are tossing around the idea of putting out another cover EP. We know a lot of you have ideas . . . so let's hear 'em! What songs would you love to hear us record? Thank you for being such a big part of our lives!"

Hale said that the band will choose the top entries and then let fans vote to see which ones will end up on the EP.

"Reanimate" contained covers of tracks from SKID ROW, LADY GAGA and GUNS N' ROSES. Hale told The Pulse Of Radio that recording other artists' songs helps her own writing. "There's just nothing like singing and playing and picking apart an already proven amazing song," she said. "I think it helps you as a songwriter. I'll write a song and be like, 'Well, is that as good as HEART's 'All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You', and I'll have to be like, 'No, back to the drawing board.'"

HALESTORM is nominated for a Grammy Award this year for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance", for the song "Love Bites (So Do I)" from the band's second album, "The Strange Case Of…"

The song hit No. 1, making HALESTORM the first female-fronted act in history to top the Active Rock chart.

The band is currently headlining the Jägermeister Presents Tour, which pulls into Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday night (December 11).

HALESTORM will close out 2012 with three special holiday performances billed as "An Evening With" the band. The shows will take place on December 27 at Philadelphia's Electric Factory, December 29 at Montclair, New Jersey's Wellmont Theater and December 31 at Soundstage in Baltimore.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Joe Perry says that AEROSMITH's new "Music From Another Dimension!" album could be the band's last. While talking to Noisecreep, Perry spoke about the recent release, explaining, "We knew we had another record in us, despite what many said, and I make no bones about it, I don't know if we're gonna make another record."

He addressed the fact that over the past few years tensions between the bandmembers reached a fever pitch. "Our disagreements are what make us dynamic," he said. "If we all thought the same way, nothing good would happen, but even after we argue, we don't take it home. It's one of the things that allowed us to get back together. We'll argue things to death, but we deal with it, figure it out and move on. There's too much life out there to waste time being like kids in high school. We had a meeting yesterday over a video, it got really heated, but then went down to look at Steven's [Tyler, vocals] motorcycle. All was fine. Then it was like, what are you doing tonight?"

Perry was pressed as to how "Music From Another Dimension!" stacks up against other AEROSMITH albums. "In order to compare, you have to not like something else," he said. "So I'll pick what I don't like and work my way up. I really didn't like 'Done With Mirrors'. I really didn't like 'Just Push Play'. Then there are other records I really think we're good for their time, like 'Toys (In The Attic') and 'Rocks'. I still listen to those and I put this one in that category of a record I will continue to listen to a lot. I can't get enough of this one."

Perry says that even taking their already 40-year-career into account — there's no reason that AEROSMITH can't be rocking onstage for decades still to come. "I think that the band has to look at what it takes to do this gracefully," he said. "There's no reason why the band can't keep playing until we can't walk. There's just no reason. You just have to know that you can't do certain things anymore. Y'know, you can't do somersaults on stage, you can't do, y'know, swing from ropes. But there are other things you can do that are just as entertaining — like sing, play."

AEROSMITH performs on Tuesday (December 11) at Tampa, Florida's Tampa Bay Times Forum and wraps its 2012 dates on Thursday (December 13) at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.

Italian gothic metallers MACBETH have set "Neo-Gothic Propaganda" as the title of their fifth full-length studio album, tentatively due on early 2013 via Dragonheart Records.

Commented the band: "'Neo-Gothic Propaganda' is probably the best record we have ever written. Though our new sound is more aggressive than ever before, the new album will take you back to our roots. Fans of our old stuff will love it and new fans will find something special and a fresh production. The new sound combines a wide range of influences and is heavier, dynamic and more melodic.

"'Neo-Gothic Propaganda' is made up of ten brand new melodic and heavy songs and mixes gothic atmospheres into music that doesn't fit into any categories. 'Neo-Gothic Propaganda' is a manifesto, is a movement, is the soundtrack of contemporary decadence."

MACBETH's latest album, "Superangelic Hate Bringers", came out on November 16, 2007 via Dragonheart. The CD was recorded in two different studios, including a private studio in Reykjavik, Iceland and New Sin studios in Italy, where the band also mixed and mastered the album.

According to WSOC-TV, the ABC-affiliated television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, former NILE and DIVINE HERESY bassist Joseph Payne was arrested in connection with an investigation into the distribution of more than 2,900 grams of marijuana in the Iredell County area.

Payne, 28, and John Tringas, 23, were involved with marijuana being transported from the Charlotte area and distributed in Iredell County, the investigators told WSOC-TV.

After conducting a search warrant at Payne's residence, the sheriff's office seized more than 2,900 grams of marijuana, three handguns and more than $5,000.

Payne and Tringas were charged with felony possession with the intent to sell and deliver marijuana, felony possession of marijuana and maintaining a vehicle.

Payne quit DIVINE HERESY in January 2011, explaining in a statement that "[his] passion for this project [had] been insufficient for quite sometime now."

Booking photo courtesy of Iredell County Sheriff's Office

Finnish melodic death metallers OMNIUM GATHERUM have set "Beyond" as the title of their new album, due on February 25 in Europe and March 5 in North America via Lifeforce Records. The CD was recorded by Teemu Aalto and mixed and mastered once again by Dan Swanö. The artwork for the follow-up to 2011's "New World Shadows" was created by Olli Lappalainen and can be seen below.

"Beyond" track listing:

01. Luoto
02. New Dynamic
03. In The Rim
04. Nightwalkers
05. Formidable
06. The Sonic Sign
07. Who Could Say
08. The Unknowing
09. Living In Me
10. White Palace

Commented OMNIUM GATHERUM guitarist Markus Vanhala: "It's now been approximately 10 years since our debut full-length album, 'Spirits And August Light', was released and the world was waiting. The latest 2011 album, 'New World Shadows', was a good breakthrough for us and lots of good things happened after that record, so, of course, we had some pressures to do a decent successor for that great record as the world was waiting again.

"Well, I think we managed on mastering that task and now we're back again with the OMNIUM GATHERUM's sixth album called 'Beyond', the album that is really going beyond all limits of melodic death metal from the winter wonderland! The album follows the good known path of 'New World Shadows' and 'The Redshift', but adds a lot of new flavors and spices to the good ol' melting pot to lift the band to a new heights. It's our most melodic and versatile album so far, but at the same time, it still holds for example the most brutal death metal growls in our career yet as also some really tasteful clean vocals between the lines. I'm sure everyone who gives the album many spins can find something new with every turn, so this should be a album that hold up the sands of time and rewards the listeners who are digging deeper and searching something more than just a one hit wonders of the day!

"Lyrically told, 'Beyond' is about the culmination point of one's existence. It is a coming-home story where the mysteries of duality are melted into oneness but without losing one single point of individuality along the arrival.

"As you can see from the cover, there's also a strong sense of sea on the album, as we're the sons of the sea from Kotka!"

OMNIUM GATHERUM recently announced the addition of bassist Erkki Silvennoinen to the group's ranks.

"New World Shadows" entered the official chart in Finland at position No. 5. This marked the highest chart entry in the group's history, having previously landed at No. 24 with 2008's "The Redshift" and No. 31 with 2007's "Stuck Here On Snakes Way".

Progressive rock/metal band CYNIC entered Perfect Sound studios in Hollywood, California yesterday (Tuesday, December 11) with engineer Jason Donaghy to begin recording its new album for an early 2013 release via Season Of Mist. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Endlessly Bountiful", "Moon Heart Sun Head" and "True Hallucination Speak".

Regarding the direction of the new CYNIC material, drummer Sean Reinert told BLABBERMOUTH.NET in a statement: "It's a bold new sound for CYNIC and marks a gigantic leap in the band's progression. We've had a lot of time to let this material develop and gestate, and it finally feels ready to be unleashed on the world. I've been in trio mode with [bassist Sean] Malone and [guitarist/vocalist Paul] Masvidal flushing out a zillion and one details, and couldn't be happier about what's happening with these songs. They are truly alive!"

In a February 2012 interview with Ireland's Molten magazine, Masvidal described the band's new music in the following way: "It's almost like, I don't know how to explain it, but if I had to put it in a box it's more sci-fi, futuristic and alien but at the same time very song-driven. It's kind of like, to me, coming into CYNIC's body more. It feels very modern and at the same time it just feels really cool. I'm big in the space. It's definitely new. It's not like anything we've done before. It's a new color, a new space. I think people will really take note of even the guitar stuff. I'm really shifting gears, I'm trying things in a different way and the way stuff is played. It's a new space for CYNIC, for sure. It definitely sounds like us, except completely new."

CYNIC's latest EP, "Carbon-Based Anatomy", was released in November 2011 via Season Of Mist. The CD artwork was designed by the great Robert Venosa, the artist behind the covers of CYNIC's previous releases "Focus", "Traced in Air" and "Re-Traced".

All bass parts on "Carbon-Based Anatomy" were recorded by one-time CYNIC bassist Sean Malone.

CYNIC was joined by Brandon Giffin on bass and Max Phelps on guitar and vocals during the group's North American and European tours in support of "Carbon-Based Anatomy".

KING'S X frontman Doug "Dug" Pinnick has just released a special holiday-themed digital-only single via RockArmy Records and his own dUgtone imprint featuring the songs "Holiday" and "Ho Ho Ho". This single comes right on the heels of the release of the first single from Doug's upcoming solo album, "Naked", to be issued via RockArmy Records in the first quarter of 2013, featuring the songs "What You Gonna Do?" and "Courage". Videos for both "Holiday" and "What You Gonna Do?" can be viewed below.

"Naked" will be Pinnick's sixth solo album, including two released under the moniker POUNDHOUND. Pinnick wrote, performed, produced, and mixed the CD and the new single on his own in his home studio in Los Angeles. "Holiday" and "Ho Ho Ho" were mastered by engineer and RockArmy Records owner Paul Soroski, the bassist for PODUNK, who have done numerous national tours alongside KING'S X, TESLA, and others. Soroski's studio credits include 2010's "Dead New World" by ILL NINO and 2009's "Reflections" by RAZR13, which features Pinnick on lead vocals.

Pinnick is best known as the vocalist/bassist for KING'S X, the influential hard rock act that also features guitarist Ty Tabor and drummer Jerry Gaskill. KING'S X celebrated 32 years of activity as a band in 2012 with a run of U.S. dates alongside KANSAS. The band's most recent studio album, "XV", was released in 2008 and was their highest-charting album since 1996's "Ear Candy". In 2005, VH1 included KING'S X in its list of "100 Greatest Artists In Hard Rock."

According to a December 11 tweet by ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti, he and two of his bandmates — singer Myles Kennedy and drummer Scott Phillips — met up with their management in their home state of Florida to plan the group's immediate future. Although Tremonti did not offer any additional details, a posting on AlterBridge.com indicates that ALTER BRIDGE's 2013 schedule will include a new studio album and a world tour.

ALTER BRIDGE's latest album, "ABIII", was self-released on Alter Bridge Recordings via EMI Label Services and debuted at #17 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band issued a DVD, "Live At Wembley", at the end of March. The disc contains footage of one of the biggest headline shows of ALTER BRIDGE's career, which took place on November 29, 2011 at Wembley Arena in London, England.

ALTER BRIDGE is Kennedy, Tremonti, Phillips and Brian Marshall.

Svart Records will release the new EP from reactivated Finnish death metallers CONVULSE on limited vinyl, CD and digital on January 25. Entitled "Inner Evil", the effort was recorded in full analog in the autumn of 2012 and consists two long exclusive tracks.

CONVULSE's current lineup features the band's original vocalist, guitarist and bass player, and their brand of classic old-school death metal still sounds like it's 1991. With a new full length album scheduled for autumn 2013, this is the first recorded material by CONVULSE since their demise in the mid-Nineties.

"Our new material has a strong old-school death metal feel to it, and the band is tighter than ever before," says CONVULSE guitarist/vocalist Rami Jämsä. "When recording, we concentrated on the energy brought on by playing everything live — no triggers or Pro Tools. Nothing beats a well-rehearsed band playing live, be it on stage or in the studio."

The song "Inner Evil" can be streamed below (courtesy of MetalSucks).

One of the most memorable pioneers of the first wave of Finnish death metal, CONVULSE were there in 1990 with bands such as XYSMA, DISGRACE and ABHORRENCE to create the scene which was to become legendary.

Formed in 1988 under the name S.D.S., CONVULSE's first release was the "Resuscitation Of Evilness" demo cassette in 1990. The success of the demo led to a deal with the French record label Thrash Records, which released the band's first full-length album, "World Without God". A CD-single, "Lost Equilibrium", followed in 1993 via Relapse Records, after which CONVULSE prepared to record its second album, "Reflections". The group travelled to Sunlight Studios in Sweden and laid down the effort in a one-week period. The following year (1993) was dedicated to CONVULSE members performing their mandatory military service in Finland, which delayed the release of "Reflections" until the summer of 1994 (also through Relapse). An attempt to regroup in support of the CD ended "with poor results," and after serious discussions, a decision was made to put CONVULSE to rest.

After an 18-year break, CONVULSE returned in 2012 and played a few comeback shows in Finland. In addition, the band has already been confirmed to play next year's edition of the Maryland Deathfest, with more live appearances in the works.

Video footage of CONVULSE playing the song "Incantation Of Restoration" live at their rehearsal studio can be seen below.

CONVULSE 2012 is:

Rami Jämsä: Guitar, Growls
Juha Telenius: Bass
Kristian Kangasniemi: Guitar
Rolle Markos: Drums

Metal Insider recently conducted an interview with Philip Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA) and Bruce Corbitt (RIGOR MORTIS, WARBEAST) about "War Of The Gargantuas", a split EP featuring two previously unreleased WARBEAST songs and our first taste of Anselmo's solo material. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Insider: I know you both have a long history together, but how did the idea of doing this split actually come together?

Philip: I guess when WARBEAST was down here actually tracking [their new album] "Destroy", or maybe it was before that. It was always an idea, something that we wanted to do. After I recorded the bulk of my solo stuff, it was something I had brought up to Bruce. And actually, this is a long time coming now that I'm really remembering because the two songs that WARBEAST has on the split (a song called "Birth Of A Psycho" and also "IT") were recorded…geez, what three years ago, Bruce?

Bruce: Over two years, yeah. I was going to mention that Philip sometimes gets these ideas way in advance. And at first he didn't remember it, but this was some idea he came up with like two and a half years ago, for us to record a couple of songs because he was writing his new material at the time. And the idea was "Let's do a split down the road. We don't know when it'll be." Here it is, over two years later and it's happening, but it's good that we planned ahead.

Metal Insider: Philip, I know you've been working your solo debut, "Walk Through Exits Only", for a while now. Can you give us a breakdown of how the actual process of recording and writing occurred?

Philip: Well, I was writing songs and I've been doing DOWN for a long time. When it comes to DOWN, there's no real surprises for any of us in the band. When we step into a room and the core members are there, what we write is going to sound like DOWN. I'm one who has always adventured in music, because music is a very vast place. And there's an extreme love in my heart for I guess what would be called extreme music, or heavy metal in general. So I wanted to basically just get this mad nagging out of my system, these songs, whatever they were going to turn out like. I think that coupled with figuring that I wrote all of these songs in my bedroom and whatnot, I didn't have a band, I didn't have anything going except for a bunch of riffs and ideas. And Bruce, believe it or not, suggested that I use the drummer from WARBEAST, who is affectionately known as "Blue." So Blue came aboard and I really helped shape things with him, and he really played his heart out for me, he did a great job. And I always had a guitar player in mind, and that's Marzi [Montazeri], an incredible guitar player I've known since the '80s. He was the guy I knew would be the "executor" as far as my ideas on guitar. I'm not a great guitar player by any means, but I'm creative. I write riffs aplenty. So I am a riffster, but once again I can't play and sing live at the same time. I just don't have the knack or talent for it. I feel pretty constrained with an instrument in my hand onstage. So I really need a guitar player so I can be myself up there with a microphone. And I guess all the other pieces are coming together slowly as far as members or who might do or play what. So it's still a work in progress, but the record is finished. It just needs to be mixed now, so we're in the mixing phase of that. I should start getting some mixes maybe even as early as late tonight [November 30]. It's something I can't wait for you experts out there to consume and figure it out. I'm not going to name it, I'm not going to say, "It's great!" I'm not going to say it's one thing or another. I'm going to let people decide for themselves, but it is a record that I guess I needed to do.

Metal Insider: I know that this all came out of you working by yourself. But rather than billing it as "PHILIP ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS," did you ever think about essentially creating a new moniker or band name for this project?

Philip: That would, once again, be a whole other thing people would have to get into. And honestly, I was very selfish about this thing. I wanted the songs the way I wanted them, and the musicians were going to do it or they weren't going to do it. And luckily, they did it. So I'm the boss here as far as that solo stuff goes. And like I said, it's best to call it me so people know it's fucking me. Music fans are smart, and they delve into who actually played what in the band. So that will all come later. When guitar players are really digging what Marzi does, then he'll get love for sure. And Blue, like I said, really plays his ass off, so he'll get extra love as well. So I'm not worried about that at all.

Read the entire interview from Metal Insider.

"War Of The Gargantuas" will be released on January 8, 2013 via Housecore Records.

PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS is:

Philip H. Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA) - Vocals
Marzi Montazeri (ex-SUPERJOINT RITUAL) - Guitar
Bennett Bartley - Bass
José Manuel Gonzales (WARBEAST) - Drums

Head to www.thehousecorestore.com and pre-order the "War Of The Gargantuas" split EP in four different bundle pack options.

All bundles come with a personalized, autographed gift from Anselmo. Also, CDs and vinyl LPs with the bundles are Housecore roster titles.

1) $20 - pre-order "War Of The Gargantuas" and get three CDs of your choice
2) $30 - pre-order "War Of The Gargantuas" and get two vinyl LPs of your choice
3) $32 - pre-order "War Of The Gargantuas" and get three CDs of your choice, one Housecore patch and one Housecore T-shirt
4) $42 - pre-order "War Of The Gargantuas" and get two vinyl LPs of your choice, one Housecore patch and one Housecore T-shirt

"Dermal Harvest", the debut album from Swedish death metallers SKINEATER, will be released in North America on Febuary 19 (January 28 in Europe) via Pulverised Records.

According to a press release, the CD "showcases some of the most resilient veterans in the Swedish extreme scene, with past and present members from WOMBBATH, IN THY DREAMS, DARK FUNERAL, CARNAL FORGE, DEFLESHED, etc. The end result is an unstoppable skin-butcher unit literally flaying everything in its path! Never has death metal extremity been so well brewed with melodic darkness in a long time."

Recorded at various locations, mixed and mastered at Sweden's Studio Underground (CARNAL FORGE, STEEL ATTACK, FLESHCRAWL, NECRODEATH), and with the striking album artwork designed and conceptualized by Mathias Björkbacka, "Dermal Harvest" is without doubt a world-class audioviolence with sick torturous intent.

"Dermal Harvest" track listing:

01. He Was Murdered
02. Dismantling
03. Your Life Is Mine
04. Made Of Godsick
05. Through The Empire
06. Stab
07. Drifting
08. Thousand Dead Faces
09. Bring Them
10. Solitude Discord

SKINEATER last year announced the addition of drummer Matte Modin (DARK FUNERAL, RAISED FIST, DEFLESHED, SPORTLOV) to the group's ranks.

Formed in late 2008, SKINEATER features scene veterans Håkan Stuvemark (ex-WOMBBATH, ex-IN THY DREAMS), Stefan Westerberg (ex-CARNAL FORGE, ex-IN THY DREAMS) and Jörgen Ström (THE MARY MAJOR).

SKINEATER is:

Jörgen Ström - Vocals
Håkan Stuvemark - Guitar
Stefan Westerberg - Bass
Matte Modin - Drums
Kari Kainulainen - Lead Guitar

For more information, go to this location.

"Embers", the new Tommy Jones-directed video from Jersey metallers MUTINY WITHIN, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's sophomore album, "Synchronicity", which will be released on January 12.

MUTINY WITHIN made waves in the metal community early in its career by joining the Roadrunner Records roster and touring endlessly on the heels of its self-titled debut album. Having half the lineup live across the great Atlantic pond and experiencing serious financial difficulties due to the rampant piracy in the music industry, MUTINY WITHIN was forced to go on hiatus in 2011. That was the end of the touring band, but not the end of their music. Epic metal music can not be contained — not even by the one-eyed pirates of the tumultuous thief infested world we call the "music industry." MUTINY WITHIN had so many good ideas and music ready to go, founding member/songwriter Andrew "A.J." Jacobs and singer Chris Clancy decided to finish what they started and put out the next evolutionary sound of MUTINY WITHIN in the form of the self-produced "Synchronicity".

"Synchronicity" track listing:

01. Embers
02. In My Veins
03. In A Moment
04. Falls To Pieces
05. Machines
06. Never
07. Become
08. Lights
09. Balance
10. Life To Dust
11. Signs
12. The Unsaid

"Mutiny Within" was released on February 23, 2010 via Roadrunner. The CD was recorded at Bieler Bros. Studios in Pompano Beach, Florida with producer Jason Bieler (SIKTH, SKINDRED, DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, NONPOINT) and was mixed by Jeff Rose and Martin "Ginge" Ford of Nott-In-Pill studios in Newport, Wales, United Kingdom.

"End Of Time", the new video from Italian heavy rockers LACUNA COIL, can be seen below. The clip was filmed on October 17 with Italian director Roberto Cinardi (a.k.a. Saku).

A few photos from the "End Of Time" video shoot can be seen below.

LACUNA COIL previously worked with Saku on the clips for the songs "Spellbound" and "I Won't Tell You", taken from the band's 2009 album "Shallow Life".

"End Of Time" comes off LACUNA COIL's latest album, "Dark Adrenaline", which sold around 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 15 on The Billboard 200 chart.

In an interview with AOL's Noisecreep, LACUNA COIL frontwoman Cristina Scabbia stated about "End Of Time": "We imagine a sort of a trip that you can go on with you your car, driving for hours. We imagine this cinegraphy [sic] late, late in the afternoon when the sun is coming down and you're relaxed in your car going for a long trip. That's the image we got from it. It's definitely a ballad. But we always have ballads in every album. We always have melodic parts for a moment."

LACUNA COIL earlier in the year completed the "Dark Legacy" North American tour. The band's only headlining run in the United States in 2012 featured a set of more than two hours, with material spanning all of LACUNA COIL's albums.

Norwegian black metal veterans DARKTHRONE will release their new studio album, "The Underground Resistance", on February 25, 2013 via Peaceville Records.

In a recent interview with Terrorizer magazine DARKTHRONE guitarist/vocalist Nocturno Culto stated about the band's new CD: "I can't speak for Fenriz, but I think he’s going for more epic lyrics. I can only speak for myself and this time around they are very personal lyrics. It's the first time I've ever tried this and it’s difficult to do it nicely and put it into good words. There was a lot of hate and people trying to ruin your day and I had stuff to say for my sake."

He added: "Our music now is basically just metal. It will be a step away from the last album as usual."

DARKTHRONE's last album, "Circle The Wagons", sold around 500 copies in the United States in its first week of release back in April 2010. The CD landed at position No. 120 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 Will To Potency", the new video from Brazilian death metal veterans KRISIUN, can be seen below.

Commented the director and producer of the video, Tommy Jones: "The band had originally contacted me to do a live video on the 'Conquerors of the World Tour'. We filmed every night live. However, the day before the last show of the tour, we had a day off on a drive through New Mexico towards the last show in Texas.

"I had the idea of filming the band out in the middle of the desert because I love that area and always wanted to do a desert shoot. So I convinced the driver to pull over in the middle of nowhere at 9 a.m. We filmed for about two and a half hours out there, using a laptop as audio playback. We caught the attention of the Mexican border patrol who came to check out what we were doing. They sent about three SUVs out to check us out. Once they made sure we weren't doing anything 'too illegal,' they got a kick out of it and were taking pictures on their iPhones because they said in all their years, they haven't seen a band set up in the middle of the desert.

"When it was all said and done, we filmed every night on tour, but it ended up that the majority of the video was filmed on that day off in the middle of the New Mexican desert in about 2.5 hours.

"It was a fun video, and I'm glad we got to do it this way, we all are really stoked how the desert stuff came out."

"The Will To Potency" comes off KRISIUN's latest album, "The Great Execution", which was released on October 31, 2011 in Europe and November 1, 2011 in North America via Century Media Records. The band's eighth studio CD "musically expands KRISIUN trademark high-speed death metal violence with a heavily increased amount of diversity ranging from extreme tempo variations over distinct rhythm patterns to clean guitars and even Flamenco parts!" according to a press release.

KRISIUN only used analog gear and instruments this time to avoid the compressed sound that so many musicians produce today. This wise decision resulted in a more organic sound, with the songs on "The Great Execution" possessing both warmth and rawness, which are so often lost through digital production. The low end is deeper, with drums that pound instead of bounce and guitar tones that sear rather than hiss.

Going back to Stage One Studio in Germany and working with producer Andy Classen again was the right choice: the album came out with a very distinctive and natural sound, shattering the boundaries of the style once more.

The cover artwork was created by Japanese artist Toshihiro Egawa who has been doing tons of great designs for acts like SUICIDE SILENCE, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, DEVOURMENT and DYING FETUS, among others.

"The Great Execution" was made available as a limited-edition digipack including a re-recorded version of the classic KRISIUN song "Black Force Domain" as a bonus track, as a 180-gram gatefold vinyl and as a digital download.

Classen previously worked with KRISIUN on the "Conquerors Of Armageddon" (1999), "AssasiNation" (2005) and "Southern Storm" (2008) releases.

THE BEATLES legend Paul McCartney is rumored to be joinng the surviving members of NIRVANA onstage tonight (Wednesday, December 12) at a benefit concert in New York City for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

According to The Sun, McCartney will perform with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic at the 121212 event, which will also feature appearances by THE ROLLING STONES, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, BON JOVI, GREEN DAY, KANYE WEST and THE WHO. The report claims McCartney called Grohl who asked him to come and "jam with some mates" and then found himself playing with Grohl on drums, Novoselic on bass and Pat Smear on guitar. The report then quotes McCartney as saying: "I didn't really know who they were. They are saying how good it is to be back together. I said 'Whoa? You guys haven't played together for all that time?' And somebody whispered to me, 'That's NIRVANA. You're Kurt.' I couldn't believe it."

British hard rock legends DEEP PURPLE will release their 19th studio album on April 26, 2013 via earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group.

After various songwriting sessions in Europe, the band recorded and mixed the album in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, PETER GABRIEL, ALICE COOPER, KANSAS). The CD is expected to contain 13 tracks, including "Out Of Hand", "Hell To Pay", "Weirdistan", "Uncommon Man" and "Above And Beyond". The latter song references the band's late keyboard player, Jon Lord, in the lyric "Souls having touched are forever entwined."

According to earMUSIC, the CD is "rumored to be the perfect match from the original spirit of '70s PURPLE, and a fresh and modern production."

Regarding the album title, Gillan offered the following cryptic comment to Classic Rock: "There's a big question mark over the name at the moment. And possibly an exclamation mark as well. You can read what you like into what I've just said. All will become clear — as mud — later on. That's all I'm allowed to say. The question mark and the exclamation mark might get you intrigued."

earMUSIC will reveal details about the new DEEP PURPLE album in real time as soon as they will become available on a dedicated web site where all band members will also be able to post and interact with the fans: www.deeppurple2013.com.

DEEP PURPLE's 18th studio album, "Rapture of the Deep", was released in November 2005. It was the fourth studio CD from DEEP PURPLE since guitarist Steve Morse joined the band in 1994. It was also the second album to feature veteran keyboardist Don Airey.

"Rapture of the Deep" was produced by Mike Bradford, who also worked on the band's previous release, 2003's "Bananas".

RockDestiny.ch conducted an interview with MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell at the Metal Christmas Festival, which took place on December 7 in Bern, Switzerland. You can now watch the chat below.

MOTÖRHEAD was forced to cancel last night's (Tuesday, December 11) concert in Kempten, Germany after the band's frontman, Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister, came down with the flu.

MOTÖRHEAD will enter the studio in January with longtime producer Cameron Webb to begin recording its next album for a mid-2013 release.

MOTÖRHEAD released "The Wörld Is Ours – Vol 2: Anyplace Crazy As Anywhere Else" in Germany on September 21, three days later in the rest of Europe and October 9 in North America via UDR/EMI. The follow-up to 2011's "The Wörld Is Ours – Vol 1: Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else" features the band's 2011 Wacken Open Air headline appearance as well as highlights from Sonisphere (United Kingdom) and Rock In Rio (Brazil) shows.

MOTÖRHEAD's latest album, "The Wörld Is Yours", sold 7,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 94 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous effort, "Motörizer", premiered with 6,400 units back in 2008 to debut at No. 82, while 2006's "Kiss Of Death" registered a first-week tally of 3,500.

Canadian rock legends RUSH were announced as one of next year's inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on Tuesday, along with PUBLIC ENEMY, HEART, Randy Newman, Donna Summer and Albert King. Summer, who passed away this May, and King, who died in 1992, will earn the honor posthumously. Lou Adler and Quincy Jones will both receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.

"It's a terrific honor and we'll show up smiling," RUSH's singer and bassist, Geddy Lee, tells RollingStone.com. "It made my mom happy, so that's worth it." Lee is especially happy for RUSH's army of hardcore fans. "It was a cause they championed," he says. "I'm very relieved for them and we share this honor with them, for sure."

RUSH has been eligible for the honor since 1999, 25 years after the release of the band's self-titled debut album.

"I never really cared if it happened or not, to be honest with you," RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson told the Canadian Press. "It doesn't change anybody's life at the end of the day. Are we going to become more popular? Are we going to sell more records? Are more people going to come to the shows? I don't know. We're quite happy where we are and with what we've accomplished.

"So we continue to do the kind of work we want to do and we will continue regardless of our induction or not," he added. "I think at the end of the day, really, what this is about is making our fans feel like their support has been worthy."

"If there's one band in the history of rock music that's deserved the acknowledgment of getting into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, it's RUSH," said Sam Dunn, co-director of the 2010 Grammy-nominated documentary "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage". "Here's a band that has been making creative and unique music for over 40 years now, has a massive fanbase around the world ... (and) they continue to be one of the best live bands on the planet.

"I think there's a bunch of good reasons why they deserve this achievement."

"The progressive movement is not something the founders of the Hall Of Fame are too keen on," Lifeson told the Canadian Press. "But it seems to be changing. If you look at this year's nominees, it's really quite an eclectic group.... I kind of like the idea that it is becoming broader and more areas of popular music are being included. And so therefore at some point in the near future, progressive music will start being included."

According to Lifeson, the Rock Hall induction would pale in comparison to the band's having received one of the prestigious Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in March, the highest honor bestowed on artists by the Canadian government.

"The acknowledgement we got from the Canadian government, and by extension Canadians, is very dear to us," Lifeson said. "The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is more a popularity contest."

The April 18, 2013 event is set for Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, marking the first time the ceremony will be held in the city since 1993. HBO will tape the show for broadcast at a later date.

French brutal death metallers LIVARKAHIL have commenced the songwriting process for their third full-length album, which will once again be a concept effort.

Commented the band: "The concept and its shaping are extremely ambitious, and giving birth to it will be a long and difficult journey for the band. Eventhough we have a clear view of what the album should sound like, you guys will have to be patient, as we are hoping for a release on the spring of 2014."

Formed in 2007, LIVARKAHIL has played more than 50 gigs across Europe and released two albums — 2009's "First Act Of Violence" and 2011's "Signs Of Decay" — and one EP, "Wrath Of God".

German progressive metallers DANTE have inke a deal with Massacre Records. The band's new album, "November Red", will be released on January 25, 2013.

Commented the group: "This really is another step forward for us as a band, and we are all really excited to be part of the Massacre family now. We are all incredibly excited and are all looking forward to sharing our music with all you fellow metal- and prog-heads out there!"

The track "The Lone And Level Sands", taken from the forthcoming CD, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

Alexander Göhs - Vocals
Markus Maichel - Keyboards/Piano
Markus Berger - Guitar/Bass
Christian Eichlinger - Drums/Orchestration
Markus A. Bader - Guitar