Swedish death metallers OVERTORTURE will release their debut album, "At The End The Dead Await", on January 25, 2013 via Apostasy Records. The CD was mixed and mastered by Ola Englund (SIX FEET UNDER, FEARED) and features cover artwork by Gustav Germann of GugerArt. The layout was handled by Seiya Ogino of Ensamvarg Design. The band states, "You're in for a lethal injection of some heavy Swedish death metal with both brutality and melody!"

"At The End The Dead Await" track listing:

01. Black Shrouds Of Dementia
02. Murder For The Masses
03. Slaves To The Atom
04. The Outer Limits
05. Targets
06. The Strain
07. The Coming Doom
08. Towards The Within
09. Suffer As One
10. At the End The Dead Await

OVERTORTURE was formed in 2011 by Magnus Martinsson, Joel Fornbrant, Fredrik Widigs and Jonas Torndal, known from bands like GRAVE, COLDWORKER and WITCHERY, with the mission to deliver new, fresh, groovy and pure crushing death metal.

One of the tracks from OVERTORTURE's 2011 demo-recording sessions, "Slaves To the Atom", can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below.

OVERTORTURE is:

Joel Fornbrant (COLDWORKER) - Vocals
Magnus Martinsson (ex-GRAVE, ex-INSISION) - Guitar
Andreas Hemmander - Guitar
Jonas Torndal (ex-GRAVE) - Bass
Fredrik Widigs (THE UGLY, session WITCHERY) - Drums

On Wednesday (November 28), former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen posted a picture on her official Facebook page in which she could be seen holding a small baby in her arms (see below). "[It] is time to go to the airport," she wrote in the accompanying message. "In few days, a new tour will start in Germany. It will be a very special one for us indeed."

Turunen's spokeswoman has since confirmed that the woman in the picture is really Tarja and that she is holding her and her husband and manager Marcelo Cabuli's first child.

"The baby is their biological child," Taija Holm told Iltalehti.

Turunen, who currently resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina with her husband, kept her pregnancy a secret until the very end.

Cabuli and his business partners last year demanded nearly 100,000 euros (approximately $135,000) in defamation damages from the parties behind "Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006".

The book, which was published in Finnish in 2006 and in English three years later, blames Cabuli for the events leading up to Turunen's dramatic expulsion from the band in late 2005.

The court ruled that the book — which criticizes Cabuli on only a few of its 380 pages — did not detrimentally affect his work or reputation in South America. In addition, the court determined that the book's author did not maliciously portray Cabuli in a negative light.

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH a year before the book was published.

Frontiers Records will release "The Savage Playground", the fourth album from Swedish rockers CRASHDÏET, on January 25 in Europe (excluding Scandinavia) and January 22 in North America.

A leading force in the Swedish "sleaze rock" scene of the 2000s — a revival of the glam metal of the 1980s, but with a more pronounced punk element — CRASHDÏET for the first time manage to release their brand of down and dirty rock and roll simultaneously all over the world.

In April 2010, the band's third album "Generation Wild", pretty much summed up the extraordinary but yet tragic history of a band, determined to never give up their dream.

CRASHDÏET has become known as a band with a huge following of diehard fans, and the massive interest for them never seems to fade.

There has been extensive touring during the course of "Generation Wild" and the absolute highlight saw the band conquer Hollywood and New York City with sold-out shows at Whisky A Go Go and Webster Hall. The band also supported their heroes MÖTLEY CRÜE and OZZY OSBOURNE. "Supporting MÖTLEY CRÜE in Helsinki and headlining Whisky A Go Go have been the highlights of the 'Generation Wild' tour," says guitarist Martin Sweet.

With the "The Savage Playground" recorded during summer/autumn 2012 at Kingside Studios outside Stockholm with producer Otto Wellton, the band has their minds set to break through on a worldwide basis with a tour that will see the band going back to the U.S. as well as going to Japan for the first time.

"We will put a lot of effort into the U.S. for our new tour," continues Sweet. "We will start in Scandinavia in February, Then we head to the U.S. and Canada. Coming back end of April to do U.K. and then Europe and Japan will follow with festivals in the summer and then South America to kick off in the autumn."

The new album sees CRASHDÏET going in a heavier and direction. "'The Savage Playground' is our playground, it's the beginning and the end, it's the place where we eat and breed," says Sweet. "We thought the time was right for us to do a edgier and not-so-polished-sounding album, kinda like what we sound like live. It's more organic and rough-sounding. And, of course, we're always evolving as musicians and like to try new ways of expressing ourselves, and that can most definitely be heard this album."

"The Savage Playground" track listing:

01. Change The World
02. Cocaine Cowboys
03. Anarchy
04. California
05. Lickin' Dog
06. Circus
07. Sin City
08. Got A Reason
09. Drinkin' Without You
10. Snakes In Paradise
11. Damaged Kid
12. Excited
13. Garden Of Babylon

The first single, "Cocaine Cowboys", will arrive on December 12.

"Cocaine Cowboys" audio sample:

"Because We Can", the new video from Australian melodic metallers LORD, can be seen below. Filmed by Dusk Music Video Production, the clip features ESP endorsees Lord Tim and Mark Furtner as they battle each other with their ESP weapons of choice, and also highlights a jaw-dropping bass solo by fellow Australian ESP endorsee Andy Dowling.

Lord Tim commented: "Yes, we're aware this video is dumb and contains ridiculous amounts of arguably tasteless shredding. Why do it? .... well, have a guess ;-)".

"Because We Can" comes off LORD's new album, "Digital Lies", which will be released in early 2013. The cover art was once again created by Felipe Machado (BLIND GUARDIAN, IRON SAVIOR, ICED EARTH, GAMMA RAY).

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Incipio
02. Betrayal Blind
03. Digital Lies
04. Point Of View
05. Walk Away
06. 2D Person In A 3D World
07. Final Seconds
08. The Last Encore
09. Because We Can
10. The Chalkboard Prophet
11. Battle Of Venarium

Commented the band: "Every artist says their new album is 'their best work' or their 'heaviest' or 'most brutal.' We'll skip those clichés and say that we believe we have a solid album of good music that we're proud of and we believe stands up to anything we've released so far.

"If you're familiar with LORD, you'll know what to expect for the most part; a very diverse album ranging from traditional metal to commercial rock to extreme metal and everything in between.

"If you're wanting an album full of thrash songs, AOR songs, or progressive epic movie orchestral jazz djent punk songs that all sound the same, then I'm afraid you'll be a little bewildered when the style shifts from song to song. It's the LORD you know with a few new elements that have fallen into the melting pot since the last album."

LORD is essentially a continuation of DUNGEON, one of Australia's longest running and highest-profile heavy metal bands that disbanded in 2005. LORD has released three full-length albums, two EPs and a digital-only release live album, and continues to play the DUNGEON back catalog live. The band has shared the stage with the likes of GAMMA RAY, NIGHTWISH, QUEENSRŸCHE and most recently ICED EARTH and continues to tour internationally. Their last critically acclaimed album, 2009's "Set In Stone", featured guest appearances by Craig Goldy (ex-DIO), Pete Lesperance (HAREM SCAREM), Glen Drover (ex-MEGADETH), Felipe Andreoi (ANGRA), Olof Mörck (AMARANTHE) alongside a host of other well-known musicians.

"Alt Liv", the first video from GOD SEED, the Norwegian band featuring former GORGOROTH members King (bass; real name: Tom Cato Visnes) and Gaahl (vocals; real name: Kristian Espedal), can be seen below. Shot in the depths of the Norwegian wilderness, the clip was produced by Mats Willassen.

"Alt Liv" comes off GOD SEED's debut album, "I Begin", which was released on October 30 in Europe and October 23 in North America via Indie Recordings. The CD was written, arranged and recorded between the fall of 2009 and May 2012. The group laid down 11 new songs which "will show the band from a different side but well-rooted in what Gaahl and King are known for in the past," according to a press release.

"I Begin" is available as a limited embossed deluxe digipack with bonus tracks, and as regular CD.

"I Begin" track listing:

01. Awake
02. This From The Past
03. Alt Liv
04. From The Running Of Blood
05. Hinstu Dagar
06. Diversions 1 (bonus track limited edition)
07. Aldrande Tre
08. Lit
09. The Wound
10. Bloodline
11. Diversions 2 (bonus track limited edition)

GOD SEED earlier in the year announced its new lineup. It is as follows:

* Tom Cato Visnes (a.k.a. King) (TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, OV HELL, GORGOROTH) - Bass
* Kristian Espedal (a.k.a. Gaahl) (GORGOROTH, TRELLDOM, WARDRUNA) - Vocals
* Stian "Sir" Kårstad (TRELLDOM, DJERV) - Guitar
* Kenneth Kapstad (MOTORPSYCHO) - Drums
* Geir Bratland (DIMMU BORGIR) – Keyboards, Noise
* Lust Kilman (THE BATALLION, GRIMFIST) - Guitar

Commented King: "All members of GOD SEED have been carefully picked for their musical skills and devoted personalities. We aim to release an album which will sound different than what we have done in the past. The new members have been very important for creating a sound that hopefully will come across as unique and defining the new GOD SEED sound. From this moment, GOD SEED should not be viewed as a duo anymore, but as a band with six members."

GOD SEED's "Live At Wacken" DVD and CD was released on January 27 in Europe and January 31 in North America via Indie Recordings.

"Live At Wacken" includes footage of the group's infamous live show from the 2008 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany where they performed on the main stage in front of 75,000 screaming fans. The effort features session players Nick Barker (drums) and Ice Dale (guitar) alongside King and Gaahl.

GOD SEED came to life after Gaahl and King lost a court battle in early 2009 against guitarist Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name.

Commented King: "GOD SEED represents a more spiritual side to us than what GORGOROTH did. GOD SEED represents the will to grow; the will to be the super man, so to speak. I think it's a suitable name for what we will represent in the future. I am also aware of the fact that we use the word 'God' in the name. It will challenge the weak-minded in the respect that we in the past used the word Satan a lot, but it's all about the same thing. The God within man, and the God within nature. I never believed in a Christian force named Satan. I believe in the God within man."

Gaahl left GOD SEED in 2009 because he chose to retire from metal music, but has since rejoined the group.

Dutch symphonic metallers WITHIN TEMPTATION performed a cover version of "Grenade" by BRUNO MARS live this past Tuesday, November 27 on the Radio 538 morning show "Evers Staat Op". You can now watch video footage of their appearance below.

WITHIN TEMPTATON has been revealing a unique cover every week on Q-Music in anticipation of the band's 15th-anniversary concert, which took place on November 13 at Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium. The group stated, "We figured this would be a great occasion to do something special for [the fans]. It will be a musical adventure as we are covering songs that are very close to us but also songs that are not close to us at all."

The following tracks have already been released:

* Paradise (COLDPLAY)
* Grenade (BRUNO MARS)
* Crazy (GNARLS BARKLEY)
* Somebody That I Used To Know (GOTYE)
* Dirty Dancer (ENRIQUE IGLESIAS)
* Behind Blue Eyes (THE WHO)
* Summertime Sadness (LANA DEL REY)
* Apologize (ONE REPUBLIC)
* Don't You Worry Child (SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA)
* Little Lion Man (MUMFORD & SONS)

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 last year 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 has been working with the band behind the scenes for a few years.

Massachusetts metallers THE ACACIA STRAIN have been forced to leave their co-headlining tour with VEIL OF MAYA "due to a serious van accident." According to a press release, "members of the band and crew are being treated for minor injuries."

Commented THE ACACIA STRAIN frontman Vincent Bennett: "Canceling tour dates is something we hate doing but we will make it up to all of you. We are all very grateful to be alive and will see you in the New Year."

"Death Is The Only Mortal", the new album from THE ACACIA STRAIN, sold 8,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 50 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on October 9 via Rise Records, the CD was produced by guitarist Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz at his Western Massachusetts studio.

THE ACACIA STRAIN's previous CD, "Wormwood" (2010), opened with around 6,300 units to debut at No. 67.

The band's 2008 CD, "Continent", registered a first-week tally of 5,600 copies to enter the chart at No. 107.

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper performed the song "I'll Bite Your Face Off" on last night's (Wednesday, November 28) episode of Conan O'Brien's nighttime talk show on TBS, "Conan". You can watch video footage of Alice's appearance below.

"I'll Bite Your Face Off" comes from Alice's latest album, last year's "Welcome 2 My Nightmare", which sold 18,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart. Cooper's previous CD, 2008's "Along Came A Spider", opened with just under 10,000 copies to land at No. 53.

Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum "Welcome To My Nightmare" album in 1975, "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind.

"This is Alice's nightmare 35 years later," said Cooper of the new "Nightmare" CD. "Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we're not writing for me, we're writing for Alice. We kept the first 'Nightmare' album very personal to us, on this one we found more humor and we were more open."

He continued: "This was our world and we want to present it to the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went where the lyrics took us."

Scott Kara of The New Zealand Herald recently conducted an interview with the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On how BLACK SABBATH came to be such a respected band:

Osbourne: "It's a really weird thing, because what we did, we just did. We didn't go, 'Oh, we're going to write this way, and we're going to record that way, and it's going to come out like this'. And 45 years up the road who would have thought it's still going to be current and people were going to look upon it as the foundations of heavy metal? I mean, you don't realise that sort of thing, you just do it."

On not being completely confortable with BLACK SABBATH being considered originators of the "heavy metal" genre:

Osbourne: "Not everything BLACK SABBATH did was about the devil, or about heavy metal because 'Changes' was a beautiful song. But all they ever remember is that I sing about the devil and 'Iron Man', you know."

On how the members of BLACK SABBATH — with the exception of drummer Bill Ward, who is sitting out the band's reunion due to a contractual dispute — are getting along nowadays:

Osbourne: "What's different now is that none of us get drunk or stoned or any of that stuff. We're all clean, and all in control of ourselves, we're not intimidated by each other, there are no arguments, and it's the way it should be. But when we were kids we had egos. When you're 21 and you get some success it takes a while to get your head around. You have an ego, you have the spoils of success, the cars, the houses, the money, the alcohol, the drugs, the groupies, and all the rest of it, and if you go through all of that and you are lucky enough to survive you get married, you get divorced, you get married again, and it's a journey. But we've done it all so what it boils down to now is the music - and that's what got us where we are in the first place. We have come through the other side, we're still able to work together, and that's where the enjoyment comes from. It's been a lot of fun making this record."

On the recording sessions for the new BLACK SABBATH album, which were interrupted by guitarist Tony Iommi's diagnosis with lymphona at the beginning of this year:

Osbourne: "[The treatment] has been a bit rough on him but he still manages to come up with those great riffs. It's been more than 30 years since I really seriously worked with the guys. We had a try a few years back but nothing came of it. But for some reason the timing is right and we've done about 15 songs. BLACK SABBATH is very unique in the respect that nothing is formulated. It's very unpredictable. I just hope the people who have waited all these years aren't disappointed."

On December 10, METALLICA will release a live DVD called "Quebec Magnetic". The double DVD and single disc Blu-ray will be available for a price a "very METALLICA fan-friendly" price — suggested retail will be $15.98 for either format. Filmed by Wayne Isham during a two-night stand in October of 2009 in Quebec City, it will be METALLICA's first self-released project. "We just played two really phenomenal shows. They were outrageously great and the audience was great and we had a bunch of people filming it," METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett told Billboard.com. "We felt like we're really doing a disservice just sitting on this great live footage, so we decided to put it out."

"Quebec Magnetic" track listing:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End Of The Line
03. The Four Horsemen
04. The Shortest Straw
05. One
06. Broken, Beat & Scarred
07. My Apocalypse
08. Sad But True
09. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
10. The Judas Kiss
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Battery
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
16. Killing Time
17. Whiplash
18. Seek & Destroy

Bonus songs:

19. For Whom The Bell Tolls
20. Holier Than Thou
21. Cyanide
22. Turn The Page
23. All Nightmare Long
24. Damage, Inc.
25. Breadfan
26. Phantom Lord

A full two-minute trailer for "Quebec Magnetic" can be seen below.

Wayne Isham, 54, is an American movie director who has directed music videos of many popular artists such as MÖTLEY CRÜE, SIMPLE PLAN, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, PANTERA, 'N SYNC, SHANIA TWAIN, GODSMACK, BRITNEY SPEARS, LEONA LEWIS, PINK FLOYD, SHERYL CROW, JOSS STONE, MADONNA, AVRIL LAVIGNE, DEF LEPPARD and BON JOVI, among others.

Previous METALLICA videos that were directed by Wayne Isham:

* "Enter Sandman"
* "Wherever I May Roam"
* "Sad But True"
* "Fuel"
* "No Leaf Clover"
* "Nothing Else Matters" (from "S&M")
* "I Disappear"
* "Frantic"
* "Broken, Beat And Scarred"

Fan-filmed video footage of German metal queen Doro Pesch performing her tribute song to legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, "Hero", on November 20 at Relentless Garage in London, England can be seen below.

"Hero" appears on Doro's new album, "Raise Your Fist", which sold 585 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 65 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.

In a recent interview with Geeks Of Doom, Doro stated about her inspiration for the "Hero" song, "I had the great honor to meet [Ronnie] several times. It was actually [on] my second big tour in the '80s — my first tour was actually with JUDAS PRIEST and my second big tour was with Ronnie James Dio in 1987 and it was such a great tour. PRIEST was my favorite band and Dio was my favorite singer, so needless to say, I was in heaven! It was so great and we got along great, always joking, laughing; he had a great sense of humor. And we had another long tour in America together, it was actually in 2000, and there we became really great friends. It was the time when grunge was on the way out and it was the first real metal tour again in the States and it was DIO, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and us. Oh, man, it was such a great tour. So much energy. The fans were having such a great time and we started in San Francisco… and then we ended in Florida. It was three gigs in Florida, I was always watching the show every night of Ronnie and it was so overwhelming. I must say I learned a lot and it was so great to watch it and to hear his voice every night and the songs. Then one time he walked off the stage and everybody said, 'Where is he going?' and then my band, they were always watching with me, and they said, 'Oh, you know what's coming up!' I said, 'No, what's coming up?' and, man, Ronnie came back with a second microphone which he got from the monitor guy and I thought, 'Oh, no, oh no!' [laughs] I start shying away and then my band is [saying], 'No, go onstage!' and Ronnie said, 'Hey, Doro, let's sing the encores together.' I said, 'Ronnie I don't know exactly the lyrics,' and he said, 'It doesn't matter, just let's have fun!' We sung the last three shows, always the encores, together and it was such a great time. Unfortunately, there weren't any iPhones, no videocameras handy, no cell phones with video and stuff, so I just had some photos of it, which I put in the last DVD, and they're great photos, I look like a ten-year-old! I was such a happy baby, my smile was definitely from cheek to cheek, from ear to ear!"

She added, "I was always a big fan and like millions of fans I was so shocked and so sad when I heard that Ronnie left and it was actually a couple of weeks later I wrote the song 'Hero' to say thank you and 'Hero' was the first song for the record … Somehow it felt good when it was all done. Actually, when it was all starting, I thought, yeah, it feels good and it feels right."

Billboard's Gary Graff reports:

On stage at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night, THE WHO's Roger Daltrey saluted Chris Stamp - one of the two early managers that launched the group's success - as a man "without whom we wouldn't be the band we were."

Stamp - who not only co-managed The Who with the late Kit Lambert but also co-founded the group's Track Records label and executive produced most of its albums and film projects starting in 1968, died from cancer on Saturday at the age of 70 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Daltrey went on to say that Stamp "flew into the universe on a pair of rainbow wings. Chris, we can never thank you enough - well, I can't, for what you brought to my life" just before he and Pete Townshend performed a duo rendition of 'Tea & Theatre' that, while not specifically dedicated to Stamp, certainly had the quiet and dignified air of a tribute.

Read the full report at this location.

Slash may have closed the book on touring for this year, but his bassist Todd Kerns — who also fronts SIN CITY SINNERS — will join forces with Pledgemusic in December to bring you some new music.

Todd will record an acoustic full-length of all-new solo material and an EP with some of his personal favorites re-done acoustically. Stay tuned for the Pledgemusic campaign launch details and the pre-order countdown.

With the holidays right around the corner, Todd is giving away a free download of his new song, "Little Grace". Check it out using the widget below.

In a recent interview with The Belleville Intelligencer, Kerns stated about how far Slash is removed from being a wild and crazy, egomanical rock diva: "We're talking about a guy who is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and has those millions of albums sold, and has worked with everyone from Fergie, to Michael Jackson and QUEEN ... it really doesn't get much bigger in a lot of ways. For all those things, he could be a total monster and a totally awful person, although we would all still put up with it because of all those accomplishments. But he is not. He is one of the kindest people I know. And I am always afraid of saying things like that for fear that it somehow blows an image of him, like he wants to come off as a little darker or a little heavier. He is a serious man, and he is incredibly focused and incredibly driven at a time in his life and career when he really doesn't need to ne. He could be one of those guys that just phones it in. In a lot of ways, I think he is playing better than he ever did. And I think it's a case of him still trying to dig deep and carving out new things and new challenges for himself."

Regarding how much he and drummer Brent Fritz are seen as part of Slash's band, and not simply hired guns, Todd said: "Even when we did the 'Live At Stoke' live CD and DVD, I didn't anticipate it being anything more than a photo of Slash and probably Myles on the cover and inside, because it was always billed as Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and I knew that walking in. Slash is an icon and Myles is a multi-platinum selling artist and has accomplished a great deal on his own. I always knew my place and I am okay with my place. And then all of a sudden they put out this live album and our photos are in it and we're listed as part of the band."

In the October 2012 issue of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher (pictured below) of Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE was asked to explain his "gigantic neck." "Well, it's just from headbanging and lifting weights when I was younger," he said. "My dad had a business where he did painting, roofing and everything, so I'd work with him all day long. After that, we'd go to fishing spots to catch and eat all these fish. Then I'd jog over to my friend's house, who lived about a mile away, and we'd lift weights. If you compare old pictures from when I was in VILE to now, it's obviously grown and the only thing I've really done since is headbanging, which must be fairly similar to weightlifting."

Asked if he has ever had his neck measured, like if he had to get a tuxedo to go to a wedding or something, Fisher said, "Maybe when I got married in '98, but I don't remember and it's bigger now. If you really look at it, it's bigger than the base of my head or where my ears are. A friend of mine once said, 'You don't have a head, you're a neck with lips.' A lot of security guys will come up to me and complain about working out, but having skinny necks, and ask how I do it. I tell them to listen to [SLAYER's] 'Reign In Blood' and headbang the whole way through after working out."

San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT played their first show with stand-in drummer Mark Hernandez (ex-FORBIDDEN) last night (Tuesday, November 27) at the Garage in Glasgow, Scotland. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

TESTAMENT's drummer of the past year, Gene Hoglan, was unable to make the current tour due to his commitments to his other band, DETHKLOK.

TESTAMENT's new album, "Dark Roots Of Earth", sold more than 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No, 12 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on July 31 via Nuclear Blast Records.

"Dark Roots Of Earth" was produced, mixed and mastered by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE, ACCEPT, EXODUS). Special bonus tracks were recorded, mixed and mastered by Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS, TED NUGENT, NIGHT RANGER) at his Trident Studios. The cover artwork for the effort (see below) was painted by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with ATHEIST, SIGH, ANACRUSIS and GWAR, among others.

TESTAMENT recently wrapped a co-headlining North American tour with fellow American thrash metal greats ANTHRAX and Nuclear Blast labelmates DEATH ANGEL.

Footage from the upcoming official SEPULTURA documentary, filmed during the band's recent trip to Indonesia, can be seen below. The documentary is being helmed by InterFace Filmes, with Otavio Juliano directing and Luciana Ferraz producing.

SEPULTURA played its first show with new drummer Eloy Casagrande (GLÓRIA, ANDRÉ MATOS) on November 25, 2011 in Lichtenfels, Germany.

Casagrande joined SEPULTURA as the replacement for Jean Dolabella, who left the band because he could no longer handle being away from home for long periods of time.

Eloy is a 21-year-old drum prodigy from São Paulo, Brazil who won the Modern Drummer "Undiscovered Drummer" contest as a teenager in 2006.

Dolabella left SEPULTURA after a five-year run of relentless touring and two studio albums. He joined SEPULTURA in 2006 following the departure of the band's original drummer, Igor Cavalera.

SEPULTURA is touring in support of its 12th studio album, and Nuclear Blast Records debut, "Kairos", which hit stores in July 2011.

John Roche (GAMA BOMB, ex-SLAVE ZERO) has joined forces with Eoin Broughal (COLD WAR, ex-WARPATH) and Kevin Talley (SIX FEET UNDER, ex-DYING FETUS, CHIMAIRA) in a new death/grind band called GROT. The group's debut EP, "I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream", is available for streaming below.

01. Commodities (01:13)
02. Impervious To The Cause (02:48)
03. Kleptomania (01:57)
04. Revoked (02:48)
05. Withering World (02:19)
06. Unchallenged Hate (NAPALM DEATH cover) (02:09)

The artwork was created by Paul McCarroll (Unhinged Art) and can be seen below.

GROT is:

* John Roche (GAMA BOMB, ex-SLAVE ZERO) - Guitar, Bass
* Eoin Broughal (COLD WAR, ex-WARPATH) - Vocals
* Kevin Talley (SIX FEET UNDER, ex-DYING FETUS, CHIMAIRA) - Drums

Quality fan-filmed video footage of Christian hard rockers P.O.D. (PAYABLE ON DEATH) performing on November 24 in Corpus Christi, Texas with DAUGHTRY and 3 DOORS DOWN can be seen at this location. A couple of the clips are available below.

P.O.D.'s new album, "Murdered Love", sold more than 16,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 17 on The Billboard 200 chart.

P.O.D.'s previous CD, "When Angels & Serpents Dance", opened with 34,000 units back in April 2008 to land at No. 9.

The band's 2006 effort, "Testify", registered a first-week tally of just over 54,000 to enter the chart at No. 9.

"Murdered Love" was released on July 10 via Razor & Tie. The band's long-awaited follow-up to "When Angels & Serpents Dance" sees them reunited with longtime producer Howard Benson, who also produced the group's massive "Satellite" album as well as hit CDs for Kelly Clarkson, THEORY OF A DEADMAN, DAUGHTRY, THE ALL AMERICAN REJECTS and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE. The CD cover and packaging was illustrated and designed by Invisible Creature, whose previous credits include the FOO FIGHTERS, NORMA JEAN, Chris Cornell and many more.

The "Lost In Forever" video was shot in the California desert with director Spence Nicholson (BLEEDING THROUGH, THE BLED).

HATRIOT, the new San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band led by former EXODUS and LEGACY (pre-TESTAMENT) frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza, will release its debut album, "Heroes Of Origin", on January 25, 2013 via Germany's Massacre Records. The CD was recorded with producer Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS, TESTAMENT) and features guest appearances BY TESTAMENT 's Chuck Billy and MACHINE HEAD 's Phil Demmel . The cover artwork, which can be seen below, was created by Mark DeVito, who has previously worked with MOTÖRHEAD and ANVIL CHORUS, among others.

A snippet of the first single from the CD, "The Violent Times Of My Dark Passenger", can be streamed using the audio player below. The track will be released digitally on December 28.

Former WHITE LION frontman Mike Tramp doesn't believe plane crashes and resulting fires caused the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and he claims that no plane hit the Pentagon at all that day.

Tramp revealed his Twin Towers conspiracy theory during his solo acoustic show in London, England on November 21 and later elaborated on his comments in an e-mail to Steve Mascord of Hot Metal.

"I used to pass the World Trade Center on my way to rehearsal and look up at it," the 51-year-old told fans at the Star Of Kings in Kings Cross before playing WHITE LION's 1987 hit "When The Children Cry".

"Years later, after I moved to Australia, the phone started ringing in the middle of the night. I thought, 'Who the hell is that? I'm not answering.'

"The next morning, I turned on the television and, of course, it was all there.

"What happened on 9/11, I think, will not be surpassed in my lifetime.

"I have 250 books on the subject and every DVD ever released and I firmly believe those two planes did not bring down the Twin Towers."

When Mascord e-mailed Tramp after the show and asked the singer what, in his opinion, brought down the World Trade Center, Mike responded, "That can't be answered in a short e-mail as I head to bed. But I can put it this way: it wasn't the two planes, and there are hundreds of organizations of scientist, architects, and pilots for the truth of 9/11 that say it can't be done.

"Another thing is very few people knows that at 5 p.m. in the evening, 10 hours after the two towers came down. A third building (World Trade Center 7) a 47-story building came down in nine seconds in free fall, and no plane ever hit that.

"Only when you start reading the books and get the facts can you form your own opinion; I can't do that for you.

"Maybe just start with the documentary 'Loose Change' director's cut; it's on YouTube like so many others. It's a good start.

"Also, no plane hit the Pentagon."

An in-depth investigation of the conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks of 9/11 was published in the March 2005 issue of Popular Mechanics. That cover story was expanded and published in August 2006 as a book titled "Debunking 9/11 Myths". The fully revised and updated 2011 edition of the book is now on sale. Portions of the investigation can be found online at this location.

"Us Against The World", the new video from IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris, can be seen below. The song comes off his first-ever solo release, "British Lion", which sold around 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 3 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.

"British Lion" was released in the U.S. on September 25 via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). Mixed by Kevin Shirley — whose credits include IRON MAIDEN as well as Led ZEPPELIN, JOURNEY and RUSH, among many others — the CD, which features Harris alongside vocalist Richard Taylor, guitarists Graham Leslie and David Hawkins and drummer Simon Dawson, presents a different side of the bassist's musical visions.

"British Lion" comprises ten songs that Steve and his collaborators have been working on between IRON MAIDEN tours and releases and is described by Harris as "'70s-influenced, British-sounding hard rock." "I'd say it's more mainstream rock than metal... and quite commercial… but good commercial," he said. "There's all kinds of stuff going on, with nods to THE WHO and UFO and some classic British rock bands, but it's not the progressive rock album some might be expecting."

"British Lion" track listing:

01. This Is My God
02. Lost Worlds
03. Karma Killer
04. Us Against The World
05. The Chosen Ones
06. A World Without Heaven
07. Judas
08. Eyes Of The Young
09. These Are The Hands
10. The Lesson

Relapse Records has announced the signing of Boise, Idaho's mysterious occult duo WOLVSERPENT. The band is preparing to enter the studio to record its sophomore full-length album, "Perigaea", a four-song, 80-minute opus, with producer/engineer Mell Dettmer (SUNN 0))), BORIS, ASVA, EARTH).

Formed in 2010, WOLVSERPENT consists of Blake Green (guitar, vocals, keys) and Brittany McConnell (drums, percussion, violin) playing a masterful mix of apocalyptic doom, avant-orchestral drone and blackened, sepulchral ambience
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After a two-year writing period, WOLVSERPENT first recorded the "Perigaea" 2012 demo (pronounced "pear-a-guy-a") in December 2011 and January 2012. Choosing initially not to release it, but to hold onto it for another nine months and re-write it, they are now offering it as a free stream at Bandcamp and download via their official site. The upcoming full-length version of "Perigaea" will be an entirely different manifestation of the ideas heard on the demo.

Commented WOLVSERPENT: "We are very pleased to be working with Relapse Records on this upcoming album. We are excited to join forces and foster the potential of our best work to date.

"We don't want to say much about the concept now. But we will say this: 'Perigaea' is inspired by the four stages of existence and with that, the phases of humanity within the Earth and the greater Universe. 'Perigaea' explores and reinforces our qualities and struggles as humans in this life. Our relationship with the Earth and our place as spiritual beings in what some believe is the final phase of this cycle. There are many names for it, one of those names is 'Kali Yuga,' the age of Kali, the dark age. The serpent that eats it's own tail will once again devour itself and give to itself a new birth and a fresh start.

"This demo represents the early stages and younger concepts of 'Perigaea'. We decided to set new standards for ourselves, working longer and investing more in our music, allowing the pieces to breathe and gain new life. Created from the strength and seeds of ideas past, this demo has served as the roots from which we have grown. We want to share this process of growth with our fans. We have taken WOLVSERPENT's concepts to the stone and sharpened our vision."

Denver, Colorado-based HAVOK have released the following update:

“The tour with SKELETONWITCH, EARLY GRAVES, and MUTILATION RITES is over. Thank you to all that came to the US Abomination tour over these last 10 plus weeks! You guys made this trip such a great time for all involved. There were too many great shows to count and we seriously can’t thank you guys enough for your attendance and support – it means the world to us. What a great way to wrap up the year.

What’s next? Shooting two new music videos over the next couple days, then a free headlining show in KC at Riot Room on Tuesday, November 20th! Can’t wait to return to the Mile High city to start writing the third album… Consider yourself warned.

I repeat, new album coming soon!”

Legendary guitarist Michael Schenker will release a personal VIP package shortly. This package will include an unreleased and never-before-heard CD which features a recording Schenker made in 1979. Michael plays guitar and bass on all tracks, he even sings on some of the songs. This makes it a very unique and special recording.

Comments Michael: "It’s a 14-track demo I wrote and recorded by myself in the Dieter Dirks' (SCORPIONS' producer) mobile studio whilst Rory Gallagher and the SCORPIONS were recording next door. It was going to be material for my first solo album. There's some instrumentals and I even sing on a few. Ringo Funk helped out by playing drums on some tracks. He was the drummer in a famous German band at the time called ATLANTIS. I recorded this after I left the SCORPIONS 'Lovedrive' tour in ‘79. Some of this material I rehearsed later with Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton from AEROSMITH. Some of it I rehearsed with Gary Barden, Billy Sheehan (bass from MR. BIG) and Denny Carmassi (drums from MONTROSE)."

As part of this very personal package, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to have your name printed on Michael's new guitar model is also available. This is strictly limited to 1000 names.

Schenker's new Dean signature model will be available to purchase once created. This has not been done before and will never be repeated again.

Schenker's "Howler" technique is described on an instructional DVD along with the tool he uses to create the distinctive sound. This package will also contain a box of goodies such as a unique T-shirt only available with this package. You will also become part of Michael Schenker's VIP Platinum club who receive priority opportunities to take part in meet-and-greets on future tours.

This is limited to 1000 people worldwide and will be dealt with on a first-come-first-served basis. The package is $220 per person.

If you would like to be part of this, please send an e-mail to fanmail@michaelschenkerhimself.com so you can reserve a spot.

Fan-filmed video footage of Lita Ford's November 17 performance at Marquee 15 in Corona, California can be seen below.

Lita recently filmed a video for the song "Mother" in Joshua Tree, California. Directing the clip was Ford's former THE RUNAWAYS bandmate Victory Tischler-Blue, whose film "Edgeplay" was based on her tenure in the 1970s all-girl teenage rock act.

Said Ford: "[Vicky's] got a lot of photographs of me and my children, a lot of the necessary elements to create this video."

Photos from the "Mother" video shoot can be found at this location.

"Mother", which is dedicated to Lita's estranged sons, Rocco and James (father is former NITRO singer Jim Gillette), comes off her new album, "Living Like A Runaway", out now on SPV/Steamhammer. "I wrote this song for [my sons]," Lita recently told the Deciblog. "I wrote this song to tell them how much I love them and to tell them that I didn't mean for this to happen [for Lita to be forced to live apart from her kids following her divorce from Gillette. — Ed.] and that it's not my fault. I didn't do this to them, although they think I did. I miss them, I love them. They're my life."

"It was hard to write," she told Examiner.com. "It was hard to record. It's hard to listen to. I find myself skipping over it sometimes, depending on how much makeup I have on that day. If I'm all made up, I'm like, 'Oh, can't cry right now!' I've done interviews where big, grown men tell me they've come away from it in tears. That's huge. That's what I wanted — for people to feel my pain. But it is a great song."

"Living Like A Runaway" was released on June 19 in North America. The effort was made available in four configurations: a double LP, limited-edition CD, standard CD and digital download. The artwork for the album was created by famed rock photographer Mark Weiss.

Lita's current touring band consists of the following musicians:

Lita Ford - Guitar, Vocals
Mitch Perry - Guitar
Marty O'Brien - Bass
Scot Coogan - Drums

"Band Of Brothers", a brand new song from DEEZ NUTS, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track, which features a guest appearance by Sam Carter (ARCHITECTS), comes off the band's third album, "Bout It", is scheduled for release in Europe in the first quarter of 2013 via Century Media Records. The CD features additional guest appearances by Freddy Cricien (MADBALL) and Jon Blake (ON BROKEN WINGS).

The brainchild of vocalist JJ Peters, DEEZ NUTS was formed after his previous group, acclaimed Australian metalcore outfit I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN, decided to split up in early 2008.

Says Peters: "DEEZ NUTS and myself are extremely proud to announce we've joined the family over at Century Media and will finally have a label to call home in Europe and the U.K. for our upcoming full-length, 'Bout It'. Look at what we've achieved in Europe and U.K. doin' it DIY. With Century Media in our corner, there's no stopping us."

DEEZ NUTS are:

JJ Peters - vocals
Matt "Realbad" Rogers - guitar
Jon Green - bass
Alex Salinger - drums

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach was interviewed on this past Friday's (Novermber 23) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On his claim in a Twitter posting that he was in the studio recording with a "top-secret project that will revolutionize popular music as we know it":

Bach: "You know what's so hilarious? We've entered this new form of media where web sites make articles about tweets. I tweet all day and I mess with people. I sit there like this bored. I'm like this. [Makes snoring sound]

"I'm working on something. 'Cause I am working on two projects that I'm not allowed to tell you what they are yet, which really stinks. We have to wait until this week; they're gonna announce 'em … They're both my things… adding to my catalog. But one thing is a totally new thing. I can't tell you [what it is]; it sucks [that I am not allowed to talk about it]. I asked my manager, 'Can I announce this?' And they're, like, 'No.' They've very big, big, big, big projects. But I'm in the recording studio.

"And I'm just sitting there bored [and tweeting], 'I'm working on a project that will change the course of music history.' And, to me, every time I sing, that's changing the course of history. And then it's like, every web site [picks up the story]… 'Sebastian Bach…' And then I read in the comments, 'Oh, he's recording with Steven Spielberg on the new 'Star Wars' project.' [laughs] And I'll get in a spat with my girl, Minnie [Bach's model girlfriend Minnie Gupta], who I love with all my heart. And I'll say, 'We broke up,' and then every web site [will post an article], 'They broke up,' and then the next day we're back together. [And then they'll write] 'Oh, they're back together.' It's like, you can't make news articles out of every single tweet. I'm just tweeting."

On what he is working on now:

Bach: "This week I am announcing two gigantic projects. And I have a record deal on the table from Frontiers. [They just told me], 'Just turn it in whenever you’ve got 13 songs that you love.' But for me, I'm super-critical of what I put my name on, and it all has to sound really amazing to me."

"My next record will definitely be another solo record.

"[Bach's last solo album] 'Kicking & Screaming' did really good; everybody loved it. The video for the title track's got a million plays on YouTube. I mean, a million plays is a million plays."

On sobriety:

Bach: "[I've been sober] 17 [days] in a row. I had one slip-up, and before that slip-up, I was 10 days. So it's like [I've been sober] 27 days with one slip-up.

"I've been partying my whole life, and a couple of things happened that shocked me. Two things, specifically. My drummer of my solo band, Mark 'Bam Bam' McConnell, died at the age of… He wasn't [even] 50. He was my best drinking buddy in my life.

"I joined the band MADAM X when I was 17, and he was five years older than me.

"When I was in MADAM X, I came from a band in Toronto called KID WIKKID. I was a beer-drinker then. I'd drink beers after… just like normal. Then I joined MADAM X, and hanging out with Mark, it was just our routine after every single rehearsal, or after every single show, or at the end of every day, we would drink a ton of beer. And it was fun. And everybody was doing it. We're talking about 1985, '86. And that was just the scene; that's what we did. And I was very young. And I kind of never knew any other way; I didn't know wnay other way to live. We'd do a show, get hammered, drive to the next town, wake up, and just do that for years. And, of course, SKID ROW, we toured with PANTERA — we were out with them on their first tour — and GUNS N' ROSES we toured with, and MÖTLEY CRÜE and AEROSMITH and BON JOVI, and all of those bands know how to party.

"I played with Mark for years and I had to not play with him, because he was taking things too far.

"I've never done a show drunk; I've never had a sip of alcohol before I go on stage. I'm always straight as an arrow because it means everything to me and I wanna be the best I can be. But afterwards, I'll make up for it.

"So he was always sad that we stopped playing together. He was on my Facebook page, saying, 'Hey, Baz, I heard you were trying to quit drinking. I know it's tough. But hang in there. You can do it.' And then I get a call that he's in the hospital out of nowhere. So I go, 'He's sick in the hospital? What?' And he went to the hospital and the doctor said, 'You've only got a couple of days to live. Your organs are failing,' and all this stuff. And then two days later, he's dead.

"[Rock and roll] supposed to be fun. And there are so many [artists] that have died — like Shannon Hoon, Amy Winehouse, Jani Lane… just from drinking. And I just wanna live and be happy and rock.

"Even more heavy to me than other musicians and stuff, I've got this girl that I'm so into… I'm six-foot-four — I'm a big dude — and she's like, 'Sebastian, you can't drink anymore.' I'm like, 'Why?' She goes, ''Cause you're so big, you're scary. You're in my face, spitting in my face, and your arms are all over the place and you're loud and I think you're gonna get in a fight or get hurt or get in a car crash or go to jail.' And she's like, 'You can either keep doing that, or you can be with me and not do that.' And I totally chose the latter."

On why a reunion of SKID ROW's classic lineup hasn't happened yet:

Bach: "There's one dude out of five that doesn't wanna do it; it's so simple. That's what's happening.

"I will always be the singer of SKID ROW, no matter what. There's no other guy. It's like… John Corabi [who was briefly in MÖTLEY CRÜE as Vince Neil's replacement in the mid-1990s], I love ya — it's great — but where's Vince? I mean, that's the way it is. Walk down the street with me and count how many times [people scream out], 'Youth Gone Wild! SKID ROW!' It's like people shout out of the cars.

"Dude, if a promoter comes to me with a legitimate business offer, it's very easy for me to walk on the stage and stand behind a mic and sing my own songs that I've been doing for 25 years.

"If one dude wants to make all the fans that put us where we are happy… I mean, we all talk about KISS all the time. KISS makes the fans the boss. I mean, I think it's kind of crazy. It's like you take your football and you go home and the game is over, 'cause it's your football. It's like, 'Can I borrow your football? 'Cause we've got a game going here.'"