Texas occult metal band VENOMOUS MAXIMUS will release its new album Beg Upon the Light on February 4th via Occulture Records. The group recorded at Origin Sound in Houston with a head space described as "somewhere between a Alejandro Jodorowsky film and a New Orleans voodoo den." Beg Upon the Light's striking cover art was designed by artist Dann Miller and builds on the band's ever-evolving thematic that involves, among other things, magic, alchemy, extra-sensory perception and astrology; wide-eyed themes that lay "on the outermost fringe of accepted forms of knowledge and discourse."
Beg Upon the Light tracklisting:
'Funeral Queen'
'Path Of Doom'
'Give Up The Witch'
'Father Time'
'Dream Again (Hellenbach)'
'Moonchild'
'Battle for the Cross'
'Venomous Maximus'
'Mothers Milk'
'Hell's Heroes'


Venomous Maximus is Gregg Higgins (vocals, guitar), Christian Larson (guitar), Trevi Biles (bass) and Bongo (drums).

For more details visit Facebook.

Norwegian metallers THE FALLEN DIVINE have released their new video for 'Fire Lights The Night (Self Ignition)'. Directed byMagnus Borka Kloster-Jensen and co-directed by Jørn Lyder Hansen, the track comes from the band’s debut full-length The Binding Cycle released early this year via Indie Recordings.



Guitarist Magnus Haugo comments: "The video was filmed over the course of two sessions in a forest just outside of Oslo. We think the video really catches the spirit and the intensity of the song, and we hope people will enjoy it."

Regarding the concept behind the song, he adds: "This song is directly linked to a rage such is felt when confined or oppressed, the wish for revenge, and the consequences connected to enacting revenge. In the concept of the whole album, this is the song where our main character begins his hate fuelled conquest."

According to a press release, the adventure of achieving the perfect sound for The Binding Cycle began in the summer of 2011. The band entered the highly respected Sonic Train studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, with Andy LaRocque (KING DIAMOND) as their sound engineer. After a couple weeks of intense, yet creative work, the material was sent to Dan Swanö (BLOODBATH, EDGE OF SANITY) for the final mix and mastering.

Dan Swanö: “Another example that proves that Scandinavia rule the progressive death metal scene. Dynamic and bombastic, just the way I like it. These guys have a bright future ahead!"
The tracklist is as follows:
'Dissension'
'Shades of Oppression'
'Fire Lights the Night'
'Patterns Through Eternity'
'Northern Lights'
'Replenished'
'The Tormented One'
'The Binding Cycle'

More on The Fallen Divine at this location.

Swedish black metallers MÖRKER have released the following update regarding their current recording efforts:

“The drum recording has been postponed, from the first date that was 10-11 November, and the studio has also changed. But Jani is, as we speak, recording the drums for all the songs, and it's going really good!

And since he's not recording the drums in Aurora Studios, we cannot be there, but we trust him 100% and we know he will do an amazing job, since he is one of the best dummers we know. We are looking forward to hear the final results, and after that, we will start with guitars!”

Swedish heavy metallers BLACK ROSE have released the cover artwork for their upcoming album entitled Turn On The Night which will be released on January 18th worldwide via the Doolittle Group AB.

The cover was designed by Morgan Sundell. Check it out below:
The 2011 video for the track ‘Prisoners In Paradise’, Featuring Kee Marcello (Europe), can be seen below:
Black Rose are:

Anders Haga – bass
Peter Thederan – vocals
Peter Haga – drums
Thomas Berg – guitar

Thrash metal veterans SLAYER have offered their own contribution to "ugly Christmas sweater," a ubiquitous feature of the holiday season which began to sprout up in the last several decades.

"Ugly Christmas sweater" or "tacky Christmas sweater" parties have been a holiday staple for several years, but there have been very few places to actually buy these sweaters. That has since changed, according to Time magazine, which reports that vintage stores, the Salvation Army, and Goodwill are reaping the benefits of this craze, as are fast-fashion shops like H&M and high-end retailers such as Nordstrom.

The SLAYER "ugly Christmas sweater" appears to be only available in the U.K. and can be purchased from Backstreet Merchandise.

Frontiers Records recently announced the release of GENE THE WEREWOLF international debut album aptly entitled Rock N' Roll Animal on November 23rd in Europe. The official EPK (electronic press kit) for the album can be found on YouTube below:
The band hails from Pittsburgh when in 2007 five musicians disillusioned from their previous experiences decided to join forces in something "insanely different" from what they have been doing until then and “give a nod to the music we listened to growing up in the '80's. One of the more important aspects of the new project was to not take ourselves too seriously and have fun with it,” tells the band’s guitar player Drew Donegan.

Donegan describes Gene The Werewolf’s sound as “classic rock with a modern vibe”, similar to what bands like KISS, DEF LEPPARD, AC/DC and MÖTLEY CRÜE would sound like if they released their music today... a far cry from the pop-punk bands the band members had been in previously. “We also like the term diamond-core, because diamond is the hardest rock known to man,” Donegan adds.
When referring to Rock N' Roll Animal, the band's newest album, Gene exclaims: "It's the perfect soundtrack to a beer-infused Saturday night!"

Plenty of bands aren’t shy about flaunting cocky bios and making no secret of their self-perceived talent, but few take it as far as Gene the Werewolf. “We used to say we were the best rock band, but by now I’d say we’re just the best band ever,” Donegan said. “We play absurdly loud, sweat our asses off, and then sleep on filthy apartment floors together because we love doing it."

Ultimately, the band's intentions are as pure as they've ever been. "We formed this band to play loud, rowdy, and crude Rock N' Roll," says Gene. "I think with this record we've accomplished everything we've ever wanted out of being in a band together."

Gene The Werewolf newest videoclip 'I Only Wanna Rock N Roll' can be viewed below:
Rock N' Roll Animal includes the following cuts:
'Wicked Love'
'I Only Wanna Rock N Roll'
'Superhero'
'Heart Of Steel'
'Rock N Roll Animal'
'I've Got The Love'
'Ruffneck Woman'
'Light Me Up'
'Firecracker'
'Give It Up'
'The Ballad Of Gene'
'Make Love' (bonus track iTunes)

'I Only Wanna Rock n Roll' is streaming on Frontiers Records webradio at this location.
Gene The Werewolf is:
Jon Belan a/k/a Gene the Werewolf – vocals, guitar
Drew Donegan – guitar
Aaron Mediate – keyboards
Nick Revak – drums
Tim Schulz – bass and vocals

MPIRE OF EVIL - featuring former VENOM members Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan and Jeff "Mantas" Dunn - have posted some snippets from their forthcoming album, Crucified, featuring re-recorded Venom tracks from the Dolan years. Check it out below:
Watch for an exclusive interview with Dolan conducted by BW&BK, coming soon.

Mpire Of Evil are gearing up for live dates in Japan in support of their latest album, Hell To The Holy. Dates are as follows:

December
1 - Osaka, Japan - Shinsaibashi Avenue A
2 - Saitama, Japan - Shintoshin Heavens Rock
3 - Tokyo, Japan - Harajuku Astro Hall

Check out a video teaser below:

Professionally filmed video footage of DIO DISCIPLES' August 10 performance at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom can be seen below.

DIO DISCIPLES is the project featuring former DIO members Simon Wright (drums), Craig Goldy (guitar), Scott Warren (keyboards) and Rudy Sarzo alongside singers Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) and Toby Jepson (LITTLE ANGELS, GUN). The group pays tribute to the Ronnie James Dio and is fully supported by Dio's widow/manager, Wendy, who has said, "There will never be another Ronnie, but we want to keep his music alive and hope you will support the band and become one of the DIO DISCIPLES."

Sarzo was unable to take part in DIO DISCIPLES' recent European tour and was once again temporarily replaced by James Lomenzo (MEGADETH, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, WHITE LION).

In an interview with Metal Assault, Simon stated about how DIO DISCIPLES was conceived, "I think it was a combination of all of us. We talked long and hard and discussed 'Should we or shouldn't we? Is it right? How do we really feel about all this?' And it just became apparent that we just couldn't let it go. We've been in Ronnie's band for such a long time and he taught us so much, he was an inspiration and we learned so much from him about being on the road, being in the studio… We just came to the conclusion that we just couldn't let it go and we needed to keep the songs going for the fans; that's the most important thing we're doing here. We're not trying to kid anybody here; we're just doing it from the heart and continuing his legacy. It's really as simple as that."

On the topic of DIO DISCIPLES setlist, Simon said, "The problem that a lot of bands have is that they've got a strong batch of hits, so we still have to do songs that are like that — we have to do 'Heaven And Hell', 'Rainbow In The Dark', 'Holy Diver', 'We Rock'… So we're doing those, but we're trying to throw in as many curveballs as we can at the moment. As we progress, I think we'll be throwing in more songs from Ronnie's catalog, which should be a couple of surprises — songs that maybe were never played live, or that were played live but a long, long time ago. Because, like I said before, we wanna make it something special for the fans and they all have everything different songs that they love. We can't do them all, but we're gonna try and fit as many of them in as we can."

DIO DISCIPLES is currently touring the U.S. with a slightly altered lineup, featuring Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB) on vocals instead of Jepson and Bjorn Englen (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) stepping in on bass.

Professionally filmed video footage of the reunited '80s cult metal outfit SANCTUARY's performance at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom, can be seen below.

Asked about the progress of the songwriting sessions for SANCTUARY's "comeback" album — tentatively titled "The Year The Sun Died" — singer Warrel Dane told GetYourRockOut in August, "We've got so much stuff written that it's hard to sort through, but we played two new songs [at Bloodstock Open Air]. We played the one ballad, it's called 'I Am Low', and we played another one called 'The World Is Wired'. Some of the other stuff is a little heavier, but those songs, I think, are… Sometimes the stuff that isn't as heavy is stronger, so that's why we picked those."

He added, "I don't think anybody is gonna be disappointed, because I am involved in the creative process and I know what's going on and I know where we're going and I know it's gonna be killer."

Regarding how SANCTUARY's reformation came about, Dane told Rock My Monkey TV, "[SANCTUARY guitarist Lenny Rutledge and I] always talked to each other, but never really been friends again. And when the whole thing came about, that we were actually friends again, that's when we started talking more about doing it. And it definitely wasn't because NEVERMORE was imploding... which it was, at that point . . . We all just started talking with each other again. That was kind of the groundwork for it. And then we started saying, 'Well, gosh, let's make music again.' And my god! Lenny is writing some stuff that is so friggin great! Obviously, he's been bottling this up for years, because he really hasn't been doing anything... Well, he's had bands here and there. But he's really writing some great stuff that's really inspiring me, and making me fall in love with music again, with the creative process... everything that revolves around that. Really inspiring me to write really evil lyrics."

On the topic of the sound of SANCTUARY's upcoming studio album, Dane said, "This record is not going to sound like the other two. It might sound very similar to the second one ('Into The Mirror Black'). It's definitely not going to sound like the first one, because we're all a little bit older and I can't come up with a c-clamp for a scrotum and a helium tank . . . It's not going to sound like the old ones... it's 2011. It's still gonna be that good, I think, and there's gonna be high-pitched screaming. I'm making sure of that. With NEVERMORE, high-pitched screaming was never really called for. You know, with SANCTUARY... of course it is."

SANCTUARY last year tapped Brad Hull (FORCED ENTRY) to play second guitar for the band.

Hull has spent the last few years playing the role of "James Hetfield" in the METALLICA tribute band BLISTERED EARTH, which plays "classic songs ranging from 1983's 'Kill 'Em All' to 1991's self-titled 'Metallica'."

SANCTUARY's current touring lineup:

Warrel Dane - Vocals
Lenny Rutledge - Guitar
Brad Hull - Guitars
Jim Sheppard - Bass
Dave Budbill - Drums

Typhonian occult metallers ACRIMONIOUS return with with a new rock-influenced and ritual-driven black metal release, wrapped in a classic heavy metal feeling. The band's second full-length album, entitled Sunyata, is due to be released on Agonia Records on November 27th in Europe, and February 5th in North America.

A new track called 'The Hollow Wedjat' is streaming below:
Sunyata comes with artwork from Kyle Fite and Vampress Imperium, check it out below:
The album was recorded, mixed and mastered in Sitra Ahra and Unreal Studios with the assistance of Necromorbus Studio (WATAIN, ADORIOR, ONDSKAPT, DESTROYER 666). It will be available as digital download, CD, black vinyl with booklet and limited to 100 handnumbered copies transparent red vinyl with classic black splatter, 20 page booklet including a A2 poster.

More on Acrimonious at this location.

Catalonia, Spain-based thrashers VIVID REMORSE released their sophomore studio album, Down To The Wire, via Art Gates Records on October 15th in Spain. The European and worldwide release date for the album is confirmed for December 3rd.

An official teaser for the release can be seen below:
The cover art for the album was designed by Maite Ramis, who also designed the artwork for the band's previous album, The Seed Of Malaise (2010). See the new artwork below:
Down To The Wire tracklisting:

'Biopiracy (The Seed Of My Land)'
'Imaginary Actress'
'Theory Of Fear'
'Overdosed'
'Involution'
'Nobody Answers'
'Seize The Death'
'Seven Days Of Fire'
'L'Angoixa De L'Existència'
'Stop On Time'
'The Never Falling Cries'

Listen to 'Imaginary Actress' below:
In words of the band: “We’re sure this album will enchant all the lovers of The Seed Of Malaise. On one hand we’re going to introduce new elements, going one step further in our concept of thrash metal. On the other hand, it’s going to be 100% Vivid Remorse. Both things complement each other perfectly. It will be a record even more varied than the previous one: with faster moments, some “death metal” parts, some “punk”, some heavy stuff… It will be “A little bit more in every aspect” always with the essence and musical personality of the band, because we didn’t introduce Vivid Remorse in other genres, but our thrash metal is closer to them right now. So, our philosophy about creating short, dynamic and direct musical pieces with refinements and worked vocal melodies keeps being present in this album."
More on Vivid Remorse at this location.

Montreal's progressive death metal act BEYOND CREATION have released the official video for their song, 'Omnipresent Perception'. The track is from their debut album, The Aura. Watch the video below:
"This video was created in collaboration with Obnoxious Entertainment, a brand-new production company from Montreal," comments BC singer/guitarist Simon Girard. "'Omnipresent Perception' contains a simple and direct message: we are free to trust in whatever we want, but we should first trust in ourselves, and make sure we do it the right way! We are very happy with the end result of this video and we hope people will have as much watching it as we did making it."

More on Beyond Creation here.

Los Angeles-based instrumental progressive metal trio POLARIZATION have issued the following update:

"We regret to inform you all that after years of hard work, touring, writing, recording and being an amazing friend, our drummer Tom Asvold has been forced to return to his homeland of Skärvången, Jämtlands Län, Sweden.
This WILL NOT affect any of our shows/tour plans we have coming this winter/next year as we have been aware of this situation for quite some time now, and have found an amazing “fill in” for Tom, who we can’t wait for you all to meet. More info on that later.

In the meantime we wish our friend the best of luck in his journey. Here’s to you Tom! You will be missed."

Metal Hammer TV conducted an interview with Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist and main songwriter of the Finnish symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH, and the band's current touring lead singer, Floor Jansen, prior to NIGHTWISH's November 5 concert at O2 Academy Brixton in London, England. You can now watch the chat below.

On the split with NIGHTWISH's most recent singer, Anette Olzon, in the middle of the band's North American tour:

Tuomas: "I'm sure it came as a shock to everybody. We came out with a statement [regarding the split], which pretty much says it all. It still is a private matter, and that's all we wanna say about it, like, ever. It was an amicable divorce, so to say, and made in good spirit, and we are just looking to the future. There really is no reason to go back into all the details and all that. I mean, this is not politics, this is a rock band."

On Olzon voicing her displeasure over the fact that NIGHTWISH played a concert without her when she was in the hospital, writing in an online posting, "Rihanna wouldn't ask Britney Spears to sing for her if she was ill":

Tuomas: "Like I said, we don't wanna go back into those days anymore. I mean, we really don’t want to talk about that issue at all. Once more, we made a statement and if people can read in between the lines and see the big picture, that's all that matters at the moment. So let's leave it at that."

On NIGHTWISH's decision to carry on even after parting ways with Anette mid-tour:

Tuomas: "The way I see is that NIGHTWISH is like a carousel that nees to go on spinning, no matter what. It's more than just five persons doing music. It's just an institution. It's a thing that needs to keep on going no matter what. The last thing you want to do in this band is to cancel any shows, cancel any tours; you just have to keep on going — for the people, for the spirit, for ourselves, for everybody."

On whether there is a chance that Floor will become the official new NIGHTWISH lead singer:

Tuomas: "The way that we have decided is that we're gonna continue with her until the end of the festival season in 2013 — just have fun, just do the shows the best we can. I mean, the atmosphere in the band is so good at the moment, [we want to] just enjoy this what we have right now. They try not to think about NIGHTWISH at all for a few months. Everybody take a little vacation. And we already have the rehearsal place for the next album booked in 2014 — from July to September. So that's how far we have planned. But when we do the last festival show next August, after that, it's gonna be total nothing for a few months. So I would say everything is possible, but that's really not the thing that we want to be thinking about right now, because there's absolutely no reason to."

Legendary Italian industrial black metallers ABORYM 's live shows in 2013 will be performed with a digital drum-machine as they did in their past shows, so drummer Bard G. Eithun Faust will be not part of the live lineup.

On stage, alongside vocalist Fabban and guitarist Paolo Pieri, will be the addition of a second guest guitarist (his name will be revealed soon) and a guest bass player.
If anyone is interested in playing bass with the band, drop a message to info.aborym@gmail.com. The band will start doing auditions in Rome around January, 2013.

More on Aborym at this location.

Milano, Italy based death metallers MECHANICAL GOD CREATION will release their new album, Artifact Of Annihilation, in December via Worm Hole Death Records.

The band has now released the music video for the track ‘Terror In The Air’. The video was directed by Stefano Pasotti. Check it out below:
Artifact Of Annihilation tracklisting:

'Pyramidion'
'Artifact Of Annihilation'
'Illusions'
'Cult Of The Machines'
'Shadow's Falling'
'Lullaby For The Modern Age'
'Terror In The Air'
'Nomos Of The Earth'
'Woe Of The Spiraled Desire'
'Ocean Of Time'
'Obsidian Nightfall'

Norway's TELLUS REQUIEM recently signed with Nightmare Records, for the release of their debut album, Invictus (The 11th Hour), due on January 22nd, 2013. The band have now revealed the album artwork, which you can see below:
Tellus Requiem consists of five members who all came from diverse musical backgrounds, which can be recognized immediately by their distinct sound. From the very first crunchy guitar wail with juicy leads your ears are battered with a progressive metal onslaught. Combining these elements with beautiful melodies and harmonies Tellus Requiem delivers their breathtaking debut The 11th Hour.
Tellus Requiem lineup:

Ben Rodgers - Vocals
Vidar Lehmann - Drums
Stig Nergård - Guitars
Ivar Hagen Bøe - Bass
Anders Sundbø - Keys
More on Tellus Requiem at this location.

Metalcore band DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER have released their second trailer for the upcoming Live DVD Bridges Are born. Check it out below:
The first trailer can be seen below:
The band previously recorded a live concert in their hometown, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The show is now being released as a two-disc live DVD on December 15th.

The artwork for the release was created by Gabor Fetyko of Resize Media. Check it out below:
The first DVD in the release is a full of live concert footage with the second DVD containing a documentary featuring footage from the band's inception to today.

The DVD was produced by Resize Media , co-production with Mad Productions and Baracca Film and directed by Diamonds Are Forever drummer Marcu Dorin.

Australia’s DEATH AUDIO will release their new self-titled album on November 23rd via Fire At Will Records.

The band has now released their album for free streaming. Check it out below:
Tracklisting for the release is as follows:

‘Down’
‘Black Rose’
‘Fallen Souls’
‘Memories’
‘Reasons’
‘Obstructions’
‘This Moment’
‘Place The Blame’
‘Shadow’
‘The Escape’
Check out a new album trailer below:

German metalers THE VERY END have released a lyric video for their new song, 'The Black Fix', featuring ENTOMBED's LG Petrov. The track comes off the band's new album, Turn Off The World, which is due out November 23rd (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) / November 26th (Europe) / November 27th (North America) on Steamhammer / SPV.
LG Petrov contributed as guest vocalist on the death metal-oriented 'The Black Fix'. Commented The Very End Vocalist Bjoern Goosses: “Naturally, being fans of old-school death metal, LG is one of our old-time heroes whom we are proud to present on our new album.”

See the lyric video, created by Carsten Loer for Cyphers X, below:
Like its predecessor, Mercy & Misery, Turn Off The World has been produced by Waldemar Sorychta and mastered by Dennis Koehne (SODOM, EXUMER). The album artwork has again been created by Killustrations (DEW-SCENTED, NERVECELL, HACKNEYED).
Turn Off The World tracklisting:

'Splinters'
'IronSky'
'Infidel'
'The Black Fix'
'Maelstrom Calling'
'Sixes And Nines'
'The Last Mile'
'Dreadnought'
'Gravity'
'Orphans Of Emptiness'
'To Feed On Hope'

An album teaser can be seen below:
More on The Very End at this location.

Brazil's PAINSIDE are getting ready to release their new material in the form of a 3-song mini-album, entitled Build Your Fiction, with song titles including 'Break The Hive', 'Reject The Silence' and 'A Caustic Romance'.
The new effort was mixed by Mark Lewis (TRIVIUM, ALL THAT REMAINS, UNEARTH, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL) from Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida.

The band has released a teaser video for the upcoming material, which can be found below:
Painside's first album, Dark World Burden, was released worldwide in 2010 by Inner Wound recordings, featuring guests Chris Bolthendal (GRAVE DIGGER), Renato Tribuzy, Gus Monsanto (SYMBOLICA, ex-ADAGIO, ex-REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE).
More on Painside here.

Canadian Folk metallers NORDHEIM have revealed the album cover for their forthcoming sophomore album entitled Refill. The artwork was created by Nicolas Francoeur of Vorace Art, as was their debut album Lost in the North. Check it out below:
The band wrapped up the recording of Refill in October.

The album was recorded at Badass Studio, Montreal, QC (NEURAXIS, AUGURY, BLACKGUARD, UNEXPECT, KÄLTER) with production by Jef Fortin and Nordheim.

Details of the release date will be released in early 2013, and the exact song listing have yet to be determined.

The video for the track ‘Far Away’ can be seen below:

Anthony Morgan of Metal Forces recently conducted an interview with vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe of U.K. doom metallers MY DYING BRIDE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On writing new album "A Map Of All Our Failures":

Aaron: "We had so much material that we actually started to put it together in what is recognisable song form. It's fun but it's also hard work as well, because you've gotta make sure that with all these great ideas you don't spoil the broth as it were, so we constructed the songs in the best way we thought we could. We recorded 13 songs in total, although only eight appear on the album. One will appear on a special edition of the album and the other four will appear on the new EP, which I'm guessing will probably come out around April 2013. We recorded at Futureworks in Manchester where we've recorded the last few albums. Mags (Robert Magoolagan) was the engineer again. I'd love to be able to tell you some funny anecdotes about it, but, to be honest, we kind of really nailed the songs before we hit the studio. It was all a case of 'Heads down. Let's get this over and done with. Let's not waste time. Let's be as professional as we possibly can.' We were in and out of the studio in a fairly quick time with a fairly polished piece of vinyl, which we are all chuffed with."

On the title track:

Aaron: "It's about a guy who has nothing left, and not just physically. The idea was he sat in a room which has a bed and a chair, and nothing else. Everything he's had in his life has gone through wrong decisions, bad decisions, dodgy characters, and so on. Now he has ended up with nothing, but it's a mental thing as well. He realizes he's got no love. He's never loved, and you could argue that if you've never loved then you've never lost properly. He feels like he's lost everything, so it's complete and utter desolation. I'm sure some people feel from time to time that the world is really against them, and in realistic terms it probably never really is. You've always probably got a roof over your head, or can find something like that. I wanted to write a song about someone who really has absolutely nothing, and that's what 'A Map Of All Our Failures' is about. He's realised that there is nothing there. The map itself if you want could be completely blank; it just contains nothing, and there's nothing left to live for. I'm not suggesting for one moment that suicide is on the menu for this evening, but you just wonder sometimes. If somebody actually has absolutely nothing, can they survive that?"

On political music:

Aaron: "You're not gonna see much political music in my CD collection — there's no BLACK FLAG in there, for example. There's a place for that kind of stuff, and it's simply not my place (laughs). I like my music to be a vehicle to transport me to somewhere else, somewhere away from the rat race, away from the taxman and the annoying neighbour and the car that won't start, the money that I don't have and the people who want my money. My music has to take me away from all that shit, so that I've got somewhere to go that isn't all nasty. Despite the fact that some of the music I listen to is quite morbid, it's morbid I think in a beautiful way. It's the escapism that's the most important thing for me though, and that's why I write things which some hard-nosed journalists might say is a bit airy fairy. Fine though; that's what I want. I want to be taken away to a different place and a different time for an hour, and I don't think that's too much to ask."

On violinist / keyboardist Shaun MacGowan:

Aaron: "Shaun's been great. He added a bit on 'The Barghest O' Whitby' which was fine, but we're trying to get him to come out of his shell a little bit more because he's quite shy. I think he was one year old when MY DYING BRIDE formed, so it's a bit weird him being in the band. He doesn't wanna tread on anyone's toes. He's joined a well established band, and the last thing we want — and the last thing he wants — is him saying 'I've got some shit hot guitar riffs for you guys,' because he'd get kicked out straight away no matter how good his riffs were. We want him to come out of his shell a little bit more, because he's still quite a shy, young lad. He's put some great, woeful violin parts on the album though, and they've really embellished the material that it's been played over. It's haunting and sounds beautiful, but in a tragic kind of way. With the violin it has always been like that for us, particularly in the early days. He added a real good amount to it. All the violin parts have been his own stuff; at no point has anyone said 'Here, play this.' He's said 'I've got this. Does it work?' We've said 'Yeah, bloody brilliant,' but we expect more from him in the future. Fingers crossed that on the next album there'll be a bit more of Shaun."

On forthcoming four-track EP "The Manuscript", scheduled for release in April 2013:

Aaron: "They're very similar to 'A Map Of All Our Failures' because they were written and recorded at the same time, except for one song. That really stands out… [laughs] It's full-on sort of epic death metal; it's swords and axes, a proper warrior battle kind of track that's almost medieval in flavor. You can almost picture the scene; it's set in a snowy kind of mountainous landscape. There are sound effects and all sorts of mayhem going on in it, and death metal vocals not quite all the way through it, but near enough. It even has a Swedish title which because my Swedish isn't great, I'm not gonna repeat here. [laughs] I need to get the pronunciation right before I do that."

Read the entire interview at this location.

According to Billboard.biz, Mike Easterlin, head of promotion at Roadrunner Records, has been named the general manager of the label following departure of president Jonas Nachsin. Easterlin, who recently became GM of Fueled By Ramen, will oversee both Roadrunner and Fueled By Ramen and will work with Roadrunner senior VP of A&R David Rath and senior VP of marketing & creative services Madelyn Scarpulla in running the label.

Easterlin came to Roadrunner in 2007 when the label merged its promotion staff with Lava/Atlantic's where he had worked as senior VP of promotion since 2005.

Roadrunner's April 2012 "restructuring" under Warner Music Group resulted in roughly 36 staff members worldwide being let go and several regional offices being closed (including the office in the U.K.). In addition, Roadrunner Records founder/CEO Cees Wessels left the label 17 months after the completion of its sale to the Warner Music Group.

Initially founded in the Netherlands in 1980, Roadrunner Records earned its place as one of the most prominent international independent record labels. The Roadrunner catalog boasts early releases from such seminal artists as KING DIAMOND, TYPE O NEGATIVE, SEPULTURA and ANNIHILATOR. More recently, the label has experienced unprecedented success with multi-platinum artists NICKELBACK and SLIPKNOT, gold-certified STONE SOUR and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, as well as modern heavy hitters TRIVIUM and MACHINE HEAD.

Metal Kaoz chief editor Dimitris Kontogeorgakos recently conducted an interview with GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus. During the chat, which can be streamed using the audio player below, Oderus revealed the working title of GWAR's next album: "Mad At The Sun".

In a recent interview with Legendary Rock Interviews, Oderus Urungus stated about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the new GWAR CD, "We've gotten going on that. We've got, like, 13 new songs written already and lyrics for around half of them and pretty much the whole concept of the album as well. We knew that it was gonna take a while, but we've finally concluded our search for a new guitar player [Pustulus Maximus]. It took a long time to find a guitar player who could fill the shoes of Flattus Maximus. It was just a tremendous task for us to do.

"As for the album, I think it's a heavy album, a metal album. I think it goes back to all different elements of the band. Is it a complete return to songs like 'Fish Fuck' or 'Fucking An Animal'? No. Does it have some of that same sense of humor? Yes… Does it rip as a metal record? Yes… most definitely. Is it afraid to be silly? No. Does it tell a story? Yes. Do I think GWAR fans are gonna love it? Yeah, because I think it's the best album we've ever written. That's what we set out to do and that's the only thing you can do after going through a tragedy like losing a guitar player, a friend, a guy who was that important to your music. It's do-or-die time with this band and that will be what happens with the next GWAR album. GWAR will always live forever but will GWAR always put out metal albums? A lot of that will be decided when we see how people react to our new record."

Interview (audio):

"Stand Up", the new video from Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS, can be seen below. The clip was directed by P.R. Brown (SLIPKNOT, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, MARILYN MANSON), who also collaborated with ALL THAT REMAINS on their recent album packaging and photos, and was filmed on location in New Hampshire.

"Stand Up" comes off ALL THAT REMAINS' seventh album, "A War You Cannot Win", which sold 25,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, "For We Are Many", opened with 29,000 units to enter the chart at No. 10.

"Overcome", the 2008 CD from ALL THAT REMAINS, registered a first-week tally of 29,000 copies to debut at No. 16.

"A War You Cannot Win" sees ALL THAT REMAINS reunited with longtime producer Adam Dutkiewicz (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, AS I LAY DYING, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE). The record is the culmination of an intense writing period for the group that began shortly after their 18-month tour in support of "For We Are Many".

The "A War You Cannot Win" cover artwork was created by Paul R. Brown (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT, MÖTLEY CRÜE, KORN, GODSMACK, AVENGED SEVENFOLD) and can be seen below.

ALL THAT REMAINS has created an exclusive new "A War You Cannot Win"-inspired super-limited-edition skate deck, which is available for purchase here.

"A War You Cannot Win" track listing:

01. Down Through The Ages
02. You Can't Fill My Shadow
03. Stand Up
04. A Call To All Non-Believers
05. Asking Too Much
06. Intro
07. Just Moments In Time
08. What If I Was Nothing
09. Sing For Liberty
10. Not Fading
11. Calculating Loneliness
12. A War You Cannot Win

ALL THAT REMAINS earlier in the month hit the road with DETHKLOK, MACHINE HEAD and THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. ALL THAT REMAINS is serving as direct support to DETHKLOK (alternating with MACHINE HEAD). The trek will make more than 30 stops throughout the United States and Canada before coming to an end in New York City.