Rolling Stone conducted a readers' poll recently to determine the 10 greatest prog rock albums of all time, and DREAM TEHATER fans came out in force to vote for the band. Writer Andy Greene says in the intro to the poll, "We received thousands of votes, partially fueled by the fact that one band encouraged fans to vote by posting the link on their homepage. We won't name names, so let's just call them D. Theater. No, that's too obvious. Let's go with Dream T...."

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Dream Theater have issued the following statement: "All of us in Dream Theater are so grateful to our fans for their incredible support in voting our album Metropolis PT. 2 Scenes From A Memory as the #1 album in Rolling Stone's poll for Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time. The kind of support we have around the world is absolutely amazing and inspires us to keep making the best music that we possibly can for all of you!"

It was announced back in October 2011 that Scenes From A Memory was being issued on double vinyl thanks to the efforts of Karl Groeger, owner of the Brookvale Records in Long Island, NY. The album was released on Black Friday, November 25th, 2011. D

As recently announced Metal Mind Productions will release in Europe the debut album by Los Angeles based hard rock artists Will Wallner (guitars) & Vivien Vain (vocals). Released in February, the self-titled album has been available so far only via the Artists’ official website. Now, with its official release, it has a new title - “Rising” - and new cover artwork.

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The artwork was prepared by Polish graphic designers: Oliwia Piotrowska and Jarosław Wieczorek.

The material features guest musicians including Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Ted Nuggent), Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven&Hell), Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake), Tony Franklin (Roy Harper, Jimmy Page, Tony MacAlpine), Jimmy Bain (Rainbow, Dio), Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Black Country Communion, Alice Cooper, Kiss) and Tony Carey (Rainbow). The album was recorded in Los Angeles throughout 2011 and mixed by Gary Tole in New York. Mastering was completed in September 2011 by Graham Goldman at Masterdisk.
Here is the album tracklist:

1. The Dream
2. Dreamstealer
3. Streets of Rage
4. Fourteen Twenty Eight
5. All That I Want
6. Miles Ahead
7. Soul Monster
8. Rising
9. Indestructible

Will Wallner and Vivien Vain came to America from Europe. Upon meeting each other, they discovered they shared similar musical tastes and began writing songs together. The concept for their music was to write hard rock songs they could be proud of as artists while ignoring contemporary trends. After a year of performing in Los Angeles, they had a chance meeting with Carmine Appice and Vinny Appice at the Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip in 2010. Having heard demo versions of Wallner/Vain songs, the Appice brothers agreed to play the drums on their debut album. Since that first meeting, the project evolved and came to feature several other guest session musicians with Will Wallner and Vivien Vain handling all guitars and vocals respectively. Their debut release features nine original songs written and produced by Wallner/Vain.

The European release of “Rising” is set for October, 8th 2012.

"Raise Your Fist In The Air", the new video from German metal queen Doro Pesch, will make its live debut at the Wacken Open Air festival, which is scheduled to take place August 2-4 in Wacken, Germany. The clip, which was filmed in The Bronx in New York City, will be shown on all three days of the event — before VOLBEAT plays on Thursday, before HAMMERFALL on Friday and right before the SCORPIONS take the stage on Saturday. There will also be a Doro signing session at the Wacken Open Air on Saturday, August 4 between 18.30 and 19.15 CET.

Video footage of Doro Pesch performing "Raise Your Fist In The Air" on July 21 at the Zwarte Cross festival in Lichtenvoorde, The Netherlands can be seen below.

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

Doro Pesch - Vocals
Luca Princiotta - Guitar
Bas Maas - Guitar
Nick Douglas - Bass
Johnny Dee - Drums

Pesch's new EP, "Raise Your Fist In The Air", will be released on August 3. A full-length album, "Raise Your Fist", will follow in the fall via Nuclear Blast Records.

"Raise Your Fist" was recorded and written in the U.S., Germany, and Scandinavia. Doro says, "'Raise Your Fist In The Air' and 'Victory' will also be available on the forthcoming EP! Both songs have been played live on our last tour and also made last year's Wacken Open Air shake! 'Raise Your Fist In The Air' will also be available in French… which is going to be very interesting. For the diehard fans of German songs like 'Für Immer' ['Forever'], there are two songs in the same vein — sensitive and quite dark 'Human Rights' and the very emotional 'Engel' ['Angel']. There are also a lot of fast songs like 'Little Headbanger' and various fist-pumping ones featuring amazing guests like Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND) on 'Last Man Standing' which fans will for sure dig live. We also have a song that honors the late Ronnie James Dio called 'Hero' and another highlight named 'It Still Hurts' featuring MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy Kilmister. The cover artwork has once again been created by British artist Geoffrey Gillespie who is a close friend and companion since he made it into the Guinness Book Of World Records for his 'Triumph And Agony' cover as the biggest album cover in the world. Since then, he's done ten covers for us!"

The "Raise Your Fist In The Air" EP will be made available on CD, vinyl and as a digital download.

"Raise Your Fist In The Air" EP track listing:

01. Raise Your Fist In The Air
02. Victory
03. Engel
04. Lève Ton Poing Vers Le Ciel

In a 2011 interview with Canada's XplosiveMetal.com, Pesch spoke about the song "Raise Your Fist In The Air" which she played for the first time at last year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. ""It got great feedback [from the Wacken audience]. . . . It was originally written by a Wacken fan, a metalhead, and then I did my own thing to it. It was actually a diehard Wacken fan who did a demo and sent it to the promoter. He sent it to me and said, 'Hey, how about we make a Wacken anthem and here's an idea from a diehard Wacken fan.' I listened to it and thought, 'Hey, that's great.' Then we worked on it and continued working on it. Just to tell you how that song came about, it was a collaboration with a diehard fan and it was actually really good. Sometimes the fans have the best ideas. It was so dead-on."

A tribute album to David Gold — a founding member of the Ontario, Canada-based black and doom metal band WOODS OF YPRES, who was killed in December in a car accident near Barrie, Ontario — will tentatively be released in late August or early September. The CD's cover artwork was created by Jason Hicks and can be seen below.

The project's mastermind, Steph LeDrew, previously stated about the collection: "On December 21, the world lost WOODS OF YPRES founder/frontman David Gold. Not only was the entire local metal community but the international metal family mourned the loss of such a brilliant soul. As a thank you and farewell to WOODS OF YPRES, I reached out to those who were influenced by WOODS and David, so join me in creating a musical salute to one of the greatest doom metal bands to unleash onto the underground metal scene."

Arists and songs featured on the album are as follows:

* NOVEMBERS DOOM - "Wet Leather"
* GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH - "Suicide Cargoload"
* ECLIPSE ETERNAL - "Crossing The 45th Parallel"
* EMPYREAN PLAGUE - "Shedding The Deadwood"
* PANZERFAUST - "A Meeting Place And Time"
* PAGAN RITUAL - "The Shams Of Optimism"
* AMARANTH - "Allure Of The Earth"
* ALBIREON - "Retrosleep In The Morning Calm"
* ANEMIC - "The Sun Was In My Eyes: Part Doom"
* BEGOTTEN - "The Sea Of Immeasureable Loss"
* RELIQUIS - "Career Suicide"
* JOEL VIOLETTE and RAE AMITAY - "Silver"
* CANOPY - "Falling Apart"
* UNBOWED - "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground"
* DEATHMARCH - "Northern Cold"
* KUHRZARTH - "Finality"
* THE GOV' AND FRIENDS - "Intro: The Looming Of Dust In The Dark"
* THE BEAR HUNTERS - "Thrill Of The Struggle"
* SVARTE KRAKE - "You Were The Light"
* JUSTIN BENDER (INTO ETERNITY) - "Trillium: The 3rd Of Three Winters"

For more information, go to this location.

Formed in 2002, WOODS OF YPRES has earned critical acclaim for its ever-evolving, envelope-pushing mix of blackened doom metal. Most often compared to bands such as AGALLOCH and TYPE O NEGATIVE, WOODS OF YPRES toes a thin line between the catchy, the artistic and the extreme to create an unmistakable signature sound.

U.K. doom metal veterans MY DYING BRIDE have set "A Map Of All Our Failures" as the title of their new album, due on October 15 In Europe and October 16 in the U.S. via Peaceville Records on CD, double vinyl and special-edition CD/DVD. The CD eas recorded and mixed at Futureworks Studios in Manchester, England with the band's longtime production partner Rob "Mags" Magoolagan at the helm.

According to a press release, "a step up from 2009's 'For Lies I Sire' — which set and subsequently met new heights of expectation placed upon the legendary Yorkshire doom troupe — 'A Map Of All Our Failures' is a further voyage into the darkest depths of humanity, religion, folklore, love and death. MY DYING BRIDE's distinctively sumptuous dual-guitar melodies effortlessly flood into juggernaut doom metal riffs, with the vocals of Aaron Stainthorpe weaving a rich tapestry of tragic tales into the accompanying soundscapes. 'A Map Of All Our Failures' is perhaps best and most effectively summarized by guitarist Andrew Craighan, who describes the album as 'a controlled demolition of all your hopes.'"

"A Map Of All Our Failures" track listing:

01. Kneel Till Doomsday
02. The Poorest Waltz
03. A Tapestry Scorned
04. Like A Perpetual Funeral
05. A Map Of All Our Failures
06. Hail Odysseus
07. Within The Presence Of Absence
08. Abandoned As Christ

MY DYING BRIDE will embark on a European tour in December in support of the new album. The band will also make an appearance at the U.K.'s esteemed Damnation Festival in November, at which Peaceville will be a proud sponsor to coincide with the label's 25th anniversary.

"Moving On", the new video from Toronto, Ontario, Canada's WARMACHINE, can be seen below. The clip was filmed in December with director/producer Jeff Hazin of Obsolete Talko Productions.

"Moving On" comes off WARMACHINE's latest album, "Left For Dead", which was released in July 2011 via JMD Records. The CD was once again produced by Murray Daigle and was recorded in Canada.

WARMACHINE recently announced the addition of drummer Darren Smith (HAREM SCAREM) to the group's ranks. Smith joins the band as the replacement for Dave Langguth (NELLY FURTADO, RIK EMMETT, GILBY CLARKE), who was in WARMACHINE for less than a year.

WARMACHINE's "Raw in the Hammer" DVD contains footage from the band's January 20, 2007 concert at The Underground in Hamilton, a documentary on the band's history, behind-the-scenes footage and more.

WARMACHINE's debut album, "The Beginning of the End", was released in 2006 in North America via Nightmare Records.

"The Beginning of the End" features a guest appearance on three tracks ("Betrayed", "Empty" and "Taunted Souls") by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

For more information, visit www.warmachineonline.com.

Hungarian "progressive-grunge metallers" ANGERTEA have completed recording their fourth full-length album, "Nr. 4: Songs Exhaled", for a mid-September release via the Norwegian label Smash Fabric Records. The CD, which is currently being mixed by producer Gábor Vári, features guest appearances by Bill Gould (FAITH NO MORE), who played some guitar harmonies in the song "No Computation", and Tibor Rákos of Hungarian progressive band ECLIPSE, who sang some lines in "Meeting Satan On The Way To Personal Desertification".

Video footage of the recording process for the new CD — featuring a sample of the new song "A For Afrodita" (beginning at the 12:30 mark) — can be seen below.

The cover artwork for "Nr. 4: Songs Exhaled" was drawn by ANGERTEA singer Gergo and was edited by Anna Pukánszky.

"Nr. 4: Songs Exhaled" will feature the following tracks:

01. No Computation (feat. Bill Gould)
02. Demons Surfaced
03. V.
04. In Light Air
05. Decay
06. Lions' Region
07. A For Afrodita
08. Akråm
09. Meeting Satan On The Way To Personal Desertification (feat. Tibor Rákos)
10. Distance Of You

ANGERTEA previously stated about the forthcoming effort, "Compared to our previous recordings, this one is gonna include shorter and maybe more 'understandable' songs."

ANGERTEA previously released three full-length albums — "Lélekvágy" (2001), "Rushing Towards the Hateline" (2006) and "Twenty-Eight Ways to Bleed" (2009) — and an EP that was mixed by Neil Kernon (NILE, NEVERMORE, CANNIBAL CORPSE).

ANGERTEA is:

Mihály Gergely - Vocals/Guitar
Peralta Miguel - Bass
Bárkai László - Drums

Christian metallers TOURNIQUET will release a new album, "Antiseptic Bloodbath", this summer via Pathogenic Records. The CD will feature guest guitar solos by Marty Friedman (ex-MEGADETH), Karl Sanders (NILE), Pat Travers, Bruce Franklin (TROUBLE) and Santiago Dobles (AGHORA).

Four full songs from "Antiseptic Bloodbath" — "Chart Of The Elements", "Antiseptic Bloodbath", "The Maiden Who Slept In The Glass Coffin" and "Duplicitous Endeavor" — can be streamed below.

Commented TOURNIQUET: "The title track, 'Antiseptic Bloodbath', speaks of the way our society prefers to sanitize brutality. We can have our tidy Christian faith, or continue with no faith at all, as long as we don't consider the painful bloody price that was paid for us.

"We use animals for our food, profit, and amusement, but would rather not know about the needless, often systematic suffering that is inflicted on them by a callous and greedy humanity. 'Don't upset my comfort zone — brutal truth, leave me alone.' The great news is that we have the ability to choose. This album encourages us to make good and humane choices in our daily lives that reflect these images."

TOURNIQUET's last studio release, 2003's "Where Moth and Rust Destroy" (Metal Blade), featured special guest appearances by guitarists Marty Friedman (ex-MEGADETH) and Bruce Franklin (TROUBLE).

"Driven By The Dark", the new video from British death metallers ANCIENT ASCENDANT, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's new EP, "Into The Dark", which will be released on August 6 through Forepoint Records (via Plastic Head). The CD was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö (OPETH, DARK FUNERAL, BLOODBATH, KATATONIA, MARDUK).

Commented Swanö: "ANCIENT ASCENDANT combines all the right elements from black, death and thrash metal into one lethal blend, topped off with excellent musicianship and amazing vocals! One of the best brutal bands to come out of Britain… well, ever!!"

According to a press release, "Into The Dark" sees ANCIENT ASCENDANT "raising the bar in every conceivable way. The quartet are pioneering a fusion of old-school principles with modern dynamics and power, bringing together the unholy trinity of groove, melody and extremity under one flag."

Since the release of their critically acclaimed debut EP, "The Heathen Throne", ANCIENT ASCENDANT has opened for black metal monsters 1349, death metal legends BOLT THROWER (who personally invited the band to support them), FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, BLOOD RED THRONE, AEON, CEREBRAL BORE, AMPUTATED and DYSCARNATE.

2011 was a hugely successful year for ANCIENT ASCENDANT, which saw them sign to Siege of Amida Records and release their highly rated debut album, "The Grim Awakening".

The focus for the first part of 2012 was to get back into the studio to begin work on the follow up to, "The Grim Awakening". The resulting sessions spawned "Into The Dark", the band's most focused body of work to date.

Multi-camera video footage of GORY BLISTER's June 3 performance at the RockCult festival in Bari, Italy can be seen below.

GORY BLISTER's new album, "Earth-Sick", was released on April 23 via Bakerteam Records. The follow-up to 2009's "Graveyard Of Angels" contains ten brand-new technical and brutal death metal tracks in the signature style that has always identified the band over the past 20 years. The CD also features NILE frontman Karl Sanders who guests on two tracks, including "Soul-Borne Maladies".

"Earth-Sick" track listing:

01. The Breeding (intro)
02. EarthSick
03. Plague And Pray
04. Decanted Embryos
05. Dominant GenEthics
06. H.I.V.
07. World Damnatomy
08. Soul-Bourne Maladies
09. Serpent Verse
10. Voices From The Sea

Commented GORY BLISTER guitarist Raff: "This new album is probably the best we've ever done. It displays the raw energy we always put into our shows but also the passion that drives us through good and hard times.

"Death metal is not about money, nor about fashion; it's a way of life that requires no compromises. We do this because we believe in it and we want to keep the flame high. Our fans are going to love 'Earth-Sick'!"

Canberra, Australia-based progressive metal outfit AEON OF HORUS has entered The Brain Studios in Sydney with engineer Clayton Segelov to begin recording its sophomore album for a tentative late 2012/early 2013 release. The effort follows the bands acclaimed debut full-length, 2008's "The Embodiment Of Darkness And Light", and the 2011 EP, "Exile".

Commented the band: "We've been working on this record for a long time and we are excited to release tunes that we believe represent the band and our musical ethos. We have 10 tracks of some of the heaviest, most progressive tunes we've ever written. The sound has definitely evolved but we believe it to be a natural progression."

AEON OF HORUS will finish tracking the album over the coming months.

The first video footage from the studio can be seen below.

Dutch death metallers SINISTER will release their new album, "The Carnage Ending", on September 28 via Massacre Records. The CD was once again recorded at Soundlodge studios in Rhauderfehn, Germany with producer Jörg Uken (GOD DETHRONED, OBSCENITY).

"The Carnage Ending" track listing:

01. Gates Of Bloodshed (Intro)
02. Unheavenly Domain
03. Transylvania (City Of The Damned)
04. My Casual Enemy
05. Crown Of Thorns
06. The Carnage Ending
07. Oath Of Rebirth
08. Regarding The Imagery
09. Blood Ecstacy
10. Defamatory Content
11. Final Destroyer

The digipack version will include a bonus disc with five covers:

* Spit On Your Grave (WHIPLASH
* Succubus (MASSACRE
* Swing Of The Axe (POSSESSED
* Dethroned Emperor (CELTIC FROST
* Face Fate (BLOODFEAST

Video footage from the studio can be seen below.

Poland's Metal Mind Productions released an exclusive box containing SINISTER's full discography in February 2011. Entitled "Altered Since Birth", the set contains eight studio albums, a live DVD, a compilation of demo tracks, plus a booklet containing a full biography based on an exclusive interview, the complete discography, lyrics to all songs and a selection of amazing archive photos. The cover artwork was created by the well-known Polish graphic designer Graal.

SINISTER's most recent album, "Legacy of Ashes", came out on December 17, 2010 via Massacre Records.

A new DIO compilation album, "The Very Beast Of Dio Vol. 2", will be released later in the year. The 17-song set will include three bonus tracks, two of which are new and have never been made available on a full DIO CD before. The cover artwork for the set was created by Marc Sasso, who previously worked on DIO's "Killing The Dragon" and "Master Of The Moon" albums.

The original "The Very Beast Of Dio" compilation was officially certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 11, 2009 for shipments in the United States in excess of 500,000 copies.

Issued in October 2000, "The Very Beast Of Dio" was the second greatest-hits collection CD — and the first to be released in the U.S. — from the Ronnie James Dio-fronted band.

In late 2010, former DIO member Craig Goldy revealed that there were plans to release a new song which Ronnie nearly completed before his death. The guitarist told U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine, "We were working on tracks for a new DIO album just before Ronnie died in May [2010]. And we did almost finish one song. Wendy [Dio, Ronnie's widow/manager] has been talking about reissuing [DIO's] 'Magica' album (originally released in 2000) with bonus tracks, including this one." He adds, "The thing is that the lyrics deal with what Ronnie was going through at the time, when he was battling cancer. So now they are very emotional. It's hard to listen without a lump in your throat."

Prior to his death, Ronnie was working on two follow-up albums to "Magica". One of the songs completed during those sessions, "Elektra", was made available as part of the DIO "Tournado" box set (which was originally made for the DIO fall 2009 European tour which was cancelled after Ronnie got sick) in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, signed and numbered.

Ronnie previously said about "Elektra", "It's a really good song, and part of the whole 'Magica' trilogy. It's hard for it to stand alone, so I did write an explanation of what it was about. It's just a brief glimpse into what will be 'Magica' again. There are some special plans."

One of the last-ever recorded sons by Ronnie James Dio, "Metal Will Never Die", appears on "Bitten By The Beast", the new solo album from Dio's cousin David "Rock" Feinstein — a former member of RONNIE DIO & THE PROPHETS, THE ELECTRIC ELVES, ELF, and the leader of the legendary New York band THE RODS.

The second song Ronnie James Dio recorded during the sessions with Feinstein — entitled "The Code" — surfaced on THE RODS' latest LP, "Vengeance".

DIO's last release was the "Holy Diver Live" CD, featuring a performance of the classic "Holy Diver" album in its entirety, from start to finish, recorded live for the very first time in 2005 in front of a sold-out London crowd. It also includes, among others, "Heaven & Hell", "Sign of the Southern Cross" and "Mob Rules" from vocalist Ronnie James Dio's BLACK SABBATH days, "Tarot Woman", "Man on the Silver Mountain" and "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" from the RAINBOW era and "We Rock" from his solo career.

INCITE, the Phoenix, Arizona-based metal band fronted by Richie Cavalera — the stepson of SOULFLY/CAVALERA CONSPIRACY mainman Max Cavalera — will release its sophomore album, "All Out War", on November 20 via Minus Head Records. The CD was recorded at Darth Mader Music in Hollywood, California with producer Logan Mader (GOJIRA, SOULFLY).

"INCITE has a fresh take on thrash, [and] we're excited to be a part of it!" said Minus Head owner Brad Hardie.

INCITE recently added a new guitar player, Gene Macazan.

The band returns to the road next week, joining SOULFLY for a three-week run.

INCITE released its debut album, "The Slaughter", in North America on October 20, 2009 and in Europe on November 2, 2009 via I Scream Records.

INCITE's current lineup is as follows:

Richie Cavalera - Vocals
Zak Sofaly - Drums
Gene Macazan - Guitar
Luis Marrufo - Bass

Richie Cavalera has made a number of guest appearances in the studio and on stage with both SOULFLY and CAVALERA CONSPIRACY.

Photo credit: Glen LaFerman

Quality fan-filmed video footage of IWRESTLEDABEARONCE's July 14 performance at the Vans Warped Tour stop at Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada can be seen below.

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE played its first show with singer Courtney LaPlante (UNICRON) on July 5 at the St. Louis, Missouri stop of the Vans Warped Tour.

Vocalist Krysta Cameron left IWRESTLEDABEARONCE's current trek after she discovered that she and her fiancé are expecting a child.

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE guitarist Steven Bradley previously stated about LaPlante, "Courtney is a beast in both the singing and screaming departments and is also an incredibly awesome person. We wouldn't tarnish the years of work that we've put into this band by having somebody half-ass it on stage with us, so please come to a show and give her a high-five and make her feel welcome for doing us this huge favor. It makes it feel even better and more natural since she has been a long-term fan of our band and already knows the material."

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE's latest album, "Ruining It For Everybody", sold around 5,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 80 on The Billboard 200 chart.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich has told Rolling Stone that the band's Orion Music + More festival, a two-day event featuring more than 20 bands which took place late last month in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will definitely be back in 2013 and won't be moving far from its original location. Ulrich said, "We had a great experience in New Jersey, and as we look to 2013, we're definitely looking to keep it in New Jersey or to keep it on the East Coast." Even though the band is based on the West Coast, it staged the event on the other side of the country to make it easier for European fans to come.

The two shows on June 22 and June 23 sold a total of 24,000 tickets, according to The Press Of Atlantic City.

Next up for METALLICA is a headlining slot at the Outside Lands festival, which takes place from August 10 to August 12 in the group's adopted hometown of San Francisco.

The show will be METALLICA's first in Golden Gate Park, with Ulrich saying, "There's a long, long, long history of experiences and culture and music (in Golden Gate Park). It's a history that dates back to the '60s, when bands like the GRATEFUL DEAD and JEFFERSON AIRPLANE would perform free shows in the park."

The lineup will also include NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, STEVIE WONDER, JACK WHITE, FOO FIGHTERS and SKRILLEX.

After Outside Lands, METALLICA will spend the rest of the summer working on their 3D feature film — which will involve unveiling a new stage show at some gigs in Canada that will be filmed for the movie — before finally starting work on its 10th studio album in September.

Day 1 Recap:

"Bleed & Scream", the new video from Swedish hard rockers ECLIPSE, can be seen below. The song is the title track of the band's fourth album, which will be released on August 28 via Frontiers Records.

"Bleed & Scream" comes four years after ECLIPSE's acclaimed album "Are You Ready To Rock", which gained the band a solid reputation and a steady following, thanks also to their live appearances which culminated with dates as the opening act for DEEP PURPLE and a Firefest show in 2009.

ECLIPSE singer Erik Martensson has been busy producing and writing a number of successful songs and records for such artists as W.E.T., Toby Hitchcock, GIANT and Jimi Jamison. Erik and ECLIPSE guitarist Magnus Henriksson also wrote the track "Brothers In Arms" (originally an ECLIPSE cut), which was voted the No. 1 song of the year in MelodicRock.com awards for 2009.

In 2011 ECLIPSE regrouped to write what has now become "Bleed & Scream". The bar was set high and the initial goal was to top "Are You Ready To Rock". "We knew we had to do everything better on this album. If we couldn't have achieved that we never would have released it! But boy did it turn out well! When it was taking shape we realized this was to be a monster of an album," says Henriksson.

"With ECLIPSE we never think of what other people want or expect from us," adds Martensson. "We write for ourselves and make the music we love to listen to. If I'd think of a perfect album this is how it will sound! And once the album was written the recording process went pretty smooth as we knew exactly what goal we aimed for. I'd say it's our own pimped version of the classic hard rock we grew up listening to."

“Every song has qualities as a single," concludes Magnus. "Erik's vocals are way better than ever. The guitar sound is just awesome! The whole production is just in your face. It has something for everyone in it! We worked so hard at making this record that it drove us nearly nuts and made us wanna scream, but now it's your turn to bleed and scream."

"Bleed & Scream" track listing:

01. Wake Me Up
02. Bleed & Scream
03. Ain't Dead Yet
04. Battlegrounds
05. A Bitter Taste
06. Falling Down
07. S.O.S.
08. Take Back The Fear
09. The Unspoken Heroes
10. About To Break
11. After The End Of The World

The first single, "Bleed & Scream", will be exclusively distributed in Sweden through Sweden Rock Magazine in the issue that will hit the streets on July 17. This special release will include two exclusive bonus tracks (unavailable elsewhere): "Come Hell Or High Water" and "Into The Fire".

ECLIPSE is:

Erik Martenssom - Vocals, Guitar, Bass
Magnus Henriksson - Lead Guitar
Robban Bäck - Drums
Johan Berlin - Synthesizers

Video footage of Belgium-based classical guitarist Thomas Zwijsen and British heavy metal singer Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) playing acoustic version of a couple of IRON MAIDEN classics on July 24 at at Ivory Blacks in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom can be seen below.

Zwijsen who has recorded an acoustic IRON MAIDEN tribute album called "Nylon Maiden", has joined forces with Bayley for an acoustic tour. Thomas previously said, "We will play [the BLAZE BAYLEY song 'Soundtrack Of My Life'] along with some other Blaze songs, some WOLFSBANE songs, many IRON MAIDEN songs and, of course, some of my 'Nylon Maiden' arrangements."

Bayley contributed his vocals to a cover version of IRON MAIDEN's "The Clansman" for the "Nylon Maiden" album.

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

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

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

According to Alessandra Martins of ROCKPressBrasil, Brazilian singer, keyboard player and composer André Matos (ANGRA, SHAAMAN, VIPER) will release his third solo album, "The Turn Of The Lights", simultaneously in Brazil, Japan and Europe on August 22. In Brazil, the CD will be made available through Azul whereas in Japan, the effort will be handled through Marquee Avalon.

Matos' current solo band includes new drummer Rodrigo Silveira and bass player Bruno Ladislau — replacing Eloy Casagrande (now with SEPULTURA) and Luis Mariutti, respectively. Keyboardist Fabio Ribeiro also left the group. André's longtime collaborators, guitar players Hugo Mariutti and Andre "Zaza" Hernanades, have remained with the singer.

The concept of "The Turn Of The Lights" is guided by its theme: when you give light to something that has never been lit before, you reveal verity, faces and shapes that had been imagined before. It is a reflexion of mankind nowadays, where it is necessary to comprehend that we are part of the whole, even exercising our individuality. When we do something — positive or not — it reflects on the entire planet.

"The Turn Of The Lights" contains eleven breathtaking tracks produced by American sound engineer Brendan Duffey and Adriano Daga at Norcal Studios in Brazil. Duffey and Daga skillfully balanced tha aggressive and precise lines of Mariutti and Hernandes' guitars, with excellent orchestral textures on piano and keyboards, played by Matos.

The track listing for the Japanese version of "The Turn Of The Lights" is as follows:

Disc 1:

01. Liberty
02. Course Of Life
03. The Turn Of The Lights
04. Gaza
05. Stop!
06. On Your Own
07. Unreplaceable
08. Oversoul
09. White Summit
10. Light-Years
11. Sometimes

Disc 2:

01. At Least A Chance (VIPER cover)
02. I Don't Believe In Love (QUEENSRŸCHE cover)
03. Fake Plastic Trees (RADIOHEAD cover)
04. (JAPANESE ENKA cover)

"TrinkenTroll", the new video from TROLLFEST, the self-proclaimed "true Norwegian Balkan metal" band, can be seen below. The track comes off the group's new album, "Brumlebassen", which is scheduled for release on August 24 via NoiseArt Records. Responsible once again for the amazing images that vividly depict the story of what will be the band's fifth full-length album, is Swedish cartoonist Jonas Darnell, who originally created the iconic metal duck from TROLLFEST's "Villanden" album, and has worked with the band ever since. Terje Johnsen, who has been working on the design side of TROLLFEST's releases since the "Brakebein" album, has once again teamed up with Darnell to produce the finished package.

Commented the band: "The ['TrinkenTroll'] video was filmed at the Unholy metal pub in Oslo and we invited various people — friends, friends of friends — but word got around that we were going to be filming a music video and people just turned up to take part. Everyone really started getting into the swing of things with the entire shoot turning into one big party and inevitably a lot of good natured drunkenness ensued so what you see in the video is not 'acting' at all, hehe!"

Track listing for "Brumlebassen", which will be available as a gatefold vinyl and limited digipack including 12 tracks plus a bonus cut, is as follows:

01. Brumlebassen
02. Böse Tivoli
03. Illsint
04: Hevlette
05. Finsken, Norsken and Presten
06. Mystisk Maskert
07. Apis Mellifera
08. TrinkenTroll
09. Verboten Kjærleik
10. Bråk
11. Sellout
12. Rundt Bålet
13. Konterbier (bonus track)

TROLLFEST recently parted ways with bassist PsychoTroll and guitarist St Beinhard because "they could no longer dedicate the amount of time needed for a band that's as active as TROLLFEST."

Commented the remaining members of the group: "We have lots of musicians waiting to fill in on stage for us, some of whom you know and love, some of whom you don't know yet, but you're bound to love them once you do."

LAMB OF GOD's publicist, Adrenaline PR, released the following statement:

"Due to the continued incarceration of LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic, the band's co-headline tour with DETHKLOK scheduled to begin August 1 in Seattle has been canceled. LAMB OF GOD regrets the decision but the uncertainty of Randy's release makes it impossible to carry on with the tour. Upon Randy's release, it is the band's intention to rebook a tour in the fall and at this time the band fully intends to participate in the Mayhem Cruise in December.

"LAMB OF GOD wishes to thank DETHKLOK, Adult Swim and GOJIRA for their support and patience as well as all of the promoters who had dates on the tour. Last but certainly not least, the band thanks all of the fans who bought tickets for the tour and who have been supportive of Randy and the band over the last month that Randy has been held in Prague. Without the fans, there is no LAMB OF GOD."

Blythe was arrested at the Prague airport on June 27 and is accused of shoving a local fan off the stage during LAMB OF GOD's May 2010 concert in the city. The man, who is said to have stormed the stage three times during the show, reportedly suffered a brain hemorrhage that resulted in his death nearly a month later.

After the court doubled Blythe's bail last week from about $200,000 to about $400,000, the prosecutor once again filed a complaint against the singer's release. The judge now reportedly has five days to determine whether the attempt to post bail will be granted.

Rat Pak Records has set an August 7 release date for LYNCH MOB's new four-song EP, "Sound Mountain Sessions".

A seven-minute YouTube clip containing audio samples of the tracks that will appear on the EP is available below.

According to a press release, "Sound Mountain Sessions" is a straight-forward, gritty, well-polished American hard rock offering that truly captures the magic of the genre. It's got bite, it's got soul, and lyrically, Oni Logan holds nothing back on this one! The effort was recorded in the traditional "old-school" way, with the bandmembers having locked themselves into Sound Mountain Studios for a week straight and putting their ideas in the capable engineering hands of Chris "The Wizard" Collier. With nothing more than the desert rats as their audience, a steady intake of ramen noodles, and their passion for rock and roll, the band gave birth to "Sound Mountain Sessions", an EP that rivals their previous work from the early years. Another fantastic element about these new songs is the addition of bassist Robbie Crane, who brings solid grooves and melodic backing vocals to each track (a little known fact: Robbie was actually the very first bass player of LYNCH MOB!). George Lynch does what George Lynch has always done best in this amazing release — he plugs in his guitar and then taps into the universal energy that only the elite guitar gods have access to....and delivers the goods. You are not looking for another "Wicked Sensation", you are looking for "Sound Mountain Sessions", a powerful EP that introduces you to the next chapter / best chapter yet, of these legendary rockers.

"Sound Mountain Sessions" track listing:

01. Slow Drag
02. World Of Chance
03. City Of Freedom
04. Sucka

Click here for audio commercial and exclusive pre-order bundles.

LYNCH MOB shot a video for the song "Slow Drag" on June 29 in Houston, Texas with renowned film producer W. Ross Wells of Zen Film. While in Houston, the band was also filmed for an upcoming episode of "Live From Sugar Hill", a rare all-acoustic performance shot at Sugar Hill Studios by Grammy producer Dan Workman and Zen Film. "Live From Sugar Hill" is sponsored by Vitamin Water/Coca Cola, and will air sometime in mid-August.

LYNCH MOB has tapped Brian Tichy (WHITESNAKE) as its new touring drummer for the upcoming summer shows in support of the band's new release.

LYNCH MOB 2012 is:

Oni Logan - vocals
George Lynch - guitar
Robbie Crane - bass
Brian Tichy - drums

A five-minute video recap of BUTCHER BABIES' recent U.K. tour can be seen below.

Fronted by Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd — former Playboy TV and radio personalities that are rarely seen wearing more than strategically placed electrical tape and a gallon or so of blood — and backed by Henry Flury (AMEN) on lead guitar, Jason Klein (AZDACHAO) on bass, and Chris Warner (SCARS OF TOMORROW) on drums, the BUTCHER BABIES describe their sound as "heavy fucking metal co-fronted by two girls that don't give a shit, and backed by three guys with writing techniques so different that they complement each other. Between our combined influences of thrash, punk, experimental, death, and nu-metal, we've managed to create our own sound that, in a nutshell, is pure sex, blood, and rock and roll."

When asked by Revolver magazine why the BUTCHER BABIES refer to themselves as "slut metal" and what the hell "slut metal" exactly is, Shepherd said, "We can't go balls out — so we go tits out! When girls are perceived as sexual or outspoken, they get labeled sluts, but we embrace those qualities and bring them to our music as well. BUTCHER BABIES is true slut metal: We're doing what we want, how we want."

On the topic of BUTCHER BABIES' goals, Harvey told Revolver, "To bring slut metal to the masses — duh! In all seriousness, we feel like we are just touching on what we are capable of, and we want to continue to grow, get our music out there, and get on the road! There are so many repressed people out there that need to see a show like ours. Hopefully they will take home with them the message that they are able to do everything they want to do regardless of who they are told they are supposed to be."

BUTCHER BABIES recently released a video for the song "Mr. Slowdeath". The track, which was produced by Mudrock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, GODSMACK), comes off the band's EP.

Tour recap:

METALLICA is scheduled to enter the studio in September to begin work on its next full-length album, tentatively due in 2013. The will once again be helmed by producer Rick Rubin, who worked on 2008's "Death Magnetic".

METALLICA's drummer, Lars Ulrich, took part in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday (July 24) to promote the band's headlining appearance at the 2012 edition of Outside Lands festival, and he revealed that will be no shortage of material when studio album number 10 does get underway. He explained, "Every time [METALLICA frontman] James Hetfield picks up a guitar, there are some brilliant riffs that come out of it, and I try to make sure that they are all recorded and try to do my best to keep up with them and try to put some drums in behind them. So there are, obviously, tons of ideas sitting around waiting to be had at in terms of turning ideas of James' into songs. Pretty much when we're done with the [3D] movie [project] and with Outside Lands, which should all be wrapped up by early September, we're gonna basically just concentrate on new music and try to get another METALLICA record [done]."

Hetfield himself told The Pulse Of Radio that he's always working on music. "I can't turn off the creative part of me, which is — what a great gift," he said. "There's stuff coming out all the time, whether it's in the tuning room, in my hotel room, sitting at home with the acoustic, wherever. The stuff is coming out, and it gets recorded or written down or something, some way, and it'll come out at some point. Whether it's on this album, the next album, who knows."

"Death Magnetic" was METALLICA's last under its contract with Warner Music Group — where the band has been making records since 1984.

Hetfield told The Pulse Of Radio about the end of the band's contract with Warner, "It's kind of a good feeling to feel that you're free from any piece of paper that binds you to something. But over our career, we've learned a lot about record companies, the goods and evils of the business and this and that, and we're not very focused on that right now. It is what it is, and when it becomes time for us to either renegotiate or shop around or do things ourselves or something like that, we don't know. There's nothing but options, which is great."

METALLICA's 3D movie begins filming later this summer and will mix concert footage with a storyline.

The band is financing the project itself and has hired "Predators" director Nimród Antal to get behind the camera. Antal will film METALLICA's August 24 concert in Vancouver, Canada for use in the movie.

The show will feature a brand new 140-foot-by-50-foot stage that will include what a post at the band's web site called "colossal components and striking visual elements spanning METALLICA's entire 30-year career."

Photo below courtesy of Metallica.com

According to Mark Holmberg of WTVR-TV — the CBS television affiliate based in Richmond, Virginia — the Pankrác prison in Prague, Czech Republic where LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe is facing manslaughter charges in connection with the death of a fan more than two years ago is now largely a holding facility for those yet to be tried or sentenced. It holds less than a 1,000 inmates — less than half its 2,200 capacity in the early days of the Nazi occupation when its services were in heavy demand.

Some of the ther famous Pankrác inmates include well-known Uzbekistan poet, writer and reformist Muhammed Solih, who was arrested at the Prague airport in 2001 and tossed in Pankrác for opposing the communist party; famous Czechoslovakian writer, and later, Czech president, Vaclav Havel, who was incarcerated in Pankrac several times for being a political dissident; and Czech parliament member Dr. Milada Horakova, who was locked up in Pankrác for opposing the communist takeover in Czechoslovakia.

The Pankrác prison is designed for 858 inmates, of whom 468 are in remand and 390 are serving terms of imprisonment. Prisoners are accommodated in rooms with an average capacity of three beds, the largest containing ten beds. The prison premises also contain a Czech Prison Service hospital, serving the inmates, with a capacity of 111, as well as the Pankrác Memorial, containing an exhibition on the Prison Service.

Blythe was arrested at the Prague airport on June 27 and is accused of shoving a local fan off the stage during LAMB OF GOD's May 2010 concert in the city. The man, who is said to have stormed the stage three times during the show, reportedly suffered a brain hemorrhage that resulted in his death nearly a month later.

Afte the court doubled Blythe's bail last week from about $200,000 to about $400,000, the prosecutor once again filed a complaint against the singer's release. The judge now reportedly has five days to determine whether the attempt to post bail will be granted.

Watch a two-minute WTVR-TV video report below.

Italian power/progressive metallers VISION DIVINE, founded by guitarist/songwriter Olaf Thorsen (LABYRINTH) and singer Fabio Lione (RHAPSODY OF FIRE), will release their seventh studio album, "Destination Set To Nowhere", on September 14 via Germany's earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based rock branch of Edel Group.

"Destination Set To Nowhere" is a melting pot, a perfect mix of all the styles the band has crossed and experimented with over the years. The concept album is kept in their well-known style, spiced up with a futuristic twist. The high-class production adds up to the unbelievably driven sound.

The concept of "Destination Set To Nowhere" takes place in space, starting from the social-political troubles everybody is experiencing in every-day life. It follows a man on his journey through open space, after having left the earth together with like-minded people. They set out to search a new home, a new planet to make everything better, to live their vision of peace. Finally, after a long journey, a new planet to call home has been found. But slowly, the crew falls back into the same old routines. The new found heaven has turned into the same hell they all wanted to leave behind. The only way to escape is to set out again, one man leaving alone – destination set to nowhere.

Commented Thorsen: "We are sure this album will finally give us the chance to show all of our potential, and we worked hard on it in order to give the best possible album. In the end, we went even beyond our expectations, and I must admit it’s also thanks to the excitement and the good vibes we got from starting this adventure."

Added Lione: "We almost couldn’t believe our eyes when, a few weeks ago, we understood we would become label-partners with so many great bands we have deep admiration for... it’s simply an honour to have become part of this great family and to work with some of the best guys around."

"Destination Set To Nowhere" track listing:

01. S'io Fosse Foco
02. The Dream Maker
03. Beyond The Sun And Far Away
04. The Ark
05. Mermaids From Their Moons
06. The Lighthouse
07. Message To Home
08. The House Of The Angels
09. The Sin Is You
10. Here We Die
11. Destination Set To Nowhere

The song "Mermaids From Their Moons" is now available for streaming in the YouTube clip below.

VISION DIVINE is:

Fabio Lione - Vocals
Olaf Thorsen - Guitars
Federico Puleri - Guitars
Alessio Lucatti - Keyboards, Piano
Andrea "Tower" Torricini - Bass
Alessandro Bissa - Drums

A six-minute video clip of the "unpacking" of the mailorder box-set edition of "Dark Roots Of Earth", the new album from San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT, can be seen below. Limited to 1,000 copies, this box set includes the "Dark Roots" digibook plus bonus DVD, a leather belt (120 cm) and an exclusive TESTAMENT buckle and a numbered certificate of authenticity. More information is available at this location.

"Dark Roots Of Earth" will be released in North America on July 31 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD 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.

A for the song "Native Blood" was shot last month on an Indian reservation in Hopland, California. Guitarist Eric Peterson told Greece's Rock Overdose webzine, "It's about people who were oppressed in life. We haven't done [a video] in a while, so we're kind of excited about that."

TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy previously stated about "Native Blood", "[It's] basically a song about my Native heritage. It's almost like a protest song, that the Native Americans have a voice that needs to be heard — that's the chorus of the song."