Video footage of SIX FEET UNDER's June 24 performance at Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California can be seen below.

SIX FEET UNDER last month announced the addition of Swedish rhythm guitarist Ola Englund (FEARED, SCARPOINT) to their legendary ranks. Englund, who made his first official appearance with the band on the "18 Nights Of Blood Tour" earlier this month, takes the place of Rob Arnold (CHIMAIRA).

SIX FEET UNDER's new album, "Undead", was released on May 22 through Metal Blade Records. The 12-track CD was produced by Mark Lewis (DEICIDE, DEVILDRIVER) and mixed by Jason Suecof (WHITECHAPEL, JOB FOR A COWBOY), at AudioHammer Studios in Sanford, Florida.

SIX FEET UNDER's European tour will kick off on August 11 in Jaromer, Czech Republic and will conclude on August 18 in Hamburg, Germany. Support on the trek will come from DEW-SCENTED.

SIX FEET UNDER recently parted ways with bassist Matt DeVries and replaced him with Jeff Hughell, formerly of the Santa Cruz, California technical death metal band BRAIN DRILL and Concord, California death metal group VILE, and currently of RECIPROCAL.

Bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall announced their departures from SIX FEET UNDER in January 2011. Butler has since joined OBITUARY as a permanent member.

"Make Total Destroy", the new video from Maryland-based experimental, progressive metallers PERIPHERY, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's highly anticipated sophomore album, "Periphery II: This Time It's Personal", which is due in North America on July 3 via Sumerian Records and in Europe on July 16 through Century Media Records. The CD features guest appearances by John Petrucci (DREAM THEATER), Guthrie Govan (THE ARISTOCRATS) and Wes Hauch (THE FACELESS).

In a recent interview with Metal Assault, PERIPHERY guitarist Misha Mansoor stated about the band's musical progression since its debut record, "Our first album was pretty diverse, and with that we created a framework so that we could kind of experiment and push in any one of those directions, and not have it be something weird or something that sounds forced, you know. There's always been an aspect of that sound and we're just expanding on it further. And I think very true to that, that's what we did on this album. We're still kind of going in all of those directions, but a little bit further, and with a little bit more experience, you know."

He added, "This album is PERIPHERY the band as opposed to my project with a bunch of dudes. This is really the first time we've been able to work together as a band and write an album together. I think that's really cool because it's not just me. You're hearing so much more, you're hearing something that's greater than the sum of its parts."

When asked about the bonus material that will be included with special editions of "Periphery II: This Time It's Personal", Misha said, "That's going for the European release only, and it's something we'll release in other territories a little bit later. We did this track, it was Spencer's [Sotelo, vocals] idea. He really likes SLIPKNOT, and we were so tired in the studio that we wanted to break the pace and do something different. Spencer wanted to do this cover of 'The Heretic Anthem' by SLIPKNOT, and I actually played drums on it. I wanted to do it so differently that the engineer played guitar, and it was just a fun little thing. But we decided to put it up as a bonus track and I think it actually came out really cool. I'm really happy with the way it came out. And the other one is this instrumental track that I had to put together at the last minute. It's a track we've been wanting to put out for a while now, and it worked out well. This is a good way to put it out. It's an instrumental that we used to play live, called 'Far Out'. So that's how we compiled the bonus material for some of the territories."

"Periphery II: This Time It's Personal" track listing:

01. Muramasa
02. Have A Blast (feat. Guthrie Govan)
03. Facepalm Mute
04. Ji
05. Scarlet
06. Luck As A Constant
07. Ragnarok
08. The Gods Must Be Crazy!
09. Make Total Destroy
10. Erised (feat. John Petrucci)
11. Epoch
12. Froggin' Bullfish
13. Mile Zero (feat. Wes Hauch)
14. Masamune

Fifty-one concertgoers were hurt and nine sustained serious injuries when a single lightning bolt struck a mast at the eastern German festival With Full Force Saturday night. According to Spiegel Online, the lightning strikes sent some music fans flying through the air — and left behind a wasteland of destroyed tents, panicked guests and a venue flooded with mud and deep puddles. Emergency services spent several hours at the scene treating those who had been sheltering in a cocktail bar near where the lightning struck, The Local reports.

With Full Force annually attracts tens of thousands of visitors in the town of Roitzschjora near Leipzig. This year, bands like SOULFLY, MACHINE HEAD, FLOGGING MOLLY and PENNYWISE performed at the event.

According to Blesk.cz, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe will remain in the Pankrác Prison in Prague, Czech Republic for at least the next days in connection with the death of a fan more than two years ago.

Although it was reported on Saturday that Blythe would be released today after posting 4 million Czech Koruna bail (approximately $200,000 — an amount which Randy claimed was the equivalent of his annual income), it now appears that the singer won't be able to get his freedom until next week.

Judge Petr Fassati of Prague 8 district court stated: "There may well be certain conditions placed upon [Blythe's] release, such as staying in the Czech Republic, or the availability of a specific address. If the conditions are violated, it could lead to an international arrest warrant being issued."

Blythe, 41, who was arrested on June 27 at the Prague airport on manslaughter charges, is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at LAMB OF GOD's May 24, 2010 show in Prague. The singer apparently either pushed or struck a 19-year-old fan named Daniel N. — a guitarist in a local metal band — who had come on stage, and that person died 14 days later of bleeding in the brain. A post-mortem reportedly found that he had not been drunk or under the influence of drugs.

The crime of which Blythe is being accused is punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to popular Czech news web site Novinky.cz.

LAMB OF GOD was scheduled to perform on June 28 at the Rock Café in Prague with SKELETONWITCH and ALL SHALL PERISH but that show ended up getting canceled.

LAMB OF GOD's publicist, Adrenaline PR, issued a statement on Friday stressing that "under no circumstances was there a fight of any kind involved [during LAMB OF GOD's 2010 concert]. This incident deals with a fan that three times during the concert jumped the barricade and rushed Randy during the performance. It is alleged that the third time, security was not able to reach him and that Randy pushed him back into the audience where supposedly he fell and hit his head."

Images below courtesy of Czech Republic's TV Nova

"Rauta" (English-language title: "The Steel"), the brand new Markku Kirves-directed video from Finnish traditional folk metal pioneers KORPIKLAANI, can be seen below. The track comes off the band's eighth studio album, "Manala", which will be released on August 3 via Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork was created by Finnish artist Jan Yrlund and can be seen below.

Commented KORPIKLAANI vocalist Jonne Järvelä: "On the album cover, our band mascot Vaari represents Väinämöinen, who is one of the main characters in the Finnish national epic 'Kalevala'.

"As most of the lyrics on 'Manala' are based on the 'Kalevala', Jan Yrlund decided to draw his inspiration for the cover artwork from the beautiful but yet brutal depiction of the underworld in Finnish mythology."

The limited digipack edition of "Manala" will come with a bonus CD containing the entire album with English lyrics.

Limited digipak CD:

01. Kunnia
02. Tuonelan Tuvilla
03. Rauta
04. Ruuminmultaa
05. Petoeläimen Kuola
06. Synkkä
07. Ievan Polkka
08. Husky Sledge
09. Dolorous
10. Uni
11. Metsälle
12. Sumussa Hämärän Aamun

Bonus CD:

01. Honor
02. At The Huts Of The Underworld
03. The Steel
04. Soil Of The Corpse
05. Predator's Saliva
06. Dark Side
07. Ieva's Polka
08. Husky-Sledge
09. Dolorous
10. Dream
11. Off To The Hunt

Jonne Järvelä previously stated about KORPIKLAANI's new album, "'Manala' is the realm of the dead — the underworld in Finnish mythology. Tuonela, Tuoni, Manala and Mana are used synonymously. This place is best known for its appearance in the Finnish national epic Kalevala, on which many of our new songs are based. In the 16th poem of Kalevala, Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero travels to Manala to seek for knowledge about the dead. On the journey he meets the ferrywoman (similar to Charon), a girl, Tuonen tytti, or Tuonen piika (Death's maid), who takes him across the river of Tuoni. However, on the isle of Tuoni he is not given the spells he was originally looking for and he barely manages to escape the place. After his return he curses anyone trying to enter the place alive."

"Metsälle", a new song from KORPIKLAANI, can be downloaded for free at NuclearBlast.de (e-mail sign-up required).

"Metsälle" was originally recorded late last year when the band was competing to represent Finland in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. The track will appear on KORPIKLAANI's forthcoming eighth album.

Commented Jonne Järvelä: "'Metsälle' can be seen as kind of a prayer to the ancient gods to ask for luck for the tough hunt deep in the woods in cold winter time. Not only is the old man in the song praying for success but — even more importantly — for a safe way through the dangerous frostiness."

KORPIKLAANI previously stated that "Metsälle" "is about the hunt on Hiisi's magical moose in the Northland. He (Lemminkäinen) puts on his charmed ski's and takes off for a prolonged hunt through forests and meadows, marshlands and woodlands, rapids and rivers. This song describes part of the Kalevala story, the national epic of Finland."

"Manala" will mark the recording debut of the band's new fiddler, Tuomas Rounakari.

KORPIKLAANI's latest CD, "Ukon Wacka", was released in North America on February 25, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records.

"Rauta" video:

SLAYER played a cover version of the EXODUS classic "Strike Of The Beast" for the first time ever last night (Sunday, July 1) at the Mountain View, California stop of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has been filling in for SLAYER's Jeff Hanneman for the past year and a half while Hanneman recovers from necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease, which he got from a spider bite.

In a recent interview with Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King stated about Holt, "I always regard Gary as the Glenn Tipton of our era — really good, really polished and nobody talks about him. To this day, nobody really references [JUDAS] PRIEST and Tipton that much as guitar players and I feel the same way about Gary. EXODUS have a huge following but a little more overlooked than METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, ANTHRAX — the 'Big Four,' so to speak, so [it's great] to be able to bring him to the forefront and shove him down people's throats and say, 'Hey, this motherfucker kicks ass. Pay attention.'"

Finnish metal marauders FINNTROLL will enter Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki at the end of November to record their sixth full length album. The as-yet-untitled CD will be released in early 2013 through Century Media.

Commented FINNTROLL guitarist Mikael "Routa" Karlbom: "So far we have pretty much half of the material ready for the upcoming album, so there's still a lot of work to do before we enter studio. We are very excited about new material and we believe fans will be too when they get their hands on this new stuff. And on this point we're still talking only about the demo versions of the songs. Can't wait to get to studio and hear how the songs takes their first breaths and actually come alive."

FINNTROLL last September released a special tour edition of their latest album, "Nifelvind". The digipak tour edition came with new artwork by the band's guitarist, Skrymer, and an extra CD including three brand-new cover versions: "Insects" (OINGO BOINGO), "Can You Forgive Her?" (PET SHOP BOYS) and "The God That Failed" (METALLICA). The cover versions were recorded and mixed at Sonic Pump Studios between June 27, 2011 and July 4, 2011 by FINNTROLL and Nino Laurenne.

"Nifelvind" was released in North America on March 9, 2010 via Century Media Records.

Progressive groove metallers STEALING AXION have now revealed the album artwork and tracklisting for their debut full-length album, Moments. Due out August 27th in Europe and August 28th in North America via InsideOut Music, Moments was mixed and mastered by Acle Kahney (TESSERACT guitarist and producer), who worked closely with the band on the sounds and textures of the album, developing it into a dynamic and immense listening experience.

In regards to Moments, Stealing Axion's Dan Forbrich (guitar, vocals) comments, "We feel this album is a culmination of the different compositional techniques that we've experimented with over the last few years. We like to take the basic song structures and let them ferment and slowly add layers to the mix until we are satisfied. Some of these songs have taken a while to fully mature."




Moments tracklisting

'Mirage Of Hope'
'Solar'
'Everything Or Nothing'
'47 Days Later'
'Unwanted Gift'
'Eventide'
'Collapse'
'It's Too Late Now'
'Sleepless'
'Moments Part 1'
'Moments Part 2'

Stealing Axion recently released a digital single for 'Everything Or Nothing' on iTunes with the album, radio, and instrumental versions of the track available for download. Listen to 'Everything Or Nothing' below:

THE UNGUIDED — the new Swedish band featuring former SONIC SYNDICATE members Richard Sjunnesson (vocals), Roland Johansson (vocals) and Roger Sjunnesson guitar; (Richard's brother) — has issued the following update:

"We are happy to announce that our friend Richard Schill (KING LEAF EXPERIENCE, MY COLLAPSE, ex-SHINING) from Halmstad will fill in on drums for THE UNGUIDED on our upcoming summer shows. Richard is not only a really talented drummer but also an old friend to the band. We did numerous shows together in the past with our previews bands, and it feels really cool to have him onboard!"

THE UNGUIDED's "Phoenix Down" video can be seen below. The clip was directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others.

"Phoenix Down" comes off THE UNGUIDED's debut album, "Hell Frost", which was released last November via Despotz Records.

Earlier this week, Metal Sucks conducted an interview with SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Metal Sucks: Why did [SOILWORK guitarist] Peter [Wichers] leave the band? Did he quit, was he fired, or was it mutual?

It was mutual. Peter couldn't be a part of our 2011 U.S. run with SYMPHONY X. That was maybe six or seven months after "The Panic Broadcast" came out. We were on a roll then, but out of solidarity and respect for our bandmate and friend, and because we really felt like we had the ultimate lineup, we cancelled that tour. The whole idea back then was that Peter would tour with us again soon. But then the summer festivals came along, and he progressively said "no" to those too. We couldn't just keep cancelling stuff, so we hired David Andersson, who had filled in for us before. After that, touring kind of came to a grinding halt. The rest of us didn't know what to do. It was just kind of rough to be in this position all of a sudden, with a great album and no tours to support it and a shaky lineup. Less than a year earlier, we were all stoked about our future together, you know? We talked and tried to figure things out, and in the end, long story short, Peter couldn't commit to what the rest of us feel is mandatory for SOILWORK. Here's the thing: whether we like it or not, we have to tour. There's just no two ways about it. Playing shows, a lot of shows, is vital if we wanna have the slightest chance to survive as a band. That's why moving on was really our only option.

Metal Sucks: What did Peter mean when he cited "creative differences?"

I don't know, man. My take on it is… I guess that's another way to say "artistic disagreements." But honestly, we never had issues with making music or playing together. We're all pretty free to play what we want in this band. There's no musical-dictatorship type of bullshit happening, we're not that kind of band. We always respected Peter's creative input and he respected ours. "The Panic Broadcast" felt to us like one of the best things we'd ever done, you know? We still feel that now, and I'm pretty sure Peter feels that, too. So, I don't know exactly what he meant by that. I'd have to guess that some resentment may've built up. If I were to describe it, I'd probably have used the word "personal" rather than "creative."

Read the entire interview at Metal Sucks.

Fan-filmed video footage of ALICE COOPER's July 1 concert at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania can be seen below.

Drummer Glen Sobel was forced to take a temporary leave of absence from the ALICE COOPER band due to a persisitent neck injury. Taking over drum duties for Sobel is veteran drummer Jonathan Mover whose credits include Joe Satriani, FUEL and GTR, among many others.

Mover — who was Cooper's drummer for the "Trash" tour in 1989-1990 and currently holds a position as Drumhead magazine's editor-in-chief — said, "It's always fun and honor to drum for Alice, and am glad to be able to help out the tour until Glen returns."

Commented Alice Cooper: "Glen Sobel's been having some neck problems, and has been playing the shows in a lot of pain. Because of this, he needs to take a short break to heal. Luckily for us, and for you, Jonathan Mover (from the 'Trash' tour and the 'Trashes The World' live concert video) was available to help out on short notice. We're looking forward to having Glen back soon."

Said Glen: "I'll be off the Alice tour for a few weeks. I've played the last several shows on pain meds due to an inflamed neck situation. We've had some of the best shows on tour with IRON MAIDEN, so I wanted to do everything I could to stay in the game. I need to get back to L.A., have this treated, and then return to finish out our tour dates. In the meantime, my main man Jonathan Mover, an ALICE band alumni himself, will be sitting on the drum throne covering for me. I have the utmost confidence that he will deliver the goods along with all my brothers (and sister) in the ALICE band. Don't worry about me, I'll be back sooner than later."

W.A.S.P. have updated their 30 Years Of Thunder tour schedule. The complete tour schedule is available below.

This World Tour will be the biggest spectacle W.A.S.P. have ever created. The two-hour show will consist of three parts. A one hour set contain songs from the first four albums. The second set will be a 25 minute shortened version of The Crimson Idol complete with the movie accompaniment. A third set will consist of material from the new studio album, older material and everything in between. This show will see multiple video screens, pyrotechnics, and elements from the early W.A.S.P. shows (maybe even an exploding cod piece) and Blackie’s moving microphone stand Elvis!




September
21 – London, UK - The Forum
22 – Edinburgh, UK - HMV Picture House
23 – Newcastle, UK - Academy
24 – Belfast, Ireland - Ulster Hall
25 – Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
27 – Manchester, UK - Hmv Ritz
28 – Leeds, UK - Academy
29 – Nottingham, UK - Rock City
30 – Norwich, UK - Waterfront

October
1 – Wolverhampton, UK - Wolfrun Hall
3 – Cardif, Wales - The Great Hall
4 – Bristol, UK – Academy
6 – Varberg, Sweden - Arenan
10 – Hässleholm, Sweden - Qpoolen
11 – Trollhätan, Sweden - Älvhögsborg
12 – Sundsvall, Sweden - Spegelsalen, Stadshuset
13 – Örebrö, Sweden - Kongress
14 – Eskilstuna, Sweden - Lokomotivet
16 - Tallin, Estonia - Rock Cafe
17 - Helsinki, Finland - The Circus
18 - Tampere, Finland - Tampere Hall
19 - Turku, Finland - Logomo
20 - SeinaJoki, Finland - Rytmikorjaamo
21 - Lulea, Sweden - Kulturenshus
23 – Bo, Norway – Kroa
24 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
25 - Huskvarna, Sweden - Teaterladan
26 - Stockholm, Sweden - Rockklassiker Krysningen
27 - Karlstad, Sweden - Nojesfabriken
30 - Köln, Germany - Live Music Hall
31 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche

November
2 – Tilburg, The Netherlands - 0 13
3 – Antwerp, Belgium -Trix
4 – Lille, France - Le Splendid
5 – Paris, France - Le Bataclan
6 – Toulouse, France - Bikini
10 – Lisbon, Portugal - Campo Pequeno
14 - St. Etienne, France - Le Fil
15 – Strasbourg, France - La Laite
17 - Stuttgart, Germany - Lka Longhorn
19 - Linz, Austria - Posthof
20 - Treviso, Italy - New Age
21 - Bologna,Italy - Estragon
23 - Athens, Greece - Fuzz Club
24 - Thessalonki, Greece - Mylos Apotheke Club
25 - Istanbul, Turkey - Kucukciftlik Park
27 - Budapest, Hungary - Club 202

December
3 - Neu Isenburg, Germany - Hugenottenhalle
5 - Osnabrück, Germany - Rosenhof
6 - Memingen, Germany - Kaminwerk

Bassist Tomas Celechovsky of the Czech Republic-based classical symphonic metal band SYMPHONITY (formerly NEMESIS) lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on June 27.

Celechovsky joined SYMPHONITY in 2004, one year after the release of the band's debut album, "Goddess Of Revenge", which was made available under the band name NEMESIS via Underground Symphony Records.

SYMPHONITY's second album, "Voice From The Silence", was released in 2008 through Limb Music Products.

The band's current lineup includes German vocalist Olaf Hayer, who previously sang on albums from Luca Turilli (RHAPSODY) and DIONYSUS.

Video footage of the fan-created "wall of death" during SUICIDE SILENCE's performance at this year's edition of the Tuska open-air metal festival, which was held June 29 - July 1 in Helsinki, Finland, can be seen below.

LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe, who was arrested last week in connection with the death of a fan at the band's concert in the Czech Republic more than two years ago, is famous in metal circles for orchestrating the "wall of death" in which vast crowds split into two groups and then charge each other like a battle in the movie "Braveheart".

SUICIDE SILENCE's new album, "The Black Crown", sold around 14,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 28 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, "No Time To Bleed", opened with 14,000 units in July 2009 to land at No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"The Black Crown" was released in North America on July 12, 2010 via Century Media Records. The CD was recorded with heavyweight producer Steve Evetts (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, EVERY TIME I DIE, HATEBREED) and features guest appearances by KORN singer Jonathan Davis and SUFFOCATION frontman Frank Mullen.

The cover artwork for "The Black Crown" was created by the Delaware-based freelance graphic designer and illustrator Ken "K3N" Adams, who has previously worked with LAMB OF GOD.

Los Angeles metallers WINDS OF PLAGUE will enter the studio on Tuesday, July 3 with producer Will Putney (SHADOWS FALL, SUICIDE SILENCE) to begin recording their fourth album for a late 2012 release via Century Media Records.

WINDS OF PLAGUE's third full-length CD, "Against The World", sold 8,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 60 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on April 19, 2011 via Century Media Records, the effort featured guest appearances from members of HATEBREED, TERROR, FOR TODAY, STRAY FROM THE PATH and former world heavyweight wrestling champion and sports entertainment legend Ultimate Warrior (who performs an epic spoken-word track entitled "The Warrior Code"). It was described in a press release as "the heaviest-hitting record of the band's already heralded career."

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian is one of a number of musicians who have come out in support of LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe, who is facing manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic.

Blythe, 41, is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at LAMB OF GOD's May 24, 2010 show in Prague. The singer apparently either pushed or struck a 19-year-old fan named Daniel N. who had come on stage, and that person died 14 days later of bleeding in the brain. A post-mortem reportedly found that he had not been drunk or under the influence of drugs.

In a series of tweets, Ian wrote, "[It's] complete and utter bullshit for [Randy] to be treated like a criminal for something he didn't do. Now fans can see first-hand why there's no stagediving anymore. Especially in the post-Darrell world we live in. [Referring to late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott, who was killed on stage by a crazed 'fan' in December 2004.] It's all fun and games until people get murdered, die and get arrested." He added, "Randy didn't cause that fan's death. That fan chose his path. People need to take responsibility for their actions no matter what the consequence. Of course it's sad that this person died, it's a tragedy, but it's not Randy's fault. I wouldn't have expected this to happen in Europe. The repercussions from this are going to make shows even more stringent than they already are."

The crime of which Blythe is being accused is punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to popular Czech news web site Novinky.cz.

Slow-motion video footage of the purported stage incident which resulted in the death of a fan at a LAMB OF GOD concert in the Czech Republic more than two years ago can be seen below. The clip was originally aired yesterday (Saturday, June 30) as part of a TV report from Czech Republic's TV Nova.

LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe was arrested Wednesday (June 27) at the Prague airport and is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at the band's May 24, 2010 show in the city's Abaton venue. The singer apparently pushed a 19-year-old fan named Daniel N. — a guitarist in a local metal band — who had come on stage, and that person died 14 days later of bleeding in the brain. A post-mortem reportedly found that he had not been drunk or under the influence of drugs.

According to Czech media reports, Blythe will be released on 4 million Czech Koruna bail (approximately $200,000 — an amount which Randy claimed was the equivalent of his annual income). Since most banks are closed this weekend, Blythe will be allowed to pay off his bail on Monday (July 2).

The crime of which Blythe is being accused is punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to popular Czech news web site Novinky.cz.

LAMB OF GOD was scheduled to perform on Thursday at the Rock Café in Prague with SKELETONWITCH and ALL SHALL PERISH but that show ended up getting canceled.

LAMB OF GOD's publicist, Adrenaline PR, issued a statement on Friday stressing that "under no circumstances was there a fight of any kind involved [during LAMB OF GOD's 2010 concert]. This incident deals with a fan that three times during the concert jumped the barricade and rushed Randy during the performance. It is alleged that the third time, security was not able to reach him and that Randy pushed him back into the audience where supposedly he fell and hit his head."

On Friday, June 29, Robert Herrera sat down with SLIPKNOT mastermind/percussionist M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan during his book signing at Book Soup in Hollywood, California. Clown talked about his photo book, "The Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey"; Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival; and future plans for SLIPKNOT. You can now watch the chat below.

When asked how SLIPKNOT's upcoming two festival dates, Knotfest, will mark "the end of the beginning," Crahan replied, "Well, it's end of the thought process of the fans and us griving the tragedy together — not leaving them alone, not us doing it alone, but helping each other. That's the end. But it is not a new beginning without [late SLIPKNOT bassist] Paul [Gray, who died in May 2010 from an overdose of drugs]; there is only nine. There'll always be nine. I don't need to think about a new bass player, I don't need to think about a new member — I don't have to and I won't. There won't be a new member, there won't be. There's nine. There'll always be nine. There's songs he's written — they'll be on the next record. His bass will always be on stage. He will always be there — for life. So it's not the end of an era on to the next thing. It's just the end of this grieving period together. We decided to do it with our fans, end it in America, end it with Knotfest for a little fun, just like he would have liked it, and then take some personal time for us, write a record, record a record, [prepare] a tour, get out on tour, and do what we do."

Crahan recently embarked on a signing tour for "Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey".

Published by MTV Books, "Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey" is a collection of explorations in darkness and light from Shawn's experimental photography, his second and equally powerful artistic outlet which he has honed for over a decade. Weird, wired, paranoid, endlessly imaginative and cancerously prolific, he's created thousands of dangerous representations of reality through eye-gouging Polaroids in numerous styles in this hand-picked collection.

SLIPKNOT began its return last summer with a European tour, continued it earlier this year with jaunts through Australia and South America, and will now complete it this summer with a headlining slot on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. The icing on the cake will be Knotfest, two festival dates put together by the band itself on August 17 in Council Bluffs, Iowa and August 18 in Somerset, Wisconsin.

In addition to the headliners, both days will include sets from DEFTONES, LAMB OF GOD, DETHKLOK, SERJ TANKIAN and PRONG.

Also playing at the Iowa show will be THE URGE and DIRTFEDD, while the Wisconsin show will also feature CANNIBAL CORPSE, GOJIRA and THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN.

Knotfest is being positioned as a "dark carnival experience," and the event will feature circus tents, pillars of fire, amusement park rides, burlesque performers, fire-breathers, stilt walkers, drum circles made of junkyard cars, graffiti walls and even a SLIPKNOT museum.

SLIPKNOT will tentatively enter the studio sometime in early 2013 to begin recording its fifth album. In the meantime, a greatest hits collection called "Antennas To Hell" arrives on July 24.

SLIPKNOT will also release its first-ever mobile app, Wear The Mask. The app will be made available simultaneously with "Antennas To Hell" and is marketed as part mask builder, part social connector for fans.

Decibel magazine's inaugural "Women In Metal" issue featuring Laura Pleasants (KYLESA), Mlny Parsonz (ROYAL THUNDER) and Marisa Martinez (CRETIN) is on newsstands now.

The August issue features a photo session with the three innovative female musicians as well as interviews with JUCIFER, Doro Pesch, LANDMINE MARATHON and an assortment of women in the music industry.

KYLESA, who have been on the road consistently since the fall 2010 release of "Spiral Shadow", recently reissued "To Walk a Middle Course" and "Time Will Fuse Its Worth" on colored vinyl limited quantities via Alternative Tentacles. The band returns to the road on July 27 with a performance at the Greenville Festival in Germany with a number of additional festival dates during the European run, including performances at Wacken Open Air and Area 4 festivals.

ROYAL THUNDER recently released their debut album, "CVI", to rave reviews, including Pitchfork who described Parsonz as "equal parts riot grrl and gospel diva." The Atlanta-based quartet is currently on tour with VALIENT THORR through July 19. ROYAL THUNDER performs back-to-back hometown shows on July 22 and 23 at The Masquerade.

CRETIN is currently writing their highly anticipated sophomore album and long-awaited follow-up to 2006's "Freakery". Transgender grinder Martinez has also served as the legendary band REPULSION's live guitarist for the past few years.

SHADOWS FALL drummer Jason Bittner is filling in for ANTHRAX's Charlie Benante on the the first few weeks of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, which kicked off yesterday (Saturday, June 30) in San Bernardino, California. Charlie is recovering from a minor hand injury.

Fan-filmed video footage of the San Bernardino concert can be seen below.

Bittner (pictured below) most recently filled in for Benante at two ANTHRAX shows in Argentina in February.

Benante and ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello (who is Charlie's nephew) missed several shows on ANTHRAX's North American tour in order to spend time with Charlie's mother, who was terminally ill. On February 4, Benante informed fans via his official web site that his mother passed away.

Bittner previously joined ANTHRAX on stage on November 8, 2011 at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, New York to perform the ANTHRAX classic "Madhouse". He also filled in on drums for Benante for two ANTHRAX shows in January 2006 after Charlie was forced to leave the tour early to attend to his wife Sandra, who gave birth to the couple's first child, Mia Charley Benante.

Four-fifths of LAMB OF GOD — everyone except singer Randy Blythe — returned home to Virginia last night, less than four days after Blythe was taken into custody in Prague, Czech Republic in connection with the death of a fan more than two years ago.

LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton wrote on Twitter, "Finally HOME! 4/5 of us anyway. I can't wait to give Randy a big bear hug and kiss his pointy, stubbly face! Thanx for all the support y'all! Flooded with questions about Randy. I truly understand and appreciate [your] concern. But it would be irresponsible for me to comment on any of it. Again….thank y'all SOOOO much for your love and support during these difficult times. It means the world to us."

Blythe, who was arrested Wednesday (June 27) at the Prague airport on manslaughter charges, will reportedly be released on 4 million Czech Koruna bail (approximately $200,000 — an amount which Randy claimed was the equivalent of his annual income). Since most banks are closed this weekend, Blythe will be allowed to pay off his bail on Monday (July 2).

Blythe, 41, is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at LAMB OF GOD's May 24, 2010 show in Prague. The singer apparently pushed a 19-year-old fan named Daniel N. — a guitarist in a local metal band — who had come on stage, and that person died 14 days later of bleeding in the brain. A post-mortem reportedly found that he had not been drunk or under the influence of drugs.

The crime of which Blythe is being accused is punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to popular Czech news web site Novinky.cz.

A video report from Czech Republic's TV Nova on yesterday's court hearing for Blythe can be seen at this location. The two-and-a-half-minute clip appears to contain low-quality footage of the actual incident that resulted in the fan's death (around 57-second mark).

SLIPKNOT kicked off its headlining stint at this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival yesterday (Saturday, June 30) at San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California without guitarist Jim Root, who is out of action while recovering from a burst appendix.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. (sic)
02. Eyeless
03. Sulfur
04. The Blister Exists
05. Wait and Bleed
06. Before I Forget
07. Disasterpiece
08. Gently (performed live for first time since 2002)
09. Vermilion
10. Pulse of the Maggots
11. The Heretic Anthem
12. Psychosocial
13. Duality
14. Spit It Out

Encore:

15. People = Shit
16. Surfacing

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

Yesterday's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival concert in San Bernardino had a record-breaking attendance of 26,105 — 4,000 more than the previous attendance record set by the tour.

In an interview with Loudwire, SLIPKNOT percussionist Chris Fehn spoke about working without Root and how it's hard deciding which songs to play in the set. He explained, "It always is [tough] when you've got more than one or two records, and it's hard for us to do live too. We're not sure what we want to do new and what we can play live, what we can't play live cause a lot of it has to do with Jim not being here and stuff like that, which is a big hole in the SLIPKNOT camp right now, but it's always a good problem to have [deciding which songs to feature]. Sometimes what we want, what the fans want, it's a whole different situation. It is difficult, but there'll be more to come."

SLIPKNOT began its return last summer with a European tour, continued it earlier this year with jaunts through Australia and South America, and will now complete it this summer with a headlining slot on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. The icing on the cake will be Knotfest, two festival dates put together by the band itself on August 17 in Council Bluffs, Iowa and August 18 in Somerset, Wisconsin.

In addition to the headliners, both days will include sets from DEFTONES, LAMB OF GOD, DETHKLOK, SERJ TANKIAN and PRONG.

Also playing at the Iowa show will be THE URGE and DIRTFEDD, while the Wisconsin show will also feature CANNIBAL CORPSE, GOJIRA and THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN.

Knotfest is being positioned as a "dark carnival experience," and the event will feature circus tents, pillars of fire, amusement park rides, burlesque performers, fire-breathers, stilt walkers, drum circles made of junkyard cars, graffiti walls and even a SLIPKNOT museum.

The festival will mark the end of a two-year grieving period for the band following the May 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray from an overdose of drugs.

SLIPKNOT will tentatively enter the studio sometime in early 2013 to begin recording its fifth album. In the meantime, a greatest hits collection called "Antennas To Hell" arrives on July 24.

SLIPKNOT will also release its first-ever mobile app, Wear The Mask. The app will be made available simultaneously with "Antennas To Hell" and is marketed as part mask builder, part social connector for fans.

Quality multi-camera fan-filmed video footage of British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN performing the songs "2 Minutes To Midnight" and "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" on June 27 at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Moonchild
02. Can I Play With Madness
03. The Prisoner
04. 2 Minutes To Midnight
05. Afraid To Shoot Strangers
06. The Trooper
07. The Number Of The Beast
08. Phantom Of The Opera
09. Run To The Hills
10. Wasted Years
11. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
12. The Clairvoyant
13. Fear Of The Dark
14. Iron Maiden

Encore:

15. Aces High
16. The Evil That Men Do
17. Running Free

The 34-date "Maiden England" tour is IRON MAIDEN's most extensive visit to North America for many years and includes a number of other cities the band have not played in a very long time such as Atlanta, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City and Sacramento, and places like Sarnia (Ontario, Canada) and Cadott, Wisconsin where they have never visited before. The tour is based on the band's "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son Tour", with a setlist almost exclusively from the 1980s featuring all the classic songs and hits. The same spectacular stage set as was used on the original 1988 tour has been recreated, complete with a magnificent light show, pyro and a newly reincarnated Eddie!

When asked by The Aquarian Weekly what the reason was behind choosing a setlist like that of the famous 1988 excursion, 7th Tour Of A 7th Tour, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith said, "Well, we just thought it'd be fun to revisit that period in time — there were some good songs there. It's just great revisiting some of the songs we haven't played for a long while. It keeps us fresh and it's just, you know, we got a lot of new fans coming on board now, a lot of younger fans who probably never saw or were around when we did that tour. That's one factor of it for us revisiting that time and I think there's some good songs from that period, so it's fun to do."

On the topic of how this tour differs from those in the recent years, Adrian said, "Well, this is a new set; we haven't taken the stage set out, for example, so it's a new stage set. We got new effects. I think it's going to be actually more spectacular than the original tour and probably, technically, you got more stuff now to put into a live show in terms of lighting and that, which will make it quite spectacular, so I think this is going to be pretty special, this tour. What with the songs, we love playing these songs, and with the stage set and effects and of course we got Eddie, he's back, so it should be fun."

The extraordinary and legendary ALICE COOPER is IRON MAIDEN's very special guest on all shows up to July 21. After that date, special guest will be COHEED AND CAMBRIA, the inspiring, cutting-edge band from New York.

For a complete list of "Maiden England" 2012 tour dates, visit IronMaiden.com.

German/Norwegian melodic metallers MASTERPLAN have tapped Czech musician Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka (CRADLE OF FILTH) to lay down the drum tracks for the band's new album.

Commented MASTERPLAN guitarist/mastermind Roland Grapow (formerly of HELLOWEEN): "We are very happy that we found Martin. He is a very talented and powerful drummer and besides that he is an amazing gifted songwriter."

Added Martin: "I feel honored that the band has chosen me to record drums on the new MASTERPLAN album! I have always been a huge fan of MASTERPLAN's music and I am indeed looking forward to record the new MASTERPLAN album! This is going to be a blast, no doubt about it!"

Back in March, Grapow revealed that he had 15 songs written for MASTERPLAN's next album. He added, "We are looking for a more powerful album this time... still with great melodies and feelings, but also with more orchestration and faster stuff again… just more metal."

In an August 2011 interview with the Czech web portal Kultura21.cz, Grapow stated about the status of the songwriting sessions for the next MASTERPLAN album, "This time we tried not to make demo productions, which have a poor sound — so we wanted to make really nice pre-production [recordings] which sound very close to the album sound, which is very easy [to do] in my studio now. I think we have many, many new ideas which, I guess, are a little bit more modern and more aggressive as well. So we try not to follow any trends of MASTERPLAN — I'm not saying we're reproducing the first album or the third one or the fifth one. I think we always have to try to make some surprises for the people. The 'Time To Be King' album is great, but this new album sounds a bit different again. I always want to do this, because I'm not that kind of guy who wants to make every year the same album."

On the topic of MASTERPLAN's numerous lineup changes, Grapow said, "I think it's always difficult in this band, I guess. If you see, the first album just came out after a big turbulence — leaving HELLOWEEN, Uli [Kusch, drums] and me. I think this band always needs some very bad moments to some great songs. [Laughs] And it looks like MASTERPLAN, basically, is my main band, and whoever will sing and whoever will play in the band, I'm happy with, or if Jorn [Lande, vocals] will stay as long as possible. But, basically, at the moment, I'm thinking the main songwriters are Axel [Mackenrott, keyboards] now and me. Also Jan [S. Eckert], the bass player, who was very involved in different in projects and has a great job now, just called me one week ago. He's happy to continue with MASTERPLAN and he's looking forward to the next album and the next tour. So whatever happens, this band will continue. It's very important for me to show that we still have the power and the ability to write beautiful melodies and some aggression and rock and metal songs. Whatever we do, we want just to make good-quality stuff."

MASTERPLAN's last CD, "Time To Be King", was released on May 21, 2010 through AFM Records. The CD's first single, "Far From The End Of The World", was issued on April 16, 2010.