Hungarian neo-thrash masters EKTOMORF are due to release their new album, Black Flag, on August 31st via AFM Records. Frontman/founder Zoltan Farkas has checked in with the following update:

"To make The Acoustic album was a great experience for Ektomorf. I’m still very happy with what we created and I want to thank all the fans for supporting us. But now with the new album we go back to the heavy stuff. The tons-of-bricks sound that is typical Ektomorf, but with a few surprises here and there."

The tracklist is as follows:

01. War Is My Way
02. Unscarred
03. The Cross
04. Cut It Out
05. Black Flag
06. Private Hell
07. 12 Angels
08. Enemy
09. Fuck Your God
10. Never Surrender
11. Sick Love
12. Feel Like This
13. Kill It
14. The Pretender' (bonus track)

Chilean folk metallers FOLKHEIM have announced that their debut album will be titled Mapu Ñi Tiam and will be released in July in digipack form via Australis Records.

The album was recorded in Santuario Sónico and 15Hz Studios.

According to a press release the theme and artwork for the album were done: “in recognition of the struggle of prehispanic people against the overwhelming attack of the conquerors.”

Tracklisting is as follows:

01. Konú
02. Illkun
03. Chaka
04. En Fronteras Ajenas (Quillasuyo)
05. Vaai Honga Kaina
06. Vai-Heva
07. Zeuman
06. Cherubic Anguish
07. Seraya/An Elegy For Iscariot
08. A Night Discharged Of All Care...

Trailer.

ALTAR OF OBLIVION will release their second album Grand Gesture Of Defiance on September 11 via Shadow Kingdom Records.

The new track ‘The Graveyard Of Broken Dreams’ is now streaming and can be heard at their label Shadow Kingdom Records’ Bandcamp page.

Tracklisting is as follows:

‘Where Darkness Is Light’
‘The Graveyard Of Broken Dreams’
‘In The Shadow Of The Gallows’
‘The Smoke-Filled Room’
‘Sentenced In Absentia’
‘Final Perfection’

LEAVES' EYES vocalist Liv Kristine has checked in with the following update:

"Dear Friends and Fans,

It was such a pleasure meeting Gus G (FIREWIND) in Mannheim, Germany. I am really looking forward to hit the road with Leaves' Eyes and Firewind in the fall. Concerning this tour we have a special surprise for you: I will join Firewind on stage, performing the outstanding song 'Breaking the Silence.' See you all on tour!"

Confirmed tour dates are as follows:

September
25 - Paris, France - Divan du Monde
26 - Colmar, France - Le Grillen
27 - Bochum, Germany - Matrix
28 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust
30 - Berlin, Germany - SO36

October
2 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos Saal
3 - Ingolstadt, Germany - Eventhalle
4 - Cologne, Germany - Underground
5 - Zwolle, The Netherlands - Hedon
6 - Vosselaar, Belgium - Biebob

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach "lost" his microphone while spinning it around in the air during the opening song of his band's performance on June 22 at this year's Gods Of Metal festival in Milan, Italy. Bach and his band briefly stopped the show while his microphone was getting fixed and restarted the set a few minutes later. You can now watch fan-filmed video footage of both takes of the "Slave To The Grind" track below.

Bach earlier in the month released a video for the song "I'm Alive". The clip is one of three videos (alongside "Kicking & Screaming" and "TunnelVision") that the singer filmed on June 28, 2011 in Hollywood, California with director Devin DeHaven of Fortress Entertainment (PAPA ROACH, WHITESNAKE, METHOD MAN, TALIB KWELI).

"I'm Alive" comes off Bach's new album, "Kicking & Screaming", which sold 6,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 73 on The Billboard 200 chart. The singer's previous CD, "Angel Down", opened with 6,400 units back in November 2007 to debut at No. 190.

"Slave To The Grind" Take 1:

Close to 14,000 fans turned out in force this past Thursday night, June 21 for the opening show of IRON MAIDEN's "Maiden England North American Tour" in Charlotte, North Carolina, setting the spectacular tour off to a flying start.

Singer Bruce Dickinson commented: "We haven't played in Charlotte since 1988 so we really didn't expect anything like this number of people would come and see us! And what a terrific audience! Truly magical. We had expected this to be a sort of lower key warm-up show to get the production, pyro and stuff into shape, and ourselves too! It was our first show since those at London's 02 Arena last August so band and crew can all get a bit rusty. But a crowd this loud and supportive soon blew the cobwebs away. Thank you, Charlotte!"

Bass player Steve Harris added: "It was fantastic to see so many fans since we were last here with the original 'Seventh Son' tour 24 years ago. Some of the songs we've not performed for many years and the crowd reaction was just amazing, especially among the younger fans hearing them live for the first time. A response like that on the first night was incredible. We're totally knocked out and can't wait for the rest of the tour!"

Courtney Devores from The Charlotte Observer commented: "The crowd response was that of fans that had been waiting over two decades (and in some cases their entire lives), The reaction to 'The Trooper' . . . was arguably unparalleled throughout the night."

Creative Loafing's Jeff Hahne called the show "a feast for the eyes and ears... MAIDEN isn't on a nostalgia trip this time round. They're putting everything they've got into the music, getting the crowd involved at every chance and loving every minute of it."

Swedish singer Tommy Karevik (SEVENTH WONDER), who recently joined American/German symphonic metallers KAMELOT as the replacement for Roy Khan, has released the following statement regarding his addition to the band:

"It is not a secret that I have been in close contact with the KAMELOT crew for some time now. I played with them on ProgPower 2010 and I joined them on the European part of the tour in the spring of 2011. I learned a lot from this experience and had a great time together with the guys. Of course, musically, it is a bit different from the SEVENTH WONDER style, but to me, that is also what makes it interesting and challenging. Over the past months I have come to love the music and the vibe of the band and when I finally and officially was asked to join as the singer and full-blown member of KAMELOT, I was very happy and gladly accepted! This is something I am really proud of and something I am looking forward to making my own. However, I do want to say this... and this is very important to me... I will not leave SEVENTH WONDER! The SEVENTH WONDER guys and all of you fantastic and supportive fans out there will not get rid of me so easily! I love you all and you are the reason I got to where I am today! We are already working on some stuff for the next SEVENTH WONDER album and really can't wait to show it to you all!"

Karevik also spoke about his musical upbringing and the journey that led him to audition for the KAMELOT singer position.

"I was born on the 1st of November 1981 just south of Stockholm in a suburb called Botkyrka," he said. "Raised with music within the family, my sister Jenny and I were surrounded by the great songs of that time. Growing up I only sang for fun and because it was a natural thing for me. I even joined the school choir as one of the two only boys there... At the age of 12 my mother took me to see 'The Phantom Of The Opera' and I remember being totally floored by the music, the voices and the ambiance... I guess you could say that this is where it all started...

"After elementary school, Jenny was accepted into a musical college but I was more into sports at the time. I was studying nature and science in college and it wasn't until my 2nd year when I was 16 years old, that I 'discovered music' for real.

"In my class, there was a guy called Johan Larsson who was a musician and a guitar player. We instantly became good friends, and inspired by his musicality I picked up the guitar for the first time. During the days that followed I wrote my first song... It was in Swedish and I was really proud. Johan and I wrote a lot of music together during that time and it really helped me to develop my singing as well.

"My first contact with metal music was also through Johan. For me it was a new world of music that opened before me. Coming from musicals and artists like QUEEN, MICHAEL JACKSON and ABBA, I started to interest myself in the more melodic side of metal like DREAM THEATER, SYMPHONY X, SONATA ARCTICA and A.C.T. But my biggest wake-up call was when I heard Jorn Lande [MASTERPLAN] for the first time... I couldn't believe my ears — and I still can't. I started practicing to sing like all the great artists I loved and somehow found my own style in the middle of it.

"In 2004 I was asked to write and sing on a metal project with Stefan Lindholm. The project was called VINDICTIV and the vocals were recorded together with Johan in his home studio. Later that same year I was contacted by the Stockholm-based prog metal band SEVENTH WONDER. They had heard the recordings with VINDICTIV and asked me if I wanted to come and audition for the singer position. They were about to release their first studio album and had just parted ways with their previous singer. I did the audition and a couple of days later they called me on the phone asking me if I wanted in. I happily accepted.

"Since that day I have recorded three studio albums a played a lot of great shows with SEVENTH WONDER and I have a lot to thank the guys in the band for. They are all fantastic musicians and great friends. Apart from the known ones, my musical heroes remain my sister Jenny, Johan Larsson and my SEVENTH WONDER family. As for today I am still in the band and have no intention of leaving.

"In September 2010, we were heading to Atlanta with SEVENTH WONDER to play the well-known festival ProgPower USA. One of the headliners of the festival was KAMELOT. Roy had just left the band prior to the North American tour and I was asked by [KAMELOT guitarist] Thomas Youngblood to perform a song with them on the night of their show. So I did, and joined stage with my friend Michael Eriksen of CIRCUS MAXIMUS who covered for Khan that night.

"Shortly after, Thomas called me again asking if I wanted to join them on the European tour as a guest vocalist together with Fabio Lione. The tour was a lot of fun and I met a lot of nice people and got some good experience. The guys were super-nice and we had a great time together!

"By now I was really into the music of the band and had fallen in love with the amazingly loyal and dedicated fans at every show.

"We kept contact throughout the whole process of auditioning singers, and I sent some demos of new material their way... When I finally was asked if I wanted to be the singer in the band, I was very happy and gladly accepted the offer!

"A lot of time and energy has been poured in the next album to make sure every die-hard KAMELOT fan gets what he/she deserves! I can't wait to share it with all of you! All the best and here is to the next chapter!"

KAMELOT's new album is planned for a September release, which coincides with the beginning a massive world tour that will bring the band to nearly every continent on the planet.

In KAMELOT's search for a new singer, Youngblood found YouTube to be an amazing tool: "I listened to a clip of a studio production featuring Tommy and have to confess that his performance really amazed me," he said. "His approach to melodies and themes suits KAMELOT perfectly, and during our European shows we had plenty of opportunity to find out what a great guy he is."

Youngblood on the style and content of the concept album: "The new songs sound more symphonic and melodic than our last two studio recordings. The material brings to mind albums such as 'Karma' (2001) and 'The Black Halo' (2005). In addition, this will be the best production that KAMELOT have ever delivered. Because while other acts tend to opt for low-budget productions due to the difficult market situation, we have gone the opposite way: the new album will be a real statement, in terms of our compositions as well as in terms of our sound."

KAMELOT performing with Tommy Karevik:

"I Miss The Misery", the new video from HALESTORM can be seem below. The track is the third single from the band's sophomore album, "The Strange Case Of…", which made a stunning No. 1 debut on Billboard's "Hard Rock Albums" chart, while also making a Top 15 entry onto The Billboard 200. In addition, "The Strange Case Of…" has proven a top 10 success on both the "Rock Albums" and "Alternative Albums" rankings.

Produced by Howard Benson (who previously collaborated with HALESTORM on their self-titled 2009 debut), "The Strange Case Of…" includes such explosive tracks as "Here's To Us", which shot to No. 1 on iTunes' "Top Rock Songs" chart after being featured in a February 2012 episode of Fox's hit series "Glee".

HALESTORM made history with its last single, "Love Bites (So Do I)". The track ascended to No. 1 at Active Rock radio outlets nationwide, marking the first ever female-fronted group to top the format's airplay ranking.

In an interview with Becko from Australia's long-running rock station Triple M, SMASHING PUMPKINS leader Billy Corgan defended Axl Rose's decision to skip GUNS N' ROSES' recent induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"I appreciate the position Axl was in and why he didn't wanna go," Corgan said. "I think he felt like he was being set up. He was wise not to go because he would've come out [looking] like a spoilsport. He didn't want to play nice with the old team. And he obviously has his personal reasons."

He added, "Also, the minute he gets up on stage with the original band, then everything else he does that isn't that… it's almost as if he's trying not do something and he's not been doing it for many years. So i can understand why Axl didn't want that put on him."

Billy also said that fans need to recognize that things change and people change.

"You can go on YouTube and watch a clip of GUNS N' ROSES from 1988 and go 'Wow, what a great band. I wish they'd get back together,'… that's a good thing. But it doesn't address the reality that was a long time ago," he said.

STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor has posted a "tidbit" of the story behind the band's fourth album, "House Of Gold And Bones", a two-part concept effort which is being recorded at Sound Farm Studios, just outside STONE SOUR's home base of Des Moines, Iowa, with producer David Bottrill (TOOL, MUSE, STAIND). Check it out below.

Taylor recently told Revolver magazine about STONE SOUR's forthcoming CD, "Picture [PINK FLOYD's] 'The Wall' crossed with ALICE IN CHAINS' 'Dirt' with some good heavy blasts in there," Corey said. "The heaviest song is a total ass-kicker that sounds as if SLAYER and ANTHRAX had a baby. Then, there's a darker bluesy dirge that has the vibe of LED ZEPPELIN's 'In My Time Of Dying'. There's even a little industrial vibe. It's definitely going to blow people's fucking minds.

Taylor added that he came up with a very ambitious concept for the disc.

"The album is a morality play about a man who's standing at the crossroads of his life trying to figure out what to do next," he said. "He's going, 'Do I move foward and evolve? Do I become more responsible or do I run backwards and pilfer the basket of youth?' Sometimes it's romantic to live in the mistakes that you made when you were 20, and condemn yourself to perpetual adolescence."

According to Taylor, part 1 of "House Of Gold And Bones" will contain 12 songs and will be released in October via Roadrunner Records, with the second 12-track part to follow next year. Each disc will include one half of the story, the lyrics for which fans will have to visit the band's official web site. Songtitles set to appear on the album include "Taciturn", "Absolute Zero", "RU486" and "A Rumor Of Skin". A single will precede the album in August.

Taylor played an acoustic version of "Taciturn" at the Download festival on June 9 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom . Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

As previously reported, SKID ROW's Rachel Bolan laid down the bass tracks for the new STONE SOUR CD. He has described the material on the record as "fucking fierce."

Guitarist Josh Rand recently said that the CD will be "another progression for the band," adding. "Musically, we have always challenged one another to push things to our limits, and this record is no exception."

Finnish fantasy metallers BATTLELORE will play an acoustic show at Nosturi downstairs in Helsinki, Finland on August 9. The band states, "In spite of this gig we are still on a break."

BATTLELORE announced last November that it was going on an indefinite hiatus after performing at the Metal Female Voices Fest IX on October 21, 2011. The group ssaid at the time, "This is not the end, however, just a time-out to focus on other aspects of life and build up more creative energy for the future. . . There's no drama behind the decision to go on break, just a need to take a step back and have a breather."

BATTLELORE's sixth full-length album, "Doombound", was released in January 2011 via Napalm Records. The band's first conceptual effort, features lyrics which "tell the story of J.R.R. Tolkien's tragic hero Túrin Turambar and his kin," according to a press release. "One of the songs is sung completely in Finnish in appreciation to BATTLELORE's beautiful home country Finland and Kalevala, the national Finnish epic. The songs themselves are more dynamic, atmospheric and epic than ever before."

According to THIN LIZZY guitarist Damon Johnson, the band will enter the recording studio tomorrow "with electric guitars and amps a'blazin'; and Brian Downey's full drum kit!" No futher details are currently available.

In a recent interview with Rock Fusion, THIN LIZZY frontman Ricky Warwick stated about THIN LIZZY's plans to record a new studio album, "We've just been working on some ideas that we all have. We all write in the band, so we've just been sitting down and playing each other our stuff, and it's been really great. I mean, it's really early days, but everyone's very excited and got loads of ideas, and we're all working really great together as a band, and that's what it's all about — let's get in there and see what ideas we have and take it from there. It was all very productive and we all had a great time. We're back in next week so we will just take it from there and see what happens. Ideally we'd love to record as much as we can, but obviously it's got to be to a great fucking standard. We're all as nervous about it as the fans, but in a good way. The bar has been set very high and we will only release what we 100 percent believe in, whether that's two tracks or 12 tracks. I mean, I'd love it to be a full album, but we'll just need to take it as it goes."

When asked if there any plans for a live DVD in the future, Warwick said, "Yeah, there's talk about that further down the line. I mean, VH1 are revisiting us, they're updating 'Behind The Music' to include the new members in the band. Last year was all about re-establishing the band, the brand and the name and showing that what we have is something very real, and I think we've got over that hump now and this year we can move on. It's a case of taking it one step at a time. THIN LIZZY fans are very passionate and so loyal, you can't just go, 'Look, the band's back together, here's an album, here's a tour, and you'rd going fucking like it.' You've got to do it one bit at a time and win people over, and that's what we're doing. Like I said, at the end of the day, we are all fans, too."

British thrash metal veterans ONSLAUGHT are recording a new version of their classic song "Metal Forces", to be included as a bonus track on the upcoming re-release of the band's 1986 album, "The Force", due later in the year via AFM Records later this year. There will also be revised artwork and some sleeve notes written by ONSLAUGHT guitarist Nige Rockett.

ONSLAUGHT will perform "The Force" in its entirety on their upcoming European headlining tour in September and October. Main support on the trek will be shared by Dutch metal outfit IZEGRIM, who are still promoting the critically acclaimed "Code Of Consequence" CD from 2011, and German thrashers CRIPPER who will release their new album, "Antagonist", on June 22. Both bands will be rotating positions during the entire tour.

Commented Rockett: "It's been what the fans have been asking for from ONSLAUGHT for so long now, so that's exactly what we're gonna give them! AFM are re-releasing 'The Force' album in September, so it seemed quite appropriate to take this show on the road. We're gonna play the whole album in running order, as well as all the favorites from the other four releases. I think it's gonna be a whole lot of messy fun!"

ONSLAUGHT is tentatively scheduled to enter the studio at the end of the year to record its new album for a spring release via AFM Records.

ONSLAUGHT recruited Michael Hourihan (EXTREME NOISE TERROR, DESECRATION) to play the drums following last year's departure of Steve Grice.

ONSLAUGHT's fifth album, "Sounds Of Violence", was released in January 2011 via AFM Records. The follow-up to 2007's "Killing Peace" was recorded and mixed at Hansen Studio in Ribe, Denmark with acclaimed Danish producer Jacob Hansen (RAUNCHY, MERCENARY, VOLBEAT, HEAVEN SHALL BURN).

According to The Pulse Of Radio, DEF LEPPARD recently joined the long list of rockers who have re-recorded their biggest hits in note-perfect renditions. Frontman Joe Elliott shed some light on the new "2012" versions of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Rock Of Ages" now available at various digital retailers. Elliott told MTV, "How can I put this politely? We were having a major disagreement with our ex-record label about the digital rights for our back catalog. We couldn't come to a mutual understanding that seemed fair for both sides. So we finally just decided to re-record all our hits. We started with 'Sugar' and 'Rock Of Ages', and I think we did a pretty good job. It's hard work trying to recreate something you did 30 years ago."

When pressed on the fact that despite all the care taken, re-recordings never seems to sound identical to the original release, Elliott said: "We got the same sounds, the same key, the same tempo. It was a 100 percent forgery. That was the idea, anyway. . . [We were] very conscious of the fact that when people download our songs from iTunes, they want it to sound like they remember it."

The officialy lyric video for the 2012 version of "Rock Of Ages" can be seen below.

Elliot told The Pulse Of Radio that he feels lucky about DEF LEPPARD's continued success, especially with the current state of the record industry, as well as the struggles many new bands face. "Nowadays record labels — what's left of them — are trying to actually get half of merchandise when they tour," he said. "It's like, 'How dare you?' It's like two separate things. I can't see Roger Waters willingly giving up 20 percent of his T-shirts. Luckily we're not in that kind of bag. I just feel bad for the new bands. I mean, there's the old acts that can sell records these days. But most people, if they don't have a second record or profit, they don't make a third record."

DEF LEPPARD is currently on tour with POISON and LITA FORD.

BON JOVI guitarist RICHIE SAMBORA's forthcoming solo album will be titled Aftermath Of The Lowdown and will be released worldwide on September 4th.

His third solo album was recorded at at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood with Luke Ebbin, who manned the boards for Bon Jovi albums Crush and Bounce, for the project.

“Richie and I have worked on and off together for years,” Ebbin told Broadcast Newsroom earlier this year. “Richie came off the Bon Jovi tour energized and we got together to write a couple of songs. The results were very good, so we kept writing more and decided to go in and record them.”

Check out audio samples from Aftermath Of The Lowdown below:

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach joined GUNS N' ROSES on stage on June 22 at the Gods Of Metal festival in Milan, Italy to perform the GN'R classic "My Michelle". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

When asked about the possibility of touring with GUNS 'N ROSES again, Bach said in an October 2011 interview, "I would play with GUNS 'N ROSES anytime. And Axl [Rose, GN'R lead singer] is one of a kind. I was too young to ever see THE DOORS but when I see old footage of Jim Morrison on stage, Axl has that kind of danger thing going on when he steps up to the mic. He's pretty fascinating."

During an August 2010 interview on "The Danny Bonaduce Show" on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania radio station 94 WYSP, Sebastian spoke briefly about how Axl is often being portrayed unfavorably by the media. "Nobody has helped me more in the music industry than Axl Rose," Sebastian said.

"Everybody has all these theories as to why he acts the way he acts," Bach continued. "And there's no big mystery. He tells me the source of all of the insanity — it's his voice. It's his job to sing like that, and sometimes that sound is hard for him. And a lot of singers, you know... To sing in that range is just not an easy thing to do. And he does what he can, and if it takes him forty-five more minutes to warm up his pipes so he can sing 'Sweet Child O' Mine'... I mean, you drive around in your car and put on GUNS N' ROSES and just go for it. [Laughs]"

U.K. based modern thrash heroes SYLOSIS have completed work on their new album, "Monolith", with Romesh Dodangoda at Monnow Valley Studio in Wales. The CD will be released on September 7 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Commented SYLOSIS vocalist and guitar player Josh Middleton: "Some people might not have expected us to come out with a new album so quickly but we already had a few songs written for this album by the summer of 2010.

"We've spent as much time writing this album as any of the others and I think we're all the most proud we've ever been.

"'Monolith' is the best representation of us as a band in terms of our diverse influences and stylistically it's what we've always been aiming for. A mixture of thrash, big doomy riffs and dark atmospherics and ambience.

"Overall, 'Monolith' has a darker vibe to anything we've done in the past, both lyrically and musically. It's a concept album which is just something I like to help guide me writing the lyrics. I like the fact that I can write about personal issues but dress them up in a way that people might not know exactly how they relate to me (if at all in some instances).

"The idea for the concept was very loosely inspired by the Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. It's quite far fetched but it's about this guy who loses his wife and tries to bring her back from underworld. This giant monolith starts to grow out of her tomb. The most prevalent theme beneath it all is sort of accepting that you might not be as nice a person as you once thought. It sounds really cheesy but everyone has a darker side to their personality in terms of being selfish, manipulative or dishonest.

"A lot of metal lyrics are always 'you're this, you're that, you suck' and in a lot of cases it's probably really hypocritical. Some of the lyrics on this album are about owning up to those flaws and almost reveling in it.

"Some parts of the album is us covering new ground but everything that people have come to love about our band is still present. It's not necessarily a change in direction or something we're moving more towards, it was just about making a unique vibe for this album as a whole. There's a real urgency to a lot of this material and the really natural and honest production helps mirror that. We really wanted more of a 'live session' feel. Both Romesh and Jens [Bogren; mastering] have done a great job in giving this album a unique sound. Too many bands these days rely on technology and it can just suck all the life and personality out of the music."

FAITH NO MORE bassist Billy Gould will make a guest appearance on one of the songs on the fourth full-length album from Hungarian "progressive-grunge metallers" ANGERTEA. Due in September via the Norwegian label Smash Fabric Records, the CD is being recorded at in Szeged, Hungary with producer Gábor Vári.

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

ANGERTEA's "Distrust" video can be seen below. The song is the title track of the band's 2011 EP, which features a guest appearance by former KYUSS bassist Scott Reeder.

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

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Fanatic, the 14th studio album from the groundbreaking American rock band HEART, on Tuesday, October 2nd.

Fanatic premieres 10 new essential performances from sisters Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson on songs including 'Fanatic', 'Dear Old America', 'Walkin' Good' (featuring Sarah McLachlan), 'Skin and Bones', 'Million Miles', 'Pennsylvania', 'Mashallah', 'Rock Deep (Vancouver)', '59 Crunch', and 'Corduroy Road'.

The first album of new music from Ann and Nancy Wilson since 2010's Red Velvet Car, Fanatic was recorded in hotel rooms and studios up and down the West Coast, with Grammy-winning producer Ben Mink back at the helm with the Wilson sisters drawing from their own lives and personal experiences as inspiration for their music. 'Dear Old America' comes from memories of a military household and is written from the point of view of their father, a Marine Corps officer, returning from war ("When I get home, I'm going to own this town/Shine this medal/Wear that crown…."); 'Rock Deep (Vancouver)' harkens back to the city where Dreamboat Annie was written; and 'Walkin' Good' (a duet with Vancouver resident Sarah McLachlan) captures the joy of finding new life in a new love.

The title song is a celebration of the Wilson's life spirit: Ann and Nancy are fanatics about love, art, truth, and the belief that they can do anything together they set their minds to. Fans looking for a first taste of Fanatic can check out the title track below:

"What a crazy year we are having," said Ann Wilson. "Our box set, Strange Euphoria, and our book, Kicking and Dreaming, each tell the story of our lives so far, personally and musically. Our new album, Fanatic, tells our story as it is now and brings it all up-to-the-minute. What a thrill to have worked with both Charles Cross and Ben Mink respectively on these, and of course to touch the musical magic Nancy and I have always shared together. Anybody want to RAWK??"

Heart will be touring throughout the summer and fall (June 29th - November 17th). Alejandro Escovedo and Shawn Colvin will be supporting in October and November respectively. On September 25th, Ann and Nancy Wilson will be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (followed by a live concert webcast).

Tuesday, September 18th marks the publication of the HarperCollins hardcover edition of Kicking And Dreaming: A Story Of Heart, Soul And Rock And Roll, the avidly-awaited insider's memoir penned by Ann & Nancy Wilson with noted Seattle-based author Charles R. Cross (Room Full of Mirrors - A Biography of Jimi Hendrix; Heavier Than Heaven - a biography of Kurt Cobain).

METALLICA's two-day festival Orion Music + More kicked off last night (Saturday, June 23) at the popular Atlantic City, New Jersey concert venue Bader Feld. METALLICA is headlining both nights of Orion Music + More and playing "Ride The Lightning" in its entirety One night and "The Black Album" in its entirety the other. This will be the only time the band will perform these albums in North America in 2012.

In an interview with CBS Local, METALLICA lead guitarist Kirk Hammett said, "I know 'Ride The Lightning' forwards and backwards. It's not like 'The Black Album,' where there are three or four songs that we rarely play. Over the course of the years, we've played most of 'Ride The Lightning', except for one song we've never done, 'Escape'. It was pretty easy [to re-learn those songs]. We put way more time into learning 'The Black Album' than 'Ride The Lightning'."

Video footage of METALLICA performing the song "Escape" live for the first time ever last night (Saturday, June 23) at the Orion Music + More festival can be seen below.

Orion Music + More features multiple live music stages plus a lifestyle element that reflects each of METALLICA's bandmembers' many personal interests.

When asked why METALLICA would want to do their own festival, guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield said in a recent interview, "First of all, because we can. Why wouldn't you? We're just trying to bring a little more of a mix to what is going on. . . . I think the Europeans are able to look at a festival more as an event than 'my favorite band is playing.' We're not necessarily trying to reproduce that in the States, but we'd like to bring a little taste of that here."

Regarding the significance of the "Ride The Lightning" and "Metallica" albums, Hetfield said, "'Ride The Lightning' started to splinter us off from your SLAYERs and other thrash bands. A song called 'Fade To Black' was an instant thorn in the side of the metal community. It was the first veering off the studded path. [The Black Album] became the album, I guess, that people needed to have. It's a gateway for people to get into METALLICA."

Multinational melodic metallers EDEN'S CURSE have posted a 25-minute video clip featuring behind-the-scenes and performance footage from the band's April 8 appearance at the PPM (Power Prog & Metal) Fest at the Lotto Mons Expo in Mons, Belgium. Check it out below.

EDEN'S CURSE earlier in the year announced the addition of Italian singer Marco Sandron to the group's ranks. Hailing from Portgruaro, 50 miles from Venice, in the northeast of Italy, Marco previously sang for Italian progressive metal act PATHOSRAY, who released their self-titled debut on Sensory Records in 2007 and their sophomore CD, "Sunless Skies", on Frontiers Records in 2009. That same year he also contributed lead vocals to French symphonic metal outfit FAIRYLAND's "Score To A New Beginning" album, which was released on Napalm Records.

"Time To Breathe", the latest single and promotional video from EDEN'S CURSE, can be seen below. The clip was shot on location at Sky Park in Glasgow with director Simon J. Gillespie of Music Video Scotland.

Written by Paul Logue and Pete Newdeck, "Time To Breathe"'s lyrics are very topical, as Newdeck explains. "The lyrics stem from the current financial crisis grippling society today and the ignorance people have to what we are doing to ourselves and this awesome world we live in," he says. "We need to buy ourselves time or it will be too late to put it all right."

Director Simon Jake Gillespie of Music Video Scotland explains the concept behind the video: "As well as capturing the band performance, we wanted to portray the lyrical concept in a visual manner by showing four different people from four different walks of life uniting together to help each other escape from a situation. This symbolizes what we perceive needs to happen in society today to work our way out of the mess we have found ourselves in globally."

A snippet of the demo version of "Losing My Faith", a brand new song from EDEN'S CURSE, can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below. The track will appear on the band's forthcoming fourth studio album, which will be recorded later in the year.

MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has uploaded a 10-minute video clip featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the band's June 23 concert at the Graspop Metal Meeting at Boeretang in Dessel, Belgium. Check it out below.

MEGADETH was among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which was held on February 12 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band's tenth Grammy nomination was for its single "Public Enemy No. 1", off MEGADETH's latest album, "TH1RT3EN", which came out on November 1, 2011.

"Public Enemy No. 1" actually marked the second Grammy nomination for music from "TH1RT3EN", as the song "Sudden Death" was first unveiled in the 2010 video game "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" and received a "Best Metal Performance" nod.

The official lyric video for "Murdered Love", the title track of the new album from Christian hard rockers P.O.D. (PAYABLE ON DEATH), can be seen below.

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

The "Lost In Forever" video was shot in the California desert with director Spence Nicholson (BLEEDING THROUGH, THE BLED). The song is available for download on iTunes.

"When Angels & Serpents Dance" sold 34,000 in the United States in its first week of release in April 2008 to debut at position No. 9 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, "Testify", registered a first-week tally of just over 54,000 back in February 2006 to land at No. 9.

"When Angels & Serpents Dance" featured guest appearances from the MARLEY SISTERS, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES singer Mike Muir and HELMET guitarist Page Hamilton.

"Murdered Love" lyric video: