The film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Rock Of Ages" — with an all-star cast including Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand — earned an abysmal $15.1 million in its opening weekend from 3,470 theaters for a per-screen average of $4,340. The film reportedly cost $75 million to produce, making it highly unlikely that it will match its production budget domestically.

Director Adam Shankman's "Hairspray" and "Mamma Mia!", both of which were also based on hit Broadway films, opened just north of $25 million.

"Rock Of Ages" didn't fare much better overseas, where it grossed $4.1 million from 10 markets. It came in No. 3 in the U.K. and Australia, earning $1.7 million and $1.4 million, respectively.

Tom Cruise stars in "Rock Of Ages" as Stacee Jaxx, an aging musician whose glory days are long past. The movie is a love story told through the music of PAT BENATAR, BON JOVI, JOURNEY, POISON, TWISTED SISTER and other artists from the 1980s.

The soundtrack to the film adaptation of "Rock Of Ages", which features the cast — Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand and Julianne Hough — singing some of the greatest hits of the "hair-band" era, sold 18,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at opposition No. 15 on The Billboard 200 chart. The original cast production of the stage show peaked at No. 118 in 2009.

Southern California's IN THIS MOMENT will release its fourth album, "Blood", on August 14 via longtime label Century Media Records. The CD was once again produced by Kevin Churko, who has previously worked with OZZY OSBOURNE and FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, among others.

IN THIS MOMENT began work on the new album just a few months following the departures of drummer Jeff Fabb and guitarist Blake Bunzel, who left the band late last year in order to join the backing group of "American Idol" finalist James Durbin. Fabb and Bunzel have since been replaced by Tom Hane (THYATEIRA) and Randy Weitzel (FLATLINE, 3/13, AMERICAN MASSACRE), respectively.

"Blood" track listing:

01. Rise With Me
02. Blood
03. Adrenalize
04. Whore
05. You're Gonna Listen
06. It Is Written
07. Burn
08. Scarlet
09. Aries
10. From The Ashes
11. Beast Within
12. Comanche
13. The Blood Legion
14. 11_11

Commented singer Maria Brink: "There are no words to describe how excited we are... We are on fire with this record. It's by far the most powerful material we have ever written.

"IN THIS MOMENT has gone through some big changes. I admit sometimes change is scary, especially when facing the unknown, but in this case everything has been perfectly meant to be. It's a brave, dark, hard-hitting album that will make you feel dirty inside, but still wanting more."

Added guitarist Chris Howorth: "Over the last [few] months, we have undergone some interesting changes within the band. As a result, Maria and I were brought closer together united in our mutual determination to top everything we have previously done with IN THIS MOMENT. It's our fourth album and we definitely have something to prove this time. During the writing process, Maria, Kevin and I are pushing ourselves to make sure every song is something unique and special. I honestly feel this is the most focused and powerful music we have ever created and I am beyond psyched to get it out there for people to hear."

In a recent interview with Australia's Loud magazine, Maria stated about IN THIS MOMENT's new material, "We brought some stuff to the table that we've never done before and it really sounds like something special, something new. I can't explain it; I mean, if you know our old music, when you hear the new stuff you're going to go, 'Holy shit, okay, I totally get it.' But I don't want to give away anything either, it's just unique; it's something new we've brought to the table. We found something special within us; we found this certain thing, so I'm excited for it."

Regarding IN THIS MOMENT's split with Fabb and Bunzel, Brink said, "You know how sometimes, you don't realize sometimes something happening (that's) traumatic, that it can be the most beautiful thing that could have happened to you? It's like one of those situations. It got really stripped back down to me and Chris [Howorth, guitar], and me and Chris started this band together, just me and him, and then it was like everybody came to the table, everybody brings their own influence. I believe it was all meant to be, all of those albums with them. I love them, I wish them the best. But it was almost like this new, with just me and Chris, this new fire, this new strength within me that I just… magical things started happening between what we started creating. And it's just so meant to be; it's meant to be that they moved on and some other things in my life, it's so cool 'cause it's just like this brand new everything and it feels really awesome. And you're going to be able to hear it."

MAIDEN UNITED, the all-acoustic IRON MAIDEN tribute project featuring Damian Wilson (THRESHOLD, AYREON) and Ruud Jolie (WITHIN TEMPTATION), is currently recording its second album, "Across The Seventh Sea". Video footage from the studio can be seen below. The CD will be released in September, after which MAIDEN UNITED will embark on a European tour in November and December.

MAIDEN UNITED is an IRON MAIDEN tribute project which performs classic MAIDEN songs in new acoustic arrangements.

Released in December 2010, MAIDEN UNITED's debut album, "Mind The Acoustic Pieces", was described sa "an acoustic reimagining of the entire classic IRON MAIDEN album 'Piece Of Mind' with new arrangements."

Contributing artists:

* Damian Wilson (THRESHOLD, AYREON): Vocals
* Ruud Jolie (WITHIN TEMPTATION): Guitar
* Joey Bruers (UP THE IRONS): Bass
* Marco Kuypers (SILKSTONE): Piano
* Mike Coolen (WITHIN TEMPTATION): Drums
* Anneke van Giersbergen (THE GATHERING, DEVIN TOWNSEND): Vocals

Studio footage:

Austrian "modern melodic death metallers" LOST DREAMS have released the following statement:

"We have decided to continue on without Stefan 'Schleifi' Traunig as the singer of LOST DREAMS. We are thankfull for the three years that we've had him in the band.

"Out of respect for everyone involved, we will not be discussing the specific reasons behind this decision.

"We wish Schleifi well for the future.

"So we are looking for a powerful singer to write a new chapter of LOST DREAMS with us!"

Interested parties can contact the band at contact@lost-dreams.com.

LOST DREAMS' "Demons Call My Name" video can be seen below. The clip was filmed in Vienna by Obscura Film.

"Demons Call My Name" comes off LOST DREAMS' fifth album, "Blinded By Rage", which was released on November 4, 2011 via Twilight Zone Records.

With hangovers still raging from last week's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, where THE DEFILED scooped the "Best New Band" award, London's saviors of alternative metal have revealed that they will begin work on the follow-up to last year's "Grave Times" album this summer.

Funding the album themselves via a campaign with Pledge Music, the band will fly to Audiohammer studios in Sanford, Florida this summer to record with Jason Suecof, whose work with the likes of TRIVIUM, ALL THAT REMAINS, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER and THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER has made him one of the most sought-after producers in metal.

"I remember a few years back I stumbled across a BURY YOUR DEAD album called 'Beauty And The Breakdown', which had the most insane guitar tone I'd ever heard," explains THE DEFILED frontman Stitch D. "Ever since then we've been trying to emulate that kinda production ourselves. When given the opportunity to choose the producer for our next record there was no question about it. We wanted Jason Suecof. The albums he had done in the past had the sound that we wanted.

"I met with him last year at his studio, Audiohammer, where we discussed doing a record. As well as being a talented dude he's also one of the funniest guys I've ever met.

"Nice as he is, the man is going to want paying at the end of it all, so we really need your support with our Pledge Music campaign. We're just over halfway, with just over half of our target to meet, so this is a call to arms for our fans to dig deep and help us out — we promise you we will deliver an album that will make you proud to have been a part of, and we can't wait for you to hear our new songs!"

Fans can pledge their support at this location, where among other things, they can bid for a live performance from THE DEFILED at their house, a copy of the brand new album with their name on the thanks list and an eat-and-greet on their upcoming tour with DRAGONFORCE.

THE DEFILED will support GODSMACK this coming Wednesday at London's HMV Forum.

"Drawing Flies", the new video from Swedish industrial hardcore terrorists MASS MURDER AGENDA — who feature in their ranks former members of GRAVE and FACE DOWN — can be seen below. The song comes off the band's debut album, "Bring The Violence", which was released on May 25 via Black Lodge Records.

MASS MURDER AGENDA was formed in the summer of 2009 by bass player Joakim Hedestedt (FACE DOWN, NATION BEYOND, ex-CONSTRUCDEAD) who wanted to "mix thrash and industrial metal with no intention at all of being original; [he] just [wanted the band to sound] aggressive enough to play live. After writing four "bone-crushing" songs, he joined forces with vocalist Tristan Agdler (ex-NIL), programmer Henrik Blomqvist (ex-FACE DOWN), drummer Christoffer Barkensjö (CARNAL FORGE, CONSTRUCDEAD, FACE DOWN, KAAMOS) and guitarist Martin Sundberg (ex-SEXY DEATH).

According to a press release, MASS MURDER AGENDA "combines influences from such legendary acts as MINISTRY, SLAYER, COMBICHRIST, NINE INCH NAILS and KILLING JOKE whilst, of course, generating a sound of [its] own, a sound that is sadly missing in today's metal scene."

Barkensjö recently decided to reunite with MASS MURDER AGENDA as a permanent member. He will still continue his work with Jesper Strömblad's (ex-IN FLAMES) new band THE RESISTANCE as a side project to MASS MURDER AGENDA.

MASS MURDER AGENDA is:

Tristan Agdler - Vocals
Joakim Hedestedt - Bass
Martin Sundberg - Guitar
Henrik Blomqvist - Audio Warfare
Chris Barkensjö - Drums

Australian/Los Angeles tech-metal masters DEVOLVED have recorded a cover version of the EXHORDER song "Cadence Of The Dirge", to be included as a bonus track on DEVOLVED's forthcoming album, due out in November. "Cadence Of The Dirge" was originally featured on the EXHORDER album "The Law", which was released by Roadrunner Records in 1992.

Commented DEVOLVED drummer John Sankey: "EXHORDER was one of the first metal bands who mixed a modern thrash sound with really powerful grooves. I was so blown away when I first heard them. They are such an underrated band who deserve a lot of credit for being a major influence on a whole new style which dominated the metal scene in the '90s.

"I have always wanted to cover 'Cadence Of The Dirge'; to this day it is still one of the heaviest songs I've ever heard, and since this year is the 20th anniversary of 'The Law' the timing was perfect to record it for the new DEVOLVED album.

"I emailed Monte Conner (Senior VP A&R at Roadrunner Records) the recording we did of the song and he actually sent it on to Kyle Thomas (ex-EXHORDER vocalist who performed on the original version), Kyle contacted me shortly after saying, 'The cover sounds really amazing, you guys did the song justice, great work.'"

All music on the new DEVOLVED album was written and performed by John Sankey and Mark Hawkins (ROBOTS PULLING LEVERS), with lyrics and arrangement by Sankey. The vocals were performed by DEVOLVED's new lead singer, Mark Haggblad (UNVEIL THE STRENGTH), following the departure of Kyle Zemanek (DEADSETT). The CD will feature guest appearances from several noteable artists, including ALL SHALL PERISH guitarist Francesco Artusato. Songtitles set to appear on the effort include "Systematic Avenger", "Collateral Damage", "Accelerated Human Degeneration" and "Terminal Enslavement".

A demo version of "Systematic Avenger" can be streamed in the the YouTube clip below.

Commented Sankey: "This is the fastest, heaviest and most accomplished DEVOLVED album yet. We pushed the boundaries as far as possible with these songs, I can't wait for people to hear it!"

Sankey late last year recorded all the demo drum sessions for the new FEAR FACTORY album, "The Industrialist", and co-wrote and programmed all the drum parts, along with FF guitarist Dino Cazares, for the final CD. He was unable to join FEAR FACTORY as the band's new touring drummer due to visa restrictions.

Cazares previously stated about the new DEVOLVED material, "Systematic brutality at its best. Raising the bar once again with their intellectual song arrangements [and] insane drum patterns that would make any tech metal fan turn their heads. This band just keeps getting better and better. Welcome to the end of everything that you once knew and say hello to the future."

DEVOLVED's last album, "Oblivion", was released in May 2011 via Unique Leader Records.

MOTHER ROAD is the brainchild of Austin, Texas-based rock singer Keith Slack and Berlin, Germany-based guitarist Chris Lyne.

Named after "The Mother Road," another name for the legendary and historic Route 66 highway, this international hard blues rock band is impressively transferring the vintage sounds and the trademarks of this genre into the new decade. Based on mutual musical influences, MOTHER ROAD was founded in 2011 when Slack and Lyne felt the chemistry between them was right and the songwriting process soon accelerated. In the meantime, the lineup was completed by the addition of drummer Carsten Klick and bassist Frank Binke.

Guitarist Chris Lyne is well known for his astonishing work with his previous group SOUL DOCTOR. His main influences include some of the greatest British guitar players such as Gary Moore, Jimmy Page, Paul Kossoff and John Sykes. American singer Keith Slack acted as frontman of the bands STEELHOUSE LANE and MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP (MSG), and also his own blues-influenced hard rock band MUDPIE. Slack's influences include a whole variety of styles and music from bands including Paul Rodgers, LED ZEPPELIN, THE BLACK CROWES, KING'S X and THE CULT.

English rock act GLAMOUR OF THE KILL has signed a worldwide deal with eOne Music. The band's as-yet-untitled albm will be released later this year.

Commented GLAMOUR OF THE KILL frontman Davey Richmond: "We're really excited to be have signed to eOne Music. As a band we love what we do and getting the opportunity to spread it globally is an exciting prospect for us."

He continued, "After how well we've been received in the U.K. and Europe, it means so much to us to be able to take our music across to the U.S. and the rest of the world now, and we look forward to working with a label who understands what GLAMOUR OF THE KILL are all about."

GLAMOUR OF THE KILL has been generating buzz ever since its debut EP, "Through The Dark They March", came out in 2007. The success of the EP led to tours with BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, DRAGONFORCE, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and most notably a performance on the main stage of Download festival in 2008. A full-length studio album called "The Summoning" followed in 2011.

GLAMOUR OF THE KILL is: Davey Richmond (lead vocals, bass), Chris Gomerson (guitar, backing vocals), Mike Kingswood (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Ben Thomson (drums, backing vocals).

"Nothing To Lose", the new video from U.K. rockers THE TREATMENT, can be seen below. The track comes off the band's debut album, "This Might Hurt", which was made available in Europe last year by Spinefarm Records. A U.S. release will follow on July 17.

THE TREATMENT will support KISS and MÖTLEY CRÜE on their upcoming North American co-headlining tour, simply dubbed "The Tour", which will kick off on July 20 in Bristow, Virginia and run through September 23 in Hartford, Connecticut.

Since the release of the album outside of North America, THE TREATMENT has done extensive touring in Europe — supporting ALICE COOPER, MOTÖRHEAD, STEEL PANTHER and THIN LIZZY.

THE TREATMENT was recently in the studio laying down tracks for a brand new EP; as with the band's debut album, production has been overseen by Laurie Mansworth at IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris' Barnyard Studios, with Tony Newton taking care of the mix.

The track listing for the EP — a choice selection of '70s covers — is as follows:-

01. Run Run Run (JO JO GUNNE)
02. Take Me Bake 'Ome (SLADE)
03. Evil Woman (ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA)
04. Motorbikin' (CHRIS SPEDDING)
05. Let's Work Together (CANNED HEAT)

Fan-filmed video footage of the legendary Danish/American/Swedish heavy metal band KING DIAMOND performing the song "Eye Of The Witch" this past Friday, June 15 at Hellfest in Clisson, France can be seen below.

KING DIAMOND made its return to the live stage on June 9 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

Danish heavy metal singer King Diamond (KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE) (real name: Kim Bendix Petersen), 55, underwent open-heart triple-bypass surgery in November 2010. He has since completed his cardiac rehabilitation program and has stopped smoking entirely, changed his diet and is getting regular exercise, according to his wife Livia Zita.

King Diamond made his long-anticipated return to the stage with his MERCYFUL FATE bandmates Hank Shermann, Timi Hansen and Michael Denner on December 7, 2011 at the second of four intimate shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of METALLICA's week-long celebration of its 30th anniversary as a band for fan club members only.

King Diamond played a surprise three-song set on January 27 at Tree's in Dallas, Texas during the "5th Annual Nomad Recording Studio Throwdown". King, who appeared without his trademark makeup, was joined for the performance by Michael Harris on guitar, Neil Brincks on bass, J.T. Longoria on guitar and Matt Thompson (KING DIAMOND, SHAOLIN DEATH SQUAD) on drums. King also presented awards at the event, which featured additional performances by BORN & RAISED, SHAOLIN DEATH SQUAD, LOVE STRICKEN DEMISE and RIVETHEAD.

Official Metallica.com footage of METALLICA's meet-and-greet, pre-show tuning-room jam and "The Shortest Straw " performance at the Sonisohere festival on June 4 in Helsinki, Finland can be viewed below.

METALLICA performed its top-selling 1991 LP, "Metallica", a.k.a. "the black album," in its entirety at the Helsinki concert. As they have done on all the shows on their current European tour, the band played the LP backwards, starting with closing number "The Struggle Within" and ending with "Enter Sandman".

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Hit The Lights
02. Master Of Puppets
03. The Shortest Straw
04. For Whom The Bell Tolls
05. Hell And Back
06. The Struggle Within
07. My Friend Of Misery
08. The God That Failed
09. Of Wolf & Man
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. Through The Never
12. Don't Tread On Me
13. Wherever I May Roam
14. The Unforgiven
15. Holier Than Thou
16. Sad But True
17. Enter Sandman

Encore:

18. Fight Fire With Fire
19. One
20. Seek & Destroy

One of the most intriguing and mysterious projects on METALLICA's upcoming schedule is the band's 3D movie, which begins filming later this summer and will mix concert footage with a storyline. Drummer Lars Ulrich spoke with Rolling Stone about the project for the magazine's METALLICA cover story, saying, "This has been circling for two years. It's time to life-size it, get it out of our minds and on the screen. And if it's done right, it can be sensational. You're not watching METALLICA onstage. You're onstage with METALLICA. In IMAX, James Hetfield is 38 feet tall, snotting on you, spitting on you. It's 2,000 decibels. If there is an earthquake outside, you wouldn't notice."

Ulrich explained that the sheer power of presenting a METALLICA concert that way forced the group to add more to the movie, saying, "You can't do that for 100 minutes. It loses its appeal. There is another element in there — intimate, small, a story that takes place over the same trajectory as the concert. The question is, 'Where do they weave in and out of each other?'"

METALLICA is financing the project itself and has hired "Predators" director Nimród Antal to get behind the camera. Antal will film the band'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."

The first-ever METALLICA-curated Orion Music + More festival will take place on June 23-24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The group is headlining both days and will perform its entire 1984 album "Ride The Lightning" for the first time ever on one day, and its entire 1991 "black album" on the other.

Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, STEVE VAI, LAMB OF GOD, DARKEST HOUR, GWAR) played four shows in London in November 2011 dedicated to his tetralogy album concept — a great journey through Devin's different states of musical moods — which he started in 2009 with the albums "Addicted" (2009) and "Ki" (2009) and finished with last year's "Deconstruction" and "Ghost". The concerts were professionally recorded and filmed for a unique box-set release, which he has decided to call "By A Thread - Live in London 2011".

Due on June 18 in Europe and June 19 in North America through HevyDevy Records/InsideOut Music, "By A Thread - Live in London 2011" will contain all four shows on four DVDs, plus a five-CD set (the four albums and one disc with all of the encores).

A live clip of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT performing "Ghost" — taken from "By A Thread - Live in London 2011" — can be seen below.

Commented Devin: "The amount of work and memory that went into that event has been captured by an even more herculean event by the folks making the DVDs, and finally I get to see what we did those nights! It's another situation of releasing a product that we think is really cool, and have gone the extra distance to make it worth your while if you're the type that supports by buying physical product... it's great! So if you weren't there, this is as close as you can get."

"Ghost" performance clip:

Metal Blade Records has announced the signing of German progressive death metallers OVER YOUR THRESHOLD. The band's full-length debut, "Facticity", will be released on August 28 (one day earlier internationally).

"Facticity" track listing:

01. Cortical Blindness
02. Contextual Fluctuating
03. Obscure Mind Stasis
04. Self Exhibition
05. Desolation Row
06. Antic
07. Abdicated
08. Body Part Illusion
09. Facticity

The song Antic can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below.

Hailing from Munich, OVER YOUR THRESHOLD began playing live in 2007. After numerous gigs with renowned death metal acts like OBSCURA, DEADBORN and HOKUM, the band made a name for itself in the local metal scene. The band's first record, "Progress In Disbelief" (EP), was independently released in 2008.

Over the years, OVER YOUR THRESHOLD's brand of death metal evolved and currently includes a bit of thrash and some fusion components.

In 2011, OVER YOUR THRESHOLD entered Woodshed Studio in Landshut, Germany to record its first full-length album, entitled "Facticity". The sound of "Facticity" is not only more blasting but also more technical, interspersed with energetic death metal riffing as well as melodic acoustic guitars. It's enriched by brute-force blast beats, thrash metal, jazzy harmonics and the distinct tones of smooth, fretless bass. Furthermore, the band recruited guest musicians Steffen Kummerer (OBSCURA, THULCANDRA) and Jonas Fischer (HOKUM, ex-OBSCURA) to jazz up the effort, which was mixed and mastered by V. Santura (TRIPTYKON, DARK FORTRESS).

Commented OVER YOUR THRESHOLD: "Metal Blade Records ranges among the highest renowned labels for extreme metal music and we are very glad about the possibility to release our upcoming debut album, 'Facticity', via such a strong partner. We are looking forward to work with Metal Blade and the future development!"

OVER YOUR THRESHOLD is:

Ludwig Walter - Vocals
Lukas Spielberger - Guitar
Kilian Lau - Guitar
Christian Siegmund - Bass
Julian Matejka - Drums

According to Terrorizer.com, guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH is putting the finishing touches to his autobiography. Enitled "Sacrum Profanum", the book is "like a really long in-depth interview," according to Nergal.

In addition to publishing the book, Nergal will be working with Polish producers Grupa 13, with whom he had previously collaborated on the BEHEMOTH videos "At The Left Hand Ov God" and "Ov Fire And The Void", on several promotional clips.

"We're shooting some trailers to support it," Nergal said. "The episodes will be little portraits of certain chapters of the book."

"Sacrum Profanum" is due in September.

France's Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with British guitarist, keyboard player and vocalist Steven Wilson of PORCUPINE TREE and STORM CORROSION. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Radio Metal: At the beginning, you described STORM CORROSION as very surprising for both PORCUPINE TREE and OPETH fans. Since then, OPETH's album "Heritage" and the STEVEN WILSON album have been released, and you said that, considering those two albums, STORM CORROSION wasn't that surprising. Do you regret that those two records came out before this one? Would you have preferred to released it first, in order to really surprise the audience?

Steven Wilson: No, I think it's probably better. I think it's worked out better in the end. Had STORM CORROSION come out maybe a year ago or two years ago, I think it would probably have got a lot more of a negative reaction than it has. It seems to me that people were a little bit more prepared and a little bit more willing to accept the direction of STORM CORROSION because they'd heard "Heritage" and "Grace For Drowning". For me, the album is very much a kind of final part in a trilogy of records. I guess I'm moving away from the more conventional rock music vocabulary into a more orchestrated, organic world. So I don't regret it, it's worked out very well in this order. I think the album that had the hardest time was probably OPETH's "Heritage". I think Mikael [Åkerfeldt of OPETH and STORM CORROSION] had a very hard time with the metal fans, particularly, accepting their record. But he knew he would, he expected that. But I think in time, this record will come to be seen as a classic and a masterpiece, as all OPETH's albums are.

Radio Metal: Isn't it sad that you have to prepare fans to a big musical change, like you did with those two records before you released STORM CORROSION?

Steven Wilson: It's just human nature, isn't it? The nature of music fandom and music fans is that, very often, they fall in love with a band or a particular artist, and they really would like… I'm talking generally, that's not everyone. But a vast majority of the fanbase would prefer the band to keep making the same record and the same style of music over and over again. That, to me, is not interesting. I like artists that tend to be more interested in reinventing themselves, in experimenting. I think one of the things that you accept when you go in that direction is that you will lose some of your fans with each new release. Some of your fans will not understand and not accept the direction you're going. But the important thing is, if you consider yourself to a true artist, you have to be selfish and you have to follow your own instincts. Is it sad that STORM CORROSION needs to be explained to people before they can accept it? I don't think it's sad, I think it's inevitable. I think it's just human nature. Human beings find change very difficult. They find change is something that can be quite an awkward thing to adjust to. It applies to music, it applies to life, it applies to everything.

Radio Metal: At the beginning, Mike Portnoy [DREAM THEATER] was part of this project but was excluded because you felt the music would have little room for drums. But in the end, there are some percussive elements and Gavin Harrison played on the album. Why didn't you call Mike Portnoy back, since he wanted to be part of the project initially?

Steven Wilson: I don't think Mike would have liked this music. I might be wrong, but I don't think it would have been his kind of music. Gavin's the drummer for me, anyway. I think Gavin is one of the top five drummers in the whole world. And he lives about ten miles from me, so it was easy for me to get Gavin involved. I might be wrong, but I don't think Mike would've liked this kind of music. I think he's more of a metal/rock guy. But maybe I'm wrong.

Radio Metal: So you didn't even try to call him back?

Steven Wilson: No. I'm not really a fan, to be honest, of…[he hesitates]. Anyway, Gavin is someone I thought would be perfect for this particular style of music. He loves jazz music. He's not really a metal drummer, although he can do that. He's a very flexible drummer.

Radio Metal: On another subject, will you tour with STORM CORROSION?

Steven Wilson: Not this time, no. I think, maybe, if we get to the point where we make a second record, we might think about it. But right now, I'm on tour with my solo album, and Mikael's on tour with OPETH for most of the rest of this year. So it wouldn't be possible anyway. And also, I'm not sure how we would do it. I'm not sure what lineup of musicians could recreate this music live. You heard it, so you know it's very fragile, orchestrated music. I'm not sure how we would do that in a live context. But maybe, if we get to do a second record, we'll have a better idea of how we might do that. I certainly wouldn't rule it out in the future, but we're not doing it for this record.

Radio Metal: So you do plan to record other albums with that project?

Steven Wilson: Because we're so happy with this one, we'll certainly get together again and start writing together. Whether it will be something completely different or a second STORM CORROSION album, I don't know. But I would be very surprised if Mikael and myself wouldn't at least try again to collaborate on something, because we had a great time. We're so proud of this record. There's something about it that's so pure and so outside of everything else. It feels like it's so much removed from the rest of the music world. We're very proud of that fact. Yes, we'll definitely try, I'm sure.

Read the entire interview from Radio Metal.

"Drag Ropes" video:

British heavy metal band ELIXIR will play its final farewell shows on Saturday, October 13 at The Bridge House, East London and on Saturday, October 20 at De Verlichte Geest in Roselare, Belgium.

Commented ELIXIR guitarist Phil Denton: "Since we reformed in 2002, we have had a fantastic 10 years playing live in Greece, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria, Norway, Spain and the USA and have received warm and enthusiastic welcomes from fans in those countries. We will miss you as much as we will miss playing together on stage. We also had the opportunity to record three more studio albums since our reformation, and feel that our most recent, 2010's 'All Hallows Eve', is not a bad way to finish our recording career. I love Paul, Norman, Kevin and Nigel like brothers and will miss their talent, friendship and above all, their humor and wish them well for the future. We plan to have a good drink together and enjoy each other's company one last time when we are together for the final shows, and then plan to finish off in style by rocking hard on stage! We hope to see you there!"

Following the decision to play their final shows with ELIXIR in October, vocalist Paul Taylor and Denton have agreed to continue working together on a new project. The pair had been writing new material together for what was intended to be a new ELIXIR album and felt that the new material was worth continuing with and hoped to bring the songs to life with a new band. "As it will not be the original five members, we didn't wish to continue as ELIXIR. However, our new band will be in much the same vein, and we may well include a few ELIXIR favorites in our live set," said Phil. "We are currently looking for an awesome drummer and bass player to work with. A good personality and sense of humour, along with a professional attitude is what we are looking for most."

Die Female Fronted Metal Band SIX MAGICS aus Santiago in Chile wird am 2. Juli 2012 ihr neues Album mit dem Titel "Falling Angels" via Coroner Records veröffentlichen. Das Label hat jetzt das "Falling Angels" Cover Artwork, die Track List und ein Live Video vom neuen Song "Another Name" online gestellt.

"Falling Angels" Track List:

01. Another Name
02. Falling Angels
03. Rolled
04. Dreamer (B:O:M)
05. Do You Remember?
06. Sick & Tired
07. Icy Lips
08. Start Another War
09. Suicide
10. Why
11. Binsfeld
12. How To Live
13. I Know

Drummer Hans Rutten of Dutch/Norwegian rockers THE GATHERING recently spoke to Greece's RockOverdose.gr about the band's tenth studio album, "Disclosure", which is scheduled for release on September 12 via Psychonaut Records.

"It's almost finished," Rutten said. "We mixed the album, and we're busy with mastering, which is a long process, to get everything in the right place, and of course, the mastering process itself, but it's almost finished. On and off, we worked two years on the album, and I'm really very, very happy with it. We've tried a lot of new things, but it's still THE GATHERING sound, and I think we've evolved, and I'm really happy. We had some ideas with this record. We wanted to make an album with more epic songs, longer songs, songs with dynamics, and also changes, like we did in the past, which we didn't do on 'Home' and 'The West Pole'. It just happened. We had some ideas lying around, we felt it would be cool to combine the parts we had. We had an urge to make a very atmospheric album. 'The West Pole' is more rock-orientated, it has some atmospheric parts of course. This time, it's way more dreamy; it's not ambient, because there's a lot of rhythms involved, it's more dream rock! We already used the term trip rock, it's perfect for it. It's still THE GATHERING, you can really hear it, but we tried, of course, a lot of new elements on it. You can also hear it on the last single we have released, 'Meltdown'. . . We have some songs which are six, seven minutes and there's one other very long song which is almost nine minutes, so yes, we have a lot of long songs. Also some small songs, but especially long songs. It's one of the strongest points of THE GATHERING. Of course we look at the past, and a lot of people really like the long songs, because we're quite good at making atmospheres; it's our strongest point. This is what we tried to achieve on this album. . . 'The West Pole', it was quite harsh, maybe. Rock songs now and then, it was really in the now. Right now, it's much more dreamy. It's the thing we wanted to do. It's a starting point with writing songs. We had a lot of ideas lying around, and we just picked up the atmospheric ones. But there's a lot of diversity in these songs, there's one song that's really industrial, kind of strange, a very slow, doomy, one song that's up-tempo - it's not happy, but there's a positive feeling going around. There's a very heavy ending of a song — of course, I can't talk a lot about it, but it also has a bit of surprise for listeners also. But it's a very diverse album. I think it's a good album, organic and electronic sounds. We worked a bit more with electronics, like we did with 'Souvenirs', and a bit with 'Home'. It's a bit back again, it just happens."

Rutten also revealed that THE GATHERING will release a 10-inch vinyl EP containing "some exclusive tracks." More details about the effort, which will arrive around the same time as the full-length CD, will be made available soon.

The "Disclosure" cover artwork was created by the Chilean artist Carlos Vergara Rivera. THE GATHERING keyboardist Frank Boeijen says, "The handcrafted cover art is inspired by our track 'Heroes For Ghosts', which we released last year."

"Disclosure" track listing:

01. Paper Waves
02. Meltdown
03. Gemini I
04. Heroes For Ghosts
05. Missing Seasons
06. See For Miles
07. Paralyzed
08. Gemini II

The new song "Meltdown" can be streamed below. According to the band, it is "an epic song with emotional atmosphere and a typical THE GATHERING touch. This time, though, the band also has a brand new voice coloring the song: Frank Boeijen!"

"Meltdown" lyrics:

(I)

It's time to leave - this eerie sound
I cared but failed - the ones I love
I guess its just - what comes around

We try to bend - but then it breaks
What kind of mind - makes these odd shakes
I can't believe - it ends all here

You pull me down

You always failed

You pull me down - I fake a laugh - I sway
You broke my heart – I fell so hard always
Because of you I'm still afraid today

It's time to leave - this eerie sound
I cared but failed - the ones I love
I guess its just - what comes around

You pull me down

You pull me down - I fake a laugh - I sway
You broke my heart – I fell so hard always
Because of you I'm still afraid today
Because of you I'm still afraid today

(II)

I will not give you what you think that you earn from me
I will not make the same mistakes you always made
I tried to show you that I cared although you always failed
I was too young to have known better - better than you

You could have kept all those stories to your self

I tried to show you that I cared although you always failed
I was too young to have known better - better than you (End of lyrics)

THE GATHERING's new CD includes the song "Heroes For Ghosts", which was made available for free download last year at the group's Bandcamp page. A video for the track was shot in Norway by the band's "dear friend" Marcus Moonen and can be seen below.

THE GATHERING's previous album, "The West Pole", was released in North America on June 2, 2009 via Season of Mist. The CD was issued in most of Europe on May 4, 2009 via the group's own label, Psychonaut Records.

"The West Pole" marks the recording debut of new THE GATHERING singer Silje Wergeland, who was previously in the Norwegian band OCTAVIA SPERATI. It also included two very talented guest vocalists, Anne van den Hoogen and Marcela Bovio (STREAM OF PASSION), along with other guest musicians.

Singer Anneke van Giersbergen announced her departure from THE GATHERING in 2007. She has since released four albums on her own and with her AGUA DE ANNIQUE solo project: "Air" (2007), "Pure Air" (2009), "In Your Room" (2009) and "Everything Is Changing" (2012).

According to People.com, Ozzy Osbourne's 26-year-old son Jack has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Jack and his fiancée, actress Lisa Stelly, welcomed a daughter named Pearl Clementine on April 24.

"I was just angry and frustrated and kept thinking, 'Why now?'" Jack tells People.com. "I've got a family and that's what's supposed to be the most important thing."

Multiple sclerosis (or MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another.

Swedish death metallers SYN:DROM have completed recording their sophomore album at Nevo studios in Sundsvall, Sweden. The mixing sessions for the as-yet-untitled CD will be overseen by bandmembers Roger Bergsten (guitar) and Daniel Mikaelsson (drums) at the same facility in July. A late 2012 release via via ViciSolum Productions is expected.

SYN:DROM previously stated that their forthcoming album would contain "the most powerful and aggressive material" the group has ever created.

SYN:DROM's debut album, "With Flesh Unbound", came out in April 2010 via ViciSolum Productions.

The band previously described its musical direction as "high-quality death metal in the vein of HATE ETERNAL, AEON and DECAPITATED."

SYN:DROM is:

Jonny Pettersson (BONEGOD, MOURNING, HUMAN HARVEST) - Vocals
Roger Bergsten (PSYCHO POETRY, ex-HECTORITE) - Guitar
David Karlsson - Lead Guitar
Daniel Mikaelsson (MOURNING) - Drums
Daniel Åsén - Bass

Northern California extremists RINGS OF SATURN will release their sophomore album, "Dingir" (din-jeer), on November 20 via Unique Leader Records. The CD, which will have a running time of roughly 42 minutes, will feature the following tracks:

01. Objective to Harvest (4:06)
02. Galactic Cleansing (3:28)
03. Shards of Scorched Flesh (3:08)
04. Feast Upon their Bowels (3:35)
05. Faces Imploding (5:51)
06. Peeling Arteries (4:05)
07. Hyperforms (3:50)
08. Fruitless Existence (3:13)
09. Immaculate Order (4:37)
10. Utopia (instrumental, 5:25)

Commented RINGS OF SATURN guitarist Lucas Mann: "Instrumentally, we wanted to expand on the chaotic sound that we have become known for in 'Embryonic Anomaly', but at the same time wanted to add in new progressive and melodic elements that would compliment all the dissonance found in our music. This is very apparent on the instrumental track, Utopia, and on the second-to-last track, 'Immaculate Order', where you will find that we concentrated solely on progressive melody. Lyrically, the album stays true to the subjects that RINGS OF SATURN is known for. The album title, 'Dingir', translates over from ancient Sumerian language meaning deity, god, or sky. In the stance of the album, Dingir portrays the aliens as gods who created man, and also harvest and ultimately destroy the human civilization."

RINGS OF SATURN is:

Lucas Mann - Guitar
Joel Omans - Guitar
Ian Bearer - Vocals
Sean Martinez - Bass
Ian Baker - Drums

Video footage of OBITUARY's June 17 performance at Dynamo in Eindhoven, Holland can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Brazil's Radio Evil, OBITUARY guitarist Trevor Peres stated about what fans can expect from the band's next studio album, "It's pure OBITUARY, you know. It's what every fan would expect from us — fast, slow, in between, brutal… [vocalist] John Tardy going [imitating growling sound]."

He added, "We're actually in the middle of writing new stuff now. We've been, actually, writing for probably a year. We've got a bunch of songs. When we get home from this trip [to South America], we're gonna record three songs, and we're probably gonna release a seven-inch [containing] two songs, and then one song is probably gonna be digital release only, through our web site. We're talking to Century Media about possibly doing a deal with them. That's still in the works. Hopefully by the end of the year we'll have the full-length album out."

On some of its recent concerts, OBITUARY's touring lineup included MONSTROSITY drummer Lee Harrison on second guitar.

Guitarist Ralph Santolla, who joined OBITUARY in 2007 as the replacement for Allen West, has not played any shows with the group since last year.

OBITUARY's next album will be the follow-up to the "Darkest Day" full-length CD, released in 2009 via Candlelight Records.

"Darkest Day" landed at position No. 32 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

Former DEEP PURPLE/RAINBOW and current BLACKMORE'S NIGHT guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (a.k.a. Richard Hugh) and his wife, BLACKMORE'S NIGHT singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Candice Night (a.k.a. Candice Lauren), welcomed their second child, Rory Dartanyan, on February 7. The couple have a two-year old daughter, Autumn Esmerelda.

Ritchie, 67, and Candice, 41, were married on October 5, 2008 at a small gathering of friends and family at Castle on the Hudson in Tarrytown, New York.

The third BLACKMORE'S NIGHT DVD release, "A Knight In York", will be made available on DVD, Blu-ray, CD and 3-LP set (limited edtion) in late June/early July.

"A Knight In York" was filmed and recorded during BLACKMORE'S NIGHT's British tour at York Opera House on September 30, 2011.

BLACKMORE'S NIGHT's latest album, "Autumn Sky", came out in 2010.

Fan-filmed video footage of Sebastian Bach's June 14 concert at O2 Academy Islington in London, England can be seen 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.

Candlelight Records werden das vierte Solo Album „Eremita“, vom ehemaligen EMPEROR Sänger/Gitarrist IHSAHN am 18. Juni in Europa und am 19. Juni in Nord Amerika veröffentlichen. Das Album wurde aufgenommen und produziert im Ivory Shoulder Studio in Telemark. Gemixt wurde „Eremita“ von Jens Bogren (OPETH) im Fascination Street Studio in Örebro in Schweden. Neben IHSAHN wirkten folgende Künstler mit, der Drummer Tobias Ornes Andersen (LEPROUS), Saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby (Norway's SHINING), Gitarrist Jeff Loomis (Ex-NEVERMORE) und die Sänger Devin Townsend, Einar Solberg (LEPROUS), und Heidi S. Tveitan (STAROFASH). Das Packaging wurde vom spanischen Designer Ritxi Ostariz kreiert.

Das neue Album "Eremita wurde jetzt HIER komplett als Stream online gestellt.!