Do you love to sing? Would you like to learn more about your voice and its potential? Former AFTER FOREVER and current REVAMP singer Floor Jansen can teach you all there is to know in a customized program and help you reach whatever goal you’ve set for yourself! Beginner or experienced; Floor can teach you to improve your skill set and enjoy singing to the max!

What can you expect from Floor's 100% customized lessons? Learn and work on:

* Warming-up exercises;
* Breathing and breathing support exercises;
* The proper use of vocal techniques;
* Song interpretation;
* How to train, not strain, your vocal cords;
* How to use several proven vocal methods such as Complete Vocal Technique (CVT).

After your lessons are finished, Floor will provide you with a detailed evaluation of your progress and a personal advice on how to keep practicing at home so you can continue to improve your skill set.

For more information, watch the video below and visit www.floorjansen.com.

"Land Of The Dead", the new video from JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR — the U.S. power metal act led by former VIRGIN STEELE guitarist Jack Starr — can be seen below. The song is the title track of the band's latest studio album, which was released on November 11, 2011 via Limb Music. The CD was produced by Bart Gabriel (CRYSTAL VIPER, SACRED STEEL, LONEWOLF), and features cover artwork by Ken Kelly (RAINBOW, KISS, MANOWAR).

"Land Of The Dead" was recorded by the same lineup that was responsible for 2009's "Defiance" album: Starr on guitar, Ned Meloni on bass, Kenny "Rhino" Earl (ex-MANOWAR) on drums, and Todd Hall on vocals. The CD also features guest appearances by David Shankle and Ross The Boss (both ex-MANOWAR) on lead guitar, and Marta Gabriel (CRYSTAL VIPER) on grand piano and keyboards.

As previously reported, JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR will play an exclusive show at the 2013 edition of the Keep It True festival in Germany. The group's setlist will include classic songs from the early JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR albums, songs taken from the band's new CD, "Land Of The Dead", and select cuts from Starr's previous bands VIRGIN STEELE, PHANTOM LORD and GUARDIANS OF THE FLAME. The entire show will be filmed for a special DVD release, which will be out in 2014 — the 30th anniversary of JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR. Also in the works are European live shows for 2013.

JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR album from 1986, "No Turning Back!", will be reissued on July 25 via Skol Records. This will be the first official CD re-release of this LP since 1998. The remastered reissue will include new artwork (painted by the famous Polish artist Tomasz Oracz) and will contain two bonus tracks and thick booklet with all lyrics and many previously unseen photos. The CD will be limited to, only 1000 copies.

On May 11th, DREAM THEATER launched a video contest, inviting fans to submit home made video clips for the song 'Lost Not Forgotten' with the winning clip due to be shown during the band's upcoming world tour. The band has issued the following update:

"First of all we'd like to say thank you and congratulations to all of you who participated in the contest. We were so inspired to see such creative and artistic entries, and choosing a winner was not an easy task! We are happy to announce that the winning video comes from Byunghoon Lee from South Korea! The visual elements and effects as well as the way it was carefully synchronized so accurately with the music made this one stand out to all of us. Now we look forward to seeing your awesome video on the screens behind us as we perform 'Lost Not Forgotten' during the upcoming Dream Theater North American tour. Congratulations!"

RISING WEST, the new band featuring Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren of QUEENSRŸCHE, along with powerhouse vocalist Todd La Torre of CRIMSON GLORY, played its first two shows ever last Friday (June 8) and Saturday, June 9 at the Hard Rock Café in Seattle, Washington. The band performed rare and classic hits from the first five QUEENSRŸCHE albums — from the 1983 EP through 1990's "Empire" — as well as a cover version of the IRON MAIDEN staple "Wrathchild".

Fan-filmed video footage of the "Warning" performance from the June 8 concert can be seen below.

Commented Wilton: "To all our friends and fans — thank you for the support this weekend for the debut RISING WEST invasion!! Of our two shows, both were SOLD OUT!! We injected the metal everyone has been longing for and served it in slab size proportions! Thank you to our hard working crew, the Hard Rock Café Seattle, and our friends WINDOWPANE for making this a historical and FUN event!!!"

RISING WEST's setlist for both shows was as follows:

01. Queen Of The Reich
02. Speak
03. Walk In The Shadows
04. En Force
05. Child Of Fire
06. The Whisper
07. Warning
08. The Needle Lies
09. Take Hold Of The Flame
10. Prophecy
11. My Empty Room
12. Eyes Of A Stranger

Encore:

13. Wrathchild (IRON MAIDEN cover)
14. Roads To Madness

Speaking to "The Men's Room" radio show, which airs on the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM, Wilton stated about the formation of RISING WEST and the status of QUEENSRŸCHE, "We have some time off this year, so we put a project and this kind of turned into this monumental, epic band. And we're doing that as kind of a side thing away from QUEENSRŸCHE." He added, "We still very much are QUEENSRŸCHE, and QUEENSRŸCHE will be continuing on. We want to just have some fun, play some old 'RŸCHE, bring back some memories and just kick it."

Regarding his involvement with RISING WEST, Todd said, "For me to be able to come in and be asked to perform these songs is an honor. It's a lot of fun. I have personal attachment to some of these songs. When my grandmother passed away, I remember riding in my car and listening to the [QUEENSRŸCHE] song 'Roads To Madness'. I mean, these songs resonate with me in a different way. So when I sing it, it comes from my heart." He added, "We're playing all the old [QUEENSRŸCHE] classics and I can belt it out just like the record."

Canadian metal innovators VOIVOD performed their classic "Dimension Hatröss" album in its entirety on Thursday, June 7 at Sala Rossa in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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

Progressive thrash? Thrashing prog? Call it what you like, "Dimension Hatröss" is a rarity: a concept album that stands the test of time. In fact, the original storyline has been eclipsed by reality, rendering it not so much a fantastic sci-fi trip as an uncomfortably prescient account of the world today. Divided into eight chapters, the album covers everything from the quest to create a utopian society in the face of technocratic and theocratic governments to terrorism and mind control. Plus, it rocks! It rocks in that uniquely hypnotic flight of the space bumblebee way that hums VOIVOD at every dissonant turn.

In the book "Worlds Away", drummer and artist Michel "Away" Langevin fondly recalls: "Around the era of 'Dimension Hatröss', the music was so complicated we almost didn't have any interaction with the crowd anymore because we were concentrating so hard on our instruments."

But what exactly is a Hatröss? In a 1988 interview with Sounds, Away explained, "'Hatross' is a word I created from the English word 'hate' and the French word 'atroce,' from which 'atrocity' is derived." He added, "The music had to be a bit weird for this album, although we kept the heaviness of it."

VOIVOD entered Pierre Rémillard's (OBLIVEON, CRYPTOPSY, KRISIUN, MISERY INDEX) Wild Studio in January in a small town called St-Zénon in Quebec, Canada to begin recording its new album for a tentative summer release. The follow-up to 2009's "Infini" will contain the band's first music to be written with new guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (MARTYR) following the passing of original axeman Denis "Piggy" D'Amour in 2005.

Bob Marlette has signed on to handle producing duties on the next ROB ZOMBIE studio album.

Bob has worked with everyone from BLACK SABBATH and ALICE COOPER to WILSON PHILLIPS and LYNYRD SKYNYRD.

Rob and his band of maniacs — John 5, Piggy D and Ginger Fish — entered the studio earlier this month to begin recording the next chapter in the Zombie musical legacy. This new, as-yet-untitled CD is set for a late 2012 release.

"It has been way, and I mean way too long without any new music. I am dying to get back to it," said Zombie. "I have not felt this much excitement within the band since recording the first 'Hellbilly Deluxe' record almost 15 years ago. We have been working on tons of songs for quite some time and I can safely say this will definitely be our best record yet."

Rob Zombie's fourth solo album, "Hellbilly Deluxe 2", debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard album chart on February 10, 2010, selling 49,000 copies in its first week of release. That total was less than 50 percent of the number of copies that his previous effort, "Educated Horses", sold in its first week back in April 2006, when it moved 107,000 copies to land at No. 5 on the chart.

Official Metallica.com footage of METALLICA's meet-and-greet, pre-show tuning-room jam and "Sad But True" performance at the Rock Im Park festival on June 1 at Zeppelinfeld in Nürnberg, Germany can be viewed below.

METALLICA performed its top-selling 1991 LP, "Metallica", a.k.a. "the black album," in its entirety at the Rock Im Park 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. No Remorse
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.

ANTIKYTHERA (formerly HER VIRGIN WOMB), the Philadelphia-based death metal band featuring members of JUNGLE ROT, NIGHTFIRE, BLOOD OF ABEL and INSATANITY, will release a new album, "Cosmicism", this summer. The CD was recorded by Len Carmichael (SWASHBUCKLE, THE BINARY CODE) and will feature artwork by Mallika Sundaramurthy of Boston's ABNORMALITY.

According to the band's official bio, "ANTIKYTHERA's music has been described as a mix of "And Time Begins" by DECREPIT BIRTH, "Conquering The Throne" from HATE ETERNAL, "Gateways To Annihilation"-era MORBID ANGEL, and early SPAWN OF POSSESSION. They bring an intense, energy-filled live performance everywhere they go whether they are playing in fron of 5 or 500 people. They don't try to be the most technical, the heaviest, the slammiest, the fastest, or anything else. They just play the kind of death metal they have fun playing, and hope that you have fun listening to them do it."

Upcoming ANTIKYTHERA shows:

June 14 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Cheyenne Saloon (Las Vegas Death Fest Pre Party)
June 15 – Denver, Co @ Bar Bar
June 16 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory
June 17 – Ft. Worth, TX @ The Rail Club
June 30 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium

Legendary British heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH closed this year's edition of the Download festival on Sunday, June 10 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Black Sabbath
02. The Wizard
03. Behind The Wall Of Sleep
04. N.I.B.
05. Into The Void
06. Under The Sun
07. Snowblind
08. War Pigs
09. Sweet Leaf
10. Drum Solo
11. Iron Man
12. Fairies Wear Boots
13. Tomorrow's Dream
14. Dirty Women
15. Children Of The Grave

Encore:

16. Paranoid

An audio recording of SABBATH's entire performance is available below.

Original BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi, singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler performed live together for the first time in seven years on May 19, playing an intimate show at the 3,800-person O2 Academy in SABBATH's hometown of Birmingham, England. The show, which served as a warm-up for the group's appearance at the Download festival, was laced with emotion and drama: it was the first live appearance for Iommi since being diagnosed with cancer, and it was the first with stand-in drummer Tommy Clufetos, making the split official between founding drummer Bill Ward and the rest of SABBATH.

Iommi, Osbourne and Butler discussed their new album in a video interview posted at NME.com. The three musicians are working with producer Rick Rubin on their first recording project together in 34 years, with Osbourne saying, "We've written about 15 songs so far. Whether they all get on the album, I don't know. We just keep on writing." Osbourne also dropped a clue about the set's title, hinting, "Next year, 2013, is a good clue to what we're going to call the album."

As for how Rubin influenced the band's approach to writing together again, Butler explained, "He sat us down, put the first album on and said 'listen to this', imagine it's 1969, you've just done that, what would you do next?"

Iommi added, "It's taken on the flavor of the old stuff in the way we put things together, but with a different look on it."

The project suffered another blow earlier this year when Iommi was diagnosed with cancer, although he said that playing the warm-up show in Birmingham, was a boost to his spirits. "It was great," he said. "Going through what I've gone through over the past year has been like living in a different world — being onstage and to get that (reaction from the fans) is just fantastic, it really boosts you up."

SABBATH has curtailed almost all its planned touring activities for 2012 while Iommi undergoes treatment. The band is still scheduled to headline Chicago's Lollapalooza event in early August.

Recently reunited San Diego-area progressive metallers PSYCHOTIC WALTZ have just returned from performances at Rock Hard and Keep It True festivals, as well as their first-ever headlining shows in Greece. The band is now back at home and has started the songwriting process for its fifth studio album (and the group's first record since 1996) for a tentative late 2013 release.

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ reunited with its original lineup (vocalist Devon Graves, guitarists Dan Rock and Brian McAlpin, bassist Ward Evans and drummer Norm Leggio) early in 2011 after a break of nearly fifteen years. The band took part in the Power Of Metal tour of Europe in April 2011 alongside NEVERMORE and SYMPHONY X, marking a triumphant return to the scene, and the first time the five founding members had been on the same stage since 1995.

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ built a strong following in Europe due to its highly-regarded four studio albums but remains a mostly unknown entity in the United States. That was due to the fact that none of their albums ever saw a U.S. release, despite having their albums critically lauded by the European press and fans. All that should change with their next studio album, however, for which they have already received several offers from international labels. The band's profile in Europe was further bolstered by the re-release of their four albums on CD by Metal Blade Records, as well as the reissue of all four records on vinyl, as well in an impressive 7-LP box set by Century Media Records, which quickly sold out.

To help bridge the gap, and to make their material available everywhere, PSYCHOTIC WALTZ has released its four studio albums — 1990's "A Social Grace", 1992's "Into The Everflow", 1994's "Mosquito" and 1996's "Bleeding" — digitally worldwide on all platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, and others. In July, the band will also release its long out-of-print solo and side-project records digitally, including the END AMEN album "Your Last Orison", the DARKSTAR albums "Marching Into Oblivion" and "Heart Of Darkness", and the BUDDY LACKEY album "The Strange Mind Of Buddy Lackey". Additional festival appearances for 2013 will be announced in the coming months.

On April 19, guitarist Dave Carlo of Canadian thrash metal veterans RAZOR was diagnosed with Stage 2 oral cancer. He is currently undergoing treatment.

RAZOR bassist Mike Campagnolo tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET: "We are working on new material for another album and we were blindsided by this news, but Dave is in great spirits."

Formed in 1984 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, RAZOR split up in 1992, but reformed in the late 1990s to record another album, titled "Decibels", in 1997. The band dissolved again, and reformed in 2005.

Carlo has been the only permanent member in the band's 28-year history.

RAZOR is:

Dave Carlo: Guitar
Bob Reid: Vocals
Rob Mills: Drums
Mike Campagnolo: Bass

Southern California's heavy fuzz rock legends FU MANCHU have commenced the songwriting process for their next album, tentatively due in 2013.

Says the band: "We have recorded every FU MANCHU record on this 4-track machine [see photo below], starting with the 1995 'Daredevil' release. We didn't use this for the final recordings that were released, but the entire record for each release was done on this first, then we would go into a real studio."

FU MANCHU will celebrate the 15th anniversary of its 1997 classic "The Action Is Go". To follow up on the overwhelming response they received from their "In Search Of…15 Years" tour, the hardworking group will be undertaking a headlining tour with a set comprised of this entire fourteen-track album from start to finish. Many of these songs will be performed live for the first time ever.

To coincide with the tour, the band will be reissuing the original album on 180-gram vinyl with double gatefold packaging on the band's own At The Dojo Records worldwide. The band will also be selling the vinyl reissue as well as the original CD at these shows.

Originally formed in 1985 as a BLACK FLAG-influenced hardcore punk band called VIRULENCE, FU MANCHU has since become one of hard rock's most celebrated names. The band released its first single "Kept Between Trees" in 1990 and in the years following, helped give rise to a celebrated style of heavy music tagged "stoner rock" alongside peers such as KYUSS, MONSTER MAGNET and SLEEP. Since its inception, the quartet has built itself a fanatical army of loyal enthusiasts all drawn to the group's ridiculously catchy, unpretentious music, guitar-driven sound and carefree lyrics centered on "old muscle cars, choppers, vans, skateboarding and science fiction."

In addition to frontman/guitarist Scott Hill, FU MANCHU features guitarist Bob Balch, bassist Brad Davis and drummer Scott Reeder.

EX DEO, the Ancient Roman-themed arsenal fronted by KATAKLYSM singer Maurizio Iacono, will release its sophomore album, "Caligvla", on August 31 via Austria's Napalm Records. The CD was mixed by KATAKLYSM guitarist Jean-François Dagenais, who has previously worked with MALEVOLENT CREATION, MISERY INDEX and DESPISED ICON, among others. The artwork and layout for the album were handled by SEPTICFLESH's Seth Siro Anton. The booklet for the new album will feature commentaries and descriptions from frontman Iacono with his views on each song. The limited first pressing will be released as a six-panel digipack featuring the bonus track "Burned To Serve As Nocturnal Light", a song dealing with Caligvla's madman rival emperor Nero. In addition, catch Iacono's girlfriend and Colombian model Suzzy in the upcoming video "I, Caligvla". Shooting commences June 22 in Philadelphia, where Caligvla's twisted dominion will come to life again!

Commented the band: "Eight months in the making and we are sure we have a classic album in our hands, producer JF Dagenais has done a fabulous and great production, all guests appearances are massive, the gods are pleased. Expect the artwork to be unveiled very soon and also a new teaser trailer. Where all have failed in the past... EX DEO will succeed, Roma caput mundi!! Epic Roman-inspired metal!!"

EX DEO debuted "I, Caligvla", on April 1 at Club Soda in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as part of the "Paganfest America Part III" tour with TURISAS, ALESTORM, ARKONA and HUNTRESS. Video footage of the performance can be seen below.

In addition to the previously announced guest appearances by ALL SHALL PERISH guitarist Francesco Artusato and TRISTANIA singer Mariangela Demurtas, "Caligvla" will feature contributions from SEPTICFLESH's Seth Siro Anton and GRAVEWORM's Stefano Fiori. Every invited guest on the album is of Roman or Greek descent.

"Caligvla" track listing:

01. I, Caligvla
02. The Tiberius Cliff (Exile To Capri)
03. Per Oculos Aquila
04. Pollice Verso (Damnatio Ad Bestia)
05. Divide Et Impera
06. Burned To Serve As Nocturnal Light
07. Teutuborg (Ambush Of Varus)
08. Along The Appian Way
09. Once Were Romans
10. Evocatio: The Temple Of Castor & Pollux

EX DEO recently canceled its participation in the "Paganfest America Part III" tour due to delays in the production of "Caligvla". The band still performed with Paganfest on April 1 in Montreal at Club Soda and April 2 in Toronto at The Opera House.

EX DEO last year completed a North American tour with NILE, PSYCROPTIC and KEEP OF KALESSIN.

"Romulus", the debut album from EX DEO, landed at position No. 90 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.

"I, Caligvla" performance footage:

ICED EARTH will hit the road next week as part of a five-week North American tour with VOLBEAT, HELLYEAH and THE SIXXIS.

Commented ICED EARTH mainman/guitarist Jon Schaffer: "I'm completely stoked. VOLBEAT is one of my all-time favorite bands, and Michael [Poulsen], and the boys are great people. There is a lot of mutual respect and admiration, and I think we are in for a hell of a good time! This will be a package that won't soon be forgotten, I'm sure of that."

To coincide with the upcoming trek, ICED EARTH will release a limited tour edition of its latest album, "Dystopia". Currently available only at the merchandise stands on the trek, the two-disc "Dystopia Tour Edition" contains the original full-length album, as well as B-side covers of IRON MAIDEN's "The Trooper" and BLACK SABBATH's "Mob Rules", as well as the classic 17-minute ICED EARTH track "Dante's Inferno", re-recorded with vocalist Stu Block. The bonus disc also contains both music videos from "Dystopia" — the title track and "Anthem" — as well as a "Making Of Dystopia" studio interview with the band, and exclusive cell phone skins and desktop backgrounds.

Bassist Freddie Vidales recently left ICED EARTH and was replaced by Luke Appleton of FURY UK.

ICED EARTH's video for the song "Anthem" was filmed on December 7, 2011 at Essigfabrik in Cologne, Germany.

Produced and directed by Kosch Fabian Film, "Anthem" is the second music video from ICED EARTH's new album, "Dystopia", which sold around 6,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 67 on The Billboard 200 chart.

ICED EARTH's previous CD, "The Crucible of Man (Something Wicked Part II)", opened with 6,700 units in September 2008 to debut at No. 79.

ICED EARTH's 10th studio offering, "Dystopia", was released in Europe on October 17, 2011 and in the U.S. on October 18 via Century Media Records. Two bonus tracks were also recorded for inclusion on special editions of the album.

"Dystopia" track listing:

01. Dystopia (05:49)
02. Anthem (04:54)
03. Boiling Point (02:46)
04. Anguish Of Youth (04:41)
05. V (03:39)
06. Dark City (05:42)
07. Equilibrium (04:30)
08. Days Of Rage (02:17)
09. End Of Innocence (04:07)
10. Soylent Green (bonus track) (04:20)
11. Iron Will (bonus track) (04:15)
12. Tragedy And Triumph (07:44)
13. Anthem (String Mix) (04:51)

LYNYRD SKYNYRD's Rickey Medlocke and Peter Keys and .38 SPECIAL's Bobby Capps have been added to the list of musicians who have recorded guest appearances on the forthcoming solo album from POISON singer Bret Michaels, "Bret Michaels And Friends: Get Your Rock On". Also scheduled to appear on the CD are Ace Frehley (KISS) and Michael Anthony (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN), Phil Collen (DEF LEPPARD), Joe Perry (AEROSMITH), Loretta Lynn, Lil Jon and Sal Coz Costa (MY DARKEST DAYS).

The video for Bret Michaels' new solo single, "Get Your Rock On", can be seen below. The track features guest appearances by Collen and Sal Coz Costa.

In a recent interview with Gimme Noise, Bret stated about his upcoming CD, "My album will be out this summer and I'm really proud of what we've done with it. It's actually going to be called 'Bret Michaels And Friends: Get Your Rock On', and I'll explain why: It's really not just a Bret Michaels album. I had so many other talented artists come in and support that it's really a 'Bret Michaels And Friends' album. There's a staggering amount of talent on this album. . . It's been such a fun project for me and I'm excited to share it with the fans."

Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine in February, Bret revealed that his new solo album will feature a remake of the POISON smash "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" as a duet between him and Loretta Lynn>. He said, "For me, growing up in a family that my father loved country music and 'Coal Miner's Daughter', this is gonna be a really awesome time."

"Live And Let Fly", the new video from Norwegian powerhouse vocalist Jorn Lande (MASTERPLAN, AVANTASIA), can be seen below. The song comes off the singer's new album, "Bring Heavy Rock To The Land", which entered the official Swedish chart at position No. 34. The CD was released on June 1 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Frontiers Records.

Following a three-year silence since the release of "Spirit Black", Jorn unleashes upon the world yet another slab of classic hard rock with metal elements.

"I think this album follows a similar Jorn tradition like those before, more heavy rock oriented than metal," says Jorn. "But, as usual, it's not one musical expression all the way through the album, but a variety of musical landscapes within the categories of rock and metal."

A winning formula should not change, so Jorn has again worked with Tommy Hansen at Jailhouse Studios in Denmark, who mixed the album, ensuring the right edge to the rich guitar and vocal sound that is now trademark to all JORN releases. The lineup sees the return of Jimmy Iversen on guitar who also appeared on "Spirit Black". The pairing with Tore Moren works really well and gives Jorn's sound the usual depth and solidity.

As usual, in addition to the original material, Jorn offers some interesting covers. This time, MASTERPLAN's "Time to Be King" and Christopher Cross' "Ride Like The Wind" are the ones to get the Jorn treatment.

"When we wrote 'Time To Be King', I heard a different and more rock-oriented arrangement in my mind," says Jorn, "so after the MASTERPLAN album was released, I couldn't stop thinking about how it would sound if it was recorded with this other arrangement. I don't know which one's better, I have ended up liking both versions. As for Christopher Cross, I have always loved 'West Coast'-oriented music and bands like 10CC, PAGES, SANTANA, LITTLE RIVER BAND, EAGLES and so on. So I thought 'Ride Like The Wind' would be a good song to do Jorn style. SAXON also released a version of this song in the '80s, and the arrangement we made ended up beeing a mix between the original version and SAXON's. It's also a fun song to sing and play."

Jorn Lande's strong and diverse voice and solid songwriting skills have now become legendary in the hard rock world. In a career spanning over close to 40 album releases, as frontman for ARK and MASTERPLAN, in addition to featuring on spectacular projects such as NOSTRADAMUS "The Rock Opera", BEYOND TWILIGHT "The Devil's Hall of Fame", Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA and AYREON.

"If you buy a Jorn album today, you know what you will get," states Jorn Lande. You are guaranteed to get your adrenaline going with the riveting sound that has solid roots in classic hard rock/heavy metal music, such as DIO, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and WHITESNAKE.

"Bring Heavy Rock To The Land" track listing:

01. My Road
02. Bring Heavy Rock To The Land
03. A Thousand Cuts
04. Ride Like The Wind
05. Chains Around You
06. The World I See
07. Time To Be King
08. Ride To The Guns
09. Black Morning
10. I Came To Rock
11. Live And Let Fly (bonus track)

The title track, "Bring Heavy Rock To The Land", was released as a single worldwide on May 14. A video for the song was directed by Thomas Tjäder (PRETTY MAIDS, IN FLAMES) and can be seen below. Jorn says, "The title track has really a strong Jorn trademark. It was a natural choice for a title track, I felt the same about 'Lonely Are The Brave' back in 2008. Sometimes one song's got the magic and you just know it. 'Bring Heavy Rock To The Land' is such a song and regardless of how the whole album is evaluated by critics, I feel that this song will live on and become an essential Jorn classic!"

Jorn will appear live at select shows in Europe during the summer.

JORN is:

Jorn Lande: Vocals
Willy Bendiksen: Drums
Nic Angileri: Bass
Tore Moren: Guitar
Jimmy Iversen: Guitar

Jorn Lande's "Live In Black" 2-CD/DVD set was released in August 2011 via Frontiers Records. The concert was recorded on June 10, 2010 at the Sweden Rock Festival in front of more than 25,000 people.

2010 was a significant year in Jorn's career. Besides releasing a tribute album to his hero Ronnie James Dio, Jorn was invited to perform, alongside Glenn Hughes, with HEAVEN & HELL at their final concert, which was held in July 2010 at the High Voltage festival in Victoria Park, London, England.

Just a few weeks earlier, Jorn appeared at the Sweden Rock Festival, in Sölvesborg and blew the crowd of more than 25,000 fans away.

"The special thing with 'Live In Black' is that it captures a very rough, uncut and spontaneous moment in the band's history," says Jorn Lande. "It was a hectic day, with many interviews and several TV appearances and I also had to do a short speech and statement regarding the great Ronnie James Dio's untimely passing a few weeks earlier. The whole festival became in the spirit of Ronnie, and it was very moving to see everyone there, including the artists honoring his memory."

SAGA "20/20" das brandneue Studioalbum der kanadischen Prog-Heroen erscheint am 6. Juli 2012! Man sollte meinen, über SAGA sei bereits alles gesagt und geschrieben worden… Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 1977 absolvierte die Band diverse Welttourneen, wurde mit Preisen überhäuft und verkaufte so ganz nebenbei noch über 8 Millionen Alben. Hits wie "Wind Him Up", "Humble Stance" oder "On The Loose" sind längst Klassiker, die bis heute täglich weltweit in den Radios laufen.

Und dennoch ruhen sich SAGA nicht auf ihren Lorbeeren aus. Im Gegenteil… mit "20/20" und der Rückkehr von Sänger Michael Sadler legen die Kanadier nun eines der besten Alben der Bandhistorie vor.

Der Titel ist bewusst doppeldeutig gewählt. Zum einen dürfen sich die Fans auf das nunmehr 20. SAGA-Album freuen – zum anderen steht der Begriff "20/20" in der Medizin für die perfekte Sehkraft und ist als Gute-Besserungs-Gruß an Keyboarder Jim Gilmour gedacht, der während der letzten Europatour fast sein Augenlicht verlor. Die 10 brandneuen Stücke verfügen über alles, was die Fans weltweit an der Band lieben und haben das Potential "20/20" zu einem 'all time favorite' werden zu lassen.

Michael Sadler beschreibt seine Rückkehr zu SAGA wie folgt: "Eine Sache die wir vereinbart hatten, war, dass wenn ich jemals wieder einsteige, ich das Gefühl haben muss, es war genau die richtige Sache zur richtigen Zeit. Und es gab sicher nie einen besseren Zeitpunkt als jetzt!" Auf You Tube wurde jetzt ein neuer "20/20" Album Trailer in dem Ihr den neuen Song "Anywhere You Wanna Go" hören könnt online gestellt.

"The Return To Psycho, California", the full-length debut from HOTEL DIABLO — the new band featuring vocalist Rick Stitch (LADYJACK, ex-ADLER'S APPETITE), guitarist Alex Grossi (QUIET RIOT), bassist Mike Duda and drummer Mike Dupke (both of W.A.S.P.) — is available for streaming in its entirety using the SoundCloud player below. The CD, which was produced by Gilby Clarke (GUNS N' ROSES, ROCKSTAR SUPERNOVA), with additional production by Matt Starr (ACE FREHLEY, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES), is now available digitally via iTunes, Amazon and other online music retailers. Details on a worldwide physical release will be announced soon.

"Psycho, California" is "a collection of stories, true stories, experienced during a time when our lives were filled with mind-altering shots of wretched adrenaline," says Stitch. "Strings got bent, knobs were turned and an uncontrolled visceral energy screamed life" into what has become "Psycho, California".

"The Return To Psycho, California" track listing:

01. Taken
02. Set It Off
03. What You Do To Me
04. Psycho, California
05. Bury You *
06. Wicked Lines *
07. All These Years
08. Wonderwall (OASIS cover)
09. Trigger
10. Bury You (alternate version) *
11. What You Do To Me (alternate version)

Produced by Gilby Clarke
* Produced by Matt Starr

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

A teaser trailer for the CD can be seen below. Also available is the album's cover artwork, which was created by Travis Smith of Seempieces (OPETH, DEVIN TOWNSEND, NEVERMORE, ICED EARTH, DEATH, AMORPHIS).

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

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

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

EMI Label Services has set a September 3 release date for SACRED MOTHER TONGUE's brand new EP, "A Light Shines...". This is the band's debut release on EMI Label Services and precedes SACRED MOTHER TONGUE's second album, "Out Of The Darkness", which will be made availale early next year.

"A Light Shines..." is a defining moment for SACRED MOTHER TONGUE, their stake in the sand as one the most exciting bands in British metal. Opening with the powerhouse chorus and heavy-as-hell guitars of "Evolve/Become" and followed by the thumping darkness of "Seven", it's instantly apparent that SACRED MOTHER TONGUE has made a quantum leap on from its well-received debut album, "Ruin Of Man", in 2009, from which they reinterpret "A Final Idea" as an acoustic number on this EP.

And now, SACRED MOTHER TONGUE in 2012 is channelling the melodic power of METALLICA, the dark demons of ALICE IN CHAINS and the visceral intensity of MACHINE HEAD to create a vital update of all these influences coupled with a whole heap of skyscraping ambition. And it's that ambition that saw them head to China last month on tour, from which comes the final track, "City Is Crying", another new song which received its live debut on those foreign shores.

"A Light Shines..." EP track listing:

01. Evolve/Become
02. Seven
03. A Final Idea (acoustic)
04. City Is Crying (live from China)


SACRED MOTHER TONGUE will play its first U.K. show in support of "A Light Shines..." on July 5 at The Intrepid Fox in London's West End. With a live show of quite spectacular proportions in the works this is a must-see showcase where SACRED MOTHER TONGUE will unveil many of the tracks from the forthcoming album, "Out Of The Darkness", in a small venue, ahead of a full headline tour later this year. This is a one-off free gig and support comes from CYPHER 16 and IMICUS.

SACRED MOTHER TONGUE's stunning sonic arsenal features the bruised power of vocalist Darrin South and guitarist Andy James, whose six-string skills have gained him worldwide acclaim both from his peers and on YouTube where his guitar tutorials now have over 4 million views.

Completed by Josh Gurner on bass, famed for his stage-diving antics while still shredding the fretboard, and drummer Lee Newell, who is also the rhythmic powerhouse behind FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM's live performances, SACRED MOTHER TONGUE are renewed, revitalized and ready to take on the planet.

Drum-cam footage of DIMMU BORGIR/ex-VADER drummer Dariusz "Daray" Brzozowski performing the song "The Serpentine Offering" with DIMMU BORGIR at this year's edition of the Sweden Rock Festival, which was held June 6-9 in Sölvesborg, Sweden, can be seen below. Also available is footage of Daray playing the track "Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse" with DIMMU BORGIR at this year's edition of the Nova Rock festival, which was held June 8-10 on the Pannonia Fields in Burgenland, the easternmost federal state of Austria (near Nickelsdorf and the Hungarian and Slovak borders).

In a 2008 interview with Metal-Rules.com, DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz was asked how he would you rank Daray against all the other drummers the Norwegian black metal band has worked with over the years. "I would say that he is the most steady and consistent drummer I've ever played with, no matter what," he replied. "He's extremely reliable, hard-working, determined and he really, really pushes himself, you know? Even if he plays a really killer show and the rest of us have nothing to complain about, he still is not happy. It's not good enough. That's the attitude we need, you know? After all, the drummer is the engine in the band and you won't get anywhere if you only have oil and gas…you need the engine to work too…so… he's awesome."

"Abrahadabra", the ninth album from DIMMU BORGIR, sold 9,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "In Sorte Diaboli", opened with 14,000 units back in May 2007 to debut at No. 43. This was more than double the 6,400 first-week tally achieved by its predecessor, "Death Cult Armageddon", which came out in September 2003 and landed at position No. 169 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Abrahadabra" was released in Germany on September 24, 2010, in the rest of Europe on September 27, 2010, and it was made available in North America on October 12, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Sweden Rock Festival drum-cam footage:

Rock Hard Live has uploaded quality video footage of VITAL REMAINS's entire May 25 performance at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California as the support act for DESTRUCTION. Check it out below.

VITAL REMAINS guitarist Tony Lazaro recently told Metal Hangar 18 about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2007's "Icons of Evil", "The songs [for the new album] have been written [for a long time] — some of them since 2008. I've written, like, two albums' worth of material; I have almost 20 songs.

"We will record the new album this year. Everything is kind of in place. We can't wait — after this tour — to get working on it again before we have another tour in the U.S. in May with DESTRUCTION. And then after that it's all about recording the new album this summer. So hopefully everything's gonna work out and we'll have the album recorded and it will be out finally this year."

Regarding whether fans can expect to hear new songs that are each at least six minutes long, just as they were on "Icons of Evil", Lazaro said, "The new album, the new songs are shorter." He added, "I've been writing the music since the beginning, since '89. I write all the music, and this is the first time that I wrote the songs shorter. The songs are averaging only about four minutes; the longest song, I think, is four and a half minutes. First time ever. But I tried to keep my style of writing in there — keep the speed, the brutality, the melodic stuff, and also put some old-school stuff in there and some classical stuff in there; some solo stuff, really good solos and melodies. It's everything you'd expect from VITAL REMAINS, but just in a shorter package."

VITAL REMAINS 2012 is:

Scott Wily – Vocals
Tony Lazaro – Guitar
Gator Collier – Bass
Brian Weber – Guitar
Alberto Allende - Drums

Restrain Records in 2007 released a high-quality double-vinyl presentation of VITAL REMAINS' latest abum, "Icons of Evil". The set includes 'brutal blasphemy spread over three sides, with the fourth side bearing an engraving," according to the band. "Comes in a gatefold cover with printed lyric sleeves!"

VITAL REMAINS' DVD, entitled "Evil Death Live", came out in 2007 via Metal Mind Productions. The disc includes footage of VITAL REMAINS' performance at the Metalmania Festival 2007 on April 24, 2007 in Katowice, Poland as well as an interview with Tony Lazaro (one of the band's founders) and Dave Suzuki, live bootleg material and many other surprises. Also available is a limited DVD+CD swing case edition, featuring a bonus CD containing songs recorded at the Metalmania gig.

Rock Hard Live has uploaded quality video footage of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' June 1 performance at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California. You can check it out below.

In a 2011 interview with Loudwire, singer Mike Muir was asked if SUICIDAL TENDENCIES or INFECTIOUS GROOVES were working on any new material. "SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, we basically got three records done," he replied. "It's just putting them together in a time frame and then the touring. INFECTIOUS is right behind, but you can't be in two places at once, you know?! We don't want to do anything unless we actually want to do it, and I know for a lot of people, they haven't been doing it for as long as we have. They kind of just want to go on the road because they don't like their life, they don't like their family, and I'm the opposite. So when [my kids are] older, I don't want them to say, 'Dad, why are you running around the world for and you weren't there for me?' I want there to be a situation where they know if I'm not there, there's a good reason for it. We know when to say 'no' and we do things for the right reason. Everything we do, it's something we want to do, it's something cool, not just because someone called up and we're like, 'Well, we got nothing better to do.' It's just that certain standard and I think that's why we're able to be here almost thirty years later where if we just did things that other people thought were good opportunities or smart, I wouldn't be here now."

"No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family" was released in September 2010 via Suicidal Records. The CD featured re-recorded tracks from SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' second album, "Join The Army", as well as tunes from the second full-length from NO MERCY, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' guitarist Mike Clark's speed metal band (which found SUICIDAL TENDENCIES vocalist Mike Muir on vocals) from 1986.

Fan-filmed video footage of FOZZY — the band featuring WWE wrestling superstar Chris Jericho and STUCK MOJO mastermind Rich "The Duke" Ward — performing a brand new song, "Sandpaper", at the pre-awards show boat party that cruised up the Thames to the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards on Monday, June 11 at Indigo2 in London, England can be seen below. The track comes off the group's new album, "Sin And Bones", which wll be released on August 14 (one day earlier internationally) via the group's new label, Century Media Records. The cover artwork for the CD can be seen below.

Speaking to U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, Jericho stated about how the new album title came about, "It's actually pretty funny. It's such a deep title and it can mean a lot of things. But how it really came about was Rich was texting me, saying, 'Man, I've gotta eat something on this tour. I'm all skin and bones.' And 'skin and bones,' he missed the [letter] 'k' and it came out [as] 'sin and bones.' And I showed it to him. I go, 'Dude, what do you think of this as an album title?' And he was like, 'Yeah, it's perfect.'"

In an interview with Sophie K of Total Rock at this year's Download festival, which was held June 8-10 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, Jericho said about FOZZY's new CD, "Every artist says this, but it's definitely the best thing we've ever done. It kind of takes the FOZZY concept of what we do best, which is very heavy with very melodic choruses and a lot of harmonies. We're just super-proud of it. We worked on it for the last eight months."

He added, "We said we wanna make this like our 'black' album where all the songs kind of fit the same vibe. They're kind of darker lyrically, darker songs, but still catchy and hooky. So I'm really proud of the lyrics that I wrote for this. When I write lyrics, I give them to Rich Ward, and he takes them and writes riffs and songs based around what he feels the tone of the songs are. And I guess the lyrics I wrote are very dark, because it's a very dark record."

When asked if the "darker" vibe of the new album is reflection of personal things that might have gone on in his life, Jericho said, "I don't think so. I've just always been more attuned to that. Like, I write by songtitles. I read somewhere something about somebody woke up with a spider in their mouth. And I was like, 'Spider In My Mouth'. That's like the best title I could ever think of. So I wrote a bunch of lyrics that kind of fit that vibe. So a songtitle will lead… The first single is called 'Sandpaper'. And it's not about a piece of paper that you rub on your face that chafes you, it's just about an abrasive type of a feeling that you might have toward somebody. So it's just stuff like that. But we still sing it with a smile on our faces."

Speaking about some of the individual songs that make up the new FOZZY album, Jericho said, "We've been playing 'Sandpaper' live, and right off the bat people are bobbing their heads. So people can get into it right away, which is cool. I mean, there are so many great songs. There's another song called 'She's My Addiction', which is kind of a more [THE ROLLING] STONES-y, GUNS N' ROSES-type thing, but also very dark. Phil Campbell played a solo for it, from MOTÖRHEAD; he's been a very good friend of the band. There's a song called 'Inside My Head'. There's an 11-minute song about D-Day called 'Storm The Beaches'. 'Blood Happens'… that's a heavy one."

Elaborating further on how the "Spider In My Mouth" songtitle came about, Jericho said, "I read it in a Stephen King book. It said, 'He couldn't have been more disgusted if he woke up with a spider in his mouth. And I was like, 'Ahhh… Dude, how heavy is that?' And I wrote it down in my little songtitles book and about a year or two later, I went back and I looked through and it was like, 'Boom, I could do something with that.' So…"

Ward previously stated about the forthcoming CD, "Although every band says 'this is the best thing we've ever done,' I can honestly say that this new album is going to blow everyone away. It's the epitome of who FOZZY is as a band and will expand upon the ultra-heavy yet super melodic and hooky territory that we've refined for the last 12 years. I have a strong feeling that this will be known as our definitive masterpiece for years to come."

FOZZY last year parted ways with bassist Sean Delson and replaced him with Paul DiLeo (ADRENALINE MOB).

FOZZY released the "Remains Alive & Chasing The Grail" two-CD set on July 18, 2011 via Edel's international rock label earMUSIC.

FOZZY was already on the map as the band with the pro wrestler singer, but "Chasing The Grail" broke them as a proper band. It hit #6 on the U.S. Heatseekers charts and the single "Martyr No More" was a theme song for the WWE Royal Rumble. "Remains Alive" is a 2005 live album (recorded in Australia) that was previously available in digital format only.

"Chasing The Grail" sold around 2,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 6 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.

A new video interview with guitarist Kim Thayil of reformed grunge legends SOUNDGARDEN conducted at this year's edition of the Download festival, which was held June 8-10 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, can be seen below.

When asked about what SOUNDGARDEN's forthcoming album sounds like, singer Chris Cornell told NME TV, "It's kind of hard to describe. It's sort of like picking up where we left off. There's a lot of different feels on the album. We're a band where every single member contributes music. So that creates diversity and a lot of different songwriter partnerships and things that we only do as a group. I think it's a very rich album with a lot of different moods to it."

"Live To Rise", the first SOUNDGARDEN song in almost 16 years, was made available as a free download on iTunes beginning April 17 as part of the promotion of "Marvel's The Avengers". The seven-day promotion included an exclusive clip, "The Face Off", from the superhero team-up movie, which came out on May 4.

"Live To Rise" was written specifically for "Marvel's The Avengers" after SOUNDGARDEN was approached about contributing a song to the film.

"The hard part of writing a song for a film is it has to act as a SOUNDGARDEN song, first and foremost, then obviously, it has to coexist with the film," Cornell told Billboard.com.

Cornell told Seattle radio station KISW that fans should not think of "Live To Rise" as an indication of what the rest of the group's new record will sound like. Chris explained, "Some of the songs on our new album are pretty far left of center, and sort of zero in on more of a hardcore SOUNDGARDEN fan and not necessarily a family that goes to see a film like that. Although ['Live To Rise' is] not really what I think of as a necessarily family-friendly song, but it's as close as we've ever come."

The singer added that the tune wasn't specifically based on the movie, saying, "I think a film like this appeals to little kids all the way to old people because it's an action film, it's comic book characters, but it's also pretty witty dialog and accomplished actors doing it. So it had to be somewhat open to all of that. But also first and foremost it has to be a SOUNDGARDEN song."

SOUNDGARDEN officially reunited in early 2010 after disbanding in 1997. Since then, the group has played one full-length North American tour, a batch of festival and club gigs, and some overseas shows.

The group also released a career retrospective called "Telephantasm" as well as a concert album titled "Live On I5", which was recorded on its last tour before breaking up.

A release date and title for the new SOUNDGARDEN album have yet to be announced.