San Francisco Bay Area metallers DEATH ANGEL have issued the following update:

"This has been the longest time off the road we've had in over two years! Been writing new songs during the break and we got a thick batch of new tunes out of it. Still work in progress, of course, but the new material is sounding tight, heavy and hella SICK! Now to turn our focus back to touring mode — rehearsing our set for the upcoming tour with SEPULTURA! Nonstop jamming is our life."

DEATH ANGEL will join forces with SEPULTURA, KRISIUN and HAVOK for a North American tour in April/May.

DEATH ANGEL will release a DVD entitled "A Thrashumentary" in the spring. According to a press release, "A Thrashumentary" is a combination live video and documentary, all wrapped up in one thrashing DVD. The footage was directed by Tommy Jones (SOILWORK, KATAKLYSM) and mixed by Chris Clancy of The Studio. The film gives the viewer an in-depth look into one of the longest-running thrash acts out of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for turning out historic thrash bands such as METALLICA, TESTAMENT and EXODUS.

"Relentless Retribution", the latest album from DEATH ANGEL, sold 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 10 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. The band's previous album, "Killing Season", opened with around 2,300 units back in March 2008. This number was in line with the performance of its predecessor, "The Art of Dying", which registered a first-week sales tally of around 2,100 back in May 2004.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

DIRGE ETERNAL haben ein neues Video zum Song „A Soul Apart“ gepostet. Außerdem verkündete die Band einige News:

"Ok here`s some cool news... On may the 4th we will have a big video preview of our 'Slaughterhouse'-music video at Biorex, Hämeenlinna! In there you can also buy our 'Under the Spell'-EP in advance and meet the band and the actors and the director of the video!

"The official release date of 'Under the Spell'-EP will be the 5th of may! On that very same Saturday (5.5.) we will be performing at Escape Riihimäki (support to be announced later)! As a bonus here`s a video of us playing 'A Soul Apart' at various venues in Finland during 2009-2011."

Die polnische Female-Fronted Traditional Heavy Metal Band CRYSTAL VIPER werden ihr neues Album "Crimen Excepa" am 27. April via AFM Records veröffentlichen. Das Konzept des Albums handelt von der heiligen Inquisition, Schwarze Magie und Hexen, vermischt mit historischen Fakten. Produziert wurde das Album von Bart Gabriel (SACRED STEEL, JACK STARR’S BURNING STARR) und aufgenommen vom Sound Engineer Mariusz Pietka (MORTICIAN, LONEWOLF).

Zwei Special Guests befinden sich auch auf dem Album. David Bower Sänger von HELL beim Titeltrack und VADER Mainman Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek bei der Cover Version des Vader Songs “Tyrani Piekiel”.

MOTÖRHEAD founder, bassist and principal songwriter Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister recently answered a couple of fan-submitted questions for Artisan News. You can check out the resulting footage below.

MOTÖRHEAD was forced to miss the last four shows of Gigantour after Lemmy came down with a combination of a viral upper respiratory infection and a voice strain, resulting in severe laryngitis.

"I'm giving my voice a good rest," Lemmy said in a statemement, "and will be better than ever for our shows on the [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival] tour this summer. Hope to see you all there!"

Motörhead Music/UDR recently released "The Wörld Is Ours Vol. 1 - Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else", a blistering DVD containing some of the finest moments from MOTÖRHEAD's 2011 tour.

Mixed by the band's long-time producer Cameron Webb, "The Wörld Is Ours Vol. 1 - Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else" is stuffed with the classics Motörfans demand, from "Overkill" to "Ace Of Spades" to "Killed By Death" as well as some old gems like "Over The Top" and new favorites such as "I Know How To Die".

"The Wörld Is Ours Vol. 1 - Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else" gives you the complete set from the band's supreme performance in Chile at the Teatro Caupolican in Santiago on April 9, 2011, shot by Banger Films and Sam Dunn ("Iron Maiden Flight 666", "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage"). The DVD continues with some tasty morsels from New York's Best Buy Theater and the Manchester Apollo.

Das neue Album "Essential" der Deutschen Prog Rock Veteranen ELOY wurde am 19. März 2012 via EMI Germany veröffentlicht und jetzt könnt Ihr euch "Essential" hier auf Spotify legal und kostenlos anhören!

"Essential" Track List:

01. Inside (Remastered) 6:35
02. Madhouse 5:15
03. The Bells of Notre Dame (Remix 1999) 6:26
04. Between The Times 6:07
05. The Sun-Song (Remastered) 4:51
06. Decay of Logos 8:17
07. Master of Sensation (Remastered) 6:01
08. Illuminations 6:21
09. Sphinx (Remastered) 6:45
10. Time to Turn (Remastered) 4:31
11. Fools 5:10
12. All Life Is One 6:28

"Saxon - Heavy Metal Thunder - Live - Eagles Over Wacken" is the no-fat-no-bullshit-100%-pure CD/DVD featuring DVD highlights from SAXON's Wacken shows in 2004, 2007 and 2009 comprising thirty songs, plus a live CD from Glasgow in 2011. Each set captures the Barnsley-bred British heavy metal legends delivering classic after classic, from "Denim & Leather" to "Metalhead" to "Heavy Metal Thunder" to "Princess Of The Night" to "Crusader" in front of 75,000-pluds loyal, ravenous fans, who have come to expect (and receive) the levels of performance SAXON have been delivering for 32 years.

The third video podcast in which the members of SAXON discuss the upcoming release can be seen below.

"When we first played Wacken, it was a small festival with a small stage in a small field, driven by nothing more than raw enthusiasm, which appealed very much to us," says Biff Byford, SAXON's venerable frontman. "It started as fans putting on a festival for fans, and now it's fair to say that it is to heavy metal what the Donington festival used to be. That was the iconic heavy metal festival of the '80s, and Wacken is the iconic heavy metal festival of now."

"And when the eagle comes down at Wacken, when it opens up over the audience, it is always an electric moment for those there," says Biff emphatically of the famous SAXON eagle, a ton or so of steel and lights, rescued from a storage space in the British home counties where it had lain dormant gathering rust. In many ways, the eagle's rebirth and Wacken's ascent are partners on the journey, as it was Wacken's organizers who offered to restore the mighty metal bird so as it could become a live centerpiece of both Wacken and SAXON's history.

And when it comes to heavy metal, SAXON's history is, indeed, rich. Rightly seen as one of the premier vanguards of heavy metal alongside the likes of IRON MAIDEN, SAXON were a major influence behind platinum-coated stars such as METALLICA and MEGADETH. Formed as SON OF A BITCH in 1976 (and becoming SAXON in 1978) they enjoyed tremendous commercial success in the U.K. during the '80s, with 8 U.K. top 40 albums, and have sold over 13 millions albums worldwide, while albums such as "Wheels Of Steel", "Strong Arm Of The Law", "Denim & Leather" and "The Power & The Glory" have become legendary staples of any self-respecting metal fan’s collection.

But it has always arguably been on stage where SAXON have excelled the most. There's no hiding once you hit the boards, and whether playing to 20000 people in Buenos Aires or 2000 people in Bolton, Byford, Carter, Glockler, Quinn and Scarratt source the same high-voltage energy reserves and deliver the same high-octane, blood and sweat-soaked show that makes SAXON a perennial touring favorite.

"We've consistently tried to write, and perform songs which both us and our audience enjoy," says Biff, "and we've worked very hard to maintain that link with our audience, because if you don't have that connection it can be very dangerous. We need them, and we need to be ready to deliver for them at every show, that's the challenge and it's one we gratefully accept and enjoy. If the audience are prepared to get crazy, then it's always going to be a strong show, and Wacken always delivers us a fantastic connection. You cannot fake that electricity, everyone wants that 'charged' atmosphere and it is absolutely priceless..."

"Heavy Metal Thunder - Live - Eagles Over Wacken" is available in a variety of formats, including the Golden Ticket D2C/Direct To Consumer Box.

Strictly limited, this exclusive package contains the "Best Of Wacken" DVD, plus the full and complete SAXON Wacken Open Air performances from 2004/2007/2009 each on a separate DVD, plus a SAXON flag.

The real surprise is that 10 Golden Tickets are randomly included in the box sets, which will allow the lucky winners to visit any SAXON concert in any city around the world (excluding festival appearances).

Silver Tickets giving access to special online content are for the remaining boxes so there are no losers - only winners.

Release dates:

April 23 - U.K.
April 20 - Rest Of Europe
May 22 - North America

Several preview clips from "Heavy Metal Thunder - Live - Eagles Over Wacken" can be seen below.

Video podcast - part 3:

ALL AGAINST, the Finnish death/thrash metal band featuring singer Juha-Matti Perttunen (CATAMENIA), bassist Sami Knuutinen (QUAKE THE EARTH) and drummer Aleksi Heiskanen (QUAKE THE EARTH), has released the second in a series of video studio reports on the making of their newly released EP, "Blindness". It is a short documentary of ALL AGAINST's studio sessions at Mastervox Studios in Oulu with engineer/producer Kari "Kakke" Vähäkuopus (ex-CATAMENIA).

"Blindness" track listing:

01. Blindness
02. Hell Money
03. Globalisatan
04. Drug Of Choice

ALL AGAINST is:

Juha-Matti Perttunen - Vocals
Heikki Niemisalo - Guitar
Janne Niva - Guitar
Sami Knuutinen - Bass
Aleksi Heiskanen - Drums

KISS played a free concert last night (Friday, March 30) at Woldenberg Park along the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans is part of a full slate of festivities throughout the college men's basketball championship weekend.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Modern Day Delilah
02. Shout It Out Loud
03. Deuce
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll
06. Shock Me
07. Calling Dr. Love
08. I Love It Loud
09. 100,000 Years
10. Love Gun
11. Black Diamond
12. Detroit Rock City

Encore:

13. Lick It Up
14. Rock And Roll All Nite

Video footage of the performance can be seen below (courtesy of KissOnline.com).

KISS last performed in New Orleans during the 2009 Voodoo Experience in City Park.

KISS has completed recording its new album, "Monster", for a summer release. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "It's A Long Way Down", "Back To The Stone Age", "Shout Mercy", "Out Of This World", "Wall Of Sound" and "Hell Or Hallelujah".

Speaking to VH1 Radio Network's Dave Basner following the March 20 press conference at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California to officially announce details of KISS' summer co-headlining tour withMÖTLEY CRÜE, KISS vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley stated about the band's new CD, "'Monster' is really the culmination of everything this band has been in the past and where we're going. When we did [2009's] 'Sonic Boom', it was a big task for us because we were saying, 'How do we define who we are today without losing who we've been?' So, that was a tall order for us, but once we got that under our belts, we wanted to go back in and 'Monster' is far, far beyond anything we've done in terms of 'Sonic Boom' and yet it's right up there with some of the best stuff we've done. It's KISS."

So is there a single coming soon? Paul told VH1 Radio Network when to expect it and if it has a name.

"It should be right around the time of the tour," he said. "It does have a name but we haven't chosen it yet. I think our problem right now is that we have 13 great songs and any one of them has possibilities."

In a 2011 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Stanley stated about the band's decision to return to the studio so soon after releasing "Sonic Boom", "I wasn't interested in making an album unless I was in charge and no one agreed to it half-heartedly. The band's all there, all the time, and we cut the tracks all facing each other in the same room. Chemistry and camaraderie, that's essential. That's what made [2009's] 'Sonic Boom' so great, and this album is thunderously better."

As first reported by BLABBERMOUTH.NET on March 26, Swedish metallers SABATON have now confirmed the departure of guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mulback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr. Vocalist Joakim Bróden and bassist Pär Sundström will continue SABATON with new, as-yet-undisclosed members.

Commented SABATON in a statement: "Starting a band at the age of 18 is simple, keeping it intact for 12 years is much harder, and finally we have come to the crossroad where we will go separate ways.

"Pär Sundström and Joakim Brodén will continue to battle on stage, carrying the banner of SABATON to further victories.

"We will always have an eternal bond to each other, created by more than 12 years of friendship and touring, and wish each other long and prosperous lives with families, various projects and musical careers.

"In the end, all six of us will end up in our own glorious future…"

SABATON's new album, "Carolus Rex", will be released in Europe on May 25 via Nuclear Blast Records. The lyrics for the CD, which will be made available in both English and Swedish, deal with the Swedish Empire (referring to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721).

The band previously stated about "Carolus Rex": "For the first time ever we have had an expert to help us out with the theme, the well-known Swedish historian Bengt Liljegren. We have also added some extra time in the studio to find the absolute right sound on 'Carolus Rex', and our producer, Peter Tägtgren, says that this album will mark a brand new standard for how a heavy metal album should sound like!"

Liljegren's previously published works include acclaimed biographies of Adolf Hitler and Karl XII. He also appeared in the popular Swedish TV series "Boston Tea Party".

SABATON will embark on a North American headlining tour next month. The "Swedish Empire Tour 2012" will kick off on April 10 in Tampa, Florida.

Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA will release their new album, "Stones Grow Her Name", on May 18 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded in several studios all over Finland, mixed at Sonic Pump Studios by Mikko Karmila and mastered at Chartmakers by Svante Forsbäck. The effort will be released as a limited-edition digipak, standard jewel case, vinyl and download.

"Stones Grow Her Name" track listing:

01. Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)
02. Shitload of Money
03. Losing My Insanity
04. Somewhere Close To You
05. I Have A Right
06. Alone In Heaven
07. The Day
08. Cinderblox
09. Don't Be Mean
10. Wildfire II
11. Wildfire III

A two-and-a-half-minute teaser for "Stones Grow Her Name" is available below.

Commented SONATA ARCTICA vocalist Tony Kakko: "Our newest adventure is only a final touch short of being ready.

"The recordings went extremely well and the mixing is in schedule.

"[I] have to say I am enjoying myself greatly.

"I've had a very hard and work-filled two-year period writing the songs while touring extensively with our previous album, 'The Days of Grays'. But it has all been worth it!

"Yet again we are introducing new things to keep the music alive and interesting. New elements, styles and new moods, talented quest artists and ideas for the enjoyment of the loyal friends of our music.

"Can't wait for you to get your hands and ears on 'Stones Grow Her Name'!

"Hope to see you all again on tour!"

Gunnar Sauermann, a writer for the German edition of Metal Hammer magazine, was one of the first media people to hear a rough-mix version of "Stones Grow Her Name" at this past weekend's Finnish Metal Expo in Helsinki. He comments, "SONATA ARCTICA was never more exciting and more versatile as on 'Stones Grow Her Name'. Every single song is a hit!"

SONATA ARCTICA's concert DVD, "Live In Finland", last November topped the official "Music DVD" chart in Finland. Released in Europe on November 11 and in North America on November 15 via Nuclear Blast, the set includes the band's entire April 15, 2011 performance at Club Teatria in Oulu, Finland as well as a bonus disc containing four songs that were filmed at the band's own festival on August 8, 2009 in Kemi, Finland. Also featured on the DVD are SONTA ARCTICA's promotional videos for the songs "Don't Say A Word", "Paid In Full" and "Flag In The Ground" as well as a photo gallery and behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the DVD. There is also a bonus CD containing eight songs that were recorded at the Kemi festival concert.

"The Days Of Grays" sold around 2,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD landed at position No. 19 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.

"The Days Of Grays" was released on September 22, 2009 in North America through Nuclear Blast Records.

U.K. progressive metallers TESSERACT have announced additional details of their highly-anticipated acoustic EP, "Perspective". Set for a European release of May 21, the effort will be available digitally, while a physical version will be issued through the band's webshop. The five song-EP features "Eden 2.0", acoustic versions of three tracks from the band's debut album, "One", plus a cover of Jeff Buckley's classic "Dream Brother". As a special bonus, the iTunes version will contain instrumentals of all the tracks.

"Perspective" EP track listing:

01. Perfection
02. April
03. Origin
04. Dream Brother
05. Eden 2.0

iTunes bonus tracks:

06. Perfection (instrumental)
07. April (instrumental)
08. Origin (instrumental)
09. Dream Brother (instrumental)
10. Eden 2.0 (instrumental)

Commented TESSERACT bassist Amos Williams: "The EP was inspired by an acoustic session we filmed last year in New York, whilst on tour with PROTEST THE HERO. It made us realize that a few of the tracks sounded really great when re-arranged and approached at from a different perspective."

A trailer for "Perspective", featuring audio clips from all the songs on the EP, can be seen below.

Video footage of guitarist Roman Glick of Kennesaw, Georgia-based rockers JACKYL laying down the theramin on the band's new track entitled "Screwdriver" can be seen below.

JACKYL ended 2010 with a bang by collaborating with Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame legend Darryl "DMC" Matthews McDaniels from RUN DMC on the single "Just Like A Negro".

The single is available for purchase at Jackyl.com and comes with a limited-edition "JACKYL featuring DMC" poster. It can also be downloaded from iTunes.

Formed in 1990, JACKYL has enjoyed a career stretching two decades, bringing a hybrid of Southern metal to millions. From the band's debut in 1992 via Geffen Records, through today, they are notorious as one of the hardest-working bands in rock. JACKYL holds two Guiness world records, one for staging 100 shows in 50 days, and another for performing 21 concerts in a 24-hour period. Jesse James Dupree and partner Michael Ballard also brew Jessie James Dupree's America's Outlaw Beer.

LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY has released the following statement:

"Today is a great and very important day for our band. We are finally proud to present the new singer of RHAPSODY to the world, the person who, thanks to his unique vocal talent, will contribute to the artistic perspectives of the band in the years to come.

"The secret is finally revealed: the new singer is Italian and his name is Alessandro Conti (TRICK OR TREAT)."

Commented Luca Turilli: "Alessandro is the singer of our band since many months already but we wanted to present him in the way he deserves, and this means: through his voice! We wanted to find a singer able to sing in different ways and offering different 'colors.' Such ability is fundamental for me as in every RHAPSODY album I like to compose different styles of songs, passing from the most cinematic and epic impact of some songs to the operatic majesty of other ones, from celestial voices to more aggressive tones. Alessandro was just the best choice in this sense as, in between the multitude of all his vocal colors, he has a great high tone but also an operatic approach that makes the difference. He studied at the Corale Lirica Rossini of Modena as first tenor, the same school attended by the great and unforgettable Luciano Pavarotti."

Added Alessandro: "I am very enthusiastic to be the new voice of RHAPSODY and the person the band was searching for. 'Ascending To Infinity' is just an amazing piece of art and maybe not even the word 'epic' is enough to describe its emotional power… what is sure is that I am really proud to be part of it. Now I am looking forward to meeting all the existing and new RHAPSODY fans around the world. See you soon!"

A three-and-a-half-minute YouTube clip containing audio snippets of the forthcoming album can be found below.

LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY recently finished filming a video for the song "Dark Fate Of Atlantis" in Stockholm, Sweden with director Owe Lingvall of Dream Day Media (THE RASMUS, KAMELOT's "The Great Pandemonium"). The track comes off the band's new album, "Ascending To Infinity", which will be released on June 29 via Nuclear Blast.

Commented the group: "We are impressed by the visionary style of Owe’s works. For a band willing to sound and look cinematic like RHAPSODY, there was no better choice possible. The video will be spread for free around the world in the beginning of April. Our friend Owe will also be responsible for a bonus DVD including the video, the 'making-of' documentary related with it, and exclusive interviews with all the RHAPSODY bandmembers. Nuclear Blast will release this extra DVD with a playtime of more than one hour in the limited edition of the new upcoming album, 'Ascending To Infinity', to be released worldwide on June 29. An additional gift to all our fans around the world!"

In August 2011, RHAPSODY OF FIRE guitarist Luca Turilli and keyboardist Alex Staropoli announced their decision to go their separate ways.

Due to legal reasons, Staropoli will continue under the RHAPSODY OF FIRE name. Turilli, on the other hand, will make his future efforts available under the RHAPSODY moniker (RHAPSODY OF FIRE's original name), in which he will be joined by guitarist Dominique Leurquin, bassist Patrice Guers, and drummer Alex Holzwarth. A singer for the group has has yet to be announced.

"Ascending To Infinity" track listing:

01. Quantum X
02. Ascending To Infinity
03. Dante’s Inferno
04. Excalibur
05. Tormento E Passione
06. Dark Fate Of Atlantis
07. Fantasia Gotica
08. Clash Of The Titans
09. Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall
I. Alma Mundi
II. Fatum Mortalis
III. Ignis Divinus

You can check out the "Ascending To Infinity" cover artwork below.

The album will have a running time of around 65 minutes.

LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY will embark on the "Ascending To Infinity" headlining tour in the fall.

In a recent interview, Turilli stated about "Ascending To Infinity", "Honestly, this album is very important for me, Alex Holzwarth, Patrice and Dominique and personally it is the one I always dreamed to record. The basic composition process lasted around five months. In this period of time I worked at the rhythm of 12-14 hours per day and, while very hard because very demanding mentally and spiritually, this was one of the most rewarding sessions of composition of my whole life. It rarely happened I had so much fun playing the guitar, the keyboards or my beloved piano and creating original classical parts, cinematic interludes, orchestrations and all the rest. Now all the songs are ready and I am actually in the process of arranging everything. As you know, I don't hire external people to orchestrate the music, but I do all by myself writing the music for each section of the orchestra, the choirs etc. and this sometimes can be a very long and hard process stealing a lot of time and energy. I cannot deny that this is a very ambitious album, because of the investment, artistic vision etc., and all the people working on it, Nuclear Blast included, are thinking the same. That's why in the upcoming months of intensive studio work I want to go on dedicating myself night and day to it, without thinking to anything else."

Regarding the change in the production team for the LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY album, Luca said, "After many years of work in Wolfsburg at the court of our friend Sascha Paeth, I decided to start this new artistic adventure with a different team of people. Sascha and the other friends of the Gate Studio (Miro, Olaf, Robert, Simon, etc.) are a winning team and their help in the past was really important for RHAPSODY. But it's since many years already that Alex and I took the productions in our hands becoming producers of our own albums, despite Sascha remaining always fundamental as engineer and mixer man. His mixes will remain legendary and our list of thanks will be never long enough for all the professional contribution he gave. All the years of work, fun and sufferance in the Gate studios of Wolfsburg will surely remain unforgettable and are carved in our heart. For LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY and the new band adventure I decided to change the studio and the main man behind the console. We are now recording the new album at the Backyard Studio of Kempten, Germany. Our new engineer and main mixer man is the same owner of the studio and his name is Sebastian Roeder, the person who worked for RHAPSODY OF FIRE in the last worldwide tour making real miracles while mixing our music live. Apart from being a talented engineer, he is a great person and he shares with us the love for this style of music. To resume, the new album will be produced by me as usual, while Sebastian will take care of the engineering, mixing and mastering process."

"Break These Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion", the new video from Swedish experimental extreme metallers MESHUGGAH, can be seen below. The performance clip was directed by Owe Lingvall of Sweden's Village Road Film.

States MESHUGGAH vocalist Jens Kidman: "We were high on tacos and sodas when we recorded this video."

"Break These Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion" comes off MESHUGGAH's new album, "Koloss", which was released in Germany on March 23 and the rest of Europe on March 26 (March 27 in North America) as a CD digi, limited-edition Magic Cube (CD digi plus DVD exclusive to Nuclear Blast mail order) and two-LP brown vinyl via Nuclear Blast Records.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. I Am Colossus
02. The Demon's Name Is Surveillance
03. Do Not Look Down
04. Behind The Sun
05. The Hurt That Finds You First
06. Marrow
07. Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion
08. Swarm
09. Demiurge
10. The Last Vigil

In a recent interview with MSN's metal music section Headbang, MESHUGGAH drummer Tomas Haake stated about the band's decision to call the new album "Koloss", "It's not so much like a theme, it's kind of how the overall album is more towards something heavier than anything that we've ever done. We wanted something that had that sound to it, something monolithic, something huge. Also a few things that tied into that was the stress and anxiety that a few of us went through up until we started recording this album because of previous sessions where we felt we were doing things the wrong way. That lingers with you, you don't want to do the same mistakes again, you want to save the mental health of a few in the band as well, try to do things another way. So it felt like a colossal thing to get out of the hat this time, even though it went smoother in a lot of ways. Also once we knew what artwork we were using, because it's not artwork that was designed for this album, it was an existing piece of art by this Russian artist Luminokaya, we just fell in love with the piece and we found out it hadn't been used for anything, so we could buy the rights for it. Once we saw that, and we already had the title 'Colossus', we had that song in there, we just felt like this creature on the cover looks like, is it a god, is it a devil, what is it? The word 'Koloss' just fit for some reason."

On the topic of how the band found the album artwork, Haake said, "I don't even remember, I think I was just looking through random art online probably three or four years ago I saw this guy's art the first time. I got in contact with him, and initially he was supposed to do something for the album but we trailed off into other things and we didn't stay in touch for a while. I just took for granted that the piece had been used for something already, but when I finally asked him he said no, it was up for grabs. He's done a lot of additions and renditions and versions of it for the whole layout, so he's spent a lot of time on it too, and we're really stoked that we ended up using this art."

Regarding the suggestion that "Koloss" sounds like MESHUGGAH deliberately tried to expand its sound even more than on "ObZen", Haake said, "We definitely pushed ourselves hard with 'ObZen', too, but maybe that one feels even more like a flirtatious thing with the stuff we were doing earlier on and the stuff we grew up with. I still feel there's some of that on this one too, with the different tunings, and a couple of the songs are actually written for six-string guitar and not all of them being really down-tuned eight-stringed stuff. That's definitely to get that old-school thrash vibe in there, even though the music is different, of course. There's definitely a little bit of that going on this album, too. But apart from that, we basically tried to create something that we find intriguing. We always try to find new ways of writing our own music, so to speak, to see if there's an additional lateral movement, a sideways step that we can take for ourselves to feel that we did something new with this one and that we pushed ourselves into doing something that came out cool and refreshing. That's kind of what we always aim for, and this time it came out like this."

"The Parcher", a brand new song from the veteran Chicago rock n' roll band BIBLE OF THE DEVIL, can be streamed below. The song comes off the group's sixth full-length album, "For The Love Of Thugs And Fools", which will be released on May 8 via Cruz Del Sur Music. The CD is described in a press release as "an assembly of raging rock 'n' roll songs that encapsulate the band's saga musically and personally" over the years since the last CD. Returning to Phantom Manor studios in Chicago to work with Mike Lust, who has engineered numerous BIBLE OF THE DEVIL recordings in the past, the band sought to emphasize their trademark bludgeoning two-guitar attack and mammoth hooks with an increased attention to soaring, anthemic vocals.

"For The Love Of Thugs And Fools" is viewed by the band as a document of the many characters they have encountered through the life of the band, whether it be in love, loss, friendship, or hatred.

Having toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe since the band's inception in late 1999 and living in the volatile urban environment Chicago, where encounters with crime, violence, and "street justice" are unavoidable, there has been much subject matter for the band to draw from. Embracing the philosophy that a bottle of whiskey and some loud guitar is often the best cure available for these challenges and ordeals, BIBLE OF THE DEVIL has chosen to document its grievances in the form of one devastating rock n' roll platter. Said singer/guitarist Mark Hoffmann states, "The few years since the last full-length have been like a dare. A dare to create a soaring, punishing rock 'n' roll record of this magnitude. It is a dare that we have been forced to answer ourselves."

"For The Love Of Thugs And Fools" track listing:

01. Sexual Overture/While You Were Away
02. Out For Blood
03. Raw & Order
04. The Parcher
05. I Know What Is Right (In The Night)
06. Anytime
07. Can't Turn Off The Sun
08. Yer Boy
09. Night Street

With numerous albums and seven-inch singles to their credit, the members of BIBLE OF THE DEVIL have carved themselves quite a niche in the heavy rock underground over the past 13 years as carriers of the flame of classic, loud, hook-filled guitar rock, yet with their own modern interpretation. The band has toured the United States and mainland Europe extensively during this period, and continue to do so in 2012, whether or not Mayan predictions of an apocalypse prove to be true.

"Comatose", the new video from Canadian modern metallers THREAT SIGNAL, can be seen below. The clip was directed by Tommy Jones of The Studio.

"Comatose" comes off THREAT SIGNAL's third, self-titled album, which was released last October via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Planet Z studios in Hadley, Massachusetts with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE ACACIA STRAIN, BORN OF OSIRIS, SHADOWS FALL).

"Threat Signal" track listing:

01. Uncensored
02. Comatose
03. New World Order
04. Trust In None
05. Face The Day
06. Fallen Disciples
07. Disposition
08. Death Before Dishonor
09. Buried Alive
10. Resistance (bonus track)

Check out the cover artwork below.

Vocalist Biff Byford of British heavy metal legends SAXON has issued the following update:

"We are very busy these days with the new album and we have already a few ideas together. I am writing melodies and lyrics and arranging them into songs. We will give the rest of the band a break for [holidays]. After that, we have a full session in April before heading to the mighty sugar loaf and rock Sao Luis! We are really looking forward to coming back to celebrate an awesome party with our South American fans! Needless to say that the Rock In Den Ruinen festival in Germany is also going to be great! And don't forget: Our new DVD will hit the stores in April! We are very proud of this product as it reflects SAXON at its best: big productions, great performances and a fabulous audience!!! We will keep you updated where you can get the special limited fan edition! When we've finished our short live break, we will enter the studio in the U.K. and will start recording the new album. Looking at a release date in the beginning of next year!"

SAXON will release "Saxon - Heavy Metal Thunder - Live - Eagles Over Wacken", the no-fat-no-bullshit-100%-pure CD/DVD featuring DVD highlights from the band's Wacken shows in 2004, 2007 and 2009 comprising thirty songs, plus a live CD from Glasgow in 2011. Each set captures the Barnsley-bred British heavy metal legends delivering classic after classic, from "Denim & Leather" to "Metalhead" to "Heavy Metal Thunder" to "Princess Of The Night" to "Crusader" in front of 75,000-pluds loyal, ravenous fans, who have come to expect (and receive) the levels of performance SAXON have been delivering for 32 years.

"Heavy Metal Thunder - Live - Eagles Over Wacken" is available in a variety of formats, including the Golden Ticket D2C/Direct To Consumer Box.

Strictly limited, this exclusive package contains the "Best Of Wacken" DVD, plus the full and complete SAXON Wacken Open Air performances from 2004/2007/2009 each on a separate DVD, plus a SAXON flag.

Release dates:

April 23 - U.K.
April 20 - Rest Of Europe
May 22 - North America

"Call To Arms" sold around 700 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD debuted at No. 51 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. The digipack version of "Call To Arms" includes a glorious bonus — a free seven-track CD, "Live At Donington 1980".

Masschusetts metallers SHADOWS FALL have completed work on their seventh studio album, "Fire From The Sky", for a May 15 release via Razor & Tie. Recorded at Zing Studios in late 2011, the reunites SHADOWS FALL with longtime friend, producer/engineer and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE/TIMES OF GRACE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, ALL THAT REMAINS). The album was mixed by Brian Virtue and features some of the band's most complex and melodic material in years.

Commented SHADOWS FALL vocalist Brian Fair, "'Fire From The Sky' is not a concept album by any means, but a few common themes do link these songs together. These days, the world seems to be spiraling out of control into a frantic state of confusion, corruption and chaos. It's as if we are living under the shadow of an impending apocalypse. The songs on this album were inspired by this chaos and the struggle to find answers in these dark days."

Pre-order bundles are available today in five different configurations offering a variety of items including music, t-shirts and limited edition band merch. All pre-order bundles include a poster, and both a physical copy and digital download of "Fire From The Sky". Special bundles offer a selection of different bands t-shirts and a limited edition SHADOWS FALL flag. Pre-order bundles are available for purchase here.

SHADOWS FALL will play two shows in Mexico with ANTHRAX before hitting the road as direct support to FEAR FACTORY this spring. The band will also headline a string of dates.

"Fire From The Sky" track listing:

01. The Unknown
02. Divide And Conquer
03. Weight Of The World
04. Nothing Remains
05. Fire From The Sky
06. Save Your Soul
07. Blind Faith
08. Lost Within
09. Walk The Edge
10. The Wasteland

The cover artwork for "Fire From The Sky" was designed by Aaron Marsh of Forefathers and can be seen below.

Commented Marsh: "When presented with the idea, I wanted to deliver an aesthetic that would go beyond the 'typical' or ‘assumed.’ I wanted to embrace a perspective and emotive value that could be carried with the context of the record itself. While I knew this would be challenging and end up stylistic to one degree or another, I still wanted the viewer to get this overwhelming and brooding sense of chaos that could otherwise be imagined when putting themselves in that very scenic situation — supposing this record was the soundtrack to their own apocalyptic movie."

Added SHADOWS FALL singer Brian Fair: "[I] couldn't be happier with how the artwork for 'Fire From The Sky' came out. Thanks to Forefathers for doing such an amazing job!"

SHADOWS FALL filmed a video for an as-yet-undisclosed new song on March 21 at an abandoned building in Brooklyn, New York.

The band recently wrapped up a string of intimate headlining warm-up shows in select cities before heading to Australia for this year's Soundwave Festival.

"Fire From The Sky" (song) audio stream:

In a two-hour lecture at the Inferno Music Conference during the Inferno metal festival in Oslo, Norway, King (bass) and Geir Bratland (keyboards) of GOD SEED will reveal how they have worked out a new path for their genre of black metal. They will give details and insight into the working process and the philosophy behind the upcoming GOD SEED album.

The attendees will be the first to be able to hear material from the upcoming album and a discussion of the thoughts behind the compostions.

Says King: "I'm really looking forward to presenting the new music I've been working on for the last two years. We have put a lot of work into creating something very unique. We will give some previews from the GOD SEED album, but more importantly, we will give a detailed presentation on how we have made the songs. Geir will demonstrate how he has created the noise and key arrangements on the recordings."

GOD SEED recently announced its new lineup. It is as follows:

* Tom Cato Visnes (a.k.a. King) (TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, OV HELL, GORGOROTH) - Bass
* Kristian Espedal (a.k.a. Gaahl) (GORGOROTH, TRELLDOM, WARDRUNA) - Vocals
* Stian "Sir" Kårstad (TRELLDOM, DJERV) - Guitar
* Kenneth Kapstad (MOTORPSYCHO) - Drums
* Geir Bratland (DIMMU BORGIR) – Keyboards, Noise
* Lust Kilman (THE BATALLION, GRIMFIST) - Guitar

Commented King: "All members of GOD SEED have been carefully picked for their musical skills and devoted personalities. We aim to release an album which will sound different than what we have done in the past. The new members have been very important for creating a sound that hopefully will come across as unique and defining the new GOD SEED sound. From this moment, GOD SEED should not be viewed as a duo anymore, but as a band with six members."

GOD SEED has spent the past several months working on the material for its debut album at various locations in Norway. The group is laying down ten new songs which "will show the band from a different side but well-rooted in what Gaahl and King are known for in the past," according to a press release. All the music has already been recorded and Gaahl is currently working on lyrics and vocal arrangements. No release date has yet been set.

GOD SEED's "Live At Wacken" DVD and CD was released on January 27 in Europe and January 31 in North America via Indie Recordings.

"Live At Wacken" includes footage of the group's infamous live show from the 2008 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany where they performed on the main stage in front of 75,000 screaming fans. The effort features session players Nick Barker (drums) and Ice Dale (guitar) alongside King and Gaahl.

GOD SEED came to life after Gaahl and King lost a court battle in early 2009 against guitarist Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name.

Commented King: "GOD SEED represents a more spiritual side to us than what GORGOROTH did. GOD SEED represents the will to grow; the will to be the super man, so to speak. I think it's a suitable name for what we will represent in the future. I am also aware of the fact that we use the word 'God' in the name. It will challenge the weak-minded in the respect that we in the past used the word Satan a lot, but it's all about the same thing. The God within man, and the God within nature. I never believed in a Christian force named Satan. I believe in the God within man."

Gaahl left GOD SEED in 2009 because he chose to retire from metal music, but has since rejoined the group.

Quality video footage of DEICIDE's March 24 concert at Blubird Theater in Denver, Colorado can be seen below (courtesy of Superskum)

On March 1, DEICIDE kicked off the North American headlining "March Of Death 2012" trek, with support from JUNGLE ROT, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS and LECHEROUS NOCTURNE.

DEICIDE's latest album, "To Hell With God", sold 2,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD was issued on February 15, 2011 via Century Media Records. It was produced by Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, CHIMAIRA) at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida.

DEICIDE's previous CD, "Till Death Do Us Part", opened with 2,900 copies back in May 2008.

DEICIDE last year completed the "God Is Dead – To Hell With God Tour" with support from BELPHEGOR, BLACKGUARD, NEURAXIS and PATHOLOGY.

DEICIDE's "Conviction" video can be seen below. Directed by David Brodsky and Tim Kellen (Brodsky also handled editing duties while Kellen animated the video) and produced by MyGoodEye LLC, "Conviction" tells the story of frontman Glen Benton and his pursuit of Jesus, claymation-style.