Long-running German metallers ATROCITY will release a new DVD, "Die Gottlosen Jahre" (English translation: The Godless Years), on March 30.

Commented the band: "After years of preparation, rediscovering old treasures and unveiling unforgettable memories of our musical adventures, we are finally able to share our history which extends over a period of more than two decades since we formed the band in 1985. The DVD features the three-hour long anthology 'Die Gottlosen Jahre', including tons of unreleased and rare footage, moreover, more than 80 inteviewes from the global metal and gothic scene. It makes us unbelievably proud that so many people helped us during this long and detailed production process. The movie chronicles happenings around the scene bound to each period, evolving into its own chapter. Additionally, the double DVD including audio CD release includes the 25th-anniversary special show at Wacken Open Air 2010, as well as a number of bonus clips, such as the short, Dreath-Sidestory Underground."

"Die Gottlosen Jahre" features more than 80 interviews, including those with members of CARCASS, ARCH ENEMY, KREATOR, DIMMU BORGIR, DEICIDE, OBITUARY, SODOM, LACRIMOSA, DAS ICH, OOMPH!, PAIN, CREMATORY, ENTOMBED, MORGOTH, NAPALM DEATH, PUNGENT STENCH, UMBRA ET IMAGO, SAMSAS TRAUM, as well as journalists, label staff, DJs, photographers, and fans. Reels and reels of rare unreleased film material and hundreds of photographs accompany the 25-year career of this German cult band. Of course, no ATROCITY retrospective would ever be complete without the legendary 25th-anniversary concert (performed at Wacken Open Air 2010 to a red-hot crowd led by frontman Alex Krull) or without an abundance of bonus material such as the documentary "No Sleep 'Til Wacken", the short "Dreath Sidestory Underground", featuring Alex Krull and Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR), as well as a substantial collection of the band's video clips, including some of their greatest hits ("Taste of Sin", "Love Is Dead" and "Cold Black Days"), which were completely remastered to guarantee their fans the utmost enjoyment. As with all Mastersound Studio releases, the remaining material also boasts of a state-of-the-art production.

"Die Gottlosen Jahre" track listing:

DVD 1:

Documentary - Die Gottlosen Jahre (The Godless Years)

01. Prolog
02. Untergrund
03. Aufbruch
04. Turbulenzen
05. Transilvanien
06. Weltmusik
07. Zusammenkunft
08. Hass und Feuer
09. Neue Ufer
10. Zweigeist
11. Verlorenes Paradies
12. Dunkle Schönheit
13. Stimmen der Vergangenheit
14. Epilog

DVD 2:

Live in Wacken 2010 + Bonus Clips

01. No Sleep 'Til Wacken
02. Fatal Step
03. Necropolis
04. Blut
05. Willenskraft
06. Seasons in Black
07. Clash of the Titans
08. Die Todgeweihten
09. Danse Macabre
10. The Great Commandment
11. Fade To Grey
12. The Sun Always Shines on TV
13. Shout

Bonus Clips:

01. Blut
02. Cold Black Days
03. The Sun Always Shines on TV
04. Reich of Phenomena (Liveclip)
05. Die Liebe (feat. Das Ich)
06. Taste of Sin
07. Shout (Liveclip)
08. Love is Dead
09. Fade to Grey (Liveclip)
10. Calling the Rain (feat. Yasmin)
11. The Great Commandment (Liveclip)
12. Miss Directed
13. Dreath - Sidestory "Underground"

DVD Specification:

Aspect Ratio: 16:9 PAL DV
Sound: Stereo 2.0
Language: English/German
Subtitle: English / German
Regional Code: All Regions
Running Time DVD I: 180 minutes
Running Time DVD II: 116 minutes

Bonus Audio CD:

Live in Wacken 2010

01. Fatal Step
02. Necropolis
03. Blut
04. Willenskraft
05. Seasons in Black
06. Clash of the Titans
07. Die Todgeweihten
08. Danse Macabre
09. The Great Commandment
10. Fade To Grey

In other news, drummer Roland Navratil left ATROCITY "for private reasons and has been replaced by Joris Nijenhuis. The band states, "Not only is he a great guy; he also totally blew us away during his audition. He is the perfect match for the new ATROCITY material!"

States Joris: "I'm really excited to announce that I'm the new drummer for ATROCITY. After quitting DRDOOM, it wasn't easy to find a new band, but then [bassist] J.B. [Van Der Wal] told me that ATROCITY was looking for a new drummer. So I recorded an audition video of 'Reich Of Phenomena' and was asked to come to the studio a few weeks later to meet everyone. I'm really looking forward to play on the upcoming album and play a lot of shows."

"Scum", the classic 1987 debut album from grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH, will be re-released on limited-edition redux CD and colored vinyl LP on March 5 via Earache Records.

To celebrate 25 years since the release of the most influential grindcore album ever made, "Scum" has been remastered especially for this release from the original tapes with Full Dynamic Range (FDR), allowing the music's nuances to shine through and giving the whole album a more ferocious and dynamic sound than ever before, and enabling the listener to immerse in the full audio chaos like never before.

Original NAPALM DEATH guitarist and founding member Mick Harris states: "It sounds wicked — that record still holds up today and I'm proud I was part of it."

This full dynamic range release is a reaction to the loudness war which has affected the music scene since the '90s, with artists and labels striving to producer ever-louder CDs. Earache firmly believes the playback volume should be in the hands of the listener, not the producer — that's what the volume control is for!

See a comparison of the "Scum" full dynamic range audio against the previous version below.

More FDR releases are planned, including NAPALM DEATH's follow-up effort, "From Enslavement To Obliteration".

The limited-edition "Scum" CD comes housed in a digipak sleeve and includes the previously unreleased rough mix of the entire album as a bonus, complete with original ad libs and intros from the studio and an alternate version of the title track. The collector's LP version is available in the following quantities and colors:

* 100 - Lime Green
* 200 - Lilac
* 300 - Magenta
* 800 - Black & White

Fan-filmed video footage of Ryan Adams — the multiple-Grammy-nominated folk singer and songwriter from Jacksonville, North Carolina — performing a acoustic cover version of the DIO classic "Holy Diver" on February 17 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California can be seen below.

According to RollingStone.com, Adams hosts a black metal talk-show on YouTube called "Night Sweats", where his female co-host, Balphazar, wears corpse-paint and groans her approval amid the skulls and candelabras. Adams performs the morose theme song on banjo.

"I love it," he told station DJ Jason Bentley during an interview. "There's all these musicians in the world, and anybody that takes enough time to create a record or even think about the fantasy of rock and roll, it's a vulnerable place to be in, it's a huge thing to do. I hear that when I listen to black metal."

Adams also praised metal legends AC/DC, BLACK SABBATH and OZZY OSBOURNE, and gave his stamp of approval to the newest album from RATT, 2010's "Infestation". "It is so good. Put track two on, sit down on your couch and wait for fucking Memorex hair," he said, only half-joking. "The sickest guitar parts ever. It's like every song is 'Round And Round'. Every song is that good."

Finnish metallers ANTAGONIST ZERO will release their debut digital EP, "Nighttime Harmony", on March 14 via Violent Journey Records.

ANTAGONIST ZERO is a five-piece metal band from Porvoo, Finland, formed in 2010. Despite the bandmembers' relative young age, they have many years of experience playing in different groups such as ADASTRA, CAVUS, COPROLITH and LOST IN TEARS.

ANTAGONIST ZERO describes its music as "catatonic metal," which includes elements from different types of metal genres, namely doom as well as death/black and post metal.

ANTAGONIST ZERO is:

Ben Pakarinen: Guitar, Vocals
Juho Suokas: Guitar
Ville Siikamäki: Clean Vocals
Fredde Sjöblom: Bass
Aleksi Tervo: Drums

Slash — the iconic, Grammy-winning rock guitarist and songwriter — is currently in a Los Angeles studio putting the finishing touches on his second solo album. Entitled "Apocalyptic Love", the disc is due out May 22 on Slash's own label Dik Hayd International distributed through EMI

For the new album, Slash — along with and his bandmates Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums) and Todd Kerns (bass) — teamed with producer Eric Valentine, who also produced the "Slash" (2010) disc.

When asked if he considers his current group to be a full-fledged "band," Slash told RollingStone.com, "I'm a band guy. Everything I touch I turn into a fucking band. I still have my name on the marquee and everything, but I'm just not a dictator, I don't want to rule anything. I like to hear what other people's ideas are and so on and so forth. But the guys, like Brent and Todd, aren't looking for any kind of glorified credit other than what it is that they do. Some people are stumbling over themselves trying to write even though they're not inspired to do anything, but just to get their thing in there, which I deal with a lot in other situations. So I just write music, Myles writes his lyrics and his melodies, and he helps me get all that together with the music. And if anybody has any input on anything, it's open season."

He added, "I realized I was a band guy when I was 15 when I only knew like four licks and two chords and I started a band. I like working in a band atmosphere, I think something about that camaraderie. I do not want to do it all by myself. I'm like that with everything else, I don't want to do that with music. I'm very much a loner in most respects, but when it comes to working with music, whether I'm leading it or not, the last record was very collaborative. It was just a lot of different people. But this is just one group of guys, which is really cool for me at this point after having done the last record and going in with Chris Chaney and Josh Freese and going, 'Here's the demo, let's learn it real quick.' Then we record it and bring the vocal in, that's how every song went. This is more my style of recording where we rehearse the shit out of it until it feels second nature and then go and bang it out in the studio."

In the U.K., the album will be released on May 21 in exclusive Classic Rock Fan Pack form — providing a unique collectable package containing the studio album with bonus tracks alongside a specially created magazine with unseen behind-the-scenes content put together by Classic Rock. The Fan Pack format will also come with free gifts, including a pin badge and artwork poster and will be available to buy via more than 2000 retail outlets on newsstands nationally as well as the traditional high street and online music retailers. Roadrunner Records will simultaneously release the record digitally. The standard physical release of the Slash album will follow through Roadrunner Records on June 18.

After a brief, 23-year vacation from the thrash scene, acclaimed '80s Northwest thrashers MACE have decided to lace up the combat boots for battle one more time. These guys shared the stage with the biggest thrash bands of the mid-'80s, including SLAYER, ANTHRAX, DEATH ANGEL, METAL CHURCH, CIRCLE JERKS, THE ACCUSED and many more.

Earlier this month, the band quietly leaked the info that they were getting back together and from the Northwest, they fired a shot that could heard around the world. Bands, promoters and even record labels, some as far away as Germany started talking about MACE.

There is a huge amount of excitement in the MACE camp and these guys are locked in with laser focus and ready to melt some faces, just like they did over two decades ago. For added excitement, Tommy Niemeyer from THE ACCUSED made the new MACE logo.

Everyone knows MACE guitarist Dave Hillis went on to work on some of the biggest albums in rock history as a producer (PEARL JAM's "Ten", ALICE IN CHAINS' "Dirt"), but MACE was always in the back of his mind. Hillis says, "I always wanted to remix the old songs, and when I opened my own studio I had to do it, and it was so much fun that we thought we would try a new song and that was so much fun that we said, 'Why not teach these young kids how it was done back in the day?'"

Hillis knew that when the time was right, he was going to revisit the thrash scene that he and his band helped form and solidify back in the '80s. In fact, DEATH ANGEL was recently on VH1's "Metal Evolution" and lead singer Mark Osegueda was wearing a MACE T-shirt. MACE is also said to be the first metal band to ever make punk fanzine Maximum Rock And Roll's playlist.

A huge part of the thrash scene back in the '80s was the underground tape-trading movement which helped spread the word like wildfire. Hillis states, "We got all our shows on tour and fanzine reviews and interviews that way, giving it away on the Internet today is just an extension of that."

MACE is using the 21st-century version of tape-trading and is giving away "Haarp Strings 2012" to their fans for free and they are encouraging them to give it away to anyone they want, no strings attached. Check it out at this location. It is also available for streaming below.

German progressive death metallers WORDS OF FAREWELL have inked a deal with AFM Records. The band's debut album, "Immersion", will be released March 30.

Commented the group: "We're really proud to have been able to get a record deal after these five years. And the fact that we've been signed by such a big label such as AFM Records left us speechless at first because we certainly didn't expect that. Thus we're even more delighted to now be a part of the AFM family and hope that we'll be able to offer our fans quite a treat in the future, for Immersion is only the start of our kinship with AFM Records."

WORDS OF FAREWELL is:

Alexander Otto - Vocals
Erik Gaßmus - Guitar
Henrik Tschierschky - Guitar
Nils Urginus - Bass
Jonas Wübbe - Drums
Leo Wichmann - Keyboards

The Great Frog, which has been hand-crafting rock jewelry in Carnaby, London since 1972, has announced a collaboration with California thrashers SLAYER.

The SLAYER ring will be made from solid sterling silver and hand-crafted in London. Each ring will be engraved with its own limited edition number and will be available for pre-order from today, online or from any of The Great Frog's three stores in London, New York or Los Angeles

The ring's launch will be officially celebrated at a party at the New York store on February 24.

A promotional video clip can be seen below.

The Great Frog says in a press release: "For years The Great Frog has been fortunate enough to work alongside some of the biggest rock bands in the world. This month The Great Frog have teamed up with SLAYER to create this awesome piece of metal history. "

For more information, go to this location.

Earlier this week, MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine was interviewed by Josh Kerns for Sunday's episode of "Seattle Sounds", which airs on on Seattle's KIRO 97.3 FM radio station. When asked if he supports gay marriage, Mustaine said, "Well, since I'm not gay, the answer to that would be no." Dave was then questioned if he would support legislation to make marriage between a man and another man legal. He replied, "I'm Christian. The answer to that would be no."

Regarding what it means that an average price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.83 when Barack Obama came into office and now it's almost $4, Mustaine said, "It means the same thing that's happened to all of our grandparents with their social security being taken away. It means the same thing for all the homeowners who've had their houses ripped out from under them with all these robo-mortgages. America is being emasculated. I think as long as George Soros is going to be president Obama's main mentor, we need to get ready to start wearing red."

Mustaine on Wednesday issued a statement to clarify media reports that he has endorsed Republican Rick Santorum for president. He said, "Contrary to how some people have interpreted my words, I have not endorsed any presidential candidate. What I did say was that I hope to see a Republican in the White House. I've seen good qualities in all the candidates but by no means have made my choice yet. I respect the fact that Santorum took time off from his campaign to be with his sick daughter, but I never used the word 'endorse.'"

In the interview that shocked some of his longtime fans, Mustaine told MusicRadar.com, "I'm just hoping that whatever is in the White House next year is a Republican. I can't bear to watch what's happened to our great country. Everybody's got their head in the sand. Everybody in the industry is like, 'Oh, Obama's doing such a great job ...' I don't think so. Not from what I see."

Mustaine was critical of most of the candidates in the Republican presidential race, telling the site, "I was floored the other day to see that Mitt Romney's five boys have a $100 million trust fund. Where does a guy make that much money? So there's some questions there. And watching Newt Gingrich, I was pretty excited for a while, but now he's just gone back to being that person that everybody said he was — that angry little man. I still like him, but I don't think I'd vote for him."

The MEGADETH frontman added that Santorum, who won caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota as well as the Missouri primary last week, "has some presidential qualities." He said, "I'm hoping that if it does come down to it, we'll see a Republican in the White House... and that it's Rick Santorum."

"Fire & Damnation", the first album in 24 years from German thrash metal veterans EXUMER, will be released in North America on April 10 via Metal Blade Records. The 10-track CD, which was recorded with renowned producer Waldemar Sorychta (GRIP INC., THERION, SODOM, MOONSPELL), "combines a punishing production with aggressive songwriting," according to a press release. "EXUMER manages to capture the intensity and feel of the 1980s thrash metal gems and yet sound up to date on their latest output."

Comments singer Mem V. Stein: "With 'Fire & Damnation', we tried to create the most punishing and dominant thrash metal album of our career. No lackluster songs, no fillers, no lazy performance and no compromises. It moves straight forward from the the very first song to the last, delivering a vibrant mix of skilled musicianship with the urgency of the classic thrash records from the 1980s!"

"Fire & Damnation" track listing:

01. Fire & Damnation
02. Vermin Of The Sky
03. The Weakest Limb
04. A New Morality
05. Waking The Fire
06. Fallen Saint
07. Crushing Point
08. Devil Chaser
09. I Dare You
10. Tribal Furies
11. Destructive Solution (bonus live track)
12. A Mortal In Black (bonus live track)
13. Xiron Darkstar (bonus live track)

The "Fire & Damnation" title track can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

EXUMER is:

Mem V. Stein - Vocals
Ray Mensh - Guitar
T. Schiavo - Bass
H.K. - Guitar
Matthias Kassner - Drums

Formed in 1985 by Mem V. Stein and guitarist Ray Mensh, EXUMER went on to release two albums (1986's "Possessed By Fire" and 1987's "Rising From The Sea") that are regarded as some of the most cult thrash metal releases ever to come out of Germany. EXUMER was also one of the first thrash metal acts to capture exotic, foreign markets like Poland and Brazil, where their albums were domestically released in the 1980s. The subsequent tours that followed those releases secured the band live shows in front of thousands of fans and an unusually large following outside of Germany.

Plagued by lineup changes and internal turmoil, the band broke up in 1990, and did not perform live, with the exception of 2001 appearance at the prestigious Wacken Open Air festival, until 2009.

Mem and Ray decided to re-activate EXUMER in 2008, and the band embarked on their first tour since 1988. The "5 Nights of Fire Tour", took the band through Europe (Germany, Holland, Greece), and the USA, where they headlined the "Thrasho de Mayo Festival" in front of 1,300 fans in Los Angeles.

EXUMER returned to Europe in spring and the fall of 2010, where the band appeared at Norway's Inferno Festival, among other stops in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Bulgaria during the "European Ignition Tour Part I & II".

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

Speaking to AOL's Noisecreep, Townsend stated about the upcoming multi-disc package, "I submitted the mixes for the audio and we just finished the cover. I think the entire project is like a 10-disc set or something ridiculous. . . We're going to do the four DVDs, four audio discs [CDS], one of bonus footage, and because the shows are too long to fit the encores on the audio discs, we have a disc of just the encores. . . There's bonus material from 'Ghosts' and 'Deconstruction'. We did a bunch of PUNKY BRÜSTER stuff [Townsend's 1996 project] and for 'Addicted' [concert] we did a bunch of old catalog stuff, just to flesh it out. So the people that come to the show are not just feeling ripped off that we played for 55 minutes and then buggered off."

Devin also spoke about his next project, which he will begin recording next month after completing his appearance at Australia's Soundwave Festival. "I'm doing this record called 'Epicloud'," he said. "Over the course of the full record, there's sort of new agey stuff, jazzy stuff, really heavy stuff. We basically cover the gamut. 'Epicloud' is the first record that I felt confident enough to include all those things on one record so it goes between melodic hard rock to schizophrenic heavy metal to country to really ambient stuff and it's all in one place. I'm using a gospel choir, a string section and a horn section for this one as well. On 'Deconstruction', I got to use the Prague Philharmonic and really go far into making an absurd album as over the top as possible and on 'Epicloud' I'm trying to take the same advantages to make some things musically very pleasing, as opposed to just claustrophobic."

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT released "Contain Us", a special tribute box set for its epic quadrology ("Ki", "Addicted", "Deconstruction" and "Ghost") on November 29, 2011 in North America. "Contain Us" was designed and created by Man Alive's Tom Bejgrowicz (who also conceived the classic and must-have MISFITS "Coffin" box-set) and is the ultimate collection for every diehard Devin fan. The standard box-set is priced at $80.00 while the hand-numbered box with the 10" and a lithograph drawn and autographed by Devin is $100.

Former CHIMAIRA drummer Andols Herrick will guest on one track on the upcoming debut album from United Arab Emirates-based metallers BENEVOLENT. The CD will be released in the spring via Spellbind Records.

Commented Herrick in a statement, "I was approached by [BENEVOLENT's co-founder and lead guitarist] Hadi Sarieddine awhile back about the possibility of tracking drums for BENEVOLENT. I was quite impressed with the quality of the music and vocals."

He continued, "I love having the opportunity to work with a great band, who happens to represent the Middle East metal scene very well. I do know it is very vibrant having had the pleasure of performing with CHIMAIRA at the Desert Rock Festival in Dubai back in 2009."

Regarding the track that Andols is recording for the BENEVOLENT CD, the drummer said, "This song presented numerous rhythmic challenges as I was learning it. If you were a drummer with limited music theory experience, I'd just say 'Good luck trying to learn it!' The song is loaded with 'over-the-bar-line' guitar riffs, and I found myself, on occasion, discovering some of my transcriptions would be a sixteenth note off here or there!"

Added Sarieddine, "It is pretty crazy thinking that Andols Herrick is going to be drumming on one of our songs; if I go back in time and tell past-me that this was happening I'd probably get a pretty sarcastic reaction.

"The last couple of years since we started the band have been absolutely insanely great for us; getting such great reviews for the debut record, getting signed to Spellbind Records, and now this? I can't think that things could be any better for the band, I'm really proud of how things are coming together."

BENEVOLENT's debut EP, "Divided", came out in 2010. The band landed a deal with Spellbind Records in September 2011.

According to Hadi, the forthcoming CD will be "a lot more technical than 'Divided'; the songs have a lot going on and while it preserves that sound that we've created in our debut EP this is a step forward on many levels and it tells a story about lots of dark themes with the lyrical and instrumental direction on the album."

For more information, go to this location.

British heavy metal legends SAXON have commenced the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to last year's "Call To Arms". Drummer Nigel Glockler writes on his Facebook page, "Expecting Quinny [Paul Quinn; guitar] down this week, so he, Doug [Scarratt; guitar] and myself will be in the home studio working on songs for the next album before the whole band meet up again in March. The plan (at the moment) is to have the album written by May, then studio between festivals this summer. We are hoping for a January 2013 release, but as you know, things are always subject to change."

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".

Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based extreme metallers KATAKLYSM will release a multidisc DVD, "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined", in the spring via Nuclear Blast. The set will depict the ups and downs of the band's long, turbulent career, as well as footage of KATAKLYSM's performance at last year's Summer Breeze festival, which took place August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. The cover art for the release was created by artist Colin Marks (ORIGIN, EXODUS, NEVERMORE) and can be viewed below.

Commented KATAKLYSM frontman Maurizio Iacono: "Just watched most of [the DVD] yesterday. Director Tommy Jones has really captured the band's story and magic on this thing. I'm super excited; this DVD will turn many heads. Our fans will be proud. Most of all, I got memories immortalized of a beautiful story. If we don't earn the respect with this, then the ones not giving it are in the wrong biz."

KATAKLYSM recently recorded the single "The Iron Will" in Montreal, Canada with guitarist/producer Jean-François Dagenais. It was mixed Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, BEHEMOTH, MNEMIC) in Denmark and will be made available with a video clip on iTunes one month before the release of "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".

KATAKLYSM's "At The Edge Of The World" video was filmed on March 20, 2011 at the band's hometown show at Club Soda. This concert also marked the end of the group's "Spread the Venom" European/North American tour. The video was helmed by director Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, SOILWORK), who is also working with KATAKLYSM on "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".

KATAKLYSM's latest album, "Heaven's Venom", sold around 2,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 8 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.

KATAKLYSM's previous CD, "Prevail", opened with 2,250 units back in June 2008.

"Heaven's Venom" was produced by Jean-Francois Dagenais and was mixed by Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MNEMIC, DARK TRANQUILLITY).

Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with KORN singer Jonathan Davis. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Radio Metal: How do you make such two different musical worlds, metal and dubstep, work together? I guess a metal band such as KORN has a very different way of working compared to dubstep artists such as Skrillex?

Jonathan: No, there's a lot of similarities there; there really is. Dubstep music is really heavy. Some of those sounds were just so heavy that we thought it would work so we wanted to experiment. We didn't know if we were going to make an album or what we were going to do, but when we got with Skrillex, we did a few soungs, and once we got there, [we were like] "Fuck the EP. Let's do a whole album. I guess we'll work with all these different amazing producers."

Radio Metal: Was it difficult to mix these two different musical worlds?

Jonathan: Yeah, it was tough. We had no clue about what we were doing. That was something that hadn't been done before. It was a big huge learning curve. That's why we had asked the producer to mix the album with our engineer and he taught Bud [engineer Jim "Bud" Monti] all kind of stuff and Bud taught him all kinds of stuff so we were exchanging information and getting together and making the thing work. Of course it was a hard record to make, but it was the funnest record I've ever made.

Radio Metal: In the Roadrunner Records biography you were quoted defining the mixture found on "The Path Of Totality" as "future metal." So do we have to expect KORN to further explore that direction in the future or do you think you've been as far as there was to explore with combining metal and dubstep?

Jonathan: I think that since we did this record, it wouldn't be necessary to do another dubstep album, so it's on to the next thing. Our records are always kind of different, so I think we'll take what we've learned from this, and there might be subtle influences here and there, but I think overall the next KORN album will be different from the last one.

Radio Metal: You said that people were going to be pissed about "The Path Of Totality" and that made you even more excited about it. Why does it excite you so much? What satisfies you in pissing people off?

Jonathan: What made me excited about it? There's a lot of closed-minded metal purists that would hate something because it's not true to metal or whatever, but KORN has never been a metal band, dude. We're not a metal band. We've always been looked as as what they called the nu-metal thing. But we've always been the black sheep and we never fitted into that kind of thing, so… We're always ever-evolving, and we always piss fans off and we're gaining other fans, and it is how it is. And I love them all, I even love the ones that hate on us, because if they take the time out to go and say that they hate us; it means that they care. [laughs] You can't make everybody happy, but I've been around for 18 years, so I'm like, "I don't give a fuck, I really don't!" I wanna do what makes me happy and makes the band happy. But that doesn't bother us at all. There will always be people who are going to hate, no matter what the hell we do.

Radio Metal: Do you think that people need to have their convictions and habits shaken sometimes?

Jonathan: Yeah, man, that's what keeps everything sweet. You just do one thing and then change and do another thing… It trips them out and in the end they come around. Yeah, and they like that. I like being surprised. It's all about not being closed-minded and enjoy all kinds of music. And, fortunately, there are people like that.

Read the entire interview from Radio Metal.

On Thursday evening, February 16, GUNS N' ROSES played a private, invite-only show at Hiro Ballroom that closed out New York Fashion Week. A number of celebrities attended the concert, including Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso, who sat in a VIP section with Chelsea Clinton, Justin Timberlake, Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge, Taylor Momsen, Alexandra Richards, Jared Leto, Evan Rachel Wood, Danny Masterson, Mario Sorrenti and the Winklevoss twins.

GUNS N' ROSES reportedly hit the stage on time and played "Welcome To The Jungle", "It's So Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone" as part of a set that went well past 2 a.m.

According to Women's Wear Daily, two men in the crowd got into a fight minutes before the show started and ended up getting whisked away by security.

After GUNS N' ROSES took the stage, a member of the audience threw a glass. Axl Rose stopped singing and yelled to the offender, "You little [bleep], you want to throw a glass?"

"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya," said Rose, as GN'R guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal ran after the perpetrator.

In addition to sole original member Axl Rose, the current lineup of GUNS N' ROSES includes guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.

The original five-piece group, along with drummer Matt Sorum and keyboardist Dizzy Reed, will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland on April 14.

"Monarch Of All", the new video from the Danish death/thrash metal act MORDAX, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's debut album, "Violence Fraud Treachery", which will be released on February 24 via Ultimhate Records. The CD was recorded at CB Studios and Redhead Recordings in Denmark and mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö (BLOODBATH, OPETH, EDGE OF SANITY) at Unisound in Örebro, Sweden.

According to the band's official bio, MORDAX "reaches back towards a sound that is raw, real and human. Combining various elements from thrash and death metal with a rock-inspired approach to songwriting, the band's sound is first and foremost its own: Simplistic thrash/death metal with fear-inducing growled vocals, catchy guitar lines and organic grooves center stage. The band plays around with metal clichés mixing them with their own new ideas, and in the process they come up with something that invokes nostalgia yet sounds decidedly new."

MORDAX is:

Asbjørn Steffensen: Vocals
Ejnar Videbæk: Drums
Jeff: Bass
Mads Bertram: Guitar
Lord Insane: Guitar

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/mordaxmetal.

DEF LEPPARD guitarist and MANRAZE frontman Phil Collen took part in an interview and acoustic performance on the "Out Of The Box" show, which airs on the Q104.3 radio station in New York. You can now watch video footage of his appearance below.

As previously reported, Collen will take part in a Twitter question-and-answer session with fans on Wednesday, February 22 at 6 p.m. EST. Phil will be on the band's official Twitter page answering questions live.

To post a question: In the "What's Happening" box on your Twitter profile, type your question. Add the hashtag, #AskPhil to your post and click "tweet."

Example: What is your favorite Def Leppard song to play live? #AskPhil

For more information, visit DefLeppard.com.

DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen confirmed in a new video message that his band will tour with POISON this summer. Exact cities and dates have yet to be announced.

MANRAZE has just released a brand new high-energy rock/dance track and video called "Take On The World".

The release will be in conjunction with renowned U.K. film director Mark Sloper's sequel to his 2010 release documentary "I Superbiker". Part two, known as "The Showdown: I Superbiker II", chronicles the rise of Tommy Hill as the 2011 British Superbike racing champion.

MANRAZE has once again created an electric theme song that will serve as a tribute to Tommy Hill's historic win.

"Als De Dood Weer Naar Ons Lacht", the new video from the Dutch folk metal six-piece HEIDEVOLK, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's fourth album, "Batavi", which will be released on March 2 through Napalm Records.

With "Batavi", HEIDEVOLK takes you back 2,000 years to a time where numerous Germanic tribes and one massive Roman empire were struggling for dominance in north-western Europe, along the shores of the river Rhine. Caught in the middle of this where the Batavians, protagonists and name-givers of the new album.

"Batavi" is a concept album that deals with the early history of the Batavian tribe, from its origination to a daring revolt against one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Set against a background of wars, alliances, intrigues and betrayal in a tumultuous era, "Batavi" tells the story of a people that find themselves in various frontlines and struggle for survival.

Though still unmistakably in line with their musical tradition, on "Batavi" you will hear a faster and more determined HEIDEVOLK. With nine songs of brutal power and epic highlights, HEIDEVOLK shows you its teeth like never before. Heavy, powerful guitar riffs and fast thundering drums, mixed by Peter Tägtgren, create the HEIDEVOLK sound of 2012. Trademark dual clean male vocals will guide you through the story of the "Batavi" and take you straight to the battlefields of Roman-age north-western Europe.

Commented the band: "Our new CD, 'Batavi', is about to see the light of day, and after many hours of hard work in the rehearsal room and studio we feel like a bunch of starved caged animals! Armed to the teeth with new songs, we're ready to satisfy our hunger and break free!"

"Batavi" track listing:

01. Een Nieuw Begin (A New Beginning)
02. Als Ons De Toekomst Lonkt (When The Future Beckons)
03. Het Verbond Met Rome (The Alliance With Rome)
04. Wapenbroeders (Brothers In Arms)
05. In Het Woud Gezworen (Sworn In The Woods)
06. Veleda
07. Als De Dood Weer Naar Ons Lacht (When Death Smiles At Us Again)
08. Einde Der Zege (The End Of Victory)
09. Vrijgevochten (Fought To Freedom)

An edited version of the song "Een Nieuw Begin" can be streamed using the audio player below.

The metal juggernaut known as HELLYEAH — featuring Vinnie Paul Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN), Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett (MUDVAYNE), Tom Maxwell (NOTHINGFACE) and Bob "Zilla" Kakaha (DAMAGEPLAN) — has set "Band Of Brothers" as the title of its third album, to be released in early June via the grup's new label home, Eleven Seven Music. The CD was recorded in Dallas, Texas at Vinnie Paul's home studio, VP's Upstairs Studio, and was produced by the band and Jeremy Parker (GODSMACK, EVANESCENCE), who also served as engineer.

Having produced track after track of heavy-hitting, in-your-face, feel-good rock and roll on their previous two albums (2010's "Stampede" and 2007's self-titled debut), HELLYEAH takes a slightly different musical direction on "Band Of Brothers". Drawing on their former bands' collective metal roots for inspiration, the influences and style of MUDVAYNE, PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN and NOTHINGFACE are immediately recognizable in tracks such as "Band Of Brothers", "War In Me" and "Rage Burn", while the party anthem "Drink, Drank, Drunk" retains the essence of earlier HELLYEAH.

Commented Gray, "I'm really excited about what we've done on this new album. I've always separated MUDVAYNE and HELLYEAH as much as I could, even though it was my voice. Melodies, lyrics and just the overall style of writing were different. With 'Band Of Brothers', I just quit being afraid of who I am in relation to this band. I think we've all really gotten back to the original roots of what we've done individually and brought it together on this album. As an artist, as long as you're painting with your own brush, no one can compare or challenge you. I just painted with a bigger, heavier brush than I had with HELLYEAH in the past. I think this is what fans have always expected to hear from us, and now were giving it to them."

Added Jeremy Parker, "It's impossible not to have a good time jamming this record. It has the anger and violence of PANTERA and MUDVAYNE, but a party vibe that can only be HELLYEAH!"

In a recent interview with Loudwire, Vinnie stated about "Band Of Brothers" , "On our first two records, we were a new band. We really wanted to branch out and expand and experiment with all different styles. We all come from traditional metal bands and backgrounds, so it was a great breath of fresh air to play in a band that was rock 'n' roll, blues and Southern rock. We got that out of our system and got really focused on going back to our metal roots. It's heavy, focused, groove-oriented and I'm excited about it."

When asked if the bluesy, Southern rawk element been abandoned altogether or if it's still there somewhat, just in lesser form, Vinnie said, "There is some of that in there, but when we started writing, we thought, 'Let's take this to a place we haven't been all the way yet.' We've been super diverse, from songs like 'Alcohaulin' Ass' to 'Better Man', but this one honks from start to finish! . . . It's about getting your groove on — that's what we used to do. The first two records were the chance to breathe and expand and do something we hadn't done in our past and in our other bands. When you meld guys from PANTERA, MUDVAYNE and NOTHINGFACE, this is what you get. It just honks."

On the topic of how he thinks PANTERA fans truly feel about HELLYEAH, Vinnie said, "Some PANTERA fans are on the fence and I understand that. PANTERA is a marquee band, with the most diehard fans. We sold over 20 million records without MTV or radio. For some people, that's the only band they'll do. But then again, a whole lot of them understand this and have followed HELLYEAH and have been in line with us. HELLYEAH have great fans. We're a beer-drinking, hell-raising band that kicks ass live. I love both the records. It's a good release, to play songs that are not full throttle 24-7. But this new one is a great combo of what we previously did, with more metal."

HELLYEAH's sophomore album, "Stampede", sold 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 8 on The Billboard 200 chart.

HELLYEAH's self-titled debut CD opened with 45,000 units back in April 2007 to land at No. 9.

SkullsNBones.com's Sam Roon sat down at Eleven Seven Music's New York City offices with Jason Lekberg to get an exclusive preview of HELLYEAH's third album. A five-minute video clip of the session, which includes audio samples of several of the new HELLYEAH tracks, can be seen below.

Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metal veterans BEHEMOTH has recorded a guest appearance on the new album from Polish guitarist Grzegorz Skawinski. Entitled "Me & My Guitar", the CD will be released on March 12.

Commented Darski: "Style-wise, it's very far from what I do in BEHEMOTH… but I know Grzegorz for years… The guy is a guitar hero in my country and I couldn't turn down his offer when he asked me to play a lead in the title track. It came out great, and I'm sure many of you out there will dig it… it's a very crafty and catchy stuff."

Skawinski is a guitar virtuoso, famous in Eastern Europe as a former member of KOMBI, a Polish supergroup.

Joe Satriani, one of the most respected and innovative guitarists in the world today, announces the release of the live-concert film, "Satchurated: Live In Montreal". "Satchurated" was filmed during Satriani's "The Wormhole Tour", supporting his studio album, "Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards", at the Metropolis in Montreal, Canada. The December 12, 2010 concert was filmed by Grammy- and Emmy-award-winning concert filmmakers Pierre and Francois Lamoureux. "Satchurated: Live In Montreal" will be released to select theaters throughout the country on March 1 for a limited engagement.

For a complete list of theaters, go to this location.

With a total of ten cameras working to capture the sold-out concert, Satriani's musical best was recorded in both 2D and 3D HD formats. The high-definition filming makes Satriani's playing as much a pleasure to watch as it is to hear. Every chord change is captured and presented as if one were experiencing a living room concert of your very own! Fans of "Satch" will be eagerly awaiting the film's worldwide release in March, with theatrical presentations in both 2D and 3D formats, followed by a shorter version for television broadcast. The soundtrack from "Satchurated" was produced by Satriani and Mike Fraser and will be released on April 10 through Epic Records.

Over the last two decades, Satriani has traveled the world, playing to sold-out crowds as both a headliner and as founder of the all-star "G3" guitar extravaganza. His studio and live recordings have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide to date and of his many solo albums, two have gone platinum and four others went gold, with 15 Grammy nominations between them. His side project, CHICKENFOOT, featuring former VAN HALEN frontman Sammy Hagar, former bassist Michael Anthony, and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith, saw their debut album certified gold and have just released their second studio album. Satriani also appears in the Academy Award-nominated film "Moneyball" starring Brad Pitt, recreating a national anthem performance he gave at the 2002 opening day of Major League Baseball's Oakland As. In late 2010, music sensation Nicki Minaj sampled the classic Satriani song "Always With Me Always With You" in her song "Right Through Me" from her multi-platinum debut album and in March, Satriani will revive his "G3" tour "Down Under" when he is joined by fellow legendary guitarists Steve Vai and Steve Lukather for a spring tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The video below gives you an exclusive look at the song "War" from the upcoming film.

Michael Davis, bassist influential late 1960s rock band MC5, has died of liver failure at the age of 68, the BBC reports. He had been undergoing treatment for liver disease for a month before he died at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California, his wife said.

Davis was MC5's (short for "Motor City Five") second bass player, having replaced Pat Burrows prior to the recording of the band's 1969 album "Kick Out The Jams". Davis left MC5 shortly before the band broke up in 1972 and went on to pursue a career in art.

MC5 reformed in 2004 with Handsome Dick Manitoba replacing original vocalist Rob Tyner, who died in 1991.

Davis is survived by his wife, their three sons, and a daughter from a previous marriage.

Las Vegas "djent-core" outfit AECHOES will release its debut album, "The Human Condition", this spring via Swimming With Sharks Records. The CD boasts an all-star cast of contributors, including Daniel Braunstein, guitarist for the band VOLUMES, heading up vocal tracking, mixing and mastering at DB Studios. All instrument tracking was done by Diego Farias, also a guitar player from VOLUMES, who also provided a piano composition for the album. Other notable contributions include a guitar solo from Chris Storey (ex-ALL SHALL PERISH) and guitar work from Travis Montgomery (THREAT SIGNAL). The CD is described in a press release as "a complex and creative blend of the best elements of progressive deathcore, hardcore, metalcore, and djent."

Commented AECHOES vocalist Kiernan McArdle: "We are very pleased to announce our new partnership with Swimming With Sharks Records. Noah Robertson works harder than most label owners, and understands the trials and tribulations that bands go through. He shares the same exhausting work ethic that we see daily with the record label and his band THE BROWNING. We have complete confidence that AECHOES, and Swimming With Sharks will grow together and do great things. We are excited that our long-awaited debut album, 'The Human Condition', is being released by such an awesome, artist-friendly label. We look forward to hitting the road this spring and summer in support of the album."

AECHOES recently inked a publishing deal with band management and publishing company Salem Rose Music (ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, PATHOLOGY, BONDED BY BLOOD). "We are very excited to be signing with Salem Rose. We've wanted to work with Marco [Barbieri] for a long time now. We've seen his success with Metal Blade and Century Media, and are glad to have his support," explained McArdle. "We've worked hard, and we have accomplished a lot within our first year of being AECHOES. We have a lot in store for the future, and this milestone is just the beginning."

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/aechoes.

German progressive death thrashers NONEUCLID — who feature in their ranks members of DARK FORTRESS, TRIPTYKON, OBSCURA and REVAMP — will debut their new lineup this coming Sunday, February 19 in their hometown of Landshut, supporting DARK FORTRESS and DIABOLUS DUST.

After singer Bruce amicably quit NONEUCLID recently, the band will continue as a compact four-piece — guitarist Morean will take over vocal duties as well from now on.

Says Morean: "We tried different candidates, and my band mates encouraged me to try out for the part myself. Even though for me it is the next big challenge in this band, since my guitar parts and the vocals rarely have anything to do with each other — they hardly ever take place in the same key, rhythm or, at times, even tempo — I am honored and excited to continue Bruce's heritage in this band, and we are ready to open the next chapter. Stretching our brains to the utmost to play our complex and at times insane music has always been the modus operandi for us, so in that sense nothing's changing."

"We want to thank Bruce for the years of pleasure and madness we had together, for being a trooper and a good friend, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours."

NONEUCLID is taking on the future head-on; besides expanding the symphonic repertoire, as they did in 2008 with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra and recently with Orchester des 13.Tons in Germany, plans for a club tour later this year are currently in the making.

NONEUCLID is:

Morean - Guitar, Vocals
V Santura - Guitar
Linus - Bass
Seraph - Drums

In 2010 NONEUCLID received an invite from Tom G. Warrior to play at the Roadburn festival. In November of the same year, a second symphonic project "Transition Metal" was premiered in collaboration with newly founded Orchester des 13. Tons, conducted by Ulf Klausenitzer. In additition to a brand new work for orchestra and metal band, music of Richard Wagner and NONEUCLID were interpreted in different versions by both band and orchestra.

A DVD of "Transition Metal" and a studio CD with "Transition Metal" and "Black Vortex Cathedral" are currently in the making. Further orchestral and other unusual collaborations are in the works.

VAN HALEN's 2012 tour in support of their comeback album, A Different Kind Of Truth, kicked off on Saturday, February 18th in Louisville, KY. Fan-filmed footage can be viewed including video of 'Women In Love' (from Van Halen II) - a first since 1980 - can be viewed below. Check out a television report by WDRB.com below and photos at this location.




Van Halen set-list:
'You Really Got Me'
'Runnin’ With The Devil'
'She’s The Woman'
'Romeo Delight'
'Tattoo'
'Everybody Wants Some'
'Somebody Get Me A Doctor'
'China Town'
'Mean Street'
'(Oh!) Pretty Woman'
Alex Van Halen Drum Solo
'Unchained'
'The Trouble With Never'
'I’ll Wait'
'Dance The Night Away'
'Hot For Teacher'
'Women In Love' (a first since 1980)
'Outta Love Again' (a first since 1979)
'Beautiful Girls'
'Ice Cream Man'
'Panama'
Eddie Van Halen Solo
'Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love'
'Jump'