Tommy Rehn (CORRODED, MOAHNI MOAHNA), a co-founding member of the British/Swedish metal project ANGTORIA, has released the following statement regarding the recent announcement that ANGTORIA would return in 2012 with a new name and a brand new album:

"When reading the news all over Internet about 'ANGTORIA's return,' I felt like stating a few things for the record.

"I was one of the founders of ANGTORIA and co-writer/producer of the ANGTORIA songs, including the video track 'God Has A Plan For Us All'. I also was responsible for recording and mixing the album. This was a project between me and my brother Chris (ABYSSOS) and Sarah Jezebel Deva (CRADLE OF FILTH, THERION, MORTIIS). Me and Chris wrote the songs and worked with the orchestrations and Sarah did the lyrics.

"Musically, me and Chris built the ANGTORIA sound and maybe in the future we can do it again under that name.

"ANGTORIA did not do any live shows in 2006-2007 as planned due to things out of my and Chris' control. We then saw no other way than putting the project on hold.

"The name ANGTORIA comes from a song I wrote for symphonic hard rock band MOAHNI MOAHNA's album 'Why' (with Henrik Flyman of EVIL MASQUERADE).

"MOAHNI MOAHNA is my old band which released two albums in the '90s in Europe and Japan (JVC Victor).

"On January 20, 2012 Pantherfarm/Ninetone will re-release all MOAHNI MOAHNA recordings ww on Spotify/iTunes and all other digital markets.

"Since Sarah and Chris want to start a project of their own, it is just that… a new project, which never can be or sound like ANGTORIA without my participation.

"I wish them luck with their future album and with branding their own name.

"I am now permanent member in CORRODED and will focus on our third album, which will be released worldwide summer 2012 following the success with
'The Age Of Rage' song for Battlefield Play 4 Free. Touring in Europe and U.S. is on the planning stage for 2012."

Sarah Jezebel Deva and Chris Rehn announced on December 25 that they will begin work on a new album in January which will pick up where ANGTORIA's last collaborative effort, ANGTORIA, left off five years ago. According to Sarah, "the music will continue in the same vein as [ANGTORIA's 2006] debut album, 'God Has A Plan For Us All', blending the world of epic orchestral music with metal."

"God Has A Plan For Us All" was released in Europe in April 2006 via Listenable Records. The CD was issued in North America in October of that same year.

fter various splits, demos and EPs it's finally time for the first full length from obscure death metal masters OMINOUS CRUCIFIX.

Hailing from the crypts of Mexico, the band offers the world The Spell Of Damnation, eight new tracks of crawling, rancid and occult death metal that will tear the ribs out of your putrid body. The album will be released through FDA Rekotz on January 13th in Germany and February 6th for the rest of the world.

The Spell Of Damnation tracklisting:

'Third Day Resurrection'
'Putrid Purity'
'Primitive Sin'
'Defiling The Altars Of An Absent God'
'Secular Omens Of Doom'
'Church Of Death'
'The Spell Of Damnation'
'Repulsive Sanctification Of The Absurd'

Pre-orders are being taken now for 1,000 digipaks, each of which includes a bonus sticker. The first 50 sold also come with an embroidered patch. Visit this location for more information.

EMPIRES OF EDEN have released their new Christmas single, 'We Three Kings'. Featuring the soaring vocals of Sean Peck (CAGE), the arrangement of the classic Christmas anthem is taken into the epic realm of heavy metal.

All proceeds from iTunes will go to the charity, Metal For Cancer, to support cancer research. This is available for a strictly limited time.

Empires of Eden’s creator Stu Marshall comments: “This track came into being when I was hanging with Sean in California on a recent trip. It seemed a great way to honour a great song and at the same time offer something positive towards the fight for cancer. The usual covers of Christmas carols are fairly comical and we wanted to take it the other way, much heavier and dramatic. Working with Sean on the last EOE CD was an incredible experience so it was natural for us to work on this”.

From singer Sean Peck: ”Cancer has affected all of our lives directly or indirectly and we would encourage all metal heads to take the time to give just a small donation towards defeating this killer.”

With the recent success of the release by Cage, The Supremacy of Steel, and the third Empires Of Eden CD about to commence, this release is a must have for fans of metal music.

German death/thrash metal outfit BLEEDING RED will release their upcoming album, Evolution's Crown, on March 23rd, 2012 via Black Bards.

The tracklisting is as follows:
'Bloodforce'
'The Running Man'
'Nameless'
'Wasted Screams'
'Thoughtcrime'
'Unmaster'
'Involution'
'Calm Before The Storm'
'Tritoxine'
'Frequencies'
'Goddess Of Black'
'Calling For Your Downfall'

STRATOVARIUS' November 19, 2011 concert at Pakkahuone in Tampere, Finland was filmed for future DVD release. The show was part of the band's "Jörg Farewell Tour" — the last one to feature STRATOVARIUS' longtime drummer Jörg Michael, who is leaving the group for personal reasons. Jörg, who has been in the band for sixteen years, will play all the remaining tour dates until the end of January.

STRATOVARIUS is inviting its fans to come up with a title for the forthcoming DVD by posting their suggestions on the band's official Facebook page. The winner will receive two copies of the DVD and a credit in the liner notes.

You must have an active Facebook account to take part.

STRATOVARIUS' setlist for the Tampere concert was as follows:

01. Under Flaming Skies
02. I Walk To My Own Song
03. Speed Of Light
04. The Kiss Of Judas
05. Deep Unknown
06. Eagleheart
07. Paradise
08. Visions (Southern Cross)
09. Coming Home
10. Legions
11. Darkest Hours

Encore:

12. Burn (DEEP PURPLE cover)
13. Behind Blue Eyes (THE WHO cover)
14. I Don't Believe In Love (QUEENSRŸCHE cover)
15. Winter Skies
16. Black Diamond

Encore 2:

17. Father Time
18. Hunting High And Low

Quality fan-filmed video footage of the Tampere show can be viewed below.

Jörg joined STRATOVARIUS in 1995 and made his recording debut with the band on the "Episode" album (1996). He has appeared on nine full-length releases from STRATOVARIUS and has played nearly 1,000 shows with the band.

Commented STRATOVARIUS singer Timo Kotipelto: "The rest of us just has to accept Jörg's decision with a lot of sadness and wish him all the best for the future. But we can also assure that the band will still go on."

STRATOVARIUS and Jörg will not completely go their separate ways, however, since Jörg will still be working for the band through his booking agency, Twisted Talent Concerts.

Canadian label War On Music has announced the long-overdue vinyl release of GORGUTS' 1998 album, "Obscura". The groundbreaking record is highly regarded as an unrivalled masterpiece of the death metal genre. When it first was unleashed in 1998, "Obscura" was a drastic but not unexpected departure from the earlier more traditional death metal GORGUTS offerings. Technical, extreme, often odd and discordant but deeply compelling, "Obscura" was an album which appeared difficult at first but commanded repeated listens and unquestioned respect. Over an hour of relentless, punishing, highly evolved compositions bearing no worthy comparison, but fitting in comfortably and confidently among the highest ranks of eastern Canadian metal such as VOIVOD, CRYPTOPSY and KATAKLYSM.

Never before on vinyl, the highly anticipated monstrous onslaught will be released as a double gatefold LP available early spring 2012. Watch for release details and pre-orders at www.waronmusic.com.

Track listing:

Side A

01. Obscura
02. Earthly Love
03. The Carnal State
04. Nostalgia

Side B

05. The Art of Sombre Ecstasy
06. Clouded

Side C

07. Subtle Body
08. Rapturous Grief
09. La Vie Est Prelude… (La Morte Orgasme)

Side D

10. Illuminatus
11. Faceless Ones
12. Sweet Silence

GORGUTS recently reformed with a new lineup including genre heavyweights John Longstreth (drums; DIM MAK, ORIGIN, THE RED CHORD, SKINLESS, POSSESSION, ANGELCORPSE), Colin Marston (bass; DYSRHYTHMIA, BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS, BYLA, KRALLICE, INDRICOTHERE) and Kevin Hufnagel (guitar; DYSRHYTHMIA, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT, BYLA, EUCLID STREET, THE FIFTH SEASON, GREY DIVISION BLUE). They are currently putting the finishing touches on their new record, which is expected sometime in early 2012.

Sweden’s Bult has posted an official music video online for the song “Overtly Powerless,” tkane from the “Amidst the Throng” EP. The band commented:

“On October 21st, Bult from Gothenburg, Sweden, released their new EP ‘Amidst the Throng’ On HoboRec, and it’s now available on iTunes and Spotify. As a Christmas gift to all Bult enthusiasts we have recorded a video to the 1st track ‘Overtly Powerless’ taken from the new EP!

“In camp Bult we are also putting the finishing touch on planning and booking a new mini tour in Texas, USA in March 2012. We will do a couple of shows in Austin during the South By South West festival as well as other cities in Texas. Keep your eyes open on our Facebook page for updates on where and when we’ll be playing!”

Brendan Crabb of Australia's Loud magazine recently conducted an interview with vocalis Lee Dorrian of the seminal U.K. doom metal act CATHEDRAL. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On CATHEDRAL's final studio album, "The Last Spire", which will be recorded and released in 2012:

Dorrian: "We're planning to begin recording in April. We want it out next year, because as of next year the band will be no more. We're working on material at the moment. When we get back from Australia, we'll have a good, solid month to fine-tune the songs. We'll hopefully have it released in September/October of 2012. I'm going to see our artist Dave Patchett this weekend — he does all our album covers — and just sit with him and go through all of the concepts for the album cover."

On what the next CD will sound like:

Dorrian: "Musically, I would say 'The Guessing Game' was more of a summarisation of everything we had done. 'The Last Spire' is more like our final stamp, really. I think it'll be a lot heavier and more doom-influenced than anything else we've done in recent years. But there will also be keyboards, and hopefully it'll be a really progressive doom record. I don't want to give away too much, but it'll probably be a little heavier. We'll be much more hands-on with the production. This is our last one, so we want to go out with a bang and pretty much do it ourselves because we can. The last two albums (with producer Warren Riker) turned out great. We've had producers in the past, (where) we would have some out there ideas, and some producers would just shrug their shoulders or laugh. Warren was great, (but) we want to make the last statement ourselves, like we did with the first album. A lot of people thought we were crazy to make an album like (1991's) 'Forest Of Equilibrium'. People asked us what we were doing. It was going against the grain of what was going on at the time. So we'll finish the way we started."

On his post-CATHEDRAL plans, which include overseeing his long-running record label Rise Above Records:

Dorrian: "I've done that for more than 20 years now. It's a full-time job really. I will be able to dedicate a lot more time to that, which I want to do . . We go from strength to strength; we don't sell millions of records, but we're still here. It's a testament to all the vultures and vampires in the industry that have killed it. People have been short-sold, I think… I think people see in Rise Above that you can discover things yourself, without just being told about it by the hype of the (mainstream) media. We do this out of love for the music and I think people are slowly coming around to that. We try to make our releases, things like our vinyl releases special. I've been collecting records since I was eight or nine and I always like to put myself on the other side of the fence. I think about how as a fan myself, how I would like it to be presented. I spend a lot of time thinking about that. If Rise Above wasn't the label I started, I would be a fan of it myself."

On how the music industry's current woes, including illegal downloading, have affected Rise Above:

Dorrian: "Despite all the chaos in the industry and people saying downloading is killing the industry, bigger labels should have given greater thought to their audience. It's just the way you control it, really. There's pros and cons to downloading. People who like labels like Rise Above want to have an artefact, a physical copy from the label in their hands. We have a steady audience around the world who buys our records; in the past few years, we've sold the most records we ever have. If you're a commercial label, your audience doesn't really care about things like production or artwork. There's not much dedication from the label or the audience. If it's presented in a way that's a lot more sincere, I think people respond to it. The No. 1 album in the charts that week, you can buy that in the supermarket along with your toilet roll. To buy our releases, you have to go out of your way to find out about it and find out how to buy it."

On possible future musical endeavors:

Dorrian: "Any new musical projects will be spontaneous. Once CATHEDRAL is finally over, I want to sit down and spend a few months to a year, reflecting on what the band's done. When you're doing it, you're always so busy; you're always having to think about the next thing you're doing. So it will be good to do that."

Read the entire interview from Loud magazine.

Capital Chaos has uploaded multi-camera video footage of Los Angeles metallers WINDS OF PLAGUE performing the song "Built For War" on November 11, 2011 at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California. Check out the clip below.

WINDS OF PLAGUE's third full-length album, "Against The World", sold 8,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 60 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on April 19 via Century Media Records, the CD features guest appearances from members of HATEBREED, TERROR, FOR TODAY, STRAY FROM THE PATH and former world heavyweight wrestling champion and sports entertainment legend Ultimate Warrior (who performs an epic spoken-word track entitled "The Warrior Code"). It is described in a press release as "the heaviest-hitting record of the band's already heralded career."

WINDS OF PLAGUE created exclusive editions of "Against The World" for both Hot Topic and FYE, each with its own artwork. Fans who purchased from FYE received a free bonus live CD, recorded at the Glass House in Pomona, California by John Montes at Small City Studios. The Hot Topic special edition features a DVD full of more than an hour of content including a live performance from the Glass House, tour footage from around the world, the making-of footage from the "Against The World" sessions and more produced by Jeremy Schott for MentalSuplex Productions.

Guitarist/vocalist Matt Tuck of Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE revealed via Twitter earlier today that the band will start writing material for its fourth album in three weeks.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE released a deluxe CD/DVD edition of its third full-length album, "Fever", titled "Fever Tour Edition", on February 15. The set featured three new songs recorded live at Xfm radio in the U.K. ("Fever", "The Last Fight" and "Bittersweet Memories") and a DVD of "Your Betrayal", "Fever" and "Waking the Demon", recorded live from Graspop Metal Meeting 2010 in Dessel, Belgium. The DVD also included videos for "Your Betrayal", "The Last Fight" and "The Making of The Last Fight" as well as a BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE track-by-track commentary of "Fever".

"Fever" sold 71,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart. "Fever" also landed in the Top Five in Australia, the U.K., Japan, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In a September 2011 interview with Lithium Magazine, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE guitarist Michael "Padge" Paget stated about "Fever", "As opposed to the other albums, this is right up there. This is definitely where we wanted to go as a band and it's definitely the right record when it comes to maturing. It's the third album; it's definitely where we wanted to go and has taken us where we want to be. It's ticking all the boxes so far and hopefully the next record does the same thing . . . We strive to write great songs and I think 'Fever' comes across as a great album, not just songs, and a complete album. You can sit down and listen to the whole thing as opposed to 'Scream, Aim, Fire'. We tried to take it back to the roots to the 'Poison' sort of thing on the new album, if you know what I mean."

nglish metallers FOREFATHER have just released their new album, entitled "Last Of The Line", through Seven Kingdoms.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Cometh The King
02. Last Of The Line
03. Chorus Of Steel
04. By Thy Deeds
05. Up High
06. Wolves Of Prayer
07. Wyrda Gesceaft
08. Doomsday Dawns
09. Shadows Of The Dead
10. Spears Of Faith
11. The Downfallen
12. Into The Rising Sun

Reunited Los Angeles heavy metal legends MALICE have inked a deal with SPV/Steamhammer. The band is currently recording updated versions of six classic MALICE metal anthems such as "Stellar Masters" and "No Haven For The Raven" as well as "four killer new tracks" for an album which is due to be released sometime early in 2012.

MALICE's current lineup includes three original members — Mick Zane on guitar, Jay Reynolds on guitar and Mark Behn on bass — alongside Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP) on drums and James Rivera (HELSTAR, VICIOUS RUMORS, SEVEN WITCHES, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM) on vocals.

In an early 2011 interview with KNAC.COM, Zane stated about MALICE's present incarnation, "Pete's been out on the road with MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP for the last ten years and he's doing some dates with BLACK 'N BLUE. . . We're excited to have James Rivera come in and [play] with us. He did a great job on the VICIOUS RUMORS 'Warball' record. . . Brian Allen, who did our last reunion show, is now singing with VICIOUS RUMORS and we even approached Tim 'The Ripper' Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) at one point."

Regarding MALICE's forthcoming album, Zane told KNAC.COM, "We have some killer new songs in the can and we're really stoked at the thought of getting back in the studio and releasing a new MALICE record. We released a new CD of rare and unreleased tracks last year on Retrospect Records that's been doing very well. Everyone's really going to like the new stuff."

MALICE 2011 is:

* Mick Zane - Guitar
* Jay Reynolds - Guitar
* Mark Behn - Bass
* Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, MICHAEL SCHENKER) - Drums
* James Rivera (HELSTAR, VICIOUS RUMORS, SEVEN WITCHES, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM) - Vocals

The band released an album titled "The Rare And Unreleased" last year on Retrospect Records.

MALICE's two Atlantic releases — "In the Beginning" (1985) and "License to Kill" (1986) — are available Stateside on WEA label Wounded Bird and have continued to sell over the years.

For more information, visit MALICE's official web site, www.malicemusic.com.

Los Angeles thrashers ANGER AS ART have entered Trench Studio in Corona, California to begin recording their fourth album, "Hubris Inc." for a 2012 release.

The first in a series of video clips from the studio can be seen at this location .

Songtitles set to appear on the CD:

* Hubris Inc. (intro)
* This is Why I Hate
* Pieces Of Red
* Divided We Fall
* As The Exhalted Seethe
* Time Devours Life
* Gods Of Hate
* Head Of The Snake
* Anger Is The Reason
* The Evil You Create
*Pearls Before Swine
* Never Forgive Never Forget

Bonus tracks:

* Speed Kills
* Rage And Retribution

ANGER AS ART's concert DVD, "Live Dissent", was released last year. The disc features footage from the February 21, 2010 concert at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, California, clips of the band on tour in Europe and in the USA, and a segment of the recording process for the "Disfigure" album.

ANGER AS ART's third album, "Disfigure", was released in November 2009 via Old School Metal Records. The bulk of the tracking was done at Trench Studio in Corona, California with John Haddad, while the vocals and "extra stuff" was overseen by Chris Trent at CT Audio.

ANGER AS ART's current lineup:

Steve Gaines - Vocals, Guitar
Angelo Espino - Bass
Rob Alaniz - Drums
Daniel Oliverio - Guitar, Vocals

Emil Werstler (DAATH) will handle the guitar duties for CHIMAIRA in 2012.

Werstler (pictured below), who has spent the last few months playing bass for CHIMAIRA, will switch back to his original instrument following the recent announcement that guitarists Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries will be leaving the band at the end of 2011.

Commented CHIMAIRA: "Fans already know Emil from the 'Coming Alive' DVD, the insane guitar solo at the end of 'Samsara', and most recently on stage playing bass for 'The Age Of Hell' tour. For those that don't know, time to get familiarized. Listed as one of modern metal's most important guitar players, Mr. Emil Werstler."

Although there has been no official announcement yet, it is rumored that second-guitar duties on CHIMAIRA's 2012 tour will be handled by Matt Szlachta of DIRGE WITHIN while the bass will be played by Jeremy Creamer of DAATH.

CHIMAIRA earlier in the week released a free digital EP, "The Age Of Remix Hell", via Multiupload.com.

The track listing for the effort — which, as the title suggests, contains remixed versions of songs from CHIMAIRA's latest album, "The Age Of Hell" — is as follows:

01. Year Of The Snake (Dubba Jonny Mix)
02. Clockwork (Hunter Mix)
03. Year Of The Snake (Allinaline Mix)
04. Losing My Mind (Allinaline Mix)

"The Age Of Hell" sold more than 7,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "The Infection", opened with 15,000 units back in April 2009 to land at No. 30. This figure was roughly in line with the first-week tally registered by CHIMAIRA's 2007 album, "Resurrection", which shifted 16,000 copies to enter the chart at No. 42.

"The Age Of Hell" was released in the U.S. on August 16 via eOne Music; in Germany on August 26; and in the United Kingdom, Australia and the rest of Europe on August 29 through Long Branch Records.

Steven Tyler of AEROSMITH recently spoke to Billboard.com about the band's smash hit "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". The song — which was penned by famed songwriter Diane Warren and prominently featured in the "Armageddon" soundtrack — spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning September 5, 1998, knocking Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" out of the top slot. Tyler explained that part of the tune's success was the "the magic of [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer calling me up and saying, 'We're doing a movie called 'Armageddon'. Your daughter [Liv Tyler] is in it. And I want four AEROSMITH songs plus the one you did with Diane Warren.'"

"It was a shock, not because we had our first No. 1," Tyler said. "But because it was our only No. 1. I thought that [of] all those other AEROSMITH songs, at least one or two did."

Check out the video report below.

Guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy of Florida metallers TRIVIUM has tweeted a note thanking the "state of the record industry" for what he called a "massive royalty check" he recently received in the amount of $1.31. Heafy also included a photo of the check in question (see below), which was cut last month.

TRIVIUM's latest album, "In Waves", sold 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band's career. The group's previous CD, "Shogun", opened with just under 24,000 units back in October 2008 to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up "The Crusade", which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.

Progressive metal band WATER ON MERCURY has announced the title and revealed the cover art for their upcoming album, Amphigory. The band also posted a short clip of a demo of the opening track, as of yet unnamed (listen below). The new album is expected to be released as a name-your-price download late spring or early summer 2012.

Water On Mercury is the instrumental music project of guitarist Tim Gavin. Tim is a family man with a day job as a CPA, but he has an undying passion for heavy music. This project is the culmination of years of writing and producing music at home.

Tim was a key member of the now defunct DOMINION from Chicago, which also featured former OTEP drummer, Brian Wolff, and current GEMINI SYNDROME vocalist, Aaron Nordstrom. Dominion was a force to be reckoned with on the Chicago metal scene.

Tim brings the same intensity and musical intelligence to his new project. Having been compared to SCALE THE SUMMIT, TESSERACT, OPETH and CLOUDKICKER, the similarities do not end there. His influences are many and balanced to form a truly unique sound.

IMMOLITH, originally hand-picked by Infernus (GORGOROTH) for his own label, Forces Of Satan Records, will release their official debut full-length album, StormDragon, through Metalhit on February 14th, 2012.

Produced by Chris Grigg (WOE, Candlelight Records), StormDragon is a full-fledged, no frills, black metal assault on the senses. This is straight-forward US black metal at its finest.

The StormDragon album artwork can be seen below:

1. The Invocation
2. Torch of Baphomet
3. Rites of the Blood Moon
4. Storm Dragon
5. The Ghost Tower of Inverness
6. The Obsidian Throne of Azazel
7. Hymns to the Countess
8. A Pact of Blood

In the three-minute clip below, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian explains to Artisan News why 2011 was a big year for him and his bandmates.

ANTHRAX is featured in a new series of albums "featuring the greatest hits, signature tunes and fan favorites of the most popular artists in music history," which promise to offer "unprecedented value to consumers." The aptly named "Icon" series from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) launched in August 31, 2010, with releases from 30 major artists spanning rock, pop, R&B and country.

Each album, at a "great price," includes roughly a dozen hit tracks.

Due on January 10, 2012, the ANTHRAX "Icon" compilation (Island/UMe) will feature the following songs:

01. Madhouse
02. A.I.R.
03. Armed And Dangerous
04. I Am The Law
05. Indians
06. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
07. Antisocial
08. Got The Time
09. Belly Of The Beast
10. Bring The Noise
11. I'm The Man 91

ANTHRAX last month completed a U.S. tour with TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL. The trek kicked off on October 14 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and concluded on November 19 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

ANTHRAX's new album, "Worship Music", sold 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 12 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous studio CD, 2003's "We've Come For You All", opened with just under 10,000 units to debut at No. 122.

QUEENSRŸCHE's classic first full-length album, "The Warning", which was originally released on September 7, 1984, will be reissued on limited-edition 180-gram audiophile vinyl with a gatefold cover on February 14, 2012.

You can now pre-order the item at Amazon.com.

"The Warning" was re-released on May 6, 2003 with three bonus tracks.

When asked about QUEENSRŸCHE's plans following the band's last scheduled concert of 2012, which will take place on January 13 at the Peppermill Concert Hall in Wendover, Nevada, singer Geoff Tate told the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM earlier this month, "Nothing. We're taking a year off and we'll be working on a new album. [We'll be going] back to the studio."

QUEENSRŸCHE's latest album, "Dedicated To Chaos", sold 8,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 70 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, the epic concept album "American Soldier", opened with 21,000 units back in April 2009 to enter the chart at No. 25. This was roughly half the first-week tally registered by QUEENSRŸCHE's "Operation: Mindcrime II" album, which shifted 44,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release back in April 2006 to debut at No. 14 on The Billboard 200 chart.

QUEENSRŸCHE's 2003 effort, "Tribe", sold 20,000 copies in the first week while 1999's "Q2K", opened with sales of 28,000.

QUEENSRŸCHE's top-selling album by far is 1990's "Empire", which was certified triple-platinum in October 1994 for sales in excess of three million copies in the United States. The original "Operation: Mindcrime" release (1988) attained platinum status in August 1991, while 1994's "Promised Land" reached the same plateau in December 1994.