To promote their new album, "Made In Germany 1995 - 2011", German industrial metallers RAMMSTEIN opened a mausoleum in front of O2 World, Berlin, Germany's biggest indoor arena, where they performed on November 25 and November 26. Fans congregated for a procession, including a horse-drawn hearse, which delivered the original death masks of the six bandmembers to the mausoleum. Inside the black cubic building, the busts were carefully placed among candles and a book of condolences was made available for fans to sign.

Video footage and photos can be seen below.

RAMMSTEIN's long-awaited retrospective release, "Made In Germany 1995 - 2011", will be available on December 13 through Universal Germany's marketing and distribution deal in the U.S. with Vagrant Records.

"Made In Germany 1995 - 2011" will be available in three different editions:

* Standard Edition: CD Digipak - Best Of Album

* Special Edition: 2-CD Digipak - Best Of Album and Best Of Remixes

* Super Deluxe Edition: 2-CD (Best Of Album and Best Of Remixes) as well as 3 DVDs (including the full RAMMSTEIN video catalog, all previously available "making-of" and 8 unreleased "making-of" videos) packaged in a steel box complete with a 240-page booklet. Limited to 1,200 copies in the U.S.

All songs and videos on "Made In Germany 1995 - 2011" have been remastered for this release.

British thrashers ONSLAUGHT have announced that drummer Michael "Mic" Hourihan (DESECRATION, EXTREME NOISE TERROR) has now officially joined the band on a full-time basis.

Mic has been touring with the ONSLAUGHT since March 2011, and has already done over 50 shows with the band, including South American and European tours.

Commented ONSLAUGHT bassist Jeff Williams: "I have to say I am so fucking happy to have Mic playing full-time in ONSLAUGHT. Not only is he a really cool guy and a real pleasure to spend time with, but also without doubt the finest drummer that I have ever had the pleasure to play alongside. Everyone who came along to the 'Scream For Violence' European, U.K., Ireland or South American tours and saw Mic in action will certainly testify to this; the guy is a fucking machine! The ONSLAUGHT lineup is so powerful, focused and harmonious right now and the new album is going to completely fucking destroy!... Bring it on!"

Added Hourihan: "It's such a pleasure to be part of ONSLAUGHT, I am so looking forward to making the next record and of course all the touring that comes with being in such a great band."

Mic will remain a member of Welsh death metallers DESECRATION.

"Ghost Walking", a brand new song from Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD, can be streamed at MetalSucks.net. The track comes off the band's new album, "Resolution", which will be released in North America on January 24, 2012 via Epic Records (one day earlier internationally through Roadrunner Records). The CD was recorded at various studios in Virginia and New York with producer Josh Wilbur, who worked on the band's last effort, 2009's "Wrath".

"Resolution" will feature 14 songs and will come in a digipack with artwork by longtime art director Ken Adams.

The "Resolution" cover artwork can be seen below.

"Resolution" track listing:

01. Straight For The Sun
02. Desolation
03. Ghost Walking
04. Guilty
05. The Undertow
06. The Number Six
07. Barbarosa
08. Invictus
09. Cheated
10. Insurrection
11. Terminally Unique
12. To The End
13. Visitation
14. King Me

The "Ghost Walking" video will begin airing tomorrow (Tuesday, December 6) on VEVO and all other video outlets.

During its 2012 world tour, LAMB OF GOD, in connection with Epic Records and 914 Films, will shoot a feature film documenting fans and their personal stories of how they use the band's music to cope with their everyday lives.

"Wrath" sold around 68,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 2 (behind TAYLOR SWIFT's "Fearless") on The Billboard 200 chart.

LAMB OF GOD performed at the sixth edition of D-TOX Rockfest on June 17 in Montebello, Quebec, Canada. This marked the group's first and only 2011 appearance.

Kenneth Lance Patterson (a.k.a. "Willie Hicks"), bassist for the West Texas "southern oilfield trucker stoner" band PUMPJACK, passed away suddenly on November 9, 2011. He was 42 years old.

A longtime friend of the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN) and Dimebag's brother Vinnie Paul, Patterson was a member of the group GASOLINE, which Dimebag and PUMPJACK vocalist Thurber Mingus founded as a fun, alcohol-fueled side project for "good friends and anyone who would dare to risk having their ears burned off by listening."

PUMPJACK took part in the 2000 Ozzfest and they opened for several national acts, including PANTERA, ANTHRAX and W.A.S.P.

Lance Patterson is survived by his wife, Nancy Patterson; stepchildren Tres and Lauren; his parents, Ken and Sylvia Patterson; his brother and sister-in-law, Monty and Chali Patterson; and his niece and nephew, Abby and Logan Patterson.

A funeral service was held on December 1 at the Ellis Funeral Home Chapel.

South Carolina-based extreme technical death metallers NILE have finished recording the drums for their new album for an early 2012 release. Guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders states, George [Kollias, drums], Dallas [Toler-Wade, guitar/vocals], [producer] Neil Kernon and I spent a week with Bob Moore at the Soundlab in Columbia, South Carolina tracking drums. We were expecting a long grueling session — some of this material is very compositionally challenging and technically demanding — but George knocked it out, finishing a full week ahead of schedule.

"Oh my God. Some of the drumming on this record will be boggling people's minds for years to come.

"At the moment we are back in Greenville, and will commence tracking guitars any day now."

"Those Whom The Gods Detest", the latest album from NILE, sold 3,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 160 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 3 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.

Produced and mixed by Neil Kernon (NEVERMORE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, QUEENSRŸCHE), along with a drum-recording job by Erik Rutan (CANNIBAL CORPSE, VITAL REMAINS, GOATWHORE), "Those Whom the Gods Detest" features the band's strongest production and perhaps its best material to date. The cover artwork was created by Michal "Xaay" Loranc, whom NILE guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders had previously worked with on his second solo album, "Saurian Exorcisms".

Drummer Mike Mangini of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER has issued the following update:

"I seriously played my two best shows/solos [on December 1 in San Diego, California and on December 2 in Anaheim, California] while being the sickest I've been in 20-30 years. But not enough to jeopardize me too much or affect the show negatively. I don't know how that happens.

"My apologies for not being able to speak much, or for coughing at the paid pre-show pic taking. Now you know why. I didn't, and couldn't, call friends, my family, my wife, nobody...

"It was weird to try so hard to speak. All of you that play must've experienced this before.

"How can we be so sick, then play like not too much is wrong? It must be a love of overcoming challenges and helping the team. I guess that's how athletes do it.

"I honestly curled up in a ball after the show and didn't think I'd make it out of there.

"I'm happy to say that I'm feeling better and better and that I'm about to sleep on and off for 14 hours pumping the herbs and meds and water.

"I think I will have the best show of my whole life in Mesa tomorrow because of all the practicing I did on the break.

"I love this!!!! Can't wait till tomorrow!!

"Did I mention how good it feels to be 1 for 1 with DREAM THEATER for a Grammy nomination? 2 for 2 with [Steve] Vai, 1 for 1 with DREAM THEATER...

"Oh, yeah!!!!!! That'll fix my flu!!!

"You should've heard [DREAM THEATER guitarist] John Petrucci's voice on the phone when he called me to tell me of the nomination... My eyes watered up because of how he sounded and how that reflected what it meant to him to have this song recognized (Grammys are for songs, not bands or careers). I'm so happy for him, John Myung [bass], James LaBrie [vocals], John Rudess [keyboards] and our manager Frank for doing so much to steer the music of our ship out of unknown waters. They taught me a lesson in patience, trust and faith.

"All of you support us and enjoy the music with us are responsible for getting the song heard by so many more people than you can imagine.

"John Petrucci had a vision for this song and he stuck by it with full support from all of us... you too. Thank you. We have so much yet to come and so much passion for life and for music."

Video footage of DREAM THEATER vocalist James LaBrie introducing Mangini at the band's December 1, 2011 concert at Balboa Theatre in San Diego, California can be seen below.

DREAM THEATER is among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The nominees in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category are as follows:

* DREAM THEATER - "On The Backs Of Angels"
* FOO FIGHTERS - White Limo"
* MASTODON - "Curl Of The Burl"
* MEGADETH - "Public Enemy No. 1"
* SUM 41 - "Blood In My Eyes"

CHICKENFOOT "III" art director Todd Gallopo was nominated in the "Best Recording Package" category.

To be eligible for nomination, an artist's work must have been released between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2011.

The 54th annual Grammy Awards will be held on "Grammy Sunday," February 12, 2012, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and once again will be broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Finland's STRATOVARIUS recently announced that drummer Jörg Michael has opted to leave the band after 15 years behind the kit for personal reasons. They have now issued the following message to the fans:

"An exceptional competition is organized from December 1st - 25th of December, with lot of presents to win (drumsticks, T-shirt, and for the winner, Jörg's drum head signed by himself). To win, you have to create a photo assembly or a video about Jörg over these 15 years with Stratovarius. The three best will win these prizes. For participation just send your photo or video montage to: cedric@stratovarius.fr. Good luck!"

Watch the band's Facebook page for updates.

As previously reported, Stratovarius will perform in Guatemala, at Teatro de Bellas Artes in Guatemala City, on January 31st, 2012. This will now be the final show for drummer Jörg Michael, after 15 years with Stratovarius. Prior to the announcement of this date, is was expected that Jörg's final show with the band would be in Mexico, at Circo Volador in Mexico City, on January 28th.

Jörg joined the band in 1995 and the first Stratovarius album he played on was Episode (1996). He played on nine albums and performed nearly 1,000 shows with the band.

"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", says the singer Timo Kotipelto.

The band and Jörg are not going completely separate ways though, since Jörg will still be working for the band with his booking agency Twisted Talent Concerts.

Kotipelto continues: "Our long journey of over 15 years together has not ended yet, as Jörg remains among our background forces - and we couldn't be more happy about that. Not only has he been a great drummer but also a close friend and a true professional. We're honoured to have Jörg by our side for this farewell Tour. We can't wait to rock with our 'German Steamroller' one last time! These shows will be unforgettable for all of us."

German death metal tank DAWN OF DISEASE have issued the following update:

"After being very busy during the last weeks we finally have news for you:

First of all we must tell you that that we unfortunately had to cancel the Hatefest Extreme Tour with KATAKLYSM and co. due to unforeseen circumstances. We will be replaced by LOST DREAMS from Austria.

But there is also some good news: As you may have heard we booked the studio for the beginning of next year!

Again we will enter the Soundlodge Studio to record our second full-length album together with Jörg Uken. We are already looking forward to it and you can prepare for a huge portion of death fucking metal!

The title of the album will be revealed soon."

Dawn Of Disease are confirmed for the first-ever Extremefest will take place July 5th – 7th in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Check out the official trailer below:

After a seven year break, Itialian epic power metal band PANDAEMONIUM makes their return to the scene with a brand new studio album, entitled The Last Prayer.

The band once again manages to create an extraordinary, first class epic power metal album while keeping all their established trademarks like great melodies, fantastic guitar riffs and the unique vocals from the singer Daniel Reda.

Cover artwork was designed by Diego Ferrarin, known for his work for WHITE SKULL, WILD STEEL, SHADOWS OF STEEL and the first two Pandaemonium albums. Layout by Oscar Petersson (KATANA, EYE, OSUKARU, BYFIST, etc.)

'Alone In The Dark'
'Two Spirits One Heart'
'Through the Wind'
'Holy Voice'
'Tower Of Fears'
'The White Voice'
'Go Your Own Way'
'Today'
'Braveheart'
'Epitaph'
'Until The End'

Bavaria, Germany-based metallers FAREWELL TO ARMS have signed with Massacre Records.

Says the label: "Melodic, uncompromising, technically ambitious, versatile and curious - that's how you could characterize the band. Their goal is to define themselves without following any trends: Farewell To Arms are not one of those typical metal bands and they won't play the music you've heard a thousand times before! They have a unique style, which combines a lot of death metal, thrash metal, progressive and hardcore elements."

Farewell To Arms' first 4-track EP, Exhalation, was produced by Corni Bartels (HACKNEYED, END OF GREEN), and was released in late 2010. After numerous live gigs, also at various festivals, Farewell To Arms were also finalists of this year's New Blood Awards. So they also played at the Summer Breeze Open Air with DAVIDIAN, who are now their label mates.

In spring 2012 Farewell To Arms are going to enter the Weltraumstudios in Munich to record their debut album with Corni Bartels.

French terrors LOS DISIDENTES DEL SUCIO MOTEL and FLASHFALCON have teamed up for a split release, entitled East Side Story. The artwork, which was conceived by Bartosch Salmanski, can be seen below:

The album was mixed at Warmaudio Studio, and then mastered by Glen Robinson (AC/DC, RAMONES, IGGY POP).

East Side Story will be released on March 9th via French label Deadlight Entertainment on a very limited vinyl edition.

The brand new tracks, 'Ridin' With The Mavericks' by FlashFalcon, and 'The Ones' by Los Disidentes Del Sucio Motel are available for streaming via Deadlight Entertainment's Bandcamp page at this location.

You can pre order East Side Story at the Deadlight Entertainment eShop. For every pre-order, you'll receive the complete album on digital right after your order.

Die Thrash Metal Veteranen von NECRONOMICON haben ja bekanntlich bei Massacre Records unterschreiben und werkelten seit Dezember 2010 am neuen Album "Invictus". Aufgenommen wurde in den Arsen Music Studios in Breisach und Berlin und für den Mix und das Mastering wurde niemand geringeres als Soundguru Achim Köhler engagiert. Als Gastmusiker wurden Randy Black (Ex-Annihilator) und Ben Krahl (Final Kings) an Bord geholt. Jetzt wurde das Coverartwork und die Trackliste von "Invictus", welches am 27. Jänner 2012 via Massacre Records erscheinen wird, veröffentlicht.

"Invictus" Trackliste:

1. Invictus
2. Unleashed
3. Bloody Bastard
4. Thoughts Running Free
5. Uncoquered
6. Upon Black Wings
7. Face To The Wall
8. Pandoras Box
9. Before The Curtain Falls
10. Possessed By Evil
11. Possessed Again...Unplugged

Ltd. DigiPack Bonustracks:

12. Magic Forest Live
13. Nightstalker Live
14. Hills of Dead Live
15. On Pain Of Death Live

Danish modern metallers MNEMIC will enter Antfarm studios in Aabyhøj, Denmark in February 2012 with longtime producer Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, HIMSA, SICK OF IT ALL) to begin recording their new album for a June 2012 release via Nuclear Blast Records.

MNEMIC recently parted ways with drummer Brian "Brylle" Rasmussen and guitarist Rune Stigart and replaced them with Brian Larsen and Victor-Ray Salomonsen, respectively.

MNEMIC 2011 is:

Guillaume Bideau - Vocals
Mircea Gabriel Eftemie - Guitar
Victor-Ray Salomonsen - Guitar
Simone Bertozzi - Bass
Brian Larsen - Drums

Fan-filmed video footage of ENTOMBED's performance at the Mass Deathtruction festival, which was held November 19-20, 2011 at La Ferme du Bièreau of Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium, can be seen below.

ENTOMBED's latest album, "Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments", was released in the U.S. on July 31, 2007 via Candlelight/Threeman Recordings. The 10-song effort marked the group's first release with drummer Olle Dahlstedt (ALPHA SAFARI, ex-MISERY LOVES CO.), who replaced Peter Stjärnvind in 2006. Mastering duties were handled by Soren Elofsson at Cosmos Mastering in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments" entered the Swedish national chart at position No. 3. This was the highest chart position in the band's career.

The current lineup of ENTOMBED features Victor Brandt (TOTALT JÄVLA MÖRKER, AEON, SATYRICON) and second guitarist Nico Elgstrand (who previously played bass for the group).

In a May 2011 interview with the Stormbringer.at webzine, ENTOMBED guitarist Alex Hellid stated about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the long-awaited follow-up to "Serpent Saints", "We're just taking our time getting the pieces together properly this time. We just wanna make sure that it's a really good album. Now we have a complete lineup again also, and a lot of fresh, new blood as well. So it's gonna be fun to create something new now. . . We wanna get the group together and get a strong foundation to create something good; that's the goal here. . . We'll just concentrate on [creating] something great.

"I [try not] to focus on too much at the same time. [My attitude] is 'Let's just make one great song to start with,' and then we'll take it from there. . . We have a pretty broad palette of things we can do, and we'll try and find a place for anything. 'Cause we enjoy everything from the fastest death/black metal stuff to whatever, so the songs that we come up with, we'll just have to find a space for them — some stuff might be [releases as] an album, some stuff might be a single…

"I think it's kind of boring, in a way, to just think in terms of a full-length] 'album,' especially when nobody seems to really create classic albums anymore, and a lot of people don't even buy them anymore. If wanna record our favorite cover songs, there should be a place for that as well.

"It's been four years [since the last album came out] and I feel that we have so much creativity in the band and so many things that we can all put under this roof of things that we like collectively. And what I wanna do is for us to find a way to channel all our creativity and also make it the best and the greatest it can be."

The new "Kiss Pandas", released by Street Players, are now available at Spencer's and FYE stores.

A promotional video clip can be seen below.

The company has plans to release an entire line of "Kiss Pandas" items.

In a 2009 interview, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons said THE BEATLES helped set up the platform, so to speak, for KISS' merchandise market.

"The thing that I loved about THE BEATLES is they all looked like they came from the same Beatle mother," he said. "It was like the perfect band in terms of look — merchandisable, eternal. Except they never trademarked their haircuts or anything much about their faces. KISS was the first band of any kind to ever trademark their faces. It's in the Library of Congress."

Which explains, he says, why KISS has so many merchandise items.

"We have 'Kiss Kondoms' and 'Kiss Kaskets'. We'll get you coming, we'll get you going."

Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW), Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY), Frankie Perez, Billy Idol and Steve Stevens are among the guest musicians who performed with CAMP FREDDY this past Friday night (December 2) at the first of four shows as part of the band's fifth annual Christmas residency at the world-famous The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California.

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

CAMP FREDDY is the Los Angeles-based "jam" group featuring Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), Billy Morrison (ex-THE CULT bassist, current CIRCUS DIABLO vocalist), Matt Sorum (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES), Donovan Leitch (son of legendary folk singer Donovan), and Chris Chaney (JANE'S ADDICTION, ALANIS MORRISETTE).

In an interview with Gibson.com, Navarro was asked if there will ever be a CAMP FREDDY album. "We talked about it for many, many years, but the logistics of something like that really doesn't translate to what we're about," he replied. "We're a live band and we're about the fun on stage and whoever's gonna get up with us — we don't know from night to night. And when you go into a studio to record songs that have already been recorded, it's difficult to recreate that kind of energy and spontaneity, so it's unlikely at this juncture."

Since its formation eight years ago when they rocked the opening of The Standard Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles at the invitation of Brent Bolthouse, CAMP FREDDY has performed on both coasts of America and on national television shows ("The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", "Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn", "Last Call with Carson Daly").

The third in a series of webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from ICED EARTH's European leg of the 2011-2012 "World Dystopia Tour" can be seen below.

ICED EARTH kicked off the trek on October 30 at Zeche in Bochum, Germany.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Dystopia
02. Burning Times
03. Angels Holocaust
04. Slave To The Dark
05. V
06. Stand Alone
07. When The Night Falls
08. Damien
09. Dark City
10. Pure Evil
11. Anguish Of Youth
12. My Own Savior
13. Anthem
14. Declaration Day
15. Days Of Rage
16. Tragedy And Triumph
17. Dante's Inferno

Encore:

18. Iced Earth

ICED EARTH will film a video for the song "Anthem" at its December 7, 2011 concert at Essigfabrik in Cologne, Germany. The track comes off the band's new album, "Dystopia", which sold around 6,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 67 on The Billboard 200 chart.

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

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

Schaffer admitted the recording of "Dystopia" was especially challenging because of the band's summer festival gigs requiring him to criss-cross the ocean numerous times.

Despite the challenges, Schaffer said working with new vocalist Stu Block was "a pleasure."

"You just can't ask for a better attitude," said Schaffer. "Stu is so excited to be here. He brings a youthful exuberance to the band, which is a lot of fun. And he's a real dude. He's down to earth, and willing to try anything that Jim [Morris, co-producer, engineer] or I throw at him. He's stepping into the shoes in a very natural way."

Schaffer continued: "We're opening up a part of his voice and a style of singing that he didn't even really know he had. We're exploring this whole new range. And we're just getting started. I believe Stu will continue to grow — and has the potential to grow — into one of the greats, one of the guys that will go down in metal history. If he stays on this course, with the attitude that he has, his willingness to learn, and his passion, he's destined for really great things. I firmly believe that."