STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet is working on material for a new solo album. He states, "I've got 15 songs ready to go but the goal is 25 by December 22nd, when we track basics!"

Sweet's last solo album, "Touched", was released on December 3, 2007 exclusively through Michael's official web site, MichaelSweet.com. The CD, which included reworked versions of four STRYPER songs, was not made available in stores.

For over 25 years, Christian rock pioneer Michael Sweet has broken down walls and seen unprecedented success bringing his music to the masses. Best known as the singer and songwriter for righteous rockers known as STRYPER, his role in STRYPER only scratches the surface of this multi-talented artist.

Michael Sweet, in addition to his very visible role in STRYPER, is also a Nashville songwriter, producer, acclaimed solo artist, and in 2008 was even a member of the legendary band BOSTON. With over 8 million records sold worldwide, a Grammy nomination, and a Dove Award, Michael Sweet continues to break new ground in all aspects of his diverse career.

Quality fan-filmed video footage of ICED EARTH's entire November 2, 2011 performance at de Pul in Uden, Netherlands can be seen in five parts below.

Featured songs:

Part 1

00:00 Dystopia
06:15 Burning Times
10:00 Angels Holocaust
14:40 Slave To The Dark
18:30 V
23:00 Stand Alone

Part 2

00:00 When The Night Falls
07:50 Damien
17:30 Dark City

Part 3

00:00 Pure Evil
07:00 Anguish Of Youth
12:15 My Own Saviour
16:05 Anthem
22:00 Declaration Day
26:25 Days Of Rage

Part 4

01:10 Tragedy And Triumph
11:00 Dante's Inferno

Part 5

00:00 Iced Earth

Polish tech-death masters DECAPITATED have canceled their performance at the U.K.'s Damnation Festival this weekend after surviving a crash landing (see video below). The musicians were flying back to their native country from the United States when the plane they were on landed on its belly at Warsaw airport after trouble opening its landing gear. None of the 230 people aboard were hurt in Tuesday's accident, which caused the closure of Fryderyk Chopin Airport to arrivals and departures for more than 30 hours.

"I was praying for the pilot not to lose control because we started to make circles over the airport. It was terrible," passenger Teresa Kowalik told reporters at the airport. "We owe everything to the pilot. He really did a great job."

The pilot told passengers four hours into the flight from Newark, New Jersey that the plane faced technical problems, said another female passenger.

"The pilot addressed us a number of times and said we should follow instructions. Later, a flight attendant said there might be a fire, and at that point people began to get nervous and uncertain," she said.

The landing itself was so smooth that "we all thought we had landed on wheels," Andrzej Pinno, a 68-year-old passenger, told the Associated Press.

Passengers even applauded, but then grew alarmed when sparks and black smoke rose from the plane. "This is the moment where we realized this was not a normal landing," added Pinno.

DECAPITATED has issued the following statement: "We are extremely sorry to inform our fans that due to unforeseen circumstances that are out of our control, we will, unfortunately, have to cancel our shows in Aalborg (Aalborg Metal Festival) and Leeds (Damnation Festival)."

Damnation Festival organizer Gavin McInally commented: "It's a major blow to the festival to lose a band like DECAPITATED, especially with only days to go, but I understand entirely why they need time to recover from what must have been a terrifying incident. It's disappointing news for both us and the band but most importantly, no one was seriously injured and hopefully we will be able to host DECAPITATED in the future."

ULVER will now play an extended set of 90 minutes (starting at 21:30 instead 22:00) at the Damnation Festival.

DECAPITATED drummer Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka died on November 2, 2007 in a Russian hospital from injuries sustained in a road collision. DECAPITATED singer Covan (real name: Adrian Kowanek) was also hurt in the accident, which involved the band's tour bus and a truck carrying wood in Gomel, on the Russia/Belarus border.

GWAR frontman Dave Brockie (a.k.a. Oderus Urungus) has released the following statement to MetalSucks:

"It is with a sense of profound loss and tragedy that the members of GWAR must announce the passing of their longtime guitarist and beloved friend Cory Smoot, also known to thousands of metal fans worldwide as Flattus Maximus. Cory was found deceased this morning as the band prepared for a border crossing. There is no word as to the cause of death and the members of GWAR are completely shocked and devastated that this has occurred. At this point there is no word on arrangements and the disposition of the remainder of GWAR's current North American tour, nor are there any details regarding long-term plans. At this point we are just dealing with the loss of our dear friend and brother, one of the most talented guitar players in metal today. We ask that our fans and the media be respectful of our request for privacy for those that have suffered this terrible loss. A full statement will be coming in the next day or so, in the meantime please give your thoughts and your prayers to Cory, his family, and all the people that love him."

Legendary BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has just released his memoir, "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath", in hardback via Perseus Books/DeCapo Press. The book is filled with funny and fascinating stories from throughout the rocker's career, but how did he remember all of them? Tony said it was easy.

"Well, I have trouble remembering last month," Iommi told VH1 Radio Network's Dave Basner. "I have trouble remembering last week, but past stuff I can remember. And funny enough, Ozzy [Osbourne, BLACK SABBATH singer] is the same, and we talk about stuff from 30 years ago and we can remember it as clear as a bell but we try to talk about stuff that happened last week — no idea. Even yesterday (laughs)."

When asked about Ozzy's statement from a few months ago where the singer revealed that he didn't think all four original members of BLACK SABBATH could "physically" take part in a reunion, Iommi said, "Who knows? I mean, somebody might keel over. It might be me. But we'll see. At least we're talking, everybody."

Die israelischen Progressive Metaller ORPHANED LAND haben pünktlich zum Start ihrer Europatour einen Clip ihrer jüngst veröffentlichten DVD "The Road To Or Shalem" sowie eine App ins Netz gestellt. Die Band kommentiert:

"Hallo zusammen! Nach 20 Jahren orientalischem Metal haben wir nun endlich unsere erste DVD veröffentlicht! Ich gebe euch mein Wort: Es ist eine der besten DVD-Veröffentlichungen, die ihr jemals gesehen habt! Außerdem werden wir unsere erste Europatour als Headliner zusammen mit Myrayj and Arkan spielen, um euch unsere neue DVD vorzustellen. Stellt euch das mal vor: Juden und Muslime, die zusammen in einem Tourbus leben und ihren orientalischen Metal über Europa verbreiten. Das ist etwas Besonderes, also lasst euch das nicht entgehen!"

Drummer Chris Pennie has announced his departure from COHEED AND CAMBRIA. The decision was mutual by both parties due to creative differences.

Pennie plans to focus his time on the various musical projects in the works — acclaimed metal band RETURN TO EARTH (Metal Blade Records), which is currently writing its third album; his music production company Fight Mannequins, which just completed its first documentary score; and producing two exciting artists whose records will be released in 2012.

"I am very thankful for the years that I shared the stage with the guys and want to thank the amazing, supportive fans that I've met while on tour, but there are a lot of exciting projects on the horizon, in addition to RETURN TO EARTH and Fight Mannequins, that I feel require my absolute 100 percent commitment and attention," Chris said in a statement. "I feel that this is the right time to make that happen."

FEAR OF DOMINATION have announced they will release new album Create.Control.Exterminate. on November 23rd.

According to a press release: “Create.Control.Exterminate. is about desire to control, the weakness of the human mind and all those sick little obsessions that we all have. Making of the new album was far more easier compared to the first one even though there was much more time used to produce it. In the album we wanted to break musical boundaries and preconceptions by adding new twisted sounds and elements even outside the metal genre. There is also more parts for Niina to sing and that brings a whole new atmosphere to the music. All members have improved notably as musicians and this greater self-confidence and more precise handling of their own instruments can be heard from the album and most of all seen on the stages."

Tracklisting for the album is as follows:

‘New World’
‘Pandemonium’
‘Modify’
‘Destroy & Dominate’
‘Coma’
‘We’ll Fall Apart’
‘So Far So Good (All For Nothing)’
‘Tool Of God’
‘Control Within’
‘Pandemonium’ (Proteus Remix)

Indian progressive/experimental metallers GODDESS GAGGED have released the music video for ‘Sink Or Swim’ the first single from their upcoming album Resurfaces. The video has been shot and directed by Mrinal B.

Guitarist Devesh Dayal commented on the video: "The video serves mainly as a promotional tool, so it's just us playing in a room and nothing too fancy. But we're definitely going to get more creative with the next one. It was an awesome experience working with the whole crew and made us all realize how much hard work goes into creating a simple four minute music video. We're really thankful to Furtados Music who were kind enough to provide us with some killer equipment for the shoot.”

Jeff Treppel recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine for RoadrunnerRecords.com. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the Internet:

"Even the guys who come to our web site and act like tough guys, I know that that's just part of the culture now, acting like a tough guy on the Internet. I don't do that that much anymore. I used to be kind of a wiseguy, liked to shoot zingers and stuff, but maybe in my old age I've just changed a little bit. I think that for us, with our site, we've got one of the coolest web sites, because fans can actually come there and say, 'Hey, we don't like this song,' and they can actually say they don't like that song and were not going to ban them. And I think that's cool, because it helps us to be able to find out what's on the pulse of our fans, which I think helped us make the right decisions on this new record and choose the right songs."

On the music industry:

"You know, records have, with the peer-to-peer transferring and everything, unfortunately the music business has become so changed that records don't even matter anymore. They're like business cards. I remember when I first got my first record contract, being able to pick which four songs were going to be on which side of the record. 'Never put more than four songs on there, the grooves are too close together. Can't have that much material, it'll sound terrible. Yes, that's why contracts are like that.' 'Really? Oh, wow, great.' And then the last time we went to the studio, we had a conversation where somebody had said that they wanted to have almost twice that many songs on the record, and I just laughed at how much things have changed, where a man can put almost his entire life's work into a record, and a few years later it doesn't mean anything. And you have to do 100 percent more to make it equivalent. Take for example the first VAN HALEN record. Now, they say, 'We don't want these eight songs. We want 15 of these songs.' There probably would have been no VAN HALEN. I don't know that those guys would have had all those guitar pyrotechnics on the record, if it would have just been too much for the fans to digest. I remember listening to records like early TED NUGENT and KISS and stuff like that — you had 'Kiss Alive', right? You had to have had 'Kiss Alive'. Maybe not, maybe you're too young. I remember listening to those live records — God dang it, if it had too many songs on it, you were like [makes snoring noise]. And now it's like, you have to have songs, and videos, and give away T-shirts, and you can win dinner at my house, and it's like, when did we try so hard? When did music get so crappy that you had to give somebody a back rub with it?"

AKERCOCKE/MY DYING BRIDE drummer David Gray has joined forces with other AKERCOCKE members Peter Benjamin and Sam Loynes (also of DIMINISHED FIFTH) in a new black metal project called VOICES.

Commented VOICES: "We recently set foot in studio to record drums for the first full-length VOICES release and there is going to be no let-up and we hope to complete the album before the end of the year. Also we shot a music video for a version of one of the tracks featuring on the album and is due for its imminent release.

"With over an album's worth of material, VOICES shall soon be looking to spread the evil in the live arena.

"We are excited about the responses from all those thirsty AKERCOCKE fans as VOICES, albeit an entirely different and fresh musical outfit, share AKERCOCKE's experimental approach and mash-up of extreme metal styles. All songs are born out of extensive improvisation and therefore are more about vibe rather than meticulous structuring. It's here that we feel our sound is becoming unique, reflecting the moods and atmospheres of the rehearsal space on that specific day."

Former GORGOROTH/GOD SEED frontman Gaahl (real name: Kristian Eivind Espedal) will star in a new Norwegian film called "Flukt" (English: "Escape"). An action picture set in the remote Norwegian countryside during the 1300s, it is being helmed by "Cold Prey" director Roar Uthaug and will feature Norwegian actress Ingrid Bolsø Berdal in the role of the leader of a group of outlaws living in the mountains.

Synopsis: "The film takes place in the year 1363. Black Death has killed half the population. Many travel from death and misery in search of a better life elsewhere. But the country is sparsely populated, and in the mountains, raging outlaw gangs and a life is worth little."

Uthaug said, "'Escape' should be a grand adventure that takes us back to a time that is little described in the Norwegian film. It should be an epic rollercoaster ride of a thriller."

"Flukt" has been in production since the beginning of September and is scheduled to premiere on September 28, 2012.

Bob Larson, an American radio and television evangelist and one of the leading practitioners of modern, Christian exorcisms, conducted an exorcism in August on Jørn Stubberud, best known as the bassist in the legendary Norwegian black metal band MAYHEM (where he performs under the stage name Necrobutcher). The entire event was filmed by NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company and the largest media organization in Norway, for a special program which was just aired in Norway. You can now watch the entire half-hour show below, with Necrobutcher portion beginning around the 13-minute mark. (Note: The narrative is in Norwegian, but the dialogue is in English.)

"Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good", a brand new EP of acoustic, instrumental Christmas classics from BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, is available now on iTunes via eOne Music.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. I'll Be Home For Christmas
02. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
03. It's A Wonderful World

In other news, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has been confirmed as main support for GUNS N' ROSES on the following dates (except where otherwise noted):

Dec. 03 - Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (no GN'R, BLS headlining show)
Dec. 04 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
Dec. 05 - Southaven, MS - DeSoto County Civic Center
Dec. 07 - Youngstown, OH - The Covelli Centre
Dec. 08 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
Dec. 10 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont (no GN'R, BLS headlining show)
Dec. 11 - Broomfield, CO - 1st Bank Center