"Evermore Darkly…", the new mini-album from British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH, will be released in North America on October 18 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to last year's triumphant "Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa" album will arrive as a CD/DVD package including new tracks and rarities, with a lengthy on-the-road documentary and ten songs filmed live at this year's Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium, as well as the video for the song "Lilith Immaculate". Artwork comes courtesy of Natalie Shau, whom also worked on "Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa".

The "Evermore Darkly…" CD features brand new musical beast "Thank Your Lucky Stars", plus a special remix of "Forgive Me Father", courtesy of ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano, an extended rendition of "Lilith Immaculate", as well as tempered demo versions of three "Darkly, Darkly…" songs. The mini-album closes with a special taster from CRADLE OF FILTH's impending orchestral project in the form of a haunting, classic reworking of fan favorite "Summer Dying Fast".

The "Evermore Darkly…" DVD contains footage from summer 2011 when CRADLE OF FILTH embarked on a rapid spat of tours, accompanied by two eager filmmakers. The resulting documentary, "You Can't Polish A Turd, But You Can Roll It In Glitter", combined with performance and interview footage culminates in a forty five minute film of the not so glamorous reality of life in a touring band at work and play, as they trawl their way across Europe over eight performances. The DVD includes an interview with ghoul-guide Dani Filth, interspersed and peppered with live footage and backstage shenanigans, culminating in the entire hour long set from this year's Graspop Metal Meeting appearance.

"Evermore Darkly…" track listing:

01. Transmission From Hell?
02. Thank Your Lucky Scars
03. Forgive Me Father (I Have Sinned) - Elder Version
04. Lilith Immaculate (Extended Length)
05. The Persecution Song - Elder Version
06. Forgive Me Father (I'm In A Trance)
07. The Spawn Of Love And War - Elder Version
08. Summer Dying Fast ("Midnight In The Labyrinth" breadcrumb trail)

"Venus Diversa" DVD:

01. "Lilith Immaculate" Promo Video
02. "You Can't Polish A Turd…But You Can Roll It In Glitter" Rockumentary
03. "Burning Down Graspop", Dessel, Belgium, June 25, 2011 Live Footage

According to Dani, "Evermore Darkly…" is "a much-loved musical stop-gap between albums, a pleasure treasure trove of wild and wicked wonders primed especially for fans. Something for them to sink their teeth into this autumn as the CRADLE invasion fleet is primed for future contagion."

Florida-based death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE have begun recording their twelfth studio album at Sonic Ranch studios in Texas with producer Erik Rutan. The band has spent months writing the album and has recorded at Sonic Ranch in the past, but never with Rutan at the helm. More details on the album, including art, songs, title and more will be revealed in the months to follow. For now, the band is hard at work forging their next death metal offering.

Commented bassist Alex Webster : "After having spent the past seven months writing and rehearsing new material, we're very excited to finally begin recording. We've had great success working with Erik Rutan on our past two albums so we've decided to work with him again, but to keep things fresh we decided on a change of location — we're returning to Sonic Ranch studios in Texas, where we've recorded several albums in the past. We are psyched to see how this combination works out- we feel it's pairing that could result in our best album yet."

REDEMPTION, the U.S. progressive metal band featuring in its ranks guitarist/songwriter Nick van Dyk and legendary FATES WARNING vocalist Ray Alder, will release its fifth studio album, "This Mortal Coil", on September 26 in Europe and October 11 in North America via InsideOut Music. The follow-up to 2009's "Snowfall On Judgment Day" was recorded and mixed with producer Neil Kernon (QUEENSRŸCHE, NEVERMORE, DEICIDE). The CD's cover artwork was created by acclaimed artist and longtime band collaborator Travis Smith (OPETH, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, NEVERMORE).

"This Mortal Coil" track listing:

01. Path Of The Whirlwind
02. Blink Of An Eye
03. No Tickets To The Funeral
04. Dreams From The Pit
05. Noonday Devil
06. Let It Rain
07. Focus
08. Perfect
09. Begin Again
10. Stronger Than Death
11. Departure Of The Pale Horse

In North America, "This Mortal Coil" will also be available as a 2CD package featuring a special bonus CD with the following six (!) cover versions:

01. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (ELTON JOHN)
02. Jane (STARSHIP)
03. Hold The Line (TOTO)
04. Edge Of The Blade (JOURNEY)
05. Love To Love (UFO)
06. Precious Things (TORI AMOS)

The song "Noonday Devil" is available for streaming on the REDEMTION Facebook page("Like" required).

Progressive rock/metal band CYNIC will release a new EP, "Carbon-Based Anatomy", on November 11 in Europe and November 15 in North America via Season Of Mist. Unlike last year's "Re-Traced", this new EP consists exclusively of brand new material.

"Carbon-Based Anatomy" track listing:

01. Amidst The Coals
02. Carbon-Based Anatomy
03. Bija!
04. Box Up My Bones
05. Elves Beam Out
06. Hieroglyph

The artwork was designed by the great Robert Venosa, the artist behind the covers of CYNIC's previous releases "Focus", "Traced in Air" and "Re-Traced".

Irish metallers STORMZONE will release their new album, "Zero To Rage", in Europe on November 21 via SPV/Steamhammer.

Commented STORMZONE vocalist John "Harv" Harbinson: "Apart from being a singer of heavy metal music for many years, I have also always been a huge fan of heavy metal, and I have no hesitation in saying that the new STORMZONE album, 'Zero to Rage' is something that as a singer I am immensely proud of and as a fan I would definitely go out and buy!"

The track listing for the follow-up to last year's "Death Dealer" is as follows:

01. Where We Belong
02. Zero To Rage
03. Jester’s Laughter
04. This Is Our Victory
05. Fear Hotel
06. Hail The Brave
07. Uprising
08. Last Man Fighting
09. Empire Of Fear
10. Monsters
11. Voice Inside My Head
12. Cuchulainn's Story

"Reduced To The Failure Of Prayer", a brand new song from Athens, Ohio's SKELETONWITCH, can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below. The track comes off the band's new album, "Forever Abomination", which will be released in October via Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to 2009's "Breathing The Fire" was recorded at a Los Angeles studio with producer Matt Hyde (SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, KREATOR). The effort will include the track "The Infernal Resurrection", the demo version of which appears as the B-side on the final seven-inch of a limited-edition vinyl trilogy. This marks SKELETONWITCH's first recording wi

"Spectrelight", a brand new song from Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track, which features guest vocals from Scott Kelly of NEUROSIS, comes off the band's new album, "The Hunter", which will be released in several configurations that feature an exciting interactive 3D experience known as Augmented Reality. The technology, created by Los Angeles-based company Total Immersion, combines virtual and real worlds to create a 3D one-of-a-kind interactive experience that users can control. Just by using a camera on a computer, their own face and the cover art on "The Hunter", the user can turn themselves into "The Hunter" sculpture that is pictured on the cover.

In the midst of the "No More Mr. Nice Guy" world tour, Alice Cooper will treat fans to a special performance at the legendary Whisky a Go-Go on Thursday, September 15 at 9:00 p.m. Cooper will take the stage of the legendary rock venue on the Sunset Strip for the first time since Alice Cooper the band performed there live in 1969 with LED ZEPPELIN.

"The Whisky had an option for a return engagement, but we got busy and it just slipped our minds," Cooper joked in a statement. "No, seriously, the Whisky gig we did with LED ZEPPELIN is something we all talk about to this day. It's going to be amazing to go back as a straight ahead L.A. bar band... We might even take requests. I figure, if we could do it in London, we can do it at the Whisky. And it's L.A., so you never know who else might show up..."

Italian dark metal outfit GRAVEWORM will release its new album, "Fragments Of Death", on October 21 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2009's "Diabolical Figures" was recorded in July at the Dream Sound Studios in Munich, Germany and was mastered by Jan Vacik. According to a press release, "The songs are about the death in its thousand faces, which is also reflected in the album title and cover art. Musically, the album can be seen as a mixture of the best of the last four records, with some old-school roots and definitive darker than its predecessors."

"Fragments Of Death" track listing:

01. Insomnia
02. Only Death In Our Wake
03. Absence Of Faith
04. Living Nightmare
05. The World Will Die In Flames
06. Anxiety
07. See No Future
08. The Prophecy
09. Remembrance
10. Old Forgotten Song
11. Where Angels Do Not Fly

Bonus track:

12. Awake

The first "Fragments Of Death" trailer can be seen below.

According to the usually reliable VAN HALEN fan site Van Halen News Desk, the mixing of the new VAN HALEN album began in July was completed in August. The band's first LP in 27 years to feature original singer David Lee Roth is scheduled to be mastered mid-September, with the process expected to take about a week.

There has virtually no info from the VAN HALEN camp about album or tour plans. Rumors have also suggested that the band pulled out of an Australian festival tour, which was scheduled to kick off later this month.

One person who doesn't think VAN HALEN can get together and continue its comeback is Roth replacement and former singer Sammy Hagar. "They can't get it together," he said. "You know, they can't. I was there. I saw it. Eddie [Van Halen, guitar], doesn't matter if he's clean and sober, like they — even if he is, too much damage. They're just too wacky. They're so out of it. And it could be cool, time warpy, if they were the original band and everybody was on the same page."
Producer Ross Hogarth, who has worked on the VAN HALEN album, spoke briefly about it in an interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, saying, "I'm really stoked about it, as it is the original band, Eddie and Alex [Van Halen, drums] with Wolf [Eddie's son] playing bass, and David Lee Roth singing, it's the killing side of VAN HALEN at the top of their game again . . . and the band on fire."

ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti recently said in an interview that he had gotten an opportunity to hear the music through his friendship with Wolfgang Van Halen, saying it sounded like "vintage VAN HALEN."

VAN HALEN reunited with Roth in 2007 for a successful year-long reunion tour — minus original bassist Michael Anthony, who now plays with Hagar in CHICKENFOOT.

According to ESCtoday.com, LORDI frontman Mr. Lordi will be one of the judges and mentors on the Finnish version of the reality TV format "Clash Of The Choirs" ("Kuorosota"). The singer's choir comes from his hometown Rovaniemi.

"Kuorosota" is a music competition between several choirs, put together and led by successful Finnish singers/musicians in their home region. The celebrities take on the role of the choir leader and support their choir in the struggle for a perfect performance. They also act as members of the jury and evaluate the performances of the other competing choirs. TV viewers vote and determine the winner, and each week another choir gets voted off. The prize is in the form of a 40,000-euro contribution to a charity active in the artist's hometown.

The series will air on the Finnish channel 4 starting next month.

Previous hard rock/metal judges on "Kuorosota" have included Timo Kotipelto (STRATOVARIUS), Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT) and Olli Herman (RECKLESS LOVE, CRASHDIET).

U.K. metallers INTENSE have inked a deal with Pure Legend Records. The band's third album, "Shape Of Rage", was once again recorded at Thin Ice Studios with Karl Groom (THRESHOLD) at the helm.

Commented the label: "With INTENSE, we are proud to have another high-level band at Pure Legend Records combining outstanding songwriting with superb vocals and the special note a band divides from others. Again, the fans of the band will not be disappointed and a lot of new fans will be able to check out really unique songs made by musicians who find always new surprising ideas."

Added INTENSE vocalist Sean Hetherington: "The guys and I are extremely happy to sign to a label such as Pure Legend Records. We already feel part of the family and together we have high hopes for our albums getting great exposure and for us to get out and share our music with as many people as possible. I already feel that the guys at Pure Legend will make this a reality. There are exciting times ahead for Intense fans old and new."

Karl Groom worked on INTENSE's previous two albums, 2004's "Second Sight" and 2007's "As Our Army Grows".

Dutch female-fronted symphonic rock outfit DELAIN has completed the songwriting process for its third studio album, tentatively due in the spring 2012 via Roadrunner Records. The group is currently recording the as-yet-untitled opus at various studios in Stockholm, Sweden.

Behind the production desk is Jacob Hellner, renowned for his work with RAMMSTEIN and APOCALYPTICA, alongside the Epicentre team of Fredrik Thomander and Anders Wikström (SCORPIONS, BACKYARD BABIES).

Commented the band: "After loads of touring activity and some turmoil with the record company, it's great to finally be in the process of getting the album together. More so in such legendary places with people involved in such legendary records. We've written some killer material and these are best possible circumstances to make it come to life."

DELAIN in April announced the addition of guitarist Timo Somers to the group's ranks. The band said in a statement, "Timo's been rehearsing with us for quite some time and we're very confident that we've found the best possible new DELAIN team member in him; this guy's got music in his blood."

Video footage of vocalist Freddy Lim of Taiwanese metallers CHTHONIC talking about the band's new album, "Takasago Army", prior to CHTHONIC's special unplugged show in Yilan, Taiwan on August 27 can be seen below. Also available is video footage of the group's acoustic performance.

CHTHONIC's new album, "Takasago Army", will be released in North America on September 6 via Spinefarm Records. Produced by Rickard Bengtsson (ARCH ENEMY, NEMESIS) at Sweet Spot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden, this 10-track outing completes a trilogy of CHTHONIC releases, telling a story that binds together the band's "Seediq Bale" and "Mirror Of Retribution" albums, released in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

Coinciding with the North American release of the record, CHTHONIC will embark on a three-week tour supporting ARCH ENEMY. The North American Khaos 2011 trek will commence on September 8 in Maryland and steamroll its way across the country and Canada. DEVILDRIVER and SKELETONWITCH will also appear on the bill.

BËEHLER — the Canadian band featuring the former EXCITER drummer/vocalist Dan Beehler, AGGRESSOR bassist Brian Stephenson and guitarists Sean Brophy and Scott Walsh — has inked a deal with the German label High Roller Records. The group's debut album, "Messages To The Dead", will contain 12 songs and will be released on both LP and CD (the exact release date to be announced soon).

BËEHLER has already started working on its next studio album, which will mark a return to the classic EXCITER sound of the "Unveiling The Wicked" and "Long Live The Loud" LPs.

Commented Dan: "I vowed never to play again after EXCITER. My brother Richard was my mentor and fourth silent member of EXCITER, co-writing songs such as 'Under Attack' and 'Rain Of Terror'. He was the only reason I ever went anywhere in music. He did all the grunt work for EXCITER, critiqued every song and never missed a rehearsal. He begged me to do another album and play METAL again. I said no!

"When he passed away, Scott Walsh threw me in his studio, put the sticks back in my hands and said, 'Do it for your brother and call it 'BËEHLER.'

"Sean Brophy picked me up, gave me my confidence back. He worked like a dog, dedicated his life to BËEHLER. He kicked my ass, never gave up and without him there would be no BËEHLER. Together with Al Johnson [former BËEHLER/EXCITER bassist Allan Johnson] and Scott, they gave me an opportunity to play metal once more. I owe them and my family so much!

"This was Richard's dream, his spirit lives through these recordings. I even dug up his old lyrics once again and added them to 'Kill The Witch'.

"'Messages To The Dead' explains the communication existed and we truly believe he is at the helm of BËEHLER.

"Every song on this album was written about people who have touched my life, singing and recording it was an emotional roller coaster for me.

"For myself and the band, it goes much deeper than a collection of songs. The guys understand the journey that I'm on, driven by you know who!

"Richard, your spirit created this album..."

BËEHLER's sound is described in a press release as "a journey from speed to doom, heavily saluting their mentors like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD." "All we want to do is bring it back as a tribute to our metal heroes," the band said.

FASTWAY, the brainchild of ex-MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke, has inked a European deal with Steamhammer/SPV. The band's first studio album since 1990, "Eat Dog Eat", will be released on November 14 (three days earlier in Germany). The CD, which features new vocalist Toby Jepson (ex-LITTLE ANGELS), is described by Clarke as "by far the best thing I have done since the first FASTWAY album. This is classic rock at its best!"

Commented Olly Hahn, A&R representative at Steamhammer: "It`s an honor to have Fast Eddie Clarke and his band on our label. He was THE guitar player in MOTÖRHEAD but also with FASTWAY he delivered awesome music. With 'Eat Dog Eat' he's definitely back... probably better than ever!"

Formed in 1983, FASTWAY's self-titled debut album entered the U.K. charts at No. 43 and received very good reviews. One year later, "All Fired Up" was released and was a great success, thanks in no small part to high-profile support tours in the U.S. with SCORPIONS and RUSH. In 1985 "Waiting For The Roar" saw the light of day and was followed by dates with AC/DC on the "Fly On The Wall" tour. In 1986 FASTWAY wrote the soundtrack to the horror movie "Trick Or Treat" starring Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons.

After 1986, FASTWAY released two more studio albums with a different lineup and issued several live and best-of LPs.

01. Deliver Me (4:41)
02. Fade Out (4:05)
03. Leave The Light On (3:55)
04. Loving Fool (4:30)
05. Dead And Gone (5:49)
06. Sick As A Dog (3:44)
07. Freedom Song (3:52)
08. Do You Believe (4:04)
09. Love I Need (4:37)
10. On And On (3:53)
11. Only If You Want It (4:06)

North Carolina-based traditional metallers WIDOW have inked a deal with Pure Steel Records.

Commented the band: "WIDOW is very excited to sign with Pure Steel Records. They have become THE label for amazing traditional metal and we are honored to work with them. They have been very supportive of us and what we do and they are true fans of real heavy metal! The future starts now!!"

Added the label: "We are in contact with WIDOW regularly since a long time. Since their beginnings they released very strong material without any exception and combine NWOBHM influences with traditional '80s U.S. metal at the best way possible. So you always can expect timeless melodic metal songs at highest level. Chris [Bennett, guitar/vocals]is a real Pure Steel fan, so, of course, the cooperation was the logical move. So we are very happy to have WIDOW on our label! A very fantastic band."

WIDOW's third album, "Nightlife", came out in 2007.

'80s rockers SNOW, featuring original members Carlos Cavazo (QUIET RIOT, RATT) on guitar, Tony Cavazo (QUIET RIOT, HURRICANE) on bass and Stephen Quadros on drums, are set to begin a new chapter in their joint musical history.

The brothers Cavazo and Quadros have been in discussions for some time to reunite, but previous business obligations — Carlos recording and touring with RATT, Tony gigging with HURRICANE (and others), and Stephen as the color commentator for Showtime Sports' mixed martial arts programming — have taken precedence… until now!

Stephen recently attended a HURRICANE show in Hollywood, California, where Tony introduced him backstage to lead vocalist Andrew Freeman, who is enthusiastic about taking on the vocal role in the revamped SNOW.

SNOW released a self-titled five-song EP in 1980 that included the tracks "Crack The Whip" and "No Way To Treat A Lady". The effort, which has become somewhat of a collector's item, received radio airplay on KROQ and KLOS.

ENGEL — the Gothenburg, Sweden-based quintet featuring guitarists Marcus Sunesson (THE CROWN) and Niclas Engelin (PASSENGER, ex-GARDENIAN, IN FLAMES), vocalist Mangan Klavborn, drummer Jimmy Olausson (ex-MARIONETTE) and bassist Steve Drennan (AMON AMARTH, LOCUS) — recently recorded two songs with Hellmans Drengar, the all-male choir from Gothenburg, Sweden. An audio sample of one of the songs, "In Darkness" (which will be released as a single), can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

ENGEL will play two shows with Hellmans Drengar at Lorensbergsteatern in Gothenburg on September 9 and September 10. The band says, "It will be two evenings where two different worlds collide into one massive, heavy and rocking HELL."

Sweden's PAIN OF SALVATION will release its new album, "Road Salt Two", on September 26 in Europe and October 11 North America via InsideOut Music.

"Road Salt Two" track listing:

01. Road Salt Theme
02. Softly She Cries
03. Conditioned
04. Healing Now
05. To The Shoreline
06. Eleven
07. 1979
08. The Deeper Cut
09. Mortar Grind
10. Through The Distance
11. The Physics Of Gridlock
12. End Credits

The song "Conditioned" is now available for streaming on the PAIN OF SALVATION Facebook page (Note: You must "like" the band in order to hear the track.)

In addition to the standard album version (on CD and in digital format), "Road Salt Two" will be available as a limited-edition digipack (with two additional songs) and as a gatefold LP on 180-gram black vinyl.

"Hate Turns Black", a brand new song from multi-national thrashers NIGHTRAGE, can be streamed at this location(Facebook "like" required). The track comes off the band's fifth album, "Insidious", which will be released on September 27 (one day earlier internationally) via Lifeforce Records. The CD features guest appearances by Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND), Tomas S. Englund (EVERGREY), Apollo Papathanasio (FIREWIND, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS), John K (BIOMECHANICAL) and the band's former frontman Tomas Lindberg (also known for his work with AT THE GATES, THE CROWN and LOCK UP). Lindberg appeared on the band's first two albums — 2003's "Sweet Vengeance" and 2005's "Descent Into Chaos" — before being replac

Reactivated classic U.S. metallers EXXPLORER will release their new album, "Vengeance Rides An Angry Horse", on October 21 via Pure Steel Records. The CD's cover artwork can be seen below.

"Vengeance Rides An Angry Horse" track listing:

01. Gypsy
02. Glory Hunter
03. Chasing The High
04. The Vengeance
05. As The Crow Flies
06. S.N.O.E
07. Valley Of Doom
08. Spirits Of The Wind
09. Freight Train To Hell
10. Return Of The Cycle

Die Emorocker MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE haben ihren Drummer Michael Pedicone vor die Türe gesetzt, nachdem dieser nach einer Show in Auburn, Washington die eigenen Bandmitglieder bestohlen hat. Als neuen Drummer präsentierten die Jungs sodann gleich mal Jarrod Alexander (Ex-DEATH BY STEREO)

Hier das Statement der Bandwebsite http://www.mychemicalromance.com:

Hello all,

Some shit happened last night and before the blogosphere gets all crazy with false statements and ridiculous opinions we want the true story to come from us... But please listen close because this is the only time we are ever going to talk about this. The relationship between My Chemical Romance and Michael Pedicone is over. He was caught red handed stealing from the band and confessed to police after our show last night in Auburn, Washington. We are heartbroken and sick to our stomachs over this entire situation. The band has no intention of pressing charges or taking this matter any further than we have to. We just want him out of our lives. The people who play in this band are a family, and family should not take advantage of each other like he did. We are currently moving forward, and hope to have a new drummer in place for our show in Salt Lake City, Utah. The show must go on.

Metal Kaoz recently conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Kaoz: Do you have in mind a release date for the [debut ADRENALINE MOB] album or even a record deal?

Portnoy: We are actually in the process of find a record label to release it. We are in the talks with some labels in order to find what is best for this band because it is a very different one and not something like DREAM THEATER or SYMPHONY X [which features ADRENALINE MOB singer Russell Allen]. At this point, we have in mind that the album is going to be out in January 2012. Having the tour slot with GODSMACK we thought it would be a nice introduction to the band to self-release an EP for now.

Metal Kaoz: Everyone in this band has a rich musical background; do you believe that this adds pressure to ADRENALINE MOB as a band?

Portnoy: It puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the band. First of all, there is a lot of pressure coming from my side, since this is the first band after DREAM THEATER and AVENGED SEVENFOLD, so there is a lot of focus on what I will do next. Also, this is the first "real" band that Russell has done outside of SYMPHONY X. And the biggest pressure comes from the fact that people coming to the show are expecting to watch a progressive metal band, and ADRENALINE MOB is NOT. We realize that this is not DREAM THEATER or SYMPHONY X, and, in fact, this is the fuckin' point of that. If we wanted to play progressive, we could do it in DREAM THEATER or SYMPHONY X. This is a totally new "beast." There is a side of me that always loved aggressive, riff-oriented music like PANTERA, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY or SLIPKNOT and things like that. Of course, I still love progressive music and million-time-signature and 20-minute epic songs, but I have been doing this for 25 years. So, it was time to do something different and this goes also for Russ.

Metal Kaoz: Do you feel that you have to apologize or explain yourself for this move?

Portnoy: I don't think I have to apologize for this, and I am excited and proud of this band. But I feel that I have to explain and help people to understand that by this EP is not going to sound like a progressive metal band. As long as they leave that expectations aside and take it for what it is, then there is no apologies necessary.

Metal Kaoz: Before getting to write the music for this band, did you have in mind of its musical direction?

Portnoy: Mike [Orlando, guitar] and Russ had that in their minds and as I said the minute I listened to the track "Undaunted", I texted Russ and told him that I wanted to join them. I always wanted to do something aggressive, heavy but at the same time melodic with grooves, riffs and high energy music. You will see at the show tonight that there will be really performers on stage. And with no disrespect to SYMPHONY X or DREAM THEATER, I will say this is a very different stage presentation. I mean, with DREAM THEATER I was the most animated performer, like Russ is for SYMPHONY X, but in this band I should say I am the most "mellow"… everybody is running circles around me all the time. It is a nice, different and refreshing environment.

Metal Kaoz: Have you been facing "haters" along this process?

Portnoy: Absolutely, I have. It has been a tough year for me watching DREAM THEATER fans turning their backs on me, which is unfortunate, because I have been the most fan-oriented artist you'll ever meet. And during my time with DREAM THEATER, everything I did was for the fans. So it is sad when I see someone turning his back on me. But, again, there is a big number of fans who have been very supportive and for those people I am so eternally grateful and I will continue trying to make them proud fans.

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