Die US Amerikanischen Avantgarde Black Metaller von NACHTMYSTIUM arbeiten neben ihrer neuen CD auch noch an einer Split-Vinyl mit der Französischen Black Metal Formation GLORIOR BELLI. Der Split wird im späteren Verlauf des Jahres via dem Label Diabolus Templum Sanus in die Plattenläden dieser Welt gebracht.

Hier noch ein Kommentar der Band:

"Nachtmystium are pleased to announce that we're going to be working on not only our new full-length album in the coming months, but also some additional tracks that will appear on a split 12" vinyl-only release between Nachtmystium and our long time French black'n'roll brothers Glorior Belli! This LP will feature completely exclusive tracks from each band and will be released on Chicago-based label Diabolus Templum Sanus!

Endlich der Nachfolger von "Degüello Wartunes" - die deutschen Metalcore Pioniere von HATE SQUAD sind wieder da. Das neue Album "Katharsis" wird am 28.10.2011 via Massacre Records als Digipak mit exklusiven Bonus Tracks und als CD erscheinen!

"Katharsis" Trackliste:

01. DEEP SCARS
02. KATHARSIS
03. YOUR ROTTEN LIFE
04. THE ONE
05. HATEBOMB
06. A.P.A.B.
07. MISANTHROPIC SOUL
08. VICIOUS ASSAULT
09. OLD TIMES...GOOD TIMES!
10. KILL
11. R3VOLUT1ON15T
12. FACE YOUR DEMON
13. LIVE AND LEARN
14. TRAITOR SCUM (Bonus Track - Digipak)
15. EVERY SECOND COUNTS 2011 (Bonus Track - Digipak)

Swedish death metal act ENTRAILS will release their follow-up to their 2010 release Tales From The Morgue, entitled The Tomb Awaits, on September 9th in North America via Dark Descent Records. The album will be released in Europe through FDA Rekotz.

Once again mixed and mastered by the legendary Dan Swanö, The Tomb Awaits also features guest vocals by Swanö and cover art by Daniel Devilish. Expect nothing less than festering, rotten death metal.

The revised tracklisting for the new album is as follows:

'The Tomb Awaits'
'Unleashed Wrath'
'Crawling Death'
'Eaten By The Dead'
'To Live Is To Rot'
'Undead'
'The Slithering Below'
'End Of All Existence'
'Collection Of Cracked Heads'
'Remains In Read'
'Total Death'
'Unspeakable Obscenities'

Indian progressive metal connoisseurs SLAIN have released their debut music video for the track ‘Your Majesty’, from their album Here & Beyond released in 2010.

Guitarist Manek D’Silva commented: “This video is the final word in the Here & Beyond chapter of Slain, it needed to be a visual feast of epic proportions, and by God it certainly is. As a rule of thumb, Slain always aims to set the standard for indie innovation - Awesome and without compromise. So from that magical album release featuring our own metal-choir, to this work-of-art video: complete self-production is the call of the hour, we’ve just been showing folks how to do it right.”

THE PETE FLESH DEATHTRIP - featuring Pete Flesh on vocals/guitars/bass (DECEIVER, THROWN, ex-MAZE OF TORMENT), Micke Broberg as guest session vocals (UNANIMATED, CELESTIAL PAIN) and Andreas Jonsson - guest session drums (TYRANT, VINTERLAND, THE BLACK) - is back with their fourth studio album, Mortui Vivos Docent, due out by Pulverised Records in early 2012.

Mortui Vivos Docent tracklist is as follows:

'Fallen Bliss'
'The Eternal Dawn'
'Crave the Fire'
'The Suicide End'
'Burning Darkness'
'Ravens Reborn'
'God the the Crawling Whore'
'Bleed'
'Recycle my Death From My Tombstone'

Harmon Caldwell of Edguy.net recently conducted an interview with vocalist Tobias Sammet of German melodic metallers EDGUY. The question-and-answer session follows below.

Q: Tobias, let's talk about song writing process for the new album "Age Of The Joker". How do you manage to jump out of AVANTASIA, a project that is mostly conceptual from start to finish, and directly into writing new EDGUY songs?
Tobias: After I had finished my last AVANTASIA studio venture, it was obvious to me that this was as good as it gets in my world of music. After such an undertaking, you are burned out, because you feel you have said everything. But after a while there is always an instinctive urge to compose new material. Not because I wanna compete with my past, but simply to be creative and have a good time coming up with great melodies in my little magical world at home. I do not think of the past or a certain goal when composing, and as much as fans would want it, I do not think of them either. I just wanna have a great time creating music, be it with EDGUY or AVANTASIA. The creative process is similar for both projects, only with AVANTASIA I have to be aware that it fits to a whole concept and the different singers involved. Also, with AVANTASIA, I do not have to care what four other people say; in EDGUY there are discussions at times.

Q: In a certain way the cover art for the new album could remind one of the "Mandrake" cover or other elements from EDGUY's past. How does the joker play into the theme for the new album, and where did the new cover idea come from?

Tobias: The jester has always been our trademark, not because he wants to be funny, but because he has the ultimate freedom to say anything he wants and he gets away with it. We have said anything you must not say, we have worn anything you must not wear, we have done anything you must not do according to the great book of rules in heavy metal. Yet we have ploughed our way to well over two million discs sold and played to thousands of fans in 40 countries around the globe. That's not a bad start for a band that's never been taken seriously by the majority of the press. We have always been true to ourselves, even if record-label people may have freaked out over certain decisions we've made. If you take yourself too seriously, you may end up with a heart attack in this crazy metal business. That's why we have always kept a tongue-in-cheek attitude. We are allowed to go where no other band goes, and our fans know pretty well what and why we're doing this.

Q: It's now been three years since the release of EDGUY's last album, "Tinnitus Sanctus". Surprisingly, the album seemed to receive mixed reviews from both fans and critics. When writing a new album ("Age Of The Joker"), what do you take away from past reactions? Is there ever the temptation to let those opinions affect your songwriting or at this point in your career do you simply do exactly what you want to do?

Tobias: No! Because what do other people know? There is only one target when writing a new album: I wanna enjoy the working process and create music that excites me! The fact that certain magazines bash whatever we do is no big news; we know what they'll write even before we enter the studio. As a matter of fact, we don't fit in their scheme, but down the line it really doesn't matter what some desk or Internet hero writes. "Age Of The Joker" seemingly has all our trademarks and is considered a back-to-the-roots album by some press guys, which theoretically could be a proof that we have our own signature sound which makes us proud, but nothing was forced. I also love "Tinnitus Sanctus"; it is a great album, my favorite EDGUY album to date. It's sad some people didn't understand it and I respect that. But this is not proof for inferior quality. What counts is that "Age Of The Joker" is a great album, you know that, the EDGUYs know that, our producer Sascha Paeth knows that, and our fans will find out shortly. The rest of the world can kiss my ass!

Q: One immediate difference between the two albums is the style of the first single song chosen. Whereas "Ministry Of Saints" had a heaver, grittier, and darker edge, the new single and video, "Robin Hood" seems to harken back to the more carefree EDGUY attitude from past albums. What was the motivation for choosing "Robin Hood" as the first single from "Age Of The Joker"?

Tobias: We had this great song, a serious song featuring some tongue-in-cheek moments and hilarious lyrics, and although it's a lengthy track, the label thought it would be great to have a video clip. So who am I to get in the way of such an opportunity, running through the forest and playing Robin Hood with your friends, and having someone else pay for it? So we edited the song down to five minutes for a single version which kind of sucks, because now the song structure is shit, but it was the only way of making it a reasonable single and do the video.

Q: So let's talk about Robin Hood for a moment. What was your motivation for writing a song about this particular figure?

Tobias: Attila the Hun, Odin, the sons of Odin, Cinderella, Humpty Dumpty... I can hardly think of a more or less historically relevant swashbuckler who hasn't been the main topic in a song, sung by heavy metal men in furry loin cloths. Except for Robin Hood, maybe the story of Robin Hood is too complex, haha! I just thought it is so over-the-top, it embraces everything that rock and metal are all about. It's more SPINAL TAP than SPINAL TAP ever were. Now, every child knows the tale of Robin Hood, everybody's seen the Errol Flynn movie. It's an enchanting topic, and still I think that there is too much romanticizing about him. Why? At the end of the day Robin Hood wants all people to be equal, while he wants to remain their leader, he steals from the business class and gives it to the lazy ones in coach. And he hides in the bushes to attack sharp dressed doers in the fast lane of the main road, just like those people on online message boards, that attack us, hiding their identity behind nick names. To me, Robin Hood doesn't seem like a spokesman of moral values, I see him more as a medieval-forest version of Erich Honecker!

Q: Early reviews from the press are already calling "Age Of The Joker" one of the best EDGUY albums ever. What would you attribute that to and do you think it's simply the high level of songwriting present on the new record?

Tobias: You always give your best and as I said I especially love "Rocket Ride" and "Tinnitus Sanctus". A lot of people say we've gone back to the roots with Age Of The Joker", and I scratch my head and go: "What?!" I think the songwriting on our new album is superb, the performances are great, we have the best guitars that we've ever had. I think many of the melodies are outstanding, but we didn't change anything on purpose, except maybe for the sound. We wanted to have a dynamic, old-school sound, but musically, we just let it happen. Our record label just sent me some press quotes saying, that this is the best album since "Mandrake". Well, if they say so, then we gotta believe it, it's the press. I'd just call it the best album since the invention of electricity and nothing else!

Q: Are there any songs that stand out to you as being the best from the album?

Tobias: I love "Pandora's Box", but if you'd ask me tomorrow I might mention a different song. It's a very balanced album, and I think all the songs have very strong moments. But at this moment I truly love "Pandora's Box". At first listen it may seem to be a softer song, but it's got many powerful moments and it's so honest, it's fragile, angry, tongue-in-cheek, anthemic, big and epic. It's EDGUY and AEROSMITH and all different kinds of things melded together as one.

Q: And what about the upcoming "Age Of The Joker" European tour? It seems that the last few EDGUY tours have simply been getting bigger and bigger. Do you have anything special planned for this time out?

Tobias: Of course, we have a real crazy plan, but I can't tell you about it at this point as our engineers are working on it and they have to find out yet, if it's technically possible or not. But the tour will be big, we have only announced the first leg of the tour, more dates will follow next year, we'll visit the whole world. Now go and get the album, it's worth it.

LOU REED & METALLICA recently announced the release dates for their debut album: November 1st in North America and October 31st for the rest of the world. A new update from the project reads as follows:

"The musical collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica, Lulu, is coming your way this fall and this space will be your spot for all things Loutallica(!). We want to start sharing with you just how the Lulu project, recorded at HQ just a few short months ago, is coming together. As you can see this site is a work in progress and the plan is to build it before your very eyes. Please bear with us while we piece it all together!

Lulu was inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wededkind's plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, which tell a story of a young abused dancer's life and relationships and are now collectively known as the Lulu Plays. Since their publication in the early 1900's, the plays have been the inspiration for a silent film (Pandora's Box, 1929), an opera, and countless other creative endeavors. Originally the lyrics and musical landscape were sketched out by Lou for a theatrical production, but after coming together with the 'Tallica boys for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame concerts in New York in 2009 all guilty parties knew they wanted to make more music together. Lou was inspired enough by that performance to recently ask the band to join him in taking his theatrical "Lulu" piece to the next level and so starting in early May of this year we were all camped out recording at HQ studios in Northern California, bringing us to today and ten complete songs.

We can't wait to share this music and the whole experience with you. Please visit us often... we'll be posting updates on a frequent basis."

Eagle Records will release GARY MOORE - Live At Montreux 2010, on September 19th on DVD, Blu-ray and CD.

A description reads: 2010 saw Gary Moore make a return to rock music after a long period of time exploring the blues. He was writing and working on a new rock album when all was brought to a halt by his untimely death on February 6th, 2011. This concert from Montreux in July 2010 was his last performance to be filmed. The setlist draws heavily on his hugely successful rock albums of the eighties, stirs in a couple of his classic blues tracks with some memorable hit singles and includes three brand new songs that would have featured on the album left sadly uncompleted on his death. Gary Moore was one of the finest and most respected guitarists the British Isles have ever produced. This concert shows just what a talent we will miss.

Veteran Japanese metallers LOUDNESS will release their new album, "Eve To Dawn", on September 14.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. A Light In The Dark
02. The Power Of Truth
03. Come Alive Again
04. Survivor
05. Keep You Burning
06. Gonna Do It My Way
07. Hang Tough
08. [Japanese Title]
09. Comes The Dawn
10. Pandora
11. Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!

Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH have inked a new deal with Nuclear Blast Records. The band's new album, "Imaginarium", will be released in December.

Commented NIGHTWISH keyboardist/mainman Tuomas Holopainen: "We are very happy to continue working with the Nuclear Blast family! Our collaboration started on a friendship basis and continues to do so.

"I was utterly happy and relieved to see they truly understood what 'Imaginarium' is all about, and we seem to share similar profound enthusiasm towards it.

"I feel privileged working with such people who, despite the infinite maze of business they must handle properly, still have a huge heart for music itself. "

Added Andy Siry, head of A&R and label manager of Nuclear Blast: "We are very happy that NIGHTWISH and Nuclear Blast Records can continue as a team.

"NIGHTWISH became the biggest success of our label and everyone in the band, their management and crew also became trustful and close friends. For us, it is a pleasure to work with such highly gifted musicians and a genius like Tuomas Holopainen, as a songwriter and composer. We also thank King Foo Entertainment [NIGHTWISH's management company] for their belief and the great relationship between all of us.

"We are looking forward to the next releases with the band, starting with the upcoming masterpiece, 'Imaginarium', which is another big step for this visionary band, which is simply outstanding and brilliant."

NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to its new album, "Imaginarium", but also planning a movie of the same name. If all goes well, the film will arrive at some point in 2012.

ARVEN haben bei Massacre Records unterschrieben und das lang erwartete Full-Length Debutalbum der (fast) Girlgroup mit dem Titel "Music of Light" erscheint am 23.9.2011!

Das Album wird 10 Tracks enthalten und kommt mit einem Artwork von Jan yrlund (u.a. Korpiklaani, Stratovarius, Sirenia) daher! Den Titeltrack kann man mittlerweile auf http://www.massacre-records.com/ streamen.

"Music of Light" Trackliste:

1 Music Of Light
2 On Flaming Wings
3 Raise Your Cups
4 My Dear Friend
5 World Of Hatred
6 Dark Red Desire
7 Midwinter Nights
8 Till Death Do Us Apart
9 Ruined Castle
10 A Stranger's Story

Veteran Canadian hard rockers HELIX will release a new EP, "Skin In The Game", in September.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. The William Tell Overture
02. Skin In The Game
03. The Bitch Is A Bullet
04. Angelina
05. Champagne Communist

The CD was mixed by Aaron Murray and was mastered at Carvello Mastering in Toronto, Ontario. The artwork is once again being created by Babyjack Design, who previously worked with the band on the "Vagabond Bones" and "Smash Hits Unplugged" releases.

Regarding the new material, HELIX frontman Brian Vollmer said, "I wrote [the first] four songs with Sean Kelly. One ('Angelina') was also a co-write with Moe Berg. Sean has been my partner on the last couple of HELIX discs — 'Vagabond Bones' and 'Smash Hits Unplugged' — as well as being a large part of the acoustic show.

"These four songs ('Champagne Communist', 'Angelina', 'Skin In The Game', and 'The Bitch Is A Bullet') are really just a continuation of the 'Vagabond Bones' CD. We wrote them very shortly after that CD was finished and they've been sitting in the can for a year."

According to Amazon.de, the deluxe edition of CHICKENFOOT's sophomore album, "Chickenfoot III", will include two CDs, two DVDs and a t-shirt. Due out in Germany on September 23, it will feature the following track listing:

Disc 1:

01. Last Temptation
02. Alright Alright
03. Different Devil
04. Up Next
05. Lighten Up
06. Come Closer
07. Three And A Half Letters
08. Big Foot
09. Dubai Blues
10. Something Going Wrong

Disc 2:

01. Avenida Revolucion
02. Soap On A Rope
03. Sexy Little Thing
04. Oh Yeah
05. Runnin' Out
06. Get It Up
07. Down The Drain
08. My Kinda Girl
09. Learning To Fall
10. Turnin' Left
11. Future In The Past
12. Bitten By The Wolf

Disc 3 (DVD):

01. EPK
02. Big Foot - Music Video
03. Turning Left - Live in Phoenix
04. Sexy Little Thing - Music Video

Disc 4 (DVD):

01. Avenida Revolucion (live)
02. Soap On A Rope (live at Montreux 2009)
03. Sexy Little Thing (live at Montreux 2009)
04. Oh Yeah (live)
05. Runnin' Out (live)
06. Get It Up (live)
07. Down The Drain (live at Montreux 2009)
08. My Kinda Girl (live)
09. Learning To Fall (live)
10. Turnin' Left (live)
11. Future In The Past (live)
12. Bitten By The Wolf (live)
13. Soap On A Rope (Video)

SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor was interviewed on this past Friday's (August 12) episode of "Hoppus On Music", the Fuse TV talk show hosted by BLINK-182 bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus. You can now watch clips from the program below.

When asked about the persistent rumors that he may end up being the new VELVET REVOLVER vocalist, Corey said, "I'm not singing with VELVET REVOLVER. We were doing some writing and doing some jamming and what-not, but it just seemed like there were different ideas as to what they wanted to do. And it was completely mutual; it was all good. I just love the fact that I got to hang out with people I grew up listening to."

He added, "Me and Duff [McKagan, former GUNS N' ROSES and current VELVET REVOLVER bassist] will probably do some stuff later. Me and him, we really hit it off, and we're really close, and we started writing songs together, and we've got some really good stuff. So, you never know. There might be a mystery supergroup out there — me and Duff and some other weird people — making some weird music that people are, like, 'What?! That's them?!' So, yeah, maybe. We'll see what happens."

In a recent interview with MusicRadar.com, McKagan stated about Taylor, "I think he's fucking great. . . I think he's the best voice of a new generation. The best rock 'n' voice out there. He's got a lot of positive energy. I'd be proud to do anything with him."

VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash admitted in a recent interview that he was the main reason why Taylor didn't get the frontman job, explaining, "It just didn't seem to fit right to me. And he's great, and I love Corey, but it didn't seem like the answer to the VELVET REVOLVER problem."

Taylor told a Canadian radio station after hearing of Slash's comments, "I guess it just wasn't working for him, which . . . He's Slash and he's entitled to have that, and I'm not gonna argue with him. But it was cool to just be able to get together and jam with those guys and I made some really cool friends."

This just came in. U2 singer Bono has been rushed to hospital in Monaco after complaining of chest pains. The news dates already from Wednesday but was only mad public now. Bono suffered a health scare after coming down with heart palpitations. The singer spent a number of hours at the Princess Grace Memorial Hospital in Monaco last Wednesday (August 17) where a leading heart specialist examined Bono and told him to get plenty of rest.

You might wonder if it really was all that serious as Bono was spotted a day later in Monaco's nightspot Saas Cafe with his wife Ali Hewson, Julian Lennon and Irish designer John Rocha.