Eight years after the release of Blot, legendary Viking metal act EINHERJER will release their comeback album, Norrøn, on September 9th (Europe) / 13th (rest of the World) via Indie Recordings. The album was recorded at Studio Borealis and is produced by Einherjer's Frode Glesnes. Matt Hyde (SLAYER, MONSTER MAGNET) mixed the album. It combines the best qualities from all of Einherjer’s previous albums.

Nørrøn tracklisting:

'Norrøn Kraft'
'Naglfar'
'Alu Alu Laukar'
'Varden Brenne'
'Malmting'
'Balladen Om Bifrost'

Norrøn will be released on following formats:

Norway & Europe - Digipak CD, LP
North America - Jewelcase CD, LP

Note: The LP is strictly limited to 500 worldwide.

A very limited T-shirt/CD bundle will be available exclusively for Europe and North America.

Finnish metallers PROFANE OMEN have set "Destroy!" as the title of their third album, due on September 28 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was produced by Ville Sorvali (MOONSORROW) and Mikko Herranen (RUST) and was recorded in part at Petrax studios in Hollola, Finland. The effort was mastered at Chartmakers in Helsinki.

"Destroy!" track listing:

01. A Force To Be Reckoned With
02. Wastehead
03. Predator
04. Feed On The Wasted
05. Escape / Traceless
06. Bad Dreams
07. Acedia
08. Bound To Strive
09. Zombie Riders

"The Road To OR-Shalem", the new concert DVD by Israeli progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND, will be released on October 24 in Europe and November 1 in the U.S. via Century Media Records.

According to a press release, "The Road To OR-Shalem" "is the premier Middle Eastern progressive metal crusaders' DVD debut and documents the band's incredible mission to unite warring factions in their home region through the power of music. Filmed in Tel Aviv, Israel in December 2010, 'The Road To OR-Shalem' features nearly two hours of stunning live material, as well as a second bonus DVD. The bonus DVD material includes additional live footage, a behind-the-scenes documentary and video clips."

Commented ORPHANED LAND vocalist Kobi Farhi: "It has been such an amazing experience for us to record our debut DVD.

"Our show proves that music is the strongest weapon in the world.

"Our achievement through songwriting is not something that can be measured via traditional political or religious means.

"We learned by being in ORPHANED LAND that people might have different flags, signs and symbols, but when music plays there is only one flag that captures their hearts. It is the flag of hope, courage, friendship and brotherhood; the flag of light. We are converting blood enemies to friends through the healing power of music."

Formed in Israel in 1991, ORPHANED LAND's unique style of Middle Eastern progressive metal has amassed a huge fan base worldwide. The band's signature sound features multilingual vocals (English, Hebrew, Arabic, Yemenite and more) along with standard instruments, as well as countless Oriental and traditional instruments such as saz, santur, Arabian flutes, bouzouki and cumbus. The result is an exotic, heavy and fascinating mix.

ORPHANED LAND's live shows feature flags from both Israel and Lebanon prominently displayed, with fans from all ethnic and religious backgrounds singing along in both Hebrew and Arabic. These same fans proudly bear ORPHANED LAND tattoos, although this potentially puts them at risk in their home countries.

ORPHANED LAND's most recent CD (the band's fourth), "The Neverending Way Of ORwarriOR", came out in early 2010.

"The Road To OR-Shalem" track listing:

DVD1:

01. Halo Dies
02. Birth Of The Three
03. Olat Hatamid
04. The Kiss Of Babylon
05. A Never Ending Way
06. Disciples Of The Sacred II
07. Bereft In The Abyss
08. The Storm Still Rages Inside
09. Sapari
10. From Broken Vessels
11. Ocean Land
12. M I?
13. New Jerusalem
14. Vayehi Or
15. The Warrior
16. Baraka
17. Codeword: uprising
18. El Meod Na'ala
19. In Thy Never Ending Way
20. The Beloveds Cry
21. Norra El Norra
22. Ornaments Of Gold

DVD 2:

01. Bakapaim (with Yehuda Poliker)
02. Halom Layam Hatihon (with Yehuda Poliker)
03. The Path Part 1 – Treading Through Darkness (drums & percussion solo)
04. Seasons Unite (from the album "Sahara")
05. Thee By The Father I Pray (from the album "El Norra Alila")

* Documentary - "Vayehi Or"
* Videos - "Sapari", "Norra El Norra", "Ocean Land"
* Slideshow/Band Photos

PRIMAL FEAR entered House Of Music studios in Winterbach, Germany on July 10 to begin recording its new album, "Unbreakable", for a January 20, 2012 release via Frontiers Records. The CD, which is being produced by Sinner and engineered by Achim Köhler (EDGUY, MASTERPLAN), will feature the following songtitles, among others: "Give 'Em Hell", "And There Was Silence", "Where Angels Die", "Born Again" and "Strike".

Commented the band: "At the moment we're tracking guitars and bass. Everything works out great.

"Be prepared for some original PRIMAL FEAR riffs and overall it sounds very, very promising."

In other news, PRIMAL FEAR has extended its 13-year partnership with Warner/Chappell Publishing for another three albums. The group states, "[It's] a good sign in these days that you can work with a company for over 13 years now and still be creative and friendly!"

PRIMAL FEAR recently asked fans to submit suggestions for the new CD title and received more than 500 responses.

Orange County, California-based rockers FAKE FIGURES have revealed the artwork, tracklisting and a new song, 'As We Drift', from their upcoming EP, Hail The Sycophants. The release was produced by TRAPT bassist Pete Charell and features guest/backing vocals on two tracks by Jeff Jaworski of RED TAPE/WILL HAVEN fame.

Perfect No One'
'Day Of Peril'
'Something Deadly'
'Caustic'
'As We Drift'
'Where The Slide Is Broken'
'Let Them Bleed'

As previously reported, during their live online chat on June 1st, KISS revealed that KISSology Vol. 4 will be out in the fall, and will include footage from their current tour. The tentative and unconfirmed contents is as follows:

Disc One (Total Run Time: 2 Hours, 30 Minutes)

Cobo Arena - Detroit, MI: 5/16/1975
Documentary

The Summit - Houston, TX: 8/13/1976
'Detroit Rock City'
'King Of The Night Time World'
'Let Me Go, Rock ’n Roll'
'Strutter'
'Hotter Than Hell'
'Shout It Out Loud'
'Cold Gin'
'Nothin’ To Lose'
'Do You Love Me?'
'God Of Thunder'
'Rock And Roll All Nite'
'Deuce'
'Firehouse'
'Black Diamond'

Cobo Arena - Detroit, MI:1/29/1977
'Detroit Rock City'
'Take Me'
'Let Me Go, Rock ’n Roll'
'Ladies Room'
'Makin’ Love'
'I Want You'
'Cold Gin'
'Nothin’ To Lose'
'God Of Thunder'
'Rock And Roll All Nite'
'Beth'
'Black Diamond'

Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert - 6/20/1979
'I Was Made For Lovin’ You'
'Sure Know Something'

Kids Are People Too - 9/21/1980
Excerpt

Disc Two (Total Run Time: 2 Hours, 25 Minutes)

10/30/1981 - Unreleased Promo Clip

American Forces Network - Madrid, Spain 11/27/1983
'Detroit Rock City'
'Firehouse'
'I Love It Loud'
'Lick It Up'

Cobo Arena - Detroit, MI 12/8/1984
'Detroit Rock City'
'Cold Gin'
'Creatures Of The Night'
'Fits Like A Glove'
'Heaven’s On Fire'
'Thrills In The Night'
'Under The Gun'
'War Machine'
'Young And Wasted'
'I Love It Loud'
'I Still Love You'
'Love Gun'
'Lick It Up'
'Black Diamond'
'Rock And Roll All Nite'

The Summit - Houston, Tx 12/7/1985
Asylum Tour Documentary

Crazy Nights Promo Clips 1987
'Crazy Crazy Nights'
'Reason To Live'
'Turn On The Night'

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve
Pleasure Island, Fl 12/31/1993
'Detroit Rock City'
'Rock And Roll All Nite'
'Makin’love'

Disc Three (Total Run Time: 2 Hours, 25 Minutes)

'Psycho Circus' Promo Clip 1998
'Psycho Circus' (3d)

Tokyodome - Tokyo, Japan 3/13/2001
'Detroit Rock City'
'Shout It Out Loud'
'Talk To Me'
'Heaven’s On Fire'
'Psycho Circus'
'Black Diamond'
'I Was Made For Lovin’ You'
Rock And Roll All Nite'

Winter Olympics - Salt Lake City, Ut 2/24/2002
Rock And Roll All Nite'

Palais Theatre - Melbourne, Australia 5/15/2004
Deuce'
C’mon And Love Me'
Makin’ Love'
Love Her All I Can'
All The Way'
War Machine'
Shandi'
Rock And Roll All Nite'

Mandalay Bay Events Center - Las Vegas, Nv 5/25/2006
'Detroit Rock City'
'Deuce'
'Love Gun'
'Makin' Love'

Fuji Speedway - Shizuoka, Japan 7/23/2006
'Detroit Rock City'
'King Of The Night Time World'
'Christine Sixteen'
'God Of Thunder'
'Do You Love Me?'
'Shout It Out Loud'
'Black Diamond'


Disc Four (Total Run Time: 2 Hours, 50 Minutes)

Sonic Boom Promo Clip 2009
'Modern Day Delilah'

Cobo Arena - Detroit, MI 9/25/2009
'Deuce'
'Strutter'
'Got To Choose'
'Hotter Than Hell'
'Nothin’ To Lose'
'C’mon & Love Me'
'Parasite'
'She'
'Watching You'
'100.000 Years'
'Cold Gin'
'Let Me Go, Rock ‘n Roll'
'Black Diamond'
'Rock And Roll All Nite'
'Shout It Out Loud'
'I Love It Loud'
'Love Gun'
'Detroit Rock City'

Wetten Das - Erfurt, Germany 2/27/2010
'Say Yeah'/'IWas Made For Lovin’ You Medley'

Rock Am Ring - Nurnburg, Germany 6/3/2010
'Modern Day Delilah'
'Crazy Crazy Nights'
'I’m An Animal'
'Beth'
'God Gave Rock And Roll To You II'

Moondance Jam - Walker, Mn 7/15/2011
'Modern Day Delilah'
'Deuce'
'Calling Dr. Love'
'Shock Me'
'God Of Thunder'
'Black Diamond'

The Wounded Warrior Project
Documentary

Exclusive Bonus discs:
Anaheim Stadium 1976 (65 Minutes)
Tokyo 1995 (50 Minutes)
Buenos Aires 1998 (80 Minutes)

HARMANIC haben die Tracklist zu ihrem kommenden Album "Chronicles of Devastation" präsentiert. Sie wird 12 Tracks (1 Intro + 11 Songs) umfassen, darunter großteils brandneue sowie auch einige ältere, unveröffentlichte Songs, die für die Scheibe einen neuen Anstrich erhalten haben:

01. Praeludium
02. As Night Devours Day
03. Carnivole
04. There Shall Be Light
05. Ex Machina
06. The Drive To Hail Disorder
07. Domination On Their Mind
08. Of Ember And Flame
09. Calm After The Storm
10. Matricide
11. Unseal Them Caskets
12. Chronicles Of Devastation

Texas traditional metallers CRUXITER have joined the Heaven And Hell Records roster for their debut album currently being recorded. The release is scheduled for later this year. After taking a break from Texas cult thrashers HAMMERWHORE vocalist /guitarist Joe Gonzalez began working on a new project called MOR-TO-LIFE where he began honing his skills as a vocalist to fit the more melodic nature of the music he was writing. After a few shows and members shifts Hammerwhore were basically reassembled as Mor-to-Life. Now with a new direction and sound a name change would be called for and Cruxiter were born.

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian taped an appearance last week in makeup for an episode of the upcoming second season of AMC's zombie apocalypse drama "The Walking Dead".

Writing on his official web site, Ian states about the experience, "My agent got the call asking if I wanted to come down and get made up to play a zombie in a webisode for AMC's 'The Walking Dead' directed by Greg Nicotero (effects GOD). I couldn't say yes to this fast enough.

"Like I said in my tweet, I've been wanting to do this my whole life. Zombies have always been my favorite genre of horror and to participate in something as killer as 'The Walking Dead' would just be amazing.

"Truly my Make-A-Wish moment!

"I got to the set and headed straight for the makeup trailer. I was told I was getting the full-on zombie 'hero' makeup. That means I get the sick head/neck wounds done with silicone appliques. Garrett Immel was doing my makeup, he's one of the top dudes doing this on the planet. He explained how there are the main 'hero' zombies, then the second-tier background zombies which are more just makeup and blood and then there are the third-tier background zombies with just makeup and if it's a night shoot, they wear masks that read well on camera. Makes sense, they couldn't spend 90 minutes each on 500 people every time there was a zombie crowd scene.

"Garrett told me he had my picture for a week so he already knew what he wanted to do to me. I told him to not hold back, make it as brutal as he wants.

"The whole process was pretty painless, even sitting for 90 minutes was cool because they were putting zombie makeup on me. I would've sat for five hours, I was so stoked."

Read more at Scott-Ian.com.

"The Walking Dead" is an epic, edge-of-your-seat drama where personal struggles are magnified against a backdrop of moment-to-moment survival. A survivalist story at its core, the series explores how the living are changed by the overwhelming realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous than the mindless walkers roaming the earth. They themselves have become the walking dead.

Jon Schaffer, founder and creative force behind American metal icons ICED EARTH, has released a statement regarding the recent decision by the band's record label, Century Media, to pull its repertoire from streaming music service Spotify in an attempt "to protect the interests of their artists."

"A lot of fans have contacted us regarding Century Media's decision to pull all of its bands from Spotify," Schaffer said. "I want our fans to know that we had nothing to do with that decision.

"We understand Century Media's position. The music industry has been deeply and irrevocably affected by illegal downloading on the Internet. I understand that all too well. In fact, all professional musicians today understand that. But Spotify is one of the most important developments in music I've seen in quite awhile. It allows fans to search for music from bands all over the world — sometimes rare, impossible-to-find, or out-of-print music. They hear it, decide they like it, and seek it out to buy it from a variety of sources — legal sources like iTunes, Amazon, or Amazon Marketplace.

"That's a good thing. Stealing music is not. But sampling it on Spotify — which is legal and highly regarded worldwide — is not stealing it.

"If it were up to me, I'd put ICED EARTH's music back on Spotify. But I also have to respect the wishes of Century Media, our record label. They're only trying to protect the best interests of their bands.

"So, I ask fans of ICED EARTH to be respectful as well. Maybe additional dialogue with Century Media will change their minds. In the meantime, let's all just agree to disagree on this one and wait to see what the future holds."

Blitzkrieg Metal Magazine conducted an interview with drummer Dani Löble of German power metallers HELLOWEEN at this year's edition of the Wacken Open Air festival, which was held August 4-6, 2011 in Wacken, Germany. You can now watch the chat below.

When asked if HELLOWEEN is planning to take a break now or go back to the studio to begin work on its next album, Dani said, "We're already talking about ideas for the next album, which is planned to release by the end of 2012. When this tour is finished, we're heading to the studio to write and record new material so that it's ready for [release] at the end of next year."

CEMETERY GARDEN - haben sich 2009 zusammengefunden, um, aus langjähriger Freundschaft und der Liebe zur Musik, der Welt zu zeigen, wie sie richtig geilen Metal mit all seinen Facetten interpretieren.

„The Spirit Of Rock“ wird hier ganz groß geschrieben! Das zeigt sich vor allem an der Bühnenperformance, welche einfach zum Headbangen, Grooven und Moshen auffordert. 2011 durften sie dies schon als Publikumsfavorit beim MetalChamp Österreich unter Beweis stellen.

Ab 1. Oktober 2011 gibt es dann das erste Full-Length Album "Personal Integrity", welches in der Schmiede der Hinterhof Studios aufgenommen wurde und via Terrasound veröffentlicht wird.

“Personal Integrity” Trackliste:

1.Right To Fight
2.Hypocrisy
3.Devoured By Hate
4.The Dragons Skin (Is Impenetrable)
5.Story Of Kaeso
6.Oblivious
7.Out For A Walk
8.Mask Of Hate
9.The Killing River
10.Integrity

"Jerusalem", the new album from Swedish melodic metallers ASTRAL DOORS, will be released in October. The CD, which will be made available as a jewelcase, digipack and on vinyl, was mixed by Daniel Bergstrand, who has previously worked with BEHEMOTH, MESHUGGAH, DIMMU BORGIR, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and SOILWORK, among others. The cover art was designed by Mattias Eriksson and can be seen below.

Commented the band: "Daniel Bergstrand and Rickard Sporrong made an incredible mix and we just can't wait to share this album with the world."

"Jerusalem" track listing:

01. Seventh Crusade
02. With A Stranger's Eye
03. Child Of Rock 'N' roll
04. Pearl Harbor
05. Lost Crucifix
06. Babylon Rise
07. Suicide Rime
08. The Battle Of Jacob's Ford
09. Operation Freedom
10. The Day After Yesterday
11. Jerusalem

Favored Nations Entertainment is proud to announce the September 27 CD release of "Acoustic Gypsy Live" by L.A. GUNS (Tracii Guns, guitar; Danny Nordahl, bass; Chad Steward, drums; Jizzy Pearl, vocals, Teddy "Zig Zag" Andreadis, keyboards, Muddy Stardust; guitar and back-up vocals; Doni Gray, percussion). Produced, mixed and mastered by Grammy winner Neil Citron, this is the first acoustic album by the acclaimed Los Angeles band in their 29-year history, recorded at The Hotel Café in Hollywood. L.A. GUNS will embark on a national tour in September to support the CD.

The band who lit up Hollywood like a surprise M-80 in a garbage can with their raw radical rowdy ways earned themselves legendary status on the Sunset Strip. When Jason Kramer and Jason Rothberg suggested they do an acoustic record, Tracii was "terrified, as I hadn't played live acoustically for more than an hour since my Bancroft Junior High School guitar ensemble when I was 13 years old. I gathered up the guys I trust the most musically to help make this as great as possible. After listening back to this performance, I am not so scared to perform acoustically anymore."

What makes "Acoustic Gypsy Live" so startling is its nuanced attention-to-detail – a musical awareness that L.A. GUNS, who never diluted the manic hysteria of their songs one iota in their previous records, relishes in on "Acoustic Gypsy Live". With a gorgeous lead guitar solo by Tracii, the CD's opener, "Crystal Eyes", hits a bulls-eye with its beauty and clarity-of-vision. Stark, dramatic, simplistically pristine, the inherent harmonic structure of the song itself reaches that part of the soul where honesty is a given, not a constructed artifice. The song cruises to completion to set the scene for the kind of album that no one — including the band itself — even knew was in them. Vocalist Jizzy still works up the growl, as evidenced on "One Way Ticket".

Tracii started L.A. GUNS while still in high school in 1982. The original singer, Michael Jagosz, was replaced by Axl Rose. Signed to PolyGram in '87, their self-titled debut, with Phil Lewis replacing Rose, sold over a million copies, as did "Cocked and Loaded" (1989) and "Hollywood Vampires" (1991).

With 14 tracks — including not only their hits, but covers of BOUDLEAUX BRYANT's "Love Hurts" and OTIS REDDING's "These Arms Of Mine" — "Acoustic Gypsy Live" proves these longtime latenight denizens of the Sunset Strip need no electricity to kick ass.

"Acoustic Gypsy Live" track listing:

01. Crystal Eyes
02. One Way Ticket
03. Decide
04. Dreamtime
05. Electric Gypsy
06. It's Over Now
07. Never Enough
08. Over The Edge
09. Little Soldier
10. Sex Action
11. These Arms Of Mine
12. Love Hurts
13. The Ballad Of Jayne
14. Rip And Tear

Revolver magazine conducted an interview with METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX for a special issue devoted to the "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal.

Dave Mustaine, who was one of the original members of METALLICA, was fired from the band by drummer Lars Ulrich in 1983. He was replaced by Kirk Hammett and went on to form MEGADETH and achieve worldwide success on his own.

When asked to name his favorite METALLICA song, Mustaine said, "I had to do a lot of coming to terms with myself in order to listen to METALLICA. Before, whenever I heard them, it triggered me in my mind to get up on my soapbox and spit out complaints of what had happened to me. And then once I finally realized, 'Dave, you're lucky, you're blessed, you're in a great band, you're in another great band.' I finally just said, 'You're missing it.'

"And I remember hearing this song when I was talking to Lars once and telling him this is my favorite song off the 'Black Record.' And he goes, 'Really? Fuck, man.' It was 'The Unforgiven'. I liked it because I thought this was really the first time I've ever really heard James [Hetfield] sing. He had sung before, and he was a great singer. But that was the first time I ever heard him really, really sing."

Guitarist Craig Locicero of reactivated San Francisco Bay Area metallers FORBIDDEN has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"This is the most painful update I have ever had to write...

"Due to family obligations on the part of our longtime drummer Mark Hernandez, FORBIDDEN is forced to cancel its tour of Europe and will start to search for an adequate permanent replacement right away. Compounding things is the fact that Mark and I also play in DEMONICA, who were to open the tour.

"Unfortunately, at this late date, there is no time nor budget to find a replacement who can handle both bands and our only option right now is to cancel the entire tour.

"FORBIDDEN would like to apologize to all of the different promoters, Continental Concerts, the bands COMMUNIC and DEMONICA, our label, Nuclear Blast, and most importantly, our fans who have been waiting for us to finally make it overseas for our first proper European tour in support of 'Omega Wave'. You all deserve better. This is a collective kick to every ones stomach and it is very difficult for us to swallow.

"If there were any way to find one drummer to do both jobs and learn over 22 songs of material in only a couple of days, we would do it. But there is no way to teach somebody all of that material from the ground up and give the fans our very best. Our first choice was longtime brother Gene Hoglan, and since Gene is very familiar with our current set list, this makes the most sense. However, he only has a very small window to work with and no time to commit to an entire tour. But he did agree to fly out to Belgium with us so that FORBIDDEN can play the Alcatraz Festival on August 27th! That works out to be the only days that work within Gene's busy schedule and it also allows us to get in front of as many fans as possible for one show.

"In no way does this make up for all of the other gigs we will miss. They MUST be rescheduled for the future! Unfortunately, that future will have to be without Mark Hernandez. He has played for the last time with FORBIDDEN and we will be looking for the right replacement as soon as the dust settles. Obviously, it takes a great player to play drums in FORBIDDEN. We will only accept the best!

"We all love Mark and hope he finds peace and serenity in his future with his family. In the meantime, we will continue and take the momentum we have gained from 'Omega Wave' and use it as fuel for the next record and beyond!

"Looking forward, not back..."

FORBIDDEN's "Omega Wave" video can be seen below. The clip was created by SchneppZone video director Jon Schnepp of "Metalocalypse" fame.

SOL INVICTO, the side project of DEFTONES guitarist Stephen Carpenter and Richie Londres from the C.L.P. (CULTURA LONDRES PROYECTO) on production/guitar, has made its debut EP, "Initium", available for free download at this location. The project is described in a press release as "twisted cinematic drum 'n' bass mixed with the tones of Stephen Carpenter and tribal percussion of CYPRESS HILL's Eric Bobo.

"Initium" features guest drummer Zach Hill (HELLA, TEAM SLEEP) who originally joined the project for the recording back in 2008.

SOL INVICTO plans to release a further two EPs over the next couple of months.

Commented Londres: "'Initium' is our way of introducing the SOL INVICTO project as we build towards the debut album. We wanted to make it available for fans for free; they have been very patient, it felt like the right thing to do.

"We have two EPs in the production stage which will feature Dan Foord
(SIKTH) and the plan is to get these out by the end of September. We are not tied in to any labels right now. It's great that we can just make and release music instantly without anything holding us back."

Norwegian black/death metallers FESTER have completed work on their first studio album in 17 years, "A Celebration Of Death", for a late 2011/early 2012 release via Abyss Records.

Original member Bjørn "Tiger" Mathisen has recruited Thomas Andresen (ALGOL) on vocals, Jon Bakker (KAMPFAR) on bass, and jazz musician Audun Kleive on session drums. Mortiis has made a hellish and dark remix of one of the songs and there are contributions from Mr. Kyrck and Guido of YSENGRIN. The art was created by the infamous Alex Brown of Bad News Brown.

On the selection of Kleive for session drumming, Mathisen had this to say: "He is famous for his ability to become one with the music he plays, and does so in such an unorthodox and dark way. He has never done metal. He listened to the tunes once before he agreed to session them and ended up doing most of the parts in one take. Using only a single bass drum he has helped us create the sinister and lonely mood that we wanted."

As for what to expect musically on "A Celebration of Death", Mathisen is unequivocal about staying the course. "FESTER has kept their old-school feel, and maybe even taking it back to the Stone Age," he said. "No effect boxes are used on the guitars; just the basic and sick sounds of old guitars, amps and racks from the late '60s and early '70s, produced in the most dark and wicked way you can imagine. The influence of old-school metal acts like CELTIC FROST, BATHORY, etc., can be heard on this release, too. FESTER has kept its identity from the past. This is surely an atypical metal sound, but cold as ice and mean as hell!"

Pioneers in the seamless blending of black and death metal in the early '90s and well known for their obscure, melancholic and dark way of making music, FESTER are now back with their darkest, harshest and most mournful album to date. Having laid the groundwork with Abyss reissues of 1992's "Winter Of Sin" and 1993's "Silence", FESTER is now poised to commence this new era of darkness.

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has released the following statement regarding the reports of a reunion of the band's original lineup:

"I'm saddened that a Birmingham journalist whom I trusted has chosen this point in time to take a conversation we had back in June and make it sound like we spoke yesterday about a BLACK SABBATH reunion.

"At the time I was supporting the Home Of Metal exhibition was merely speculating shooting the breeze on something all of us get asked constantly, 'Are you getting back together?'

"Thanks to the Internet it's now gone round the world as some sort of 'official' statement on my part; absolute nonsense. I hope he's enjoyed his moment of glory, he won't have another at my expense.

"To my old pals, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, sorry about this, I should have known better."

The original SABBATH lineup has not toured together since summer 2005, and last convened for their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in early 2006.

SABBATH did try to record a new album 12 years ago, their first since 1978, but abandoned the attempt after just a couple of songs.

According to TMZ.com, the promoters of the Michael Jackson tribute concert have dropped KISS from the event's billing because of negative comments KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons made about Jackson in interviews the days and weeks after his death two years ago. Simmons spoke about his suspicions that Jackson, who was acquitted of child molestation in 2005, was a pedophile.

The promoters tell TMZ.com, "We have listened to Michael's fans and are grateful to have been alerted to these unfortunate statements by Gene Simmons. Under the circumstances we fully agree that even though KISS is a band Michael admired we have no choice but to rescind our invitation to them to appear in our tribute concert."

In a 2010 issue of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine, Gene Simmons told journalist Geoff Barton he believed Jackson was a child molester despite the fact that the singer was acquitted of child-molestation charges in 2005.

"I knew Michael," Simmons was quoted as saying. "I ran into him a few times. I met him the first time before he became the superstar, when he was sort of teenagey, when he was still a JACKSON FIVE. This was in the Cher days, when Cher and I lived together.

"But as time moved on, and no matter what my fond memories and fond images of Michael were, with one allegation of pedophilia after another and another and another…Oh dear."

Simmons went on to say that he knew some of the musicians Jackson toured with, and cited one who quit after seeing "boys coming out of the hotel rooms...Well, you know, where there's smoke there's fire. There's no question in my mind he molested those kids. Not a doubt."

Simmons also said, "There's never been a single female of any age that I've ever known about who has ever made a claim that she has had a physical relationship with Michael, ever.

"The only sexual references ever made about Michael Jackson that were made by anyone, anywhere around the world, have always been made by kids, and specifically males usually 10 to 14 years of age; never females, that age or older, and never grown men."