Multi-national thrashers NIGHTRAGE will release their fifth album, "Insidious", 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 replaced by Jimmie Strimell, who sang on 2007's "A New Disease Is Born".

The "Insidious" cover art was created by Gustavo Sazes (MORBID ANGEL, ARCH ENEMY, FIREWIND, SONIC SYNDICATE, GOD FORBID) of Abstrata Art and cane be seen below.

Greek/German heavy metallers MYSTIC PROPHECY will release their seventh album, "Raven Lord", on November 25 via Massacre Records. The CD is being recorded at Prophecy Music Factory studios with singer/producer Roberto Dimitri Liapakis (MYSTIC PROPHECY, SUICIDAL ANGELS, VALLEY'S EVE, INSIDEAD) and will be mixed by Fredrik Nordström (DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY, IN FLAMES). The effort will mark the recording debut of the band's new drummer, Claudio Sisto, who joined MYSTIC PROPHECY in June 2010. The artwork will be created by Jonas Kawalek, who previously with the group on their fifth album, "Satanic Curses".

Songtitles set to appear on "Raven Lord":

* Raven Lord
* Cross Of Lies
* Endless Fire
* Damned Tonight
* Reckoning Day
* Die Now!!!
* Wings Of Destiny
* Eyes Of The Devil
* Miracle Man (OZZY OSBOURNE cover)

DARK TRANQUILLITY's guitarist Niklas Sundin was always responsible for the band's visual appearance, whether it's cover artwork and merch designs, and for the last couple of years also the live video projections. Under the name of his own design studio, Cabin Fever, he also created artwork for bands like ARCH ENEMY, TURISAS and many more.

The video for the epic masterpiece, 'Iridium', from Dark Tranquillity's latest album, We Are The Void, debuts his first official film work and is based on the live video projections from the current live show.

Mikael Stanne (vocals) about the song: "I remember back in 1996 when Niklas first showed me the rough ideas of something he had recorded on his newly bought portable studio. I instantly loved it but felt at the time that it would be hard for it to fit in on an album. He called it 'Iridium' and I remember sitting in my room trying endlessly to come up with lyrics and vocal melodies for it. After a while it fell into oblivion until 2000 when Martin Brändström joined the band. He and Niklas started working on it again but even then it felt a bit out of place for the album we were working on. So come 2009 and we finally feel ready for this strange piece of music. We once again worked on it for a long time and the end result is something we are very satisfied with. So it only feels natural for Niklas to create his first proper video for this song. I think you find that it accompanies the strangeness of the song and showcases the genius and insanity of the one we call Niklas Sundin. Enjoy!"

SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor thought the hugely popular SLIPKNOT and Justin Bieber mash-up "Psychosocial Baby" was "fucking amazing" and finds it amusing that so many of the band's fans were pissed off at the clip's existence.

During an April 2011 interview with Go Fish Radio (see video below), Taylor was asked if he has seen the mash-up — which has had more than 6.5 million views on YouTube so far — and what he thought of it. "That is fucking hilarious, dude," Corey replied. "I was sitting in my kitchen and my manager sent it to me. And me, my wife and a bunch of friends, we just clicked on it and we were like, 'What the fuck am I seeing?' It was genius. To me, it almost had that kind of 'shreds' feel to it — those 'shreds' videos, which I love."

He continued, "I love it when anybody takes the piss out of me, because if you take yourself too seriously, that's when you get knocked down a few notches.

"I thought it was great. I was just like, 'This is fucking beautiful.' And the way it was put together… I mean, it was so pulled apart and put back together. [Laughs] I was like, 'This is awesome!' And so many kids were pissed off about it that it makes me laugh. I'm like, 'This is fucking amazing!'

"You either get it or you don't. And that's that thing, there's that line. So many people take it way too seriously. It's just like, 'God, wear a helmet. Figure it out.'"

During the same interview, Taylor revealed that found Bieber's music to be less offensive than that of many of the manufactured pop stars that are out there.

"The thing that really bothers me about so many people who talk shit about Justin Bieber — and I'm not saying I'm a fan — but the kid's got talent," Taylor said. "He's got more talent than a lot of the bands that are signed out there. And you may hear the Auto-Tuning in his voice, but he doesn't need it. He can dance, he can play, he can sing… Whatever… I don't care. My son and my niece may love him to death, but at the end of the day, it's like, who am I to question their taste? Now, if you wanna talk about Rebecca Black. If I hear that song ['Friday'] again, I will probably beat the shit out of a nun, I'm telling you right now. That song's so bad. I mean, it's insultingly bad. And the lyrics are something out of 'Sesame Street'… ''C' is for cooking, back seat, front seat…' Are you kidding me? Get the fuck out of my face with that shit!"

"Psychosocial Baby":

Vocalist/guitarist Richie Kotzen (formerly of POISON and MR. BIG) has contributed a guest guitar solo to the track "Too Many Times" on the forthcoming album from Italian thrashers ENEMYNSIDE, titled "Whatever Comes". The song is now available as a digital download through iTunes, Spotify and other online outlets.

"Whatever Comes" was recorded at Temple Of Noise studios and is tentatively due before the end of the year.

Commented ENEMYNSIDE vocalist/guitarist Francesco "Frallo" Cremisini: "I'm very proud to have such a great musician playing a solo on the band's new album. He's one of the most talented guitar players around and a really nice person."

Added ENEMYNSIDE guitarist Matteo Bellezza: "The song he plays the solo on had this kind of instrumental part in the middle which sounded quite unusual for us because the first half is just with bass and drums and the second half with rythm guitars too. We needed something different from the other solos on the album, something really distintive, a solo which could play the lead role once the song gets there. Thanks to Richie now we got it!"

ENEMYNSIDE's second album, "In The Middle Of Nowhere", was released in 2008 through Hatestone Records.

Bay Area's devastating duo BLACK COBRA has completed work on its fourth full-length album, "Invernal", for a fall release via Southern Lord Recordings. The follow-up to 2009's "Chronomega" was helmed over a week-and-a-half period by CONVERGE guitarist Kurt Ballou and his GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts and is described in a press release as "BLACK COBRA's most honed and diversified material to date."

While BLACK COBRA's full-on tour cycle for "Invernal" has not yet began, as it undoubtedly will very shortly, the band have in the meantime been confirmed for several shows over the coming weeks, including an appearance at the Power Of The Riff festival in Los Angeles on August 18 alongside EYEHATEGOD, PENTAGRAM, WINTER, PELICAN and more, a direct support spot for HIGH ON FIRE in Oakland on August 27, an appearance at MusicFest Northwest festival in Portland and more. A rigorous amount of touring will continually be announced through the rest of 2011.

Formed by drummer Rafa Martinez (ex-16, ACID KING) and guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian (ex-CAVITY), BLACK COBRA catapulted themselves onto the scene in 2001 with their ravenous, upbeat and ultimately unique style of punk/hardcore-fueled sludge metal. They were picked up almost immediately by indie At A Loss Recordings, becoming the band's label home for the release of their debut full-length, "Bestial", and follow-up album, "Feather And Stone". By 2009, with the band then virtually a household name to the tens of thousands of fans who've seen their flooring live performances over the years, BLACK COBRA signed with juggernaut Southern Lord Recordings for the release of "Chronomega", the band's most diverse material to date.

Long Island hardcore metal quartet THIS IS HELL has entered Killingsworth Studio in Valley Village, California with producer Tomas Costanza to begin recording its fourth studio album for an October release via Rise Records.

"We can't wait to start tracking the new album. I can't remember ever being this excited to get in the studio," said THIS IS HELL vocalist Travis Reilly. "We've been playing a few new songs live. They feel great and people seem to enjoy them."

After completing work on the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2010's "Weight Of The World", THIS IS HELL will hit the road for a North American tour with UNDEROATH, COMEBACK KID and THE CHARIOT. The 28-city trek will kick off on September 15 in Fayetteville, Arkansas before circling the continent and concluding in St. Petersburg, Florida in mid-October.

"We're very excited for our upcoming tour with UNDEROATH, COMEBACK KID, and THE CHARIOT," stated Reilly. "We've toured many times with COMEBACK KID and we look forward to spending more time with them and meeting the other guys. It's going to be great to play some new songs for a bunch of new faces."

os Angeles traditional heavy metal act WHITE WIZZARD will release its new album, "Flying Tigers", on September 19 via Earache Records. The CD features twelve new tracks and expands on the band's traditional heavy metal blueprint, with songs ranging from fist-pumping NWOBHM-style anthems, through the arena rock power of "Starchild", to a six-track epic concept piece featuring science-fiction and philosophical elements tied together with a progressive vibe.

"Flying Tigers" features the core WHITE WIZZARD lineup of bassist, songwriter and founding member Jon Leon, drummer Giovanni Durst and studio vocalist Wyatt Anderson, who featured on the band's debut album, "Over The Top". The album was once again recorded with producer Ralph Patlan in Phoenix, Arizona.

"Flying Tigers" track listing:

01. Fight To The Death
02. West L.A. Nights
03. Starchild
04. Flying Tigers
05. Night Train to Tokyo
06. Night Stalker
07. Fall of Atlantis
08. Blood on the Pyramids
09. Demons and Diamonds
10. Dark Alien Overture
11. War of the Worlds
12. Starman's Son

HATRIOT — the new thrash metal project led by veteran San Francisco Bay Area vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza (TENET, DUBLIN DEATH PATROL, EXODUS, LEGACY) — made its live debut this past Saturday, July 16 at the Bay Area Metal Festival at the Avalon in Santa Clara, California. Playing second guitar for the band at the concert was Glen Alvelais (FORBIDDEN, TESTAMENT) following the recent departure of Kosta Varvatakis.

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

Varvatakis left HATRIOT in early June after he "realized that trying to make a life out of playing heavy metal just wasn't for [him]." He added on his Facebook page, "I was starting to lose all the passion that I had for music. I wasn't happy. I was starting to not get along with other members and I simply wasn't having fun anymore."

HATRIOT recently made its entire four-song demo available for free download at Megaupload.

BONES, the new band featuring bassist and vocalist Jon "Necromancer" Woodring (who briefly played in NACHTMYSTIUM a few years back), guitarist "Carcass" Chris Svoboda (who used to have a solo project called ETERNAL HATRED), and drummer Joe "Warlord" Schaeffer, has just released its self-titled debut album on Planet Metal.

Full of filthy hooks and backed up by a distinctive and unrelenting production, the CD was made entirely in Chicago with the help of engineer Sanford Parker and artists Matt "Putrid" and Christina Casperson.

According to a press release, BONES features "three of Chicago's most ferocious filth-hounds return[ing] to ruin what's left of their lives... and yours! BONES plays hellish metal in the local tradition of MASTER, DEVASTATION and FUNERAL NATION."

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. March Of The Dead
02. Bloodlust
03. Bitch
04. Apocalyptic Warrior (DEVASTATION cover)
05. Good Die Young
06. Slowburn
07. Lovely Death
08. 666
09. Delirium Tremens

IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson received an honorary doctorate in music from Queen Mary university in London, England on Tuesday, July 19. He was presented by Professor David Baker of the Centre For Neuroscience And Trauma in honor of Dr. Dickinson's contribution to the music industry.

Multi-talented Dr. Dickinson is not only a musician and song-writer, author, film script writer and TV broadcaster, also a champion fencer, entrepreneur and commercial airline pilot. In 2006, Dr. Dickinson flew 200 U.K. citizens home from Lebanon during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in his converted Boeing 757.

Queen Mary is one of the U.K.'s leading research-focused universities, offering a broad range of degrees in humanities and social sciences; medicine and dentistry and science and engineering, with over 14,000 undergra

"Worship Music", the long-awaited new album from ANTHRAX, is due in the U.S. on September 13 via Megaforce Records (one day earlier in Europe through Nuclear Blast Records). The band's first studio release in eight years marks the return of vocalist Joey Belladonna, whose last studio work with the group was 1990's "Persistence Of Time".

According to Amazon.com, "Worship Music" will feature the following track listing:

01. Worship (intro)
02. Earth On Hell
03. The Devil You Know
04. Fight 'Em Til You Can't
05. I’m Alive
06. Hymn 1
07. In The End
08. The Giant
09. Hymn 2
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant
13. Revolution Screams

A previously unreleased song, "Dawn Of The Horrible Gorilla!", which was recorded on tour in 1992 by then-WHITE ZOMBIE bassist Sean Yseult and PANTERA members "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (guitar) and Philip Anselmo (vocals) has been uploaded to Yseult's SoundCloud page.

A description of the song reads as follows: "Dimebag Darrell, Sean Yseult and Philip Anselmo created this absurdity at 6 a.m. after a long night of drinking on a PANTERA/WHITE ZOMBIE tour in '92. Recorded on Darrell's four-track in his hotel room, the song was made up on the spot with Darrell on guitar (and drum machine) Sean on bass, and Phil singing. This comes from a cassette from Sean Yseult's archives, never heard before!"

in suburban Boston on July 5 with producer Jack Douglas to begin recording its long-awaited 14th studio album. The CD will be AEROSMITH's first set of original material since 2001's "Just Push Play" and first studio offering since 2004's covers CD, "Honkin' On Bobo".

A short video clip of Perry and Douglas at The Boneyard can be seen below.

In a videotaped message that was released via AEROSMITH's official web site, bassist Tom Hamilton stated about re-teaming with Douglas, "For those of you who don't know who Jack is, he's the guy who we worked with, producing our best albums of the '70s — 'Get Your Wings', 'Toys In The Attic' and 'Rocks'. And it's really gonna be cool, because there's no one that knows more about the soul of this band and the creative part of this band [than] Jack. We worked with him on [2004's covers CD] 'Honkin' On Bobo', but that wasn't all original material — most of that was not original material. This time it's gonna be all-new AEROSMITH songs."

He continued, "When people say, 'What was it like to work with Jack back then?' all I can say is we just laughed the whole time; there was always laughter going on, and fun, but at the same time really digging deep to get performances that were even better than we thought we could do."

The plan to resume work on a new disc follows the completion of singer Steven Tyler's first season as a judge on "American Idol". The band, minus Perry, did get together for a week earlier this year in Los Angeles to work on new material.

AEROSMITH and Tyler almost went their separate ways in late 2009, but reunited and toured last year. However, Tyler then stunned his bandmates by taking the "Idol" job, which pushed back work on the already-delayed new record.

Official Metallica.com footage of METALLICA's pre-show meet-and-greet, tuning-room jam and performance at the July 8 "Big Four" concert at the U.K. installment of the Sonisphere festival at Knebworth House can be viewed below.

The highly anticipated onstage performance of the "Big Four" bands at the same time happened near the end of METALLICA's set, between "Enter Sandman" and "Battery". Members of ANTHRAX, SLAYER and MEGADETH joined METALLICA on stage for a cover of DIAMOND HEAD's "Am I Evil?" before METALLICA ended the night with "Creeping Death". Also taking part in the jam were members of the legendary NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) band DIAMOND HEAD, who played on the same stage earlier in the night.

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield asked the audience, "Is there another band playing or something? What's all this extra gear? It's 'The Big Four Band', does that sound like a good idea? Celebrating 30 years of METALLICA, we invite SLAYER, ANTHRAX, MEGADETH and hopefully someone from DIAMOND HEAD to put the cherry on top."

"You see that guy, if it wasn't for Brian Tatler, there's a pretty good chance none of us would be here tonight," METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich added while pointing at the DIAMOND HEAD guitarist, before the musicians launched into a version of "Am I Evil?"

METALLICA's setlist was as follows:

01. Hit the Lights
02. Master of Puppets
03. The Shortest Straw
04. Seek & Destroy
05. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
06. Ride the Lightning
07. The Memory Remains
08. All Nightmare Long
09. Sad But True
10. The Call of Ktulu
11. One
12. For Whom the Bell Tolls
13. Blackened
14. Fade to Black
15. Enter Sandman

Encore:

16. Am I Evil? (with DIAMOND HEAD, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX)
17. Battery
18. Creeping Death

QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate was interviewed for the summer 2011 issue of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Classic Rock: You've called ["Dedicated To Chaos"] a "headphones record."

Geoff: That's the way people listen to music now. People today are plugged in switching between their iPod and phone, back and forth, listening to music all day long. No, I don't miss the days of guys siting around listening to vinyl. I don't miss the past much. I love the age we live in. Every day there's something new to wrap your head around. I want to keep embracing new ideas, technology, work of art, literature, films. If you stop doing that, your brain gets lazy.

Classic Rock: Songs like "Wot We Do" sound like hip-hop. Can rock fans handle that?

Geoff: Well, I think they should. Rock is pretty much dead. If you look at the numbers, it's definitely not the music of the times anymore. If it's gonna keep moving, bands need to embrace new ideas. There's a lot of elements to rock that, mentally speaking, are kinda boneheaded. Like the whole "chunk-chunk-chunk" guitar progression — the stuff you play when you're learning the damn thing. You would hope bands would get beyond that.

Classic Rock: Wikipedia describes QUEENSRŸCHE as "progressive metal." So you agree?

Geoff: Absolutely not. I never want to be in anybody's genre. I don't want anybody to ever tell me what I belong to, where I should go, what I'm part of. That's not anybody's business but my own. Brackets are so over. Honestly, these days, with record companies pretty much gone, all the rules are changing. There's not gonna be any need for genres or categorization, it's all gonna be alphabetical order. The beauty of the Internet is that we can all invent ourselves any way we wish.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan has unveiled the first song from his other band PUSCIFER's second album. The track, called "Man Overboard", premiered at Spin.com and arrived at radio stations this week, while the album, titled "Conditions Of My Parole", emerges on October 18. Spin described the song as "a shadowy industrial boil," while Keenan said, "Musically, it's like 'Twin Peaks' in the desert."

The group made the album in a recording studio that Keenan set up in his wine cellar in northern Arizona, where he lives and operates his own vineyards.

As for the status of the next TOOL album — which Keenan gets asked about in every interview — the singer gave The Pulse Of Radio an update and warned fans not to believe everything they read. "We're just always writing and it's just progressing as it progresses," he said. "We normally don't say anything about anything until it's actually happening, because there's a lot of people online that apparently can't read very well. I put an April Fool's notice up there for the album release, and it was this year, 2011, I said, 'New TOOL album, such-and-such a date, 2009, and everybody ran around like, 'Oh, really, the new TOOL --?' God, you guys are dumb. I swear to God. You've got to read. Please, read."

TOOL has not issued a new album since 2006's "10,000 Days".

Keenan is currently on the road with his "other" other band, A PERFECT CIRCLE, for their first full-length tour in seven years. The band stops on Tuesday night (July 19) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

PUSCIFER will go out on a two-month tour after the new record is released, featuring the same kind of "variety show" approach the act took on its 2009 run.

"A Dramatic Turn Of Events", the much-anticipated album from progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER, which marks new drummer Mike Mangini's recorded debut, will be released on September 13 via Roadrunner Records.

The "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" deluxe collector's edition exclusive pre-order box set includes the following:

* "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" album
* Instrumentals of the entire album
* DVD of "The Spirit Carries On" – a 60-minute movie documenting DREAM THEATER's drummer auditions
* Double-LP set of "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" (180-gram vinyl in gatefold jacket)
* DREAM THEATER branded custom turntable slipmat
* Litho Print of album cover
* 50 lucky winners will find a DREAM THEATER "Ticket For Life" (randomly inserted)
* All content housed in a custom box
* Receive a digital download of the album the day before release

CD1

01. On The Backs Of Angels
02. Build Me Up, Break Me Down
03. Lost Not Forgotten
04. This Is The Life
05. Bridges In The Sky
06. Outcry
07. Far From Heaven
08. Breaking All Illusions
09. Beneath The Surface

CD 2

01. On The Backs Of Angels (instrumental)
02. Build Me Up, Break Me Down (instrumental)
03. Lost Not Forgotten (instrumental)
04. This Is The Life (instrumental)
05. Bridges In The Sky (instrumental)
06. Outcry (instrumental)
07. Far From Heaven (instrumental)
08. Breaking All Illusions (instrumental)
09. Beneath The Surface (instrumental)

The Pulse Of Radio reports that officials in Aberdeen, Washington, the childhood home of NIRVANA frontman Kurt Cobain, are discussing the possibility of naming a bridge and small public park after the late singer and guitarist. According to the Washington Post, the Aberdeen City Council is offering residents of the town the chance to comment on the proposal at its next meeting, scheduled for July 27, before a decision is made. If the plans go forward, the Young Street Bridge over the Wishkah River will bear Cobain's name, while a small park nearby will be renamed Cobain Landing.

Some residents of the town have already come out in opposition to the measure because of Cobain's association with drugs and suicide.

The musician took his own life on April 6, 1994, dying of a self-inflicted gun wound.

The bridge that would be named in his honor is allegedly the one under which Cobain lived for a while in his younger days, an experience he wrote about in the song "Something In The Way".

NIRVANA's landmark 1991 album, "Nevermind", will be reissued in a deluxe edition this fall to commemorate its 20th anniversary.

Norwegian black metallers DEN SAAKALDTE have inked a deal with Agonia Records.

The band, which earlier in the year parted ways with vocalist Niklas Kvarforth (SHINING) and replaced him with Øyvind Hægeland (SPIRAL ARCHITECT, ARCTURUS, SCARIOT), has released the following statement regarding its new label home:

"Many dramatic changes occurred during the last year in DEN SAAKALDTE's reality.

"When Niklas decided no longer to continue with the band, many things passed from our minds… even just dropping the whole damn thing off.

"After the band discussing and coming to the conclusion that all the members wanted DEN SAAKALDTE to continue being active as a way of artistic expression but also as in a lifestyle attitude for us, we decided that certain things had to be put down and start all over again.

"Agonia Records that has been following our ways and sharing our ideas on how things should be, gave us the opportunity to build the foundations for 'Kapittel II:Faen I Helvete' on solid ground. Filip [Jesion, Agonia head honcho] showed to us with quite devotion, the how much he wanted the band in Agonia Records' roster.

"We are looking forward to start with the recordings and we are even more excited to hear soundscapes, having now Mr. Hægeland as frontman.

"The future looks dark... and quite pissed off."