THE PROJECT HATE MCMXCIX — the Swedish band featuring Jörgen Sandström (vocals; VICIOUS ART, KRUX, ex-ENTOMBED, GRAVE), Lord K. Philipson (guitar; TORTURE DIVISION, ex-GOD AMONG INSECTS, HOUSE OF USHER, LEUKEMIA), Anders Bertilsson (guitar; COLDWORKER), Tobben Gustafsson (drums; TORTURE DIVISION, VOMITORY) and Portuguese vocalist Ms. Roque (a.k.a. Ruby Roque of WITCHBREED) — has commenced the songwriting sessions for its next album. Philipson states, "To beat [2011's] 'Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis)' will be a monumental task, one we will, of course, accomplish.

"I am currently working on a huge bunch of things music wise and at the moment there's tons of stuff, song sketches and ideas to continue to work with, with one of these ideas already clocking in at over six minutes — meaning it looks like this one will be the first one completed for the next recording.

"We really do not have any schedules as for when to record this and it will take the time it takes to make it all answer to the standards I have for THE PROJECT HATE MCMXCIX. We haven't even discussed with Season Of Mist if they will release the next album or not; it will all show eventually. What we do know, though, is that we are determined to create another insane monster of apocalyptic visions, brutality and beauty."

"Man In The Middle", the new video from BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, the Anglo-American rock supergroup featuring the talents of bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, TRAPEZE, BLACK SABBATH), blues rock guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER), can be viewed below. The track comes off the band's second album, simply entitled "2", which will be released in Europe on June 13 via Mascot Records and in the U.S. on June 14 through the J&R Adventures label.

"2" track listing:

01. The Outsider
02. Man In The Middle
03. I Can See Your Spirit
04. The Battle For Hadrian's Wall
05. Save Me
06. Cold
07. Smokestack Woman
08. Faithless
09. An Ordinary Son
10. Little Secret
11. Crossfire
12. Crawl

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Wednesday, June 8 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625).

KORN singer Jonathan Davis and SUFFOCATION frontman Frank Mullen will make guest appearances on "The Black Crown", the new album from California deathcore masters SUICIDE SILENCE. The CD was recorded with heavyweight producer Steve Evetts (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, EVERY TIME I DIE, HATEBREED) and will be released on July 12 via Century Media Records.

"The Black Crown" track listing:

01. Slaves To Substance
02. O.C.D.
03. Human Violence
04. You Only Live Once
05. Fuck Everything
06. March To The Black Crown
07. Witness The Addiction (feat. Jonathan Davis)
08. Cross-Eyed Catastrophe
09. Smashed (feat. Frank Mullen)
10. The Only Thing That Sets Us Apart
11. Cancerous Skies

Finnish melancholic dark rock/metal icons AMORPHIS will be direct support for NIGHTWISH at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on January 21, 2012. Also appearing on the bill will be DOMMIN. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.

"The opportunity of playing exclusive show with NIGHTWISH came about around February," commented AMORPHIS guitarist Esa Holopainen. "We were totally excited about the idea as we didn't have a chance to do a tour in the U.S. with the 'Skyforger' album. Now we have a special show where we will try to offer as much material as possible from the last two albums. It's a great privilege to be part of an evening which is going to be memorable and special for everyone."

"The Beginning Of Times", the new album from AMORPHIS, landed at position No. 1 on the Finnish chart.

German metallers DIABOLOS DUST have inked a deal with Massacre Records.

In existence since 2007. DIABOLOS DUST consists of vocalist Jürgen Dachl (ex-FLOOD OF AGES, EL-K-MINO), bassist Roland Zehrer (ex-SENGAYA) as well as the two founding members Anton H. Lini (guitar) and Stefan Fesser (drums).

According to a press release, DIABOLOS DUST "play tough '80s metal but the band isn't a copy of other bands in this genre. DIABOLOS DUST uses the trademarks of this era and makes the sound unique with its catchy and variable songwriting. The sound is also characterized by various influences from the metal scene and so every song is a piece of art on its own. Monstrous power drumming and a driving bass provide the foundation for a solid guitar work and powerful vocals. With a rhythm section that knows how to create pressure and polyphonic shouting DIABOLOS DUST's independent trademark's created."

Canadian modern metal masters THREAT SIGNAL have issued the following update:

"On June 12th we are driving our asses out to Massachusetts to begin tracking our third release with metal mastermind Zeuss [Chriss Harris]. He has worked on many killer albums from bands such as CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE ACACIA STRAIN, BORN OF OSIRIS, SHADOWS FALL, and many more… We are extremely excited to have Zeuss on board producing and mixing our new record!

"So what can you expect from the new THREAT SIGNAL record? Well… basically we said, 'Let's write the heaviest fuckin' record we possibly can.' We've been experimenting with seven-string guitars and drop tunings since the early days, so we have decided to write almost the whole new record that way. We are headed back to the 'Under Reprisal' days but with bigger balls."

"Awaken The Tides", in the U.K. on July 18, in the rest of Europe on July 15, and in North America on August 2 via Metal Blade Records. The 10-song effort was recorded at The Face studios in Reading with drums laid down at Fortress Studios in London. All tracks were mixed and mastered by Justin Hill.

Commented MALEFICE frontman Dale Butler: "And so the time has finally come, we've been locked away for six months working on this record, a release that's going to take your fucking head off. We promised something different, a bigger production, and a slightly different look on the genre. We've found our sound and it's going to bring a whole new level to our live show, something we all felt was missing. We've come back a new band, confident and more of a unit than we've ever been. This is our next step; make sure you're around to see it!"

"Awaken The Tides" track listing:

01. Awaken The Tides
02. Delirium
03. Dead in the Water
04. Minutes
05. Baying For Blood
06. Blessed/Cursed
07. The Day the Sky Fell
08. Out Numbered Out Gunned
09. Flood of Red
10. The Haunting

You can now listen to the album's title track, "Awaken The Tides", in the YouTube clip below.

The always outspoken IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson talks about the key difference between MAIDEN and METALLICA in the new issue of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine. In addition to lifting the lid on why his band has been able to stay on top of the world over the years and keep its integrity while doing so (and reminiscing over some of the insane trouble they've gotten in over the years!), Bruce took the time to discuss the secret to MAIDEN's success and why they're revered as one of the greatest bands to ever plug into an amp.

"You've just got to have a sense of fearlessness," says Bruce. "I got into trouble for saying that we're better than METALLICA… and, it's true! They might be bigger than us and they might sell more tickets than us and they might get more gold-plated middle-class bourgeoisie turning up to their shows but they're not MAIDEN. I did say it's a bit of a wind-up. I thought, if I'm going to turn into an asshole, I might as well, you know, go for it!"

Alex Chapman from Billboard.com is reporting:

CHAKA KHAN may be a legacy artist in the industry, but that isn't to say the legendary songstress isn't as busy as ever. At the top of her list? A duets album, including a LED ZEPPELIN cover alongside AEROSMITH singer and American Idol judge Steven Tyler.

"We literally just clicked," Khan tells Billboard.com of Tyler. "We were at Elton John's party and we got to talk and we both wanted to sing together. We said, 'Let's do a mutual song, by you know, a neutral band -- a band that we both love,' and we both love Zeppelin."

The 'I'm Every Woman' singer will record the duet of a yet-to-be-decided Zepplin tune with Tyler soon, which she has plans to release on a forthcoming double album of duets.

Italian melodic-death metallers DISARMONIA MUNDI's third album, Mind Tricks (produced by Ettore Rigotti and mixed at Studio Fredman in 2006), will be re-released in an Extended Version digipak format with new cover artwork and four additional bonus tracks, including a brand new song entitled 'Ringside Seat To Human Tragedy', featuring Christian Älvestam (SOLUTION .45, ex-SCAR SYMMETRY).

Mind Tricks (Extended Version) will be released worldwide on June 30th (July 1st in the UK) via Coroner Records in digipak format and digital download.

Tracklist:
'Resurrection Code'
'Mindtricks'
'Celestial Furnace'
'Nihilistic Overdrive'
'Parting Ways'
'Venom Leech And The Hands Of Rain'
'Liquid Wings'
'Process Of Annihilation'
'Last Breed'
'A Taste Of Collapse'
'Mouth For War''
'Celestial Furnace' (Acoustic Version)
'Ringside Seat To Human Tragedy' (Feat. Christian Älvestam)
'Moon Of Glass'
'Nihilistic Overdrive' (Remix)

U.K.'s psychedelic brutal death metal masters MITHRAS have announced the return of longtime frontman/bassist Rayner Coss.

Rayner, who left the band back in 2008, commented, "Firstly, it's good to be back!

"When I departed in 2008, Leon [Macey, guitar/drums] and I had been playing in bands together non-stop for over 12 years, and for various reasons I was finding it really difficult dedicating the necessary amount of time and attention to MITHRAS. But, during the near three years I've been away, my situation has changed to the point where I'm able to fully concentrate on the band again.

"We've gone straight to work on the new record, which Leon already had a lot of ideas down for and so far it's been the easiest writing process we've ever had, which is really promising."

Macey added, "It's great to be working with a re-energized Rayner on new material again, and the tracks we're developing for the next album are sounding incredible.

"Even though I needed a rest and had put MITHRAS practically on hiatus for the last six months, I already had a fair amount of material demoed up which I'd been working on solo. It's only taken a month to get Rayner up to speed with where I'm at with everything and it's also extra great because I don't need to record the vocals myself now, haha! So for the next record, we'll be sticking to the formula which worked great on all our others, Rayner Coss on oratory/bass and Leon Macey on guitars/drums."

The as-yet-untitled follow-up to the critically acclaimed "Behind The Shadows Lie Madness" (which was released in 2007 via Candelight Records) is due sometime in 2012.

Legendary Portuguese Hard-Rockers IBÉRIA, recently recorded the promotional video for the song ‘Angel’ in Montijo, Portugal. The song is the first single off the bands third album Revolution released in February. The new video is scheduled for release in June.

Ibéria’s bass player João Sérgio comments on the video: “We’re deeply pleased with the footage because it has perfectly captured all the essence and atmosphere of the hard rock that is present within the band’s music universe. It shows and portraits a lot of energy and dynamism.”

Revolution tracklisting is as follows:

‘Code Red’
‘Revolution’
‘All Night Flying’
‘Angel’
‘Stooge’
‘She Devil’
‘Turning Back’
‘Dizzy’
‘Hot In Love’
‘Ride’
‘Tired (Leave Me Alone)'
‘N.I.T.R.O.’
‘Tommy's Frequency’
‘Hollywood’

BW&BK has learned that Japanese bashers METAL SAFARI will part ways with bassist Jun (left) following their August 20th show in Tokyo. The band has issued the following statement:

"It is a pity that we have to make this statement. After numerous discussions and the consideration of the future of both Jun and Metal Safari, the four of us have come to this conclusion. We sincerely apologize to each and every one of the fans and to whom it may concern for this unexpected statement.




The Monsters Tour next month and the live show in Tokyo on August 20th will be the last time the four of us are performing together. All of us truly hope that we can see Metal Safari fans and Jun fans at these live concerts above. As to the activities of Metal Safari in the future, we will keep going after adding a new bassist. We will start auditioning new bassist in a few days.

We will do our best to live up to your expectations. Please support us like you always do."

The band's Monster Tour schedule, also featuring INHALE and EACH OF THE DAYS, is as follows:

June
5 - Osaka, Japan - Rockets
11 - Tokyo, Japan - Club Goodman
18 - Nagoya, Japan - Apollo Theater

For information on Metal Safari go to Spiritual-Beast.com and MetalSaf