As a teaser for the upcoming enormous multimedia release "V01D", Sydney, Australia's extreme metal unit THE AMENTA has released a short trailer of one aspect of this audio/visual behemoth. A small snapshot of a professionally recorded, multi-camera live gig, to be released on "V01D" in its entirety, the trailer shows the aggression and precision of the current lineup of THE AMENTA.

To support this immense audio/visual/live/studio release, THE AMENTA will return to the live arena with a series of headlining shows around Australia. Previous live shows have been violent, chaotic affairs and THE AMENTA intends to up the ante.

Expect aggression. Expect violence. Expect volume. Expect hate.

This will be the first full-scale tour in Australia with THE AMENTA's current lineup.

Support for the majority of the dates will come from friends and frequent collaborators RUINS.

According to Gary Graff from Billboard.com, as BON JOVI prepares to start its 2011 tour schedule, the group members say what happens after they come off the road in July is anyone's guess.

"I think we need to take a break," drummer Tico Torres told Billboard.com during a conference call with reporters. "It's a long, extensive tour since last February, not just the tour but putting it together, doing the record (The Circle). It's a long process, and I think it's important for us to just get away from the audience for a bit. Sometimes you need to get away so people can appreciate you better, and you also have to get away to live your life and create and recharge... So the best thing I can tell you is we're gonna need a couple years off for sure."

Guitarist Richie Sambora, however, countered, "We do need a little bit of a break, but not that much of a break, 'cause what's going to happen is there's more songs to be written and... Y'know, guess what? We want to be THE ROLLING STONES. I know I do."

Bon Jovi's 2010 Circle tour was the top trek of the year, playing to 1.5 million fans and grossing more than $146.5 million. The group, which released a Greatest Hits set in November, starts up again on February 9 in University Park, Pa., for North American dates into late March, then runs through Europe again from June 8-July 31, including a June 25 performance at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London.

Das Coverartwork und die Tracklist des neuen BLOODBOUND Albums "Unholy Cross" wurden jetzt vom Label enthüllt worden. Der vierte Longplayer der schwedischen Power Metaller wird am 18. März 2011 via AFM Records erscheinen.

"Unholy Cross" Track List:

01. Moria
02. Drop The Bomb
03. The Ones We Left Behind
04. Reflections Of Evil
05. In For The Kill
06. Together We Fight
07. The Dark Side Of Life
08. Brothers Of War
09. Message From Hell
10. In The Dead Of Night
11. Unholy Cross

AMON AMARTH machen sich bereit, "Surtur Rising", das mittlerweile achte Studioalbum in ihrer verehrten Viking Death Metal-Ruhmeshalle, auf die Menschheit loszulassen. Nach Surtur, dem Anführer der Feuergiganten von Muspelheim ("flame land") und dem ältesten Wesen in den neun Welten der nordischen Mythologie, benannt, enthält die Scheibe zehn sich stetig steigernde Kampfeshymnen, die zum Schwingen der Schwerter nur so einladen.

Der Nachfolger des 2008er Erfolgsalbums "Twilight Of The Thunder God" wurde einmal mehr in den schwedischen Fascination Street Studios in Örebro aufgenommen, abgemischt und gemastert. Für das auffallend brutale Coverartwork zeichnete sich Tom Thiel verantwortlich. Jetzt wurde der erste Song "War of the Gods" (Radio Edit - Full Metal Jackie) zum probehören online gestellt.

Finnish metallers AMORAL have issued the following brief update:

"We are happy to announce that AMORAL has a new guitar player!

"As announced when Valtteri [Hirvonen] came in as a session guy to help us out with the gigs, he could not commit to being a full-time member due to his hectic schedule as a hot-shot photographer. So we've been keeping our eyes open all this time to see if we could find someone worthy to join the band. And now we have! Enter Masi Hukari, six-string slinger from many a project and band over the years.

"Ben [Varon, guitar] and Ari [Koivunen, vocals] had already met Masi a few times before, so we knew him to be a cool dude, and the word on the street was that the boy could play! After a couple of long chats to see that we were on the same page, we picked up our guitars and two new songs came together in no time. So that was that! We all agreed that this could definitely be our guy, and so it is that we'll be entering the studio as a five-piece to record album number five.

"The AMORAL Street Team conducted an interview with Masi to give you all a better idea of who this new guys is and what he is made of. Ben also answered some questions the teamers had regarding the upcoming album. Check out the interview here.

"A little fact file on Masi can be found at the band section of our website, and he's also answering questions you guys might have on our forum, so feel free to bug him!

"In other news: recording of the fifth AMORAL album starts NOW! The next month will be spent at Sound Supreme Studios in Hämeenlinna under strict supervision of our producer Janne Saksa. You can follow the studio session from our new studio blog, which will be frequently updated with pictures and witty remarks."

Fast vier Monate liessen sie sich Zeit. Nun aber haben GOTTHARD neuen Mut gefasst. Die Tessiner Musiker werden einen neuen Sänger suchen und weiter unter dem Namen GOTTHARD Konzerte geben und CDs einspielen.

"GOTTHARD ist für uns kein Job, GOTTHARD ist unser Leben", bestätigt Gitarrist Leo Leoni (43) gegenüber SonntagsBlick.

Wieder positiv in die Zukunft schauen: Weitergehen aber könne es selbstverständlich nur, so GOTTHARD-Drummer Hena Habegger, wenn sie das Glück hätten, den richtigen Ersatzmann für Steve Lee zu finden: "Dabei geht es uns nicht nur um eine Stimme, die unsere Songs wieder zum Klingen bringen kann, vielmehr suchen wir einen Sänger, der auch menschlich zu uns, der GOTTHARD-Familie, passt."

Beim Management haben sich schon erste Kandidaten als Lee-Nachfolger gemeldet. In den nächsten Wochen wollen die Band-Mitglieder nun diese Sänger kennenlernen. "Wir können nicht weiter in Trauer und Lethargie verweilen", so Marc Lynn. "Wir müssen endlich wieder positiv in die Zukunft schauen."

During a brand new interview with DJ JC Green of Metal Messiah Radio's "Heavy Metal Thunder" show, vocalist Russell Allen of New Jersey's progressive metal masters SYMPHONY X revealed that the band has set "Iconoclast" as the title of its eighth album, due later this year via Nuclear Blast Records.

When asked what stage of the recording/mixing process the new CD is in, Allen replied, "We are in post-production, so the album is pretty much almost done. At this point, mixes are being wrapped up and finalized and it's off to mastering and should be ready for release in a few months — definitely first quarter of 2011. We've got the artworks all done, we're taking pictures next week... all that good stuff. So everything's on track for release pretty soon."

Regarding the sound of "Iconoclast" and how it compares to that of 2007's "Paradise Lost", Russell said, "Sonically, it's in the realm of that one in a way, in terms of the sound of things; the guitar sound is a little different. Basically, the album is pretty intense — probably the most intense record we've ever done; it's chock-full of riffs — tons of great riffs. It's heavy, the music, but the singing is very melodic in terms of its... the choruses are real strong, the verses are real strong, but I'm singing aggressively — a lot of that going on — 'cause the topic is, again, very dark; you know, that's what we do. So the album's very powerful. And, of course, we do have one song that's like a little mini-epic, so to speak, and it's the lightest — a light, light, light song. So there is a contrast on the record of that one song that has that sort of 'Paradise Lost' feel to it; it's a ballad, I guess, if you wanna call it that."

He continued, "This album will contain a good body of work that harkens back to a lot of early metal — some early metal — and a lot of SYMPHONY X standards that you guys know already, and a little bit of a newer sound, too, here and there — just a newer direction. Some of the singing parts, I tried some more rhythmic things that I was hearing that sounded pretty cool, and some different things that I'm doing with my voice now that are a little more looking to the future of what we hear the music going. It's just the next progression for us, where we are as writers and stuff, but it's pretty intense — it's way more intense than 'Paradise Lost', if you can believe that."

When asked about the "Iconoclast" lyrical concept, Russell said, "It is basically just the idea of machines taking over everything and all this technology we put our society into pretty much being our demise. It's a story we were all familiar with, but we put our own spin on it. It's not a linear story in terms of... This is just the theme of the record, so all the songs are in that theme, but they're not connected in any sort of story way — there's no characters of any of that stuff — it's just a theme. Like [PINK FLOYD's] 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', it's really just a theme of the dark side of the moon — one song deals with death, the other one deals with time... You know what I mean?! So it's the same kind of thing. I'm not comparing the two albums by any means — don't misunderstand me — but in terms of the idea of a concept, so to speak, the concept is there, but it's not a story record — not like [2002's] 'The Odyssey', where the song 'The Odyssey' is that story."

Finnish black metallers SATANIC WARMASTER have been removed from the billing of this year's Hellfest festival — set to take place June 17-19, 2011 in Clisson, France — because the event's organizers allegedly bowed to pressure from other artists performing at the festival.

Commented SATANIC WARMASTER's Werwolf in a statement: "It has been brough to my attention that the organizers of the festival cannot hold on to our agreement to have SATANIC WARMASTER perform at the 2011 Hellfest. This was because of pressure put to the organizers by other artists booked on the festival.

"It is a disappointment (despite being totally expected) to see such mentality still present in the 'individualist' and 'free-thinking' metal community that any musical act can still be boycotted because of false preconceptions and arbitrary political motivations of other, 'bigger' artists. It is also more than amusing to see that the censorship and boycott some of the French authorities tried to push on the festival earlier are now excercised by the festival organization itself.

"Obviously, because I have never upheld any modern taboos or lived my life as an apologetic dabbler, it makes me also a target for politically motivated artists to keep us from playing because of their self-righteous reasons. Any artist can be put on a mock trial by taking words out of their context without thinking of the actual message, and SATANIC WARMASTER once again hangs crucified by hysterics driven by the love for a world and values I feel no oneness with.

"Everyone who has even slightest interest in this musical style knows what black metal is about, and in that light only a moralist or someone with a very extreme double standard can say that SATANIC WARMASTER is in some manner different from other artists of the genre.

"It makes me want to puke for making a statement like this, which is almost something that a politician would do, but to clear some things, it was mandatory to bite the bullet this time.

"Just to make sure everyone has their labels right, SATANIC WARMASTER's ideology is Satanism and music style black metal. Whoever claims otherwise does so only because of personal feelings and/or resentment."

SATANIC WARMASTER started in 1998 has has sold tens of thousands of albums worldwide without the support of any major distribution companies or record labels. The band reflects a Satanist's world view and is known for its unapologetic, arrogant and amoral stance.

Long-defunct French death metallers MERCYLESS — who are responsible for releasing one of the most underrated death albums of all time in the shape of 1992's "Abject Offerings" — have returned "in a brutal death metal style like in the '90s," according to a press release.

To celebrate the band's reformation, a new collectors' double CD has been made available via Legion Of Death Records. Entitled "In Memory Of Agrazabeth", it features demos and live recordings from the 1988-1993 period.

MERCYLESS is currently working on new material "in a very intense and brutal death metal style, in the vein of 'Abject Offerings'."

Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY will release a concert DVD, "Last Curtain Call", in May via AFM Records. According ot the band, "the live [footage] itself is finished and we are waiting to get the audiomix and master back. We are also working on some bonusmaterial like a tour movie, last rehearsal and the band meet up for the first time since October to do some in-depth interviews for the DVD."

The DVD will also include a bonus live CD disc with the best 10 tracks from the gig. In addition there will also most likely be a separate double live CD for those that want experience only the audio.

The "Last Curtain Call" cover artwork was created by Haakon Hoseth and can be viewed below. The original painting was by the band's longtime artist and friend Truls Espedal.

"Last Curtain Call" track listing:

01. Hide And Seek
02. Bring Forth Ye Shadow
03. Lorelei
04. Frozen
05. Ashes And Dreams
06. A Rose For The Dead
07. Fragment
08. And When He Falleth
09. Venus
10. Hollow
11. Storm
12. Image
13. Cassandra
14. A Hamlet For A Slothful Vassal
15. Fade
16. Machine
17. Der Tanz Der Schatten
18. Forever Is The World

THEATRE OF TRAGEDY announced in March 2010 that it was calling it quits, stating, "This has not been an easy decision to make and we have thought about this for a long long time. We finally agreed to this during the production of our latest album, 'Forever Is The World'.

"Over the years all of us have strived to combine the THEATRE with everyday life but in the end it has proven more and more difficult.

"We have come to appreciate our family lives and jobs, which makes it very hard to continue this life of rock 'n' roll on the road."

THEATRE OF TRAGEDY released a a limited-edition tour version of its seventh album, "Forever Is The World", in March 2010 to coincide with the band's European shows. The set included a new EP called "Addenda" and featured 10 tracks of b-sides, rarities, remakes and remixes.

After stints with KMFDM, MARILYN MANSON and SKOLD VS. KMFDM as producer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist, Tim Skold will return this spring with his first full-length solo album in 15 years, "Anomie". Delivering a snarky CD single prelude on April 12 via Metropolis Records, "Suck", setting the stage for a May 10 full album release, SKOLD steps up once again, supplying sonic solvent for the huffing social cynics.

According to a press release, "Suck" raises a flag taken up by cohorts and allies like COMBICHRIST, KMFDM, 16VOLT and FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, who have shown up to contribute their own remixes of the track. Three additional SKOLD tracks round out the single-cum-EP: "I Will Not Forget", "Bullets Ricochet" and "A Dark Star".

Fans can hear a 60 second sample of "Suck" on SKOLD's MySpace page.

"Suck" single track listing:

01. Suck (3:35)
02. Suck - Suck And Mop Up (16VOLT remix) (3:36)
03. Suck - Down On Your Knees (FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY remix) (6:34)
04. Suck - Gag It And Tag It (COMBICHRIST remix) (4:28)
05. Suck - My Glock (BITTEREN ENDE remix) (4:27)
06. I Will Not Forget (5:02)
07. A Dark Star (4:44)
08. Bullets Ricochet (5:59)

Gestating through production and composition with such artists as KMFDM and MARILYN MANSON, producing feats like the #1 Billboard-charting album "The Golden Age Of Grotesque" (featuring the song "mOBSCENE", which was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance") and the critically acclaimed "Eat Me, Drink Me", Skold arrived prodigiously throughout 2009, having dispatched the album SKOLD VS. KMFDM and three new solo teaser tracks — "I Will Not Forget", "Bullets Ricochet" and "A Dark Star" — garnished with validation by accolades of TV placement in shows like "NCIS" and "FlashForward", and rabid fan consumption.

ECHOTERRA — the new female-fronted symphonic rock/metal band featuring vocalist Melissa Ferlaak (VISIONS OF ATLANTIS), keyboardist Jonah Weingarten (PYRAMAZE), guitarist Yan Leviathan (AVIAN), bassist Brian Hollenbeck and drummer Adam Sagan (INTO ETERNITY) — has issued the following update:

"We are currently hard at work on our next album which will be released this summer. As of now, the drums, bass, and keyboards are all recorded and we are now working on the guitars. Once we are finished with that, we will begin vocal recordings. We will then begin the mixing and mastering process and hope to have the album completed by May.

"We have posted a clip of one of the songs [below] and we will post more clips on a regular basis. We are also working on completing the artwork which is taking shape quite nicely.

"The new album will be available as a physical CD and in digital format. The CD will feature a 16-page booklet with lyrics and additional artwork. We will announce the title in the near future as well as preview the artwork so stay tuned!"

Atlanta, Georgia-based metallers BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE will release their fourth album, "Celestial Completion", on March 29 via Solid State Records. The CD was produced by Matt Goldman (UNDEROATH, THE CHARIOT, COPELAND) and contains 11 tracks.

"Celestial Completion" track listing:

01. The Resonant Frequency of Flesh
02. The Magnetic Sky
03. Internal Illumination
04. Path of the Beam
05. Music of the Spheres: Requiem Aeternam Part I (instrumental)
06. Elemental Wrath: Requiem Aeternam Part II
07. Xenosynthesis: Requiem Aeternam Part III
08. Invisible Creature (instrumental)
09. Cardiac Rebellion
10. Reflect/Refract
11. Breathing Light

Boston's REVOCATION has entered Damage Studios in Southbridge, Massachusetts with engineer Pete Rutcho to begin recording its as-yet-untitled new full-length album for a summer release via Relapse Records. The band began the tracking process after its fall tour with DESPISED ICON and MISERY INDEX.

Commented guitarist/vocalist David Davidson: "We are currently wrapping up the recording process for our third studio album and we firmly believe that this is our strongest material to date.

"The songs on the new release are incredibly varied and all have the own character. They range from technical thrash to groove laden death metal, [and] there's even a song with a full horn section this time around. We can't wait for people to check it out!"

In other news, REVOCATION has recorded a cover version of DEATH's classic "Pull The Plug" track for Decibel magazine's monthly Flexi Series. The recording will be included with the March 2011 issue of Decibel, on sale in early February, and can be streamed using the Soundcloud player below.

Commented Davidson: "We are extremely honored to be a part of the Decibel tribute to DEATH. Anyone who knows us is well aware that we're huge DEATH fans and we're very pleased with the way the song came out."

In fall of 2010, vocalist, Mauro Gonzalez stepped in at the last minute to front Pomona, California thrash act BONDED BY BLOOD through a long stretch of touring that only convened towards the end of the year. Because of the tremendous job he did in fronting the band on short notice with little rehearsal through a seemingly never-ending schedule of dates, BONDED BY BLOOD has announced Mauro Gonzalez as a permanent member.

Commented BONDED BY BLOOD bassist Jerry Garcia: "We would like to formally announce that Mauro Gonzalez is now officially the new frontman for BONDED BY BLOOD. He has shown great promise and dedication in the past few months and we have received great reviews from many old fans, new fans, and well-established musicians throughout our recent North American trek. We are very excited about our decision and we hope that you guys welcome him into the BONDED BY BLOOD family like we have!"