Little Rock, Arkansas' RWAKE has posted the remastered version of its "The Stoner Tree" track online at the band's Facebook and MySpace pages. The song comes off the band's now-legendary 2002 release "Hell Is a Door To The Sun", which will be reissued on March 1 via Relapse Records. The long-out-of-print album has been remixed by Sanford Parker, remastered, and re-packaged to include new artwork, photography, and liner notes from the band.

"The Hell Is a Door To The Sun" reissue will be available on CD and digitally via iTunes.

RWAKE recently entered Engine Studios in Chicago, Illinois to begin work on the follow-up to 2007's "Voices of Omens". The as-yet-untitled full-length is being recorded with Sanford Parker and is due in late summer.

White-vinyl versions of the WARRIOR SOUL albums "Last Decade Dead Century" (1990), "Drugs, God And The New Republic" (1991) and "Salutations From The Ghetto Nation" (1992) will be released on January 24 via Livewire/Cargo. The albums are limited to 500 copies each.

For more information, go to this location.

WARRIOR SOUL is scheduled to enter the studio this month to begin recording its new album. No further details are currently available.

WARRIOR SOUL's first album in 15 years, "Destroy The War Machine", was released in March 2010 through FRW Records. The eight-song album, which was originally made available in 2008 under the title "Chinese Democracy", includes a cover of IGGY POP's "Knocking 'Em Down (In The City)".

WARRIOR SOUL bassist Janne Jarvis previously stated about "Destroy The War Machine": "[This album] has everything a WARRIOR SOUL fan should expect from a WARRIOR SOUL record. It has an ear for an argument, puke on its shoes and remains untouched by trends or the long-arm of the corporations."

WARRIOR SOUL's current lineup is as follows:

Kory Clarke - Vocals
Rille Lundell - Guitar
Johnny H - Guitar
Janne Jarvis - Bass
Freddie Cocker Kvarnebrink - Drums

WARRIOR SOUL's "Bad News (Rock 'n' Roll Boyfriend)" video can be viewed below. The clip was directed by Adam Dubin, who previously worked with the band on the "Downtown" and "The Wasteland" videos.

Swedish death metal masters DIABOLICAL will release their new album, "Ars Vitae", on February 4 via Abyss Records. The CD consists of 17 tracks of both new studio recordings produced last year at Necromorbus Studio (WATAIN, UNANIMATED, DESTRÖYER 666) in Alvik, Sweden and previously unreleased recordings.

"Ars Vitae" track listing:

01. Ortus
02. Sightless 6
03. Infvitabile Fatvm
04. Eye
05. Rcs (live)
06. The Gallery of Bleeding Art (live)
07. Ashes II (live)
08. The One Who Bleeds (live)
09. Under My Skin (live)
10. Vertigo (live)
11. Extinction (live)
12. Children of the Mushroom Cloud (live)
13. Suicidal Glory (live)
14. Ashes
15. Guidance of Sin
16. Deserts
17. The Dreaming Dead

One track from the CD, "Eye", can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

DIABOLICAL recently announced the addition of bassist Dan Darforth to the group's ranks.

The band released its third full-length CD, "The Gallery of Bleeding Art", in November 2008 via ViciSolum Productions. According to a press release, DIABOLICAL "are taking their innovative death metal a huge step further. They plunge the listener into the darkest corners of the human mind, bringing restrained aggression and cravings for vengeance to life in this masterpiece."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD kicked off the "Nightmare After Christmas" tour with STONE SOUR and HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD on Thursday (January 20) in Reading, Pennsylvania. The show marked AVENGED's live debut with Arin Ilejay, formerly the drummer for Los Angeles-based Christian rock group CONFIDE, who is sitting behind the kit for AVENGED's upcoming tour dates.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's setlist was as follows:

01. Nightmare
02. Critical Acclaim
03. Welcome to the Family
04. Danger Line
05. Buried Alive
06. So Far Away
07. Afterlife
08. God Hates Us
09. Bat Country
10. Unholy Confessions

Encore:

11. Fiction
12. A Little Piece of Heaven

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current VELVET REVOLVER bassist Duff McKagan has penned the latest installment of his column, which appears on Reverb at SeattleWeekly.com. In the column, he offers his thoughts on the new documentary on MOTÖRHEAD singer and bassist Lemmy Kilmister, "Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch", which had its Los Angeles premiere for on January 13 at The Vista Theatre. An excerpt follows:

"It wasn't just my choice of playing bass that Lemmy and MOTÖRHEAD influenced. Dare I say that without MOTÖRHEAD, there would have been no METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES, NIRVANA, ALICE IN CHAINS, NINE INCH NAILS, or everything between and after. Yeah, they mean that much.

"There is a moment in the documentary where Dave Grohl states very eloquently what MOTÖRHEAD means to him and the rest of us in the audience. To paraphrase, Grohl talks about the 'human-ness' of Lemmy. Boils and all, Lemmy lets us know that you don't have to be perfect and beautiful and polished to a shine to succeed in this life. Go see the movie to get the full poignancy of Dave's quote."

Read McKagan's entire column at SeattleWeekly.com.

Drummer Alex Kirst, who played with IGGY POP and glam rockers THE NYMPHS, died in a car accident last week in the California desert. The Palm Springs Desert Sun reports that Kirst was walking on foot and killed in a hit-and-run crash by a vehicle. He was 47 years old.

Kirst was reportedly hit by a white truck while he was out walking on January 13. Kirst's brother Wiley, who played guitar for Pop, said Alex "just went to the store to get a pack of cigarettes" before he was killed.

Kirst played on Pop's "Beat 'Em Up" (2001) and "Skull Ring" (2003) solo albums. He was also a member of THE NYMPHS from 1985 to 1992.

"Jetpacks Was Yes", the new video from the Maryland-based experimental, progressive metal six-piece PERIPHERY, can be viewed below. The clip was produced by Eric Haviv, Richard Webb, and Brandon Morris of FUGO Studios. The song comes off the band's self-titled debut album, which sold around 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 128 on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at No. 2 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

In early March PERIPHERY will embark on a North American

Florida metallers TRIVIUM spoke to Jon Wiederhorn of Guitar World magazine last year about the songwriting process for the band's upcoming fourth album, due later in 2011 via Roadrunner Records. According to TRIVIUM, the group has foregone the complex epic compositions, tricked-out leads and seven-string guitars that characterized its past two albums and has taken an approach similar to that of its second album, 2005's "Ascendancy", by using uncluttered riffs, drop-D tuning and more straightforward solos.

"When we did 'Ascendancy', we were writing specifically for the songs, not to show how well we could play," said guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy. "That wasn't exactly the case with our next two records."

Added Heafy's co-guitarist, Corey Beaulieu, "We're making sure every part in every song needs to be there and is super-catchy and doesn't go over people's heads."

More than 18 months into the songwriting process, Heafy was as excited as when he wrote the album's first riffs. "The record will feature some of our most minimalistic and most brutal moments," he said. "It's gonna go way beyond what people think metal is or can be."

STATUS QUO vocalist/guitarist Francis Rossi will release his brand new solo set, Live At St. Luke's, London on March 14th.

This live set is to be released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray formats by Edel's international rock label, earMUSIC distributed in the UK and Republic of Ireland by Absolute via Universal. As well as the full concert, the DVD and Blu-ray boast excellent bonus features. The DVD has an interview with Rossi, plus the promo video for the 'Faded Memory' single. The Blu-ray has a behind the scenes documentary, which also features interviews, plus the promo video.

Rossi commented: "Stepping outside Quo and recording and performing these songs was a big step for me - I love these songs so much it hurts!It was very freeing to do my own thing instead of being with a band, as I have been since I was 12!I wanted, for once, to do exactly what I wanted and, luckily, the reaction has been great.The show at St. Luke's was very atmospheric, the band and the crowd were great and I'm really proud of what we've produced."

According to NYDailyNews.com, GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose has made the 2011 worst-dressed list for men's magazine GQ. "It's high time Rose left his clothes out in the November rain," said GQ in a pun on one of the group's songs.

Rose gave a rare interview — his first in-person one in 14 years — last month with the United Arab Emirates outlet Gulf News. Rose granted the interview prior to the band's December 16 gig in Abu Dhabi. Asked about the current version of the group, Rose said, "For me, one of the really cool things is I don't have to get on at everybody in the band. Hey do this, do that, you know. Because they're excited. Everybody takes a certain amount of pride in what they do."

Rose compared playing concerts to "going to the gym," and in perhaps an indirect reference to his notorious late arrivals onstage, he added, "It's just hard to get in the gym."

On the pressure the current incarnation of the group has to live up to its past, Rose commented, "I think it's a lot to do with the material from the past and a hell of a lot to do with the heart that was put into it then. But if we weren't putting the heart into it now . . . the fans, they're not gonna let me get away with it. We have to live up to something, have to work a bit harder because you're living up to the legend or a myth or whatever."

The Gulf News reporter was allegedly told not to ask about certain topics, including Rose's relationship with former members of GUNS.

Rose did little publicity for the band's 2008 album, "Chinese Democracy", consenting to only two online interviews despite the fact that it had been 17 years since the last GUNS record came out.

Chicago-based progressive metal hybrid BORN OF OSIRIS will release its third full-length album, "The Discovery", on March 22 via Sumerian Records. The CD was recorded at BOTA Studio in Lake In The Hills, Illinois and was mixed by Jason Suecof (ALL THAT REMAINS, TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER).

Commented guitarist Lee McKinney: "I should start by saying this new album is heavier than anything the band ever released. We have moved onto seven strings and it couldn't have complimented our sound any better. We brought back the 'BOO-bounce' on this one. It's definitely a really fun and upbeat album. Also, the addition of our new guitar player, Jason Richardson, has increased the amount of shred on this album. There are some really incredible guitar solos on this album from the both of us. It takes the band to a whole new level of musicality. This album contains an awesome mix of our most heavy, most technical, most atmospheric and most beautiful melodies ever."

BORN OF OSIRIS is preparing to co-headline the third annual "Atticus Metal" tour with DARKEST HOUR. AS BLOOD RUNS BLACK and THE HUMAN ABSTRACT round out the stellar bill. SLEEPING GIANT will be special guests on all West Coast dates and look for other special openers on other shows depending on the region.

BORN OF OSIRIS's sophomore album, "A Higher Place", came out in 2009. The CD was recorded at Planet Z in in Hadley, Massachusetts with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL, WHITECHAPEL and THE ACACIA STRAIN, among others.

BORN OF OSIRIS' debut album, "The New Reign", was produced by Michael Keene of THE FACELESS.

The band's sound is said to be "an epic mix of intricate and memorable melodies with challenging time signatures that still hold an infectious groove, all while maintaining sheer, tasteful brutality."

Canadian progressive-power metal act SAMANDRIEL has issued the following statement:

"It is with heavy hearts that we must announce that Doneka Reid is no longer the singer of Samandriel. This will be a difficult change for us to make, but we hope that YOU, the fans will continue to support us through these tough times for the band. We all love you Doneka, and we wish you the very best that you can possibly have.

With the departure of Doneka begins the search. If you or someone you know is interested in joining Samandriel as a singer (male or female) please get in touch by sending an email to samandriel@live.com and we can discuss an audition. Please spread the word."

Based out of Edmonton, Samandriel unleashed their debut release, Awakening, in October 2010. The 6-song EP was mastered by acclaimed Danish producer Jacob Hansen and had the track 'Trial By Terror' featured on the ProgPower USA 2010 compilation CD.

The full EP is available for streaming via their MySpace page.

According to Perthnow.com.au, the SCORPIONS are set to rock former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev like a hurricane at his 80th birthday concert in London on March 30th at the Royal Albert Hall.

The German band's huge 1990 hit 'Wind Of Change' was massively popular in Russia during Gorbachev's presidency and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A Russian-language version of the power ballad was even released.

Tickets went on sale in November with price tags ranging from £35 ($56) per seat to £100,000 ($160,000) per VIP suite.

Organisers estimated that £5 million (nearly $8 million) of the concert's proceeds would be donated to charity.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD has tapped Arin Ilejay, former drummer for Los Angeles-based Christian rock group CONFIDE, to sit behind the kit for AVENGED's upcoming tour dates in support of the "Nightmare" album.

AVENGED recruited ex-DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy to play on "Nightmare" and take part in the band's touring activities in 2010 following the death in December 2009 of the band's drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan. Portnoy was Sullivan's favorite drummer.

Commented AVENGED SEVENFOLD: "We recently asked several friends who knew Jimmy and his style, and also knew our music and each of our personalities to suggest drummers to tour with us starting this year. Our longtime studio drum tech Mike Fasano recommended Arin Ilejay.

"We've rehearsed with Arin and have been impressed with his technical skills, attitude and work ethic.

"We're very excited to tour with Arin and hope all of you will give him the warm welcome to the family we have."