According to Showbizspy.com, BRET MICHAELS is looking forward to his heart surgery.

The POISON singer — who has suffered a series of health problems over the past 12 months, including a brain hemorrhage and the discovery of a hole in his heart — can’t wait to get his health back on track.

“In January, I get my heart operation,” the rocker told US TV show Extra.

“I’m feeling about 80% right now, but once I get that done, I’m gonna be feeling a lot better!”

Michaels recently admitted starring in his own VH1 reality show has boosted his CD sales.

“TV has absolutely made my sales go up, made my tour guarantees go up,” he said earlier this year.

“TV has been a great addition to my career. But the key thing is knowing what to walk away from. I advise anyone-especially musicians-to be very careful not to just grab anything they throw your way.”

HALFORD — the band fronted by JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford — took part in a rare television performance earlier today (Wednesday, December 8) on WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 (digital channel 19) — the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois. You can now watch video footage of the group's appearance below.

When asked about PRIEST's announcement that it was embarking on its final tour beginning next year, Halford replied, "Well, they do say that all good things come to an end and that's probably the case in this case. But I'm delighted that, of course, the HALFORD band is gonna be storming forward in the metal future, and that's gotta be good news."

He added, "I've been doing this now for close to 40 years and it's a real thrill to think that I'm part of the roots of it all. Not just myself — many, many other people have been responsible for putting the whole heavy metal scene onto the map. It's as strong now as it's ever been."

Singer/actor Jon Bon Jovi is celebrating 17 years of his iconic band BON JOVI's success with a new collection of all their classics.

"It's always nice to take a moment off while still being productive," quips Jon to DNA. Then getting serious, he adds, "The celebration with our album is our togetherness and our liking for each other," asserts Jon, whose inspirations are drawn from BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, BOSTON, THIN LIZZY, VAN HALEN, THE ROLLING STONES, LED ZEPPELIN, KISS, DEEP PURPLE and ELVIS PRESLEY.

Ask him about his survival mantra, and Jon remarks, "I have seen it all. Boy bands, teenage things, grunge, rap, heavy metal, they all come and go. You need to stay true to whom you are and develop your own sound; that's how I am where I am today."

The reunited original lineup of one of the most influential hardcore punk/metal bands, BIOHAZARD, has inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Records for the world outside North America. The group's tenth studio album is scheduled for an early 2011 release. The follow-up to 2005's "Means To An End" is being produced by Toby Wright, who has previously worked with KORN, SLAYER, MÖTLEY CRÜE, KISS, FEAR FACTORY, IN FLAMES, STONE SOUR and OZZY OSBOURNE, among others. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Decay", "Screaming For Change" and "Vengeance Is Mine", the latter of which the band debuted during its 2009 European tour (see video below).

BIOHAZARD's new album marks the first time the four original members — Evan Seinfeld (vocals, bass), Billy Graziadei (guitar, vocals), Danny Schuler (drums) and Bobby Hambel (guitar) — have recorded together since 1994's breakthrough CD "State Of The World Address".

Comments Nuclear Blast A&R representative Jaap Wagemaker: "We at Nuclear Blast have been longtime fans since we first saw BIOHAZARD on tour with WARGASM and at the legendary Dynamo Open Air where they played no less than four times! Judging by the sheer power, enthusiasm and pleasure that I have seen them unleash live by playing their classics, the new album promises nothing less than another milestone in their career."

States Schuler: "Finally, we are in the studio recording our first record together with the original lineup since 1994! 16 years! Feels like a lifetime since we last did this together, and the experience has been amazing. We've recorded over an hour of music, and we are extremely excited and grateful to be able to share it all with you." Seinfeld says the new album will contain "bone-crushing riffs fused with dark melodies and uncompromising lyrics rapped at you like Only BIOHAZARD can deliver… the danger is back." Wright adds, "This is the BEST hardcore band in the world, and this is going to be a kick-ass record that proves that is a fact."

PHOBIA check in with the following brief update:

"We will be recording for a split 7" with JESUS CROSS, and a killer four-way with PLF, SUFFERING MINDS and AUDIO KOLLAPSE.

These are long overdo but with our awesome studio capability in Texas we will be knocking them out while on the last few days of this tour with EYEHATEGOD!"

Remaining tour dates with EyeHateGod include:

December
7 - Little Rock, AR - Downtown (+ CROWBAR)
8 - Fayetteville, AR - Drifters (+ Crowbar)
9 - Tulsa, OK - The Marquee
11 - Dallas, TX - Reno’s
12 - Austin, TX - Red 7

Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation has just released "The Final Frontier", featuring note-for-note transcriptions of 10 tunes from the latest IRON MAIDEN album:

* The Alchemist
* Coming Home
* El Dorado
* Isle of Avalon
* The Man Who Would Be King
* Mother of Mercy
* Satellite 15...The Final Frontier
* Starblind
* The Talisman
* When the Wild Wind Blow

While driving throughout the winter, watch out for black ice! It's advice ROSS THE BOSS vocalist Patrick Fuchs wishes he had heeded as he drove on the Autobahn after departing a Kaiser Slautern, Germany recording studio on Wednesday morning. Neither speeding, nor under the influence, Fuchs hit a patch of ice on a sharp turn and lost control of his car, flipping it over and totaling it. When first viewing photos of the horrific wreck at, Fuchs bandmates breathed a deep sigh of relief, realizing their singer could have, should have, been in worse shape, or even dead.

Fuchs remains hospitalized in serious condition with broken ribs and a punctured spleen, but hopes to be released soon.

The band has been celebrating the success of its recently released second effort, "Hailstorm", which includes the now ironically titled "Dead Man's Curve".

Swedish technical death metallers SPAWN OF POSSESSION have issued the following update:

"We regret to inform you that we have released Richard Schill of his drumming duties in SPAWN OF POSSESSION. Reason being is that Richard depends very much on actual band practice and with SPAWN OF POSSESSION members being scattered all over Sweden, Norway and Germany, band practice becomes an impossibility. This decision is in no way a reflection on Richard's skills as a drummer or his personality as he will always remain part of the SPAWN OF POSSESSION family. We wish him all the best with his ongoing and future endeavors in music. To fill the gap after Richard, we have recruited Henrik Schönström [UNMOORED, TORCHBEARER] to take over the percussive side of the band. Right now Henrik is preparing for the recording of the next album and we welcome him to the camp."

SPAWN OF POSSESSION recently parted ways with vocalist Matthew Chalk (PSYCROPTIC) and was rejoined by Dennis Röndum.

SPAWN OF POSSESSION's current lineup:

* Dennis Röndum - Vocals
* Erlend Caspersen (VILE, BLOOD RED THRONE, DECREPIT BIRTH) - Bass
* Henrik Schönström - Drums
* Christian Münzner (OBSCURA, NECROPHAGIST) - Guitar
* Jonas Bryssling - Guitar

NASHVILLE PUSSY has just released a limited-edition live album, "Live In Rennes, France 1998 - Booting The Bootleggers Volume 1", via the band's official webstore. According to a posting on the group's web site, "This recording captures the band during the inception of its raw adolescent fury. This shit is on fire. Recorded at a festival in Rennes, France. You can tell we haven't found our volume knobs or everything just is fused on 10 from sweat. It sounds like we are trying to kill the audience or at least beat them into submission. This is the best recording we've ever heard of our early years and we had to share it with you. Perhaps our first French appearance. We play pretty much all the classics from 'Let Them Eat Pussy' as well as our own epic take on [Ted Nugent's] 'Wang Dang Sweet Poontang', AEROSMITH's 'Milk Cow Blues' and AC/DC's 'Bad Boy Boogie' as well as us testing out new material for 'High As Hell' like 'Wrong Side Of a Gun' and 'Blowjob From A Rattlesnake'. Pure unrelenting dirty fucking rock n roll."

"Live In Rennes, France 1998 - Booting The Bootleggers Volume 1" track listing:

01. First I Look At The Purse
02. Wrong Side Of The Gun
03. Eat My Dust
04. Blowjob From A Rattlesnake
05. Going Down
06. I'm The Man
07. Texas Border
08. Go Motherfucker Go
09. Bad Boy Boogie
10. Fried Chicken And Coffee
11. Milk Cow Blues
12. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang

Tuomas Seppälä of Finland's AMBERIAN DAWN has issued the foillowing update:

"As you probably already know, the story of Amberian Dawn started under name ATHEME ONE and with male vocalist, Peter James Goodman who actually has made an appearance on all AD albums too as guest vocalist. Back then (2006) we managed to produce an EP which has 4 songs on it. Later I re-arranged most of those songs for Amberian Dawn and Heidi wrote new lyrics to those songs. The original lyrics were written by Peter James Goodman. All music on this EP is written by me like all songs of Amberian Dawn.

So if you are interested to purchase this piece of history, throw me a mail to athemeoneEP@gmail.com and prepare to pay 10 euros for the CD. I have maybe 25 CDs left and no plans to print more of those after they are all gone...

The lineup on this EP was: Tuomas Seppälä (guitar & keyboards), Heikki Saari (drums), Tommi Kuri (bass), Peter James Goodman (vocals), Tom Sagar (keyboards). It's recorded and mixed in the same studio as all Amberian Dawn albums, Rockstar Productions Studio in Hyvinkää, Finland."

A previous message from the band states: "We have some exciting news again. Our songs 'Incubus' and 'Shallow Waters', from our album The Clouds of Northland Thunder, have been just released on PS3 and WII (Worldwide)."

The following Amberian Dawn songs are now availabe on Rock Band Network (Xbox360):

'Evil Inside Me'
'He Sleeps In A Grove' (also available on PS3 and Wii)
'Incubus' (also available on PS3 and Wii)
'Kokko - Eagle Of Fire'
'Lionheart'
'River Of Tuoni' (also available on PS3 and Wii)
'Saga'
'Shallow Waters' (also available on PS3 and Wii)
'Snowmaiden'
'Valkyries' (also available on PS3 and Wii)

Polish death metal quintet CALM HATCHERY, which features past and present members of DEAD INFECTION and TEHACE, have pushed back the release date of their second album, Sacrilege Of Humanity. Selfmadegod will release the album on December 20th. Cover artwork (below) was designed by Mentalporn (DEATHSTARS, BEHEMOTH).




Calm Hatchery have just finished recording the video for song 'Messerschmitt'. Comments bassist Huzar: "The video was recorded by the director from local TV station. We have over 45 minutes of recordings to choose from. Video shots took place in old dreary, post-German factory. You can expect very raw atmosphere perfectly corresponding with both music and lyrics. The video will be ready at the beginning of new year."

Equimanthorn "A Fifth Conjuration" release date to be announced

Most are bewildered and some have protested concerning the esotericism of Equimanthorn, presuming our extraneous song titles and writings to be no more than mysterious obliquity. While sensible to its creators, our writings have long been misunderstood or simply unintelligible to most. "A Fifth Conjuration" transcends any mystical balderdash with a decisive and intentional approach: realigning the senses with their most natural state in the nervous system through the aid of sound.

In this, our Fifth Conjuration, you will engage a journey of the slight and subtle where the senses may become aware of the silence from which sounds emerge and the spaciousness that resides between thought and stillness.

Label: Black Montanas/Metalhit
Format: Digital Mp3

Track list:

The Great Deluge
When Skies Above Were Not Yet Named
Kneeling to the Throne of Winter (Confidence and Lust)
Nanna's Dreaming (The Endless Night of Crucifixion)
Sigillum Sanctum
Ra Hoor Khuit

Members:
Equitant - Unseen Voices, Synthesizers, Effects, Percussives and Lyrical Magic(k).
Devamitra - Voices from the Underworld, Synthesizers, Sampling, Effects, Bows, Sigils, Bones, Triangle, Indian Tamboura, Tin Whistle and Ritual Percussives.
Woyzek - Additional Synthesizers, Effects, Saxophone & Ritual Percussives.
Marc Merinee - Synthesizers and Effects.
ArkanumX - Synthesizers and Effects.

Scott Ian of ANTHRAX and Joe Trohman of FALL OUT BOY recently spoke to MTV News about THE DAMNED THINGS — their collaborative project with Andy Hurley (FALL OUT BOY), Rob Caggiano (ANTHRAX) and Keith Buckley (EVERY TIME I DIE), Josh Newton (EVERY TIME I DIE).

"It's gratifying," Trohman stated about the fans' reaction to the new group. "I love the band and love the record, and everybody else in the band loves the band and loves the record, and that's, first and foremost, the most important thing to me. And we all have made music in the past partly for ourselves and partly for other people, so it's nice to see people digging it whether they want to or not. ... I'm actually happy to see that there's people that really, really like it, or don't like it, because of the fact that we're able to invoke some sort of strong feeling. It's a good thing, I think."

According to Trohman and Ian, THE DAMNED THINGS will remain, for the foreseeable future at least, their main focus.

"We've got tours lined up to the summer at this point — actually, options and opportunities to do stuff worldwide all the way through October. And that's obviously what we're hoping for. We were hoping we'd make a record that would stand on its own and not be about, like, 'Well, let's just book this band because it's these guys from this band and these guys from this band,'" Ian said. "It's really been about the record. The record's been the driving force. If anything, with the success of [first single] '[We've Got a] Situation [Here]' on the radio, it's been more about that than even who's in the band anymore, and that's kind of what we've been hoping for, and that's why we get to go on tour, and that's why we'll keep playing shows. ... Really, when it comes down to it, nobody really cares who's in the band if you make a crappy record."

Singer Gérard Fois from French metallers ETERNAL FLIGHT has issued the following update:

"Recently you maybe learned that drummer Ricardo Confessori (ANGRA, SHAMAN) and guitarists Mark McGee (ex-VICIOUS RUMORS) and Chris Caffery (SAVATAGE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) played on our new album.

But we have excellent news: Rob Love from the Swedish rising stars DYNASTY made also some smoking solos on two songs!

For me, Rob is one of the best guitarists that emerged over the last 5 years! You will be impressed!

But don’t get me wrong, Julien Bouvier our “new” guitarist is also great and his skills are as good as the guests, don’t say you haven’t
been warned!

So we have an “army” of killer guitarists on this album don’t you think?"

Reactivated late '80s/early '90s technical-thrash metallers BELIEVER have finished recording their new album for an early 2011 release via Metal Blade Records. The CD was produced by Trauma Team Productions and will be mixed by Kevin Gutierrez (RAVEN, PROJECT: FAILING FLESH, DECEASED, DYSRYTHMIA, GARDEN OF SHADOWS) at Assembly Line Studios. The band is once again pursuing new musical territory.

Commented guitarist/vocalist Kurt Bachman: "We decided to bring back some of the orchestral feel of 'Dimensions' by utilizing more layered guitars, keys and melody with different vocal arrangements. There is still the 'BELIEVER' sound, but the musical progression continues for us."

Added keyboardist/programmer Jeff King: "We revamped our writing and recording process so that everyone could work at their peak times. We also spent a lot of time finding the right combinations of gear to achieve the sounds we wanted.

"Each BELIEVER album has had its own sound that distinguishes it from the preceding album, and this project is no different in that respect. You still have the core elements that make it recognizable as BELIEVER, but the guitar tone is heavier, the songs are tighter and musically it seems more refined."

Japan's rock experimentalists BORIS are well known not only for their epic discography — as they've unleashed multiple releases to the public every year in countless formats since their formation in the early '90s — but also for their captivating live performances they're constantly booking, playing live throughout every habitable continent on the planet over the past decade and a half. The next official release from the band will bring fans a bit of both worlds, in the form of the band's first official domestic live DVD from the band!

Set for release via Southern Lord on January 18, 2011, the "Live In Japan" DVD captures the intriguing power, majesty and unique psychedelia that only BORIS can deliver, and will bring the band's incredible stage act to fans who have never witnessed the band live, as well as diehards who venture out to see the act every chance they get. The footage on this official DVD release was filmed in Tokyo at the final show of the band's 2008 "Smile" world tour. Featuring a full set of eleven BORIS originals filmed at Daikanyama Unit, as well as three bonus videos from a set at the Shibuya Club Quattro, this DVD is quite special since BORIS actually play on other continents much more often than in their home country!

"Live In Japan" DVD track listing:

01. Flower Sun Rain
02. Buzz-In
03. Laser Beam
04. Pink
05. Statement
06. Floor Shaker
07. Rainbow
08. My Neighbor Satan
09. Ka Re Ha Te Ta Sa Ki - No One's Grieve
10. You Were Holding An Umbrella
11. " "

Bonus tracks from Shibuya Club Quattro:

12. Tokyo Wonder Land
13. A Bao A Qu
14. Farewell