ARTISTdirect.com editor Rick Florino recently conducted an interview with MÖTLEY CRÜE/SIXX: A.M. bassist. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

ARTISTdirect.com: Where are you at with the new SIXX: A.M. record?

Nikki: The record's just about finished. It's pretty magical! The thing about SIXX: A.M. is we've set ourselves up for failure by saying that we don't tour. We had never even intended to do videos. We've been pushed into things like touring out of demand, which is a nice feeling. It's not like, "We're going to write songs. We're going to form a band. We're going to get a logo. We're going to go on tour. We're going to release a record." I do that in MÖTLEY CRÜE, and I love that. I've done it in other bands. To do a project that's set up to not do any of that stuff is really exciting. We write some music, and we don't even know if we'll record it. We record it, but we don't know if we're going to release it. Now, we know we're going to release the music, but we don't know anything more than that. I know there's a band, an album and I don't know what'll come after that [Laughs]. It's kind of exciting! It seems like uncharted territory.

ARTISTdirect.com: The first album had a real cinematic side to it.

Nikki: There's a lot of that organically inside the band, so the new record has those elements as well.

ARTISTdirect.com: If you were to compare this new SIXX: A.M. record to a movie or combination of movies, what would you compare it to?

Nikki: It's very positive — but from a serial killer's point of view [Laughs]. That's really all I can say. That probably won't even make sense to anybody, and that's okay too [Laughs].

ARTISTdirect.com: What was it like to re-approach "Shout at the Devil" with HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD?

Nikki: It was cool! Danny Lohner was producing HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, and he told me the guys were going to do a version of "Shout at the Devil". I said, "Cool, when do you want me to show up and play bass?" And, he said, "Really?" I was like, "Yeah!" It's funny because they didn't think that they could "afford" me, and I go, "Why would I charge someone to play bass?" He started laughing! I just said, "Listen, I'll be there at 4 p.m. and I'll be gone at 4:04 p.m. Just be sure the bass is tuned. That's how long the song is. I'm going to do one take and be in-and-out." I drove up the street, pulled into his driveway, walked in the house, the bass was plugged in, I played the song one time and left [Laughs]. He just said, "Do what you do!" I've never even heard it, but I loved that they were doing the song and I like the band so I just went for it.

ARTISTdirect.com: Is there any chance we'll see another book from you?

Nikki: I'm working on a book right now. It's 99 percent finished. "The Heroin Diaries" was really a year in my life, and it showed my addiction and recovery. If you to peel the onion and go deeper to the core, you've got to go back to when I was six- or seven-years-old. You have to go back to what happened to me as a child and how I got from that point to being a teenager, then from being a teen to starting MÖTLEY CRÜE and becoming an addict. Then recovery… we know that story, but what we don't know is what happened when I was so young and how that, going through my brain, was filtered out into all of these different artistic things I do. I'm a photographer. All of my photography is based around a lot of what happened when I was much younger. A lot of what I do in MÖTLEY CRÜE is based around that too, but people don't know what that is. By reading the book, you're going to start when I was a kid. It's exciting for me because the book has about 150 of my photographs in it as well, so you start to see the tie-in between who I was as a kid, who I am as an adult and then what happened in that journey and how this fucked-up brain of mine works. You see why it works the way it does, why I'm so positive in my life and why all of that positivity turns into successful things that I do. Everyone I'm around is successful because I don't lose at anything I do, and it all goes back to the beginning.

ARTISTdirect.com: Do you have a favorite memory of when you toured with Ozzy back in the day?

Nikki: I think it'd have to be Ozzy going on stage, pulling up his dress with just white underwear on, grabbing the mic, looking at the crowd and saying, "Stop, stop, stop…I'm not an animal." The audience lost their mind, and the band broke into some song. It wasn't an act. He'd been up for days, and he was losing his mind. Seeing that happen, I was like, "Fuck, this guy's taken it farther than I ever want to take it." Ozzy's done so much in his life, and he also comes from a place of being positive all the time. Everything he touches is also successful because of that. It's a journey to get to this place that's made us who we are. I'm excited we're going out with Ozzy. He's my neighbor; it's kind of bizarre! He lives a few doors down from me, and it's just a weird place we've ended up in our lives.

German "true" metallers STORMWARRIOR have inked a deal with Massacre Records. The band's fourth album, tentatively titled "Heathen Warrior", will be released before the end of this year as a limited digipak with bonus material, CD and numbered gatefold vinyl. The mixing and mastering will be handled by Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, HAMMERFALL, PRETTY MAIDS) at Jailhouse Studios in Denmark while the artwork will be created by Uwe Karczewski. According to a press release, "Metalheads can expect another combinationof explosive guitar works, catchy hooks but also some new toppings to the "typical STORMWARRIOR sound!"

Swedish progressive metallers KATATONIA will kick off their North American tour — dubbed "Night Over North America" — on September 8 in Baltimore, Maryland. To coincide with the 26-date U.S. and Canadian trek, Peaceville Records will release a special edition of the band's acclaimed 2009 studio album, "Night Is The New Day", in a hardback mediabook, featuring a 20-page booklet and bonus track, "Ashen".

The special edition of "Night Is The New Day" will be available on August 24.

"Night Is The New Day" special edition track listing:

01. Forsaker
02. The Longest Year
03. Idle Blood
04. Onward Into Battle
05. Liberation
06. The Promise Of Deceit
07. Nephilim
08. New Night
09. Inheritance
10. Day and Then The Shade
11. Ashen (exclusive bonus track)
12. Departer

"Undead Army", the new video from Swedish old-school death metallers SINNERS BURN, can be viewed below. The clip was produced, cut and directed by Jacob Johansson of Planets Align.

"Undead Army" comes off SINNERS BURN's third album, "Insanity Warmachine", which will be released on August 6 via Khaosmaster Productions. The CD was recorded at The Undead Studios and was mixed and mastered by Patrick Bruss (CRYPTICUS).

Formed in 2007 by former members from PAGANIZER and influenced by bands like GRAVE, DISMEMBER and early ENTOMBED, SINNERS BURN has kept the old-school death metal spirit alive.

SINNERS BURN is:

Marcus Ankarberg - Vocals
Richard Karlsson - Guitar
Jocke Ringdahl - Drums
Fredrik Nilsson - Bass

Finnish melodic metallers GHOST MACHINERY will release their second album, "Out For Blood", in Europe on August 27 and in North America on October 5 via Germany's Limb Music. The cover artwork (see below) was designed by Rainer Kalwitz, who has previously worked with such artists as METAL CHURCH, SHADOW GALLERY, PRAYING MANTIS and DARE.

"Out For Blood" track listing:

01. Face Of Evil
02. Out For Blood
03. Guilty (guest solo from Olaf Lenk of AT VANCE)
04. Blood From Stone
05. Name Remains In History
06. Fortune Teller
07. Lost In Time
08. Sentenced To Life (In Paradise)
09. Mask Of Madness
10. Eternal Damnation
11. Send Me An Angel (BLACKFOOT cover)

The song "Face Of Evil" is now available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

German extreme metallers DEATH OF DESIRE, whose recording lineup includes MAYHEM drummer Hellhammer (a.k.a. Jan Axel Blomberg), have unveiled the cover artwork for their upcoming debut album, "ANTIhuman". According to the band, "The main idea for the cover art was designed by [guitarist] Morbid and F.Z. from the black metal band KYTHRONE is the man responsible for this evil 3D composition."

In other news, a "nice evil instrumental" track entitled "Patricidium" has been made available for free download via the band's MySpace page.

DEATH OF DESIRE recently announced the addition of keyboardist Arcane (pictured below; EYES OF NOCTUM) to the group's ranks.

"ANTIhuman" tentative track listing:

01. Tainted With Death (intro)
02. Into The Void
03. Kingdom
04. Progenies Of Doom
05. Insane Profetic Slaves (interlude)
06. Frozen
07. Tones Of Death
08. Severed Soul (passage)
09. Black Flame
10. Inner Sanctum
11. Rest My Ashes In Hell (outro)
12. A-S1 (instrumental) (bonus track)

Dutch singer Anneke Van Giersbergen (AGUA DE ANNIQUE, ex-THE GATHERING) will release a new live album, "Live In Europe", on October 15. She states, "The vast majority of the 12 songs were recorded during our spring 2010 tour in France and Spain. The touring band consisted of; Ruud Jolie (guitar), Jacques de Haard (bass) and Rob Snijders (drums). Yours truly sang, shook her booty and played piano and guitar. My front-of-house engineer Erik-Jan Dodd recorded and mixed the album. I'm really excited that the energy of a live show is captured well on this release!

"There will be three brand new up-tempo songs on it: 'Fury', 'Laugh It Out' and a song called 'Who I Am'. I wrote that one together with Devin Townsend while we were working on his 'Addicted' album. I've also re-recorded an old favorite of mine: 'Shrink'. I wrote this song when I was 19 years old and I first recorded it for a demo I made in 1992. It ended up on THE GATHERING's album 'Nighttime Birds' (1997) and now it's revived on 'Live in Europe'. It's a song dear to my heart and I'm proud to share it with you in a new arrangement.

"I had already chosen a picture for the album cover when Mehmet Turgut sent me a photo from a shoot I did with him in Turkey earlier this year. I fell in love with that shot instantly! Arda Aktas made a beautiful cover design."

"Live In Europe" track listing:

01. Intro
02. The World
03. My Girl
04. Who I Am
05. Day After Yesterday
06. Hey Okay!
07. Fury
08. Beautiful One
09. Adore
10. I Want
11. Laugh It Out
12. Witnesses
13. Shrink

Pro-Mark Corporation conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER when the band opened for IRON MAIDEN in Houston, Texas on June 11, 2010. You can now watch the chat in three parts below.

DREAM THEATER supported IRON MAIDEN on a North American tour which kicked off on June 9 in Dallas, Texas and concluded on July 20 in Washington, D.C.

In a recent interview with Blistering.com, Portnoy stated about his band's decision to tour with IRON MAIDEN, "When you get the call from MAIDEN, you pack your bags, hit the road and go.

"It wasn't in our plans. We had planned on being off the road at this time, but when the opportunity arose, we took it.

"They are one of the few bands that formed the blueprint for DREAM THEATER.

"When me and John [Petrucci, guitars] and John [Myung, bass] formed the band, it was MAIDEN and RUSH. Those were the two bands that were our heroes; what we wanted DREAM THEATER to be.

"Even though we don't follow them today like we used to when we were kids, the fact will never change they were our heroes when we formed and one of the few that are a perfect match for us to open for."

French old-school death metallers AFFLICTION GATE have issued the following update:

"First of all, we finally decided to add our session live lead guitarist as an official member of the band now: Bobby (member of old-school thrash metal band HUNGRY JOHNNY) showed a real involvement, interest and dedication to AFFLICTION GATE so we came to the conclusion that he was the best for this job more than ever.

"We are working on new material to complete and release a mini-CD, including three brand new tracks (one of them being a collaboration with Rogga Johansson of PAGANIZER, BONE GNAWER, ex-EDGE OF SANITY, etc.) and a MASSACRE cover, 'Corpsegrinder'. This recording will also appear on a bonus seven-inch EP coming with the 'Aeon Of Nox...' limited LP version. It's a bit early to speak about a release date but we really hope that both MCD and LP+EP will be available for early 2011 both still on Metal Inquisition Records (Germany), of course.

"A slightly alternate version of 'The Worst Is Yet To Come' with some different arrangements might be recorded for a promo sampler of Metal Inquisition Records.

"The idea of an official video clip for the song 'Knights Of Scorn' is on hold. Not sure if it will ever happen, anyway, as it's not a priority at the moment. Time will tell...

"We have the immense privilege to announce that Rick Rozz (MANTAS, DEATH, MASSACRE, M.INC) agreed to guest on our upcoming recording later this year.

"It's just fucking awesome and unbelievable for us to have this death metal originator at our side whose work on milestones as [DEATH's] 'Leprosy' and [MASSACRE's] 'From Beyond' had such an impact on us as death metal fans back in the very early '90s and still today through our music! He will contribute with [solos] on one of our new tracks and on our infamous 'Corpsegrinder' [MASSACRE] cover version."

AFFLICTION GATE's debut album, "Aeon of Nox (From Darkness Comes Liberation)", was released last year via Metal Inquisition (the thrash/death metal division of No Colours Records).

NIGHTWISH keyboardist / founder Tuomas Holopainen has issued the following update:

"Good day everyone!

It's 9 AM and I'm sipping my morning coffee while reading the latest NHL news and writing this down. When did I turn into a blog-writing computer-geek?

It's been very hot, we've been struck by a never-seen-before heat wave for the past few weeks and I can't recall when was the last time I wore socks or slept under sheets. No complaints, though, water sports and boating never felt so glorious as during the past days.

We got something done in the arranging - the - new - songs - front, too, even though the 35 C - rehearsal room isn't the most alluring place just now.

The "Nukkumatti" song, as we call it, is among my top favorites of the new stuff, a pounding, twisted and chorusless ghost train ride is sure to bring a smile to your face. At least it has done so to everyone who has heard it. Danny Elfman goes humppa.

Then we took over a song which was more or less tailor-made for Troy. Loads of pipes to battle / to jam with Emppu and a raving c-part which was born after 10 pints of ale and loads of Old Toby. One of the cheerier tunes of the album, and a nice little cloudbuster.

Paddle faster, I hear banjos!

Song #8 takes us to whole new territories. Something completely different from anything we've ever done. All of us need to find new ways to play our instruments and use vocals for that piece. A terrificly challenging and mind-expanding song. I can't wait to hear Anette and Marco sing that one.

On Sunday night the fellas from NORTHERN KINGS took over the campsite. We had agreed they can come and share our rehearsal facilities since they have a couple of shows coming up. Tony (Kakko) and Kai (Hahto) greeted me with 2 bottles of Yellow Tail which we enjoyed by a still lake at dusk. Finnish hippie-geezer-national-scenery - romanticism at its best!

Thanks guys for visiting, we'll meet soon again.

Time to dive into Marco's vocals today. And maybe for song #9. And that 5kg trout that's been avoiding us for the past week.

Will write more soon (or somebody will), all best!"

Italian symphonic metal masters RHAPSODY OF FIRE will release an epic monument called "The Cold Embrace Of Fear - A Dark Romantic Symphony" on October 15 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Comments RHAPSODY OF FIRE guitarist Luca Turilli: "For this special CD we composed a unique song of around 35 minutes divided in seven 'acts.'

"Looking at the title, you can easily imagine that such long and epic song will show the most cinematic and orchestral side of our band, all our passion for the world of cinema we love so much and that always represented our main influence while composing the RHAPSODY's music.

"Essentially it is a long huge song, sounding very symphonic, full of orchestral sections very soundtrack-oriented, narrations and spoken parts. More than in other cases we tried to create a real movie atmosphere with very dynamic musical results, also thanks to the help of the English actors that gave voice to different charachters. You will just need to close your eyes and explore those new emotional dimensions we wrote the music for."

The lyrics of this monumental, epic symphony are based on the "dark secret saga" and represent a new chapter, directly connected to the band's latest album, "The Frozen Tears Of Angels".

Luca: "After the long journey to the icy frozen northlands at the borders of the known world, while facing concrete natural obstacles and the inner demons lying in the depths of their conscience, the five main charachters reach the ancient gothic fortress of Har-Kuun, a real monument of evil trapped between ice and snow, the mystic place where the Erian's book could be finally found.

"'The Cold Embrace Of Fear' tells about the entrance of those bravehearts in the ancestral world of Har-Kuun and the dramatic search for the holy book of the angels, only possible way to understand something more about the dark secret threatening the whole known world. Also in this case I liked to create particular 'bridges' connecting the new chapter of the saga with our modern life on the basis of symbolism, ancient wisdom and spiritual evolution.

"To someone who knows something about modern psychology and the study of the different 'self,' the hidden geometries and gothic labyrinths of Har-Kuun will reveal themselves very clearly."

Once again, legendary actor Christopher Lee was chosen for the spoken parts as a main narrator. "We couldn't imagine to release something like this without his fundamental participation," Luca says. "Sir Lee is one member of the RHAPSODY OF FIRE's family since a lot of time and we love him not only as an actor but also as man. Because of his great and majestic personality he has surely the aura of a king of the ancient times."

Reformed heavy metal legends ACCEPT have inked a Japanese deal with Universal. The band's new album, "Blood Of The Nations", will be released in Japan on September 4. According to a press release, the interest in the new CD by the Japanese media is "at an all-time high," and the first press representatives are on their way to ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann's home in Nashville, Tennessee to conduct face-to-face-interviews.

Commented Hoffmann: "Japan was our last missing component in the international marketplace, which we have completed now with Universal! They are the perfect partners for us over there.

"Japan has always been a terrific market for us. We had tremendous success there in the past, so we are very happy to come back to Japan after all these years.

"Rock music is still a big thing in Japan and every good rock band in the world has Japan on their wish list. We can see from our website that we have a lot of fans there.

"We are excited and looking forward to bring them our new album and our great live shows."

CTV.ca recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine about his soon-to-be-published autobiography, "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir". A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On his journey from a neglect-filled childhood, to the dangerous excesses of his rock n' roll lifestyle, to today's more sobering existence as a family man who has found God — a persona that doesn't quite jive with the typical metal archetype:

"I think in the beginning there were a lot of people who were very angry because they'd lost their guitar player, their singer, their frontman, their Dave Mustaine. (But) if you go back and look at all my lyrics now, there's a lot of God in it."

On METALLICA, the band he was booted from in 1983 due to his excessive drug and alcohol use:

[quote from book] "Without my songs and my solos — without my energy — I don't know that METALLICA ever would have become the band that it was."

On suffering through many problems, including a near career-ending arm-injury, the near-disintegration of his marriage, and several stints in rehab:

"Heroin was a terrible experience for us. It was part of my life for 13 years."

On how MEGADETH's back catalogue offers clues to the progress of their downward spiral:

"You can see where the different types of drugs changed, where the band changed. The heroin and the cocaine use, and the debauchery, and the fighting and the theft and stealing and robbing."

On how religion saved his life, protected his family and kept him going as a member of MEGADETH:

"When I got saved it wasn't about getting me saved. It was about me getting my life right with God, getting my family out of what looked liked extremely dire straits ... and just making a really good decision for once in my life."

On how he has no plans for stopping:

"I think that I'll be a musician for the rest of my days."

Fan-filmed video footage of QUEENSRŸCHE's July 25, 2010 performance at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California as part of the band's current Queensrÿche Cabaret tour can be viewed below.

QUEENSRŸCHE's Queensrÿche Cabaret tour is being filmed for future DVD release. The trek, which kicked off last Thursday, was previously described by the group as "Teatro ZinZanni meets Cirque du Soleil, with the band performing their hits and never-heard-before selections accompanied by go-go dancers, burlesque dancers, drag queens, a juggler, ballet dancer, trapeze artist, a contortionist and others. Definitely a fun-filled evening like no other full of freaks and shrieks!"

Legendary singer and bassist Glenn Hughes (ex-DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) will release his autobiography, "The Life, Near Death, And Rebirth Of A Rock Star: Deep Purple And Beyond", later this year via Foruli Publications. The book, co-written with Joel McIver and featuring an introduction by METALLICA's Lars Ulrich, will appear in a luxury first edition complete with rare photos and an exclusive 10" vinyl EP, "The Life Of A Rock Star", featuring the following all-new recordings:

* "What Is A Woman's Role?" (TRAPEZE, written by Hughes)
* "Holy Man" (DEEP PURPLE, written by Hughes, David Coverdale, Jon Lord)
* "Dying To Live" (brand new acoustic Glenn Hughes track)

The EP was produced by Glenn Hughes and recorded by Jono Brown at Word of Mouth Recording in California in June 2010

At A Loss Recordings will release the upcoming solo full-length from forward-thinking metal purveyor Bruce Lamont. The record is planned for a mid-fall release, with more details on the actual album to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Most widely recognized for his saxophone and vocal work fronting Chicago mindwarp metallers YAKUZA, Bruce Lamont has also contributed to a plethora of other projects, including BLOODIEST (featuring members of 90 DAY MEN, STERLING), CIRCLE OF ANIMALS (with Sanford Parker of MINSK and THE HIGH CONFESSIONS), DECAYIST (with Blake Judd of NACHTMYSTIUM and TWILIGHT) and SICK GAZELLE (with Eric Block and Sanford Parker). He's also recorded with SIGH, EAST WEST BLAST TEST, MINSK, NACHTMYSTIUM, RABID RABBIT, POISON ARROWS, SECTARA, BRUTAL TRUTH and HEX MACHINE.

In July 2006 Lamont made his solo live debut, utilizing saxophones, guitar, voice, harp, percussion and looping effects. He's since performed alongside countless musicians, including Scott Kelly (NEUROSIS, SHRINEBUILDER), John Cale (VELVET UNDERGROUND), Toby Driver (KAYO DOT) and Daniel Higgs (LUNGFISH).

Andrea Larrabee of SuicideGirls.com recently conducted an interview with KORN frontman Jonathan Davis. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

SuicideGirls.com: How did the BP boycott come about?

Jonathan Davis: That thing started out, for me, just seeing what was going on. I was just disgusted with that company. Myself, personally, I wasn't going to buy any of their products. I told my management about it and they're like, well, let's boycott it if you feel that strongly about it. So we started the whole boycott just to send a message to those companies. If enough people don't buy their products then they'll feel it. We're not going to put them out of business or anything, it's just [about] trying to say that you need to be held accountable for destroying these people's lives. Why didn't [they] spend that extra money to make sure that this didn't happen? Hopefully by us doing that — and we're getting more and more bands that are joining everyday — it'll send a message to those oil companies to spend the money to make sure it doesn't happen again. Because it's only one well - there's hundreds of them in that gulf, and thousands in the whole word. They need to be held accountable to make sure the safety measures are there.

SuicideGirls.com: This kind of corner-cutting seems to be something that's endemic in the whole industry. I don't know if you remember the Exxon Valdez spill that happened 21 years ago.

Jonathan Davis: I remember that as a kid, yeah.

SuicideGirls.com: That was basically caused because Exxon were too cheap to repair or replace a broken sonar on the tanker. And the situation after the spill was exacerbated because the company was too cheap to implement safety measures they'd already promised were in place which were a condition of operating out of the port in Valdez. Two decades on, we've learned nothing, and are dealing with a similar but far worse situation.

Jonathan Davis: Well, BP, basically, if they'd have spent seven million more dollars and two more days this would have never have happened. It's just them being cheap.

SuicideGirls.com: What do you mean by that?

Jonathan Davis: It came out on air that if they'd have used a more expensive — the proper — concrete, which would have cost seven million more bucks and an extra two days for them to pour it, that that wouldn't have happened. All that stuff, it's just retarded.

SuicideGirls.com: If we're going to prevent anything like this happening again in the future we have to penalize BP today as a deterrent for other companies who might be tempted to put profits above safety. And it feels like BP have left us to clear up their social and environmental mess, while their priority clean-up-wise appears to be sucking up the oil so they can sell it.

Jonathan Davis: Yeah. Like they had the idea to funnel it into a tanker. They're worried about the fucking oil and not the people [whose livelihoods] they've destroyed. I mean they've got more money than god — we'll just pay everybody and everything will be fine. But there's no amount of money that these people could get. Some of those places [that have been affected] have been around for hundreds of years. They've been passed down from family to family — like this oyster factory on the gulf coast I saw. This guy, his dad gave it to him, and his grandfather, and his grandfather before that. It's been like a hundred years. And they're going to have to close their doors because they don't know what's going to happen, if the oysters are going to be ruined forever.

SuicideGirls.com: Knowing what happened after the Exxon Valdez disaster gives me huge cause for concern with regards to this spill. I mean those affected by Exxon Valdez were originally awarded a $5 billion settlement, but the oil company, because they had deep pockets and they could, appealed and appealed against it. After being held up in court for years, the settlement was ultimately reduced to $507 million, and it took two decades for the first payments to reach those who were entitled to it, by which time people had committed suicide, succumbed to illness caused by the pollution, and their livelihoods and those of their children had been destroyed. The money got there way too late to help, and it just seems like the same thing is going to play out this time.

Jonathan Davis: It probably will because those companies are untouchable. Obviously the government's not going to do anything about it because [the politicians] make back door deals with them. The bottom line is oil is our life. Our wars are fought over it. Everything is surrounded by this stupid fucking brown shit that comes out of the earth...[It's something that] everybody has a vested interest in so it's up to the people - us - not just sit by and let shit happen and depend on our government to work it out. It's on us to do something.

SuicideGirls.com: You talk about oil being our lives, but really the wealth generated by it only benefits a tiny percentage of already obscenely wealthy Americans. I had a very profound experience a few years ago when I went to Norway for the Øya Festival. While I was there I learned that a massive percentage of the country's oil wealth goes back to the people. The money pays for health care, social services, education, and the arts. Meanwhile, the oil companies drilling in California don't have to pay any royalties to the local or federal governments - even though the oil is being sucked from beneath land that belongs to all of us. And we have a bankrupt state.

Jonathan Davis: I know, it's ridiculous. It's so ridiculous. There's countries in Europe and all around the world, people got it together. It just seems like here, in the States, it's so fucked up. I see it first hand because in the town I live in, where we did the "Oildale" video, there's hundreds of pumps around in Oildale but it's the most impoverished, fucked-up place I think I've ever been to. All these people who live near the oil fields, they don't receive anything. They're poor, it's overrun with drugs, it's disgusting, and if we [got] something out of it it'd be amazing. Just the fact that in Norway, they've got social services, art, everything — fuck! I want to move to Norway.

According to The Pulse of Radio, SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison, who's out touring with ROB ZOMBIE, has confirmed that the band will continue making music despite the death in May of bassist Paul Gray. While SLIPKNOT is only in the very earliest stages of planning its next record, Jordison says they've already decided they will not recruit a new bassist: "There will be no other bass players besides Jim [Root, guitarist], Mick [Thomson, guitarist] and me, more than likely. Everyone actually kind of plays guitar in the band, so I think we're all gonna play bass on the record. We're not gonna have anyone come in. But live, we'll deal with that when it comes."

Norwegian band VREID has issued the following update:

"New booking agency: We are pleased to announce that German agency ICS Festival Service GmbH, has become our booking agency for Europe (minus Norway) and Asia. ICS is a well established agency, and we are happy to be a part of their roster. We have already started working on tours and festivals for 2011 with ICS.

"DVD coming soon: Our first DVD is soon to be released. It will hit the streets in September (exact date will follow soon). The DVD is entitled 'Vreid Goddamnit' and will contain the complete VREID concert at Inferno festival, Rockefeller, Oslo, April 10, 2009. The concert was filmed with seven cameras and mixed by Hváll at Studio 1184. There is also lots of extra material at the DVD, more info on this will follow soon with the release date.

"European tour in the autumn: To support the release of 'Vreid Goddamnit' we will do a European tour in October. The tour is almost fully booked, and info on this tour will be announced very soon.

"Our main priority this year has been working with our fifth album. There has been several changes around this time. A lot of new equipment has been used, Hváll has rebuilt his Studio 1184, and set up a completely new system. Also this is the first time the entire production is done by ourselves. Everything from pre-production, all recording and mixing. This has been very refreshing and liberating, and we are extremely satisfied with the production for this album.

"We had a lineup change as Strom joined us on guitar at the end of last year. This is his first recording with VREID, and he has made a tremendous contribution for the album. He has been working closely with Sture and Hváll with the guitar arrangements, and definitive set his mark on the songs.

"10 songs has been recorded, and it seem that nine of them will make it for the album.

"How does it sound?? Bloody great, if you ask us. Everyone seems very satisfied with the album, and the spirit within the band is fantastic.

"After working intensely in the studio for the last half year, we are now taking a break from the studio, before we wrap things up in September/October.

"The album will be released early 2011 through Indie Recordings. We will keep you posted with updates during the autumn."

According to The Pulse of Radio, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna has set September 14 as the release date for his long-in-the-works debut solo album, titled "Avalon". A first single from the disc, called "Sinner's Prayer", will arrive at rock radio stations next week. Erna finished work on the record in early 2009 but has held off on releasing it until after GODSMACK completed and issued its fifth studio album this year, called "The Oracle".

Erna told The Pulse of Radio his solo effort doesn't fit into one musical genre: "I'm not sure what category it falls in," he said. "I think ultimately, you know, it's somewhat of a rock record, but it's not really a rock record. It's very eclectic and it's very spiritual and it's very hypnotic and primitive. It'll be interesting to see how the public reacts to it. But all in all, people I have played it for so far have been honestly blown away by it."

GODSMACK has scattered dates lined up for the rest of this summer, including August 7 at Rock On The Range Canada in Winnipeg; August 9 in Sturgis, South Dakota at the annual Sturgis Bike Rally; and August 14 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Maria Voutiriadou recently conducted an interview with SLAYER's Kerry King for Metal-Temple.com. The following is an excerpt:

Q: Do you plan to take the Big Four (METALLICA, Slayer, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX) (to the) US?

A: "I hope so. They just streamed the Serbia show, they showed it in the theaters, cinemas and they just replayed it again yesterday in the US. It’s cool for people to see but it’s not like being there."

Q: How did you decide to play the entire Seasons In The Abyss (album)?

A: The fucking promoters wanted us to do it.

Q: You don’t have your own opinion on this?

A: Well, I didn’t want to do Reign In Blood no more because we have done it everywhere. So, Seasons In The Abyss was my first choice after Reign In Blood. Hopefully, after all that touring with Metallica and stuff, and if we go on tour out again, I’d like to play the new album."

"Black Tide", a brand new track from Montreal technical death metallers BENEATH THE MASSACRE, is available for streaming at this location. The song comes off the band's new five-song EP, "Marée Noire", which in North America on September 14 via Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to 2008's "Dystopia" was co-produced by Chris Donaldson, known for his work with CRYPTOPSY, along with BENEATH THE MASSACRE guitarist Chris Bradley and the rest of the band. It was mixed by Donaldson and mastered by Alan Douches (HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL, CONVERGE).

"Marée Noire" will be made available as a limited-edition red seven-inch single and regular CD. A pre-order for each format is now available, as well as for bundles, including a brand new shirt design.

The track listing for the EP is as follows:

01. The Casket You Sleep In
02. Black Tide
03. Drill Baby Drill
04. Designed To Strangle
05. Anomic

SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor has told U.K. radio DJ and television presenter Zane Lowe that it is still unclear whether the band will continue in the wake of bassist Paul Gray's recent passing.

"It's too soon right now, but we're still talking, all of us are talking and everthing's good but we'll see," he said in a video interview which can be seen below.

Corey's words seem to strike a less optimistic tone than those of SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison, who recently said that there will "absolutely" be another record from the band despite Gray's death. Jordison was asked during an interview with Fuse TV's Juliya Chernetsky whether SLIPKNOT would record again, to which he replied, "Absolutely. I just wanna thank all the fans for their support on my loss. But there will be another record for sure." He did not give any hints about when SLIPKNOT would regroup, but it's not likely to be until 2012.
Jordison made his comments at a stop on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Drink Festival, where he is currently playing drums for ROB ZOMBIE. Jordison also has a new album imminent from his side band, MURDERDOLLS.

Guitarist Jim Root recently said an interview at the Sonisphere festival web site that a "healing process" needs to take place before "we even think about whether or not SLIPKNOT will continue."

Root and Taylor are on the road now with STONE SOUR, whose new album, "Audio Secrecy", arrives on September 7.

Gray's body was found on May 24 in a suburban hotel room outside Des Moines, Iowa. A medical examiner ruled that the 38-year-old died of an accidental overdose of morphine and a synthetic form of morphine.

California-based death metallers GRAVEHILL have tapped Matt "Hellfiend" Harvey (EXHUMED, DEKAPITATOR, REPULSION, CRETIN) as their new permanent guitarist.

"I'm definitely psyched to wage war against posers with the GRAVEHILL boys," Harvey said in a statement. "The [recently completed 'Campaign Of Death Metal Purity'] tour [also featuring HOD and CARDIAC ARREST] was great, and I'm looking forward to raging with Thorgrimm, Abominator, Bodybag, and CorpseMolester as much as possible!"

Hellfiend will contribute to the songwriting process for GRAVEHILL's next album, "When All Roads Lead To Hell", which will be released in November at Trench Studios in Santa Ana, California with producer John Haddad. The mixing mastering will be handled by Ryan Butler at Arcane Digital Recording while the artwork will be created by Jeff Zornow. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Unholy Executioner", "Suffer No Man to Live", "When All Roads Lead To Hell", "Devil Worshipper" and "War Prayers".

Legendary IRON MAIDEN men - founding bassist Steve Harris and singer Bruce Dickinson - spoke with Thomas H. Green from Telegraph.co.uk recently about a number of topics including the band's forthcoming album, The Final Frontier. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Dickinson on being overshadowed by Eddie: "I don’t see why anyone would want to photograph us. It’s not like we’re budding George Clooneys. We don’t want to be recognised really, except for what we do. The celebrity thing, I mean, Lindsay Lohan – what’s she for? I look at that and throw my hands up in despair. Maybe we’re some kind of antidote to that.”

Harris on overcoming '70s punk scene in Britain: "Punk was only important in that we hated it and didn’t want anything to do with it. Punk came out at the time we were doing pub gigs and it was very difficult for us to get work because we didn’t look right. We were around before punk, from ’75, and then when punk began to really happen in ’77 people started making those comparisons which really annoyed us because we didn’t want them.”

Harris on Dickinson leaving the band in 1993: "I was a bit down when Bruce left - going through a divorce, probably at my lowest ebb ever, and for a couple of hours I thought about it [finishing Iron Maiden]. Then I thought, 'What are you doing? Just get out there and bloody do it’.”

Dickinson on Maiden fans being a breed apart: "“We seem to have more regenerations than Dr. Who. What’s good is that when each new generation discovers the band it’s usually on the cusp of a new album, then they work their way though the older albums.”

Slovenian black avantgardists DEKADENT have finalized the artwork and track listing for their third album, "Venera: Trial & Tribulation", which will be released this autumn via Pentacle Music.

Commented DEKADENT frontman Artur: "It was a challenge creating something bigger and more epic than our previous album.

"We decided to make our new album a bit more focused and direct, while still maintaining that feel of openness and etherial atmosphere.

"Having Garghuf (ENTHRONED, GORGOROTH, NEFARIUM) on drums was a thrill we will definitely try to relive sometime in the near future. Until then, we are glad by having Typh behind our drum artillery."

"Venera: Trial & Tribulation" track listing:

01. The Wound
02. Thralldom Decree
03. Raided
04. Paramours in Vain
05. Beautiful Fire
06. Craven
07. False Endearment
08. Providential Love
09. Sunday's Lament
10. In Pulchritude Adorned
11. Trial & Tribulation
12. Day of Solace