"For Crying Out Loud", a brand new song from FIREBIRD — the British power trio led by CARCASS/ex-NAPALM DEATH guitarist Bill Steer — is available for streaming using the audio player below. The track comes off the band's new album, "Double Diamond", which will be released in July via Trooper Entertainment. The CD features ten songs recorded at Graveland studios in 's-Graveland, Holland during January. According to the band, "this recording heralds a new chapter for the band, seeing [guitarist/vocalist Bill] Steer and [drummer Ludwig] Witt draw inspiration from some of their earliest metal favourites such as BUDGIE, FIST and TANK."

"Double Diamond" track listing:

01. Soul Saviour
02. Ruined
03. Bright Lights
04. For Crying Out Loud
05. Farewell
06. A Wing & A Prayer
07. Pound Of Flesh
08. Arabesque
09. Lose Your Delusions
10. Pantomime

Deals for Europe and the USA have yet to be confirmed. The band welcome any interested parties.

FIREBIRD last fall parted ways with bassist Smok Smoczkiewicz "due to personal reasons." Following his departure, Australia's Tom Sutton was drafted in to play bass with the group for a landmark appearance at Loud Park festival in Tokyo. A week later FIREBIRD performed on the main stage at Damnation Festival in Leeds, this time with Terry Waker handling bass duties. The year was rounded off with a Swedish tour, featuring initially Tom Sutton on bass and then Greyum May, formerly of THE BLACK HAND.

FIREBIRD's fifth album, "Grand Union", was released in the U.S. on June 23, 2009 via Rise Above Records' new North American distribution deal with Metal Blade. The CD, which came out in Europe on April 20, 2009, was recorded and mixed over a two-week period in May 2008 at Berno studios in Malmö, Sweden where FIREBIRD's second album, 2001's "Deluxe", was conceived.

Die Krefelder Power Metaller BLIND GUARDIAN haben den Titel ihres im späten Sommer erscheinenden Albums bekannt gegeben: Das Werk wird "At the Edge of Time" heißen.

Die neue BLIND GUARDIAN Single "A Voice In The Dark" kommt am 25. Juni 2010 in den Handel.

Track List:

01. A Voice In The Dark (5:45)
02. You're The Voice (4:43) (John Farnham Cover)
03. War Of The Thrones (5:20)

According to Times Online, veteran rock band QUEEN has quit the beleaguered music label EMI for its rival Universal.

QUEEN, which been with the heavily indebted British label for almost 40 years, is believed to have been lured to Universal with a new contract worth tens of millions of pounds.

People familiar with the situation said yesterday that QUEEN had moved to Universal primarily for the money. "EMI just decided they couldn't compete. It was too much to pay and they want to spend that money on developing new talent," one music industry insider said.

Another person close to the deal said that QUEEN, whose "Greatest Hits" has sold 5.4 million copies, making it the U.K.'s highest-selling album, would not move to Universal immediately. The band, whose former lead singer Freddie Mercury died in 1991, is expected to see out their contract, which expires at the end of this year

The Pulse of Radio reports that QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE will reissue their second album, 2000's "Rated R", this summer, according to NME.com. The re-release, which will probably arrive in July, will include B-sides and live recordings. Frontman Josh Homme said, "Am I surprised QUEENS have survived to the point where we have reissues? Yes! And that all the people (other players) on 'Rated R' are alive too."

"Rated R" was a critical and fan success, although it wasn't until 2002's "Songs For The Deaf" that QUEENS achieved mainstream success and radio airplay.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's last album was 2007's "Era Vulgaris", and the band has not performed since summer 2008.

The group is set to return to play the U.K.'s Reading and Leeds Festivals this August, along with some German dates.

Homme has been playing in THEM CROOKED VULTURES with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones, but has said work will begin on a new QUEENS record this fall.

STONE SOUR has set "Audio Secrecy" as the title of its third album, due late summer via Roadrunner Records. The band and producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, ALICE IN CHAINS, RUSH) are currently holed away at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, where they're putting finishing touches on the much-buzzed-about record.

"'Audio Secrecy' is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for," says lead singer Corey Taylor. "The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's REAL. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."

Relapse Records has announced a partnership with Perseverance Holdings Ltd. and the Schuldiner family to reissue the legendary catalog of heavy metal luminary Chuck Schuldiner and his bands DEATH, CONTROL DENIED and MANTAS.

Chuck Schuldiner's DEATH, one of the most important and influential metal bands of all-time, will see the first official digital releases of its legendary albums "Scream Bloody Gore", "Leprosy", "Spiritual Healing", "Human", "Individual Thought Patterns" and "The Sound Of Perseverance" tomorrow, May 11 at this location. These digital releases will come two days before Chuck Schuldiner would have celebrated his 43rd birthday.

Chuck Schuldiner passed away on December 13, 2001 at age 34 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

Relapse will also reissue an expanded version of the classic debut album, "The Fragile Art Of Existence", from Schuldiner's progressive heavy metal band CONTROL DENIED in late 2010 as well as the first-ever collection by his pre-DEATH project MANTAS. The expanded version of "The Fragile Art Of Existence" will include bonus tracks, extra band photography, expanded art and packaging and more. Details on both releases are forthcoming.

Long-range plans include the completion and official release of the final CONTROL DENIED album "When Man and Machine Collide". Recorded over 10 years ago at Morrisound Studios with producer Jim Morris, "When Man and Machine Collide" was tracked by Schuldiner but left incomplete upon Chuck's passing. A range of officially licensed DEATH, CONTROL DENIED, and MANTAS merchandise has also been issued here. Many classic album art designs will follow in the coming months, making some highly sought-after designs available officially for the first time in years.

Stay tuned to EmptyWords.org, the official DEATH / CONTROL DENIED / Chuck Schuldiner web site, and Relapse.com for more information.

Guitar World has released its second TAB book, featuring the music of DEATH.

"Death: The Deluxe Guitar and Bass Tablature Collection" is the first song transcription book based on the DEATH catalog. Created with the endorsement of Chuck Schuldiner's family, it features full transcriptions — including guitar, bass and lyrics — of eight classic DEATH songs, such as "Pull the Plug", "Zombie Ritual", "Flesh and the Power It Holds" and many others! Plus, "Death: The Deluxe Guitar and Bass Tablature Collection" includes a life- and career-spanning biography on Chuck Schuldiner, death metal's pioneer and spiritual guide.

Transcriptions include:

* Pull the Plug", as heard on "Leprosy"
* The Philosopher", as heard on "Individual Thought Patterns"
* Crystal Mountain", as heard on "Symbolic"
* Flesh and the Power It Holds", as heard on "The Sound of Perseverance"
* Scavenger of Human Sorrow", as heard on "The Sound of Perseverance"
* Zombie Ritual", as heard on "Scream Bloody Gore"
* Spiritual Healing", as heard on "Spiritual Healing"
* Together as One", as heard on "Human"

Video footage of WE ARE THE FALLEN, the group formed by EVANESCENCE co-founder Ben Moody (guitar) and other former members — John LeCompt (guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums) — along with "American Idol" powerhouse vocalist Carly Smithson and bassist Marty O'Brien (DISTURBED, KELLY CLARKSON, STATIC-X, METHODS OF MAYHEM,TOMMY LEE), performing a cover version of MADONNA's "Like A Prayer" on May 8, 2010 at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in New York City can be viewed below.

WE ARE THE FALLEN recorded a studio version "Like A Prayer" during the sessions for the band's debut album, "Tear The World Down", but opted to leave it off the record. According to Moody, the group is saving it for "something special."

"Tear The World Down" will be released on May 11 via Universal Republic Records.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Bury Me Alive
02. Burn
03. Paradigm
04. Don't Leave Me Behind
05. Sleep Well, My Angel
06. Through Hell
07. I Will Stay
08. Without You
09. St. John
10. I Am Only One
11. Tear The World Down

"Vinterriket", a brand new song from Swedish extreme metallers ISTAPP, is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

Comments ISTAPP: "'Vinterriket' is a track that will permanently freeze the eardrums of the ones who worships the sun."

Hailing from Blekinge, Sweden, one of the traditional provinces of Sweden situated in the south of the country bordering Smaland, Scania and the Baltic Sea, are the three warlords that form ISTAPP; Mordechai von Renvaktar, C. Ashuck von Renvaktar and Fjalar. Setting out on a campaign to destroy the sun and all of its followers, ISTAPP is currently preparing to unleash the band's Metal Blade Records debut, "Blekinge", on June 8 in the U.S. and Canada.

"Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke that corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm," but ISTAPP's forthcoming album is anything but.

"We are confident that the piece of deadly art about to strike down on you all will be the first really true metal album ever to be released to this world," comments the band.

Cover art, which can be viewed below, was handled by none other than C. Ashuck von Renvaktar.

"Out of his memories Lord Ashuck himself created a picture of 'Blekinge' and its oak, fore-saying the inevitable path this world must wander. It will certainly hurt the eyes of many a sun-worshiper who dare to look upon it," the band states.
"Blekinge" track listing:

01. Vinterriket
02. Köldens Union
03. 1160 (Miovik)
04. I Väntan På Den Absoluta Nollpunkten
05. Evig Köld Koncentrerad
06. Snö
07. Fjällhöga Nord
08. Bortgång Af Alvrödul, Ljusets Förfall
09. - *
10. Blekinge

* Track 9 has a - listed for the song title as the band used a symbol to name this track

Guitarist Tymon of the Dutch fusion metal act EXIVIOUS has released the following statement:

"For the first time since the release of our debut album back in May of 2009, I'm afraid we have to bring some really sad news.

"After careful consideration we decided to officially pull the plug on EXIVIOUS.

"It's not a secret that this band and the album we released last year are very dear to me personally, but also to the rest of the band who put in the best their talent and creativity had to offer to create something really unique. But besides our personal experience, we feel all of you out there who supported us the past year are part of our EXIVIOUS community as well and as such you guys deserve a proper explanation of what's happening.

"We're in a situation right now where we are simply unable to give EXIVIOUS the attention and love we believe it deserves. All four of us are completely consumed by other activities and it doesn't seem like this is going to change anytime soon. So instead of slowly letting our beloved band bleed to death, we rather put it to sleep ourselves.

"In retrospect, we were completely blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response from both our listeners but also the press who reviewed our album. Never did we expect to get such a warm and enthusiastic reaction to our crazy music. With this in mind we'd like to thank all of you who supported us by picking up a copy of our album in the past year!

"As most of you know, we started things off by offering a luxurious limited edition of which we only printed a thousand copies. We're happy to announce we're sold out! The digipack version of our album is still available through our website and a select group of retailers.

"Last but not least, we'd like to end this sad message with some good news.

"For the first time in EXIVIOUS history we're offering a t-shirt in our online shop which features the artwork of our debut album! Pre-orders are available at www.exivious.net."

"Exivious" track listing:

01. Ripple Of A Tear
02. Time And Its Changes
03. Asurim
04. All That Surrounds Pt. 1
05. Waves Of Thought
06. The Path
07. All That Surrounds Pt. 2
08. Embrace The Unknown (feat. Paul Masvidal of CYNIC)
09. An Elusive Need

EXIVIOUS was:

Tymon (CYNIC) - Guitar
Michel Nienhuis (ex-SENGAIA) - Guitar
Robin Zielhorst (CYNIC, ex-BLUE MAN GROUP) - Bass
Stef Broks (TEXTURES) - Drums

U.K-based metallers POWER QUEST have announced the addition of vocalist Chitral "Chity" Somapala and guitarist Gavin Owen (of Welsh metallers TRIAXIS) to the group's ranks. The band states, "Chity is well known and highly regarded worldwide in the rock and metal scene and has recorded, toured and made guest appearances with the likes of AVALON, FARO, FIREWIND and RED CIRCUIT, as well as fronting his own band CIVILIZATION ONE. His unmistakable style has been compared favorably with Ronnie James Dio, Klaus Meine and Johnny Gioeli."

Commented POWER QUEST keyboardist/mainman Steve Williams: "I'm thrilled to have recruited a vocalist and front man of Chity's calibre. I've known Chity for a couple of years and we have often talked about working together and now we have that opportunity. We have already recorded three new songs with him and they just sound immense."

Regarding POWER QUEST's new guitarist, Williams says, "Gav's audition last weekend was of the highest standard and we were all very impressed by his playing and how he conducted himself throughout the process. There was an instant chemistry there between him and the rest of the guys and particularly with Andy which bodes well for the future."

POWER QUEST has set "Blood Alliance" as the title of its fifth album. According to the band, "work on the new material continues apace and the songs that have been demoed so far are sounding awesome and true to the POWER QUEST tradition of catchy, melodic metal."

POWER QUEST recently entered Aubitt Studios in Southampton with Rob Aubrey to begin recording pre-production versions of three new songs — "Rising Anew", "Sacrifice" and "Time to Burn" — for the band's upcoming CD.

POWER QUEST in March parted ways with singer Pete Morten and guitarist Ben Randall due to "musical differences."

POWER QUEST's latest album, "Master of Illusion", was released in 2008 via Napalm Records/Avalon Marquee (Japan). Guest musicians on the CD include keyboardist Richard West from the U.K. progressive metal band THRESHOLD, Jorn Viggo Lofstad from the Norwegian power metal act PAGAN'S MIND and FOURWAYKILL singer Chris Neighbour.

California tech-death masters DECREPIT BIRTH have issued the following update:

"Drummer K.C. Howard and guitarist Dan Eggers have both decided to part ways with the band. We want thank them very much for the hard work.

"K.C. left the band right after the recording of the new album to pursue his career as a full-time music teacher.

"K.C. contributed since 2004 and has been an integral part of the band over the past years. Dan, who joined in 2008, decided to part ways to due to personal career choices.

"We wish them the best of luck and success in whatever they do.

"For live shows, we will be bringing in drummers Samus Paulicelli (ex-ABIGAIL WILLIAMS) and Lee Smith (ESTRADASPHERE), both helping us (separately) on various future tours. As well, guitarist Chase Fraser (ANIMOSITY, SON OF AURELIUS) will bring his amazing guitar skills to the table.

"This temporary reconstruction of the bands lineup has left us no choice but to cancel for the fourth annual California Metal Fest. We apologize to all the fans that were looking forward to seeing DECREPIT BIRTH at the California Metal Fest this year. We will be back for the Summer Slaughter tour 2010 with a new lineup and ready to perform a new set list featuring songs from our upcoming album, 'Polarity', which will be released July 27 on Nuclear Blast Records."

Drums for "Polarity" were tracked at Sharkbite Studios (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS) in Oakland with producer Zack Ohren (ALL SHALL PERISH, SUFFOCATION, IMMOLATION) while the rest of the recordings were overseen by guitarist Matt Sotelo before the entire effort was mixed by Ohren at Castle Ultimate Studios.

"Polarity" track listing:

01. (A Departure of the Sun) Ignite the Tesla Coil
02. Metatron
03. Resonance
04. Polarity
05. Solar Impulse
06. Mirroring Dimensions
07. A Brief Odyssey in Time
08. The Quickening of Time
09. Sea of Memories
10. Symbiosis
11. Darkness Embrace

Mail-order-edition bonus track:

12. See Through Dreams (DEATH cover)

"Goin' To Vegas", the new video from SIN CITY SINNERS, can be viewed below. The clip features cameos from adult film stars Ron Jeremy and Sunny Leone as well as Vegas entertainer Carrot Top.

SIN CITY SINNERS' debut CD, "Exile on Fremont Street", is into its second pressing, having sold over 1,000 copies.

SIN CITY SINNERS consists of Brent Muscat (formerly of FASTER PUSSYCAT), Todd Kerns (AGE OF ELECTRIC), Mike Eliis, and Rob Cournoyer (RAGING SLAB).

SIN CITY SINNERS is best known for having a special celebrity guest jam with the band each week. They were voted "Best Local Band," second only to THE KILLERS in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's "Best Of Vegas" readers' poll.

Polish extreme metallers HATE will enter Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland on June 5 to begin recording their new album, "Erebos", for a late 2010 release via Listenable Records.

"Erebos", which comes from ancient Greek and means literally "deep darkness" or shadow, will contain at least nine new songs, which are said to be a fusion of blackened death metal, industrial and ambient sounds, deathcore and heavy metal.

HATE leader/songwriter ATF Sinner gives us a glimpse into what we can expect from the band's new material: "Since the premiere of 'Morphosis' we have toured different parts of the world and faced a ton of challenges over the course of the last two years. All of the hard work that we have put in the band and everything that we have experienced is reflected in our new songs, which we know are our best yet.

"'Erebos' is going to contain extreme metal to the full with different musical styles incorporated. We explore areas that have not been associated with HATE before, and what we have created is a mixture of styles all packed in an extreme and vicious form. It is still 100 percent HATE, but more elaborate, sophisticated and, in a way, redefined.

"We have titled the material 'Erebos', which basically means darkness of human soul — and is full of analogies to condition of the human living in today's world who is a slave to his anger, weaknesses and complexes. Existing in a fictitious, virtual world, he is a slave to his dreams and does not really live but dreams that he lives."

The new lineup of reformed heavy metal legends ACCEPT made its live debut last night (Saturday, May 8) at the 750-capacity Gramercy Theatre in New York City.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Metal Heart
02. Midnight Mover
03. Living For Tonight
04. Restless And Wild
05. Son Of A Bitch
06. Losers And Winners
07. London Leatherboys
08. The Abyss (new song)
09. Run If You Can
10. Teutonic Terror (new song)
11. Breaker
12. Bulletproof
13. Neon Nights
14. Bass / Drum / Guitar Jam
15. Flash Rocking Man
16. Up To The Limit
17. Demon's Night
18. Turn Me On
19. Starlight
20. Burning

Encore 1:

21. Princess Of The Dawn
22. I'm A Rebel

Encore 2:

23. Fast As A Shark
24. Balls To The Wall

Germany's SUIDAKRA has issued the following update:

"Quite some time has passed since the last update. We have been in North America, which was great as always! Check out some pics here. Thanks to all of you who came out to the shows! We had a good time and hope to come back soon.

Right now we're on the next tour already, riding through France and Switzerland. Check out the tour dates and come to the gigs if you can make it! Unfortunately the London show in June will go on without our participation due to organizational problems beyond our control. Sorry for that!

Our Emprise To Avalon album was re-released recently. Originally out on Century Media in the year 2002, Emprise has surely become a SuidAkrA classic over the years. It was out of print for some time, but now you may purchase it here. Brand new 15 Years anniversary t-shirts are available as well. The best at the end: We started to write new music for the next album and have about four songs finished so far! Recording is supposed to start in December; we'll keep you updated."

Legendary Seattle prog-metallers QUEENSRŸCHE have launched their official YouTube channel at this location (restricted to some territories).

A comment on the band's website reads: "Long overdue, some might say… but better late than never. The Queensryche Fan Club, along with Rhino Records, is happy to announce the band’s official YouTube channel. Over the next few months we’ll be adding a plethora of both old and new videos… some you might have seen, some we’re sure you haven’t! So keep checking back. And if you have any special requests, let us know!"

Japanese metal veterans LOUDNESS will release a new album, "King Of Pain", in Japan on May 19 via Tokuma Japan Communications. The CD will include a 32-page booklet, a LOUDNESS original pick, and application card (valid only in Japan).

"King Of Pain" track listing:

01. Requiem
02. The King Of Pain
03. Power Of Death
04. Death Machine
05. Doodlebug
06. Rule The World
07. Straight Out Of Our Soul
08. Where Am I Going?
09. Emma
10. Naraka
11. Doctor From Hell
12. Hell Fire
13. #666
14. Never Comes

Austria's EDENBRIDGE are streaming the first sample from their new studio album, Solitaire - check out the track 'Higher' at this location.

Solitaire will be released on the following dates:

Spain - June 30th
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italy, Sweden - July 2nd
Rest of Europe - July 5th
North America - July 13th

Solitaire tracklisting:

'Entree Unique'
'Solitaire'
'Higher'
'Skyline´s End'
'Bon Voyage Vagabond'
'Come Undone'
'Out Of This World'
'Further Afield'
'A Virtual Dream?'
'Brothers On Diamir'
'Exit Unique'

The limited edition will have two additional songs: 'Eternity' and 'Inward Passage'.

BRUTAL GODZ, the new Germany-based project featuring former/current members of BLIND GUARDIAN, RHAPSODY OF FIRE, REBELLION and METAL CHURCH, has entered guitarist Uwe Lulis' studio in Frankfurt, Germany to begin recording its debut album, "Echoes Of The Dead", for a fall release. According to the band, the entire tracking process should take about four months.

Due to the cancelation of overseas flights because of the effects of the recent volcano in Iceland, singer Ronny Munroe (ex-METAL CHURCH) had to reschedule his trip from Puerto Rico where he is currently living. Ronny will finally join his bandmates within a very short time. Meanwhile, Lulis, along with the Holzwarth brothers Alex (drums) and Oliver (bass), is continuing work on the CD.

Alex Holzwarth comments on the band's unusual recording philosophy: "The recording concept is simple: We plug our instruments in, get miked up, rehearse the songs and finally record all our music in a live situation to ensure that we catch the magic moment with each single note being played. This concept totally differs from the contemporary recording habits that do hardly catch the magic of music at all. In my opinion, it is all about the face-to-face or ear-to-ear situation of playing together in the same room at the same time. Like THE BEATLES did it and AC/DC still do it. The audio results we get are just amazing."

Singer Carlos Zema has been added to the list of musicians who have recorded guest appearances on "Reborn in Fire", the upcoming album from EMPIRES OF EDEN — the brainchild of PAINDIVISION/ex-DUNGEON guitarist Stu Marshall. The Brazilian native has come to the focus of the metal public through his time in the band OUTWORLD and South American heavyweights VOUGAN.

Commented Marshall: "Working with Carlos is one of those experiences that really blew my mind. The song 'Rising' featured is one of Carlos' tunes as a whole so I can honestly say I am a fan of the song. Initially we created a super-heavy tune, and while we both really liked it, found it was missing something that the rest of the album had. So, to continue the melodic feel of the album, Carlos sent me his song 'Rising' to work on and we both agreed it worked well on the album and 'Rising' is a killer song. This guy is an incredible songwriter, vocalist and talent."

Founding guitarist/principal songwriter Tim Roth of Canadian extreme progressive metallers INTO ETERNITY has issued the following update:

"My original intention for the new [INTO ETERNITY] album was an all-heavy/fast album. However, we have just demoed a 6:07-minute acoustic track for Song 2. The song doesn't feel finished yet, but Stu [Block, vocals] and I are coming up with lyrics and cool melodies to sing over and then we'll have a better picture to where the song is headed.

The band is back to jamming on a regular basis now and things are going great!

"Justin [Bender, guitar], in his spare time, also set up an online store to sell some of our t-shirts, so you can check that out at IntoEternity.net.

"I have no idea when the new album is going to be finished, so thank you in advance to everyone for their patience."

OPETH's "Still Life" album will be re-released on double vinyl on June 7 via Peaceville Records.

"Still Life" was OPETH's first outing for Peaceville and armed with renewed enthusiasm, the band delivered a flawless gem of an LP.

Originally released in 1999, the enigmatic "Still Life" is an ambitious concept album focusing on a tale of forbidden love in dangerous times.

Featuring the extraordinary voice and poetic lyrics of Mikael Åkerfeldt, "Still Life"'s moods range from brutal passages of extreme metal to predominantly acoustic moments of breathtaking beauty.

The vinyl edition is limited to 2,000 numbered copies and comes on double 180-gm vinyl in a deluxe heavyweight gatefold sleeve featuring reworked artwork by original designer Travis Smith. The vinyl edition also features an 18-page, LP-sized booklet containing original artwork by Travis Smith and full lyrics and is packed in a heavyweight PVC sleeve.

Side A:

01. The Moor (11:28)

Side B:

01. Godhead's Lament (9:47)
02. Benighted (5:01)

Side C:

01. Moonlapse Vertigo (9:00)
02. Face Of Melinda (7:59)

Side D:

01. Serenity Painted Death (9:14)
02. White Cluster (10:02)