Italian thrash-death metallers SAWTHIS (formerly SOTHIS) will release their sophomore album, "Egod" (cover), on May 17 via Scarlet Records. The CD was recorded at Petemkin Studios with producer Paolo Ojetti (INFERNAL POETRY). 13 songs were written for the album and 10 of them were tracked for the final product. Daniele "Axo" Galassi from INFERNAL POETRY played a guest guitar solo on "Barabba", which is said to be "the most atypical song that SAWTHIS has ever written."

"Egod" track listing:

01. Mr. Zero
02. Act Of Sorrow
03. Barabba
04. Him Mortality
05. A.B. Senses
06. Twonity
07. The Egod Teeth
08. I Hate You
09. Stain
10. Vanity

The song "Mr. Zero" is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

German folk metallers MIDNATTSOL, featuring Norwegian vocalist Carmen Elise Espenaes, have issued the following update:

"Hi Folks,

There are a lot of things happening at the moment: we are busy working on new songs for our next album and this weekend we will play at the Ragnarök Festival in Rieden, Oberpfalz.

We are having so much fun with all of this and we want to share that with you. So we will regularly post news on the internet and to make this faster, we are now on Twitter. Follow us and you will get the latest news of Midnattsol. Of course we are also want to knwo how you are, what you think about Midnattsol, what you like about our music and what we could improve in your opinion. Tell us – on Twitter, MySpace, the Forum, via Email or letter – we are really curious about everything.

See you soon – in the internet or maybe at the Ragnarök-Festival."

Grammy-nominated Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD recently created an exclusive song for the upcoming blockbuster title Iron Man 2: The Videogame. The all-new song, "Hit the Wall", serves as the perfect complement to the nonstop super-powered action of the game, which heads to consoles and handheld systems everywhere in April. The game is based on the cinematic universe featured in Marvel Studios' "Iron Man 2", in theaters end of April.

Commented frontman Randy Blythe: "Working on a piece of music specifically for the Iron Man 2 video game was a new challenge for us.

"A few of us are real game and comic fans, so the partnership with Sega [Iron Man publisher] has been really exciting.

"We can't wait to play the game and hear our music as Iron Man kicks ass."

"The music of LAMB OF GOD definitely evokes the intensity of Iron Man action, and we are very excited to have them working with us for the game," said Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing, Sega of America.

Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of "Hit the Wall" can be viewed below (courtesy of IGN).

LAMB OF GOD was nominated in two categories — "Best Live Band" and "Best Drummer" — at the second annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which was held on Thursday, April 8 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. The show will be televised on VH1 Classic on Saturday, May 22.

LAMB OF GOD received a second Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category — for the track "Set to Fail" from its latest album, "Wrath", which came out last year on Epic Records.

The band was previously nominated in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the song "Redneck" from LAMB OF GOD's 2006 album "Sacrament".

"Wrath" landed at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart back in February 2009 with first-week sales of over 67,000 copies.

Audio samples of all 15 songs (including the Japanese and European bonus tracks) that are set to appear on "Facemelter", first studio album in 13 years from Californian rockers Y&T, are available on the Meniketti.com web site.

Y&T, featuring original members Dave Meniketti and Phil Kennemore (bass), along with longtime members John Nymann (guitar) and Mike Vanderhule (drums), will release "Facemelter" in Europe on May 21 via Frontiers Records.

"Facemelter" track listing:

01. Prelude
02. On With The Show
03. One Life
04. Shine On
05. Wild Child
06. I Want Your Money
07. I'm Coming Home
08. If You Want Me
09. Hot Shot
10. How Long
11. Gonna Go Blind
12. Don't Bring me Down
13. Blind Patriot
14. Losing My Mind (European bonus)
15. Deadly Deceiver (Japanese bonus)

U.S. metallers ICED EARTH have signed a new worldwide deal with Century Media Records. This new partnership sees the band rejoining forces with the label that released the legendary albums "The Dark Saga" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes" as well as all of the early ICED EARTH albums. In addition to ICED EARTH, Century Media will also release the recorded output from ICED EARTH mainman Jon Schaffer's SONS OF LIBERTY project.

Antje Lange, managing director of Century Media Records Europe, comments: "We are extremely happy and proud to welcome Jon Schaffer and his bands SONS OF LIBERTY and ICED EARTH back on the label. Schaffer is one of the most talented and charismatic musicians in metal and it is an honor for us as a label to work with him. Despite an already very successful past, we feel that an even bigger success is in the cards for the future."

Schaffer adds: "I am excited about the opportunity to work on SONS OF LIBERTY and ICED EARTH with Century Media. This was the label where my career began and there are many memories, some of them great, some of them not. However, we all grew up and are able to see eye to eye on the mission ahead: making sure my creativity gets the best possible outlet. I am much looking forward to this team delivering the goods and releasing some killer music."

The new SONS OF LIBERTY album, "Brush Fires of The Mind", is set for a July 13 release (one day earlier internationally). Schaffer handles all vocals and instrumentation for SONS OF LIBERTY, but the effort also features guest solos and contributions by legendary producer Jim Morris, ICED EARTH guitarist Troy Seele and world-class bassist Ruben Drake. Born from Schaffer's desire to stimulate curiosity about a pattern of global banking corruption that is undermining the independence of people and their countries, SONS OF LIBERTY aims to spearhead a multi-faceted and peaceful resistance of the tyranny being wrought every day on regular people. Schaffer, in turn, has reverently named his new project after a secret organization comprised of notable United States' patriots that formed in 1765. These patriots worked fervently to expose and resist the tyranny that the colonists were subjected to, which ultimately led to the American Revolution.

Polish female-fronted heavy metal act CRYSTAL VIPER will release a new live album, "Defenders Of The Magic Circle: Live In Germany", on June 4 via AFM Records. The CD will include the band's entire live set recorded in 2009 at the Magic Circle Festival in Germany along with a bunch of studio cuts.

The track listing for the album is as follows:

Live in Germany:

01. Breaking The Curse
02. Metal Nation
03. Legions Of Truth
04. The Island Of The Silver Skull
05. Shadows On The Horizon
06. The Last Axeman
07. (Surprise Track!)

Bonus studio tracks:

08. The Wolf And The Witch (first time on CD)
09. Stronghold: Under Siege (from limited-edition CD single)
10. Obsession (It Burns For You) (VIRGIN STEELE cover, previously unreleased)

American brutal death metal masters PATHOLOGY will release their new album, "Legacy Of The Ancients", on July 6 via Victory Records. The CD was engineered by Jeff Forest (AS I LAY DYING, BLEEDING THROUGH) at Doubletime Studios in the band's home base of San Diego, California and was mixed and mastered by Erik Rutan (CANNIBAL CORPSE, MALEVOLENT CREATION) at Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida. "We feel the recording came out extremely heavy and exactly how we wanted," stated drummer Dave Astor. "The drums are explosive, the guitars are thick and very tight, and the vocals are brutally crushing."

The album cover displays an artistic zombie-theme, designed by Pär Olofsson (WINDS OF PLAGUE, ANNOTATIONS OF AN AUTOPSY, IMMORTAL). "The cover shows a doctor injecting people with a virus that is turning them into zombies," stated Astor. "It is a metaphor for the government control over our people."

With the addition of second guitarist Diego Sanchez (ex-DISGORGE) and bass player Oscar Ramirez (TO VIOLENTLY VOMIT) accompanying core members, vocalist Matti Way, guitarist Tim Tiszczenko and drummer Dave Astor, PATHOLOGY has solidified its lineup.

Fans will get their first taste of the new album with regional dates leading up to the release and soon-to-be-announced national tours to follow.

PATHOLOGY will join NILE on the "Those Whom The Gods Detest Tour II" alongside EX DEO, PSYCROPTIC, and KEEP OF KALESSIN.

"We are excited to be touring with a legendary band like NILE," stated Astor. "We're huge fans and it will be killer to share the stage with them."

Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) spoke to Spinner about his decision to record a slowed-down, hip-hop version of GN'R's 1988 Top 10 single "Paradise City" featuring the unexpected tandem of CYPRESS HILL and Fergie of the BLACK EYED PEAS.

"I've been playing 'Paradise City' with CYPRESS HILL since 2002 — I just love the way they do the verses — and we always have somebody come up and do the chorus," Slash said. "I always said, 'one of these days, we've got to record this' and here we were, seven years later.

"I had the CYPRESS HILL guys come down [to the studio] and I'd just done 'Beautiful Dangerous' with Fergie, so I said, 'why don't you sing the chorus?' just for the hell of it."

Before releasing the track in North America, Slash decided to give it a test run with Japanese audiences.

"I put it out as a B-side of a Japanese single and, of course, it cruised around the Internet," he recalled. "I had all the GUNS N' ROSES purists that were really pissed off about it and I had all these other people that really liked it."

Despite the mixed reaction, the guitarist ultimately decided to include the new "Paradise City" on the deluxe edition because, as he says with a smirk, "I just figured some people are taking it a little too seriously."

"Never Touched the Rainbow", the new video from Finnish progressive metallers KINGS OF MODESTY, can be viewed below. Shot in an unmistakably David Lynch-esque style, the clip's storyline focuses on a gentleman who turns out to be delusional and is "hanging between two worlds." Directed by Carda Helenius, the video was filmed in Helsinki (at Hotel Vaakuna and Finland's top nightclub, Tiger), while the main characters are played by Karri Leino and Päivi Salminen.

Comprised of Jason Flinck (vocals), Samuel Hjelt (guitar), Mikael Hjelt (keyboards), Henrik Tuura (bass), and Raino Simoinen (drums), KINGS OF MODESTY will release its debut album, "Hell or High Water", on May 4 in the U.S.

"Hammering melodic metal" (in the vein of QUEENSRŸCHE, DREAM THEATER, and KAMELOT) is a spot-on description of the style that the quintet specialize in, and the song "Never Touched the Rainbow" — and its accompanying video — serve as the perfect taster for this fast-rising group of headbangers.

Danish thrash metal veterans ARTILLERY will enter Medley Studios in Copenhagen on November 29 with producer Søren Andersen (guitar player in Oliver Weers' solo band) to begin recording their as-yet-untitled new album for a mid-2011 release via Metal Mind Productions.

Commented guitarist Michael Stützer: "ARTILLERY is very excited to start working on the follow-up to 'When Death Comes', which received such a great response from both fans and media.

"It's great to go back to the studio only one-and-a-half years after our last effort to show the fans that ARTILLERY is working very hard to make new recordings and to tour again. And this time it won't take us 10 years to make a new album!

"We feel that the new songs will continue the style and production of our last efforts and we are looking forward to play new songs live for the best and most dedicated fans of metal."

In other news, ARTILLERY will film a new live DVD on May 22 at the Rock Hard Festival in Gelsenkirchen, Germany where the band will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of its album "Fear Of Tomorrow".

OZZY OSBOURNE will release "Scream" (cover) — his first album in almost three years and 10th studio album overall — on June 15 via Epic Records. Produced by Ozzy and Kevin Churko, both of whom did the same honors for Ozzy's 2007 worldwide million-seller "Black Rain", the album will feature the first single "Let Me Hear You Scream".

The multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer recorded most of "Scream" at his Los Angeles home studio, The Bunker, and co-wrote all the songs, primarily with Churko. Notably, the album marks the first appearance of Ozzy's new guitar player, Gus G. (FIREWIND, ex-DREAM EVIL, ARCH ENEMY). Ozzy's band also features bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson, drummer Tommy Clufetos (ex-ROB ZOMBIE, ALICE COOPER) and keyboardist Adam Wakeman.

Songtitles set to appear on "Scream" (among others):

* Let Me Hear You Scream
* Diggin' Me Down
* Let It Die
* Soul Sucker
* Fearless
* I Want It All
* Time
* Crucify
* I Love You All

Ozzy will also embark on an 18-month world tour (dates to be announced) in support of "Scream", with news about Ozzfest to emerge soon.

Ozzy Osbourne's career has spanned four decades and his music is as relevant today as ever. The multi-platinum singer has sold over 100 million albums worldwide — 50 million with BLACK SABBATH and as many as a solo artist. In 2003, he was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame. Osbourne is not only a legend and an icon, but is a pioneer in his genre of music.

British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH will release their new album, "All Hallows Eve", in October via Peaceville Records on the band's own AbraCadaver imprint. The group — consisting of Dani Filth on vocals, Paul Allender and James McIlroy on guitar, David Pybus on bass, Martin Skaroupka on drums and Ashley Ellyllon on keyboards — will enter Monkey Puzzle studios near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk this month to start work on the follow-up to 2008's "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder".

CRADLE OF FILTH remain stalwarts to the satanic horror ethos by again composing a full-blown concept album, this time based on Adam's first wife, the lascivious Demoness Lilith; throwing Medieval nuns, Knights Templars, Greek mythology and lashings of sex, occult lore and violent bloodshed into the smelting pot, to create a darkly erotic nightmare set to their unique scope of supreme vampyric metal. For this release, the band wanted mastery of their own destiny, choosing to release the album on their very own AbraCadaver label in conjunction with Peaceville Records, home to such illicit luminaries as DARKTHRONE, KATATONIA, MY DYING BRIDE, BLOODBATH and GALLHAMMER, among many others. Vocalist Dani Filth has described the move as being "a choice to move away from the artistic restrictions/mindless inhibitions imposed by dwelling on a major label" and cites the current financial clime as "the perfect opportunity to start doing things our own way again, with the added benefit of being a far bigger fish in a proverbial pool, surrounded by people who have been handpicked to get the job best done. And more importantly... who still are hungry for the taste of music."

Having recently published the long-awaited "Gospel Of Filth" grimoire of all things ghastly and ghoulish, the band will finish the new album, undertake its heavy press schedule and then embark on a full world tour in its support.

U.K.'s ANATHEMA will release its eighth studio album, "We're Here Because We're Here", on May 31 via Kscope Records.

Short audio samples of all 10 tracks that appear on the CD can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

"'We're Here Because We're Here' is ANATHEMA's most expansive album to date and by the far best thing we've ever done," comments ANATHEMA's Danny Cavanagh. "Not only have we improved as writers, but because we took our time, we had the opportunity to select the very best material and concentrate on it. We gave the songs the chance to breathe and come alive by themselves and it's ended up being magical — every song is as good as the rest of them. This album features the best performances by the band ever; Vincent's [Cavanagh] greatest vocals and John's [Douglas, drums] and my best writing."

HADES' 1995 CD, "Exist To Resist", has been re-released in Europe by Rock It Up Records. The effort was reissued in North America by the band itself and can be purchased through the group directly at this location.

"Exist To Resist" contains ten songs, eight of which were written prior to the band's demise after an ill-fated European tour in 1989. Bonus tracks include "Rogues March" (with original HADES vocalist Paul Smith, recorded in 1982); "Widows Mite", from the band's second seven-inch single (which was vocalist Alan Tecchio's first recording with HADES) is also included as one of nine bonus tracks.

There is a limited run of 1,000 copies of this special rerelease and each CD is numbered.

The original "Exist To Resist" track listing is as follows:

01. Exist To Resist
02. Rape Of Persephone
03. Doubt
04. Colorblind
05. Deter-My-Nation
06. Throughout Me, Threw Out You
07. Second Degree Sleepwalking
08. A
09. The Other
10. The Leaders '95

"The Powerless Rise", the fifth full-length album from San Diego metallers AS I LAY DYING, is scheduled for release on May 11 via Metal Blade Records. The band recently finished up the recording process in San Diego with producer Adam Dutkiewicz (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE) and mixed the effort with Colin Richardson and his assistant Martyn "Ginge" Ford.

"We wanted to make sure our songwriting progressed and I feel we've achieved our goal in creating an album with greater intensity than any we've crafted before it," explains AS I LAY DYING frontman Tim Lambesis. "We added layers and complexity to the melodies and yet we were able to do so without softening our sound like so many of our peers."

He adds, "Lyrically, 'The Powerless Rise' includes some of the most straight-forward songs I've ever written.

"I can honestly say that I am more excited about 'The Powerless Rise' than any release before it — I can't wait to unleash it on our fans."

"The Powerless Rise" track listing:

01. Beyond Our Suffering
02. Anodyne Sea
03. Without Conclusion
04. Parallels
05. The Plague
06. Anger and Apathy
07. Condemned
08. Upside Down Kingdom
09. Vacancy
10. The Only Constant Is Change
11. The Blinding Of False Light

The song "Parallels" is now available for streaming at www.thepowerlessrise.com.

French metallers LYZANXIA will release their fourth album, "Locust", on May 31 through XIII Bis Records (via Sony Music distribution). The CD was produced by David and Franck Potvin (ONE-WAY MIRROR, PHAZE I) at Déclanché Studio in Switzerland and Dome Studio in France and was mastered by Swedish master Björn Engelmann (RAMMSTEIN, MESHUGGAH, BEHEMOTH). The cover artwork was designed by Alain Tréhard and can be viewed below. According to a press release, "The Potvin brothers have been working for many years with artist Tréhard and feel that he has captured the ominous essence of 'Locust' with a visual piece that superbly complements the intensity unleashed within as the band's signature thrash riff mastery promises to be at its deadliest yet!"

French neo-classical metallers ADAGIO will film their May 21 headlining appearance at the FKRock festival in Kherson, Ukraine for an upcoming DVD.

ADAGIO recruited Swedish vocalist Mats Levén (KRUX, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, THERION, TREAT) to sing for the band during its recently completed European tour with KAMELOT following the departure of Finnish frontman Christian Palin.

Commented ADAGIO, "After a succesful European tour supporting KAMELOT, we're very happy to play in Ukraine for the first time. This festival seems to be one of the most important rock events in Ukraine and we're very much looking forward to meeting the Ukrainian metalheads next month.

"The show will be entirely filmed in HD as we're planning to release a DVD sometime next year. So far, we have a lot of video footage featuring some cool live stuff and above all, some very crazy moments (particularly in Japan and Spain).

"Of course, shows with Mats are awesome; we have had loads of fun together, both on stage and off stage.

"The last show in Belgium with SCORPIONS in front of over 6,000 people was a blast.

"We're very much looking forward to playing the upcoming shows in Tunisia (May 15) and Ukraine (May 21) together again."

The Public Record has announced Rob Zombie as its next featured artist to launch a collaborative remix project entitled The Mix Massacre. Beginning April 27, 2010, Rob Zombie is enlisting the talent of musicians and remixers across the The Public Record global music community to remix his songs "Mars Needs Women" and "Sick Bubblegum" for a special worldwide release.

The Public Record is a new, interactive, music collaboration site that began as the personal pursuit of music industry pioneer Scott Humphrey. Renowned for his work as an award-winning and record-breaking studio mixer and producer, Humphrey founded The Public Record as a solution to match the dynamic shifts of the web with the evolution of digital recording.

"We take the biggest names in the music industry and allow undiscovered musicians and producers around the world to collaborate with them," Humphrey says. "What started as an experiment has led to a full-time operation in which we're continually adding the best acts from every genre with new programs and features."

The Public Record provides a virtual environment to jump-start careers and showcase talent, while delivering a unique opportunity for top-tier talent to connect directly with fans. Within the short months of its official February 2010 launch, the popularity of The Public Record has grown to host international icons including Tommy Lee, Deadmau5, Dan Jacobs of ATREYU, John 5 to now Rob Zombie and the Elements employing The Public Record platform as a conduit to work with the music community at large on official projects and releases.