On May 22, Israeli progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND performed at the Ramat Gan stadium in Tel Aviv as the support act for METALLICA.

Commented vocalist Kobi Farhi: "It was 17 years ago, in 1993, when I saw METALLICA for the first time. There were barely any metal concerts of foreign bands in Israel that time. I still remember that day; I was 17 years old only. The moment where they played 'Fade To Black' is for sure the highlight moment of my youth. Time went by and here we are, finding ourselves sharing the stage with the fathers of metal.

"ORPHANED LAND exist for 18 years now, we accomplished some success ourselves and toured the world. Still, I cannot remember when I was excited like that. The fact that we even had a small chat with the METALLICA members is a moment to remember. I know that they are just humans, but they are our childhood heroes!

"This was such a night to remember and a great closure to this youth moment I had with METALLICA.

"Unfortunately, we saw only six songs from the amazing METALLICA concert and then we had to run to the airport to catch a flight to play at the equally fantastic Rock Hard festival in Germany.

"We arrived on Sunday at an amazing venue, a sunny day and a rare atmosphere, some kind of a big metallic family gathering. The fans were great, we also met many friends who came, everyone was red like a tomato (from the sun) and the show was one hell of a party.

"Thank you, METALLICA!!! Thank you, Rock Hard fest!!"

Cleveland, Ohio metallers CHIMAIRA will release a DVD/CD set, "Coming Alive", on July 20 via Ferret Music. This unprecedented release includes a four-part documentary filmed over the course of a year and a half while the entire package includes over seven hours of exclusive content. The DVD, filmed entirely in HD, showcases CHIMAIRA in the studio while recording its latest album, "The Infection", and chronicles the band's recent, worldwide touring season.

According to a press release, "Coming Alive" is an in-depth look into CHIMAIRA's life and music in the studio and on the road. Not only does the DVD set include this amazing documentary piece, another section, "Chimaira Xmas: Live Concert Film", celebrates the 10th annual CHIMAIRA Christmas show in Cleveland, Ohio, which took place on December 30, 2009. 13 HD cameras capture CHIMAIRA releasing their fury for their hometown crowd on a dark and snowy night in December. Bonus features on the DVD include a 45-minute "Resurrection" "making-of" documentary, a 40-minute home-video documentary of never-before-seen moments, and a live CD featuring 17 tracks recorded at CHIMAIRA's December 30 Christmas show.

"Coming Alive" track listing:

01. The Venom Inside
02. Resurrection
03. Power Trip
04. Empire
05. The Disappearing Sun
06. Severed
07. Destroy and Dominate
08. Six
09. The Dehumanizing Process
10. Dead Inside
11. Painting The White To Grey
12. Nothing Remains
13. Salvation
14. Secrets Of The Dead
15. The Flame
16. Pure Hatred
17. Implements of Destruction (included on DVD only)

THE PROJECT HATE MCMXCIX — the Swedish band featuring Jörgen Sandström (vocals; VICIOUS ART, KRUX, ex-ENTOMBED, GRAVE), Lord K. Philipson (guitar; TORTURE DIVISION, ex-GOD AMONG INSECTS, HOUSE OF USHER, LEUKEMIA) and Anders Bertilsson (guitar; COLDWORKER), has issued the following update:

"Due to the financial situation and the complete lack of record sales for smaller record labels, Vic Records can't hand us even the smallest budget for the next album. So instead of waiting for things to change (if they ever will), we have now parted ways with Vic Records so we won't be sitting around for ages with material for a fantastic album that will never be recorded, or when it eventually gets recorded the songs are so old we all will be in our mid-50s. That's not too far away when we think about it, really… But hey, the point is made.

"We really did everything we could to bring the costs down for this album to help Vic out, but you at least have to have a minimum cost to record an album (if you don't want your productions to sound like something DARKTHRONE just released — and hey, we think we need a better sound than that to make all details come through to the listener). We sure would have appreciated to have been informed about this some time ago when we approached the label in question about the new album (and were assured everything was cool) instead of when we are finalizing the last song for the new album, just dying to start recording everything in a few months. It is what it is, though.

"However, we wanna thank Vic Records for the work they have done. They did what they could and we appreciate the effort. We sincerely hope they get the label out of the deep waters; K has known Vic chief Roel for quite some time and his passion for the label is like K's passion for his music. He deserves to get the ship sailing, dear Roel.

"Either way, this is what it looks like; downloading kills the record industry — that's obvious. And ultimately it's smaller bands (like us) and smaller labels (like Vic) who suffer the blow.

"So, we have now started to look for a new label. To be completely serious we don't know if we'll get one because of the reasons mentioned above. Labels simply have a hard time recouping the costs they put in to get an album out and to say that they have to think twice before releasing anything — that's an understatement. We'll see what happens.

"Interested parties can contact us at theprojecthate@gmail.com."

Professionally filmed video footage of Slash's May 30, 2010 performance at the Pinkpop festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands can be viewed below. Also available is an interview with Slash conducted at the festival by the Dutch radio station 3FM.

Slash's setlist for the Pinkpop performance was as follows:

01. Ghost
02. Dirty Little Thing
03. Nightrain
04. Back To Cali
05. Sucker Train Blues
06. Starlight
07. Rise Today
08. By The Sword
09. Sweet Child O’ Mine
10. Slither
11. Paradise City

Finland's ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW have released a video for the song 'Summon The Wild', taken from their album Children Of The Dark Waters (2009). The live footage was filmed at S-Osis of Turku, Finland on October 16th, 2009 and filmed and edited by Anssi Lautjärvi. Check it out below.

The band recently issued the following update:

"We played almost a dozen gigs here in Finland since last October and they were just amazing. Later this year, we're going to play some gigs in Romania, Germany and Russia, so come check us out if you're around at that time. We're also preparing new material to be recorded in 2011 and we hope to get the album out by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012."

More than 1,200 fans attended a public memorial service on Sunday (May 30) for legendary metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who died of stomach cancer at the age of 67 two weeks earlier.

Check out quality pictures of the event from the following photographers:

* Kevin Estrada
* Stephanie Cabral

The service, held at the Hall Of Liberty at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, featured performances by QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate, former DEEP PURPLE bassist Glenn Hughes, ANTHRAX vocalist Joey Belladonna and others. There were also personal tributes from Ronnie's family members, bandmates and business associates, including his wife and manager Wendy and his son Dan Padovona, who warned everyone to take care of themselves and get screened early for cancer, saying, "(Don't) make the same mistake my dad made."

According to the Associated Press, hundreds more gathered in the scorching heat outside the auditorium to watch the memorial on monitors.

Dio, regarded as one of metal's finest and most influential voices, sang with BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and his own self-named band.

Dio's cousin David "Rock" Feinstein, who played with him in the band ELF, told the attendees, "I know that Ronnie truly loved all of you. He had a great appreciation for your loyalty. I'm talking about all you out there, all the fans."

A planned protest at the Dio memorial by the fringe Christian congregation of Kansas' Westboro Baptist Church was, according to one eyewitness, "cordoned off outside of Forest Lawn grounds proper and were small in number with an at least equal number of counter-protesters."

Meanwhile, two major tribute concerts are in the works to celebrate Dio's life and music. The gigs, called the Ronnie James Dio "Stand Up And Shout" Memorial Concerts, will take place in London and Los Angeles this fall. A list of performers has yet to be determined.

There are also plans to hold annual events in the years to follow to honor Dio's memory and to raise money for cancer awareness and support.

Ronnie James Dio memorial service program: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Last week Ozzy Osbourne stopped by the Rolling Stone offices to discuss his new album "Scream", his forthcoming world tour, the death of Ronnie James Dio and the possibility of a BLACK SABBATH reunion. "I love those guys — Bill, Tony and Geezer," he tells RollingStone.com about a possible return to SABBATH. "I never say never anymore because you never know what's going to come around."

In the meantime, Osbourne does plan on playing some choice SABBATH cuts on his solo tour. "I have such a body of work to pick from now I want to try some different songs other than 'Iron Man' and 'War Pigs'," he says. "I'll always have to do 'Paranoid' because that's my anthem. I wouldn't mind doing 'Fairies Wear Boots' or something different just to see how it goes."

Rolling Stone also asked Osbourne his thoughts on the death of metal icon Ronnie James Dio, who replaced Osbourne in SABBATH in 1980. "You know, when anyone dies in this game, it's sad," he says. "I first knew about Ronnie Dio's sickness a few months back and I sent him a message, saying if there's anything we can do to help, please don't hesitate to call us. I wasn't a really big friend of Ronnie Dio. I've met him a few times over the years. But he was a great, great singer. It's a terrible loss. God bless you, Ronnie."

SIXX: A.M., the band featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx alongside James Michael and D.J. Ashba (GUNS N' ROSES), is continuing work on its sophomore album for a tentative late 2010/early 2011 release. Sixx writes on his MySpace blog, "Just finished all the bass tracks on the SIXX: A.M. album this week. James and I have a few lyric re-writes before he starts laying down final vocals.

"Listening back to all the songs the other day really put the album in perspective on how far we've pushed our selves. I think the biggest challenge now is lyrically to outdo what we've done musically."

Paul R. Brown, who has previously worked with SLIPKNOT, MÖTLEY CRÜE, KORN, GODSMACK and AVENGED SEVENFOLD, is writing the video treatment for the first single from SIXX: A.M.'s upcoming album.

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, who spent time rehearsing with Paul Gray in 2005 for the "Roadrunner United: All Stars" tribute concert to celebrate Roadrunner Records' 25th anniversary, released the following statement to AOL's Noisecreep about the passing of the SLIPKNOT bassist:

"Paul Gray was always super-fun to be around. He was always smiling and he was always all about the music."

"He and I were the main rhythm player and bass player for that band. I got to spend a lot of time with him just jamming, which is what we both loved to do. We'd just get such a kick out of learning riffs. It was always all about the music. He just seemed like he was really that dude who just loved to play his instrument. I'm really gonna miss him."

Guitarist Stéphan Forté of French neo-classical metallers ADAGIO is currently writing material for an instrumental solo album.

"It's been a very long time since I wanted to do this," Forté said in a statement. "I've started to work on the first ideas a couple of years ago and am now spending 100% of my working time on it. So far, seven songs are composed and today I am in the middle of the eighth one. It will be around nine songs, I guess. Musically, it's very shred, dark and neoclassical oriented. The metal influences goes from shredders such as CACOPHONY (Becker and Friedman) HAJI'S KITCHEN, Derek Taylor, Scott Stine, etc. to bands like MESHUGGAH, DREAM THEATER...There's a lot of Middle Eastern, Indian and Japanese traditional music elements mixed with a classical influences, going from romantic (Chopin, Liszt, et..) to some more contemporary composers such as Bartok, Prokofiev, Messiaen, Penderecki, etc. And, of course, it's massively heavy! My Lâg is tuned down to A, and I might now use this for ADAGIO as well!!"

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

"Archangels In Black", the latest album from ADAGIO, was released in February 2009 via Listenable Records. The cover artwork was created by Guilherme Sevens and the CD was mastered at the Cutting Room in Sweden with Björn Engelmann (RAMMSTEIN, MESHUGGAH).

"Archangels In Black" was the first — and last — CD to feature Palin.

Palin was previously a member of the Swedish/Finnish bands ESSENCE OF SORROW and RANDOM EYES.

According to Big Pond News, AC/DC's tour caravan was stopped in remote Romania at the border with Hungary by employees of the national roads company who asked them to pay 50 euros for each vehicle, or a total of 2,500 euros (approximately $3,052) before they were allowed to leave the country, the company's manager Doina Tiron told AFP on Tuesday.

The overzealous staff argued the drivers had not paid the highway toll, she added.

"But in a letter sent to the company, the group said they had not been given any receipt" for this fine, Tiron stressed.

The company has opened an investigation into the allegations.

Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR have announced their collaboration with Norwegian composer and Berklee College of Music summa cum laude alumnus Gaute Storaas, the 51 member KORK (the Norwegian Radio Orchestra) and the 38-member Schola Cantorum Choir for the band's as-yet-untitled new album.

To date, over 101 musicians have lent their talents to the making of the CD.

Composer Gaute Storaas shares some insight on what it's like to work with DIMMU BORGIR: "There have been several attempts of dressing up rock bands in suits, bow ties and symphonic splendor, to various degrees of success. Working with DIMMU BORGIR is quite different. Their music is epic, thematic and symphonic already from the creation; they are clearly having an orchestral approach to composing. My role in this is sometimes just to transcribe their themes, sometimes to take their ideas, tear them apart and build them back up in ways that are true to the band's intentions. The music must also be both interesting and playable for the musicians, and hopefully, meet the quality standards of the orchestral world."

DIMMU BORGIR's ninth studio album will be released in Germany on October 8, in the rest of Europe on October 11, and in North America on October 12 via Nuclear Blast Records.

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS — the brand new project featuring NINE INCH NAILS mainman Trent Reznor and his wife Mariqueen Maandig (ex-WEST INDIAN GIRL) along with frequent NIN collaborator Atticus Ross — has made its self-titled debut EP available as a free digital download at www.howtodestroyangels.com. A higher-quality version of the effort in lossless audio, including a bonus 1080p/480p download of the band's video for the track "The Space In Between", can be purchased for $2. The EP will also be released as a physical CD on July 6.

"How To Destroy Angels" track listing:

01. The Space In Between
02. Parasite
03. Fur-Lined
04. BBB
05. The Believers
06. A Drowning

INSIDIOUS DISEASE (formerly INSIDIOUS), the international metal project featuring members of DIMMU BORGIR, NAPALM DEATH, OLD MAN'S CHILD and MORGOTH, will release its debut album, "Shadowcast", on July 12 in Europe and July 27 in the U.S. via Century Media Records. The bloodsoaked cover artwork was created by Kjell Ivar Lund and will be censored by a nice CD slipcase to avoid any trouble with the shops. Apart from an equally gory booklet, the limited-edition first-pressing CD will include two bonus tracks ("Insomaniac" plus a blistering cover of DEATH's classic "Leprosy").

"Shadowcast" was recorded at a studio in Norway with producer Terje Andersen (a.k.a. Cyrus) of SUSPERIA and was mixed by Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR). NECROPHAGIA frontman Frank "Killjoy" Pucci co-wrote and contributed guest vocals to a cut called "Rituals Of Bloodshed" which is included on the album. Other songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Conceived Through Hate", "Boundless" and "Nuclear Salvation".

Regarding the band's decision to cover the DEATH classic "Leprosy", vocalist Marc "Groo" Grewe (ex-MORGOTH) told BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "The INSIDIOUS DISEASE version is not denying the original [since it] can't get any better."

INSIDIOUS DISEASE made its official live debut at last year's Wacken Open Air festival which was held July 30 - August 1, 2009 in Wacken, Germany.

INSIDIOUS DISEASE is:

Marc "Groo" Grewe (ex-MORGOTH) - Vocals
Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz) (DIMMU BORGIR) - Guitar
Shane Embury (NAPALM DEATH) - Bass
Tony Laureano (ex-DIMMU BORGIR, NILE, ANGELCORPSE) - Drums
Jon Øyvind Andersen (a.k.a. Jardar) (OLD MAN'S CHILD) – Guitar

According to Hiphopdx.com, rapper NAS has joined guitar legend CARLOS SANTANA to remake the AC/DC classic 'Back In Black', which will be part of Santana's new album of classic rock covers.

Santana will also be covering DEEP PURPLE's 'Smoke On The Water', CREAM's 'Sunshine Of Your Love', LED ZEPPELIN's 'Whole Lotta Love' with SOUNDGARDEN's Chris Cornell, VAN HALEN’s 'Dance The Night Away' with TRAIN’s Pat Manahan, THE DOORS's 'Riders On The Storm' with Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek, JIMI HENDRIX' 'Little Wing' with JOE COCKER, THE ROLLING STONES' 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking' with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' Scott Weiland and CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL's 'Fortunate Son'.

The first photos and fan-filmed video footage from Ronnie James Dio's public memorial service — which was held this afternoon (Sunday, May 30) at the Hall Of Liberty at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, in Los Angeles — can be viewed below.

More than 1,200 fans attended the event, which featured performances by Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE), Glenn Hughes (BLACK SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE), Paul Shortino (QUIET RIOT, ROUGH CUTT), Joey Belladonna (ANTHRAX), John Payne (ASIA), Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB), Claude Schnell (DIO) and Scott Warren (HEAVEN & HELL, DIO), along with personal tributes from Ronnie's family members, bandmates and business associates. According to the Associated Press, hundreds more gathered in the scorching heat outside the auditorium to watch monitors of the proceedings.

"He touched all of us with his music and his message and his magic," said David "Rock" Feinstein, Dio's cousin and ELF bandmate. "I know that Ronnie truly loved all of you. He had a great appreciation for your loyalty. I'm talking about all you out there, all the fans."

According to the Associated Press, Dio's son, Dan Padavona, cautioned the memorial crowd to be screened regularly by a doctor and take care of themselves, something he said his father did not do.

"I beg you not to make the same mistake my dad made," said Padavona. "For dad, the show always had to go on. He ignored the warning signs for years, and all along the cancer was growing and mutating from something that was probably easily defeatable into a monster which even Dio couldn't slay."

"He had that magic," remembered Willie Fyfe, Dio's longtime personal assistant. "He always called it magic. Once he had a crowd in his hands, that's where they stayed until it was time to go, then he'd give them back, and walk off and do his thing. Bless him. He's still doing that now, and the guy is in a coffin."

It has now been confirmed that two major concerts are being planned to celebrate the life of the late Ronnie James Dio. The gigs — dubbed Ronnie James Dio "Stand Up And Shout" Memorial Concerts — will take place in London and Los Angeles in the fall. There are also plans to hold annual events in the years to follow "so that Ronnie is never forgotten" and to raise money for cancer awareness and support, according to artist manager Adam Parsons.

Ronnie James Dio's widow, Wendy Dio, recently asked fans to ignore a protest by members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a fringe Christian congregation from Kansas, at Dio's public memorial service. The far right church announced its plans shortly after Dio's death, calling the late metal vocalist a "Satan-worshiper" and claiming he was "residing in hell."

As news of the group's protest began to spread online, Wendy Dio posted a message saying, "Ronnie hates prejudice and violence. We need to turn the other cheek on these people that only know how to hate someone they didn't know. We only know how to love someone we know!"

According to one person who attended today's memorial, the WBC "protesters were cordoned off outside of Forest Lawn grounds proper and were small in number with an at least equal number of counter-protesters." He added, "All seemed orderly despite the usual idiocy from the WBC folks."

Westboro Baptist Church is led by "minister" Fred Phelps, who has previously claimed that terrorist attacks and natural disasters are God's revenge for a society that tolerates homosexuality.

The church feels that they "have the duty to protest and picket at certain events, including funerals, to promote their religious message."

Members of the church have staged demonstrations at funerals of fallen soldiers.

Dio, who fronted BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and his own band, died on May 16 from stomach cancer at the age of 67.

Ronnie James Dio's casket, banner, button, Charity shirt front, Charity shirt back, Ronnie James Dio's son, Dan Padavona,