"Appetite for Destruction", the classic 1987 debut album by Los Angeles-based hard rock band GUNS N' ROSES, was certified on September 23, 2008 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for U.S. sales in excess of 18 million copies. The LP has reportedly accumulated worldwide sales in excess of 28 million.

The album's original cover, based on the Robert Williams painting "Appetite for Destruction", depicted a robot rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, they compromised and put the controversial cover art inside, replacing it with a cover depicting a cross and skulls of the five band members (designed by Billy White Jr., originally as a tattoo), each skull representing one member of the band: Izzy Stradlin, top skull; Steven Adler, left skull; Axl Rose, center skull; Duff McKagan, right skull; and Slash, bottom skull. The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John.

In other news, GUNS N' ROSES' "Greatest Hits" collection, which was originally released in March of 2004, sold more than 4,500 copies in the United States last week alone (week ending September 21), bringing the total number of copies sold since its release to 4.26 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"Plague of Butterflies", the new EP from Finnish doom metallers SWALLOW THE SUN, has entered the single chart in the band's home country at position No. 1.

An e-card for "Plague of Butterflies" can be accessed at this location. The CD was released on September 17 in Finland, September 22 in the UK and September 23 in the U.S. via Spinefarm Records.

Commented the band: "'Plague of Butterflies' is a story about an old hermit, deep woods, loneliness and the plague. It's one song in three parts and holds about 35 minutes of crushing gloom, beauty and despair. Music was originally ordered from us for a really interesting and big project, but the project was sadly abandoned. Because of this we are planning to use the music in different context — namely in a short movie — and we are in search for suitable partners to make this happen. We'll give more info on this later as things move on and wheels start to roll."

"Plague of Butterflies" track listing:

01. Losing the Sunsets
02. Plague of Butterflies
03. Evael 10:00

German melodic death metal hopefuls DEADLOCK will release their new album, "Manifesto", on November 17 and in the U.S. on January 6 via Lifeforce Records. The follow-up to 2007's "Wolves" was mixed by Jacob Hansen (MERCENARY, VOLBEAT, RAUNCHY) and will be released in several different formats:

Regular CD:

01. The Moribund Choir vs. The Trumpets Of Armageddon
02. Martyr To Science
03. Slaughter’s Palace
04. The Brave / Agony Applause
05. Deathrace
06. Fire At Will
07. Seal Slayer
08. Manifesto
09. Dying Breed
10. Altruism
11. Temple Of Love

Limited Digipack Edition:

01. The Moribund Choir vs. The Trumpets Of Armageddon
02. Martyr To Science
03. Slaughter’s Palace
04. The Brave / Agony Applause
05. Deathrace
06. Fire At Will
07. Seal Slayer
08. Manifesto
09. Dying Breed
10. Altruism
11. Temple Of Love
12. The Brave / Agony Applause (Acoustic Live Version)

Limited Box Edition:

01. The Moribund Choir vs. The Trumpets Of Armageddon
02. Martyr To Science
03. Slaughter’s Palace
04. The Brave / Agony Applause
05. Deathrace
06. Fire At Will
07. Seal Slayer
08. Manifesto
09. Dying Breed
10. Altruism
11. Temple Of Love
12. The Brave / Agony Applause (Acoustic Live Version)
13. Martyr To Spam - Planetakis vs. Deadlock DJ Morgoth Remixxx

The box edition is limited to 1,000 copies worldwide and will be available through selected mailorder services only, such as EMP, Nuclear Blast, Imperial and, of course, through the Lifeforce webstore. It contains the album in a six-panel digipack, an embroidered exclusive wristband and autographed portrait cards of all bandmembers packed in a nice digibox.

The artwork and design for "Manifesto" was handled by Adam Wentworth at www.the663.com, who has previously worked with BEYONCÉ, COHEED AND CAMBRIA and A LIFE ONCE LOST.

German power metallers PARAGON will release their new album, "Screenslaves", on November 14 via Massacre Records. The CD was produced by Uwe Lullis (ex-GRAVE DIGGER, REBELLION) at Black Solaris Studio in Frankfurt.

"Screenslaves" track listing:

01. Hellgore
02. Disconnected
03. Entombed
04. Screenslaves
05. Bloodfeast
06. The Blade In The Dark
07. Death Next Door
08. The Killing Hand
09. Waxworks
10. Larger Than Life (BACKSTREET BOYS cover)
11. L' Eredita ("Legacy" Italian version)
12. Screenslaves video clip (digipack bonus only)

PARAGON's latest album, "Forgotten Prophecies", was released last June 2007 via Remedy Records.

Resurrected late '80s/early '90s death metal outfit PESTILENCE will enter Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark mid-October to begin recording its new album, "Resurrection Macabre", for a 2009 release via Holland's Mascot Records. The band will record a total of 14 songs during the session — 11 new tracks and three classic PESTILENCE cuts as chosen by the fans.

To vote for your favorite PESTILENCE song for the band to re-record, visit www.pestilence.nl. The three tracks that receive the most votes will be re-recorded in the studio. Voting ends October 10, 2008.

Joining guitarist/vocalist Patrick Mameli in PESTILENCE's current recording lineup are Tony Choy (ATHEIST, CYNIC) on bass and Peter Wildoer (DARKANE, NON-HUMAN LEVEL) on drums. Patrick has previously described the band's new material as a modern fusion of "Testimony of the Ancients" (1991) and "Spheres" (1993), but even more technical and brutal.

U.D.O., the German band led by former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider, celebrated its 20th anniversary by playing two special shows in Germany on April 30 in Solingen at Cobra and May 3 in Tuttlingen at Stadthalle. The three-hour Tuttlingen concert was filmed for a DVD and live CD, entitled "Mastercutor Alive" (see artwork below), to be released on September 26 on ZXY Music in three different formats:

* Double DVD including bonus material and double CD
* Single DVD without bonus material in digipack
* Double CD

Three songs from the CD — "Mastercutor", "Vendetta" and "Burning" — are available for streaming on the band's web site.

Check out pictures of the Tuttlingen show: Part 1, Part 2.

The track listing is as follows:

Disc 1:

01. Mastercutor
02. 24/7
03. They Want War
04. The Bullet And The Bomb
05. Midnight Mover
06. Vendetta
07. Mission No. X
08. Midnight Highway
09. The Wrong Side Of Midnight
10. Breaker
11. Guitar Solo
12. Princess Of The Dawn
13. One Lone Voice
14. Winterdreams

Disc 2:

01. Living For Tonite
02. Thunderball
03. Drum Solo
04. Man And Machine
05. Animal House
06. Metal Heart
07. Holy
08. Balls To The Wall
09. Fast As A Shark
10. Burning
11. Outro
12. I'm A Rebel

Bonus material:

* Road movie Russia tour (15 minutes)
* Road movie South America tour (15 minutes)
* Concert Belarus (30 minutes)

The DVDs will feature 5.1 Surround Sound.

U.D.O. released a "best-of" album, "Metallized - 20 Years of Metal", on November 30 via AFM Records. The CD booklet is filled with photos from the last 20 years and and includes liner notes written by Metal Hammer journalist Andreas Schöwe. The first 12 songs on the collection were chosen by fans via the official U.D.O. web site, while tracks 13 to 16 consist of two unreleased songs, an acoustic version of the ACCEPT classic "Balls to the Wall", and a live version of "The Bullet and the Bomb".

Polish extreme metal veterans BEHEMOTH will release a new EP, "Ezkaton", in North America on November 11 through Metal Blade Records. The EP will feature seven tracks, one brand new song titled "Qadosh", a live recording as well as a new studio version of "Chant For Ezkaton 2000 e.v.". Also included are live versions of "From The Pagan Vastlands" and "Decade Ov Therion" plus covers of THE RAMONES' "I'm Not Jesus" and the MASTERS HAMMER track "Jama Pekel". The EP will be made available as a limited edition box set that will include four picture disc seven inches, a BEHEMOTH pendant and the CD all packaged in a deluxe box.

"Ezkaton" track listing:

01. Chant for Ezkaton 2000 e.v.
02. Qadosh
03. Jama Pekel
04. I'm Not Jesus
05. From the Pagan Vastlands (live)
06. Decade Ov Therion (live)
07. Chant for Ezkaton 2000 e.v. (live)

Four vinyl picture discs:

LP 1:

Side I: Chant for Ezkaton 2000 e.v.
Side II: Qadosh

LP 2:

Side I: Jama Pekel
Side II: I'm Not Jesus

LP 3:

Side I: Devilock
Side II: From the Pagan Vastlands (live)

LP 4:

Side I: Decade Ov Therion (live)
Side II: Chant for Ezkaton 2000 e.v. (live)

German melodic metallers EDGUY have issued the following update:

"EDGUY have just returned from Belgrade [Serbia] where they have shot a video clip for the song 'Ministry Of Saints' from their forthcoming new studio album 'Tinnitus Sanctus', out on November 14th. As there will be no EP before the album release the video clip will be shown on this website during the next weeks."

The cover artwork for "Tinnitus Sanctus" can be viewed below. The CD was recorded at Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany with producer Sascha Paeth.

In a recent interview, EDGUYfrontman Tobias Sammet stated about the group's new material, "We don't go back to the roots. We never denied who we are and where we come from, so I don't see a reason to go back to wherever. I go straight forward and follow my heart as I've always done, 'Tinnitus Sanctus' is exactly the music we wanna play, we are happy and I don't give a fuck if it's gonna be our biggest-selling album or not. It's so great, even if my career would go down the drain and this would be the last album, I'd be more than happy to be remembered as the guy who recorded 'Tinnitus Sanctus'. I'd rather ruin my carreer with a creative killer album like that than trying to play safe with a boring stereotype power metal stinker constructed on a drawing table. We have a couple of song titles such as 'Dragonfly', 'Dead Or Rock', 'Wake Up Dreaming Black' or 'Sex Fire Religion'. And we'll shoot a video for a very heavy midtempo anthem by the name of 'Ministry Of Saints'. And there'll be a bonus track called 'Aren't You A Little Pervert Too?' which is quite nasty."

Swedish metallers IN FLAMES will release their new digital single, "Alias", on Friday, September 26. The cover artwork for the single can be viewed below.

"Alias" is the second single from the band's latest album, "A Sense Of Purpose", which came out in April. The accompanying video, which can be viewed below, was filmed just outside Gothenburg, Sweden and was directed and produced by Patric Ullaeus (Revolver Film Company), who previously worked with the band on such videos as "Take This Life", "My Sweet Shadow" and "The Quiet Place".

Commented singer Anders Fridén: "Our aim with this video was to make a straight-up video with the feel/touch of our live shows to it! I think a lot of people who have seen us at the European festivals this summer will recognize themselves and maybe some of the people who will see us live this fall will recognize themselves from the video.

The video was shot in an old TV studio where a lot of famous Swedish TV shows have been recorded, just outside Gothenburg. It was shot in one, looooong, day but, at the same time, a very smooth one. I got the idea for this video from our live shows. I said, 'Take that concept and incorporate that feeling into it.' There is no real story or connection with the lyrics, just IN FLAMES doing our thing! Like I said, I think a lot of people who has seen us live the past year will recognize themselves in the video and also the people who will see us live in November/December will get the feel from the video."

A trailer for GAMMA RAY's long-awaited 2-DVD/2-CD DVD package "Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal", is available at this location. Due on October 27 in Europe and November 4 in the U.S. via SPV, the set will feature a multi-camera recording of the band's May 6, 2006 show at Medley in Montreal, Quebec, several "road movies," promotional clips, and footage from the group's January 2008 concert in Barcelona, Spain.

Band leader Kai Hansen looks back at GAMMA RAY's first American tour with pride and great joy, saying: "We had played in the States only once before, so this was our first headliner tour of America. Of course we had no idea what exactly to expect, but the reactions were overwhelming. The tickets sold extremely well, and the atmosphere was amazing night after night. What you see on the footage from Montreal is what we experienced at almost every show."

He continued: "We had been thinking about releasing a live DVD for a long time, especially as our faithful fans had been nagging us about one for years. Unfortunately we'd never had the time to plan and realise such a large-scale project. Well, here you go! This is a DVD the way we like it: diverse and multi-faceted, featuring a musical cross-section of the GAMMA RAY albums recorded by the current line-up since 1998. The road movie speaks for itself, and those nice little extras are great mementoes of our band history to date."

The DVD's humorous subtitle "… And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume…" refers to keyboardist Eero Kaukomies who plays in the GAMMA RAY cover band GUARDIANS OF MANKIND from Helsinki and who performed with GAMMA RAY during its entire American tour. Hansen explained: "During the tour, Henjo suddenly noticed that Eero has a somewhat duck-like walk. So the crazy idea developed to make him wear a Donald Duck costume at the show in Montreal and present him to the audience. Naturally, this great suggestion didn't meet with much enthusiasm from Eero, and the whole thing became a running gag." Hansen added with a wink: "By the way, the 'awesome foursome' refers to Henjo, Dirk, Daniel and myself, in case you were wondering."

GAMMA RAY will travel to Russia at the beginning of September and is scheduled to tour America and Canada this fall. And the rest of the year? "We are collecting ideas for our next studio album," Hansen revealed. "Quite a few of them have already piled up, so come autumn we will probably begin to sort through them and go to the studio in January 2009."

Track Listing – DVD:

DVD 1 – Montreal Show 2006

01. Welcome
02. Gardens Of The Sinner
03. New World Order
04. Man On A Mission
05. Fight
06. Blood Religion
07. Heavy Metal Universe
08. Dreamhealer
09. The Heart Of The Unicorn
10. Fairytale
11. The Silence
12. Beyond The Blackhole
13. Valley Of The Kings
14. Somewhere Out In Space
15. Land Of The Free
16. Rebellion In Dreamland
17. I Want Out
18. Send Me A Sign

DVD 2

Road Movie:

* Documentary from the Northamerican Tour

Video Clips:

* Space Eater
* One With The World
* Gamma Ray
* Rebellion In Dreamland
* Send Me A Sign
* Heavy Metal Universe
* Eagle
* Into The Storm

Live At Wacken Open Air 2003

* One With The World
* Last Before The Storm

Live At Wacken Open Air 2006

* Rebellion In Dreamland
* Heavy Metal Universe
* Somewhere Out In Space

Historay: Over the years private movies, backstage scenes and live performances
Unplugged: Kai and Henjo unplugged in Japan

DVD 3 (Bonus, only Europe)

Four songs from "Land Of The Free II" recorded live in Barcelona during the "Hellish Rock" tour with HELLOWEEN in January 2008:

01. Into The Storm
02. Empress
03. From The Ashes
04. Real World

Plus Backstage scenes, soundchecks, etc...

Track Listing CD:

CD 1

01. Welcome
02. Gardens Of The Sinner
03. New World Order
04. Man On A Mission
05. Fight
06. Blood Religion
07. Heavy Metal Universe
08. Dreamhealer
09. The Heart Of The Unicorn
10. Fairytale
11. The Silence

CD 2

01. Beyond The Blackhole
02. Valley Of The Kings
03. Somewhere Out In Space
04. Land Of The Free
05. Rebellion In Dreamland
06. I Want Out
07. Send Me A Sign

Bonus Tracks:

08. Into The Storm
09. Empress
10. From The Ashes
11. Real World

Finnish power metal band CELESTY has finished recording its fourth studio album and is scheduled to begin mixing the effort in November/December. Meanwhile, the band is intensively rehearsing the new material for its upcoming live shows.

Commented CELESTY drummer Jere Luokkamäki: "The recordings were completed without any major problems and we're happy to announce the new album will sound extremely massive and bombastic! The mixing process will be a serious challenge for Samu Oittinen of Fantom Studio since the songs have so many tracks — in fact, we're getting close to the Finnish record of amount of tracks on an album!"

CELESTY's new CD will feature eleven tracks and over sixty minutes of music.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Intro
02. Euphoric Dream
03. Greed
04. Like Warriors
05. Autumn Leaves
06. Feared by Dawn
07. Lord (Of This Kingdom)
08. New Sin
09. Dark Emotions
10. Fading Away
11. Legacy of Hate Pt. 3
- Candlelight
- Shadow Land
- Chaos and Destruction (instrumental)
- Feelings

The CD will feature guest appearances by Stephan Lill (VANDEN PLAS) and Elias Viljanen (SONATA ARCTICA). Suvi-Tuuli Dietrich (ESCAPE) has contributed female vocals to the album.

"This is without doubt our best album!" explains Luokkamäki. "We're eagerly waiting to get it released, and after the release we're touring Finland the whole spring."

Paul Cashmere of Undercover News reports that METALLICA's "Death Magnetic" has topped the Australian album chart this week with sales of 55,877 units in the past seven days.

If you include one-day sales from the first day of release (September 12) last week, "Death Magnetic" has sold 60,726 units.

In Australia, "Death Magnetic" is now the fastest-selling album of the year.

METALLICA has no less than five LPs on this week's ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) chart:

01. Death Magnetic
24. Metallica
33. Master Of Puppets
36. …And Justice For All
38. Ride The Lightning

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN guitarist Ben Weinman has told UK's Rock Sound magazine that he he recently did a remix of the LIL WAYNE track "Lollipop" but that he is "not sure if it is coming out." He added, "That beat got so played and remixed so his record label did not want to put out mine and it get lost. They are actually going to send me the JAY Z/LIL WAYNE track way upfront so I should be one of the first remixes of that track, hopefully. They want LIL WAYNE to get rock press, he loves rock, Kurt Cobain is his favorite artist. He loves to play guitar but he is horrible at it, another part of the deal is that I teach him how to play guitar.''

Reactivated Swedish metallers AT THE GATES have issued the following update:

"The reunion shows for 2008 have come to an end. We want to thank everybody involved for making them happen. A massive 'thank you' goes out to our partners in THE HAUNTED, DISFEAR, NEMHAIN, SLAKTATTACK etc. for understanding the importance of doing these last couple of closing shows.

"What happens now, you might ask? Well, we are currently working on collecting a bunch of filmed material and we will begin to film and edit some footage for an upcoming documentary. More news about this at a later date. In the meanwhile, please respect our current status, and try to understand that our main priority lies with our current bands and prior commitments.

"Thanks everybody for making this a memorable summer for us all."

German metalcore act CALIBAN has issued the following update:

"We are currently in the pre-production state and full speed working to move into the studio in a couple of weeks and record the successor of 'The Awakening'. Be curious for the new songs, they're going to turn out a lot more somber compared to the last album! And that won't mean the only improvement, for the upcoming record we are in the middle of negotiations with a few labels! We were able to get an idea of the offers we received so far, and we already picked a favourite. The release date for the finished disk is going to be in spring 2009, around March/April. The visual equivalent to the songs will be provided by Basti Basti of CALLEJON, who is going to add some dark touch to the album, he is responsible for the artwork of HEAVEN SHALL BURN and WAR FROM A HARLOTS MOUTH, just to name some.

"For all international fans of CALIBAN's live shows, there is some great news as well: We will visit Turkey, Belgium, Ukraine and Belarus in October and November for a couple of new shows, and we will definitely conquer the stage and make it tremble.

"You will be able to get a first taste of the new songs when we hit the road with the thrash metal legend KREATOR and ELUVEITIE. The tour starts in January and tourdates will spread all across Europe. The tour is going to be long and hard, but we're absolutely sure the shows are gonna be a blast and will make up for all effort they're causing! We're looking forward already to share the stage with such amazing bands. We can only deeply recommend this tour to you all, you shouldn't miss out on it!"

Scottish folk/power metal band ALESTORM has announced the addition of guitarist Tim Shaw to the group's ranks. The band states, "The more eagle-eyed watchers of the underground amongst you may know him as the mastermind behind the epic black metal project FYRDSMAN, and as the guitarist of the now-departed death metal titans PREMITHON. He's a beastly good guitarist, and a great lad to boot. It's gonna be a fucking blast when we get up on stage and in the studio."

ALESTORM adds, "Gavin's [Harper, former ALESTORM guitarist] shoes are going to be tough ones to fill, but that's OK, because Tim has big feet. And you know what they say about guys with big feet..."

ALESTORM was recently rejoined by drummer Ian Wilson.

The band has just completed work on four-track EP, which will go on sale to coincide with the band's upcoming European tour with SVARTSOT, HOLLENTHON and TÝR. According to the group, "It's got one new awesome song, a cover, 'Wenches and Mead' in German (oh, yes), and a revamped version of 'Heavy Metal Pirates', available on CD for the first time."

"Leviathan" EP tentative track listing:

01. Leviathan
02. Wolves of the Sea
03. Weiber und Wein (German version of "Wenches and Mead")
04. Heavy Metal Pirates

ALESTORM released its debut album, "Captain Morgan's Revenge", in January through Napalm Records.

According to a press release, the quartet "plays Scottish 'pirate metal,' by their own definition, and musically resembles the great battle metal bands such as KORPIKLAANI or TURISAS, albeit with a unique touch and Scottish instrumentation."

On October 14, Armoury Records, distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment, will release one mighty molten metal blast of good CD cheer: "We Wish You A Metal Xmas And A Headbanging New Year".

It's an all-star assemblage as members of such great hard rock bands as FOO FIGHTERS, QUEENSRŸCHE, DIO, ALICE COOPER, ZZ TOP, DOKKEN, KISS, L.A. GUNS, MARILYN MANSON, MOTÖRHEAD, BLACK SABBATH, KING'S X, JUDAS PRIEST, ANTHRAX, RATT, STYX, TOTO and more all jam out together on some of the most beloved holiday songs of all time (including "Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer").

The kick is in the chemistry between the musicians as members of different bands perform together on the material to create a one-of-a-kind listening experience! MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy, ZZ TOP's Billy Gibbons and FOO FIGHTERS' Dave Grohl, for instance, team up on "Run Rudolph Run", a song popularized by Chuck Berry. This is just one of 12 such irresistible pairings.

"This is a metal CD you will want to listen to all year round," says Wendy Dio, who put the project together with Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen. "It has been a very exciting and exhausting project, but we have managed to get an all-star cast together."

Ironically, the hardest person to get was Dio himself as he doesn't sing Christmas songs. Wendy hounded him for days, finally getting him to listen to Kulick's arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Dio liked it, added a few bits, recorded it at Kulick's studio, and got Tony Iommi to add his signature guitar sound. The result is a very SABBATH Christmas song. Rounding out the circle of familiar characters on this track are DIO bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Simon Wright.

"The 'Metal Xmas' album was a great opportunity to pay homage to my least favorite holiday," says Dio, "and what a lineup of musicians to do it with! The arrangements of the classic noel songs are fresh and heavy with rock'n'roll, and the performances are equally classic. It's a magical way to change your holiday listening."

"We Wish You A Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year" track listing:

01. We Wish You A Merry Xmas

Jeff Scott Soto (TALISMAN, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JOURNEY)
Bruce Kulick (KISS, UNION)
Bob Kulick
Chris Wyse (THE CULT)
Ray Luzier (KORN, DAVID LEE ROTH, ARMY OF ANYONE)

02. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Alice Cooper
John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON)
Billy Sheehan (DAVID LEE ROTH, TALAS, MR. BIG)
Vinny Appice (DIO, HEAVEN AND HELL, BLACK SABBATH)

03. Run Rudolph Run

Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD)
Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ TOP)
Dave Grohl (FOO FIGHTERS)

04. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN AND HELL, BLACK SABBATH)
Tony Iommi (HEAVEN AND HELL, BLACK SABBATH)
Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT, WHITESNAKE, DIO)
Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO)

05. Little Drummer Boy

Doug Pinnick (KING's X)
George Lynch (DOKKEN)
Billy Sheehan (DAVID LEE ROTH, TALAS, MR. BIG)
Simon Phillips (THE WHO, TOTO)

06. Santa Claus Is Back In Town

Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH)
Steve Morse (DEEP PURPLE)
Juan Garcia (AGENT STEEL)
Marco Mendoza (WHITESNAKE, TED NUGENT)
Vinny Appice (DIO, HEAVEN AND HELL, BLACK SABBATH)

07. Silent Night

Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT)
Scott Ian (ANTHRAX)
Jon Donais (SHADOWS FALL)
Chris Wyse (THE CULT)
John Tempesta (ROB ZOMBIE, THE CULT)

08. Silver Bells

Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE)
Carlos Cavazo (QUIET RIOT, RATT)
James Lomenzo (MEGADETH, WHITE LION)
Ray Luzier (KORN, DAVID LEE ROTH, ARMY OF ANYONE)

09. Deck the Halls

Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB)
Craig Goldy (DIO)
Tony Franklin (THE FIRM)
John Tempesta (ROB ZOMBIE, THE CULT)

10. Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer

Stephen Pearcy (RATT)
Tracii Guns (L.A. GUNS, BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION)
Bob Kulick
Billy Sheehan (DAVID LEE ROTH, TALAS, MR. BIG)
Greg Bissonette (DAVID LEE ROTH)

11. Rockin' Around the Xmas Tree

Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE)
Bruce Kulick (KISS, UNION)
Bob Kulick
Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT, WHITESNAKE, DIO)
Simon Wright AC/DC, DIO)

12. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Tommy Shaw (STYX)
Steve Lukather (TOTO)
Marco Mendoza (WHITESNAKE, TED NUGENT)
Kenny Aronoff (TONY IOMMI, SMASHING PUMPKINS)

Multinational metalheads POWERWOLF are currently in pre-production for their third album which they plan to record beginning in November at Studio Fredman in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström (DIMMU BORGIR, IN FLAMES, HAMMERFALL).

Commented singer Attila Dorn: "We're currently sweating blood and incense creating new anthems. We can hardly tame our enthusiasm about the stuff we have written yet. Expect a goddamn mighty third strike that will be heaven in hell for all you wolfmaniacs!"

POWERWOLF's second album, "Lupus Dei", was released in May 2007 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was mixed at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Austrian black metal mongrels HELLSAW are the latest addition to Napalm Records' ever-growing roster. The band, fronted by the charismatic Aries (ex-SANGUIS), offers "an unholy blend of dark melodies, pitch-black vocals, and infernal drums," according to a press release.

The new HELLSAW opus, "Cold", will be released in the spring of 2009.

Commented Aries: "We are very proud to be a member of the Napalm family. Not only is it proof of our hard work, but also a major sign that Napalm Records return to their roots and put their faith in a fucked-up Austrian black metal band. We honor this sign of trust and in return will unleash our album, 'Cold', early next year. Fans can expect a composition of hate and brimstone, all-crushing blastbeats, and raw guitars filled with deep melancholy."

Long-running Israeli extreme metallers SALEM have been hard at work on material for a new album, tentatively due in 2009. One new tune in particular, called "Heartbeat", is described by the band as "a 13-minute long percussive ordeal that our drummer cannot yet play from start to finish in one take." Consequently, "he thought it would be interesting to let you try to nail down a song that has not yet been recorded so drummers worldwide; follow this link, download the drum chart PDF and have a go at this tune."

SALEM released its latest album, "Necessary Evil", in June 2007 via Season of Mist. The follow-up to 2005's "Strings Attached" includes a 27-minute piece entitled "Once Upon a Lifetime Parts I - V".

R&B songwriter/performer Ne-Yo, whose "Year of the Gentleman", is set to debut at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart next week (behind METALLICA's "Death Magnetic"), has told UK's Daily Star that he is preparing to collaborate with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson. "We're about to go into the studio together," he said. "I've wanted to work with him for ages and his people reached out to me when they heard. I have no idea what the music will sound like or what direction we'll take, but it will be really cool. We're obviously two separate sides of the musical extreme but that's what makes it exciting. People might think it’s a strange collaboration, I don't. But don't worry — you won't see me adopting his style. I don't think you'll ever see me in make-up."

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was asked how long he thinks METALLICA can continue to make music and tour. "METALLICA will go on forever," Ulrich declared, "bar the $64,000 question. "The physical part."

He continued, "THE ROLLING STONES, BLACK SABBATH, AEROSMITH — I have nothing but respect for their longevity, but Charlie Watts is not playing 'Damage, Inc.' three times a week or playing 'Whiplash' every night. This has the potential to go on for a long time. But if somebody's arm, back or neck just says, 'Fuck this,' and quits, I don't know.

"I could be content without it when it's time to say, 'Dude, that was crazy, now it's getting a little silly.' I know some people already think it's a joke. We don't — yet."

METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield: "I don't know what the future holds. The fact that we've been together this long — there's a meaning behind that. We willed this to happen. It was a combination — the drive, the smarts, the right people."

He added, "Listen, what else am I going to do? That's a scary thought. I think we'd all be OK if we ventured out on our own. But I don't want to lose this."

According to RollingStone.com, new JOURNEY singer Arnel Pineda isn't finding the band's current North American tour nearly as fulfilling as his bandmates are. He misses his girlfriend and son, and the grueling pace is grinding him down. "It's very, very sad," he tells RollingStone.com. "There are days I just break down and cry. This is a job I'm doing for my family. That's all the consolation I'm getting." Traveling around America isn't what he expected. "It's all buses, stage, microphone," he says. "I never really get to go around and walk. They wake me up for soundcheck, then I wait until the show at nine. It's a fantastic job, but at the same time it's a curse. . . . I told Neal [Schon, guitar] that the only thing that will make me quit this is if I get sick. I guess that's the same reason Steve Perry [former JOURNEY singer] bailed out."

Finnish metallers BURNING POINT have finished recording their fourth album, "Empyre", for a late 2008 release via Metal Heaven. A total of 17 songs were recorded for the effort — 11 brand new originals, new versions of "Black Star" and "Lake of Fire" from the band's debut, "Salvation by Fire", and four cover songs featuring "great guests":

* Vocalist Jonathan K (ex-Q5, NIGHTSHADE) can be heard on the Q5 cover "Let Go" from the album "When the Mirror Cracks".

* Guitarist Majk Moti (ex-RUNNING WILD) guests on the RUNNING WILD cover "Gods of Iron" from the "Branded & Exiled" album.

* Vocalist David "Rock" Feinstein (THE RODS, FEINSTEIN) makes an appearance on THE RODS cover "Nuclear Skies" from the "Let them Eat Metal" album.

* Finnish singer Taage Laiho (KILPI, ex-ALTARIA) and Riku Kukkonen (ex-KIRKA) can be heard on "I'll Be Yours", a cover of a song by the very famous Finnish artist KIRKA (from his album "R.O.C.K.").

The "Empyre" artwork will be handled by Felipe Machado Franco who has previously worked with such artists as ICED EARTH, AXEL RUDI PELL and BLAZE BAYLEY.

"Empyre" track listing (not final):

01. Empyre
02. Manic Merry-Go-Round
03. Face The Truth
04. Was It Me
05. Fool's Parade
06. Blinded By The Darkness
07. Walls Of Stone
08. Remains Of My Broken Dreams
09. Sacrifice
10. Cruel World
11. Only The Wrong Will Survive
12. Lake Of Fire 2008
13. Black Star 2008
14. Let Go (Q5)
15. Nuclear Skies (THE RODS)
16. I'll Be Yours (KIRKA)
17. Gods Of Iron (RUNNING WILD)

BURNING POINT is also planning to release its first DVD in 2009.

BURNING POINT's third album, "Burned Down the Enemy", was released last year via Metal Heaven Records. The mixing sessions for "Burned Down the Enemy" took place at the Tonebox studio in Oulu. Kari "Kakke" Vähäkuopus, who handled the mixing process for the previous albums, "Salvation by Fire" and "Feeding the Flames", once again helmed the sessions. The CD was mastered at Finnvox studios in Helsinki.

Dutch guitarist/composer Arjen Lucassen has completed work on a new AYREON 3CD + DVD compilation album entitled "Timeline".

"I've been asked many times before to release an AYREON compilation album, but it just didn't feel right to present fragmented bits of story by lifting individual songs out of their greater contexts," Arjen explains. "However, my attitude changed after I completed my 2008 album '01011001' in which I connected all the previous AYREON releases, musically as well as lyrically. Having completed the circle, so to speak, it seemed like a fitting time to put all things AYREON into perspective and create an AYREON timeline outlining the entire story."

"Timeline" follows the thirteen-year evolution of the AYREON sound from the 1995 debut "The Final Experiment" to the release of "01011001" in 2008. In addition to selecting tracks from the existing AYREON discography, Arjen has also written and recorded a new AYREON song exclusively for "Timeline". Titled "Epilogue: The Memory Remains", this previously unreleased nine-plus-minute track introduces AYREON fans to the clear, powerful voice of Jasper Steverlinck (ARID). Lyrically, "The Memory Remains" provides further insight into the final chapter of the AYREON saga and what the future might hold for its characters.

In addition to "The Memory Remains", "Timeline"'s three audio CDs comprise 32 essential AYREON tracks (almost four hours of music), all carefully remastered specifically for this release. The accompanying DVD features nearly two hours of released and unreleased video clips, behind-the-scenes featurettes, 5.1 mixes, and live performances of AYREON tracks (STAR ONE and STREAM OF PASSION versions). To illuminate the AYREON story further, a timeline poster illustrating the AYREON universe and 56-page booklet containing many new photos, all lyrics, and notes on the story are included in the "Timeline" package. The cover is a specially commissioned painting by traditional AYREON cover artist Jef Bertels (see below).

"Timeline" will be available from InsideOut Music on November 7 (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), November 10 (rest of Europe), and early 2009 (North America).

When asked what the release of "Timeline" means for the future of AYREON, Arjen explains, "I don't see this as the end of AYREON, but rather as a new beginning. I'll definitely be recording some side projects before I even start thinking about re-inventing AYREON. To keep things fresh for myself I've got to come up with a completely new concept for both the music and the lyrics. I hope I can do it...it will be definitely be quite a challenge!"

Tracklist:

CD1

1995: The Final Experiment

1) Prologue 3:17
2) The Awareness 6:36
3) Eyes of Time 5:05
4) The Accusation (acoustic version taken from the Special Edition) 3:43
5) Sail Away to Avalon (single version) 3:40
6) Listen to the Waves 4:40

1996: Actual Fantasy (Revisited)

7) Actual Fantasy 1:31
8) Abbey of Synn 9:25
9) Computer Eyes 7:17 10]
10) Back on Planet Earth 7:04

1998 Into the Electric Castle

11) Isis and Osiris 11:09
12) Amazing Flight 10:21

Total time CD1: 73:53

CD2

1998 Into the Electric Castle

1) The Garden of Emotions 9:40
2) The Castle Hall 5:48
3) The Mirror Maze 6:23
4) The Two Gates 6:23

2000: The Universal Migrator parts I and II

5) The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B Cocq 7:42
6) Dawn of a Million Souls 7:44
7) And the Druids Turned to Stone 6:32
8) Into the Black Hole 10:17
9) The First Man on Earth 6:54

2004: the Human Equation

10) Day Two: Isolation 8:46

Total time CD2: 76:14

CD3

2004: The Human Equation

1) Day Three: Pain 4:53
2) Day Six: Childhood 5:04
3) Day Twelve: Trauma 9:23
4) Day Sixteen: Loser 4:47
5) Day Seventeen: Accident? 5:41

2008: 01011001

6) Age of Shadows (edit) 5:39
7) Ride the Comet 3:39
8) The Fifth Extinction 10:27
9) Waking Dreams 6:23
10) The Sixth Extinction 12:16

2008: New previously unreleased Ayreon track

11) Epilogue: The Memory Remains 9:16

Total time CD3: 77:23

DVD

1] The Stranger from Within (5.1, available on Actual Fantasy Revisited)
2] Valley of the Queens (available on Star One – Live on Earth)
3] Isis and Osiris (available on Star One – Live on Earth)
4] The Two Gates (available on Star One – Live on Earth)
5] Teaser: The Human Equation (available on the special edition of The Human Equation)
6] Day Eleven: Love (5.1, available on the special edition of The Human Equation)
7] Come Back to Me (available as CD ROM track on the EP Come Back to Me)
8] Loser (Star One version, previously unreleased)
9] Farside of the World (5.1, available on Actual Fantasy Revisited)
10] Back on Planet Earth (5.1, available on Actual Fantasy Revisited)
11] Featurette Actual Fantasy (available on Actual Fantasy Revisited)
12] Computer Eyes (available on Stream of Passion – Live in the Real World)
13] Day One: Vigil (available on Stream of Passion – Live in the Real World)
14] Day Three: Pain (available on Stream of Passion – Live in the Real World)
15] The Castle Hall (available on Stream of Passion – Live in the Real World)
16] Release Party 01011001 (previously unreleased)
17] Beneath the Waves (5.1, available on the special edition of 01011001)
18] Teaser 01011001 (available on the special edition of 01011001)
19] Featurette Epilogue: The Memory Remains (previously unreleased)

Total time DVD: approx 2 hours