TWISTED SISTER guitarist Eddie Ojeda will take part in Steve Steinman's "Vampires Rock" tour in Europe during September-December 2007.

Commented Ojeda: "It's a great show for me to be a part of and three months of touring with them will be great!"

"Vampires Rock" is a musical stage show which premiered in 2004. It is performed by the group headed by Steve Steinman, who had appeared on "Stars in Their Eyes" as Meat Loaf. The group has toured for several years with "The Meat Loaf Story".

Set in the year 2030 in New York populated by The Undead, Baron Von Rockula, owner of the Live and Let Die club, is in search of a bride, and must eventually convince her to agree to eternal immortality.

The show features a number of notable rock anthems, including songs from MEAT LOAF, RAINBOW, AC/DC, ALICE COOPER, THE ROLLING STONES, BON JOVI, QUEEN, WHITESNAKE, BONNIE TYLER and CHER.

The concept is based on "Tanz der Vampire".

Chris Harris and Jon Wiederhorn of MTV.com report: AS I LAY DYING, along with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and UNEARTH, have been at the forefront of metalcore for the last five years. But according to frontman Tim Lambesis, the band's forthcoming LP, "An Ocean Between Us", was largely influenced by what he perceives is the deterioration of the genre.

Before they began writing material for the disc late last year, the San Diego metallers "spent some time listening to our last album [2005's 'Shadows Are Security'] and, just from being on tour, we became a little bit jaded by how the genre — as a whole — has sort of copied itself over and over again," he explained. "We decided we wanted to be more diverse, even down to the point where we sort of felt like we should really focus on writing songs in different categories, and then pick the best songs from those categories and use them for the record."

Produced by KILLSWITCH guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz (EVERY TIME I DIE, ALL THAT REMAINS), the album — which hits stores August 21 and features backing vocals from members of DESTROY THE RUNNER — will include a dozen tracks, including "Separation", "Within Destruction" and the likely first single, "Nothing Left". Lambesis said listeners will find that each song differs from the next, with some cuts bordering on chaotic and foreboding, others more driven by melody, and a couple that are just straight-up, balls-to-the-wall thrashy.

"On the tempo side of things, we wanted the record to be pretty fast as a whole, so we wrote some real thrash-influenced songs," he said. "We even wrote songs that have a more emotional depth to them — songs that aren't just pound-your-face-in all the time."

Austrian extreme metallers BELPHEGOR have issued the following update:

"Drummer search continues! ...again! The last session drummers didn't work out when it came to worldwide touring. The group is still seeking a talented, experienced Europe-based drummer. A buddy with a professional attitude and focus to be in the band for real. BELPHEGOR have an album to finish writing and many tours to go on. If you think you have a shot, send us a detailed message and hit us up at: belphegor@aon.at.

"First off, please realize that it will have no effect at all on our activities, touring and otherwise. The core is solid and ready to kick some serious ass. Of course it's irritating to always have new drummers, but that allowed us to surpass ourselves every time, through the hiring of better musicians..."

Austrian symphonic metal band EDENBRIDGE has issued the following update:

"EDENBRIDGE like to welcome Robert Schoenleitner and Sebastian Lanser as their two new members! Robert Schoenleitner already played guitar on EDENBRIDGE's last tour through England and Asia. Robert studied guitar at VGI institute Munich. Sebastian Lanser, who studied drums at the Bruckner University in Linz, will replace Roland Navratil on drums. Sebastian is a longtime friend of Robert. EDENBRIDGE therefore is officially a five-piece again after more than five years."

EDENBRIDGE's rarities/"best of" compilation, entitled "The Chronicles of Eden", was released on June 1. The set was released as a double-CD and limited double-digipack. Disc One contains three new, previously unreleased songs, all Japanese and European bonus tracks and songs that were included on all out-of-print singles. Disc Two includes a "best of" selection out of the five released studio albums.

EDENBRIDGE recently signed a worldwide deal with Napalm Records. The band's first effort for Napalm will be released in the spring of 2008. Production on the CD is tentatively scheduled to begin next fall. Four songs have already been written and EDENBRIDGE will work with a renowned Czech orchestra for the first time in its career.

EDENBRIDGE's fifth album, "The Grand Design", was released in the U.S. on January 30 via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2004's "Shine" was recorded at The Farpoint Station studio in Austria and the Thin Ice facility in England with THRESHOLD mastermind Karl Groom.

Former CRADLE OF FILTH/AT THE GATES drummer Adrian Erlandsson, who is currently performing with BRUJERIA and NEMHAIN, has issued the following update:

"I am proud to announce that I have just completed the drums for the upcoming SAMSAS TRAUM record, 'Heiliges Herz', and I will be joining them accompanying tours. I really like the music — these guys got a strange kind of humour. I agreed to the cooperation shortly after I listened to the first demo tracks.

"Some of the new songs will already be presented live in September — along with old smash hits being performed for the first time every with real drums and a new lineup. I can't wait to play the tracks live — SAMSAS TRAUM are eager to kill.

"Meanwhile, the drum recordings for 'Heiliges Herz' were finished in a studio in London — skillfully supervised by Dan Turner."

Commented SAMSAS TRAUM leader Alexander Kaschte: "The result even impresses me. I can't believe that what's blasting out of the speakers is my own music. I'm getting closer to the record I always wanted to make."

Launch Radio Networks reports: Ozzy Osbourne has listed his five favorite hard rock bands for Spinner.com. The list includes LED ZEPPELIN, MOTÖRHEAD, NIRVANA, GREEN DAY and, of course, his own group, BLACK SABBATH. Osbourne said about his No. 1 choice, LED ZEPPELIN, "I can remember walking through Birmingham with Geezer Butler, the bass player from SABBATH, and he knew (ZEP singer) Robert Plant. Plant was walking through the subway and I'd heard his voice. And Geezer says to him, 'What are you up to?' Plant says, 'Well, they asked me to join a band called the NEW YARDBIRDS (which became ZEPPELIN).' And that was it...The first two albums had such an impact on my voice, and on my life, similar to THE BEATLES when I first heard them."

About BLACK SABBATH, Osbourne said, "One of the things with SABBATH: We had full control over what we were doing and how we wanted it laid out. People would come in the studio and give us a suggestion and we'd go, 'Would you f***ing get out of here right now?'We had full artistic control."

On NIRVANA: "Apparently, I met (late NIRVANA frontman Kurt Cobain), 'cause I was talking to Dave Grohl and he said, 'You probably don't remember this, but when you were in Devonshire Studios in the (San Fernando) Valley, me and Kurt were in the room where they had a pool table. When you walked in we were like, 'F***ing hell.'"

Osbourne called GREEN DAY's "American Idiot" album "f***ing brilliant."

Osbourne's new album, "Black Rain", debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart last month. The CD's first single, "I Don't Wanna Stop", is currently No. 1 at rock radio.

The singer will headline this summer's free Ozzfest, which begins on July 12 in Seattle.

Long-running Dutch thrashers DEAD HEAD have issued the following update:

"No news = good news. DEAD HEAD are still alive. Still writing songs, collecting ever more gear and working our day jobs.

"Eggfest [on June 9 in Eibergen] was a cool show. Thanks to all who showed up and the crazy fuckers who stood on stage during the encore."

DEAD HEAD's fifth album is tentatively due next year. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "The Swing", "Less Than Zero" and "Dissolved in Purity".

Formed in 1989, DEAD HEAD recorded the "Haatland" (2005) album at Hansen studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen (RAUNCHY, INVOCATOR). A 10-inch vinyl EP, "Dog God", featuring two songs from "Haatland", the IRON MAIDEN cover "Total Eclipse" and a re-recording of an older track, was released in 2004 via Fadeless Records.

Dutch death metal brutalizers SEVERE TORTURE are due to enter Hertz studios in Poland tomorrow to start the mix of their forthcoming album, "Sworn Vengeance". The follow-up to 2005's "Fall of the Despised" is due for release by Earache on September 10 and is set to be mixed by Hertz in-house producers Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawski.

The Wieslawski brothers have earned their reputation for high-quality death metal productions with releases by DECAPITATED and VADER, among others.

To see a preview of the artwork for the album and for all upcoming news relating to the release, head over to This location

Video footage of Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper performing THE EURYTHMICS classic "Sweet Dreams" together Sunday night (July 1) at B'Estival in Bucharest, Romania has been posted at YouTube. Manson headlined the festival, which marked the first time Cooper and Manson have ever shared the stage.

With regards to his rumored rivalry with Manson, Alice Cooper told Romania's Hotnews.ro, "We invented the shock on stage. Manson re-invented it for another generation. Despite all similarities, our music doesn't have that much in common: he's more industrial, we're [rooted] in classic hard rock."

Deepsend Records has announced the signing of Denmark's death metal masters DAWN OF DEMISE. The band is currently putting the finishing touches on its debut album, "Hate Takes Its Form", to be released this fall. The CD, which was mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen (ABORTED, MERCENARY, NIGHTRAGE), "combines the renowned New York death metal sound of early SUFFOCATION with the massive technical chaos of present-day ABORTED, a perfect blend of technicality and heaviness," according to a press release.

Deepsend Records is distributed exclusively in the U.S. by CM Distro and Canada by Sonic Unyon.

Swedish metallers THE DUSKFALL have finalized the track listing for their fourth CD, "The Dying Wonders of the World", due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records. The band entered the studio on April 1 to begin recording the follow-up to "Lifetime Supply of Guilt". You can read the group's studio diary on their official web site. The CD was mastered by Achim Köhler at Indiscreet Audio in Germany.

"The Dying Wonders of the World" track listing:

01. Paradises into Deserts
02. The Wheel and the Blacklight
03. Deep in Your World
04. Some More Sin on My Burden
05. Shadows and Cancer
06. Bring Us Your Infected
07. The Option and The Poison
08. Sealed with a Fist
09. I've Only Got Knives for You

A five-minute "teaser soundclip" containing parts of four different songs from "The Dying Wonders of the World" has been posted online at this location

Finnish metallers OLYMPOS MONS have posted the title track of their upcoming album, "Medievil", on their MySpace page. Due on July 16 via Scarlet Records, the CD was mixed by Janne Saksa at Sound Supreme Studios in Hämeenlinna and mastered at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki. According to a press release, the album is "a big step forward compared to its predecessor, both technically and musically, as people can expect from a group of talented and experienced musicians as OLYMPOS MONS certainly are, with a particular mention for the extraordinary singer Ian E. Highhill."

"Medievil" track listing:

01. One Word
02. Frozen
03. The Emperors Return
04. The Price
05. Wolves
06. A Race Between Two Hearts
07. Fire and Ice
08. Medievil
09. Kingdom of Winter
10. Locked in Chains
11. Dreamer

Relapse will issue "Legacy of the Catacombs", a CD and DVD collection highlighting the career of NILE in North America next Tuesday, July 10 (July 16 internationally).

The "Legacy of the Catacombs" CD features 12 stand-out tracks from NILE's illustrious musical catalog — "Amongst The Catacombs of Nephren-Ka" (1998), "Black Seeds of Vengeance" (2000), "In Their Darkened Shrines" (2002), and "Annihilation of the Wicked" (2005). The DVD portion includes all of the band's studio videos and is packaged with the CD in deluxe digipak housing.

"Legacy of the Catacombs" track listing:

01. Cast Down Te Heretic
02. Sacrifice Unto Sebek
03. Lashed To The Slave Stick
04. Execration Text
05. Sarcophagus
06. Unas Slayer Of The Gods
07. Masturbating The War God
08. Chapter For Transforming Into A Snake
09. Black Seeds Of Vengeance
10. Howling Of The Jinn
11. Barra Edinazzu
12. Smashing The Antiu

Swedish death metallers INSISION will release their third album, "Ikon" (originally due late April), on September 26 via Dental Records. The CD was recorded at Black Lounge studios (SCAR SYMMETRY, CENTINEX) in Avesta, Sweden. Mick Usher, who worked on INSISION's last album, "Revealed & Worshipped", designed the cover.

"Ikon" track listing:

01. A Ravenous Discharge
02. Unbind My Hands
03. By Habit
04. Depleting The Non-Being
05. Into The Cold
06. Breathing The Black Dust
07. Doubt Denied
08. Entangled In Thorns *
09. The Magnet Soul

* A remake of the song from the "Promo 2000" demo

Check out the song "Doubt Denied" on the Dental Records MySpace Page.

INSISION last year parted ways with Earache/Wicked World Records. "Just like ENTOMBED and MORBID ANGEL before us, it [is] now time for INSISION to leave Earache in order to go ahead," the band said at the time of the split.

SPV has set the following release dates for ICED EARTH's new studio album, "Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part I":

Germany: September 7
Rest of Europe: September 10
North America: September 11

"Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part 1" (cover artwork) expands the "Something Wicked" storyline first introduced in the trilogy of the same name appearing on the 1998 release, "Something Wicked This way Comes". "Framing Armageddon" will be followed in February/March 2008 by the band's ninth full-length studio release, tentatively titled "Revelation Abomination - Something Wicked Part 2" , continuing where "Framing Armageddon" leaves off.

"Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part 1" projected track listing:

01. Overture
02. Something Wicked (Part 1)
03. Invasion
04. Man's Motivation
05. The Setian Massacre
06. A Charge to Keep
07. Reflections
08. Ten Thousand Strong
09. Execution
10. Order of the Rose
11. The Clouding
12. Infiltrate and Assimilate
13. Retribution Through the Ages
14. Something Wicked (Part 2)
15. The Domino Decree
16. Framing Armageddon
17. When Stars Collide (Born is He)
18. The Awakening

"Revelation Abomination - Something Wicked Part 2" projected track listing:

01. The Sacred Flames
02. Behold the Wicked Child
03. Minions of the Watch
04. A Gift or a Curse
05. I Walk Among You
06. Harbinger of Fate
07. Ancient Rage of the High Priest
08. A Gathering Threat / Time Marches On
09. Sacrificial Kingdoms
10. Something Wicked (Part 3)
11. Divide Devour
12. Conspiracy / Pilgrimage In Guile
13. Come What May

ICED EARTH will support HEAVEN AND HELL on their U.K. tour in November.

STREAM OF PASSION members Johan van Stratum (bass), Davy Mickers (drums) and Marcela Bovio (vocals, lyrics, violin) have announced the addition of guitarist Stephan Schultz to the group's ranks. More information on Stephan is available at this location.

STREAM OF PASSION parted ways with founding members Arjen Lucassen (guitar), Lori Linstruth (guitar) and Alejandro Millán (piano), back in March. The band recently added keyboardist Jeffrey Revet and guitarist Eric Hazebroek.

STREAM OF PASSION's debut album, "Embrace the Storm", was released in Holland in October 2005 via Sony/BMG Benelux. The CD was issued in the rest of Europe and the U.S./Canada via InsideOut Music.

Danish symphonic black metallers ILLNATH have posted two more audio samples from their forthcoming third album, entitled "Three Nights in the Sewers of Sodom". Check them out on the band's MySpace.

"Three Nights in the Sewers of Sodom" was recorded at Borsing Studios. Cover artwork will be handled by Wilhelm Steiner.

"Three Nights in the Sewers of Sodom" is expected to be released via ILLNATH's own label following the band's split with Worldchaos Production (which was supposed to put out the band's long-completed second full-length offering, "Second Skin of Harlequin". "The new material will reflect the new situation we're in — new drummer and new bass player, plus almost three years since the last album was recorded," the group previously said.

Robert Plant has shot down reports that LED ZEPPELIN will reunite for a one-off memorial concert in honor of their late record company boss.

A report was published earlier in the week suggesting that Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones will re-group alongside John Bonham's son Jason for a special concert in memory of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun in London.

A source was quoted as saying, "Page, Plant and Jones spoke and agreed to do the memorial concert. They are waiting for a definite date.

"And no one can quite believe it, but during discussions about the concert they all gave the green light to a tour if it all does well and they don't all fall out.

"It has been hoped for and denied for years. But this is the closest they have ever come to a reunion tour. The feeling is that this is going to happen next year."

Speaking at a press conference for the upcoming Rockwave festival — which is scheduled to be held June 29, June 1 and June 3 in Athens, Greece — Plant insisted that he hadn't heard anything about the rumored ZEPPELIN reunion and jokingly added, "If there was one, then there wouldn't be enough doctors to support it!"

Ertegun died in December 2006 after seven weeks in a coma following a fall at a ROLLING STONES concert.

Veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers EXODUS entered Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California on June 10 with producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, MACHINE HEAD, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY) to begin recording their new album for a late 2007 release via Nuclear Blast Records. According to guitarist Lee Altus (also of HEATHEN), "Things are going really well! And we're almost done. All that's left to do are my solos and then we're on to mixing. As far as release date, I think that the label [Nuclear Blast] is shooting for late September early October."

EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt previously stated about the group's new material, "Everyone always talks about how their next record is the next this or that, all I'm going to say is this next record is a crushing landmark in EXODUS history. I am stoked. Truly. Man, this new shit is aggressive with a capital A! Thrash metal at its hardest."

As previously reported, EXODUS has scheduled the following dates during August:

Aug. 04 - San Marcos, CA @ The Jumping Turtle
Aug. 05 - Mexicali, Mexico @ El Jardin Sllencio Extreme
Aug. 06 - Modesto, CA @ Fat Cat Music house
Aug. 07 - West Hollywood, CA @ Whiskey A Go Go
Aug. 08 - Corona, CA @ Showcase Theater
Aug. 09 - Fresno, CA @ Belmont
Aug. 10 - San Jose, CA @ Blank Club

Tickets for the above dates are available through EnterTheVault.com and all normal ticketing outlets.

Gary Holt has just released his first-ever instructional DVD, "A Lesson in Guitar Violence", through Zaentz. The disc, which contains never-before-seen live footage from 1985 at the Dynamo Club in Holland, can be ordered at The Exodus Store.

Holt previously stated about the DVD, "I am planning on focusing on rhythm technique, some lead chops, and going over the correct way to play some of the EXODUS riffs. I feel there are enough straight shred things out there, so I want to do something as bit differrent. And of course I will make it funny as hell!"

Zaentz Records is the new label formed by Steven Warner (EXODUS' manager) and partner Jonnie Zaentz (son of Saul Zaentz, Fantasy Records co-founder). Zaentz is an independent artist-friendly upstart label that features an in-house, state-of-the-art recording facility.

Frontiers Records has announced the details of the new studio album from German melodic metal masters PRIMAL FEAR, entitled "New Religion" (cover artwork), to be released in Europe on September 21.

PRIMAL FEAR started the songwriting for their new CD in October 2006 and the recording began shortly later, at the House Of Music studio with engineer and co-producer Charlie Bauerfeind (BLIND GUARDIAN, SAXON, HAMMERFALL) and longtime producer and band member Mat Sinner.

"I really feel electrified," says Sinner. "I never had such a feeling since the release of the first PRIMAL FEAR album in 1998. We never worked harder on an album before," while singer Ralph Scheepers adds, "'New Religion' is definitely the start of a new chapter in the history of PRIMAL FEAR. The fact we've signed with a new record company and bringing back our good friend Henny Wolter into the band sets more energy free than the launch of a rocket. The band is in the best mood since many many years! Can't believe that? Listen to the album!"

The album proves once again that Randy Black is one of the world's top drummers and singer Ralf Scheepers delivers the most exciting and outstanding vocal performance of his career. Most of the guitars were played by Stefan Leibing. STARBREAKER and ALLAN/LANDE producer/guitarist Magnus Karlsson helped out with two stunning guitar solos prior to Henny Wolter rejoining the band and recording more lead and rhythm guitar for the CD.

EPICA's lead singer Simone Simons was invited to studio to sing the first duet in PRIMAL FEAR recording history, on the song "Everytime It Rains". The band worked on the mix at the Galaxy Studio in Belgium with award-winning engineer Ronald Prent (RAMMSTEIN, IRON MAIDEN, MANOWAR). Mat Sinner states: "We are totally satisfied about the result and the final sound. Ronald did a great job. In my view, 'New Religion' sounds more powerful than the predecessor, even you can hear every single tone crystal clear."

The song "Fighting The Darkness" is divided into three different sections: the first part "Fighting The Darkness" is, according to Mat Sinner, "the best sounding tune the band has released so far," followed by a huge instrumental "The Darkness" and a "Reprise".

"The real metal songs like 'Sign Of Fear', 'Blood On Your Hands' and 'New Religion' are sounding 100% like PRIMAL FEAR, but still different" explains Mat Sinner. "I really love the vibe and that I feel a progress in our work, that there is still space for a new step into creativity. Even the fast, but very melodic tracks like 'Face The Emptiness' and 'The Curse Of Sharon' sounding fresh, new and exciting!"

Two video clips were produced — for "Fighting The Darkness" and "Sign Of Fear" — which are included in the album's limited digipack edition ipak. In Ralph Scheepers' words: "'Sign Of Fear' shows the powerful side of PRIMAL FEAR in a raging performance clip, while 'Fighting The Darkness' is more like acting on a crime scene. After the night shot of 'Sign Of Fear' until 5 AM in the morning, we were all tried to death, but the concept of 'Fighting The Darkness' was such a great challenge for everyone, we really gave more than 200% to look and act good."

Mat Sinner states: "We will start our tour in the U.S. this time and co-headline the ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta. For the first time, we will perform a bunch of songs from the new album on stage! Then we will embark on a double headliner tour together with our friends of U.D.O. through Europe, plus a yet undecided special guest. In December we will tour Japan and Korea, plus some more Xmas shows in Europe. Then we're working on dates in South America, the U.S. and Canada for early 2008!"

"New Religion" track listing:

01. Sign Of Fear
02. Face The Emptiness
03. Everytime It Rains
04. New Religion
05. Fighting The Darkness:
a) Fighting The Darkness
b) The Darkness
c) Reprise
06. Blood On Your Hands
07. The Curse Of Sharon
08. Too Much Time
09. Psycho
10. World On Fire
11. The Man (That I Don't Know)

Check out audio samples at this location.

"New Religion" will be released in Europe on September 21. A U.S. release date has not yet been announced.

After nearly six months in the studio, German gothic metal band THE VISION BLEAK has finished recording its third album, "The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey".

Commented the group's Ulf Theodor Schwadorf: "The album contains nine songs which are definitely among the heaviest and at the same time the most atmospheric and most stringent pieces of music THE VISION BLEAK has ever released. The metal part — read: the guitar riffs — of THE VISION BLEAK's sound certainly has made it more into the foreground on 'The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey', but still there are bombastic orchestral sections, acoustic guitars, sitars and lots of atmospheric details featured in all songs."

The follow-up to 2005's "Carpathia", "The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey" will feature the following track listing:

01. Amala & Kamala
02. She-Wolf
03. The Demon Of The Mire
The Black Pharaoh Trilogy
04. Introduction
05. Part I: The Shining Trapezohedron
06. Part II: The Vault Of Nephren-Ka
07. The Eldrich Beguilement
08. Evil Is Of Old Date
09. By Our Brotherhood With Seth

"The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey" will be released on August 31 as a normal CD and a deluxe edition. Apart from a live DVD, the deluxe edition will contain a return coupon for ordering an exclusive T-shirt and a free THE VISION BLEAK patch.

Controversial U.K. dark art practitioners AKERCOCKE have announced a special show at the Underworld in London on August 4. This will be the band's much-discussed and previously postponed 10-year-anniversary concert.

Commented the group: "We've decided finally to go ahead and mark the 10th year of the band's existance with a unique show that will feature a lot of unusual material as well as some classic blasters. Older songs that have seldom seen an airing. Some that haven't been heard live for many years or ever. We will be filming the show for an anniversary live album/DVD, to be released later in the year on Goat of Mendes Records." Support for this special event will be provided by KINGSIZE BLUES, TED MAUL and BREEDAPART.

What Records has just released "The World's Greatest Albums - Iron Maiden: The Ultimate Critical Review" DVD. A description of the title reads as follows: "With the release of the classic self-titled album in April 1981, IRON MAIDEN set themselves at the very forefront of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. This authoritative DVD tells the story of the making of a classic heavy metal album. It includes a unique, frank interview with original MAIDEN front man and bad boy Paul Di'Anno — known affectionately as The Beast — who shares his memories and recollections of making a ground-breaking record; we also hear from former guitarist Dennis Stratton and from Tony Moore, who was keyboardist with the band during their formative years. Drawing upon spectacular vintage footage of the band in action in concert and in the TV studio, the program provides an in-depth analysis of the album. On hand to lend their expert views are much-respected rock journalist Mick Wall, who is also the band's biographer, and Paul Stenning, author of 'Iron Maiden - Thirty Years of the Beast'. Also featuring expert comment by Malcolm Dome of Total Rock Radio and Jerry Ewing of Classic Rock magazine, this is the definitive guide to a landmark album in heavy metal music."

Frontiers Records has announced the details of singer David Readman's self-titled debut album, due out on August 31.

Best known as singer for PINK CREAM 69, David also appeared on album from ADAGIO and from studio projects such as MISSA MERCURIA and on the more recent ANDERSEN/LAINE/READMAN CD.

After David left the French power metal outfit ADAGIO in 2005, he started to gather material for a solo album which has always been his ultimate dream.

"I did a lot myself from writing the songs, to recording organizing the whole thing," says David. "Dennis Ward (David's bandmate in PINK CREAM 69) recorded the drums over two sessions and also mixed the record. If I was to thank something it would be the Internet, strange I know but without it would have taken even longer. And I wouldn't have met all the great people who played on the record, especially Paul Logue (of EDEN'S CURSE) who played bass and wrote two songs with me."

David has worked hard on the songwriting. He explains, "There are a few songs that wouldn't have made it on a PINK CREAM 69 CD because of style. With this record I was able to experiment a little. When you work this way it becomes your baby, you're making all the decisions. It's not always easy to keep a song interesting from the start to the finish. So that was a lot of work, but that's what I wanted."

Recording started during 2006, but David needed a long break (for the recording of PINK CREAM 69's latest opus, "In10sity"), so that resumed the work in February, 2007 and finally delivered the album in the spring time.

"I am very happy with the record," concludes the Burnley-born British singer. "It was a big deal for me — a real learning curve. I'm also interested to hear what the people have to say about it; I'm very inpatient."

The lineup appearing on "David Readman" includes:

Paul Logue (EDEN'S CURSE) - Bass
Dirk Bruinenberg (ELEGY) - Drums
Chris Schmidt - Drums
Eric Ragno (ex-TAKARA) – Keyboards
Günter Werno (VANDENPLAS) - Keyboards
Alex Beyrodt (SILENT FORCE) - Guitar
Gerald Sänger - Guitar
Tommy Denander - Guitar
Uwe Reitenauer - Guitar
David Readman - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards

Production duties were handled by Dennis Ward.

"David Readman" track listing:

01. Without You
02. Evil Combination
03. Take These Tears
04. Don't Let It Slip Away
05. No Peace For The Wicked
06. Long Way To Heaven
07. Wild In The City
08. Gentle Touch
09. Prisoner Of Shame
10. New Messiah
11. Over The Ocean
12. Love In Vain
13. Don't Let It Slip Away (bonus multimedia video track)

Check out audio samples at this location

SAVATAGE/TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA guitarist Chris Caffery has posted another track from his new solo album, "Pins and Needles", at his MySpace page. Check out the song "Y.G.B.F.K.M." (You've Gotta Be Fucking Kidding Me!) at this location.

"Pins and Needles" was released in Europe on March 23 via Metal Heaven Records. The CD will arrive in North America on June 5 via Locomotive.

The follow-up to 2004's "Faces" and 2005's collection of bonus tracks and new compositions, "W.A.R.P.E.D.", "Pins and Needles" was originally scheduled to be released through Greece's Black Lotus Records, but after the company closed its doors last year, Caffery was forced to seek a new label home.

According to a press release, "Pins and Needles" features a "more powerful, aggressive, experimental and focused attack that is sure to catch the ears of any metal fan." The album was produced by Caffery together with Nik Chinboukas at Nik's Hot Tracks Studio, Spin Studios and Happy Beaver Studios, Astoria, NY.