SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor has confirmed that he has been working with ANTHRAX on material for their upcoming studio album. Speaking to Germany's Rock Hard magazine, Taylor said of the possibility that he will become the new ANTHRAX singer, "It's been banded about. I'm not saying anything right now because all it's been is just talked about. Obviously, I'm really good friends with those guys. It kind of started as a joke. And then the more we talked about it, the more serious it got. I'm gonna at least help them out. It's kind of a dream come true — ANTHRAX is one of my favorite bands. We're just kind of taking baby steps right now. I know that we worked on about eight or nine songs together that I've written lyrics for, and there was a song that I had actually written for them that I was just gonna give them the music for, and once this kind of happened, I had to turn around and write lyrics for it myself. But there's nothing definite right now. It's one of those things where it's like we're just gonna kind of play it by ear and just see what happens. So there's nothing definite. It's something that we're talking about — it's something that we kind of wanna do. But I'm in two huge bands right now. So it's like I barely get enough time to sleep, let alone do another band. . . I'm gonna be busy, period. I'm just kind of honored that they would even consider me. These are people that I grew up listening to, these are guys that I had the privilege of getting to know on a real basis. To have them look at me and go, 'You know what? We would love to work with you,' it's such a huge compliment. It kind of makes me feel like I've come a long way in my life."

OBITUARY frontman John Tardy has posted the following message on the group's official web site:

"There is so much going on! The most important thing is the recording/mixing of the new CD and that is going amazing! These new songs are so heavy and we are happy and lucky to announce that Ralph Santolla [ex-ICED EARTH, DEICIDE, DEATH] is helping us with some of the guitar work. To have someone like Ralph working with us is totally new to OBITUARY and I can't tell you how excited we are. This new album, 'Xecutioner's Return', is just coming to life!

"I know there has been a lot of speculation about what we were going to do for another guitarist now that Allen West is unavailable. It is kind of strange how things work out. We have known Ralph for a long time and it is no suprise how good of a guitar player he is, but what was really nice is how good we work with each other and how good we get along. Not only is Ralph recording with us, but he will also be going with us to Europe in July and on our U.S. tour in September.

"We leave for South America tomorrow for the next set of shows and they should be some good ones. We have been to Argentina (a long time ago), but we have never been to Chile or Brazil, so we are looking forward to these shows. When we get home we will finish up the mixing of the new CD and we are on schedule for a late August release!"

Former SKID ROW frontman Sebastian Bach has issued the following update:

"Greetings from Perth, Austrailia! I am pleased to announce the brand new drummer we have on tour with us at this time is none other than Jason West and he is kicking ASS all over the kit! Jason is the drumeer for the bands NEUROTICA and PITBULL DAYCARE. He was turned onto me through the illustrious Johnny Chromatic [guitar]. He is doing a great job filling some big shoes.

"As you know, Bobby Jarzombek, my drummer for last three years and also the drummer on the new CD, 'Angel Down', recently broke his wrist and we did not know if we could find a drummer of equal caliber for the summer tour. I am happy to report that Jason West is a FANTASTIC drummer and the last show in Tokyo, was especially ferocious!! It was at Koseinenkin Kaikan, where JUDAS PRIEST recorded the ultimate live album 'Unleashed in the East', and we all felt the presence of that record during the show, and played a show that will go down as one of the best of our lives!"

Check out a photo of the new lineup here.

Due later in the year via an as-yet-undisclosed label, Sebastian Bach's new album, "Angel Down", will be his first solo CD since 1999's "Bring 'Em Bach Alive", and first release since 2004's "Forever Wild" DVD. Bach's current touring band is completed by guitarist "Metal" Mike Chlasciak (PAINMUSEUM, HALFORD), and bassist Rob DeLuca (SPREAD EAGLE).

DARKANE drummer Peter Wildoer has issued the following update:

"Currently Klas [Ideberg, DARKANE guitarist] and I are working day and night mixing the new SOILWORK CD. They have recorded everything (except vocals) in DARKANE's studio Not Quite Studio. It will be a killer CD with lots of great songs.

"At the moment I don't have a lot of time to play the drums but as soon as the SOILWORK CD is done I will have a holiday and get time to practice. Got a few cool projects coming up after the summer.

"We're almost done with the DARKANE DVD that we've been working on for a long time. We still need to mix the sound for the main live show which will be done after the SOILWORK mix. Well, I guess that holiday will be postponed until after the mixing of the DVD. The DARKANE DVD will include four hours of footage. One hour main concert shot in Helsingborg with eight cameras and lots of other stuff from the studio recordings and tours.

"Stefan Rosqvist's debut CD will also be finished this summer. Hmmm, that mix will be done after DARKANE DVD mix. I guess there will be no holiday! I play drums on Stefan's CD and it features more of a fusion/light playing style of drumming. Actually the songs range from soft trio to more hard rock songs. [here] you can see a short clip from one of the songs 'Decisions'."

DARKANE's upcoming DVD was shot in May 2006 in the band's hometown of Helsingborg, Sweden. The band last year completed a European tour in support of their fourth album, "Layers of Lies", available now on Nuclear Blast Records. It is the follow-up to the band's third studio CD, "Expanding Senses", which was released in 2002.

Danish exteme metallers ILLDISPOSED are currently working on material for their new album, tentatively due late 2007/early 2008.

Commented guitarist/songwriter Jakob Batten: "Sometime after the summer holidays we'll enter our producer Ziggy's new studio to get the songs on disc. And last week I booked Studio Fredman in Sweden with Fredrik Nordström to mix the album."

Regarding the new material, Batten said, "Heavy stuff, heavy sound, membrane-shredding tunes is what you can expect. It will be killer! . . . This time we're going in a more old-school direction, more heavy bass-drum parts and way less electronics."

ILLDISPOSED's latest CD, "Burn Me Wicked", entered the Danish album chart at position No. 58 last June. The follow-up to 2004's "1-800 Vindication" was recorded at ZigZound Studio during November/December 2005 with producer Ziggy and was mastered by Tue Madsen at Antfarm studio.

Norwegian death metallers BLOOD RED THRONE have set "Come Death" as the title of their new album, due later in the year via Earache Records. The CD was recorded at Dub Studios in Norway and was mixed by Valle Adzic. Mastering duties were handled by Dragan T. According to a press release, the album contains nine songs of BLOOD RED THRONE's unique blend of groovy, aggressive and technical death metal. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Come Death", "Taste of God", "Rebirth in Blood", "Slaying the Lamb" and "Deranged Assassin".

BLOOD RED THRONE's fourth studio album will be the group's first to feature new members Anders Haave (drums) and Vald (vocals).

"This time, we aim for a more classic death metal sound, ala GORGUTS 'Considered Dead' / SUFFOCATION 'Despise the Sun' kind of sound," the band previously said. "We have grown tired with the over-produced and fully triggered drum kits that so many bands use today, besides we have taken a slightly new direction with our music and the analog and dynamic sound fits the music better. We have also chosen a different approach to the recording process of the instruments."

BLOOD RED THRONE is in the process of booking gigs in support of the upcoming album, with three festival appearances already confirmed. More information will be made available soon.

Legendary death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE have issued the following update:

"We have just returned from a short but excellent tour of Mexico and Guatemala. We want to say thank you to all of the great fans who came to see us, you made the tour a huge success. The death metal scene in Mexico and Central America is clearly as strong as ever, and we look forward to returning in the future to see all of our friends and fans there. We also want to say thank you to Carlo and crew for doing a great job with the organization of the tour, and to our own crew as well. The schedule was sometimes hectic during the tour, but you guys did a great job keeping it all together. We also want to thank the local promoters and crews for their hard work and hospitality.

"We are also very pleased to announce that we are in the process of finalizing more tour dates for Central and South America. These dates will be in countries we didn't play on this recent tour, and will likely be scheduled for mid-to-late August. We will have an update on this very soon.

"OK, that's all for now. Thanks again to all of the fans that attended the shows in Mexico and Guatemala; you guys rule!"

Atlanta-based extreme metal band DAATH will release an exclusive remix of "Dead on the Dance Floor", a track from their debut Roadrunner release, "The Hinderers", via digital EP this summer. Due in July, the track was remixed by Danny Lohner, former of NINE INCH NAILS and A PERFECT CIRCLE. DAATH guitarist and co-founder Eyal Levi states, "At some point in our lives each member of DAATH has done their time with NINE INCH NAILS' music. They are a huge part of our musical upbringing and collaborating with one of their main minds is an honor that we are very excited about." Describing its sound as "versatile," DAATH strays away from a traditional approach to death metal — weaving deep pockets of groove with electronic nuances, making a remix by Danny Lohner a natural progression for the band.

Having just completed a sold-out U.K. tour alongside metal juggernauts UNEARTH, JOB FOR A COWBOY, and DESPISED ICON, DAATH will hit the road on June 2 and will tour through August 30, showcasing its bombastic live show throughout North America. The band's touring journey will begin as part of the Summer Slaughter Tour, featuring a bounty of respected extreme metal acts such as NECROPHAGIST, DECAPITATED, CEPHALIC CARNAGE and CATTLE DECAPITATION. Following Summer Slaughter they will play a string of select dates with DYING FETUS, PSYOPUS, and COVENANCE, until launching into this year's Ozzfest. DAATH will dominate the second stage with fellow underground acts such as HATEBREED, NILE, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD and CHTHONIC and will be playing select "off" Ozzfest dates with NILE. "This is a breakthrough time for extreme music," Levi says. "Ozzfest has begun to pick up on the value of underground, truly extreme music. For us it's not only a great honor, but also a huge opportunity to see how much we can help push the genre."

Finnish atmospheric doom metallers SILENTIUM have been forced to push back the release date of the second single from their "Seducia" album, "Dead Silent", to July from the previously announced end of April. "We're very sorry for this delay," the band writes on its web site. "The exact date shall be told as soon as it's fixed."

SILENTIUM released its latest album, "Seducia", in January 2006 via Dynamic Arts Records. The CD was the sequel to the "Frostnight" single, which came out in October 2005. According to a Dynamic Arts press release, the album "delivers bombastical, cold atmospheres" with a total running time of 48 minutes.

"Seducia" is the group's first full-length release to feature vocalist Riina Rinkinen, who joined the group in July 2004.

Britian's BRING ME THE HORIZON has posted its first-ever promotional video, for the track "Pray for Plagues", at Youtube. The song comes off the group's debut album, "Count Your Blessings", which is scheduled for release in North America on August 14 via Earache Records.

In the seemingly short span of three years since their formation, BRING ME THE HORIZON has "accomplished more in that time than most bands do in 10," according to a press release. "In 2006, BRING ME THE HORIZON was the recipient of a Kerrang! award for 'Best British Newcomer' and held steady on MySpace's top 100 list of most played bands, currently boasting a playcount of 4.2 million plays. BRING ME THE HORIZON was only one of two U.K. acts to chart in the MySpace top 100 (the other being COLDPLAY). In addition, they've toured with bands such as BLEEDING THROUGH and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and performed a show-stealing set at the U.K.'s Download Festival."

BRING ME THE HORIZON is being licensed to Earache through the band's U.K. label Visible Noise. Julie Weir, the A&R director of Visible Noise says, "BRING ME THE HORIZON are an extreme and incendiary band, and where better for them to be released in the US than through the home of extreme music!!" Earache Records U.S. label head Al Dawson believes that the band's future now burns even brighter: "We are overjoyed to be given the opportunity to work with BRING ME THE HORIZON — they are one of the most talented extreme bands to come out of England in the last few years."

Norwegian black metallers DARKTHRONE have set "F.O.A.D." as the title of their new CD, tentatively due in September. "This album will [be the subject of] lots of debate...I'm pretty sure of it," said DARKTHRONE's Nocturno Culto. "There will be a small taster in the form of an exclusive EP in July, that will contain exclusive song called 'Hedninger Fra Helvete' (in English that means 'Heathens from Hell'), and there will be a different recording of the song 'Wisdom of the Dead' and different vocal version of 'Canadian Metal', plus the TESTORS cover song 'Bad Attitude'. It will contain nine songs."

In a recent interview with MP3.com, Nocturno Culto said about the upcoming CD, "Some people might say, OK...oh...this is going to be even more punk than the last album, but it's not true, actually. It will probably be even more metal in some kind of way. I mean, we are just picking up where we left [off with] 'The Cult is Alive', and we probably have dragged the metal and the rock element a bit further. It's a very diverse album; it's a lot of different songs there, and I think also the sound on the album will be very different because we record two songs each time we meet up, and it results in different sounds on the album. But I think it's better to try to concentrate on each song and give that particular song its own...like...identity."

The title track from Swedish metallers ENTOMBED's upcoming album, "Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments", has been posted on the Candlelight Records USA MySpace Page. Due in the U.S. on July 31 via a special arrangement with Threeman Recordings, the 10-song effort marks the group's first release with drummer Olle Dahlstedt (ALPHA SAFARI, ex-MISERY LOVES CO.), who replaced Peter Stjärnvind in 2006. Mastering duties were handled by Soren Elofsson at Cosmos Mastering in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments" (обложка) track listing:

01. Serpent Saints
02. Masters of Death
03. Amok
04. Thy Kingdom Koma
05. When in Sodom
06. In The Blood
07. Ministry
08. The Dead, The Dying and The Dying To Be Dead
09. Warfare, Plague, Famine, Death
10. Love Song For Lucifer

With regards to the musical direction of the new album, the band previously said, "'Serpents Saints' goes wider and deeper than the 'When In Sodom' EP but it's a pretty good indicator. It's no concept album but an ambitious attempt at creating a solid album with some recurring themes. Almost like the soundtrack to the film with the same name."

ENTOMBED's "When In Sodom" EP was released last year.

ENTOMBED recently cancelled its European tour dates due to a death in the family of guitarist Alex Hellid.

NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) legends BLITZKRIEG will release their new album, entitled "Theatre of the Damned" (обложка), on August 10 via Germany's Armageddon Music. The CD was recorded at Absurd Studio in Hamburg with producer Schroedey and co-producer Biff Byford (SAXON). According to a posting on the Armageddon web site, "Theatre of the Damned" "offers the same authentic heavy metal of the '80s along with a super freshness and total attitude."

BLITZKRIEG's most recent album, "Sins and Greed", was released in July 2005 via Metal Nation Records.

BLITZKRIEG will perform at this year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany on Thursday, August 2 for the "A Night To Remember" show alongside headliners SAXON.

Doom metal heroes REVEREND BIZARRE have topped the the Finnish single chart with what may be the most improbable single chart entry ever, their 16-minute edit of the song "Teutonic Witch". View the chart at this location.

REVEREND BIZARRE's new double album, "So Long Suckers", which will reportedly be the group's final release, will be issued on August 8 via Spinefarm Records. The track listing for the effort is as follows:

CD1:

01. They Used Dark Forces/Teutonic Witch
02. Sorrow
03. Funeral Summer

CD2:

04. One Last Time
05. Kundalini Arisen
06. Caesar Forever
07. Anywhere Out Of This World

Boston hard rock legends AEROSMITH kicked off their European tour Wednesday night (June 6) in Randers, Denmark. The group's setlist was as follows:

01. Love in an Elevator
02. Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
03. Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)
04. Cryin'
05. Eat the Rich
06. I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
07. Jaded
08. What It Takes
09. Baby, Please Don't Go (BIG JOE WILLIAMS)
10. Seasons of Wither
11. Dream On
12. Last Child
13. Livin' on the Edge
14. Stop Messin' Around (FLEETWOOD MAC)
15. Sweet Emotion
16. Draw the Line
Encore:
17. Walk This Way

Polish death metallers HATE headlined last month's Metal Spirit Resurrection Vol. 4 — a tour that visited 12 of Russia's biggest cities.

HATE vocalist and guitarist ATF Sinner checks in with the following report: We toured Russia for over two weeks supported by six domestic bands. I must say it's been the most fun tour and the most fruitful one we've ever been on! The turn up was more than satisfactory — in some places we had more than 600 ticket sold and we never had less than 250. The feedback we got from the crowds every night was just overwhelming! It was our second time in Russia (after one concert in Kallinigrad a few months ago), so we didn't know exactly what to expect. But this tour simply blew us away and we look forward to the next visit there — hopefully after releasing the next album in February 2008.

'As I said, thanks to our Russian promoters we did a great promo job — 5 TV interviews and numerous interviews for metal portals and magazines. We made it to the cities where no bands from Europe had ever played before us! It was like a fucking crusade and I must say we have conquered some new lands. The most important was the great support we got from those people who had been looking forward to see us for years and it finally happened.'

HATE will appear at Pushkin's Drive Open Air in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 7, co-headlining the fest along with PAIN and TIAMAT.

HATE's latest CD, "Anaclasis", was released in October 2005 via Listenable Records.

Dutch female-fronted symphonic metal band EPICA has finalized the track listing for its new album, "The Divine Conspiracy", due in Europe on September 10 via Nuclear Blast Records (September 7 in Germany).

"The Divine Conspiracy", which was mixed by Sascha Paeth, features a session appearance by GOD DETHRONED drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek. EPICA has yet to name a full-time drummer following the departure of Jeroen Simons in 2006.

According to a posting on the band's web site, "The Divine Conspiracy" "will be EPICA's first full length concept album. This concept deals with the theory that, as a test, God created all kinds of different religions and released those upon humanity to see if they would be able to find the true nature of them, realizing that in all religions it is actually the same. But there's more to it; it also concludes the 'Embrace That Smothers' concept that could already be found on 'The Phantom Agony'."

EPICA has revealed that AFTER FOREVER guitarist Sander Gommans has laid down some of "his amazing grunts for one of the songs" on the new CD.

EPICA recently returned from Belgrade, Serbia, where the band filmed a video for the first single off "The Divine Conspiracy", entitled "Never Enough". This clip was shot by renowned director Ivan Colic from ICode Team and Rock the Nations.

"The Divine Conspiracy" track listing:

01. Indigo (intro)
02. The Obsessive Devotion
03. Menace of Vanity
04. Chasing the Dragon
05. Never Enough
06. La'fetach Chatat Rovetz (The Last Embrace)
07. Death of a Dream (The Embrace That Smothers - Part 7)
08. Fools of Damnation (The Embrace That Smothers - Part 8)
09. Living a Lie (The Embrace That Smothers - Part 9)
10. Beyond Belief
11. Safeguard to Paradise
12. Sancta Terra
13. The Divine Conspiracy

Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE will release a new "deluxe edition" of their breakthrough debut album "The Poison" on June 12. The new special package includes all 13 tracks from the original album and four songs previously unreleased in the U.S. The "deluxe edition" also contains an exclusive bonus DVD with live concert footage as well as their music videos.

"The Poison" deluxe edition:

CD Audio Tracks:

01. Intro
02. Her Voice Resides
03. 4 Words (To Choke Upon)
04. Tears Don't Fall
05. Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do)
06. Hit The Floor
07. All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)
08. Room 409
09. The Poison
10. 10 Years Today
11. Cries In Vain
12. Spit You Out
13. The End
14. 7 Days (bonus track)
15. My Fist, Your Mouth, Her Scars (bonus track)
16. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (bonus track)
17. Tears Don't Fall (Acoustic) (bonus track)

DVD Video:

Live At Club Quattro, Shibuya, Tokyo

* Four Words (To Choke Upon)
* Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do)
* Cries In Vain

Live At The Brixton Academy, London, England

* Her Voice Resides
* All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)

Music Videos

* All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)
* Tears Don’t Fall
* Four Words (To Choke Upon)
* Hand of Blood

San Diego metal outfit AS I LAY DYING has set "An Ocean Between Us" as the title of its highly-anticipated follow up to 2005's "Shadows Are Security".

The majority of "An Ocean Between Us" was recorded at vocalist Tim Lambesis' home studio, aptly named Lambesis Studio, in San Diego, California. Adam Dutkiewicz (UNDEROATH, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE ACACIA STRAIN) of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE collaborated with AS I LAY DYING on all recording and production duties and Colin Richardson (MACHINE HEAD, SLIPKNOT) will be overseeing the final mix. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Separation", "Nothing Left", "Within Destruction" and title track, "An Ocean Between Us".

In other news, AS I LAY DYING ishas officially announced the addition of bassist Josh Gilbert to the group's ranks. Josh joins the band from THIS ENDEARING, a local group in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. "Based on hearing Josh's previous band, we knew he was a great bass player and singer," says Lambesis. "But when he came out to San Diego to try out and rehearse with us, he ended up exceeding our expectations. Shortly after the try out we invited him to come back and fill in for us on our January U.K. tour. That tour really solidified the fact that Josh is the right guy for us."

AFTER FOREVER keyboardist Joost van den Broek and AYREON mastermind Arjen Lucassen are among the guest musicians who will appear on the self-titled album from GALEXIA, the project led by Orange, Connecticut-based musician Kenneth Joseph Spaziani. A 30-second preview of the track "Rose of Thorns", featuring a vocal contribution from Lucassen, has been posted on the project's MySpace. It is not presently known what tracks Joost van den Broek will be performing on yet, although Kenneth has reportedly said that Joost would be contributing solos to a few songs.

Professionally filmed video footage of STONE SOUR's performance at the Rock am Ring festival in Nürburgring, Germany on Saturday, June 2 is available for viewing at YouTube. Also available at the same location is a seven-minute pre-show interview with STONE SOUR/SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor.

As previously reported, STONE SOUR's video for its new single, "Made of Scars", has been posted online at
this location

The cover artwork for AMORPHIS's upcoming album, "Silent Waters", has been posted online at this location. The CD was recorded at Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki, Finland. Mixing duties were handled by Mikko Karmila (NIGHTWISH, STRATOVARIUS) at Finnvox studios.

"Silent Waters" track listing:

01. Weaving The Incantation
02. A Servant
03. Silent Waters
04. Towards And Against
05. I Of Crimson Blood
06. Her Alone
07. Enigma
08. Shaman
09. The White Swan
10. Black River
11. Sign (bonus track on digipak)

The album will be released on August 29 (Finland)/August 31 (other countries).

Due on June 27, the "Silent Waters" single will contain the following tracks:

01. Silent Waters (edit)
02. Sign
03. Silent Waters (album version)

California-based metallers AGENT STEEL have posted the cover artwork for their new album, "Alienigma", at this location (artwork by Dimitri Patelis).

Due in September via Mascot Records, "Alienigma" will feature the following track listing:

01. Fashioned From Dust
02. Wash The Planet Clean
03. Hail To The Chief
04. Wormwod
05. Liberty Lying Bleeding
06. Hybridized
07. Tiamats Fall
08. WPD
09. Lamb To The Slaughter
10. Extinct

Vocalist Kobi Farhi of the Israeli metal band ORPHANED LAND has issued the following update:

"We are still in the writing process of our next album, 'OrwarriOR'. We know it [is taking] quite a while, but you all know how complex our latest album, 'Mabool', was and we want to give you no less than that. The final result is most important to us and we simply haven't found the formula to produce an album every year. However, I can assure you that your patience will be rewarded! Right now, to keep the flame burning, we have confirmed a few headline and co-headline shows on some summer festivals and we hope to meet all of you there!"