Canadian rockers NICKELBACK are currently in the studio recording their ninth studio album, tentatively due in early 2017 via Republic Records.

While NICKELBACK was in the studio laying down tracks for the follow-up to 2014's "No Fixed Address", they decided to have some fun and play one of their favorite songs, Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry". Instead of letting the impromptu recording go to waste, they wanted to share it with their fans. Take a listen to their rendition on Spotify.

Released in 1982, the original version of "Dirty Laundry" was written and produced by Henley and Danny Kortchmar.

NICKELBACK frontman Chad Kroeger told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that making each new record different is what keeps things interesting for NICKELBACK. "When we get in the studio to take on the daunting task of making a NICKELBACK record, all the band members have such diverse tastes in music that it's a lot about keeping us happy," he said. "We don't want to get onstage and play the same kind of music for two hours. We like to make sure that everybody in the band is happy and that seems to be keeping the fans happy."

In June 2015, NICKELBACK canceled the majority of its tour dates in support of the band's eighth album, "No Fixed Address", so that Kroeger could recover from surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.

NICKELBACK filed a $13 million insurance claim with Lloyd's of London after scrapping the tour. But Lloyd's sued to cancel the singer's insurance, alleging that Kroeger already had the throat condition and failed to disclose it before taking out the policy.

Earlier this year, NICKELBACK countersued Lloyd's, claiming that the firm is making false allegations about the band so that it doesn't have to pay out the claim.

"No Fixed Address" debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 album chart in November 2014.

Deep Purple legend Ian Gillan’s The Vinyl Collection 1979-1982 has been delayed and will now be released on October 7th via Demon Records. A trailer for the upcoming release can be found below.

Gillan - The Vinyl Collection houses together all five UK studio albums by the legendary rock powerhouse. All have been recreated as first pressing replicas, so Future Shock has the original 12x12 booklet and Glory Road contains the bonus LP, For Gillan Fans Only. All pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl housed in a rigid slipcase.

Mr Universe - 1979’s Mr Universe was Gillan’s second album and the first issued in the UK. This album cemented the classic line up of former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Bernie Torm?, bassist John McCoy, pianist Colin Towns and drummer Mick Underwood. High energy classic hard rock from beginning to end.

Glory Road - Issued in 1980, at the height of the NWoBHM, Glory Road took Gillan to new levels of energy and success, cementing them as Top Of The Pops regulars. Classic British hard rock at its best.

For Gillan Fans Only - Originally issued as a limited edition bonus disc to 1980’s Glory Road, For Gillan Fans Only features b-sides, studio outtakes and specially recorded material, interspersed with quips and irrelevance, all showcasing the band’s creativity and humour. This also features the side project The Split Knee Loons.

Future Shock - Gillan’s 1981 album Future Shock saw these Reading Festival regulars at their lyrically most personal and diverse, taking on religion and the cold war. Aptly futuristic artwork encompassing a blistering cover of New Orleans, and No Laughing In Heaven an early rock meets rap chart hit.

Double Trouble - Gillan’s third album in 15 months saw this 1981 double album Double Trouble feature new guitarist Janick Gers (later of Iron Maiden), and a slightly more melodic approach. Two chart hits and a bonus disc of live material from the Reading Festival .

Magic - Magic, issued in 1982, was Gillan’s swansong before singer Ian joined Black Sabbath and then a reformed Deep Purple. There most melodic and underrated album, it featured the blistering Demon Driver and a cover of Stevie Wonder’s Living For The City. The catalogue ended on a high.

Order via the Amazon widget below. An Amazon UK Exclusive Edition containing a bonus 7" single for “Spanish Guitar” can be ordered here.

 

 

Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA will release their seventh studio album, "The Holographic Principle" on September 30 via Nuclear Blast. The CD was produced by Joost van der Broek at Sandlane Recording Facilities and was mixed by Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, DESTRUCTION). The cover artwork was created by Stefan Heilemann.

"The Holographic Principle" track listing:

01. Eidola02. Edge Of The Blade03. A Phantasmic Parade04. Universal Death Squad05. Divide And Conquer06. Beyond The Matrix07. Once Upon A Nightmare08. The Cosmic Algorithm09. Ascension - Dream State Armageddon10. Dancing In A Hurricane11. Tear Down Your Walls12. The Holographic Principle - A Profound Understanding Of Reality

The third part of a studio documentary on the making of "The Holographic Principle" can be seen below.

"Halfway through 2015, EPICA started a new journey: writing and recording the seventh studio album, 'The Holographic Principle'," explains EPICA guitarist Isaac Delahaye. "In between touring, we spent our time in the Sandlane Recording Facilities with producer Joost van den Broek and here's the first part of our studio documentary! It gives you a little insight into the creation of what we see as our most complete album ever. You'll hear rough snippets of new music, and you'll see how we built things up. Enjoy!"

EPICA previously stated about the lyrical inspiration for "The Holographic Principle": "'The Holographic Principle' deals with the near future wherein virtual reality has taken off and allows people to create their own virtual worlds which can't be distinguished from 'reality as we know it.' This raises the question whether our current reality is a kind of virtual reality on itself, a hologram. This implies the existence of a higher reality which we currently do not have access to. The lyrics challenge you to think out of the box, to reconsider everything you thought to know for sure and to be open-minded towards recent revolutions in science. Fasten your seat belts and get ready for a ride as nothing appears to be what it seems in our holographic universe."

Speaking to Spark TV, which is part of the Czech monthly magazine Spark, EPICA singer Simone Simons stated about the follow-up to 2014's "The Quantum Enigma": "It's a huge amount of songs, it's a lot of information, it's a lot to take in, but we put everything in this record and we hope that it will pay off and that the people will feel what we feel when we listen to it."

She added: "Since 'The Quantum Enigma' was received so well, we set the bar so high, but we accepted the challenge to make an even better record. And we've done everything bigger than before — we had more orchestra, a bigger choir. We had so many different instruments — real, live instruments. Vocally, I put everything in the record that I can possibly do, and I'm very pleased with it."

According to Simone, she has once again experimented a bit with her vocal approach on the new album. "With each record, I try to get the best out," she said. "And Joost [van den Broek], our producer, he's also very good at getting everything out of me. And the songs themselves, they just ask for a lot of variation in the vocal style. And I do opera, rock, pop, and in the ballads you hear the really soft voice. And, yeah, I can belt out some high notes as well."

Even though "The Holographic Principle" is one of EPICA's most ambitious offerings to date, the album doesn't sacrifice any of its instant appeal, something which Simone says was intentional. "I think it needs to be all in balance," she said. "We are, in heart, a metal band going in the symphonic direction. The orchestration, the choir is a little bit like the seventh and eighth bandmember of EPICA, and that's something we'll always keep in there. And the choir parts are often very catchy, the choruses are very catchy. But on this record, besides having catchy melodies, we also wanted to have really groovy vocal lines. And that's something that we worked on as well; we changed up some things to make it less predictable."

One of the aspects of EPICA's sound which has been enhanced on "The Holographic Principle" is the growling vocal style of EPICA guitarist and main songwriter Mark Jansen. "Well, it's Mark and it's actually our drummer as well," Simone said. "Mark is the main grunter, and our drummer, Ariën [van Weesenbeek], has a really nice, thick sound. So I don't know if he sang all the grunt parts as well, if he doubled them with Mark, but them together makes a totally new grunt sound, and I like it. Also, it changes it up a bit. Mark can do also really low grunts, he can do screams, and Ariën really has that deep sound to it."

Simone also praised the contributions of Isaac Delahaye, who came into the band in 2009. "The guitars are definitely more brutal," she said. "Also in the mix, the melodies, the grooves, and I think that ever since Isaac joined the band, not only as a songwriter but also the guitars have been lifted to a different level, and have become more interesting to listen to, I find myself. So I'm a big fan of his guitar work and also his songwriting."

Florida-based death metal veterans OBITUARY have announced "Ten Thousand Ways To Die", a special two-song single containing a pair of brand new studio tracks plus a bonus live set of twelve classics and fan favorites from the band's storied catalog. Recorded in eleven different cities during the band's highly successful 2015 "Inked In Blood" world tour, the live tracks capture the incredible performances of a band that has stood atop the death metal pantheon for almost 30 years.

"Ten Thousand Ways To Die" will be released worldwide on October 21 on CD and digital formats and is sure to satisfy new and die-hard OBITUARY fans and will quench the bloodthirst of listeners until the band's new album drops in spring 2017. Listen to the new single "Loathe" below.

Commented the band: "We are very excited about the live songs that we recorded on this last U.S. tour. Joe Cincotta from Full Force Studio is also our live sound engineer and he had his full recording rig on the road with us so we took advantage of the opportunity and recorded the show every night. The quality was amazing so we decided to include this as part of the 'Ten Thousand Ways to Die' release to give the fans a little OB bonus! We selected songs from different cities so you will hear the sound difference between each song. Nothing was done to the songs after the live performance recording so it gives you the real, true, unedited 'live show' sound and feeling that the fans experienced at each show." OBITUARY will return to Europe as part of the colossal "Battle Of The Bays" European tour in October / November 2016 alongside San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans EXODUS. Support will come from influential groove crossover metallers PRONG and Australian wrecking machine KING PARROT.

OBITUARY's ninth studio album, "Inked In Blood", sold around 5,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 75 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's first full-length CD in over five years, "Inked In Blood" was recorded by OBITUARY in April 2014 at the group's own RedNeck Studio in Gibsonton, Florida.

Roadrunner Records group KING 810 has released the second gripping track from their forthcoming album, "La Petite Mort Or A Conversation With God". "Alpha & Omega", which made its world premiere today on Sirius XM's Liquid Metal, is available now along with an official music video, which can be seen below. The clip was conceptualized and directed entirely by KING 810 frontman David Gunn and was filmed in an abandoned church located in Detroit, Michigan. "La Petite Mort Or A Conversation With God", KING 810's follow-up to their provocative and acclaimed debut LP, "Memoirs Of A Murderer", is set to arrive on September 16.

Produced by Josh Schroeder, Justyn Pilbrow and KING 810 and recorded in Bay City, Michigan, "La Petite Mort Or A Conversation With God" finds KING 810 taking listeners deep into the dark heart of Flint. Far from a retread of their acclaimed debut, "La Petite Mort" — translating to "The Little Death" — is an inspired, holistic body of work that marks a profound evolutionary leap for the restless and driven souls of KING 810. The title itself is a reference to the duel themes of the records: the real-life violence and despair of Flint that builds the basis of Gunn's narrative and secondly, the steady desensitization and terminal closing down of the human spirit experienced when confronted with those real-life conditions. Entwined around that conceptual core is an omnipresent haze of dark sexuality and desperation that provides "La Petite Mort" with some of its most unnerving moments. "La Petite Mort" kicks down the door and delivers grim realities with powerful album stand outs like the ferocious "Alpha & Omega" and powerful title track, "La Petite Mort". As the album takes listeners on a journey to enlightenment via Gunn's self-reflection, it continually builds upon a diverse musical palette showcasing dark ambient electronica ("Wolves Run Together"), street-level poetry ("War Time" featuring Trick Trick) and grand string arrangements ("Black Swan"). For KING 810, the little deaths of "La Petite Mort" bring a transcendental empowerment which takes hold throughout the album's stark narrative. Earlier this year KING 810 took action as a pillar of the Flint community with the release of new music taking aim at the water crisis devastating their hometown. The band released two new tracks: "We Gotta Help Ourselves", a poignant track supported by a partnership with local Flint outlet Savage Village who created a unique T-shirt design, and "Crow's Feet", which was featured on "Not Safe To Drink: Music For Flint Water Crisis Relief", a charity compilation. All proceeds from both the T-shirt design and compilation will be donated to The Community Foundation Of Greater Flint's Flint Child Health & Development Fund.

"La Petite Mort Or A Conversation With God" track listing:

01. Heavy Lies The Crown02. Alpha & Omega03. Give My People Back04. Vendettas05. Black Swan06. The Trauma Model07. La Petite Mort08. I Ain't Goin Back Again09. War Time (feat. Trick Trick)10. Life's Not Enough11. Me & Maxine12. Wolves Run Together13. A Conversation With God

OF MICE & MEN has premiered "Real", the stunning companion video to the band's recently released single. Check it out below.

"Real" is taken from OF MICE & MEN's much-anticipated new album, "Cold World", set for a September 9 release on Rise Records. The band began giving fans a sneak preview of the album with the release of first track/video "Pain", the video for which has already racked up more than 2.1 million YouTube views. Next came the audio for "Real", which premiered on SiriusXM's Octane.

Fans can get "Pain" and "Real" as instant downloads by pre-ordering the album.

Directed by Max Moore, the "Real" video is dedicated to the memory of 14-year-old Cassy Colunga, who recently passed away after battling brain cancer. The band first met with Cassy through the Living The Dream Foundation and upon hearing that her condition worsened, arranged for a visit while recording the album. They spent the day with Cassy and her family, brought her to the studio for a preview of the record (she was the first person outside of the band, producer and engineer to hear the album) and recorded her handclaps for "The Lie", an epic "Cold World" track that finds Carlile venting his frustrations about the medical system and "calling out the one percent for not taking care of the people they should be," he explains. "Now Cassy's name and the sound of her clapping hands are on the record," says Carlile. "It's something that captures that moment and that relationship forever. When we think about everything we went through to make this record, that's something that we'll never forget."

For the "Real" video, the band worked with The Marfan Foundation, Living The Dream Foundation and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and asked fans to submit video footage of themselves holding signs that answered the question, "What makes you feel real?"

In an interview with Rolling Stone in which he discusses his daily battle with Marfan syndrome, Carlile also talked about the making of the video. "We shot it in Portland, Oregon, during a day off from tour," he said. "We asked fans to submit footage holding up poster boards that explain what makes them feel real. The images that pop up mention everything from music to foster care to activism to the Marfan community to St. Jude's hospital. We even had some fans in the studio while we were recording, just to include them more in the process."

After wrapping up the remaining dates on their summer arena tour with MARILYN MANSON and SLIPKNOT, OF MICE & MEN will celebrate the release of "Cold World" with a string of special album release shows in Los Angeles, New York, Cincinnati and New Orleans. Those performances will see the band performing "Cold World" live in its entirety for the first time ever. The shows will take place between the band's scheduled performances at a number of major festivals in the U.S. Tickets are available and bundled with a copy of "Cold World". OF MICE & MEN's headlining U.K. tour comes next, kicking off September 30 in Birmingham.

According to BBC News, the world's longest aircraft, the Airlander 10 — which is backed by various celebrities, including IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson — has crashed during its second test flight.

The 302-foot-long aircraft was damaged when it took a nosedive during a flight from Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. The £25 million aircraft appeared to have run into problems as it was making its way back onto the ground.

Hybrid Air Vehicles, the developer, said all the crew were "safe and well".

A spokesman said: "The flight went really well and the only issue was when it landed."

The aircraft had its first test flight from the airfield on August 17.

Airlanders are low noise, low pollution, and are environmentally friendly. They have ultra-long endurance, and a point-to-point cargo-carrying capacity. They can take off and land vertically and operate from a range of remote environments including water, desert, ice and fields.

Dickinson, who has reportedly invested around £250,000 ($360,000) in the Airlander, told The New Yorker magazine earlier this year: "You want to put a hospital into Africa? You put the whole hospital in the inside of this — whoosh. Start the generator. 'Here's your hospital, buddy!' Job done. You know? You can just plunk the vehicle straight down on the farm, load it with fifty tons of green beans or whatever, and twenty-four hours later you land right next door to the processing plant. It's a global conveyor belt. And water! With these vehicles, you could drop off a twenty-ton slab of water that is clean, drinkable, to an African village. It's astonishing what you can do that you just can’t do with anything else. Shit, you can do that with it? Wow, you can do that with it? Seriously fantastic!"

Dickinson said that he hoped to one day take the Airlander to the North Pole and the South Pole, with the entire journey being live-streamed via the Internet. "You just drop right down onto the ice cap," he said. "Or drop right down on the Atacama Desert, and you go up through the rain forest or whatever, just for shits and giggles. You know?"

Dickinson decided to put his cash into the project after meeting the "genius behind it," the late inventor Roger Munk. The singer told The Guardian: "I told my wife: 'I'm about to put £100k into a big bag of helium. It may go up in smoke.' She said: 'People have to dream, and unless you can dream something, it's never going to happen.'"

He added: "I'm not expecting to get my money back anytime soon, I just want to be part of it. Being a rock person, I could put it up my nose, or buy a million Rolls Royces and drive them into swimming pools, or I could do something useful. There are very few times in your life when you're going to be part of something big."

Unlike traditional airships, the Airlander has no internal structure but it becomes rigid through being filled with helium, at just above atmospheric pressure. The super-strong hull material has been specially designed for Hybrid Air Vehicles by Warwick Mills and assembled by ILC Dover, the company who make NASA spacesuits. Its innovative composition includes a woven fabric for strength on the inside, and a Tedlar layer for protection on the outside, sandwiching a mylar film to retain the helium.

For more information, visit www.hybridairvehicles.com.

Fan-filmed video footage of BLACK SABBATH's August 23 performance at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey can be seen below.

This is the second, and final, leg of the band's "The End" farewell tour. They played across the country earlier this year.

SABBATH's setlist for the Holmdel concert was as follows:

01. Black Sabbath02. Fairies Wear Boots03. After Forever04. Into The Void05. Snowblind06. War Pigs07. Behind The Wall Of Sleep08. N.I.B.09. Hand Of Doom10. Rat Salad11. Iron Man12. Dirty Women13. Children Of The Grave

Encore:

14. Paranoid

BLACK SABBATH has announced that it will play its last show ever in the U.S. on November 12 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The gig will take place nearly five years to the day that the legendary act announced their reunion.

The group has also added two more headlining shows to its North American trek, on November 8 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and November 10 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

These dates and the previously announced headlining slot at at the Ozzfest Meets Knotfest weekend event on Saturday, September 24 in San Bernardino, California come at the end of the band's North American tour, which kicks off on August 17 in Wantagh, New York.

SABBATH will make their final visits to Mexico and South America at the end of the year as they wind down their farewell tour.

SABBATH will bring its storied career to a close in the band's native England, with seven shows booked there in January and February. The last two, on February 2 and February 4, will take place in SABBATH's hometown of Birmingham and will likely be their final shows.

The original lineup of SABBATH came together in 1969 with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar, Butler on bass and Bill Ward on drums. That lineup recorded and toured through 1978, and periodically reformed through the '90s and 2000s for live work.

They regrouped again in late 2011 for a new album and tour, although Ward dropped out after just a few months. The remaining trio issued the "13" album in 2013 and backed it with a successful world tour — despite Iommi being treated for lymphoma since 2012.

"Scaling Up", the title track of the new studio album from Kee Marcello, can be streamed below. The CD will be released on October 14 via Frontiers Music Srl.

With "Scaling Up", the former EUROPE guitarist is using his past as a springboard to take a giant leap into the future. With the new music firmly grounded in the songwriting tradition that made him a multi-platinum rock star in the first place, Kee explores the boundaries of melodic hard rock with a contemporary performance that nods to his past and employs sizzling production. This is an album all his fans will have to pick their jaws up off the floor after hearing!

Kee Marcello is a unique artist in the hard rock genre. He has never stopped evolving and growing as both a writer and a guitarist and the new album illustrates how much he has managed to raise the bar yet again with both his guitar playing, singing and writing.

Conceived and recorded in the winter and spring of 2016, "Scaling Up" encompasses all the influences and genres in which the Swedish musician has been involved in since the start of his career. Besides the obvious resemblances to EUROPE's classic sound, Kee also gives a nod to his past in EASY ACTION. Speaking of EUROPE (particularly the "Prisoners In Paradise" era), Kee took two officially unreleased songs, "Wild Child" and "Don't Know How To Love No More", and rearranged and re-recorded them from scratch. Beyond those two tracks, you can hear a touch of sleaze and more classic hard rock on songs like "Fix Me", "Blow By Blow" and "Soldier Down".

Marcello says: "The whole idea of 'Scaling Up' is to, very respectfully, use the music of my past as a canvas to paint a picture of where I stand today and what I aim for in the future as a guitarist/singer/writer. I think we've got the balance of now and then just right, and it's performed by the best group of musicians I've ever had the honor of playing with!"

Kee Marcello is one of the most renowned guitarists from Scandinavia and has an amazing history to his name. He's best known as the guitarist — from 1986 to 1992 — of one Sweden's biggest musical exports, EUROPE. In the late '80s and early '90s, EUROPE were one of the biggest rock bands in the world. They sold over 30 million albums, landed at No. 1 on sales charts in 26 countries and shared the biggest stages with acts like METALLICA, DEF LEPPARD and BON JOVI. Kee is now also enjoying a new wave of success as a TV persona in Sweden, as well as being involved in other musical projects.

"Scaling Up" track listing:

01. Black Hole Star02. On The Radio03. Don't Miss You Much04. Fix Me05. Wild Child06. Finger On The Trigger07. Soldier Down08. Scandinavia09. Good Men Gone Bad10. Scaling Up11. Don't Know How To Love No More12. Blow By Blow

Recording lineup:

Kee Marcello: Guitars/Vocals/KeysKen Sandin: BassDarby Todd: Drums

Special guests:

Mattias Eklundh – guitar solo on "Good Men Gone Bad"Michele Luppi – keyboards on "Wild Child"

Produced and arranged by Kee MarcelloMixed by Tobias Lindell

New Zealand death metal innovators Ulcerate are streaming the track “Extinguished Light”, from their forthcoming fifth full-length album and follow-up to 2013's Vermis. Shrines Of Paralysis is due out via Relapse on October 28th. Pre-orders here.

Shrines Of Paralysis tracklisting:

“Abrogation”
“Yield To Naught”
“There Are No Saviours”
“Shrines Of Paralysis”
“Bow To Spite”
“Chasm Of Fire”
“Extinguished Light”
“End The Hope”

“Extinguished Light”:

Ulcerate have announced a headlining North American tour with Icelandic dissonance-mongers Zhrine and Montreal death metal quartet Phobocosm. Ulcerate will also be performing two exclusive dates in New Zealand at the end of October before the tour's kickoff. A full list of dates is available below.

October
21 - Auckland, NZ - Kings Arms
22 - Wellington, NZ - San Fran

November (with Zhrine and Phobocosm)
2 - Los Angeles, CA - Complex
3 - San Francisco CA - Elbo Room
4 - Portland, OR - Panic Room
5 - Seattle, WA - Highline
6 - Vancouver, BC - Astoria
8 - Oakland, CA - The Golden Bull
9 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
10 - Tempe, AZ - Yucca Tap Room
11 - El Paso, TX - Mesa Music Hall
12 - San Antonio, TX - Limelight
13 - Houston, TX - Acadia Bar
15 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia
16 - Gainesville, FL - Atlantic
17 - Tampa, FL - The Brass Mug
18 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
19 - Richmond, VA - Strange Matter
20 - Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery
22 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
23 - Boston, MA - Great Scott
24 - Montreal, QC - Piranha Bar
25 - Toronto, ON - Coalition
26 - Detroit, MI  - Corktown Tavern
27 - Chicago, IL - Reggies
28 - Pittsburgh, PA - The Smiling Moose
29 - New York City, NY - Saint Vitus

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA performing the song "Battery" live during the band's headlining concert Saturday night (August 20) at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota can be seen below.

METALLICA's tenth studio album, "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct", will be released on November 18 via Blackened Recordings. The long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic" consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

"Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" was produced by Greg Fidelman with frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The band recorded the disc at its own studio.

Ulrich told Rolling Stone that he is looking forward to performing many of the new songs live. "Some of the stuff on 'Death Magnetic' was pretty cerebral," he said. "You had to really think about what the next crazy part is that was coming up. Some of the songs from the new record are a little more physical. It's gonna be a lot of fun to play this. Also, some of these songs are a little shorter than the ones on 'Death Magnetic'. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun to throw many of these songs in, but we'll change the setlist every night like we always do."

The drummer added that METALLICA will embark on its first proper American arena tour since 2009 next year. "It's time to come back, and do some proper penetration of America," he said.

"We did 180 shows on the 'Death Magnetic' tour in two-week periods over three years. That's what works for us. We're going to start pretty much full-on touring in January and are looking to figure out what we're doing in North America, but there will definitely be some pretty extensive touring in America."

"Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" will be issued on double CD, vinyl and digital download. A deluxe version will feature a bonus disc containing the riffs that formed the origins of the album along with "The Lords Of Summer", which the band debuted on tour a couple of years ago.

The official lyric video for the song "Prayer To The God Of War" from Polish death metal veterans VADER can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's ten-inch single, "Iron Times", which was released on August 12. It includes the following songs:

Side A

01. Parabellum02. Prayer To The God Of War

Side B

01. Piesc I Stal02. Overkill

"Prayer To The God Of War" is also available digitally.

The cover artwork for "Iron Times" can be seen below. It was created by Joe Petagno, who previously worked with VADER on the "Go To Hell" EP.

VADER's Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek states: "There are two new tracks included [on 'Iron Times'] plus two bonus songs. All [are] available in beautiful folded ten-inch vinyl, for which Joe Petagno himself created the amazing cover."

VADER has pushed back the release date of its new studio album, "The Empire", to November 4 from the previously announced September 23 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2014's "Tibi Et Igni" was recorded at Hertz Studios in Bialystok, Poland with producers Wojtek and Slawek Wiesawski.

In a 2014 interview with Radio Metal, Wiwczarek spoke about the fact that VADER has been in existence for more than thirty years. He said: "On one hand, I was a bit surprised at how fast time is flowing, because we've been an active band for so many years and I didn't feel that way. It feels like I just started a year ago or something. [Laughs] There was plenty of hard work but so many albums recorded, so many fans, so many countries visited, so I'm kind of proud that although we came from Poland and knew hard times, we still did it as if we couldn't be stopped, thanks to our passion. Actually, passion was a fuel for us to break through all these problems in the past. We just love what we do. We love music. We love metal. We did it for thirty years, and we still have fans who really want to see us and waiting for us every year. That's the best. That's the biggest success for us."

Gothenburg, Sweden-based thrashers PAGANDOM will release their new album, "Hurt As A Shadow", on October 28 via Gain Music Entertainment, which is distributed and partly owned by Sony Music.

Anders Björler (AT THE GATES), Mikael Stanne (DARK TRANQUILLITY) and Peter Iwers (IN FLAMES) all have at least one thing in common besides being the originators of "the Gothenburg sound" — they were all huge fans of PAGANDOM in their teens.

Formed in 1987, PAGANDOM made their stage debut the following year at a local thrash fest, also featuring GROTESQUE (first gig), MORBID (post-Pelle Dead) and NIHILIST (pre-ENTOMBED) to mention a few. After putting out some legendary demo tapes, PAGANDOM signed a deal with German label Inline Music and released their debut album, "Crushtime", in 1994. They disbanded in 1996.

Being asked to reunite for a gig at the Gothenburg Sound Festival in 2014, founding members Christian Jansson and Martin Carlsson reached out to Sören Fardvik and Anders Björler to replace the other two unavailable original members. They focused on material from their first two demos, "Instead Of Watching Your Funeral I Watch You Live" (1989) and "Hear Your Naked Skin Say Ashes To Ashes" (1990), to celebrate the pre-"Gothenburg sound" era and the impact it had on what was to come, with the intention of doing the festival as a one off thing. However, the response from outside the band and the chemistry within it made them think differently and started working on new material.

Said Anders: "PAGANDOM was a thrash metal band from Gothenburg formed in 1987, which had a huge impact on the local scene in the late '80s/early '90s. This is pure nostalgia on my part."

PlanetMosh TV conducted an interview with bassist Tomasz Wróblewski (stage name Orion) of Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 11-14 at Catton Hall, Walton-On-Trent, West Midlands, United Kingdom. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On BEHEMOTH's plans for the coming months:

Orion: "We've been on tour with 'The Satanist' for almost three years now, and we feel that it's the end of the cycle for us. So we're gonna take some time off, but during this time we're probably gonna be rehearsing and working on new material anyway. So it's not real time off. But we're thinking about some vacations for each of us separately here and there. The next year is writing and probably recording. We'll be doing a few festivals in the summer 2017, but just a few."

On whether BEHEMOTH works well under pressure:

Orion: "I wouldn't say we work well under pressure, 'cause somehow we've managed to push all the pressure off us, and we're trying not to get into a situation where we're pressed to do anything. I mean, sometimes it happens, but we don't really have to do it that much. But, yeah, we definitely need some good balance between touring and the life at home. We need to get into a certain mindset just to do a new thing, just to start a whole new story."

On whether BEHEMOTH fans can expect to see the new album in 2017:

Orion: "I think there will be a new album. I mean, you can never know. We started to jam, to work on some riffs, some songs, some ideas, but we're still talking about that. That's gonna take… In our case, that's a long, long time, long process to make things happen, and we're not really ashamed to say that we take months, half a year, a year for the whole process. So it's rehearsing, it's writing, it's recording, it's producing, then it's releasing the album. We're one of these bands who can do this within two months. We just can't. There's people who are better than us. We can't do this. So we are planning on doing the new album next year. This is the plan. Let's see what happens."

On BEHEMOTH's perfectionist approach to making albums:

Orion: "This is why 'The Satanist' release was postponed for such a long time. 'Cause we were mixing the album, and right at the very end, we decided that we had to mix it all again. We had tours planned, we had a release date... We canceled everything, 'cause we just found ourselves in a situation where we were not entirely happy with what we had. So we found another person to produce it, and we started the whole work again. So, yeah, we're this kind of people — we work on things until we're happy with what we have."

BEHEMOTH completed a North America tour this past spring where the band played "The Satanist" in its entirety. In addition to the concert, fans also had the chance to view "The Congregation" exhibition at each venue. Dubbed "a symbiosis of BEHEMOTH and Toxic Vision," the display showcased the collaboration between the two parties.

"The Satanist" sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 34 on The Billboard 200 chart.

RingRocker.com conducted an interview with HALESTORM drummer Arejay Hale and bassist Josh Smith at this year's edition of the Rock Am Ring festival, which was held in June in Germany. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about how HALESTORM goes about picking which songs to record for series of covers EPs, Josh said: "We start out with basically everyone… Our team… Oh my God! My dad finds out that we're doing a cover album, all I get is texts: 'Oh, you should do this.' But anyone… anyone who finds out we're doing a covers album, all of a sudden you're just getting this crazy list. So it literally starts out with e-mails of lists and lists, and somehow, over months, we kind of whittle down our list until we get to a short list of maybe ten songs or less. And then we record 'em and see what works and see what we like."

He continued: "Now, after the first one, we sort of followed a similar formula with the second one in that it's very generational — we have a song from '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, a contemporary pop song… So that was a nice way to pick our songs. Really, that has been the template."

According to Josh, there is at least one added benefit to covering other people's songs when it comes to HALESTORM working on original material. He explained: "What's really cool is that when we do pick these songs, they really do influence us, because it's Songwriting and Performing 101. Where you have to deconstruct a song — a legendary song, essentially — you deconstruct it, and then rebuild it to how it works for us. And it really influences us in a lot of ways. For example, that album certainly influenced a lot of songs and ideas and gears on our newest album."

Added Arejay: "When we did 'Slave To The Grind' [from SKID ROW], we were, like, 'Oh, man! We need a song like this.' And then we wrote 'Love Bites', which is pretty much just off the feel of 'Slave To The Grind'. It's cool, 'cause we used to do that. We used to do three- or four-hour shows with covers and originals. And you're right — it is like training. And I always recommend that for newer artists, younger artists that wanna learn how to play drums or guitar. I always say the best way to really get good and learn how to develop your own style is to learn the styles of other people and learn other songs that you like or that challenge you. And it kind of makes you think differently. It's, like, 'Oh, this guy did these chords,' or, 'This guy played this kind of groove.' 'I bet I can do that in an original song.' So, yeah, it's kind of like training."

HALESTORM is currently preparing to record a third covers EP to follow 2011's "ReAniMate" and 2013's "ReAniMate 2.0".

The band's first two albums, 2009's "Halestorm" and 2012's "The Strange Case Of…" were both officially certified gold in March by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales of more than 500,000 copies. The certifications came after RIAA started including on-demand audio and video streams and a track sale equivalent in gold and platinum album award.

"Into The Wild Life" debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling 56,000 copies in its first week of release — more than double the first-week haul of their second CD — but has not reached gold yet.

Former QUEENSRŸCHE and current OPERATION: MINDCRIME frontman Geoff Tate joined DISTURBED on stage on August 20 at the Pain In The Grass festival at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, Washington to perform the DISTURBED song "Who Taught You How To Hate". They were accompanied by ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti and SAINT ASONIA bassist Corey Lowery. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

"Who Taught You How To Hate" is taken from DISTURBED's sixth studio album, "Immortalized", which was released in August 2015.

The effort became the band's fifth LP in a row to enter the chart at No. 1 — a feat shared only with METALLICA and DAVE MATTHEWS BAND.

Frontiers Music Srl will release "Resurrection", the new album from OPERATION: MINDCRIME, on September 23.

"Resurrection" is the second part of Tate's musical trilogy and is the follow-up to last year's "The Key".

TYKETTO's music video for the song "Reach" can be seen below. The song is the title track of the band's new album, which will be released on October 14 via Frontiers Music Srl.

After five years of relentless touring that included playing on some of the most prestigious stages on the planet, TYKETTO took their revitalized energy in to the studio in the spring of 2016. The sessions took place at the legendary Rockfield Studios (QUEEN, RUSH, OASIS) in Wales. Musically, the band is truly at the top of their game, with their muscular brand of melodic rock delivered with the finest arrangements and awesome performances.

Lead vocalist Danny Vaughn comments: "Although we only had planned on recording ten songs for 'Reach', we were so pleased with everything, we decided to keep all twelve songs on the record.

"We unanimously decided on 'Reach' as the title of the album as it defines who this band is in 2016.

"We have a new energy, some incredible new members, and a fresh outlook toward the future.

"All of us have pushed each other beyond our limits to make what we feel is a pinnacle record in our catalog."

Adds drummer and founding member Michael Clayton Arbeeny: "Many bands who have been out as long as we have feel they need to fit into a preconceived notion of what their fans expect to hear.

"Following in the footsteps of icons such as QUEEN, LED ZEPPELIN and Prince, we have decided to expand our musical boundaries and introduce our friends around the world to TYKETTO 2016.

"Rest assured that all the songs on 'Reach' still carry the trademark melodies and choruses our fans have grown to love over the decades.

"The band is feeling stronger and performing better than ever and we can’t wait to share this music with the world."

In addition to Vaughn and Arbeeny, the 2016 lineup of TYKETTO includes Chris Green (guitar and vocals), Ged Rylands (keyboards and vocals) and Chris Childs (bass).

An eleven-country tour to support "Reach" commences in October.

"Reach" track listing:

01. Reach02. Big Money03. Kick Like A Mule04. Circle The Wagons05. I Need It Now06. Tearing Down The Sky07. Letting Go08. The Fastest Man Alive09. Remember My Name10. Sparks Will Fly11. Scream12. The Run13. Precious Little Gets Away (digital bonus track)

TYKETTO is:

Danny Vaughn – Lead VocalsMichael Clayton Arbeeny - Drums, Percussion, Vocals Ged Rylands - Keyboards, Vocals Chris Green - Guitar, Vocals Chris Childs - Bass, Vocals

On July 25, Metal Wani's Jackie Mtz conducted an interview with CROWBAR frontman Kirk Windstein at the Mesa, Arizona stop of the band's "One Foot In The Grave" tour with CARCASS. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the status of CROWBAR's follow-up to 2014's "Symmetry In Black" album:

Kirk: "Well, the label [eOne Music] just received it Friday. Scott Givens, one of the guys that's higher up at the label, I woke up to his e-mail, which was, 'Kirk, the new album is amazing. I'm on track number 7. It's some of the best work you've ever done, my friend. I can't wait to get this out.' So that was a great thing to wake up to, to start the day. So we're pumped up. The record, it's done. We have a title, but I'm not allowed to say it yet. And artwork is being worked on; all that type of stuff. The record itself, the mastered and mixed copy and files and all that kind of business have been turned in to the label. So we're shooting for September 30 as a release date, and I think we will be able to make the deadline to release it then. Which is perfect, because we'll be on tour from September 13th until October 22nd, so that'll give us three weeks of touring with the record being already out, where you can purchase it. So that'll work out great."

On the musical direction of CROWBAR's next album:

Kirk: "To me, it's a fresh old-school-sounding CROWBAR record. I mean, for me personally, I went back and started listening to older CROWBAR records, songs that I forgot we even have. We have a hundred-something songs, ones that we don't play live. I couldn't even name you every song on every record, other than maybe 'Symmetry' and [2011's] 'Sever The Wicked Hand', 'cause they're newer records. I went back and listened to a lot of older stuff, and I made a real conscious decision to listen to the bands that inspired CROWBAR in the first place, that we looked up to. I've been listening to a lot of TROUBLE and the first TYPE O [NEGATIVE] record, CARNIVORE, MELVINS, stuff like that… Those were the bands… SAINT VITUS… That was all a part of what created the style that we wanted our band to be — it was those bands. So I listened to a lot of that stuff. So, to me, with 'Sever The Wicked Hand', we brought a lot of new elements in, and especially with 'Symmetry', I thought we'd expanded our sound a bit. So, with the new one, there are new elements, but at the same time, to me, it feels like a fresh, 2016 old-school album. It's more mature — writing-wise, to me, lyrically, whatnot — but the approach was kind of back to basics, back to the way we were in the old days. And we're super pleased with it. It's great."

CROWBAR was recently rejoined by its founding bassist Todd "Sexy T" Strange.

Strange made his return to the group sixteen years after his initial departure from CROWBAR.

CROWBAR announced in June that it had parted ways with its bassist of less than three years, Jeff Golden.

The band's new album was recorded at OCD Recording And Production in Metairie, Louisiana with engineer/producer Duane Simoneaux

In this new tutorial video, Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind) performs a play thru of his song "We Are One" and uses it as an example of the thought process behind creative soloing.

In the video below, Gus G. walks you through the guitar parts of his solo track "Brand New Revolution" and explains various tapping techniques he uses. The clip was filmed and edited by Panagiotis Kountouras, with intro graphic by Patric Ullaeus.

Gus G. will embark on the Operation Domination co-headlining US tour with renowned shredder, Angel Vivaldi, kicking off on August 31st in New York, NY. Tour dates are listed below. Check out a new tour trailer:

Gus G. states: "I'm very excited to return to the US this fall to finally hit more markets and play for the fans that were left out on my recent spring mini-tour. Teaming up with a talented player like Angel Vivaldi seemed like a great opportunity. We're both stoked to bring the Operation Domination tour to the American audiences and we will be performing our own individual sets, but also collaborating on stage together as well. We will have a great band with us that features James Paul Luna (Holy Grail) on vocals, Alex Bent (ex-Battlecross, Testament) on drums and Jake Skylyr on bass. The setlist will once again be a mixed bag including songs from my solo works, Firewind, Ozzy material but some surprises as well. These shows are not to be missed. See you soon."

Vivaldi further adds: "For me this tour perfectly summarizes the evolution of modern guitar playing. To be able to share a stage with a force such as Gus is both inspiring and refreshing. I cannot wait to see the looks on people's faces when they see what we have planned! I'm also really excited to dip into music from all my releases including the upcoming re-recordings from The Speed Of Dark: Revisited, coming out this year. After the recent tragic events in Orlando, I'm going above and beyond to make this tour a much needed celebration of love, inspiration and positive energy. I have some exciting tricks up my sleeve that I'm anxious to unleash on this run. It’s going to be a party!"

Tour dates:

August
31 - New York, NY - The Studio At Webster Hall

September
1 - Philadelphia, PA - The Voltage Lounge
2 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East
3 - Leonardtown, MD - Park Rock @ St. Mary’S Fairgrounds
6 - Winter Park, FL - The Haven
7 - Tampa, FL - Orpheum
9 - Stafford, TX - The Pub Fountains
10 - Ft. Worth, TX - The Rail Club
12 - Hollywood, CA - The Whisky
15 - Las Vegas, NV - Vamp’D Rock Bar
16 - Costa Mesa, CA - Tiki Bar
17 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
20 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Bar
21 - Denver, CO - Herman’S Hideaway
22 - Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mewes
23 - Iowa City, IA - Gabe’S
24 - Berwin, IL - Wire

Firewind recently announced a return to European stages, which sees the group play some summer festival events as well as a European/UK tour in November, featuring a best-of set from the band’s rich catalogue.

Tour dates:

November
9 - Wolverhampton, UK - Slade Rooms
10 - Glasgow, UK -Audio
11 - Manchester, UK - Club Academy
12 - Sheffield, UK - Corporation
13 - London, UK - Underworld
15 - Vosselaar, Belgium - Biebob
16 - Paris, France - Petit Bain
18 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos-Saal
20 - Budapest , Hungary - A38
21 - München, Germany - Feierwerk
22 - Vienna, Austria - Szene
24 - Bochum, Germany - Matrix/Rockpalast
25 - Breda, The Netherlands - Mezz

Firewind are currently working on new material for an upcoming studio album release, expected later in the year.

Tim “Ripper” Owens’ Traveler's Tavern, located in Akron, OH, will be closing on September 3rd. Co-owner Micah Posten has posted the following message via the establishment’s Facebook page:

“It comes with a heavy heart and a huge amount of considering many options, but Tim and I have decided to close our venue. Words can not express the gratitude we have for everyone who came out and supported the restaurant and the local music scene. A lot of work went into making this place great, lots of blood sweat and tears (literally) to bring Akron a place it could be proud of. I believe we were successful at that, but at this time Tim and I are being pulled away from that focus to concentrate on our main jobs.

“Tim is touring more and more and I am needed at my landscape company. Both of these are very positive for Tim and I but creates a negative for the bar/restaurant. We have both agreed to sell to another person who will be more focused on creating a cool restaurant and possibly keeping the stage rocking a couple times a month. I personally will be contacting any acts we have booked to help find other venues for them to perform.

“Tim and I are very sorry for the inconvenience and hope everyone is understanding. Our last day for food will be September 2nd (huge party), our last live music show will be September 3rd . LETS BLOW IT OUT!”

Says Tim “Ripper” Owens: “It is with deep regret that Micah and I have had to make the difficult decision to close the Traveler’s Tavern on Sept 2nd.

“In the last few months and the months to come, my music schedule and Micah's landscaping business have kept us and will continue to keep us from being available to focus on the Tavern as required. It is a tremendous commitment of time and resources to maintain a Restaurant and Music Venue and unfortunately, we are not able to commit the time and energy to this business that it deserves. We have had to make the difficult decision to commit our time and resources to our main careers.

“We are lucky that we have had 3 great years with a amazing staff and wonderful memories and we will close being a successful restaurant and music venue! We thank all our great employees who have worked so hard for us and we wish them all great success in everything they do.

Much love, respect and gratitude to everyone for all they have done! Thank you everyone.”

Annihilator frontman/founder Jeff Waters has posted audio snippets from the band's forthcoming live album / DVD via Facebook. Check out "WYTD" and "Refresh The Demon" below.

Waters recently checked in with the following update:

"In answer to a good question on the Annihilator Facebook page, here is my response. The question was why didn't our former touring bassists play on the studio records?

When I write the songs, I don't just write a guitar riff, I write the drums, bass and mostly the vocals/melodies/lyrics. Since I would, for example, write the bass guitar parts entirely, it made no sense to me to let a bassist do it when I wanted it a certain way and got it when I played the part! Another thing people occasionally don't understand is that a live touring musician can also be a not-so-good or even a bad studio musician. They are two different jobs and art forms. Some can do both, of course, but I was always looking for touring players, not writers, so often I would get guys that were good for touring but not so good under the studio scenario.

Often, out of being nice or occasionally being blackmailed, I would give credit to the occasional singer or musician who wrote nothing (actually not kidding), but sometimes a guy like Ray Hartmann (wickedly awesome drummer) would contribute something, drum-wise, that was so good you had to give him credit, even though the songs were already written. Or some of the singers were good writers; just didn't spend the time doing it! I offered ALL Annihilator singers the opportunity to write ALL the lyrics on ALL the Annihilator records... only some wrote a few songs. Hard to imagine, but some were lazy or had a home or party life that would not let them work hard at their craft. The frustrating part was that guys like Padden and Comeau were AWESOME at writing lyrics, and when I pushed them to write, they came up with VERY cool stuff; and a breath of fresh air to the writing (when one guy does most all of it, it can get repetetive or boring at times!). They just didn't offer many songs.

On the other hand, only some people have that certain insane drive to do this! Thus, many musicians in Annihilator did not go on to other things in the music business, except a few that come to mind. Neil Goldberg was on the Set The World On Fire CD and touring; he went on to make some killer music-related software and also played some killer guitar on the STWOF record, and the amazing solo on the 'Fantastic Things' song off a 1992 demo. Mike Mangini, of course, Steve Vai / Extreme / Dream Theater were only some of his achievements! Randy Black went to Primal Fear for a while and is a killer drummer. John Bates has had a great career with his rockabilly-style band. Joe Comeau went on to work as a techncian for a well known artist. I might be missing someone; apologies... but out of 40 musicians I've hired into this beast Annihilator, there are not really many that moved up the music biz ladder!"

Annihilator previously posted the following:

"First Annihilator 'Alison Hell' recording live in Val D'or, Quebec, April 16th, 1986. This was a live off the board recording of the band (Jeff Waters - guitar, John Bates - vox, Dave Scott - bass, Paul Malek - drums) and the first full recording of this legendary song. As you can hear, they are kids! Sloppy, messy and full of mistakes but that is how history is made! Note the lyrics and arrangements changed years later, as Jeff Waters changed them to the version we've all heard on the Alice in Hell record 1989."

Photo by Jasmina Vrcko

Phantom Elite features intense and powerful vocals by Marina La Torraca (Avantasia live), in-your-face guitars by Ted Wouters and Goof Veelen, unique keys and orchestration by Erik van Ittersum (The Theater Equation), and furious groove-heavy drums by Eelco van der Meer (Stream Of Passion live). These young, talented, and experienced musicians present the lyric video for their debut track, "Siren’s Call"; watch it now.

"Siren’s Call" showcases the band’s versatility and musical creativity. Mythological creatures are invoked in the many different moods of the song as a hypnotic metaphor for the various passionate desires and vices of humans.

After her guest appearances with Avantasia in Germany at the Tollwood Festival in Munich, and Rock Of Ages in Seebronn, Marina La Torraca will join them once more at the Schiffenberg Kloster in Giessen, Germany on August 26th and for the final show of their Ghostlights tour , at the Czadfestival in Poland, on August 27.

 

Garden State death metal faction Cognitive is the latest addition to Unique Leader Records' expanding roster of sonic malevolence. The band will release their new full-length late this Fall.

Issues Cognitive of their union with the label, "It is with extreme pleasure that we announce our signing with Unique Leader Records! It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of the label that many bands have called home such as: Deeds Of Flesh, Fallujah, Psycroptic, The Kennedy Veil, Decrepit Birth, Ingested, Inanimate Existence, and so many more! This has been a long journey for us. We've gone through vehicle breakdowns, member shifts, two full United States tours, countless week-long-plus tours, Las Vegas Death Fest, Building Temples From Deathfest, and recording our second full-length album all in the last year. We couldn't be more excited to share our newest release with our long-time local fans as well as with the people all around the world who haven't heard us. Working with Unique Leader Records is a dream come true from five New Jersey and Philly guys who want nothing more than to make you mosh, hardcore dance, or headbang to the sound of our music. We hope this album will live up to our long standing reputation of brutal death metal!"

Entitled Deformity, Cognitive's sophomore full-length was recorded at Full Force Studio by Joe Cincotta (Suffocation, Internal Bleeding, Dehumanized) and mastered at West West Side Studios by Alan Douches (Cannibal Corpse, Converge, Black Breath, Mastodon), and boasts nine tracks of unrepentant heaviness.

"We poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this album," the band elaborates, "and the emotion really came through within the songs as well as our approaches to each song. It's a concept album based around New Jersey's folklore, but we still left it open for some interpretation."

Deformity will see release on Unique Leader Records on October 28th. Track teasers and pre-orders to be unveiled in the weeks to come.  

Deformity tracklisting:

"Awakening The Miscreation"
"Birthing The Deformity"
"Haunted Justice"
"Beneath The Floorboards"
"The Forgotten"
"Dead Soil"
"The Cull"
"Wraiths"
"Merciless Forest"

Hailing from South Jersey, Cognitive was born in 2011 with the sole intent to create heavy, intensely technical music, while maintaining an edge of creativity that separates them from the over-produced sea of subgenres. Combining technicality, guitar solos, grooves, and abstract ideas within their song writing, Cognitive is continually pushing itself to think outside of the proverbial box while maintaining an organic and unapologetically brutal edge. Cognitive seeks only to advance itself musically and export New Jersey's undying hatred globally.

 

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield has once again defended "Lulu", the band's controversial collaborative album with former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman Lou Reed, saying that he is "still blown away" Reed wanted to work with METALLICA.

"Lulu" polarized fans around the world and earned METALLICA some of the most scathing reviews of its career. The effort featured the former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman's spoken-word poetry and lyrics combined with METALLICA's musical assault for a jarring experience that didn't sound like anything METALLICA had ever attempted before.

Less than five years since its release, "Lulu" has only sold around 35,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Speaking to Pioneer Press, Hetfield said about working on "Lulu": "Lou was such a character and, just like any artist, was really insecure. That's why he had a real frigging attitude! He was certainly not afraid to tell you what he was thinking. At one point, [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] said, 'You've got to trust me on this.' And Lou said: 'Trust you on this? Fuck you, I don't trust anyone.' I knew we had to handle him with some kid gloves. But we earned his trust and he earned ours. I'm still blown away he wanted to collaborate with us."

Hetfield previously told METALLICA's fan-club magazine So What! that he had no regrets about making "Lulu".

"We've been extremely either bullheaded or lucky or something," he said. "We've been maybe very jaded in that things have worked pretty well for us. We're perfectionists. We're really extremely self-critical. It's gotten us to where we are, but it's also the curse. When something doesn't go right, I come down so hard on myself.

"'Lulu' wasn't accepted as much as we accepted it," he continued. "I'm really proud that we did it. It was fun, it was an adventure. And there are a lot of bands out there that do adventures that kill them, whether it's choosing the wrong management or making a bad investment or something like that.

"We've got this dedication and loyalty to this band that no matter what, nothing can kill us. Whether it's Cliff Burton [dying], Jason [Newsted] leaving, 'Some Kind Of Monster' [movie], the drama that's going on now, there's always something that we stick together with and survive through. So 'Lulu' brought us together even more."

Hetfield added: "There's certain artists that stand up with you and say, 'Hey, I like it. They're artists! They had fun! It's something they wanted to do and they did it.' You don't have to like it, I get that, and there are people that are articulate enough to be able to say it that way: 'I might not like the project, but I'm really glad, as an artist, they took a risk and went for it.'

"I think it comes down to personalities. You either want things to be safe, and you invest in them so much that if it's not safe, it rocks your whole world, or you look at life as an adventure."

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said that he was unfazed by the fact that most of the band's fans found "Lulu" to be virtually unlistenable, saying "I love that album to death. It's unfortunate that other people don't see it the same way as I do, but what can I do about it? I can't do anything about it. I can just keep on loving it. And if people like it, great. If people don't like it, that's great too. It's only music."

In a 2012 interview with Spin, Ulrich admitted that the band was caught off guard by the vehement reaction to "Lulu", saying, "It was more spiteful than anyone was prepared for. Especially against Lou. He is such a sweet man. But when METALLICA do impulsive riffing and Lou Reed is reciting abstract poetry about German bohemians from 150 years ago, it can be difficult to embrace." Asked whether the band had second thoughts over some of Reed's lyrics, like "I swallow your sharpest cutter / Like a colored man's dick," Ulrich said, "I understand that to some 13-year-old in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, it can all seem a little cringe-worthy, but to someone raised in an art community in Copenhagen in the late '60s, that was expected."

The collaboration between METALLICA and Reed was sparked by their performance together of Reed's "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" at the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009.

The songs were all written by Reed with extensive arrangement contributions by METALLICA.

Only two songs on the album are under five minutes in length, while two are more than 11 minutes long and the closing cut, "Junior Dad", clocks in at 19 minutes.

Reed died in October 2013 at the age of 71, five months after he had a life-saving liver transplant, according to his wife, Laurie Anderson.

STAIND has been mostly inactive since 2011 and guitarist Mike Mushok said in a new interview that the band is probably going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Asked by Canadian journalist Mitch Lafon if STAIND's current hiatus is a permanent one, Mike — who has spent the last year touring with his new band SAINT ASONIA — responded (see video below): "I remember '09, we stopped touring, and we did a record after that. We did the self-titled 'Staind' record [in 2011], which we did a little touring on. It was one of my favorite STAIND records we had done. Aaron [Lewis, STAIND frontman], I know, has another country record coming out in September. So… You know, we say we're gonna do something else [with the band], but there's no real plan for it right now. I know he's pursuing [his solo career]. And I know we're [SAINT ASONIA] writing another record."

Pressed about whether it has been frustrating having to put STAIND on hold while Aaron continues to record and tour as a country solo artist, Mike said: "Honestly, it was was a little frustrating, you know what I mean? But, listen… And people come to me [and say], 'Don't you get mad? Aren't you angry…?' And I'm, like, 'Well, I can't be. He has to be happy with what he wants to do.' And if [he's] not happy… No matter what I do, when I go to Aaron, I can't [say to him], 'Dude, we have all these offers. We've gotta play these shows.' I can't make him. And if I did make him, he'd resent me. And it wouldn't be fun, and it wouldn't be what they're supposed to be. So when the day comes that he decides, 'Hey, man, let's do this again,' either I'll be ready or I won't. It's either, 'No, man, I'm doing this [SAINT ASONIA] now, because you had your thing,' or we'll be on a break, or whatever it is, and I'll say, 'Okay, we can do it.' So I'm really just kind of playing it as it goes."

Lewis told The Pulse Of Radio recently that he's not really sure what the future holds for STAIND. "I mean, I don't know," he said. "We survived our record contract, and we put out eight records. Do I think that there's more music there? Sure. Do I want to go down that road? Not particularly at this moment, no."

Lewis will release his second full-length solo country album, "Sinner", on September 16.

The singer made his debut as a country artist with the 2010 EP "Town Line", which he followed up in 2012 with his first full-length solo album, "The Road".

Mushok and ex-THREE DAYS GRACE vocalist Adam Gontier unveiled SAINT ASONIA in early 2015, releasing a self-titled debut album last year and scoring a Top 10 rock single with "Better Place".

SAINT ASONIA is currently in the early stages of writing its sophomore effort.

Felicity Hall of GetYourRockOut conducted an interview with FEAR FACTORY vocalist Burton C. Bell at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 11-14 at Catton Hall, Walton-On-Trent, West Midlands, United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if the current political climate around the world has made him reconsider his previous vow to keep politics out of FEAR FACTORY's music, Bell said: "I'm gonna keep them separate, because you never know what people believe in or what they follow. But I believe that the social nature is what all people can understand and the social behavior of how we interact as human beings and how we interact with authority [is something] everyone can understand. So I'm gonna keep it that way. You know, politics, that's a whole another beast that… Politics is just a joke."

Bell, however, made it clear that he will continue to write about topics that are close to his heart, even if his message sometimes falls of deaf ears.

"I have the opportunity in this life given to me, and I'm gonna not waste my voice," he explained. "I wanna use it to speak passionately about what I believe in. And if I can have at least one person hear me, that's worth it."

FEAR FACTORY's latest album, "Genexus", was released on August 7, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The follow-up to 2012's "The Industrialist" was co-produced by longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber, along with guitarist Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell and mixed by Andy Sneap (ARCH ENEMY, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD). Artwork was once again handled by Anthony Clarkson. Drums on "Genexus" were performed by Mike Heller (MALIGNANCY).

FEAR FACTORY recently completed a U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, "Demanufacture", in its entirety.

Alice Cooper has not yet decided which candidate to vote for in the U.S. presidential race, explaining that "nobody wants to vote" for either nominee.

The legendary rocker, who previously criticized other rock musicians for wearing their politics on their sleeves, told Rolling Stone that he stood by his 2015 comment that he expected to see the "funniest election of all time" unfold this year. He said: "It's funny in a Kurt Vonnegut kind of way. It's also funny and kind of seriously demented that nobody wants to vote for a candidate; they want to vote against the other candidate. I can't think of anybody that's going, 'I really like Hillary. I'm going to vote for her.' No, it's: 'I'm voting for Hillary 'cause I hate Trump.' Or it's: 'I hate Trump, but I hate her worse.' Nobody's actually for anybody."

Asked for his opinion of Trump, Cooper said: "He's an interesting character. It seems like he shoots himself in the foot every single day and gets more popular by doing it. It's the weirdest. Like I said, it's like Vonnegut: Everything that shouldn't happen is happening. It's the same with her. Every time she gets a little bit ahead, something else comes out that makes her look worse 'til you're sitting there going, 'I honestly have no idea who to vote for this time.'"

He continued: "I honestly cannot in my head look at either candidate and say, 'Oh, yeah. I'm behind that.' So it's weird. I'm going to vote, but it's really going to be one of those last-minute decisions going, 'Ah.' [Pauses] You know, I'm voting for Tom Hanks. I just think he would be a great president."

Cooper told "The Strombo Show" last year that Trump was "not a sayer, he's a doer. I think that's what the American public are looking at. The American public always votes with their wallets. They're looking at a guy and going, 'Why don't we put a billionaire in there that knows how to run a business? Because America is basically a corporation, and that's what they're thinking right now. They don't want some vanilla politician in there anymore doing business for us that's milk toast. They want a guy that is going to do something. I don't know how much he knows about foreign policy and that's what worries me, and I think [it worries] a lot of people."

KISS frontman Paul Stanley spoke to the Cleveland Scene about whether there are any plans for the band to record a follow-up to 2012's "Monster" album. He said: "Records at this point are really something that if we do, we do it for us more than anybody else. The market, the sales aren't there… the delivery system isn't there. There really is no music industry. It's a guy who ran Tropicana last year that may run a record company this year. It's not a bunch of people who love music. It's a commodity at this point. So if we do an album, it's because we feel there's a reason. 'Sonic Boom', there was definitely a reason to do. 'Monster', there was a reason to do. We're toying, certainly I'm toying, with the idea of doing another album. I think it will happen. The only thing I'm adamant about is that it's not 'Son Of Sonic Boom' or 'Son Of Monster' or son of any other album. I'm not interested in making a concept album, but I'm also not interested in just rehashing the last two albums, so it has to be something fresh. Because initially, the people we're doing it for are us."

Stanley said last month that "it's only worth [making a new studio album] if, artistically, you wanna do it. Every time we finish an album, I kind of go, 'Well, that's it.' Whenever we've done an album… When we did 'Sonic Boom', it was because the band was so good that I just thought to not capture the band and do new material would be a shame. But once we did 'Sonic Boom', I said, 'Well, we've made the point.' And then, a few years later, it was, like, 'Wow, why don't we dig deeper and get a little closer to the roots and the people that we loved and kind of do something else,' so we did that, and then I said, 'We're done.' But lately I've been thinking, yeah, we should do another."

"Monster" sold 56,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart.

KISS' previous CD, "Sonic Boom", opened with 108,000 units back in October 2009 to enter the chart at No. 2. This marked the band's highest-charting LP ever.

Canadian prog outfit, Heaven’s Cry, have released a guitar playthrough video for “The Day The System Failed Part I & II”, featured on their new album, Outcast, out now via Prosthetic Records.

Continuing where their 2012 full-length Wheels Of Impermanence left off, Outcast is a concept album that examines the corruption of governments around the world and incites humankind to rally up and fight as this will be the key to our survival and growth. Outcast was self-produced by the band along with Yannick St-Amand.

Album stream:

“Outcast” lyric video:

“The Human Factor” lyric video:

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