Season Of Mist has announced the signing of french black metal cultists Merrimack.

Regarding their signing, the band comments: "We are pleased to announce that Merrimack is joining the Season Of Mist roster. This is another significant step in our goal to deliver the blackest of metal, without compromising our art. Working with fellow countrymen will ensure a fruitful cooperation, and their unquestionable professionalism can be nothing but a motivation for the band to make this union last long!"

Merrimack were founded by guitarist Perversifier in 1994 with a clear vision to keep the black metal flame burning as an act of aesthetic terrorism – adamantly based in the underground as opposed to any attempts to co-opt or commercialize.

With a number of demo recordings under their belt in the mid '90s, the French gained recognition and respect in the scene for being true to their words. Following the release of three well-received full-lengths, the Parisians remained dedicated to their roots firmly lodged in dirty, grime, and fanatical passion. The band's daft combination of harsh soundscapes with epic songwriting appealed to critics and fans alike, allowing the band to embark on their celebrated first US-tour with Marduk and Nachtmystium in 2009.

Following the recording of their last album, (The Acausal Mass, 2012) at the legendary Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Destroyer 666), Merrimack embarked on a European tour with Norwegian genre icons Mayhem and accepted invitations to prestigious festivals such as Hellfest in their native France, Germany's Party-San Open Air and Summer Breeze and Montreal's Messe des Morts in Canada.

Having firmly established their black name and message around the globe, Merrimack are currently preparing to release their next milestone of extreme black metal with a malicious underground spirit this year.

 

 

 

 

Bonfire have released a video for “Locomotive Breath”, featured on their new album, Byte The Bullet, out on March 24th. Find the new video, as well as a “making of” clip, below.

In 2016, Hans Ziller made a pledge to make Bonfire great again. He recruited a new face to the line-up, German vocalist Alexx Stahl. With Bonfire veterans guitarist Hans Ziller, guitarist Frank Pane and bassist Ronnie Parkes, in the addition to Alexx Stahl and drummer Tim Breideband, Bonfire now have the fire and energy they were so well known, a force to be reckoned with once again.

Bonfire recorded Byte The Bullet at Flatliners Studios in their hometown of Ingolstadt, Germany.

Tracklisting:

“Power Train”
“Stand up 4 Rock”
“Praying 4 a Miracle”
“Some Kinda Evil”
“Lonely Nights”
“Byte the Bullet”
“Locomotive Breath”
“Reach For the Sky”
“Sweet Surrender”
“Friedensreich”
“InstruMetal”
“Too Far from Heaven”
“Without You”
“Sweet Obsession”

“Locomotive Breath” video:

“Locomotive Breath” making of:

New Jersey metal act, Fit For An Autopsy, have debuted a music video for their newest track, "Heads Will Hang”.. Directed by Max Moore, this is the first music video the band has released from their upcoming new album, The Great Collapse.

Founding guitarist/producer Will Putney comments, "The concept behind the song/video was to set a scenario in America where a normal happy family was placed in a similar extreme situation, in the hope that it creates a certain feeling of empathy for what less fortunate nations are experiencing right now. And to shed some light on just how close we are to the same tragedies hitting our homes.

"People in the United States always seems to form these really strong opinions about war, refugees, and other crisis situations in third world nations without really having the perspective of what's actually happening there," says Putney. "Everyone's guilty of it to some extent; a lot of us live very privileged lives in comparison to other pockets of the world, where the basic comforts like clean water, power, shelter, and safety are not guaranteed."

“The Great Collapse is a reflection on the current chaotic state of mankind’s relationship with the world, and it’s effect both outward and inward,” says Will Putney. “It’s a dark and unsettling record that encapsulates a variety of approaches to aggressive music, and a definite expansion of our capabilities as a band.”

The Great Collapse will be the the band's fourth full length record, continuing the momentum gained from a solid 200+ days of worldwide touring backing the buzz-worthy release of Absolute Hope Absolute Hell in late 2015, as well The Depression Sessions, a split release with The Acacia Strain and Thy Art Is Murder in 2016. “It’s going to be the strongest record in our catalog. The overall mood and atmosphere of this album feels fully realized and emotionally stirring.”

The Great Collapse is set to release on March 17th via Entertainment One (eOne) / Good Fight Music in North America, Long Branch Records in Europe, and SPV overseas. Artist Adam Burke was tapped to create the visually stunning cover art seen below.

Tracklisting:

“Hydra”
“Heads Will Hang”
“Black Mammoth”
“Terraform”
“Iron Moon”
“When The Bulbs Burn Out”
“Too Late”
“Empty Still”
“Spiral”

The crushing music of Fit For An Autopsy is for any fan of extreme metal, as it’s devoid of preachy politics or grandstanding soapboxing, but its sound and fury is absolutely unflinching in purpose. The band expertly blends excessive-force fueled death metal with atmospheric groove and impassioned personal diatribes, reflecting back the dark state of current events. Their fourth album, The Great Collapse, doesn’t waste time with fantasy bullshit or cliché gore horror. Fit For An Autopsy are metal guys, to be certain, but they grew up in the hardcore scene. They embrace the responsibility to put as much devoted purpose into their lyrics and message as they do into their dense, heady, songs, forging a magnificently powerful new post-deathcore.

“When I write a song, I’m trying to feel emotionally connected to it. I really don’t like saying things that don’t matter over music that I want to matter,” says Putney, guitarist, principal songwriter and cofounder. “We’ve always addressed serious topics going back to our first album. We aren’t a politically charged band up on a podium yelling at people – anybody can relate to the aggression, anger, frustration, and sadness often communicated in our music. But we absolutely raise important questions in the lyrics. Those themes are there to discover.”

Putney’s fellow guitarist/cofounder, Patrick Sheridan, strongly agrees. He emphasizes that while the music of Fit For An Autopsy may evolve it will always be aggressive and will always have purpose. “We think it's important to carry that torch. Somebody's got to say something about the shit that's going on. If you're not using your music, which is a great platform, for something meaningful that you care about on some level, then you're kind of wasting it.”

The six-men of the New Jersey based group - which includes vocalist Joe Badolato, bassist Peter Spinazola, third guitarist Tim Howley, and drummer Josean Orta - put maximum intentionality into everything they do. They are constantly challenging themselves as musicians, adding to the band’s overall creative arsenal, connecting with audiences around the world, and supporting one another in the band as individual people.

Fit For An Autopsy is set to take part in the Carry The Flame Tour featuring After The Burial, Emmure and Fit For A King, this spring. All dates can be found here.

(Photo - Bobby Bates)

Based out of Los Angeles, CA, Witherfall is the collective brainchild of guitarist Jake Dreyer (Iced Earth, Kobra And The Lotus, White Wizzard), singer Joseph Michael (White Wizzard) and the late Adam Sagan (Circle II Circle, Into Eternity). The recording lineup is rounded out with the addition of acclaimed Bassist Anthony Crawford (Allan Holdsworth, Virgil Donati).

Witherfall are set to release their debut, Nocturnes And Requiems, on February 10th. Pre-orders are available here.

A new album trailer, in which the band discuss the album title and the artwork by Kristian Wåhlin, can be found below.

Witherfall headed to Phoenix, AZ to self-produce their debut album, Nocturnes And Requiems, with engineer Ralph Patlan (Megadeth, Brian "Head" Welch, MSG) in late 2014. The album was then sent on to New York City for mixing and mastering by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (Rob Zombie, Queensrÿche, Hatebreed) at Planet Z. Resulting in eight masterfully executed tracks featuring the group's dynamic blend of darkened melodic and progressive metal.

Nocturnes And Requiems is dedicated to the life of Adam Sagan who passed on December 7th, 2016 during the final stages of production. The band collectively commented, "This, as we know, is the last piece of work that Adam contributed and played on. Adam’s talent, passion and personality is woven throughout every part of this record as he was easily 1/3 of the creative force. Nocturnes And Requiems was a name that Adam eerily came up with one evening when we were figuring out album titles would not have sounded the way it does now without his immense contribution on and off the drums. Adam, we love you and it's a tragedy that you were not able to see this release. You will always and forever be a member of Witherfall. Rest In Peace man."

Tracklisting:

“Portrait”
“What We Are Dying For”
“Act II”
“Sacrifice”
“The Great Awakening”
“End Of Time”
“Finale”
“Nobody Sleeps Here ”

Trailer:

“Nobody Sleeps Here”:

“End Of Time” lyric video:

“End Of Time” album version:

Raleigh, NC-based traditional metal band, Widow, are streaming the songs “Burning Star” and “Live By The Flame”, featured on the band’s new album, Carved In Stone, out now via Pure Steel Records. Listen to the songs below.

The album offers their strongest material to date, yet more diverse than ever before. The follow up to 2011’s Life’s Blood, also on Pure Steel, shows the band taking their true metal sound in a much catchier, song oriented direction. Carved In Stone is a strong, rocking affair that will appeal to traditional metal fans young and old.  

Tracklisting:

“Burning Star”
“Carved In Stone”
“Another Time And Place”
“Wisdom”
“Time On Your Side”
“Borrowed Time”
“And We Are One”
“Anomaly”
“Live By The Flame”
“Of The Blood, We Bind”
“Nighttime Turn”
“Let It Burn”

“Burning Star”:

“Live By The Flame”:

“And We Are One”:

“Wisdom”:

Athanasia has released the official music video for the lead single off their upcoming debut album, The Order Of The Sliver Compass. This is the second music video release from the album, following "Spoils Of War" (both streaming below). "The Order Of The Silver Compass" was directed by renowned filmmaker Matt Zane and filmed at Modern Sector Studios in Burbank, CA.

Says vocalist/guitarist Caleb Bingham: “If you got hooked after your first dose of the potent heavy metal concoction that is Athanasia, then you should be ecstatic to know that your next fix is coming in the form of a speedball entitled "The Order Of The Silver Compass”, taken from our LP of the same name... Max out your volume knobs and prepare to thrash!”

Pre-order The Order Of The Sliver Compass here.

The Order Of The Sliver Compass tracklisting:

“Read Between The Lines”
“Spoils Of War”
“The Order Of The Silver Compass”
“Cyclops Lord (My Will Is Done)”
“The Bohemian”
“Mechanized Assault”
“Nightmare Sound”
“White Horse”

“The Order Of The Silver Compass” video:

“Spoils Of War” video:

Mayhem's Live In Sarpsborg receives it’s official debut release on this Peaceville 2017 pressing, due for release on April 7th. Pre-order here.

With new audio captured from a master source, the show, originally performed on February 28th, 1990 was one of only a handful to feature the now legendary lineup of Dead, Euronymous, Hellhammer and Necrobutcher.

Perfectly demonstrating the pure raw essence of Mayhem, the band surge through some of their early classics, from the Deathcrush release to tracks which would later feature on their highly revered debut, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.

This first edition of Live in Sarpsborg is presented on limited clear heavyweight vinyl and includes a 12" booklet featuring rare and unseen band photos, plus extensive thoughts and recollections from Metalion and others associated with the event, as well as former Mayhem members Manheim and Messiah.

Tracklisting:

Side A
“Deathcrush”
“Necrolust”
“Funeral Fog”
“Freezing Moon”

Side B
“Carnage”
“Buried By Time And Dust”
“Chainsaw Gutsfuck”
“Pure Fucking Armageddon”

SKID ROW will enter the studio in late February to begin recording the final installment of its "United World Rebellion" trilogy of EPs, to be released later in the year. The follow-up to 2014's "Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two" and 2013's "United World Rebellion: Chapter One" will mark the band's first release with the South African-born, British-based vocalist ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I), who joined SKID ROW in December 2015.

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan told Billboard in a 2014 interview that the group was surprised and gratified to see fans buying into the EP concept and starting "sectors" of the Damnation Army all over the world. "We came up with this idea of United World Rebellion, and it's united a lot of people together," Bolan said. "Someone in Finland would start the street team, then Japan, New York — we're watching them all come to life in front of us, and the common thread is SKID ROW. We'll see fans from Italy who invite fans from Brazil to hang out because they've started sectors and started communicating with each other through social media. It's like, 'Wow, we're bringing our fans from different parts of the world together,' so the United part is really working. It's just a really cool thing."

Bolan added that the EPs allow SKID ROW to keep a steady flow of new music coming. "It's a really awesome way of doing things for us being that we don't live down the street from each other anymore, or even in the same state," he explained. "I think it's cool for our fans. In a day of information overflow to have five songs, you don't have to commit to a whole, long album. Creatively, it keeps things fresh; we're out there playing more and giving our fans more new music more often. This is a band that can get lazy really quick, so this keeps you on your toes. If you take six years between albums, you can get complacent sometimes. We really like working in short bursts like this."

Despite having played sporadic shows with SKID ROW for a year, Theart wasn't officially announced as the band's new frontman until earlier this month.

Theart said in a statement: "[SKID ROW's] music was the soundtrack to the largest part of my younger years and many a crazy adventure. Now I get the chance to re-live all of them for a hour and a half every night! I am beyond honored to be given this opportunity. Think I'm a bit jealous of my actual self."

Theart's involvement with SKID ROW was exclusively reported by BLABBERMOUTH.NET on December 31, 2015. He stepped into the group following the departure of Tony Harnell, the TNT frontman who joined SKID ROW in April 2015 as the replacement for Johnny Solinger, the band's singer for fifteen years.

SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo told News-Press.com that Theart has been doing a great job on the road.

"He's come in," the guitarist said, "and he's a really great source of positive energy. He knew all of our songs coming in, and he knew them well. He started singing the crap out of all of them, and we were all very impressed."

The release of the self-titled debut album from Finnish rockers One Desire is scheduled for March 24th. The album track “Whenever I’m Dreaming” is available for streaming below.

One Desire was started in 2012 by drummer Ossi Sivula. A couple of years were spent writing songs and making demos with different musicians and friends with an aim to create music that could change the world. Various musicians came and went along the way, but in 2014 things started to click when they met Jimmy Westerlund (Negative, Sturm und Drang, Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, Pitbull, etc.), who has several platinum and gold albums to his credit as a producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He had just moved back to Finland after a stint in Los Angeles and the band hired him to produce some songs.

After recording three songs with a new musical direction, they managed to attract the attention of Serafino Perugino, owner and head of A&R at Frontiers Music Srl, but, at this point the band needed a great singer. After trying out some different options, Jimmy suggested his long time friend Andre Linman from the band Sturm und Drang (who had sold over 100,000 records and gone platinum and 2x gold in Finland) who had recently decided to go on hiatus. Andre got together for a couple of sessions with the guys and after writing a couple new songs together, the style and sound that was about to become One Desire was born. Ossi and Andre asked Jimmy to join the band in 2016 and this is the album that was born from that collaboration. Also, not long after this happened, the very talented Jonas Kuhlberg (Paul Di'Anno, Cain's Offering, MyGrain) was brought on and he became the last link in the chain.

This kickass new lineup perfectly captures the original vision for the band and continues upon Linman's and Westerlund's successful legacies. Musically, the band draws musical influences from classic rock bands like Journey, Toto, and Def Leppard, but also lots of heavier, more modern bands. “Our sound is very melodic, slightly pop-ish at times, but still based on a heavy rock sound,” says singer Andre Linman.

After Jimmy brought in the song “Hurt”, the band felt that that they had taken it to the next level. Andre wrote the beautiful ballad, “This Is Where The Heartbreak Begins” plus many other songs and at that time, One Desire started to find the right direction for Ossi's rocker, “Do You Believe”. Finally, in mid-2016, the band felt they finally were musically locked in and had the material to make an album that they could honestly stand behind and love beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“After the album is released we will be touring heavily, so stay tuned for some shows!” concludes Linman. 2017 will be a fantastic year as the journey of One Desire just begins!

One Desire tracklisting:

“Hurt”
“Apologize”
“Love Injection”
“Turn Back Time”
“Falling Apart”
“Straight Through The Heart”
“Whenever I'm Dreaming”
“Do You Believe”
“Buried Alive”
“This Is Where The Heartbreak Begins”

“Whenever I'm Dreaming”:

“Hurt” video:

Catch One Desire on tour with Eclipse this spring.

Lineup:

Jimmy Westerlund - guitars
André Linman - lead vocals
Ossi Sivula - drums
Jonas Kuhlberg - bass guitar

In the new video below, guitarist Thomas Zwijsen performs an acoustic guitar arrangement of "For The Greater Good Of God”, from Iron Maiden’s 2006 album, A Matter Of Life And Death. Arranged for classical / fingerstyle guitar by Thomas Zwijsen for the Nylon Maiden double album.

The previously posted video below is an acoustic / classical / flamenco / fingerstyle guitar arrangement of “Wasted Years” by Iron Maiden, performed by Zwijsen and Ben Woods at Edgetip Studios in Arnhem (NL) during the Master Guitar Tour in Europe, 2016. The footage in this video comes from all the 19 concerts on the tour.

Check out a video below of Zwijsen and Woods covering Bruce Dickinson's "Tears Of The Dragon":

Drummer Bobby Blotzer is hopeful that the court will decide in his favor in connection with his legal dispute with the other three members of RATT's classic lineup over the rights to the band's name.

Back in November, a California judge ruled against Blotzer with respect to whether bassist Juan Croucier had committed trademark infringement by using the RATT name and logo to advertise his band RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER back in the fall 2015. The judge furthermore decided that the corporation WBS, Inc. — of which Blotzer and guitarist Warren DeMartini were thought to be the sole shareholders — did not have ownership interest in the RATT marks and that the name and brand was still owned by the members who were part of the original RATT partnership agreement.

In addition to claiming to have expelled Blotzer from the partnership following the latest court ruling, DeMartini, Croucier and singer Stephen Pearcy said that Blotzer could now only refer to himself as a "former member of RATT," as per the partnership agreement.

Blotzer's attorney later filed a request for reconsideration, and a hearing was scheduled for Monday (January 23) in a downtown Los Angeles federal courtroom.

In a Facebook post from Monday night, Blotzer confirmed that his attorney "appeared in front of the court" earlier in the day and claimed that "the court and his honor were given such a plethora of evidence that the judge is now moving on submission." He explained: "This basically means he's going to comb through the stacks of documents and then render his decision.

"We feel that it's a very strong result as in if he thought that the information/evidence wasn't very compelling or had teeth, he would have cut and there would have been a ruling in there today."

Blotzer continued: "Our guess: 1. We get the proper reversal, and fury like fire reigns on down the line. 2. Jury trial. If that happens, oh man, I can't imagine how these guys can think they'll pass these lies off on anyone with a brain.

"We'll know soon. Could be five days, could be ten.

"Can't come soon enough. Truth is a strong thing. But we'll be back on the pad [as soon as possible]. Maybe a few changes."

The RATT version featuring Pearcy, DeMartini, Croucier and later-period RATT guitarist Carlos Cavazo (ex-QUIET RIOT) is scheduled to make its first official return to the stage on February 11 at the Treasure Island Resort Casino in Welch, Minnesota.

A completely different version of RATT — led by Blotzer and featuring a revolving door of members — has been hitting stages across the country since the fall of 2015.

Blotzer's most recent lineup of RATT included singer Josh Alan alongside guitarists Mitch Perry (TALAS, HEAVEN, STEELER, MSG, LITA FORD) and Stacey Blades (L.A. GUNS) and bassist Brad Lang (Y&T).




Aloha Rattlers & greetings from GORRRRGEOUS Maui Hawaii.

So, few things to pass on to your ears (and eye,...

Posted by RATT on Monday, January 23, 2017

Three members of RATT's classic lineup — singer Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and guitarist Warren DeMartini — performed a full set of the band's classic songs as the "surprise band" on October 1, 2016 on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise West, also known as Monsterwood. Joining Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini on stage at the event were former QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on RATT's last studio album, 2010's "Infestation", and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

Asked if DeGrasso will once again sit behind the kit when Pearcy, Croucier, DeMartini and Cavazo start playing shows as RATT beginning next month in Welch, Minnesota, the singer told "Trunk Nation", Eddie Trunk's show on SiriusXM channel Volume (106): "I think we're still figuring that out. You know, we're taking things a little differently nowadays. Everything has to be I's dotted, T's crossed. No disrespect to anybody, but we want things done properly, we want things done right to where there's some life left in this and we can walk away going, 'Hey, that was a really good run. Let's do it again in three years.' You know what I'm saying? So we wanna do everything very meticulously — just like the approach I took on [my new solo album] 'Smash'. I mean, look, we took our time until we couldn't do anything else to it. We didn't throw more icing on it to sweeten it up; we just said, 'Hey, it is what it is.' So the same approach is going to be schematic with how we approach RATT and our business — very carefully, very meticulously and very smart."

Pearcy added that DeGrasso's touring schedule with the BLACK STAR RIDERS could conflict with RATT's upcoming live activities, but remained confident that a suitable drummer would be found in time to take part in all of RATT's shows. "There's options, believe me," he said. "You know, this time around, it's working smart, not hard. So we wanna plan on taking RATT to some of these places that we should have been and could have been and more. We wanna go to South America, Australia, Europe, Japan… I mean, we wanna cover some ground. If this is the last rodeo, you know, we're getting on it."

A completely different version of RATT — led by drummer Bobby Blotzer and featuring a revolving door of members — has been hitting stages across the country since the fall of 2015.

Last November, a California judge ruled against Blotzer with respect to whether Croucier had committed trademark infringement by using the RATT name and logo to advertise his band RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER back in the fall 2015. The judge furthermore decided that the corporation WBS, Inc. — of which Blotzer and DeMartini were thought to be the sole shareholders — did not have ownership interest in the RATT marks and that the name and brand was still owned by the members who were part of the original RATT partnership agreement.

In addition to claiming to have expelled Blotzer from the partnership following the latest court ruling, DeMartini, Croucier and singer Stephen Pearcy said that Blotzer could now only refer to himself as a "former member of RATT," as per the partnership agreement.

Blotzer's most recent lineup of RATT included singer Josh Alan alongside guitarists Mitch Perry (TALAS, HEAVEN, STEELER, MSG, LITA FORD) and Stacey Blades (L.A. GUNS) and bassist Brad Lang (Y&T).

British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST are "still slaving away in the studio" working on material for the follow-up to 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls" album. "It's sounding great," singer Rob Halford tells Ultimate Classic Rock in a new interview. "I can't really say any more than that, because it's still very nebulous, but it is sounding incredibly exciting and I'm sure we'll talk about that when the time comes."

Halford said last year that JUDAS PRIEST wasn't interested in making "a 'Redeemer Of Souls Part Two'." He explained: "I think it's very important that we make another stand-alone record again, a heavy metal record that's going to have its own legs and just be as different as all of them have been so far."

"Redeemer Of Souls" was released in July 2014. The follow-up to 2008's double-disc concept album "Nostradamus" was billed as a return to JUDAS PRIEST's heavy-metal roots.

Halford told Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show last year that the songwriting process was "one of the most thrilling moments for me personally in PRIEST. You go into a room with some amps, and turn the amps on, start riffing and boom, you could have another amazing PRIEST song by the end of the day. I love that part of being in PRIEST."

"Redeemer Of Souls" sold around 32,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart.

JUDAS PRIEST's tenth studio album, "Turbo", was recently remastered and will be released via Sony Music on February 3 on three CDs (the original album and two bonus discs) as well as one-LP 150-gram vinyl. Included on disc 2 and 3 of the CD reissue is, previously unreleased, "Live in Kansas City", a live recording from the band's 1986 "Fuel For Life" tour in support of "Turbo".

Atlantic Records has announced its release of "The Shack: Music From And Inspired By The Original Motion Picture", due everywhere on Friday, February 24 to coincide with the nationwide release of the film from Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment label on March 3.

"The Shack: Music From And Inspired By The Original Motion Picture" is available now for pre-order and accompanied by two instant grat downloads: "Keep Your Eyes On Me" from multi-Grammy Award-winning superstar music couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and "Stars (The Shack Version)" by Grammy-nominated rock band SKILLET, which is currently top 20 on Mediabase's National Christian Audience chart. Both tracks are available for purchase and streaming at all DSPs, with the latter also joined by a new companion video, which can be seen below. McGraw and Hill's "Keep Your Eyes On Me", co-penned by McGraw and Hill along with Lori McKenna and Shane McAnally, is currently featured in film trailers for "The Shack". McGraw also narrates the film and appears as the character Willie. A new soundtrack trailer revealing the album's superstar artist lineup also includes the song, as well as an exclusive audio preview of the forthcoming single from Dan + Shay, "When I Pray For You".

Featuring previously unreleased music from a wide range of contemporary stars, "The Shack: Music From And Inspired By The Original Motion Picture" includes a collaboration from multi-Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Kelly Clarkson and Grammy-nominated soul artist Aloe Blacc; as well as offerings from CMA and ACM-winning solo country artist Dierks Bentley; multi-platinum country artist Lady Antebellum; 2x Grammy Award winners for KING & COUNTRY; 6x chart-topping country artist Brett Eldredge; and Grammy-nominated rock band NEEDTOBREATHE, whose current album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Albums chart.

Before "The Shack" opens nationwide on March 3, fans can attend an exclusive "Movie Premiere Night" in select theatres on Thursday, March 2, where they will be among the first to see the film, followed by special behind-the-scenes footage, including a taped conversation with the actors and acoustic performance of "When I Pray For You" by Dan + Shay.

ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell has contributed a song called "A Job To Do" to the forthcoming soundtrack album for the action sequel "John Wick: Chapter 2". Due digitally on February 10 and physically on March 3 by Varese Sarabande, the effort features the film's original score composed by Tyler Bates ("Guardians Of The Galaxy", "300", "Watchmen", "Dawn Of The Dead") and Joel J. Richard ("Quantico"), as well as original songs by Cantrell, Ciscandra Nostalghia and Le Castle Vania.

"John Wick: Chapter 2" was directed by Chad Stahelski and stars Keanu Reeves, Common, Riccardo Scamarcio, Laurence Fishburne, Ruby Rose, Bridget Moynahan, Lance Roddick, Franco Nero, John Leguizamo and Ian McShane. The sequel to the highly acclaimed 2014 action thriller follows the legendary hitman as he is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins' guild.

"John Wick: Chapter 2" soundtrack track listing:

01. Plastic Heart - CISCANDRA NOSTALGHIA (2:05)02. Shark Chevelle (1:18)03. Man Of Focus (3:24)04. Sumo Showdown (3:21)05. Peace and Vodka (3:00)06. Missing Helen (2:16)07. Back In The Ground (2:23)08. Santino (5:49)09. Walk To Museum (1:04)10. Guns And Turtlenecks (1:41)11. Wick In Rome (2:29)12. Suits Maps And Guns (5:05)13. Coronation - CISCANDRA NOSTALGHIA (2:59)14. John Wick Mode - LE CASTLE VANIA (3:07)15. Razor Bath (5:30)16. Catacombs (3:49)17. La Vendetta (3:40)18. Fountain Foes (2:07)19. Knives On A Train (2:42)20. Presto Museum Battle - JOEL J. RICHARD (2:54)21. Mirror Mayhem (4:29)22. John Wick Reckoning (3:02)23. A Job To Do - JERRY CANTRELL (4:51)

"John Wick: Chapter 2" will be released in theaters nationwide on February 10 by Lionsgate.

ALICE IN CHAINS recently returned to the studio to work on its sixth full-length album.

The new ALICE IN CHAINS effort will follow up 2013's "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here", which featured the rock radio hits "Stone" and "Hollow".

"The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was the band's second disc with singer William Duvall, who joined in 2006 following the death of Layne Staley.

Former GREAT WHITE and current JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell has a word of advice for the members of RATT who are currently involved in a legal dispute over the rights to the group's name.

Russell, who in 2012 sued founding GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall, guitarist and keyboardist Michael Lardie and drummer Audie Desbrow for control of that band's name, tells Myglobalmind: "I'm friends with all of [the guys in RATT] and feel really bad for the guys. Bobby Blotzer [RATT drummer] and I go back long ways as I used to tuck his kids into bed. Stephen Pearcy [RATT singer] used to help us book shows at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood]. I can't pick a side."

He continued: "My best advice to them would be to do what your heart tells you and be honest.

"It's hard to hear your friend telling lies about your career or reinventing the past. That's what causes the pain — when someone tries to change how the band started, or who was in charge, or discrediting your participation when you have the most writing credits in the band."

Russell added: "Any advice to those guys would be to make sure you are wearing padded underwear, because you're going to get kicked by everybody. [Laughs] There really is no clear winner, as everybody gets hurt.

"I wish they could patch things up. I hate to see them going through the same thing I went through; it's not a fun thing."

After Russell was countersued by Kendall, Lardie and Desbrow, claiming the singer's self-destructive behavior was damaging the GREAT WHITE name (they also alleged he was charging promoters less for his own touring version of GREAT WHITE), the parties settled in July 2013 without going to trial. Russell now performs with a new lineup as JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE while the others are continuing as GREAT WHITE.

Kendall told LA Weekly in 2014 that he was open to performing with Russell again. "If he stripped everything that was bad for him and just replaced it with nothing but good, he could totally come back," Kendall said. "Even if it was just at 80 percent. We have too much history to just throw it all away."

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE's debut album, "He Saw it Comin'" (originally titled "The Gauntlet"), was released on January 27 via Frontiers Music Srl. The disc features Jack Russell alongside former GREAT WHITE bassist-turned-guitarist Tony Montana (as a guitar player and keyboardist), Dan McNay (MONTROSE) on bass, Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar and Dicki Fliszar (BRUCE DICKINSON) on drums.

Sayaka Shiomi conducted an interview with legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB, KXM) at this year's NAMM show, which was held January 19-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the reunion of DOKKEN's classic lineup for six shows in Japan last fall, George said: "It went really well, and it was a lot of fun. A lot of the fans were really moved, emotionally, by seeing us together again, so it was very humbling to see that. I saw a couple of people even in tears. So, it was nice to be a part of that."

Lynch also talked about the upcoming DOKKEN concert DVD, which will feature footage from two of the Japanese shows — including Tokyo — as well as the band's very first comeback gig, which was held on September 30, 2016 at Badlands Pawn Guns Gold And Rock 'N' Roll in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He said: "Well, I would guess — and don't hold me to this — but I'm guessing it'll be out in the early fall of 2017. Because we're still doing the business, and there's still work to do to get it prepared. All the editing hasn't even been started yet, so we have to do all the editing."

Lynch, singer Don Dokken, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown launched the Japanese tour on October 5 in Osaka, before heading to Fukuoka, Tokyo for an appearance at the Loud Park festival and continuing on to Hiroshima, Aichi and finally, back to Tokyo for the final show on October 12.

Pilson told "Trunk Nation" that the Japanese tour was "very, very drama-free; I was kind of surprised — very pleasantly so. It was a great time," he said. "We actually had a lot of fun. We connected on a friendship level that I wasn't really expecting, to be honest with you, and it was great. I mean, it was really, really fun — much more so than I was expecting."

Pilson also talked about the fans' reaction to seeing the classic lineup of DOKKEN perform again. "It was pretty spectacular," he said. "You could feel it. We would meet-and-greets for a lot of people that were… It was a wonderfully warm feeling, and you could feel it all the way through the crowd. And I've gotta say, it was really great."

Although DOKKEN had originally intended to perform a brand new song at the Badlands Pawn Guns Gold And Rock 'N' Roll concert and at the Japanese shows, those plans were eventually abandoned. "Honestly, the two of us [George and I] never really anticipated us playing it live," Pilson explained. "And then we talked it over with everybody, and that didn't really make sense. The song is partially recorded, it's mostly written, so the plan is to release it as a piece of bonus material for the DVD that we put out [later this] year."

Don recently told Billboard that the main reason he doesn't want to continue with the classic DOKKEN lineup is that "loves" the band he has now — which features Brown, alongside longtime guitarist Jon Levin and bassist Chris McCarvil. "We've been together for 13 years, and I don't want to hurt that franchise," he explained. "Plus if we were to continue with [the classic] lineup, old wounds might be opened, and I don't want to revisit that. I don't think any of us wants to. It's all great when a marriage fails and you say, 'I'm gonna get back with my ex' — for a week, maybe. Six months into it, the wounds come back. I don't want to experience that. It's just not part of my life anymore, and I think the other guys feel the same way."

In a recent interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis said that he wouldn't have had a problem playing Donald Trump's inauguration "like Beyoncé and everyone that would've."

Lewis — who is widely considered to be one of the most politically conservative musicians in rock — described himself as a fiscally conservative, socially libertarian, constitutionally driven patriot.

"Freedom means freedom," Lewis said in the interview. "Get out of my business."

He added that he wanted "capitalism with a conscience" and after backing Senator Ted Cruz, Trump's closest competitor in the Republican nomination race, in the Massachusetts primary, he "proudly jumped into the basket of deplorables and voted for Trump."

The STAIND frontman had been a staunch critic of President Barack Obama, telling a crowd at one of his solo concerts last year: "For the last eight years, I thought our country was going fucking crazy. Barack Obama should have been impeached a long fucking time ago. Every fucking decision he makes is against the Constitution, it's against what's good for our fucking country, and he is truly the worst fucking president that we have ever had in the history of this fucking country. And a hundred years from now, our fucking grandkids will be looking back at this, going, 'What the fuck was going on?' I truly believe that he was elected over three hundred years of guilt… because he is the least qualified, most inept, completely useless president we have ever fucking had."

Lewis told Billboard last year that he would support Trump in the U.S. presidential race, even though he was "disappointed" by the real estate mogul "with the bickering and the name-calling."

It was widely reported that the Trump transition team had trouble attracting A-list talent to appear at his inauguration, with artists like Elton John, Justin Timberlake and others rejecting offers.

Although other rock artists like Kid Rock and Ted Nugent had voiced their support for the former reality TV star, they were absent from the inauguration.

President Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009 featured Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Garth Brooks, U2, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks, among others.

Lewis released a new country music solo album called "Sinner" in September.

American singer David Reece, who fronted ACCEPT in the late '80s, says that he is "proud" of the album he made with the band, even though he initially "hated everything about it."

The current SAINTED SINNERS vocalist was recruited for ACCEPT's "Eat The Heat" LP in 1989 following the departure of Udo Dirkschneider. Reece's higher-pitched delivery was in sharp contrast to Dirkschneider's distinctive style, and overall, the album was a critical and commercial disappointment,

Midway through the "Eat The Heat" tour, differences between the band and Reece had come to a head, leading to the altercation between the singer and bassist Peter Baltes in Chicago. By the end of 1989, ACCEPT had hung it up.

Asked by Canadian rock journalist Mitch Lafon of the "One On One With Mitch Lafon" podcast (Facebook page) if he is proud of "Eat The Heat", Reece said (see video below): "You know what? It's weird, because the bad blood happened at the end of it, and I hated it — I hated everything about it. I knew it opened a bunch of doors for me, but… I, on a daily basis, get people telling me what that album means to them now. At the beginning, they hated me, but now it's, like, they have this rebirth of how great it is. And I listened to it the other day, and I went, 'That's a pretty dang good album for a first.'"

He continued: "Yeah, I'm proud of it. I mean, that's a… I mean, it's not ACCEPT — okay, let's be honest — but there's some cool stuff on there. And I still get paid royalties for that album. They [re-released] it on vinyl. I get these statements; people buy it from the old crowd and the new crowd. And I'm, like, 'Ooooh…' So it's got legs to this day, and that was '88… 1988, '89. Amazing."

SAINTED SINNERS' self-titled debut album will be released on February 24 via El Puerto Records. The group's lineup is rounded out by guitar player Frank Pané, keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg (AXEL RUDI PELL) and the dynamic rhythm section of the two former PURPENDICULAR members Malte Frederik Burkert (bass) and the Hungarian drum maestro Berci Hirleman.

Ozzy Osbourne has backtracked on claims he had a sex addiction, less than six months after he said he was suffering from the disorder when a long-term affair was made public.

In a new interview with The Times, Ozzy said he doesn't have a problem — it just comes with the territory of being a rock star.

"I'm in a fucking rock band, aren't I?" he said. "There have always been groupies. I just got caught, didn't I? It was a bump in the road."

He added: "I don't think I'm a fucking sex addict."

Ozzy last August apologized to the women with whom he has had extramarital sexual relationships and admitted to undergoing therapy for sex addiction. Ozzy's statement came out in the wake of the first interview given by Michelle Pugh, the celebrity hairstylist whose four-year affair with the BLACK SABBATH singer was discovered by Sharon and nearly ended their 33-year marriage.

"Over the last six years, Ozzy Osbourne has been dealing with a sex addiction. He is sorry if Ms. Pugh took their sexual relationship out of context," Ozzy's representative told People magazine at the time.

"He would like to apologize to the other women he has been having sexual relationships with," continued the statement. "Out of the bad comes good. Since his relationship with Ms. Pugh was exposed, Ozzy has gone into intense therapy. Ozzy is mortified at what his behavior has done to his family. He thanks God that his incredible wife Sharon is at his side to support him."

Speaking to The Times, Osbourne said his marital woes were partly a result of Sharon's busy schedule.

"She's stronger than me or any man, for sure. I am more needy," Ozzy said. "Sharon is a workaholic and that's great. But if she comes home from 'X Factor' [where she was part of the judging panel] and wants to go to bed, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I'm sitting with my thumb in my arse waiting for her, aren't I? That's why men do stupid things, when they're on their own."

Ozzy reportedly pursued Pugh for a year after she first colored his hair in late 2011.

Sharon reportedly learned of Ozzy's affair by having a private investigator look into his activities. A source told In Touch that Sharon "found out that Ozzy was spending a lot of money. She wanted to know what he was buying and who he was buying it for. The investigator discovered that he was basically living a double life."

Ozzy is at the tail end of a year-long farewell tour with BLACK SABBATH and has also reportedly been working on a new solo album.

During an interview with Professional Music Technoology conducted at this year's NAMM show, EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt revealed that he doesn't listen to his own music once it has been written and recorded. "I've never listened to any [of my records]… or watched any live footage of anything I've ever done," he said (see video below). "I can't do it. I don't wanna know about it. I remember what happened when I was there, and I wanna remember it that way. When I listen to it, I just start, like, picking it apart, I start going, 'Why did we record it? I hate all of it.' So I tell, 'Nobody send me anything. Don't send me links. Don't send me clips. I don't wanna see myself. Thank you very much.'"

EXTREME's long-awaited follow-up to to 2008's "Saudades de Rock" album is tentatively due in late spring or early summer.

EXTREME singer Gary Cherone told Metalholic last October that the band's fans will be pleased with the musical direction of the group's new material. He said: "There will be, like all EXTREME records, familiar elements, but also stuff… Over the years, when Nuno and I write, we're affected by our environment and music changes throughout the years, so those elements… There will still be some new elements to the band as well. Hopefully that always happens; you always wanna grow and evolve and move on. But the guitars will be there, the harmonies will be there, the songs, the hooks, the lyrics… There'll still be elements of the past, but certainly new elements [as well]."

A live package celebrating EXTREME's "Pornograffitti" album was made available last October. Titled "Pornograffitti Live 25 / Metal Meltdown", it includes a DVD, Blu-ray and audio CD recorded at the band's show at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Casino on May 30, 2015, where they performed the record in full.

Professionally filmed video footage of vocalist C.J. McMahon's comeback performance with Australian extreme metallers THY ART IS MURDER — which took place on January 14 at the Unify festival in Tarwin Meadows, South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia — can be seen below.

McMahon recently blamed his drug addiction for his departure from the group and has vowed to move forward as "a new man." He wrote on his Instagram account: "You made me a rock star, you made me a God, you made me immortal. I owe my fans everything. I made myself a drug addict, I made myself a liar, I made myself lose and destroy friendships, I made my family and friends hurt. I come back to the world a new man who, with my closest friends (THY ART IS MURDER), will prove that we are the greatest, strongest, and most powerful force in metal, I will take no prisoners, we will crush all charts and expectations. We will take over the game and raise the bar so no one will touch it or us. I am C.J. McMahon and I will stand as a king with my brothers for the rest of time."

To cement McMahon's return to his rightful throne, the band has released a brand new song titled "No Absolution".

Guitarist Andy Marsh spoke on McMahon's return and the brand new track: "A little over a year ago, we were left in a pickle when C.J. had finally reached his breaking point — the physical, emotional and mental stresses of touring, and the lifestyle had taken its toll on him. After the dust had settled, we had time to speak amongst ourselves, and with him, and we were all able to get on the same page. He was able to take time off from the road and work consistently, tick off some life goals like getting married, and enjoy the routine and familiarity of life at home with his friends and family. Conversely, the rest of us kept going, touring relentlessly, playing bigger tours to more people than ever before, going to new countries for the very first time, and had a blast taking a few great vocalists and mates out for the ride with us while we weathered the storm and figured things out. Special thanks must go out to Monte Barnard, Nicholas Arthur, Lochlan Watt, and every other vocalist who took the time to apply in our discrete vocalist auditions. "After a few months away from the chaotic life on the road, C.J. reached out to us and we started maintaining more regular communication. He mentioned how he had started cleaning up, was focused on working hard and saving for his wedding and enjoying time at home, but he also mentioned he missed the shows, the friends, and us — his band. "After months of working things out, gaining his voice back, and mending wounded friendships, we are overwhelmed with excitement to announce that we have completed writing for a new record to be released later this year, featuring the one and only Christopher John McMahon. Welcome back, C.J.!"

In regards to the song "No Absolution", Marsh stated: "'No Absolution' is a rich tapestry, intertwined in faith, scripture and doctrine, and a story about the process that we have endured throughout the last year. We recorded this during the session for 'Holy War' but quite simply ran out of time to finish writing lyrics and recording vocals for it in order to make the record. This song now stands alone, without a record or release — a gift from us to you, thank you for your continued support, we can't wait to show you what we're making for 2017."

THY ART IS MURDER's third album, "Holy War", entered the official Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) chart at position No. 7 — the highest-ever position for an Australian extreme metal act. The Sydney-based band has generated controversy for the strong anti-religious stance of the title track's video, as well as the album cover which features references to a suicide bomber.

"Holy War" was released in Australia via UNFD and in other parts of the world through Nuclear Blast.

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi says that he wants to bury the hatchet with the band's former drummer, Bill Ward.

Ward was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced in November 2011, but backed out soon after. He later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.

SABBATH has used singer Ozzy Osbourne's regular touring drummer Tommy Clufetos since then for live work. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's Brad Wilk laid down the drum tracks on the band's comeback album, "13", which came out in June 2013.

In a new interview with Mojo magazine, Iommi made it clear he was keen to make amends with Bill as the band prepares for the two final shows in its native Birmingham, England on February 2 and 4.

"Bill seemed to feel he was getting a bad deal," Tony told Mojo. "We never dealt with that, we left all that to management. We just wanted to play together and enjoy it. We were playing with Bill for a bit and then he never turned up…"

He continued: "It would have been nicer to have Bill with us, but, unfortunately, it never happened… At some point, I wanna call him. I still love him, he's still my brother, but you have arguments. To be honest with you, I don't know what the fuck happened, because I don't do the business side of it."

It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, which he allegedly balked at.

Ward in 2015 released his first solo album in 18 years. Titled "Accountable Beasts", the record can be purchased on iTunes.

More recently, Ward launched a new new three-piece band called DAY OF ERRORS. The group, which was formed by Ward "in the desire to have my drumming spirit continue to live," also features Joe Amodea on guitar/vocals and Nick Diltz on bass/lead vocals.

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

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich is featured in Amoeba Music's "What's In My Bag?" segment in which he talks about some of the records, books and movies he is into. In the clip below, he can be seen shopping at Amoeba in Hollywood, where he talks about Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" book as well as various records from RADIOHEAD and DEEP PURPLE, among others.

METALLICA's latest album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", came out in November. The effort consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

METALLICA has shows booked in Denmark, Mexico and South America over the next three months, but has yet to unveil its full 2017 tour plans, including its first North American tour in eight years.

The band's sole North American date so far is May 21 at the Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio.

Luxury sock company Stance has released a new line of footwear from its "Legends Of Metal" range, featuring designs that were approved by SLAYER, MOTÖRHEAD and IRON MAIDEN.

Available to purchase for $18 a pair, the socks feature designs taken from classic albums by MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN (both of which display the artwork from their respective self-titled albums) and SLAYER's "Show No Mercy".

Stance's "Legends Of Metal" description: "Our 'Legends Of Metal' collection pays tribute to the first albums of the worlds most idolized bands SLAYER, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD during a time when their unpredictable and unfiltered behaviour was about to lead them to heavy metal immortality. SLAYER features the original artwork from their debut album which continues to reign in metal glory."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Stance features socks with wild patterns and colors that can cost as much as $50 a pair. The company signed a multiyear licensing agreement with the NBA to include team logos.

Stance in November 2015 opened its first retail store in New York's SoHo district. It ended the year with an estimated $180 million in revenue.

Stance's co-founder and president, John Wilson, is the former president of Reef and has been an executive at Oakley.

HIM, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, MAYHEM, APOCALYPTICA, DIRKSCHNEIDER and SONATA ARCTICA are among the confirmed bands for the 20th-anniversary edition of the Tuska festival, set to take place June 30 - July 2 in Helsinki, Finland.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

Friday, June 30:

More bands will be announced soon.

The 2016 edition of the Tuska festival saw 28,000 fans gathered at Suvilahti, formerly an energy production area, a present-day venue for festivals, flea markets and graffiti, located in Helsinki's Sörnäinen district.

The festival offers a variety of ticket options: from 255 euros for the three-day Tuska Turbo VIP package to 129 euros for a normal three-day ticket and 105 and 75 euros for a two- or one-day ticket, respectively. Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands at the festival site.

In a 2016 interview with Festicket, Tuska organizer and promoter Eeka Mäkynen stated about Finland's mainstream acceptance of the heavy metal genre: "It has been [big for] a really long time. This is our nineteenth year so I think it was about nineteen years ago that there were some really underground things going on in the true metal scene; when the guys started up the Tuska festival. That was about 1998 when we started to see that something was happening, something was 'vibrating.'"

He continued: "The first Tuska was held at a club in Helsinki with a capacity of 750, and they had two stages over two days. The guy who owned the club and ran the festival realized that it was growing and so already by the second festival it was arranged outdoors for a couple of thousand people per day. It started to blast off really quickly from then."

Asked if he thinks Tuska fans want to see a lot of Finnish music, or if they prefer to see a representation of the whole worldwide scene, Mäkynen said: "That's a really good question. It's always been sort of 50/50. Foreign people who come to the festival want to see local bands; if you come to Finland, you want to see Finnish bands, the big names like STAM1NA, MOKOMA, LORDI, CHILDREN OF BODOM. But if you're wondering how most Finnish people see Tuska, they're probably thinking about the big-name foreign bands. In Finland, it's known as an international festival. And we want to grow it bigger for the international fans and expand the whole feeling that you can come to festival, spend a weekend here, explore Helsinki and have a good trip to Finland. So that's something we've been growing in the last couple of years, and I think we're doing a good job so far."

For more information, visit Tuska.fi.

"Whitesnake In Full Flight" is a fully independent publication in collaboration with bassist Neil Murray. It is a combination of behind-the-scenes shots and dynamic gig photos from the early years of David Coverdale's band, beautifully presented in a 128-page, full-color hardback book.

Limited to only 300, each book is individually numbered and sits neatly encased in foam within its own metal flight case — a beautiful addition to any WHITESNAKE collection.

The book contains over 130 U.K. concert photos from 1978-1981, including the third-ever gig in Wolverhampton on the first "back to the roots" tour and from Birmingham and Liverpool during the band's first full scale U.K. tour promoting the debut album "Trouble", by which time Coverdale's former DEEP PURPLE bandmate Jon Lord had joined.

The DEEP PURPLE connection continued when drummer Ian Paice joined in 1979 in time for the band's first appearance at the Reading festival in 1979 which is also captured here. There are also shots from their appearance at the 1981 Monsters Of Rock festival.

But "Whitesnake In Full Flight" also contains a superb range of photos from the personal collection of Murray, who is collaborating on this publication. Armed with his trusty Pentax, Neil was always on hand to catch the band in many different situations and locations. His collection includes photos from several recording sessions — the "Lovehunter" album at Clearwell Castle, "Come An' Get It" at Startling Studios and the sessions for the "Saints & Sinners" album in the autumn of 1981. Neil's collection also includes many backstage, offstage and soundcheck shots from the first Japanese tour in 1980, U.K. and German tours from the same year as well as the U.S. tour where they supported JETHRO TULL.

Neil kept diaries during his years in the band, and aside from contributing a foreword, these diaries have helped Neil to add his memories and recollections to go alongside many of the photos.

If that wasn't enough, this unique publication also includes a set of 7 A4 photos printed on high quality 400gsm premium board and perfect for framing. One full band shot and one each of Coverdale, Lord, Paice, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden and a signed photo of Murray.

"Whitesnake In Full Flight" will be released on April 7.

Pre-order the book at this location.

California Rock News has uploaded video footage and photos of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's January 29 performance at The Canyon in Agoura Hills, California. Check out the clips below.

Rumors about Frehley's return to KISS gained strength lasty year after he teamed up with KISS lead singer Paul Stanley on a cover of FREE's "Fire And Water", marking their first collaboration since 1998's "Psycho Circus".

Asked if there is a chance that he will re-team with KISS, Frehley told "Talking Metal" at last month's Revolver Music Awards in New York City: "I haven't heard anything from Paul and Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] — although I did get a text from Gene the other day. He wanted to come see me perform this January. So, you know, maybe he'll pop the big question. Who knows? [Laughs]

He added: "Whatever happens, we're all good. It's all good."

Ace's latest comments echo those he made in November when he told Eddie Trunk of the "Trunk Nation" radio show: "I haven't been contacted [about a reunion]. I'm not ruling it out. It's a possibility, I guess. But the ball's in Paul and Gene's court. If that's something that they would like to do to end off the career of KISS, I think it could be… if it was handled correctly, it could be great. But those guys pretty much run the show these days. And I'm doing my thing, and they're doing their thing. And if it happens, it'd be great, and if it doesn't, I'll be fine and they'll be fine."

Ace told "Trunk Nation" that his relationship with his former bandmates was never bad as it was portrayed by the media. "However the press colors the fact that we don't get along, in reality we do," he said. "You know, we have disagreements and things are said sometimes, taken out of context. But I've always been friends with those guys and they've been friends with me. We may not have agreed about certain things over the years and maybe there were times we didn't talk. I mean, we created something amazing that withstood the test of time."

Frehley's version of "Fire And Water" appears on his covers collection "Origins, Vol 1", which received great reviews and landed in the Top 25 on the Billboard album chart.

Century Media Records has set February 24 as the release date of "Inception", the official prequel to 1988's classic debut "Refuge Denied" from the legendary U.S. metal act SANCTUARY. "Inception" contains presumed lost 1986 studio recordings, which guitarist Lenny Rutledge discovered recently and which were magically restored, remixed and remastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (QUEENSRŸCHE, HATEBREED).

The lyric video for the song "Dream Of The Incubus", taken from "Inception", can be seen below.

Rutledge comments: "'Dream Of The Incubus' was one of those forgotten SANCTUARY songs. It's awesome to see it finally get released.

"I believe we only played 'Incubus' live one time.

"This video footage was from our first Seattle show in the late '80s at a venue called The Oz.

"The introduction at the beginning is Jeff Gilbert from the radio show 'Brain Pain'. Jeff was a huge help to SANCTUARY and many other Seattle bands from that time frame."

Recorded in March of 1986 ("Soldiers Of Steel", "Battle Angels") at Triad Studios in Redmond, Washington and Studio One in White Center between April and July 1986, "Inception" offers such previously unreleased highlights as "Dream of The Incubus" and "I Am Insane" as well as several classic "Refuge Denied" songs that are burning with fervor and intensity. Apart from being expanded by art courtesy of Ed Repka, "Inception" is filled to the brim with tons of rare photos, flyers, early art designs, sketches plus detailed liner notes allowing you to delve deep into SANCTUARY's history.

"Inception" will be released as gatefold LP on 180-gram black and limited colored vinyl, including an extensive LP-size booklet, poster, and the album on CD as additional extra. Apart from that, it will be available as a special-edition CD digipak and digital album.

Rutledge comments: "I found the masters in my barn. The second floor of the barn is on top of our current recording studio and is very rough and open to the elements. The ground level is where we recorded the bulk of 'The Year The Sun Died'. We found the masters in an unknown box in the barn, full of water and just wasting away." Zeuss explains further how the "Inception" album was realized: "I got a call one day and Lenny said that he had discovered these tapes and had them transferred to digital. I was in the area and stopped over to check it out. The recordings were still in decent shape.

"We agreed that we wanted it to sound as good as possible without taking away from the original vibe and vision of what the band had back then.

"After a year of mixing on and off, we were able to resurrect these original demos.

"I hope everyone enjoys these recordings as much as I did working on them, especially being a huge fan myself." Lenny concludes: "For me personally, I just wanted fans to be able to hear proper versions of the demos. They had a certain energy that was captured during the early days, maybe even more so than 'Refuge Denied'.

"It's no secret that you can find these on the Internet, but the quality is horrible.

"I think most people are under the impression that these are remastered or re-recorded versions of 'Refuge…', but this is all a prequel!" "Inception" track listing:

01. Dream Of The Incubus02. Die For My Sins03. Soldiers Of Steel04. Death Rider / Third War05. White Rabbit (JEFFERSON AIRPLANE cover)06. Ascension To Destiny07. Battle Angels08. I Am Insane09. Veil Of Disguise