Gitarre & Bass conducted an interview with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King when the band played at the Rock Im Revier festival in Dortmund, Germany earlier in the year. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if it's "tougher" for a band like SLAYER to play for a festival audience that is composed of some non-metal fans, Kerry said: "I don't think so, especially in Europe. I mean, we've played on shows with bands I don't even know of, and I mention it to my wife, and she's, like, 'Oh my God! You're playing with that band!' And I have no idea who they are. But that's really traditional in Europe. I mean, of course, there's metal festivals, like [With] Full Force, Wacken [Open Air] and Bloodstock, Hellfest , that are just metal, but a lot of the festivals over here, it's a big mixture."

Regarding whether SLAYER changes its setlist based on the type of festival it plays, King said: "Probably. I would say no, but this is our first show, so I'm not really in the swing of what we're gonna do this summer. But it's got a lot to do with a lot of things on a festival. Because, like here, my crew didn't even get a line check today — they showed up, plugged the rig in, it worked, that was it. So today I didn't have any clean-guitar songs in the set — I took them all out — just because we may not have time to test things properly. And I'd hate to be up there in the middle of a song and the clean [guitar] just doesn't work. So, yeah, I think about that stuff, so I took all that stuff out today. Today we're playing an hour, so we're playing, like, thirteen songs."

He continued: "You know, we're on a new record, and you try to get the new material in, but we've got a thirty-five-year career, so we've gotta get some other stuff in there. It gets more hard every time we do a record, obviously, because there's things you wanna play and there's things you just don't have time to."

SLAYER's seven-week North American tour with ANTHRAX and DEATH ANGEL kicked off in Cleveland on September 9.

SLAYER's latest album, "Repentless", was released on September 11, 2015 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2009's critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated "World Painted Blood" was produced by Terry Date, who has previously worked with PANTERA, DEFTONES and SOUNDGARDEN. The artwork was created by Brazilian artist Marcelo Vasco in collaboration with Tom Araya and Kerry King.

"Repentless" debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 50,000 equivalent album units in the week ending September 17, 2015.

SLAYER's seven-week North American tour with ANTHRAX and DEATH ANGEL kicked off in Cleveland on September 9 and hit both major and secondary markets across the continent.

Dimitri Scheblanov of Herring & Herring, one of the creative directors and photographers of METALLICA's "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" album, has denied drawing influence from the cover of CROWBAR's 1998 classic "Odd Fellows Rest" for the design of METALLICA's disc.

While both covers feature four band dudes with their images superimposed into one hydra-like face, with the band dude on the left sticking out his tongue, Scheblanov said the similarity was "definitely not an intentional one." He told Decibel magazine: "I think while the look might be somewhat similar, I think the intention behind it was probably pretty different for us and also for Turner Duckworth, the design agency [who worked on the cover]. I guess I like the CROWBAR cover [laughs]; there's nothing wrong with it or anything. But, yeah, it was pretty shocking that there was such a similar-looking thing. But I had never heard of the band or the music so it was also interesting that it was another metal act."

He continued: "I'll tell you the funny thing: on Tuesday the record [cover] came out, then I guess that Friday or Saturday we went out to Minneapolis to see METALLICA play because they were projecting the photos up on the screen [at the concert]. So afterwards when we were at the afterparty with the band, we were talking with management and with some of the guys from the band and talking about all the different comments we'd gotten since the album art came out. Somebody brought up the CROWBAR thing. The funniest bit of it was everyone was like, 'Who the fuck is CROWBAR?' That made it feel a little bit better, because we were kind of shocked, but because other people within the community didn't really know about them either we felt it wasn't such a huge deal, that it wasn't a well-known enough thing to where most people would think that there was some kind of copycatting. So at first we were really shocked by it but then hearing that they were kind of a smaller act we definitely felt better about it since it'd be pretty bad if people felt we were trying to rip somebody off."

Asked what the chances were of both covers featuring the face on the left with its tongue sticking out, Scheblanov said: "That's the thing; it's pretty crazy. When we started working on the project and were making these covers in August-ish, there were actually about nine different combinations, there's the vinyl cover and the deluxe vinyl cover, there's a bunch of them. Originally there were nine, and the band just picked one out of those nine to be the actual cover, and that was the one. It's weird. It's definitely like, whoa. But it's one of these things where it's some kind of strange coincidence, or I don't know what to call it. I don't know how exactly it came to be that, like… yeah, I think the tongue thing is pretty interesting. But we gave 400 images in the end to Turner Duckworth and they were probably just going for the more interesting silhouettes."

CROWBAR's Kirk Windstein was one of the first ones to point out the similarities between the "Odd Fellows Rest" and "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct" covers, writing on his Facebook page: "In all fairness, after touring with the mighty METALLICA while in DOWN, I know the fellas know who CROWBAR is. However, I seriously doubt that any member of METALLICA stole this idea from us. Maybe the artist? Anyway you slice it... it's a cool cover idea!!! Now James and Lars, go listen to 'Odd Fellows Rest'!!! LOL"

The "Odd Fellows Rest" art direction was handled by John Buttino.

"Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" was released on November 18 via METALLICA's own Blackened Recordings.

EYEHATEGOD frontman Mike Williams has undergone successful liver-transplant surgery, less than a month after a crowdfunding effort raised nearly $70,000 for the operation.

Mike's wife, Michelle Maher-Williams, shared the good news via Facebook, saying that a donor match for her husband was found on Wednesday, with the actual surgery taking place just hours later.

She wrote late last night: "Everything went well. New liver is functioning and making bile. They're taking him to ICU now and I can see him in about an hour."

Mike was first told that his liver was failing in December 2014 while he was on tour with his CORRECTIONS HOUSE project. His health improved in the following twelve months, but he suffered setbacks in 2015 and earlier this year.

Williams's tales of drug abuse, excess and struggles with the authorities have been well publicized over the years. The longtime New Orleans resident was arrested after Hurricane Katrina for drug possession, detoxed from heroin in prison and lived for a short time on former PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo's property. Williams, who worked as an associate editor for Metal Maniacs in the 1990s and has written for numerous underground music magazines, published his first book, "Cancer As A Social Activity: Affirmations Of World's End", in 2005.

Williams was forced to miss more than a dozen EYEHATEGOD shows this past summer and fall due to his health issues. He was temporarily replaced by Anselmo for two dates in August and LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe for eleven gigs in October.




This morning we got the call we'd been waiting for.....They found a donor match for Michael!!! After waiting all day to...

Posted by Michelle Maher-Williams on Wednesday, December 14, 2016



Surgeon just came out to talk to me - it's over! Everything went well. New liver is functioning and making bile. They're taking him to ICU now and I can see him in about an hour. ❤🙏🏻😘

Posted by Michelle Maher-Williams on Thursday, December 15, 2016

It's long been known that Christina Applegate went to the MTV Movie Awards with Brad Pitt in 1989 but left mid-date, ditching him for another man. And though she never officially revealed who it was, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach says that he was, in fact, the dude in question.

During an appearance on "Elliot In The Morning" to promote his newly released autobiography, "18 And Life On Skid Row", Bach recalled the episode, telling host Elliot Segal: "Well, [what happened between me and Christina] was a brief fling, but we did go out a couple of times.

"She was interviewed recently on, like, 'Entertainment Tonight', or something, and they [asked], 'What was the dumbest thing you ever did?' And she goes, 'One night I ditched Brad Pitt for this other dude.' And that dude would be me. [Laughs] So there was a time on this earth when Sebastian Bach was, like, a hotter lay than Brad Pitt. Of course that's going in the book. [Laughs] I've gotta tell somebody that, Jesus! [Laughs]"

During a hilariously awkward appearance last year on "Watch What Happens Live", Applegate was forced to recall the decision to dump Pitt. She confirmed that the man she ditched Pitt for wasn't an actor, though he was well-known to the public. Applegate and the mystery man never ended up dating, and though she did see Pitt again, they never went on another date.

"18 And Life On Skid Row" came out on December 6 via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. In the book, Bach is brutally frank in his description of life on the road and exploits with METALLICA, Ozzy Osbourne and GUNS N' ROSES, among others.

During yesterday's (Wednesday, December 14) appearance on Eddie Trunk's SiriusXM show "Trunk Nation", MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine once again spoke about the possibility of there being more shows featuring the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — in the future, Mustaine said: "If the conditions were right, I think it would be great. I think that when it's just the four of us, I think it's great. If you do the 'Big Four' and you've got four or five other shitty little opening bands, that takes away the phenomenon that is the 'Big Four.' We should all have relatively similar set times, we should all have relatively similar staging and really allow the four of us to be presented as equals and see where the chips lie. Instead of you've got three openers and another band, or you've got ten openers and another band."

He continued: "It needs to be just about the four of us. And I think it would be really great if all four of us kind of had an even shot at how we were gonna perform in front of the audience. I think that when we did some of these other festivals and there were so many other different bands, it just messes things up. There were a couple of times where we weren't even all on the same stage. And I'm not stupid — when you're at a festival and one headlining band ends, there's no way you get from one field, when you're paying attention and enjoying the band, to another field on the side of the site before the first note starts up of the next band. Unless there's a set time where they don't do that, they don't start 'em, but they never do that; they start right away. So you miss something by doing that. And I don't think it's fair. I think if it's gonna be the 'Big Four,' it should be just the four of us, and everyone is, like, right there and they get to see everything."

Mustaine's latest comments echo those he made earlier in the year when he told the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast: "Am I opposed to doing it? You know, it would have to be the right thing. I think that, you know, MEGADETH is at a place right now where we're successful to a degree where we would be happy continuing to do what we do on our own. So if we're gonna do another 'Big Four' thing, I would want it to be something where we walk away as content as METALLICA does from something like that. It's not METALLICA and three other dudes."

METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX played together for the first time in history on June 16, 2010 in front of 81,000 fans at the Sonisphere festival at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland.

The "Big Four" played its last concert on September 14, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Since then, METALLICA, SLAYER and ANTHRAX have played a number of shows together, including the 2013 Soundwave festival in Australia. They also performed at the 2014 Heavy MTL festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In a 2013 interview, SLAYER frontman Tom Araya said that the only thing that was standing in the way of further "Big Four" shows was "the politics of character in one particular band."

In his autobiography, "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir", Mustaine addressed the issue of where his band fit in the "Big Four" order. According to The New York Times, he assured the reader that he was not offended by being put behind SLAYER. But he added an interior monologue: "O.K., we'll play ahead of you guys on this trip, and God willing we'll do it again sometime in the near future and we can flip things around."

A long-awaited FOREIGNER reunion took place December 5, 2016 to celebrate the RIAA platinum certification of 2008's "No End In Sight: The Very Best Of Foreigner" (Atlantic Records/Rhino Entertainment), a double-disc collection featuring the band's biggest hits, including "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded" and "I Want To Know What Love Is". It also includes a brand new song, "Too Late", as well as live performances by the current lineup that includes founding member and lead guitarist Mick Jones, lead singer Kelly Hansen, bassist Jeff Pilson, rhythm guitarist/saxophonist Tom Gimbel, and keyboardist Michael Bluestein.

Along with Atlantic Records chairman and CEO Craig Kallman, original FOREIGNER members Mick Jones, Lou Gramm (lead vocals), Al Greenwood (keyboards) and Ian McDonald (rhythm guitar, keyboards, saxophone, flute, backing vocals) came together for the platinum plaque presentation, which took place at the Atlantic office in New York City. Fittingly, the presentation took place in a room dedicated to the memory of Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun, a close friend of the band's throughout their many years at the label.

In the last ten years, only four other classic rock artists have released albums featuring new music that have been certified platinum by the RIAA: EAGLES, AC/DC, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and JOURNEY.

"'No End In Sight' was named as a tribute to the longevity of FOREIGNER's music," said founding member Mick Jones. "Lou Gramm, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald, Ed Gagliardi, Dennis Elliott, Rick Wills and I originally brought these songs to life. Years later, the current members of FOREIGNER added their talent to 'No End In Sight', and continue to bring our music to a whole new legion of fans."

"In the seven-decade history of Atlantic Records, there is a select group of artists who stand out as true musical icons, and FOREIGNER certainly belongs in that elite family," said Craig Kallman. "Their longevity is a real testament to the power of timeless songwriting, fantastic musicianship, and Mick Jones's brilliant vision for the band from day one. The fact that they've scored yet another platinum award forty years since the release of their first album proves that their music remains relevant and compelling today, spanning generations of fans. We're immensely proud to have FOREIGNER's incredible body of work as part of Atlantic's heritage."

"In 1977, all of us at Atlantic Records knew that we had discovered something very special with FOREIGNER. The quality of the songwriting and the majesty of the performances quickly took us to new heights. It is a personal thrill for me to continue the journey with Mick Jones as he leads FOREIGNER to renewed successes all over the world," says Phil Carson, manager of FOREIGNER.

FOREIGNER has been universally hailed as one of the world's most popular rock acts with ten multi-platinum albums and sixteen Top 30 hits that continue to propel sold-out tours and album sales, now exceeding seventy-five million.

Left to right in photo above: Ian McDonald, Al Greenwood, Craig Kallman, Mick Jones, Lou Gramm

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine

Frontiers Music Srl has set a January 27, 2017 release date for Stephen Pearcy's fourth solo album, "Smash".

Pearcy, best known as the original vocalist and founding member of the platinum rock band RATT, has been working hard to complete his highly anticipated new album, while at the same time keeping busy performing shows across the U.S.

Another audio offering from "Smash", a track called "Want Too Much", can be heard below. Stephen will be supporting "Smash" with live dates in the U.S. and internationally. "It took long enough to finish the new record 'Smash' and it is well worth the patience taken, giving every song as much attention as the next," says Pearcy. "Erik Ferentinos (lead guitarist and co-writer), Greg D'Angelo (drummer) and Matt Thorne (bassist, keyboardist) and myself didn't settle on any first, second or third takes. We let some songs grow if needed, then go back and complete it. We're very happy with the outcome, that we were able to experiment and grow with the new songs."

Regarding "I Can't Take It", Pearcy said: "It has the RATT signature sound because [early RATT producer] Beau Hill got back into the mix. We've always been in contact, and I told him, 'Look, I'm recording so much music.' And it's very diverse, very straightforward, very experimental stuff. And he was interested. And at the end of day, he mixed, mastered, and it's, like, alright, we're ready to go. Let's see where this takes us. But if it wasn't for him, it wouldn't sound like it sounded." "Smash" track listing:

01. I Know I'm Crazy02. Ten Miles Wide03. Lollipop04. Dead Roses05. Shut Down Baby06. Hit Me With A Bullet07. Want Too Much08. What Do Ya Think09. Jamie10. Rain11. Can't Take It (album version)12. Summer's End13. Passion Infinity Credits:

Stephen E. Pearcy - Lead Vocals, Back-up Vocals

Musicians:

Erik Ferentinos - Rhythm & Lead Guitars, Back-up VocalsGreg D'Angelo - Drums, PercussionMatt Thorne - Bass GuitarChris Hager - Guitars, Lead Guitars on track #3

As previously reported, the newly reunited RATT — featuring Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and guitarist Warren DeMartini — has been confirmed to perform at next year's edition of the M3 Rock Festival, set to take place on Friday, April 28, 2017 and Saturday, April 29, 2017 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini took control of the RATT name after a judge ruled against drummer Bobby 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, and which Blotzer has claimed owns the RATT name and brand, 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: Pearcy, Croucier, DeMartini and Blotzer.

Pearcy, DeMartini and Croucier have now expelled Blotzer from the partnership, according to a press release issued by the trio. Blotzer thus has no further interest in the RATT name and may now only refer to himself as a "former member of RATT," as per the partnership agreement.

Sebastiano Mereu of From Hero To Zero recently conducted an interview with drummer Ton Hunting of San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans EXODUS. You can watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the differences in how albums are made and released today compared to how it was back in the '80s:

Hunting: "Well, there's a lot of differences, I think. As far as creating an album and making music, that stays the same; it's pretty much the same formula. Some people do trading [files] over the Internet — the guitarist will write a riff and send it to this guy: 'Check this out.' We do it old school; Gary [Holt] or Lee [Altus] will write a riff and we'll jam it out in a room. As far as making a record, I think the hardest thing nowadays is just to keep things secret until it comes out. I mean, the Internet, it's kind of a blessing and a curse where that's concerned. But we've survived through both eras — the Internet era, which is now, and the era of the past, where… It sucks to get older, but I'm really happy to have lived through that — to where you would go to a store and buy an album. You waited for that album to get created and you go home and you slice the plastic and you pull out the sleeve… You know what I mean? It told a big story. And I think that's probably what's missing today, and that will never happen again. Unless vinyl really resurges."

On whether he misses the days when physical sales of EXODUS albums were significantly higher than they are now:

Hunting: "Well, sure. I mean, the sales are what keeps us going. If nobody bought the music at all, then we would probably be forced into retirement, 'cause, basically, bands — and not just speaking for us — a lot of bands… I mean, aside from METALLICA or Beyoncé or people who come out of the gate selling eight hundred thousand copies the first day, we have to tour. We're kind of, basically, traveling t-shirt salesmen. And it's okay, 'cause it takes us to amazing places in the world, and we love seeing other cultures and having other foods and seeing how the rest of the world lives. I think it's the best education you can get in your life, for sure. It takes away any illusions or ignorances about the way the rest of the world gets on and lives. So it's fine."

EXODUS has just completed the colossal "Battle Of The Bays" European tour, alongside famed Florida death metal squad OBITUARY. Support came from influential groove crossover metallers PRONG and Australian wrecking machine KING PARROT.

EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt recently told FM99 that he will begin writing songs for the band's next album in January for a tentative fall 2017 release.

EXODUS's 2014 album, "Blood In Blood Out", was the band's first effort since the departure of EXODUS's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Steve "Zetro" Souza, who previously fronted the group from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

During a brand new interview with Fireworks magazine, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann declined to discuss "Live - Back To The Roots", a new release showcasing a performance of twenty-five ACCEPT tracks sung by the long-departed original voice of the band, Udo Dirkschneider. "We do not talk about other artists," he said. "The only thing we care is about our performance, our releases and our fans. There is always someone who is releasing whatever, whenever…. you can't avoid this. As I've mentioned so many times, we are where we want to be musically and performance-wise, and that is all we could hope for and all we can achieve. We are enjoying the best phase ever in the band and seem to be doing better with every album that we release, which has been our goal from 2010 onwards."

Udo recently told rock journalist Mitch Lafon that his decision to perform ACCEPT material one last time came about as a result of his desire to "close [the] book, and say, 'Okay, that's it. I read it.'" He explained: "Sometimes you have to come to an end with something. I wanna close up everything with ACCEPT. And this will be the last time."

Dirkschneider added that he didn't want to continue being compared to the current lineup of ACCEPT, which includes American vocalist Mark Tornillo. He said: "Now ACCEPT is still on tour, and they have a new singer, and they are doing also 'Balls To The Wall' and they are doing also 'Metal Heart', they do 'Princess Of The Dawn'. And I don't wanna be always compared and have to say, 'What do you think about this and this and this?' This is also another reason. I wanna close the ACCEPT chapter."

Udo insists that he has no interest in reuniting with his former bandmates, even if it's just to play one last show with the group. "If Peter [Baltes, bass] and Wolf called me [to play with them again], but I don't think [they would], but [if they did], I would say, 'Have fun. Bye bye,'" he told Greece's Rockpages.

Several months ago, Udo told Spark TV that he has "no relationship at all" with the members of ACCEPT. "We don't talk to each other," he said. "It's, in a way, also sad, but what can you do?"

"Earth Under The Sword", a brand new song from German thrash metal veterans KREATOR, can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below. The track, which has been made available as part of the Decibel Flexi Series, will NOT be featured on the band's upcoming album, "Gods Of Violence", due on January 27, 2017 via Nuclear Blast Records.

As previously reported, KREATOR will headline next year's edition of the annual Decibel Magazine Tour. Support on the trek will come from Florida death metal legends OBITUARY, old-school Ohio brutalizers MIDNIGHT and celebrated progressive death prodigies HORRENDOUS (with regional openers in select markets to be announced next year).

The cover artwork for "Gods Of Violence" was created by renowned artist Jan Meininghaus, who also made the limited-edition artwork for KREATOR's last album, 2012's "Phantom Antichrist", and has lent his talents to bands like BOLT THROWER, ACCEPT and OVERKILL in the past.

The exclusive North American cover was created by renowned artist Marcelo Vasco, who has previously worked with SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY and HATEBREED.

KREATOR will tour Europe in support of the new CD beginning in early February. Mille Petrozza and his crew will be accompanied by a varied as well as iconic billing. Brazilian-American extreme metal pioneers SEPULTURA are direct support to the headliners, followed by visionary Swedish melodic death metallers SOILWORK and Belgium's finest death/grind outfit ABORTED.

Speaking about the five-year gap between 2012's "Phantom Antichrist" album and the upcoming "Gods Of Violence", Mille told Metal Wani: "It didn't seem that long, to be honest, because we have been touring so much. And I think in order to come up with something relevant and something exciting, it's definitely important to take some time off, and hat's what we did. After the extensive touring cycle for 'Phantom Antichrist', we just took almost… not two years off — we played a couple of festivals — but, basically, we didn't do much in '15 and until now [in] '16; those two years were free of any long touring. And so, yeah, being able to do this was a luxury, but was also necessary in order to come up with something great."

Mille also talked about the songwriting process for "Gods Of Violence", explaining: "We just wanted to write new songs that are just, 'Wow!' I think that's basically what we had in mind. One thing that we were all conscious about was that we needed to come up with an album that blows everyone away. So whatever it takes, we do. That's the only conscious decision that we made — to come up with something exciting; that's the key."

One of rock n' roll's most venerated guitar gods, Uli Jon Roth will release a very special live performance from the Nakano Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo, Japan on December 16 via UDR Music. Titled "Tokyo Tapes Revisited - Live In Japan", the performance is a celebration of Roth's classic work with the SCORPIONS, and was recorded on February 20, 2015 at the same venue as the band's classic 1978 live album "Tokyo Tapes".

A trailer for "Tokyo Tapes Revisited - Live In Japan" is available below. Roth was a founding member of the SCORPIONS in 1973 before leaving to pursue a solo career in 1978 with his own ELECTRIC SUN. As the recognized creative heartbeat of the SCORPIONS, Roth achieved worldwide fame for his unique guitar and songwriting talents, in turn causing him to influence a plethora of modern guitar giants such as Kirk Hammett of METALLICA, Billy Corgan of SMASHING PUMPKINS and Steve Vai. Watch a "Tokyo Tapes Revisited - Live In Japan" clip of Roth and his band performing "Virgin Killer" below.

"Tokyo Tapes Revisited - Live In Japan" will be released in four different formats: 1 - Video and audio recording of Roth's Tokyo concert in a Blu-ray digipak containing one Blu-ray video disc and two audio CDs. 2 - The same as Product 1 only in a DVD digipak. 3 - A digital audio copy of the Tokyo concert. 4 - A super-deluxe boxset, limited to 800 copies. It will be a proper, lid-off shell box containing four heavyweight vinyl LPs of Roth's 2015 "Scorpions Revisited" release which has never been released on vinyl. There will also be an 80-page, gatefold, hardcover 12-inch book which will house 8 discs — one Blu-ray concert main-feature, one bonus BluRay disc (which will contain the original footage from the first Japanese SCORPIONS tour 1978, shot personally by Roth on his Super 8 camera), two audio CDs of the main Tokyo concert and four bonus audio CDs of Roth's Osaka and Nagoya dates on the same Japanese tour. The set will also include an Uli Jon Roth replica guitar key ring, a t-shirt, and a signed certificate of authenticity, numbered and signed by Roth himself. Pre-orders for "Tokyo Tapes Revisited - Live In Japan" CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray versions are available via Amazon, and digital is available via iTunes with "Virgin Killer" instant grat.

As a member of the SCORPIONS from 1973 through 1978, Uli Jon Roth helped pioneer the neo-classical style that has influenced countless guitarists to this day. His extraordinary playing can be heard on four classic SCORPIONS records, "Fly To The Rainbow" (1974), "In Trance" (1975), "Virgin Killer" (1976) and "Taken By Force". This lineup also recorded what many still consider to be one of the greatest live albums ever recorded, "Tokyo Tapes".

"At first I didn't realize the impact it had on the rock music scene," Roth told JamMagazine.com about the live album. "When I left the band in 1978, I disconnected myself from the past and was only interested in my new band, ELECTRIC SUN. I didn't follow the success of 'Tokyo Tapes'. Over time, I began to realize that musicians and fans kept referring to that album like it was something extra special. Gradually I understood why. Now I actually see the recording in a different light than what I thought back then."

Released in March 2015, "Scorpions Revisited" was a double-disc CD recorded in Hanover, Germany which saw the maestro re-harness all the collective power and poise of those original SCORPIONS classics, and re-imagine them as he feels today.

The band which performed with Roth for these shows was Nathan James (vocals), Jamie Little (drums), Ule W. Ritgen (bass), Niklas Turmann (guitar, vocals), Corvin Bahn (keyboards, vocals) and David Klosinski (guitar).

Keyboardist Herbrand Larsen has announced his departure from Norwegian progressive extreme metal icons ENSLAVED.

Commented ENSLAVED vocalist/bassist Grutle Kjellson: "Friends of ENSLAVED, brothers and sisters! Nothing lasts forever, and we have something to announce. Our keyboardist and vocalist for the last 13 years, Herbrand Larsen is leaving the band. There is no drama in connection with his departure, it was entirely his own decision, and we part ways as friends and with no bad blood in between us.

"We want to thank Herbrand for his duties in ENSLAVED in all these years, for standing alongside us on our adventures all over the world. We had some really good times on the road, in the recording studios and in our practice space. We raise our glasses, and wish you all the best on your next voyage! Thank you, friend!"

Larsen added: "After 13 years of being a part of this amazing band, it saddens me to say that I will be leaving ENSLAVED.

"It was not an easy decision to come to! I love ENSLAVED and will always do.

"There is no drama or anger involved in this. I think we all understand why this is the best decision both for me and the band.

"I don't have that 100% drive anymore, the drive you need to be in a band like ENSLAVED. Only 99% and that is not enough. It's hard to explain but this is how it is.

"I remember all the shows we have done together. All the places we have been and all the fans that we've met. I remember meeting fans, telling me that our music really means something to them. I remember traveling places I never thought I would see. I remember working with extremely talented people. I remember tough times, sad times but most of all, all the good times. You have all been a huge part of my life and will still be. For that, I'm truly grateful!

"I'm looking forward to spend more time in the studio. Recording, producing and mixing music. That's where I want my focus and my drive to be.

"To Arve, Cato, Grutle and Ivar, thank you for your friendship, your creativity and your support. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for you guys. I am sure you will be even better, stronger and more successful in the future. And you will still continue to be my friends and a big part of my life. Thank you!"

ENSLAVED's thirteenth studio album, "In Times", was produced by bandmembers Ivar Bjørnson, Grutle Kjellson and Herbrand Larsen together with Iver Sandøy. Mixing was completed by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden.

The main recording sessions for "In Times" took place at Duper Studios and Solslottet Studio in Bergen, Norway with additional recordings sessions at Conclave & Earshot Studios (presided over by ENSLAVED members Herbrand Larsen and Ice Dale), and Ivar Bjørnson's Peersonal Sound Studios. Additional experimentation and sonic exploration was conducted deep in the woods of Valevåg south of Bergen where a mobile studio recorded additional sounds.

METALLICA was the musical guest on last night's (Wednesday, December 14) episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The band played six songs on the show's outdoor stage in front of a standing-room-only crowd: "Atlas, Rise!", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "One", "Master Of Puppets", "Creeping Death" and "Enter Sandman". Check out video footage of the two televised tracks below.

In addition to performing on the show, the members of METALLICA took on a superfan in a quiz about the band, discussed their new album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", and how their iconic band logo was created.

As previously reported, METALLICA will play a special intimate show next tonight (Thursday, December 15) at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood, California.

All proceeds from the sale of tickets to this show will be donated to Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Fans are also encouraged to bring canned foods and non-perishable items to the show for donation as well. METALLICA just played a similar show in Toronto, with proceeds also going to a food bank in that city.

"Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" debuted as expected at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart on November 27, selling 291,000 copies in its first week of release.

"King For A Day", the new video from Finnish heavy metallers BATTLE BEAST, can be seen below. The clip was directed by Markus Nieminen of Oy Routafilmi AB.

"King For A Day" is taken from BATTLE BEAST's fourth album, titled "Bringer Of Pain", which will be released on February 17, 2017 via Nuclear Blast Records. Recorded and produced at JKB Studios by keyboardist Janne Björkroth, the ten-track album was mixed by Björkroth alongside Viktor Gullichsen and Mikko Karmila, while mastering was done by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios. The cover artwork was crafted by Jan Yrlund.

BATTLE BEAST vocalist Noora Louhimo commented on the song: "I think 'King For A Day' represents the new BATTLE BEAST in the best way — more dramatic orchestration, catchy melodies and riffs, more party metal and, most of all, entertaining. You can check it out for yourself on the 'Bringer Of Pain' tour. Welcome to the biggest metal party of BATTLE BEAST!"

"Bringer Of Pain" track listing:

Digi / CD

01. Straight To The Heart02. Bringer Of Pain03. King For A Day04. Beyond The Burning Skies05. Familiar Hell06. Lost In Wars07. Bastard Son Of Odin08. We Will Fight09. Dancing With The Beast10. Far From Heaven

Bonus (digi only)

11. God Of War12. The Eclipse13. Rock Trash

2LP

Side A

01. Straight To The Heart02. Bringer Of Pain03. King For A Day04. Beyond The Burning Skies

Side B

01. Familiar Hell02. Lost In Wars03. Bastard Son Of Odin

Side C

01. We Will Fight02. Dancing With The Beast03. Far From Heaven

Side D (Bonus)

01. God Of War02. The Eclipse03. Rock Trash

"Bringer Of Pain" is BATTLE BEAST's first album to feature guitarist Joona Björkroth, who joined the band last year.

BATTLE BEAST in February 2015 parted ways with lead guitarist and main songwriter Anton Kabanen due to "insurmountable disagreements" with the other members of the band.

BATTLE BEAST's third studio album, "Unholy Savior", entered the Finnish chart at position No. 1. The CD was released in January 2015 via Nuclear Blast.

Louhimo joined BATTLE BEAST in 2012 as the replacement for Nitte Vänskä.

In an interview with RockRevoltMagazine.com, Noora stated about how she has been received by the old BATTLE BEAST fans: "At first, I was crucified, so to speak. On the other hand, some fans thought I was improvement for the band, but some didn't believe in me at all. It's been very growing experience and made me believe more in myself as a singer than ever before. If you can take bad comments as your fuel to practice more and develop yourself into better, then you are on the right path. Of course, you have to know when take the critic seriously and when it is just someone trying to hurt you. But I really want to thank people who've been supporting me since the beginning but also the people who didn't. What doesn't kill makes stronger and better."

Former MORBID ANGEL members David Vincent (vocals, bass) and Tim Yeung (drums) will join forces with guitarists Bill Hudson (CIRCLE II CIRCLE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) and Ira Black (METAL CHURCH, LIZZY BORDEN) to perform classic MORBID ANGEL songs under the I AM MORBID banner.

The new band, which will play material from MORBID ANGEL's "Altars Of Madness" (1989), "Blessed Are The Sick" (1991), "Covenant" (1993) and "Domination" (1995) albums, has scheduled two shows in Brazil next spring: March 24 in Belo Horizonte and March 25 in São Paulo. Additional dates will be announced soon.

Vincent issued a statement eighteen months ago confirming that he was no longer working with MORBID ANGEL guitarist Trey Azagthoth. He said: "Trey and I have accomplished amazing things together over the past 30 years and I wish him the best with his future projects. Out of respect for the legacy of these accomplishments, I encourage MORBID ANGEL fans to not take sides, because I am not." He added: "I look forward to sharing my new endeavors with all of you in the near future. Until then, stay Morbid!"

Yeung also confirmed his exit from MORBID ANGEL, explaining in a statement: "There have been some lineup changes with MORBID ANGEL. Unfortunately, due to financial differences, I will not be continuing with [the band]… I wish Trey and MORBID ANGEL all the best. As for myself, I'm always up for the next opportunity life throws my way."

Azagthoth announced on June 15, 2015 that MORBID ANGEL had reunited with vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker and that they were working on material for the band's next record, to be released via UDR Music.

MORBID ANGEL has yet to announce replacements for Yeung and Norwegian guitarist Destructhor (a.k.a. Thor Anders Myhren).

MORBID ANGEL's controversial 2011 album, "Illud Divinum Insanus", marked the group's first CD to feature Vincent since "Domination".

New York death metallers IMMOLATION will release their new album, "Atonement", on February 24 via Nuclear Blast. A 360-degree visualizer video for the first single from the effort, "Destructive Currents", can be seen below.

"Atonement" was recorded at Millbrook Sound Studios in Millbrook, New York with longtime producer Paul Orofino, and mixed and mastered once again by Zack Ohren (ALL SHALL PERISH, DECREPIT BIRTH, SUFFOCATION). Cover art was created by renowned artist Pär Olofsson (IMMORTAL, THE FACELESS, EXODUS, ABYSMAL DAWN), along with additional artwork by the very talented Zbigniew Bielak (GHOST, ENSLAVED, PARADISE LOST, WATAIN).

Comments IMMOLATION vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan: "We are excited that everyone will finally get a preview of what the new record has to offer.

"'Atonement' is a very dark and haunting album, both musically and lyrically, commenting on the darker side of humanity and the world today. Each song on this album is unique in its own way, offering the listener a wide range of dark and sinister passages that I think really hone in on all the elements that make this band what it is.

"The sound of this record is exactly what we were hoping for, and we feel the production really gives these songs that massive sound and dark sinister feel they needed. Zack and Paul really nailed it with this one and made our tenth album our best-sounding record to date. We are all very proud of what we have created here, and we hope everyone else will enjoy these eleven songs as much as we think they will.

"The song 'Atonement' is about that blind fury and destructivnes of religious extremism regardless of where it comes from and under what religious banner it flies. The cover piece was inspired by a passage of lyrics from this song, and Pär managed to create a visual for those four lines that just blew us away. So needless to say, we are very pleased with the overall look and feel of the album, which also includes four amazing pieces of artwork done by the extremely talented Zbigniew Bielak.

"We chose the song 'Destructive Currents' as the first song to leak to the fans because it's a fast and aggressive song that gets right down to business. It's just dark and powerful, and I think it gives everyone a sense of whats in store for them with this release. Lyrically, the song deals with the herd/mob mentality and how it gets fed, manipulated and exploited by outside forces. These are the currents of deception, misinformation and destruction, which are designed to mislead people. So that's really the idea behind the song lyrically."

Pre-order a physical copy of "Atonement" by itself or in various bundles from the Nuclear Blast webshop.

"Destructive Currents" is now available as an instant download when you pre-order "Atonement" from iTunes and Amazon.

"Atonement" track listing:

01. The Distorting Light 02. When The Jackals Come 03. Fostering The Divide 04. Rise The Heretics 05. Thrown To The Fire 06. Destructive Currents 07. Lower08. Atonement09. Above All10. The Power Of Gods 11. Epiphany

Bonus track (CD only):

12. Immolation (re-recorded)

IMMOLATION is:

Ross Dolan - bass/vocalsRobert Vigna - guitarSteve Shalaty - DrumsAlex Bouks - guitar

Le Chant Noir are streaming their first single, “Wormslayer”, taken from the upcoming debut album, Ars Arcanvm Vodvm, to be released in the first semester of 2017. Listen to the track below.

The band features Lord Kaiaphas (ex-Ancient, Thokkian Vortex), Malphas (Mysteriis) and Mantus (Patria, Mysteriis), also known as Marcelo Vasco in the world of graphic arts, who already worked for major bands like Slayer, Hatebreed, Kreator, Machine Head, Soulfly, Dark Funeral, and others.

Le Chant Noir walks under the experimental avantgarde music, mixing the oddest influences of metal, progressive, new wave and classical, allied to a retro ritualistic tone of horror.

Greek melodic metallers, InnerWish, performed their track “Rain Of A Thousand Years” in Athens, Greece on November 5th. Video can be seen below. The track is featured on the band’s new album, InnerWish, available via Ulterium Records.

The new album was mixed by Fredrik Nordström and Henrik Udd at Studio Fredman (In Flames, Dimmu Borgir, Hammerfall) and mastered by Peter In De Betou (Arch Enemy, Opeth, Amon Amarth). The artwork for the album was created by Felipe Machado Franco (Blind Guardian, Rhapsody Of Fire, Xandria) and the design was done by Jan Yrlund (Korpiklaani, Apocalyptica, Manowar).

Tracklisting:

“Roll The Dice”
“Broken”
“Modern Babylon”
“Machines Of Fear”
“Needles In My Mind”
“My World On Fire”
“Rain Of A Thousand Years”
“Serenity”
“Sins Of The Past”
“Through My Eyes”
“Zero Ground”
“Cross The Line”
“Tame The Seven Seas”

“Machines Of Fear” video:

“Modern Babylon” video:

Australian metal destroyers, Aversions Crown, will release their sophomore release, Xenocide, on January 20th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Today, the band has released the second trailer, in which vocalist Mark Poida and drummer Jayden Mason discuss the band's progression from previous release Tyrant, and the influences behind the forthcoming release, Xenocide: https://youtu.be/lWVIwBKKUzs

Jaden Mason comments on the band's progression: "It's way more sophisticated because we had a lot more ideas and less people involved. It was just a really tight-knit group of people - me, Mark [Poida] and Chris Cougan working on it... we already had the idea, Mark had the concept and we were like, this is what we like and this is what we're going to run with... let's just do it the way we want it."

The first trailer, in which vocalist Mark and Jayden give fans a first insight into the album's lyrics and title, is streaming below:

Xenocide was tracked by Adam Merker at Studio Anders Debeerz in Brisbane and mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Devildriver) from Audio Hammer.

Fans can now pre-order the album with or without the limited Erebus / Parasites 7" from the Nuclear Blast web shop. Xenocide can also be pre-ordered digitally from iTunes, Amazon (widgets below) and Google Play. Pre-order the album digitally via iTunes or Amazon and receive the songs "Ophiophagy" and "Erebus" instantly.

Xenocide tracklisting:

“Void”
“Prismatic Abyss”
“The Soulless Acolyte”
“Hybridization”
“Erebus”
“Ophiophagy”
“The Oracles Of Existence”
“Cynical Entity”
“Stillborn Existence”
“Cycles Of Haruspex”
“Misery”
“Odium”

“Ophiophagy” lyric video:

The Erebus / Parasites 7" was limited to 1,000 copies and divided into 4 different colors; 250 each of Grey, Blue, Clear and Magenta. Check out the lyric videos for "Erebus" and "Parasites”:

 

 

 

 

"She Moves Me", a brand new song from JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE — which features ex-GREAT WHITE singer 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 — can be streamed below. The track is taken from JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE's debut album, "He Saw it Comin'" (originally titled "The Gauntlet"), which will be released on January 27, 2017 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Rather than look backwards and merely attempt to relive the multi-platinum hard rock entity's storied origins, Jack Russell set his sights on the future. In December 2011, JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE first bared its teeth. Robby Lochner has been with Jack since JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE's inception, and they soon welcomed longtime bassist and friend Tony Montana — this time as a guitar player and keyboardist. They then added drummer Dicki Fliszar, then bassist Dan McNay. This group has a sharp, soaring, eclectic, hook-laden new album ready, boasting the bluesy hard rock stomp that made Russell and Montana icons in the first place.

"It's a powerful band," Russell proclaims. "The music is dynamic and I've gone where I've never gone before. Lochner was a catalyst for moving forward. I wasn't sure how the writing would go at first but soon realized the chemistry is beyond words. He's my co-pilot and one of my best friends."

This past year the musicians hit the studio to cut their official full-length debut. It taps into the bluesy bombast and heavy energy of Russell's celebrated material, but it's a distinctly modern metallic monster.

"We want the new material to blow people's ears back," Russell goes on. "It has the elements of the best of GREAT WHITE, but there's diversity, vibe and an edge to it. It draws from our '60s and '70s roots in a more modern way."

Montana agrees. "It's got the classic sound," he says. "The first element is Jack's voice. No other band sounds like this one, ever did or does now. When I was 17 years old, I remember walking around the UCLA campus listening to the band's first EP. I was a fan before I ever joined the band. We're going to maintain that integrity moving forward."

"He Saw it Comin'" track listing:

01. Sign Of The Times02. She Moves Me03. Crazy04. Love Don't Live Here05. My Addiction06. Anything For You07. He Saw It Comin'08. Don't Let Me Go09. Spy Vs Spy10. Blame It On The Night11. Godspeed

"For me this is so much more than a collection of songs, it is the culmination of a lifetime of living," said Jack. "It is about addictions, love, pain and many facets of the human condition. I tend to write autobiographically and on this album I dealt with topics I've never explored."

Russell recently told disc jockey Eddie Winters about the songwriting process for "He Saw It Coming": "There wasn't any songs that were really a struggle to write. I write the music on some and I had the melody lines and some lyrics, and I showed it to Robby, and I don't play [guitar], so I've kind of gotta [hum the riffs or chord progressions], or whatever, and he's gotta figure out a chord from one note. So he just picked up on that right away, and it was amazing. 'Cause you write with somebody for thirty-some years and all of a sudden you write with somebody else, and you're, like, 'Okay. How's this gonna be? Is he gonna have a bunch of dumb ideas that I don't like? Or is he gonna think my ideas are crappy? Or are we just gonna hit it off. And I was really surprised when it was just… boom! We were thinking along the same lines. But Robby added a flavor to what I was doing guitar-wise and melody-wise. He's one of those music-theory guys, so we have a lot of moving harmonies and stuff we never had before."

About the song "Blame It On The Night", Russell said: "Most of the material I have written in my life has been autobiographical, [but] this song is one of the exceptions. The song was written for and about my wife's childhood. Because of the subject and the feelings I have for my wife, this was a very difficult song to sing. But I believe that the topic is an important one to bring into the light and out of the shadows."

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with the current touring and recording version of GREAT WHITE, which features Mark Kendall, Scott Snyder (bass), Audie Desbrow (drums), Michael Lardie (guitar, keyboards) and Terry Ilous (lead vocals).

The newly reunited RATT — featuring singer Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and guitarist Warren DeMartini — has begun "writing and recording song roughs" for a new studio album, according to a post on Pearcy's Facebook page. In addition, the band — which also includes former QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on RATT's last studio album, 2010's "Infestation" — will embark on the "Back For More" tour in 2017, with the first confirmed date being the previously announced appearance at next year's edition of the M3 Rock Festival, set to take place on Friday, April 28, 2017 and Saturday, April 29, 2017 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

At the end of last month, DeMartini, Pearcy and Croucier issued a press release claiming that they had taken control of the band's name after a judge ruled against drummer Bobby 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, and which Blotzer had claimed owns the RATT name and brand, 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: Pearcy, Croucier, DeMartini and Blotzer.

Under a 1985 written Ratt Partnership Agreement, the name/trademarks are the property of the partnership and can only be transferred with the unanimous approval of all partners. Thus, the judge ruled that in 1997 when Blotzer, DeMartini and Pearcy purported to transfer the trademarks to WBS, the transfer was invalid since Croucier, who was still a partner, was never advised of, and therefore did not consent to, the transfer. Therefore, the judge said, the partnership still owned the RATT name.

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

Earlier this month, Blotzer — who has been touring the U.S. for the last year with his own version of RATT, featuring a rotating cast of musicians, including vocalist Josh Alan (ex-SIN CITY SINNERS) — and his attorney Drew Sherman addressed the latest legal developments in the RATT camp during an interview with the "One On One With Mitch Lafon" podcast.

Despite the fact that a judge ruled that the four-way RATT partnership — and not WBS — still owned the band name, Sherman said that no judgment has been entered either against or in favor of Blotzer. "Essentially, WBS owns the name," the attorney said. "They — meaning Stephen, Juan, Warren — whatever they're going out as, they do not have permission to [go out as RATT]. So right now they're infringing the trademarks of RATT owned by WBS.

"The ruling that we have, there are many legal strategies that will be employed in order to change and bring to the court's attention various other pieces of evidence as well as prior rulings," he continued. "So it's a long time before this is done. We're not even at the appeals part yet, because there's no judgment to appeal. So there's a lot of time. Status quo will remain, and WBS owns the marks."

Sherman also addressed the fact that Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they will perform — as RATT — at next year's edition of the M3 Rock Festival. He said: "They do not have permission to play the M3 [as RATT], they do not have permission to advertise is as such. And I'll just say this: right now, to throw that out there, to make these announcements, these press releases, without having a [court] judgment, I would say is very ill-advised. And I'll leave it that for now."

In should be noted that DeMartini's September 2015 lawsuit against Blotzer — in which the guitarist claimed that the drummer was falsely advertising his RATT "tribute band" as the real thing — is still pending in California state court.

Hammerheart Records has joined forces with Danish metal legends KONKHRA for catalogue reissues and a new album in 2017.

Through the years, KONKHRA developed from a great old-school death metal band to a frontrunner of the more extreme death 'n' roll scene. Most people will remember KONKHRA for the 1997 release "Weed Out The Weak", which was featured Chris Kontos (MACHINE HEAD) on drums and James Murphy (DEATH, OBITUARY, TESTAMENT) on lead guitar.

The band is contemplating a performance of "Weed Out the Weak" in its entirety on select 2017 dates.

In 2017, Hammerheart will make the following KONKHRA releases available:

* "Weed Out The Weak" LP/Deluxe CD (with "The Freakshow" EP as bonus)* "Sexual Affective Disorder" LP/Deluxe-CD (with the "Stranded" EP as bonus)* New album CD/LP* "Spit Or Swallow" LP/Deluxe-CD (with "The Facelift" EP and "Live Eraser" as bonus)

The vinyl editions will be first-timers. All artwork and audio will be spiced up and remastered.

Legendary New Jersey thrashers OVERKILL will release their new studio album, titled "The Grinding Wheel", on February 10, 2017 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was produced by OVERKILL and mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, ACCEPT). The artwork was created again by Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH).

"The Grinding Wheel" track listing:

01. Mean Green Killing Machine02. Goddamn Trouble03. Our Finest Hour04. Shine On05. The Long Road06. Let's All Go To Hades07. Come Heavy08. Red White And Blue09. The Wheel10. The Grinding Wheel

The third trailer for "The Grinding Wheel", in which the members of OVERKILL talk about the album's musical direction, is available below.

OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth recently told the Croatian metal portal NoiseEyes.com about the delay in getting "The Grinding Wheel" released: "It was simplicity. It was a matter of internal mix-ups. We thought we had the entire month of August to mix, when we really had none of the month of August to mix. When Nuclear Blast [OVERKILL's record label] called us, and said, 'Where's the music?' We said, 'Fifteen more days.' We were really close with the mix, but this was our first time working with [producer/mixer] Andy Sneap and he told us, 'Hey, man, it's close, it's 90 percent, but let's do another twelve days when I get back from a business trip. D.D. [Verni, bass], Dave [Linsk, guitars] and I discussed it, and asked: Do you take the great product? Or do you take the money? That's the way we thought about it. We took the dignity over the money with regard to pushing the release back. I always think of every record as your best opportunity to prove yourselves. If you go out pushing that record out, thinking it's 90 percent, then it fucking is 90 percent. It was a real simple mix-up with regard to time. We blame ourselves for 50 percent and Nuclear for the other 50 percent. No, 51 percent for them, 49 percent for us. [Laughs]"

Regarding the musical direction of the new album, Bobby said: "First and foremost, production. Andy has done some great work with different bands in the genre from ACCEPT to ARCH ENEMY. He's really the metal go-to guy. But we wanted to use his abilities, but we wanted to use them with regard to how we saw the record being. One of the things we saw in modern metal is a guitar tone that doesn't have a cohesive relationship with the drums. We wanted more organic drums to start with, and we wanted a guitar tone that came somewhere out of the high technology of the '90s. So it's really kind of a throwback with regard to our thinking, so if you're thinking a drum sounding like a drum and the guitars sounding more in the vein of 'Horrorscope' for us, where it wasn't just top end, but top end and low end with a little bit of mids carved out of them. I think that's the thing I noticed the most about it. "

He continued: "With regard to songwriting, we had done three records, 'Ironbound', 'The Electric Age' and 'White Devil Armory', that were for us, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. [Laughs] Or sisters! There's something about them where there was a formula that we were, I think in our opinion, neglecting some of the other tools that we've accumulated over the years. 'The Grinding Wheel' is much more diverse. There's an epic feel to some of the songs. There's a sludgy, slower feel. There is 'Our Finest Hour', which has been released, which could fit on one of those other three records but everything else doesn't seem like it would fit on these records. I think it's a wider OVERKILL, but press play when you get it. I think that's the best way for people to decide. Everybody has got to be a critic. That's the idea of being a music fan. I'm a music fan, but I'm also a critic. I love or I hate, or it's okay. It'd rather be loved or hated, not 'Ah, it's okay, whatever.'"

OVERKILL and NILE will join forces for a U.S. tour in February/March 2017.

The Epiphone Revolver Music Awards was held last night (Tuesday, December 13) at Webster Hall in New York City. The event was livestreamed by Twitch.TV and hosted by metal legend and MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine alongside SiriusXM's Jose Mangin. This year's show featured performances by MEGADETH, ANTHRAX, Zakk Wylde, LACUNA COIL and STITCHED UP HEART. A "Fallen Heroes" all-star jam, featuring Ace Frehley, Bumblefoot, POP EVIL, BUTCHER BABIES and more also took place.

The Epiphone Revolver Music Awards also honored the musicians that make this music and scene so vital and viable. Categories included Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Dimebag Darrell Best Guitarist, Best Vocalist, and more.

This year's winners were:

Lifetime Achievement: Dave Mustaine (MEGADETH)Revolver Innovator Award: ANTHRAXAlbum Of The Year: METALLICA's "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct"Song Of The Year: GHOST's "Square Hammer"Best Vocalist: Austin Carlile (OF MICE & MEN)Dimebag Darrell Best Guitarist: Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro (MEGADETH) Paul Gray Best Bassist: Dick Lövgren (MESHUGGAH)Best Drummer: Chris Adler (for his work on MEGADETH's "Dystopia")Best Live Band: SLIPKNOTMost Dedicated Fans: PIERCE THE VEILBest New Talent: AVATARBest Film/Video: GOJIRA's "Silvera"Most Metal Athlete: Baron Corbin (WWE)

Each year since 2009, with the exception of 2015, during which the event took a brief hiatus, Revolver and Epiphone have thrown the premiere U.S. hard-rock and metal awards show, previously known as the Revolver Golden Gods, in Los Angeles. As the primary print and digital destination for the latest and loudest from established and legendary hard rock and metal acts, as well as the first place fans look to to discover emerging talent, the Revolver name carries incredible weight. Therefore, it made perfect sense for the show to now be rebranded as The Epiphone Revolver Music Awards. The show's move to New York City this year is also a logical relocation, since Manhattan is also where the magazine is headquartered. The city was also selected as it is widely regarded as a hard rock mecca, thanks to its contributions to revolutionizing rock music through the years. New York City is home to legendary artists who helped pave the way for aggressive music, such as the RAMONES, KISS, NEW YORK DOLLS, TWISTED SISTER, WHITE ZOMBIE and ANTHRAX, among countless others. While previous ceremonies have aired on VH1, Palladia, AXS TV and Xbox, this year's show was broadcast via livestreaming video platform Twitch.TV, which is owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, and has more than 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million visitors per month. The festivities also livestreamed simultaneously through SiriusXM's Liquid Metal along with the Guitar World and Revolver web sites, Facebook Live and YouTube channels, allowing metal fans worldwide to participate in the festivities.

Majesty have released a lyric video for their new single, “Die Like Kings”, to be featured on the band’s new album, Rebels, due for release on March 3rd.

More intense, more powerful and more epic - Majesty have reached the next stage of evolution and sound the horn of their new album Rebels to conquer the heavy metal throne. Recorded in the band's own studio and refined by the mixing and mastering of Frederik Nordsträm in the Studio Fredman, Rebels is the fundament for "Majesty 2.0".

Pre-order Rebels at this location or via the Amazon widget below and receive “Die Like Kings” as an instant grat track.

Majesty vocalist Tarek recently stated: "With “Die Like Kings” we proudly present you the first song of our new album Rebels, which will be released on March 3rd, 2017. “Die Like Kings” is a song full of power and passion and I hope you'll have a lot of fun listening to it at full volume! If you have any questions about the song or the album then simply ask us by using the hashtag #Rebels in all our social networks."

Rebels needs to be heard by full volume and thanks to its hymns, it will live up to its status as Majesty 2.0 on stage as well – get blown away!

Studio Diary 1 – Backing Vocals:

Studio Diary 2 – Vocal Recordings:

Studio Diary 3 – Album Title Announcement:

Frontiers Music Srl will release the new studio album from UNRULY CHILD, "Can't Go Home", on February 24, 2017.

The first single from the disc, "The Only One", can be streamed below.

UNRULY CHILD vocalist Marcie Free commented: "This is my favorite song on the record. I was crying my eyes out the first time I heard it. Guy has an uncanny talent of seemingly telling my life's experience. It really hit home for me." Marcie Free (vocals; KING KOBRA, SIGNAL), Bruce Gowdy (guitar; STONE FURY, WORLD TRADE), and Guy Allison (keyboards; LODGIC, WORLD TRADE, DOOBIE BROTHERS), together with the original rhythm section from the first record, drummer Jay Schellen (HURRICANE, WORLD TRADE, current touring member of YES) and bassist Larry Antonino (PABLO CRUISE), are back again with an awesome rock album, which will please old and new fans alike! "Early in 2016, we decided to make time and give it a go once again with all five UNRULY CHILD members," says Allison. "The new album, 'Can't Go Home', has now become my favorite set of UNRULY CHILD band songs and performances ever. True story!" The group has generated an exciting new album reflecting its musical roots in contemporary and classic rock sensibilities. With the return to the original lineup from the debut album, they have discovered that while time may pass, some things never change… "We are so excited with this new album coming out in February," adds Free. "And if you find that you still got the heebie-jeebies after that and are in need of another transfusion of UNRULY — try a shot of our new box set coming out too! It's got practically everything we've ever done in it and that should hold over even the most shakiest UNRULY CHILD junkies for at least as long as it takes before we hit your area for some live shows! So come on get on board baby! The UNRULY CHILD train is about to blast off!!" The band is, in fact. also working on a box set release of their independent albums, which will see the light of day in spring on Frontiers. "We put together all the earlier material that's out of print (the first album non-withstanding - you know, lawyers!) together in one package - one box set - to make available to our fans," concludes Guy. News about the box set release will be coming soon. With so much excitement centered around their new record, it has sparked talk of touring...Will they hit the road? News will also be coming on that front very shortly. "Can't Go Home" track listing:

01. The Only One02. Four Eleven03. Driving Into The Future04. Get On Top05. See If She Floats06. She Can't Go Home07. Point Of View08. Ice Cold Sunshine09. When Love Is Here10. Sunlit Sky11. Someday Somehow UNRULY CHILD is:

Marcie Free - VocalsBruce Gowdy - GuitarGuy Allison - KeyboardsLarry Antonino - BassJay Schellen - Drums

"SOS", the new video from U.S. progressive metal pioneers FATES WARNING, can be seen below. The clip was directed by David Brodsky for MyGoodEye.
FATES WARNING vocalist Ray Alder commented as follows:
"We are very happy to announce the latest video for the song 'SOS' from our new album, 'Theories Of Flight'! The video was recorded at Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut, where we have recorded a number of albums over the years. It was great to be back there again! So many memories...We hope you enjoy the video, and we look forward to seeing you on tour soon!"

FATES WARNING will embark on a first European tour for "Theories Of Flight" in January/February 2017. They have also been confirmed to appear at two of Germany's most prestigious open-air festival events next year: Wacken Open Air and Rock Hard.

"Theories Of Flight" was released on July 1 via InsideOut Music. The cover artwork for the CD was created by Michigan artist Graceann Warn.

Performed by the FATES WARNING lineup that returned to form with 2013's acclaimed "Darkness In A Different Light" release, "Theories Of Flight" was produced by guitarist Jim Matheos and mixed/mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios (OPETH, SYMPHONY X).

Frank Aresti contributed a couple solos on the new record, but due to his current work commitments, he is not be able to tour with FATES WARNING. He is being temporarily replaced by Mike Abdow, who is described by Aresti as "a great guitarist and a great guy."