Swedish progressive metallers OPETH played a one-off U.K. show at London's SSE Wembley Arena on November 19. Behind-the-scenes footage from the gig can be seen below.

Last year, OPETH celebrated its 25th anniversary with a string of special "An Evening With..." shows that saw the band grace the stage of historic and celebrated venues such as London's Theatre Royal, Los Angeles' Orpheum and New York's Beacon Theater.

When the SSE Wembley Arena concert was first announced earlier this year, OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt said: "We have played Wembley Arena once before supporting DREAM THEATER but to be back on our own, so to speak, is a daunting-yet-exciting task.

"London has always been kind to us ever since our very early overseas shows, and I have no doubt that this will be yet another overwhelming experience.

"This will be the biggest show we have ever done on our own and we will approach it with our 25 years as a band in our luggage. It will be memorable and fantastic, I have no doubt. I hope you'll be there to celebrate with us. A bunch of bums from Stockholm.

"Can't believe we're doing this. I'm nervous. Excited. Fucking hell! OPETH at Wembley Arena. Who would have thought?!"

As previously reported, OPETH will join forces with France's GOJIRA for a short run of U.S. dates in May.

OPETH's twelfth album, "Sorceress", was released at the end of September.

For the band's first effort for Nuclear Blast via OPETH's imprint label Moderbolaget Records, the group returned to Rockfield Studios in Wales, also home to pivotal releases from QUEEN, RUSH and JUDAS PRIEST, where the Swedes had tracked "Pale Communion" in 2014 with Tom Dalgety

"It's got a little bit of everything," OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt told Guitar World about the album's musical direction. "There are some progressive moments, some jazz moments, some acoustic things. And even though it's not a death-metal record, it's still got some really heavy moments in there as well."

Wacken TV has uploaded professionally filmed video footage of three songs from ARCH ENEMY's August 6 appearance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. Check it out below.

ARCH ENEMY's full performance at this year's Wacken Open Air — billed as the band's largest stage production to date — will be included on their new live DVD, "As The Stages Burn!", due on March 31, 2017 via Century Media. This concert marked the pinnacle of a highly successful album campaign in support of "War Eternal". It all began in March of 2014 when the band announced new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz as well as the video for the album title track, "War Eternal". This debut track went on to become the bands most successful video in their career, surpassing 20 million views on YouTube. The release of the "War Eternal" album also saw ARCH ENEMY reaching their highest U.S. and German chart positions to date while going on to play over 200 shows in over 40 countries around the world. In late 2014, Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE) joined ARCH ENEMY during the world tour with KREATOR and in 2015 they played arenas as direct support for NIGHTWISH.

ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott told Spark TV about "As The Stages Burn!": "I think this is the perfect album cycle to document. It's a fresh new ARCH ENEMY, and we just spent two years on the road or more, and, yeah, we just wanna put it out there kind of as a document of this time. And the show at Wacken was really special as well. We put a lot of effort into the production and had our biggest show to date. And that'll be the main part of the DVD, I guess, but there's gonna be a lot of other stuff as well, and it'll be like a live album, DVD, Blu-ray and all that stuff. We have a lot of other cool shows filmed as well, and parts of those might very well be a part of the DVD. But, you know, Wacken was just a great opportunity; it's the biggest heavy metal festival in the world."

ARCH ENEMY will celebrate the release of "As The Stages Burn!" with a number of European shows with special support from LACUNA COIL and THE HAUNTED.

Regarding the progress of the songwriting sessions for ARCH ENEMY's follow-up to "War Eternal", Michael said: "There's plenty of ideas floating around, and there's even some simple demos and stuff like that, but we haven't really seriously gotten into the songwriting process yet. But there's a lot of ideas. But we've been spending so much time on the road, and we're not really the kind of band that writes music on the road. I mean, we might come up with a little riff idea or a melody, or something like that, or a lyrical idea, but it's easier to put it together at home when you take some specific, dedicated time to write and put together music. It's a different kind of focus that you need, I think. You wake up in a different city every day, and it's a different life, and it's a little bit hard to focus on things like that."

Added Jeff Loomis (guitar): "I think the writing process is gonna be awesome between us. It's just like Mike said — we really haven't had a lot of time to sit down together yet, but I think that time is gonna be coming soon."

On the topic of the expectations for ARCH ENEMY's next album, Alissa said: "I think that for all of us, with any new album, or even just with any show, it's always a challenge to do better than the last time. And I think that we all love 'War Eternal' and it's always gonna be super special to us, but we still wanna do better this time. It's just a matter of always keeping very, very high standards and being critical on yourself but in a constructive way, so that you can always produce good music and good performances. I don't think any of us are complacent when it comes to the quality of music that we've put out. I don't think we have any specific ideas in mind for things that we have to achieve within the album, but we have a really strong lineup here that's capable of putting together a really solid album. So we're all pretty excited about it… Let's not forget also that we have Jeff here for the writing process of this album, which we didn't have with 'War Eternal', so right there we have a whole new world to explore. So that's pretty exciting too."

Swedish power metal masters BLOODBOUND have announced the arrival of their new studio album, titled "War Of Dragons" for February 24th. "War Of Dragons" follows the Live DVD/CD "One Night Of Blood" which was released in February (2016).
During the past few years, BLOODBOUND have established themselves as one of the finest metal acts from their traditionally strong home country - having toured Europe with the likes of Sabaton and U.D.O.. All this experience now shows in "War Of Dragons", likely the band's most anthemic, bombastic and fast-paced album ever.

Tracklist:

A New Era Begins
Battle In The Sky
Tears Of A Dragonheart
War Of Dragons
Silver Wings
Stand And Fight
King Of Swords
Fallen Heroes
Guardians At Heaven's Gate
Symphony Satana
Starfall
Dragons Are Forever

"War Of Dragons" will be available as CD, 2-CD Digipak, ltd. Vinyl & ltd. Box Set.

And BLOODBOUND fulfill another big wish of their fans:
the band's first headlining tour is announced! Traditional heavy metal band (and AFM label mates) Crystal Viper as well as Thobbe Englund (ex-Sabaton) will complete the package.

"In the past we have toured a lot as a support act to bands like Sabaton, Hammerfall and U.D.O.. We felt that the time was right to do our own tour now so we can give the fans a full concert, not just a short support set", BLOODBOUND's Fredrik Bergh says. "We wanted to have a great package of bands, so we invited our awesome label mates Crystal Viper to join us as co-headliners and as a very special guest we will bring our friend Thobbe Englund (ex-Sabaton) and his brand new killer band! Thobbe will also join us as 2nd guitarist on this tour since Henrik Olsson is unable to perform."

BLOODBOUND & CRYSTAL VIPER + Thobbe Englund
"Dragons And Witches" Tour

30.03.17 AT Wien - Das Bach
31.03.17 CZ Zlin - Masters Of Rock Cafe
01.04.17 DE Leipzig - Hellraiser
02.04.17 HU Budapest - Barba Negra
03.04.17 DE München - Backstage
04.04.17 FR Paris - Glazart
05.04.17 DE Weinheim - Cafe Central
06.04.17 FR Essen - Turock
07.04.17 CH Pratteln - Z7
08.04.17 BE Vosselaar - Biebob
09.04.17 DE Hamburg - Markthalle

"The Venomous", the new single from Greek/Swedish melodic death metallers NIGHTRAGE, will be released this coming Friday, December 16 via Despotz Records. The song will be made available on all major streaming services.

"The Venomous" is the title track of NIGHTRAGE's seventh album, which will be released in early 2017. The disc was recorded at Zero Gravity Studios in Athens with producer Terry Nikas.

Says the band: "The NIGHTRAGE sound is evolving and we are ready to take it to new exciting and creative heights. We cannot wait to unleash this out into the world!"

NIGHTRAGE recently announced the addition of Magnus Söderman on guitar and Lawrence Dinamarca on drums.

NIGHTRAGE's sixth studio album, "The Puritan", was released in April 2015 via Despotz Records.The CD marked vocalist Ronnie Nyman's recorded debut with NIGHTRAGE after he performed with the band on its Japanese and Russian tours.

NIGHTRAGE was founded in 2000 in Greece by Marios Iliopoulos and his close friend, Gus G., who departed after the band's second album, "Descent Into Chaos". During the band's 16-year career, NIGHTRAGE has released six studio albums and toured across Europe, the U.S., Canada and Asia while employing various musicians from AT THE GATES, EVERGREY, DARK TRANQUILLITY, AMARANTHE and FIREWIND.

NIGHTRAGE is: Marios Iliopoulos - GuitarRonnie Nyman - VocalsAnders Hammer - BassMagnus Söderman - GuitarLawrence Dinamarca - Drums

Photo credit: Soile Siirtola

In January, Hexvessel released their third album When We Are Death. One of the many live gigs in support of the new album was at the Menuo Juodaragis Festival in the national forest of Lithuania. The band was bringing the Finnish filmmaker (and former Sentenced drummer) Vesa Ranta to film this special event for a short concert film. Jaime Gomez Arellano who already worked on the Hexvessel albums as well as producing bands like Solstafir and Paradise Lost took care of the audio live mix.

The band comments: "Our idea was to try to capture a sense of the transcendental nature of one of our live shows, when you set our music to the backdrop of the forest at an event that has great meaning for us spiritually. There are a few events that have enabled this perfect conjuration of what Hexvessel means to happen. Menuo Juodaragis is one of those such magic events. A pagan festival held deep in the wilds of Lithuania on a beautifully lush island surrounded by forests, it is an event which celebrates our culture and heritage and it is utterly unique in Europe. We were so proud to go there and play the main stage and in our own way offer a sacrifice of sound to the great transformation that was taking place within people at the festival. It's a place where you can feel the ancients breath, you can sense a great unity of spirit and mind and it's a very warm and inclusive, familiar atmosphere. We were delighted to feel bound and compelled together with people from all parts of the world who had travelled there to get some sense of an old and almost forgotten religion. When you are there, really brought out of yourself and back into your more primitive awareness, you know that the old religion still exists only waiting to be pulled out again from the earth, the ash and the roots of age-old trees. Here you know the real meaning of what it was to truly know the earth and the universe. It was a beautiful and life-changing event that we are very happy to have this visual and resonant memento of."

Next step? Three enigmatic pioneers of the current and modern psych rock movement in Finland, take to the roads in February 2017! They undertake a spiritual journey to the edges of sound and beyond for an extensive and comprehensive tour of most of the big towns in Finland. Rarely does such an exciting lineup come together. Miss these dates at your own peril.
 
Hexvessel singer and guitarist Mat McNerney comments: "We've been wanting to go on a more thorough tour of Finland for some time now. Having played the bigger cities many times and had many successful shows there, it was time for us to get out and play the other towns and meet our fans and friends in other parts of the country. We put together this tour, with two other bands that we feel represent the best of what's going on in the scene here in Finland right now, so that people would have a really massive dose of entertainment for the evening and get more than they paid for in money for a ticket. We wanted to create an experience for people, and a tour that people would talk about and discuss for years to come. Death Hawks have a wonderfully immersive, tripped out Sun Ra sound with this undercurrent of really uplifting and purifying atmosphere. They are simply one of the best live bands in Finland right now and I think international success is right on the cusp of their horizon. Kairon Irse are an underground treasure that a lot of people have been talking about for some time now. Apparently an astounding live act that we're very eager to see in some of these beautiful venues that we are taking this tour to (Tavastia and Olympia for example). The band is progressive and technical at a King Crimson level, with a lot of feeling and emotion but also with masses of wild and bug-eyed madness included. I wanted people to look at the lineup for this tour and go ‘FUCK! Hexvessel, Death Hawks AND Kairon Irse!!’ and we've been hearing that again and again since we announced this package. It's one of those dream lineups. I can't wait to be a part of it and take this multi-dimensional caravan across this magical land!"

Dates:

February
2 – Oulu – 45 Special
3 – Seinäjoki – Bar 15
4 – Jyväskylä – Tanssisali Lutakko
9 – Helsinki – Tavastia-klubi
10 – Hämeenlinna – Suistoklubi
11 – Tampere – Olympia-kortteli
17 – Lahti – Ravintola Torvi
18 – Turku – Dynamo 
24 – Joensuu – Ravintola Kerubi
25 – Kouvola – Bar Downtown Kouvola

The String Quartets is a new album by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and the Carducci Quartet featuring the classic songs of Jethro Tull, arranged and orchestrated by John O’Hara.

Ian plays flute on most of the tracks and even sings a few lines here and there to provide his trademark sounds in the context of classical music traditions. “Living In The Past”, “Aqualung”, “Locomotive Breath” and “Bungle In The Jungle” are amongst the album tracklisting but appear, along with their fellow musical travelers, under more cryptic titles to differentiate them from the original recordings and arrangements.

Recorded in the crypt of Worcester Cathedral, UK and in St Kenelm’s Church, Sapperton, Gloucestershire, UK, Ian says that this album is, “Perfect for lazy, long sunny afternoons, crisp winter nights, weddings and funerals.”

He forgot to add, perfect also after a night of wild, abandoned sex or to celebrate the win of your favourite football team. Essentially, anytime music for sophisticated lovers of classic rock too afraid to wear their Tull T-shirt at the village barbecue.

The album will be released on March 24th via BMG/The End Records. Pre-order now at PledgeMusic.

Listen to the song “Pass The Bottle (A Christmas Song)”, and check out a video interview with Ian Anderson, below:

New Haven-based metal titans, Dead By Wednesday, have released a new video for "Phoenix Rising”. It's another solid heavy groove track off their current guest vocalist album, Darkest Of Angels, which features Dead By Wednesday drummer Opus' former frontman Kris Keyes, from the underground 90's cult sensation Gargantua Soul, currently in Dive Bomber.

Darkest Of Angels also features vocalists Coma of Candiria, Sean Danielsen of Smile Empty Soul, Fates Warning with John Arch, Waylon Reavis of A Killer's Confession, Rob Dukes of Fragile Mortals/formerly Exodus, Antony Hämäläinen of Armageddon, Brian Fair of Shadows Fall, Ceschi Ramos of Fake Four Inc., Paul M Stoddard of Diecast, Eric AK of Flotsam and Jetsam, Marc Rizzo of Soulfly and more.

Upcoming Dead By Wednesday live dates:

December
15 - Sherlocks - Erie PA, PA (with A Killer’s Confession)
16 - Madison Live! - Covington, KY
17 - Cleveland Agora - Cleveland, OH (with A Killer’s Confession)

January
13 - Toad’s Place - New Haven, CT
27 - The Tank American Legion Post 185 - Agawam, MA

February
9 - Piper’s Sports Bar and Grill - Greenacres, FL
10 - Ashley’s SportsPage - Satellite Beach, FL
11 - Haven Lounge - Winter Park, FL
25 - Lucky 13 Saloon p Brooklyn, NY

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). With Dreyer and Michael having previously worked together in White Wizzard and Sagan collaborating on with Dreyer on the critically acclaimed debut instrumental EP, In The Shadows Of Madness - which included a featured track for the popular video game franchise, Rockband - the trio combined forces to begin writing for the new project in 2013.
 
Eager to resonate their ideas, 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 scheduled for release on February 10th, 2017. Preorders are live at Witherfall’s official website.

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."
 
Witherfall has revealed the album's debut single, "End Of Time", which can be seen/heard in the below lyric music video. Showcasing the melancholic cover artwork painted by Kristian Whalin (Bathory, The Black Dahlia Murder, Wintersun), "End Of Time" presents a unique approach to the idea of a modern metal song with memorable melodic hooks, big choruses and dynamically aggressive vocals combined with virtuosic guitar playing reminiscent of the legends of the neoclassical shred guitar scene and a progressive rhythm section featuring modern extreme drumming techniques and fusion influenced bass lines.

Tracklisting:

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

“End Of Time” lyric video:

West Virginia-based groove metal outfit, Byzantine, has finished recording their upcoming sixth full-length, and Metal Blade Records debut, entitled The Cicada Tree. Set to be released in spring 2017, The Cicada Tree was recorded at 7over8 Studios in Myrtle Beach, SC with producer and engineer Jay Hannon. To view a video update from the band, regarding this new album, see below:

Chris Ojeda (vocals, rhythm guitar) comments: "The Cicada Tree represents 16 years of a heavy metal band thriving completely underground. Byzantine has been on a slow burn since 2000, constantly crafting our brand of heavy metal and now, with the support of Metal Blade Records, we will finally get a chance to showcase our music on a bigger stage."

Byzantine was formed in 2000 by vocalist/guitarist Chris Ojeda and former guitarist Tony Rohrbough. After releasing three albums via Prosthetic Records, touring with Lamb Of God, playing the main stage of New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, and receiving much praise from fans and media alike, the band abruptly called it quits in early 2008 - but it wasn't long before the metal community demanded their return.

In 2012, a reinvigorated Byzantine reunited with their seminal lineup, and consequently delivered two highly praised albums, which were crowd-funded through Kickstarter and Pledge Music and self-released. Now, after having been an independent artist since 2013, Ojeda and his crew are back with a new record deal, poised to dominate the scene once again with The Cicada Tree.

Stay tuned for more news, coming soon.

Incite have just unleashed their brand new music video for the bludgeoning single, "Stagnant". The video features footage of the band's unrelenting performances on their most recent US tour, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of life on the road. If you've never witnessed Incite live or heard their music, this video and track are a perfect introduction. Watch "Stagnant", directed by Brian Cox of Flarelight Films, below

Vocalist Richie Cavalera states, ""Stagnant" has become the most raging song off this record! One thing that's always been true about this band is that we bring it live. So we really felt that we needed to shoot a live video that could capture that energy and the Incite show experience. We got some killer imagery, and awesome use of drones to give it that "wow factor". We always want to release unique videos and this one is nothing short of kick ass. Stop, listen, you will find "Stagnant”.”

In just two days, on December 14th, Incite will kick off their tour with the South American leg of Max & Iggor Cavalera Return To Roots. The tour will hit seven major South American cities, before coming to a close in Mexico City on December 21st. See below for all tour dates.

December
14 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Imperator
15 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Belo Horizonte
16 - São Paulo, Brazil - Tropical Butanta
17 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Teatro Vorerix
18 - Santiago, Chile - Teatro Caupolican
20 - Bogota, Colombia - The Bar Revolution
21 - Mexico City, Mexico - Teatro Volador

Queen have released an official karaoke-style lyric video for their classic hit, “We Will Rock You”, originally released on the 1977 album, News Of The World. Watch below:

In other news, Queen are offering fans a chance to win a copy of the new Queen Extravaganza live album, A Night at The Apollo - Hammersmith Live 2016, signed by Roger Taylor.

More details at this location.

Check out this time-lapse load in footage from The Queen Extravaganza’s headline show at the Hammersmith Apollo in November 2016:

On March 31st, Warbringer will deliver their monumental fifth record, entitled Woe To The Vanquished, via Napalm Records.

Singer John Kevill describes the new album musically: “For the music on this record we re-focused ourselves after a lot of the experiments on Empires Collapse, and decided we wanted to make a record that is start-to-finish more merciless, ruthless, and cruel, but also maintains some of the more melodic and progressive sense. What we ended up with is a record that has a lot of traits of classic thrash but also a lot of extreme metal, and a rather unique version of that blend. It's overall faster and meaner than anything else we've put out, but also has our biggest and most ambitious song, the 11-minute "When The Guns Fell Silent" to close the record.”

Woe To The Vanquished has been carefully crafted over a period of time, and the album was produced and mixed by Mike Plottnikoff (Fear Factory, In Flames), mastered by Howie Weinberg (Slayer, Pantera) with cover art by the esteemed  Andreas Marschall (Sodom, Blind Guardian, Obituary).

Kevill explains the stunning album artwork, “It is directly based on a photograph from the end of the First World War - a grim monument, a pyramid of 12,000 German spiked helmets, right in the middle of New York City. What struck me about the image is firstly how morbid it seems to be celebrating 12,000 dead men and calling it victory."

Kevill, who is studying to be a history professor, comments on the title, Woe To The Vanquished and the story behind it: “The title Woe To The Vanquished comes from early Roman history - before they were the huge empire they became. In 390 BC, a host of Gauls led by a warlord called Brennus attacked Rome, and captured all the city except the Capitoline Hill. From this hill the defeated Romans made a bargain, they would pay 1,000 pounds of gold for the Gallic army to leave the city with no further bloodshed. The Romans bring the gold before Brennus, who uses his own scales to measure it. On the Gaul's scales, the Roman's thousand pounds of gold measured to be less, which led the Romans to complain that the scale was rigged (it probably was). Responding to this, Brennus speaks "Vae Victis" (Woe To The Vanquished) and throws his sword on the counterweight. Because the Romans lost, they have to pay the rigged sum of gold as well as the weight of the sword, to add insult to injury. The irony here is that vowing this type of humiliation would never happen again, Rome went on to become an ancient war machine conquering and subjugating most of the old world. On the record "Woe To The Vanquished" is spoken in an ironic, mocking tone - the defeated are trampled and time marches on, uncaring, and forgets they ever existed.   

“One of the great things about heavy metal as a genre is you can express tougher subject material than "I met a (boy/girl) and it was (happy/sad)". I looked for the most monolithic evil I could find to write about with this destructive, intense music... and I did not have to look any further than reality.  Forget Satan, that's a children's story. Real evil is in the hearts of men.”

The band has released a special extended “making of” video. Watch below:

Pre-orders will be available shortly.

Hot on the heels for their album release, the band will be hitting the road all over Europe in spring and summer, including confirmed festivals like Spain’s Resurrection Fest, Slovenia’s Metal Days and Devilstone in Lithuania, with more to be announced.

As they prepare for the release of their third full-length album, Crossover Ministry, on February 3rd via Relapse, Richmond crossover punks Iron Reagan have unveiled another song from the record. “Grim Business” is streaming below. One of Crossover Ministry’s 18 tracks, “Grim Business” thrashes and grooves in true Iron Reagan form.

Recorded by guitarist Phil “Landphil” Hall and mixed by Kurt Ballou, Crossover Ministry features 30 minutes of relentlessly catchy riffs and irresistibly mosh-ready breakdowns paired with lyrics that run the gamut from satyrical to serious.  In the wake of one of the most controversial presidential elections in American history, Crossover Ministry couldn’t have come at a better time.

Pre-order the new album at this location.

Tracklisting:

“A Dying World”
“You Never Learn”
“Grim Business”
“Dead With My Friends”
“No Sell”
“Condition Evolution”
“Fuck The Neighbors”
“Power Of The Skull”
“Crossover Ministry”
“More War”
“Blatant Violence”
“Parents Of Tomorrow”
“Bleed The Fifth”
“Megachurch”
“Shame Spiral”
“Dogsnotgods”
“Eat Or Be Eaten”
“Twist Your Fate”

“Grim Business”:

"A Dying World":

Infomercial:

Audio samples:

Crossover Ministry by Iron Reagan

Iron Reagan will play two shows with Dag Nasty to close out 2016 and will be announcing 2017 tour dates soon.  

Live dates:

December (with Dag Nasty)
27 - Asbury Park, NJ - Stone Pony
28 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage

(Photo - Dennis Williford)

 

MEGADETH played a special intimate show Monday night (December 12) at the Saint Vitus bar in Brooklyn, New York. The band was billed as VIC AND THE RATTLEHEADS for the event, which was co-sponsored by Unibroue, the Quebec, Canada-based craft brewery that recently collaborated with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine on the band's official beer À Tout Le Monde.

Fan-filmed video footage of last night's concert can be seen below.

MEGADETH will also perform at the Revolver Music Awards Tuesday night (December 13) at Webster Hall in New York City. Mustaine is hosting the show, which he promoted by bartending at the event's announcement party on November 1 at Saint Vitus.

MEGADETH has played a number of "secret" shows in the past under the name VIC AND THE RATTLEHEADS, going back more than two decades.

As previously reported, MEGADETH will perform on the Thursday, December 15 edition of "Late Night With Seth Meyers". This will be MEGADETH's "Late Night" debut. "Late Night With Seth Meyers" airs on NBC at 12:35 a.m. /11:35 p.m. CT.

The band is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Dystopia", which came out in January.

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett spoke to Guitar World about the recording process for the band's new disc, "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct", which is scheduled for release this Friday, November 18. He said: "The whole mental preparation for this album was different. I used to wind myself up so much before I went into the studio, but I'm finally feeling much more comfortable in my abilities. I didn't work out anything before I walked into the studio. I just showed up and played. I wanted to capture a moment, keep it spontaneous and make it fresh, and see where it goes, because I have been guilty of overthinking."

Hammett added that a change in his lifestyle has provided him with a new appreciation for his guitar-playing abilities.

"I feel like I've just turned another corner," he said. "I've reconnected with my instrument in a way I never have before. I quit drinking, which changed things. On nights we had shows, I'd play the gig, go out afterward and get drunk, and then go back to my room and play for a couple hours. I still do that, but the big difference is I don't drink anymore and I retain what I played the next day. These days I feel I can play anything that I really set my mind to, whether it's Paganini or a jazz standard. It might take me a couple of weeks, but I can do it!"

METALLICA will celebrate the launch of "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" with what's being billed as Blackened Friday, a "very special and intimate live performance" this Friday (November 18), the day of the CD's arrival. The performance will be live-streamed around the world from London, and fans can catch the entire appearance live at www.houseofvanslondon.com beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Friday.

On Thursday, nearly 100 independent record shops across the country will be opening to sell the first copies of it. They'll also be stocked with prizes and giveaways, including limited-edition vinyl slip mats and posters.

In other news, METALLICA will play a special show at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California on December 17. A special pre-sale begins on Thursday (November 17) at 10:00 a.m. PT to members of the METALLICA fan club. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

Winners will be e-mailed a personal code on November 16, along with more details about how to purchase tickets to the exclusive one-of-a-kind show. Non-fan club members will have a chance to buy tickets this Friday at 10:00 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster. Everyone who comes to the show is encouraged to bring a donation of canned goods to the venue on the night of the show.

"Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" contains a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music spread out over two discs.

Instead of a previously announced bonus disc of demos, the deluxe edition of the album will now feature a number of cover tunes that the band has recorded over the past few years, including a medley of Ronnie James Dio songs, IRON MAIDEN's "Remember Tomorrow" and DEEP PURPLE's "When A Blind Man Cries".

The deluxe version will also feature a live set recorded at Rasputin's in Berkeley, California on Record Store Day 2016 and a concert version of the song "Hardwired" recorded at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Revolver editor Sammi Chichester conducted an interview with vocalist Hernan "Eddie" Hermida and guitarist Mark Heylmun of California deathcore masters SUICIDE SILENCE at the two-day Ozzfest Meets Knotfest event, which took place September 24-25 at San Manuel Amphitheater And Festival Grounds in San Bernardino, California. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the recording process for SUICIDE SILENCE's upcoming self-titled album, which is due in February 2017 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment, Hermida said: "Well, working with [producer] Ross [Robinson, who has previously worked with KORN, SLIPKNOT, LIMP BIZKIT and SEPULTURA, among others] was a delight. As many people like to talk on the Internet that he's not a delight, I will tell you firsthand, a coffee in the morning and a little bit of soul searching in the afternoon is never a bad cup of tea."

Added Mark: "But, on the other end, Dan Kenny, our bass player, was just talking about recording with Ross with Dino [Cazares] from FEAR FACTORY, who… they've been around together forever. And Dan was, like, 'I'm not gonna lie. If we record another record with Ross, I'm scared, because I know what he'll get out of me.' 'Cause he'll get everything… Whatever it is that is inside you he'll get out, and it's always for the better. And the best pieces of art and the best creations come from pain and from honest things that you need to fucking get out. But it was fucking amazing… [And] Joe Barresi [KYUSS, MELVINS, TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE] mixed it, so that's fucking awesome. [He was] sick to work with. [he] fucking dealt with us while were on tour, sending us mixes, and we were listening to all of it."

On the topic of the musical direction of SUICIDE SILENCE's new album, Heylmun said: "It's going to completely change everything you probably ever will think, and have thought, or ever will fucking feel about SUICIDE SILENCE."

Added Hermida: "The best way I've described it is, take a bullet train — one of those Japanese bullet trains — that goes, like, three hundred miles an hour, and then turn the steering wheel as fast you can, and there we are. And whatever comes up is whatever comes up; we're not worried about it. We're just here to have you guys listen to what we believe is good music for ourselves, for our lives, for our souls."

"You Can't Stop Me", SUICIDE SILENCE's first album to feature Hermida, was released in July 2014 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

Lars Ulrich has once again shot down the perception that METALLICA's "greed" was at the core of the band's decision to launch legal action against Napster in 2000, claiming that the pioneering music file-sharing service was illegally allowing users to download METALLICA tracks without paying royalties to the group.

Ulrich, who was the main spokesperson for METALLICA in the Napster battle, has since become friends with Napster co-founder and current Spotify investor Sean Parker and even attended Parker's wedding.

Asked how he views the whole Napster experience sixteen years later, Ulrich told Mojo: "I'm proud of the fact that we stood up for what we believed in at the time. Could we have been better prepared for the shitstorm that followed? Absolutely! We were ignorant as to what we were getting involved in. But that's always been the case."

He continued: "In the beginning, Napster was a street fight. It's that simple. We perceived somebody to be fucking with us so, fuck it, you fire back. And then all of a sudden this whole other thing happened and we were in the middle of it, alone. Every day that summer, there was not a musician or peer or somebody inside the music business who wouldn't pat me on the back and go, 'You guys are standing up for the rest of us.' But the minute we were out in public, we were on our own. Everybody was too shit fucking scared and too much of a pussy to take a step forward. The only other person that said something in public was Dr. Dre."

Ulrich added: "The only annoying thing that still resonates 16 years later is that the other side were really smart: they made it about money. But it was never about money. Never. It was about control. Yet still to this day there's this perception — small but it still lingers — that METALLICA are greedy [and] money-hungry, and that's not who we are or ever were. We were the band who [in 1991] invited bootleggers to come to our shows and tape them. We sold 'taper' tickets and we'd have a section where you could bring in a recorder and tape the show and trade them with your friends. And all of a sudden we're greedy... [sighs] All those years later, that's part of my reputation."

In December 2012, METALLICA made all nine of its studio albums, as well as various live material, singles, remixes and collaborations, available on Spotify.

METALLICA is now able to make these deals directly since, as of 2012, the band has complete control over the master tapes of all its audio and video recordings. The band has also launched its own label, Blackened Recordings.

METALLICA's tenth studio album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", will arrive on November 18

Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada's The Metal Voice spoke with Venom Inc. bassist/singer Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan and as well former Anthrax singer Neil Turbin. They spoke about their new albums, the relevance of the Big 4, the Grammy's as well as Floor Jansen's Slayer comments.

Dolan on the new Venom Inc. studio album:

"We've stopped playing live so we can actually start recording. As soon as we went out on tour at the beginning people started asking for a live album and every time we went somewhere fans said we should put a studio album together and I was like ‘we can't play and put an album together, its gotta be one or the other.’ So we actually had to put the brakes on. We have a potential month for release of March 2017."  

Dolan on the Venom Inc. documentary:

"Basically I have just been recording (shooting) every single thing that we've done backstage, onstage, every concert, everything and I'm working on a whole documentary. Hopefully we will be pitching it for a TV channel. It's going to be like a fly on the wall."

Turbin's new Deathrider's album:

“We are working on the album with Deathriders. I just talked to Jonas Hornqvist (guitar) and we've worked together writing for ten years. It's just one little thing after another trying to get things sorted out. When everybody is spaced apart, it makes it a little more difficult to get everyone working in the same direction at the same time. Michael Angelo Batio (Nitro) is playing on a couple of songs on the album. We got Matt Thompson from King Diamond on drums. We have a few more songs to execute on their basic tracks to add to the number of songs we have, so this way it will be a full length release."

Turbin and Dolan on the Big 4 of thrash:

Turbin: “You have some really shrewd think tank folks in the Metallica camp and they came up with an excellent marketing program  They have an idea that hatched 30 years ago and they developed this idea and everyone goes along with the program.These four bands were very influential in the thrash sound, however they were already a step above commercially viable and accepted. This is a marketing angle this Big 4 name.”  

Dolan: “I think the idea behind the Big 4, was the Big 4 of thrash and it's not the Big 4 of any metal. It’s the Big 4 of what became thrash metal. It was a particular style these groups fall in. It's which bands came out and were more world recognized the quickest and it was those bands I think. Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica. Neil is right it is a marketing plot to capitalize on something and that's how the industry is you know.”

Watch the show below:

 

During a December 6 appearance on the "Jim And Sam Show" on SiriusXM, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach spoke about his recent Internet war of words with Michael Sweet.

The latest exchange beween the two rockers began when Sweet shared a video on Facebook of 16-year-old emerging artist Moriah Formica perfoming the SKID ROW track "I Remember You", along with the caption: "Moriah Formica kills this and in my humble opinion, smokes the original singer." He also proceeded to call Bach a "tool" in the comments section after being questioned about the caption by a fan.

After being alerted to Sweet's post by a fan, Sebastian fired back, writing in a tweet: "Michael Sweet has a big fucking mouth. Behind a keyboard that is. Can't wait to see this pussy in person again someday."

Bach told "Jim And Sam Show" hosts Jim Norton and Sam Roberts that he wasn't annoyed so much by the fact that Sweet questioned his vocal ability but by the STRYPER frontman's "tool" comment. Sebastian said: "I go, 'I'm a fucking tool? I'll show you what being a fucking tool is all about. Let's have a contest and see who's a bigger fucking tool.' I'm saying, if anybody wants to have a tool contest, I will win. I've had a lot of practice. [Laughs] That's part of my appeal."

Bach added that he expected Sweet to be able to make those same comments to his face and not just via social media. "If I read something online that has a little check mark next to it [referring to a 'verified' account of public interest], so I know it's the dude saying it, I figure you can say it in person, right?" Sebastian said.

Bach also once again questioned Sweet's claim in an interview nearly two years ago that the STRYPER frontman was asked to produce a Bach solo album, only for those plans to be squashed because Sebastian couldn't make up his mind.

Bach said: "[Michael Sweet] put out a headline once saying that he was asked to produce a Sebastian Bach record. Who the fuck do you think asked that question? Could it be… me? [Laughs] I've gotta say, I've never asked any guy in STRYPER to produce my record. I never did. That's the way it is. Sorry." Sweet has since clarified that he was asked by Sebastian's record label to produce the record, not by Bach himself.

Sweet last month released a statement in response to Bach's "pussy" comment, saying that "anyone who knows me knows that I express my opinion and I'm more than willing to back it up. I do my best to be honest yet not to be mean-spirited or destructive. I'm also no pussy. Obviously, Sebastian doesn't know me, because if he did, he'd know that as fact."

He added: "Unfortunately, I think because I'm a Christian, some people think that I'm supposed to 'turn the other cheek' and let people say and do whatever they want. I guess the 'pussy' in me won't let me do that."

Formica is featured on Sweet's latest solo album "One Sided War", singing a duet with Michael on a different version of the song "Can't Take This Life".

Before an intimate charity show at Toronto's Opera House this week, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo revealed to Exclaim! TV 's Aggressive Tendencies that he had written the opening instrumental section of the band's new song "ManUNkind" in memory of METALLICA's legendary bass player Cliff Burton. In the beginning of the song, Trujillo deftly fingerpicks a melodic bassline alongside James Hetfield's clean guitar, reminiscent of Burton's own solo bass sections.

"When I had written that, I was definitely thinking about Cliff," Trujillo said. "In a way, that to me is a tip of the hat to Cliff Burton and the spirit of Cliff. If you hear that little thing before 'ManUNkind', for me personally, that was with Cliff in mind."

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich recently spoke to Seattle's KISW 99.9 radio station about the 30th anniversary of the tragic loss of Cliff Burton when METALLICA's tour bus skidded on ice while the group was on tour in Scandinavia and Cliff was thrown out the window and crushed. Lars said: "We were so shocked and stunned that we didn't know what hit us. And, like most, I guess, kids in their early 20s who get ambushed with that type of thing, we jumped into a bottle of, in this case, vodka, for me, and stayed in there for quite some time. We weren't mature enough or seasoned in life enough to know how to deal with this other than just to sort of, basically, almost hide behind the alcohol and compartmentalized it. So the next few months were very difficult, and it was crazy, but we just put the blinders on and started auditioning bass players. And we knew in our hearts that Cliff would be the first one to kick us in the ass and tell us to keep going, if he could see us mope. And so there was no moping; we just kept going the best we knew how to."

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was asked in an interview with TeamRock what he thinks Burton might have thought about the drastic changes in its look and sound that METALLICA made through the 1990s and early 2000s with albums like "Load", "Reload" and "St. Anger". Hetfield replied: "Well, I certainly would have thought there would have been some resistance, for sure. I think the 'Black Album' was a great album and I appreciate the fact that we did have the balls to do that… I would certainly think that the 'Load' and 'Reload' [era], I would have had an ally that was very against it all — the reinvention or the U2 version of METALLICA."

Asked if Hetfield was personally comfortable with the more "alternative" image and music METALLICA made on those albums, the singer/guitarist replied: "No, no, not at all. There’s some great, great songs on there but my opinion is that all of the imagery and stuff like that was not necessary. And the amount of songs that were written was… it diluted the potency of the poison of METALLICA. And I think Cliff would have agreed with that."

Following the "Load"/"Reload" albums and tour, METALLICA went into a tailspin that resulted in the exit of bassist Jason Newsted, Hetfield spending the better part of a year in rehab and the band nearly splitting up.

METALLICA returned to a heavier style more reminiscent of its early albums on 2008's "Death Magnetic", while its new disc, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", arrived last month.

Multi-faceted musician/performer Jason Charles Miller has inked a deal with Century Media Records.

A veteran artist with more than two decades of work to his credit, Miller is commonly known in the music world as the frontman and founding member of the industrial rock outfit GODHEAD, but has established himself in recent years as a solo artist and sought-after songwriter and producer.

Miller commented: "I couldn't be happier to have a home at the Century family! Participating as a songwriter with several acts on the label for the past few years has given me a unique look into the company and how they do business. The staff at Century dedicates themselves to their acts with passion, conviction, devotion and sweat! I can't wait to work with everyone there and get some great things done!"

In addition to his forthcoming southern rock-inspired debut with Century Media, Miller recently co-produced the new Billy Ray Cyrus album, "Thin Line". He is also a much-sought-after voice acting talent that has been featured in over a hundred video games and animated productions, including World Of Warcraft, The Legend Of Korra and Mafia III.

Miller will begin 2017 with appearances at NAMM (ESP/Takamine Guitars Stage) on January 20 and the Anime Los Angeles convention January 27-29. His first scheduled shows of the new year will take place January 26 at The Federal in North Hollywood, and at Bar Sinister in Hollywood on March 18.

On November 30, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield sat down for a one-on-one interview with Josie Dye from the 102.1 The Edge radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how watching the Amy Winehouse documentary "Amy" was one of the inspirations for "Moth Into Flame", the second single off METALLICA's new album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct":

Hetfield: "Well, just watching that movie was extremely saddening, and how her life went from just such a lively, joyous person to someone who was just trying to escape the reality of where she was. It really hit me in the one part of the movie where she was lost in her mind, it seemed, and she was just leaving her flat in England to go somewhere and the press were just hanging out in front of her place all the time, just snapping these pictures of her, 'Hey, Amy, how's it going? How's this?, talking to her like they know her and they just don't notice how… I mean, they wouldn't say, 'Gosh, you look skinny. You look unhealthy.' There was a total misconnection there with reality. And just noticing the fame part and how that can really be a drug for some people and it certainly has been for us in our career. But just growing up with it, and how do you deal with fame? What do you do with that? How does it affect you? And at what point do you realize that this might not be as healthy as I think it is for me?"

On how he stays grounded:

Hetfield: "Well, I've got a wife that kicks my ass, first of all. Kids that tell it like it is. That, to me, is love right there, when your kids [say to you], 'Dad, you're being a jerk.' You know? I love that; that's what helps me a lot. Family certainly does that. I think the guys in the band too; we all keep each other in check. Like, 'Dude, is that limo a little too long? C'mon!' Just goofy things like that. We try and keep each other real. I think not surrounding ourselves with 'yes' men too, which can really just totally distort your reality."

On whether he is able to go into his local store without being bothered:

Hetfield: "Oh, yeah, well, when I don't have my butler doing that, sure. Oh, gosh. Where we live, no one cares. [Editor's note: Hetfield and his family recently relocated to Colorado.] It's like, 'Oh, it's that dude again.' Or some people just don't even know, [and] I love that. I don't know… I think… It just really depends on where you are. If you are on tour somewhere and people are expecting you to be there and there's a different feel, but living at home, I think they get over it. They get over the, 'Ooh, you're the guy,' and then they realize, oh, you're just another dork. [Laughs]"

On the success of "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct":

Hetfield: "It's a huge surprise — it really is — 'cause, for us, this is just the next record. And, for some reason, the timing is right. People are needing or wanting this. And, I guess, song-wise, people are identifying with its older-school feel — more guitar harmoinies, things like that, and some of the stuff that I knew was missing from our music. So it's still a big surprise. When your record people send you an e-mail saying, 'Hey, you're No. 1 in all these countries?' And you're, like, 'What?' Does that mean we're gonna go play Uganda? What? The tour's gonna get longer.' [Laughs]"

TOOL bassist Justin Chancellor spoke to Bass Player about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2006's "10,000 Days" album. He said: "We're pretty deep into the writing process now, and we've narrowed things down to big groups of ideas.

"For the past few months, we've been working on one of the newer songs fairly exclusively. We get the gist of it and find the main themes that make up the skeleton between verses and choruses. Then we explore different ways we can depart from that and come back to it and flip it upside down, and take the time to see what else is there.

"Everyone knows we take our time. We're really trying to be responsible with ourselves in trying to discover ideas that haven't been discovered before. It's kind of an alchemy, how we experiment."

Asked what causes such large gaps of time between TOOL albums, Justin said: "Writing is a grueling process for us, and once we finish an album, we go on tour for a couple of years. Plus, we're always very involved in our own business, so we need a break when we come back. We've also been through a lot of difficult lawsuits, which we deal with ourselves, and they're a bit of a bummer and not inspiring creatively. But we've fought to be in this position, and it's almost a responsibility now to take the time to explore special concepts while we're on this planet."

He continued: "We're our own worst critics; we're doing our best to find something that blows us all away, and we want each other to be completely happy with what we produce. I'm excited that there's going to be another album and the material will be very inspiring. So why rush it now?"

Justin added that it's "understandable" TOOL fans are constantly asking the band when the new album is going to be done. "It's a compliment that people are excited to hear it," he said. "But it's difficult to hear that and not feel some kind of guilt. All I can say is that we'll go back Monday and do our best to finish it for you, although that's not really how it works. But we know the listeners will be happy with it when it's finished."

Chancellor also spoke about the TOOL songwriting process, explaining: "Adam [Jones, guitar] and I usually have the source material we've come up with together here. We're playing pretty much nonstop right now, so a lot of ideas are coming out. Often, Danny [Carey, drums] and I will be playing something and Adam will rush into the room and tell us to record it, and then we'll spend the rest of the day working on it to see if it's worthwhile. And of course we have a whole treasure chest of ideas on our phones that we record on our own. Basically, Adam and I have riffs and Danny has rhythms or different time-signature beats, and we try to keep them basic before bringing them in to see what the other members will do with them. We establish a riff so we and the listener can identify it, and then we say, Okay, now how far away from it can we go on this journey?"

TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan recently pushed back against accusations that he's been "lazy" about working on the band's new disc, telling The Wall Street Journal: "I really love LED ZEPPELIN, and it's a shame they're not making more records, more records. But I got up this morning without any problem. We're working on it… Do I appear to you to be a lazy person who doesn't want to get that done?"

Keenan said that his approach to making music is the same as his approach to other aspects of his life, remarking: "If the fruit's not ready, I can't pick it. If it's not ready I move on to something else."

Jones reportedly told fans during a meet-and-greet session in October that he, Carey and Chancellor have been working on new music three days a week.

While he said that they have two albums' worth of material prepared, he added that only five of those songs meet the "TOOL standard" and that Keenan has yet to write or sing lyrics for anything.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, The Recording Academy has weighed in on the controversy over both DISTURBED and Beyoncé being nominated in the "Best Rock Performance" category for the upcoming 59th annual Grammy Awards. Academy senior vice president Bill Freimuth told Metal Injection: "The rock category is one of our biggest umbrellas. Not quite as broad as pop, but maybe the next up in terms of what constitutes rock — it can be blues rock, folk rock, ballads… I think what we found this year is that so many artists that were in rock or adjacent to rock were really taking more sonic risks this year than ever before, and it made for a really exciting dynamic landscape in that field."

Freimuth added with regards to Beyoncé's track: "That [Beyoncé] recording has Jack White in it and it has LED ZEPPELIN samples in it and I think it's Beyoncé really stretching. It's an artist at the height of her musical powers, really reaching in many different directions and we are all the better for it."

Beyoncé is nominated for her song "Don't Hurt Yourself", while DISTURBED is up for its performance of SIMON & GARFUNKEL's "The Sound Of Silence". The other nominees in the category include TWENTY ONE PILOTS for "Heathens", the late David Bowie for the title track from his "Blackstar" album and ALABAMA SHAKES for a live rendition of their song "Joe".

DISTURBED singer David Draiman gave The Pulse Of Radio his perspective on the situation. "It's definitely a unique situation to be in," he said. "We have the utmost respect for everybody in this category, and that maybe is what makes it most intimidating, that we're up against literally the giants of the industry. We're just hoping for the best. I think we all could agree, all of us in this category would be able to live with and sleep well at night with having David Bowie take this one."

Draiman said in an interview with Billboard last week that it was "strange" to be competing against Beyoncé in the "Best Rock Performance" category, commenting: "When you can have, with all due respect, a Beyoncé and a DISTURBED in the same category, something has gone wrong. Not taking anything away from her whatsoever, we’re just very different from each other."

"The Sound Of Silence", a cover of the SIMON & GARFUNKEL classic, appears on DISTURBED's 2015 album "Immortalized" — although their Grammy nomination is for the band's performance of the song on "Conan".

DISTURBED's last Grammy nomination was in 2009, when it was up in the now-retired "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for "Inside The Fire".

Dann of the "Mike James Rock Show" conducted an interview with guitarist Michael "Padge" Paget of Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE during the band's current U.K. headlining tour. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's decision to perform its 2005 debut album, "The Poison", in its entirety for the first time during this tour will have an influence on the musical direction of the band's next album, Paget said: "It might do, but as a band, we're always trying to evolve. I don't think you can ever stay in the same place. But, you know, I always kind of look back towards the early days when I'm writing stuff, because that was the record that really defined us as a band. Obviously, you can't write 'The Poison 2', but, yeah, it's definitely a massive influence on our writing. But who knows? After [the latest single] 'Don't Need You' [which came out in November] now and [last year's] 'Venom' [album]… I don't know… I just wanna finish this tour and stop thinking about music for a bit, and then let the creative juices start flowing once again and see what comes out."

According to Paget, the songwriting process for BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's follow-up to "Venom" won't begin in earnest until sometime in the spring. "Especially finishing for Christmas, I think we all need a month or two off, at least, before we start writing any riffs or even thinking about making any songs," he said. "But it'll come. I'm sure once the New Year comes in, I'll back slowly going back up to the studio and getting some ideas down."

The guitarist also spoke in more detail about how the BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE albums take shape. He said: "I've got a studio in my garage, so I just go over on my own time. That's how 'Venom' was done — we did pre-production and all the demos at my garage. Me, Moose [Michael Thomas, drums] and Matt [Tuck, guitar/vocals] spent about two or three months up there, just went through songs and going through things and just making it as best as we can. And once we hit the studio, it was just bang-bang for eight weeks and we were done recording. Hopefully that process might happen this time, but, again, we'll see. But, yeah, definitely, I'll have a bunch of ideas before we even start writing."

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE last month released a video for "Don't Need You". The clip was filmed in a church by director Ville Juurikkala, who has previously worked with NIGHTWISH, AMORPHIS, HIM, APOCALYPTICA and MICHAEL MONROE, among others.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE earlier in the year signed a worldwide deal with Search And Destroy/Spinefarm Records.

"Venom" was released in August 2015 via RCA. The CD marked BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE 's first release since the departure of longtime bassist Jason James and addition of Mathias (formerly of REVOKER).

Thomas took a temporary leave of absence from the band earlier this year to spend time with his wife, as they awaited the birth of his first child. He has since been replaced on the road by Jason Bowld (PITCHSHIFTER, AXEWOUND).

Revolver editor Sammi Chichester conducted an interview with BUTCHER BABIES frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey at the two-day Ozzfest Meets Knotfest event, which took place September 24-25 at San Manuel Amphitheater And Festival Grounds in San Bernardino, California. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the BUTCHER BABIES sound, Heidi said: "I think what's great about BUTCHER BABIES is we don't really stick to one sort of genre — we actually combine a lot of BLACK SABBATH and SLIPKNOT into our music, and so you can kind of hear the influence of both. We write together constantly, and so writing together, that's the beauty of it — bringing in the influence from so different genres and so many different eras of metal."

Added Carla: "It's cool to have a friend that we can say to [each other], 'I don't know what you like at all, and maybe you don't like what I like, but let's put those sounds together and make something that's very new and unique and very 'us.''"

BUTCHER BABIES are currently working on their third album for an early 2017 release via Century Media.

The band's second LP, last year's "Take It Like A Man", was produced by Logan Mader, who has previously worked with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, DEVILDRIVER, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and GOJIRA.

Frontiers Music Srl will release the brand new PLACE VENDOME album, "Close To The Sun" on February 24, 2017.

The official lyric video for the song "Welcome To The Edge" can be seen below. One of the most popular projects put together over the years by Frontiers president Serafino Perugino, PLACE VENDOME was an idea sparked during a phone conversation between Serafino and former HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske, where they discussed their common passion for several melodic rock giants of the '80s. The Hamburg singer agreed to be part of a studio project where he would sing songs written especially for him by various writers with an AOR/melodic rock flavor. The amazing reception of the first PLACE VENDOME album released in 2005 planted the seeds for a second recording, "Streets Of Fire", which was recorded during 2008 and for a third album, "Thunder In The Distance", which was released in 2013. Being a project so close to Kiske's heart, it was agreed during 2016 that work on a new album would start with his UNISONIC bandmate Dennis Ward at the production helm, as usual. Of the album, Ward said: "Upon receiving the demos for the new songs intended for the new PLACE VENDOME record, I was a bit concerned because a few vocal styles seemed to go against what Michael Kiske is known for vocally. After talking together, we agreed to just let the melodies come out naturally, without trying to imitate or 'reproduce' the demos. Michael really stood up to this on the new album. He did 'his' thing, with no compromises. He managed to make the songs his own and brought all the songs to another level. I have a lot of respect for him because of this and now the album is much more than just another AOR album. That being said, I have to pay high respects to the other musicians on the album: Dirk Bruineberg proved again that he is a multi-talented drummer that can literally pull of any groove, any style of any era with the highest of expectations. Günter Werno is also a gem amongst a pile of stones. He really shines on this album and holds all the songs together, true to the PLACE VENDOME sound. Uwe Reitenauer is also a master of his instrument taking over duties that were critical and complicated to say the least. He has the perfect AOR tone and can implement it no matter what type of song you throw at him. The rest of the 'guests' that helped out made this album into a truly interesting compilation and also making this a milestone for PLACE VENDOME. That being said, it's the first PLACE VENDOME album where I feel that we have achieved our trademark sound. This is how we want to be heard and this is how we imagine ourselves to sound." Speaking of other album guests, once again Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR) was one of the first to answer the call to participate and offered the awesome song "Falling Star" to the project. Jani Liimatainen (CAIN'S OFFERING, ex-SONATA ARCTICA) was the next contributor with the epic "Welcome To The Edge", the album's tour de force. Following LABYRINTH's reunion, guitarist Olaf Thorsen sat with ETERNAL IDOL, ANGRA and RHAPSODY singer Fabio Lione and offered "Helen" and "Riding The Ghost". Perugino then proposed that his favourite DGM song, "Hereafter", be included. This brought DGM's main composer, Simone Mularoni, into the picture, and he wrote the album's title track and "Across The Times". Alessandro Del Vecchio also offered two new songs, "Strong" and "Yesterday Is Gone", while SECRET SPHERE's guitarist Aldo LoNobile wrote "Distant Skies" and "Breathing". The full picture was finally completed with a new song written by Swedish melodic rock artist Michael Palace (PALACE, SKYLANDER), "Light Before The Dark". Kiske and Ward wanted to make the album a little bit special, so besides the "usual suspects" (including drummer Dirk Bruinenberg, VANDEN PLAS's ivory tinkler Gunter Werno and PINK CREAM 69's Uwe Reineauer on guitars), some guitar heavyweights appear on the recordings. The list includes Alfred Koffler and (of course) Uwe Reineauer of PINK CREAM 69, Magnus Karlsson, Michael Klein, Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND), Simone Mularoni, and UNISONIC guitarists Kai Hansen and Mandy Meyer, among others. Kiske comments: "The production with my buddy Dennis was great, as always, but what I especially like about this album — beside the new microphone I used that Dennis has built me — is the various styles of the songs. It is all a still very AOR-produced album, but we also have progressive or 'wilder' elements here and there. It was (again) interesting to see how much the songs change until you finally reach the mixing stage." In a year that will see Michael Kiske rejoin with his old HELLOWEEN bandmates for a unique world tour, PLACE VENDOME's new album is the icing on the cake of a special and very rewarding period for the German singer. All in all, "Close To The Sun" is probably the most hard-rocking release ever from PLACE VENDOME and an absolute monster of an album! "Close To The Sun" track listing:

01. Close To The Sun02. Welcome To The Edge03. Hereafter04. Strong05. Across The Times06. Riding The Ghost07. Light Before The Dark08. Falling Star09. Breathing10. Yesterday Is Gone11. Helen12. Distant Skies Produced by Dennis Ward * Lead Vocals - Michael Kiske* Backing vocals - Dennis Ward, Michael Kiske // Additional Choirs on "Strong" by Alessandro Del Vecchio* Bass - Dennis Ward* Keyboards - Günter Werno* Drums - Dirk Bruinenberg* All Rhythm Guitars by Dennis Ward, except: "Welcome To The Edge", "Across The Times", "Close To The Sun", "Hearafter" - Rhythm Guitars by Uwe Reitenauer* Guitar solo by Michael Klein on "Yesterday Is Gone", "Distant Skies", "Strong", "Breathing".* Guitar solo by Uwe Reitenauer on "Close To the Sun"* Guitar solo by Alfred Koffler on "Welcome To The Edge"* Guitar solo by Magnus Karlsson on "Falling Star"* Guitar solo by Gus G. on "Light Beyond The Dark"* Guitar solo by Simone Mularoni on "Hearafter"* Guitar solo by Mandy Meyer on "Helen"* Guitar solo by Kai Hansen on "Riding The Ghost" and "Across The Times"

The official lyric video for the song "Call For War" from German power metallers GRAVE DIGGER can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Healed By Metal", which will be released on January 13, 2017 via Napalm Records.

Asked if GRAVE DIGGER has ever been "healed by metal," vocalist Chris Boltendahl told Spark TV: "Yeah, I've [been] healed by metal a lot of times in my life. Mostly in bad times. When I listen to metal music, it builds me up again. I think it's a good title for GRAVE DIGGER. There's so many people outside who have problems. I think this record can help some people.

Regarding why the band named the album "Healed By Metal", Chris said: "Two years ago, we played a big open-air festival in Moscow. There was a hospital beside the festival [site]. There were people inside who had to listen to metal all day. I said while I was with our sound engineer, 'Oh, the poor people. They have to listen to GRAVE DIGGER all day.' He said, 'Look at me. Yes, all the people are healed by metal.'"

Chris also talked about GRAVE DIGGER's goal with the new album. He said: "First, to satisfy ourselves, then to satisfy the people outside. We want to always deliver a piece of quality. This time, it's much better quality, not than the previous albums, but in our own mind. Yeah, I think it's a piece of metal."

"Healed By Metal" track listing:

01. Healed By Metal02. When Night Falls03. Lawbreaker04. Forever Free05. Call For War06. Ten Commandments Of Metal07. The Hangman’s Eye08. Kill Ritual09. Hallelujah10. Laughing With The Dead

Digipack bonus:

11. Kingdom Of The Night12. Bucket List

GRAVE DIGGER's last collection of all-new material, "Return Of The Reaper", was released in July 2014 via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded at Principal Studios (KREATOR, IN EXTREMO, GRAVE DIGGER) in Senden, Germany.

DEAD CROSS, the Southern California outfit featuring Dave Lombardo (ex-SLAYER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, MISFITS), Justin Pearson (THE LOCUST, RETOX, HEAD WOUND CITY) and Michael Crain (RETOX, FESTIVAL OF DEAD DEER), has added Mike Patton (FAITH NO MORE) as the band's singer.

DEAD CROSS is currently working on its debut album for a 2017 release via Ipecac Recordings.

The band earlier in the year parted ways with singer Gabe Serbian.

DEAD CROSS's debut album is being helmed by producer Ross Robinson, who has previously worked with KORN, DEFTONES, SEPULTURA and LIMP BIZKIT, among others.

Lombardo recently told Madcap Music Review about the source of the searing anger and rage that is fueling the aggression of his new band. He said: "Ever since the tragedy in Paris [that took place in November 2015]; that's why I'm fucking pissed. Because everything hit really close to home. I could have been on that stage [at the Bataclan venue in Paris where EAGLES OF DEATH METAL performed]. I could have been at a festival and some fucking son of a bitch comes in with a shotgun or whatever and starts [blowing] people's heads off. So I'm just… I'm angry. I'm over it, but, you know, with the new releasing some aggressive music, [we're able to] get all the feelings out, get all the shit that we wanna say out in this music. It's not gonna come out playing alternative music, it's not gonna come out playing soft. And my name and my drumming is synonymous with thrash and hardcore music, so I'm really excited about this."

"Phobophobia", the new video from the Dutch all-female death/black metal band SISTERS OF SUFFOCATION, can be seen below. The clip was filmed at the Wederkomst Church by Kesslr Motion.

Founded in 2014 in Eidhoven, SISTERS OF SUFFOCATION managed very quickly to establish an amazing live reputation and got lots of invitations from venues and smaller festivals. This was noticed by Eindhoven Metal Meeting, who gave them a chance to present themselves for a bigger audience.

It has always been a dream of vocalist Els Prins to start an all-female death metal band, but she didn't seem to be able find the right group of girls to make this dream reality — that is, until she met guitarist Simone van Straten. Sharing a love for extreme music, they recruited drummer Amber de Buijzer and bass player Marjolein van den Nieuwenhuizen and started rehearsing. They released their first single, "Boundaries", in July 2014 and played their first show one month later. In May 2015, Marjolein exited the band and was replaced by Puck Wildschut.

Earlier this year, SISTERS OF SUFFOCATION finally went into the studio in Antwerp to record "Brutal Queen", and the first pressing quickly sold out. Hammerheart Records reissued this EP on digi-CD (September) and on LP (November), with slightly different artwork. SISTERS OF SUFFOCATION are working on their debut album, which is scheduled for release in the second half of 2017.

SISTERS OF SUFFOCATION are:

Vocals - Els PrinsGuitar - Simone van StratenDrums - Amber de BuijzerBass - Puck Wildschut