Set to unleash their debut full length album, The Fallen Sun, officially on June 10th, Toronto, Canada’s Sludgehammer are streaming the album’s lead track, “Demons From The Woodwork”. Listen below:

The album was self-produced by the band and mixed by guitarist Tyler Williams and mastered by world renowned producer and engineer Lasse Lammert (Gloryhammer, Alestorm, Teramaze) at LSD Studio in Germany.

Tracklisting:

“Demons From The Woodwork”
“Intestines Entwined”
“The Black Abyss”
“Ectogenesis”
“Carrion Eater”
“Consuming Afterbirth”
“Carnivorous Forest”
“Utopian”
“Revolting”
“Organ Harvester”
“Casualties”

“Carrion Eater” video:

(Photo - Hayden John Wolf)

Katatonia, the Swedish purveyors of dark progressive rock/metal, are streaming their new album, The Fall Of Hearts, out now via Peaceville Records. As an added bonus, the stream features an extra track of clips of the three The Fall Of Hearts bonus songs released across the various formats of the album. The stream can be found below.

The official follow-up to 2012’s Dead End Kings was recorded at Stockholm’s Studio Gröndahl & Tri-lamb Studio, and was self-produced by Anders Nyström & Jonas Renkse. Mixing and mastering duties were carried out by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Ihsahn, Devin Townsend) at Fascination Street Studios, with Karl Daniel Lidén (Switchblade, The Ocean, Greenleaf) brought in as engineer.

The dramatic yet desolate artwork was created by long time Katatonia designer and illustrator Travis Smith.

Tracklisting:

“Takeover”
“Serein”
“Old Heart Falls”
“Decima”
“Sanction”
“Residual”
“Serac”
“Last Song Before The Fade”
“Shifts”
“The Night Subscriber”
“Pale Flag”
“Passer”

Bonus Tracks:
“Vakaren” (CD/DVD & Deluxe Edition)
“Sistere” (LP & Deluxe Edition)
“Wide Awake In Quietus” (Digital & Deluxe Edition)

Album stream:

“Serein” lyric video:

“Old Heart Falls” lyric video:

Katatonia have spent the past four years since the release of Dead End Kings touring the world, as well as expanding their fanbase through two special albums on Kscope, the sister label of Peaceville. 2013 saw the release of Dethroned & Uncrowned which exploded the core of the songs on Dead End Kings creating new moods and textures. In 2015, they released the live acoustic album and concert film, Sanctitude. Both releases illustrate the band’s journey toward this, their current more progressive sound.

The Fall of Hearts is the first record to feature new drummer Daniel ’Mojjo’ Moilanen and with the addition of their recently recruited guitarist Roger Öjersson (Tiamat), who came in just in time to sprinkle some blistering solos on the album, Katatonia will continue to push their musical boundaries beyond their roots in the metal scene while drawing in new fans from across the musical spectrum like peers such as Opeth and Anathema have also done, cementing Katatonia’s place as one of the most revered and cherished of all bands in the world of modern heavy music.

Katatonia comment on The Fall Of Hearts: "This album is probably everything we unknowingly ever dreamed of to release. It's a bleak but adventurous journey through our elements, we haven't held back, we have pushed to get forward and backward in the ever spiralling night of our musical legacy."

Order The Fall Of Hearts at this location.

Katatonia have confirmed the following festival appearances for 2016:

June
19 - Clisson, France - Hellfest

July
3 - Helsinki, Finland - Tuska Festival
9-10 - Bouckenborgh, Belgium - Anterwerp Metal Festival

August
5 - Corroios, Portugal - Vagos Open Air Festival,
17-20 - Dinkelsbühl, Germany - Summer Breeze Festival

October
1 - Tilburg, Netherlands - 013 (Epic Metal Fest)

In September 2015, over the course of four sold-out shows, Ayreon's legendary progressive rock concept album, The Human Equation, was brought to life as a full-blown musical production at the Nieuwe Luxor theater in Rotterdam. This limited run of performances was witnessed by die-hard fans from across the world, but now Arjen Lucassen's story can be witnessed by all, as a recording of the final night of those special evenings is being released as both a DVD and Blu-Ray package on June 17th.

Watch the first full clip from the production, “Day Two: Isolation”, streaming below:

The Theater Equation will be available as a deluxe artbook version including Blu-Ray, 2DVDs & 2CDs, as well as a special edition 2CD & DVD digipak, standalone blu-ray & digital audio download. You can now pre-order signed copies of the release here.

Watch the full trailer for The Theater Equation below:

Arjen comments: "Even today as I write this, I am amazed and touched by how hard everyone worked and how much love and care they generously gave to make it all happen. Sometimes the dream becomes reality!"

The stage show stars Dream Theater frontman James Labrie in his original roll as "Me" and features nearly the entire cast of vocalists from the original 2004 album. The main cast is supported by a specially put-together 19-strong Epic Rock Choir. This is a unique document of an undertaking that was surely once in a lifetime.

Cast:
James LaBrie as 'Me'
Devon Graves as 'Agony'
Heather Findlay as 'Love'
Eric Clayton as 'Reason'
Magnus Ekwall as 'Pride',
Marcela Bovio as 'Wife'
Irene Jansen as 'Passion'
Anneke van Giersbergen as 'Fear',
Jermain van der Bogt (Wudstik) as 'Best Friend'
Mike Mills as 'Rage/Father'
Nienke Verboom as 'Nurse'
Peter Moltmaker as 'Doctor'
Anita van der Hoeven as 'Mom'

Band:
Ed Warby: Drums
Jeroen Goossens: Flutes and woodwinds
Johan van Stratum: Bass
Maaike Peterse: Cello
Ben Mathot: Violin
Marcel Coenen: Guitars
Freek Gielen: Guitars
Erik van Ittersum: Keyboards/synths
Ruben Wijga: Keyboards/synths
Epic Rock Choir

The Human Equation story:

After a mysterious single-car accident, the victim - a man in his late 30s - lies comatose in the hospital. Before the accident he was a powerful businessman, wildly successful by any measure but also known for his cutthroat business tactics. Now he finds himself trapped in a prison that took him a lifetime to build: the prison of his own mind.

Guarding the prison are his emotions, which have taken on vivid personas inside his mind. Some are friends, some are foes, and they all have their own agendas. Some aim to trick him or dominate him, others to comfort or inspire him. But the one objective they all share is to force him to face up to the demons of his past and the deep truths about who he is and how he's lived his life, all of which he's conveniently ignored until now. Fear, Rage, Agony, Love, Passion, Reason and Pride take turns engaging the man in this emotional warfare.

Two people hold vigil at the man's bedside: his wife and his best friend. They are desperate to understand how the accident happened and to see even the tiniest sign that the man will regain consciousness. But the man's recovery is not their only concern: is it possible that he somehow found out their secret, and that the "accident" wasn't really an accident at all? Would he ever be able to forgive them?

Will the man have the strength to face the truth about himself and the ones he loves? The story unfolds over his twenty-day emotional struggle with Fear, Rage, Agony, Love, Passion, Reason and Pride, in which each day of coma is represented by a song.

Three decades of Doro - three unforgettable nights - forever captured on three DVDs and two Blu-rays; including an two-hour plus, great music movie, which delivers deep insights behind the scenes and inside the heart of Doro. Nuclear Blast releases this incredible DORO anniversary package on June 24th, Strong And Proud - 30 Years Of Rock And Metal.

Watch “Bad Blood” featuring Lordi from the upcoming release:

Once again, the packaging was drawn by Doro's favorite artist, Geoffrey Gillespie. Strong And Proud - 30 Years Of Rock And Metal will be released in the following formats on June 24th:

- 2Blu-ray-Digi
- 3DVD-Digi
- CD
- Earbook
- 2LP (black) in gatefold
- 2LP (blue) in gatefold (Mailorder + wholesale)
- 2LP (silver) in gatefold (Mailorder-exclusive)
- Earbook in tote bag (Mailorder-exclusive)

Pre-orders can be found on Nuclear Blast.

Tracklisting:

DVD 1 – 30 Years Anniversary Show – Wacken Open Air
“Intro”
“Wacken Anthem (We Are The Metalheads)”
“Burning The Witches”
“East Meets West” (feat. Chris Boltendahl)
“Raise Your Fist In The Air”
“Hellbound”
“Revenge”
“Earthshaker Rock”
“Breaking The Law” (feat. Phil Campbell)
“All We Are” (feat. Eric Fish, Joakim Broden, and Corvus Corax)

30 Years Anniversary Show – Classic Night
“Touch Of Evil”
“On The Run”
“Fear Of The Dark” (feat. Blaze Bayley)
“The Night Of The Warlock”
“You’re My Family”
“Above The Ashes”
“Beyond The Trees”
“Hero”
“Princess Of The Dawn” (feat. Udo Dirkschneider)
“Dancing With An Angel” (feat. Udo Dirkschneider)
“Hard Rock Hallelujah” (feat. Lordi)
“Love Me In Black”
“Für Immer” (Mix Clip Classic Night/Rock Night)

30 Years Anniversary Show – Rock Night
“Raise Your Fist In The Air”
“Save My Soul”
“Running From The Devil”
“Without You”
“East Meets West” (feat. Sabina Classen)
“Rock Till Death” (feat. Hansi Kursch)
“Bad Blood” (feat. Lordi)
“Denim And Leather” (feat. Biff Byford)
“Out Of Control”
“Wacken Anthem (We Are The Metalheads)”
“Metal Racer”
“Herzblut”
“Burn It Up”
“Balls To The Walls” (feat. Udo Dirkschneider)
“All We Are”

DVD 2 – Behind The Curtain, Inside The Heart Of Doro (Documentary)

DVD 3 – Bonus Concert Movie

30 Years Anniversary Show – Classic Night
“Celebrate”
“Burn It Up”
“Breaking The Law”
“All We Are”
“Metal Racer”

30 Years Anniversary Show – Rock Night
“True As Steel”
“Evil”
“Egypt (The Chains Are On)” (feat. Chris Caffery)
“Revenge”
“Hellbound”
“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (feat. Biff Byford)
“Fight”
Drum Solo
“Ich Will Alles” (feat. Andy Brings)
“Metal Tango”
“Unholy Love”

30 Years Anniversary Show – Wacken Open Air
“Metal Tango” (feat. Eric Fish and Frau Schmitt)
Drum Solo
“Fur Immer” (feat. Uli Jon Roth)

Rock Hard Festival 2015
“Hellbound”
“Fur Immer”

Russia Tour 2015
“Touch Of Evil”
“I Rule The Ruins”

CD/Digital
“On The Run”
“Save My Soul”
“Raise Your Fist”
“Fear Of The Dark”
“Revenge”
“Earthshaker Rock”
“Without You”
“Rock Till Death”
“Egypt (The Chains Are On)”
“Fur Immer”
“Hellbound”
“Balls To The Walls”
“You’re My Family”
“All We Are”

Blu-Ray 1 – 30 Years Anniversary Show – Wacken Open Air
“Intro”
“Wacken Anthem (We Are The Metalheads)”
“Burning The Witches”
“East Meets West” (feat. Chris Boltendahl)
“Raise Your Fist In The Air”
“Hellbound”
“Revenge”
“Earthshaker Rock”
“Breaking The Law” (feat. Phil Campbell)
“All We Are” (feat. Eric Fish, Joakim Broden, and Corvus Corax)

30 Years Anniversary Show – Classic Night
“Touch Of Evil”
“On The Run”
“Fear Of The Dark” (feat. Blaze Bayley)
“The Night Of The Warlock”
“You’re My Family”
“Above The Ashes”
“Beyond The Trees”
“Hero”
“Princess Of The Dawn” (feat. Udo Dirkschneider)
“Dancing With An Angel” (feat. Udo Dirkschneider)
“Hard Rock Hallelujah” (feat. Lordi)
“Love Me In Black”
“Für Immer” (Mix Clip Classic Night/Rock Night)

30 Years Anniversary Show – Rock Night
“Raise Your Fist In The Air”
“Save My Soul”
“Running From The Devil”
“Without You”
“East Meets West” (feat. Sabina Classen)
“Rock Till Death” (feat. Hansi Kursch)
“Bad Blood” (feat. Lordi)
“Denim And Leather” (feat. Biff Byford)
“Out Of Control”
“Wacken Anthem (We Are The Metalheads)”
“Metal Racer”
“Herzblut”
“Burn It Up”
“Balls To The Walls” (feat. Udo Dirkschneider)
“All We Are”

Blu-ray 2 – Behind The Curtain, Inside The Heart Of Doro (Documentary)

30 Years Anniversary Show – Classic Night
“Celebrate”
“Burn It Up”
“Breaking The Law”
“All We Are”
“Metal Racer”

30 Years Anniversary Show – Rock Night
“True As Steel”
“Evil”
“Egypt (The Chains Are On)” (feat. Chris Caffery)
“Revenge”
“Hellbound”
“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (feat. Biff Byford)
“Fight”
Drum Solo
“Ich Will Alles” (feat. Andy Brings)
“Metal Tango”
“Unholy Love”

30 Years Anniversary Show – Wacken Open Air
“Metal Tango” (feat. Eric Fish and Frau Schmitt)
Drum Solo
“Fur Immer” (feat. Uli Jon Roth)

Rock Hard Festival 2015
“Hellbound”
“Fur Immer”

Russia Tour 2015
“Touch Of Evil”
“I Rule The Ruins”

Official trailer:

“Raise Your Fist In The Air”:

Doro will hit the road in the US once again later this year, with shows booked for September and October. Her schedule is currently as follows, with more shows to be announced soon.

September
27 - Tupelo Music Hall - Londonderry, NH
28 - The Chance - Poughkeepsie, NY
30 - Palace Theatre - Stafford Springs, CT

October
1 - Fish Head Cantina - Halethorpe (Baltimore), MD
2 - Rock Carnival - Lakewood, NJ

Fan-filmed video footage of AC/DC's May 26 performance at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Rock Or Bust02. Shoot To Thrill03. Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be04. Back In Black05. Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder06. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap07. Rock 'N' Roll Damnation08. Thunderstruck09. High Voltage10. Rock 'N' Roll Train11. Hells Bells12. Given The Dog A Bone13. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)14. Sin City15. You Shook Me All Night Long16. Shot Down In Flames17. Have A Drink On Me18. T.N.T.19. Whole Lotta Rosie20. Let There Be Rock

Encore:

21. Highway To Hell22. Riff Raff23. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

According to The Pulse Of Radio, AC/DC guitarist Angus Young said in a new interview with NDR.de that he's not really sure what AC/DC will do after wrapping up its current touring commitments with Axl Rose on lead vocals. Young remarked: "We were committed to finishing this tour, so that's been our main goal, and Axl's helping us. I know he's very excited. He keeps saying, can he do more? But we don't really know at the end how we will [proceed]. But we wanna get [through] this tour, which we were committed to doing. We wanna finish it."

Rose took a break from the GUNS N' ROSES reunion to fill in for Brian Johnson after the longtime AC/DC singer was diagnosed with a potentially career-ending hearing problem. Although Rose started the tour seated on a specially made chair every night while he recovered from a broken foot, he's been gradually leaving the seat behind. Bassist Cliff Williams explained, "[Axl has] done a fabulous job, and he's almost out of his chair now. He's mobile, and he's enjoying himself. It's been really good."

The European tour ends back in Germany on June 15 and despite initial fan trepidation, Axl has gotten generally good reviews for his performances so far. Angus Young said: "I mean, under the situation that we had, it was very good that he volunteered and said, 'Hey, if I can help, let me try.' So he's been very good. And he had to learn a lot of songs very quickly, and he's done a great job."

Cliff Williams revealed that he has spoken with Brian Johnson about Axl taking over, with Williams saying that Johnson was "happy" with the choice.

Johnson met with an audio expert this week to see if some newly invented in-ear monitors could help combat his hearing loss.

After a period that has seen AC/DC lose founding guitarist Malcolm Young to dementia, drummer Phil Rudd to legal problems and now possibly Johnson, Angus was asked if he had thought about retiring the group. He replied: "Yes, sure, sometimes. Every thing that comes towards you is hard. But my brother Malcolm always said you have to go on. This he has always believed. It was his idea, his creation. He always said, you have to just go with it."

Fan-filmed video footage of POISON singer Bret Michaels's May 14 performance at Isleta Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico can be seen below.

Bret recently said that he is hopeful POISON will play together again.

The multi-platinum "hair metal" rockers haven't done any major touring since taking part in the 2012 "Rock Of Ages" trek with LITA FORD and DEF LEPPARD. Since then, Michaels has been focusing on his solo career and last year released the video for "Girls On Bars", his rock-and-country-crossover track which was written with Grammy Award-winning songwriter Luke Laird.

During an April 18 appearance on the SiriusXM satellite radio show "Eddie Trunk Live", Michaels was asked if he thinks POISON will ever regroup to do some more touring. He responded: "One thousand percent. I still consider 'em great friends. We've been through a lot together. And, you know, we've been out there a lot a few years back — with DEF LEPPARD, MÖTLEY CRÜE, we were out with KISS, [LYNYRD] SKYNYRD… We've done a lot of stuff. And just as POISON, playing the amphitheaters and arenas. But I still see something amazing happening."

Michaels added that POISON's future plans depend partly on the health of drummer Rikki Rockett, who last year completed nine rounds of chemotherapy and seven weeks of radiation after being diagnosed with oral cancer in the summer. He said: "Right now we've all got a prayer out for Rikki and his health; we hope that it's great. And that's number one — for our drummer and his health and his kids and everything… He's working really hard at [his treatment]. And you know the combination — it's grace of God and good medical attention and taking care of himself. But I think if all goes great, which it will, I'm hoping in the very near future — I don't wanna say a date — we go out there and do some amazing shows together. And I'm thankful for every minute I have had and will have. Meaning I'm not… I'm not one of those guys, I'm not a bitter guy. I'm happy for what I've got and the amazing time we had together, and hopefully we'll continue to do it in the future. But if not, it was a great journey and a great time."

POISON appeared at the 2013 Indy 500 Miller Lite Carb Day, but has otherwise been mostly playing private shows, including one in January 2015.

Rockett has been critical of Michaels's decision to spend so much time nurturing his solo career. He said in a December 2015 interview: "I don't know that Bret wants to do another record with us. I think he'll do shows, I think he'll do maybe a tour."

He added: "POISON is my baby, you know what I mean? Thirty years. I don't wanna kill it off. But at the same time, it will get killed off if we don't do anything. It'll just automatically start to suffocate itself. And so, it's time to do something. This year is definitely decision time."

CINDERELLA bassist Eric Brittingham recently joined Bret's solo band.

Brittingham made his live debut with Michaels onApril 30 at Harrah's Laughlin Casino & Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada.

This is not the first time Eric and Bret have played together. Brittingham temporarily filled in for POISON bassist Bobby Dall on that band's summer 2009 tour with DEF LEPPARD when Dall became sick.

German metal band, Rage, will release their new album, The Devil Strikes Again, on June 10th via Nuclear Blast Records. The band have released the fourth official album trailer. Watch all four trailers below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

The Devil Strikes Again will be released in various formats: CD / Digibook (2CD)/ Deluxe Digibook (3CD) / 2LP. Pre-order the new album at this location.

Tracklisting:

CD/LP:
“The Devil Strikes Again”
“My Way”
“Back On Track”
“The Final Curtain”
“War”
“Ocean Full Of Tears”
“Deaf, Dumb And Blind”
“Spirits Of The Night”
“Times Of Darkness”
“The Dark Side Of The Sun”

Bonus (Digibook/ Deluxe / LP)
“Bring Me Down”
“Requiem”
“Into The Fire”
“Bravado” (Rush Cover)
“Slave To The Grind” (Skid Row Cover)
“Open Fire” (Y&T Cover)

CD Live 2016 (Deluxe only)
“Black In Mind” (live)
“Sent By The Devil” (live)
“End Of All Days” (live)
“Back In Time” (live)
“Down” (live)
“My Way” (live)
“Until I Die” (live)
“Don't Fear The Winter” (live)
“Higher Than The Sky” (live)

“Spirits Of The Night” lyric video:

“My Way” video:

Studio trailers:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Evil Masquerade have released a video for the track “Lost Inside A World Of Fear”, featured on their new album, The Outcast Hall Of Fame, out now via Dark Minstrel Music.

The band have announced Nicklas Sonne (see video above) as their live singer at the upcoming headliner show at the Breaking Bands Festival (UK) this weekend.

The new album was produced by Henrik Flyman, and was mixed and mastered by Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Pretty Maids, Jorn). Featured vocalists include Mats Levén (Candlemass), Rick Altzi (Masterplan, At Vance), Apollo Papathanasio (Spiritual Beggars), and Nicklas Sonne (Defecto, Malrun). Backing vocals by Yenz Leonhardt (Stormwarrior, Lacrimosa).

The album’s front cover was once again painted by David Troest, who also did the artwork for the albums The Digital Crucifix and 10 Years In The Dark.

Tracklisting:

“The Outcast Hall Of Fame”
“Death Of God”
“Darkness (I Need You)”
“One Thousand Roses And A Lot Of Pain”
“Lost Inside A World Of Fear”
“The Spineless”
“Märk Hur Vår Skugga”
“On No Way To Broadway”

Trailer:

Italian prog metal masters DGM will release their new album, entitled The Passage, on August 26th.

The Passage is DGM’s eighth studio album and is the culmination of almost 20 years of hard work that started back in 1997 with the release of their self-produced mini-album, Random Access Zone. The band went through several incarnations and lineup changes during the years, but since singer Mark Basile joined the group in 2007, DGM evolved and developed their sound into what they have now become.

It was probably the release of Frame (2007) that pushed the band into the top of the league of international prog metal. It was also on the strength of this material that DGM managed to tour for almost four years around the world, taking part in some of the biggest metal festivals, supporting Symphony X on their European tour, and sharing the stage with Pagan's Mind too. In 2013, DGM came back with Momentum, an album which showed the full stylistic maturity of a band which felt fully confident with their abilities, both on the songwriting and the musicianship side. The last album was promoted with more shows and after several gigs in Europe, they performed for the second time at ProgPower USA and started their first Asian tour in November 2014 playing Beijing, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka as headliners.

The new album, The Passage is another substantial step forward for DGM. Sounding like a hungry, urbanized version of Symphony X, with substantial hard rock influences, the new record is remarkable in several aspects. The compositions are phenomenal, with sweeping choruses, technical passages, lightning fast fretwork, big vocals and bombastic transitions. The playing is simply faultless and the melodies are perfectly woven into the killer guitars, epic keyboards, and pounding drums!

“This album can easily be seen as our most ambitious work to date,” says guitarist and producer Simone Mularoni.

“This time we tried to evolve to an even more personal sound. We took all the elements we developed through all these years and we tried to take them to the limit. Throughout the whole record you will hear a recurrent musical theme. Instead of doing a usual concept album with the lyrics, we decided to do a sort of musical concept with this melody that repeats in every song but every time with different time signatures and keys,” tells drummer Fabio Costantino.

“This album will offer to the listener a key for a positive dimension. A path made of sound vibrations: The Passage to our dreams and hopes,” concludes bassist Andrea Arcangeli.

Evergrey singer Tom Englund and Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo also appear as special guests tributing the value of this outstanding album. And let's not forget the great job that producer Simone Mularoni did in the studio. The future looks bright for these guys. Check them out live when they come to a town near you.

The Passage tracklisting:

“The Secret (Part 1)”
“The Secret (Part 2)”
“Animal”
“Ghosts Of Insanity”
“Fallen”
“The Passage”
“Disguise”
“Portrait”
“Daydreamer”
“Dogma”
“In Sorrow”

EPK:

Teaser:

DGM lineup:

Simone Mularoni – guitars, keyboards
Marco Basile – vocals
Andrea Arcangeli – bass
Fabio Costantino – drums
Emanuele Casali – keyboards

Special guests:
Tom Englund – vocals on “Ghosts Of Insanity”
Michael Romeo – lead guitar on “Dogma”

Chilean thrashers Nuclear have released a new video, covering Death’s classic "Evil Dead”. Originally released 29 years ago and given Nuclear’s extreme makeover,  the video includes tour footage, as well as shots from the recording sessions of the band's latest release, Formula For Anarchy (Candlelight Records 2015).

Nuclear had this to say about the video: "It is just our humble tribute to one of the greatest musicians metal music had the opportunity to listen. Chuck Schuldiner's indelible mark is still influencing tons of new metal acts around the world and Scream Bloody Gore was one hell of a start for all of us.”

Nuclear is currently working on new material and a new album is expected to be released in 2017 by Candlelight/Spinefarm Records.

Rome, Italy-based heavy doom outfit, Funeral Mantra, have released a lyric video for the track “Parsec”, featured on their latest album, Afterglow, available via Sliptrick Records.

Heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Orange Goblin, Spiritual Beggars, Kyuss, Grand Magus, Hawkwind, Black Label Society, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Motörhead and many others along the line, Funeral Mantra are the latest sensation from the doom/stoner scene of Rome and their new album sounds like a rock-solid heavy stoner blend with an old school and dynamic soul, with lyrics revolving around introspection, death, afterlife, reincarnation and dreamy substance induced scenarios.

Tracklisting:

“Soulstice”
“Dimensions Onward”
“Gravestone Reveries”
“Brainlost”
“In These Eyes”
“Funeral Mantra”
“Parsec”
“Counterfeit Soul”
“Drifting”
“Afterglow”

“Parsec” lyric video:

More on the band at this location.

Behexen, the Finnish sovereign of pure devilish black metal, are back four years after Nightside Emanations with their new album. The Poisonous Path is released today, May 27th, via Debemur Morti Productions and is available on CD, vinyl and digital. A full album stream can be found below.

Mixed and mastered by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio, The Poisonous Path, the aptly named, is a raging beast brutally animated by a strong and massive production. The riffing is abrasive, the atmosphere is mephitic and the melodies are bewitching. Behexen has never been so impressive and this new opus is, undoubtedly; their best effort to date.

The sinister artwork was crafted by Kristiina Lehto (Baptism, Horna, Sargeist):

Tracklisting:

“The Poisonous Path”
“The Wand Of Shadows”
“Cave Of The Dark Dreams”
“A Sword Of Protean Fire”
“Umbra Lucifieri”
“Tyrant Of Luminous Darkness”
“Chalice Of The Abyssal Water”
“Pentagram Of The Black Earth”
“Gallows Of Inversion”
“Rakkaudesta Saatanaan”

Album stream:

The Poisonous Path by BEHEXEN

"Chalice Of The Abyssal Water" video:

Whitechapel vocalist Phil Bozeman spoke to Metal Wani regarding the band’s forthcoming new album, “Mark Of The Blade“, which is out June 24th on Metal Blade. It’s already been widely reported already that the effort will feature clean singing from Bozeman on two tracks. He commented of that:

“I think including clean vocals into this album… it’s only just two songs, but, I think it’s gonna catch people off guard. They’re probably not gonna be able to swallow it down right as soon as they listen to it, but hopefully it will grow on them. And they will continue to support us, no matter what direction we’re going in.”

He later continued:

“Just because we’re a metal band doesn’t mean that’s the only thing that I listen to or anything like that, I love all kinds of different music. But, I’ve always sung in the car or my house or whatever. And I’ve never done it in a professional recording studio before and I just wanted to start implementing more melody into our music rather than just straight heaviness and roughness of the vocals.

I wanted to expand as an artist and not just be one-dimensional, not just have to scream all the time. You know, be able to show people that I’m not just one-dimensional, I can do this too. I just wanted to try it out and see how it went and it turned out… It ended up being alright, it was more than I expected, so that’s definitely what we were going for.”

In a brand new interview with Tattoo.com, MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked why he doesn't have any tattoos. He responded: "The truth of it, for me growing up the only real artist that had tattoos was Bon Scott. He would take his shirt off in AC/DC, and it was scary. Dangerous men and sailors had tattoos. Bon came out and he was tough, dangerous and badass. It really wasn't part of my culture. I remember when MÖTLEY CRÜE got the 'Girls, Girls, Girls' sleeve and then everyone started to follow. I would say MÖTLEY was probably the leader of the tattoo generation, and then fast forward into the '90s and it was all of the new metal guys getting tats. Me and Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH mainman] are probably the only guys of 70,000 people here [at the Carolina Rebellion festival, where the interview was conducted] that don't have tattoos."

MEGADETH played its first show with drummer Dirk Verbeuren (SOILWORK) on May 20 at the Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio.

MEGADETH recruited Verbeuren to play drums for the band while Chris Adler is busy touring with LAMB OF GOD.

Adler played drums on MEGADETH's latest album, "Dystopia", and has taken part in most of the band's live shows in support of the CD so far. On those shows where Adler was unable to play with MEGADETH, he was temporarily replaced by Tony Laureano (ex-DIMMU BORGIR, NILE, ANGELCORPSE), the veteran extreme-metal skinsman who has worked as MEGADETH's drum tech since 2011. However, going forward, MEGADETH will utilize the services of Verbeuren, the 40-year-old Belgian-born-and-now-Los-Angeles-based drummer who has been playing with SOILWORK since 2005.

Verbeuren was recommended for the MEGADETH job by Adler, who called Dirk "probably [one of the] top three drummers in the world."

Currently on tour in North America with ACT OF DEFIANCE, former MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick has launched a new guitar play-through for the track "Disastrophe", taken from ACT OF DEFIANCE's debut album, "Birth And The Burial".

In a new interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, Broderick stated about the circumstances that led to his decision to exit MEGADETH in late 2014: "I wouldn't say it's necessarily artistic and musical differences as much as it is the ability to express my musical and artistic choices. Everybody knows that MEGADETH is really Dave [Mustaine] and that's fine."

He continued: "I knew that [Mustaine was captain of the ship] going in. But there comes a time where you're like, 'I've done this and it's great but I'm a musician and artist at heart and I need to express myself that way. So I need to have that outlet for myself and not just do it in support of another person.'"

Regarding how MEGADETH was run, Broderick said: "It wasn't a democratic or an equal band in terms of the decision-making process. And again, I was totally fine with that at the time. It was awesome for my career and it was great playing for all those fans but at some point, when do you decide you're gonna be a musician and really create your own music or are you just going to record what somebody else wants?"

Asked if he would stayed in MEGADETH if he had been given more input and creative freedom, Chris said: "Oh, yeah. Definitely."

Broderick previously told Zombitrol.com about the three MEGADETH studio albums that he played on, 2009's "Endgame", 2011's "TH1RT3EN" and 2013's "Super Collider": "Well, I think ultimately those records are why ACT OF DEFIANCE exists. Because, ultimately, I didn't feel the freedom to be able to express myself musically on those CDs. So, for me, I have fond memories of really, more [than] anything, getting out and meeting the fans and being a part of that live culture, where they were so nice, they were so welcoming to me. You know, when you fill in somebody else's shoes, not everybody's gonna be there to congratulate you. And I felt like, overall, the fans really did, and I appreciate that to no end. But as far as the discography goes, I don't feel like I really had a lot of creative input on that end."

In addition to Broderick, ACT OF DEFIANCE features former MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover, ex-SCAR THE MARTYR singer Henry Derek Bonner and SHADOWS FALL's Matt Bachand (bass).

ACT OF DEFIANCE's debut album, "Birth And The Burial", was released on August 21, 2015 via Metal Blade Records.

PAPA ROACH has launched a PledgeMusic campaign for the band's next studio album. The campaign page contains a wide number of options through which fans can participate, including a day in the studio with the group for $2,000 and a private acoustic show in your backyard for $75,000. And if you have $600,000 handy, you can purchase PAPA ROACH's entire Sacramento, California studio and all its contents.

PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix told The Pulse Of Radio what he has in mind for the band's ninth studio effort. "I think it's time to shake it up again — tone-wise, guitar tone-wise, performance-wise — just something a bit different," he said. "Definitely high energy for us on this one and, you know, I mean it's a classic P. ROACH. Elements are always in there, the big guitar riff, the hooky vocal, the anthemic vibe — we still want to maintain that but bring just those different tones and production in."

The band's last album, "F.E.A.R.", was recorded in Las Vegas, taking the band out of their Sacramento, California home base for the first time since 2006.

The disc came out in January of last year and featured the Top 5 rock radio hits "Gravity" and the title cut.

PAPA ROACH began writing new music at its headquarters in Sacramento on February 1. The new disc will most likely be out in early 2017.

The Ramones (Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy) sounded like nothing else when their self-titled debut came roaring onto the scene in 1976. Even so, original drummer Tommy Ramone did do a pretty good job describing the band’s primal sound when he penned the quartet’s press bio that same year. “The Ramones all originate from Forest Hills and kids who grew up there either became musicians, degenerates or dentists. The Ramones are a little of each,” he observed. “Their sound is not unlike a fast drill on a rear molar.”

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Ramones, certainly one of the most important and influential albums of all time. This 29-minute masterpiece helped launch the punk rock scenes in both America and Britain, and also went on to inspire countless other artists for generations to come. To celebrate the Ramones’ lasting impact, Rhino has created the ultimate tribute to the band’s landmark debut, which comes packaged in a 12 x 12 hardcover book. The 3CD/1 vinyl LP set is a limited edition of 19,760 individually numbered copies and includes a sonically superior remastered stereo version and a meticulously recreated mono mix of the original album, plus rarities, unheard demos, and an unreleased live show, all produced, mixed, and mastered by the album’s original producer and mixer Craig Leon.

Ramones: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be available on July 29th for $64.98. Pre-orders can be placed now via the Ramones official online store. In addition to the music, the set also features extensive production notes about the recording of the original album by Leon, an essay looking back on the Ramones’ early days by rock journalist Mitchell Cohen, along with additional pictures taken by Roberta Bayley, whose iconic photo of the band graces the album’s cover.

The first disc features Leon’s newly remastered stereo version and mono mix of the album. “The earliest mixes of the album were virtually mono,” says Leon. “We had an idea to record at Abbey Road and do both a mono and stereo version of the album, which was unheard of at the time. I’m thrilled that now, 40 years later, we followed through on that original idea.”

The anniversary edition’s second disc spotlights single mixes, outtakes, and demos. Several of those recordings have never been released, including demos for “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” “53rd And 3rd,” and “Loudmouth.”

The third disc captures the band performing two full sets live at The Roxy in West Hollywood on August 12, 1976. While the band’s first set has been available before, the evening’s second set makes its debut here. Rounding out the set is a vinyl LP containing the new mono mix of Ramones.

Ramones: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Tracklisting

Disc One: Original Album
Stereo Version

"Blitzkrieg Bop"
"Beat On The Brat"
"Judy Is A Punk"
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
"Chain Saw"
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue"
"I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement"
"Loudmouth"
"Havana Affair"
"Listen To My Heart"
"53rd & 3rd"
"Let's Dance"
"I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You"
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World"

40th Anniversary Mono Mix

"Blitzkrieg Bop"*
"Beat On The Brat"*
"Judy Is A Punk"*
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"*
"Chain Saw"*
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue"*
"I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement"*
"Loudmouth"*
"Havana Affair"*
"Listen To My Heart"*
"53rd & 3rd"*
"Let's Dance"*
"I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You"*
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World"*

Disc Two: Single Mixes, Outtakes, and Demos

"Blitzkrieg Bop" (Original Stereo Single Version)
"Blitzkrieg Bop" (Original Mono Single Version)
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (Original Stereo Single Version)
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (Original Mono Single Version)
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World" (Original Uncensored Vocals)*
"I Don't Care" (Demo)
"53rd & 3rd" (Demo)*
"Loudmouth" (Demo)*
"Chain Saw" (Demo)*
"You Never Should Have Opened That Door" (Demo)
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (Demo)*
"I Can't Be" (Demo)
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World" (Demo)*
"I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You" (Demo)*
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" (Demo)
"I Don't Wanna Be Learned/I Don't Wanna Be Tamed" (Demo)
"You're Gonna Kill That Girl" (Demo)*
"What's Your Name" (Demo)

Disc Three: Live at The Roxy (8/12/76)
Set One

"Loudmouth"
"Beat On The Brat"
"Blitzkrieg Bop"
"I Remember You"
"Glad To See You Go"
"Chain Saw"
"53rd & 3rd"
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
"Havana Affair"
"Listen To My Heart"
"California Sun"
"Judy Is A Punk"
"I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You"
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World"
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue"
"Let's Dance"

Set Two

"Loudmouth"*
"Beat On The Brat"*
"Blitzkrieg Bop"*
"I Remember You"*
"Glad To See You Go"*
"Chain Saw"*
"53rd & 3rd"*
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"*
"Havana Affair"*
"Listen To My Heart"*
"California Sun"*
"Judy Is A Punk"*
"I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You"*
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World"*
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue"*
"Let's Dance"*

40th Anniversary Mono Mix LP

"Blitzkrieg Bop"*
"Beat On The Brat"*
"Judy Is A Punk"*
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"*
"Chain Saw"*
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue"*
"I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement"*
"Loudmouth"*
"Havana Affair"*
"Listen To My Heart"*
"53rd & 3rd"*
"Let's Dance"*
"I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You"*
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World"*

* Previously Unreleased

 

 

 

Guitar legend Paul Gilbert releases his newest record, I Can Destroy, today (May 27th) via earMUSIC on CD Jewel and digital. Snippets of the new songs “Love We Had” and “I Am Not The One (Who Wants To Be With You)”, as well as the bonus track “Great White Buffalo”, are streaming below.

From platinum album sales and number one chart success as a founding member of Mr. Big, to frightening the guitar community with new levels of ferocious picking technique with shred-pioneers Racer X, to exploring punk, pop, classical, blues, jazz, and progressive instrumental styles in his solo career, Paul Gilbert has recorded a massive amount of stunning guitar music, all while circling the globe to play sold-out arenas from Japan to Jakarta.

Gilbert’s style stands out for its rare combination of accuracy, creativity, and power – all which are balanced with Paul’s sense of humour and pure love of music.

Although Paul is best known for his work with Mr. Big and Racer X, he has also toured with Joe Satriani’s G3, played in a host of tribute concerts with legendary drummer Mike Portnoy, and been integral in the design of his signature Ibanez PGM and Fireman guitars.

Paul’s legacy as a guitar instructor began when he was eighteen, when he was hired to teach at Hollywood’s Guitar Institute of Technology. His groundbreaking “Intense Rock” videos and DVDs have inspired legions of guitarists to improve their accuracy, speed, and phrasing. Years as a columnist for Guitar Player magazine, and most recently, Premier Guitar magazine, along with giving countless clinics, private lessons, and serving for five years as the dean of MI Japan, have given Paul Gilbert deep experience in the art of communicating music to all levels of guitarists.

Over 25 years in the music business have only increased Paul’s passion to explore the possibilities of music and the art of playing the guitar. Whether he’s playing to 10,000 fans or jamming one-on-one with a student, Paul Gilbert is living his childhood dream of taking the sounds in his head and bringing them into reality – on the electric guitar.

I Can Destroy is Paul’s next solo-masterpiece and will be his 18th solo album. The album features 13 very diverse rock-tunes. With Kevin Shirley producing, and an amazing band of Freddie Nelson and Tony Spinner on guitars and vocals, Kevin Chown on bass, and Thomas Lang on drums, Paul rocks with more power and emotion than ever before.

Tracklisting:

“Everybody Use Your Goddamn Turn Signal”
“I Can Destroy”
“Knocking On A Locked Door”
“One Woman Too Many”
“Woman Stop"
“Gonna Make You Love Me”
“I Am Not The One (Who Wants To Be With You)”
“Blues Just Saving My Life”
“Make It (If We Try)”
“Love We Had”
“I Will Be Remembered”
“Adventure And Trouble”
“Great White Buffalo” (Bonus Track)

“Love We Had” snippet:

“I Am Not The One (Who Wants To Be With You)” snippet:

“Great White Buffalo” snippet:

“Knocking On A Locked Door" snippet:

“One Woman Too Many" snippet:

"Blues Just Saving My Life" snippet:

"I Will Be Remembered" snippet:

“Gonna Make You Love Me” snippet:

“Make It (If We Try)” snippet:

"Everybody Use Your Goddamn Turn Signal" video:

“I Can Destroy”:

Pre-roll video:

Lionheart look to be calling it quits, or at the very least going on hiatus. The band posted the following statement today:

“Toured with some good bands, toured with some bad ones. Met some great people, and some complete idiots. Started this band in a living room in San Francisco and ended up getting to see the world.

Seen a million bands, scenes, trends, and people come and go- now it’s our time. Everyone has jobs or careers that make doing this (even part time) next to impossible. One more EP, a split with one of our favorite bands, and some final US shows will be announced soon. The current Canadian & European dates will be our last shows in those territories.

Thank you for everything- this was one hell of a ride. -LHHC”

Night Verses will release their Ross Robinson (Korn, Slipknot) produced album “Into The Vanishing Light” on July 08th. The album will arrive through producer/musician Will Putney‘s Equal Vision Records imprint, Graphic Nature Records. A stream of the track “A Dialogue In Cataplexy” from it has debuted online below. Speaking of the album sessions, vocalist Douglas Robinson shared:

“Ross brought more to the table than I could have ever really imagined. He taught us how to elevate ourselves from what we were, while still being exactly who we are. He didn’t make us anything we didn’t want to be. He brought out what he saw in us and heightened it all as we learned even more about ourselves on our own. I personally felt so much more mentally aware and open with everything I was doing during the making of this record.

That – mixed with us just simply taking a chance on going against the grain of modern approaches to recordings and stepping out of our comfort zones – was a way for us (separately and as a whole) to surrender our old ways and give everything we had to the new process.”

Nikki Sixx has commented further on his war of words with KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons over Simmons's admittedly callous remarks regarding Prince's death, saying that "we just kind of look like a bunch of old women fighting at this point."

On Sixx's radio show, the MÖTLEY CRÜE and SIXX:A.M. bassist slammed Simmons — who's since apologized — saying: "His heartless and uneducated remarks about Prince's death shows why he's not my hero anymore or anybody's. I think that he is an overrated, lucky guy that dresses like a clown. He wrote some good songs, but hasn't in a long time, and loves to brag about himself."

Stanley responded on his Facebook page, knocking Sixx, by saying, "Jesus Christ, Nikki Sixx! Would you please shut up, find another way to be in the news and get off your self-inflated pedestal? Regardless of some things Gene Simmons has said that I may take issue with, his influence on musicians (you included) is undeniable and will continue. More importantly, his work, generosity and monetary contributions to numerous causes and charities for those less fortunate makes your ongoing rant, in the scheme of things, the unimportant but annoying squeak it truly is. Move on."

Well, "Loudwire Nights" host Toni Gonzalez caught up with Sixx before SIXX:A.M.'s gig at Rock On The Range this past weekend, she asked the bassist about the feud. He responded: "To be honest with you, I only really said one thing about Gene. The problem with having a five-hour radio show five days a week, and then we do three 'Countdown' shows on the weekend, is I talk. And the problem is that sometimes you will say something, you have an opinion about something, and [the media] will take just that fifteen seconds, and that gets magnified."

He continued: "I have a lot of opinions, just like you do, and anybody watching this interview, or listening to this interview, has, and if you only take those things and amplify 'em, it can get blown out of proportion. And what happened in this situation is I did have an opinion, and it got blown out of proportion, and then Paul said I was beating a dead horse. I actually wasn't; the press was beating a dead horse."

Sixx added: "You know, I'll just be honest with you. [When] I [was growing] up, I loved KISS. They influenced me as a songwriter. KISS gave MÖTLEY CRÜE one of their very first tours. They've done a lot of great stuff for me in my life. I've co-headlined tours with those guys, I've known 'em forever. Gene's a very opinionated man, and so am I.

"I'll be honest with you, I think we just kind of look like a bunch of old women fighting at this point. I love you guys. Like, whatever… it's all good. We're not getting in the ring and fighting over this.

"And I will say: great for Paul for standing up, not only against Gene but against me. I think that we need to be strong. It's cool."

Stanley, who was the first to slam Gene for calling Prince's alleged death from prescription drugs "pathetic," told The Pulse Of Radio that he thought Sixx was feigning outrage to keep the story alive in an effort to score ratings at KISS's and Simmons's expense. "Look, I think what Gene said was questionable, and I certainly took offense to some of it," he said. "But, y'know, I think he sometimes speaks without giving, y'know, full thought to what he's saying and then comes to regret it afterwards. But, y'know, that being said, for other people to just harp on it is just not something that I want to sit by and listen to. Y'know, when someone starts to denigrate or take pot shots at your contributions, or your band, or, y'know, anything else — if you consider the source, it gets a bit ludicrous."

According to The Pulse Of Radio, the lawyer for Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in the alleged "Stairway To Heaven" copyright case is snapping back at the plaintiff's legal team. Page and Plant are defending themselves in a U.S. Federal court jury trial after being sued by Michael Skidmore, the trustee of the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust, on behalf of the late SPIRIT guitarist who wrote "Taurus" and performed under the name Randy California. The trust is hoping to not only win a monetary judgment, but also secure a writing credit for California on "Stairway To Heaven", which the trust claims Page and Plant lifted key portions of for "Stairway To Heaven".

Billboard reported that the ZEPPELIN members' attorney stated in an opposition brief filed on Tuesday (May 24): "Plaintiff's motion is a PR stunt in the hope of tainting the jury pool. Despite being told that Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones fully intend to appear at the trial, plaintiff’s counsel misrepresented to the Court at the April 25, 2016 Pretrial Conference that Messrs. Page, Plant and Jones 'are refusing to appear in this court in the claims against them,' and plaintiff’s counsel repeated that misrepresentation to news cameras on the Courthouse steps, causing a flurry of press reports repeating plaintiff’s false accusation. When those reports died down, plaintiff triggered renewed reports of his misrepresentation by now filing a belated motion that is so devoid of merit it can only be seen as playing to the press."

Both Page and Plant have already sat for individual depositions in their defense and have never stated that they will not attend and participate in the ongoing trial.

Last month, Bloomberg.com posted that for a one dollar payment, the song's writers — Page and Plant — could bypass a high profile and possibly very damaging lawsuit, reporting, "Robert Plant and Jimmy Page would have to give dead rocker Randy California a writing credit on… 'Stairway To Heaven'. And that's probably worth a lot more than a buck. Such an agreement by Page and Plant, the band's guitarist and singer, respectively, would head off a much anticipated copyright infringement trial."

The performance and publishing worth of LED ZEPPELIN's "Stairway To Heaven" is estimated to be over $560 million.

Joe Schaeffer Photography has uploaded video footage of LAST IN LINE's May 25 performance at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. Check it out below.

LAST IN LINE is the band featuring DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell alongside fellow founding DIO member Vinny Appice, plus singer Andrew Freeman, who has previously fronted HURRICANE and LYNCH MOB.

LAST IN LINE has recruited Phil Soussan (OZZY OSBOURNE, BEGGARS & THIEVES, Steve Lukather) to play bass for the group for its shows this spring. Also joining them at the dates is virtuoso keyboardist Erik Norlander (Lana Lane).

Soussan made his live debut with LAST IN LINE on April 14 at Count's Vamp'd Rock Bar & Grill in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Freeman previously played with Soussan in the acclaimed Las Vegas rock and roll production "Raiding The Rock Vault".

Appice and Soussan had done a number of shows together as members of the all-star jam band BIG NOIZE.

Original LAST IN LINE bassist Jimmy Bain passed away in late January at the age of 68. He was reportedly suffering from lung cancer at the time of his death.

LAST IN LINE's debut album, "Heavy Crown", was released on February 19, 2016 via Frontiers Music Srl. The CD was recorded at a Santa Clarita, California studio with producer Jeff Pilson, a veteran bassist who has played with DIO, FOREIGNER, DOKKEN and T&N, among others.

In a recent interview with Glide Magazine, Vivian stated about LAST IN LINE's future: "I honestly don't know. We're not in a position where we have to make that decision yet, fortunately, because we only have this opportunity to do these handful of shows. It would have been wrong to just go out on tour a month after Jimmy died with some guy playing bass. That would have been very disrespectful. So we're just trying to find the right balance now between doing nothing and giving up and doing something to help this record and consequently further Jimmy's memory, 'cause Jimmy really believed in this record and this band. In fact, so much so, last year Jimmy got a LAST IN LINE tattoo on his arm. When he died, it was the only tattoo on his body, the LAST IN LINE logo. He believed in this project so much and he was so involved creatively in this record, and it is a great record and a great bookend to his career.

"Like I said, we're fortunate we don't have to make that decision yet. We're just going to do these handful of shows and then I'm on tour with LEPPARD until mid-October. So if anything does happen further with LAST IN LINE, it wouldn't happen before the end of the year. So we have a lot of time to think about it and I guess, more than anything else, our decision on our future would be determined by what happens with the record. And so far it's very encouraging, the reviews and the responses have been tremendous. With that in mind, and if it continues that way, if there's enough of a desire for people to hear us play, then we probably would."

Northern Irish rockers THE ANSWER have completed work on their new album, "Solas", for an October 14 release. The CD was produced by Andy Bradfield and Avril Macintosh, who previously worked with THE ANSWER on their 2006 album "Rise". "Solas", which is the Gaelic (Irish language) word for "light," is also the title of the lead track on the new album.

Commented THE ANSWER lead singer Cormac Neeson: "All I will say about this record is that it's a journey and one we've never really taken before, so prepare yourselves for a few surprises. But don't worry, they are ridiculously good surprises... well, I think so anyway."

THE ANSWER's last album, "Raise A Little Hell", was released in North America in March 2015 via Napalm.

THE ANSWER consists of Cormac Neeson (vocals), Paul Mahon (guitar), Michael Waters (bass) and James Heatley (drums).

Sonic Shocks conducted an interview with vocalist/guitarist Jesper Binzer of Danish rockers D-A-D before the band's April 27 concert at London, England's Islington O2 Academy. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about D-A-D's plans for the follow-up to 2011's "DIC.NII.LAN.DAFT.ERD.ARK" album, Jesper said: "We are working very hard at the moment. We have recorded eleven songs on the demo level. At least six of those, we feel, are extremely good… very good songs. So we need to record some more demos. We'll do that in June, and then we will start recording the album for real in October. We promise."

Jesper also talked about how the D-A-D's songwriting process has evolved more than thirty years into the band's career. He said: "Unfortunately, it hasn't changed at all. It's still us fighting in the rehearsal space. No one really brings a full song; everybody works together on each song. And, of course, sometimes it's very tedious, sometimes it's very quick. Sometimes the creative juices are flowing so much that you [put together] two songs in one day. But sometimes, you know… 'No, I don't like the chorus,' and 'I don't like the verse. 'But yesterday you said the verse was…' 'Yeah, but I lied.' But, on the other hand, it's so nice that the four of us can put all our energy and all our love behind a new song, and that's going on with at least six of the new songs."

D-A-D made its first U.S. appearance in over 20 years in March 2013 at Revolution in Amityville, New York.

"DIC.NII.LAN.DAFT.ERD.ARK" was originally released in November 2011. The follow-up to 2008's "Monster Philosophy" was helmed by Nick Foss, who previously worked with D-A-D on such LPs as "No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims", "Sympatico", "Everything Glows" and "Soft Dogs". The album title is a play on D-A-D's original band name DISNEYLAND AFTER DARK, which had to be changed after a threat of a lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company.

Jackyl will release their brand new album, Rowyco, on August 5th via Mighty Loud Records. The cover art, tracklisting, and an Amazon pre-order widget can be found below.

"Disasterpiece"
"Rally"
"All Night Rodeo"
"Ahead of My Time" 
"Just Because I'm Drunk"  
"Everyone's A Winner"
"Crazy" 
"Hammer To The Head" 
"Limpdick" 
"Blast Off"

Catch Jackyl live at the following shows:

June
2 - Sandusky, OH - Bike Week at The Downtown Block Party  
3 - Chesterfield, MI - Diesel Concert Lounge
4 - Akron, NY - Braun's Concert Cove  
5 - Syracuse, NY - The Westcott Theater
8 - Sharon, PA - Quaker Steak & Lube
10 - Rothbury, MI - Sandy Corley Memorial Run at Double JJ Resort  
11 - Fond Du Lac, WI - Walleye Weekend at Lakeside Park  
17 - Stroudsburg, PA - Sherman Theater
18 - Loudon, NH - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
25 - Johnstown, PA - Thunder In The Valley at Peoples Natural Gas Park
26 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage   

July 
1 - Simpsonville, SC - Independence Slam at Charter Spectrum Am
13 - Erie, PA - Roar On The Shore  
15 - Mineral Wells, WV - Interstate Fair   
16 - Marion, IN - Brandt's I-69 Harley Davidson  
22 - Pompano Beach, FL - Pompano Beach Ampitheatre  
29 - Van Wert, OH - Wetzelland 30th Anniversary Motorcycle Rally  

August
19 - Milford, IA - Boji Bay Fun Pavillion  

September
6 - Minot, ND - The O'Riginal Bar & Nightclub
9 - Hinckley, MN - Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheatre  

November
25 - Indianapolis, IN - 8 Second Saloon

 

Vocalist Chris VanDahl (L.A. Guns), guitarist Todd "Taz" Anthony, guitarist Stacey Blades (L.A. Guns), bassist Eric Stacy (Faster Pussycat), and drummer Troy Patrick Farrell (White Lion) have joined forces in a brand new band named Angels In Vein.

Angels In Vein is a classic rock band with mainstream elements seamlessly woven into both its musical tapestry and cutting edge production, making its unique sound immediately identifiable yet virtually timeless.

AIVs freshman offering is the culmination of a band who's independent and collective abilities have generated six gold albums, numerous billboard singles and millions in record sales worldwide. This is Angels In Vein.

Check out a brief video teaser, featuring the band's first single "1973". Visit Angels In Vein on Facebook for further details.

 

43 years after his contribution to one of the most successful records of all time and 40 years after the release of The Alan Parsons Project’s debut album in 1976, Alan Parsons returns with all his greatest hits in a superb symphonic show.

On the evening of August 31st, 2013, a large crowd gathered at Parque Pies Descalzos in Medellín, Colombia. When Alan Parsons appeared on stage, along with the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra and his band the audience went wild. This is an audio visual document of that incredible evening.

The Alan Parsons Symphonic Project - Live In Colombia is to be released on May 27th on earMUSIC as a DVD, Blu-ray, 2-CD digipak, 3xVinyl, and download. Watch an official video trailer for the upcoming release below:

Alan Parsons was 19 years old when he landed a job at the world famous Abbey Road Studios, an important first step on his journey to becoming a world class engineer, producer and artist. Following his beginnings with George Martin and The Beatles, his contribution to Pink Floyd’s classic The Dark Side Of The Moon earned him worldwide attention. As a producer he had many hits with Pilot, John Miles, Ambrosia and Al Stewart. Together with his manager and creative partner at the time, Eric Woolfson, he developed the Alan Parsons Project.

Following their debut album Tales Of Mystery And Imagination (1976), they released a series of hit albums; namely I Robot (1977), Pyramid (1978), The Turn Of A Friendly Card (1980), Eye In The Sky (1982), Ammonia Avenue (1984), Vulture Culture (1985), Stereotomy (1986) and Gaudi (1987).

Then Parsons and Woolfson called it a day, but Parsons had ambitions to perform the amazing music live. Now to the great delight of his fans, for the first time on a live video and audio recording, The Alan Parsons Symphonic Project combines the talents of his amazing band with the lush sound of a 70-piece symphony orchestra, creating a very special show with unmatched quality. Together, they revitalize hits such as “Eye In The Sky“, “Don’t Answer Me“ and “Sirius“.

The lineup consists of Alan Parsons on acoustic guitar, keys, and vocals, P.J. Olsson (lead vocals), Alastair Greene (guitar, vocals), Guy Erez (bass, vocals), Danny Thompson (drums, vocals), Tom Brooks (keyboards, vocals) und Todd Cooper (saxophone, guitar, percussion, vocals). Alejandro Posada conducts the Medellin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tracklisting:

“I Robot”
“Damned If I Do”
“Don’t Answer Me”
“Breakdown”
“The Raven”
“Time”
“I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”
“La Sagrada Familia”
“The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Part One)”
“Snake Eyes”
“The Ace Of Swords”
“Nothing Left To Lose”
“The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Part Two)”
“What Goes Up”
“Luciferama”
“Silence And I”
“Prime Time”
“Sirius”
“Eye In The Sky”
“Old And Wise”
“Games People Play”

“Don’t Answer Me”:

“Eye In The Sky”: