MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has refused to apologize for posting a video message in which he slammed his former guitar tech as a "total waste of skin and life" after an apparently less-than-ideal show on October 21 in Brisbane, Australia that resulted in the tech being "fired."

While chatting with fans yesterday (Saturday, October 31) via Periscope, a live video streaming platform owned by Twitter, Mustaine clarified that his longtime guitar tech Willie Gee was not the tech he was talking about after the Brisbane concert. He explained (see video below): "Willie Gee hasn't worked for me since April, so… I love Willie; we're still very close friends. He's just retiring."

Mustaine went on to describe the events that led to his former tech getting fired. "What happened? The guy lied to me," the MEGADETH leader said. "He gave me a guitar that wasn't plugged in or turned on two times and unplugged one time, and you know what? That's just not acceptable. I wish I didn't say it the way I said it, but I'm not gonna apologize."

He continued: "But you know what? I forgive him. And I still like the guy. It's just one of those things. Actually, if I see him again, I'm not gonna hold a grudge and I'll probably give him a hug and thank him for trying."

Asked how he noticed his guitar wasn't plugged in, Mustaine responded: "Well, 'cause it was making all kinds of sounds from the cord hitting the body of the guitar and nothing coming out from the fretboards."

MEGADETH's current touring lineup is rounded out by founding bassist David Ellefson, LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler and Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, best known for his work with ANGRA.

Due to his LAMB OF GOD schedule, Adler was unable to play with MEGADETH in China and Japan last month and was temporarily replaced by Tony Laureano (ex-DIMMU BORGIR, NILE, ANGELCORPSE), a veteran extreme-metal skinsman who has worked as MEGADETH's drum tech since 2011.

Adler made his live debut with MEGADETH in July at the Festival D'été De Québec (also known as by its acronym FEQ, or Quebec City Summer Festival in English), in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

MEGADETH's fifteenth studio album, "Dystopia", will be released on January 22, 2016. The follow-up to 2013's "Super Collider" was recorded earlier in the year in Nashville, Tennessee and was mixed by Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with LAMB OF GOD, ALL THAT REMAINS and GOJIRA.

Ozzy Osbourne played his first solo show in some time on Halloween (Saturday, October 31) at the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans. Joining Ozzy for the 90-minute set as guests were Slash, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello and Ozzy's BLACK SABBATH bandmate Geezer Butler on bass.

According to NOLA.com, "Morello had applied the words 'OZZY RULES' to the back of his instrument, so that when he raised the guitar body to eye level and apparently plucked the strings with his teeth, the audience was treated to an unexpected Ozzy tribute."

The setlist was as follows:

01. I Don't Know02. Mr. Crowley (with Tom Morello)03. Bark At The Moon (with Tom Morello)04. Suicide Solution05. Shot In The Dark06. Guitar Solo (Gus G.)07. Rat Salad (BLACK SABBATH song)08. Drum Solo09. Iron Man (BLACK SABBATH song) (with Geezer Butler)10. Behind The Wall Of Sleep (BLACK SABBATH song) (with Geezer Butler)11. N.I.B. (BLACK SABBATH song) (with Geezer Butler)12. Snowblind (BLACK SABBATH song) (with Geezer Butler)13. Children Of The Grave (BLACK SABBATH song) (with Slash)14. War Pigs (BLACK SABBATH song) (with Geezer Butler)15. Fairies Wear Boots (BLACK SABBATH song) (with Geezer Butler)16. I Don't Want To Change The World17. Crazy Train

Encore

18. Mama, I'm Coming Home19. Paranoid

Check out fan-filme video footage below.

A review of the concert and photos can be found at NOLA.com.

A few days before the gig, Ozzy gave The Pulse Of Radio a rundown on the lineup. "I haven't played with Tom Morello but I've met him a couple of times and he seems a nice enough guy and I've heard nothing but great things about him," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing him. And Geezer and Slash — we all know Slash. Slash is an entity on his own, you know. He's a great friend of mine as well. And Geezer Butler, I've known him since we were about 12."

Tom Morello said in an interview with Maxim that the chance to play with Ozzy is "a thrill," adding, "My first-born son Rhoads Morello is named after the great [late Ozzy guitarist] Randy Rhoads… So being able to play with Ozzy on some of Randy's songs is another check off the bucket list."

Ozzy will rejoin SABBATH in early 2016 for what is being dubbed as that band's farewell tour, which kicks off on on January 20 in Omaha, Nebraska. A second leg of North American dates commencing on August 17 in Wantagh, New York was unveiled last week.

Critical Solution will release Sleepwalker, the follow up to their debut album Evil Never Dies on December 12 on Punishment 18 Records. Sleepwalker is another horror filled concept album recorded in SonicTrain Studios in Sweden with producer Andy LaRocque.

The band just completed a Scandinavian tour supporting W.A.S.P and hopes to be back on the road early 2016.

As previously reported Mercyful Fate guitarists Michael Denner and Hank Shermann will guest on the coming album along with Grave axeman Mika Lagren.

The band comments, “We are psyched to finally get signed and release this beast of an album. You do not want to miss this! We hope to get back on the road next year and will also enter the studio next year for our third album!”

Tracklisting:

“The Curse”
“Sleepwalker”
“Welcome To Your Nightmare”
“Blood Stained Hands”
“Murder In The Night”
“Evidence Of Things Unseen”
“LT. Elliot” (featuring Mika Lagreen)
“Dear Mother”
“The Death Lament”
“Back From The Grave” (featuring Michael Denner and Hank Shermann)

“Back From The Grave”:

“Welcome To Your Nightmare”:



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British metal band Def Con One will be releasing a live bootleg style CD in November, the idea came about after fans kept asking for a live CD/DVD from the band. The songs are taken from their headline slots at Beermageddon festival in 2012 and the Hordes Of Belial festival in 2014, the songs have been mixed and mastered with all the atmosphere “warts n all” being captured right there on the disc.

The disc will be a limited edition digi-pack, only available from concerts or via the band’s website, these tracks won’t be up on YouTube or Spotify, etc.

Currently working on new material, Def Con One will be active on the live front throughout the rest of the year as they play new venues and return to old favourites. More shows are being added so check the band’s website for all the latest news.



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Anathema, one of the UK's most cherished and critically acclaimed rock bands, released a live Blu-ray/audio collection entitled A Sort Of Homecoming today, October 30th, via Kscope. Directed by Lasse Hoile (Steven Wilson, Katatonia, Opeth), A Sort Of Homecoming is a stunning concert film of Anathema's homecoming show on March 7th, 2015 in the spectacular setting of the Liverpool Cathedral. Watch “Untouchable Part 1” from the release, below:

"I'm really happy that this night in particular has been preserved," commented Anathema guitarist/vocalist, Vincent Cavanagh. "As anyone from Liverpool will tell you, to be given the chance to play the Anglican Cathedral is monumental and a huge honor. The place is absolutely huge. Just look at the cover, it was like doing a gig in Erebor!"

Having previously worked with Anathema on the acclaimed Universal concert film, Lasse Hoile captured the 100 minute acoustic set in high definition against the sensational backdrop of Liverpool Cathedral. Featuring 15 songs selected from the albums Distant Satellites, Weather Systems, We're Here Because We're Here, A Natural Disaster and Alternative 4, the 'Anathema Acoustic' trio of Daniel Cavanagh, Vincent Cavanagh and Lee Douglas were joined by rhythm section John Douglas and Jamie Cavanagh, alongside their very talented close friend David Wesling on cello who also played on Hindsight (2009) and A Moment In Time (2006). For this exclusive performance the band was also joined by the renowned violinist, Anna Phoebe, on a haunting rendition of "Anathema." The audio has been produced and mixed by Christer-André Cederberg who worked on Distant Satellites, Universal and Weather Systems, with the cover and booklet artwork featuring the stunning photography from the show and behind the scenes by long time collaborator Caroline Traitler. This is the first Anathema live release to feature a 5.1 audio mix, engineered by Bruce Soord.

Watch the concert trailer below.

Kscope release A Sort Of Homecoming as:

- 4 disc box set: 2 CD concert audio (100 mins), DVD with full concert plus an additional behind the scenes film "A Temporary Peace" and concert on Blu-ray disc. In a deluxe rigid media book with 36 page booklet, presented in a slipcase
 - 2CD + DVD-V: The set features the full 100 minute audio and DVD-V of the concert with 5.1 audio mixed by The Pineapple Thief's Bruce Soord
 - Blu-ray disc: The full 100 minute concert plus an additional behind the scenes film "A Temporary Peace" with 5.1 audio mixed by The Pineapple Thief's Bruce Soord
 - LP: A gatefold triple 180g black vinyl LP including MP3 download code
 - Digital: Concert audio only
 
All formats, excluding digital download, are available to order via the Kscope web-store at this location.

Tracklisting:

“The Lost Song Part 2”
“Untouchable Part 1”
“Untouchable Part 2”
“Thin Air”
“Dreaming Light”
“Anathema”
“Ariel”
“Electricity”
“Temporary Peace”
“The Beginning And The End”
“Distant Satellites”
“Take Shelter”
“Internal Landscapes”
“A Natural Disaster”
“Fragile Dreams”

Trailer:

Anathema tour dates:
 
October
30 - Sydney, Australia - Metro Theatre
31 - Melbourne, Australia - Corner Hotel

November
1 - Perth, Australia - Rosemount Hotel
4 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Cathedral
5 - Paris, France - Église Saint-Eustache (acoustic)
6 - Bochum, Germany (acoustic)
7 - Leipzig, Germany - Täubchenthal (acoustic)
9 - Utrecht, Netherlands - TivoliVredenburg
10 - Mannheim, Germany - Capitol (acoustic)
11 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Royal Bulgaria Hall (acoustic)
15-19 - Miami, FL, USA - Cruise To The Edge

 



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The Montreal, QC hard rock/metal band AraPacis has released their new single "Streets Of Anger" from their forthcoming album System Deceive. Download the track for free at this location.

It features a blistering lead guitar solo from Steph Honde (Hollywood Monsters/Di'Anno) and the driving and melodic bass lines of John Gallagher (Raven).

Lineup:
Vocals: Shelle Macpherson
Rhythm Guitar and Keyboards: Jerry Fielden
Lead Guitar: Steph Honde
Bass: John Gallagher
Drums: Marc Retson

Their fifth album System Deceive is scheduled for early 2016 on Note Musik. 

Last year's 4th album from the band, A Disturbing Awakening, had featured guests such as Don Airey (Deep Purple, Ozzy, Rainbow) and Guy LeBlanc (Camel, Nathan Mahl).

(Photo by: Myriam Francoeur)



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Swedish melodic rockers Solution .45 will release their new album Nightmares In The Waking State – Part I on November 20 via AFM Records. A new video for “Winning Where Losing Is All” is streaming below.

The album will be available on CD and gatefold blue 2LP (limited to 500 units) as well as most digital platforms.

Tracklisting:

“Wanderer From The Fold”
“Perfecting The Void”
“Bleed Heavens Dry”
“Winning Where Losing Is All”
“In Moments Of Despair”
“Second To None”
“Targeting Blaze”
“After (The Unbearable Weight Of Nothing)”
“Wield The Scepter”
“I, Nemesis” 

“Winning Where Losing Is All” video:

“Perfecting The Void” lyric video:



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Wisconsin-based newcomers Product Of Hate chose their band name for a good reason. The five-piece honed their brutal and groovy thrash sound / NWOAHM by sharing the stage with Lamb Of God, Meshuggah, Gwar and Testament to name a few. The band is pumped and ready to introduce the world to their debut album, Buried In Violence. The band has released a new video for "Unholy Manipulator".
 
Product Of Hate has confirmed a February 5th, 2016 release date for their debut album, Buried In Violence, via Napalm Records. The brutal artwork was designed Colin Marks of Rain Song Design. The album was mixed and mastered by the legendary James Murphy, known for his work with Death, Testament and Obituary.

"When you see the album art, right away you know what to expect. Dark, brutal, and unforgiving... The artwork was designed around the lyrics from our song, "Buried in Violence." It became the title track." says vocalist Adam Gilley.

Napalm Records A&R Representative Demetri Benoist added: "We are really looking forward to the release of Product Of Hate's debut album Buried In Violence! These guys are going to take the metal world by storm in 2016!"

Tracklisting:

“Kill. You. Now.”
“Annihilation”
“...As Your Kingdom Falls”
“Blood Coated Concrete”
“Monster”
“Buried In Violence”
“Vindicare”
“Nemesis”
“Revolution Of Destruction”
“Unholy Manipulator”
“Perry Mason”

“Unholy Manipulator” video:

Be on the lookout for new music soon as well as tour dates which will be announced in the coming weeks.



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Autumns Eyes founder/mastermind Dan Mitchell has resurfaced with a new release. He has issued the following update:

"Halloween is finally here, and so is new music from solo metal band Autumns Eyes. The track is titled “Internal Arson” and is available for free download via the Autumns Eyes Bandcamp page. The new single also received a brand new music video from the solo metal band, which can be viewed on the Autumns Eyes YouTube page. Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled this November for Autumns Eyes next album titled Ending Life Slowly which features the new single “Internal Arson, along with plenty more new music to keep the Halloween spirit going all year long." 

Check out the official Autums Eyes Facebook page here

Internal Arson by Autumns Eyes



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Jeff Young was the lead guitarist on Megadeth’s platinum selling So Far, So Good… So What album and world tour. Jeff hasn’t performed any track from that album live since leaving the band, but at the special request of the producers of the Hard Rock Cafe 25th Anniversary Celebration, this happened.

Watch front row footage of Jeff and vocalist Sherri Klein can be seen below:

Working together under the official moniker of Jeff Young & Sherri, they recently posted live performance footage from a recent show in Las Vegas in The Lounge @ The Palms. Check out covers of "Ain't No Sunshine" / "Funk #49" (Bill Withers and James Gang repectively) below:

The Band:

Sherri - lead vocals
Jeff Young - guitars
Jeff Tortora - drums
AJ Johnson - bass, vocals
David King - keyboards

For information and updates on Jeff Young & Sherri go to this location.

 



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The Hell are back to offer their most ludicrous, ambitious record to date. Fresh on the heels of their 2014 label debut Groovehammer and a string of, as the band puts it, "bonkers" shows across Europe, they've truly honed their heavy metal theatrics.  

The Hell’s follow-up effort, Brutopia - out worldwide digitally today (October 30th), and on CD and LP on December 11th - is a concept album of sorts, based around a bleak, tragic world riddled with hate, corruption and greed that seems worryingly familiar. Check out a new lyric video for “Painiac” below.

“Painiac” lyric video:

"I've Got Loads of Money" lyric video:

The Hell will celebrate the release of Brutopia in London tonight with a release show and Halloween party at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. Next week, the band will continue to scourge their way across the UK bringing their cutting social mockery to audiences throughout November and December.



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“Her Halo”, the new video from Melbourne, Australia’s progressive metal ensemble Teramaze, can be seen below:

Teramaze recently signed to Music Theories Recordings, which is a part of the Mascot Label Group. The band’s first release for the label, Her Halo, is out today October 30th. Orders at Mascot Label Group. BraveWords is hosting the North American premier of “Her Halo”, the new album is streaming below.

Teramaze was originally formed during lead guitarist/producer Dean Well’s teenage years. The band put out a couple albums in the early years, but it wasn’t until the release of Anhedonia in 2012 that Wells felt the modern version of Teramaze actually began. That third album was met with critical acclaim, as was the follow up of 2014’s Esoteric Symbolism, which saw the quartet making a bolder statement and taking no prisoners to flex their musical muscle even further. Now with new vocalist Nathan Peachey and a new record deal with Mascot Label Group, Teramaze have arrived with their cinematic Her Halo. These new beginnings not only brings about more potential, but promise as well.

A press release states: “Wells will tell you himself that the Teramaze sound is assembled within the framework of the songwriting. Regardless of that focus, there is certainly a lot more than simply a faint slither of technicality due to the intricate musical bravado brushing up against the melodies, tunefully brandishing a smoothly executed soundscape while retaining the sheer loudness minus the belligerent anxiety. No wasting time trying to figure out where a solo should be, what type of insane time signature can be put in, and so on. The music shines, not blinds. Even with that melodic sensibility in tow, these guys don't limit themselves to the confines of what stereotypical prog-metal is, as their catchy sonatas emphasize both the precision minded musicianship and melodies with divine harmonious vigor.”

"It was very much a conscious decision to focus on the songs," elaborates Wells, "Our music is all about the song as a whole. If a melody only needs a slow guitar solo with only three notes, then so be it. There's no need to add anything else that might take away from the track itself. If we focus on the songwriting, we can appeal to musicians or anybody who loves good music."  

Her Halo tracklisting:

“An Ordinary Dream”
“To Love A Tyrant”
“Her Halo”
“Out Of Subconscious”
“For The Innocent”
“Trapeze”
“Broken”
“Delusions Of Grandeur”

Album stream:

"Out Of Subconscious" video:

Album trailer:



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Southern California's rising underground metal/hardcore outfit Twitching Tongues release their new album, Disharmony, today via Metal Blade Records. Check out their new music video for “Insincerely Yours”, streaming below:

The band recently launched the making of video for Disharmony. The album was recorded at guitarist/vocalist Taylor Young's studio (The Pit) in Van Nuys, CA; for behind-the-scenes footage from the studio session, see below:

Twitching Tongues recently announced they’ve added lead guitarist Sean Martin (ex-Hatebreed) as an official member of the band, which also includes brothers Colin Young (vocals) and Taylor Young (guitar/vocals).
 
Martin amicably split with Hatebreed in 2009 and joins Twitching Tongues as they prepare for the release of Disharmony.
 
"The addition of Sean to Twitching Tongues is absolutely fucking insane to us,” says Colin. “He is someone Taylor and I have looked up to and respected musically for over a decade. For two kids from Connecticut, this is as good as it gets."
 
"I'm excited to say that I'll be playing guitar for Twitching Tongues in support of their new album, Disharmony,” adds Martin. “I'm looking forward to getting back on the road to do what I was born to do... summon the riff. See you all soon."

Disharmony tracklisting:

“Disharmony”
“Insincerely Yours”
“Asylum Avenue”
“Love Conquers None”
“Insatiable Sin”
“Cannibal”
“Sacrifice Me”
“Arrival”
“The End Of Love”
“Cruci-Fiction”

"Asylum Avenue":

"Disharmony" video:

Twitching Tongues has announced a fall headlining tour with Harm's Way in support of their upcoming record, Disharmony. Additional support will be provided by Homewrecker and Malice At The Palace.

Tour dates:

November
11 - Meza, AZ - The Underground*
13 - Dallas, TX - Sons Of Herman Hall
15 - Houston, TX - Walters Downtown
17 - Orlando, FL - Backbooth
18 - Tampa, FL - Epic Problem
19 - Jacksonville, FL - Underbelly
20 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
21 - Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall
22 - Richmond, VA - Canal Club
23 - Amityville, NY - Amityville Music Hall
25 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison*
26 - Montreal, QC - La Vitrola*
27 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East Downstairs
28 - New York, NY - The Studio at Webster Hall
29 - Philadelphia, PA - Voltage Lounge

December
1 - Pittsburgh, PA - Cattivo
2 - Cleveland, OH -  Now That’s Class
3 - Detroit, MI - The Café*
4 - Chicago, IL - Double Door

*no Harm’s Way

 



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Up and coming modern progressive metal outfit, Novelists, have released the official snippet teaser for their upcoming debut album, Souvenirs. The  album release has been pushed back from November 6th to November 13th due to unforeseen technical issues during the production process.

Arising Empire is a brand new label founded by Markus Staiger (owner Nuclear Blast) and Tobbe Falarz (ex-People Like You label manager) which will focus on new, fresh, talented and young bands from all genres besides and beyond metal.

Souvenirs was mixed and mastered under the masterful watch of Novelists bass player Nicolas Delestrade (Betraying The Martyrs) at NDSE Recordings and will feature guest appearances by Pierre Danel (Kadinja), Lotti Holz and Plini Roessler-Holgate (Plini).

Find the cover artwork created by the band's gifted guitarist, Charly Kelevra, below, as well as the official video for the single “Gravity”.

Souvenirs will be released in a lavish digipak including 2 bonus tracks and will contain the following tracks:

“Inanimate”
“Earth Grazer”
“Gravity”
“Antares”
“Ouroboros”
“Black Lights”
“Voyager”
“Muchos Touché”
“Echoes” feat. Pierre Danel
“5:12 AM” feat. Plini Roessler-Holgate & Lotti Holz
“The Lichtenberg Figure”
“Souvenirs”

+ 2 Bonus Tracks

“Voyager” video:

“Gravity” video:

Novelists is:

Matt Gelsomino - vocals
Florestan Durand - guitar
Amael Durand - drums
Charly Kelevra - guitar
Nicolas Delestrade - bass

 



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“The Citizen”, a new song from Billy Sherwood’s upcoming Citizen album, is streaming below. In writing the song, Billy Sherwood’s main goal was to set up his concept album, Citizen, about a lost soul reincarnated in different eras. Almost modeling the album’s opening after the beginning scroll of the movie Star Wars, he wanted the lyrics show how one thing could change the course of history.

“I think people need to listen to the album once, and then start again with the song “The Citizen” as it shows that the guy has already been there throughout history.”

Billy’s aware that the song can also stand on its own, and thus be interpreted in other ways including the responsibility of citizens being informed.

“That is the cool thing about music, is that people can read a lot of things into it.  It shows how the music relates to the listener.”

It is significant that the song is the last recording of Billy’s mentor, YES bassist Chris Squire. Earlier this year when Chris was diagnosed with cancer, he handpicked Billy Sherwood to fill in for him on bass and vocals in YES, before he left for cancer treatment and ultimately, his untimely death.  Former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye is also on the recording.  

“Just Galileo And Me”, another new song from Citizen is streaming below. The track features a guest appearance from XTC’s Colin Moulding.

"Just Galileo And Me" is about Galileo’s friend and confidante trying to convince the scientist to keep his theory that “the earth is not flat”, which is also the song’s hook, to himself for fear he’ll be labeled a heretic.The friend does acknowledge the scientist’s conviction, and the lyrics show how he knew that  “eventually they would see.”

Sherwood recently unveiled the first single and music video, “No Man’s Land,” from Citizen. The video and the song, which features Deep Purple/Dixie Dregs/Kansas guitarist Steve Morse are about a World War I runner, someone who runs from trench to trench where his fellow soldiers are fighting, to pass messages from their leaders—the generals who are giving orders from behind friendly lines.

In “No Man’s Land,” the Runner sees his buddies die, and, as the video progresses, seems to be walking more and more in a daze. Billy says, “You get the idea that he’s the only guy who walked away from the battle.”

Billy used three distinct sources for footage in “No Man’s Land”: 1) archival footage from World War I, 2) a cameraman taping him up-close and facing front in a brightly-lit room, 3) modern day footage of a tall and powerful looking young man being the runner. “That is David Hussey,” explains Billy. “He’s in the prog band XNA which I produced/recorded. We shot the footage in the desert behind my house.”

The video is directed by Devin DeHaven, and it reflects on war—the losses, pain, and darkness.  

November 6th is the confirmed release date for Billy Sherwood's latest, a concept album called Citizen. Sherwood created this concept album based on a lost soul that is reincarnated into various periods of history.

"I was inspired by the notion that General Patton believed he was reincarnated on various battlefields through time; I wanted to take that concept even further." As the songwriter/producer, Billy placed the citizen character into significant moments of history.

The lead off track is called “The Citizen" which sets the stage for what's to come on the recording. “The Citizen” features Billy's longtime friends and members of the legendary progressive rock band YES: bassist Chris Squire and former YES keyboardist Tony Kaye.

Each song places the Citizen into a unique set of circumstances where decisions are made that have serious personal and global consequences. In the song “No Man's Land" (featuring Deep Purple/Dixie Dregs/Kansas guitarist Steve Morse) the Citizen appears as a World War I trench runner who passes the message along to the troops that it's time to attack; the Citizen remains behind and is, ultimately, the only survivor. “Empire" (with lead vocals by Alan Parsons and violin from Jerry Goodman of the Flock, Dixie Dregs, Mahavishnu Orchestra) finds the Citizen as a conscript legionnaire in the final days of the Roman Empire. “Just Galileo And Me" (sung by Colin Moulding singer/bassist of XTC) shows the Citizen as a protective friend to Galileo, trying to tell the astronomer that he should not tell people that the earth is not flat or he will be labeled as a heretic.

Known as a multi-instrumentalist, Billy performs drums, bass, guitar, keys and sings several of the songs, including “A Theory Of Its Own” in which the Citizen appears as companion to Charles Darwin on the evolutionist’s maiden voyage. He sings of Native Americans affected by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 in the song, “Trail Of Tears,” which features Patrick Moraz on keyboards. Former Genesis guitar player Steve Hackett adds his chops to “Man And The Machine,” which is about an assembly line worker and activist in the late 1890s. "Age Of The Atom” is about the creation of the Atomic Bomb and the questions of morality as a result of it; this features Geoff Downes on keyboards. Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess appears on “Escape Velocity,” a song that speaks to the political implications of the space race in the 1960s.

In “The Great Depression,” Billy's songwriter’s pen draws pain from the heart of a distraught Wall Street investor, who has lost everything in the stock market, and steps out to make a final step off the ledge. Rick Wakeman plays grand piano and other keyboards on this one. Finally, in Citizen’s 11th song, “Written In The Centuries,” performed by current YES singer Jon Davison, Nostradamus is the Citizen busily composing his many predictions.

Billy Sherwood was recently handpicked by Chris Squire to fill in for him on bass and vocals in YES, before he left for cancer treatment and ultimately, his untimely death. Billy started his career in the band Lodgic and then as a member of World Trade, who have two critically-acclaimed albums. He has produced and engineered for many artists including John Wetton, Motorhead, Queensryche, Paul Rodgers, and YES.

He joined YES first as touring member on the Talk tour in 1994, and was a full time member from 1997 to 1999. He recorded two albums with Chris Squire as the Conspiracy project and released six albums with Circa, the band he formed with Tony Kaye.  

Citizen is Billy’s eighth album of new material, though he sees this as a group effort, "While I've created a lot of this record myself I couldn't have done it without the amazing talents brought to bear by all the great artists who participated. So I feel it's much more of a collective effort than a solo album. It's my desire to take this production onto the stage and some of these amazing artists can help bring this concept to life.”

Citizen tracklisting:

“The Citizen”
“Man And The Machine”
“Just Galileo And Me”
“No Man’s Land”
“The Great Depression”
“Empire”
“Age Of The Atom”
“Trail Of Tears”
“Escape Velocity”
“A Theory All It's Own”
“Written In The Centuries”

EPK:

 



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This weekend marks the 40th Anniversary of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. With over 6.5 million copies sold worldwide to date, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the world’s most well known and well loved songs. The single has been covered by everyone from Kanye West during his 2015 controversial Glastonbury headline slot, Axl Rose, Elton John and Pink to The Flaming Lips and Elaine Paige and forever immortalized again by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in the smash hit 90’s film, Wayne’s World.

To mark the anniversary, this weekend kicks off a month of celebrations and unique opportunities for fans to get involved all over the world. This documentary features Roger Taylor, Brian May and Queen studio engineer Justin Shirley Smith discussing the making and history of hit single Bohemian Rhapsody.

Check out “Bohemian Rhapsody” from Queen Live At The Bowl 1982:

Queen were awarded with the Q Classic Track award for “Bohemian Rhapsody” at the 2015 Q Awards, and here is drummer Roger Taylor speaking to Absolute Radio’s Danielle about how the iconic song came to fruition back in 1975.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was the song that changed everything, a song that resonates through time, a special moment in music history that has yet to be repeated. At The 2015 Q Awards, Queen were presented with the Classic Single Award, marking the 40th anniversary of song which was originally released on October 31st, 1975.
 
To mark the occasion for the first time ever, "Bohemian Rhapsody" will be released on 12 inch black vinyl with the original B-side “I’m In Love With My Car” on November 27th. Alongside this, Queen, A Night At The Odeon, Live At Hammersmith ’75, is set for release on CD (Hollywood Records), DVD & Blu-Ray (Eagle Rock Entertainment). This show was a culmination of the 26-date Queen Invite You To A Night At The Opera UK tour and the first tour that they had ever performed Bohemian Rhapsody on.
 
The CD, DVD & Blu-Ray package features the band’s full live show, complete with a never heard before ‘second encore’ of “Seven Seas Of Rhye” and “See What A Fool I've Been”. The DVD and SD Blu-Ray versions also contain two special bonus features – Looking Back At The Odeon, a brand new 22-minute documentary featuring a previously unseen interview with Brian May and Roger Taylor by Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris about the 1975 Hammersmith Odeon show, plus the rarely seen Live At The Budokan – Japan 1975 footage, featuring three songs (“Now I'm Here”, “Killer Queen” and “In The Lap Of The Gods… Revisited”) recorded during their legendary tour of the Far East.

 
Spirits were high within the band for this show; "Bohemian Rhapsody" - universally hailed as one of the most ground-breaking ‘pop’ songs ever released – was in the middle of its record-breaking nine week run at Number One in the UK charts. Their fourth album, A Night At The Opera (the most expensive record ever made to that point) was climbing the album charts on its way to No 1, which it achieved three days after this concert.
 
With over 6.5 million copies sold worldwide, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is one of the world’s most well known and well loved songs. To this day, it continues to top ‘favorite song’ opinion polls and be discovered by new generations of music fans over and over again. Freddie wrote the whole song – including the composite harmonies – on telephone books and scraps of paper.
 
Brian May recalled recording "Bohemian Rhapsody”” “That was a great moment, but the biggest thrill for us was actually creating the music in the first place. I remember Freddie coming in with loads of bits of paper from his dad's work, like Post-it notes, and pounding on the piano. He played the piano like most people play the drums. And this song he had was full of gaps where he explained that something operatic would happen here and so on. He'd worked out the harmonies in his head."
 
Queen spent days overdubbing the vocals in the studio using a 24 track tape machine. By the time they were done, about 120 vocal tracks were layered together. The opera parts alone took longer than 70 hours to complete. At the time, it was the most expensive single ever made and upon presenting it to their record label, they were told by various executives that 5 minutes 55 seconds was too long and the song would never be a hit. But after the song was played by DJ and friend of Freddie, Kenny Everett, 14 times in two days before its official release, the song was only ever destined to be a hit. Hordes of fans attempted to buy the single only to be told by record stores that it had not yet been released. Over in the US, it was the same. American radio RKO managed to get a copy of the tape and started to play it in across their network, which forced the hand of Queen's US label to release the song in its entirety.
 
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was Queen's first ever number 1 single and the 1975 UK Christmas number one, holding the top position for nine weeks. It is the first song ever to get to number one in the UK twice with the same version, and is also the only single to have been Christmas number one twice with the same version. The second was upon its re-release (as a double A-side single with “These Are the Days of Our Lives”) in 1991 following Mercury's death, staying at number one for five weeks, eventually becoming the UK's third best-selling single of all time.
 
The single has sold in excess of 6.5 million copies worldwide and has been covered by everyone from Kayne West during his 2015 controversial Glastonbury headline slot, Axl Rose, Elton John and Pink to The Flaming Lips and Elaine Paige and forever immortalized again by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in the smash hit 90’s film, Wayne’s World.
 
Queen - A Night At The Odeon, Live At Hammersmith ’75 released November 20th. 12-inch Black Vinyl Version released November 27th.

Tracklisting (CD/Vinyl/Digital):

“Now I'm Here”
“Ogre Battle”
“White Queen (As It Began)”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Killer Queen”
“The March Of The Black Queen”
“Bohemian Rhapsody” (Reprise)
“Bring Back That Leroy Brown”
“Brighton Rock”
Guitar Solo
“Son And Daughter”
“Keep Yourself Alive”
“Liar”
“In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited”
“Big Spender”
“Jailhouse Rock” Medley
“Seven Seas Of Rhye”
“See What A Fool I've Been”
“God Save The Queen”
 
DVD and SD Blu-ray formats do not include “Seven Seas Of Rhye” or “See What A Fool I've Been”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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According to Johann Stepien of LoudTV.net, ANTHRAX has set "For All Kings" as the title of its long-awaited new album, due in March 2016 via Megaforce in North America and Nuclear Blast in Europe. The information was revealed during a private listening session for the CD on October 26 in Paris, France. An interview with ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello conducted by LoudTV.net that same day can be seen below.

Speaking about the new ANTHRAX album, Bello told LoudTV.net: "I'm very excited because it's been a while since [2011's] 'Worship Music'. Now, you have to understand, from our perspective, we came out with 'Worship Music', and thankfully — and thank you, God — people have really taken to it and said… For people to say… A lot of people said it was our best work to date. After thirty years, it means a lot to us. So we felt like, as fans, we want to put out the best product, the best music, and that's what we think we've finally… After nitpicking these songs… I mean, we really took them apart and really took our time with them. I think, as fans that we are, I think this is the time to let this record go, to let it out [so] people ]can] hear it. I can't wait to play these songs; I honestly can't wait to play these songs live, because you just feel as a fan how people are gonna react to 'em. It's a lot of energy — a lot of energy."

Bello also talked about ANTHRAX's continued collaboration with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER, among others. He said: "Jay Ruston, he's the 'fifth Beatle.' We call him the 'fifth Beatle' because Jay was with us from the beginning of the writing. It was very important to have him there, because, I think, Jay has a great ear for ANTHRAX. He has a great ear as a producer anyway. But he knows how to talk to us, and he's really honest. 'Nah…' [Laughs] 'That works better.' And it's easier that way, 'cause sometimes you're not sure. 'What do you think? Which one's better?' Even in my bass stuff. He's a bass player. So I'll ask him, 'Does this work? 'Hmm… Try the other one. It's better.' And he's honest. So Jay is definitely an ANTHRAX member at this point."

Beginning in the fall of 2014, ANTHRAX — Charlie Benante (drums), Scott Ian (rhythm guitar), Frank Bello (bass), Joey Belladonna (vocals), and lead guitarist Jon Donais — took their time in the studio recording the follow up to their Grammy-nominated, critically acclaimed 2011 album, "Worship Music". The band recorded some 20 original songs, almost twice as many as they had ever brought into the studio in the past. In terms of how the new music sounds, Bello said, "The thing about ANTHRAX...we have this heavy, thrashy music and Joey's powerful and melodic vocals. I love heavy music, but I also love melody, so the challenge is to blend them together so they sound like ANTHRAX. I think we've done a really good job of that on the new album."

The official lyric video for the song "Evil Twin", taken from ANTHRAX's new CD, can be seen below. The clip is a compelling barrage of places, victims, actions, and some of the infamous zealots and others who have perpetrated violent extremism on innocents around the world, aptly exemplifying the song's powerful message.

"Evil Twin" is now available digitally, and can be purchased via Apple Music, iTunes and Amazon.

Musically, "Evil Twin" is a full-on thrash-metal tune that blasts off with a raging guitar riff, accelerates expeditiously and is completely uncontrollable.

"Yeah, that opening riff is really evil," laughed Benante. "We had done a lot of touring with DEATH ANGEL and EXODUS, so I was in a really thrashy state of mind when I starting writing the riffs for that song. I think along with Scott's lyrics and Frank's melodies, we came up with a really great, old-school thrash metal feel."

As Bello put it, "it's a song that begs to be played live."

Lyrically, the track unapologetically denounces the self-righteous religious extremists who spread their bloody terror under the guise of a Holy War.

You represent your discontentSlaughtering the innocentInsolenceYou're no martyrs

"I was very affected by the Charlie Hebdo massacre as I have been with all of the shootings that have taken place at schools and movie theatres," said ANTHRAX's lyricist Scott Ian. "I can't figure out what would cause someone to think that was the right thing to do. 'I'll show the world, I'll make my God happy.' It's just such bullshit. I'm not bagging on religion, that's not my intent, but people who go to that extreme, who feel they have become judge, jury and executioner over their fellow man because you or I don't believe the same thing they do, I think that's the 'Evil Twin' of humanity. Writing words about that is my only catharsis."

ANTHRAX has just joined "Big Four" comrades SLAYER on a seven-week European tour that kicked off on October 25.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

Horror-punk icon Glenn Danzig joined Rob Zombie on stage last night (Friday, October 30) at the Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada to perform the classic songs "Horror Business" and "Vampira" from Glenn's first band MISFITS. Video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Danzig told Las Vegas Weekly about Zombie: "We're old friends. I took WHITE ZOMBIE out on the 'Danzig III' tour, and WHITE ZOMBIE did some dates with DANZIG in New York, too. The people that put out MISFITS records — Caroline [Records] — also had Zombie on their label, and they said, 'Can you put this band on the bill?' That was my first exposure to WHITE ZOMBIE."

Glenn will release his long-awaited covers record, "Skeletons", on November 27 in North America via Nuclear Blast Entertainment/Evilive Music. A labor of love that dates back to 1979, "Skeletons" sees Danzig pulling back the curtain behind his influences with a collection of ten covers spanning artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, ZZ TOP, and AEROSMITH to BLACK SABBATH, THE TROGGS, THE EVERLY BROTHERS, and more.

Zombie recently finished editing his sixth live-action feature film, a horror thriller called "31".

He recently told Louder Noise that his new studio album will probably come out next March, and that he intends to either shoot a series of videos or a movie to accompany its release.

Fire it up freaks it's Rob Zombie and Danzig on Devil's Night!! pic.twitter.com/w2kxUp05nu

— Rx (@wedieyoungish) October 31, 2015

According to Ziarul De Iasi, GOODBYE TO GRAVITY guitarists Vlad Telea and Mihai Alexandru (pictured) were among the 27 people who were killed by a fire in Bucharest nightclub last night (Friday, October 30). Lead singer Andrei Galut is in serious condition at Elias hospital with burns on 45 percent of his body and injuries from smoke inhalation. Bassist Alex Pascu is said to be at Spitalul de Urgenţă Floreasca (Bucharest Emergency Hospital), where he underwent surgery.

The fire reportedly started after GOODBYE TO GRAVITY's pyrotechnical show went awry, causing the ceiling and a pillar to catch alight and producing heavy smoke (see photos below).

Media reported that clubgoers initially thought the flames were part of the show and did not immediately react.

One concertgoer, a Spanish teacher named Delia Tugui, described the incident on her Facebook page. "The lead singer made a quick joke: 'This wasn't part of the program,'" she wrote. "The next second, he realized it wasn't a joke and asked for a fire extinguisher. In 30 seconds… the fire spread all over the ceiling. People rushed to the entrance but it was too narrow, and people panicked. Behind me people stampeded, climbing over each other, to try and get out."

The concert was supposed to be a record-release party for GOODBYE TO GRAVITY's new album, "Mantras Of War".

"I am saddened, but also revolted that a tragedy of this scale could have taken place in Bucharest," Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said.

"We already have indications that the legal regulations had not been respected," he said.

"I hope that the authorities manage their inquiry with speed and rigor."

Local journalist Sorin Bogdan told the BBC that the Colectiv nightclub, housed in a former factory, had two small exit doors, only one of which was possible to open initially.

A witness quoted by Romania's state news agency said clubgoers had to break the second door down to escape.

23 of the 27 people who died have been identified so far, according to ZF.ro. Many of the victims did not have identification on them.

Three days of national mourning have been declared in Romania following the tragedy.

An investigation into the cause of the incident is already underway.

The Station nightclub fire in that killed 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 during a GREAT WHITE concert was also blamed on pyrotechnics igniting foam used for soundproofing.

GOODBYE TO GRAVITY started as an unexpected mixture of former members from the heavy metal band THUNDERSTORM (which in their 10-plus years of activity opened for such heavyweights such as JUDAS PRIEST, MANOWAR, HELLOWEEN, RAGE and EVERGREY) and the winner of the 2008 national TV show "Megastar" (Romanian "American Idol" equivalent).

Photos below show fireworks on stage just before the fire and the pillar on fire

Billboard.com has premiered a reprise version of "Forget About The Blame" from TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA's upcoming "Letters From The Labyrinth" album, featuring a guest appearance by HALESTORM's Lzzy Hale. Check it out below.

Regarding how the collaboration came about, Lzzy tells Billboard.com: "In all honesty. it was a complete honor and surprise to me. It kind of came through the pipeline that they were looking for my contact, so of course I'm like, 'Hey, what's up?' 'Well, we have this great song and it's a love song' and, as [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA mastermind Paul O'Neill] put it, they wanted somebody who had 'the whiskey dust' in their voice. They ended up coming to me in Nashville during our last little stint of time off and cutting it, and it was awesome, just an amazing group to work with."

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA's Robin Borneman sings on both versions of the song. O'Neill explains to Billboard.com: "I needed someone to bring out the female side of it, so we decided we would have two singers sing that song for a different perspective. Lzzy Hale has a great voice. She's a great rocker, a lot of emotion. Robin and Lzzy, in my opinion, knocked it out of the ballpark."

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, the collaboration between longtime SAVATAGE singer/songwriter Jon Oliva and producer Paul O'Neill, has become one of the most successful stories in rock 'n' roll history. Defying the odds with each project, they continue to search for new and original ideas to bring to reality no matter how difficult the challenge.

The TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA saga continues this year with a new album, "Letters From The Labyrinth" — yet another endeavor in creating something different. TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA founder Paul O'Neill's inspiration for this album came out of his love for history. As collector of antiquities and historical artifacts, he explains, "Over the years I have been able to read and hold in my hands letters from people that have inspired me and left a mark on civilization. People like Mark Twain, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright — when I actually held a letter in my hand that President Lincoln wrote, it brought me into his world in a way I could never have imagined."

Due on Nocember 13 via Universal Music, "Letters From The Labyrinth" finds a conceptually provocative song cycle pushing the proverbial envelope yet again — this time with what O'Neill calls TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA's "first hybrid album." The overall concept is based on TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA's "Night Castle" (2009) and a dialogue between the wisdom of the past and the hopes for the future, via a correspondence between a child and an old friend of the child's grandfather.

On "Letters From The Labyrinth", TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA deals with subjects as broad as humanity's journey through the ages ("Time & Distance"), and as specific as bullying ("Not The Same"), the fall of the Berlin Wall ("Prometheus") and the world banking controversies ("Not Dead Yet").

"I love making music and I love making it relevant," O'Neill says. "I always believed the arts have a way of inspiring and uniting people. We try to maintain that tradition on the albums and all the other projects we do. I think that when everything else is falling apart, people look to the arts to help make sense of things and put the events they are experiencing into some kind of context."

"Letters From The Labyrinth" track listing:

01. Time And Distance (The Dash) (O'Neill, Oliva)02. Madness Of Men (Beethoven/O'Neill/Oliva)03. Prometheus (Beethoven/O'Neill/Oliva)04. Mountain Labyrinth (Borodin/O'Neill)05. King Rurik (O'Neill/Kuprij)06. Prince Igor (Rimsky Korsakov/Borodin/Glazunov/O'Neill/Oliva )07. The Night Conceives (O'Neill/Oliva)08. Forget About The Blame (J Green)09. Not Dead Yet (O'Neill/Oliva)10. Past Tomorrow (O'Neill/Oliva)11. Stay (O'Neill)12. Not The Same (O'Neill/O'Neill)13. Who I Am (O'Neill)14. Lullaby Night (Bach/O'Neill)

Bonus track:

15. Forget About The Blame (featuring Lzzy Hale) (J Green)

Swedish occult rockers GHOST performed their song "Cirice" on last night's (Friday, October 30) episode of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert". Video footage of their appearance can be seen below.

GHOST's third album, "Meliora", entered The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 8 with first-week sales of just over 29,000 units — nearly all from pure album sales. The set follows the No. 28-peaking "Infestissumam", which was released in 2013 and has sold almost 70,000 copes in the U.S. to date.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

"Meliora" was released on August 21 via Loma Vista Recordings. The CD was helmed by Klas Åhlund, a prolific songwriter, producer and guitarist who is also a member of the Swedish rock band TEDDYBEARS, and was mixed by Andy Wallace (SLAYER, NIRVANA, SEPULTURA, LINKIN PARK, GUNS N' ROSES).

Asked if there was a particular direction GHOST was looking to go in on "Meliora", one of the Nameless Ghouls told Guitar World magazine: "Yes. There were a few guidelines we were working off of. The main one was that we felt on 'Infestissumam', there was definitely a shortage of… I don't know what the word is… let's say riffage. Whereas that was not the case on the first one ['Opus Eponymous']. So we wanted to make a record that had more riffs on it, because the guitar took a bit of a backseat on 'Infestissumam'. And the main reason for that was the production. The guitars were just put in the back. If we were to take all the tapes from that album and go into a different studio and remix the whole thing, I'm sure it would sound very different. So this time we wanted to focus on the guitar aspect from the start. Secondly, from a thematic standpoint, we wanted the whole record to have something of a futuristic feel. So there are organs and things like that, but there are also other things that we excluded, because this is not, you know, our medieval record. This is our futuristic, urban-dystopia-metropolis record. So we knew it had to possess a certain sort of flair. Because if you want to make a futuristic record that is sort of '80s-sounding, you would do that by using a lot of chorus everywhere. But that's not what we were trying to do. Or you could make a JUDAS PRIEST or IRON MAIDEN–style record that sounds very futuristic. But that's not what we were trying to do either. Sometimes you have to know what to leave out."

Regarding GHOST's sound, a Nameless Ghoul told Rolling Stone magazine: "We sort of came up with this mixture where we could combine basically all our favorite childhood and adolescent music styles. And we grew up listening to a lot of different music. A lot of Swedish music, and also a lot of '60s and '70s bands — AOR things like KANSAS and YES and CHICAGO and BOSTON. JOURNEY. TOTO. Professional-sounding music. And with all of that we found a way, for us at least, to make sense of having an extreme-metal riff and then throwing a pop melody over it. So that was the initial thing. After that it was, 'Oh, shit! Maybe we could turn it into a horror-rock band, and we could throw in this very childish sort of fascination of horror films! And also ALICE COOPER! And KISS!"

EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee has told RollingStone.com in a new interview that there are no plans for the band to record new material, but that EVANESCENCE may play more shows next year.

EVANESCENCE will re-emerge next month after a three-year hiatus with select, intimate concerts in Nashville, Dallas and Los Angeles. The influential, Grammy-winning band last performed live in November of 2012.

"I am definitely working and making music with every intention of people hearing it at this point," Lee tells RollingStone.com. "I don't know the plan with EVANESCENCE. I don't have any news or plans for new EVANESCENCE, but new music for me, for sure."

Lee also explained why EVANESCENCE is playing shows leading up to the band's November 21 appearance at Ozzfest Japan in Tokyo. "We got offered to do Ozzfest Japan in the beginning of the year, so I was like 'Let's say yes to that,'" she said. "I just added the three U.S. dates on to it so we could get a little practice before doing a big gig where everything is out of your control. It will be good to see the fans again. I'm going to be keeping my eye open to us for more opportunities. Like probably next year."

EVANESCENCE recently parted ways with guitarist Terry Balsamo and replaced him with Germany's Jen Majura.

The last EVANESCENCE album, a self-titled effort, came out in 2011.

At least 27 people were killed and nearly two hundred were injured Friday night (October 30) in Bucharest, Romania after a fire was sparked during a concert by a local heavy metal band called GOODBYE TO GRAVITY. The incident occurred at the Colectiv nightclub, housed in a former factory, and only one exit door, during a release party for the group's new album, "Mantras Of War", with an estimated 400 people in attendance. The fire was started when GOODBYE TO GRAVITY's fireworks show went awry, creating panic among the hundreds inside, many of whom scrambled for the exit.

Initial reports suggested that an explosion had occurred at the club located in a basement in downtown Bucharest, but authorities at the scene later said there had only been a fire.

"People were fainting, they were fainting from the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampling on each other," a witness told Romania's Antena 3 TV. "It was a tragedy that could have been avoided if there had been more organization from the emergency services."

A concert attendee wrote on Facebook that two foam pillars caught fire. "They then set fire to wood inside the building, which burned everything really quickly," he said. "It was made worse by the fact that the only way out was a relatively small door."

Sanda Nicola, a local journalist, told Telegraph: "Some of those being admitted to hospital have burns all over their bodies. Most of the victims were teenagers and students. Paramedics say that many of the people involved were foreigners who did not speak Romanian."

An October 26 posting on the Colectiv Facebook page promised that GOODBYE TO GRAVITY's performance at the venue would include "a customized light show and pyrotechnic effects."

Klaus Iohannis, the president of Romania, wrote on Facebook that he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the fire. "It is a very sad moment for all of us, for our nation and for me personally," he wrote. "At this painful time, I express my full compassion and solidarity with the families of those affected by this tragedy."

GOODBYE TO GRAVITY started as an unexpected mixture of former members from the heavy metal band THUNDERSTORM (which in their 10-plus years of activity opened for such heavyweights such as JUDAS PRIEST, MANOWAR, HELLOWEEN, RAGE and EVERGREY) and the winner of the 2008 national TV show "Megastar" (Romanian "American Idol" equivalent).

The band has decided to further on work with two singers for several good reasons.

So from now on the vocals there will be Mr. Kai Hansen as usual plus and welcome please Mr. Frank Beck with whom the band has done already a good amount of shows in the past. We found out that Frank is not only a great singer that very much fits into the band from his voice and from his temper of the voice and his kind of singing but as well as a very very good human being that is fit to live up to the extreme expectations that we as a band have for people joining.

Mainly this guy cannot only sing, he can party, too and that’s very important. So that was reason one.
Another good reason was that Kai just felt that it’s time for him to cut a bit shorter on singing because he found out that his long touring especially headline shows after a while always tends to fuck up the voice and end up with something that is not a hundred percent. So sharing the vocals makes things much easier and much more pleasurable.

It will not only give the band a new dimension soundwise or vocalwise but it will as well – and here is reason number three – give Kai the freedom to move around on stage a lot and plus create a bit more action on the live performances and be more free to play the guitar which actually he does like a lot.
So ladies and gentleman please welcome the new GammaRay and please welcome Mr. Frank Beck.

"Let's Go", the new video from DEF LEPPARD, can be seen below. The song is taken from DEF LEPPARD's new, self-titled album, which is being released today (Friday, October 30) via earMUSIC. The CD was written and recorded in three separate sessions over the course of the past year and a half.

Regarding "Let's Go", DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott told RollingStone.com: "It's a call to arms, you know? Rick Savage [bass] wrote 80 percent of the song. I wrote the verses, he wrote all the music and the choruses. He came in with it, and we knew it was a classic DEF LEPPARD song. It's that three-minute pop-rock stuff with big chunky guitars and a big chorus. And it has that swaggering, mid-tempo rhythm, like 'Sugar', and 'Rock Of Ages'. The idea was, we wanted something familiar. I mean, when AC/DC comes back after years away, you're not going to get 'Bohemian Rhapsody' from 'em, you know? And you don't want it, either — you want 'Back In Black', or something like it. For us, this is what we do. And it's something we enjoy doing."

"Def Leppard" track listing:

01. Let's Go (5:01)02. Dangerous (3:26)03. Man Enough (3:54)04. We Belong (5:06)05. Invincible (3:46)06. Sea Of Love (4:04)07. Energized (3:23)08. All Time High (4:19)09. Battle Of My Own (2:42)10. Broke 'N' Brokenhearted (3:17)11. Forever Young (2:21)12. Last Dance (3:09)13. Wings Of An Angel (4:23)14. Blind Faith (5:33)

Total running time: 54:24

Elliott told North Dakota's Grand Forks Herald that the band's new album is a self-titled affair "because that's what it sounds like. It doesn't sound like any one specific era of DEF LEPPARD. It's got everything. You'll listen and you go, 'Oh, that sounds like DEF LEPPARD,' or you'll go, 'That is LEPPARD, but it sounds a bit like LED ZEPPELIN or QUEEN but you can hear the AC/DC or the CROSBY, STILLS & NASH coming through.' We have not shied away from anything that's influenced us in our growing up periods of our life. Just because we've made the kind of music we've made doesn't mean to say we don't like all of this other stuff."

The album is the band's first studio effort since "Songs From the Sparkle Lounge" in 2008.

"Waiting For The Screams", a brand new song from the legendary San Francisco Bay Area gore grind act AUTOPSY, can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Skull Grinder", which will be released on vinyl to coincide with this year's Black Friday on November 27 (CD to follow in 2016).

AUTOPSY is set to return with a double bill of unbridled horror this year on Peaceville Records.

First up is "After The Cutting" (due on November 13), a special limited release containing an expansive book penned by Dennis Dread recounting the career of the gore legend, featuring unseen photos and exclusive artwork, accompanied by four discs brimmed full of classics, new tracks and previously unheard rarities from deep within the band's own archive. This will be followed by "Skull Grinder", containing seven new tracks (also featured on "After The Cutting").

AUTOPSY commented: "We at AUTOPSY HQ are pleased to have the opportunity to once again torture your minds and ear holes through the medium of recorded brutality.

"The band went back to Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in late July to record a brand new release called 'Skull Grinder'. Musically, it's just what you'd expect from us; no style changes, wimpouts, sellouts, settling down or caving in. Add to that acknowledgement of the obvious, some of Wes Benscoter's sickest art yet to (dis)grace the cover, and you have a new sledgehammer to the bowels with no apologies offered whatsoever. "In case that isn't enough to bring the taste of bile into the back of your throat, let it be known that there is also a four-disc set on the way titled 'After The Cutting', packed with hours of horrifying music, cover art from none other than Kev Walker as well as an extensive book written by Dennis Dread, riddled with interviews, photos and other assorted uncleanliness. The release date for both of these monstrosities is slated for this coming November."

AUTOPSY is: Chris Reifert - drums/vocalsDanny Coralles - guitarEric Cutler - guitarJoe Trevisano - bass

Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR are inapparently still in pre-production for their tenth album, tentatively due next year.

A short video clip from the sessions has been posted on the official Facebook page of DIMMU BORGIR frontman Shagrath and can be seen below.

In a 2014 interview with Finland's Radio Rock, DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz) stated about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2010's "Abrahadabra": "We usually take two-three years in between each release of the albums anyway, but now it's almost four years since the last album came out, so it's about time so we can wrap this up and get going with it. That would be great. I mean, we always take our time. If we're gonna rush things, then it's not gonna be something we can stand behind anyway, so we just have to take the time it takes to make it."

He added: "I think we always need a sort of break. Maybe not this long, but after each album and touring cycle, I think every band should take a short break at least, because you need to get away from each other, just to regroup and get perspective."

Regarding what he and his bandmates have been doing during their down time from DIMMU BORGIR, Silenoz said: "Well, each one of us has so-called side projects. I have INSIDIOUS DISEASE, Shagrath has CHROME DIVISION. So we've been doing a little bit of that as well. Yeah, and family takes up a lot of time. [Laughs]"

DIMMU BORGIR performed one very exclusive show on May 28, 2011 at the Oslo Spektrum in Norway with a special, never-to-be-repeated setlist with 53 members of KORK (the Norwegian Radio Orchestra) and 30 members of the Schola Cantorum choir, who were musical guests on the band's ninth studio album, "Abrahadabra". The concert, dubbed "Forces Of The Northern Night", was professionally filmed and was broadcast as part of a one-hour documentary in June 2011 on NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company and the largest media organization in Norway.

Speaking about the status of the planned "Forces Of The Northern Night" DVD release, Silenoz told Scuzz TV: "It should have been out the same year [that it was recorded], but it got put on hold. But that sounds really good. We remixed and remastered [it]. Everything is just sitting there and waiting [for release]. [It will] hopefully [be out] by the beginning of [2015]. Certain things have to fall into place, and it's not really up to us. But once we have that out, we can have a new release that we can promote and tour with, so I hope we can sort it out as soon as possible."

Regarding the experience of performing with an orchestra, Silenoz said: "It was, of course, really special, especially since it was in Oslo, and a lot of people traveled in for the show from all over the world. And everything went great on stage for once. When you have a hundred people on stage, the percentage of something going wrong is definitely there, but it was really, really good."

He added: "You think your band is professional, then you play with an orchestra, and then you know, 'Oh, we're not so professional after all.'"

DIMMU BORGIR's current touring lineup includes Geir Bratland (APOPTYGMA BERZERK, THE KOVENANT) on keyboards and Terje Andersen (a.k.a. Cyrus; SUSPERIA) on bass.

"Abrahadabra" was released in Germany on September 24, 2010, in the rest of Europe on September 27, 2010, and it was made available in North America on October 12, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.

"All Over Again", the new video from STRYPER, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's new album, "Fallen", which entered The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 43 with first-week sales of just over 10,000 units — nearly all from pure album sales. The set follows the No. 35-peaking "No More Hell To Pay", which was released in 2013.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

"Fallen" was released on October 16 via Frontiers. The CD was tracked at SpiritHouse Recording Studios in Northampton, Massachusetts and includes a cover version of the BLACK SABBATH classic "After Forever".

In a recent interview with Audio Ink Radio, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet stated about the musical direction of "Fallen": "It's similar to the last album but a little different. We tuned the guitars down on a few more songs than on the last album. It's a heavier vibe. I did a co-write with Clint Lowery of SEVENDUST on 'Yahweh', and that song turned out really different in a great way. We're never going to be as heavy as METALLICA, but STRYPER's roots are tied to heavy metal. We grew up on IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST and VAN HALEN and the SCORPIONS. Over the years, we ventured a short distance from that background with pop songs and ballads, which we love doing, but we like to be heavy."

Asked if he feels STRYPER has influenced other Christian hard rock and metal bands to stay true to their faith and musical vision, Sweet said: "I hope so. We've always been a band that's gone out of our way to wave the flag that God is cool, and not only cool, but the Creator of all things. Aside from that, people say it's an oxymoron to mix metal with Christian lyrics, and we're trying to break that apart and destroy that mentality because it's just not true. I feel God created all things, and therefore, He created music. So, it makes perfect sense to me to mix the two. It should be done more than the devil and metal being mixed, in my opinion, but for some reason, people have this thing that metal is all about the devil. It's ridiculous."

"Fallen" track listing:

01. Yahweh02. Fallen03. Pride04. Big Screen Lies05. Heaven06. Love You Like I Do07. All Over Again08. After Forever (BLACK SABBATH cover)09. Till I Get What I Need10. Let There Be Light11. The Calling12. King Of Kings

The cover artwork for "Fallen", which can be seen below, was designed by Stanis Decker, who worked with STRYPER on 2013's "No More Hell To Pay".