"Venom", the new video for the title track of the new album from Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, can be seen below. The clip was directed by Stuart Birchall (BRING ME THE HORIZON, YOUNG GUNS) who previously helmed the band's "You Want A Battle? (Here's A War)" video.

Birchall said of the "Venom" clip: "Working with BULLET is a real pleasure.

"It is important for me to connect with the artist, their music and establish trust creatively.

"After our first video, I was very keen to continue the journey of the characters we established in taking the narrative in a fresh direction. The band and management were behind this 100 percent. We discussed taking a more cerebral tone with a darker subtext.

"Maeve O Connell (DOP) and myself wanted to take the cinematography in a different direction stylistically and the cast were all very keen to continue the story and journey we had started together.

It really is a great feeling when the plans comes together, the crew across the board were all amazing with special mention to Jamie Whymark (Kode Media) for fighting to keep the vision on track.

"We hope this video takes people back to enjoy part 1 ['You Want A Battle? (Here's A War)'] again and of course I left room for a finale!"

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE will release a new digital EP, "Live From Kingston", on October 16 via Google Play. The music on the EP will be available in the U.S. on on a brand new exclusive deluxe version of "Venom", also available on October 16. Fans will be able to download and stream this new deluxe album for free on Google Play between October 16 and October 23.

Track listing for the Google Play "Venom" deluxe album:

01. V02. No Way Out03. Army of Noise04. Worthless05. You Want A Battle? (Here's a War)06. Broken07. Venom08. The Harder The Heart (The Harder It Breaks)09. Skin10. Hell Or High Water11. Pariah12. Your Betrayal (Live From Kingston)13. Army Of Noise (Live From Kingston)14. The Last Fight (Live From Kingston)15. Tears Don't Fall (Live From Kingston)16. Waking The Demon (Live From Kingston)17. Worthless (Live From Kingston)

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE will return to North America in 2016 for the "British Invasion" tour, also featuring opening band ASKING ALEXANDRIA.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's fifth studio album, "Venom", was released on August 14 via RCA. The CD marks the band's first release since the departure of longtime bassist Jason James and addition of Jamie Mathias. Jamie, who has been playing and touring in bands for the last ten years, fronted the band REVOKER, which released an album, "Revenge For The Ruthless", in 2011 on the Roadrunner label.

Produced by Carl Bown and Colin Richardson (SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD, TRIVIUM) at Metropolis Studio in London, "Venom" is described in a press release as "an unrelenting, fierce step forward for BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE" and the band's "heaviest record to date."

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE recently supported SLIPKNOT and LAMB OF GOD on this summer's North American tour.

Fan-filmed video footage of PHILM's September 11 concert at Klub Gromka in Ljubljana, Slovenia can be seen below.

PHILM features former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo alongside guitarist/vocalist Gerry Paul Nestler (CIVIL DEFIANCE) and bassist Francisco "Pancho" Eduardo Tomaselli (WAR).

Lombardo recently told Louder Noise about PHILM: "The two albums that PHILM recorded are definitely different — very different, actually. The first one is a little more loose and it has three or four different improvisations within all the other songs; they're little special improvisations that we were able to capture. And the second one, yes, it was a little more tailored towards the heavier side of music. Actually, there's another album that we plan on releasing soon. It's called 'Philm Noir', and that's piano, bass and drums. Gerry plays piano really, really, really well, and Pancho, obviously, on bass and myself. I tone it down and play with brushes. So, I would say 'Fire From The Evening Sun' is the extreme side of PHILM, but then we also have a very avant-garde, jazz and ambient side of PHILM, which is 'Philm Noir'. So, between those two, 'Harmonic', the first album, is somewhere there in the middle. There is a variety."

Regarding the PHILM songwriting process, Lombardo said: "This band records very different and writes music very different, unlike any other band I've been in. These guys in PHILM, we improvise our rehearsals. We'll just go to rehearsal and we'll just start improvising, but we'll record the band. And then, at the end of the day, of a jam session, we'll pick out some of the gems — what I call little gems — of those jam sessions, and we'll create songs of those pieces. Because we have so much music in us that we tend to improvise in a lot of different modes, in different ways, and sometimes we're able to create something very unique. And all our songs are, basically, written from jam sessions or improvisations, and we captured something magical, and then we created around that."

Lombardo told All My Own Reviews earlier in the year about "Philm Noir": "We recorded in New York City when we where there. It's, like, a double album. There is, like, 19 songs. It's called 'Philm Noir', which is 'Philm Black' — taken from the 1940s and '50s films that were shot in very particular light. It's really, really cool. So we titled it that, and there are 19 pieces they are all improvised. We just went into the studio pressed record and created bodies of music around titles that Gerry thought of."

"Fire From The Evening Sun" was released on September 16, 2014 (one day earlier internationally) via UDR.

Finnish symphonic metallers AMBERIAN DAWN will release their new album, "Innuendo", on October 23 via Napalm. The follow-up to 2014's "Magic Forest" was produced by composer Tuomas Seppälä, who also plays keyboards and guitar, and Mikko P. Mustonen, known for his work with DELAIN, ENSIFERUM and SONATA ARCTICA. The CD will be mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers.

The cover artwork for "Innuendo" was created by Jan "Örkki" Yrlund.

"Innuendo" track listing:

01. Fame & Gloria02. Ladyhawk03. Innuendo04. The Court Of Mirror Hall05. Angelique06. Rise Of The Evil07. Chamber Of Dreadful Dreams08. Knock Knock Who's There09. Symphony Nr. 1, Part 1 - The Witchcraft10. Your Time - My Time

Bonus tracks (digipak)

11. Fame & Gloria (instrumental version)12. Sunrise (re-recording)

The official video for the song "Fame & Gloria" can be seen below.

AMBERIAN DAWN will hit the road in October and November with DELAIN and Anneke van Giersbergen of THE GENTLE STORM.

Commented Seppälä: "This is one of the most melodic and vocal-driven album in AMBERIAN DAWN's history. I've composed these songs in a little bit of a different way than I've used to do before. I have worked with these songs without any limitations. Some of the elements I've used have been quite unusual in the heavy metal genre and there's going to be a fresh new sound for AMBERIAN DAWN. Musically, these songs are still very much influenced by classical music but also by electro-composers like Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis, for example. Our new vocalist, Capri [Päivi Virkkunen], was able to bring tons of emotion with her sound and lyric writing and I'm sure that this album will be our best so far!"

AMBERIAN DAWN released a compilation album of songs that originally appeared on their first four albums — "Circus Black" (2012), "End Of Eden" (2010), "The Clouds Of Northland Thunder" (2009) and "River Of Tuoni" (2008) — to showcase Virkkunen after the departure of Heidi Parviainen. "Re-Evolution" was made available on June 14, 2013 in Finland, distributed by Suomen Musiikki.

AMBERIAN DAWN parted ways with vocalist Heidi Parviainen in November 2012. Her final appearance with the band was at the Metal Female Voices Fest at the end of October 2012 in Belgium.

Late 2013 saw UK death thrashers make waves with the release of their second album At First Light but with things slowing down late last year the band have struck yet again out of the blue with a premiere of a brand new music video, “The Thirst”, taken from the album.

Featuring guest vocals from Richard Thomson of UK's tech metal giants Xerath, “The Thirst” was directed by Tom Bohan and shot in a warehouse deep in Manchester by a group of his film students. The final edit is brought to you by Jo Brook.

Vocalist and bass player Al Llewellyn comments, “We previously worked with Tom on 'The Storm' and were really impressed with the results so he and his crew seemed the natural choice to work with on this new video!"

Al continues, "As the cycle of At First Light wound down late last year, our plan was to release a video for every track on the album while we start focusing on ideas for album three! ‘The Thirst' was the next natural choice to put into video form, it has more of our melodic side in it and Rich does a sterling job at making lots of noise over our riffs! It was great fun to film and to meet back up to riff it out since recording with him in the studio!"

Swedish heavy metal defenders (of the faith) Ram are ready to unleash their latest batch of heavy metal anthems to the masses. Entitled Svbversvm, this fourth studio longplayer will be released on October 30th as a limited CD & DVD Digipak as well as on jewelcase-CD and on vinyl. RAM is offering up a clip of "Awakening The Chimaera." Taken from the bonus DVD, X Anniversary, A Decade Of Heavy Metal Tyranny Concert, which comes free with the limited edition digipak of Svbversvm, the performance was filmed on Friday, September 13, 2013 at a hometown show in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Comments Ram on Svbversvm: "This album is the rebirth of Ram, a natural step to take after Death. For this album we went back and rediscovered the mass of notes, lyrical ideas and sketches that were created at the very birth of Ram, from around 99-01. We saw that these ideas were more valid than ever and still very inspiring. We are very pleased with the album that is the product of 4 months of being locked up in the studio and offering our very last drop of sweat and blood for it to become the most massive Ram production ever. This is our latest assault upon the rotting world, may it be a dagger in the heart of the powers that may be! SVBVERSVM is at hand!"

Svbversvm tracklisting:

“Return Of The Iron Tyrant”
“Eyes Of The Night”
“The Usurper”
“Enslaver”
“Holy Death”
“Terminus”
“The Omega Device”
“Forbidden Zone”
“Temples Of Void”
“Svbversvm”

"Awakening The Chimera" live clip:

“The Usurper”:

“Eyes Of The Night”:

The limited first edition of Svbversvm will be released as a Digipak with a bonus-DVD. The bonus-DVD is entitled X Anniversary, A Decade Of Heavy Metal Tyranny Concert and was filmed on Friday, September 13th, 2013 at a hometown show in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Bonus DVD tracklisting:

“Sudden Impact”
“Judgement And Punishment”
“Blessed To Be Cursed”
“Under The Scythe”
“Defiant”
“Awakening The Chimaera”
“Machine Invaders”
“Ghost Pilot”
“Death”
“Forced Entry”
“Flame Of The Tyrants”
“Infuriator”

Pre-order at this location.

 

Bonnyville, AB melodic metallers Silent Line is streaming new track “Erosion” off their upcoming concept album Shattered Shores, which is the follow up to their 2012 LP Born Of A Dying Star. Listen below.

Vocalist/guitarist Michael Burton comments about the track:

"This is the second song on the album and it is more ‘bouncy’ and is a lot different from the opening track before it both lyrically and musically. The bounciness comes from locking the rhythm guitars to the kick drum in verses and blending lead guitar and synth runs together. In this song, the setting is one of the land free of snow, being burned away by an inferno; fear dominates. The past and how the land has come to be a ruined hellscape is the main subject matter."

Producing heavy and melodic music with an orchestral flair rooted in death metal Shattered Shores is the band's first concept album. The title track is split into two parts, and throughout the album several thematic riffs and lyrics are repeated, creating a motif for listeners. The title references being stranded and trapped forever as the shores become more eroded and the reality of isolation sets in. The lyrics revolve around the themes of overcoming hardships, anxiety, and “weathering the storm” in order to persevere. A single person is referred to throughout the album and everything is told from their point of view as they wander, stuck on the island -- unsure of how they got there, and unsure if they will ever leave.

Silent Line is composed of Mike Burton leading the charge on guitar and vocals, Randy Bergh writing pummeling guitar riffs, Andy Sidloski crafting driving bass lines, and Adam Kallstrom thundering on drums. The line up charges audiences with their energy and fills the entire room with its symphonic melodies. heir dedication to their craft is strengthened by their loyal fans, who have supported their development over the years with their two previous albums  Born Of A Dying Star (2012) and One Body Blade (2010).

Tracklisting:

“Frost Of The Night”
“Erosion”
“Black And White”
“Shattered Shores I Timeless Night”
“Summer Song”
“Starfall”
“Shattered Shores II A New Beginning”
“Into The Chasm”
“The Faceless Shadow”
“Embrace The End”

"Erosion":

"Black And White":

Southern California's rising underground metal/hardcore outfit Twitching Tongues has launched "Asylum Avenue", the third single from the band's upcoming album, Disharmony, due out October 30 via Metal Blade Records. Listen to the track below.

Twitching Tongues' Colin Young (vocals) comments: "Recording 'Asylum Avenue' made me the most emotional of any of the songs on the album. It is a lyrical successor to 'Preacher Man', and deals with the trials and eventual triumph of mine, my father's, and my brother's over a certain situation in our lives. It's an odd feeling to harbor the desire to kill a man who wronged you so early in your life so many years later, but this was a very therapeutic means of letting go of that frustration. This is a song I feel that both old and new fans of the band will appreciate. It has some things we haven't done before, but also some classic elements that to me, make it feel like a true Twitching Tongues song."

LA underground metal/hardcore band Twitching Tongues has 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 their upcoming, third studio album, 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 will be released on October 30th via Metal Blade Records.

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

 

Four years after the Sempervirens EP, and two after a 7'' split with Ireland’s Gacys Threads, Swiss stoner/sludgecore/metal outfit Colosuss Fall have released their debut full-length album, Hidden Into Details.

The album is available right now on CD via the band's webstore (or through Altsphere) and soon digitally through the main legal platforms. In the meantime, three songs extracted from the album are streaming below.
 
HIDDEN INTO DETAILS - 2015 New Album by COLOSSUS FALL

The band as it exists today was formed in July 2011 in Geneva by members having previously taken part in various bands of the local metal scene. The project is part of the meeting of David Moro (guitars, ex-Forge) and Philippe Suarez (guitars, ex-Amok) in 2009.

A number of musicians have contributed to the karma of the band. The actual line up is completed by Christophe Laureau on the drums (after the departure of Bastien C. Anthony) and Christophe Grasset on vocals. It is not easy to apply Colosuss Fall’s rich and expanded sound to any existing style, being both brutal and sophisticated at the same time, but rather it is clearly an influence of a number of quite different genres.
 

"A Ballad For The Vultures”, the thundering maiden single from Boston-based Magic Circle’s impending second LP, Journey Blind, can be heard streaming below.
 
Following their self-titled debut, which was well-received in metal and hardcore circles, Magic Circle returns with forty-five minutes of dominant, pure traditional doom-ridden heavy metal on Journey Blind, a record which sees the outfit doing what they do, but doing it even better. Self-produced and recorded by the band at guitarist CC's The Pain Cave, the record surges with the viscosity a team of top-tier producers would be proud to back.

The cover art for Journey Blind is an unused piece by legendary artist Joe Petagno (Motörhead, Mammoth Grinder, Autopsy) dating to 1979 yet properly fitted to this modern ripper. Surging with over forty-five minutes of doomed heavy metal that invokes the masters in their purest form, Journey Blind is a record which could have been captured three decades ago yet booms with a refreshed spirit to guide today's misguided youth back to their unbeknownst roots.

Journey Blind sees its initial release in CD and digital formats on November 20th, with the vinyl to follow in early 2016. Stand by for further details and pre-orders for Journey Blind, tour dates and more on Magic Circle throughout the weeks ahead.
 

Finnish power metal band Ghost Machinery are streaming the new single ”Lost To Love”, from the upcoming new album Evil Undertow, due for release on November 13th via Pure Legend Records.

On the third output, Evil Undertow, concise keyboards meet up with moony, strong guitar harmonies and a very clear, differentiated sound. Sometimes they exceed the limits to power metal in the well-known Stratovarius tradition. But mostly, on 13 tracks hard rock influenced by Rainbow, Black Sabbath (Tony Martin-era) and Axel Rudi Pell reigns supreme. Also AOR lunatics should give it a listen.

“Lost To Love”:

 

On January 25th, 2016 My Kingdom Music will release Deathrising, the new Motus Tenebrae full-length album, the fifth in their 15-year career which signals the return of singer Luis McFadden.

The album was mastered at the well-known Imperial Mastering Studio in California by Colin Davis and represents a new chapter in their vision of Gothic doom metal, expanding the essence of dark music to a new level.

The artwork was created by band's drummer and dark artist Andrea Falaschi.

Tracklisting:
 
“Our Weakness”
“Black Sun”
“For A Change”
“Light That We Are”
“Faded”
“Deathrising”
“Haunt Me”
“Grace”
“Cold World”
“Cherish My Pain”
“Desolation”

More news heading your way soon.

Italian experimental death metallers, The Big Jazz Duo, has released a new lyric video for their current single “RavenHeart” (see below). The track is found on the band’s recently released Enemy album, available from Fire Was Born Records.

“When finding the enemy within there are no possibilities for a solid and peaceful reconciliation with no injuries” says frontman Thomas Franceschetti “To the awareness of their condition follows an immoral transformation into what the enemy really is. That's why “RavenHeart” is a darkness taking control, corrupting everything in its path, devoted to a greater evil, a black hole engulfing us and slowly drawing all of us, emphasizing that petty, terrible side we tried to hide all along”.

Enemy was recorded at Inverno Studios (Five Days Of Rain,  Whitin Your Pain, Whishing The Sunset, Chrome Is Burning) and distributed in digital and physical version by Fire Was Born Records.

Enemy tracklisting:

“Limbo - Door I”
“The Shepherd”
“Descent - Door II”
“RavenHeart - Door III”
“All Those Who Wander Are Lost”
“Hollow Sunset - Door IV”
“Haunted”
“The Three Beggars – Epilogue”
“This Darkest Hour”

Swiss noise mongers Herod have premiered their latest video, “Northern Lights”, ahead of their upcoming slot as part of the Deathcrusher tour; opening for legendary death metallers Carcass, grindcore overlords Napalm Death, Floridian extremists Obituary and Canadian thrash gods Voivod.

Tour dates:

October
23 - Wolverhampton, England - Wulfrun Hall
24 - Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands
25 - Belfast, Ireland - Limelight 1
26 - Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
27 - Bristol, England - Motion
28 - Newcastle, England - O2 Academy
29 - London, England - The Forum
30 - Manchester, England - Ritz

November
1 - Gent, Belgium - De Vooruit
2 - Köln, Germany - Live Music Hall
3 - Geneva, Switzerland - L’Usine
4 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn
5 - Prague, Czech Republic - Folimanka Hall
6 - Magdeburg, Germany - Factory
8 - Gothenburg, Germany - Tradgar’n
9 - Stockholm, Sweden - Arenan
11 - Gdansk, Poland - B90
12 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja
13 - Leipzig, Germany - Täubchenthal
15 - Vienna, Austria - Simm City
16 - Munich, Germany - Kesselhaus
17 - Bologna, Italy - Estragon Club
18 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
19 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
21 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Speedfest
22 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
23 - Paris, France - La Cigale
24 - Lyon, France - Le Transbordeur
26 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Riviera
27 - Lisboa, Portugal - Cine Teatro
28 - Bilbao, Spain - Sala Santana 27
29 - Barcelona, Spain - Sala Razzmatazz
 

Counting Days will release their debut album, Liberated Sounds, on October 16th via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group. A full album stream can be found below.

Liberated Sounds was produced by Fredrik Nordstrom (At The Gates, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Opeth, Architects, Bring Me the Horizon) at his legendary Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Tracklisting:

“Burned By Faith”
“Die Alone”
“Beaten & Scarred”
“Life & Death”
“Liberated Sounds”
“Fire From The Sky”
“Days Go By”
“The Vines”
“Sands Of Time”
“Prison Of Misery”
“Cold Truth”
“Reunion”

Album stream:

“Die Alone” video:

“Liberated Sounds” video:

To celebrate the release of their debut album Liberated Sounds, Counting Days will be playing a free entry album launch show at London’s metal hotbed, The Black Heart, tonight, Wednesday, October 14th.

The band have also announced the following tour dates:

October
14 - The Black Heart - London, UK (Album Launch Show - FREE)
23 - Riverside - Sheffield, UK
24 - The Festing - Southsea, UK

November
26 - The Scene - Swansea, UK
27 - Komedia - Brighton, UK
28 - The Rainbow - Birmingham, UK
29 - Sanctuary - Basingstoke, UK

December
3 - Packhorse - Leeds, UK
4 - Vic Inn - Derby, UK
5 - Frog & Fiddle - Cheltenham, UK
6 - Cavern - Exeter, UK
12 - Craufurd Arms - Milton Keynes, UK

Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington - the only original members remaining since the band’s inception in 1964 - suffered a heart attack last week.

A message from Lynyrd Skynyrd states: “As Gary recuperates after suffering a heart attack late last week, the band regrets to announce that they’ll be cancelling two upcoming performances. Full refunds are available at points of purchase for Friday’s show in Terre Haute, IN and the Mt. Pleasant, MI show will be rescheduled in 2016. Gary is currently resting at home with his family and is expected to make a full recovery.”

Stay tuned for updates.

On October 23rd, Eagle Rock Entertainment will issue the simultaneous release of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin'nérd & Second Helping – Live From Jacksonville At The Florida Theatre on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital Formats. This will also be released as DVD+2CD set exclusively at Walmart.
 
Recorded this year, this release captures the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd performing their first two studio albums, Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd and Second Helping, live in their entirety for the first time, at two specially staged concerts at the Florida Theatre in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.

Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd was released in 1973 and includes “I Ain’t The One,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” and the seminal “Free Bird.” Second Helping was released the following year and includes “Workin’ For MCA,” “Swamp Music,” “Call Me The Breeze,” and the classic southern rock anthem “Sweet Home Alabama.”
 
The shows captured on Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd & Second Helping – Live From Jacksonville At The Florida Theatre represent a special occasion for both Lynyrd Skynyrd and their fans, as the band performed tracks they’d never or rarely played live before along with classic songs that are an essential part of any Lynyrd Skynyrd live show.
 
With the Bonus Features offering a special created behind-the-scenes with Lynyrd Skynyrd section, this release offers nearly two hours of peerless musical entertainment.
 
For a sneak peak, check out “Gimme Three Steps” below:

Band lineup:
 
Lynyrd Skynyrd:
Gary Rossington - Guitar
Johnny Van Zant - Lead Vocals
Rickey Medlocke - Guitar
Michael Cartellone - Drums
Mark Matejka - Guitar
Peter Keys - Keyboards
Johnny Colt - Bass Guitar
 
Honkettes:
Dale Krantz Rossington - Background Vocals
Carol Chase - Background Vocals

Additional musicians:
Jim Horn - Alto Sax
Paul Jackson - Trumpet
Myles Moore - Baritone Sax
Nick Campbell - Percussion
Steve ‘Boxcar’ Traum – Harmonica

UK progressive melodic death metal act De Profundis released their new album Kingdom Of The Blind worldwide by Wicker Man Recordings on September 28th.

Today, De Profundis are releasing a new video clip that gives a taste of the tracks on the new album. The music is accompanied by images from their latest promotional photo session, interspersed with pictures from their recent London show with Enslaved and Grand Magus. The video also features a fantastic selection of review quotes from the world's media.

A press release states: “Kingdom Of The Blind is beyond a shadow of a doubt the most accomplished and breathtakingly impressive album ever to bear the De Profundis name and sees the band scaling dizzying new heights of accomplishment. Every aspect of this magnificent album simply radiates quality – from the incredible standards of musicianship and song writing to the intensity of the performances, the rich and powerful production to the evocative artwork, courtesy of Costin Chioreanu, renowned for his work with Arch Enemy, Darkthrone, At The Gates, Grave and many others.
 
“These ten exquisitely crafted tracks will surely see De Profundis explode into the wider metal consciousness and with huge touring plans in place with some of the biggest names in death metal to support the album’s release, this is the year of De Profundis...their time has come.”

Kingdom Of The Blind tracklisting:

“Overture”
“Kult Of The Orthodox”
“Illumination”
“All Consuming”
“Kingdoms Of The Blind”
“Beyond The Threshold”
“A Strange Awakening”
“The Antagonist”
“Thrown To The Wolves”
“In Solitude”

“Kult Of The Orthodox”:

MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee was forced to sit out the band's concert Wednesday night (October 14) at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York due to a hurt wrist. Filling in for him at the show was Glen Sobel from support act Alice Cooper's backing group. Lee is expected to recover in time for MÖTLEY CRÜE's next concert, which is scheduled for Friday, October 16 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Sobel wrote on his Facebook page: "So today at 12:30 p.m. I got a call from MOTLEY CRÜE management about me filling in for Tommy Lee who has a hurt wrist. After our Alice Cooper set, I rocked a set with CRÜE here in Buffalo, NY.

"It's been an insane day of prep and making cheat sheets.

"I can't describe what an honor it's been to rock tonight with Vince [Neil], Mick [Mars], Nikki [Sixx] and Tommy, who was handling some of the electronics and cueing me through the in-ear monitors from side stage.

"No, I did not do the 'Crüecifly' drum solo. But I played with the guys for the finale of 'Home Sweet Home' on the hydraulic stage by front of house.

"It's one of those things… Had I known when I was a kid this would happen one day… You get the picture.

"Here's to hoping Tommy Lee's wrist heals up quickly. I'm familiar with the experience of playing though pain while being on tour. It isn't fun."

MÖTLEY CRÜE's "The Final Tour" kicked off last year and will end New Year's Eve at the Staples Center in Los Angeles after one last round of North American gigs.

While announcing the first details of "The Final Tour" at a Los Angeles press conference in January 2014, the four members of MÖTLEY CRÜE revealed that they took the unusual step of having their lawyer draw up a formal "cessation of touring" agreement that goes into effect at the end of 2015 and prohibits the members of the group from going on the road again under the MÖTLEY CRÜE banner. The 2014 leg of "The Final Tour" was one of last year's top-grossing tours, selling close to a million tickets across 72 cities and grossing more than $45 million.

Fan-filmed video footage of VENOM INC., the new band featuring original VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray (drums) alongside ex-VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan, performing on October 13 in Zagreb, Croatia can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, Dunn stated about how VENOM bassist/vocalist Conrad "Cronos" Lant feels about VENOM INC.'s existence and whether he has tried to stop VENOM INC. from using the "VENOM" name: "I don't know [how he feels about it]. And at the end of the day, [our band's full name is] VENOM INC. – IRON & STEEL. The fans know who he is, the fans know who we are. In this band, you have the two founder members of [VENOM]."

He continued: "I don't wanna get into this whole political thing, but every band who's got a frontman who is iconic, [the fans] look at the frontman as 'that's the band.' Not true. [Cronos] was the last person to join VENOM — at my invitation. I met him at a girlfriend's friend's house. And we needed a rhythm guitarist — that's what we needed. We didn't need a vocalist; we had a vocalist. We needed a rhythm guitarist, because our rhythm guitarist had left. Essentially, we were, what? Two guitars, bass, drums and vocals — so we were a five-piece in the initial stages. So the rhythm guitarist left. I met this guy. I'd never met him before. He said he was a guitarist; he had long hair; he was into metal; he worked at Impulse Studios owned by David Wood, founder of] Neat Records. I had been there and walked out with my tail between my legs, because, at that point, me and the other guys who I had around in the band, we couldn't afford to do a demo. So it was, like, 'Hmm, that might be an inroad.' So he was invited to a rehearsal, he came in as a rhythm guitarist, and the bass player left, as bands do. By default, he took over bass, and then I wrote 'Live Like An Angel (Die Like A Devil)'. And the idea for that song was… I said to him, 'Can you sing?' And he was, like, 'I'll give it a go.' So the idea was that Clive Archer, our original singer, was gonna go off stage and do a costume change and come back on for 'Shizo'."

Dunn added: "A lot of these songs were written before he joined the band. And this is what people don't realize… And the other thing that people don't realize is… I'll say this. In 2005, my mother was seriously ill and I lost her… I lost my mother at the end of that year. My mind wasn't on music, it wasn't on fucking a band's name or anything like that. And I had already made my exit. Those things went on, and I was, like, 'That's it.' And [Cronos] called me. It was something to do with a license coming back for an album, which we were then gonna pass to Sanctuary Records. And I was just, like, 'My mind isn't on this. It's gotta be on family. And I don't care. I really don't care what happens with this fucking album. Put it wherever the hell you want.' And it was during the course of that conversation [that] he said, 'Are you okay with me continuing VENOM?' [And I said], 'Yeah.' Is it a decision I regret? Yes. Because, looking back, if my head had been right, if my head had been screwed on at that point, I would have said, 'I think we should just bury it now.'"

Said Bray: "But then, legally, he didn't ask me, and the name of the band, originally, was put together by the two of us. So if he had legal standing, he's asked one person, [and] you have to ask the other person. 'Cause I would have said no. And that's why he didn't ask me, 'cause I would have said, 'No, I'm not okay with it.'"

ASked whether Cronos has a possible legal case in wanting to stop VENOM INC. from using the VENOM name, Bray said: "No. The only thing he's got, if we have a legal argument about it, is the recent longevity. He's got [a period of several years] where he's been putting [stuff out and playing shows], so people know that's VENOM. And that's fair enough; we're not disputing that. None of us are disputing that. But we're saying is we have got what we've got and everybody knows what it's about and everybody understands it. And when we said, 'Let's call it IRON & STEEL,' everybody went, 'But you're VENOM. You're VENOM.' Everybody else said it. And we went, 'It's really nice to hear.'"

Dunn, Bray and Dolan released three albums as VENOM between 1989 and 1992 — "Prime Evil" (1989), "Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992).

The classic lineup of VENOM — Lant, Dunn and Bray — is often credited with kickstarting the whole black metal movement, but is more accurately seen an early example of extreme metal.

VENOM's second album, 1982's "Black Metal", was a major influence on on the early Norwegian black metal scene.

An Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for "Battering Ram", the 21st studio album from British heavy metal legends SAXON, is available below. The CD will be released on October 30 in North America via UDR Music.

On "Battering Ram" — with Biff Byford singing as well as he ever has, Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt making full use of the term "shredding" with their guitars and the lock-steady rhythm of Nibbs Carter's bass and Nigel Glockler's drums — the future and the past crash together in an ear-scintillatingly engaging, raucous, melodic-yet-classically heavy ten-song collection which will instantly be hailed as a SAXON classic. The title track, with its delectable twin guitar assault heralding the album's commencement, gives the listener an instant crack around the chops, whilst traditionalists will be delighted to hear such a perfect marriage of old, classic SAXON with the newer, fresher invective in such riff-fronted fare as "Destroyer" and "Stand Your Ground", but there are still moments of space and exploration which fans will love.

"This one's a natural progression from 'Sacrifice'," says Byford, "There's a bit less rock 'n' roll and a bit more 'heavy' on it. We wanted to keep focused on a style rather than moving around too much."

Produced by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, ACCEPT) at his Backstage Recording Studios in rural Derbyshire, SAXON were able to hone in and whittle down any excess, finding the sonic space and balance to let "Battering Ram"'s riffs and melodies get the necessary space to scream front and center, Sneap bringing a crispness to the sound which evokes memories of the early '80s without for one moment sounding dated.

"Yes, Andy has been in charge of everything with this album, I keep on overview of it all, but he's done a great job and we're both pleased with the results. We have a great partnership," adds Byford.

Lyrically, "Battering Ram" covers a variety of social situations, like the screaming fans who rage at the gig barriers ("Battering Ram") or engaging in some good old fashioned myth ("The Devil's Footprint" — a 200-year-old tale of people waking up in winter snowfall to see unexplained hoof prints which they followed, looking for an answer in vain).

"When I'm writing lyrics I like to switch back and forth between complex things, reality and rock'n'roll," says Byford, "I thought the whole folklore behind 'The Devil's Footprint' made it great material for a metal song, being that it's both historic and mythical.

"With 'Queen of Hearts', I wanted to write something around Lewis Carroll's 'Alice In Wonderland', and it's about the chess game that happens in the story. I wanted it to have prog-feeling in the way of its ambiance and mood. Then you have songs like 'Destroyer' and 'Hard And Fast' which are '80s-inspired songs with that modern slant on it. I'm a big fan of Marvel comics, and I wanted to write a song around the character Destroyer, and with 'Hard and Fast', it's, as the title suggests, about driving fast! I do like to tie the lyric into the song, so if it's going to be a song about driving fast, well, it has to be a fast, hard song!"

There is also the album's closing cut, haunting, gripping, melancholic tale of the First World War, "The Kingdom Of The Cross", where a poem unfurls the feelings and horrors which comprised this most brutal of global conflicts. "This year is the centenary of the end of the First World War. Nigel had a piece of music which he played on a synthesizer for a couple of years that I really liked. We had an actor (and singer), David Bower from the band HELL, read the poem and I sang the choruses. I didn't want it to be typical SAXON, so it is just keyboards, bass, me and Dave."

The official video for the CD's title track can be seen below. In this no-nonsense, sharp clip, Biff and the boys are captured at Backstage Studios in Derbyshire, U.K, throwing down a thunderous performance. "Battering Ram" is available for pre-order now via iTunes, with "Battering Ram" as the instant grat track. Various "Battering Ram" formats include CD in ecolbook, 180-gram vinyl, limited edition boxset (containing CD, vinyl and a bonus CD with the band performance of their "Denim & Leather" tour "Saxon Over Sweden 2011", featuring 18 tracks).

"Battering Ram" track listing:

01. Battering Ram02. The Devil's Footprint03. Queen Of Hearts04. Destroyer05. Hard And Fast06. Eye Of The Storm07. Stand Your Ground08. Top Of The World09. To The End10. Kingdom Of The Cross

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, who has staged his own horror convention in the San Francisco area for the past two years and also published a book about his extensive memorabilia collection, identified with the horror genre as a young outcast growing up in San Francisco and felt particular sympathy for Frankenstein's monster, a misunderstood misfit who wanted to connect to his dad, because Hammett's relationship to his own father was "not strong."

"Believe it or not, I'm a totally introverted person," Hammett tells Collectors Weekly. "People see me onstage and see that I walk out in front 50,000 people not even batting an eyelash, but I'm just used to that. Because of my family history, I always felt like an outsider. I was super shy as a kid, very quiet and observant. I had trouble fitting into a lot of situations, and I felt like a monster myself. A lot of the stuff I saw the monsters experiencing on the screen, I had a version of that in my own life."

Hammett told The Pulse Of Radio that he takes his love for the horror genre very seriously. "I like to think of myself as someone who, like, has a real passion for this stuff and is knowledgeable," he said. "You know, I like to think of myself as a horror movie historian and, you know, I like to think of myself as someone who actually means it. I really love this stuff."

Hammett promoted a ghoulish collectible figure of himself, looking a little green, at last year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. The limited-edition figure was part of Hammett's Famous Zombies Jr. line of his Kirk Von Hammett Toys.

Hammett told The Pulse Of Radio that he put the "Von" in the name of his toy line to keep that business separate from the rest of METALLICA's affairs. "I'm really trying to like keep them separate — my musical career and my horror career," he explained. "It's really important that one does not bleed into the other, because they're two completely different things. And even though they're two of my main passions, horror movies and music, I still feel the need — just out of respect for, you know, my other bandmates — to keep it separate."

METALLICA has reportedly been working on its tenth studio album, which will follow up 2008's "Death Magnetic".

METALLICA has not revealed when it plans to begin recording or tentatively release the new album.

Robert Cavuoto of Guitar International recently conducted an interview with SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Guitar International: You'll be releasing the SCORPIONS 50th-anniversary deluxe editions, eight of your most influential albums, on November 6. Tell about the process of doing this.

Rudolf Schenker: Much of the world outside of the U.S. and Canada were not able to buy many of our albums from "Taken By Force" to "Savage Amusement". We told our manager, we had to find a way to get these albums out to the rest of the world. We found a partner with BMG and they had a vision for this — putting out the albums like they originally looked with great packaging. These songs, albums, and photos are like diamonds to us, very precious and we needed to have them sound the best they could. We had Dieter Dierks give all our material to BMG and the person handling this project was a SCORPIONS fan, and he put this all together in beautiful packaging. So beautiful that we nearly cried when we saw it. Now we have a fantastic way of releasing these old albums, the crown jewels of our 50-year career, available to everyone. Eighty percent of our fans on Facebook are between 16-28 years old — that's worldwide. Not so much in America, because of the radio format, but the rest of the world it's like that. On the last tour we started to see more young fans mixed with our older fans. That's the reason we needed to get our back catalogue right. We also made the film, "Forever And A Day", for all the young fans to see what we are all about.

Guitar International: When the SCORPIONS started, did you think you would be still going strong 50 years later?

Rudolf Schenker: I was really into rock 'n' roll with Little Richard and Elvis Presley, but that wasn't the reason I started playing guitar. That came later when I saw THE ROLLING STONES and THE BEATLES. I saw in my naive young brain, five friends going around the world making music. That was my philosophy in the beginning. I had that vision and then built a friendship around it. This was the key to making history together. It took so long for us to come out of Germany, from 1965 to 1972, to make the first album, "Lonesome Crow". I was the manager, bus driver, guitarist, singer, roadie — everything — until my brother, Klaus Meine, came along. It was the platform for us to start; it was also the right way to start. We didn't get the fame and success too early in our career. We went through it the hard way with heart; that's why we are still at it 50 years later. We didn't take the easy way. Kids nowadays can't handle the rock-star lifestyle, when it's achieved too quickly. Fifty years later, we are putting out a new CD, "Return To Forever", a documentary, "Forever And A Day", the deluxe editions of our back catalogue and we are out touring! We have these four things going on and we are so busy with everything. On one hand, it's very good, and on the other hand, sometimes it's too much. In the end, the fans will get the best of us and that's very important. We always look to take care of the fans.

Guitar International: After 50 years of touring how do you keep it new and fresh?

Rudolf Schenker: In the past, going on the road was routine: you go here, you do this, you play that. By announcing the farewell tour and coming out with an album called "Sting In The Tail", produced by these fantastic two Swedish guys Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hanson, it became clear that we had a new feeling for creating music. Like I mentioned, the kids in the YouTube generation were looking for whatever they can find on us and when they have something they connected with they then want to see us live. We realized we have a new generation of fans. Suddenly it grows, and we have three generations of fans coming to see the show. We have kids around the world, including Asia and Russia, telling us, "You can't stop now. I want to see you!" There is a new generation in front of the stage. It's refreshing for us. It's like when Keith Richards put fresh blood in his veins, and this new perspective was like new blood in my veins. When we did this "MTV Unplugged" in Greece, MTV asked us and, of course, we wanted to do it. In the '80s, we couldn't do it because we had no time. In 2013, we found the time and it was a big success. We went out of the routine and into a new exciting time. You have to make your time and life on earth exciting. We appreciate what the fans give us and we try to give more.

Read the entire interview at Guitar International.

In a brand new interview with U.K.'s Total Guitar magazine, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith was asked if the fact that there are five songwriters in the band means that the art of compromise is a constant challenge for MAIDEN. He responded: "I think it's got a little more democratic. Having said that, a band is always a compromise, but sometimes it can be good. Back in the '80s, Steve [Harris, IRON MAIDEN bassist] would bring in four or five top-to-bottom finished songs, but now he's more interested in producing, arranging, lyrics and melodies. He'll ask me what ideas I've got and I'll usually have pretty well-formed ideas. He gets me to play my ideas to him and he'll come out with a melody straight away. He'll sing the melody over the top and he'll record it. Then, down the line, he'll sort through it. But he'll say the first thing that occurs to him is usually the best, and he's got a lot of ideas for lyrics, so we've done that quite a bit over the years. Well, I say over the years, in my second stint in the band — in the last 10 or 15 years, that's the way it works."

He continued: "[On IRON MAIDEN's latest album, 'The Book Of Souls'], I did a couple of things with Bruce [Dickinson, vocals], too. I thought I'd try writing shorter songs, like '2 Minutes To Midnight' and 'Can I Play With Madness', with just Bruce and me. We haven't done that since I've been back in the band. Maybe with 'Wickerman', we did it. So that was different. He came over before we started recording and we wrote 'Speed Of Light' and 'Death Or Glory'."

Asked how MAIDEN manages to push the band into new areas, while still satisfying people's expectations of MAIDEN, Adrian said: "Well, Steve constantly surprises me. I think the first time was when we did a song called 'Wasted Years' [written by Adrian for 1986's 'Somewhere In Time' album]. I was messing around with a little four-track and I'd just put that riff down for 'Wasted Years'. I was playing Steve some other stuff and I played it to him by accident and he said, 'What's that?' I said, 'You probably won't like this as it's so commercial,' but he really liked it and insisted we do it. So something you'd think he wouldn't want to do, he does. But I do like to sit down and visualize us doing different things. Obviously, we can't do anything too drastic, but whatever works, really."

MAIDEN's sixteenth — and first-ever double — studio album, "The Book Of Souls", was released worldwide on September 4 through Parlophone Records (BMG in the U.S.A). The CD was recorded in Paris, France with producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley in late 2014, with the finishing touches added earlier this year.

IRON MAIDEN announced in May that touring plans to support the album wouldn't happen until 2016 to allow Dickinson time to fully recuperate after his successful cancer treatment.