Shredload.com recently conducted an interview with former MEGADETH and current ACT OF DEFIANCE guitarist Chris Broderick. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On his decision to leave MEGADETH in November 2014:

Broderick: "Well, I think the decision had been… It had been brewing in my head for a long time. And, you know, when it comes down to any decision you make, you can never be sure if the time is right or anything like that; you just go with your gut feeling. And at that point in my career, Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH mainman] was calling us down to start working on the next CD, and I didn't wanna go down there and get involved with something that my heart wasn't in. In my mind, the negatives were starting to outweigh the positives, and that's when I decided to leave."

On how much, aside from his lead guitar tracking and solos, he was allowed to contribute to the writing of MEGADETH music:

Broderick: "Not a lot, you know. It was definitely something where, I think, Dave is, and always will be, MEGADETH, you know, and it's gotta sound MEGADETH. So anytime you allow other people into that realm, it is going to change the sound, naturally. So you can't fault him for that. But, for me, personally, even with that realization, I knew that I wanted to get more of my material out there. And not only more of my own material, but also with it just being [allowed] to exist as it is — not being altered or subject to change, or anything like that. I think it makes sense, when you're in that world, that… Dave is the owner and the founder of MEGADETH, so he has earned that right."

On whether he and drummer Shawn Drover were just "hired guns" in MEGADETH:

Broderick: "Yeah, definitely. It's one of those things where… I mean, it depends on what your definition of 'hired gun' is, but we weren't really the people that… We had no say in what shows we did, or where we went, or… or anything. And, in my mind, that is the definition of a hired gun."

On the last album he recorded with MEGADETH, 2013's "Super Collider":

Broderick: "I felt it was going after a little bit too much commercialism, in my mind. The one thing I can tell you about it is that I do believe Dave spent a lot of time really trying to make that album sound exactly the way it does. Like, he spent a lot of time really looking at the instrumentation and the mixes and the arrangement and how it sounded and how everything went — from my solos to the other instruments that were played, and everything. So he definitely put a lot of time into that CD, but I think its direction was in the wrong place."

On whether he thinks "Super Collider" was "overthought":

Broderick: "Um… Nah, I don't… You know, because, looking at the process and seeing how much time [Dave] spent and what he thought of how things should be, I don't think it was overthought. Like I said, I just think its initial direction — you know, the reasoning behind it; what, kind of, guided its path — was the wrong direction."

Only hours after Drover announced his exit from MEGADETH on November 25, 2014 to "to pursue [his] own musical interests," Broderick revealed he also quit the legendary metal band, saying that he was leaving the group "due to artistic and musical differences."

ACT OF DEFIANCE, the band featuring Broderick and Drover, alongside ex-SCAR THE MARTYR singer Henry Derek Bonner, and SHADOWS FALL's Matt Bachand (bass), released its debut album, "Birth And The Burial", today (Friday, August 21) via Metal Blade Records.

On August 2, former SLAYER and current PHILM drummer Dave Lombardo debuted his collection of rhythm­on-canvas art for the first time on the East Coast with an in-person appearance at Art On A Gallery.

A video interview with Lombardo conducted at the event by the "Wendigo Aftershow" can be seen below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he always knew that he was going to be a professional drummer:

Lombardo: "I didn't know. I mean, I was… I had the passion in me, and I had the drive. Did I know I was gonna succeed the way I did? No. I never thought I was going to reach the status that I reached today. So it was quite a surprise because my parents, obviously, were telling me at a young age, 'Look, Dave, you need to focus on a career instead of music. That's not gonna put food on the table.' And so, with that advice, I think I was just even more determined to succeed. I was basically told, 'You'd better find another career and another job.'"

On what else he could have done for a career had he not become a successful drummer:

Lombardo: "Right out of high school… 'Cause I graduated high school… and… not majored, but my vocational training was technical drafting… You know, design — technical design, technical drafting. And I, immediately, right after high school, I got a job at a diesel… It was called diesel energy systems company, and I would design enclosures for generator sets for hospitals or the department of water and power and various other companies. So I would create these enclosures for these generator sets. So I might have taken a career in engineering at that time."

On whether living in a Cuban household influenced his drumming style:

Lombardo: "Absolutely. Cuban music has a lot of percussion in it, and having that in your culture, and it being part of, you know… very big part of the culture, you can't deny it. You can't resist enjoying music that has drums in it. Although I like all kinds of music — all other styles of music that don't even have drums — but, for the most part, music that has drums, I really enjoy."

On whether he ever had a moment when he was a kid when he realized he was a lot better on the drums than everybody else:

Lombardo: "In fourth grade, I realized that I was a lot faster than other drummers — I was faster at drum rolls. I was faster when I was in a marching band in fourth grade. The cadences… I would learn them and play them at the tempo that the teacher would ask me, but then, after getting comfortable with it, I would speed up and play it as fast as… probably as humanly possible. So, yeah, I kind of realized that at an early age."

As the founding drummer of SLAYER and the current drummer in PHILM and FANTÔMAS , Dave Lombardo is responsible for some of music's most acclaimed rhythms. With his art debut "Rhythm Mysterium", Lombardo crafted the visuals in the collections through drum performance. Working with art team SceneFour, Lombardo utilized drumsticks that light much like a painter uses brushes with oil. An extensive process from start to finish, Lombardo's rhythms are captured and brought to canvas in a highly vivid and abstract way.

"Rhythm on canvas" is a new medium in art — a movement led by the world's greatest drummers, started at SceneFour, a visual art team based in downtown Los Angeles. Through their signature collaborative art approach, they work with notable visionaries outside of the fine art world to collectively create original art projects. At the conclusion of the creation process with featured collaborative guest, an original art collection is born and released worldwide.

Art On A Gallery specializes in works by independent, alternative artists, often with a connection to the music scene and is proud to be the first East Coast gallery to display Dave Lombardo's collection.

The collection will be on display through September 6.

Sally Steele of Vegas Rocks! Magazine conducted an interview with vocalist Biff Byford of British heavy metal legends SAXON on August 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On SAXON's upcoming album, "Battering Ram":

Biff: "It's a bit more metal, actually. Yeah, but there are some really melodic bits in there, like classic SAXON. But, I think, the riffs are very heavy — like 'Princess Of The Night' or 'Heavy Metal Thunder', really; they're heavy as well. So I think it's a bit more focused, this album. It's less of a mixture between hard rock and metal, if you know what I mean. It's more focused, and we like it."

On whether he would do anything differently in his career if he had to do it all over again:

Biff: "Do different? Yeah, I would have probably not signed as many stupid contracts. But that's about it, really."

On the most rewarding part of his career in the past forty years:

Biff: "I think when you're in a band and you're professional and touring the world, I think it's all pretty cool, really. There's some down times and up times, but, generally, if the band are all friends, then it's pretty cool. You know what I mean? Obviously, the '80s were really crazy times for us — we had big hits in the '80s. And the '90s were pretty good. We survived through the NIRVANA/PEARL JAM period, which was, basically… I think that was the lowest period of metal music. I think SAXON, [JUDAS] PRIEST [and IRON] MAIDEN were all a little bit forgotten during that grunge period. But, you know, we came through, we survived, and it was great."

"Battering Ram" will be released in North America on October 16 via UDR Music.

"Battering Ram" is available for pre-order now via iTunes, with "Battering Ram" as the instant grat track.

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx recently spoke to the Ottawa Citizen about the band's "The Final Tour", which kicked off last year and will end New Year's Eve at the Staples Center in Los Angeles after one more round of North American gigs.

Asked if he worries that he might regret pulling the plug in a few years, Sixx said: "No. For me, it's very cut and dry. When MÖTLEY CRÜE is done, it will be the greatest experience of my life, but it's the closing of that chapter. I will never play MÖTLEY CRÜE music in [my other band] SIXX: A.M. That is MÖTLEY CRÜE's music. Even if I wrote them, I won't play them, because I don't believe I should do that in another band. We should each do what we already know how to do, which is create great music."

Asked if everybody in the band is on the same page in terms of not playing MÖTLEY CRÜE music in other projects, Sixx said: "I can't speak for everybody else. That's for me; I know where I'm at. I believe in the future and I believe in new music. If the guys want to go out and jam, go out and jam. Each to their own. But, you know, each guy in the band is very creative and have all kinds of stuff going on. I'm a huge fan of my band members. I'm probably their No. 1 fan, so I can't wait to see what everybody does on their own terms."

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.

Former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch says that talks are once again underway about a resurrection of the band's classic lineup. He tells Glide Magazine in a new interview: "The project that is on the table right now is possibly a DOKKEN reunion, but of course that comes and goes every couple of years [laughs], so who knows. But we're talking again about that."

According to Lynch, if a full-blown DOKKEN reunion doesn't happen, he might record a new album with former DOKKEN bassist Jeff Pilson and STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet. He says: "[A collaboration with Pilson and Sweet has] been on the books for a while but it's just the logistics and the time constraints. Jeff is in FOREIGNER and very, very busy. Michael Sweet has a lot of things going on. And to make things more confusing is Michael and I did the SWEET & LYNCH record, which kind of precluded Jeff and I and Michael from doing a T&N record [the project featuring Lynch, Pilson and DOKKEN drummer Mick Brown], which is essentially the same thing, only without Jeff. [Laughs] There's only one degree of separation between those two bands. I'm even getting confused. [Laughs]"

Don Dokken and Lynch appeared on VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show" together back in May of 2010 in hopes that a reunion of DOKKEN's classic linep would follow. Despite their efforts, the reunion never happened and Don went forward with DOKKEN's current lineup.

In a recent interview with The Washington Times, Don was asked what he and George fight about, Don said: "I finally realized what it was all about when we played a reunion tour of Japan in 1995. It all started again: him playing with his back to the audience. Every time I talked to the audience, he would make these little noises with [his] guitar like a child. I said, 'What is the problem? What can I do to make this work?' He pointed at the 20-foot backdrop hanging behind that read 'Dokken' and said, 'That's the problem. The name." He continued: "It's my name, but it's also the band’s name. Nothing you can do about it."

All the members of DOKKEN's classic 1980s lineup reunited on stage for the first time in more than a decade on November 29, 2009 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California. Don Dokken appeared on stage and said he had some friends he wanted to introduce. Pilson and Lynch joined Mick Brown (drums) for a two-song encore of "When Heaven Comes Down" and "In My Dreams".

THE INFIDELS, the new project featuring legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB, SWEET & LYNCH) alongside singer Angelo Moore from FISHBONE, bassist Pancho Tomaselli from TOWER OF POWER and drummer Sal Rodriguez, is putting the finishing touches on its debut album, tentatively titled "Dark Circus". Lynch tells HNGN: "[INFIDELS] is completely off the map as far as anything I've done in the past. We're recording in this old kind of R&B-soul-funk studio, old equipment, [recording] right to tape, old microphones, all the gear is circa 1975, and it's like walking into a time capsule. It's lo-fi and real and we all play at the same time and the music is all over the map, from obviously rock, but it's got elements of funk, stoner rock, progressive music."

In an interview with BackstageAxxess.com, Lynch said about THE INFIDELS: "I so love playing with these guys. What we do is we just go in the studio and just jam, and just magic happens. So we ended up having a song… They just kept rolling tape… We had a 17-minute song that was actually cohesive that we didn't think of. We just sort of jammed it, and all these parts… and they're really legitimate parts. And it just evolves, and it's magical, and it's inspired, and it's, like, 'Damn, we've gotta put this out.' How do you put out a 17-minute song? [Laughs] I'm really proud of it, man. I love the band."

Asked if THE INFIDELS is going to be a touring act, Lynch said: "That could be. I would like to go out and do that. 'Cause that would be just so much fun. I mean, if it's clubs… I don't care. It would be fine. We're all used to doing that kind of stuff."

French female-fronted industrial metal act Dust In Mind has announced their debut album Never Look Back, releasing on September 18 via Dark Tunes Music Group as a limited digipak and digital download.

A press release states: “With their debut album Never Look Back, the female-lead five piece band from Strasbourg promises not only to fulfill the highest of expectations, but to surpass them. Catching melodies coupled with the most dissonant of riffs, that might be reminiscent of Hypocrisy are refined to a mixture of hardness and beauty by the angelic and vigorous voice of the female lead singer Jen. While Dam, her male counterpart at the microphone, brings those metal fans to bang their head with his dynamic growls.”

Never Look Back tracklisting:

“Intro”
“How Can You”
“I Love As I Hate”
“Never Look Back”
“The Slave Of Man”
“Give Up”
“Frozen Smiles”
“Real Nightmare”
“Farewell”
“Toxic”
“My Departure”

Video “Frozen Smiles”:

(Photo by: Vladimir Tankovitch)

Breaking necks with their punishing riffs, incredible breakdowns backed by wrenching screams and a heavy brutal groove assault, Red Deer, AB's Leave The Living has posted a new lyric video for their track “Undone” off their debut album Pacifist.

The band’s follow-up to their 2012 self-titled EP is available both digitally and on CD at Bandcamp.

“Sink Or Swim”:

“Pacifist”:

Pacifist by Leave the Living

Total Lack of Communication, the new EP from Finland's Re-Armed is out today and can be purchased at this location. The band has also released the official music video for the title track:

 

Death/thrash metal with groovy rhythms and a dash of grind, the self-released EP follows 2014 sophomore album Rottendam (Eternal Sound Records). Total Lack Of Communication is designed to keep the fires burning and blood flowing while the band works on new material for a new full-length album. 

Tracklisting:
 
“Total Lack Of Communication”
“Meant To Be Broken”
“Unhuman”

Re-Armed will tour China from September 24th - October 11th.  The band has also announced these upcoming show dates:

August
22 - PRKL - Helsinki, Finland (with Profane Omen)
29 - Beermageddon Metal Festival - UK

September
4 - Blackpool - Järvenpää, Finland (with Frosttide, MySore)

Re-Armed have been around since 2001, when five guys from Kerava, Finland decided to start playing similar music likened to so-called "Gothenburg metal." Their musical style has evolved along with many critically acclaimed demo tapes, gigs, lineup changes and a well-received debut album Worldwide Hypnotize, which was released internationally on January 2012 via Massacre Records. After releasing their debut, the band supported names such as Chimaira, Suffocation, Origin, Cattle Decapitation and Cryptopsy for the tours in Europe. In this year Re-Armed also made their first big outdoor festival appearance at Bloodstock Open Air at Catton Hall in the UK.

The second album Rottendam was released on January 2014 via Eternal Sound Records, but major lineup changes froze the band almost for a year. Former guitarist/songwriter Tommi Helkalahti decided to leave the band, leaving vocalist Jouni Matilainen as the only current former member in the band.

Re-Armed is:

Jussi Venäläinen - Guitars
Juhana Heinonen - Bass and Backup Vocals
Jouni Matilainen - Lead Vocals
Mika Oinonen - Guitars and Backup Vocals
Iiro Karjalainen - Drums

Swedish heavy metallers Ambush will release their new studio album titled Desecrator on October 30, via High Roller Records.
 
Desecrator contains nine brand new tracks, and will surely satisfy the band’s growing legions of fans. “We feel very confident with the material, album cover and the production. We like to write our heavy metal in different tempos and we think that we have come up with a well-rounded heavy metal album,” says drummer Linus Fritzson.

 
Stylistically, Ambush are not miles away from current Swedish bands like Ram and Enforcer, their main heroes are Judas Priest and Accept though. "Desecrator is a well-rounded heavy metal album, but I like to think that stylistically it shows a bit more variety (and depth) in comparison to Firestorm (Ambush’s debut album). ‘Night Of The Defilers’ for example has this kind of AC/DC beat about it. ‘The Chain Reaction’, on the other hand, is more ‘typical Ambush’, a grinding mid-tempo crusher with some great vocal work and very interesting lyrics" adds the drummer.

Swedish rockers Deadheads will release their second studio album titled Loadead on October 30, on High Roller Records.
 
Guitarist and singer Manne Olander finds a simple explanation for the Deadheads being everybody’s darling at the moment: "People that really enjoy and understand good music always find something they like in different kinds of musical genres. Good music is good music. We just play rock ‘n’ roll."

 
According to Manne Olander, the mode of production shaped the way the record turned out quite considerably: "We recorded Loadead live in the studio, with all musicians playing their respective instruments together in one room. Nobody was wearing any headphones. That really gave the whole album the right vibe. We work hard on the songwriting to get the songs and the sound we like."
 
With tracks like the fuzzed up "There's A Hole In The Sky", the more laid-back "Empty Howls" (with shades of early Fleetwood Mac) and "Let Loose The Fool", proto punk in the vein of The Dead Boys, Dictators, Johnny Thunders and New York Dolls,  Loadead has an even broader scope, a wider appeal than the Deadheads’ first album.

METALLICA played the biggest-ever hard rock concert in Sweden last night (Saturday, August 22) in front of over 63,000 screaming fans at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Fuel02. For Whom The Bell Tolls03. Battery04. King Nothing05. Disposable Heroes06. The Day That Never Comes07. The Memory Remains08. The Unforgiven09. Sad But True10. Turn The Page11. The Frayed Ends of Sanity12. One13. Master Of Puppets14. Fade To Black15. Seek And Destroy

Encore:

16. Whiskey In The Jar17. Nothing Else Matters18. Enter Sandman

A select group of fans were brought on stage during METALLICA's performance to add to the ambiance. Video footage of several songs from the show filmed from the fans' point on view on stage can be seen below.

METALLICA currently has seven dates on its calendar between now and mid-September, including two shows in Quebec City, Canada and an appearance at the Rock In Rio festival.

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

METALLICA has made available for purchase a limited-edition box set containing 50 CDs that chronicle the band's tours of Australia and New Zealand in 2010 and 2013. The set features recordings of 62 different METALLICA originals and covers from 25 different shows, each on two discs, and retails for a hefty $395.

Despite insisting that work has been proceeding on a new CD, METALLICA has spent a lot of time outside the studio in the last year, with activities that included a string of European all-request shows last summer, a week-long residency on "The Late Show With Craig Ferguson", and a Rock In Rio USA stint.

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

AC/DC kicked off the North American leg of its "Rock Or Bust" world tour last night (Saturday, August 22) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Rock Or Bust 02. Shoot To Thrill 03. Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be 04. Back In Black 05. Play Ball 06. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 07. Thunderstruck 08. High Voltage 09. Rock 'N' Roll Train 10. Hells Bells 11. Baptism By Fire 12. You Shook Me All Night Long 13. Sin City 14. Shot Down In Flames 15. Have A Drink On Me 16. T.N.T.17. Whole Lotta Rosie18. Let There Be Rock (with Angus Young guitar solo)

Encore:

19. Highway To Hell20. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

A review of the concert is available at RollingStone.com.

Check out fan-filmed video footage below.

AC/DC's sixteenth studio album, "Rock Or Bust", has sold around 543,000 copies since debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart back in December.

It's the band's first album without founding guitarist Malcolm Young, who is suffering from dementia. He has been replaced by nephew Stevie Young.

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was arrested last November at his home in Tauranga on charges of threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.

Although Rudd played on "Rock Or Bust", he did not appear in photos or videos for the disc.

One-time AC/DC drummer Chris Slade officially joined the band's lineup for its performance on the February 8 Grammy Awards telecast. Slade is also behind the kit for the group's current world tour.

The band's North American tour will wrap on September 28 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Heavy metal punk n' rollers Ramming Speed will release their sophomore Prosthetic effort, No Epitaphs, worldwide on September 4th. The album track “Walls” can be heard below.

Recorded late last year with Kurt Ballou (Converge, Skeletonwitch, Kvelertak) at GodCity Studios, the album borrows from the bulldozer riffs of Swedish D-beat, the guitar harmonies of British heavy metal, the raw aggression of American grind and the visceral energy of basement hardcore.

Tracklisting:

“No Forgiveness In Death”
“Choke Holds And Bullet Holes”
“Beasts Of Labor”
“Don't Let This Stay Here”
“This Is The Life We Chose”
“Walls”
“Break In The Chain”
“Truth To Power”
“Super Duty”
“Horns Of War”
“Momentary Masters”

“Walls”:

“Don't Let This Stay Here:

“Choke Holds And Bullet Holes”:

Physical pre-order bundles for "No Epitaphs" on are now available via the Prosthetic Records webshop or on Bandcamp, where digital bundles are also available. Packages include the album on CD or LP (standard-weight black wax with a double-sided gatefold poster and download card) paired with an exclusive t-shirt design. You can also add on a copy of their new limited-edition tour 7-inch "Don't Let This Stay Here," which features an exclusive B-side called "The Wraith."

Digital pre-orders for "No Epitaphs" will go live on all other platforms at midnight local time tonight and include an instant download of "Choke Holds and Bullet Holes”.

A list of the band's currently confirmed tour dates is available here.

 

 

 

Phoenix, Arizona-based death metal quintet, Vehemence, is preparing to return to full-time deployment this year, with new tour dates coming together around their anxiously awaited first new album in over a decade, Forward Without Motion, confirmed for release through Battleground Records in October.

The outfit's first new album since Metal Blade Records' 2004-released Helping The World To See, Vehemence comes storming back to the death metal circuit with a crushing new album which will surely see the band regaining their traction within the scene after their time off the grid. Forward Without Motion is the culmination of years of hard work and the collective desire to write the best songs and capture the best performances.

Working on the songs off and on for several years between 2007 and 2011, Vehemence began a methodical, painstaking tracking process for the new record between 2012 and 2014, the album's guitars, bass, and vocals being recorded at the home studios of guitarists Bjorn Dannov and Kyle Moeller, with the drums being recorded at Villain Studios in Phoenix. When listening to Forward Without Motion, one will discover the refreshing sounds of a band creatively reborn and seasoned by experience. The album flows with a relentless, throat grabbing energy that never flags and begs for repeated spins. This cohesive power is nowhere more apparent than in the strength of the instrumental and vocal performances, which slash and hammer their way out of the speakers with a passion rarely found in the cold, mostly lifeless corpses that are most modern death metal recordings.

With the underground death metal scene now extremely primed for the re-arrival of Vehemence, Forward Without Motion will be released through Battleground records on October 23rd. The record will be issued on 180-gram black vinyl 2xLP in a gatefold package with a free download, limited to 300 copies, as well as a digipak CD version and all digital platforms. The band and label have proudly issued Forward Without Motion's tracklisting and cover art by Hal Rotter/Rotting Graphics (Atriarch, Inherit Disease, Barghest).

An official video for the LP's opening track, "I Don't Want To Look Inside”, can be seen below. CD, LP and digital pre-orders can be placed now.

Forward Without Motion tracklisting:

“I Don't Want To Look Inside”
“Imagining The Loss”
“Murdered By The Earth”
“Jim The Prophet”
“In The Shadows We Dwell”
“A Dark Figure In The Distance”
“It's All My Fault”
“She Fucks Like She's Alive”
“There Are So Many Reasons To Give Up On Religion”

“I Don't Want To Look Inside” video:

Vehemence has announced a home-area record release show for Forward Without Motion, set to take place Saturday, October 24th, one day after the record's official release. The free gig will see the band headlining Yucca Tap Room in Tempe, Arizona, with support from labelmates Lago, as well as Sorrower and Through The Earth. Additional regional and widespread tour actions from the band will continue to be announced through the coming months.

Australia’s Dead Letter Circus recently released their third studio album, Aesthesis, digitally via The End Records/ADA. Get it now via iTunes. The album will be available on CD and limited vinyl LP formats on September 25th. Check out the new video for the album’s lead track, “In Plain Sight”, streaming below.

Co-produced by Matt Bartlem (Matt Corby, Jarryd James) and mixed by Grammy Award-winning master music maker Chris Lord-Alge (Muse, Green Day, U2), Aesthesis is the band's most electric full-length album to date. With over 10 complex and ambitious songs, the band creates a vast sonic universe filled with their trademark sound of intricate-yet-danceable rhythms, ocean-sized guitars, and the lofty voice of Kim Benzie.

Tracklisting:

“In Plain Sight”
“While You Wait”
“The Burning Number”
“Show Me”
“Y A N A”
“Silence”
“The Lie We Live”
“X”
“Change The Concept”
“Born, Pt. 2”

“In Plain Sight” video:

The Oxford Coma have released an official video for “Canadian Questionmark”, a track from their just released second LP, Paris Is Mine. The video, as well as a full album stream, can be found below.

Paris Is Mine tracklisting:

“Canadian Questionmark”
“Ritaling”
“Daisies”
“The Pulls”
“Ados Watts Jam”
“When The Levee Breaks” (Led Zeppelin cover)

“Canadian Questionmark” video:

Album stream:

From the scorching Southwestern US underground music scene comes the indefinable works of The Oxford Coma, an outfit which rides the fine line between rock and metal, experimental and straightforward, and even being a trio or quartet, and which has steadily pumped out a hearty discography of independent releases since their 2011 inception. Powered and endorsed by Orange amps, and drawing from a wide array of influences from across the spectrum of forward-thinking rock artists, bridging the early days and modern times, comparisons to the improvisational prog rock circles of the 1960s and '70s to premier extreme acts of the 1990s through today, the collective recorded output of this morphing act has drawn similarities to everything from early Tool to Primus, Radiohead to The Dillinger Escape Plan, Nirvana to Neurosis, King Crimson to Kyuss, and so on.

 

The Dead Weather's third album, Dodge And Burn, is out September 25th on Third Man Records, and is available for pre-order physically and digitally worldwide today, with all digital pre-orders receiving an instant grat download of the album's electrifying new single, "I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)." The new single is also on sale now at digital retailers worldwide.
 
"I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)" is accompanied by a ferociously compelling new video (see below), released today. The stunning video was directed by award-winning duo Ian & Cooper.
 
Recorded in Nashville during breaks in each member's ever-busy schedules, Dodge And Burn was heralded back in October 2013 as the band and Third Man Records announced an innovative long-term plan that would see a series of Dead Weather 7-inch singles released in the year and a half leading up the album's release. On July 6th, 2015, Dodge And Burn was officially announced along with Third Man Records' Vault Package #25 featuring the only limited edition version of the new album, the only physical version of new single "I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)," and more.

Dodge And Burn tracklisting:

“I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)”
“Buzzkill(er)”
“Let Me Through”
“Three Dollar Hat”
“Lose The Right”
“Rough Detective”
“Open Up”
“Be Still”
“Mile Markers”
“Cop and Go”
“Too Bad”
“Impossible Winner”
 

German epic metal band, Equilibrium, have released a new tour video filmed on the Erdentempel Tour in Russia. Watch below:

The band recently announced a string of European tour dates in September and October. Once again, the band will present their current release, Erdentempel (2014).

Guitarist René Berthiaume comments: “We’re really looking forward to these upcoming shows in September & October to celebrate with our fans for another time! These will be the last shows in this year. After that, we will fall back to work on our new album and to make new plans for 2016!“

Tour dates:

September

4 - Wörgl, Austria - Komma

5 - Hüttikon, Switzerland - Meh Suff Festival

6 - Heidelberg, Germany - Schwimmbad-Club

October

1 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos-Saal

2 - Bremen, Germany - Tivoli

3 - Zwickau, Germany - Break Out Festival

16 - Köln, Germany - Essigfabrik

17 - Selestat, France - Rock Your Brain Festival

18 - Vorstin, Netherlands - Krachtstroom Festival

 

UK metal act, Heart Of A Coward, will release their third album, entitled Deliverance, on October 2nd via Century Media Records. The group have released a lyric video for the album track “Turmoil I: Wolves”, which is streaming below.

Vocalist Jamie comments: “This is the first of the “Turmoil” two parter on the album - we were originally going to do the two songs as an EP in its own right, along with another two parter (“Skeletal”) which closes the album off… but we wanted to unleash a pit anthem to crank up nice and loud before the summer disappears!”

Deliverance was produced and mixed by Sikth vocalist Justin Hill. The artwork was done by Daniel McBride (After The Burial, Veil Of Maya), who also did the artwork for the band’s debut album Hope and Hindrance.

Deliverance tracklisting:

“Hollow”
“Miscreation”
“Turmoil I: Wolves”
“Turmoil II: The Weak Inherit The Earth”
“Anti-Life”
“A Grain Of Sand”
“Mouth Of Madness”
“Deliverance”
“Skeletal I: Mourning Repairs”
“Skeletal II: Arise”

“Hollow” video:

Original BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward was interviewed for the latest episode of VH1 Classic "That Metal Show" co-host Eddie Trunk's podcast, "Eddie Trunk Podcast". You can now listen to it at this location. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On why he chose to go public with his reasons for bowing out of the reunion of the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH:

"The first I wanted to do… I had to go public because I knew that we were being asked to sign an unsignable contract again. And I made a solemn vow to myself after the last tour that we did, which I believe was 2005, that I would never ever sign into another contract like I'd been signing into. And so, based on that criteria, we started to negotiate a contract in very, very early 2011. And all the lawyers were involved. The lawyers just didn't show up out of nowhere. All the lawyers were involved right from the very start. And we tried to negotiate a deal for the entire year of 2011. When the turn of the New Year came, 2012, we were a given a kind of a… their marching orders, which is, basically, 'We've come as far as we can…' This is not necessarily the band, but the band's representatives. 'We've come as far as we can in the way of the contract.' And we just went, 'You know what? I'm just not gonna do it. I'm not going to do it. It's as simple as that.' So that was what primarily was going on. But there was something way more important that was going on: I was being advertised as a member of the band, and there were three or four live gigs which had my name and likeness posted on them. And so, across the Universe, I think there was one gig in America and three gigs in England, the posters were saying that the originals band was gonna be playing, and I needed to tell the truth about that. And so, that's why I went public and I made a public statement, basically letting everybody in the fucking world know that there'd been problems with the contract, [and] that I would not be appearing. The biggest thing, for me, was I didn't wanna be part of something which I felt was misleading to the fans. And so, that's why we asked for my name and likeness to be removed. We asked for our name and likeness to be removed from the advertising that promoted the first three or four live gigs in 2012. That's it. Which brings up another side issue, of course, where, as you probably may have noticed, my name and likeness has been gradually disappearing from BLACK SABBATH. And the claims, on their behalf — not necessarily the band again — but the claims have been that it was me that asked for my name and likeness to be deleted, which is a complete fucking lie and complete bullshit. I've never asked for anything like that. I asked for my name and likeness to be deleted from the promotional posters that could have been misleading to the fans. I don't like misleading people, and I like to be honest and transparent. So that's why it came out."

"There were several other motivating things. One was the students. I needed to do something. It was a terrible ordeal going through that period in early 2012. There's a lot of young guys that I know [that were] gonna come and watch me play — a lot of young drummers. And I cried for weeks, actually, on and off. I mean, I did. I was really so upset, and I felt like I was letting these guys down and letting a lot of other people down. And at the same time, I knew that I had to make a tough decision, and I had to stay by that tough decision that I was masking. I felt it was the truth, and it was the truth, and I was standing by what I felt was honest and sincere, but above everything else, I had to do this for the students. And I kept thinking to myself, and I talked to my wife, Jackie. We were talking. I said, 'You know, if I don't stand here, then all the drummers to come, and all the people that are gonna get fucked in this business… I'm gonna have to do something and stand for something.' And, basically, one of the things that I was standing for was publishing — that publishing equals drumming. Because one of the things that… One of the things that was… There were certain things in the contract that disallowed publishing. So I said, 'No. My drumming equals writing.' I just don't just notes or beats or whatever… I'm an enthusiastic member of that band, and I play musically, and everything counts. That was one of the issues that we were trying to get something from — not equality; equality was out the window — but something at least."

On whether he puts any responsibility for what has happened with him and BLACK SABBATH on the other three members of the band:

"Some camaraderie would have been nice, but I let go of that camaraderie back when we started the first reunion. The first reunion took place without me, and one of my friends from FAITH NO MORE played drums instead. Mike Bordin... Mike's a good kid, man. I like Mike. So I knew that it was gonna be strictly business; I already knew that going in. Camaraderie would have been nice, but nobody touches the business — nobody touches the business. And I stay out of what their personal relationships are with their management. I've always taken it that that's none of my business, and that they keep that private, and I stay out of that. I wanna be respectful that those are their arrangements, and that's that. And that's why I'm prefacing [some of my answers by saying] 'not necessarily the band.' I don't know where the sources of decisions are made, but I always preface it by… You know, Tony's [Iommi, BLACK SABBATH guitarist] not the kind of guy that would sit down behind a contract and work out terms and what have you. He might — I mean, for all I know. But the kind of lawyers that they have, they definitely sit down and work out terms."

On his recent war of words with BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne:

"I was painted that I was physically unable to do it, and also, I was painted as having other motives besides wanting to play with the band. I mean, I was accused of a lot of things in those statements. And I was absolutely fucking furious."

On how much of what Ozzy has said can be attributed to Ozzy's wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne:

"I'm not sure. It seems to me like Ozzy started out making those statements. I know that Sharon definitely dislikes me, and she has for a long, long time. And I also know that she is inside all these contractual things and these unsignable contracts and everything else. She's right there, right in the center of everything — as are the other lawyers as well, the other representatives. But, you know, the statements were made by Ozzy, so… It's broken up the friendship that we had; there's no doubt about it. I mean, it fucking killed the friendship. I detached from him. And I've already stated what will renew our friendship. But I think the day that he amends those statements, that will be one hell of a day. I think that'll probably happen in the next life or further down the road. I don't think it's gonna happen in this life. But that's my criteria, again, and I'm gonna hold him to those statements, because I know that those statements are incorrect."

On whether the success of BLACK SABBATH's "13" album and the tour behind it took him by surprise:

"I didn't think it was successful at all. Well, in terms of live attendance, I think it's gonna go, 'cause the band's really well known. But I really didn't… I was working on detachment — serious detachment — and I wanted to make sure that I went down the line and detached myself as much as possible. I had to stop loving them, because if you're loving a dog as it's biting you and ripping your insides out, it's hard to love a dog that's doing that. So I actually stopped loving them, and I had to learn what we call detachment. So whatever they were doing, I could care less. I wasn't interested in the fucking album '13'. I've heard twenty bars of it — that's all I've heard — and then I turned it off and said, 'That's a pile of shit,' and that's the truth. And I couldn't care less what they were doing on tour."

On reuniting with BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler (bass) to accept the "Lifetime Achievement" award at this year's Ivor Novello Awards in May in London, England:

"Yes, I saw them. I gave them a hug, and wished them well. And I still said the same thing… Even at the Ivor Novello Awards, the press was there asking questions, and I said, 'Yup. I'd like to play with the band again — providing that they get a signable contract, and providing that Ozzy makes amends for his statements that he made in 2012 and 2013.' Yeah. Hey, if you wanna get the band together, if you wanna make it happen, I'm ready to play. But I'm already busy with everything else, but I can play — I can still play in BLACK SABBATH."

On August 15 and August 16, Fathom hosted the West Coast premiere of Ward's fine art exhibition, "Absence Of Corners", a collection of 15 abstract works created from Ward's drum performance.

The "Absence Of Corners" exhibition is a special limited engagement and only hangs at Fathom through August 29.

For more information, visit www.fathom.gallery.

Ward has released his first solo album in 18 years. Titled "Accountable Beasts", the record can be purchased on iTunes.

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash has confirmed that he has rekindled his friendship with the band's lead singer Axl Rose — six years after the frontman called him "a cancer."

Speaking to Aftonbladet TV in Sweden, where Slash was making a special appearance on Friday (August 21) for a launch event for the Marshall London phone, the guitarist said of his restored relationship with Axl (see video below): "It was probably way overdue, you know. But it's…. you know, it's very cool at this point. You know, let some of that, sort of, negative… dispel some of that negative stuff that was going on for so long."

Asked if his warmer relationship with Axl will lead to a reunion of GUNS N' ROSES' classic lineup, Slash said: "Oh, I couldn't answer that one, though…" Pressed on why that is, Slash replied: "All right, let's get off the subject, 'cause, you know, that's an old one."

Slash was asked about the possibility of a reunion of the classic GUNS N' ROSES lineup on the May 7 edition of "CBS This Morning" and gave a somewhat surprising answer. He replied: "I've got to be careful what I say there. I mean, if everybody wanted to do it and do it for the right reasons, I think the fans would love it. I think it might be fun at some point to try and do that."

Asked what the "right reasons" might be, Slash said: "I mean, that's a hard one. That just starts to get into a whole complex thing... It's really between the guys in the band." But pressed on whether he thought it was likely, Slash said, "Never say never."

Slash told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that the band's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame three years ago — at which he performed along with GUNS bassist Duff McKagan, drummers Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, and others — gave him a sense of closure about the band. He said: "I never, in however many years it's been, ever planned or thought that there was gonna be any reunion. But now we've played the one gig as close to a reunion as it will ever get and done with it, and it did have… There was a definite feeling of closure and, you know, something that, when I got on the plane the next morning, it was like I never have to deal with that again."

Addressing the long-running feud between him and Axl Rose that many saw as the main stumbling block to a reunion, Slash said, "We haven't really talked in a long time, but a lot of the tension that you were talking about has dissipated. We don't have all those issues anymore. It's not a lot of controversy. It's something that is more perpetuated by the media, more than anything."

Axl famously called Slash a "cancer" in a 2009 interview, saying that the chances of him and Slash getting onstage together at any point in the future were next to impossible.

Axl and guitarist Izzy Stradlin did not attend the Hall Of Fame induction.

Guitarist Darren Jay "DJ" Ashba quit GUNS N' ROSES last month, while another GN'R six-stringer, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, also reportedly left the band in 2014. The group has not yet announced a replacement for either musician.

DISTURBED played its first show in four years last night (Friday, August 21) at the House Of Blues in the band's hometown of Chicago. The concert took place on the same day that the group's sixth album, "Immortalized", was released. The CD is DISTURBED's first all-new studio effort since 2010's "Asylum" and ended a hiatus that began after the band completed the touring cycle for "Asylum" in 2011.

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

DISTURBED made a conscious decision to take a five-year break between albums and tours, with guitarist Dan Donegan telling The Pulse Of Radio that it was the right choice. "It was, I guess, a tricky decision to make because we still felt like we were still climbing the ladder and at the height of our career," he said. "So to be able to shut it down and walk away from it might be a bit of a gutsy movie, but it just felt right. It felt like, you know, maybe it's time that we don't become the house band on the summer tour and we don't become predictable. It just felt like maybe we should just walk away for a minute."

"Asylum" was DISTURBED's fourth consecutive No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart.

DISTURBED will hit the road next spring in support of "Immortalized". The trek kicks off on March 11 in Vancouver, Canada, wrapping up on April 10 in Memphis.

The band will be playing smaller venues on this run, from Irving Plaza in New York to the Fillmore in San Francisco, in order to give diehard fans a more up-close experience before the group hits bigger venues.

Fan-filmed video footage of WHITESNAKE's August 16 performance in St. Charles, Missouri can be seen below.

WHITESNAKE's new touring lineup — David Coverdale (vocals), Joel Hoekstra (guitar), Reb Beach (guitar), Michael Devin (bass), Tommy Aldridge (drums) and Michele Luppi (keyboards) — made its live debut on May 28 at Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, Washington.

Singer David Coverdale is celebrating his past in the present with the release of WHITESNAKE's 12th studio album, "The Purple Album". The new set is billed as "a re-imagination of classic songs from David Coverdale's time as the lead singer for DEEP PURPLE's Mark III and Mark IV studio albums." PURPLE classics revamped for the new set include "Stormbringer", "Lady Double Dealer", "Soldier Of Fortune" and "Sail Away". Coverdale was DEEP PURPLE's frontman from late 1973 to early 1976 and sang on the albums "Burn", "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste The Band".

Asked if he saw himself approaching the classic DEEP PURPLE songs differently now as opposed to when he was that guy in his early twenties, Coverdale told Noisey: "Yes. I was looking at how can I redecorate them, but at the same time maintain the integrity of the songs, and, apparently, I'm pretty good at it, according to my record label. [Laughs] Remember, though, that my lessons were primarily learned from Ritchie [Blackmore] and Jon [Lord], who were the colossi of worlds to me. Jon taught me so much. I was this rough diamond out of North England, and Jon introduced me to elegant wines and charm and classical music that I hadn't been exposed to. He was just a beautiful mentor, a Renaissance man and raconteur. Ritchie was more internalized but an insanely capable musician, and, of course, my muse was Jimi Hendrix and still is. For me to sit next to Ritchie, who was just this astonishingly good guitar player and very complete musician writing music, was just a gift from God. The whole experience changed my life and my perspective and started me on the voyage that I'm still on. I've always been like a sponge, just learning stuff. I've never been one to rest on my laurels. I'm always challenging myself to be better at singing, better at writing a story, better at writing a more poetic lyric. All of these things still apply to me. If you stuck a plug up my ass, I could still light up a decent size city to do what I do. [Laughs] God forbid that diminishes, but I only have positive and inspiring things in my life. Anything that isn't doesn't last very long, and I bring all of that to dinner. I bring all that to shows. Being able to devour Muddy Waters and then switch over to Frank Sinatra, then comfortably switch over to Otis Redding and then over to Luciano Pavarotti — all of this stuff goes into the Coverdale blender. I'm not just inspired by a couple of rock singers from the '60s or the '70s. My history goes as far back as music itself."

The official lyric video for "Liberated Sounds", the title track of the debut album from the London metalcore quintet COUNTING DAYS, can be seen below. The CD will be released on October 16 via the Mascot Label Group.

Formed in 2014, COUNTING DAYS entwine a complex and ferocious blend of hardcore punk, thrash and British heavy metal which has already marked them out as one of the most exciting and talked about metalcore acts in Britain. Made up of former members of TRC, HEIGHTS, ROUGH HANDS and LAST WITNESS, they harness the power of their previous bands and bring it to an exhilarating new level.

As the beating heart and song-writing partnership in TRC, Charlie Wilson (guitar), along with Lasselle Lewis (drums), began broadening and pushing their boundaries, as Charlie explains: "I had some songs that I had been writing that didn't quite fit with the band so I sent them over to Lasselle to see what he thought and he was blown away and totally into it." The band started to cement with the addition of former HEIGHTS frontman Thomas Debaere, whose throat shredding growl earmarked him as one of the new generation of formidable British metal vocalist. Bobby Daniels (guitar) of LAST WITNESS soon followed and the final piece was added during a TRC tour with South London noise-terrorists ROUGH HANDS, where frontman Alex Dench was then recruited for bass and vocal duties.

Produced by Fredrik Nordström (AT THE GATES, ARCH ENEMY, IN FLAMES, OPETH, ARCHITECTS, BRING ME THE HORIZON) at his Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, "Liberated Sounds"' subject matter hits on a number of recurring themes; mortality, relationships and religion all return throughout. Elaborating on the lyrical content, Thomas reveals: "This wasn't a conscious effort, they are just things that really struck a chord. Even the title, 'Liberated Sounds', was inspired by the feeling we all got from writing it, five mates writing music without restrictions or judgement."

Opening with the intense "Burned By Faith", it explodes screaming; "Burned by faith, died in faith/You say there's a god who cures darkness and pain, so you spread violence and hatred, to praise his name/He created the earth, the sun and the rain, you murder those, who don't believe the same." Far from being an anti-religious song, it's more to do with what some people do in the name of religion; extremism battling against the overwhelming desire for peace as well as questioning the path extremists would have taken if there was no afterlife.

Unafraid to tackle difficult and distressing subjects, "Die Alone" is about facing your own mortality and realizing the certainty of death. Thomas continues to delve into the belly of the subject matter, stating, "It questions the privilege with which some people are able to live their lives in the face of the basic fact that one day we will all go out the same way."

Burrowing further into human emotions, "Fire From The Sky" is about the mental effects of war."I had been studying the treatment of soldiers with shellshock and the lack of understanding in the First World War," Thomas adds before elaborating, "I wanted to highlight the damaging consequences beyond the physical injuries suffered during war."

The time spent in the studio with Nordström afforded them the chance to collaborate with one of their biggest influences in Tomas Lindberg of AT THE GATES, who provided vocals on the newly recorded version of "Sands Of Time". Clearly won over, Lindberg states; "I got contacted through the guys at Fredman studios. I know these guys pretty well, and trusted their judgement in checking this U.K. band out that were recording there. I was hit by the great mix of old-school hardcore and crude death metal tone of the song.

"Did I want to come down and throw down some vocals? Hell yes! Turned out the vocals that I was going to use as a guide track were super ferocious and ass-kicking, so that really fired me up to deliver on the highest level.

"These guys were super professional and I am sure that they will go far. I can't wait to check out the full album when it's out!"

"Liberated Sounds" track listing:

01. Burned By Faith 02. Die Alone 03. Beaten & Scarred 04. Life & Death 05. Liberated Sounds06. Fire From The Sky 07. Days Go By 08. The Vines 09. Sands Of Time 10. Prison Of Misery 11. Cold Truth12. Reunion

An audio snippet of "True Friends", a brand new song from the British metalcore act BRING ME THE HORIZON, can be streamed below. The full track is expected to be unveiled next week.

"True Friends" is taken from BRING ME THE HORIZON's fifth album, "That's The Spirit", which will be released on September 11 via Columbia Records. Eleven tracks were laid down for the CD, which was produced by BRING ME THE HORIZON keyboardist/vocalist Jordan Fish.

"That's The Spirit" track listing:

01. Doomed02. Happy Song03. Throne04. True Friends05. Follow You06. What You Need07. Avalanche08. Run09. Drown10. Blasphemy11. Oh No

The "That's The Spirit" cover art can be seen below.

BRING ME THE HORIZON frontman Oli Sykes told NME.com about the new album title: "It's a celebration of depression, a way of making light of it. 'That's The Spirit' — it's quite a depressing phrase when you think about it — the sort of thing you only ever use when you know there's no positive answer to the situation."

Recording sessions for "That's The Spirit" took place at Black Rock Studios on the Greek island of Santorini. The CD will include the track"Drown", which was released as a "tester" single, plus "Happy Song", described by Sykes as an "unofficial title track."

Speaking about the much wider palette of influences which have gone into the making of BRING ME THE HORIZON's new CD, Sykes said: "This time round, the challenge wasn't just for people to be impressed that a screamer's learned to sing. We had to come back with something that would be impressive for people who had no idea of the history of the band."

Regarding the fact that BRING ME THE HORIZON chose to have Fish helm the new effort, Sykes said: "Producers are fine. But they want to justify the importance of their jobs sometimes, so they say things to you like: 'Oh, I know — why can't you do it in the swimming pool?' We know enough now that we were, like, 'It's not that hard. Let's just lay everything down the best way we can, and get on with it.'" "Plus," added Fish, "they cost a lot of money."

BRING ME THE HORIZON's "Live At Wembley" concert DVD was released in June. The set was filmed last December in London when the Yorkshire-based band headlined that city's most prestigious venue, Wembley Arena.

Jam Magazine has uploaded video footage of former RATT singer Stephen Pearcy performing a couple of the band's classic songs during his August 4 solo concert at Trees in Dallas, Texas. Check it out below.

Pearcy has released three singles — "I Can't Take It", "Just One More Time" and "Recipe For Disaster" — digitally from his forthcoming solo album, "Smash", to be made available via Stephen's Top Fuel Records.

Pearcy recently told "Trunk Nation" about his plans for the next CD release: "I wanna record about 20 [songs] — possibly 25 — and release a song every few weeks, when it's done [and] ready, and everybody will get a new single until they get a complete, huge album CD package."

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

The recording and touring lineup of Pearcy's solo band is as follows:

Greg D'Angelo - DrumsErik Ferentinos - GuitarMatt Thorne - BassChris Hager - Guitar

Asked if he thinks there will ever be a follow-up album to RATT's 2010 CD, "Infestation", Pearcy told the "One On One With Mitch Lafon" podcast: "It's a little too late for that. I doubt [it will happen]. Time has passed. Warren [DeMartini, guitar] and I were actually working on music, and there is a song that we actually recorded. And if it sees the light of day, I would be very proud of it, and he would too. We finished it, and it's done, recorded. And if that's it, that's it. But I don't see any future in RATT and moving on. There's too much unresolved stuff, and it's okay. There's other things going on, and there's no need for that. I'm happy with the legacy. We're all doing different things. As a matter of fact, Juan Croucier, the original bass player of RATT… him and I will be, actually, doing a project later in the year — later in the year after I'm done touring. He's come out and jammed with me many times, but I think we're gonna do a whole another project. It won't interfere with my solo stuff and my band, but we will be working on something real soon."

RATT drummer Bobby Blotzer recently said that he decided to go out on the road and perform the band's hits with the RATT EXPERIENCE after a disagreement over the ownership of the RATT name made it impossible for the original members of the group to work together.

Louder Noise recently conducted an interview with KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the progress of the songwriting sessions for KORN's follow-up to 2013's "The Paradigm Shift":

"We have a lot of demos done right now on the new stuff — not full songs, but they're rough ideas of mostly guitar riffs and some drums, all demoed. There's about, almost twenty ideas, which is good. It's a good start — good enough for us to get in the studio and start recording it and shaping it."

On KORN's remix of pop superstar Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" song:

"I was excited to do it, you know. I thought it would be cool, because there was just… I mean, she's a badass bitch — straight up — and to have these two worlds put together seems odd, but it oddly works. I think she's a metalhead, you know. She definitely has a metalhead edge about her, her lifestyle… I've not yet met her, but I'm sure I will soon, so I can really get her take on it. But it was fun… It was fun to do."

KORN officially announced the details of a fall North American tour on which the band will perform its self-titled 1994 debut album in its entirety at every stop. The trek kicks off on October 1 in Chicago, winding down a month later on October 30 in Oakland.

KORN's self-titled debut was released on October 11, 1994.

It went on to sell more than 10 million copies worldwide and featured the band's first classic, "Blind".

The album is credited with launching the nu-metal movement of the 1990s, setting the template for albums from bands like DEFTONES, LIMP BIZKIT, COAL CHAMBER and others.

RollingStone.com caught up with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons to get his thoughts on seven diverse songs, from a vintage BEE GEES classic to a new LAMB OF GOD rager.

Speaking about LAMB OF GOD's "512" track, Simmons states: "LAMB are a solid bunch of musicians — capable and bombastic. But while I like the backing track here, I must confess this type of vocal styling — what would happen if a werewolf tried singing? — just ain't my thing. Not that I'm claiming I can sing, mind you. Personally, I'd be curious what this fine backing track would sound like with a decent melody and with Dave Grohl's vocals."

"512" is taken from LAMB OF GOD's seventh album, "VII: Sturm Und Drang", which was released on July 24 via Epic in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Entertainment in all territories outside of North America. The CD was once again produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur with engineering by Wilbur, Nick Rowe and Kyle McAulay, and was recorded at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California and Suburban Soul Studios in Torrance, California. As previously reported, LAMB OF GOD will be the musical guests on the Thursday, August 27 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The band will perform several songs on the show's outdoor stage in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

Kaaos TV conducted an interview with one of the nameless ghouls from Swedish occult rockers GHOST August 5 performance at the Ilosaarirock festival in Joensuu, Finland. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if he thinks people like the fact that the members of GHOST have managed to keep their real identities secret by wearing masks and hooded cassocks in all public appearances, the nameless ghoul said: "I think that people like the mystery, but I also think that some people would like to know who we are, and some people do, but they don't talk about it, because maybe they wanna be in the secret little club that they're part of, once they know. [I think it's] both: some people don't wanna know, some people are dying to know… Not dying, but they're curious, at least."

GHOST's third album, "Meliora", will be released on August 21 via Loma Vista Recordings. The follow-up to 2013's "Infestissumam" 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).

GHOST's June 3 warm-up show at at Doom in Linköping served as the group's live debut with their "new" singer, Papa Emeritus III, the three-month-younger brother of GHOST's previous frontman, Papa Emeritus II.

GHOST will embark on the "Black To The Future" North American headlining tour in the fall. The procession will begin at The Fillmore in Washington, D.C. on September 22.