Professionallly filmed video footage of LAMB OF GOD's entire June 19 performance at Hellfest in Clisson, France can be seen below.

LAMB OF GOD's new album, "VII: Sturm Und Drang", will be released on July 24 via via Epic in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Entertainment, with whom the band signed a record deal for 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.

The album's first single, "Still Echoes", was made available on May 18 via all digital retailers and streaming services.

LAMB OF GOD has announced the variety of bundle options available for the pre-order of "VII: Sturm Und Drang". They range from the "everything bundle" (including the deluxe CD or LP, a 7" vinyl single of bonus tracks, a signed album art lithography, a t-shirt, hoodie, cassette and sticker set and retails for $175) to the standard digital download (which retails for $11.98).

According to singer Randy Blythe, he wanted the "VII: Sturm Und Drang" title to reflect the new album's lyrical themes, which deal with the psychology of humans reacting under extreme conditions. "I was, like, 'Maybe the Germans have something,' because they're great at cramming complex concepts into, like, one word, like 'schadenfreude' and 'zeitgeist,'" he said. LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton, whose mother is German, came across the title while researching German vocabulary. ["Sturm Und Drang" was used as the name of a German literary movement of the 18th century, and it refers to a state of uneasiness and usually resentment brewing to an eventual explosion.]

"I didn't set out to write this record about my perception of how people handle stress and difficulties … but as I was writing, it kind of started coming to me," said Blythe, who wrote ninety percent of the album's lyrics. He also went on to describe "VII: Sturm Und Drang" as "the most cohesive record we've done in a long time" and not as "schizophrenic" as some of LAMB OF GOD's previous albums.

German grindcore goats, Milking The Goatmachine, have released the song "Farm Of The Mutilated" from their upcoming studio album, Goatgrind, which will be released June 26th via NoiseArt Records. Check out the drum video for the song below:

Goatgrind artwork and tracklisting follow.

Goatgrind tracklist:

“Goatgrind”
“Farm Of The Mutilated”
“Blow Your Sneakers”
“Fear The Goathammer”
“#Idiot”
“U.H.T. Milk Is Murder”
“Mrs. Goat_ re (Nanny Of The Damned)”
“Talk To The Hoof”
“No More Space In Herd”
“Shadows And Crust”
“The Goatastic Four”
“Burn Your Shed”
“Sound Of Breaking Horns”
“Wolf Expander”
“Wheels Of Fire” (Manowar Cover)

The lyric video of the song "#idiot" can be seen below. The band states: “#Idiot is a very emotional song for us, full of love, hate, sadness and madness. It isn’t about fiction persons, it is about real lifeforms from our personal environment. With this song, we want to thank people (or not) for their loyalty (or not!)!”

Preview clips:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

 

Following the April release of The Hypothesis, via Unique Leader Records, Continuum unveils a brand new, no-frills play-through clip of an as-yet-untitled new song. The guitar was tracked by Chase Fraser as a live, unedited one take with mixing duties by Keith Merrow of Conquering Dystopia, and filmed by Continuum vocalist Riley McShane.

Formed in 2009, Continuum features the current working lineup of guitarist Chase Fraser alongside guitarist Ivan Munguia (Arkaik, Deeds Of Flesh), vocalist Riley McShane (Son Of Aurelius), bassist Nick Willbrand (Flesh Consumed) and drummer Spencer Edwards (Son Of Aurelius). Together, the Continuum collective provides a sound that rocks the very foundation of modern death metal.

 

 

Perth, Australia’s depressive black metal dwellers, Deadspace, have unveiled a brand new music video for “The Promise Of Oblivion”, the title of the band’s  debut album, released in early April.

And if you missed it, you can still view their first official video, “I’ll Buy The Rope”:

The Promise Of Oblivion is available on CD/Digital download at this location.

 

 

The latest full-length studio installation from experimental outfit, Locrian, has been completed, as the longstanding trio prepares to release Infinite Dissolution through Relapse Records in late July. Listen to the new track “Heavy Water” below:

One of the most determined tracks on Infinite Dissolution, the nearly eight-minute-long "An Index Of Air" is subdivided into three movements - i. Divinations, ii. Air Structures, iii. and Watcher Of The Clouds - the track encompassing the apex of the record. The track delivers a permeating vision of our planet in environmental peril, as does the rest of the album, which is inspired by the book, The Sixth Extinction, a futurist look at the current mass extinction of Earth which our generation attempts to thrive within every day. Locrian is here joined by Dana Schechter of Insect Ark on slide guitar and Erica Burgner-Hannum of The Holy Circle on vocals, whose contributions help shape the segments of the song.

Issues Locrian on the intense track, “An Index Of Air” was written as a three part suite with the first part, Divinations, being the calling forth of the atmosphere and trying to read the future from it. Air Structures takes its name from a Brian Eno/Robert Fripp live bootleg but is a narrative about the realization that the air being called forth will kill us and that we have brought this on ourselves. And Watcher Of The Clouds is a play on the Genesis song “Watcher Of The Skies”, but is also the shift in narrative voice where we predict a new atmosphere must be formed after humanity is extinct."

The soundtrack to the planet's ongoing collapse comes by way of "An Index Of Air" playing below:

2015 marks ten years since the formation of Chicago/Baltimore-based Locrian, who over the past decade has left a smoldering mass of well over twenty recordings in their wake, many of them self-released, many others through labels including Utech, Fan Death, Bloodlust!, Small Doses, At War With False Noise, and the group's private label Land of Decay before signing with Relapse Records in 2012 for the release of their The Clearing/The Final Epoch 2xCD. The band's experimental/avant approach unifies post-industrial and black metal persuasions in a crushing alloy of organic and mechanical elements, having earned them widespread media praise from countless underground and mainstream media outlets and journalist worldwide.

Locrian now return with Infinite Dissolution, another dark and cinematic work of exceptional aural artistry. More epic and foreboding than anything in the prolific trio's catalog, Infinite Dissolution was recorded at Steve Albini-owned/operated Electric Audio, produced by Greg Norman (Pelican, Russian Circles), and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, and is a multi-part concept album dealing with the struggle of human extinction. A seamless and harrowing blend of dark ambience, drone, black metal, post-rock, and experimental electronics, Infinite Dissolution is the perfect manifestation of modern, forward-thinking experimental music.

Having now been set for North American release on July 24th on CD, LP and digital formats, preorders for Infinite Dissolution have been released - including colored vinyl, merch bundles and more - alongside a visual trailer including the record's track listing and cover artwork, created from photos of a massive physical installation by sculptor David Altmejd.

View the trailer for Infinite Dissolution below. Find physical pre-order options here, and pre-order digitally via BandCamp here or iTunes.

Infinite Dissolution tracklisting:

“Arc Of Extinction”
“Dark Shales”
“KXL I”
“The Future Of Death”
“An Index Of Air”
i. Divinations”
ii. Air Structures”
iii. Watcher Of The Clouds”
“KXL II”
“The Great Dying”
“Heavy Water”
“KXL II”

Trailer:

Locrian lineup:

André Foisy - Guitars, Electronics, Piano
Terence Hannum - Vocals, Moog Little Phatty, Moog Minitaur, Moog Source, MicroKorg, Arp Avatar, EDP Wasp, Mellotron M400, Samples
Steven Hess - Drums, Percussion, Electronics

(Photo - Jimmy Hubbard)

Detroit death-doom band, Temple Of Void, has signed to underground independent label Shadow Kingdom Records. The band's first order of business with its new label will be a reissue of the group's debut album, Of Terror And The Supernatural, a pulverizing record that steamrolls via a morbid, high-fidelity death metal assault. The album will see a September 4th release through Shadow Kingdom, complete with eerie cover art by legendary science fiction and fantasy artist Bruce Pennington.

Temple Of Void creates crushing metal that will appeal to fans of Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, Dismember, Hooded Menace, Incantation and (old) Paradise Lost. The band's sound combines the slow tempos and depressive moods of doom metal with the subhuman vocals and double kick drumming of classic death metal. Check out the video for Temple Of Void's "Savage Howl" below.

Tracklisting:

“The Embalmer’s Art”
“Savage Howl”
“Beyond The Ultimate”
“Invocation Of Demise”
“To Carry This Corpse Evermore”
“Rot In Solitude”
“Exanimate Gaze”
“Bargain In Death”

Texas-based metallers, Shattered Sun, released their debut album, Hope Within Hatred, on April 21st via Victory Records. The band have released a series of play-through videos – including guitars, bass, and drums – available for viewing below.

Guitars:

Bass:

Drums:

Hope Within Hatred is available now in-stores, online at iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify and wherever digital music is sold.

 

 

Hope Within Hatred tracklisting:

“The Ultimatum”
“Victory Or Death”
“Hope Within Hatred”
“Reign Over Me”
“Burning Regrets”
“Waging War”
“Dead Set”
“281”
“Awaken”
“No Sympathy”
“Return To Serenity”

“Hope Within Hatred” video:

Shattered Sun are on the road this fall on the We Sold Our Souls To Metal Tour alongside Soulfly, Soilwork and Decapitated. Confirmed dates:

September
30 - Los Angeles, CA - Fonda Theater

October
1 - San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom
2 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
3 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
4 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre
6 - Kelowna, BC - Level Nightclub
7 - Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room
8 - Saskatoon, SK - O'Brian's Event Centre
9 - Winnipeg, MB - Park Theatre
10 - Minneapolis, MN - Amsterdam
11 - Joliet, IL - Mojoes
12 - Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom
13 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theater
14 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
15 - Montreal, QC - Corona Theater
18 - Columbus, OH - Northland Performing Arts Center
19 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
20 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theater
21 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
22 - Knoxville, TN - The International
23 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
24 - Ft Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
25 - St Petersburg, FL - State Theater
27 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
28 - Austin, TX - Empire Control Room
29 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey
30 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater

Power Prog has announced the signing of Brazil’s Hibria. The first common goal is the release of their upcoming and self-titled album, Hibria, in Europe from August 7th on CD, download card, as digital download and as stream.

Hibria, formed in 1996 in Porto Alegre/Brazil, has been recognized worldwide, both by the media and the audience, after the release of the debut album Defying The Rules in 2004 and a highly successful journey began. With a lot of attention in their home country, the Brazilians were able to establish itself as superstars in Asia and especially in Japan, where each of their albums ended up in the Top 100 charts and where they are easily able to fill the largest venues at their live performances for over a decade. Meanwhile Hibria is a real international force and a hot contender when it comes to climb the global metal throne.

With the upcoming self-titled fifth studio album, Hibria presents itself in a fresh and modern garment without abandoning the proven virtues and the distinctive use of a wide variety of different styles. Whether classic metallic, speedy, thrashy, proggy or even funky with a sensational operating brass section... with their playfulness and musical skills they always hit the right notes to lift phenomenal songwriting up into higher spheres. Certainly Hibria's heaviest album to date, and, with all due respect, the most mature and undoubtedly best one.

The mastering, done by none other than Maor Appelbaum (Sepultura, Dokken, Halford), ensures an innovative, intensive and brutal dynamically coat of paint ... Exactly how modern, sophisticated and "in your face" heavy metal should sound.

Hibria tracklisting:

“Pain”
“Abyss”
“Tightrope”
“Life”
“Ghosts”
“Legacy”
“Ashamed”
“Church”
“Fame”
“Words”
“Life” (Orchestral Version, European Edition Bonus Track)

Album details ...

• Produced by Renato Osorio
• Executive Production by Abel Camargo & Juan Corral
• Pre-produced by Hibria
• All songs written and performed by Abel Camargo, Iuri Sanson, Eduardo Baldo, Benhur Lima and Renato Osorio

• Keyboard and programming by Benhur Lima
• Additional vocals on tracks 1 and 8 by Benhur Lima
• Additional vocals on track 9 by Mia Coldheart
• Sax on tracks 1 and 7 by Ronaldo Cereal
• Trumpet on tracks 1 and 7 by Jorginho do Trompete
• Orchestral parts on tracks 4 and 11 by Maestro Adriano Machado & Villa Lobos Orchestra
• Orchestral arrangements on tracks 4 and 11 by Adriano Machado, Benhur Lima & Renato Osorio
• Backing vocals and Choirs by Benhur Lima, Iuri Sanson and Renato Osorio
• Drums recorded at Monostereo Studios - Porto Alegre / Brazil – Engineered by Juliano Rodrigues
• Vocals recorded at Hibria Studios - Porto Alegre / Brazil- Engineered by Renato Osorio
• Guitars and bass guitar recorded at Hibria Studios - Porto Alegre / Brazil
• Guitars reamped by Benhur Lima and Renato Osorio at Hibria Studios & Monostereo Studios - Porto Alegre / Brazil

• Mixed at Hibria Studios & Black Stork Studios- Caxias do Sul / Brazil by Benhur Lima
• Mastered by Maor Appelbaum
• Cover artwork and booklet by Tiago Masseti
• All photos by Karina Kohl

Hibria is:

Iuri Sanson (Vocals)
Abel Camargo (Guitars)
Renato Osorio (Guitars)
Benhur Lima (Bass)
Eduardo Baldo (Drums)

Singer/producer Csaba Zvekan (Exorcism, Metal Machine, Zvekan), guitarist Joe Stump (Exorcism, Holy Hell), drummer Mark Cross (Tainted Nation, ex-Firewind, Helloween), keyboard/hammond player Maestro Mistheria (Vivaldi Metal Project, Mistheria) and bassist Andreas Passmark (Royal Hunt) have joined forces in a new band called Tower Of Babel.

To keep fans on the edge of their seats, the band had released this snippet of a demo they’ve titled “Dragon Slayer“: https://youtu.be/OYQlLO7xaFY

The band was formed by Csaba Zvekan, Joe Stump, and bass player Craig Gruber, who was known for his work with Rainbow, Elf, Gary Moore and more. This lead to the idea of making a powerful album, an album with original compositions bringing back the sound and feel of early Rainbow/Dio era with classic and new elements. Craig Gruber sadly passed away on May 5th, 2015 due to a longtime fight with prostate and bone cancer.

Powerhouse drummer Mark Cross was added to the lineup, on keyboards/hammond, the talented Italian Maestro Mistheria and Andreas Passmark from Royal Hunt on bass guitar, who gave his final touch to this extraordinary ensemble.

Their first album is in recording progress, but a release date hasn’t been announced yet. Stay tuned for updates.

 

Now Or Never, the debut album from Benedictum singer Veronica Freeman's solo project, The V, will be released on July 3rd in Europe and July 10th in North America. The V marks a major step out of Veronica's comfort zone, since it delves into a definite melodic hard rock vibe. The new track “Line In The Sand” can be heard below:

An impressive array of talent has stepped up to assist The V in creating her solo project on many levels. The list includes Pete Wells, Aric Avina and Rikard Stjernquist of Benedictum, Michael Sweet (Stryper), Garry Bordonaro (The Rods), Jeff Pilson (Dokken, Foreigner), Mike LePond (Symphony X), Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), Leather Leone (Chastain), Jerry Dixon (Warrant), Jim Durkin (Dark Angel), Mick Tucker (Tank), Jordan Ziff (Age Of Evil), Derek Kerswill (Unearth, Kingdom Of Sorrow), Peter Tentindo (Venus Mars Project), John Herrera, Ryan Greene, Kenny Lewis, Meliesa McDonell, Michael Harris , Mel Brown and John O'Boyle.

Veronica comments: "I had a lot of input and encouragement from Frontiers to try and stretch myself with different musical styles and approaches. It was great to be able to work with Pete Wells writing some of these songs too. So it was a no-brainer to accept their proposal for a solo album. I am a bit nervous and beyond excited!"

Says Frontiers: "Be prepared! If you thought Veronica was just a heavy metal amazon, you're going to be proven dead wrong! This is a massive melodic hard rock record with some great lead vocals which show a lot of the original influences that brought The V to be one of the most well know and recognized voices in the current metal scene!"

Now Or Never was produced by John Herrera except for the song "King For A Day", which was produced by Kenny Lewis, and "Love Should Be To Blame" and "Again", which were produced by Michael Sweet.

Now Or Never tracklisting:

“Again”
“Now Or Never”
“Roller Coaster”
“L.O.V.E.”
“Line In The Sand”
“Love Should Be To Blame”
“Kiss My Lips”
“Spellbound”
“Starshine”
“Below Zero”
“Ready To Run”
“King For A Day”

“Again” (produced by Stryper’s Michael Sweet):

EPK (Electronic Press Kit):

Trailer:

"Now Or Never" recording lineup:

- Veronica Freeman - Lead vocals
- Leather Leone - Duet vocals on "Kiss My Lips"
- Tony Martin - Duet vocals on "King For A Day"
- Meliesa McDonell - additional vocals on "Star Shine" and acoustic guitar
- Derek Kerswill - drums
- Jeff Pilson, Mel Brown, Garry Bordonaro, Aric Avina, John O'Boyle and Mike LePond - Bass
- Pete Wells, Michael Sweet, Peter Tentindo, Jim Durkin, Mick Tucker, Jordan Ziff, Michael Harris - Guitar

 

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Ozzy Osbourne has become a grandfather for the sixth time, as his son Jack and Jack's wife Lisa welcomed their second child into the world over the weekend. The couple named their new daughter Andy Rose Osbourne and she was born on Saturday, June 13, weighing in at six pounds, 11 ounces. The couple already has a three-year-old girl named Pearl Clementine.

Jack and Lisa announced the pregnancy back in February and things went smoothly until May, when Pearl was in a car accident and had to be monitored in a hospital for 24 hours.

Ozzy did not comment directly on the news of his new granddaughter, but he did post a link to his song "Mama, I'm Coming Home".

Ozzy has four other grandchildren; two each from daughter Jessica and son Louis from his previous marriage to Thelma Riley.

Jack found fame through his family's MTV reality show "The Osbournes" and has since appeared in several other TV programs. In 2011 he produced a documentary about his father called "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" which, according to The Telegraph, contained admissions from the singer's five children that Ozzy was not a good father in their younger years, and that their abiding memories were of him hopelessly intoxicated, or, more usually, absent altogether.

Former VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar has branded Eddie Van Halen "a liar" after the legendary VH guitarist claimed in an interview that Eddie had to show ex-VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony "how to play all the parts" to the band's classic songs before they would go on tour.

Speaking to Billboard.com, Eddie Van Halen defended his decision to enlist his son Wolfgang to play bass for VAN HALEN following the dismissal of Anthony. He said: "Every note Mike ever played, I had to show him how to play. Before we'd go on tour, he'd come over with a video camera and I'd have to show him how to play all the parts." Van Halen also downplayed the role Anthony's harmonic backing vocals play in creating the group's signature sound. "Mike's voice is like a piccolo trumpet. But he's not a singer. He just has a range from hell," Eddie said. "Mike was just born with a very high voice. I have more soul as a singer than he does. And you know, people always talk about Mike's voice on VAN HALEN songs, but that’s a blend of Mike's voice and my voice. It's not just him."

Earlier today, after being told of Eddie's latest comments about Michael Anthony, Hagar released a video message defending the bassist, with whom he currently plays in THE CIRCLE, also featuring Jason Bonham on drums and Vic Johnson on guitar. He said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's really irritating to see them go after Mikey. Mikey didn't do anything — ever — to VAN HALEN. Mikey was the most loyal guy in the band. He was the first guy there at rehearsal, the last guy to leave, the guy that was… the first guy at the gig, the guy that flew the… carried the banner, the flag, the VH banner… he carried it every night. And the horseman with the flag, the flagman on the horse in the calvary. That was Michael Anthony, okay?! [He was] a hundred percent dedicated. [He] never did anything to hurt those guys. And they try to hurt him again, and again, and again."

He continued: "For Eddie to say he had to show [Michael] what to play and had to teach him all those songs, that is the biggest line of bullshit I've ever heard in my life. I was in that band for eleven years, and there was never a video camera involved of Eddie showing him what to play. Eddie would tell him what to play once in a while, and say, 'No, Mike, don't play with that many notes. Just stay on one note — boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom — so that I can fuck up and nobody will know it.' It was that kind of shit. And I am telling you straight up, especially on the '04 reunion tour, if Mike would have played any more than one note, it would have been showing that Eddie wasn't playing the right chords again and again and again; I couldn't sing to 'em, you couldn't play bass to 'em. So… that is a lot of bullshit. And I don't know why they go after him like that. He doesn't deserve it. He's one of the greatest rock and roll bass players ever in the world. Michael Anthony is Top 5 rock and roll bass player in the world. Any bass player will tell you that, any musician will tell you that. Listen to him play on THE CIRCLE. He ain't going 'boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom' unless it was called for. Michael Anthony is a bad motherfucker. Fuck you, Eddie Van Halen, for saying that about Mikey. You're a liar."

Anthony, for is part, offered the following rebuttal to Eddie's comments in the Billboard.com interview: "I am proud to say that my bass playing and vocals helped create our sound. I've always chosen to take the high road and stay out of the never-ending mudslinging, because I believe that it ultimately ends up hurting the VAN HALEN fans."

Kerrang! magazine conducted an interview with vocalist Cristina Scabbia of Italian heavy rockers LACUNA COIL at the 2015 edition of the U.K.'s Download festival, which was held last weekend in Donington Park. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the progress of the songwriting sessions for LACUNA COIL's follow-up to last year's "Broken Crown Halo" album, Cristina said: "We are writing new material. We wrote a lot of music. [We're] still working on vocal lines, and then we're gonna [work] on the lyrics, because we have a lot of material that we already collected. But we just wanna hear the final results of the music so we can get more inspired and write some more."

Cristina also talked about whether LACUNA COIL's next album will once again take influence classic Italian horror movies. She said: "We always love that stuff, but, yeah, there's gonna be a little bit of that, and probably going a little bit more into darker stuff. But, I mean, it's definitely early to talk about it, because we are very known for changing everything up until the very last day in the studio, so it might come out as a techno record… No, not really… But it will be different. The very last day of the recording, we'll be, like, 'Okay, we've got it. We know how it's gonna sound.'"

"Broken Crown Halo" sold around 13,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on April 1, 2014 via Century Media.

"Broken Crown Halo" was recorded Italy by producer Jay Baumgardner (P.O.D., SEVENDUST, EVANESCENCE, PAPA ROACH) and engineer Kyle Hoffmann (P.O.D., BUSH, ZEBRAHEAD). The effort was mastered by Howie Weinberg, whose credits include RAMMSTEIN, SOUNDGARDEN, NIRVANA, DEFTONES and SHERYL CROW.

RAMzine conducted an interview with Igor Cavalera (CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, SEPULTURA) at the 2015 edition of the U.K.'s Download festival, which was held last weekend in Donington Park. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about CAVALERA CONSPIRACY's plans for the remainder of the year, Igor said: "[We] still [have] more shows to do, like, back and forth, between our projects. And me and Max [Cavalera, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY frontman], we've been talking also about maybe doing an EP — like a four-song, maybe, really raw [recording], again. So that's kind of, like, the end of the year for us — a lot of shows and maybe some studio [work]."

Igor also talked about SEPULTURA's early years and the inspiration that led him and his brother to form the band more than thirty years ago.

"It's weird, 'cause, for us, being from Brazil and playing that kind of music, it was almost, like, nobody could believe it, 'cause it was not common," he said. "Of course, there was already a small scene in Europe and a little in America, but coming from Brazil was a complete disaster. People were, like, 'No, you're not gonna get any gigs playing this kind of music.' All the other bands were playing more typical metal, like IRON MAIDEN and stuff like that. And we were, like, 'That's not really us.' We wanted something more extreme and faster, harder… all that stuff. So it was cool, also, to be different than all the other bands in Brazil."

CAVALERA CONSPIRACY's third album, last year's "Pandemonium", sold around 2,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 177 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was produced by John Gray, who previously worked with SOULFLY.

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine spoke to Guitar World magazine about the band's long-awaited fifteenth album, which is currently being recorded at a Nashville studio for a late 2015 or early 2016 release. He said: "I think a lot of people are gonna be happy, because the music is really aggressive again." He continued: "There's nothing too out of the ordinary on the record. I think probably the most noticeable thing will be how my playing with the San Diego Symphony [in April 2014] affected some of my guitar work. Learning Vivaldi and Bach and all that, there's some stuff on the album where you can tell that made an impression on me. But there's nothing like 'Blackest Crow' [from 2013's 'Super Collider'], and, lyrically, nothing like songs that were on [1999's] 'Risk', talking about ecstasy or the breadline and stuff like that. These songs are definitely very dark. But is there anything unexpected? It depends what you expect. And anyway, to be predictably unpredictable… is still to be predictable."

Regarding the songwriting process for MEGADETH's new CD, Mustaine said: "I compiled stuff from things I laid down over a lot of years, on cassettes, microcassettes, even going back to floppy disc. I put all of it onto a hard drive, and it came out to more than 200 song ideas and riffs. Which is a pretty overwhelming number. We got that down to 13 songs."

The new MEGADETH album will mark the band's first to feature LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler and Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, best known for his work with ANGRA. Mustaine has called Loureiro "best guitarist we've ever had," adding that he was a good fit personality wise. "[MEGADETH's last guitarist] Chris [Broderick] and I had a good chemistry, but we weren't really as close as I would have wanted us to be," Mustaine explained. "Kiko, I feel like I've known him for years."

Songtitles set to appear on MEGADETH's new album include "The Emperor Has No Clothes", "Tyranocide" and "Poisonous Shadows". The latter track features piano playing from Kiko as well as orchestration from famed Nashville arranger Ronn Huff, the father of former MEGADETH producer Dann Huff. Mustaine said: "It's a very dramatic kind of song." MEGADETH also recorded two cover versions during the sessions for the new CD: "Melt The Ice Away" by BUDGIE and "Foreign Policy" by FEAR.

Mustaine recently told Rolling Stone magazine about the sound of the new MEGADETH material: "Over the years we've always said, 'We're going back to our roots.' But the naysayers, they just want 'Rust In Peace' 20 times, which is never gonna happen. Because I've never written the same song twice. Unlike a lot of other rock and metal bands that, you know, they rely on a set formula, I try and make the songs all different. The funny thing, though, was that when [David] Ellefson was doing the bass tracks, I was telling him, 'This is the 'Tornado' ['Tornado Of Souls'] part,' 'This is the 'Bad Omen' part,' 'This is the 'Black Friday' part,' 'This is the 'Holy Wars' part.' Because a lot of the things were in that kind of vein. Now, is it going back in time? Hell, I don't know. But I like what I'm hearing."

Drummer Shawn Drover quit MEGADETH on November 25, 2014 "to pursue [his] own musical interests." Broderick announced his departure from the band a few hours later, saying that he was exiting the group "due to artistic and musical differences."

Earlier this year Austrian rockers Sergeant Steel travelled to Nashville,Tennessee once again. Top-producer Michael Wagener worked with them on an album for the second time. The group has announced on their website recently, that it’s titled Riders Of The Worm, and that further music legends appear on it.

Michael Wagener made music history. The German-American produced and engineered for Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and Skid Row among others. Sergeant Steel’s mastermind Jack Power reports two more high-quality guest contributions on the band’s website.

Mark Slaughter from melodic hard rockers Slaughter sings a duet with frontman Phil Vanderkill. Kane Roberts plays a guitar solo in his very own style. He was co-responsible for Alice Cooper’s successful comeback in the eighties.

Jack Power states emotionally: “With Mark and Kane I combine wonderful hours of my youth. Especially the debut albums of Slaughter and the Vinnie Vincent Invasion as well as Alice’s album Raise Your Fist And Yell and both Kane’s solo albums represent true milestones for inspiration to little Jack.“

Riders Of The Worm is going to be released via the band’s own label Boyz Tyme Records by the end of November.

Imminence Records has announced that they have signed France’s death metal outfit Kombur and will be releasing the band’s follow-up to their 2013 EP entitled Catharsis. The release will be the band’s first, and last, full-length as the band has also announced that they have disbanded.

Imminence Records owner Ryan Williford explained, “About a month ago while we were waiting for the album to be mixed and mastered the band came to me about their disappointing decision to disband; however, they were still stoked on the album and wanted to release it to their fans.”

Kombur vocalist Pierre Barre added, "It's certainly the best thing Kombur has the opportunity of signing to an American label. Imminence Records and its boss Ryan have done an incredible job for making this happen and we are really happy to have our album out with them."

Having toured for two straight years that have included shows in over ten different countries, Kombur will be ending their life with two final shows. The first is the Summer Break (Down) Festival in Geneva, Switzerland June 27 with Dagoba (eOne), Benighted (Season Of Mist), Voice Of Ruin (Tenacity Music), and many others. The second will be at Nuclear Fest in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux France September 5 with The Arrs (Verycords), AqME (Athome), and many more. These two shows will lead into the band’s scheduled October release for I Am Alpha. More details on the album will be released later this summer.

Final shows:

June
27 – Geneva, Switzerland – Summer Break (Down) Festival

September
5 – Saint Paul Trois Chateaux, France – Nuclear Fest

The Night Flight Orchestra - the classic-rock band featuring Björn Strid (Soilwork), David Andersson (Soilwork) and Sharlee D' Angelo (Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars) -released its second studio album, Skyline Whispers, on June 9 via Coroner Records. The CD was recorded at Nordic Sound Lab Studios in Skara, Sweden, was engineered by The Night Flight Orchestra and Bengan Andersson, was mixed by Sebastian Forslund and mastered by Thomas Plec Johansson at Panic Room Studios in Skara.

Skyline Whispers tracklisting:

“Sail On”
“Living For The Nighttime”
“Stiletto”
“Owaranai Palisades”
“Lady Jade”
“I Ain’t Old, I Ain’t Young”
“All the Ladies”
“Spanish Ghosts”
“Demon Princess”
“Skyline Whispers”
“Roads Less Traveled”
“The Heather Reports”

“Floridian Eyes” (Exclusive Digipak Bonus Track)

Listen to Skyline Whispers on Spotify:

https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1Dj7Zh5R4VTZQn5hejYlfN" width="300" height="380" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true">

Italian thrash masters, Hyades, will release their new record, The Wolves Are Getting Hungry, via Italian label Punishment 18 Records on June 29th. A new track, "The Decay Of Mankind" has been uploaded for streaming at Punishment18Records.com.

Tracklisting:

"The Economist"
"Ignorance Is No Excuse"
"The Decay Of Mankind"
"The Apostles Of War"
"The Great Lie"
"Heavier Than Shit (Hyz IV)"
"Sing This Rhyme"
"Eight Beers After"
"The Wolves Are Getting Hungry"
"Hyades" (2015 version)

Check out Hyades on Facebook.

(Photo - Luca Palmera Colombo)

Fan-filmed video footage of Swedish occult rockers GHOST performing two brand new songs, "Majesty" and "From The Pinnacle To The Pit", on June 20 at the Copenhell festival in Copenhagen, Denmark can be seen below. The tracks are taken from GHOST's third album, "Meliora", which 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).

"Meliora" track listing:

01. Spirit02. From The Pinnacle To The Pit03. Cirice04. Spöksonat05. He Is06. Mummy Dust07. Majesty08. Devil Church09. Absolution10. Deus In Absentia

The cover artwork for the CD can be seen below.

GHOST's June 3 warm-up show at at Doom in Linköping served as the group's live debut with "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.

GHOST's last release was a covers EP, "If You Have Ghost", which sold around 5,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 87 on The Billboard 200 chart. Issued on November 19, 2013 via Loma Vista Recordings, the five-track EP was recorded and produced by Dave Grohl (FOO FIGHTERS, NIRVANA), and included cover versions of songs by ROKY ERICKSON, ABBA, ARMY OF LOVERS and DEPECHE MODE, plus a live version of the GHOST offering "Secular Haze", recorded in Brooklyn earlier that year.

DISTURBED appears to be preparing the official announcement of the band's return to activity following a four-year hiatus. A new teaser video has been posted to DISTURBED's social media pages featuring the band's longtime mascot "The Guy" seemingly awakening from deep sleep. At the same time, an updated version of the DISTURBED logo was unveiled.

Back on April 22, BLABBERMOUTH.NET exclusively reported the rumor that DISTURBED was recording its first album since 2010's "Asylum".

Although there has been no official confirmation on the matter, there are rumblings that the band has been working with producer Kevin Churko, who has helmed the latest efforts from a number of popular hard rock and heavy metal acts, including FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, IN THIS MOMENT, PAPA ROACH and HELLYEAH.

If the rumor mill is correct, at least some of the recording sessions took place at Churko's The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas.

The members of DISTURBED have offered no updates about possible recording or touring activity since the band went on hiatus in late 2011.

DISTURBED singer David Draiman revealed a few months ago that he was co-writing and producing some "baby bands" — though he didn't divulge more details because of a non-disclosure agreement.

Back in January, Draiman gave fans a "non-update" on the status of DISTURBED via his Twitter account, writing: "OKAY… 1. Disturbed WILL REUNITE…SOMEDAY. 2. I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN 3. NO CLUE ON Device EITHER – OOH WA AH AH AH."

His tweet echoed comments made to The Pulse Of Radio back in 2013 about DISTURBED's eventual return. "DISTURBED will reunite when the time comes," he said at the time. "When we feel it's right, when [Draiman's side project] DEVICE has run its course, when everybody's in the right head space and we're feeling re-inspired and we're ready to go back at it and the itch is itching hard enough, it'll happen."

After DISTURBED went on hiatus in late 2011, Draiman teamed with former FILTER guitarist Geno Lenardo to create DEVICE.

Draiman has also been spending time with his wife, model/wrestler Lena Yada, and their son, Samuel, who was born in September 2013.

Pop superstar Madonna has uploaded a video of herself playing Jimmy Page's riff to LED ZEPPELIN's classic song "Whole Lotta Love" on guitar. The clip was posted on Madonna's Instagram account, where she added the caption, "Channelling Led Zeppelin. Whole Lotta Love. #rebelheart"

"Rebel Heart" is the title of Madonna's new album. A tour in support of the CD is scheduled to kick off in September.

Madonna previously paid tribute to "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott by playing the main riff to PANTERA's classic song "A New Level" during her May 10, 2008 performance at Radio One's Big Weekend at Mote Park in Maidstone, U.K.

MADONNA's longtime touring guitarist and guitar teacher is none other than Monte Pittman, who has also recorded and toured with PRONG.

According to Bug magazine, Pittman landed the job as MADONNA's touring guitarist after a man called the music store in Los Angeles where Pittman was working inquiring about guitar lessons, and Monte's name was passed along. That customer was none other than Guy Ritchie, film director extraordinaire and soon-to-be husband of Madonna. "Guy was my third student," Monte told Bug. "That was before 'Snatch' came out, and I didn't know who he was. It turns out he and Madonna were dating. He had just had some surgery done on his knee, I believe, so he was off his feet and she got him a guitar. He started taking lessons, and he got pretty good at it. I remember the day 'Music' [Madonna's CD] came out, and I taught him a few things from it. I thought it would be cool for him to play them for her."

When Guy returned the favor and bought Madonna a guitar, she started taking lessons from Monte as well. "It was the same thing as Guy — she learned everything I gave her," Monte told Bug. "She took it seriously, and worked really hard at it. She learned so much so quickly. That's one thing about Madonna — her drive is incredible."

A month after Madonna started playing guitar, she got called to perform on "The Late Show with David Letterman". She invited me to come play with her, and I thought she was pulling my leg at first," Monte told Bug, "but she was serious."

Professionally filmed video footage of BLACK VEIL BRIDES performing at the Day 1 2015 Vans Warped Tour webcast on June 18 in Pomona, California can be seen below.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES vocalist Andy Biersack told MikeJamesRockShow.com about the band's plans for the immediate future: "We're gonna keep touring the rest of the cycle on this record and then go back and probably make another record in the winter… We're headlining the Warped tour this year, so that's really exciting. And then, after that, we're gonna do maybe one more tour. We might come back [to England] before the end of the year. And then we're gonna take a couple of months off and probably start making a new record."

He continued: "We put out, I guess, coming up on our fifth record, and… So, I mean, we really like to write records and record records. I mean, it's fun for us. So, every time we think, 'Oh, after this one, we'll take a couple of years off,' six months go by and I'm, like, 'Ah, let's get back in the studio and make music.'"

BLACK VEIL BRIDES will release its first-ever concert DVD and Blu-ray, "Alive And Burning", on July 10. The cover artwork for the set was designed by the band's longtime friend and previous album cover illustrator Richard Villa.

"Alive And Burning" will feature footage of BLACK VEIL BRIDES' sold-out hometown show in Los Angeles at the Wiltern Theater on November 1, 2014. The concert was part of the group's inaugural Halloweekend event as part of "The Black Mass" tour. The DVD was directed by Casey Tebo, known for his work on the acclaimed AEROSMITH documentary "Rock For The Rising Sun".

BLACK VEIL BRIDES' latest, self-titled album skyrocketed to No. 1 on the iTunes Rock Chart, No. 4 on the iTunes overall album chart, and to Top 10 on iTunes in over 20 countries when it was released. It debuted at No. 10 on The Billboard 200 album chart, giving BLACK VEIL BRIDES their second consecutive Top 10 album.

"Black Veil Brides" was helmed by producer Bob Rock, whose resume includes albums by METALLICA, MÖTLEY CRÜE, THE CULT and many others.