A teaser for "War Of Ages", the new album from European symphonic metallers SERENITY, can be seen below. The effort will be made available on March 22 in Europe, with an expected March/April release for North America and Asia. The new CD will introduce a major change in the band's music and lineup.

Since their second album, SERENITY has been including female voices in its songs, had different guests to perform them live and among them was Clémentine Delauney. Going on tour together, the band realized her voice, personality and stage performance was bringing something special to the band's universe and thought she should be present on the new record. The idea evolved with time… why not have a permanent female voice in the band? And it seems they had found the perfect one both on professional and personal levels. So it came up somehow naturally that Clémentine should not be considered "guest" anymore.

Clémentine Delauney is now a full member of SERENITY. Thus "War Of Ages" welcomes Clémentine's voice on lead, backing and choir parts, completing the music with a constant feminine presence.

Says the band: "The band has the will to make its music richer on the vocal side; this is a start of a new approach! SERENITY will explore and use the unlimited musical possibilities of those two outstanding voices, to start with, and 'War Of Ages' is the perfect transition record between what SERENITY was and what it will become in the coming years! We hope you share our excitement!"

"War Of Ages" was once again mixed and mastered by Jan Vacik at Dreamsound Studios in Munich, Germany. The cover artwork was created by Seth Siro Anton, who previously worked with SERENITY on their debut album. The band states: "It likely is his best work to date and the whole cover figurine is just as impressive as the limited-edition closeup." SERENITY also collaborated again with Oliver Philipps on arrangements and orchestration.

"War Of Ages" track listing:

01. Wings Of Madness
02. The Art Of War
03. Shining Oasis
04. For Freedom's Sake
05. Age Of Glory
06. The Matricide
07. Symphony For The Quiet
08. Tannenberg
09. Legacy Of Tudors
10. Royal Pain
11. Fairytales (ballad version; limited-edition bonus track)
12. Love Of My Life (limited-edition bonus track)

Says the band: "While staying true to all SERENITY trademarks such as symphonic orchestras, heavy rhythms, amazing melodic vocals and bombastic choirs, we also brought in some new elements in form of various new sounds in the SERENITY universe and a constant implementation of female vocals supporting outstanding singer Georg Neuhauser."

Swedish black metallers DARK FUNERAL are celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2013 with a number of festival shows all over Europe.

Formed in 1993 by Lord Ahriman, the band quickly gained massive underground support by being one of the most ferocious and fastest black metal acts on earth. Since then, they have spread their unholy gospel over the whole world and build up a loyal cult following from the coldest parts of the northern hemisphere to the hottest hell of Asia.

Now it’s time to praise their diabolic past with a very special setlist on some of the summer festivals (more details soon) and also with a surprising return of their classic vocalist: Emperor Magus Caligula, who left the band on good terms for personal reasons in 2010, will take over the mic again for the 2013 festivals. He was DARK FUNERAL's frontman from 1996 to 2010 — from the second album, "Vobiscum Satanas" (1998), to the latest CD, "Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus" (2009).

After an extensive and exhausting tour through Asia and Australia in late 2012, DARK FUNERAL parted ways with vocalist Nachtgarm. Despite this, DARK FUNERAL will continue working on its upcoming album as well as on reissues of the band's entire back catalog, due out this year via Century Media Records.

DARK FUNERAL is currently looking for a permanent new vocalist. Serious applications can be sent to vocalist@darkfuneral.se.

Upcoming DARK FUNERAL shows:

Mar. 16 - Lausanne - Inferno [CH]
Mar. 28 - Oslo - Inferno [NO]
Jun. 23 - Clisson - Hellfest [FR]
Jun. 28 - Dessel - Graspop Metal Meeting [BE]
Jul. 27 - Lichtenvoorde - De Zwarte Cross [NL]
Aug. 09 - Catton Hall Derby - Bloodstock Open Air [UK]
Aug. 17 - Dinkelsbühl - Summer Breeze [DE]

"Dirty", the sixth full-length album from Italo-Norwegian hard-industrial-electro extreme metallers ABORYM, will be released on May 28 in Europe and June 11 in North America via Agonia Records. The 10-track double album (cover below) will be made available in digipak, jewel case and gatefold double LP formats.

"Dirty" was recorded at the Fear No One Studios in Italy with Emiliano Natali, reprising his sound engineer role from the band's "Psychogrotesque" album, and was helmed by Marc Urselli of New York's Eastside Sound Studio, who previously worked with the likes of Mike Patton and Lou Reed. The electronic part of the album was engineered by D. Loop (KEBABTRAUME, LIMBO). R.G. Narchost (STORMCROW, DEMON'S SHADE, DROWNING ASHES) created "The Spiral Shaped Chamber" custom sounds library for the band. Artwork for the album is by ABORYM's Fabban.

The first CD of the album features new material, while the second CD features two tracks from previous albums, which have been completely re-arranged and re-recorded, covers of tracks by IRON MAIDEN, PINK FLOYD and NINE INCH NAILS, and a previously unreleased track performed by both musicians such as Agonia BV, Tamara Picardo, Samuel Heru Ra Ha MK, Hostis, Ulven, Mike Bizzini, David Cholasta, Tobias Dünnebacke, Jonathan Butcher, Jessy Lavallee, Thomas Hochstetler, Mary J. Rooks, Amanda Neilson and Mark Llewellyn, as well as several fans. The song was written by Alberto Penzin (CO2, ex-SCHIZO) and was spliced together from all the different sources.

"Dirty" track listing:

CD 1

01. Irreversible Crisis
02. Across The Universe
03. Dirty
04. Bleedthrough
05. Raped By Daddy
06. I Don't Know
07. The Factory Of Death
08. Helter Skelter Youth
09. Face The Reptile
10. The Day The Sun Stopped Shining

CD2

01. Fire Walk With Us (new version originally released on “Fire Walk With Us”)
02. Roma Divina Urbs (new version originally released on “Kali Yuga Bizarre”)
03. Hallowed Be Thy Name (IRON MAIDEN Cover)
04. Comfortably Numb (PINK FLOYD Cover)
05. Hurt (NINE INCH NAILS Cover)
06. Need For Limited Loss (new track)

Formed in 1992 by frontman Fabban, ABORYM started life as a covers band and went through several transformations, eventually pioneering what the band calls hard-industrial-electro extreme metal. Today's line up consists of Italians Fabban on vocals, bass and synths and Paolo Pieri (HOUR OF PENANCE) on guitars, keyboards and programming, along with Norway's Bård G. "Faust" Eithun (BLOOD TSUNAMI, MONGO NINJA, ex-EMPEROR) on drums.

With "Dirty" being the band's first release since 2010's "Psychogrotesque", all three musicians have something to say about it.

Pieri: "This is definitely the most schizoid and experimental ABORYM work so far. This time we focused on pushing the boundaries of electronic music one step forward while retaining the ruthless brutality of extreme metal in a way totally ahead of the times."

Eithun: "This time around, ABORYM push everything further; the electronic and industrial elements have never been so present. Rest assured, no matter how sick, twisted and beyond everything it sounds, it is still ABORYM."

Fabban: "I believe that 'Dirty' represents the best material ever written by ABORYM from 1992 until today. Given that it wasn't that easy to go beyond an album such as 'Psychogrotesque', I strongly believe that this time we did exceed every limit and every concept of experimentation — manipulating all the clichès of extreme metal, industrial or electronic music and pushing together elements that are so far away from each other. As a result, we achieved something really innovative, powerful, refined and of a really high standard. The quality of sounds, the nuances, the details passing through the recording quality; the quality of the machines that we used and abused, the quality of the lyrics, the artwork and the performances of each of us and of all the people who have worked with us, are definitely all at the top. 'Dirty' is a record that simply expands the range of our listeners, it's an album that everyone can enjoy and really appreciate. I am personally very excited and, at the same time, really proud of what you'll soon be able to listen to. We worked so hard for the past two years on this double album that we have no words to really explain how excited we are to finally see it released. It's an album that will further change the history of extreme music. Of that, I have no doubt."

Two years after their current release "Juggernaut Of Justice", Canadian metal legends ANVIL are back with their latest studio album. "Hope In Hell", an impressive metal recording featuring 13 haunting songs, is for release on May 27 in Europe and May 24 in Germany on SPV/Steamhammer and will be available in four different formats: as a limited-edition digipak including two bonus tracks, as a jewel case CD, double gatefold colored vinyl LP and as a digital download. These are the first cuts featuring ANVIL's new bassist Sal Italiano, who joined the band a year ago. "

A short video teaser for "Hope In Hell" can be seen below.

"We're really happy with Sal. His style is powerful and amazingly imaginative," says ANVIL guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow, who composed the entire album along with drummer Robb Reiner. "It's a little as if we'd enlisted Steve Harris."

"Hope In Hell" was written and recorded following an 18-month world tour which took ANVIL around the globe. "We hadn't expected this kind of extensive tour when we brought out 'Juggernaut Of Justice'," Kudlow confesses. "Time just flew by. I could hardly believe it when I found myself in the studio again after the tour, ready to work on the next album. The reactions to 'Juggernaut Of Justice' and the shows had been so positive that we had plenty of ideas and inspiration for new material."

"Hope In Hell" track listing:

01. Hope In Hell
02. Eat Your Words
03. Through With You
04. The Fight Is Never Won
05. Pay The Toll
06. Flying
07. Call Of Duty
08. Badass Rock N Roll
09. Time Shows No Mercy
10. Mankind Machine
11. Shut The Fuck Up
12. Hard Wired (bonus track)
13. Fire At Will (bonus track)

Kudlow promises the kind of album that ANVIL fans will love: no concessions to short-lived trends, no modern frills but traditional metal with lots of classic rock music elements.

"What we do is totally timeless," says ANVIL's frontman. "We've never tried to change our sound or experiment with trends and fashions. We live in our own world and have maintained our individuality and own identity."

Like "Juggernaut Of Justice", "Hope In Hell" was produced by Bob Marlette (BLACK SABBATH, AIRBOURNE, ALICE COOPER) at the NRG Recording studios in North Hollywood, California, and mastered by Maor Appelbaum (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, SEPULTURA).

On September 24, 2012, Steamhammer/SPV re-released three albums from ANVIL, all featuring new booklets containing new liner notes from guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner plus new photos.

"Back To Basics" (2004) and "Still Going Strong" (2002) are available again as a high-class "2 in 1" double digipak CD, while 2007's "This Is Thirteen" opus was re-released as a digipak CD, as well as a double gatefold LP, both with an exclusive bonus track.

Dave "Higgo" Higgins of Australia's long-running rock station Triple M conducted an interview with METALLICA frontman James Hetfield during this year's Soundwave festival in Australia. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

Regarding the progress of the songwriting sessions for METALLICA's follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic", Hetfield said: "Yeah, we're trying to write [new material], but gigs keep popping up that are too exciting to stay home for. We have lots of material [we've been] working on from the day 'Death Magnetic' ended all the way up until now.

"There's tons of material. Some [riffs] stick with me because the theme keeps coming back. Out of 700 riffs, there's at least three I've played 20 times."

Asked what the new material is sounding like, Hetfield said: "I don't know where it's going yet but we've got lots of different sounds, different styles. We're certainly not afraid of jumping into past 'feels.'

"After 'Death Magnetic', we've stopped running hard and started embracing some of our past. 'Master Of Puppets' was kind of a core reference for 'Death Magnetic'."

On the topic of how he responds to fans who want METALLICA to make an album that sounds like their old stuff, like "Master Of Puppets", Hetfield said: "Let's not do that, shall we?! It's a catch-22, because I completely understand what people want. It's like they're asking you to recreate a memory in their past and you cannot do that. It's a moment of time.

"We're one of those bands that doesn't really care what people want.

"We have been artists since day one. We're not going to roll over for anyone and, you know, we're METALLICA for a reason and we're going to keep doing that."

METALLICA's much-anticipated 3D movie, "Metallica Through The Never", will make its theatrical debut on August 9.

"Metallica Through The Never" will be the first new release via Picturehouse, the full-service independent film marketing and distribution company started in 2005, which is reopening its doors with founder Bob Berney at the helm. The film, written and directed by Nimród Antal ("Kontroll", "Predators"), stars members of the iconic rock band and Dane DeHaan ("Chronicle", "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"). DeHaan plays a young band crew member who is sent out on an urgent mission while the band is playing a rousing live set in front of a sold-out crowd and unexpectedly finds his world turned completely upside down.

"The idea started off as a best-of show," Hetfield said. "Taking all the effects and props and ideas from all the tours from 'Ride The Lightning' all the way up… 'Kill 'Em All' was just us and a Vodka bottle.

"The footage is unbelievable but we wanted a storyline along with it... [It's] about one of the runners in the show who goes on this crazy adventure trying to find this 'bag' that we need for the end of the show. There is a plot, but we're still trying to figure it out!"

Interview (audio):

William Clark of Music Enthusiast Magazine recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Music Enthusiast Magazine: Was there a certain event that made you and the rest of the band finally decide to kick [singer] Geoff Tate out of QUEENSRŸCHE?

Michael: Yeah, I mean basically if you look at any business, it's built upon the strength of its infrastructure. Viewing this as a business end and a creativity entity, we just weren't clicking on all cylinders. You have basically situations that grow over time where decisions are being made, and people don't quite agree with the philosophy. In a nutshell, we were creatively going different ways. And as a business, questioning some of the business decisions. I think those were kind of going in an opposite way of what others perceive. Just trying to keep a thread into your past and keep that fanbase. Trying to keep your albums on their coffee tables and not take such outlandish risks. Any business would question that.

Music Enthusiast Magazine: What is it like working with Todd La Torre as compared to working with Geoff?

Michael: Well, obviously you have a renewed energy. The chemistry within the band is renewed, and it's got a different dynamic now. Basically we want to rock, we like the hard rock element, we like a bit of the progressive element, we want to collaborate with our fanbase and really make this a situation where we listen to the audience and hear what they want, and we build upon that. QUEENSRŸCHE has always been a touring act, that's what we did in the early days. We were a guitar duo band and toured the world, and worked our asses off to get the respect of the audience. And I think that we've come full circle and we're at that point again. For the following years, we're going to work our asses off and get the respect of the audiences again, and just really show this new energy and this new chemistry with Todd La Torre as our new frontman. And you know what?! It's just a lot of fun again. In the past, it was just becoming, "This is a job. This is just a business, this is a job," and there was no fun in it. It's come back to how we started out in the beginning, a bunch of guys having fun, working hard and doing what they love.

Music Enthusiast Magazine: I think that's great. What are your thoughts about that other band named QUEENSRŸCHE going around, with Geoff on vocals?

Michael: You know, I try not to step on that subject too much. Obviously I'm aware of it, but I really do not pay too much attention to it. So I can't really say, other than I'm really stoked on what we're doing. I think what we're doing is rebuilding the brand, rebuilding the business and just surrounding ourselves with fluent people who are willing to push us in a positive direction. In our previous situation, everything was being done by a family, basically, and it was kind of a one-trick-pony situation. Now, it's like you've got to use your contacts and your friends in the business to push your business, and to help you generate positive growth. That's kind of what I'm consumed with at the moment, and that other stuff is being taken care of on a legal aspect, and we're all good with that. We're really concentrating on rebuilding the business, rebuilding the brand and showing the fans who have been waiting so long to see a good hard rock show that we've got it.

Music Enthusiast Magazine: Speaking of things you're currently doing, QUEENSRŸCHE is back in the studio. What is your objective for this first studio album with Todd manning lead vocals?

Michael: Our objective with this album is to rekindle a band writing together as a band, and utilizing the strengths of the creative forces of everybody in the band, to contribute, and just to make a CD, an album, that's just an honest representation of the band. We're not going to try and sell you some outlandish or exaggerated claims; this is just an honest collection of songs that we think really represent the creative dynamic of the band. Todd is very capable and very talented in that aspect. Like I said before, he's a drummer, he knows melody incredibly, he's a guitar player as well, and that as a band of real musicians it's really exciting to create. So, people are expecting us to write this and write that, but you know what?! We're just going to give you ten honest songs — maybe fifteen, who knows? We're at ten right now, and that's bringing back the energy in the five. That's the first and utmost what I want to see in this recording. I want to see each guy in this band smiling and going, "Yeah. That was killer." I want everybody really just being proud of what they did, and I don't want any dictatorship or anything happening. I want the band to really grow and push the envelope, and really discover real things about their creativity and their talents.

Read the entire interview at Music Enthusiast Magazine.

According to BBC News, LED ZEPPELIN is among the artists expected to be in the first wave of inductees into the Music Walk Of Fame honoring music greats, each of whom will have a large disc marker on a thoroughfare in the area of North London.

The honorees will be divided into five groups: innovative artists, influential artists, icons, unsung heroes and music industry heavies, and the inductees will be selected from a worldwide pool — not just Brits.

Music Walk Of Fame founder Lee Bennett approached The Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce, which runs the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, to propose the partnership. He promises that each round of inductions will be accompanied by performances, tributes to posthumous artists and reunions of since-disbanded groups.

A committee of global industry figures and local community members are working on shortlist of nominations for the first 30 plaques.

The list will go to a decisive public vote on the Music Walk Of Fame web site in May.

"Nails", the new video from U.K. post-hardcore veterans FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, can be seen below. The clip, directed by Ben Thornley of Sitcom Soldiers (YOUNG GUNS, THE BLACKOUT, HYRO DA HERO), was shot in a studio in Bolton, England, and all the extras included are fans that responded to posts on the band's sites.

"'Nails' is by far the most intense video shoot we've ever done, subzero temperatures, tons of paint and a whole host of people ready, willing and able to throw it at us. Messy and fun, the way all good videos should be," says FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND vocalist Matt Davies.

"Nails" comes off FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND's sixth studio album, "Conduit", which was released in North America on February 5 via The End Records.

"Conduit", the follow-up to 2011's critically acclaimed "Welcome Home Armageddon", an album which saw the band approach their music with renewed vigor following the addition of new members Gavin Burrough and Richard Boucher, belts out a tightly wound collection of tracks, bursting with emotion and personal conflict but also full of commentary on the inner workings and experiences of an established band. It's the sound of a band growing and progressing both as a unit and individually.

Again with producer Romesh Dodangoda (MOTÖRHEAD, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, LOSTPROPHETS) at the helm, the album's opening track "Spine", a song handling the issue of intense pressure and overcoming tough obstacles in your life to achieve a sense of personal fulfillment, hope and love, went for radio adds in December.

Last year, the group tapped director Ryan Mackfall of Team Crashburn (FOUR YEAR STRONG, SHARKS, FOXY SHAZAM) to direct the video for "Best Friends And Hospital Beds". Set in a bleak and derelict landscape, the song revolves around themes of friendship and death.

"Conduit" track listing:

01. Spine
02. Conduit
03. The Distance
04. Best Friends And Hospital Beds
05. Nails
06. Death Comes To Us All
07. Travelled
08. Grey
09. Sun-Less
10. Elements
11. High Castles

Swedish black metal metallers SVARTSYN will release their new full-length album, "Black Testament", on May 28 in Europe and June 11 in North America via Agonia Records. The CD, which was recorded at Mortsella Studio in Sweden, consists of seven original tracks and be available on CD, LP (first 100 copies available on a coloured vinyl) and as a digital download.

According to the band founder and mastermind Ornias, "Black Testament" can be described as a "sinister mix between 'Destruction Of Man' (2003) and 'Timeless Reign' (2007) releases." He also added: "it's a journey through my spiritual darkness and death."

A short series of video clips documenting the recording process (vocals, guitars and drums) can be viewed below.

"Black Testament" track listing:

01. Revelation In The Waters
02. Venom Of The Underworld
03. Demoness With Seven Names
04. Carving A Temple
05. Eyes Of The Earth
06. Rising Beast
07. Black Testament

A one-minute video clip in which Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, SEPULTURA) discusses working with director Thomas Mignone on a motion picture inspired by the extraordinary life of Vanessa Del Rio — the legendary Latina adult film star in New York's infamous Times Square during the '70s and 80s — can be seen below.

Mignone is best known for his work as a rock video director, helming projectsfrom SYSTEM OF A DOWN, DANZIG, SOULFLY and MORBID ANGEL, among others. He also directed the 2007 feature film "On The Doll".

Cavalera and Mignone previously worked together many times, with Mignone directing videos for SEPULTURA (including "Roots" and "We Are What We Are" DVD), SOULFLY ("Primitive", "World Scum" and "Bleed") and NAILBOMB ("Sum Of Your Achievements").

Description of the Vanessa Del Rio film project by the filmmakers: "The criminal element that rose from the thriving adult shop area created some of the highest crime statistics New York City had ever seen. Our story takes place against this tumultuous backdrop."

"The Vanessa Del Rio Film Project" is not a documentary but a feature film based on the life of a character named Vanessa Del Rio.

A new audio interview with guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH conducted by Andrew Haug, the former host of Triple J Australia's "The Racket" radio show (originally "Full Metal Racket"; 2001-2011), will air on Australia's recently launched first-ever dedicated 24/7 rock and metal online radio station, AndrewHaug.com, today (Thursday, March 7) at the following times:

* USA/Canada (PST) 7:00 p.m.
* USA/Canada (EST) 10:00 p.m.
* U.K. 9:00 p.m.
* EUROPE (CET) 10:00 p.m.

During the chat, Åkerfeldt offers his controversial opinion on the state of the new extreme-metal scene: "New extreme metal, I think it's dull, I think it's shit."

OPETH will return to North America in support of their most recent studio album, "Heritage". Released September 20, 2011, it garnered rave reviews from everyone from Rolling Stone, who called the album "a career record that reimagines prog as actual rock 'n' roll," to Pitchfork saying "a pretty, well-thought-out collection" to NPR who called it "equally vast, thoughtful and heavy." The tour will kick off on April 18 in Buffalo and will take the band throughout North America on a 30-plus-city tour. KATATONIA has been confirmed as direct support for the tour.

There will be several dates of note during OPETH's North American run. On April 20, OPETH will be making a stop to headline alongside ANTHRAX, HATEBREED and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival. The April 28 show in Clifton Park, New York will see OPETH mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt's STORM CORROSION collaborator and friend Steven Wilson of PORCUPINE TREE join OPETH for a special evening that is not to be missed. There will also be two rare and intimate evenings with OPETH planned for Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on April 29 and The Roxy in West Hollywood on May 24. These shows will allow fans the unique opportunity to experience OPETH like never before.

"Angus McFife", the new video from GLORYHAMMER, the "heroic fantasy power metal" project led by Christopher Bowes, the mastermind behind pirate metal sensation ALESTORM, with a desire to explore the more symphonic and epic side of metal, can be seen below. The song comes off GLORYHAMMER's debut album, "Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife", which will be released on March 29 via Napalm Records. The CD, which will tell an original story based in an alternate-history medieval Scotland, where magic and dark sorcery reigns supreme, was recorded at LSD Studios in Germany. A concept of such epic proportions requires a truly talented vocalist, and for this purpose Thomas L. Winkler from Swiss power metal band EMERALD was hired to provide majestic soaring vocals. The lineup is completed by Paul Templing, James Cartwright, and Ben Turk, who honed their battle skills in various underground U.K. metal bands.

GLORYHAMMER is:

Christopher Bowes - Keyboards
Thomas Winkler - Vocals
Paul Templing - Guitars
James Cartwright - Bass
Ben Turk - Drums

The cover artwork for "Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife" was "painstakingly handcrafted" by Dan Goldsworthy (ACCEPT, HELL, SYLOSIS). The art depicts the great hero Angus McFife, questing valiantly through the frozen highlands, wielding the Hammer of Glory.

"Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife" track listing:

01. Anstruther's Dark Prophecy
02. The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee
03. Angus McFife
04. Quest for the Hammer of Glory
05. Magic Dragon
06. Silent Tears of Frozen Princess
07. Amulet of Justice
08. Hail to Crail
09. Beneath Cowdenbeath
10. The Epic Rage of Furious Thunder

There will also be a limited first-pressing "Heroic Edition" of the album, presented in a luxurious digipak format with alternate artwork, featuring the bonus track "Wizards!".

California thrash metal veterans SLAYER performed with only two original members on stage as part of this year's Soundwave festival, which took place in five Australian cities between February 23 and March 4.

SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo sat out the band's recent tour due to a contract dispute with the other members of the group, while guitarist Jeff Hanneman is still recovering from necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease which he is believed to have gotten from a spider bite. Filling in for them were returning member Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX) and Gary Holt (EXODUS), respectively.

Fan-filmed video footage of SLAYER's March 1 performance at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia as part of this year's Soundwave festival can be seen below.

SLAYER's setlist for the Melbourne show was as follows:

01. Disciple
02. War Ensemble
03. Die By The Sword
04. Chemical Warfare
05. Mandatory Suicide
06. Altar Of Sacrifice
07. Jesus Saves
08. Seasons In The Abyss
09. Dead Skin Mask
10. Angel of Death
11. South of Heaven
12. Raining Blood

In an interview with Soundwave TV, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King stated about Lombardo's current status with SLAYER: "This just happened a week ago… ten days ago… so I mean, I don't know… It's unfortunate that Dave couldn't be with us; I planned on him being here up until the Monday before I left. And then I saw trouble in paradise, and since I am the mastermind on making decisions like this, I was, like, 'Alright, I've got a backup plan. Just in case.' 'Cause I would have hated to have just Australia blown out. Can you imagine how shitty that would have been? So I did what I thought was best, and we pulled it off."

Asked if he saw the dispute with Dave coming, Kerry said: "Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] did. Tom's been on the fence about Dave for awhile and I was pretty much the one that said, 'Nah, I'm not comfortable moving on [without Dave].' And then it got thrust in our face and I took action immediately and I got a very lucky culmination of things that happened."

Prior to joining SLAYER, Dette appeared on TESTAMENT's "Live At The Fillmore" album, which came out in 1995.

Regarding how he came be playing with SLAYER again on the Soundwave festival run, Dette told Tama: "I got a call from Kerry [King, SLAYER guitarist]. And he said, 'Hey, what are you doing next week when you're in Australia when you're not playing for ANTHRAX?' And I said, 'Drinking.' [laughs] He said, 'Well, you might wanna hold off the drinks, if you can, 'cause we might need you to fill in, if you can.' And I said, 'Of course.' I mean, first, I was kind of taken aback, I was a little paused. But they basically called me and asked if I could do the Australia dates for them. So I will, actually, be playing drums for ANTHRAX and SLAYER at the Soundwave festival in Australia, and then also we have a one-off show — SLAYER and ANTHRAX in Sydney, which, that will definitely put me to the test. 'Cause it's gonna be an hour on stage with ANTHRAX, and then I've got 20 minutes to take a break, and then it's an hour and 40 with SLAYER. So I've got my work cut out for me that night. But I'll man up, I'll make it happen, and it'll be a good show."

Speaking about his history with SLAYER, Dette said: "The SLAYER thing, again, it's been… My God, it's been 16, 17 years now. I joined SLAYER — officially joined SLAYER — in Decemebr of 1995, and I replaced Paul Bostaph. He had just completed the 'Undisputed Attitude' record. So I was with them until early 1997, and then Paul came back into the band and then I actually went back into TESTAMENT. I joined TESTAMENT in '94, replacing John Tempesta just after the 'Low' record. So it was a cool little period of time. Again, I was just extremely fortunate and privileged to be part of their history. And now, to be part of the SLAYER history again is awesome. And again, I'm just really looking forward to seeing what the future brings."

Dette is currently also playing with ANTHRAX as a temporary replacement for the band's longtime drummer Charlie Benante, who "is dealing with personal issues right now and can't leave" the U.S., according to ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian.

FLYLEAF visited the Livestream studios at the New York stop of the band's current tour with DROWNING POOL to answer fan questions and perform a couple acoustic versions of songs off of their latest release, "New Horizons". The band played four tracks from the album including final cut "Broken Wings", the album's first single, "New Horizons", as well as opening track, "Fire, Fire", and "All Around Me". Check out the footage below.

FLYLEAF's new lineup made its live debut on November 1, 2012 at the Grand Stafford Theater in Bryan, Texas in front of a sold-out capacity crowd of 400. The show featured the debut of new singer Kristen May, who replaced original vocalist Lacey Sturm after the latter abruptly departed the group in October.

Sturm left the band on the eve of the release of its third album, "New Horizons", which came out on October 30, 2012 and sold 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 16 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Sturm issued a statement about her exit from the group she co-founded, saying, "I am very thankful to have recently become a mom to one of the greatest blessings of my life, my son Jack . . . I understand that, for me, living life to the fullest in this season means to step down as the lead singer for FLYLEAF."

The new album follows up 2009's "Memento Mori" and FLYLEAF's self-titled 2005 debut, which have combined to sell more than 1.6 million copies in the U.S.

Video footage of former NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis performing a cover version of Jason Becker's "Perpetual Burn" can be seen below. Loomis is using a signature Schecter Loomis 7 guitar, Kemper profiling amp (5150) and Pro Tools in the clip.

Loomis last year released a brand-new song, "A Liar's Chain", recorded with his touring band consisting of Joe Nurre (guitar and vocals), Anup Sastry (drums) and Greg Macklin (bass).

Loomis's second solo album, "Plains Of Oblivion", sold 2,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 179 on The Billboard 200 chart. The effort landed at No. 2 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Plains Of Oblivion" was released on April 10, 2012 in North America (one day earlier in Europe) via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Aaron Smith (7 HORNS 7 EYES) and features cover artwork by Colin Marks of Rain Song Design, who has previously worked with ALL SHALL PERISH, THE END and XERATH.

Jason Becker, a onetime guitar prodigy first known as part of the metal duo CACOPHONY, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) at age 20, shortly after joining David Lee Roth's band for the gold-selling 1991 album "A Little Ain't Enough". Although the disease robbed him of his ability to play guitar — and eventually left him both paralyzed and unable to speak — Becker continues to compose music with the help of computers, collaborators, and a system of communication using eye movements that was devised by his father Gary.

Finnish horror metallers DIRGE ETERNAL, who feature former TURISAS bassist Hannes Horma on guitar, made their live debut with their new frontman, former DREAMTALE singer Nils Nordling, on March 2 at Suisto in Hämeenlinna, Finland. Video footage of the performance can be seen below.

DIRGE ETERNAL parted ways with vocalist Jani Perta in November 2012. The band explained in a statement: "Everyone agrees that taking this band to the next level is not possible with the current lineup. Jani made the decision himself, so there is no firing involved or any other hard feelings."

DIRGE ETERNAL last year completed work on the "Under The Spell" EP at Sound Supreme Studio in Hämeenlinna, Finland. In addition to playing lead guitar on the CD, Horma served as engineer and producer during the sessions.

"Under The Spell"'s release was celebrated with a performance on May 5, 2012 at Escape in Riihimäki, Finland.

DIRGE ETERNAL's second music video, "The Slaughterhouse", was premiered on May 4, 2012 at the Biorex movie theater in Hämeenlinnna.

Germany's BLIND GUARDIAN recently released A Traveler’s Guide To Space And Time, a strictly limited edition box set with 15 CDs in 13 high quality digipacks, limited to only 8,000 copies worldwide. Italy's SpazioRock has issued a new interview with singer Hansi Kürsch, in which he discusses the set. An excerpt from the interview follows:
Q: Your fans’ dream came true: A Traveller's Guide To Space And Time is officially out. 8,000 copies only: how many of them are left in stock?

A: "As far as I know, there are no copies left on stock. I believe they’re all sold, but you can still order on Amazon. I am not sure how long this will take, until they will be completely sold out. I would guess the last copies will be sold in the next four or five weeks. All in all, this can be considered a success and there will be no reissues. So everyone who got his own copy should be happy."

Q: I have to inform you that I have a copy of this wonderful “guide”. The design is superb, all reminds us the ancient times, the fantasy world and the Middle Age: why did you decide to release this boxset after the best of?

A: "It was an agreement we had with the label: they asked us for the “best of” and then this compilation. We really had the time to focus on A Traveller’s Guide, which means we have been able to spend the first three months focusing completely on it . And later on, we just had to decide how to finalize it, it took us more than twelve months to complete, but it was worth the toll."

I have to notice only one problem for this box: why the decision to take off the booklets with the lyrics?

At first, it was a matter of weight, then a matter of capacity, because if it had the booklets with the lyrics as well, I wouldn’t say it was a problem with the budget, but it would have been hard to design a box with even the booklets. My idea was to add the lyrics to the big book that was included in the box. But even there the space was an issue and we would have had only four extra pages and it was impossible to add all the lyrics in a few pages. We had to skip that idea, but I didn’t realize that could be a problem for people, I realized it later, when the box was released.

The pictures in the box are awesome! You looked like anyone other guy who had fun in making music...

Oh yeah, especially at the very beginning, when you usually don’t take things too seriously. You just enjoy life, as you can see in the pictures but we have always been ambitious, you can see that as well!

“Nightfall In Middle Earth” without the instrumental songs is quite strange. I don’t know the fans’ opinion, but I prefer the original version: it’s more atmospheric. Which version do you prefer?

I agree with you: it wasn’t my intention to release this “Nightfall - Special Edition”, but we had a lot of complaints over the years from fans who loved “Nightfall”, but who struggled with the interludes and so on. This is a favour to them and I hope they’ll be happy with it.

How the orchestral album will sound like? I need to know something you haven’t told anyone yet! I need a real scoop!

Oh well, the album is progressing very quickly and it’s progressing in the right direction. Each day, though, we find something to adjust. It will be a concept based on a fantasy story and we have plenty of material, in order to release a Part 1 and a Part 2. I would love to say that we need other 24 months to have everything completed. I am not sure when we will release it, I have a good feeling that it might be in 2015.

You said that the second “Blind Guardian Fest” depends on this orchestral project. Why?

Because the opportunities to present this orchestral album in a proper live situation would be very few. We need the right environment and the right situation, that festival would be the right chance to do so. And we would like to do a proper three days festival, with two Blind Guardian concerts in a row, with the band performing with an orchestra.

Can you tell me something about the concept of the next album?

There’s no concept so far, we’re collecting the songs and drum recordings for some of the songs. It will be a very natural-sounding album, but it will be a complex album, no doubt about it. The quality of the sound will be like our last two, three albums and it will give you an insight of how the orchestral album will sound like.

All right. What about the lyrics? Will you write something based on G.R.R. Martin or Tolkien?

Maybe Martin, I don’t think Tolkien. It’s still a difficult issue to decide the direction of the lyrics, because I need a stronger picture of the album, I need a good amount of songs. There might be two or three songs related to historical issues...

Do you like “A Game Of Thrones”?

Yeah, I like it a lot, and so the TV series. I have just watched the first season and I think it’s very close to the story in the book.


Read the complete interview at this location.

Looking back over Blind Guardian’s career from the here and now in 2013, you see a success story gone global, the likes of which very few other German metal bands have ever experienced. This band from Krefeld has been just about everywhere, conquering the North American market in the same way as they stormed the charts in Asia or packed concert venues in South America and even South Africa. From their (at that point purely) German beginnings with debut album Battalions of Fear (1988), followed by their first international recognition with the second album Follow the Blind (1989) and the euphoria which went round the world when Tales from the Twilight World (1990) and Somewhere Far Beyond (1992) came out, right through to their masterpiece of composition in A Night at the Opera (2002), the name of the band developed to become an unmistakable world brand. There are lots of reasons for this, but no doubt much of it is down to the extraordinary skill of everyone involved, their virtuoso dexterity and that gift for bringing mystical themes in tune with unusually complex metal directives. Something else which really makes Blind Guardian stand out is the way they have always kept so close to their fans. Even more proof of their unconditional commitment to the huge fan-base is being released now; A Traveler’s Guide to Space and Time, a strictly limited edition deluxe box set with a total of 15 CDs in 13 high quality digipacks, which the musicians and the record company have been working on together for almost a year. A particularly long time to create a compilation you may think, but a glance at just how much this box set encompasses explains why their conscientious and time-consuming preparation took so long.
A Traveler’s Guide to Space and Time not only includes all the albums released during the so-called Virgin years (the record company brought out all the bands’ records between 1988 and 2004) but also all their previously unreleased demo recordings, rare bonus tracks and alternative versions of famous pieces from this era, and all of them have been remastered and some even remixed. To be precise; it includes the seven studio albums Battalions of Fear, Follow the Blind, Tales from the Twilight World, Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations from the Other Side, Nightfall in Middle-Earth and A Night at the Opera, and on top of all that you get the live albums Tokyo Tales and Live as well as The Forgotten Tales compilation, all of them now with 2012 mastering and some of them with new mixes. Above and beyond that, Blind Guardian have dug deep into their archives and come up with some real treats: in Imaginations Through the Looking Glass for the very first time the phenomenal concert they put on in Coburg, Germany in June 2003 appears in audio format on two CDs. And another first, in a special edition of Nightfall in Middle-Earth, the musicians also present the legendary 1998 studio album without any breaks (including a new mix of “Blood Tears”). This precious box is rounded off with An Extraordinary Tale, which includes so far unreleased demo versions of the pieces 'Welcome to Dying', 'Lord of the Rings', 'The Bard’s Song (In the Forest)', 'The Bard’s Song (The Hobbit)', 'Theatre of Pain', 'Trial by Fire' and 'I’m Alive' and the never before released, around 90 seconds longer version of the song 'The Quest for Tanelorn' as well as the comparatively rare number “Harvest of Sorrow”.

So, there is so much to find, enjoy and rediscover in this outright opulent deluxe box which is accompanied by a 20 page glossy booklet (size: 27cm x 27cm) containing comments from the members of the band and more than 100 rare and mainly unpublished photos belonging to the musicians. A limited edition and numbered Blind Guardian art print on special paper (sized 27cm by 27cm) and a guitar plectrum engraved with the band’s logo have also been added to the box. Blind Guardian are rightly proud of this glorious package. “With A Traveler’s Guide to Space and Time we document how much has Blind Guardian developed between 1988 and 2004 in, as I see it, a particularly impressive and vivid way,” explains singer/bassist Hansi Kürsch who, together with original members André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen, still controls the destiny of this amazing group. Kürsch adds: “The brand new mastering also makes sure that all 15 CDs are on the same level as far as the dynamics are concerned so theoretically you can listen to the whole box at one go, without having to adjust the volume level at all.”

Of course this jam-packed compilation also includes all the compositional climaxes and milestones along Blind Guardian’s career path; 'Majesty' from their debut album Battalions of Fear was the first time the band presented their unusual song writing combined with the boundless energy which still makes Blind Guardian stand out so much today. 'Traveler in Time' from Tales from the Twilight World then puts the band’s epic approach into focus. 'The Bard’s Song' has developed into a real classic, creating that perfect symbiosis between band and audience at concert after concert and reinforcing the folklore element within the typical Blind Guardian sound.

Of course, in this box, Blind Guardian also present the sublime title track from the album Imaginations from the Other Side with its capable mixture of anthemic power metal and progressive directives, as well as the downright cinematic number 'Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)' from the album Nightfall in Middle-Earth. The experts reckon the fantastic 'And Then There Was Silence' from A Night at the Opera was the icing on the cake of those Virgin years and you can hear it in all its glory on A Traveler’s Guide to Space and Time.

With A Traveler’s Guide to Space and Time Blind Guardian stay true to their reputation of not doing anything only halfway. As always with this band you get the full-on thing, on both the composition and technical production sides. This box is also full of rare photos from the musicians’ private collections as well as previously unreleased demo recordings, once again documenting how far this group will go to give their fans the best possible product. And as Hansi Kürsch put it: “We poured our heart and soul into A Traveler’s Guide to Space and Time making it a well worthwhile box for our fans which fully meets the demands we make of ourselves as well as those of our fans. And that is exactly what we were aiming for.”
Tracklisting for A Traveler’s Guide to Space and Time (15 CD Set)

Disc 1- Battalions of Fear (Digitally Remastered 2012)
'Majesty'
'Guardian of the Blind'
'Trial by the Archon'
'Wizard’s Crown'
'Run for the Night'
'The Martyr'
'Battalions of Fear'
'By the Gates of Moria'
'Gandalf’s Rebirth (New 2013 Mix)

Disc 2 – Follow the Blind (Digitally Remastered 2012)
'Inquisition'
'Banish from Sanctuary'
'Damned for All Time'
'Follow the Blind'
'Hall of the King'
'Fast to Madness'
'Beyond the Ice'
'Valhalla'
'Don’t Break the Circle'
'Barbara Ann

Disc 3 – Tales from the Twilight World (Digitally Remastered 2012 & New Mix 2012)
'Traveler in Time'
'Welcome to Dying'
'Weird Dreams'
'Lord of the Rings'
'Goodbye My Friend'
'Lost in the Twilight Hall'
'Tommyknockers'
'Altair 4'
'The Last Candle'
'Run for the Night (Live)

Disc 4 – Somewhere Far Beyond (Digitally Remastered 2012 & New Mix 2012)
'Time What Is Time'
'Journey Through the Dark'
'Black Chamber'
'Theatre of Pain'
'The Quest for Tanelorn'
'Ashes to Ashes'
'The Bard’s Song (In the Forest)'
'The Bard’s Song (The Hobbit)'
'The Piper’s Calling'
'Somewhere Far Beyond'
'Spread Your Wings'
'Trial by Fire'
'Theatre of Pain

Disc 5 – Tokyo Tales (Original 1993 Mix, Digitally Remastered 2012)
'Inquisition'
'Banish from Sanctuary'
'Journey Through the Dark'
'Traveler in Time'
'The Quest for Tanelorn'
'Goodbye My Friend'
'Time What Is Time' 'Majesty'
'Valhalla' 'Welcome to Dying'
'Lost in the Twilight Hall'
'Barbara Ann'

Disc 6 – Imaginations from the Other Side (Digitally Remastered 2012 & New Mix 2012)
'Imaginations from the Other Side'
'I’m Alive'
'A Past and Future Secret' '
The Script for My Requiem'
'Mordred’s Song'
'Born in a Mourning Hall'
'Bright Eyes'
'Another Holy War'
'And the Story Ends'

Disc 7 – The Forgotten Tales (Original Mixes Digitally Remastered 2012)
'Mr. Sandman'
'Surfin’ USA'
'Bright Eyes'
'Lord of the Rings'
'The Wizard'
'Spread Your Wings'
'Mordred’s Song'
'Black Chamber'
'The Bard’s Song (In the Forest)'
'Barbara Ann'
'A Past and Future Secret'
'To France'
'Theatre of Pain'

Disc 8 – Nightfall in Middle-Earth (Digitally Remastered 2012 & New Mix 2012)
'War of Wrath'
'Into the Storm '
'Lammoth'
'Nightfall'
'The Minstrel'
'The Curse of Feanor'
'Captured'
'Blood Tears'
'Mirror Mirror'
'Face the Truth'
'Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)'
'Battle of Sudden Flames'
'Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)'
'The Dark Elf'
'Thorn'
'The Eldar'
'Nom the Wise'
'When Sorrow Sang'
'Out on the Water'
'The Steadfast''
'Dark Passage'
'Final Chapter (Thus Ends)'

Disc 9 – A Night at the Opera (Digitally Remastered 2012 & New Mix 2012)
'Precious Jerusalem'
'Battlefield' '
Under the Ice'
'Sadly Sings Destiny'
'The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight'
'Wait for an Answer'
'The Soulforged'
'Age of False Innocence'
'Punishment Divine'
'And Then There Was Silence'

Live (Digitally Remastered 2012)
Disc 10
'War of Wrath'
'Into the Storm'
'Welcome to Dying'
'Nightfall'
'The Script for My Requiem'
'Harvest of Sorrow'
'The Soulforged'
'Valhalla' 'Majesty'
'Mordred’s Song'
'Born in a Mourning Hall''

Disc 11
'Under the Ice'
'Bright Eyes'
'Punishment Divine'
'The Bard’s Song (In the Forest)'
'Imaginations from the Other Side'
'Lost in the Twilight Hall'
'A Past and Future Secret'
'Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)'
'Journey Through the Dark'
'Lord of the Rings'
'Mirror Mirror

Imaginations Through the Looking Glass – Live in Coburg, 2003 (for first time on CD – digitally remastered 2012)
Disc 12

'War of Wrath'
'Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)'
'Banish from Sanctuary'
'Nightfall'
'The Script for My Requiem'
'Valhalla'
'A Past and Future Secret'
'Punishment Divine'
'Mordred’s Song'
'The Last Candle

Disc 13
'Bright Eyes'
'Lord of the Rings'
'I’m Alive'
'Another Holy War'
'And Then There Was Silence'
'Somewhere Far Beyond'
'The Bard’s Song (In the Forest)'
'Imaginations from the Other Side'
'And the Story Ends'
'Mirror Mirror

Disc 14 – Nightfall in Middle-Earth – Special Edition (Digitally Remastered 2012 & New Mix 2012)
'Into the Storm'
'Nightfall'
'The Curse of Feanor'
'Blood Tears (new vocal mix 2012)'
'Mirror Mirror' 'Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)'
'Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)'
'Thorn' 'The Eldar'
'When Sorrow Sang'
'A Dark Passage'

Disc 15 – An Extraordinary Tale (Live Rarities & Demos – Digitally Remastered 2012)
'Welcome to Dying (Demo)'
'Lord of the Rings (Demo)'
'The Bard’s Song (In the Forest) (Demo)'
'The Bard’s Song (The Hobbit) (Demo)'
'Theatre of Pain (Demo)'
'Trial by Fire (Demo)'
'The Quest for Tanelorn (unreleased extended version)'
'Harvest of Sorrow (rare version)'
I’m Alive (Demo)
An eight minute preview of the package is available below:

Wormholedeath/Aural Music Group have announced the signing of Croatian rock band AGHARTI, who will release their debut album titled Change worldwide later this year. The album was produced and recorded at Mathlab Recording Studio (Italy) by Jonathan Mazzeo then mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson (THE AGONIST) in Montreal.
You can stream the album preview below:
The whole band stated: "We are happy to announce that Agharti has signed a deal with WormHoleDeath and that soon our full length album titled Change will be out worldwide. Working with WormHoleDeath was great - we clicked well from the very beginning and we know that together we will make great things. We're very thankful for all the advice they gave us in the process of making the album and we can only hope for this cooperation to last because we have a lot more to give, share and create."
A&R "Worm" stated: "Agharti are the typical band that every label dreams. We first met in Austria and they seemed to be so professional, humble and nice. Their songs were already well written and sounded great but they were also so eager to work with us on their music as they knew that they couldn't be critical like us. For that reason me and Jonathan decided to invest in them and went to Zagreb to work in their practice room. We understood each other perfectly and they listened to everything we had to say, it has been great. We also cooperated closely on the choices to take for their final sound, image, cover, pictures and the result is under the light of the sun, just check it out. I am sure that you all will hear a lot about them since this is just the beginning of their career. Support this band, Agharti really deserve your attention."

Uppsala, Sweden's F.K.Ü. (FREDDY KRUEGER’S UNDERWEAR) will release their new album, 4: Rise Of The Mosh Mongers, on the following dates via Napalm Records:

April
24 - Spain/Sweden/Norway
26 - Germany/Austria/Sweden/Finland/Benelux
29 - rest of Europe

May
7 - North America
4: Rise Of The Mosh Mongers tracklisting:

'Moshocalypse Now'
'Rise Of The Mosh Mongers'
'Black Hole Hell'
'Cannibal Detox'
'The Überslasher Pt. 1'
'Scream Bloody Mosher'
'Esox Lucius'
'The Überslasher Pt. 2'
'At The Mountains Of Madness'
'A Nightmare Made Thrash'
'112 Ocean Avenue'
'The Überslasher Pt. 3'
'Marz Attacks'
'Terror Train'
'The Überslasher Pt. 4'
'They Feed In The Dark'
'Anthem Of The Moshoholics'
'Mirrors Painted Black' (Bonus Track – Limited Edition)
'The New Flesh' (Bonus Track – Limited Edition)
F.K.Ü. lineup:

Larry Lethal - vocals
Pete Stooaahl - guitars
Pat Splat - bass
Dr. Ted Killer Miller - drums

More on F.K.Ü. at Facebook.

Deathrash/groove metal outfit COMMON DEAD have confirmed a March 12th release date for their new album, Allegorize, via independent distribution. An exercise of true independence in metal, the one-man effort will be available at online stores with nine tracks of tech-death-groove metal influence, taking cues from metal titans such as GOJIRA, MACHINE HEAD and PANTERA.
Two new tracks from the album, 'Outer Harbor' and 'Modern Obsolete', are now streaming online.

"'Outer Harbor' is a slower and quite different track from Common Dead", comments the artist, "a song about retreating to a personal realm no one else can reach".

Listen to 'Outer Harbor' and 'Modern Obsolete', as well as the previously posted track, 'Worldview', via the widget below:

Sell Music online at ReverbNation.com

An early album preview for Allegorize was also released in January, and can be found below. For more details visit Commondead.com.

Italy's PSYCHOFAGIST will release their new album, Songs Of Faint And Distortion, on March 7th on CD/LP (via Fobofile Productions) and March 12th digitally (via Memorial Records).

The album artwork, designed by Fobofile Productions, can be seen below:
A trailer for the album can be seen below:
More on Psychofagist, including the band's live itinerary, at this location.

After signing with Relapse Records in late 2011, this week Auckland, New Zealand-based death metal horde ULCERATE will enter hometown MCA Studios to harness their anticipated fourth LP.

Ulcerate’s founding drummer Jamie Saint Merat states, “After almost exactly twelve months of exhaustive work we are now in the final stages of preparation for our fourth album. This week we enter the studio to track what has become a violent, monolithic piece of work.”
The yet-to-be-named fourth opus from Ulcerate follows two albums on Willowtip Records - 2009’s Everything Is Fire and 2011’s The Destroyers Of All - not to mention their 2007 Neurotic Records debut Of Fracture And Failure. The band down wave after tumultuous wave of dissonant riffing and a nonstop barrage of leveling, technical percussion with organic brute force and otherworldly discordance, topped with a purely disdainful, guttural lyrical attack. Their brutally-charged, sinister death metal bears an innovative, blackened edge resulting in a catastrophic concoction not dissimilar to MITOCHONDRION, MITHRAS, PORTAL, GLORIOR BELLI and DEATHSPELL OMEGA.

Ulcerate has toured with extreme metal heavyweights across all of New Zealand, Australia and heavily across Europe alongside the likes of NILE, KRISIUN, DECAPITATED, BEHEMOTH, CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, GRAVE, CORPUS MORTALE, SVART CROWN and others, and even assaulted North American audiences for the first time with several shows around and including 2012’s annual installment of the massive Maryland Deathfest.

Expect updates through all of 2013 as Ulcerate completes their latest work and allows it to erupt forth onto humanity later this year, in addition to taking their sonic destruction to the stage in support. New Zealanders can catch the band in Auckland and Wellington with labelmates ROTTEN SOUND this April.

Dates include:

April (with Rotten Sound)
11 - Rising Sun - Auckland, New Zealand
12 - Bodega - Wellington, New Zealand
Ulcerate lineup:

Paul Kelland: bass/vocals
Michael Hoggard: guitars
Jamie Saint Merat: drums

More on Ulcerate at this location.

Listenable Records will release the new album from Swedish death metal band TORMENTED (featuring members of SCAR SYMMETRY, ex-MARDUK and DEVIAN), on March 25th. The album's title track is now available for streaming below:
The Death Awaits album artwork can be seen below:
This new album will show the band slaughtering the listener with songs like 'Death Awaits', 'Blood Orgy', 'Into the Dust', 'I.O.T.D', and 'Black Sky'.

Tormented are:

Andreas "Drette" Axelson - vocals/guitar
Claes Holmberg - guitar
Roberth Karlsson - bass
Jocke Olund - drums
Updates to follow. More on Tormented here.

STATUS QUO recently announced that original members Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan, are reforming for a one-off, never to be repeated series of UK dates this month. UK rockers THE TREATMENT will be joining Status Quo on their dates starting at the Manchester Apollo on March 6th.
Abbey Road Live Here Now will record all nine of the upcoming reunion shows for immediate release after the gigs. They will make limited edition CDs of 1,000 per show. These will be for sale at the gigs on the night or can be pre-ordered now.

The shows will also be available for digital download. Pre-order on CD or as a download from LiveHereNow.com.
Tour dates include:

March
6 - Manchester, UK - Apollo,
7 - Wolverhampton, UK - Civic Hall,
9 - Glasgow, UK O2 Academy
10 – Glasgow, UK - 02 Academy
12 – Manchester, UK - 02 Apollo
13 – Wolverhampton, UK - Civic
15 - London, UK - Hammersmith Apollo
16 - London, UK - Hammersmith Apollo
17 - London, UK - Wembley Arena

OBSESSION vocalist Michael Vescera recently spoke with BW&BK's Carl Begai about what's in store for the band over the next several months, and he offered the following look behind the scenes:
"We have a few shows booked for late April," he reveals. "Still speaking with promoters for Europe, Japan, and the rest of the world. Hopefully some things will surface soon with that. We just finished re-mixing Carnival Of Lies for the re-release with Inner Wound; it sounds awesome and we're really excited to have a proper release with this. The back catalogue is almost finished as well. Everything has been re-mastered, there will some cool unreleased stuff, never released photos and some video clips."

Stay tuned for updates.

Word has been circulating that Vescera - who fronted LOUDNESS in the late '80s for two studio albums - will be performing with the band as a guest vocalist on April 14th at the Live N' Louder Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil. BW&BK scribe Carl Begai spoke exclusively with Vescera about the planned show, which is going to be a one-off performance with him up front.

Vescera: "I'm actually singing the whole set with Loudness. I was contacted by the US representation a few weeks ago, they asked if I would be interested in doing this festival with Loudness. We all felt that this would be awesome to make happen, so it's all been put together. It will be great to play with the guys again, I'm sure it will be killer. As far as set list, we're not sure as of yet. We're discussing this and should know soon."

As for original Loudness vocalist Minoru Niihara, "he's still in the band and still the vocalist for Loudness," says Vescera. "I haven't heard anything to the contrary."

For information on the Live N' Louder festival go to this location.

Obsession released Order Of Chaos in late 2012. The tracklisting is as follows:

'Order Of Chaos'
'Twist Of The Knife'
'Forbidden Desire'
'When The Smoke Clears'
'License To Kill'
'Wages Of Sin'
'Cold Day In Hell'
'Act Of God'
'Mercy Killing'
'Dark Shadows'

The Japanese edition of the album features the exclusive bonus track, 'The Damned'.

Vescera commented on Order Of Chaos in an earlier interview with BW&BK:

"It’s a cross between Carnival Of Lies and the early Obsession stuff. I think it’s geared more towards the older sound, the straightforward metal like the Marshall Law album (’84), but you can hear some of the Carnival sound in there, too.”

Check out BraveWords.com's review of Order Of Chaos at this location.

The track 'Wages Of Sin' is streaming below along with an album teaser:

Fresh on the heels of Australia’s sold out Soundwave Festival - where they triumphantly won over thousands of new fans - Japanese metal quintet CROSSFAITH now has the United States in their collective sights. Their upcoming tour, which marks the first time the group will be performing in front of American audiences, will launch in Boston, Massachusetts at the Royale Nightclub on Wednesday, March 6th. Other acts on the tour include ENTER SHIKARI, ARCHITECTS, and HEARTIST.

Vocalist Kenta Koie had this to say, “We are so excited to come to the US for the first time. We've been to many countries in the past twelve months, but we can't wait to come to the US and be a part of the huge music scene. We played with Enter Shikari in Japan last year, and they put on a great show. We can't wait to see them again and look forward to a great tour!”

Tour dates:

March
6 - Boston, MA - Royale Nightclub
7 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
8 - Philadelphia, PA - TLA
9 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
10 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade Music Park
12 - St. Petersburgh, FL - State Theater V
13 - Orlando, FL - The Social
15 - Houston, TX - The Studio @Warehouse
16 - Grand Prarie, TX - South By So What Festival
18 - Tucson, AZ - The Rock
19 - Mesa, AZ - The Nile Theater
20 - Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction
22 - San Diego, CA - Soma
23 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy
24 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
26 - Portland, OR - The Hawthorne Theater

The End Records, as part of a joint venture with Sony Music Japan/Search & Destroy Records, will release Crossfaith's forthcoming full-length album (title TBA). The album, which is being recorded and mixed by the legendary Machine, is scheduled for a June 2013 release.

Released through The End Records back in November of 2012, the groups EP Zion, also recorded by Machine, features six tracks of breakneck, electro-infused energy and invention. Check out the promo video for ‘Monolith’ below:
After heading back east for Belgium’s Groezrock Festival and their UK tour with BRING ME THE HORIZON this spring, Crossfaith will return to North America for the Van’s Warped Tour launching in Seattle, Washington on June 15th.
Crossfaith lineup:

Kenta Koie - Vocals
Kazuki Takemura - Guitar
HIroki Ikegawa - Bass
Tatsuya Amano - Drums
Terufumi Tamano - Program / Vision

More on Crossfaith at this location.

Canadian heavy/doom band CAUCHEMAR will release their first full length, Tenebrario, in May on San Francisco’s Nuclear War Now! Productions. Like their first EP, 2010’s La Vierge Noire, Tenebrario was recorded at Meatlocker Studios in Ottawa. The chilling cover art was made by Italian painter Paolo Girardi.

All the songs on the album were written during singer Annick Giroux and guitarist François Patry’s one and a half year journey in South America, Asia and Europe. “It was incredibly inspiring to discover magical places like Peru and India, absorbing fascinating new music, different experiences and meeting people from everywhere,” says vocalist Annick Giroux. The band did a 20-date tour last spring in Europe, as well as gigs in Chile, Peru, Colombia and India.

Tenebrario will feature nine songs, all sung in French, with lyrics mostly dealing with death and rebirth. “Musically, it is still a fusion of classic heavy metal riffing and traditional doom metal, but perhaps a bit more haunted and obscure,” adds Annick.
Tenebrario tracklisting:
'D’Encre et de Sang'
'Le Feu du Soleil'
'Salamandre'
'Tête de Mort'
'L’Appel'
'Le Fantôme'
'Rites Lunaires'
'Trois Mondes'
'Tenebrario'

'Le Fantôme' and 'Trois Mondes' are available for streaming below.

Toronto's PANZERFAUST acknowldege "It has been some time since the passing of our late friend David Gold. Due to the financial overhead that the hard copy of Heart Of Gold: A Tribute To WOODS OF YPRES demands, its release has been delayed. In this event, we have taken it upon ourselves to release our tribute of 'A Meeting Place And Time'. This song still speaks the volumes it did when we first had the pleasure of hearing it."

Woods Of Ypres frontman/drummer/founder David Gold was killed in a car accident near Barrie, Ontario on December 22, 2011; he was 31.

Info for donating to the David Gold tribute CD fund:

"We need to raise the money for the manufacturing of the CDs. To do this, we are going to ask for people to pre-order by using PayPal. There are 2 options for you. A donation of $10 will get you a download link in the near future, and for $20 you will get a download link as well as the physical double CD when available. We need to raise $3000 dollars total, and we want to see how quickly it looks like we will reach this goal before releasing the download link.

Send donations AS A PAYPAL GIFT to: DavidGoldTribute@gmail.com

In the note section, include your email address for the download link, and your physical address for the CD to be mailed. This is important, as the "gift" feature doesn't send that information."

The cover art and tracklist of the tribute album dedicated to Woods Of Ypres frontman David Gold, entitled A Heart Of Gold: Tribute To Woods Of Ypres, is as follows:
NOVEMBERS DOOM - 'Wet Leather'
GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH - 'Suicide Cargoload'
ECLIPSE ETERNAL - 'Crossing The 45th Parallel'
EMPYREAN PLAGUE - 'Shedding The Deadwood'
PANZERFAUST - 'A Meeting Place And Time'
PAGAN RITUAL - 'The Shams Of Optimism'
AMARANTH - 'Allure Of The Earth'
ALBIREON - 'Retrosleep In The Morning Calm'
ANEMIC - 'The Sun Was In My Eyes: Part Doom'
BEGOTTEN - 'The Sea Of Immeasureable Loss'
RELIQUIS - 'Career Suicide'
JOEL VIOLETTE and RAE AMITAY - 'Silver'
CANOPY - 'Falling Apart'
UNBOWED - 'Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground'
DEATHMARCH - 'Northern Cold'
KUHRZARTH - 'Finality'
THE GOV' AND FRIENDS - 'Intro: The Looming Of Dust In The Dark'
CATUVOLCUS - 'Thrill Of The Struggle'
THE BEAR HUNTERS - 'Kiss My Ashes Goodbye: Part 2'
SVARTE KRAKE - 'You Were The Light'
JUSTIN BENDER (INTO ETERNITY) - 'Trillium: The 3rd Of Three Winters'

French death metal band SAVAGE ANNIHILATION have released their debut music video for ‘Les Catacombes De L’abomination (pt.1)’ taken from their debut full-length album Cannibalisme, Heresie Et Autres Sauvageries. The album was released through Kaotoxin records on October 1st, 2012. Check out the music video below:
Savage Annihilation will embark on the Black Market Cannibalism mini-tour with France’s DISGRASEED in April.

Savage Annihilation tour dates:

April
25 – Nevers, France – Impasse
26 – Rennes, France – Mondo Bizarro
27 – Paris, France – Café de Paris
28 – Reims, France – Ecluse

The debut album can be streamed here.