Los Angeles-based Metal Blade Records, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012, has partnered with the Trenton Titans declare them as metal's official hockey team. The two brands will be launching various cross-promotions over the next few months, primarily through both companies' array of social networks. The Trenton Titans play in the ECHL the premier "AA" hockey league and are the proud affiliate to the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL and the Adirondack Phantoms in the AHL.

The Trenton Titans host a weekly Google+ and YouTube live video feed. On the show, Titans GM Rich Lisk discusses the latest games, player moves, promotions, a top 10 related to current events in Titans Nation and a question-and-answer segment. Previous broadcasts are available on the Trenton Titans YouTube channel. The Trenton Titans are about halfway through their regular season as part of the ECHL's Eastern Atlantic divison, with the remaining schedule available on TrentonTitansHockey.com. Fans can follow the team there, as well as via their other social outlets.

Metal Blade Records CEO Brian Slagel teamed up at the beginning of 2011 with NHL.com's Shawn Roarke for a new radio show called "Metal Misconduct". This show features interviews with musicians and athletes, merging the worlds of sports and metal music. Past guests have included Drew Stafford (Buffallo Sabres), Josh Barnett (MMA), Kyle Turley (Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints), and more. The podcast is available on iTunes here .

According to The Pulse Of Radio, singer and guitarist Lzzy Hale of the Grammy-winning hard rock band HALESTORM spoke with Playboy.com about using her sex appeal to sell the band and the focus on image in the music industry. Hale remarked, "I don't mind dressing up and doing the short skirt and high heels thing . . . the only stipulation that I have about this is that you have to make sure you have something to back it up. You can't totally ride on the fact that I'm going to show my legs and people are going to show attention. If they can get past the legs, make sure you can actually sing and be good at your instruments."

Hale added, "Sex and rock 'n' roll have been going together hand-in-hand since the beginning of time. You can't get away from it."

The vocalist told The Pulse Of Radio that she believes it can be too easy sometimes for female musicians to rely solely on their looks. "Actually, I've been encouraging a lot of people to challenge us, and make sure that when you're reading these articles or you're seeing us in magazines or something, that you go and you check us out live, or you go and you sample a CD, something like that," she said. "If people start doing that and don't just look at us because we're a quote-unquote pretty face, or scantily clad — I think if more people were looking beyond that, it would make us step up a little bit."

Hale also said that she's pleased to see the percentage of females in HALESTORM's audience growing, explaining, "I see all of these girls who are not there because their boyfriends dragged them along, you know? They're very empowered, a little crazy like me, and it's wonderful to be in a room like that because when we first started out there weren't a whole lot of girls at the rock shows unless you count the girlfriends of somebody in the band."

HALESTORM won the Grammy Award for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" on Sunday night (February 10) for the song "Love Bites (So Do I)", beating out veteran acts like IRON MAIDEN and MARILYN MANSON.

The group continues to hit the trail in support of its second album, last year's "The Strange Case Of..." They'll join headliners BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE on this year's edition of the "HardDrive Live" tour, which kicks off on April 12 in Denver and runs through late May.

TBFM Online conducted an interview with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach at the Hard Rock Hell festival, which took place between November 29, 2012 and December 3, 2012 at Hafan-y-Mor Holiday Camp in North Wales, United Kingdom. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

TBFM Online: Late 2011, [your latest solo album] "Kicking & Screaming" came out, of course. How well has that done?

Bach: People love it! I play the songs in concert right next to the SKID ROW songs and they stick together. I think I've proven, you know, with [all the albums I've recorded], the fans know I make good fucking albums. [laughs] I've made a lot of 'em now! When I get excited about a song, it's a real excitement. It's not fake, and I can't fake that feeling. If a songwriter writes a song with me and I don't like it, I can't lie to him and say, "Oh, this is great." I either love it or I can't sing it. I can't sing a song that I don't love.

TBFM Online: You don't feel it?

Bach: I've tried to, but in the old band, I would come up with something that I wouldn't be into, and I'd go up to the mic and try to be a good guy and one of the team, and I would start singing and then my mouth would just shut [laughs] and everyone would go, "What the fuck, dude?" I don't know what to tell you … I can't pretend to rock. I have to love the music. I didn't get into this business to release music that I don't like. I got into this business to create music that I fucking love and I wanna grab you by the collar and go, "Listen to this!" [laughs]

TBFM Online: How hard do you find it, with radio stations and the like, to get your new stuff heard? Everyone likes to play old SKID ROW tracks that everyone knows.

Bach: Well, I just keep my head down. I don't bother… Like, the video for the song "Kicking & Screaming" is over a million plays on YouTube. A million plays is a million plays, and you can't fucking argue with that! I mean, how many people is that? It's a million fucking people! So I'm lucky, you know. I just keep my fucking head down, you know. I don't say, "Oh, what's everyone else doing?" I don't give a shit what anyone is doing. I have one life, and I've been doing this all my life, and just like Ronnie James Dio, I will do this when I'm 63, god willing, if I make it that far. But I am that kind of guy — I will be singing '18 And Life', hitting the scream, god willing, when I'm fucking in my 60s, 'cause I can do it.

Read the entire interview from TBFM Online.

Fan-filmed video footage of Polish extreme metal veterans VADER performing on February 10 in Alkmaar, The Netherlands can be seen below.

VADER is currently working on material for its new album, "Straight To Hell", for a late 2013 release.

The band's latest CD, "Welcome To The Morbid Reich", was released in Europe on August 12, 2011 and in North America on September 13, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records. The effort was recorded at Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland and features the cover artwork of Zbigniew Bielak (DESTRÖYER 666, WATAIN). The band laid down a total of 12 songs for the CD, which was mixed and mastered in May 2011.

Phil Fiumano of New York Rocks conducted an interview with German metal queen Doro Pesch when she played at B.B King Blues Club & Grill in New York City on February 4. You can now watch the chat below. Also available is footage of the New York City performance.

Doro was forced to cancel tonight's (Tuesday, February 12) concert at The Token Lounge in Westland, Michigan due to illness. As per doctor's orders, Doro is required to rest her voice after suffering from a sinus and throat infection for the last few days.

Doro's latest album, "Raise Your Fist", sold 585 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 65 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.

In a recent interview with Lords Of Metal, Doro stated about her expectations for "Raise Your Fist", Doro said, "I will be very happy when the fans say they love the record; that's the most important for me. I really don't keep up with numbers, which are, in my opinion, great to talk about afterwards. It's nice if we will be able to make the charts again, but to me, those kind of things don't really matter. Much more important is that the fans dig the songs in a live situation and, since we already played 'Raise Your Fist' several times live, the first signs are very positive."

"To Every Heartache", the new video from Finnish female-fronted heavy rock outfit LULLACRY, can be seen below. The clip was filmed in January with director Sauli Kivilahti.

"To Every Heartache" will be released as a digital single on February 13. The song was recorded at Noise Floor studio in Helsinki by Mikko Herranen and was mixed and mastered by Anssi Kippo at Astia studio in Lappeenranta.

LULLACRY's fifth album, "Where Angels Fear", was released in North America on April 10, 2012 through End Of The Light Records distributed by DisManic via eOne Distribution. Released on March 7, 2012 in Finland through LULLACRY's own label, OUTO Recordings, the CD — which marked the band's first effort since 2005's "Vol. 4" — was produced by Mikko Herranen (ex-vocalist for MISERY, INC.), who also sings a duet with LULLACRY vocalist Tanja Lainio in "Feel My Revenge". The album was mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers in Helsinki.

LULLACRY is:

Tanja Lainio - Vocals
Sami Leppikangas - Guitar
Sauli Kivilahti - Guitar
Heavy Hiltunen - Bass
Jukka Outinen - Drums

TESTAMENT's February 15 concert at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York as part of "The Dark Roots Of Thrash" tour will be professionally filmed for a 90-minute DVD, to be released via Nuclear Blast.

In a recent interview with RockMusicStar.com, TESTAMENT vocalist Chuck Billy stated about the band's current tour: "We have a new show, with new songs that we are going to perform. We had previously played three legs of a tour with ANTHRAX, so we are trying to put in some new songs for this one, do a new show. We also plan on filming a DVD on this tour. We did a couple live DVDs/CDs, and we want to do some songs that are not on those, and to create something new … Our set will be about an hour and a half, with five songs off of the new record, 'Dark Roots Of Earth'."

TESTAMENT's setlist for the February 9 concert at The Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia was as follows:

01. Rise Up
02. More Than Meets The Eye
03. Burnt Offerings
04. Native Blood
05. True American Hate
06. Dark Roots Of Earth
07. Into The Pit
08. Practice What You Preach
09. Riding The Snake
10. Eyes Of Wrath
11. Trial By Fire
12. The Haunting
13. The New Order
14. D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
15. 3 Days In Darkness
16. The Formation Of Damnation

TESTAMENT's new album, "Dark Roots Of Earth", sold more than 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No, 12 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on July 31, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records.

"Dark Roots Of Earth" was produced, mixed and mastered by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE, ACCEPT, EXODUS). Special bonus tracks were recorded, mixed and mastered by Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS, TED NUGENT, NIGHT RANGER) at his Trident Studios. The cover artwork for the effort (see below) was painted by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with ATHEIST, SIGH, ANACRUSIS and GWAR, among others.

"Death March", the new video from Indianapolis doomsters THE GATES OF SLUMBER, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's new EP, "Stormcrow", which was released on January 29 via Scion Audio/Visual, (a.k.a. Scion A/V), the in-house record label and lifestyle marketing division of the Scion marque produced by Toyota Motor Corporation for the North American market. The CD was recorded by Sanford Parker and it features cover artwork by Dave Quiggle.

"Stormcrow" will contain five brand new songs:

* Death March
* (Devil's Grip) - Driven Insane
* Son Of Hades
* Dragon Caravan
* Of That Which Can Never Be

THE GATES OF SLUMBER last year parted amicably with drummer J. Clyde Paradis, who recorded and toured behind the 2011 album "The Wretch" (Rise Above Records).

THE GATES OF SLUMBER started in 1998 as a backlash against the stoner rock trend prevalent at the time and with their mixture of BLACK SABBATH, SAINT VITUS, PENTAGRAM, and prime-era CELTIC FROST, the band has crushed or converted unbelievers ever since.

"The Wretch" was released in May 2011 via Rise Above/Metal Blade. The CD was recorded at England's Orgone Studios with producer Jaime Gomez Arellano (GHOST, ANGEL WITCH).

DOWN's latest EP, "Down IV Part I - The Purple EP", will be released on purple vinyl on February 26.

"Down IV Part I" sold 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Down IV Part I - The Purple EP", DOWN's first in a series of four EPs to be released over the next few years (with a year between EPs), each touching on a different aspect of the band's sound, came out on September 18, 2012.

"Down IV Part I - The Purple EP" heralds the sound of DOWN going back to its roots, with influences from BLACK SABBATH, SAINT VITUS and WITCHFINDER GENERAL.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Levitation
02. Witchtripper
03. Open Coffins
04. The Curse Is A Lie
05. This Work Is Timeless
06. Misfortune Teller

Lyrically, the EP goes beyond just personal experiences, and explores themes that include the faith of mankind, the imperfection of mankind and cultural belief systems.

"DOWN gives me the platform to be poetic and paint imagery with lyrics," said vocalist Philip Anselmo. "That's the approach I took. They complement the music and create an ominous feeling. Ultimately, when people consume the words, it's always their interpretation that matters. I could be image-conscious though when I wrote. It's not so gut level or street. The darker shit is some of my favorite."

DOWN will perform a handful of headline dates this May. Kicking things off on May 23 in Birmingham, Alabama, the band will stop in seven cities in the Southeast, including Baltimore's Maryland Deathfest, and wrap things up with a hometown show in New Orleans on May 31. Tickets go on sale to the general public on February 16 and include VIP packages with opportunities to meet the band and hang out at soundcheck.

The dates are as follows:

May 23 - Birmingham, AL - Zydeco
May 24 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
May 25 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar - Maryland Deathfest
May 27 - Augusta, GA - Sky City
May 28 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
May 31 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues

The eagerly awaited new ROB ZOMBIE album, "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor", will be released on April 23 on Zodiac Swan/T-Boy/Ume. The CD was produced by Bob Marlette, who has previously worked with everyone from BLACK SABBATH and ALICE COOPER to WILSON PHILLIPS and LYNYRD SKYNYRD.

The "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" cover artwork can be seen below. Also available is an audio sample of the CD's first single, "Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Super Town".

"I think for the first time this new album perfectly merges the old days of WHITE ZOMBIE with the future of what I am doing now," says Rob. "I think fans of both will agree that this is the perfect combo of both worlds."

A rock icon and auteur filmmaker with insight and unlimited vision, Rob Zombie has continuously challenged audiences as he stretches the boundaries of music, film, and publishing. Now, the seven-time Grammy-nominated recording artist releases his fifth solo album, "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor", which includes "Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Super Town", along with such tracks as "Ging Gang Gong De Do Gong De Laga Raga", "Lucifer Rising", "Behold! The Pretty Filthy Creatures" and a heavy-duty cover of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD's "We're an American Band".

"Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" is the first release on Rob's new label, Zodiac Swan, through T-Boy Records/UMe.

Zombie told The Pulse Of Radio what goals he set for himself in making the new album. "I wanted someone to hear it and go, 'Wow, I haven't heard that before,'" he said. "I wanted it to be just different. We really went out of our way with the sounds, so every song has a very different sound, a very different guitar sound, drum sound, just everything, where the sound, the actual sound becomes very important. You know, after all these years you want to still try to feel that you can break through new, creative areas in your own mind, and that's really what we're just trying to do, you know."

T-Boy Records is veteran rock manager Andy Gould's new partnership with Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) which will serve as an umbrella label releasing new music and albums from established iconic hard-rock bands with major followings.

Gould, who currently heads his own Spectacle Entertainment Group, has managed Rob Zombie since his days in WHITE ZOMBIE. Gould's track record includes sales exceeding fifteen million worldwide and seven Grammy nominations with Zombie, including securing deals for Zombie to become one of only a handful of people to have unprecedented success for six feature films as the writer and director.

"We have had a great deal of success in the past with Rob Zombie," explains Gould about his decision to take the new venture to UMe. "We want to sign rock bands with brand names that do good business on the road, and have been underserved by the major label system. The idea I had arose out of discussions with the other managers of major hard-rock acts who all felt their artists could benefit from an improved label experience. We're looking to super-serve this niche audience, which is tremendously loyal, and is often even larger internationally than here in the States."

As a musician, Rob Zombie has sold over fifteen million albums worldwide to date. His last studio album was "Hellbilly Deluxe 2". The CD came a decade after its predecessor, "Hellbilly Deluxe", the album that established Zombie as a solo artist after the breakup of multi-platinum group WHITE ZOMBIE. That triple-platinum album also yielded a string of successful radio singles, namely "Dragula", "Superbeast" and "Living Dead Girl", which dominated the airwaves.

The rocker-turned-film director is the only artist to experience unprecedented success in both music and film as the writer/director of five feature films, with a worldwide gross totaling more than $100 million dollars. The week of his album release, Zombie will premiere his sixth motion picture, "The Lords Of Salem", that he wrote, directed and produced in tandem with the producers of the "Paranormal Activity" franchise, on April 26, with Anchor Bay Films.

Last year, in addition to working on his film, Zombie also dominated the touring world in 2012, blowing away audiences on the road with MEGADETH, then with MARILYN MANSON for the "Twins Of Evil Tour". Zombie and his band of maniacs — John 5 on guitar, Piggy D on bass and Ginger Fish on drums — brought their elaborate, multi-media production, complete with hair-raising theatrics, animatronic robots, oversized LED screens, a non-stop collage of psychotronic monster film clips, a spectacular light show, a gigantic robot with flames shooting out of its body, pyrotechnics, insane guitar riffs and vicious beats to audiences and festivals around the world.

"Expurgation Euphoria", the new video from Belgian death metalers ABORTED, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's seventh studio album, "Global Flatline", which sold around 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 27 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.

"Global Flatline" was released in January 2012 via Century Media Records. The CD was recorded, mixed, and mastered by the Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, PESTILENCE, HATESPHERE) at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark. The artwork was once again created by Justin Osbourn from Slasher Design.

"Global Flatline" track listing:

01. Omega Mortis
02. Global Flatline
03. The Origin Of Disease
04. Coronary Reconstruction
05. Fecal Forgery
06. Of Scabs And Boils
07. Vermicular, Obscene, Obese
08. Expurgation Euphoria
09. From A Tepid Whiff
10. The Kallinger Theory
11. Our Father, Who Art Of Feces
12. Grime
13. Endstille

The regular jewel-case edition of "Global Flatline" includes 12 tracks while the limited-edition digipack has 14 tracks.

"Global Flatline" features several guest vocalists, such as Trevor Strnad (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER), Julien Truchan (BENIGHTED), Jason Netherton (MISERY INDEX), and Keiijo Niinima (ROTTEN SOUND).

As previously reported, ABORTED will celebrate the tenth anniversary of their 2003 CD, "Goremageddon: The Saw And The Carnage Done", this spring by performing "the entire album front to back" at "a few exclusive shows" in April.

San Francisco-based doom rockers ORCHID have set April 26 as the release date for their new album, "The Mouths Of Madness". The cover art for the CD done was created by singer and tattoo artist extraordinaire, Theo Mindell.

Comments Mindell: "I wanted the cover of the album to be really classic and strong, like one of the records from my childhood where when you'd see the colors and shapes on it from across the room, you'd immediately recognize it. A classic 'icon' ...so it's very simple, really. But then I did a really elaborate painting for the inside that is totally ornate.. I wanted people to open this kind of sparse, plain thing and be drawn into another world that kind of visually told the story of some of the emotions of the record. Kind of like peeling a weird fruit open... the inner painting was really inspired by some of the Latino psychedelic murals that were done around San Francisco in the late '60s-early '70s... like the cover of 'Abraxas' by SANTANA, which is a record I grew up on and always loved. So, it's the 'ORCHID version' of those murals."

Guitarist Mark Thomas Baker stated about the extensive "The Mouths Of Madness" production process: "Most of the tracks on 'The Mouths Of Madness' were cut in early June 2012. We were pretty fresh off of our European tour and full of confidence. The basics done at that time were the best recording experience that we've had so far. Everybody got along great and did great work.

"We did this album with a completely different guitar sound than 'Capricorn'. I think it sounds much heavier in that regard. We take a lot of time to get things right. I hope people enjoy it and let it sink in. I think it's miles above our past efforts."

Producer Richard Whittaker, who also took care of the latest BLACK SABBATH and THIN LIZZY rereleases/analogue transfers, comments: "I've been a huge fan of ORCHID since I first heard their debut EP back in 2009, and they've certainly come a long way since then. So, as you can imagine, to be asked to work with ORCHID on their records was an honour and a pleasure. They're a great bunch of guys and a stellar band to be involved with.

"'The Mouths Of Madness' is such a well-crafted and awe-inspiring album. Sonically, its 1974 meets 2013 which, for me, takes the SABBATH/PENTAGRAM vibe to whole new level."

As an appetizer and collector's item, ORCHID will also release the 10-inch vinyl EP, "Wizard Of War", on February 22, containing a brand new track, as well as "Demon's Eyes", a song that previously had only been released on an underground Halloween compilation as well as the extensive "Albatross", from the band's stunning debut, "Capricorn".

The official "Wizard Of War" lyric video can be seen below.

Puerto Rican death/thrashers ZAFAKON have revealed the tracklisting for their upcoming debut album, War As A Drug, to be released this spring via Khaosmaster Productions. Zafakon has recruited none other than Joel Grind from TOXIC HOLOCAUST for a guest appearance on the album.

Bassist Weslie Negron comments: "It is a great honor to have Joel featured on our album and we are deeply thankful for his time since all of us are also a huge Toxic Holocaust fans."
War As A Drug tracklisting:

'Intro'
'War As A Drug'
'Fall'
'In Resistance'
'Collateral Slavery'
'The Call Of Winslow'
'Conspiracy'
'Summoning The Vortex' (featuring Joel Grind)
'At The Mercy Of Fate'
More on Zafakon at this location.

HOLYHELL - featuring vocalist Maria Breon and guitarist Joe Stump - have checked in with an update. Breon's statement on the current status of the band is available below:
"Dear Hellions,

Francisco, Joe, Jay, John and myself are excited to announce we are fully re-recording HolyHell's Darkness Visible and working with new management and channels of distribution.

In an attempt to limit our visibility, our website, Facebook pages, as well as YouTube accounts with content made by us and our loyal fans, were either removed or made subject to a false copyright infringement claim. Although we do own the trademarks and copyrights to all HolyHell materials, this was not our doing. We extend our deepest apologies to anyone who may have been inconvenienced by these malicious actions of others.

While we work to build our new website, we offer you a place on our HolyHell Facebook page for all current updates and information, as well as inviting you to join us on our new journey.

Thank you again for your continued support and patience during our transition."

Darkness Visible, the new studio album from HolyHell, was due to be released as digital album and as physical CD in fall 2012. The band had originally announced a pre-release of the album in June 2012.

To bridge the waiting for this new studio album full of epic, power-goth metal, HolyHell released the EP Darkness Visible – The Warning that featuring three songs from the forthcoming long play album, and a never before released live version of the song ‘Armageddon’, performed live at The Agora, Cleveland, OH on March 12th, 2011.

Lion Music has announced the addition of ANTON JOHANSSON to the label’s roster for the release of the epic Galahad Suite on May 11th.
With a sound that runs across progressive rock/metal, melodic and hard rock grounds with equal measure, Anton Johansson’s Galahad Suite is the result of an idea that has been in the head of former MISTER KITE member Anton Johansson for almost 30 years and features an array of talented musicians including Linus Abrahamson (guitar and bass), Carl Lindquist (vocals), Mats Bergentz (drums), Sebastian Berglund (keyboards), Anna Forsvall Lundmark (cello) and backing vocals by Evelina Andersson, Ellen Abrahamson and Mikael Cederhag.

The album also boasts notable guest performances by guitarists Mattias IA Eklundh (FREAK KITCHEN), Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR), Jonas Hansson (SILVER MOUNTAIN), Dennis Post (STAR*RATS) and Magnus Kristensson (Mister Kite); along with keyboards by Lalle Larsson (AGENTS OF MERCY) and additional vocals by Alf Wemmenlind (Mister Kite).

An album preview can be seen below:

CIVIL WAR — the new Swedish metal band featuring former SABATON members Rikard Sundén (guitar), Daniel Mullback (drums), Daniel Mÿhr (keyboards) and Oskar Montelius (guitar) alongside singer Patrik Johansson (ASTRAL DOORS, LION'S SHARE) and bassist Stefan "Pizza" Eriksson (VOLTURYON) — has set "The Killer Angels" as the title of its full-length debut, due in May via Despotz Records. The group states: "The album deals with a lot of stuff: heroes, traitors, battles and heavy metal....and yes: we have a song called 'Gettysburg'.

"The work with the release is proceeding well and the pre-production is almost finished
We shall soon enter the studio for the actual recordings."

A three-minute YouTube clip containing audio samples of the tracks that appear on the debut EP from CIVIL WAR can be found below. The CD was released on November 13, 2012 via Despotz Records.

According to Sundén, CIVIL WAR's sound is "more old-school hard rock," with "a little less keyboards" than that of SABATON. He says, "With Patrik's vocals on top, it becomes a different thing, but there are some parallels [to our previous band]."

Regarding how CIVIL WAR came together, b>Mullback told the Swedish-language newspaper Dalarnas Tidningar (DT), "It came pretty naturally. We always thought Patrik had a good voice and he accepted our offer when we asked him to join the band."

"I had no hesitation about getting involved," Patrik said. "ASTRAL DOORS certainly has a solid fan base, but we are a little more underground. I see this as an opportunity to reach a wider audience."

The four ex members of SABATON were never involved in the songwriting process with their former band since those duties were usually handled by vocalist Joakim Brodén. But in the new group, everyone is contributing ideas.

"This has been a reawakening of sorts," Mÿhr said. "I have never been in a situation where there has been so much creativity."

On the topic of whether CIVIL WAR will continue SABATON's tradition of focusing on war-related themes in its lyrics, Mÿhr said, "No, we won't. Now the lyrics can be about anything. [CIVIL WAR was just] a good name that sounded good."

Details of "...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth", the new album from dark metallers AETERNUS, have just been revealed. The ten-track CD, which will be the band's seventh full-length release, will first appear as a limited edition containing AETERNUS' classic 1995 debut EP, "Dark Sorcery", as a bonus, and is set for release on Dark Essence Records on March 18 worldwide (except for Norway, Germany, Austria and Sweden, where the album will appear on March 22).

Formed in Bergen, Norway in 1993 by guitarist and frontman Ares, AETERNUS has re-emerged seven years after the release of their last album "Hexaeon" with a new lineup that comprises Ares on guitars and vocals, Phobos (GRAVDAL, MALSAIN) on drums and Specter on guitars. One of the pioneers of what the band calls "dark metal," AETERNUS' sound combines features from both black metal and death metal with superlative guitar playing and occasional haunting, melodic interludes.

"...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth" was produced by Bjornar E. Nilsen (VULTURE INDUSTRIES, BLACK HOLE GENERATOR) at the Conclave And Earshot studios in Bergen. All music is by AETERNUS, concept and lyrics by HELHEIM's V'gandr. Artwork is by Timo Ketola, known for his work with bands such as for DEATHSPELL OMEGA, ASPHYX, DISSECTION, MARDUK, WATAIN and OPETH, among others, while band photos were taken by Christine Ristesund. The bonus EP, "Dark Sorcery", was recorded, mixed and mastered by Cato Langnes at Hindu Lyd in 1995 and produced by AETERNUS. Lineup on "Dark Sorcery" is Ares on guitars and vocals, Erik (VROLOK) on drums and Ørjan on bass. All music and lyrics by Ares.

"...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth" track listing:

01. There Will Be None
02. ...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth
03. Spurcitias
04. Ruin And Resurrect
05. The Confusion Of Tongues
06. Hubris
07. Reap What You Saw
08. Saligia
09. The Hand That Severs The Bonds Of Creation
10. The Spirit Of Illumination

"Dark Sorcery" (bonus)

01. Black Dust
02. Victory
03. Raven and Blood
04. Nordlys (instrumental)

"Live By The Code", a brand new song from the Los Angeles hardcore/metal band TERROR, can be seen below. The track is the title cut of the group's sixth studio album, which will be released on April 9 via Victory Records.

Regarding TERROR's new deal with Victory, the band's vocalist, Scott Vogel, previously said: "When I was in high school, I would go to Home Of The Hits Records in Buffalo, New York and every week I would check for new Victory releases.

"Growing up, Victory Records always had the best hardcore bands, period. They had this awesome packaging and vibe that I loved. INTEGRITY, STRIFE, BLOODLET, EARTH CRISIS — it was a fucking amazing time for hardcore. Later, I met [Victory Records founder] Tony [Brummel] when he came to Buffalo to see SNAPCASE. We stayed in contact and made plans for my second band, DESPAIR, but soon after we broke up.

"Victory and my band BURIED ALIVE worked together for years. They also had HATEBREED, BLOOD FOR BLOOD, ALL OUT WAR and REACH THE SKY, all bands I've always respected and held in the highest regard.

"This summer, I hung out with Tony and we had a wild night in Chicago. We talked about the good and bad of hardcore today and just had a blast. No business talk, no nonsense. We were under contract at the time so there wasn't even room for it.

"As we got ready to release 'Live By The Code', TERROR and Century Media debated on how to release the record right and Victory Records seemed like the best fit.

"Tony and I are both insane. We both come from the same place. We both scratch and fight to stay afloat. We still believe in the essence of hardcore and still love WARZONE. This is pretty fucking exciting."

Vogel claims "Live By The Code" "hits harder than 'Keepers Of The Faith'," calling it the "dirtiest, rawest and most hardcore record we've done since 'Lowest Of The Low'."

"TERROR are the biggest hardcore band in the world," said Brummel.

"I have known Scott for twenty years and he has remained true to what he believes in, cherishes and helps keep alive which is first and foremost: hardcore.

"If you are just discovering hardcore or have loved it since the movement started in the late 1970s, this album is for you."