Polish black/thrash metallers RAGEHAMMER have announced that they have put the finishing touches on their debut demo entitled War Hawks.

The recording session took place at No Solace. It was mixed and mastered by M. (MGLA, KRIEGSMACHINE, NO SOLACE).

The material will be released as a digisleeve limited to 200 copies through Mythrone Promotion. To obtain a copy send an email to or mythroneprom@gmail.com.

The cover artwork was created by Klaudiusz Witczak (THRONEUM, BLOODTHIRST, WARFIST, ANIMA DAMNATA) and the layout was prepared by Marcin of Upgrade Design Studio. The cover artwork can be seen below:
Tracklisting is as follows:

‘RageHammer Rising’
‘Prophet Of Genocide’
‘Hate Command’
‘The Wolfpack’
‘Gospel Of The Scum’

The track ‘RageHammer Rising’ can be heard below:
Lineup for the recording was:

Corpsebutcher – bass
Bestial Avenger – guitars
Mortar – drums
Heretik Hellstörm – vocals

Poitiers, France's THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE will release their second full length, Falls, on 12" vinyl on February 28th via Throatruiner Records, Braincrushing Records and Theatre Records.

Invoking reminiscences of various acts such as DEATHSPELL OMEGA, CAVE IN OR DEAFHEAVEN, these eight tracks have been recorded by Franck Hueso (Deathspell Omega, HACRIDE), while the artwork has been designed by Romain Barbot.
Stream the first track, 'Dreamers Will Never Stop Dreaming', below:

Falls by The Phantom Carriage

With this second full-length, The Phantom Carriage annihilate the remaining boundaries between black metal and dark hardcore. This time focusing on the most extreme side of their sound, Falls brings the band's unique approach to the next level. Songs such as 'Dreamers Will Never Stop Dreaming' or 'Today We Stand' reveal how much the band has improved their songwriting abilities, burying the listener under piles of epic and technical riffs, labyrinthic structures and unearthly vocals. By throwing into their chaos some more unorthodox influences they gained from their other past and actual experiences, The Phantom Carriage prove that they are digging deeper than your average "blackened hardcore" band. And they will take you with them.
More on The Phantom Carriage at this location.

Chilean metal band SACRAMENTO have released the music video for the track 'Purple', that comes off their latest album Weight Of Sin, released in 2011 via Mechanix Records in Sweden and distributed in the US by Digmetalworld Records.
Guitarist Alejandro Espinosa commented on the video: "Despite the fact that we had chosen 'Purple' as our first music video to introduce our full length album (before going on CD), we listened to all our fans overseas that told us that this song need it to have a video. Also, Fernando Orellana came to us with the storyboard and he had us convinced at that minute. After a little the of being premiered we have gotten a bunch of good reviews what supports our good judgment."

Dallas, Texas-based death metallers DEVOURMENT will release their fourth album, "Conceived In Sewage", on February 19 in North America, February 22 in Benelux, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Finland, and February 25 in the U.K. and rest of the world via Relapse Records.

Captured at Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida with producer Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, MORBID ANGEL), "Conceived In Sewage" proves to be DEVOURMENT's most eviscerating release yet, gushing with over thirty-three minutes of the band's hate-fueled, monstrous brutality.

"Conceived In Sewage" track listing:

01. Legalize Homicide
02. Fifty Ton War Machine
03. Conceived In Sewage
04. Fucked With Rats
05. March to Megiddo
06. Today We Die, Tomorrow We Kill
07. Heaving Acid
08. Carved Into Ecstasy
09. Parasitic Eruption

Commented DEVOURMENT frontman Mike Majewski: "This will be the deepest album we have done, for sure. Definitely expect the intensity, but also more thought-out song structures. I would say a bit of a throwback to old-school brutal bands, but with the signature DEVOURMENT elements."

DEVOURMENT's calling card is absolute brutality, and the band's three previous albums and international touring and festival appearance have made them one of the more-talked-about acts in the worldwide death metal underground.

Los Angeles based brutal death metallers EUPHORIC DEFILEMENT have released another advance track from their forthcoming album Ascending To The Worms. Check out 'Fragments Of The Paradigm' below:
The album will now be released on February 19th, 2013, via Unique Leader Records, slightly delayed from the previously announced January 29th release date.

Ascending To The Worms is the follow-up to Euphoric Defilement’s 2011 promo disc. After three years of playing shows with bands such as CATTLE DECAPITATION, ASESINO, SEPTYCAL GORGE, CEREBRAL BORE, DISGORGE and MALIGNANCY, Euphoric Defilement has established itself as a serious contender in the extreme metal scene today with many fans eagerly awaiting their new release.

The band entered Pure Rock Studios to record their debut full length in fall 2012. This album combines all brutal death metal elements along with technicality and melody without compromising catchiness. It will keep your ears interested from beginning to end and listeners will quickly notice that each track has its on sound and personality. Nothing is overdone and the lyrics are just as interesting as the music accompanied by great production.
Meanwhile, the band have posted the album track 'Abolishing The Divine Structure'. Check it out below.

More on Euphoric Defilement here.

SUBSIGNAL, the German band featuring former SIEGES EVEN members Arno Menses (vocals) and Markus Steffen (guitar), will enter the studio in February to begin recording its third album, "Paraìso", for a September release. The group states: "We will be recording nine tracks with an approximate playing time of 60 minutes." The follow-up to 2011's "Touchstones" will include the following songtitles, among others: "A Giant Leap Of Faith" and "The Stillness Beneath The Snow".

SUBSIGNAL released a concert DVD, "Out There Must Be Something - Live in Mannheim 2012", in November. The DVD features the full show the band played in April 2012 in Mannheim, Germany, in a very small venue, filmed with six cameras. Steffen states: "Actually, this is the place where the first SUBSIGNAL show back in 2009 took place."

He adds, "Don't expect explosions, fire and naked women on stage, but a DVD with 140 minutes of pure SUBSIGNAL music and a great audience."

SUBSIGNAL recently parted ways with drummer Roel van Helden and replaced him with Danilo Batdorf (DREAMSCAPE). According to the band, Danilo already successfully played the last leg of SUBSIGNAL's European tour in April/May 2012.

"Touchstones" was released in September 2011 via ZYX Music. The vinyl version came with two bonus live tracks, "Where Angels Fear To Tread" and "Paradigm".

SUBSIGNAL describes its music as "progressive, melancholic, cutting edge, emotional, blended with a good portion of melodic heaviness."

For more information, visit www.subsignalband.com.

Listenable Records recently announced the signing of Michigan's prog metal mongers THE OMEGA EXPERIMENT. The band, founded by duo Dan Wieten and Ryan Aldridge, describes its sound as "heavy guitars, euphoric synths and rich layered vocals come together to create a wall of progressive rock lushness."

Like their fellow modern prog artists, THE OMEGA EXPERIMENT create a massive sound with home equipment and have no fear of experimentation and rule breaking.

The guitars are big and technical and layered with keyboard sounds reminiscent of DREAM THEATER and QUEENSRŸCHE. The vocals range from powerful lead lines, big harmonies and demonic screams in the vein of Devin Townsend and Mike Patton.

The band's inspiration comes from guitarist/vocalist Dan addressing the last 10 years of his life, focusing on his excess and drug abuse which took him to a dark place and his determination to move onto a brighter future.

THE OMEGA EXPERIMENT has been lucky enough to receive public praise from Devin Townsend on multiple occasions, most notably on his Twitter account the night they unleashed their "Karma" EP to the masses for free on Bandcamp. Townsend was quoted as saying, "Actually, listening now...great great work man! Seriously great stuff, Dan, I fully back it and appreciate the effort you've invested I wish all luck!" The EP later went on to be downloaded over 2,000 times.

THE OMEGA EXPERIMENT's self-titled debut album was mastered by Acle Kahney (TESSERACT) and made available digitally via Bandcamp, iTunes to much critical acclaim. It will now be re-released on February 25 in Europe and March in the U.S. on Listenable.

You can stream the song "Furor" from the CD in the YouTube clip below.

The band is currently writing material for its next album and looks forward to getting back out and touring.

Resurrected German death metallers MORGOTH have issued the following update:

"Barge To Hell was a great way to end the past year of MORGOTH activities as well as to complete the original plans we had for the 'Cursed' reunion. We also had a lot of time for cocktails and talks on the cruise and discussed how to move forwards with the band in 2013...

"While we won't make it as busy of a schedule as the past two years, we decided to remain available for a few casual shows and will have some first dates to announce in the coming days. This way, we will hopefully be able to appear in some places/countries we didn't visit before as part of the reunion or actually ever before.

"Thanks again for all your support and stay tuned for more news soon."

MORGOTH released its first-ever live album and DVD, "Cursed To Live", on June 25, 2012 via Century Media Records. The audio tracks were mixed at Unisound Studio in Sweden with Dan Swanö (OPETH, KATATONIA, DISSECTION).

"Cursed To Live" is the documentation of MORGOTH's ongoing 20th-anniversary celebration of the band's all-time classic album "Cursed" (released by Century Media Records in 1991). It was released on CD, a limited DVD+2CD as well as a limited deluxe 2LP. The live show featured on the album was recorded at the band's triumphant show headlining Way Of Darkness festival 2011, at which MORGOTH performed an extensive set of 15 songs, with the main focus on the songs off "Cursed". The cover artwork — with an intentional nod to the original "Cursed" art — was designed by the renowned artist Dirk Rudolph (RAMMSTEIN, IN EXTREMO, APOCALYPTICA), who had also created the original artwork for "Cursed" 21 years ago.

MORGOTH 2013 is:

Marc Grewe - Vocals
Harry Busse - Guitar
Sebastian Swart - Guitar
Sotirios "Soti" Kelekides - Bass
Marc Reign - Drums

After a long and successful run as guitarist for the legendary thrash metal act ANTHRAX, Rob Caggiano has decided that it's time to move on and focus on his other passion: producing records for the time being. Already an acclaimed rock and metal producer, Rob has amassed a long list of production credits working with acts such as CRADLE OF FILTH (on their Grammy-nominated classic "Nymphetamine"), THE DAMNED THINGS, and Jesse Malin to name a few. Rob's production work on the most recent ANTHRAX studio album, "Worship Music", received high recognition, as the track "I'm Alive" received a Grammy nomination for "Best Rock/Metal Performance".

Being a member of the mighty ANTHRAX for the better part of the last 12 years is something that Caggiano is of course very proud of. This was not an easy decision to make.

"I'm extremely proud of my time in ANTHRAX," Caggiano says. "Actually, that's an understatement! We accomplished so many great things together over the years and I shared some of the best times of my life with these guys. As a band, we also weathered quite a few storms along the way. It's been a wild ride (to say the least) from Day One and I wouldn't change one single thing about the last 12 years.

"This is an extremely difficult and emotional decision for me to make, but my heart is just steering me in a different direction right now. I've always been one to follow my heart in everything that I do and while this might be one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, it feels like the right one for me at this time. Scott [Ian, guitar], Charlie [Benante, drums], Joey [Belladonna, vocals], Frankie [Bello, bass] (and [former ANTHTRAX singer] John Bush) will always be part of my family and this decision doesn't change the way I feel about that in the slightest. I would also like to say thanks to all the amazing fans I've met and hung out with worldwide over the years. You guys always were and always will be the reason why I make music!

"In this day and age, being a musician isn't always easy — also an understatement — but the fans truly make it worthwhile for me. I hope to see each and every one of you again really soon. The fact that ANTHRAX is at the top of their game right now and totally 'out for blood' after all these years is a testament to this band's longevity and conviction! I'm truly honored to have been a part of their brilliant legacy."

Added the remaining members of ANTHRAX: "Rob has been an integral part of ANTHRAX for so many years, as our lead guitarist, in a production capacity, but most of all, as our close friend. His contributions to the band have been enormous. While we are sad that he is leaving, we wish him nothing but great success going forward, and hope to share the stage with him again sometime down the road.

"With the Metal Alliance Tour on the horizon, we have been considering several lead guitarist options, and will be making an announcement on that shortly."

Last September, Scott Ian said that he was confident that ANTHRAX's most recent formation would carry them into retirement.

"I've gone on record saying this will be the only version of ANTHRAX until there is no ANTHRAX," Ian told the Georgia Straight. "That's how I feel, absolutely, in my heart. I don't see why we would do anything different. This band sounds so great; we made a great record. And I'm super-excited about the future of this band creatively."

With this new direction, Caggiano very much looks forward to getting back to producing/recording/writing again in the immediate future.

"I can't wait to get back in the recording studio again!" he says. "Over the years, I've been blessed with the privilege of working with a wide range of great bands/artists from ANTHRAX and CRADLE OF FILTH all the way to BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, and I look forward to a hopeful continuation of that side of my career while I figure out my next move as an artist.

"By the way, in case anyone was wondering after reading all of this, I do FULLY intend to get back out there on the road very soon in some way shape or form... It's in my blood!

"Please feel free to follow me on Twitter @RobCaggiano for any and all updates on what I am up to."

Renowned drummer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brian Tichy, known for his tours of duty with BILLY IDOL, FOREIGNER, OZZY OSBOURNE and most recently WHITESNAKE, has announced his departure from WHITESNAKE in order to focus on SOMETHING UNTO NOTHING (S.U.N.), the band he started with Sass Jordan, a Canadian icon and Juno Award winner. Bassist and singer Michael Devin, also a participant in S.U.N., will remain with WHITESNAKE.

Said WHITESNAKE mainman David Coverdale: "We are truly sad to see [Brian] go, but, we fully support the pursuit of his ambitions and sincerely wish him well. His fearless drumming brought a relentless driving edge and to our music that we fully embraced. Good luck, Brian... May the S.U.N. shine brightly on you!!"

WHITESNAKE has begun the search for a new drummer. There are several musicians already being considered.

A spokesman for the band said that this will not affect the forthcoming tour dates for 2013.

As previously reported, Tichy broke his collarbone last weekend in a mountain biking accident. As a result, he wasunable to take part in this past Monday night's (December 31) THE MOBY DICKS - All-Star Tribute To Led Zeppelin concert at Vamp'd in Las Vegas, Nevada and was temporarily replaced by QUIET RIOT's Frankie Banali.

Tichy is one of the organizers of the Bonzo Bash NAMM Jamm 2013, which will take over Anaheim, California on Thursday, January 24 at the Observatory. Many of the drummers who have performed at past Bonzo Bashes are back, as well as some new. This is the chance for many out-of-towners to check a Bonzo Bash out as Natal and Marshall are presenting this on opening night of the NAMM show.

"Blue", the new video from the Atlanta, Georgia-based quartet ROYAL THUNDER, can be seen below.

The female-fronted Atlanta quartet released its debut album, "CVI", last spring via Relapse Records. Spin described the CD as a "stunning breakthrough," Revolver called the album "essential" and Decibel magazine placed singer Mlny Parsonz on the cover of their inaugural "Women In Metal" issue.

The "Blue" clip comes as news of the band's first European tour is confirmed. ROYAL THUNDER will perform a handful of mid-April dates with PALLBEARER including a stop at Roadburn on April 18. The band also kicks off a month of North American dates, joining ENSLAVED and PALLBEARER for a trek that launches on January 30 at Underground Arts in Philadelphia.

"This is a long-awaited tour for both ROYAL THUNDER and the many European fans who have reached out to us over the past couple of years," said singer/guitar player Mlny Parsonz. "Roadburn is a wild dream come true. Anyone I have talked to that has played Roadburn always has exciting and positive feedback on the festival. Europe or Bust! Here we come!"



Photo credit: Christy Parry

Vienna, Austria-based epic/atmospheric black metal act SUMMONING have revealed the title of their forthcoming new album, due this year via Napalm Records.

An update from the band states: "Last month we recorded all the guitar riffs for the new album, and Protector (vocals, keyboards, guitars, drum programming) recorded already his vocal lines. Silenius (vocals, keyboards) will do his vocal parts in the next weeks. We replaced the original intro with a new one (which has a stronger intro feeling), the old one will be transformed into an instrumental track, which maybe will be used as a bonus track together with the missing song from the othbound session.

The new albums will be entitled Old Mornings Dawn. A one minute teaser is in progress and will be available on the Napalm Records homepage soon."
More on Summoning at this location.

GIANT X, the band founded by RUNNING WILD’s Rolf Kasparek and Peter J. Jordan, will release their debut album, entitled I, on January 18th in Germany, January 21st in Europe and January 22nd in US/Canada via Steamhammer/SPV. Check out a longer snippet of the track 'Don`t Quit Till Tomorrow' below:
I tracklisting:
'The Rise Of The Giant X' (Intro)
'On A Blind Flight'
'Don`t Quit Till Tomorrow'
'Badland Blues'
'Now Or Never'
'Nameless Heroes'
'Go 4 It'
'The Count'
'Rough Ride'
'Friendly Fire'
'Let`s Dance'
'Soulsurvivors'
'R.O.C.K.'

Audio samples of all tracks can be heard at this location.

Check out two video clips below, documenting the making of the album:
Giant X has also announced an in-store signing session for January 18th 2013 at 5:30 PM at Hot Shot Records in Hannover, Germany. For more info visit this location.

ICED EARTH has issued the following update in regard to their Live In Ancient Kourion DVD, which is due in early April; it was filmed/recorded on August 19th, 2012 at the Kourion Ancient Theatre in Limassol, Cyprus.

"As we are editing the DVD and getting to the finishing line, there is one thing where we very much want your input.

We went to Cyprus and attempted the impossible: to film a DVD with very little or no infrastructure in an amphitheatre that had never seen a rock show before.

We did it, the results are amazing and we are very excited about the outcome - we feel this DVD is something to be truly proud of.

However, we did promise you it would be a BluRay Disk release as well and here's where you come in:

As we reviewed the footage, it became apparent that the cameras did not record in high enough resolution to be able to do a BluRay in 1080p resolution.

It is 720p and it looks really, really good, but it's not 1080p.

Iced Earth is a band that cares about their fans and would never do anything that could even remotely feel dishonest. That's why we felt this path of involving you, our fans, is the best way for us to judge what we should do.

With this being said: Would you want us to make a Blu-Ray Disk regardless of the fact that it is not true 1080p resolution?

Please make your voices heard - we consider this (the band's official Facebook page) our true sounding board."

Iced Earth will return to the road in 2013, catch them live at the following European festivals:

June
8 - Burning Sea Fest - Zadar, Croatia
22 - Rock am Härtsfeldsee - Dischingen, Germany

July
12 - Rock Harz Open Air - Ballenstedt, Germany
13 - Bang Your Head Fest - Balingen, Germany

August
8 - Getaway Rock Fest - Gävle, Sweden

Denmark's ROYAL HUNT has issued the following update:

"It seems like we'll have quite a bit of fun in 2013: 20th Anniversary Special Edition package has been received so well that we're in talks right now about releasing it as a gorgeous looking triple vinyl – with bonuses!
A new album? Indeed and this time we'll deliver something that we've never done before – a third decade of RH's evolution should start with a bang! And what about touring? Absolutely! We've already started discussing it with our promoters so expect to get rocked royally as soon as all the dates will be sorted out – we´ll keep you posted.

Happy New Year, dear friends, see you all soon!"

Royal Hunt put together a video teaser for the release of the 20th Anniversary Special Edition of their debut album, which was issued in November in Europe and Japan; it will be available in North America on January 22nd, 2013.
This very special best of package includes three CDs and one DVD, featuring the best Royal Hunt songs from all 11 albums, a brand new song plus three newly recorded acoustic versions of three additional songs and a DVD including all the promotional videoclips shot by the band during their long ride.
Royal Hunt - 20th Anniversary Special Edition includes the following tracklisting:

CD 1:
'Flight'
'Kingdom Dark'
'Stranded'
'Clown In The Mirror'
'Wasted Time'
'Epilogue'
'Time'
'Far Away'
'1348'
'River Of Pain'
'Tearing Down The World'
'Message To God'

CD 2:
'Cold City Lights'
'Follow Me'
'Surrender'
'The Mission'
'Can't Let Go'
'Paper Blood'
'Season's Change'
'The First Rock'
'Tears Of The Sun'
'The Well'
'Shadowman'
'Hard Rain´s Coming'
'Half Past Loneliness'

CD 3:
'Save Me' (new song)
'One By One' (unplugged)
'Bodyguard' (unplugged)
'Restless' (unplugged)
'Bad Luck'
'Double Conversion'
'U-turn'
'Sixth Sense'
'Day Is Dawning'

DVD:
'Land Of Broken Hearts'
'Day In Day Out'
'Clown In The Mirror'
'Far Away'
'Last Goodbye'
'Stay Down'
'River Of Pain'
'Tearing Down The World'
'Martial Arts'
'Third Stage'
'Wasted Time'
'Message To God'

LED ZEPPELIN guitar legend Jimmy Page has issued the following year-end update:

"Hi y'all. Well 2012 is nearly at a close... and what a year it's been for JP. The eagerly awaited London O2 concert was released on what could be described as a 'celebration day' - some five years after the event.

During the December of this year I had the honour of meeting President Obama and Mrs Obama, President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in Washington DC. I would not have imagined any of this happening this time last year. So roll on 2013!"
On December 2nd, surviving Led Zeppelin members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were awarded the US's highest award for those who influenced American culture through the arts, the Kennedy Honor, at a dinner event at the White House. The entire event was broadcast December 26th on CBS.

HEART's Ann and Nancy Wilson performed the Led Zeppelin classic, 'Stairway To Heaven' for the show's finale, and were joined by late Zeppelin drummer John Bonham's son, Jason Bonham, on drums. Footage of the performance can be seen below:
In his tribute to Led Zeppelin, President Barack Obama said: "When Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham burst onto the musical scene in the late 1960s, the world never saw it coming.

There was this singer with a mane like a lion and a voice like a banshee, a guitar prodigy who left people’s jaws on the floor, a versatile bassist who was equally at home on the keyboards, a drummer who played like his life depended on it.

And when the Brits initially kept their distance, Led Zeppelin grabbed America from the opening chord. We were ready for what Jimmy called songs with a lot of light and shade.

It’s been said that a generation of young people survived teenage angst with a pair of headphones and a Zeppelin album ... but even now, 32 years after John Bonham’s passing - and we all I think appreciate the fact - the Zeppelin legacy lives on.

We honour Led Zeppelin for making us all feel young, and for showing us that some guys who are not completely youthful can still rock!"

Check out video of Obama's speech below:

On February 5, Friday Music will release the deluxe edition of DEEP PURPLE's "Slaves And Masters", the only album featuring former RAINBOW/FANDANGO singer Joe Lynn Turner. Now remastered, the LP features two rare bonus tracks: "Slow Down Sister" (B-side of "Love Conquers All" 12-inch and 45 rpm single) and the hard-to-find 45 rpm single edit of "Love Conquers All", as well as including rare RCA label memorabilia.

A press release states: "Featuring the Mark V DEEP PURPLE lineup of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Roger Glover and new addition hard rocker Joe Lynn Turner, 'Slaves And Masters' was a nice way to kick in a new decade with this one time configuration. Most notably hard-rocking tracks like 'Fire In The Basement', 'King Of Dreams' and the international hit power ballad 'Love Conquers All' helped make this a much-played album at rock radio from day one of its release. Even through all their well-documented changes over the years, DEEP PURPLE as reigning kings of hard rock and heavy metal shined through on this album. It’s easy to hear why... the familiarity of the band was still there with its guitar shredding maestro Ritchie Blackmore, the powerful drum sound of Ian Paice, Jon Lord's iconic keyboard work, Roger Glover's slammin' bass, and Joe Lynn Turner's hard rockin’ vocals, 'Slaves And Masters' was a winning affair."

"Slaves And Masters" deluxe edition track listing:

01. King Of Dreams
02. The Cut Runs Deep
03. Fire In The Basement
04. Truth Hurts
05. Breakfast In Bed
06. Love Conquers All
07. Fortuneteller
08. Too Much Is Not Enough
09. Wicked Ways
10. Slow Down Sister *
11. Love Conquers All (single edit) *

* Bonus tracks

"Shadow Moses", the new single from British metalcore act BRING ME THE HORIZON, was premiered earlier today (Friday, January 4) on BBC Radio 1's "Rock Show" with Daniel P. Carter and can now be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track will be released digitally next week.

"Shadow Moses" is the first single from BRING ME THE HORIZON's fourth album, "Sempiternal", which will be released later in the year via RCA. The follow-up to 2010's "There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret" was recorded in part at Angelic Studio in Banbury, Oxfordshire with producer Terry Date, who has previously worked with such acts as DEFTONES, PANTERA, SOUNDGARDEN and PRONG.

"I've never been so confident about an album," BRING ME THE HORIZON frontman Oli Sykes told Kerrang! magazine. "It makes our last record just sound shit. We're doing stuff we could never dreamed of doing before."

BRING ME THE HORIZON performed "Shadow Moses" live for the first time when they played their only U.K. show of 2012 at the Alexandra Palace in London on November 10 as the co-headliners of the Vans Warped Tour with LOSTPROPHETS. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

"There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret" sold 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 17 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD also entered the official chart in the U.K. at position No. 13.

eOne Music is set to release "Music From The Showtime Series Californication Season 6" on January 15. The collection features a previously unreleased track from Australian musician/actor/comedian and guest star Tim Minchin, titled "So Long (As We Are Together)", which is performed in character as the mad-as-a-hatter Atticus Fetch. The album also features tracks from Steve Jones (SEX PISTOLS) and Marilyn Manson, both of whom have guest starring roles in the show this season. The album also features music by Ryan Adams, Joe Walsh, Johnny Thunders and more. Season 6 of "Californication" debuts on Sunday, January 13 at 10:30 p.m. EST on Showtime.

The Showtime original series "Californication" takes viewers on a wild, witty and sexy ride in the California fast lane. It centers around Hank Moody (series star and executive producer David Duchovny), as a hedonistic novelist who struggles to be a good father to his college-aged daughter, while still carrying a torch for her mother, his ex-girlfriend. "Californication" has won several awards, including two Emmy Awards in 2008 and 2009 for "Outstanding Cinematography" and one Golden Globe Award in 2008 for "Best Actor" (Duchovny).

"Music From The Showtime Series Californication Season 6" track listing:

01. STEVE JONES - "Suffragette City" (David Bowie cover)
02. MARILYN MANSON - "Personal Jesus" (Depeche Mode cover)
03. THE BLIND PETS - "Fever"
04. JOHNNY THUNDERS - "You Can't Put Your Arms Round a Memory"
05. LISSIE - "Nothing Else Matters" (Metallica cover)
06. RYAN ADAMS - "Wasted Years" (Iron Maiden cover)
07. WARREN ZEVON - "For My Next Trick, I'll Need a Volunteer"
08. TIM MINCHIN - "So Long" (As We Are Together)
09. HI HO SILVER OH ft. Leslie Stevens - "Time To Move On" (Tom Petty cover)
10. JOE WALSH - "Funk 50"
11. THE LITTER - "Action Woman"
12. MARK LANEGAN - "Strange Religion"
13. THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES - "What's Your Story"
14. BETH HART - "My California"

"Coffee & Cocaine", the new video from German "dirty rock 'n' rollers" PRESIDENT EVIL, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's new album, "Back From Hell's Holiday", which will be released on January the 25 via Firefield Records. The CD features marks the recording debut of PRESIDENT EVIL's new singer Neal McCocker and contains guest appearances by Dan Nelson (BLACKGATES, ex-ANTHRAX) and Chris Birx (MOTORJESUS). Other songtitles set to appear on the effort include "Dirty Cage", "Never Ending Sin Of Life" and "Priest Of Rock ’N’ Roll".

PRESIDENT EVIL is:

Neal McCocker - Vocals
James Lars - Guitar
Ace Renner - Guitar
Sven Bassista - Bass
Diamond Dennis - Drums

CIRCLE II CIRCLE, the band led by ex-SAVATAGE frontman Zak Stevens, will release its sixth studio album, "Seasons Will Fall", on January 25, 2013 via earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group.

Formed in 2001, CIRCLE II CIRCLE has always reinvented itself throughout the years, constantly maintaining the signature sound that fans around the world love. The turning point for the band came in 2012 with CIRCLE II CIRCLE's monumental performance of the entire SAVATAGE album "The Wake Of Magellan" at the world’s largest heavy metal festival, Wacken Open Air in Germany. What followed was a sold-out European club tour.

"Seasons Will Fall" is CIRCLE II CIRCLE's strongest album to date from both a musical and production standpoint. It blends Stevens' history and unique "SAVATAGE style" with the fresh sounds he developed with his current outfit. From the howling guitar riffs on "Diamond Blade" and "Killing Death" to the energetic sound of "Never Gonna Stop", it contains everything you want from a heavy rock album.

Says Stevens: "With earMUSIC releasing our sixth album, we are exactly where we need to be at this point in our career. We have the right album along with a fantastic new label. The timing of all this will take the upcoming world tour to an entirely new level. We are very much looking forward to the release of 'Seasons Will Fall' on earMUSIC. This is an album that will strongly define the identity and place of hard rock and heavy metal music in the world today."

In a recent interview with Metal Babe, Stevens said about the upcoming CD, "The record is sounding really great and the goal of this album from the beginning was for it to be the best CIRCLE II CIRCLE to date. Of course, that's a lofty goal, but I really think we've done it here with 'Seasons Will Fall'."

He added, "From the beginning, we wanted it to have some elements of all five previous releases, along with some entirely new sounding stuff. So that's basically what we've done with 'Seasons Will Fall'. We're really happy with how it turned out. Now it's just down to the fun part of mixing it and putting the final touches on everything."

Asked if there is a certain theme or concept that this CD focuses on, Zak said, "Being that it's not a concept album, the record focuses on a variety of different subjects. What I notice right away in the music and the lyrics is the amount of introspection of everyday life. Because of this, it really reminds me of our first album, 'Watching In Silence'. It really has that sort of feel to it. It also reminds me of 'Burden Of Truth' in some ways, too, but this one's definitely not a concept album in that sense."

"Seasons Will Fall" track listing:

01. Diamond Blade
02. Without A Sound
03. Killing Death
04. Epiphany
05. End Of Emotion
06. Dreams That Never Die
07. Seasons Will Fall
08. Never Gonna Stop
09. Isolation
10. Sweet Despair
11. Downshot
12. Only Yesterday

The song "Diamond Blade" can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

CIRCLE II CIRCLE is:

Zak Stevens - Vocals
Mitch Stewart - Bass/Vocals
Bill Hudson - Guitar/Vocals
Christian Wentz - Guitar/Vocals
Henning Wanner - Keyboards/Vocals
Adam Sagan - Drums

Video footage of Italian singer Mariangela "Mary" Demurtas of Norway's TRISTANIA and Italian guitarist Francesco Marras (SCREAMING SHADOWS) performing acoustic cover versions of ALICE IN CHAINS ("Down In A Hole") and DEEP PURPLE ("Soldier Of Fortune") classics can be seen below.

Demurtas joined TRISTANIA in 2007 and is featured on the band's sixth album, "Rubicon", which came out in August 2010 via Austria's Napalm Records. The group is currently working on a follow-up CD for a tentative May release.

Francesco's first solo instrumental album, "Black Sheep", is available on iTunes and AmazonMP3.

A rough-mix version of the song "Hello From The Gutters" from Swedish death metal masters DERANGED can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track comes off the band's new five-song EP, "Morgue Orgy", which will be released on CD in early 2013 via Sevared Records and on LP in mid-2013 through and Bifrost Records. The EP will feature four new songs and a cover of the STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH classic "Milk".

DERANGED's eighth full-length album, "Cut, Carve, Rip, Serve", was made available in May 2011 via Sevared Records. The follow-up to 2008's "The Redlight Murder Case" was recorded at Berno Studio in Malmö, Sweden.

DERANGED 2013 is:

Anders Johansson - Vocals
Thomas Ahlgren - Guitar
Andreas Johansson - Bass
Rikard Wermén - Drums

Swedish viking/black metallers THYRFING have completed work on their new album, "De Ödeslösa" (English translation: "The Fateless") at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren (OPETH, PARADISE LOST, WITCHCRAFT). The band's first CD since 2008's critically acclaimed "Hels Vite" will be released in the spring via NoiseArt Records.

The cover artwork for "De Ödeslösa" was created by Costin Chioreanu of Twilight13Media and can be seen below.

After 17 years in the band, original member and bassist Kimmy Sjölund decided to leave THYRFING. Joakim Kristensson has since taken over the bass duties. The band also welcomed a new drummer, Dennis Ekdahl.

THYRFING 2013 is:

Jens Rydén - Vocals
Patrik Lindgren - Guitar
Fredrik Hernborg - Guitar
Joakim Kristensson - Bass
Peter Löf - Synthesizers
Dennis Ekdahl - Drums

"Hels Vite" was released in October 2008 via Regain Records. The CD was co-produced (with the band) by Jörgen Svensson of Tyroon Production and the cover artwork was created by the Swedish artist Mikael Schelén. The layout and the photos were handled by Jens Rydén.

THYRFING in 2007 announced the addition of Jens Rydén as the band's new vocalist. Jens is best known as founding member and ex-vocalist of NAGLFAR and for his one-man army PROFUNDI.

"Soul To Devour", the new video from the Italian "post metal"/sludge band VAREGO, can be seen below. The clip comes off the group's debut album, "TVMVLTVM", which was released last year via Argonauta Records.

According to a press release, "TVMVLTVM" "is a mystical/esoteric concept that will have its continuity in the next works of the band."

The "Soul To Devour" video features some of the main events and characters of a long odyssey through Earth and Cosmos.

Formed in 2009, VAREGO worked with the producer Billy Anderson (NEUROSIS, MELVINS, EYEHATEGOD) on "TVMVLTVM", which contains ten songs.

VAREGO is:

Vocals: Davide Marcenaro
Guitar: Alberto Pozzo
Guitar: Gerolamo Lucisano
Bass: Marco Red Damonte
Drums: Simon Lepore

Roxx Records has announced the release date and final track listing for the deluxe edition package of "R-Existence" from Italian thrashers BOARDERS. Due on January 29, the newly expanded package will be available in a limited-edition CD pressing and digitally at all your favorite retailers. The deluxe expanded package will contain five additional tracks, three brand new recordings as well as two previously unreleased demo tracks.

"R-Existence" deluxe edition:

01. Prelude
02. The Agony of Lying
03. Signs of Resistance
04. Vengeance is Yours
05. IV Reich
06. Pure Gold
07. Lightbringer
08. Sixth out of Five
09. Cause of Life
10. Meet my Heart
11. To my Father
12. A Warm Place (deluxe edition 2013)
13. Pure Gold [Acoustic] (deluxe edition 2013)
14. This Time (deluxe edition 2013)
15. Deliver You Back To Hell [unreleased demo 2003] (deluxe edition 2013)
16. For What It's Worth [unreleased demo 2003] (deluxe edition 2013)

A band that can trace its history back to the late Eighties, BOARDERS presents a unique melding of the aggressive thrash and melodic metal that draws extensively from the musical trends of that era. And nowhere is that more evident than on the material from the group's debut, "The World Hates Me", which came out in 2009.

"R-Existence" marks a return to form of that melding of thrash and metal, with songs certain to garner the attention of those into MEGADETH, METALLICA and old-school DELIVERANCE. As a matter of fact, BOARDERS once gained notoriety in Italy as a MEGADETH tribute band; hence, the inclusion of the old MEGADETH song "In My Darkest Hour" on their debut release.

IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dicksinson spoke to The Wall Street Journal about his recently launched aircraft maintenance business, Cardiff Aviation Ltd, which is based at the Twin Peaks Hangar at St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, United Kingdom. Dickinson, a qualified commercial pilot, and his company are leasing the 132,000 square-foot hangar from the Welsh government.

Asked if — given the costs, regulations and rigamarole in Britain — he's ever considered taking his projects to the U.S., Dickinson said: "Well sadly, I think I'd rather open a business in [the U.K.] than the U.S. The U.S. is — it's a minefield. Open a business in California? You must be joking. The lawyers, the taxes — people talk about high taxes here. Well, yes they are high, but in America, in the places you might really want to open a business — New York, L.A. — you've got state taxes, city taxes, state income taxes, city income taxes — you add that lot up, you're paying more over there than [in Britain]."

While Dickinson spends quite a bit of time on tour with IRON MAIDEN, the singer is still closely involved in the business, holding meetings with potential customers and keeping in close touch with developments in South Wales.

"No, I'm not a famous British tax exile," Dickinson told The Wall Street Journal, confirming that he pays the current 50% rate outright on his personal income (dropping to 45% in April). "I live [in the U.K.]. And I pay my tax here. Whilst I think the rate of tax is too high, I like living here."

The top-rated German TV show, RTL's "Chart Show", has chosen KISS' "I Was Made For Lovin' You" as the No. 1 party hit of all time.

"I Was Made for Lovin' You" originally appeared on KISS' 1979 album "Dynasty". It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album. It was the band's second gold single, selling over 1 million copies. The single reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard singles chart. The song also became a Top 10 hit in Australia reaching No. 6 on the ARIA charts in 1979. The song fared the best in Western Europe (Where it became a Top 20 hit in Sweden, a Top 10 hit in Norway, made it to the No. 2 position in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and in Holland it became a No. 1 smash).

Pacifica, California-based hard rock/metal four-piece HAUNTED BY HEROES — which is composed of 12-year-old middle school students — will release its self-titled debut album on January 19 via Alfadkidz Records. The CD was produced by Sylvia Massy, who has previously worked with such luminaries as REM, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, DEFTONES, SYSTEM OF A DOWN and TOOL. A video for the album's first single, "Devil's Slide", will be made available the same day.

TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider joined HAUNTED BY HEROES, often called "the world's youngest rock band" by some, on the September 6, 2012 edition of "America's Got Talent" to perform the TS classic "We're Not Gonna Take It".

HAUNTED BY HEROES has played over 100 live shows, and has been profiled on several national news networks. The band was featured on the "Today" show, where Matt Lauer called them "unique, with a larger-than-life sound."

According to a press release, "HAUNTED BY HEROES is NOT a contrived band looking for a short-term career but rather a truly organic professional group of gifted musicians who just happen to be historically young... They rock hard to spread the word that young people can create their own destiny and dreams can come true. Lyrically, they message antibullying, staying true to who you are and believing in oneself. Musically, they perform with the conviction and talent of their rock heroes."

Todd Newton of BigMusicGeek.com recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

BigMusicGeek.com: At this point, is your goal to reconcile with the other members of [QUEENSRŸCHE]? Is that really even possible?

Geoff: I think the situation has deteriorated quite badly. It would take quite a bit of communication with all of us sitting in the same room having discussions for any type of reconciliation to occur. Honestly, I don't see that happening from their side. I don't think any of them have the balls to sit in a room with me and be honest about how they feel and works towards some sort of understanding. They're way too cowardly to do anything like that. That may come across as cold and brash, and I apologize if that offends anyone, but that's my honest opinion on the matter. They didn't approach me in a friendly, gentlemanly friendship way when they fired me. They did it behind my back through a lawyer, ya know? So I really don't have any high hopes that they'd have the integrity to sit in a room with me now and try to come up with some sort of compromises for our situation.

BigMusicGeek.com: Prior to them dismissing you, were there any obvious indications that everything wasn't going very well? I can remember reading interviews with the group during the '90s where the group seemed like a brotherhood...

Geoff: No. There was nothing like that. A band is a democracy and if it had to come down to a vote, I'm only one guy, ya know? You probably read an interview with either (former QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist) Chris (DeGarmo) or myself. Our main focus was always to create an image that the band was cohesive and a band that was as close as brothers, ya know? In our minds, that was the best way to project our band and our project, ya know? Whatever dirty laundry or disagreements wasn't talked about in public. We were always very, very interested in presenting a positive image, ya know? The image that Chris and created is the image that most people saw and that's how people formed their opinions, ya know? Through the images Chris and I conveyed. We switched gears throughout our entire career. That was the whole goal. The whole motto that Chris and I had when we started writing together was "no limits." Naturally, we weren't interested in being limited by any imaginations except our own, ya know? So we drove that vehicle with that in mind. We were always trying to change things up and bring different things into the compositions, stretch out as much as we could musically and keep pushing, pushing and pushing the envelope on the musical chemistry that we had. After he left, I always held that goal in mind. The problem was that I was the only one who had that idea at that point. [laughs] The other three were very non-committal musically and didn't stand by their belief system when it came to music. They were very influenced by the opinions of others around them and didn't really trust their own musical integrity. I was constantly being limited by their lack of imagination and their unwillingness to stand on their own convictions. They were always very interested in being what other people thought they could be.

BigMusicGeek.com: In regards to all the pending litigation, do you foresee an outcome where you aren't ultimately victorious?

Geoff: I don't look at it as victory or defeat because in reality, it's not really that way. I will win in any situation regarding this because I will either get the name or they'll have to pay me for the name, so I'll be free and clear to do whatever I want. I don't want to work with them and they don't want to work with me. We really haven't worked together in years and years anyway, so what's the purpose, ya know? The only purpose to be together in the first place was the economics of it. It was a very successful brand that was very successful in all parts of the world. It paid everyone's bills and gave everyone a comfortable way of living, ya know? So all the headaches were worth it. What it took to make a record was worth it because we all made a nice living.

BigMusicGeek.com: Was there really a physical confrontation between you and the other members of the group (i.e. the now-infamous Brazil Incident)? At first, it seemed insane that everyone would actually "come to blows" over it all...

Geoff: Yes. It happens in bands all the time. It's weird because in other places in the world, they look at the whole physical altercation thing as a fist fight and call it what it is[laughs] It's a bunch of guys and you come to blows sometimes, ya know? It's no big deal. The Europeans and South Americans say the same thing: "What's the big deal? Why are the Americans making such a big deal out of this?" Look at THE [ROLLING] STONES, THE WHO or even THE BEATLES. It's a bunch of guys and guys are physical. The thing about the whole "Brazil incident" is that we're talking about three cowards who wouldn't stand up for themselves. Three cowards who made a decision behind my back, implemented a plan to fire me and my family and then, when I challenged them on it, ran away like little pussies who wouldn't stand up for their beliefs. What kind of men are those? The only thing you have in life are your convictions. It's what you believe. If you make a statement and then back down, what kind of man are you? You are nothing. You have no significance if you don't stand up for what you believe in.

Read the entire interview from BigMusicGeek.com.