British heavy metal legends SAXON have begin mixing their new album with producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with MEGADETH, ACCEPT, NEVERMORE, EXODUS and ARCH ENEMY, among many others. The follow-up to 2011's "Call To Arms" will feature cover artwork by longtime SAXON artist Paul Raymond Gregory and is tentatively due in February 2013.

SAXON in April released "Saxon - Heavy Metal Thunder - Live - Eagles Over Wacken", the no-fat-no-bullshit-100%-pure CD/DVD featuring DVD highlights from the band's Wacken shows in 2004, 2007 and 2009 comprising thirty songs, plus a live CD from Glasgow in 2011. Each set captures the Barnsley-bred British heavy metal legends delivering classic after classic, from "Denim & Leather" to "Metalhead" to "Heavy Metal Thunder" to "Princess Of The Night" to "Crusader" in front of 75,000-pluds loyal, ravenous fans, who have come to expect (and receive) the levels of performance SAXON have been delivering for 32 years.

"Heavy Metal Thunder - Live - Eagles Over Wacken" is available in a variety of formats, including the Golden Ticket D2C/Direct To Consumer Box.

Strictly limited, this exclusive package contains the "Best Of Wacken" DVD, plus the full and complete SAXON Wacken Open Air performances from 2004/2007/2009 each on a separate DVD, plus a SAXON flag.

"Call To Arms" sold around 700 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD debuted at No. 51 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. The digipack version of "Call To Arms" included a glorious bonus — a free seven-track CD, "Live At Donington 1980".

METALLICA's official web site has been updated with the following message:

"Happy September... we've got an early Christmas present for you!

"As we get ready to head back into the studio, we thought we would round out the 'Death Magnetic' experience with the DVD/Blu-ray release of the two nights we filmed in Quebec City way back in the fall of 2009. We were in the thick of the 'World Magnetic' tour at that time and thought it would be cool to invite our friend Wayne Isham out to capture the shows, so while we were getting ready to film the 3D movie and all the other shenanigans we've been up to since then, Wayne and his team have been quietly editing and working with our team of next level audio engineers. The resulting two disc set will be ready in early December of this year with all the details coming very soon. However, we need your help now!

"As we mentioned before, we played two shows... we would like YOU to pick which setlist is the main feature with the remaining songs not played in the setlist that you choose appearing later on the disc in the 'extras' section. It's simple — just vote for setlist one or setlist two before this Monday, September 24 at 9:00 a.m. PDT and which ever setlist gets the most votes will be our 'main feature.'

"Thanks in advance and as we love to say, keep watching here for all the info!"

The band's setlists were as follows:

October 31, 2009 at Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End Of The Line
03. For Whom The Bell Tolls
04. Holier Than Thou
05. One
06. Broken, Beat And Scarred
07. Cyanide
08. Sad But True
09. Turn the Page
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Damage, Inc.
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
16. Breadfan
17. Phantom Lord
18. Seek and Destroy

November 1, 2009 at Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End Of The Line
03. The Four Horsemen
04. The Shortest Straw
05. One
06. Broken, Beat And Scarred
07. My Apocalypse
08. Sad But True
09. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
10. The Judas Kiss
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Battery
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
16. Killing Time
17. Whiplash
18. Seek and Destroy

Wayne Isham, 54, is an American movie director who has directed music videos of many popular artists such as MÖTLEY CRÜE, SIMPLE PLAN, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, PANTERA, 'N SYNC, SHANIA TWAIN, GODSMACK, BRITNEY SPEARS, LEONA LEWIS, PINK FLOYD, SHERYL CROW, JOSS STONE, MADONNA, AVRIL LAVIGNE, DEF LEPPARD and BON JOVI, among others.

Previous METALLICA videos that were directed by Wayne Isham:

* "Enter Sandman"
* "Wherever I May Roam"
* "Sad But True"
* "Fuel"
* "No Leaf Clover"
* "Nothing Else Matters" (from "S&M")
* "I Disappear"
* "Frantic"
* "Broken, Beat And Scarred"

According to The Pulse Of Radio, LINKIN PARK has become the first rock band to receive more than one billion hits on YouTube. Most of those have been at LinkinParkTV, the group's official YouTube channel. The group's 2009 single from the soundtrack of "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen", "New Divide", scored more than 131 million hits alone. The next biggest rock acts on YouTube are the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and GREEN DAY, with 327 million and 245 million views respectively on their channels.

The first artist to reach one billion views was LADY GAGA, who achieved it in 2010. She was later surpassed by JUSTIN BIEBER, who has racked up an unbelievable 2.8 billion hits. RIHANNA has also gone well over the one billion mark.

LINKIN PARK recently concluded the 2012 Honda Civic Tour, which it co-headlined with INCUBUS, and next heads to South America for a series of dates in Argentina and Brazil.

The band has been on the road behind its fifth studio album, "Living Things", which is closing in on sales of 500,000 copies since coming out in June.

In a recent interview Artisan News, SLIPKNOT co-founder, conceptualist and percussionist Shawn M. Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) confirmed that late SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray's songwriting contributions will be heard on the band's next album.

"There are songs that he's written that will be a part of the next record," Crahan said in the video interview posted below. "We're all going to have to think like him, and he'll be there. He'll be there; there's no way [that] Paul Gray [will not be] a part of anything that we do for the rest of our career."

A Des Moines, Iowa doctor was charged on September 5 with involuntary manslaughter because he allegedly over-prescribed painkillers to eight of his patients — one of whom was Gray, who died of a drug overdose in May 2010.

Gray was found dead at the age of 38 in a hotel room outside Des Moines, surrounded by drug paraphernalia. His death was ruled an accidental overdose of morphine and fentanyl, with his autopsy showing that Gray also suffered from significant heart disease.

Gray's widow, Brenna, revealed in an April 2011 interview with Revolver that her husband had agreed to get help for his drug problem just one day before he died on May 24, 2010.

After a lengthy hiatus, SLIPKNOT resumed touring last year, with Donnie Steele playing bass live. The band intends to enter a recording studio sometime in 2013 to begin work on its first album without Gray.

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE's feature film "A Beary Scary Movie" is scheduled for release on November 6.

"A Beary Scary Movie" was written and directed by Justin Beasley of KOTK Productions and features the musical stylings and acting debut of IWRESTLEDABEARONCE. The horror-comedy follows the tale of Shreddy — the deranged guitarist from legendary '80s hair metal band WHITE VULTURE — who comes straight from hell murdering bands one by one by hacking them to pieces. Now it's up to Steven, Mikey, John, Krysta and Ricky to make it out alive. The film also features an impressive cast, including M. Shawn Crahan (SLIPKNOT), Larry Parks, John Dillion, Phillip Wright, Jim Babel, Charlie Huffman and Kelly Keodara, with a special appearance by Jake Busey.

The official trailer for the film can be seen below.

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE played its first show with singer Courtney LaPlante (UNICRON) on July 5 at the St. Louis, Missouri stop of the Vans Warped Tour.

Vocalist Krysta Cameron left IWRESTLEDABEARONCE's most recent trek after she discovered that she and her fiancé were expecting a child.

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE's latest album, "Ruining It For Everybody", sold around 5,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 80 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Professionally filmed video footage of AXEWOUND's June 24 performance at the Graspop Metal Meeting festival in Dessel, Belgium can be seen below.

AXEWOUND is the project featuring Matt Tuck (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) on guitar and vocals, Liam Cormier (CANCER BATS) on lead vocals, Mike Kingswood (GLAMOUR OF THE KILL) on guitar, Joe Copcutt (RISE TO REMAIN) on bass, and Jason Bowld (PITCHSHIFTER, KILLING JOKE) on drums.

The band's debut album, "Vultures", will be released in the U.S. on October 2 via The End.

AXEWOUND is an outlet for the musicians to make music that is more extreme than they can and do in their regular bands. Their inspirations for doing so hark back to a golden generation of metal acts — to such heavyweight names as PANTERA and SLIPKNOT.

"Those were the bands that I adored growing up," says Matt Tuck. "They each had that 'don't-give-a-fuck' attitude. AXEWOUND is about us taking the same opportunity to do exactly what we want. Musically, lyrically, it is what it is — no boundaries or limits."

The roots of AXEWOUND go back to 2010, when Jason Bowld filled in for BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE drummer Michael "Moose" Thomas on a brace of shows. He and Tuck kept in touch and last year began discussing working together on a project separate from the hugely successful Welsh metallers. They eventually got together in December 2011 to write the songs that make up AXEWOUND's debut album, "Vultures".

Cormier was the obvious choice to front and pen lyrics for these songs. He and Tuck had been friends for years, CANCER BATS having supported BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE on numerous tours.

The "Vultures" album was recorded in Cardiff at the start of this year, regular BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE collaborator Martin "Ginge" Ford engineering the sessions. From the outset, the aim was to work quickly and instinctively. In the event, they recorded 11 songs in 11 frenetic days.

"Vultures" track listing:

01. Vultures
02. Post Apocalyptic Party
03. Victim Of The System
04. Cold
05. Burn Alive
06. ExorChrist
07. Collide
08. Destroy
09. Blood Money And Lies
10. Church Of Nothing

AXEWOUND made its live debut on May 31 at Tivoli in Utrecht, Holland as the support act for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE.

AXEWOUND is:

Matt Tuck (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) - Guitar, Vocals
Liam Cormier (CANCER BATS) – Vocals
Mike Kingswood (GLAMOUR OF THE KILL) - Guitar
Joe Copcutt (RISE TO REMAIN) - Bass
Jason Bowld (ex-PITCHSHIFTER) - Drums

Fan-filmed video footage of Tim "Ripper" Owens' (DIO DISCIPLES, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) September 23 performance at R.B.F. Club in Sofia, Bulgaria can be seen below.

Released in May 2009, Owens' first solo album, "Play My Game", landed at position No. 66 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. The CD was released via SPV/Steamhammer. The offering consists of around a dozen brand-new tracks that Owens composed himself or together with renowned friends, such as Bob Kulick, Chris Caffery (SAVATAGE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA), Mike Callahan (ex-EARSHOT) and John Comprix (BEYOND FEAR, RINGWORM).

Owens is without doubt among the most important metal vocalists of the past ten years. When he succeeded Rob Halford, joining JUDAS PRIEST in May 1996, the press rubbed their eyes, surprised as well as impressed: Owens had previously been a fairly unknown quantity to international music journalists and only a few new of him from the band WINTERS BANE, but he recorded his first PRIEST album, the Grammy-nominated "Jugulator" (1997) with more aplomb than even insiders had expected. Following successful tours with the British metal legends, the strong studio recording "Demolition" (2001), and the live recordings, "Meltdown - 98 Live" (1998) and "Live In London" (2003), and the movie "Rock Star" that was loosely based on Tim's experience with JUDAS PRIEST, Halford's return put an end to Owens' stint with JUDAS PRIEST. More or less immediately, he was enlisted by Jon Schaffer to team up with ICED EARTH and sang on "The Glorious Burden" in spring 2004. Three years later, Owens followed suit with the ICED EARTH album "Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Pt. I)", which succeeded the self-titled highly praised debut by his own band BEYOND FEAR. Spring 2008 saw Owens move on to join one of the world's best guitar players Yngwie Malmsteen, debuting with a sensational vocal performance on "Perpetual Flame".

Danish rock singer Maryann Cotton (born Jackie Patino) — the son of KING DIAMOND bassist Hal Patino — debuted his new band on September 14 at Amager Bio in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The group's lineup for the show consisted of the following musicians:

* Maryann Cotton - Vocals
* Hal Patino - Bass
* Sebastian Sly - Guitar
* Soren Berlev - Drums
* Ronni Clasen - Piano/Keyboards

The setlist:

01. Intro
02. Heaven Send For Me
03. Miss Misery
04. Get It On
05. Free Falling Angels
06. Night Train To Paris
07. Guitar Solo - Sebastian Sly
08. Halo Of Dust
09. The One
10. Die In Britain
11. Maryann

Encore :

12. Shock Me
13. Never''Waste''Land
14. Drum Solo - Soren Berlev
15. Jesus Christ Superstar

Encore 2:

16. Crazy

Video footage of the performance is available below.

Maryann Cotton's debut album, "Free Falling Angels", was released on June 15 via Pure Steel Records.

Maryann Cotton's career was launched in 2006 when he performed live on Danish TV as part of the "Scenen Er Din" program (Danish version of "Star Search").

King Diamond stated about Maryann's Shock Me" single (which also featured appearances by former and current KING DIAMOND members Andy La Rocque, Pete Blakk, Hal Patino and Snowy Shaw), "I checked out the Maryann Cotton song 'Shock Me'. I really liked it. It reminded me in a positive way of Alice Cooper 1971. I think his vocals fit really well in the music, and the few backing vocals he did seemed to make everything sound a lot bigger. Normally horn sections really give me the creeps, but the way they used it in this song, I didn't mind. Great musicians, of course. I really look forward to hear more songs from him, so I can begin to get the full picture."

Rat Pak Records has set an October 31 release date for "Slave To The Empire", the debut album from T&N (formerly TOOTH AND NAIL), the new project featuring current and former members of DOKKEN: George Lynch, Jeff Pilson (bass) and Mick Brown (drums).

"Slave To The Empire" contains eight new original songs and four re-recorded classic DOKKEN songs that feature sensational vocal performances by Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, DIO DISCIPLES), Doug Pinnick (KING'S X), Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW) and Robert Mason (WARRANT, LYNCH MOB). The drum tracks on the new, original compositions were laid down by Brian Tichy (WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER).

"Slave To The Empire" track listing:

01. Slave To The Empire
02. Sweet Unknown
03. Tooth And Nail (feat. Doug Pinnick)
04. It's Not Love (feat. Robert Mason)
05. Rhythm Of The Soul
06. When Eagles Die
07. Into The Fire (Jeff Pilson)
08. Alone Again (feat. Sebastian Bach)
09. Mind Control
10. Kiss Of Death (feat. Tim "Ripper" Owens)
11. Jesus Train
12. Access Denied

Audio samples of all the songs are available in the youTube clip below.

In a recent interview with Guitar International, Lynch stated about T&N, "We actually did two records. The first one, which will be released in September, and then the band will go out on the road at the beginning of October. We'll do a short West Coast tour, then play Loud Park festival in Japan as well as visit a few other Asian cities before heading to Europe for a couple weeks. Then it's back to the States and we will finish up before Christmas."

Earlier in the year, T&N was forced to shorten its name from TOOTH AND NAIL for legal reasons. The band stated, "We cannot keep [the name] as TOOTH AND NAIL as there is a label that has it trademarked. [Fans] can still call us TO$%H AND NA$L... We can't."

Regarding how T&N came together, Pilson said in an August 2011 interview, "The DOKKEN [original lineup] reunion has been scrapped, and I take a lot of the initial responsibility for that because of my schedule and commitment to FOREIGNER. . . Then George asked me about working with him on the next LYNCH MOB record — and I jumped at the chance. He and I started writing, got into a groove and wrote an album's worth of stuff, all with the intention of Oni [Logan, LYNCH MOB singer] writing lyrics and it being their next record. Brian Tichy laid down some incredible drums at his studio (and co-wrote some music on one track) and we had an incredibly strong start. Then Oni just wasn't feeling the music as being LYNCH MOB, so it was shelved. We figured it'd be the start of another LYNCH/PILSON record some day. Then, actually, it was Brian who had the idea that Mick, George and I should do a band, similar to what HEAVEN & HELL was to BLACK SABBATH, and call it TOOTH AND NAIL. Because of everything else we have going, it'll be just a recording project at first, but sure sounds fun. We'd record the classics keeping true to the originals but make them fresh and organic. Then the idea of doing new songs came up, and it grew from there."

He added, "I have absolute belief that the music George and I make together (along with Brian Tichy in this case) is real and inspired, and that's what it's really all about. So out of a mess of a reunion attempt, I think we'll end up with a really fabulous record, and what could be better than that?"

When asked if T&N is basically DOKKEN without Don, Pilson said, "Don is, and will always be, the singer of DOKKEN and an invaluable part of the DOKKEN chemistry. No one ever wants to take that away or dispute it one iota. But the three of us do have time tested amazing chemistry, and because we were writers on these songs, I feel we have a lot to express. If anything I think this will be a show of respect for Don, not some kind of competition. I only hope people enjoy it in the spirit for which it's intended . . . Don't think of this as DOKKEN without Don... that's misleading. Think of it as a band with great chemistry coming up with new music that excites them, and also paying tribute to DOKKEN — music which the members all are heavily invested in emotionally."

For pre-orders and audio samples, visit www.slavetotheempire.com.

"Death To The Architects Of Heaven", the new video from New Orleans, Louisiana's sons of American no-frills-black-metal-meets-death-'n'-roll GOATWHORE, can be seen below. The video features the lyrics from the song, as well as live footage of the band on the Summer Slaughter Tour 2012.

GOATWHORE will return to the road this fall in support of HIGH ON FIRE. The trek will run from November 15 through December 22, with PRIMATE (featuring Kevin Sharp of BRUTAL TRUTH, Bill Kelliher of MASTODON, and more) on select dates in November, and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on select dates in December.

GOATWHORE's song "Diabolical Submergence Of Rebirth", from the "A Haunting Curse" album, will be heard in the upcoming season of HBO's "Treme". The third season of the show will begin airing on September 23. The track will appear in episode #7, which is currently scheduled to air on November 4.

GOATWHORE's new album, "Blood For The Master", sold around 3,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at No. 4 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. The band's previous albm, 2009's "Carving Out The Eyes Of God", opened with around 2,700 units to land at No. 16 on the Heatseekers chart.

"Blood For The Master" was released in North America on February 14 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was once again recorded at Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida with producer with Erik Rutan.

"Blood For The Master" was made available on CD, vinyl, and digitally. Fans of vinyl should note that there are three different versions of the LP; red with black splatter, half red/half black, and standard black.

Swedish death metal overlords AEON have unveiled the details of their fourth studio offering, "Aeons Black". Set to drop on November 20 via Metal Blade Records, the mammoth 15-track effort was recorded at Empire Studio in Östersund, Sweden, engineered, mixed and mastered by Ronnie Björnström (Garageland Studios) and featuring cover art by Kristian "Necrolord" Wåhlin (BATHORY, AT THE GATES, DISSECTION, EMPEROR).

Commented AEON founding guitarist Zeb Nilsson: "This is definitely our most varied album to date; it has heavier songs, yet it also has lots of fast blastbeats and double bass drumming. It's groovier this time, which I think we lacked on our last album, 'Path Of Fire', which was fast-paced almost all the way through. That, and the amazing mix by Ronnie Björnström, makes me feel pretty confident that this album will appeal to more people than our previous albums. And no, we have not gone softer in any aspect; it's just easier to catch with all this grooviness. It's metal right up your ass!"

The first single from "Aeons Black", the album's title track, can be streamed below. Guitarist Daniel Dlimi says of the tune: "'Aeons Black' is the first song that I started to work on as we begun writing for this album, and it's also one of the very last to get finished. My goal was to create a somewhat heavier, odder, not-so-typical 'AEON' song. Once happy with the musical arrangement, I handed it over to [vocalist] Tommy [Dahlstöm] to let him write some lyrics and vocal patterns for it. He managed to get it even darker and more eerie. The lyrics are all about how everything living eventually must face the inevitable, which is death. There will be no savior, no heaven nor hell... just a pitch black, silent empty void."

"Aeons Black" track listing:

01. Still They Pray
02. The Glowing Hate
03. The Voice Of The Accuser
04. I Wish You Death
05. Garden Of Sin
06. Neptune The Mystic
07. Nothing Left To Destroy
08. Passage To Hell
09. Aeons Black
10. Dead Means Dead
11. Sacrificed
12. Aftermath
13. Blessed By The Priest
14. Maze Of The Damned
15. Die By My Hands

AEON is:

Tommy Dahlstöm - Vocals
Zeb Nilsson - Guitar
Daniel Dlimi - Guitar
Arttu Mallki - Drums
Marcus Edvardsson - Bass

Swedish glam rockers CRASHDÏET have completed recording their new album at Kingside Studios outside Stockholm with producer Otto Wellton. The CD, which has not yet been mixed, is tentatively scheduled for release in January 2013.

A snippet of the demo version of the new CRASHDÏET track "Change The World" can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The clip was filmed in New York City.

The new CRASHDÏET CD can be preordered at this location.

CRASHDÏET has been touring quite a bit in the last two and a half years, opening up for such bands as MÖTLEY CRÜE, OZZY OSBOURNE, MICHAEL MONROE and WEDNESDAY 13, and traveling everywhere from Australia to USA to Brazil.

CRASHDÏET performed a new song "Anarchy" for the first time on June 7 when they played at Kaisaniemi Park in Helsinki, Finland as the support act for MÖTLEY CRÜE.

The band's third CD, "Generation Wild", was recently released on vinyl. This gatefold LP features the new bonus track "Hollywood Teaze" as well as updated artwork.

"Generation Wild" entered the official chart in Sweden at position No. 3.

CRASHDÏET in 2009 announced the addition of Simon "Simme" Cruz from the Stockholm act JAILBAIT as the group's new lead singer.

The band parted ways with its previous vocalist, the Finland-based H. Olliver Twisted, in July 2008.

New song "Change The World" (demo version):

A new AVENGED SEVENFOLD song entitled "Carry On" can be streamed at Banana1015.com. The track will be featured on the soundtrack to the video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops II", due out on November 13.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD previously contributed a song called "Not Ready To Die" to the content pack for "Call Of Duty: Black Ops", the wildly successful seventh installment in the "Call Of Duty" video game series developed by Treyarch Studio and published by Activision.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's fifth album, "Nightmare", was certified gold for sales of more than half a million copies.

The record was the band's first following the death of drummer and songwriter James "The Rev" Sullivan in December 2009 from a drug overdose.

In January 2011, AVENGED SEVENFOLD named former CONFIDE member Arin Ilejay as the band's new touring drummer, replacing Mike Portnoy (ex-DREAM THEATER).

The official lyric video for "The Depression", a brand new song from New Jersey/New York's ILL NIÑO, can be seen below. The track comes off the band's sixth full-length album, which is scheduled for release on October 22 via Victory Records. The recording sessions for the CD took place in Hoboken, New Jersey; Austin, Texas; and Denver, Colorado.

For nearly fifteen years, ILL NIÑO has gained a loyal and dedicated fan base while creating its own unique style of Latin-influenced, aggressive metal.

Utilizing bilingual vocals, Latin/tribal rhythms and powerful melodies, "Epidemia" is bound to spread worldwide.

"Epidemia" track listing:

01. The Depression
02. Only The Unloved
03. La Epidemia
04. Eva
05. Demi-God
06. Death Wants More
07. Escape
08. Time Won't Save You
09. Forgive Me Father...
10. Invisible People

An audio sample of "The Depression" can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

ILL NIÑO will join EMMURE and STATIC-X on the "Noise Revolution" tour beginning September 19 in Billings, Montana. The tour will hit over twenty-one cities throughout the U.S. before wrapping up in Lubbock, Texas on October 17.

The "Epidemia" cover artwork can be seen below.

ILL NIÑO drummer Dave Chavarri previously stated about the upcoming album: "This time around, we want to explore Latin and tribal rhythms we have never explored in the past five releases, giving us no musical boundaries at all."

ILL NIÑO's fifth LP, "Dead New World", sold around 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 164 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous effort, "Enigma", opened with 5,000 units to land at No. 145 back in March 2008.

"Dead New World" was released on October 26, 2010 via Victory Records.

"The Mouth Of The River", a brand new song from Western Massachusetts metallers THE ACACIA STRAIN, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track comes off the band's new album, "Death Is The Only Mortal", which will be released on October 9 via Rise Records. The CD was produced by guitarist Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz at his Western Massachusetts studio.

"Death Is The Only Mortal" track listing:

01. Doomblade
02. Our Lady Of Perpetual Sorrow
03. Go To Sleep
04. Brain Death
05. The Mouth Of The River
06. Dust And The Helix
07. Victims Of The Cave
08. Time And Death And God
09. The Chambered Nautilus
10. House Of Abandon

Regarding the decision to have Laskiewicz helm the new album, Bennett previously said, "You all love DL, so it makes sense for us to go ahead and do the album this way and keep it heavy right from the source of where this all comes from."

THE ACACIA STRAIN will join forces with VEIL OF MAYA for a co-headline fall tour in November/December. Support on the trek will come from UPON A BURNING BODY, VOLUMES and TWITCHING TONGUES. The trek, presented by All In Merchandise, will be preceded by THE ACACIA STRAIN's short record-release tour that runs from October 4 to October 14.

"The Mouth Of The River" audio stream:

"Awakened", the sixth album from San Diego, California metallers AS I LAY DYING, is available for streaming in its entirety at AOL Music. Due on September 25 via Metal Blade Records, the CD was produced by Bill Stevenson, who has played drums for both the DESCENDENTS and BLACK FLAG and is one of the most highly renowned producers in rock. His production credits include work on records by RISE AGAINST, NOFX, PROPAGANDHI, THE CASUALTIES, ANTI-FLAG and many more. The album was mixed by Colin Richardson (MACHINE HEAD, NAPALM DEATH, SLIPKNOT).

The cover artwork for "Awakened" was created by Metastazis with Tiffanie Uldry and can be seen below.

AS I LAY DYING recently completed a video for the new single "A Greater Foundation" with director Drew Russ (A DAY TO REMEMBER, FALLING IN REVERSE) and producer Robby Starbuck. The performance-based clip was shot on location in Los Angeles.

"We were all impressed with Drew's ability to capture the intensity of live band performances in his videos, and 'A Greater Foundation' is no exception," explained AS I LAY DYING bassist Josh Gilbert. "Drew's technique, along with the all-day participation of some of our diehard fans in Los Angeles, definitely accentuated the energy of the song and makes for an exciting and dynamic video."

Speaking about "Awakened" in a recent interview, AS I LAY DYING guitarist Nick Hipa said, "I can't say that there's anything [on there] that's going to shock anyone. I mean, it sounds like AS I LAY DYING. We're really proud of it because I feel like this is the best 11 songs that we've [written]. It's a very well written record; it's so fast-paced. My way I describe it — it's jam after jam. There's no filler, so by the time you get through the album, you're like, 'Man, that was quick — I can listen it again.' Again, this is just my take on, so hopefully fans will be able to hear that as well."

AS I LAY DYING will launch a European tour with TRIVIUM, CALIBAN and UPON A BURNING BODY before returning to the U.S. in November for a nationwide tour.

Webisode #6:

KISS and MÖTLEY CRÜE played the final show of "The Tour" last night (Sunday, September 23) at Comcast Theater in Hartford, Connecticut.

Fan-filmed video footage of KISS' performance can be seen below.

"The Tour" kicked off on July 20 in Bristow, Virginia. Although the bands officially co-headlined the trek, MÖTLEY CRÜE opened for KISS each night.

KISS will release its 20th studio album, "Monster", on October 9 through Universal Music Enterprises. Described in a press release as a "12-track, straight-ahead rock 'n' roll album," the CD features collaborations among all four members — including co-founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and longtime members guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer — in an album that shows the band at the top of its game.

"Monster" is the group's first studio album since the band's 2009 smash success, "Sonic Boom", and was also produced by Paul Stanley with Greg Collins at Conway Studios in Hollywood, California, and The Nook in Studio City, California.

The sixth full-length album from Italy's black/rock/doom metal outfit FORGOTTEN TOMB, entitled ...And Don’t Deliver Us From Evil, will be released on October 30th in Europe and on November 6th in North America. Check out the new song, 'Deprived', streaming below:
More powerful and straight to the point, the album begins where it's antecedent - Under Saturn Retrograde - melodically ended. The directions of the new release may vary however over the last year's offering, as the band submerges into more dark, horror-like regions and underground scenery, serving us a more steady and mature recording. Forgotten Tomb is still obscure, melodic and still follows its own negative path - continuously experiencing with sound and imaginativeness. But as fans of the formation may already know, the Italian outfit is likely to surprise the listener during the long and complex compositions, smuggling mainstream-music elements and wise song-structures into the outwardly seamy and fearsome metal landscapes, making the obvious music sub-genres sound not that obvious any more.

According to the leader and songwriter Ferdinando 'Herr Morbid' Marchisio, this new album is the most personal one he has written since 2004's Love's Burial Ground and it explores the darkest corners of his mind like never before, making it without any doubt one of the band's more tortured and twisted offerings.

The album was recorded in Elfo Studio (Italy) by Daniele Mandelli (Love’s Burial Ground, Negative Megalomania, Songs To Leave, etc.) and mastered at Finnvox Studios (Impaled Nazarene, Amorphis, Children Of Bodom, Finntroll, HIM).
...And Don’t Deliver Us From Evil tracklisting:

'Deprived'
'...And Don’t Deliver Us From Evil'
'Cold Summer'
'Let’s Torture Each Other'
'Love Me Like You’d Love The Death'
'Adrift'
'Nullifying Tomorrow'
'Transmission' (JOY DIVISION cover)*
'Sore' (BUZZOV•EN cover) **

* exclusive digipack CD bonus track
**exclusive vinyl bonus track

...And Don't Deliver Us From Evil will be available as a regular jewelcase CD, limited to 1,000 copies digipack CD with exclusive bonus track, digital download and double 12"LP with an alternative bonus track. First 66 copies will be available on a multicolour splatter vinyl. The album can be pre-ordered at this location.

Prior to release of the new album, on September 25th, there will be available a new 7" EP, entitled Deprived. The EP will be limited to 300 copies (100 green, 100 white, 100 red) only. It can be pre-ordered at this location.

Forgotten Tomb will embark on a full scale European tour planned for November and December 2012; more news will follow shortly.

Forgotten Tomb is:

Herr Morbid - Guitars/Vocals
Algol - Bass
A. - Guitars
Asher - Drums
More on Forgotten Tomb at this location.

CHILDREN OF BODOM drummer Jaska Raatikainen has checked in with the following update:

"Namaste!

Sorry for not updating recently. I try to change this. I have been very busy both at home and work. We have some songs ready and I must say that they really sound great, very inspiring, dark and also little blackish. We have been joking about Alexi, that one day he will come to rehearsals with corpse paint :-) ! So dark the songs have been.

Nice autumn to everybody and be very surprised in October!"
On May 22nd, Children Of Bodom released Holiday At Lake Bodom (15 Years Of Wasted Youth), a very special CD+DVD career retrospective in celebration of the band's 15th Anniversary. The album spotlights specially selected tracks from every one of the band's albums (1997's Something Wild, 1999's Hatebreeder, 2000's Follow The Reaper, 2003's Hate Crew Deathroll, 2005's Are You Dead Yet?, 2008's Blooddrunk and 2011's Relentless Reckless Forever), plus two newly-recorded, and undeniably fun, cover songs (‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’ by DROPKICK MURPHYS and ‘Jessie’s Girl’ by RICK SPRINGFIELD), plus detailed liner notes penned by the members of COB themselves.

The CD track listing for Holiday at Lake Bodom (15 Years of Wasted Youth) is as follows:

'Hate Crew Deathroll'
'Shovel Knockout'
'Hate Me'
'Everytime I Die'
'Needled 24/7'
'I'm Shipping Up To Boston' (*previously unreleased)
'Sixpounder'
'Warheart'
'Roundtrip To Hell And Back'
'Trashed, Lost & Strungout'
'Living Dead Beat'
'Deadnight Warrior'
'Blooddrunk'
'Follow The Reaper'
'Are You Dead Yet?'
'Silent Night, Bodom Night'
'Jessie’s Girl' (*previously unreleased)
'In Your Face'
'Angels Don’t Kill'
'Downfall'
A cover of the Dropkick Murphys song 'I'm Shipping Up To Boston' is available below:
The DVD portion of the package will include "candid touring and backstage footage from around the world”, plus the never-before-seen music video for Relentless Reckless Forever's 'Shovel Knockout'.

"15 Years of Wasted Youth is the sound of Children Of Bodom working hard, partying hard, being relentless and stubborn," says the band's superstar guitarist / vocalist Alexi Laiho. “We went through many brick walls to get to where we are, and after seven studio albums, two live albums, non-stop touring, bleeding and breaking a lot of bones, I think we are justified in putting this album out. Let the music speak for itself. You have been warned."

Brit prog metallers HEKZ have spent the last year looking for a new fifth member. The band has now ended their search and has announced the addition of new keyboardist James Messenger.
Messenger commented: “My first thought upon hearing HeKz was ‘IRON MAIDEN and DREAM THEATER’s beautiful lovechild’ and I had the album pretty much on repeat for weeks. Joining them on keyboards has been fantastic – I’m looking forward to bringing a whole new element of blazing Hammonds, sweeping strings and swirling synth to HeKz’ live performances. See you at a gig sometime soon!”

Frontman Matt Young commented: “Being able to perform the album the way we intended is genuinely thrilling. James is a bit like mortar between the bricks and adds a boundless new dimension to our sound. He’s a thoroughly nice chap too.”

The new lineup will play a few upcoming dates which can be seen below:

October
5 – The Unicorn – Camden, UK
6 – The Castle Tavern – Luton, UK

November
9 – The Underworld – Camden, UK

The band has also released the tracks ‘Bring The Fire’ and ‘A Pound Of Flesh’ for free download at this location.

Bassist John “JD” DeServio (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, CYCLE OF PAIN) will be recording, producing and playing on an EP of cover songs with THE INFINITE STAIRCASE.

Frontman, Lenny Cerzosie commented: “Morgan’s busy with the new SEVENDUST record, so our new album is on hold for a few weeks. JD had just recorded on one of our new songs called ‘The Optimist’ and it just so happened that he had some down time that coincided with ours, and we both wanted to continue working together. My brother and I had been talking about doing some covers to kind of hold people over until we’re ready to release what we’re doing with Morgan. So JD said he wanted to work with us and it just seemed to be the perfect idea and the perfect time.”

The Infinite Staircase have not released an official song list for the covers EP, but the band commented: “It’s not going to be what people necessarily expect from us. Even though we’re considering covering artists like OZZY and GUNS N’ ROSES, we’re also talking about covering artists like MICHAEL JACKSON and BJORK… and it’s all going to be acoustic.”

According to a press release: “The Cerzosie brothers say that their hope is to release the EP of cover songs and a four song EP of their new material by the end of the year with hopes of the first official music video and single to be released by November. The plan is then to head back into the studio to finish the album in the beginning of 2013.”

In addition to Morgan Rose and JD DeServio, The new album also features collaborations with Sean “Memphis” Hennesy (CANDLEBOX, THE GRACIOUS FEW) as well as Troy Cromwell (Cycle Of Pain). More Collaborations will be announced.

A teasers from the forthcoming video/single entitled ‘Slowly At Least’ can be seen below:

ADLER, the new band led by former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler will be releasing their debut album Back From The Dead on November 26th via New Ocean Media in North America.
Back From The Dead was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Jeff Pilson (FOREIGNER, DOKKEN) and mixed by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STONE SOUR). The album consists of 11 tracks ranging from adrenaline pumping rockers ('Back From The Dead', 'Own Worst Enemy', 'Another Version Of The Truth') to arena rock anthems ('Good To Be Bad', Blown Away') to powerful heart-felt ballads ('Waterfall', 'Just Don’t Ask'). The album features guest appearances from Steven Adler's former Guns N Roses band mate SLASH and ROB ZOMBIE / ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist JOHN 5.

“The process of making this record was incredible,” states frontman Jacob Bunton. “Our musical influences are all over the place and this record is a perfect reflection of everything that we love about Rock N Roll.”

“I’m so proud of this record,” adds Steven Adler. “This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for over 20 years and now I’ve finally found the band with the perfect chemistry to make it happen!”

Adler is comprised of Steven Adler, frontman Jacob Bunton (LYNAM, MARS ELECTRIC), guitarist Lonny Paul (ADLER'S APPETITE), and bassist Johnny Martin (CHELSEA SMILES).

The album tracklist is as follows:

'Back From The Dead'
'Own Worst Enemy'
'Another Version Of The Truth'
'The One That You Hated'
'Good To Be Bad' (featuring John 5)
'Just Don't Ask' (featuring Slash)
'Blown Away'
'Waterfall'
'Habit'
'Your Diamonds'
'Dead Wrong'

Adler issued their debut single, 'The One That You Hated', on iTunes on April 10th. Check out the new video for the track below, courtesy of RollingStone.com:



More on Adler at the band's Facebook page.

Italy’s DANGER ZONE has signed with Avenue Of Allies. The band’s new album Undying is set to be released on November 2nd.

The album was produced by Roberto Priori at his PriStudio in Bologna, Italy and co-produced by Jody Gray.

Undying Tracklisting is as follows:

‘Undying’
‘I To I’
‘Half A Chance’
‘Paralyzed’
‘Hottest Fire’
‘Falling Up’
‘Desire’
‘Goin’on’
‘More Heaven Than Hell’
‘Stand Up’
‘The Dreaming’
‘Love Still Finds A Way’



The band recently announced the addition of new bassist Roberto Galli (MORPHOLOGY, LA STRANGE). The lineup is now as follows:

Roberto Priori - guitars
Giacomo Gigantelli - vocals
Roberto Galli - bass
Paolo Palmieri - drums

American melodic metal two-piece THE NEOLOGIST has announced the released their sophomore album The Promise of Eternal Separation for pay-what-you-want at this location.

The Promise of Eternal Separation is jam packed with extras including a cover version of ‘Red Clouds’ by DISARMONIA MUNDI, a dub-step remix of ‘A Call To Harms’ by JESTER STRIKES, as well as two additional bonus tracks to be released on the bands Kazakhstan release and Vatican City release (both due in October 2012).
The Promise Of Eternal Separation tracklisting is as follows:

‘Fall Of An Empire’
‘Innate Supremacy’
‘Subterranean Creatures’
‘Apollo’s Creed’
‘In The Name Of...’
‘Between The Fallen’
‘A Call To Harms’
‘My Angel Is A Demon’
‘Lost Souls Of A Forgotten Science’
‘Red Clouds’
‘A Call To Harms Remix – Jester Strikes’ (Bonus Track)
‘With Blind Eyes’ (Vatican City Release Only - bonus track)
‘The March of Sagittarius’ (Kazakhstan Release Only - bonus track)

DEFTONES played its new song, "Leathers", live for the first time yesterday (Saturday, September 22) at the Epicenter festival at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California.

Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

The studio version of "Leathers" is available for free download at Deftones.com. The song comes off DEFTONES' seventh studio album, "Koi No Yokan", which is scheduled for release on November 13. The group worked again with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who helmed 2010's "Diamond Eyes" and has also worked on albums by RUSH and FOO FIGHTERS.

"Koi No Yokan" track listing:

01. Poltergeist
02. Romantic Dreams
03. Leathers
04. Swerve City
05. Entombed
06. Graphic Nature
07. Tempest
08. Gauze
09. Rosemary
10. Goon Squad
11. What Happened To You?

Speaking to AOL's Noisecreep, DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno stated about the songwriting process for "Koi No Yokan", "We were coming out of a tough time, obviously, and our goal was to kind of rebuild what we created over all the years. I felt like we had to prove ourselves. We'd taken so much time between records, had some inner turmoil, and our records were starting to get pieced together versus really being created together, so for us it was a chance to get back to basics. We didn't have an idea of what sort of style we wanted. We just came in fired up and motivated to do something great. It was all very positive. We had more songs than ever, tons of ideas."

"Slithering", a brand new song from Portuguese extreme progressive metallers MALEVOLENCE, can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below (courtesy of Decibel magazine). The track comes off the band's upcoming third full-length album, "Antithetical", which was written and produced by Carlos Cariano, recorded by Paulo Pereira at 20m2sea Studio (Portugal), and mixed and mastered at Woodshed Studio (Germany) by V. Santura (TRIPTYKON, OBSCURA, PESTILENCE).

The follow-up to 1999's "Martyrialized", "Antithetical" features the lineup that recorded "Martyrialized", including core members Carlos Cariano (vocals, guitar), Aires Pereira (bass), Fred Noel (guitar), Paulo Pereira (keyboards) alongside session drummer extraordinaire Dirk Verbeuren (SOILWORK, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, JEFF LOOMIS).

The main theme of "Antithetical" illustrates a razor-sharp concept inspired from Ancient Greek Etymology (1580s, from Gk. Antithetikos) that reflects the diametrical opposition to a number of propositions consisting in the revelation of a divergent thought. Pertaining to "Antithetical", the Anti (against) + Thesis (position), as a figure of speech (mainly used by the authors of the Baroque period; style of the epoch known as the art of conflict) acknowledge opposition towards the relative thesis expressed.

Commented MALEVOLENCE singer/guitarist/songwriter Carlos Cariano: "'Antithetical' is loaded with intoxicatingly corrosive contrasts whilst the album represents pure rebellion, a pure nonconformist extension towards the current situation of the globe, an upheaval towards the current language that has no force of expression and no meaning, due to the predictability of words and counterfeit actions that have become commonplace worldwide. Inner strength and living values nowadays are negatively base underneath relative truths and we are expressing ourselves precisely antithetically whilst insisting on critical thinking."

A press release states: "Music and lyrics are far beyond the average practice and 'Antithetical' is a very unnatural progressive slab of extreme sonic amalgamation creating parallelisms to simplify extremes whilst apprehending both the positive and the negative perspectives of existence, in order to erect with the synthesis that transcends both.

"As hope is antithetical to despair, the contrasts established within the album serve in effect to give tension to the broad-spectrum body of work consisting of seven songs.

"'Antithetical' includes the most epic material (longest song clocking at 9:27), plus the heaviest proportional songwriting ever accomplished on the eighteenth year of existence of the collective.

"Exploring experimental yet instrumental mind bending extreme metal structures, the album is a pure heavy mammoth demonstration on extreme progressive metal territory."

The very striking illustrative piece was produced by the design bureau Kkstructures. "By portraying the central album conceptual theme fueled by the art of conflict, Kkstructures, in straight involvement with the band, twisted an eye-catching visual parallelism dissecting the antithetical contrasts between the positive and negative extremes," according to a press release. "Transcending the opposites by mode of individual revelation (summon insurgence) whilst erecting a differing perspective throughout exorcising thesis, the visual mind bending design brings forth in the process the social global context trivialization invoking an upheaval synthesis. The fire combustion epitomizes the universal purification (in need) as an unrelenting way of forward critical thinking."

earMUSIC has set an October 19 release date for "Blackoustic", the first-ever acoustic album by Finnish heavy metal singer Timo Kotipelto (STRATOVARIUS, CAIN'S OFFERING, KOTIPELTO) and guitarist Jani Liimatainen (CAIN'S OFFERING, ex-SONATA ARCTICA). The duo has been working together and playing acoustic shows for a while, and the idea of recording an acoustic album came from the fans.

Comments Kotipelto: "The fans were recording our shows with their cell phones and the've been telling us that we should make an album, so they could have better quality recordings of the songs to listen at home. At first, we were just joking about it, but after a while we thought, 'Why not? As far as we know, not many people have done it before, at least not within the heavier music genre. Our initial idea was to make a self-financed album with a relatively small pressing and then just maybe sell them at our shows."

But instead of making it a "fan-club release," the duo has opted to work with the label earMUSIC/Edel, which also releases STRATOVARIUS's work since the album "Polaris".

Most of the songs were chosen from the duo's live setlist, including familiar STRATOVARIUS covers like "Black Diamond" and "Hunting High and Low", but also songs like "Serenity" and "Sleep Well" from Kotipelto's solo albums have been given the new acoustic treatment; proving that behind great heavy metal song, there's very often a stunning melody "screaming" to come out. Furthermore, the album includes beautiful cover versions of PETE TOWNSHEND's "Behind Blue Eyes" and DEEP PURPLE's classic "Perfect Strangers".

"Blackoustic" also features a brand new composition, "Where My Rainbow Ends", written by Jani Liimatainen, who says: "I remembered a song I wrote last winter. Originally it was an instrumental track, but after listening back to it I thought that the melody would work very well with vocals. We re-arranged the song into our acoustic format and — as a slave of habit — I wrote the lyrics for it the night before our last day of recording. It turned out surprisingly beautiful and delicate."
"Jani's new song is a beautiful ballad," adds Kotipelto. "We have quite a few ballads on this album, as even the more rock oriented songs tend to sound more ballad-esque when performed by a duo."

"Blackoustic" was recorded at Kotipelto's cottage at Lappajärvi and mixed and mastered by the STRATOVARIUS guitarist / studio wizard Matias Kupiainen.

The duo will also hit the road in Finland in support of the album, although the first show was on the sea, performing at the Radio Rock cruise on the Baltic Princess on September 8.

"Blackoustic" track listing:

01. Sleep Well
02. Out In The Fields
03. Black Diamond
04. My Selene
05. Behind Blue Eyes
06. Hunting High And Low
07. Where My Rainbow Ends
08. Speed Of Light
09. Perfect Strangers
10. Coming Home
11. Serenity
12. Rainbow Eyes
13. Karjalan Kunnailla

The official trailer for "Blackoustic" can be seen below.