Norwegian black metallers RAGNAROK have released a video for the title track of their latest album, "Collectors Of The King". The clip was produced by William Brovold, directed by Stefan E. Pedersen and features cinematography by Lasse Roed.

Commented RAGNAROK drummer and founder Jontho: "It's the first official video we've done for the band, and for a band that's been around as long as we have, you could say it's been a long time in coming. It's a very dark piece in every sense of the word and perfectly conveys the atmosphere and subject matter of the track itself. We're very pleased with the result, and now we've got a taste for it, it certainly won't be the last video we make and you can rest assured that the new album will provide plenty of material for the next one."

Formed in 1994 by drummer Jontho and then-bassist Jerv, RAGNAROK's current lineup includes Jontho on drums, Hans Fyrste on vocals, DezeptiCunt on bass and Bolverk on guitars. The band recently inked a deal with Agonia Records and entered Endarker Studios in Norrköping, Sweden on June 24 to record what will be their seventh full-length album. At the production helm is studio owner and MARDUK bassist Magnus "Devo" Andersson. So far all the drum and guitar tracks have been recorded for the as-yet-untitled CD, which is due for release later this year.

The band's next live appearance will be in August at this year's Party.San Open Air festival in Schlotheim, Germany.

Fan-filmed video footage of SLIPKNOT's July 1 performance at the Mountain View, California stop of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival can be seen below.

SLIPKNOT guitarist Jim Root was forced to miss the first couple of dates of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival tour because a burst appendix. A statement issued by the band said that Root had been seriously ill for the past few weeks and that the situation could have been life threatening. He is likely to miss several more Mayhem Festival shows, although it is hoped he can rejoin the tour as soon as possible.

The statement read, "Jim has been seriously sick for the past two weeks and went to the hospital last week where he was advised that his appendix burst a couple weeks before and that it could have been life-threatening. Jim is at home recovering and is awaiting surgery to have pieces of his appendix removed and hopes to join the tour as soon as he is able. SLIPKNOT will continue to headline the Mayhem Festival and all other shows. We refuse to let our fans down and will not miss a single date. We will miss Jim greatly and our thoughts are with him. Jim sends his love to each and every one of our fans."

SLIPKNOT's stint on the Mayhem tour is the band's first U.S. trek since the May 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray.

The tour also features SLAYER, MOTÖRHEAD, ANTHRAX and others on the bill.

Following the end of the tour, the group will headline Knotfest, two festival dates put together by the band itself on August 17 in Council Bluffs, Iowa and August 18 in Somerset, Wisconsin.

SLIPKNOT will tentatively enter the studio sometime in early 2013 to begin recording its fifth album. In the meantime, a greatest hits collection called "Antennas To Hell" arrives on July 24.

Video footage of OZZY OSBOURNE & FRIENDS — featuring BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler and legendary VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash — performing on July 1 at Rockwave festival at Terra Vibe Park in Malakassa, Greece can be seen below.

The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH — who late last year confirmed the recording of their first new album in more than 33 years and a worldwide headlining tour — had to put some plans on hold due to guitarist Tony Iommi's battle with lymphoma. As a result, BLACK SABBATH performed only one show of this summer's previously scheduled European tour. It took place Sunday, June 10 at the U.K.'s Download festival.

So as not to let the promoters and fans down, SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne is now performing the majority of the previously scheduled BLACK SABBATH European dates (both festival performances and the headlining shows) billed as OZZY OSBOURNE & FRIENDS. These "first-ever" OZZY OSBOURNE & FRIENDS shows are featuring appearances by "special guest" musicians, including Butler (who is joining Ozzy for a special BLACK SABBATH set as a show of respect and support to their friend, Tony Iommi) and longtime former Ozzy bandmember Zakk Wylde. In addition, Ozzy is being accompanied by longtime collaborator and friend Slash at select shows, with other "special guests" set to join the tour at various stops along the way.

Legendary rockers AEROSMITH announced today that their previously announced performance at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia on July 3 will be rescheduled. Singer Steven Tyler is under doctor's orders to refrain from performing to provide vocal rest. The concert will now take place on August 12.

AEROSMITH regrets any inconvenience and looks forward to returning to Jiffy Lube Live.

Tickets purchased for the July 3 show will be honored on the August 12 date.

AEROSMITH has pushed back the release date of its new album, "Music From Another Dimension", to November 6 from its original date of August 28.

All the recording has been completed for the disc, which will be AEROSMITH's first set of all-new material since 2001's "Just Push Play".

The first song to be heard from the album, "Legendary Child", is a reworked version of a track originally written during the sessions for 1993's "Get A Grip".

The track will also be included in the upcoming film "G.I. Joe: Retaliation", which was supposed to come out last Friday (June 29) but has now been pushed back to March 2013.

AEROSMITH began work on "Music From Another Dimension" last year, with the band laying down music tracks while Tyler made his debut as a judge on "American Idol".

Niclas Müller-Hansen of Sweden's Metalshrine recently conducted an interview with Matt Heafy from TRIVIUM. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metalshrine: You've toured for so long now, are you already planning new stuff, coming up with riffs for the next album?

Heafy: We have nine songs pretty much completely recorded as pre-production, recorded on our bass player's laptop, and it actually sounds better than our first record. Paolo's [Gregoletto] really good at recording shit. It's all programmed drums, but programmed in a way that Paolo programmed the bass part, like the underlying drum tracks and Nick [Augusto, drums] would sit with him and rewrite them, but on the computer. We tracked guitars, we tracked bass and we're gonna track vocals soon, we tracked solos and I've got an album title, album arts, song names. We've got about 15 songs and everything's planned out. Video ideas, photo shoot ideas, everything. But we just can't reveal anything.

Metalshrine: Next album then, when it comes to producing, same thing as the last one?

Heafy: We don't exactly know. We've got the plan, but we can't reveal. It's also kinda far to tell, but it will be different again. The new stuff sounds amazing and I know every bands says that, but yeah, it's really great. The fact that we're all working on it so much already, we know that it's something really special.

Metalshrine: Right. Do you ever get writer's block?

Heafy: With TRIVIUM, yeah, yeah. Luckily we're not on what needs to be considered writing time. We don't have to write for the new record but since creativity is popping up anyway we figured we'd take advantage of it. Whenever we're forced to write, I feel like, "Yeah, I can't write.", but if I don't have to write, then I'll write good stuff.

Metalshrine: Releasing a new album and the music industry being what it is, don't you ever fell like starting up a label of your own?

Heafy: Our initial contract with Roadrunner is, like, one [album] with a bunch of options, so we're still bound to them. We've always been partners with our label and they've always done a great job distributing us and spreading the word of our band. I don't know where it's gonna go. Every year that we release a new record, the music industry changes drastically. Every time we release a CD, it seems like the CD buying is 30 percent less. We just had 40 of our friends fired from Roadrunner international and that was a huge drag. I don't know what the result of it is. I'm sure it's a domino effect of people not buying music, people not putting value in music anymore, but it's hard to bring that up because people take a lot of offense of that, but it's true. Because there is no value in music for some people and they feel like it should be a free commodity, bands are disappearing. People can't argue that bands aren't disappearing, that bands aren't going away because they can't afford to exist. That's why we're so fortunate that we can tour this much. Everything is disposable and instantly accessible and it's sad that there isn't value in going to the CD store and waiting for the CD to come out. It's all about "I need this instantly and if I don't get if for free, that band's a dick!" I don't know when that sense of entitlement came around and I think it's mainly due to the Internet thing becoming such a huge thing. It's unfortunate but you have to adapt with the times. I mean, there isn't really a matter of changing it, but you have to adapt and make it work for you. We've learned that cool metal doesn't sell records, but I think it's because people weren't really buying music when we started releasing records and I guess there are 100 times more metal bands than there were back when TESTAMENT and MEGADETH were selling records. I don't know, but I know that touring and merchandise is the way for us to be able to stay alive, even though people get cuts of that that we do. I don't know if the kids know, but there are lots and lots of people getting cuts of every single thing that a band does. Their merchandising, their touring, their endorsements… people get cuts of all that.

Metalshrine: I don't think they see that. They only see all these rappers with the houses and the cars.

Heafy: Exactly! The kids go, "So what's it like being a millionaire?" and I'm like, "Are you kidding me? I'm trying to make my fucking rent, kid!" [laughs] But what I've learned too is that when touring in the U.S., there's a huge chunk that doesn't listen to the Internet or that doesn't download, but listens purely off the radio and still buys CDs, so there are portions of the world that are not connected to the Internet and that's also weird. There's no right way and there's no formula, you just gotta adapt.

Read the entire interview from Metalshrine.

A two-camera video mix of RISE TO REMAIN's June 23 performance at the at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California during this year's Vans Warped Tour can be seen below.

"Heartless", a brand new song from RISE TO REMAIN, is available for free download at this location. The track is described in a press release as "a visceral, brutal statement of renewed intent that scorches its way firmly into your head, heart and soul."

"Heartless" is one of four tracks RISE TO REMAIN recorded for inclusion as bonus tracks with the U.S. version of their debut release, "City Of Vultures", which was released in America on June 5.

RISE TO REMAIN recently announced the full-time additions of bassist Connor O'Keefe and drummer Adam Lewin on drums to the group's ranks. Fans will recognize Lewin from RISE TO REMAIN's recent U.K. headlining tour.

RISE TO REMAIN features in its ranks singer Austin Dickinson, the son of IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson.

"Lament Code", the new video from Las Vegas-based traditional/epic doomsters DEMON LUNG, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's debut EP, "Pareidolia", which was released March 20. The clip was directed by Dustin Mills, the mastermind behind "The Puppet Monster Massacre", the low-budget, '80s-style horror comedy with an all-puppet cast.

"Pareidolia" is a 22-minute blend of traditional and epic doom metal, rife with horror imagery and lyrics, and influenced by the likes of BLACK SABBATH, CANDLEMASS, and vocalist Shanda Fredrick's worship of COVEN's Jinx Dawson. Physical copies are available for purchase for $5 through the band's web site and digitally for $4 via Bandcamp. Hex Records will soon be issuing a limited cassette release of "Pareidolia".

"Pareidolia" track listing:

01. Lament Code
02. Sour Ground
03. Death Mask
04. Pareidolia

Having formed only two short years ago, DEMON LUNG hit the ground running and demoed over 20 songs, choosing four of the best for inclusion on "Pareidolia". The band played its first show in March 2011 andquickly became the top doom act in the Las Vegas scene, sharing the stage with such doom heavyweights as HIGH ON FIRE, JUCIFER and PENTAGRAM.

SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo, WHITECHAPEL guitarist Ben Savage and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA vocalist Mike Hranica are among the musicians who have come out in support of LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe, who is facing manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic.

Blythe, 41, is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at LAMB OF GOD's May 24, 2010 show in Prague. The singer apparently either pushed or struck a 19-year-old fan named Daniel N. who had come on stage, and that person died 14 days later of bleeding in the brain. A post-mortem reportedly found that he had not been drunk or under the influence of drugs.

Speaking to Loudwire, Lombardo said, "I can only make a presumption of what happened, but a kid jumps onstage, he accidentally pushes him off in the wrong way, hits his head, dies on the way to the hospital. Now if that's what happened, I don't know. But you've got to be gentle with these kids. You can't just push them offstage. We're talking five feet, sometimes six feet off the ground. That's a hard fall and if he's going up against a guardrail or something, you never know what he hit on his way down, I just don't know what to say, but I see it happening."

Ben Savage (WHITECHAPEL) (via Loudwire): "That's terrible. I don't know. Some people are crazy and they'll come up and grab you or something and that's not cool … I mean Europe, I love being there, but as an American it's just a different world and you're not as comfortable at times. I feel bad for him because that would be horrible to be in a jail in a foreign country where they may not speak your language or understand your values and where you're coming from. I just want to send positive vibes out to him because I would hate to be in that situation."

Mike Hranica (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA) (via Loudwire): "As soon as I read [the report], I was like, 'This is getting blown out of proportion.' The things I have heard about Randy is that he's a down-to-earth metal dude … I just feel it's getting blown out of proportion."

Slow-motion video footage of what may or may not be the stage incident which allegedly resulted in the death of a fan at the LAMB OF GOD concert in the Czech Republic more than two years ago can be seen below. The clip was originally aired on Saturday (June 30) as part of a TV report from Czech Republic's TV Nova.

**IMPORTANT**: It should be noted that the TV Nova report did not claim that this was, in fact, footage of actual stage jump that that led to the person's death. The performance clip was only included in the report to illustrate the behavior of Blythe and the fans during the concert.

According to Czech media reports, Blythe will be released today (Monday, July 2) on 4 million Czech Koruna bail (approximately $200,000 — an amount which Randy claimed was the equivalent of his annual income).

The crime of which Blythe is being accused is punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to popular Czech news web site Novinky.cz.

Razor & Tie is set to release the first two EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER reissues of the band’s first two albums: Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970 – Studio Album) and Tarkus (1971 – Studio Album) on September 11th. Both records will be available as three-disc deluxe editions containing never before released 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Mixes, including previously unheard out-takes. Three time Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE, STORM CORROSION; who has also recently remixed classic albums by JETHRO TULL and KING CRIMSON for acclaimed 40th anniversary editions) worked from the original Greg Lake produced multi-track tapes to remix both albums.

Fans can also purchase Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Tarkus deluxe editions at ELP.merchnow.com where the albums will be bundled with a variety of ELP t-shirts perfect for any collector. Pre-orders are available now for the deluxe albums, vinyl re-presses and a selection of Emerson, Lake & Palmer t-shirts.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Tarkus will also be released on limited edition 180 gram audiophile vinyl. The records will be repressed and released with their original packaging and track listings. The vinyl represses will be available September 11th as well.

Both albums will also be digitally, specifically mastered for iTunes by Grammy-award winning engineer Brad Blackwood (ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION, MAROON 5, NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS, SAVING ABEL).

AXS TV will also exclusively premiere the Emerson, Lake & Palmer 40th Anniversary concert this August. The legendary Rock Band reunited to celebrate their 40th Anniversary and headlined London's first High Voltage Rock Festival. This was the historic moment when Emerson Lake and Palmer performed for the first time since 1998. This spectacular performance with extravagant special effects and lighting recaptured the magic and musical genius of Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer as they performed their greatest hits in front of thousands of fans and leaving a lasting memory of the stunning musicianship of these three legendary performers.

Razor & Tie’s full catalogue reissue campaign will continue with the release of newly expanded, re-mastered, editions of four additional ELP classic albums: Pictures At An Art Exhibition (1971 - Live Album), Trilogy (1972- Studio Album), Brain Salad Surgery (1973 - Studio Album), and Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends – Ladies & Gentlemen (1974 - Live Album).

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Deluxe Edition Tracklist:
Disc One: Original Album
'The Barbarian'
'Take A Pebble'
'Knife-Edge'
'The Three Fates'
i. Clotho Royal Festival
Hall Organ
'ii. Lachesis Piano Solo
iii. Atropos Piano Solo
'Tank'
'Lucky Man'

Disc Two: Bonus Tracks (2012) The Alternate ELP New 2012 Stereo Mixes (Previously Unreleased)
'The Barbarian'
'Take A Pebble'
'Knife Edge' (with Extended Outro)
'Promenade'
'The Three Fates: Atropos'
'Rave Up'
Drum Solo
'Lucky Man'
Bonus Tracks:
'Take A Pebble' (Alternate Version)
'Knife Edge' (Alternate Version)
'Lucky Man' (First Greg Lake Solo Version)
'Lucky Man' (Alternate Version)

Disc Three: DVD Audio New 2012 – 5.1 Mix (Previously Unreleased)
'The Barbarian
'Take A Pebble
'Knife-Edge
'The Three Fates: Atropos
'Rave Up
'Lucky Man

New High Res 2012 Stereo Mixes (Previously Unreleased)
'The Barbarian'
'Take A Pebble'
'Knife Edge' (with Extended Outro)
'Promenade'
'The Three Fates: Atropos'
'Rave Up'
Drum Solo
'Lucky Man'
'Take A Pebble' (Alternate Version)
'Knife Edge' (Alternate Version)
'Lucky Man' (First Greg Lake Solo Version)
'Lucky Man' (Alternate Version)

Tarkus Deluxe Edition Tracklist:
Disc One: Original Album
'Tarkus'
i.Eruption
ii. Stones Of Years
iii. Iconoclast
iv. Mass
v. Manticore
vi. The Battlefield
vi..Aquatarkus
'Jeremy Bender'
'Bitches Crystal'
'The Only Way (Hymn)'
'Infinite Space (Conclusion)'
'A Time And A Place
'Are You Ready Eddy?'

Disc Two: The Alternate Tarkus 2012 Stereo Mixes
'Tarkus'
'Eruption'
'Stones Of Years'
'Iconoclast'
'Mass'
'Manticore'
'The Battlefield'
'Aquatarkus'
'Jeremy Bender'
'Bitches Crystal'
'The Only Way (Hymn)'
'Infinite Space (Conclusion)'
'A Time And A Place'
'Are You Ready Eddy?'
'Oh, My Father'
'Unknown Ballad'
'Mass' (Alternate Take)

Disc Three: DVD Audio New 2012 5.1 Mixes
'Tarkus'
'Eruption'
'Stones Of Years'
'Iconoclast'
'Mass'
'Manticore'
'The Battlefield'
'Aquatarkus'
'Jeremy Bender'
'Bitches Crystal'
'The Only Way (Hymn)'
'Infinite Space (Conclusion)'
'A Time And A Place'
'Are You Ready Eddy?'
'Oh My Father'

2012 Stereo Mixes
'Tarkus'
'Eruption'
'Stones Of Years'
'Iconoclast'
'Mass'
'Manticore'
'The Battlefield'
'Aquatarkus'
'Jeremy Bender'
'Bitches Crystal'
'The Only Way' (Hymn)
'Infinite Space' (Conclusion)
'A Time And A Place'
'Are You Ready Eddy?'
'Oh My Father'
'Unknown Ballad'
'Mass'

Wales-based progressive metallers LOST IN THOUGHT have issued the following update:

"We would like to thank everyone for being extremely patient as we have taken our time in announcing the new drummer. Since it's an important matter, we felt we needed to take our time, but we now feel completely ready to announce our new drummer. Please, everyone, could you give a warm welcome to LIT's new drummer, Rory O'Hare.

As many of you know, when we set out to find a replacement for Chris we auditioned many people, but we were only left with two drummers by the end of the auditioning process that we felt could do the job. When it came to Rory we were completely taken back by his playing and how humble as a person he was. As time went on with further sessions playing with him, it became quite clear that Rory would definitely be the man for the job. We feel that with Rory as part of the team we have opened many new doors with our writing skills - we have composed many things on the new album that we are currently recording that we could never have done before. We really feel we have no limitations with our writing.

Once again we would like to wish Chris all the very best with the future and we're sure he will find a new home as a drummer very soon."

O'Hare's Statement: "I was really impressed with LIT's last album 'Opus Arise' and joining the band was an opportunity that was too good to turn down. Since joining, its been a blast writing and recording the new album. It's a pleasure to play with such talented musicians and I look forward to gigging the new material

Canadian metal legends ANVIL performed yesterday (Sunday, July 1) at the Celebration Canada event in Taiwan. The concert, which was held at the Legacy Club in Taipei, was part of a two-day festival to celebrate Canada's 145th birthday organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan. It marked band's first-ever appearance in Taiwan.

Commented ANVIL guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow: "What an amazing gig!! Taiwan kicked major ass!! People here are GREAT!! The venue was awesome and the promoter, Terry, was a fantastic person who did an amazing job!! We will be back!! And that is a promise!!!"

Added ANVIL drummer Robb Reiner: "Taipei, Taiwan. I'm left speechless. Sold out or oversold, totally over the top. The ANVIL smashing machine just claimed yet more new territory. What a show and the pounders where something not describable. Hello, fucking Taiwan!! We shall return again. Thank U thank UUUUU!!!!!"

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

Celebration Canada is the largest Canada Day celebration outside of Canada. The popularity of ANVIL's documentary, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", in Taiwan was the catalyst to the promoter approaching the band to play the show. The movie did extraordinarily well in theatres and via pay-per-view in Taiwan.

Following their performance in Taiwan and the success of their Canadian tour earlier this year, ANVIL will embark on another block of Canadian dates which will take them from Toronto to Vancouver. ANVIL is also scheduled to plays at the Skogsröjet Festival in Skogsröjet, Sweden on August 10 and at the Bloodstock festival at Catton Hall in England on August 12.

Former HADES/NON-FICTION founding member DAN LORENZO is set to release his fourth solo CD on Tuesday July 10th. Best Of 3 is actually a compilation of Lorenzo's first three solo CDs and includes three previously unreleased tracks.

Lorenzo stated, "Being as I "sold out" of my first three solo CDs (meaning I sold 23 copies to European Hades fans and gave away 977 copies) I have decided to release a "best of" my solo material, cleverly titled Best Of 3. I was up all night trying to come up with that title. I assume most of you imagine my best solo material could fit on one side of a 45, but I just heard people no longer purchase 45s, so I decided to rerelease 8 songs from Cassius King, Nice Being Alone and Cut From A Different Cloth plus three songs I recorded after the fact."

Guest appearances include Jimmy Schulman (Hades), Ron Lipnicki (OVERKILL), John Kosco (DROPBOX), Matt DiFabio (SINGLE BULLET THEORY), Dave Neabore (DOG EAT DOG), Johnny Milnes (MUCKY PUP), Scott LePage (Hades), and others.

Lorenzo added, "I was planning to drop off some CDs on consignment at Tower Records, but guess what? No more Tower Records! What the hell is going on here? The only place you can legally purchase my new CD is from my website. One song I forgot to add was my DANZIG homage, 'Dan Zig Hates X-Mas', but the video is watchable on this new invention called YouTube."

RockNLive.org has uploaded video footage of CHILDREN OF BODOM's press conference at this year's edition of the Hellfest festival, which was held June 15-17 in Clisson, France. Check it out below.

CHILDREN OF BODOM recently inked a worldwide deal (excluding Japan) with Nuclear Blast Records. The band, which kicked off a year-long celebration of its 15th anniversary with a successful North American tour alongside labelmates ELUVEITIE, has a new studio album planned for release in 2013.

"Holiday At Lake Bodom (15 Years Of Wasted Youth)", a very special CD+DVD career retrospective in celebration of CHILDREN OF BODOM's 15th anniversary, sold around 600 copies in the United States in its first week of release.

"Holiday At Lake Bodom (15 Years Of Wasted Youth)" spotlights specially selected tracks from every one of CHILDREN OF BODOM's critically acclaimed 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 and detailed liner notes penned by the members of CHILDREN OF BODOM themselves. The DVD portion of the package includes "candid touring and backstage footage from around the world”, plus the "Shovel Knockout" video.

In an interview with MusikUniverse.net, CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho said that the band is scheduled to commence the songwriting sessions for its next album this fall for a 2013 release. "I have ideas, but I haven't done anything about it," Alexi said. "'Cause the thing is, I can't write when I'm touring; it's not the right kind of environment for me. I know a lot of people do it, but I just can't. And it's OK, 'cause I build a lot of ideas in my head, and my memory sucks, but one thing that I never forget is the riffs; they're always in my head somehow. So it's really not a problem."

Gothic, folk metallers URN have announced the addition of their newest touring members. 8-string guitarist, Christopher Migdalski and keyboardist/composer Drake Mefessta will be joining Urn on the remainder of their 2012 Summer Epiphany Tour for their Midwestern US dates as well as future tours.

Urn finished the Texas and Mexico leg of their 2012 tour and will now move onto the Midwestern dates. After that the band intends to take a break from touring to finalize their upcoming album A Hard Winter's Journey. See the remaining tour dates below:

Dark metal/rock band OUTSHINE has issued the following statement regarding the departure of singer Erlend Jegstad:

"For quite some time there has been internal issues regarding the ambition, time, economy and overall direction of what Outshine should aim for in the future. This has now come to a point where we can't collaborate any more.

We've been playing together for seven years and have had some really great moments. The albums and tours has been amazing to do but now this all has come to an end. In order for Outshine to rather go forward than backwards this break-up is needed. We wish E.J. the best and hope everything goes well for him."




The band, that will continue as a three-piece, is now in discussions with labels Rambo/Gain and Swedish (Dead Tree Music), Dutch (Metal Revelation / Marjo Verdooren) and American management (Indie 500 / Cameron Kellenberger) on how the band will continue with the release of the new album Addiction.

Outshine add: "We are focusing on putting together a plan on how we should continue with everything. It´s sad that we´ve ended up like this but we love playing music, we love playing in Outshine and we want to continue to evolve. We really hope to see you all out there on the road again!"

Official Metallica.com footage of METALLICA's pre-show tuning-room jam and "One" performance at the Download festival on June 9 at at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom can be viewed below.

METALLICA performed its top-selling 1991 LP, "Metallica", a.k.a. "the black album," in its entirety at the Download concert. As they have done on all the shows on their current European tour, the band played the LP backwards, starting with closing number "The Struggle Within" and ending with "Enter Sandman".

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Hit The Lights
02. Master Of Puppets
03. The Four Horsemen
04. For Whom The Bell Tolls
05. Hell And Back
06. The Struggle Within
07. My Friend Of Misery
08. The God That Failed
09. Of Wolf & Man
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. Through The Never
12. Don't Tread On Me
13. Wherever I May Roam
14. The Unforgiven
15. Holier Than Thou
16. Sad But True
17. Enter Sandman

Encore:

18. Battery
19. One
20. Seek & Destroy

One of the most intriguing and mysterious projects on METALLICA's upcoming schedule is the band's 3D movie, which begins filming later this summer and will mix concert footage with a storyline. Drummer Lars Ulrich spoke with Rolling Stone about the project for the magazine's METALLICA cover story, saying, "This has been circling for two years. It's time to life-size it, get it out of our minds and on the screen. And if it's done right, it can be sensational. You're not watching METALLICA onstage. You're onstage with METALLICA. In IMAX, James Hetfield is 38 feet tall, snotting on you, spitting on you. It's 2,000 decibels. If there is an earthquake outside, you wouldn't notice."

Ulrich explained that the sheer power of presenting a METALLICA concert that way forced the group to add more to the movie, saying, "You can't do that for 100 minutes. It loses its appeal. There is another element in there — intimate, small, a story that takes place over the same trajectory as the concert. The question is, 'Where do they weave in and out of each other?'"

METALLICA is financing the project itself and has hired "Predators" director Nimród Antal to get behind the camera. Antal will film the band's August 24 concert in Vancouver, Canada for use in the movie.

The show will feature a brand new 140-foot-by-50-foot stage that will include what a post at the band's web site called "colossal components and striking visual elements spanning METALLICA's entire 30-year career."

The first-ever METALLICA-curated Orion Music + More festival will take place on June 23-24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The group is headlining both days and will perform its entire 1984 album "Ride The Lightning" for the first time ever on one day, and its entire 1991 "black album" on the other.