THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA — the new classic-rock band featuring Björn Strid (SOILWORK) and Sharlee D' Angelo (ARCH ENEMY, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS) — will release its debut album, "Internal Affairs", on June 18 via Coroner Records.

"Internal Affairs" track listing:

01. Siberian Queen
02. California Morning
03. Glowing City Madness
04. West Ruth Ave
05. Transatlantic Blues
06. Miami 5:02
07. Internal Affairs
08. 1998
09. Stella Ain't No Dove
10. Montreal Midnight Supply
11. Green Hills Of Glumslöv
12. American High (digipak bonus track)

Check out audio samples at Amazon.com.

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA started like so many others as an innocent yet serious drunken idea when Strid and David Andersson (MEAN STREAK, session musician for SOILWORK) were on the road together somewhere in North America in 2007. Björn and David were bonding over what they considered "classic" or not, from rock and roll conspiracies to being arrested in a lobby with nothing but leather pants on. All those scenarios, fictional or real, needed a soundtrack. They also came to think that whether you're on a metal tour or not, a lot of classic rock songs say it all and can really lend you a helping hand and make you forget about everything, especially when in motion or travelling. The classic escape. The never-ending road trip. The transatlantic night flight. It may sound simple and naive, but what it all comes down to is that we all need that soundtrack to feel extra special, whether you have been arrested in a lobby or not.

It didn't take long before bass player D' Angelo joined forces as well as keyboard player Richard Larsson (VON BENZO) and drummer Jonas Källsbäck (MEAN STREAK). The goal was to reclaim the '70s/early '80s sense for classic melody, the forgotten recipe to a timeless song, preferably a song mentioning a city, street name or an exhilarating alcoholic beverage. Anything that will have you spitting out the word "classic." From "Tarot Woman" to "Badlands", from "Rhiannon" to "Running on Empty", from "Blind Man" to "Night Moves", from "Deuce" to "Separate Ways", from "Elected" to "Set me Free". The list goes on. It's all about reclaiming the "classic."

In a brand new interview with Maxim.com, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was asked if there is anything in the 2004 documentary "Some Kind Of Monster" that he wishes had been left out. "I'm definitely guilty of poking sometimes," he replied. "I'm Danish, and Danish people sometimes like to stick their finger in somebody else's shoulder and push them a bit. I sometimes think that the metal community is just so fucking serious and up its own ass. Once in a while it needs a little poke, and I don't mind being that guy. Nobody else seems to do it. Sometimes I read, 'Oh, Lars Ulrich, what an asshole,' or, 'Lars Ulrich can't play drums.' I laugh at all of that. People sit there and say these awful things in the chat forums. I think it's really funny when someone sits there and says something that he's typed with his dick, or some 12-year-old who hasn't figured out how to jerk off yet is sitting there typing insults about somebody he's never met. The whole thing's hilarious."

As previously reported, Ulrich has shown up in a new trailer for the upcoming HBO film "Hemingway & Gellhorn". After appearing as himself in the 2004 documentary "Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster" and the 2010 comedy "Get Him To The Greek", Ulrich plays an actual character in this film, which is a fictionalized account of the relationship between author Ernest Hemingway and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn. The couple are played by Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman, while Ulrich portrays Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens.

The original HBO Films production is scheduled to premiere on May 28.

Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio that while he enjoys appearing in movies, he's not interested in pursuing a full-fledged acting career. "The acting thing is not something that I'm chasing," he said. "The couple, three, four things I've done are all people that have come to me and asked me if I wanted to partake. I'm certainly interested in film, I'm passionate about film, but I can't tell you that it's something that I'm chasing, and I don't have any sort of aspirations about being some next-level actor or anything like that."

METALLICA is also getting into the movie business on its own, producing its own 3D film to be directed by Nimród Antal, best known for the movie "Predators".

The movie, which will be some sort of combination of concert footage and storyline, will begin shooting this August and is tentatively scheduled to arrive in theatres in the summer of 2013.

Das Label Season of Mist hat soeben folgende Meldung veröffentlicht. "Wir sind zutiefst traurig, diese Nachricht bekannt zu geben URGEHAL Gitarrist und Sänger Trondr Nefas ist gestorben. Weitere Nachrichten und offizielle Erklärung folgen in Kürze. RIP Trondr Nefas!" Mehr Infos zum Tot von Trondr Nefas gibt es zurzeit noch nicht! Sobald es neue Information gibt werden wir euch in einer neuen Meldung Informieren!

UNISONIC — the band featuring former HELLOWEEN vocalist Michael Kiske, guitarist Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY, ex-HELLOWEEN) alongside guitarist Mandy Meyer (ASIA, GOTTHARD and KROKUS), bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Kosta Zafiriou (both of Germany's PINK CREAM 69) — kicked off its South American tour last night (Saturday, May 12) at Teatro Flores in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Intro: The Ride Of The Valkyries
02. Unisonic
03. Never Too Late
04. Renegade
05. King For A Day
06. I've Tried
07. My Sanctuary
08. March Of Time
09. Over The Rainbow
10. Star Rider (guitar solos)
12. Souls Alive
13. We Rise
14. Never Change Me

Encore

15. Future World
16. I Want Out

A report on the concert can be found on the Souls Alive web site of the official UNISONIC fan club.

Fan-filmed video footage is available below.

UNISONIC's self-titled debut studio album will be released in North America on May 22 via Eagle Rock imprint Armoury Records.

"Unisonic" was recorded at ICP Studios in Brussels, Belgium. The CD — which features 11 tracks, plus a bonus live version of HELLOWEEN classic "I Want Out", only available on the domestic edition, and cover art by Martin Häusler (MEAT LOAF, GOTTHARD, HELLOWEEN, MOTÖRHEAD) — marks the first full-length musical union between Kiske and Hansen in 23 years!

UNISONIC released its debut EP, "Ignition" on January 27 via earMUSIC/Edel. The effort includes the track "Unisonic" plus one demo song and a cover version of the HELLOWEEN classic "I Want Out", recorded live on October 15 at last year's edition of the Loud Park festival at Saitama Super Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Saitama City, Japan.

UNISONIC's music is very versatile and shows a broad approach to heavy rock without sacrificing the power and strong, catchy melodies that characterized the bandmembers' previous projects.

Kai Hansen's position in GAMMA RAY will be unaffected by his involvement with UNISONIC.

UNISONIC is:

Michael Kiske (vocals)
Mandy Meyer (guitar)
Kai Hansen (guitar)
Dennis Ward (bass)
Kosta Zafiriou (drums)

Fan-filmed video footage of Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based melodic death metallers THE AGONIST performing a brand new song, "Panophobia", can be seen below. The track comes off the band's long-awaited third studio album, "Prisoners", which will be released on June 4 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Century Media Records. Produced by Christian Donaldson (CRYPTOPSY) and mixed by Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, DARK TRANQUILLITY, SUICIDE SILENCE), the CD "picks right up where 2009's 'Lullabies For The Dormant Mind' left off, with soaring melodies over complex metal passages that fans of thinking-man's metal can appreciate," according to a press release.

In regards to the album artwork, THE AGONIST frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz states: "We wanted to really include a chaotic visual to reflect the chaotic sound of the band, but we also wanted to show that the lyrics on this album are a lot more introverted…The human face was left non-descript on purpose — it doesn't belong to any particular person, but we could call him the Lonely Solipsist."

"Prisoners" track listing:

01. You're Coming With Me
02. The Escape
03. Predator & Prayer
04. Anxious Darwinians
05. Panophobia
06. Ideomotor
07. Lonely Solipsist
08. Dead Ocean
09. The Mass Of The Earth
10. Everybody Wants You (Dead)
11. Revenge Of The Dadaists

THE AGONIST's new song "Ideomotor" can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below (courtesy of GuitarWorld.com ).

THE AGONIST is selling digital download cards throughout their tour with KITTIE. The brand new track "Ideomotor" and the previously limited-edition EP-only track "The Escape" is available for immediate download, with the remainder of the album available on release date.

In a recent interview with MetalConcerts.net, Alissa White-Gluz stated about the musical direction of the follow-up to 2009's "Lullabies For A Dormant Mind", "I wouldn't say it's heavier or more melodic. I think it sounds more mature. It has the same sort of schizophrenic side that 'Lullabies' has, but it also has some other I guess what you would call classic influences. Like, there's some PANTERA influence, there's some RADIOHEAD influence. I mean, there's a lot of influences that we didn't really have before."

LOVE.MIGHT.KILL, the German/Italian melodic metal band led by drummer Michael Ehré (FIREWIND, ULI JON ROTH, METALIUM), has set "2 Big 2 Fail" as the title of its second album, due in October via Massacre Records (Europe) and Hydrant Music (Japan). The follow-up to last year's "Brace For Impact" was once again be produced by Ehré and mixed and mastered by Markus Teske at his Bazement Studios. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "XTC", "Burn The Night", "The One", "Pleasure And Pain", "The Great Escape", "The Perfect Mistake", "We Fall", "Restless Heart" and the title track.

The first in a series of webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the studio can be seen below.

While "Brace For Impact" was composed by Michael and Jan, LOVE.MIGHT.KILL now has three more "fantastic" songwriters in its ranks, having been joined by Christian Stöver (guitar), Stefan Ellerhorst (guitar) and Sascha Onnen (keyboards).

LOVE.MIGHT.KILL is:

Jan Manenti - Vocals
Michael Ehré - Drums
Stefan Ellerhorst - Guitar
Christian Stöver - Guitar
Jogi Sweers - Bass
Sascha Onnen - Keyboards

For more information, visit www.lovemightkill.com.

Original RATT bassist Juan Croucier rejoined the Californian rockers for their show at the M3 Rock Festival on Saturday, May 12 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Professionally filmed video footage of the entire concert can be seen below.

In an October 2011 interview with Legendary Rock Interviews, Croucier stated about the possibility of him returning to RATT, "I never say never, because I can't predict the future but there have been some very nasty things said and done to me by my former bandmates in RATT. It has destroyed the trust, bond and respect we once had among each other."

He added, "I have had many offers to go back to RATT (ironically, sometimes while they were deriding me in the press at the same time) and the main reason I have not gone back to the band is because we had a very problematic situation in the first place, and nothing had (or has) changed — we don't get along, it's not fun and things that should be easy are hard. . . Some people like being in tumultuous relationships; I don't. I have been fortunate enough to be able to work in my recording studio, still play in bands and be a father that is present in my children's lives at the same time. It's not 'all about Juan.'"

Bassist Robbie Crane, who had played with RATT since 1997, quit the band last month to focus on LYNCH MOB. During an appearance on the March 22 edition of the "Headbangers At 11" show on the 93.3 KDKB radio station with host Mike Gaube, Crane stated about his decision to leave RATT, "I've been playing in LYNCH MOB since October of 2010. It's a thing that I've always loved doing, and I love playing with the band. . I'd been with RATT for 15 years and it was time to move on. I love being in LYNCH MOB and this is where my heart's at."

"Infestation", the first studio record in 11 years from RATT, sold around 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released on April 20, 2010 via Loud & Proud.

"Infestation" was produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette (CHEVELLE, ALTER BRIDGE) at his Virginia studio, marking the first time the band has recorded outside of Los Angeles. The album is full of attitude and of reflection, cycling through a range of emotions. There are party anthems that RATT are known for alongside more contemplative, thoughtful tunes.

Professionally filmed video footage of QUEENSRŸCHE's entire May 12 performance at the M3 Rock Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Get Started
02. Damaged
03. I Don't Believe In Love
04. Hit The Black
05. I'm American
06. NM 156
07. Screaming In Digital
08. The Lady Wore Black
09. Walk In The Shadows
10. Silent Lucidity
11. Jet City Woman
12. Empire
13. Eyes Of A Stranger

QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate was interviewed on a recent edition of the weekly two-hour classic hard rock and metal show "Noize In The Attic" (web site).

When asked if he would be receptive to the idea of former QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Chris DeGarmo rejoining the band if Chris expressed his desire to return to the group, Tate said, "I think it would be great! For me at least, he and I were very close working together. It was a good team... I'd definitely work with Chris again. We made plans to work together over the years at various times and sometimes we've gotten together and sometimes we haven't. He's just… I hate speaking for the man — he should speak for himself — but I think he's just into a different part of his life [working as a professional charter pilot] and happy with that."

Regarding whether he would ever consider performing the 1986 QUEENSRŸCHE "Rage For Order" in its entirety on a full tour, Tate said, "Probably not. We played the 'Rage For Order' album [as a one-off] in New York [last year], and that was really, really… How should I put it? It wasn't very satisfying. I'll put it that way. It's not a record that has a lot of passion in it; it's kind of cold and clinical. It was a record of its time. It's not an album that has songs on it that resonate with me anymore as a person. So it's not something that I would work very hard to put together. [Same thing with 1990's] 'Empire'. Honestly, that's just not who I am. I'm more of an in-the-now person. I'm interested in what's happening with life at the moment. I'm not at that stage in life where I'm interested in looking back."

QUEENSRŸCHE's latest album, "Dedicated To Chaos", sold 8,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 70 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, the epic concept album "American Soldier", opened with 21,000 units back in April 2009 to enter the chart at No. 25. This was roughly half the first-week tally registered by QUEENSRŸCHE's "Operation: Mindcrime II" album, which shifted 44,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release back in April 2006 to debut at No. 14 on The Billboard 200 chart.

QUEENSRŸCHE's 2003 effort, "Tribe", sold 20,000 copies in the first week while 1999's "Q2K", opened with sales of 28,000.

QUEENSRŸCHE's top-selling album by far is 1990's "Empire", which was certified triple-platinum in October 1994 for sales in excess of three million copies in the United States. The original "Operation: Mindcrime" release (1988) attained platinum status in August 1991, while 1994's "Promised Land" reached the same plateau in December 1994.

L.A. GUNS — featuring Phil Lewis, Steve Riley, Stacey Blades and Scotty Griffin — performed at the M3 Rock Festival on Saturday, May 12 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Professionally filmed video footage of the entire concert can be seen below.

L.A. GUNS' new album, "Hollywood Forever", is scheduled for release on June 5 via via Cleopatra Records. The CD was recorded with legendary producer, and old friend, Andy Johns, who has previously worked with LED ZEPPELIN, THE ROLLING STONES, CINDERELLA and VAN HALEN, and who collaborated with L.A. GUNS on their last three albums. A CD and vinyl release, as well as bonus tracks available only on iTunes, is planned. A nine-month world tour following the release is also in the works.

L.A. GUNS spent a few days in Los Angeles shooting three videos to support the record, and will make the track "You Better Not Love Me" available online soon. Videos for "Requiem (Hollywood Forever)" and "Aranga Nigre" were also filmed. Videographer Jack Foster was behind the lens for the shoot at the legendary Circus Disco in Hollywood. With an LED logo in the background, the band meshed theatrics with its expected rock energy on the big stage. Later, additional scenes were filmed in L.A.'s colorful Little Mexico and the landmark Hollywood Forever cemetery. Stacey Blades said, "It was a blast hammin' it up in a big venue and stage for the cameras." He added, "We are so excited about the new album coming out and videos to boot. 2012 is the year of L.A.GUNS!"

"Hollywood Forever" track listing:

01. Hollywood Forever
02. You Better Not Love Me
03. Sweet Mystery
04. Eel Pie
05. Burn
06. Requiem (Hollywood Forever)
07. I Won't Play
08. Vine St. Shimmy
09. Arana Negra (originally recorded by THE BICICLETAS)
10. Gonna Take You Down
11. Queenie
12. Underneath The Sun
13. Venus Bomb
14. Dirty Black Night
15. Rattlesnake

Phil Lewis' L.A. GUNS is not to be confused with the Tracii Guns-led version of the group, which is also continuing to record and perform under the L.A. GUNS moniker.

AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young has confirmed to Classic Rock magazine that the band is working on the follow-up to 2008's "Black Ice". But he said fans will likely have to wait longer than expected, after singer Brian Johnson suggested there would be new material next year.

"You know what Brian's like. He just says things and then walks away," Malcolm said. "It'll be a little while — a year or two anyway.

He added, "I've been doing some jamming on some song ideas but I do that all the time, as do the rest of the band. We are still working. But we had a long rest between 'Stiff Upper Lip' and 'Black Ice', so I think we need a couple of years to recuperate and work on it a bit more."

During a January 2012 appearance on "The Cowhead Show", the American radio program hosted by Mike "Cowhead" Calta, Johnson revealed that health issues were affecting one of his bandmates, which may have put new album plans temporarily on hold. "One of the boys is a little sick and I can't say anything, but he's getting better," Brian said. "He's doing wonderful. Full recovery fully expected."

The singer added, "It's a wonderful thing when we get in a room. Whenever the boys get back together, I get all excited. The boys, after a while, pick the guitars up, Phil [Rudd] will make his way to the drums, Cliff [Williams] will pull his bass out and then all of a sudden this noise comes out and I sit there with just this big old grin on my face."

Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal of Metal Assault recently conducted an interview with guitarist Dave Chandler of doom metal legends SAINT VITUS. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Assault: Your new album ["Lillie: F-65"] is your first studio release after a 17-year gap. That's a really long time. First of all, it must be a great feeling to have this album ready for release now.

Chandler: Yeah, it's really cool. It has been a long time, but we are excited about it and we like the way it came out. We're real happy with it, so we hope the fans like it too. It seems to be a pretty cool record.

Metal Assault: You did some shows in the last couple of years leading up to the release of this album. So, that must have made it easier for you guys to get back into the groove and write this album.

Chandler: Yeah, because we actually wrote the song "Blessed Night" on the road, and when we started playing it, people started asking us if it was a song from a new album, which actually gave us the idea to try to put out a new album. It was purely because the fans were asking for it.

Metal Assault: Well, this album is 33 minutes long, and honestly, leaves me hungry for more. So do you think it could have been longer, or did you want it to be as long as it is?

Chandler: It actually worked itself out to that time, because it's sort of like a weird concept thing. I thought about may be trying to rush a song, but then I was like, no, because it's going to sound rushed and it's not going to sound the way the rest of the songs did, as they were all written at the same time and they all flowed together. So when I started checking time, I saw that it's actually the same length as all of our albums. I think there are only two releases we have, "C.O.D." and "Die Healing", that are longer. All the other ones are right around the same length of time. So for this new album I was like, "That's a regular VITUS album!"

Metal Assault: I was checking out another interview that you did a short while ago and you said, whether or not you make the next album will depend on how this one is received. It has been received really well so far. Will that inspire you to write more material now?

Chandler: Well, you know, once we get going out on the road and start doing the shows and stuff, it'll get our creative juices flowing, so to speak. We'll see. We want to take things one step at a time, and we don't want to jump the gun and say we're doing to this and do that, and then not do it for some reason. The record's still on a tentative release date over here in the U.S., which is going to be in a couple of weeks. So we want to see how the people take it and see how they react to the new songs when we play them live, and we'll see what happens. If everybody's into it, we'll probably do something because we'll be thinking of it.

Read the entire interview from Metal Assault.

Swiss hard rockers GOTTHARD made their official live debut with new singer Nic Maeder last night (Saturday, May 12) at Teatro Flores in Buenos Aires, Argentina as the support act for UNISONIC.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Dream On
02. Starlight
03. Top of the World
04. Give Me Real
05. Need To Believe
06. Sister Moon
07. Master Of Illusion
08. Remember It's Me
09. One Life, One Soul
10. Mountain Mama
11. Right On
12. Hush (BILLY JOE ROYAL cover)
13. Lift U Up
14. Anytime Anywhere
15. The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) (BOB DYLAN cover)

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

GOTTHARD's new album, "Firebirth", will be released on June 1 via Nuclear Blast/Warner Music. The CD was produced at the band's own Yellow House Studios in Lugano, Switzerland, with guitarist/songwriter Leo Leoni and Paul Lani (who has previously worked with GOTTHARD on several of their earlier albums, including "G-Spot" and "Homerun") at the helm.

"Firebirth" marks GOTTHARD's first release with Maeder, who was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, lived in Melbourne, Australia and grew up between Switzerland and "Down Under."

GOTTHARD vocalist Steve Lee was killed on October 5, 2010 in what has been described as a freak road accident in Nevada.

The "Firebirth" album cover depicts the firebird Phoenix, which symbolically rises "from the ashes to the sky" — this line expresses what each GOTTHARD fan feels and underlines the turbulent time that GOTTHARD has gone through in the past months.

DEVIL, the Norwegian heavy doom rock band featuring members of VESEN, RIKETS CRUST, CEASE.AND.DESIST, FUCK YOU ALL and FAUSTCOVEN, has issued the following update:
"We're glad to announce that we survived this and last year's festivals and gigs, and even though it was a blast all the way, we have now decided to focus on our next album which we've called, 'Gather The Sinners'. It will be released once again on the fine Soulseller Records, hopefully this year. We are from now on concentrating fully on the album, and will therefore not be seen much on stage until late this year. However, we know that fans of DEVIL and 'Time To Repent' also will love 'Gather The Sinners', as it will be another trip down heavy metal memory lane, and the authenticity and evil cheerfulness is still very much represented. To show you just what we're aiming at, we're proud to present a sneak preview filmed live at Roadburn of the song 'They Pale' [see video below], which will be featured on 'Gather The Sinners'. We hope you enjoy this, and look forward to the album just as we do."

DEVIL's debut album, "Time To Repent", came out last year via the Dutch label Soulseller Records.

DEVIL is:

Stian Fossum - Guitar
Ronny Østli - Drums
Thomas Ljosaak - Bass
Kai Wanderås - Guitar
Joakim Trangsrud - Vocals

For more information, go to this location.

Tonight's (Sunday, May 13) Michael Schenker concert at O13 in Tilburg, Holland will be filmed for DVD release.

Schenker's "Temple Of Rock" European tour marks the first time Schenker's band features two fellow ex-SCORPIONS members — Herman Rarebell (drums) and Francis Buchholz (bass). Vocalist Doogie White (ex-RAINBOW and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and keyboardist Wayne Findlay complete the lineup.

The European concerts feature a plethora of hits spanning Michael Schenker's colorful career. Songs that are being performed by the "Temple Of Rock" lineup include UFO's "Rock Bottom" and "Doctor Doctor", MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP's "Armed and Ready" and "Into The Arena", SCORPIONS classics "Another Piece Of Meat" and "Rock You Like A Hurricane", plus new songs from the recently released "Temple Of Rock" album "Miss Claustrophobia" and "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead".

Fan-filmed video footage of Schenker's May 5 concert at Sala Totem in Pamplona, Spain can be seen below.

Audio samples of the songs that will appear on "Daybreaker", the new album from British metallers ARCHITECTS, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The CD will be released on May 28 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Century Media Records. The follow-up to "The Here And Now" was produced by the band with John Mitchell and Ben Humphreys at Outhouse Studios (ENTER SHIKARI, YOU ME AT SIX, THE BLACKOUT, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, EXIT TEN, YOUR DEMISE, LOWER THAN ATLANTIS, KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES) in Reading, the same team that previously worked on ARCHITECTS' "Hollow Crown" CD. The stunning artwork was created by Paul Jackson (Tank.Axe.Love).

"Daybreaker" track listing:

01. The Bitter End
02. Alpha Omega
03. These Colours Don't Run
04. Daybreak
05. Truth, Be Told
06. Even If You Win, You're Still A Rat
07. Outsider Heart
08. Behind The Throne
09. Devil's Island
10. Father Of Lead
11. Unbeliever

ARCHITECTS recently released the "The Here And Now 2012 Special Edition" including "Devil's Island" and "Untitled" as well as all video clips ("Day In Day Out", "Learn To Live", "Heartburn", "Delete, Rewind" and "An Open Letter To Myself"), making-of footage for "Learn To Live" and "Heartburn" plus several previously released online clips.

ARCHITECTS' last album, "The Here And Now", sold around 900 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 47 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 Here And Now" was produced by Steve Evetts, who has previously worked with THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and SEPULTURA, among many others.

"The Here And Now" debuted at position No. 57 on the official U.K. chart.

"Daybreaker" preview clips:

Stockholm, Sweden-based metal band FRANTIC AMBER — which features members from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Japan — has won the Swedish Wacken Metal Battle 2012. The event was held on May 10 at Göta Källare in Stockholm. Five bands competed for an opportunity to play at the world's biggest metal festival, Wacken Open Air, in Wacken, Germany in August and FRANTIC AMBER won the Swedish slot. The jury consisted of music industry professionals and was headed by president Ida Evileye (CRUCIFIED BARBARA). They also won a backdrop from the Band Shop.

Commented Ida Evileye: "Extremely convincing, inspiring, energetic and with a awesome matter of course, this band completely ran over us in the jury! I myself have been a bit of a fan since a year back when I heard this band for the first time. Now a year later, I hear a very different band that is very much more tight and persuasive! The winner of this year's Wacken Metal Battle [Sweden] is FRANTIC AMBER."

FRANTIC AMBER will perform on the WET Stage at Wacken Open Air.

The "Metal Battle", which was started in 2004 by the founders of the Wacken Open Air as a contest to support up-and-coming bands from all over the world, is currently in its ninth round, with Nuclear Blast Records and ICS Festival Service GmbH, which organizes Wacken Open Air, joining forces.

What initially started out as a small contest with six German bands and five bands from other countries grew and grew over the years — so much so that there was a total of 29 international bands performing during the festival in 2011 and striving to win the competition after having won the preliminary decisions in their respective countries. In the past, the first prize was a record deal with Wacken Records. For 2012, Nuclear Blast and ICS Festival Service have announced their participation, meaning that the winning band of "Metal Battle" 2012 will be given a record deal with Nuclear Blast — the biggest independent heavy metal label worldwide!

FRANTIC AMBER recently scrapped its previously announced plans to release a second EP and has begun work on a full-length album instead.

FRANTIC AMBER last year recruited a new drummer — and its first male member — Erik Röjås. Erik has been performing with the band since the 2011 edition of the Sweden Rock Festival and accompanied the group on its second tour of Russia in September.

For more information, visit www.franticamber.com.

It seems someone got their april fools date mixed up a month too late as they claimed "Born From Nothing" is confirmed to be the new Katatonia album title. We can hereby deny this is not the new album title and none of us ever claimed it to be. What this title actually comes from is simply a web banner for 4 limited shirts we've been doing this spring and that's all there is to that.

BUT...

The good news is that the actual confirmed official album title will be revealed at the end of this month, and we advise you to keep checking Katatonia's facebook page from now on as the title will actually slowly emerge there in puzzle pieces and some of your might make it out before others do.

German hard rockers BONFIRE recently spent time on location in Germany, Czech Republic and Mallorca with renowned director David Beránek filming a video for their song "Cry 4 Help". Originally released on the "Double X" album, the track has always been a fan favorite, in part because of its powerful lyrics:

"Who sheds a tear for the crocodile / That you carry as a bag? / Does your mink coat still keep you warm / When you think about its fate? / It ain't just another protest song / About laboratory crimes / It's also a cry for help / For the cowards of our time."

The new version of "Cry 4 Help" will be released on May 25 as a special EP with different versions of the title cut as well as by two special bonus tracks and the video for the new version of one of BONFIRE's biggest ballads, "You Make Me Feel".

Says singer Claus Lessmann: "It feels really good that the song has a second life now and that we can now release it in cooperation with the animal protection organization PETA."

At the end of March, BONFIRE travelled to the Ukraine to perform at a festival and play a headlining show there. They also wanted to talk to the authorities and the people about some of the recent unbelievable mistreatment of street dogs in the country.

According to Humane Society International, street dogs in Ukraine are being poisoned in a terribly misguided effort to rid the streets of them in time for the Euro 2012 soccer championships. Meat laced with poison is being left out for the animals to consume, resulting in their prolonged and agonizing deaths.

BONFIRE says "stop the senseless killing now" and is asking fans for their support.

BONFIRE recently parted ways with Dominik Hülshorst. According to the band, "The drum duties for the near future, and possibly the far future as well, will be handled by Harry 'Fireworks' Reischmann, who already played with the band in the Ukraine in March 2012."

BONFIRE's original drummer, Hülshorst rejoined the band in time for the recording of their twelfth album, "Branded", which came out in January 2011 via LZ Records/Sony Music.

According to Decibel magazine, Swedish dark rockers KATATONIA have set "Born From Nothing" as the title of their new album, tentatively due in September via Peaceville Records. The CD was recorded over a two-month period at Stockholm's Ghost Ward studios and the band's new, as-yet-unnamed headquarters. David Castillo returned to "twiddle the knobs," while band co-founders Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström and Jonas Renkse handled the rest of the production duties.

"Our seal of identity is on here for sure," Nyström tells Decibel magazine. "We haven't gone and changed our sound, but we've further explored some different angles of good music, and that's what we need to do to keep the focus. It might not be so obvious to some, but to others it will be a bigger deal. So, sure, a few surprises and a few songs going off territory are in there, but overall this album is a natural follow-up to [2009's] 'Night Is The New Day', and that is what we wanted to do."

In a recent interview with Loud TV (audio available below), Nyström stated about the overall musical direction of the band's new CD, "The new album, it will, first of all, have 11 or 13 songs — we haven't decided if we're putting all of them or not on there. I think there's been some discussions that a few editions are gonna have all the tracks, a few editions are gonna have 11 tracks. So that's a little bit up to the label yet. But as far as all those 13 tracks go, first of all, it sounds definitely like KATATONIA; it's a KATATONIA album — solely KATATONIA album. The difference this time is that we maybe even pushed the differences even further. If you compare some of the songs, they could be almost in difference categories of genres, but the interesting thing here is that we have managed with our sound and the production and our performances to make it sound like it's not that far apart; it sounds like it's the same band. But if we would give the songs to some other band, it would sound very, very different. So I'm really happy with that. It was a big challenge. Like, for instance, you could have a song that is going totally off into this singer-songwriter territory, and you could have another song that goes into one of the most aggressive, heavy songs we've ever done, but when I listen to those both songs back to back, I can hear it's the same band doing [them]."

When asked if the new KATATONIA album is the kind of record that will take several airings to really register with the listener, Nyström asid, "Yes. It might be even more like that this time [than in the past], probably, which is a good thing. I was nervous in the beginning and a little bit insecure with how we were gonna pull this album off and what people were gonna think and everything, but now I have this total calm about it; I am totally positive and confident that we have made the album that we needed to do and also what people expect from us. It might take a few listenings to get into the whole thing, but that will stay longer in your listening collection — you will not get tired of it in the first place; I am totally sure of it."

Regarding the upcoming CD's cover artwork — which is once again being created by Travis Smith of Seempieces (OPETH, DEVIN TOWNSEND) — Nyström said, "It's also gonna be a little bit different. It's actually a really big piece that we're splitting into four, and one of those four is gonna be on the cover. So there will be more to it than what you see first. I don't want to describe too much what's on it yet — you're gonna see that when it's [unveiled] pretty soon — but we're changing the color theme this time. We have been doing the black and the red for a long time now, and we're going totally the opposite and we're doing, actually… The basic color is, actually, white on the new one, but it's not solid white — it's like shades of frost whites and a little bit grey and mixed with black."

On the topic of the lyrical themes cover on the new KATATONIA album, Nyström said, "The lyrics are, actually, a mixture of trying to be as direct and easy as possible but also remaining a very cryptic feel at the same time, which is a very cool paradox. We're not trying to make it too complicated, but it might be… I mean, the words aren't too complicated, but the meaning of the songs is encrypted. And that we are very eager to see how people will react to and how they will define the meanings of these lyrics. 'Cause they're easy to read, easy to access, but the meaning itself might not be that easy [to decipher]."

Interview (audio)

MetalTitans.com recently conducted an interview with INSIDIOUS DISEASE members Marc Grewe (vocals; also of MORGOTH) and Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz; guitar; also of DIMMU BORGIR). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MetalTitans.com: What brought both of you guys to form and create INSIDIOUS DISEASE? Especially with Silenoz, you being in DIMMU BORGIR, a highly popular metal band, and Marc, you being an ex member of MORGOTH?

Silenoz: The lust and need for the old-school vibe and making music together with like-minded people was what brought us together in the first place. You know, always talking about doing something for the fun of it. For the most part that never happens, it usually starts and ends with alcohol-infused drunk talk. But I launched it finally together with Jardar [real name: Jon Øyvind Andersen; guitar; also of OLD MAN'S CHILD) and Tony [Laureano; drums; formerly of DIMMU BORGIR, NILE, ANGELCORPSE] back in '04. Then we brought Shane [Embury, bass; also of NAPALM DEATH] along shortly after that before I contacted Marc to see if he would consider doing the vocals. I've always been a huge fan of his style and I love others that is in the same vein, like Martin Van Drunen [PESTILENCE, ASPHYX], Jeff Becerra [POSSESSED], Chuck Schuldiner [DEATH], etc. those who have that "insane" feel and honesty in the delivery. They stand out and we didn't want the typical gurgling, low-end stuff like most bands do, even if that's cool as well at times it doesn't do much when identifying a band, it has become such an important thing especially the last 10-15 years. Identity and authenticity are what's important in music. It doesn't always have to be "groundbreaking," "new" or "modern"-sounding. A good record is a good record regardless.

Marc: I just agree with what Silenoz said. It's the passion for the music, and, of course, being able to work with such great musicians is just awesome!

MetalTitans.com: INSIDIOUS DISEASE has a real morbid, sick, dark, perverted, twisted sound, why did the band take this direction?

Silenoz: Because we are really morbid, sick, dark, perverted and twisted!! Haha! We're not trying to reinvent the wheel, but INSIDIOUS DISEASE is a great artistic outlet for me, especially, since I write the lyrics I get to touch upon the real horrors of man, my own darkside as well, trying to convey the shadow in all of us through words and images, both from a perspective and a personal point of view. It's healthy and therapeutic release. The music takes care of the rest. That's the audial vehicle!

Marc: Hehe, yeah we certainly are!! I think it is a great combination what we came up with. It was a challenge for me to sing Silenoz lyrics and vocal phrases, so I guess that also had an impact on how I sang on "Shadowcast". Plus, I think the whole package with the fantastic and morbid artwork makes it real special.

MetalTitans.com: Is it hard to keep INSIDIOUS DISEASE going when you all have other bands and commitments?

Silenoz: Not really, but for gigs etc it can be conflicting schedules, which we, of course, are aware of when we put the band together, so we've been lucky to have other like-minded friends to fill in sometimes when we have played live. It's just the way it is. It's no big deal because there are no egos in this band and we're all supportive of each other knowing we all need to prioritize if those schedules happen to conflict with one another.

Marc: It is, of course, kind of difficult to set up a tour or so, as everyone knows that especially NAPALM and DIMMU are touring the world in support of their currant albums. But it is always great and a special event for me being able to play with INSIDIOUS once in a while.

MetalTitans.com: What is planned for INSIDIOUS DISEASE now? Are you working on any new material? Any tour dates planned?

Silenoz: No shows have been booked at the moment, but we're looking into doing some more shows in 2013. We're working on a new album, but it's a bit early to say what it'll sound like. We're gonna demo tracks this summer and hopefully return to the studio during fall.

Marc: I'm really looking forward to working on the new songs. Hopefully we'll be able to play some more shows in 2013!

Read the entire interview from MetalTitans.com.

25 years after the legendary VIXEN released their first single, "Edge Of A Broken Heart", three of the original members have reunited to form VXN. Two decades have passed since they shared a stage together and they are ready to rev it up.

Singer Janet Gardner, drummer Roxy Petrucci and bassist Share Ross, along with guitarist Gina Stile, who was the guitarist on VIXEN's "Tangerine" album, are gearing up to perform again for the first time in over 20 years. "It just feels right," says Janet Gardner. "It was simply time to do this. The fans kept asking and we respect that."

Share Ross offers, "With hits like 'Edge Of A Broken Heart', 'Cryin'', 'How Much Love', 'Not a Minute Too Soon', 'Love is a Killer' and 'Rev It Up' emblazoned upon our souls, we knew it was time to resurrect our sound. We want to give the fans what they want."

In 1987, "Edge Of A Broken Heart" climbed the Billboard chart to the Top Ten and VIXEN had hit after hit. EMI suddenly had the only platinum-selling all-female rock band of its time on their roster.

Dubbed "MTV Darlings", the hits kept coming with "Cryin'", "How Much Love", "Love Is A Killer" and "Not a Minute Too Soon". The band earned credibility as they opened up for superstars, including OZZY OSBOURNE, DEEP PURPLE, SCORPIONS and BON JOVI, to name a few. A live performance on the "Arsenio Hall" television show sealed their credibility with the fact that these girls could play.

VXN will reunite at a select number of festivals and showcase dates in 2013 to perform all of the VIXEN hits and classic favorites in celebration of 25 years of rock history. The VXN "Revved Up Reunion Concerts" will take place at the kick-off party as well as on board the Monsters Of Rock Cruise on March 16-20, 2013 sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida bound for CoCoCay and Freeport, Bahamas.

VXN is not to be confused with the current version of VIXEN, which consists of founding member Jan Kuehnemund (guitar) alongside Jenna Sanz-Agero (vocals), Lynn Louise Lowrey (bass), and Kat Kraft (drums).

VIXEN's original members Gardner, Kuehnemund, Pedersen and Petrucci appeared together on VH1's "Bands Reunited" in October 2004 to reminisce about their start on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and their rise to fame in the late 1980s, before the onset of grunge in the early 1990s displaced metal at the top of the charts. They also took part in a short performance for the program.

In conjunction with legendary New York hardcore band AGNOSTIC FRONT's 30th-anniversary shows in June and July, where they'll be playing their classic record "Live At CBGB" from start to finish, Bridge Nine Records has announced that the label will be reissuing the album on July 17. Featuring an embossed LP cover with the original "Live At CBGB" artwork, the effort will be made available on super-limited-edition red-white-and-blue-striped vinyl with multiple other colorways available.

Commented AGNOSTIC FRONT vocalist Roger Miret said, "With this year being our 30-year anniversary as a band with myself singing, I wanted to play a special show here and there so I came up with the idea of playing our classic 'Live At CBGB' set. This was the set front to back from our legendary live recording released in 1989. That was a magical time for the band and hardcore was thriving at its best in 1988 when it was recorded.

"As an honorable family member with the Bridge Nine crew, I knew that the label should be home to this special re-release as much as CBGB was home to AGNOSTIC FRONT.

"We are making this re-release very special for the record collector in a red-white-and-blue color and our timeless original cover embossed to add that punch it held back in 1989 as intense today in 2012! Along with this special re-release, we are doing a handful of special shows in the U.S. to coordinate with the release. This will be a great release team effort with AGNOSTIC FRONT and Bridge Nine… here it is — the glory days of 1988 New York City hardcore as relevant today, tomorrow and forever!"

Originally released in 1989, "Live At CBGB" contains 19 of AGNOSTIC FRONT's most notorious tracks. Allmusic said, "Recorded in the flesh at New York's punk rock Mecca CBGB in August of 1988, 'Live At CBGB' captures the band in all its ferocious glory. As Miret announces, 'This is the title track from our first album, 'Victim In Pain', the song's also called 'Victim In Pain',' the band is off. 'Pain' is quickly followed by 'Public Assistance' and later a song that calls for unity between punks and skins, 'United Blood'. The recording is highlighted by the band's hardcore anthem, 'Crucified'. Beneath all the band's political lambasting and calls for unity (although many of their shows were anything but), there's a good musical lesson to be learned from all of this. Because, if you've ever been just the slightly bit curious about what NYHC is all about, this release is a solid launching point."

"Live At CBGB" track listing

01. Victim in Pain
02. Public Assistance
03. United Blood
04. Friend or Foe
05. Strength
06. Blind Justic
07. Last Warning
08. Toxic Shock
09. United & Strong
10. Crucified
11. Liberty & Justice
12. Discriminate Me
13. Your Mistake
14. Anthem
15. With Time
16. Genesis
17. The Pain Song
18. Fascist Attitude
19. The Eliminator

Legendary NWOBHM band TOKYO BLADE has released the first of three songs for three charities. Proceeds from the track "Camp 334" will go to the One Spirit charity, which helps make life better for the Lakota Sioux on the Pine Ridge reservation. TOKYO BLADE guitarist Andy Boulton's friend Joe Brave Heart contributed to the song with a fantastic intro prayer in his native tongue. Andy has been working with the charity for some years now and is really overjoyed to be able to use TOKYO BLADE's music and name to raise money for the reservation.

"It's fantastic that we have had so much positive help with this project," says Andy. "Our producer, Chris Tsangarides, gave his time for free also and it really is an honor to have Joe involved and have his blessing. Now I'm begging our fans to go buy it and do some good, Pine Ridge is a desperate place check out the one spirit web site, but we can make a difference folks."

The "Camp 334" EP is available on iTunes, Amazon and all other regular download stores.

TOKYO BLADE's latest album, "Thousand Men Strong", was released in March 2011 via Fastball Music. The CD was helmed by veteran British producer Chris Tsangarides, who has previously worked with THIN LIZZY, Y&T, FREE, BLACK SABBATH, IAN GILLAN, JUDAS PRIEST, OZZY OSBOURNE and ANVIL, among others.

"Divided We Fall", a brand new song from Los Angeles-based thrashers ANGER AS ART, can be streamed below. The track comes off the band's fourth album, "Hubris Inc.", which will be released later in the year via OSM Records.
Songtitles set to appear on the CD:

* Hubris Inc. (intro)
* This Is Why I Hate
* Pieces Of Red
* Divided We Fall
* As The Exalted Seethe
* Time Devours Life
* The Evil You Create
* Gods Of Hate
* Pearls Before Swine
* Anger Is the Reason
* Never Forgive, Never Forget
* Head Of The Snake
* Rage And Retribution
* Speed Kills

ANGER AS ART earlier in the year announced the addition of bassist Henry De La Cruz (MANIACAL GENOCIDE, STIGMATA, REVMATIX) to the group's ranks. Henry replaces Angelo Espino, who departed in October.

ANGER AS ART's concert DVD, "Live Dissent", was released last year. The disc features footage from the February 21, 2010 concert at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, California, clips of the band on tour in Europe and in the USA, and a segment of the recording process for the "Disfigure" album.

ANGER AS ART's third album, "Disfigure", was released in November 2009 via Old School Metal Records. The bulk of the tracking was done at Trench Studio in Corona, California with John Haddad, while the vocals and "extra stuff" was overseen by Chris Trent at CT Audio.

ANGER AS ART's current lineup:

Steve Gaines - Vocals, Guitar
Henry De La Cruz - Bass
Rob Alaniz - Drums
Daniel Oliverio - Guitar, Vocals

"Too Late", the first song from REVERENCE, the new power metal band featuring vocalist Todd Michael Hall (JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR, HARLET), guitarist Bryan Holland (TOKYO BLADE, ARREST), drummer Steve "Dr. Killdrums" Wacholz (SAVATAGE, CRIMSON GLORY), bassist Frank Saparti (TOKYO BLADE, OVERLOADED, MINDCANDY), and lead guitarist Pete Rossi, can be streamed below. The track comes off the group's debut album, "When Darkness Calls", which will be released on May 31 via Razar Ice Records, the band's official web site, iTunes, Amazon and various other music providers. The CD cover artwork was designed by renowned artist Jobert Mello of Sledgehamer Graphix (PRIMAL FEAR, SABATON, HYSTERIA) and can be seen below.

"When Darkness Calls" track listing:

01. When Darkness Calls
02. Bleed For Me
03. Phantom Road
04. Devil In Disguise
05. Too Late
06. Gatekeeper
07. The Price You Pay
08. Monster
09. Revolution Rising
10. After The Leaves Have Fallen
11. Vengeance Is Mine
12. Lost Generation (bonus track)

The video for "Too Late" will be filmed on May 12.

"When Darkness Calls" features a guest appearance by SANXTION drummer Tony Rossi.

REVERENCE will embark on a European tour in November. Exact citites and dates will be announced shortly.

For more information, visit www.ReverenceMetal.com.

Tilburg, Holland-based thrash / death metal act THE NEW DOMINION, featuring PESTILENCE drummer Yuma van Eekelen, have issued the following update on their forthcoming second album, Procreating The Undivine:

"We really are fucking siked that we can announce the appearance of guest vocalist Niels Adams (PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT, CENTURIAN, NOX) on our upcoming album, Procreating The Undivine. Niels can definitely be considered to be master of the most obscure and brutal death metal vocals.

On the track, 'The Eclectic Splitting Of Tongues', he will only do what he does best; unleash the most relentless of oral storms upon mankind. However the musical concept and setting differ a lot from what he is used to, the results are simply mind-blowing in terms of aggression and ferocity. This alliance will make the already epic track even more interesting and challenging for the listener and it will put this ear grinding album on an even higher level."

Niels states: "It was definitely a great experience to work with this guys. Something completely different but they know what they want and they for sure know their shit. They put great effort in every detail, they are well prepared and they won’t stop untill perfection has been achieved. This album is going to be insane”

More details concerning the upcoming release will be revealed soon.

As previously reported, on the weekend of May 25th - 27th during the I'll Be Your Mirror event at Alexandra Palace in London, SLAYER will present their undisputed classic, Reign In Blood, live in it's entirety to celebrate it's 25th anniversary.

"It's been amazing working with Slayer these past few days," says Slayer drum tornado Dave Lombardo. "After only a few days we're back in top Slayer form. We're performing the entire Reign in Blood album at the ATP Festival in England. We're also working on adding some more songs to the set.
See you soon!!"