HOLLOW EARTH was a thought between members Mike Moynihan (guitar) Steve Muczynski (vocals) and Aaron Goodrich (drums) during their stint of touring with legendary hardcore band SHAI HULUD in November 2010.

One year later, almost to the date, the three friends decided to take that thought more seriously. Rearranging their lives so they would be in the same location in Michigan, the members moved in together and put things in motion to become a real band. Their objective with HOLLOW EARTH was to write sincere music and begin touring as much as possible.

Quickly recruiting Dave Giandiletti (guitar) and Jake Hicks (bass) to complete the lineup, they wrote a six-song EP entitled "We Are Not Humanity" within the two and half months of their inception and headed off to record at Getaway Group in Massachusetts with Jay Maas (DEFEATER, VERSE, SHIPWRECK).

On "We Are Not Humanity", HOLLOW EARTH draws on the influence of legendary bands like TURMOIL and BURIED ALIVE, capturing the energy and anger of hardcore that has been lost on so many new bands. HOLLOW EARTH's lyrics are dark with thought-provoking premonitions that paint a picture of impending doom that threatens the human existence.

"We Are Not Humanity" will be released on April 17 through Panic Records on CD, vinyl and digital formats.

Listen to two new songs from "We Are Not Humanity" now on HOLLOW EARTH's Facebook page.

MEGADETH will play a short acoustic set for around 50 contest winners chosen by Detroit, Michigan's WRIF 101.1 FM radio station. The performance will take place today (Thursday, February 9) at 3:00 p.m. EST backstage at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan and it will be streamed online at WRIF.com.

A short video clip of MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson talking about today's acoustic set can be seen below. Also available is footage of MEGADETH's April 28, 2010 acoustic performance on the "Cual Es?" show at the Rock & Pop 95.9 studios in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Gigantour — the critically acclaimed package festival founded in 2005 by MEGADETH — is making its highly anticipated return for the first time since 2008. The multi-artist bill — with metal heavyweights MOTÖRHEAD, VOLBEAT and LACUNA COIL all personally picked by MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine — kicked off on January 26 in Camden, New Jersey. Before wrapping February 28 in Denver, Colorado, the tour will make stops all across the U.S. and Canada, including a February 24 show in Los Angeles.

MEGADETH is among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 12 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band's tenth Grammy nomination is for its new single, "Public Enemy No. 1", off MEGADETH's latest album, "TH1RT3EN", which came out on November 1.

"Public Enemy No. 1" actually marks the second Grammy nomination for music from "TH1RT3EN", as the song "Sudden Death" was first unveiled in the 2010 video game "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" and received a "Best Metal Performance" nod.

Los Angeles-based, female-fronted metallers HUNTRESS will release their debut album, "Spell Eater", on April 27 via Napalm Records.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Spell Eater
02. Senecide
03. Sleep and Death
04. Snow Witch
05. Eight of Swords
06. Aradia
07. Night Rape
08. Children
09. Terror
10. The Tower
11. The Dark

The official video for the CD's first single, "Eight Of Swords", can be viewed below. The clip was directed by Simon Chan of Artificial Army and was produced/engineered by Chris Rakestraw of Sunset Lodge Recording.

HUNTRESS vocalist Jill Janus told AOL's Noisecreep about the "Spell Eater" artwork, "The album cover captures the beauty and brutality of HUNTRESS. Vance Kelly is a warlock and he took our vision and created a magical illustration that breathes glory into the old crone. We contemplated having either a sultry sorceress or decrepit forest witch as our cover babe. Ultimately, the crone won because she is the true Huntress."

According to a press release, "HUNTRESS lead singer Jill Janus is an operatic banshee with an unparalleled four-octave range and lust for the occult. Born and raised in the Catskill Mountains of New York, she toured Europe as a teenage opera starlet. Upon her return to the States, Janus embraced Manhattan nightlife, creating Felliniesque cabarets and parties in a nihilistic club scene. Years later, Janus moved to Los Angeles and began the gestation period of HUNTRESS. In 2009 she met underground metal band PROFESSOR. The universe spread her legs and delivered HUNTRESS to Janus, combining former members of PROFESSOR, DARK BLACK and SKELETONWITCH."

HUNTRESS is:

Vocals: Jill Janus
Lead Guitar: Blake Meahl
Rhythm Guitar: Ian Alden
Drums: Carl Wierzbicky
Bass: Eric Harris

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/huntresskills.

After a four-year break since her last album, Lana Lane is back with her most powerful release to date, "El Dorado Hotel". The veteran symphonic rock diva delivers a 10-song tour-de-force of finely crafted original tracks in an audiophile production by husband/keyboardist, Erik Norlander. "El Dorado Hotel" hosts Lane's usual broad spectrum of musical styles and genres with a cohesiveness that fans of the artist will recognize instantly. The opener, "A Dream Full Of Fire", is a new Lana Lane classic that blurs the line between prog metal and jazz stylings in a mélange that only she can deliver. "Maybe We'll Meet Again" is a European-styled melodic AOR radio anthem blending classic rock with modern sensibilities. The song "El Dorado" is a Lana Lane epic with a soaring chorus reminiscent of her classic, "Queen Of Ocean". The robust "Darkness Falls" introduces an Irish folk style combined with a gothic metal element with its haunting choral vocals and arena-crafted chorus. Then "Hotels" is an acoustic track that evokes jazz standards like "Autumn Leaves". The tracks "Believe", "Life Of The Party", "Gone Are The Days" and "Moon God" add further threads to the "El Dorado Hotel" tapestry. The album closes with the 11-1/2 minute opus "In Exile" that producer Erik Norlander describes as a "vintage progressive rock epic."

The musicians of "El Dorado Hotel" are a top-notch group of artists including both new and familiar faces. Lane says about the musicians, "Both Freddy DeMarco and Mark Matthews did some fantastic work on Erik's solo project, "The Galactic Collective". I then had the opportunity to play with them both during some live appearances in 2011 when I sang with the band. After having played with the guys and getting to know them, I knew that I wanted them to be a part of this project as well. Then for John Payne, Jay Schellen, Guthrie Govan and Bruce Bouillet (ex-RACER X), as you know, Erik has playing with John Payne for about five years now. When the original 1982 lineup of ASIA reformed a few years back, John Payne formed his own separate band to continue all the work that he had done with ASIA during his 14-year run and many albums with them. So John and Erik tour as "ASIA featuring John Payne," and they've probably played over a hundred shows together. Jay is the drummer in the band, and both Guthrie and Bruce have been the guitarists. Bruce is working with them currently. I of course go to a lot of their shows and have become friends with all of them. It is a great group of people, and they are all very talented musicians. Since we see them so much and Erik plays with them constantly, it was only natural to work with them on this album. And then finally for Mark McCrite, Neil Citron and Don Schiff, all three of them have been on so many Lana Lane albums going all the back to my very first album in 1995. It's great to continue working with them through all these years."

Songs for "El Dorado Hotel" were written by Lana Lane, Erik Norlander and longtime collaborator Mark McCrite, who comments, "My favorite songs on the album are 'El Dorado' (with the fantastic Spanish guitar) and 'A Dream Full of Fire' — that's a really killer 'classic' Lana Lane track."

"El Dorado Hotel" musicians:

* Lana Lane - vocals
* Erik Norlander - keyboards, additional guitars, bass and programming

With

* John Payne - harmony and choral vocals, mandolin
* Mark McCrite - guitars, bass, choral vocals, programming
* Bruce Bouillet - guitars
* Neil Citron - guitars
* Freddy DeMarco - guitars
* Guthrie Govan - guitar
* Don Schiff - NS/Stick
* Mark Matthews - bass
* Jay Schellen - drums

"El Dorado Hotel" track listing:

01. A Dream Full Of Fire [8:25]
02. Maybe We'll Meet Again [5:39]
03. El Dorado [6:12]
04. Darkness Falls [5:12]
05. Hotels [3:40]
06. Believe [6:03]
07. Life Of The Party [4:03]
08. Gone Are The Days [6:23]
09. Moon God [5:08]
10. In Exile [11:43]

"El Dorado Hotel" will be released on January 25 via Think Tank Media (Avalon in Japan).

The original lineup of Texan thrash metal veterans RIGOR MORTIS — Mike Scaccia (guitar), Casey Orr (bass), Harden Harrison (drums), and Bruce Corbitt (vocals) — has entered the studio to begin layinig down its first new album since 1991's "Rigor Mortis Vs. The Earth". The band is recording at 13th Planet Studios in El Paso, Texas, home to MINISTRY and BUCK SATAN AND THE 666 SHOOTERS. Production duties are being handled by Sammy D'Ambruoso and MINISTRY mainman Al Jourgensen.

Commented Orr: "Expect a brutally fast, sick and twisted record. We're not fucking around."

The RIGOR MORTIS members have been feverishly writing new material in between other projects. Scaccia and Orr recently contributed songs to the upcoming MINISTRY record, "Relapse", and are gearing up for the "Defibrillatour" this summer. Corbitt has been busy touring with his band, WARBEAST, most recently in support of the mighty GWAR. Harrison was recently in the studio recording with his band MITRA.

The return of RIGOR MORTIS has been a long time coming. Though the band has reunited for a handful of shows over the last several years, schedules and personal lives just wouldn't allow for the time and commitment necessary for the band to properly reemerge with new material and a determination to take RIGOR to the next level.

RIGOR MORTIS lineup:

Mike Scaccia - Guitar
Casey Orr - Bass/Vocals
Harden Harrison - Drums
Bruce Corbitt - Vocals

Don de Leaumont of The Great Southern Brainfart recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Great Southern Brainfart: You've expressed in the past that there needs to be a serious change in how the industry is doing things. In your opinion, what needs to change to make things better again?

Rob: Well, it's hard to say. This new generation of kids just doesn't seem to respect music. They don't respect it as an artform like they did years ago. To these young kids, they don't understand the concept that this is our lives. This is our career and it costs a lot of money to make a good record. When you go on the computer and hit a fucking button and download something for free, you're stealing, but the kids don't realize that. Somehow that needs to change and I think it will. I think musicians need to take the power back at some point soon because it's just getting worse and worse. This is how we make our living and pretty soon bands won't be able to survive and then what? [laughs]

The Great Southern Brainfart: Do you think that bands have started to take that power back by not going with major labels and starting their own record labels and handling distribution and what not?

Rob: Yeah. I just think that everything is going to be different at some point soon. I don't even know what "major labels" are anymore. [laughs]

The Great Southern Brainfart: Oh yeah. That's because so many major labels are gone and independent labels are now the new major labels with different names and so on. It's confusing.

Rob: [laughs] Major labels these days have like 10 people working for them [laughs]. It's just a huge mess. There just needs to be a way for them to figure out how to make sure the musicians are getting paid properly and this whole Internet piracy thing needs to be controlled.

The Great Southern Brainfart: We've talked about how you feel about the piracy aspect, but how about buying music online? How do you feel about that? It's like the magic of going to a record store is long gone so this is the only alternative it seems.

Rob: There are barely even any record stores left anymore. In New York City, there's Bleecker Bob's and Generation Records. Those are the only two record stores I know of and they're around the corner from each other, so that's convenient. [laughs] Other than that, I don't even know where to go. I mean, Walmart carries music, but they don't carry the music I want. Best Buy. Same shit. It's all online. These days I buy most of my shit on iTunes.

The Great Southern Brainfart: How do you feel that this seems to be the best way to get music these days?

Rob: My only problem with downloading music from iTunes is that the music doesn't sound good. The files are not full bandwidth. That, to me, is just weird. It's like we go through all of this trouble to make an album sound really awesome, and then it goes on iTunes and it gets compressed and then it's playing on someone's broken iPod and shit, so what's the point. [laughs] Honestly, I have no problem with iTunes, but I do miss going to record stores and picking up the CDs, feeling it in my hands, and seeing the artwork.

Read the entire interview from The Great Southern Brainfart.

Swedish MANOWAR-inspired all-female metal band HYSTERICA will release its sophomore album, "The Art Of Metal", on March 9 via Black Lodge. The CD was produced by Pontus Norgren (HAMMERFALL) and Marcus Jidell (EVERGREY).

According to a press release, "The Art Of Metal" sees HYSTERICA taking "a huge leap forward. They've developed tremendously since the debut, 'Metalwar', released in 2009. HYSTERICA is all about classic melodic doom and power metal, with keyboard, extreme vocals and grandiose choirs being added to the mix on this album."

"HYSTERICA wanted to broaden their horizon with this release — they wanted to mix music with other art outputs. They came up with the idea of letting seven different artists interpret one song each, with the song being turned into an art object. Work has been done by a metal sculpturer, a horror cartoonist, a photographer, a writer, an oil painter and a tattoo artist. The artists were given carte blanche to do what they wanted. During 2011, four digital singles have been released, and with the release the artwork has been presented."

"The Art Of Metal" track listing:

01. Breaking The Walls
02. Fighters Of The Century
03. Live Or Die
04. Spirit Of The Age
05. Message
06. Fear Of The Light
07. Force Of Metal
08. Heels Of Steel
09. Hysterica
10. Daughters Of The Night

A five-minute YouTube clip containing audio samples of all the tracks from "The Art Of Metal" is available below.

HYSTERICA has toured Sweden and Russia, and has played at both clubs and big festivals like Sweden Rock and Hard Rock Hell (United Kingdom).

Video footage of HYSTERICA performing the new songs "Force Of Metal" and "Heels Of Steel" can be seen below.

HYSTERICA gained notoriety after the release of its debut album, "Metalwar", which was mixed by Peter Tägtgren (PAIN, HYPOCRISY).

In 2010 HYSTERICA was honored with the "Best Newcomer" award at the Swedish Metal Awards.

For more information, visit www.hysterica.se.

Galy Records has announced the signing of Montreal death metallers DEPTHS OF HATRED. Due on on March 10, the band's debut album, "Aversionist", was recorded throughout 2011 and was mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson (CRYPTOPSY, NEURAXIS, THE LAST FELONY).

Commented the group: "We've laid low in 2011 but it's great to finally be releasing all the stuff we've been hard at work on this past year. Galy has been great with us, it's an honor to be with a label who put so many of the bands we listen to today on the map. We're excited for 2012."

DEPTHS OF HATRED video for the song "Revocation" will be released in the coming weeks. The clip features a guest appearance by Elliot Desgagnes (BENEATH THE MASSACRE).

DEPTHS OF HATRED is:

Dominic D.D.: Vocals
Martin Trottier: Guitar
Karl Desjardins: Drums
Antoine Millette: Bass

Atlanta-based band PRIMER 55 — featuring Bobby Burns (guitar, bass, vocals), The DRP (vocals), Heath Shaw (drums), and Mattytime (bass) — will release "The Big Fuck You" on February 14 via Family For Life/THC: Music/Rocket Science Ventures. The 16-song effort is a collection of retrospective B-sides and rarities from PRIMER 55's classic lineup, including the band's long-out-of-print independent LP "As Seen On TV".

"The Big Fuck You" track listing:

01. Loose
02. Bullshit
03. Supa Freak Love
04. Stain
05. Violence
06. The Big Fuck You
07. Drive It
08. Release
09. G's
10. Slip Away
11. Against The Wall
12. Tripinthehead
13. Profanity (And A Lot Of It)
14. Texas (acoustic)
15. This Life (acoustic)
16. My Girl (acoustic)

* "Loose" audio stream
* "The Big Fuck You" audio stream

PRIMER 55 has begun work on its self-titled fourth studio LP, tentatively due this summer.

After relasing three albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s, PRIMER 55 went on hiatus while Burns focused on recording and touring with SOULFLY as the band's bassist, a position he held until 2010. In 2007, PRIMER 55 reformed to release "Family For Life", afer which original vocalist J-Sin left the band and Milwaukee MC The DRP soon came into the fold.

Capital Chaos has uploaded quality multi-camera footage of EARTH CRISIS's November 4, 2011 performance at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California. Check out the clip below.

EARTH CRISIS's seventh album, "Neutralize The Threat", was released on July 12, 2011 via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (SHADOWS FALL, HATEBREED). The cover artwork was created by Ryan Clark and can be seen below.

"Neutralize The Threat" track listing:

01. Raise
02. Neutralize The Threat
03. Total War
04. 100-Kiloton Blast
05. Counterstrike
06. By Conscience Compelled
07. Black Talons Tear
08. Askari
09. The Eradicators
10. Raze

Commented the band: "We are very happy with how 'Neutralize The Threat' came out. Musically, it resembles the song structures on 'To The Death', but with a 'Gomorah's Season Ends' vibe thrown in. Every song is lyrically inspired by real-life vigilante actions that have taken place around the globe. The topics range from The Black Panther party to Bernard Goetz and we think it's an original lyrical concept for the band, while also retaining some subject matter we are known for dealing with in the past. Zeuss is the man and definitely delivered the best-sounding record we have ever had!"

Due to medical treatment, Benoît David is missing the April dates in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Hawaii, with Glass Hammer’s Jon Davison filling in.

The band then plan to return to North America and possibly Europe in the summer. Whether Benoît returns is not known at this time!

Vocalist Benoît David, a native of Montreal, Canada, has been singing with Yes since 2008. Benoît has also been the lead singer of Mystery since 1999, and has appeared on two albums: Beneath the Veil of Winter’s Face and One Among the Living. Fly From Here is Benoît’s first studio recording with Yes.

“Jon Davison is coming in because of Benoit’s departure. I always hope that when there is a member change in the band that it will be a permanent thing. Only time will tell really”, founding member Chris Squire told Noise11.com this morning.
“I don’t know if I’m meant to be telling you this yet, so I guess you’ve got a scoop,”

Like Benoit David, Jon Davison was discovered fronting a Yes covers band. Benoit had joined Yes after the departure of original singer Jon Anderson. He has been suffering from respiratory failure this year and could not continue on for the Australia tour in April. However, his departure is permanent.

“Yes, he has officially left Yes,” Chris says.

German melodic folk/death metallers SUIDAKRA have uploaded a 14-minute video recap of their recent trip to India where they performed two shows: February 4 in Vellore and February 5 in Bangalore. Check out the clip below.

SUIDAKRA's tenth album, "Book Of Dowth", was released on March 25, 2011 via AFM Records. The CD was recorded at Gernhart Studio in Siegburg, Germany with producer Martin Buchwalter. Famous Belgian graphic artist Kris Verwimp once again created the cover artwork and lyrical concept.

Inspired by the darker side of Celtic lore, the concept of "Book Of Dowth" chronicles the mythology of a mysterious race of demonic beings known as the "Fomor." Starting with the discovery of an ancient book at the excavation of Dowth (a Neolithic passage tomb in the Boyne Valley, Ireland), it unveils the yet untold story of the rise and fall of the Fomorian horde throughout history and far, far beyond…

Virginia crossover thrash metal band MUNICIPAL WASTE will release its fifth studio album, "The Fatal Feast", on April 10 in North America and April 13 in Europe via Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork for the cD was created by Justin Osbourn of Slasher Design and can be seen below.

"The Fatal Feast" track listing:

01. Waste In Space
02. Repossession
03. New Dead Masters
04. Unholy Abductor
05. Idiot Check
06. Covered In Sick/The Barfer
07. You're Cut Off
08. Authority Complex
09. Standards And Practices
10. Crushing Chest Wound
11. The Monster With 21 Faces
12. Jesus Freaks
13. The Fatal Feast
14. 12 Step Program
15. Death Tax
16. Residential Disaster

Both the digipack and vinyl editions will include the bonus track "Eviction Party".

"The Fatal Feast" features guest appearances by John Connelly (guitarist and vocalist for NUCLEAR ASSAULT), Steve Moore (who plays bass and synthesizers for ZOMBI), and vocalist Tim Barry (ex-AVAIL).

Osbourn recently answered a few questions about the artistic process for his masterpiece.

Q: Did you hear any new music before you created this bad boy?

Osbourn: Nope, I wasn't given any of the new song demos beforehand. Ryan [Waste, guitarist] kinda gave me an overall theme and certain elements that they wanted to see in the artwork. Being a fan of the band, I just took that and added what I thought would enhance it further.

Q: Why does the guy being eaten resemble Captain James Tiberius Kirk?

Osbourn: It's kinda weird that you say that... I happen to be quite the fan of the original "Star Trek" series. It would have totally made sense for that to be Captain Kirk being devoured, but unfortunately, that was never my intent. Perhaps it was subconsciously, though? How 'bout we just tell everyone it is.

Q: Anything hidden in the artwork (a la Derek Riggs/IRON MAIDEN covers) that fans should keep an eye out for?

Osbourn: Sorta. The number of cheap beer cans/bottles laying around on the cover are just about the right number I would drink on a night I would call a Pretty Damn Good Night. Oh, and there's an empty half pint of Viaka Vodka in there as well; it's just that it's laying behind The Waste-oids devouring Captain Kirk. Ha ha.

"Massive Aggressive", the last album from MUNICIPAL WASTE, landed at No. 10 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.

"Massive Aggressive" was released on August 25, 2009 via Earache Records.

Norwegian progressive metallers OCEANS OF TIME have just released their debut album, "Faces", via Melodic Revolution Records. Two years in the making, the CD contains 10 original songs with a running time of 55 minutes. It was recorded at Oceans Studios and was mixed and mastered by Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, PRETTY MAIDS, IRON FIRE, JORN) at Jailhouse Studios in Denmark.

Formed in 2005 by guitarist Lazz Jensen, OCEANS OF TIME played a lot of gigs between 2005 and 2008 which helped them establish themselves as one of the premier local bands. In 2009 OCEANS OF TIME took a break from touring to concentrate on writing and recording its debut CD.

"Faces" track listing:

01. Quest For Mystery
02. Walls Of Silence
03. The Beast
04. Faces
05. Kingdom Falls
06. A Touch Of Insanity
07. Roar Of Organs
08. Uncertainty
09. Panic
10. You're So Cold

OCEANS OF TIME is:

Ken Lyngfoss - Vocals
Lasse "Lazz" Jensen - Guitar
Nickolas Main Henriksen - Synth
Geir Nilsen - Bass
Baard Kolstad - Drums

"Valtiaan uudet vaateet", the new Tuomas Petsalo-directed video from Lemi, Finland-based metallers STAM1NA, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's fifth album, "Nocebo", which was released on February 8 via Sakara Records. The CD was recorded at Petrax studios with producer Joe Barresi (TOOL, BAD RELIGION, APOCALYPTICA, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, WOLFMOTHER).

"Nocebo" track listing:

01. Pirunpaska
02. Valtiaan uudet vaateet
03. Tavastia palamaan!
04. Puolikas ihminen
05. Aivohalvaus
06. Rabies
07. Lepositeet
08. Nomad
09. Ei encorea
10. Arveton on arvoton

The digipack version of "Nocebo" comes with an extended booklet and a DVD containing a half-hour "making-of" documentary, filmed at Petrax studios and produced by STAM1NA's bassist, Kai-Pekka Kangasmäki.

STAM1NA will promote the release of "Nocebo" by embarking on a spring 2012 tour of Finland, dubbed "Irti arjesta".

For an updated list of tour dates, go to this location.

According to a press release, the collaboration between Barresi and STAM1NA came about as a result of a meeting the producer had with the band in February 2010 when Joe was in Helsinki working on the latest APOCALYPTICA album.

STAM1NA was honored in the "Metal Album Of The Year" and "Band Of The Year" categories at last year's Emma Gaala (Finnish Grammy equivalent), which was held on February 26, 2011 at Barona Areena in Espoo, Finland.

STAM1NA's fourth full-length album, "Viimeinen Atlantis", entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 1. The CD, which was certified gold in Finland for sales in excess of 10,000 copies, was recorded at Astia Studios in Lappeenranta, Finland and was produced by Miitri Aaltonen, who helmed the first two STAM1NA albums.

Finnish metallers TRACEDAWN will release their new album, "Lizard Dusk", on February 15 via Redhouse. The CD was produced and co-recorded by Tuomas Yli-Jaskari, Perttu Kurttila and Vili Itäpelto at Seawolf and Redhouse Studios, mixed by Henrik Udd at Studio Fredman in Sweden and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox.

"Lizard Dusk" marks TRACEDAWN's first recorded output since the departure of singer Antti Lappalainen (vocal duties are presently shared between Niko Kalliojärvi [LITHURIA, ex-AMORAL] and guitarist Tuomas Yli-Jaskari).

"Lizard Dusk" track listing:

01. Arabian Nights
02. Breed Insane
03. Sick Fire
04. The Crawl
05. You're Fired!
06. Machine
07. Nothing And Nowhere
08. Thanks For Asking, I'm Just Obsessed
09. Taught My Eyes To Lie

The "Breed Insane" video can be seen below.

A video for the track "Machine" was recently completed and will make its online debut on Friday, February 10 via Finland's Radio Rock.

TRACEDAWN is:

Niko Kalliojärvi (LITHURIA, ex-AMORAL) - Vocals
Tuomas Yli-Jaskari (LITHURIA) - Guitar/Vocals
Roni Seppänen - Guitar
Pekko Heikkilä - Bass
Vili Itäpelto (SERAPHIEL, FRIENDS WITH ENEMIES) - Keyboards
Perttu Kurttila (LITHURIA) - Drums

VAN HALEN played a special "rehearsal" show for their upcoming North American tour last night (Wednesday, February 8) at the Forum in Los Angeles.

VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash, who was one of the thousands of lucky people in attendance, tweeted after the concert, "VAN HALEN was killer tonight at the Forum. Eddie [Van Halen] was brilliant. So amazing to hear/watch."

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. You Really Got Me
02. Running With The Devil
03. She's The Woman
04. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
05. Tattoo
06. Everybody Wants Some
07. Beautiful Girls
08. Ice Cream Man
09. China Town
10. Dance The Night Away
11. Hot For Teacher
12. Blood And Fire
13. Guitar Solo
14. Panama
15. Jump

Fan-filmed video footage of last night's show can be seen below.

VAN HALEN will kick off its North American tour on February 18 in Louisville, Kentucky.

VAN HALEN's new album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", is likely to sell between 180,000 and 200,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on February 7 via Interscope.

The first review of "A Different Kind Of Truth" was posted online last week at Antiquiet — and it was overwhelmingly positive. Critic Johnny Firecloud said that the band's first album with original singer David Lee Roth in 28 years is a "true return" and "screaming triumph," adding, "That old familiar feeling has returned, the unique flare of excitement that comes from a muscle car rhythm section led by a six-string wizard and a singing sexual megalodon with an ego that made Kanye look like a kid flaunting his new Spider-Man underoos — and the pipes to back up the strut."

The review acknowledged that much of the album is made up of material pulled from the band's archives, writing, "Thankfully, these songs do not sound like old men putting on the smelly old spandex and combing over the strays. Fresh is the operative word here, a supremely confident swing for the fences in an understandable progression from the obsessively romanticized pre-Hagar era."

First single and album opener "Tattoo" is described as the "low point for an otherwise fantastic album," which may offer hope to fans who have voiced displeasure with that track. Other songs cited as standout tracks include "She's The Woman", "You And Your Blues", "China Town" and "Stay Frosty".

The review concluded, "'A Different Kind Of Truth' will be remembered as evidence that a band can endure every cliche in the book and return, with the right focus, obsessed dedication and mojo, to a sweet spot of rejuvenation — one that holds the hand of nostalgia but doesn't go for the full embrace, leaning instead, wisely, toward evolution."

Arjen is proud to announce that he was able to enlist the talents of legendary screen actor Rutger Hauer as the narrator on his forthcoming solo album. “This is a dream come true,” he says. “Rutger is not only one of my favorite actors, he also starred in my all-time favorite sci-fi movie, Blade Runner.”

Rutger also enjoyed the collaboration with Arjen, saying “it was marvelous work, very creative.”

Arjen’s solo album (title TBA) is scheduled for release by InsideOut on 23 April (Europe) and 8 May (USA). More info to follow soon!

From all of us at ArjenLucassen.com and until next time!

Reunited Swiss thrash trio CORONER was one of 40 acts which took part in this year's 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, which set sail January 23 aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty Of The Seas from Miami, Florida to George Town, Cayman Islands and returned four days later.

A four-minute video recap of their appearance at the event can be seen below.

In a 2011 interview with ThrashHead, CORONER drummer Marquis Marky (a.k.a. Marky Edelmann) was asked whether the band has given any thought to possibly about getting back into the studio and recording a new album. "No, we [haven't]," he replied. "Because there are several reasons for this. The main problem is that we all have daily jobs. Ron [Royce; bass/vocals] is working for a company, I work for an art collector, I have a family and a little daughter, I am just not as free as I used to be, I can't just say, 'Well, I am going to be in the studio for a month,' I can't cancel my job for that, I can't be away from my family for that long. And Tommy [Vetterli, guitar], with his studio, is extremely busy all the time. I think it's just an illusion if we say we'll make a new album, because it would take such a long time. Of course, we can try to do that, but it would take maybe three or four years or something....that would be just strange, you know, to produce in this way, that you say, 'Let's wait three weeks, and then we come together and put together the second song, drums,' or something like that. For me, you have to be a band, you have to be somewhere else, away from everything, you have to be together for three weeks or whatever in one studio, just to get through one piece... that's the way we always did it... This is just not possible [to pull off right now]. I think it's OK how it is... Well, what we are probably going to do is one song or something, just one song to add to these few shows we do know or we just put on.... We're actually planning on putting out a DVD with all the cuts from the shows, traveling, what we're doing now and next year...combined with some old footage, like for instance, the first CORONER concert ever that we did in Zurich with CELTIC FROST and KREATOR and things like that. That's probably where the one new song or something like that will go.... I don't know. But, basically, to answer your question, there is not going to be a new album."

Keyboardist Jordan Rudess of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER has uploaded a seven-minute video clip containing behind-the-scenes footage from the band's February 8 concert at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Check it out below.

DREAM THEATER's new album, "A Dramatic Turn Of Events", sold 36,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 8. The band's previous CD, 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", opened with 40,000 units to land at No. 6. This was roughly in line with the first-week tally registered by its predecessor, "Systematic Chaos", which shifted 36,000 copies in 2007 to enter the chart at No. 19. 2005's "Octavarium" premiered with 27,000 copies to debut at No. 36.

DREAM THEATER is among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 12 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Grammy Awards will once again will be broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

MPIRE OF EVIL (formerly PRIMEVIL) — the band he formed in 2010 with fellow ex-VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Tony "The Demolition Man" Dolan (bass, vocals) — will release its full-length debut, "Hell To The Holy", on March 26 via Scarlet Records. The CD boasts 10 brand-new tracks displaying the band's infectious and groovy heavy metal assault, conveying Mantas' thunderous riffs, a huge rhythm section and Dolan's abrasive vocals into a monstrous musical holocaust which will appeal to both old-school and modern metal fans.

Produced by Mantas himself and featuring stunning cover artwork by Gyula Havancsák (ANNIHILATOR, DESTRUCTION, GRAVE DIGGER), "Hell To The Holy" is without any doubts a "must have" album for 2012.

A North American tour with British thrash legends ONSLAUGHT has already been confirmed but many more dates will follow soon.

Despite having played on the album, drummer Antony "Antton" Lant (ex-VENOM) has since left the band for personal reasons but a replacement for the tour will be announced soon.

"Hell To The Holy" track listing:

01. Hellspawn
02. Metal Messiah
03. Waking Up Dead
04. Hell To The Holy
05. Snake Pit
06. All Hail
07. Devil
08. Shockwave
09. The 8th Gate
10. M-pire (Prelude)

The song "Hellspawn" can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below.

MPIRE OF EVIL released its debut mini-album, "Creatures Of The Black", on October 21, 2011 via Scarlet Records. The CD features cover versions of four songs that influenced the members of M-PIRE OF EVIL ("Exciter" by JUDAS PRIEST, "God Of Thunder" by KISS, "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be" by AC/DC and "Motörhead" by MOTÖRHEAD), plus two new songs, "Hellspawn" and "Reptile", which are available for streaming on the group's Facebook page.

In a 2010 interview with Metality, Dolan stated about the formation of M-PIRE OF EVIL,"Well, I think it came about as Mantas and Antton who were both doing separate music projects (DRYLL and DEF-CON-ONE) came together in DRYLL. Mantas needed a drummer and Antton offered his services. People kept wondering what it would be like if Mantas and Antton played with me and it was kind of, 'Oh, yeah that would be fun perhaps,' but then DRYLL played a show and performed the VENOM track 'Black Metal' [with Antton] and that was kind of it. People started saying I had to come in and play, too. So I got a phone call and had a few chats with Mantas and that was that; we decided we'd see if it worked. It does, very well, but then again myself and Mantas have always been friends and played well together. The addition of a drummer as good as Antton was something too cool to pass up! [M-PIRE OF EVIL] is old school, I guess, melodic, heavy, powerful. [As to how MPIRE OF EVIL is] different from VENOM, [I'm] not sure. We will inevitably be compared, as we are all ex-VENOM [members] and, of course, Mantas was the main songwriter for VENOM, so... But I feel we are more like classic metal. MOTÖRHEAD, BLACK SABBATH.... PRIEST and VENOM."

ROB ZOMBIE/ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5's sixth solo studio instrumental album, "God Told Me To", will be released on April 10. The cover art, which features a painting of John 5 by Rob Zombie, can be seen below. Also available is a 35-second video trailer for the effort.

According to John 5, "God Told Me To"will be "half acoustic and half metal and feature music that will blow you away." He has already whetted the fans' appetite by releasing four digital singles from the album: "Beat It" (MICHAEL JACKSON cover), "Welcome To Violence", "Noche Acosador" and "The Castle".

As well as the stunning cover art by Rob Zombie, art from the solo singles will also feature within the album. The single covers were created by ROB ZOMBIE bassist Matt Montgomery's (a.k.a. Piggy D.) and Emma (John 5's web manager) from Nineteen76-Designs.

In an interview with U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine, John 5 stated about his forthcoming CD, "I have an album called 'God Told Me To' [coming out] and it's half heavy and it's half acoustic, which I've never done before. I'm doing a cover of MICHAEL JACKSON's 'Beat It', an instrumental version of it. And it's gonna be amazing. I'm really excited about this record 'cause of the acoustic stuff, 'cause I've never done that before. And it's gonne be awesome. I'm so excited for this to come out. I think I'm gonna put a [making-of] DVD out with it. People always like to see how I do things and stuff."

"The Art Of Malice", the last solo album from John 5, sold around 1,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 27 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

Legendary progressive, iconic, symphonic rockband “The Flower Kings”, formed in 1995 by guitarist, singer Roine Stolt, announce their immediate return to service this year, after an almost 5 years well earned hiatus. The band consisting of Roine Stolt, bassplayer Jonas Reingold, keyboarder Tomas Bodin, singer & guitarist Hasse Froberg and new 26 year old Berliner drummer Felix Lehrmann, started the recording of a new album at Varispeed studios in Sweden on January 23rd.

The music is recorded in classic 70′s style, with all musicians performing live in a room thru 70′s vintage tube recording equipment and famous NEVE consoles. If all Gods and muses are onboard the new TFK is scheduled for an album release on June 6th on the Inside Out Music label (Century Media/EMI).

The yet unnamed album has a 23 min epic centerpiece and the material is all classic Flowerkings style with all the dreamy melodic & cinematic elements that the bands fans has come to love over the years, but also contain some heavier psychedelic music and some darker hi energy material.

The band is likely to embark on a headline European tour in September this year but will have it’s official first reunion gig at the “Sweden Rock Festival” in June 7th – 2012.

Regina, Saskatchewan-based Canadian extreme progressive metallers INTO ETERNITY recently tapped Amanda Kiernan of the Edmonton, Alberta-based metal band THE ORDER OF CHAOS as their new touring vocalist. Kiernan takes over from Stu Block, who was hired away last year by American metallers ICED EARTH, leaving INTO ETERNITY without a full-time singer.

INTO ETERNITY founder and guitarist Tim Roth told the Regina Leader-Post that he invited Kiernan to Regina to try out for the band after hearing a tape of her performing his songs.

"I had all these guys who told me they could do the songs and hit the notes Stu could. So I had them try out and it was like, 'No way.' Nobody could do it," Roth said. "But Amanda's got this great voice … none of the dudes could hit the notes Stu could, so maybe it makes sense that only a chick can do it. Besides, she already fits in like she's one of the guys."

Kiernan, who said she's been an INTO ETERNITY fan since she was in high school, told the Regina Leader-Post about her audition, "At first, I was pretty intimidated. These guys are rock stars to me. There were times when I was sitting around with the guys, and then all of a sudden I'd get this little burst of energy because I reminded myself that I was sitting with INTO ETERNITY."

Read more from the Regina Leader-Post.

BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne has commented on last month's announcement that his SABBATH bandmate, guitarist Tony Iommi, was diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, a type of cell that forms part of the immune system. According to a statement issued by his publicist, the 63-year-old metal legend is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan and remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery.

"He's gonna beat it," Ozzy said in an interview that will be broadcast later today on Ozzy's Boneyard, the new classic hard rock and metal music channel on SiriusXM Radio. "What it's down to is determination, and believe me, this guy's got more determination than anybody I've ever met. It's gonna be fine. It's just one of those trials in life that happen, you know. . . He's got so much support, not only from each one of us in the band, but the fan base; it's unbelievable. And it's one of them problems you have in life. . . He ain't gonna die, I'm telling you. I told him if he dies, I'm gonna kill him."

A short audio clip of Ozzy talking about Iommi's cancer battle can be streamed below (courtesy of Metal Injection).

Ozzy's one-on-one conversation with SiriusXM host Jose Mangin will air today (Wednesday, February 8) at 7:00 p.m. ET on Ozzy's Boneyard, channel 38.

SABBATH's new album, which is being produced by Rick Rubin, is set for release this fall. SABBATH is scheduled to embark on a world tour this summer, although Iommi's illness could affect those plans.

Iommi's bandmate in SABBATH and HEAVEN & HELL, legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, died of stomach cancer in May 2010 at the age of 67.

SABBATH drummer Bill Ward announced last week that he will not participate in the reunited band's new album and tour unless he is given a fair contract. The other three members of the group responded by saying that they "have no choice but to continue recording without [Bill]."

According to The Pulse Of Radio, DEFTONES bassist Chi Cheng is showing more signs of emerging from a semi-comatose state to a semi-conscious state, over three years since he was gravely injured in a November 2008 car crash. Cheng is now able to move his leg on command (see video below), but is still otherwise unable to move or speak aside from grunting noises that he began making in October.

Cheng required surgery after the car accident to remove part of his brain, but his recovery was strong enough that he was taken off life support seven months later.
Over the course of the past two years, Cheng has emerged from his coma for brief intervals. He opens his eyes and apparently can see and hear things going on around him, but cannot respond verbally.

Nevertheless, Cheng's family is running out of money. He is staying in a special facility in New Jersey and lost his insurance just months after the accident.

His family reportedly has just $17,000 out of the total $250,000 needed for his full course of treatment and recovery.

DEFTONES have held several benefit concerts and continue to donate money from the band's tours. Singer Chino Moreno said that the group's fans have continued to help as well. "Whatever people can do, it's all appreciated, and it's all just in the hopes that there will be one day where he can talk back and have a conversation and see his kids and, you know, continue on living, you know," he said. "That's what we pray and hope for, you know what I mean, that's all we can do."

DEFTONES are in the studio working on a follow-up to 2010's "Diamond Eyes", one of the band's most successful outings yet.

Sergio Vega continues to play bass for the band. Vega stepped in for touring purposes after Cheng's accident, and stayed on to record "Diamond Eyes" with the group.

Italian heavy rockers LACUNA COIL took part in a signing session and short acoustic performance this past Monday, February 6 at Sunrise Records in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Video footage of their set can be seen below.

LACUNA COIL's new album, "Dark Adrenaline", sold around 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 15 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, "Shallow Life", opened with 21,000 units back April 2009 to land at No. 16.

LACUNA COIL's 2006 album, "Karmacode", premiered with 34,000 copies back in April 2006 to enter the chart at No. 28. It has since sold more than 200,000 units in the U.S.

The band's 2002 album, "Comalies", has shifted more than 300,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"Dark Adrenaline" was released in North America on January 24 via Century Media Records. The CD was helmed by acclaimed producer Don Gilmore (LINKIN PARK, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) and "deliver[s] the melodic, sensual, metallic rush for which the band has come to be known," according to a press release.

Fans both old and new have a variety of options to choose from, as "Dark Adrenaline" was released in numerous formats, including standard-edition CD and vinyl, deluxe edition digipak with a bonus DVD, sticker, poster and guitar pick and as an iTunes LP with expanded packaging, five bonus audio tracks and video. The Metal Club edition features exclusive artwork designed by the band and will be limited to 3,000 units. The Hastings edition features a bonus 10-track LACUNA COIL sampler, and the Amazon digital edition comes with a free five-track sampler. Finally, for true fans of the band, is the "Darkest Adrenaline" box set, which includes both the digipak and vinyl versions of the album along with a hardcover photo book, a LACUNA COIL custom syringe pen and ink, a lyric pad, signed lithographs created by the band and more, all housed in a LACUNA COIL medical box. This box set is limited to 500 pieces and is available exclusively through CM Distro.

Following the recent announcement of a 19-date tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of JETHRO TULL's Thick As A Brick, on April 2nd (April 3rd in North America) IAN ANDERSON will release a sequel to the original album.

In 1972, Ian Anderson wrote and recorded the Jethro Tull progressive rock classic album, Thick As A Brick. The lyrics were credited at the time to the fictitious child character, Gerald Bostock, whose parents supposedly lied about his age. The record instantly became a number one Billboard Chart album and enjoyed considerable success in many countries of the world.

So, forty years on, what would Gerald Bostock - aged fifty in 2012 - be doing today? What might have befallen him? The anniversary “part two” album will examine the possible different paths that the precocious young schoolboy, Gerald Bostock, might have taken later in life through alter-ego characters with song-section identities illustrating the hugely varied potential twists and turns of fate and opportunity. Not just for Gerald but to echo how our own lives develop, change direction and ultimately conclude through chance encounters and interventions, however tiny and insignificant they might seem at the time.

Ian Anderson says of the album, “As we baby-boomers look back on our own lives, we must often feel an occasional 'what-if' moment. Might we, like Gerald, have become instead preacher, soldier, down-and-out, shopkeeper or finance tycoon?” Adding, “And those of more tender years - the social media and internet generation - may choose to ponder well the myriad of chance possibilities ahead of them at every turn.....”

To coincide with this groundbreaking release, for the first time since 1972, Anderson and fellow musicians John O'Hara (keyboards), David Goodier (bass), Florian Opahle (guitar) and Scott Hammond (drums) - as well as some guest performers - will take to the road to perform the album in its entirety and, it can now exclusively be revealed that, in addition, there will be a second part to the show where Anderson and the band will also perform the sequel.

Thick As A Brick 2 (TAAB2) tracklisting:

'From A Pebble Thrown'
'Pebbles' (Instrumental)
'Might-Have-Beens'
'Upper Sixth Loan Shark'
'Banker Bets, Banker Wins'
'Swing It Far'
'Adrift And Dumfounded'
'Old School Song'
'Wootton Bassett Town'
'Power And Spirit'
'Give Till It Hurts'
'Cosy Corner'
'Shunt And Shuffle'
'A Change Of Horses'
'Confessional'
'Kismet In Suburbia'
'What-Ifs, Maybes And Might-Have-Beens'

Thick As A Brick 2 will be released as a standard jewel case CD and digital download, and in a Special Edition 2-disc package with DVD featuring 5.1 stereo mixes, 24-bit stereo mix, video of the making of the album, interviews with the musicians and Ian Anderson reading the lyrics in various locations.

After 44 years of leading Tull to 54 countries worldwide and over 60 million albums sold, Ian Anderson celebrates a true progressive rock classic with old and new fans across the UK for a whole three weeks. Anderson is known as the flute and voice of the legendary Jethro Tull, formed in the North of England in 1968 from the amalgamation of blues-based John Evan Band and McGregor's Engine. Since their first performance at London's famous Marquee Club in 1968, the band has released 30 studio and live albums and earned a prominent place in rock history.