Spanish female-fronted symphonic metallers DIABULUS IN MUSICA will release their sophomore album, "The Wanderer", in Europe on March 5 via Napalm Records.

According to a press release, "With their latest album, the Spanish quintet proves that impressive symphonic metal need not hail from Scandinavia. The musicians revolving around vocalist Zuberoa Aznárez have refined the trademark sound first heard on their debut album, 'Secrets', and brought their latest work, 'The Wanderer', to a whole new level. DIABULUS IN MUSICA unites heavy riffs with sensual melodies and appealing refrains. 'The Wanderer' is not a mere collection of songs, but rather a passionate and sweeping symphonic metal album that will mesmerize from beginning to end."

DIABULUS IN MUSICA previously described the material on "The Wanderer" as "full of passion, energetic, yet delicate, and also a big step forward in our music."

"The Wanderer" track listing:

01. A Journey's End (intro)
02. Ex Nihilio
03. Sceneries Of Hope
04. Blazing A Trail
05. Call From A Rising Memory (intro)
06. Hidden Reality
07. Shadow Of The Throne
08. Allegory Of Faith, Innocence And Future
09. Sentenced To Life
10. Ohiuka Bihotzetik
11. No Time For Repentance (Lamentatio)
12. The Wanderer

The "Sceneries Of Hope" video can be seen below.

Formed in 2006, DIABULUS IN MUSICA's debut album, "Secrets", came out in May 2010 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was engineered by Spanish producer Iñaki Llarena and was mixed by former EPICA guitarist Ad Sluijter. It was mastered by Sascha Paeth, Simon Oberender and Michael "Miro" Rodenberg at Gate studios in Wolfsburg, Germany.

DIABULUS IN MUSICA is:

Zuberoa Aznárez: Vocals
Gorka Elso: Keyboards
Adrián M. Vallejo: Guitars
Alex Sanz: Bass Guitar
Xabi Jareño: Drums

VAN HALEN's new album, A Different Kind Of Truth, will be released in North America by Interscope Records on February 7th. Audio samples from the entire album can be found at this location (click view in iTunes).

The Deluxe Edition of A Different Kind Of Truth will contain a bonus DVD which will feature the following: Bonus DVD disc containing four brand new acoustic performance videos titled The Downtown Sessions. Tracks include: 'Panama', 'You And Your Blues', 'You Really Got Me' and 'Beautiful Girls'.

Video footage of members of CHILDREN OF BODOM, SUFFOCATION and CROWBAR performing karaoke-style cover versions of several popular standards on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise — which set sail Monday, January 23 aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty Of The Seas from Miami, Florida to George Town, Cayman Islands and returned four days later — can be viewed below.

The following bands performed on this year's cruise:

ALESTORM
AMORPHIS
ANNIHILATOR
ATHEIST
CANDLEMASS
CANNIBAL CORPSE
CHANNEL ZERO
CHILDREN OF BODOM
CORONER
DARK FUNERAL
DIAMOND PLATE
EDGUY
ELUVEITIE
EXCITER
GOD DETHRONED
GRAVE DIGGER
HAMMERFALL
IN EXTREMO
KAMELOT
KATAKLYSM
MASSACRE
MEGORA
MOONSORROW
MY DYING BRIDE
NIGHTWISH
OVERKILL
PENTAGRAM
PESTILENCE
PRETTY MAIDS
RIOT
SAMAEL
SAPIENCY
STRATOVARIUS
SUFFOCATION
TANKARD
THERION
TRISTANIA
VENOM
VICIOUS RUMORS
VIRGIN STEELE
WHIPLASH

For more information, visit www.70000tons.com.

LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia joined MEGADETH on stage earlier tonight (Saturday, January 28) at the third show of this year's Gigantour at the 5,600-seat Theater At Madison Square Garden to perform the MEGADETH song "A Tout Le Monde".

Multi-camera fan-filmed video footage of her appearance can be seen below.

MEGADETH's setlist for tonight's concert was as follows:

01. Trust
02. Wake Up Dead
03. Hangar 18
04. Sweating Bullets
05. Angry Again
06. Poison Was The Cure
07. Dawn Patrol
08. Public Enemy #1
09. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
10. Guns, Drugs & Money
11. A Tout Le Monde
12. Symphony Of Destruction
13. Holy Wars…Punishment Due

"A Tout Le Monde", which originally appeared on MEGADETH's 1994 CD "Youthanasia", created controversy in September 2006 because the song was cited in an online post by Dawson College killer Kimveer Gill as one of his favorites before his Montreal shooting spree. MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine contends that he wanted to give the song a second shot at success, as the original video for it had been banned by MTV, and most radio stations followed suit. The track ended up featuring Cristina Scabbia after "the first singer didn't work out," Mustaine told Straight.com. "The second one didn't work, and the third one was Lisa Marie Presley. She was on the way to the airport, and we had to call and say, 'Sorry, we changed our minds.' I would have loved to have heard what Lisa Marie Presley would have done, but because of the demographics of the LACUNA COIL fan base, and Cristina's reign in the heavy-metal business, it was the right thing to do."

In a 2008 interview Cristina stated about her collaboration with MEGADETH, "[Dave Mustaine] actually asked me to be part of this duet, and I was really surprised about it because 'A Tout Le Monde' is a song that I've always loved, even if it's not like the new [version] because [the original song] [was released on] the album 'Youthanasia'. It was a big surprise for me to get this invitation — I was really honored to be part of it. And seriously, when I heard the final result, I was awesomely surprised 'cause I think that the two voices are fitting incredibly [well together]. I think that the version of 'A Tout le Monde' 2007 has a stronger attitude. If the original version was for the mellow mood, this one is way more rock, way more powerful. I totally love it. I was surprised myself, and I think that a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised. It was recorded, like an hour from Birgmingham [England]. So I flew in and recorded my parts with Andy Sneap [producer]. He's [Andy] an amazing guy — super professional — and the atmosphere in the studio was so relaxed. It was like a family vibe, and I think that's the most amazing thing when you have to work. You can work and still smile, you know, and be relaxed. I tracked the entire song because we weren't really sure what we had to do, so we just wanted to be totally sure, so we recorded all the parts that Dave sung with some improvisation with it, double vocals. We basically made anything possible, so they could pick up whatever they wanted to."

"A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)" appeared on MEGADETH's 2007 album "United Abominations", which was released via Roadrunner Records.

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper, along with members of his backing band — Chuck Garric, Steve Hunter, Tommy Henriksen, Keri Kelli (filling in for Orianthi) and Glen Sobel — took Montreal, Quebec, Canada by storm last night (Saturday, January 28) at the 2012 "Show Harley" event. The band played a blistering 60-minute set for a huge crowd of rowdy, Harley-Davidson-loving Alice Cooper fans. According to a post on Cooper's web site, "the setlist consisted of classics, a few covers, Alice gave away a brand new Harley, the stage lit up with fire, there were the infamously... ahem... attractive 'Show Harley' girls on stage for the biker classic 'Born To Be Wild'. It was a wild night."

Alice's setlist was as follows:

01. Black Widow
02. No More Mr. Nice Guy
03. Under My Wheels
04. I'm Eighteen
05. I'll Bite Your Face Off
06. Billion Dollar Babies
07. Muscle Love
08. Feed My Frankenstein
09. Poison
10. School's Out
11. Elected
12. Brown Sugar
13. Born To Be Wild

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

Check out photos at AliceCooper.com.

Austrian symphonic extreme metal outfit HOLLENTHON is making professionally filmed video footage of its entire December 4, 2010 concert at Szene in Vienna available for streaming in five parts. The third and the fourh clips can be seen below, with the fifth and final part set to follow on February 5.

HOLLENTHON's latest EP, "Tyrants and Wraiths", came out in 2009.The CD featured four new tracks and two live videos from the 2008 Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium.

HOLLENTHON's most recent album, "Opus Magnum", was released in June 2008 via the Austrian record label Napalm Records. The CD featured eight songs and a cover version, plus a video.

HOLLENTHON issued two critically acclaimed albums a decade ago — "Domus Mundi" (1999) and "With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell" (2001).

Part 4:

Guitarist, composer and producer Steve Vai was the recipient of the prestigious Les Paul Award at the 27th annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards. The gala co-presented by the TEC Foundation For Excellence In Audio and NAMM, was held on January 20 at the Hilton in Anaheim, California as a special event of the 2012 NAMM show.

The TEC Awards recognizes outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product design.

Sponsored by the Les Paul Foundation, the Les Paul Award is given annually to a musician or recording professional whose work has epitomized the marriage of music and technology. The award was co-presented by Russ Paul and celebrated rock bassist Billy Sheehan.

Video footage of the Les Paul Award presentation can be seen below.

The show was hosted by "Late Show" veteran Will Lee, and featured musical performances by Lee, the 2 COLD CHILIBONE TEC BAND, Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, Orianthi, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, CJ Vanston, scratcher DJ HAPA and other veteran vocalists and session musicians.

The complete list of the 27th annual TEC Awards winners is available at this location.

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach is playing three "special concerts" in New York City with BILLY IDOL guitarist Steve Stevens. The shows are taking place on January 27, January 28 and January 29 at The Iridium and feature Bach and Stevens "doing two sets a night," including "some special unexpected songs."

Video footage of Bach and Stevens performing cover versions of BILLY IDOL's "Rebel Yell" and VAN HALEN's "Hot For Teacher" can be seen below. They were accompanied at the show by Pete Thorn on second guitar, Neil Jason on bass and Anton Fig on drums.

In a recent interview with Rock Nothing But…, Bach stated about his collaboration with the BILLY IDOL guitarist, "I've always loved Steve Stevens. He's always been one of my heroes. He's a true rock star guitar player and a personality onstage. The way he plays, how he has those shotgun blasts on the guitar with the whammy bar and all that. It's just so distinctive. I've always wanted to jam with him, so yeah, we could work together in the future. I would really enjoy that. We do shows with CAMP FREDDY. Which is a band made up of Billy Morrison, Mark McGrath, Billy Idol plays quite a bit. That's where I met Steve Stevens. Dave Navarro plays a lot. Steve plays 'Youth Gone Wild' and 'I Remember You'. It's unbelievable. I never thought I'd hear Steve Stevens play SKID ROW songs."

Video footage of reactivated Arizona thrashers SACRED REICH performing on Friday, January 27 at Fat Cat in Modesto, California can be seen below. Photos of the concert are available at this location. (All pictures and video clips by Stephanie Cabral.)

SACRED REICH will embark on a 25th-anniversary European tour this summer. Confirmed dates are as follows:

Jun. 07 - GRE - Athens - Gagarin 205
Jun. 09 - SWE - Sölvesborg - Sweden Rock Festival
Jun. 10 - GER - Hamburg - Markthalle *
Jun. 12 - GER - Berlin - C-Club *
Jun. 13 - GER - Bochum - Zeche *
Jun. 14 - GER - Nürnberg - Hirsch *
Jun. 15 - SWI - Pratteln - Galery *
Jun. 17 - FRA - Clisson - Hellfest
Jun. 21 - GBR - London - Underworld
Jun. 22 - BEL - Dessel - Graspop
Jun. 23 - NED - Zwolle - Hedon
Aug. 03 - GER - Wacken - Wacken Open Air
Aug. 04 - FIN - Pori - Porispere

* With support from DEGRADEAD

The remastered edition of SACRED REICH's classic 1992 album "Independent" was released as a digipack and jewelbox on March 15, 2010 via Displeased Records. The first 2,500 copies contain a free SACRED REICH patch.

Bonus tracks:

* "A Question" (from "A Question" EP)
* "Let's Have A War" (FEAR cover from "A Question" EP)
* "Who's To Blame" (from "A Question" EP)
* "The Big Picture" (MDC cover from "Open Book" EP)
* "Crawling" [radio edit] (from "Crawling" EP)

Displeased Records' reissue of SACRED REICH's classic album "The American Way" came out in February 2009. With upgraded layout, to-the-point remastering plus unreleased pre-production demo bonus tracks and a video clip, this new and improved CD reissue is an essential addition to every thrash metal collection.

"The American Way" was made available in a limited digipak version and standard jewel case version. The first 2,500 copies came with a free logo patch.

All photos and video footage by Stephanie Cabral

QUEENSRŸCHE lead singer Geoff Tate kicked off his acoustic solo tour, billed as GEOFF TATE AND FRIENDS, this past Thursday, January 26 at Anthology in San Diego, California. According to Tate, he is "playing acoustic renditions of songs from my solo album as well as some of my favorite QUEENSRŸCHE songs."

Fan-filmed video footage of the the second concert of the tour — which took place last night (Friday, January 27) at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California — can be seen below.

In a recent interview with AnthologySD.com, Tate was asked if he is looking into any future solo projects. "I am!" he replied. "I'm actually working on one right now that I hope to have wrapped up pretty soon. This show that I'm doing [on the solo tour] is an acoustic show with some friends of mine who are fantastic acoustic players. We're doing kind of a blend of my last solo album, some QUEENSRŸCHE songs, and we'll toss in some new ones that haven't been released yet. It'll just be a really fun night. Very homey, intimate, we'll probably take requests, things like that."

He added, "For the last couple of years, I've been doing more stuff outside of QUEENSRŸCHE in order to just stretch out. But I'll tell you, even though I've sang shows in front of hundreds of thousands of people and also intimate shows of a few hundred, but whenever I go out to an event or something and someone asks me to sing a song with them, I'm petrified! (Laughs) I don't know much material outside of my own material that I've written, and so if someone asks me to sing 'Danny Boy', I couldn't sing it! Not even if someone offered me a million dollars could I sing that song. So I'm trying to be a bit more versatile and learn more stuff."

When asked about QUEENSRŸCHE's plans following the band's most recent concert, which took place on January 13 at the Peppermill Concert Hall in Wendover, Nevada, Tate told the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM last month, "Nothing. We're taking a year off and we'll be working on a new album. [We'll be going] back to the studio."

QUEENSRŸCHE is scheduled to perform in São Paulo, Brazil in April and at the Douglas County Fair in Rosenburg, Oregon in August.

TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, the new project featuring Dani "Filth" Davey (vocals; CRADLE OF FILTH), Rob Caggiano (guitar; ANTHRAX, THE DAMNED THINGS), Tom Cato Visnes (bass; a.k.a. King ov Hell; OV HELL, GOD SEED, GORGOROTH), John Tempesta (drums; formerly of WHITE ZOMBIE and now drumming with THE CULT) and Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal (guitar; ENSLAVED) spent time in Bergen, Norway earlier this month fine-tuning the material that is set to appear on the band's forthcoming debut album.

Dani has released the following update via the official TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON Facebok page:

"Long time dead, my dear friends.

"Welcome to the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, wherein all your desires and deepest darkest fantasies become terrifying reality at the press of a stereo button.

"I'm writing to you now to let you in on exactly what is brewing with this band and the bunch of hellish reprobates contained therein.

"I, Dani Filth, third in line to the Baronet of Hades, have just returned from a week in Bergen, Norway, where TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON have been ensconced in a studio (which is simultaneously working on the new GOD SEED album, I hasten to add), putting the spit and polish to the album's worth of music we've written.

"Thus far we have the following titles to confirm, with a further couple of corkers steaming down the pipeline soon...

* Beautifully Perverse
* Into The Void
* Don't Call Up What You Can't Put Down
* Infernal Desire Machine
* Alchemy, Myself And I
* Dark Eyes For Trouble
* C.N.T (All That's Missing Is You)
* Persephone
* Last Of The Vampire Playboys
* Another Dead Thing Between Us
* Catch

"Everything is sounding great and we are hoping to secure management (we're in the midst of discussions) and then a record deal in the foreseeable future, though no names can be uttered yet… I'm an absolute bugger when it comes to jinxes!

"My time in Bergen was a riot. I was lodging at Tom's with Geir and Rob as well as Tom's American girlfriend Stefanie, which proved a bit of a pileup when it came to using the bathroom every morning! Actually, that's bearing in mind that we didn't actually see the morning all week, save for the very last day when we had to pack down the gear early before Rob's flight.

"After long stretches in the studio analysing music, playing music or reading old copies of European metal mags (plus the nights spent downstairs from the studio at The Garage rock bar, or at various people's apartments partying), the mornings became obsolete almost overnight! Still, we managed to squeeze in some national press, including radio and a double spread in a national daily newspaper, plus we also managed a studio report with Metal Hammer Germany, playing the journalist Gunnar six demo tracks to whet his salubrious appetite.

"Highlights of the trip had to be the Friday night bar crawl (Rob getting locked outside the flat and not waking anyone until 10 in the morning, so okay, he got to see the dreadful hours), hearing Tom's demons for real, the marathon wine drinking evening Saturday night, hanging out with a famous Norwegian actor called Helge Jordal and hooking up with friends from GOD SEED, DIMMU, ENSLAVED, SUSPERIA, TAAKE, BATTALION, IMMORTAL and SAHG, to name but a smattering. Oh, and watching the other guys (Geir, Rob, Tom and Ice Dale) handling backing vocal duties to proper comedic effect! They actually sound great, though….

"So that's it for the time being fellow night owls. As up to date as it can possibly be. And hopefully next time I put gob to paper I will hopefully have news of an impending studio date, sample lyrics and even perhaps some demo material to air.

"How incredibly exciting!"

"Pyro", the weekly hard rock/metal heavy metal show which airs on the national radio station NRK in Norway, recently conducted an interview with Filth, Caggiano and King. The five-minute chat, which includes audio snippets of songs that will appear on TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON's forthcoming debut album, can be streamed at this location.

When asked about how the idea for the project came about, Caggiano said, "Years ago, I was in the U.K. working with CRADLE OF FILTH on the 'Nymphetamine' record. And I think it was at the end of the session, I was just about to go back to New York, I decided to stay in London for a couple of days. And GORGOROTH was actually playing. So I went to the show, and that's when Tom and I met; it was back in 2005, I think. We got really drunk and we started talking about working on music together, doing something different. Prior to that, Dani and I were talking about possibly doing something. One thing led to another, Tom and I started working on music, and we realized that we worked really well together and it just came naturally. . . But the whole thing is, we're all super busy with our other projects, so just scheduling has been a nightmare for a long time."

Regarding the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON sound, Dani said, "A lot of people have speculated, 'Wow, it's got a guy from CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX and [GORGOROTH].' It's got a real rock base to it; and I know it sounds strange [to say]. It's heavy, but it's not too extreme. It's not [all] blast beats or anything like that, although we do have a couple of songs a bit like that — really fast. But it's catchy. I don't like using the word 'commercial,' because will think it's watered down, sort of, power pop, or pop rock. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of people. It's really hard to put it into context and say, it's a bit of CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX, GORGOROTH and THE CULT [laughs] . . . which sounds ridiculous." Caggiano added, "I don't think it sounds like any of our other bands. If it did, what would be the point?"

FLYING COLORS, the new virtuoso prog/pop/rock band, featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-DREAM THEATER) and guitarist Steve Morse (DEEP PURPLE), will release their eponymous debut album in the UK on Monday, March 26th, followed by a North American release on Tuesday, March 27th.

Released by Music Theories Recordings, the debut album includes the talents of Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals, guitar), and Steve Morse (lead guitar). The self-titled record was produced by Peter Collins (RUSH, QUEENSRŸCHE)

Canadian metal legends ANVIL made their live debut with their new bassist Sal Italiano last night (Friday, January 27) at the Live Wire concert club in Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. March Of The Crabs
02. 666
03. School Love
04. Juggernaut Of Justice
05. Winged Assassins
06. On Fire
07. This Is Thirteen
08. Mothra
09. Thumb Hang (dedicated to RIOT's Mark Reale)
10. Swing Thing
11. Fuckin' Eh
12. Metal On Metal

Encore:

13. Forged In Fire
14. Running

Several photos taken at last night's concert can be seen below (all pictures by Bill Peters).

Sal Italiano is a member of the Long Island, New York IRON MAIDEN tribute band LIVE AFTER DEATH and original progressive metal act THE NIGHTMARE STAGE, as well as a former member of the acclaimed '80s heavy metal group CITIES.

ANVIL's longtime bassist Glenn Gyorffy (a.k.a. Glenn Five or G5) announced his departure from the band on January 16, citing creative differences.

Glenn Five joined ANVIL in 1996 and has appeared on seven of the band's albums, including "This Is Thirteen" and the group's latest release, "Juggernaut Of Justice", on which he wrote and sang the song "This Ride".

Commented Glenn: "Playing in ANVIL has given me some of the best years of my life. However, after nearly 16 years with the band, the time has come to move on and try new musical endeavors. Although ANVIL has been a great band to play in, I have been limited creatively. I have a wide taste in music and I feel that it's time to broaden my horizons."

Speaking to Metal Shock Finland about Glenn's exit and Italiano's addition to ANVIL, guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow said, "We hired an old friend to do the tour and are currently working with a new, improved bassist. There was no major issue in fixing this at all, and in fact, everything was sorted out within a few hours of Glenn departing. Glenn tried to make it difficult by leaving without proper notice, but we've been preparing for this for quite some time. This did end up for the better, as it is a huge improvement with our new guy, both musically as well as personally."

ANVIL's latest album, "Juggernaut Of Justice", was released in Europe on June 20, 2011 (three days earlier in Germany) via SPV/Steamhammer. The effort was made available as a limited-edition digipak (including two bonus tracks), double gatefold LP in blue vinyl, standard version and a digital download.

The End Records celebrated ANVIL's career with "Monument Of Metal: The Very Best Of Anvil", a 19-track career retrospective that will earn "must-own" and "must-hear" status for fans both fans new and old.

All photos below by Bill Peters

Swedish/American rockers VAINS OF JENNA have released the following statement:

"After seven years, we have amicably and mutually decided to end VAINS OF JENNA. There's no drama behind the decision. We simply feel like it is time to move on in our lives and close this chapter. It has been a truly amazing journey for us over the years and we are grateful for the opportunity to do what we've done with this band. A huge thanks to everyone involved, all of our supporters, and, of course, all of our fans from around the world. We love you."

VAINS OF JENNA singer Jesse Forte, who joined the band in 2010, recently replaced Oni Logan in LYNCH MOB, the group led by legendary former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch.

Original VAINS OF JENNA vocalist Lizzy DeVine gave an interview to Neon Lights in December 2011 in which he revealed that he exited the group because he didn't want to move back to Sweden along with his bandmates after spending several years in California.

After recruiting Forte as the band's new singer, VAINS OF JENNA's main songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nicki Kin stated about the group's decision to carry on, "It's not in my blood to stop doing what I started. I love music, I live music, and this is what I do."

VAINS OF JENNA's first release with Forte was the "We Can Never Die" EP, which came out in 2010. A full-length album, "Reverse Tripped", followed in April 2011 via Deadline (a division of Cleopatra Records).

Fan-filmed video footage of VAINS OF JENNA's November 4, 2011 concert at Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg, Sweden can be viewed below.

Washington D.C.-based female-fronted heavy metallers A SOUND OF THUNDER will release their second full-length album, "Out Of The Darkness", on March 27 via Nightmare Records. The follow-up to last year's "Metal Renaissance" was produced by Kevin "131" Gutierrez (SHINEDOWN, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT, DECEASED) at Assembly Line Studios in Virginia. According to a press release, "the 10-track album plays like a love letter to all that is metal, encompassing traditional heavy metal, modern power metal, prog and classic rock, with timeless songs that could have been written in 1971, 1991 or 2011."

The material on "Out Of The Darkness" was composed by Josh Schwartz and the rest of A SOUND OF THUNDER, with lyrics written by Nina Osegueda and Chris Haren. Legendary RAVEN frontman John Gallagher makes an appearance on the album, performing a duet with Nina on the CD's title track.

"John Gallagher was so awesome to work with," says Nina. "I learned a lot from him in the short time we were in the studio together, and I really respect his skills and experience which shine through on this track."

"Out Of The Darkness" track listing:

01. The Day I Die
02. The Night Witch
03. Kill That Bitch
04. Murderous Horde
05. A Sound of Thunder
06. Out of the Darkness
07. Calat Alhambra
08. Fight Until the End
09. This Too Shall Pass
10. Discovery

For more information, visit www.asoundofthunderband.com.

Progressive atmospheric death metallers 7 HORNS 7 EYES will release their debut full-length album, "Throes Of Absolution", in North America on April 24 via Century Media Records. The CD, which features a guest appearance by guitarist Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE), has been many months in the making.

Commented 7 HORNS 7 EYES guitarist Aaron Smith: "7 HORNS 7 EYES has been on quite a journey since we embarked on recording this album, full of some big ups and downs — not the least of which being signed to Century Media/Basick Records, enduring a frontman change, re-recording all the album vocals, and sharing the stage with some great bands... and let me tell you — it feels amazing for us to know that we finally get to release this thing out into the world. Many of our fans have waited patiently for years for this record to drop, likely wondering at times if it ever even will, and we can't thank them enough for sticking by us. Here's to our fans and to 2012 being a great new year for 7 HORNS 7 EYES! See you on the road!"

A teaser trailer for "Throes Of Absolution" can be seen below..

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Divine Amnesty
02. Phumis: The Falsehood of Affliction
03. The Hill Difficulty
04. Cycle of Self
05. Delusions
06. A Finite Grasp of Infinite Disillusion
07. Vindicator
08. The Winnowing
09. Regeneration

7 HORNS 7 EYES previously released a digital single, entitled "Convalescence", which can be purchased on iTunes. In addition to the title track, the single also features two tracks from "Throes Of Absolution" ("Vindicator", "The Winnowing").

Guitarist Michael Amott of Swedish/German extreme metallers ARCH ENEMY will be featured in an upcoming issue of the Eternal Descent comic. The issue will be available for pre-order from April 2012.

Llexi Leon, creator of the multimedia concept Eternal Descent, recruits ESP artists for cameo appearances in the Eternal Descent comic, which is inspired by a host of iconic metal musicians. The initial launch issue was released on March 31, 2010 with subsequent issues released every few months, spotlighting GOD FORBID guitarist Doc Coyle in issue 2, Gus G. of FIREWIND and OZZY OSBOURNE in issue 3, Wayne Static of STATIC-X in issue 4 and Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel of ATREYU in issue 5.

In a recent interview with Molten magazine, Amott stated about his collaboration with Eternal Descent, "I never thought I'd get to do it [but] I'm excited!" Regarding what fans can expect from his character, Michael said, "[Eternal Descent] sent me a list of questions and asked whether [I] wanted to be the bad guy or the good guy and I said the bad guy, of course!"

The front cover of Molten magazine, which features an exclusive image preview of the upcoming ARCH ENEMY-insired issue of Eternal Descent, can be seen below.

Swedish dark rockers KATATONIA have issued the following update:

"It's been a busy time lately and the hard work has finally paid off. We have now thirteen songs in the bag, and hey, that means the recording of our new album can and shall begin. We're starting with the drums on Monday and we'll be once again work together with David Castillo (who engineered and mixed 'Night Is The New Day'), so even though we always strive to improve our productions, it should sound sweet that it's the same team putting this one together, just throw in some new gear, gadgets and toys with that! The recordings as well as the mix will be divided between Ghostward and our own HQ over the next month and we'll keep you posted on the progress.

"So, what does the material sound like? Well, you got the lush textures, the moody melodies, the heavy parts, the progressive touches, the mellow bits and so on... Is it metal? Is it rock? Is it alternative? Is it singer/songwriter? Actually at times it feels like we're exploring territories where KATATONIA would be an orphan in the land of 'genres.' We can't tell where and to whom we belong and the goal is that it doesn't even matter, because before and above any genre there's first an acceptance level of music being good, or being bad. KATATONIA might be bad people, but we create good music. Amen.

"We also hooked up again with keyboard maestro extraordinaire Frank Default and regardless of the internet speculations, he's not to 'blame' for the increased use of electronics since the last album. That part has been called for as we simply feel that it has grown to fill a hole in our sound inside, or alongside, the classic formation of instruments. In our world, we allow mellotrones, Hammonds, rhodes and strings to integrate with loops, distortion and filters to manifest in the katatonic maelstrom. It's our time to marry contemporary with vintage. Here's our ninth album to be delivered!"

KATATONIA played four shows in Scandinavia in December, hitting the capital cites of Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki and, of course, the band's hometown of Stockholm. The concerts, which were part of the 20th-anniversary "Last Fair Day Gone Night Tour 2011", saw the band perform two sets. The first set consisted of a performance of the entire "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" album front to back. The second set was a mixture of carefully picked songs from the band's extensive catalogue.

KATATONIA's May 6, 2011 concert at Koko in London, England was professionally filmed/recorded for a future DVD release.

KATATONIA released special editions of the critically acclaimed albums "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Night Is The New Day" on April 25. The 10th-anniversary edition "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" was presented in deluxe mediabook packaging, as a two-disc edition containing tracks from the now hard-to-find singles "Teargas" and "Tonight's Music". The reissue of 2009's "Night Is The New Day" includes bonus tracks from the "The Longest Year" EP. Both titles were presented with newly updated cover artwork courtesy of original artist Travis Smith.

Guitar virtuoso and singer/songwriter Richie Kotzen (formerly of POISON and MR. BIG) took part in a question-and-answer session and acoustic performance at the Korg booth at the 2012 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show, a massive music-products convention whcih took place January 19-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. You can now watch video footage of his appearance below.

Kotzen on Wednesday (Jannuary 25) commented on the rumors that he has been tapped by Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) and Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG) to be the guitarist/vocalist of their new project following the recent departure of John Sykes (WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, THIN LIZZY).

Said Kotzen in a post on his Facebook page: "I wanted to address the recent rumor about the project with Billy, Mike, and I... Although we did throw some ideas around, neither of us decided to make any public announcements, so today's Internet buzz was a surprise. I will say I am a fan of both Mike and Billy. I'm sure a collaboration would produce some interesting results."

Although Portnoy and Sykes demoed a dozen or so songs at a Los Angeles studio last year, their vastly different work ethics and conflicting schedules were solely to blame for the dissolution of their collaboration. Portnoy explained on Twitter, "Sad but true... I tried my best to make it work... Me and [Billy Sheehan] couldn't wait around any longer... [Billy] and I are moving on and have already begun work with another guitarist/vocalist, keeping the original 'power trio' concept."

Former MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young has joined forces with acclaimed 26-year-old female extreme metal drummer Lux Drummerette (SACRED STORM, NEKROMANTIX) in an as-yet-unnamed new project.

Young stated about his collaboration with Lux, "I'm over the band concept. It's a dinosaur... put a fork in it. We're approaching this as a duo incoporating loops, DJs, soundscapes and assorted players per song/show/tour as needed. We sound full enough, we don't need much else."

Lux's signature drumming combines heavy metal double-bass with complex rhythms and dynamics, all while playing in stilettos. She also has the creative mind to incorporate elements of progressive and experimental rock rhythms. Music Connection magazine describes her drumming as "unique, off kilter, Keith Moon-inspired."

When asked in a 2010 interview with The Metal Pit if it's true that she plays in stiletto heels, Lux replied, "Of course! When I first started playing I was wearing regular shoes, and as I started getting into my high school years, I think I was drumming in sandals. And then I started drumming barefoot, and after a while I was getting sick of that and started leaving my shoes on again except by then I was wearing cute little pumps, and as I grew older, the heels on my shoes would get taller. And that's how that all started. I just started leaving my heels on. Plus it looks super cool and super bad astronaut." She added, "I never practice in heels, but when I'm on stage and play that first show in a while with SACRED STORM, my shin muscles are killing me after the first song or two with consistent double bass! [laughs] After that, it starts to feel okay and the next show isn't that bad."

Jeff's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"

Video footage of STATIC-X frontman Wayne Static performing the band's song "Cannibal" during his solo performance at Dean Guitars' third annual NAMM Jam on January 20 at The Grove Of Anaheim in Anaheim, California can be seen below.

Wayne Static's debut solo album, "Pighammer", sold 4,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 97 on The Billboard 200 chart.

STATIC-X's last CD, "Cult Of Static", opened with 19,000 units back in March 2009 to land at No. 16.

The band's's previous album, "Cannibal", registered a first-week tally of more than 30,000 copies back in April 2007 to enter the chart at No. 36. This represented a slight drop from the 35,000 copies sold by the band's "Start a War" LP, which came out in June 2005 and debuted at No. 29.

In a 2011 interview with Revolver magazine, Static stated about "Pighammer", "I've wanted to do a solo album since 2000 when I was writing songs for the 'Machine' record," Wayne said. "Even in those early years of STATIC-X, there was a pattern emerging where I would spend all my free time writing songs for STATIC-X and the other guys in the band spent their free time working on their other projects. I was a bit jealous that they had time to do more than one thing, but, being the band's main songwriter, I knew that if I were to do a solo album, I would have to put STATIC-X on hold, and it wasn't until recently that I've been willing to do that. After the 2009 'Cult Of Static' touring cycle ended, I felt that, as a band, STATIC-X had accomplished everything we set out to accomplish, and now I could finally take the time to do my own thing and make a record that is completely my vision without compromising for anyone or anything."

When asked what he wanted to do differently with his solo project than what he has done with STATIC-X, Wayne said, "Mainly, I didn't want to compromise. Don't get me wrong: I love the great times I had with STATIC-X, but sometimes the writing/recording process was frustrating for me. I would spend months by myself writing and recording demos, then hand them over to the band, then we would rehearse for weeks during which time everyone changed parts and added their own ideas. By the end of the process, I always felt some of my original vision and passion was lost. This time I wrote and recorded everything on my own, playing all the instruments myself, and did not compromise with anyone."

The official lyric video for the song "Build Me Up, Break Me Down" from progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER can be seen below. The track comes off the band's new album, "A Dramatic Turn Of Events", which 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.

Commented the band: "2011 has been quite an amazing year for us. We watched 'A Dramatic Turn Of Events' — our eleventh studio album — enter the Top Ten in 14 countries around the world, including the U.S. And now we land our first-ever Grammy nomination [for the song 'On The Backs Of Angels' in the 'Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance' category]. It's the icing on the cake — we're honored and thrilled, no doubt about it. It took us a while to receive this Grammy attention — and we've done it on our own terms musically, so it feels particularly sweet.

"What keeps you going as a musician is the love and support from the fans — they are always there for us on this crazy adventure. So we give them a big shout-out as we celebrate our Grammy nomination.

"See you all on the road… and let's all keep dreaming big."

Grammy Awards will be held on "Grammy Sunday" and 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).

Regina, Saskatchewan-based Canadian extreme progressive metallers INTO ETERNITY have posted the second teaser containing studio and rehearsal footage of their new song "Fukushima". The track was written about the Fukushima Daiichi, Japan nuclear disaster, a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. You can now watch the one-and-a-half-minute clip below.

INTO ETERNITY has recruited Amanda Kiernan of the Edmonton, Alberta-based metal band THE ORDER OF CHAOS as their new touring singer.

States Amanda: "This is a wonderful opportunity for me that I couldn't pass up. I look forward to this experience. However, THE ORDER OF CHAOS will remain my number one priority."

INTO ETERNITY vocalist Stu Block was recently recruited by power metal giants ICED EARTH, with whom he recorded the band's latest CD, "Dystopia".

As previously reported, Canadian label War On Music Records will issue several albums by INTO ETERNITY for the first time ever on vinyl. "Dead Or Dreaming" (2001), "Buried In Oblivion" (2004) and "Scattering Of The Ashes" (2006) will be made available, each as a limited LP release, starting in early spring 2012.

INTO ETERNITY's signature sound has often been described as a hybrid of latter-day DEATH and CONTROL DENIED, combined with the technical stylings of DREAM THEATER.

Commented INTO ETERNITY singer/guitarist Tim Roth: "The new songs are coming along quite well and we'll have two new songs finished and mixed in the upcoming weeks. So far five songs have been recorded (30 minutes) and we are looking forward to get working on the next batch of new INTO ETERNITY songs.

"2012 also brings some great news for vinyl-loving fans. Century Media contacted us about releasing our albums on vinyl. It has always been a dream of ours to have our collection put out on vinyl. Thanks to Charley at War On Music Records for finally making this dream a reality. I know a lot of fans have asked us over the years for vinyl, so this is really great news!"

INTO ETERNITY is among the confirmed bands for the 11th edition of the Manitoba Metalfest, set to take place February 24-25 at The Zoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Watch www.waronmusic.com for details and pre-orders for the the upcoming vinyl releases.

INTO ETERNITY last year released its first new material since 2008 in the form of a new song called "Sandstorm". The track, which is available on iTunes and Bandcamp, features guest death vocals by Rob Doherty and marks the recording debut of Newbury, who was previously known in the western Canadian metal scene as a member of Edmonton, Alberta-based group DEATH TOLL RISING.

"Sandstorm" was written the day the USA took out Osama Bin Laden, and is inspired by the events that transpired.

INTO ETERNITY's last album, "The Incurable Tragedy", came out in 2008 via Century Media.

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