Brendan Crabb of Australia's Loud magazine recently conducted an interview with vocalis Lee Dorrian of the seminal U.K. doom metal act CATHEDRAL. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On CATHEDRAL's final studio album, "The Last Spire", which will be recorded and released in 2012:

Dorrian: "We're planning to begin recording in April. We want it out next year, because as of next year the band will be no more. We're working on material at the moment. When we get back from Australia, we'll have a good, solid month to fine-tune the songs. We'll hopefully have it released in September/October of 2012. I'm going to see our artist Dave Patchett this weekend — he does all our album covers — and just sit with him and go through all of the concepts for the album cover."

On what the next CD will sound like:

Dorrian: "Musically, I would say 'The Guessing Game' was more of a summarisation of everything we had done. 'The Last Spire' is more like our final stamp, really. I think it'll be a lot heavier and more doom-influenced than anything else we've done in recent years. But there will also be keyboards, and hopefully it'll be a really progressive doom record. I don't want to give away too much, but it'll probably be a little heavier. We'll be much more hands-on with the production. This is our last one, so we want to go out with a bang and pretty much do it ourselves because we can. The last two albums (with producer Warren Riker) turned out great. We've had producers in the past, (where) we would have some out there ideas, and some producers would just shrug their shoulders or laugh. Warren was great, (but) we want to make the last statement ourselves, like we did with the first album. A lot of people thought we were crazy to make an album like (1991's) 'Forest Of Equilibrium'. People asked us what we were doing. It was going against the grain of what was going on at the time. So we'll finish the way we started."

On his post-CATHEDRAL plans, which include overseeing his long-running record label Rise Above Records:

Dorrian: "I've done that for more than 20 years now. It's a full-time job really. I will be able to dedicate a lot more time to that, which I want to do . . We go from strength to strength; we don't sell millions of records, but we're still here. It's a testament to all the vultures and vampires in the industry that have killed it. People have been short-sold, I think… I think people see in Rise Above that you can discover things yourself, without just being told about it by the hype of the (mainstream) media. We do this out of love for the music and I think people are slowly coming around to that. We try to make our releases, things like our vinyl releases special. I've been collecting records since I was eight or nine and I always like to put myself on the other side of the fence. I think about how as a fan myself, how I would like it to be presented. I spend a lot of time thinking about that. If Rise Above wasn't the label I started, I would be a fan of it myself."

On how the music industry's current woes, including illegal downloading, have affected Rise Above:

Dorrian: "Despite all the chaos in the industry and people saying downloading is killing the industry, bigger labels should have given greater thought to their audience. It's just the way you control it, really. There's pros and cons to downloading. People who like labels like Rise Above want to have an artefact, a physical copy from the label in their hands. We have a steady audience around the world who buys our records; in the past few years, we've sold the most records we ever have. If you're a commercial label, your audience doesn't really care about things like production or artwork. There's not much dedication from the label or the audience. If it's presented in a way that's a lot more sincere, I think people respond to it. The No. 1 album in the charts that week, you can buy that in the supermarket along with your toilet roll. To buy our releases, you have to go out of your way to find out about it and find out how to buy it."

On possible future musical endeavors:

Dorrian: "Any new musical projects will be spontaneous. Once CATHEDRAL is finally over, I want to sit down and spend a few months to a year, reflecting on what the band's done. When you're doing it, you're always so busy; you're always having to think about the next thing you're doing. So it will be good to do that."

Read the entire interview from Loud magazine.

Capital Chaos has uploaded multi-camera video footage of Los Angeles metallers WINDS OF PLAGUE performing the song "Built For War" on November 11, 2011 at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California. Check out the clip below.

WINDS OF PLAGUE's third full-length album, "Against The World", sold 8,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 60 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on April 19 via Century Media Records, the CD features guest appearances from members of HATEBREED, TERROR, FOR TODAY, STRAY FROM THE PATH and former world heavyweight wrestling champion and sports entertainment legend Ultimate Warrior (who performs an epic spoken-word track entitled "The Warrior Code"). It is described in a press release as "the heaviest-hitting record of the band's already heralded career."

WINDS OF PLAGUE created exclusive editions of "Against The World" for both Hot Topic and FYE, each with its own artwork. Fans who purchased from FYE received a free bonus live CD, recorded at the Glass House in Pomona, California by John Montes at Small City Studios. The Hot Topic special edition features a DVD full of more than an hour of content including a live performance from the Glass House, tour footage from around the world, the making-of footage from the "Against The World" sessions and more produced by Jeremy Schott for MentalSuplex Productions.

Guitarist/vocalist Matt Tuck of Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE revealed via Twitter earlier today that the band will start writing material for its fourth album in three weeks.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE released a deluxe CD/DVD edition of its third full-length album, "Fever", titled "Fever Tour Edition", on February 15. The set featured three new songs recorded live at Xfm radio in the U.K. ("Fever", "The Last Fight" and "Bittersweet Memories") and a DVD of "Your Betrayal", "Fever" and "Waking the Demon", recorded live from Graspop Metal Meeting 2010 in Dessel, Belgium. The DVD also included videos for "Your Betrayal", "The Last Fight" and "The Making of The Last Fight" as well as a BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE track-by-track commentary of "Fever".

"Fever" sold 71,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart. "Fever" also landed in the Top Five in Australia, the U.K., Japan, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In a September 2011 interview with Lithium Magazine, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE guitarist Michael "Padge" Paget stated about "Fever", "As opposed to the other albums, this is right up there. This is definitely where we wanted to go as a band and it's definitely the right record when it comes to maturing. It's the third album; it's definitely where we wanted to go and has taken us where we want to be. It's ticking all the boxes so far and hopefully the next record does the same thing . . . We strive to write great songs and I think 'Fever' comes across as a great album, not just songs, and a complete album. You can sit down and listen to the whole thing as opposed to 'Scream, Aim, Fire'. We tried to take it back to the roots to the 'Poison' sort of thing on the new album, if you know what I mean."

nglish metallers FOREFATHER have just released their new album, entitled "Last Of The Line", through Seven Kingdoms.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Cometh The King
02. Last Of The Line
03. Chorus Of Steel
04. By Thy Deeds
05. Up High
06. Wolves Of Prayer
07. Wyrda Gesceaft
08. Doomsday Dawns
09. Shadows Of The Dead
10. Spears Of Faith
11. The Downfallen
12. Into The Rising Sun

Reunited Los Angeles heavy metal legends MALICE have inked a deal with SPV/Steamhammer. The band is currently recording updated versions of six classic MALICE metal anthems such as "Stellar Masters" and "No Haven For The Raven" as well as "four killer new tracks" for an album which is due to be released sometime early in 2012.

MALICE's current lineup includes three original members — Mick Zane on guitar, Jay Reynolds on guitar and Mark Behn on bass — alongside Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP) on drums and James Rivera (HELSTAR, VICIOUS RUMORS, SEVEN WITCHES, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM) on vocals.

In an early 2011 interview with KNAC.COM, Zane stated about MALICE's present incarnation, "Pete's been out on the road with MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP for the last ten years and he's doing some dates with BLACK 'N BLUE. . . We're excited to have James Rivera come in and [play] with us. He did a great job on the VICIOUS RUMORS 'Warball' record. . . Brian Allen, who did our last reunion show, is now singing with VICIOUS RUMORS and we even approached Tim 'The Ripper' Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) at one point."

Regarding MALICE's forthcoming album, Zane told KNAC.COM, "We have some killer new songs in the can and we're really stoked at the thought of getting back in the studio and releasing a new MALICE record. We released a new CD of rare and unreleased tracks last year on Retrospect Records that's been doing very well. Everyone's really going to like the new stuff."

MALICE 2011 is:

* Mick Zane - Guitar
* Jay Reynolds - Guitar
* Mark Behn - Bass
* Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, MICHAEL SCHENKER) - Drums
* James Rivera (HELSTAR, VICIOUS RUMORS, SEVEN WITCHES, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM) - Vocals

The band released an album titled "The Rare And Unreleased" last year on Retrospect Records.

MALICE's two Atlantic releases — "In the Beginning" (1985) and "License to Kill" (1986) — are available Stateside on WEA label Wounded Bird and have continued to sell over the years.

For more information, visit MALICE's official web site, www.malicemusic.com.

Los Angeles thrashers ANGER AS ART have entered Trench Studio in Corona, California to begin recording their fourth album, "Hubris Inc." for a 2012 release.

The first in a series of video clips from the studio can be seen at this location .

Songtitles set to appear on the CD:

* Hubris Inc. (intro)
* This is Why I Hate
* Pieces Of Red
* Divided We Fall
* As The Exhalted Seethe
* Time Devours Life
* Gods Of Hate
* Head Of The Snake
* Anger Is The Reason
* The Evil You Create
*Pearls Before Swine
* Never Forgive Never Forget

Bonus tracks:

* Speed Kills
* Rage And Retribution

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

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

ANGER AS ART's current lineup:

Steve Gaines - Vocals, Guitar
Angelo Espino - Bass
Rob Alaniz - Drums
Daniel Oliverio - Guitar, Vocals

Emil Werstler (DAATH) will handle the guitar duties for CHIMAIRA in 2012.

Werstler (pictured below), who has spent the last few months playing bass for CHIMAIRA, will switch back to his original instrument following the recent announcement that guitarists Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries will be leaving the band at the end of 2011.

Commented CHIMAIRA: "Fans already know Emil from the 'Coming Alive' DVD, the insane guitar solo at the end of 'Samsara', and most recently on stage playing bass for 'The Age Of Hell' tour. For those that don't know, time to get familiarized. Listed as one of modern metal's most important guitar players, Mr. Emil Werstler."

Although there has been no official announcement yet, it is rumored that second-guitar duties on CHIMAIRA's 2012 tour will be handled by Matt Szlachta of DIRGE WITHIN while the bass will be played by Jeremy Creamer of DAATH.

CHIMAIRA earlier in the week released a free digital EP, "The Age Of Remix Hell", via Multiupload.com.

The track listing for the effort — which, as the title suggests, contains remixed versions of songs from CHIMAIRA's latest album, "The Age Of Hell" — is as follows:

01. Year Of The Snake (Dubba Jonny Mix)
02. Clockwork (Hunter Mix)
03. Year Of The Snake (Allinaline Mix)
04. Losing My Mind (Allinaline Mix)

"The Age Of Hell" sold more than 7,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "The Infection", opened with 15,000 units back in April 2009 to land at No. 30. This figure was roughly in line with the first-week tally registered by CHIMAIRA's 2007 album, "Resurrection", which shifted 16,000 copies to enter the chart at No. 42.

"The Age Of Hell" was released in the U.S. on August 16 via eOne Music; in Germany on August 26; and in the United Kingdom, Australia and the rest of Europe on August 29 through Long Branch Records.

Steven Tyler of AEROSMITH recently spoke to Billboard.com about the band's smash hit "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". The song — which was penned by famed songwriter Diane Warren and prominently featured in the "Armageddon" soundtrack — spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning September 5, 1998, knocking Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" out of the top slot. Tyler explained that part of the tune's success was the "the magic of [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer calling me up and saying, 'We're doing a movie called 'Armageddon'. Your daughter [Liv Tyler] is in it. And I want four AEROSMITH songs plus the one you did with Diane Warren.'"

"It was a shock, not because we had our first No. 1," Tyler said. "But because it was our only No. 1. I thought that [of] all those other AEROSMITH songs, at least one or two did."

Check out the video report below.

Guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy of Florida metallers TRIVIUM has tweeted a note thanking the "state of the record industry" for what he called a "massive royalty check" he recently received in the amount of $1.31. Heafy also included a photo of the check in question (see below), which was cut last month.

TRIVIUM's latest album, "In Waves", sold 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band's career. The group's previous CD, "Shogun", opened with just under 24,000 units back in October 2008 to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up "The Crusade", which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.

Progressive metal band WATER ON MERCURY has announced the title and revealed the cover art for their upcoming album, Amphigory. The band also posted a short clip of a demo of the opening track, as of yet unnamed (listen below). The new album is expected to be released as a name-your-price download late spring or early summer 2012.

Water On Mercury is the instrumental music project of guitarist Tim Gavin. Tim is a family man with a day job as a CPA, but he has an undying passion for heavy music. This project is the culmination of years of writing and producing music at home.

Tim was a key member of the now defunct DOMINION from Chicago, which also featured former OTEP drummer, Brian Wolff, and current GEMINI SYNDROME vocalist, Aaron Nordstrom. Dominion was a force to be reckoned with on the Chicago metal scene.

Tim brings the same intensity and musical intelligence to his new project. Having been compared to SCALE THE SUMMIT, TESSERACT, OPETH and CLOUDKICKER, the similarities do not end there. His influences are many and balanced to form a truly unique sound.

Italian thrash-death metallers LIVING CORPSE, after a massive lineup change, have set And Everything Slips Away as the title of their new full-length album, due in early 2012 via Coroner Records.

The album, which includes 11 tracks, was mixed and mastered by Ettore Rigotti at The Metal House Studio (DISARMONIA MUNDI, DESTRAGE, BLOOD STAIN CHILD, RISE TO FALL, SLOWMOTION APOCALYPSE). The cover artwork was created by Jon Barmby (BRING ME THE HORIZON, ARCHITECTS, YOUR DEMISE.

Further details about official release date, tracklist, etc., will be revealed soon.

IMMOLITH, originally hand-picked by Infernus (GORGOROTH) for his own label, Forces Of Satan Records, will release their official debut full-length album, StormDragon, through Metalhit on February 14th, 2012.

Produced by Chris Grigg (WOE, Candlelight Records), StormDragon is a full-fledged, no frills, black metal assault on the senses. This is straight-forward US black metal at its finest.

The StormDragon album artwork can be seen below:

1. The Invocation
2. Torch of Baphomet
3. Rites of the Blood Moon
4. Storm Dragon
5. The Ghost Tower of Inverness
6. The Obsidian Throne of Azazel
7. Hymns to the Countess
8. A Pact of Blood

In the three-minute clip below, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian explains to Artisan News why 2011 was a big year for him and his bandmates.

ANTHRAX is featured in a new series of albums "featuring the greatest hits, signature tunes and fan favorites of the most popular artists in music history," which promise to offer "unprecedented value to consumers." The aptly named "Icon" series from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) launched in August 31, 2010, with releases from 30 major artists spanning rock, pop, R&B and country.

Each album, at a "great price," includes roughly a dozen hit tracks.

Due on January 10, 2012, the ANTHRAX "Icon" compilation (Island/UMe) will feature the following songs:

01. Madhouse
02. A.I.R.
03. Armed And Dangerous
04. I Am The Law
05. Indians
06. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
07. Antisocial
08. Got The Time
09. Belly Of The Beast
10. Bring The Noise
11. I'm The Man 91

ANTHRAX last month completed a U.S. tour with TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL. The trek kicked off on October 14 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and concluded on November 19 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

ANTHRAX's new album, "Worship Music", sold 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 12 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous studio CD, 2003's "We've Come For You All", opened with just under 10,000 units to debut at No. 122.

QUEENSRŸCHE's classic first full-length album, "The Warning", which was originally released on September 7, 1984, will be reissued on limited-edition 180-gram audiophile vinyl with a gatefold cover on February 14, 2012.

You can now pre-order the item at Amazon.com.

"The Warning" was re-released on May 6, 2003 with three bonus tracks.

When asked about QUEENSRŸCHE's plans following the band's last scheduled concert of 2012, which will take place on January 13 at the Peppermill Concert Hall in Wendover, Nevada, singer Geoff Tate told the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM earlier this 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's latest album, "Dedicated To Chaos", sold 8,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 70 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, the epic concept album "American Soldier", opened with 21,000 units back in April 2009 to enter the chart at No. 25. This was roughly half the first-week tally registered by QUEENSRŸCHE's "Operation: Mindcrime II" album, which shifted 44,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release back in April 2006 to debut at No. 14 on The Billboard 200 chart.

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

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

Multi-camera video footage of CARNIFEX's October 28 performance at the Boardwalk in Orangevale, California can be seen below (courtesy of Capital Chaos).

CARNIFEX's new album, "Until I Feel Nothing", was released on October 25 via Victory Records. Produced by Tim Lambesis (AS I LAY DYING), the follow-up to 2010's "Hell Chose Me" "captures an in-your-face extremity that drips with malice and ferocity, solidifying the effort as the most anticipated album of the year," according to a press release. The cover artwork was created by famed comic book illustrator Menton3 (Silent Hill, Monocyte) and can be seen below.

During the writing process for the new CD, CARNIFEX "aimed to redefine their extreme sound, resulting in their most brutal album to date. The dark, blasphemous approach to 'Until I Feel Nothing' results in an abrasive record, complete with blood-curdling screams and razor-sharp guitar riffs — the kind only CARNIFEX is able to flawlessly deliver."

TO-MERA — the U.K.-based dark progressive metal band fronted by former WITHOUT FACE vocalist Julie Kiss — will enter Hardbeat Studios (HAKEN, LINEAR SPHERE) in Wembley in late January with producer John Papas to begin laying down the drums for the group's upcoming third album. The majority of the new CD recording sessions will take place at guitarist Tom MacLean's recently built home studio.

TO-MERA's "Earthbound" EP was released in October 2009.

The band parted ways with Candlelight Records after releasing two albums through the label — 2006's "Transcendental" and 2008's "Delusions".

TO-MERA is:

Julie Kiss - Vocals
Tom MacLean - Guitars
Paul Westwood - Drums
Richard Henshall - Keys
Mark Harrington - Bass

New video footage from the recording sessions for the forthcoming solo album from former NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis at Fastback Studios in Seattle, Washington can be seen below.

Loomis entered the studio on August 23 to begin recording the follow-up to 2008's "Zero Order Phase", which will feature three or four tracks with vocals. Christine Rhoades, who previously collaborated with NEVERMORE on the "Dreaming Neon Black" CD, will sing on selected tracks and Shane Lentz will handle the bass. Aaron Smith (7 HORNS 7 EYES) is producing the effort.

"[Smith] has been a friend for a while now and has helped me out with various recording projects over the years," said Loomis. "We've been working on demos and pre-production for the past few weeks and are very happy with the way things are turning out."

He added, "Doing drums, as most of you know, is Dirk Verbeuren [of SOILWORK]. I don't think there's really anything else I can add to that. His name just sort of speaks for itself.

"Up until about [a few months] ago, I was planning on doing the bass parts myself but then saw this amazing bass player on YouTube and said to myself, 'I need to have him on the record.' I got in touch and was thrilled to find out he was into it. I'm really looking forward to hearing what he's going to be bringing to these songs."

Jeff was the lead guitar player and main songwriter of NEVERMORE, a band that has certainly made its mark on modern music by forging a unique sound that fuses different forms of metal that has given birth to an authentic and very influential style. His solo CD, "Zero Order Phase", took the #4 spot in a April 2009 Guitar World magazine's readers' poll in the "Best Shred Album Of The Year" category — a notable accomplishment when you consider the top three vote-getters, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. Jeff has become one of his generation's most recognizable guitarists and the source of many of the last decade's best riffs.

Jeff's complex shredding has been a central part of the progressive power guitar scene since 1992 and is responsible for some of the most awe-inspiring riffs modern metal has ever heard. Nearly every aspiring musician who has been listening to metal for the past 10 years or so has undoubtedly had the pleasure of hearing Jeff Loomis' progressive and technically superior playing. "Jeff epitomizes the very essence of modern guitar playing; there is a huge fan base that has waited a long time for this type of product from him," stated Joe Palombo, Executive Director of Rock House.

Loomis' first solo album, "Zero Order Phase", was released in September 2008 through Century Media Records.

According to the usually reliable VAN HALEN fan site Van Halen News Desk, VAN HALEN will announce the first details of its upcoming tour on January 3, with tickets set to go on sale a week later. The band's much-anticipated new album — which will be the band's first with original singer David Lee Roth in 28 years — will arrive on February 7, with the first single and video set to premiere on January 10.

A two-minute trailer for VAN HALEN's upcoming tour, which was shot on November 14 at the Roxy nightclub in West Hollywood, California, can be seen below. The clip apparently features visuals of the band performing a brand new song — but all you hear on the clip itself is audio of several David Lee Roth-era VAN HALEN classics.

The November 14 shoot was reportedly for a video for the song that the band is seen but not heard playing in the tour announcement clip.

VAN HALEN's new record deal with Interscope was finalized last month and marks the first time the band has recorded away from Warner Bros. Records, which signed the group in 1977.

ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti recently said in an interview that he had gotten an opportunity to hear new VAN HALEN music through his friendship with bassist Wolfgang Van Halen (guitarist Eddie Van Halen's son), saying it sounded like "vintage VAN HALEN."

Producer Ross Hogarth spoke with Ultimate-Guitar.com about the work he did on the project, saying, "The whole VAN HALEN record has been recorded and we're all excited. I'm really stoked about it, as it is the original band, Eddie and Alex with Wolf playing bass, and David Lee Roth singing, it's the killing side of VAN HALEN at the top of their game again with Diamond Dave, and the band on fire."

VAN HALEN reunited with Roth in 2007 for a successful year-long reunion tour — minus original bassist Michael Anthony, who now plays with ex-VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar in CHICKENFOOT.

The "Always…"-era (1992) lineup of the Dutch rock outfit THE GATHERING has announced plans to make several festival appearances next summer following its 20th-anniversary celebration concert in April. The first confirmed festival performance will take place at the 2012 edition of the Dokk'em Open Air festival, which is scheduled for June 29-30 at Spriens Raard in Dokkum, Netherlands.

Regarding their decision to recurrect the "Always…" lineup of THE GATHERING, the group previously said, "After years we (THE GATHERING) came in contact again, thanks to Facebook, with the nice people from ACROSTICHON (Corinne and Richard). Of course, we talked a lot about the good old days, especially the ones we had at the Willem II concert hall in Den Bosch. There was a matinee gig every month (I think it was every last Sunday), and we saw some great bands such as CANDLEMASS, MORBID ANGEL, DEATH, and, of course, we played there as well. Those days were so much fun. We had a great nostalgic trip talking about those days. Soon we came to the conclusion we would love to do this again!

"As you might know, our debut album, 'Always…', is almost 20 years old (April 1992). I contacted all old-school THE GATHERING 'Always…'-era members and everybody immediatly liked the idea to do something together. An old-school doom/death party! ACROSTICHON released their debut album, 'Engraved In Black', almost the same period, and our friends from PENTACLE released their debut demo, 'Caressed By Both Sides', as well 20 years ago. Why not celebrate this?

"So, grab your agenda: THE GATHERING, ACROSTICHON and PENTACLE will play live together at the Willem II (now called W2) Sunday afternoon 1st of April (no joke!), 2012! Like 20 years ago, ACROSTICHON will be headlining, THE GATHERING and PENTACLE will be support acts.

"Last, but definitly not least: All profit will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation."

THE GATHERING's latest album, "The West Pole", was released in North America on June 2, 2009 via Season of Mist. The CD was issued in most of Europe on May 4, 2009 via the group's own label, Psychonaut Records.

"The West Pole" marks the recording debut of new THE GATHERING singer Silje Wergeland, who was previously in the Norwegian band OCTAVIA SPERATI. It also includes two very talented guest vocalists, Anne van den Hoogen and Marcela Bovio (STREAM OF PASSION), along with other guest musicians.

"Westboro", a brand new song from the Central Florida-based metal band CATALEPSY, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track, which features a guest appearance by Peter "Mean Pete" Kowalsky of REMEMBERING NEVER/xBISHOPx comes off the band's forthcoming album, "Abomination Of Desolation", due for release in 2012.

CATALEPSY recently parted ways with vocalist Rick Norman and was rejoined by Josh Anderson, who was the singer for CATALEPSY from early 2008 to fall 2010.

CATALEPSY's second album, "Bleed", was released on May 10 via Eulogy Recordings. The CD was produced by Matt Johnson (THE AUTUMN OFFERING) and contains the track "Goliath", which features guest vocals by Matt Bruso (BURY YOUR DEAD).

Formed in 2004, CATALEPSY has been a giant in the Florida music scene for years. Signed to Jamey Jasta from HATEBREED's label, Stillborn Records, in 2007, CATALEPSY recorded an EP and full-length album. The "Godless" EP was releaseed in October 2007 and sold out of all available copies quickly. "Iniquity", the group's crushing debut full-length, was then released in May 2008 and is in stores nationwide.

CATALEPSY has toured the U.S. with HATEBREED, EMMURE, AGNOSTIC FRONT, WAKING THE CADAVER, TOO PURE TO DIE, OCEANO, AFTER THE BURIAL, GOD FORBID and even NECRO.

Greece's Rock Overdose recently conducted an interview with ICS Vortex (real name: Simen Hestnæs), the former bassist/clean vocalist for the Norwegian symphonic black metal band DIMMU BORGIR and a current member of BORKNAGAR and reunited avant-garde metallers ARCTURUS. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

Interview (audio):

BLACKOUT SUPERSTAR, the Cleveland, Ohio-based rock band featuring guitarist Ken Obloy (RIKETS), vocalist Jonny Sayre (ERASE THE GREY), bassist Kenny Irizarry (GATLIN), guitarist Jeff Butchko (ERASE THE GREY) and drummer Holly Manning (REBEL GIRL), has inked a deal with Radium Records. The group is currently putting the finishing touches on its full-length debut, "Whiskey Weekend", with producer Ben Schigel (CHIMAIRA, STRAIGHT LINE STITCH, EVANESCENCE, DROWNING POOL) at Spider Studios. A January release is planned, with a record-launch party scheduled on January 21 at Peabody's in Cleveland.

According to BLACKOUT SUPERSTAR's official bio, the band's goal is "a simple one: to help put the 'roll' back in rock 'n' roll. . . High-energy performances, well-crafted anthems and an insatiable appetite for ruling the airwaves make BLACKOUT SUPERSTAR a must-see, must-hear culmination of euphonious excellence. With a full-length record, series of music videos and a summer tour in the works, BLACKOUT SUPERSTAR are a kinetic ball of symphonious fury, kicking ass and taking names the entire time. If it's a party you want, then you won't want to miss a second of the BLACKOUT SUPERSTAR journey."

For more infomation, visit www.blackoutsuperstar.com.

Former DEVOLVED bassist Hal Berkstresser has released the following statement:

"Following producing 'Oblivion', a record I love and am proud to have worked so heavily on, I have decided to end my involvement with DEVOLVED. I had hoped to evolve the material and continue working with drummer John Sankey, but consideration for me and my input vanished long ago and I have to move onward. I feel honored to have worked with Brett Noordin and Kyle Zemanek during my time with the band.....but please, keep an ear out for DRONIKA in early 2012, featuring myself and ex-ANKLA singer Eddie Macias. We will hopefully deliver you all some great songs, killer live drums and what is turning out to be a great sounding debut record."

DEVOLVED recently released a demo version of a new song called "Collateral Damage". The track will be featured on the band's next album, to be released in 2012. All music was written and performed by John Sankey and Mark Hawkins, with lyrics and arrangement by John Sankey. The vocals were performed by DEVOLVED's new lead singer, Mark Haggblad (UNVEIL THE STRENGTH), following the recent departure of Kyle Zemanek (DEADSETT).

DEVOLVED's latest album, "Oblivion", was released on May 24 via Unique Leader Records.

SLASH (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) was asked by Esquire about what he has learned in life. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

What I've learned: "I never want to draw attention to myself, but that's all I do."

What I've learned: "There are people who have an image of me as being rude and inconsiderate. But I'm completely the opposite, because I was raised not to be. I might have been tripping over myself drunk, but I was always courteous."

What I've learned: "Axl (Rose) and I came from completely different backgrounds. Because of that we made an interesting pair trying to figure each other out."

What I've learned: "When I see footage of Guns N' Roses, I see that fucking hunger and attitude. You could not fuck with those five guys. It was just raw. It was this lean, hungry thing on its way up. It was as sincere as any rock 'n' roll that I've ever heard, and I'm proud of that."

Pride of Lions is carrying on their proud heritage working hard on their as yet untitled fourth studio album. Jim Peterik says: "Our self-titled debut released in 2002 is still many of our fans favorite albums. So this album is a bit of a return to form. Of course there will be a few surprises and Toby Hitchcock is singing stronger than ever. I've hit a stride on the songwriting with songs such as "Tie Down The Wind" and "Coin of the Realm". I needed the time since The Roaring of Dreams to regroup and get reinspired. If you can't make a great record that will last the test of time - why even bother. This time Toby and me wanna take Pride of Lions on the road to promote this new one and spread the word". This new Pride of Lions from what we've heard so far promises to be both more melodic and harder edged. Release is planned for early summer 2012.

Crazy Lixx are busy in the studio recording their third album that will be entitled "Riot Avenue". According to singer Danny Rexon: "This time the music is a little more riff-based and straight-forward. We wanted to make real a hard rock album, so we decided to have a little more raw feeling in the production, sound and songwriting compared to our previous albums and there's a lot more up-tempo songs than we had on New Religion. Also, the addition of a second guitarist, Edd Liam, has made it possible to add some twin guitar playing and other interesting musical stuff that we've used on the album". Some of the song titles are "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", "Young Blood", "Riot Avenue", "Church of Rock", "Fire it Up", "Only the Dead Know" and more. The album is planned for a worldwide release in April 2012 and will be followed by the usual string of live dates around the World.