Terry Butler (DEATH, MASSACRE, SIX FEET UNDER, DENIAL FIEND, OBITUARY) and Frederick "Rick Rozz" DeLillo (MANTAS, DEATH, MASSACRE, M INC.) will celebrate the 20th anniversary of MASSACRE's classic "From Beyond" album by embarking on a European tour in January/February 2012. Dubbed "Army Of Darkness", the trek will feature additional performances from MACABRE and MASTER.

Prior to heading over to Europe, MASSACRE will play a one-off U.S. show on Saturday, January 14 at The Brass Mug in Tampa, Florida.

MASSACRE's touring lineup:

* Mike Mazzonetto (M INC., PAIN PRINCIPLE) - Drums
* Ed Webb (DIABOLIC, GENERICHRIST, DESTINED TO RUIN) - Vocals
* Frederick "Rick Rozz" DeLillo – Guitar
* Terry Butler - Bass

Video footage of the new MASSACRE lineup rehearsing for the upcoming tour at CGM Studios in Altamonte Springs, Florida can be seen below (courtesy of BrutalBroadcast.com). Also available is a ReverbNation TuneWidget player containing three rehearsal recordings featuring the band's new lineup.

Commented Rozz: "It is a great pleasure to jam with such sessioned players, and very cool people, this is a great honor in many ways.

"Special thanks to Tim Vazquez at CGM Studios for the kick-ass audio on the fly, and to Joe (Brutal) Tolley and Death Metal Dave Allison at BrutalBroadcast.com and Metal Messiah Radio, for the video/interview. You all rock."

Added Butler: "We wanted to give the fans a little taste of what Ed Webb and Mike Mazzonetto sound like and what the band is doing at the moment.

"Ed and Mike are doing an amazing job!! They are seasoned veterans and professionals.

"MASSACRE are back and we are ready to hit the road.

"We are moving forward after the tour.

"There have been offers for us to put out a new album and play some festivals as well."

The dates are as follows:

Jan. 25 - Osnabrück, Germany @ Bastard Club
Jan. 26 - Munich, Germany @ Backstage
Jan. 28 - Zürich, Switzerland @ Industrie 45
Jan. 29 - Lyon, France @ Le Kao
Jan. 30 - Paris, France @ Divan Du Monde
Feb. 03 - Valencia, Spain @ Durango Club
Feb. 04 - Badalona/Barcelona, Spain @ Estraperlo Club
Feb. 05 - Montpellier, France @ Secret Place
Feb. 07 - Maribor, Slovenia @ Mc Pekarna
Feb. 08 - Zagreb, Croatia @ Tvornica Kulture
Feb. 11 - Winterthur, Switzerland @ Gaswerk
Feb. 13 - Dresden, Germany @ Chemiefabrik
Feb. 14 - Berlin, Germany @ K-17
Feb. 15 - Bochum, Germany @ Matrix
Feb. 16 - Leer, Germany @ Zollhaus
Feb. 17 - Eindhoven, Holland @ Dynamo
Feb. 18 - Rotterdam, Holland @ Baroeg
Feb. 19 - Drachten, Holland @ Iduna

MASSACRE's tentative setlist for the tour:

01. Chamber Of Ages
02. Succubus
03. Defeat Remains
04. From Beyond
05. Cryptic Realms
06. Provoked Accurser
07. Dawn Of Eternity
08. Bio-Hazard
09. Warhead
10. Corpse Grinder

A revamped version of MASSACRE — consisting of DENIAL FIEND members Sam Williams (guitar), Curt Beeson (drums; NASTY SAVAGE), along with ex-MASSACRE/DENIAL FIEND members Terry Butler (bass), Steve Swanson (guitar) and Kam Lee (vocals) — completed a European tour in late 2007.

THE INIQUITY DESCENT, the extreme-metal project featuring vocalist Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns of Finnish folk metallers FINNTROLL, has inked a deal with Massacre Records. The band has entered the studio to begin recording its debut album for a 2012 release.

THE INIQUITY DESCENT released its debut EP, "Trust The Serpent", in November 2010. The CD was mastered at Nordic Audio Labs by Sami "Hannu" Koivisto and contains four songs (out of 11 that were tracked).

THE INIQUITY DESCENT is:

Mathias Lillmåns - Vocals
Mikael Mannström - Guitars
Philip Kerbs - Guitars
Jonas Frilund - Bass
Kenna Nygård - Drums

Swiss metallers SYBREED have entered Downtone Studio in Geneva to begin recording their fourth album, "God Is An Automaton", for a 2012 release via Listenable Records. The follow-up to 2010's "The Pulse Of Awakening" will once again be mixed in Los Angeles in April 2012 by Rhys Fulber, who has previously worked with FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, FEAR FACTORY and PARADISE LOST, among others. The artwork will be created by Seth Siro Anton (SOILWORK, PARADISE LOST, SEPTICFLESH).

Canadian thrashers THINE EYES BLEED — who feature in their ranks former KITTIE guitarist/technician Jeff Phillips and bassist Johnny Araya (brother of SLAYER's Tom Araya) — have just released their third album, "The Embers Rise", independently via iTunes. The CD was recorded with producer Siegfried Meier at his Beach Road Studios in Ontario, Canada and features a guest appearance by Tom Araya in the song "Eyes To The Sky".

"The Embers Rise" track listing:

01. Ashes We Called Skin
02. Creeper
03. Eyes To The Sky
04. A Dying Man
05. Comorbid
06. Beards Of Prey
07. The Last Dead
08. End With The Night

"Kill The Light", a brand new song from the Italian rock/metal band LACUNA COIL, can be seen streamed on the group's Facebook page. The track comes off LACUNA COIL's forthcoming album, "Dark Adrenaline", which will be released in North America on January 24, 2012 via Century Media Records. Produced by the acclaimed Don Gilmore (LINKIN PARK, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE), the CD promises to deliver the melodic, sensual, metallic rush for which the band has come to be known.

Maryland extreme metallers DYING FETUS have set "Reign Supreme" as the title of their new album, due mid-2012 via Relapse Records. The CD is being recorded at Wrightway Studios in Baltimore with longtime producer Steve Wright (SLIPKNOT, MISERY INDEX). The effort will feature nine tracks and is "a 'return to roots,' with production focused slightly more on slam than in the band's last few works," according to a press release. "Thematically, the album is set to be a good old-fashioned piece of social and political commentary in the style of DYING FETUS as we have come to know."

Commented DYING FETUS guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher: "The last album had some groove in it, but [it] was basically a lot of tech; this one is a return to form of older DYING FETUS albums, so to speak — more modern production, though, of course. Everything's tight, the sound is crushing, the drums are amazing."

"Deathhammer", the title track of the new studio album from Dutch doom death metal legends ASPHYX, can be streamed using the audio player below.

Commented the band: "To us, this song is 100 percent real death metal! It's heavy, aggressive and it simply can't get more in your face than this.

"This song is composed by just a few shredding riffs, which stick in your brain like a buzzsaw, vocals so angry that it could be a declaration of war, relentlessly pounding drums and a bass that roars like a tank.

"We are very proud of this song since it shows our view on real death metal: how we've always seen it, how we feel it and how we want it to be!

"Martin [Van Drunen, vocals] already roared a clear statement in the very beginning of this song: THIS IS TRUE DEATH METAL, YOU BASTARDS! And so it is!"

SLAYER founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman — who in January contracted necrotizing fasciitis, likely caused by a spider bite, and has been undergoing surgeries, skin grafts and intense rehab since — spoke to U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine about his recovery which has seen him sit out an entire year's worth of touring with the band.

Hanneman was kicking back in a hot tub with a couple of beers when noticed a spider bite him on the arm.

"Didn't even feel it," he says now. "But an hour later, I knew that I was ill." On his way to the hospital, "I could see the flesh corrupting," he recalls. "The arm was real hot. I got to the emergency room, and thank god the nurse knew straight away what it was. By chance, although it's pretty rare, she had seen a case a little while before. At that point, I was an hour away from death."

Although the spider bite itself was not serious, it had caused bacterial infection in the deeper layers of the skin and tissues of the arm.

"Unbelivably, the doctor was a SLAYER fan," says Hanneman, "First thing he said to me was: 'First I am going to save your life. Then I am going to save your arm. Then I am going to save your career.'"

Hanneman underwent emergency surgery to remove the dead and dying tissue. The doctor was able to save the muscles and the tendons, but the guitarist had a large open wound on his arm. He spent the next two months in hospital, having extensive skin grafts and heavy doses of antibiotics to suppress the infection.

"I had to learn to walk again," Hanneman says: "I hadn't stood up for a month, apart from anything else. The skin grafts were very painful and all the muscles and tendons in the arm where very weak. That was ok though. I count myself lucky that the nurse and doctor knew right away what had happened to me, because things could have been a whole lot worse."

While Hanneman's SLAYER bandmates fufilled their touring commitments with stand-in guitarist Gary Holt (EXODUS), Jeff spent most of 2011 rehabilitating. With the worst of it behind him, Hanneman can see the humour in the situation, too.

"It's the kind of thing I might have written a song about," he acknowledges. "Everything that could go wrong this year did, but you know, it turned out okay. Satan had my back."

Graham "Gruhamed" Hartmann of Loudwire recently conducted an interview with vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Loudwire: Tell us about CRADLE OF FILTH's new EP, "Evermore Darkly".

Dani: It's kind of a fan-edition thing. It's two discs and it's split between a DVD, which contains a lost video, a documentary about our travels around Russia and Europe earlier in the year and a live show when we headlined Graspop [Metal Meeting in Belgium] this year. On the other side of things, there's an audio CD with a new track. We reworked demos that were for "Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa" record, a remix and a couple other things on there, including a foretaste of our forthcoming classical album, which is full of tracks from my first four albums, but re-imagined, big orchestral cinematic pieces.

Loudwire: That's going to be called "Midnight In The Labyrinth", right?

Dani: That's right. That's looking at about an April release, which is the time we're due to go in to start working on our new album, which we've been tentatively writing over the last few months. We're about three or four songs into it. It's going really well. It's a bit hard to describe in so many words. Its very good, very CRADLE OF FILTH and it's moving on from where we left off on the previous record. "Evermore Darkly" is more like an interim release. It's something for our fans at Halloween.

Loudwire: You've said that your next album is going to bring back the female vocal parts that CRADLE OF FILTH is so well know for.

Dani: I think it's going to have elements of some of our earlier stuff, but it's not really going back to it — more just incorporating ingredients that made CRADLE OF FILTH what we were. I think we'll be taking elements from parts of those records, but trying to push the boundaries even further with what we do.

Loudwire: Is CRADLE OF FILTH planning on touring in 2012?

Dani: Yeah. Obviously, it would be with the release of our album, which should be out around Halloween, strangely enough. We'll be going straight out on the road. We just wanted to get back into the studio really at this point in our careers. This one does follow quite swiftly on the heels of our previous album, "Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa". We're obviously utilizing "Evermore Darkly" as a sort of final nail in that album's coffin and as a springboard to future material. But yeah, definitely, once we're out of the studio, we're straight back out on the road.

Spanish thrash metallers ANGELUS APATRIDA have entered Ultrasound Studios in Moita, Portugal with producer Daniel Cardoso (ANATHEMA, ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN) and sound engineer Hugo Andrade to begin recording their new album for an early 2012 release via Century Media Records. 10 new tracks and two bonus tracks are being recorded for the as-yet-untitled CD, including "It's Rising!", "You Are Next", "Blood On The Snow", "Violent Dawn" and "Still Corrupt". The artwork for the album will one again be created by Brazilian artist Gustavo Sazes (ARCH ENEMY, FIREWIND, THE CROWN).

Commented ANGELUS APATRIDA guitarist/vocalist Guillermo Izquierdo: "We are working on an album that’s gonna be, without any shade of doubt, our most mature material. This time we have been able to do a pre-production of the whole record with Daniel Cardoso and it turned out to add a fresher taste in both the music and vocal melodies."

ANGELUS APATRIDA's last album, "Clockwork", landed at position No. 44 on the official Spanish chart.

GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna tells Dave Wedge of BostonHerald.comthat the band is heading back to the studio in January to mix a live disc and record a handful of cover songs that Erna says "inspired us along the way." A spring tour with fellow Massachusetts rockers STAIND also is on tap.

Erna's December 16 solo performance at The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts will be professionally filmed for an upcoming 3D DVD release. The concert is also slated to air on Palladia, a cable music channel that ran a documentary about the making of his solo album "Avalon".

Regarding his past solo performances in support of "Avalon", Erna said, "Just like any other tour, it took us a week or a week and a half to get into a groove ... and polish the fluidity of the performance. But it came together because all the musicians in this band are so talented. ... It felt really like it grew internally for us, and externally for the audience it was smoother.”

He added, "It was very refreshing to see people get it. It really translated to people. Every night, there were people in the audience with tissues, wiping tears from their face. Other times, it was more of an uplifting vibe, and it was powerful and showed the power of music and what it can do when it’s presented the proper way."

Released in September 2010, "Avalon" features flutes, cellos, hand drums and other exotic instrumentation, along with female vocals. Erna has emphasized that it is "not a rock record."

Video footage of the new lineup of ATTIKA 7 (formerly ATTIKA) — the Los Angeles-based heavy metal/hard rock band featuring Tony Campos (SOULFLY, POSSESSED, STATIC-X, ASESINO, MINISTRY) on bass; Evan Seinfeld (BIOHAZARD) on vocals; songwriter and famed motorcycle builder Rusty Coones on guitar; and Dustin Schoenhofer (WALLS OF JERICHO, BURY YOUR DEAD) on drums — performing the song "Serial Killer" on November 26, 2011 at the Stingfest at Stingers Bar & Night Club in San Bernardino, California can be seen below.

Swedish death metallers DEMONICAL have announced a new drummer and guitar player.

Commented the band: "We have hereby officially parted ways with drummer Ronnie Bergerståhl and replaced him with Fredrik Widigs. Fredrik has been our stand-in drummer during the past autumn, hence making him the obvious choice for the throne and full time position. Besides that, we are also thrilled to announce that our session live-guitarist Pablo Magallanes has become an official member of DEMONICAL.

"We want to thank Ronnie for all the years in the band and wish him the best for the future! We welcome Fredrik and Pablo into DEMONICAL, with this new and strong we are more than ready for 2012 and everything it will bring."

Added Bergerståhl: "As most of you know by now, I decided to sit out the DEMONICAL tour which took place in October/November. I thought about it for months before the tour started and in my heart I basically decided already then to quit the band. However, I gave it some time but now I have taken the last final decision: I will quit DEMONICAL! The main reason is that it is getting harder and harder to combine two touring bands like DEMONICAL and GRAVE — to give them equal priority — and as DEMONICAL will be doing a shitload of festivals and shows in 2012 and GRAVE will release a new album (with extended touring to follow) it will be impossible.

"There is absolutely no hard feelings between me and the guys in DEMONICAL; we will still be doing lots of Hadderajjan together after this, hehe!

"I'm really excited to see who's going to take my place in the band but I know that they won't settle for anything or anyone but the best!”

Stated Fredrik Widigs: "It’s a great privilege for me to be a part of DEMONICAL and after the much successful Eastern Death Infernal Tour 2011, I'm very eager to continue to spread the Swedish death metal darkness. The march for victory has only begun!"

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, a man who embezzled more than $287,000 from WHITESNAKE founder David Coverdale and his wife, Cindy, was sentenced to six months in jail.

Eric Hosmer, 44, was reportedly hired as a groundskeeper by Coverdale and his family, who own multiple properties in in Incline Village in North Lake Tahoe, Nevada. According to the police, Hosmer was submitting fradulent invoices to Coverdale's accounting firm for payment.

Washoe Judge Patrick Flanagan ordered Hosmer to probation for two counts of felony theft and ordered he pay restitution of more than $69,000.

Coverdale called Hosmer a "deceiver, liar and a thief."

A Washoe County Sheriff press release announcing Hosmer's arrest back in March 2011 can be found at this location (PDF file).

Pictured below: Eric Hosmer (police photo)

Legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen was recently honored by Sharpie — a manufacturer of writing instruments (mainly marker pens) whose products are sold in over 20 countries.

Sharpie president Ben J. Gadbois (pictured below with Yngwie), who did the honors, had this to say: "I have followed Yngwie since high school and am a huge fan."

He added, "It was fantastic to meet one of the greatest guitar players of all time and talk about music and several of our common interests. It was also an honor to present Yngwie with his own personalized Sharpies. It means a lot that he chooses our markers to sign autographs. He's definitely made an indelible mark on music, and in some small way, we hope Sharpie has helped him make a lasting impressions with his fans."

Released on November 22, 2010 via Malmsteen's own Rising Force Records, Yngwie's latest album, "Relentless", contains more than 60 minutes of brand new material and showcases the guitar great at his best with the signature virtuosity and mind-blowing technical speed for which he has come to be known. "Relentless" also features striking vocals from Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH), who first collaborated with Malmsteen on "Perpetual Flame" (Malmsteen's first album for the Rising Force Records label).

Of the new album, Malmsteen commented, "The album title really says it all. The drive to surpass my own accomplishments can best be described with one word — relentless. After all these years of composing and playing music, I still am passionate about pushing myself to the limit — to the highest, most demanding level of playing possible."

Frontiers Records has announced the signing of TRIXTER for the worldwide release of the band's reunion album in the spring of 2012.

Formed in Paramus, New Jersey in 1984, TRIXTER's self-titled debut album attained gold status (reaching #28 on The Billboard 200 in 1990), and spawned three minor hit singles: "Surrender" (#72), "One In A Million" (#75), and "Give It To Me Good" (#65). Despite the fact that none of the singles made the Top 40 or garnered much radio airplay, the videos for all three tunes were in heavy rotation on MTV (especially "Give It To Me Good", which was #1 on the channel for several weeks). A follow-up effort, "Hear", came out in 1992, but failed to reach the same commercial heights. The band recorded an album of cover songs, "Undercovers", in 1994, which garnered little commercial success, and TRIXTER broke up shortly after its release.

TRIXTER announced the reunion of its original lineup in 2007 and has since played a number of shows, including the Rocklahoma festival in 2008.

Comments TRIXTER guitarist Steve Brown: "The band has been playing together for the last four years, so making a new record is the next logical step. We are all very excited.

"The new CD will be entitled 'New Audio Machine' and is a classic style melodic hard rock album. All the sounds people have loved about TRIXTER will be there... Great songs, big guitar riffs, catchy vocals and a huge bottom end. A total big rock production!!!"

TRIXTER's current lineup features Pete Loran on lead vocals and guitar, Steve Brown on lead guitar, P.J. Farley on bass and Gus Scott on drums.

"We take pride in the fact that we are one of the few bands of our genre that have all original members," says Brown.

With an arsenal of great new songs and a catalogue of two successful releases, TRIXTER is looking forward to bringing its songs to the live stage. "We are hoping to land a support slot on one of the major summer tours," says Brown. "And we finally hope to play our first European tour as well."

Christian metalcore act Close Your Eyes has released a new music video for “Keep The Lights On” that comes off of the band’s latest effort, “Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts.”

Vocalist Shane Raymond said of the video, “I wrote that song knowing I was being in this place of everything that I despised, and running away from all of the things I know that I should be… and to ‘keep the lights on,’ because I know there’s still hope.”

New classic rock outfit SNAKECHARMER was finally introduced to the industry on December 5 with an intimate launch party, where selected members of the press listened to an exquisite four tracks appetizer, equally split between unforgettable WHITESNAKE classics and SNAKECHARMER's own unreleased work. A special guest appearance with URIAH HEEP at London's Shepherds Bush Empire completed the launch on December 8, introducing the band to the general public. Among the party's attendees were leading journalists from the BBC, Classic Rock magazine and Planet Rock, as well as cast and musical directors from West End rock shows. They were treated to a playback of newly recorded versions of "Fool For Your Lovin'" and "Here I Go Again" and given an exclusive preview of newly penned tracks "Smoking Gun" and "Turn Of The Screw". The two new songs were not performed at the Shepherds Bush Empire show, where a well-received selection of WHITESNAKE hits was greeted with a very enthusiastic, goose-bump-inducing sing-along.

GOD SEED's "Live At Wacken" DVD and CD will be released on January 27 in Europe and January 31 in North America via Indie Recordings.

The number of tracks on the "Live At Wacken" DVD was recently reduced to nine from the previously announced 13.

GOD SEED was the Norwegian band featuring former GORGOROTH members King (bass; real name: Tom Cato Visnes) and Gaahl (vocals; real name: Kristian Espedal).

"Live At Wacken" will include footage of the group's infamous live show from the 2008 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany where they performed on the main stage in front of 75,000 screaming fans.

The Wacken performance was a reconstruction of GORGOROTH's controversial "Black Mass" show from Krakow in 2004 filmed in a TV studio in Kraków, Poland. The concert featured sheep heads on stakes, "crucified" nude models, satanic symbols, and eighty liters of sheep's blood. The band came under fire for violating Polish anti-blasphemy laws as well as Polish animal-rights laws, resulting in a police investigation with allegations of religious offence and cruelty to animals. The band went free of all charges and at Wacken 2008 they recreated this now-legendary show in all its glory.

This spectacular show is made available as a live CD, including the film of the entire show on DVD. The album is only available in a deluxe digipack edition and holds liner notes from the band about the process of recreating this special show.

"Live At Wacken" features session players Nick Barker (drums) and Ice Dale (guitar) alongside King and Gaahl.

"Live At Wacken" track listing:

CD

01. Procreating Satan
02. Forces Of Satan Storms
03. Teethgrinding
04. Carving A Giant
05. Sign Of An Open Eye
06. Wound Upon Wound
07. God Seed
08. Of Ice And Movement
09. Prosperity And Beauty

DVD

01. Procreating Satan
02. Forces Of Satan Storms
03. Teethgrinding
04. Carving A Giant
05. Sign Of An Open Eye
06. Wound Upon Wound
07. God Seed
08. Of Ice And Movement
09. Prosperity And Beauty

GOD SEED came to life after Gaahl and King lost a court battle in early 2009 against guitarist Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name.

Commented King: "GOD SEED represents a more spiritual side to us than what GORGOROTH did. GOD SEED represents the will to grow; the will to be the super man, so to speak. I think it's a suitable name for what we will represent in the future. I am also aware of the fact that we use the word 'God' in the name. It will challenge the weak minded in the respect that we in the past used the word Satan a lot, but it's all about the same thing. The God within man, and the God within nature. I never believed in a Christian force named Satan. I believe in the God within man."

Gaahl left GOD SEED in 2009 because he chose to retire from metal music.