The original lineup of the legendary heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH — Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) — has reunited and has begun work on a brand new album. The group's first studio effort in 33 years — the songwriting for which is already half complete — will be produced by Rick Rubin, who has previously worked with METALLICA, SLIPKNOT, SLAYER and SYSTEM OF A DOWN, among many others. The band hopes to begin recording the CD in January for a fall 2012 release via Vertigo/Universal Republic in the U.S. and Vertigo in all other territories. A world tour will follow, including an appearance at the U.K.'s Download festival on June 10, 2012.

BLACK SABBATH's reunion was officially confirmed a few minutes ago during a special announcement ceremony at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, California — the same venue where the band made its Los Angeles debut on November 11, 1970 (41 years ago), opening for ALICE COOPER. All four original members of the group attended the event, which was hosted by former BLACK FLAG frontman Henry Rollins.

"I was a very alienated young person," Rollins said, "and when I heard BLACK SABBATH, I realized my life had a soundtrack. I realized there were people out there using music to make great statements. When I heard 'Iron Man', high school became powerless over me. This is true outsider music."

The band credited Rubin's persistence for helping get them back in the studio. "He phoned us every five minutes," Iommi joked.

"It was the obvious choice," explained Osbourne of Rubin as producer. "I've known Rick for many years."

"It was time," said Osbourne of the reunion. "The timing was right." Iommi added: "It's now or never. We get along great. Everything's really good."

Osbourne went on to reveal that they've written "seven or eight" new songs for the album, which they plan to release at the end of next year.

Butler added that the new songs are "back to the old SABBATH style and sound. The stuff that Tony's been playing is absolutely brilliant."

Iommi said, "It's like putting on an old glove. It's fantastic."

Rubin, who was also present at the event, said: "We've been working on developing material and we're halfway into the writing process. It's inspiring hearing what's coming out."

SABBATH will return to Donington for the first time since 2005 as a U.K. festival exclusive, joining Saturday headliners METALLICA, who were confirmed yesterday and will be playing their seminal, self-titled "Black Album" in full.

"The reunion of the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH has been one of the most talked about stories of the year," says Live Nation's Andy Copping. "I am thrilled that the band will return to Donington Park next year to help us mark 10 years of the Download festival."

BLACK SABBATH also announced today the launch of BlackSabbath.com, the first-ever official BLACK SABBATH web site for all authorized BLACK SABBATH news. In addition, the band’s online presence will also be supported by social media via Facebook and Twitter — again, marking the band's first-ever foray into the social media world.

According to Guardian.co.uk, James McMahon, editor of U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine, insisted the reunion did not represent just another bunch of old-timers getting back together to cash in on their cult status, and predicted fans would feel the same way.

"Metal fans can be the most cynical people in the world," he said. "But the return of BLACK SABBATH — I don't think anyone thinks that's a bad thing.

"It's different because they announced they're making a record and that's really exciting. It doesn't feel weary in the way a lot of reunions of classic bands does.

"They are THE BEATLES of heavy metal. It all starts with BLACK SABBATH."

A three-and-a-half-minute reunion-announcement video can be seen below.

The Ozzy-fronted lineup of SABBATH hasn't toured since 2005 and last appeared together when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006. They attempted to cut a new album — their first since 1978's "Never Say Die!" — with Rick Rubin in 1999, but the sessions fell apart after just a couple of songs and Osbourne turned his attention to his solo career. The Ronnie James Dio lineup reunited under the moniker HEAVEN & HELL in 2006 but split four years later, after Dio passed away.

Iommi told U.K.'s Terrorizer magazine that the four original members of BLACK SABBATH recently got together in a rehearsal room for the first time in years, adding, "[We] played some of the old stuff and to be together again was great. We're all on good terms and we're at a stage where we can play together again. It would be good if we could and I suppose it's the closest it's been to be able to do that."

Osbourne told Billboard.com last month that a reunion of the original BLACK SABBATH lineup was a "very, very strong possibility." He added, "It's in the very early stages, so we haven't recorded anything yet. If it works out, it'll work out. If it doesn't, I'll keep doing my thing."

The Birmingham Mail reported in August that the original SABBATH lineup had begun rehearsing and writing music in secret for a new album. The Mail based its story around remarks made by Iommi, who later said the comments were off the record and taken out of context. Iommi's manager, however, did not deny that a reunion was underway.

Speculation about a reunion was fueled later that month when Ozzy skipped the Hollywood premiere of the documentary about his life, "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne". Both his son Jack and daughter Kelly hinted at the time that their dad was "doing something that is very, very exciting."

Osbourne and Iommi last year amicably resolved their problems over the ownership of the BLACK SABBATH name and court proceedings in New York were discontinued.

Ozzy filed a lawsuit against Iommi in May 2009, claiming that Iommi illegally took sole ownership of the band's name in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Osbourne sued Iommi for a 50 percent interest in the "Black Sabbath" trademark, along with a portion of Iommi's profits from use of the name.

The Manhattan federal court suit also charged that Osbourne's "signature lead vocals" are largely responsible for the band's "extraordinary success," noting that its popularity plummeted during his absence from 1980 through 1996.

Lawyer Andrew DeVore argued that Osbourne signed away all his rights to the BLACK SABBATH trademark after he quit the band in 1979.

Osbourne's lawyer, Howard Shire, called that agreement a "red herring" that was "repudiated" when the singer rejoined in 1997 and took over "quality control" of the band's merchandise, tours and recordings.

Karl Baz of Time Out Dubai spoke to METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett ahead of the band's first-ever concert in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates at Yas Island on October 25. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Time Out Dubai: Well, METALLICA's certainly been a massive influence on the local scene; plenty of people start off playing your covers, or trying to mimic your music.

Kirk: Well, you gotta start somewhere! And what better place? They often try to tailor their stuff to the region. In fact, plenty of the big names that come to Abu Dhabi try to change their music or style a bit to suit the local audience, but not you...The audience wanted full-on METALLICA, full-on 100 percent METALLICA.

Time Out Dubai: Speaking of which, you know how massive bands sort of diminish over time? How is it that METALLICA have managed to remain fresh and relevant even after all these years in the business?

Kirk: A lot of energy. You know, for us, we're just totally the type of band personality where we want to try new things, different things. We're very curious in a creative way, and all of us share an intellectual curiosity to see what lies just right over that hill, you know, on the other side of the hill, creatively speaking. I think it's really important for our own satisfaction, and for our creative gratification, that we explore different things, and go down different avenues, and try different things musically. We want to experience it all, we want to taste it all, you know? I mean we don't want to be stuck in some corner when there's a huge playing field of things to try, you know what I mean? We don't want to be stuck, I think.

Time Out Dubai: Stuck how?

Kirk: I mean, we're very aware that we can get stuck, playing the same kind of music and, you know, it's a very easy and comfortable place to be, in your little corner. But I think for us, we've always been about searching and actually rebelling. It's kind of like we're rebelling against the boundaries that are being put upon us. I totally see it that way, our fans would just like to keep us in our cage, but we refuse.

Time Out Dubai: Well you haven't lost any fans, that's for sure.

Kirk: Yeah, I think the large part of our fans understand that we need to be creatively unhinged and unbounded. There's no grand plan with our albums, we don't sit down and say, "OK, we're now going to play Indian ragas." It's not like that, it's largely just instinct. We just follow our gut and our instinct, and go where they take us.

Time Out Dubai: And after all this time, it still doesn't get tiring?

Kirk: No, I'm not tired. Well, you know we could always use a little more sleep! But I'm not tired of it, it's always challenging. I'm never tired of playing my guitar, because my guitar offers me such a great opportunity to experience so many other things. I love music; there's no way I can really get tired of it.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, KORN frontman Jonathan Davis said in a new interview with England's Kerrang! magazine that he expects the band's fans to be angry about their new album, "The Path Of Totality". The disc is comprised entirely of songs done with dubstep producers and DJs. Davis told the magazine, "People are going to be pissed about this record. That's made me even more excited about it. I don't give a flying fuck what people think. We can't win with KORN fans. Some are so stuck in 1994."

Davis added that he's tired of fans wanting the band to sound like it did when it first came on the scene, saying, "Everybody calls us the godfathers of nu-metal and I'm fucking tired of that. We don't want to join the nostalgia circuit. Us, LIMP BIZKIT, STAIND or some shit like that. Fuck that."

The singer told MTV Hive last week that he thinks the combination of heavy rock and dubstep is the "future of metal" and admitted that he's "bored to death" at rock shows nowadays.

"The Path Of Totality" arrives on December 6 and features KORN working with dubstep acts like 12th Planet, Kill The Noise, Excision and Skrillex on every track. including new single "Narcissistic Cannibal".

KORN is currently on a short tour which brings them to Tampa, Florida on Friday (November 11). The band is playing three sets each night: they start out with KORN rarities, then their dubstep set, then they close out the night with KORN hits.

During a recent interview with Metal Kaoz, German metal queen Doro Pesch was asked about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for her next studio album. "I think we have completed 80 percent of the new record and there are some great songs coming up," she replied. "Actually, one song is dedicated to Ronnie James Dio and the working title is 'Hero'. That's a very special song. I was a big Dio fan and I know that there are so many fans out there are missing him so much, so definitely this song will be on the new record. Also they will be some speed metal songs, some anthems songs and, of course, some power ballads."

Regarding when fans can expect to see the new CD released, Doro said, "Maybe next spring, because we'll be touring until the end of this year, so it's not enough time to work in the studio. And then we need some time to cool off after the tour and stuff like that. I think around springtime the new album will be out."

In conjunction with the Stateside release of the mammoth "25 Years In Rock" 2 DVD/CD set, Doro performed two special shows in New York City on September 9 and Chicago on September 11. Both nights included clips from the DVD, limited edition merchandise and an autograph session followed by a performance by the metal queen herself.

British heavy metal legends SAXON will release a new concert DVD, "Heavy Metal Thunder Live: Eagles Over Wacken", in early 2012. According to Classic Rock, it will feature performances from Germany's Wacken Open Air festival.

"There are five in all, from 2002 to 2009," SAXON singer Biff Byford tells Classic Rock. "But we've not got all five shows, in their entirety, because even I would get bored watching that! The most interesting one is 2009, which was Wacken's 20th anniversary and our 30th. We did a set that included songs from all of our studio albums, as voted for by the fans. And we did it with the most recent at the start working backwards to our debut album, 'Saxon', at the end."

In other news, Byford has revealed that SAXON has been working on an unplugged album.

"What we've been doing aren't necessarily the hits, but songs that sound good in an unplugged style," he said. "We will definitely be doing an album, although I don't know how we'll put this out. It may as a bonus CD with the next studio album."

ALL THAT REMAINS and Jamey Jasta (of HATEBREED and KINGDOM OF SORROW) are releasing a limited-edition split seven-inch blood-red vinyl available exclusively on Record Store Day's Black Friday event on November 25 at participating stores. The split seven-inch vinyl features two songs — "Some Of The People, All Of The Time" off ALL THAT REMAINS' latest album, "For We Are Many"; and "Mourn The Illusion" from Jasta's solo album, "Jasta". The record is limited to a pressing of only 1,000 copies available exclusively on Record Store Day's Black Friday.

"We come from the metal underground, and as such, when we were presented with the idea of doing a split with Jamey Jasta, who also comes from the underground, we were extremely excited about the idea," said ALL THAT REMAINS frontman Phil Labonte. "There's lots of people who still buy vinyl to collect, so it's cool to be able to do some vinyl with a band who is from our area and who is from the same scene."

Added Jasta, "I'm a huge fan and supporter of indy record stores. They've always supported my music and I wanted to make sure we gave fans something special. Doing it with our friends in ALL THAT REMAINS makes it even sweeter."

EDGUY recently confirmed that they will return to the UK for three shows in February. Frontman Tobias Sammet expresses his happiness at returning to England:

“I don't wanna kiss ass but I love England. I love tea, I love British humour, I love British football! Not so much Manchester United! I love the English mountains, the English rivers and even more so the English trees. I love the alleys and the willow, the British sparrow and the English castles. I love IRON MAIDEN and KISS, although I know KISS has got nothing to do with England, but I make an exception here. I love London and Essex, I love Robin Hood and his merry men, I love the Nottingham caves, Michael Praed. To cut a long story short: I love the way England looks and more so the way it smells. It's a scent of love, of life, a scent of freedom and tradition. It feels great to be back to play in England, I am thrilled with anticipation, and I don't say that about every place we go. I remember we played a place in Austria a long time ago and it kind of left me cold in advance. In fact I can't make up my mind about who should feel more privileged: England or Edguy? I guess England, but Edguy stands right next to that on position number two. I highly recommend everyone to come to the shows because not only you will have the thrill of your lifetime, it's also important for us to make the tour remunerative! Big time!”

Edguy's Age Of The Joker UK dates include:

February
2 - Manchester, UK - Academy
3 - Birmingham, UK - The Library (HMV Institute)
4 - London, UK - 02 Academy Islington

This message was posted in SOLSTICE official blog:
«Аnd so, after much talking we have decided to split amicably with our drummer Rich Horton, purely for geographical reasons and the fact the distance between us was becoming a hindrance as we are stepping our efforts up a gear or three. We've had some great laughs with Rich, but the needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few in this instance. (On a side note, I especially want to thank Alan Averill and all the lads of PRIMORDIAL, H of DME, and the incredible people for their appreciation and support at the Dublin show at the Academy. The 1000 Strong audience, and the laughs we had in the pubs and clubs after with Wing Commander Patrick Clancy will go down in legend. It was also Paul's debut on vocals, and to quote our mate Brucey, "Didn't he do well"?)
Anyways up, stepping into his (Richard's) shoes, we welcome ex-ASOMVEL lunatic "Dirty" Del Nichol, a legend among the pubs and clubs of Yorkshire for his ability to knock the living shit out of a drum kit and not go insane from the eldritch rants of Mr. Lenny Robinson. Del fits us like a size ten steel toe capped boot (Or $500 Cowboy on the next album are still work in progress (we're still jamming and writing), we will release a limited edition Rehearsal Demo, much in the vein of the old "Drunken Dungeon Sessions" tapes which will be available for a limited time only, With three new songs, ("FORTRESS ENGLAND", "I AM THE HUNTER" and "DEATH'S CROWN IS VICTORY") - it will be a small run available around March/April time to coincide with going to the public house and getting intoxicated most likely!! Lordy! Either way, expect to pay a paltry sum, or nothing at all for a copy if you catch us at a gig with copies.
Finally, apologies to all who showed up to the Lancaster gig expecting to see us, due to circumstances beyond our control we were unable to make it, we will be back however to drink the Yorkshire House's fine selection of beers and make a loud metallic noise. Thanks especially to Jack of ELIMINATOR for been understanding. Until the next update, with some gig dates and a sneak preview of the INCREDIBLE artwork for the "Englander" album, over, but never out - Kao O Aratte Denaoshite Koi».

In other news, we'll be announcing the first of next Years European dates shortly, finally a gig in Germany, which we know that many, many people were disappointed that we had to cancel HELL's PLEASURE and Hammer Of Doom, but again, that's life. We lost no sleep over the cancellations, better to show up and be at our best rather than some hackneyed pub rock with geriatric singer wearing a threadbare hairpiece and wailing out of key which seems to be the norm. We're better than than that, we won't stoop to the level of all these charlatans and chancers. We live, breathe and believe in the music we play, you will nevercatch us trying to record an album in a chicken hut in someone's back garden then trying to fob it off as re-recorded "Old songs".
And so, as the new songs fo

This message was posted in HYPNOS official MySpace page: «HYPNOS just finished main part of recording of new album "Heretic Commando / The Rise Of New Antikrist" in Czech Shaark studio. First results sounds very promising even before mixing and mastering in Norwegian Toproom studio. Album will be released via Einheit Produktionen at 27.4.2012. One month before official date, first single "Inverted" will be announced, including video clip premiere on YouTube».

Swedish extreme metal veterans HYPOCRISY are writing material for a new studio album, which they plan to record late next year. Guitarist Mikael Hedlund tells Metal Shock Finland, "It's too early to say what it's going to sounds like, but all I can say is that it's not gonna be any change of style. It will be a classic HYPOCRISY album without [any] compromises. We already got some material and we're really looking forward to enter the studio again. We don't know yet when it will [be], but hopefully after the summer 2012. Nothing is confirmed yet. We're doing the Metalfest tour [of Europe] in May/June plus some other festivals. That's the plans at the moment."

According to an update from WARLORD mainman Bill Tsamis, he and drummer Mark Zonder (FATES WARNING) have "already begun recording demo tracks to some initial songs for the new Warlord album. Things are moving quickly... sounds awesome!"

Greece's Rock Overdose conducted an interview with Tsamis back in September. They discussed the history of Warlord, about the 2002 reformation of the band, and the band's plans for the future.

Tsamis: "We have been offered to play overseas at festivals numerous times. However, it just wasn't practical for us to do all that work to play just a few shows. I don"t think it will ever happen."

Keswick, Ontario-based shredders MANAHAN, featuring guitarist/vocalist Cory Manahan, are working on material for the follow-up to their debut album, Commence. They have now unveiled the artwork for the first single, 'If Today Was The Last Day', created by Laurent Robin. Check it out below:

Cory recently checked in with the following update:

"The recording process is now done for the new single 'If Today Was The Last Day', it will be released soon. The new direction is the most 'Manahan' sounding ever! I can't wait for everyone to hear it. I had a great time working with Michael Borkosky; he is a genius when it comes to melody, arrangements, tones and especially production. Stay tuned for the release!"

SIN CITY SINNERS — which features Todd Kerns (SLASH, AGE OF ELECTRIC), Brent Muscat (FASTER PUSSYCAT), Rob Cournoyer (RAGING SLAB) and Michael Ellis — will release "A Sinners' Christmas" on November 25. The CD will feature guest appearances by Frank Dimino (ANGEL), Jizzy Pearl (L.A. GUNS, RATT, LOVE/HATE), George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB, SOULS OF WE), Slim Jim Phantom (HEADCAT, THE STRAY CATS), Louie Merlino (BEGGARS & THIEVES), Jimmy Crespo (AEROSMITH), Pete Loran (TRIXTER), Ron Keel (KEEL) and Sammy Serious (THE ZEROS). The CD was recorded, mixed & mastered at Hit Track Studios in Las Vegas and produced by Brent Muscat and Tom Parham, and executive-produced by Jason Green.

"A Sinners' Christmas" track listing:

01. We Three Kings (feat. George Lynch & Todd Kerns)
02. Winter Wonderland (feat. Frank Dimino of Angel)
03. Run Rudolph Run (feat. Brent Muscat)
04. Rocking Around The Christmas Tree (feat. Todd Kerns)
05. O Holy Night (feat. Jizzy Pearl)
06. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (feat. Louie Merlino)
07. Jingle Bell Rock (feat. Slim Jim Phantom, Michael Ellis)
08. Silent Night (feat. Ron Keel)
09. I'll Be Home For Christmas (feat. Pete Loran)
10. We Wish You A Sinners Christmas (feat. Todd Kerns, Louie Merlino)

The song "We Three Kings" can now be streamed below.

METALLICA will headline the 10th installment of the Download festival at Donington Park on Saturday, June 9, 2012, with an exclusive U.K. performance of the band's top-selling 1991 LP, "Metallica", a.k.a. "the black album." It will be the eighth time the California metal titans will have played at Donington during their three-decade-long career, having previously performed at both Monsters Of Rock and Download festivals.

"Six years is way too long to be away from the hallowed grounds of Donington Park," says METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. "We are beyond psyched and feel privileged to come back once again to soak up the energy and vibe of the most legendary of festival sites."

"I am absolutely bowled over that METALLICA will be playing The Black Album at the 10th anniversary of Download," says Andy Copping, VP of Promotions at Live Nation. "The album is up there as one of the greatest albums of all time, everyone knows the songs. The Download festival has come a long way since we first started in 2003 and to have METALLICA back to help us celebrate this milestone is just fantastic."

Download 2012 takes place at Donington Park on June 8-10, 2012. Weekend with camping tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. on Friday, November 18 from www.downloadfestival.co.uk.

According to ColombiaReports.com, the November 12 concert in Bogota, Colombia by reactivated California death metal pioneers POSSESSED was canceled by the promoter, Invoking Productions, because "less than 55 tickets" were sold for the event.

"We are very grateful to those who supported us and we will refund the money for the tickets immediately," the promoter said. "A thousand thanks to everyone for the support, but it is impossible to continue with the concert without the support of concert attendees."

In a statement released earlier today, POSSESSED said about the Bogota concert cancelation, "We did everything in our power to come out and play this show for [the fans]. In preparation for this show, we are all actually in Los Angeles this minute practicing for this show and have even made special t-shirts for this Colombian November 12th show. We are really disappointed that this is not going to happen the way it was supposed to, since the whole band was really excited to go to Colombia to give you a killer show."

Gore metal pioneers NECROPHAGIA have issued the following update from singer Frank "Killjoy" Pucci: "I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for your "Undying" support for so many years ! Necrophagia will return on Halloween 2012 with a new full length release titled Whiteworm Cathedral. Gore Forever!!!"

Check out a recently-released demo of 'March Of The DeathCorps(e)' below:

SCORPIONS, DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION and Michael Monroe were among the honorees at the seventh annual Classic Rock Roll Of Honour, which was held last night (Wednesday, Novemebr 9) at the world-famous Roundhouse in Camden, England. The ceremony was hosted by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. Guitarist Jeff Beck was awarded the highest accolade of the evening, The Living Legend Award, presented by Roger Taylor from QUEEN.

The full list of winners is as follows:

* The Living Legend Award: Jeff Beck
* Event Of The Year: Roger Waters' The Wall Live Tour
* Breakthrough Act Of The Year: BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION
* The Spirit Of Prog: JETHRO TULL
* The Innovator Award: DEEP PURPLE
* Musicians' Union Maestro Award: Steve Winwood
* Tommy Vance Inspiration Award: Steve Marriot
* Classic Songwriter: MANIC STREET PREACHERS
* Outstanding Contribution: Bob Zrin
* Metal Guru Award: SCORPIONS
* Classic Album Award: THE WHO - "Quadrophenia"
* VIP Award: Baron Wolman
* Best New Band: VINTAGE TROUBLE
* Album Of The Year: Michael Monroe – "Sensory Overdrive"
* Reissue Of The Year: QUEEN reissues package of their five albums
* Film/DVD Award: Lemmy
* Band Of The Year: FOO FIGHTERS

MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy, who picked up an award for his documentary "Lemmy", told BBC 6 Music he felt "fine" after getting the prize but was shocked the film was received so well. "It was flattering they wanted to do it, I didn't think it had a pony's chance in hell of making it do anything and then it did," he said.

Beck took his "Living Legend" award in his stride, saying "It's a bit overblown, it's a bit over the top, I am me and I am never going to forget who I am and I am glad I am rooted on the ground and my mum would never have tolerated that rubbish."

Fans voted QUEEN's reissues package of five albums the best reissues of the year, fighting off competition from THE WHO's "Live at Leeds" and DAVID BOWIE's "Station to Station" deluxe.

"It's a very nice surprise to me," QUEEN guitarist Brian May told BBC 6 Music. "You do beaver away on these projects and a lot of time and effort went into this and you think will anyone actually notice how brilliant they are and appreciate them and the good news is they do."

Belfast, Ireland-based band ROGUE MALE have issued the following message:

"Our drummer (Larry Paterson) has had 90% of his drum kit stolen - the thieves couldn't handle the bass drums. Please repost and keep your eyes peeled for any of it. The Mapex drums are the only one of that colour in the series, the Paiste cymbals, the hardware and even the sticks were all taken - all the info and serial numbers are here. Cheers."

FAITH NO MORE singer Mike Patton joined THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN on stage on November 3 at The Warfield in San Francisco, California to perform their collaborative track "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things". Multi-camera video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

The studio version of "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things" originally appeared on THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's third EP, "Irony Is A Dead Scene", which came out in August 2002 via Epitaph. The material included on the effort was recorded after the departure of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's original vocalist, Dimitri Minakakis, but before a replacement (Greg Puciato) had been chosen. The plan to record with Patton was in place before a replacement vocalist had been found. By the time Mike Patton had recorded vocals and the EP was released, the band had been touring with Puciato for nearly a year.

MASTODON's Brent Hinds, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN guitarist Ben Weinman, former MARS VOLTA drummer Thomas Pridgen and ex-JANE'S ADDICTION bassist Eric Avery have joined forces in a new project called G.T.O. (GIRAFFE TONGUE ORCHESTRA). Weinman states, "Brent and I have already got new material. The guy just spits out riffs like a riff machine. [We have a] day off tomorrow [during the ongoing MASTODON/THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN tour] in Colorado and we shall be working all day on sweet, sweet melodies sure to make the young girls cry and the old ones scream (not necessarily in that order)."

A photo of Weinman and Avery working on material for the G.T.O. project can be seen below.

Finally, after all these years, we have found the time to gather our most worthy songs into a best of compilation, representative of our career’s first 25 years. From the very beginning it was important for us to undertake this project only if we could put the necessary time and attention to detail into it. With overwhelming nostalgia we have looked back on 25 years and came up with Memories of a Time to Come, an organic mixture of some of our greatest songs.

With the exception of “Sacred Worlds”, all songs on Memories of a Time to Come have been remixed while “The Bard’s Song – The Hobbit”, “Valhalla” as well as “And Then There Was Silence” have been re-recorded. This album contains some very pleasant surprises for the die-hard Blind Guardian fan and delivers a perfect image of our musical spirit to those who are not, or just loosely, familiar with the band. Memories of a Time to Come precisely defines our progression and the long-standing dedication to our music. We are proud to present an album that will take the listener on a musical voyage. This year’s Christmas will be in January!

Memories of a Time to Come, the ultimate collection of Blind Guardian music from 1987 to 2011, will be released on January 20, 2012 via Virgin/EMI. It will be available as a double CD, 3 CD deluxe limited edition including the legendary Lucifer’s Heritage demos and as download.

CD 1:
Imaginations from the Other Side (7:11) *
Nightfall (5:34) *
Ride into Obsession (4:46) *
Somewhere Far Beyond (7:32) *
Majesty (7:29) *
Traveler in Time (6:01) *
Follow the Blind (7:11) *
The Last Candle (6:03) *

CD 2:
Sacred Worlds (9:17)
This Will Never End (5:07) *
Valhalla (5:13) **
Bright Eyes (5:15) *
Mirror Mirror (5:09) *
The Bard’s Song (In the Forest) (3:26) *
The Bard’s Song (The Hobbit) (3:41) **
And Then There Was Silence (14:06) **

CD 3: (only available with the deluxe limited edition)
Brian ***
Halloween (The Wizard’s Crown) ***
Lucifer’s Heritage ***
Symphonies of Doom ***
Dead of the Night ***
Majesty
Trial by the Archon
Battalions of Fear
Run for the Night
Lost in the Twilight Hall
Tommyknockers
Ashes to Ashes
Time What is Time
A Past and Future Secret
The Script for My Requiem

* Remixed 2011
** Re-recorded 2011
*** Re-worked 2011