The metal juggernaut known as HELLYEAH — featuring Vinnie Paul Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN), Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett (MUDVAYNE), Tom Maxwell (NOTHINGFACE) and Bob "Zilla" Kakaha (DAMAGEPLAN) — is continuing work on its third album at Abbott's home in Arlington, Texas, where he has a studio set up. Gray states via Twitter, "So fucking close to being done!! On the homestretch and then mix. Can't wait for ya to hear it!!!"

Roadrunner Records announced today the addition of French metal behemoths GOJIRA to the label. The band is universally recognized as one of the most talented and extreme art-metal acts on the scene today. GOJIRA is one of those rare bands that comes along every couple of years and takes everything you know about metal, twists it, reimagines it and comes up with something wholly unique. It's doubtful you've heard anything like GOJIRA before. The band makes that much of an impact with its music and approach.
GOJIRA is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier, who has a previous relationship with Roadrunner, having played bass on CAVALERA CONSPIRACY's debut "Inflikted", along with guitarist Christian Andreu, bassist Jean-Michel Labadie and drummer Mario Duplantier, who is also Joe's brother!

"We are so stoked to walk with the legendary Roadrunner," Joe said about the new partnership. "We discovered SEPULTURA, MACHINE HEAD, DEATH, FEAR FACTORY and so many other great bands thanks to these guys. Roadrunner has been a great source of inspiration for us as metal fans. It's an honor to be part of this family today as a band. We feel we'll get the right support at the right moment in our career. We cannot wait to release our new record and get back on the road."

The band's Roadrunner debut will be its fifth album overall. It was 2005's "From Mars to Sirius" and 2008's "The Way of All Flesh" which established GOJIRA as a metal force of nature and a key player in the scene. The band will record in New York City, also the label's headquarters, in November 2011, with a spring 2012 release date being eyed. Joe Duplantier will serve in a co-producer capacity along Josh Wilbur, who's worked with LAMB OF GOD.

"I've been a huge GOJIRA fan ever since their monumental 'From Mars To Sirius' album and have been actively pursuing them ever since," Roadrunner Senior VP of A&R Monte Conner said. "I am thrilled to finally be welcoming them to the Roadrunner family. GOJIRA are one of the best bands in metal today, with a sound and style all their own. Their live shows are unreal, from the level of playing, to the intensity, to the Godzilla-like stomp that hits you in the chest."

Duplantier revealed that, rather than the heavily researched themes of the last CD, lyrics for the upcoming, yet-to-be-titled effort are a lot more spontaneous, with "stream of consciousness"-style "spiritual" compositions.

"I've been about spirituality since the first album," he said. "It's hard to define what spirituality is, but it's more like getting closer to [oneself]. It's where each thing we do is sacred; not like going to a church or when you are with a dying person, but waking up in the morning… I've tried to take this dimension when I've written the music, like sometimes I don't even know what I'm going to sing and the words come out fluently. It's not a concept album like in the past, it's more about being spontaneous with feeling, and it's more true and honest."

German hard rock veterans SCORPIONS will release "Get Your Sting & Blackout - Live In 3D" on Blu-ray on December 6 via Sony. The disc contains a recording of the band's April 15, 2011 concert in Saarbrücken, Germany using the latest 3D technology, 11 cameras, awesome 5.1 Surround and stereo sound.. The band performed its greatest hits, including "Wind Of Change", "Blackout", "Rock You Like A Hurricane", "Still Loving You" and "Send Me An Angel".

"Get Your Sting & Blackout - Live In 3D" track listing:

01. Intro
02. Sting In The Tail
03. Make It Real
04. Bad Boys Running Wild
05. The Zoo
06. Coast To Coast
07. Loving You Sunday Morning
08. The Best Is Yet To Come
09. Send Me An Angel
10. Holiday
11. Raised On Rock
12. Tease Me Please Me
13. Dynamite
14. Kottak Attack
15. Blackout
16. Six String Sting
17. Big City Nights
18. Still Loving You
19. Wind Of Chamge
20. Rock You Like A Hurricane
21. When The Smoke Is Going Down

Bonus material: Behind-the-scenes (approx. 33 minutes)

Technical Specifications:

* Copy protection
* BD50
* Video: MVC1080/24p
* Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 PCM
* Region code: ABC
* Approx. 100 minutes total running time

Commented the band: "3D - a number, a letter. This term, not long ago only known to a few enthusiasts, has been ringing in our ears for a while now. Guitarist Rudolf Schenker brought the topic 3D into play repeatedly, and when the opportunity came to make this new visual chapter happen, as one of the first bands ever, we didn’t have to think twice. Naturally, we could have chosen a show in Los Angeles or Moscow for the recording, but this was about a quick decision and a viable implementation on the highest level of technology. Saarbrücken was a very good choice — our fans were simply sensational and gave us the chance to thank them for their many years of support with this project in Germany. However, enough words ... put on the 3D glasses and it's time for ... 'Get Your Sting & Blackout'!!!"

Season Of Mist has announced the signing of doom legends SAINT VITUS. The band has just completed work on its eighth studio album, its first since 1995, for an early 2012 release.

SAINT VITUS' current lineup features guitarist Dave Chandler, drummer Henry Vasquez, bassist Mark Adams and seminal vocalist Scott "Wino" Weinrich.

"Making this album was really a blast," says Chandler. "Being able to live in an environment where all we had to concentrate on was the new material, became very inspiring. And along with our new drummer, Henry Vasquez, and label, Season Of Mist, this record has given us a new opportunity to show everyone that we still have more to shove in your face."

When asked why he thinks SAINT VITUS' music continues to resonate, Wino said in an interview, "Because it comes from the gut. The music has that low tone and it hits you in those emotional places. I've always tried to make the lyrics just as interesting as the music. It's always been a little bit dark but I'm not drawn to the happy stuff. I like music that grabs you by the balls."

"Superskum" (web site) has uploaded quality video footage of SAINT VITUS performing a brand new song, "Blessed Night" on March 29, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Check out the clip below.

The cover artwork for "Dark Adrenaline", the new album from the Italian heavy rock act LACUNA COIL, can be seen below. The CD will be released on January 24 via Century Media Records.

"Dark Adrenaline" track listing:

01. Trip The Darkness
02. Against You
03. Kill The Light
04. Give Me Something More
05. Upsidedown
06. End Of Time
07. I Don't Believe In Tomorrow
08. Intoxicated
09. The Army Inside
10. Losing My Religion
11. Fire
12. My Spirit

Official Metallica.com footage of METALLICA's pre-show meet-and-greet, tuning-room jam and performance at the October 25 first-ever concert in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates at Yas Island can be viewed below.

METALLICA's setlist for the Abu Dhabi gig was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. For Whom the Bell Tolls
03. Fuel
04. Ride the Lightning
05. Fade to Black
06. Cyanide
07. The Memory Remains
08. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
09. Sad But True
10. All Nightmare Long
11. One
12. Master of Puppets
13. Blackened
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman

Encore:

16. Am I Evil?
17. Motorbreath
18. Seek & Destroy

On February 24, 2012 (February 28 in North America), Season of Mist will release a compilation of remixed tracks from MORBID ANGEL's latest album, "Illud Divinum Insanus". Far from being just revamped versions of the seminal extreme metal band's newest songs, this collection will present the work of 39 artists from the electro / industrial, techno and club scene.

Here are some of the names taking part in "Illud Divinum Insanus - The Remixes":

* Xytras
* Tim Skold
* SKINNY PUPPY/cEvin Key
* PUNISH YOURSELF VS SONIC AREA
* TREPONEM PAL
* LAIBACH
* TAMTRUM
* MIXHELL (Igor Cavalera)
* TOXIC AVENGER
* MICROPOINT

Former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman has inked a deal to write the theme song for a "major" new movie. He writes on his Facebook page, "It was a rare time when I actually worked out the entire solo. Little did I know that the movie people would have me change the whole song's key three times by the time we did the actual tracking. That made the already unorthodox solo even stranger, thankfully, and just by luck, in a very good way. I am stoked!" He adds, "One thing I have learned over time is that ALWAYS when you do additional work to accommodate the 'big picture' that seems unnecessary at the time, your music comes out better for it. ALWAYS. You heard it here first, friends!"

Friedman's new solo album, "Tokyo Jukebox 2", was released in Japan on September 14 via Avex. The CD picks up where Friedman's 2009 effort, "Tokyo Jukebox", left off, with even more adventurous arrangements of his favorite Japanese songs. Recorded at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, the album features Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL) on drums.

"Tokyo Jukebox 2" stretches the boundaries of guitar interpretation beyond anything Marty has released to date.

BRING ME THE HORIZON guitarist Jona Weinhofen reportedly got into an altercation with a member of the audience during the band's November 6 concert in Helsinki, Finland. According to reports in the Finnish media, someone from the crowd was heckling BRING ME THE HORIZON while the British group was performing at club Circus as the main support act for MACHINE HEAD. At some point, the Australian guitarist lost his temper and jumped into the audience to fight the heckler. Weinhofen was followed by singer Oliver "Oli" Sykes, who reportedly used his microphone as a weapon. Within seconds, the club security was able to calm down the situation and the band continued its performance. However, BRING ME THE HORIZON was forced to end its set prematurely after someone pulled the plug from the stage. Jona then went to see a local doctor at Meilahti hospital and had a cast put on his hand. He later tweeted a photo of his injury with the caption, "Broke my hand...bummed!"

The Circus general manager spoke to the Finnish daily newspaper Iltalehti and denied that any such incident ever took place. However, fan-filmed video footage of the concert, which can be seen below, seems to suggest otherwise.

As previously reported, Sykes was reportedly assaulted on stage during the band's headlining performance on October 3 at In The Venue in Salt Lake City, Utah. The altercation apparantly took place after several concert-goers threw water bottles at Sykes, prompting him to call out the culprits and send the projectiles right back. Several rowdy audience members then rushed the stage in attempt to attack the singer, with a few others starting fights in the crowd. Sykes was apparently unharmed during the incident, with the band returning to the stage a half hour later to finish its set.

Back in 2007, Sykes was accused of urinating on a female fan before throwing a bottle at her, leading to a facial injury. All charges against the vocalist were subsequently dropped on grounds that there was not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

Miami-based hard rock group BLACK TIDE has released "Al Cielo", a Spanish-language EP featuring three songs from its latest DGC/Interscope Records album, "Post Mortem". Re-recorded versions of "Let It Out", "That Fire" and "Into The Sky" make up the EP as "Déjalo Salir", "That Fire (Español)" and title track, "Al Cielo". Fans can preview and download the tracks on BLACK TIDE's Facebook page or on iTunes.

German progressive metal quartet OBSCURA will release its first-ever demo collection, entitled "Illegimitation", independently in March 2012. The collection will contain ten never-before-heard tracks, including the band's earliest recordings from 2003, unreleased songs from the "Cosmogenesis" sessions in 2006, and brand new cover songs featuring the band's current lineup.

Sticking to its reputation of being one of the genre's most forward-thinking bands, OBSCURA has decided to release a special, limited-time pre-order for "Illegimitation" through Kickstarter.com.

The album's numerous, unique packages are available directly from the band now at this location.

Commented OBSCURA's Steffen Kummerer: "This will be a independent release so we can give our fans the opportunity to participate in the project and offer special packages such as a lifelong free entry to all OBSCURA shows, limited-edition items, face-to-face lessons with our members, and tour used gear from the band!"

"Illegimitation" track listing:

"Illegimitation" Demo (2003)

01. ...And All Will Come To An End
02. Crucified
03. Fear
04. Immanent Desaster

"Cosmogenesis" Pre-Production Recordings (2006)

05. Incarnated
06. Open The Gates
07. Headworm

2011 Recordings:

08. Flesh And The Power It Holds (DEATH cover)
09. Piece Of Time (ATHEIST cover)
10. How Could I (CYNIC cover)

Relapse Records has announced the signing of New Zealand progressive death metallers ULCERATE. The band will enter the studio in the fall of 2012 to begin recording its next album.

ULCERATE (Paul Kelland: bass/vocals, Michael Hoggard: guitar, William Cleverdon: guitar, and Jamie Saint Merat: drums) formed in 2000 and has previously released three full-length albums. The band's latest CD, "The Destroyers Of All", came out earlier this year and received international critical acclaim for its blend of ambitious songwriting and unorthodox extremity.

Commented ULCERATE drummer Jamie Saint Merat: "Working with Relapse is a very logical next step for us, and we're really looking forward to the partnership. Their presence of quality releases regardless of genre, overarching aesthetic and attention to detail is something that we find very natural to align with, as well as being fans of the label's releases well before the band was even started.

"In terms of what's next for ULCERATE, 2012 will be a big year for us — in February we're touring Europe for 23 dates with our good friends in SVART CROWN, followed up by Maryland Deathfest X and accompanying side-shows in the U.S. in May, New Zealand shows in December (2011) and January, and a tentative return to Australia mid-year. We'll also begin work on album number 4..."

Norwegian "blackjazz" outfit SHINING (not to be confused with the Swedish extreme metal band of the same name) will release its first-ever live DVD and CD, "Live Blackjazz", on November 11 via Indie Recordings. The effort was produced by SHINING frontman Jørgen Munkeby and was mixed by Sean Beavan (MARILYN MANSON, NINE INCH NAILS, SLAYER). The mastering duties were handled by Tom Baker (MARILYN MANSON, NINE INCH NAILS).

A performance clip of the song "In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster", taken from the forthcoming DVD, can be seen below.

"Beyond The Darkest Sun", the new video from SUNBURST, the Greek progressive-melodic metal band featuring guitarist Gus Drax (BIOMECHANICAL, PARADOX, BLACK FATE), vocalist Vasilis Georgiou (INNOSENSE, BLACK FATE), drummer Kostas Milonas (BLACKLEGS, N.U.R.V., G.K GROUP) and bassist Vasilis Liakos (INNOSENSE, BLACK FATE), can be viewed below. The clip was produced and directed by Bob Katsionis and PVG.

Finnish female-fronted symphonic metallers AMBERIAN DAWN have begun mixing their fourth album for an early 2012 release. The band's mainman, keyboardist and guitarist Tuomas Seppälä composed all ten songs for the CD and vocalist Heidi Parviainen penned the lyrics.

Commented Tuomas: "I and the whole band have put even more effort on this album than never before and I'm sure that this new album is going to be best AMBERIAN DAWN album so far... Some songs on this album are propably best that I've ever composed and there's also one instrumental song on this album, which I wrote in 1992 and it was supposed to be released on some rock opera project. Unfortunaly, this project never happened due some unfortunate happenings. But now, after 20 years, this one song is going to be released. All other songs are new and are not covered with dust.

"If you liked the sound of 'The Clouds Of Northland Thunder' [AMBERIAN DAWN's second album, 2009], which was mixed by Teropekka Virtanen, you'll going like the fact that this new album is going to mixed by the same guy at legendary Finnvox Studios in Finland...

"As you know, guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen injured at summer and was unable to play at all for several months. That's why Kasperi was replaced by our ex-guitarist Emppu on our latest European tour this fall. It even seemed like Kasperi wasn't able to play on this new album at all. But a miracle happened and Kasperi got his hand better only a few days before the mixing sessions started and he was able to play something on this new album after all!! So, Kasperi is back on our happy lineup again."

Finnish melodic death metallers INSOMNIUM have parted ways with guitarist Ville Vänni and replaced him with Markus Vanhala (OMNIUM GATHERUM).

Commented Vänni: "With a heavy heart I have reached the decision to resign from INSOMNIUM. The decision is mutual and final, and there is no big drama behind it.

"During the last year I have found myself in a limbo of constant lack of time and impossible schedules. Combining a general surgeon's career with a busy metal band like INSOMNIUM has already taken years of precise timing, and the candle has been burning from both ends for years now. At the same time, INSOMNIUM has grown bigger demanding more and more time. As a result, I have gradually come to a painful realization that I can not meet the needs of this roller coaster ride any more.

"This decision was hard to make and accept for all of us. INSOMNIUM has been like a family and the bandmates have been (and will still remain) my best and closest friends. For not being able to give my 100% would only be letting them down. The reason why this decision is made flesh right now is that I will not be able to attend the 'One For Sorrow' European tour. My wife is due to give birth to our first son and it is my responsibility, duty and choice to be home at that time. I will play two first shows in Finland and then bid farewell. However, the burden of this decision is lightened by the fact that INSOMNIUM will go on and even grow stronger after my retirement. Markus Vanhala from OMNIUM GATHERUM will take my place as a full-time guitarist in INSOMNIUM. He is a good friend and an excellent musician and has already been replacing me and Ville F. on several occasions.

"Thank you Niilo, Ville and Markus for a decade of good times and a lifetime of friendship and unforgettable memories. And thank you, all INSOMNIUM fans, it is you who made this all possible! See you on the coming shows!"

Added the remaining members of INSOMNIUM: "We all want to thank Ville for everything and totally support him with his decision. We've been together for ten years with this lineup and it has been a great ride. We've been a band of brothers, we've been a family. Nothing will ever change that.

"This is the beginning of a new era for INSOMNIUM.

"Sometimes a change is needed to keep the band going. Luckily we have got the best possible man to fill the vacancy, our good friend Markus Vanhala, who is best known as the songwriter and lead guitarist of OMNIUM GATHERUM. Markus will naturally continue in OMNIUM GATHERUM and unfortunately our tour schedules collide in November when OMNIUM GATHERUM is participating the Neckbreaker's Ball. As a result, we’ll have Tuomas Jäppinen as a second guitarist for the first seven evenings of the tour. Tuomas is also our old buddy and he is best known as the songwriter and lead guitarist of ENTER MY SILENCE. Tuomas is doing us a huge favour in delivering a killer show every night. So, make sure Tuomas feels welcomed when he hits the stage! Markus will join our ranks in München and play all the German shows on the tour.

"Dear friends, do not take these news too heavily. INSOMNIUM is not dying or withering away — we will be stronger than ever and we will keep touring and making new music. Give Ville Vänni the kind of farewell shows he deserves and come to see us perform in Joensuu on November 4th and Helsinki on November 5th. Then come and meet the new gang on the Euro tour. See you soon!"