Guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström of Finnish love metallers HIM has revealed to Attention Deficit Delirium that the band is currently working on music for the follow-up to 2010's "Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice". He said, "I am very proud of the material so far and look forward to sharing our new music with you!"

It was revealed in March of this year that HIM had parted ways with Sire/Warner Music after a six-year partnership that produced three albums.

Seymour Stein, founder of Sire Records, said at the time, "It was a pleasure working with HIM, and we're very proud to have been their partners for the last six years. Ville [Valo, HIM singer/songwriter] is a rare talent, and my relationship with their manager Seppo dates back to the days when he pioneered rock music in Finland looking after the career of HANOI ROCKS. HIM are particularly important because they are the first and only band from Finland to reach gold status in America. I, along with the entire Sire/Warner Bros. family, wish them continued success in the future."

HIM's discography on Sire includes the 2005 album "Dark Light", which was certified gold in the U.S. for sales in excess of 500,000 copies. Follow-up releases "Venus Doom" (2007) and "Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice" charted both in the U.S. and Europe.

"We're ever so grateful for having had Seymour and Co as the generous hosts on our extended first stay in the New Country. It's been a Blast Royale but now it's time to clean up the rubble and start anew", commented Ville Valo of HIM.

"Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice" sold 26,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 25 on The Billboard 200 chart. Recorded at The Lair in Los Angeles, the CD was produced by Matt Squire (TAKING BACK SUNDAY, THE USED, SAOSIN) and mixed by Neal Avron (LINKIN PARK, WEEZER, FALL OUT BOY).

DANIEL LIONEYE, the band featuring HIM members Lindström on guitar, bass and vocals and Janne "Burton" Puurtinen on keyboards, released its latest album, "Vol. II", in North America in April 2010 via The End Records.

"What You Want", the first single/video from EVANESCENCE's upcoming self-titled third album, can be viewed below. The clip was filmed on July 30 on a makeshift stage inside a Brooklyn warehouse. The video was helmed by director Meiert Avis, who's made iconic clips for the likes of U2, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and BOB DYLAN.

"This video is sort of, like, the history of the band," EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee told MTV News. "This club [set] is emulating old shows we used to play in the beginning — we used to play this club called Vino's in Little Rock — it's sort of like back then, the gritty, dirty club, sweaty. And basically, it's also [about] New York, where I've been, [and] where [bassist] Tim [McCord] lived in the past few years since we've been gone. And it's sort of about escaping New York and ... coming back out into the world."

She added, "This is more a personal video. We've done a lot in the past that [were] very 'fantasy,' and this is sort of the real us. I just wanted to do something that really felt personal for a change. Obviously, I'm wearing crazy makeup, and that's not my everyday, but, you know, I want ... to connect with the fans again. We all do. We miss them. A lot of this record is about them, and that's why they're going to be here and be in it, too.

The lyric video for "Locust", a brand new song from San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD, can be viewed below. The track comes off the band's new album, "Unto The Locust", which will be made available on September 27 via the band's longtime label Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at JingleTown Studios in Oakland, with frontman Robb Flynn producing, and it is sure to level anything and everything that happens upon its path. Flynn stated about the new album in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, "I think we've really taken our music to the next level with this. We feel super-excited about it. I started taking some singing lessons with the guy who worked with Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga. And then I took some classical guitar. I wanted to feel like a beginner again and not be comfortable and see what that brought out. There's definitely a big neoclassical vibe on the record between all the brutality."

Grammy-nominted metallers AS I LAY DYING have announced the details of their upcoming release, "Decas", coinciding with the band's 10-year anniversary.

With over a million units sold in the U.S. in just less than 10 years, the San Diego act will celebrate this milestone with the very special release, "Decas", due on November 8 in North America and November 7 in Europe (except in Germany, Austria and Switzerland where it will arrive three days earlier) via Metal Blade Records.

"Decas" celebrates the band's accomplishments by offering three brand new songs, cover songs that pay homage to just a few of the bands that have influenced AS I LAY DYING, and remixes by Innerpartysystem, Benjamin Weinman (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), Kelly "Carnage" Cairns (AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE, WAR OF AGES), and Big Chocolate (ASKING ALEXANDRIA, IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, SUICIDE SILENCE).

"Decas" track listing:

01. Paralyzed
02. From Shapeless To Breakable
03. Moving Forward
04. War Ensemble (SLAYER cover)
05. Hellion (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
06. Electric Eye (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
07. Coffee Mug (DESCENDENTS cover)
08. Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes (re-recorded medley)
09. The Blinding Of False Light (Innerpartysystem remix)
10. Wrath Upon Ourselves (Benjamin Weinman remix)
11. Confined (Kelly "Carnage" Cairns remix)
12. Elegy (Big Chocolate remix)

METALLICA will make its first-ever live appearance in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on October 25 at Yas Island.

Commented the band: "After 30 years of travel to all corners of the earth, this one is extra special as the show kicks off a week of new territories for us as this show will be followed by two nights in India."

Shatha Al Romaithi, a spokesperson for the organizers, Flash Entertainment, said METALLICA in Abu Dhabi was one show rock fans could not afford to miss.

"We promised you more big things for the new season of [the] Yas Island Show Weekends [series], and nothing is bigger than METALLICA," she told Emirates247.com. "METALLICA has redefined the model for hard rock music."

Since its launch in 2010, Yas Island Show Weekends have entertained more than 150,000 spectators, with acts including NELLY FURTADO, GUNS N' ROSES, THE JONAS BROTHERS and STEVIE WONDER.

An audio sample of "Paralyzed", the new single from former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, can be streamed at Amazon.com. The track will be released digitally on October 4 via Headdog Music.

Welch is currently working on material for a new EP, which he expects to release early next year. He said, "It is definitely some of the best music I've ever been a part of."

Head will headline the "Over My Head Tour" later this month with PROJECT 86, SPOKEN and THE WEDDING. In October, he will hit the road again with RED, ECHOES THE FALL and ICON FOR HIRE.

Welch's debut album, "Save Me From Myself", was released in September 2008 on his Driven Music Group label. The CD sold 7,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 63 on The Billboard 200 chart.

GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has released the eighth in a series of singles being made available digitally this year, a punk-metal anthem called "Let Your Voice Be Heard". The track is available in MP3 (320kps), AAC, and higher-quality formats FLAC, MP3 HD, Apple Lossless and WAV. An instrumental version of the song is available in these formats as well.

For guitarists, there's a Player Pack that has a transcription of the entire lead guitar track as a PDF file — musical notation, TAB, fingers, picking, and helpful hints. Included with the transcription is a "Backing Track" mix and a "Boosted Lead Guitar" mix, in both WAV and MP3 formats.

The Producer Pack contains 48kHz/24-bit Stereo WAV files of the mix "stems" — individual files of drums, bass, lead & rhythm guitars, lead vocals and backing vocals in a bundle that you can load into your multi-track software to play with levels, make your own mixes, and hear every nuance of each instrument's performance on its own track.

Finnish folk metallers KORPIKLAANI have parted ways with longtime violinist Jaakko "Hittavainen" Lemmetty and have replaced him with "a young prodigy" by the name of Teemu Eerola. According to a press release, "There is a mutual understanding between [Hittavainen] and the rest of the band and there is no big drama involved. His personal health issues made the constant touring and recording impossible."

Eerola will make his live debut with KORPIKLAANI on September 24 in Rotterdam, Holland.

Versailles Records has announced plans for the spring 2012 release of "No More Tears: A Millennium Tribute To Ozzy Osbourne". Featuring a collection of hits and fan favorites covering every era of Ozzy's solo and BLACK SABBATH catalog, this album will feature current/former members of BLACK SABBATH, MÖTLEY CRÜE, KISS, SLAUGHTER, NIGHT RANGER, OZZY OSBOURNE, BADLANDS, ALICE COOPER, THE CULT, L.A. GUNS, WARRANT, DOKKEN, STEVE VAI, SPINAL TAP, DAVID LEE ROTH, SANTANA, and a host of others to be announced. Along with the aforementioned name artists, the label is keeping in its tradition of featuring a number of adding a limited number of cover song slots with original millennium metal bands influenced by Ozzy. Interested bands should e-mail Versaillesrecords2006@yahoo.com with a web link (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc.).

David E. Gehlke of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with vocalist Tobias Sammet of German melodic metallers EDGUY. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Blistering.com: With all of the work you have done recently with AVANTASIA, is it easy to get back into EDGUY mode?

Sammet: When we were finishing the last two AVANTASIA albums ["Wicked Symphony" and "Angel of Babylon"] and I was leaving the studio after doing the final masters, I was really burnt out. After such an undertaking, such an adventure, I thought it was perfect. I still think it is, but when you when you think something is perfect and you can't do it any better, you lose your motivation for going on. It's always the same. After four weeks, six weeks, that feeling sets in again. That urge to create new music and all of the sudden, you're over what you've done in the past and you're no longer thinking about what you've done in the past. Creating music is not only a profession for me, it's something I need to do. After a couple of weeks, it was literally going back to the keyboard, starting from scratch and starting to compose. It doesn't make a difference if I'm composing for EDGUY or AVANTASIA…at first I just want to have a great melody, harmony, riff. Then I arrange it, and then I start to take it to the other guys, where individually, it starts to take shape over whether it's EDGUY or AVANTASIA.

Blistering.com: So because the last few AVANTASIA albums have been so successful, does that help you recharge your batteries for EDGUY? Does EDGUY become more important since you were away from it?

Sammet: [pauses] I've never thought about it [laughs]. AVANTASIA is what I consider, a studio project. Of course, it has become a touring entity in 2008 and in 2010. And we just did a headlining show in front of 110,000 people, 8:00, prime-time slot at Wacken, so I can't just call it a studio project. Originally, it was designed to be a one-off studio project. I never really considered it to be a serious competition to EDGUY. And still, I don't think it's a constantly operating project because I don't even know if there will be another AVANTASIA album or tour. I don't really think about it. What I can say, it was great to have that experience. I have great memories from [it]. It's great to create that little playground for me [laughs]. All the things I can't do with EDGUY, like working with ALICE COOPER and the SCORPIONS, and have all of these musicians on one album creating this big concept. It's something I enjoy doing. But it's a great feeling to go back to EDGUY and just do 11 tracks of rock 'n' roll, but I don't want to say "rock 'n' roll" because heavy metal fans get upset when I say that even though they're the same thing. [laughs] Okay, I'll say it: I'm so much heavy metal, I don't even care what the heavy metal people think. I am the ultimate outlaw [laughs]. I really enjoy going back and writing 11 songs that were in no way connected to each other, just really great rock 'n' roll songs, heavy metal songs, that work on their own, along with the band-thing, the fantastic five-piece band thing. This is my day-to-day… I don't want to call it "business," because again, heavy metal fans don't like that word.

Blistering.com: Well, you look like you're having quite the good time in the "Robin Hood" video.

Sammet: Usually, I hate shooting videos. Everybody in the band hates shooting them. You have to wait 12 hours a day to just do your little spot and do the same thing over and over. This was a little different. The day before the shoot, we met to have our wardrobes fitted and realized that this is so much fun, that we're in this surreal setting and we're in this absolutely silly green tights and leggings. It was ridiculous right from the start. There was waiting, 24 hours' worth of waiting and the horses were pissed off, we were pissed off, the director was pissed off because it was raining. [laughs] It was really a difficult situation, but I think it was most definitely our best video shoot except for shooting the AVANTASIA video with Klaus Meine (SCORPIONS) because you can't shoot with Klaus Meine every day. In this case, we had a great time and you can tell. If you can imagine, five friends, running through the forest with a bow and an arrow, wearing really silly clothes. It was great fun. That's a moment when you really know why you're doing this.

Blistering.com: I've always thought it was a really cool thing that you've maintained your sense of humor from album to album.

Sammet: I think we don't do it on purpose. It's a part of being honest and natural with ourselves. I think it's very important to maintain a sense of humor or a tongue-in-cheek attitude or you'd go crazy. We'd become alcoholics, because this business is so stupid and ridiculous and there's so much ridiculousness in the whole music circus. You have to maintain your humor, and I really don't understand why some bands don't show their sense of humor. Let's face it: There are bands who are doing stupid things and are taking themselves too seriously, but nobody else does. We play the kind of music where you have to sing songs about Odin, where grown-up men pretend they're Conan the Barbarian, wearing silly loin cloths and sing about raping women, behaving like…some primal creatures and making primal noises, and shaking the heads and banging their heads [laughs]. It doesn't make sense from an evolutionary point of view because we should be quite a few steps further. And still we enjoy doing all of those primal things and behaving in such a primal way. I don't know… somebody takes it seriously. But if you're past your 40th birthday, I don't see any reason why I should take it seriously. I think I take the world hunger problem [as] a very serious manner, but c'mon, this is rock ‘n' roll, why would we take it seriously?

Las Vegas, Nevada-based metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH will release their third album, "American Capitalist", on October 11. The CD was recorded at The Hideout in Las Vegas, Nevada with producer Kevin Churko, who helmed Ozzy Osbourne's 2010 effort "Scream".

An 11-track release, including lead single/video "Under And Over It", this record looks all set to build on the huge, ever-growing success achieved by albums one and two — "The Way Of The Fist" and "War Is The Answer", both gold records Stateside, having spawned seven consecutive Top Ten singles at Active Rock.

In addition to "Under And Over It" — a sarcastic, OTT, genre-celebratin' video for which was directed by Ethan Emaniquis, whose credits include "Sin City" and "Grindhouse" — the album also contains such classic FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH moments as "The Pride", "Coming Down" and "Generation Dead".

"American Capitalist" will be released as a standard CD, and a limited-edition deluxe CD format complete with special packaging plus second disc containing a number of exclusive remixes, including one for "Under And Over It". Meanwhile, the iTunes version carries the bonus track "The Tragic Truth".

Commented guitarist Zoltan Bathory: "This record crystallizes the sound of DEATH PUNCH. The band has really come into its own. Everyone contributed to the music, and this is what we are capable of as a unit.

"The overall message is to fight for your survival and success. You can be a zebra or join the lion pride. You have to rebel against your circumstances, laziness and mediocrity — not the system. The best will make it, and that notion is genetically embedded within our fabric. If we were all equal, evolution wouldn't exist. The human spirit encourages us to excel."

Following the October release of "American Capitalist", the band — completed by Ivan Moody (vocals), Jason Hook (guitar), Jeremy Spencer (drums), and new-boy bassist Chris Kael — head out on a major U.S. tour under the "Share The Welt" banner, headlining a package that also includes ALL THAT REMAINS, HATEBREED and REV THEORY. This tour starts in mid-October and runs through into November, with more dates likely to be added.

In terms of international touring, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is planning to visit Europe in the first quarter of 2012, having already made a very healthy mark on the other side of the Atlantic with album sales in excess of 100,000, appearances at the Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park and Download festivals in Germany and the U.K. (the latter on two occasions), a sold-out headline tour (U.K.), plus a front cover on Metal Hammer magazine (U.K.).

Concludes Moody: "I literally laid every ounce of blood I had on the street with this one. We are a people's band. Our fans admire and understand us because of who we are. We've never tried to be anybody else. We're FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH."

Swiss hard rockers GOTTHARD will release a live album entitled "Homegrown - Alive In Lugano" on September 30 via Nuclear Blast Records. On September 2, a previously unreleased track entitled "The Train", featuring the band's late singer Steve Lee on vocals, was made available.

"Homegrown - Alive In Lugano" contains a live recording of GOTTHARD's July 17, 2010 concert in Lugano, which turned out to be one of the band's last performances with Lee.

Eagle Rock Entertainment has announced the U.S. release of Slash's (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) first-ever live solo album, "Made In Stoke 24/7/11". The double-disc CD, and a special-edition 2CD+DVD package (featuring five bonus tracks and an exclusive interview with Slash) hits stores November 15.

The iconic, Grammy-winning rock guitarist and songwriter Slash has perfected the science of the six-string for over 20 years as an integral component of GUNS N' ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER and as a hugely successful solo artist. On July 24, 2011, he made a very special visit to in the British town of Stoke-On-Trent, where he was raised until he was five, at the end of the 2010-2011 tour in support of his globally chart topping and critically acclaimed self-titled solo debut.

Captured at Victoria Hall as part of an intensive world tour, this 21-song set is a celebration of a legendary career. Joined by Myles Kennedy of ALTER BRIDGE on vocals, Slash ripped through cuts culled from his GN'R days, VELVET REVOLVER, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, and his solo album, (including the single "By The Sword"). His band lineup included bassist Todd Kerns, drummer Brent Fitz and guitarist Bobby Schneck.

With favorites like "Back From Cali", "Slither", "Sweet Child O' Mine", and many more reverberating the crowd-filled rafters, this proved to be one rockin' homecoming.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Been There Lately (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
02. Nightrain (GUNS N' ROSES song)
03. Ghost
04. Mean Bone (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
05. Back From Cali
06. Rocket Queen (GUNS N' ROSES song)
07. Civil War (GUNS N' ROSES song)
08. Nothing To Say
09. Starlight
10. Promise
11. Doctor Alibi (with Todd Kerns on vocals)
12. Speed Parade (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
13. Watch This
14. Beggars & Hangers-On (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
15. Patience (GUNS N' ROSES song)
16. Guitar Solo / Godfather Theme
17. Sweet Child O' Mine (GUNS N' ROSES song)
18. Slither (VELVET REVOLVER song)
19. By The Sword
20. Mr. Brownstone (GUNS N' ROSES song)
21. Paradise City (GUNS N' ROSES song)

Bonus DVD:

* Ghost
* Back From Cali
* Beggars & Hangers-On
* Been There Lately
* Starlight
* Interview with Slash

Check out the cover artwork below.

"I've been wanting to do this for a long time and for some reason it just never seemed possible," said Slash.

"One of the things about doing the solo record and setting up my own tour was that I told the powers-that-be that I wanted to play in places I'd never played before. And so Stoke was something that was high on my list and I told them just make it happen."

Slash, whose real name is Saul Hudson, left Stoke-on-Trent when he was five years old. But he said he still had "vivid memories" of the city.

"I have memories that I went to school there, of the basic neighbourhood that I lived in. I remember exactly what the house looked like. Just everything in general, for some reason my memory is really clear. Better than my memory of later years."

The Stoke-on-Trent concert sold out in less than two hours after tickets went on sale on May 6.

Over 1,500 fans attended the show, which marked Slash's first-ever concert in his hometown.

David Bradbury, Group Press Officer of the Ambassador Theatre Group, told StaffsLive, "We always knew the gig was going to be popular and the fact that the gig sold out in less than two hours is brilliant.

"Slash is a local hero, he's from Stoke-on-Trent and not a lot of people know that. I think he lived here until he was 11 so this is a bit of a homecoming gig."

Slash stated after the concert: "Stoke was a [fuckin'] blast!! Great vibe and energy. It's going to make a killer DVD. We'll be back next year definitely!"

Although ALTER BRIDGE vocalist Myles Kennedy sang just two tracks on Slash's self-titled solo debut, Slash recently confirmed that Myles will sing everything on the guitarist's next solo effort.

In an interview with The Pulse Of Radio, Kennedy said about the fact that Slash would like him to handle the lead vocals on the guitarist's next CD, "It's very flattering. I think there's kind of a cool thing we got going. We really enjoy working with each other."

Slash's debut disc came out last year and featured a different singer on each track, including Chris Cornell, Ozzy Osbourne, M. Shadows and others.

METALLICA's Lars Ulrich, KREATOR's Mille Petrozza, IN FLAMES and VOLBEAT are among the artists who were honored at the German edition of the Metal Hammer Awards this past Friday night (September 9) at Kesselhaus in Berlin.

For the first time, the German Metal Hammer Awards took place as a full-fledged party after being hosted at Wacken Open Air's main stage for two years. The ceremony was hosted by Vito and Hannes of German comedy metallers J.B.O. and included performances by DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER, CALIBAN, PRIMAL FEAR and AUDREY HORNE.

Metal Hammer Awards 2011 winners:

* Best Album: "Surtur Rising" by AMON AMARTH
* Best Debut: "Kvelertak" by KVELERTAK
* Best German Band: HEAVEN SHALL BURN
* Best International Band: VOLBEAT
* Best Live Act: IN FLAMES
* God Of Riffs: Mille Petrozza (KREATOR)
* Legend: Lars Ulrich (METALLICA)
* Maximum Metal: Adam "Nergal" Darski (BEHEMOTH)
* Metal Anthem: "Teutonic Terror" by ACCEPT
* Up-And-Coming Band: AUDREY HORNE

Lars Ulrich and VOLBEAT were unable to attend the event in person but sent in videotaped acceptance speeches, which can be seen below.

"Something Wicked This Way Comes", the new solo single from MURDERDOLLS frontman Wednesday 13, can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below. The track, which will be made available via iTunes on September 13 (September 16 in Australia), comes off Wednesday 13's new album, "Calling All Corpses", which is scheduled for release on October 11. The artwork for the CD was created by D.A. Frizell, who has worked on SEVENDUST's "Cold Day Memory" as well as AVENGED SEVENFOLD's "Nightmare", "Book Of Nightmare" and "Diamonds In The Rough/ Live In The LBC" and the AVENGED video "A Little Piece Of Heaven".

"Calling All Corpses" was mastered by Tom Baker at Precision Mastering who has previously worked with NINE INCH NAILS, ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON and MINISTRY, among others.

"A Coward's Existence", a brand new song from Quebec's bastardized grinders FUCK THE FACTS, can be streamed at Bandcamp.com. The track comes off the band's upcoming album, "Die Miserable", which is scheduled for release in North America on October 11 via Relapse Records. Recorded between tours at the group's own studio, the CD features over 35 minutes of FUCK THE FACTS' scorching blend of socio-politically-charged grind, hardcore and metal fans worldwide have embraced for the past decade.

FATALIST, the traditional death metal band from Ventura, California, has parted ways with Ibex Moon Records and is looking for a new label home.

Commented FATALIST guitarist/vocalist Neil Burkdoll: "We would like to thank John and Ibex Moon for everything they have done for us in the past, but it is time for us to try something new."

Any interested labels should contact the band at stumpsical@yahoo.com or via www.facebook.com/fatalistband.

FATALIST's full-length debut, "The Depths Of Inhumanity", was released in the fall of 2009 via Ibex Moon.

On September 8, Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone conducted an interview with UGLY KID JOE/ANOTHER ANIMAL singer Whitfield Crane. The entire 24-minute podcast, which includes the world premiere of the brand new UGLY KID JOE song "Love Ain't True", can be streamed using the audio player below. (Note: "Love Ain't True" begins around the 18-minute, 45-second mark.)

"Astron Black", the new video from Greek metallers NIGHTFALL, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's latest album, "Astron Black And The Thirty Tyrants", which was released on August 31, 2010 (one day earlier internationally) via Metal Blade Records. The cover artwork was created by Travis Smith (OPETH, DEATH, NEVERMORE, KATATONIA).

Commented video director Achilleas Gatsopoulos: "We decided not to go safe and continue with the shadow-puppet approach for the second video too, even though there is still a lot of space for experimentation within that. Instead, I came up with an entirely different style that would add yet another facet to the complex task of visualizing NIGHTFALL's music. Working with the lyrics and with Efthimis' conceptual guidance, I set up a vast backdrop of space and time for our characters to inhabit, incorporating various planetary and astronomical elements. The characters include mythical deities such as Gaia, Prometheus, Venus / Pandora, as well as Astron Black, who symbolizes mankind and its progress through time. The video also incorporates Pandora's myth from Hesiod's Theogony. Gaia gives birth to stars and deities, to Prometheus. Prometheus stole the fire (also a metaphor for knowledge and practical thought) and gave it to man. Zeus punished Prometheus by binding him to a rock where the great eagle would come and eat his intestines every day. As an act of revenge on mankind, he creates Pandora, the first woman. Here we present Venus Pandora, who also possesses the power of sexual desire over man. Her curiosity proves fatal, as she opens the urn bestowed to her by the Gods, unleashing all evils upon mankind, leaving only hope inside.

"The style of the video brings together various elements such as stylish costumes, live action footage and CGI, adding a modern approach to the ancient but timeless imagery of our characters and situations.

"I truly believe that once again we managed to successfully recreate and enhance the lyrical and musical themes and create something unique that will stand the test of time stylistically."

"Astron Black And The Thirty Tyrants" was recorded at various places, including Soundlodge in Germany, where the bulk of the sessions took place. It was produced by mainman Efthimis Karadimas and drummer Jörg Uken (who has previously worked with GOD DETHRONED, DEW-SCENTED and SINISTER). According to a press release, Jörg's "experience behind the recording desk and his soul in recording both as the new drummer of the band is a great plus for the whole production and for everybody truly into metal drumming the… old classic metal way!"

According to The Pulse Of Radio, LINKIN PARK singer Mike Shinoda has signed on to co-wrote a new score for the U.S. release of "The Raid", a new, no-holds-barred action film that premiered last Thursday (September 8) at the Toronto International Film Festival. Shinoda said in a statement about working on his first score, "The intense visuals and compelling story of 'The Raid' have made this an exciting first venture into scoring for me. I'm thrilled for LINKIN PARK fans to see — and hear — this film."

Shinoda has worked on movie music before with LINKIN PARK, but never on his own. The singer, who is also a music producer and painter, says that he likes to work on several different projects at once. "I like to focus on a lot of different things, and I tend to wander from one to the next," he said. "You know, I'm always doing a lot of different things. For some people, it's exciting, for me, that's just how I am. It's a lot of fun, and I like to kind of keep, you know, a lot of different things going at once."

"The Raid" is about an elite squad of cops who stage an assault on a 15-story building completely ruled by a drug lord and his army.

Twitchfilm called the film "a bad-ass fusion of 'Die Hard' and 'Assault On Precinct 13' . . . the bullets, blades, sticks, elbows and feet get flying early and never let up."

Sony Pictures has acquired the American distribution rights to the film, although there's no word yet on a release date or whether Shinoda's score will be issued as a soundtrack.

Shinoda and the rest of LINKIN PARK, meanwhile, continue to work on their next album, which will follow up last year's "A Thousand Suns".

A trailer for "The Raid" can be seen below. (Warning: extreme violence)

Guitarist John Petrucci of progressive metallers DREAM THEATER spoke to Christa Titus of RockSalt.mx about the original cover for the band's "Live Scenes From New York", which featured artwork portraying the New York skyline and World Trade Center towers engulfed in flames. In an unfortunate coincidence, the album was released on the same date as the September 11, 2001 attacks. The CD was quickly recalled by the band and was subsequently re-released with revised artwork, though some copies were sold, and have since become rare collectors' items for fans.

"We wanted to illustrate New York, so we had the iconic World Trade Center," Petrucci told RockSalt.mx , "and another thing we'd used in the past, starting from [our album 'Images and Words']; it's the heart with the fire. We tried to sort of tie together all the images, obviously not at all anticipating what the horrible coincidence would be when it came out.

"We [realized the issue with the album] as soon as it happened, and it was like, the calls were immediate. I don't remember what time it was but I remember being called and speaking to each other like, 'My God, this can't be happening, and we have to change this immediately,' so the fact that that was released on September 11 and had that album cover just freaked us out beyond belief. Just the total coincidence and we were really, really upset by it, really disturbed by it. Our first reaction was that we've gotta change this cover immediately, pull anything that's out there and get rid of this right away. Unfortunately some were sold already, so they're actually out there.

"There was no argument. Everyone felt the same way. Everyone was on the same page: It needs to be changed, it needs to be pulled. Get whatever is out there get sent back and changed immediately. There was no hesitation or resistance on anybody's part. It just had to be done."

Gothenburg, Sweden-based metal sextet MARIONETTE will release its third album, "Nerve", on November 14. The CD will be made available in individually numbered high-quality digipacks featuring never-before-seen photos, videos, and exclusive bonus material tracks. Artwork will be handled entirely by Gustavo Sazes from Abstrata Design (ARCH ENEMY, FIREWIND).

"Nerve" will be released digitally through all major web-retail outlets and streaming services via Pivotal Rockordings on the week of release.

"Nerve" track listing:

01. From Marionette With Love
02. Stand In Line
03. Act Of Violence
04. Remember Your Name
05. Revelation 6:8
06. A New High
07. Something Forgotten
08. Smile Or Die Trying
09. The Last
10. När Du Ruttnar Bort
11. Brand New Day
12. Lights Out
13. Overdose *
14. The Sun, The Skies, The Clarity And Light *

* Only available on physical album version.

"Hell Over Sofia - 20 Years Of Chaos And Confusion", the new DVD from Swedish extreme metallers HYPOCRISY, will be released on October 21 via Nuclear Blast. The disc will contain footage of the band's February 27, 2010 concert at the Blue Box club in Sofia, Bulgaria. Guitarist Mikael Hedlund states, "It was a show that had everything! The crowd was helping us doing one of our best shows ever in our history and it was recorded with several cameras. The DVD will also contain a one-and-a-half-hour documentary that will show you our 20 years of chaos and confusion."

He adds, "We would like to give our fans the true story of the past and give them all the details what have happened on our journey over all these years. There are secrets that never have been told plus pictures and clips that never have been shown. This DVD will give you the full cover of HYPOCRISY!"

According to RollingStone.com, British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST will release a new compilation album, "The Chosen Few", on October 11 via Legacy/Sony. The collection contains songs that were selected by some of the biggest names of the hard rock/heavy metal world, including KISS' Gene Simmons, Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, METALLICA's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, Alice Cooper and SLIPKNOT's Corey Taylor.

"This is a collection of songs chosen by our friends and respected peers," PRIEST frontman Rob Halford tells RollingStone.com. "So we hope all the metal maniacs out there will rock out to the tunes enjoyed by metal legends."

"The Chosen Few" will contain explanations from the artists about each of their selections, including Taylor making the argument that PRIEST's early MTV anthem "You've Got Another Thing Coming" established the group as "the blueprint for the ultimate heavy metal band."

"The Chosen Few" track listing:

01. Diamonds And Rust (1977) - chosen by Joe Elliott (DEF LEPPARD)
02. Dissident Aggressor (1977) - chosen by Steve Vai and Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE)
03. Exciter (1978) - chosen by ACCEPT
04. Beyond The Realms Of Death (1978) - chosen by Lars Ulrich (METALLICA)
05. Delivering The Goods (1979) - chosen by Kerry King (SLAYER)
06. The Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown) (1979) - chosen by David Coverdale (WHITESNAKE) and Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD)
07. The Ripper (1979) - chosen by Ozzy Osbourne
08. Victim Of Changes (1979) - chosen by James Hetfield (METALLICA)
09. Breaking The Law (1980) - chosen by Lemmy (MOTÖRHEAD)
10. Rapid Fire (1980) - chosen by Vinnie Paul (PANTERA, HELLYEAH)
11. Grinder (1980) - chosen by Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY)
12. Living After Midnight (1980) - chosen by Alice Cooper and Geezer Butler (BLACK SABBATH)
13. Screaming For Vengeance (1982) - chosen by Slash (GUNS N ROSES)
14. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming (1982) - chosen by Klaus Meine (SCORPIONS) & Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT)
15. The Sentinel (1984) - chosen by Chris Jericho (FOZZY)
16. Turbo Lover (1986) - chosen by Jonathan Davis (KORN)
17. Painkiller (1990) - chosen by Joe Satriani