Drummer Mike Terrana (TARJA TURUNEN, MASTERPLAN, AXEL RUDI PELL, SAVAGE CIRCUS, RAGE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) recently spoke to Evans Percussion about his third solo album, "Sinfonica", which contains 11 famous classical orchestral tracks accompanied by his drumming. You can now watch the chat below.

Commented Terrana: "The idea for the 'Sinfonica' project originally came into being, because I wanted to make a tribute song for one of my favorite drummers, Cozy Powell [RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN].

"Cozy was tragically killed in a car accident 10 years ago. I felt this was a great loss to the music and drumming community and I wanted to do something in a musical context to keep his memory alive.

"In 1976, I was fortunate enough to see Cozy Powell play along to an abbreviated version of Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture' in his drum solo with RAINBOW. It was fascinating to see a rock drummer attempting to play such a monumental piece of classical music.

"During the early part of 2009 I was thinking about how I could pay my respects to Mr. Powell, when I came upon the idea to record a new version of the '1812 Overture'. I started working on the '1812 Overture' track in the summer of 2009 and was very satisfied with the outcome. I enjoyed playing along with the orchestral tracks so much that I decide to seek out another 10 well-known classical pieces. This is a task more easily said then done, because there is a multitude of classical music out there, but not all of it works within the boundaries of the drumming concept. Once I found the correct pieces, I set to work on adapting and composing drum grooves and fills to go along with the music.

"I tried to envision what it would have been like if composers such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Rossini would have been able to employ the services of a modern day rock drummer to play on their compositions.

"A little over a year later from the inception of this project, I am proud to announce the completion of 'Sinfonica'. This CD contains 11 classical pieces, a 'Making of Sinfonica' video, and two performance videos.

"'Sinfonica' is a celebration of some of the greatest and most famous classical music ever written and a tribute to the main inspiration for this project, Cozy Powell."

"Sinfonica" track listing:

01. New World Symphony - Antonín Dvorák
02. William Tell Overture - Gioachino Rossini
03. Rondo - J. Mouret
04. Concert For Violin & Oboe - Johann Sebastian Bach
05. Washington Post - John Philip Sousa
06. Barber Of Seville - Gioachino Rossini
07. Pomp & Circumstance - Sir. Edward Elgar
08. Nutcracker Suite - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
09. Cancan - Jacques Offenbach
10. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
11. 1812 Overture - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Terrana's version of "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" can be heard in a YouTube clip below. Also available is the "making-of" footage for "Sinfonica".

For more information on "Sinfonica" and to download the album, go to this location.

Mike Terrana is an American drummer, principally in the hard rock genre. His first professional work was in 1984 with the MCA band HANOVER FIST, after which he recorded and toured with various bands, playing various styles of music in Western New York state.

Between 1987 and 1997, he was based in Los Angeles, working with artists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony Macalpine, Steve Lukather (TOTO), Jennifer Batten (MICHAEL JACKSON, JEFF BECK), Kuni and BEAU NASTY.

In 1997 Terrana moved to Europe, first in Holland for six months and then Germany. He worked with GAMMA RAY, RAGE, AXEL RUDI PELL, Roland Grapow (ex-HELLOWEEN) and SAVAGE CIRCUS.

Terrana is a recording and touring member of MASTERPLAN; he also tours with Tarja Turunen. He is engaged in projects in the instrumental fusion genre and performs drum clinics around the world for the companies he endorses.

Die wild um sich prügelnden spanischen Chaoten von HAEMORRHAGE haben ihr neues Album "Hospital Carnage", welches am 30. Mai 2011 via Relapse Records bei uns in den Handel kommen wird, steht via Eligiendo Muerte…, the Spanish edition of Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore, and its publisher Bazillion Points im Komplet Stream bereit. http://www.bazillionpoints.com/escoger-muerte/

"The World Won't Hold Your Hand", a brand new song from British vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva — who has toured and/or recorded with CRADLE OF FILTH, THERION, MORTIIS and ANGTORIA — can be streamed on her Facebook page. The track comes off Sarah Jezebel Deva's sophomore solo album, "The Corruption Of Mercy", which will be released in Europe on June 20 via Listenable Records. The cover art for the CD was created by CRADLE OF FILTH artist Matt Lombard and will come in a slipcase due to its slightly "dark/close-to-the-mark" nature.

GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has released the fifth in a series of singles being made available digitally this year, an original song entitled "Father". Described as "melodic and grungy," 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" — there's a file of drums, bass, guitar, strings, lead vocals and backing vocals that you can load into your multi-track software and play with levels, make your own mixes, and hear every nuance of each instrument's performance on its own track.

Irish pagan metal masters PRIMORDIAL played a headlining show this past Sunday, May 15 at Wings Club in Bucharest, Romania in front of 300 people.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. No Grave Deep Enough
02. Gallows Hymn
03. Sons of the Morrigan
04. Bloodied Yet Unbowed
05. As Rome Burns
06. Lain With The Wolf
07. Autumn's Ablaze
08. The Coffin Ships
09. The Burning Season
10. Death Of The Gods
11. Heathen Tribes
12. Gods To The Godless
13. Empire Falls
14. [unknown title]

"Rise Up And Revolt", a brand new song from Wisconsin death metallers JUNGLE ROT, is available for streaming at VictoryRecords.com. The track comes off the band's new album, "Kill On Command", which will be released on June 21 via Victory Records.

The Kenosha-based quartet has garnered a great and faithful following in the last 17 years due in large part to having a style more similar to the "Big Four" heavyweights rather than the typical CANNIBAL CORPSE and SUFFOCATION imitations that the underground extreme music scene is so oversaturated with. The style and approach JUNGLE ROT exposes the public to is one of efficiency and execution that has been perfected over the years. Touring with such notable acts as HATEBREED, DEICIDE, CATTLE DECAPITATION, GOATWHORE, VADER, and many others has solidified the band's place in metal history.

"We are all very happy to be a part of the Victory family," said guitarist and vocalist Dave Matrise. "'Kill On Command' is our eighth album, and it's by far our heaviest and most brutal to date. Our new drummer, Jesse Beahler, really took this new CD to the next level of heaviness.

"As always, there were ups and downs when making the record, but we do what we do best: keep fighting through all the bullshit that is dished out while being in a band, and in the end we came out with a killer new CD and a killer new label."

Das neue AUGUST BURNS RED Album wird "Leveler" heißen und am 21. Juni 2011 via Solid State Records in den Handel kommen. Auf der Facebook Page der Band kann man bereits in ein neues Stück reinhören!

"Leveler" Track List:

01. Empire
02. Internal Cannon
03. Divisions
04. Cutting the Ties
05. Pangaea
06. Carpe Diem
07. 40 Nights
08. Salt & Light
09. Poor Millionaire
10. 1/16/2011
11. Boys of Fall
12. Leveler

According to a posting on the Michael Schenker News and Tour Information web site, Store For Music will release a new Michael Schenker covers album on June 3.

"Heavy Hitters", the 2005 covers album featured Schenker and a revolving all-star cast of guest musicians. In 2008, it was re-released as a Michael Schenker solo album under the title "Doctor Doctor: The Kulick Sessions" and included four additional tracks — "Save Yourself", "Finding My Way", "Doctor Doctor" (instrumental) and "War Pigs". This latest re-release, entitled "By Invitation Only" contains all the previous cover tracks supplemented with the IRON MAIDEN cover "Run To The Hills" with Robin McAuley, a track which originally appeared on the IRON MAIDEN tribute "Numbers From The Beast".

"By Invitation Only" track listing:

01. Run To The Hills

Vocals: Robin McAuley
Rhythm Guitar: Pete Fletcher (PYMMY LOVE CIRCUS)
Bass: Tony Franklin (THE FIRM)
Drums: Brian Tichy (WHITESNAKE, BILLY IDOL)

02. Save Yourself

Vocals: Robin McAuley

03. Finding My Way

Vocals: Sebastian Bach

04. All Shook Up

Vocals: Joe Lynn Turner (DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW)
Bass: Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN, DIO)
Drums: Aynsley Dunbar (WHITESNAKE, UFO)

05. Blood Of The Sun

Vocals: Leslie West (MOUNTAIN)
Bass: Rudy Sarzo (DIO, QUIET RIOT)
Drums: Simon Wright (DIO, AC/DC)

06. Doctor Doctor

Vocals: Jeff Scott Soto (TALISMAN, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN)
Bass: Marco Mendoza (SOUL SIRKUS, WHITESNAKE)
Drums: Brett Chassen (BRET MICHAELS)

07. War Pigs

Vocals: Tim "Ripper" Owens (ICED EARTH, JUDAS PRIEST)
Drums: Aynsley Dunbar
Bass: Mike Inez (OZZY OSBOURNE, ALICE IN CHAINS)

08. I'm Not Talking

Vocals: Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER)
Drums: Aynsley Dunbar
Bass: Jeff Pilson

09. Money

Vocals: Tommy Shaw (STYX)
Sax: Edgar Winter (EDGAR WINTER BAND)
Bass: Tony Levin (PETER GABRIEL)
Drums: Mike Baird (JOURNEY)

10. Out In The Fields

Vocals: Gary Barden (MSG)
Bass: Chuck Wright (QUIET RIOT, ALICE COOPER)
Drums: Brett Chassen

11. Hair Of The Dog

Vocals: Paul Di'Anno -IRON MAIDEN)
Bass: Phil Soussan (OZZY OSBOURNE)
Drums; Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO)

12. I Don't Live Today

Vocals: Sebastian Bach (ex-SKID ROW)
Drums: Eric Singer (KISS)
Bass: Tony Franklin (THE FIRM, BLUE MURDER)

13. Politician

Vocals/Bass: Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN, DIO)
Drums: Brett Chassen

"Heroes For Ghosts", a brand new song from Dutch/Norwegian rockers THE GATHERING, is available for free download at the group's Bandcamp page. You can choose between various formats, such as mp3 320k or VBR, FLAC, ACC, ALAC and Ogg Vobis.

Comments the band: "'Heroes For Ghost' is a song which will appear on our new album, title and release date [to be announced].

"We will play this song live in the Netherlands (May/June) and during our South American 'Ghost Ride Tour'. We thought it would be nice if you people already know the song a bit so you can sing with us.

"We hope you will like it as much as we do. We think we made something really special. On top of this, our friend Marcus Moonen is also busy with a video clip (or short movie). We will let you know when it's finished. In the meantime, enjoy! (and yes, it's totally for free!"

Reactivated Florida-based melodic metallers CRIMSON GLORY have released a statement following the overwhelming success of their recent 25th-anniversary European tour:

"We are incredibly proud and pleased with how well our shows were received in Europe! The fans were amazing and really impressed us with how sincere and genuine they were. We truly have the most passionate, loyal fans in the world! It was so great to see people who were at the first shows twenty five years ago, to hear how they've grown and changed, and to see the insane amount of photos, records and memorabilia that they brought with them.

"Everyone was on-point; our friends in TRIOSPHERE and CIRRHA NIVA were great company and delivered excellent shows, but the real star of this tour was new [CRIMSON GLORY] vocalist Todd La Torre.

"Todd blew the doors off of every venue we played, and proved himself every night, from the first show to the last! The fans, club owners, promoters and press, were all amazed by him and impressed by the band's performance overall. Todd rose to the challenge presented to him and exceeded everyone's expectations! The amount of love and acceptance shown to him by our fans was overwhelming, and there were many whom he met who could only whisper 'Thank you,' with tears in their eyes.

"There is no doubt that Todd is the perfect fit for CRIMSON GLORY, and we all agree that [late CRIMSON singer] Midnight would be extremely proud of him and his performance of all our classic songs.

"We would also like to take a moment to again express our sincere apologies to our friends and many fans in Milan, Italy. We were very saddened to learn of the Milan show's short-notice cancellation, and to this end we wish to remind you all that this was a situation that was outside of CRIMSON GLORY and the tour, and completely beyond our control.

"We want to personally thank every one of you who made the long trip to the Pratteln and Essen shows, and we are making plans to return to Italy in summer or autumn 2011.

"We are eager to get back out on the road again, and we will be announcing more dates shortly. CRIMSON GLORY will also be going back into the studio to continue work on our new record, tentatively scheduled for release in early 2012.

"Thank you all again for making the beginning of our 25th-anniversary tour a smashing success!"

Chile's Blitzkrieg conducted an interview with guitarist Jon Drenning and vocalist Todd La Torre of CRIMSON GLORY before the band's April 28, 2011 concert in Zoetermeer, Holland. You can now watch the chat below. Also available is performance footage from the Zoetermeer show.

Renowned drummer Steve Bolognese (BAPTIZED IN BLOOD, ex-INTO ETERNITY) has been officially named Mike Mangini's replacement at the Berklee College Of Music.

Berklee College Of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip hop, reggae, salsa, rock, heavy metal, and bluegrass, in addition to its traditional jazz courses. It offers degrees in composition, contemporary writing and production, film scoring, jazz composition, music business/management, music education, music production and engineering, electronic production and design, music therapy, performance, professional music, and songwriting.

Commented Bolognese: "As the world knows, Mike Mangini has joined DREAM THEATER as their new drummer.

"Mike was my drum teacher for years, beginning back in 2000. He is one of the most talented, dedicated drummers in the world, and also one of the most inspirational teachers one could ask for. Unfortunately, Mike, or any of us for that matter, cannot be in two places at once. Therefore, he has recommended me to teach his classes at Berklee. It's an amazing opportunity and I'm totally honored.

"Mike is obviously irreplaceable, but I'm going to do my best to share the invaluable information that Mike has taught me. It always feels great to share the knowledge with aspiring students."

According to The Pulse Of Radio, SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer John Dolmayan has broken the silence around the band's reunion tour, which kicked off on Tuesday (May 10) in Edmonton, Canada and hits Seattle Friday night (May 13). Speaking with Straight.com, Dolmayan said about the band's five-year hiatus, "I personally don't like breaks — I like to continue playing. But it was nice to go off and be John Dolmayan, as opposed to John from SYSTEM, for a while. I think everybody had similar feelings."

The drummer explained that a desire to pull off the road for a while and reconnect with their lives is what led SYSTEM to take an extended vacation from each other, saying, "When you're on the road and in the studio all the time, it's kind of like traveling at light speed. When you come back, it's like 20 years have passed by, and you're only one or two hours older . . . You're living a nomadic life, and you lose touch with people because they have grown away from you. People get older, get married, die — life is still going on."

Dolmayan admitted that he was lobbying to end the hiatus for the last three years, saying, "There's no real personality in the band that can be pushed to do anything that they don't want to. We are four very strong individuals."

But Dolmayan also said that the occasional clash of those four strong personalities led to the break as well, explaining, "We all have our idiosyncrasies and things that irritate the shit out of each other. Some of [singer] Serj's [Tankian] stuff irritates me, and I'm sure some of my stuff irritates the shit out of him. That's natural. You're in a relationship when you're in a band . . . But look at us — we've been together longer than most marriages last."

"And a band is a marriage," Dolmayan continued, "except that you don't have one headache, you have three to four headaches, and, on top of that, everyone having other people that influence each member. It's almost like a congress, there are so many people involved. Ultimately, though, we make the decisions because we are the band. Our relationships are all intact, and we always have a great time together. The other day, it took us 20 minutes to start a rehearsal because we were all too busy laughing. I don't even remember what was so funny, but that's a sign that we don't take things too seriously. We like to just get up there and play."

SYSTEM's last two albums, "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize", were released in 2005. The band has not indicated whether it will work on new studio material or not after this tour is completed.

Die schwedischen Industrial Metaller PAIN um den legendären Produzenten/Musiker Peter Tägtgren, haben dem Remix ihrer ersten Single "Dirty Woman" online gestellt.

Tägtgren dazu: "The remix version of "Dirty Woman" is something Petja Turunen, a famous DJ from Finland, did for me. The outcome is kinda unexpected since it has that whole house/dance thing to it. He did it his way and I hope people enjoy it as much as I do!"

Album release from Versailles for the first time since a new member MASASHI joined the band. Includes tracks "DESTINY -The Lovers-," the theme song of the TV program "Onegai Kanaete Versailles," "Philia," and the main theme of the film "Vampire Stories." Contains a bonus DVD with music videos featuring each members and music video making-of. This edition comes with a poster and about 100-page photo booklet. *Unless otherwise indicated, DVDs are region-2 encoded (Japan, Europe, and Middle East), and carry no subtitles.

Finnish thrashers ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION have announced the addition of vocalist Jarno Samppala and guitarist Jussi Arkela to the group's ranks.

Samppala, who is the brother of ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION drummer Jussi Samppala, replaces longtime vocalist and original bandmember Mika Luoma.

Regarding his departure from the group, Mika said in a statement: "I feel it's the fair thing to do, now that new ambitions have risen. The core of the band have worked hard in the past months. My lack of time and motivation would only stand in the way of four other musicians' chances. Thanks to everyone in the past few years for support and helping start the new ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION chapter."

Arkela previously made a guest appearance on ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION's album "Gallery Of Pain".

The addition of Jussi Arkela now means that ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION has a full lineup and is ready to start playing out.

The first chance to see ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION live after a long break is the Rotta Festival (Rottavestivaali) in Nummijärvi, Finland on Saturday, August 20.

Legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio, best known for his work with BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and his own band DIO, died of stomach cancer one year ago on Monday (May 16) at the age of 67.

A three-minute Artisan News Service report in which Dio's BLACK SABBATH and HEAVEN & HELL bandmate Geezer Butler, Ronnie's cousin David "Rock" Feinstein (both played in ELF) and wife/manager Wendy remember the heavy metal legend can be viewed below.

Butler said that Dio was so special "because he had an incredible voice; he was blessed with it. And he loved his fans. He'd talk to his fans after every show until there was nobody left. He was so genuine."

Dio was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer, who was recording and touring with SABBATH offshoot HEAVEN & HELL prior to his illness, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

A free public memorial service was held on May 30, 2010 at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, attended by more than 1,500 fans, friends and fellow musicians.

This past March, it was announced that the surviving members of the final lineup of DIO would embark on a project with former JUDAS PRIEST frontman Tim "Ripper" Owens under the name DIO DISCIPLES.

His wife and manager, Wendy Dio, still oversees all projects and releases related to the career and music of her late husband.

Ronnie James Dio, real name Ronald James Padavona, was born in New Hampshire on July 10, 1942.

He moved to Cortland, New York at a young age, where he began playing with local acts. A street in Cortland, Dio Way, was named after him in 1988.

He released his first single, with a band called RONNIE AND THE REDCAPS, in 1959.

His first heavy rock act, ELF, released three albums and opened for DEEP PURPLE, where Dio's voice caught the ear of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Blackmore recruited Dio for his own band, RAINBOW, after leaving PURPLE in 1975.

Dio recorded three studio albums and one live set with RAINBOW before exiting in 1978, including "Rising" and "Long Live Rock And Roll".

He replaced Ozzy Osbourne in BLACK SABBATH in 1980, recording the "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules" albums, plus "Live Evil", before leaving in 1982. He rejoined the group 10 years later for an album called "Dehumanizer", and again teamed with the group under the HEAVEN & HELL banner in 2006. HEAVEN & HELL released an album called "The Devil You Know" in 2009.

He has also recorded 10 studio albums with his own band, DIO, including a classic 1983 debut, "Holy Diver", and an equally renowned follow-up, 1984's "The Last In Line".

Dio was also behind the HEAR N' AID project, a collection of metal artists who recorded the track "Stars" in 1985 to raise funds for African famine relief.

Rock and metal musicians around the world paid tribute to Dio in the weeks and months following his death. STONE SOUR and SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor shared his feelings with The Pulse Of Radio about the fallen metal icon. "When I got that news that he had passed away, man, it seriously — it broke my heart. It broke it in two. Because honestly, I just feel like there will never be another Ronnie James Dio. He had such a pure voice — and still singing his ass off. I just know he'll be missed, and I will miss him as well."

Ex-VAN HALEN and current CHICKENFOOT bassist Michael Anthony also shared his memories of Dio with The Pulse Of Radio. "I don't know anybody that didn't grow up listening to his stuff," he said. "You know, VAN HALEN, we used to do from the first RAINBOW album, we did 'Man On The Silver Mountain'. I remember one time, the second VAN HALEN tour we were doing some festivals in Europe, and we actually played on the same show as Ronnie's band. Real powerful voice, you know, and definitely a driving force in hard rock music, that guy was."

Slash told The Pulse Of Radio that he felt the loss of Dio very keenly. "He's just somebody I was influenced by," he said. " I played all the RAINBOW stuff, I played the DIO stuff, the SABBATH stuff when I was in, you know, high school. I don't think that it's really set in what a, you know, huge figure in rock 'n' roll we lost, you know. Really major. Probably one of the most influential heavy metal singers of all time."

Guitarist John Petrucci of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER spoke to the Artisan News Service (see video below) about fan speculation that the band's new drummer, Mike Mangini, is merely a temporary replacement for founding member Mike Portnoy, who left the group last fall.

"[Mangini is] a [permanent] bandmember," Petrucci said. "That's what we were looking for. I think it depends on the band and what they [are] looking for. We're not looking for a session guy to come in temporarily. We don't wanna be known as the temporary DREAM THEATER; we want a member. You know, like when we got Jordan [Rudess, keyboards] in the band. We wanted a new member."

When asked if DREAM THEATER is planning on finishing out its career with the current lineup, Petrucci said, "I would hope so. That's the way I like to live life and think about things; I don't think of things as being temporary. I like to think of this as moving forward in a positive way and direction with all intentions of staying this way forever. Unless some unforeseen event should happen, which happens. [Laughs] You could have asked me the same question before Mike [Portnoy] left and I would have had the same answer. 'Of course this is the way… This is who we are. This is the way we'll always be.' You never know what's gonna happen. But, yeah, [we have] full intentions of moving forward this way."

DREAM THEATER is currently recording its much-anticipated new album for a fall release via Roadrunner Records.