Video footage from the recording sessions for "Smash Hits Unplugged", the forthcoming acoustic album from Canadian hard rock veterans HELIX, can be viewed below. Tentatively due in November, the CD was recorded at A Studios in London, Ontario with co-producer Aaron Murray and is comprised of "all our hits plus the JAMES LEROY song 'A Touch of Magic' which I've always wanted to record," states singer Brian Vollmer. He adds, "Sean Kelly (CRASH KELLY), Aaron Murray, and myself are the producers. Sean also played some guitar on it along with Brent (Doerner) and Kaleb (Duck). We're using such diverse instruments as mandolin and fiddle, plus all sorts of different percussion instruments. It's been great fun and we're very happy with the results."

"Smash Hits Unplugged" track listing:

* Rock You
* Heavy Metal Love
* Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'
* Make Me Do (Anything You Want)
* Wild In The Streets/No Rest For The Wicked
* Deep Cuts The Knife
* The Kids Are All Shakin'
* Dream On
* That Day Is Gonna Come
* Good To The Last Drop
* A Touch of Magic (JAMES LEROY cover)

Die EP "Darkest Hour" ist der Vorbote des neuen Studioalbums, welches im Januar 2011 erscheinen wird. STRATOVARIUS ist eine der erfolgreichsten Metalbands aus Finnland und melden sich im Januar eindrucksvoll mit ihrem neusten Studioalbum "Elysium" zurück. 2009 haben sie mit ihrem Album "Polaris" einen grandiosen Start mit dem neuen Gitarristen Matias Kupiainen hingelegt!

Das neuste Meisterwerk der Finnischen Band beinhaltet melodische, kraftvolle, frische und technisch hervorragend ausgearbeitete Hits und wird die Fangemeinde mehr als überzeugen können! Auch bei ihrem grandiosen Auftritt auf dem diesjährigen Wacken Festival haben sie mehr als 100.000 Menschen von sich überzeugen können.

Vom 26. November 2010 bis zum 12. Februar 2011 werden STRATOVARIUS als Special Guest der HELLOWEEN Tour durch Europa reisen, alleine in Deutschland und Österreich sind es ganze 10 Termine! HELLOWEEN hat mit Stolz bekanntgeben, dass diesmal niemand geringeres als die aus Finnland stammende Heavy Metal Supergroup STRATOVARIUS den Slot des "Very Special Guest" belegen wird und eröffnet den Finnen die Möglichkeit, eine ganz neue Fangemeinde hinzu zu gewinnen. Der Vorbote zum neuen Album "Elysium" wird diese EP die 2 neue Tracks sowie 2 bisher unveröffentlichte Livesongs und eine Demoversion beinhaltet und wird als CD im Digipak und als 12" Vinyl erhältlich sein.

Among his many upcoming projects, Jon Lord has been commissioned to compose a concerto for Hammond organ and orchestra and with special parts for tympani.

The piece will be premiered with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra with Tom Vissgren on tympani in Oslo, Norway in the Spring of 2012.

- It is basically a concerto for Hammond and an orchestra with a very virtuoso tympany part, explains Jon Lord.

- Tom Vissgren and I had become acquaintances, and he had asked me if I would write a tympany concerto. I said ‘I am not up to writing a tympany concerto but how about this…’

- I had been thinking for years about writing a Hammond Concerto. Something I could turn up and play as part of a programme with an orchestra. It doesn’t have to be a programme of only my music, just slot me in along next to Mahler and I would be happy.

- So I thought about that, and told Vissgren that I could write a really virtuoso tympany part to go alongside it. We took the idea to the management of the Oslo Philharmonics and it’s now commissioned for the Spring of 2012.

- I’m getting on well with this and it’s coming along nicely.

How does Jon Lord begin the daunting process of piecing together a new concerto?

- I started thinking about something like a Hammond Concerto several years ago, so there are scraps of paper with question marks on in various files all around my music room. The same kind of paper that I had once that had at the top written ‘Telemann?’, and then ‘Experiment with this’, or something, which became ‘Telemann Experiment’.

- There’s lots of bits of paper like that, and most of them find a home after a while, especially if I’ve put them away for a month, 6 months or a year or whatever. You get them out again and play it on the piano, thinking ‘that’s actually not bad, I quite like that little idea.’ So that’s how these things evolve.

Is there a theme to this new concerto for Hammond and tympany?

- Not really. I am trying to write it to be something that I would enjoy playing myself, just as a soloist, not on the piano, but on this weird and wonderful thing that I’ve been welded to for the last 40 years. Hopefully something that will say something about the Hammond and say something about the way I view the orchestra.

- Hopefully it will also be very exciting because the tympany will have a great thrashing role in the background. What we’re going to do when we play it is put the Hammond at the back next to the tympany, so I am up there with all the percussion and the tympany. This will be huge fun. I’m looking forward to that enormously. But there is no real theme as such, just ongoing ideas that I have about the Hammond’s role in things.

Will you be rocking it?

- No, I don’t do that anymore. My back won’t allow me to.

The cover artwork for "The Dark Epic", the fourth full-length album from ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET — the Swedish band featuring former THE CROWN vocalist Johan Lindstrand — was created by Björn Goosses of Killustrations and can be viewed below. The CD is currently being recorded at Black Lounge studios in Avesta, Sweden with producer Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY, CARNAL FORGE) for an early 2011 release via Nuclear Blast/Massacre. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Sandman Apocalypse", "Stitch", "The Pleasures Of Slavery", "How I Love To Kill You" and "The Zombie Syndrome (Of Acid And Man)".

An audio clip of the song "Diviner" from the Quebec City, Quebec, Canada-based female-fronted power metal band FORGOTTEN TALES can be streamed using the audio player below. The track comes off the group's third album, "We Shall See The Light", which will be made available in November. A CD-release party — featuring a performance by FORGOTTEN TALES will be held on November 5 at L'Impérial de Québec in Quebec City. The cover artwork for the album was created by Lucie Fortier.

"Reborn In Violence", a brand new song from Greek thrashers SUICIDAL ANGELS, is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The track comes off the band's third album, "Dead Again", which is scheduled for release on November 19 via NoiseArt Records. The winners of the Rock The Nation awards 2009, which was presented by magazines from all over Europe, the quartet has found itself a perfect home as the label is a division of Rock The Nation, which also serves as the band's booking agency.

"Dead Again" track listing:

01. Damnation
02. Reborn In Violence
03. Bleeding Holocaust
04. The Trial
05. Suicide Solution
06. Beggar Of Scorn
07. Victimized
08. Violent Abuse
09. The Lies Of Resurrection
10. Search For Recreation
11. Dead Again
12. Final Dawn

Check out a one-and-

Virginia's epic doom metal unit WHILE HEAVEN WEPT will release a live album, "Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence - Live At The Hammer Of Doom Festival", on November 8 via Cruz Del Sur Music. The release is a stunning 24-track audio capture of WHILE HEAVEN WEPT's performance at the Posthalle in Würzburg, Germany on February 6, 2010.

"Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence - Live At The Hammer Of Doom Festival" will be made available as a CD/DVD two-disc set in a quantity of 3,000 copies. The DVD program will be region-free, so it can be played anywhere without incident. In addition to the CD/DVD set, there will be a limited-edition 2xLP set released through a joint collaboration between Cruz Del Sur Music, High Roller Records, and Iron Kodex Records in a quantity of 1,000 copies. This set will be pressed on heavy vinyl, and will be housed in an equally heavy, gorgeous gatefold sleeve filled to the brim with photos from the band's weekend in Germany, including some never-before-seen shots by Hans-Martin Issler. A stunning poster and full-color insert will also be included in the package. 250 copies will be on colored vinyl, and you can expect this to be released on October 23, 2010 at the Hammer Of Doom 4 festival in Würzburg, Germany.

The set will contain the following material:

CD:

01. Vast Oceans Lachrymose
02. The Furthest Shore (Parts 1-3)
03. Soulsadness
04. The Drowning Years
05. Of Empires Forlorn
06. Vessel
07. Thus With A Kiss I Die

DVD:

01. Vast Oceans Lachrymose
02. The Furthest Shore (Parts 1-3)
03. Soulsadness
04. The Drowning Years
05. Of Empires Forlorn
06. Vessel
07. Thus With A Kiss I Die
08. To Wander The Void (encore)

DVD Bonus Features:

01. 20-Minute Interview with Streetclip TV
02. Backstage Rehearsal Clip 1
03. Backstage Rehearsal Clip 2
04. The Furthest Shore (Parts 1-3) - Pittsburgh Jan. 8 2010
05. Soulsadness - Pittsburg Jan. 8 2010
06. Thus With A Kiss I Die - Pittsburgh Jan. 8 2010

The track listing for the LP edition is as follows:

01. Vast Oceans Lachrymose
02. The Furthest Shore (Parts 1-3)
03. Soulsadness
04. The Drowning Years
05. Of Empires Forlorn
06. Vessel
07. Thus With A Kiss I Die

The song "Of Empires Forlorn" is available for streaming on the WHILE HEAVEN WEPT MySpace page.

Two video teasers from the "Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence - Live At The Hammer Of Doom Festival" DVD can be viewed below.

LEAVES' EYES vocalist Liv Kristine has won Germany's Bottwartal Marathon in her grade. The run is over 10 km in distance and every year more than 5,000 runners and many visitors come to the Bottwar valley to join the contest.

The Bottwartal Marathon is a marathon in Großbottwar (north of Stuttgart), held since 2004 in mid-October on a Sunday. Seven sports clubs from the towns along the route are involved in the organization.

Die Wiener Symphonic Blackies von OBSIDIAN CHAMBER haben ihr neues Album "Der Gesang der Fliegen" in den Hinterhof Studios in Wien fertig gestellt. Auf MySpace gibt es eine Demovariante des Titeltracks, sowie von "Dark Filthy Me" und live wird das Material am 13. November 2010 im Rahmen des zweitägigen TERRASOUND FESTIVALS in der Wiener Arena vorgestellt !

"Der Gesang der Fliegen" Trackliste:

1. Intro
2. A New God
3. Der Gesang der Fliegen
4. Dark Filthy Me
5. Hunter
6. FleischherrensTochter
7. Des SatansBraut
8. Perceive The Revelation
9. Der Hexer
10. Soulblighter
11. Extro

HOLY GRAIL (ex Sorcerer) aus Los Angeles präsentieren uns nach der EP "Improper Burial" nun auch in Albumlänge traditionellen Metal der die Trademarks von Bands wie Judas Priest, Accept oder Armored Saint vereinigt. 2009 erschien die EP "Improper Burial" um anschließend mit 3 Inches Of Blood und Saviours durch die USA zu touren. Anschließend ging es zusammen mit ex NIN Mitglied Danny Lohner in LA ins Studio und nahm "Crisis In Utopia" auf, gemixt wurde von Mark Lewis. Neben einer Nordamerika Tour mit Amon Amarth spielten HOLY GRAIL auch auf dem diesjährigen Download Festival in England und in Wacken.

According to The Local, a drunk 40-year-old man bit off a security guard's ear during last night's (Friday, October 15) W.A.S.P. concert in Örebro, Sweden.

The man was detained by police at 11 p.m. at the Conventum arena in Örebro and was booked on suspicion of aggravated assault.

In addition to biting the guard's ear, the suspect also allegedly verbally threatened the guard, according to the Nerikes Allehanda daily newspaper.

Bereits im Juli hat Timo Tolkki (ex-STRATOVARIUS) angekündigt das er wegen seiner privaten Probleme und dem Mangel an Interesse der Promoters an REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE sowie der aktuelle Situation in der Musikindustrie unmöglich geworden ist weiter mit der Band zuarbeiten.

Jetzt haben die restlichen Mitglieder der Band beschlossen die Fans um Hilfe zu bitten:

"Helft Revolution Renaissance und finde einen neuen Namen für die Band als kleiner Dank wurde der neue Song "Dance Of The Death Star" HIER kostenlos zum Download online gestellt, auf der Seite könnt Ihr auch unsere neuen Gitarristen Santtu Lehtiniemi kennenlernen. Außerdem erfahrt Ihr mehr über die Trennung von Timo Tolkki."

SEVENTH WONDER, werden Ihr neues und viertes Album "The Great Escape" am 3. Dezember 2010 via Lion Music veröffentlichen und jetzt wurde das "The Great Escape" Cover Artwork das von Johan Larsson erstellt wurde und die Track List enthüllt. Außerdem wurde das neue Video zum Song "Alley Cat" hier online gestellt.

"The Great Escape" Track List:

01. Wiseman - [5:42]
02. Alley Cat - [6:06]
03. The Angelmaker - [8:29]
04. King of Whitewater - [7:20]
05. Long way home - [4:26]
06. Move on Through - [5:04]
07. The Great Escape - [30:14]

Christian Liljegren, ex-Sänger von DIVINEFIRE, NARNIA und AUDIOVISION, meldet sich mit seiner neuen Band GOLDEN RESURRECTION zurück in der Szene. Das neue Album "Glory To My King" ist auch schon fix fertig produziert und wird in Japan am 27. Oktober 2010 via King Records und im Rest der Welt am 12. November 2010 über Christian's eigenes Liljegren Records Label veröffentilcht.

Und jetzt wurde der neuen Song "See My Commands" und Samples von fünf weiteren Songs auf der Band MySpace Seite zum probehören online gestellt.

Today's (October 17) edition of the "Glanz & Gloria" Swiss TV entertainment show featured a segment on the the public memorial service for GOTTHARD singer Steve Lee, which was held this morning at the St. Gotthard Hospice on the Saint Gotthard Pass in Switzerland. The German-language report, which features footage of the band and Steve's girlfriend, Brigitte Voss-Balzarini, as they came to mourn and remember Lee with thousands of fans in wintery, subzero weather, can be viewed below.

JON OLIVA'S PAIN — the band fronted by SAVATAGE mastermind Jon Oliva — took part in a live-DVD concert filming this past Friday (October 15) at 013 in Tilburg, Holland. Tentatively due in early 2011, the disc will be the first official live DVD release with Jon Oliva handling all the vocal duties. It was a once-in-a-lifetime show featuring an assault of SAVATAGE classics and the four JON OLIVA'S PAIN CDs.

THE OCEAN haben die Aufnahmen zu ihrem kommenden Album "Anthropocentric" beendet. Aufgenommen wurde im Studio Mecanique in La Chaux-de-Fonds in der Schweiz, also an demselben Ort, wo auch schon Heliocentric aufgenommen und abgemischt wurde. Das Album wurde von Svante Forsbäck in Helsinki gemastert. "Anthropocentric" kommt am 9. November 2010 via Metal Blade Records in den Handel. Jetzt wurde der neue Song "The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts" zum probehören online gestellt.

An eight-minute EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for "Beyond Hell/Above Heaven", the fourth album from Danish metal rock 'n' rollers VOLBEAT, can be viewed below.

"Beyond Hell/Above Heaven" registered the following first-week chart positions:

Denmark: #1
Finland: #1
Sweden: #1
Austria #2
Germany: #3
Switzerland: #7
Holland: #8
Norway: #8

"Beyond Hell/Above Heaven" was released in Germany on September 10 and in most parts of Europe on September 13 via Vertigo/Universal. The CD was once again recorded at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen. The cover artwork was created by illustrator Karsten Wrysand and can be viewed below.

"Beyond Hell/Above Heaven" track listing:

01. The Mirror And The Ripper
02. Heaven Nor Hell
03. Who They Are
04. Fallen
05. A Better Believer
06. 7 Shots
07. A New Day
08. 16 Dollars
09. A Warrior's Call
10. Magic Zone
11. Evelyn
12. Being 1
13. Thanks

Zum Beginn dieser Woche haben SCHANDMAUL sehnlichst erwartete Informationen rund um ihr kommendes Album nebst zugehöriger Tour publiziert... Am 28. Januar 2011 wollen die Folk Rocker ihr neues Werk "Traumtänzer" herausbringen und damit das Resultat des kreativen Rückzugs veröffentlichen, welchen die Band während der letzten Monate praktiziert hatte. Kurze Zeit später geht es natürlich auf große Tournee, der Vorverkauf läuft bereits!

03.03. CH-Bern, Bierhübeli
04.03. CH-Zürich, Volkshaus
05.03. A-Linz, Posthof
06.03. A-Graz, Orpheum
10.03. Bremen, Pier 2
11.03. Berlin, C-Halle
12.03. Dresden, Alter Schlachthof
16.03. Mannheim, Maimarktclub
17.03. Bielefeld, Ringlokschuppen
18.03. Saarbrücken, Garage
19.03. Köln, Palladium
20.03. Stuttgart, Theaterhaus
02.04. München, Zenith

Stefan und Flo von der aufgelösten Band SILENT DECAY unterstützen Gitarrist Herman Frank (Accept, Victory, Moon'Doc)sowie Produzent/Engineer namhafter Bands wie Saxon, Messiah's, Kiss, Molly Hatchet, Rose Tattoo und dessen Frau Martina bei deren neuen Projekt POISON SUN. Checkt erste Soundsnippets auf der neuen POISON SUN MySpace Seite. Das Debut Album "Virtual Sin" kommt am 19. November 2010 in den Handel und jetzt wurde auch das Cover Artwork enthüllt.