Pollstar magazine, which tracks the concert business, has released a third-quarter recap of top touring artists and concert industry developments in the first nine months of 2010.

The following hard rock/heavy metal artists appear on the Top 100 "Third-Quarter Year-To-Date Worldwide Ticket Sales" list for 2010:

01. AC/DC - 1,820,962
02. BON JOVI - 1,368,734
18. METALLICA - 540,637
33. RUSH - 350,342
38. GUNS N' ROSES - 319,302
45. IRON MAIDEN - 285,146
50. KISS - 210,082
61. FOREIGNER / STYX - 173,395
71. TOOL - 147,025
77. AEROSMITH - 137,417
87. TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA - 118,429
89. ALICE IN CHAINS - 114,883
92. SCORPIONS - 106,081

Denmark's sludge metal three-piece RISING has just posted two new tracks on their MySpace page. The first pieces of music from the band since 2009's critically acclaimed self-titled debut EP will appear on a seven-inch vinyl single, to be released via Red Tape on November 29. According to a press release, the two tracks — "Legacy of Wolves" and "Daughter of The Sun" — display "an even fiercer and aggressive side" of the band than heard on their debut EP.

"Days Of Defiance", the new album from Greek melodic metallers FIREWIND — who feature in their ranks current OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Gus G. — will be released in Japan on October 18 through Avalon/Marquee. The Japanese edition of the CD will contain two bonus tracks — "Halcyon Days" and a cover of the JUDAS PRIEST classic "Breaking The Law".

FIREWIND's version of "Breaking The Law" originally appeared on volume 1 of the "Metal Forge" series by U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, which saw nine bands covering the nine tracks on PRIEST's "British Steel" album to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

"Dragging My Casket", a brand new song from reactivated San Francisco Bay Area thrashers FORBIDDEN, is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The track comes off the band's new album, "Omega Wave", which will be released in Europe on October 22 and in North America on October 26 via Nuclear Blast Records. It was recorded at Sonic Room/Audio Voyage Studios in Livermore, California, produced by FORBIDDEN guitarist/songwriter Craig Locicero with Tim Narducci, and mixed by Sean Beavan (SLAYER, MARILYN MANSON, NINE INCH NAILS).

"Under The Sign Of The Iron Cross", the title track of the new album from Dutch death metallers GOD DETHRONED, is available for streaming at this location. The CD was recorded at the Soundlodge Studios in Leer, Germany and will be released on November 23 (one day earlier internationally) via Metal Blade Records.

Comments singer/guitarist Henri Sattler on the title track: "The 1905 Schlieffen Plan made by the Prussian Count von Schlieffen after England signed the previous Entente Cordiale in 1904 with France. The plan was based on a battle between Hannibal and the Roman army in 216 B.C. that was later modified and eventually failed when put into practice. It remains uncertain if the changes to the Schlieffen Plan or the plan itself was the reason for not being successful."

"Under The Sign Of The Iron Cross" track listing:

01. The Declaration of War
02. Storm of Steel
03. Fire Storm
04. The Killing is Faceless
05. Under the Sign of the Iron Cross
06. Chaos Reigns at Dawn
07. Through Byzantine Hemispheres
08. The Red Baron
09. On Fields of Death & Desolation

Three-time Grammy-winning country/folk singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams has recorded a guest appearance on the as-yet-untitled new album from Michael Monroe, the iconic rock and roll frontman and founding member of hugely influential Finnish outfit HANOI ROCKS. Due on February 21, 2011 via Universal Music subsidiary Spinefarm Records, the CD will also feature MOTÖRHEAD's Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister.

Swedish black metallers INFUNERAL have released the first single from their upcoming second album, to be released this winter. The track is entitled "The Circle Master" and is described in a press release as "nothing but fast and supreme black metal directly from the cold lands of Sweden."

According to the band's label, Blackcrowned Records, INFUNERAL will appeal to fans of ONDSKAPT, IXXI and WATAIN."

Black metallers FROSTMOON ECLIPSE have signed a worldwide deal with Osmose Productions for the release of their fifth full-length album, "The End Stands Silent". The follow-up to 2007's "Another Face of Hell" will be released on CD and limited-edition vinyl before the end of the year.

"The End Stands Silent" track listing:

01. Heaven Outside, Hell Within
02. I Am The Absence
03. Corridors
04. Under Pale City Lights
05. Unnatural Isolation
06. A Clandestine Freedom Between Shadows
07. The End Of Everything

"Cross The Line (Of No Return)", the new video from Finnish thrashers ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION, can be viewed below. The clip was directed by Jani "Viski" Viskari, the drummer of the Finnish thrash act ANGUISH, and it contains footage from the making of the band's latest album, "Gallery Of Pain", as well as material that was shot in the group's rehearsal room.

Anja Fireangel from the Night Elves Metal Media Group recently conducted an interview with Viskari about the making of the "Cross The Line (Of No Return)" video. It follows below.

Anja Fireangel: Your videos [such as those for ROTTEN SOUND] look often very direct, "immediate" and close. Does your background as fellow musician have something to do with this; that you can capture the atmosphere so well or are there other reasons for this approach?

Viskari: Well, yes... that might be one reason for my "style." I'm not doing it on purpose, it kinda happens naturally. I've seen and experienced a lot of amazing things as a musician and later as a videographer at gigs and festivals. I like to show how things look when you're present or when you shoot it with your video cam, giving the "live" feeling. Filming things in close-ups gives kind of a feeling you're there yourself. And seeing someone who's good at something, in this case playing, is always entertaining to see closer. And one note, I shot only 1/3 of this music video. So I can't say all the scenes are my visions in this video. I got the tapes that have been shot while recordings and rehearsals and picked up the best parts, added my own shots and edited a video. For me, as an ex-drummer, especially playing drums is something I want to see close and from good angles. I love to watch technical drummers playing. I've shot many tapes of Kai Hahto [WINTERSUN, SWALLOW THE SUN, ex-ROTTEN SOUND] playing drums. He's one hell of a drummer and I'll never get tired to film or watch him playing. Same thing with ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION, their music is aggressive, has great and heavy riffs and strength. These are things that push me to do my best to capture on video the greatness of their music.

Anja Fireangel: Which equipment did you use?

Viskari: Equipment for this video wasn't that special. The whole video was shot with Pasi Osmo's video camera and I edited it with my editing software (Premiere pro). So you don't always need to have and use expensive equipments to have a music video. Just a little of creativity and desire...and lots of time of course. My idea for this ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION video was like doing an "introducing of ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION," to show who these great musicians are. I have to say I'm very pleased with the end result of the video.

Anja Fireangel: How did you get to know ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION?

Viskari: I've known Pasi, Kimmo and Mika for over 20 years, since my teenage years. They're all still good friends of mine. I was a big fan in the early days of ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION and I used to go often to their rehearsals and gigs. They were one of the first thrash bands in Finland, that's one reason why I respect these guys so much. ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION was also a very big influence for me and my band [ANGUISH] in the early '90s. So I'm quite honored that I got to make the very first video of my old favorite band, ALTARS OF DESTRUCTION.

Anja Fireangel: Who is the fire-breathing artist at the end of the video?

Viskari: Who's on fire? Bad breath? Oh, I got you. He's our baby dragon! Seriously speaking, on that scene Pasi and a friend of ours, Jani Niemelä, are blowing fire after having a sauna. In this scene it was Jani. No need to say they've had a couple of beers too....just to extinguish the fire. ;-)

"Gallery Of Pain" was released on April 28 via Violent Journey Records. The CD artwork (see below) was created by Juha Vuorma, who also designed covers for the first three KALMAH albums and for USURPER and METUJA, among others.

Canadian hard rock veterans HELIX have set "Smash Hits Unplugged" as the title of their acoustic album, 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 so far 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)

UK rockers PURE REASON REVOLUTION's third album, Hammer And Anvil, will be released in Germany / Austria / Switzerland on October 15th, and throughout Europe on October 18th via Superball Music / EMI as a standard jewel case and as a limited digipak + bonus DVD featuring a live concert in London 2010.

The band have posted the live clip 'Fight Fire' - the album opener and featured on the bonus DVD of the limited edition. Check it out below:

SEVENDUST frontman Lajon Witherspoon has recorded a guest appearance on (HED)P.E.'s new album, "Truth Rising", which lands in stores October 26 through Suburban Noize Records. Witherspoon appears on the track "Stand Up".

"Working with Lajon from SEVENDUST was a dream come true,” commented Jahred from (HED)P.E. "I have always loved Lajon's voice, and was waiting for the right song to get him on. When I wrote the chorus for 'Stand Up' I immediately knew it was one that Lajon would be perfect for.

"I have been a fan of SEVENDUST since the beginning, and this track was a long time coming. Finally after 10-plus years we collaborated and I love what came out of it."

Swedish melodic death metallers CIPHER SYSTEM will enter the studio tomorrow (Sunday. October 10) to begin recording their sophomore album, "Communicate The Storms", for a tentative early 2011 release. According to the band, "The music direction hasn't changed that much since [the release of 2004's debut, 'Central Tunnel Eight'], so it's still melodic death metal we are talking about." Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "A Lesson Learned", "End My Path", "Forget To Forgive", "Objection", "The Failure Start" and "Project Life Collapse".

CIPHER SYSTEM is:

Carl Obbel - Vocals
Johan Eskilsson - Lead Guitar
Andreas Allenmark - Lead Guitar
Henric Carlsson - Bass
Emil Frisk - Drums
Peter Engström - Keyboards

THERION performed in Santiago, Chile on October 5th, their setlist on the night was as follows:





'Sitra Ahra'
'Secret of the Runes'
'Typhon'
'The Perennial Sophia'
'Hellequin'
'Nifelheim'
'Clavicula Nox'
'Voyage of Gurdjieff (The Fourth Way)'
'Ljusalfheim'
'Wine of Aluqah'
'Ginnungagap'
'Kali Yuga, Part 3'
'Call of Dagon'
'The Siren of the Woods'
'Enter Vril-Ya'
'To Mega Therion'
'Lemuria'
'The Wand of Abaris'
'Abraxas'

Encore 1:
'Dies Irae'
'Quetzalcoatl'

Encore 2:
'The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah'
'The Blood of Kingu'

DARK TRANQUILLITY's second EP, Enter Suicidal Angels, is being reissued on Limited Edition Gatefold Cover Gold Vinyl via Nightofthevinyldead.com.

Only 500 hand numbered copies have been made.

The EP was previously released on CD through Osmose Records in 1996 and features the following tracklisting:

Side A
'Zodijackyl Light'
'Razorfever'

Side B
'Shadowlit Facade'
'Archetype'

Italy's INGRAVED will release their Onryou album on October 31st via their new label deal with Power Pain Records.

The Onryou album art can be seen at left, and a new album trailer can be seen below.

Onryou will be a mix of modern extreme metal and hardcore elements with lyrics based on Japanese culture and folklore. The album will be available in many online stores, iTunes and other digital platforms.

Metal Assault's Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal shot footage of VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist SLASH (featuring Myles Kennedy) performing the GUNS N' ROSES song 'My Michelle' at House Of Blues in West Hollywood, CA on Tuesday night (October 5th). Slash announced on stage that it was the first time since 1991 that this song was being performed in the LA area.

Check out the footage below, and find a high quality photo gallery from the show at this location.

Greek melodic metallers FIREWIND, featuring OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Gus G., have issued the following update:

"Wanna get a FREE download of our brand new track 'The Ark Of Lies'? Head over to the link here and spread the word about the contest through your Facebook or Twitter and you automatically get the free download! It's THAT simple!"

Firewind recently announced a live date in London, England at Relentless Garage on January 7th.

New Jersey thrashers WHIPLASH have released the installment of the group's live performance at the 2009 sold out 20th anniversary, Wacken Open Air Festival. Look below to see the three-piece power trio performing the song 'Feeding Frenzy'. The track comes off the band's last album, Unborn Again, which was released in November 2009 via Pulverised Records.

Recently the group parted ways with Pulverised Records and is currently writing new material, preparing to hit the road in March. A string of UK dates are expected to be announced soon.

SYMPHORCE, featuring BRAINSTORM frontman Andy B. Franck, has issued the following update:

"Hey Phorceheads,

It's time you get some blast to your ears right? Yeah, we thought the same and uploaded two full streaming tracks to our profile. 'The Eternal and 'Until It's Over' represent best what our new album Unrestricted will be like, so go check it out and let us know what you think ;-)

Can't wait for the the beast to get unleashed folks! Two weeks left and you will be able to get your copies. Go grab the limited edition digipack, the bonus track rocks!"

Oslo-based black metallers TROLLFEST have issued the following update:

"We have uploaded two new videos from our recent appearance at South Of Heaven at Betong in Oslo onto YouTube, but to save you all having to go over there, here they are (see below)!

If you'd like to go over there anyway, there's lots more videos of live appearances, studio reports and general TrollfesT insane going ons. We're at this location."