German folk metallers SALTATIO MORTIS will celebrate their 10-year anniversary at the historical Wuppertal City Hall with an array of lively medieval tunes. Besides such esteemed guests as Victor Smolski (RAGE) and Bodenski (SUBWAY TO SALLY), none other than metal queen DORO PESCH will also be in attendance on the October 15th party with the gleemen. Further details regarding this event can be found here.

Netherlands-based death metallers UNLOCKED, featuring members of PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT, VISCERAL BLEEDING, GORGOROTH and ENTHRONED, entered Blackout Sound Studio recently to commence recordings for their debut album.

An update from the band states, "We're very proud to announce a special guest on the debut album. Peter Huss (pictured at left - SHINING, ex-SINERGY) will shred some insane killer solos on the album!"

As previously reported, the band will record 8 songs for the forthcoming debut, to be released via Crossfirecult Records.

Unlocked lineup features:

Dani "Garghuf" Robnik - drums (ex-Gorgoroth, GOD SEED, NEFARIUM)
Phorgath - bass (Enthroned, EMPTINESS)
Sebastiaan - guitar (ABHORRENCE, TOMBE)
Nornagest - vocals (Enthroned)
Benny - guitar (Prostitute Disfigurement, Visceral Bleeding)

On June 29 (one day earlier internationally), Season of Mist will release a new compilation album from Californian thrashers HIRAX, "Noise Chaos War". Consisting of three thrashing EPs — remastered, remixed and available on CD for the first time — this release also includes a video for "Bombs of Death", filmed live in Japan last year.

Originally signed to Metal Blade in 1985, HIRAX has been at the forefront of the thrash movement for over 25 years. Their music has stood the test of time and their legions of fans continue to grow.

"Barrage of Noise" EP:
01. Murder One
02. Barrage of Noise
03. Walk With Death
04. Broken Neck
05. Jade
06. Mouth Sewn Shut
07. Beyond the Church
08. French Pearl

"Chaos and Brutality" EP:

01. Chaos and Brutality
02. Walk With Death (re-recorded)
03. 100,000 Strong
04. Lucifer's Infierno (reprise)

"Assassins of War" EP:

01. Lucifer's Infierno
02. Summon the Death Dealers
03. City of the Dead
04. Invasion
05. Assassins of War
06. Bombs of Death (live video)

BLACK TIDE broke onto the music scene in 2008 with their Interscope Records debut, Light From Above. Now the Florida based quartet is at Spin Studios in New York recording their follow-up with producers GGGarth (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE) and Josh Wilbur (LAMB OF GOD). The as-yet-untitled sophomore set will be released fall 2010.

Light From Above was released in March 2008. Lead vocalist/guitarist Gabriel Garcia, bassist Zakk Sandler, drummer Steven Spence and guitarist Austin Diaz immediately took to the road and to date have played over 300 shows in 16 countries to over one million fans!

Black Tide is equally at home in the metal, hard rock, and alternative worlds as evidenced by their inclusion on various package tours – Vans Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Mayhem Festival - and as support for artists such as AVENGED SEVENFOLD, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and ESCAPE THE FATE.

Light From Above has sold over 100,000 albums and the band has had over one million views of their YouTube videos.

On July 6th, Sony Legacy is releasing CHEAP TRICK's Budokan! Friday, April 28, 1978 as a CD/DVD box set. The tracklisting is as follows:

Disc 1:

'Hello There'
'Come On, Come On'
'Elo Kiddies'
'Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)'
'Big Eyes'
'Lookout'
'Downed'
'Can't Hold On'
'Oh Caroline'
'Surrender'
'Auf Wiedersehen'
'Need Your Love'
'High Roller'
'Southern Girls'
'I Want You To Want Me'

Bonus Tracks:
'California Man'
'Goodnight'
' Ain't That A Shame'
'Clock Strikes Ten'

Disc 2:

'Hello There
'Elo Kiddies
'Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)
'Lookout
'Downed
'Can't Hold On
'Oh Caroline
'Surrender
'Auf Wiedersehen
'Southern Girls
'I Want You To Want Me
'California Man
'Goodnight
'Ain't That A Shame
'Clock Strikes Ten
Budokan 1978: 'Come On, Come On'
Budokan 2008: 'Voices'
Budokan 2008: 'If You Want My Love'
Cheap Trick 2008 Interview: Looking Back

Reactivated NWOBHM band BLACK ROSE will release their new album, Cure For Your Disease, in July. Initially the album will be an independent release available only for download from major music stores like Amazon, iTunes, Spotify etc. and hopefully a CD version will be available soon.

The album features 11 brand new tracks plus a reworking of one of their older songs ('Baby Believe Me') from their 1984 album Boys Will Be Boys.

Cure For Your Disease tracklisting:

'Cure For Your Disease'
'Sign Of The Times'
'Twice Shy Once Bitten'
'Fight For Your Life'
'Doghouse'
'Baby Believe Me'
'Love Addiction'
'Killing Yourself To Live'
'Got Me Where You Want Me'
'Rock Renegades'
'Take It Easy'
'So Predictable'

Black Rose 2010:

Steve Bardsley: lead vocals/guitar
Chris Watson: lead guitar
Kiko Rivers: bass
Mal Smith: drums
Ian Iredale: lead guitar (guest appearance)

The album was recorded in the UK between 2007 and 2010 and is the first new material to be released by the band since they split up in 1989.

MAR DE GRISES' forthcoming album is entitled Streams Inwards and will be released on August 30th (September 14th in North America) via Season Of Mist. The cover artwork of the Chilean doomsters' third full-length can be viewed at the left - click to enlarge.

Streams Inwards tracklisting:

'Starmaker'
'Shining Human Skin'
'The Bell And The Solar Gust'
'Spectral Ocean'
'Sensing The New Orbit'
'Catatonic North'
'Knotted Delirium'
'A Sea Of Dead Comets'

The limited digipak edition will include the bonus song 'Aphelion Aura'.

French black metallers OTARGOS will release their fourth album on August 30th (September 14th in North America) on Season Of Mist's Underground Activists division. Click photo left to enlarge the cover artwork. Tracklisting of No God, No Satan is as follows:

'Hoax Virus God'
'Cloning The Divine'
'Worship Industrialized'
'Hexameron'
'I, Flesh Of God'
'Origin'
'Cuiusvis Hominis Est Errare'
'I, Blood Of Satan'
'XXI (The Pathological Mass)'
'The Hulk Of Conviction And Faith'

Otargos comment on the artwork: "Once again, we entrusted the work of XxX aka 3-Crosses to design the new cover and layout of our upcoming album. Spawned from his dark mind, the whole visual concept aims at expressing the pathetic impotence of mankind, drowned into its false beliefs, similar to the pathologic secret of the essence of flesh. In collaboration with the Dupuytren museum, all original photographs are the mirror of our ignorance and weakness facing the genesis of Life - which derives certainly not from a divine intervention. Delivering a more personal work than on Fuck God-Disease Process, XxX honours Otargos new musical masterpiece with an elaborated crimson tortured graphic design."

3-Crosses Design has worked for many bands such as ENTHRONED, IMPIETY, DESTINITY, WHIPLASH, THE FEW AGAINST MANY, GUILLOTINE and many others.

Nuclear Blast Records has announced the signing of the German metal queen Doro Pesch. Her first release for the label will be the 2DVD/CD set "25 Years In Rock", featuring the entire 25-year anniversary concert, including guest performances in front of about 10,000 enthusiastic fans in Dusseldorf as well as a China special, outtakes from Doro's 2500th concert and a whole lot more. A November release is expected.

Commented Doro: "I am absolutely happy to be a part of Nuclear Blast now and I am looking forward to step the pedal to the metal together!!"

Added Nuclear Blast founder, owner and CEO Markus Staiger: "We're so proud to welcome the greatest, most important and most influential German rock singer Doro Pesch to the Nuclear Blast family! Doro has influenced our musical universe like no other! Back in the Eighties, she already made history with WARLOCK and ever since she's been defending her undisputed title as the #1! Her striking solo career is a victorious march and her live performance still fascinates! In addition, Doro is such a fantastic, tender and gracious person who lives for her fans which had impressed us ever since! We are looking forward to the upcoming DVD '25 Years In Rock' and the following studio albums!"

Finnish black metallers GLORIA MORTI will release their new album, Anthems Of Annihilation, on July 30th via Cyclone Empire. Click photo left to enlarge the newly-revealed cover art.

Anthems Of Annihilation was recorded and mixed in guitarist Juho Räihä's personal studio and mastered at Chartmakers by Svante Forsbäck (RAMMSTEIN, SOULFLY).

According to a press release, "Anthems of Annihilation brings the band to new heights by its agressive yet diverse soundscape. Gloria Morti is more crushing and brutal than ever. Anthems Of Annihilation is a concept album about mankind making an irreversible mistake in trying to overcome all of its biggest problems. The storyline borders from a war between men and machines to the slavery and exploitation of a whole generation. The lyrical theme takes a stance on current problems and is a reminder of the stupidity of man."

Anthems Of Annihilation tracklisting:

Prelude'
Solution Called War'
Awakening of a Discordant Machine'
Infiltration'
Swallowed By Defeat'
Obey'
Cut From Gaia'
The Final Framework'
Redemption'
Chaos Archetype'

German pagan/folk metal veterans EQUILIBRIUM will be streaming their entire new album Rekreatur from today until Friday, June 18th which marks the official release date via Nuclear Blast. Check it out at Myspace.com/equilibrium.

Rekreatur marks the first album to feature new vocalist Robse Dahn who replaced original singer Helge Stang earlier this year.

Commented mainman René Berthiaume: "The compositions of Equilibrium just ask for being played in different constellation. A lof of fans already did it and showed it on YouTube! Since we wanna offer our fans a lot more with each release than just the album itself, we recorded a bonus CD with acoustic versions of old and new songs for the limited edition of Rekreatur!”

Rekreatur tracklisting

'In Heiligen Hallen'
'Der Ewige Sieg'
'Verbrannte Erde'
'Die Affeninsel'
'Der Wassermann'
'Aus Ferner Zeit'
'Fahrtwind'
'Wenn Erdreich Bricht'
'Kurzes Epos'

In a recent interview with Synthesis.net, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt talked about the European response to the band, the gulf oil spill, and the late, great Ronnie James Dio (BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, RAINBOW, ELF). An excerpt from the chat follows below.

"I went up [to Dio] to introduce myself (at The Foundation Forum in L.A.) because he's one of my heroes. RAINBOW is like my favorite band of all time. 'Hi, my name’s Gary. I'm supporting you on this next ('Dehumanizer') tour and I'm really excited about it." He was like, 'Yeah, it will be great, it will be a lot of fun.' Three weeks, maybe even longer, later, it's the first day of the tour and he waved and said hi and goes, 'Hey, Gary, how’s it goin'?' (Chuckles) I didn't expect him to remember my name the whole tour, but he remembered it from a conversation a month earlier. That's that kind of guy he was. He's a lion of a vocalist… the greatest metal vocalist of all time. It's a tragic loss for heavy metal and the hard rock world."

German extreme metal outfit NEAERA has set "Forging The Eclipse" as the title of its new album, due on October 22 via Metal Blade Records. The band will be filming studio and concert footage over the course of the next two weeks, and this material will be made into what will be one of many NEAERA webisodes documenting the making of the new CD. The drum tracks for the album were laid down at Stage One Studio with Andy Classen, while the rest of the recording process will be overseen by Alexander Dietz. The mixing/mastering will be handled by Tue Madsen.

KnuckleBonz, an online company that creates realistic high-end sculptures of various rock musicians and album art, has developed statues for each member of RUSH (Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart) and all three are available for pre-order here.

A couple of years ago KnuckleBonz released a popular limited edition RUSH Starman statue that you can check out at this location.

MetalSymphony.com has uploaded photos of CINDERELLA's June 9, 2010 concert at Sala La Riviera in Madrid, Spain. Also available are pictures of support act STORMZONE. Check them out at this location.

CINDERELLA's setlist was as follows:

01. Second Wind
02. Push, Push
03. Somebody Save Me
04. The Last Mile
05. Night Songs
06. Bad Seamstress Blues / Fallin' Apart At The Seams
07. Heartbreak Station
08. Coming Home
09. Shelter Me
10. Nobody's Fool
11. Gypsy Road
---------------
12. Don't Know What You've Got (Till It's Gone)
13. Shake Me

GRAND MAGUS — the three-piece Swedish heavy rock band featuring "JB" Christofferson (guitar, lead vocals), Fox Skinner (bass, backing vocals) and Sebastian "Seb" Sippola (drums) — will release its new album, "Hammer Of The North", on June 23 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at 301 studios outside of Stockholm and features artwork by Necrolord.

The limted-edition CD+DVD version of "Hammer Of The North" will feature the following track listing:

Disc 1:

01. I, The Jury
02. Hammer Of The North
03. Black Sails
04. Mountains Be My Throne
05. Northern Star
06. The Lord Of Lies
07. At Midnight They'll Get Wise
08. Bond Of Blood
09. Savage Tales
10. Ravens Guide Our Way

Disc 2:

01. Hammer Of The North
02. At Midnight They'll Get Wise
03. Behind The Scenes (Video)
04. Track By Track (Video)
05. Private Talk (Video)

SLAYER recently spent the day filming a live performance for AOL Sessions.

Although SLAYER had to cancel a slew of live dates recently due to bassist-vocalist Tom Araya's recovery from back surgery, the group showed no signs of wear and tear during the Sessions performance. Araya and his bandmates tore through a set of material that pulled from their most recent album, 2009's "World Painted Blood", plus a few classics from their stellar catalog.

Check out the performance video from the AOL Sessions below.

Finnish battle metallers TURISAS will be featured on a Finnish TV show "Iiro irti" ("Iiro Unleashed") by renowned pianist and TV personality Iiro Rantala. Each episode will show Rantala, a well-known Finnish crossover musician with roots in jazz, taking part in performances by bands and artists of various genres.

TURISAS was asked to show Rantala how to put up a proper metal show, while the other episodes feature Finland's top artists from blues, schlager, rock and chamber music genres.

Rantala will join turisas onstage at Ruisrock, Turku, Finland on Saturday, July 10 (Main Stage, 13.45-14.45) and the performance will be broadcast on August 15 on Yle Teema, a Finnish national TV channel.

A trailer for the show can be viewed at this location.

TURISAS recently entered Sound Supreme studio in Hämeenlinna, Finland to begin recording its third album for a late 2010 release via Century Media Records.

Commented TURISAS vocalist, songwriter and producer Mathias "Warlord" Nygård: "After a nine-month break from touring to be able to fully focus on songwriting, we've finally moved forward and have now started recording. It's going to be a long project, and keep us busy all the way until the break of summer, but believe me, the wait will be all worth it.

"With three years between albums, there's been enough of time to find a fresh angle and new ideas not to repeat ourselves or albums we've done in the past. The songs rock big time, but the epic elements aren't going anywhere — it's going to sound larger than ever before. The leap forward is going to be just as big as between 'Battle Metal' [2004] and 'The Varangian Way' [2007]."

Nygård and TURISAS were honored with the 2009 Culture Award by the Regional Council of Häme province. Since 1991, the award has been handed out annually to a person living and working in Häme region as a way to honor his/her achievements in the field of culture. The award was received by Mathias and guitarist Jussi Wickström on November 23, 2009. The Council mentioned that Nygård and the band represent "new kind of creativity in Häme" and that they "create new international culture by using old tradition."

PAPA ROACH will release its new album, "Time For Annihilation… On the Road and On the Record", on August 31 via Eleven Seven Music. The band continues to push its musical limits and is currently perfecting a unique hybrid listening experience, which will consist of a mix of new studio and live tracks. With their feet firmly planted in over 10 years of multi-format success, the album's first single, "Kick in the Teeth", is sure to ignite rockers globally. The band has enlisted veteran, hit-maker David Bendeth (PARAMORE, BREAKING BENJAMIN, DROWNING POOL) to produce the new tracks.

David Bendeth comments: "Working with a band like PAPA ROACH is every producer's dream. It is not often that you can work with a band that has played so many shows, and also knows their way around the studio, and the recording environment. Everyone came to the House Of Loud to work hard and we really accomplished what we all consider to be a great record. I hope this is the first of many more for all of us!"

"We've always wanted to capture the energy of our live shows but didn't want to do the same old thing that most bands do, so we decided to put five brand new studio tracks on the record along with some of our favorites from the road and we are really proud of the final result," says frontman Jacoby Shaddix. "As a band, we always push ourselves to evolve musically and pride ourselves on putting on an entertaining and explosive live show. 'Time For Annihilation' captures both these elements and delivers the true essence of PAPA ROACH." When asked about the move to Eleven Seven Music, Jacoby adds: "We wanted to work with a team who's focused on rock music rather than pop and urban. Moving to a successful indie like Eleven Seven Music gives us that without sacrificing the manpower of a major. We are excited about the future of PAPA ROACH."

Fan-filmed video footage of legendary guitarist Slash performing the GUNS N' ROSES classic "Rocket Queen" in Milan on Thursday, June 10 can be viewed below.

Photos of the concert at the Palasharp Arena are available on the news blog Musica Metal.

According to Musica Metal, a man climbed onstage during Slash's solo in "Sweet Child O' Mine", tackling the guitarist from behind and making him fall and break his guitar. The solo was briefly interrupted, but the rest of the band seemed oblivious to the event and continued playing. Slash left the stage for a few seconds, but then returned with a new guitar and jumped into the song's outro solo without making a mention of the incident.

Video footage of the incident can be viewed at MetalItalia.com.

The Pulse of Radio reports: Could induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame be enough to finally reunite the original lineup of GUNS N' ROSES? The original lineup of GUNS N' ROSES will be eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013, 25 years after the release of their debut album "Appetite For Destruction". While Slash told Billboard.com he'd be sure to show up, he's not certain what else might happen. "I have no idea how that's supposed to go," he said "If Axl (Rose, singer), Duff (McKagan, bassist), Izzy (Stradlin, guitarist) and myself start communicating, it could go one way. If we don't, God knows."

Slash added that he would have been a GUNS fan even if he was never in the band, explaining, "GUNS N' ROSES was all the really great bands I was turned onto as a kid. If I hadn't been in GUNS it would have been my favorite band."

He also theorized on why the band has remained popular despite the break-up of the original group, saying, "There was something about the honesty of Axl's lyrics and the energy of the music people related to. It was a phenomenon."

Swedish thrashers DARKANE will release their first live DVD, "Layers Of Live", in July via Listenable.

Commented guitarist Christofer Malmström: "Finally! You are holding hundreds of hours of work in your hand.

"We've done everything ourselves together with our friend and video director, Per Christoffersson.

"This DVD contains so much more than just a live show, it could be described as the bible for every true DARKANE fan, and this is a way for us to say thank you for your support!

"Since the beginning of DARKANE (and long before that), we've always brought a video camera when recording in a studio or playing live, always with the intention to some day release a live DVD.

"The main live show was shot May 4th, 2006 in a small but legendary club called The Tivoli in our hometown, Helsingborg. We also had cameramen shooting from the audience to give you the feeling of being right there with the audience.

"The bonus live tracks were shot during smaller shows in Sweden and bigger summer festivals 2002 -2003.

"The Tivoli show was an unofficial warm-up show before our Japan tour in 2002, while the Dunkers Kulturhus show was our first show after recording 'Expanding Senses', and the only show we did with white clothes. We've also selected songs that we didn't play at the main concert. Some songs we've only played live a couple of times and are very rare live material.

"The release of this DVD also celebrates the first 10 years in the history of DARKANE and we hope there will be many years to come."

"Demonic Art", the fifth album from DARKANE, debuted at No. 104 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Demonic Art" was released in North America on February 10 via Nuclear Blast Records. The North America version of the CD, which came out in Europe on October 24, 2008 via Massacre Records, contains a bonus track and a bonus DVD.

UK extreme metal legends BOLT THROWER have issued the following update:

"It feels like a long time ago since we played the two special shows in Atak, and now we’ve just got back from our amazing first ever shows in Greece, which sadly means we’ve reached the end of our Next Offensive tour across Europe. Every single show was an absolute pleasure, and we got to meet up with old friends again and also made a lot of new ones.

It was great to be joined once again by Benediction and Asphyx, along with the other 30 bands who took part on the tour – too many to name, but you know who you are... (Cheers all!) We would also like to say what an honour it was to share the stage with Rotting Christ, the coolest and most genuine guys you could meet.

Thanks also to all the promoters on the tour for helping set up the shows and going along with our crazy ideas, and for making us feel so welcome.

And as always, we would like to say a massive thanks to our ever loyal Crew – Turtle, Phil, Sabrine, Andy, Keith, Dave, Oscar & Shaun. (It wouldn’t be the same without you..)

Finally, of course huge cheers to each and every one of you who came to the shows in such large numbers. Your support for Bolt Thrower is never taken for granted, and always very much appreciated, and we hope you had as much of a good time as we did!"

Björn "Speed" Strid of Swedish modern metallers SOILWORK makes a guest appearance on the debut album by REVAMP, former AFTER FOREVER singer Floor Jansen's new band. REVAMP's self-titled CD will be released in North America on July 27 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Commented Strid: "Actually, I have never met Floor in real life, but I do remember being impressed when I heard her voice the first time, though. She's got balls. She had a certain song in mind ['In Sickness ‘Till Death Do Us Part: Disdain'], sent me the music and a lyric sheet while I was in the studio with SOILWORK, and gave me a bit of guidance but also wanted me to improvise a bit. I spent a day working out my lines in a tower of the house we were renting in Mooresville, North Carolina also known as 'The Genie Room.' Perfect. I recorded the vocals sometime in February while drinking some wine. With the intense verse and the open atmospheric chorus, it felt perfect as a duet! To me it's about betrayal and being let down."

Stated Jansen: "I am always inspired to write new music, but I must say that the end of AFTER FOREVER and some personal changes in my life did give extra ingredients. Every song I heard could become a source of inspiration. Stories of others, movies or books, my personal relationships, everything mixed and melted into one and became an album. 'Speed' from SOILWORK brings another form of power to the album's diversity with his screams/growl and clean voice. He masters so many different vocal sounds, just like me. Again, a lot of power together in one song. He gave 'Disdain' the energy and aggression it needed!"

Bassist Ray Riendeau (JAMES LABRIE, HALFORD) will soon release his new solo album, "Atmospheres".

Commented Ray: "It has been eight years since the release of my last solo CD.

"My new CD, scheduled to be released this summer, is something I have been working on for two years and is some of my best playing/compositions ever (in my opinion). The music is a blend of fusion, jazz, rock and electronic."

The album features the following players:

Guitar:

* Alex Machacek
* Nat Janoff
* Marco Sfogli
* Greg Koch
* Jeff Kollman
* Ron Jarzombek
* Derek Taylor
* Rob Michael
* Ward Aycock

Keyboards:

* Lalle Larsson
* Alex Argento
* Matt Guillory

Drums:

* David Haynes
* Martin Diamond

Ray recently completed bass tracks for the new James LaBrie (DREAM THEATER) solo album, which will feature additional contributions from Marco Sfogli (guitar), Matt Guillory (keyboards) and Peter Wildoer (drums; DARKANE). Ray will also be part of LaBrie's touring band in support of the CD.

Ray has an instructional book/CD/DVD coming out later this year through Alfred Publishing.