DOWN has reportedly tapped Danny Theriot of Metairie, Louisiana to fill in on bass for the band's current North American tour, which kicked off Monday night (August 3) at Beaumont Club in Kansas City, Kansas.

Fan-filmed video footage of last night's concert can be viewed below.

Theriot was in a band called VICTORIAN BLITZ in the mid-to-late '80s with DOWN guitarist Kirk Windstein. Although the group reportedly started out by playing original material, they eventually began including more covers in their set from such acts as IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and METALLICA.

The original VICTORIAN BLITZ featured Windstein (vocals, guitar), Paul Bibeau (guitar), Theriot (bass) and Sid Montz (drums).

DOWN bassist Rex Brown announced yesterday that he was sitting out the band's current tour in order "to address some personal issues." However, he was quick to add that he "will be joining [his] brothers on the second leg of the tour and in the studio in the very near future."

DOWN is scheduled to return to the studio from October through December to record what will eventually become the band's fourth album, tentatively due in early 2010.

In October 2008, DOWN released a "deluxe edition" of its critically acclaimed third album, "Over the Under". The deluxe package, which was made available as a Best Buy exclusive, includes a DVD with over 30 minutes of previously unreleased live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. The album was released on Down Records in conjunction with Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group (ILG).

"The Omnipresent Curse", the second full-length album from Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based band VENGEFUL, is available for streaming in its entirety at this location.

Due on August 15, the CD features the following track listing:

01. Forsaken
02. Beholder
03. Anguish
04. Detention
05. Lapsus
06. Nightmare
07. Sanctioned
08. Transcending

A medley comprised of all the songs on "The Omnipresent Curse" is available for download as an M3 audio file at this location.

The cover artwork (see below) was once again painted by Martin Lacroix (AUGURY, HUMANOID).

VENGEFUL's latest EP, "Tempted By Nightmares", came out in 2008.

VENGEFUL recently announced the addition of Emmanuel Pronovost (guitar), Olivier Pinard (bass) and Phil Truesdell (drums) to the group's ranks.

"Tempted By Nightmares" featured two songs ('Detention' and 'Nightmare') from the upcoming album while "Tempted" and "Sentenced" are re-recordings from 2007's "Karma" CD. "Silence" is from the band's "Tragedy Lies Ahead" demo.

VENGEFUL's debut album, "Karma", was released in 2007 via Disconcert Music.

According to a press release, VENGEFUL "plays death metal that is fuelled by pure hatred and deep anger, accompanied by a firm sense of song structure and dynamic. . . Their music shows influences from pioneers such as GORGUTS, IMMOLATION, NILE and CRYPTOPSY."

ROSS THE BOSS and RAVEN have been confirmed for the Brooklyn Thunder Fest, set to take place Friday, August 28 at Europa in Greenpoint, New York.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

ROSS THE BOSS
RAVEN
WHITE WIZZARD
ZANDELLE
TITANIUM BLACK

Tickets are $20 for the all-ages show.

For more information, visit www.europalive.net.

According to RadarOnline.com, former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler had a felony drug case against him dismissed on Monday (August 3) after successfully completing a court-order drug program. Adler was in a Los Angeles Superior Court to hear the good news from Commissioner Donald Kennedy.

Adler, a graduate of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew", had pled no contest to a felony drug possession charge in 2008. The dismissal was "about the best you can get," his attorney Barry Gerald Sands said.

Adler was busted for drugs and an outstanding warrant in July 2008. The 44-year-old drummer was arrested by officers called to a home where a man reportedly was creating a disturbance and refusing to leave.

The warrant stemmed from a 2005 case where Adler was charged for being under the influence of a controlled substance and driving on a suspended license. He then sealed his fate by missing a court date in April of 2006.

MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman Vince Neil made an unannounced appearance at the recently opened Las Vegas location of his bar and grill, Feelgoods, this past Saturday night (August 1). According to the Las Vegas Sun, "After hanging out with friends in the VIP for a bit, Neil got onstage to perform for the large and largely surprised crowd. Backed by SLAUGHTER's Dana Strum on bass, and Jeff Blando on guitar and Zoltan Chaney on drums, Neil worked through 'Looks That Kill' and concluded the performance with 'Live Wire' just before 2 a.m."

Watch video footage of the appearance below.

CRÜE performed in Las Vegas on Saturday as part of the Crüe Fest 2 lineup at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Feelgoods was originally scheduled to open on April 1. However, months of issues with city officials pushed the opening further and further back, causing many to wonder whether the bar-restaurant would ever see the light of day.

Several high-quality photos of JUDAS PRIEST's August 2, 2009 performance at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California can be found at this location (all pictures by Kevin Estrada).

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Rapid Fire
02. Metal Gods
03. Breaking The Law
04. Grinder
05. United
06. You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise
07. Living After Midnight
08. The Rage
09. Steeler
10. The Ripper
11. Prophecy
12. The Hell Patrol
13. Victim Of Changes
14. Freewheel Burning
15. Diamonds And Rust
16. You've Got Another Thing Coming

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be viewed below.

JUDAS PRIEST's August 17, 2009 performance at the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida will be filmed for a DVD that will be included in a forthcoming expanded 30th-anniversary edition of their 1980 classic, "British Steel".

As they have done at all of their U.S. summer dates this year, PRIEST will perform the "British Steel" album in its entirety at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena.

Tickets for this show are now on sale via Ticketmaster.com.

JUDAS PRIEST kicked off its "British Steel" 30th-anniversary tour on June 29 at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana. Vocalist Rob Halford recently told Noisecreep, "It's like suddenly, thirty years have come upon us and we're about to celebrate. The album's technical anniversary is April of next year, but want to start the party early."

Halford added, "In today's economy, all artists have to think of something to do differently. We decided that this would be a great opportunity to do something that PRIEST has never done before, which is to play an album in its entirety. The band and the name 'JUDAS PRIEST' have both been around since 1969, so it is our fortieth anniversary, too. We seem to be in a constant celebration mode!"

Video footage of former ANTHRAX frontman Joey Belladonna performing the ANTHRAX classic "Madhouse" this past Saturday (August 1) at Dingbatz in Clifton, New Jersey can be viewed below.

Belladonna is currently writing material for a new solo album. Several demos are complete and will be posted on the vocalist's MySpace page soon.

Joey will perform this year's Mezcal Metal Fest, set to take place September 13, 2009 at Vive Cuervo Salon in Mexico.

Belladonna was the lead singer of ANTHRAX from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the band's classic lineup (alongside Dan Spitz, Scott Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante), which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006. His voice was featured on over 10 albums, which reportedly sold eight million copies worldwide.

After splitting with ANTHRAX, Joey continued to make music with a solo project called BELLADONNA, which released its first self-titled debut in the mid-'90s. A follow-up effort, "Spells of Fear", came out in 1998 and it was heavily criticized for bad production and sloppy musicianship. The third album, or rather the demo recordings for what was supposed to be the third BELLADONNA album that was never recorded in a real studio, was self-released by Belladonna in 2003. It was a return to better songwriting and musicianship and it was well received by the fans.

Raz of ThrashHits.com conducted an interview with Australian hard rockers AIRBOURNE at the Sonisphere festival, which was held on August 1-2, 2009 at the legendary Knebworth Park, United Kingdom. Watch the four-minute chat below.

AIRBOURNE is currently recording its second album in Chicago, Illinois for a tentative late 2009/early 2010 release. Regarding the CD's musical direction, drummer Ryan O'Keeffe stated, "I guess the best way to say would be, the first [album] was sort of left and right, and the second one's gonna take you further left and further right."

AIRBOURNE's video for the song "Runnin' Wild" — featuring a special cameo by MOTÖRHEAD mainman Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister — was shot with director Nathan Cox, who has previously worked with QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MARILYN MANSON and LINKIN PARK, among others. The track is the title cut of the group's debut album, which landed at No. 106 on The Billboard 200 chart in the U.S. after shifting 7,000 units in its first week of release.

Candlelight Records has announced the signing of Chicago's THE ATLAS MOTH. The quintet recently completed recording its new album, "A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky", at Phase Recordings in the band's hometown for an October 6 release. Produced by THE ATLAS MOTH, with post-production work handled by Michael Kandel (TRANQUILITY BASS), the CD showcases the band's triple-guitar wall of sound that is sure to leave a lasting impression. Clocking in at just under an hour, the album's eight metal epics are dynamic, expressive, and heavier than sin.

Looking back on the album's creation, guitarist/vocalist Stavros reveals, "'A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky' became something none of us could have expected. It is a completely collaborative record, from start to finish. It really is a true representation of our band."

Popular throughout the Midwest region, THE ATLAS MOTH has already shared the stage with PENTAGRAM, SAVIOURS, INTRONAUT, NACHTMYSTIUM, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, COALESCE and many others.

Formed in 2007, THE ATLAS MOTH unites sludge, doom, psychedelia, blues, and more. Stavros notes, "It is heavy music for heavy thinkers." Taking influence from an array of artists, including the DEFTONES, NEUROSIS, CAVE IN, QUICKSAND and pieces of all that is heavy in between, the band twists sound ebbing from sheer intensity to peaceful interludes that is far more sophisticated or expected from a group of their relative youth.

THE ATLAS MOTH's "Pray for Tide" mini-album (Witch Trial Records) received rave reviews upon its release in 2008.

"A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky" track listing:

01. A Night In Venus' Arms...
02. A Glorified Piece Of Blue Sky
03. Grey Wolves
04. Our Sun, Our Saviour
05. Extraordinary Claims Require, Extraordinary Evidence
06. One Amongst The Wheat Fields
07. Jump Room To Orion
08. ...Leads To A Lifetime On Mercury

The artwork by Ryan Kasparian can be viewed below.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/theatlasmothband.

San Francisco Bay Area progressive extreme metallers CORMORANT have unveiled the stunning artwork for their upcoming full-length album, "Metazoa", which is due out on September 22, 2009 . The CD will initially be released as a six panel digipack by Saturnine Media, while a vinyl version will be made available in the coming months.

CORMORANT vocalist/bassist Arthur von Nagel comments on artist Julie Dillon's work for "Metazoa": "The colors she used were so vibrant, a style out of the norm for most metal, and a good match for the visual aspects of our music. I'm tired of all these bland and drab metal covers. Van Gogh proved you could use vibrant colors and still express dark and complex emotion. We're especially fond of the artwork's 'mural' quality, as the full piece actually extends over three whole panels of the digipack, and her work is very old-school — there's a timeless quality to it. We first commissioned a logo from her, and her final design was absolutely stunning, so we of course felt a full-on album design was the right course of action. We couldn't be happier with the result."

"Metazoa" was produced by Billy Anderson (NEUROSIS, MELVINS, SLEEP, PRIMORDIAL) while Justin Weis (HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE, LUDICRA, SLOUGH FEG) handled mastering duties.

"Metazoa" track listing:

01. Scavengers Feast
02. Uneasy Lies the Head
03. Salt of the Earth
04. Blood on the Cornfields
05. Hanging Gardens
06. Hole in the Sea
07. The Crossing
08. The Emigrant's Wake
09. The Sky Burial

Video footage of CORMORANT performing the song "Hanging Gardens" at a recent gig with BLACK COBRA, GIANT SQUID and GRAYCEON can be viewed below.

Rock Sound TV conducted an interview with ALICE IN CHAINS at the Sonisphere festival, which was held on August 1-2, 2009 at the legendary Knebworth Park, United Kingdom. Watch the four-minute chat below.

ALICE IN CHAINS has tapped U2 and WHITE STRIPES video director Alex Courtes to shoot a clip for "Check My Brain", the first single from the band's new album, "Black Gives Way To Blue", which arrives on September 29.

Fans and members of the press heard "Black Gives Way To Blue" in its entirety at a private listening party in Los Angeles on July 14, followed by a three-song acoustic set by the band in which it debuted two songs from the album live — the title track and "Your Decision".

Although it's been posted online and is not an official single, the recently released ALICE IN CHAINS song "A Looking In View" has already begun climbing the rock radio charts as the first new music released by the group in 14 years. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell told The Pulse of Radio what the track was about. "The song is kind of generally about how easy it is to remain in a bad groove (laughs), you know, remain in a bad rut," he said. "The most difficult and at the same time easy thing is just to step out of it, you know what I mean? It's like being in a cell that you're locked in, with a door that's not locked. That could be anything, you know. It could be any sort of behavioral or thought process that keeps you there and basically keeps you from growing."

The group's tour starts on September 4 in Washington D.C.

LEAVES' EYES — the German/Norwegian band formed by ex-THEATRE OF TRAGEDY singer Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull and members of ATROCITY — will make its new album, "Njord", available as a very special-edition. Strictly limited to 500 copies, the deluxe box set (see image below) contains a premium Viking longship model ( 31.5 cm long x 28 cm high x 22 cm wide with an approximate weight of 0.65 kg) with the LEAVES' EYES logo on the sail and the limited-edition digipack CD, including two bonus tracks plus an extra sticker.

"Njord" will be released via Napalm Records on the following dates:

Finland, Spain: August 26
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Benelux, France, Italy: August 28
Rest Of Europe: August 31
Canada: September 1
USA: September 29

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Njord
02. My Destiny
03. Emerald Island
04. Take The Devil In Me
05. Scarborough Fair (Acoustic Version)
06. Through Our Veins
07. Irish Rain
08. Northbound
09. Ragnarok
10. Morgenland
11. The Holy Bond
12. Forya's Theme
13. Landscape Of The Dead (limited-edition bonus track)
14. Les Champs De Lavande (limited-edition bonus track)

LEAVES' EYES has commenced work on the video for the new single, "My Destiny", with Patric Ullaeus (DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL) of Revolver Film Company in Gothenburg, Sweden.

An audio sample of "My Destiny" is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

"My Destiny" will be released in the U.S. on September 22 via Napalm Records.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. My Destiny
02. The Battle of Maldon (non-album track)
03. Scarborough Fair (acoustic version; non-album track)
04. Northbound
05. Nine Wave Maidens (non-album track)
06. My Destiny (remix; non-album track)

According to a posting on the Napalm web site, "The sweeping title track begins with an emotive and mystic interlude that soon turns into sonorous ear candy — a true delicacy for all fans of symphonic rock music. The opulently produced orchestral and choir-filled compositions resonate with a fresh, powerful, and energy laden force. As always the case with LEAVES' EYES, expect the ensuing tempest with its impressive musical variety and dynamics to emphasize the band's world-class status, including 'The Battle of Maldon' and 'Northbound', two smashing tracks to be found on the EP. With the acoustic version of 'Scarborough Fair', familiar to some fans from past unplugged shows, and the atmospheric 'Nine Wave Maidens' the tone takes a more subdued turn. Liv Kristine once again bewitches the listener with her one-of-a-kind vocals and the package is completed with a remix of the title track."

Acclaimed San Antonio, Texas-based guitarist Ron Jarzombek (BLOTTED SCIENCE, WATCHTOWER, SPASTIC INK) has uploaded an eight-minute preview (see below) of his forthcoming "12 Tone Variations" instructional DVD. The sneak peek is a four-part dissection of the song "Oscillation Cycles", featured on "The Machinations of Dementia" CD by BLOTTED SCIENCE, Jarzombek's instrumental extreme metal project with bassist Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE, HATE ETERNAL) and drummer Charlie Zeleny (JORDAN RUDESS, ex-BEHOLD THE ARCTOPUS).

States Jarzombek: "At last, here's a clip from one of my upcoming DVDs. Not sure when they'll be released but I wanted to let you guys check out what I've been working on, and what I'm trying to do with these instructional videos. As you can see there is a lot more going on than just a guy sitting down with a guitar in his hand and bookshelves in the background. I've put in a bunch of time transcribing all of the material that will be covered in the DVDs (which includes both SPASTIC INK discs, both solo albums, and the BLOTTED SCIENCE CD) and writing animation sequences to explain the theory involved. I am using split screens to fully illustrate all parts being played simultaneously. I've been talking about these DVDs for years and haven't had anything to show for all the talk — until now. So far, the feedback I've been getting has been very encouraging. Seems like I'm headed in the right direction with this mammoth undertaking. I also wanted to mention that even though I'm very much motivated to get these DVDs done, progress tends to slow down quite a bit when I'm working on band-related projects. First was the BLOTTED SCIENCE writing and recording of 'The Machinations of Dementia'; now WATCHTOWER is in writing/recording mode. Rick (Colaluca) just recorded three WATCHTOWER songs the other day, so here comes over a hundred hours of production on that end. And we still have to complete writing the last song for 'Mathematics', and then rehearse the final four songs before Rick can record them. The reality of it is — when I'm involved with other band/project members and they have time to work, that takes precedence. When Alex (Webster) gets off the road with CANNIBAL CORPSE in a few months, I'll drop whatever DVD stuff I'm working on at that time, too, and focus more on the next BLOTTED SCIENCE CD."

Jarzombek plans on issuing a total of thre instructional DVDs, tentivately titled "Common Scale Use and Abuse", "It's About Time" and "12 Tone Variations".

For more information, visit www.ronjarzombek.com.

U.K.'s psychedelic brutal death metal masters MITHRAS played their first show with new vocalist/bassist Sam Bean (THE BERZERKER, THE SENSELESS) on July 19, 2009 in Rushden. Video footage of the performance can be viewed below.

MITHRAS' concert at the Day Of Unrest on December 14, 2008 was filmed with two cameras and professionally recorded, then mixed and edited at Dreaming Studios by MITHRAS guitarist Leon Macey. Songs from the show will feature on the forthcoming MITHRAS release titled "Sands Of Time", which marks the 10-year milestone of the band's existence. "Sands Of Time" will be released concurrently in two parts, a CD showcasing unreleased MITHRAS material, all the band's released demos and some rarities all given the remastering treatment; and a DVD crammed with live footage from various shows, studio footage and rehearsals. A release date will be announced soon.

The December show was longtime frontman/bassist Rayner Coss's swansong performance with MITHRAS, as he departed the band after the concert and was then replaced in early 2009 by Sam Bean.

MITHRAS' third album, "Behind The Shadows Lie Madness", was released worldwide by Candlelight Records in April 2007.

Vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH has posted a lengthy update on the band's MySpace blog. A couple of excerpts from the entry follow below.

"The video for 'The Death Of Love' is now finished and [can be viewed below]. The premise for this track is very much along the same lines as the lyrics for the song, featuring a defiant Joan of Arc and a brooding Gilles De Rais slung about an evocative dungeon band performance. There is definitely a very sinister vibe to the proceedings and some people have already compared it to 'Her Ghost In The Fog' for its eerie cinematography.

"On the live front, this last month or so has found COF playing several festivals across Europe in the midst of tying up a few loose ends and beginning to unravel others. Firstly, there was the weekend at the end of June that found the band driving all the way down to the North of Spain to play the Kobetasonik festival in Bilbao, strangely enough in the drizzle again. Here we hooked up with bands like GOJIRA, CRUCIFIED BARBARA, HOT LEG (Justin Hawkins is a really decent bloke in the flesh), MACHINE HEAD, DEVILDRIVER, CATHEDRAL and MARILYN MANSON, to name but a few, having received a police escort into the show for getting lost, with no real band casualties other than a totally inebriated Charles and a free bar that came under thorough attack from our unholy shambling entourage.

"The next day we drove to perform at Hellfest in the South of France, albeit briefly, as we arrived a few hours before we played and left shortly afterwards, with barely enough time to hook up with our friends (and fiends) in GORGOROTH, ORANGE GOBLIN, IMMOLATION and the MISFITS. Suffice to say the show was awesome, the main stage crowd thoroughly getting behind us as we blistered (the sun was out in full force) through a heavy fifty-minute set.

"Next on our summer festival agenda was supporting METALLICA in Sweden which, as you can imagine was some honour...being lucky enough to play before them, THE CULT and MACHINE HEAD on the main stage. It certainly wasn't the biggest festival in the world, but situated in the pine-drenched depths of the Swedish countryside, it certainly was the prettiest. In fact, being six hours drive away from the nearest airport meant a lengthy journey for all concerned, though for the main entourage (the crew, Martin and Ashley all flying in separately from their respective homelands) it was made a trite longer when our tire exploded as we zoomed down the highway, causing us to veer off onto the rocky hard shoulder. We were lucky; this was the same motor-horror-scenario in Sweden that METALLICA had suffered back in the day. But needless to say an hour later, having had a tow-truck out to fix the wheel, we were on our way again, destined for some holiday chalets in the midst of a wood.

"Anyway the show was brief because of the aforementioned sudden shift to bad weather right before we played; the stage having to be swept clear of water first. But when the rain abated five minutes into our set there came a refreshing resurgence and what followed was a swift but punishing set. Afterwards was spent between the back stage area where we accumulated with LAMB OF GOD, MASTODON and ENTOMBED, and the side of the stage on a small hillock watching the rest of the show unfurl. The catering was great, the people friendly and the beer copious. I even got to meet Kirk Hammett and have a bit of a chat. It was a bloody good outing despite the tortuous travel.

"Moving onto our current plans as a band, we are starting to throw around ideas and structures for a new album. Even though everything is at an embryonic stage at present, with a full band contributing towards the writing process, our aim of being in the studio by November is not as far-fetched as it would at first seem."

Read the entire blog entry at this location.

"The Death Of Love" comes off CRADLE OF FILTH's new album, "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder", which entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 37. The CD sold a little over 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 48 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder" is conceptual and is based on the well-documented, true-life fall from grace of a shadowy historical figure named Gilles de Rais, a wealthy French nobleman who was one of Joan of Arc's brothers-in-arms. He was best known, however, as a prolific serial killer who mixed prayers with his nightly murders as well as an aspiring alchemist. He was accused of a panoply of crimes, among them heresy, demonology and kidnapping. There's even an extreme fringe sect of historians who question de Rais' true status, with some convinced he was framed.

An Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for "Anomaly", the fifth solo album from original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, can be viewed below.

"Anomaly" will be released in the U.S. on September 15 via Ace's own Bronx Born Records, with Rocket Science providing a full label service platform. The CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles.

"Anomaly" official track listing:

01. Foxy & Free
02. Outer Space
03. Pain In The Neck
04. Fox On The Run
05. Genghis Khan
06. Too Many Faces
07. Change The World
08. Space Bear
09. A Little Below The Angels
10. Sister
11. It's A Great Life
12. Fractured Quantum
13. The Return of Space Bear (Dedicated to Tom Snyder) (iTunes exclusive)

The track "Outer Space" is available for streaming at this location.

Frehley, a longtime Gibson artist, will launch his second Gibson Ace Frehley Signature Les Paul guitar with the musical instrument giant later this year. His first signature Gibson guitar (in 1997) was one of the best-selling signature models of all time.

In an early 2008 interview with Billboard, Frehley stated about the CD, "Basically, I'm trying to get back into the mindset I was in when I did my first solo record [1978's 'Ace Frehley']. That record seemed to have all the elements everybody liked — a real cool instrumental, a hit single, some real heavy rockers, a nice variety of different genres of music."

Among his favorite new tracks are "A Little Below The Angels", hard-rocking "Pain In The Neck" and an instrumental called "Fractured Quantum", which is a follow-up to his previous instrumentals "Fractured Mirror" and "Fractured Too". Another favorite is "groove song" titled "Genghis Khan", which he likens in tone to LED ZEPPELIN's "Kashmir".

Frehley last year spent time on the road fronting a band that featured second guitarist Derrek Hawkins, drummer Scot Coogan (ex-BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION) and bassist Anthony Esposito (ex-LYNCH MOB).

Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the new SONATA ARCTICA video, "Flag In The Ground", can be viewed below. The song comes off the Finnish melodic metallers' new album, "The Days Of Grays", which will be released on September 18 in Europe and September 22 in North America through Nuclear Blast Records.

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

Limited 2CD Digipack:

01. Everything Fades To Gray (instrumental)
02. Deathaura
03. The Last Amazing Grays
04. Flag In The Ground
05. Breathing
06. Zeroes
07. The Dead Skin
08. Juliet
09. No Dream Can Heal A Broken Heart
10. As If The World Wasn't Ending
11. The Truth Is Out There
12. Everything Fades To Gray (full version)

Bonus Track:

13. In The Dark

Bonus CD: track listing to be announced

CD Jewelcase:

01. Everything Fades To Gray (instrumental)
02. Deathaura
03. The Last Amazing Grays
04. Flag In The Ground
05. Breathing
06. Zeroes
07. The Dead Skin
08. Juliet
09. No Dream Can Heal A Broken Heart
10. As If The World Wasn't Ending
11. The Truth Is Out There
12. Everything Fades To Gray (full version)

Check out the album artwork below.

A track-by-track review/description of "The Days Of Grays" can be found on Terrorizer.com.
SONATA ARCTICA keyboardist Henrik "Lance" Klingenberg previously described the band's new material as "a bit darker and maybe not so complex as [2007's] 'Unia'. Nevertheless, it's definitely not a back-to-the-roots album with fast power metal. All the trademark SONATA stuff is on there, solos, lots of singing some slower songs."

SONATA ARCTICA will play a handful of headlining dates prior to and at the end of their North American tour with DRAGONFORCE. These shows will be the only SONATA ARCTICA headlining gigs until next spring.

A new track from Boston's REVOCATION, "Dismantle The Dictator", is available for streaming using the ReverbNation TuneWidget below (click on "Songs" tab). The song comes off the band's second full-length album, "Existence Is Futile", which is scheduled for release on September 29 in North America and October 5 internationally via Relapse Records. The follow-up to "Empire Of The Obscene" was recorded at Damage Studios in Southbridge, Massachusetts with engineer Pete Rutchko.

"Existence Is Futile" track listing:

01. Enter The Hall
02. Pestilence Reigns
03. Deathonomics
04. Existence Is Futile
05. The Brain Scramblers
06. Across Forests And Fjords
07. ReaniManiac
08. Dismantle The Dictator
09. Anthem Of The Betrayed
10. Leviathan Awaits
11. Tragedy Of Modern Ages

REVOCATION will perform later this month at the annual New England Deathfest in Providence, Rhode Island alongside CEPHALIC CARNAGE, NEURAXIS, QUO VADIS, and many more. REVOCATION has also announced an "Existence Is Futile" record-release show, to be held September 29 at Club Hell in Providence.

Former HELLOWEEN vocalist Michael Kiske is collaborating with American singer Amanda Somerville on a brand new melodic hard rock/metal project for Frontiers Records. Mat Sinner (PRIMAL FEAR, SINNER) and Magnus Karlsson (PLACE VENDOME, PRIMAL FEAR) are handling most of the songwriting for the CD, which is tentatively due in early 2010.

Commented Kiske: "This is another idea by Serafino (Frontiers owner). I did a duet with a female singer on 'Breathing Water' by INDIGO DYING. It was so nice that he offered me a chance to make an album of all duet songs with a famous female singer."

Sinner added: "We're working hard on the songwriting for the first [Kiske/Somerville] album. It's a pleasure to write and produce Michael's next album, and with Amanda as the co-singer, it's something very special. I wrote songs with Magnus and Jimmy Kresic for the album, and we're really excited about the songs. Eight tracks are pre-produced now and we need another two songs before we will start the real recordings. AFTER FOREVER mainman Sander Gommans plans to join us and he's working on new songs with Amanda at the moment! Look out for a melodic metal masterpiece in early 2010!"

Somerville is the American singer-songwriter and vocal coach who was tapped to replace EPICA vocalist Simone Simons on the band's North American tour with SYMPHONY X due to Simons' health issues.

Amanda was featured on KAMELOT's latest release, "Ghost Opera", and recently toured with AVANTASIA. She last year released her long-awaited solo album, "Windows".

A Michigan native, Amanda has resided and worked mainly in Germany and the Netherlands since 1999. She has collaborated with several other bands in the metal scene along with producers Sascha Paeth and Miro, and co-wrote the rock opera "Aina". Her own music is of the pop-rock genre.

(Thanks: Michael Kiske Official Fanclub)

HYPOCRISY, the Swedish extreme metal band led by guitarist/vocalist Peter Tägtgren (also of PAIN), will release its new album, "A Taste Of Extreme Divinity", in Europe on October 23 and in the U.S. on November 3 via Nuclear Blast Records.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Valley Of The Damned
02. Hang Him High
03. Solar Empire
04. Weed Out The Weak
05. No Tomorrow
06. Global Domination
07. Taste The Extreme Divinity
08. Alive
09. The Quest
10. Tamed "Filled With Fear"
11. Sky Is Falling Down

Check out the CD cover artwork below.

HYPOCRISY will kick off a U.S. tour in support of "A Taste Of Extreme Divinity" on November 5, with ENSIFERUM as the headliner. A European headlining trek will follow in January 2010.

HYPOCRISY reissued its 2002 album "Catch 22" under the title "Catch 22 V2.0.08" in May 2008. Peter Tägtgren re-recorded the guitar parts, his vocals and remixed and remastered the LP for the new version of the album, which featured bonus material.

The band previously stated about its decision to re-release the CD, "We still think it is a great fucking album but it got slammed and misunderstood because of the vocal style and the drum sound and so on."

HYPOCRISY's latest album, "Virus", came out in September 2005 via Nuclear Blast Records.

HYPOCRISY's video for the song "Scrutinized" (taken from "Virus") can be viewed below.

Quality video footage of New Jersey's thrashing pirates SWASHBUCKLE performing the song "Cruise Ship Terror" at this year's Wacken Open Air festival — which was held July 30 - August 1, 2009 in Wacken, Germany — can be viewed below (courtesy of "framednoise").

"Back To The Noose", the new album from SWASHBUCKLE, was released on July 24 via Nuclear Blast Records.

SWASHBUCKLE has been added to this year's Paganfest Europe tour alongside KORPIKLAANI, UNLEASHED, ALESTORM, DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER and EX DEO. The trek kicks off on September 11 in Munich, Germany and concludes on October 3 in Linz, Austria.

SWASHBUCKLE was one of three winners of last year's Nuclear Blast MySpace Bands Contest.

For more information, visit www.swashbuckle.info.

Full Metal Jackie of Altitude TV conducted an interview with vocalist Philip Labonte of Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS at this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Watch the three-minute chat below.

ALL THAT REMAINS will film footage for the "Forever In Your Hands" video at the August 9, 2009 stop of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival at the Nissan Pavilion in Washington, D.C. According to Labonte, the clip will feature "tons of footage of us on tour, behind the scenes, and other stuff."

ALL THAT REMAINS has just released a two-song "Forever In Your Hands" digital EP via iTunes, Amazon, etc. Labonte says, "It [has] the radio edit of the song, plus an acoustic version that Oli [Herbert, guitar], Mike [Martin, guitar] and I laid down in the studio a couple weeks ago."

ALL THAT REMAINS drummer Jason Costa broke his hand last month and is unable to play the band on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival , which kicked off on July 10. Temporarily replacing Costa on the trek is Tony Laureano, who is best known for his work with such bands as DIMMU BORGIR and NILE.

ALL THE REMAINS had its first Top 10 hit at rock radio with "Two Weeks", from the band's fourth album, "Overcome".

"Overcome" has sold 184,000 copies in the United States so far, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Drowned In Sound recently conducted an interview with Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON. Watch the chat below.

MASTODON will team up with the lifesize version of DETHKLOK, the animated band from Adult Swim's "Metalocalypse", for a co-headlining tour in October/November. Also scheduled to appear are CONVERGE and HIGH ON FIRE. The 34-city trek will kick off October 2 and will scorch the nation coast to coast. General public ticket sales begin Friday, August 7, at 10:00 a.m.

MASTODON will perform live on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Thursday, October 29. Tune in 12:35 a.m. and 11:35 p.m. CT on NBC stations.

The band is currently touring Europe with METALLICA in support of its latest album, "Crack The Skye", which sold 41,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 11 on The Billboard 200 chart.

MASTODON fans have responded with manic enthusiasm to the band's new LP, snapping up every available copy of various limited edition artifacts including the deluxe tunnel book CD+DVD package, both color and double-disc 180 gm gatefold vinyl pressings, plus a pair of CD single/T-shirt bundles; all long gone. Act fast and you just might still find a pair of the "Blood Mountain" or "Blade Catcher" design MASTODON Vans shoes, available online and in Vans shops now.

Nudge of the Dayton, Ohio radio station 103.9 The X recently conducted separate interviews with Wayne Static (guitar, vocals) and Tony Campos (bass) of Los Angeles metallers STATIC-X. Both chats are now available for streaming at this location. They can also be heard using the audio players below.

Wayne Static interview:



Tony Campos interview:



STATIC-X is recording most of its live performances from the current Pedal To The Metal tour with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and MUDVAYNE and making them available to fans on a USB wristband for purchase at the STATIC-X merch booth right after the show. The USB sticks not only feature the night's performance audio but also a variety of exclusive bonus material put together by the band especially for their fans, such as a personal message to fans in the city of the show, a brand new picture gallery, several "Behind The Scenes – The Making of The Cult Of Static" video clips and links to related web sites.

"Cult of Static", the new album from STATIC-X, sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 16 on The Billboard 200 chart.

STATIC-X's previous CD, "Cannibal", opened with more than 30,000 copies back in April 2007 to land at No. 36. This represented a slight drop from the 35,000 tally registered by the band's "Start a War" album, which came out in June 2005 and debuted at No. 29.

As previously reported, STATIC-X has tapped drummer Will Hunt (EVANESCENCE, DARK NEW DAY, ex-SKRAPE, TOMMY LEE) to fill in for Nick Oshiro on the group's current tour. Hunt also appears in STATIC-X's new video for the song "Stingwray".

Oshiro is reportedly "taking a break" from STATIC-X, but has not officially left the band.

The Best Buy-exclusive version of "Cult of Static" features two bonus tracks — "W.F.O." and a cover of MÖTLEY CRÜE's "Looks That Kill".

Todd Cardini of HeavyMetalSource.com conducted an interview with drummer Alex Lopez of California deathcore masters SUICIDE SILENCE on July 25, 2009 in Boston, Massachusetts. The six-minute chat can be viewed at this location.

Hot Topic-owned music site ShockHound.com has posted video footage of SUICIDE SILENCE performing a four-song set at the Hot Topic headquarters. The 14-minute clip — which includes live renditions of the tracks "Lifted", "The Price Of Beauty", "Wake Up" and "No Pity For A Coward" — can be viewed below.

SUICIDE SILENCE's sophomore album, "No Time To Bleed", sold 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"No Time To Bleed" was made available on June 30 in a number of different versions (for a limited time only). Among these are the standard CD version, an LP version (limited to 2,000 pieces), the exclusive Hot Topic edition featuring the standard album with a bonus "Live in Paris" CD (track listing below), the "Maximum Bloodshed" addition ("Maximum Bloodshed" box set with bonus DVD, bonus studio track "Misleading Milligrams", five collector cards, fold-out poster and mail-in t-shirt offer [limited to 10,000 copies]) and the iTunes version with has the exclusive bonus cover track of the hit ALICE IN CHAINS song "Them Bones".

"No Time To Bleed" was recorded with acclaimed producer Machine (LAMB OF GOD).

Magnet magazine recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Magnet: Your last solo record, "Trouble Walking", came out 20 years ago. Why so long between albums?

Frehley: A lot has happened! [Laughs] The main reason was I ended up doing the KISS reunion tour, which led to the "Psycho Circus" record and tour, which led to the KISS "Farewell Tour". Six years later, I needed a break! And the biggest reason was my sobriety. On September 15, the day "Anomaly" comes out, I'll be celebrating three years clean and sober. This new record would have never come out if it wasn't for that.

Magnet: The record industry is virtually unrecognizable compared to what it was like in 1989. Is that a major factor in deciding to release "Anomaly" on your own Bronx Born label?

Frehley: I wanted complete control of how "Anomaly" was going to be handled and marketed. I've handed my music to labels in the past, and it never turned out the way I envisioned it. "Anomaly" is going to be different.

Magnet: Several songs on "Anomaly", specifically "Change The World", "A Little Below The Angles" and "It's A Great Life", show a more contemplative Ace Frehley than we've seen before. How has your songwriting process changed from when you were in your hard-partying 20s?

Frehley: You know, writing comes to me real easy these days, but it always has been like that for me. I write about my experiences in life. Go back and listen to "Parasite" or "Shock Me". Some inspirations have been good, some bad, some life-threatening like "Shock Me". [Laughs]

Magnet: You've been sober for several years now. Was there a specific incident that inspired you to give up the grape?

Frehley: It's the old cliché about "tired of being tired." It was time. I've embraced sobriety, and I don't wanna go back. Life's too good now.

Magnet: What was it like playing "Deuce" at that first audition with Gene, Paul and Peter in 1973? Was there a feeling of instant magic?

Frehley: I knew there was a chemistry there. I truly believe that when the four of us were at our peak, in those mid-'70s tours, no one could stop us!

Magnet: Did you ever curse yourself for coming up with the most difficult of the four makeup designs?

Frehley: I never thought of it that way. Peter's makeup in the beginning seemed the toughest; I think he got a makeup artist to do his on the first KISS album cover. We all got used to putting on the makeup on a daily basis. It became second nature.

Magnet: Speaking of the makeup, was it strange being in the most famous band in world yet also being able to go pretty much anywhere you wanted without being recognized?

Frehley: That was part of the beauty about the makeup. I loved the anonymity of the whole thing. But I got news for ya: I sometimes still got recognized without the makeup back then, so go figure!

Magnet: Your fifth album, "Destroyer", is the favorite of many KISS diehards. It's so different sonically and thematically from anything the band did before or since. What do you think made that album so special?

Frehley: Simple: (producer) Bob Ezrin. There's a lot of stories about me and him not seeing eye to eye, but I got to give him credit. He's the one who structured that record. The arrangement on "Beth" and the sounds of "Detroit Rock City" and "God Of Thunder", he really made that record a classic. We had a lot of pressure coming off of the sales of "Alive!" and Bob really came through.

Magnet: You were initially reluctant to record "New York Groove", a Russ Ballard song that would give you a top-20 single, for your first solo album in 1978. Why was that? And what does it feel like to hear the song played over the P.A. at these huge New York City sporting events?

Frehley: Eddie Kramer talked me into recording that song … and he was right! [Laughs] I was the first musician to play on the grounds of the new Yankee Stadium earlier this year. You'd never guess what song I performed!

Read the entire interview from Magnet magazine.

Explicitly Intense magazine recently conducted an interview with legendary bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, NIACIN, TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH). The chat is now available for streaming at this location.

The reunited original lineup of MR. BIG will release "Budokan - Reunion Tour 2009" in Japan on CD/DVD and Blu-ray on September 9. The set features footage of the band's June 20, 2009 performance at Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.

For more information, visit CDJapan.

MR. BIG released a new "best-of" album titled "Next Time Around" on April 29 through WHD Entertaiment. The collection includes songs that were voted on by fans and contains two previously unreleased songs, "Next Time Around" (2009 remastered version) and "Hold Your Head Up" (2009 remastered version). It was made available as a limited deluxe edition with a bonus DVD.

MALFEITOR, the Italian black metal band featuring bassist/vocalist M. Fabban (ABORYM), has announced the addition of drummer Goraath (STORMCROW, DEMON'S SHADE) and bassist Narchost (STORMCROW, DEMON'S SHADE) to the group's ranks.

Commented the band: "After two months of rehearsals, they were chosen because of their instrumental technique, professionality, willingness, and for the strong friendship and mutual esteem."

MALFEITOR 2009 is:

M.Fabban - Vocals
Munholy - Guitar
Hell:IO:Kabbalus - Guitar
Goraath - Drums
Narchost - Bass

MALFEITOR will release its second full-length album, "Incubus", on August 31 via Poland's Agonia Records. The follow-up to 2007's "Unio Mystica Maxima" was recorded in part at Le Serpent Rouge Studio in Rome and contains "nine disturbing hymns of unspeakable darkness and qliphotic introspection through the Left Hand Path, and a sonic post-V.I.T.R.I.O.L. sigil filled with deadly antisaturnian chtonian vibrations," according to a press release. The effort will also be made available as a digipack and gatefold LP.

"Incubus" track listing:

01. Down with Me
02. Into the Qliphot of Golachab
03. Mysterious,Mystical, Majestic
04. Promethean Fire
05. Typhonian Gods
06. Dark Saturnian Chaos
07. The Other Half
08. Void of Voids
09. Incubus
10. Antisaturno (Thùnapsù)

The song "Incubus" is available for streaming at this location.

MALFEITOR is currently rehearsing for "Incubus" promotional gigs that are being scheduled for September 2009.

"Unio Mystica Maxima" was released in September 2007 on CD and vinyl LP via Scarlet Records.

Bassist/vocalist Steve Rowe of Australian Christian metallers MORTIFICATION has issued the following update:

"I have had the opportunity this month to work with Warren Hammond at Penny Drop Studio mixing the re-recorded MORTIFICATION classics for our upcoming 20th-anniversary CD, 'Twenty Years In The Underground'. The result is very pleasing. We referenced some more modern death metal like AMON AMARTH to find an up-to-date approach to our old-school death metal songs, especially 'Nocturnal', 'Grind Planetarium' and 'Impulsation'. 'Hammer Of God' and 'The Majestic Infiltration Of Order (God Rulz)' have also been re-recorded.

"Initially, I was hesitant to re-record what was not broken but the end result sounds killer! The early songs obviously lend themselves well to the more brutal death metal vocal and production. I think the old-school MORT fans will be stoked. But you will all need to wait until early next year. The 15 rare live tracks are yet to be added to the mix.

"The 20th-anniversary album will initially be available for pay download in early February next year."

"Twenty Years In The Underground" will feature five re-recorded MORTIFICATION classics along with 15 rare live tracks from standout shows in the band's history: "The very first show (June 1990), Lincoln [Bowen, guitar] and Keith's [Bannister, drums] first show (1995) including a rippingly intense rendition of 'Scrolls Of The Megilloth', 'Live Street Mission' work as we performed on the streets of Christchurch City Square New Zealand (1996), Revolution Metal Fest Mexico City (2004) with Spanish Interpretation and Nordic Fest Norway (2007)!" according to Rowe.

MORTIFICATION recently completed work on the band's new album, "The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine", which is now available via the group's own Rowe Productions.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine
02. A Sense Of Eternity
03. Elasticised Outrage
04. Pushing The Envelope Of The Red Sonrise
05. I'm Not Confused
06. The Master Of Reinvention
07. Pilots Hanging From Shoulder Dust
08. One Man With Courage Makes A Majority
09. Alexander The Metalworker
10. Resurrection Band (A Tribute To Rez)

For more information, go to this location.

Mircea Gabriel Eftemie, guitarist and songwriter of Danish modern metallers MNEMIC, has issued the following update:

"We have chosen our long time friend and producer Tue Madsen (HALFORD, BEHEMOTH, KATAKLYSM, THE HAUNTED), who worked with us on 'Mechanical Spin Phenomena' and 'The Audio Injected Soul', as the producer for the new album, 'Sons Of The System'. He has been to our rehearsal space and we started talking about the direction and sound for the new music. We gave him half of the demo songs so far and now he is doing his evaluation of the 14 songs we have given him. There are 12 more. So far, the demos are ONLY working titles. The first song that is more or less finished title-wise is 'March Of The Tripods'. We are entering the studio in September, and the album will be released in January 2010."

MNEMIC recently performed at the Heavy Sands festival in Sardinia with a stand-in guitarist after Rune Stigart had to undergo surgery for an old wrist injury.

Video footage from the show can be viewed below. Photos from the festival are available at this location.

MNEMIC's latest album, "Passenger" (2007), was produced by FEAR FACTORY's Christian Olde Wolbers at Track Record Studios (KISS, MEGADETH, AEROSMITH) in Los Angeles. The CD features artwork by Asterik Studios (ANTHRAX, UNEARTH) plus guest vocal appearances by Jeff Walker (CARCASS, BRUJERIA) and Shane Embury (NAPALM DEATH, BRUJERIA). MNEMIC also completed a video for "Meaningless" (see below) with Revolver Film director Patric Ullaeus.