Paul Liberatore of the Marin Independent Journal reports: METALLICA's first-ever Marin County concert netted $200,000 for the "Marin Rocks" museum project, Marin History Museum officials have announced.

METALLICA fans paid up to $350 a ticket to the sold-out Sept. 11 show at the 2,000-seat Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

The money goes to Marin Rocks, an interactive museum of Marin music history scheduled to open next summer on Fourth St. in downtown San Rafael.

"There has been nothing but positive reaction to everything about the concert," said museum publicist Stephanie Clarke. "People are very excited."

Read the entire article from the Marin Independent Journal.

Official Metallica.com footage of METALLICA's September 11 concert at the 2,000-seat Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium (including pre-show soundcheck) can be viewed below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. For Whom the Bell Tolls
03. Fuel
04. Harvester of Sorrow
05. Fade to Black
06. Broken, Beat, and Scarred
07. Cyanide
08. Sad But True
09. One
10. Master of Puppets
11. Battery
12. Nothing Else Matters
13. Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
14. Hit the Lights
15. Seek and Destroy

Check out photos from the Marin Independent Journal.

The band previously stated about playing the benefit concert: "We have made Marin County in Northern California our home for many years, so we were more than honored when the Marin History Museum asked us to participate in their benefit concert as they prepare to launch the exhibit Marin Rocks. That's right, finally, a show in our own backyards . . . something that has NEVER happened!"

Los Angeles metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH have released the following statement:

"We have not been able to locate Zoltan [Bathory, guitar] from FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH since Friday night's [September 18] show in Las Vegas. He has not responded to calls, text messages, or emails, and he was last seen around 2:00 a.m. Friday night at Wasted Space in the Hard Rock Casino, taking tequila shots at the bar with a group of guys from a bachelor party who came to the show.

"If anybody has any information as to the whereabouts of Zoltan, please email ffdp@prospectpk.com immediately. This is not like him and the band needs to prepare for the upcoming tour. We have already notified the appropriate authorities, but any help Vegas fans might be able to provide is very much appreciated."

It should be noted that someone logged in to Zoltan's personal MySpace profile earlier today (Sunday, September 20), which makes the entire story a little suspect.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is scheduled to begin "The Shock And Roar Tour" on Tuesday (September 22) in San Francisco, finishing up sometime in early November. Joining them on the bill will be SHADOWS FALL, OTEP and 2 CENTS.

The photo of Zoltan Bathory below was taken during Friday night's show at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas (courtesy of SpyOnVegas.com and the band's MySpace page).

Loudfarmer.com conducted an interview with vocalist Dave Peters of Orange County, California's hardcore/metal act THROWDOWN on September 19, 2009 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Watch the chat below.

THROWDOWN will release its new album, "Deathless", on November 10 via E1 Music (formerly KOCH Records). The CD was produced by Mudrock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, GODSMACK, POWERMAN 5000) and was mixed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, THE RED CHORD and SHADOWS FALL, among others. The artwork is being created by Ryan Clark of Invisible Creature and DEMON HUNTER.

"Deathless" will be the band's fourth album with Dave Peters as frontman and primary songwriter, its second with guitarist Mark Choiniere (who joined the band in 2005) and first with bassist Mark Mitchell. Drummer Jarrod Alexander (ex-DEATH BY STEREO), who performed on the band's breakthrough "Haymaker" album in 2003, returned to work on "Deathless".

THROWDOWN last year completed touring behind the band's last album, "Venom & Tears", which was produced by the group with Mudrock. The past two years saw them on the road with KORN (Australia), KILLSWITCH ENGAGE (Canada), CAVALERA CONSPIRACY (U.S.), MACHINE HEAD / ARCH ENEMY (U.S.), headlining the Ernie Ball stage on the Vans Warped Tour, hitting major European festivals like Download, and headlining a U.S. tour of their own.

Chicago-based gothic/doom metal band URN has announced the addition of drummer Jeremiah Link (NECROGRESSION, THRUSTER, DEADNIGHT) to the group's ranks. Jeremiah had been sitting in with the band following the departure of Melissa Jade shortly after the group returned from its tour with TARJA TURUNEN and THE ETERNAL this past spring.

Jeremiah will make his live debut with URN at the Maidens of Metal Festival on September 26 in Oak Forrest, Illinois. A Canadian tour will follow in October. The band is also scheduled to shoot a video for the song "Reckoning Hour" with Liquid Productions (who previously worked on NOVEMBERS DOOM's "Rain" clip).

URN's third album, "Scribings of a Forgotten Soul", was released in July via Rotting Corpse Records. The artwork was created by Corvis Nocturnum, who runs The Ninth Gate magazine, and the layout was designed by Connie Bergmann of DarkWind Studios.

"Scribings of a Forgotten Soul" was once again mixed and mastered by Dan Precision at Bombshelter Studios (RISE AGAINST, NAKED RAYGUN) in Chicago, Illinois and it features a guest appearance by Rev. Thomas Thorn of the ELECTRIC HELLFIRE CLUB on the song "Hero Worship". (URN frontman Dominic St. Charles had played guitar and did backing vocals with the ELECTRIC HELLFIRE CLUB back in late 1999 to 2000 around the "Witness of the Millennium" album and its subsequent touring cycle and the two have remained very close over the years.)

For more information, visit www.urncentral.com.

MetalInjection.net conducted an interview with Arizona extreme metallers JOB FOR A COWBOY during the recently completed Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Watch the chat below.

"Ruination", the sophomore album from JOB FOR A COWBOY, sold around 10,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart. The 10-song follow-up to 2007's "Genesis" was tracked and mixed at AudioHammer studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, DEVILDRIVER, TRIVIUM).

"Ruination" marks the JOB FOR A COWBOY recording debut of drummer Jon "The Charn" Rice, who has toured with the band since the release of "Genesis" and features ten tracks of state-of-the-art heavy metal music.

"Unfurling a Darkened Gospel", the new video from JOB FOR A COWBOY, was shot on location in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and at the city's distinguished music venue, The First Unitarian Church. The clip was lensed by Doug Spangenberg for Space Monkey Studios (LAMB OF GOD, MAROON 5) and features JOB FOR A COWBOY doing what the band does best; bringing its electrifying live show directly to a crowd of rabid music fans.

CHIMAIRA rhythm guitarist Matt DeVries will sit out the remainder of the band's European tour starting on September 22 so that he can fly home in time for the birth of his son. Filling in for him for the rest of the European dates will be Emil Werstler of DAATH.

DeVries will be back on stage with CHIMAIRA for the band's U.S. tour with TRIVIUM, which kicks off on October 29.

Commented Matt: "This is going to be one of the happiest moments of my life and I want to thank the fans for understanding my absence. Emil is one of the most talented guitarists I have ever jammed with and I am fully confident he will do a fantastic job filling in. I'll be back on stage riffing in a few weeks."

Added Emil: "All I do is hang out and jam guitar. I'm looking forward to raging with these guys and jammin' some f*ckin' tunes for a good cause!"

Loudfarmer.com conducted an interview with DeVries on September 19, 2009 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Watch the chat below.

CHIMAIRA will play its tenth annual Christmas show on December 27 at the House of Blues in the band's hometown.

The band will embark on a tour of Australia and New Zealand in January 2010. Support on the trek will come from DOUBLE DRAGON. This will be CHIMAIRA's first headlining Australian tour, having previously played the country as a support act for IN FLAMES, BIOHAZARD and KORN.

CHIMAIRA's new album, "The Infection", entered the official Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) chart at position No. 76. The CD also landed on the chart of the Australian electronics and music retailer JB Hi-Fi at No. 33.

"The Infection" sold 15,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 30 on The Billboard 200 chart.

CHIMAIRA recently supported HATEBREED on the "Decimation Of The Nation" tour that also featured heavy hitters WINDS OF PLAGUE, DYING FETUS and TOXIC HOLOCAUST.

Former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno's autobiography, "The Beast: Singing With Iron Maiden - The Drugs, The Groupies... The Whole Story", will be released on paperback by John Blake Publishing Ltd. on February 1, 2010.

A description of the book reads as follows: "Paul Di'Anno is one of rock's wildest figures. Now he reveals the shocking stories of his life on the road, including the moment he kicked out his own guitarist's teeth, chasing journalists from venues, shooting out car tires with a rifle and the truth about his arrest for carrying a sub-machine gun. His tale is one of drugs, guns, alcohol; of extended periods banged up in prison and his time fronting the mighty IRON MAIDEN. His controversial antics off-stage are even more shocking than his existence under the spotlights. He has battled drug addictions and tumbled from the heights of fame to the pit of bankruptcy. This is a look into the dark and disturbing times of a man who had spent his whole life courting his demons."

In an interview with PyroMusic.net, Di'Anno stated about "The Beast", which originally came out several years ago, "Well, I thought if I am gonna write an autobiography, then I had better go for it with nothing held back. I didn't want it to be just another one of those poncy, pampering-my-ego autobiography rock books, where I would spend the whole time trying to fucking congratulate myself like so many others, so I just told it like it was. Also I was fucking sick and tired of every other fucker writing whatever they felt like writing about me, so this was a way of shutting them all up and telling them all to fuck off. After it was released, I got some mixed reactions, but generally it has worked for me as putting my life out there as it was."

For more information, visit Amazon.com.

Swedish death metallers NOMINON have parted ways with vocalist Daniel Garptoft. No reason was given for his departure.

The band recently entered Necromorbus Studios to begin recording its fourth album for an early 2010 release. The vocals are currently being laid down on the effort by guitarist Juha Sulasalmi. According to the group, "It all sounds really promising."

The follow-up to "Terra Necrosis" will include nine songs.

Video footage of NOMINON's October 16, 2008 performance in Bucharest, Romania can be viewed below.

"Terra Necrosis" was released August 21, 2007 by Ibex Moon/Deathgasm.

U.K.-based metallers POWER QUEST have issued the following update:

"Following on from the departures of long-standing members Steve Scott (bass) and Alessio Garavello (vocals) earlier in 2009, it is with great sadness that we bring you the news that Andrea Martongelli (guitar) and Francesco Tresca (drums) have also decided to call time on their tenure in POWER QUEST.

"Andrea has recently taken on a lot more teaching work in Italy and has also got a lot of work to do with his band ARTHEMIS and, as a result, felt he wouldn't be able to dedicate enough of his time to POWER QUEST as he would have liked and has done in the past. Francesco came to the conclusion that it would not make sense to have a drummer based in Italy when he realized that the new guys were more than likely going to be U.K.-based. He is now teaching drums regularly in Italy as well as working with his band HYPNOTHETICALL."

Founding POWER QUEST member Steve Williams commented: "Well, it's certainly been an eventful year! That's probably the understatement of the year as well! It was a wrench to see Steve and Alessio leaving earlier in the year but to hear from 'Doc' and 'Checco' that they were stepping down as well, it felt like being hit by a sledgehammer! However, I must point out that after working with these guys for so many years now, the split is perfectly amicable. Friendships have been formed that will last a lifetime and I wish the guys all the very best for the future and I look forward to hanging out with them again in Italy very soon!"

Your very last chance to catch POWER QUEST with Alessio, Andrea and Francesco will be on Saturday, September 26 at Metalfest which is being held at JB's in Dudley, U.K.

POWER QUEST's new lineup will be revealed on September 28.

POWER QUEST's latest album, "Master of Illusion", was released last year via Napalm Records/Avalon Marquee (Japan). Guest musicians on the CD include keyboardist Richard West from the U.K. progressive metal band THRESHOLD, Jorn Viggo Lofstad from the Norwegian power metal act PAGAN'S MIND and FOURWAYKILL singer Chris Neighbour.

The first 2,500 copies of the U.S. version of "Casualties & Tragedies", the debut album from WEDNESDAY 13's latest project, GUNFIRE 76, will be a limited edition, featuring a shiny silver foil logo on the cover as opposed to normal silk-screen.

"Casualties & Tragedies" was recorded at a studio in Charlotte, North Carolina and is scheduled for an October 6 release via Wednesday 13 LLC.

"Casualties & Tragedies" track listing:

01. Casualties & Tragedies
02. Nothings All I Need
03. Rocket To Nowhere
04. Something For The Suffering
05. What Did You Expect?
06. Tell You Like It Is
07. Los Angel-Less
08. One More Reason To Hate You
09. Get Me Through The Night
10. Back To The Gutter
11. Let's Kill The Hero

"Casualties & Tragedies" was mixed by Brent Clawson, who is best known as the bassist for BULLETS AND OCTANE. Brent has produced, mixed and engineered "Dirty Angel" from Nick Oliveri's band THE KNIVES; engineered and mixed GUTTERMOUTH's "Eat Your Face"; and produced, engineered and mixed the last two CDs from BULLETS AND OCTANE — "Song For The Underdog" and "Bullets and Octane" — which are being re-released as a double-CD this October.

Although GUNFIRE 76's debut album was originally set to be recorded in Los Angeles with producer Howard Willing, setbacks and conflicting schedules resulted in a change of plans.

According to a press release, the album — which features material written by Wednesday and Todd Youth (DANZIG, D-GENERATION, THE CHELSEA SMILES) — has "more of a rock sound."

"GUNFIRE 76 will be my extension into the rock world," said Wednesday. "After touring with THE CHELSEA SMILES, Todd Youth and I would find ourselves discussing the bands we grew up on and decided to put a band together that fits more of the rock and roll sound of KISS, DEAD BOYS, NEW YORK DOLLS, THE STOOGES and the in-your-face rock n roll sound. Not being signed to a record label allows me to create new projects and continue growing as an artist."

Wednesday 13 has confirmed the touring lineup for GUNFIRE 76. Joining the MURDERDOLLS frontman will be Roman Surman (guitar), Dave Musselman (guitar, formerly of JET BLACK STARE), Scott Whalen (bass player, also of ECONOLINE CRUSH) and Rob Hammersmith (drums, current member of ROCKETS TO RUIN).

"I'm really looking forward to getting out on the road with these guys and seeing how we all bring this music to life live," said Wednesday.

Audio samples of all the tracks that are set to appear on GUNFIRE 76's debut labum, "Casualties & Tragedies", are available for streaming on Amazon.com.

GUNFIRE 76 will spend November touring the U.S. and December touring the U.K., with BULLETS AND OCTANE acting as main support.

For more information, visit the band's MySpace page.

Swedish progressive metallers OPETH have scheduled the following Japanese tour dates:

Nov. 17 - O-East - Tokyo, Japan
Nov. 18 - Club Quattro - Osaka, Japan

OPETH guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt recently revealed to Holland's FaceCulture that he is contemplating recording a singer-songwriter acoustic solo album.

"My views [regarding songwriting] have broadened a little bit," Mikael said. "I guess when I discovered Nick Drake, that's when I really got into that whole simplistic type of music that really needs something strong — strong material in order to make it come across with so little."

He continued, "I've always been wanting to do a thing like that. I've got a bunch of lovely acoustic guitars back I wanna use more. Even though OPETH could probably do an album like that, I wanna do it on my own, and in that sense, I wanna record it on my own — in my house, basically. I think I can do it well. I think I can do a good album like that.

"I'd like to maybe simplify it even more [than the OPETH acoustic stuff], and have it just chords playing, and maybe some finger-picking stuff, so I could be able to perform it if I would wanna do that. So I don't want it to be lots of tracks, like overdubbing guitars with lots of melodies; I want it to be fairly simplistic so if I wanted to, I could play it live on my own... on a stool. [laughs]"

For now, the plans only exist in Åkerfeldt's head. No songs have been written or recorded yet, but Mikael is certain the singer/songwriter solo album will see the light of day. "I'm getting ready to write because every time I sit down and play, I come up with something that I like," he said.

OPETH will take part in the European installment of DREAM THEATER's Progressive Nation tour, set to take place throughout September, October and November 2009. Also appearing on the bill are UNEXPECT and BIGELF.

The OPETH three-CD box set called "The Candlelight Years", featuring the band's first three albums, was released in Europe on July 13 via Candlelight Records.

BONHAM, the band led by drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN, UFO, FOREIGNER) — son of the late LED ZEPPELIN drummer John Bonham — has scheduled the following dates:

Oct. 14 - Revolution Live - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Oct. 15 - House of Blues - Orlando, FL
Oct. 16 - State Theatre - St. Petersburg, FL
Oct. 29 - Coach House - San Juan Capistrano, CA
Oct. 30 - The Canyon - Agoura Hills, CA

BONHAM will perform selections from LED ZEPPELIN, UFO, FOREIGNER "and a whole lot more."

BONHAM released its first record, "The Disregard of Timekeeping", in September 1989, which was eventually certified gold, and featured the single "Wait For You". A follow-up album, "Mad Hatter", was released in 1992.

BONHAM singer Daniel MacMaster, 39, died unexpectedly on March 16, 2008 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada following complications from pneumonia, after a strep A infection entered his bloodstream.

FEARnet recently conducted an interview with Norwegian artist Mortiis (real name: Håvard Ellefsen). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

FEARnet: You've been performing "unmasked" for a while now. What was your main reason for shedding that image?

Mortiis: There was a variety of reasons really, but the main reason, was the music simply outgrowing the mask image. I mean initially the mask was created to lend more credibility (or something like that, anyway) to the Mortiis concept. Back in those days, Mortiis was based thematically on this dark and twisted parallel universe. It was pretty cool, and I did several records based around that. But time goes on, and people change, as did I. Eventually Mortiis, thematically, was a whole different thing, more introverted, more angsty and angry... it became a band, and the mask suddenly wasn't really emphasizing anything, and it started feeling like something I was only doing to keep the kids happy. So I eventually figured "fuck it, I'm done with the mask," but I wanted to do it in a cool way and not cold turkey, overnight, you know? Around the time when "The Grudge" was coming out, I came up with the idea of having the mask slowly morph off in the artwork on "The Grudge" and the singles released around it. I also started performing with the mask looking like it had been stitched on, in order to show some of the humanity underneath... eventually I started pulling the mask off during shows. After that, it's history.

FEARnet: Has your on-stage persona changed in any other ways?

Mortiis: I don't really think so, at least not in a major way. I mean towards the end of the mask period, we started developing our stage presence, the aggression that seemed to saturate the band during live performances. That's still there and keeps getting angrier, it feels like... I actually feel somewhat more liberated. I think anyone that has worn face prosthetics would agree when I say it's not the most flexible or comfortable thing to be wearing. It kind of prevents you from moving your mouth and face. So obviously with the mask off, it's easier to just get into the music and what's going on onstage even more. I don't know if anyone else did this for this long... maybe someone in a multi-season series or something did it, I don't know... but I did this for years. It got pretty straining towards the end.

FEARnet: So what can we expect from "The Great Deceiver"? From what I've heard you're going even heavier with this one.

Mortiis: Yeah, in a sense it is heavier. If nothing else, a lot more focused. Where "The Grudge" was in many ways a virgin experiment — on a lot of levels, resulting in sometimes chaotic and dense music — "The Great Deceiver" is more mature, in the sense that the noise, the anger, etc. is more musically focused; it's all pulling in the same direction. Like, it has one pulse, and not ten the way "The Grudge" sometimes had, if that makes sense. It just pulses and moves along as a solid entity. It's very compact and big-sounding most of the time, occasionally breaking into this ominous sounding soundscape. It's probably more guitar-heavy than before, but it's a far cry from an ordinary "metal record." We use guitars as a part of the sound; a lot of times the guitars are super-processed post-recording, other times they're guitars... whatever the song demands, or whatever we come up with after experimenting.

FEARnet: Is it true that industrial icons Chris Vrenna and Rhys Fulber are associated with this project? If so, in what way are they involved?

Mortiis: Chris and I knew each other from being in touch earlier about him possibly doing a remix for the "Some Kind of Heroin" remix album we did, that didn't happen because the budget (courtesy of our previous record label) was very restrictive, and I believe he was pretty busy anyway. But we remained in touch and would hook up whenever he was in Norway playing with GNARLS BARKLEY or MANSON. I remember I just asked him once whether maybe he'd like to mix the record with us, because we'd just finished recording it. We eventually made it over to L.A., where we were doing the videos and also started mixing the music at his house. We were supposed to do it all with him, but unfortunately he was unable to finish more than five songs due to bigger commitments, like the new MANSON record he was also working on at the same time. Regardless, though, we were super happy with the five songs he did, and I really believe we picked out the five songs that fit him the best, so it's all good. Rhys got involved actually in a similar way: I wanted him to do a remix for "Heroin" but for the same reason as Chris it didn't happen. We were actually talking about Rhys producing the whole thing; however, that never happened. Rhys is a great guy — we met up at one occasion, really early on, during that DANZIG tour we did, and had a great time, but somehow nothing ever came out of it. We spent forever re-recording everything and creating a ton of new music, and he got involved in other projects in the meantime, so Rhys isn't involved on this record, but hopefully we'll get to do something together at some point.

Read the entire interview from FEARnet.

Fan-filmed video footage of MORTIIS' March 21, 2009 performance at the Trashfest II at Gloria in Helsinki, Finland can be viewed below (courtesy of "sonicrootsfun").

Fan-filmed video footage of REVCO's (p/k/a REVOLTING COCKS) September 18, 2009 performance at Studio Seven in Seattle, Washington can be viewed below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Stainless Steel Providers
02. Hookerbot 3000
03. Ped Parrot
04. Cousins
05. Robo Banditos
06. Something Wonderful
07. Keys To The City
08. Let's Get Physical
09. Touch Screen
10. Abundant Redundancy
11. Fire Engine
12. Purple Head
13. I'm Not Gay
14. Beers Steers & Queers
15. Crackin' Up
16. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy
17. Bang A Gong

REVCO touring lineup:

Josh Bradford (STAYTE, SIMPLE SHELTER) - vocals
Sin Quirin (MINISTRY) - guitar
Clayton Worbeck (STAYTE, SIMPLE SHELTER) - keyboards
Aaron Rossi (MINISTRY, PRONG, JOHN 5) - drums
Stevie Banch (SPYDERBABY) - bass

REVOLTING COCKS is the long-running side project from Al Jourgensen (MINISTRY) and a slew of collaborators over the outfit's twenty-plus-year history. The band will release a remix record titled "Sex-O MiXXX-O" on September 29 via Al's own 13th Planet Records.

The ten-track album couples longtime conspirators, including Luc Van Acker, Dave "Rave" Ogilvie and MARILYN MANSON's Chris Vrenna, with current REVCO players Clayton Worbeck and Stayte (which features the aforementioned Worbeck as well as Josh Bradford).

The original album, "Sex-O Olympic-O", was released in the fall of 2008 and was hailed by Alternative Press as the "most satisfying album" Jourgensen had created to date with REVCO and went on to dub the album as a "celebration of hedonism and glorious excess."

"Sex-O MiXXX-O" track listing:

01. HookerBot3000 (tweaker mix) - Remixed by Chris Vrenna of MARILYN MANSON
02. Keys To The City (Invincible mix) - Remixed by Crabbi of Vileevils & POP WILL EAT ITSELF
03. Red Parrot (Juarez Tunnel mix) – Remixed by MEGAJIVE
04. Robo Bandidos (A Chilling Effect mix) – Remixed by Doug Firley of GRAVITY KILLS
05. Cousins (Sexy Problems = Sexy Solutions mix) – Remixed by Clayton Worbeck of REVOLTING COCKS
06. Touch Screen (Shower Strangulation mix) – Remixed by Luc Van Acker
07. I'm Not Gay (I'm So Gay Club mix) – Remixed by Dave "Rave" Ogilvie of SKINNY PUPPY
08. Abundant Redundancy (Clockworks and Cold Steel mix) – Remixed by Stayte
09. Lewd Ferrigno (Club On mix) – Remixed by Andy LaPlegua of COMBICHRIST
10. Wizard of Sextown (Bisected Banshee mix) – Remixed by Seismologist

MetalInjection.net conducted an interview with Michigan's THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER during the recently completed Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Watch the chat below.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's new album, "Deflorate", was released on September 15 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was produced by THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, Mark Lewis (DEICIDE) and Jason Suecof (BENEATH THE MASSACRE, JOB FOR A COWBOY), with mixing duties handled by Suecof. According to a press release, "Deflorate" is "a multifaceted death trip: beautiful, evil, and morbidly addicting. THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's fourth thrashing epic sees no punch pulled, no gravestone unturned, no soul uncorrupted."

"Deflorate" track listing:

01. Black Valor
02. Necropolis
03. A Selection Unnatural
04. Denounced, Disgraced
05. Christ Deformed
06. Death Panorama
07. Throne Of Lunacy
08. Eyes Of Thousand
09. That Which Erodes The Most Tender
10. I Will Return

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's "Necropolis" video was directed by Robbie Tassaro, who had previously worked with the band on the "Majesty" DVD.

Norway's THE KONSORTIUM has announced the addition of guitarist Teloch (NIDINGR, UMORAL, NUNFUCKRITUAL, ORCUSTUS, GOD SEED, 1349, GORGOROTH) to the group's ranks. The band says, "We are dead certain that his authoritarian and razor-sharp riffing will fit perfectly with our music."

THE KONSORTIUM's full-length debut is tentatively due in early 2010 via Agonia Records. The group says, "Being one man short has unfortunately stalled the progress of the album recording. However, with this latest addition to our ranks, the first steps towards a finished album can be taken."

According to a press release, THE KONSORTIUM performs "black metal with various thrash, avant-garde and non-metal influences creating [its] own atmosphere and identity. THE KONSORTIUM features various members. Some of them better and some of them [not as well] known to the metal (but not only) community."

The cover artwork for "Grounded - Chapter VIII", the new album from German metallers METALIUM, can be viewed below. The CD will be released on September 25 via Massacre Records. Check out audio samples on the band's MySpace page.

METALIUM's seventh studio album, "Incubus - Chapter Seven", came out in February 2008.

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash has posted a short message on Twitter regarding the new MEGADETH album, "Endgame", stating simply that it "sounds killer!"

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine was clearly flattered by Slash's remarks, writing in an online post, "Slash and I have been friends for a really long time. I have played in concert with his band, and jammed with him in a cover band once. We used to hang and party, true, but I dug Slash the most for his amazing talent on guitar. I am honored he said that he likes it."

According to Hits Daily Double, the companion web site of music industry tip sheet HITS, "Endgame" is on track to sell between 40,000 and 45,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.

MEGADETH's previous album, "United Abominations", opened with around 54,000 copies to land at position No. 8 on The Billboard 200 chart. This was more than the 46,000 first-week tally registered by its predecessor, "The System Has Failed" (which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart), and was a bit less than the 61,000 opening number of 2001's "The World Needs A Hero" (No. 16).

"Endgame" was recorded at MEGADETH's brand new, self-built studio in San Marcos, California — Vic's Garage — which was named after the legendary and iconic Vic Rattlehead character. The CD was helmed by MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine and British producer Andy Sneap (EXODUS, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY, MACHINE HEAD).

Quinn Brown of CNN recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley about Ace's new solo album, "Anomaly". Watch the three-minute report below.

According to Hits Daily Double, "Anomaly" is on track to sell between 12,000 and 15,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.

In addition to the standard CD release, unique "Anomaly" packages were made available at Wal-Mart and Best Buy locations. The Wal-Mart version includes an Ace autographed tattoo while the Best Buy edition is printed on silver stock, like the KISS "Double Platinum" album.

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

German melodic death/thrash metallers BURDEN OF GRIEF have entered the studio to begin recording their new album, tentatively due in early 2010. Entitled "Follow The Flames", the follow-up to 2007's "Death End Road" is will contain 10 new songs. The limited-edition version of the CD will include a bonus disc featuring cover versions of the following eight metal classics:

* IRON MAIDEN - "Aces High"
* METALLICA - "The Four Horsemen"
* PANTERA - "Mouth For War"
* SEPULTURA - "Refuse/ Resist" (feat. Sabina Classen of HOLY MOSES)
* WHITESNAKE - "Fool For Your Loving"
* BLIND GUARDIAN - "Valhalla" (feat. Gerre of TANKARD)
* AC/DC - "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be"
* THE DOORS - "Break On Through" (feat. Dan Swanö of EDGE OF SANITY)

The recordings are taking place in different studios in Germany, while the album will be mixed and mastered by Swedish producer/multi-instrumentalist Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY, BLOODBATH).

The recordings will be documented by several "studio diary videos." The second clip, which can be viewed below, contains footage from the drum-tracking sessions.

On July 13, BURDEN OF GRIEF's debut album, "Haunting Requiems", was re-released by the Polish label Metal Mind Productions. This remastered re-release comes in a limited, hand-numbered digipack with a new 16-page booklet and four previously unreleased bonus tracks from the band's 1996 demo tape, "My Blood".

BURDEN OF GRIEF released its fourth full-length album, "Death End Road", in March 2007 via Remedy Records. The follow-up to 2004's "Fields of Salvation" was recorded at Krachgarten Tonstudio in Kassel, Germany and was mixed at Jailhouse Studios in Denmark with producer Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, PRETTY MAIDS, HATESPHERE).

Finnish doom metallers SWALLOW THE SUN will release their fifth album, entitled "New Moon", on November 10 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was recorded at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with such acts as KATATONIA, OPETH, PARADISE LOST and AMON AMARTH. Kai Hahto (WINTERSUN, ex-ROTTEN SOUND) has been recruited to play drums on the album following the recent departure of longtime skinsman Pasi Pasanen.

"New Moon" tentative track listing:

01. These Woods Breathe Evil
02. Falling World
03. Sleepless Swans
04. And Heavens Cried Blood
05. Lights on the Lake (Horror Pt. III)
06. New Moon
07. Servant of Sorrow
08. Weight of the Dead

A mini-site for the CD can be accessed at this location.

Fan-filmed video footage of SWALLOW THE SUN's February 16, 2009 concert at Foufounes Électriques in Montreal, Quebec, Canada can be viewed below (courtesy of "AnteChristumNatum").

Kevin "Taz" Conklin of "The Big Dumb Radio Show" (web site) — which airs on Kalamazoo, Michigan's 92.5 WZUU FM radio station — recently conducted an interview with vocalist Myke Terry of the Boston, Massachusetts-based hardcore/metal act BURY YOUR DEAD. The chat is now available for streaming in the YouTube clip below.

BURY YOUR DEAD's latest album, "It's Nothing Personal", landed at position No. 2 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.

"It's Nothing Personal" was released on May 26 via Victory Records.

"The Serpent's Tongue", the new video from Westerville, Ohio's THE CRIMSON ARMADA, can be viewed below. The clip was shot on June 5 with Thunder Down Country Productions.

"The Serpent's Tongue" comes off THE CRIMSON ARMADA's new album, "Guardians", which was released on July 7 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was recorded at Foundation Studios in Cornersville, Indiana.

THE CRIMSON ARMADA is a group of five young metalheads who are about metal as much as they are having a good time and spreading a positive message.

Formed in early 2007, THE CRIMSON ARMADA came together to go beyond just playing metal by paying tribute to various forms of the heavy style, combining their diverse influences and their spiritual messages encrypted within the lyrics — something that fans who choose to look into the deeper meaning of the lyrics will find uplifting all whilst experiencing THE CRIMSON ARMADA's truly heavy style of playing.

THE CRIMSON ARMADA is:

Saud Ahmed - vocals/keyboards
Josh Jardim - guitar
Dan Hatfield - guitar
Chris Yates - bass/Vocals
David Puckett - drums

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

"The Serpent's Tongue" video:



Making of "The Serpent's Tongue" video:

Metal Injection correspondent Scarlett conducted an interview with guitarist Mike Martin of Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS on August 16, 2009 at the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma stop of this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Watch the chat below.

ALL THAT REMAINS filmed footage for the "Forever In Your Hands" video with director David Brodsky (SUICIDE SILENCE, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL) and his MyGoodEye crew at the August 9, 2009 stop of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival at the Nissan Pavilion in Washington, D.C. According to singer Phil Labonte, the clip will feature "tons of footage of us on tour, behind the scenes, and other stuff."

ALL THAT REMAINS last month 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 [few] weeks ago."

ALL THAT REMAINS drummer Jason Costa broke his hand in July and was unable to play the band on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival , which kicked off on July 10 and concluded last month. Temporarily replacing Costa on the trek was 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".

METALLICA performed the song "The Shortest Straw" for the first time since 1997 last night (Saturday, September 19, 2009) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Professionally filmed video footage of the performance can be viewed below (courtesy of Metallica.com).

The band's complete setlist was as follows:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End Of The Line
03. For Whom The Bell Tolls
04. The Shortest Straw
05. One
06. Broken, Beat And Scarred
07. Cyanide
08. Sad But True
09. Turn The Page
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Blackened
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
16. Die, Die My Darling
17. Hit The Lights
18. Seek and Destroy

The studio version of "The Shortest Straw" was included on METALLICA's 1988 album "…And Justice For All", which has sold over eight million copies in the U.S., according to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America). It was the band's first full-length LP to feature bassist Jason Newsted, who joined the group following the death of Cliff Burton.

The Associated Press has posted a short video clip (see below) of AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry talking about the band's current status following singer's Steven Tyler's tour injury.

AEROSMITH was forced to cancel its summer tour after Tyler fell off the stage while performing in Sturgis, South Dakota in early August. Following the incident, Tyler had his arm in a sling and told RollingStone.com that he was taking a bunch of painkillers.

"The tour was building up to be a great tour, and I was pretty (upset), you know," Perry told the Associated Press.

The guitarist revealed that he hasn't even spoken to Tyler recently. "I haven't talked to him in over five weeks," he said. "I don't know what's going on with him. I hear he's getting better, but I don't know I really don't know what's going on with him."

He added, "All I know is [Tyler's] got to get his act together. I mean, he and I haven't written a song together alone in the same room in over ten years, so there's been some changes in paradigm of what AEROSMITH is."

Perry's solo effort, "Have Guitar, Will Travel", comes out October 6. The first single is "We've Got A Long Way To Go".

Baltimore, Maryland metal masters MISERY INDEX have four songs "in the works" for the band's forthcoming follow-up to 2008's "Traitors", which they hope to begin recording in January/February 2010. More information will be made available soon.

MISERY INDEX has been touring almost non-stop since the release of "Traitors" in September 2008. The follow-up to "Discordia" was recorded in May 2008 at Godcity Studios in Salem, Massachusetts.

The band's video for the album's title track, which can be viewed below, was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with director David Brodsky of My Good Eye.

Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH played a special homecoming show last night (Saturday, September 19) at the sold-out, 11,000-capacity Hartwall Arena in Helsinki to mark the end of the band's colossal "Dark Passion Play" world tour. Support at the gig came from APOCALYPTICA.

NIGHTWISH's setlist was as follows:

01. Intro - Finlandia (w/ U.K. multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley)
02. 7 Days To The Wolves
03. Ever Dream
04. Wishmaster
05. Romanticide
06. Amaranth
07. The Siren (w/ Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto)
08. While Your Lips Are Still Red (w/ Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto)
09. Poet And The Pendulum
10. Nemo
11. Sahara
12. Dark Chest Of Wonders
13. The Islander
14. Walking In The Air (w/ U.K. multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley)
15. Last Of The Wilds (w/ U.K. multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley)
16. Meadows Of Heaven
17. Ghost Love Score
18. I Wish I Had An Angel

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert's final song can be viewed below.

NIGHTWISH is not expected to play any more shows until the release of the band's next studio album, which will arrive in 2011.

NIGHTWISH's previous concert at the Hartwall Arena in October 2005 was recorded and released as the highly successful "End Of An Era" DVD.

"Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places)", the most recent CD/DVD from NIGHTWISH, entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 15. It also opened at No. 2 in Finland and dropped down to No. 5 in its second week of release.

Released on March 13 via Nuclear Blast Records, "Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places)" contains a DVD documentary (with a running time of approximately 45 minutes) of NIGHTWISH's world tour in support of the band's latest album, "Dark Passion Play", as well as a CD featuring live recordings from the trek. The documentary footage was directed by Ville Lipiäinen.

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett was interviewed last night (Saturday, September 19) for this week's "The Metal File" podcast from Montreal's CHOM-FM. You can stream the show online at this location.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich has disputed reports that the band is assembling a tour that would feature the "Big Four" of the 1980s underground thrash metal scene — itself, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX. In an interview with Nudge at Dayton, Ohio radio station 103.9 The X, Ulrich said, "I think it would be a super-fun thing to do. It's something that I would definitely support. It's something that I would love to encourage. It's something I love to be very proactive in putting together. But right now . . . it's not something that's like hush-hush being worked on behind the scenes or anything like that. I read some of those Internet sites myself once in a while, and it's not something that's going down, but it's something that I would be totally for at some point if it could happen. And we would love to be a part of that at any level possible."

Ulrich added that he believes the idea originated at a London party last March, where "a bunch of us were sitting around way later than we should have been sitting around (having) a bunch of very heavily red wine-induced conversations . . . And the idea of doing that at some point came up in that conversation."

Ulrich's comments, however, directly contradict those of METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo, who told Metromix that work was moving forward on just such a tour, although he cautioned, "It's not a sealed deal. We're working on it."

METALLICA kicked off its latest North American trek on Monday (September 14) in Nashville.

MetalInjection.net conducted an interview with bassist Orion (real name: Tomasz Wróblewski) of Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH during the recently completed Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Watch the chat below.

"Evangelion", the latest album from BEHEMOTH, spent four weeks on the official chart in the band's home country, coming in at the #1 spot three weeks in a row after debuting at #2, just behind MICHAEL JACKSON.

In a recent interview with Decibel magazine, guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski and Wróblewski both admitted that they have given serious consideration to moving away from Poland. "The more places we see, the less connected we feel with the place we live in," Wróblewski said. "All of them seem more attractive than Poland. But you get used to a place where you live, and it's kind of hard to move. But it's possible, yes."

"I'm always thinking about it," Darski admitted. "I was just in New York for a few days, and I was thinking about it then. I mean, I'm rooted here, right? I've got my family here; I've got a nice apartment; I've got a few friends. And I was born here. But I would have no problems to live my life a few months in Poland and maybe a few months somewhere else. If one day I fall in love in Portugal or Brazil, I'm not gonna think twice. I'll buy an apartment in one of those countries and just move there and try to live a normal life."

Darski continued, "I can't understand why people come to Poland and say, 'Oh, this country is so nice and the people are so cool.' I tell them, 'No — these people are not cool. It's just a façade. They just pretend. Deep in their hearts, they are evil human beings.' You see, people in this country are very backward-thinking and very conservative. People who don't grow up here don't know the reality, and they will never find out."