Ozzy Osbourne and his wife/manager Sharon were interviewed on tonight's (Monday, October 5) edition of "The Graham Norton Show" on U.K.'s BBC One. The program can now be viewed below in three parts.

"The Graham Norton Show" is a comedy talk show that aired on BBC Two from February 2007 to May 2009 and is now being broadcast on BBC One. Presented by Irish comedian Graham Norton, the show's format is very similar to his previous Channel 4 programs, "V Graham Norton" and "So Graham Norton", both of which were also produced by SO Television.

Hachette Audio has set an October 22 U.K. release date for the audiobook version of Ozzy's memoir, "I Am Ozzy". The book, which was originally slated to arrive almost two years ago but was delayed twice, was published in the U.K. on October 1.

"I Am Ozzy" chronicles the star's humble beginnings in the U.K. to his current position as international music and TV celebrity.

Publisher Antonia Hodgson called the book "fantastic," adding that it was "very much in the tone of his voice, very funny and a very full story."

A U.S. publication date has yet to be announced.

Sharon Osbourne published her own best-selling memoir in 2005, called "Extreme: My Autobiography". A second volume was rushed out in 2008 after Ozzy's book was delayed.

Ozzy is working on a new album that he expects to release next year.

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA performing the track "Through The Never" (from the 1991 self-titled album) for the first time in 16 years this past Saturday night (October 3) at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida can be viewed below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End Of The Line
03. Harvester Of Sorrow
04. Through The Never
05. One
06. Broken, Beat And Scarred
07. Cyanide
08. Sad But True
09. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Battery
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
16. The Wait
17. Trapped Under Ice
18. Seek and Destroy

METALLICA has added single-song downloads to the LiveMetallica.com web site. Instead of buying only entire concerts, fans can pick whatever individual songs they want from any concert they choose from. Every song that the band has recorded in concert since 2004, covering a span of 269 shows, is available for 99 cents per MP3. Full shows are still $9.95 as MP3 files and $12.95 as higher-quality FLAC files.

Frontman James Hetfield told The Pulse of Radio about deciding to release individual songs, "Yeah, I think the song-per-song vs. album is kind of a long lost battle, I think. You know, people in the fast-food world we live in want what they want, and want it now, and when they're done with it, they're done with it. So yeah, it's about time, and I think it's the right move."

LiveMetallica.com was launched in March 2004 and makes downloads available for purchase of every show the band has played since then, often within hours of the gig's finale.

More than 300,000 downloads have been purchased at the site since its launch.

The "Vault" section of the site offers free downloads of shows recorded before 2004.

More shows will crop up at the site in upcoming weeks, since METALLICA just launched a new North American tour last month. The band has dates booked through mid-December.

Simon Greene of ScotlandOnSunday recently conducted an interview with legendary heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On addiction:

Ozzy: "Rehabs are not there to cure you. You'll never get cured from addiction, but they'll tell you what's wrong and suggest how you can arrest the symptoms. It's a terrible affliction and thank God people have recognized it as being an illness."

"Some people never stop, like when George Best died, he had fucking liver transplants, the whole nine yards, and he still continued to drink. Alcohol, drugs, tobacco, it's all the same, it's something to fix the way you feel, but it started to turn on me. As time went on my tolerance got bad, I could hardly hold anything, I'd drink and then have to have another drink to get me back up again, so by nine in the morning I was done.

"That was when I used to have a sniff of the old powder and get me back on my feet again. At first it was fun to do, but then it became not fun anymore and I had to do that just to get to what I thought was normal. I'm becoming awake again now, you know?"

On the wake-up call that made him realize he had a problem:

Ozzy: "One time we had a kids' party, one of the kids' birthdays, and Sharon [Ozzy's wife] said to me, 'You fucking should have seen yourself yesterday,' and I went, 'What's wrong with me, I was all right, playing with the kids, whatever.' And she kept saying, 'Do you want to see yourself?' and she put a video in the machine and I was fucking freaked out. I thought, 'Maybe it's true.'"

On being on the receiving end of death threats from both Satanist and Christian groups during the early 1970s heyday of his former band BLACK SABBATH:

Ozzy: "I've had numerous threats on my life. They were gonna shoot me one night. I go to this gig and there's this strange vibe going down backstage and all of a sudden this cop walks in and goes, 'We've had it from a very good source that this guy's gonna try and shoot you tonight, what do you want to do?' I went, 'Well, they're in so if I don't go on they're gonna get fucking pissed off. They're not gonna shoot me when I'm onstage, I don't think'. I thought I'd just move around a bit more, use Tony, my assistant, as a shield."

On his early solo "Diary Of A Madman" tour in 1982 when he would encourage his audience to fling offal, gore and meat onstage and would conduct the mock hanging of a midget"

Ozzy: "It was all in fun. He'd say, 'Where's the fucking toilet, Oz?' and I'd come over and put my hand over the WO and go, 'Look, MEN'. But he couldn't open the door to get out so women would be smacking him around. It's sad because he committed suicide, he overdosed on Prozac."

On starting his own annual travelling festival, Ozzfest, which has given then-rising acts such as SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SLIPKNOT and LINKIN PARK a leg-up:

Ozzy: "I've often had people go, 'I bet you're happy with the resurgence of heavy metal.' Well, number one, I can't stand the title, heavy metal. If it was heavy rock, it'd be better. But you can't say that the bands now sound anything like the bands in the 1970s. But what I'm happy about, I gave a platform for a lot of these kids to do gigs. The record industry is fucking dying, so what a lot of these kids will do is have a recording thing on the bus and make a record through the night as they're travelling and sell it at the gig."

On "The Osbournes" reality-TV show:

Ozzy: "It was an experiment. I looked at it being an extended version of 'Cribs', that's basically what it was. Believe me, we could have gone on with it. I didn't want to do it. I haven't really watched any of the shows, I've seen bits of it. I can't stand to see myself on TV. They're very ruthless people, it's a very cut-throat business."

On the strangest thing he's snorted:

Ozzy: "Snuff in a pub. A quick line of snuff, the next minute I coughed and a big fucking black bubble of shit come out of my mouth. I thought my fucking brain had melted."

To mark the 20-year anniversary of HELMET, lead singer/guitarist Page Hamilton has constructed a highly personalized project of contemporary art for believers worldwide.

"Close to Home" is an unprecedented venture into the fine art world for the band, combining handwritten lyrics, graphic art and paint into one massive canvas series consisting of 200 drafts only.

Hamilton will be revealing various aspects of the canvas series throughout the month of October prior to its Halloween 2009 release.

For more information, visit www.legacyofhelmet.com.

San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD have scheduled a one-off headlining concert on Friday, November 6 at the Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale, New York. Support at the show will come from THY WILL BE DONE, THIS OR THE APOCALYPSE and MUTINY WITHIN.

Commented guitarist Phil Demmel: "We are extremely excited to announce our only U.S headline show this year, and to have it be in New York is going to be insane!!!" Guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn added, "We really felt like doing something special for the U.S. fans to get ready for the Canadian Carnage dates. What better place to do it than with our maniacal fanbase in New York!!!"

MACHINE HEAD will team up with MEGADETH, SLAYER and SUICIDE SILENCE for the "Canadian Carnage East" tour beginning on November 8 in Moncton. A U.S. tour with MEGADETH and SUICIDE SILENCE will follow starting November 14 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

MACHINE HEAD is continuing to tour in support of its Grammy-nominated album "The Blackening", which was re-released as a "special edition" in October 2008 via Roadrunner Records.

Hailed unanimously as the best metal album of 2007 by journalists, metal radio stations and fans alike, "The Blackening" earned a Grammy nomination for the fan-favorite track "Aesthetics of Hate".

"The Blackening Special Edition" is two-disc CD/DVD set that features an assortment of extras, including rare bonus tracks such as covers of IRON MAIDEN's "Hallowed Be Thy Name", over an hour of live performance footage from With Full Force, Download and Rock in Rio festivals, three uncensored music videos for "Aesthetics of Hate", "Now I Lay Thee Down" and "Halo", a "making-of" featurette on each video, "The Making of The Blackening" and expanded artwork. There's also what many hardcore fans have been rabidly waiting for: four never-before-seen performances of MACHINE HEAD celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album, "Burn My Eyes", captured in Philadelphia in 2004.

MEGADETH and SLAYER kicked off their tour of New Zealand and Australia earlier tonight (Monday, October 5) at Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland, New Zealand.

A review of the concert can be found on The New Zealand Herald web site.

Regarding MEGADETH's performance, The New Zealand Herald reporter Scott Kara writes, "He may not have had the mass success of METALLICA, but [MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist Dave] Mustaine shows why he is one of the most revered metal guitarists around. His famously furrowed lips might be a sign of concentration, but it's his fingers that conjure up a sound that's flowery, potent and heavy all in one.

"Along with his new axeman Chris Broderick, MEGADETH storm their way through a set of old songs, with 1986's 'Devil's Island' a shout-a-long highlight, mixed with new, including the hillbilly thrash of 'Head Crusher' off new album 'Endgame'."

MEGADETH's setlist was as follows:

01. Set The World Afire
02. Wake Up Dead
03. Hangar 18
04. Devil's Island
05. Skin O' My Teeth
06. Head Crusher
07. She-Wolf
08. Sweating Bullets
09. Tornado Of Souls
10. Sleepwalker
11. Rattlehead
12. Symphony Of Destruction
13. Peace Sells
------------------
14. Holy Wars/Mechanix

Fan-filmed video footage can be viewed below.

"Ice Worm", a video from heralded Indianapolis, Indiana doom metal masters THE GATES OF SLUMBER, can be viewed below. The clip was created by Doggysmile Pictures (who brought you Internet horror movies such as "Heavy Metal Zombies" and "Metal Man") and features footage that was recorded primarily at the Keep It True XII festival, which was held this past April in Germany.

"Ice Worm" comes off THE GATES OF SLUMBER's third album, "Conqueror", which was released in May 2008 via Profound Lore (I Hate in Europe). The CD was recorded at Volume Studios with producer Sanford Parker, who has previously worked with BIBLE OF THE DEVIL, LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR and NACHMYSTIUM, among others.

THE GATES OF SLUMBER's latest album, "Hymns of Blood & Thunder", came out on September 13 via Rise Above Records.

THE GATES OF SLUMBER encapsulates the metal experience for true believers. Weaned on BLACK SABBATH, ST. VITUS, the melodic might of IRON MAIDEN and a host of classic bands from THIN LIZZY to RAINBOW to MERCYFUL FATE, THE GATES OF SLUMBER draws deep from heavy metal's most powerful blood and delivers doom metal in its purest form.

"Hymns of Blood & Thunder" dropped on the heels of the brightest and busiest year in the respected power trio's history; one that saw THE GATES OF SLUMBER pack clubs during its first U.S. headlining tour and land atop many year-end media polls with "Conqueror", an album that was hailed as "a breath of fresh air within the doom / true metal underground." The record placed at the #5 position in Decibel's "Top 40 Albums of 2008" and made Village Voice Media's "Top 10 Metal Albums of 2008", joining an impressive list of some of the genre's finest including AC/DC, JUDAS PRIEST and METALLICA.

Recorded in Chicago's Semaphore Studios with producer Sanford Parker (NACHTMYSTIUM, PELICAN), "Hymns of Blood & Thunder" is described in a press release as "a mighty document of both powerful songwriting and instrumental skull-crushing. . . the album is heavy and chillingly bleak; in an almost unrelenting way that hasn't been heard since JUDAS PRIEST's heyday ('Sad Wings of Destiny', 'Sin After Sin', etc.). Displaying a powerful focus and direction and demonstrating a very compelling emotional range, THE GATES OF SLUMBER have upped its levels of both technique and melody, resulting in an album that is at once frighteningly dark in its effect, tight in its grooves and unrivaled in its sheer power."

German metal queen Doro Pesch was recently interviewed in Hartford, Connecticut by the weekly two-hour classic hard rock and metal show "Noize In The Attic". The chat will be broadcast this Wednesday, October 7 between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. EST on Stickman Radio and the following day (Thursday, October 8) between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST on WNHU 88.7 FM in New Haven, Connecticut (and streamed live on WNHU.net).

"Fear No Evil", the new album from Pesch, was made available in North America on June 2 via AFM/Dismanic/Ryko Distribution.

Released in Europe on January 30 via AFM Records, "Fear No Evil" entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 11. This was the highest chart entry for Doro in her home country in almost 20 years.

Fan-filmed video footage of Doro Pesch's September 8, 2009 concert at the Blender Theater in New York City can be viewed below.

"Breathing the Fire", the new album from Athens, Ohio extreme metallers SKELETONWITCH, is available for streaming in its entirety on Terrorizer.com.

"Breathing the Fire" is scheduled for release on October 13 via Prosthetic Records. The CD's cover artwork was designed by Andrei Bouzikov, who has previously worked with MUNICIPAL WASTE and many others.

SKELETONWITCH began recording "Breathing The Fire" on June 14 in Seattle at both Studio Litho (owned by PEARL JAM guitarist Stone Gossard) and producer Jack Endino's own Soundhouse Recording.

Pre-order packages for "Breathing The Fire" are now available on Prosthetic Records' webstore. The iTunes version of the album includes an exclusive bonus track called "Only No Rest for the Dead".

SKELETONWITCH is currently on tour with CHILDREN OF BODOM and THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER through October 12 and then will provide support to THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER along with TOXIC HOLOCAUST and TRAP THEM. The band will then head to Europe for a rotating co-headline run with TOXIC HOLOCAUST and GOATWHORE.

Mary Forsberg Weiland — mother, model, bipolar disorder survivor and recovering drug addict — will discuss and sign copies of her new book, "Fall To Pieces: A Memoir Of Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll, And Mental Illness", on Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00 p.m. at Borders Columbus Circle in New York City.

The address is as follows:

Manhattan - Columbus Circle - Borders
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
212.823.9775

Mary beautifully tells the story of her life and her longtime relationship with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS/former VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland in "Fall To Pieces" — written with Larkin Warren — due out November 10 via William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers.

In her memoir, Mary reveals the extreme highs and lows of her life with refreshing candor and unflinching detail. She offers a window into the world of modeling and rock 'n' roll, while at the same time providing deep insights into the drug and alcohol addictions that could have killed her, and her serious, recently diagnosed and misunderstood mental illness.

Mary explains her reason for writing this book and why she felt bipolar disorder was an important subject to address: "I reject the stigma that the words 'mental illness' carry and I'd love to be a part of the movement to eliminate it." She continues: "After my bipolar diagnosis, I read countless books on the subject. I had a difficult time connecting to them because my story often lacked the intense mania that so many people struggle with. I'm hoping that someone who may be wrestling with similar demons to mine can find even an ounce of hope in 'Fall To Pieces'."

Inspired by books from public figures documenting their own struggles — including Brooke Shields' "Down Came The Rain", about a journey through postpartum depression, and Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking" — Mary felt it was important to share her story, despite fears of how revealing her personal battles might affect her family. "Overall, I'm an honest and open person, so spilling my beans came quite easy, but memoirs and motherhood is a difficult marriage to broker," she says. "Keeping authenticity while trying to protect my children felt a lot like walking a tightrope. In the end, though, I was able to write about that challenge too, so the whole process felt like an honest entry in the so-called diary that became this book."

In "Fall To Pieces", Mary discusses:

* A childhood filled with depression, instability, early addictive tendencies, an overdose and a stint in juvenile hall.
* Meeting Scott Weiland, then an aspiring musician, for the first time at age 16 when he showed up to drive her to and from modeling gigs for $8 an hour.
* The Fourth of July party at Leonardo DiCaprio's house in Malibu, where the Weilands arrived in long-sleeved turtlenecks to hide needle tracks and scabs.
* Her frequent calls to JANE'S ADDICTION guitarist Dave Navarro, who somehow always seemed to know where Scott was.
* Scott's marriage proposal, which followed Mary's seventh rehab stay — and the positive pregnancy test that came soon after.
* The "domestic battery charges" that weren't true but that got Scott back into rehab — and the supportive phone call from Robert Downey, Jr. reassuring Mary that she'd done the right thing.
* The "Weiland Wardrobe Bonfire" three-day headline-making breakdown in Burbank, CA in 2007 that led to Mary's ultimate diagnosis of bipolar disorder, successful treatment, and a new life of health and hope for the future. Of the incident, she now says: "I unraveled. I don't know all the answers to what happened that day I just remember my true self watched helplessly as I fell into deep mania. Writing about it certainly helped me answer a few questions… but not all."

Advance praise for "Fall To Pieces":

"Mary Weiland's beautifully crafted memoir takes the reader through the journey that is so very common today, the slow drift into addiction and mental illness. 'Fall To Pieces' is perhaps the most vivid rendition of this experience I have ever come across. Honest, clear, and accurate, Mary takes us into the reality of a world that is idealized in the tabloids. I have always loved Mary and Scott Weiland, but never more than now." — Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of "Loveline" and "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew", author of "The Mirror Effect" and "Cracked"

"Want to take a trip to the dark side and back? 'Fall to Pieces' is a brutally honest and compelling account of Mary Weiland's struggles with addiction and mental illness that will have you on the edge of your seat with every turn of the page. This is a cautionary story that offers hope and solution to these often seemingly hopeless conditions. Brave, bold and unfiltered, Mary's writing injects humor and levity in a way that is both entertaining and necessary, while keeping the focus on the extremely serious and life threatening behaviors that she confronts. Many people don't have the opportunity to come back and share their experiences, and I have no doubt that this important book will help save many lives." — Dave Navarro

"Mary Weiland describes the depths of madness and addiction with surprising clarity. 'Fall To Pieces' is a wild, gripping story, told with intense emotional honesty." — Terri Cheney, New York Times bestselling author of "Manic"

A two-minute video clip of Mary Forsberg Weiland talking about her new book can be viewed below.

Swedish progressive rockers PAIN OF SALVATION have been confirmed as "special guests" for DREAM THEATER's 2009 Australian tour.

The dates are as follows:

Dec. 03 - Brisbane, AUS - Convention Centre
Dec. 05 - Sydney, AUS - Hordern Pavilion
Dec. 07 - Melbourne, AUS - Palais Theatre
Dec. 08 - Melbourne, AUS - Palais Theatre
Dec. 09 - Adelaide, AUS - Thebarton Theatre
Dec. 12 - Perth, AUS - Metro City

"Ending Themes (On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation)", the latest DVD/CD from PAIN OF SALVATION, entered the Swedish Music DVD chart (all genres) at position No. 2 and the German chart at No. 14.

"Ending Themes (On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation)" is available via InsideOutMusic/SPV in three versions: as a double DVD, double CD and as a limited edition featuring both double DVD and double CD. The tracks were recorded at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on March 2, 2007 during PAIN OF SALVATION's "Scarsick" tour. The DVD features behind-the-scenes footage and an extensive retrospective featuring many important landmarks of their career, including a number of surprises. "Surprises are part of the PAIN OF SALVATION concept," Daniel Gildenlöw (vocals, guitar) pointed out. "I think our fans would be pretty disappointed if we didn't surprise them anymore."

"I will continue to permanently venture into new directions," Gildenlöw predicted. "I'm always at my best when I feel that I simply have to play this music because it comes naturally. I simply follow my emotions and pay attention to what I want to express in my music. So as long as my taste changes, my music will continue to change. I feel that's the best and most honest approach."

A two-minute audio sample of the track "In The Silent Grave" from THE 11TH HOUR — the doom metal collaboration between Ed Warby (drums, guitar, bass, vocals, programming; GOREFEST, DEMIURG, HAIL OF BULLETS) and Rogga Johansson (vocals, additional guitar; RIBSPREADER, PAGANIZER, DEMIURG) — is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The song comes off THE 11TH HOUR's debut album, "Burden Of Grief", which will be released via Napalm Records on the following dates:

Oct. 28 - Finland, Spain
Oct. 30 - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Benelux, France, Italy
Nov. 02 - Rest of Europe
Nov. 03 - USA, Canada

Check out the cover artwork below.

According to the band's official bio, THE 11TH HOUR is "the wretched spawn of two kindred spirits' love for good old fashioned doom metal. In 2007 Ed and Rogga met on the Global Domination forums and made plans to do a doom project together. These plans were sidetracked when Ed joined Rogga's DEMIURG instead, but the seed was planted and every once in a while a nasty doomriff would find its way to Ed's fingers during one of his nocturnal writing and recording sessions. Slowly but surely these riffs were sculpted into six slabs of unbearable heaviness, as bleak and terrifying as the night that inspired them yet suffused with sadness and melancholy beauty. If all goes as planned these six entities will surface in the shape of a full-length album before the year is through."

David Farrier of New Zealand's 3 News conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine backstage at the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland earlier tonight (Monday, October 5) prior to the band's performance with SLAYER. Watch the chat in three parts below. A few excerpts from the interview follow.

On the role of politics in MEGADETH's music:

Mustaine: "The way that the world is right now, it's not even about living peacefully with each other; it's about who's got the biggest bombs. And that's really sad. Especially right now, what's happening in my country, being an American.

"I love my country, but I'm also an international musician, so I go places...

"Yesterday I was looking at a store for some t-shirts and it was saying a bunch of bad stuff about America and a bunch of bad stuff about Bush. And it's like, I can agree with the bad stuff about the former administration, but until you've been to America, judging us as America based off of what our government is like, that's not fair. So I try and be as unbiased as possible with our politics and the stuff that we talk about and try and keep it more about what view as Joe Everyman is gonna experience."

"When Obama became president, there were a lot of people that were really happy. I didn't vote for him. And I don't think he's going to be a great president. And right now we already see all of these things going wrong. He spends too much time on TV; it's all about his dates with his wife. Who cares?! Everybody goes and eats dinner with their family. And not enough stuff is getting done. But all of a sudden now, he's the president of the UN, too, so he's the most powerful man in the world. I mean, think about that. There's all this prediction in faith and stuff about there being one-world government, one-world currency... stuff like that. Well, dinero, the euro... all these different types of money, they're narrowing it down to just a few different currencies. Look at what's happening in Europe, with all the face of all those countries just losing itself."

On people who say that heavy metal bands like MEGADETH haven't got anything worthwhile to say about what's going on in the world:

Mustaine: "Well, they obviously haven't heard my music. I think it's really safe to make generalized statements — to say heavy metal, in general, is boorish and that the lyrics are inane. But, for me, I look at it like this: If that's all you've got to work with, how can you be really eloquent with your words? Most guys in heavy metal, they're salt of the earth. We are like people who don't generally mix with the rest of the society and we found something that works. Now me, I'm pretty verbose, I've been to the White House, I've covered the Democratic National Convention, I've met the President... I've done a lot of things. I got a bill passed into law in the United States. So I'm kind of an anomaly."

On the bill that he got passed into law in the United States:

Mustaine: "[It was the] motor-voter bill. What happens is that in the United States of America, you need to be registered in order to vote. And it was such an inconvenience to find a polling place in order to get registered prior to voting, and the polling places made it even more difficult. So what we did was we figured, 'OK, what's the easiest way to do this?' Rock The Vote was involved with it, MTV was involved with it, and I got involved with it with a couple of other celebrities. There's a provision on the driver's license forms that says, 'Do you wanna register to vote?' All you gotta do is just go [check a box] and you're registered. How simple is that? That, to me, is the American way — doing something that really simplifies people's lives without charging them a lot of money for it, you know what I mean?! This was so free — it was just a bunch of celebrities giving freely of their time. And now we've convenienced a country."

On METALLICA's "Some Kind Of Monster" documentary, which shows a very different side of him:

Mustaine: "I haven't seen it. Don't wanna see it. 'Cause I can never answer anything about METALLICA without it being taken out of context. Like, I said something about our new record ['Edgame'] — I think our new record is better than their new record ['Death Magnetic'], but that they have plenty of records that are better than stuff that I've done. So it's kind of... It was a compliment, but the people got hold of it in the press, and they said, 'Dave Mustaine thinks his record's better than METALLICA.' And it's like, 'Well, you've got ears.' You hear the two records and they totally sound different. And this was the first time I've believed over my whole career where I've actually had something that was.. not that it was comparable, but this is by far better. And I'm not saying this because it's me — even if I wasn't in MEGADETH, I would say this record's ['Endgame'] better than that one ['Death Magnetic'] because of the way it sounds.

"They're [METALLICA] a great band; they don't need me to compliment them. And the bottom line is that there is nothing I can say without it being taken out of context and wrong.

"It's kind of sad, because if I say 'I don't wanna talk about it,' I get slighted, [and] if I do talk about it, I get misquoted. And it doesn't have any bearing on my life at all.

"If there's an opportunity to play with these guys [METALLICA] in the future [as part of a METALLICA-MEGADETH tour], I'd consider it. I'll never play in the round, so if they wanna play with me, then we'll talk about it, but there's no talk; we haven't heard anything."

"You've gotta remember... See, thing is that they didn't have a pop-up video thing [in the 'Some Kind Of Monster' movie] where it said, 'Hey, Dave just turned 40 today and he's spending his birthday with Lars Ulrich [METALLICA drummer].' If it would have said that, people probably would have said, 'What a horrible way to spend your birthday. 40th birthday — spending it with a guy that is your rival.'

"What had happened was September 11 in 2001, our country was attacked — whether it was an inside job or not, nobody really has figured it out yet. And in the meanwhile, we were in Seattle, had to cancel our show out of respect to the nation, went into Canada and played the next day on the 12th and I was supposed to fly home on the 13th for my 40th birthday. Well, all the planes were grounded, so I had to ride in a bus from Canada all the way to San Francisco — couldn't go [home] to Phoenix — and by the time I did get to San Francisco, I was pretty upset. I'm thinking, 'I can't go home. My birthday party. All this stuff got set up for this, all this planning...' I mean, you don't even think about when something happens on the other side of the country, the ripple effect, how it affects all these other lives, but it did. And then I spent my night with him [Lars]. And it was like, 'I'll do it [take part in the filming], but I wanna be able to have the right of refusal [on whether the footage gets used in the film].' And after it was done, I said, 'I don't wanna do it.' And they went and did it anyway. So that was pretty much the end of the road with me. And Lars called me up and asked me to do the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame thing, and I said, 'No.' . . .

"The only reason I even agreed to do [take part in the 'Some Kind Of Monster' filming] was because I had hoped it would heal our friendship and that we would be able to, at some point, be civil again.

"I still like James [Hetfield, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist] — I've always liked James. I think that's the consensus in the world, though — if you had to pick between the two of them, you'd pick James. And I've seen how my career has been helped by that and how it's been hurt by that. But a lot of the stuff that goes on with me in my career, it's not in my hands anyway — it's up to God, and he's already planned my whole life out. There was a lot of times when I did some stupid stuff, and you make those decisions yourself. And when you look at the wreckage after you're all done, it's kind of like, 'Wow! What did I do?' [laughs] 'Cause a lot of times, too, you'll look at it and you'll say, 'I didn't do this. I didn't cause this.' But just because you were there and you didn't do anything doesn't mean you didn't cause it — you could have stopped it."

On whether religion has changed his perspective on things and the way he operates:

Mustaine: "It's changed a lot of things. It's like, this whole thing you were just talking about [issues with METALLICA]. That has been resolved so many years ago, and it's the public and journos that keep it alive. I don't wanna talk about it — I'd rather have somebody stand on my foot than to talk about that again. And the thing with... We had some problems many years ago with SLAYER, too. It was something that had been said, it was regrettable, but it was 19 years ago. These guys [referring to SLAYER] don't care, I don't care — it's the fans that keep the stuff going. And when a guy is doing an interview and he's OK and somebody comes up and kicks him in the crotch with an unexpected question, it totally changes the demeanor of the interview. And then you'll say something because the interviewer has antagonized you, which is what their game is in the metal community right now — 'See if we can get a sound bite out of Dave. Let's piss him off.' And you know what?! It just doesn't work anymore with me, because I know before I even go into these things what's going on. And there's nothing I'm saying that I'm regretting."

On what's next for Dave Mustaine and whether MEGADETH has any more records left to make:

Mustaine: "I don't know about the records right now, because I absolutely hate my record company; I'm really disappointed with the American record company. . . Right now I have a radio show coming up this month for three years on Clear Channel. I have my autobiography coming out next year on HarperCollins, which is one of the biggest publishers . . . After this [New Zealand] tour, we go to Australia, we go to Japan, we go back to the States, we do the Canadian Carnage [tour], we do some more dates with SLAYER, we do the States with MACHINE HEAD and a band called SUICIDE SILENCE, which is kind of a hot band in America right now, and another band [called] ARCANIUM. And then after that we're gonna be going silent running for the holidays so that we can spend some time with our families and stuff. And then we start back up again in January — we're gonna go out for two months. It's a secret thing; I can't actually announce this, 'cause I know someone's gonna watch this... But we've got two months' worth of dates planned in the beginning of January, and then we're gonna be heading overseas for some festivals and some tours in Europe. The good thing is there are so many places that want us to play, we're gonna be pretty busy for the next year and a half."

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"It was a joke name when we started, Chad, Michael, and I," CHICKENFOOT frontman Sammy Hagar says of his newish supergroup with guitarist Joe Satriani, former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith in a Billboard.com video interview done in conjunction with Fuse. "There were three of us and it looked like a chickenfoot."

"Probably fueled by some kind of tequila," Anthony jokes.

In the midst of their first multi-continent tour, the four veteran musicians sat down to talk about the group's origins, the making of debut album "Chickenfoot", picking singles "Oh Yeah" and "Soap On A Rope", and the VAN HALEN connection that kicked things off. The album reached No. 4 on The Billboard 200 this June and earned No. 1s on both the Independent Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts.

Watch the interview below.

DARK TRANQUILLITY keyboardist Martin Brändström has renovated his studio facilities to coincide with the recording of the band's ninth full-length album, and the premises are now available for artists requiring a professional recording setup at the heart of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Commented Martin: "After a lengthy renovating and expansion process, I am happy to announce that Rogue Music is opening its door to the public. Conveniently located in the very heart of the Gothenburg city core and with all accomodations you will find yourself needing to endure a long-running haul. Feel free to get in touch if you are interested in booking or pricing."

For more information, visit www.roguemusic.se.

DARK TRANQUILLITY's new CD is being recorded at Rogue Music and bassist Daniel Antonsson's home studio. The mixing duties will once again be handled by Tue Madsen at his Antfarm facility in Aarhus, Denmark. Tentative songtitles set to appear on the CD include "I Am The Void", "Zero Distance", "The Burden Of Love Alive", "Archangelsk" and "Memories In Reverse".

"Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere", the new album from cyber rockers POWERMAN 5000, is available for streaming in its entirety below. Due on October 6 via Mighty Loud!/Fontana, the collection finds the band returning to the hard groove of their earlier work which included hits like "When Worlds Collide" and "Nobody's Real". "We made this record with a clear vision and a purpose," explains frontman Spider. "We wanted to reclaim a sound we created and represent certain influences as only a band like POWERMAN 5000 can. While writing, we would watch 'Godzilla' or 'Ultraman' films to ensure the sonics were on point. We knew that this record needed to sound like the footsteps of a giant robot!"

He adds, "On the surface, this album is a big fun electro metal romp...though there are bigger concepts hidden within. A quote from HG Wells sums it up best; he said, 'Man is the unnatural animal, the rebel child of nature.' That is an ongoing theme in the songs, our inability to find a place in our own world. I couldn't be happier with the results. I finally feel like we have made a record that not only is exactly wanted we wanted it to be, but also a record that the fans are going to love!"

POWERMAN 5000 recently completed filming a video for the band's new single, "Super Villain". The clip was directed by Robert Hall ("Laid to Rest", "Fear Clinic"), and accompanied by award-winning cinematographer and director of photography Brandon Trost ("Halloween II", "Crank 2"). The video also features actor Johnathon Schaech ("Quarantine", "Living Hell", "That Thing You Do") as the "Super Villain".

"Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere" track listing:

01. Intelligent Creatures
02. Show Me What You've Got
03. Super Villain
04. V Is For Vampire
05. Do Your Thing
06. Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere
07. Time Bomb
08. Get Your Bones
09. Make Us Insane
10. Technology Eats Its Young
11. Horror Show

POWERMAN 5000's current lineup:

Spider One (Michael Cummings) - lead vocals
Velkro (Dave Pino) - lead guitar
Evan 9 (Evan Rodaniche) - rhythm guitar
X51 (Gustavo Aued) - bass
GFlash (Gordon Heckaman) - drums

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and although there are more breast cancer survivors today than in the past due to numerous advances in science and medicine, many women still lose the fight. Approximately 180,000 (1 out of 8) women were diagnosed with breast cancer last year in the United States alone.

Reactivated late '80s/early '90s technical-thrash metallers BELIEVER and artist Michael Rosner (Eye Level Studio) have designed a limited-edition shirt to sell during the month of October with proceeds being donated to breast cancer research. Please join BELIEVER and Eye Level Studio in helping to find a cure and honor "The Brave" women who have battled or are currently battling this horrific disease.

Commented BELIEVER guitarist/vocalist Kurt Bachman: "As many of you know, I am a cancer researcher. There are several people in my life who have been touched by this disease; some are survivors and some who were not as fortunate. I am therefore quite passionate about wiping out this horrible illness, as are many of my friends in the research community. We (BELIEVER) have decided to release a limited time only T-shirt (girls and guys) to sell during the month of October with proceeds going to help fund ground-breaking cancer research at Johns Hopkins, where I earned my Ph.D. I know that BELIEVER fans and metal fans in general will step up for this cause and we thank you in advance for your support. Please feel free to enter the name of someone during your purchase that you wish to honor with your donation and we will post a list on our sites to acknowledge your help with this fight."

Former RAINBOW keyboard player Tony Carey has told U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine that he can never see a reunion of the band.

Carey, who played on the classic "Rising" and "On Stage" albums, believes the time has now passed for this to happen.

"I'd love the chance to get on stage again with Ritchie Blackmore [guitar], Ronnie Dio [vocals] and Jimmy Bain [bass]," he said. "We could have Bobby Rondinelli or Greg Smith on drums, replacing Cozy Powell. But I tell you right now, it will never happen."

He continued, "Ronnie needs the aggravation of working again with Ritchie like he needs a new asshole. And Ritchie is so into his renaissance music, with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT, that I doubt he even thinks about getting RAINBOW back together. So, anyone who is holding out the hope of a reunion? Forget it."

Carey, who co-founded OVER THE RAINBOW with vocalist Joe Lynn Turner and Rondinelli, is currently talking to vocalist Doogie White (who was in the last RAINBOW lineup in 1994) about a new project, and is also working on a new solo album.

"I had to quit OVER THE RAINBOW, because I was seriously ill earlier in the year — to the point where I was only given a 10 percent chance of living — and just cannot commit to their touring schedule. [Paul Morris has since taken over — Ed.] But hopefully, this new band with Doogie will happen, and I can get back to playing the loudest Hammond organ in the world!"

The sixth in a series of webisodes documenting ANEW REVOLUTION's life on the road and in the recording studio can be viewed below.

ANEW REVOLUTION is the Austin, Texas-based band featuring former members of SLAVES ON DOPE and UNLOCO.

The group will enter the Spider Studios in Strongsville, Ohio on October 13 to begin recording the follow-up to the group's 2008 Mudrock-produced (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, GODSMACK) debut, "Rise". Producing the effort will be Ben Schigel, who has previously worked with DROWNING POOL, WALLS OF JERICHO, CHIMAIRA and BREAKING POINT, among others. An early 2010 release via E1 Music (formerly KOCH Records) is expected.

Commented vocalist Joey Duenas: "I've known Ben for almost nine years touring and hitting the grind. He has a great ear and is perfect for what we are trying to achieve. I am totally stoked to be collaborating with him on this next record."

Added Schigel: "I am very excited to have ANEW REVOLUTION in the studio and I'm looking forward to making a great record!"

ANEW REVOLUTION released a self-titled EP soon after forming, selling out all five thousand copies they printed at shows and off of the Internet. The five-track release served as a strong introduction to fans and paved the way to their relationship with KOCH.

Professionally filmed video footage of FAITH NO MORE's August 23, 2009 performance at the Area 4 festival in Lüdinghausen, Germany can be viewed below.

FAITH NO MORE kicked off its reunion tour on June 10 with a headlining performance at the Brixton Academy in London, England.

Original guitarist Jim Martin is not part of the reunion. Performing in his place is Jon Hudson, who played with FAITH NO MORE during the latter stages of its initial run after Martin departed.

The rest of the band's best-known lineup — singer Mike Patton, Gould, drummer Mike "Puffy" Bordin and keyboardist Roddy Bottum — is intact.

FAITH NO MORE released "The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection" on June 8 in the U.K. via Rhino Records.

This double disc set contains the band's greatest hits on the first CD, while the second CD features b-sides and rarities.

So far, no North American appearances are on the radar, but according to Gould, "U.S. shows are not out of the question."

Video footage of former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen's October 3, 2009 concert in Munich, Germany can be viewed below (courtesy of "eblinternational").

The lineup of Turunen's band for the "Final Storm Tour 2009", which kicked off on September 19 at the Elf Fantasy Fair in Arcen, Netherlands, is as follows:

* Tarja Turunen - Voice
* Mike Terrana (MASTERPLAN, SAVAGE CIRCUS, RAGE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) - Drums
* Christian Kretschmar (SCHILLER) - Keyboards
* Oliver Holzwarth (BLIND GUARDIAN, SIEGES EVEN) - Bass
* Alex Scholpp (FARMER BOYS) - Guitar
* Max Lilja (HEVEIN, APOCALYPTICA) - Cello

Turunen recently recorded three songs for a Finnish Christmas album, produced by Olli Ahvenlahti. According to Turunen, this is "a charity project for missionary workers in Finland and it is going to be released in the beginning of November in Finland."

Tarja Turunen has set "What Lies Beneath" as the working title of her new solo CD, tentatively due in early 2010. She says, "With [2007's] 'My Winter Storm', I chose the name of the album in the early stages and that helped me to create the concept for the album. With the new album, I decided to do it the same way, so I searched for an inspiring title and all the songs are one way or another related to it."

Reuters reports: Two independent record labels sued U.S. rock band GUNS N' ROSES for $1 million, claiming the group used portions of two songs by a German musician on their last album "Chinese Democracy".

British label Independiente and the U.S. arm of Domino Recording Company, who own the licensing rights to songs by German electronic musician Ulrich Schnauss, allege that singer Axl Rose and GUNS N' ROSES band members and album producers copied portions of two of Schnauss' songs — "Wherever You Are" and "A Strangely Isolated Place" (hear audio below) — for a song used on the band's last GN'R album called "Riad N' the Bedouins".

Read the entire report from Reuters.

German industrial metallers RAMMSTEIN have been confirmed for next year's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals, set to take place June 4-6, 2010 in the German towns of Nürburgring and Nürnberg, respectively. These will be RAMMSTEIN's only German festival appearances in 2010. Tickets are now available for the early-bird price of 140 euros until January 30, 2009.

RAMMSTEIN's new album, "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da", is due in the U.S. on October 20 via Vagrant Records (October 16 in Germany). The band's first new CD in four years contains 11 songs which were once again mixed and mastered by Jacob Hellner in Stockholm, Sweden. Pre-production for the new release was done at Castle Beerenstedt in eastern Germany's Halle/Saale while the bulk of the recording was done in late 2008 at Northern California's Sonoma Mountain Studio.

"Liebe Ist Für Alle Da" track listing:

01. Rammlied
02. Ich Tu Dir Weh
03. Waidmann's Heil
04. Haifisch
05. B******
06. Fruehling In Paris
07. Weiner Blut
08. Pussy
09. Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da
10. Mehr
11. Roter Sand

The "Pussy" single was released on September 18. It was made available a two-song digipack, also featuring the track "Rammlied" as the B-side.

RAMMSTEIN is:

Till Lindemann - Vocals
Paul Landers - Guitar
Richard Z. Kruspe - Guitar
Oliver Riedel - Bass
Christoph Schneider - Drums
Flake Lorenz - Keyboards

Italian thrashers ENEMYNSIDE have parted ways with the guitarist Davide "Dave" Scala. A replacement axeman has already been found in the shape of Tommy.

ENEMYNSIDE's current lineup:

Frallo: Voice
Matt: Guitar
Tommy: Guitar
Suez: Bass
Nyk: Drums

ENEMYNSIDE supported BLAZE BAYLEY (ex-IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) on a tour of Finland and Sweden in April 2009.

ENEMYNSIDE's second album, "In The Middle Of Nowhere", was released late last year through Hatestone Records. The CD features 10 new tracks, including the first single "Burnt By The Sun" and "Unfold".

For more information, www.myspace.com/enemynside.

Jack Starr (VIRGIN STEELE, DEVIL CHILDE, PHANTOM LORD, GUARDIANS OF THE FLAME) along with his BURNING STARR bandmates Ned Meloni (DEVIL CHILDE, PHANTOM LORD, GHOST, GUARDIANS OF THE FLAME) on bass and Todd Michael Hall (HARLET) on vocals were interviewed on this past Sunday's (October 4) "Heavy Metal Mayhem" radio show with Mike "The Big Cheese". The program is now available for streaming using the player below.

For information, go to this location.

The latest BURNING STARR CD, "Defiance", was released via Magic Circle Music, the record label owned by members of MANOWAR, on June 5. Produced by Joey DeMaio of MANOWAR, the album includes such tracks as "Black Clouds Of Thanos", "The Beast Inside" and the title track, "Defiance". Check out audio samples in the 10-minute embedded clip below.

BURNING STARR interviewed on "Heavy Metal Mayhem" (click on player below to launch audio):

Udo Dirkschneider (U.D.O., ACCEPT) was one of the featured guests on this past Saturday's (October 3) edition of the "Turn It Up" radio show on WSCA 106.1 FM in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. You can now stream the interview using the audio player below.

"Turn It Up" is a two-hour radio show that focuses on new and classic hard rock and heavy metal.

For more information, go to this location.

U.D.O.'s new album, "Dominator", entered the official chart in the group's home country at position No. 27. This marks the highest German chart entry in U.D.O.'s history.

Released on August 21 via AFM Records, "Dominator" features the following track listing:

01. The Bogeyman
02. Dominator
03. Black And White
04. Infected
05. Heavy Metal Heaven
06. Doom Ride
07. Stillness Of Time
08. Devil's Rendezvous
09. Bleeding Heart (Japanese bonus)
10. Pleasure In The Darkroom (digipack bonus)
11. Speed Demon
12. Whispers In The Dark

A limited-edition single, "Infected", preceded the full-length CD on June 26. The single was released as a limited edition of 2,222 pieces worldwide and included the title track, two non-album cuts, a remix and a live song. On the same day U.D.O. played at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany as a co-headliner.

U.D.O.'s previous studio album, "Mastercutor", entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 39.

Udo Dirkschneider interviewed on "Turn It Up" (click on player below to launch audio):

'80s hard rock queen Lita Ford was one of the featured guests on this past Saturday's (October 3) edition of the "Turn It Up" radio show on WSCA 106.1 FM in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. You can now stream the interview using the audio player below.

"Turn It Up" is a two-hour radio show that focuses on new and classic hard rock and heavy metal.

For more information, go to this location.

In an "innovative" music marketing move, Ford has released a single from "Wicked Wonderland", her first album in 15 years, on Stockroom.com, the world's leading fetish site. It is believed to be the first time a relatively high-profile music release has been launched through a web site catering to the alternative fetish lifestyle.

"Wicked Wonderland"'s erotic song "Bed", which explores themes of bondage, kink and power exchange in a strong and highly artistic style, was made available exclusively on Stockroom.com prior to the album's release.

"My husband Jim Gillette and I have carved out our own path to develop a wonderful and close family life," said Lita. "Though we're a long-married couple, we both have very active imaginations, including being kinky with each other, and that's what this album is about. It's sort of a sexual autobiography. We've partnered up with Stockroom.com because it's our favorite outfitter for kink products."

While previewing "Bed", fans of Lita and Stockroom will also be able to view and order from "Lita's Collection", a special selection of some of the fetish gear that Lita and Jim have enjoyed, along with her personal choice of Syren latex fashion styles.

Lita's first new studio album in 14 years, "Wicked Wonderland", was released in Europe on October 2 via earMUSIC/Edel. The set will be issued in the U.S. on October 6 through Lita's own JLRG Entertainment label as a regular CD and limited-edition vinyl with different artwork.

Lita Ford interviewed on "Turn It Up" (click on player below to launch audio):

Fan-filmed video footage of THEM CROOKED VULTURES's October 2, 2009 performance at the Austin City Limits music festival can be viewed below.

THEM CROOKED VULTURES will officially kick off its first North American tour on Monday night (October 5) in Nashville. The highly hyped supergroup, which consists of FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl on drums, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE singer/guitarist Josh Homme and LED ZEPPELIN bass player John Paul Jones, has been the subject of furious international buzz since making its official live debut on August 9 in Chicago. Although a debut album has been completed, a release date has yet to be announced.

FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins told The Pulse of Radio he's heard the VULTURES' record and likes it. "It's really great," he said. "I'm really proud of Dave, and I think he's having a real blast not having to shake his booty at the front of the stage for a while, you know?"

THEM CROOKED VULTURES taped a performance for the Austin City Limits TV program on September 30, with an airdate to be determined.

Several short clips of both live and studio performances by the trio have already surfaced on YouTube.

"Mind Eraser":



"Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I":

Philadelphia-based metal band SINGLE BULLET THEORY has announced the addition of Brazilian drummer Acacio Carvalho (VOUGAN) to the group's ranks. The band is scheduled to enter the studio in November to begin recording new material for a 2010 release.

SINGLE BULLET THEORY earlier in the year uploaded its cover version of the METAL CHURCH classic "Badlands" to its MySpace page. The recording was originally featured on the SINGLE BULLET THEORY's 2004 record "Behind Eyes Of Hatred" (Crash Music Inc.) and features guest appearances by Matt Thompson (KING DIAMOND) and James Murphy (TESTAMENT, DEATH, OBITUARY).

With regards to the musical direction of the forthcoming SINGLE BULLET THEORY album, vocalist/guitarist Matt DiFabio (ex-PISSING RAZORS) previously said, "I have written over 167 songs in the last four years and have assembled what, in my humble opinion, are the very best of what I consider the best. Some of them were written to be part of the next PISSING RAZORS CD, some were written for SBT and some were just written to bang your head to a little."

The second part of a track-by-track guide to KISS's new studio album, "Sonic Boom" — featuring guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley and guitarist Tommy Thayer — can be viewed at RoadrunnerRecords.co.uk. It is also available below. Part two will follow on Monday.

"Sonic Boom" will be released in Europe on October 5 via Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records. The CD will be made available in the U.S. and Canada on October 6 exclusively via Wal-Mart, Walmart.com and Sam's Club retail locations.

"Sonic Boom", produced by guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley in Los Angeles, is the centerpiece of a three-disc set that also features a completely re-recorded greatest hits CD (previously available in Japan) as well as a live DVD shot in Argentina during the band's recent, record-breaking KISS Alive 35 South American tour. The CD set will retail for $12, with pre-orders starting in September on Walmart.com.

Wal-Mart, one of America's largest music retailers, is finalizing its exciting plans now for its in-store and online destinations for KISS fans surrounding the launch of the new album and tour, and will host various KISS products in addition to their music in its stores this fall. More details on Wal-Mart KISS activity, announcements regarding album pre-sales, sweepstakes and KISS appearances will be shared shortly.

The "Sonic Boom" cover art was created by Michael Doret, who also designed the band's classic "Rock And Roll Over" album cover.