Last month, BackstageAxxess.com conducted an interview with legendary vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (TALISMAN, JOURNEY, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, W.E.T.) at the Willow Creek Winery in Silver Creek, New York. Watch the chat in two parts below.

Frontiers Records has set a November 6 European release date (November 24 in the U.S.) for the self-titled debut album from W.E.T. as a special CD/DVD package.

Featuring the immense talents of Jeff Scott Soto; guitarist/songwriter Erik Martensson (ECLIPSE) and keyboardist Robert Sall (WORK OF ART), "(W)ork of art (E)clipse (T)alisman" was written and recorded over the last 12 months and features the best elements of the three bands the principal artists have been involved in.

Frontiers Records released "Beautiful Mess", the latest solo album from Jeff Scott Soto, in the USA on April 7.

To coincide with the European release of "Beautiful Mess", Jeff and Frontiers decided to re-release Soto's second and third solo albums, "Prism" and "Lost In The Translation". Both titles were made available on February 20 in luxury digipack format with autobiographical notes written by Jeff himself. Each of the reissues includes updated cover art and bonus tracks. In addition, a bonus DVD was included featuring the full-quality videos for "21st Century", "Gin And Tonic Sky", "Hey", a specially filmed piano version of "Gin And Tonic Sky" and live footage recorded at Jeff Scott Soto's exclusive appearance at the Firefest show in Nottingham, U.K. on October 25, 2008.

Part 1:



Part 2:

"D.F.F.", the new video from SKARHEAD, can be viewed below. The song comes off the band's long-awaited new album, "Drugs, Music & Sex", which is scheduled for release on November 17 in the U.S. and November 23 in Europe via I Scream Records. The CD was recorded and mixed by Dean Baltulonis (SICK OF IT ALL, MADBALL, AGNOSTIC FRONT) and produced by Lord Ezec. The album features guest appearances by some of the hardcore elite, including Freddy Cricien (MADBALL), CIV, Jorge Rosado (MERAUDER), Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED), Armand Majidi and Craig Setari (SICK OF IT ALL), Vinnie Stigma (AGNOSTIC FRONT) and more.

Founded in 1995 by Lord Ezec, SKARHEAD released the EP "Drugs, Money, Sex" that same year. In 1999 the follow up album, "Kings At Crime", took the worldwide hardcore scene by storm and instantaneously became one of the all-time classic hardcore records.

Today, 10 years after the release of "Kings At Crime", Lord Ezec is back as frontman of the world's most infamous hardcore bands.

Commented Lord Ezec: "I have chosen I Scream Records for the release of 'Drugs, Music & Sex', because it is a true street-flavored hardcore label. To me, I Scream is the epitome of hardcore music and no one gets more hardcore than SKARHEAD!!! So get ready for true NYHC music made by the best in the business. A record that will make you bug the fuck out. SKARHEAD rules!!!"

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

A customized, one-of-a-kind 1987 Jackson Randy Rhoads Flying V guitar once owned by FATES WARNING guitarist Frank Aresti is currently up for auction on eBay .

Aresti used the guitar on the band's classic 1988 recording "No Exit" (mixed by the legendary Max Norman, who worked with Randy Rhoads on both "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman"), and is pictured with the instrument on the LP inner sleeve/CD booklet. This is also the exact guitar Frank played in the "Silent Cries" promotional video (see below) that aired on MTV's "Headbangers Ball" at the time.

The auction runs another four days. The current bid stands at $1,800.

For more information and to place a bid, go to this location.

Morgan of Melbourne, Australia's "1700" recently conducted an interview with vocalist Greg Trull of the seminal Australian hard rock/metal band DREADNAUGHT. Watch the chat below.

DREADNAUGHT's new self-titled album was made available on May 1. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2006 Roadrunner release "Dirty Music" is the band's sixth studio LP in its 15-year history and it features the group's "heaviest production to date." According to a press release, "the addition of ex-ALARUM drummer Matthew Racovalis has helped shape a highly diverse-sounding record, more akin to the technical-thrash-styled DREADNAUGHT of the mid-Nineties; yet retaining the dynamic subtleties that has made DREADNAUGHT unique amongst their peers."

"Dreadnaught" track listing:

01. Tattooed Tears
02. The Push
03. Save Your Life
04. Collapse
05. Reflections (Part 1)
06. More Than One Way
07. Agony / Ecstacy
08. Reflections (Part 2)
09. 10x The Pain
10. Twist The Knife
11. Reflections (Part 3)
12. Buried

The "Collapse" video can be viewed below.

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

Interview:



"Collapse" video:

Skippy on Fresno's 103.7 KRZR radio station conducted an interview with vocalist Phil Labonte of Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS on September 17, 2009 prior to the launch of this fall's "HardDrive Live" tour with LACUNA COIL. The chat is now available for streaming using the audio player 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 Labonte, the clip will feature "tons of footage of us on tour, behind the scenes, and other stuff."

ALL THAT REMAINS in August released a two-song "Forever In Your Hands" digital EP via iTunes, Amazon, etc. Labonte said, "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 in August. 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".

Phil Labonte interviewed on Fresno's 103.7 KRZR radio station (click on player below to launch audio):

Joe Perry of AEROSMITH recently talked to Sirius XM about AEROSMITH's latest tour, where the band played the classic "Toys In The Attic" album from start to finish, and their plans to play other early LPs in their entirety. He also discussed his Boneyard hot sauce and upcoming culinary products from the Boneyard line. Watch the clips below.

Perry's fifth solo album, "Have Guitar, Will Travel", will be released on October 6 via Roman Records. The hard driving, ten-song, in your face, collection features Perry's trademark rock and blues ferocity. Recorded this past spring at the Boneyard, Perry's state-of-the-art home studio, where AEROSMITH's "Honkin' On Bobo" and "Just Push Play" were recorded, "Have Guitar, Will Travel" is entirely written and produced by Perry.

"Have Guitar, Will Travel" track listing:

01. We've Got a Long Way To Go
02. Slingshot
03. Do You Wonder
04. Somebody's Gonna Get (Their Head Kicked In Tonight)
05. Heaven and Hell
06. No Surprise
07. Wooden Ships
08. Oh Lord (21 Grams)
09. Scare The Cat
10. Freedom

Check out audio samples at this location.

"We've Got A Long Way To Go", the CDs first single, showcases the voice of a young German singer known as Hagen, found completely by chance on YouTube by Joe's wife Billie. "I first called him from Cleveland when I went to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame jam with Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ron Wood, Flea and METALLICA," said Perry. "It took several minutes to convince him that it wasn't a prank call, but a true invitation to audition to sing on the CD." Hagen mans the microphone for five tracks, while Perry sings lead on four. The remaining tenth song is an instrumental entitled "Wooden Ships".

A six-week Twitter search was conducted to find the CDs title. The winner, out of nearly 2000 entries, was Joe Piscitelli, who used a play on the old CBS television program "Have Gun – Will Travel".

The release of "Have Guitar, Will Travel" follows self-produced solo releases including "Let The Music Do The Talking" (1980), "Once A Rocker, Always A Rocker" (1983), "I've Got The Rock 'N' Rolls Again" (1981) and 2005's "Joe Perry", which received universal critical praise and earned Perry his first solo Grammy nomination for "Best Instrumental Song" ("Mercy").

Buick McKane (a.k.a. Emily) conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Joseph Duplantier of French progressive metallers GOJIRA before the band's September 25, 2009 concert in New Orleans, Louisiana. Watch the 10-minute chat below.

"Terra Incognita", the debut album from GOJIRA, was re-released as a limited-edition digipack with three bonus tracks on August 24 in Europe (October 15 in North America).

GOJIRA is playing a series of headline dates on "off" days from their tour with METALLICA and LAMB OF GOD, which goes until October 18. Support on these shows is coming from ZOROASTER and BURST.

Universal Music Publishing has released a 135-page tablature book for GOJIRA's latest album, "The Way Of All Flesh", which can be ordered from the band's new webshop.

Since making its American debut alongside CHILDREN OF BODOM and AMON AMARTH in late 2006 in support of their landmark album "From Mars To Sirius", GOJIRA has become one of metal's most acclaimed and admired acts. The group has also toured with such heavyweights as LAMB OF GOD, BEHEMOTH, MACHINE HEAD, TRIVIUM and JOB FOR A COWBOY, and more recently, IN FLAMES and labelmates ALL THAT REMAINS.

Arizona extreme metallers JOB FOR A COWBOY have cancelled the following dates due to a "family emergency":

Oct. 02 - Jacksonville, FL @ Plush
Oct. 03 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Oct. 04 - Ybor City, FL @ The Ritz
Oct. 05 - Orlando, FL @ House Of Blues

LAMB OF GOD and GWAR's performances at the above-listed shows will be unaffected by JOB FOR A COWBOY's cancellation.

"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.

Sean Daly of the St. Petersburg Times reports: Margaret Priebe, 85 — a huge, if unlikely, fan of headbanging heroes METALLICA — became a viral sensation after her story appeared in Thursday's St. Petersburg Times. The Internet, from Fark to Twitter to Facebook, lit up with the Largo woman's story. An international METALLICA site even asked to translate the story into Bulgarian.

But the coolest thrill for the recent cancer survivor was yet to come. Before METALLICA's show tonight (Saturday, October 3) at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, the thrash-metal quartet will bring Margaret backstage for a meet-and-greet. A rep from the band's Warner Bros. label confirmed the invitation Friday.

Read the entire article from the St. Petersburg Times.

Koyote of Fresno's 103.7 KRZR radio station conducted an interview with PRONG mainman Tommy Victor on Friday, October 2. The chat is now available for streaming using the audio player below.

PRONG has just kicked off a U.S. tour in support of "Power Of The Damn Mixxxer", the remix counterpart to the band's 2007 album "Power of The Damager". Also appearing on the bill are headliners SOULFLY alongside CATTLE DECAPITATION and MUTINY WITHIN. Victor is being joined on this trek by Tony Campos (STATIC-X) on bass and Alexei Rodriguez (formerly 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, WALLS OF JERICHO) on drums.

For a list of tour dates, go to this location.

Victor previously stated about "Power Of The Damn Mixxxer", "We are really excited about this remix compilation of 'Power Of The Damager' material. We feel the LP was overlooked and in some cases ignored. But the added elements provided by the great remixers, producers, and deejays infused with all the tracks make 'Power Of The Damn Mixxxer' an interesting yet enjoyable listening experience."

PRONG had two songs added to the Rock Band Music Store on May 5 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and May 7 for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. The tracks are "The Banishment" from their late 2007 release "Power of The Damager" as well as the previously unreleased track "Idealistic Types".

Tommy Victor interviewed on Fresno's 103.7 KRZR radio station (click on player below to launch audio):

Greg Prato, the Long Island, New York-based journalist whose writing has appeared in All Music Guide, Classic Rock and Goldmine magazines, conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford on September 30, 2009 in New York City. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Q: How did the new holiday CD, "Halford III - Winter Songs", come about?

Halford: I just love that part of the season. I'm a Brit, you know — I spend a lot of my time in America, but I think it's the same no matter where you in the world, the season. I think that on a faith-based level, it's very important to me. Having said that, no matter what your faith might be, that time of the year is important to a lot of people on the planet. It was just a personal thing that I've wanted to do forever, and it's blossomed into bringing into an opportunity of a full release. I've been like little things on the side for family and friends for a long, long time. And they were always like, "What about a full CD?" I'm like [makes a face], because you think, "Oh, 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer'," and I'm like, "I don't think so, I'm a metal god!" So we looked at hundreds and hundreds of possibilities and we wanted to try as best we could to go into some of the traditional songs that are not that "at the forefront" of the season, and then give them beautiful arrangements and strong production value. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised. It's very strong in its attitude. The first single came out today, "Get into the Spirit" [hear audio below], which is a real ball-crusher. Having said that, there are things that are completely in the opposite dimension, which is just typical of what I do as a musician, anyway, and mix it up. I want to take it to different emotions — from the full-intense speed stuff to the very lucid moments, the ballad-esque things. It's what I do and what's expected of me. But it's like anything in music — how do you describe it? You have to listen to it yourself. It is a very unusual recording — very different in terms of the overall production. Roy Z, my producer, did a fantastic job.

Q: Planning on playing live shows in support of "Winter Songs"?

Halford: If time permits, yes. I'd like to. It's just finding the opportunity to do that. My solo career is still important to me because, again, it enables me to say and do things that I normally couldn't do elsewhere. PRIEST has always been my main band and always will be, but like other artists that step away to do solo endeavors, it's because you're able to accomplish something musically and emotionally at that place that you couldn't somewhere else. So that's another reason — this is the first HALFORD release in about seven years, and I just wanted to reinforce that the band is still there.

Q: Future projects?

Halford: There's something that I was involved with Jack Black for the Brütal Legend videogame that is coming out October the 16th, that was a lot of fun to do. I liked that experience — doing the voiceover work. I'm an absolute fanatic of "The Family Guy" — I think it's the funniest thing on TV. I've seen what Seth [MacFarlane, "The Family Guy" creator] and the rest of the team do off camera, and it's just basically the same thing as what I did in Brütal Legend. But that's not a "bitchslap" to Seth, because he's a genius. But I've been in that world and would love to experiment more in that world — because I love that element of make believe. Making a character with your voice and then putting it visual, like the two characters I do in Brütal Legend — the Baron and General Lionwhyte. When you see that, it's crazy. I love that type of reaction.

Q: So you're interested in doing further animation work...

Halford: I'd love that opportunity. I'm just throwing the idea out — I don't know if anything will come of it. But I certainly enjoyed working with Tim Schafer, the guy that made Brütal Legend. He encouraged me and it taught me a lot of things. A very clever man in terms of how to get the performance out of the artist. I had a lot of fun doing that.

Q: Are you in talks with the people from "The Family Guy"?

Halford: No, I'm just whoring myself on the internet! And Seth might go, "Really, he's a fan?!" I just love that show, because firstly, I'm a liberal — you've got to be in rock n' roll. And it pulls the reins on certain factions gives them a shock — "What does that feel like?" But I love to see how the talent uses the voice, and the voice gets interpreted into all these different characters. Maybe that's something on the horizon — I don't know.

Read the entire interview at this location.

Check out photos by clicking here (courtesy of Kurt Christensen).

"Get into the Spirit" audio stream:



"We Three Kings" audio stream: