While preparing to headline the "Rock Never Stops" tour, CINDERELLA vocalist Tom Keifer talked with "The Hairball John Radio Show" regarding the upcoming tour with QUIET RIOT, RATT, and FIREHOUSE as well as CINDERELLA's recent CD/DVD greatest hits package, "Rocked, Wired and Bluesed". Keifer also talked extensively about his upcoming solo release.

Tom Keifer: "I'm in the process of finishing a solo record that I have been working on over the past couple years. I am mixing right at the moment and it should be finished before we leave to go out on the 'Rock Never Stops' tour. While I am on tour my manager will be out shopping for a label or a home for my record. Hopefully it will be out before the end of the year.

Hairball John: How will your solo record differ from CINDERELLA records of the past?

Tom Keifer: "Well, since I am the main writer, vocalist, and play guitar for CINDERELLA, it sounds a lot like CINDERELLA. My writing style is my writing style: it's blues-influenced hard rock and that's pretty much what this record is. It's a pretty hard-drivin' rock record but it also has some dynamics to it as did the CINDERELLA records where there are ballads and there’s some acoustic stuff. It's kind of somewhere between 'Long Cold Winter' and 'Heartbreak Station', if I had to compare it to one of our earlier records."

Listen to the entire interview with Tom Keifer at www.hairballjohn.com.

Lynn Arditi of The Providence Journal has issued the following report:

The Rhode Island Supreme Court [Thursday] said it will consider on May 31 whether to hear an appeal by the owners of The Station nightclub, who claim that they should not be held personally liable for more than $200,000 in workers' compensation claims from the families of four nightclub employees killed in the fire on Feb. 20, 2003.

The Supreme Court also ordered nightclub owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian to refrain from taking any actions that would "alienate funds or assets or expend any funds or assets save in the ordinary course of business" while the case is pending.

The order said the Derderians must continue to make the "voluntary payments" they've made so far to the victims' families, but said those payments "will not be considered an adequate response to the liability of Derco LLC."

The four workers killed in the blaze were bouncer Tracy F. King, 39; waitress Dina Ann DeMaio, 30; guitarist Steven R. Mancini, 39; and his wife, Andrea Louise Jacavone Mancini, 28.

Lawyers representing the Derderians have said that their clients want to help the families but do not have the resources to pay the full amount of benefits.

The Derderians have been sending the families checks — of $125 or more per month — since April 1, according to lawyers representing the victims' families.

"My clients got two checks," said Andrew Caslowitz, a lawyer who represents the King family. The checks amounted to "a little more" than $125 apiece, he said, declining to be more specific.

A state Workers' Compensation Court judge has ruled that the King family, which includes three boys, is entitled to workers' compensation benefits that come to approximately $102,539.

Read the rest of the article at The Providence Journal (free registration required).

SHIRLEYS TEMPLE, the Norwegian rock band who released their cover of KISS' "God of Thunder" on CD-single last year and who wrote and recorded the title track from Gene Simmons' "Asshole" solo album, will be releasing a full-length album in September. Entitled "Guinea Pigs", the CD features a guest appearance on one of the tracks by former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. Check out MP3 samples of the SHIRLEYS TEMPLE songs "Brand New Hate" (mp3) and "This Could Be a Love Song" (mp3).

For more information on SHIRLEYS TEMPLE, visit their official web site.

(Thanks: Kiss Kollector Online)

SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose has posted the following message on his official web site:

"Let me start by saying I had a wonderful time on tour this go around. As usual, you all were great and I don't remember feeling that happy on stage in years. I appreciate how you welcomed Sonny [Mayo, new guitarist] with open arms. After all, he is in our family.

"I still have just a few more days before we can let the cat out of the bag about what is about to happen for SEVENDUST. We are all excited to give you the news, please try to stay patient, I know I've told you this before, but this is the last time.

"Aside from that, we'll be mixing our record on the 18th of May and we're dying to get this thing done and get it out to you.

"I'll keep this short and I'll be looking forward to updating you on everything else in a week or two. Thank you all for supporting us. Honestly, I didn't realize we had so many people that cared about us. We feel blessed and we will see you sooner than you think!!"

BACKYARD BABIES will be teaming up with THE CHELSEA SMILES (featuring guitarist/vocalist Todd Youth of DANZIG/D GENERATION/MURPHY'S LAW fame) for a U.S. tour beginning in early June. The dates are as follows:

Jun. 10 - Khyber - Philadelphia, PA
Jun. 11 - Northsix - Brooklyn, NY
Jun. 12 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
Jun. 13 - Magic Bag - Detroit, MI
Jun. 15 - Double Door - Chicago, IL
Jun. 16 - Mad Planet - Milwaukee, WI
Jun. 17 - Ascot Room - Minneapolis, MN
Jun. 18 - Hairy Marys - Des Moines, IA
Jun. 19 - The Bottleneck - Lawrence, KS
Jun. 21 - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO
Jun. 22 - Club Sound - Salt Lake City, UT
Jun. 23 - Neurolux - Boise, ID
Jun. 24 - Dante's - Portland, OR
Jun. 25 - El Corazon (formally Graceland) - Seattle, WA
Jun. 27 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
Jun. 28 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
Jul. 01 - Alex's Bar - Long Beach, CA
Jul. 02 - Big Fish - Phoenix, AZ
Jul. 05 - Gypsy Tea Room - Dallas, TX
Jul. 06 - One Eyed Jacks - New Orleans, LA
Jul. 07 - The Loft - Atlanta, GA
Jul. 08 - Martin St. Music Hall - Raleigh, NC
Jul. 09 - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
Jul. 10 - The Saint - Asbury Park, NJ
Jul. 11 - Middle East - Boston, MA
Jul. 12 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY

BACKYARD BABIES' latest full-length album, "Stockholm Syndrome", was issued in Scandinavia in November 2003 through RCA/BMG Records. A wider European release followed in March. A U.S. release date for the CD has yet to be announced. The follow-up to 2001's "Making Enemies Is Good" was recorded at Stockholm's Polar studios and was mixed in Los Angeles with producer Joe Barresi (LIMP BIZKIT, BUCKCHERRY, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MONSTER MAGNET, KYUSS).

MESHUGGAH guitarist Mårten Hagström recently spoke to the Live 4 Metal webzine about the group's latest release, "Catch 33", and their unconventional songwriting approach. An excerpt from the interview follows:

Live 4 Metal: While MESHUGGAH has taken its cross-rhythmic style to incredible extremes, in many ways it has stuck to a certain system: odd groupings of beats against an underlying steady pulse. Has MESHUGGAH considered incorporating other techniques, such as mixing different beat divisions such as triplets or even quintuplets and septuplets into the scheme? Or would that not fit MESHUGGAH?

Mårten Hagström: "It's impossible to say what fits and doesn't fit. We would never ever consider thinking, 'OK, let's do quintuplets, or a really hard or technical or really advanced structure for a song just because it's so advanced.' We play pretty weird music; most people feel that we play pretty weird music. When you look at it from that perspective, it is pretty obvious straightaway that all of this, all of these ideas never, never, ever occur from actually calculating anything. I never sit down with a guitar and think, 'Hmm, if I went through this part, and then I did it really weird by doing it like this...' Thinking in technical terms is never an option, so whatever comes up in the head is what's going to come up in the head and that's the beauty of it. Which means that maybe there will one day come an idea like that that sounds super cool in someone's head and we'll record it. But we never do stuff that's more hard or more technical or more far out just for the sake of being weird."

Live 4 Metal: I guess it's just because the music is so foreign to most people and the rhythms are so crazy that people assume there must be a lot of calculation involved.

Mårten Hagström: "I understand why a lot of people might think that. People say, 'OK, it's got be a bitch to calculate all this shit and sit down and come up with all this weird stuff all the time. Don't you feel that you won't come up with any new radical ideas?' And then we're like, 'What radical ideas?' This is just how we want music to sound. We feel that this is something we need to do for our sakes, 'cause we think it's cool. So it's a natural process and a very subconscious thing."

Live 4 Metal: I've talked to people who say that the only way they could play a MESHUGGAH riff is to just memorize, even if it's just one group of beats, let's say there's a group of 7 beats, they have to memorize the way it lines up against the snare every time then think, "Oh, now I gotta change it to make it wrap around to 64 beats." For you guys does it come more naturally than that, where you don't even have to be counting all that crap out in your head, it's just coming out?

Mårten Hagström: "People can listen to our music for whatever reason they want. There's never any truth to music — the music is the interaction between the album and the listener and that's the end of it. But if somebody put a gun to my head and said, 'Now you fucking tell me what you guys are about, how do you want your music to be listened to?' It's basically about understanding that like you were saying, it's a 4/4 beat, y'know? When you start making it into a mathematical scheme that goes into counting '12345671234567...' you're going to be a slave to what the pattern tells you is going on to the music, not how the pattern moves over the music, you know what I'm saying? So to us it's just a cool AC/DC lick. We have musical ideas just the same way any other band has: you come up with something in our head and then you write it down. I don't really know how to explain it because it's just our way of doing it."

Read Mårten Hagström's entire interview with Live 4 Metal at this location.

Former BURZUM leader Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh), who is currently serving a 21-year Norwegian prison term for the August 1993 murder of MAYHEM guitarist Oystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous), recently spoke to MetalCrypt.com about his controversial political beliefs and the possibility of future album releases. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Q: To quote a recent article you wrote, "In a sense it was the Golden Age of BURZUM — that had its natural end when I was imprisoned in August 1993." Why did the spirit of BURZUM change so much when you were imprisoned?

Varg Vikernes: "You probably misunderstand what I wrote in that article. The spirit of BURZUM never changed, but my ability to make music changed dramatically when I was imprisoned. It is more or less impossible to record music in prison, and the only music I could record was electronic music, when I was allowed to have a synthesizer for a few months in 1994 or 1995 and in 1998. After a few months with a synthesizer in the cell in 1998, I had to choose between my synthesizer and my laptop computer, because the prison authorities didn't let me have both at the same time (for 'security reasons'), and I chose to have the computer in the cell, believing I could make music anyhow, by using some music program. But the prison authority had other ideas, claiming I didn't have an 'extraordinary need' to have a music program enabling me to make music on the computer. So without a music program I couldn't make any more music from then on. That is actually the main reason I haven't released any records since 1999; to install a music program I need a CD-ROM, and all CDs are banned in this prison (for 'security reasons').

"Anyhow, since I have a guitar, at least I can make music now, but I have to wait until I get out before I can record anything.

Q: What made BURZUM different from the rest of the Norwegian bands at the time?

Varg Vikernes: "A lot. The motivation was certainly different, my background was different, my lyrics were in Norwegian, while the others had English lyrics, and of course I was alone, while the other bands were real bands. I don't know what to say about this really. Maybe you will find the answer to this question in the different 'A Burzum Story' articles that will be published on www.burzum.org?"

Q: What have you been doing in prison to occupy yourself lately and do you have an idea as to when you might be released?

Varg Vikernes: "According to the Norwegian constitution and international law I should be released on probation in April 2006, but I don't know what will happen. My experience with the Department of Justice is not particularly good, so I am not very optimistic. I don't think they like me very much... and unfortunately it is more important to be liked by them than to have the right/law on your side.

"When it comes to your question regarding what I have been doing in prison to occupy myself 'lately', I can tell that lately I have been mostly reading, corresponding with different people, writing articles and sending different applications to the prison authorities — that they usually turn down (apparently letting me have an encyclopaedia on the computer is not possible, for 'security reasons' and because I according to them don't need an encyclopedia...?!) or occasionally grant (for instance, I was, like I have already told you, allowed to have a non-electric guitar in my cell last December).

"Apart from that I jog in the cell — back and forth on the floor — and have some plastic bottles filled with water that I use as weights, I take some push-ups and sit-ups, and in general try not to rot away.

"There is always something to do, and I have never had any problem keeping myself occupied. The biggest problem is when the prison authorities force the prisoners to 'work', and we have to sit some place all day long, like in a workshop, and do absolutely nothing (because there are twenty people 'working' but only work for one or two people), but 'luckily' new police and law reforms and the building of new 'temporary prison barracks' in the yard have caused the prisons to flood with prisoners, and the prisons are not given the resources to cope with this situation, so only a few prisoners are given a 'job'. The rest are simply stored in their cells all day long, left to figure out what to do on their own. To me and many others it's no problem, but especially to the poor bastards who don't even know how to read (and they make up 1/3 of all the prisoners!) it can be rather destructive, and when they occasionally break down and set fire to their cells, crush the interior of the cells and smash the TV, cut off of break their fingers or other limbs (one guy in Ila prison cut off his own balls! *Ouch*...), swallow forks and knives, punch a guard or another prisoner on the nose, or something like that, they are punished for that too, because they don't 'behave' well, and the minister of justice or warden come up with some new rule for 'security reasons', and tighten the screw even more, something that naturally only makes even more prisoners break down or become anti-social and dangerous. It's a very intelligent system..."

Read the entire interview at MetalCrypt.com.

WHITESNAKE have announced the addition of bassist Uriah Duffy to the group's ranks.

This young up-and-coming bassist has established himself as one of the few top-choice working musicians in all of the California Bay Area, having previously played with CARMINE APPICE/PAT TRAVERS, CHRISTINA AGUILERA, and CHRIS CATENA, among others.

Uriah grew up on the East Coast listening to classic rock 'n' roll and playing in rock bands. "Check out both me and my brother's names; Uriah and Yes (of MTV's 'Road Rules' fame)!" he said. "Talk about hippie parents! I played nothing but RUSH tunes on my record player from 1985 to 1991, rarely listening to anything else. I wanted to be the baddest fusion cat ever, and found further influence in BÉLA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES and the CHICK COREA ELEKTRIC BAND. In school, however, I learned how to play in classical, theater and most importantly, jazz settings."

For more information on Duffy, visit UriahDuffy.com.

Uriah joins WHITESNAKE as the replacement for Marco Mendoza, who left the group earlier in the year to pursue "other musical avenues," according to an official statement.

Mendoza recently completed a U.S. tour with SOUL SIRKUS, which also features Neal Schon (JOURNEY) on guitar, Jeff Scott Soto (TALISMAN, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) on vocals, and Virgil Donati (STEVE VAI, RING OF FIRE) on drums.

A complete listing of currently confirmed WHITESNAKE tour dates can be found at Whitesnake.com.

The Associated Press is reporting that the Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday (May 12) reversed the first-degree murder conviction of an aspiring heavy metal singer serving life in prison, and ordered that he receive a new trial.

The justices said the trial court in the case of Michael J. Dahlin made a mistake when it refused to give the jury instructions that could have led to a conviction on the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

Dahlin (photo) was convicted of first-degree murder in June 2003 in the death of Dustin Jirasek (photo), who in December 2003 was shot at point-blank range with a shotgun as he stood in the doorway of his Minnetonka home.

Authorities said Dahlin thought his girlfriend was having an affair with Jirasek, and that he held a grudge because Jirasek's heavy-metal band THOUGHT CRIME didn't want Dahlin as its lead singer.

According to court documents, Dahlin auditioned for Jirasek's band, but was turned down because of his white supremacist tattoos.

The high court said the Hennepin County trial court should have honored a request by Dahlin's attorney to instruct the jury it could have acquitted Dahlin of first-degree murder and convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree intentional murder. That would have meant a lighter jail sentence.

"Our system of justice assumes that juries that are properly instructed will weigh the evidence, determine the credibility of witnesses and reach the appropriate verdict," states the opinion penned by Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz.

"This error prejudiced Dahlin, because the jury had it been instructed on second-degree intentional murder may have convicted Dahlin of the lesser charge," Blatz wrote.

Another man, Mark Staats of St. Anthony, also was convicted of first-degree murder in the case and sentenced to life in prison. He was tried separately from Dahlin.

Rob Zombie recently spoke to RollingStone.com about his in-progress third album. The follow-up to 2001's "The Sinister Urge" features the shock rocker backed by an all-star band: guitarist Wes Borland (LIMP BIZKIT), drummer Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and bassist Chris Chaney (ex-JANE'S ADDICTION).

"It's very raw and very live," says Zombie. He's worked up about twenty-five songs for the album so far and plans to return to the studio in the fall when he finishes his stint on this summer's Ozzfest.

The rocker-turned-filmmaker's second movie, "The Devil's Rejects", hits theaters July 22. The sequel to Zombie's 2003 blood-soaked "House of 1000 Corpses" is more violent and more psychologically intense than his first film. Unlike the first installment, which featured an original soundtrack by Zombie, this slasher will showcase the rootsy stylings of the ALLMAN BROTHERS and LYNYRD SKYNYRD.

Read more at RollingStone.com.

According to a post at SickthingsUK, Classicsdujour are reporting that the new ALICE COOPER album, "Dirty Diamonds", will receive a U.S. release on August 9 via New West Records. While the date is officially unconfirmed, this is a month AFTER the previously quoted German release date. New West Records have a web site here and appear to be predominatly a small country label so it does seem an odd match for Alice.

"Dirty Diamonds", which is said to be a continuation of the more organic approach found on Cooper's last effort, "The Eyes of Alice Cooper", was overseen by Steve Lindsey, who co-produced Cooper's 2004 duet with rapper XZIBIT, "Stand" (off the official Olympics Games album, "Unity") and has worked with Elton John, Luther Vandross and Leonard Cohen.

357 Choppers and Zakk Wylde have announced the Zakk Wylde BLACK LABEL SOCIETY sawblade chopper giveaway.

One lucky fan will win the Zakk Wylde Sawblade Chopper, manufactured by 357 Customs and valued at over $70,000. This custom-made hardcore iron chopper features the "Halloween Nightmare Buzzsaw" paint job, as seen on Zakk's Gibson Les Paul and his new signature model Epiphones, and is said to be "pure Zakk Wylde." The tank is painted with the custom black and orange sawblade pattern and maltese cross/BLACK LABEL skully logo.

For info on how to enter the contest, go to either 357Customs.com or ZakkWylde.com.

Former LED ZEPPELIN bassist John Paul Jones will be appearing as a guest musician at the Merce Cunningham event on June 17. The dance improv performance takes place at the Barbican Theatre, London and is being described as "a celebration of Cunningham's visionary collaborations with guest visual and musical artists. Each event will contain different choreography, different décor and different musical accompaniment."

For more information, visit www.merce.org.

Legendary LED ZEPPELIN frontman Robert Plant performed the track "Shine It All Around" on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" on Monday, May 9. Watch the singer's performance online at this location.

"Shine It All Around" comes off Plant's newly released album with the band STRANGE SENSATION, "Mighty Rearranger", available now on Sanctuary Records. "Mighty Rearranger" is Plant's first studio work since 2002's "Dreamland".

Plant's North American summer tour in support of "Mighty Rearranger" will kick off June 15 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Launch Radio Networks reports: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE will release a limited-edition, double-disc vinyl version of its latest album, "Lullabies to Paralyze", on June 28, according to a posting at the band's official web site. The set will feature three bonus tracks and will be available in most stores or online at Qotsa.com.

"Lullabies" has sold just over 217,000 copies since its release in March. Although it's the follow-up to the band's 2002 million-selling breakthrough album "Songs For The Deaf", frontman Josh Homme told Launch that "Lullabies" shouldn't be compared to its predecessor. "Every album should be its own work," he said. "People will compare it to 'Songs for the Deaf', but it's not really for that. It's got nothing to do with that. It's not trying to compete with that album. It's not trying to be that album, you know. If you're comparison-shopping the albums, you're not really supposed to, in general. They're their own things, you know."

QUEENS FOR THE STONE AGE will perform this Saturday (May 14) on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live".

POWERMAN 5000 recently spent time at Mad Oak Studios in Boston, Massachusetts completing the recording sessions for their new album, due later this year on frontman Spider One's Megatronic Records. Joining Spider One, drummer Adrian Ost, and bassist Siggy Siursen on tour and on the forthcoming album are guitarists Terry Corso (formerly with ALIEN ANT FARM) and Johnny Rock (formerly with HALF-COCKED, the first band Spider One signed to Megatronic when it was being distributed by DreamWorks Records), replacing founding member Adam 12, who left the band before the tour started (but will appear on the new album), and Mike "M.33" Tempesta, who left in 2004.

Commented Spider One: "We had a great time at Mad Oak studios in Boston!! Everyone pulled out stellar performances, especially Mr. 7 [a.k.a. Adrian Ost]. You can all look forward to some exciting drumming on this record. Back on the west coast now preparing to do some mixes with none other than our old friend Mudrock. For those of you who don't know, Mudrock was our live soundman back in the day as well as the engineer and co-producer of 'Mega Kung Fu Radio'."

Upcoming POWERMAN 5000 shows:

May 19 – Tacoma, WA @ The Temple Theater
May 20 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
May 21 – Portland, OR @ Rock N Roll P
May 28-29 – Waikiki, HI @ The Wave
Jun. 10 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabodys Down Under
Jun. 11 – Detroit, MI @ Harpos
Jul. 07 – Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater
Jul. 08 – Albany, NY @ Northern Lights
Jul. 09 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance
Jul. 10 – Boston, MA @ Middle East
Jul. 11 – Towson, MD @ Recher Theater
Jul. 13 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
Jul. 14 - W. Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
Jul. 15 – Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
Jul. 16 – Sayerville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
Jul. 17 - New York, NY @ BB Kings

Long-defunct black metal legends EMPEROR will be re-releasing their catalog on colored vinyl during June. The albums to be reissued include the following:

* "Emperor" (1993) (red vinyl)
* "In the Nightside Eclipse" (1994) (blue vinyl)
* "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" (1997) (green vinyl)
* "IX Equilibrium" (1999) (yellow vinyl)
* "Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire and Demise" (2001) (white vinyl)

A flyer for the re-releases can be seen at this location.

Launch Radio Networks reports: VAN HALEN bandmates Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are doing a handful of dates with their side project, LOS TRES GUSANOS, a trio that plays Hagar songs, some VAN HALEN material and classic rock covers. Would the group ever consider writing and recording its own material? Anthony told Launch it could happen. "We actually have kind of been thinking about that," he said. "You know, we're mainly a cover band. You never know, we might get a bunch of material together and re-record some of the great, you know, rock songs of the past. You never know."

Anthony previously told Launch that VAN HALEN is back on hiatus, with no plans for the foreseeable future.

LOS TRES GUSANOS is opening for Hagar and his WABORITAS on the Cinco de Mayo tour, which plays tonight at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.

ABC ePrep reports that VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash will be featured in upcoming TV ads for X Games 11, which will take place August 4-7 in Los Angeles. According to MTV News, Slash will be part of a choir that includes extreme sports stars, including Danny May and Dave Mirra.

Guitarist Bart Vergaert has left Belgian gory death metallers ABORTED. "Bart wanted to start his own band and was tired of playing this kind of music," the band write on their web site.

"After Bart decided to call it quits with ABORTED he also decided that he didn't want to participate in the booked shows," the band add on their web site. "Not even the shows this weekend, leaving us and the promoters who booked us in a very uncomfortable situation as those shows were less than four days away at time he decided to leave. We, the members of ABORTED, talked things over and decided we could not let the promoters and the fans be the victims of this. Therefore we will play the upcoming shows this weekend, as a quartet.

"We hope people understand our setlist will be slightly altered and shortened. This is a situation beyond our control yet we still want to show up on the shows and give it the best we can seeing the circumstances.

"We hope to have a live replacement ready before we head out to the U.S. in 13 days.

"As for the future of the band, we reassure you that you have nothing to worry about... We'll be going on as before.

"What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger!!"

ABORTED's most recent album, "The Archaic Abattoir", was released in March via Listenable Records. The CD was mixed at Antfarm Studios in Denmark with producer Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, PANZERCHRIST, MNEMIC, EKTOMORF, DESTINY). Guest vocal appearances on the album include Bo Summer (ILLDISPOSED), Michael Bogballe (MNEMIC) and Jacob Bredahl (HATESPHERE).

SLIPKNOT have been added to the San Bernardino Ozzfest date on August 20. The Des Moines-based nine-piece will be playing the San Bernardino date ONLY. The KNOT will go on between MUDVAYNE and IRON MAIDEN on the main stage. You can see the commercial for the date with SLIPKNOT in it on the Ozzfest.com Oz TV page.

(Thanks: TJ Coyle / www.pulseofthemaggots.com)

ABC ePrep is reporting that former VAN HALEN frontman David Lee Roth just went to Fort Sam Houston, Texas — where the Army medics in Iraq are trained — for military emergency medical technician (EMT) training. Roth was being trained to transport patients to military helicopters. As previously reported, Roth is an EMT in New York, and he says that the tactics he uses as a paramedic are similar to those the military uses. He also noted that unlike some acts, he's not using his commitment to the military to get publicity for his projects.

Launch Radio Networks reports: MUDVAYNE wraps up its current North American tour on May 18 in South Carolina, after which the band heads to Europe for a month before returning home to kick off Ozzfest with BLACK SABBATH and IRON MAIDEN. MUDVAYNE bassist Ryan Martinie told Launch what aspect of Ozzfest the band is most looking forward to. "We're ready for MAIDEN, which is the biggest surprise, I think, to us ever, as well as, like, the biggest honor, I would say, beside the fact that we've opened for METALLICA and OZZY," he said. "We can pretty much close the book on bands that, you know, we've always dreamed of opening for. You know, I mean, what else do you say?"

MUDVAYNE will perform its current single, "Happy?", on NBC-TV's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on Friday, May 20.

CNN Money has issued the following report:

A customized 2004 Ford F-150 owned by VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony is being offered for sale on eBay and you can "Buy it now" for $150,000.

Bidding for the truck is currently approaching $50,000.

The Lightning Style Show Car Cobra is a custom-made pick-up built by Bonspeed, a design and engineering group that specializes in performance wheels.

It boasts a supercharged 8-cylinder engine, six-speed transmission and four-wheel independent suspension. The custom-designed interior, which includes hand-stitched leather seats, cost $30,000 on its own, said Brad Fanshaw, president of Bonspeed.

"This is a sports car with a pick-up truck body. This is a truck built to be driven," he said.

In that case, there is plenty left to do. The truck has just 300 miles on its odometer, according to the eBay listing.

Bonspeed listed the pick-up on eBay Tuesday with a starting bid of $35,000. The most recent bid, $46,899, has not yet met the reserve price.

On eBay, a reserve price is the minimum price a seller is willing to accept for the item and does not have to be publicly disclosed. If the reserve price is not met, the seller is not obligated to sell the item.

Fanshaw said it would cost close to $300,000 to replicate the hand-built vehicle. He hopes the final bid price will come close to the "Buy it now" tag of $150,000.

In an earlier auction, bids for the Lightning truck exceeded $100,000, Fanshaw said. However, that auction was canceled after a bidder clicked on the "Buy it now" button by mistake.

A new 2005 Ford F-150 has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of about $30,000 to $37,000, depending on the model and options.

As part of the bonspeed truck auction, the buyer will receive a bass guitar autographed by Anthony, who is part-owner of bonspeed.

A guitar that Anthony contributed to a charity auction in 2003 fetched more than $10,000, according to Fanshaw.

Orange County, Calif.-based bonspeed created the Lightning truck as a promotion vehicle for Ford Motor Co., which displayed the vehicle at its booth at the 2003 Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show. Bonspeed has also completed design projects for Jaguar and General Motors Co.

The auction ends on May 17 at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.

VirtualFestivals.com is reporting that former BLACK FLAG punk-rock icon Henry Rollins will make his Download festival debut with a spoken-word show on the Napster/Virtual Festivals Third Stage.

Rollins will holding his hour-long Sunday Sermon at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, discussing love, life, music, and his new success in business.

Also just confirmed for the Napster/Virtual Festivals Third Stage is the infamous Roadrunner Roadrage Tour, featuring TRIVIUM, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, and STILL REMAINS.

All three will be making their Download debuts on the Sunday afternoon. Download Festival 2005 takes place June 10-12 at Donington Park, Leicestershire.

Organizers have also just announced an after-hours Campsite Entertainment Zone, which will stay open until 2:00 a.m. from Friday to Sunday. The area will feature a café, beer stall, funfair rides, a cinema and various shops.

Los Angeles rockers DEATH AND TAXES, who feature in their ranks Jay Link on lead vocals, Michael Cutting of HOLY SOLDIER fame on guitars, Dave Starkey on bass, and Paul Monroe of XYZ fame on drums, are finishing up the last seven tracks for their debut album, "Inevitable". The CD is expected to be released in late July 2005 via the band's own Dead Moose label. Click here for an MP3 demo sample of "Trust".

The album will be mastered by Grammy winner Brian (Big Bass) Gardner from Bernie Grundman Studios in Hollywood.

Commented Jay Link: "This CD is quite a mix of genres, everything from alt rock, to metal, classic influences and beyond , with our own little twist. We are even doing a cover of the old IDES OF MARCH hit 'Vehicle', written by Jim Peterik. We drive it a lot harder and dirty it up a bit, but we try to stay true to its original form."

"Inevitable" track listing:

01. Trust
02. Hand Down
03. Gone
04. Serenity
05. Get Out
06. I Can't Save you
07. Drowning
08. The Mask
09. Vehicle
10. Shuffle off to Buffalo

For more information, visit www.death-and-taxes.net.

MÖTLEY CRÜE will be headlining KROQ's annual Weenie Roast on Saturday, May 21 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California. Also scheduled to appear are AUDIOSLAVE, FOO FIGHTERS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, THE KILLERS, INTERPOL and THE MARS VOLTA, among others.

If you don't score tickets to the KROQ Weenie Roast when they go on sale Saturday May 14, you can still check out all the action online. Join host Jimmy Kimmel for the entire show complete and uncut, with exclusive backstage footage all on KROQ.com with the station's Weenie Roast Webcast.

Proceeds from the show go to the Surfrider Foundation and Heal the Bay.

MY DARKEST HATE, the German death metal band featuring former PRIMAL FEAR drummer Klaus Sperling and members of SACRED STEEL, will enter Stage One studios in Borgentreich, Germany in Ocober with producer Andy Classen (CALLENISH CIRCLE, TANKARD, OCCULT) to begin recording their fourth album, tentatively due in early 2006 via Massacre Records. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Bow Before Me", "Under My Wing", "Nothing Lasts Forever" and "They Shall Fall".

MY DARKEST HATE's third album, "At War", was released in May 2004 via Massacre. The follow-up to 2002's "To Whom It May Concern" was produced by Achim Köhler (PRIMAL FEAR, BRAINSTORM, SACRED STEEL) and came with a bonus DVD, featuring a video for the track "Catch the Bullet", live footage from the Party.San Open Air festival and a "making of…" report.

According to Sp1at.com, a spokesperson for VELVET REVOLVER has confirmed that the band have recorded a new song for the "Fantastic Four" soundtrack. The film, which is about a group of astronauts who gain superpowers after exposure to cosmic radiation, is due for release in the U.S. on July 8. A trailer for the movie can be found at this location. The spokesperson also confirmed that VELVET REVOLVER will be releasing a live DVD this summer, although the release date is still to be confirmed.

VELVET REVOLVER recently officially announced their participation in Ozzfest 2005. The quintet will play the final seven dates of the 26-city tour beginning on August 23, taking over IRON MAIDEN's slot on the Ozzfest mainstage.

VELVET REVOLVER were originally planning to do 10 Ozzfest shows, but the number was subsequently reduced.

Besides BLACK SABBATH and VELVET REVOLVER, other mainstage acts include MUDVAYNE, SHADOWS FALL, and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. The second stage will be headlined by Ozzfest veteran ROB ZOMBIE.

VELVET REVOLVER are currently on their own Electric Wonderland Show headlining tour.

When MÖTLEY CRÜE took the stage at a recent concert, the band received some startling news. Just weeks before, one of their devoted Baltimore fans had simply vanished on her way to their March 6, 2005, concert in Washington, DC. Her friends say that she wouldn't have missed this concert for the world. Loyalty means a lot to the band and especially to Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx, so they decided to team up with "America's Most Wanted" to find their missing fan. They're offering a $10,000 reward to bring this woman home. Tune in as MÖTLEY CRÜE joins the "AMW" crew to help find a missing rock 'n' roll fan on "America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back" Saturday, May 14 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on Fox.

Tracey Gardner-Tetso never made it to the March 6 concert, and when her friends tried to call her cell phone, it was turned off. On Monday, March 7, Tracey's friend, Christian, who she was supposed to go to the concert with, called her office to see if Tracey had shown up for work. Tracey's supervisor and friend, Monika Barilla, told Christian that Tracey wasn't in yet. Christian told Monika that Tracey had never made it to the concert. "Tracey is a fun-loving person. She loved rock-n-roll and MÖTLEY CRÜE was her favorite," Tracey's friend Monika told "AMW" producers. By Tuesday, March 8, Tracey was still missing and no one had heard from her. Her friends decided to call the police.

Police immediately questioned Tracey's family and friends. But no one has seen or heard from her since 3:05 on March 6. Then, cops tracked down a small piece of the puzzle. Police say there is a record of Tracey's car passing through the southbound tube of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel at 7:48 p.m. the night she went missing. Her last outgoing cell phone call was at 3:05 p.m. when she phoned her friend, Christian, who had bought her the MÖTLEY CRÜE tickets for her birthday.

According to officials, Tracey's car was later found in the Glen Burnie area at a local Days Inn. So far, police have few leads as to Tracey's whereabouts and are hoping with national attention, someone might come forward with the clue they're looking for.