Terry Butler (DEATH, MASSACRE, SIX FEET UNDER, DENIAL FIEND, OBITUARY) and Frederick "Rick Rozz" DeLillo (MANTAS, DEATH, MASSACRE, M INC.) have canceled their previously announced European tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of MASSACRE's classic "From Beyond" album. Dubbed "Army Of Darkness", the trek was slated to take place in January/February 2012 and was supposed to feature additional performances from MACABRE and MASTER.

Commented MASSACRE lawyer Eric Greif: "The band was looking forward to the trip but got spooked when no contracts or deposits materialized, despite repeated requests to the agent. They'll instead head over later for some summer festivals that don't conflict with Terry's OBITUARY commitments."

Added Butler: "Writing and playing again with Rick has been a lot of fun and it will be great to get back to Europe playing these songs."

Affected dates:

Jan. 25 - Osnabrück, Germany @ Bastard Club
Jan. 26 - Munich, Germany @ Backstage
Jan. 28 - Zürich, Switzerland @ Industrie 45
Jan. 29 - Lyon, France @ Le Kao
Jan. 30 - Paris, France @ Divan Du Monde
Feb. 03 - Valencia, Spain @ Durango Club
Feb. 04 - Badalona/Barcelona, Spain @ Estraperlo Club
Feb. 05 - Montpellier, France @ Secret Place
Feb. 07 - Maribor, Slovenia @ Mc Pekarna
Feb. 08 - Zagreb, Croatia @ Tvornica Kulture
Feb. 11 - Winterthur, Switzerland @ Gaswerk
Feb. 13 - Dresden, Germany @ Chemiefabrik
Feb. 14 - Berlin, Germany @ K-17
Feb. 15 - Bochum, Germany @ Matrix
Feb. 16 - Leer, Germany @ Zollhaus
Feb. 17 - Eindhoven, Holland @ Dynamo
Feb. 18 - Rotterdam, Holland @ Baroeg
Feb. 19 - Drachten, Holland @ Iduna

MASSACRE's current touring lineup is as follows:

* Mike Mazzonetto (M INC., PAIN PRINCIPLE) - Drums
* Ed Webb (DIABOLIC, GENERICHRIST, DESTINED TO RUIN) - Vocals
* Frederick "Rick Rozz" DeLillo – Guitar
* Terry Butler - Bass

Video footage of the new MASSACRE lineup rehearsing for the now-aborted tour at CGM Studios in Altamonte Springs, Florida can be seen below (courtesy of BrutalBroadcast.com). Also available is a ReverbNation TuneWidget player containing three rehearsal recordings featuring the band's new lineup.

Commented Rozz: "It is a great pleasure to jam with such seasoned players, and very cool people, this is a great honor in many ways."

Added Butler: "We wanted to give the fans a little taste of what Ed Webb and Mike Mazzonetto sound like and what the band is doing at the moment.

"Ed and Mike are doing an amazing job!! They are seasoned veterans and professionals."

"From Beyond" was recently reissued as a limited-edition digipak CD via Earache Records.The long-out-of-print album was made available on CD with four bonus EP tracks and comes housed in a digipak with extended artwork and a fold-out poster.

A different version of MASSACRE — consisting of DENIAL FIEND members Sam Williams (guitar), Curt Beeson (drums; NASTY SAVAGE), along with Terry Butler, Steve Swanson (guitar) and Kam Lee (vocals; MASSACRE, DEATH, MANTAS) — completed a European tour in late 2007.

On December 11, 2011, the "Metal Attack MTL" radio show conducted an interview with TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick. You can now watch the chat in two parts below.

TESTAMENT's new album, "The Dark Roots Of Earth", is tentatively due in late April/early May 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. Due to a "serious injury," TESTAMENT drummer Paul Bostaph was unable to take part in the recording sessions for the CD and was replaced by Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan (DARK ANGEL, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, FEAR FACTORY, DETHKLOK). Bostaph has since announced his departure from the group.

LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler plays on one track on "The Dark Roots Of Earth", which was helmed by veteran British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, NEVERMORE, MACHINE HEAD, ARCH ENEMY).

Bostaph is currently focusing on BLACKGATES, the new East San Francisco Bay Area/New York metal outfit also featuring former ANTHRAX singer Dan Nelson, guitarist Jeremy Epp (THE VENTING MACHINE) and bassist Uriah Duffy (WHITESNAKE). The group was scheduled to enter the studio last month to start pre-production on its forthcoming debut album.

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In a brand new one-minute audio excerpt (see YouTube clip below), Eddie Van Halen can be heard talking about his 1958 Volvo. The VAN HALEN guitarist talks with singer David Lee Roth about how Eddie changed the car's interior by ripping out seats in order to fit his stage gear guitars and amps to make it to gigs in his early years.

"The car had no door knobs," recalls Eddie. "The right door was wired shut with a guitar string, and the left door I would close with a nylon rope. And to turn the lights on, I would take two wires and use a pair of vice-grips to turn the lights on at night. This thing was a death trap."

Also available is a separate video in which the VAN HALEN guys reminisce about the early days when they were a struggling up-and-coming band and they played clun shows in Southern California that sometimes included wet t-shirt contests.

"What do you remember about wet t-shirt contests?" asks David Lee Roth of the VAN HALEN brothers.

"That's the reason why we were there," recalls drummer Alex Van Halen. "It's that simple. The reasons why we play and do all those things…it's just life: it's seeing everything, it's enjoying it, and taking it a little bit further than it should."

"This is the sound of a married man explaining a wet t-shirt experience in public," laughs Roth.

VAN HALEN will announce the first details of its upcoming tour on January 3, with tickets set to go on sale a week later. The band's much-anticipated new album — which will be the band's first with original singer David Lee Roth in 28 years — will arrive on February 7, with the first single and video set to premiere on January 10.

VAN HALEN's new record deal with Interscope was finalized in November and marks the first time the band has recorded away from Warner Bros. Records, which signed the group in 1977.

VAN HALEN reunited with Roth in 2007 for a successful year-long reunion tour — minus original bassist Michael Anthony, who now plays with ex-VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar in CHICKENFOOT.

Audiophile specialty record label Audio Fidelity will release a newly remastered edition of DIO's classic debut album, "Holy Diver", in January 2012 as part of its 24K Gold Compact Disc series. This new edition promises to be a significant sonic upgrade over past releases of this timeless debut due to the use of the original 1983 Sound City studio analog 30 ips AES half-inch non-Dolby original stereo mix tapes along with the mastering expertise of renowned audiophile music restoration specialist Steve Hoffman. Most previous releases relied on post-EQ'ed cutting tapes.

"Holy Diver" is one of the most respected albums in rock and metal and Ronnie James Dio was one of the most talented and respected artists in the world.

Leaving BLACK SABBATH to create a new group built around his formidable singing and unquestionably stellar songwriting, "Holy Diver"'s stunning quality and consistency owed much to Dio's carefully chosen bandmates, including powerhouse drummer (and fellow BLACK SABBATH survivor) Vinny Appice, veteran bassist Jimmy Bain, and a phenomenal find in young Irish guitarist Vivian Campbell, whose tastefully pyrotechnic leads helped make this the definitive DIO lineup. The group entered the studio to record their debut album in early 1983. Produced by Ronnie James Dio, "Holy Diver" consists of nine original cuts penned by the singer and various band members. Included are such distinctive DIO cuts as "Stand Up And Shout", "Straight Through The Heart", the title track and the concert favorite "Rainbow In The Dark".

Hailed by critics as DIO's best work, the album was eventually certified platinum in the U.S. The CD contains a two-page spread copy of the photo-montage LP liner with images from both RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH days that was included in the original vinyl release.

Metal Gods TV conducted an interview with Los Angeles thrashers WARBRINGER at U.K.'s Hard Rock Hell V festival, which took place December 1-4, 2011 at Pontins in Prestatyn, North Wales. You can now watch the chat below.

WARBRINGER's third album, "Worlds Torn Asunder", sold around 2,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD landed at position No. 11 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

WARBRINGER's sophomore CD, "Waking Into Nightmares", also opened with around 2,000 units back in May 2009 to debut at No. 14 on the Heatseekers chart.

"Worlds Torn Asunder" was produced and mixed by Steve Evetts (SUICIDE SILENCE, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SYMPHONY X), and features artwork by Dan Seagrave, who designed WARBRINGER's previous album cover (in addition to art for bands such as ENTOMBED, SUFFOCATION and MORBID ANGEL).

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper and his band performed on New Year's Eve at Mala Wailea, the famous oceanfront restaurant that is lobby level at Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, in Hawaii, on a bill that included "Weird Al" Yankovic, Pat Simmons and Michael McDonald of DOOBIE BROTHERS and Bob Rock. Comedian Tom Arnold will act as emcee at the event, which benefits the Maui Food Bank and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Joining Alice on stage for a performance of THE BEATLES classic "Come Together" was AEROSMITH frontman Steven Tyler. Tyler also sang AEROSMITH's "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way".

Video footage of the "Come Together" performance can be seen below.

IRON MAIDEN's official web site has been updated with the following message:

"Something of primal interest to all MAIDEN fans … Monday, January 2nd at 9 p.m. GMT [4 p.m. EST]."

The band added on Twitter, "It's not a tour announcement and it's not a DVD announcement either. It will be something brought to you by the letter H...."

IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson told Daily Star last summer that the band will make "at least one more album" to follow 2010's acclaimed "The Final Frontier".

Dickinson revealed that the bandmembers often struggle during the songwriting process, explaining: "We try to keep things on an even keel. Being English, we still have some reserve when we're communicating ideas to each other.

"[In the old days] we'd have a stand-up knock-down fight about anything. But we know each other better now and people do mellow."

He added, "[When it's time to write an album] we go off on our own, scribble ideas into our notebooks and come back to throw everything into the melting pot.

"We know the boundaries of what we can do musically.

"We're not the kind of band who could say, 'Hey, let's do an album with Kanye West,' because that wouldn’t interest MAIDEN fans at all.

"Things have been going a bit more prog-rock on our recent albums and the fans seem to love that."

"The Final Frontier" sold 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 4.

IRON MAIDEN's previous album, 2006's "A Matter Of Life And Death", opened with 56,000 units to land at No. 9. This was a notable increase from the 40,000 first-week tally registered by its predecessor, 2003's "Dance of Death" (which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart), and that of "Brave New World", which moved 38,000 copies in June 2000 to land at No. 39 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"The Final Frontier" was IRON MAIDEN's fourth U.K. No. 1 album. The band previously topped the chart in 1982 with "The Number of the Beast", in 1988 with "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" and in 1992 with "Fear of the Dark".

"The Final Frontier" was released in North America on August 17, 2010 via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). The effort was made available in a unique limited-edition collectors' "Mission Edition" CD case and features access to extra bonus content, including the director's cut of a video for the edited version of the opening song on the album, entitled "Satellite 15... The Final Frontier"; band "Mission Debrief" interview footage; wallpapers; photos; and the exclusive game "Mission II : Rescue & Revenge". MAIDEN also for the first time made the album available as an iTunes LP with bonus content as well as the traditional digital format. There is also a limited-edition double picture disc.

Kalamazoo Gazette has uploaded video footage (see below) of Jason Newsted, who played 15 years with the heavy metal band METALLICA, and Gary Kyes, paralyzed in a car crash, reminiscing in Kyes' recording studio at his Richland, Michigan-area home. The two became friends when both attended Gull Lake High School in the late 1970s.

Connie Kyes-Myland, Kyes' younger sister, moved from Indiana to Grand Rapids in June to help care for her brother, who was nearly killed in a car crash in 1992. She said Newsted and Kyes have been "good medicine for each other." Her family refers to Newsted as "Uncle Jason," a devoted family friend who stayed in close contact despite his celebrity status.

"He's Jason, and I wouldn't expect fame and fortune to change him. ... He's true to the core and that doesn't change with money, fame and rock 'n' roll," she said.

"Jason, being on the road, really kept Gary going," Kyes-Myland said. "There have been many times when everything sort of piles up on him, and lo and behold, it's time for Jason to visit. And boom, it's the shot in the arm Gary needed."

Read the entire article from Kalamazoo Gazette.

Swedish metallers SABATON have set "Carolus Rex" as the title of their new album, tentateively due at the end of May via Nuclear Blast Records.

Commented the band: "We felt it was time for America to get something of a special show and this time the release party will be in Los Angeles, California [on May 23 at the Key Club in West Hollywood]. This show will be the only U.S. West Coast show and it will be the world premiere of new songs."

SABATON will embark on a North American headlining tour in the spring. The "Swedish Empire Tour 2012" will kick off on April 10 in Tampa, Florida.

SABATON bassist Pär Sundström was forced to sit out several shows on the Canadian leg of the band's most recent North American tour due to a knee injury.

"World War Live: Battle Of The Baltic Sea", the first-ever live album from SABATON, was released on August 5, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Northern Fury conducted separate interviews with bassist Martin Mendez of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH and guitarist/co-founder Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström of Swedish dark rockers KATATONIA on October 16, 2011 in Portland, Oregon. You can now watch the resulting footage below.

OPETH's new album, "Heritage", sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 19 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous studio CD, 2008's "Watershed", opened with more than 19,000 units to land at No. 23.

"Watershed" was the follow-up to the band's acclaimed "Ghost Reveries" CD, which debuted at No. 64 on the Billboard chart back in September 2005 with first-week sales of just under 15,000.

OPETH's 2003 album, "Damnation", premiered with a little over 5,000 copies.

KATATONIA played four shows in Scandinavia last month, hitting the capital cites of Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki and, of course, the band's hometown of Stockholm. The concerts, which were part of the 20th-anniversary "Last Fair Day Gone Night Tour 2011", saw the band perform two sets. The first set consisted of a performance of the entire "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" album front to back. The second set was a mixture of carefully picked songs from the band's extensive catalogue.

KATATONIA's May 6, 2011 concert at Koko in London, England was professionally filmed/recorded for a future DVD release.

KATATONIA released special editions of the critically acclaimed albums "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Night Is The New Day" on April 25. The 10th-anniversary edition "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" was presented in deluxe mediabook packaging, as a two-disc edition containing tracks from the now hard-to-find singles "Teargas" and "Tonight's Music". The reissue of 2009's "Night Is The New Day" includes bonus tracks from the "The Longest Year" EP. Both titles were presented with newly updated cover artwork courtesy of original artist Travis Smith.

Video footage of the billboard promoting VAN HALEN's upcoming album, which was displayed in Times Square in New York City last night for New Year's Eve celebrations, can be seen below.

An estimated one million people flooded the crossroads of the world last night to watch the ball drop and ring in 2012.

An additional estimated 100 million more in the U.S. and a billion people worldwide watched the festivities on TV.

VAN HALEN will announce the first details of its upcoming tour on January 3, with tickets set to go on sale a week later. The band's much-anticipated new album — which will be the band's first with original singer David Lee Roth in 28 years — will arrive on February 7, with the first single and video set to premiere on January 10.

VAN HALEN didn't just use the Roxy nightclub on Hollywood's Sunset Strip to shoot a music video. According to a post at the venue's web site, the reunited band has been rehearsing there for their upcoming tour for the past two months.

The November 14 shoot was reportedly for a video for the song that the band is seen but not heard playing in the tour announcement clip.

VAN HALEN's new record deal with Interscope was finalized in November and marks the first time the band has recorded away from Warner Bros. Records, which signed the group in 1977.

VAN HALEN reunited with Roth in 2007 for a successful year-long reunion tour — minus original bassist Michael Anthony, who now plays with ex-VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar in CHICKENFOOT.

Quality multi-camera video footage of EXODUS' performance at a special concert in celebration of EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt and Lisa Perticone's wedding can be seen below. The event took place on September 24, 2011 at Avalon in Santa Clara, California, and featured additional appearances by HEATHEN, DEATH ANGEL, MIDNIGHT CHASER, SEVERED FIFTH, ANGERHEAD, MAD AT SAM, DEADLANDS, ANTI-MORTEM and COFFIN HUNTER. Making a surprise appearance with EXODUS during the concert was the band's former guitarist Rick Hunolt, who left the group in 2005 in order to focus on his family life.

Holt has two daughters from previous relationships. Perticone has a teenage daughter. The two are currently residing in Pinole, California.

Holt has spent the last few months filling in for SLAYER founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman who in January contracted necrotizing fasciitis, likely caused by a spider bite, and has been undergoing surgeries, skin grafts and intense rehab since.

EXODUS's latest album, "Exhibit B: The Human Condition", was released in North America on May 18, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.

North Carolina's DAYLIGHT DIES has issued the following update:

"On the new album front, we've now completed guitar leads, rhythms, drums and bass guitar and clean guitar are halfway done. We'll wrap everything up in early 2012 and hopefully have a clearer idea for a release date then. Our goal is the first half of 2012. We are thrilled with how everything is sounding so far."

As previously reported, DAYLIGHT DIES's new material is its most varied yet, due in part to bassist Egan O'Rourke's "significant songwriting contributions" this time around.

DAYLIGHT DIES played three shows in Europe in December — including at the third edition of the Madrid Is The Dark festival on December 8-10 at the Old School venue in Getafe, Spain.

DAYLIGHT DIES's latest album, "Lost To The Living", was released in the U.S. in June 2008 via Candlelight Records. The CD features captivatingly dark original artwork from renowned artist Travis Smith, who has worked with the band before and whose other previous collaborations include OPETH, ANATHEMA and KATATONIA.

The cover artwork for "Portals To Canaan", the forthcoming ninth album from California extreme metallers DEEDS OF FLESH, can be seen below.

Due in early 2012 via Unique Leader Records, "Portals to Canaan" will feature "amazing artwork and numerous conceptual pieces" by Raymond Swanland.

A pre-production teaser for "Portals To Canaan" can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

Commented the band: "This is only guitar one and drum mapping (no second guitar, leads or vocals) to give the fans an idea of whats to come."

DEEDS OF FLESH recently parted ways with guitarist Sean Southern due to "personal reasons" and have replaced him with Craig Peters (ARKAIK).

DEEDS OF FLESH is:

Erik Lindmark - Guitar/Vocals
Michael Hamilton - Drums
Erlened Caspersen - Bass
Craig Peters - Lead Guitar/Vocals
Corey Athos - Vocals

DEEDS OF FLESH's last CD, "Of What's to Come", came out in November 2008 via Unique Leader. The label previously described the follow-up to 2005's "Crown Of Souls" as "nothing short of a masterpiece, combining the usual DEEDS OF FLESH sound with many added new elements, twisted and memorable guitar riffs and lead work, blistering drums, powerful vocals and mind-blowing bass lines."

Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, STEVE VAI, LAMB OF GOD, DARKEST HOUR, GWAR) played four shows in London in November 2011 dedicated to his tetralogy album concept — a great journey through Devin's different states of musical moods — which he started in 2009 with the albums "Addicted" (2009) and "Ki" (2009) and finished with last year's "Deconstruction" and "Ghost". The concerts were professionally recorded and filmed for a unique four-disc DVD release, which is tentatively due in July. Devin states, "I love being able to make huge projects. In this age, it's essential."

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT released "Contain Us", a special tribute box set for its epic quadrology ("Ki", "Addicted", "Deconstruction" and "Ghost") on November 29 in North America. "Contain Us" was designed and created by Man Alive's Tom Bejgrowicz (who also conceived the classic and must-have MISFITS "Coffin" box-set) and is the ultimate collection for every diehard Devin fan. The standard box-set is priced at $80.00 while the hand-numbered box with the 10" and a lithograph drawn and autographed by Devin is $100.

According to People.com, Geoff Tate, the frontman for progressive metal band QUEENSRŸCHE, surprised "American Idol" finalist James Durbin and James' longtime love Heidi Lowe with a performance of his band's 1984 classic "Take Hold Of The Flame" — one of Durbin and Lowe's favorite tunes — at the couple's wedding New Year's Eve in a chapel at the edge of a redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Other guests included Durbin's fellow "Idol" Season 10 alums Haley Reinhart, Stefano Langone and Casey Abrams.

Durbin's debut solo album, "Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster", sold around 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 36 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster" was released on November 21 via Wind-Up Records. The CD includes a guest appearance by Mick Mars of MÖTLEY CRÜE, as well contributions from songwriters James Michael (SIXX: A.M., MÖTLEY CRÜE) and Marti Frederiksen (AEROSMITH, BUCKCHERRY, OZZY OSBOURNE), along with Swedish rock band HARDCORE SUPERSTAR.