A short audio clip of MANOWAR bassist Joey DeMaio talking about the song "Manowarriors" from the band's twelfth studio album, "The Lord Of Steel", can be streamed below.

The retail edition of "The Lord Of Steel", originally scheduled for September 28, will now hit the stores on October 19 on CD, limited-edition picture vinyl and as digital album.

"The Lord Of Steel" was made available earlier this summer as a limited-edition pre-release as the "Hammer Edition" in collaboration with U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine.

The retail edition of "The Lord Of Steel" will feature different mixes and mastering, an additional song, spectacular new art by fantasy artist Ken Kelly, and other surprises.

"MANOWAR have always dared to do things differently. You have to look at these two versions like a movie that comes out in alternate versions; a director's cut or alternate endings or stories even told from different perspectives," explained Joey DeMaio. "For those of you who enjoyed the first taste of 'The Lord Of Steel', meaning the Metal Hammer version, I can tell you that the forthcoming 'The Lord Of Steel' release on Magic Circle Entertainment will be even more unique and yes, more brutal," he continued.

Described by the press as "a brutal and unstoppable force of molten metal" and "flawlessly heavy," "The Lord Of Steel" is a raw-to-the-bone production, merging vintage elements with the trademark sound MANOWAR have developed over the years.

"When you have to make room for literally hundreds of other instruments such as orchestras, choirs, marching armies on 'Gods Of War', for example, you have to create sonic space for that. The fewer instruments you have the louder they can be individually. As an artist you want to give your audience new experiences. This is not 'elevator music.' This is an album that hits you hard right between the eyes and does not let up," said Joey DeMaio.

For their twelfth studio album, MANOWAR have tapped into the world of action heroes and their stories, writing their first song specifically for a Hollywood movie, "El Gringo", and another one, "Expendable", inspired by Sylvester Stallone's action movie franchise "The Expendables". The band has meanwhile confirmed their next movie project, "Soldiers", for "The Expendables 2" star Jean-Claude Van Damme.

From the furious title track and the pumping "Black List", to the power ballad "Righteous Glory" and the Ennio Morricone homage "El Gringo" — "The Lord Of Steel" is full of surprises.

"The Lord Of Steel" (retail edition) will be mixed and mastered by longtime collaborators, mixing engineer Ronald Prent and two-time Grammy-award-winning mastering engineer Darcy Proper.

Coinciding with the release of the album, MANOWAR will kick off "The Lord Of Steel" world tour, with first shows in October and November, in Europe and the United States.

DeMaio was interviewed on the September 28 edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

"Manowarriors" description + audio snippet:



"Touch The Sky" description + audio snippet:



"Friday Night Rocks" interview with Joey DeMaio:

Fan-filmed video footage of former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach performing with SIN CITY SINNERS on September 26 at Vinyl at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen below.

SIN CITY SINNERS earlier in the year announced its newest addition, actor/musician Zach Throne. Zach joins original SINNERS Todd Kerns (SLASH), Brent Muscat (FASTER PUSSYCAT) and Rob Cournoyer (RAGING SLAB).

SIN CITY SINNERS released its third album, "A Sinners' Christmas" late last year. It was recorded, mixed and mastered at Hit Track Studios in Las Vegas and produced by Brent Muscat and Tom Parham, and executive-produced by Jason Green.

In 2010, SIN CITY SINNERS released two CDs of original music, "Exile on Fremont Street" and the all-acoustic "Broken Record". The SINNERS' music video, "Goin' To Vegas", received the 32nd annual Telly Award and the track "Numb" was nominated for an AVN award for "Best Original Song".

Neuweltmusic conducted an interview with Arizona extreme metallers JOB FOR A COWBOY on September 22 in a back street near The Pint in Dublin, Ireland during the band's "The Womb To Waste Tour" with DYING FETUS. You can now watch the chat below.

JOB FOR A COWBOY's new album, "Demonocracy", sold 4,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 87 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's sophomore full-length CD, "Ruination", opened with around 10,600 units back in July 2009 to land at No. 42.

Released on April 10 via Metal Blade Records, "Demonocracy" was produced by Jason Seucof (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL, TRIVIUM) who recorded the band's blistering "Ruination" full-length, at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida, and features another strikingly detailed concept cover by artist Brent Elliott White.

On August 24, Alvashredd of Capital Chaos conducted an interview with progressive rock/cutting-edge metal innovators BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME at the San Francisco stop of the 2012 Summer Slaughter Tour. You can now watch the chat in two parts below.

Audio samples of all the tracks that are set to appear on "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", the new album from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, can be stramed in the YouTube clip below. Due on October 9 via Metal Blade Records, the CD, which clocks in at approximately 72 minutes, features artwork from Charlotte, North Carolina artist and designer Chandler Owen (UNDEROATH, SHAI HULUD, HOPESFALL).

"The Parallax II: Future Sequence" was recorded at The Basement Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with longtime friend of the band and producer Jamie King. Jamie engineered, mixed and mastered "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", which makes this the sixth release Jamie and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME have worked together on.

"The Parallax II: Future Sequence" track listing:

01. Goodbye To Everything
02. Astral Body
03. Lay Your Ghosts to Rest
04. Autumn
05. Extremophile Elite
06. Parallax
07. The Black Box
08. Telos
09. Bloom
10. Melting City
11. Silent Flight Parliament
12. Goodbye to Everything Reprise

Regarding the concept of "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", the new full-length album picks up where the 2011 EP, "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues", left off.

"The two main characters of the story take on a journey through space and time with the unenviable task of having to cure the flaws of humanity by any means necessary," comments guitarist Paul Waggoner. "While the EP served mostly as an introduction to the characters, 'Future Sequence' contains the action of the story. The lyrics are written in the stream of consciousness style, which really helps to capture the perspective and emotion of the characters. We really enjoyed the challenge of writing this record, and I think we were all pleasantly surprised with how well the music and lyrics jived with one another. I couldn't be happier with how 'Future Sequence' turned out."

Vocalist and keyboardist Tommy Rogers adds his thoughts on the musical direction of "The Parallax II: Future Sequence": "This album is BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME on steroids. I feel like we have created an album that perfectly mirrors the band we've been trying to create since day one. An album that has sounds that will stimulate many genres and music fans alike. A conceptual journey that takes the listener to worlds that seem familiar and worlds that make you scratch your head. From start to finish this is music we want to create, not music we think people want us to create. We create songs that keep us (and hopefully you) excited about heavy music. Keep listening… something new will be there each time. Enjoy the music… we enjoyed writing it."

Part 1:



Part 2:



"The Parallax II: Future Sequence" audio samples:

Photo credit: Justin Reich

KISS' hit song "I Was Made For Loving You" is featured in the new commercial for the U.K. coffee brand Costa. In the one-minute spot, which can be seen below, dozens of men and women, including genuine Costa baristas, are seen buried up to their necks in a sea of coffee beans while singing along to the KISS track.

The campaign, created by Karmarama, is running across TV, print, digital and in-store, and will culminate in a user-generated TV ad.

An app allows Costa fans to record and upload videos of themselves singing along to the song, with the winning performances featuring in a later TV ad.

The work was created by Sam Walker and Joe De Souza, and directed by Sam Brown through Rogue. Post-production was by The Mill, while GCRS oversaw audio post-production.

With over 1390 coffee shops across the U.K. and more than 800 internationally, Costa is a global success story with a growing network of retail sites.

Legendary hard rock singer Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TALISMAN, JOURNEY) joined KAMELOT on stage this past Friday, October 5 at The Grove Of Anaheim in Anaheim, California to perform the song "Ghost Opera". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

KAMELOT's new album, "Silverthorn", will be released on October 30 in North America, October 26 in Germany and October 29 in the rest of Europe via Steamhammer/SPV. The CD will mark the band's first release with singer Tommy Karevik, the 30-year-old Swede who previously fronted SEVENTH WONDER (a group that he is still a member of).

KAMELOT recently filmed a video for the song "Sacrimony (Angel Of Afterlife)", in Belgrade, Serbia with director Ivan Colic, who has previously worked with MOONSPELL, SOILWORK, HAMMERFALL, TYPE O NEGATIVE and SYMPHONY X, among others. The clip, which features guest appearances by Elize Ryd (AMARANTHE) and Alissa White-Gluz (THE AGONIST), is expected to make its online debut in a few weeks. Alissa's cameo was filmed by Von Wong Photography at Studio Newreel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.



Pictured below (left to right): Thomas Youngblood (KAMELOT guitarist), Jeff Scott Soto, Casey Grillo (KAMELOT drummer)

Valerie Bastien of RockSource360.com recently conducted an interview with Todd Kerns, the bassist and backup vocalist in Slash's band as well as a member of SIN CITY SINNERS. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

Interview (audio):



In a recent interview with The Belleville Intelligencer, Kerns stated about how far Slash is removed from being a wild and crazy, egomanical rock diva: "We're talking about a guy who is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and has those millions of albums sold, and has worked with everyone from Fergie, to Michael Jackson and QUEEN ... it really doesn't get much bigger in a lot of ways. For all those things, he could be a total monster and a totally awful person, although we would all still put up with it because of all those accomplishments. But he is not. He is one of the kindest people I know. And I am always afraid of saying things like that for fear that it somehow blows an image of him, like he wants to come off as a little darker or a little heavier. He is a serious man, and he is incredibly focused and incredibly driven at a time in his life and career when he really doesn't need to ne. He could be one of those guys that just phones it in. In a lot of ways, I think he is playing better than he ever did. And I think it's a case of him still trying to dig deep and carving out new things and new challenges for himself."

Regarding how much he and drummer Brent Fritz are seen as part of Slash's band, and not simply hired guns, Todd said: "Even when we did the 'Live At Stoke' live CD and DVD, I didn't anticipate it being anything more than a photo of Slash and probably Myles on the cover and inside, because it was always billed as Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and I knew that walking in. Slash is an icon and Myles is a multi-platinum selling artist and has accomplished a great deal on his own. I always knew my place and I am okay with my place. And then all of a sudden they put out this live album and our photos are in it and we're listed as part of the band."

"Tales From The Stage Volume 1" author Michael Toney (web site) recently conducted an interview with former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick. They discuss Bruce's tenure with each band, going backstage at KISS shows, and demystifying the role that Mark St. John's hand ailment played in having him being removed from KISS. You can now watch the chat below.

In 1984, Bruce joined KISS, where he remained as their lead guitarist for twelve years, accompanying the band on the "Animalize" tour and continuing with the band until the 1996 reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on "Kissology – Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3", the band's DVDs spanning their historic 35-year career.

Kulick's third solo album, "BK3", was released in Europe in January 2010 via Frontiers Records and in North America in February 2010 through Twenty 4 Records/Rocket Science Ventures. The first single from the album, "Hand Of The King", featuring Nick Simmons (son of KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons), was a digital-only release available at all online music stores, including iTunes.

Drum-cam footage of ANTHRAX's Charlie Benante performing the band's classic song "Caught In A Mosh" during on one of their recent concerts can be seen below.

In a 2011 interview with Roxwel, Benante spoke about ANTHRAX's latest studio album, "Worship Music", which saw the light of day in September 2011 — eight years after its predecessor, "We've Come For You All". Singer Joey Belladonna's return to the band prompted some of the songs originally recorded with previous vocalist Dan Nelson to be re-crafted with fresh lyrics or tweaked to better suit his overall vibe and energy. Some of the songs were completely replaced with brand-new songs and all have Belladonna's inimitable vocal stamp on them.

"It's hard to take these songs and not listen to it as a whole piece," Charlie said. "Because there's thrash elements on the record, there's definitely newer-sounding songs on the record. But there is a reason for some of the thrashier songs, and that's just what we were feeling — a lack of it. So those songs just naturally came out. Like 'Earth On Hell', I remember having this idea for that song in my head, and it was just this fast riff. And I was, like, 'Woah, here we go. I'm glad it's going back that way.' But it wasn't intentional; it just happened that way."

ANTHRAX recently spent time in the studio recording several cover versions of some of their favorite rock classics, to be included with the upcoming re-release of "Worship Music".

In addition to RUSH and BOSTON covers, ANTHRAX is also recording its versions of AC/DC's "T.N.T.", JOURNEY's "Keep On Runnin'" and BLACK SABBATH's "Neon Knights". The latter song is expected to appear on the upcoming Ronnie James Dio tribute album which is being assembled by the singer's widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio.

STATIC-X has been forced to cancel the remaining dates of its 2012 "Noise Revolution Tour" following last night's (Saturday, October 6) final show in Flint, Michigan. According to a press release, the band's frontman, Wayne Static, "must return to Los Angeles and prepare for some medical procedures to remedy problems that have been hampering his performance."

Says Wayne: "I'm so sorry to all my fans but I cant give you the 1000% you deserve from STATIC-X every night right now. Evil disco will continue in 2013. Just wait until you see what's next!!!"

EMMURE and ILL NIÑO — who were providing support on the "Noise Revolution Tour"— will continue with the currently scheduled dates.

STATIC-X's next performances will take place in Lancaster, California on October 27 and om Ventura, California on October 28.

Affected tour dates (Note: EMMURE and ILL NIÑO will still be playing these shows):

Oct. 07 - Portage, IN @ Camelot Arena
Oct. 09 - Fayetteville, AR @ George's Majestic Theater
Oct. 11 - Shreveport, LA @ Riverside Warehouse
Oct. 12 - Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music Hall
Oct. 13 - Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
Oct. 15 - Farmington, NM @ Top Deck
Oct. 17 - Lubbock, TX @ Cactus Courtyard

Bassist Brent Ashley left STATIC-X last month. His final show with the band took place on September 1 at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood, California. He wrote on his Facebook page, "[I] wish things would have ended differently, but I'm very excited for what the future will bring." He added on Twitter, "Being the professional that I am, I won't call anyone out or point fingers as to why I left. But, if ya meet me in person … feel free to ask."

Original STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos — who is currently on the road with SOULFLY — issued a statement in July indicating that he had "no interest in working with [STATIC-X frontman] Wayne Static, now, or anytime in the foreseeable future."

Regarding his decision to resurrect STATIC-X, Wayne said, "I really just wanted to go back to old-school STATIC-X since the band has been gone for a few years. The last tour I was on I did a lot of my solo stuff, and I'm ready to get back to old-school STATIC-X stuff, which is actually new again."

STATIC-X's recent trek marked the band's first outing since they announced a hiatus in 2009.

Ex-OZZY OSBOURNE/BADLANDS guitarist Jake E. Lee is back after over a decade in seclusion. In great shape mentally, physically and spiritually, Jake is ready to return and bring his brand of unique playing and music to the world.

In the process of recording his new album at Las Vegas' The Hideout Studios — owned and operated by Kevin Churko (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, IN THIS MOMENT) — Lee's first new release will feature a combination of legendary rock artists and some of the biggest names of new metal. Already recorded are guest appearances by Robin Zander (CHEAP TRICK), Paul Di'Anno (IRON MAIDEN), Maria Brink (IN THIS MOMENT), with many other big names attached to the project.

Jake has launched search for a new vocalist who will sing at least one track on the new album and will join Lee on a world tour starting in late spring 2013.

Criteria: Must be capable of singing a couple of OZZY OSBOURNE and BADLANDS songs, plus tracks from Lee's new album while still having a strong enough identity to be able carry the band into the future, as Jake will head straight back into the studio after the touring to begin a new album with the new band.

What to do: Send an email to Ronnie@HideoutLV.com containing an MP3, or a link to an MP3 of yourself singing a OZZY OSBOURNE or BADLANDS songs. Then submit one other song or video of your choosing that you feel best represents who you are as an artist. Listen to BADLANDS' "High Wire" to see the range required for this gig. Only those vocalists that really fit what Lee is looking for will be contacted with further instructions.

Lee's new solo album is being recorded with the help of guitarist Ronnie Mancuso of BEGGARS & THIEVES, whose 2011 video, "We Come Undone", featured an appearance by Jake.

According to the All Music Guide, Lee helped Ozzy Osbourne score two of the most commercially successful releases of the singer's long and illustrious career — 1983's "Bark at the Moon" and 1986's "The Ultimate Sin". Lee eventually joined up with another former BLACK SABBATH singer (albeit briefly), Ray Gillen, and formed the LED ZEPPELIN/classic rock-esque outfit BADLANDS. Subsequently, Lee played briefly with a band called WICKED ALLIANCE before setting off on his own, issuing his solo debut, "A Fine Pink Mist", in August of 1996.

Jake E. Lee's "covers" album, "Retraced", was released in the U.S. in April 2005 via Shrapnel Records. All the songs were recorded in a "power trio" format ala BADLANDS and the tracks for the project were cover songs along that style (bluesy power rock).

"Solar Plexus", the new video from São Paulo, Brazil-based metallers KAMALA, can be seen below. The clip was created by Studio Kaiowas and it features the band performing on three different planets.

"Solar Plexus" comes off KAMALA's third studio album, "The Deadly Seven Chakras", which was eleased earlier in the year via MS Metal Records. The CD is a concept album that explores the seven human chakras and the seven deadly sins, where one side strives for balance, while the other tries to break it. The cover artwork, which features the Brazilian adult-film actress Bruna Vieira, was created by Luiz Moura, who previously worked with KAMALA on the band's first two albums, 2007's "Kamala" and 2009's "Fractal".

"The Deadly Seven Chakras" track listing:

01. Envy
02. Gluttony
03. Root
04. Heart
05. Solar Plexus
06. Third Eye
07. Greed
08. Pride
09. Sloth
10. Sacral
11. Lust
12. Wrath
13. Throat
14. Crown

For some people there is no one single moment they can point to when they knew their calling in life. Instead, there are various moments, spread out over a lifetime, that continually propel them toward a goal, refueling their fire along the way. For Zoltan Bathory of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH there is no one "Beacon Moment", but a series of steady reminders that making music is the greatest job in the world. Check out the clip below.

The "Beacon Moment" is a decision, experience or choice that shapes the outcome of the rest of your life.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's third album, "American Capitalist", was certified gold last month by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies. Not only is it the band's third album, but it is the third consecutive release from the group to reach the gold mark, with previous efforts "The Way Of The Fist" and "War Is The Answer" also selling more than half a million copies each. "American Capitalist" debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart when it came out in October 2011.

Bathory said in a statement, ""I think it's a huge win for all of us, not just for us as a band but for the entire genre of hard rock and heavy metal. This is a loud and clear indicator that heavy music is in demand and if a relatively new band like us can accomplish something like this, then maybe be this is just the prelude for the shape of things to come."

Bathory told The Pulse Of Radio that staying focused is the key to FIVE FINGER's success. "I think the idea of 'rock star' has changed in the last two decades," he said. "The whole idea of like, 'hey, let's party, let's drink or do stuff that's stupid' doesn't work. It's a different world now. You have to be really conscious of what's happening, because it's so much harder now. You really have to work for it, you really have to know what you're doing, you have to be aggressive, goal-oriented, and you have to have a head on your shoulders, or it's just not gonna happen."

The band has also sold 3.6 million copies total of its various singles, which include recent chart-topper "Coming Down", "Never Enough", "Hard To See", "Bad Company", "Under And Over It", "Remember Everything" and others.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's most recent tour was this past summer's Trespass America trek, also featuring KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, POP EVIL and others. The band next performs on the ShipRocked cruise from November 27 through December 1, with GODSMACK, KORN, SEVENDUST and more.

Superskum.com conducted an interview with guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö of German/Finnish thrashers KREATOR on September 18 at Gothic Theatre in Englewood, Colorado during the band's North American "Teutonic Terror Attack" tour with ACCEPT. You can now watch the chat below. Also available is high-quality performance footage of the Colorado concert.

After the"North American Teutonic Terror Attack" tour, KREATOR will film a video for the song "From Flood Into Fire", and will stay on the road in Europe until the end of the year.

KREATOR's new album, "Phantom Antichrist", sold 3,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at No. 1 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.

Released on June 1 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records, "Phantom Antichrist" was recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with renowned producer Jens Bogren (OPETH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK, DEVIN TOWNSEND, AMON AMARTH).

Interview:



Performance:

Professionally filmed video footage of Belgium-based classical guitarist Thomas Zwijsen and British heavy metal singer Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) performing an acoustic set on July 27 at The Asylum in Birmingham, England can be seen below.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Lord Of The Flies (IRON MAIDEN)
02. The Launch
03. Truth Is Revealed
04. Meant To Be
05. Stare At The Sun
06. I Like It Hot (WOLFSBANE)
07. One More Step
08. Man On The Edge (IRON MAIDEN)
09. Como Estais Amigos (IRON MAIDEN)
10. Doctor Doctor (UFO)

Bayley is working on songs for a new classical EP with Zwijsen. The five-song effort will include a "full classical guitar arrangement" of the IRON MAIDEN song "Sign Of The Cross", which the duo performed on their recent U.K. acoustic tour.

Zwijsen previously recorded an acoustic IRON MAIDEN tribute album called "Nylon Maiden", which featured a guest appearance by Bayley on a cover version of "The Clansman".

Zwijsen is one of the musicians who backed Bayley on Blaze's most recent European "The King Of Metal" tour.

Bayley's new studio album, "The King Of Metal", was released in March. The CD was recorded at Fear Studio in Ravenna, Italy.

The 49-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left in 1994 to replace Bruce Dickinson as the lead singer of IRON MAIDEN.

A reunited WOLFSBANE released its first record in 17 years in April 2011. Entitled "Did It For The Money", it contained the brand new title track along with re-recordings of four old WOLFSBANE numbers. A full-length album, "Wolfsbane Save The World", followed in January.

"Blood & Guts", the Nerdist YouTube channel web series hosted by ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, premiered on October 3. In the series' premiere episode (see below), join Ian as he spends a day with legendary FX artist Greg Nicotero in his KNB EFX studio. See Nicotero's vast prop collection from throughout his career and also experience an awe-inspiring bit of blood and guts.

"I've been neck-deep in blood and guts for the last 30 years playing in ANTHRAX," stated Scott Ian, "so I couldn't be more excited to be hosting a show called 'Blood & Guts' for you horror and metal fans."

When asked how his collaboration with Nerdist came about, Ian told Nerdist.com, "Just out of the blue last week, [Nerdist founder] Chris [Hardwick] hit me up and asked me if it was something I'd be interested in. He felt my personality was right for this. I guess the backstory on it would be that when they first came up with the idea for 'Talking Dead', I got a call about shooting the pilot, and my job was field reporter. What they did for my segment was send me out to the set of one of the webisodes, and then Greg Nicotero and his team made me up as a zombie and I got to be a walker. I had closeups and everything in the webisode. When it got picked up, they didn't keep me as field reporter — that position, I guess, wasn't something they were gonna move forward with — but Chris just kept it in the back of his mind. I can only assume that when Nerdist and Fangoria had the idea to do this show, Chris said I'd be the right guy to be going out and hosting these things because of the bit I did on 'Talking Dead'."

On the topic of his favorite horror make-up moments of all time, Ian said, "The first thing to pop into my mind is when Tom Savini gets torn apart in 'Dawn Of The Dead'. That scared me as a kid and I guess you could kinda say it stayed with me in a good way. The scene in 'Scanners' when his head blows up, that's a classic. Anything in 'Evil Dead' or 'Evil Dead 2'. I know I mentioned this, but I just watched 'Drive' last week and that scene where she gets her head blown off is straight out of an '80s horror movie. The movie's not necessarily slow, but very Michael Mann, '80s kinda pacing, very moody and all that — and then all of a sudden that hotel-room scene happens and you're just, like, 'Holy crap!' and then from there it's just 100 miles an hour. I was blown away with that movie."

Users can subscribe to the Nerdist Channel here.

Neuweltmusic conducted an interview with Finnish heavy rockers AMORAL prior to the band's September 20 concert at The Button Factory in Dublin, Ireland as the support act for ENSIFERUM. You can now watch the chat below.

AMORAL's fifth album, "Beneath", entered the official chart in Finland at position No. 30. Released on October 26, 2011, the CD came equipped with a stunning 18-page poster booklet (made by Spanish artist Marta Nael), expanding the cover artwork into all its glory.

"Beneath" was recorded at Sound Supreme studios in Hämeenlinna, Finland, and was produced by Janne Saksa and guitarist Ben Varon.

"I'd describe the album as 'three steps forward, one step back,'" Varon previously said. "There are several nods to our past in form of long songs, intricate riffs and growling vocals. But the main focus is still on the strong melodies, big choruses and catchy riffs, just as was on our last album, 'Show Your Colors'."

"Beneath" marked the recording debut of AMORAL's new guitarist Masi Hukari. Hukari — who joined the group late in the songwriting process — immediately wrote two songs together with Varon, both which ended up on the album.

TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider has revealed via Twitter that he has entered a "major" new reality-TV venture, the details of which will be announced on Friday, October 12 on NBC's "Today" show.

Snider is no stranger to reality TV, having previously participated in "Wife Swap", "The Celebrity Apprentice" and his own A&E series, "Growing Up Twisted". In 2008, Snider was also featured as a contestant on CMT's "Gone Country".

During his time on "The Celebrity Apprentice", Snider raised $326,000 for his charity of choice, March Of Dimes.

In May, Snider released both a memoir, "Shut Up And Give Me The Mic", and a showtunes album, "Dee Does Broadway".

On October 30, Eagle Rock Entertainment will deliver an early holiday treat, with the release of TWISTED SISTER's "A Twisted Xmas - Live In Las Vegas" on DVD, CD, and Digital Video/Audio.

Sergi Ramos of Spain's TheMetalCircus.com recently conducted an interview with Geoff Tate, the legendary QUEENSRŸCHE frontman and one of the most acclaimed vocalists in the history of hard rock and heavy metal. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

Interview (audio):



On whether musical differences contributed to his split with his former bandmates in QUEENSRŸCHE:

Geoff Tate: "No, I wouldn't say that at all. Speaking about the last couple of QUEENSRŸCHE records, 'Operation: Mindcrime II' was very metal, or very hard rock. The same with 'American Soldier', our album after that. Both albums were critically acclaimed and fan favorites as well. And we toured pretty heavily on those records around the world.

"'Dedicated Chaos' was an album that Scott Rockenfield [drums] and Eddie Jackson [bass] contributed the most on of any record we've done in 15 years.

"So, no, I wouldn't say musically growing apart at all. In fact, we never even had any discussions regarding musical differences or anything like that."

On the accusations by his former bandmates that he wasn't interested in performing QUEENSRŸCHE's early material:

Geoff Tate: "Let me just try to clarify. The last tour that QUEENSRŸCHE did was a 30-year-anniversary tour, where we played songs from all of our records — all of them. And so we played old classics, songs that were considered QUEENSRŸCHE 'hits,' we played songs from every single record. So if you look at our past setlists, over the last 10 years, you'll see that QUEENSRŸCHE performed old songs and not-so-old songs and new songs in their setlist. So saying that I was not interested in playing old songs is completely untrue, 'cause I wrote most of those. Why would I not want to play them?

"[What] the other side [is doing is they're engaging in] what's called a smear campaign, where they take bits of information and they're stretching what they call the truth.

"'Dedicated To Chaos' was a very experimental record; we've done those before. 'Empire' was an experimental record. It was a pop record; it wasn't a heavy metal record. In fact, 'Operation: Mindcrime' wasn't what most people would consider a heavy metal record [either]. But the problem with 'Dedicated To Chaos' is we signed with Roadrunner Records, who were at one time a very strong record label. But when we signed with them and by the time our record came out, the company had financial difficulties and they were going out of business … and they didn't promote the record at all … So you have a complex situation where you have an experimental record, one that is designed to be more pop-radio-friendly. The record company [told us], 'Create another 'Empire' record, will you?' And we said, 'Sure.' We can write from that standpoint. We're very accomplished musicians, and we can write anything. So we set about writing a record with variables — [one] that had some very pop tracks on it. It wasn't a one-dimensional record; it was a multi-dimensional record. So we gave [the record company] what they wanted, and then they dropped the ball. They started having financial difficulties and they didn't put any money into promotion and they basically didn't sell the record. We've been in that situation before. We had a record called 'Hear In The Now Frontier' with EMI — it came out in, I guess, 1997 or something like that. It was another very similar situation. We had a very pop-oriented record and the record company at the time was going out of business. In fact, they actually went of business several weeks after they released the record. So it didn't have a chance to sell as well.

"So, kind of encapsulating my statement here, I would say that, no, I've always been interested in playing older QUEENSRŸCHE material. If you look on the Internet, you can see the setlists from past tours and you can that we played music from the EP, we've played music from 'The Warning', 'Rage For Order'… In fact, we did an entire show based around 'Rage For Order' two years ago."

On why he thinks the other guys are making claims that he wasn't interested in performing the band's early material:

Geoff Tate: "Well, they have to justify their actions. They have to have a reason why they fired me. And the reason that they're going for is that, one, I can't sing these old songs, which is ridiculous. [And] two, that I didn't want to sing these old songs, and I was not giving the fans what they wanted, which, of course, is ridiculous since I just spent the last 30 years singing all kinds of QUEENSRŸCHE songs. So the statements don't make sense, but they're a desperate tactic to justify their actions."

On whether it's been easy to get shows booked for his version of QUEENSRŸCHE, being that he is the "voice" of the band:

Geoff Tate: "Well, I'll give you a little history. It started during the spring. I was touring with an acoustic project, gearing up for my album; I was planning on touring on my solo album.

"In the past, we all had an agreement, yeah, everybody can pursue solo projects, and everybody has. Scott's done quite a few different records with different people, and so has Michael [Wilton, guitar] over the years. So I was doing mine. And they decided to put together a side project, and they called it RISING WEST. They made a lot of announcements that they were going to put together this project, and they went out and did a show. And they couldn't sell out the show; I think it was, like, 200 people or something like that. They couldn't sell it out. So they went to different promoters to see if they could do a tour, and none of the promoters would book the band. They couldn't make the kind of money that they were used to making as QUEENSRŸCHE. So that's when they fired me and they started using the name QUEENSRŸCHE — because they couldn't get any money for RISING WEST. So, from a business standpoint, their motivation was, well, I'm 25% owner in our corporations, so if they cut me out, then they get to split 25% between the three of them. So, in that sense, it probably made sense to do that, from a financial standpoint, so they could make more money. But in the big picture of things, it's ridiculous and really bad business to take a very successful band, like QUEENSRŸCHE, for example, that's been very successful for 30 years, and tear the whole thing apart and tarnish the name and devalue the brand name and then try to proceed. It makes no business sense at all. Especially at the age that all of us are. I mean, realistically, we have probably less than ten years of productive work ahead of us. So why on earth would you take something very successful, something that works very well, and destroy it? It makes no sense at all. It's greed, really. They wanted to make more money. And so they've been very busy about justifying all of their actions by putting out all this information that, oh, I can't sing anymore, I don't wanna sing heavy metal, I don't wanna sing the old material — paint this picture to justify their actions.

"Now, in the real world, which is the world that I live in, my version of QUEENSRŸCHE has had no problem getting shows. In fact, I'm getting guarantees that are equal to what QUEENSRŸCHE was getting before. So where I'm getting an equal amount of money for my show, they are not — they are getting very little money for their shows. In fact, I don't believe they're gonna be even able to tour. They might be able to go out and do a weekend show here and weekend show there, but they can't get enough money to support doing an entire tour. So it's very tragic that they've done this, and very disappointing and very hurtful, to me, and to the fans, that they've been motivated by greed and jealousy to pursue this. And I wish them the best of luck, 'cause they're gonna need it. It's a very tough market out there."

On whether he thinks the other guys' decision to kick him out of the band will backfire at some point down the line:

Geoff Tate: "Oh, it's already backfired. They're hurting pretty badly financially. In fact, they're calling my attorneys daily begging to come to some sort of mediation, because they're realizing now that they can't make a living doing what they're doing. They can get on the Internet all day and say what a bad person I am and spread all these lies about my inabilities or my dominating them and all this, and that's all very well and good, but it doesn't pay the bills. They've actually got to produce something — they've gotta make a record and they've gotta tour. And they can't financially tour, 'cause nobody wants them. I mean, first off, the people that are talking in support of them are a very small number of QUEENSRŸCHE fans, a very small segment of the big pie, so to speak. And also, Michael, I know, and Scott both have multiple Internet accounts and they go online and pose as different people and they go on Facebook and all these different social medias and they are on a smear campaign of trying to create a public opinion in a negative way for me. And it's backfiring on them now. I think people are getting tired of reading all this negative stuff. And any smart person, any person with any kind of intelligence, can just look at what they're saying and see that it's riddled with inaccuracies, exaggerations and downright lies. Saying that I don't sing the old material is a direct lie. I mean, you can look on the Internet and see the setlists from different shows. So any smart person can do that."

On whether he thinks he deserves some of the blame for allowing his relationship with his former bandmates to deteriorate so badly:

Geoff Tate: "Well, yeah, I have looked at that. I have gone over my actions, I've gone over decisions that were made in the past, I've looked at it critically, and honestly, there's nothing. We've always done things in a democratic fashion in the band, we've voted for everything we've ever done. When we get together and we decide on what we're going to do, it's all based on a vote. And there's three of them and one of me. So anytime I could have been voted down with an idea. That never happened. There was never any dissension, never anybody coming to me and saying, 'Look, I'm really unhappy with the direction of the music. I wanna do something different.' I'm always very open to experimenting and trying different things with the music. If they said, 'Look, we wanna write a more heavy album,' I would say, 'Absolutely. Let's try it. Bring the material in.'

"The problem is there's the real world and there's the not-real world. And they live in a world that doesn't exist.

"My speculation is that when you don't write a lot of material, you can't expect to write material that always pleases you. If I had to depend on Michael, Scott, Eddie and myself to write a QUEENSRŸCHE record, it would take ten years between record, because they do not write enough material; they hardly write a thing. For example, 'Operation: Mindcrime II', Michael contributed to two songs on the record, writing-wise, and the two songs that he did contribute, he wrote two parts — a bridge section and a verse section. So how can you make a record when somebody is providing such minimal input? You can't. So we have to, by contract, put out these records in a timely fashion, so the only way to do that was to recruit other people that were writing to write the record. So it's so ridiculous to think that, 'OK, well, I'm not gonna contribute any ideas to the situation, to lift a finger to be there, to record an album, or to rehearse, but what I am going to do is I'm gonna complain about it, and complain on the Internet even, that somebody else is taking and doing the work. And at the same time, I'm gonna collect all the money that's made through other people's work and then I'm gonna go on the Internet and I'm gonna take credit for all the work that other people did.' What is right about that?"

On whether he thinks the other guys made the decision to fire him after getting bad advice from various business people:

Geoff Tate: "Honestly, I have no idea. I have no idea how they came to conclusions they came to. I wasn't included in any conversation with them regarding their unhappiness, or their frustration, or anything like that. They never talked to me about it. Or they never talked to our manager about it either. They just, I guess, sat there and talked amongst themselves and talked themselves into a decision that was very short-sighted and, again, a very business decision. But how they came to that conclusion, I have no idea. I can't even understand the way that they think. Everything that they've done over the last few months makes no sense to me, or [to] anybody that has a business sense about them. Everyone in the industry looks at their actions and shakes their heads and says, 'Oh my God! What are they doing? What are they thinking?' It makes no sense at all. It's ridiculous."

On whether he thinks his relationship with his former bandmates is salvageable and they can reconcile at some point in the not-too-distant future:

Geoff Tate: "Well, I'll tell you honestly: I would love to work it out. I would love for all of us to sit in a room and actually talk. And for them to tell me face to face what the problem is rather than reading it on the Internet or hearing it second-hand from somebody. I would think that they would have the courage to be able to sit in a room face to face with me. But I don't have high hopes of that happening. Knowing these guys for all these years, hearing what they've done and seeing their actions over the last few months, it would be very difficult to repair the relationships — very difficult. I mean, they would have to do a lot of explaining and a lot of apologizing for their actions. But I would be very open to hearing that. And if they were honest and true about their feelings, and if they came to me and said, 'Look, we screwed up here and we nearly destroyed the band. But we'd like to put it back together and we'd like to talk to you about it,' I would absolutely gladly sit in a room and talk about it, and come up with some kind of plan as to how we could put it all back together again."

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

"X", the new album from Finnish gothic metallers THE 69 EYES, has entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 4. The CD, which was released in Europe on September 28 via Nuclear Blast Records, was mixed by Stefan Boman (THE HELLACOPTERS, BULLET).

Regarding the album title, singer Jyrki69said, "We've never really celebrated anything, not that we've been playing 20 years or so (vampires don't count decades). Thus this time we thought to celebrate a bit: the new album is entitled as tenth in Roman numbers."

On the topic of the "X" cover artwork, Jyrki69 said, "The cover is pure goth 'n' roll: a psychedelic mirror image of old wild animal bones with our X-tagram projected over all. It's good, evil, magic and voodoo all together! Something to stare at when tripping on the album."

THE 69 EYES filmed a video for the song "Red" in July with Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others.

Commented Jyrki69: "This is THE 69 EYES at the most melodic but even more than that, the most intense. The song has a very intense feeling, you know, like when your heart beats wild (red), when the world circles around you and when you find out the painful truth. Think of those scenes in the movies like 'Vertigo' or 'Vanilla Sky'. Something's broken and there's nothing you can do about it. It's a very epic and emotional song."

"X" track listing:

01. Love Runs Away
02. Tonight
03. Black
04. If You Love Me The Morning After
05. Red
06. I Love The Darkness In You
07. Borderline
08. I'm Ready
09. I know What You Did Last Summer
10. When A Love Comes To An End

Bonus DVD

* Red (video)
* Made In Sweden – Stockholm & THE 69 EYES (documentary)

"Borderline" audio stream:



"Red" video:

Photo credit: Pauli Rouvinen

David E. Gehlke of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with former BIOHAZARD and current ATTIKA 7 frontman Evan Seinfeld. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Blistering.com: It's a tough thing to start a new band, especially in this climate, so, after you left BIOHAZARD, what led you to join ATTIKA 7?

Seinfeld: It was really Rusty [Coones, guitars], to tell you the truth. I decided I needed to do something different and I think a lot of artists struggle with that. I've actually been contacted by some friends in other bands who have been in their bands for too long who have given me encouragement like "Have faith in yourself. You built BIOHAZARD. You named the band, came up with the logo, found the guys." I know myself. I produce, I do projects. I work really hard and am really focused and it was really good to have support of other musicians. I didn't know what I was going to do. I did a BIOHAZARD record ["Reborn In Defiance"] that, obviously, is never going to come out in the U.S. It was a good BIOHAZARD record. It was better than the last two, but nowhere near our best. Musically, I thought it was really solid, but lyrically, I thought it was a little reaching. You can't always know what something is when you're in it, but looking back, it was very uninspired. Everyone wanted to make an album so bad, but it wasn't like there were burning messages in the album.

Blistering.com: You're coming from a much different place than when you did "Urban Discipline" or "State Of The World Address".

Seinfeld: Especially fans, they don't realize that. People grow, change, and evolve. I'll say this until I'm blue in the face: If I don't feel like I'm building or evolving with something…I don't do well with maintenance. There are guys who like to be on auto-pilot: "We can survive in this band, with these songs. We can put out a record every few years." But that's not me. A lot of bands are like that… they're not at fault. You start a band when you're 16 or 17 years old, then you're 30-something. When I started BIOHAZARD, I was addicted to drugs, I lived in a bad neighborhood in Brooklyn, I was poor, and you sell millions of albums, you go around the whole world, you meet all sorts of people, and you shit together… I went from being a boy to a man. Some of my beliefs are in line with how I felt back then, some things have changed since then. I live on a different coast; I live in a completely different tax bracket. My life is completely different. I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I needed a change, but I knew I had to be honest with myself and the fans. I don't have any personal problems with the guys; we never hung outside of the band, it was a business. And that's fine — people grow apart. I was on "That Metal Show" last week with the guys from AEROSMITH, and those guys hate each other. But those guys make millions of dollars every time they get onstage. But you suck it up, and get onstage, especially when you have songs that are bigger than you. [laughs] When "Dream On" is played, nobody gives a fuck who hates each other in the band; it gives you chills down your spine. BIOHAZARD was the single biggest part of my life and career for 20 years, but the one thing that was missing was the sing-a-long, melodic songs that I always wanted to write. It never came together, it never materialized. The concept of BIOHAZARD was a lot bigger than the band. A lot bigger than the sales, and a lot of people don't realize this, but BIOHAZARD hasn't toured the United States in over 10 years.

Blistering.com: You had the spare show here and there, which was the extent of it.

Seinfeld: Yeah. The band would play a couple of shows around the New York area, and one time in ten years, the band played in L.A.

Blistering.com: So you had to do all of your work in Europe.

Seinfeld: Even that had really shrunk. It wasn't the kind of thing that was inspiring. It wasn't making money and it wasn't that much fun. It was trying to resurrect something that already exists. What's the definition of insanity? Repeating the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome. You can play in fucking Dortmund, Germany with the same exact songs and lineup, and you expect more people will show up? It was the law of diminishing return, and a little bit depressing.

Blistering.com: You were ahead of the game in the '90s when not many bands were combining metal with hardcore and rap. Now, there's tons of bands doing that.

Seinfeld: I know bands that did it better, if not more commercially. Bands like LINKIN PARK and KORN would mention BIOHAZARD as an influence. It’s great to be respected and looked as a pioneer, but that only lasts so long. Other people may be happy to live off the fame of 20 years ago, but not for Evan Seinfeld. Evan Seinfeld, for me, I'm always trying to live on what I'm doing right now.

Read the entire interview at Blistering.com.

Max Brawer for Riffraf magazine earlier in the year conducted an interview with ADRENALINE MOB's Mike Portnoy (formerly of DREAM THEATER) and John Moyer (also of DISTURBED). You can watch the chat below.

ADRENALINE MOB features in its ranks Portnoy John, vocalist Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X) and guitarist Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP, TRED).

ADRENALINE MOB's "Indifferent" video was filmed in March in the desert in California and throughout Los Angeles with director Scott Hansen, who has previously worked with A DAY TO REMEMBER, UNEARTH and WILLIE NELSON, among others.

"Indifferent" comes off ADRENALINE MOB's debut album, "Omertá", which sold around 6,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 70 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released in Europe on March 19 in Europe via Century Media Records and in the U.S. on March 13 through the newly formed Elm City Music in conjunction with EMI Label Services.

The 11-song effort — which was produced by ADRENALINE MOB and mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked on ANTHRAX's "Worship Music" and STEEL PANTHER's "Balls Out" — includes a blistering reinterpretation of DURAN DURAN's classic "Come Undone" featuring guest vocals by Lzzy Hale of HALESTORM.

On September 23, Zulie Alvarez of of Horns Up Rocks! conducted an interview with Devin Townsend, Canadian multi-instrumentalist and ex-STRAPPING YOUNG LAD mastermind, prior to his concert at Irving Plaza in New York City as part of the "Epic Kings & Idols Tour" with KATATONIA and PARADISE LOST. You can now watch the chat below.

"Epicloud", the latest album from Devin Townsend to be released under the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT banner, was issued on September 18 in North America and September 24 in Europe via InsideOut Music. The CD features a guest appearance by former THE GATHERING frontwoman and previous Devin collaborator Anneke Van Giersbergen.

"Epicloud" is available in the following formats: standard CD jewel case; limited-edition digipack with bonus CD; double vinyl gatefold with an exclusive bonus track; and digital download on iTunes with two exclusive bonus tracks, "Cry Forever" (demo) and "Take My Ego" (demo).

The idea for "Epicloud" came about while Devin was attempting to write material for the follow-up to his 2007 "Ziltoid The Omniscient" concept album about a fictional extraterrestrial being named Ziltoid from the planet Ziltoidia 9.

Regarding the musical direction of "Epicloud", Devin told Noisecreep, "Over the course of the full record, there's sort of new agey stuff, jazzy stuff, really heavy stuff. We basically cover the gamut. 'Epicloud' is the first record that I felt confident enough to include all those things on one record so it goes between melodic hard rock to schizophrenic heavy metal to country to really ambient stuff and it's all in one place. I'm using a gospel choir, a string section and a horn section for this one as well. On [the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT album] 'Deconstruction', I got to use the Prague Philharmonic [orchestra] and really go far into making an absurd album as over the top as possible and on 'Epicloud' I'm trying to take the same advantages to make some things musically very pleasing, as opposed to just claustrophobic."

Interview:



Performance (September 14 in Denver, Colorado):

Swedish melodic death metallers ETERNAL OATH, who recently reunited after a five-year absence, will enter Fear And Loathing studios in Stockholm in December with producer Jocke Skog to begin recording their fourth album for an early 2013 release.

The new ETERNAL OATH lineup features four founding members — Peter Nagy-Eklof (ex-MÖRK GRYNING) and Petri Tarvainen on guitar, Ted Jonsson on drums and Joni Mäensivu on vocals — along with Mika Kajanen (GODPHOBIA) on bass and Johan Adler (DEVAN) on keyboards.

A demo version of a new ETERNAL OATH song called "Sunborn" can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below.

ETERNAL OATH's third full-length album, "Wither", came out in March 2005 via Black Lodge Records. The follow-up to 2001's "Righteous" was recorded at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg and was mastered at Polar studios in Stockholm.

ETERNAL OATH in 2006 released its first two albums on one CD. The set, entitled "Re-Released Hatred", included the band's debut mini-CD, "So Silent" (1996), as well as its follow-up, "Through the Eyes of Hatred" (1998), both of which have been hard to come by for several years. In addition, it featured a bonus track: a "mind-blowing" cover of AT THE GATES' "The Fevered Circle". All tracks were re-mastered with greatly enhanced sound and the CD also included a completely new, re-designed booklet.

"The Scarlet Mark", the new video from Dutch/Mexican gothic/progressive metallers STREAM OF PASSION, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's third album, "Darker Days", which was released in North America in July 2011 via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded at Sandlane Recording Facilities in Rijen, Holland.

In an interview with Sea Of Tranquility, STREAM OF PASSION singer Marcela Bovio stated about "Darker Days", "The drive behind this album has to expand our musical horizons and incorporate new influences and ideas into our writing. We also wanted to go for a more organic sound; instead of layering all instruments on top of each other we tried to give each instrument its own moment in the songs. So make the heavy, guitar riff parts entirely about the guitars; and on the soft parts let the piano, the strings and the vocals take over."

Shae added, "I think we made a huge step from 'Embrace The Storm' to 'The Flame Within'. On 'Embrace The Storm', Arjen Lucassen (who was still in the band back then) had the absolute lead on songwriting, with me doing the vocal lines and melodies. For 'The Flame Within', I had to face the challenge of writing songs from scratch, instead of writing on top of what someone else already had done; so in a lot of ways our second album was also our first. Now with 'Darker Days', we've taken our 'real' second step as a band. And I think it was clear from the start that our goal was to keep refining our sound, to keep incorporating unique qualities to the music."

STREAM OF PASSION's sophomore album, "The Flame Within", entered the official chart in Holland at position No. 57.

The band's debut CD, "Embrace the Storm", was released in Holland in October 2005 via Sony/BMG Benelux. The effort was issued in the rest of Europe and the U.S./Canada via InsideOut Music.

Reflections Of Darkness recently conducted an interview with vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Reflections Of Darkness: Your new album, "The Manticore And Other Horrors", has a lot of punk-orientated riffs as has been announced, I only got it yesterday, but from what I've heard I gather there are some thrash influences, too, not to mention it seems to be pretty diverse in terms of mixture of style. What's led you to go into this direction?

Dani: I think was a natural progression. Paul [Allender], our guitarist, when we arrived to record, looked toward our back catalogue and he saw something that was a little amiss — that we haven't done that kind of feel for some while. I think he was missing the lot principle of "The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh" and "Midian" and he thought we'll use that as a springboard, as an inspiration to come up with a lot of stuff on this record. So, like I said, it was a natural progression, it wasn't particularly planned. It's just that the core elements of this band on this record has been three people, myself, Paul Allender and the drummer Marthus [Martin] Škaroupka, and Marthus did some of the orchestrations as well as played drums, so we've kept it very close to our chest, very sort of like a core unit of the band and it's just bought out this vibe in the music. Not only has it got a sort of punk element, but it's got a very traditional metal feel to it as well, which is extreme, but I think we've just pushed the envelope a little bit on certain aspects of our sound.

Reflections Of Darkness: What are your personal favourites from this album and why at this moment in time?

Dani: My personal favorite, I think, is probably "Manticore", and that's why it's become the title track. Obviously, the album is a full-blown concept album as we've done with previous two releases and that's represented by the album title "The Manticore And Other Horrors"; it's almost like Edgar Allan Poe would have "The Raven And Other Stories". It encapsulates what's going on, it's like a lots of little stories orbiting the main theme, I suppose, much like "Midian". So yeah, I really like this track, just because I like how it was presented when Paul and Martin came up with the original skeletal structure of the song and it just caught my imagination because it had this sort of slightly Eastern, slightly ethnic vibe about it, but really heavy. It reminded me of the track that we've written before and is vibe-wise if not a bit similar to a track called "Doberman Pharaoh" [from 2003's "Damnation And A Day"], which in itself had an Egyptian feel to it, so it's slightly outside our scope of writing and that attracted me to it. I think it has all the elements of CRADLE OF FILTH in it, but all in one song.

Reflections Of Darkness: Considering the problems SEX PISTOLS had with EMI, or say IRON MAIDEN back in the day when they were asked to cut their hair and play punk, have you had any interventions from the labels you've been on regarding your music, style, and public image and so on?

Dani: No, we were quite fortunate, really. We've been on so many record labels in the past. We've been on Roadrunner. Now we're on the big independent label, which is Peaceville, and we're very happy with it because we're in a good place. With Roadrunner, that's gone, it's disappeared soon after we left the label, we could see it was getting a bit tense as they've been bought out [by Warner Music Group]. There were people involved in that whole business that didn't understand what Roadrunner stood for. But where we are now is good because we have a lot, massive control over what we do. Some people think that ignorance is a big part of a record company, and it's not. I think they're wise enough to know that we have our own path and our own direction and we're very good at that, at knowing what we want to do, so they're quite happy to sit back and just let us get on with it, but they're big enough label to also have a bit of clout as well, especially during these difficult financial times. I think having been on big labels like Sony and Roadrunner that it's not the end-all being on something like that; it doesn't necessarily keep you from the wall, as it were, because the Roadrunner has gone under, and Sony when we signed with them, the person that signed us to was really into the band and had some great ideas for us, but instantly as we signed, he moved into another country and another job and we never saw him again. So I think now we're in a good place and Peaceville has a good roster of bands, there are some great bands on the label, so we're in a good company.

Reflections Of Darkness: As you mentioned the difficult financial times, I would like to ask what do you think about the fact that the age of downloads has pushed musicians more towards the business side as they have to come up with more and more ideas for merchandise, work for their visibility and recognizability harder in the promotion, etc.? Do you think that this is negative or positive development? How you deal with it?

Dani: Well, it depends on which way you look at it. You can look at it negatively and say that there are too many bands and people haven't got enough money to spend on them as they had done in the past and so musicians are losing money and bands are splitting up, record labels are going under, etc. Or you can look at it on a positive note, and think "Well, it's like with the back against the wall and it's not easy, but let's conquer this mountain and let's really fight back and come up with something that's unique and imaginative and overcome the problem." I mean, that's easy thing to say, obviously, because we're in a position when we've just done a great record, or so we're led to believe, but it was a lot of hard work doing it. I think sometimes you do have to look at the good things rather than the bad things. And it's not just affecting musicians, it's affecting everybody.

Read the entire interview from Reflections Of Darkness.

"Manticore" audio sample:



"For Your Vulgar Delectation" lyric video:

PopKorn Music conducted an interview with UNISONIC on September 15 at the V-Hall in Seoul. Korea. You can now watch the chat below.

UNISONIC is the band featuring former HELLOWEEN vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY, ex-HELLOWEEN) alongside guitarist Mandy Meyer (ASIA, GOTTHARD and KROKUS), bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Kosta Zafiriou (both of Germany's PINK CREAM 69).

The group's self-titled debut studio album was released in North America on May 22 via Eagle Rock imprint Armoury Records.

"Unisonic" was recorded at ICP Studios in Brussels, Belgium. The CD — which features 11 tracks, plus a bonus live version of HELLOWEEN classic "I Want Out", only available on the domestic edition, and cover art by Martin Häusler (MEAT LOAF, GOTTHARD, HELLOWEEN, MOTÖRHEAD) — marks the first full-length musical union between Kiske and Hansen in 23 years!

UNISONIC released its debut EP, "Ignition" on January 27 via earMUSIC/Edel. The effort includes the track "Unisonic" plus one demo song and a cover version of the HELLOWEEN classic "I Want Out", recorded live on October 15 at last year's edition of the Loud Park festival at Saitama Super Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Saitama City, Japan.

Kai Hansen's position in GAMMA RAY will be unaffected by his involvement with UNISONIC.

UNISONIC is:

Michael Kiske (vocals)
Mandy Meyer (guitar)
Kai Hansen (guitar)
Dennis Ward (bass)
Kosta Zafiriou (drums)

HailsWebzine.com founder Leja Siv Harju conducted an interview with '80s hard rock queen Lita Ford on October 3 before Lita's concert in Hermosa Beach, California. You can now watch the chat below.

Lita recently filmed a video for the song "Mother" in Joshua Tree, California. Directing the clip is Ford's former THE RUNAWAYS bandmate Victory Tischler-Blue, whose film "Edgeplay" was based on her tenure in the 1970s all-girl teenage rock act.

Said Ford: "[Vicky's] got a lot of photographs of me and my children, a lot of the necessary elements to create this video."

Photos from the "Mother" video shoot can be found at this location.

"Mother", which is dedicated to Lita's estranged sons, Rocco and James (father is former NITRO singer Jim Gillette), comes off her new album, "Living Like A Runaway", out now on SPV/Steamhammer. "I wrote this song for [my sons]," Lita recently told the Deciblog. "I wrote this song to tell them how much I love them and to tell them that I didn't mean for this to happen [for Lita to be forced to live apart from her kids following her divorce from Gillette. — Ed.] and that it's not my fault. I didn't do this to them, although they think I did. I miss them, I love them. They're my life."

"It was hard to write," she told Examiner.com. "It was hard to record. It's hard to listen to. I find myself skipping over it sometimes, depending on how much makeup I have on that day. If I'm all made up, I'm like, 'Oh, can't cry right now!' I've done interviews where big, grown men tell me they've come away from it in tears. That's huge. That's what I wanted — for people to feel my pain. But it is a great song."

"Living Like A Runaway" was released on June 19 in North America. The effort was made available in four configurations: a double LP, limited-edition CD, standard CD and digital download. The artwork for the album was created by famed rock photographer Mark Weiss.

In a recent interview with Über Röck. Lita stated about "Living Like A Runaway", "This was an album I wrote during one of the darkest times of my life. I was going through this divorce and I needed somewhere to channel my feelings. My hurt, my pain, my aggression, my sadness, my happiness... all of these feelings are in this record. When you listen to the tracks, they are believable because they are real. . . It just came together; it was like a gift from God, this album. It took a year to write, it was a slow process, seeming like two years, and it came to me a piece at a time."

Lita has previously referred to "Living Like A Runaway" as her "real comeback album." She explained, "The last album I did was called 'Wicked Wonderland'. I put it out with Jim Gillette, and we were married at the time. It is kind of a Jim/Lita album and not a really true Lita album. I got a lot of spiel about that. . . I really wasn't that comfortable with that record — not at all, to tell you the truth. There are parts of it that are good, but it doesn't sound like a Lita record. When it got released, a lot of my fans felt weird about it and said it wasn't a Lita album. [It] turned out to be more of a Jim album. We worked pretty well together. It doesn't suck, it's not a bad album; it's just not a Lita album."

Lita's current touring band consists of the following musicians:

Lita Ford - Guitar, Vocals
Mitch Perry - Guitar
Marty O'Brien - Bass
Scot Coogan - Drums

"Mother" audio stream (courtesy of the Deciblog):