Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metal veterans BEHEMOTH has recorded a guest appearance on the new album from Polish guitarist Grzegorz Skawinski. Entitled "Me & My Guitar", the CD will be released on March 12.

Commented Darski: "Style-wise, it's very far from what I do in BEHEMOTH… but I know Grzegorz for years… The guy is a guitar hero in my country and I couldn't turn down his offer when he asked me to play a lead in the title track. It came out great, and I'm sure many of you out there will dig it… it's a very crafty and catchy stuff."

Skawinski is a guitar virtuoso, famous in Eastern Europe as a former member of KOMBI, a Polish supergroup.

Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway of British/American grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Radio Metal: Before talking about the new record, I'd like to come back to the album "Smear Campaign" you made in which Anneke van Giersbergen [ex-THE GATHERING] sang on one of the tracks. What were the reactions of the fans about that song?

Greenway: Well, it was the usual stuff, to be honest. I had to laugh, because there was some things you could read on Internet, like, "NAPALM DEATH is turning into an operatic metal band," and I was like, "Oh, come on, use your brains, please." I respect people's freedom to say stuff and so on but please, use your brain before you do! [laughs] It turned out very good. We were trying to achieve a certain effect. It was a certain CELTIC FROST song many years ago that had that effect that we were looking for. We thought about several different vocalist, and she [Anneke] seemed to be the best person to do that at the time that we know could do it. So that's how it all went. The reaction in the end, after those initial comments, were fine. Once people heard it and understood what we were trying to do, the panic kind of dropped.

Radio Metal: At the beginning of your career, you were considered a grindcore band, then the band has evolved to something closer to death metal. Based on what we hear on the trailer for the new album, this new album has even some melodic — for NAPALM DEATH — moments. What can you tell us about this new record, musically speaking? How can you describe it?

Greenway: I don't like general classifications, and that just relates to what I was saying. I'm bored of it, because people waste so much time arguing about musical genre… It's so pointless. But the one thing I would say though is that NAPALM getting called a death metal band is not really accurate as an overview of the band. NAPALM DEATH is much more than that. If I had to pick a genre, it would be grindcore, because I think "grindcore" is a very wide definition. "Death metal," not so much. I think grindcore is the first thing, so to speak. But there has been diversity in NAPALM's albums ever since the "Scum" album. Like I say, the main thing with this new record is that there are certain riffs that are kind of different, but more so, there are vocal things that has been done on other albums that are just used in a different context here. The more ambient, baritone, you could say cleaner vocals, were not much used in the faster parts before, but on this album they had, and that sort of gives it a different flavor. But at the end of the day, NAPALM is always gonna be NAPALM. We'll do what we need to do. Like I say, we always do listen to people's opinion, apart from when they're ridiculous [laughs] and even if we do get some of those. We do listen to criticism; I think it's important. You can't be blind to what people say about that, because that can help you. It can help you to think in certain directions, as far as your band goes.

Radio Metal: You were talking in an interview about loss of hope, about these periods of real self-doubt where you wonder if you're really making a difference… Is it something that you felt personally? Did you lose hope in your ability to change things with your ideas?

Greenway: Yeah, many times! I'll be the first to admit that. You know, everybody does. I think that's one thing every human shares, whatever it might be about. When you do something, it's almost like you wanna see instant results, and of course you don't always get that. If you try to make a difference in a society that's been in this structure for hundreds upon thousands of years, there is no way you're gonna change things over now. But still, even if now I know that, I also have those self-doubts at the same time. So yeah, it's something I suffered with. But I always come to the conclusion that it's better to be trying to do something and making very small steps that not doing anything at all.

Read the entire interview from Radio Metal.

German thrash metal veterans KREATOR have selected Poland's Grupa 13 (BEHEMOTH, ELUVEITIE, SONATA ARCTICA, DECAPITATED) to helm the video for the title track of their forthcoming album, "Phantom Antichrist".

Commented KREATOR guitarist/vocalist Mille Petrozza: "The clips produced by Grupa 13 are groundbreaking visual trips that justify the existence of music videos in this day and age. In support of the lyrical concept of our new album, I could not think of a better creative solution than a collaboration with these great visionaries."

"Phantom Antichrist" will be released on June 1 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD is currently being recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with renowned producer Jens Bogren (OPETH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK, DEVIN TOWNSEND, AMON AMARTH).

The cover artwork for "Phantom Antichrist" was created by Wes Benscoter (SLAYER, DIO, BLACK SABBATH) and can be seen below.

KREATOR will release a seven-inch single containing the "Phantom Antichrist" title track on April 20. The collector's item will be available in colored red vinyl (limited to 250 pieces) as well as in clear vinyl (limited to 250 pieces, exclusively available at the Nuclear Blast mailorder).

A brand new promotional photo of KREATOR can be seen below (photo by Stefan Heilemann of Stuttgart, Germany's Heilemania).

When asked about the musical direction of KREATOR's new material, the band's guitarist/vocalist Miland "Mille" Petrozza stated in a recent interview, "The songs are coming along great and I think it's OK to say that this will be our most epic album so far. There's some classical, a lot of traditional metal, and, of course, a huge dose of thrash metal influences in the new stuff. Everyone in the band is very excited at this point. The demos sound killer so far. We have about 10 songs we're working on so far.

Regarding the lyrical and visual concept for the forthcoming CD, Petrozza said, "It's too early to talk about the lyrics yet; many are written, but they keep changing all the time. Visually, we have tapped Wes Benscoter [BLACK SABBATH, DIO, SLAYER, CATTLE DECAPITATION, BLOODBATH] for the cover art. I can tell you this much: The artwork will be insane!"

In an interview with Aftonbladet journalist Mattias Kling, Petrozza stated about KREATOR's collaboration with Jens Bogren, "He's really good; I like him. I like the sounds that he gets. And I think the combination — Jens Bogren and KREATOR — it will be pretty heavy."

On the topic of how the new material is different from KREATOR's previous output, Mille said, "It's always a little hard for me to talk about music has been written but is not released yet. It will definitely have all the KREATOR trademarks. The lyrics will talk about nowadays stuff, as usual, so it will be like a photography of the year 2012. Also the lyrics will deal a lot of things that are actually happening at this point in time. It will be like reading a newspaper or something [laughs], with all the stuff happening. And, of course, the music will be typical KREATOR, and we also wanna expand the sound and progress as musicians. I mean, this lineup has been the strongest lineup KREATOR ever had since ten years, and now I think we're ready to come out with an album that blows everyone away."

KREATOR is:

Miland "Mille" Petrozza – Vocals, Guitrar
Sami Yli-Sirniö - Guitar
Christian "Speesy" Giesler - Bass
Jürgen "Ventor" Reil - Drums

"Phantom Antichrist" album artwork:

"Phantom Antichrist" single artwork:

Photo by Stefan Heilemann of Heilemania

Giorgio Mustica of The Aquarian Weekly recently conducted an interview with drummer Daniel Svensson of Swedish metallers IN FLAMES. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Aquarian Weekly: It seems like the band has been coming to America pretty often the past few years. Is there something about coming here that you guys really enjoy?

Daniel: We enjoy playing anywhere, but it's convenient touring in North America and we have a solid fan base that we've been building up since we started. We don't really mind touring; we can go wherever, basically. As long as there is a scene, we'll go. The U.S. and Canada have been treating us well, so we're happy to be back.

The Aquarian Weekly: Your latest album has been received very well from both fans and the press. Have you paid attention to what the reaction is like?

Daniel: Of course. We're really grateful that people are still supporting us, even though sometimes we experiment a little bit with the music, but our fans are really staying loyal to the band and we're really happy. But we try not to think too much about what people would think about the album while we're writing. It's most important that we can stand behind it and be proud of it. And we'll never release something that we can't stand behind. If people like it, that's a bonus, and they do, so we're happy.

The Aquarian Weekly: Speaking of experimenting with the music, do you think the bands sound has changed much over the past few years?

Daniel: Yeah, if you compare the first album with the last one, there's a big change, of course, but it's been a smooth transition in between every album. And we're not a band that wants to record the same album twice. We're not like AC/DC or IRON MAIDEN — they basically sound the same all the time, which, it's them — but we want to experiment a little bit and work in different ways when it comes to production and everything. We don't want to stagnate, we want to try new stuff all the time and of course, this album would change with that but it's not really any drastic change though, I would say.

The Aquarian Weekly: What are your own personal thoughts about the album? Do you listen to it all in your spare time?

Daniel: No, I don't listen to it. I did before but now when were touring and were playing the songs every night, I try to stay away from the songs when Im not playing them. But I'm really happy with the album and how it turned out. We put in a lot of work on the album, and since we have our own studio back home in Gothenburg, we can really sit and work 'till we're really satisfied. We don't have the time pressure that other bands can have when they record because they're renting time in the studio. But yeah, I can't be [happier] with the album than I am.

Read the entire interview from The Aquarian Weekly.

Mark Taylor of MetalTalk.net conducted an interview with guitarist Robby Rockbag of Swedish metallers STEELWING when the band played at the Camden Underworld in London, England on January 20. You can now watch the chat below.

STEELWING's second album, "Zone Of Alienation", was released last month via NoiseArt Records. The CD was helmed by producer Rikard Löfgren, who had previously worked with DEATHSTARS, MAMAKIN, ENFORCER and VOMITORY, among others.

According to a press release, "Zone Of Alienation" is a semi-concept album set in a not-so-distant future where the remnants of mankind have fled into outer space. Following the eradication of the Earth after religious wars have gone nuclear, they set out to find new worlds to colonize.

The "Zone Of Alienation" cover artwork was created by Dimitar Nikolov and is an eerie depiction of heavily armed space pioneers setting foot on a hostile planet.

"Zone of Alienation" track listing:

01. 2097 A.D.
02. Solar Wind Riders
03. Full Speed Ahead!
04. Breathless
05. Tokkotai (Wind of Fury)
06. Zone of Alienation
07. The Running Man
08. They Came From The Skies
09. Lunacy Rising

The album was made available as a limited-edition digipack with a bonus track.

STEELWING recently completed a European tour their fellow Swedes GRAND MAGUS and BULLET.

Interview:



"Full Speed Ahead!" audio stream:

Michael Davis, bassist influential late 1960s rock band MC5, has died of liver failure at the age of 68, the BBC reports. He had been undergoing treatment for liver disease for a month before he died at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California, his wife said.

Davis was MC5's (short for "Motor City Five") second bass player, having replaced Pat Burrows prior to the recording of the band's 1969 album "Kick Out The Jams". Davis left MC5 shortly before the band broke up in 1972 and went on to pursue a career in art.

MC5 reformed in 2004 with Handsome Dick Manitoba replacing original vocalist Rob Tyner, who died in 1991.

Davis is survived by his wife, their three sons, and a daughter from a previous marriage.

On February 10, Higgo of Australia's long-running rock station Triple M conducted an interview with SLIPKNOT percussionist M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan. You can now listen to the chat in two parts below.

Crahan and vocalist Corey Taylor last November spoke to Billboard.com about the possibility of the band recording a new studio album.

Taylor has been ambivalent about working on new material following the death in May 2010 of the group's bassist, Paul Gray, although Crahan and drummer Joey Jordison have been much more confident about the band recording again.

According to Crahan, he and his bandmates are "just taking our time. Everyone is still getting through the grieving process their way, remembering Paul Gray the way they need to and helping themselves get through this time because it's still very fresh and it's still very serious and hurtful and unbelievable." Crahan adds that "There's no talk of a new record, but there's a lot of stuff that everybody's got. Everybody's got ideas and everybody's writing, but it won't happen until we get together as a band and have a big discussion about what it is we want to accomplish. We lost a very important piece of our enigma, and we're not going to get together and bust through it just to bust through it because everybody wants us to." He predicted that the next album "is going to be very sad. It will have that layer of anger and hate and evil that will come with being just so sad, but... I think a really, really, really special change in our career is coming. I don't think it's going to be better, and I don't think it's going to be worse. I just think it's going to be different. I think that's what we want, and I know that's what Paul would want."

Echoing Crahan's comments, Taylor told Billboard.com, "We know that everything we do on that album is going to be about Paul. It's going to be very melancholy. It's going to be a more saddened form of rage when it does happen, and it'll be a whole path that we've never gone down before." He adds that he personally is "not as anxious to make a new album as maybe certain people in the band are, and I know a lot of the guys in the band feel the same way I do, whether they want to admit it or not. It just makes more sense to try and figure things out before we try to get into a studio... I don't want to risk losing what we've built because somebody's trying to prove a point."

SLIPKNOT completed a European festival run last summer, which marked the band's first live gigs since Gray's passing.

Jordison told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that he thinks the band's next album could be its most intense. "We're a family, and losing a family member sucks," he said. "But you can't help that, but you need to move on and I think that what we're gonna do might be the most powerful thing that we've ever created."

SLIPKNOT's last record, "All Hope Is Gone", was released in 2008.

SLIPKNOT will take part in the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem festival this summer.

Part 1:



Part 2:

Have You Scene Us? conducted an interview with STATIC-X frontman Wayne Static and his wife Tera Wray when he played Mojoes in Joliet. Illinois with his solo band on February 16. The 14-minute clip, which includes performance footage, can be seen below.

Wayne Static's debut solo album, "Pighammer", sold 4,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 97 on The Billboard 200 chart.

STATIC-X's last CD, "Cult Of Static", opened with 19,000 units back in March 2009 to land at No. 16.

The band's's previous album, "Cannibal", registered a first-week tally of more than 30,000 copies back in April 2007 to enter the chart at No. 36. This represented a slight drop from the 35,000 copies sold by the band's "Start a War" LP, which came out in June 2005 and debuted at No. 29.

In a 2011 interview with Revolver magazine, Static stated about "Pighammer", "I've wanted to do a solo album since 2000 when I was writing songs for the 'Machine' record," Wayne said. "Even in those early years of STATIC-X, there was a pattern emerging where I would spend all my free time writing songs for STATIC-X and the other guys in the band spent their free time working on their other projects. I was a bit jealous that they had time to do more than one thing, but, being the band's main songwriter, I knew that if I were to do a solo album, I would have to put STATIC-X on hold, and it wasn't until recently that I've been willing to do that. After the 2009 'Cult Of Static' touring cycle ended, I felt that, as a band, STATIC-X had accomplished everything we set out to accomplish, and now I could finally take the time to do my own thing and make a record that is completely my vision without compromising for anyone or anything."

When asked what he wanted to do differently with his solo project than what he has done with STATIC-X, Wayne said, "Mainly, I didn't want to compromise. Don't get me wrong: I love the great times I had with STATIC-X, but sometimes the writing/recording process was frustrating for me. I would spend months by myself writing and recording demos, then hand them over to the band, then we would rehearse for weeks during which time everyone changed parts and added their own ideas. By the end of the process, I always felt some of my original vision and passion was lost. This time I wrote and recorded everything on my own, playing all the instruments myself, and did not compromise with anyone."

The fourth in a series of video updates from the recording sessions for "Ethera", the fifth album from Austrian symphonic metallers VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, can be seen below. Due later in the year via Napalm Records, the CD is currently being recorded at Artesonika Studios in Pordenone (near Venice), Italy.

Regarding the new album title, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS said, "'Ethera' is a word mix out of 'ether' as the quintessence of this band, the energy between the five band members, the fifth album and 'era,' leading VISIONS OF ATLANTIS to some new and interesting musical and lyrical shores while still remaining typically VISIONS OF ATLANTIS!"

Fabio D'Amore (SERENITY) and Ivan Moni Bidin, who is also a master at the mixing desk, are producing this latest work.

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS' "Maria Magdelena" EP was released last October.

The band's October 23, 2011 performance at the Metal Female Voices Fest at Oktoberhallen in Wieze, Belgium professionally filmed for an upcoming DVD.

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS' fourth album, "Delta", was released in North America on March 15, 2011 via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded Dreamscape Studios in Munich, Germany and marks the debut of the group's new singer, Maxi Nil, who joined the group in 2009.

Original DEATH ANGEL guitarist Gus Pepa will make a special appearance during the band's headlining show this Friday night, February 24 at Slim's in San Francisco. The group states, "We haven't shared the stage with Gus since 1990!"

DEATH ANGEL will join forces with SEPULTURA, KRISIUN and HAVOK for a North American tour in April/May.

DEATH ANGEL will release a DVD entitled "A Thrashumentary" in the spring. According to a press release, "A Thrashumentary" is a combination live video and documentary, all wrapped up in one thrashing DVD. The footage was directed by Tommy Jones (SOILWORK, KATAKLYSM) and mixed by Chris Clancy of The Studio. The film gives the viewer an in-depth look into one of the longest-running thrash acts out of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for turning out historic thrash bands such as METALLICA, TESTAMENT and EXODUS.

"Relentless Retribution", the latest album from DEATH ANGEL, sold 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 10 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. The band's previous album, "Killing Season", opened with around 2,300 units back in March 2008. This number was in line with the performance of its predecessor, "The Art of Dying", which registered a first-week sales tally of around 2,100 back in May 2004.

Metal Sickness conducted an interview with former GUNS N' ROSES and ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA guitarist Gilby Clarke prior to his February 11 solo concert at L'Empreinte, Savigny Le Temple, France. You can now watch the chat below.

When asked about the status of ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA, the reality television-formed supergroup he launched with Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE), Jason Newsted (VOIVOD, ex-METALLICA) and Canadian vocalist Lukas Rossi, Gilby said, "When we did the TV show ['Rock Star: Supernova'], for us, it was really about the band. Myself, Tommy and Jason, we were really excited about getting the band together. The TV show was just a way for us to look around and find a singer. Even for guys like us, you can't just go, 'Oh, let's find a singer.' All the good singers are in bands and they're busy. So we thought that we would try and look throughout the world to find [a singer] and the TV show came along. So we were happy. I thought Lukas did a great job on the record, when we picked him from the show. After the show, we did do a tour — we did a full U.S. tour, went down to Australia and everything — but it was really clear that it wasn't good enough. It happened so fast that I don't think that we really had time to develop a band sound — like, play together. It's really hard when you have three guys that are successful to get together and just start a new band like it's in the garage — it's impossible. And I think that, because of that, it was something that wasn't going to last. Because, after doing the shows, I didn't wanna do it anymore. I didn't like Lukas' commitment, and Tommy was still in MÖTLEY CRÜE, he was still DJing and everything. To me, I gave up everything to do that band, and I wanted to see the same from everybody else."

ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA lost Newsted in October 2006 after an accident that resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and bicep tear in the right (bassist Johnny Colt of BLACK CROWES/TRAIN filled in during the aforementioned trek). Newsted suffered the injuries while trying to catch a 90-pound bass head that had fallen from atop his amp. The combination of surgery and a lengthy rehab assignment left him sidelined for up to nine months.

ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA's seflt-titled album failed to break into the Top 100 of the Billboard album chart after its November 2006 release. The CD was certified gold in January 2007 for Canadian sales in excess of 50,000 copies.

The video for the ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA song "Headspin" — about Rossi's rocky relationship with his mother — can be seen below. The track is an original RISE ELECTRIC (Lukas' pre-SUPERNOVA band) song that Rossi wrote with guitarist Dominic Cifarelli and performed on the "Rock Star: Supernova" TV show when the contestants were asked to sing one of their originals.

Interview:



ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA - "Headspin" video:

A short video clip of HELLYEAH/ex-PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott talking to the Artisan News Service about the inspiration behind the title of HELLYEAH's forthcoming third album, "Band Of Brothers", can be seen below.

Said Vinnie: "['Band Of Brothers' is] basically about the road that we've been down to this point, to get to this record — changing record companies, being involved with our last record company, which has basically given up on rock music, the things that all of us have been through personally and how the music just really brought us together while we were making it."

In addition to Vinnie Paul, HELLYEAH features Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett (MUDVAYNE), Tom Maxwell (NOTHINGFACE) and Bob "Zilla" Kakaha (DAMAGEPLAN).

"Band Of Brothers" will be released on June 5 via HELLYEAH's new label home, Eleven Seven Music. The CD was recorded in Dallas, Texas at Vinnie Paul's home studio, VP's Upstairs Studio, and was produced by the band and Jeremy Parker (GODSMACK, EVANESCENCE), who also served as engineer.

Having produced track after track of heavy-hitting, in-your-face, feel-good rock and roll on their previous two albums (2010's "Stampede" and 2007's self-titled debut), HELLYEAH takes a slightly different musical direction on "Band Of Brothers". Drawing on their former bands' collective metal roots for inspiration, the influences and style of MUDVAYNE, PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN and NOTHINGFACE are immediately recognizable in tracks such as "Band Of Brothers", "War In Me" and "Rage Burn", while the party anthem "Drink, Drank, Drunk" retains the essence of earlier HELLYEAH.

Commented HELLYEAH singer Chad Gray, "I'm really excited about what we've done on this new album. I've always separated MUDVAYNE and HELLYEAH as much as I could, even though it was my voice. Melodies, lyrics and just the overall style of writing were different. With 'Band Of Brothers', I just quit being afraid of who I am in relation to this band. I think we've all really gotten back to the original roots of what we've done individually and brought it together on this album. As an artist, as long as you're painting with your own brush, no one can compare or challenge you. I just painted with a bigger, heavier brush than I had with HELLYEAH in the past. I think this is what fans have always expected to hear from us, and now were giving it to them."

Added Jeremy Parker, "It's impossible not to have a good time jamming this record. It has the anger and violence of PANTERA and MUDVAYNE, but a party vibe that can only be HELLYEAH!"

In a recent interview with Loudwire, Vinnie stated about "Band Of Brothers", "On our first two records, we were a new band. We really wanted to branch out and expand and experiment with all different styles. We all come from traditional metal bands and backgrounds, so it was a great breath of fresh air to play in a band that was rock 'n' roll, blues and Southern rock. We got that out of our system and got really focused on going back to our metal roots. It's heavy, focused, groove-oriented and I'm excited about it."

"Fallen World", "the fastest song" ever recorded by British epic power metallers DRAGONFORCE, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track comes off the band's fifth studio album, "The Power Within", which will be released in the U.K. on April 16 via the band's own Electric Generation Recordings, distributed by Essential Music. The ten-track monster, which will be made available in North America on April 17 through Roadrunner, is the band's first with new singer Marc Hudson in the fold.

DRAGONFORCE guitarist Herman Li recently stated about "The Power Within", "The last two years have been the most fun we ever had making an album. Through writing, jamming and touring together, we have built this incredible energy and it has been fully captured on the new album.

"This time around we've really brought our metal side to the surface and made some of the best music of our career. From the fastest song we've ever recorded ['Fallen World'] to the slower songs, and some things you would never expect from us, this is by far the most diverse DRAGONFORCE album yet."

Li added, "This is an exciting new era for DRAGONFORCE with Marc joining the band, so we figured this was an ideal time to take full control of our own destiny and establish our own record label for Europe. It's all hands on deck running it, but a great buzz!"

"The Power Within" track listing:

01. Holding On
02. Fallen World
03. Cry Thunder
04. Give Me The Night
05. Wings of Liberty
06. Seasons
07. Heart Of The Storm
08. Die By The Sword
09. Last Man Stands
10. Seasons (acoustic version)

There will also be a digital and vinyl version featuring bonus tracks "Cry Thunder (Live Rehearsal)", "Heart of the Storm (Alternative Chorus Version)" and "Avant La Tempête (Instrumental)", plus an exclusive box set featuring:

* CD Version
* Access Code for Bonus Material plus
* DRAGONFORCE Flag,
* DF Flashlight/Bottle Opener,
* Set of 6 DF Beer Mats featuring band cartoons by bassist Frédéric Leclercq.

DRAGONFORCE will kick off its North American tour at the 14th annual New England Metal & Hardcore Festival on Saturday, April 21 at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts.

"We are really excited to be playing the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival again, especially as it's the North American launch show for the new album," said DRAGONFORCE guitarist Sam Totman. "Anyone who hasn't had a chance to see new singer Marc Hudson in action will witness what a great singer he is! It's been a long time since we last played the festival and are looking forward to seeing old friends again and giving everyone a great show."

After entries from thousands of hopefuls across the globe, DRAGONFORCE in March 2011 welcomed Hudson to the band to fill the boots left by ZP Theart, who parted ways with the group in March 2010.

Born in Oxford England, Marc was picked from the thousands of applications via a number of impressive video auditions and live performances, which left the rest of the band in no doubt that they'd found their man. Since the age of 16, Marc has been building his vocal skills gigging with bands in the U.K. underground scene, developing a powerful style with influences which include Bruce Dickinson, Michael Kiske and Sebastian Bach.

Kaaos TV conducted an interview with Li and Hudson during the the Spinefeast At Sea cruise, which which set sail on January 19 aboard the Tallink Baltic Princess from Helsinki, Finland and returned the following day. You can now watch the chat below.

"Fallen World" audio stream:

Interview (January 19):

Fan-filmed video footage of SHADOWS FALL performing a brand new song, "Fire From The Sky", this past Thursday, February 16 at the Montage Music Hall in Rochester, New York can be seen below. The track is the title cut of the band's seventh album, which will tentatively be released on May 8 via Razor & Tie. The CD was recorded at Zing Studios in Westfield, Massachusetts with longtime friend, producer/engineer and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE/TIMES OF GRACE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz. Adam D., who has previously manned the boards on albums by ALL THAT REMAINS, AS I LAY DYING, UNEARTH, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and EVERY TIME I DIE, was also intimately involved in the writing of the new SHADOWS FALL material.

SHADOWS FALL is wrapping up a string of intimate headlining warm-up shows in select cities before heading to Australia for this year's Soundwave Festival.

SHADOWS FALL's "Madness In Manila: Shadows Fall Live In The Philippines 2009" concert DVD/CD was released on October 25, 2010 via Everblack Industries/Ferret Music. The set includes over 60 minutes of footage that was shot on April 30, 2009 at the Pulp Summer Slam in Manila, Philippines as well as a live audio CD.

SHADOWS FALL's latest album, "Retribution", came out on September 15, 2009. The CD sold around 13,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart. The effort was made available via Everblack Industries, the label SHADOWS FALL created in conjunction with Warner Music Group's ILG, Ferret Music and ChannelZERO Entertainment.

According to Ticketmaster.com, former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno will embark on a U.S. tour in July. Backing him once again on the trek will be Pittsburgh traditional metallers ICARUS WITCH. So far the following dates have been announced:

July 26 - B.B. King Blues Club & Grill - New York, NY
July 27 - Showcase Live - Foxboro, MA

Fan-filmed video footage of Di'Anno's November 5, 2011 concert in Valencia, Spain can be seen below.

On August 27, 2011, Di'Anno played his first show since serving time in a U.K. prison after he falsely collected U.K. government benefits by claiming he suffered nerve damage to his back that prevented him from working.

After serving his jail term last spring, Di'Anno issued a short statement in which he thanked his fans for their support and claimed that he "managed not to drop the soap" during his stint behind bars.

Di'Anno, 53, was sentenced to nine months for swindling £45,000 (approximately $72,000) in benefits. He was told he would serve at least four and a half months of the sentence behind bars before being released on conditional bail.

D'Anno was reportedly busted when investigators at Department Of Work And Pensions (DWP) received an anonymous tip that he was still singing. They then found videos and pictures on YouTube and the rocker's own web site of Di'Anno "energetically leaping around on stage, singing to fans around the world."

Di'Anno completed his first North American tour in early 2010, 17 years after he was deported following a prison term for guns and drug offenses.

"In 1991 I did a couple of stints in jail for guns and drugs," Di'Anno explained in a 2010 interview. "I was stupid. But after I'd done my stretch they still treated me like a criminal. And I was — but I wasn't that bad. So I didn't feel good about America. The government, not the people.

"Prison was tough, but I'm tougher. I was nobody's bitch, put it that way. You've got to do it; otherwise people will walk all over you."

VAN HALEN kicked off its North American headlining tour last night (Saturday, February 18) at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. You Really Got Me
02. Runnin' With The Devil
03. She's The Woman (new song)
04. Romeo Delight
05. Tattoo (new song)
06. Everybody Wants Some!!
07. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
08. China Town (new song)
09. Mean Street
10. (Oh!) Pretty Woman
11. Alex Van Halen Drum Solo
12. Unchained
13. The Trouble With Never (new song)
14. I'll Wait
15. Dance The Night Away
16. Hot For Teacher
17. Women In Love (perfomed live for first time since 1980)
18. Outta Love Again (perfomed live for first time since 1979)
19. Beautiful Girls
20. Ice Cream Man
21. Panama
22. Eddie Van Halen Solo
23. Ain't Talkin' ‘Bout Love
24. Jump

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

A review from Courier-Journal.com can be found at this location.

VAN HALEN's next concert is scheduled to take place this Monday, February 20 at The Palace Of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

VAN HALEN's new album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", sold 187,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"A Different Kind Of Truth" is the band's first full-length offering with original singer David Lee Roth since "1984" was released in January 1984.

Roth exited the group in 1985, a year after its "1984" album was released. According to Billboard.com, "1984" spent five weeks at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 — VAN HALEN's highest charting set with Roth. (1996's "Best Of Volume 1" hits album, which included two new songs with Roth, debuted at No. 1 with 233,000 sold in its first week.)

VAN HALEN's other four other No. 1s were their four studio albums with Roth's replacement, Sammy Hagar: "5150" (1986), "OU812" (1988), "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (1991) and "Balance" (1995).

VAN HALEN's previous all-new album, 1998's "Van Halen III", debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart and was certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies, a disappointment compared to their previous platinum efforts.

ONE-WAY MIRROR — the French band featuring Guillaume Bideau (MNEMIC) and David and Franck Potvin (LYZANXIA, PHAZE I) — will release its sophomore album, "Destructive By Nature", on April 16.

A one-and-a-half-minute trailer for the CD can be seen below.

ONE-WAY MIRROR previously stated about the upcoming album, "Even though they composed these latest bombtracks in the similar vein of their first album, ONE-WAY MIRROR was able to nurture the fresh and perfectly controlled combination of violence and pure melodies with catchy components.

"This album is not unlike shrapnel as it will embed itself in your system upon explosion. Some songs will make the fans bang their heads while others will simply decimate them altogether.

"The band’s goal will remain playing the very music they want to listen to. No constraints, no limits or barriers and no rules apply. The musicians of ONE-WAY MIRROR agree that the motivation to compose and to record a metal album is pure pleasure before any other consideration.

"David Potvin and Guillaume Bideau are producing the album and . . . the sound is extremely powerful, natural and modern."

ONE-WAY MIRROR's self-titled debut album was released in June 2008 via Metal Blade Records.

ONE-WAY MIRROR is:

Guillaume Bideau (MNEMIC) - Vocals
David Potvin (LYZANXIA, PHAZE I) – Lead Guitar
Franck Potvin (LYZANXIA, PHAZE I) – Rhythm Guitar
Clément Rouxel (T.A.N.K) - Drums
Vincent Perdicaro (GENERAL LEE) - Bass

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen will take part in a Twitter question-and-answer session with fans on Wednesday, February 22 at 6 p.m. EST. Phil will be on the band's official Twitter page answering questions live.

To post a question: In the "What's Happening" box on your Twitter profile, type your question. Add the hashtag, #AskPhil to your post and click "tweet."

Example: What is your favorite Def Leppard song to play live? #AskPhil

For more information, visit DefLeppard.com.

DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen confirmed in a new video message that his band will tour with POISON this summer. Exact cities and dates have yet to be announced.

In a recent interview with AOL's Noisecreep, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen stated about the band's upcoming road activities. "We're actually going to be back on tour around when the [film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical 'Rock Of Ages'] is out, and it would be a lot of fun to get some of the other bands featured in 'Rock Of Ages' out with us," he said. "Nothing has been finalized yet, but apparently POISON will be joining us — at least according to [POISON singer] Bret Michaels, who has been telling everyone that they'll be touring with us this year. [Laughs] We went out with POISON in 2009, and we all had so much fun. If it does end up happening like that, I would love for the third band to be someone like TWISTED SISTER, since they're also in the new movie. I think that would make for a great lineup."

"Rock Of Ages" is a love story told through the music of DEF LEPPARD, PAT BENATAR, BON JOVI, JOURNEY, POISON, TWISTED SISTER and other artists from the 1980s.

"Rock Of Ages" stars Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Malin Akerman and many others. It scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 1.