Video footage of Zak Stevens' (CIRCLE II CIRCLE, SAVATAGE) March 10 acoustic performance at Manifesto Bar in São Paulo, Brazil can be seen below. Joining Zak during the show were Mitch Stewart (CIRCLE II CIRCLE bassist) on guitar, Mauricio del Bianco (SOULSPELL) on keyboards and Leandro Caçoilo (SOULSPELL) on guest vocals.

The setlist was as follows:

01. The Ocean
02. Welcome
03. Taking Back Yesterday
04. Watching You Fall
05. Believe
06. All That I Bleed
07. Edge Of Thorns
08. Handful Of Rain (w/ Leandro Caçoilo)
09. Into The Wind
10. Desiree
11. Watching In Silence (w/ Leandro Caçoilo)
12. Alone You Breathe (w/ Leandro Caçoilo)
13. Gutter Ballet
14. Sleep
15. The Storm (Mauricio del Bianco)
16. Sarajevo
17. This Is The Time

Encore:

18. If I Go Away

CIRCLE II CIRCLE 's sixth album, "Seasons Will Fall" , will be released in the spring/summer.

The band's fifth CD, "Consequence Of Power" , came out in September 2010 via AFM Records .

The cover artwork for "Midnight In The Labyrinth", an orchestral album which reinvents tracks from CRADLE OF FILTH's first four albums and includes choirs, strings and some narration, can be seen below. Due on Record Store Day (April 21) in participating countries and as a strictly limited-edition two-disc set of delectable magic in the rest of the world, the effort will contain narrated nightmares courtesy of CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani "Filth" Davey, plus additional vocals from Sarah Jezebel Deva, on disc 1, while disc 2 will include purely orchestral and symphonic recordings.

"Midnight In The Labyrinth" is the latest, inspired work, from British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH, traversing an ethereal cinematic landscape of classical and symphonic darkness; a style the band has always woven seamlessly into their compositions.

Taking the most requested tracks from the first four official releases, CRADLE OF FILTH have fulfilled audience desire by creating an album based on their most popular older tracks, but one that is delivered orchestrally to create a rich, haunting sonic landscape in the vein of soundtrack composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer.

Ten songs make up this 78-minute meisterwerk (including the addition of a thirteen-minute exclusive aural séance on CD1), indulging such CRADLE OF FILTH classics as "Funeral In Carpathia", "The Twisted Nails Of Faith" and "Summer Dying Fast", which has already been showcased on last year’s "Evermore Darkly" EP to a more than rapturous audience response.

Filth stated in a recent interview about the band's decision to record an orchestral album, "We've been talking about it for ages. We've always been fans of soundtracks and being cinematic and gracing our albums with that sort of similar content. We just wanted to do an album that stood alone. The opportunity came to re-record, as other bands have done, some earlier material. But we thought no, why not re-imagine select songs the fans really like from our first few releases, and then interpret them as orchestral pieces?"

Filth previously described "Midnight In The Labyrinth" as "no elevator music (or indeed the theme music to 'Schindler's Lift'!); this is a full-on horror film soundtrack in the vein of Danny Elfman, Christopher Young or Jerry Goldsmith. Musical scores to whittle away the evil winter months to…"

Video footage of HAIL! — the supergroup featuring vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, BEYOND FEAR), guitarist Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA), drummer Paul Bostaph (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN) and bassist James Lomenzo (MEGADETH) — performing on March 6, 2012 at The Roxy in Buenos Aires, Argentina can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Ace Of Spades (MOTÖRHEAD cover)
02. Territory (SEPULTURA cover)
03. Creeping Death (METALLICA cover)
04. Symphony Of Destruction (MEGADETH cover)
05. Children Of The Damned (IRON MAIDEN cover)
06. Burn In Hell (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
07. Desert Plains (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
08. Mob Rules (BLACK SABBATH cover)
09. Stand Up And Shout (DIO cover)
10. Blitzkrieg Bop (RAMONES cover)
11. Walk (PANTERA cover)
12. Flight Of Icarus (IRON MAIDEN cover)
13. South Of Heaven (SLAYER cover)
14. Peace Sells (MEGADETH cover)

Encore:

15. Heaven And Hell (BLACK SABBATH cover)
16. Refuse/Resist (SEPULTURA cover)

A slightly different lineup of HAIL! — featuring Owens, Bostaph, Lomenzo and guitarist Glen Drover (MEGADETH, KING DIAMOND) completed a tour of China and Taiwan in December.

HAIL! is planning to release a DVD that will capture the band's entire history and spotlight all of its live shows and special guests and contain exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from its travels, rehearsals, soundchecks, interviews, meet-and-greets.

In April 2010 it was announced that SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray had joined HAIL! He was supposed to replace the group's original member, David Ellefson, who was unable to take part in HAIL!'s touring activities due to his renewed collaboration with MEGADETH.

Gray was found dead in an Iowa hotel room in May 2010. He was 38 years old.

Swedish glam rockers CRASHDÏET are in the process of writing and recording pre-production demos for their as-yet-untitled fourth album. A two-minute "sneak peek" into the sessions is available below.

CRASHDÏET's third album, "Generation Wild", was recently released on vinyl. This gatefold LP features the new bonus track "Hollywood Teaze" as well as updated artwork.

"Generation Wild" entered the official chart in Sweden at position No. 3. The CD, which was made available in Sweden in April 2010 through Gain/Sony Music, was helmed by RamPac, the production and songwriting team formed by Johan Ramström and Patrik Magnusson, in Gröndal, Sweden and was mixed by Tobias Lindell.

CRASHDÏET in 2009 announced the addition of Simon "Simme" Cruz from the Stockholm act JAILBAIT as the group's new lead singer.

The band parted ways with its previous vocalist, the Finland-based H. Olliver Twisted, in July 2008.

Earlier this month, MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine sat down with noted right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for a face-to-face interview for Infowars.com.

A two-minute promotional clip for the chat, which will be posted online in its entirety on March 15, can be seen below.

Gigantour — the critically acclaimed package festival founded in 2005 by MEGADETH — made its highly anticipated return for the first time since 2008. The multi-artist bill — with metal heavyweights MOTÖRHEAD, VOLBEAT and LACUNA COIL all personally picked by Mustaine — kicked off on January 26 in Camden, New Jersey and wrapped on March 3 in Austin.

MEGADETH was among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which was held on February 12 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band's tenth Grammy nomination was for its new single, "Public Enemy No. 1", off MEGADETH's latest album, "TH1RT3EN", which came out on November 1, 2011.

"Public Enemy No. 1" actually marked the second Grammy nomination for music from "TH1RT3EN", as the song "Sudden Death" was first unveiled in the 2010 video game "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" and received a "Best Metal Performance" nod.

Steve Patrick of Hardrock Haven recently conducted an interview with PRONG mainman Tommy Victor. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

PRONG will release its new album, "Carved Into Stone", on April 24 in North America via Long Branch Records/SPV. The CD was recorded with producer Steve Evetts, who has previously worked with THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SYMPHONY X, SEPULTURA and HATEBREED, among others. The cover artwork was created by Vance Kelly (DOWN, THE SWORD) and can be seen below.

According to a press release, "Carved Into Stone" "is quintessentially PRONG. It stretches into the band's earliest and dirtiest foundations on which the band was founded on New York's Lower East Side to the present as a staple of today's post-metal and rock scenes."

Comments Victor: "It was hardest I've ever worked in the studio on any record I've ever been involved with."

PRONG — whose lineup is rounded out by bassist Tony Campos and drummer Alexei Rodriguez — has taken a major step forward in their constantly evolving brand of sonic schematics.

"I always believed there were many dimensions to PRONG," says Tommy. "Every record we've been associated with different scenes — hardcore, metal, industrial — even dance! I think this record brings all of that together and sounds very modern at the same time."

"Carved Into Stone" track listing

01. Eternal Heat
02. Keep On Living In Pain
03. Ammunition
04. Revenge ... Best Served Cold
05. State of Rebellion
06. Put Myself to Sleep
07. List of Grievances
08. Carved Into Stone
09. Subtract
10. Path of Least Resistance
11. Reinvestigate

Founded in 1986, PRONG is considered to be a pioneer of the American post-hardcore and post-metal scenes whose influence is still being felt today.

PRONG's last release was "Power Of The Damn Mixxxer", the remix counterpart to the band's 2007 album "Power of The Damager".

Interview (audio):

Quality fan-filmed video footage of BEHEMOTH's February 19 performance at Trix in Antwerp, Belgium as part of the "Full Of Hate" European tour with CANNIBAL CORPSE, LEGION OF THE DAMNED, MISERY INDEX and SUICIDAL ANGELS can be seen below.

BEHEMOTH guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski recently called the "Full Of Hate" tour "probably the best European run we've done ever! And it's not just courtesy, but a fact. [I've] never seen European venues so crowded and enthusiastically reacting to our show." He added, "I know, we've been away for a while, the band's future was a big question mark and if you ask me, I have to say I was seriously worried if I can pull it off at all. Now I can finally admit: Fuck yes! I can still get my ass on stage and give my blood, sweat and heart to the people who truly deserve that. These 'return' shows have some transcendental touch to it and I can't get rid of the feeling, it's a new life injected in band's veins. I am proud. Of my band, myself and all the fans coming to the shows."

BEHEMOTH, WATAIN, THE DEVIL'S BLOOD and IN SOLITUDE will join forces for the inaugural Decibel Magazine Tour in April/May.

BEHEMOTH's "Evangelia Heretika - The New Gospel Three" DVD (2010) — a three-disc set featuring two full shows ("Live In Paris 2008" and "Live In Warsaw 2009"); every BEHEMOTH music video ever made; "Evangelion" tour documentary featuring band interviews plus tons of backstage footage; and a bonus "Live in Warsaw" audio CD — was certified platinum in the Poland for sales in excess of 10,000 copies.

BEHEMOTH recently released a video for the song "Lucifer", off "Evangelion". The Grupa 13-directed clip features Polish singer, guitarist, and poet Maciej Malenczuk, who also contributed guest vocals to the track.

Natalie of Onslaught Radio conducted an interview with vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Florida-based death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE prior to the band's March 10 concert at HMV Forum in London, England with TRIPTYKON, ENSLAVED and JOB FOR A COWBOY. You can now watch the chat below.

CANNIBAL CORPSE's twelfth studio album, "Torture", will be released on March 13 via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2009's "Evisceration Plague" offers up 12 tracks of maniacally precise, soul-searing death metal. "Torture" was again produced by HATE ETERNAL's Erik Rutan at his own Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida as well as Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and features the maniacal cover art by longtime CANNIBAL CORPSE artist Vincent Locke.

While "Torture" marks the latest progression in the band's sound, it also witnesses a return to what drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz accurately terms "the frenzied attack of 'Butchered At Birth' (1991) or 'Tomb Of The Mutilated' (1992)," infusing the band's advanced musicianship with the raw savagery that haunted their earlier releases, and in the process conceiving the definitive CANNIBAL CORPSE record. Adds bassist Alex Webster on the outcome of the record: "We're extremely happy with how 'Torture' turned out. Erik Rutan did an amazing job with the production, and the songwriting and performances may be our strongest yet. We can't wait until our fans get to hear the whole thing!"

"Torture" track listing:

01. Demented Aggression
02. Sarcophagic Frenzy
03. Scourge Of Iron
04. Encased In Concrete
05. As Deep As the Knife Will Go
06. Intestinal Crank
07. Followed Home Then Killed
08. The Strangulation Chair
09. Caged...Contorted
10. Crucifier Avenged
11. Rabid
12. Torn Through

Argentinean rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon, who currently resides in Hollywood, California, conducted an interview with Sebastian Bach about the former SKID ROW singer's involvement with the Rock 'N' Roll Allstars tour, which will hit the road in South and Central America in April/May. Bach also spoke about his new solo album, "Kicking & Screaming", and his solo touring plans. You can now watch the chat below.

Bassist Jason Christopher — who filled in for Shawn Economaki during STONE SOUR's spring 2011 tour and who previously played with SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor in the JUNK BEER KIDNAP BAND — recently joined Bach's solo group. Bach said, "I have known Jason for years, ever since he tried to pickpocket me at the Rainbow [in West Hollywood] aeons ago."

Bach completed a short run of North American dates in February and is scheduled to embark on a South American tour in early April.

Sebastian's new album, "Kicking & Screaming", sold 6,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 73 on The Billboard 200 chart. The singer's previous CD, "Angel Down", opened with 6,400 units back in November 2007 to debut at No. 190.

RockEyez recently conducted an interview with former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick. Kulick spoke about his time with Meat Loaf, Micheal Bolton and THE GOOD RATS; his impressions of recently deceased musicians Davy Jones and Ronnie Montrose as well as the late KISS guitarist Mark St. John; his new solo release and last year's Eric Carr CD, "Unfinished Business". You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

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.

Karlstad, Sweden-based metal/rock band SPARZANZA recently entered the studio to begin recording its sixth album, to be released later in the year via Spinefarm Records. The group states, "Almost all the parts are done except for Fred [Fredrik Weileby], who has some singing left, and after that we will start the mixing session. This time we have dug a little bit further in our minds, trying to create a really dark and heavy album, but still having focus on writing good melodies. We also added a lot more percussion parts, dark choirs and live strings. It sounds so good and we know that you will be blown away. We also started with the artwork for the cover. It seems that it will include some hands, checker flag and statues... but who knows where it will end up."

SPARZANZA's fifth album, "Folie À Cinq", was released in February 2011 via Spinefarm. The CD was recorded between September and November 2010 at Leon Music with producer Rikard Löfgren, who helmed the band's previous two CDs and has also worked with such other artists as HELLFUELED, VOMITORY and DEATHSTARS.

SPARZANZA is:

Fredrik Weileby - Vocals
Calle Johannesson - Guitar
Magnus Eronen - Guitar
Anders Åberg - Drums
Johan Carlsson - Bass

Christian rockers LIBERTY N' JUSTICE will release their 11th studio album, "Hell Is Coming To Breakfast", on April 24 via Roxx Records. In addition to seven brand new tracks and various demos, the effort includes the original acoustic demo version of the song "Sin" featuring late WARRANT singer Jani Lane in what is said to be one of his last recorded performances. A lyric video for the track has now been released and can be seen below.

In other news, LIBERTY N' JUSTICE has once again joined forces with Roxx Records to release "Before The Revolution: Best Of Liberty N' Justice The Early Years", featuring songs from the band's first four CDs — "Armed With The Cross", "Big Guns", "Forever Till The End" and "Bargain Bins" — plus some "cool demos."

In 2009, LIBERTY N' JUSTICE, along with JK Northrup and with help from CJ Snare (FIREHOUSE), started recording a double CD called "The Cigar Chronicles" at JK's studio, Alien Productions. 26 songs (half covers and half originals that were penned by JK and Justin Murr) were laid down with guest appearances by over 60 musicians, including Jani Lane, Kip Winger (WINGER), George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB), Jeff LaBar (CINDERELLA), Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES), Tony Harnell (TNT), CJ Snare, Phil Lewis (L.A. GUNS), Gunnar Nelson (NELSON), Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER), Ted Poley (DANGER DANGER), Jamie Rowe (GUARDIAN), Stevie Rachelle (TUFF), James Christian (HOUSE OF LORDS) and Steve Brown (TRIXTER), among others. After many delays, the album is finally recorded and the mixing process is about to begin.

QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield was recently invited to the 20th Century Fox film studios in Los Angeles to meet with film composer Steve Jablonsky (all three "Transformers" films) and attend his orchestral recording sessions for the new blockbuster film "Battleship".

Says Rockenfield: "Jablonsky has been a longtime QUEENSRŸCHE fan and we had a great time meeting and discussing our work. He is an amazing talented individual and I have been a HUGE fan of his work for many years! I was honored to be personally invited. Also at the session was legendary recording mixer/engineer Alan Meyerson ('Gladiator', 'Batman: The Dark Knight', 'Pirates Of The Caribbean'). Alan is also a big QUEENSRŸCHE fan! I was then invited to stay an extra day and visit them both at composer Hans Zimmer's Remote Control studios. I met with the entire staff and hung out for the mixing sessions for the 'Battleship' movie. Great people and an inspiring invitation!"

Scott first started composing music for film and television in the late '80s during his time spent with Michael Kamen. During that time, Kamen asked Scott to work on some additional drums and percussion for the 1993 film "Last Action Hero", starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. This began Scott's exciting new journey scoring music for film and television. After only a few years in the specialty, Scott received a coveted Grammy Award nomination for "Best Original Music" for the animated feature film "Televoid" in 1998. Scott has done a variety of projects since then, including the additional music and all live drums for the immensely popular video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops". Released in November 2010, the game set a new five-day sales record with an estimated take of approximately $650 million worldwide. Just prior to his involvement with "Call of Duty: Black Ops", Scott did the orchestrated and electronic score for the horror flick "Albino Farm", released in September of 2009.

Finnish folk metallers ENSIFERUM recently entered the studio to begin recording their fifth album for a fall release via Spinefarm Records. The band states, "[We] started working at the famous Petrax studio (CHILDREN OF BODOM, NIGHTWISH) [in Hollola, Finland] last week with producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, SENTENCED) who is also mixing the album. From Petrax studio, the band will move on to two other locations in the Hämeenlinna area.

ENSIFERUM's new album will contain 10 tracks and will include guest appearances by members of DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER and the legendary Finnish singer and actor Vesa-Matti Loiri.

The fourth in a series of websidodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the new CD recording process can be seen below.

ENSIFERUM's fourth album, "From Afar", sold around 900 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 44 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.

"From Afar" was released on September 9, 2009 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was produced by Tero Kinnunen (NIGHTWISH, AMORPHIS) and Janne Joutsenniemi ('Victory Songs' producer) and was mixed by Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, SENTENCED, AMORPHIS).

Reunited '80s melodic heavy rock band DRIVER — featuring powerhouse vocalist Rob Rock (IMPELLITTERI, JOSHUA, WARRIOR, AVANTASIA, AXEL RUDI PELL) and acclaimed guitarist/producer Roy Z (BRUCE DICKINSON, HALFORD, JUDAS PRIEST, SEBASTIAN BACH, ROB ROCK, TRIBE OF GYPSIES, HELLOWEEN) — has completed work on its new album, "Countdown", to be released later in the year via Metal Heaven in Europe, King Records in Japan and RockZilla in the U.S.

According to a press release, "Countdown" is a mixture of brand new material and several rescued-from-the-vaults demo gems, which interlock seamlessly for a classic DRIVER-style album, aided by Roy Z's emphasis on vintage production values that harken back to the glory days of early 80's heavy metal ala DIO's "Holy Diver" and OZZY OSBOURNE's "Diary Of A Madman".

DRIVER is centered around Rock and Roy and features original drummer Reynold "Butch" Carlson (JAG PANZER, JOEY TAFOLLA, TRIBE AFTER TRIBE), along with seasoned players Ed Roth (GLENN HUGHES, RONNIE MONTROSE, IMPELLITTERI) on keyboards and Aaron Samson (ODIN, GEORGE LYNCH, JOHN 5) on bass.

Chiefly recorded and mixed at Roy Z's California-based studio, "Countdown" features additional contributions coming from bassists Ray Burke (LIFE AFTER DEATH, BRUCE DICKINSON) and Daniel Cordova (SHADES OF CRIMSON, VENGEANCE RISING), as well as veteran vocalist Mark Boals (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ROYAL HUNT). Mastering duties were again handled by Maor Appelbaum (HALFORD, SEPULTURA, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN).

The last DRIVER album, "Sons Of Thunder", was released in September 2008 via Metal Heaven.

DRIVER issued a widely circulated five-song cassette EP demo in 1990 that garnered the band a dedicated worldwide following as well as attained cult status as one of the most underrated hard rock acts of its time. Since then, Rock and Roy Z have forged ahead to garner long successful careers in the music business. 2008 saw the reunion of the band which resulted in the recordings of the aforementioned CD.

DRIVER is:

Rob Rock - Vocals
Roy Z - Guitars
Reynold "Butch" Carlson - Drums
Ed Roth - Keyboards
Aaron Samson - Bass

Jerry Gaskill, drummer for legendary rockers KING'S X, suffered a heart attack February 26, and was rushed to the hospital where he underwent an emergency operation.

In a new Facebook posting, KING'S X frontman Doug Pinnick states about Gaskill's current condition, "Saw Jerry and he smiled and gave the thumbs up. He seemed to recognize everyone and seems on it. Really cool. He is having some difficulty with the breathing, but overall looks sharp. Feel much better about this. Very excited. Just want to share that with you guys. Julie [Jerry's fiancée] is amazing."

To help Gaskill pay his medical bills, KING'S X is offering a special MP3 download-only title, "Burning Down Boston: Live at The Channel 6.12.91". This release was edited and mastered from a stereo FOH (front-of-house) recording. While the audio is far from perfect sonically, the performance documents yet another magical night on tour while supporting the "Faith Hope Love" album. The band expands many of the cuts featured here, including performances that are blistering ("Moanjam"), heavy and funk-laden ("We Are Finding Who We Are"), beautiful ("The Burning Down"), and truly transcendental ("Over My Head"). A few songs from the show were omitted due to tape damage. However, three bonus tracks have been included (an additional 15 minutes) from the same show that were not presented in the main track listing.

In addition to the gift with this download, anyone who wants to further make a personal gift to Jerry to help him with his medical bills can send a check made out to Jerry Gaskill. Mail it to: Jerry Gaskill, c/o World Entertainment Inc., P.O. Box 3095, Sea Bright, NJ 07760. One hundred percent of your gift goes to Jerry Gaskill to help him defray his medical expenses. Jerry Gaskill is an individual and not a charity. Any funds given to him would be a gift and no further tax deduction for charitable contributions would be coming from him.

For more information, visit www.molkenmusic.com.

AHAB, the German funeral doom metal band featuring former MIDNATTSOL members Daniel Droste (guitar/vocals) and Christian Hector (guitar), has completed work on its third album, "The Giant", to be released later in the year via Napalm Records. The CD features cover artwork (see below) by acclaimed artist Sebastian Jerke (LONG DISTANCE CALLING) and a guest appearance by ENSLAVED vocalist/keyboardist Herbrand Larsen.

The first in a series of video clips featuring behind-the-scenes footage from "The Giant" recording sessions can be seen below.

AHAB's sophomore album, "The Divinity Of Oceans", was released in July 2009 via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2006's "The Call of the Wretched Sea" contains seven songs and is based on the wreckage of the Essex.

AHAB is named after Captain Ahab, a character in the novel "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. Along with its name, the band also draws thematic and lyrical inspiration from "Moby Dick" — some songs even feature direct quotations from the book.

AHAB is:

Daniel Droste: Guitar, Voices, Synths
Christian Hector: Guitar
Stephan Wandernoth: Bass
Cornelius Althammer: Drums

WatchMojo.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist Phil Demmel of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD. You can now watch the chat below.

MACHINE HEAD recently completed a North American headlining with support from SUICIDE SILENCE and DARKEST HOUR.

MACHINE HEAD's new album, "Unto The Locust", sold more than 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart — putting MACHINE HEAD in the Top 25 for the first time in the band's 17-year history.

MACHINE HEAD has consistently averaged more than 100,000 copies sold in the U.S. for each of its seven albums and has shifted double that overseas (accruing several silver records in the U.K.), resulting in cumulative worldwide sales of more than 2.4 million.

MACHINE HEAD's previous CD, "The Blackening", opened with just under 15,000 units back in April 2007 to debut at No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's 2004 effort, "Through The Ashes Of Empires", premiered with less than 12,000 copies to land at No. 88.

"Surrender", a brand new song from former NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis, is available for streaming using the audio player below. The track comes off Jeff Loomis' forthcoming second solo album, "Plains Of Oblivion", which will be released on April 10 in North America (one day earlier in Europe) via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Aaron Smith (7 HORNS 7 EYES) and features cover artwork by Colin Marks of Rain Song Design, who has previously worked with ALL SHALL PERISH, THE END and XERATH.

Commented Loomis: "At first I thought Christine Rhoades would be the only guest singer on the record, but then this one song started coming together, it's pretty brutal. I've always wanted to do really, really heavy music and after hearing this, both Aaron and myself thought we needed some crazy, sick singer on it. We just sat around tossing names out for a bit, nothing really was sticking and then Aaron says, 'I got it ... Ihsahn,' and it was one of those moments where you knew that was the answer all along, it just hadn't been unlocked in your mind yet. Anyway, a few short emails back and forth and we had his vocal track in. It came out amazing. I can't wait for you to hear it. Ihsahn, thanks again, it's an honor to have you on my record."

Added Ihsahn: "I was both surprised and honored when Jeff asked me to sing on one of the songs for his upcoming album. He sent me a killer track, so it was easy to get inspiration for both words and vocal ideas, and I think it came out really well. Jeff is an amazing musician and I'm really looking forward to hearing the final album. Also, in the collaborative spirit, I got him to lay down a solo for my own new album."

"Surrender" audio stream:



"Plains Of Oblivion" track listing:

01. Mercurial (feat. Marty Friedman)
02. The Ultimatum (feat. Tony MacAlpine)
03. Escape Velocity
04. Tragedy And Harmony (feat. Christine Rhoades)
05. Requiem For The Living (feat. Attila Voros)
06. Continuum Drift (feat. Chris Poland)
07. Surrender (feat. Ihsahn)
08. Chosen Time (feat. Christine Rhoades)
09. Rapture
10. Sibylline Origin

Loomis last month released a guitar playthrough video for the track "The Ultimatum". Check it out below.

Pre-orders for "Plains Of Oblivion" have just launched and are now available exclusively through CMDistro. A limited supply of pre-order packages including a CD, t-shirt and guitar pick are available for $22 and can be purchased here.

Loomis has been added to the 24-date, coast-to-coast U.S. tour with PROTEST THE HERO, PERIPHERY, THE SAFETY FIRE and TODAY I CAUGHT THE PLAGUE.

Jeff has revealed the quality players he's enlisted to accompany him on the stage:

* Joe Nurre (SHADED ENMITY) - Guitar
* Gregory Macklin (SYSTEM DIVIDE, ORDINANCE) - Bass
* Anup Sastry (INTERVALS, SKYHARBOR) - Drums

After Jeff's departure from NEVERMORE and the release of his solo debut — 2008's "Zero Order Phase" — fans have been craving a new album. With a number of influential musicians appearing on the upcoming release, Loomis is more than ready to deliver.

Jeff was the lead guitar player and main songwriter of NEVERMORE, a band that has certainly made its mark on modern music by forging a unique sound that fuses different forms of metal that has given birth to an authentic and very influential style. His solo CD, "Zero Order Phase", took the #4 spot in a April 2009 Guitar World magazine's readers' poll in the "Best Shred Album Of The Year" category — a notable accomplishment when you consider the top three vote-getters, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. Jeff has become one of his generation's most recognizable guitarists and the source of many of the last decade's best riffs.

Jeff's complex shredding has been a central part of the progressive power guitar scene since 1992 and is responsible for some of the most awe-inspiring riffs modern metal has ever heard. Nearly every aspiring musician who has been listening to metal for the past 10 years or so has undoubtedly had the pleasure of hearing Jeff Loomis' progressive and technically superior playing.

Loomis' first solo album, "Zero Order Phase", was released in September 2008 through Century Media Records.

The "Busted! On the Road" show from the Internet channel "Metal Busted!" conducted an interview with guitarist Silenoz (real name: Sven Atle Kopperud) of Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR before the band's March 6 concert (moved from its original March 4 date) at Carioca Club in São Paulo, Brazil. You can now watch the chat below.

Tablature for three DIMMU BORGIR tracks from 2007's "In Sorte Diaboli" — "The Chosen Legacy", "The Sacrilegious Scorn" and "The Serpentine Offering" — is now available to fans on Jammit.com.

This is the first time official DIMMU BORGIR tablature has been made available (online or in print).

Jammit.com's software allows musicians to isolate the instrument they want to learn (ex: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards) and also features a variable slow mode plus scrolling notation.

Tracks can be purchased at this location. View a How It Works video here.

DIMMU fans are encouraged to request more songs via this online form.

The band has just completed a South American tour and will make several summer festival appearances in Europe.

"Abrahadabra", the ninth album from DIMMU BORGIR, sold 9,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "In Sorte Diaboli", opened with 14,000 units back in May 2007 to debut at No. 43. This was more than double the 6,400 first-week tally achieved by its predecessor, "Death Cult Armageddon", which came out in September 2003 and landed at position No. 169 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Abrahadabra" was released in Germany on September 24, 2010, in the rest of Europe on September 27, 2010, and it was made available in North America on October 12, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Thiago Sarkis of Brazil's Roadie Crew magazine recently conducted an interview with bassist Shane Embury of British grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH. Several excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the metal and punk roots of NAPALM DEATH:

Shane: "Well, this lineup of the band has been together since 1991, but all of us at one time were metalheads; that's our background as kids! Speaking for myself, I got into punk around 1982-83, and I think the other guys who are younger just a little later. I got into hardcore through my friend's stepbrother and then into tape trading in 1984 and then finally it kept growing up until I came across the punk scene in Birmingham, but I have always held onto my metal roots. I got into guitar music at the age of 6 with bands like SLADE and THE SWEET as my mom used to buy me the records, I then heard JUDAS PRIEST when I was 9 or 10 and it went from there, really. I was always attracted to the loudness of the music, the craziness and the guitar sound. I used to bash the shit out of my grandmother's water buckets, so I think when you do that as a kid, you are not going to join a reggae band! Some of my favorite metal bands are JUDAS PRIEST, BLACK SABBATH (the Dio period is my favorite), TYGERS OF PAN TANG, RAVEN, SAXON, SATAN, DIAMOND HEAD, ACCEPT… Too many to mention."

On new songs and upcoming releases:

Shane: "In the future, we want o be able to do more stuff like [the single 'Legacy Was Yesterday']. We are planning to release some splits in the future as well and so we are going to record some songs next month, actually. It's fun. We have plenty more songs to record, so 'Legacy Was Yesterday' was especially for Albert at Decibel [magazine] and it's nice to have an exclusive like that. We have a split planned with THE MELVINS which will come out this year and also another couple of split with some other bands but for now it's a secret. They are certainly fun to do."

On the friendship between the members of NAPALM DEATH:

Shane: "We are good friends, and also, I guess you could say, brothers. But as most brothers do, we fight at times about what we feel is right and at times this can cause uncomfortableness, but it passes and we move forward. Sometimes I don't know how we get over the arguments and move on, but we do. Sometimes life on the road can feel like a very surreal journey and you feel very disconnected from home and each other, but we have been together as friends so long now that we can give each other space, and yes, we have fun not all the time, but we still have some great laughs on the road. It's also still very nice and important to meet our friends from around the world. It's at these times that you realize how lucky you are to be doing what you do, but perhaps we are an exception, since I have seen a lot of bands who don't interact that well with each other. We are lucky."

On illegal music downloading:

Shane: "I know that 'Smear Campaign' was available to download two weeks after we had finished the record, but I think other powers were at work there. It [illegal downloads] is obviously affecting the record labels, but we, as a band, have been touring like crazy the past few years and perhaps that is a little bit down to kids downloading the record and checking it out. I just don't know. My feelings are mixed on this whole subject and I think that stems from me being a tape-trader back in the day. I think that genuine fans will probably buy the record or a version of it if they like it. I have to be honest — especially here in the U.K., when CDs first came out, they were just too fucking expensive and technology came along and kicked the industry in the ass. I just know that as a musician the rules have changed, but playing live which for me is a big part of the whole thing is as intense as it's always been."

On the early days of NAPALM DEATH:

Shane: "I live very close the place where I first saw NAPALM DEATH. It's a pub called The Mermaid. They are knocking that building down now. NAPALM DEATH was a three-piece and I loved the band instantly. They had the perfect blend of CELTIC FROST-inspired metal riffs and blasting savage hardcore. Mick [Harris], as a drummer, was so exciting to see they became my favorite band and I became great friends with the three of them and traveled with them to many shows. My biggest regret, really, is that I did not join them when Nic Bullen asked me too as I would have played on 'Scum', on the B-side in reality. I just sat in the studio when they recorded the A-side, but the band made such a massive impact on my life and still does to this day."

On his pre-NAPALM DEATH bands WARHAMMER and AZAGTHOTH:

Shane: "I came from a very small town called Broseley, which is in the county of Shropshire — 40 miles from Birmingham. I was one of four friends into metal and we were tape-trading with Bill Steer and people like that and we were getting into faster music like POSSESSED and DEATH, so we formed WARHAMMER, who were, I guess, the first death metal band in the U.K. before ONSLAUGHT. We had a demo called 'Abbattoir Of Death' and I originally started playing drums in that band. I had always wanted to play in a band since I was 6 or 7, so this was one step further towards my dream. AZAGTHOTH was a band I played in with the guitar player of WARHAMMER, a guy called Pete Giles, who later played in many bands, one of them being SCALPLOCK. WARHAMMER's and AZAGTHOTH's music was very intense death metal."

On the possibility of new material from INSIDIOUS DISEASE, his side-project with DIMMU BORGIR's Silenoz:

Shane: "I saw Silenoz in Oslo the other week when my other band LOCK UP played and we discussed working on some new material. Let's hope we can do something again soon."

On his memories of "Utopia Banished", the NAPALM DEATH album which was released 20 years ago:

Shane: "That was the first album that Danny Herrera [drums] played on, so it was I guess an important one as everyone was looking to see if we could pull it off without Mick. We had a lot of fun in the studio. I feel the guitars are not loud enough on that mix of the record, though, but as an album, it's a very intense record with a lot of manic riffs. We were very young, but as a band we were enjoying hanging out together a lot and we were very focused on making the record a good album. I am very proud of the album. As I said, I think it could have had louder guitars on the album but Danny's drumming on that album is great and very spontaneous."

On NAPALM DEATH's plans for the immediate future:

Shane: "The band will head to the States for the first time in three years to play the Maryland Deathfest. NAPALM also plans to release a few split releases this year, all being well, with MELVINS, CONVERGE and MUNICIPAL WASTE. These will take time to come together, though, but it's a nice break from the norm of just recording album after album."

"American Idol" finalist James Durbin and recording artist Orianthi (ALICE COOPER) played a special concert on March 2 at Center Staging in Burbank, California to benefit the Rock School Scholarship Fund, a 501(c)3 non-profit group that funds music lessons and provides instruments for kids 7-17 who want to attend any rock school nationwide, but whose parents don't have the financial means.

Both James and Orianthi joined several student bands for various cover songs and, after playing several songs with the Burbank Music Academy student band FULL COUNT, Orianthi performed her original song "Heaven In This Hell" with the School Of Rock North Hollywood.

"I had so much fun jamming out with the kids," Orianthi said. "They are all so talented and sweet. I knew from when I was six that music would be my life and I used to spend most of my time in the music room. It's sad to hear that music programs are often removed from public schools, so it meant a lot to be a part of the Rock School Scholarship Fund show."

James, a former scholarship student, performed his original song "Stand Up" with NINE, a student band from the Burbank Music Academy. He and Orianthi later performed DIO's anthem "Rainbow In The Dark" with the School Of Rock North Hollywood. For James, it was the first metal song that he ever heard and the rocker dedicated the song to Ronnie James Dio.

"If it weren't for music scholarships I wouldn't have been able to learn what I know now," James said. "I play music because it's what I love to do and every single kid that I met at the event had that same fire. I'm so happy I got to do this because it reminds me to have fun. Playing with those kids brought my fire back. The fire that made me want to be a singer in the first place. A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Rock School Scholarship Fund, the teachers, all the kids and to anyone and everyone who supports this great cause."

Additional celebrity items in the silent auction included a PRS SE Orianthi Red Sparkle Guitar signed by Orianthi, a Fender Squire Special Edition Guitar signed by James Durbin, an autographed REM drumhead, a private guitar lesson with new music artist Erica Chase, two VIP meet-and-greet tickets to any Todd Rundgren concert, two Orchestra tickets and cast meet and greet for "Rock Of Ages" at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and a tour of the Fender Guitar Factory for a winner and four friends.

During a break in the concert, Center Staging General Manager Michael Anderson also surprised the school with a $5,000 check while donations from event sponsors Monster Energy Drink, Karma Tequila and St. Clair Brown Winery raised additional funds.

"I started the scholarship fund with Carl Restivo, when we ran the School Of Rock in Hollywood," said Wendy Winks, executive director of the Rock School Scholarship Fund. "Kids would come through with their parents and be so excited about our music program, but many families could not afford the $325 per month tuition. We created the scholarship fund so that kids who want to rock can have that opportunity. It's a fantastic way for kids to learn to play music."

For more information about the Rock School Scholarship Fund, go to RockSchoolFund.org.

SLIPKNOT mastermind/percussionist M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan will appear at this year's South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas next week, premiering his photo book "Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey" with a press party and question-and-answer session on Thursday, March 15.

Earlier that afternoon, he will participate in a panel discussion, "Seeing Red: Aesthetics & Visuals of Metal", with Mike Williams of EYEHATEGOD. That will be held in room 11AB of the Austin Convention Center from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Then, at 7 p.m., he will be at The Jr (formerly Emo's Jr) at 603 Red River Street for the press party and question-and-answer session.


"Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey", which will be published by MTV Books in June, is a collection of explorations in darkness and light from Shawn's experimental photography, his second and equally powerful artistic outlet which he has honed for over a decade. Weird, wired, paranoid, endlessly imaginative and cancerously prolific, he's created thousands of dangerous representations of reality through eye-gouging Polaroids in numerous styles in this hand-picked collection.

The foreword to "Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey" was written by METALLICA's Lars Ulrich; it reads in part, "Throw yourself into Clown's world, throw yourself into Clown's book, throw yourself into Clown's images, throw yourself into the whole fucking thing. Let go of the bungee cord, do away with the safety net. Just go for it, and let the journey take you wherever the journey's going to take you. And as you're going on that trip through this book, occasionally imagine Clown next to you. Imagine hearing his voice in your head talking about what these images and experiences have meant to him and where he was going with it. And you will end up on one fuck of a ride, that I can guarantee you will be unique, spellbinding, and potentially life-altering. This book is everything that art should be."

M. Shawn Crahan, better known as Clown, is the percussionist and founding member of the Grammy Award-winning hard rock band SLIPKNOT. Crahan is also the art director for SLIPKNOT and directed their DVDs, "Disasterpieces", "Voliminal: Inside The Nine", "Of The (sic)", and "(sic)nesses: Live at Download". He has been the creative vision behind the band since their inception.

Outside of SLIPKNOT, Crahan has had a few other projects of note: TO MY SURPRISE, who released one album (executive-produced by Rick Rubin) on Roadrunner Records in 2004, as well as the alternative group DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS. Crahan produced, played drums, and wrote in both groups. In 2009, DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS released the EP "Simon" on The End Records, which was followed by their self-titled full length in 2010. Recently, Crahan has been focusing his musical energy on his newest band, THE BLACK DOTS OF DEATH. In this latest project, Crahan can once again be found behind the drum kit in addition to writing, recording, and producing the band, whose debut album, "Ever Since We Were Children", hit stores in the spring of 2011.

In addition to producing his own work, Crahan has also worked as a producer for several bands, including GIZMACHI and DIRTFEDD, as well as serving as an executive producer to bands such as MUDVAYNE. Crahan has also remixed several songs for artists, including MARILYN MANSON, COHEED AND CAMBRIA, MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE and SUICIDE SILENCE.

Former KYUSS bassist Scott Reeder has commented on the reaction to the news that he and fellow ex-KYUSS member Josh Homme (guitar) have filed a federal lawsuit against other former KYUSS members John Garcia (vocals) and Brant Bjork (drums) alleging "trademark infringement and consumer fraud" over the use of the KYUSS name.

Garcia, Bjork and ex-KYUSS bassist Nick Oliveri reunited for shows last year under the KYUSS LIVES! banner, in which they were joined by guitarist Bruno Fevery. The band has since toured on both sides of the Atlantic and is said to be currently working on a live album for a late 2012 release. There are also tentative plans for the group to record a brand new studio CD.

Homme and Reeder released a statement on Saturday via public relations firm Nasty Little Man in which they claimed that they "made every attempt to help [Garcia, Bjork and Oliveri] continue KYUSS LIVES! respectfully. Only to discover while they looked us in the eye, KYUSS LIVES! management and band had filed federal documents in 2011 in an attempt to steal the name KYUSS. This is desperately what we were trying to avoid."

Writing on his Facebook page earlier today (Sunday, March 11), Reeder said, "Maaaaaaan, I've been called every foul name in the book [on Saturday], and all I did was make a choice to stand up to defend and retain small rights that I should be able to keep sacred and unhindered for the rest of my life and beyond. I didn't have much of a choice: lose all of the rights in two weeks, or keep them forever. I didn't choose to be in this situation at all — I was forced to react very quickly with a looming deadline, and it's been rough. I saw people bitterly divided [yesterday] over this stupid stuff… crazy. But the overwhelming support from friends and family was very much appreciated and needed. Thank you."

Reeder played a handful of European live dates with KYUSS LIVES! last year as a fill-in for Oliveri. He was also a "special guest" at KYUSS LIVES!'s homecoming show on November 18, 2011 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.

Reeder played bass on KYUSS' classic LPs "Welcome to Sky Valley" and "...And the Circus Leaves Town" and was also a member of doom legends THE OBSESSED.

Regarding why Homme is not involved in the KYUSS reunion, Garcia previously told Rock Sound magazine, "I have nothing bad to say about Josh — he's extremely intelligent, very smart, a great guitar player, great songwriter, a great vocalist — he is a bad-ass, there is no question, and I love him dearly but he is busy with his own thing. He has THEM CROOKED VULTURES, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, he's a father, a businessman and even if we asked him to do it, I don't think he'd say yes, so I don't want to set myself up for a big fat no which is 99.9 percent what he would say."

In a 2010 interview, Homme explained his hesitation to participate in a KYUSS reformation.

"The offers come in all the time," he said. "They're getting more and more expensive, and more and more elaborate. The money is crazy, but I've never been tempted — I don't really care about the money, I never have. That's not what KYUSS was about, so to punctuate the end of our sentence with that would be blasphemy… KYUSS has such a great history that it would be a total error. I like that nobody saw KYUSS, and that it was largely misunderstood. That sounds like a legend forming to me. I'm too proud of it to rub my dick on it."

The "Preston & Steve" show, which airs on the 93.3 WMMR radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, recently conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD). You can now watch the chat below.

In addition to Portnoy, ADRENALINE MOB features SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP) and DISTURBED bassist John Moyer.

The band's debut album, "Omertá", will be released in Europe on March 19 in Europe via Century Media Records. The CD will be made available 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.

"Omertá" track listing:

01. Undaunted
02. Psychosane
03. Indifferent
04. All On The Line
05. Hit The Wall
06. Feelin' Me
07. Come Undone (feat. Lzzy Hale)
08. Believe Me
09. Down To The Floor
10. Angel Sky
11. Freight Train

ADRENALINE MOB will perform at several European festivals this summer, including Graspop Metal Meeting (June 22-24 in Dessel, Belgium) and Gods Of Metal (June 21-24 in Milan, Italy).

ADRENALINE MOB's first-ever headline tour made stops in various markets, including Chicago, Denver and San Francisco. ADRENALINE MOB also opened for GODSMACK on select dates of the Massachusetts act's headlining tour.

ADRENALINE MOB formed in early 2011 when Orlando approached Allen with some material the guitarist had written. Allen and Orlando refined those ideas, at which time Allen reached out to longtime friend Portnoy to see if he had any interest in playing with them. Portnoy jumped on board and the beast that is known as ADRENALINE MOB was born.

Guitarist Rich Ward (STUCK MOJO, FOZZY) and bassist Paul DiLeo (FOZZY) announced their departures from ADRENALINE MOB in January due to scheduling conflicts with their other projects.



Photo by Kellie Hoeke

Norwegian thrashers DEAD TROOPER have released a live album with a bit of a difference. The eight-track effort, "No Tan En Vivo En Mexico", with artwork by Danny Larsen, was released digitally on March 9, and is inspired by the band's appearance at Mexico's Wild Metal Fest last year which was rained off only one and a half songs into the set. As a result, the group decided to release a live studio recording of what would have been the entire show as a tribute to the fans who took DEAD TROOPER to their hearts after they performed an impromptu set at a local biker bar following the cancelation of the festival.

Commented DEAD TROOPER frontman Meister Muller: "To cut a long story short, DEAD TROOPER went to Mexico last year to play their biggest outdoor concert to date at the Wild Metal Fest 2011. We hit the stage and what did we get? Rain. Insane amounts of it, which drowned the stage and cut the power. So much rehearsing and anticipation for this gig and we only got to play 1.5 songs before Mother Nature pissed on us.

"We don't need to tell you how passionate Mexican fans are about their metal and with the festival called off, there ensued the usual riot, fire, fists and shit kickers. After quite a few depressing cervesas and tequilas, we got word that a bunch of disgruntled fans thirsty for Norwegian metal were gathered at a local biker bar, together with a local band and back line, so we headed off to the Route 666 bar and shredded through some songs, including a bunch of covers, together with eminent guests! The bar exploded! We were welcomed as stars! Unbelievable! The intensity, heat and adrenaline of the packed club was only matched by the rain of bear hugs, kisses, praise and love from the crazy metalheads of Cancun when we eventually stumbled off stage.

"Before we were due to appear, we had made this brilliant studio recording of our intended live set, which really captured our live sound in the best way possible and which was only meant for us to dissect and analyze for the sake of perfecting the set. But we had to give something back to Mexico for treating us like metal royalty! 'No Tan En Vivo En Mexico' is the set we intended to play at Wild Metal Fest, and here it is, raw, dirty, heavy, and passionate! This album is for you, Mexico! Te amamos, you bastards!!"

The members of DEAD TROOPER, who describe their music as "groovy, aggressive thrash metal," are currently on the hunt for a label to release what will be their sophomore full-length album. The band's next live appearance will take place at the Inferno Festival in Oslo on April 6.

"Kiss of the Kannibal", a track from "No Tan En Vivo En Mexico", along with other songs from DEAD TROOPER can be heard using the SoundCloud player below. Also available is audio of Meister Muller explaining the decision to release "No Tan En Vivo En Mexico" during a recent interview with DJ Malice for Canada's Nuclear Holocaust Radio.

For more information, visit www.deadtrooper.com.

Natalie of Onslaught Radio conducted an interview with former HELLHAMMER/CELTIC FROST and current TRIPTYKON singer, guitarist, and main songwriter Tom Gabriel Warrior prior to the band's March 10 concert at HMV Forum in London, England as the support act for CANNIBAL CORPSE. Also on the bill were ENSLAVED and JOB FOR A COWBOY. You can now watch the chat below.

"Shatter", the latest five-track EP from TRIPTYKON, sold around 500 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 90 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.

"Shatter" was released on October 25, 2010 (Europe) and October 26, 2010 (North America).

At a playing time of approximately 28 minutes, "Shatter" consists almost entirely of previously unreleased music.

TRIPTYKON consists of V. Santura (guitar, vocals), Norman Lonhard (drums, percussion), Vanja Slajh (bass), and Tom Gabriel Fischer (voice, guitars). The group has unambiguously stated that it pursues the continuation and further development of the path Warrior began in HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST.

Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH have uploaded single-camera footage of their March 9 headlining performance in Jyväskylä, Finland. The eight-minute clip, which can be seen below, contains the show intro, "Taikatalvi", and the opening track, "Storytime".

The band's setlist was as follows:


01. Taikatalvi
02. Storytime
03. Wish I Had An Angel
04. Amaranth
05. Scaretale
06. Dead To The World
07. Slow, Love, Slow
08. I Want My Tears Back (with Troy Donockley)
09. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove (with Troy Donockley)
10. The Islander (with Troy Donockley)
11. Nemo (with Troy Donockley)
12. Last Of The Wilds (with Troy Donockley)
13. Planet Hell
14. Ghost River (world premiere)
15. The Poet And The Pendulum
16. Over The Hills And Far Away (Gary Moore cover) (with Troy Donockley)

Encore:

17. Finlandia (Jean Sibelius cover) (with Troy Donockley)
18. Song Of Myself
19. Last Ride Of The Day

"The Crow, The Owl And The Dove", the second single from NIGHTWISH's latest album, "Imaginaerum", has entered the official chart in Finland at position No. 1. The single features the title cut in three versions — radio edit, album version and instrumental — and the previously unreleased song "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" (theme from the movie "The Piano") in two different versions.

NIGHTWISH will release a special "tour edition" of "Imaginaerum", on April 13 via Nuclear Blast Records. It will be a 2CD+DVD digibook in slipcase.

"Imaginaerum" sold 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, 2007's "Dark Passion Play", opened with 11,000 units to land at No. 84.

"Imaginaerum" was released in North America on January 10 via Roadrunner Records.

Although they only managed to release two albums in their short career in the '80s, DEATHWISH still managed to help influence not only the vibrant thrash scene of the time, but also the burgeoning death metal movement that would soon take over the underground. The English combo's 1986 "Sword Of Justice" demo became a staple on tape trading lists throughout the globe, and their "At The Edge Of Damnation" debut album the next year garnered the group rave reviews and set up what seemed to be a bright future for the speedsters.

In 1988 DEATHWISH unleashed their sophomore album, a menacing slab of vinyl entitled "Demon Preacher". Packed with biting lyrics and one machete-sharp riff after the other, the nine-song collection should have propelled DEATHWISH to the commercial league bands like OVERKILL, KREATOR and EXODUS were running in, but a series of setbacks ultimately killed off any chance of that happening.

Divebomb Records reissue of "Demon Preacher" contains not only newly remastered audio but archival photos provided by the band and a brand new interview with David Brunt and Brad Sims conducted by editor-in-chief of AOL Music's Noisecreep, Carlos Ramirez.

For more information, visit www.divebombrecords.com.