Bassist Robbie Crane has officially quit RATT, the band he had played with since 1997. During an appearance on this past Thursday's (March 22) edition of the "Headbangers At 11" show on the 93.3 KDKB radio station with host Mike Gaube, Crane stated about his decision to leave RATT, "I've been playing in LYNCH MOB since October of 2010. It's a thing that I've always loved doing, and I love playing with the band. As of recently, I've moved on from RATT — I definitely quit RATT — and I let them all know that. But you know what?! It's not because of LYNCH MOB. I'd been with RATT for 15 years and it was time to move on. I love being in LYNCH MOB and this is where my heart's at."

A short audio clip of Crane announcing his decision to leave RATT on 93.3 KDKB's "Headbangers At 11" can be streamed using the player below.



"Infestation", the first studio record in 11 years from RATT, sold around 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released on April 20, 2010 via Loud & Proud.

"Infestation" was produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette (CHEVELLE, ALTER BRIDGE) at his Virginia studio, marking the first time the band has recorded outside of Los Angeles. The album is full of attitude and of reflection, cycling through a range of emotions. There are party anthems that RATT are known for alongside more contemplative, thoughtful tunes.

Ed MacLaren of Femme Metal Webzine recently conducted an interview with singer Cristina Scabbia of Italian heavy rockers LACUNA COIL. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Femme Metal Webzine: I'm signed up to your Facebook page. I noticed that you do a lot of updates on the things that you're doing and you have a lot of fun doing that and fans really like it.

Cristina: That's why I'm doing it. It's not that I have a lot of fun doing it, but I think that it's cool for whoever doesn't know that much about the backstage and about what's going on with the band. I think it's cool to have a direct update from the band because sometimes the official websites are more like portals that can take you to different sites but they're never a close connection to the fans. And in this case, Facebook is really cool because you can get direct feedback from the fans and you can post updates and write when something happens and I think that's cool.

Femme Metal Webzine: After doing two months as a support act and then you have to switch gears and go headline and you have the longer sets. Do you have to change anything musically or get your mindset in order?

Cristina: Your mindset just changes, because, of course, you have to play every night a longer set so it's more tiring for your body, for your voice, so you have to be extra careful about your body, your voice, your fingers, if you play guitar or your energy if you're a drummer. So definitely we're going to be able to take care of ourselves and our bodies during that tour because I know we're going to push the energy to the limit every night. As I said, even if you tried to take it easy once you're up there, it's impossible. It's just impossible. We give everything we have onstage.

Femme Metal Webzine: Are there any benefits to playing more support shows to doing a headline show?

Cristina: When you play a headliner show, you know that the people coming to see you are fans, so they know your music already. When you play as a support band, you have a chance to grab and to win over new people that in the future will come to your headliner shows. So any support tour is useful to spread the word and let more people know about LACUNA COIL. Actually, [this year's Gigantour] really surprised me because we never had problems to fit with any lineup and any band because we have such a special sound ourselves. We have a specific LACUNA COIL thing going on that we pretty much fit with every band we played with from ROB ZOMBIE to ANTHRAX to TYPE O NEGATIVE to P.O.D. Diverse bands and nobody has ever said anything, but on this tour it was more like there's going to be a lot of old-school fans. You know, MOTÖRHEAD and MEGADETH die-hard fans that are going to look at us like, "Oh my God, who's this girl on stage? Why do they even have a female singer? Why aren't they doing this?" And the reaction was magnificent! It was amazing! Everybody was rocking out! They loved the show. We would leave the stage every night with hands up in the air and people cheering us and going for it. It was amazing because when you're the opener, you don't really know. It's like you have to warm up the crowd and you never know how they're going to react most of the time — they will be like having a beer somewhere getting interested in the show. And it wasn't like that. We got the attention of pretty much everybody. And that was amazing. It's a big challenge. It's exciting.

Femme Metal Webzine: Do you think that you've been doing anything different with [the "Dark Adrenaline" album] than the previous stuff or are you just doing what you do well better?

Cristina: I think that it came out different, but without us thinking about making it sound different, because what we always do with every album is that we don't think. We just go with the flow which is let the inspiration go and do everything for us. It's not that we sit around a table and we say, "OK, the last album went this way. Why don't we try to do this?" It's not like that — the process is completely different because we collect the ideas and whatever we like, we keep it. We don't care about clichés, we don't think about what people might think about the album because it's a representation of art so it has to describe who we are. It has to be who we are. It doesn't have to be what fans want from us and I personally think that that's why we kept it — for such a long time — interesting to a lot of people. We might have lost some fans but we won over a lot of people. And then maybe the new people didn't like the album after and the old-school fans came back. I think it's refreshing. It's refreshing to just evolve and not to get stuck in the same thing over and over. And this album definitely the most obscure, the heaviest one we've ever done but it's not that we thought about it before we started songwritin

Femme Metal Webzine: Do you think that the success of LACUNA COIL has had some kind of an impact on opening doors?

Cristina: Absolutely, yes! Well not only opened a lot of doors for territories that are not exactly metal, because we're coming from Italy. We are with an independent label, so we were the first ones to be surprised about our success because, wow, we're having the chance to tour Europe. We're having the chance to be signed by Century Media. And this is actually because we were trying to propose something different from what the other bands from Milan were doing back then. It was more the power metal era — a lot of bands were playing power metal style and we were doing something completely different — we were doing this sort of goth rock that nobody else would have done with a female and a male singer. And that immediately grabbed the attention of Century Media and that's why we got signed. But now that other people can see that we made it to a certain level, a lot of other people can be inspired by that and think that if they made it and they are from Italy — which is not the U.K. and it's not the States which are usually the main places where a success band might come from — then we can make it, too, if we work hard and we put a lot of passion and a lot of sacrifices in our jobs.

Read the entire interview from Femme Metal Webzine.

Audio samples of all the tracks that are set to appear on "Apocalyptic Love", the second solo album from legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES), can be streamed at Amazon.com.

Due on May 22 via his own label Dik Hayd International distributed through EMI, the CD will follow his 2010 debut album, "Slash", and his November 2011 first-ever live solo album, the two-CD/DVD set "Made In Stoke 24/7/11". Notably, the "Slash" album debuted on The Billboard 200 chart at #3 (#1 on the Rock chart, #1 on the Independent chart, and #1 on the Hard Music chart). Digitally, the album also became the #1 overall digital album and hit #1 on iTunes in 13 countries. Internationally, the disc achieved Top 5 chart positions in over a dozen major territories, hitting #1 in both Japan and New Zealand.

In the U.K., "Apocalyptic Love" will be released on May 21 in exclusive Classic Rock Fan Pack form — providing a unique collectable package containing the studio album with bonus tracks alongside a specially created magazine with unseen behind-the-scenes content put together by Classic Rock. The Fan Pack format will also come with free gifts, including a pin badge and artwork poster and will be available to buy via more than 2000 retail outlets on newsstands nationally as well as the traditional high street and online music retailers. Roadrunner Records will simultaneously release the record digitally. The standard physical release of the Slash album will follow through Roadrunner Records on June 18.

For the new album, Slash — along with and his bandmates Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums) and Todd Kerns (bass) — teamed with producer Eric Valentine, who also produced the "Slash" disc. All the songs were written together by Slash and Kennedy, and cameras have been rolling throughout the entire making of the album.

"Apocalyptic Love" track listing:

01. Apocalyptic Love
02. One Last Thrill
03. Standing In The Sun
04. You're A Lie
05. No More Heroes
06. Halo
07. We Will Roam
08. Anastasia
09. Not For Me
10. Bad Rain
11. Hard & Fast
12. Far And Away
13. Shots Fired

Slash is currently shooting a "dark" video for the song "You're A Lie" with director Anthony Leonardi III. Leonardi is also helming the first feature film produced by Slash, called "Nothing To Fear", which was recently picked up for distribution by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The movie is the first of a proposed series of horror films produced by Slash's company, called Slasher Films, which he launched last year in partnership with two other producers. The film began shooting last month in Louisiana, with Anne Heche and others confirmed for the cast.

"You're A Lie" can be streamed in its entirety at RollingStone.com.

"'You're A Lie' is the second song I brought to the band in 2011 during the last tour," explains Slash. "We worked on it at soundcheck somewhere, I can't remember where. It's gone through some minor changes along the way, mainly the chorus. But for the most part, it's remained true to its original arrangement. I can't wait to play this live."

Brian Rademacher of RockEyez recently conducted an interview with legendary hard rock singer Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TALISMAN, JOURNEY). You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Soto's new solo album, "Damage Control", will be released on March 27 in North America via Frontiers Records.

An extraordinary performer and amazing vocalist, Jeff Scott Soto blasts through these hard-rocking tracks with energy and masters the transition smoothly from heavy rock to a delicate ballad.

For "Damage Control", Jeff has turned to many of his past influences and most requested aspects of his career by blending the art of melodic rock with hard rock.

"I feel 'Damage Control' is more of a return to what my fans would expect to hear from me," says Jeff. "It's a perfect blend of my first two solo albums with Frontiers Records — 'Prism' and 'Lost In The Translation' — but also mixes in some of my favorite moments of my past bands such as TALISMAN and SOUL SIRKUS. It is heavy, AOR, hard rock with loads of great riffs and melodies."

"Damage Control" was recorded in the fall of 2011 and features appearances and writing contributions by Jeff's former and current bandmates, along with many guests, including Jamie Borger and Nalley Påhlsson (TREAT), Casey Grillo (KAMELOT), Joel Hoekstra (NIGHT RANGER) and legendary Y&T founding member Dave Meniketti. Jeff states, "Y&T drummer Mike Vanderhule played drums on a track and suggested I bring Dave on but, as he is a long time friend and one on the 'wish list' of people I would have loved to have, I didn't want to get an excuse that he was too busy or not interested, to my surprise I got neither... he was willing to do it and I was not only grateful but beyond pleased to work with another musical hero!"

"Damage Control" will be released in two exclusive configurations; the basic version in CD jewel box will include 11 songs, while the deluxe edition in digipak format has an additional three bonus tracks and a DVD.

CD:

01. Give A Little More
02. Damage Control
03. Look Inside Your Heart
04. Die A Little
05. Take U Down*
06. If I Never Let Her Go
07. Tears That I Cry
08. BonaFide
09. Elena*
10. Krazy World
11. How To Love Again
12. AfterWorld
13. NeverEnding War
14. Afraid To Die*

* Bonus tracks only available on the Deluxe Edition.

DVD:

* Look Inside Your Heart (videoclip)
* NeverEnding War (videoclip)
* Damage Control (videoclip)
* EPK interview

Jeff Scott Soto is currently planning tour dates that will support the release of the new record. "The plan is to do as much touring as possible wherever the world will have me," he says. "I plan to promote this album with a proper touring regiment!"

Interview:



"Look Inside Your Heart" video:

Italian progressive rock/metal band KINGCROW has entered the studio to begin recording its new album, "In Crescendo", for a late 2012 release.

A four-minute video clip featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the studio can be seen below.

KINGCROW's latest CD, "Phlegethon", was released in May 2010 via Scarlet Records.

According to a press release, "Describing [KINGCROW] today is quite a difficult task, but one could state that the influence of such artists as PORCUPINE TREE, RIVERSIDE, OPETH, ORPHANED LAND or even DREAM THEATER in their more subtle moments are all present in the music of KINGCROW. With each release KINGCROW has taken a step further away from their original roots as a classic hard rock/metal band and is today one of the most exciting bands that Italy has to offer."

KINGCROW is:

Diego Marchesi - Lead, Backing Vocals
Diego Cafolla - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Ivan Nastasi - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Thundra Cafolla - Drums, Percussions
Cristian Della Polla - Keyboards, Synths
Francesco D'Errico - Bass

Guitarist Marc Rizzo (SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY) has laid down a guest guitar solo on the forthcoming full-length album from the Los Angeles hardcore band STRIFE. The group enlisted longtime friend Igor Cavalera (SEPULTURA, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY) to play drums on the CD, which is being produced by TERROR drummer Nick Jett (TAKE OFFENSE, LIONHEART). Igor laid down the drum tracks at Mix Nova Studios in Brazil, with additional recordings taking place at Blood Tracks Studio and Sunset Lodge in Los Angeles. Producer Matt Hyde (HATEBREED, SLAYER) will take care of the mastering duties in April.

Commented STRIFE guitarist Andrew Kline: "Igor absolutely killed the drum tracks. He played a lot more straight-forward than he normally does to fit our style, and then added the right fills and touches to really stand out."

A final release date, label, cover art and additional information on STRIFE's first CD since 2001's "Angermeans" will be revealed in the near future.

Cavalera previously made a guest appearance on STRIFE's second album, 1997's "In This Defiance".

STRIFE is:

Rick Rodney - Vocals
Andrew Kline - Guitar
Chad Peterson - Bass
Todd Turnham - Guitar
Pepe Magana - Drums

KAYSER, the Swedish band featuring former SPIRITUAL BEGGARS frontman Spice and ex-THE MUSHROOM RIVER BAND drummer Bob Ruben, entered the studio in December to begin recording its third album for an early 2012 release.

A new four-minute video clip featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the guitar-recording sessions at Ladahland studios in Helsingborg can be seen below.

KAYSER previously stated about the long delay between albums, "So what's there to say about the long silence? Simply put, we went a bit astray with some stuff and needed to take the time necessary to get things sorted out. Mainly in our own heads but there's also some politics to it when it comes to a certain record label.

"We've been rehearsing for a while now and the vibe is amazing. We're enjoying writing new music, playing the old stuff, hanging out together and just to be rolling again."

KAYSER released its sophomore CD, "Frame The World…Hang It On The Wall", in October 2006 via Scarlet Records. The CD was recorded in February 2006 at Caesar Studios in Västra Karaby, Sweden with producer Richard Larsson and was mastered at The Mastering Room by Göran Finnberg.

The first photo of the new lineup of JON OLIVA'S PAIN, the Florida-based band led by SAVATAGE mastermind Jon Oliva, can be seen below.

JON OLIVA'S PAIN's latest addition, guitarist Joseph Diaz, is also member of CEMETARY SLUTS (an original speed metal band) and FIGURE IN BLACK (a BLACK SABBATH tribute act). He has also played in DISASTERPEACE alongside former KING DIAMOND guitarist Pete Blakk and ex-CRIMSON GLORY singer Wade Black.

JON OLIVA'S PAIN 2012 touring lineup:

Jon Oliva – Vocals, Keyboards
Christopher Kinder - Drums
Jerry Outlaw - Guitar
Jason Jennings - Bass
Joseph Diaz - Guitar

JON OLIVA'S PAIN will play SAVATAGE's classic 1987 album, "Hall Of The Mountain King", in its entirety during a 15-date European tour in June and July. The group will also perform songs from DOCTOR BUTCHER (the early 1990s project created by Oliva and guitarist Chris Caffery at a time when they were not active members of SAVATAGE) as well as other classic SAVATAGE and JON OLIVA'S PAIN selections.

Commented JON OLIVA'S PAIN lead guitarist Jerry Outlaw: "In my mind, this tour will be dedicated to the memory of the late, great Matt LaPorte as well as Criss Oliva. I will honor their memory with every note I play."

JON OLIVA'S PAIN will play warm-up show for its European tour on June 18 at the Ritz Theatre in Ybor City, Florida.

"Hall Of The Mountain King" was the first SAVATAGE album to be produced by Paul O'Neill and it showed the beginning of the band's progressive tendencies as they explored new forms of expression in their music. Many fans consider this LP a turning point in SAVATAGE's musical identity. As the group's first concept effort, it had a constant tone and was more complex than their previous albums, with two entirely instrumental tracks that go beyond simple guitar riffs and solos, namely "Prelude To Madness" and "Last Dawn".

Joe Daly of The Nervous Breakdown recently conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Nervous Breakdown: ADRENALINE MOB started the year off with a big personnel change, bringing on DISTURBED bassist John Moyer. I know that you actually reached out to him. What about his style made him your choice?

Portnoy: Well, I knew John from when DISTURBED and AVENGED SEVENFOLD toured together on the Uproar tour a couple summers ago, so John and I had spent a lot of time together. I knew that he was a super cool, down-to-earth guy, so I knew he'd fit in personally and stylistically, and with all of his time in DISTURBED, I knew it was a musical background that would fit right in with what the MOB is doing. Most importantly was the fact that DISTURBED had just announced that they were going on an extended hiatus, and it was critical for us to find a bass player that didn't have any other bands or commitments. We assumed we'd have to get a complete nobody or an up-and-comer because everybody else already had other bands and other things going. It just happened to turn out that it was the perfect time for John because he now has this downtime when he can commit to us and we don't have to worry about any scheduling conflicts. So on every level, John was the perfect choice.

The Nervous Breakdown: As the drummer, it's obviously important for you to find somebody that you can do business with in the rhythm section, so even before John hit the radar, was there a criteria that you personally had in mind for a new bass player?

Portnoy: Well, we were looking for somebody that was a team player and somebody who was into doing song-oriented music. Even though I have this reputation for being this over-the-top drummer and even though Mike Orlando is this incredibly flashy guitar player, we weren't looking for a crazy over-the-top bass player. We were looking for somebody who was more of a foundation type of player. So John was exactly the type of player we were looking for — a bad-ass motherfucker who could hold down the fort. John absolutely fit our criteria.

The Nervous Breakdown: Guitarist Rich Ward left the band recently. Are there any plans to replace him?

Portnoy: No, we're gonna keep the band a four-piece. When we auditioned John Moyer on bass, the other thing that we were auditioning was ourselves to see how we would sound as a four-piece. In rehearsals it sounded great, so we said, "Let's just keep this a four-piece." It's easier, it's one less scheduling obstacle to work around, and it sounded big and full, and some of our favorite bands were four-piece bands, like BLACK SABBATH, VAN HALEN and PANTERA, so we felt that it would be a good lineup to go forward with.

The Nervous Breakdown: Now that some of the dust has cleared, and in view of all you've done since DREAM THEATER, where do you see that band fitting in your overall legacy?

Portnoy: DREAM THEATER will always be the thing I'm most known for. It was twenty-five years of my life and it was something that I poured my heart and soul, blood sweat and tears into. I literally ate, breathed and shat DREAM THEATER twenty-four/seven for twenty-five years, so regardless of where they go in their career and regardless of where I go in my career, I will always and forever be linked to DREAM THEATER and that's fine with me — I'm proud of every song I wrote in that band, every album I recorded in that band, and every show I played with that band. So I have no problem with the fact that I will forever be known as "Mike Portnoy from DREAM THEATER." That's something that will never change. That's always how it's gonna be and I'm proud of that. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Read the entire interview from The Nervous Breakdown.

"Autistic Savant", the new video from Finnish technical death metallers DE LIRIUM'S ORDER (DLO), can be seen below. The clip, which was directed by Heikki Oinonen (MEDEIA), was filmed in freezing conditions — minus 30 degrees Celsius — in an abandoned factory in Joensuu, Finland.

According to a press release, "Autistic Savant" "concentrates on autistic savants, some of whom possess extraordinary capabilities such as prodigious memory or superior musical ability. The savant syndrome is largely a mystery despite of the extensive amount of research that has been conducted on the subject.

"A special notion on the video is that the band's drummer, Ukri 'Uge' Suvilehto, who has achieved close to one million YouTube hits with his acclaimed drum videos, was playing with high fever, making the difference in temperature between him and the surrounding environment close to 70 degrees! The video also includes scenes shot underwater."

"Autistic Savant" comes off DE LIRIUM'S ORDER's third album, "Veniversum", which was released on March 23 via DLO Productions, distributed by Inverse Records.

According to a press release, "Veniversum" is "not to be taken lightly — its compelling sounds, myriad instruments, and incredible solos combined with unprecedented musical madness leaves you puzzled and wanting more.. will you survive this blasting inferno?"

"Veniversum" track listing:

01. Autistic Savant
02. .44
03. Maximum Sentence
04. Seppuku
05. The Gravity of Crime
06. Schizophrenic
07. My Kingdom from Baekdu
08. The Aftermath

British thrash metal veterans ONSLAUGHT have crossed the Atlantic for their first-ever North American tour. The three-week trek sees the band performing a setlist spanning all its studio albums — "Power From Hell", "The Force", "In Search Of Sanity", "Killing Peace" and their latest release, "Sounds Of Violence". Support on the dates is coming from MPIRE OF EVIL (formerly PRIMEVIL), the new band featuring former VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Tony "The Demolition Man" Dolan (bass, vocals).

An ONSLAUGHT tour blog has been launched at the Featured Artists web site and can be accessed at this location.

ONSLAUGHT recruited Michael Hourihan (EXTREME NOISE TERROR, DESECRATION) to play the drums following last year's departure of Steve Grice.

ONSLAUGHT's fifth album, "Sounds Of Violence", was released in January 2011 via AFM Records. The follow-up to 2007's "Killing Peace" was recorded and mixed at Hansen Studio in Ribe, Denmark with acclaimed Danish producer Jacob Hansen (RAUNCHY, MERCENARY, VOLBEAT, HEAVEN SHALL BURN).

Austrian extreme metallers MASTIC SCUM have issued the following update:

"In deep sadness we have to announce that our friend and ex-member Will [vocals] died by accident on Friday 23rd of March. We are all very shocked about his tragic death. Will joined MASTIC SCUM in 1993 and left the band in 2008. We had a great time and lot of experiences together. R.I.P., Will — we'll see us in another life!"

MASTIC SCUM parted ways with Will in 2008 due to "musical differences" and replaced him with Maggo Wenzel (INZEST, TRISTWOOD, WATCH ME BLEED).

The official video for the MASTIC SCUM song "Face 2 Face", taken from the band's 2002 album "Scar" (Cudgel Agency/Twilight Distribution), can be seen below.

MASTIC SCUM's latest album, "Dust", was released on November 13, 2009 via Twilight Distribution.

On March 16, Sally Steele of Vegas Rocks! magazine conducted an interview with MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil at the "soft opening" of his new strip club Girls, Girls, Girls. You can now watch the chat below. A few excerpts follow.

On why he decided to open his own strip club:

Vince: "I've been going to strip clubs my whole adult life, I think. With the song 'Girls Girls Girls', we got inducted in 2007 into the Stripper Fall Of Fame. So it was just something that has been coming for a long time."

"I love new businesses. It's just another cool thing, and I think it's great for Las Vegas. It's something different in a city that has everything. . . I literally live, like, five minutes from [the club]. So I'm gonna be here a lot when I'm in town and come here and hang out. It's a great place to hang."

On MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars' comment in a recent Vegas Rocks! interview that Vince has "distanced" himself from the rest of the band:

Vince: "Well, I mean, I live in another state than the guys do. Yeah, I guess I am, but it doesn't really matter. It's like, what happens on stage, that's what really counts for MÖTLEY CRÜE. We don't have to all hang out together to be a band; it's what you do on stage [that's important]. So I think it maybe feels a little distant just because, like, they go do and some stuff in L.A., obviously it's harder for me to get there than it is for them to just drive down the street. So I guess just, really, [not] living out of the same city [makes a big difference]."

On the rumors that he doesn't get along with his MÖTLEY CRÜE bandmates, which is why they travel on separate buses:

Vince: "We go on separate buses because we can afford it. People don't understand that. We try to travel comfortably. Nikki [Sixx, bass] has his kids, and Tommy [Lee, drums] has his kids… You can't do that on the same bus. If you can afford to to do it, why woud you wanna live like animals if you can just be nice and comfortable? We've been doing this for 31 years. We don't have to do it like a band that just started out anymore. . . That's all just rumors. I don't know why people say that. Because we're, like, the best of friends. It's just dumb rumors, and people just talk without really knowing anything."

On whether he has any regrets:

Vince: "No. Because everything that's happened to me, I try to learn from those mistakes and make my life better. You can't learn anything until you actually fail at something. So, no, no regrets at all."

On whether he is ever going to have any more kids:

Vince: "No. I just became a grandfather last October. [My son Neil Wharton] had a little boy named Trace."

Neil has set Friday, April 13, as the official grand opening of Girls, Girls, Girls. The club will occupy the former Déjà Vu location opposite the Orleans off Tropicana Avenue a mile from the Las Vegas Strip.

Regarding the kind of entertainment that will be available at Vince Neil's Girls, Girls, Girls, Neil told the Las Vegas Sun, "First, the girls will be edgier. Tattoos won't be banned. They will look like they stepped out of a music video. Hot, provocative and edgy. I know it all comes down to G-strings in the end, but they'll start out with much sexier outfits than you find elsewhere. Second, the music isn't going to be boring. None of that house, generic strip club music. This will be full-on rock and roll."

Metal Mark of SkullsNBones.com recently conducted an interview with drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz of Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

SkullsNBones.com: CANNIBAL CORPSE has released so many classic albums throughout the years, but I agree with you that ["Torture"] is the best record yet. I know why I think it is, but why do you say it's the best?

Paul: I think it's all about the songwriting with this record. As time goes on, you get better and better at writing the best songs, and I think we nailed it on "Torture". Plus, everyone contributed more on this album. Rob [Barrett, guitar] wrote three songs on "Torture" and he's never had more than one he's written on his previous releases with us, and I think that was huge for the band. I think he's come into his own as a CANNIBAL CORPSE writer, ya know?! Pat [O'Brien, guitar] also put out his best work the four songs he wrote on this record as well. I think he wrote with a little more feeling this time around, and it really worked out great. Plus, throw in his guitar wizardry, and it makes for his best four songs he's written with CANNIBAL CORPSE. Of course, that's my opinion, but both of those guys hitting their mark really made a difference on the album. I think it all comes down to us getting older and more mature with our songwriting. Plus, we still love what we do and want to get better at what we do, and I think that's what sets us apart from other bands.

SkullsNBones.com: You worked with Erik Rutan once again on "Torture" and I was wondering why did you decided to go back and work with him, instead of any other producers out there?

Paul: Well, he did great with "Kill" and "Evisceration Plague", so that was one of the major reasons we decided to work with him again. Plus, he's a really good friend to the band and has been for several years. We felt that "Evisceration Plague" outdid "Kill" and we figured that we could outdue "Evisceration Plague" and who better to help us do that than Erik?! We always just want to get better and with Erik I think we accomplished that once again.

SkullsNBones.com: CANNIBAL CORPSE has been one of the biggest metal bands for over twenty years now. You guys have released classic album after classic album, and have had great success a metal band throughout your career. In your opinion, what is the main thing behind your continued success?

Paul: I think the main thing is that we stuck to writing and playing the music we love ya know. We gained popularity with fans very early and stuck with the formula of playing the music we love to this very day. I think the fans really appreciate that. Like I said earlier, we really try to go out and write the best songs possible and that's a big reason behind our success. We aren't a band trying to prove anything and we never have been. We aren't about behind the heaviest band or the fastest band, we just play the music we love. The fans always know what to expect from us. They can always count on CANNIBAL CORPSE and I think the love that and we love giving them that feeling and our music. I think it's really important in the metal scene today with all of these different bands popping up daily ya know. A lot of bands go through the motions, but we continue to write the music we love, try to make it the best possible, and we are still here after twenty-three years. I think that speaks volumes.

SkullsNBones.com: Do you ever see yourself NOT playing music? We all know that all things come to an end, but do you see that for CANNIBAL CORPSE anytime soon?

Paul: It's really weird to think about, man. We never thought that we would still be around in 2012 when we started out. It still kind of blows my mind, honestly. At this point, we are going to just take it day by day, ya know?! Luckily, everyone is fairly healthy and we still enjoy doing this, so we are in a really good place right now. Of course, we would love to be around for ten or fifteen more years, but who knows, man?! If it ended tomorrow, at least we did what we loved, we lived our dream, and we have no regrets. As of now, we will take it day by day and continue bettering ourselves to give the fans the best music possible.

Read the entire interview from SkullsNBones.com.

Drummer Robb Reiner and guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow of Canadian metal legends ANVIL recently spoke to John Doan of MusicFrenzy.net about their next documentary project, which has a working title of "Anvil 2: The Quest For World Peace".

Robb: "Me and Lips are gonna try to rally the world and throw a peace concert in Israel, and they're gonna film it."

Lips: "The selfish endeavor of making it for ourselves is pretty much done. We're living the dream. Now it's like, what can we do to change the world? We changed our world, but what can we do to change the world to make it a better place? There's a way to use your celebrity for really good things."

Robb: "We're gonna go and rally this and we're gonna try to pull this off. See, we don't know if we're gonna pull this off, but we're gonna make a major attempt. And they're gonna film our quest. And if it does happen, that's amazing. And if it doesn't happen…"

Lips: "…Then the world will see that, even though we tried, what the obstacles were and what we have to overcome. As a human race, what we have to overcome."

Robb: "We're gonna talk to lots of bands, politicians, corporations… Everything possible to be involved in this, we're gonna rally, and we'll film it in real time, and we'll see what happens."

Lips: "The whole concept started [when I was] sitting in the director's house and there [was] a newspaper sitting on the kitchen table, and I just started flipping out, 'cause I [was] reading it. It was one of those situations where things were really melting down on the Gaza Strip. And I just [went], 'What is this? When is this gonna stop? Is there something anybody can do about this?' And he [went], 'You could do something about it. You're getting famous. You could do something about it.' And I [went], 'Well, what can we do?' And he [went], 'Think about it. Just give it some thought.' About a few weeks later, I thought, what if we went to some place, like in Jerusalem, but in a no man's land, like by the Wailing Wall, and we'll hold the festival there — where all three major religious groups can gather in peace and bring a community together. The other aspect is the 'global metal' phenomenon. There is metal bands from every country on earth. This could be represented totally by the genre itself. ANVIL is rocking and we're cruising, and this will be something that we're doing as well."

ANVIL's Reiner and Kudlow talking to MusicFrenzy.net about their next documentary project (audio):



ANVIL's first documentary, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", was named one of 2009's best documentaries by a slew of film critics associations across the continent, including critics in Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and Las Vegas, as well as the International Documentary Association, the Online Film Critics Society, and the National Society of Film Critics. It also made the year-end Top 10 lists in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, and Village Voice.

"Anvil! The Story of Anvil" was the directorial debut of screenwriter Sacha Gervasi ("The Terminal") and was produced by Rebecca Yeldham ("The Kite Runner" and "The Motorcycle Diaries"). The film follows Kudlow and Reiner and their band, ANVIL, which released one of the heaviest albums in metal history, 1982's "Metal on Metal". The album influenced an entire musical generation of rock bands, including METALLICA, SLAYER, and ANTHRAX, who all went on to sell millions of records. ANVIL, on the other hand, took a different path — straight to obscurity. The film is both entertaining and touching as it follows their last-ditch quest for the fame and fortune that has been so elusive to them.

"Nothing Left", the new video from Italian "melodic/math/death" metallers IGNITION CODE — who feature in their ranks members of SAWTHIS and THE JULIET MASSACRE — can be seen below. The song comes off the band's debut album, "NewTek Lie", which was released on March 17 through To React Records. The CD was recorded at UnderRoom Studios and was mastered at Cutting Room (MESHUGGAH, TEXTURES) in Stockholm, Sweden.

"NewTek Lie" track listing:

01. NewTek Lie
02. Nothing Left
03. Organic Program Failure
04. The Illusion Of The Observable
05. M.S.P.
06. Human B.P.M.
07. Biological Prospect
08. MikroKid
09. GameGear
10. The Silent Judge

Formed in 2007, IGNITION CODE combines the bandmembers' "deep-rooted passion for complex tempo with sudden and apparently uncontrolled outburst, without setting aside their melodic and sometimes intimist side, all this under the direction of some influences such as MNEMIC, TEXTURE and IN FLAMES," according to the band's official bio. "The distorted idea of music coming out from this, it is melted with the continuous conflict between man and machine in which it is difficult to say who is the winner."

IGNITION CODE Is:

Alessandro Falà - Vocals
Sabatino Fossemò - Guitar
Marco Di Carlo - Guitar
Gaetano Ettorre - Bass
Guido Borraccino - Drums

A re-recorded version of the song "Blackmension" from Finnish melodic black metallers CATAMENIA is available for free download at this location. The track, which originally appeared on 2000's "Eternal Winter's Prophecy" album, is included on the "The Rewritten Chapters" collection, which contains re-recorded and rearranged versions of 14 songs from CATAMENIA's previous albums as well as a brand new cover version of BON JOVI's "Born To Be My Baby". According to a press release, "This six-piece band brings the old songs back with better sounds and giving them some new brutality, but still respecting enough the original versions." The cover art and booklet was designed by Riku Hopeakoski and Elsa Bergström.

Due on April 27 via Massacre Records, "The Rewritten Chapters" features the following track listing:

01. Hollow Out – ChaosBorn
02. Blackmension
03. Alive...Cold...Dead!
04. Cavalcade
05. Passing Moment of Twilight Time
06. The Day When The Sun Faded Away
07. My Blood Stained Path
08. Post Mortem
09. Morning Crimson
10. Eskhata
11. Coldbound
12. Lost in Bitterness
13. Pimeä Yö
14. Kuolon Tanssi
15. Born To Be My Baby (BON JOVI cover)

CATAMENIA in December 2010 announced the addition of vocalist Juha-Matti Perttunen (ALL AGAINST) to the group's ranks. The band also parted ways with Ari Nissilä (guitar, vocals), Toni Kansanoja (bass/backing vocals), Kari Vähäkuopus (clean vocals) and Mikko Nevanlahti (drums) and replaced them with Mikko Hepo-oja (bass), Tony Qvick (drums) and Sauli Jauhiainen (guitar).

The current CATAMENIA lineup is:

Riku Hopeakoski - Guitar
Mikko Hepo-oja - Bass
Tony Qvick - Drums
Sauli Jauhiainen - Guitar
Juha-Matti Perttunen - Vocals
Jussi Sauvola - Keyboards

CATAMENIA's most recent album, "Cavalcade", was released in February 2010 via Massacre Records. The CD was recorded and mixed by Kari Vähäkuopus at Mastervox Studios in Oulu, Finland and was produced by CATAMENIA. POISONBLACK/ex-SENTENCED frontman Ville Laihiala makes a guest appearance on the album's opening track, "Blood Trails".

Swedish progressive death metallers DESCEND have commenced the songwriting process for their sophomore album, tentatively due before the end of the year.

A short video clip from the pre-production sessions can be found at this location.

DESCEND's debut album, "Through The Eyes Of The Burdened", was released last May via Supernova Records. The CD was recorded late summer 2010 at Escape Route Studios in Essex, United Kingdom and was produced by DESCEND, Daniel Abela and Joseph Smythe. The cover artwork was created by Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, KING DIAMOND, AMORPHIS).

DESCEND is:

Nima Farhadian L. - Vocals
Andreas Lindström - Guitar
Alexander Wijkman - Guitar
Jonathan Persson - Drums
Justin Biggs - Bass

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 sixth 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).

Norwegian black metallers DJEVEL (Norwegian word for "devil") have announced the addition of drummer Dirge Rep (GEHENNA, ENSLAVED, GORGOROTH, ORCUSTUS) to the group's ranks. The band has three songs written for its sophomore album, which it hopes to begin recording later in the year. Mainman T. Ciekals states, "The tracks are, as always, dark and infected with malicious Norwegian melodies."

DJEVEL's debut album, "Dødssanger", was released last year via Aftermath Music. The cover artwork was created by DJEVEL's T. Ciekals and Truls Espedal, who has previously worked with ENSLAVED.

DJEVEL was formed in June 2009 when T. Ciekals decided to disband his previous group, LJÅ. With a lot of material already composed for the next LJÅ album, he decided to put all this and more into DJEVEL. Initially DJEVEL was supposed to be a one-man project but it has slowly grown into something resembling a band.

In other news, Dirge Rep and T. Ciekals are also involved in another band, NETTLECARRIER, which entered Caliban Studio on March 23 to record its debut album. According to T. Ciekals, the CD will contain "eight tracks of infernal Norwegian black metal." The album should be completed within the next two weeks for a summer release.

NETTLECARRIER is:

T.Ciekals (DJEVEL, ex-LJÅ) - Guitar
Dirge Rep (GEHENNA, ORCUSTUS, ex-GORGOROTH) - Drums
Mannevond (KOLDBRANN, DJEVEL, ex-URGEHAL) - Bass

SIX HOUR SUNDOWN, the U.K.-based rock band fronted by Lauren Harris — daughter of legendary IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris — played a free show this past Thursday, March 22 at The Intrepid Fox in London, England. Fan-filmed video footage of their performance can be seen below.

Formed in late 2009, SIX HOUR SUNDOWN was born from a desire of like-minded friends (and experienced musicians) to get back to the heart of why they wanted to make music in the first place.

According to a press release, SIX HOUR SUNDOWN "blurs the boundaries of musical genres with edgy modern rock riffs, driven by a solid rhythm section and topped off by a contemporary melody lines, delivered by a vocalist who puts her heart on the line with every performance."

SIX HOUR SUNDOWN creates music that takes influences from bands as diverse as FOO FIGHTERS, 30 SECONDS TO MARS and VELVET REVOLVER but at all times keeping its unique vision intact.

SIX HOUR SUNDOWN is:

Lauren Harris - Vocals
Tom Gentry - Guitar
James Bennett - Guitar
Mitch Witham - Bass
Olly Smith - Drums

When asked why she decided to launch a band after touring and releasing an album under her own name, Lauren told PlanetMosh, "It kind of turned into a band when I was out as a solo artist anyway, because all of us became so close and we started writing songs together and stuff, and then we decided to drop the name completely and perform properly as a band. . . I'm not the only one in the band . . . so we just wanted to make it a bit more equal, and yeah, that's it, really."

Regarding the origins of the name SIX HOUR SUNDOWN, Lauren said, "We were talking amongst friends and just laughing and having a drink and stuff, and you know, when somebody says, 'Oh, I fancy a drink,' and it’s like one o'clock in the afternoon or something, and you're like, 'Really, you’re going to start drinking now?' Then someone said, 'It's five o'clock somewhere in the world.' . . . We went for six, because six is a cooler number, and six is my birthday, and it kind of led on from there — six hour sundown.

On the topic of the biggest difference between SIX HOUR SUNDOWN and the LAUREN HARRIS band, the singer said, "[SIX HOUR SUNDOWN is] much more current — the songs are more current. What we were doing before was almost a different genre, really. I think now it's a lot more rocky, more melodic rock, whereas before it was much more pop-orientated rock, so I think that's really the main difference, and of course, now there's a band feel to it, which I think gives it a completely different feel anyway."

SIX HOUR SUNDOWN's debut album will be released later in the year via Transcend Music.

"1000 Miles" performance (March 22, 2012 at The Intrepid Fox in London, England):

"Jekyll & Hyde" music video:



Photo credit: John McMurtrie

A one-and-a-half-minute video for "Manuscriptum Regius", the spoken-word lyric from "Unsung: Words And Images", the brand new book by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson, can be seen below.

"Unsung: Words And Images", featuring never-before-published original lyrics and images, is available now for purchase through Blurb.com in a deluxe hardcover "Gift" edition, softcover high-gloss version and instant downloadable version through the iBooks app for iPad and iPhone.

Dark, light, inquisitive and inspirational, "Unsung" expresses a uniquely diverse side to David's creativity. He enthuses that "as a musician, my past lyrical work has always been set to music. But, with this new book I set out to explore a new medium using both words and images as the canvas for an exciting new mosaic of storytelling."

"Unsung" is also David's first venture into the realm of self-publishing. As a result, he encourages the reader to utilize these original lyrics under license from him for their own songs. In this manner, song-writers of all levels can actually become a co-writer with David. This is truly an innovative way for fans and musicians to co-create with one of metal music's most iconic and inspirational artists!

In a recent interview with GuitarWorld.com, Ellefson stated about the inspiration for "Unsung", "I have a lot of lyrics from just the past few months, ideas that were really good, but I wasn't necessarily inspired to go through the process of writing music around them all. Setting the lyrics to photo images opened up a whole new realm of creativity with these words and didn't confine me to having to edit ideas to fit into a specific musical genre, either. . . Much like when you compile a musical album, the lyrics started to shape the book very naturally. Once I realized the potential, I had to not be locked into writing only genre-specific lyrics, other ideas started to flow effortlessly. Pieces like 'Sweet Affections', 'Goddess Divine' and even 'The Cycle' really helped round out the book and give it some unique emotion and variety that I may not have been able to put on a musical album with many of the same lyrics."

"Unsung" is available now for purchase through Blurb.com in a deluxe hardcover "Gift" edition, softcover high-gloss version and instant downloadable version through the iBooks app for iPad and iPhone.

As a co-founder the rock group MEGADETH, David has been a regular contributor to one of metal music's most enduring legacies. Followers of David's work will be delighted that "Unsung" proves to be yet another unique narrative from a man who is known for creating fresh and innovative ways to inspire and connect with his fans.

For more information, visit DavidEllefson.com.

Dr. Will Jones, Professor of Epiphone, talked to Music Store TV at the Musikmesse Frankfurt 2012 fair — which took place March 21-24 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany — about the Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom guitar. Check out the clip below.

When KISS hit the stage at Nippon Budokan in Japan in 1977 with guitarist Ace Frehley behind a Cherry Sunburst, three-pickup Les Paul Custom, the entire package — band, guitarist, guitar — embodied the height of glam-rock excess and success for the '70s. This was the ultimate marriage of pop and heavy rock, driven to meteoric heights by the record industry marketing machine, and ultimately attaining that otherworldly presence that great stadium rock should achieve: unbridled fantasy and party-hard reality rolled into one glorious explosion.

In celebration of Ace Frehley's unquestionable status as a rock icon, and the epitome of glam-rock stardom that KISS represented at this crystalline moment in time in 1977, Gibson Custom proudly announces the release of the Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom, produced in a strictly limited edition of 50 hand-aged guitars signed by the artist, with a further 100 hand-aged guitars, and 150 guitars treated in Gibson Custom's VOS process. Offering everything you've come to expect from Gibson Custom's artist replica guitars, the Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom is a painstaking recreation of Frehley's modified Les Paul Custom, based on intimate examination of the instrument's current condition.

The Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom has been created with close cooperation between Gibson Custom, Ace Frehley and the guitar's current owner, Matt Swanson. Digital scanning technology was used to capture every minute detail of the actual guitar.

In the image of the original Les Paul Custom, the guitar has a four-piece maple top glued to a mid-'70s "sandwich" body made from a middle and back section of solid mahogany joined by a thin maple veneer, with no chambering. The top is hand-sprayed in nitrocellulose to give it the same Heritage Cherry Sunburst finish as the original, with 150 hand-aged to match the wear of the existing guitar. The three-piece mahogany neck has been made made to match the original's thin profile. Decorative elements include mother-of-pearl block fingerboard inlays, multi-ply body and headstock binding, mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo and split-diamond inlay, and a cream pickguard.

To match Ace's original guitar, the Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom is loaded with three period-correct double-cream DiMarzio humbucking pickups — two PAF models in the neck and middle positions, and a Super Distortion in the bridge. And just like on Ace's guitar, the traditional 3-way toggle switch has been modified to only allow the use of the bridge pickup, allowing you to be able to accomplish one of Ace's most noted effects. The DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup offers searing lead tones and fat, chunky rhythm for the ultimate hard-rock performance. Hardware includes the classic pairing of chrome ABR-1 bridge and stopbar tailpiece, with Ace's choice of Grover tuners with pearloid "banjo" buttons and Dunlop straplocks to keep the guitar securely strapped on through the wildest on-stage antics. In short, the Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom is the ultimate embodiment of mid-'70s arena-rock balls and bluster, and it's available in strictly limited numbers. Check it out today at your authorized Gibson Custom dealer.

All guitars include a Gibson Custom hardshell case silkscreened with Ace's signature. Aged/signed guitars (limited to 50 worldwide) are all played by the artist during final approval, and include a leather-bound Certificate of Authenticity; aged guitars (100) include a leather-bound CoA, and VOS guitars (150) include a standard CoA.

For more information, visit Gibson.com.

Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) returned to this year's Slacker Canadian Music Week to participate in a celebrity interview on Friday, March 23 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada before a sold-out performance later that evening at The Phoenix Concert Theatre. Slash also sat down with "The Dean Blundell Show", which airs on the Toronto radio station 102.1 The Edge, to discuss his new solo album, "Apocalyptic Love". You can now watch the chat below.

As previously reported, Slash is currently shooting a "dark" video for his new single, "You're A Lie", with director Anthony Leonardi III. Leonardi is also helming the first feature film produced by Slash, called "Nothing To Fear", which was recently picked up for distribution by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The movie is the first of a proposed series of horror films produced by Slash's company, called Slasher Films, which he launched last year in partnership with two other producers. The film began shooting last month in Louisiana, with Anne Heche and others confirmed for the cast.

"You're A Lie" is the first single from Slash's second solo album, "Apocalyptic Love", which will be released on May 22 via his own label Dik Hayd International distributed through EMI.

For the new album, Slash — along with and his bandmates Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums) and Todd Kerns (bass) — teamed with producer Eric Valentine, who also produced the "Slash" disc. All the songs were written together by Slash and Kennedy, and cameras have been rolling throughout the entire making of the album.

Italy's Musica Metal conducted an interview with KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer prior to the band's March 18 concert in Milan, Italy. You can now watch the chat below.

When questioned about KORN's latest album, "The Path Of Totality", which was greeted with wildly mixed reactions last December due to the fact that it finds the band experimenting with dubstep and electronic textures, Munky said, "I can see why [the ractions have been mixed]. I mean, you know... one of the things about rock and roll, or metal, is that you do whatever the fuck you want. And that's what we did: we did what the fuck we wanted to do. We followed or creative path, which has led us down this road, where we're including dubstep, which [singer] Jonathan [Davis] is hugely influenced by right now. My whole approach was sort of looking back through the history of bands that… like PINK FLOYD, they pissed off a lot of their fans when they started introducing synthetizers. Even a few bands that introduced horns into their sound thirty years ago. It pissed off a lot of fans. But it's that change that you have to be really be willing to kind of accept, and be willing to hear new ideas, and be willing to change, and that's where you see real growth. And that's where we've seen growth in our fans, and in who we are as people. And creatively, too."

Photos of the Milan show in Milan are available on Musica Metal.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Predictable
02. Lies
03. No Place To Hide
04. Good God
05. Narcissistic Cannibal
06. Kill Mercy
07. Chaos Lives In Everything
08. My Wall
09. Get Up!
10. Way Too Far
11. Here To Stay
12. Freak On A Leash
13. Falling Away From Me
14. Oildale
15. Another Brick In The Wall

Encore:

16. Shoots And Ladders / One
17. Got The Life
18. Blind

"The Path Of Totality" sees KORN teaming up with dubstep producers and DJs to add a whole new electronic layer to their sound.

Much of the material for the album was recorded at Jonathan Davis' home studio, and he laid down vocals at home or in hotel rooms while on tour.

Davis said that title refers to the fact that "in order to see the sun in a full solar eclipse, you must be in the exact right place in the exact right time. That's how this album came together . . . I'm not sure it could ever happen again."

Interview:



Performance:

Host Scotty Mars conducted an interview with Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, ex-SEPULTURA) on the March 14 edition of the "Louder" radio show, which airs on the Live 105 station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

SOULFLY's eighth album, "Enslaved", sold 5,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 82 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "Omen", opened with 6,000 units in June 2010 to land at No. 73.

SOULFLY's 2008 album, "Conquer", premiered with 8,400 copies to enter the chart at No. 66. This number was in line with the opening tally of the CD's predecessor, "Dark Ages", which shifted a little more than 8,000 copies during its first week of release in October 2005 to debut at No. 155.

"Enslaved" was released on March 13 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at TallCat Studios in Phoenix, Arizona and was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, the seasoned knob twiddler behind some of the most notable bands in metal today, such as SHADOWS FALL, HATEBREED, THE RED CHORD and more.

SOULFLY's video for the song "World Scum" can be seen below. The clip was conceptualized by SOULFLY mianman Max Cavalera and director Thomas Mignone (MUDVAYNE, SLIPKNOT, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, MORBID ANGEL) and produced through Mignone's production company Doom Incorporated. Mignone filmed the video in and around Los Angeles. Various scenes depicting humanity's perspectives of some of the world's significant historical — such as the attack on the Russian Czar by nihilists, the mass production of Zyklon B poisons, the Gulag prisons, the assassination of the president, and a final showdown between Jesus and the Anti-christ — are seen and reflected in the song's lyrics. The cinematography is by Peter Leininger; the special EFX makeup is by Maggie Hunter, the production design is by Hanna Dryland, and digital compositing and post-production is by editor/visual EFX artist Christopher Neil.

SOULFLY's current lineup features Max and guitar dynamo Marc Rizzo, with STATIC-X's Tony Campos taking up the bass. The lineup is rounded out by drummer David Kinkade (BORKNAGAR, ARSIS, MALEVOLENT CREATION), a new-school, extreme skinsman whose brutality behind the kit brings a new flavor to the band.

Interview:



"World Scum" video:

Planet Mosh TV conducted an interview with Joakim Nilsson (guitar, vocals) and Jonathan Ramm (guitar, vocals) of the Gothenburg, Sweden-based psychedelic doom rock band GRAVEYARD on March 22 in London, England. You can now watch the chat below.

GRAVEYARD was honored with the "Best Hard Rock/Metal" award at the Swedish "Grammis" gala, which was held on February 14 at Kungliga Operan in Stockholm.

The nominees in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal" category were as follows:

* GRAVEYARD - "Hisingen Blues"
* HAMMERFALL - "Infected"
* IN FLAMES - "Sounds Of A Playground Fading"
* OPETH - "Heritage"
* THE HAUNTED - "Unseen"

The bands were all nominated for their most recent releases, all of which came out during 2011.

Last year's Grammis award in the "Best Hard Rock" category went to WATAIN for the band's "Lawless Darkness" album.

GRAVEYARD's second full-length album, "Hisingen Blues", sold 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 48 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.

"Hisingen Blues" entered the official chart in Sweden at position No. 1. The CD, which was released in North America on April 19, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records, was produced, recorded, and mixed in 100 percent analog by Don Alsterberg (JOSÉ GONZALES, JUNIP, SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES, THE INTERNATIONAL NOISE CONSPIRACY) at Don Pierre Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Guitarist Corey Beaulieu of Florida metallers TRIVIUM was interviewed for the inaugural episode of "Heavy", the brand new metal show launched by the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas radio station 97.1 The Eagle. During the chat, Beaulieu discussed the band's tour with ASKING ALEXANDRIA; what it's like touring with bands who look up to TRIVIUM; whom he would include on his Mount Rushmore of Metal; and his thoughts on the new SOULFLY album. You can now listen to the program below. (Note: The Beaulieu interview begins around the five-minute mark.)

"Heavy" is hosted by Scafidi and Chris, and new episodes will be posted online each Thursday.

TRIVIUM's latest album, "In Waves", sold 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band's career. The group's previous CD, "Shogun", opened with just under 24,000 units back in October 2008 to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up "The Crusade", which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.

"In Waves" was recorded primarily at Paint It Black Studios in Orlando, Florida (with only the drums having been tracked at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida) with the production/mixing team of Colin Richardson (MACHINE HEAD, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, SLIPKNOT, FEAR FACTORY) and Martin "Ginge" Ford, along with engineer Carl Bown. A two-disc special edition is also available. It features five bonus tracks, plus a DVD with a 40-minute, behind-the-scenes documentary, as well as an exclusive concert filmed in a warehouse located in Orlando, Florida, which is the band's stomping grounds. This concert features the first performances of tracks from "In Waves", along with TRIVIUM classics.

AmbPirate of Capital Chaos conducted an interview with guitarist Zach Householder of Knoxville, Tennessee death metallers WHITECHAPEL on March 21 at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California. You can now watch the chat below.

WHITECHAPEL recently entered Audiohammer studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER, TRIVIUM) to begin recording their fourth full-length album for a June release via Metal Blade Records.

When asked what fans can expect from the forthcoming CD, Zach said, "Everybody always says, 'Do stuff more like 'The Somatic Defilement' [2007] or 'This Is Exile' [2008], but every album, we always try to do it differently for a change." He added, "[The new material] probably has some faster stuff like 'A New Era Of Corruption' [2010], but it's definitely got some slower stuff, too. It's groovier and it's got more hooks and catches.

"If you're a 'The Somatic Defilement' fan, you're gonna like it, but if you're expecting [another] 'The Somatic Defilement', you're not gonna get it. It's still gonna be heavy. It's WHITECHAPEL. It's gonna be angry; it's very pissed off. I don't know what else to say… It's us trying to do it in our own way as opposed to us trying to live up to what people's expectations are of us. We don't wanna alienate our fans by any means. It's just that we want them to sit there and go, 'OK, well, this band does this one thing, and they do it differently every time.' So I guess you either like it or you hate it. Even so, if you do it differently the next time, you might gain more fans."

WHITECHAPEL's most recent EP, "Recorrupted", came out in November. The effort featured a brand new track titled "Section 8", a cover of PANTERA's "Strength Beyond Strength", an acoustic version of "End OF Flesh", and remixes of "Breeding Violence" by BIG CHOCOLATE and "This Is Exile" by Ben Weinman from THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN.

"Section 8" and "Strength Beyond Strength" marked WHITECHAPEL's very first recordings with drummer Ben Harclerode of the Glendale, Arizona band KNIGHTS OF THE ABYSS, who replaced Kevin Lane in 2010.

WHITECHAPEL's third album, "A New Era Of Corruption", sold around 10,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 43 on The Billboard 200 chart.

WHITECHAPEL's previous album, "This Is Exile", opened with 5,900 copies in July 2008 to land at No. 117.

CIBOLA JUNCTION, the new Swedish hard rock band featuring Charles Rytkonen (vocals; ex-MORGANA LEFAY), Torsten Bengtsberg (guitar), Magnus Soderblom (guitar), Orjan Josefsson (bass) and Svante Hedstrom (drums; ex-BABYLON BOMBS) — will release a new EP, "Back To The Roots", as a digital download and very limited-edition physical CD on April 6.

CIBOLA JUNCTION released a single version of the track "Peace Out" in January and made available rough-mix versions of three of the other EP songs via the band's web site.

"We have received a lot of great feedback and we think the time is right for this EP record", the group says.

"Back To The Roots" EP track listing:

01. Peace Out
02. Coming Back For More
03. With My Powers
04. Cibola City
05. Back To The Roots

According to a press release, CIBOLA JUNCTION's "desire to go back to the roots can be heard as an influence from the '70s hard rock, but with innovative ways of thinking. Some call their music power groove, others retro hard rock." "We believe it's a kind of rootless music, yet there is something new. But if you going to put a label on it, it's hard rock," the group declares.

For more information, visit CibolaJunction.com.