French webmagazine Hard Force has posted the second episode of "Metal XS" featuring interviews with Biff Byford (SAXON), Steve Vai and Burton C. Bell (FEAR FACTORY). Also available is the first episode, featuring interviews from ETHS, Mikkey Dee and Phil Campbell (MOTÖRHEAD), and Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT). Check them out below.

SAXON will release its new album, "Sacrifice", in February 2013 through UDR. The CD was recorded at LS Studios in Yorkshire and was produced by Byford, with Andy Sneap mixing and engineering by Jacky Lehmann. The songwriting harks back to a classic era in SAXON's history, with the likes of "Warriors Of The Road", "Wheels Of Terror" and "Stand Up And Fight" evoking the halcyon days of yore with a contemporary twist, the classic SAXON sound absorbing the snarl, ferocity and attitude of contemporary bands (and fans) such as MEGADETH, as evidenced by the crunching title cut, "Sacrifice".

Vai's new solo album of original material, "The Story Of Light", was released on August 14. The title came out on Favored Nations Entertainment, the label Vai founded in 1999. The sprawling and expressive 12-song set continues a conceptual and cosmic narrative arc that began with the artist's most recent studio release, 2005's acclaimed "Real Illusions: Reflections".

FEAR FACTORY's video for the title track of their new album, "The Industrialist", was directed and edited by James Zahn. The clip utilizes live footage of the band from this past June's Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium against a visual backdrop that pulls topical subjects from the story written by vocalist Burton C. Bell that served as inspiration for the group's latest CD.