Play Forza Motorsport 3 with Chevelle on Xbox Live

Chevelle will be teaming up with Xbox LIVE for Game with Fame. You can get the chance to game along with them on Saturday, January 23 starting at 2pm ET. Gold Members can play Forza Motorsport 3 with Chevelle’s drummer, Sam Loeffler.

All you have to do is send a friend request to Gamertag “Chevelle GwF” and be online at 1:30pm ET on 1/23 (a half hour before Game with Fame with Chevelle begins).

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Under The Influence Readies New Album

Perth tech-metal trio Under The Influence will release their third full-length record titled, “The Brutal Harsh Honest Truth,” on Saturday, February 6, 2010.

Under The Influence (U.T.I) is the brainchild of Perth based musicians Robbie Lumsden and Saxon Smith. Since 2005 this partnership has self-produced no less than 3 full-length records, with the third the first to obtain Australian distribution through Firestarter music.

Out nationally February 6, 2010 through Firestarter Distribution, “The Brutal Harsh Honest Truth” will be available to purchase/order from record stores around Australia. Under The Influence will also release their previous two records, "I" and "II" on Itunes February 6, 2010.

You can pre-order your copy from Waterfront Records now and the album will ship on February 6, 2010.

Here's “The Brutal Harsh Honest Truth” CD launch details:

Friday 12th February, Amplifier Bar, Perth (18+) doors 8pm
With guests – Chaos Divine, Sight Transcend & Fractious

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Undertow Premeires New Music Online

German metal band Undertow has posted new music online for listening. You can listen to one full song, "Threedouble Chime," off the band's upcoming album "Don't Pray To The Ashes..." on their MySpace page. You can also check out the prelistening area at ashes.undertow.de where you can listen to short exceprts of all of the tracks on the album.

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Deceased Announces US Tour and Festival Dates

Maryland metal band Deceased has announced the following tour dates:

03/20 - Virginia Beach, VA - Gil's Bar And Grill
04/16 - Allston, MA - O'Brien's Pub - with SUPERCHRIST
04/17 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool - with SUPERCHRIST
04/18 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie - with SUPERCHRIST
04/19 - Baltimore, MD - The Sidebar - with SUPERCHRIST
04/20 - Frederick, MD - Krugs Place - with SUPERCHRIST
04/21 - Pittsburgh, PA - The Smiling Moose - with SUPERCHRIST
04/22 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's Concert Club - with SUPERCHRIST
04/23 - Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar - with SUPERCHRIST
04/24 - Chicago, IL - Red Line Tap - with SUPERCHRIST
05/28 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar - Maryland Deathfest
07/17 - Detroit, MI - Blondies - Michigan Deathfest
07/24 - Urbana, IL - The Canopy Club - Central Illinois Metalfest

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Baroness To Guest On Bruce Dickinson Show

American sludge metal outfit Baroness will be appearing as the special guests on the January 29th edition of Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson's radio show, the Friday Rock Show. The program begins at nine in the evening and finished at midnight. British listeners can tune into BBC 6 to hear it or go to channel 0120 on Sky TV, channel 707 on Freeview and Freesat or channel 909 on Virgin Media. Fans outside of the United Kingdom can hear the show by going to it's official website.

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Sarkom Announces New Lineup

Norwegian black metal band Sarkom has issued the following update regarding an update to their lineup:

"One of the founding members, Renton, has decided to quit his job as drummer for the band. However, a couple of upcoming 7" releases will still include his work as both drummer and songwriter, as this allready have been recorded. To replace Renton's seat behind the drums we have found our longtime friend J. Folkedal, which also handled the drums on our last tour. If he will join the band as a pemanent member is still undecided, but as for now, he will join the force at all our upcoming live performances!"

"We are very grateful for all the work and effort Renton has put into this band and wish him all the best for the future!"

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Helix Filming Two Music Videos

Canadian heavy metal outfit Helix has announced that they are currently working on two music videos for the songs "Make 'em Dance" and "Monday Morning Meltdown." Both songs appear on the bands latest studio album, "Vagabond Bones." A message from the band reads as follows:

"When Vagabond Bones first came out Brent (Doerner) put together a video for the title track, which to date has gotten over 5,000 hits on YouTube. YouTube is the way to go nowadays for a variety of reasons. First off, it’s near to impossible for bands like Helix to have new videos added to MuchMusic because it’s doesn’t fit their format. It’s also very costly to make a 'made-for-TV' video. This requires money we don’t have for something that might never see the light of day on Much. So why go there?

"Launching videos on YouTube allows us an excuse to touch bases with fans and friends by sending them the link to the new video. In the case of Helix I always laugh at the thought that a lot of people will be checking out the videos to see how we’ve all aged (or not). Kinda like going back to your high school reunion without leaving home. We look/sound fine, thankyou. When I sent out the links to the Christmas videos I got a lot of emails from people who had watched them. We also saw increased sales of the Christmas CD as a direct result.

"In the case of the newest videos the obvious objective is to spread the word about our new CD Vagabond Bones. The biggest help you can give the band as a fan is simply to pass the video link on to as many contacts as you have to help spread the word. We believe Vagabond Bones is a great Helix CD which deserves as much exposure as we can possibly give it. This is only one of the ways we are trying to get it 'out there'.

"We’re now shooting for the last week of January to release either 'Monday Morning Meltdown' or 'Make ‘Em Dance' to Canadian radio by DMDS. Yesterday we filmed most of 'Make ‘Em Dance' at an undisclosed location in Woodstock, Ontario. We also filmed segments of Monday Morning Metdown - the “storyline” portions. In a couple of hours I’ll be back there with the rest of the gang to film the remainder of 'Monday Morning Meltdown'. 'Make ‘Em Dance' will then be edited by the audio/visual people from Conestoga College and Brent will edit 'Monday Morning Meltdown'. Brent is also putting together a clip called 'The making of Make ‘em Dance & M.M. Meltdown'. For this Randy and several other people were filming as the day wore on. It’s a behind the scenes look at a low budget video production. Could be interesting..."

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Memoira Parts Ways With Vocalist

Finnish metal band Memoira has issued the following update regarding the departure of their vocalist:

"Jemina Pitkälä resigns from Memoira. Memoira want to thank Jemina Pitkälä from great years and wishes jemina all the best for the future. At the moment Memoira is seekin a new male/female singer."

"If you are intrested to fill the spot, send us vocal sample in mp3/waw format into our mail memoiraband(at)gmail.com and a letter what you think that we should know about you"

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The Binary Code In Van Accident

New Jersey death metal band The Binary Code has recently gotten into a van accident. Guitarist Jesse Bartholomew Zuretti has issued the following update with his phone via facebook:

"The Binary Code was in a really bad van accident the other day. Everyone is fine... Everyone in the band is doing great and we're all safe. we managed to get another van in line so we can truck on! Currently in Mt. Clemens, Michigan."

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Bolt Thrower Announces First Shows In Greece

British grindcore legends Bolt Thrower has announced that they will be performing in Greece for the first time in their careers at the end of this May. A message from the band reads as follows:

"Not only do we have the pleasure of taking the Greek giants Rotting Christ on tour with us, but we can soon say that we have played in their homeland too. As for the first time ever, Bolt Thrower are coming to Greece!

"We were so fed up with being harassed by the crazy Greek maniacs who have been following us all over the world, and being stalked for many years by the most persistent of promoters, Harry Katinakis, that we have finally given in to their pleas to come over."

The bands European tour schedule is as follows: More...

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Zonaria Enters the Studio

Swedish death/black metal band Zonaria has finished writing all the music for their upcoming album. The album recording will be handled by Jonas Kjellgren (Scar Symmetry, Sonic Syndicate, Hypocrisy, Centinex, Carnal Forge) in studio Abyss (Dimmu Borgir, Children of Bodom, Pain, Hypocrisy, Sabaton, Dark Funeral, Immortal, Celtic Frost, Marduk).

Simon Berglund comments about recording in Abyss, "I'm stoked about going in to the studio with Jonas. He did an amazing job on Infamy and the Breed and have done some more incredible work with other bands. And not to mention recording in studio Abyss for the first time. Many of our all-time favorites have recorded in that studio and something magic always happens with the albums recorded there." More...

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Keep of Kalessin Posts "Dragontower" Performance

Norwegian metallers Keep of Kalessin have posted footage online of their performance of the song "Dragontower" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The video clip can be viewed below.

Keep of Kalessin will release their new album "Reptilian" in 2010 through Nuclear Blast and Indie Recordings.

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Destinity Issues Band Update

France's Destinity has issued the following update about upcoming tour dates the release of their new album:

"Hi to all of you people, we've been silent here for too long… So we have a lot of information for you! First of all we want to wish you a happy new year for 2010! May it be a heavy and good one for all of you… On our side it will be a very important and exciting new year with the release of "XI Reason To See" on Lifeforce Records with a lot of concerts, festivals and tours, and we hope to meet all of you on the road!

"New bass player revealed! The members of Destinity have found a new bass player (DAVE - 20 years old !!!) in replacement of David, with whom we preferred to stop our collaborating. DAVE was the sound technician of the band for more than 1 year and his precision and rigor brings a rhythmic section that has never been equaled in the past! More...

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Sigh To Play First Finnish Tour Date

Japanese metallers Sigh have announced they will play their first live show in Finland at the Black Curse Over Helsinki show on April 10th, 2010. Sigh's upcoming tour dates are as follows:

3/20 2010 Missions Tokyo
4/10 2010 Black Curse Over Hellsinki Helsinki
8/12 2010 Brutal Assaul XV 2010

Samples of Sigh's music can also be found at their MySpace page.

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Fan-Filmed Daylight Misery Live Footage Available

Fan-filmed video footage has been posted online of Daylight Misery performing the song "Infinity" supporting Draconian on December 9th, 2010. The video clip can be viewed below.

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Column

Sunday Old School: Thin Lizzy

On January 4th 1986, the world of hard rock lost one of it's greatest figures and heavy metal lost one of it's biggest influences in the form of Phillip Parris Lynott, the lead vocalist and bass player of Thin Lizzy, when he passed away from multiple organ failure at the age of thirty six. Lynott has since been remembered for being one of, if not the best, lyricist in heavy music, drawing much inspiration from poetry and Irish folklore and is constantly mentioned as one of the best frontmen of all time, easily contending for the title along with Bon Scott, Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger. You only have to listen to "Live And Dangerous", a classic in the field of live albums, to hear how well Lynott could work the audience. The line "Is there anybody here with a bit of Irish in them? ... Is there any girls out there who'd like a bit more Irish in them?" from this record has gone down as one of the most memorable quotes in music history. He was well known for living the rock and roll lifestyle which included drink, drugs and sex as main ingredients, so much so that after he passed away, a doctor reportedly said "He died from a lifestyle." Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll may have been a song by Ian Dury, but no-one personified it quite like Phil Lynott.

Phil Lynott joined Thin Lizzy in December 1969, along with his friend Brian Downey. The two performed together as part of the band Orphanage and were spotted by organ player Eric Wrixon and guitarist Eric Bell, who were previously members of the famous band Them, fronted by the legendary Van Morrison. Bell and Wrixon approached Lynott and Downey after Orphanage finished playing their set and suggested they form a band together, which was agreed on the condition that Lynott also play bass guitar and that they would perform some of his own compositions. This lineup would release only one record, a single entitled "The Farmer" through EMI. The single only sold 283 copies and has since become a rare collectors item. Following from this commercial failure, Wrixon left Thin lizzy to return to Them, leaving the band as a three piece. Thin Lizzy soldiered on and signed to Decca Records in 1970, releasing their self-titled debut album the next year. The album sold fairly well and the band followed with the much more Celtic orientated album, "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" in March of 1972. Neither of the bands first two albums found a place in the charts but they received a high profile support slot when they were invited to tour with the hugely popular Slade and Suzi Quatro later that year.

The band tasted their first chart success soon afterwards when Decca Records, against the band's wishes, released their cover of the Irish ballad "Whiskey In The Jar." The single topped the Irish charts and entered the U.K. charts at number six, leading to their first appearance on the revered show, Top Of The Pops. The band were not quite as succesful with their next singles which only entered the Irish charts. More...

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Metal Band Launched To Support 2010 World Cup

In an effort to capitalize on the excitement of the upcoming World Cup tournament, Wieden+Kennedy New York created the world's only soccer-inspired heavy metal band, The Group of Death. "The group of death" is the nickname for the toughest opening-round group selected during the draw. To commemorate the World Cup draw, the group played a live concert on the evening of December 4th for New York City's most passionate soccer fans at the legendary NY soccer pub Nevada Smith's.

You can check out the band's MySpace page here, their Facebook page here, and a short documentary below.

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Kvelertak Signs To Indie Recordings

Kvelertak (meaning "Stranglehold") recently signed a worldwide record deal with Indie Recordings and release their debut album in 2010. The album was recorded with Kurt Ballou of Converge in his Godcity Studios in Boston. You can check out some of their music on the band's MySpace page.

Kvelertak was founded in Stavanger in 2007 by Erlend Hjelvik and Bjarte Lund Rolland. The band created their own style they of Necro'n'roll, with a focus on strong songs with melodic, furious punk-/hard-rock and metal tendencies. Additionally, Kvelertak has chosen to retain their native language of Norwegian.

Since then, Kvelertak managed to play at Roskilde and Øyafestivalen, toured Norway around with Skambankt and Silver, stood on the scenes that Rockefeller and Park Theater, been successful in ByLarm, Zoom-competition and has now chosen to Urørtfinalen - all unsigned and without a single release.

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Headline News

Rathbone Pulls Out of "Lords of Chaos" Film

Exclaim reports that Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone has pulled out of the controversial "Lords of Chaos" film adaptation of the book due to scheduling conflicts. Here's an excerpt:

"The worldwide black metal community, long divided by such burning issues as which bands are 'true' and what bands are 'cult,' can now finally unite: Twilight heartthrob Jackson Rathbone will not play infamous black metal trailblazer/recently released prisoner/Burzum kingpin Varg Vikernes in an upcoming movie adaptation of the Lords of Chaos book. Seriously, all the black metallers around the world must be smiling all at once.

"The book — which looks at the ‘90s Norwegian black metal scene, with its church burnings, murders, and prison sentences galore — was released in 1998 and has become a point of contention within black metal, with some claiming it’s exploitative and inaccurate and others claiming it’s a definitive tome."

Read the full article at Exclaim.ca.

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Paul Di'Anno Cancels U.K. Tour

Former Iron Maiden front man and solo artist Paul Di'Anno has issued the following statement about canceling his previously planned U.K. tour dates:

"To all my Mates Friends and Fans, due to being fully booked for the next two years I am unfortunately not going to be able to play the UK dates as planned during 2010. However I shall definitely get back to play some shows in the UK for the spring-summer of 2012. All the best, Paul."

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