Airbourne Land WWE Official Theme Song

Australian hard rockers Airbourne's crowd-starter "Stand Up For Rock n' Roll" has been announced to be the official theme song for the WWE's RoyalRumble event taking place on Sunday the 27th of January at Madison Square Garden. The event airs live on Pay-Per-View at 8pm EST so if wrestling and wild music is your thing, tune in! Airbourne's new album, "Runnin' Wild", will hit store shelves everywhere on Monday. WWE even conducted an interview with Joel O'Keeffe, vocalist and lead guitarist of the band. Excerpts follow:

Joel: “There’s a bit of aggression in the song. It’s also a good-time, rock ‘n’ roll song, and WWE is also a good time, as well. It’s entertainment, so the Royal Rumble really fits with this song. Wrestling is one of the best forms of entertainment in the world. And ‘Stand Up for Rock ‘N’ Roll’ is just one of those rockin’ tracks that seems to go well with people getting their heads smashed in!"

Describing "Stand Up For Rock n' Roll" as a call to arms, Joel said "Back in Australia – I don’t know if it’s like this over there, too – they closed a lot of pubs down where a lot of good rock ‘n’ roll bands could play or where bands could play in general. It’s about that, and also neighbours now, for some reason, have the ability to shut pubs down when they’re moving, and then the consulate comes around and gives them a government bill kind of thing that says you can’t have bands anymore, it’s too loud, the neighbours aren’t happy. So ‘Stand Up for Rock ‘N’ Roll’, that’s what it’s about. Rock ‘n’ roll is meant to be loud – that’s what it is – and you have to stand up for it!"

As for Airbourne’s favorite WWE Superstar, the Aussies are big fans of the Texas Rattlesnake. “‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, he’s the best. His persona is exactly what we’re like as people, as well,” O’Keeffe explained. “We love getting pissed, we love breaking shit, we like swearing and all those kinds of things. He just comes out and kicks ass, it’s great!”

U.S. fans can expect to see more of the band in the near future because they’re heading to New Jersey. “We’re flying to the United States on January 29 and we’re doing four days of promo. Then we go straight to the U.K. for about three or four weeks, and then we fly back and start our U.S. tour around the end of February,” O’Keeffe said. “I know there are New York dates and that kind of thing coming up.”

You can listen to 'Stand Up For Rock n' Roll' at this location, or check out the band's MySpace.

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Maiden Announce Support Act For European Tour

Metal legends Iron Maiden are reportedly very pleased to announce that Avenged Sevenfold will join them as special guests on the 5th of July at Twickenham Stadium, the 2nd and 3rd at Paris Bercy, as well as a number of dates in Finland and Scandanavia for the band's "Somewhere Back In Time World Tour." Following the commercial success of their latest album, which charted at No 3 in Billboard in the USA and is close to gold in the UK, the band are currently on an extensive sold-out UK tour. Vocalist M. Shadows had this to say: "I've seen Maiden play countless times and am continually blown away, not just by their live show, but also by the great records they continue to make. We have learned much from Iron Maiden and are honored to be sharing the stage with some of the greatest icons in rock music."

Iron Maiden Manager Rod Smallwood made the following statement: "Its a tremendous time for Metal fans right now with some fantastic young bands making a real mark for themselves. Maiden are delighted to be bringing their fans one of the very best, Avenged Sevenfold, who will be joining them on a number of their European Summer shows. It all adds up to an even more memorable night out for the fans! We will now be considering who will play in the slot before Avenged at Twickenham."

The dates on which Ax7 are special guests for Maiden are as follows:

Fri 27 June - ITA, Bologna Parco Nord Gods of Metal
Sun 29 June - BEL, Dessel Graspop
Tue 1 July - FRA, Paris Palais Omnisports de Bercy
Wed 2 July - FRA, Paris Palais Omnisports de Bercy
Sat 5 July - ENG, London Twickenham
Wed 16 July - SWE, Stockholm Stadium
Fri 18 July - FIN, Helsinki Olympic Stadium
Sat 19 July - FIN, Tampere Ratina Stadium
Tue 22 July - NOR, Trondheim Lerkendalstadium
Thu 24 July - NOR, Oslo Valle Hovin
Sat 26 July - SWE, Gothenburg Ullevi
Sun 27 July - DEN, Horsens Gods Bane Pladsen

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Misery Signals Post New Video For "Anchor"

The new video for Misery Signals' track "Anchor" has been posted online at this location. The band will begin recording their new album on the 1st of February in Vancouver, BC, with none other than Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad fame doing the producing. As previously reported, guitarist Stuart Ross made the following statement in regards to the new material:

"For those of you who are fans of both of our previous records, I think you can expect another to add to your list. Judging from where we are at right now, you can expect this record to be a little faster and a little heavier at points, but at the same time I don't think we are writing exactly what you would typically expect from our band. We have been really trying to make a conscience effort to step out of the box a bit, while staying true to the style that we have been crafting for the last five years. I think this record will prove to be our best album to date."

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DEP To Play Show With At The Gates And Mayhem

On the February 06th episode of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien", The Dillinger Escape Plan will make an appearance as the musical guests. The band made the following statement: "We're playing Conan O'Brien on Wednesday February 6th....and it's not a joke. Really? Really. And you thought Cloverfield was the only time this year you'd be able to see New York get destroyed by monsters. Other guests include Heath Ledger's corpse and Asian Steve." In other Dillinger news, the band has been confirmed to play at the "New England Metal & Hardcore Festival" on April the 26th, which will raise hell at the Palladium in Worcester, MA. The Dillinger Escape Plan have also been added to the following Japanese shows with the reunited At The Gates, Mayhem and more TBA:

May 08th Osaka/Namba, JAP - Hatch
May 09th Nagoya, JAP - Club Quattro
May 11th Tokyo, JAP - Studio Coast

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B4MV On New CD: We Didn't Want To Change Direction

An interview by Planet-Loud with Bullet For My Valentine guitarist Michael "Padge" Paget included the following excerpts:

Planet-Loud: What did you want to achieve with the album?

Paget: "We didn't want to change direction too much from the last record. I think the label maybe wanted us to just mellow it out a bit more in parts so we could get more radio play but we put our foot as we always wanted to make a metal record anyway. May be we've been kind of limited in the past and we're now better with our instruments so I think we just wanted to put out what came naturally."

Planet-Loud: You mentioned improving as players. Does that help touring with the likes of Metallica, Iron Maiden and Guns N' Roses?

Paget: "Yeah, touring especially but that's not just with the big bands because getting out and playing to anybody is a totally different to playing your bedroom when you're out on stage and the amps are cranking. Every note matters or you start sounding like a dick."

Planet-Loud: What have you learned from touring with the bigger bands?

Paget: "Obviously how to cope with the bigger stages and crowds but, as a band, we kind of go out and treat every gig the same, you know? To be honest, the bigger the gig, the easier they get because you can't see all the people because they go so far back. In smaller gigs the kids are all crushed in and they're right up against you."

Planet-Loud: Going back to the last record, did the success it had worldwide affect the way you went about writing "Scream Aim Fire"?

Paget: "I suppose in the sense that we didn't want to change much of the formula — we wanted to stick as true to "The Poison" as we could on this record and not stray too much away from it. I think when bands make a drastic change away from a sound fans know these days, people are really quick to shoot it down. We definitely didn't want to stray too far away from what people knew as Bullet."

Planet-Loud: Did much of the old material stay or is it all new material?

Paget: "We were still on tour for the last run of "The Poison" and we wrote a bunch of songs but, when we wrote "Scream Aim Fire" in September, we scrapped those earlier songs and just went with the vibe of "Scream". We kinda found our feet and the road we wanted to go do with the album. Once we'd nailed that, we were away then and we wrote six songs in a week and they all made the album which is a big chunk of it done."

Planet-Loud: You mentioned writing a song about the amount of touring you do as a band. Now your profile has grown that is only going to grow isn't it?

Paget: "You know what? This time around I'm finding it really hard because I'm going away in two weeks and I think we're going to be out for like five months straight without coming home. I think we'll only have a couple of days here before we go out for months on end so, yeah, it is tough because you know that, in a year, you're only going to get home for like a week. It's like this is the coolest job in the world but you have to sacrifice everything and that is the hardest mental thing to do."

Read the full article at Planet-Loud.

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Apocalyptica Confirmed For M'era Luna Festival

Apocalyptica have been confirmed to play at the M'era Luna festival on Sunday August 10. New acts are being announced, but so far teh lineup consists of the following bands:

VNV NATION
APOPTYGMA
BERZERK
UNHEILIG
COMBICHRIST
TANZWUT
THE VISION BLEAK
THE OTHER
EISBRECHER
ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO
END OF GREEN
APOCALYPTICA
ASP
HOCICO
MESH
SALTATIO MORTIS
ELEGANT MACHINERY
BLITZKID
FRANK THE BAPTIST
PAINBASTARD
ELIS
u.v.a.

For more up to date information and tickets, visit www.meraluna.de.

In related Apocalyptica news, the UK experimental rock band OCEANSIZE will support Apocalyptica at their gigs in Luxembourg, Paris, and London.

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Beheaded Announce New Guitarist

Malta-based brutal death metallers BEHEADED have issued the following update:

"Two years have passed and expect more brutality than ever.

"We welcome aboard Nick on guitars from TENDENCY CHARGE who replaced Omar.

"BEHEADED will be performing on the 2nd February 2008 live at Poxx Bar, Paceville supported by PUTRID BIRTH.

"This year BEHEADED will be taking part in the Death Feast Open Air alongside CRYPTOPSY, DYING FETUS, DECREPIT BIRTH, ORIGIN, DECAPITATED and MALEVOLENT CREATION, to name a few.

"Later on this year BEHEADED will be embarking on the Gutting Europe V Tour together with INVERACITY, INHERIT DISEASE and SUFFOCATE BASTARD from the 8th August till 30th August 2008. Get in touch with Blast Corpse Promotion for more details."

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Paradox Issue Update

German thrashers PARADOX have issued the following update:

"Thanks to all Greek fans for the great evening in Athens' AN Club. It was an awesome night with real 80s stage diving and moshpits and some really wild fans who took the place apart ! (Pics and Video will be put online soon.)

Thanks to all reviewers worldwide for positive reviews on our new CD Electrify.

See you on tour!"

Paradox' new album, Electrify, was released January 18th via AFM. Tracks include: 'Second Over Third By Force', 'Monument', 'Portrait In Grey', 'Hyperspeeed Hallucinations', Bridge To Silence', 'Infected', 'Disconnected', 'Cyberspace Romance', 'Electrify' and 'Good Morning' (BLACKFOOT cover).

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Michael Schenker Adds More U.K. Dates

More dates have been officially confirmed for guitar legend MICHAEL SCHENKER's (MSG, ex-UFO, SCORPIONS) upcoming Michael Schenker And Friends trek, currently underway in the UK.

Tour dates now include:

January
26 - Twist - Colchester, UK

February
5 - Concorde 2 - Brighton, UK
6 - Queens Hall - Nuneaton, UK
9 - Academy 3 - Manchester, UK
10 - Boardwalk - Sheffield, UK
11 - Sincity - Swansea, UK
13 - Tackeroo, Cannock, UK (NEW DATE)
14 - Town Mill - Mansfield, UK (NEW DATE)
15 - Daddy Cool - Knaresborough, UK (NEW DATE)
16 - The Flowerpot - Derby, UK
17 - Thekla - Bristol, UK
18 - Waterfront - Norwich, UK
19 - Whelan's - Dublin, Ireland
20 - Spring And Airbrake - Belfast, Ireland
22 - Cathouse - Glasgow, UK
23 - Carnegie Hall - Workington, UK

As previously reported, Michael Schenker will have a new album out in April called In the Midst Of Beauty which will feature former MSG singer Gary Barden on vocals, drummer Simon Philips (THE WHO, MSG, DEREK SHERINIAN), bassist Neil Murray (BLACK SABBATH, WHITESNAKE) and keyboardist Don Airey (DEEP PURPLE, OZZY OSBOURNE).

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Iced Earth Seek Touring Bassist

ICED EARTH has issued the following update:

"America’s premier heavy metal band, Iced Earth, is seeking a deeply passionate and motivated bass guitarist to complete the band’s touring lineup for the 2008 tour season. If you have the chops to join Jon Schaffer and Brent Smedley in metal’s most bulletproof rhythm section, read on.

Applicants MUST possess the following:

1. A demonstrated ability to play with impeccable timing and accuracy.

2. A commanding stage presence that bleeds intensity, aggression, and emotion.

3. Confidence in themselves but also a willingness to be a team player.

4. Proficiency in finger-style playing with some picking experience.

5. Residency in the United States (Midwest residence is a bonus, but not required).

6. A familiarity with the Iced Earth catalog.

7. A flexible work schedule, as this is not an offer for a full-time band position. However, should you land the gig and exceed our expectations in 2008, an opportunity for further collaboration on tour and in the studio will certainly be considered.

Applicants should submit the following:

1. A demo video on DVD is preferred, but an audio CD or cassette tape of your performance is also acceptable.

2. A photo of yourself if you do not submit a demo in video format.

3. A brief biography outlining your experience and gear setup.

4. Contact address, e-mail address, and phone number should we wish to interview you further.

Before we outline the format of your demo submission, know that, we ARE NOT INTERESTED in listening to a fully produced recording. DO NOT send us ONLY a finished CD release from any band that you have played with. We cannot judge your level of timing and accuracy if you send us a recording that’s been mixed and produced.

A simple LIVE home video or audio recording on a CD/cassette tape that documents your playing is all we need to know if you possess the finely-tuned skills we require. This, in addition to any recording of a live performance will be a plus in telling us what we need to know.

The following is what is required for further consideration:

1. A recording of you sitting down by yourself and playing LIVE along to a click-track.

2. Playing a minimum of 4 songs of varying tempos from Iced Earth or a combination of songs from Iced Earth and legendary bands such as IRON MAIDEN, BLACK SABBATH or RUSH. Pick well-known songs with challenging bass lines.

Please send your bio and demo materials in video or audio format to:

Spirit of 76 Collectibles
1728 17th Street
Columbus, Indiana 47201

*Please note that demos will not be returned.

If you have further questions, you may e-mail us at: webmaster@icedearth.com."

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Sodom Add More Tour Dates

German thrashers SODOM have updated their live itinerary to include the following scheduled dates:

March
8 - Athens, Greece - March Metal Days

April
12 - Wieze, Belgium - Pestpop Festival
26 - Essen, Germany - Turock

May
3 - Hauzenberg, Niederbayern, Germany at Walpurgis Metal Days
30 - Zagreb, Croatia at Zagreb Metal Fest

June
21 - Clisson, France at Hellfest

July
3 - Belgrade, Serbia at Castle Fest
19 - Osterode, Germany at Rock Harz
25 - Elmshorn, Germany - Headbangers Open Air
26 - Obersinn, Germany - Eisenwahnfestival

August
29 - Losheim, Germany at Rock Area Festival

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Dimension Added To Nightmare Metal Fest

DIMENSION, a Mexican/American melodic progressive metal band now hailing from Colorado, has been added to Saturday's lineup on the Nightmare Metal Fest.

"The original second Headliners for this evening we're not able to confirm due to some personal and professional conflicts, so we are proud to bring in this amazing band that has a new release on Nightmare that hit stores in October," commented Nightmare Records' Lance King.

Dimension's new album "EGO" is in stores now.

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Death Angel Need Headbangers For New Video

DEATH ANGEL is shooting a brand new video for the track “Dethroned” with director Robert Sexton (THE DWARVES, AMEN, MONDO GENERATOR) and they need metalheads to star as extras. If you’re true enough all you need to do is show up at this address, 2275 Aliso Canyon Santa Paula CA 93060, just before sundown on Tuesday, January 29th. The shoot will last until early Wednesday morning.

“Dethorned” is taken from the group’s latest powerhouse release, “Killing Season,” due for a North American release via NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS on February 26 and February 29 for the rest of the world. . The CD was mixed at Studio 606 by Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, VELVET REVOLVER) and mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering by Brian Gardner.

DEATH ANGEL recently added a second date to their CD release show at Slim's in San Francisco, California with reunited thrashers FORBIDDEN. The two groups will now play the venue on Thursday, February 28 — one day before the previously announced Slim's date, which has now officially sold out. Tickets are available for purchase at www.slims.com.

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Red I Flight To Film Show For Video

Red I Flight will film footage from a live show this weekend for use in an upcoming video for their Victory Records debut. The free show will take place at the Ritz Theater in Warren, Michigan. According to the band, "tell all of your friends and we will see you there."

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Dead Hearts Looking For New Drummer

Buffalo, New York hardcore band Dead Hearts (Ferret Music) is currently looking for a new drummer. According to the band, "Knowledge of our material, dedicated personality and equipment [are] a must." Interested candidates should email the group at Fivedeadhearts@aol.com for additional information.

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All Shall Perish Writing New Material

After touring 10 out of 12 months in 2007 ALL SHALL PERISH have retreated to their studio to write their follow-up album to THE PRICE OF EXISTENCE set to be released worldwide on Nuclear Blast Records in 2008.

Guitarist Ben Orum comments on the progress of the the new record:

"After touring Europe, Australia and the States we are finally back at home writing the new record. Fans of ASP, old and new alike, will not be let down by the insanity that we have been creating in our studio. We are trying a lot of new ideas, and they are coming out far more exciting than we ever envisioned. We are set to prove once again we are not some fly-by-night 'deathcore' band."

On a seperate note, ALL SHALL PERISH fill-in bassist and ex-Suffokate bassist Bray Almini has put together a website dedicated to all of the insane quotes their guitarist CHRIS STOREY has said over the years, it can be viewed in its hilarity here. Says Bray Almini about the site:

"Chris is the funniest shredder virtuoso out there. Some of the things that come out of his mouth make me fall to the floor in laughter.. we decided to create http://www.ItsStoreyTime.com to keep a record of it all. Check it out.. you'll love him."

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3 Inches Of Blood Confirmed For Wacken Open Air

Epic metallers 3 Inches Of Blood have been revealed, via the official Wacken Open Air festival website, to be performing at the festival. The band will join the already highly anticipated lineup which also features Iron Maiden, Kreator and Exodus. No further details have been given at this time. The festival will be held from July 31st to August 2nd. Stay tuned to see who the next band confirmed for the prestigeous metal festival will be.

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Mercenary Confirm European Shows With Megadeth

To coincide with the release of their highly anticipated new album "Architect of Lies", Danish metallers MERCENARY have been confirmed as the opening band for MEGADETH on select European dates in February/March.

The follow up to 2006's "The Hours That Remain" (which was honored in "best Album" category at the Danish Metal Awards), "Architect of Lies" will be released through Century Media Records on the following release dates:

Denmark: Monday, March 17
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italy: Friday, March 21
UK, France, Norway, Rest Of Europe: Monday, March 24
Spain, Portugal: Tuesday, March 25
Sweden, Finland, Hungary: March 26

Featuring artwork by Niklas Sundin (ARCH ENEMY, DARK TRANQUILLITY), "Architect of Lies" will be made available as a regular CD and a special limited-edition version featuring the bonus track "Death Connection" and a bonus DVD containing live footage filmed at Bang Your Head!!! festival 2007 and Summer Nights festival 2007, a detailed studio report and the promo video for "My World Is Ending".

"Architect of Lies" track listing:

01. New Desire
02. Bloodsong
03. Embrace The Nothing
04. This Black And Endless Never
05. Isolation (The Loneliness in December)
06. The Endless Fall
07. Black and Hollow
08. Execution Style
09. I Am Lies
10. Public Failure Number One More...

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TTEOTD Recruits New Drummer And Vocalist

Currently at home gearing up for the forthcoming Scum of the Earth tour alongside Throwdown, Soilwork, and War of Ages, South Carolina’s THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD have issued an update on the band’s recent line-up change: “We just want to fill everyone in on the current situation with TTEOTD,” guitarist Justin Longshore says. “First off, this band isn’t going anywhere and we are still doing the Throwdown/Soilwork tour as planned. To avoid any complications, we'll just state that Josh [Kulick, drums] and Nate [Johnson, vocals] have both parted ways with the band under their own circumstances. We wish them the best of luck in the future.

“We are excited to announce that Lech, formerly of As Blood Runs Black, will be handling drums for us on the upcoming tour. He's a monster behind the kit and has proven to us to be the right fit for our style. And stepping into the vocal spot is Lou Tanius, who has previously put time in with On Paths of Torment and Invocation of Nehek.”

Continuing to support the band's recent release, 'Malice,' THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD recently completed a U.S. run supporting As I Lay Dying, labelmates All That Remains and Haste The Day. The band has also supported ‘Malice’ alongside The Red Chord, Despised Icon, All Shall Perish, See You Next Tuesday as well as headlined a US run with As Blood Runs Black, Beneath The Massacre and Ion Dissonance. The debut video from "Malice," for "Failure In The Flesh," is available online here, while some in-studio footage is available here.

Here are the latest THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD tour dates: More...

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AC/DC Re-launch Website

According to The Pulse of Radio, AC/DC has re-opened its official web site for business, perhaps a sign that the band is planning more activity for 2008. A limited access version of the site has been online for months, but the full-fledged edition is now operational. A message on the home page reads, "The day of reckoning is upon us. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here, and we're pleased to have you joining us as we turn on the power at AC/DC's official website, ACDC.com!" The post promises all the latest news on the band and the official word on rumors, as well as a detailed history, photos, downloads and a chance for fans to submit their own video messages or tributes.

A contest currently running at the site offers a chance to win a Peavey bass signed by bassist Cliff Williams.

The site also dismisses a recent rumor that AC/DC will play a surprise gig in Switzerland at the end of this month.

Reports surfaced earlier this month that AC/DC was finishing up its first album in eight years, tentatively titled "Strap It On", but a spokesperson for the band's Australian label, Albert Music, denied the story.

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The Eternal Tracking Vocals For New Album

Australian metallers THE ETERNAL have issued the following update:

"Hey folks!

We have had a busy month and a half recording! We have completed, drums, bass, guitars and keyboards!

Mark has been tracking vocals for the last week and a half and it is all sounding great! We expect to have recording complete in the next week or so, with only a few additional parts left to go; some mandolin on 'Katika' coming from Duncan Patterson and some additional female vocals coming from Emily A. Saaen, they are both in the band ION.

We expect to be mixing on and off for most of February and March and hope to have a mastered album come the end of March.

For now please check out some of our new studio pics, and we look forward to unleashing some new music to you all very soon.

Regards, The Eternal."

The Eternal's new record is titled Kartika and will include the following tracks: 'Self Inflicted', 'Means For An Ending', 'Blood', 'Without Reason', 'A Pale Reflection', 'Illuminate', 'Walk Beside You', 'Brighter Day', 'Kartika', 'Silence', 'July', 'Lost Our Way', 'Inside the Grey', 'I’ve Seen The Dream Through Someone Else’s Eyes', 'Sunshine', 'Frozen Sun', 'Last Embrace.'

Further updates to follow.

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Hellyeah Kick Off Second Leg Of Tour

HELLYEAH kick off the second leg of their national headlining More Balls, More Volume, More Strength Tour tonight in Clifton Park, NY, with MACHINE HEAD, NONPOINT and BURY YOUR DEAD supporting.

Tickets are going fast for the gigs, with shows in Flint, MI (February 10th) and Seattle, WA (February 23rd) already sold out.

While on the road, the explosive and uncompromising band will give fans daily updates.

Guitarist Tom Maxwell will “life cast” - a real-time broadcast of his life from his mobile phone - from the tour via www.kyte.tv.

Hellyeah is a band that truly puts their fans first. In addition to giving fans live updates from the road, Hellyeah allowed fans to name their tour and also called upon them to route their tour to cities throughout the US.

In other news, Hellyeah recently released their Below The Belt DVD (Epic Records) which offers fans an inside look at the band’s life on the road with clips dating back to the day the band was formed. Below The Belt debuted at #21 and features footage from multiple live performances and music videos, as well as personal interviews with all band members. Other highlights include snippets of the band’s first recording sessions at Dimebag Darrell’s legendary Chasin’ Jason studio in Dallas, TX, as well as backstage footage from the band’s world tour. More...

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Firewind Reveal New Album Title

Greek melodic metal sensation FIREWIND will release its successor to 2006’s Allegiance album on March 24th, 2008.

Guitarist Gus G. checks in with details on the programmatically entitled The Premonition:

“The Premonition is a strong title and our drummer Mark came up with the idea. A premonition means feeling something is about to happen. We’ve worked hard the past two years and we just have a premonition that 2008 is going to be a very fun and exciting year for us as we plan to visit again many places and countries and hope to play for our fans as well as make new ones!

Of course, you can interpret the album title in any way you want. Some people might read our lyrics and see that at times they’re about the course of mankind and the so-called “end of days”. So maybe this could be taken also as a warning or omen, because it’s definitely something that has been on our minds lately.

I feel that the new Firewind album is yet another step up in our career – musically speaking. Once again we aimed for a highly variable effort as I really don’t like those albums where you’ve listened to the first song and it’s like you heard them all! This doesn’t happen on a Firewind album and certainly not on the new one!

Regarding touring, we’ll start off in Europe right after the album’s release and we’ll spend about five weeks on the road with KAMELOT (we recently toured Japan with them and it was just fantastic!). We plan to return to the US right after that, but no dates are confirmed yet. Of course, a Japan and Pan-Asian tour is being planned currently as well as several appearances at summer festivals."

The artwork for The Premonition (pictured) was created by Brazilian artist Gustavo Sazes (www.abstrata.net).
More...

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Malefice To Shoot Live DVD This Month

Britain's MALEFICE will be filming their upcoming January 30th show at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth, UK on January 30th for future DVD release.

Upcoming Malefice live dates include:

January
25 - Barfly - London, UK
30 - Wedgewood Rooms - Portsmouth, UK
31 - Rock City - Nottingham, UK

February
7 - The White Rabbit - Plymouth, UK
8 - Toms - Pontypridd, UK
9 - The Furnace - Swindon, UK
15 - The Park - Peterborough, UK

Malefice recently released their new video, 'Risen Through The Ashes', from their debut album, Entities, which is out now via Anticulture Records. The video can be viewed below:
More...

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Slash Confirms Stone Temple Pilots Reunion Shows

Billboard.com has issued the following report from John Benson:

After VELVET REVOLVER wraps a spring tour in support of its second album, Libertad, frontman Scott Weiland will rejoin his former bandmates in STONE TEMPLE PILOTS for a handful of summer reunion shows, guitarist Slash tells Billboard.com.

STP broke up in late 2002; the band's last album was the previous year's Shangri-La Dee Da. No other details have yet been revealed about STP's plans.

In the meantime, Weiland and his Velvet Revolver bandmates are still plugging away in support of Libertad with dates that run through early April. There's also the hope that recording for album number three could begin in the spring.

"I don't think anybody knew the second one came out," Slash admits. "We didn't promote it, for one. The first record I remember going out for three weeks on the road and just promoting, with (bassist) Duff (McKagan) and myself going to Europe, Japan and the States.

Read the full article at Billboard.com.

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Imperial Loses New Material In Theft

Orlando, Florida band Imperial had a computer stolen last weekend that stored material written for their forthcoming album. The group has released the following statement:

"So you all know that lately we've been writing and recording our new stuff. That's why we haven't been playing out as much. That's been keeping us busy.

"Unfortunately, last weekend, someone broke in our guitarist's studio and stole a lot of stuff including the computer full of software and the hard drive with everything we had done til now.

"This pretty much means that we have to start from scratch again and we have to go to a different studio to record. All the money we had invested is lost.

"So at this point, we wanna let you know that any kind of help including buying merch or even donations would be really appreciated more than ever. However, even better, if you have any idea of who might've done this or see anyone sketchy with a new nice computer, let us know please."

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Vader Announce Special 25th Anniversary Show

Death metal legends Vader have issued the following announcement on their official website:

It's going to be the loudest anniversary! 25 years on death metal scene, what a great result! Only few bands were able to survive for so unimaginable period of time. Among them there's a Polish death metal band Vader! Massive Music - band's management and booking agency is going to celebrate this great anniversary with a special concert. The show will take place in Warsaw, at Stodola Club on 30th of August.

"Hopefully the venue will be completely packed this day. There are at least a few good reasons to come to this special show. You will see a bunch of famous metal guests, also bands that in the 80's together with Vader created extreme metal scene. The guest-list we've created is quite impressive. Unfortunately, some of them can't appear on the show due to their other obligations. Some of them are maybe too big to be a part of this, I would say- pretty uncommercial event. That's also why we decided to organize this anniversary at Stodola Club, it will be a show for most dedicated Vader's maniacs. Anyhow, you can expect a great package! " (Mariusz Kmiolek - Massive Music)

First bands confirmed for this show are Grave (Sweden), Nile (US), Rotting Christ (Greece) and Krisiun (Brazil). More special guests of Vader's anniversary gig will be announced soon. Another good reason to come to the show is of course Vader! The band will play over two-hour liveset, presenting songs from old demo tapes as well as Vader's famous hits from recent studio albums. The show will be filmed for an anniversary DVD release tentatively called "XXV" (to be released in 2009).

"This time we can promise you a very special release. We don't want to screw up things as it happened with our latest DVD. To refresh the entire concept of a metal DVD we decided to work with people who have never filmed a metal show. They have a great experience in making videoclips, TV programs, advertisements and other things. Those fresh ideas blended with our visions will guarantee something really special. The DVD will feature not only a show, but also a lot of backstage footage including many surprises." (Mariusz Kmiolek - Massive Music)

Exclusively for this day Vader will prepare not only a special live set, but also a special stage design and some other surprises. On the anniversary party you will see also some other famous guests from a music industry. The band is going to launch a special anniversary website. Be prepared for XXV anniversary of Vader!

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Nightwish Nominated For Emma And Echo Awards

Nightwish have been nominated in five different categories for the Finnish "Emma" award, including Band Of The Year, Best Metal Album (Dark Passion Play), Best Album (Dark Passion Play), Song Of The Year (Amaranth), and Best Finnish Artist. The Emma-gala takes place on the 8th of March in Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki. The band has also been nominated for the German "Echo" award in the Rock/Alternative (international) category. The Echo award ceremony will take place on the 15th of February in Berlin.

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Gorerotted Drummer Leaves, New Drummer Announced

Gorerotted, a death metal band hailing from England, have posted the following blog on the band's MySpace:

"Gorerotted have parted ways with drummer Jon Rushforth. It was a hard decision for us to make and it wasn't a personal issue at all. In the end it came down to time commitments and professionalism. You will still be able to hear Jon's drumming skills through his other bands Infected Disarray, Hades Lab and Detrimentum. We wish him the best of luck with all his bands and Grindethic Records. The new drummer is to be Nate Gould of UK weirdoes Screamin' Daemon fame. Rehearsals and writing are already underway with Nate for Gorerotted's 4th album 'Get Dead Or Die Trying', to be released summer 2008. People will be blown away when they hear the new material we've been working on over the last few weeks! Nate is a great guy and an amazing drummer so it's really cool to have him on board."

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New Metallica Album Release Postponed

Sources from Metallica's record label reportedly told Stereo Warning that the release of the band's new album has once again been pushed back. The up-coming follow-up to St. Anger now apparently won't be available until September this year. Lars Ulrich made the first claim that it would see light in February, but then the release date changed to April. That, too, changed when the band was still in the studio months later. The last time Metallica took so long in the studio resulted in the "Black Album."

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