Piledriver Posts New Demo Tracks For Download

Reunited classic Canadian metallers PILEDRIVER have uploaded full-length MP3 files of four new demo tracks from their upcoming album, "Metal Manifesto".

According to the Internet heavy metal encyclopedia BNR, PILEDRIVER burst onto the metal scene in 1985 "with an over-the-top image (including a ridiculous album cover), tacky lyrics ('Sex With Satan', 'Alien Rape', etc), but also a surprisingly well-executed power/thrash style. [The group's debut] 'Metal Inquisition' was just plain great fun to listen to, one of those guilty pleasures that one could both smile at and headbang to at the same time. Some time later, the follow-up, 'Stay Ugly', appeared, and was quite a disappointment, as the production and songwriting were both below average, and the style had shifted a bit toward messy thrash. Soon after that, the band, disappeared without a trace.

"Years later, the PILEDRIVER story is told. Pile Driver himself (real name Gord Kirchin) tells how the idea of the band came from a record exec who basically just wanted to make a quick buck. The band, as such, never really existed at all, as Kirchin was only hired to do vocals for two separate studio projects (which explains why the two albums differed as much as they did), with all the names made up, as was virtually everything else about the band. Kirchin later formed his own band, DOGS WITH JOBS, and sporadically has been working on solo material since then.

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Mayhem To Release Collection of Covers

According to a posting on MAYHEM's web site, the Norwegian black metallers will most likely release a CD consisting of a few covers and re-recordings before the new studio album is out. "The covers will be SODOM, BLACK SABBATH as well as two more bands," the posting adds. "The re-recordings will be from 'Wolfs Lair Abyss' [1997]. It will also contain a track from the forthcoming album. The CD may also contain some sort of live CD-ROM track."

Regarding the new material, guitarist Blasphemer (a.k.a. Rune Erickson) said, "The new songs are tending towards a more aggressive and straight, in-your-face kinda expression. Expect 8-10 vicious and disharmonic songs of the purest of black metal. More info on when the band enters studio and which etc. later, but the album will most likely be recorded early 2006 for a late spring/early summer release. The album is still untitled."

MAYHEM's next live appearance wll take place on November 3 at the Elm St. Rock Caf? in Oslo, Norway. Following this show, MAYHEM will head over to Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Exact cities and dates will be announced soon.

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Desolate Ways To Enter Studio This Month

Desolate Ways is entering in studio this month to begin the recordings of their second full length, which is still untitled. As a result, the band won't be playing with After Forever on July 31st, as previously announced.

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Alice Cooper Filmed Swiss Show For DVD

According to Video Business, ALICE COOPER's July 12 performance in Montreux, Switzerland was filmed by more than 20 high-definition cameras for DVD release sometime next year.

ALICE COOPER's new album, "Dirty Diamonds", is scheduled for release in the U.S. on August 2 via New West Records. The CD, which is said to be a continuation of the more organic approach found on Cooper's last effort, "The Eyes of Alice Cooper", was overseen by Steve Lindsey, who co-produced Cooper's 2004 duet with rapper XZIBIT, "Stand" (off the official Olympics Games album, "Unity") and has worked with Elton John, Luther Vandross and Leonard Cohen.

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WarMachine LineUp Changes, Album Due Out Soon

Toronto's WARMACHINE have parted ways with bassist Andrea Zanini, guitarist Mike Miolla and recently recruited drummer Michael Amaral. "Unfortunately, [Michael] can no longer afford to play drums for us, but is focusing his time on his band, ENDORPHINS," vocalist/guitarist Joe Di Taranto writes on the group's web site. "I wish him all the luck in the world and intend to continue our friendship for many years to come. Former STAGES guitarist John Salerno has stepped in on guitar and we are currently looking for a new drummer and bassist. I'm looking forward to injecting some much-needed new blood into the band and am excited about what the future has in store."

WARMACHINE recently signed a one-album deal with Nightmare Records. "We're looking at a September release date in Central America for [our debut album] 'The Beginning of the End'," stated Taranto. "Canada should follow shortly after. Deals for Europe and Japan are still in the works as well."

"The Beginning of the End" features a guest appearance on three tracks ("Betrayed", "Empty" and "Taunted Souls") by former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

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Former Megadeth And WASP Members Do Side-project

TEMPLE OF BRUTALITY, the new band featuring former MEGADETH/current F5 bassist David Ellefson, W.A.S.P. drummer Stet Howland, guitarist Peter Scheithauer (BELLADONNA, KILLING MACHINE) and vocalist Todd Barnes (13-A), have completed work on their debut album, "Lethal Agenda", due later this summer in Japan and Europe, with other markets to follow. The complete track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Lethal Agenda
02. Hammer
03. Already Dead
04. Doesn't Matter
05. Hate Machine
06. Isabel
07. Beating the Man
08. Built to Last
09. Interlude
10. The Art of War

Audio samples from the album can be found at TempleOfBrutality.com.

TEMPLE OF BRUTALITY, whose music is said to follow a very aggressive direction in the vein of SLAYER and PANTERA, recently shot a video for the album's title cut, "Lethal Agenda", with director Fabio Jafet, who has previously produced/directed the "Waking Up Dead" documentary starring former SAIGON KICK/SKID ROW drummer Phil Varone.

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Hellfest Reveals Daily Lineup

The schedule for which bands will be playing on each day at HELLFEST 2005 has been released. The festival will take place from August 19th to 21st at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ.

Friday, August 19th:

100 Demons
3 Inches Of Blood
A Wilhelm Scream
All That Remains
Alove For Enemies
Arms Race
Backstabbers Inc.
Betrayed
Cannae
Chimaira
Converge
Cryptopsy
Curl Up And Die
Cursed
Dead To Fall
Demiricious
Donnybrook
Doomriders
Ed Gein
Embrace Today
From A Second Story Window
Ghost Of The Saltwater Machines
Ghosts Of War
H20
Hatebreed
He Is Legend
If Hope Dies
Ion Dissonance
Kids Like Us
The Killing
Killing Time
Madball
The Minor Times
The Misfits
Modern Life Is War
Nile
Nobody Left Behind
Nodes Of Ranvier
Nora
Psyopus
The Red Death
Scars Of Tomorrow
Seventh Star
Shattered Realm
Sick Of It All
Six Feet Under
Suffocation
Summer's End
Sworn Enemy
This Is Hell
Turmoil
Unearth
The Warriors
Winter Solstice
With Honor

Saturday, August 20th:

108
A Hero From A Thousand Paces
Above This Fire
Against Me!
The AKA's
Animosity
Anorexic Beauty Queen
As Cities Burn
Bold
The Bouncing Souls
Boy Sets Fire
The Burning Season
Casey Jones
Champion
Classic Case
Coalesce
Dead Hearts
Ensign
Evergreen Terrace
Fall River
Fire When Ready
Glass And Ashes
Good Clean Fun
Gym Class Heroes
Hidden In Plain View
Hit The Lights
Houston Calls
Lifetime
Long Since Forgotten
Marathon
Mean Season
Misery Signals
Most Precious Blood
New Atlantic
None More Black
North Side Kings
One Dead Three Wounded
Pig Destroyer
Planes Mistaken For Stars
Public Enemy
Ready Set Fail
The Receiving End Of Sirens
The Secret
Since The Flood
Smoke Or Fire
Society's Finest
Spitalfield
Strike Anywhere
Swarm Of The Lotus
Symphony In Peril
Terror
The Twilight Transmission
Underminded
The Unseen
Walk The Line
When Tigers Fight

Sunday, August 21st:
A Murder Of Crows
The Acacia Strain
The Agony Scene
Anterrabae
Anti-Flag
At All Cost
The Banner
The Beautiful Mistake
Bedlight For Blue Eyes
Between The Buried And Me
Between Walls
Blacklisted
Buried Inside
Calico System
The Casualties
The Chariot
Cold War
Comeback Kid
Death Before Dishonor
Emery
The End
The Esoteric
Final Word
From Autumn To Ashes
Haste The Day
Horse The Band
I Am Idaho
It Dies Today
Kane Hodder
Life In Pictures
Look What I Did
The Loved Ones
MC Goldie Wilson
Norma Jean
Outbreak
Ramallah
The Red Chord
Remembering Never
Rise Against
Roses Are Red
Silhouette
Silverstein
Sinai Beach
Spitfire
Stemm
Still Remains
Stray From The Path
Stretch Arm Strong
Suffocate Faster
Tension*
Throwdown
Today Is The Day
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza
Triple Threat

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KoRn To Only Use Patterson For European Run

As exclusively reported here first, KORN's replacement axeman for their upcoming Fall tour will be ex-OTEP guitarist Rob Patterson. However, KORN frontman Jonathan Davis revealed that Patterson will not be taking to the stage while the band performs. A statement from his personal site reads as follows:

"We hired Rob Patterson to play guitar for the European dates but he will not be on stage. We don't want to use samples or tape, 'cause that would suck. We are not ready to have a new guy on stage with us. This is for the first Europe run only. We have some new exciting ideas on how we are gonna play live in the future and I am sure it will blow your mind."

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Borknagar Side-Project, Ion, Changes Name

ION, the Norwegian/Swedish project featuring BORKNAGAR members Oystein G. Brun (guitars and programming) and Vintersorg (vocals and programming), have officially changed their name to CRONIAN.

"Based on evaluation of the musical direction of ION, we have decided to change the name of our duo to CRONIAN," the band write in a statement. "We simply feel that this name, to a larger extent, reflects the general artistic approach of the band. Beside, the fact that there is another band rising with the name ION made our choice rather simple and inevitable. Therefore, we will from this day on officially use CRONIAN as the spearhead of our musical brotherhood.

"The recording of our debut album is in process and we intend to finish the album by the end of the year. What remains to be done is to settle the vocals, add some guitar melodies and obviously to do the mixing. The album will contain 9 songs of atmospheric, eerie and catchy music. Beware!

"We are now in the final round of settling a deal with Century Media Records. An official announcement will be issued soon.

"In regards to a future release we are interested to get in contact with up-and-coming graphic/visual artists. In the first place we are looking for a CRONIAN logo. For those interested, feel free to send us an idea, a draft or whatever. We cannot promise anything to anyone, but everybody will get a response. Feel free to contact us: cronian@gmail.com."

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Ex-Atheist Singer: Reponse to Reissue Is Bananas

Former NEUROTICA/ATHEIST and current BIG MACHINE frontman has issued the following update:

"Response to the ATHEIST catalog being reissued is bananas!!! I wish to thank everyone for all the great letters and support on these. Relapse has done an incredible job on this package, it must be seen to be appreciated. The sound's been remastered on all of the records, new liner notes from numerous industry folk. It's just amazing. It hits the streets in September. Visit www.relapse.com to pre-order the limited-edition vinyl box set. There are only 1,000 they are going fast at 35 bucks! The three-disc set will be available individually as well through Relapse in September.

"I will be producing the upcoming recording session with Steve Flynn's [ex-ATHEIST drummer] new band GNOSTIC for my company, Starrfactory Records. This will mark the return of one of metal's sickest players. Steve Flynn has not recorded since his work on the now legendary 1991 'Unquestionable Presence' album from ATHEIST (being reissued September 13). Steve is in top form and this demo is gonna set the bar that much higher in the drumming world at minimum. The other players are strong and I think people will be really suprised by what they hear. We plan on shopping the demo. Interested parties contact starrfactory@verizon.net for info on the band etc.

"Also I have gone live with www.kellyshaefer.com. It is still developing, but right now it has info and music from all my bands — ATHEIST, NEUROTICA, UNHEARD, BIG MACHINE — plus you can check out the tunes I did with VELVET REVOLVER, and my DROWNING POOL auditions as well. Artwork, lyrics, press, pics, a blog and my complete Ozzfest diary from the NEUROTICA tour in 2002!

"And I am proud to report that I am gonna be a papa!! Me and my fiancee Jesika are expecting a girl our first! Skye Lilly Shaefer will debut live at Sarasota Memorial Hospital on November 26th.

"What a difference a year makes.

"And one last thing: In about two weeks, the brand new official ATHEIST website will be launching www.officialatheist.com and it will be chock-full of goodies for all you ATHEIST fans."

In other news, BIG MACHINE will be making their New York City live debut on August 3 at CBGB. Also appearing will be New Jersey's RANA.

BIG MACHINE recently spent time tracking new material at Florida's Southern Sound Studios with former ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND engineer Bud Snyder. Doug Kaye is producing. The songs that were recorded are: "Love Erosion", "Falling", "Shadow on the Wall" and "I Heard the Thunder". All tracks were written by AC/DC's Brian Johnson and BIG MACHINE guitarist Doug Kaye.

BIG MACHINE is:

Kelly Shaefer (ATHEIST, NEUROTICA) - Vocals
Doug Kaye - Guitar
Donny Jaurols (E3, SERAPHINE, UNHEARD) - Guitar
Joe Scibilia (LAST GREAT HOPE) - Bass
Jeff Klosterman (JULLIET) – Drums

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Jerry Cantrell To Team Up With Wes Scantlin

Former ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell will be teaming up with PUDDLE OF MUDD frontman Wes Scantlin for a rare "unplugged" performance on Sunday, July 31 at Rain at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cantrell recently told MTV.com that he has been working on his new solo album with several high-profile musicians, including METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo, ex-JANE'S ADDICTION bassist Chris Wyse, ex-JANE'S ADDICTION drummer Stephen Perkins, ALICE IN CHAINS' Sean Kinney and Mike Inez, producer Marti Frederiksen (MICK JAGGER, AEROSMITH) and FAITH NO MORE's Mike Bordin, who played drums on Cantrell's most recent disc, 2002's "Degradation Trip".

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Gigantour Set Lists Revealed

The set lists from all the bands on "Gigantour," minus THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN since they have not joined the tour yet, from the first date of the tour (July 21st) in Fresno, CA at the Selland Arena have been released.

MEGADETH:
Blackmail The Universe
Set The World Afire
Skin Of My Teeth
In My Darkest Hour
Wake Up Dead
Reckoning Day
She Wolf
Angry Again
A Tout Le Monde
Die Dead Enough
Tornado Of Souls
Trust
Hangar 18
Kick The Chair
Sweating Bullets
Symphony Of Destruction
The Scorpion
---------
Peace Sells

DREAM THEATER:
The Root of All Evil
Under a Glass Moon
Fatal Tragedy
Panic Attack
The Glass Prison
This Dying Soul
Just Let Me Breathe
Lie
As I Am
---------
Pull Me Under/Metropolis

FEAR FACTORY:
Replica
Transgression
Demanufacture
Cyberwaste
Acres of Skin
Shock
Martyr
Archetype
Edgecrusher

NEVERMORE:
Narcosynthesis
Fault of the Flesh
Final Product
River Dragon
Enemies of Reality

LIFE OF AGONY:
Don’t Bother
This Time
Day He Died
Through
Love to Let U
Bad Seed
Wicked Ways
Underground
Rivers

SYMPHONY X:
Inferno
Evolution
Wicked
Sea of Lies
Sins

DRY KILL LOGIC:
Perfect Enemy
With Deepest Regret
Lost
Buckles
Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck

BOBAFLEX:
6 Feet Under
Bright Red Violent Sex
Got you Trapped
Medicine
Better Than Me
Turn the Heat Up

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Soilent Green Completes First Music Video

Relapse Records recording artists SOILENT GREEN have completed work on the first music video from their brand new album, ''Confrontation''.

The video, for the "Confrontation" roll-out track 'Leaves of Three' was shot on location in Atlanta, Georgia by Director Chad Rullman (NILE, MASTODON, THE AGONY SCENE) for Supercollider Films and features SOILENT GREEN (vocalist Ben Falgoust (also of GOATWHORE), guitarists Brian Patton (also of EYEHATEGOD) and Tony White, bassist Scott Crochet and drummer Tommy Buckley (also of CROWBAR) performing in a super-intense setting a la the PANTERA videos "I'm Broken" and "Five Minutes Alone". The video is expected to make its world premiere imminently.

SOILENT GREEN's "Confrontation" album hit stores this past Tuesday, July 19th and will see a European release date of July 25th. The band is currently in the midst of a U.S. headlining tour with support from A PERFECT MURDER, INTO THE MOAT, WATCH THEM DIE.

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