Interview

On The Road With Chthonic Vocalist Freddy Lim

St.Paul, Minnesota was on the eerily quiet hangover edge left by a freak storm that had raged the night before, another one brewing on the toxic green horizon turning to dusk beyond Station 4. The club is situated a block off the riverfront, is small, but is the only place in the Twin Cities where you can really catch a Real Metal Show. Ozzfest would be held an hour away in Wisconsin the following day, and I was thankful for the opportunity to see Taiwan’s Chthonic in such an intimate setting. More...

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Jesu, Torche Fall Tour Dates

Jesu and Torche will team up for a run of dates this Fall. The following shows have been confirmed so far:

10/18 Washington DC @ Black Cat
10/19 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
10/20 New York, NY @ Grammercy Theater CMJ
10/22 New Britain, CT @ Trinity on Main
10/23 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
10/24 Montreal, QUE @ La Sala Rossa
10/25 Toronto, ONT @ Lees Palace
10/27 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
10/29 Sauget, IL @ Pops
10/30 Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck

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Tiamat Begin Recording New Album

TIAMAT mainman Johan Edlund ha issued the following update:

"Last night I got back home [to Greece] from a week of [TIAMAT] rehearsals and some days of drum recordings [for the new album] in Sweden. The trip turned into a quite personal trauma and a few tears left my eyes while careening through red mist and dust of the Greek forest fires when entering Greek airspace on my late night flight from Prague back to Macedonia, but luckily — after a few days of worrying — my close and loved ones in the south of Greece are OK and most fires are heavily bondaged by heroic firefighters of all Europe. Bless them!

"Rehearsals went fine, thanks to small little brown bottles wrapped in paper with joyfully slogans printed on them. We had a few drunken nights in Stockholm and I managed to see my team Hammarby lose against a non-team from the west coast.

"A few days later me and Lars [Skold, drums] went to the west coast. To a small little town called Varberg, to be precise, just outside the anus of Sweden that some people still call Gothenburg (the city most known for an ugly building that looks like a lipstick, which they call… the lipstick).

"Though beer drinking was still on the agenda, we didn't go down there for watching football, nor fishing, but to record our animalistic maniac behind the drums in Studio Mega."

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Prong's Tommy Victor Talks About New Album

PRONG returns this October 2nd with a new album and a renewed attitude, aptly reflected in the record’s title, Power Of The Damager.

The hard-hitting record - the band’s first studio release since 2003’s Scorpio Rising - is easily Prong’s finest. Power Of The Damager maintains the razor-sharp signature riffs band founder Tommy Victor has perfected over the last 20 years while harkening back to the rawness of Prong’s pioneering years as Industrial Metal’s native son.

Most notable is the record's in-your-face production, which came courtesy of Victor himself.

"It's no frills," said Victor. "There's two loud crunchy stereo guitars, rumbling growling bass, and real slamming natural drums. I kept any vocal effects to a minimum. We felt that if the vocal couldn't hold its own ! dry and decipherable, it probably wasn't any good."

Joining Victor in the Prong trio is bassist Monte Pittman, a Prong veteran who does double-duty as tour guitarist for none other than Madonna, and drummer Aaron Rossi. Though Prong has made a career of changing with each release, the common thread in each is reality, and that carries through on Power Of The Damager.

"Everything is to the point, Victor said. "There are no disguises. It's all about experience. It's about relating to what others feel and what they may be concerned about. I think people will relate to the themes encrypted on this record do, even if they ar! e guarded and don't let them surface. A lot of the r! ecord is about denial and how we come to grips with it. I know people, if they get honest, will relate."

The mammoth record weighs in with a dozen tracks, highlighted by the title track, which Victor began writing during a crazed, manic night alone in Prong's rehearsal space. "I was trying to review and write riffs, but I was too preoccupied," said Victor. "I was all bottled up, experiencing a good amount of pain, anxiety, fear, and general disgust about everything." He quickly scrawled a lyric on a nearby used envelope and shoved it in his pocket, carrying it around for days. "Even though it had a self destructive, violent, and nihilistic theme, I felt philosophical, accepting, and maybe even spiritual about the state of mind I was in," he said. "I knew it was good. I threw the riffs I was reviewing on that dark night up on my computer put it to a 203bpm click track, did some programmi! ng for the demo, screamed the lyric over it, and it all fit perfectly. From all that negative crap in me came something really cool that I enjoyed doing and helped me get through. It had to be the title track."

Power Of The Damager is Prong’s first release for MINISTRY mainman Al Jourgensen’s 13th Planet Records, a relationship that was kindled while Victor played with Jourgensen in Ministry.

“Tommy is En Fuego!" said Jourgensen. "I love this guy! We’re like two grumpy been-there-done-that bastards, but when it comes to songwriting, performing, Tommy is the shit. Not only do I love working in the studio and touring with the guy on Ministry, I’m totally honored and proud to have Prong on the 13th Planet roster. Power Of The Damager is top-notch Prong at its very best. Way to kick ass, Tommy. Good job.”

The tracklist for Power Of The Damager is as follows: 'Looking For Them', 'No Justice', 'Third Option', 'Pure Ether', 'Power Of The Damager', 'The Banishment', 'Worst Of It', 'Spirit Guide', 'Messages Inside Of Me', 'Can't Stop The Bleeding', 'Bad Fall', 'Changing Ending Troubling Times'.

As previously reported, Prong have lined up the following live dates in support of their upcoming release:

October
14 - West Hollywood, CA at Whiskey-A-Go-Go
16 - Flagstaff, AR at Orpheum Theatre
17 - The Rock, AR at The Rock
18 - Albuquerque, NM at Launch Pad
19 - Ok City, OK at The Conservatory
20 - Austin, TX at Emo's Alternative Lounging
21 - Houston, TX at The Meridian
23 - Nashville, TN at The Muse
24 - Covington, KY at The Mad Hatter
25 - Springfield, VA at Jaxx
26 - Poughkeepsie, NY at The Loft
27 - Bedford, NH at Mark's Showplace
28 - New York, NY at Highline Ballroom
29 - Allentown, PA at Crocodile Rock Cafe
30 - Toronto, ON at Funhaus
31 - Cleveland, OH at Peabody's

November
1 - Detroit, MI at I-Rock
2 - Mokena, IL at The Pearl Room
3 - Cudahy, WI at Vnuk's Lounge
4 - Maplewood, MN at The Rock
5 - Cedar Falls, IA at Reverb
6 - Topeka, KS at Static Bar
7 - Denver, CO at Larimer Lounge
9 - Seattle, WA at Studio Seven
10 - Portland, OR at Hawthorne Theater
11 - Bend, OR at Domino Room
12 - Modesto, CA at Fat Cat Music House and Lounge
17 - Coeur D'Alene, ID at The Grail

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Bruce Dickinson's Movie "Well Under Way"

According to an IRON MAIDEN update, filming of the supernatural horror thriller Chemical Wedding is well underway. Based on an original screenplay by (singer) Bruce Dickinson, the film directed by Julian Doyle, veteran second unit director and editor of Terry Gilliam's Brazil, Time Bandits and Monty Python's The Life of Brian. Julian wrote and directed Maiden's partially animated promotional video 'Can I Play With Madness'.

Chemical Wedding stars Simon Callow as a reincarnation of Aleister Crowley, dubbed 'the most evil man in Britain.'

Crowley was a major Edwardian figure and a scandalous character. A Cambridge graduate, he became an infamous mystic and occult scholar and although he died in 1947, his books are still in print and he remains a major focus for the occult world. In the film, Crowley's spirit is re-animated by a superconductor mainframe, transforming the shy and stuttering Professor Haddo (Callow) into the charismatic but sexually depraved Crowley who wreaks havoc with the students and faculty of today's Cambridge campus. The cast will be rounded out with cameos from Dickinson and other Python regulars.

The film should be released sometime in 2008 with Bruce supervising the soundtrack.

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Dethklok Mastermind To Direct Exodus Video

The following message has been posted via the official Exodus Myspace account:

"Set to go into production in September, San Francisco’s pioneer thrashers EXODUS will be shooting a video for the song “Riot Act” off their upcoming new album The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A slated for release in North America on October 23, 2007.

The video director for “Riot Act” will be none other than Jon Schnepp. Known most recently for his work on Metalocalypse (an animated program about Dethklok, the world’s most popular death metal band) on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, the show has been described as “Spinal Tap meets Scooby Doo meets Norway.” Schnepp is responsible for the character design of the five Dethklok members, directs the majority of the Metalocalypse episodes for each season, and works closely with the show’s co-creators/writers Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha.

EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has this to say about the shoot:

“Having the opportunity to work with Jon on our video for ‘Riot Act’ is going to be amazing. Having just recently done our own guest appearance on Metalocalypse, we went out on a limb and asked Jon if he'd shoot our video. When he said yes, we were stoked to say the least. The ideas that he's come up with promise to make this our best video ever! I usually hate making videos, but this time I'm actually excited about it! It will be unique, and of course, it will be heavy!”"

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The Agonist Tour Schedule

The Agonist will be touring in September and October. Here are the tour dates:

dates w/ Epica, Visions of Atlantis
9/6 Hartford, CT @ Webster Theatre
9/8 Bedford, NH @ Mark's Place
9/9 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom

dates w/ Sonata Arctica, Firewind
9/12 Dallas, TX @ Palladium
9/14 Albuquerque, NM @ The Launchpad
9/15 Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
9/16 Hollywood, CA @ The Key Club
9/17 Santa Ana, CA @ The Galaxy Theatre
9/19 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
9/21 Chicago, IL @ Metro/Smart Bar
9/22 Detroit, MI @ Harpo's Concert Theatre
9/23 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's Down Under
9/24 Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
9/26 Quebec City, QC @ Salle Albert Rousseau
9/27 Montreal, QC @ Medley
9/28 Poughkeepsie, NY @ Chance Theater
9/29 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (no Firewind)
9/30 New York, NY @ B.B. Kings Blues Club
10/02 Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
10/03 Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
10/06 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
10/07 Winter Park, FL @ The Haven
10/09 Houston, TX @ Meridian

dates w/ Overkill
10/11 Covington, KY @ The Mad Hatter
10/12 Columbus, OH @ Al Rosa Villa
10/13 Detroit, MI @ Harpo's
10/14 Mokena, IL @ The Pearl Room
10/15 Maplewood, MN @ The Rock
10/16 Cedar Falls, IA @ Reverb
10/17 Sauget, IL @ Pop's
10/18 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's Down Under

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Genghis Tron To Enter Studio

Genghis Tron will enter Godcity studios in Salem, MA next week to begin recording their Relapse Records debut. The group will be working with producer (and Converge guitarist) Kurt Ballou. The still-untitled album is expected to see an early-2008 release. The band comments:

"Time does NOT fly when you're parked in front of a computer for eight months making an epic, synth-driven, psychedelic dirge about the end of all time. That's why we're elated to get the fuck out of West Philly and finally record the album that has nearly driven us insane on more than thirty-five occasions...each. It's going to be a beautiful thing once it's done and we can't wait for everyone to share in our paralyzing fear of the future!"

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Necroblaspheme To Enter The Studio

Five years after their first album "Introducing Pure Violence", NECROBLASPHEME will enter the Drudenhaus Studio (Anorexia Nervosa, GTI, Ultra Vomit, Trepalium, CNK, etc...) this week (september 1st to the 15) to record their new album called "Destination : nulle part" . The band's second album, it will be available by the end of 2007.

The "Destination : nulle part" tracklisting is as follows:

All in vain, All in veins
After All
Descent's Genesis
2H40min A.M
Sorry For Us/Me
"??? > I "
Wounded
Thoughts Close At End
Nameless

Mkm from the band Antaeus will appear on 3 tracks.

Promo versions of the tracks "Nameless" and "Descent's Genesis" are available on the band's MySpace page and official website.

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Nightwish Claim New Song Was Inspired By Ex-Singer

U.K.-based music journalist Dave Ling has posted the following message on his web site:

"Just returned home from a couple of very productive days spent with NIGHTWISH in Helsinki. After a terrifyingly early start on Wednesday morning, irrepressible band manager Ewo Rytkönen collected me from the airport and we sped off to guitarist Emppu Vuorinen's studio, 20 minutes or so outside of the city centre. I conducted a fascinating and unexpectedly candid interview with keyboard player/leader Tuomas Holopainen in which he confirmed my suspicion that 'Bye Bye Beautiful', from the new album 'Dark Passion Play', was inspired by the band's estranged former singer Tarja Turunen — famously sacked via open letter back in 2005. Included in its chorus are the lines: "Did you ever listen to what we played? / Did we get this far just to feel your hate? / You chose the long road but we'll be waiting." Oddly given the above, however, Holopainen explained that he has attempted to contact Turunen by text messages (without success) since the split, and that he hopes to re-establish friendship with her again some day in the future — though the band are perfectly happy with their new frontwoman, Anette Olzon.

"After the interview I was invited to sit back, crack open a can or two of Karhyu beer and observe as the new-look NIGHTWISH ran through a large chunk of their upcoming live set. The instrumental players had rehearsed for the previous couple of weeks, but this was just the third time they'd all played with Olzon. I was impressed. Obviously, Anette's voice is very different to that of operatic diva Turunen, but she sings the old songs far better than I'd expected. According to Tuomas, the show will be a fairly equal split between numbers from 'Dark Passion Play' and the group's catalogue. It would be grossly unfair to give the game away regarding the song-list at such an early stage, but hearing Olzon's interpretation of 'Nemo' back-to-back with 'Eva' made the reasons for her recruitment immediately obvious. And their new take on the last album's standout cut 'Wish I Had An Angel' was absolutely rampant!

"Prior to yesterday afternoon's return flight to London, I did an interview with Olzon over lunch. She's a very confident and personable lady. Then again, given the fact that the single 'Amaranth' had just gone gold in Finland (commemorating sales of 5,000 copies) after just two days, NIGHTWISH have every reason to feel proud of the way they've bounced back from the rumpus with Ms Turunen."

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Atreyu To Film San Diego Concert

ATREYU will film their August 30, 2007 concert at Soma in San Diego, California. "This should be a very special show for all of us so come on out and join the party!" the band says. "Our friends TRIVIUM, DROID and LOWER DEFINITION will also be playing. We don't film shows often and every time we have it's been a blast. This is a show not to be missed."

ATREYU's new album, "Lead Sails Paper Anchor", is being released today (August 28).

To celebrate the release of "Lead Sails Paper Anchor", ATREYU has scheduled two special in-store events for its hometown fans. Later today (August 28), the band will be in Irvine, CA at the Irvine Spectrum and will be signing copies of its new album starting at 5:00 p.m. Then on August 30, the band heads down to Horton Plaza in San Diego, CA for another signing at the Hot Topic store. Fans that purchase the record in advance of street date at the Irvine location will get a wristband that will guarantee them a meet-and-greet with ATREYU and the same applies to the San Diego fans that purchase the record on August 28.

ATREYU recorded "Lead Sails Paper Anchor" this spring with producer John Feldmann (THE USED, GOOD CHARLOTTE) who worked with the band to create their most infectious, ambitious and musically challenging disc yet. While the band's juxtaposition of hardcore-influenced chaos and rock-influenced melody is still present, the gulf between the two styles is diminished, making the passages flow in a smoother and more naturalistic manner. "Lead Sails Paper Anchor" was mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, SLIPKNOT, LINKIN PARK).

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Clutch Announce New Tour Dates

Germantown, Maryland-based metallers CLUTCH have updated their tour itinerary through the end of the year with new North American dates confirmed.

Upcoming Clutch dates currently include:

August
29 - Higher Ground - Burlington, VT (with Year Long Disaster, Backyard Tire Fire)
30 - The Station - Portland, ME (with Year Long Disaster, Backyard Tire Fire)
31 - Bowery Ballroom (Royal Flush Magazine Release Party) - NYC, NY (with The Hidden Hand, Beatillica, TBA)

October
20 - Downtown Live Music & Arts Festival (Center Square - Downtown) - Hagerstown, MD

November
3 - The Canopy Club - Urbana, IL
4 - The Copper Dragon - Carbondale, IL

December
27 - Toad's Place - New Haven, CT
31 - TBA - TBA

As previously reported, the online debut of Clutch's exclusive track, 'King Of Arizona', written for BAM MARGERA Presents Viva La Bands, Vol 2, is available by going to www.pro-rock.com and www.vivalabands.com.

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Tankard To Do One Off U.S. Show

Long-running Frankfurt, Germany-based thrash metallers TANKARD will make a one-off U.S. appearance on March 9, 2008 at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City. Tickets are available via EnterTheVault.com exclusively until September 21 at which point they will be sold through all normal ticketing outlets.

TANKARD entered Stage One studios in Borgentreich, Germany earlier in the year with producer Andy Classen (DEW-SCENTED, CALLENISH CIRCLE, TANKARD, OCCULT) to record new versions of their biggest "hits" — from "(Empty) Tankard" and "Chemical Invasion" to "The Morning After" and "Space Beer". The resulting collection, "Best Case Scenario: 25 Years In Beers", is scheduled for release on August 31 through AFM Records, with a special limited first edition set to include the bonus CD "A Tribute to Tankard", featuring cover versions of 18 TANKARD songs performed by such artists as SACRED STEEL, MANTICORA, ABANDONED, PARADOX, COURAGEOUS and SCORNAGE.

"Best Case Scenario: 25 Years In Beers" (view cover artwork at this location) track listing:

01. Zombie Attack
02. Maniac Forces
03. (Empty) Tankard
04. Don't Panic
05. Chemical Invasion
06. The Morning After
07. Alien
08. 666 Packs
09. Beermuda
10. Space Beer
11. Medley (Alcohol, Puke, Mon Cheri, Wonderful Life)
12. Freibier
13. Nation Over Nation
14. Two-Faced
15. Minds On The Moon

"A Tribute to Tankard" bonus CD track listing:

01. ABANDONED - Face Of The Enemy
02. COURAGEOUS - The Morning After
03. DOPPELBOCK - Freibier für alle
04. FATAL EMBRACE - Acid Death
05. FKÜ - Space Beer
06. FREZEEBEE - Poison
07. HATEWORK - Live To Dive
08. HYADES - Alien
09. IRREVERENCE - Beermuda
10. MANTICORA - Total Addiction
11. ODIUM - Sunscars
12. PARADOX - Zombie Attack
13. PARAGON - Two-Faced
14. SACRED STEEL - Empty Tankard
15. SCORNAGE - Away
16. SOLICITUDE - Planetwide Suicide
17. TASTE OF DOOM - Rectifier
18. TORMENT - Chemical Invasion

AFM reissued the TANKARD cover CD, "Himbeergeist zum Frühstück" (released under the TANKWART moniker) on July 13. The album features metal/punk versions of old German folk classics like "Sieben Fässer Wein" and "Blau Blüht Der Enzian", and includes a live version of the TANKARD classic "Freibier" as a bonus track.

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Ministry Frontman To Score Horror Film

Headbanger's Blog reports that movie director Zack Passero has recruited MINISTRY frontman Al Jourgensen to create the score and soundtrack for the upcoming Fever Dreams horror film "Wicked Lake", which is tentatively scheduled for release next spring. Passero previously directed MINISTRY's 2006 video for "Lies Lies Lies" and REVOLTING COCKS' clip for "Fire Engine", as well as the movies "The Big, Weird Normal" and "Motel: Glimpse".

"Wicked Lake" starts shooting September 9 in Las Cruses, New Mexico and, while Passero will film on weekdays, he plans to work with Jourgensen on weekends. "This is perfect for me because Zach is one of my best friends and we are going to make this something really special musically," Jourgensen says. "I've been getting offers to work on horror films for years, and I've always turned them down because I was too busy or things just weren't right. Usually, you don't even meet the director, you just mail in some songs. This is gonna be totally hands-on and totally cool."

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Avenged Sevenfold Album Pushed Back

The release date of AVENGED SEVENFOLD's new, self-titled album has been pushed back to October 30 from the previously announced October 16. The CD, which will follow up the band's breakthrough 2005 effort, "City of Evil", is the California metalcore act's first attempt at self-producing.

"Avenged Sevenfold" track listing:

01. Critical Acclaim
02. Almost Easy
03. Scream
04. Afterlife
05. Gunslinger
06. Unbound the Wild Ride
07. Brompton Cocktail
08. Lost
09. A Little Piece of Heaven
10. Dear God

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Blindside Announce U.S. Dates

Sweden's BLINDSIDE has scheduled the following U.S. dates:

Sep. 29 - Amherst, MA - Mullins Center
Oct. 01 - Philadelphia, PA - North Star
Oct. 02 - New York, NY - Knitting Factory
Oct. 05 - Cincinnati, OH - The Underground
Oct. 06 - Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre
Oct. 07 - Orlando, FL - The Social
Oct. 09 - Nashville, TN - Rocketown
Oct. 12 - Joplin, MO - The Foundry Music Theatre
Oct. 13 - Dallas, TX - The Door

BLINDSIDE released an EP, entitled "The Black Rose", on June 27. The EP features five brand new songs and three live recordings of tracks from the band's previous album, "The Great Depression".

"The Great Depression" was produced by Lasse "Lars" Marten and was released in August 2005 via DRT Entertainment.

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Classic Diamond Head Videos Revealed

Influential NWOBHM legends DIAMOND HEAD have issued the following update:

"After being 'lost' for over 27 years, and much sought after by both the band and fans, Dave Brett has done a sterling job in not only tracking down two songs filmed for Look Hear in 1980, but he has also sent us copies and uploaded them on to YouTube. You can see the band playing 'Streets Of Gold' and 'Helpless' below.

"I have been wishing I could see these two very old very rare videos for almost 27 years," says guitarist Brian Tatler. "I only saw them once when the program Look Hear! was first broadcast in 1980 and no one had a video recorder then, so thanks to the Diamond Head website and a lot of perseverance we finally have a copy in our possession. I would like to thank Dave for sending them to us, I was 19 when this was recorded, happy times" More...

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Hellyeah Looking For "Hellyeah Girls"

MTV.com has issued the following report:

HELLYEAH - the band featuring members of MUDVAYNE, PANTERA and NOTHINGFACE - are on the hunt for a dozen women they'd like to act as their "Hellyeah Girls".

The winners will be featured in the band's 2008 calendar. To enter, contestants need to post an audition video to Break.com and send a link to the clip to hellyeahtv@gmail.com .

The Pulse Of Radio recently issued the following Hellyeah update from Don Kaye:

Hellyeah plans to stay on the road beyond September, when it finishes up it's current run on the Family Values tour with KORN, EVANESCENCE and others.

That could complicate matters for singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett, who recently completed a new album with their other band, Mudvayne.

But Gray told us that he's confident everything will fall into place: "Obviously we've got some Mudvayne commitments and stuff that are getting ready to come up, and we're, like, right in the middle of all of that right now. I'm dealing with my other two members of Mudvayne and stuff, and everything's really great right now between all of us. They're being really super supportive of what Greg and I doing in our headspace and it's really exciting. So we're just gonna try to carve out a little more time for Hellyeah and figure out the Mudvayne thing when it comes up."

Gray said that he expects the new Mudvayne album, the band's fourth, to come out either near the end of this year or very early in 2008.

Hellyeah's debut disc has sold 155,000 copies since coming out in April.

Hellyeah is one of the bands included on the soundtrack of Electronic Arts' new Madden NFL 08 video game. The group will also appear as featured artists at EA.com's "EA Trax" section.

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As I Lay Dying Announce Further Tour Dates

More dates have been revealed for AS I LAY DYING’s upcoming headlining North American fall tour with ALL THAT REMAINS, HASTE THE DAY, and THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD. Dates include:

October
27 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater
28 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
30 San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit
31 Dallas, TX – The Door

November
1 Houston, TX – Live Nation
2 – New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
3 - Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
4 - Ft. Lauderdale - Revolution
5 - Orlando, FL – House of Blues
7 - Charlotte, NC – Tremont Music Hall
8 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva
9 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10 - Worcester, MA – The Palladium
11 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live!
12 - New York, NY – Nokia Theater
14 - Cleveland, OH – House of Blues Cleveland
15 - Pontiac, MI – Clutch Cargo's
16 - Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
17 - Nashville, TN - Rocketown
18 - Sauget, IL – Pop's
19 - Chicago, IL – House of Blues
20 - Minneapolis, MN – Cabooze On The West Bank
21 - Kansas City, MO - The Beaumont Club
23 - Englewood, CO – Gothic Theater
24 - Magna, UT – The Great Salt Air
26 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
27 - San Francisco, CA – Slim's
28 - Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
30 - San Diego, CA - Soma

Tickets go on sale on September 7th.

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Queensryche To Issue Covers Album In November

QUEENSRŸCHE are completing work on an upcoming covers album.

Christa Titus from Billboard.com has issued the following update on the album:

Queensrÿche pays homage to some of its musical idols on Take Cover, a covers album due November 13 via Rhino. The Seattle group is putting its stamp on such numbers as PINK FLOYD's 'Welcome To The Machine', U2's 'Bullet The Blue Sky' and PETER GABRIEL's "Red Rain."

"We'll never top the originals; they're classics for a reason," singer Geoff Tate says. "We were more focused on finding different approaches that took the songs in unexpected directions."

He explains that the album gave the band a chance to have some fun. "During sound checks, [guitarists Mike Stone and Michael Wilton] like to play 'name that riff,' and sometimes the whole band joins in. That's really the way this album came together. We got together and started playing songs to each other, and then we picked our favorites."

Queensrÿche has only released a few covers, one of them being a powerful interpretation of 'Scarborough Fair' in the early 1990s. Some of the 11 selections naturally fit the band's progressive rock influences, particularly Pink Floyd and 'Innuendo' by QUEEN, one of Tate's favorite bands. Others will definitely raise eyebrows. The group is giving Broadway a spin by performing 'Heaven On Their Minds' from Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as the O'JAYS' R&B classic 'For Love of Money', the operatic 'Odissea' by Italian duo CARLO MARRALE AND CHEOPE and an acoustic version of BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD's "For What It's Worth."

Tate says he enjoyed the demanding arrangement of 'Odissea'. "I really like this song because there is a lot for a singer to sink his teeth into," he reports. "Plus I got a chance to sing in Italian, which was interesting, considering I don't speak a word of it."

He considered singing 'Red Rain' and the POLICE's 'Synchronicity II' opportunities to explore music

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