WEEDEATER Confirmed To Support North American DOWN Tour

That is right, sound the alarms: North Carolina's sludge pillagers WEEDEATER have been confirmed as support for a full-on North American DOWN tour! The lineup changes throughout the routing; The Canadian dates feature secondary support from VOIVOD, while the bulk of the American dates feature THE MELVINS. Other opening support for the tour will be DANAVA for the first half and EVIL ARMY for the latter half of the dates.

WEEDEATER will play several shows in North Carolina and Tennessee on the way to the opening and after the closing of the tour, and will headline sporadically in chunks throughout the main tour. And of course they will do what they do best: sonically reduce every venue they enter to a resin-coated heap of rubble.

WEEDEATER's latest album God Luck And Good Speed was released in 2007 on Southern Lord Recordings; a deluxe double LP version just released in 2009. They have ruled the stage with their filth-mongering approach within the doom, stoner and metal circuits for over a decade now, and it appears things are about to get a whole lot filthier for us all.

WEEDEATER live:

7/28/2009 Drips' - Hickory, NC

7/29/2009 Rocket Club - Asheville NC

7/30/2009 The Muse - Nashville TN w/Zoroaster

7/31/2009 Hi Tone Cafe - Memphis TN w/Rwake, The Lewd, Royal Thunder

8/01/2009 Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City OK w/Down, Danava

8/03/2009 Beaumont Club - Kansas City MO w/Down, Danava

8/04/2009 The Venue at Playmaker's - Fargo ND w/Down, Danava

8/05/2009 Burton Cummings Theatre - Winnipeg MB w/Down, Voivod, Danava

8/07/2009 Edmonton Events Centre - Edmonton MB w/Down, Voivod, Danava

8/08/2009 MacEwan Hall - Calgary AB w/Down, Voivod, Danava

8/10/2009 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver BC w/Down, Voivod, Danava

8/11/2009 Showbox SoDo - Seattle WA w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/12/2009 Roseland Theater - Portland OR w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/14/2009 Grand Ballroom - San Francisco CA w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/15/2009 The Wiltern - Los Angeles CA w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/16/2009 House of Blues - San Diego CA w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/18/2009 House of Blues - Anaheim CA w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/19/2009 House of Blues - Las Vegas CA w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/21/2009 In The Venue - Salt Lake City UT w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/22/2009 Gothic Theatre - Denver CO w/Down, Melvins, Danava

8/24/2009 Black Sheep - Colorado Springs, CO
8/28/2009 Red 7 - Austin, TX w/Dixie Witch
8/29/2009 Rock Bottom Tattoo Bar - San Antonio, TX w/Dixie Witch
8/30/2009 Walters On Washington - Houston, TX w/Dixie Witch

9/01/2009 CW Center Stage - Atlanta GA w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/02/2009 House of Blues - Lake Bueno Vista FL w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/03/2009 Brass Mug -Tampa, FL
9/06/2009 Volume 11 Tavern - Raleigh, NC
9/07/2009 The Half Shell - Virginia Beach, VA

9/08/2009 Sonar - Baltimore MD w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/09/2009 Northern Lights - Clifton Park NY w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/11/2009 Nokia Theatre Times Square - New York NY w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/12/2009 Electric Factory - Philadelphia PA w/Down, Evil Army

9/13/2009 House of Blues - Boston MA w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/14/2009 AS220 - Providence, RI

9/15/2009 Webster Theater - Hartford CT w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/16/2009 Main Street Armory - Rochester NY w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/18/2009 Koolhaus - Toronto ON w/Down, Voivod, Evil Army

9/19/2009 Emerald Theatre - Detroit MI w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/21/2009 The Vogue Theatre - Indianapolis IN w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/22/2009 House of Blues - Cleveland OH w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/24/2009 Sokol Auditorium - Omaha NE w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army

9/25/2009 Pop's - Sauget IL w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army
9/26/2009 The Pearl Room - Mokena IL w/Down, Melvins, Evil Army
9/28/2009 Jackpot - Lawrence, KS
9/29/2009 The Gypsy - Fayetteville, AR
10/02/2009 The Jinx - Savannah, GA
10/03/2009 Soapbox - Wilmington, NC w/ASG

http://www.myspace.com/weedeater
http://www.southernlord.com
http://blog.southernlord.com
http://www.myspace.com/southernlordrecordings
http://www.tonedeaftouring.com

PAUL GILBERT Hits The Charts With New Release UNITED STATES

UNITED STATES is the first collaboration of Paul Gilbert and Freddie Nelson. The album features 10 new songs which they wrote, performed, and produced together in the summer of 2008. As the new album gets rave reviews UNITED STATES takes a hold of the airwaves this week nation-wide!



Week 1 on the radio and Gilberts ad’s and spins are coming in strong:



CMJ Loud Rock
18 total adds

FMQB Metal Detector
#7 Most Added w/26 adds
Debut #67 on the charts w/30 spins!



Commercial Specialty
KFLY Eugene, OR
KFTE Lafayette, LA
KMKF Manhattan, KS
KZZE Medford, OR
Rebel Radio Northbrook, IL
WBYR Ft. Wayne, IN
WCHZ Augusta, GA
WEDG Buffalo, NY
WHEB Portsmouth, NH
WKGB Binghamton, NY
WKLL/WKRL Waterville, NY
WOBX Nags Head, NC
WPUP Bethlehem, GA
WVBR Interlaken, NY

College / Community
KNON Dallas, TX
KSJS San Jose, CA
KZSC Santa Cruz, CA
WBGU Bowling Green, OH
WEOS Waterloo, NY
WMPG Portland, ME
WNHU West Haven, CT
WXOU Rochester Hills, MI



Paul Gilbert began his career with the legendary shred-metal band RACER X in 1986. Since then, his guitar playing has brought him number one hits with the band MR. BIG, and a devoted following of guitar and music lovers all over the world. Gilbert's recent foray into instrumental guitar music brought him even more attention, and has resulted in extensive touring with Joe Satriani's "G3" tour in North America and over 100 shows as a headliner in Europe, Japan, and South America.

UNITED STATES is one Paul Gilbert album you must add to your collection.





Tracklisting:



1.The Last Rock’n Roll Star

2. Hideway

3. Waste of Time

4. Bad Times Good

5. Paris Hilton Look-alike

6. The Answer

7. I’m Free

8. Pulsar

9. Girl from Omaha

10. I’m Not Addicted



For more information go to www.paulgilbert.com or www.mascotrecordsusa.com

Alkemyst - re-release of the band's debut opus

What do you get when you combine thrilling power metal with a genuine progressive approach? Alkemyst knows the answer. Their amazing LP “Meeting in the Mist” holds all the key elements that add up for a truly memorable album. This exclusive re-edition of Alkemyst’s debut opus brings back one of the most exciting releases ever to emerge on the French metal scene!

The band was originally formed in the eastern part of France in 1992 under the name Endless. The founding members were two guitarists – Séverin Bonneville and Arnaud Ménard. After completing the line-up with bassist Denis Mellion and drummer Arnaud Gorbaty, the group (now as Alkemyst) begun shaping their musical style and in 1998 they released their first demo, “From Depths to Light”. A second demo followed in 1999, bearing the title “A Path to Heaven”. Thanks to these two releases, Alkemyst caught the attention of numerous record labels, which finally lead to signing a contract with the famous Nuclear Blast Records. With a new signer on board – Ramon Messina – Alkemyst begun working on their debut offering… After some production hassles, the band finally managed to release “Meeting in the Mist” on June 30th, 2003. The album starts slowly with the symphonic, instrumental intro “Spells & Elixirs” and then immediately attacks the listener with the speedy and melodic track “Still Alive”. This song pretty much sums up the band’s musical style, offering a brilliant mixture of old-school power metal in the likes of Manowar, Blind Guradian or Helloween, and passages typical for the prog metal genre. Other highlights on the LP include “It’s Time”, “Hold On To Your Dreams”, “Passage” and “Empty Skies”. But perhaps the most memorable track on the entire album is “Nameless Son”, a 12-minute epic juggernaut which ends the LP. The album received critical acclaim all over the world and soon became one of the most respected releases on the French metal scene.

“Meeting in the Mist” – is still considered a masterpiece and brilliantly combines all the best elements of both power and prog metal genres. So feel free to take a walk inside the mist… who knows what secrets it holds?

Metal Mind Productions will re-release the album on 27th July in Europe and 8th September in USA (via MVD). New digipak edition includes 3 bonus tracks and is limited to 1000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on a golden disc.

Alkemyst
“Meeting In The Mist” (remastered + bonus tracks)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1294 DG
Barcode: 5907785035072
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 1000 numbered copies)
Genre: power/progressive metal
Release date: 27.07.2009 Europe / 08.09.2009 USA

Tracklist:

1. Spells & Elixirs
2. Still Alive
3. It's Time
4. Up to Heaven's Gate
5. Hold on to your Dreams
6. A Meeting in the Mist
7. Passage
8. Empty Skies
9. Nameless Son :
Chapter I: - The Awakening
10. Chapter II: - The Falling Star
Chapter III: - Visions and doubt

Bonus tracks:
11. A Meeting in the Mist (Radio Edit)
12. A Meeting in the Mist - Live 2004
13. Empty Skies - Live 2004

I'm Better Than Everyone To Release CHRISTMAS Album

Although their name would invoke yuletide tidings and blissful chanting, U.S. CHRISTMAS creates music which is anything but. Spanning the dark, decrepit and painful side of disharmonic psychedelia, this North Carolina outfit has successfully distilled the essence of cacophony through countless layers of sound and crushing waves of volume that are an orchestrated assault on the senses. None other than Neurosis' Scott Kelly took notice of U.S. CHRISTMAS through his Combat Music Radio show, playing their material regularly on the show which ultimately led to a release on their esteemed Neurot Recordings imprint.

I'm Better Than Everyone Records will be releasing a live full-length LP. One side will consist of a live acoustic set recorded the day before Atlanta's 2009 Scion festival, while the remaining wax will contain one new and unreleased live track alongside a live non-acoustic version of their song "Say Sister."

Release date slated for sometime this August. Stay tuned for details.

http://www.myspace.com/uschristmas
http://www.myspace.com/imbetterthaneveryonerec

Medievil "Atruta" - licensed release by Crash Music/EMI

This June the American label Crash Music Inc. (Malevolent Creation, Vader, Disgorge, Holy Moses, Flotsam & Jetsam, etc) has released the "Atruta" album of Belarusian black art formation Medievil under Griffin Music license for the USA market. The CD also includes 2 professional videos for the songs "Blood Comes Black" and "In Gloom and Spikes".

World-wide known company EMI is handling the exclusive distribution of the album.

"Atruta"("Poison" in Belarusian) is a conceptual, full-length album of Medievil. Heavy and hypnotically black, it depicts the atmosphere of cold Belarusian autumn, soaked with swampland' feeling of stagnation, decay and radioactive industrial disintegration. The theme of poison is binding all the tracks on this album. Spreading around as bile, “Atruta” is meant to be an embodiment of evolutionary black art.

www.medievil.net

www.griffinmusic.org

www.crashmusicinc.com

CANADA’S AUGURY COMMENT ON UPCOMING TOUR WITH VADER

Creators of an extreme metal that includes death, black, and progressive tinges, Montreal's juggernauts AUGURY will release their album, Fragmentary Evidence, on August 11th in North America. The band will launch their maiden tour of the U.S. in support of God Dethroned on September 30th and will return to the States again with label mates VADER in November’s “Decibel Presents: Monsters Of Death Tour.”



Dominic Forest, AUGURY bassist, checks in from Montreal and shares the following about the upcoming VADER trek:



"We are really proud and thrilled to tour with a cult band such as VADER and are really eager to join our friends Decrepit Birth on the road. We will do video blogs while touring, so keep in touch with us on our MySpace page!!!”



“Faith Puppeteers,” a track off AUGURY’s forthcoming album, is available for streaming on the band’s MySpace page.



Fragmentary Evidence was produced by Hugues Deslauriers (Clearwater Deathblow), Yannick St-Amand (Despised Icon), and AUGURY. Mixing duties were handled by KATAKLYSM guitarist Jean-François Dagenais (Malevolent Creation, Misery Index, Despised Icon). James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Disincarnate) provided the mastering. Album artwork is courtesy of Sven de Caluwé (Aborted).

Confirmed dates for AUGURY’s tour with VADER, Decrepit Birth, Warbringer, The Amenta, and S.W.W.A.A.T.S. are as follows:



11/04/09 Sonar – Baltimore, MD

11/05/09 The Palladium – Worcester, MA

11/06/09 Webster Underground – Hartford, CT

11/07/09 The Blender Theater @ Gramercy – New York, NY

11/08/09 Fou Founes Electriques – Montreal, QC – CANADA

11/09/09 Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC – CANADA

11/10/09 Mod Club – Toronto, ON – CANADA

11/11/09 Penny Arcade – Rochester, NY

11/12/09 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH

11/13/09 The Pearl Room – Mokena, IL

11/14/09 Rave – Milwaukee, WI

11/15/09 Station 4 – St. Paul, MN

11/16/09 Royal Albert Arms – Winnipeg, MB – CANADA

11/17/09 The Exchange – Regina, SK – CANADA

11/18/09 The Underground – Calgary, AB – CANADA

11/19/09 Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB – CANADA

11/20/09 Roll-A-Dome – Prince George, BC – CANADA

11/21/09 Bourbon – Vancouver, BC – CANADA

11/22/09 Sugar – Victoria, BC – CANADA

11/23/09 El Corazon – Seattle, WA

11/24/09 Satyricon – Portland, OR

11/25/09 Regency Grand Ballroom – San Francisco, CA

11/27/09 Jumping Turtle – San Marcos, CA

11/28/09 Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA

11/29/09 The Key Club – Hollywood, CA

11/30/09 U.B’s – Mesa, AZ

12/01/09 The Rock – Tucson, AZ

12/02/09 Gator’s – Farmington, NM

12/03/09 Club Vegas – Salt Lake City, UT

12/04/09 Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO

12/05/09 Marquee – Tulsa, OK

12/06/09 Scout Bar – San Antonio, TX

12/07/09 Scout Bar – Houston, TX

12/09/09 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA

12/10/09 Peppermint Beach Club – Virginia Beach, VA

12/11/09 Volume 11 – Raleigh, NC

12/12/09 Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA

12/13/09 The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA



Pre-sale tickets for the Monsters Of Death Tour are available online at www.EnterTheVault.com through July 17th. On July 18th, tickets go on sale through all normal ticketing outlets.

Visit AUGURY online at: www.AUGURYMETAL.com & www.myspace.com/augury

GOATWHORE Hits Billboard Top 200 Chart

Los Angeles, CA – July 2, 2009 – New Orleans, LA's sons of American no-frills black metal meets death and roll, GOATWHORE, have just broke the Billboard Top 200 chart with their latest release Carving Out the Eyes of God, coming in at #190! In addition to hitting the Top 200 Chart, Carving Out the Eyes of God also debuted on the Billboard Hard Music chart at #33, the Billboard Top New Artist (Heatseekers) Albums chart at #16, and the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart at #34. GOATWHORE also carved out a spot for themselves on Canada's charts coming in at #48 on Independent chart and #79 on Hard chart.

BILLBOARD TOP 200 Debut @ #190
Billboard Hard Music Debut @ #33
Billboard Top New Artist (Heatseekers) Albums Debut @ #16
Billboard Top Independent Albums Debut @ #34

About the band:
Emerging from the swamplands of New Orleans, Louisiana a city rich with urban legends of voodoo curses, ghosts and murder — Goatwhore was formed in 1997 by guitarist Sammy Duet (Acid Bath, Crowbar, Ritual Killer etc.). Their history is a winding one marked by lineup shifts, temporary paralysis, haunted studios, and the survival of one of the five most destructive hurricanes in US history. Influenced by the raw savagery of bands like Venom and Celtic Frost, their unrefined, fuck-all approach to black metal first revealed on the Serenades To The Tides Of Blood demo and expanded upon on the now legendary Eclipse Of Ages Into Black debut nearly a decade ago earned the band instant underground credibility.

Fresh off a successful US tour as direct support to pagan-loving label-mates Amon Amarth, Goatwhore has now teamed up with Abigail Williams for the Conquer & Curse Tour 2009, which will cover over 60 dates throughout North America. Joining the tour will be Daath, Abysmal Dawn and Success Will Write Apocalypse Across The Sky. From there, the band will embark on another US jaunt with Obituary through the fall.

In an over saturated metal landscape where sub-genres spawn sub-sub-genres and the very definition of “metal” seems blurred by cross-pollinating madness, sacred are the bands who stay true to their roots. Goatwhore spew the sort of sinister, fist-clenching, speaker-searing sound that made metal so forbiddingly enticing in the first place. The year of the ‘Whore is truly upon us! Carving out the Eyes of God was released June 23rd, 2009.

GOATWHORE is:
Ben Falgoust - vocals
Sammy Duet - guitar
Nathan Bergeron - bass
Zack Simmons – drums

http://www.myspace.com/goatwhore
http://www.goatwhore.net/

SKYFIRE Announce Release Dates and Comment On New Album

After 5 years of computer failure, illness, lineup-changes and countless other obstacles, Swedish progressive death metallers SKYFIRE will triumphantly return to unleash their long awaited 4th album "Esoteric" this September 8th in North America, 14th in the UK and 18th in Europe via Pivotal Rockordings. Bassist Martin Hanner comments on the band's new album which features 10 epic new songs, some of which utilizing up to 70 individual tracks each:

"For this album, we were heavily inspired by bands like SYMPHONY X and BAL-SAGOTH; bands that write epic and catchy songs at the same time. We really thought long and hard about how we can make this new record as epic as possible without it coming off as cheesy and we then carefully began writing the subtle choir and orchestra parts to accompany the already bombastic music. This took quite some time, but we are pleased with the final result. The writing and overall planning for this CD took years and we literally weren't finished writing until right after all the recording was done.

When the album was finished, we had a long discussion with our label regarding what to do about bonus tracks. Both parties agreed that the songs we wrote for this album are too special to be broken up for different territories. So instead we decided to include the old 'Within Reach' demos as bonus tracks. These are literally the first legitimate SKYFIRE recordings ever, and as you'll soon see, the first and only time you'll hear SKYFIRE with a clean singer. Even though the songwriting and especially the lyrics are immature, we think these songs will be cool for a lot of fans who might have wondered what we sounded like all those years ago. These tracks were NEVER made available to the public until now."

Hanner also reveals the concept behind the stunning artwork for “Esoteric,” which was designed by by Pär Olofsson (THE FACELESS, PSYCROPTIC, SPAWN OF POSSESSION) with layout handled by CULT OF LUNA’s Erik Olofsson:

"The cover is basically a guy who is being initiated by a cult. You can choose to interpret the guy in pain as he is being burned alive by the cultists just so he can join, or you can interpret the guy as having achieved the power he sought, and he is screaming out of bliss and not pain. It relates to the title because a lot of us would think that what he is doing is kind of ridiculous- why would anyone want to join a cult? But people do strange things and they have their own subjective, esoteric sense of understanding that to the rest of us, is strange or crazy. I think we ALL in some shape or form have esoteric practices that a lot of other people don't 'get,' whether it's believing in something or even listening to metal music."


”Esoteric” tracklisting:

Deathlike Overture (Intro)
Esoteric
Rise and Decay
Let the Old World Burn
Darkness Descending
Seclusion
Misery's Supremacy
Under a Pitch Black Sky
Linger In Doubt
The Legacy of the Defeated
Within Reach (Bonus)


Skyfire Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/skyfiremusic

Hanker - Extract of Castaway in MP3

An extract of Castaway from the upcoming album Conspiracy Of Mass Extinction is now available on the Hanker Web site.

http://www.hankermetal.com/medias/cme/castaway.mp3
http://www.hankermetal.com/med-cme.htm

MANOWAR - The response to "Father"

The response to "Father" has been phenomenal! The first song released on MANOWAR's new EP "Thunder in the Sky" was recorded in 16 languages and included as a Bonus CD. As soon as the fans heard their respective languages, the mail started pouring in!

"Hi, my name is Ayten Karasakal from TURKEY. I am 15 years old. I love your BABA/FATHER song. I love MANOWAR so much. You are the greatest. You'll always carry heavy metal's flag. We want to see you in Turkey! Please, please, please, please, please come to Turkey. Thanks for your Turkish song."

"There is no such words, that can express my feelings when I listen to this song in my national language. It was a great idea to record it in so many languages. I think that you gave a feeling of being special to all fans, if not, you gave it to me. Congratulations to Eric for singing in Polish, because it's quite difficult for foreigners to even speak in it. You did very well, Eric! My woman said that she would like to sing this song to her parents on the day of our wedding. I'm sure I'll do it with her cause I sing in band and it would be great to sing it in two voices! hehe... Manowar song on my wedding party. Just thinking about it is making me crazy! HAIL TO YOU ALL!!!" Merin

"I want to thank you for amazing show you did Finland at Provinssi rock. I watched a documentation about the song Father on Finnish fan page of Manowar and you talked about the song and how it touches many with its message. The lyrics truly are touching and compelling, I don't know whether you write your songs from your own experiences or not, but the song is really profound. To me this song is important because I'm not that close to my father and the lyrics don't really reflect the relationship between me and my father, but Eric's voice and the sound of this track makes me feel content that I even have a father. I want to say you that your songs touch me deeply and help me carry on."

"Hail from Romania! My name is Mihai Popescu , I am 16 years old. You are the truly kings of metal. This song, Father [TATA], WOW it's... like I don't know how to say, but my grandfather has listened to it and he loves this song, and he doesn't listen to metal. He lost his father in WW2. Anyway... you are the first band doing this...and this is absolutely awsome."

"Father" is available at all festivals on the "Death to Infidels Tour 2009" recorded in German, Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Norwegian, Spanish, French, Greek, Turkish, Polish, Japanese, Croatian, Portuguese and Finnish. Along with "Thunder in the Sky" the new EP. It is also available for sale online in high-quality, DMR-free, MP3 format only at The Kingdom Of Steel Online Store. The downloadable version of the EP contains the exact same content as the version on sale during the tour: Thunder In The Sky, God Or Man, Let The Gods Decide, Father, Die With Honor, The Crown And The Ring (2008) and 16 versions of "Father."

Mercyful Fate to release new versions of 2 classic songs

Mercyful Fate to release new versions of “Evil” and “Curse Of The Pharaohs” on iTunes!

As many of you already know, Mercyful Fate's Evil is featured as a playable track on Guitar Hero: Metallica. Mercyful Fate re-recorded these two tracks specifically for the game because the original masters no longer exist. Now, the band is making both available to fans to purchase on iTunes! These versions were recorded at Earplug Studio in Copenhagen and Nomad Recording Studio in Dallas, Texas. They were both mastered by Andy LaRocque at his Sonic Train Studio in Sweden.

King Diamond comments: “It was a lot of fun to get a chance to re-record "Evil" and "Curse of the Pharaohs" from our 1983 "Melissa" album. It was cool to go into the studio and try to figure out all the various harmony vocals and see if I could still do them. The other guys had a lot of fun with this project too, and the whole thing turned out much better than we could have hoped for. Everyone nailed their performances and Hank's solos were even slightly improved. Everything is right where it should be and with a much better sound! The “feel” was there and all of the guys - Hank, Denner, Timi and Bjarne are all naturals. The versions that will be up on iTunes were mastered by Andy LaRocque and even with a 2009 sound, there's no doubt that these songs were recorded by Mercyful Fate!”

If you have yet to check out Guitar Hero: Metallica - make sure you do! King Diamond himself is a playable character in the game once you unlock the Evil track! Plus, a video of King Diamond's on-stage performance with Metallica at Ozzfest 2008 in Dallas is included as a bonus feature in the game.

Evil and Curse Of The Pharaohs will be available for fans to purchase digitally on July 14th. A special edition picture disc vinyl single will be available on September 1st!

http://www.myspace.com/kingdiamond
http://www.covenworldwide.org

HANK WILLIAMS III’S BAND “ASSJACK” TO RELEASE SELF-TITLED

ASSJACK--the death-metal metal band founded and fronted by HANK WILLIAMS III--will release their first album of fully authorized music August 4 via Curb Records. Featuring tracks like “Redneck Ride,” “Wasting Away” and “No Regrets,” the self-titled album personifies the split in the psyche of the singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer who last year released the psych-country album Damn Right, Rebel Proud. While they’re two vastly different sonic experiences, both projects reflect the diverse musical interests of the self-professed “crazy fuck from Tennessee.” “Nowadays, there’s a whole group of people that love Waylon and David Allen Coe and love Pantera and Slayer-- there’s a whole breed of them out there,” says Hank III.

Hank III performed, wrote and produced everything you hear on ASSJACK. “Playing all the instruments and being involved with it that way helps keep me on my toes,” he says from his Nashville home. “One day it would be nice to have the band here in town where we can just jam, but most of my guys aren’t around, so I have to work harder.” He has also played drums for Arson Anthem and bass in Superjoint Ritual (featuring former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo).

TESTAMENT EMBARKS ON EUROPEAN TOUR

Hot on the heels of their blistering US headlining tour Damnation Vacation with Unearth and Lazarus AD; thrash gods TESTAMENT now hit Europe hard on a huge summer run throughout Europe, where they’ll be playing the Metalcamp, Wacken Open Air, and the Brutal Assault festivals. The tour kicks off in Holland on July 2 and concludes August 8 in Belgium. The band has been touring non-stop in support of their award-winning album, Golden God Album of the Year award, The Formation of Damnation, including this year’s “Priest Feast” tour in Europe with Judas Priest earlier this year and a phenomenal run on the “Metal Masters” tour last summer with Heaven and Hell and Motorhead.

Upon their return in August, the band will be making a stop in NYC for a special taping of SIRIUS XM’s Artist Confidential series. Artist Confidential features the most important and timeless artists in music sitting down for candid interviews, intimate conversations with fans and live performances. Artists who have appeared in the SIRIUS XM series include Paul McCartney, Santana, Coldplay, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, Gloria Estefan, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Def Leppard, Rush, Smashing Pumpkins, Pink, James Taylor, Sting, Bob Weir and over 100 others. The show is scheduled to air later this year on SIRIUS XM’s Liquid Metal, SIRIUS channel 27 and XM channel 42.

Stay tuned for more from Testament!


EUROPEAN DATES:

7/02 – ZWOLLE, HOLLAND - HEDON

7/03 - ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – SOUNDDOCK 14

7/04 – TOLMIN, SLOVENIA – METALCAMP FESTIVAL

7/05 – ROME, ITALY- IPPODROME – co-headline with Kreator & Exodus

7/06 – RIMINI, ITALY - VELVET – co-headline with Kreator & Exodus

7/09 – KILAFORS, SWEDEN- ROCKWEEKEND FESTIVAL (Second Stage)

7/10 – KVINESDALE, NORWAY- ROCK FESTIVAL

7/12 – KRACKOW, POLAND- KNOCKOUT FESTIVAL (Wisla Hall)

7/17 – TOKAJ, HUNGARY – HEGYALJA FESTIVAL

7/20 – SHEFFIELD, UK – THE CORPORATION

7/21 – GLASGOW, UK – THE GARAGE

7/22 – NEWCASTLE, UK- O2 ACADEMY

7/23 – BRISTOL, UK – O2 ACADEMY
7/24 – LONDON, UK – O2 EMPIRE SHEPHERDS BUSH

7/25 – WOLVERHAMPTON UK - WULFRUN HALL

7/27 – ATHENS, GREECE - OLYMPIC FENCING ARENA

7/29 – ISTANBUL, TURKEY- KUCUKCIFTLIK PARK

8/01 – WACKEN, GERMANY – WACKEN OPEN AIR FESTIVAL

8/02 – HELSINKI, FINLAND - ANKKA ROCK FESTIVAL

8/07 – JAROMER, CZECH REPUBLIC - BRUTAL ASSAULT

8/08 – DEINZE, BELGIUM – ALCATRAZ FESTIVAL



CENTRAL/ SOUTH AMERICA:

9/04 - SANTIAGO, CHILE – TEATRO CAUPOLICAN

9/05 – BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA – TEATRO FLORES

9/06 - SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – CITIBANK HALL

9/07 - RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - CIRCO VOADOR

9/09 – CURITIBA, BRAZIL – OPERA 1

9/12 – MONTERREY, MEXICO – MONTERREY ARENA

9/13 – MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – CUERVO SALON



JAPANESE DATES:

9/17 - OSAKA – BIG CAT - w/ Kreator
9/19 – KAWASAKI - CLUB CITTA - w/ Exodus, Kreator, Heathen

9/20 – KAWASAKI - CLUB CITTA - w/ Exodus, Kreator, Heathen

9/21 – NAGOYA - ELL

www.myspace.com/testamentlegions
www.testamentlegions.com

VADER'S PETER W: "WAR SHOWS WHAT IS THE WORST AND THE BEST"

An avid World War II enthusiast, VADER guitarist/vocalist Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek shares his thoughts on “The War” by Kevin Burns http://www.pbs.org/thewar/ and war memorials:

“I heard about this documentary and definitely will possess it soon. I like to watch war movies BUT this is way more interesting… to know more about the real war and the men of war. It is so popular today to judge soldiers and whichever side they represent, but unless we see the death of our comrades or fight the enemy in close combat, we can say nothing about war and we should NEVER judge the soldiers. War shows what is the worst and the best in us, indeed. I’ve seen many graves and have visited many war memorials in Europe; just two World Wars left enough of them around. I'm sure there are graves in the U.S., too, 'cause you have a short but bloody enough history. I’ve visited the [U.S. Army Ordnance] http://www.ordmusfound.org/ Aberdeen Proving Ground Museum [one of the world's best tank museums, located in Maryland] twice and General Patton Memorial http://www.generalpattonmuseum.com/ in California. I wished we had enough time to see everything more than just venues in the cities we play in.”



VADER fans can see photos of Peter W. dressed in his WWII re-enactment regalia here. http://www.myspace.com/pzgeneral Information on the North American WWII Historical Re-Enactment Society, Inc. can be viewed here. http://worldwartwohrs.org/



Poland’s VADER will be headlining the North American “Decibel Presents: Monsters Of Death Tour” with Decrepit Birth, Warbringer, The Amenta, S.W.W.A.A.T.S., and Augury beginning November 4th in Baltimore, Maryland. Pre-sale tickets are available online at www.EnterTheVault.com through July 17th. On July 18th, tickets go on sale through all normal ticketing outlets.



Tour dates are available online at the following official VADER websites: www.VADER.pl and www.myspace.com/VADER.



VADER’s new album, Necropolis, will be released in the U.S. & Canada on September 22nd as an 11-track jewel case and as a limited edition digi-pak with two bonus tracks + a bonus DVD. Recorded at Hertz Studios in Bialystok, Poland with the Wieslawski Bros., Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Mnemic, Aborted) mixed the album at Antfarm Studios in Denmark. Cover artwork is by Jacek Wisniewski.

SKELETONWITCH support Children Of Bodom in Canada

SKELETONWITCH from Athens Ohio, signed to Prosthetic Records in 2007 at which time they re-released the bands first EP 'Worship The Witch'. In 2007 SKELETONWITCH also released their first full length called 'Beyond The Permafrost' to critical acclaim!

2009 embarks the follow up album to Beyond The Permafrost called BREATHING THE FIRE, out October 13/09 in North America. Breathing The Fire is being
recorded in Litho Studios Seattle (owned by Stone Gossard) and Jack Endino is recording and producing the new full length.

SKELETONWITCH will be on tour this fall with Children Of Bodom & Black Dahlia Murder. Tour dates below:

Sep. 22/09 Quebec City, QC @ Capitol Theater
Sep. 23/09 Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
Sep. 25/09 Kitchener, ON @ Elements
Sep. 26/09 Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
Sep. 30/09 Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick
Oct. 01/09 Saskatoon, SK @ The Odeon
Oct. 02/09 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall
Oct. 03/09 Edmonton, AB @ EEC
Oct. 05/09 Vancouver, BC @ The Commodore

Guitarist's Scott and Nate had commented this past weekend, Scott Hendrick starts "We've heard nothing but good things about Children of Bodom's live set and their taste for beer! I'm especially looking forward to the Canadian dates. We'll be hitting a lot of places that we haven't been able to get to yet." Nate Garnette continues "We've known Black Dahlia for a while and always have a killer time with them. Maybe we can convince Trevor to grow his hair out and get fat again!"

SKELETONWITCH ARE:

Chance Garnette - Vocals
Nate "N8 Feet Under" Garnette - Guitars
Scott "Scunty D." Hedrick - Guitars
Evan "Loosh" Linger - Bass
Derrick "Mullet Chad" Nau - Drums

http://www.myspace.com/skeletonwitch
http://www.myspace.com/skeletonwitch

Metal Blade Records signs We Are The End

Los Angeles, California's We Are The End has inked a deal with Metal Blade Records! A relatively new addition to the SoCal scene, the band came together in June of 2008 with the timely meeting of Brandyn Love and Shaun-Matthew Paramore, and the eventual addition of vocalist, Spencer Aragon, guitarist Mychal Wright, and drummer David Crough. The band has been locked away in their practice space since April writing their debut full length, which will see an early 2010 release.

We Are The End comments: "We are proud to join and contribute to the industry standard for extreme music that is Metal Blade Records. Their reputation for developing and caring for their artists has preceded them. After some time of searching we have finally found our home."

"We Are The End are the ultimate extreme in Metal! Young, aggressive and uncompromising. Over 1.3 MILLION people have already experienced their audio assault on myspace. Metal Blade Records is pleased to have this band on our label and expect to see their new album in early 2010." Metal Blade

We Are The End is:
Spencer Aragon - vocals
Brandyn Love - guitars
Mychal Wright - guitars
Shaun-Matthew Paramore - bass
David Joseph Crough - drums

The band will be recording their debut at Eck Studios, with producer Christopher Eck. The band is currently booking tours for later this year. Updates coming soon!

http://www.myspace.com/wearetheendx
http://www.wearetheendmerch.bigcartel.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/wearetheendTV

CAGE Southwest U.S. tour dates announced

CAGE has lined up the following Southwest U.S, tour dates during July and August, 2009:

July 3 - Nicholby's - Ventura, California (California Music Fest showcase)

Bands: CAGE, H8X9 and other bands

July 17 - The Aruba Hotel - Las Vegas, Nevada

Bands: CAGE, SEVENTH CALLING , H8X9, SIC

July 18 - Club Red - Tempe, Arizona (Destruction in the Desert Metal Fest)

Bands: DC-4, WARRIOR, CAGE, RAZER and other bands

CAGE Management Team

BASTARD CHILD DEATH CULT Debut "YEAR ZERO"

BASTARD CHILD DEATH CULT the Toronto-based hardcore punk, rock n’ roll killing machine, have made their Jon Drew (Fucked Up / Tokyo Police Club) produced debut album “YEAR ZERO” available for FREE download at the following link: http://www.stereodynamite.com/BCxDC_Year_Zero.zip

“YEAR ZERO” features a guest appearance by former CURSED vocalist Chris Colohan (currently of Burning Love) screaming bloody murder on several of the album’s tracks.

“We wanted to make a record that had the vibe and intensity of 1982 BLACK FLAG live recordings, and I think we got pretty damned close.” Comments BCxDC vocalist Adam (DOOM) Sewell. “Year Zero has this dirty, timeless, Entombed / Misfits / Disfear / Black Flag – thing happening. It’s a raging 24 minutes of wall of distortion punk rock with zero bad emo / screamo / Bon Jovi pop-punk aftertaste.”

Sewell’s Stereo Dynamite Recordings will release a CD version of the album in Canada via EMI, and internationally via Interpunk.com on August 11th.

Together for roughly one year, BCxDC features x-members of Toronto bands CANCER BATS, MONSTER VOODOO MACHINE and DAMN 13. The band describe themselves as “a secret society in the underbelly of the Toronto music scene. A collective of noise merchants who will stop at nothing to preserve the city's legacy of “amps-on-11, adrenalin-overdrive, chaos-at-all-costs" hardcore-punk Rock N' Roll gospel.” Musically, the band come across as a hardcore-punk mix of old school (Black Flag, Void) and the new school (The Bronx, Victims).

BASTARD CHILD DEATH CULT is:

Adam (DOOM) Sewell – vocals
Joel Bath – drums
Dave Smedley - bass
Mike 13 – guitar
Junior – guitar
Darren Quinn - guitar

www.myspace.com/bastardchilddeathcult

Upcoming BCxDC shows:
Sat. June 27 – Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah
Sun. June 28 – St. Catharines, ON S.C.E.N.E. Festival (7:15 pm @ Mikado Café)
Sat. July 11 – Oshawa, ON @ Groove Lounge

TWISTED SISTER STORM NEW YORK FOR TWO IN-STORE APPEARANCES

Twisted Sister will make back-to-back in-store appearances in New York City and Long Island on Tuesday, June 30. Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza, and A.J. Pero will all be on hand to celebrate the release of the 25th Anniversary Edition of Stay Hungry, out June 30 on Rhino. Constantine Maroulis from the five-time Tony® nominated musical Rock Of Ages will be on hand at J&R Music World to present the band with RIAA certified Gold plaques for the single "We're Not Gonna Take It." The J&R Music World event takes place Tuesday, June 30 at 12:30 PM. Please call J&R Music World at (212) 238-9000 or visit http://www.jr.com/information/liveEvents.jsp for more information. The Looney Tunes Event takes place at 7:30 PM. Please call Looney Tunes at
(631) 587-7722 or visit http://www.looneytunescds.com/ for more information.

WHO: TWISTED SISTER & CONSTANTINE MAROULIS
WHAT: Signing the 25th Anniversary Edition of Stay Hungry
WHEN: TUESDAY, JUNE 30
12:30 PM ­ J & R MUSIC WORLD ­ LOWER MANHATTAN
23 Park Row
New York, NY 10038
7:30 PM ­ LOONEY TUNES ­ LONG ISLAND
31 Brookvale Ave
West Babylon, NY 11704

GWAR CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY AND ESCAPE FROM EARTH

Intergalactic shock rockers GWAR are back with a brand-new album, Lust In Space¸ just in time to celebrate their 25th Anniversary as a band. The Scumdogs of the Universe are particularly thrilled this time around as they have finally escaped the seething, filthy mudball that is Earth! GWAR will also be triumphantly returning to Metal Blade Records for the release of Lust In Space, due August 18.

GWAR's two-year long 25th Anniversary starts August 18th, when their new album, Lust In Space, mother fucking drops!

http://www.gwar.net

http://www.myspace.com/gwarofficial