British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST kicked off their "British Steel"
30th-anniversary tour last night (Monday, June 29) at the Murat Theatre in
Indianapolis, Indiana.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Rapid Fire
02. Metal Gods
03. Breaking The Law
04. Grinder
05. United
06. You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise
07. Living After Midnight
08. The Rage
09. Steeler
10. The Ripper
11. Prophecy
12. Rock Hard Ride Free
13. Victim Of Changes

Encore:

14. Freewheel Burning
15. Diamonds And Rust
16. You've Got Another Thing Comin'

In his review of the concert, David Lindquist of IndyStar.com writes, "Sporting
tattoos on each side of his head and a studded denim vest over a leather jacket,
[Rob] Halford pronounced the evening as the 'world premiere of 'British Steel'
live.' The show served as an amped-up dress rehearsal for PRIEST's summer tour,
which begins Wednesday in a Missouri basketball arena with WHITESNAKE on board
as the opening act.

"Monday's performance began at 7:50 p.m., and a relieved Halford said, 'We made
it,' when the nine songs of 'British Steel' concluded 40 minutes later.

"The novelty then shifted from one landmark album to one cozy venue. In the
context of the 2,400-capacity Murat, audience members saw old-school green
lasers bounce around the room, the evolution of Halford's costume changes and
occasional moments when bass player Ian Hill appeared to be winded."

John J. Moser of The Morning Call recently conducted an interview with AEROSMITH
guitarist Joe Perry. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Morning Call: I've been reading about all the delays in recording your next
album. What's the story behind that, and how much frustration does it present
for you?

Perry: "Only about a million percent. I had to have my knee replaced over a year
ago and I was just about healed up and it got infected and that happened around
Thanksgiving and into Christmas. I think it was right after Christmas I had to
have it operated on. That pushed everything back and we lost a lot of time
trying to work out our schedules. And then finally we got some time and we got
the ball rolling and we had the songs — we were getting ready to cut the songs
and Steven got this bronchitis that turned into pneumonia at the same time was
getting an ear infection and they had to pierce one of his eardrums and it was
just one of those things. I mean this really bad flu bug that's been going
around — not the swine one — but he got a really bad infection, just that
bronchitis and he couldn't sing. So that just was one of those things. It was
going to take four weeks for it to heal. And we just couldn't do it and still
make the tour. And at that
point the tour had been booked. We were hopeful we'd have the record out and
then tour behind it, but it just wasn't meant to be. But the good side of it for
me was I had time – all of a sudden I had this month and a half of time. I
have songs — whenever I write I just write a lot and I had a bunch of stuff
for a solo record that actually I wasn't planning on putting out for a while,
but I said, ‘Wow, I got all this time, I got these songs. So I called up some
friends and we started playing, and after about a month of around-the-clock
work, through the weekends, we got finished the record. So I have a solo record
coming out at the end of the summer."

The Morning Call: You think when this tour's done, you'll tour with that record?

Perry: "I'd like to, even if it's a short go-around to major markets at least
and do that. I was so close to doing it on the last project but we were … I
mean, I was getting offers from all over the world to play and it was the
hardest thing to turn down 'cause I had like a month and a half before I was
going to have to start touring with AEROSMITH, and I just didn't want to step
right off a Joe Perry tour right into an AEROSMITH tour. I would have been fried
at the beginning of a tour and that's a formula for a really big screw-up. So I
couldn't do any more live gigs, but I would really like to do it this time."

The Morning Call: The new album — do you have enough of the music done that
you know what it's going to sound like? Are you happy with what you've got?

Perry: "Yeah, we've got some great stuff that sounds like AEROSMITH — when the
band plays it, there's a lot of ripping stuff and there's some great ballads.
And I think the most important thing is that we were recording. And I think
that's what people miss the most now is hearing a record that actually has that
energy and that texture that early records had. I mean, obviously you can't go
back and remake 'Get Your Wings', that's just not possible. But you could take
some of that energy that we still have when we play live and the heart of
playing that on a tape or a computer or MP3 or whatever is still and art, and
that's not changed. And that's our goal — is to capture that energy if the
band playing live and get it on the recorded medium and then into people's
heads."

The Morning Call: Now you mentioned the health things that kept you from putting
out the album when you expected to, but it's really been — by the time this
album comes out – nine years since your last album full of new material. So
what happened in all those years before? Why did it take so long?

Perry: "Right, well, we had 'Just Push Play', and then at the point we were
doing 'Honking on Bobo', we had barely enough time to do make a record, but we
didn't have the material written at that point, and that would have added
another two months probably to the process if we really dug in. And we didn't
have time, so we did another record, which is something that we'd wanted to do
for a really long time, which was cover some of our favorite roots blues songs
— I mean, 'Roadrunner' and just 'Baby Please Don't Go', and just cut loose and
not have to worry about writing or singles or any of that stuff and just throw
that out the window and just play like we're getting ready for our first club
tour. And that's kind of how we approached the record. And we had time to do
that. So it's just been a series of timing things and getting the vibe right and
keeping our presence out there as a touring band, because we are a touring band
and we have to have that,
or else we're not a band."

Long-running U.K. rockers THE WILDHEARTS will support BUCKCHERRY on two German
dates in August:

Aug. 04 - Cologne, GER - Underground
Aug. 05 - Berlin, GER - Magnet

THE WILDHEARTS will release their ninth studio album, "Chutzpah!", on August 31
via Backstage Alliance (distributed through Cargo). A full U.K. tour will follow
in September and October.

Recorded in Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, THE BRONX, THE STORM),
"Chutzpah!" is described by lead singer Ginger as "unlike any [LP] that we've
made so far." Bassist Scott Sorry added, "This album is not only my favorite
WILDHEARTS record, but it's one of my favorite records to have ever been a part
of."

"Chutzpah!" track listing:

01. The Jackson Whites
02. Plastic Jebus
03. The Only One
04. John Of Violence
05. You Are Proof That Not All Women Are Insane
06. Tim Smith
07. Low Energy Vortex
08. You Took The Sunshine From New York
09. Mazel Tov Cocktail
10. Chutzpah

THE WILDHEARTS have been busy booking a U.K. headline tour which will include an
appearance at Sonisphere festival on August 1 as well as a headline show at
Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Commented Ginger: "It's always great to play to WILDHEARTS crowds; they really
are the best crowd in the world. We are a very lucky band in that respect, and
we never take it for granted. This time we'll be promoting the new album which
has Scott and CJ singing lead vocals too, so I'll be in heaven being able to
take a break from f***ing singing all the time. I can't wait to see people’s
reaction to the new material."

Hard rock veterans KROKUS will perform live on August 1 as part of the Swiss
Independence Day celebration, which will be broadcast live on Swiss TV from the
"Tell Open-Air Stage" in Interlaken. Entitled "Tell And Other Heroes", the
program will be televised all over Switzerland with simulcast translations in
French and Italian (for those of you that don't know this little trivia:
Switzerland is about a sixth of Colorado with four different major languages).
Excerpts of Schiller's stage play "Wilhelm Tell" will be shown as part of the
program and guests include people that in some way or another have contributed
to the theme of this TV broadcast as "heroes" in their field of expertise. Not
just performers and dancers, but also Swiss sports celebrities, popular
politicians and famous people that helped shape the cultural and economical
landscape of our country. A musical performance by KROKUS as one of the "heroes"
will be the highlight of the program.
According to the producers of the show, KROKUS led the way in becoming the most
successful Swiss rock act internationally in the early '80s and rock ambassadors
to put Switzerland on the rock 'n' roll map of the world. TV moderators Sven
Epiney and Marco Rima will also interview the band on the topic of the show
("heroism").

After a 25-year hiatus, the reunited "original" lineup of the Swiss hard rock
band KROKUS is totally committed to writing and producing an album that
seamlessly fits into the groove of their work of the early Eighties ("Metal
Rendez-Vous", "Hardware", "One Vice At A Time", "Headhunter"). They feel they
owe this to their faithful fan base. And good things do take time!

In order to get a break from songwriting and recording with a well-deserved
change of scenery, KROKUS will play one exclusive summer festival in 2009 on
August 5 in Zofingen, Switzerland.

KROKUS's new album will be released via the band's new deal with the Swiss
branch of Sony Music.

The group recently recorded the official song of the Ice Hockey World
Championship, which was held between April 24 and May 10, 2009 in Zurich and
Bern, Switzerland. Chris Von Rohr and lead guitarist Fernando Von Arb wrote the
track, entitled "Live For The Action", and performed it live — along with the
rest of the band — in Bern at the opening game of the Ice Hockey World
Championship between Switzerland and France. The event was held in a packed
stadium and broadcasted via TV to 800 million viewers in over 100 countries.

Partnered with Ariola and Arista, KROKUS became an international success and ran
up the charts with their hit albums "Metal Rendez-Vous" (1980), "Hardware"
(1981), "One Vice At A Time" (1982), "Headhunter" (1983), "The Blitz" (1984) and
"Change Of Address" (1986).

KROKUS played its only concert of 2008 on August 2 at the Stade De Suisse
stadium in Bern, Switzerland in front of 10,000 fans.

The classic KROKUS lineup reunited for an appearance on November 18, 2007 on a
TV show honoring the greatest Swiss songs of all time. The "Die grössten
Schweizer Hits" program featured KROKUS performing a medley of the tracks "Tokyo
Nights", "Bedside Radio" and "Heatstrokes".

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian has posted the latest installment of his regular
column on SuicideGirls.com called "Scott Ian's Food Coma" where he writes about
his food and travel experiences. An excerpt from the column follows below.

"I've been in Europe since May 31, all over the place. I spent the first two
weeks doing promotion for the new ANTHRAX record 'Worship Music' (coming in
October through Megaforce/RED/Sony... PLUG). Basically, traveling from city to
city doing interviews and photo shoots. 12 hours a day, sometimes 14-16 hour
days.

"Cry for me, Suicide Girls!

"London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo. It was a brutal
schedule but the reaction to the new songs has been amazing!!!! I have an iPod
with the new mixes on it and the writers get to hear them right before they sit
down to talk to me. This is the way it's done in the world of stealing music, my
friends. No more advance CDs.

"The instant reactions are great. It really makes me excited for all of you to
hear it!!! It really feels like the press/media is hearing the songs the same
way I hear them. They can hear all the energy and time and blood and sweat and
hard work that we put into this record. The two years we spent writing and then
the six months we spent recording were some of the toughest and best times I
have ever had in ANTHRAX and listening back to the finished songs now I can say
it was well worth it.

"This new record is the best representation of our career that I could ever
imagine and our new singer, Dan Nelson, sounds like he's been with us forever.
We're playing the fuck out of these songs and to quote my buddy Patton Oswalt,
'Playing them like we're going to jail tomorrow.'"

ALICE IN CHAINS are giving fans a sneak preview of their highly anticipated
upcoming album, "Black Gives Way To Blue" (Virgin/EMI) by posting a brand-new
song online. The seven-minute-long track, titled "A Looking In View", can be
heard on www.aliceinchains.com. A companion video for the song is forthcoming
and its trailer is available on the band's site. "A Looking In View" will appear
on "Black Gives Way To Blue", in stores September 29.

About "A Looking In View", ALICE IN CHAINS vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell
says, "The song basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up
inside. A cell of our own making with an unlocked door that we choose to remain
in. Focusing our attention inward instead of reaching out to a much larger
world. I think this is common to us all. It's funny how hard we fight to hang on
to a bone we can't pull through a hole in the fence, or how difficult it is to
put down the bag of bricks and move on."

On July 18, ALICE IN CHAINS will be sharing the stage with KID ROCK at Comerica
Park in Detroit, to be followed by festival shows with METALLICA overseas,
including an August 1 date at Marlay Park in Dublin and an August 2 show at the
Sonisphere festival at Knebworth. They'll wrap up the international trip with a
string of headlining dates, set to kick off August 4 with a sold-out performance
at London's Scala. On August 22, they'll join TOOL and LINKIN PARK for the
first-ever Epicenter show at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, to be followed
by a headlining tour set to kick off September 4 at the 9:30 Club in Washington,
DC. Tickets for the U.S. shows will be available Friday, July 10.

"Black Gives Way To Blue" is the band’s first new studio release in more than
10 years. The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney,
bassist Mike Inez and vocalist/guitarist William DuVall) recorded the album with
producer Nick Raskulinecz (RUSH, FOO FIGHTERS) at Studio 606 in Northridge,
California and Henson Studios in Hollywood.

Upcoming ALICE IN CHAINS shows:

July 18 - Detroit, MI - Comerica Park (with Kid Rock)
Aug. 01 - Dublin, IE - Marlay Park
Aug. 02 - Stevenage, GB -Knebworth House - Sonisphere
Aug. 04 - London, GB - Scala
Aug. 06 - Cologne, DE Essigfabrik
Aug. 08 - Berlin, DE - Columbia Club
Aug. 10 - Hamburg, DE - Grunspan
Aug. 12 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
Aug. 22 - Pomona, CA - Epicenter
Sep. 04 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Sep. 05 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
Sep. 07 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Sep. 08 - New York, NY - The Fillmore
Sep. 15 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
Sep. 16 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
Sep. 19 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
Sep. 20 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
Sep. 21 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
Sep. 26 - Portland, OR - Roseland Grill
Sep. 28 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

Following the success of the Emmy-nominated hit MTV show "Two-A-Days", executive
producer (and JACKYL singer) Jesse James Dupree of Mighty Loud Entertainment has
partnered with Arnold Rifkin of Cheyenne ("Die Hard", "Armageddon") and A. Smith
& Co ("Hell's Kitchen", "I Survived A Japanese Gameshow") and has just placed
his next show with the Tru television network. Based on the world's largest
biker bar in Sturgis, South Dakota, the show follows bar owner Mike Ballard
through the rally, and what it takes to run the Full Throttle Saloon. Ballard
manages over 300 employees (100 of which are quite voluptuous bartenders) —
all the while having only nine days to generate millions of dollars. Jesse
describes the show as "'The 'Deadliest Catch' meets 'Coyote Ugly' on steroids.
Everyone should show up to the Full Throttle Saloon this year and be a part of
our new show."

"Full Throttle Saloon" will air mid-summer.

In addition to executive-producing cable television shows, Jesse James Dupree
has produced three Pay-per-views and the "Dirt Poor Comedy" show. He also runs
Mighty Loud, which is a full-service entertainment company that produces
television shows, band management, and a record label distributed through
Universal/Fontana. Jesse is also the general manager of Kiefer Sutherland and
Jude Cole's label, Ironworks (BILLY BOY ON POISON, ROCCO DELUCA & THE BURDEN,
HONEYHONEY).

In 2008, Jesse James Beer was launched, which is currently available in Kansas,
Missouri, and South Dakota, while Jesse James Dupree released a solo album, "Rev
It Up And Go-Go", as JESSE JAMES DUPREE & DIXIE INC. In addition to all of the
above, Jesse James Dupree remains the frontman of the rock group JACKYL that
continues to perform more than 50 shows a year, headlining festivals across the
country.

JACKYL has sold more than three million albums and is planning on releasing a
new CD at the end of the summer.

San Diego metallers CAGE have scheduled the following dates:

July 03 - Nicholby's - Ventura, CA (California Music Fest showcase)
July 17 - The Aruba Hotel - Las Vegas, NV
July 18 - Club Red - Tempe, AZ (Destruction in the Desert Metal Fest)

CAGE's fifth album, "Science Of Annihilation", was released in Europe on May 22
through Music Buy Mail (June 7 in the rest of the world). The follow-up to the
epic "Hell Destroyer", "Science Of Annihilation" sees CAGE "pushing its
boundaries yet again in every department," according to a press release. "With
tracks like 'Planet Crusher', 'Speed Kills', and 'The Scarlet Witch', be
prepared to feel the need to turn it up, get in your car and drive fast as Hell!
All of the classic CAGE heavy metal sound is intact and found all throughout
this 12-track smasher! Like all previous CAGE offerings, these songs will stick
in your mind and cause many sleepless nights! If you love classic metal anthems,
vocals that soar to the heavens and shatter glass, riffs that crunch your spine,
and drums that blaze with thunder then behold…the science of annihilation!!"

Progressive metallers THRESHOLD, SERENITY and SPHERIC UNIVERSE EXPERIENCE will
team up for the first "Essence Of Progression" tour across Europe this autumn.

Austrian progressive metallers SERENITY will be THRESHOLD's special guests for
the trek. They are currently promoting their second album, "Fallen Sanctuary",
released in 2008 through Napalm Records. SERENITY opened for THRESHOLD during
their "Live Reckoning" tour in 2007 and recently supported KAMELOT on their
"Rule The World" trek.

French progressive metallers SPHERIC UNIVERSE EXPERIENCE will open the shows
(except London). The band released its third album, "Unreal", in 2009. They have
opened for acts such as SCORPIONS and ULI JON ROTH in France, and recently
performed at the ProgPower Scandinavia and ProgPower USA festivals.

Commented SPHERIC UNIVERSE EXPERIENCE: "We are greatly honoured, proud and
excited to play with such a great band we've been listening to for years."

The dates are as follows:

Oct. 29 - Essen, Germany - Zeche Carl
Oct. 30 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos Saal
Nov. 01 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
Nov. 02 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
Nov. 04 - Wroclaw, Poland - Firlej
Nov. 05 - Reichenbach, Germany - Bergkeller (date moved)
Nov. 06 - Verviers, Belgium - Spirit of 66
Nov. 07 - Zoetermeer, Netherlands - Boerderij

For more information, visit www.essenceofprogression.com.

Steven Kowalski of Swigged! recently conducted an interview with bassist Paul
Romanko of Massachusetts metallers SHADOWS FALL. A couple of excerpts from teh
chat follow below.

Swigged!: SHADOWS FALL is unique because you first started off by getting signed
to Century Media, an independent label, then you moved to the major label
Atlantic Records. Things have since come full-circle with the band releasing its
own music. How would you compare those three different points in the band's
career?

Romanko: When you're starting off, getting signed to an indie was a huge step.
At that point we were getting national recognize for something we loved. It was
sort of the same situation on the major. It was a different sort of challenge.
We did what we could with the indie thing, but we wanted to see where this could
go. Not necessarily by changing our sound or views. It simply gave us a bigger
force through which to push us. They both have their pros and their cons. The
thing that we've learned is that it's best to own your own music and try to
control as much of your career as you can. Since we've parted ways with
Atlantic, we've set a deal with Independent [Label] Group. It's kind of going
back where we came from, but taking the lessons we've learned along the way.

Swigged!: Whose decision was it to try the "on your own" route?

Romanko: It was a discussion between us, our management, and some other people
involved. The way things are going, with the whole industry being shaken up with
sales going down, there really are no secure places as far as labels go. We
worked out some deal with a distributor who wanted to work for us with a passion
and not use us for such a commodity.

Swigged!: Looking back, what would you consider the low point of the band?

Romanko: I think one of our low points was when we split with our drummer Dave.
After "Of One Blood" and "The Art of Balance", we went a whole year without a
drummer. Most of "The Art of Balance" was actually written with Brian [Fair,
vocals] playing drums at practice. It was a cool way for us to get in sync with
each other as songwriters and having Brian so involved. When Jason [Bittner]
joined, we had most of the album actually written. I would consider that our low
point because it was hard to stay creative and we weren't playing shows. It was
a very slow 9-10 months.

Swigged!: Is there anything you would change?

Romanko: Overall, we've been pretty fortunate. Perhaps if we listened to some
other people who came ahead of us or were doing things at the same time as us
and take some advice. We haven't gotten ourselves in a situation business-wise
where we've been completely screwed over for very long. We've made mistakes, but
they've been smaller.

Swigged!: Obviously being connected and having the band be involved online is
the way things are going in the music industry, what has band done to adapt?

Romanko: Right now we just finished recording a new album and we're going to try
and come up with some cool package ideas — make some download applications.
We're going to try and incorporate things like songs, videos, unreleased
material and things like that. Staying active and current — like with Facebook
and MySpace. That's become the new avenue of promotion.

Buffalo bruisers EVERY TIME I DIE have parted ways with drummer Mike Novak. He
says in a statement, "I have officially quit EVERY TIME I DIE due to personal
conflicts. I feel like I'm getting myself out of an uncomfortable, unhealthy
situation, and it's for the best for everyone, and im ready to move on with my
life. I still plan to play and be involved in music and am looking for a new
project to pursue. This is a new exciting chapter in my life and hope anyone who
has enjoyed me as a person/drummer in this band for the last 11 years sticks
with me for whatever endeavor the future brings me."

In other news, a new EVERY TIME I DIE song, "The Marvelous Slut", which features
a guest appearance by Greg Puciato of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, has been made
available for download at this location as part of Epitaph Records' Warped Tour
'09 sampler. The track comes off the band's fifth full-length album, "New Junk
Aesthetic", which is scheduled for release on September 15 via Epitaph. The CD
was recorded at an Anaheim, California studio with producer Steve Evetts (THE
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SEPULTURA, POISON THE WELL. Other ongtitles set to apear
on the album include "For The Record", "Roman Holiday", "Turtles All The Way
Down", "Host Syndrome" and "One Quarter Of A Revolution".

Vocalist Keith Buckley recently told U.K.'s Rock Sound magazine that he is
excited for fans to hear the new album. "I am really surprised at how it came
out," he said. "I did not know that we had it in us to be this fast and heavy
anymore. You listen to a lot of bands and you can pinpoint the exact time that
the dudes decided they were too old for it and started going through the
motions. We are not going through the motions on this record at all, it is a
legit punk record."

The Kerrang! podcast team conducted an interview with EVERY TIME I DIE on the
final day of the band's tour with GALLOWS. Watch the chat below.

EVERY TIME I DIE sold almost 14,000 copies of its last album, "The Big Dirty"
(Ferret Music), in the United States in its first week of release in September
2007 to debut at position No. 41 on The Billboard 200 chart.

ARCH ENEMY, VADER, HATESPHERE and SINISTER are among the confirmed bands for
Belgium's Mass Deathtruction festival, set to take place October 3 at Cinex in
Namur, and October 10 at Ferme du Biereau in Louvain-la-Neuve.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

Date: Saturday, October 3
Venue: Cinex
Address: Rue Saint Nicolas, 84 - 5000 Namur

Bands:

MARDUK (SWE)
VADER (POL)
ULTRA VOMIT (FR)
LENG TCH'E (BE)
NERVECELL (DUB)
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE (IT)
DAYS OF BETRAYAL (BE)
DARK SENSATION (BE)
LAMSTER (BE)
OIDEHEHE BAALTINNE (BE)
BLACK BLEEDING (BE)

Date: Saturday, October 10
Venue: Ferme du Biéreau
Address: Avenue du Jardin Botanique - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve

Bands:

ARCH ENEMY (SWE)
HATESPHERE (DK)
SINISTER (HOL)
BLOOD RED THRONE (NOR)
HATE (POL)
THIS ENDING (SWE)
HACRIDE (FR)
KRONOS (FR)
EMETH (BE)
MYSTICA (BE)
DAMARUS (BE)
CUTEEZLAXA (BE)
BURY THEM ALL (BE)

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/massdeathtructionfestival.

HOLY MOSES, DISBELIEF and MEGAHERZ are among the confirmed bands for the sixth
annual Metal For Mercy benefit concert, set to take place October 23-24, 2009 at
Werkstadt in Witten, Germany.

Proceeds from the event will go to "Initiative gegen Gewalt und sexuellen
Missbrauch an Kindern und Jugendlichen e.V.", which supports children that have
been physically and sexually abused.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

Friday, October 23:

MEGAHERZ (Headliner)
JESUS ON EXSTASY (Co-Headliner)
HEAVENFALL
EXPOSED TO NOISE
DEAD MAN STANDING
PERFECT SYMMETRY
FREAKWAVE
GRAVITY RAIL
SONOROUS DIN
THE FLAW
ILLECTRONIC ROCK
LAMINIUSX

Saturday, October 24:

HOLY MOSES (Headliner)
DISBELIEF (Co-Headliner)
SIEBEN SIEGEL
VE.GA
HATE DOT COM
FORCES AT WORK
EVERFLOW
AUTOMATIC SELFDESTRUCT
P.A.I.N. MANAGMENT
KADAVRIK
LAYMENT
CAUSE FOR CONFUSION

For more information, visit www.metalformercy.de.


Vinnie Paul (PANTERA), Joey Belladonna (ANTHRAX) and Evan Seinfeld (BIOHAZARD)
will perform with SIN CITY SINNERS in Las Vegas this weekend:

July 3 - Railhead @ Boulder Station (10:00 p.m.)
July 4 - Ovation @ Green Valley Ranch (11:00 p.m.)

SIN CITY SINNERS is best known for having a special celebrity guest jam with the
band each week.

SIN CITY SINNERS has been taking Las Vegas by storm in 2009. They were voted
"Best Local Band," second only to THE KILLERS in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's
"Best Of Vegas" readers' poll.

SIN CITY SINNERS consists of Brent Muscat (formerly of FASTER PUSSYCAT), Todd
Kerns (AGE OF ELECTRIC), Mike Szuter (PAUL GILBERT, BLUE MAN GROUP), and Rob
Cournoyer (RAGING SLAB).

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/scsinners.


Diminished Fifth Records has announced the signing of Nova Scotian thrashers
BLACK MOOR. The band's debut album, "The Conquering", is scheduled for release
on Tuesday, August 25.

The long-overdue CD almost didn't see the light of day after the band was in a
near-fatal automobile accident in June 2008. Now fully recovered, BLACK MOOR has
been continuing to impress audiences with its stunning live performances, which
most recently led the band to be crowned the winner of the Molson Canadian Rocks
Battle of the Bands in Nova Scotia and a finalist in the regional contest to
open for rock legends KISS.

"We're very excited to be working with Diminished Fifth for this release," said
bassist Rob Nickerson. "It's really a pleasure to work with a label that has the
same passion for heavy music that we do."

Josh Hogan, who runs the East Coast-based label, commented, "We welcome BLACK
MOOR with open arms to the Diminished Fifth Records family. Their live
performances are nothing short of amazing and they are one of the few 'buzz
bands' that actually deserve the hype."

Formed in 2005, BLACK MOOR is quickly becoming one of the fastest up-and-coming
names in the Canadian underground metal scene, having shared the stage with such
titans as ANTHRAX frontman Joey Belladonna, MARTYR, TOXIC HOLOCAUST, RAMMER,
GOAT HORN, CAULDRON and PRIESTESS. Drawing inspiration from the New Wave of
British Heavy Metal, 80’s thrash and some progressive rock, BLACK MOOR plays
melody driven metal with a combination of wailing twin lead guitars and neck
snapping riffage.

"The Conquering" track listing:

01. Beyond Hell
02. The Conquering
03. Warshark
04. The Human Disease
05. Death to the False Emperor
06. Fiend
07. The Blood Moor
08. Red Blood, Cold Steel
09. Acid Biker
10. Breath of the Dying

BLACK MOOR is:

Eric Hanlin - Guitar, Lead Vocals
Nick Jones - Lead Guitar
Sylvain Coderre - Drums
Rob Nickerson - Bass

For more information, visit www.black-moor.com.


Finnish melodic deathsters INSOMNIUM and London grinders THE ROTTED have been
confirmed for this year's Bloodstock Open Air festival, set to take place August
14-16, 2009 at Catton Hall in Derbyshire, England.

The festival billing is now shaping up as follows:

ALTERNATIVE CARPARK
AMON AMARTH
ANATHEMA
APOCALYPTICA
ARCH ENEMY
ARTHEMIS
BATTLELORE
BEHOLDER
BISONHAMMER
BLIND GUARDIAN
BLOODSHOT DAWN
CANDLEMASS
CARCASS
CELESTY
CRADLE OF FILTH
DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER
DIVINE CHAOS
ENSLAVED
ENTOMBED
EQUILIBRIUM
EUROPE
GIRLSCHOOL
GODS OF HELLFIRE
GODSIZED
INNER EDEN
INSOMNIUM
INTERNAL CONFLICT
KATATONIA
KREATOR
MILLION DOLLAR RELOAD
MOONSPELL
MUNICIPAL WASTE
NEFARIOUS
NYA
PYTHIA
SABATON
SANCTORU
SATYRICON
SAXON
SNAKEBITE
SOLSIKK
THE GREEN RIVER PROJECT
THE HAUNTED
THE ROTTED
THEY WILL RISE
TRIBE
TURISAS
VALLENBROSA
VENTFLOW
WOLF

For more information, visit www.bloodstock.uk.com.

After five years of computer failure, illness, lineup changes and countless
other obstacles, Swedish progressive death metallers SKYFIRE will triumphantly
return to unleash their long awaited fourth album, "Esoteric", this September 8
in North America, September 14 in the U.K. and September 18 in the rest of
Europe via Pivotal Rockordings.

Commented bassist Martin Hanner: "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 revealed the concept behind the stunning artwork for "Esoteric" (see
below), which was designed 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," he said. "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" track listing:

01. Deathlike Overture (intro)
02. Esoteric
03. Rise and Decay
04. Let the Old World Burn
05. Darkness Descending
06. Seclusion
07. Misery's Supremacy
08. Under a Pitch Black Sky
09. Linger In Doubt
10. The Legacy of the Defeated
11. Within Reach (bonus)

SKYFIRE recently made the song "Esoteric" available for download on the band's
MySpace page.

The group will release a four-song, digital-only EP entitled "Fractal" in July
via Pivotal Rockordings. "Fractal" is made up of songs that were written between
2004's "Spectral" and the "Esoteric" album.

"Fractal" marks the first official SKYFIRE release to feature new members Johan
Reinholdz (guitars; ANDROMEDA, NONEXIST) and Joakim Karlsson (vocals;
MARK:BLACK). All music was recorded, mixed and mastered at Powernest Studios
with the exception of the track "Esoteric", which was mixed and mastered by
Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY, SONIC SYNDICATE, ZONARIA, THE ABSENCE). Vocals
for all tracks were produced by THE FORSAKEN guitarist Patrik Persson.

"Fractal" track listing:

01. The Land of the Wolves
02. Bereaved in Denial
03. The Transgressor Within
04. Esoteric ("Esoteric" album preview track)

SKYFIRE is:

Joakim Karlsson (Vocals)
Martin Hanner (Bass, Keyboards)
Andreas Edlund (Guitars, Keyboards)
Johan Reinholdz (Guitars)
Joakim Jonsson (Drums)


Andrew Liles (NURSE WITH WOUND, THE VORTEX VAULT, CURRENT 93), one of the
world's most respected experimental musicians, is collaborating with Maniac
(SKITLIV, BOMBEROS, ex-MAYHEM), one of the icons of black metal, to on
SEHNSUCHT, the ambient/noise project launched by the vocalist following his
departure from MAYHEM. Originally a three-piece — comprising Maniac's
fiancée, GALLHAMMER's Vivian Slaughter, on bass and saxophone, and SKITLIV
guitarist Ingvar Magnusson — SEHNSUCHT will feature Liles on FX and
electronics, and will see him working alongside Maniac on the sound design.

The decision to work together came last week when Maniac, on a month-long
working holiday in the U.K., went to Liles' West Yorkshire home to master the
forthcoming SKITLIV album, "Skandinavisk Misantropi", and to discuss the
eventual mastering of the SEHNSUCHT album. "We were listening to the very rough
SEHNSUCHT tracks and Andrew started making suggestions and rapidly became very
involved in the whole thing," Maniac said. "By the end of a couple of hours, I
was completely blown away by what he was doing, and by the end of my stay, we
had laid down additional vocals and a lot more electronics, and we were both
convinced that we wanted to expand this project together, and eventually take it
live." He continued "I have long admired Andrew's work, and even though on the
face of it, we appear to come from disparate musical disciplines, we both share
the same eclectic musical tastes, and pretty much the same absurd sense of
humor, so it's not only a
privilege, but also a pleasure to work with him and take SEHNSUCHT much further
than I'd originally envisaged. Once Vivian sends more bass tracks later this
week, the whole project will become much more cohesive, and all four of us are
very excited about the direction SEHNSUCHT is taking."

Unlike SEHNSUCHT, Maniac's SKTILIV, whose line up includes SHINING's Niklas
Kvarforth on guitars and backing vocals, SEHNSUCHT's Ingvar on guitars, and
HAUST's Dag Otto on drums, is a band that plays "blackened doom." Recently
signed with Season Of Mist, SKITLIV's first full-length album, "Skandinavisk
Misantropi", is due for release this year and includes guest vocals from David
Tibet (CURRENT 93), Gaahl (GOD SEED, WARDRUNA, GORGOROTH) and Atilla Csihar
(SUNN 0))), MAYHEM).

SEHNSUCHT's debut album will be released later in the year via U.K.'s Cold
Spring Records.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/sehnsuchtofficial.

The reunited original lineup of LIMP BIZKIT has been confirmed for the
METALLICA-headlined inaugural Sonisphere festival, set to take place on August
1-2 at the legendary Knebworth Park, United Kingdom. Frontman Fred Durst
comments, "We are honored to be a part of such an event as Knebworth and even
more excited to be returning to England so soon. U.K. rocks hard!!"

LIMP BIZKIT will support METALLICA on Sunday, August 2. The Saturday night,
August 1, will be headlined by LINKIN PARK.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

AIRBOURNE
ALICE IN CHAINS
ANTHRAX
ATTACK! ATTACK!
AVENGED SEVENFOLD
BLACKHOLE
BLAKFISH
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
CANCER BATS
COHEED AND CAMBRIA
COREY TAYLOR
DEAD BY APRIL
DEAR SUPERSTAR
DINOSAUR PILE-UP
DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS
EXIT TEN
FAILSAFE
FEEDER
FIGHTING WITH WIRE
FIN
FLOOD OF RED
FUCKED UP
HEAVEN & HELL
HEAVEN'S BASEMENT
HUNDRED REASONS
KILLING JOKE
LAMB OF GOD
LAUREN HARRIS
LIMP BIZKIT
MACHINE HEAD
MASTODON
ME VS HERO
NINE INCH NAILS
RISE TO REMAIN
ROLO TOMASSI
SKINDRED
SYLOSIS
TAKING BACK SUNDAY
TELEGRAPHS
THE ATARIS
THE ATARIS
THE CRAVE
THE DEAD FORMATS
THE DEFILED
THE SWORD
THE USED
THIN LIZZY
TWIN ATLANTIC
YOUNG GUNS
ZEBRAHEAD


German melodic death/thrash metallers BURDEN OF GRIEF are currently working on
material for their new album, tentatively due in early 2010. The follow-up to
2007's "Death End Road" will contain 10 songs, seven of which have already been
completed, and will be mixed and mastered by Swedish
producer/multi-instrumentalist Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY, BLOODBATH). The
limited-edition version of the album will include a bonus CD featuring cover
versions of the following eight metal classics:

* IRON MAIDEN - "Aces High"
* METALLICA - "The Four Horsemen"
* PANTERA - "Mouth For War"
* SEPULTURA - "Refuse/ Resist"
* WHITESNAKE - "Fool For Your Loving"
* BLIND GUARDIAN - "Valhalla"
* AC/DC - "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be"
* THE DOORS - "Break On Through"

On July 13, BURDEN OF GRIEF's debut album, "Haunting Requiems", will be
re-released by the Polish label Metal Mind Productions. This remastered
re-release comes in a limited, hand-numbered digipack with a new 16-page booklet
and four previously unreleased bonus tracks from the band's 1996 demo tape, "My
Blood".

BURDEN OF GRIEF released its fourth full-length album, "Death End Road", in
March 2007 via Remedy Records. The follow-up to 2004's "Fields of Salvation" was
recorded at Krachgarten Tonstudio in Kassel, Germany and was mixed at Jailhouse
Studios in Denmark with producer Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, PRETTY MAIDS,
HATESPHERE).

Swedish black metallers SHINING have been confirmed for the Ashes To
Ashes…Doom to Dust Chapter IV festival, set to take place Sunday, September 6
at the Cultuurfabriek Hall of Fame in Tilburg Holland.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

SHINING (SWE)
ALKERDEEL (BEL)
BUNKUR (HOL)
FUNERALIUM (FRA)
HABSYLL (FRA)
HJARNIDAUDI (NOR)
KONGH (SWE)
SARDONIS (BEL)
SATURNALIA TEMPLE (SWE)
SWITCHBLADE (SWE)
URFAUST (HOL)

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/comaworx.