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"My Dark Place Alone", a brand new track from the reactivated Murderdolls — the band consisting of Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Rob Zombie) and Wednesday 13 — is available for streaming here -

A Perfect Circle Returning This Year

Antiquiet has the good word about happenings in the A Perfect Circle camp: Songwriter Billy Howerdel and vocalist Maynard James Keenan are once again working together as A Perfect Circle, and new music from the beloved group is on the way.

On Wednesday, Howerdel performed with his band Ashes Divide at The Viper Room in Hollywood, on the stage that A Perfect Circle was originally debuted on August 15th, 1999.

After the set, the third of a four-night June residency, which featured a guest appearance by Keenan, we tracked down Howerdel for the good word.
The possibilities of a full album and tour are both still very much in the air. However, Howerdel told us on the record that they're working on "something" that should be out this year.
- more on this story

Ronnie James Dio Tribute Backlash

(Rock Radio) Ronnie James Dio's wife and manager, Wendy, has hit out at bands releasing "tribute" albums to her late husband without donating proceeds to the Stand Up And Shout cancer fund set up in his name.

In a new statement, Wendy says: "I have seen lately a lot of bands releasing "so-called" Dio tribute CDs. Please do not be fooled by thinking that they are doing this for the Fund, the money is going into their pockets and not to the Fund. I find this totally disgraceful and upsetting that they are trying to make money off Ronnie's death."

Manowar and Magic Circle Entertainment are releasing a compilation CD this week - Magic – A Tribute To Ronnie James Dio – featuring various artists. - Wendy is not the only one who is upset

Eddie Vedder Pearl Jamming Solo For Julie Roberts

Remember a couple weeks back when our friends at Antiquiet posted a story about a new leaked song from Pearl Jam? It turns out that the song isn't from the band, but from their frontman Eddie Veddar and he recorded it for the Eat Pray Love Soundtrack.

Eddie Vedder track's Better Days will be released on iTunes on June 22nd with the soundtrack album hitting stores on July 20th.

The film, based on the best selling memoir of Elizabeth Gilbert and her global journey to find herself, stars Julia Roberts and James Franco and will hit theaters in August. That's quick a bit away but for now Pearl Jam.com have a clip for Eddie's new song for you to check out - right here

U2, Nirvana, Metallica and Aerosmith for Rock Symphonies

Last years biggest selling new classical music artist is going rock: David Garrett brings listeners along on a roller coaster ride of genres colliding on his sophomore album, Rock Symphonies.

Rock Symphonies displays Garrett's love of both classical and rock, marrying the two genres with a fierce intensity. Featuring new interpretations of his favorite rock anthems by U2, Nirvana, Metallica and Aerosmith to name a few, David's virtuosic violin playing shines through with precision and power, backed by his band and The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. With his new Public Television concert special slated for an August broadcast, David Garrett is poised to be the breakout star of the summer. Rock Symphonies will be released on Decca July 20th.

The evolution of Rock Symphonies was a natural one for the 28-year-old Garrett. Having spent 2009 on tour in all corners of the world, he would find himself performing in clubs to arenas with a live rock band one night, followed by a classical concert hall with full symphony orchestra the next. Having a dual career is a rarity, and doing it successfully even more so. The bold violinist has always been a fan of both the classical and rock worlds he straddles. "I always enjoyed when rock groups integrated orchestra into in their sound, and it elevated the music to another level," comments Garrett. He continues, "any musician loves having the full sound of an orchestra behind them - it's an amazing experience." - more on this story

New F*ck The Facts Video

F*ck The Facts have released their new video for the song "Wake," from their self-released Unnamed EP.

The video was created by Copenhagen based director Michael Panduro (Siegfried Productions). Panduro has previously made music videos for technical math metal band Psyopus & Denmark's indie pop band No And The Maybes.

Regarding the making of the video, Panduro states "I'm doing my best to make videos that are different from what you'd expect in these genres" adding that "...making videos for bands that live around the world, makes it near impossible for me to make simple performance videos." - Watch it here

Mastodon Scores New Film

Jonah Hex the film hits theaters today but on June 29th you'll be able to score Mastodon's 6-track EP from the film's original motion picture score courtesy of Reprise Records.

Here is some info the label sent over: Jonah Hex features an original score by Reprise recording artists Mastodon and Oscar-nominated composer Mario Beltrami (The Hurt Locker, 3:10 to Yuma). Mastodon were asked to create the score personally by the film's director, Jimmy Hayward who was inspired by repeated listenings of Mastodon's 2006 album Blood Mountain. "Jimmy called us out of the blue as a fan," bassist Troy Sanders told Paste magazine in an interview. "It was the most beautiful, authentic way to collaborate."

Reprise Records will also release an exclusive EP of six of Mastodon's tracks from the film Jonah Hex score on June 29th. For their first film scoring experience Mastodon recorded the tracks for Jonah Hex by viewing movie footage and actually composing the score spontaneously on the spot in the studio. This method of experimental and immediate composition proved to be a daring, daunting and ultimately fun way of creating music together over a short period of time. The resulting sessions yielded incredibly exciting results produced in a completely different way than they normally would approach writing and recording for a Mastodon album. Fans will get a chance to hear the four new tracks: "Death March," "Clayton Boys," "Indian Theme," and "Train Assault" with two bonus versions as they become available through iTunes and all other digital outlets. - more on this story

Tool's Maynard James Keenan's Blood Into Wine Expanded for DVD and Blu Ray

Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan will expand his award-winning documentary "Blood Into Wine" for its DVD and Blu-Ray release on September 7th.

Here are the details: The DVD extras include extended interviews with Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer front man Maynard James Keenan and vineyard partner Eric Glomski, Puscifer concert footage and deleted scenes featuring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!).

Blood Into Wine focuses on Keenan and Glomski's struggle to create a high-quality wine region in the harsh terrain of Northern Arizona while facing a number of obstacles including the state legislature, the wine establishment and curious wildlife. The film co-stars Milla Jovovich, Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. - more on this story

Porcupine Tree's New Release To Help Mick Karn's Cancer Fight.

Porcupine Tree have released a special live digital album to help raise money for Mick Karn's cancer fight. Here is the announcement: "Atlanta", a complete 2 hour live performance from Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet tour, is now available as a download from the PT Store. The show was recorded and mixed to the usual PT standards in order to provide material for a planned live album, but when the decision was taken to film much of the same repertoire in Holland for a major DVD release instead, the Atlanta recording ended up back in the vault. Now PT have now decided to make it available in complete form as a download only release to raise funds for Mick Karn's treatment for cancer.

Although the repertoire is similar to that on the Anesthetize DVD, the performance has its own atmosphere, and also includes the first ever officially released live recording of "A Smart Kid".

The mp3s are high quality 320kbps files, and there is a break between tracks 8 and 9 in case you want to burn your own 2 CD set, for which Carl Glover has also provided CD artwork.

Please note that all Porcupine Tree's profits from the sale of the Atlanta download will go directly to the Mick Karn Appeal. - Get it here

Singled Out: The Constellations' Felicia

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today The Constellations frontman Elijah tells us about "Felicia" from their new album "Southern Gothic," which comes out next week. We now turn it over to Elijah for the story:

I wrote "Felicia" in the car headed back home after a long day at the studio. While we were writing this record I would go through periods where I'd write 4 or 5 songs a day. Obviously only a few made it on the record but "Felicia" was one I went in the next day and insisted that we work on. I explained to Ben Allen, our producer, I wanted to do a funky soul song, sung by an Iggy Pop character, that bordered a hip hop feel. He looked at me crazy and said " I love it , let's lay it down". That was kinda our writing process.

Someone would come in with an idea, we would all tear it apart, rebuild it and lay it down. "Felicia" is a loosely based on a girl I know very well if you know what I mean but also just represents the power that women have in general when they are comfortable with their sexuality. When a woman is unafraid of expressing what they feel sexually, whether it be playing into a man's fantasy or creating their own fantasy, there is something so powerful about that confidence. I love women and think there is something beautiful about each and everyone of them. I'm amazed by them and this was just a kind of dedication to them.

We started with a simple bass line I laid down on the keyboard and went from there. I was really lucky to have a group of talented musicians with me in the studio. I've never learned chords or keys I just write what I feel works and Ben and the others would break it down into chords and keys for me and jazz it up. I never expected it to be a single because it is a very provocative song but everyone really reacted to the song and at the end of the day rock n roll is still all about sexuality and "Felicia" embodies that idea. Hell, my big brother's pastor's wife loves it and plays it all the time. That's gotta say something right?

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album
- right here!

The Acacia Strain Preview

Prosthetic Records are giving fans a sneak look at The Acacia Strain's new album "Wormwood," ahead of its July 20th release date. The label is streaming the album track "Jonestown" exclusively at store.prostheticrecords.com. If you like it, you can also buy it at iTunes.

"Wormwood" was recorded at Planet Z Studios in Hadley, MA with Zeuss (Hatebreed, Chimaira, Shadows Fall) handling producing, mixing and mastering. The cover art was one by acclaimed artist, Justin Kamerer, who has done previous work for Bleeding Through, Guns N Roses, Slayer and many more.

Front man Vincent Bennett commented; "We worked just as hard if not harder on this album as we did on (2008's)"Continent.' We took an entire block of time off of touring and our lives in general to focus 100% on the creation of 'Wormwood.' Where we normally write a record with a theme already attached to it; this time around we wrote a record and the theme developed as we went. We wanted to do something that was still Acacia Strain, but broke away from the 'mold' that has been struck by all the bands these days that we seem to get grouped in with. All the songs have their own dynamic, instead of writing an album filled with like sounding songs. This is the heaviest record WE have ever written and these are the most personal lyrics I have ever written. Justin Kamerer; who did the artwork for the album, was really great to work with and really brought the songs to life with his imagery. I am really excited for this release, and we are all very proud of what we did with this record. I hope you enjoy." - more on this story

Ratt Drummer Trashes Band's Former 'Rich Kid' Guitarist

MetalSucks recently spoke with Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer about a number of topics including his new autobiography Tales of a Ratt, the band's new album "Infestation," and the sometimes tenuous personal relationships between its members and the resulting problems in the band. He particularly singled out Warren DeMartini in the excerpt below:

Blotzer: I've always been the kind of person that shows up on time and does my job. Some people that are in the band, or used to be, don't treat Ratt with that type of respect. We have a great thing going with this new album and the public's interest – but people take it for granted. I never have.

Metal Sucks: You talk about getting offers for weekend shows a few years back, and certain people in Ratt not wanting to do them. Blotzer: Yeah, that was so annoying! Warren wouldn't want to do them because he didn't want to deal with a layover at some airport. That's the kind of s*** I deal with. He's a rich kid, so he didn't care about the cash as much.

Metal Sucks: Earlier in our call, you sounded very uneasy about Ratt's current situation. Blotzer: I just see some of the things that were problems coming up again. I don't get it. I'm never not thinking about this band falling apart, because of the way Ratt operates. It's not me, dude. It's my 2 business partners. Even now with the album's success, there are power struggles within the band. I just want to tell them, "Come on guys — let's just go out there and kick ass!" But they make it more complicated. All I have to say is that if everything falls apart again for us; I'll just write an amendment to the book with all of this new s***. Hopefully people wake up, and get their s*** together. I just want to go out there and play. - Read the full interview here

Gong Tap Nik Turner's Space Ritual for Upcoming Dates

Nik Turner's Space Ritual will be the main support to fellow psychedelic progressive rock band Gong on their four September 2010 UK tour dates.

A founding member of space rockers Hawkwind, Nik Turner formed Space Ritual in 2001, through the psychic need to unite the tribes to power the starship to new dimensions of time, space and awareness; raising the spirits in harmony and brotherly love, reviving the lost magic, lost music, lost flames, one soul, one world, one source, one race and one love.

Full UK tour dates include Glasgow 02 ABC (Thursday Sept 9 - £18.50), Manchester Academy (Friday Sept 10 - £18.50), London HMV Forum (Saturday Sept 11 - £20) and Birmingham HMV Institute (Monday Sept 20 - £18.50) - more on this story

Kaiser Cartel Map Out New Summer Tour Dates

Kaiser Cartel have expanded their current summer tour plans with another round of dates.

The tour now features stops in St. Louis, Chicago, Champaign, Dubuque, Portland, Seattle & Los Angeles, with more on the way soon.

Their latest album, Secret Transit, was released June 8th, and is a departure from their debut album, March Forth. - more on this story

Everest Announce Dates with The Whigs and Minus The Bear

Everest have announced a series of hometown shows before reuniting with Minus the Bear for a second leg of touring.

They kicked things off with an in-store performance at the renowned Amoeba Records in Hollywood this week and will follow it with a show at the Troubadour, this Friday, June 18, where they will open for Athens-based rockers The Whigs.

Everest will close out the month headlining KCRW's Summer Nights series, a free concert at One Colorado in Pasadena, on Saturday, June 26. - more on this story

Ry Cuming Announces Album Release and Maroon 5 Dates

Pro-Surfer Turned Musician Ry Cuming will release his self-titled debut album on July 20th and is hitting the road with Maroon 5 this summer. Here is the background info:

When Australian native Ry Cuming was 18 years old, the pro-surfer turned musician was playing guitar in a hotel hallway after surfing in the World Longboard Championships in Costa Rica. An L.A. film producer who happened to be nearby and got an earful of Ry's undeniable talent flew him to Los Angeles where Ry seamlessly immersed himself in the SoCal music scene.

Ry Cuming was quickly signed to Bellasonic/Jive Records and recorded demos with Phantom Planet, Rooney, and Maroon 5 (Cuming's Australia tour mates in 2009). Since then Cuming's music has garnered him two Australian Dolphin Awards for Best Pop Song and Best New Artist, placements on NBC's Extra and MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, a spotlight in Vogue, and a musical appearance alongside Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett in the movie Hoot-all before the release of his self-titled debut album on July 20th. - more on this story

7 Year Bitch Frontwoman Selene Vigil-Wilk Going Solo

7 Year Bitch frontwoman, Selene Vigil-Wilk, has announced the release of her debut solo album, That Was Then, which will be released on September 14th.

She'll release the album on indie label, Tuck and Roll Music. That Was Then marks her first release since 7 Year Bitch disbanded in the late 1990's.

"The time and space was necessary for me to see the songs for what they were and to really understand what I felt about them," says Vigil-Wilk. "Sometimes time itself makes you see things in a different perspective... " - more on this story

Siren Music Festival Expands

Holy F*ck, Ponytail, Dom and Apache Beat have been added to the line-up for the 10th Annual Siren Music Festival. The Village Voice produced festival will take place at Coney Island, NYC on Saturday, July 17, 2010 from 12:00 noon - 9:00 p.m.

These artists join scheduled performers Matt And Kim, Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Night Marchers, Surfer Blood, Harlem, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Earl Greyhound, Screaming Females and Wye Oak at the free, all day, all ages music festival on two outdoor stages in historic Coney Island.

The 3rd Annual Official Siren After Party returns to Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, July 17 at 9:00pm with We Are Scientists, Lightspeed Champion and more. - more on this story

Eyehategod Sideband Playing Free Show This Sunday

A reminder that members of Eyehategod, Outlaw Order, The Guilt Of..., Bloodyminded, Anatomy Of Habit and The Fortieth Day will perform a free one-off show this Sunday. Here is the announcement:

Prior to part two of Eyehategod's two-night stand at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, BloodLust! presents a special afternoon noise set at Reckless Records in Wicker Park by Ten Suicides (featuring members of Eyehategod, Outlaw Order, The Guilt Of..., Bloodyminded, Anatomy Of Habit and The Fortieth Day).

The performance will be based around the Bloodyminded song "Ten Suicides," which features guest lead vocals by Eyehategod vocalist Mike Williams. Expect the worlds of noise, sludge and doom to lock into a united North-South experimental soundscape of epic proportions... - more on this story

Architects UK Returning To America for the Cool Tour

Architects UK will return to North America to take part in the "Cool Tour," which features As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Between the Buried and Me, Bless the Fall, The Acacia Strain, Cancer Bats and War of Ages.

The outing kicks off on July 12th and runs through August 1st, here is what frontman Sam Carter had to say out the tour, "The 'Cool Tour' is going to be f**king awesome! I can't remember the last time I saw a touring package with a line up this crazy so it's an honor to be a part of it.

"All the bands are awesome and are totally doing their own thing. So many packages these days put together four or five bands that all sound exactly the same. To find eight bands that all have their own sound and put them together is amazing. Every day is going to be a party for sure so we hope to see you all soon." - more on this story

Eels Are Looking Up With Free Song Download

Eels are giving fans a taste of their forthcoming album Tomorrow Morning which comes out August 24th.

August is a long way off but you can listen to a new song, "Looking Up," from the effort at Myspace, or even better the band is offering a free download of the song at the EELS official website:.

"Looking Up" is the first taste from the new EELS album, said to be "the brightest and most overtly uplifting work of the EELS' fourteen year career." EELS embark on a world tour August 3rd. - Go forth and download

Minsk, Yakuza Industrial Project Circle of Animals Relapse

Circle of Animals, the new industrial project from Sanford Parker (Minsk, The High Confessions, Buried At Sea) and Bruce Lamont (Yakuza) have inked a deal with Relapse Records.

Interestingly, Circle of Animals is Parker and Lamont backed by a rotating cast of notable drummers. Each new Circle of Animals song will feature a new drummer, with the remaining instrumentation handled by Parker and Lamont. The band will first release a limited 12" EP, titled Invisible War, followed by a full-length.

Invisible War will include two original tracks, "Invisible War" featuring Jeff Morgan of Rwake on drums, and "Lessen Human Suffering" featuring Dave Witte of Burnt By The Sun and Municipal Waste on drums. "Invisible War" and "Lesson Human Suffering" will be side A of the LP, with side B including a remix of "Invisible War" by Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu) and a cover of Swans' "Fool" with Jim Staffel of Yakuza on drums. -

Engrained Anger, Roots & Rock n' Roll

Engrained will release their brand new 5 track EP, "Anger, Roots & Rock n' Roll", via SPV/Steamhammer on July 13th in North America.

Engrained was born in Sarstedt (Rock City) near Hannover/Germany in the early nineties as a three headed hardcore band. For over 20 years ENGRAINED rocked a many stages with excellent bands including: The Dickies, Peter Pan, Gluecifer, US Bombs and many more. Today the fast, hard and straight punk´n´roll of ENGRAINED is well known in local clubs around Hannover, Germany.

The band self released one mini-album and four EP's since their formation 1993. They have also had a number of tracks featured on various sampler albums, such as the hugely successful Husker Du tribute, "Case Closed", alongside Sick of It All, Motorpsycho and others.

Engrained's new EP "Anger, Roots & Rock n'Roll", contains four ferocious, fluid, hard driving songs, plus a cover of Poison Idea's 'Plastic Bomb', which is the perfect introduction to this visceral hard rock band. - more on this story

New Terror is Coming Soon

Terror's new album Keepers of The Faith is set for release this August in Europe and North America in September. Here is the official word:

Terror, spearheaded by the endless enthusiasm of frontman Scott Vogel, have returned with a vicious new chapter to their storied career. The much anticipated new album, Keepers of The Faith, is a worldwide call to the community and an attempt to hear back from the faithful on the front lines.

Keepers of The Faith is 13 new tracks produced by Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory (A Day To Remember, H2O) at Buzzbomb Studios in Orange County, CA. It was engineered by Paul Miner (Death By Stereo, Adamantium) and mixed by Matt Hyde (Slayer, Hatebreed). Keepers of The Faith is set for an August 30th release throughout Europe and a September 14th throughout North America. Doom Patrol will also be issuing the album in Japan on September 1st. - more on this story

Citizen Cope Hitting the Road With O.A.R

Citizen Cope will be hitting the road on a national summer tour with O.A.R that kicks off July 8th in Indianapolis, IN and finish up August 15th in Atlanta, GA.

The new record from Citizen Cope aka Clarence Greenwood is titled The RainWater LP. As on his two records prior, The RainWater LP was produced by Greenwood himself.

The RainWater LP is his first record in nearly four years and the first on his own label, RainWater Recordings, Inc. Cope's new album has garnered him an appearance on The Ellen Show, as well as raves in the press. - more on this story

Japan's Biggest Rock Band To Play Lollapalooza's Main Stage

The biggest rock band in Japanese history, X Japan, will play the Main Stage at this summer's Lollapalooza Festival.

On Sunday, August 8, X Japan will make its U.S. concert debut as it shares the stage with other international superstars such as Lady Gaga, Green Day, Soundgarden, MGMT, and The Strokes.

Calling X Japan the most successful rock band in Japan is not a statement made lightly. X Japan has sold more than 30-million albums, singles and videos, headlined and sold out Japan's 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome 18 times - so far - and has started playing to tens of thousands of fans outside of Japan.

Going back to the 1980s, the band's look and sound sparked a global interest in Japanese entertainment, especially with the Japanese cultural rock phenomenon, "Visual-Kei," a movement X Japan pioneered that went on to become a catalyst for today's worldwide Anime craze. - more on this story

Wretched Going Beyond the Gate This August

Victory Records have announced an August 3rd release date for Wretched's new album "Beyond the Gate."

The album will feature a piece written and orchestrated by new guitarist John Vail, and performed by the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra. The album will also feature guest appearances by Jesse Clasen of Charlotte, NC band Harvard, Andy Lynn on violin, and Randy Nashleanas on cello.

The album follows a story written entirely by vocalist Billy Powers: "Beyond the Gate is the story of an alchemist named Sylvester Alédoe who successfully opens the portal to which he thinks is the alternate world known as Shamballa. Ending up in the central realm of Uraitahn, consisting of a thick poisonous miasma that no mortal shell can withstand, his body is seized by the forces inside the gate while his soul is cast aside to wander throughout the lands eternally. It is not until Sylvester collects himself and beckons with the guardians of Uraitahn that he can return to his home, Xzorian. From there he can retrieve the last Talisman of Xzorian and either surrender it to the guardians or destroy Uraitahn with its extraordinary power." - more on this story

The Choir Will Be Burning Like the Midnight Sun

(Submitted News) On June 29th The Choir will release their 12th studio disc, Burning Like the Midnight Sun. Produced by band members Steve Hindalong and Derri Daughtery, the album was recorded and mixed at Daugherty's Sled Dog Studio in Franklin, Tenn., and will be released on the band's own Galaxy21 Music label.

Boasting a history that spans nearly three decades, The Choir features founders Hindalong and Daugherty along with long time members Dan Michaels and Tim Chandler, and once again Marc Byrd who produced the band's '05 release O How the Mighty Have Fallen. This critically-acclaimed lineup continues to garner praise and accolades – including Dove Awards and a Grammy nod -- long after most other bands have burned out or faded away.

"Perhaps more than any other album by The Choir, Burning Like the Midnight Sun integrates the musical personalities of all five individuals," Hindalong says. "The recording process was smooth and satisfying. We're thrilled to offer it to our listening friends." - more on this story