In a new interview with Rolling Stone Music, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine talks to Greg Prato about the band's upcoming 13th studio release, TH1RT3EN (tentatively due this fall via Roadrunner Records), and the 25th Anniversary edition of the band's Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? album. An excerpt follows:

Q: How did you find the time to record TH1RT3EN, since Megadeth has been on the road constantly?

A: "We only had a little bit of time to do this, and realistically, expecting a band of our nature, stature, our songwriting process, [and] the availability of all the band members – to try to squeeze a record in two month's timeframe, who were we kidding? But we did it. Man, we worked our butts off on that. I had some seriously long days. There were some days that I woke up at my computer, with an imprint on my face from sleeping on the keyboard."

Q: Does the album title have a deeper meaning besides being the group's 13th release?

A: "I was born on September 13th; this is my thirteenth record. It just seemed like it was the right thing to do to call it TH1RT3EN."

Q: What are some of the song titles?

A: "There's a title track, a couple of songs, there's 'Sudden Death', which was on the Guitar Hero game – that was extremely successful and garnered us another Grammy nomination. Then there was 'Never Dead', which came out for the Kunami video game Never Dead. The record itself will probably be coming out around November 1st."

Metal-Rules.com recently conducted an interview with MORBID ANGEL’s David Vincent. Excerpts follow:

When asked about the connection between the band and the audience, Vincent replied: “Our audience is some of the greatest people of the world. It’s been a journey – we do crazy things musically. And our fans are true morbid Angel fans. They expect us, and they expect to be challenged.”

When asked about their new album, Illud Divinum Insanus, Vincent said: “I’m blown away by the creativity – it’s just damn unique. I’m absolutely proud of everyone’s effort on this record.

On the subject of classic death metal bands, Vincent expressed that he’s looking forward to the new CARCASS record: “I would love for there to be a new Carcass album personally because I really like Carcass a lot, Carcass has always been one of my favourite bands.”

To read the entire interview visit Metal-Rules.com

On July 9th former MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Michael “Würzel” Burston sadly passed away in the UK. He was aged 61. The band has since issued a statement on the passing of former bandmate. A spokesperson for the band told RockAAA their thoughts were with their former guitarists family at this difficult time:

“It was actually Lemmy who gave Würzel his name in the back of a taxi, as he thought he looked like the TV character Worzel Gummidge because of his wild hair.”

The spokesperson went on to explain Würzel’s wife had said he had been unwell for some time with heart trouble, which left him struggling to climb the stairs at home.

As a tribute to their fallen friend, who they described as one of the nicest men, the band requested Rock Radio play ‘Killed By Death’ in tribute, as it was a track co-written by Lemmy and Würzel during a taxi journey from the flat they were sharing at the time and the Brittania Studios.

Lion Music is due to release a special edition of SONATA ARCTICA guitarist Elias Viljanen’s 2002 debut solo release, Taking The Lead. The re-release sees the original 12 track instrumental tour-de-force packaged with the added bonus of a professionally shot previously unreleased seven track live DVD entitled Evil Spirit Live, which contains material from Viljanen's two solo albums released on Lion Music.

Some nine years after original release Taking The Lead is still regarded as one as one of the best debuts of instrumental rock/metal guitar to have emerged in the 21st century from a then unknown guitarist, and Viljanen has built a reputation that has seen him advance into the upper tier of hard rock shredders founded on the solid foundations of this debut solo release.


The new dual CD/DVD version of Taking The Lead hits the streets on 19th August 2011.

A preview of From Chaos To Eternity, the new studio album by RHAPSODY OF FIRE, is now available for viewing on youtube Click Here to view. It features 30 second studio samples of all tracks and album artwork by Felipe Machado Franco (BLIND GUARDIAN, ICED EARTH, AXEL RUDI PELL).

From Chaos To Eternity will be released in North America on July 12th. The tracklisting for the new album is as follows:

'Ad Infinitum'
'From Chaos To Eternity'
'Tempesta Di Fuoco'
'Ghosts Of Forgotten Worlds'
'Anima Perduta'
'Aeons Of Raging Darkness'
'I Belong To The Stars'
'Tornado'
'Heroes Of The Waterfalls' Kingdom'
I. 'Lo Spirito Della Foresta'
II. 'Realm Of Sacred Waterfalls'
III. 'Thanor's Awakening'
IV. 'Northern Skies Enflamed'
V. 'The Splendour Of Angels' Glory (A Final Revelation)'

Bonus Track: 'Flash Of The Blade' (IRON MAIDEN cover)

BLASPHEMY will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its 1989 "Blood Upon the Altar" demo by preparing a few select concerts; the group's first anywhere in eight years.

The band — consisting of "3 Black Hearts of Damnation and Impurity" (drums), "Nocturnal Grave Desecrater and Black Winds" (vocals), "Caller of the Storms" (guitar), "Deathlord of Abomination and War Apocalypse" (guitar), and a session bass player to be announced soon — has confirmed two "live rituals" so far:

Oct. 03 - The Katacombes – Montréal, Canada
Oct. 24 - Dante's Highlight – Helsinki, Finland

The Montreal date will be an especially rare appearance in North America outside British Columbia.

BLASPHEMY played a handful of West Coast U.S. shows prior to 2001, but claims to have since been denied entry due to the band's "extreme nature."

Formed in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada in 1984, BLASPHEMY released a demo, titled "Blood Upon the Altar", in 1989 and a debut album, "Fallen Angel of Doom", in 1990. The band's second — and so far final — full-length studio album, "Gods of War", came out in 1993 through Osmose Productions.

In 1993, BLASPHEMY took part in the "Fuck Christ Tour" and played throughout Europe with IMMORTAL and ROTTING CHRIST. The band's July 2001 concert in Vancouver was released as a live album, titled "Live Ritual: Friday the 13th", in 2002.

BLASPHEMY is now working on new songs.

For more information, go to www.blasphemymontreal.tk.

Eric Martin will be performing a rare solo band show on Sunday, August 2nd @ Township Park, King of Prussia, PA. Ted Poley (with Vic Rivera and more) will be support act. Details at: www.uppermerionparkandrec.org/concerts-schudule-2009.asp and www.ericmartin.com.
Eric's backing band will feature members of The Reagan Years and Never Never. More info on each band is available at www.thereaganyears.com and www.nevernever.com/index.html.



Also - Mr. Big will be headlining the Rockin' Java Festival in Jakarta Indonesia on Saturday, August 8.

Mr. Big dates:

9/4 Rock Caf Tallinn, Estonia
9/6 Nosturi Helsinki, Finland
9/7 Berns Stockholm, Sweden
9/9 Train Aarhus, Denmark
9/10 Essigfabrik Kln, Germany
9/12 Shepherds Bush Empire London, UK
9/13 Hof Ter Lo Antwerp, Belgium
9/15 013 Tilburg, The Netherlands
9/16 Bataclan Paris, France
9/18 La Riviera Madrid, Spain
9/19 Rockstar Live Bilbao, Spain
9/21 Bikini Barcelona, Spain
9/22 Alcatraz Milan, Italy
9/24 Z-7 Pratteln, Switzerland
9/25 Tonhalle Munich, Germany
9/27 Diesel Club/Petfi Hall Budapest, Hungary
9/28 Planet Music/Gasometer Vienna, Austria
9/30 Roxy Prague, Czech Republic
10/1 Tobakken Esbjerg, Denmark