Taken from the official SEASON OF MIST newsletter:

Season of Mist is immensely proud to announce that ATHEIST and GNOSTIC just inked a deal with our label! After CYNIC, that's two more technical US death metal legends we are welcoming to our roster. Here's drummer Steve Flynn's comment:

"We're absolutely thrilled that, as of today, both GNOSTIC and ATHEIST are officially signed to SEASON OF MIST! GNOSTIC's debut CD "Engineering the Rule" will be released before the summer and ATHEIST's yet untitled CD, will be released later in the year. Season really stepped up to the plate to get this done, for this is also a highly unique situation for technical death metal. Three me ...

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DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy played a one-minute "teaser" for the band's forthcoming album on this past Friday's (February 27) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. The clip is now available for streaming below.

DREAM THEATER is wrapping up work on its tenth studio album, due early summer via Roadrunner Records. The band commenced work on the as-yet untitled CD last October. Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again producing the LP, while engineer Paul Northfield will mix the record beginning this coming week.

Portnoy previously stated about the upcoming CD, "Imagine a DREAM THEATER album with 'A Change Of ...

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Guitarist Kirk Windstein (CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW) has posted a short video message (see below) reassuring CROWBAR fans that there will "definitely" be a new record out this year.

Windstein was forced to miss much of KINGDOM OF SORROW's tour dates with GWAR late last year due to commitments with DOWN and a need to "tackle some serious issues and personal demons."

Metal Mind Productions re-released three CROWBAR albums — "Crowbar" (1993), "Time Heals Nothing" (1995) and "Live+1" EP (1995) — in Europe in April 2008. Each limited-edition digipack title (limited to 2,000 copies) was made available on golden disc, digitally remastered using 24-bit technology. Th ...

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"No Sacrifice, No Victory", the new album from Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL, entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 7 — the band's highest German chart entry ever! In Sweden, the CD opened at No. 2 and in Austria, it landed at No. 25 in its first week of release.

In other news, HAMMERFALL has scheduled the following signing sessions:

March 6 - Madrid @ Tipo Shop (Calla Montera) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET
March 10 - Milano @ Mariposa Duomo (Galleria S. Radegonda Duomo) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET
March 16 - Stuttgart @ Saturn (Königsbau Passagen) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET
March 17 - Cologne @ Saturn (Kaisserstrasse/Kaufhof) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET

"Uranium", which is exclusively available on Fuse On Demand, sat down with members of MESHUGGAH to talk about the band's latest album "obZen", the symbolism of its artwork and the songwriting process. The full interview is available all March long only on Fuse on Demand.

Watch a clip below.

Fuse on Demand is available on Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Direct TV, Insight, Knology, WAVE, Metrocast, Hometown, Midcontinent and a whole bunch of other places across the U.S.

Released in March 2008, MESHUGGAH's "obZen" album debuted at No. 59 on The Billboard 200 chart and at No. 14 on the iTunes Top Rock Albums chart. "obZen" has sold more than 50,000 copies in the Unit ...

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RUSH guitarist took part in the annual Andy Kim Christmas show on December 10, 2008 at Toronto, Ontario, Canada's Mod Club. ChartAttack.com interviewed Alex at the concert about his involvement with the event, RUSH's "Snakes & Arrows" tour, his favorite RUSH songs, and RUSH's plans for their next album. Watch the four-minute clip below.

In addition to Lifeson, the event featured appearances by Ron Sexsmith, Lawrence Gowan, Dru, THE KINGS, Emm Gryner, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE's Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning.

All of the proceeds from the show were donated to The Sanfilippo Children's Research Foundation. Children with sanfilippo syndrome are missing an essential enzyme that b ...

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In a statement made on Friday, February 27, 2009:

"NACHTMYSTIUM has sad news today with a once-again recurring issue surfacing from the wake of our past. We've been forced, at the request of the promoters and the folks at Scion / Toyota, to pull out of the Scion Rock Fest, scheduled for Saturday, February 28. This news came to us just this past Tuesday and was very disheartening to say the least. A troubling, and unjustly-applied notion that we are, or ever have been, in any way, a 'Nazi' band or a political band on any level, is completely absurd and we are disgusted that there is someone out there who really believes we are of this ilk. It made it as far as the sponsors of ...

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According to Black-Sabbath.com, the track listing for "The Devil You Know", the forthcoming debut album from HEAVEN AND HELL — the band featuring BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi (guitar), Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Geezer Butler (bass) and Vinny Appice (drums) — will be as follows:

01. Atom & Evil
02. Fear
03. Bible Black
04. Double the Pain
05. Rock & Roll Angel
06. The Turn of the Screw
07. Eating the Cannibals
08. Follow the Tears
09. Neverwhere
10. Breaking into Heaven

"The Devil You Know" is scheduled for release on April 28 via Rhino. The LP was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, U.K. where the 1992 SABBATH al ...

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FIREBIRD, the British band led by former CARCASS/NAPALM DEATH guitarist Bill Steer, will release its fifth album, "Grand Union", on April 20. The CD was recorded and mixed over a two-week period in May 2008 at Berno studios in Malmö, Sweden where FIREBIRD's second album, 2001's "Deluxe", was conceived.

"Grand Union" features a couple of tracks that are "way heavier than the stuff from the last two records," according to Steer, plus no less than three cover versions: JAMES TAYLOR's "One Man Dog", DUSTER BENNETT's "Worried Mind", and a HUMBLE PIE number.

FIREBIRD's current lineup includes Bill Steer (vocals, guitar), Ludwig Witt (drums) and the band's latest addition, Sm ...

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Longtime Axl Rose friend and associate Del James, whose short story, "Without You", inspired the epic clip for GUNS N' ROSES' "November Rain", recently sat down for a chat with Rose and is sharing the results of that one-on-one exclusively with Spinner.com. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Q: Did you break up the old GUNS?

Axl Rose: It is my belief that the commitment to end old GUNS came long before the band started in the heart and soul of one man. After that, it became more visible sometime before/during [the "Use Your Illusion" albums], when the others opted for personal reasons to change our approach, styles and methods of working together. At the t ...

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