According to Newswire.co.nz, eager fans snapped up more than 12,000 tickets to GUNS N' ROSES' June 29 Auckland, New Zealand show Monday morning (April 30), causing the show to sell out in less than an hour.

Unprecedented demand means a second and final show on Saturday, June 30 has been announced and will go on sale at 1:00 p.m. Monday.

Australian promoter Paul Dainty said: "We knew the demand was strong as we received an unprecedented number of calls from fans in the lead up to going on sale. GUNS N' ROSES have not been in New Zealand since 1993 so it ...

---

Kari Koskinen of Imhotep webzine recently conducted an interview with MORS PRINCIPIUM EST singer Ville Viljanen. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

On longtime guitarist and composer Jori Haukio's decision to leave the band almost immediately after the group's new album, "Liberation = Termination", was finished:

"It's hard to say what our situation currently is. In the past, Jori did practically all the composing for us, and I don't know if we are able to compose songs in the same vein anymore. It's not like our only member capable of composing has left, but how this is going ...

---

Polish extreme metal titans BEHEMOTH have posted a new live video clip for the new track "Christgrinding Avenue", taken from a recent performance at Club 13 in Tilburg, Holland. The track comes from their highly anticipated new album, "The Apostasy", which is set for a July release. Click here to check it out.

BEHEMOTH has just returned from Israel and Nergal (vocals, guitars) checks in with the following report: "This was our second time playing in Israel and once again the show, crowd feedback and the aura around the whole event blew me away! I have no words to describe how ...

---

Jake Coyle of News.com.au reports: SPINAL TAP is back, to help save the world from global warming. If only they were clear on exactly what that was.

The mock heavy metal group immortalized in the 1984 mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" will reunite for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of worldwide Live Earth concerts on July 7.

The original members of SPINAL TAP will be there: guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), singer David St Hubbins (Michael McKean) and bassist Derek Small ...

---

DEAD BRAIN CELLS (D.B.C.), SOOTHSAYER and OBLIVEON are among the bands that will reunite for "1982 – 2007: 25 ans Métal Québécois", a three-day festival celebrating 25 years of Quebec metal, set to take place August 31 - September 2, 2007 at Club Soda in Montreal. A total of 12 bands will perform, with eight of the 12 groups reuniting specifically for the festival. The billing is shaping up as follows:

Friday, August 31 (artists from 1990s):

OBLIVEON
NECROTIC MUTATION
DÉMENCE
AGONY

Saturday, September 1 (artists from 1980s):

DEAD BRAIN CELLS (D.B.C. )
SOOTHSAYER
DAMNATION
THE AFFECT ...

---

DEVILDRIVER's third album, "The Last Kind Words", has had its release date pushed back to June 19 in Europe and July 31 in the U.S. The American version will include a bonus track and a poster. The CD was recorded at Sonic Ranch studios outside El Paso, Texas. Jason Suecof, known for his great work with TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, GOD FORBID, and BURY YOUR DEAD, produced the album, with engineer Mark Lewis helping out as well. Mixing duties are currently being handled by Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with MEGADETH, MACHINE HEAD, NEVERMORE and ARCH ENEMY, among many others. Songtitles set to appea ...

---

After filling in for the band's shows for the last two months, 21-year-old Mika Horiuchi has been officially named CELLADOR's new bass player.

Comments guitarist Chris Petersen: "After holding auditions for three months we realized Mika was the best person for the band. He showed the most devotion and commitment, having learned all our songs in less than a week, and dropped all his personal commitments at the time to come on tour with us during the month of February. The dude is an insane bass shredder, but also knows how to carry a song well rather than wanking all over the place. It's the perfect combination we were looking for, and the perfect fit for u ...

---

According to the official RATT MySpace page, the group's current lineup is as follows: Stephen Pearcy - Vocals John Corabi - Guitar Warren DeMartini - Guitar Bobby Blotzer - Drums Robbie Crane - Bass RATT and POISON will join forces for a summer trek starting June 13 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and wrapping Aug. 19 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brings RATT and POISON onstage together for the first time since 1999, will visit amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, said Troy Blakely, who books POISON with the Agency for the Performing Arts. "Generally we're going to play 50- ...

---

MP3.com has posted a report from the Inferno Festival which took place over Easter week in Oslo, Norway. There are photos and several short video interviews, including one with Demonaz (IMMORTAL, I) where he talks about his new project PERFECT VISIONS.

"We're working on a new IMMORTAL album," Demonaz revealed. "I have a solo project which I am working on, and I will do an album this year, so we have a lot of things to do. [PERFECT VISIONS] will be me, Ice Dale [ENSLAVED, AUDREY HORNE], and Armagedda [ex-IMMORTAL] on drums, and I do all the music and the lyrics and Abbath [IMMORT ...

---

David Priest of OnTrackMagazine.com recently conducted an interview with STRATOVARIUS mainman Timo Tolkki. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

OnTrackMagazine.com: How are you feeling these days?

Timo: Pretty okay. I mean I went through some really black depression after the last tour again, 'cause I get this.

OnTrackMagazine.com: Really?

Timo: Yeah, yeah. It can be, like, six or seven months; really, really black, where I don't even go out. Maybe I went four times, it was from February into the summer and at that time I was supposed to write the new son ...

---