The Smoot family and Slave Pit Inc. released a statement regarding the official cause of death of guitarist Cory Smoot. Cory had played the character of Flattus Maximus for over ten years, and was discovered dead on the band's tour bus on Nov. 3rd of this year. He was 34.

Stated North Dakota coroner William Masselo, MD:

"We have finalized the autopsy report and death certificate. I have determined that Cory died from a coronary artery thrombosis brought about by his pre-existing coronary artery disease."

The band, which will continue as a four-piece until the current tour schedule is complete, has officially retired the character of Flattus ...

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"Ghost Walking", a brand new song from Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD, can be streamed at MetalSucks.net. The track comes off the band's new album, "Resolution", which will be released in North America on January 24, 2012 via Epic Records (one day earlier internationally through Roadrunner Records). The CD was recorded at various studios in Virginia and New York with producer Josh Wilbur, who worked on the band's last effort, 2009's "Wrath".

"Resolution" will feature 14 songs and will come in a digipack with artwork by longtime art director Ken ...

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South Carolina-based extreme technical death metallers NILE have finished recording the drums for their new album for an early 2012 release. Guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders states, George [Kollias, drums], Dallas [Toler-Wade, guitar/vocals], [producer] Neil Kernon and I spent a week with Bob Moore at the Soundlab in Columbia, South Carolina tracking drums. We were expecting a long grueling session — some of this material is very compositionally challenging and technically demanding — but George knocked it out, finishing a full week ahead of schedule.

"Oh my God. Some of the drumming on this record will be boggling people's minds for years to come.

"At the moment we ...

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British/American grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH are putting the finishing touches on their 14th studio album (excluding the cover album "Leaders Not Followers"). This new piece of brutality is entitled "Utilitarian", and it will hit stores on February 27 in Europe and February 28 in North America via the band's longtime partner, Century Media Records. The cover artwork (see below) perfectly fits the album's theme and was created by the Danish artist Frode Sylthe, who is also responsible for THE HAUNTED's "rEVOLVEr" artwork.

Singer Mark "Barney" Greenway explains the album title and concept: "After some deliberation, we have decided on 'Utilitarian' as the album title. We general ...

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GWAR frontman Dave Brockie (a.k.a. Oderus Urungus) has released the following statement to MetalSucks:

"It is with a sense of profound loss and tragedy that the members of GWAR must announce the passing of their longtime guitarist and beloved friend Cory Smoot, also known to thousands of metal fans worldwide as Flattus Maximus. Cory was found deceased this morning as the band prepared for a border crossing. There is no word as to the cause of death and the members of GWAR are completely shocked and devastated that this has occurred. At this point there ...

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Former GORGOROTH/GOD SEED frontman Gaahl (real name: Kristian Eivind Espedal) will star in a new Norwegian film called "Flukt" (English: "Escape"). An action picture set in the remote Norwegian countryside during the 1300s, it is being helmed by "Cold Prey" director Roar Uthaug and will feature Norwegian actress Ingrid Bolsø Berdal in the role of the leader of a group of outlaws living in the mountains.

Synopsis: "The film takes place in the year 1363. Black Death has killed half the population. Many travel from death and misery in search of a better life elsewhere. But the country is sparsely populated, and in the mountains, raging outlaw gangs and a life is worth little."
< ...

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Earlier this week, Andy Greene of RollingStone.com conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee of Canadian rock legends RUSH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

RollingStone.com: What's the status of the next album?

Geddy: We're almost finished writing. We wound the machine back up about three weeks ago. After a sluggish start, we've had a very fruitful couple of weeks in terms of writing. I'm very pleased with the direction that the material has taken. And I think we have one or two more songs that we'd like to write, and then we'll start recording in earnest. Hopefully we'll have all of the recording done before Christmas. Then we'll mix it so ...

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Dubbed the "Transilvanian Legacy Tour 2012," the tour will begin on April 21st in Montreal and culminate in an appearance at Maryland Deathfest on May 25. Between there, NEGURA BUNGET will play from coast to coast, and will also perform a handful of dates in Canada. Accompanying NEGURA BUNGET on the tour will be Eclipse Eternal, Wolven Ancestry, and The Way of Purity, with sponsorship provided by Terrorizer, Metal Maniacs, BWBK, Archaic North, and Beyond the Dark Horizon. Here are the confirmed dates/venues thus far:

4/21/2012 - Montreal, Quebec @ The Katacombs - www.coopkatacombes.com

4/22/2012 - Quebec City, Quebec @ L'Agitee - www.a ...

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A teaser for "Storytime", the new video/single from Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH, can be seen below.

"Storytime" will be released on Friday, November 11 via Nuclear Blast Records. The song comes off NIGHTWISH's new album, "Imaginaerum", which is due in North America on January 10, 2012 via Roadrunner Records. The CD is the band's first since 2007's "Dark Passion Play", which was then-new singer Anette Olzon's debut.

The band examined its catalog when sitting down to write what would become "Imaginaerum". The songs for the album were written between 2008 and 2010, after the "Dark Passion Play" tour cycle ended.

At that point, NIGHTWISH knew th ...

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Legendary Swedish grinders NASUM will reconvene for a limited number of farewell performances in 2012. NASUM was hit hard by the passing of guitarist and co-founder Mieszko Talarczyk in the 2004 Asian tsunami, but will announce the farewell performances shortly to mark the group's 20th anniversary and close the book on the wildly influential band.

In a joint statement, the members of NASUM (Anders Jakobson: drums, Jesper Liveröd: bass/vocals, Urban Skytt: guitars, Jon Lindquist: guitars/vocals) had the following to say:

"You thought NASUM was dead? We are. This is not resurrection. It's farewell, for good.

"If things were different, if Mieszko hadn't died, N ...

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