Black Sabbath - Announce Summer Tour 2012

Black Sabbath press release:
Rock legends Black Sabbath will headline a number of Europe's premier festivals in 2012. After announcing their reunion on 11.11.11, these worldwide appearances are one of the most anticipated music events of 2012. Kicking off on Friday May 18th in Moscow at Olimpski, the tour will bring Black Sabbath to the masses at: Download Festival (UK), Azkena Rock Festival (Spain), Hellfest (France), Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium), and Gods of Metal (Italy).

However, that's only the beginning of the group's global tour which will take the band around the world including countries the band has never played before and others they have not visited in more than three decades.

The four original members of Black Sabbath — Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) — are currently recording their first studio album in 33 years with legendary producer Rick Rubin (seven-time Grammy winner, two of those as Producer of the Year) for release worldwide on Vertigo Records, and Vertigo/Universal Republic Records in the US in the fall 2012.

Tour dates confirmed so far:

18/05/2012 - Moscow, Russia Olimpiski
20/05/2012 - St. Petersburg, Russia New Arena
23/05/2012 - Helsinki, Finland Hartwall Arena
25/05/2012 - Stockholm, Sweden Stadium
29/05/2012 - Bergen, Norway Bergen Calling Festival
31/05/2012 - Oslo, Norway Spektrum
02/06/2012 - Malmo, Sweden Malmo Stadium
04/06/2012 - Dortmund, Germany Westfalenhalle
10/06/2012 - Donnington, UK Download Festival
12/06/2012 - Rotterdam, Holland Ahoy
15/06/2012 - Bilbao, Spain Azkena Rock Festival
17/06/2012 - Clisson, France Hellfest
19/06/2012 - Paris, France Bercy
22/06/2012 - Dessel, Belgium Graspop Metal Meeting
24/06/2012 - Milan, Italy Gods of Metal

Hypocrisy - Working On New Album

According to an interview with their bassist Mikael Hedlund, Swedish extreme metal veterans Hypocrisy are writing material for a new studio album, which they plan to record next year.

Mikael Hedlund told Metal Shock Finland: "We're focusing on writing a new album. That's the most important thing for us at the moment. It's too early to say what it's going to sound like but all I can say is that it's not gonna be any change of style. It will be a classic Hypocrisy album without no compromises. We already got some material and we're really looking forward to enter the studio again. We don't know yet when it will but hopefully after the summer 2012. Nothing is confirmed yet. We're doing the MetalFest tour in May/June plus some other festivals. That's the plans at the moment."

Black Sabbath - Reunite for new Album & World Wide Tour

The much-anticipated announcement has finally been released on the official Black Sabbath website. The band have reunited and will record a new album and do a worldwide tour. The announcement video can be viewed in the YouTube-video below.

The album will be produced by Rick Rubin, and the band will headline the Download Festival 2012 as part of their world tour.

OZZY and SHARON OSBOURNE Contribute Forewords to 'Backstage Past' Book

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne and THE WHO guitarist Pete Townshend have written forewords to "Backstage Past", Barry Fey's memoir revealing intimate, shocking and previously untold tales of rock and roll's greatest legends.

As one of the most successful rock promoters of all time, Fey has sold more concert tickets than any other independent promoter in history. Loved by rock stars and adored by audiences, Fey's notorious hot-headed, take-no-prisoners attitude earned him the nickname "The Rockfather."

Now Fey, who dominated the concert promotion industry from the late '60s until his retirement in 1997, pulls back the curtain of his storied career with "Backstage Past", which takes fans into the dressing rooms and behind the scenes to expose the memories, the madness and the music — in colorful fashion as only Fey could tell it.

Says Sharon Osbourne, "He's one of the best promoters worldwide and when combined with his naughty personality — he's wickedly funny — it's the perfect recipe." Adds Ozzy, "He's among a handful of very special people in my life."

His stories and tales of the classic moments, warts and all, are finally revealed in "Backstage Past".

When he saw Jim Morrison inhale fumes from a vat of floor wax; when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards taught him how to snort cocaine; when he was given a jar of blood for Ozzy Osbourne, Fey knew he was living an extraordinary life.

According to President Bill Clinton, "Dozens of the artists who are now in rock's pantheon were first booked by Barry. Music lovers all across America and all around the world have been the beneficiary of Barry's good instincts, his hard work and his creativity."

Fey remarks, "Nothing in my early life would have suggested that I'd become friends with Bono (introducing him to a then-unknown Brad Pitt in 1987) or any of the dozens of other rock legends...I got lucky."

On sale now at Barnes & Noble's Nook, Amazon, and http://www.barryfey.com/, this book is sure to become a "must-read gift" for the holiday shopping list.

Global Metal (Heavy Metal Documentary Trailer)

In GLOBAL METAL, directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the West's most maligned musical genre -- heavy metal -- has impacted the world's cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world's emerging extreme music scenes; from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. GLOBAL METAL reveals a worldwide community of metalheads who aren't just absorbing metal from the West -- they're transforming it - creating a new form of cultural expression in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.

Visit http://www.globalmetalfilm.com

Obscura-To Release Demo Compiation

                                                                                  

German progressive/technical death metallers Obscura will release a demo compilation, of the band's early recordings and brand-new cover songs, in March next year, entitled Illegimitation.

Cover artwork and tracklist can be seen after the jump.

Guitarist/Vocalist Steffen Kummerer comments: "After the immense feedback for the re-release of our debut album Retribution and 10.000 sold copies of that record, fans were asking for our early recordings and the material we wrote before hooking up with Relapse Records. Our very first record, Illegimitation was tracked in 2003 with our long term producer V. Santura and shows the beginning of this band back in 2002. Additionally, we will provide you with unreleased recordings done in 2006 after our first European tour with Suffocation where you'll find songs such as "Incarnated" in it's original form. To round out this release we will head into the studio and record three songs that influenced this band since the beginning up to the present - Death's "Flesh And The Power It Holds", Atheist's "Piece Of Time" and Cynic's "How Could I?".

I am glad to show every fan that is interested in our roots where we come from and how things developed within the first ten years of Obscura. This is a release directly from the band and for our die-hard fans and friends. The CD edition will contain a full-color 20 page booklet with the complete history of the band, never-before-seen photos out of our own archives and recordings of the three known lineups. The LP edition will be pressed on colored vinyl in an extremely limited quantity and with a gatefold cover. Once again, the talented Orion Landau will provide us with his unique artworks to make this another special release in our history.

Additionally, this will be a independent release so we can give our fans the opportunity to participate in the project and offer special packages such as a livelong free entry to all Obscura shows, limited edition items, face to face lessons with our members, and tour-used gear from the band!"
Illegimitation:
01. ...And All Will Come To An End
02. Crucified
03. Fear
04. Immanent Desaster

Cosmogenesis Preproduction:
05. Incarnated
06. Open The Gates
07. Headworm

Recording Session 2011:
08. Flesh And The Power It Holds [Death cover]
09. Piece Of Time [Athest cover]
10. How Could I? [Cynic cover]

Black Sabbath-To hold L.A Press Conference On 11.11.11

According to Rolling Stone, the four original members of Black Sabbath will be holding a press conference at Los Angeles' famed Whiskey a Go-Go club on November 11th at 11:11 AM (hence the 11.11.11 posted on their official website). It is widely expected that the group will announce a reunion, but a press release merely says it will be a "special announcement at the same location where the influential band made their Los Angeles debut on November 11, 41 years ago." Henry Rollins will be hosting the event.

Lamb Of God - New Album Details

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Lamb Of God have set January 24th, 2012 as the release date for Resolution, the follow up to their Grammy nominated album, Wrath. Resolution, produced by Josh Wilbur, will feature 14 songs and will come in a deluxe softpak with artwork by longtime art director Ken Adams. The album was recorded in various studios in Virginia and New York. Pre-orders for the new album begin today at this location and will feature multiple premium bundles. On November 15th, the band will announce the first leg of what will be a 2-year world tour. Resolution tracklist: 01. Straight For The Sun 02. Desolation 03. Ghost Walking 04. Guilty 05. The Undertow 06. The Number Six 07. Barbarosa 08. Invictus 09. Cheated 10. Insurrection 11. Terminally Unique 12. To The End 13. Visitation 14. King Me

Cynic - New Song Streaming Online

"Box Up My Bones", a brand new song from US progressive metallers Cynic is now streaming online. "Box Up My Bones" comes off the band's upcoming new EP titled Carbon-Based Anatomy, which will see the light of day on November 11th in Europe (November 15th in North America).