The European special edition version of High On Fire‘s forthcoming new opus “De Vermis Mysteriis” boasts a handful of bonus tracks, including:

11 – “Blood Of Zion” (live)
12 – “Eyes And Teeth” (live)
13 – “Comet Down Hessian” (live)
14 – “Speak In Tongues”

The album is due in North American stores on April 03rd through eOne Music. Century Media will handle the April 23rd European release of the effort.

Now (once again) former Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott has spoken regarding his departure from the band. Speaking through his Facebook he offered:

“Hi everyone, I have left Arch Enemy to pursue my solo career. I’m gonna continue to be very active in music, working with all kinds of styles – this does not rule out metal. I have just recorded a new solo album set to be released in April. Keep an eye on this page for updates, I’ll try to be here more often. / Chris“

Warner Bros. Records and their affiliated labels have officially announced their plans for this years “Record Store Day” (April 21st.) Among their lineup are Mastodon‘s traditional split with Feist, Metallica‘s vinyl pressing of the “Beyond Magnetic” EP, Disturbed‘s vinyl box set and more. Here are the releases of note:

“Mastodon / Feist “A Commotion“/ “Black Tongue” (7″ vinyl single):
A very exclusive and highly anticipated RSD pressing features Mastodon covering the Feist song “A Commotion,” while Feist covers Mastodon‘s “Black Tongue.” A unique and highly buzzed-about Record Store Day prize.

The Flaming Lips / Mastodon: “A Spoonful Weighs A Ton” (7″ baby pink vinyl single):
The mighty Mastodon faithfully covers the Lips classic “Spoonful Weighs a Ton,” from The Soft Bulletin album. Ferociously beautiful!”

Metallica: Beyond Magnetic (12″ color vinyl EP):
Beyond Magnetic consists of four outtakes from the 2008 Death Magnetic sessions and is available for the first time on silver vinyl just for RSD. A potent and exceptionally well-produced example of Metallica’s most recent work, which can hold its own with anything within their vast heavy music cannon. Previously unreleased on vinyl and includes a limited edition Metallica sticker.

Disturbed: The Collection (Vinyl Album Box Set):
We are proud to announce the definitive Disturbed vinyl box-set edition, THE COLLECTION. A five-album, six-disc offering of the band’s complete studio album discography featuring The Sickness (2000), Believe (2002), Ten Thousand Fists (2005), Indestructible (2008), and Asylum (2010). A career retrospective spanning ten years and 18 Billboard Top 100 hits of sophisticated and life-altering heavy music. For this box set, each album has been carefully mastered and pressed on 140-gram vinyl for the very best in audio quality. Each album has been meticulously showcased in a stunning art presentation that is unique and exclusive to this release. This is a limited edition box of only 2500 units worldwide.

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium (Deluxe 180 Gram vinyl Box Set):
On April 14, 2012, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and to commemorate this historic event, this classic Deluxe box set of the band’s first number one album will be specially priced for Record Store Day. The Deluxe package was mastered for vinyl by Steve Hoffman and includes two 16-page booklets – “Jupiter” and “Mars.” The Red Hot Chili Peppers won four Grammy® Awards for Stadium Arcadium including: Best Rock Album, Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package in addition to Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group for their chart-topping, record-breaking single “Dani California.”

Arsonists Get All The Girls drummer Garin Rosen has posted a drum playthrough video of his bands track “Rise To Fall” below:

A series of updates posted over at Cult Of Luna‘s official website reveal that the band have been in and out of the studio in recent months. A release later this year is planned with more details pending.

Meanwhile, the band have been booked for this years “Getaway Rock Festival” in Gavle, Sweden. That event will take place on July 05th-07th with the band promising it as “one exclusive show before the new album is released.”

A teaser for Wisdom In Chains‘ forthcoming music video for their track “Ghost Of Buddy” has been posted online below. The full video will arrive online on March 21st. The groups new album “The Missing Links” will see a release through I Scream Records in the near future.

Thursday played what is for now their final headlining show at Billboards in Melbourne, Australia this past Wednesday, February 29th. Fan-filmed footage of the set has begun to surface online and can be found below. Note that it was not the bands last show ever — as that honor falls on their March 02nd “Soundwave Festival” set in Melbourne, Australia.

The Atlas Moth‘s cover of Hooray For Earth‘s “Black Trees” has debuted online over at Pitchfork.com. Currently the band have the following shows scheduled around their “SXSW” showcases:

With Nachtmystium and Bruce Lamont:

03/11 St. Louis, MO – Fubar
03/12 Little Rock, AR – Downtown Music (feat. Rwake & Zoroaster)
03/14 Austin, TX – ND Studios (SXSW Pitchfork Show No Mercy Showcase) (no Nachtmystium, Bruce Lamont)
03/15 Austin, TX – Club 1808 (SXSW) (no Nachtmystium, Bruce Lamont)
03/16 Austin, TX – Longbranch Inn (SXSW CVLT Nation Showcase)
03/17 Austin, TX – Lovejoys (SXSW BrooklynVegan Showcase)
03/19 Dallas, TX – Queens Music Hall (feat. Alcest, Hull, Mutilation Rites)
03/20 Oklahoma City, OK – TBA
03/21 Columbia, MO – Cafe Berlin

Vildhjarta guitarist Daniel Bergström has released a guitar playthrough video of the bands song “Benblåst” below:

A family emergency has derailed Lamb Of God‘s planned shows in Auckland, NZ and Anchorage, Alaska. The following statement was issued on the matter:

“LAMB OF GOD has been forced to cancel their shows scheduled for March 7th in Auckland, New Zealand and March 9th in Anchorage, Alaska, due to a medical emergency regarding a family member. The band intends to make up both shows during the Resolution tour cycle.”

God Forbid guitarist Doc Coyle has responded to the controversy surrounding his recent djent comments (and Slayer diss.) Speaking once again through his Twitter, he offered the following earlier today (March 05th):

“So I guess my comments about the new GF song went a little viral last week. The back and forth was very entertaining and interesting. The overall takeaway was”Doc Coyle hates Djent and Slayer” haha. Which obviously isn’t true. Communication in this era is complex. My take away is: Don’t make waves if you don’t want to get wet. So I suppose I deserve some blowback for putting myself out there.

But I do enjoy and appreciate the open exchange even if some things I say are misconstrued or misunderstood. This was my favorite comment. Nickygods on @theprp – love god forbid!!! can’t wait to read the appology post for the slayer slam though! i can see it now: “ok ok things got out of hand with this whole djent accusation thing, and when i mentioned slayer it wasn’t to bash them i mean i fucking love slayer, who doesn’t? they are responsible for much of metal and for god forbid too! hell we have even toured with them on several occassions and they are awesome dudes! i love how people always look for confrontation i assure the fans that was taken out of context.” ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

This guy apologized to Slayer way better than I can. And yes Kerry King and Dave Lombardo are some super cool guys and legends to boot.”

God Forbid‘s new album “Equilibrium” is due out on March 26th.

Stomach Earth (The Red Chord), The Atlas Moth, Early Graves, Graf Orlock, The Austerity Program, Zombi and more have all contributed music to the soundtrack of the upcoming book “DTV” (Direct-To-Video).

The book was written by “Decibel” magazine’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli and is described as:

“…A super-cool fusion of literary prowess and action-movie bravado, and though fully aware of the inherent, unintentional comedy found in the genre, Bonazelli has avoided the tongue-in-cheek route, instead crafting a story that celebrates the machismo, animal magnetism and culture of American action movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s. The novel itself is a brilliantly fun and poignant read, and could do for action movies what the nouvelle vague did for Hitchcock and Orson Welles.”

More info on the soundtrack can be found below:

“Paired with the book is an accompanying soundtrack performed by a who’s-who of underground musicians either covering their favorite action-movie music, or playing an original inspired by the book. The Atlas Moth, Wolvhammer, Total Fucking Destruction, Graf Orlock, Cretin and Liberteer’s Matthew Widener, Great Falls, Stomach Earth (Mike “Gunface” McKenzie of The Red Chord), Dirt Farmer, The Austerity Program, Lauderdale and members of Zombi and Early Graves all contribute tracks ranging from original pieces to covers of music from such films as Robocop, Double Impact, The Running Man and Out for Justice.”

Pre-orders for the book & soundtrack are currently available at Handshakeinc.com with a March 30th release date expected.

Yet another new Cannibal Corpse song has surfaced online. The latest is titled “Encased In Concrete” and you can check it out over at Decibelmagazine. The track appears on the groups latest effort, “Torture“, which will arrive in stores through Metal Blade next week on March 13th.

Chimaira frontman Mark Hunter recently brashly defended his decision to carry on with the band as the sole remaining original member. Hunter was criticized by a Twitter user, who told him: “It’s not rly Chimaira anymore.Only Mark left and others just carry the bands name, that was made before by others.”

Hunter replied to the tweet, stating:

“do your homework. Who named band? Who formed it? Who writes the music? Da fuck outtahere”

Update – March 05th 3:25pm:

Mark Hunter himself has since responded to the original story via his Twitter, offering the following four tweets:

“Ps..brash vs. Sense of humor and pointing out facts are two different things.”

“PS 2 – I don’t have to defend anything. Its clear peolple understand and respect the decision to move forward. That’s what matters.”

“PS 3 – the 6 of us feel alive playing music and enjoy carrying on the tradition of what was while making it new.”

“Another reason to move fwd w chimaira. “A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.” Nietzsche “

Live footage of Neurosis‘ Scott Kelly and Baroness‘ John Baizley performing together at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY this past Sunday is available below. The show was one of two special sets the pair will play together; with a second performance set to take place at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia, PA tomorrow, March 06th.