Children Of Bodom have begun streaming the title track to their forthcoming album “Halo Of Blood” online via Pitchfork. The band have a June 11th North American release date scheduled for the outing on Nuclear Blast.

Queens Of The Stone Age are back with yet another clip of animated weirdness courtesy of artist Boneface. The latest previews their new track “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” and can be taken in both below and at Likeclockwork.tv. The group will release their new album “…Like Clockwork” on June 04th.
click here for the video…

Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe was active on his Randonesia blog today, May 15th, turning in a piece titled ‘Be Carefully.’ Throughout the lengthy read Blythe advocates safety at metal/hardcore shows and understandably spells out some stiff future guidelines, given his manslaughter trial (and subsequent acquittal) for the death of a stage diving fan. You can read the thoughtful piece below:

“When I was a little boy, just learning to talk and still figuring out the intricacies of the English language, I would caution others to “be carefully”. Little kids say the funniest things, and they say these things with the sincerity and urgency of those whose possess an extremely limited vocabulary. I don’t remember ever saying “be carefully”, but my 92 year old grandmother loves to tell me about it.

“I would be getting in the car to go to the grocery store, and you would look at me and say ‘Be carefully, Grandma!’ You were such a funny child.” she laughs.

I love my Grandma. She was the first person I saw at the airport when I was released from prison, in the front of a crowd, up past midnight and her bedtime, a tiny 92 year old country woman standing on her own two feet, waiting to see one of her family walking free in his home country. I hugged her, told her I loved her, and scolded her for being up so late. And I go see her now as often as I can. I get to hug her, kiss her cheek, tell her I love her, smell her hair, and listen to her wisdom. It fills me with a happiness I cannot describe when I look at her hands, the hands that cooked me so many meals for as long as I can remember. She is beautiful to me. I am lucky she is in my life, and she is so happy I am in hers, not in a prison in a foreign land. We get to be together, as family is supposed to be, and my life is full.

I am a very lucky man.

If you are reading this, more than likely you were directed here by a link on some heavy metal news site. That means that more than likely you know who I am, what I do for a living, and why I went to prison and then to trial for manslaughter in the Czech Republic earlier this year and last. This also probably means that you are part of my extended music family, and in all likelihood have seen either my band or at least one other band of the metal/punk/hardcore/hard rock genre perform in concert before. You have witnessed the kind of activity that occurs at these shows, and maybe even have participated yourself at some point. Moshing, slam dancing, crowd surfing, and stage diving- these things are a unique part of our scene; the ways some of us express ourselves, shed our cares for an hour or two, and enjoy this music that makes us feel so alive. I grew up in the punk/hardcore scene doing all of the above mentioned things, and I have the lumps, aches, and scars to prove it. I am just like you, just probably a little older and uglier.

When I returned to Prague for trial, answering the charge of killing a young man named Daniel Nosek who was a fan of my band, one of the biggest hurdles I and my legal team faced was attempting to explain the atmosphere of a heavy metal show, trying to get across to three Czech judges how smashing into other people and flying through the air over a crowd in the hopes of being caught was a normal thing. From the perspective of folks who are not a part of our scene, these seem to be the actions of insane people.

“Why would anyone do such a thing? You could be severely injured.”

Over and over throughout my trial, the witnesses and myself were asked if we knew what “stage diving” and “moshing” were, then asked to explain these things. Slowly, through a translator and with the help of videos we put together, we tried our best to show that the aggressive nature of our music and other bands like mine was not an expression of malice. My character was questioned again and again, several witnesses saying ludicrous things like how my quick onstage movements, my deep voice, my profuse sweating, and how I dumped water over my head (astoundingly, I do it because I’m sweaty and hot) was clearly evidence of the fact that I was drunk, on some sort of drugs, and yes, even evil. I was sober as a judge that night, thank God, and I know I never intended anyone harm, otherwise I would not have been able to fight for my freedom. I would have had to tell the judges “I do not know what happened. Maybe I did try to hurt this man. I just do not know. I cannot remember- I was drunk.” As a sober, responsible adult, my conscious would not have allowed otherwise.

Sober or not, convincing these judges that our show and others like it aren’t some sort violently nihilistic orgy of hate and self-destruction took a little doing. Explaining via a state supplied translator what you and I take for granted as people having fun at a show was one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced. It was like trying to tell a person who has been blind from birth what the color purple looks like. People outside of our scene cannot be expected to understand the way we act at shows without a lengthy explanation, and even then they may just think you are crazy. But in the end I was exonerated, and I am a free man as of this moment.

The family of Daniel Nosek never attacked me in the press. They never wished me ill, either publicly or privately. They did not smear my name in front of any judge, prosecutor, or police officer, did not stare at me malevolently in the court room. For this I am eternally grateful to them. I certainly would understand if they had, and would have made no attempt to dissuade them from holding a low opinion of me, for all they knew about me was what the Czech press had initially published- a picture of me as a barbaric murderous American with evil intent. I know what it feels like to hold my dead child in my arms. The emotions one goes through are absolutely indescribable. If I had had a finger to point at someone for taking my daughter from me, I probably would have, especially if there had been the sort of media circus that surrounded my arrest.
click here to read on…

Queens Of The Stone Age were the musical guest on tonight’s (May 14th) episode of “Later… With Jools Holland“. The group performed “I Sat By The Ocean” and “My God Is The Sun“—both of which will appear on their new album “…Like Clockwork“. The band will have that album in stores on June 04th through Matador Records.
click here for the footage…

Impending Doom have a brief June run booked with The Great Commission and The Overseer. Those dates include:

06/21 Tempe, AZ – Rocky Point Cantina
06/22 Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater
06/23 Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
06/24 Abilene, TX – The Backroom
06/24 Oklahoma City, OK – Chameleon Room
06/26 Newport, KY – Thompson House
06/27 Pittsburgh, PA – Smiling Moose
06/28 Mt. Union, PA – Creation Festival East
06/29 Allentown, PA – Deathbed Festival At Main Gate Nightclub

Nine Inch Nails have been focused on cleaning out the vault as of late. This time they have posted footage which was originally compiled to serve as an exclusive bonus on the planned DVD re-release of their 1997 live set, “Closure“. Sadly, the expanded DVD re-release was scrapped due to issues with their then label home of Interscope Records.

Below you can watch the footage that was set to appear on the DVD. Meanwhile, more footage from the set can be seen here.
click here for the footage…

Minsk have booked a series of shows to mark their return. Those dates will take place in July and can be found below. Furthermore, band vocalist Tim Mead has offered the following on the groups decision to return:

“To the brink and back. Nearly a decade spent pouring everything we had into this thing, and just like that we almost felt it slip away. Almost. It has been a long two years. It never felt like it was finished, the way forward just hadn’t made itself clear yet. I really think it took facing the precipice for us to turn that corner and understand what it meant to us, what it meant to those who’ve connected with us and the music we were a part of through these years.

When Chris and I started this band twelve years ago, we never anticipated it growing into what it became, how much of ourselves it would occupy, how it would eventually become more than the sum of its parts. We have always been our own harshest critics, and I think it took time to come to terms with the reality that this thing should continue. The past is a memory. The future is unwritten. The present is all that is. The work is not complete.

The family has expanded, and we’re so thrilled to have Aaron, Ryan, and Zac with us now. Aaron has been a brother for a very long time, and so this addition is more natural than we could have imagined. For me, hearing he and Chris play guitar together has that sense of something that just always should have been. And as Ryan and Zac have individually come into our lives and into Minsk, they have raised us up. Their abilities, and their spirits, take this collective space to new heights.

The Minsk practice space remains in the one and only city of Peoria, Illinois, as it always has. There is something about that city that has always left such an indelible mark on what Minsk is. Recent recordings coming out of rehearsals have been livening my life, and my mind, so much lately. It is an exciting time. Old material, new material, ideas just flowing again… that space being occupied again, that thing present in the ether that always seemed right when Minsk is making noise.

Up in Chicago, Sanford is still making some of the best records you’re going to hear this year. Still helping keep Chicago the musical powerhouse that is always has been. Still and always a member of the Minsk tribe from a distance, though we’re keeping a looser reign around him these days. Time will not allow him to do these shows with us in July, but he will be joining us on stage for at least a song or two in Chicago. When doing work involves giving birth to the kind of ground breaking music that Sanford has a hand in all the time, it’s hard to believe it’s not time well spent.

We are, however, ALL excited about working on a new album together. So, it is with great pleasure that we announce this next step on the path, a milestone marking ten years since the very first show… a celebration of what was, what is, and what shall be. Please join us.”

The group recently announced their return from hiatus with a new lineup that saw the addition of Aaron Austin, Ryan Thomas, and Zachary Livingston.

Minsk dates:

07/04 Peoria, IL – The Brass Rail (feat. Alma Negra)
07/05 Little Rock, AR – Downtown Music (feat. The Sound Of The Mountain, Mainland Divide, Enchiridion)
07/06 Nashville, TN – Springwater (feat. A Generation Of Vipers, Hellbender, Brother Ares)
07/07 Milwaukee, WI – The Cacus Club (feat. Asatta, Subjugation)
07/08 Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle

Another video from Intronaut‘s in-studio session at EMG Studios can be found after the break. The latest to be posted is for their track “Killing Birds With Stones“. Previous footage uploaded from the sessions include “Milk Leg” and this ‘dub’ jam session.
click here for the footage…

According to this tweet, Six Feet Under frontman Chris Barnes‘ new side project IHATE are aiming to have their debut album out in October. A previously-released song from the project can be heard here.

Russian Circles have entered Electrical Audio studios in Chicago, IL to begin recording their new album. Sessions began earlier this week with producer Brandon Curtis once again overseeing the process. Curtis previously worked with the band on their last two full-length releases.

Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst recently checked in with Metal Hammer to offer some words on the bands forthcoming album, “Stampede Of The Disco Elephants” and more. Speaking of the album, he offered:

“I’m finishing vocals on the new album. It’s sounding pretty awesome actually. It’s really raw, heavy, groove. It’s honest, it’s the record we wanted to make. We got in there and just let things go, kept it a little… I turned it up a few notches, better than being in that comfort zone as the last couple of experiences. I feel like it’s going pretty good, we’re really happy with it. It’s definitely an anti-radio record – a couple of the grooves are kinda catchy, but we went in thinking that anything too catchy, we’re just discarding it. It’s kind of fun in that way.”

He went on to add:

“We wanted to try and feel what it was like when we started out. We started out in this garage in Jacksonville, Florida, at this guy’s house. It was about 10 feet by 15 feet this garage, so [this time we] found a place that was in a really bad part of town that was about 10 by 15 feet, and just crammed everything in there, and just jammed and recorded. And the vocals I’m doing in such a raw sort of way.”

A release date for “Stampede Of The Disco Elephants” has yet to be announced.

Various musicians and friends of Baroness have donated items to an auction that aims to help ease the costs of the medical bills related to their August 2012 bus crash in the UK. Test pressings and autographed items from the likes of Mastodon, Meshuggah, Neurosis, Kylesa, Municipal Waste, Red Fang and more are up for grabs. Full details can be found at Baronessrelief.org; while the auction itself is now live on Ebay.

Defeater have had a July 16th release date set for their new album “Letters Home” via Bridge Nine. Band vocalist Derek Archambault said of the effort:

“Inspiration for this record came from a few places. Much like with Lost Ground, these stories are based around my two grandfathers’ service in WWII. Musically the record hearkens back to Travels and Lost Ground. EDSN was a bit of a departure for us, and I think we took some good chances on that record but Letters Home brings it back to why we started this band in the first place five years ago.”

The track listing for the outing is set to run as follows:

01 – “Bastards”
02 – “No Shame”
03 – “Hopeless Again”
04 – “Blood In My Veins”
05 – “No Relief”
06 – “No Faith”
07 – “Dead Set”
08 – “No Savior”
09 – “Rabbit Foot”
10 – “Bled Out“

Dynasty have released their music video for their song “Explicit Method” online below. The band filmed the clip just outside of the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA in late March of this year.
click here for the video…

Palms (Deftones/ex-Isis) have confirmed the cover art (see below) and track listing for their self-titled debut album. The effort will feature six lengthy tracks in the following order:

01 – “Future Warrior”
02 – “Patagonia”
03 – “Mission Sunset”
04 – “Shortwave Radio”
05 – “Tropics”
06 – “Antarctic Handshake”

Pre-orders for the outing are now live on iTunes with an immediate download of the song “Tropics” also available. Further pre-order packages (including vinyl) will soon be made available through the bands official website, Palmsband.com. “Palms” is scheduled to land in stores on June 25th through Ipecac.

Meanwhile, the band will be joined by Chuck Doom of Crosses (aka †††) on keyboards during their coming first-ever tour. Those dates include:

With Crypts:

07/10 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern (feat. Sleep Lady)
07/11 Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
07/12 Hollywood, CA – The Troubadour
07/13 San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
click here for the cover…