Ohio’s SKELETONWITCH will bring their brand of “blackened thrash” to NYC’s acclaimed “BLACKENED MUSIC SERIES” on November 14. The show will take place at Brooklyn’s Union Pool and will also feature Relapse’s BLACK ANVIL and is part of “THE BLACKENED WEEKEND,” which will also feature appearances from RWAKE, KRALLICE, SHRINEBUILDER and more. Previous installments in the series have featured the likes of REPULSION, PIG DESTROYER, BRUTAL TRUTH, SUNN, EARTH and PELICAN.

‘WITCH guitarist Scott Hedrick commented;

“We’re very pleased to be a part of the Blackened Music Series. Blackened is relatively new and has already put together some great shows. And we’re stoked to play with Black Anvil who we’ve heard great things about. See you in Brooklyn”

There’s a limited amount of tickets which can be purchased HERE.

This show falls the day after the band will wrap up two months of touring the US supporting CHILDREN OF BODOM, then THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. The band will then head to Europe for a co-headlining tour with old friends TOXIC HOLOCAUST and GOATWHORE.

Dates after the jump.

Read More – Skeletonwitch To Appear at NYC’s “Blackened Music Series”

Flyleaf have just added Memento Mori webisodes parts 3 and 4 to their Kyte Channel. In the 3rd webisode the band talks about the artwork behind Memento Mori, which was created by bassist Pat Seals, using a woodcut technique. In the clip, guitarist Sameer beams,

“Pat is an amazing artist. We’ve kinda assigned him to doing all the artwork on the record, videos, and for photo shoots.” He later exclaims, “The whole texture of woodcutting and the way it looks, it has a really beautiful feel to it.”

In the 4th webisode the band talks about the photo shoots for Memento Mori, as well as the album packaging (the scenery for which was also created by bassist Pat Seals). Vocalist Lacey describes the meaning behind the scenery:

“The scene comes out of a story about a King who won a battle and came home victorious, where a slave (me), traveled behind him saying, ‘Memento Mori’ (remember mortality).”

Later on in the clip Pat talks about brainstorming ideas for music videos.

“Sameer has actually been taking the reigns on brainstorming ideas with different directors we have….it kind of freed up some of the weight off the location and the theme of the video. It allowed for some of the creative aspects to come through us.”

Memento Mori arrives in-stores everywhere on 11/10.

Read More – Flyleaf Release Two New Memento Mori Webisodes

Gwen Stacy have announced new headlining dates for December. The band who are currently headlining with support from Ice Nine Kills and Stray From The Path will be doing the Dec dates with support from Amarna Reign. The band is in support of their new album A Dialogue which was released last week. Reviews are pouring in such as NUVO, the Alternative weekly from the band’s home city of Indianapolis who gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and said Gwen Stacy “are very good at what they do.” Indie Vision Music.com said of the album “Any fan of the metalcore genre should pick this up and add it to their collection.” Coverage is also forthcoming in such publications as Alternative Press, HM Magazine and Substream. Also on tap is two new videos from the band, the first being “The First Words” which will premiere soon. In the meantime you can see the band’s video blog with new episodes on their Myspace page.

Tour dates:

(10/31-11/13 with Ice Nine Kills & Stray From The Path)
(12/11-12/19 with Amarna Reign)
10/31 Spartanburg, SC Ground Zero
11/1 Richmond, VA Alley Katz
11/3 Baltimore, MD Otto Bar
11/4 Vineland, NJ Hangar 84
11/5 Poughkeepsie, NY The Loft
11/6 Wilmington, DE Harmony Grange
11/7 Manheim, PA Warehouse 54
11/8 S Hackensack NJ School Of Rock
11/9 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock
11/10 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall
11/11 Charleroi, PA Club Octane
11/12 Dayton, OH The Attic Club
11/13 Toledo, OH Frankie’s Inner City
12/11 Bloomington, IN Rhino’s Youth Center
12/12 Franklin, IN The Gear
12/14 Fairdale, KY Bulldog Café
12/15 Lansing, MI Mac’s Bar
12/16 Grand Rapids, MI Mix Tape
12/18 Ft Wayne, IN Sunsett Hall
12/19 Indianapolis, IN Emerson Theatre

[source: Warm Fuzzy PR]

SHADOW GALLERY, widely considered a major and innovative force within the realms of progressive rock and metal, have returned with their 6th studio effort Digital Ghosts. Following up 2005’s Room V as well as the Prime Cuts compilation release of material from previous albums in 2007, Digital Ghosts was released on October 26th, 2009 in Europe and November 3rd, 2009 in North America via InsideOutMusic. The band is also excited to announce that they filmed a video last month and it will be released in the coming weeks.

Lead guitarist and bassist Gary Wehrkamp had the following to say about the release of Digital Ghosts,

“This is a day we have been looking forward to and I know we are not alone in saying that. Coming off the tragedies of last year, we forged ahead determined to give our very best in every way we could. Recording is a labor of love, and we really enjoyed completing this record. The band is thrilled to present our sixth release to our patient friends in America.”

After the tragic passing of lead singer Mike Baker in October 2008, Digital Ghosts introduces new lead singer Brian Ashland and not only sees the entire band once again sharing additional vocal duties but also features guest vocal appearances by Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) and Clay Barton (Suspyre) to compliment the release. With Digital Ghosts, SHADOW GALLERY’s members Brendt Allman, Carl Cadden-James, Gary Wehrkamp, new addition Brian Ashland and returning drummer Joe Nevolo (who appears on two songs of the record) have focused their powerful energies on creating a seamless blend of progressive, metal, and symphonic rock as a transcendent work of musical art that advances the boundaries of these genres into new directions.

[image: Adrenaline PR]

Below is some footage shot by Christy Borgman of LA Woman Photography at the Palladium in Hollywood, CA on Halloween night. Rob Zombie kicked off his new tour on October 29th in support of the upcoming Hellbilly Deluxe 2 album that will be released on November 17th.

Zombie had the following to say,

“We have a lot of new things this time, you know, we didn’t want to go out and just do the same old show, so we’ve dug deep and we’ve kind of tried to mix it up. You know, there’s always the obvious songs that you have to play for people that they want to hear, but we’re actually going back and we’re grabbing some songs that I’ve actually never played live ever. And as far as the stage show, there’s been some pretty incredible advancements in digital technology, so we have a pretty high-tech show going on. It’s pretty awesome.”

[source: Frantik Mag]

American metallers Devildriver have posted the new video for their song “Fate Stepped in” online. The song is from their album Pray for Villians, which is available in stores or online now.

Drummer John Boecklinhas also posted the following update from the road,

“It has been an interesting tour so far. My heels got infected due blisters from my new running shoes so I have been rocking sandals this whole tour and it’s fucking cold outside.

“Dez got sick and actually had to cancel a show in Germany. Mike went down with the flu for about three days.

“Our bus broke down in Scotland and we took vans to the next show. We played in full blown corpse paint provided by BEHEMOTH last night for Halloween.

“We also released a new video which we are really fucking proud of for ‘Fate Stepped In’. It is our best video to date with out a doubt. We have been playing bigger shows than we ever have as a headliner over here and it feels earned. just tell everyone know, we are already writing and finding the new direction for our 5th record, so far its fucking fast. see y’all on the road motherfuckers.”

Check out the video below!

[source: Metal Underground]

Last night (Oct. 30), Slipknot performed their song “Snuff” from All Hope Is Gone on Jimmy Kimmel Live. I’m glad that the late night shows are starting to showcase metal acts, and this one actually sounds almost decent for once.

Check it out below:

Metallica has issued an update regarding the missing Death Magnetic songs from the Wii version of Guitar Hero. I hope Hitler doesn’t hear about this.

Metallica states:

“If you’ve been playing Guitar Hero on the Wii, you may have noticed that we were short a few songs when it came to ‘Death Magnetic’ – well no more! Our friends at Guitar Hero have been working long and hard with Nintendo so that Wii fans can now play the eight ‘Death Magnetic’ songs not previously available for that gaming system.

“Starting November 24, additional tracks from ‘Death Magnetic’ will be available as downloadable singles for 200 Wii points each. If you’re keeping score, that would be ‘All Nightmare Long’, ‘That Was Just Your Life’, ‘The Day That Never Comes’, ‘The Judas Kiss’, ‘The End Of The Line’, ‘The Unforgiven III’, ‘Suicide & Redemption J.H.’ and ‘Suicide & Redemption K.H.’ Enjoy!”

Thank you, Nintendo. I hope your consoles start randomly exploding in retaliation to having this crap played through them.

[image: Newscom/UPI/Michael Bush]

Mastodon performed their song “Divinations” from Crack the Skye last night (Oct 29) on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In my opinion live metal performances on talk shows/live TV always end up sounding like shit, and this one is no exception… and since Jimmy Fallon has had several metal bands performing on his show lately, maybe it’s time to get a decent sound technician?

Oh well, it’s still a good song, check it out below:

ODERUS URUNGUS OF GWAR FEATURED IN SPIN MAGAZINE

ODERUS, BEEFCAKE AND BALSAC SERVE AS CELEBRITY JUDGES FOR THE 14th ANNUAL BURTON SNOWBOARD DOG-COSTUME CONTEST

2009 truly has been the year of GWAR. They released their 25th anniversary album Lust in Space on Metal Blade Records; they are currently on their 25th anniversary tour with Lamb of God and The Red Chord. ODERUS URUNGUS has become the “Interplanetary Correspondent” for Fox News Red Eye, and now ODERUS URUNGUS is featured in the latest issue of SPIN Magazine.

The feature in the November 2009 issue of SPIN Magazine takes place at the Slave Pit in Antarctica and it is entitled “In My Room”. GWAR’s warty front-thing takes an exuberant amount of pride in showing off his room and all of his unique possessions, including his dead dog “Pookie” who has been with him since the beginning as his lover and his pet.

Speaking of pets and more specifically dogs, ODERUS URUNGUS, BEEFCAKE THE MIGHTY and BALSAC THE JAWS OF DEATH served as celebrity judges in the 14th Annual Burton Snowboard Pet Costume Contest on October 27th in Burlington, VT.

"GWAR loves animals and underprivileged children, usually cooked, sometimes raw..." - Oderus Urungus

Unphased by success, GWAR continues on their course as “the people’s band”. Band members ODERUS URUNGUS, BEEFCAKE THE MIGHTY, and BALSAC THE JAWS OF DEATH are seen above judging the 14th Annual Burton Dog-Costume Show. The event is held every year to benefit CHILL, a charity group dedicated to giving underprivileged children a chance to try snowboarding and other winter sports.

Read More – GWAR Loves Animals and Underprivileged Children… Usually Cooked, Sometimes Raw