EVILE Frontman Discusses Lyrical Themes On 'Infected Nations' 
Matt Drake, frontman for British thrashers EVILE, recently took the time to discuss some of the lyrical themes from the band's upcoming album,"Infected Nations".
With a wider variety of topics such as modern society and classic science-fiction, "Infected Nations" sees EVILE taking the blueprints from their debut album, "Enter The Grave", and refining them into a more modern and ferocious beast.
The cover art for "Infected Nations" was created by Michael Whelan, famous for his sci-fi artworks along with classic album covers from such bands as SEPULTURA and OBITUARY.
EVILE frontman Matt Drake previously stated about the new CD: "When we did [2007's] 'Enter the Grave' two years ago, it was made up of songs we had been playing for a few years and some written in the excitement of actually getting to record an album. We were happy to just be making noise, but since then, we've learnt a few things and we're more interested in making music.
"EVILE fans can expect to hear a more mature offering, an album that concentrates on all aspects of what each member can do; it's a heck of a lot more focused, more satisfying and we're really proud of what we've achieved with it. Russ Russell has helped us to push ourselves to the next level and pull us out of the '80s. The whole retro thing has been cool but we feel it's time for us to leave that behind and stand up for ourselves and show people what we can really do, but fear not, it IS a thrash metal album, it is a 2009 thrash metal album, and we're dying to blow your minds with it."
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SONATA ARCTICA Lets Fans Design Cover Artwork Finnish melodic metalers SONATA ARCTICA have launched a fan contest where people can design the cover artwork for the upcoming promotional single to the song "Flag In The Ground".
Commented vocalist Tony Kakko: "Now here's your big chance to make an impact to the whole music industry! Or at least all SONATA fans! Create a cover for our promotional single and have your artwork printed on a cardboard for promotional use like radios, clubs etc.
"The song is called 'Flag In The Ground', which also going to be our video song. It's an uplifting story about a young couple fighting their way to freedom and their own land in North America back in early 1800s.
"Join the race, have fun, create us a cover art work and win! Do it today!
The winning artwork will be the cover of the "Flag In The Ground" promotional single. The winner will also get tickets to an upcoming SONATA ARCTICA show as well as an opportunity to meet the band. The second- and third-prize winners will get signed SONATA ARCTICA items.
The artwork can be sent to: SonataArctica@nuclearblast.de
Specs:
Format: JPG
Res: 300 dpi
Colours: RGB
Size: 20 x 20 cm
The deadline for this contest is August 10, 2009!
SONATA ARCTICA will release its new album, "The Days Of Grays", on September 18 in Europe and September 22 in North America through Nuclear Blast Records.
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Daughtry "Own This Town" With #1 Billboard DebutMJ and your astericks, move on over as Chris Daughtry and his crew move into the #1 spot on the Billboard charts. "Own This Town" sold more than 269,000 copies to land atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, according to numbers provided by Nielsen SoundScan, giving the former "American Idol" contestant another line on his already impressive résumé.
Daughtry more than doubled the sales of his closest competitor, Maxwell, whose BLACKsummers'night slipped to #2 with sales of more than 103,000 copies. The latest "Hannah Montana" soundtrack is next at #3, selling about 73,000 copies, followed by the Now That's What I Call Music! 31 compilation (69,000) and the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. (54,000).
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Stryper 25 YearsOn July 21, 2009 Christian heavy metal band - Stryper released their seventh studio album, Murder By Pride - a 12-track release that includes a cover of the Boston classic "Peace of Mind" and features a guest appearance by Boston guitarist and founder Tom Scholz.
July 21, 2009 also marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Stryper's debut album, The Yellow And Black Attack.
The band will be hitting the road for their 25th anniversary tour and will feature two sets - one of Stryper's newer material and will be performed with current bassist Tracy Ferrie, and a set of the classic material performing with original bassist Tim Gaines.
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Johnson Tired Of The Road Brian Johnson of AC/DC has told Classic Rock magazine that he is interested in retiring but the band won't let him.
“We were talking about the end of the tour and I said: ‘We’re finishing in May and that’s me done!’ But Malcolm [Young, rhythm guitarist] said: ‘What are you talkin’ about? We’re not gonna let you retire!’ And now they’re talking about next year. I’m going: ‘What do you mean next year? We’re finishing in May in Japan, I’ll be tired!’ And they said: ‘Well, we’ve been offered some festivals…’”
Johnson, 61, will publish his autobiography, Rockers and Rollers, in October.
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Silver Jackson New LPSilver Jackson is a Sitka star. His live audience shows him support not only with their applause, but also by participating in the music making. Nicholas Galanin is the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind Silver Jackson, and his stage performances include a rotation of various friends and other musicians. The cover art (below) is as endearing as the music and certainly worth checking out.
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Madonna Release
Madonna confirmed plans to release her definitive greatest hits compilation Celebration today, due September 29th as both a single and double album. As if the lure of 37 Top 10 hits wasn’t enough, Celebration will also feature a pair of new tracks she recently recorded in New York, including the collection’s first single “Celebration,” which was co-produced by house music legend Paul Oakenfold. Celebration’s cover was created by street pop artist Mr. Brainwash.
The songs on Celebration have all been remastered and selected by Madonna and her fans. They cover the expanse of the Material Girl’s extraordinary career of hits including “Everybody,” “Express Yourself,” “Vogue” and “4 Minutes.” “Celebration” will be available in a two-CD set as well as a single CD. There will also be a “Celebration” DVD released simultaneously which includes the video visionary’s best videos including several that have never before been available on DVD."
There are two new songs on the album. The first is a Paul Oakenfold collaboration that goes to radio on August 3rd called "Celebration". The Hits collection is out September 28 in the U.S.
Celebration is Madonna’s third greatest hits compilation and marks the last release under the Warner Music umbrella before the Material Girl leaves her career-spanning record company for a Live Nation 360 deal.
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Weezer Almost Done With Next Album Weezer have been doing anything but laying low. Having released their eponymously titled 'Red Album' last year, the group are "close to a wrap" on their 7th record - the color of which is yet undecided.
In a lengthy post on the Weezer website, the group writes, "The bands 7th album, title TBA, is pretty close to a wrap now (after a mild false alarm back in the spring), though there is some work yet remaining to be done. There have also been some other special Weezer studio recordings done recently."
Weezer don't elaborate on what those additional recordings could be, but they do drop hints about a "special non-physical release."
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Drivin' N' Cryin' Again Drivin' N' Cryin' will put out their first record in twelve years. Great American Bubble Factory will be released on September 29, 2009 on Vintage Earth Music with marketing and distribution provided by Thirty Tigers/RED.
"This record is the perfect crescendo to a long twenty-plus year career of the band. I think we've found the true essence of what we started to build back in 1985," says Kevn Kinney.
Drivin' N' Cryin' originally started recording demos for this album on September 10, 2001. After 9/11 the band abandoned the sessions after deciding the time wasn't right for their stories of blue-collar optimism. They returned to Sonica Studios in Atlanta earlier this year where the band produced the album in collaboration with Anton Fier, who produced their 1987 album Whisper Tames the Lion and James Barber, their ex-manager-turned-producer.
This record moves from the "Midwestern Blues" to the Flannery O'Connor South of "This Town" to the industrial grind of "Detroit City" to the optimistic anthem (and Dictators cover) "I Stand Tall" to the genuine pining for home in "I See Georgia."
The current DNC line up is: Kevn Kinney (guitar & vocals), Tim Nielsen (bass, mandolin & backing vocals), Mac Carter (guitar), Dave V. Johnson (drums, percussion & backing vocals). The band will be on tour throughout the fall, tour dates will be announced soon.
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Wolfmother Tour PlansWolfmother is back with sharpened chops, and the band will preview new material on the road this summer, including a run of shows with the Killers. The Sydney, Australia, rockers have joined on as the main support for six shows in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, where they'll unveil the songs they've spent months recording in L.A.
Fans in L.A. can experience the whole album set to mind-blowing visuals on July 27 at the Laserium CyberTheater at the historic Vine Theater in Hollywood. Wolfmother also plays August 22nd at KROQ's Epicenter '09 festival at the Fairplex at Pomona in California.
The Grammy-winning four-piece recently dropped teaser track "Back Round" on iTunes, MySpace.com/wolfmother and wolfmother.com. And the foot-stomping, fuzz-drenched song will soon challenge players of Activision's Guitar Hero 5. Wolfmother is also opening for AC/DC on its "Black Ice Tour," beginning in February in 2010. The down-under tour, featuring two groups of Sydney's finest sons, sold out faster than any in the Australia's history.
Led by hirsute shredder Andrew Stockdale, the band cooked Cosmic Egg for three years, taking time to lock in a permanent lineup and build on the self-titled album that gave the world the insta-classic track "Woman." They recorded over the course of two months with heralded UK producer Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers, My Bloody Valentine). His sweeping and storied career as an iconic record-maker coupled with Wolfmother's immortal song craft add up to nothing short of a rip in the time-space continuum. But each one of these face-melting tunes was written to be played live and loud.
Wolfmother plans to headline a U.S. tour after the album's release later this year.
Mon-Aug-31 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
Tue-Sep-01 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach
Wed-Sep-02 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Fri-Sep-04 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
Sat-Sep-05 Montreal, QC Quai Jacques Cartier
Sun-Sep-06 Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheater
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Black Sabbath NewsBlack Sabbath’s Tony Iommi—who’s currently in a legal battle with Ozzy Osbourne over the rights to the band’s name—has signed a deal to allow Next Films to use Black Sabbath as the name of a horror movie franchise, The Hollywood Reporter reports, adding that Iommi will score the film. Ironically, before the band’s name was trademarked, Ozzy and the boys took their moniker from the 1963 Mario Bava horror film Black Sabbath.
