Return To News Archive Main Menu

17th June

The Offspring UK Dates

The Offspring, who release a Greatest Hits package through Sony records on July 4th have announced details of two Uk shows that will take place in September. The band play Manchester Apollo on Sept 13th & London's Brixton Academy on Sept 16th.

The Greatest Hits package will contain the following tracks:

Can’t Repeat, Self Esteem, Come Out And Play (Keep ‘Em Separated), Gotta Get Away, All I Want, Gone Away, Pretty Fly (For A White Guy), Why Don't You Get A Job?, The Kids Aren't Alright, Original Prankster, Want You Bad, Defy You, Hit That, (Can’t Get My) Head Around You and a bonus remix of The Kids Aren’t Alright (Wise Guys Remix)

17th June

A Taste of Chaos In The UK

The confirmed dates for the tour are as follows:

Nov 6th - Manchester Apollo
Nov 8th - Birmingham NIA 8
Nov 9th - Glasgow SECC
Nov 10th - Brighton Centre 10
Nov 12th - Cardiff CIA Arena 12
Nov 14th - London Brixton Academy

17th June

Korn Return To UK

Korn, who are currently working on the follow up to their 2003 album 'Take A Look In The Mirror' have scheduled two UK gigs during August. The band will play Manchester Carling Apollo on August 23rd and the following day will be appearing at London's Hammersmith Apollo.

15th June

Skid Row Tour Dates

New Jersey rockers Skid Row have confirmed details of a September UK tour. The dates so far confirmed are as follows:

Sept 3rd - Nottingham Rock City
Sept 4th - Bristol Bierkeller
Sept 5th - Falmouth Princess Pavillion
Sept 7th - London Electric Ballroom
Sept 8th - Milton Keynes Woughton Centre
Sept 9th - Dudley JB's
Sept 10th - Bradford Rios

The September 3rd show at Nottingham Rock City will also feature Jeff Scott Soto on the bill.

Skid Row are currently in the process of recording a new album with produced Michael Wagener, the follow up to 2003 Thickskin, the first to feature singer Johnny Solinger.

15th June

Yet More Frontiers Updates

Frontiers Records is excited to reveal all details of one of the hottest new bands on the scene! Introducing The Mob, a new hard rock kicking machine masterminded by former Winger and Dokken and current Whitesnake guitarist Reb Beach together with his Whitesnake band mate Timothy Drury on keyboards, Doug Pinnick from King's X on vocals and bass and Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger on drums and vocals.

Together they are putting finishing touches on their self titled debut album recorded under the direction of none other than the amazing Kip Winger in Nashville. Kip did also contribute to the songwriting and the arrangements on the album. Reb Beach says "I brought Kip 120 ideas and he liked ten of them for the album". "I have been writing for two years", continues Reb and "I am extremely excited, there are hits and jam songs, lots of riff based rock with doubled guitars and big hooky choruses".

The final result is an amazing Hard Rock album which blends together the best of late Wwinger and Whitesnake songwriting approach with Night Ranger and early King's X sense of melody. Some of the songs recorded include "One Track Mind", "The Magic", "Love Will Carry On" and "Turn To Stone"

The album will be released worldwide on Frontiers Records in early 2006. More info: www.rebbeach.com

ZION

Former ALIAS singer Freddy Curci has resumed work on his ZION album project, adding more songs written together with guitar player Jason Hook (Vince Neil, ex Bulletboys). Freddy has been busy recording more stuff since he was so enthusiast of the new writing partnership with Jason. The new songs recorded include "Only Takes a Minute", "One Man Alone", "How Much Longer is Forever", "Heat of the Night" (the latter co-written by Freddy with Jim Vallance). Freddy looks set to finish all the new recordings by the end of the summer with a release re-scheduled for early 2006.

PLACE VENDOME

All recording of the brand new project album Place Vendome featuring former Helloween singer Michael Kiske together with Pink Cream 69 members Dennis Ward, Uwe Reitenauer, Kosta Zafiriou and Vanden Plas ivory tinkler Gunther Werno have been finally completed!

The songs recorded include (in no particular order): Right Here, Heaven's Door, I Will Be Gone, I Will Be Waiting, Magic Carpet Ride, The Setting Sun, Place Vendome, Too Late, Sign of the Times, Cross the Line

The release date in Europe has been set already on October 10th with Japanese release to be handled via Marquee / Avalon.

14th June

No Sooner Has...

14th June

Metal Hammer Hand Out Gongs

The Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards were handed outlast night at an event that took place at the Astoria in London.  Over 1000 metal fans attended the show, joined by around five hundred of the world's rock elite gathered together in a heaving, sweaty mess to celebrate the best music and best bands in heavy metal! The show included live performances from the likes of  Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine, Shadows Fall, Nightwish and the re-united classic line up of Anthrax

The  proud recipients of Golden Gods Awards celebrating after the show were:

Best UK Band: Lostprophets
Best Live Band: Slipknot
Best International Band: The Used
Best Underground Band: Meshuggah/Mastodon
Best Metal Record Label: Roadrunner
Incoming Award For Best Newcomer: Nightwish
Best Video: My Chemical Romance 'Helena'
Riff Lord Award: Zakk Wylde
Shredder Award: Herman Li, Dragonforce
Best Metal Band: Anthrax
Best album: Judas Priest 'Angel Of Retribution'
Icon Award: Ville Valo
The Spirit Of Hammer: Black Sabbath
The Golden God Award: Lemmy

You can check out more info on the event at www.metalhammer.co.uk

14th June

The Darkness Net New Bassist

Just weeks after basist Frankie Poullain departed the band, The Darkness have announced, via their website, details of his replacement. The vacant four string position has gone to Richie Edwards who, until now, has been guitarist Dan Hawkins' tech.

Frontman Justin Hawkins commented on the decision to recruit Edwards:  "Richie's a good laugh and he's really good at playing bass, and at this stage that's all that matters."

13th June

Dream Theater UK Dates

Dream Theater have announced details of a series of European shows during September & October. As part of this trek the band will be playing two nights in London The details of these shows is as follows::

Oct 24 - London Hammersmith Apollo
Oct 25 - London Hammersmith Apollo

The band have stated that the second set of the second night, October 25th, will be a classic album covered in its entirety.

13th June

Arch Enemy

Arch Enemy will release their new album, entitled 'Doomsday Machine' through Century Media Records. The album, whichwas co-produced by the band with Rickard Bengtsson  and was mixed by Andy Sneap will be in stores from July 25th and feature the following track listing:

Enter the Machine (intro), Skeleton Dance, My Apocalypse, Carry the Cross, I Am Legend/Out for Blood, Mechanic God Creation, Machtkampf, Slaves of Yesterday, We Are One, Taking Back My Soul, Opium and Hybrids of Steel

In related new Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott will take time out from the band to concentrate full on his studies in Sweden. Amott has completed his guitar parts for the upcoming Doomsday Machine album but will not be a part of Arch Enemy’s touring line-up for the foreseeable future.
Sharing guitar duties with Michael Amott  for live shows over the next few months, including the band stint on the Ozzfest in the US will be Firewind/Nightrage six stringer Gus G.

Micahel Amott goes on to comment on the new album saying that Doomsday Machine is probably the most intense and interesting piece of work that Arch Enemy have assembled in their career as a band... it’s such a big step up for us – on every level. I am excited about the songs, the production and overall ÜBER-METAL feel of this new album!!! It’s definitely been worth all the hard work!

11th June

Double Cross To Support Styx

13th June - Nottingham Rock City
15th June - Glasgow Clyde Auditorium
16th June - Birmingham Symphony Hall
17th June - Manchester Manchester Apollo
18th June - London Hammersmith Apollo
19th June - Bristol Colston Hall

10th June

Waysted On The Road

Waysted, the band featuring UFO bassist Pete Way, have lined up a string of UK dates during September. The shows confirmed so far are:

Sept 9th - Hednesford The Tackeroo
Sept 10th - Paignton The Half Moon
Sept 11th - Bristol The Bierkeller
Sept 12th - Dudley JB's - Dudley
Sept 14th - Milton Keynes Woughton Centre
Sept 15th - Birkenhead Hotel California
Sept 16th - Nuneaton Kingswood Tavern
Sept 18th - Leeds New Roscoe
Sept 20th - Newcastle The Archer
Sept 21st - Glasgow The Barfly
Sept 22nd - Sheffield The Boardwalk
Sept 23rd - London Mean Fiddler

The band are touring in support of their comeback album , 'Back From The Dead', released last year through Majestic Rock Records

10th June

Snakeryder In The Studio

New Jersey band Snakeryder are back in the studio recording tracks for what will be the bands second album. Currently scheduled for a late 2005 release through Z Records, the album, which will be titled 'back For The Kill' is likely to feature the following tracks:

Back For The Kill, Hard Life, Sweet Desire, Wake Up The Nation, You Never Knew Me, Can’t Stop The Insanity, Money On Her Mind, Break Out, Love Steals & Shot Gun

AJ Fedz

You can check out a HardRockHouse.Com interview with guitarist & vocalist via this link and read a review of the bands self titled debut album by clicking here

10th June

The Return Of Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi have confirmed details of their new, as yet untitled album, which is scheduled to be released on September 19th. Songs set for inclusion on the album are as follows:

Have A Nice Daye, I Wanna Be Loved, Welcome To Wherever You Are, Who Says You Can't Go Home?, Last Man Standing, Bells Of Freedom, Wildfowers, One Last Cigarette, I Am, Complicated, Novocaine and Story of My Life.

The album will be preceded by a single in the shape of 'Have A Nice Day', a track co-written by Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora and John Shanks with production duties undertaken by the same triumverate. 'Have A Nice Day' is scheduled to hit radio stations in mid-July.

10th June

Frontiers Records Update (Press Release)

Frontiers Records, in conjunction with Muse Wrapped Records, is proud to introduce Xcarnation, a studio project masterminded by Cenk Eroglu, a Turkish guitarist who released his first solo album in the year 1991. From then on, he has produced many albums in Turkey and became renowned as a composer, guitarist, arranger and producer.

After his second solo album was released in the year 1996, he began to work on a new project which was aimed at an integration of heavy rock and electronic sounds into a synthesis of Eastern and Western music. The materialization of this new sound covered a long period of time during which he met first Pat Mastellotto  and then Kip Winger  who, together with Rod Morgenstein, Reb Beach  and many ethnic instrument players, made their artistic contributions to the songs in the Xcarnation album.

The resulting album entitled "Grounded" is a shockingly good musical experience blending such diverse influences in nothing else than a milestone in modern progressive rock music!

"Grounded" features songs completely written, sung, arranged and engineered by Cenk Eroglu, and will be released to the world market on Frontiers Records on September 19th 2005. The US release will be handled via Muse Wrapped Records at the same time.

The album final track listing includes the following songs: Personal Antichrist; Everlasting ; Without You; Desperately Sad; Reason To Believe; Lucky Day; Take A Deep Breath; Willing To Wait; Coma White; Pictures.

ALLEN / LANDE

Frontiers Records are pleased to present the original art painted by the legendary designer Rodney Matthews  for the upcoming and highly anticipated studio project between Symphony X 's Russell Alen and Masterplan's Jorn Lande.

The album will be unleashed on the world markets on September 19th 2004. .

WETTON / DOWNES

Geoffrey Downes and John Wetton have already started the work for a second Icon album. The recording and release are currently planned for 2006 but in the meanwhile the two British artists will be busy promoting the upcoming EP "Heat of the Moment 05" to be released in Europe on Frontiers Records on August 29th and are planning a European tour during November and December 2005.

You can check out the HardRockHouse.com review of the first Icon album via this link

ROYAL HUNT

Hot on the heels of the successful European release on June 6th of the new album "Paper Blood" keyboard player and songwriter Andre Andersen gives us and insightful look into the songs included on the record:

Break Your Chains is about freedom of choice - to live your life or pretend you're living it, to dare to actually do things instead of dreaming of them, to take that first step which may change your life and leave all your fears behind. Orchestral intro runs into a W-kick ride... quite an energetic opener.

Not My Kind is dedicated to a person I can't stand. We all know that kind - pretending to be your friend, hanging around you all the time and winning your trust until that one day - and you're finding yourself stabbed in the back in cold blood. I should know, I'm in the music business. Dark, heavy riffing with some huge harmonies on top.

Memory Lane is like a nostalgic trip, when you're looking at some old pictures while sitting in front of a fireplace with a bottle of wine... remembering faces and places…

Never Give Up was the first one I wrote for this album. It's about that rather uncertain situation John and I was in at the time - half of the band was gone, the tour ´s got cancelled and we weren't sure if we could pull it off again. But than that "second breath" kicked in - we became like : "Screw it, this is not putting us down!". And here we are, a year later. This is a typical RH song - uptempo, a lot of mood swings. John's amazing here - the highs, the lows... it's all there.

Seven Days is a sarcastic look/comment on religion and the exploration of it. G-D creates The World in seven days, promises those seven signs before he'll take it away again etc... And than where's a TV preacher giving you Paradise for a buck, another "Men of Some-Other G-D" gives you the same for blowing somebody up, and yet another one will give you Paradise in heaven for living in Hell on earth... The song goes from up-close and relaxed to the full tilt and everything in between. Marcus is great on this one, very articulated.

SK983 - Well, I was on my way to Japan (on a SAS flight SK 983) to do a couple of keyboard clinics and I wanted to play something new besides all that stuff that I usually play on those events. So I basically wrote the whole thing on a napkin during that 11 hours flight! Thanks to stewardess Patricia for bringing me all that Jack Daniels as well as.....well, inspiration.

Kiss Of Faith - unfortunate kid, growing up in a dysfunctional family, wrong side of town, no means, no future - but hopes. Some of those kids can get lucky and break away from it to a better life, but they need a lot of will, a lot of faith. I gave this one a bit of the "country color" to make it more storyteller-like.

Paper Blood is about what's our life become - greed's running the show, it's in our veins. All and everybody's measured in "gold"... and we're getting more and more used to it. People are killing people to sell their hearts or lungs - I mean, how more creepy can it get? Musically more on the "traditional metal" side, but with a twist.

Season´s Change - "aftershocks" after a long relationship is over. You walk around, trying to figure out what went wrong but it just did - and where's no way to undo it. John sounds unreal on this ballad.

Twice Around The World has a lot of variety - rhythm, key, sound, feel... It's almost like traveling around the world - every place has its "vibe"... But after recording this song (which is quite long) I felt like I did it... well, twice. My favorite solo from Marcus on this one.

10th June

Power Quest On The Radio

Power Quest celebrate the imminent European release of the `Magic Never Dies` album by appearing as special guests in a live, hour long show on ARfm with host Steve Price. The show will be broadcast live at 6.00 pm UK time on Sunday June 26th and is playfully being billed as `The Three Steve’s show`. Keyboardist and main songwriter Steve Williams and bassist Steve Scott will talk about the new album, play tracks from it and give away some copies as prizes in an on-air competition.

ARfm is available in the UK on Sky`s digital platform Channel 913, In Europe through the Eurobird 1 satellite and in the rest of the world via webstreams at www.arfm.co.uk

Steve Williams and Steve Scott will also be guests on Zed`s Psycholopedia of Rock on Total Rock Radio on June 17th between 9pm and midnight. Tune in live at www.totalrock.com.

Magic Never Dies is released via Majestic Rock records on July 4th and features the following track listing:

Ascension (Intro), Find my Heaven, Galaxies Unknown, Hold on to Love, Diamond Sky, The Message, Soulfire, Children of the Dream, Strike Force, Another World and Magic Never Dies

10th June

Anthrax Line Up Another UK Show

The reunited classic line up of Anthrax, featuring Joey Belladonna, Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Dan Spitz & Frank Bello have line up a one of UK club date as part of their current run of European shows. The band will play The Zodiac in Oxford on 14th July.

10th June

Machine Head - Elegies DVD

Machine Head will release a new DVD, entitled 'Elegies' through Roadrunner Records on August 15th. Featuring live material recorded at Brixton Academy the DVD will have the following track listing:

Intro, Imperium, Seasons Wither, Bulldozer, Old, Days Turn Blue to Gray, The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears, Ten Ton Hammer, The Burning Red, In the Presence of My Enemies, Take My Scars, Descend the Shades of Night, Davidian, Covers Medley and Block

The DVD will also feature three short documentary features interspersed with the live tracks. These three additions to the DVD are:

The making of the "Through the Ashes of Empires" album
The making of both videos shot during the "Through the Ashes..." album cycle ("Imperium" and "Days Turn Blue to Gray")
Behind-the-scenes tour footage

10th June

Bullet For My Valentine - October UK Tour

Welsh quartet Bullet For My Valentine have lined up a further UK tour for October this year. The confirmed dates for the trek are:

18th Oct  - Cardiff Coal Exchange
19th Oct - Wolverhampton Wulfrun
20th Oct - London Astoria
24th Oct - Manchester Academy
25th Oct - Nottingham Rock City

the band are currently touring the UK as support for Funeral For A Friend

9th June

H.I.M Announce One-Off UK Gig

Finnish gothic rockers H.I.M will play a one off UK gig at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on September 19th as they gear up for the release of their new album Dark Light.

Songs for the new album are currently being mixed at  New York's Electric Lady studios with producer Tim Palmer at the helm. Vocalist Ville Valo says the band was inspired by the works of film composer Angelo Badalamenti. "Our approach on 'Dark Light' was to work on key words to make the music more cinematic, epic, and close to the listeners," he has told American website Billboard.com.

"Dark Light" continues the lush, melodramatic mix of goth, rock and pop that marked albums like 2003's "Love Metal." Songs like possible first single "Killing Loneliness" and "Under the Rose" expand on that signature sound, which Valo says has always been based on Scandinavian melancholy.

The title track is a power ballad, while "Behind the Crimson Door" is a driving song with the refrain "your love will be the death of me." Other songs set for inclusion on the album include "Face of God," "Wings of a Butterfly" and "Drunk on Shadows."
 

9th June

Nightwish

Keeping things Finnish, Nightwish have also confirmed details of a one off UK show in London. This time the gig will take place at the Hammersmith Apollo on September 25th

8th June

Melodic Rock Christmas Bash

Sacred Heart Promotions, Ruskin Arms & www.getreadytorock.com have announced details of the 2005 Melodic Rock Bash to be held on Sunday 4th December 2005 at the Ruskin Arms, East Ham in London. Confirmed bands on the bill for the all day event are:

Pride
Lost Weekend
Double Cross
Sacred Heart
The Dregs Of Society
Escape

The event will also include give-aways, raffle, rock CD shop/stall & a couple of special guests!

Tickets will be priced at £8 in advance or £10 on the door and are available to over 18s only. Details on how to purchase tickets will be available in the near future

8th June

Obituary, 'Frozen In Time'

Some eighteen years since the band went on indefinite hiatus Florida death metal pioneers, Obituary release their comeback album ' Frozen In Time, through Roadrunner Records on July 18th.

Obituary, who feature guitarists Allen West & Trever Peres, bassist Frank Watkins, drummer Donald Tardy and vocalist John Tardy recorded the CD at Morrissound Studios in Tampa Florida with producers Scott Burns & Mark Prator and the album will feature the following track listing:

Redneck Stomp, On the Floor, Insane, Blindsided, Back Inside, Mindset, Stand Alone, Slow Death, Denied & Lockjaw

8th June

Soulfly

Soulfly have finalised the track listing for their upcoming new album, due through Roadrunner Records in September. The fifteen new songs that will feature on the album, which will entitled 'Dark Ages' will be as follows:

The Dark Ages, Babylon, I And I, Carved Inside, Arise Again, Frontlines, Inner Spirit, Corrosion Creeps, Molotov, Riot Starter, Bleak, (The) March, Fuel The Hate, Stay Strong and Soulfly V

8th June

Antiproduct Not Going To The Ball

Antiproduct have been forced to pull ot of their sheduled appearance at this years Demolition Ball due to take place at newcastle telewest Arena on June 26th. In a statement on the bands website frontman A Product had the following to say about the decision:

"Due to circumstances beyond the band's control, AntiProduct have had to pull out of the Newcastle Telewest Arena gig on June 26th....  The band would like to apologise for the inconvenience and A. Product promises, "We will make it up to you, our adopted home of Geordanians. See you real soon for partying the way only we understand!"

The Demolition Ball still sees appearances however from Sebastian Bach, Y&T, Tygertailz & Electric Eel Shock amongst others. Click on the advert in the right column of this page for full details, including how to purchase tickets for the event

8th June

Marillion Return To The UK

Marillion have line up three UK live shows during November & December as they continue to support their latest album 'Marbles'. The confirmed shows are:

Nov 17th - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Nov 20th - Manchester Academy
Dec 05th - London Forum

8th June

Scorpions To Release Live DVD

The Scorpions are to release a live DVD recorded on their current 'Unbreakable' world tour. The DVD, entitled 'Unbreakable World Tour 2004: One Night in Vienna', is currently scheduled to be released on June 27th and will feature the following track listing:

New Generation, Love 'Em Or Leave 'Em, Bad Boys Running Wild, The Zoo, Deep And Dark, Coast To Coast, Holiday, Through My Eyes, Blackout, Blood Too Hot, Big City Nights, Still Loving You, Wind Of Change, Rock You Like A Hurricane, A German Rock Legend and Remember The Good Times

Also featured on the disc will be usual DVD extras including a bonus documentary feature covering the bands entire career.

Further details can be found via www.the-scorpions.com/english/

7th June

Steve Vai Returns To The UK

Oct 19th - London Hammersmith Apollo
Oct 20th - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Oct 21st - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Oct 22nd - Newcastle City Hall
Oct 23rd - Nottingham Royal Centre
Oct 24th - Manchester Apollo

7th June

Bloodstock Open Air

With a little over a fortnight to go to the inaugural Bloodstock Open Air Festival to be held at Catton Hall in Derbyshire, the set times of all of the bands confirmed for the event have been announced.

The running order for Friday 24th June is as follows: Gates Open 3pm Panic Cell - 4.30pm-5.00pm Gotthard - 5.30pm-6.15pm Breed 77 - 6.45pm-7.30pm Mostly Autumn - 8.00pm-9.00pm Sebastian Bach - 9.30pm-11.00pm Saturday 25th June sees the following running order taking place: Gates Open - 10.30am Fourwaykill - 12.30pm-1.10pm Humanity - 1.40pm-2.15pm Masterplan - 2.45pm-3.45pm Evergrey - 4.15pm-5.15pm Edguy - 5.45pm-6.45pm Paradise Lost - 7.30pm-8.45pm Children Of Bodom -9.30pm-11.00pm

For those traveling to the gig either by coach or by train , then it is recommended that you take any mainline route into Birmingham New Street Station and from there out to Lichfield City (about a 30 minute journey), where the Bloodstock organisers are offering  a shuttle service for a small fee to the venue between 9am and 2pm both days  A B-O-A representative on behalf of the shuttle company Dial-A-Bus will be outside the station. Also they will take details as to whether you are returning to Lichfield the same day - or returning on Sunday morning after vacating the campsite.

The first return shuttle will leave the venue at 10.30pm each evening allowing those of you to catch the last trains to Birmingham at 23.13pm. So please be sure to be at the pick up point at 10.30pm.

Tickets for the gig are still available and details on purchasing tickets can be found via the festival's website at  www.bloodstockopenair.com

6th June

Change Of Support Act For Sebastian Bach

6th June

Jeff Scott Soto Adds Two New Dates To UK Tour

Jeff Scott Soto has confirmed details of two new shows on his upcoming  UK tour due to take place in September this year. The first gig will take place at Newcastle Trillians on Tuesday 6th September with support coming from local band The Divide Issue. The second new gig has been confirmed for  Saturday 24th September at The Empire in Belfast. Support  for the Belfast show will come from Brighton rockers Pride.

The full UK leg of Soto's 2005 European tour now runs as follows:

Sept 1st - London Camden Underworld
Sept 2nd - Birmingham The Shed
Sept 3rd - Nottingham Rock City
Sept 4th - Manchester The Witchwood
Sept 6th - Newcastle Upon Tyne Trillians
Sept 24th - Belfast Empire

Tickets for the Belfast show, priced at £10 + booking fee from Ticketmaster, whilst tickets for the Newcastle show will alos be priced at £10 and will be available direct from the venue itself. Check out www.trilliansrockbar.com for contact details

Further details on the dates and details of how to obtain tickets can be found via www.jeffscottsoto.com or at www.hillockproductions.com/jssbsummer2005tourdates.htm

6th June

Billy Corgan

Billy Corgan, ex lead vocalist with The Smashing Pumpkins & Zwan releases his debut solo album, ‘The Future Embrace’, on June 20th through Warner Brothers. Featuring eleven new songs by Corgan, plus a remarkable interpretation of The Bee Gees classic ‘To Love Somebody’ that features The Cure’s Robert Smith, ‘TheFutureEmbrace’ is an album of formidable talent and vision. Other highlights include the first song that kick-started the direction of the album ‘All Things Change’, the gothic vibe of ‘DIA’, which features Corgan’s former Pumpkins cohort Jimmy Chamberlin and the Bowie-influenced ‘Pretty Pretty Star.’

'The Future Embrace' features the following track listing:

All Things Change, Mina Loy (M. O. H), The Camera Eye, To Love Somebody, A100, DIA, Now (And Then), I'm Ready, Walking Shade, Sorrows (In Blue), Pretty, Pretty Star and Strayz

Corgan plays two UK shows at The Forum in London on 15th & 16th June and a gig at The Ambassador in Dublin on June 17th

6th June

Funeral For A Friend New Album & Tour

June 22nd - Dublin Ambassador
June 23rd - Belfast Mandella Hall
June 24th - Glasgow Barrowland
June 26th - Newcastle Northumbria Uni
June 27th - Norwich UEA
June 28th - London Astoria
June 30th - Leeds University
July 01st - Cambridge Corn Exchange
July 03rd - Folkestone Leas Cliff Hill
July 04th - Sheffield Octagon
July 05th - Southampton Guildhall
July 06th - Nottingham Rock City
July 08th - Manchester Academy
July 09th - Birmingham Academy
July 10th - Cardiff University

Hours, which was produced by Terry Date (Pantera, Soundgarden) features the following track listing:

It's All The Rage, Streetcar, Roses For The Dead, Hospitality, Drive On, Monsters Ball, History, Absence, End Of Nothing, Alvarez and Sonny

Limited edition copies of the album come complete with a DVD that features a documentary featuring interviews with the band and fans at their Alexandra Palace show with live performances from the gig.

4th June

Feeder To Support War Child

Somewhere around the world a child dies as a direct result of conflict every 3 minutes. Makes you think: that's the length of the new single by British band  Feeder single 'Pushing The Senses'.

Feeder collaborate for the second time with the charity War Child with a cover of the REM classic "Everybody Hurts". War Child publishes a report "Your war is not with me" on 4th June 2005. This report amplifies the concerns, worries, fears but also hopes of children in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia * three countries that have sited barbaric conflicts over the last fifteen years. Feeder's cover version of REM's 'Everybody Hurts' exclusively recorded for War Child makes for a beautiful soundtrack to this report. click here for more on the report

'Everybody Hurts' will be made available for download from www.warchildmusic.com from early July for 99p. War Child receives around 70 pence of that to continue its work with children affected by conflict. In the meantime, 'Everybody Hurts' soundtracks a short documentary shot in the field by War Child. This is available as a stream from www.warchildmusic.com from 4th June.

Feeder will release their own new single, in the shape of the the title track to latest album  "Pushing The Senses", on 27th June! The single will feature two brand new tracks - 'I For You' and 'Crowd Of Stars'. Plus! It will also feature the winning U-Myx track "Squeaky Clean U-Myx" by Pete Lavelle

4th June

Disturbed

Disturbed have almost completed work on their their third, as yet untitled album which is tentatively penciled in for release in middle to late September.  Once the album is out the band hope undertake a short European tour in October of this year.

4th June

Black Majesty

Black Majesty to support Hammerfall and Edguy at Plzen Czech Republic Open Air!

Australian melodic power metal band Black Majesty have just been added to the Plzen Czech Republic Open Air show on Saturday 16th July 2005 as support to Hammerfall and Edguy. On a whirlwind promo trip to Europe to promote
their new album Silent Company thru the media Black Majesty have added select dates to co-incide with the visit to launch the new album.

Confirmed Black Majesty European dates include :

* July 8 Headbangers Open Air Festival, Brande Hörnerkirchen, Germany

* July 10 Headbangers Ballroom, Open Air After Party, Hamburg, Germany

* July 14 Hells Bells, Prague, Czech Republic

* July 15 Club Kain, Prague, Czech Republic

* July 16 Open Air Plzen Czech Republic

Black Majesty will release their new album Silent Company through their label Limb Music Products on June 27th. Checkout www.blackmajesty.com for a sneak look at the album art work again illustrated by the mighty Dirk Illing!

3rd June

Dragonforce Line Up UK Tour

The six headed rock beast that is the London based yet multinational comprised Dragonforce will tour the UK in September 2005.

In contrast to their summer schedule, which sees the band playing several of mainland Europe’s largest festivals, as well as a batch of stadium shows as special guests of Iron Maiden, the tour was set up with the intention of including a number of smaller, out of the way towns and venues and effectively sees the band taking their music to the kids. As guitarist Herman Li puts it:-

"On our last headlining tour we played mostly major cities. We were aware through the Forum on our website and from speaking to the fans after we had played each show that many of them were traveling a fuck of a long way to get there, some of them even flying! We didn't think this was fair as it costs them a fortune, so we decided on this tour that as far as possible we would take the band to them."

Sponsored by Metal Hammer and incorporating three small weekly London shows at The Barfly in Camden, the full list of dates (including ticket hotline nos.) for what has been dubbed the ’Meet The Sonic Firestorm’ tour is as follows:-

Sept 13th - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
Sept 14th - Cardiff University
Sept 15th - London Barfly
Sept 17th - Leeds Cockpit
Sept 18th - Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
Sept 19th - Aberdeen Moshulu
Sept 20th - Liverpool Academy
Sept 22nd - London Barfly
Sept 24th - Oxford Zodiac
Sept 25th - Cambridge Junction
Sept 26th - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Sept 27th - Exeter St.George’s Hall
Sept 29th - London Barfly
Sept 30th - Leicester Charlotte

Dragonforce is powered by the twin guitar assaults of Herman Li (born in Hong Kong) and Sam Totman (English), singer Z.P. Theart (South African), Vadim Pruzhanov (Ukrainian) on keyboards, plus two more Brits in bassist Adrian Lambert and drummer David Mackintosh. The sound of the group is a rare combination of various metal and hard rock styles, although the sonic fury they conjure up in no way hides their greatest strength....songwriting ability. The release of their debut album Valley Of The Damned in 2003 saw the group tour Europe, South East Asia and the Far East. A swift follow-up, Sonic Firestorm, was issued in the spring of 2004; buoyed by massive critical acclaim throughout the rock press, its release saw the band launch into a sustained period of activity that included a European tour with WASP and a first full UK headlining tour that saw most venues sold out. The band will record their third album later this year for release in early 2006.

You can check out the HardRockHouse.com review of Sonic Firestorm via this link

3rd June

The Return Of Ellefson

Former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson returns to the rock and roll fray with his new band F5. The band, which also features vocalist Dale Steele,  guitarists Steve Conley and John Davis and drummer David Small, are set to release their debut album 'A Drug For All Season' through Mascot records in August.

F% are describers as a powerful, heavy band that combine hooks, melodies and undeniable musicianship found only in the most seasoned groups. Ellefson goes on to state that , “F5 is a band, not my solo project. We have an undeniable chemistry and the creative process is unbelievable. I’m very proud of this group and the players in it. I think you will be too.”
 

A Drug For All Seasons will contain the following tracks

Faded, Dissidence, Fall to Me, A Drug for All Seasons, Bleeding, What I Am, Dying on the Vine, Hold Me Down, Defacing, X'd Out, Look You in the Eyes and Forte Sonata

3rd June

DevilDriver Prepare To Unleash The Fury

DevilDriver, the band featuring former Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara, are all set to release their sophomore album, The Fury Of Our Makers Hands'.  Produced by Colin Richardson the album is currently scheduled to hit the shops on June 27th through Roadrunner Records.

The full track listing of 'The Fury Of Our Makers Hands' is as follows:

End of the Line, Driving Down the Darkness, Grinfucked, Hold Back the Day, Sin & Sacrifice, Ripped Apart, Pale Horse Apocalypse, Just Run, Impending Disaster, Bear Witness Unto, Before the Hangman's Noose and The Fury of Our Maker's Hand

To celebrate the release of the album Roadrunner are running a series of nationwide club nights providing an opportunity to listen to the whole album as well as giving away swag, including posters and stickers.

The dates for the club nights are as follows:

Thursday 17th June - · Birmingham “Kerrang Club” @Subway City

Thursday 23rd June · Nottingham Rock City

Friday 24th June · London “Rock” @Mean Fiddler
Swansea “Face Off” @Escape

Saturday 25th June · Edinburgh “Mission” @Studio 24
Newcastle “Rock” @The Arena
Liverpool “K2” @The Krazy House
Manchester @Jilly's Rock World

2nd June

Twisted Sister Cancel Appearance At Demolition Ball

Twisted Sister have cancelled their scheduled appearance at the Demolition Ball that takes place on Sunday 26th June at Newcastle's Metro radio Arena. A statement from the show's promoters, Demolition Records has the following to say about the decision:

"It’s with great regret that we have to advise you that TWISTED SISTER have had to pull out of this years DEMOLITION BALL. Scheduling difficulties to fly the band from their German show the previous night (Saturday), in time to perform at the DEMOLITION BALL have unfortunately proved impossible to resolve. We, and the band have tried every possible way to make this happen, but to no avail.

The band will however be playing the NEWCASTLE METRO ARENA on November 13th as Special Guest to ALICE COOPER, so you won’t have to wait long to see this mighty band play Newcastle.

After pondering a while on what to do, we feel the right move is to continue on with the show, so that is exactly what we will do!!

We hope you all feel it’s still a great bill with bands like SEBASTIAN BACH, Y&T, ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK, MANTAS and TIGERTAILZ plus many more bands playing for your enjoyment..  However, if you feel the show isn’t for you, please just drop us a line and we’ll give you a full refund."

You can check out full details on the Demolition Ball by clicking on the flyer in the left hand column of this page.

2nd June

The Lizards To Tour U.S. With  UFO

Hard Rockers The Lizards, hot off the heels of a recent European tour with Ian Hunter and UFO, will be performing a series of gigs in the U.S. with legendary metal outfit UFO. The dates and venues are as followed:

SUMMER 2005 - USA
Tues July 5th - Farmingdale - NY - The Downtown
Wed July 6th - NY - BB Kings
Thurs July 7th - Hampton Beach - NH - Casino
Fri July 8th - Baltimore - MD - House Of Rock
Sat July 9th - Philadelphia - PA - The Trocadero
Tues July 12th - Cleveland - OH - House Of Blues
Weds July 13th - Pittsburgh - PA - Rex Theater
Thurs July 14th - Milwaukee - WI - Shank Hall
Mon July 18th- Chicago - IL - House Of Blues
Tues July 19th - Chicago - IL - House Of Blues

The Lizards, featuring Bobby Rondinelli (BOC/Rainbow/Sabbath) and Mike DiMeo (Riot), will be performing at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10, and will be playing selections from their latest release Cold Blooded Kings (which recently received a 4 star review in Classic Rock magazine.) The band will also be appearing with hard rock legends Mountain at B.B.Kings June 29.

For more information: www.thelizardswebsite.com

Press Inquiries: Glass Onyon PR
Ph: 910-395-8265
E-Mail: antbee0@cs.com

2nd June

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper will release his latest album, 'Dirty Diamonds', through Spitfire Records on July 4th. Production duties on Dirty Diamonds were handled by  Steve Lindsey and the album is said to continue in the same musical vein as Cooper's last studio album, 'The Eyes of Alice Cooper.

The track listing for the album is as follows:

Woman Of Mass Distraction, You Make Me Wanna, Perfect, Dirty Diamonds, Pretty Ballerina, Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies), Zombie Dance, The Saga Of Jesse Jane, Six Hours, Steal That Car, Run Down The Devil, Your Own Worst Enemy and The Sharpest Pain

As has been previously announced Cooper hits UK shows for a comprehensive tour in November, supported by Twisted Sister. The confirmed dates for the trek are:

05th Nov - Brighton Centre
06th Nov - London Wembley Arena
07th Nov - Cardiff CIA
09th Nov - Birmingham NEC
10th Nov - Manchester MEN
12th Nov - Glasgow Clyde Autitorium
13th Nov - Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
15th Nov - Sheffield Hallam Arena
16th Nov - Nottingham Arena
17th Nov - Bournemouth BIC

2nd June

Iommi/Hughes Get Fused

Tony Iommi, the legendary Black Sabbath guitarist, will release his new album, "Fused", on July 12th, 2005, via Sanctuary Records. This will be Iommi's third solo album. Joining Iommi on "Fused" is former Deep Purple vocalist/bass guitarist Glenn Hughes and former John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff, who has also played sessions with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and countless others. The trio will hit the road to promote "Fused" later this year after Black Sabbath finishes headlining the 10th anniversary Ozzfest tour.

Iommi has worked with both Hughes and Aronoff in the past. Hughes is a longtime friend who sang on the 1986 Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi album, Seventh Star. In 2004, previously unreleased songs they had collaborated on eight years earlier were completed and released by Sanctuary as The 1996 DEP Sessions. Aronoff played drums on the song "Black Oblivion" on Iommi's self-titled 2000 solo album, which was loaded with all-star guest appearances. "Fused" was produced by Bob Marlette, who also manned the studio boards for Iommi.

"I put some ideas for four or five tracks down about three years ago, but I hadn't written them specifically with Glenn in mind," Iommi says. "After The 1996 DEP Sessions was finished last year, I said to my manager that I should try Glenn on my solo album. Glenn came over to England and we did a trial run writing more material and it was unbelievable. His enthusiasm is amazing. He is so full of energy and great song ideas."

"The ideal thing for me is to work with collaborators. I can come in with riffs until the cows come home, and I do that all the time. I like to do it that way and then build the song with somebody else." Iommi and Hughes tend to write quickly when they settle in. Once the basic song ideas were written for this new album, Hughes worked on overall melodies and lyrics. The songs were in place, but a drummer was needed to tie it all together. Iommi was eager to work with Aronoff again and had him in mind from the beginning. The highly respected skins-basher was thrilled about the invitation, especially when Iommi said he wanted to tour to promote "Fused".

"I definitely knew that for my next album I wasn't going to use a lot special guests again. I wanted to use just one singer, and I also wanted it to be more like a band this time. The idea was to go into the studio with Glenn and Kenny play everything live. It was great. I really enjoyed doing it that way," says Iommi. "That was the original way you used to record, and that was the only way I knew how to record for a long time. Only a few years ago did I start recording the other way, by building up and layering tracks. By playing live in the studio, you can hear exactly how the songs are going to sound and whether they work."

These new songs most definitely work, and they rage with the same fire and intensity that mark Iommi's best. There is nothing quite like the sound of a power trio, because there can be no weak links -- each musician's efforts stand out. There is no place to hide. Iommi, Hughes and Aronoff feed off each other, whether it's the concise punch of "Dopamine" and "What You're Living For" or the fluid twists and turns in the nine-minute epic "I Go Insane."

Iommi's lethal guitar crunch leads the charge. Hughes truly pushes himself to the edge and adjusts his voice to fit the overall direction of each song while simultaneously propelling the rhythm with his pounding bass guitar. The volcanic thunder Aronoff unleashes from his drums sounds like nothing he has done before. Marlette's sparkling, crisp production results in a hard-hitting, modern, in-your-face sound.

"Bob is a fantastic producer. He also played a few keyboard parts on this album because he wanted to get his hands in there!" laughs Iommi. Marlette's major role as the producer was to provide that extra, objective pair of ears and determine when a song was finished. He also judged Iommi's solos and usually found what he looking for after four or five takes. However, Iommi often wanted to lay down more solos with the purpose of topping himself with each pass.

"I tend to keep trying solos until I get to where I say, 'Oh yeah, I really like that one.' It's not often I say that, but you're always trying to get that one you're happy with," he says. "Sometimes it is difficult working with a producer when you have been a producer yourself, but it's good to compare ideas. To get the best end result you do whatever it takes."

Iommi's excitement about "Fused" is at a fever pitch and he cannot wait to tour with Hughes and Aronoff. "In addition to playing material from this album, we'll probably do a couple of tracks from The 1996 DEP Sessions and a few Sabbath songs too," he says

The track listing for Fused is as follows:

Dopamine, Wasted Again, Saviour of the Real, Resolution Song, Grace, Deep Inside a Shell, What You're Living For, Face Your Fear, The Spell and I Go Insane