Playing On Your Fears... NEW MAIDEN!

Thants right! Last night we finally discovered the prize after time ran out on the countdown clock posted on Maiden's website last week. The band has released the first single of their upcoming studio effort The Final Frontier.

El Dorado, the second track off their 15th studio album tells the introspective tale of age old explorers hunting for something that was never there. Thematically the lyrics have a hint flavour of Stones and Sympathy for The Devil, exploring perceived dualities through the use of first person narrative. Sonically the song brings to mind previous songs such as New Frontier, Wildest Dreams and Montségur. Though notably different from pre-Blaze Maiden hits, El Dorado shows the logical progression of a solid, very progressive Iron Maiden building on previous works (Brave New World and Dance of Death) while evoking some classic sounds from works such as Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of A Seventh Son.

It is no coincidence that El Dorado evokes days of Maiden-past. For production the band has partnered with long time friend and mastermind Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, who lists Zeppelin, RUSH and Dream Theatre as guests of his studio, and previously responsible for AMOLAD, BNW and Dance of Death, as well as a plethora of live DVD's-for those of you who have the AMOLAD spec-ed he's the guy that shoots their video diary found on the DVD (disc 2). For the recording process the band returned to Compass Point Studio in Nassau, a familiar place where they have previously recorded Piece Of Mind (’83), Powerslave (’84) and Somewhere In Time (’86).

El Dorado has been made available as a FREE digital download through the band's website and is also available for streaming below for your enjoyment as you read this blog.

The band has confirmed that they will be playing some of the new songs during their upcoming tour starting tomorrow in Dallas. They will tour the U.S and Canada over the summer and head to Europe for select appearances at festivals and stadiums around the continent, for official dates check HERE.

The album has a confirmed running time of 76:35 and is scheduled for release on Monday 16th August (17th in the US). The track list is as follows:

THE FINAL FRONTIER
1. Satellite 15....The Final Frontier 8:40
2. El Dorado 6:49
3. Mother Of Mercy 5:20
4. Coming Home 5:52
5. The Alchemist 4:29
6. Isle Of Avalon 9:06
7. Starblind 7:48
8. The Talisman 9:03
9. The Man Who Would Be King 8:28
10. When The Wild Wind Blows 10:59

A Voice In The Dark... Blind Guardian is Back!

Germany's Blind Guardian have unveiled the artwork and a 30-second sneak-peek preview for the first single of their upcoming album "At The Edge Of Time", scheduled for release in late summer of this year. Even though the band has played some small tours around Europe, Blind Guardian has been notably absent from the studio since the release of "A Twist in the Myth" in 2006, which debuted at #3 in Greece and #4 in Germany; this side of the Atlantic the album ranked 21 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

The guys have already planned and initial leg of their tour, taking them around Europe over the summer with tickets on sale soon. Frontman Hansi Kürsch says that "This will be our most bombastic and epic album so far. Whether there will be 8 or 9 songs on the album I do not know, by now. But each and every song has a completely different approach in comparison to each other and one complements the other in a perfect way."

The following two video updates have been released by the band in which they offer sneak previews of songs tentatively to be included on their upcoming album "At The Edge Of Time"

Blind Guardian is well known for their musical versatility, with songs like Trial by Fir and The Bard's Song (pt.I and II) the band has shown time and again they are a force to be reckoned with.

MACHETE

Well, talk about timing! With all the Arizona flawed law business going on, Robert Rodriguez has released the trailer for his upcoming film, Machete. This sure promises to kick some ass!

Ice Cream, we SCREAM!

The Prince of Darkness has released the artwork for his upcoming album SCREAM, his first album in about three years and tenth studio work overall. Scream is also the first album to feature Ozzy's new protege guitarist Gus G. He has planned a year-and-a-half tour in support of Scream with dates to be announced soon.

2010 promises to be a busy year for the Iron Man. The recent release of his autobiography I Am Ozzy (Grand Central Publishing) debuted at #2 in the New York Times Best Sellers List and has received 5-star reviews from fans and critics alike, quickly selling at Amazon. Ozzy is also set to release an important update regarding the resurrection of OZZFEST sometime next week.

Scream was produced by Ozzy and Kevin Churko, also responsible for the production of Ozzy's 2007 album Black Rain. The album is planned for release on June 15th via Epic Records, and the confirmed tracks for the album include:

'Let Me Hear You Scream'
'Diggin Me Down'
'Let It Die'
'Soul Sucker'
'Fearless'
'I Want It All'
'Time'
'Crucify'
'I Love You All'

The first single off the album, 'Let Me Hear You Scream', was used for soundtrack during the prison riot scene of the April 14th episode of CSI:NY. The single is now available for listening below.

RUSH'in Time!

That's right! "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage" premiered at New York's Tribeca festival on Friday night. All three members of RUSH were present at the premier and for a Q&A afterwards, as were Sebastian Bach and Kiefer Sutherland.

The RUSH Doc will premier on TV tonight on VH1 and VH1 Classics and will be screened in select cinemas for one night only on June 10th and in Toronto at the HotDocs Festival on the 29th and 30th of this month. The planned release date is June 29th and will be out on DVD, BluRay and Digital Download.

The official trailer has also been unveiled, so no more drooling over short teasers and out takes!

In case you missed the previous teaser trailers they are HERE and HERE

For more check out: http://www.rushbeyondthelightedstage.com/

Miami, Zombie!

No, it's not Dawn of The Dead 'Spring Break Ed', but the CSI:Miami episode airing Monday night will sure bring enough guts and weird to gore'round. Directed by Rob Zombie, Monday's episode of CSI:Miami is promising to be one to save in the PVR for a while.



On a recent '5-question' for The Star-Telegram of Ft.Worth Rob admitted to be "amazed at some of the things we did get away with" when asked about his trade gore style, and how it will influence the episode. For more regarding his upcoming CSI contribution check HERE and HERE

Also, don't forget about The Gruesome Twosome Tour

Laying Waste - An Interview With Tony Foresta

I had the chance to chat with Tony Foresta, frontman of American crossover thrashers Municipal Waste on the eve of their anticipated Latin American tour. We chatted plenty about good music and fun times, however, when I asked him what he’d miss the most while on tour he was quick to respond: “I have a pretty tight group of friends at home here in Florida, so I think I’m gonna miss them the most”.

MW will take on the road starting March 7th with their first show of a short Latin American tour starting in Mexico and including places like Brazil and Colombia, notable for their ardent metal scenes. “I don’t know what to expect, we’ve never been there before, but everybody’s saying it’s gonna be crazy!” says Tony about the upcoming tour that will feature The Waste as headliners “I think we’re bringing out local [punk and thrash] bands as special guests for our shows”.

The signature crossover sound of Municipal Waste is reminiscent of outfits such as Black Flag and Misfits with a distinct thrash flavour from bands like Slayer. “I think it’s something for everybody, you know, you don’t have to be a metal-head to be into our band” points out ‘Guardrail’ Foresta, “We like hardcore, thrash, whatever dude, we don’t give a fuck you know, we’re here to have a good time” and the mix sure is good, as the band fan base continues to grow, this has been evident throughout the last few tours according to Foresta “Shows are great like that ‘cuz everybody comes you know, from all walks of life, not just the one crowd”

And what about Massive Aggressive? “Its been great! (…) most of the times the audience wouldn't really know the songs right away, it would take them about a year to get it, now with this one, the first tour we went on people knew the words right away, the reception’s been great” case an point the band is also scheduled for a short Japanese tour starting May 12th with stops confirmed in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka thus far.

But Tony is not one to stay put. His side project, No Friends, released their new EP last summer and confirmed with me about having just finished recording their upcoming LP release, “I’m really excited about it, its not your typical hardcore record” and not only the new album is not your typical hardcore record but it will also be distributed on a not very typical way “it’s gonna be out online, you’re gonna be able to download it for free, and also available on vinyl only”

FREE MUSIC? Well, sign me up! Accounting for the slump in CD sales all around digital releases have increased in popularity, and this is being noticed by artists all across the board. “Nobody gives a shit about CD’s anymore; they’re going in the landfill now” states Foresta, “people now either buy the record or download it for free anyway” and as to why vinyl? Well, Tony assures “I think that vinyl is gonna outlast CD”.

Heartful of... Nightwish?

About a year ago we talked about Brother Firetribe (Emppu Vuorinen's side project) and the release of their EP Heart Full of Fire. BFT toured in between Nightwish and other schedules and during that time recorded a live DVD performance on April 15, 2009 at The Apollo in Helsinki that featured Anette Olzon as guest vocals for the EP title-track. Brother Firetribe, Live at Apollo was released this past February 12 via Spinefarm Records, with preview clips available via their YouTube channel.





Marco Hietala also made the Finnish headlines this week with his cover of Paradise city for Finnish TV



But don't let all this fool you as Nightwish is still together, according to a statement released by their management via BW&BK, in which they also announce that mainman Tuomas Holopainen is currently working on demo ideas for the next Nightwish album, with a planned start for recording sessions in May.

Speaking of Nightwish, Former singer Tarja Turunen has been confirmed for this year's Wacken Open Air festival, joining a bill including Iron Maiden, Stratovarius, Cannibal Corpse and many (many!) others as previously reported.

Flight 666 on the news

This showed in The Globe and Mail this past Tuesday... great read!

Flight 666 cleared for takeoff

7 Countries. 3 Continents. 1 Tribe

Global Metal is a new Heavy Metal Documentary by Canadian anthropologist and film maker Sam Dunn. Name sounds familiar? he's the same guy from Headbanger's Journey and Flight 666

Another Heavy Metal film worth checking out is Heavy Metal in Baghdad.

This is your last boarding call!

...All passengers for Flight 666 please prepare to board.

This film is going to be unreal! i had the chance to briefly talk with Sam Dunn when The Beast last set hooves in Toronto, on March 16th/08 and he was very excited about the prospect... I can't wait for this one.

Release date is set for April of this year, more info HERE