06.19.09 (Internet Music Media) The meteoric six-year career arc of Northern California's Light This City saw the group issue four acclaimed releases and develop a dedicated fan base through extensive touring with the likes of All That Remains, Death Angel, Darkest Hour, The Faceless and Vader, among others. Although the band disbanded in 2008 shortly before the release of what would ultimately serve as their swansong, "Stormchaser," their timeless sound -- a fusion of Swedish melodic death and Bay Area thrash -- continues to impress. Prosthetic Records has thus announced the August 18th reissue of Light This City's first album, "The Hero Cycle." Recorded in 2003 while the band's members were still in high school, the album aptly foreshadows the developments of qualities that would soon make the group a major player in modern metal: riffs that deftly mixed aggression and melody, the fiery vocals of spitfire front woman Laura Nichol, and a wholly energetic approach that attempted to forge new ground for the genre while still demonstrating reverence for its classics. Pre-orders are now available at store.prostheticrecords.com. Produced by Zack Ohren (All Shall Perish, Decrepit Birth, Endwell), "The Hero Cycle" -- according to liner notes written by the band that accompany the reissue -- "reveals the innocence of a young band trying to grow and mature at a rapid pace. Many afternoons after class throughout high school and weekends in between were spent in a basement hammering out what would become this album, and those remain some of the most fun and memorable days Light This City has ever seen."

06.18.09 (Internet Music Media) Grammy-nominated UK recording artists Porcupine Tree have confirmed the title of their tenth studio album: "The Incident." The new record is set to be released on Roadrunner Records on September 22nd as a double CD. "The Incident" is anticipated to be a stunning 55-minute musical statement, described by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Steven Wilson as "a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that 'after this, things will never be the same again.'" The seeds of the idea that led to "The Incident" came to Wilson as he became caught up in a highway traffic jam while driving past an accident. "There was a sign saying 'POLICE - INCIDENT' and everyone was slowing down to rubber-neck to see what had happened," he recalls. "Afterwards, it struck me that 'incident' is a very detached word for something so destructive and traumatic for the people involved. And then I had the sensation that the spirit of someone that had died in the accident entered into my car and was sitting next to me. "The irony of such a cold expression for such seismic events appealed to me, and I began to pick out other 'incidents' reported in the media and news," continues Wilson. "I wrote about the evacuation of teenage girls from a religious cult in Texas, a family terrorizing its neighbors, a body found floating in a river by some people on a fishing trip, and more. Each song is written in the first person and tries to humanize the detached media reportage."

06.17.09 (Internet Music Media) Athera (Pal Mathiesen), vocalist for Norwegian thrashers Susperia is set to return to the stage at the Steinkjer Festival [www.steinkjerfestivalen.no] in Norway on Friday, June 26th. The singer, who earlier this year suffered a heart attack which resulted in major open heart surgery, has made a rapid recovery and doctors have now given him the go ahead to make his comeback. Athera recently gave his first interview since the heart attack to Belgium's Metal Nose. Talking about his new perspective on life he said, "I haven't seen the light or anything but things are certainly different. I would never ever dare to touch any kind of drugs anymore and I don't understand now how people can pull smoke into their lungs and stuff like that, even though I used to love it. I guess you must go through something like this to realize the dangers and insanity of some of the bad things in life." Read the full interview here. Susperia's fifth studio album, "Attitude," was released last month via Candlelight Records, entering the official Norwegian Album Charts at position No. 28, while in the U.S. it was the No. 3 most added album on specialist Rock Radio Playlists. Attitude is the band's debut for the Candlelight label and features guest appearances from Chuck Billy (Testament) and Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir).

06.15.09 (Internet Music Media) New Orleans, Louisiana's sons of Southern grindcore, Soilent Green, are apparently making an impression over at Adult Swim. Soilent Green has not only toured with the notorious masters of animated death metal, Dethklok, but have recently recorded the opening theme song to Squidbillies fourth season, which kicked off on May 17th on Adult Swim. Soilent Green vocalist Ben Falgoust comments: "Squidbillies is the best cartoon...excuse me...show on TV/Internet/Cable around! I felt that way before we did the theme tracks, and I feel even stronger about it since I've seen the new episodes - despite our involvement with the program, of course. It was an awesome and strange experience to track these theme songs for the Squidbillies. It was pretty shocking when were contacted by them to be involved with this project. I give credit to the rest of the guys in the band for pulling it off from a strange but fun perspective in incorporating Soilent Green's style into the theme song for the show." New episodes of Squidbillies air Sunday nights at midnight (ET, PT), and don't forget to check out Soilent Green's latest release, "Inevitable Collapse In The Presence Of Conviction," available as CD, limited special edition vinyl, and digital download. In other news, Soilent Green are confirmed to play on the Terrorizer stage at this year's Hellfest in France.

06.09.09 (Internet Music Media) Eulogy Recordings has announced the signing of Southern California's Creatures. The label will release the band's debut full-length album, "I, Lucifer," on August 4th. Creatures vocalist Stephen commented: "I'm beyond excited to be working with Eulogy for our upcoming record. They have the power to push our music out and have been nothing but helpful so far. They are a great match for us. "When I first heard the material Creatures was planning on putting on this album I was floored. It's a great mix of many different genres in heavy music. Once I spoke with the guys in the band I was extremely excited to work with them. I knew right away they were a perfect match for Eulogy. I think this band is ready for the world to hear them." adds Eulogy owner John Wylie. Creatures' history looks something like this: In the fall of 2007, five friends came together to play metallic hardcore in vein of Slayer, Ringworm, and Hatebreed: Creatures was born. The band wrote and recorded a strong demo and played shows non-stop throughout Southern California. Locals wanted more, and they got it when Creatures dropped their debut s/t 7" at Sound And Fury 2008, and playing an explosive opening set there. In winter of 2008, Creatures teamed up with So-Cal locals, Downpresser, to release a split for So-Cal based label, Fineprint Records, followed by a tour to support their efforts. The "I, Lucifer" album focuses on the band's metal roots and pushes their sound further to the limit. Creatures have extensive tour plans for 2009, including Sound And Fury 2009.

06.01.09 (Internet Music Media) Glendale, Arizona's Job For A Cowboy recently completed work on their sophomore album, entitled "Ruination." The LP will see a July 7th North American release date via Metal Blade Records. The brand new song "Unfurling A Darkened Gospel" is now posted online and can be streamed at this location. The album's cover art and full color booklet are also available for viewing there. The striking, quasi-conceptual motif was designed by Brent Elliott White and takes its inspiration from JFAC frontman Jonny Davy's album lyrics and concepts. Topics addressed by the album's schema revolve around modern day worldwide dilemmas and controversial issues including "Propaganda in the main stream media and television, humanitarian rights of Northern Korea, the modern genocidal government of Nubia, the use of torture in American military tactics, overruling by world governments and Police states & Martial law." Upon the release of "Ruination," the quintet will hit the road as one of the featured acts of the 2009 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival alongside Slayer, Marilyn Manson and more. The 27-date North American march is slated to launch on July 10 in Sacramento, CA. In additional JFAC news, the band will shoot its first music video from "Ruination" -- for the new song "Regurgitated Disinformation" -- next Saturday, June 6 in Philadelphia, PA and is inviting fans to attend and be a part of the event. Presented by R5 Productions & 94 WYSP/Rockers, the video shoot will take place in Philly's First Unitarian Church beginning at 8:00 PM EDT.