• JELLO BIAFRA will begin a limited spoken word tour beginning June 19th at the University Of Pittsburgh's Bellefield Auditorium. He addresses censorship, social responsibility, government follies and mistruths, educational overhaul, the decriminalization of drugs and why he isn't nostalgic about Punk's "glory days." Biafra's musical career began as the leader and vocalist of Dead Kennedys, an early Punk band known for their political lyrics and powerful music. He's run for mayor of San Francisco, been drafted as a Green Party Presidential nominee, and battled obscenity charges for the Dead Kennedys' "Frankenchrist" album artwork. The shows will be recorded for an upcoming CD entitled "In The Grip Of Official Treason," due this Fall on Alternative Tentacles Records.

• DIMMU BORGIR have been forced to cancel their appearance at Italy's Gods Of Metal festival that takes place from June 1st to 4th. The Norwegian Black Metal band's guitarist Silenoz had the following to say in a statement regarding the cancellation on the band's official website, www.dimmu-borgir.com: "We apologize to everyone it may concern, we were very much looking forward to play this great festival, but due to a serious situation regarding one of our members' health condition we have no other choice as it is beyond our control. We owe it to our business partners, fans and friends and perhaps mostly ourselves, to do a great gig, but this will not be possible under the given circumstances, unfortunately. Health will always have first priority."

• GARY GLITTER will have his appeal heard next month against a 3-year sentence for child molestation, a court official said. "His appeals trial is set for June 15," said Bui Ngoc Hoa, head of the People's Supreme Court Of Appeals in Ho Chi Minh City. The trial would last one day, he added. Glitter, 62, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison by a Vietnamese court on March 3rd for committing obscene acts with girls aged 10 and 11 at his rented seaside villa and at a hotel. He was arrested in November while trying to leave the country on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok, Thailand. Glitter, a 1970s glam rock icon in Britain, has maintained his innocence and says he is a victim of a British tabloid conspiracy.

• CELTIC FROST have expanded their touring lineup by adding Norwegian guitarist Anders Odden just prior to retaking the stage this week with three low-key warm-up European shows before the Rock Hard Festival. Odden, who in the past was involved with acts such as Apoptygma Berzerk, Satyricon, Cadaver, and Mayhem, played his first session with the group on April 24th, and returned to Celtic Frost's base in Zurich, Switzerland a week ago for final dedicated tour rehearsals. "Monotheist," the band's first full-length after a fifteen-year wait, has also just been issued in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, BeNeLux and Italy in the three formats of a limited-edition DigiPak CD (w/bonus track), a limited-edition gatefold double LP (w/bonus track) and a standard jewel case CD.

• ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE have posted the following message on their official website: "The Oresund Space Collective are halfway finished with mixing our next double CD called 'It's All About Delay.' It is sounding great, with tracks ranging from 5 minutes to 25 minutes, with most around 10 minutes long. The new CD is really different from our first one, and a lot more upbeat and diverse in the sounds. We have just sent off a track called 'Waaaaaah' for the Music Street Journal Compilation CD that will be out later this year with artists Erik Norlander, Lana Lane, Don Schiff and Gak Omak and the OSC. We will play our only concert this summer on the weekend of July 21-22nd at our usual place, the Dragens Hule." The Oresund Space Collective are a group of Danish, Swedish and American musicians that play free form Space Rock.

• SCALD will release their new "Vermiculatus" album via Code666 Records on June 12th. A deluxe, 6-panel oversized digifolder version of the release will be available in Ireland only (North and South) in a limited run of 999 copies, which can be pre-ordered at www.vermitronic.me.uk. The rest of the world can order direct from the Aural Music webstore at www.auralmusic.com. "Vermiculatus" is Scald's most experimental, innovative and un-commercial project to date. The work consists of a singular album length instrumental track, the first section of which is performed by the band and is a complex composition of no repeated parts, followed by the closing section, which is an ambient reconstruction of the performance part. This is accompanied on the CD-rom track by a short animated film, which is simply entitled "Vermiculatus B1."

• ERIC CLAPTON, who last landed stateside for a Cream reunion tour, will return to the U.S. with his own band for a Fall tour. The first leg of his North America tour will begin September 16th in Minneapolis and continue to cities including St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Miami and New York, where Clapton will play two nights at Madison Square Garden. Twenty-two dates were announced Wednesday, but more shows are expected to be added. The Robert Cray Band will open for the U.S. concerts. The 61-year-old Clapton recently completed a European tour that included a seven-night run at London's Royal Albert Hall and ended with a show in Moscow's Red Square. Clapton, who is now touring with a band including guitarist Derek Trucks, has been playing both old classics and songs from his 2005 "Back Home" LP.

• MOTORHEAD's Lemmy is one of the "Living Legends Of Sex" alongside Jack Nicholson, Julio Iglesias, Gene Simmons, Charlie Sheen, Magic Johnson and others, says Maxim Magazine in their June issue. In the feature's only Q & A, the Motorhead singer "explains what makes him irresistible to women," and also reveals his perfect woman and if he's gotten lucky. In other Motorhead news -- on the heels of their Grammy win last year -- the band has been in the studio working on a new album entitled "Kiss Of Death," which is scheduled for release on August 29th via Sanctuary Records. Cameron Webb -- who produced the band's last album, "Inferno" -- is back at the helm once again. Motorhead, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and others will perform at London's Hyde Park on June 17th. A tour of North America is also slated to begin in September as well.

• THE ROLLING STONES postponed the first 15 dates of their European tour on Wednesday as guitarist Keith Richards recovers from a head injury. Publicist LD Communications said the European leg of the band's "A Bigger Bang" tour, which had been due to start Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, will now begin in July at a venue and city to be announced. It said the rescheduled dates would be announced in the next few days. The postponed gigs were scheduled for Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; Paris; Bergen, Norway; Horsens, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; St. Petersburg, Russia; Brno, Czech Republic; Warsaw, Poland; Vienna, Austria; Milan, Italy; Athens, Greece; and Zagreb, Croatia. The postponement of the two Paris shows on June 3rd and July 2nd was announced Tuesday.

• MERCENARY have wrapped up mixing their August release, "The Hours That Remain," with producer Jacob Hansen (Maroon, Hatesphere), who also worked with the band on "11 Dreams." Clocking in at just over one hour, vocalist Mikkel Sandager comments on the album: "We made what we feel is the most powerful album in the band's history. Both the writing and the recording processes have really made us a stronger band as we faced quite a few challenges along the way. We can't wait for people to check out the new stuff, and look forward to playing it all live." The Hours That Remain" will be packaged with artwork by Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth). Additionally Mercenary have welcomed Rene Pedersen, an active performer from Denmark's Transparent, as their new bass player.

• WIDESPREAD PANIC are readying for the release of their new album "Earth To America" on June 13th via Sanctuary/Widespread Records). Their 9th studio album, it captures the band at a new creative peak in collaboration with producer Terry Manning -- the first time they've worked with the famed studio master -- whose credits stretch back to the old Stax days. Beginning with the eerie, ambitious 11-minute plus epic 'Second Skin,' (a staple of their live shows), the album twists and turns through 10 tracks of time-honed Classic Rock. Other standout tracks include the boisterous barroom rocker 'Goodpeople,' extended workouts like 'You Should Be Glad' give the band a chance to show off their chops, and a hard-charging cover of Bob Dylan's 'Solid Rock.' Plans are in the works for a full Summer tour to be announced soon.

• CANDLEMASS have posted the following message on their official website: "Hello doomlovers!! Not everything is clouded in the C-Mass camp. We are currently recording the new album with full force, again in Stockholm's Polar Studios - the new place. Ten killer doom metal tracks are being put on tape (actually computer) right now. Leif [Edling, bassist/main songwriter] has just finished his bass overdubs and now it is Lars' [Johansson, guitar] turn to add his magic to the growing Candlemass pallet of doom. Rhythm guitars, solos, harmony guitars - maybe three days in total. By Sunday the basic tracks shall be finished. Then -- in a smaller (and cheaper) studio -- some keyboards, rough mixes, maybe more guitar overdubs, to make the eighth Candlemass studio recording as good as possible."

• NOEKK have released a new album entitled "The Grimalkin" via Prophecy Productions. "Noekk's music is born from total intuition. It comes to me when I'm all alone and able to listen to my inner voice," Funghus Baldachin, the mastermind behind the German Progressive Rock duo says. Baldachin aims "to capture the magic of the moment and to tell long, mad stories" with his music. Cheating any musical expectations, he and companion F.F. Yuggoth have recorded three peregrinations branching out in all directions, where "adventures are possible on every side of the road," he says. "Basically, 'The Grimalkin' is an exciting album for all fans of Prog Rock. We branch into vintage Hard Rock, get lost in folkloristic thickets, follow an invitation into Doom Metal, and we don't refrain from slimy epic stuff either!"

• ANTIGAMA have signed a new recording deal with Relapse Records. The Warsaw, Poland-based, Progressive Grindcore quartet is comprised of Lukasz Myszkowski (Vocals), Sebastian Rokicki (Guitar), Michal Pietrasik (Bass) and Krzysztof Bentkowski (Drums). Rokicki comments on the signing: "Relapse is the perfect label for Antigama and we are happy to be there. We grew up on Relapse, and have watched the label develop from the very beginning. Our new album for them means an awesome new chapter in the history of our band." The band are planning a winter recording for their as-yet-untitled Relapse debut. Antigama has previously released several independent releases as well as the critically-acclaimed full-length "Zeroland" via Selfmadegod Records.

• LYNYRD SKYNYRD frontman Johnny Van Zant had his appendix removed in emergency surgery Thursday night, the band's manager said. Van Zant, 46, came out of surgery at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California around 10 p.m., said manager Ross Schilling. His condition was not immediately available. "He had been feeling bad the past couple of days," Schilling told The Associated Press. "He had performances Tuesday and Wednesday and sucked it up last night as far as performing with some pain." On Thursday morning the singer went to see a doctor, who determined through an ultrasound that the appendix was severely inflamed and emergency surgery was needed, Schilling said.

• ALLHELLUJA, a band whose "Inferno Museum" debut scored some top positions in a few top Metal magazines around the world, are ready to come back with a new effort in early Fall. "Pain Is The Game" is the confirmed title for Allhelluja's second effort, which will be released in September on Scarlet Records. Currently, vocalist Jacob Bredahl (Thrash/Death Metal gods Hatesphere's frontman as well) is recording the vocal parts and soon he will be mixing the songs. Some titles already confirmed are 'Superhero Motherfucker Superman,' 'The Devil, Me, Myself & I' and 'Hell On Earth.' Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Sick Of It All, Heaven Shall Burn, Mnemic, etc.) will be taking care of the mastering duties on "Pain Is The Game."

• TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS are slated to join Sammy Hagar, Cheap Trick, The Black Crowes, Nickelback and more at "Rock 'N The Rally," a five-day music festival to be held this August in South Dakota during the celebrated Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. "We're building a world-class music festival right into the worlds largest bike rally," the festival's producer, Mark Russo of Dork Fish Ink, said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday. "This event has been two years in the making and we've built it from the ground up." The festival, to be held from August 6th-10th, will take place in a new 34-acre area on Glencoe Camp Resort in Sturgis, where hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts will converge for the rally, now in its 68th year.

• SLOWMOTION APOCALYPSE, one of the more promising Italian Metal acts, have signed a long-term deal with Scarlet Records. "My Own Private Armageddon," the band's much-praised debut album already released in the U.S. territories via Tribunal Records, will be released by Scarlet for the rest of the world beginning July 3rd. It will contain 3 bonus tracks and a brand new video for the song 'Insomniac,' plus completely renewed cover artwork. Recorded at Fear Studio with great production by Riccardo Pasini (Ephel Duath, Reprisal, The Secret) and mastered by Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me), "My Own Private Armageddon" is a vibrant and sonically focused assault on the current mindlessness within the Metal community.

• DON CABALLERO's "World Class Listening Problem," their new album and first in almost five years, has just been released in the U.S. via Relapse Records. The offering marks the first recorded work by the band's new incarnation (founder and drummer extraordinaire Damon Che, bassist Jason Jouver, and guitarists Gene Doyle and Jeff Ellsworth) and is set for release outside of North America on May 22nd. The ten-song effort was recorded by the band's longtime producer Al Sutton (The Laughing Hyenas, Big Chief) at Sutton's Rustbelt Studios and mastered by Alan Douches (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon) at West West Side Studios. Among Don Caballero's upcoming touring plans are an Eastern North American jaunt and a Western U.S. run set for late Summer.

• THUNDERSTONE's next live performance is set for June 10th at the Bomber Festival in Finland, with bassist and backing vocalist Titus Hjelm checking in on why upcoming shows have been sparse: "We've been having a 'creative break' (whatever that is...), so there hasn't been much to tell lately. We've started writing and rehearsing new songs for our upcoming fourth album. So far we've made demos of three of the songs and the stuff sounds really promising. Heavier than ever, but still with the familiar Thunderstone sound and groove. We'll have a couple more demo sessions before starting the actual recordings in the beginning of September. In other news, because of the tight writing schedule, we are not going to do many live shows this summer."

• RADIOHEAD vocalist Thom Yorke will release his first solo album, "The Eraser," in July. Yorke says he doesn't want to hear rumors of a rift with the band - or even the word "solo." "This was all done with (the band's) blessing," he says. "And I don't want to hear that word solo. Doesn't sound right." Yorke released a statement this weekend to various Radiohead fan sites disclosing the album, which he played on and wrote. Independent label XL Recordings said it would release the disc in the United Kingdom on July 10th and in the U.S. on July 11th. "The elements have been kicking round now for a few years and needed to be finished," says Yorke, 37. "I have been itching to do something like this for ages. It was fun and quick to do."

• MEGADETH have announced the signing of a recording deal with Roadrunner Records. Recognized as one of Rock and Metal's more forward-thinking outfits, the band and frontman Dave Mustaine have cast a long shadow on the hard music landscape with millions of records sold worldwide and an undeniable influence echoed in scores of young bands today. Mustaine says of the new deal: "It is exciting to be someplace you are respected, understood and appreciated. The truth is there's a lot of people I've known there over the years. I'm stoked we're all coming back together again to work on this project." Megadeth have already begun work on their still-untitled Roadrunner debut under the watchful eye of Mustaine and co-producer Jeff Balding.

• ALICE COOPER has received a key to the city of Alice, North Dakota - home to a feed store, a fire hall, and a bar. Still, officials from this town of about 60 people presented him with a marble plaque and a gold-plated key Sunday to commemorate Cooper's visit to the city that bears his name. "There's not a whole lot of buildings to unlock with that key," Mayor Dan Lund said. "But Alice is a cool guy and Alice is a cool city - so it's a fun thing to do." Cooper arrived in Alice the day before he was scheduled to perform in Fargo. About 1,000 people cheered as his limo rolled into the town, one of several in southeast North Dakota named for the daughters of a railroad surveyor. "This is bigger than if the governor was coming out here," Councilman Ron Mulder said.

• VADER have been working for the last few weeks at Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland recording their new album, entitled "Impressions In Blood" (working title: "Impressions In Red"). "We've prepared 11 tracks and a bonus track which will be featured on the Asian version of the album. All the drum parts have been already completed and...what can I say? You should expect about 45 minutes of total carnage! The fastest Vader stuff ever, even a little bit faster than "Litany" album!!! Currently we are working on guitar sound and kicking off a pretty arduous, but probably the most interesting part of the process, I mean arranging our new songs and album as a whole. Impressions are going to be very bloody," says vocalist/guitarist Peter.

• GOTTHARD have just scored their 10th consecutive No. 1 album in their home country of Switzerland. "Made In Switzerland" -- which beat out the latest releases from Tool and Pearl Jam -- is a CD/DVD set that contains 17 songs that were recorded during a concert at the Hallenstadion in Zurich in December of 2005. In addition to the complete concert, the DVD includes bonus "making-of" footage and many new photos of the band. Gotthard's latest studio effort, "Lipservice," was certified platinum in Switzerland in January of 2006 for sales in excess of 40,000 copies. That ceremony took place in Zurich during the "PISA Finals." The album is reportedly approaching double-platinum status there now.

• SOILWORK vocalist Bjorn "Speed" Strid has posted the following message in a post on the band's official website regarding the acquisition of a new guitarist: "Let me clarify some things about the [second] guitarist situation: I know that some of you people have seen on some website (take a guess where...) that we have confirmed Daniel Antonsson [Dimension Zero, Pathos] as the new guitarist of Soilwork. It's true that he's been touring with us and we like him very much both as a human and as a player, but we have NOT confirmed his spot in Soilwork. We have decided to go slow with this and really take our time before we make any decisions. We'll keep you updated on that story, nobody else."

• DARIO LORINA has been making waves in the music industry recently. The teen guitar virtuoso has caught the eye of fans and Rock personalities alike with his live performances and his Randy Rhodes styling. Lorina was recently chosen out of a hundred plus players by Warrant's Jani Lane for a current tour. Originally from Boston, living in Las Vegas and taking advantage of the Los Angeles music scene has given Lorina the opportunity to meet and perform for such notable rockers as John Petrucci of Dream Theater, Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum of Slaughter, Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, Chris Degarmo and Michael Wilton of Queensryche, Michael Anthony of Van Halen, George Lynch, and Billy Sheehan.

• DEICIDE have confirmed an all-ages album release show at the Iliff Park Saloon in Aurora, Colorado commemorating 6.6.06 and the release of their new album for Earache Records, "The Stench Of Redemption." The band have been working tirelessly to complete the release, and are currently mixing it at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida. Deicide are also working on a series of dates throughout the U.S., tentatively from September 20th to October 31st. It is also in the works to bring them over to Japan to deliver a dose of brutality there. Set to breath new fire into the Death Metal flame, in a recent interview for Decibel magazine frontman Glen Benton boasts that Deicide are "writing material that I consider to be more old-school."

• JODY RAFFOUL and his band will be opening the first of three shows for Bon Jovi's homestand gigs at Giants Stadium in New Jersey on Tuesday, July 18th. Fellow Canadians Nickelback are also on the bill. Winner of the first leg of the XM Satellite-sponsored "Have A Nice Gig" Bon Jovi contest, Raffoul has also just been tapped to open for Collective Soul on June 4th at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in New Hampshire and on June 6th at the Webster Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut. In addition, look for a 3-song EP from Raffoul scheduled for a digital release this June. The EP will include songs from his upcoming "Like A Star" album that's slated for release in August.

• DISFEAR are set to kick off their North American headlining tour with a pre-tour celebration in conjunction with Relapse Records, the Philly Roller Girls and R5 Productions this Thursday, May 11th at Manny Brown's (512 South Street) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band will be hanging out all night long during the event, which will run from 8:00 PM to 12:00 AM EST and features a raffle to help raise funds for the Relapse-sponsored Philly Roller Girls roller derby team "The Heavy Metal Hookers," plus some giveaways. The following night, Disfear will be performing the first show of this tour in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church (22nd and Chestnut) with Relapse labelmates Rumpelstiltskin Grinder.

• KEITH RICHARDS had surgery Monday in New Zealand to relieve pressure in his head following a fall, his representative said. The Rolling Stones guitarist was "up and talking" soon after surgery at The Ascot Hospital in Auckland, but was expected to take several weeks to recuperate, LD Communications said Monday in a statement issued in London. "Last week Keith was under observation in Auckland following a fall in Fiji, and was feeling well after being examined by doctors last week," the statement said. "However after complaining of headaches yesterday, doctors thought it prudent to move ahead with a small operation to remove the pressure." The band's "A Bigger Bang" European tour will now be postponed until June, the agency said.

• SYMPHONY X's management has announced that the band's European Festivals for June in Sweden and Spain will have to be canceled due to a severe illness recently diagnosed in bassist Michael Lepond. Lepond posted the following message to fans on the band's official website: "To whom it may concern, I have been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease (an inflammatory bowel disorder). This has caused an obstruction in my small intestine, making it impossible to digest solid foods. Currently I am hospitalized, where they can feed me through an I.V. unit supplemented with a liquid diet. The doctors tell me that with a surgical procedure, they will have me back to 100% in about 6 weeks."

• FIVE FOOT THICK have released the following statement citing their decision to break up and move on to other things: "So it is with sad hearts that we the 5 members of FFT have to bid you all a very heartbroken farewell! It has been a very successful 9 years for us, and we look back on all of our accomplishments and feel very proud to have had all of the opportunities that we did, and also to have had all of you in our lives. We thank each and every fan that bled for us for all of these years. The fans who branded their bodies for life w/FFT logos & tattoos and came out to every show with a hungry heart and poured out your souls with and for us, we will definitely miss you the most!!"

• THE HANDSHAKE MURDERS are the newest addition to the Goodfellow Records roster. The band has just agreed to a deal for three albums, the first of which will be recorded this Summer and is currently scheduled for release in January of 2007. Over the past six years the band have toured incessantly throughout the U.S. on 10 treks in support of four released, and have become a fan favorite. A genre-defying amalgamation of Metal and Hardcore, The Handshake Murders are a technically proficient and focused entity constructed around a monumentally heavy framework, taking in elements of bands such as Meshuggah, A Life Once Lost, Coalesce, The End, Norma Jean and Megadeth.

• QUEEN's production of "We Will Rock You," which has already broken all records in London's Dominion Theatre, will have a dual celebration in the UK next Thursday, May 11th. Not only will the show mark the start of its fifth year at its West End home, but the producers will also announce that, in response to huge demand, they have postponed plans for a move out of that venue for a regional tour. The celebrations are expected to see show creators Brian May, Roger Taylor and Ben Elton in attendance to share the show's continued success with the company and cast. It will come as no surprise to see the creators take an active involvement in the performance as well. Meanwhile, a new version of "We Will Rock You" has a South African opening at the Nelson Mandela Theatre in Johannesburg on May 9th.

• DEVILDRIVER frontman Dez Fafara has issued the following update: "We are leaving for tour Monday, May 8th to start the tour in San Diego, California at the House Of Blues. We have been rehersing daily and are ready to tear SHIT up!!!! After this tour, Devildriver is flying across the pond to do festivals and some really great off dates as well. July will be spent at home for some much-needed rest. We have all started writing for [album] number 3, and will start getting together in mid-July to start bouncing ideas around. Expect fuckin' uncompromising, brutal-in-its-delivery metal, with the ever-present Devildriver groove and hook. There may be a short run in August with Venom, [however] nothing is confirmed. Any time off will be spent in the studio writing.

• PHISH's Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon will tour together this Summer for the first time, set to hit the road together for over three weeks of dates, including a double bill with Phil Lesh & Friends for ten shows beginning June 28th in Raleigh, NC. Rounding out the band is The Duo -- Marco Benevento on keyboards and Joe Russo on drums. Though Gordon has been performing with The Duo on and off for the past three years, the genesis of the group came together earlier this year when Anastasio asked Gordon and The Duo to join him for a recording session at a Brooklyn studio. In addition to the new songs, the quartet will also draw on each other's repertoire and beyond, with The Duo slated to open each show on their own.

• HAMMERFALL guitarist Oscar Dronjak has posted the following message on his official blog: "We have once again spent three days in the rehearsal room, playing through the now nine songs finished for the album. I can't remember feeling this good about the material before a recording, ever. Especially not for the last album - I was very unsure about how things would turn out. This time, the feeling is the complete opposite. Very weird, but good! Joacim [Cans, vocals] threw a great barbecue party for us all on Saturday evening, and then we went to watch Dragonland and Bloodbound, among others, perform at the second annual Gothenburg Metal Festival." Hammerfall are expected to enter the studio this Summer to begin recording their new album for an October release.

• RADIOHEAD has announced a series of live tour dates in the U.S., beginning June 1st and 2nd in Philadelphia and concluding with a pair of dates June 29th and 30th at Los Angeles' Greek Theater. Set lists for the shows will draw heavily on the newer material the band has been working on over the past months. The performances will take place in smaller than usual venues, and will feature appropriately scaled-down staging and lighting design, creating a suitably intimate environment for the first-ever airings of several new songs. The low-key theater dates will punctuated by a June 17th headline stand at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee.

• NEVERMORE guitarist Steve Smyth has been diagnosed with end stage kidney failure, the result of a congenital birth defect, according to the band's recording label Century Media. Smyth comments: "I have been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and have been advised to preserve my health as much as possible at this time, as I am facing 'complete renal failure' within six months, and ultimately, a transplant. Due to my recently diagnosed condition, I have decided not to join the band on the In Flames U.S. tour. I want to be fair to the fans, and be able to give them a show I know I can deliver night after night. I will, however, join Nevermore on all four of the European festivals on our itinerary in early June."

• GARY GLITTER, who is jailed in Vietnam for child molestation, says he hopes to win his appeal and restore some honor and dignity to his family and supporters. Glitter, 61, was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison by a Vietnamese court March 3rd. "I haven't done anything," Glitter said Tuesday in an interview with BBC television. "It was only till recently that I found out that underage is 18 in this country ... but I don't believe that I slept with anybody under 18 in this country," he said. Asked whether he envisioned his future in Britain, Glitter said: "I don't think about the future. I'm in prison."

• CANDLEMASS have posted a new message on their official website regarding singer Messiah Marcolin's recent announcement that he was leaving the band: "Messiah's got a severe pre-recording psychosis at the moment, so folks, please calm down. The band is confident that he will sing on the album as planned. Candlemass will enter the new Polar Studios [in Stockholm] this month to record the follow up to last year's successful 'Candlemass.' The new album will feature nine tracks but is yet untitled. The band produces themselves." Candlemass had recently recorded four new songs with producer Andy Sneap in late February.

• PETER FRAMPTON will return to his roots on his next release, "Fingerprints," which will be issued through A&M/New Door/UME Recordings on September 12th. With a stellar cast of players, Frampton traverses a diversity of material on "Fingerprints," from American Soul to Latin balladry and all-out Rock tunes. Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and Matt Cameron join him for a cover of Soundgarden's 'Black Hole Sun' and the original 'Blowing Smoke.' Frampton comments: "This has been the CD I've been waiting to make all my life. Every track has been a wonderful challenge, pushing me to raise my own bar again and again."

• BLOOD FREAK's new album, "Live Fast, Die Young... And Leave A Flesh-Eating Corpse," has been released by Razorback Records. Featuring a 16-page, full color booklet and cover artwork by the legendary Ed Repka (Megadeth, Massacre, Death, etc.), a bizarre world comes to life here, on which Maniac Neil from Frightmare and Lord Gore brings fans his latest Horror/Gore Metal abomination in this long-awaited, second full-length offering from Blood Freak. "Live Fast, Die Young... And Leave A Flesh-Eating Corpse" features no less than 21 shiver-and-shudder tracks of psycho-delic Death Metal, Grindcore, Doom and Thrash that's sure to unleash the monster in all listeners.