• AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry will join The Boston Pops for a Tuesday (July 4th) concert on the city's Charles River Esplanade. The event will air live on CBS, and will be hosted by Dr. Phil McGraw and his wife Robin. Tyler and Perry are slated to perform several Aerosmith tracks with the orchestra. The group are nearing completion on the first phase of work on a new studio album, which should be out in the late Spring or early summer of 2007. "We're winding down the recording next week to start focusing on the Motley Crue tour and how we'll present that," Perry said. "Then we'll take a couple of weeks off and start swinging into rehearsals." "We've just been hammering away at some of these songs to try and figure out which tunes we can get close to being done," Perry added. "We've floated the idea of putting one or two songs up on the Internet as a taste of what's to come." Once the tour wraps u[, the band will return to the studio to finish the album.

• WOLF are nearly finished with the recordings for their new album, which is entitled "The Black Flame." The title of the new album is "The Black Flame" and the recordings are nearly finished. After several weeks at Studio Fredman with producer Fredrik Nordstrom (Dream Evil, Hammerfall, In Flames) the Swedish Metallers will unleash their new album in late September: "Think old-school metal without being old-fashioned. It's heavy as hell and will hit you like a ton of bricks. It has a horror vibe to it that won't let you be, and it could be a soundtrack to old Eighties horror movies. Oh yes, it contains a lot of heavy metal too... A LOT!" The follow-up to 2004's "Evil Star" will feature cover artwork done by legendary artist Thomas Holm (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Wolf's "Black Wings"). Says the band: "You can all expect a cover that matches the eerie sound of the new album 100%. No swords and dragons and shit. Just pure metal terror."

• KAYSER will release their follow-up to last year's "Kaiserhof" between the end of August and the beginning of September on Scarlet Records. "Frame The World... Hang It On The Wall" is the confirmed title for the new effort by the band, which is fronted by ex-Spiritual Beggars member Spice, and also consists of Mattias Svensson (The Defaced), Bob Ruben (The Mushroom River Band) and Jokke Pettersson. Kayser have also confirmed their participation at the Evolution Festival in Italy on July 14-16 - one of Europe's hottest upcoming Metal events (the billing also includes Cradle Of Filth, Nile, The Gathering and many others), That appearance is being anticipated by the release of the Kayser's mini-album, "The Good Citizen EP," which consists of 3 brand new songs and the promotional video for the song 'Good Citizen.' "No boundaries and no limits... and that goes for everything", the members of Kaiser stated initially upon their formation in June of 2004.

• THIS ENDING have been signed to a recording deal by Metal Blade Records. Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, the band were formerly known as The Plague, but had to change their name due to legal constraints. Formed during the Fall of 2005, they also existed in a previous incarnation as A Canorous Quintet, and members currently are or have been members of Amon Amarth, Guidance Of Sin, Niden Div. 187 and Sins Of Omission. Said the band in a statement: "We are very pleased to be working with Metal Blade is the first and only label that came to our minds when we were deciding on which label to present our demo with, as we felt that they would understand and appreciate our style. We are confident that This Ending and Metal Blade will have a strong future together, and look forward to the outcome of this partnership." A full-length album is due to be recorded during August and September at Off-Beat Studios in Stockholm. No release date has been set yet.

• PRETENDERS will be featured in the next episode of VH1's "Decades Rock Live" series, which will include performances from the group plus special guests Iggy Pop, Garbage's Shirley Manson, Incubus, and Kings Of Leon. To be taped on Aug. 11 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J., the concert will be broadcast in early Fall. The group recently issued a five-disc boxed set, "Pirate Radio," via Sire/Warner Bros./Rhino Records, but there are no plans to record a new studio album at present. "I've done lots of songs for film soundtracks and things like that -- stuff I'm not ashamed of, but that doesn't represent my legacy with the Pretenders. And I wanted that represented," frontwoman Chrissie Hynde recently told Billboard of the box set. "I also thought this was a chance to present the band in a way I'd like it to be remembered -- and to represent the guys I had playing with me over the years. Once I realized all that, I got completely involved in the project."

• ALL SHALL PERISH have released a 30-second teaser from their upcoming video for the song 'Eradication.' The video was shot on a massive sound stage in Ojai, Calfornia at the Brooks Institute by up-and-coming director and skateboarding enthusiast Richie Valdez (The Red Chord, Animosity). 'Eradication' comes off of the Oakland Death Metallers' upcoming new album, "The Price Of Existence," which will be released August 8th via Nuclear Blast Records. All Shall Perish signed a worldwide deal with the label in late 2004, after which their 2003 Amputated Vein album, "Hate.Malice.Revenge," was re-released in early 2005. The band spent the rest of that year in to 2006 touring in support of the re-release while simultaneously writing the material for "The Price Of Existence." A brutal mix of Metal and Hardcore, All Shall Perish originally blasted on to the Bay Area scene in 2002, quickly finding themselves embraced by nearly every facet of that widely diverse music scene.

• GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose spent most of the day in a Stockholm, Sweden jail cell after allegedly biting a security guard in the leg at his hotel, police said. The singer was arrested early Tuesday after attacking and threatening the guard and causing damage to the Berns Hotel, where the alleged scuffle took place, police spokeswoman Towe Hagg said. Rose was released from jail later in the evening evening, after he admitted to the charges and agreed to pay a fine of $5,500, Hagg said. The 44-year-old Rose was also ordered to pay $1,360 in damages to the security guard, she said. Catarina Oscarsson, a spokeswoman for concert organizer Ema Telstar, said the band wasn't traveling with a publicist and would not comment on the arrest. Hagg told The Associated Press that Rose was drunk during the confrontation and was not questioned by police until after he had sobered up. "He was deemed too intoxicated to be questioned right away," she said.

• KRISIUN are preparing to once again assault the U.S. in support of their new album, "AssassiNation." Vocalist/bassist Alex Camargo sent this message to fans: "We in Krisiun would like say thanks to our North American death metal brothers for the great support through the years. Due to the great response we had to our latest album, we are coming back for another U.S. tour in September. This time around we are going to be direct support... which means that we are gonna have more time to play a longer set. Six Feet Under is going to be the headlining band plus Decapitated, Cattle Decapitation and Abysmal Dawn are on the bill too; a fuckin' brutal tour. We hope to see all you death metal maniacs, without you we are nothing." Having toured North America earlier this year with The Monsters Of Chaos Tour (Morbid Angel, Behemoth and Despised Icon), Krisiun released "AssassiNation" and the "Live Armageddon" DVD late this past February.

• LOU REED's 1976 album "Coney Island Baby" will be celebrated with a deluxe 30th anniversary edition of the set, due August 15th via RCA/Legacy Records. The album was originally released on the heels of the infamous "Metal Machine Music," which consisted of nothing but amplified noise and feedback. "'Metal Machine Music' had an unusually high number of returns and was taken off the market in three weeks," Reed writes in the new liner notes. "I had no money and no guitars. The roadies had taken them when they hadn't been paid. I was in debt to everyone including the musicians union. RCA put me up in a hotel while the future fell, to be decided." "Coney Island Baby" will be expanded with several rarities from the era, including the B-side 'Nowhere At All,' 'Downtown Dirt' and 'Leave Me Alone,' as well as rare versions of 'Crazy Feeling,' 'She's My Best Friend' and 'Coney Island Baby' recorded with Reed's former Velvet Underground colleague Doug Yule in January of 1975.

• BLEED THE SKY have issued the following statement regarding the condition of their guitarist Wayne Miller, who was recently hospitalized in Louisville while the band was on tour with Dope: "We all went and saw Wayne at the hospital today in Louisville. According to the doctors he has severe pneumonia caused by some sort of viral infection which they haven't pinpointed yet. The infection has caused lots of complicatons where he's essentially on life support to breathe for him, keep him hydrated and protect against further infection. They thought it was an appendicitis at first, and then a form of strep thoat, but now they're not sure. His condition, they said, is critical but stable. We're going to be here until he gets back on his feet, so any shows as of now, we will not be playing until further notice. Based on what we saw, he doesn't look like he's going to be getting out of that bed any time soon. It's really serious."

• PHISH will be presenting a one-night-only Big Screen Concerts screening of their entire June 17th, 2004 show to celebrate the release of the brand new 2-DVD and 3-CD set, "Live In Brooklyn." "Live In Brooklyn" will be shown in High-Definition at 99 participating Regal, United Artists, Edwards, AMC and Georgia Theatre Company movie theatres nationwide on Monday, July 10th. "Live In Brooklyn" was filmed at the band's opening night performance at Keyspan Park on Coney Island. The concert footage has not been shown since that night, when 16,000 Phish fans in the sold-out park stood in the rain and 30,000 fans watched the original live simulcast in movie theatres across the country. "Live In Brooklyn" includes all the footage from the simulcast, re-edited in 1081i HD and remixed in 5.1 Surround Sound and uncompressed Stereo PCM audio. The screening is the only scheduled public showing of the release in full HD resolution.

• MISERY SPEAKS have just released their new full-length album on Alveran Records. The Death Metal newcomers from Munster, Germany recorded "Misery Speaks" this past February at Rape Of Harmonies Studio (Heaven Shall Burn, Narziss, Fall Of Serenity, Maroon, etc.) under the knife of Patrick W. Engel, Ralf Muller and Alexander Dietz and utilized Swedish legend Dan Swano (Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath, Nightingale, etc.) for the mix at Unisound Studios in Orebro. Drummer Janosch Rathmer comments: "This is crazy. Dan is someone to look up to, and we are extremely honored to have his hands on this. We love his sound!" Says Swano: "Misery Speaks hit me like a ton of bricks!!" The result is a stunning album full of the harsh brutality of Death Metal mixed with groovy Thrash vibes, catchy melodies you're not likely to forget, and blooming atmospheric soundscapes. The band previously self-released the full-length "Things Fall Apart" album in 2003.

• THE CLASH's 1980 film "Rude Boy" will make its DVD debut Aug. 1 via Epic/Legacy, Billboard.com has learned. The fictional documentary centers around a disillusioned sex shop worker (Ray Gange) who quits his job to roadie for the Clash in 1978. The musical footage was filmed during the band's Clash On Patrol and Sort It Out tours of the United Kingdom. The DVD rounds up performances of 'English Civil War' and 'White Riot' that never made the original film, plus versions of 'Clash City Rockers' and 'Tommy Gun' recorded on the BBC's "Something Else" show. Other special features include interviews with Gange, filmmakers Jack Hazan and David Mingay and Clash road manager Johnny Green, four deleted scenes, the original theatrical trailer and a photo gallery. Meanwhile, director Julian Temple is at work on a documentary about late Clash vocalist/guitarist Joe Strummer, which will be "narrated" by Strummer via scores of interviews and archival recordings.

• MELANCHOLIC ART played a concert with Death Metal legends Krisiun on May 28th promoting the re-release of the album "Forca Black Metal Pampeano," which was released and sold out last year and is now being released again with a new cover artwork. According to vocalist Anwar Amon: "That show was very important. Besides the re-release of our CD after the first sold-out copies, it was one of the most polemic concerts and with the best response, which shows why we are here, to break every moralism. Watch out, because more massacres will come! Ave Lucifer Rex!" More than 1,500 fans went to the show, and now the band have put a live video recording containing the songs 'Forca Black Metal Pampeano' and 'Bestial Carnage Flesh' for download. The video can be downloaded through the band's website at www.melancholicart.com or watched online at their MySpace site.

• AEROSMITH will be teaming with Motley Crue for the first time for a Fall tour, which will begin Sept. 14 in Holmdel, N.J. The Route Of All Evil tour will run for more than two months before wrapping Nov. 24 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Presales are underway for some shows via Aerosmith's Aero Force One fan club. Aerosmith has been off the road since March, when they were forced to cancel a host of dates with Cheap Trick due to frontman Steven Tyler's throat surgery. The group has been working as of late on its next studio album, which will be the follow-up to 2004's "Honkin' On Bobo." "It's going to be quite a trip," Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said. "I still remember when Motley Crue's first record came out. It was exciting to see them blossom. I saw them play a couple small places in L.A. and then at the Santa Monica Civic Center headlining. It was that incredible rush of when you first break. They really put on a rock show in capital letters. It is always inspiring to play with a band like that."

• GORGOROTH's new album, entitled "Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam," is set to crush worldwide audiences, on which the notorious Black Metallers return for what many are already calling their most accomplished work to date. Recording of the eagerly awaited release found the band splitting time between Lydriket and Earshot Studios during much of late 2005. And for its U.S. impact, the record will already be celebrating extensive European sales and continued growing worldwide momentum. "Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam" is the logical next chapter for this highly decorated and controversial band. Eight new songs combine for a punishing album that finds Gorgoroth at their dominating best. Formed in 1992, they have now released seven albums with a formidable worldwide sales and fan base. Struggling through early line-up changes and unwaveable entanglements with legal authorities, the band are one of the genres most defining current artists.

• TOP OF THE POPS -- the British Broadcasting Corp. flagship music chart show -- is being canceled after more than four decades on the air. BBC director of television Jana Bennett said the show, which first appeared in 1964, would air for the last time on July 30th. "We're very proud of a show which has survived 42 years in the UK and gone on to become a worldwide brand, but the time has come to bring the show to its natural conclusion," she said. "Top Of The Pops" has featured everyone from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Nirvana and The Spice Girls. At its peak, the weekly rundown of Britain's best-selling acts attracted more than 15 million viewers. The show has suffered flagging ratings in recent years, as it faced competition from cable and satellite music channels and the Internet. Bennett said the BBC remained committed to music, and announced a slew of new shows, including a Rock history series entitled "The Seven Ages Of Rock."

• THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME NOTHING have released a new album in "Invention: Destruction." Marching forth from the smouldering rubble left by their decimating national tour of their native Australia, the new release sees the band resume their melding of the visceral and the mechanical with a massive grinding offensive that is at once rigid and swinging, angular yet fluid. Chugging and winding grooves ooze with booming heaviness over ultra-precise timing and rhythm shifting drumming which stops, starts and doubles back again with pinpoint accuracy and neck snapping rapidity. Taking a militaristically clinical approach to a genre usually defined by looseness and grime, The Day Everything Became Nothing simultaneously destroy and reinvent the Gore/Grind genre to create a simplistically complex model - aided in their mission by guest vocalists from Fuck...I'm Dead, Mors Principium Est and Damaged.

• ROLLING STONES guitarist Ron Wood checked into a London rehabilitation clinic late last week for treatment of alcohol abuse, but he will join the band for the start of its European tour next month as planned, a spokeswoman said on Friday. The European leg of the Stones' "Bigger Bang" tour, already delayed once after bandmate Keith Richards' mysterious accident in Fiji, will re-launch as scheduled on July 11th in Milan, Italy, publicist Fran Curtis said. She confirmed reports that Wood, 59, had checked into an alcohol rehabilitation facility in South London this week. but insisted he would be on stage and ready to perform with the band for the opening show in Milan. She said a spokesman for Wood was accurately quoted on Wednesday by the Sun newspaper as saying, "He (Wood) needs some rest, but he will definitely be fit for the first night of the European tour."

• WARFACE will release their full-length debut album, "Insanity Of The Obsessed," via Deathquake Records on August 15th. Hailing from San Diego, California, the Death Metal trio is comprised of Laura Christine (Lead guitar), Dave Smith (vocals/bass) and Scott Ellis (drums). "Insanity Of The Obsessed" is a follow-up to their self-titled "Warface" EP, which was released in 2001 and earned the band critical acclaim in the Metal underground. The new album blends complex-yet-catchy moody melodies with low-brow pounding grooves that hook. One other unique dynamic of this band is female guitarist Laura Christine. The Extreme Metal genre has yet to see a female out front handling all rhythm and lead guitar duties single-handedly, as well as writing and producing. Warface worked on "Insanity Of The Obsessed" with world-class engineer/producer Alan Sanderson (System Of A Down, Slayer, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash).

• THE WHITE STRIPES don't have to share royalties with a producer who worked on the Rock band's first two albums and claimed he played a pivotal role in creating its signature sound, a federal jury ruled Thursday. The eight-member panel deliberated for about 20 minutes before returning its verdict in U.S. District Court, rejecting claims by Jim Diamond, who is listed as co-producer on the band's self-titled first album, released in 1999. Diamond also is listed as sound mixer on "De Stijl," released in 2000, but The White Stripes denied that he helped create their style. The band said it had paid him $35 an hour for time at his recording studio. After the verdict, vocalist/guitarist Jack White commented: "You never know what's going to happen in a trial." The band's lawyer argued that Diamond's engineering work on the records did not meet the standard for authorship. "None of that constitutes originating an original work, or causing it to come into being," he said.

• KAYSER, fronted by ex-Spiritual Beggars vocalist Spice, and also consisting of Mattias Svensson (The Defaced), Bob Ruben (The Mushroom River Band) and Fredrik Finnander (ex-Aeon), will release the long-waited follow up to last year's "Kaiserhof" between the end of August and the beginning of September on Scarlet Records. "Frame The World... Hang It On The Wall" is the confirmed title for the new effort. In the meantime, the band have also confirmed their upcoming participation at the Evolution Festival in Italy on July 14th-16th. One of Europe's hottest Metal events (the billing includes renowed acts such as Cradle Of Filth, Nile, The Gathering, and many others), their appearance will be preceded by the release of a Kayser mini-album entitled "The Good Citizen EP," which will consist of 3 brand new songs and an exclusive video for the song 'Good Citizen.'

• GARY GLITTER went before a Vietnamese court Thursday to appeal his conviction and three-year prison sentence for child molestation. The 62-year-old former British glam rocker was found guilty March 3rd for committing obscene acts with underage girls at his rented seaside villa in southern Vietnam. He arrived at the People's Supreme Court of Appeals in Ho Chi Minh City wearing all black and escorted by Vietnamese police. "I'm innocent, of course," he told dozens of foreign journalists before entering the courthouse. The hearing is closed and the ruling by a three-judge panel will be announced later Thursday. Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was accused of kissing, fondling and "engaging in other physical acts" with the girls at his rented villa in the seaside city of Vung Tau. He has been in police custody there since November 19th, when he was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City trying to board a flight to Bangkok, Thailand.

• DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz checked in recently to enlighten all the fans of Norwegian Black Metal with some news regarding the upcoming album and a brand new endorsement deal. "We're playing a few festivals this summer, so no vacation for us! We're quite busy writing for the new album, scheduled to start recording in October with Fredrik Nordstrom in Fredman Studios in Gothenburg for a release early next year. I can also inform you that Dimmu Borgir are now proudly endorsed by ESP Guitars!" Drumming on the still untitled work in progress will be Hellhammer of Mayhem fame. We expect nothing less than a pitch black masterpiece as the successor to 'Death Cult Armageddon.'" Dimmu Borgir recorded parts of the latter album (released in 2003) along with the Philharmonic Orchestra Prague - an ensemble of no less than 46 professional Classical musicians.

• THE WHITE STRIPES' Jack White stuck an obscenity-filled warning note on his door, but White denied he put it there. The statements came in testimony in a lawsuit that began Monday - brought by a producer who worked on the band's first two albums. The suit was brought by Jim Diamond, who is listed as co-producer on the band's self-titled first album, released in 1999. In an aside to Diamond's claim, White and Stollsteimer testified about their fight inside a Detroit nightclub in 2003. Stollsteimer also told of finding a message from White: "I found a note stuck to my door with a knife in it." The knife held up a magazine interview story in which White apparently believed that Stollsteimer slighted him by minimizing his role in producing a Von Bondies album. The article had written across it: "That's the last ... time I help you out." Earlier, White said it was "a laughable lie" that he stuck a knife in Stollsteimer's door.

• TRIVIUM took home no less than three Golden Gods at Monday's Metal Hammer Awards. But it's back to work now on their new opus "The Crusade," about which bassist Paolo Gregoletto commented in an update: "Paolo here, just giving you an update before we head out early tomorrow for tour. We have finished tracking all of 'The Crusade,' 15 songs total. Mixing has already begun and should be done in the next few weeks! We are incredibly excited with what we have accomplished in the studio. To all our friends in Australia and New Zealand who have been patiently waiting for us to come down and play shows for you - thank you for all the messages you have sent to us, we get hundreds and hundreds a week. There is a good chance we will be down in early 2007, once we confirm them we will let you know! We aren't a band that likes to play a few shows, we will make sure we hit both coasts and play as many shows as we can. Thanks for spreading the word about us!!!! See you soon!!"

• KORN have cancelled the rest of the international leg of their current tour because lead singer Jonathan Davis was hospitalized, suffering a blood disorder. "The doctors have determined that this was an isolated incident and that after a few weeks my recovery will be complete. I will be ready to rock on the Family Values Tour this summer," the 35-year-old Davis, who was released from a London hospital after four days of treatment, said Tuesday. On Korn's website, Davis said he was diagnosed last weekend with an infection that prevents blood from clotting normally because of a low number of platelets, cells produced by bone marrow - brought on by an allergic reaction to medication. "I started getting these weird bruises all over my body about two weeks ago," Davis said. He added that he has actually been perilously close to death: "If I continued to headbang on stage, I could have had a brain hemorrhage and dropped dead on the spot."

• SIRENIA are currently more than busy with their new songs. Vocalist Morten Veland (who also sings for Tristania) posted the following news on the band's official website: "The song material for the upcoming CD is more or less complete; we are just working on the last details at the moment. It seems we will start the recordings by the end of July. The upcoming full-length album will consist of nine brand new Sirenia songs - no cover songs or remix material this time." The band's upcoming third album will mark the first appearance of new female singer Monika Pedersen. The release will also be the band's debut with Nuclear Blast Records. SIRENIA plays a mixture of Gothic Metal and Rock with Classical influences, as well as Black and Death Metal elements. The songs are very intense and the atmosphere changes frequently, with lyrics about life, death, love, hate, paranoia, anxiety, and mental decline in general.

• HIGH ON FIRE will finish off the touring cycle for its critically-acclaimed Blessed Black Wings record with a handful of exclusive festival appearances in Europe and North America. The band will be playing on June 24th as part of the Vice Intonation Music Festival 2006 at Union Park in Chicago, Illinois, where they will share the stage with the likes of Bloc Party, Ghostface Killah, Blue Cheer and many more. Shortly thereafter, the band will be heading to Europe for a run of dates that will include an appearance at the 18th annual Dour Festival in Belgium and a headlining set at Supersonic Festival in Birmingham, England. Also included in the band's European tour stops are their first ever appearances in Ireland, as well as make-up dates from a shortened December UK tour. The trio will also be making an appearance at the Oya Festival in Oslo, Norway in August along with Morrissey, Snow Patrol, The Wrens and more.

• THE ARCANE ORDER have finished the recordings for their debut album, "The Machinery Of Oblivion," for Metal Blade Records. Expect a sonic mixture of Thrash and Metal with a modern approach. The band have combined the best of the past and future to create a completely original style. Well-produced by Jacob Hansen, The Arcane Order are a new powerhorse in Danish Metal. "Today we finished our upcoming album with the last few details. The result is really, really great! We are very much looking forward to getting it released in August. Expect an album similar in style to the promo songs spiced up here and there with more extreme and faster parts, but also very groovy and melodic parts that'll make your head bang non-stop," says Flemming C. Lund (Invocator, ex-Autumn Leaves), the brainchild of the band.

• BOB SEGER will end a lengthy gap between new albums with the September 12th release of "Face the Promise" on Capitol Records. The first single, 'Wait For Me,' is due out shortly after the Fourth of July. The album will be Seger's first of all-new material since "It's A Mystery" in 1995, although he released a "Greatest Hits, Vol. 2" set in 2003 that featured two new songs. Seger produced the album, which was recorded in Detroit and Nashville with longtime engineer David Cole. Seger is still making final decisions on songs and sequence, but the album is likely to include the title track, which he calls a "big, storming rocker," and a duet with fellow Detroiter Kid Rock on Vince Gill's Merle Haggard tribute, 'Real Mean Bottle.' Seger and Kid Rock share a manager, while Kid Rock inducted Seger into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2004.

• POISONBLACK's current lineup -- Ville Laihiala (vocals, guitar, formerly of Sentenced), Janne Markus (guitar), Marco Sneck (keyboards), Antti Remes (bass) and Tarmo Kanerva (drums) -- will release their long-awaited second album on August 22nd via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2003's "Escapextacy" was recorded in part at Tonebox studio in Oulu, Finland and was mixed and mastered at Antfarm studios in Aarhus, Denmark. Laihiala had previously stated about the new album's musical direction: "The new one has the same spirit and theme that was on [the debut album, 'Escapextacy'], but presented with a lot more dirtier and rougher sounds without forgetting the melodies," he said. "But if you are waiting for a soft goth-rock album, you'll be surprised."

• PHISH's "The White Tape" has just been made available for download as single track MP3s or as a whole album in MP3 and FLAC at LivePhish.com for the first time. Soon after forming the band, "Phish" (a.k.a. "The White Tape") was created from four-track recordings which the band and band members mixed, dubbed and circulated as a demo. It consists of an assortment of four-track recordings from 1984-1985, including four songs recorded by all the existing members of Phish as a band: 'Alumni Blues,' 'AC/DC Bag,' 'Slave To The Traffic Light' and 'Dog Gone Dog' (a.k.a. 'Dog Log'). The balance was recorded separately by the band members and blended together from 4-track cassettes to create the album. Phish volcaist/guitarist Trey Anastasio has said "The White Tape" exemplifies the band's unbridled creative freedom of the day from that era.

• CELTIC FROST's management have posted the following statement: "Over the last couple of days we have received a lot of questions regarding the health of Tom Fischer, as well as a ton of get well notices. Here is an explanation of recent developments: At around 7pm on June 3rd, Tom was admitted to a hospital in Gelsenkirchen as his kidneys were causing him a great deal of pain. After several check-ups he was diagnosed with a kidney stone that was about to rupture. Tom's pain was so strong that only several large doses of morphine gave him any relief. Accordingly, he was unable to perform at the Rock Hard Festival that evening. Martin, Franco, and especially Tom would like to apologize to all their fans who waited in vain for their set. Celtic Frost were looking forward to their first gig in 15 years and were determined to present a great show. Unfortunately, it was not to be."

• RADIO BIRDMAN's "Zeno Beach," the first album of new material from the legendary Australian Punk outfit since their break-up over twenty five years ago, will be released by Yep Roc Records on August 22nd. Written and recorded in the latter half of 2005 at Big Jesus Burger Studios in Surry Hills, an inner city suburb of Sydney, Radio Birdman guitarist and Detroit expatriate Deniz Tek produced the thirteen tracks with prominent local engineer Greg Wales. The band will also undertake their first ever U.S. tour late this Summer. Starting August 30th in Los Angeles, a tour is slated to run through September and takes the band through San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington, DC, Boston, and New York. In 2001, Sub Pop reissued the bulk of their original output in the collection "1974-1978: The Essential Radio Birdman."

• MNEMIC have named Guillaume Bideau (Scarve) as their new vocalist. The band recently commented on the news and their enthusiasm over the decision: "As you've probably heard, the new singer of Mnemic is Guillaume Bideau from Scarve. Now it's official, and it's official when we say its official. Guillaume impressed us in the rehearsal and in the studio. First off, he nailed the old songs 110%, and second we did a demo one of the new songs with him, which turned out like a multilayered vocal metallic opera. He will definitely bring the sound of Mnemic to the next level and we are more than happy to have him in the band as the new frontmonster!" Bideau said: "I'm extremely proud and happy to be joining Mnemic. This is a big turn in my musical career, and exactly the kind of crazy shit I was expecting to be part of!"

• SPOON's debut album, "Telephono," and its follow-up EP, "Soft Effects," are being reissued in a double CD package by Merge Records on the 10th anniversary of the debut's original appearance come July 25th. The reissues feature the original artwork from both releases in a special 2-disc slipcase that will be sold at a special low price. All tracks have been remastered, and as a bonus Merge has included a rarely-seen video for the song 'Not Turning Off' from "Telephono." In other Spoon news, the band recently debuted a third video for 'Two Sides Of Monsieur Valentine' from their "Gimme Fiction" album. The clip was directed by Ryan Junell, who also helped to create the 'Jonathon Fisk' video from 2002's "Kill The Moonlight." Spoon will hit the road this Summer for some live dates, including a scheduled appearance at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival.

• CEPHALIC CARNAGE will team up with Darkest Hour and Dead To Fall for an extensive European tour that also includes a number of festival appearances. The tour will kick off on June 8th in Karlsruhe, Germany and is scheduled to conclude on July 2nd in Tilburg, The Netherlands. During the course of the tour, Cephalic Carnage will be making appearances at such high-profile festivals such as the HellFest Open Air, Pressure Fest, Munster Vainstream Rock Festival, Power Fest, Transmitter Fest, Summer Blast Fest and more. This is the band's second European tour in support of their current album, "Anomalies," and follows their most recent North American tour with A Life Once Lost. Cephalic Carnage are also slated to play The Gathering Of The Sick, which takes place on August 4-5 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

• STREAM OF PASSION drummer Davy Mickers has just launched his own official website at www.davymickers.com. Not yet famous but known throughout the world, he started by playing a few acoustic tracks on Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon album "The Final Experiment." After that, he became the drummer for Lucassen's new band, Stream Of Passion. During a European Tour he did with the band, he was confronted with fans' enthusiastic reactions, presents and a lot of questions, which is why he decided to work on a website. "I noticed that people were getting interested in what I do. The gear I play and the projects I do drums for. Since there's not much information to find about me, I thought I'd give the fans a hand." The site contains a biography, discography, downloads, tour dates, information about gear, projects, etc.

• PENTAGRAM guitarist and founding member Vincent McAllister has lost a battle with cancer at the age of 51. McAllister played guitar in the classic 70's Pentagram lineup that also included vocalist Bobby Liebling, bassist Greg Mayne and drummer Geof O'Keefe. McAllister had spent the past few years working on material in his home studio and planning to return to playing again. He was diagnosed with cancer in his neck in the Summer of 2004, undergoing chemotherapy and then embarking on a road trip taking him through Colorado where he played a number of local solo gigs, and eventually wound up in Canada, where he'd planned to reside. Unfortunately, shortly after arriving, the cancer came back and he returned to the Bay Area to resume treatment, which by that time was having a lesser effect.

• KEITH RICHARDS has made a "complete recovery" from his accident in Fiji, with The Rolling Stones announcing Friday they will belatedly begin a European tour in Milan on July 11th. The tour was supposed to begin last Saturday in Barcelona, but the first 15 dates were postponed. In a statement, the 63-year-old Richards apologized for inconveniencing fans. "Excuse me, I fell off of my perch! Sorry to disrupt everyone's plans but now -- It's full steam ahead!" The guitarist suffered a head injury after reportedly falling from a palm tree while on vacation with bandmate Ronnie Wood and their wives in Fiji at the end of April. Spokesmen had not commented on the details of the accident, and his subsequent treatment in a New Zealand hospital was shrouded in secrecy, leading to much speculation about the extent of his injuries.

• DIECAST are currently in Miami recording their new album, "Internal Revolution," with long-time producer Paul Trust. The effort will be mixed by the acclaimed Tue Madsen (Himsa, The Haunted) at Antfarm Studios in Denmark. This marks the group's first effort with an entirely new rhythm section composed of Dennis Pavia (drums) and Brad Horion (bass), of which vocalist Paul Stoddard says: "Dennis came to us before we even started officially looking for a replacement. We were so taken by his skill and ability to learn the material so quickly that we knew he would be the perfect fit. Brad has been our tour manager for quite some time now. We are extremely proud to have both of these bitches now along for the ride and expect everyone to welcome them in with proper hazing and abuse." "Internal Revolution" is slated for a September 19th release at this time.

• OASIS' debut album, "Definitely Maybe," has beaten The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in a British vote for the greatest album of all time, organizers said Thursday. The Beatles also took third place with "Revolver" and had three other albums in the Top 100 in the vote staged by British Hit Singles & Albums, an annual publication, and NME.com. The vote was announced in last year's edition of British Hit Singles & Albums. Anyone could vote for as many as 10 albums, in rank order, and probably 95 percent of the 40,000 votes came from Britain, he said. Other albums on the list include U2's "The Joshua Tree" (No. 11), Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (No. 35), The Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street," (No. 42), The White Stripes' "Elephant" (No. 59), Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" (No. 84), and The Eagles' "Hotel California" (No. 100).

• HATEBREED have announced that they have officially become a 5-piece band once again. Frontman Jamey Jasta commented: "We've decided to become a five-piece again - mainly because of the new album having a lot of parts that involve second guitar, but also because me and Beattie started this band as a 5-piece and feel like it's an integral part of our sound and vision. We'd like to welcome Cleveland native, Hardcore legend and all around great guy Frank "3 Gun" Novinec to the band. Some of you may know him from his past bands Ringworm and Integrity and more recently, Terror. He's one of my oldest best friends, so he fits in perfect! We are in the studio now making the best album of our career. Be ready to hear the most charged, in your face, crushing Hatebreed album ever. It's pure adrenaline."