Synthesis.net has posted the first part of a video interview with DOWN members Kirk Windstein and Jimmy Bower conducted on September 29, 2007 at the Senator Theatre in Chico, California. Watch it below.

Make sure you get this month's edition of Rocksound and check out the feature on Machine Head.

Virginmegastores.co.uk is selling Megadeth's latest album 'United Abominations at the bargain price of

Sanctity's

WBRS “Monday Morning Breakfast Serial” host Stuart MarX spoke to TRIVIUM guitarist Corey Beaulieu after the band's show in Woodlands, Texas on August 18 2007. Watch the interview in two parts below.

CLICK HERE to watch part 1.

CLICK HERE to watch part 2.

Source: Metalhammer

Recordstore.co.uk is running a special promotion on Roadrunner releases. Not only have prices been slashed, Madina Lake, Devil Driver and Within Temptation albums come with inserts signed by the band. On top of this anyone purchasing any of the titles on this special promo page will be entered into a draw to win a Roadrunner goodie bag stuffed with signed CD's and merch.

So head on down to recordstore now. click here

Southern boys BLACK STONE CHERRY have upgraded the London show on their forthcoming tour due to popular demand.

Jeff Maki and Jason Price of Live-Metal.net recently conducted an interview with WITHIN TEMPTATION vocalist Sharon den Adel. A few excerpts from the interview follow:

Live-Metal.net: When you are performing songs on stage does it take you back to when and where you wrote the lyrics? Or at this point in time, having played them repeatedly, is it merely performing the songs?

Sharon: Well, eventually it becomes more performing the songs, but you have certain times when it's better not to always know when to go back to the time you were writing it. Sometimes it's very emotional and if you have that emotional kind of thing, it's sometimes good. It will always be emotional because you will always have emotions attached to it. You have emotions and emotion, of course – heavy emotion. Certain painful memories or beautiful memories. It's like through time, like scars they fade a little bit. So I think on stage sometimes when you are having a certain day, it might come back very heavily. It might be better not to play the song. But most of the times it's just playing the songs and enjoying it. It's also releasing and getting rid of certain negative emotions.

Live-Metal.net: Your lyrics seem pretty personal to me. Are there any songs you just don't want to play live because it does bring you back to those emotions?

Sharon: Yeah, of course, but it's … “Forgiven” is maybe one of those songs, but I could play them and keep my tears inside. You can restrain it, of course. It depends on the day. Sometimes it's the day when “it” happened like four years ago, so it's better not to play the song because you're gonna be reminded and not be too happy, so yeah, sometimes it's like that.

Live-Metal.net: What's next for you after this tour?

Sharon: Well, we got a lot of shows in Europe. We are going to play on England in the academies, which are lots of nice venues to play in. So we're gonna play there like four or five shows and then we go to Germany. We do a tour in Germany and we have a few big shows, as well. Then in Holland, we do an arena with a real orchestra in February, a classical orchestra. And we're gonna play all our songs with a classical orchestra. Also in November, we're gonna play for 8,000 people in Eindoven, which is also in Holland and we're gonna play this java kind of big show with all kinds of things happening. So they're will be a lot of things, then come back here again.

Live-Metal.net: So you're coming back here soon?

Sharon: I hope so, because we just met our booking agency yesterday and they were like, “Please come back soon again.” And we were like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but when?” So we're gonna see. So hopefully we will again. It will be on short notice – that's how it works probably in America, I don't know. It goes differently in Europe. They have ticket sales in Europe and it's like six months ahead of when you're really going to play. And America it's like – we announced this tour a month ago. And we're like, “Nobody's gonna come. Nobody's gonna know. How can I do this?” But there like that's normal in America – “OK, right.”

Live-Metal.net: You mentioned playing with the orchestra. How will that transition? How will that work?

Sharon: It's gonna be different, but not that much different because we have an orchestra on tape, because we can't bring the orchestra to events and stuff like that. They're gonna play more or less the real thing, but of course it will be more organic. The sounds are gonna be different, but it's gonna be live. And we'll probably make a little bit different arrangements here and there. It's not the same orchestra we recorded with and we're gonna do some different things also to make it more special, try some things out. Also to give them some more space for their own interpretation.

Live-Metal.net: Could that be released as a live album like what the SCORPIONS or METALLICA did?

Sharon: I'm not sure. It depends on how it works out. And like I said, we're gonna give them some freedom for their own interpretation and if some songs don't work out then we're gonna skip the song probably. [laughter] But we're not sure how things will work out. But it's not the first time working with a real orchestra. We have done it before in Europe. But to do a whole show with a real orchestra, it is our first time, so it depends on how it's going to look and how it is recorded. We're gonna film everything, of course.

Live-Metal.net: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Sharon: Well, we start writing again in December probably. That's the first time we have days off again, so we'll probably start writing new songs again. We'll see where we are and how fast we can write a new album. I want to write a new album very quickly. But sometimes when you're touring there is no time or no space to sit down and relax and try some things.

Read the entire interview at http://www.live-metal.net/interviews_withintemptation2.html

Source: BLABBERMOUTH

Chad Bowar of About Heavy Metal recently conducted an interview with DIVINE HERESY guitarist Dino Cazares (ex-FEAR FACTORY). A few excerpts from the chat follow:

About Heavy Metal: What kind of response has “Bleed The Fifth” been getting so far?

Dino Cazares: “The majority of the response is very positive. But we are between a rock and a hard place with my FEAR FACTORY past. It's either too much FEAR FACTORY or not enough FEAR FACTORY for those fans. But I think we'll get past that and people will realize that this is a great metal record.”

About Heavy Metal: How did DIVINE HERESY come together?

Dino Cazares: “The biggest challenge in putting this together was finding the time, really. I had plenty of other projects going at the time. I met Tim Yeung [drums] around 2003 and we kept in touch. We finally met up in 2005 and started writing songs. Tommy [Cummings] came aboard in 2006. Tim and I had recorded songs and sent them over to Tommy for his vocal audition. We heard passion and anger in his voice, which was something we wanted. It was also very aggressive. We flew him out to L.A. and went straight to the studio and started recording with him. That's how it came together.”

About Heavy Metal: You recently brought aboard Joe Payne as your new bassist.

Dino Cazares: “On the record Tony Campos from STATIC-X did three songs. I had met Joe Payne in 2005 when he was touring with NILE. I saw him play live. Three months ago he called me. I told him to come on down, he had the spot. I already knew he was a kick-ass bass player and a good guy. Tim also knew him really well. He came highly recommended. We did have bass auditions for a lot of people, but we were picky. Joe is both a bass and guitar player, and he is able to play the bass like a guitar, which I really like, which is another reason we picked him.”

About Heavy Metal: Is he a permanent member, or just a touring member of the band?

Dino Cazares: “We feel good about it. We're going to see what it's like on the road. We have two big tours coming up. As of now, he's pretty close to it.”

About Heavy Metal: How did you decide on Century Media as your U.S. label?

Dino Cazares: “We decided to go to Century Media based on how they were on the creative side. Previously on Roadrunner they wanted me to do a lot of radio and commercial type stuff. Century Media gave me creative freedom to do whatever I wanted. I am still on Roadrunner in Europe.”

About Heavy Metal: I understand the video shoot at the Salton Sea in California was a bit rough for “Failed Creation” because of the location.

Dino Cazares: “It was pretty nasty. It was about 116 degrees with rotted, dead fish everywhere. The water there is really polluted and thousands and thousands of fish die every year. Birds flock there and think they can feed on these fish, but when they do they end up dying too. It's a perfect place to shoot a video. (laughs) The combination of the smells and the heat made me throw up. I had to throw my clothes away after the shoot. We'd be jamming and someone would have to throw up.”

Read the entire interview at HeavyMetal.About.com.

Source: BLABBERMOUTH

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has posted the following message in the “Forums” section of the band's official web site:

“We are in the middle of the first leg of the 'Tour of Duty' for 'United Abominations' and are preparing songs everyday, all day long. We go over the songs at soundcheck, we go over notes from the night before, we go over the songs with our new soundman every night, and we are taking apart all of our rigs and guitars to make them play and sound better than ever before. That is not including the taping of the shows every night and the video taping every night too.

“We want to be 'on fire' for the broadcast from Columbus, and besides the weirdness of our lighting director having to go to his brother's wedding (which we supported), everything will be the same as usual. We unfortunately are not going to be able to have any guests backstage at all for the Columbus show. So, if you are a friend of the band, unfortunately, this is one of the shows where you are going to have to bite the bullet. Please don't take offense to me saying 'no' when you ask me to go backstage.

“Ah, I am so out-of-my-mind excited to head to the Pac Rim and do Gigantour again, especially with the exciting bands that make up this year's lineup. We also are going to start laying roots for Gigantour in other territories overseas and will have a huge announcement soon about something brewing on both sides of the world next month, or even sooner!!!

“We are playing and getting along better than ever and although we had a setback with some roadies leaving and us replacing them with techs, we are in full-stride right now. And excluding the release of 'Warchest', we are busy little metal bees (not like STRYPER!) and hard at work going over every single inch of everything we do and are doing going forward to make this the best year ever!!!

“The holidays are coming and I wished I could have you all over for a cup of my private homemade coffee (it won't kill ya) and tell Halloween stories, or a piece of Thanksgiving pie, or even some very nogged eggnog for Christmas and Hanukkah, but alas, that ain't gonna happen because I will be playing for you and hopefully have our families out here with us!!!

“I want to thank all of you for your thoughtful gifts and I love the funny cards. I also am proud of my Raiders jacket – now if we could just buy some 'wins' for Christmas…

“We are all enjoying talking to you with our SayNow accounts too (we all have numbers now), and we are comparing notes about how we want to have a real great personal experience with you guys, while not being inappropriate, because we are aware that a lot of the fans are young and thrilled to be able to talk to us, so we keep it real, and focused on what matters – MEGADETH!!!

“I got a great gift from our American soldiers over in Iraq of some video footage and patches and even Iraqi money. I am really thankful for the gifts, and I pray for your safe return, guys. There are a lot of misinformed musicians that jump on popularity polls against the war, and while I am not one of them, I know how it must feel to see your hero say he or she is against the cause – right or wrong – that you are willing to lay down your life for what you believe in and to protect us here at home. People ask me about running for President and I appreciate the sentiment, and the irony is that I probably could do the job.

“And while I would have handled things differently if I really was our President, we are there now and the soldiers need our support until they come home and we can fix our problems here at home. Until then we will just jam and let it loose every night for you, and lemme tell you how much we feel your approval and we are grateful for that. Man, to just switch places with you for a minute would be such a rush for you.”

Source: BLABBERMOUTH