You no longer have to wait for the awesome Within Temptation’s new digital single ‘What Have You Done Now’ is out today! It contains a veritable feast of bonus tracks. First of all, the track 'Blue Eyes' which unfortunately didn't make it on the album. Also, 'Aquarius' and 'Caged' will be on there. They are live versions, recorded at the Java Island Amsterdam in 2005. They were part of the 'The Silent Force Tour' DVD, but weren't released on CD before.

Get your fingers at the ready and select your favourite Roadrunner artist on Kerrang! TV. All you have to do is call simply dial 09056 525 666 and select track your favourite track number.

Killswitch Engage – My Curse – #121

Within Temptation – What Have You Done – #107

Then simply tune in to Kerrang! TV: SKY: 354 NTL: 819 TELEWEST:332

Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine likes to keep the fans informed, he has posted a message under the ‘Forums’ section of their official website:

“I am back on solid ground in my little house in San Diego Co. after a long and very bizarre promotional trip to London, Paris, and Cologne. The verdict is in and Caesar sez:

“Besides the incessant emails going back in forth completing the mundane parts of releasing a record, the last ten days were filled with meeting old friends, and greeting new faces.

“And then there was Air India (I know . . . I should have known when they booked it) losing my guitar and us missing our connection home because they had to let every mosquito (real bugs) in London into the plane before we left.

“So, today is going to be a 'unwinding from the trip/get ready for the tour' kinda day; that and soaking in Witch Hazel for the rest of the day. Sounds like a new lyric?! 🙂

“I will spew more later, but suffice to say, I confirmed a bunch of tour dates while we were gone, and if you live in Canada, the United States, or Europe you will be seeing us before this summer is over.

“By the time we are done getting completely immersed in metal with Ronnie (Dio) and Tony (Iommi) for a while, we'll be ready to start heading out internationally again. Look for dates on the 'Killing Road' over at the www.megadeth.com site!

“Sadly, there will not be any footage of 'The Making Of United Abominations' included yet, because someone is playing games with management, the band, and the record company. Nothing quite as self-sabotaging as getting yourself ostracized when everything is going great, eh? Charlotte's web said it best. 'Some pig!'

“And one last thing, to all of the kind journalists (which leaves the barfbag in Paris out); thank you for the good time! I don't remember ever getting to laugh while doing interviews, and I am so very happy you like the record. 🙂

“[puts on 'Ballroom Blitz' and grabs my 'Mr. Microphone' from the '70s and proceeds to butcher the words]

“'Are you ready Glen . . . 'oh kay' . . . James, 'uh, huh' . . . Shawn?!?!? . . . 'Ready!' . . . Alright fellas . . . well, let's goooooooooooooo!'”

SOURCE: BLABBERMOUTH

Brian Fair, Shadows Fall frontman talks about their album ‘Threads of Life’:

“We just wanted to write a full-on metal record, We were like, 'I don't care what's going on, nowadays — let's write some fucking metal!' I mean, that's always been our attitude, but this time we went even further into our rock and thrash roots.”

The album produced by Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, RUSH) at Studio 606 in Los Angeles, “Nick was able to get performances out of us that we didn't even expect from ourselves,”

“Structurally, we had worked out a lot of the stuff before we even got to the studio, but he really brought new life to things sonically — different layering of guitars, vocal harmonies that we wouldn't have thought of, great ideas like that.”

Blabbermouth states, ‘For those who've already been paying attention, the band's continued musical growth won't come as much of a surprise — in terms of pure musicianship, SHADOWS FALL has long been one of the most highly respected bands in the metal community, boasting a lineup that could easily go toe-to-toe with rock's most legendary players. Guitarists Matt Bachand and Jon Donais are former guest columnists for Guitar World magazine, and the pair recently had the honor of being included in the mag's “Top 100 Guitarists of All Time” list. Bassist Paul Romanko is a regular contributor to Guitar World's Bass Guitar magazine, while drummer Jason Bittner pens a column for Modern Drummer, whose readers voted him “Best Metal Drummer” in year-end polls for 2005 and 2006. And with his four-foot-long dreadlocks, powerful vocals and commanding stage presence, Brian Fair — a frequent guest host on MTV's “Headbanger's Ball” — is one of the most charismatic and recognizable frontmen in metal.’

Of the members of Shadows Fall, Brian Fair explains their influences:

“Jonny's always been into '80s metal and '70s rock,” Fair explains. “Matt was really into death metal and grindcore back in the day, but he also likes all sorts of singer/songwriter stuff; Jay has a real prog background — he's a huge fan of RUSH and DREAM THEATER — and Paul's the old-school punk rock and hardcore dude. I kind of came up through '70s rock, and then found the hardcore scene, but I'd always been listening to a lot of jazz, reggae and spacey stuff.”

“There are really no egos in this band,” says Fair. “We're always going to have the technical aspect of our music, because these boys can play. But we want to incorporate all of that into a song framework; it's all about trying to create the best song, and everyone understanding how they fit into it.

“Of course,” he adds, “when it's time to let it rip, we let it rip!”

“We were all friends before we started this band,” Fair recalls. “We all played in other bands that played with each other, and we had a very similar goal and vision in mind for what we wanted to accomplish together. We had that all-for-one, one-for-all attitude from the beginning, which is still how we do business — it's gotta be a unanimous decision before anything gets done.”

Talking of ‘Redemption’ Fair states, “This is the SHADOWS FALL sound condensed into four minutes,”

“I think it's a perfect representation of what we do. And I think it really encapsulates the entire album, which is why we opened with it — it has a little bit of everything you're going to get in the next 45 minutes!”

The guitar shredding ‘Final Call’ is a seven-minute epic:

“So many of the ideals and goals of our government seem to be so far from what I'm trying to accomplish in my life, that I feel like I've been exiled to my own little plane of existence,” says Fair. “But at this point, I'm fine with it, because I think there are others who feel the same way, and I think there are more of them out there than people realize.”

“Another Hero Lost“, an achingly heartfelt ballad inspired by the death of Fair's cousin, a U.S. soldier who was killed last year in Iraq. “We've always had those slower moments on our records, with songs like 'The Art of Balance' and 'Inspiration on Demand',” the singer explains, “but this was the most straightforward, melodic rock ballad we've ever done. I didn't want to take away from the tribute vibe to it by making it this brutal, crazy song; it had to be straight-up from the heart, and really pure and true. It's also the most personal song I've ever recorded. Lyrically, it's from my cousin's perspective, as well as just me sorting through the emotions that my family and I were going through at the time. The song has no political agenda, at all — it's just me remembering someone I grew up with, who meant a lot to me. I know a lot of people have been going through similar things recently, so I think it's a song they'll be able relate to. Hopefully, there won't have to be many more songs written about something like this.”

To read the full interview at Blabbermouth.net here

Shadows Fall's latest webisode is featured as a “Directors Video” pick through next Tuesday! Check it out at this location…

This week’s update from Ian Camfield,

The Official VH1 Rock Chart
Check out the show late on Friday night at midnight, repeated Saturday night / Sunday morning at 1am.

This week Bleeding Through are guests, you can win the chance to meet Buck Cherry and see videos from Foo Fighters, Elliot Minor, Slayer, Ash, Chili Peppers and more.
www.vh1.co.uk

XFM Rock Show (104.9FM London, 97.7FM Manchester, nationally on DAB, cable & Sky TV)
Listen to the show Sunday night between 10pm-1am.

Bleeding Through are also on the radio show this week choosing their Rock Of Ages and Lost Alone are in session. Music includes Nine Inch Nails, Machine Head, Korn, Stone Sour, Enter Shikari, Saxon and Funeral For A Friend.
www.xfm.co.uk

The guys at Rockworld TV have uploaded pictures of the following awesome bands live!

Click here to view Bleeding Through pictures

Click here to view Caliban pictures

Click here to view Madina Lake pictures

When the Killswitch Engage guys started their European tour, none of them realised how it would turn out… but despite guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz having to leave the tour to have an operation on his back, the guys were still rocking out for him and the fans…

Click here to read the interview and live review with new-noise.net

DragonForce and DevilDriver have been added to the listing for this years Download Festival, set to take place June 9-10, at Donnington Park, Leicestershire.

Other Roadrunner artists set to appear are Killswitch Engage!

Blabbermouth reports at DevildriverWorld.com, the guys have announced the following additional date to their European tour during June:

Jun. 05 – Southhampton, England @ TBA (w/ IN THIS MOMENT)
Jun. 8-10 – Donington Park, England @ Download Festival
Jun. 18 – Tilburg, Netherlands @ TBA *
Jun. 19 – Aarhus, Denmark @ Train *
Jun. 20 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega *
Jun. 21 – Hamburg, Germany @ Markthalle *
Jun. 22 – Bielefeld, Germany @ Serengeti Festival *

* with DROWNING POOL, LIFE OF AGONY, IN THIS MOMENT

The guys have recently finished recording for their third album ‘The Last Kind Words’ at the Sonic Ranch Studios in Texas.